WINMX Assorted Textfiles/Ebooks.tar/Text - Compilations - The Library - Volume 08 - L to Q - 254 fiction ebooks (PDF HTM(L) RTF TXT DOC).zip.zip/Lang, Andrew - The Lilac Fairy Book.txt

Text File | 2001-10-08 | 545KB | 11,955 lines

The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Lilac Fairy Book, by Andrew Lang
#33 in our series by Andrew Lang

Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check
the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!

Please take a look at the important information in this header.
We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an
electronic path open for the next readers.

Please do not remove this.

This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book.
Do not change or edit it without written permission.  The words
are carefully chosen to provide users with the information they
need about what they can legally do with the texts.

**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**

**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**

*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations*

Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and
further information is included below.  We need your donations.
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3)
organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541

As of 12/12/00 contributions are only being solicited from people
in:
Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana,
Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming.

International donations are accepted,
but we don't know ANYTHING about how
to make them tax-deductible, or
even if they CAN be made deductible,
and don't have the staff to handle it
even if there are ways.

As the requirements for other states are met,
additions to this list will be made and fund raising
will begin in the additional states.  Please feel
free to ask to check the status of your state.

International donations are accepted,
but we don't know ANYTHING about how
to make them tax-deductible, or
even if they CAN be made deductible,
and don't have the staff to handle it
even if there are ways.

These donations should be made to:

Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
PMB 113
1739 University Ave.
Oxford, MS 38655-4109

Title: The Lilac Fairy Book

Author: Andrew Lang

Release Date: October, 2002  [Etext #3455]
[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule]
[The actual date this file first posted = 04/23/01]

Edition: 10

Language: English

The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Lilac Fairy Book, by Andrew Lang
*******This file should be named lifry10.txt or lifry10.zip********

Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, lifry11.txt
VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, lifry10a.txt

This etext was scanned by JC Byers ([e-mail]) and
typed and proofread by L.M. Shaffer

Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple
editions, all of which are in the Public Domain in the United
States, unless a copyright notice is included.  Therefore, we
usually do NOT keep any of these books in compliance with any
particular paper edition.

We are now trying to release all our books one year in advance
of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing.
Please be encouraged to send us error messages even years after
the official publication date.

Please note:  neither this list nor its contents are final till
midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement.
The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at
Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.  A
preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment
and editing by those who wish to do so.

Most people start at our sites at:
http://gutenberg.net
http://promo.net/pg

Those of you who want to download any Etext before announcement
can surf to them as follows, and just download by date; this is
also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the
indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an
announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter.

http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext02
or
ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext02

Or /etext01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90

Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want,
as it appears in our Newsletters.

Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)

We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.  The
time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours
to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright
searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.  This
projected audience is one hundred million readers.  If our value
per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2
million dollars per hour this year as we release fifty new Etext
files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 3000+
If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total
should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end.

The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext
Files by December 31, 2001.  [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion]
This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers,
which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users.

At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third
of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we
manage to get some real funding.

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been
created
to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next
millennium.

We need your donations more than ever!

Presently, contributions are only being solicited from people in:
Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada,
Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina,
South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming.

As the requirements for other states are met,
additions to this list will be made and fund raising
will begin in the additional states.

These donations should be made to:

Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
PMB 113
1739 University Ave.
Oxford, MS 38655-4109

Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation,
EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541,
has been approved as a 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal
Revenue Service (IRS).  Donations are tax-deductible to the
extent
permitted by law.  As the requirements for other states are met,
additions to this list will be made and fund raising will begin
in the
additional states.

All donations should be made to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation.  Mail to:

Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
PMB 113
1739 University Avenue
Oxford, MS 38655-4109  [USA]

We need your donations more than ever!

You can get up to date donation information at:

http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html

***

If you can't reach Project Gutenberg,
you can always email directly to:

Michael S. Hart <[e-mail]>

[e-mail] forwards to [e-mail] and archive.org
if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if
it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . .

Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message.

We would prefer to send you information by email.

***

Example command-line FTP session:

ftp ftp.ibiblio.org
login: anonymous
password: your@login
cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg
cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext02, etc.
dir [to see files]
get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files]
GET GUTINDEX.??  [to get a year's listing of books, e.g.,
GUTINDEX.99]
GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books]

**The Legal Small Print**

(Three Pages)

***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START***
Why is this "Small Print!" statement here?  You know: lawyers.
They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with
your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from
someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our
fault.  So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement
disclaims most of our liability to you.  It also tells you how
you may distribute copies of this etext if you want to.

*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT
By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept
this "Small Print!" statement.  If you do not, you can receive
a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by
sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person
you got it from.  If you received this etext on a physical
medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request.

ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS
This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
etexts,
is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S.
Hart
through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project").
Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States
copyright
on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and
distribute it in the United States without permission and
without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules, set forth
below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext
under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.

Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market
any commercial products without permission.

To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable
efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain
works.  Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any
medium they may be on may contain "Defects".  Among other
things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged
disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer
codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES
But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below,
[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may
receive this etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext)
disclaims
all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including
legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR
UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE
POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of
receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any)
you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that
time to the person you received it from.  If you received it
on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and
such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement
copy.  If you received it electronically, such person may
choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to
receive it electronically.

THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS".  NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS
TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or
the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the
above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you
may have other legal rights.

INDEMNITY
You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation,
and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated
with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including
legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the
following that you do or cause:  [1] distribution of this etext,
[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the etext,
or [3] any Defect.

DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"
You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by
disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this
"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg,
or:

[1]  Only give exact copies of it.  Among other things, this
     requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the
     etext or this "small print!" statement.  You may however,
     if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable
     binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,
     including any form resulting from conversion by word
     processing or hypertext software, but only so long as
     *EITHER*:

     [*]  The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and
          does *not* contain characters other than those
          intended by the author of the work, although tilde
          (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may
          be used to convey punctuation intended by the
          author, and additional characters may be used to
          indicate hypertext links; OR

     [*]  The etext may be readily converted by the reader at
          no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent
          form by the program that displays the etext (as is
          the case, for instance, with most word processors);
          OR

     [*]  You provide, or agree to also provide on request at
          no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the
          etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC
          or other equivalent proprietary form).

[2]  Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this
     "Small Print!" statement.

[3]  Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the
     gross profits you derive calculated using the method you
     already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  If you
     don't derive profits, no royalty is due.  Royalties are
     payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation"
     the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were
     legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent
     periodic) tax return.  Please contact us beforehand to
     let us know your plans and to work out the details.

WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO?
Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of
public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed
in machine readable form.

The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time,
public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses.
Money should be paid to the:
"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."

If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or
software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at:
[e-mail]

*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END*





This etext was scanned by [e-mail], typed and
proofread by L.M. Shaffer.





The Lilac Fairy Book

Edited by Andrew Lang




Preface



'What cases are you engaged in at present?' 'Are you stopping
many teeth just now?' 'What people have you converted lately?'
Do ladies put these questions to the men--lawyers, dentists,
clergymen, and so forth--who happen to sit next them at
dinner parties?

I do not know whether ladies thus indicate their interest in the
occupations of their casual neighbours at the hospitable board.
But if they do not know me, or do not know me well, they
generally ask 'Are you writing anything now?' (as if they should
ask a painter 'Are you painting anything now?' or a lawyer 'Have
you any cases at present?'). Sometimes they are more definite and
inquire 'What are you writing now?' as if I must be writing
something--which, indeed, is the case, though I dislike being
reminded of it. It is an awkward question, because the fair being
does not care a bawbee what I am writing; nor would she be much
enlightened if I replied 'Madam, I am engaged on a treatise
intended to prove that Normal is prior to Conceptional Totemism'-
-though that answer would be as true in fact as obscure in
significance. The best plan seems to be to answer that I have
entirely abandoned mere literature, and am contemplating a book
on 'The Causes of Early Blight in the Potato,' a melancholy
circumstance which threatens to deprive us of our chief esculent
root. The inquirer would never be undeceived. One nymph who, like
the rest, could not keep off the horrid topic of my occupation,
said 'You never write anything but fairy books, do you?' A French
gentleman, too, an educationist and expert in portraits of Queen
Mary, once sent me a newspaper article in which he had written
that I was exclusively devoted to the composition of fairy books,
and nothing else. He then came to England, visited me, and found
that I knew rather more about portraits of Queen Mary than he
did.

In truth I never did write any fairy books in my life, except
'Prince Prigio,' 'Prince Ricardo,' and 'Tales from a Fairy
Court'--that of the aforesaid Prigio. I take this opportunity of
recommending these fairy books--poor things, but my own--to
parents and guardians who may never have heard of them. They are
rich in romantic adventure, and the Princes always marry the
right Princesses and live happy ever afterwards; while the wicked
witches, stepmothers, tutors and governesses are never cruelly
punished, but retire to the country on ample pensions. I hate
cruelty: I never put a wicked stepmother in a barrel and send her
tobogganing down a hill. It is true that Prince Ricardo did kill
the Yellow Dwarf; but that was in fair fight, sword in hand, and
the dwarf, peace to his ashes! died in harness.

The object of these confessions is not only that of advertising
my own fairy books (which are not 'out of print'; if your
bookseller says so, the truth is not in him), but of giving
credit where credit is due. The fairy books have been almost
wholly the work of Mrs. Lang, who has translated and adapted them
from the French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Catalan,
and other languages.

My part has been that of Adam, according to Mark Twain, in the
Garden of Eden. Eve worked, Adam superintended. I also
superintend. I find out where the stories are, and advise, and,
in short, superintend. I do not write the stories out of my own
head. The reputation of having written all the fairy books (an
European reputation in nurseries and the United States of
America) is 'the burden of an honour unto which I was not born.'
It weighs upon and is killing me, as the general fash of being
the wife of the Lord of Burleigh, Burleigh House by Stamford
Town, was too much for the village maiden espoused by that peer.

Nobody really wrote most of the stories. People told them in all
parts of the world long before Egyptian hieroglyphics or Cretan
signs or Cyprian syllabaries, or alphabets were invented. They
are older than reading and writing, and arose like wild flowers
before men had any education to quarrel over. The grannies told
them to the grandchildren, and when the grandchildren became
grannies they repeated the same old tales to the new generation.
Homer knew the stories and made up the 'Odyssey' out of half a
dozen of them. All the history of Greece till about 800 B.C. is a
string of the fairy tales, all about Theseus and Heracles and
Oedipus and Minos and Perseus is a Cabinet des Fées, a collection
of fairy tales. Shakespeare took them and put bits of them into
'King Lear' and other plays; he could not have made them up
himself, great as he was. Let ladies and gentlemen think of this
when they sit down to write fairy tales, and have them nicely
typed, and send them to Messrs. Longman & Co. to be published.
They think that to write a new fairy tale is easy work. They are
mistaken: the thing is impossible. Nobody can write a new fairy
tale; you can only mix up and dress up the old, old stories, and
put the characters into new dresses, as Miss Thackeray did so
well in 'Five Old Friends.' If any big girl of fourteen reads
this preface, let her insist on being presented with 'Five Old
Friends.'

But the three hundred and sixty-five authors who try to write new
fairy tales are very tiresome. They always begin with a little
boy or girl who goes out and meets the fairies of polyanthuses
and gardenias and apple blossoms: 'Flowers and fruits, and other
winged things.' These fairies try to be funny, and fail; or they
try to preach, and succeed. Real fairies never preach or talk
slang. At the end, the little boy or girl wakes up and finds that
he has been dreaming.

Such are the new fairy stories. May we be preserved from all the
sort of them!

Our stories are almost all old, some from Ireland, before that
island was as celebrated for her wrongs as for her verdure; some
from Asia, made, I dare say, before the Aryan invasion; some from
Moydart, Knoydart, Morar and Ardnamurchan, where the sea streams
run like great clear rivers and the saw-edged hills are blue, and
men remember Prince Charlie. Some are from Portugal, where the
golden fruits grow in the Garden of the Hesperides; and some are
from wild Wales, and were told at Arthur's Court; and others come
from the firesides of the kinsmen of the Welsh, the Bretons.
There are also modern tales by a learned Scandinavian named
Topelius.

All the stories were translated or adapted by Mrs. Lang, except
'The Jogi's Punishment' and 'Moti,' done by Major Campbell out of
the Pushtoo language; 'How Brave Walter hunted Wolves,' which,
with 'Little Lasse' and 'The Raspberry Worm,' was done from
Topelius by Miss Harding; and 'The Sea King's Gift,' by Miss
Christie, from the same author.

It has been suggested to the Editor that children and parents and
guardians would like ' The Grey True Ghost-Story Book.' He knows
that the children would like it well, and he would gladly give it
to them; but about the taste of fond anxious mothers and kind
aunts he is not quite so certain. Before he was twelve the Editor
knew true ghost stories enough to fill a volume. They were a pure
joy till bedtime, but then, and later, were not wholly a source
of unmixed pleasure. At that time the Editor was not afraid of
the dark, for he thought, ' If a ghost is here, we can't see
him.' But when older and better informed persons said that ghosts
brought their own light with them (which is too true), then one's
emotions were such as parents do not desire the young to endure.
For this reason 'The Grey True Ghost-Story Book' is never likely
to be illustrated by Mr. Ford.



                            Contents



The Shifty Lad
The False Prince and the True
The Jogi's Punishment
The Heart of a Monkey
The Fairy Nurse
A Lost Paradise
How Brave Walter Hunted Wolves
The Ring of the Waterfalls
A French Puck
The Three Crowns
The Story of a Very Bad Boy
The Brown Bear of Norway
Little Lasse
'Moti'
The Enchanted Deer
A Fish Story
The Wonderful Tune
The Rich Brother and the Poor Brother
The One-Handed Girl
The Bones of Djulung
The Sea Ring's Gift
The Raspberry Worm
The Stones of Plouhinec
The Castle of Kerglas
The Battle of the Birds
The Lady of the Fountain
The Four Gifts
The Groac'h of the Isle of Lok
The Escape of the Mouse
The Believing. Husbands
The Hoodie-Crow
The Brownie of the Lake
The Winning of Olwen






                         The Shifty Lad




In the land of Erin there dwelt long ago a widow who had an only
son. He was a clever boy, so she saved up enough money to send
him to school, and, as soon as he was old enough, to apprentice
him to any trade that he would choose. But when the time came, he
said he would not be bound to any trade, and that he meant to be
a thief.

Now his mother was very sorrowful when she heard of this, but she
knew quite well that if she tried to stop his having his own way
he would only grow more determined to get it. So all the answer
she made was that the end of thieves was hanging at the bridge of
Dublin, and then she left him alone, hoping that when he was
older he might become more sensible.

One day she was going to church to hear a sermon from a great
preacher, and she begged the Shifty Lad, as the neighbours called
him from the tricks he played, to come with her. But he only
laughed and declared that he did not like sermons, adding:

'However, I will promise you this, that the first trade you hear
named after you come out from church shall be my trade for the
rest of my life.'

These words gave a little comfort to the poor woman, and her
heart was lighter than before as she bade him farewell.

When the Shifty Lad thought that the hour had nearly come for the
sermon to be over, he hid himself in some bushes in a little path
that led straight to his mother's house, and, as she passed
along, thinking of all the good things she had heard, a voice
shouted close to her ear 'Robbery! Robbery! Robbery!' The
suddenness of it made her jump. The naughty boy had managed to
change his voice, so that she did not know it for his, and he had
concealed himself so well that, though she peered about all round
her, she could see no one. As soon as she had turned the corner
the Shifty Lad came out, and by running very fast through the
wood he contrived to reach home before his mother, who found him
stretched out comfortably before the fire.

'Well, have you got any news to tell me?' asked he.

'No, nothing; for I left the church at once, and did not stop to
speak to anyone.'

'Oh, then no one has mentioned a trade to you?' he said in tones
of disappointment.

'Ye--es,' she replied slowly. 'At least, as I walked down the
path a voice cried out "Robbery! Robbery! Robbery!" but that was
all.'

'And quite enough too,' answered the boy. 'What did I tell you?
That is going to be my trade.'

'Then your end will be hanging at the bridge of Dublin,' said
she. But there was no sleep for her that night, for she lay in
the dark thinking about her son.

 'If he is to be a thief at all, he had better be a good one. And
who is there that can teach him?' the mother asked herself. But
an idea came to her, and she arose early, before the sun was up,
and set off for the home of the Black Rogue, or Gallows Bird, who
was such a wonderful thief that, though all had been robbed by
him, no one could catch him.

'Good-morning to you,' said the woman as she reached the place
where the Black Gallows Bird lived when he was not away on his
business. 'My son has a fancy to learn your trade. Will you be
kind enough to teach him?'

'If he is clever, I don't mind trying,' answered the Black
Gallows Bird; 'and, of course, if ANY one can turn him into a
first-rate thief, it is I. But if he is stupid, it is of no use
at all; I can't bear stupid people.'

'No, he isn't stupid,' said the woman with a sigh. 'So to-night,
after dark, I will send him to you.'

The Shifty Lad jumped for joy when his mother told him where she
had been.

'I will become the best thief in all Erin!' he cried, and paid no
heed when his mother shook her head and murmured something about
'the bridge of Dublin.'

 Every evening after dark the Shifty Lad went to the home of the
Black Gallows Bird, and many were the new tricks he learned. By-
and-by he was allowed to go out with the Bird and watch him at
work, and at last there came a day when his master though that he
had grown clever enough to help in a big robbery.

'There is a rich farmer up there on the hill, who has just sold
all his fat cattle for much money and has bought some lean ones
which will cost him little. Now it happens that, while he has
received the money for the fat cattle, he has not yet paid the
price of the thin ones, which he has in the cowhouse. To-morrow
he will go to the market with the money in his hand, so to-night
we must get at the chest. When all is quiet we will hide in the
loft.'

There was no moon, and it was the night of Hallowe'en, and
everyone was burning nuts and catching apples in a tub of water
with their hands tied, and playing all sorts of other games, till
the Shifty Lad grew quite tired of waiting for them to get to
bed. The Black Gallows Bird, who was more accustomed to the
business, tucked himself up on the hay and went to sleep, telling
the boy to wake him when the merry-makers had departed. But the
Shifty Lad, who could keep still no longer, crept down to the
cowshed and loosened the heads of the cattle which were tied, and
they began to kick each other and bellow, and made such a noise
that the company in the farmhouse ran out to tie them up again.
Then the Shifty Lad entered the room and picked up a big handful
of nuts, and returned to the loft, where the Black Rogue was
still sleeping. At first the Shifty Lad shut his eyes too, but
very soon he sat up, and taking a big needle and thread from his
pocket, he sewed the hem of the Black Gallows Bird's coat to a
heavy piece of bullock's hide that was hanging at his back.

By this time the cattle were all tied up again, but as the people
could not find their nuts they sat round the fire and began to
tell stories.

'I will crack a nut,' said the Shifty Lad.

'You shall not,' cried the Black Gallows Bird; 'they will hear
you.'

'I don't care,' answered the Shifty Lad. 'I never spend
Hallowe'en yet without cracking a nut'; and he cracked one.

 'Some one is cracking nuts up there,' said one of the merry-
makers in the farmhouse. 'Come quickly, and we will see who it
is.'

He spoke loudly, and the Black Gallows Bird heard, and ran out of
the loft, dragging the big leather hide after him which the
Shifty Lad had sewed to his coat.

'He is stealing my hide!' shouted the farmer, and they all darted
after him; but he was too swift for them, and at last he managed
to tear the hide from his coat, and then he flew like a hare till
he reached his old hiding-place. But all this took a long time,
and meanwhile the Shifty Lad got down from the loft, and searched
the house till he found the chest with the gold and silver in it,
concealed behind a load of straw and covered with loaves of bread
and a great cheese. The Shifty Lad slung the money bags round his
shoulders and took the bread and the cheese under his arm, then
set out quietly for the Black Rogue's house.

'Here you are at last, you villain!' cried his master in great
wrath. 'But I will be revenged on you.'

'It is all right,' replied the Shifty Lad calmly. 'I have brought
what you wanted'; and he laid the things he was carrying down on
the ground.

'Ah! you are the better thief,' said the Black Rogue's wife; and
the Black Rogue added:

'Yes, it is you who are the clever boy'; and they divided the
spoil and the Black Gallows Bird had one half and the Shifty Lad
the other half.

 A few weeks after that the Black Gallows Bird had news of a
wedding that was to be held near the town; and the bridegroom had
many friends and everybody sent him a present. Now a rich farmer
who lived up near the moor thought that nothing was so useful to
a young couple when they first began to keep house as a fine fat
sheep, so he bade his shepherd go off to the mountain where the
flock were feeding, and bring him back the best he could find.
And the shepherd chose out the largest and fattest of the sheep
and the one with the whitest fleece; then he tied its feet
together and put it across his shoulder, for he had a long way to
go.

That day, the Shifty Lad happened to be wandering over the moor,
when he saw the man with the sheep on his shoulder walking along
the road which led past the Black Rogue's house. The sheep was
heavy and the man was in no hurry, so he came slowly and the boy
knew that he himself could easily get back to his master before
the shepherd was even in sight.

'I will wager,' he cried, as he pushed quickly through the bushes
which hid the cabin--'I will wager that I will steal the sheep
from the man that is coming before he passes here.'

'Will you indeed?' said the Gallows Bird. 'I will wager you a
hundred silver pieces that you can do nothing of the sort.'

'Well, I will try it, anyway,' replied the boy, and disappeared
in the bushes. He ran fast till he entered a wood through which
the shepherd must go, and then he stopped, and taking off one of
his shoes smeared it with mud and set it in the path. When this
was done he slipped behind a rock and waited.

Very soon the man came up, and seeing the shoe lying there, he
stooped and looked at it.

'It is a good shoe,' he said to himself, 'but very dirty. Still,
if I had the fellow, I would be at the trouble of cleaning it';
so he threw the shoe down again and went on.

The Shifty Lad smiled as he heard him, and, picking up the shoe,
he crept round by a short way and laid the other shoe on the
path. A few minutes after the shepherd arrived, and beheld the
second shoe lying on the path.

'Why, that is the fellow of the dirty shoe!' he exclaimed when he
saw it. 'I will go back and pick up the other one, and then I
shall have a pair of good shoes,' and he put the sheep on the
grass and returned to fetch the shoe. Then the Shifty Lad put on
his shoes, and, picking up the sheep, carried it home. And the
Black Rogue paid him the hundred marks of his wager.

When the shepherd reached the farmhouse that night he told his
tale to his master, who scolded him for being stupid and
careless, and bade him go the next day to the mountain and fetch
him a kid, and he would send that as a wedding gift. But the
Shifty Lad was on the look-out, and hid himself in the wood, and
the moment the man drew near with the kid on his shoulders began
to bleat like a sheep, and no one, not even the sheep's own
mother, could have told the difference.

'Why, it must have got its feet loose, and have strayed after
all,' thought the man; and he put the kid on the grass and
hurried off in the direction of the bleating. Then the boy ran
back and picked up the kid, and took it to the Black Gallows
Bird.

The shepherd could hardly believe his eyes when he returned from
seeking the sheep and found that the kid had vanished. He was
afraid to go home and tell the same tale that he had told
yesterday; so he searched the wood through and through till night
was nearly come. Then he felt that there was no help for it, and
he must go home and confess to his master.

Of course, the farmer was very angry at this second misfortune;
but this time he told him to drive one of the big bulls from the
mountain, and warned him that if he lost THAT he would lose his
place also. Again the Shifty Lad, who was on the watch, perceived
him pass by, and when he saw the man returning with the great
bull he cried to the Black Rogue:

'Be quick and come into the wood, and we will try to get the bull
also.'

'But how can we do that?' asked the Black Rogue.

'Oh, quite easily! You hide yourself out there and baa like a
sheep, and I will go in the other direction and bleat like a kid.
It will be all right, I assure you.'

 The shepherd was walking slowly, driving the bull before him,
when he suddenly heard a loud baa amongst the bushes far away on
one side of the path, and a feeble bleat answering it from the
other side.

'Why, it must be the sheep and the kid that I lost,' said he.
'Yes, surely it must'; and tying the bull hastily to a tree, he
went off after the sheep and the kid, and searched the wood till
he was tired. Of course by the time he came back the two thieves
had driven the bull home and killed him for meat, so the man was
obliged to go to his master and confess that he had been tricked
again.

After this the Black Rogue and the Shifty Lad grew bolder and
bolder, and stole great quantities of cattle and sold them and
grew quite rich. One day they were returning from the market with
a large sum of money in their pockets when they passed a gallows
erected on the top of a hill.

'Let us stop and look at that gallows,' exclaimed the Shifty Lad.
'I have never seen one so close before. Yet some say that it is
the end of all thieves.'

There was no one in sight, and they carefully examined every part
of it.

'I wonder how it feels to be hanged,' said the Shifty Lad. 'I
should like to know, in case they ever catch me. I'll try first,
and then you can do so.'

As he spoke he fastened the loose cord about his neck, and when
it was quite secure he told the Black Rogue to take the other end
of the rope and draw him up from the ground.

'When I am tired of it I will shake my legs, and then you must
let me down,' said he.

The Black Rogue drew up the rope, but in half a minute the Shifty
Lad's legs began to shake, and he quickly let it down again.

'You can't imagine what a funny feeling hanging gives you,'
murmured the Shifty Lad, who looked rather purple in the face and
spoke in an odd voice. 'I don't think you have every tried it, or
you wouldn't have let me go up first. Why, it is the pleasantest
thing I have ever done. I was shaking my legs from sheer delight,
and if you had been there you would have shaken your legs too.'

'Well, let me try, if it is so nice,' answered the Black Rogue.
'But be sure you tie the knot securely, for I don't want to fall
down and break my neck.'

'Oh, I will see to that!' replied the Shifty Lad. 'When you are
tired, just whistle, and I'll let you down.'

So the Black Rogue was drawn up, and as soon as he was as high as
the rope would allow him to go the Shifty Lad called to him:

'Don't forest to whistle when you want to come down; but if you
are enjoying yourself as I did, shake your legs.'

And in a moment the Black Rogue's legs began to shake and to
kick, and the Shifty Lad stood below, watching him and laughing
heartily.

'Oh, how funny you are! If you could only see yourself! Oh, you
ARE funny! But when you have had enough, whistle and you shall be
let down'; and he rocked again with laughter.

But no whistle came, and soon the legs ceased to shake and to
kick, for the Black Gallows Bird was dead, as the Shifty Lad
intended he should be.

Then he went home to the Black Rogue's wife, and told her that
her husband was dead, and that he was ready to marry her if she
liked. But the woman had been fond of the Black Rogue, thief
though he was, and she shrank from the Shifty Lad in horror, and
set the people after him, and he had to fly to another part of
the country where none knew of his doings.

 Perhaps if the Shifty Lad's mother knew anything of this, she
may have thought that by this time her son might be tired of
stealing, and ready to try some honest trade. But in reality he
loved the tricks and danger, and life would have seemed very dull
without them. So he went on just as before, and made friends whom
he taught to be as wicked as himself, till they took to robbing
the king's storehouses, and by the advice of the Wise Man the
king sent out soldiers to catch the band of thieves.

For a long while they tried in vain to lay hands on them. The
Shifty Lad was too clever for them all, and if they laid traps he
laid better ones. At last one night he stole upon some soldiers
while they were asleep in a barn and killed them, and persuaded
the villagers that if THEY did not kill the other soldiers before
morning they would certainly be killed themselves. Thus it
happened that when the sun rose not a single soldier was alive in
the village.

Of course this news soon reached the king's ears, and he was very
angry, and summoned the Wise Man to take counsel with him. And
this was the counsel of the Wise Man--that he should invite all
the people in the countryside to a ball, and among them the bold
and impudent thief would be sure to come, and would be sure to
ask the king's daughter to dance with him.

'Your counsel is good,' said the king, who made his feast and
prepared for his ball; and all the people of the countryside were
present, and the Shifty Lad came with them.

When everyone had eaten and drunk as much as they wanted they
went into the ballroom. There was a great throng, and while they
were pressing through the doorway the Wise Man, who had a bottle
of black ointment hidden in his robes, placed a tiny dot on the
cheek of the Shifty Lad near his ear. The Shifty Lad felt
nothing, but as he approached the king's daughter to ask her to
be his partner he caught sight of the black dot in a silver
mirror. Instantly he guessed who had put it there and why, but he
said nothing, and danced so beautifully that the princess was
quite delighted with him. At the end of the dance he bowed low to
his partner and left her, to mingle with the crowd that was
filling the doorway. As he passed the Wise Man he contrived not
only to steal the bottle but to place two black dots on his face,
and one on the faces of twenty other men. Then he slipped the
bottle back in the Wise Man's robe.

By-and-by he went up to the king's daughter again, and begged for
the honour of another dance. She consented, and while he was
stooping to tie the ribbons on his shoe she took out from her
pocket another bottle, which the Wizard had given her, and put a
black dot on his cheek. But she was not as skilful as the Wise
Man, and the Shifty Lad felt the touch of her fingers; so as soon
as the dance was over he contrived to place a second black dot on
the faces of the twenty men and two more on the Wizard, after
which he slipped the bottle into her pocket.

 At length the ball came to an end, and then the king ordered all
the doors to be shut, and search made for a man with two black
dots on his cheek. The chamberlain went among the guests, and
soon found such a man, but just as he was going to arrest him and
bring him before the king his eye fell on another with the same
mark, and another, and another, till he had counted twenty--
besides the Wise Man--on whose face were found spots.

Not knowing what to do, the chamberlain hurried back with his
tale to the king, who immediately sent for the Wise Man, and then
for his daughter.

'The thief must have stolen your bottle,' said the king to the
Wizard.

'No, my lord, it is here,' answered the Wise Man, holding it out.

'Then he must have got yours,' he cried, turning to his daughter.

'Indeed, father, it is safe in my pocket,' replied she, taking it
out as she spoke; and they all three looked at each other and
remained silent.

'Well,' said the king at last, 'the man who has done this is
cleverer than most men, and if he will make himself known to me
he shall marry the princess and govern half my kingdom while I am
alive, and the whole of it when I am dead. Go and announce this
in the ballroom,' he added to an attendant, 'and bring the fellow
hither.'

So the attendant went into the ballroom and did as the king had
bidden him, when, to his surprise, not one man, but twenty,
stepped forward, all with black dots on their faces.

'I am the person you want,' they all exclaimed at once, and the
attendant, as much bewildered as the chamberlain had been,
desired them to follow him into the king's presence.

But the question was too difficult for the king to decide, so he
called together his council. For hours they talked, but to no
purpose, and in the end they hit upon a plan which they might
just as well have thought of at the beginning.

And this was the plan. A child was to be brought to the palace,
and next the king's daughter would give her an apple. Then the
child was to take the apple and be led into a room where the
twenty men with the black dots were sitting in a ring. And to
whomsoever the child gave the apple, that man should marry the
king's daughter.

'Of course,' said the king, 'it may not be the right man, after
all, but then again it MAY be. Anyhow, it is the best we can do.'

The princess herself led the child into the room where the twenty
men were now seated. She stood in the centre of the ring for a
moment, looking at one man after another, and then held out the
apple to the Shifty Lad, who was twisting a shaving of wood round
his finger, and had the mouthpiece of a bagpipe hanging from his
neck.

'You ought not to have anything which the others have not got,'
said the chamberlain, who had accompanied the princess; and he
bade the child stand outside for a minute, while he took away the
shaving and the mouthpiece, and made the Shifty Lad change his
place. Then he called the child in, but the little girl knew him
again, and went straight up to him with the apple.

'This is the man whom the child has twice chosen,' said the
chamberlain, signing to the Shifty Lad to kneel before the king.
'It was all quite fair; we tried it twice over.' In this way the
Shifty Lad won the king's daughter, and they were married the
next day.

 A few days later the bride and bridegroom were taking a walk
together, and the path led down to the river, and over the river
was a bridge.

'And what bridge may this be?' asked the Shifty Lad; and the
princess told him that this was the bridge of Dublin.

'Is it indeed?' cried he. 'Well, now, many is the time that my
mother has said, when I played her a trick, that my end would be
that I should hang on the bridge of Dublin.'

'Oh, if you want to fulfil her prophecies,' laughed the princess,
'you have only to let me tie my handkerchief round your ankle,
and I will hold you as you hang over the wall of the bridge.'

'That would be fine fun,' said he; 'but you are not strong enough
to hold me up.'

'Oh, yes, I am,' said the princess; 'just try.' So at last he let
her bind the handkerchief round his ankle and hang him over the
wall, and they both laughed and jested at the strength of the
princess.

'Now pull me up again,' called he; but as he spoke a great cry
arose that the palace was burning. The princess turned round with
a start, and let go her handkerchief, and the Shifty Lad fell,
and struck his head on a stone, and died in an instant.

So his mother's prophecy had come true, after all.

West Highland Tales.






                 The False Prince and the True




The king had just awakened from his midday sleep, for it was
summer, and everyone rose early and rested from twelve to three,
as they do in hot countries. He had dressed himself in cool white
clothes, and was passing through the hall on his way to the
council chamber, when a number of young nobles suddenly appeared
before him, and one amongst them stepped forward and spoke.

'Sire, this morning we were all playing tennis in the court, the
prince and this gentleman with the rest, when there broke out
some dispute about the game. The prince lost his temper, and said
many insulting things to the other, who was playing against him,
till at length the gentleman whom you see there struck him
violently in the face, so that the blood ran from his mouth and
nose. We were all so horrified at the sight, that we should most
likely have killed the man then and there, for daring to lay
hands on the prince, had not his grandfather the duke stepped
between and commanded us to lay the affair before you.'

The king had listened attentively to the story, and when it was
ended he said:

'I suppose the prince had no arms with him, or else he would have
used them?'

'Yes, sire, he had arms; he always carries a dagger in his belt.
But when he saw the blood pouring from his face, he went to a
corner of the court and began to cry, which was the strangest
thing of all.'

On hearing this the king walked to the window and stood for a few
minutes with his back to the room, where the company of young men
remained silent. Then he came back, his face white and stern.

'I tell you,' he said, 'and it is the solemn truth, that I would
rather you had told me that the prince was dead, though he is my
only son, than know that he would suffer such an injury without
attempting to avenge it. As for the gentleman who struck him, he
will be brought before my judges, and will plead his own cause,
but I hardly think he can escape death, after having assaulted
the heir to the crown.'

The young man raised his head as if to reply, but the king would
not listen, and commanded his guards to put him under arrest,
adding, however, that if the prisoner wished to visit any part of
the city, he was at liberty to do so properly guarded, and in
fifteen days he would be brought to trial before the highest
judges in the land.

The young man left the king's presence, surrounded by soldiers,
and accompanied by many of his friends, for he was a great
favourite. By their advice he spent the fourteen days that
remained to him going about to seek counsel from wise men of all
sorts, as to how he might escape death, but no one could help
him, for none could find any excuse for the blow he had given to
the prince.

The fourteenth night had come, and in despair the prisoner went
out to take his last walk through the city. He wandered on hardly
knowing where he went, and his face was so white and desperate
that none of his companions dared speak to him. The sad little
procession had passed some hours in this manner, when, near the
gate of a monastery, an old woman appeared round a corner, and
suddenly stood before the young man. She was bent almost double,
and was so wizened and wrinkled that she looked at least ninety;
only her eyes were bright and quick as those of a girl.

'Sir,' she said, 'I know all that has happened to you, and how
you are seeking if in any wise you can save your life. But there
is none that can answer that question save only I myself, if you
will promise to do all I ask.'

At her words the prisoner felt as if a load had all at once been
rolled off him.

'Oh, save me, and I will do anything!' he cried. 'It is so hard
to leave the world and go out into the darkness.'

'You will not need to do that,' answered the old woman, 'you have
only got to marry me, and you will soon be free.'

'Marry you?' exclaimed he, 'but--but--I am not yet twenty, and
you --why, you must be a hundred at least! Oh, no, it is quite
impossible.'

He spoke without thinking, but the flash of anger which darted
from her eyes made him feel uncomfortable. However, all she said
was:

'As you like; since you reject me, let the crows have you,' and
hurried away down the street.

Left to himself, the full horror of his coming death rushed upon
the young man, and he understood that he had thrown away his sole
chance of life. Well, if he must, he must, he said to himself,
and began to run as fast as he could after the old crone, who by
this time could scarcely be seen, even in the moonlight. Who
would have believed a woman past ninety could walk with such
speed? It seemed more like flying! But at length, breathless and
exhausted, he reached her side, and gasped out:

'Madam, pardon me for my hasty words just now; I was wrong, and
will thankfully accept the offer you made me.'

'Ah, I thought you would come to your senses,' answered she, in
rather an odd voice. 'We have no time to lose--follow me at
once,' and they went on silently and swiftly till they stopped at
the door of a small house in which the priest lived. Before him
the old woman bade the prisoner swear that she should be his
wife, and this he did in the presence of witnesses. Then, begging
the priest and the guards to leave them alone for a little, she
told the young man what he was to do, when the next morning he
was brought before the king and the judges.

The hall was full to overflowing when the prisoner entered it,
and all marvelled at the brightness of his face. The king
inquired if he had any excuse to plead for the high treason he
had committed by striking the heir to the throne, and, if so, to
be quick in setting it forth. With a low bow the youth made
answer in a clear voice:

'O my lord and gracious king, and you, nobles and wise men of the
land, I leave my cause without fear in your hands, knowing that
you will listen and judge rightly, and that you will suffer me to
speak to the end, before you give judgment.

'For four years, you, O king, had been married to the queen and
yet had no children, which grieved you greatly. The queen saw
this, and likewise that your love was going from her, and thought
night and day of some plan that might put an end to this evil. At
length, when you were away fighting in distant countries, she
decided what she would do, and adopted in secret the baby of a
poor quarryman, sending a messenger to tell you that you had a
son. No one suspected the truth except a priest to whom the queen
confessed the truth, and in a few weeks she fell ill and died,
leaving the baby to be brought up as became a prince. And now, if
your highness will permit me, I will speak of myself.'

'What you have already told me,' answered the king, 'is so
strange that I cannot imagine what more there is to tell, but go
on with your story.'

'One day, shortly after the death of the queen,' continued the
young man, 'your highness was hunting, and outstripped all your
attendants while chasing the deer. You were in a part of the
country which you did not know, so seeing an orchard all pink and
white with apple-blossoms, and a girl tossing a ball in one
corner, you went up to her to ask your way. But when she turned
to answer you, you were so struck with her beauty that all else
fled from your mind. Again and again you rode back to see her,
and at length persuaded her to marry you. She only thought you a
poor knight, and agreed that as you wished it, the marriage
should be kept secret.

'After the ceremony you gave her three rings and a charm with a
cross on it, and then put her in a cottage in the forest,
thinking to hide the matter securely.

'For some months you visited the cottage every week; but a
rebellion broke out in a distant part of the kingdom, and called
for your presence. When next you rode up to the cottage, it was
empty, and none could inform you whither your bride had gone.
That, sire, I can now tell you,' and the young man paused and
looked at the king, who coloured deeply. 'She went back to her
father the old duke, once your chamberlain, and the cross on her
breast revealed at once who you were. Fierce was his anger when
he heard his daughter's tale, and he vowed that he would hide her
safely from you, till the day when you would claim her publicly
as your queen.

'By and bye I was born, and was brought up by my grandfather in
one of his great houses. Here are the rings you gave to my
mother, and here is the cross, and these will prove if I am your
son or not.'

As he spoke the young man laid the jewels at the feet of the
king, and the nobles and the judges pressed round to examine
them. The king alone did not move from his seat, for he had
forgotten the hall of justice and all about him, and saw only the
apple-orchard, as it was twenty years ago, and the beautiful girl
playing at ball. A sudden silence round him made him look up, and
he found the eyes of the assembly fixed on him.

'It is true; it is he who is my son, and not the other,' he said
with an effort, 'and let every man present swear to acknowledge
him as king, after my death.'

Therefore one by one they all knelt before him and took the oath,
and a message was sent to the false prince, forbidding him ever
again to appear at court, though a handsome pension was granted
him.

At last the ceremony was over, and the king, signing to his newly
found son to follow him, rose and went into another room.

'Tell me how you knew all that,' he said, throwing himself into a
carved chair filled with crimson cushions, and the prince told of
his meeting with the old woman who had brought him the jewels
from his mother, and how he had sworn before a priest to marry
her, though he did not want to do it, on account of the
difference in their ages, and besides, he would rather receive a
bride chosen by the king himself. But the king frowned, and
answered sharply:

'You swore to marry her if she saved your life, and, come what
may, you must fulfil your promise.' Then, striking a silver
shield that hung close by, he said to the equerry who appeared
immediately:

'Go and seek the priest who lives near the door of the prison,
and ask him where you can find the old woman who visited him last
night; and when you have found her, bring her to the palace.'

It took some time to discover the whereabouts of the old woman,
but at length it was accomplished, and when she arrived at the
palace with the equerry, she was received with royal honours, as
became the bride of the prince. The guards looked at each other
with astonished eyes, as the wizened creature, bowed with age,
passed between their lines; but they were more amazed still at
the lightness of her step as she skipped up the steps to the
great door before which the king was standing, with the prince at
his side. If they both felt a shock at the appearance of the aged
lady they did not show it, and the king, with a grave bow, took
her band, and led her to the chapel, where a bishop was waiting
to perform the marriage ceremony.

For the next few weeks little was seen of the prince, who spent
all his days in hunting, and trying to forget the old wife at
home. As for the princess, no one troubled himself about her, and
she passed the days alone in her apartments, for she had
absolutely declined the services of the ladies-in-waiting whom
the king had appointed for her.

One night the prince returned after a longer chase than usual,
and he was so tired that he went up straight to bed. Suddenly he
was awakened by a strange noise in the room, and suspecting that
a robber might have stolen in, he jumped out of bed, and seized
his sword, which lay ready to his hand. Then he perceived that
the noise proceeded from the next room, which belonged to the
princess, and was lighted by a burning torch. Creeping softly to
the door, he peeped through it, and beheld her lying quietly,
with a crown of gold and pearls upon her head, her wrinkles all
gone, and her face, which was whiter than the snow, as fresh as
that of a girl of fourteen. Could that really be his wife--that
beautiful, beautiful creature?

The prince was still gazing in surprise when the lady opened her
eyes and smiled at him.

'Yes, I really am your wife,' she said, as if she had guessed his
thoughts, 'and the enchantment is ended. Now I must tell you who
I am, and what befell to cause me to take the shape of an old
woman.

'The king of Granada is my father, and I was born in the palace
which overlooks the plain of the Vega. I was only a few months
old when a wicked fairy, who had a spite against my parents, cast
a spell over me, bending my back and wrinkling my skin till I
looked as if I was a hundred years old, and making me such an
object of disgust to everyone, that at length the king ordered my
nurse to take my away from the palace. She was the only person
who cared about me, and we lived together in this city on a small
pension allowed me by the king.

'When I was about three an old man arrived at our house, and
begged my nurse to let him come in and rest, as he could walk no
longer. She saw that he was very ill, so put him to bed and took
such care of him that by and bye he was as strong as ever. In
gratitude for her goodness to him, he told her that he was a
wizard and could give her anything she chose to ask for, except
life or death, so she answered that what she longed for most in
the world was that my wrinkled skin should disappear, and that I
should regain the beauty with which I was born. To this he
replied that as my misfortune resulted from a spell, this was
rather difficult, but he would do his best, and at any rate he
could promise that before my fifteenth birthday I should be freed
from the enchantment if I could get a man who would swear to
marry me as I was.

'As you may suppose, this was not easy, as my ugliness was such
that no one would look at me a second time. My nurse and I were
almost in despair, as my fifteenth birthday was drawing near, and
I had never so much as spoken to a man. At last we received a
visit from the wizard, who told us what had happened at court,
and your story, bidding me to put myself in your way when you had
lost all hope, and offer to save you if you would consent to
marry me.

'That is my history, and now you must beg the king to send
messengers at once to Granada, to inform my father of our
marriage, and I think,' she added with a smile, 'that he will not
refuse us his blessing.'

Adapted from the Portuguese.






                     The Jogi's Punishment




Once upon a time there came to the ancient city of Rahmatabad a
jogi[FN#1: A Hindu holy man.] of holy appearance, who took up
his abode under a tree outside the city, where he would sit for
days at a time fasting from food and drink, motionless except for
the fingers that turned restlessly his string of beads. The fame
of such holiness as this soon spread, and daily the citizens
would flock to see him, eager to get his blessing, to watch his
devotions, or to hear his teaching, if he were in the mood to
speak. Very soon the rajah himself heard of the jogi, and began
regularly to visit him to seek his counsel and to ask his prayers
that a son might be vouchsafed to him. Days passed by, and at
last the rajah became so possessed with the thought of the holy
man that he determined if possible to get him all to himself. So
he built in the neighbourhood a little shrine, with a room or two
added to it, and a small courtyard closely walled up; and, when
all was ready, besought the jogi to occupy it, and to receive no
other visitors except himself and his queen and such pupils as
the jogi might choose, who would hand down his teaching. To this
the jogi consented; and thus he lived for some time upon the
king's bounty, whilst the fame of his godliness grew day by day.

Now, although the rajah of Rahmatabad had no son, he possessed a
daughter, who as she grew up became the most beautiful creature
that eye ever rested upon. Her father had long before betrothed
her to the son of the neighbouring rajah of Dilaram, but as yet
she had not been married to him, and lived the quiet life proper
to a maiden of her beauty and position. The princess had of
course heard of the holy man and of his miracles and his fasting,
and she was filled with curiosity to see and to speak to him; but
this was difficult, since she was not allowed to go out except
into the palace grounds, and then was always closely guarded.
However, at length she found an opportunity, and made her way one
evening alone to the hermit's shrine.

Unhappily, the hermit was not really as holy as he seemed; for no
sooner did he see the princess than he fell in love with her
wonderful beauty, and began to plot in his heart how he could win
her for his wife. But the maiden was not only beautiful, she was
also shrewd; and as soon as she read in the glance of the jogi
the love that filled his soul, she sprang to her feet, and,
gathering her veil about her, ran from the place as fast as she
could. The jogi tried to follow, but he was no match for her; so,
beside himself with rage at finding that he could not overtake
her, he flung at her a lance, which wounded her in the leg. The
brave princess stooped for a second to pluck the lance out of the
wound, and then ran on until she found herself safe at home
again. There she bathed and bound up the wound secretly, and told
no one how naughty she had been, for she knew that her father
would punish her severely.

Next day, when the king went to visit the jogi, the holy man
would neither speak to nor look at him.

'What is the matter?' asked the king. 'Won't you speak to me to-
day?'

'I have nothing to say that you would care to hear,' answered the
jogi.

'Why?' said the king. 'Surely you know that I value all that you
say, whatever it may be.'

But still the jogi sat with his face turned away, and the more
the king pressed him the more silent and mysterious he became. At
last, after much persuasion, he said:

'Let me tell you, then, that there is in this city a creature
which, if you do not put an end to it, will kill every single
person in the place.'

The king, who was easily frightened, grew pale.

'What?' he gasped--'what is this dreadful thing? How am I to know
it and to catch it? Only counsel me and help me, and I will do
all that you advise.'

'Ah!' replied the jogi, 'it is indeed dreadful. It is in the
shape of a beautiful girl, but it is really an evil spirit. Last
evening it came to visit me, and when I looked upon it its beauty
faded into hideousness, its teeth became horrible fangs, its eyes
glared like coals of fire, great claws sprang from its slender
fingers, and were I not what I am it might have consumed me.'

The king could hardly speak from alarm, but at last he said:

'How am I to distinguish this awful thing when I see it?'

'Search,' said the jogi, 'for a lovely girl with a lance wound in
her leg, and when she is found secure her safely and come and
tell me, and I will advise you what to do next.'

Away hurried the king, and soon set all his soldiers scouring the
country for a girl with a lance wound in her left. For two days
the search went on, and then it was somehow discovered that the
only person with a lance wound in the leg was the princess
herself. The king, greatly agitated, went off to tell the jogi,
and to assure him that there must be some mistake. But of course
the jogi was prepared for this, and had his answer ready.

'She is not really your daughter, who was stolen away at her
birth, but an evil spirit that has taken her form,' said he
solemnly. 'You can do what you like, but if you don't take my
advice she will kill you all.' And so solemn he appeared, and so
unshaken in his confidence, that the king's wisdom was blinded,
and he declared that he would do whatever the jogi advised, and
believe whatever he said. So the jogi directed him to send him
secretly two carpenters; and when they arrived he set them to
make a great chest, so cunningly jointed and put together that
neither air nor water could penetrate it. There and then the
chest was made, and, when it was ready, the jogi bade the king to
bring the princess by night; and they two thrust the poor little
maiden into the chest and fastened it down with long nails, and
between them carried it to the river and pushed it out into the
stream.

As soon as the jogi got back from this deed he called two of his
pupils, and pretended that it had been revealed to him that there
should be found floating on the river a chest with something of
great price within it; and he bade them go and watch for it at
such a place far down the stream, and when the chest came slowly
along, bobbing and turning in the tide, they were to seize it and
secretly and swiftly bring it to him, for he was now determined
to put the princess to death himself. The pupils set off at once,
wondering at the strangeness of their errand, and still more at
the holiness of the jogi to whom such secrets were revealed.

It happened that, as the next morning was dawning, the gallant
young prince of Dilaram was hunting by the banks of the river,
with a great following of wazirs, attendants, and huntsmen, and
as he rode he saw floating on the river a large chest, which came
slowly along, bobbing and turning in the tide. Raising himself in
his saddle, he gave an order, and half a dozen men plunged into
the water and drew the chest out on to the river bank, where
every one crowded around to see what it could contain. The prince
was certainly not the least curious among them; but he was a
cautious young man, and, as he prepared to open the chest
himself, he bade all but a few stand back, and these few to draw
their swords, so as to be prepared in case the chest should hold
some evil beast, or djinn, or giant. When all were ready and
expectant, the prince with his dagger forced open the lid and
flung it back, and there lay, living and breathing, the most
lovely maiden he had ever seen in his life.

Although she was half stifled from her confinement in the chest,
the princess speedily revived, and, when she was able to sit up,
the prince began to question her as to who she was and how she
came to be shut up in the chest and set afloat upon the water;
and she, blushing and trembling to find herself in the presence
of so many strangers, told him that she was the princess of
Rahmatabad, and that she had been put into the chest by her own
father. When he on his part told her that he was the prince of
Dilaram, the astonishment of the young people was unbounded to
find that they, who had been betrothed without ever having seen
one another, should have actually met for the first time in such
strange circumstances. In fact, the prince was so moved by her
beauty and modest ways that he called up his wazirs and demanded
to be married at once to this lovely lady who had so completely
won his heart. And married they were then and there upon the
river bank, and went home to the prince's palace, where, when the
story was told, they were welcomed by the old rajah, the prince's
father, and the remainder of the day was given over to feasting
and rejoicing. But when the banquet was over, the bride told her
husband that now, on the threshold of their married life, she had
more to relate of her adventures than he had given her the
opportunity to tell as yet; and then, without hiding anything,
she informed him of all that happened to her from the time she
had stolen out to visit the wicked jogi.

In the morning the prince called his chief wazir and ordered him
to shut up in the chest in which the princess had been found a
great monkey that lived chained up in the palace, and to take the
chest back to the river and set it afloat once more and watch
what became of it. So the monkey was caught and put into the
chest, and some of the prince's servants took it down to the
river and pushed it off into the water. Then they followed
secretly a long way off to see what became of it.

Meanwhile the jogi's two pupils watched and watched for the chest
until they were nearly tired of watching, and were beginning to
wonder whether the jogi was right after all, when on the second
day they spied the great chest coming floating on the river,
slowly bobbing and turning in the tide; and instantly a great joy
and exultation seized them, for they thought that here indeed was
further proof of the wonderful wisdom of their master. With some
difficulty they secured the chest, and carried it back as swiftly
and secretly as possible to the jogi's house. As soon as they
brought in the chest, the jogi, who had been getting very cross
and impatient, told them to put it down, and to go outside whilst
he opened the magic chest.

'And even if you hear cries and sounds, however alarming, you
must on no account enter,' said the jogi, walking over to a
closet where lay the silken cord that was to strangle the
princess.

And the two pupils did as they were told, and went outside and
shut close all the doors. Presently they heard a great outcry
within and the jogi's voice crying aloud for help; but they dared
not enter, for had they not been told that whatever the noise,
they must not come in? So they sat outside, waiting and
wondering; and at last all grew still and quiet, and remained so
for such a long time that they determined to enter and see if all
was well. No sooner had they opened the door leading into the
courtyard than they were nearly upset by a huge monkey that came
leaping straight to the doorway and escaped past them into the
open fields. Then they stepped into the room, and there they saw
the jogi's body lying torn to pieces on the threshold of his
dwelling!

Very soon the story spread, as stories will, and reached the ears
of the princess and her husband, and when she knew that her enemy
was dead she made her peace with her father.

From Major Campbell, Feroshepore.






                     The Heart of a Monkey




A long time ago a little town made up of a collection of low huts
stood in a tiny green valley at the foot of a cliff. Of course
the people had taken great care to build their houses out of
reach of the highest tide which might be driven on shore by a
west wind, but on the very edge of the town there had sprung up a
tree so large that half its boughs hung over the huts and the
other half over the deep sea right under the cliff, where sharks
loved to come and splash in the clear water. The branches of the
tree itself were laden with fruit, and every day at sunrise a big
grey monkey might have been seen sitting in the topmost branches
having his breakfast, and chattering to himself with delight.

After he had eaten all the fruit on the town side of the tree the
monkey swung himself along the branches to the part which hung
over the water. While he was looking out for a nice shady place
where he might perch comfortably he noticed a shark watching him
from below with greedy eyes.

'Can I do anything for you, my friend?' asked the monkey
politely.

'Oh! if you only would thrown me down some of those delicious
things, I should be so grateful,' answered the shark. 'After you
have lived on fish for fifty years you begin to feel you would
like a change. And I am so very, very tired of the taste of
salt.'

'Well, I don't like salt myself,' said the monkey; 'so if you
will open your mouth I will throw this beautiful juicy kuyu into
it,' and, as he spoke, he pulled one off the branch just over his
head. But it was not so easy to hit the shark's mouth as he
supposed, even when the creature had turned on his back, and the
first kuyu only struck one of his teeth and rolled into the
water. However, the second time the monkey had better luck, and
the fruit fell right in.

'Ah, how good!' cried the shark. 'Send me another, please.' And
the monkey grew tired of picking the kuyu long before the shark
was tired of eating them.

'It is getting late, and I must be going home to my children,' he
said, at length, 'but if you are here at the same time to-morrow
I will give you another treat.'

'Thank you, thank you,' said the shark, showing all his great
ugly teeth as he grinned with delight; 'you can't guess how happy
you have made me,' and he swam away into the shadow, hoping to
sleep away the time till the monkey came again.

For weeks the monkey and the shark breakfasted together, and it
was a wonder that the tree had any fruit left for them. They
became fast friends, and told each other about their homes and
their children, and how to teach them all they ought to know. By
and bye the monkey became rather discontented with his green
house in a grove of palms beyond the town, and longed to see the
strange things under the sea which he had heard of from the
shark. The shark perceived this very clearly, and described
greater marvels, and the monkey as he listened grew more and more
gloomy.

Matters were in this state when one day the shark said: 'I really
hardly know how to thank you for all your kindness to me during
these weeks. Here I have nothing of my own to offer you, but if
you would only consent to come home with me, how gladly would I
give you anything that might happen to take your fancy.'

'I should like nothing better,' cried the monkey, his teeth
chattering, as they always did when he was pleased. 'But how
could I get there? Not by water. Ugh! It makes me ill to think of
it!'

'Oh! don't let that trouble you,' replied the shark, 'you have
only to sit on my back and I will undertake that not a drop of
water shall touch you.'

So it was arranged, and directly after breakfast next morning the
shark swam close up under the tree and the monkey dropped neatly
on his back, without even a splash. After a few minutes--for at
first he felt a little frightened at his strange position--the
monkey began to enjoy himself vastly, and asked the shark a
thousand questions about the fish and the sea-weeds and the
oddly-shaped things that floated past them, and as the shark
always gave him some sort of answer, the monkey never guessed
that many of the objects they saw were as new to his guide as to
himself.

The sun had risen and set six times when the shark suddenly said,
'My friend, we have now performed half our journey, and it is
time that I should tell you something.'

'What is it?' asked the monkey. 'Nothing unpleasant, I hope, for
you sound rather grave?'

'Oh, no! Nothing at all. It is only that shortly before we left I
heard that the sultan of my country is very ill, and that the
only thing to cure him is a monkey's heart.'

'Poor man, I am very sorry for him,' replied the monkey; 'but you
were unwise not to tell me till we had started.'

'What do you mean?' asked the shark; but the monkey, who now
understood the whole plot, did not answer at once, for he was
considering what he should say.

'Why are you so silent?' inquired the shark again.

'I was thinking what a pity it was you did not tell me while I
was still on land, and then I would have brought my heart with
me.'

'Your heart! Why isn't your heart here?' said the shark, with a
puzzled expression.

'Oh, no! Of course not. Is it possible you don't know that when
we leave home we always hang up our hearts on trees, to prevent
their being troublesome? However, perhaps you won't believe that,
and will just think I have invented it because I am afraid, so
let us go on to your country as fast as we can, and when we
arrive you can look for my heart, and if you find it you can kill
me.'

The monkey spoke in such a calm, indifferent way that the shark
was quite deceived, and began to wish he had not been in such a
hurry.

'But there is no use going on if your heart is not with you,' he
said at last. 'We had better turn back to the town, and then you
can fetch it.'

Of course, this was just what the monkey wanted, but he was
careful not to seem too pleased.

'Well, I don't know,' he remarked carelessly, 'it is such a long
way; but you may be right.'

'I am sure I am,' answered the shark, 'and I will swim as quickly
as I can,' and so he did, and in three days they caught sight of
the kuyu tree hanging over the water.

With a sigh of relief the monkey caught hold of the nearest
branch and swung himself up.

'Wait for me here,' he called out to the shark. 'I am so hungry I
must have a little breakfast, and then I will go and look for my
heart,' and he went further and further into the branches so that
the shark could not see him. Then he curled himself up and went
to sleep.

'Are you there?' cried the shark, who was soon tired of swimming
about under the cliff, and was in haste to be gone.

The monkey awoke with a start, but did not answer.

'Are you there?' called the shark again, louder than before, and
in a very cross voice.

'Oh, yes. I am here,' replied the monkey; 'but I wish you had not
wakened me up. I was having such a nice nap.'

'Have you got it?' asked the shark. 'It is time we were going.'

'Going where?' inquired the monkey.

'Why, to my country, of course, with your heart. You CAN'T have
forgotten!'

'My dear friend,' answered the monkey, with a chuckle, 'I think
you must be going a little mad. Do you take me for a washerman's
donkey?'

'Don't talk nonsense,' exclaimed the shark, who did not like
being laughed at. 'What do you mean about a washerman's donkey?
And I wish you would be quick, or we may be too late to save the
sultan.'

'Did you really never hear of the washerman's donkey?' asked the
monkey, who was enjoying himself immensely. 'Why, he is the beast
who has no heart. And as I am not feeling very well, and am
afraid to start while the sun is so high lest I should get a
sunstroke, if you like, I will come a little nearer and tell you
his story.'

'Very well,' said the shark sulkily, 'if you won't come, I
suppose I may as well listen to that as do nothing.'

So the monkey began.

'A washerman once lived in the great forest on the other side of
the town, and he had a donkey to keep him company and to carry
him wherever he wanted to go. For a time they got on very well,
but by and bye the donkey grew lazy and ungrateful for her
master's kindness, and ran away several miles into the heart of
the forest, where she did nothing but eat and eat and eat, till
she grew so fat she could hardly move.

'One day as she was tasting quite a new kind of grass and
wondering if it was as good as what she had had for dinner the
day before, a hare happened to pass by.

'"Well, that is a fat creature," thought she, and turned out of
her path to tell the news to a lion who was a friend of hers. Now
the lion had been very ill, and was not strong enough to go
hunting for himself, and when the hare came and told him that a
very fat donkey was to be found only a few hundred yards off,
tears of disappointment and weakness filled his eyes.

'"What is the good of telling me that?" he asked, in a weepy
voice; "you know I cannot even walk as far as that palm."

'"Never mind," answered the hare briskly. "If you can't go to
your dinner your dinner shall come to you," and nodding a
farewell to the lion she went back to the donkey.

'"Good morning," said she, bowing politely to the donkey, who
lifted her head in surprise. "Excuse my interrupting you, but I
have come on very important business."

'"Indeed," answered the donkey, "it is most kind of you to take
the trouble. May I inquire what the business is?"

'"Certainly," replied the hare. "It is my friend the lion who has
heard so much of your charms and good qualities that he has sent
me to beg that you will give him your paw in marriage. He regrets
deeply that he is unable to make the request in person, but he
has been ill and is too weak to move."

'"Poor fellow! How sad!" said the donkey. "But you must tell him
that I feel honoured by his proposal, and will gladly consent to
be Queen of the Beasts."

'"Will you not come and tell him so yourself?" asked the hare.

'Side by side they went down the road which led to the lion's
house. It took a long while, for the donkey was so fat with
eating she could only walk very slowly, and the hare, who could
have run the distance in about five minutes, was obliged to creep
along till she almost dropped with fatigue at not being able to
go at her own pace. When at last they arrived the lion was
sitting up at the entrance, looking very pale and thin. The
donkey suddenly grew shy and hung her head, but the lion put on
his best manners and invited both his visitors to come in and
make themselves comfortable.

'Very soon the hare got up and said, "Well, as I have another
engagement I will leave you to make acquaintance with your future
husband," and winking at the lion she bounded away.

'The donkey expected that as soon as they were left alone the
lion would begin to speak of their marriage, and where they
should live, but as he said nothing she looked up. To her
surprise and terror she saw him crouching in the corner, his eyes
glaring with a red light, and with a loud roar he sprang towards
her. But in that moment the donkey had had time to prepare
herself, and jumping on one side dealt the lion such a hard kick
that he shrieked with the pain. Again and again he struck at her
with his claws, but the donkey could bite too, as well as the
lion, who was very weak after his illness, and at last a well-
planted kick knocked him right over, and he rolled on the floor,
groaning with pain. The donkey did not wait for him to get up,
but ran away as fast as she could and was lost in the forest.

'Now the hare, who knew quite well what would happen, had not
gone to do her business, but hid herself in some bushes behind
the cave, where she could hear quite clearly the sounds of the
battle. When all was quiet again she crept gently out, and stole
round the corner.

'"Well, lion, have you killed her?" asked she, running swiftly up
the path.

'"Killed her, indeed!" answered the lion sulkily, "it is she who
has nearly killed me. I never knew a donkey could kick like that,
though I took care she should carry away the marks of my claws."

'"Dear me! Fancy such a great fat creature being able to fight!"
cried the hare. "But don't vex yourself. Just lie still, and your
wounds will soon heal," and she bade her friend, good bye, and
returned to her family.

'Two or three weeks passed, and only bare places on the donkey's
back showed where the lion's claws had been, while, on his side,
the lion had recovered from his illness and was now as strong as
ever. He was beginning to think that it was almost time for him
to begin hunting again, when one morning a rustle was heard in
the creepers outside, and the hare's head peeped through.

'"Ah! there is no need to ask how you are," she said. "Still you
mustn't overtire yourself, you know. Shall I go and bring you
your dinner?"

'"If you will bring me that donkey I will tear it in two," cried
the lion savagely, and the hare laughed and nodded and went on
her errand.

'This time the donkey was much further than before, and it took
longer to find her. At last the hare caught sight of four hoofs
in the air, and ran towards them. The donkey was lying on a soft
cool bed of moss near a stream, rolling herself backwards and
forwards from pleasure.

'"Good morning," said the hare politely, and the donkey got
slowly on to her legs, and looked to see who her visitor could
be.

'"Oh, it is you, is it?" she exclaimed. "Come and have a chat.
What news have you got?"

'"I mustn't stay," answered the hare; "but I promised the lion to
beg you to pay him a visit, as he is not well enough to call on
you."

'"Well, I don't know," replied the donkey gloomily, "the last
time we went he scratched me very badly, and really I was quite
afraid."

'"He was only trying to kiss you," said the hare, "and you bit
him, and of course that made him cross."

'"If I were sure of that," hesitated the donkey.

'"Oh, you may be quite sure," laughed the hare. "I have a large
acquaintance among lions. But let us be quick," and rather
unwillingly the donkey set out.

'The lion saw them coming and hid himself behind a large tree. As
the donkey went past, followed by the hare, he sprang out, and
with one blow of his paw stretched the poor foolish creature dead
before him.

'"Take this meat and skin it and roast it," he said to the hare;
"but my appetite is not so good as it was, and the only part I
want for myself is the heart. The rest you can either eat
yourself or give away to your friends."

'"Thank you," replied the hare, balancing the donkey on her back
as well as she was able, and though the legs trailed along the
ground she managed to drag it to an open space some distance off,
where she made a fire and roasted it. As soon as it was cooked
the hare took out the heart and had just finished eating it when
the lion, who was tired of waiting, came up.

'"I am hungry," said he. "Bring me the creature's heart; it is
just what I want for supper."

'"But there is no heart," answered the hare, looking up at the
lion with a puzzled face.

'"What nonsense!" said the lion. "As if every beast had not got a
heart. What do you mean?"

'"This is a washerman's donkey," replied the hare gravely.

'"Well, and suppose it is?"

'"Oh, fie!" exclaimed the hare. "You, a lion and a grown-up
person, and ask questions like that. If the donkey had had a
heart would she be here now? The first time she came she knew you
were trying to kill her, and ran away. Yet she came back a second
time. Well, if she had had a heart would she have come back a
second time? Now would she?"

'And the lion answered slowly, "No, she would not."

'So you think I am a washerman's donkey?' said the monkey to the
shark, when the story was ended. 'You are wrong; I am not. And as
the sun is getting low in the sky, it is time for you to begin
your homeward journey. You will have a nice cool voyage, and I
hope you will find the sultan better. Farewell!' And the monkey
disappeared among the green branches, and was gone.

From 'Swahili Tales,' by Edward Steere, LL.D.






                        The Fairy Nurse




There was once a little farmer and his wife living near
Coolgarrow. They had three children, and my story happened while
the youngest was a baby. The wife was a good wife enough, but her
mind was all on her family and her farm, and she hardly ever went
to her knees without falling asleep, and she thought the time
spent in the chapel was twice as long as it need be. So, friends,
she let her man and her two children go before her one day to
Mass, while she called to consult a fairy man about a disorder
one of her cows had. She was late at the chapel, and was sorry
all the day after, for her husband was in grief about it, and she
was very fond of him.

Late that night he was wakened up by the cries of his children
calling out 'Mother! Mother!' When he sat up and rubbed his eyes,
there was no wife by his side, and when he asked the little ones
what was become of their mother, they said they saw the room full
of nice little men and women, dressed in white and red and green,
and their mother in the middle of them, going out by the door as
if she was walking in her sleep. Out he ran, and searched
everywhere round the house but, neither tale nor tidings did he
get of her for many a day.

Well, the poor man was miserable enough, for he was as fond of
his woman as she was of him. It used to bring the salt tears down
his cheeks to see his poor children neglected and dirty, as they
often were, and they'd be bad enough only for a kind neighbour
that used to look in whenever she could spare time. The infant
was away with a nurse.

About six weeks after--just as he was going out to his work one
morning--a neighbour, that used to mind women when they were ill,
came up to him, and kept step by step with him to the field, and
this is what she told him.

'Just as I was falling asleep last night, I heard a horse's tramp
on the grass and a knock at the door, and there, when I came out,
was a fine-looking dark man, mounted on a black horse, and he
told me to get ready in all haste, for a lady was in great want
of me. As soon as I put on my cloak and things, he took me by the
hand, and I was sitting behind him before I felt myself stirring.
"Where are we going, sir?" says I. "You'll soon know," says he;
and he drew his fingers across my eyes, and not a ray could I
see. I kept a tight grip of him, and I little knew whether he was
going backwards or forwards, or how long we were about it, till
my hand was taken again, and I felt the ground under me. The
fingers went the other way across my eyes, and there we were
before a castle door, and in we went through a big hall and great
rooms all painted in fine green colours, with red and gold bands
and ornaments, and the finest carpets and chairs and tables and
window curtains, and grand ladies and gentlemen walking about. At
last we came to a bedroom, with a beautiful lady in bed, with a
fine bouncing boy beside her. The lady clapped her hands, and in
came the Dark Man and kissed her and the baby, and praised me,
and gave me a bottle of green ointment to rub the child all over.

'Well, the child I rubbed, sure enough; but my right eye began to
smart, and I put up my finger and gave it a rub, and then stared,
for never in all my life was I so frightened. The beautiful room
was a big, rough cave, with water oozing over the edges of the
stones and through the clay; and the lady, and the lord, and the
child weazened, poverty-bitten creatures--nothing but skin and
bone--and the rich dresses were old rags. I didn't let on that I
found any difference, and after a bit says the Dark Man, "Go
before me to the hall door, and I will be with you in a few
moments, and see you safe home." Well, just as I turned into the
outside cave, who should I see watching near the door but poor
Molly. She looked round all terrified, and says she to me in a
whisper, "I'm brought here to nurse the child of the king and
queen of the fairies; but there is one chance of saving me. All
the court will pass the cross near Templeshambo next Friday
night, on a visit to the fairies of Old Ross. If John can catch
me by the hand or cloak when I ride by, and has courage not to
let go his grip, I'll be safe. Here's the king. Don't open your
mouth to answer. I saw what happened with the ointment."

'The Dark Man didn't once cast his eye towards Molly, and he
seemed to have no suspicion of me. When we came out I looked
about me, and where do you think we were but in the dyke of the
Rath of Cromogue. I was on the horse again, which was nothing but
a big rag-weed, and I was in dread every minute I'd fall off; but
nothing happened till I found myself in my own cabin. The king
slipped five guineas into my hand as soon as I was on the ground,
and thanked me, and bade me good night. I hope I'll never see his
face again. I got into bed, and couldn't sleep for a long time;
and when I examined my five guineas this morning, that I left in
the table drawer the last thing, I found five withered leaves of
oak--bad luck to the giver!'

Well, you may all think the fright, and the joy, and the grief
the poor man was in when the woman finished her story. They
talked and they talked, but we needn't mind what they said till
Friday night came, when both were standing where the mountain
road crosses the one going to Ross.

There they stood, looking towards the bridge of Thuar, in the
dead of the night, with a little moonlight shining from over
Kilachdiarmid. At last she gave a start, and "By this and by
that," says she, "here they come, bridles jingling and feathers
tossing!" He looked, but could see nothing; and she stood
trembling and her eyes wide open, looking down the way to the
ford of Ballinacoola. "I see your wife," says she, "riding on the
outside just so as to rub against us. We'll walk on quietly, as
if we suspected nothing, and when we are passing I'll give you a
shove. If you don't do YOUR duty then, woe be with you!"

Well, they walked on easy, and the poor hearts beating in both
their breasts; and though he could see nothing, he heard a faint
jingle and trampling and rustling, and at last he got the push
that she promised. He spread out his arms, and there was his
wife's waist within them, and he could see her plain; but such a
hullabulloo rose as if there was an earthquake, and he found
himself surrounded by horrible-looking things, roaring at him and
striving to pull his wife away. But he made the sign of the cross
and bid them begone in God's name, and held his wife as if it was
iron his arms were made of. Bedad, in one moment everything was
as silent as the grave, and the poor woman lying in a faint in
the arms of her husband and her good neighbour. Well, all in good
time she was minding her family and her business again; and I'll
go bail, after the fright she got, she spent more time on her
knees, and avoided fairy men all the days of the week, and
particularly on Sunday.

It is hard to have anything to do with the good people without
getting a mark from them. My brave nurse didn't escape no more
than another. She was one Thursday at the market of Enniscorthy,
when what did she see walking among the tubs of butter but the
Dark Man, very hungry-looking, and taking a scoop out of one tub
and out of another. 'Oh, sir,' says she, very foolish, 'I hope
your lady is well, and the baby.' 'Pretty well, thank you,' says
he, rather frightened like. 'How do I look in this new suit?'
says he, getting to one side of her. 'I can't see you plain at
all, sir,' says she. 'Well, now?' says he, getting round her back
to the other side. 'Musha, indeed, sir, your coat looks no better
than a withered dock-leaf.' 'Maybe, then,' says he, 'it will be
different now,' and he struck the eye next him with a switch.
Friends, she never saw a glimmer after with that one till the day
of her death.

'Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts,' by Patrick Kennedy.






                        A Lost Paradise




In the middle of a great forest there lived a long time ago a
charcoal-burner and his wife. They were both young and handsome
and strong, and when they got married, they thought work would
never fail them. But bad times came, and they grew poorer and
poorer, and the nights in which they went hungry to bed became
more and more frequent.

Now one evening the king of that country was hunting near the
charcoal-burner's hut. As he passed the door, he heard a sound of
sobbing, and being a good-natured man he stopped to listen,
thinking that perhaps he might be able to give some help.

'Were there ever two people so unhappy!' said a woman's voice.
'Here we are, ready to work like slaves the whole day long, and
no work can we get. And it is all because of the curiosity of old
mother Eve! If she had only been like me, who never want to know
anything, we should all have been as happy as kings to-day, with
plenty to eat, and warm clothes to wear. Why--' but at this point
a loud knock interrupted her lamentations.

'Who is there?' asked she.

'I!' replied somebody.

'And who is "I"?'

'The king. Let me in.'

Full of surprise the woman jumped up and pulled the bar away from
the door. As the king entered, he noticed that there was no
furniture in the room at all, not even a chair, so he pretended
to be in too great a hurry to see anything around him, and only
said 'You must not let me disturb you. I have no time to stay,
but you seemed to be in trouble. Tell me; are you very unhappy?'

'Oh, my lord, we can find no work and have eaten nothing for two
days!' answered she. 'Nothing remains for us but to die of
hunger.'

'No, no, you shan't do that,' cried the king, 'or if you do, it
will be your own fault. You shall come with me into my palace,
and you will feel as if you were in Paradise, I promise you. In
return, I only ask one thing of you, that you shall obey my
orders exactly.'

The charcoal-burner and his wife both stared at him for a moment,
as if they could hardly believe their ears; and, indeed, it was
not to be wondered at! Then they found their tongues, and
exclaimed together:

'Oh, yes, yes, my lord! we will do everything you tell us. How
could we be so ungrateful as to disobey you, when you are so
kind?'

The king smiled, and his eyes twinkled.

'Well, let us start at once,' said he. 'Lock your door, and put
the key in your pocket.'

The woman looked as if she thought this was needless, seeing it
was quite, quite certain they would never come back. But she
dared not say so, and did as the king told her.

After walking through the forest for a couple of miles, they all
three reached the palace, and by the king's orders servants led
the charcoal-burner and his wife into rooms filled with beautiful
things such as they had never even dreamed of. First they bathed
in green marble baths where the water looked like the sea, and
then they put on silken clothes that felt soft and pleasant. When
they were ready, one of the king's special servants entered, and
took them into a small hall, where dinner was laid, and this
pleased them better than anything else.

They were just about to sit down to the table when the king
walked in.

'I hope you have been attended to properly,' said he, 'and that
you will enjoy your dinner. My steward will take care you have
all you want, and I wish you to do exactly as you please. Oh, by
the bye, there is one thing! You notice that soup-tureen in the
middle of the table? Well, be careful on no account to lift the
lid. If once you take off the cover, there is an end of your good
fortune.' Then, bowing to his guests, he left the room.

'Did you hear what he said?' inquired the charcoal-burner in an
awe-stricken voice. 'We are to have what we want, and do what we
please. Only we must not touch the soup-tureen.'

'No, of course we won't,' answered the wife. 'Why should we wish
to? But all the same it is rather odd, and one can't help
wondering what is inside.'

For many days life went on like a beautiful dream to the
charcoal- burner and his wife. Their beds were so comfortable,
they could hardly make up their minds to get up, their clothes
were so lovely they could scarcely bring themselves to take them
off; their dinners were so good that they found it very difficult
to leave off eating. Then outside the palace were gardens filled
with rare flowers and fruits and singing birds, or if they
desired to go further, a golden coach, painted with wreaths of
forget-me-nots and lined with blue satin, awaited their orders.
Sometimes it happened that the king came to see them, and he
smiled as he glanced at the man, who was getting rosier and
plumper each day. But when his eyes rested on the woman, they
took on a look which seemed to say 'I knew it,' though this
neither the charcoal-burner nor his wife ever noticed.

'Why are you so silent?' asked the man one morning when dinner
had passed before his wife had uttered one word. 'A little while
ago you used to be chattering all the day long, and now I have
almost forgotten the sound of your voice.'

'Oh, nothing; I did not feel inclined to talk, that was all!' She
stopped, and added carelessly after a pause, 'Don't you ever
wonder what is in that soup-tureen?'

'No, never,' replied the man. 'It is no affair of ours,' and the
conversation dropped once more, but as time went on, the woman
spoke less and less, and seemed so wretched that her husband grew
quite frightened about her. As to her food, she refused one thing
after another.

'My dear wife,' said the man at last, 'you really must eat
something. What in the world is the matter with you? If you go on
like this you will die.'

'I would rather die than not know what is in that tureen,' she
burst forth so violently that the husband was quite startled.

'Is that it?' cried he; 'are you making yourself miserable
because of that? Why, you know we should be turned out of the
palace, and sent away to starve.'

'Oh no, we shouldn't. The king is too good-natured. Of course he
didn't mean a little thing like this! Besides, there is no need
to lift the lid off altogether. Just raise one corner so that I
may peep. We are quite alone: nobody will ever know.'

The man hesitated: it did seem a 'little thing,' and if it was to
make his wife contented and happy it was well worth the risk. So
he took hold of the handle of the cover and raised it very slowly
and carefully, while the woman stooped down to peep. Suddenly she
startled back with a scream, for a small mouse had sprung from
the inside of the tureen, and had nearly hit her in the eye.
Round and round the room it ran, round and round they both ran
after it, knocking down chairs and vases in their efforts to
catch the mouse and put it back in the tureen. In the middle of
all the noise the door opened, and the mouse ran out between the
feet of the king. In one instant both the man and his wife were
hiding under the table, and to all appearance the room was empty.

'You may as well come out,' said the king, 'and hear what I have
to say.'

'I know what it is,' answered the charcoal-burner, hanging his
head. The mouse has escaped.'

'A guard of soldiers will take you back to your hut,' said the
king. 'Your wife has the key.'

'Weren't they silly?' cried the grandchildren of the charcoal-
burners when they heard the story. 'How we wish that we had had
the chance! WE should never have wanted to know what was in the
soup-tureen!'

From 'Litterature Orale de l'Auvergne,' par Paul Sebillot.






                 How Brave Walter Hunted Wolves




A little back from the high road there stands a house which is
called 'Hemgard.' Perhaps you remember the two beautiful mountain
ash trees by the reddish-brown palings, and the high gate, and
the garden with the beautiful barberry bushes which are always
the first to become grown in spring, and which in summer are
weighed down with their beautiful berries.

Behind the garden there is a hedge with tall aspens which rustle
in the morning wind, behind the hedge is a road, behind the road
is a wood, and behind the wood the wide world.

But on the other side of the garden there is a lake, and beyond
the lake is a village, and all around stretch meadows and fields,
now yellow, now green.

In the pretty house, which has white window-frames, a neat porch
and clean steps, which are always strewn with finely-cut juniper
leaves, Walter's parents live. His brother Frederick, his sister
Lotta, old Lena, Jonah, Caro and Bravo, Putte and Murre, and
Kuckeliku.

Caro lives in the dog house, Bravo in the stable, Putte with the
stableman, Murre a little here and a little there, and Kuckeliku
lives in the hen house, that is his kingdom.

Walter is six years old, and he must soon begin to go to school.
He cannot read yet, but he can do many other things. He can turn
cartwheels, stand on his head, ride see-saw, throw snowballs,
play ball, crow like a cock, eat bread and butter and drink sour
milk, tear his trousers, wear holes in his elbows, break the
crockery in pieces, throw balls through the windowpanes, draw old
men on important papers, walk over the flower-beds, eat himself
sick with gooseberries, and be well after a whipping. For the
rest he has a good heart but a bad memory, and forgets his
father's and his mother's admonitions, and so often gets into
trouble and meets with adventures, as you shall hear, but first
of all I must tell you how brave he was and how he hunted wolves.

Once in the spring, a little before Midsummer, Walter heard that
there were a great many wolves in the wood, and that pleased him.
He was wonderfully brave when he was in the midst of his
companions or at home with his brothers and sister, then he used
often to say 'One wolf is nothing, there ought to be at least
four.'

When he wrestled with Klas Bogenstrom or Frithiof Waderfelt and
struck them in the back, he would say 'That is what I shall do to
a wolf!' and when he shot arrows at Jonas and they rattled
against his sheepskin coat he would say: 'That is how I should
shoot you if you were a wolf!'

Indeed, some thought that the brave boy boasted a little; but one
must indeed believe him since he said so himself. So Jonas and
Lena used to say of him 'Look, there goes Walter, who shoots the
wolves.' And other boys and girls would say 'Look, there goes
brave Walter, who is brave enough to fight with four.'

There was no one so fully convinced of this as Walter himself,
and one day he prepared himself for a real wolf hunt. He took
with him his drum, which had holes in one end since the time he
had climbed up on it to reach a cluster of rowan berries, and his
tin sabre, which was a little broken, because he had with
incredible courage fought his way through a whole unfriendly army
of gooseberry bushes.

He did not forget to arm himself quite to the teeth with his pop-
gun, his bow, and his air-pistol. He had a burnt cork in his
pocket to blacken his moustache, and a red cock's feather to put
in his cap to make himself look fierce. He had besides in his
trouser pocket a clasp knife with a bone handle, to cut off the
ears of the wolves as soon as he had killed them, for he thought
it would be cruel to do that while they were still living.

It was such a good thing that Jonas was going with corn to the
mill, for Walter got a seat on the load, while Caro ran barking
beside them. As soon as they came to the wood Walter looked
cautiously around him to see perchance there was a wolf in the
bushes, and he did not omit to ask Jonas if wolves were afraid of
a drum. 'Of course they are' (that is understood) said Jonas.
Thereupon Walter began to beat his drum with all his might while
they were going through the wood.

When they came to the mill Walter immediately asked if there had
been any wolves in the neighbourhood lately.

'Alas! yes,' said the miller, 'last night the wolves have eaten
our fattest ram there by the kiln not far from here.'

'Ah!' said Walter, 'do you think that there were many?'

'We don't know,' answered the miller.

'Oh, it is all the same,' said Walter. 'I only asked so that I
should know if I should take Jonas with me.

'I could manage very well alone with three, but if there were
more, I might not have time to kill them all before they ran
away.'

'In Walter's place I should go quite alone, it is more manly,'
said Jonas.

'No, it is better for you to come too,' said Walter. 'Perhaps
there are many.'

'No, I have not time,' said Jonas, 'and besides, there are sure
not to be more than three. Walter can manage them very well
alone.'

'Yes,' said Walter, 'certainly I could; but, you see, Jonas, it
might happen that one of them might bite me in the back, and I
should have more trouble in killing them. If I only knew that
there were not more than two I should not mind, for them I should
take one in each hand and give them a good shaking, like Susanna
once shook me.'

'I certainly think that there will not be more than two,' said
Jonas, 'there are never more than two when they slay children and
rams; Walter can very well shake them without me.'

'But, you see, Jonas,' said Walter, 'if there are two, it might
still happen that one of them escapes and bites me in the leg,
for you see I am not so strong in the left hand as in the right.
You can very well come with me, and take a good stick in case
there are really two. Look, if there is only one, I shall take
him so with both my hands and thrown him living on to his back,
and he can kick as much as he likes, I shall hold him fast.'

'Now, when I really think over the thing,' said Jonas, 'I am
almost sure there will not be more than one. What would two do
with one ram? There will certainly not be more than one.'

'But you should come with me all the same, Jonas,' said Walter.
'You see I can very well manage one, but I am not quite
accustomed to wolves yet, and he might tear holes in my new
trousers.'

'Well, just listen,' said Jonas, 'I am beginning to think that
Walter is not so brave as people say. First of all Walter would
fight against four, and then against three, then two, and then
one, and now Walter wants help with one. Such a thing must never
be; what would people say? Perhaps they would think that Walter
is a coward?'

'That's a lie,' said Walter, 'I am not at all frightened, but it
is more amusing when there are two. I only want someone who will
see how I strike the wolf and how the dust flies out of his
skin.'

'Well, then, Walter can take the miller's little Lisa with him.
She can sit on a stone and look on,' said Jonas.

'No, she would certainly be frightened,' said Walter, 'and how
would it do for a girl to go wolf-hunting? Come with me, Jonas,
and you shall have the skin, and I will be content with the ears
and the tail.'

'No, thank you,' said Jonas, 'Walter can keep the skin for
himself. Now I see quite well that he is frightened. Fie, shame
on him!'

This touched Walter's pride very near. 'I shall show that I am
not frightened,' he said; and so he took his drum, sabre, cock's
feather, clasp-knife, pop-gun and air-pistol, and went off quite
alone to the wood to hunt wolves.

It was a beautiful evening, and the birds were singing in all the
branches. Walter went very slowly and cautiously. At every step
he looked all round him to see if perchance there was anything
lurking behind the stones. He quite thought something moved away
there in the ditch. Perhaps it was a wolf. 'It is better for me
to beat the drum a little before I go there,' thought Walter.

Br-r-r, so he began to beat his drum. Then something moved again.
Caw! caw! a crow flew up from the ditch. Walter immediately
regained courage. 'It was well I took my drum with me,' he
thought, and went straight on with courageous steps. Very soon he
came quite close to the kiln, where the wolves had killed the
ram. But the nearer he came the more dreadful he thought the kiln
looked. It was so gray and old. Who knew how many wolves there
might be hidden there? Perhaps the very ones which killed the ram
were still sitting there in a corner. Yes, it was not at all safe
here, and there were no other people to be seen in the
neighbourhood. It would be horrible to be eaten up here in the
daylight, thought Walter to himself; and the more he thought
about it the uglier and grayer the old kiln looked, and the more
horrible and dreadful it seemed to become the food of wolves.

'Shall I go back and say that I struck one wolf and it escaped?'
thought Walter. 'Fie!' said his conscience, 'Do you not remember
that a lie is one of the worst sins, both in the sight of God and
man? If you tell a lie to-day and say you struck a wolf, to-
morrow surely it will eat you up.'

'No, I will go to the kiln,' thought Walter, and so he went. But
he did not go quite near. He went only so near that he could see
the ram's blood which coloured the grass red, and some tufts of
wool which the wolves had torn from the back of the poor animal.

It looked so dreadful.

'I wonder what the ram thought when they ate him up,' thought
Walter to himself; and just then a cold shiver ran through him
from his collar right down to his boots.

'It is better for me to beat the drum,' he thought to himself
again, and so he began to beat it. But it sounded horrid, and an
echo came out from the kiln that seemed almost like the howl of a
wolf. The drumsticks stiffened in Walter's hands, and he thought
now they are coming. ...!

Yes, sure enough, just then a shaggy, reddish-brown wolf's head
looked out from under the kiln!

What did Walter do now? Yes, the brave Walter who alone could
manage four, threw his drum far away, took to his heels and ran,
and ran as fast as he could back to the mill.

But, alas! the wolf ran after him. Walter looked back; the wolf
was quicker than he and only a few steps behind him. Then Walter
ran faster. But fear got the better of him, he neither heard nor
saw anything more. He ran over sticks, stones and ditches; he
lost drum-sticks, sabre, bow, and air-pistol, and in his terrible
hurry he tripped over a tuft of grass. There he lay, and the wolf
jumped on to him. ...

It was a gruesome tale! Now you may well believe that it was all
over with Walter and all his adventures. That would have been a
pity. But do not be surprised if it was not quite so bad as that,
for the wolf was quite a friendly one. He certainly jumped on to
Walter, but he only shook his coat and rubbed his nose against
his face; and Walter shrieked. Yes, he shrieked terribly!

Happily Jonas heard his cry of distress, for Walter was quite
near the mill now, and he ran and helped him up.

'What has happened?' he asked. 'Why did Walter scream so
terribly?'

'A wolf! A wolf!' cried Walter, and that was all he could say.

'Where is the wolf?' said Jonas. 'I don't see any wolf.'

'Take care, he is here, he has bitten me to death,' groaned
Walter.

Then Jonas began to laugh; yes, he laughed so that he nearly
burst his skin belt.

Well, well, was that the wolf? Was that the wolf which Walter was
to take by the neck and shake and throw down on its back, no
matter how much it struggled? Just look a little closer at him:
he is your old friend, your own good old Caro. I quite expect he
found a leg of the ram in the kiln. When Walter beat his drum,
Caro crept out, and when Walter ran away, Caro ran after him, as
he so often does when Walter wants to romp and play.

'Down, Caro! you ought to be rather ashamed to have put such a
great hero to flight!'

Walter got up feeling very foolish.

'Down, Caro!' he said, both relieved and annoyed.

'It was only a dog, then if it had been a wolf I certainly should
have killed him. ...'

'If Walter would listen to my advice, and boast a little less,
and do a little more,' said Jonas, consolingly. 'Walter is not a
coward, is he?'

'I! You shall see, Jonas, when we next meet a bear. You see I
like so much better to fight with bears.'

'Indeed!' laughed Jonas. 'Are you at it again?

'Dear Walter, remember that it is only cowards who boast; a
really brave man never talks of his bravery.'

From Z. Topelius.






                   The King of the Waterfalls




When the young king of Easaidh Ruadh came into his kingdom, the
first thing he thought of was how he could amuse himself best.
The sports that all his life had pleased him best suddenly seemed
to have grown dull, and he wanted to do something he had never
done before. At last his face brightened.

'I know!' he said. 'I will go and play a game with the Gruagach.'
Now the Gruagach was a kind of wicked fairy, with long curly
brown hair, and his house was not very far from the king's house.

But though the king was young and eager, he was also prudent, and
his father had told him on his deathbed to be very careful in his
dealings with the 'good people,' as the fairies were called.
Therefore before going to the Gruagach the king sought out a wise
man of the countryside.

'I am wanting to play a game with the curly-haired Gruagach,'
said he.

'Are you, indeed?' replied the wizard. 'If you will take my
counsel, you will play with someone else.'

'No; I will play with the Gruagach,' persisted the king.

'Well, if you must, you must, I suppose,' answered the wizard;
'but if you win that game, ask as a prize the ugly crop-headed
girl that stands behind the door.'

'I will,' said the king.

So before the sun rose he got up and went to the house of the
Gruagach, who was sitting outside.

'O king, what has brought you here to-day?' asked the Gruagach.
'But right welcome you are, and more welcome will you be still if
you will play a game with me.'

'That is just what I want,' said the king, and they played; and
sometimes it seemed as if one would win, and sometimes the other,
but in the end it was the king who was the winner.

'And what is the prize that you will choose?' inquired the
Gruagach.

'The ugly crop-headed girl that stands behind the door,' replied
the king.

'Why, there are twenty others in the house, and each fairer than
she!' exclaimed the Gruagach.

'Fairer they may be, but it is she whom I wish for my wife, and
none other,' and the Gruagach saw that the king's mind was set
upon her, so he entered his house, and bade all the maidens in it
come out one by one, and pass before the king.

One by one they came; tall and short, dark and fair, plump and
thin, and each said 'I am she whom you want. You will be foolish
indeed if you do not take me.'

But he took none of them, neither short nor tall, dark nor fair,
plump nor thin, till at the last the crop-headed girl came out.

'This is mine,' said the king, though she was so ugly that most
men would have turned from her. 'We will be married at once, and
I will carry you home.' And married they were, and they set forth
across a meadow to the king's house. As they went, the bride
stooped and picked a sprig of shamrock, which grew amongst the
grass, and when she stood upright again her ugliness had all
gone, and the most beautiful woman that ever was seen stood by
the king's side.

The next day, before the sun rose, the king sprang from his bed,
and told his wife he must have another game with the Gruagach.

'If my father loses that game, and you win it,' said she, 'accept
nothing for your prize but the shaggy young horse with the stick
saddle.'

'I will do that,' answered the king, and he went.

'Does your bride please you?' asked the Gruagach, who was
standing at his own door.

'Ah! does she not!' answered the king quickly. 'Otherwise I
should be hard indeed to please. But will you play a game to-
day?'

'I will,' replied the Gruagach, and they played, and sometimes it
seemed as if one would win, and sometimes the other, but in the
end the king was the winner.

'What is the prize that you will choose?' asked the Gruagach.

'The shaggy young horse with the stick saddle,' answered the
king, but he noticed that the Gruagach held his peace, and his
brow was dark as he led out the horse from the stable. Rough was
its mane and dull was its skin, but the king cared nothing for
that, and throwing his leg over the stick saddle, rode away like
the wind.

On the third morning the king got up as usual before dawn, and as
soon as he had eaten food he prepared to go out, when his wife
stopped him. 'I would rather,' she said, 'that you did not go to
play with the Gruagach, for though twice you have won yet some
day he will win, and then he will put trouble upon you.'

'Oh! I must have one more game,' cried the king; 'just this one.'
And he went off to the house of the Gruagach.

Joy filled the heart of the Gruagach when he saw him coming, and
without waiting to talk they played their game. Somehow or other,
the king's strength and skill had departed from him, and soon the
Gruagach was the victor.

'Choose your prize,' said the king, when the game was ended, 'but
do not be too hard on me, or ask what I cannot give.'

'The prize I choose,' answered the Gruagach, 'is that the crop-
headed creature should take thy head and thy neck, if thou dost
not get for me the Sword of Light that hangs in the house of the
king of the oak windows.'

'I will get it,' replied the young man bravely; but as soon as he
was out of sight of the Gruagach he pretended no more, and his
face grew dark and his steps lagging.

'You have brought nothing with you to-night,' said the queen, who
was standing on the steps awaiting him. She was so beautiful that
the king was fain to smile when he looked at her, but then he
remembered what had happened, and his heart grew heavy again.

'What is it? What is the matter? Tell me thy sorrow that I may
bear it with thee, or, it may be, help thee!' Then the king told
her everything that had befallen him, and she stroked his hair
the while.

'That is nothing to grieve about,' she said when the tale was
finished. 'You have the best wife in Erin, and the best horse in
Erin. Only do as I bid you, and all will go well.' And the king
suffered himself to be comforted.

He was still sleeping when the queen rose and dressed herself, to
make everything ready for her husband's journey; and the first
place she went to was the stable, where she fed and watered the
shaggy brown horse and put the saddle on it. Most people thought
this saddle was of wood, and did not see the little sparkles of
gold and silver that were hidden in it. She strapped it lightly
on the horse's back, and then led it down before the house, where
the king waited.

'Good luck to you, and victories in all your battles,' she said,
as she kissed him before he mounted. 'I need not be telling you
anything. Take the advice of the horse, and see you obey it.'

So he waved his hand and set out on his journey, and the wind was
not swifter than the brown horse--no, not even the March wind
which raced it and could not catch it. But the horse never
stopped nor looked behind, till in the dark of the night he
reached the castle of the king of the oak windows.

'We are at the end of the journey,' said the horse, 'and you will
find the Sword of Light in the king's own chamber. If it comes to
you without scrape or sound, the token is a good one. At this
hour the king is eating his supper, and the room is empty, so
none will see you. The sword has a knob at the end, and take heed
that when you grasp it, you draw it softly out of its sheath. Now
go! I will be under the window.'

Stealthily the young man crept along the passage, pausing now and
then to make sure that no man was following him, and entered the
king's chamber. A strange white line of light told him where the
sword was, and crossing the room on tiptoe, he seized the knob,
and drew it slowly out of the sheath. The king could hardly
breathe with excitement lest it should make some noise, and bring
all the people in the castle running to see what was the matter.
But the sword slid swiftly and silently along the case till only
the point was left touching it. Then a low sound was heard, as of
the edge of a knife touching a silver plate, and the king was so
startled that he nearly dropped the knob.

'Quick! quick!' cried the horse, and the king scrambled hastily
through the small window, and leapt into the saddle.

'He has heard and he will follow,' said the horse; 'but we have a
good start,' And on they sped, on and on, leaving the winds
behind them.

At length the horse slackened its pace. 'Look and see who is
behind you,' it said; and the young man looked.

'I see a swarm of brown horses racing madly after us,' he
answered.

'We are swifter than those,' said the horse, and flew on again.

'Look again, O king! Is anyone coming now?'

'A swarm of black horses, and one has a white face, and on that
horse a man is seated. He is the king of the oak windows.'

'That is my brother, and swifter still than I,' said the horse,
'and he will fly past me with a rush. Then you must have your
sword ready, and take off the head of the man who sits on him, as
he turns and looks at you. And there is no sword in the world
that will cut off his head, save only that one.'

'I will do it,' replied the king; and he listened with all his
might, till he judged that the white-faced horse was close to
him. Then he sat up very straight and made ready.

The next moment there was a rushing noise as of a mighty tempest,
and the young man caught a glimpse of a face turned towards him.
Almost blindly he struck, not knowing whether he had killed or
only wounded the rider. But the head rolled off, and was caught
in the brown horse's mouth.

'Jump on my brother, the black horse, and go home as fast as you
can, and I will follow as quickly as I may,' cried the brown
horse; and leaping forward the king alighted on the back of the
black horse, but so near the tail that he almost fell off again.
But he stretched out his arm and clutched wildly at the mane and
pulled himself into the saddle.

Before the sky was streaked with red he was at home again, and
the queen was sitting waiting till he arrived, for sleep was far
from her eyes. Glad was she to see him enter, but she said
little, only took her harp and sang softly the songs which he
loved, till he went to bed, soothed and happy.

It was broad day when he woke, and he sprang up saying:

'Now I must go to the Gruagach, to find out if the spells he laid
on me are loose.'

'Have a care,' answered the queen, 'for it is not with a smile as
on the other days that he will greet you. Furiously he will meet
you, and will ask you in his wrath if you have got the sword, and
you will reply that you have got it. Next he will want to know
how you got it, and to this you must say that but for the knob
you had not got it at all. Then he will raise his head to look at
the knob, and you must stab him in the mole which is on the right
side of his neck; but take heed, for if you miss the mole with
the point of the sword, then my death and your death are certain.
He is brother to the king of the oak windows, and sure will he be
that the king must be head, or the sword would not be in your
hands.' After that she kissed him, and bade him good speed.

'Didst thou get the sword?' asked the Gruagach, when they met in
the usual place.

'I got the sword.'

'And how didst thou get it?'

'If it had not had a knob on the top, then I had not got it,'
answered the king.

'Give me the sword to look at,' said the Gruagach, peering
forward; but like a flash the king had drawn it from under his
nose and pierced the mole, so that the Gruagach rolled over on
the ground.

'Now I shall be at peace,' thought the king. But he was wrong,
for when he reached home he found his servants tied together back
to back with cloths bound round their mouths, so that they could
not speak. He hastened to set them free, and he asked who had
treated them in so evil a manner.

'No sooner had you gone than a great giant came, and dealt with
us as you see, and carried off your wife and your two horses,'
said the men.

'Then my eyes will not close nor will my head lay itself down
till I fetch my wife and horses home again,' answered he, and he
stopped and noted the tracks of the horses on the grass, and
followed after them till he arrived at the wood, when the
darkness fell.

'I will sleep here,' he said to himself, 'but first I will make a
fire,' And he gathered together some twigs that were lying about,
and then took two dry sticks and rubbed them together till the
fire came, and he sat by it.

The twigs cracked and the flame blazed up, and a slim yellow dog
pushed through the bushes and laid his head on the king's knee,
and the king stroked his head.

'Wuf, wuf,' said the dog. 'Sore was the plight of thy wife and
thy horses when the giant drove them last night through the
forest.'

'That is why I have come,' answered the king; and suddenly his
heart seemed to fail him and he felt that he could not go on.

'I cannot fight that giant,' he cried, looking at the dog with a
white face. 'I am afraid, let me turn homewards.'

'No, don't do that,' replied the dog. 'Eat and sleep, and I will
watch over you.' So the king ate and lay down, and slept till the
sun waked him.

'It is time for you to start on your way,' said the dog, 'and if
danger presses, call on me, and I will help you.'

'Farewell, then,' answered the king; 'I will not forget that
promise,' and on he went, and on, and on, till he reached a tall
cliff with many sticks lying about.

'It is almost night,' he thought; 'I will make a fire and rest,'
and thus he did, and when the flames blazed up, the hoary hawk of
the grey rock flew on to a bough above him.

'Sore was the plight of thy wife and thy horses when they passed
here with the giant,' said the hawk.

'Never shall I find them,' answered the king, 'and nothing shall
I get for all my trouble.'

'Oh, take heart,' replied the hawk; 'things are never so bad but
what they might be worse. Eat and sleep and I will watch thee,'
and the king did as he was bidden by the hawk, and by the morning
he felt brave again.

'Farewell,' said the bird, 'and if danger presses call to me, and
I will help you.'

On he walked, and on and on, till as dusk was falling he came to
a great river, and on the bank there were sticks lying about.

'I will make myself a fire,' he thought, and thus he did, and by
and bye a smooth brown head peered at him from the water, and a
long body followed it.

'Sore was the plight of thy wife and thy horses when they passed
the river last night,' said the otter.

'I have sought them and not found them,' answered the king, 'and
nought shall I get for my trouble.'

'Be not so downcast,' replied the otter; 'before noon to-morrow
thou shalt behold thy wife. But eat and sleep and I will watch
over thee.' So the king did as the otter bid him, and when the
sun rose he woke and saw the otter lying on the bank.

'Farewell,' cried the otter as he jumped into the water, 'and if
danger presses, call to me and I will help you.'

For many hours the king walked, and at length he reached a high
rock, which was rent into two by a great earthquake. Throwing
himself on the ground he looked over the side, and right at the
very bottom he saw his wife and his horses. His heart gave a
great bound, and all his fears left him, but he was forced to be
patient, for the sides of the rock were smooth, and not even a
goat could find foothold. So he got up again, and made his way
round through the wood, pushing by trees, scrambling over rocks,
wading through streams, till at last he was on flat ground again,
close to the mouth of the cavern.

His wife gave a shriek of joy when he came in, and then burst
into tears, for she was tired and very frightened. But her
husband did not understand why she wept, and he was tired and
bruised from his climb, and a little cross too.

'You give me but a sorry welcome,' grumbled he, 'when I have
half-killed myself to get to you.'

'Do not heed him,' said the horses to the weeping woman; 'put him
in front of us, where he will be safe, and give him food, for he
is weary.' And she did as the horses told her, and he ate and
rested, till by and bye a long shadow fell over them, and their
hearts beat with fear, for they knew that the giant was coming.

'I smell a stranger,' cried the giant, as he entered; but it was
dark inside the chasm, and he did not see the king, who was
crouching down between the feet of the horses.

'A stranger, my lord! no stranger ever comes here, not even the
sun!' and the king's wife laughed gaily as she went up to the
giant and stroked the huge hand which hung down by his side.

'Well, I perceive nothing, certainly,' answered he, 'but it is
very odd. However, it is time that the horses were fed;' and he
lifted down an armful of hay from a shelf of rock and held out a
handful to each animal, who moved forward to meet him, leaving
the king behind. As soon as the giant's hands were near their
mouths they each made a snap, and began to bit them, so that his
groans and shrieks might have been heard a mile off. Then they
wheeled round and kicked him till they could kick no more. At
length the giant crawled away, and lay quivering in a corner, and
the queen went up to him.

'Poor thing! poor thing!' she said, 'they seem to have gone mad;
it was awful to behold.'

'If I had had my soul in my body they would certainly have killed
me,' groaned the giant.

'It was lucky indeed,' answered the queen; 'but tell me, where is
thy soul, that I may take care of it?'

'Up there, in the Bonnach stone,' answered the giant, pointing to
a stone which was balanced loosely on an edge of rock. 'But now
leave me, that I may sleep, for I have far to go to-morrow.'

Soon snores were heard from the corner where the giant lay, and
then the queen lay down too, and the horses, and the king was
hidden between them, so that none could see him.

Before the dawn the giant rose and went out, and immediately the
queen ran up to the Bonnach stone, and tugged and pushed at it
till it was quite steady on its ledge, and could not fall over.
And so it was in the evening when the giant came home; and when
they saw his shadow, the king crept down in front of the horses.

'Why, what have you done to the Bonnach stone?' asked the giant.

'I feared lest it should fall over, and be broken, with your soul
in it,' said the queen, 'so I put it further back on the ledge.'

'It is not there that my soul is,' answered he, 'it is on the
threshold. But it is time the horses were fed;' and he fetched
the hay, and gave it to them, and they bit and kicked him as
before, till he lay half dead on the ground.

Next morning he rose and went out, and the queen ran to the
threshold of the cave, and washed the stones, and pulled up some
moss and little flowers that were hidden in the crannies, and by
and bye when dusk had fallen the giant came home.

'You have been cleaning the threshold,' said he.

'And was I not right to do it, seeing that your soul is in it?'
asked the queen.

'It is not there that my soul is,' answered the giant. 'Under the
threshold is a stone, and under the stone is a sheep, and in the
sheep's body is a duck, and in the duck is an egg, and in the egg
is my soul. But it is late, and I must feed the horses;' and he
brought them the hay, but they only bit and kicked him as before,
and if his soul had been within him, they would have killed him
outright.

It was still dark when the giant got up and went his way, and
then the king and the queen ran forward to take up the threshold,
while the horses looked on. But sure enough! just as the giant
had said, underneath the threshold was the flagstone, and they
pulled and tugged till the stone gave way. Then something jumped
out so suddenly, that it nearly knocked them down, and as it fled
past, they saw it was a sheep.

'If the slim yellow dog of the greenwood were only here, he would
soon have that sheep,' cried the king; and as he spoke, the slim
yellow dog appeared from the forest, with the sheep in his mouth.
With a blow from the king, the sheep fell dead, and they opened
its body, only to be blinded by a rush of wings as the duck flew
past.

'If the hoary hawk of the rock were only here, he would soon have
that duck,' cried the king; and as he spoke the hoary hawk was
seen hovering above them, with the duck in his mouth. They cut
off the duck's head with a swing of the king's sword, and took
the egg out of its body, but in his triumph the king held it
carelessly, and it slipped from his hand, and rolled swiftly down
the hill right into the river.

'If the brown otter of the stream were only here, he would soon
have that egg,' cried the king; and the next minute there was the
brown otter, dripping with water, holding the egg in his mouth.
But beside the brown otter, a huge shadow came stealing along--
the shadow of the giant.

The king stood staring at it, as if he were turned into stone,
but the queen snatched the egg from the otter and crushed it
between her two hands. And after that the shadow suddenly shrank
and was still, and they knew that the giant was dead, because
they had found his soul.

Next day they mounted the two horses and rode home again,
visiting their friends the brown otter and the hoary hawk and the
slim yellow dog by the way.

From 'West Highland Tales.'






                         A French Puck




Among the mountain pastures and valleys that lie in the centre of
France there dwelt a mischievous kind of spirit, whose delight it
was to play tricks on everybody, and particularly on the
shepherds and the cowboys. They never knew when they were safe
from him, as he could change himself into a man, woman or child,
a stick, a goat, a ploughshare. Indeed, there was only one thing
whose shape he could not take, and that was a needle. At least,
he could transform himself into a needle, but try as he might he
never was able to imitate the hole, so every woman would have
found him out at once, and this he knew.

Now the hour oftenest chosen by this naughty sprite (whom we will
call Puck) for performing his pranks was about midnight, just
when the shepherds and cowherds, tired out with their long day's
work, were sound asleep. Then he would go into the cowsheds and
unfasten the chains that fixed each beast in its own stall, and
let them fall with a heavy clang to the ground. The noise was so
loud that it was certain to awaken the cowboys, however fatigued
they might be, and they dragged themselves wearily to the stable
to put back the chains. But no sooner had they returned to their
beds than the same thing happened again, and so on till the
morning. Or perhaps Puck would spend his night in plaiting
together the manes and tails of two of the horses, so that it
would take the grooms hours of labour to get them right in the
morning, while Puck, hidden among the hay in the loft, would peep
out to watch them, enjoying himself amazingly all the time.

One evening more than eighty years ago a man named William was
passing along the bank of a stream when he noticed a sheep who
was bleating loudly. William thought it must have strayed from
the flock, and that he had better take it home with him till he
could discover its owner. So he went up to where it was standing,
and as it seemed so tired that it could hardly walk, he hoisted
it on his shoulders and continued on his way. The sheep was
pretty heavy, but the good man was merciful and staggered along
as best he could under his load.

'It is not much further,' he thought to himself as he reached an
avenue of walnut trees, when suddenly a voice spoke out from over
his head, and made him jump.

'Where are you?' said the voice, and the sheep answered:

'Here on the shoulders of a donkey.'

In another moment the sheep was standing on the ground and
William was running towards home as fast as his legs would carry
him. But as he went, a laugh, which yet was something of a bleat,
rang in his ears, and though he tried not to hear, the words
reached him, 'Oh, dear! What fun I have had, to be sure!'

Puck was careful not always to play his tricks in the same place,
but visited one village after another, so that everyone trembled
lest he should be the next victim. After a bit he grew tired of
cowboys and shepherds, and wondered if there was no one else to
give him some sport. At length he was told of a young couple who
were going to the nearest town to buy all that they needed for
setting up house. Quite certain that they would forget something
which they could not do without, Puck waited patiently till they
were jogging along in their cart on their return journey, and
changed himself into a fly in order to overhear their
conversation.

For a long time it was very dull--all about their wedding day
next month, and who were to be invited. This led the bride to her
wedding dress, and she gave a little scream.

'Just think! Oh! how could I be so stupid! I have forgotten to
buy the different coloured reels of cotton to match my clothes!'

'Dear, dear!' exclaimed the young man. 'That is unlucky; and
didn't you tell me that the dressmaker was coming in to-morrow?'

'Yes, I did,' and then suddenly she gave another little scream,
which had quite a different sound from the first. 'Look! Look!'

The bridegroom looked, and on one side of the road he saw a large
ball of thread of all colours--of all the colours, that is, of
the dresses that were tied on to the back of the cart.

'Well, that is a wonderful piece of good fortune,' cried he, as
he sprang out to get it. 'One would think a fairy had put it
there on purpose.'

'Perhaps she has,' laughed the girl, and as she spoke she seemed
to hear an echo of her laughter coming from the horse, but of
course that was nonsense.

The dressmaker was delighted with the thread that was given her.
It matched the stuffs so perfectly, and never tied itself in
knots, or broke perpetually, as most thread did. She finished her
work much quicker than she expected and the bride said she was to
be sure to come to the church and see her in her wedding dress.

There was a great crowd assembled to witness the ceremony, for
the young people were immense favourites in the neighbourhood,
and their parents were very rich. The doors were open, and the
bride could be seen from afar, walking under the chestnut avenue.

'What a beautiful girl!' exclaimed the men. 'What a lovely
dress!' whispered the women. But just as she entered the church
and took the hand of the bridegroom, who was waiting for her, a
loud noise was heard.

'Crick! crack! Crick! crack!' and the wedding garments fell to
the ground, to the great confusion of the wearer.

Not that the ceremony was put off for a little thing like that!
Cloaks in profusion were instantly offered to the young bride,
but she was so upset that she could hardly keep from tears. One
of the guests, more curious than the rest, stayed behind to
examine the dress, determined, if she could, to find out the
cause of the disaster.

'The thread must have been rotten,' she said to herself. 'I will
see if I can break it.' But search as she would she could find
none.

The thread had vanished!

From 'Litterature Orale de l'Auvergne,' par Paul Sebillot.






                        The Three Crowns




There was once a king who had three daughters. The two eldest
were very proud and quarrelsome, but the youngest was as good as
they were bad. Well, three princes came to court them, and two of
them were exactly like the eldest ladies, and one was just as
lovable as the youngest. One day they were all walking down to a
lake that lay at the bottom of the lawn when they met a poor
beggar. The king wouldn't give him anything, and the eldest
princesses wouldn't give him anything, nor their sweethearts; but
the youngest daughter and her true love did give him something,
and kind words along with it, and that was better than all.

When they got to the edge of the lake what did they find but the
beautifullest boat you ever saw in your life; and says the
eldest, 'I'll take a sail in this fine boat'; and says the second
eldest, 'I'll take a sail in this fine boat'; and says the
youngest, 'I won't take a sail in that fine boat, for I am afraid
it's an enchanted one.' But the others persuaded her to go in,
and her father was just going in after her, when up sprung on the
deck a little man only seven inches high, and ordered him to
stand back. Well, all the men put their hands to their swords;
and if the same swords were only playthings, they weren't able to
draw them, for all strength that was left their arms. Seven
Inches loosened the silver chain that fastened the boat, and
pushed away, and after grinning at the four men, says he to them.
'Bid your daughters and your brides farewell for awhile. You,'
says he to the youngest, 'needn't fear, you'll recover your
princess all in good time, and you and she will be as happy as
the day is long. Bad people, if they were rolling stark naked in
gold, would not be rich. Good-bye.' Away they sailed, and the
ladies stretched out their hands, but weren't able to say a word.

Well, they weren't crossing the lake while a cat 'ud be lickin'
her ear, and the poor men couldn't stir hand or foot to follow
them. They saw Seven Inches handing the three princesses out of
the boat, and letting them down by a basket into a draw-well, but
king nor princes ever saw an opening before in the same place.
When the last lady was out of sight, the men found the strength
in their arms and legs again. Round the lake they ran, and never
drew rein till they came to the well and windlass; and there was
the silk rope rolled on the axle, and the nice white basket
hanging to it. 'Let me down,' says the youngest prince. 'I'll die
or recover them again.' 'No,' says the second daughter's
sweetheart, 'it is my turn first.' And says the other, 'I am the
eldest.' So they gave way to him, and in he got into the basket,
and down they let him. First they lost sight of him, and then,
after winding off a hundred perches of the silk rope, it
slackened, and they stopped turning. They waited two hours, and
then they went to dinner, because there was no pull made at the
rope.

Guards were set till next morning, and then down went the second
prince, and sure enough, the youngest of all got himself let down
on the third day. He went down perches and perches, while it was
as dark about him as if he was in a big pot with a cover on. At
last he saw a glimmer far down, and in a short time he felt the
ground. Out he came from the big lime-kiln, and, lo! and behold
you, there was a wood, and green fields, and a castle in a lawn,
and a bright sky over all. 'It's in Tir-na-n-Oge I am,' says he.
'Let's see what sort of people are in the castle.' On he walked,
across fields and lawn, and no one was there to keep him out or
let him into the castle; but the big hall-door was wide open. He
went from one fine room to another that was finer, and at last he
reached the handsomest of all, with a table in the middle. And
such a dinner as was laid upon it! The prince was hungry enough,
but he was too mannerly to eat without being invited. So he sat
by the fire, and he did not wait long till he heard steps, and in
came Seven Inches with the youngest sister by the hand. Well,
prince and princess flew into one another's arms, and says the
little man, says he, 'Why aren't you eating?' 'I think, sir,'
says the prince, 'it was only good manner to wait to be asked.'
'The other princes didn't think so,' says he. 'Each o' them fell
to without leave, and only gave me the rough words when I told
them they were making more free than welcome. Well, I don't think
they feel much hunger now. There they are, good marble instead of
flesh and blood,' says he, pointing to two statues, one in one
corner, and the other in the other corner of the room. The prince
was frightened, but he was afraid to say anything, and Seven
Inches made him sit down to dinner between himself and his bride;
and he'd be as happy as the day is long, only for the sight of
the stone men in the corner. Well, that day went by, and when the
next came, says Seven Inches to him, 'Now, you'll have to set out
that way,' pointing to the sun, 'and you'll find the second
princess in a giant's castle this evening, when you'll be tired
and hungry, and the eldest princess to-morrow evening; and you
may as well bring them here with you. You need not ask leave of
their masters; and perhaps if they ever get home, they'll look on
poor people as if they were flesh and blood like themselves.'

Away went the prince, and bedad! it's tired and hungry he was
when he reached the first castle, at sunset. Oh, wasn't the
second princess glad to see him! And what a good supper she gave
him. But she heard the giant at the gate, and she hid the prince
in a closet. Well, when he came in, he snuffed, an' he snuffed,
and says he, 'By the life, I smell fresh meat.' 'Oh,' says the
princess, 'it's only the calf I got killed to-day.' 'Ay, ay,'
says he, 'is supper ready?' 'It is,' says she; and before he rose
from the table he ate three-quarters of a calf, and a flask of
wine. 'I think,' says he, when all was done, 'I smell fresh meat
still.' 'It's sleepy you are,' says she; 'go to bed.' 'When will
you marry me?' says the giant. 'You're putting me off too long.'
'St. Tibb's Eve,' says she. 'I wish I knew how far off that is,'
says he; and he fell asleep, with his head in the dish.

Next day, he went out after breakfast, and she sent the prince to
the castle where the eldest sister was. The same thing happened
there; but when the giant was snoring, the princess wakened up
the prince, and they saddled two steeds in the stables and rode
into the field on them. But the horses' heels struck the stones
outside the gate, and up got the giant and strode after them. He
roared and he shouted, and the more he shouted, the faster ran
the horses, and just as the day was breaking he was only twenty
perches behind. But the prince didn't leave the castle of Seven
Inches without being provided with something good. He reined in
his steed, and flung a short, sharp knife over his shoulder, and
up sprung a thick wood between the giant and themselves. They
caught the wind that blew before them, and the wind that blew
behind them did not catch them. At last they were near the castle
where the other sister lived; and there she was, waiting for them
under a high hedge, and a fine steed under her.

But the giant was now in sight, roaring like a hundred lions, and
the other giant was out in a moment, and the chase kept on. For
every two springs the horses gave, the giants gave three, and at
last they were only seventy perches off. Then the prince stopped
again, and flung the second knife behind him. Down went all the
flat field, till there was a quarry between them a quarter of a
mile deep, and the bottom filled with black water; and before the
giants could get round it, the prince and princesses were inside
the kingdom of the great magician, where the high thorny hedge
opened of itself to everyone that he chose to let in. There was
joy enough between the three sisters, till the two eldest saw
their lovers turned into stone. But while they were shedding
tears for them, Seven Inches came in, and touched them with his
rod. So they were flesh, and blood, and life once more, and there
was great hugging and kissing, and all sat down to breakfast, and
Seven Inches sat at the head of the table.

When breakfast was over, he took them into another room, where
there was nothing but heaps of gold, and silver, and diamonds,
and silks, and satins; and on a table there was lying three sets
of crowns: a gold crown was in a silver crown, and that was lying
in a copper crown. He took up one set of crowns, and gave it to
the eldest princess; and another set, and gave it to the second
youngest princess; and another, and gave it to the youngest of
all; and says he, 'Now you may all go to the bottom of the pit,
and you have nothing to do but stir the basket, and the people
that are watching above will draw you up. But remember, ladies,
you are to keep your crows safe, and be married in them, all the
same day. If you be married separately, or if you be married
without your crowns, a curse will follow--mind what I say.'

So they took leave of him with great respect, and walked arm-in-
arm to the bottom of the draw-well. There was a sky and a sun
over them, and a great high wall, covered with ivy, rose before
them, and was so high they could not see to the top of it; and
there was an arch in this wall, and the bottom of the draw-well
was inside the arch. The youngest pair went last; and says the
princess to the prince, 'I'm sure the two princes don't mean any
good to you. Keep these crowns under your cloak, and if you are
obliged to stay last, don't get into the basket, but put a big
stone, or any heavy thing inside, and see what will happen.'

As soon as they were inside the dark cave, they put in the eldest
princess first, and stirred the basket, and up she went. Then the
basket was let down again, and up went the second princess, and
then up went the youngest; but first she put her arms round her
prince's neck, and kissed him, and cried a little. At last it
came to the turn of the youngest prince, and instead of going
into the basket he put in a big stone. He drew on one side and
listened, and after the basket was drawn up about twenty perches,
down came it and the stone like thunder, and the stone was broken
into little bits.

Well, the poor prince had nothing for it but to walk back to the
castle; and through it and round it he walked, and the finest of
eating and drinking he got, and a bed of bog-down to sleep on,
and long walks he took through gardens and lawns, but not a sight
could he get, high or low, of Seven Inches. He, before a week,
got tired of it, he was so lonesome for his true love; and at the
end of a month he didn't know what to do with himself.

One morning he went into the treasure room, and took notice of a
beautiful snuff-box on the table that he didn't remember seeing
there before. He took it in his hands and opened it, and out
Seven Inches walked on the table. 'I think, prince,' says he,
'you're getting a little tired of my castle?' 'Ah!' says the
other, 'if I had my princess here, and could see you now and
then, I'd never know a dismal day.' 'Well, you're long enough
here now, and you're wanted there above. Keep your bride's crowns
safe, and whenever you want my help, open this snuff-box. Now
take a walk down the garden, and come back when you're tired.'

The prince was going down a gravel walk with a quickset hedge on
each side, and his eyes on the ground, and he was thinking of one
thing and another. At last he lifted his eyes, and there he was
outside of a smith's gate that he often passed before, about a
mile away from the palace of his betrothed princess. The clothes
he had on him were as ragged as you please, but he had his crowns
safe under his old cloak.

Then the smith came out, and says he, 'It's a shame for a strong,
big fellow like you to be lazy, and so much work to be done. Are
you any good with hammer and tongs? Come in and bear a hand, an
I'll give you diet and lodging, and a few pence when you earn
them.' 'Never say't twice,' says the prince. 'I want nothing but
to be busy.' So he took the hammer, and pounded away at the red-
hot bar that the smith was turning on the anvil to make into a
set of horse-shoes.

They hadn't been long at work when a tailor came in, and he sat
down and began to talk. 'You all heard how the two princess were
loth to be married till the youngest would be ready with her
crowns and her sweetheart. But after the windlass loosened
accidentally when they were pulling up her bridegroom that was to
be, there was no more sign of a well, or a rope, or a windlass,
than there is on the palm of your hand. So the princes that were
courting the eldest ladies wouldn't give peace or ease to their
lovers nor the king till they got consent to the marriage, and it
was to take place this morning. Myself went down out o'
curiousity, and to be sure I was delighted with the grand dresses
of the two brides, and the three crowns on their heads--gold,
silver, and copper, one inside the other. The youngest was
standing by mournful enough, and all was ready. The two
bridegrooms came in as proud and grand as you please, and up they
were walking to the altar rails, when the boards opened two yards
wide under their feet, and down they went among the dead men and
the coffins in the vaults. Oh, such shrieks as the ladies gave!
and such running and racing and peeping down as there was! but
the clerk soon opened the door of the vault, and up came the two
princes, their fine clothes covered an inch thick with cobwebs
and mould.

So the king said they should put off the marriage. 'For,' says
he, 'I see there is no use in thinking of it till the youngest
gets her three crowns, and is married with the others. I'll give
my youngest daughter for a wife to whoever brings three crowns to
me like the others; and if he doesn't care to be married, some
other one will, and I'll make his fortune.'

'I wish,' says the smith, 'I could do it; but I was looking at
the crowns after the princesses got home, and I don't think
there's a black or a white smith on the face of the earth that
could imitate them.' 'Faint heart never won fair lady,' says the
prince. 'Go to the palace and ask for a quarter of a pound of
gold, a quarter of a pound of silver, and a quarter of a pound of
copper. Get one crown for a pattern, and my head for a pledge,
I'll give you out the very things that are wanted in the
morning.' 'Are you in earnest?' says the smith. 'Faith, I am so,'
says he. 'Go! you can't do worse than lose.'

To make a long story short, the smith got the quarter of a pound
of gold, and the quarter of a pound of silver, and the quarter of
a pound of copper, and gave them and the pattern crown to the
prince. He shut the forge door at nightfall, and the neighbours
all gathered in the yard, and they heard him hammering,
hammering, hammering, from that to daybreak; and every now and
then he'd throw out through the window bits of gold, silver, and
copper; and the idlers scrambled for them, and cursed one
another, and prayed for the good luck of the workman.

Well, just as the sun was thinking to rise, he opened the door,
and brought out the three crowns he got from his true love, and
such shouting and huzzaing as there was! The smith asked him to
go along with him to the palace, but he refused; so off set the
smith, and the whole townland with him; and wasn't the king
rejoiced when he saw the crowns! 'Well,' says he to the smith,
'you're a married man. What's to be done?' 'Faith, your majesty,
I didn't make them crowns at all. It was a big fellow that took
service with me yesterday.' 'Well, daughter, will you marry the
fellow that made these crowns?' 'Let me see them first, father,'
said she; but when she examined them she knew them right well,
and guessed it was her true love that sent them. 'I will marry
the man that these crowns came from,' says she.

'Well,' says the king to the elder of the two princes, 'go up to
the smith's forge, take my best coaches, and bring home the
bridegroom.' He did not like doing this, he was so proud, but he
could not refuse. When he came to the forge he saw the prince
standing at the door, and beckoned him over to the coach. 'Are
you the fellow,' says he, 'that made these crowns?' 'Yes,' says
the other. 'Then,' says he, 'maybe you'd give yourself a
brushing, and get into that coach; the king wants to see you. I
pity the princess.' The young prince got into the carriage, and
while they were on the way he opened the snuff-box, and out
walked Seven Inches, and stood on his thigh. 'Well,' says he,
'what trouble is on you now?' 'Master,' says the other, 'please
let me go back to my forge, and let this carriage be filled with
paving stones.' No sooner said than done. The prince was sitting
in his forge, and the horses wondered what was after happening to
the carriage.

When they came into the palace yard, the king himself opened the
carriage door, for respect to his new son-in-law. As soon as he
turned the handle, a shower of small stones fell on his powdered
wig and his silk coat, and down he fell under them. There was
great fright and some laughter, and the king, after he wiped the
blood from his forehead, looked very cross at the eldest prince.
'My lord,' says he, 'I'm very sorry for this accident, but I'm
not to blame. I saw the young smith get into the carriage, and we
never stopped a minute since.' 'It's uncivil you were to him.
Go,' says he to the other prince, 'and bring the young smith
here, and be polite.' 'Never fear,' says he.

But there's some people that couldn't be good-natured if they
tried, and not a bit civiller was the new messenger than the old,
and when the king opened the carriage door a second time, it's
shower of mud that came down on him. 'There's no use,' says he,
'going on this way. The fox never got a better messenger than
himself.'

So he changed his clothes, and washed himself, and out he set to
the prince's forge and asked him to sit along with himself. The
prince begged to be allowed to sit in the other carriage, and
when they were half-way he opened his snuff-box. 'Master,' says
he, 'I'd wish to be dressed now according to my rank.' 'You shall
be that,' says Seven Inches. 'And now I'll bid you farewell.
Continue as good and kind as you always were; love your wife; and
that's all the advice I'll give you.' So Seven Inches vanished;
and when the carriage door was opened in the yard, out walks the
prince as fine as hands could make him, and the first thing he
did was to run over to his bride and embrace her.

Every one was full of joy but the two other princes. There was
not much delay about the marriages, and they were all celebrated
on the one day. Soon after, the two elder couples went to their
own courts, but the youngest pair stayed with the old king, and
they were as happy as the happiest married couple you ever heard
of in a story.

From 'West Highland Tales.'






                  The Story of a Very Bad Boy




Once upon a time there lived in a little village in the very
middle of France a widow and her only son, a boy about fifteen,
whose name was Antoine, though no one ever called him anything
but Toueno-Boueno. They were very poor indeed, and their hut
shook about their ears on windy nights, till they expected the
walls to fall in and crush them, but instead of going to work as
a boy of his age ought to do, Toueno-Boueno did nothing but
lounge along the street, his eyes fixed on the ground, seeing
nothing that went on round him.

'You are very, very stupid, my dear child,' his mother would
sometimes say to him, and then she would add with a laugh,
'Certainly you will never catch a wolf by the tail.'

One day the old woman bade Antoine go into the forest and collect
enough dry leaves to make beds for herself and him. Before he had
finished it began to rain heavily, so he hid himself in the
hollow trunk of a tree, where he was so dry and comfortable that
he soon fell fast asleep. By and by he was awakened by a noise
which sounded like a dog scratching at the door, and he suddenly
felt frightened, why he did not know. Very cautiously he raised
his head, and right above him he saw a big hairy animal, coming
down tail foremost.

'It is the wolf that they talk so much about,' he said to
himself, and he made himself as small as he could and shrunk into
a corner.

The wolf came down the inside of the tree, slowly, slowly;
Antoine felt turned to stone, so terrified was he, and hardly
dared to breathe. Suddenly an idea entered his mind, which he
thought might save him still. He remembered to have heard from
his mother that a wolf could neither bend his back nor turn his
head, so as to look behind him, and quick as lightning he
stretched up his hand, and seizing the wolf's tail, pulled it
towards him.

Then he left the tree and dragged the animal to his mother's
house.

'Mother, you have often declared that I was too stupid to catch a
wolf by the tail. Now see,' he cried triumphantly.

'Well, well, wonders will never cease,' answered the good woman,
who took care to keep at a safe distance. 'But as you really have
got him, let us see if we can't put him to some use. Fetch the
skin of the ram which died last week out of the chest, and we
will sew the wolf up in it. He will make a splendid ram, and to-
morrow we will drive him to the fair and sell him.'

Very likely the wolf, who was cunning and clever, may have
understood what she said, but he thought it best to give no sign,
and suffered the skin to be sewn upon him.

'I can always get away if I choose,' thought he, 'it is better
not to be in a hurry;' so he remained quite still while the skin
was drawn over his head, which made him very hot and
uncomfortable, and resisted the temptation to snap off the
fingers or noses that were so close to his mouth.

The fair was at its height next day when Toueno-Boueno arrived
with his wolf in ram's clothing. All the farmers crowded round
him, each offering a higher price than the last. Never had they
beheld such a beautiful beast, said they, and at last, after much
bargaining, he was handed over to three brothers for a good sum
of money.

It happened that these three brothers owned large flocks of
sheep, though none so large and fine as the one they had just
bought.

'My flock is the nearest,' observed the eldest brother; 'we will
leave him in the fold for the night, and to-morrow we will decide
which pastures will be best for him.' And the wolf grinned as he
listened, and held up his head a little higher than before.

Early next morning the young farmer began to go his rounds, and
the sheep-fold was the first place he visited. To his horror, the
sheep were all stretched out dead before him, except one, which
the wolf had eaten, bones and all. Instantly the truth flashed
upon him. It was no ram that lay curled up in the corner
pretending to be asleep (for in reality he could bend back and
turn his head as much as he liked), but a wolf who was watching
him out of the corner of his eye, and might spring upon him at
any moment. So the farmer took no notice, and only thought that
here was a fine chance of revenging himself on his next brother
for a trick which he had played, and merely told him that the ram
would not eat the grass in that field, and it might be well to
drive him to the pasture by the river, where his own flock was
feeding. The second brother eagerly swallowed the bait, and that
evening the wolf was driven down to the field where the young man
kept the sheep which had been left him by his father. By the next
morning they also were all dead, but the second brother likewise
held his peace, and allowed the sheep which belonged to the
youngest to share the fate of the other two. Then they met and
confessed to each other their disasters, and resolved to take the
animal as fast as possible back to Toueno-Boueno, who should get
a sound thrashing.

Antoine was sitting on a plum tree belonging to a neighbour,
eating the ripe fruit, when he saw the three young farmers coming
towards him. Swinging himself down, he flew home to the hut,
crying breathlessly, 'Mother, mother, the farmers are close by
with the wolf. They have found out all about it, and will
certainly kill me, and perhaps you too. But if you do as I tell
you, I may be able to save us both. Lie down on the floor, and
pretend to be dead, and be sure not to speak, whatever happens.

Thus when the three brothers, each armed with a whip, entered the
hut a few seconds later, they found a woman extended on the
floor, and Toueno kneeling at her side, whistling loudly into her
ears.

'What are you doing now, you rascal?' asked the eldest.

'What am I doing? Oh, my poor friends, I am the most miserable
creature in the world! I have lost the best of mothers, and I
don't know what will become of me,' and he hid his face in his
hands and sobbed again.

'But what are you whistling like that for?'

'Well, it is the only chance. This whistle has been known to
bring the dead back to life, and I hoped--' here he buried his
face in his hands again, but peeping between his fingers he saw
that the brother had opened their six eyes as wide as saucers.

'Look!' he suddenly exclaimed with a cry, 'Look! I am sure I felt
her body move! And now her nostrils are twitching. Ah! the
whistle has not lost its power after all,' and stooping down,
Toueno whistled more loudly than before, so that the old woman's
feet and hands showed signs of life, and she soon was able to
life her head.

The farmers were so astonished at her restoration, that it was
some time before they could speak. At length the eldest turned to
the boy and said:

'Now listen to me. There is no manner of doubt that you are a
young villain. You sold us a ram knowing full well that it was a
wolf, and we came here to-day to pay you out for it. But if you
will give us that whistle, we will pardon what you have done, and
will leave you alone.'

'It is my only treasure, and I set great store by it,' answered
the boy, pretending to hesitate. 'But as you wish for it so much,
well, I suppose I can't refuse,' and he held out the whistle,
which the eldest brother put in his pocket.

Armed with the precious whistle, the three brothers returned home
full of joy, and as they went the youngest said to the others, 'I
have such a good idea! Our wives are all lazy and grumbling, and
make our lives a burden. Let us give them a lesson, and kill them
as soon as we get in. Of course we can restore them to life at
once, but they will have had a rare fright.'

'Ah, how clever you are,' answered the other two. 'Nobody else
would have thought of that.'

So gaily the three husbands knocked down their three wives, who
fell dead to the ground. Then one by one the men tried the
whistle, and blew so loudly that it seemed as if their lungs
would burst, but the women lay stark and stiff and never moved an
eyelid. The husbands grew pale and cold, for they had never
dreamed of this, nor meant any harm, and after a while they
understood that their efforts were of no use, and that once more
the boy had tricked them. With stern faces they rose to their
feet, and taking a large sack they retraced their steps to the
hut.

This time there was no escape. Toueno had been asleep, and only
opened his eyes as they entered. Without a word on either side
they thrust him into the sack, and tying up the mouth, the eldest
threw it over his shoulder. After that they all set out to the
river, where they intended to drown the boy.

But the river was a long way off, and the day was very hot, and
Antoine was heavy, heavier than a whole sheaf of corn. They
carried him in turns, but even so they grew very tired and
thirsty, and when a little tavern came in sight on the roadside,
they thankfully flung the sack down on a bench and entered to
refresh themselves. They never noticed that a beggar was sitting
in the shade at the end of the bench, but Toueno's sharp ears
caught the sound of someone eating, and as soon as the farmers
had gone into the inn he began to groan softly.

'What is the matter?' asked the beggar, drawing a little nearer.
'Why have they shut you up, poor boy?'

'Because they wanted to make me a bishop, and I would not
consent,' answered Toueno.

'Dear me,' exclaimed the beggar, 'yet it isn't such a bad thing
to be a bishop.'

'I don't say it is,' replied the young rascal, 'but I should
never like it. However, if you have any fancy for wearing a
mitre, you need only untie the sack, and take my place.'

'I should like nothing better,' said the man, as he stooped to
undo the big knot.

So it was the beggar and not Toueno-Boueno who was flung into the
water.

The next morning the three wives were buried, and on returning
from the cemetery, their husbands met Toueno-Boueno driving a
magnificent flock of sheep. At the sight of him the three farmers
stood still with astonishment.

'What! you scoundrel!' they cried at last, 'we drowned you
yesterday, and to-day we find you again, as well as ever!'

'It does seem odd, doesn't it?' answered he. 'But perhaps you
don't know that beneath this world there lies another yet more
beautiful and far, far richer. Well, it was there that you sent
me when you flung me into the river, and though I felt a little
strange at first, yet I soon began to look about me, and to see
what was happening. There I noticed that close to the place where
I had fallen, a sheep fair was being held, and a bystander told
me that every day horses or cattle were sold somewhere in the
town. If I had only had the luck to be thrown into the river on
the side of the horse fair I might have made my fortune! As it
was, I had to content myself with buying these sheep, which you
can get for nothing.'

'And do you know exactly the spot in the river which lies over
the horse fair?'

'As if I did not know it, when I have seen it with my own eyes.'

'Then if you do not want us to avenge our dead flocks and our
murdered wives, you will have to throw us into the river just
over the place of the horse fair.'

'Very well; only you must get three sacks and come with me to
that rock which juts into the river. I will throw you in from
there, and you will fall nearly on to the horses' backs.'

So he threw them in, and as they were never seen again, no one
ever knew into which fair they had fallen.

From 'Litterature Orale de L'Auvergne,' par Paul Sebillot.







                    The Brown Bear of Norway




There was once a king in Ireland, and he had three daughters, and
very nice princesses they were. And one day, when they and their
father were walking on the lawn, the king began to joke with
them, and to ask them whom they would like to be married to.
'I'll have the king of Ulster for a husband,' says one; 'and I'll
have the king of Munster,' says another; 'and,' says the
youngest, 'I'll have no husband but the Brown Bear of Norway.'
For a nurse of hers used to be telling her of an enchanted prince
that she called by that name, and she fell in love with him, and
his name was the first name on her tongue, for the very night
before she was dreaming of him. Well, one laughed, and another
laughed, and they joked with the princess all the rest of the
evening. But that very night she woke up out of her sleep in a
great hall that was lighted up with a thousand lamps; the richest
carpets were on the floor, and the walls were covered with cloth
of gold and silver, and the place was full of grand company, and
the very beautiful prince she saw in her dreams was there, and it
wasn't a moment till he was on one knee before her, and telling
her how much he loved her, and asking her wouldn't she be his
queen. Well, she hadn't the heart to refuse him, and married they
were the same evening.

'Now, my darling,' says he, when they were left by themselves,
'you must know that I am under enchantment. A sorceress, that had
a beautiful daughter, wished me for her son-in-law; but the
mother got power over me, and when I refused to wed her daughter
she made me take the form of a bear by day, and I was to continue
so till a lady would marry me of her own free will, and endure
five years of great trials after.'

Well, when the princess woke in the morning, she missed her
husband from her side, and spent the day very sadly. But as soon
as the lamps were lighted in the grand hall, where she was
sitting on a sofa covered with silk, the folding doors flew open,
and he was sitting by her side the next minute. So they spent
another happy evening, but he warned her that whenever she began
to tire of him, or ceased to have faith in him, they would be
parted for ever, and he'd be obliged to marry the witch's
daughter.

She got used to find him absent by day, and they spent a happy
twelvemonth together, and at last a beautiful little boy was
born; and happy as she was before, she was twice as happy now,
for she had her child to keep her company in the day when she
couldn't see her husband.

At last, one evening, when herself, and himself, and her child
were sitting with a window open because it was a sultry night, in
flew an eagle, took the infant's sash in his beak, and flew up in
the air with him. She screamed, and was going to throw herself
out the window after him, but the prince caught her, and looked
at her very seriously. She bethought of what he said soon after
their marriage, and she stopped the cries and complaints that
were on her tongue. She spent her days very lonely for another
twelvemonth, when a beautiful little girl was sent to her. Then
she thought to herself she'd have a sharp eye about her this
time; so she never would allow a window to be more than a few
inches open.

But all her care was in vain. Another evening, when they were all
so happy, and the prince dandling the baby, a beautiful greyhound
stood before them, took the child out of the father's hand, and
was out of the door before you could wink. This time she shouted
and ran out of the room, but there were some of the servants in
the next room, and all declared that neither child nor dog passed
out. She felt, somehow, as if it was her husband's fault, but
still she kept command over herself, and didn't once reproach
him.

When the third child was born she would hardly allow a window or
a door to be left open for a moment; but she wasn't the nearer to
keep the child to herself. They were sitting one evening by the
fire, when a lady appeared standing by them. The princess opened
her eyes in a great fright and stared at her, and while she was
doing so, the lady wrapped a shawl round the baby that was
sitting in its father's lap, and either sank through the ground
with it or went up through the wide chimney. This time the mother
kept her bed for a month.

'My dear,' said she to her husband, when she was beginning to
recover, 'I think I'd feel better if I was to see my father and
mother and sisters once more. If you give me leave to go home for
a few days I'd be glad.' 'Very well,' said he, 'I will do that,
and whenever you feel inclined to return, only mention your wish
when you lie down at night.' The next morning when she awoke she
found herself in her own old chamber in her father's palace. She
rang the bell, and in a short time she had her mother and father
and married sisters about her, and they laughed till they cried
for joy at finding her safe back again.

In time she told them all that had happened to her, and they
didn't know what to advise her to do. She was as fond of her
husband as ever, and said she was sure that he couldn't help
letting the children go; but still she was afraid beyond the
world to have another child torn from her. Well, the mother and
sisters consulted a wise woman that used to bring eggs to the
castle, for they had great faith in her wisdom. She said the only
plan was to secure the bear's skin that the prince was obliged to
put on every morning, and get it burned, and then he couldn't
help being a man night and day, and the enchantment would be at
an end.

So they all persuaded her to do that, and she promised she would;
and after eight days she felt so great a longing to see her
husband again that she made the wish the same night, and when she
woke three hours after, she was in her husband's palace, and he
himself was watching over her. There was great joy on both sides,
and they were happy for many days.

Now she began to think how she never minded her husband leaving
her in the morning, and how she never found him neglecting to
give her a sweet drink out of a gold cup just as she was going to
bed.

One night she contrived not to drink any of it, though she
pretended to do so; and she was wakeful enough in the morning,
and saw her husband passing out through a panel in the wainscot,
though she kept her eyelids nearly closed. The next night she got
a few drops of the sleepy posset that she saved the evening
before put into her husband's night drink, and that made him
sleep sound enough. She got up after midnight, passed through the
panel, and found a Beautiful brown bear's hide hanging in the
corner. Then she stole back, and went down to the parlour fire,
and put the hide into the middle of it till it was all fine
ashes. She then lay down by her husband, gave him a kiss on the
cheek, and fell asleep.

If she was to live a hundred years she'd never forget how she
wakened next morning, and found her husband looking down on her
with misery and anger in his face. 'Unhappy woman,' said he, 'you
have separated us for ever! Why hadn't you patience for five
years? I am now obliged, whether I like or no, to go a three
days' journey to the witch's castle, and marry her daughter. The
skin that was my guard you have burned it, and the egg-wife that
gave you the counsel was the witch herself. I won't reproach you:
your punishment will be severe without it. Farewell for ever!'

He kissed her for the last time, and was off the next minute,
walking as fast as he could. She shouted after him, and then
seeing there was no use, she dressed herself and pursued him. He
never stopped, nor stayed, nor looked back, and still she kept
him in sight; and when he was on the hill she was in the hollow,
and when he was in the hollow she was on the hill. Her life was
almost leaving her, when, just as the sun was setting, he turned
up a lane, and went into a little house. She crawled up after
him, and when she got inside there was a beautiful little boy on
his knees, and he kissing and hugging him. 'Here, my poor
darling,' says he, 'is your eldest child, and there,' says he,
pointing to a woman that was looking on with a smile on her face,
'is the eagle that carried him away.' She forgot all her sorrows
in a moment, hugging her child, and laughing and crying over him.
The woman washed their feet, and rubbed them with an ointment
that took all the soreness out of their bones, and made them as
fresh as a daisy. Next morning, just before sunrise, he was up,
and prepared to be off, 'Here,' said he to her, 'is a thing which
may be of use to you. It's a scissors, and whatever stuff you cut
with it will be turned into silk. The moment the sun rises, I'll
lose all memory of yourself and the children, but I'll get it at
sunset again. Farewell!' But he wasn't far gone till she was in
sight of him again, leaving her boy behind. It was the same to-
day as yesterday: their shadows went before them in the morning
and followed them in the evening. He never stopped, and she never
stopped, and as the sun was setting he turned up another lane,
and there they found their little daughter. It was all joy and
comfort again till morning, and then the third day's journey
commenced.

But before he started he gave her a comb, and told her that
whenever she used it, pearls and diamonds would fall from her
hair. Still he had his memory from sunset to sunrise; but from
sunrise to sunset he travelled on under the charm, and never
threw his eye behind. This night they came to where the youngest
baby was, and the next morning, just before sunrise, the prince
spoke to her for the last time. 'Here, my poor wife,' said he,
'is a little hand-reel, with gold thread that has no end, and the
half of our marriage ring. If you ever get to my house, and put
your half-ring to mine, I shall recollect you. There is a wood
yonder, and the moment I enter it I shall forget everything that
ever happened between us, just as if I was born yesterday.
Farewell, dear wife and child, for ever!' Just then the sun rose,
and away he walked towards the wood. She saw it open before him
and close after him, and when she came up, she could no more get
in than she could break through a stone wall. She wrung her hands
and shed tears, but then she recollected herself, and cried out,
'Wood, I charge you by my three magic gifts, the scissors, the
comb, and the reel--to let me through'; and it opened, and she
went along a walk till she came in sight of a palace, and a lawn,
and a woodman's cottage on the edge of the wood where it came
nearest the palace.

She went into the lodge, and asked the woodman and his wife to
take her into their service. They were not willing at first; but
she told them she would ask no wages, and would give them
diamonds, and pearls, and silk stuffs, and gold thread whenever
they wished for them, and then they agreed to let her stay.

It wasn't long till she heard how a young prince, that was just
arrived, was living in the palace of the young mistress. He
seldom stirred abroad, and every one that saw him remarked how
silent and sorrowful he went about, like a person that was
searching for some lost thing.

The servants and conceited folk at the big house began to take
notice of the beautiful young woman at the lodge, and to annoy
her with their impudence. The head footman was the most
troublesome, and at last she invited him to come and take tea
with her. Oh, how rejoiced he was, and how he bragged of it in
the servants' hall! Well, the evening came, and the footman
walked into the lodge, and was shown to her sitting-room; for the
lodge-keeper and his wife stood in great awe of her, and gave her
two nice rooms for herself. Well, he sat down as stiff as a
ramrod, and was talking in a grand style about the great doings
at the castle, while she was getting the tea and toast ready.
'Oh,' says she to him, 'would you put your hand out at the window
and cut me off a sprig or two of honeysuckle?' He got up in great
glee, and put out his hand and head; and said she, 'By the virtue
of my magic gifts, let a pair of horns spring out of your head,
and sing to the lodge.' Just as she wished, so it was. They
sprung from the front of each ear, and met at the back. Oh, the
poor wretch! And how he bawled and roared! and the servants that
he used to be boasting to were soon flocking from the castle, and
grinning, and huzzaing, and beating tunes on tongs and shovels
and pans; and he cursing and swearing, and the eyes ready to
start out of his head, and he so black in the face, and kicking
out his legs behind him like mad.

At last she pitied him, and removed the charm, and the horns
dropped down on the ground, and he would have killed her on the
spot, only he was as weak as water, and his fellow-servants came
in and carried him up to the big house. Well, some way or other
the story came to the ears of the prince, and he strolled down
that way. She had only the dress of a countrywoman on her as she
sat sewing at the window, but that did not hide her beauty, and
he was greatly puzzled after he had a good look, just as a body
is puzzled to know whether something happened to him when he was
young or if he only dreamed it. Well, the witch's daughter heard
about it too, and she came to see the strange girl; and what did
she find her doing but cutting out the pattern of a gown from
brown paper; and as she cut away, the paper became the richest
silk she ever saw. The witch's daughter looked on with greedy
eyes, and, says she, 'What would you be satisfied to take for
that scissors?' 'I'll take nothing,' says she, 'but leave to
spend one night outside the prince's chamber.' Well, the proud
lady fired up, and was going to say something dreadful; but the
scissors kept on cutting, and the silk growing richer and richer
every inch. So she promised what the girl had asked her.

When night came on she was let into the palace and lay down till
the prince was in such a dead sleep that all she did couldn't
awake him. She sung this verse to him, sighing and sobbing, and
kept singing it the night long, and it was all in vain:

Four long years I was married to thee; Three sweet babes I bore
to thee; Brown Bear of Norway, turn to me.

At the first dawn the proud lady was in the chamber, and led her
away, and the footman of the horns put out his tongue at her as
she was quitting the palace.

So there was no luck so far; but the next day the prince passed
by again and looked at her, and saluted her kindly, as a prince
might a farmer's daughter, and passed one; and soon the witch's
daughter passed by, and found her combing her hair, and pearls
and diamonds dropping from it.

Well, another bargain was made, and the princess spent another
night of sorrow, and she left the castle at daybreak, and the
footman was at his post and enjoyed his revenge.

The third day the prince went by, and stopped to talk with the
strange woman. He asked her could he do anything to serve her,
and she said he might. She asked him did he ever wake at night.
He said that he often did, but that during the last two nights he
was listening to a sweet song in his dreams, and could not wake,
and that the voice was one that he must have known and loved in
some other world long ago. Says she, 'Did you drink any sleepy
posset either of these evenings before you went to bed?' 'I did,'
said he. 'The two evenings my wife gave me something to drink,
but I don't know whether it was a sleepy posset or not.' 'Well,
prince,' said she, 'as you say you would wish to oblige me, you
can do it by not tasting any drink to-night.' 'I will not,' says
he, and then he went on his walk.

Well, the great lady came soon after the prince, and found the
stranger using her hand-reel and winding threads of gold off it,
and the third bargain was made.

That evening the prince was lying on his bed at twilight, and his
mind much disturbed; and the door opened, and in his princess
walked, and down she sat by his bedside and sung:

Four long years I was married to thee; Three sweet babes I bore
to thee; Brown Bear of Norway, turn to me.

'Brown Bear of Norway !' said he. 'I don't understand you.'
'Don't you remember, prince, that I was your wedded wife for four
years?' 'I do not,' said he, 'but I'm sure I wish it was so.'
'Don't you remember our three babes that are still alive?' 'Show
me them. My mind is all a heap of confusion.' 'Look for the half
of our marriage ring, that hangs at your neck, and fit it to
this.' He did so, and the same moment the charm was broken. His
full memory came back on him, and he flung his arms round his
wife's neck, and both burst into tears.

Well, there was a great cry outside, and the castle walls were
heard splitting and cracking. Everyone in the castle was alarmed,
and made their way out. The prince and princess went with the
rest, and by the time all were safe on the lawn, down came the
building, and made the ground tremble for miles round. No one
ever saw the witch and her daughter afterwards. It was not long
till the prince and princess had their children with them, and
then they set out for their own palace. The kings of Ireland and
of Munster and Ulster, and their wives, soon came to visit them,
and may every one that deserves it be as happy as the Brown Bear
of Norway and his family.

From 'West Highland Tales.'






                          Little Lasse




There was once a little boy whose name was Lars, and because he
was so little he was called Little Lasse; he was a brave little
man, for he sailed round the world in a pea-shell boat.

It was summer time, when the pea shells grew long and green in
the garden. Little Lasse crept into the pea bed where the pea
stalks rose high above his cap, and he picked seventeen large
shells, the longest and straightest he could find.

Little Lasse thought, perhaps, that no one saw him; but that was
foolish, for God sees everywhere.

Then the gardener came with his gun over his shoulder, and he
heard something rustling in the pea bed.

'I think that must be a sparrow,' he said. 'Ras! Ras!' but no
sparrows flew out, for Little Lasse had no wings, only two small
legs. 'Wait! I will load my gun and shoot the sparrows,' said the
gardener.

Then Little Lasse was frightened, and crept out on to the path.

'Forgive me, dear gardener!' he said. 'I wanted to get some fine
boats.'

'Well, I will this time,' said the gardener. 'But another time
Little Lasse must ask leave to go and look for boats in the pea
bed.'

'I will,' answered Lasse; and he went off to the shore. Then he
opened the shells with a pin, split them carefully in two, and
broke small little bits of sticks for the rowers' seats. Then he
took the peas which were in the shells and put them in the boats
for cargo. Some of the shells got broken, some remained whole,
and when all were ready Lasse had twelve boats. But they should
not be boats, they should be large warships. He had three liners,
three frigates, three brigs and three schooners. The largest
liner was called Hercules, and the smallest schooner The Flea.
Little Lasse put all the twelve into the water, and they floated
as splendidly and as proudly as any great ships over the waves of
the ocean.

And now the ships must sail round the world. The great island
over there was Asia; that large stone Africa; the little island
America; the small stones were Polynesia; and the shore from
which the ships sailed out was Europe. The whole fleet set off
and sailed far away to other parts of the world. The ships of the
line steered a straight course to Asia, the frigates sailed to
Africa, the brigs to America, and the schooners to Polynesia. But
Little Lasse remained in Europe, and threw small stones out into
the great sea.

Now, there was on the shore of Europe a real boat, father's own,
a beautiful white-painted boat, and Little Lasse got into it.
Father and mother had forbidden this, but Little Lasse forgot. He
thought he should very much like to travel to some other part of
the world.

'I shall row out a little way--only a very little way,' he
thought. The pea-shell boats had travelled so far that they only
looked like little specks on the ocean. 'I shall seize Hercules
on the coast of Asia,' said Lasse, 'and then row home again to
Europe.'

He shook the rope that held the boat, and, strange to say, the
rope became loose. Ditsch, ratsch, a man is a man, and so Little
Lasse manned the boat.

Now he would row--and he could row, for he had rowed so often on
the step sat home, when the steps pretended to be a boat and
father's big stick an oar. But when Little Lasse wanted to row
there were no oars to be found in the boat. The oars were locked
up in the boat-house, and Little Lasse had not noticed that the
boat was empty. It is not so easy as one thinks to row to Asia
without oars.

What could Little Lasse do now? The boat was already some
distance out on the sea, and the wind, which blew from land, was
driving it still further out. Lasse was frightened and began to
cry. But there was no one on the shore to hear him. Only a big
crow perched alone in the birch tree; and the gardener's black
cat sat under the birch tree, waiting to catch the crow. Neither
of them troubled themselves in the least about Little Lasse, who
was drifting out to sea.

Ah! how sorry Little Lasse was now that he had been disobedient
and got into the boat, when father and mother had so often
forbidden him to do so! Now it was too late, he could not get
back to land. Perhaps he would be lost out on the great sea. What
should he do?

When he had shouted until he was tired and no one heard him, he
put his two little hands together and said, 'Good God, do not be
angry with Little Lasse.' And then he went to sleep. For although
it was daylight, old Nukku Matti was sitting on the shores of the
'Land of Nod,' and was fishing for little children with his long
fishing rod. He heard the low words which Little Lasse said to
God, and he immediately drew the boat to himself and laid Little
Lasse to sleep on a bed of rose leaves.

Then Nukku Matti said to one of the Dreams, 'Play with Little
Lasse, so that he does not feel lonesome.'

It was a little dream-boy, so little, so little, that he was less
than Lasse himself; he had blue eyes and fair hair, a red cap
with a silver band, and white coat with pearls on the collar. He
came to Little Lasse and said, 'Would you like to sail round the
world?'

'Yes,' said Lasse in his sleep, 'I should like to.'

'Come, then,' said the dream-boy, 'and let us sail in your pea-
shell boats. You shall sail in Hercules and I shall sail in The
Flea.'

So they sailed away from the 'Land of Nod,' and in a little while
Hercules and The Flea were on the shores of Asia away at the
other end of the world, where the Ice Sea flows through Behring
Straits into the Pacific Ocean. A long way off in the winter mist
they could see the explorer Nordenskiold with his ship Vega
trying to find an opening between the ice. It was so cold, so
cold; the great icebergs glittered strangely, and the huge whales
now lived under the ice, for they could not make a hole through
with their awkward heads. All around on the dreary shore there
was snow and snow as far as the eye could see; little grey men in
shaggy skins moved about, and drove in small sledges through the
snow drifts, but the sledges were drawn by dogs.

'Shall we land here?' asked the dream-boy.

'No,' said Little Lasse. 'I am so afraid that the whales would
swallow us up, and the big dogs bite us. Let us sail instead to
another part of the world.'

'Very well,' said the dream-boy with the red cap and the silver
band; 'it is not far to America'--and at the same moment they
were there.

The sun was shining and it was very warm. Tall palm trees grew in
long rows on the shore and bore coconuts in their top branches.
Men red as copper galloped over the immense green prairies and
shot their arrows at the buffaloes, who turned against them with
their sharp horns. An enormous cobra which had crept up the stem
of a tall palm tree threw itself on to a little llama that was
grazing at the foot. Knaps! it was all over the little llama.

'Shall we land here?' asked the dream-boy.

'No,' said Little Lasse. 'I am so afraid that the buffaloes will
butt us, and the great serpent eat us up. Let us travel to
another part of the world.'

'Very well,' said the dream-boy with the white coat, 'it is only
a little way to Polynesia'--and then they were there.

It was very warm there, as warm as in a hot bath in Finland.
Costly spices grew on the shores: the pepper plant, the cinnamon
tree, ginger, saffron; the coffee plant and the tea plant. Brown
people with long ears and thick lips, and hideously painted
faces, hunted a yellow-spotted tiger among the high bamboos on
the shore, and the tiger turned on them and stuck its claws into
one of the brown men. Then all the others took to flight.

'Shall we land here?' asked the dream-boy.

'No,' said Little Lasse. 'Don't you see the tiger away there by
the pepper plant? Let us travel to another part of the world.'

'We can do so,' said the dream-boy with the blue eyes. 'We are
not far from Africa'--and as he said that they were there.

They anchored at the mouth of a great river where the shores were
as green as the greenest velvet. A little distance from the river
an immense desert stretched away. The air was yellow; the sun
shone so hot, so hot as if it would burn the earth to ashes, and
the people were as black as the blackest jet. They rode across
the desert on tall camels; the lions roared with thirst, and the
great crocodiles with their grey lizard heads and sharp white
teeth gaped up out of the river.

'Shall we land here?' asked the dream-boy.

'No,' said Little Lasse. 'The sun would burn us, and the lions
and the crocodiles would eat us up. Let us travel to another part
of the world.'

'We can travel back to Europe,' said the dream-boy with the fair
hair. And with that they were there.

They came to a shore where it was all so cool and familiar and
friendly. There stood the tall birch tree with its drooping
leaves; at the top sat the old crow, and at its foot crept the
gardener's black cat. Not far away was a house which Little Lasse
had seen before; near the house there was a garden, and in the
garden a pea bed with long pea shells. An old gardener with a
green coat walked about and wondered if the cucumbers were ripe.
Fylax was barking on the steps, and when he saw Little Lasse he
wagged his tail. Old Stina was milking the cows in the farmyard,
and there was a very familiar lady in a check woollen shawl on
her way to the bleaching green to see if the clothes were
bleached. There was, too, a well-known gentleman in a yellow
summer coat, with a long pipe in his mouth; he was going to see
if the reapers had cut the rye. A boy and a girl were running on
the shore and calling out, 'Little Lasse! Come home for bread-
and-butter!'

'Shall we land here?' asked the dream-boy, and he blinked his
blue eyes roguishly.

'Come with me, and I shall ask mother to give you some bread-and-
butter and a glass of milk,' said Little Lasse.

'Wait a little,' said the dream-boy. And now Little Lasse saw
that the kitchen door was open, and from within there was heard a
low, pleasant frizzling, like that which is heard when one whisks
yellow batter with a wooden ladle into a hot frying-pan.

'Perhaps we should sail back to Polynesia now?' said the happy
dream-boy.

'No; they are frying pancakes in Europe just now,' said Little
Lasse; and he wanted to jump ashore, but he could not. The dream-
boy had tied him with a chain of flowers, so that he could not
move. And now all the little dreams came about him, thousands and
thousands of little children, and they made a ring around him and
sang a little song:

          The world is very, very wide,
               Little Lasse, Lasse,
          And though you've sailed beyond the tide,
          You can never tell how wide
          It is on the other side,
               Lasse, Little Lasse.
          You have found it cold and hot,
               Little Lasse, Lasse;
          But in no land is God not,
               Lasse, Little Lasse.
          Many men live there as here,
          But they all to God are dear,
               Little Lasse, Lasse.
          When His angel is your guide,
               Little Lasse, Lasse,
          Then no harm can e'er betide,
          Even on the other side
               Where the wild beasts wander.
          But tell us now,
               Whene'er you roam,
               Do you not find the best is home
          Of all the lands you've looked upon,
               Lasse, Little Lasse?

When the dreams had sung their song they skipped away, and Nukku
Matti carried Lasse back to the boat. He lay there for a long
time quite still, and he still heard the frying-pan frizzling at
home of the fire, the frizzling was very plain, Little Lasse
heard it quite near him; and so he woke up and rubbed his eyes.

There he lay in the boat, where he had fallen asleep. The wind
had turned, and the boat had drifted out with one wind and
drifted in with another while Little Lasse slept, and what Lasse
thought was frizzling in a frying-pan was the low murmur of the
waves as they washed against the stones on the shore. But he was
not altogether wrong, for the clear blue sea is like a great pan
in which God's sun all day makes cakes for good children.

Little Lasse rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked around
him. Everything was the same as before; the crow in the birch
tree, the cat on the grass, and the pea-shell fleet on the shore.
Some of the ships had foundered, and some had drifted back to
land. Hercules had come back with its cargo from Asia, The Flea
had arrived from Polynesia, and the other parts of the world were
just where they were before.

Little Lasse did not know what to think. He had so often been in
that grotto in the 'Land of Nod' and did not know what tricks
dreams can play. But Little Lasse did not trouble his head with
such things; he gathered together his boats and walked up the
shore back to the house.

His brother and sister ran to meet him, and called out from the
distance, 'Where have you been so long, Lasse? Come home and get
some bread-and-butter.' The kitchen door stood open, and inside
was heard a strange frizzling.

The gardener was near the gate, watering the dill and parsley,
the carrots and parsnips.

'Well,' he said, 'where has Little Lasse been so long?'

Little Lasse straightened himself up stiff, and answered: 'I have
sailed round the world in a pea-shell boat.'

'Oh!' said the gardener.

He has forgotten Dreamland. But you have not forgotten it; you
know that it exists. You know the beautiful grotto and the bright
silver walls whose lustre never fades, the sparkling diamonds
which never grow dim, the music which never ceases its low, soft
murmur through the sweet evening twilight. The airy fairy fancies
of happy Dreamland never grow old; they, like the glorious stars
above us, are always young. Perhaps you have caught a glimpse of
their ethereal wings as they flew around your pillow. Perhaps you
have met the same dream-boy with the blue eyes and the fair hair,
the one who wore the red cap with the silver band and the white
coat with pearls on the collar. Perhaps he has taken you to see
all the countries of the world and the peoples, the cold waste
lands and the burning deserts, the many coloured men and the wild
creatures in the sea and in the woods, so that you may earn many
things, but come gladly home again. Yes, who knows? Perhaps you
also have sailed round the wide world once in a pea-shell boat.

From Z. Topelius.






                             'Moti'




Once upon a time there was a youth called Moti, who was very big
and strong, but the clumsiest creature you can imagine. So clumsy
was he that he was always putting his great feet into the bowls
of sweet milk or curds which his mother set out on the floor to
cool, always smashing, upsetting, breaking, until at last his
father said to him:

'Here, Moti, are fifty silver pieces which are the savings of
years; take them and go and make your living or your fortune if
you can.'

Then Moti started off one early spring morning with his thick
staff over his shoulder, singing gaily to himself as he walked
along.

In one way and another he got along very well until a hot evening
when he came to a certain city where he entered the travellers'
'serai' or inn to pass the night. Now a serai, you must know, is
generally just a large square enclosed by a high wall with an
open colonnade along the inside all round to accommodate both men
and beasts, and with perhaps a few rooms in towers at the corners
for those who are too rich or too proud to care about sleeping by
their own camels and horses. Moti, of course, was a country lad
and had lived with cattle all his life, and he wasn't rich and he
wasn't proud, so he just borrowed a bed from the innkeeper, set
it down beside an old buffalo who reminded him of home, and in
five minutes was fast asleep.

In the middle of the night he woke, feeling that he had been
disturbed, and putting his hand under his pillow found to his
horror that his bag of money had been stolen. He jumped up
quietly and began to prowl around to see whether anyone seemed to
be awake, but, though he managed to arouse a few men and beasts
by falling over them, he walked in the shadow of the archways
round the whole serai without coming across a likely thief. He
was just about to give it up when he overheard two men
whispering, and one laughed softly, and peering behind a pillar,
he saw two Afghan horsedealers counting out his bag of money!
Then Moti went back to bed!

In the morning Moti followed the two Afghans outside the city to
the horsemarket in which they horses were offered for sale.
Choosing the best-looking horse amongst them he went up to it and
said:

'Is this horse for sale? may I try it?' and, the merchants
assenting, he scrambled up on its back, dug in his heels, and off
they flew. Now Moti had never been on a horse in his life, and
had so much ado to hold on with both hands as well as with both
legs that the animal went just where it liked, and very soon
broke into a break-neck gallop and made straight back to the
serai where it had spent the last few nights.

'This will do very well,' thought Moti as they whirled in at the
entrance. As soon as the horse had arrived at its table it
stopped of its own accord and Moti immediately rolled off; but he
jumped up at once, tied the beast up, and called for some
breakfast. Presently the Afghans appeared, out of breath and
furious, and claimed the horse.

'What do you mean?' cried Moti, with his mouth full of rice,
'it's my horse; I paid you fifty pieces of silver for it--quite a
bargain, I'm sure!'

'Nonsense! it is our horse,' answered one of the Afghans
beginning to untie the bridle.

'Leave off,' shouted Moti, seizing his staff; 'if you don't let
my horse alone I'll crack your skulls! you thieves! I know you!
Last night you took my money, so to-day I took your horse; that's
fair enough!'

Now the Afghans began to look a little uncomfortable, but Moti
seemed so determined to keep the horse that they resolved to
appeal to the law, so they went off and laid a complaint before
the king that Moti had stolen one of their horses and would not
give it up nor pay for it.

Presently a soldier came to summon Moti to the king; and, when he
arrived and made his obeisance, the king began to question him as
to why he had galloped off with the horse in this fashion. But
Moti declared that he had got the animal in exchange for fifty
pieces of silver, whilst the horse merchants vowed that the money
they had on them was what they had received for the sale of other
horses; and in one way and another the dispute got so confusing
that the king (who really thought that Moti had stolen the horse)
said at last, 'Well, I tell you what I will do. I will lock
something into this box before me, and if he guesses what it is,
the horse is his, and if he doesn't then it is yours.'

To this Moti agreed, and the king arose and went out alone by a
little door at the back of the Court, and presently came back
clasping something closely wrapped up in a cloth under his robe,
slipped it into the little box, locked the box, and set it up
where all might see.

'Now,' said the king to Moti, 'guess!'

It happened that when the king had opened the door behind him,
Moti noticed that there was a garden outside: without waiting for
the king's return he began to think what could be got out of the
garden small enough to be shut in the box. 'Is it likely to be a
fruit or a flower? No, not a flower this time, for he clasped it
too tight. Then it must be a fruit or a stone. Yet not a stone,
because he wouldn't wrap a dirty stone in his nice clean cloth.
Then it is a fruit! And a fruit without much scent, or else he
would be afraid that I might smell it. Now what fruit without
much scent is in season just now? When I know that I shall have
guessed the riddle!'

As has been said before, Moti was a country lad, and was
accustomed to work in his father's garden. He knew all the common
fruits, so he thought he ought to be able to guess right; but so
as not to let it seem too easy, he gazed up at the ceiling with a
puzzled expression, and looked down at the floor with an air or
wisdom and his fingers pressed against his forehead, and then he
said, slowly, with his eyes on the king,--

'It is freshly plucked! It is round and it is red! It is a
pomegranate!'

Now the king knew nothing about fruits except that they were good
to eat; and, as for seasons, he asked for whatever fruit he
wanted whenever he wanted it, and saw that he got it; so to him
Moti's guess was like a miracle, and clear proof not only of his
wisdom but of his innocence, for it was a pomegranate that he had
put into the box. Of course when the king marvelled and praised
Moti's wisdom, everybody else did so too; and, whilst the Afghans
went off crestfallen, Moti took the horse and entered the king's
service.

Very soon after this, Moti, who continued to live in the serai,
came back one wet and stormy evening to find that his precious
horse had strayed. Nothing remained of him but a broken halter
cord, and no one knew what had become of him. After inquiring of
everyone who was likely to know, Moti seized the cord and his big
staff and sallied out to look for him. Away and away he tramped
out of the city and into the neighbouring forest, tracking hoof-
marks in the mud. Presently it grew late, but still Moti wandered
on until suddenly in the gathering darkness he came right upon a
tiger who was contentedly eating his horse.

'You thief!' shrieked Moti, and ran up and, just as the tiger, in
astonishment, dropped a bone--whack! came Moti's staff on his
head with such good will that the beast was half stunned and
could hardly breathe or see. Then Moti continued to shower upon
him blows and abuse until the poor tiger could hardly stand,
whereupon his tormentor tied the end of the broken halter round
his neck and dragged him back to the serai.

'If you had my horse,' he said, 'I will at least have you, that's
fair enough!' And he tied him up securely by the head and heels,
much as he used to tie the horse; then, the night being far gone,
he flung himself beside him and slept soundly.

You cannot imagine anything like the fright of the people in the
serai, when they woke up and found a tiger--very battered but
still a tiger--securely tethered amongst themselves and their
beasts! Men gathered in groups talking and exclaiming, and
finding fault with the innkeeper for allowing such a dangerous
beast into the serai, and all the while the innkeeper was just as
troubled as the rest, and none dared go near the place where the
tiger stood blinking miserably on everyone, and where Moti lay
stretched out snoring like thunder.

At last news reached the king that Moti had exchanged his horse
for a live tiger; and the monarch himself came down, half
disbelieving the tale, to see if it were really true. Someone at
last awaked Moti with the news that his royal master was come;
and he arose yawning, and was soon delightedly explaining and
showing off his new possession. The king, however, did not share
his pleasure at all, but called up a soldier to shoot the tiger,
much to the relief of all the inmates of the serai except Moti.
If the king, however, was before convinced that Moti was one of
the wisest of men, he was now still more convinced that he was
the bravest, and he increased his pay a hundredfold, so that our
hero thought that he was the luckiest of men.

A week or two after this incident the king sent for Moti, who on
arrival found his master in despair. A neighbouring monarch, he
explained, who had many more soldiers than he, had declared war
against him, and he was at his wits' end, for he had neither
money to buy him off nor soldiers enough to fight him--what was
he to do?

'If that is all, don't you trouble,' said Moti. 'Turn out your
men, and I'll go with them, and we'll soon bring this robber to
reason.'

The king began to revive at these hopeful words, and took Moti
off to his stable where he bade him choose for himself any horse
he liked. There were plenty of fine horses in the stalls, but to
the king's astonishment Moti chose a poor little rat of a pony
that was used to carry grass and water for the rest of the
stable.

'But why do you choose that beast?' said the king.

'Well, you see, your majesty,' replied Moti, 'there are so many
chances that I may fall off, and if I choose one of your fine big
horses I shall have so far to fall that I shall probably break my
leg or my arm, if not my neck, but if I fall off this little
beast I can't hurt myself much.'

A very comical sight was Moti when he rode out to the war. The
only weapon he carried was his staff, and to help him to keep his
balance on horseback he had tied to each of his ankles a big
stone that nearly touched the ground as he sat astride the little
pony. The rest of the king's cavalry were not very numerous, but
they pranced along in armour on fine horses. Behind them came a
great rabble of men on foot armed with all sorts of weapons, and
last of all was the king with his attendants, very nervous and
ill at ease. So the army started.

They had not very far to go, but Moti's little pony, weighted
with a heavy man and two big rocks, soon began to lag behind the
cavalry, and would have lagged behind the infantry too, only they
were not very anxious to be too early in the fight, and hung back
so as to give Moti plenty of time. The young man jogged along
more and more slowly for some time, until at last, getting
impatient at the slowness of the pony, he gave him such a
tremendous thwack with his staff that the pony completely lost
his temper and bolted. First one stone became untied and rolled
away in a cloud of dust to one side of the road, whilst Moti
nearly rolled off too, but clasped his steed valiantly by its
ragged mane, and, dropping his staff, held on for dear life.
Then, fortunately the other rock broke away from his other leg
and rolled thunderously down a neighbouring ravine. Meanwhile the
advanced cavalry had barely time to draw to one side when Moti
came dashing by, yelling bloodthirsty threats to his pony:

'You wait till I get hold of you! I'll skin you alive! I'll wring
your neck! I'll break every bone in your body!' The cavalry
thought that this dreadful language was meant for the enemy, and
were filled with admiration of his courage. Many of their horses
too were quite upset by this whirlwind that galloped howling
through their midst, and in a few minutes, after a little
plunging and rearing and kicking, the whole troop were following
on Moti's heels.

Far in advance, Moti continued his wild career. Presently in his
course he came to a great field of castor-oil plants, ten or
twelve feet high, big and bushy, but quite green and soft. Hoping
to escape from the back of his fiery steed Moti grasped one in
passing, but its roots gave way, and he dashed on, with the whole
plant looking like a young tree flourishing in his grip.

The enemy were in battle array, advancing over the plain, their
king with them confident and cheerful, when suddenly from the
front came a desperate rider at a furious gallop.

'Sire!' he cried, 'save yourself! the enemy are coming!'

'What do you mean?' said the king.

'Oh, sire!' panted the messenger, 'fly at once, there is no time
to lose. Foremost of the enemy rides a mad giant at a furious
gallop. He flourishes a tree for a club and is wild with anger,
for as he goes he cries, "You wait till I get hold of you! I'll
skin you alive! I'll wring your neck! I'll break every bone in
your body!" Others ride behind, and you will do well to retire
before this whirlwind of destruction comes upon you.'

Just then out of a cloud of dust in the distance the king saw
Moti approaching at a hard gallop, looking indeed like a giant
compared with the little beast he rode, whirling his castor-oil
plant, which in the distance might have been an oak tree, and the
sound of his revilings and shoutings came down upon the breeze!
Behind him the dust cloud moved to the sound of the thunder of
hoofs, whilst here and there flashed the glitter of steel. The
sight and the sound struck terror into the king, and, turning his
horse, he fled at top speed, thinking that a regiment of yelling
giants was upon him; and all his force followed him as fast as
they might go. One fat officer alone could not keep up on foot
with that mad rush, and as Moti came galloping up he flung
himself on the ground in abject fear. This was too much for
Moti's excited pony, who shied so suddenly that Moti went flying
over his head like a sky rocket, and alighted right on the top of
his fat foe.

Quickly regaining his feet Moti began to swing his plant round
his head and to shout:

'Where are your men? Bring them up and I'll kill them. My
regiments! Come on, the whole lot of you! Where's your king?
Bring him to me. Here are all my fine fellows coming up and we'll
each pull up a tree by the roots and lay you all flat and your
houses and towns and everything else! Come on!'

But the poor fat officer could do nothing but squat on his knees
with his hands together, gasping. At last, when he got his
breath, Moti sent him off to bring his king, and to tell him that
if he was reasonable his life should be spared. Off the poor man
went, and by the time the troops of Moti's side had come up and
arranged themselves to look as formidable as possible, he
returned with his king. The latter was very humble and
apologetic, and promised never to make war any more, to pay a
large sum of money, and altogether do whatever his conqueror
wished.

So the armies on both sides went rejoicing home, and this was
really the making of the fortune of clumsy Moti, who lived long
and contrived always to be looked up to as a fountain of wisdom,
valour, and discretion by all except his relations, who could
never understand what he had done to be considered so much wiser
than anyone else.

A Pushto Story.






                       The Enchanted Deer




A young man was out walking one day in Erin, leading a stout
cart-horse by the bridle. He was thinking of his mother and how
poor they were since his father, who was a fisherman, had been
drowned at sea, and wondering what he should do to earn a living
for both of them. Suddenly a hand was laid on his shoulder, and a
voice said to him:

'Will you sell me your horse, son of the fisherman?' and looking
up he beheld a man standing in the road with a gun in his hand, a
falcon on his shoulder, and a dog by his side.

'What will you give me for my horse?' asked the youth. 'Will you
give me your gun, and your dog, and your falcon?'

'I will give them,' answered the man, and he took the horse, and
the youth took the gun and the dog and the falcon, and went home
with them. But when his mother heard what he had done she was
very angry, and beat him with a stick which she had in her hand.

'That will teach you to sell my property,' said she, when her arm
was quite tired, but Ian her son answered her nothing, and went
off to his bed, for he was very sore.

That night he rose softly, and left the house carrying the gun
with him. 'I will not stay here to be beaten,' thought he, and he
walked and he walked and he walked, till it was day again, and he
was hungry and looked about him to see if he could get anything
to eat. Not very far off was a farm-house, so he went there, and
knocked at the door, and the farmer and his wife begged him to
come in, and share their breakfast.

'Ah, you have a gun,' said the farmer as the young man placed it
in a corner. 'That is well, for a deer comes every evening to eat
my corn, and I cannot catch it. It is fortune that has sent you
to me.'

'I will gladly remain and shoot the deer for you,' replied the
youth, and that night he hid himself and watched till the deer
came to the cornfield; then he lifted his gun to his shoulder and
was just going to pull the trigger, when, behold! instead of a
deer, a woman with long black hair was standing there. At this
sight his gun almost dropped from his hand in surprise, but as he
looked, there was the deer eating the corn again. And thrice this
happened, till the deer ran away over the moor, and the young man
after her.

On they went, on and on and one, till they reached a cottage
which was thatched with heather. With a bound the deer sprang on
the roof, and lay down where none could see her, but as she did
so she called out, 'Go in, fisher's son, and eat and drink while
you may.' So he entered and found food and wine on the table, but
no man, for the house belonged to some robbers, who were still
away at their wicked business.

After Ian, the fisher's son, had eaten all he wanted, he hid
himself behind a great cask, and very soon he heard a noise, as
of men coming through the heather, and the small twigs snapping
under their feet. From his dark corner he could see into the
room, and he counted four and twenty of them, all big, cross-
looking men.

'Some one has been eating our dinner,' cried they, 'and there was
hardly enough for ourselves.'

'It is the man who is lying under the cask,' answered the leader.
'Go and kill him, and then come and eat your food and sleep, for
we must be off betimes in the morning.'

So four of them killed the fisher's son and left him, and then
went to bed.

By sunrise they were all out of the house, for they had far to
go. And when they had disappeared the deer came off the roof, to
where the dead man lay, and she shook her head over him, and wax
fell from her ear, and he jumped up as well as ever.

'Trust me and eat as you did before, and no harm shall happen to
you,' said she. So Ian ate and drank, and fell sound asleep under
the cask. In the evening the robbers arrived very tired, and
crosser than they had been yesterday, for their luck had turned
and they had brought back scarcely anything.

'Someone has eaten our dinner again,' cried they.

'It is the man under the barrel,' answered the captain. 'Let four
of you go and kill him, but first slay the other four who
pretended to kill him last night and didn't because he is still
alive.'

Then Ian was killed a second time, and after the rest of the
robbers had eaten, they lay down and slept till morning.

No sooner were their faces touched with the sun's rays than they
were up and off. Then the deer entered and dropped the healing
wax on the dead man, and he was as well as ever. By this time he
did not mind what befell him, so sure was he that the deer would
take care of him, and in the evening that which had happened
before happened again--the four robbers were put to death and the
fisher's son also, but because there was no food left for them to
eat, they were nearly mad with rage, and began to quarrel. From
quarrelling they went on to fighting, and fought so hard that by
and bye they were all stretched dead on the floor.

Then the deer entered, and the fisher's son was restored to life,
and bidding him follow her, she ran on to a little white cottage
where dwelt an old woman and her son, who was thin and dark.

'Here I must leave you,' said the deer, 'but to-morrow meet me at
midday in the church that is yonder.' And jumping across the
stream, she vanished into a wood.

Next day he set out for the church, but the old woman of the
cottage had gone before him, and had stuck an enchanted stick
called 'the spike of hurt' in a crack of the door, so that he
would brush against it as he stepped across the threshold.
Suddenly he felt so sleepy that he could not stand up, and
throwing himself on the ground he sank into a deep slumber, not
knowing that the dark lad was watching him. Nothing could waken
him, not even the sound of sweetest music, nor the touch of a
lady who bent over him. A sad look came on her face, as she saw
it was no use, and at last she gave it up, and lifting his arm,
wrote her name across the side-- 'the daughter of the king of the
town under the waves.'

'I will come to-morrow,' she whispered, though he could not hear
her, and she went sorrowfully away.

Then he awoke, and the dark lad told him what had befallen him,
and he was very grieved. But the dark lad did not tell him of the
name that was written underneath his arm.

On the following morning the fisher's son again went to the
church, determined that he would not go to sleep, whatever
happened. But in his hurry to enter he touched with his hand the
spike of hurt, and sank down where he stood, wrapped in slumber.
A second time the air was filled with music, and the lady came
in, stepping softly, but though she laid his head on her knee,
and combed his hair with a golden comb, his eyes opened not. Then
she burst into tears, and placing a beautifully wrought box in
his pocket she went her way.

The next day the same thing befell the fisher's son, and this
time the lady wept more bitterly than before, for she said it was
the last chance, and she would never be allowed to come any more,
for home she must go.

As soon as the lady had departed the fisher's son awoke, and the
dark lad told him of her visit, and how he would never see her as
long as he lived. At this the fisher's son felt the cold creeping
up to his heart, yet he knew the fault had not been his that
sleep had overtaken him.

'I will search the whole world through till I find her,' cried
he, and the dark lad laughed as he heard him. But the fisher's
son took no heed, and off he went, following the sun day after
day, till his shoes were in holes and his feet were sore from the
journey. Nought did he see but the birds that made their nests in
the trees, not so much as a goat or a rabbit. On and on and on he
went, till suddenly he came upon a little house, with a woman
standing outside it.

'All hail, fisher's son!' said she. 'I know what you are seeking;
enter in and rest and eat, and to-morrow I will give you what
help I can, and send you on your way.'

Gladly did Ian the fisher's son accept her offer, and all that
day he rested, and the woman gave him ointment to put on his
feet, which healed his sores. At daybreak he got up, ready to be
gone, and the woman bade him farewell, saying:

'I have a sister who dwells on the road which you must travel. It
is a long road, and it would take you a year and a day to reach
it, but put on these old brown shoes with holes all over them,
and you will be there before you know it. Then shake them off,
and turn their toes to the known, and their heels to the unknown,
and they will come home of themselves.'

The fisher's son did as the woman told him, and everything
happened just as she had said. But at parting the second sister
said to him, as she gave him another pair of shoes:

'Go to my third sister, for she has a son who is keeper of the
birds of the air, and sends them to sleep when night comes. He is
very wise, and perhaps he can help you.'

Then the young man thanked her, and went to the third sister.

The third sister was very kind, but had no counsel to give him,
so he ate and drank and waited till her son came home, after he
had sent all the birds to sleep. He thought a long while after
his mother had told him the young man's story, and at last he
said that he was hungry, and the cow must be killed, as he wanted
some supper. So the cow was killed and the meat cooked, and a bag
made of its red skin.

'Now get into the bag,' bade the son, and the young man got in
and took his gun with him, but the dog and the falcon he left
outside. The keeper of the birds drew the string at the top of
the bag, and left it to finish his supper, when in flew an eagle
through the open door, and picked the bag up in her claws and
carried it through the air to an island. There was nothing to eat
on the island, and the fisher's son thought he would die of food,
when he remembered the box that the lady had put in his pocket.
He opened the lid, and three tiny little birds flew out, and
flapping their wings they asked,

'Good master, is there anything we can do for thee?'

'Bear me to the kingdom of the king under the waves,' he
answered, and one little bird flew on to his head, and the others
perched on each of his shoulders, and he shut his eyes, and in a
moment there he was in the country under the sea. Then the birds
flew away, and the young man looked about him, his heart beating
fast at the thought that here dwelt the lady whom he had sought
all the world over.

He walked on through the streets, and presently he reached the
house of a weaver who was standing at his door, resting from his
work.

'You are a stranger here, that is plain,' said the weaver, 'but
come in, and I will give you food and drink.' And the young man
was glad, for he knew not where to go, and they sat and talked
till it grew late.

'Stay with me, I pray, for I love company and am lonely,'
observed the weaver at last, and he pointed to a bed in a corner,
where the fisher's son threw himself, and slept till dawn.

'There is to be a horse-race in the town to-day,' remarked the
weaver, 'and the winner is to have the king's daughter to wife.'
The young man trembled with excitement at the news, and his voice
shook as he answered:

'That will be a prize indeed, I should like to see the race.'

'Oh, that is quite easy--anyone can go,' replied the weaver. 'I
would take you myself, but I have promised to weave this cloth
for the king.'

'That is a pity,' returned the young man politely, but in his
heart he rejoiced, for he wished to be alone.

Leaving the house, he entered a grove of trees which stood
behind, and took the box from his pocket. He raised the lid, and
out flew the three little birds.

'Good master, what shall we do for thee?' asked they, and he
answered, 'Bring me the finest horse that ever was seen, and the
grandest dress, and glass shoes.'

'They are here, master,' said the birds, and so they were, and
never had the young man seen anything so splendid.

Mounting the horse he rode into the ground where the horses were
assembling for the great race, and took his place among them.
Many good beasts were there which had won many races, but the
horse of the fisher's son left them all behind, and he was first
at the winning post. The king's daughter waited for him in vain
to claim his prize, for he went back to the wood, and got off his
horse, and put on his old clothes, and bade the box place some
gold in his pockets. After that he went back to the weaver's
house, and told him that the gold had been given him by the man
who had won the race, and that the weaver might have it for his
kindness to him.

Now as nobody had appeared to demand the hand of the princess,
the king ordered another race to be run, and the fisher's son
rode into the field still more splendidly dressed than he was
before, and easily distanced everybody else. But again he left
the prize unclaimed, and so it happened on the third day, when it
seemed as if all the people in the kingdom were gathered to see
the race, for they were filled with curiosity to know who the
winner could be.

'If he will not come of his own free will, he must be brought,'
said the king, and the messengers who had seen the face of the
victor were sent to seek him in every street of the town. This
took many days, and when at last they found the young man in the
weaver's cottage, he was so dirty and ugly and had such a strange
appearance, that they declared he could not be the winner they
had been searching for, but a wicked robber who had murdered ever
so many people, but had always managed to escape.

'Yes, it must be the robber,' said the king, when the fisher's
son was led into his presence; 'build a gallows at once and hang
him in the sight of all my subjects, that they may behold him
suffer the punishment of his crimes.'

So the gallows was built upon a high platform, and the fisher's
son mounted the steps up to it, and turned at the top to make the
speech that was expected from every doomed man, innocent or
guilt. As he spoke he happened to raise his arm, and the king's
daughter, who was there at her father's side, saw the name which
she had written under it. With a shriek she sprang from her seat,
and the eyes of the spectators were turned towards her.

'Stop! stop!' she cried, hardly knowing what she said. 'If that
man is hanged there is not a soul in the kingdom but shall die
also.' And running up to where the fisher's son was standing, she
took him by the hand, saying,

'Father, this is no robber or murderer, but the victor in the
three races, and he loosed the spells that were laid upon me.'

Then, without waiting for a reply, she conducted him into the
palace, and he bathed in a marble bath, and all the dirt that the
fairies had put upon him disappeared like magic, and when he had
dressed himself in the fine garments the princess had sent to
him, he looked a match for any king's daughter in Erin. He went
down into the great hall where she was awaiting him, and they had
much to tell each other but little time to tell it in, for the
king her father, and the princes who were visiting him, and all
the people of the kingdom were still in their places expecting
her return.

'How did you find me out?' she whispered as they went down the
passage.

'The birds in the box told me,' answered he, but he could say no
more, as they stepped out into the open space that was crowded
with people. There the princes stopped.

'O kings!' she said, turning towards them, 'if one of you were
killed to-day, the rest would fly; but this man put his trust in
me, and had his head cut off three times. Because he has done
this, I will marry him rather than one of you, who have come
hither to wed me, for many kings here sought to free me from the
spells, but none could do it save Ian the fisher's son.'

From 'Popular Tales of the West Highlands.'






                          A Fish Story




Perhaps you think that fishes were always fishes, and never lived
anywhere except in the water, but if you went to Australia and
talked to the black people in the sandy desert in the centre of
the country, you would learn something quite different. They
would tell you that long, long ago you would have met fishes on
the land, wandering from place to place, and hunting all sorts of
animals, and if you consider how fishes are made, you will
understand how difficult this must have been and how clever they
were to do it. Indeed, so clever were they that they might have
been hunting still if a terrible thing had not happened.

One day the whole fish tribe came back very tired from a hunting
expedition, and looked about for a nice, cool spot in which to
pitch their camp. It was very hot, and they thought that they
could not find a more comfortable place than under the branches
of a large tree which grew by the bank of a river. So they made
their fire to cook some food, right on the edge of a steep bank,
which had a deep pool of water lying beneath it at the bottom.
While the food was cooking they all stretched themselves lazily
out under the tree, and were just dropping off to sleep when a
big black cloud which they had never noticed spread over the sun,
and heavy drops of rain began to fall, so that the fire was
almost put out, and that, you know, is a very serious thing in
savage countries where they have no matches, for it is very hard
to light it again. To make matters worse, an icy wind began to
blow, and the poor fishes were chilled right through their
bodies.

'This will never do,' said Thuggai, the oldest of the fish tribe.
'We shall die of cold unless we can light the fire again,' and he
bade his sons rub two sticks together in the hope of kindling a
flame, but though they rubbed till they were tired, not a spark
could they produce.

'Let me try,' cried Biernuga, the bony fish, but he had no better
luck, and no more had Kumbal, the bream, nor any of the rest.

'It is no use,' exclaimed Thuggai, at last. 'The wood is too wet.
We must just sit and wait till the sun comes out again and dries
it.' Then a very little fish indeed, not more than four inches
long and the youngest of the tribe, bowed himself before Thuggai,
saying, 'Ask my father, Guddhu the cod, to light the fire. He is
skilled in magic more than most fishes.' So Thuggai asked him,
and Guddhu stripped some pieces of bark off a tree, and placed
them on top of the smouldering ashes. Then he knelt by the side
of the fire and blew at it for a long while, till slowly the
feeble red glow became a little stronger and the edges of the
bark showed signs of curling up. When the rest of the tribe saw
this they pressed close, keeping their backs towards the piercing
wind, but Guddhu told them they must go to the other side, as he
wanted the wind to fan his fire. By and by the spark grew into a
flame, and a merry crackling was heard.

'More wood,' cried Guddhi, and they all ran and gathered wood and
heaped it on the flames, which leaped and roared and sputtered.

'We shall soon be warm now,' said the people one to another.
'Truly Guddhu is great'; and they crowded round again, closer and
closer. Suddenly, with a shriek, a blast of wind swept down from
the hills and blew the fire out towards them. They sprang back
hurriedly, quite forgetting where they stood, and all fell down
the bank, each tumbling over the other, till they rolled into the
pool that lay below. Oh, how cold it was in that dark water on
which the sun never shone! Then in an instant they felt warm
again, for the fire, driven by the strong wind, had followed them
right down to the bottom of the pool, where it burned as brightly
as ever. And the fishes gathered round it as they had done on the
top of the cliff, and found the flames as hot as before, and that
fire never went out, like those upon land, but kept burning for
ever. So now you know why, if you dive deep down below the cold
surface of the water on a frosty day, you will find it
comfortable and pleasant underneath, and be quite sorry that you
cannot stay there.

Australian Folk Tale.






                      The Wonderful Tune.




Maurice Connor was the king, and that's no small word, of all the
pipers in Munster. He could play jig and reel without end, and
Ollistrum's March, and the Eagle's Whistle, and the Hen's
Concert, and odd tunes of every sort and kind. But he knew one
far more surprising than the rest, which had in it the power to
set everything dead or alive dancing.

In what way he learned it is beyond my knowledge for he was
mighty cautious about telling how he came by so wonderful a tune.
At the very first note of that tune the shoes began shaking upon
the feet of all how heard it--old or young, it mattered not--just
as if the shoes had the ague; then the feet began going, going,
going from under them, and at last up and away with them, dancing
like mad, whisking here, there, and everywhere, like a straw in a
storm-- there was no halting while the music lasted.

Not a fair, nor a wedding, nor a feast in the seven parishes
round, was counted worth the speaking of without 'blind Maurice
and his pipes.' His mother, poor woman, used to lead him about
from one place to another just like a dog.

Down through Iveragh, Maurice Connor and his mother were taking
their rounds. Beyond all other places Iveragh is the place for
stormy coasts and steep mountains, as proper a spot it is as any
in Ireland to get yourself drowned, or your neck broken on the
land, should you prefer that. But, notwithstanding, in
Ballinskellig Bay there is a neat bit of ground, well fitted for
diversion, and down from it, towards the water, is a clean smooth
piece of strand, the dead image of a calm summer's sea on a
moonlight night, with just the curl of the small waves upon it.

Here is was that Maurice's music had brought from all parts a
great gathering of the young men and the young women; for 'twas
not every day the strand of Trafraska was stirred up by the voice
of a bagpipe. The dance began; and as pretty a dance it was as
ever was danced. 'Brave music,' said everybody, 'and well done,'
when Maurice stopped.

'More power to your elbow, Maurice, and a fair wind in the
bellows,' cried Paddy Dorman, a hump-backed dancing master, who
was there to keep order. ''Tis a pity,' said he, 'if we'd let the
piper run dry after such music; 'twould be a disgrace to Iveragh,
that didn't come on it since the week of the three Sundays.' So,
as well became him, for he was always a decent man, says he, 'Did
you drink, piper?'

'I will, sir,' said Maurice, answering the question on the safe
side, for you never yet knew piper or schoolmaster who refused
his drink.

'What will you drink, Maurice?' says Paddy.

'I'm no ways particular,' says Maurice; 'I drink anything,
barring raw water; but if it's all the same to you, Mister
Dorman, may be you wouldn't lend me the loan of a glass of
whisky.'

'I've no glass, Maurice,' said Paddy; 'I've only the bottle.'

'Let that be no hindrance,' answered Maurice; 'my mouth just
holds a glass to the drop; often I've tried it sure.'

So Paddy Dorman trusted him with the bottle--more fool was he;
and, to his cost, he found that though Maurice's mouth might not
hold more than the glass at one time, yet, owing to the hole in
his throat, it took many a filling.

'That was no bad whisky neither,' says Maurice, handing back the
empty bottle.

'By the holy frost, then!' says Paddy, ''tis but cold comfort
there's in that bottle now; and 'tis your word we must take for
the strength of the whisky, for you've left us no sample to judge
by'; and to be sure Maurice had not.

Now I need not tell any gentleman or lady that if he or she was
to drink an honest bottle of whisky at one pull, it is not at all
the same thing as drinking a bottle of water; and in the whole
course of my life I never knew more than five men who could do so
without being the worse. Of these Maurice Connor was not one,
though he had a stiff head enough of his own. Don't think I blame
him for it; but true is the word that says, 'When liquor's in
sense is out'; and puff, at a breath, out he blasted his
wonderful tune.

'Twas really then beyond all belief or telling the dancing.
Maurice himself could not keep quiet; staggering now on one leg,
now on the other, and rolling about like a ship in a cross sea,
trying to humour the tune. There was his mother, too, moving her
old bones as light as the youngest girl of them all; but her
dancing, no, nor the dancing of all the rest, is not worthy the
speaking about to the work that was going on down upon the
strand. Every inch of it covered with all manner of fish jumping
and plunging about to the music, and every moment more and more
would tumble in and out of the water, charmed by the wonderful
tune. Crabs of monstrous size spun round and round on one claw
with the nimbleness of a dancing master, and twirled and tossed
their other claws about like limbs that did not belong to them.
It was a sight surprising to behold. But perhaps you may have
heard of Father Florence Conry, as pleasant a man as one would
wish to drink with of a hot summer's day; and he had rhymed out
all about the dancing fishes so neatly that it would be a
thousand pities not to give you his verses; so here they are in
English:

          The big seals in motion,
          Like waves of the ocean,
               Or gouty feet prancing,
          Came heading the gay fish,
          Crabs, lobsters, and cray-fish,
               Determined on dancing.

          The sweet sounds they followed,
          The gasping cod swallow'd--
               'Twas wonderful, really;
          And turbot and flounder,
          'Mid fish that were rounder,
               Just caper'd as gaily.

          John-dories came tripping;
          Dull hake, by their skipping,
               To frisk it seem'd given;
          Bright mackrel went springing,
          Like small rainbows winging
               Their flight up to heaven.

          The whiting and haddock
          Left salt water paddock
               This dance to be put in;
          Where skate with flat faces
          Edged out some old plaices;
               But soles kept their footing.

          Sprats and herrings in powers
          Of silvery showers
               All number out-numbered;
          And great ling so lengthy
          Was there in such plenty
               The shore was encumber'd.

          The scallop and oyster
          Their two shells did roister,
               Like castanets flitting;
          While limpets moved clearly,
          And rocks very nearly
               With laughter were splitting.

Never was such a hullabaloo in this world, before or since; 'twas
as if heaven and earth were coming together; and all out of
Maurice Connor's wonderful tune!

In the height of all these doings, what should there be dancing
among the outlandish set of fishes but a beautiful young woman--
as beautiful as the dawn of day! She had a cocked hat upon her
head; from under it her long green hair--just the colour of the
sea-- fell down behind, without hindrance to her dancing. Her
teeth were like rows of pearls; her lips for all the world looked
like red coral; and she had a shining gown pale green as the
hollow of the wave, with little rows of purple and red seaweeds
settled out upon it; for you never yet saw a lady, under the
water or over the water, who had not a good notion of dressing
herself out.

Up she danced at last to Maurice, who was flinging his feet from
under him as fast as hops--for nothing in this world could keep
still while that tune of his was going on--and says she to him,
chanting it out with a voice as sweet as honey:

          I'm a lady of honour
               Who live in the sea;
          Come down, Maurice Connor,
               And be married to me.
          Silver plates and gold dishes
               You shall have, and shall be
          The king of the fishes,
               When you're married to me.

Drink was strong in Maurice's head, and out he chanted in return
for her great civility. It is not every lady, may be, that would
be after making such an offer to a blind piper; therefore 'twas
only right in him to give her as good as she gave herself, so
says Maurice:

          I'm obliged to you, madam:
               Off a gold dish or plate,
          If a king, and I had 'em,
               I could dine in great state.
          With your own father's daughter
               I'd be sure to agree,
          But to drink the salt water
               Wouldn't do so with me!

The lady looked at him quite amazed, and swinging her head from
side to side like a great scholar, 'Well,' says she, 'Maurice, if
you're not a poet, where is poetry to be found?'

In this way they kept on at it, framing high compliments; one
answering the other, and their feet going with the music as fast
as their tongues. All the fish kept dancing, too; Maurice heard
the clatter and was afraid to stop playing lest it might be
displeasing to the fish, and not knowing what so many of them may
take it into their heads to do to him if they got vexed.

Well, the lady with the green hair kept on coaxing Maurice with
soft speeches, till at last she over persuaded him to promise to
marry her, and be king over the fishes, great and small. Maurice
was well fitted to be their king, if they wanted one that could
make them dance; and he surely would drink, barring the salt
water, with any fish of them all.

When Maurice's mother saw him with that unnatural thing in the
form of a green-haired lady as his guide, and he and she dancing
down together so lovingly to the water's edge, through the thick
of the fishes, she called out after him to stop and come back.
'Oh, then,' says she, 'as if I was not widow enough before, there
he is going away from me to be married to that scaly woman. And
who knows but 'tis grandmother I may be to a hake or a cod--Lord
help and pity me, but 'tis a mighty unnatural thing! And my be
'tis boiling and eating my own grandchild I'll be, with a bit of
salt butter, and I not knowing it! Oh, Maurice, Maurice, if
there's any love or nature left in you, come back to your own
ould mother, who reared you like a decent Christian!' Then the
poor woman began to cry and sob so finely that it would do anyone
good to hear her.

Maurice was not long getting to the rim of the water. There he
kept playing and dancing on as if nothing was the matter, and a
great thundering wave coming in towards him ready to swallow him
up alive; but as he could not see it, he did not fear it. His
mother it was who saw it plainly through the big tears that were
rolling down her cheeks; and though she saw it, and her heart was
aching as much as ever mother's heart ached for a son, she kept
dancing, dancing all the time for the bare life of her. Certain
it was she could not help it, for Maurice never stopped playing
that wonderful tune of his.

He only turned his ear to the sound of his mother's voice,
fearing it might put him out in his steps, and all the answer he
made back was, 'Whisht with you mother--sure I'm going to be king
over the fishes down in the sea, and for a token of luck, and a
sign that I'm alive and well, I'll send you in, every twelvemonth
on this day, a piece of burned wood to Trafraska.' Maurice had
not the power to say a word more, for the strange lady with the
green hair, seeing the wave just upon them, covered him up with
herself in a thing like a cloak with a big hood to it, and the
wave curling over twice as high as their heads, burst upon the
strand, with a rush and a roar that might be heard as far as Cape
Clear.

That day twelvemonth the piece of burned wood came ashore in
Trafraska. It was a queer thing for Maurice to think of sending
all the way from the bottom of the sea. A gown or a pair of shoes
would have been something like a present for his poor mother; but
he had said it, and he kept his word. The bit of burned wood
regularly came ashore on the appointed day for as good, ay, and
better than a hundred years. The day is now forgotten, and may be
that is the reason why people say how Maurice Connor has stopped
sending the luck-token to his mother. Poor woman, she did not
live to get as much as one of them; for what through the loss of
Maurice, and the fear of eating her own grandchildren, she died
in three weeks after the dance. Some say it was the fatigue that
killed her, but whichever it was, Mrs. Connor was decently buried
with her own people.

Seafaring people have often heard, off the coast of Kerry, on a
still night, the sound of music coming up from the water; and
some, who have had good ears, could plainly distinguish Maurice
Connor's voice singing these words to his pipes--

          Beautiful shore, with thy spreading strand,
          Thy crystal water, and diamond sand;
          Never would I have parted from thee,
          But for the sake of my fair ladie.

From 'Fairy Tales and Traditions of the South of Ireland.'






             The Rich Brother and the Poor Brother




There was once a rich old man who had two sons, and as his wife
was dead, the elder lived with him, and helped him to look after
his property. For a long time all went well; the young man got up
very early in the morning, and worked hard all day, and at the
end of every week his father counted up the money they had made,
and rubbed his hands with delight, as he saw how big the pile of
gold in the strong iron chest was becoming. 'It will soon be full
now, and I shall have to buy a larger one,' he said to himself,
and so busy was he with the thought of his money, that he did not
notice how bright his son's face had grown, nor how he sometimes
started when he was spoken to, as if his mind was far away.

One day, however, the old man went to the city on business, which
he had not done for three years at least. It was market day, and
he met with many people he knew, and it was getting quite late
when he turned into the inn yard, and bade an ostler saddle his
horse, and bring it round directly. While he was waiting in the
hall, the landlady came up for a gossip, and after a few remarks
about the weather and the vineyards she asked him how he liked
his new daughter-in-law, and whether he had been surprised at the
marriage.

The old man stared as he listened to her. 'Daughter-in-law?
Marriage?' said he. 'I don't know what you are talking about!
I've got no daughter-in-law, and nobody has been married lately,
that I ever heard of.'

Now this was exactly what the landlady, who was very curious,
wanted to find out; but she put on a look of great alarm, and
exclaimed:

'Oh, dear! I hope I have not made mischief. I had no idea--or, of
course, I would not have spoken--but'--and here she stopped and
fumbled with her apron, as if she was greatly embarrassed.

'As you have said so much you will have to say a little more,'
retorted the old man, a suspicion of what she meant darting
across him; and the woman, nothing loth, answered as before.

'Ah, it was not all for buying or selling that your handsome son
has been coming to town every week these many months past. And
not by the shortest way, either! No, it was over the river he
rode, and across the hill and past the cottage of Miguel the
vine-keeper, whose daughter, they say, is the prettiest girl in
the whole country side, though she is too white for my taste,'
and then the landlady paused again, and glanced up at the farmer,
to see how he was taking it. She did not learn much. He was
looking straight before him, his teeth set. But as she ceased to
talk, he said quietly, 'Go on.'

'There is not much more to tell,' replied the landlady, for she
suddenly remembered that she must prepare supper for the hungry
men who always stopped at the inn on market days, before starting
for home, 'but one fine morning they both went to the little
church on top of the hill, and were married. My cousin is servant
to the priest, and she found out about it and told me. But good-
day to you, sir; here is your horse, and I must hurry off to the
kitchen.'

It was lucky that the horse was sure-footed and knew the road,
for his bridle hung loose on his neck, and his master took no
heed of the way he was going. When the farm-house was reached,
the man led the animal to the stable, and then went to look for
his son.

'I know everything--you have deceived me. Get out of my sight at
once--I have done with you,' he stammered, choking with passion
as he came up to the young man, who was cutting a stick in front
of the door, whistling gaily the while.

'But, father--'

'You are no son of mine; I have only one now. Begone, or it will
be the worse for you,' and as he spoke he lifted up his whip.

The young man shrank back. He feared lest his father should fall
down in a fit, his face was so red and his eyes seemed bursting
from his head. But it was no use staying: perhaps next morning
the old man might listen to reason, though in his heart the son
felt that he would never take back his words. So he turned slowly
away, and walked heavily along a path which ended in a cave on
the side of his hill, and there he sat through the night,
thinking of what had happened.

Yes, he had been wrong, there was no doubt of that, and he did
not quite know how it had come about. He had meant to have told
his father all about it, and he was sure, quite sure, that if
once the old man had seen his wife, he would have forgiven her
poverty on account of her great beauty and goodness. But he had
put it off from day to day, hoping always for a better
opportunity, and now this was the end!

If the son had no sleep that night, no more had the father, and
as soon as the sun rose, he sent a messenger into the great city
with orders to bring back the younger brother. When he arrived
the farmer did not waste words, but informed him that he was now
his only heir, and would inherit all his lands and money, and
that he was to come and live at home, and to help manage the
property.

Though very pleased at the thought of becoming such a rich man--
for the brothers had never cared much for each other--the younger
would rather have stayed where he was, for he soon got tired of
the country, and longed for a town life. However, this he kept to
himself, and made the best of things, working hard like his
brother before him.

In this way the years went on, but the crops were not so good as
they had been, and the old man gave orders that some fine houses
he was building in the city should be left unfinished, for it
would take all the savings to complete them. As to the elder son,
he would never even hear his name mentioned, and died at last
without ever seeing his face, leaving to the younger, as he had
promised, all his lands, as well as his money.

Meanwhile, the son whom he had disinherited had grown poorer and
poorer. He and his wife were always looking out for something to
do, and never spent a penny that they could help, but luck was
against them, and at the time of his father's death they had
hardly bread to eat or clothes to cover them. If there had been
only himself, he would have managed to get on somehow, but he
could not bear to watch his children becoming weaker day by day,
and swallowing his pride, at length he crossed the mountains to
his old home where his brother was living.

It was the first time for long that the two men had come face to
face, and they looked at each other in silence. Then tears rose
in the eyes of the elder, but winking them hastily away, he said:

'Brother, it is not needful that I should tell you how poor I am;
you can see that for yourself. I have not come to beg for money,
but only to ask if you will give me those unfinished houses of
yours in the city, and I will make them watertight, so that my
wife and children can live in them, and that will save our rent.
For as they are, they profit you nothing.'

And the younger brother listened and pitied him, and gave him the
houses that he asked for, and the elder went away happy.

For some years things went on as they were, and then the rich
brother began to feel lonely, and thought to himself that he was
getting older, and it was time for him to be married. The wife he
chose was very wealthy, but she was also very greedy, and however
much she had, she always wanted more. She was, besides, one of
those unfortunate people who invariably fancy that the
possessions of other people must be better than their own. Many a
time her poor husband regretted the day that he had first seen
her, and often her meanness and shabby ways put him to shame. But
he had not the courage to rule her, and she only got worse and
worse.

After she had been married a few months the bride wanted to go
into the city and buy herself some new dresses. She had never
been there before, and when she had finished her shopping, she
thought she would pay a visit to her unknown sister-in-law, and
rest for a bit. The house she was seeking was in a broad street,
and ought to have been very magnificent, but the carved stone
portico enclosed a mean little door of rough wood, while a row of
beautiful pillars led to nothing. The dwelling on each side were
in the same unfinished condition, and water trickled down the
walls. Most people would have considered it a wretched place, and
turned their backs on it as soon as they could, but this lady saw
that by spending some money the houses could be made as splendid
as they were originally intended to be, and she instantly
resolved to get them for herself.

Full of this idea she walked up the marble staircase, and entered
the little room where her sister-in-law sat, making clothes for
her children. The bride seemed full of interest in the houses,
and asked a great many questions about them, so that her new
relations liked her much better than they expected, and hoped
they might be good friends. However, as soon as she reached home,
she went straight to her husband, and told him that he must get
back those houses from his brother, as they would exactly suit
her, and she could easily make them into a palace as fine as the
king's. But her husband only told her that she might buy houses
in some other part of the town, for she could not have those, as
he had long since made a gift of them to his brother, who had
lived there for many years past.

At this answer the wife grew very angry. She began to cry, and
made such a noise that all the neighbours heard her and put their
heads out of the windows, to see what was the matter. 'It was
absurd,' she sobbed out, 'quite unjust. Indeed, if you came to
think of it, the gift was worth nothing, as when her husband made
it he was a bachelor, and since then he had been married, and she
had never given her consent to any such thing.' And so she
lamented all day and all night, till the poor man was nearly
worried to death; and at last he did what she wished, and
summoned his brother in a court of law to give up the houses
which, he said, had only been lent to him. But when the evidence
on both sides had been heard, the judge decided in favour of the
poor man, which made the rich lady more furious than ever, and
she determined not to rest until she had gained the day. If one
judge would not give her the houses another should, and so time
after time the case was tried over again, till at last it came
before the highest judge of all, in the city of Evora. Her
husband was heartily tired and ashamed of the whole affair, but
his weakness in not putting a stop to it in the beginning had got
him into this difficulty, and now he was forced to go on.

On the same day the two brothers set out on their journey to the
city, the rich one on horseback, with plenty of food in his
knapsack, the poor one on foot with nothing but a piece of bread
and four onions to eat on the way. The road was hilly and neither
could go very fast, and when night fell, they were both glad to
see some lights in a window a little distance in front of them.

The lights turned out to have been placed there by a farmer, who
had planned to have a particularly good supper as it was his
wife's birthday, and bade the rich man enter and sit down, while
he himself took the horse to the stable. The poor man asked
timidly if he might spend the night in a corner, adding that he
had brought his own supper with him. Another time permission
might have been refused him, for the farmer was no lover of
humble folk, but now he gave the elder brother leave to come in,
pointing out a wooden chair where he could sit.

Supper was soon served, and very glad the younger brother was to
eat it, for his long ride had made him very hungry. The farmer's
wife, however, would touch nothing, and at last declared that the
only supper she wanted was one of the onions the poor man was
cooking at the fire. Of course he gave it to her, though he would
gladly have eaten it himself, as three onions are not much at the
end of a long day's walk, and soon after they all went to sleep,
the poor man making himself as comfortable as he could in his
corner.

A few hours later the farmer was aroused by the cries and groans
of his wife.

'Oh, I feel so ill, I'm sure I'm going to die,' wept she. 'It was
that onion, I know it was. I wish I had never eaten it. It must
have been poisoned.'

'If the man has poisoned you he shall pay for it,' said her
husband, and seizing a thick stick he ran downstairs and began to
beat the poor man, who had been sound asleep, and had nothing to
defend himself with. Luckily, the noise aroused the younger
brother, who jumped up and snatched the stick from the farmer's
hand, saying:

'We are both going to Evora to try a law-suit. Come too, and
accuse him there if he has attempted to rob you or murder you,
but don't kill him now, or you will get yourself into trouble.'

'Well, perhaps you are right,' answered the farmer, 'but the
sooner that fellow has his deserts, the better I shall be
pleased,' and without more words he went to the stables and
brought out a horse for himself and also the black Andalusian
mare ridden by the rich man, while the poor brother, fearing more
ill-treatment, started at once on foot.

Now all that night it had rained heavily, and did not seem likely
to stop, and in some places the road was so thick with mud that
it was almost impossible to get across it. In one spot it was so
very bad that a mule laden with baggage had got stuck in it, and
tug as he might, his master was quite unable to pull him out. The
muleteer in despair appealed to the two horseman, who were
carefully skirting the swamp at some distance off, but they paid
no heed to his cries, and he began to talk cheerfully to his
mule, hoping to keep up his spirits, declaring that if the poor
beast would only have a little patience help was sure to come.

And so it did, for very soon the poor brother reached the place,
bespattered with mud from head to foot, but ready to do all he
could to help with the mule and his master. First they set about
finding some stout logs of wood to lay down on the marsh so that
they could reach the mule, for by this time his frantic struggles
had broken his bridle, and he was deeper in than ever. Stepping
cautiously along the wood, the poor man contrived to lay hold of
the animal's tale, and with a desperate effort the mule managed
to regain his footing on dry ground, but at the cost of leaving
his tail in the poor man's hand. When he saw this the muleteer's
anger knew no bounds, and forgetting that without the help given
him he would have lost his mule altogether, he began to abuse the
poor man, declaring that he had ruined his beast, and the law
would make him pay for it. Then, jumping on the back of the mule,
which was so glad to be out of the choking mud that he did not
seem to mind the loss of his tail, the ungrateful wretch rode on,
and that evening reached the inn at Evora, where the rich man and
the farmer had already arrived for the night.

Meanwhile the poor brother walked wearily along, wondering what
other dreadful adventures were in store for him.

'I shall certainly be condemned for one or other of them,'
thought he sadly; 'and after all, if I have to die, I would
rather choose my own death than leave it to my enemies,' and as
soon as he entered Evora he looked about for a place suitable for
carrying out the plan he had made. At length he found what he
sought, but as it was too late and too dark for him to make sure
of success, he curled himself up under a doorway, and slept till
morning.

Although it was winter, the sun rose in a clear sky, and its rays
felt almost warm when the poor man got up and shook himself. He
intended it to be the day of his death, but in spite of that, and
of the fact that he was leaving his wife and children behind him,
he felt almost cheerful. He had struggled so long, and was so
very, very tired; but he would not have minded that if he could
have proved his innocence, and triumphed over his enemies.
However, they had all been too clever for him, and he had no
strength to fight any more. So he mounted the stone steps that
led to the battlements of the city, and stopped for a moment to
gaze about him.

It happened that an old sick man who lived near by had begged to
be carried out and to be laid at the foot of the wall so that the
beams of the rising sun might fall upon him, and he would be able
to talk with his friends as they passed by to their work. Little
did he guess that on top of the battlements, exactly over his
head, stood a man who was taking his last look at the same sun,
before going to his death that awaited him. But so it was; and as
the steeple opposite was touched by the golden light, the poor
man shut his eyes and sprang forward. The wall was high, and he
flew rapidly through the air, but it was not the ground he
touched, only the body of the sick man, who rolled over and died
without a groan. As for the other, he was quite unhurt, and was
slowly rising to his feet when his arms were suddenly seized and
held.

'You have killed our father, do you see? do you see?' cried two
young men, 'and you will come with us this instant before the
judge, and answer for it.'

'Your father? but I don't know him. What do you mean?' asked the
poor man, who was quite bewildered with his sudden rush through
the air, and could not think why he should be accused of this
fresh crime. But he got no reply, and was only hurried through
the streets to the court-house, where his brother, the muleteer,
and the farmer had just arrived, all as angry as ever, all
talking at once, till the judge entered and ordered them to be
silent.

'I will hear you one by one,' he said, and motioned the younger
brother to begin.

He did not take long to state his case. The unfinished houses
were his, left him with the rest of the property by his father,
and his brother refused to give them up. In answer, the poor man
told, in a few words, how he had begged the houses from his
brother, and produced the deed of gift which made him their
owner.

The judge listened quietly and asked a few questions; then he
gave his verdict.

'The houses shall remain the property of the man to whom they
were given, and to whom they belong. And as you,' he added,
turning to the younger brother, 'brought this accusation knowing
full well it was wicked and unjust, I order you, besides losing
the houses, to pay a thousand pounds damages to your brother.'

The rich man heard the judge with rage in his heart, the poor man
with surprise and gratitude. But he was not safe yet, for now it
was the turn of the farmer. The judge could hardly conceal a
smile at the story, and inquired if the wife was dead before the
farmer left the house, and received for answer that he was in
such a hurry for justice to be done that he had not waited to
see. Then the poor man told his tale, and once more judgment was
given in his favour, while twelve hundred pounds was ordered to
be paid him. As for the muleteer, he was informed very plainly
that he had proved himself mean and ungrateful for the help that
had been given him, and as a punishment he must pay to the poor
man a fine of fifty pounds, and hand him over the mule till his
tail had grown again.

Lastly, there came the two sons of the sick man.

'This is the wretch who killed our father,' they said, 'and we
demand that he should die also.'

'How did you kill him?' asked the judge, turning to the accused,
and the poor man told how he had leaped from the wall, not
knowing that anyone was beneath.

'Well, this is my judgment,' replied the judge, when they had all
spoken: 'Let the accused sit under the wall, and let the sons of
the dead man jump from the top and fall on him and kill him, and
if they will not to this, then they are condemned to pay eight
hundred pounds for their false accusation.'

The young men looked at each other, and slowly shook their heads.

'We will pay the fine,' said they, and the judge nodded.

So the poor man rode the mule home, and brought back to his
family enough money to keep them in comfort to the end of their
days.

Adapted from the Portuguese.







                      The One-Handed Girl




An old couple once lived in a hut under a grove of palm trees,
and they had one son and one daughter. They were all very happy
together for many years, and then the father became very ill, and
felt he was going to die. He called his children to the place
where he lay on the floor--for no one had any beds in that
country-- and said to his son, 'I have no herds of cattle to
leave you--only the few things there are in the house--for I am a
poor man, as you know. But choose: will you have my blessing or
my property?'

'Your property, certainly,' answered the son, and his father
nodded.

'And you?' asked the old man of the girl, who stood by her
brother.

'I will have blessing,' she answered, and her father gave her
much blessing.

That night he died, and his wife and son and daughter mourned for
him seven days, and gave him a burial according to the custom of
his people. But hardly was the time of mourning over, than the
mother was attacked by a disease which was common in that
country.

'I am going away from you,' she said to her children, in a faint
voice; 'but first, my son, choose which you will have: blessing
or property.'

'Property, certainly,' answered the son.

'And you, my daughter?'

'I will have blessing,' said the girl; and her mother gave her
much blessing, and that night she died.

When the days of mourning were ended, the brother bade his sister
put outside the hut all that belonged to his father and his
mother. So the girl put them out, and he took them away, save
only a small pot and a vessel in which she could clean her corn.
But she had no corn to clean.

She sat at home, sad and hungry, when a neighbour knocked at the
door.

'My pot has cracked in the fire, lend me yours to cook my supper
in, and I will give you a handful of corn in return.'

And the girl was glad, and that night she was able to have supper
herself, and next day another woman borrowed her pot, and then
another and another, for never were known so many accidents as
befell the village pots at that time. She soon grew quite fat
with all the corn she earned with the help of her pot, and then
one evening she picked up a pumpkin seed in a corner, and planted
it near her well, and it sprang up, and gave her many pumpkins.

At last it happened that a youth from her village passed through
the place where the girl's brother was, and the two met and
talked.

'What news is there of my sister?' asked the young man, with whom
things had gone badly, for he was idle.

'She is fat and well-liking,' replied the youth, 'for the women
borrow her mortar to clean their corn, and borrow her pot to cook
it in, and for al this they give her more food than she can eat.'
And he went his way.

Now the brother was filled with envy at the words of the man, and
he set out at once, and before dawn he had reached the hut, and
saw the pot and the mortar were standing outside. He slung them
over his shoulders and departed, pleased with his own cleverness;
but when his sister awoke and sought for the pot to cook her corn
for breakfast, she could find it nowhere. At length she said to
herself,

'Well, some thief must have stolen them while I slept. I will go
and see if any of my pumpkins are ripe.' And indeed they were,
and so many that the tree was almost broken by the weight of
them. So she ate what she wanted and took the others to the
village, and gave them in exchange for corn, and the women said
that no pumpkins were as sweet as these, and that she was to
bring every day all that she had. In this way she earned more
than she needed for herself, and soon was able to get another
mortar and cooking pot in exchange for her corn. Then she thought
she was quite rich.

Unluckily someone else thought so too, and this was her brother's
wife, who had heard all about the pumpkin tree, and sent her
slave with a handful of grain to buy her a pumpkin. At first the
girl told him that so few were left that she could not spare any;
but when she found that he belonged to her brother, she changed
her mind, and went out to the tree and gathered the largest and
the ripest that was there.

'Take this one,' she said to the slave, 'and carry it back to
your mistress, but tell her to keep the corn, as the pumpkin is a
gift.'

The brother's wife was overjoyed at the sight of the fruit, and
when she tasted it, she declared it was the nicest she had ever
eaten. Indeed, all night she thought of nothing else, and early
in the morning she called another slave (for she was a rich
woman) and bade him go and ask for another pumpkin. But the girl,
who had just been out to look at her tree, told him that they
were all eaten, so he went back empty-handed to his mistress.

In the evening her husband returned from hunting a long way off,
and found his wife in tears.

'What is the matter?' asked he.

'I sent a slave with some grain to your sister to buy some
pumpkins, but she would not sell me any, and told me there were
none, though I know she lets other people buy them.'

'Well, never mind now--go to sleep,' said he, 'and to-morrow I
will go and pull up the pumpkin tree, and that will punish her
for treating you so badly.'

So before sunrise he got up and set out for his sister's house,
and found her cleaning some corn.

'Why did you refuse to sell my wife a pumpkin yesterday when she
wanted one?' he asked.

'The old ones are finished, and the new ones are not yet come,'
answered the girl. 'When her slave arrived two days ago, there
were only four left; but I gave him one, and would take no corn
for it.'

'I do not believe you; you have sold them all to other people. I
shall go and cut down the pumpkin,' cried her brother in a rage.

'If you cut down the pumpkin you shall cut off my hand with it,'
exclaimed the girl, running up to her tree and catching hold of
it. But her brother followed, and with one blow cut off the
pumpkin and her hand too.

Then he went into the house and took away everything he could
find, and sold the house to a friend of his who had long wished
to have it, and his sister had no home to go to.

Meanwhile she had bathed her arm carefully, and bound on it some
healing leaves that grew near by, and wrapped a cloth round the
leaves, and went to hide in the forest, that her brother might
not find her again.

For seven days she wandered about, eating only the fruit that
hung from the trees above her, and every night she climbed up and
tucked herself safely among the creepers which bound together the
big branches, so that neither lions nor tigers nor panthers might
get at her.

When she woke up on the seventh morning she saw from her perch
smoke coming up from a little town on the edge of the forest. The
sight of the huts made her feel more lonely and helpless than
before. She longed desperately for a draught of milk from a
gourd, for there were no streams in that part, and she was very
thirsty, but how was she to earn anything with only one hand? And
at this thought her courage failed, and she began to cry
bitterly.

It happened that the king's son had come out from the town very
early to shoot birds, and when the sun grew hot he left tired.

'I will lie here and rest under this tree,' he said to his
attendants. 'You can go and shoot instead, and I will just have
this slave to stay with me!' Away they went, and the young man
fell asleep, and slept long. Suddenly he was awakened by
something wet and salt falling on his face.

'What is that? Is it raining?' he said to his slave. 'Go and
look.'

'No, master, it is not raining,' answered the slave.

'Then climb up the tree and see what it is,' and the slave
climbed up, and came back and told his master that a beautiful
girl was sitting up there, and that it must have been her tears
which had fallen on the face of the king's son.

'Why was she crying?' inquired the prince.

'I cannot tell--I did not dare to ask her; but perhaps she would
tell you.' And the master, greatly wondering, climbed up the
tree.

'What is the matter with you?' said he gently, and, as she only
sobbed louder, he continued:

'Are you a woman, or a spirit of the woods?'

'I am a woman,' she answered slowly, wiping her eyes with a leaf
of the creeper that hung about her.

'Then why do you cry?' he persisted.

'I have many things to cry for,' she replied, 'more than you
could ever guess.'

'Come home with me,' said the prince; 'it is not very far. Come
home to my father and mother. I am a king's son.'

'Then why are you here?' she said, opening her eyes and staring
at him.

'Once every month I and my friends shoot birds in the forest,' he
answered, 'but I was tired and bade them leave me to rest. And
you--what are you doing up in this tree?'

At that she began to cry again, and told the king's son all that
had befallen her since the death of her mother.

'I cannot come down with you, for I do not like anyone to see
me,' she ended with a sob.

'Oh! I will manage all that,' said the king's son, and swinging
himself to a lower branch, he bade his slave go quickly into the
town, and bring back with him four strong men and a curtained
litter. When the man was gone, the girl climbed down, and hid
herself on the ground in some bushes. Very soon the slave
returned with the litter, which was placed on the ground close to
the bushes where the girl lay.

'Now go, all of you, and call my attendants, for I do not wish to
say here any longer,' he said to the men, and as soon as they
were out of sight he bade the girl get into the litter, and
fasten the curtains tightly. Then he got in on the other side,
and waited till his attendants came up.

'What is the matter, O son of a king?' asked they, breathless
with running.

'I think I am ill; I am cold,' he said, and signing to the
bearers, he drew the curtains, and was carried through the forest
right inside his own house.

'Tell my father and mother that I have a fever, and want some
gruel,' said he, 'and bid them send it quickly.'

So the slave hastened to the king's palace and gave his message,
which troubled both the king and the queen greatly. A pot of hot
gruel was instantly prepared, and carried over to the sick man,
and as soon as the council which was sitting was over, the king
and his ministers went to pay him a visit, bearing a message from
the queen that she would follow a little later.

Now the prince had pretended to be ill in order to soften his
parent's hearts, and the next day he declared he felt better,
and, getting into his litter, was carried to the palace in state,
drums being beaten all along the road.

He dismounted at the foot of the steps and walked up, a great
parasol being held over his head by a slave. Then he entered the
cool, dark room where his father and mother were sitting, and
said to them:

'I saw a girl yesterday in the forest whom I wish to marry, and,
unknown to my attendants, I brought her back to my house in a
litter. Give me your consent, I beg, for no other woman pleases
me as well, even though she has but one hand!'

Of course the king and queen would have preferred a daughter-in-
law with two hands, and one who could have brought riches with
her, but they could not bear to say 'No' to their son, so they
told him it should be as he chose, and that the wedding feast
should be prepared immediately.

The girl could scarcely believe her good fortune, and, in
gratitude for all the kindness shown her, was so useful and
pleasant to her husband's parents that they soon loved her.

By and bye a baby was born to her, and soon after that the prince
was sent on a journey by his father to visit some of the distant
towns of the kingdom, and to set right things that had gone
wrong.

No sooner had he started than the girl's brother, who had wasted
all the riches his wife had brought him in recklessness and
folly, and was now very poor, chanced to come into the town, and
as he passed he heard a man say, 'Do you know that the king's son
has married a woman who has lost one of her hands?' On hearing
these words the brother stopped and asked, 'Where did he find
such a woman?'

'In the forest,' answered the man, and the cruel brother guessed
at once it must be his sister.

A great rage took possession of his soul as he thought of the
girl whom he had tried to ruin being after all so much better off
than himself, and he vowed that he would work her ill. Therefore
that very afternoon he made his way to the palace and asked to
see the king.

When he was admitted to his presence, he knelt down and touched
the ground with his forehead, and the king bade him stand up and
tell wherefore he had come.

'By the kindness of your heart have you been deceived, O king,'
said he. 'Your son has married a girl who has lost a hand. Do you
know why she had lost it? She was a witch, and has wedded three
husbands, and each husband she has put to death with her arts.
Then the people of the town cut off her hand, and turned her into
the forest. And what I say is true, for her town is my town
also.'

The king listened, and his face grew dark. Unluckily he had a
hasty temper, and did not stop to reason, and, instead of sending
to the town, and discovering people who knew his daughter-in-law
and could have told him how hard she had worked and how poor she
had been, he believed all the brother's lying words, and made the
queen believe them too. Together they took counsel what they
should do, and in the end they decided that they also would put
her out of the town. But this did not content the brother.

'Kill her,' he said. 'It is no more than she deserves for daring
to marry the king's son. Then she can do no more hurt to anyone.'

'We cannot kill her,' answered they; 'if we did, our son would
assuredly kill us. Let us do as the others did, and put her out
of the town. And with this the envious brother was forced to be
content.

The poor girl loved her husband very much, but just then the baby
was more to her than all else in the world, and as long as she
had him with her, she did not very much mind anything. So, taking
her son on her arm, and hanging a little earthen pot for cooking
round her neck, she left her house with its great peacock fans
and slaves and seats of ivory, and plunged into the forest.

For a while she walked, not knowing whither she went, then by and
bye she grew tired, and sat under a tree to rest and to hush her
baby to sleep. Suddenly she raised her eyes, and saw a snake
wriggling from under the bushes towards her.

'I am a dead woman,' she said to herself, and stayed quite still,
for indeed she was too frightened to move. In another minute the
snake had reached her side, and to her surprise he spoke.

'Open your earthen pot, and let me go in. Save me from sun, and I
will save you from rain,' and she opened the pot, and when the
snake had slipped in, she put on the cover. Soon she beheld
another snake coming after the other one, and when it had reached
her it stopped and said, 'Did you see a small grey snake pass
this way just now?'

'Yes,' she answered, 'it was going very quickly.'

'Ah, I must hurry and catch it up,' replied the second snake, and
it hastened on.

When it was out of sight, a voice from the pot said:

'Uncover me,' and she lifted the lid, and the little grey snake
slid rapidly to the ground.

'I am safe now,' he said. 'But tell me, where are you going?'

'I cannot tell you, for I do not know,' she answered. 'I am just
wandering in the wood.'

'Follow me, and let us go home together,' said the snake, and the
girl followed his through the forest and along the green paths,
till they came to a great lake, where they stopped to rest.

'The sun is hot,' said the snake, 'and you have walked far. Take
your baby and bathe in that cool place where the boughs of the
tree stretch far over the water.'

'Yes, I will,' answered she, and they went in. The baby splashed
and crowed with delight, and then he gave a spring and fell right
in, down, down, down, and his mother could not find him, though
she searched all among the reeds.

Full of terror, she made her way back to the bank, and called to
the snake, 'My baby is gone!--he is drowned, and never shall I
see him again.'

'Go in once more,' said the snake, 'and feel everywhere, even
among the trees that have their roots in the water, lest perhaps
he may be held fast there.'

Swiftly she went back and felt everywhere with her whole hand,
even putting her fingers into the tiniest crannies, where a crab
could hardly have taken shelter.

'No, he is not here,' she cried. 'How am I to live without him?'
But the snake took no notice, and only answered, 'Put in your
other arm too.'

'What is the use of that?' she asked, 'when it has no hand to
feel with?' but all the same she did as she was bid, and in an
instant the wounded arm touched something round and soft, lying
between two stones in a clump of reeds.

'My baby, my baby!' she shouted, and lifted him up, merry and
laughing, and not a bit hurt or frightened.

'Have you found him this time?' asked the snake.

'Yes, oh, yes!' she answered, 'and, why--why--I have got my hand
back again!' and from sheer joy she burst into tears.

The snake let her weep for a little while, and then he said--

'Now we will journey on to my family, and we will all repay you
for the kindness you showed to me.'

'You have done more than enough in giving me back my hand,'
replied the girl; but the snake only smiled.

'Be quick, lest the sun should set,' he answered, and began to
wriggle along so fast that the girl could hardly follow him.

By and bye they arrived at the house in a tree where the snake
lived, when he was not travelling with his father and mother. And
he told them all his adventures, and how he had escaped from his
enemy. The father and mother snake could not do enough to show
their gratitude. They made their guest lie down on a hammock
woven of the strong creepers which hung from bough to bough, till
she was quite rested after her wanderings, while they watched the
baby and gave him milk to drink from the cocoa-nuts which they
persuaded their friends the monkeys to crack for them. They even
managed to carry small fruit tied up in their tails for the
baby's mother, who felt at last that she was safe and at peace.
Not that she forgot her husband, for she often thought of him and
longed to show him her son, and in the night she would sometimes
lie awake and wonder where he was.



In this manner many weeks passed by.

And what was the prince doing?

Well, he had fallen very ill when he was on the furthest border
of the kingdom, and he was nursed by some kind people who did not
know who he was, so that the king and queen heard nothing about
him. When he was better he made his way home again, and into his
father's palace, where he found a strange man standing behind the
throne with the peacock's feathers. This was his wife's brother,
whom the king had taken into high favour, though, of course, the
prince was quite ignorant of what had happened.

For a moment the king and queen stared at their son, as if he had
been unknown to them; he had grown so thin and weak during his
illness that his shoulders were bowed like those of an old man.

'Have you forgotten me so soon?' he asked.

At the sound of his voice they gave a cry and ran towards him,
and poured out questions as to what had happened, and why he
looked like that. But the prince did not answer any of them.

'How is my wife?' he said. There was a pause.

Then the queen replied:

'She is dead.'

'Dead!' he repeated, stepping a little backwards. 'And my child?'

'He is dead too.'

The young man stood silent. Then he said, 'Show me their graves.'

At these words the king, who had been feeling rather
uncomfortable, took heart again, for had he not prepared two
beautiful tombs for his son to see, so that he might never, never
guess what had been done to his wife? All these months the king
and queen had been telling each other how good and merciful they
had been not to take her brother's advice and to put her to
death. But now, this somehow did not seem so certain.

Then the king led the way to the courtyard just behind the
palace, and through the gate into a beautiful garden where stood
two splendid tombs in a green space under the trees. The prince
advanced alone, and, resting his head against the stone, he burst
into tears. His father and mother stood silently behind with a
curious pang in their souls which they did not quite understand.
Could it be that they were ashamed of themselves?

But after a while the prince turned round, and walking past them
in to the palace he bade the slaves bring him mourning. For seven
days no one saw him, but at the end of them he went out hunting,
and helped his father rule his people. Only no one dared to speak
to him of his wife and son.

At last one morning, after the girl had been lying awake all
night thinking of her husband, she said to her friend the snake:

'You have all shown me much kindness, but now I am well again,
and want to go home and hear some news of my husband, and if he
still mourns for me!' Now the heart of the snake was sad at her
words, but he only said:

'Yes, thus it must be; go and bid farewell to my father and
mother, but if they offer you a present, see that you take
nothing but my father's ring and my mother's casket.'

So she went to the parent snakes, who wept bitterly at the
thought of losing her, and offered her gold and jewels as much as
she could carry in remembrance of them. But the girl shook her
head and pushed the shining heap away from her.

'I shall never forget you, never,' she said in a broken voice,
'but the only tokens I will accept from you are that little ring
and this old casket.'

The two snakes looked at each other in dismay. The ring and the
casket were the only things they did not want her to have. Then
after a short pause they spoke.

'Why do you want the ring and casket so much? Who has told you of
them?'

'Oh, nobody; it is just my fancy,' answered she. But the old
snakes shook their heads and replied:

'Not so; it is our son who told you, and, as he said, so it must
be. If you need food, or clothes, or a house, tell the ring and
it will find them for you. And if you are unhappy or in danger,
tell the casket and it will set things right.' Then they both
gave her their blessing, and she picked up her baby and went her
way.

She walked for a long time, till at length she came near the town
where her husband and his father dwelt. Here she stopped under a
grove of palm trees, and told the ring that she wanted a house.

'It is ready, mistress,' whispered a queer little voice which
made her jump, and, looking behind her, she saw a lovely palace
made of the finest woods, and a row of slaves with tall fans
bowing before the door. Glad indeed was she to enter, for she was
very tired, and, after eating a good supper of fruit and milk
which she found in one of the rooms, she flung herself down on a
pile of cushions and went to sleep with her baby beside her.

Here she stayed quietly, and every day the baby grew taller and
stronger, and very soon he could run about and even talk. Of
course the neighbours had a great deal to say about the house
which had been built so quickly--so very quickly--on the
outskirts of the town, and invented all kinds of stories about
the rich lady who lived in it. And by and bye, when the king
returned with his son from the wars, some of these tales reached
his ears.

'It is really very odd about that house under the palms,' he said
to the queen; 'I must find out something of the lady whom no one
ever sees. I daresay it is not a lady at all, but a gang of
conspirators who want to get possession of my throne. To-morrow I
shall take my son and my chief ministers and insist on getting
inside.'

Soon after sunrise next day the prince's wife was standing on a
little hill behind the house, when she saw a cloud of dust coming
through the town. A moment afterwards she heard faintly the roll
of the drums that announced the king's presence, and saw a crowd
of people approaching the grove of palms. Her heart beat fast.
Could her husband be among them? In any case they must not
discover her there; so just bidding the ring prepare some food
for them, she ran inside, and bound a veil of golden gauze round
her head and face. Then, taking the child's hand, she went to the
door and waited.

In a few minutes the whole procession came up, and she stepped
forward and begged them to come in and rest.

'Willingly,' answered the king; 'go first, and we will follow
you.'

They followed her into a long dark room, in which was a table
covered with gold cups and baskets filled with dates and cocoa-
nuts and all kinds of ripe yellow fruits, and the king and the
prince sat upon cushions and were served by slaves, while the
ministers, among whom she recognised her own brother, stood
behind.

'Ah, I owe all my misery to him,' she said to herself. 'From the
first he has hated me,' but outwardly she showed nothing. And
when the king asked her what news there was in the town she only
answered:

'You have ridden far; eat first, and drink, for you must be
hungry and thirsty, and then I will tell you my news.'

'You speak sense,' answered the king, and silence prevailed for
some time longer. Then he said:

'Now, lady, I have finished, and am refreshed, therefore tell me,
I pray you, who you are, and whence you come? But, first, be
seated.'

She bowed her head and sat down on a big scarlet cushion, drawing
her little boy, who was asleep in a corner, on to her knee, and
began to tell the story of her life. As her brother listened, he
would fain have left the house and hidden himself in the forest,
but it was his duty to wave the fan of peacock's feathers over
the king's head to keep off the flies, and he knew he would be
seized by the royal guards if he tried to desert his post. He
must stay where he was, there was no help for it, and luckily for
him the king was too much interested in the tale to notice that
the fan had ceased moving, and that flies were dancing right on
the top of his thick curly hair.

The story went on, but the story-teller never once looked at the
prince, even through her veil, though he on his side never moved
his eyes from her. When she reached the part where she had sat
weeping in the tree, the king's son could restrain himself no
longer.

'It is my wife,' he cried, springing to where she sat with the
sleeping child in her lap. 'They have lied to me, and you are not
dead after all, nor the boy either.! But what has happened? Why
did they lie to me? and why did you leave my house where you were
safe?' And he turned and looked fiercely at his father.

'Let me finish my tale first, and then you will know,' answered
she, throwing back her veil, and she told how her brother had
come to the palace and accused her of being a witch, and had
tried to persuade the king to slay her. 'But he would not do
that,' she continued softly, 'and after all, if I had stayed on
in your house, I should never have met the snake, nor have got my
hand back again. So let us forget all about it, and be happy once
more, for see! our son is growing quite a big boy.'

'And what shall be done to your brother?' asked the king, who was
glad to think that someone had acted in this matter worse than
himself.

'Put him out of the town,' answered she.

From 'Swaheli Tales,' by E. Steere.






                      The Bones of Djulung




In a beautiful island that lies in the southern seas, where
chains of gay orchids bind the trees together, and the days and
nights are equally long and nearly equally hot, there once lived
a family of seven sisters. Their father and mother were dead, and
they had no brothers, so the eldest girl ruled over the rest, and
they all did as she bade them. One sister had to clean the house,
a second carried water from the spring in the forest, a third
cooked their food, while to the youngest fell the hardest task of
all, for she had to cut and bring home the wood which was to keep
the fire continually burning. This was very hot and tiring work,
and when she had fed the fire and heaped up in a corner the
sticks that were to supply it till the next day, she often threw
herself down under a tree, and went sound asleep.

One morning, however, as she was staggering along with her bundle
on her back, she thought that the river which flowed past their
hut looked so cool and inviting that she determined to bathe in
it, instead of taking her usual nap. Hastily piling up her load
by the fire, and thrusting some sticks into the flame, she ran
down to the river and jumped in. How delicious it was diving and
swimming and floating in the dark forest, where the trees were so
thick that you could hardly see the sun! But after a while she
began to look about her, and her eyes fell on a little fish that
seemed made out of a rainbow, so brilliant were the colours he
flashed out.

'I should like him for a pet,' thought the girl, and the next
time the fish swam by, she put out her hand and caught him. Then
she ran along the grassy path till she came to a cave in front of
which a stream fell over some rocks into a basin. Here she put
her little fish, whose name was Djulung-djulung, and promising to
return soon and bring him some dinner, she went away.

By the time she got home, the rice for their dinner was ready
cooked, and the eldest sister gave the other six their portions
in wooden bowls. But the youngest did not finish hers, and when
no one was looking, stole off to the fountain in the forest where
the little fish was swimming about.

'See! I have not forgotten you,' she cried, and one by one she
let the grains of rice fall into the water, where the fish
gobbled them up greedily, for he had never tasted anything so
nice.

'That is all for to-day,' she said at last, 'but I will come
again to-morrow,' and biding him good-bye she went down the path.

Now the girl did not tell her sisters about the fish, but every
day she saved half of her rice to give him, and called him softly
in a little song she had made for herself. If she sometimes felt
hungry, no one knew of it, and, indeed, she did not mind that
much, when she saw how the fish enjoyed it. And the fish grew fat
and big, but the girl grew thin and weak, and the loads of wood
felt heavier every day, and at last her sisters noticed it.

Then they took counsel together, and watched her to see what she
did, and one of them followed her to the fountain where Djulung
lived, and saw her give him all the rice she had saved from her
breakfast. Hastening home the sister told the others what she had
witnessed, and that a lovely fat fish might be had for the
catching. So the eldest sister went and caught him, and he was
boiled for supper, but the youngest sister was away in the woods,
and did not know anything about it.

Next morning she went as usual to the cave, and sang her little
song, but no Djulung came to answer it; twice and thrice she
sang, then threw herself on her knees by the edge, and peered
into the dark water, but the trees cast such a deep shadow that
her eyes could not pierce it.

'Djulung cannot be dead, or his body would be floating on the
surface,' she said to herself, and rising to her feet she set out
homewards, feeling all of a sudden strangely tired.

'What is the matter with me?' she thought, but somehow or other
she managed to reach the hut, and threw herself down in a corner,
where she slept so soundly that for days no one was able to wake
her.

At length, one morning early, a cock began to crow so loud that
she could sleep no longer and as he continued to crow she seemed
to understand what he was saying, and that he was telling her
that Djulung was dead, killed and eaten by her sisters, and that
his bones lay buried under the kitchen fire. Very softly she got
up, and took up the large stone under the fire, and creeping out
carried the bones to the cave by the fountain, where she dug a
hole and buried them anew. And as she scooped out the hole with a
stick she sang a song, bidding the bones grow till they became a
tree--a tree that reached up so high into the heavens that its
leaves would fall across the sea into another island, whose king
would pick them up.

As there was no Djulung to give her rice to, the girl soon became
fat again, and as she was able to do her work as of old, her
sisters did not trouble about her. They never guessed that when
she went into the forest to gather her sticks, she never failed
to pay a visit to the tree, which grew taller and more wonderful
day by day. Never was such a tree seen before. Its trunk was of
iron, its leaves were of silk, its flowers of gold, and its fruit
of diamonds, and one evening, though the girl did not know it, a
soft breeze took one of the leaves, and blew it across the sea to
the feet of one of the king's attendants.

'What a curious leaf! I have never beheld one like it before. I
must show it to the king,' he said, and when the king saw it he
declared he would never rest until he had found the tree which
bore it, even if he had to spend the rest of his life in visiting
the islands that lay all round. Happily for him, he began with
the island that was nearest, and here in the forest he suddenly
saw standing before him the iron tree, its boughs covered with
shining leaves like the one he carried about him.

'But what sort of a tree is it, and how did it get here?' he
asked of the attendants he had with him. No one could answer him,
but as they were about to pass out of the forest a little boy
went by, and the king stopped and inquired if there was anyone
living in the neighbourhood whom he might question.

'Seven girls live in a hut down there,' replied the boy, pointing
with his finger to where the sun was setting.

'Then go and bring them here, and I will wait,' said the king,
and the boy ran off and told the sisters that a great chief, with
strings of jewels round his neck, had sent for them.

Pleased and excited the six elder sisters at once followed the
boy, but the youngest, who was busy, and who did not care about
strangers, stayed behind, to finish the work she was doing. The
king welcomed the girls eagerly, and asked them all manner of
questions about the tree, but as they had never even heard of its
existence, they could tell him nothing. 'And if we, who live
close by the forest, do not know, you may be sure no one does,'
added the eldest, who was rather cross at finding this was all
that the king wanted of them.

'But the boy told me there were seven of you, and there are only
six here,' said the king.

'Oh, the youngest is at home, but she is always half asleep, and
is of no use except to cut wood for the fire,' replied they in a
breath.

'That may be, but perhaps she dreams,' answered the king.
'Anyway, I will speak to her also.' Then he signed to one of his
attendants, who followed the path that the boy had taken to the
hut.

Soon the man returned, with the girl walking behind him. And as
soon as she reached the tree it bowed itself to the earth before
her, and she stretched out her hand and picked some of its leaves
and flowers and gave them to the king.

'The maiden who can work such wonders is fitted to be the wife of
the greatest chief,' he said, and so he married her, and took her
with him across the sea to his own home, where they lived happily
for ever after.

From 'Folk Lore,' by A. F. Mackenzie.







                      The Sea King's Gift




There was once a fisherman who was called Salmon, and his
Christian name was Matte. He lived by the shore of the big sea;
where else could he live? He had a wife called Maie; could you
find a better name for her? In winter they dwelt in a little
cottage by the shore, but in spring they flitted to a red rock
out in the sea and stayed there the whole summer until it was
autumn. The cottage on the rock was even smaller than the other;
it had a wooden bolt instead of an iron lock to the door, a stone
hearth, a flagstaff, and a weather-cock on the roof.

The rock was called Ahtola, and was not larger than the market-
place of a town. Between the crevices there grew a little rowan
tree and four alder bushes. Heaven only knows how they ever came
there; perhaps they were brought by the winter storms. Besides
that, there flourished some tufts of velvety grass, some
scattered reeds, two plants of the yellow herb called tansy, four
of a red flower, and a pretty white one; but the treasures of the
rock consisted of three roots of garlic, which Maie had put in a
cleft. Rock walls sheltered them on the north side, and the sun
shone on them on the south. This does not seem much, but it
sufficed Maie for a herb plot.

All good things go in threes, so Matte and his wife fished for
salmon in spring, for herring in summer, and for cod in winter.
When on Saturdays the weather was fine and the wind favourable,
they sailed to the nearest town, sold their fish, and went to
church on Sunday. But it often happened that for weeks at a time
they were quite alone on the rock Ahtola, and had nothing to look
at except their little yellow-brown dog, which bore the grand
name of Prince, their grass tufts, their bushes and blooms, the
sea bays and fish, a stormy sky and the blue, white-crested
waves. For the rock lay far away from the land, and there were no
green islets or human habitations for miles round, only here and
there appeared a rock of the same red stone as Ahtola,
besprinkled day and night with the ocean spray.

Matte and Maie were industrious, hard-working folk, happy and
contented in their poor hut, and they thought themselves rich
when they were able to salt as many casks of fish as they
required for winter and yet have some left over with which to buy
tobacco for the old man, and a pound or two of coffee for his
wife, with plenty of burned corn and chicory in it to give it a
flavour. Besides that, they had bread, butter, fish, a beer cask,
and a buttermilk jar; what more did they require? All would have
gone well had not Maie been possessed with a secret longing which
never let her rest; and this was, how she could manage to become
the owner of a cow.

'What would you do with a cow?' asked Matte. 'She could not swim
so far, and our boat is not large enough to bring her over here;
and even if we had her, we have nothing to feed her on.'

'We have four alder bushes and sixteen tufts of grass,' rejoined
Maie.

'Yes, of course,' laughed Matte, 'and we have also three plants
of garlic. Garlic would be fine feeding for her.'

'Every cow likes salt herring,' rejoined his wife. 'Even Prince
is fond of fish.'

'That may be,' said her husband. 'Methinks she would soon be a
dear cow if we had to feed her on salt herring. All very well for
Prince, who fights with the gulls over the last morsel. Put the
cow out of your head, mother, we are very well off as we are.'

Maie sighed. She knew well that her husband was right, but she
could not give up the idea of a cow. The buttermilk no longer
tasted as good as usual in the coffee; she thought of sweet cream
and fresh butter, and of how there was nothing in the world to be
compared with them.

One day as Matte and his wife were cleaning herring on the shore
they heard Prince barking, and soon there appeared a gaily
painted boat with three young men in it, steering towards the
rock. They were students, on a boating excursion, and wanted to
get something to eat.

'Bring us a junket, good mother,' cried they to Maie.

'Ah! if only I had such a thing!' sighed Maie.

'A can of fresh milk, then,' said the students; 'but it must not
be skim.'

'Yes, if only I had it!' sighed the old woman, still more deeply.

'What! haven't you got a cow?'

Maie was silent. This question so struck her to the heart that
she could not reply.

'We have no cow,' Matte answered; 'but we have good smoked
herring, and can cook them in a couple of hours.'

'All right, then, that will do,' said the students, as they flung
themselves down on the rock, while fifty silvery-white herring
were turning on the spit in front of the fire.

'What's the name of this little stone in the middle of the
ocean?' asked one of them.

'Ahtola,' answered the old man.

'Well, you should want for nothing when you live in the Sea
King's dominion.'

Matte did not understand. He had never read Kalevala and knew
nothing of the sea gods of old, but the students proceeded to
explain to him.[FN#2: Kalevala is a collection of old Finnish
songs about gods and heroes.]

'Ahti,' said they, 'is a mighty king who lives in his dominion of
Ahtola, and has a rock at the bottom of the sea, and possesses
besides a treasury of good things. He rules over all fish and
animals of the deep; he has the finest cows and the swiftest
horses that ever chewed grass at the bottom of the ocean. He who
stands well with Ahti is soon a rich man, but one must beware in
dealing with him, for he is very changeful and touchy. Even a
little stone thrown into the water might offend him, and then as
he takes back his gift, he stirs up the sea into a storm and
drags the sailors down into the depths. Ahti owns also the
fairest maidens, who bear the train of his queen Wellamos, and at
the sound of music they comb their long, flowing locks, which
glisten in the water.'

'Oh!' cried Matte, 'have your worships really seen all that?'

'We have as good as seen it,' said the students. 'It is all
printed in a book, and everything printed is true.'

'I'm not so sure of that,' said Matte, as he shook his head.

But the herring were now ready, and the students ate enough for
six, and gave Prince some cold meat which they happened to have
in the boat. Prince sat on his hind legs with delight and mewed
like a pussy cat. When all was finished, the students handed
Matte a shining silver coin, and allowed him to fill his pipe
with a special kind of tobacco. They then thanked him for his
kind hospitality and went on their journey, much regretted by
Prince, who sat with a woeful expression and whined on the shore
as long as he could see a flip of the boat's white sail in the
distance.

Maie had never uttered a word, but thought the more. She had good
ears, and had laid to heart the story about Ahti. 'How
delightful,' thought she to herself, 'to possess a fairy cow! How
delicious every morning and evening to draw milk from it, and yet
have no trouble about the feeding, and to keep a shelf near the
window for dishes of milk and junkets! But this will never be my
luck.'

'What are you thinking of?' asked Matte.

'Nothing,' said his wife; but all the time she was pondering over
some magic rhymes she had heard in her childhood from an old lame
man, which were supposed to bring luck in fishing.

'What if I were to try?' thought she.

Now this was Saturday, and on Saturday evenings Matte never set
the herring-net, for he did not fish on Sunday. Towards evening,
however, his wife said:

'Let us set the herring-net just this once.'

'No,' said her husband, 'it is a Saturday night.'

'Last night was so stormy, and we caught so little,' urged his
wife; 'to-night the sea is like a mirror, and with the wind in
this direction the herring are drawing towards land.'

'But there are streaks in the north-western sky, and Prince was
eating grass this evening,' said the old man.

'Surely he has not eaten my garlic,' exclaimed the old woman.

'No; but there will be rough weather by to-morrow at sunset,'
rejoined Matte.

'Listen to me,' said his wife, 'we will set only one net close to
the shore, and then we shall be able to finish up our half-filled
cask, which will spoil if it stands open so long.'

The old man allowed himself to be talked over, and so they rowed
out with the net. When they reached the deepest part of the
water, she began to hum the words of the magic rhyme, altering
the words to suit the longing of her heart:

          Oh, Ahti, with the long, long beard,
               Who dwellest in the deep blue sea,
          Finest treasures have I heard,
               And glittering fish belong to thee.
          The richest pearls beyond compare
               Are stored up in thy realm below,
          And Ocean's cows so sleek and fair
               Feed on the grass in thy green meadow.

          King of the waters, far and near,
               I ask not of thy golden store,
          I wish not jewels of pearl to wear,
               Nor silver either, ask I for,
          But one is odd and even is two,
               So give me a cow, sea-king so bold,
          And in return I'll give to you
               A slice of the moon, and the sun's gold.

'What's that you're humming?' asked the old man.

'Oh, only the words of an old rhyme that keeps running in my
head,' answered the old woman; and she raised her voice and went
on:

          Oh, Ahti, with the long, long beard,
               Who dwellest in the deep blue sea,
          A thousand cows are in thy herd,
               I pray thee give one onto me.

'That's a stupid sort of song,' said Matte. 'What else should one
beg of the sea-king but fish? But such songs are not for Sunday.'

His wife pretended not to hear him, and sang and sang the same
tune all the time they were on the water. Matte heard nothing
more as he sat and rowed the heavy boat, while thinking of his
cracked pipe and the fine tobacco. Then they returned to the
island, and soon after went to bed.

But neither Matte nor Maie could sleep a wink; the one thought of
how he had profaned Sunday, and the other of Ahti's cow.

About midnight the fisherman sat up, and said to his wife:

'Dost thou hear anything?'

'No,' said she.

'I think the twirling of the weathercock on the roof bodes ill,'
said he; 'we shall have a storm.'

'Oh, it is nothing but your fancy,' said his wife.

Matte lay down, but soon rose again.

'The weathercock is squeaking now,' said he.

'Just fancy! Go to sleep,' said his wife; and the old man tried
to.

For the third time he jumped out of bed.

'Ho! how the weather-cock is roaring at the pitch of its voice,
as if it had a fire inside it! We are going to have a tempest,
and must bring in the net.'

Both rose. The summer night was as dark as if it had been
October, the weather-cock creaked, and the storm was raging in
every direction. As they went out the sea lay around them as
white as now, and the spray was dashing right over the fisher-
hut. In all his life Matte had never remembered such a night. To
launch the boat and put to sea to rescue the net was a thing not
to be thought of. The fisherman and his wife stood aghast on the
doorstep, holding on fast by the doorpost, while the foam
splashed over their faces.

'Did I not tell thee that there is no luck in Sunday fishing?'
said Matte sulkily; and his wife was so frightened that she never
even once thought of Ahti's cows.

As there was nothing to be done, they went in. Their eyes were
heavy for lack of slumber, and they slept as soundly as if there
had not been such a thing as an angry sea roaring furiously
around their lonely dwelling. When they awoke, the sun was high
in the heavens, the tempest had cased, and only the swell of the
sea rose in silvery heavings against the red rock.

'What can that be?' said the old woman, as she peeped out of the
door.

'It looks like a big seal,' said Matte.

'As sure as I live, it's a cow!' exclaimed Maie. And certainly it
was a cow, a fine red cow, fat and flourishing, and looking as if
it had been fed all its days on spinach. It wandered peacefully
up and down the shore, and never so much as even looked at the
poor little tufts of grass, as if it despised such fare.

Matte could not believe his eyes. But a cow she seemed, and a cow
she was found to be; and when the old woman began to milk her,
every pitcher and pan, even to the baler, was soon filled with
the most delicious milk.

The old man troubled his head in vain as to how she came there,
and sallied forth to seek for his lost net. He had not proceeded
far when he found it cast up on the shore, and so full of fish
that not a mesh was visible.

'It is all very fine to possess a cow,' said Matte, as he cleaned
the fish; 'but what are we going to feed her on?'

'We shall find some means,' said his wife; and the cow found the
means herself. She went out and cropped the seaweed which grew in
great abundance near the shore, and always kept in good
condition. Every one Prince alone excepted, thought she was a
clever beast; but Prince barked at her, for he had now got a
rival.

From that day the red rock overflowed with milk and junkets, and
every net was filled with fish. Matte and Maie grew fat on this
fine living, and daily became richer. She churned quantities of
butter, and he hired two men to help him in his fishing. The sea
lay before him like a big fish tank, out of which he hauled as
many as he required; and the cow continued to fend for herself.
In autumn, when Matte and Maie went ashore, the cow went to sea,
and in spring, when they returned to the rock, there she stood
awaiting them.

'We shall require a better house,' said Maie the following
summer; 'the old one is too small for ourselves and the men.'

'Yes,' said Matte. So he built a large cottage, with a real lock
to the door, and a store-house for fish as well; and he and his
men caught such quantities of fish that they sent tons of salmon,
herring, and cod to Russian and Sweden.

'I am quite overworked with so many folk,' said Maie; 'a girl to
help me would not come amiss.'

'Get one, then,' said her husband; and so they hired a girl.

Then Maie said: 'We have too little milk for all these folk. Now
that I have a servant, with the same amount of trouble she could
look after three cows.'

'All right, then,' said her husband, somewhat provoked, 'you can
sing a song to the fairies.'

This annoyed Maie, but nevertheless she rowed out to sea on
Sunday night and sang as before:

          Oh, Ahti, with the long, long beard,
               Who dwellest in the deep blue sea,
          A thousand cows are in thy herd,
               I pray thee give three unto me.

The following morning, instead of one, three cows stood on the
island, and they all ate seaweed and fended for themselves like
the first one.

'Art thou satisfied now?' said Matte to his wife.

'I should be quite satisfied,' said his wife, 'if only I had two
servants to help, and if I had some finer clothes. Don't you know
that I am addressed as Madam?'

'Well, well,' said her husband. So Maie got several servants and
clothes fit for a great lady.

'Everything would now be perfect if only we had a little better
dwelling for summer. You might build us a two-storey house, and
fetch soil to make a garden. Then you might make a little arbour
up there to let us have a sea-view; and we might have a fiddler
to fiddle to us of an evening, and a little steamer to take us to
church in stormy weather.'

'Anything more?' asked Matte; but he did everything that his wife
wished. The rock Ahtola became so grand and Maie so grand that
all the sea-urchins and herring were lost in wonderment. Even
Prince was fed on beefsteaks and cream scones till at last he was
as round as a butter jar.

'Are you satisfied now?' asked Matte.

'I should be quite satisfied,' said Maie, 'if only I had thirty
cows. At least that number is required for such a household.'

'Go to the fairies,' said Matte.

His wife set out in the new steamer and sang to the sea-king.
Next morning thirty cows stood on the shore, all finding food for
themselves.

'Know'st thou, good man, that we are far too cramped on this
wretched rock, and where am I to find room for so many cows?'

'There is nothing to be done but to pump out the sea.'

'Rubbish!' said his wife. 'Who can pump out the sea?'

'Try with thy new steamer, there is a pump in it.'

Maie knew well that her husband was only making fun of her, but
still her mind was set upon the same subject. 'I never could pump
the sea out,' thought she, 'but perhaps I might fill it up, if I
were to make a big dam. I might heap up sand and stones, and make
our island as big again.'

Maie loaded her boat with stones and went out to sea. The fiddler
was with her, and fiddled so finely that Ahti and Wellamos and
all the sea's daughters rose to the surface of the water to
listen to the music.

'What is that shining so brightly in the waves?' asked Maie.

'That is sea foam glinting in the sunshine,' answered the
fiddler.

'Throw out the stones,' said Maie.

The people in the boat began to throw out the stones, splash,
splash, right and left, into the foam. One stone hit the nose of
Wellamos's chief lady-in-waiting, another scratched the sea queen
herself on the cheek, a third plumped close to Ahti's head and
tore off half of the sea-king's beard; then there was a commotion
in the sea, the waves bubbled and bubbled like boiling water in a
pot.

'Whence comes this gust of wind?' said Maie; and as she spoke the
sea opened and swallowed up the steamer. Maie sank to the bottom
like a stone, but, stretching out her arms and legs, she rose to
the surface, where she found the fiddler's fiddle, and used it as
a float. At the same moment she saw close beside her the terrible
head of Ahti, and he had only half a beard!'

'Why did you throw stones at me?' roared the sea-king.

'Oh, your majesty, it was a mistake! Put some bear's grease on
your beard and that will soon make it grow again.'

'Dame, did I not give you all you asked for--nay, even more?'

'Truly, truly, your majesty. Many thanks for the cows.'

'Well, where is the gold from the sun and the silver from the
moon that you promised me?'

'Ah, your majesty, they have been scattered day and night upon
the sea, except when the sky was overcast,' slyly answered Maie.

'I'll teach you!' roared the sea-king; and with that he gave the
fiddle such a 'puff' that it sent the old woman up like a sky-
rocket on to her island. There Prince lay, as famished as ever,
gnawing the carcase of a crow. There sat Matte in his ragged grey
jacket, quite alone, on the steps of the old hut, mending a net.

'Heavens, mother,' said he, 'where are you coming from at such a
whirlwind pace, and what makes you in such a dripping condition?'

Maie looked around her amazed, and said, 'Where is our two-storey
house?'

'What house?' asked her husband.

'Our big house, and the flower garden, and the men and the maids,
and the thirty beautiful cows, and the steamer, and everything
else?'

'You are talking nonsense, mother,' said he. 'The students have
quite turned your head, for you sang silly songs last evening
while we were rowing, and then you could not sleep till early
morning. We had stormy weather during the night, and when it was
past I did not wish to waken you, so rowed out alone to rescue
the net.'

'But I've seen Ahti,' rejoined Maie.

'You've been lying in bed, dreaming foolish fancies, mother, and
then in your sleep you walked into the water.'

'But there is the fiddle,' said Maie.

'A fine fiddle! It is only an old stick. No, no, old woman,
another time we will be more careful. Good luck never attends
fishing on a Sunday.'

From Z. Topelius.






                       The Raspberry Worm




'Phew!' cried Lisa.

'Ugh!' cried Aina.

'What now?' cried the big sister.

'A worm!' cried Lisa.

'On the raspberry!' cried Aina.

'Kill it!' cried Otto.

'What a fuss over a poor little worm!' said the big sister
scornfully.

'Yes, when we had cleaned the raspberries so carefully,' said
Lisa.

'It crept out from that very large one,' put in Aina.

'And supposing someone had eaten the raspberry,' said Lisa.

'Then they would have eaten the worm, too,' said Aina.

'Well, what harm?' said Otto.

'Eat a worm!' cried Lisa.

'And kill him with one bite!' murmured Aina.

'Just think of it!' said Otto laughing.

'Now it is crawling on the table,' cried Aina again.

'Blow it away!' said the big sister.

'Tramp on it!' laughed Otto.

But Lisa took a raspberry leaf, swept the worm carefully on to
the leaf and carried it out into the yard. Then Aina noticed that
a sparrow sitting on the fence was just ready to pounce on the
poor little worm, so she took up the leaf, carried it out into
the wood and hid it under a raspberry bush where the greedy
sparrow could not find it. Yes, and what more is there to tell
about a raspberry worm? Who would give three straws for such a
miserable little thing? Yes, but who would not like to live in
such a pretty home as it lives in; in such a fresh fragrant dark-
red cottage, far away in the quiet wood among flowers and green
leaves!

Now it was just dinner time, so they all had a dinner of
raspberries and cream. 'Be careful with the sugar, Otto,' said
the big sister; but Otto's plate was like a snowdrift in winter,
with just a little red under the snow.

Soon after dinner the big sister said: 'Now we have eaten up the
raspberries and we have none left to make preserve for the
winter; it would be fine if we could get two baskets full of
berries, then we could clean them this evening, and to-morrow we
could cook them in the big preserving pan, and then we should
have raspberry jam to eat on our bread!'

'Come, let us go to the wood and pick,' said Lisa.

'Yes, let us,' said Aina. 'You take the yellow basket and I will
take the green one.'

'Don't get lost, and come back safely in the evening,' said the
big sister.

'Greetings to the raspberry worm,' said Otto, mockingly. 'Next
time I meet him I shall do him the honour of eating him up.'

So Aina and Lisa went off to the wood. Ah! how delightful it was
there, how beautiful! It was certainly tiresome sometimes
climbing over the fallen trees, and getting caught in the
branches, and waging war with the juniper bushes and the midges,
but what did that matter? The girls climbed well in their short
dresses, and soon they were deep in the wood.

There were plenty of bilberries and elder berries, but no
raspberries. They wandered on and on, and at last they came ...
No, it could not be true! ... they came to a large raspberry
wood. The wood had been on fire once, and now raspberry bushes
had grown up, and there were raspberry bushes and raspberry
bushes as far as the eye could see. Every bush was weighted to
the ground with the largest, dark red, ripe raspberries, such a
wealth of berries as two little berry pickers had never found
before!

Lisa picked, Aina picked. Lisa ate, Aina ate, and in a little
while their baskets were full.

'Now we shall go home,' said Aina. 'No, let us gather a few
more,' said Lisa. So they put the baskets down on the ground and
began to fill their pinafores, and it was not long before their
pinafores were full, too.

'Now we shall go home,' said Lina. 'Yes, now we shall go home,'
said Aina. Both girls took a basket in one hand and held up her
apron in the other and then turned to go home. But that was
easier said than done. They had never been so far in the great
wood before, they could not find any road nor path, and soon the
girls noticed that they had lost their way.

The worst of it was that the shadows of the tress were becoming
so long in the evening sunlight, the birds were beginning to fly
home, and the day was closing in. At last the sun went down
behind the pine tops, and it was cool and dusky in the great
wood.

The girls became anxious but went steadily on, expecting that the
wood would soon end, and that they would see the smoke from the
chimneys of their home.

After they had wandered on for a long time it began to grow dark.
At last they reached a great plain overgrown with bushes, and
when they looked around them, they saw, as much as they could in
the darkness, that they were among the same beautiful raspberry
bushes from which they had picked their baskets and their aprons
full. Then they were so tired that they sat down on a stone and
began to cry.

'I am so hungry,' said Lisa.

'Yes,' said Aina, 'if we had only two good meat sandwiches now.'

As she said that, she felt something in her hand, and when she
looked down, she saw a large sandwich of bread and chicken, and
at the same time Lisa said: 'How very queer! I have a sandwich in
my hand.'

'And I, too,' said Aina. 'Will you dare to eat it?'

'Of course I will,' said Lisa. 'Ah, if we only had a good glass
of milk now!'

Just as she said that she felt a large glass of milk between her
fingers, and at the same time Aina cried out, 'Lisa! Lisa! I have
a glass of milk in my hand! Isn't it queer?'

The girls, however, were very hungry, so they ate and drank with
a good appetite. When they had finished Aina yawned, stretched
out her arms and said: 'Oh, if only we had a nice soft bed to
sleep on now!'

Scarcely had she spoken before she felt a nice soft bed by her
side, and there beside Lisa was one too. This seemed to the girls
more and more wonderful, but tired and sleepy as they were, they
thought no more about it, but crept into the little beds, drew
the coverlets over their heads and were soon asleep.

When they awoke the sun was high in the heavens, the wood was
beautiful in the summer morning, and the birds were flying about
in the branches and the tree tops.

At first the girls were filled with wonder when they saw that
they had slept in the wood among the raspberry bushes. They
looked at each other, they looked at their beds, which were of
the finest flax covered over with leaves and moss. At last Lisa
said: 'Are you awake, Aina?'

'Yes,' said Aina.

'But I am still dreaming,' said Lisa.

'No,' said Aina, 'but there is certainly some good fairy living
among these raspberry bushes. Ah, if we had only a hot cup of
coffee now, and a nice piece of white bread to dip into it!'

Scarcely had she finished speaking when she saw beside her a
little silver tray with a gilt coffee-pot, two cups of rare
porcelain, a sugar basin of fine crystal, silver sugar tongs, and
some good fresh white bread. The girls poured out the beautiful
coffee, put in the cream and sugar, and tasted it; never in their
lives had they drunk such beautiful coffee.

'Now I should like to know very much who has given us all this,'
said Lisa gratefully.

'I have, my little girls,' said a voice just then from the
bushes.

The children looked round wonderingly, and saw a little kind-
looking old man, in a white coat and a red cap, limping out from
among the bushes, for he was lame in his left foot; neither Lisa
nor Aina could utter a word, they were so filled with surprise.

'Don't be afraid, little girls,' he said smiling kindly at them;
he could not laugh properly because his mouth was crooked.
'Welcome to my kingdom! Have you slept well and eaten well and
drunk well?' he asked.

'Yes, indeed we have,' said both the girls, 'but tell us ...' and
they wanted to ask who the old man was, but were afraid to.

'I will tell you who I am,' said the old man; 'I am the raspberry
king, who reigns over all this kingdom of raspberry bushes, and I
have lived here for more than a thousand years. But the great
spirit who rules over the woods, and the sea, and the sky, did
not want me to become proud of my royal power and my long life.
Therefore he decreed that one day in every hundred years I should
change into a little raspberry worm, and live in that weak and
helpless form from sunrise to sunset. During that time my life is
dependent on the little worm's life, so that a bird can eat me, a
child can pick me with the berries and trample under foot my
thousand years of life. Now yesterday was just my transformation
day, and I was taken with the raspberry and would have been
trampled to death if you had not saved my life. Until sunset I
lay helpless in the grass, and when I was swept away from your
table I twisted one of my feet, and my mouth became crooked with
terror; but when evening came and I could take my own form again,
I looked for you to thank you and reward you. Then I found you
both here in my kingdom, and tried to meet you both as well as I
could without frightening you. Now I will send a bird from my
wood to show you the way home. Good-bye, little children, thank
you for your kind hearts; the raspberry king can show that he is
not ungrateful.' The children shook hands with the old man and
thanked him, feeling very glad that they had saved the little
raspberry worm. They were just going when the old man turned
round, smiled mischievously with his crooked mouth, and said:
'Greetings to Otto from me, and tell him when I meet him again I
shall do him the honour of eating him up.'

'Oh, please don't do that,' cried both the girls, very
frightened.

'Well, for your sake I will forgive him,' said the old man, 'I am
not revengeful. Greetings to Otto and tell him that he may expect
a gift from me, too. Good-bye.'

The two girls, light of heart, now took their berries and ran off
through the wood after the bird; and soon it began to get lighter
in the wood and they wondered how they could have lost their way
yesterday, it seemed so easy and plain now.

One can imagine what joy there was when the two reached home.
Everyone had been looking for them, and the big sister had not
been able to sleep, for she thought the wolves had eaten them up.

Otto met them; he had a basket in his hand and said: 'Look, here
is something that an old man has just left for you.'

When the girls looked into the basket they saw a pair of most
beautiful bracelets of precious stones, dark red, and made in the
shape of a ripe raspberry and with an inscription: 'To Lisa and
Aina'; beside them there was a diamond breast pin in the shape of
a raspberry worm: on it was inscribed 'Otto, never destroy the
helpless!'

Otto felt rather ashamed: he quite understood what it meant, but
he thought that the old man's revenge was a noble one.

The raspberry king had also remembered the big sister, for when
she went in to set the table for dinner, she found eleven big
baskets of most beautiful raspberries, and no one knew how they
had come there, but everyone guessed.

And so there was such a jam-making as had never been seen before,
and if you like to go and help in it, you might perhaps get a
little, for they must surely be making jam still to this very
day.

From Z. Topelius.






                    The Stones of Plouhinec




Perhaps some of you may have read a book called 'Kenneth; or the
Rear-Guard of the Grand Army' of Napoleon. If so, you will
remember how the two Scotch children found in Russia were taken
care of by the French soldiers and prevented as far as possible
from suffering from the horrors of the terrible Retreat. One of
the soldiers, a Breton, often tried to make them forget how cold
and hungry they were by telling them tales of his native country,
Brittany, which is full of wonderful things. The best and warmest
place round the camp fire was always given to the children, but
even so the bitter frost would cause them to shiver. It was then
that the Breton would begin: 'Plouhinec is a small town near
Hennebonne by the sea,' and would continue until Kenneth or Effie
would interrupt him with an eager question. Then he forgot how
his mother had told him the tale, and was obliged to begin all
over again, so the story lasted a long while, and by the time it
was ended the children were ready to be rolled up in what ever
coverings could be found, and go to sleep. It is this story that
I am going to tell to you.

Plouhinec is a small town near Hennebonne by the sea. Around it
stretches a desolate moor, where no corn can be grown, and the
grass is so coarse that no beast grows fat on it. Here and there
are scattered groves of fir trees, and small pebbles are so thick
on the ground that you might almost take it for a beach. On the
further side, the fairies, or korigans, as the people called
them, had set up long long ago two rows of huge stones; indeed,
so tall and heavy were they, that it seemed as if all the fairies
in the world could not have placed them upright.

Not far off them this great stone avenue, and on the banks of the
little river Intel, there lived a man named Marzinne and his
sister Rozennik. They always had enough black bread to eat, and
wooden shoes or sabots to wear, and a pig to fatten, so the
neighbours thought them quite rich; and what was still better,
they thought themselves rich also.

Rozennik was a pretty girl, who knew how to make the best of
everything, and she could, if she wished, have chosen a husband
from the young men of Plouhinec, but she cared for none of them
except Bernez, whom she had played with all her life, and Bernez,
though he worked hard, was so very very poor that Marzinne told
him roughly he must look elsewhere for a wife. But whatever
Marzinne might say Rozennik smiled and nodded to him as before,
and would often turn her head as she passed, and sing snatches of
old songs over her shoulder.

Christmas Eve had come, and all the men who worked under Marzinne
or on the farms round about were gathered in the large kitchen to
eat the soup flavoured with honey followed by rich puddings, to
which they were always invited on this particular night. In the
middle of the table was a large wooden bowl, with wooden spoons
placed in a circle round it, so that each might dip in his turn.
The benches were filled, and Marzinne was about to give the
signal, when the door was suddenly thrown open, and an old man
came in, wishing the guests a good appetite for their supper.
There was a pause, and some of the faces looked a little
frightened; for the new comer was well known to them as a beggar,
who was also said to be a wizard who cast spells over the cattle,
and caused the corn to grow black, and old people to die, of
what, nobody knew. Still, it was Christmas Eve, and besides it
was as well not to offend him, so the farmer invited him in, and
gave him a seat at the table and a wooden spoon like the rest.

There was not much talk after the beggar's entrance, and everyone
was glad when the meal came to an end, and the beggar asked if he
might sleep in the stable, as he should die of cold if he were
left outside. Rather unwillingly Marzinne gave him leave, and
bade Bernez take the key and unlock the door. There was certainly
plenty of room for a dozen beggars, for the only occupants of the
stable were an old donkey and a thin ox; and as the night was
bitter, the wizard lay down between them for warmth, with a sack
of reeds for a pillow.

He had walked far that day, and even wizards get tired sometimes,
so in spite of the hard floor he was just dropping off to sleep,
when midnight struck from the church tower of Plouhinec. At this
sound the donkey raised her head and shook her ears, and turned
towards the ox.

'Well, my dear cousin,' said she, 'and how have you fared since
last Christmas Eve, when we had a conversation together?'

Instead of answering at once, the ox eyed the beggar with a long
look of disgust.

'What is the use of talking,' he replied roughly, 'when a good-
for-nothing creature like that can hear all we say?'

'Oh, you mustn't lose time in grumbling,' rejoined the donkey
gaily, 'and don't you see that the wizard is asleep?'

'His wicked pranks do not make him rich, certainly,' said the ox,
'and he isn't even clever enough to have found out what a piece
of luck might befall him a week hence.'

'What piece of luck?' asked the donkey.

'Why, don't you know,' inquired the ox, 'that once very hundred
years the stones on Plouhinec heath go down to drink at the
river, and that while they are away the treasures underneath them
are uncovered?'

'Ah, I remember now,' replied the donkey, 'but the stones return
so quickly to their places, that you certainly would be crushed
to death unless you have in your hands a bunch of crowsfoot and
of five-leaved trefoil.'

'Yes, but that is not enough,' said the ox; 'even supposing you
get safely by, the treasure you have brought with you will
crumble into dust if you do not give in exchange a baptised soul.
It is needful that a Christian should die before you can enjoy
the wealth of Plouhinec.'

The donkey was about to ask some further questions, when she
suddenly found herself unable to speak: the time allowed them for
conversation was over.

'Ah, my dear creatures,' thought the beggar, who had of course
heard everything, 'you are going to make me richer than the
richest men of Vannes or Lorient. But I have no time to lose; to-
morrow I must begin to hunt for the precious plants.'

He did not dare to seek too near Plouhinec, lest somebody who
knew the story might guess what he was doing, so he went away
further towards the south, where the air was softer and the
plants are always green. From the instant it was light, till the
last rays had faded out of the sky, he searched every inch of
ground where the magic plants might grow; he scarcely gave
himself a minute to eat and drink, but at length he found the
crowsfoot in a little hollow! Well, that was certainly a great
deal, but after all, the crowsfoot was of no use without the
trefoil, and there was so little time left.

He had almost give up hope, when on the very last day before it
was necessary that he should start of Plouhinec, he came upon a
little clump of trefoil, half hidden under a rock. Hardly able to
breathe from excitement, he sat down and hunted eagerly through
the plant which he had torn up. Leaf after leaf he threw aside in
disgust, and he had nearly reached the end when he gave a cry of
joy-- the five-leaved trefoil was in his hand.

The beggar scrambled to his feet, and without a pause walked
quickly down the road that led northwards. The moon was bright,
and for some hours he kept steadily on, not knowing how many
miles he had gone, nor even feeling tired. By and bye the sun
rose, and the world began to stir, and stopping at a farmhouse
door, he asked for a cup of milk and slice of bread and
permission to rest for a while in the porch. Then he continued
his journey, and so, towards sunset on New Year's Eve, he came
back to Plouhinec.

As he was passing the long line of stones, he saw Bernez working
with a chisel on the tallest of them all.

'What are you doing there?' called the wizard, 'do you mean to
hollow out for yourself a bed in that huge column?'

'No,' replied Bernez quietly, 'but as I happened to have no work
to do to-day, I thought I would just carve a cross on this stone.
The holy sign can never come amiss.'

'I believe you think it will help you to win Rozennik,' laughed
the old man.

Bernez ceased his task for a moment to look at him.

'Ah, so you know about that,' replied he; 'unluckily Marzinne
wants a brother-in-law who has more pounds than I have pence.'

'And suppose I were to give you more pounds than Marzinne ever
dreamed of?' whispered the sorcerer glancing round to make sure
that no one overheard him.

'You?'

'Yes, I.'

'And what am I to do to gain the money,' inquired Bernez, who
knew quite well that the Breton peasant gives nothing for
nothing.

'What I want of you only needs a little courage,' answered the
old man.

'If that is all, tell me what I have got to do, and I will do
it,' cried Bernez, letting fall his chisel. 'If I have to risk
thirty deaths, I am ready.'

When the beggar knew that Bernez would give him no trouble, he
told him how, during that very night, the treasures under the
stones would be uncovered, and how in a very few minutes they
could take enough to make them both rich for life. But he kept
silence as to the fate that awaited the man who was without the
crowsfoot and the trefoil, and Bernez thought that nothing but
boldness and quickness were necessary. So he said:

'Old man, I am grateful, indeed, for the chance you have given
me, and there will always be a pint of my blood at your service.
Just let me finish carving this cross. It is nearly done, and I
will join you in the fir wood at whatever hour you please.'

'You must be there without fail an hour before midnight,'
answered the wizard, and went on his way.

As the hour struck from the great church at Plouhinec, Bernez
entered the wood. He found the beggar already there with a bag in
each hand, and a third slung round his neck.

'You are punctual,' said the old man, 'but we need not start just
yet. You had better sit down and think what you will do when your
pockets are filled with gold and silver and jewels.'

'Oh, it won't take me long to plan out that,' returned Bernez
with a laugh. 'I shall give Rozennik everything she can desire,
dresses of all sorts, from cotton to silk, and good things of all
kinds to eat, from white bread to oranges.'

'The silver you find will pay for all that, and what about the
gold?'

'With the gold I shall make rich Rozennik's relations and every
friend of hers in the parish,' replied he.

'So much for the gold; and the jewels?'

'Then,' cried Bernez, 'I will divide the jewels amongst everybody
in the world, so that they may be wealthy and happy; and I will
tell them that it is Rozennik who would have it so.'

'Hush! it is close on midnight--we must go,' whispered the
wizard, and together they crept to the edge of the wood.

With the first stroke of twelve a great noise arose over the
silent heath, and the earth seemed to rock under the feet of the
two watchers. The next moment by the light of the moon they
beheld the huge stones near them leave their places and go down
the slope leading to the river, knocking against each other in
their haste. Passing the spot where stood Bernez and the beggar,
they were lost in the darkness. It seemed as if a procession of
giants had gone by.

'Quick,' said the wizard, in a low voice, and he rushed towards
the empty holes, which even in the night shone brightly from the
treasures within them. Flinging himself on his knees, the old man
began filling the wallets he had brought, listening intently all
the time for the return of the stones up the hill, while Bernez
more slowly put handfuls of all he could see into his pockets.

The sorcerer had just closed his third wallet, and was beginning
to wonder if he could carry away any more treasures when a low
murmur as of a distant storm broke upon his ears.

The stones had finished drinking, and were hastening back to
their places.

On they came, bent a little forward, the tallest of them all at
their head, breaking everything that stood in their way. At the
sight Bernez stood transfixed with horror, and said,

'We are lost! They will crush us to death.'

'Not me!' answered the sorcerer, holding up the crowsfoot and the
five-leaved trefoil, 'for these will preserve me. But in order to
keep my riches, I was obliged to sacrifice a Christian to the
stones, and an evil fate threw you in my way.' And as he spoke he
stretched out the magic herbs to the stones, which were advancing
rapidly. As if acknowledging a power greater than theirs, the
monstrous things instantly parted to the right and left of the
wizard, but closed their ranks again as they approached Bernez.

The young man did not try to escape, he knew it was useless, and
sank on his knees and closed his eyes. But suddenly the tall
stone that was leading stopped straight in front of Bernez, so
that no other could get past.

It was the stone on which Bernez had carved the cross, and it was
now a baptized stone, and had power to save him.

So the stone remained before the young man till the rest had
taken their places, and then, darting like a bird to its own
hole, came upon the beggar, who, thinking himself quite safe, was
staggering along under the weight of his treasures.

Seeing the stone approaching, he held out the magic herbs which
he carried, but the baptized stone was no longer subject to the
spells that bound the rest, and passed straight on its way,
leaving the wizard crushed into powder in the heather.

Then Bernez went home, and showed his wealth to Marzinne, who
this time did not refuse him as a brother-in-law, and he and
Rozennik were married, and lived happy for ever after.

From 'Le Royer Breton,' par Emile Souvestre.






                     The Castle of Kerglas




Peronnik was a poor idiot who belonged to nobody, and he would
have died of starvation if it had not been for the kindness of
the village people, who gave him food whenever he chose to ask
for it. And as for a bed, when night came, and he grew sleepy, he
looked about for a heap of straw, and making a hole in it, crept
in, like a lizard. Idiot though he was, he was never unhappy, but
always thanked gratefully those who fed him, and sometimes would
stop for a little and sing to them. For he could imitate a lark
so well, that no one knew which was Peronnik and which was the
bird.

He had been wandering in a forest one day for several hours, and
when evening approached, he suddenly felt very hungry. Luckily,
just at that place the trees grew thinner, and he could see a
small farmhouse a little way off. Peronnik went straight towards
it, and found the farmer's wife standing at the door holding in
her hands the large bowl out of which her children had eaten
their supper.

'I am hungry, will you give me something to eat?' asked the boy.

'If you can find anything here, you are welcome to it,' answered
she, and, indeed, there was not much left, as everybody's spoon
had dipped in. But Peronnik ate what was there with a hearty
appetite, and thought that he had never tasted better food.

'It is made of the finest flour and mixed with the richest milk
and stirred by the best cook in all the countryside,' and though
he said it to himself, the woman heard him.

'Poor innocent,' she murmured, 'he does not know what he is
saying, but I will cut him a slice of that new wheaten loaf,' and
so she did, and Peronnik ate up every crumb, and declared that
nobody less than the bishop's baker could have baked it. This
flattered the farmer's wife so much that she gave him some butter
to spread on it, and Peronnik was still eating it on the doorstep
when an armed knight rode up.

'Can you tell me the way to the castle of Kerglas?' asked he.

'To Kerglas? are you really going to Kerglas?' cried the woman,
turning pale.

'Yes; and in order to get there I have come from a country so far
off that it has taken me three months' hard riding to travel as
far as this.'

'And why do you want to go to Kerglas?' said she.

'I am seeking the basin of gold and the lance of diamonds which
are in the castle,' he answered. Then Peronnik looked up.

'The basin and the lance are very costly things,' he said
suddenly.

'More costly and precious than all the crowns in the world,'
replied the stranger, 'for not only will the basin furnish you
with the best food that you can dream of, but if you drink of it,
it will cure you of any illness however dangerous, and will even
bring the dead back to life, if it touches their mouths. As to
the diamond lance, that will cut through any stone or metal.'

'And to whom do these wonders belong?' asked Peronnik in
amazement.

'To a magician named Rogear who lives in the castle,' answered
the woman. 'Every day he passes along here, mounted on a black
mare, with a colt thirteen months old trotting behind. But no one
dares to attack him, as he always carries his lance.'

'That is true,' said the knight, 'but there is a spell laid upon
him which forbids his using it within the castle of Kerglas. The
moment he enters, the basin and lance are put away in a dark
cellar which no key but one can open. And that is the place where
I wish to fight the magician.'

'You will never overcome him, Sir Knight,' replied the woman,
shaking her head. 'More than a hundred gentlemen have ridden past
this house bent on the same errand, and not one has ever come
back.'

'I know that, good woman,' returned the knight, 'but then they
did not have, like me, instructions from the hermit of Blavet.'

'And what did the hermit tell you?' asked Peronnik.

'He told me that I should have to pass through a wood full of all
sorts of enchantments and voices, which would try to frighten me
and make me lose my way. Most of those who have gone before me
have wandered they know not where, and perished from cold,
hunger, or fatigue.'

'Well, suppose you get through safely?' said the idiot.

'If I do,' continued the knight, 'I shall then meet a sort of
fairy armed with a needle of fire which burns to ashes all it
touches. This dwarf stands guarding an apple-tree, from which I
am bound to pluck an apple.'

'And next?' inquired Peronnik.

'Next I shall find the flower that laughs, protected by a lion
whose mane is formed of vipers. I must pluck that flower, and go
on to the lake of the dragons and fight the black man who holds
in his hand the iron ball which never misses its mark and returns
of its own accord to its master. After that, I enter the valley
of pleasure, where some who conquered all the other obstacles
have left their bones. If I can win through this, I shall reach a
river with only one ford, where a lady in black will be seated.
She will mount my horse behind me, and tell me what I am to do
next.'

He paused, and the woman shook her head.

'You will never be able to do all that,' said she, but he bade
her remembered that these were only matters for men, and galloped
away down the path she pointed out.

The farmer's wife sighed and, giving Peronnik some more food,
bade him good-night. The idiot rose and was opening the gate
which led into the forest when the farmer himself came up.

'I want a boy to tend my cattle,' he said abruptly, 'as the one I
had has run away. Will you stay and do it?' and Peronnik, though
he loved his liberty and hated work, recollected the good food he
had eaten, and agreed to stop.

At sunrise he collected his herd carefully and led them to the
rich pasture which lay along the borders of the forest, cutting
himself a hazel wand with which to keep them in order.

His task was not quite so easy as it looked, for the cows had a
way of straying into the wood, and by the time he had brought one
back another was off. He had gone some distance into the trees,
after a naughty black cow which gave him more trouble than all
the rest, when he heard the noise of horse's feet, and peeping
through the leaves he beheld the giant Rogear seated on his mare,
with the colt trotting behind. Round the giant's neck hung the
golden bowl suspended from a chain, and in his hand he grasped
the diamond lance, which gleamed like fire. But as soon as he was
out of sight the idiot sought in vain for traces of the path he
had taken.

This happened not only once but many times, till Peronnik grew so
used to him that he never troubled to hide. But on each occasion
he saw him the desire to possess the bowl and the lance became
stronger.

One evening the boy was sitting alone on the edge of the forest,
when a man with a white beard stopped beside him. 'Do you want to
know the way to Kerglas?' asked the idiot, and the man answered
'I know it well.'

'You have been there without being killed by the magician?' cried
Peronnik.

'Oh! he had nothing to fear from me,' replied the white-bearded
man, 'I am Rogear's elder brother, the wizard Bryak. When I wish
to visit him I always pass this way, and as even I cannot go
through the enchanted wood without losing myself, I call the colt
to guide me.' Stooping down as he spoke he traced three circles
on the ground and murmured some words very low, which Peronnik
could not hear. Then he added aloud:

         Colt, free to run and free to eat.
         Colt, gallop fast until we meet,

and instantly the colt appeared, frisking and jumping to the
wizard, who threw a halter over his neck and leapt on his back.

Peronnik kept silence at the farm about this adventure, but he
understood very well that if he was ever to get to Kerglas he
must first catch the colt which knew the way. Unhappily he had
not heard the magic words uttered by the wizard, and he could not
manage to draw the three circles, so if he was to summon the colt
at all he must invent some other means of doing it.

All day long, while he was herding the cows, he thought and
thought how he was to call the colt, for he felt sure that once
on its back he could overcome the other dangers. Meantime he must
be ready in case a chance should come, and he made his
preparations at night, when everyone was asleep. Remembering what
he had seen the wizard do, he patched up an old halter that was
hanging in a corner of the stable, twisted a rope of hemp to
catch the colt's feet, and a net such as is used for snaring
birds. Next he sewed roughly together some bits of cloth to serve
as a pocket, and this he filled with glue and lark's feathers, a
string of beads, a whistle of elder wood, and a slice of bread
rubbed over with bacon fat. Then he went out to the path down
which Rogear, his mare, and the colt always rode, and crumbled
the bread on one side of it.

Punctual to their hour all three appeared, eagerly watched by
Peronnik, who lay hid in the bushes close by. Suppose it was
useless; suppose the mare, and not the colt, ate the crumbs?
Suppose--but no! the mare and her rider went safely by, vanishing
round a corner, while the colt, trotting along with its head on
the ground, smelt the bread, and began greedily to lick up the
pieces. Oh, how good it was! Why had no one ever given it that
before, and so absorbed was the little beast, sniffing about
after a few more crumbs, that it never heard Peronnik creep up
till it felt the halter on its neck and the rope round its feet,
and--in another moment--some one on its back.

Going as fast as the hobbles would allow, the colt turned into
one of the wildest parts of the forest, while its rider sat
trembling at the strange sights he saw. Sometimes the earth
seemed to open in front of them and he was looking into a
bottomless pit; sometimes the trees burst into flames and he
found himself in the midst of a fire; often in the act of
crossing a stream the water rose and threatened to sweep him
away; and again, at the foot of a mountain, great rocks would
roll towards him, as if they would crush him and his colt beneath
their weight. To his dying day Peronnik never knew whether these
things were real or if he only imagined them, but he pulled down
his knitted cap so as to cover his eyes, and trusted the colt to
carry him down the right road.

At last the forest was left behind, and they came out on a wide
plain where the air blew fresh and strong. The idiot ventured to
peep out, and found to his relief that the enchantments seemed to
have ended, though a thrill of horror shot through him as he
noticed the skeletons of men scattered over the plain, beside the
skeletons of their horses. And what were those grey forms
trotting away in the distance? Were they--could they be--wolves?

But vast through the plain seemed, it did not take long to cross,
and very soon the colt entered a sort of shady park in which was
standing a single apple-tree, its branches bowed down to the
ground with the weight of its fruit. In front was the korigan--
the little fairy man--holding in his hand the fiery sword, which
reduced to ashes everything it touched. At the sight of Peronnik
he uttered a piercing scream, and raised his sword, but without
appearing surprised the youth only lifted his cap, though he took
care to remain at a little distance.

'Do not be alarmed, my prince,' said Peronnik, 'I am just on my
way to Kerglas, as the noble Rogear has begged me to come to him
on business.'

'Begged you to come!' repeated the dwarf, 'and who, then, are
you?'

'I am the new servant he has engaged, as you know very well,'
answered Peronnik.

'I do not know at all,' rejoined the korigan sulkily, 'and you
may be a robber for all I can tell.'

'I am so sorry,' replied Peronnik, 'but I may be wrong in calling
myself a servant, for I am only a bird-catcher. But do not delay
me, I pray, for his highness the magician expects me, and, as you
see, has lent me his colt so that I may reach the castle all the
quicker.'

At these words the korigan cast his eyes for the first time on
the colt, which he knew to be the one belonging to the magician,
and began to think that the young man was speaking the truth.
After examining the horse, he studied the rider, who had such an
innocent, and indeed vacant, air that he appeared incapable of
inventing a story. Still, the dwarf did not feel quite sure that
all was right, and asked what the magician wanted with a bird-
catcher.

'From what he says, he wants one very badly,' replied Peronnik,
'as he declares that all his grain and all the fruit in his
garden at Kerglas are eaten up by the birds.'

'And how are you going to stop that, my fine fellow?' inquired
the korigan; and Peronnik showed him the snare he had prepared,
and remarked that no bird could possible escape from it.

'That is just what I should like to be sure of,' answered the
korigan. 'My apples are completely eaten up by blackbirds and
thrushes. Lay your snare, and if you can manage to catch them, I
will let you pass.'

'That is a fair bargain,' and as he spoke Peronnik jumped down
and fastened his colt to a tree; then, stopping, he fixed one end
of the net to the trunk of the apple tree, and called to the
korigan to hold the other while he took out the pegs. The dwarf
did as he was bid, when suddenly Peronnik threw the noose over
his neck and drew it close, and the korigan was held as fast as
any of the birds he wished to snare.

Shrieking with rage, he tried to undo the cord, but he only
pulled the knot tighter. He had put down the sword on the grass,
and Peronnik had been careful to fix the net on the other side of
the tree, so that it was now easy for him to pluck an apple and
to mount his horse, without being hindered by the dwarf, whom he
left to his fate.

When they had left the plain behind them, Peronnik and his steed
found themselves in a narrow valley in which was a grove of
trees, full of all sorts of sweet-smelling things--roses of every
colour, yellow broom, pink honeysuckle--while above them all
towered a wonderful scarlet pansy whose face bore a strange
expression. This was the flower that laughs, and no one who
looked at it could help laughing too. Peronnik's heart beat high
at the thought that he had reached safely the second trial, and
he gazed quite calmly at the lion with the mane of vipers
twisting and twirling, who walked up and down in front of the
grove.

The young man pulled up and removed his cap, for, idiot though he
was, he knew that when you have to do with people greater than
yourself, a cap is more useful in the hand than on the head.
Then, after wishing all kinds of good fortune to the lion and his
family, he inquired if he was on the right road to Kerglas.

'And what is your business at Kerglas?' asked the lion with a
growl, and showing his teeth.

'With all respect,' answered Peronnik, pretending to be very
frightened, 'I am the servant of a lady who is a friend of the
noble Rogear and sends him some larks for a pasty.'

'Larks?' cried the lion, licking his long whiskers. 'Why, it must
be a century since I have had any! Have you a large quantity with
you?'

'As many as this bag will hold,' replied Peronnik, opening, as he
spoke, the bag which he had filled with feathers and glue; and to
prove what he said, he turned his back on the lion and began to
imitate the song of a lark.

'Come,' exclaimed the lion, whose mouth watered, 'show me the
birds! I should like to see if they are fat enough for my
master.'

'I would do it with pleasure,' answered the idiot, 'but if I once
open the bag they will all fly away.'

'Well, open it wide enough for me to look in,' said the lion,
drawing a little nearer.

Now this was just what Peronnik had been hoping for, so he held
the bag while the lion opened it carefully and put his head right
inside, so that he might get a good mouthful of larks. But the
mass of feathers and glue stuck to him, and before he could pull
his head out again Peronnik had drawn tight the cord, and tied it
in a knot that no man could untie. Then, quickly gathering the
flower that laughs, he rode off as fast as the colt could take
him.

The path soon led to the lake of the dragons, which he had to
swim across. The colt, who was accustomed to it, plunged into the
water without hesitation; but as soon as the dragons caught sight
of Peronnik they approached from all parts of the lake in order
to devour him.

This time Peronnik did not trouble to take off his cap, but he
threw the beads he carried with him into the water, as you throw
black corn to a duck, and with each bead that he swallowed a
dragon turned on his back and died, so that the idiot reached the
other side without further trouble.

The valley guarded by the black man now lay before him, and from
afar Peronnik beheld him, chained by one foot to a rock at the
entrance, and holding the iron ball which never missed its mark
and always returned to its master's hand. In his head the black
man had six eyes that were never all shut at once, but kept watch
one after the other. At this moment they were all open, and
Peronnik knew well that if the black man caught a glimpse of him
he would cast his ball. So, hiding the colt behind a thicket of
bushes, he crawled along a ditch and crouched close to the very
rock to which the black man was chained.

The day was hot, and after a while the man began to grow sleepy.
Two of his eyes closed, and Peronnik sang gently. In a moment a
third eye shut, and Peronnik sang on. The lid of a fourth eye
dropped heavily, and then those of the fifth and the sixth. The
black man was asleep altogether.

Then, on tiptoe, the idiot crept back to the colt which he led
over soft moss past the black man into the vale of pleasure, a
delicious garden full of fruits that dangled before your mouth,
fountains running with wine, and flowers chanting in soft little
voices. Further on, tables were spread with food, and girls
dancing on the grass called to him to join them.

Peronnik heard, and, scarcely knowing what he did drew the colt
into a slower pace. He sniffed greedily the smell of the dishes,
and raised his head the better to see the dancers. Another
instant and he would have stopped altogether and been lost, like
others before him, when suddenly there came to him like a vision
the golden bowl and the diamond lance. Drawing his whistle from
his pocket, he blew it loudly, so as to drown the sweet sounds
about him, and ate what was left of his bread and bacon to still
the craving of the magic fruits. His eyes he fixed steadily on
the ears of the colt, that he might not see the dancers.

In this way he was able to reach the end of the garden, and at
length perceived the castle of Kerglas, with the river between
them which had only one ford. Would the lady be there, as the old
man had told him? Yes, surely that was she, sitting on a rock, in
a black satin dress, and her face the colour of a Moorish
woman's. The idiot rode up, and took off his cap more politely
than ever, and asked if she did not wish to cross the river.

'I was waiting for you to help me do so,' answered she. 'Come
near, that I may get up behind you.'

Peronnik did as she bade him, and by the help of his arm she
jumped nimbly on to the back of the colt.

'Do you know how to kill the magician?' asked the lady, as they
were crossing the ford.

'I thought that, being a magician, he was immortal, and that no
one could kill him,' replied Peronnik.

'Persuade him to taste that apple, and he will die, and if that
is not enough I will touch him with my finger, for I am the
plague,' answered she.

'But if I kill him, how am I to get the golden bowl and the
diamond lance that are hidden in the cellar without a key?'
rejoined Peronnik.

'The flower that laughs opens all doors and lightens all
darkness,' said the lady; and as she spoke, they reached the
further bank, and advanced towards the castle.

In front of the entrance was a sort of tent supported on poles,
and under it the giant was sitting, basking in the sun. As soon
as he noticed the colt bearing Peronnik and the lady, he lifted
his head, and cried in a voice of thunder:

'Why, it is surely the idiot, riding my colt thirteen months
old!'

'Greatest of magicians, you are right,' answered Peronnik.

'And how did you manage to catch him?' asked the giant.

'By repeating what I learnt from your brother Bryak on the edge
of the forest,' replied the idiot. 'I just said--

          Colt, free to run and free to eat,
          Colt, gallop fast until we meet,

and it came directly.'

'You know my brother, then?' inquired the giant. 'Tell me why he
sent you here.'

'To bring you two gifts which he has just received from the
country of the Moors,' answered Peronnik: 'the apple of delight
and the woman of submission. If you eat the apple you will not
desire anything else, and if you take the woman as your servant
you will never wish for another.'

'Well, give me the apple, and bid the woman get down,' answered
Rogear.

The idiot obeyed, but at the first taste of the apple the giant
staggered, and as the long yellow finger of the woman touched him
he fell dead.

Leaving the magician where he lay, Peronnik entered the palace,
bearing with him the flower that laughs. Fifty doors flew open
before him, and at length he reached a long flight of steps which
seemed to lead into the bowels of the earth. Down these he went
till he came to a silver door without a bar or key. Then he held
up high the flower that laughs, and the door slowly swung back,
displaying a deep cavern, which was as bright as the day from the
shining of the golden bowl and the diamond lance. The idiot
hastily ran forward and hung the bowl round his neck from the
chain which was attached to it, and took the lance in his hand.
As he did so, the ground shook beneath him, and with an awful
rumbling the palace disappeared, and Peronnik found himself
standing close to the forest where he led the cattle to graze.

Though darkness was coming on, Peronnik never thought of entering
the farm, but followed the road which led to the court of the
duke of Brittany. As he passed through the town of Vannes he
stopped at a tailor's shop, and bought a beautiful costume of
brown velvet and a white horse, which he paid for with a handful
of gold that he had picked up in the corridor of the castle of
Kerglas. Thus he made his way to the city of Nantes, which at
that moment was besieged by the French.

A little way off, Peronnik stopped and looked about him. For
miles round the country was bare, for the enemy had cut down
every tree and burnt every blade of corn; and, idiot though he
might be, Peronnik was able to grasp that inside the gates men
were dying of famine. He was still gazing with horror, when a
trumpeter appeared on the walls, and, after blowing a loud blast,
announced that the duke would adopt as his heir the man who could
drive the French out of the country.

On the four sides of the city the trumpeter blew his blast, and
the last time Peronnik, who had ridden up as close as he might,
answered him.

'You need blow no more,' said he, 'for I myself will free the
town from her enemies.' And turning to a soldier who came running
up, waving his sword, he touched him with the magic lance, and he
fell dead on the spot. The men who were following stood still,
amazed. Their comrade's armour had not been pierced, of that they
were sure, yet he was dead, as if he had been struck to the
heart. But before they had time to recover from their
astonishment, Peronnik cried out:

'You see how my foes will fare; now behold what I can do for my
friends,' and, stooping down, he laid the golden bowl against the
mouth of the soldier, who sat up as well as ever. Then, jumping
his horse across the trench, he entered the gate of the city,
which had opened wide enough to receive him.

The news of these marvels quickly spread through the town, and
put fresh spirit into the garrison, so that they declared
themselves able to fight under the command of the young stranger.
And as the bowl restored all the dead Bretons to life, Peronnik
soon had an army large enough to drive away the French, and
fulfilled his promise of delivering his country.

As to the bowl and the lance, no one knows what became of them,
but some say that Bryak the sorcerer managed to steal them again,
and that any one who wishes to possess them must seek them as
Peronnik did.

From 'Le Foyer Breton,' par Emile Souvestre.






                    The Battle of the Birds




There was to be a great battle between all the creatures of the
earth and the birds of the air. News of it went abroad, and the
son of the king of Tethertown said that when the battle was
fought he would be there to see it, and would bring back word who
was to be king. But in spite of that, he was almost too late, and
every fight had been fought save the last, which was between a
snake and a great black raven. Both struck hard, but in the end
the snake proved the stronger, and would have twisted himself
round the neck of the raven till he died had not the king's son
drawn his sword, and cut off the head of the snake at a single
blow. And when the raven beheld that his enemy was dead, he was
grateful, and said:

'For thy kindness to me this day, I will show thee a sight. So
come up now on the root of my two wings.' The king's son did as
he was bid, and before the raven stopped flying, they had passed
over seven bens and seven glens and seven mountain moors.

'Do you see that house yonder?' said the raven at last. 'Go
straight for it, for a sister of mine dwells there, and she will
make you right welcome. And if she asks, "Wert thou at the battle
of the birds?" answer that thou wert, and if she asks, "Didst
thou see my likeness?" answer that thou sawest it, but be sure
thou meetest me in the morning at this place.'

The king's son followed what the raven told him and that night he
had meat of each meat, and drink of each drink, warm water for
his feet, and a soft bed to lie in.

Thus it happened the next day, and the next, but on the fourth
meeting, instead of meeting the raven, in his place the king's
son found waiting for him the handsomest youth that ever was
seen, with a bundle in his hand.

'Is there a raven hereabouts?' asked the king's son, and the
youth answered:

'I am that raven, and I was delivered by thee from the spells
that bound me, and in reward thou wilt get this bundle. Go back
by the road thou camest, and lie as before, a night in each
house, but be careful not to unloose the bundle till thou art in
the place wherein thou wouldst most wish to dwell.'

Then the king's son set out, and thus it happened as it had
happened before, till he entered a thick wood near his father's
house. He had walked a long way and suddenly the bundle seemed to
grow heavier; first he put it down under a tree, and next he
thought he would look at it.

The string was easy to untie, and the king's son soon unfastened
the bundle. What was it he saw there? Why, a great castle with an
orchard all about it, and in the orchard fruit and flowers and
birds of very kind. It was all ready for him to dwell in, but
instead of being in the midst of the forest, he did wish he had
left the bundle unloosed till he had reached the green valley
close to his father's palace. Well, it was no use wishing, and
with a sigh he glanced up, and beheld a huge giant coming towards
him.

'Bad is the place where thou hast built thy house, king's son,'
said the giant.

'True; it is not here that I wish to be,' answered the king's
son.

'What reward wilt thou give me if I put it back in the bundle?'
asked the giant.

'What reward dost thou ask?' answered the king's son.

'The first boy thou hast when he is seven years old,' said the
giant.

'If I have a boy thou shalt get him,' answered the king's son,
and as he spoke the castle and the orchard were tied up in the
bundle again.

'Now take thy road, and I will take mine,' said the giant. 'And
if thou forgettest thy promise, I will remember it.'

Light of heart the king's son went on his road, till he came to
the green valley near his father's palace. Slowly he unloosed the
bundle, fearing lest he should find nothing but a heap of stones
or rags. But no! all was as it had been before, and as he opened
the castle door there stood within the most beautiful maiden that
ever was seen.

'Enter, king's son,' said she, 'all is ready, and we will be
married at once,' and so they were.

The maiden proved a good wife, and the king's son, now himself a
king, was so happy that he forgot all about the giant. Seven
years and a day had gone by, when one morning, while standing on
the ramparts, he beheld the giant striding towards the castle.
Then he remembered his promise, and remembered, too, that he had
told the queen nothing about it. Now he must tell her, and
perhaps she might help him in his trouble.

The queen listened in silence to his tale, and after he had
finished, she only said:

'Leave thou the matter between me and the giant,' and as she
spoke, the giant entered the hall and stood before them.

'Bring out your son,' cried he to the king, 'as you promised me
seven years and a day since.'

The king glanced at his wife, who nodded, so he answered:

'Let his mother first put him in order,' and the queen left the
hall, and took the cook's son and dressed him in the prince's
clothes, and led him up to the giant, who held his hand, and
together they went out along the road. They had not walked far
when the giant stopped and stretched out a stick to the boy.

'If your father had that stick, what would he do with it?' asked
he.

'If my father had that stick, he would beat the dogs and cats
that steal the king's meat,' replied the boy.

'Thou art the cook's son!' cried the giant. 'Go home to thy
mother'; and turning his back he strode straight to the castle.

'If you seek to trick me this time, the highest stone will soon
be the lowest,' said he, and the king and queen trembled, but
they could not bear to give up their boy.

'The butler's son is the same age as ours,' whispered the queen;
'he will not know the difference,' and she took the child and
dressed him in the prince's clothes, and the giant let him away
along the road. Before they had gone far he stopped, and held out
a stick.

'If thy father had that rod, what would he do with it?' asked the
giant.

'He would beat the dogs and cats that break the king's glasses,'
answered the boy.

'Thou art the son of the butler!' cried the giant. 'Go home to
thy mother'; and turning round he strode back angrily to the
castle.

'Bring out thy son at once,' roared he, 'or the stone that is
highest will be lowest,' and this time the real prince was
brought.

But though his parents wept bitterly and fancied the child was
suffering all kinds of dreadful things, the giant treated him
like his own son, though he never allowed him to see his
daughters. The boy grew to be a big boy, and one day the giant
told him that he would have to amuse himself alone for many
hours, as he had a journey to make. So the boy wandered to the
top of the castle, where he had never been before. There he
paused, for the sound of music broke upon his ears, and opening a
door near him, he beheld a girl sitting by the window, holding a
harp.

'Haste and begone, I see the giant close at hand,' she whispered
hurriedly, 'but when he is asleep, return hither, for I would
speak with thee.' And the prince did as he was bid, and when
midnight struck he crept back to the top of the castle.

'To-morrow,' said the girl, who was the giant's daughter, 'to-
morrow thou wilt get the choice of my two sisters to marry, but
thou must answer that thou wilt not take either, but only me.
This will anger him greatly, for he wishes to betroth me to the
son of the king of the Green City, whom I like not at all.'

Then they parted, and on the morrow, as the girl had said, the
giant called his three daughters to him, and likewise the young
prince to whom he spoke.

'Now, O son of the king of Tethertown, the time has come for us
to part. Choose one of my two elder daughters to wife, and thou
shalt take her to your father's house the day after the wedding.'

'Give me the youngest instead,' replied the youth, and the
giant's face darkened as he heard him.

'Three things must thou do first,' said he.

'Say on, I will do them,' replied the prince, and the giant left
the house, and bade him follow to the byre, where the cows were
kept.

'For a hundred years no man has swept this byre,' said the giant,
'but if by nightfall, when I reach home, thou has not cleaned it
so that a golden apple can roll through it from end to end, thy
blood shall pay for it.'

All day long the youth toiled, but he might as well have tried to
empty the ocean. At length, when he was so tired he could hardly
move, the giant's youngest daughter stood in the doorway.

'Lay down thy weariness,' said she, and the king's son, thinking
he could only die once, sank on the floor at her bidding, and
fell sound asleep. When he woke the girl had disappeared, and the
byre was so clean that a golden apple could roll from end to end
of it. He jumped up in surprise, and at that moment in came the
giant.

'Hast thou cleaned the byre, king's son?' asked he.

'I have cleaned it,' answered he.

'Well, since thou wert so active to-day, to-morrow thou wilt
thatch this byre with a feather from every different bird, or
else thy blood shall pay for it,' and he went out.

Before the sun was up, the youth took his bow and his quiver and
set off to kill the birds. Off to the moor he went, but never a
bird was to be seen that day. At last he got so tired with
running to and fro that he gave up heart.

'There is but one death I can die,' thought he. Then at midday
came the giant's daughter.

'Thou art tired, king's son?' asked she.

'I am,' answered he; 'all these hours have I wandered, and there
fell but these two blackbirds, both of one colour.'

'Lay down thy weariness on the grass,' said she, and he did as
she bade him, and fell fast asleep.

When he woke the girl had disappeared, and he got up, and
returned to the byre. As he drew near, he rubbed his eyes hard,
thinking he was dreaming, for there it was, beautifully thatched,
just as the giant had wished. At the door of the house he met the
giant.

'Hast thou thatched the byre, king's son?'

'I have thatched it.'

'Well, since thou hast been so active to-day, I have something
else for thee! Beside the loch thou seest over yonder there grows
a fir tree. On the top of the fir tree is a magpie's nest, and in
the nest are five eggs. Thou wilt bring me those eggs for
breakfast, and if one is cracked or broken, thy blood shall pay
for it.'

Before it was light next day, the king's son jumped out of bed
and ran down to the loch. The tree was not hard to find, for the
rising sun shone red on the trunk, which was five hundred feet
from the ground to its first branch. Time after time he walked
round it, trying to find some knots, however small, where he
could put his feet, but the bark was quite smooth, and he soon
saw that if he was to reach the top at all, it must be by
climbing up with his knees like a sailor. But then he was a
king's son and not a sailor, which made all the difference.

However, it was no use standing there staring at the fir, at
least he must try to do his best, and try he did till his hands
and knees were sore, for as soon as he had struggled up a few
feet, he slid back again. Once he climbed a little higher than
before, and hope rose in his heart, then down he came with such
force that his hands and knees smarted worse than ever.

'This is no time for stopping,' said the voice of the giant's
daughter, as he leant against the trunk to recover his breath.

'Alas! I am no sooner up than down,' answered he.

'Try once more,' said she, and she laid a finger against the tree
and bade him put his foot on it. Then she placed another finger a
little higher up, and so on till he reached the top, where the
magpie had built her nest.

'Make haste now with the nest,' she cried, 'for my father's
breath is burning my back,' and down he scrambled as fast as he
could, but the girl's little finger had caught in a branch at the
top, and she was obliged to leave it there. But she was too busy
to pay heed to this, for the sun was getting high over the hills.

'Listen to me,' she said. 'This night my two sisters and I will
be dressed in the same garments, and you will not know me. But
when my father says 'Go to thy wife, king's son,' come to the one
whose right hand has no little finger.'

So he went and gave the eggs to the giant, who nodded his head.

'Make ready for thy marriage,' cried he, 'for the wedding shall
take place this very night, and I will summon thy bride to greet
thee.' Then his three daughters were sent for, and they all
entered dressed in green silk of the same fashion, and with
golden circlets round their heads. The king's son looked from one
to another. Which was the youngest? Suddenly his eyes fell on the
hand of the middle one, and there was no little finger.

'Thou hast aimed well this time too,' said the giant, as the
king's son laid his hand on her shoulder, 'but perhaps we may
meet some other way'; and though he pretended to laugh, the bride
saw a gleam in his eye which warned her of danger.

The wedding took place that very night, and the hall was filled
with giants and gentlemen, and they danced till the house shook
from top to bottom. At last everyone grew tired, and the guests
went away, and the king's son and his bride were left alone.

'If we stay here till dawn my father will kill thee,' she
whispered, 'but thou art my husband and I will save thee, as I
did before,' and she cut an apple into nine pieces, and put two
pieces at the head of the bed, and two pieces at the foot, and
two pieces at the door of the kitchen, and two at the big door,
and one outside the house. And when this was done, and she heard
the giant snoring, she and the king's son crept out softly and
stole across to the stable, where she led out the blue-grey mare
and jumped on its back, and her husband mounted behind her. Not
long after, the giant awoke.

 'Are you asleep?' asked he.

'Not yet,' answered the apple at the head of the bed, and the
giant turned over, and soon was snoring as loudly as before. By
and bye he called again.

'Are you asleep?'

'Not yet,' said the apple at the foot of the bed, and the giant
was satisfied. After a while, he called a third time, 'Are you
asleep?'

'Not yet,' replied the apple in the kitchen, but when in a few
minutes, he put the question for the fourth time and received an
answer from the apple outside the house door, he guessed what had
happened, and ran to the room to look for himself.

The bed was cold and empty!

'My father's breath is burning my back,' cried the girl, 'put thy
hand into the ear of the mare, and whatever thou findest there,
throw it behind thee.' And in the mare's ear there was a twig of
sloe tree, and as he threw it behind him there sprung up twenty
miles of thornwood so thick that scarce a weasel could go through
it. And the giant, who was striding headlong forwards, got caught
in it, and it pulled his hair and beard.

'This is one of my daughter's tricks,' he said to himself, 'but
if I had my big axe and my wood-knife, I would not be long making
a way through this,' and off he went home and brought back the
axe and the wood-knife.

It took him but a short time to cut a road through the
blackthorn, and then he laid the axe and the knife under a tree.

'I will leave them there till I return,' he murmured to himself,
but a hoodie crow, which was sitting on a branch above, heard
him.

'If thou leavest them,' said the hoodie, 'we will steal them.'

'You will,' answered the giant, 'and I must take them home.' So
he took them home, and started afresh on his journey.

'My father's breath is burning my back,' cried the girl at
midday. 'Put thy finger in the mare's ear and throw behind thee
whatever thou findest in it,' and the king's son found a splinter
of grey stone, and threw it behind him, and in a twinkling twenty
miles of solid rock lay between them and the giant.

'My daughter's tricks are the hardest things that ever met me,'
said the giant, 'but if I had my lever and my crowbar, I would
not be long in making my way through this rock also,' but as he
had got them, he had to go home and fetch them. Then it took him
but a short time to hew his way through the rock.

'I will leave the tools here,' he murmured aloud when he had
finished.

'If thou leavest them, we will steal them,' said a hoodie who was
perched on a stone above him, and the giant answered:

'Steal them if thou wilt; there is no time to go back.'

'My father's breath is burning my back,' cried the girl; 'look in
the mare's ear, king's son, or we are lost,' and he looked, and
found a tiny bladder full of water, which he threw behind him,
and it became a great lock. And the giant, who was striding on so
fast, could not stop himself, and he walked right into the middle
and was drowned.

The blue-grey mare galloped on like the wind, and the next day
the king's son came in sight of his father's house.

'Get down and go in,' said the bride, 'and tell them that thou
hast married me. But take heed that neither man nor beast kiss
thee, for then thou wilt cease to remember me at all.'

'I will do thy bidding,' answered he, and left her at the gate.
All who met him bade him welcome, and he charged his father and
mother not to kiss him, but as he greeted them his old greyhound
leapt on his neck, and kissed him on the mouth. And after that he
did not remember the giant's daughter.

All that day she sat on a well which was near the gate, waiting,
waiting, but the king's son never came. In the darkness she
climbed up into an oak tree that shadowed the well, and there she
lay all night, waiting, waiting.

On the morrow, at midday, the wife of a shoemaker who dwelt near
the well went to draw water for her husband to drink, and she saw
the shadow of the girl in the tree, and thought it was her own
shadow.

'How handsome I am, to be sure,' said she, gazing into the well,
and as she stopped to behold herself better, the jug struck
against the stones and broke in pieces, and she was forced to
return to her husband without the water, and this angered him.

'Thou hast turned crazy,' said he in wrath. 'Go thou, my
daughter, and fetch me a drink,' and the girl went, and the same
thing befell her as had befallen her mother.

'Where is the water?' asked the shoemaker, when she came back,
and as she held nothing save the handle of the jug he went to the
well himself. He too saw the reflection of the woman in the tree,
but looked up to discover whence it came, and there above him sat
the most beautiful woman in the world.

'Come down,' he said, 'for a while thou canst stay in my house,'
and glad enough the girl was to come.

Now the king of the country was about to marry, and the young men
about the court thronged the shoemaker's shop to buy fine shoes
to wear at the wedding.

'Thou hast a pretty daughter,' said they when they beheld the
girl sitting at work.

'Pretty she is,' answered the shoemaker, 'but no daughter of
mine.'

'I would give a hundred pounds to marry her,' said one.

'And I,' 'And I,' cried the others.

'That is no business of mine,' answered the shoemaker, and the
young men bade him ask her if she would choose one of them for a
husband, and to tell them on the morrow. Then the shoemaker asked
her, and the girl said that she would marry the one who would
bring his purse with him. So the shoemaker hurried to the youth
who had first spoken, and he came back, and after giving the
shoemaker a hundred pounds for his news, he sought the girl, who
was waiting for him.

'Is it thou?' inquired she. 'I am thirsty, give me a drink from
the well that is yonder.' And he poured out the water, but he
could not move from the place where he was; and there he stayed
till many hours had passed by.

'Take away that foolish boy,' cried the girl to the shoemaker at
last, 'I am tired of him,' and then suddenly he was able to walk,
and betook himself to his home, but he did not tell the others
what had happened to him.

Next day there arrived one of the other young men, and in the
evening, when the shoemaker had gone out and they were alone, she
said to him, 'See if the latch is on the door.' The young man
hastened to do her bidding, but as soon as he touched the latch,
his fingers stuck to it, and there he had to stay for many hours,
till the shoemaker came back, and the girl let him go. Hanging
his head, he went home, but he told no one what had befallen him.

Then was the turn of the third man, and his foot remained
fastened to the floor, till the girl unloosed it. And thankfully,
he ran off, and was not seen looking behind him.

'Take the purse of gold,' said the girl to the shoemaker, 'I have
no need of it, and it will better thee.' And the shoemaker took
it and told the girl he must carry the shoes for the wedding up
to the castle.

'I would fain get a sight of the king's son before he marries,'
sighed she.

'Come with me, then,' answered he; 'the servants are all my
friends, and they will let you stand in the passage down which
the king's son will pass, and all the company too.'

Up they went to the castle, and when the young men saw the girl
standing there, they led her into the hall where the banquet was
laid out and poured her out some wine. She was just raising the
glass to drink when a flame went up out of it, and out of the
flame sprang two pigeons, one of gold and one of silver. They
flew round and round the head of the girl, when three grains of
barley fell on the floor, and the silver pigeon dived down, and
swallowed them.

'If thou hadst remembered how I cleaned the byre, thou wouldst
have given me my share,' cooed the golden pigeon, and as he spoke
three more grains fell, and the silver pigeon ate them as before.

'If thou hadst remembered how I thatched the byre, thou wouldst
have given me my share,' cooed the golden pigeon again; and as he
spoke three more grains fell, and for the third time they were
eaten by the silver pigeon.

'If thou hadst remembered how I got the magpie's nest, thou
wouldst have given me my share,' cooed the golden pigeon.

Then the king's son understood that they had come to remind him
of what he had forgotten, and his lost memory came back, and he
knew his wife, and kissed her. But as the preparations had been
made, it seemed a pity to waste them, so they were married a
second time, and sat down to the wedding feast.

From 'Tales of the West Highlands.'







                   The Lady of the Fountain.




In the centre of the great hall in the castle of Caerleon upon
Usk, king Arthur sat on a seat of green rushes, over which was
thrown a covering of flame-coloured silk, and a cushion of red
satin lay under his elbow. With him were his knights Owen and
Kynon and Kai, while at the far end, close to the window, were
Guenevere the queen and her maidens embroidering white garments
with strange devices of gold.

'I am weary,' said Arthur, 'and till my food is prepared I would
fain sleep. You yourselves can tell each other tales, and Kai
will fetch you from the kitchen a flagon of mean and some meat.'

And when they had eaten and drunk, Kynon, the oldest among them,
began his story.

'I was the only son of my father and mother, and much store they
set by me, but I was not content to stay with them at home, for I
thought no deed in all the world was too mighty for me. None
could hold me back, and after I had won many adventures in my own
land, I bade farewell to my parents and set out to see the world.
Over mountains, through deserts, across rivers I went, till I
reached a fair valley full of trees, with a path running by the
side of a stream. I walked along that path all the day, and in
the evening I came to a castle in front of which stood two youths
clothed in yellow, each grasping an ivory bow, with arrows made
of the bones of the whale, and winged with peacock's feathers. By
their sides hung golden daggers with hilts of the bones of the
whale.

'Near these young men was a man richly dressed, who turned and
went with me towards the castle, where all the dwellers were
gathered in the hall. In one window I beheld four and twenty
damsels, and the least fair of them was fairer than Guenevere at
her fairest. Some took my horse, and others unbuckled my armour,
and washed it, with my sword and spear, till it all shone like
silver. Then I washed myself and put on a vest and doublet which
they brought me, and I and the man that entered with me sat down
before a table of silver, and a goodlier feast I never had.

'All this time neither the man nor the damsels had spoken one
word, but when our dinner was half over, and my hunger was
stilled, the man began to ask who I was. Then I told him my name
and my father's name, and why I came there, for indeed I had
grown weary of gaining the mastery over all men at home, and
sought if perchance there was one who could gain the mastery over
me. And at this the man smiled and answered:

'"If I did not fear to distress thee too much, I would show thee
what thou seekest." His words made me sorrowful and fearful of
myself, which the man perceived, and added, "If thou meanest
truly what thou sayest, and desirest earnestly to prove thy
valour, and not to boast vainly that none can overcome thee, I
have somewhat to show thee. But to-night thou must sleep in the
this castle, and in the morning see that thou rise early and
follow the road upwards through the valley, until thou reachest a
wood. In the wood is a path branching to the right; go along this
path until thou comest to a space of grass with a mound in the
middle of it. On the top of the mound stands a black man, larger
than any two white men; his eye is in the centre of his forehead
and he has only one foot. He carries a club of iron, and two
white men could hardly lift it. Around him graze a thousand
beasts, all of different kinds, for he is the guardian of that
wood, and it is he who will tell thee which way to go in order to
find the adventure thou art in quest of."

'So spake the man, and long did that night seem to me, and before
dawn I rose and put on my armour, and mounted my horse and rode
on till I reached the grassy space of which he had told me. There
was the black man on top of the mound, as he had said, and in
truth he was mightier in all ways than I had thought him to be.
As for the club, Kai, it would have been a burden for four of our
warriors. He waited for me to speak, and I asked him what power
he held over the beasts that thronged so close about him.

'"I will show thee, little man," he answered, and with his club
he struck a stag on the head till he brayed loudly. And at his
braying the animals came running, numerous as the stars in the
sky, so that scarce was I able to stand among them. Serpents were
there also, and dragons, and beasts of strange shapes, with horns
in places where never saw I horns before. And the black man only
looked at them and bade them go and feed. And they bowed
themselves before him, as vassals before their lord.

'"Now, little man, I have answered thy question and showed thee
my power," said he. "Is there anything else thou wouldest know?"
Then I inquired of him my way, but he grew angry, and, as I
perceived, would fain have hindered me; but at the last, after I
had told him who I was, his anger passed from him.

'"Take that path," said he, "that leads to the head of this
grassy glade, and go up the wood till thou reachest the top.
There thou wilt find an open space, and in the midst of it a tall
tree. Under the tree is a fountain, and by the fountain a marble
slab, and on the slab a bowl of silver, with a silver chain. Dip
the bowl in the fountain, and throw the water on the slab, and
thou wilt hear a might peal of thunder, till heaven and earth
seem trembling with the noise. After the thunder will come hail,
so fierce that scarcely canst thou endure it and live, for the
hailstones are both large and thick. Then the sun will shine
again, but every leaf of the tree will by lying on the ground.
Next a flight of birds will come and alight on the tree, and
never didst thou hear a strain so sweet as that which they will
sing. And at the moment in which their song sounds sweetest thou
wilt hear a murmuring and complaining coming towards thee along
the valley, and thou wilt see a knight in black velvet bestriding
a black horse, bearing a lance with a black pennon, and he will
spur his steed so as to fight thee. If thou turnest to flee, he
will overtake thee. And if thou abidest were thou art, he will
unhorse thee. And if thou dost not find trouble in that
adventure, thou needest not to seek it during the rest of thy
life."

'So I bade the black man farewell, and took my way to the top of
the wood, and there I found everything just as I had been told. I
went up to the tree beneath which stood the fountain, and filling
the silver bowl with water, emptied it on the marble slab.
Thereupon the thunder came, louder by far than I had expected to
hear it, and after the thunder came the shower, but heavier by
far than I had expected to feel it, for, of a truth I tell thee,
Kai, not one of those hailstones would be stopped by skin or by
flesh till it had reached the bone. I turned my horse's flank
towards the shower, and, bending over his neck, held my shield so
that it might cover his head and my own. When the hail had
passed, I looked on the tree and not a single leaf was left on
it, and the sky was blue and the sun shining, while on the
branches were perched birds of very kind, who sang a song sweeter
than any that has come to my ears, either before or since.

'Thus, Kai, I stood listening to the birds, when lo, a murmuring
voice approached me, saying:

'"O knight, what has brought thee hither? What evil have I done
to thee, that thou shouldest do so much to me, for in all my
lands neither man nor beast that met that shower has escaped
alive." Then from the valley appeared the knight on the black
horse, grasping the lance with the black pennon. Straightway we
charged each other, and though I fought my best, he soon overcame
me, and I was thrown to the ground, while the knight seized the
bridle of my horse, and rode away with it, leaving me where I
was, without even despoiling me of my armour.

'Sadly did I go down the hill again, and when I reached the glade
where the black man was, I confess to thee, Kai, it was a marvel
that I did not melt into a liquid pool, so great was my shame.
That night I slept at the castle where I had been before, and I
was bathed and feasted, and none asked me how I had fared. The
next morning when I arose I found a bay horse saddled for me,
and, girdling on my armour, I returned to my own court. The horse
is still in the stable, and I would not part with it for any in
Britain.

'But of a truth, Kai, no man ever confessed an adventure so much
to his own dishonour, and strange indeed it seems that none other
man have I ever met that knew of the black man, and the knight
and the shower.'

'Would it not be well,' said Owen, 'to go and discover the
place?'

'By the hand of my friend,' answered Kai, 'often dost thou utter
that with thy tongue which thou wouldest not make good with thy
deeds.'

'In truth,' said Guenevere the queen, who had listened to the
tale, 'thou wert better hanged, Kai, than use such speech towards
a man like Owen.'

'I meant nothing, lady,' replied Kai; 'thy praise of Owen is not
greater than mine.' And as he spoke Arthur awoke, and asked if he
had not slept for a little.

'Yes, lord,' answered Owen, 'certainly thou hast slept.'

'Is it time for us to go to meat?'

'It is, lord,' answered Owen.

Then the horn for washing themselves was sounded, and after that
the king and his household sat down to eat. And when they had
finished, Owen left them, and made ready his horse and his arms.

With the first rays of the sun he set forth, and travelled
through deserts and over mountains and across rivers, and all
befell him which had befallen Kynon, till he stood under the
leafless tree listening to the song of the birds. Then he heard
the voice, and turning to look found the knight galloping to meet
him. Fiercely they fought till their lances were broken, and then
they drew their swords, and a blow from Owen cut through the
knight's helmet, and pierced his skull.

Feeling himself wounded unto death the knight fled, and Owen
pursued him till they came to a splendid castle. Here the knight
dashed across the bridge that spanned the moat, and entered the
gate, but as soon as he was safe inside, the drawbridge was
pulled up and caught Owen's horse in the middle, so that half of
him was inside and half out, and Owen could not dismount and knew
not what to do.

While he was in this sore plight a little door in the castle gate
opened, and he could see a street facing him, with tall houses.
Then a maiden with curling hair of gold looked through the little
door and bade Owen open the gate.

'By my troth!' cried Owen, 'I can no more open it from here than
thou art able to set me free.'

'Well,' said she, 'I will do my best to release thee if thou wilt
do as I tell thee. Take this ring and put it on with the stone
inside thy hand, and close thy fingers tight, for as long as thou
dost conceal it, it will conceal thee. When the men inside have
held counsel together, they will come to fetch thee to thy death,
and they will be much grieved not to find thee. I will stand on
the horse block yonder and thou canst see me though I cannot see
thee. Therefore draw near and place thy hand on my shoulder and
follow me wheresoever I go.'

Upon that she went away from Owen, and when the men came out from
the castle to seek him and did not find him they were sorely
grieved, and they returned to the castle.

Then Owen went to the maiden and placed his hand on her shoulder,
and she guided him to a large room, painted all over with rich
colours, and adorned with images of gold. Here she gave him meat
and drink, and water to wash with and garments to wear, and he
lay down upon a soft bed, with scarlet and fur to cover him, and
slept gladly.

In the middle of the night he woke hearing a great outcry, and he
jumped up and clothed himself and went into the hall, where the
maiden was standing.

'What is it?' he asked, and she answered that the knight who
owned the castle was dead, and they were bearing his body to the
church. Never had Owen beheld such vast crowds, and following the
dead knight was the most beautiful lady in the world, whose cry
was louder than the shout of the men, or the braying of the
trumpets. And Owen looked on her and loved her.

'Who is she?' he asked the damsel. 'That is my mistress, the
countess of the fountain, and the wife of him whom thou didst
slay yesterday.'

'Verily,' said Owen, 'she is the woman that I love best.'

'She shall also love thee not a little,' said the maiden.

Then she left Owen, and after a while went into the chamber of
her mistress, and spoke to her, but the countess answered her
nothing.

'What aileth thee, mistress?' inquired the maiden.

'Why hast thou kept far from me in my grief, Luned?' answered the
countess, and in her turn the damsel asked:

'Is it well for thee to mourn so bitterly for the dead, or for
anything that is gone from thee?'

'There is no man in the world equal to him,' replied the
countess, her cheeks growing red with anger. 'I would fain banish
thee for such words.'

'Be not angry, lady,' said Luned, 'but listen to my counsel. Thou
knowest well that alone thou canst not preserve thy lands,
therefore seek some one to help thee.'

'And how can I do that?' asked the countess.

'I will tell thee,' answered Luned. 'Unless thou canst defend the
fountain all will be lost, and none can defend the fountain
except a knight of Arthur's court. There will I go to seek him,
and woe betide me if I return without a warrior that can guard
the fountain, as well as he who kept it before.'

'Go then,' said the countess, 'and make proof of that which thou
hast promised.'

So Luned set out, riding on a white palfrey, on pretence of
journeying to King Arthur's court, but instead of doing that she
hid herself for as many days as it would have taken her to go and
come, and then she left her hiding-place, and went into the
countess.

'What news from the court?' asked her mistress, when she had
given Luned a warm greeting.

'The best of news,' answered the maiden, 'for I have gained the
object of my mission. When wilt thou that I present to thee the
knight who has returned with me?'

'To-morrow at midday,' said the countess, 'and I will cause all
the people in the town to come together.'

Therefore the next day at noon Owen put on his coat of mail, and
over it he wore a splendid mantle, while on his feet were leather
shoes fastened with clasps of gold. And he followed Luned to the
chamber of her mistress.

Right glad was the countess to see them, but she looked closely
at Owen and said:

'Luned, this knight has scarcely the air of a traveller.'

'What harm is there in that, lady?' answered Luned.

'I am persuaded,' said the countess, 'that this man and no other
chased the soul from the body of my lord.'

'Had he not been stronger than thy lord,' replied the damsel, 'he
could not have taken his life, and for that, and for all things
that are past, there is no remedy.'

'Leave me, both of you,' said the countess, 'and I will take
counsel.'

Then they went out.

The next morning the countess summoned her subjects to meet in
the courtyard of the castle, and told them that now that her
husband was dead there was none to defend her lands.

'So choose you which it shall be,' she said. 'Either let one of
you take me for a wife, or give me your consent to take a new
lord for myself, that my lands be not without a master.'

At her words the chief men of the city withdrew into one corner
and took counsel together, and after a while the leader came
forward and said that they had decided that it was best, for the
peace and safety of all, that she should choose a husband for
herself. Thereupon Owen was summoned to her presence, and he
accepted with joy the hand that she offered him, and they were
married forthwith, and the men of the earldom did him homage.

From that day Owen defended the fountain as the earl before him
had done, and every knight that came by was overthrown by him,
and his ransom divided among his barons. In this way three years
passed, and no man in the world was more beloved than Owen.

Now at the end of the three years it happened that Gwalchmai the
knight was with Arthur, and he perceived the king to be very sad.

'My lord, has anything befallen thee?' he asked.

'Oh, Gwalchmai, I am grieved concerning Owen, whom I have lost
these three years, and if a fourth year passes without him I can
live no longer. And sure am I that the tale told by Kynon the son
of Clydno caused me to lose him. I will go myself with the men of
my household to avenge him if he is dead, to free him if he is in
prison, to bring him back if he is alive.'

Then Arthur and three thousand men of his household set out in
quest of Owen, and took Kynon for their guide. When Arthur
reached the castle, the youths were shooting in the same place,
and the same yellow man was standing by, and as soon as he beheld
Arthur he greeted him and invited him in, and they entered
together. So vast was the castle that the king's three thousand
men were of no more account than if they had been twenty.

At sunrise Arthur departed thence, with Kynon for his guide, and
reached the black man first, and afterwards the top of the wooded
hill, with the fountain and the bowl and the tree.

'My lord,' said Kai, 'let me throw the water on the slab, and
receive the first adventure that may befall.'

'Thou mayest do so,' answered Arthur, and Kai threw the water.

Immediately all happened as before; the thunder and the shower of
hail which killed many of Arthur's men; the song of the birds and
the appearance of the black knight. And Kai met him and fought
him, and was overthrown by him. Then the knight rode away, and
Arthur and his men encamped where they stood.

In the morning Kai again asked leave to meet the knight and to
try to overcome him, which Arthur granted. But once more he was
unhorsed, and the black knight's lance broke his helmet and
pierced the skin even to the bone, and humbled in spirit he
returned to the camp.

After this every one of the knights gave battle, but none came
out victor, and at length there only remained Arthur himself and
Gwalchmai.

'Oh, let me fight him, my lord,' cried Gwalchmai, as he saw
Arthur taking up his arms.

'Well, fight then,' answered Arthur, and Gwalchmai threw a robe
over himself and his horse, so that none knew him. All that day
they fought, and neither was able to throw the other, and so it
was on the next day. On the third day the combat was so fierce
that they fell both to the ground at once, and fought on their
feet, and at last the black knight gave his foe such a blow on
his head that his helmet fell from his face.

'I did not know it was thee, Gwalchmai,' said the black knight.
'Take my sword and my arms.'

'No,' answered Gwalchmai, 'it is thou, Owen, who art the victor,
take thou my sword'; but Owen would not.

'Give me your swords,' said Arthur from behind them, 'for neither
of you has vanquished the other,' and Owen turned and put his
arms round Arthur's neck.

The next day Arthur would have given orders to his men to make
ready to go back whence they came, but Owen stopped him.

'My lord,' he said, 'during the three years that I have been
absent from thee I have been preparing a banquet for thee,
knowing full well that thou wouldst come to seek me. Tarry with
me, therefore, for a while, thou and thy men.'

So they rode to the castle of the countess of the fountain, and
spent three months in resting and feasting. And when it was time
for them to depart Arthur besought the countess that she would
allow Owen to go with him to Britain for the space of three
months. With a sore heart she granted permission, and so content
was Owen to be once more with his old companions that three years
instead of three months passed away like a dream.

One day Owen sat at meat in the castle of Caerleon upon Usk, when
a damsel on a bay horse entered the hall, and riding straight up
to the place where Owen sat she stooped and drew the ring from
off his hand.

'Thus shall be treated the traitor and the faithless,' said she,
and turning her horse's head she rode out of the hall.

At her words Owen remembered all that he had forgotten, and
sorrowful and ashamed he went to his own chamber and made ready
to depart. At the dawn he set out, but he did not go back to the
castle, for his heart was heavy, but he wandered far into wild
places till his body was weak and thin, and his hair was long.
The wild beasts were his friends, and he slept by their side, but
in the end he longed to see the face of a man again, and he came
down into a valley and fell asleep by a lake in the lands of a
widowed countess.

Now it was the time when the countess took her walk, attended by
her maidens, and when they saw a man lying by the lake they
shrank back in terror, for he lay so still that they thought he
was dead. But when they had overcome their fright, they drew near
him, and touched him, and saw that there was life in him. Then
the countess hastened to the castle, and brought from it a flask
full of precious ointment and gave it to one of her maidens.

'Take that horse which is grazing yonder,' she said, 'and a suit
of men's garments, and place them near the man, and pour some of
this ointment near his heart. If there is any life in him that
will bring it back. But if he moves, hide thyself in the bushes
near by, and see what he does.'

The damsel took the flask and did her mistress' bidding. Soon the
man began to move his arms, and then rose slowly to his feet.
Creeping forward step by step he took the garments from off the
saddle and put them on him, and painfully he mounted the horse.
When he was seated the damsel came forth and greeted him, and
glad was he when he saw her and inquired what castle that was
before him.

'It belongs to a widowed countess,' answered the maiden. 'Her
husband left her two earldoms, but it is all that remains of her
broad lands, for they have been torn from her by a young earl,
because she would not marry him.'

'That is a pity,' replied Owen, but he said no more, for he was
too weak to talk much. Then the maiden guided him to the castle,
and kindled a fire, and brought him food. And there he stayed and
was tended for three months, till he was handsomer than ever he
was.

At noon one day Owen heard a sound of arms outside the castle,
and he asked of the maiden what it was.

'It is the earl of whom I spoke to thee,' she answered, 'who has
come with a great host to carry off my mistress.'

'Beg of her to lend me a horse and armour,' said Owen, and the
maiden did so, but the countess laughed somewhat bitterly as she
answered:

'Nay, but I will give them to him, and such a horse and armour
and weapons as he has never had yet, though I know not what use
they will be to him. Yet mayhap it will save them from falling
into the hands of my enemies.'

The horse was brought out and Owen rode forth with two pages
behind him, and they saw the great host encamped before them.

'Where is the earl?' said he, and the pages answered:

'In yonder troop where are four yellow standards.'

'Await me,' said Owen, 'at the gate of the castle, and he cried a
challenge to the earl, who came to meet him. Hard did they fight,
but Owen overthrew his enemy and drove him in front to the castle
gate and into the hall.

'Behold the reward of thy blessed balsam,' said he, as he bade
the earl kneel down before her, and made him swear that he would
restore all that he had taken from her.

After that he departed, and went into the deserts, and as he was
passing through a wood he heard a loud yelling. Pushing aside the
bushes he beheld a lion standing on a great mound, and by it a
rock. Near the rock was a lion seeking to reach the mound, and
each time he moved out darted a serpent from the rock to prevent
him. Then Owen unsheathed his sword, and cut off the serpent's
head and went on his way, and the lion followed and played about
him, as if he had been a greyhound. And much more useful was he
than a greyhound, for in the evening he brought large logs in his
mouth to kindle a fire, and killed a fat buck for dinner.

Owen made his fire and skinned the buck, and put some of it to
roast, and gave the rest to the lion for supper. While he was
waiting for the meat to cook he heard a sound of deep sighing
close to him, and he said:

'Who are thou?'

'I am Luned,' replied a voice from a cave so hidden by bushes and
green hanging plants that Owen had not seen it.

'And what dost thou here?' cried he.

'I am held captive in this cave on account of the knight who
married the countess and left her, for the pages spoke ill of
him, and because I told them that no man living was his equal
they dragged me here and said I should die unless he should come
to deliver me by a certain day, and that is no further than the
day after to-morrow. His name is Owen the son of Urien, but I
have none to send to tell him of my danger, or of a surety he
would deliver me.'

Owen held his peace, but gave the maiden some of the meat, and
bade her be of good cheer. Then, followed by the lion, he set out
for a great castle on the other side of the plain, and men came
and took his horse and placed it in a manger, and the lion went
after and lay down on the straw. Hospitable and kind were all
within the castle, but so full of sorrow that it might have been
thought death was upon them. At length, when they had eaten and
drunk, Owen prayed the earl to tell him the reason of their
grief.

'Yesterday,' answered the earl, 'my two sons were seized, while
thy were hunting, by a monster who dwells on those mountains
yonder, and he vows that he will not let them go unless I give
him my daughter to wife.'

'That shall never be,' said Owen; 'but what form hath this
monster?'

'In shape he is a man, but in stature he is a giant,' replied the
earl, 'and it were better by far that he should slay my sons than
that I should give up my daughter.'

Early next morning the dwellers in the castle were awakened by a
great clamour, and they found that the giant had arrived with the
two young men. Swiftly Owen put on his armour and went forth to
meet the giant, and the lion followed at his heels. And when the
great beast beheld the hard blows which the giant dealt his
master he flew at his throat, and much trouble had the monster in
beating him off.

'Truly,' said the giant, 'I should find no difficulty in fighting
thee, if it were not for that lion.' When he heard that Owen felt
shame that he could not overcome the giant with his own sword, so
he took the lion and shut him up in one of the towers of the
castle, and returned to the fight. But from the sound of the
blows the lion knew that the combat was going ill for Owen, so he
climbed up till he reached the top of the tower, where there was
a door on to the roof, and from the tower he sprang on to the
walls, and from the walls to the ground. Then with a loud roar he
leaped upon the giant, who fell dead under the blow of his paw.

Now the gloom of the castle was turned into rejoicing, and the
earl begged Owen to stay with him till he could make him a feast,
but the knight said he had other work to do, and rode back to the
place where he had left Luned, and the lion followed at his
heels. When he came there he saw a great fire kindled, and two
youths leading out the maiden to cast her upon the pile.

'Stop!' he cried, dashing up to them. 'What charge have you
against her?'

'She boasted that no man in the world was equal to Owen,' said
they, 'and we shut her in a cave, and agreed that none should
deliver her but Owen himself, and that if he did not come by a
certain day she should die. And now the time has past and there
is no sign of him.'

'In truth he is a good knight, and had he but known that the maid
was in peril he would have come to save her,' said Owen; 'but
accept me in his stead, I entreat you.'

'We will,' replied they, and the fight began.

The youths fought well and pressed hard on Owen, and when the
lion saw that he came to help his master. But the youths made a
sign for the fight to stop, and said:

'Chieftain, it was agreed we should give battle to thee alone,
and it is harder for us to contend with yonder beast than with
thee.'

Then Owen shut up the lion in the cave where the maiden had been
in prison, and blocked up the front with stones. But the fight
with the giant had sorely tried him, and the youths fought well,
and pressed him harder than before. And when the lion saw that he
gave a loud roar, and burst through the stones, and sprang upon
the youths and slew them. And so Luned was delivered at the last.

Then the maiden rode back with Owen to the lands of the lady of
the fountain. And he took the lady with him to Arthur's court,
where they lived happily till they died.

From the 'Mabinogion.'






                         The Four Gifts




In the old land of Brittany, once called Cornwall, there lived a
woman named Barbaik Bourhis, who spent all her days in looking
after her farm with the help of her niece Tephany.  Early and
late the two might be seen in the fields or in the dairy, milking
cows, making butter, feeding fowls; working hard themselves and
taking care that others worked too.  Perhaps it might have been
better for Barbaik if she had left herself a little time to rest
and to think about other things, for soon she grew to love money
for its own sake, and only gave herself and Tephany the food and
clothes they absolutely needed.  And as for poor people she
positively hated them, and declared that such lazy creatures had
no business in the world.

Well, this being the sort of person Barbaik was, it is easy to
guess at her anger when one day she found Tephany talking outside
the cowhouse to young Denis, who was nothing more than a day
labourer from the village of Plover.  Seizing her niece by the
arm, she pulled her sharply away, exclaiming:

'Are you not ashamed, girl, to waste your time over a man who is
as poor as a rat, when there are a dozen more who would be only
too happy to buy you rings of silver, if you would let them?'

'Denis is a good workman, as you know very well,' answered
Tephany, red with anger, 'and he puts by money too, and soon he
will be able to take a farm for himself.'

'Nonsense,' cried Barbaik, 'he will never save enough for a farm
till he is a hundred.  I would sooner see you in your grave than
the wife of a man who carries his whole fortune on his back.'

'What does fortune matter when one is young and strong?' asked
Tephany, but her aunt, amazed at such words, would hardly let her
finish.

'What does fortune matter?' repeated Barbaik, in a shocked voice.
'Is it possible that you are really so foolish as to despise
money? If this is what you learn from Denis, I forbid you to
speak to him, and I will have him turned out of the farm if he
dares to show his face here again.  Now go and wash the clothes
and spread them out to dry.'

Tephany did not dare to disobey, but with a heavy heart went down
the path to the river.

'She is harder than these rocks,' said the girl to herself, 'yes,
a thousand times harder.  For the rain at least can at last wear
away the stone, but you might cry for ever, and she would never
care.  Talking to Denis is the only pleasure I have, and if I am
not to see him I may as well enter a convent.'

Thinking these thoughts she reached the bank, and began to unfold
the large packet of linen that had to be washed.  The tap of a
stick made her look up, and standing before her she saw a little
old woman, whose face was strange to her.

'You would like to sit down and rest, granny?' asked Tephany,
pushing aside her bundle.

'When the sky is all the roof you have, you rest where you will,'
replied the old woman in trembling tones.

'Are you so lonely, then?' inquired Tephany, full of pity. 'Have
you no friends who would welcome you into their houses?'

The old woman shook her head.

'They all died long, long ago,' she answered, 'and the only
friends I have are strangers with kind hearts.'

The girl did not speak for a moment, then held out the small loaf
and some bacon intended for her dinner.

'Take this,' she said; 'to-day at any rate you shall dine well,'
and the old woman took it, gazing at Tephany the while.

'Those who help others deserve to be helped,' she answered; 'your
eyes are still red because that miser Barbaik has forbidden you
to speak to the young man from Plover.  But cheer up, you are a
good girl, and I will give you something that will enable you to
see him once every day.'

'You?' cried Tephany, stupefied at discovering that the beggar
knew all about her affairs, but the old woman did not hear her.

'Take this long copper pin,' she went on, 'and every time you
stick it in your dress Mother Bourhis will be obliged to leave
the house in order to go and count her cabbages.  As long as the
pin is in your dress you will be free, and your aunt will not
come back until you have put it in its case again.'  Then,
rising, she nodded to Tephany and vanished.

The girl stood where she was, as still as a stone.  If it had not
been for the pin in her hands she would have thought she was
dreaming.  But by that token she knew it was no common old woman
who had given it to her, but a fairy, wise in telling what would
happen in the days to come.  Then suddenly Tephany's eyes fell on
the clothes, and to make up for lost time she began to wash them
with great vigour.

Next evening, at the moment when Denis was accustomed to wait for
her in the shadow of the cowhouse, Tephany stuck the pin in her
dress, and at the very same instant Barbaik took up her sabots or
wooden shoes and went through the orchard and past to the fields,
to the plot where the cabbages grew.  With a heart as light as
her footsteps, the girl ran from the house, and spent her evening
happily with Denis.  And so it was for many days after that.
Then, at last, Tephany began to notice something, and the
something made her very sad.

At first, Denis seemed to find the hours that they were together
fly as quickly as she did, but when he had taught her all the
songs he knew, and told her all the plans he had made for growing
rich and a great man, he had nothing more to say to her, for he,
like a great many other people, was fond of talking himself, but
not of listening to any one else.  Sometimes, indeed, he never
came at all, and the next evening he would tell Tephany that he
had been forced to go into the town on business, but though she
never reproached him she was not deceived and saw plainly that he
no longer cared for her as he used to do.

Day by day her heart grew heavier and her cheeks paler, and one
evening, when she had waited for him in vain, she put her water-
pot on her shoulder and went slowly down to the spring.  On the
path in front of her stood the fairy who had given her the pin,
and as she glanced at Tephany she gave a little mischievous laugh
and said:

'Why, my pretty maiden hardly looks happier than she did before,
in spite of meeting her lover whenever she pleases.'

'He has grown tired of me,' answered Tephany in a trembling
voice, 'and he makes excuses to stay away.  Ah! granny dear, it
is not enough to be able to see him, I must be able to amuse him
and to keep him with me.  He is so clever, you know.  Help me to
be clever too.'

'Is that what you want?' cried the old woman.  'Well, take this
feather and stick it in your hair, and you will be as wise as
Solomon himself.'

Blushing with pleasure Tephany went home and stuck the feather
into the blue ribbon which girls always wear in that part of the
country. In a moment she heard Denis whistling gaily, and as her
aunt was safely counting her cabbages, she hurried out to meet
him. The young man was struck dumb by her talk.  There was
nothing that she did not seem to know, and as for songs she not
only could sing those from every part of Brittany, but could
compose them herself. Was this really the quiet girl who had been
so anxious to learn all he could teach her, or was it somebody
else?  Perhaps she had gone suddenly mad, and there was an evil
spirit inside her.  But in any case, night after night he came
back, only to find her growing wiser and wiser.  Soon the
neighbours whispered their surprise among themselves, for Tephany
had not been able to resist the pleasure of putting the feather
in her hair for some of the people who despised her for her poor
clothes, and many were the jokes she made about them.  Of course
they heard of her jests, and shook their heads saying:

'She is an ill-natured little cat, and the man that marries her
will find that it is she who will hold the reins and drive the
horse.'

It was not long before Denis began to agree with them, and as he
always liked to be master wherever he went, he became afraid of
Tephany's sharp tongue, and instead of laughing as before when
she made fun of other people he grew red and uncomfortable,
thinking that his turn would come next.

So matters went on till one evening Denis told Tephany that he
really could not stay a moment, as he had promised to go to a
dance that was to be held in the next village.

Tephany's face fell; she had worked hard all day, and had been
counting on a quiet hour with Denis.  She did her best to
persuade him to remain with her, but he would not listen, and at
last she grew angry.

'Oh, I know why you are so anxious not to miss the dance,' she
said; 'it is because Aziliez of Pennenru will be there.'

Now Aziliez was the loveliest girl for miles round, and she and
Denis had known each other from childhood.

'Oh yes, Aziliez will be there,' answered Denis, who was quite
pleased to see her jealous, 'and naturally one would go a long
way to watch her dance.'

'Go then!' cried Tephany, and entering the house she slammed the
door behind her.

Lonely and miserable she sat down by the fire and stared into the
red embers.  Then, flinging the feather from her hair, she put
her head on her hands, and sobbed passionately.

'What is the use of being clever when it is beauty that men want?
That is what I ought to have asked for.  But it is too late,
Denis will never come back.'

'Since you wish it so much you shall have beauty,' said a voice
at her side, and looking round she beheld the old woman leaning
on her stick.

'Fasten this necklace round your neck, and as long as you wear it
you will be the most beautiful woman in the world,' continued the
fairy.  With a little shriek of joy Tephany took the necklace,
and snapping the clasp ran to the mirror which hung in the
corner. Ah, this time she was not afraid of Aziliez or of any
other girl, for surely none could be as fair and white as she.
And with the sight of her face a thought came to her, and putting
on hastily her best dress and her buckled shoes she hurried off
to the dance.

On the way she met a beautiful carriage with a young man seated
in it.

'What a lovely maiden!' he exclaimed, as Tephany approached.
'Why, there is not a girl in my own country that can be compared
to her. She, and no other, shall be my bride.'

The carriage was large and barred the narrow road, so Tephany was
forced, much against her will, to remain where she was.  But she
looked the young man full in the face as she answered:

'Go your way, noble lord, and let me go mine.  I am only a poor
peasant girl, accustomed to milk, and make hay and spin.'

'Peasant you may be, but I will make you a great lady,' said he,
taking her hand and trying to lead her to the carriage.

'I don't want to be a great lady, I only want to be the wife of
Denis,' she replied, throwing off his hand and running to the
ditch which divided the road from the cornfield, where he hoped
to hide. Unluckily the young man guessed what she was doing, and
signed to his attendants, who seized her and put her in the
coach.  The door was banged, and the horses whipped up into a
gallop.

At the end of an hour they arrived at a splendid castle, and
Tephany, who would not move, was lifted out and carried into the
hall, while a priest was sent for to perform the marriage
ceremony. The young man tried to win a smile from her by telling
of all the beautiful things she should have as his wife, but
Tephany did not listen to him, and looked about to see if there
was any means by which she could escape.  It did not seem easy.
The three great doors were closely barred, and the one through
which she had entered shut with a spring, but her feather was
still in her hair, and by its aid she detected a crack in the
wooden panelling, through which a streak of light could be dimly
seen. Touching the copper pin which fastened her dress, the girl
sent every one in the hall to count the cabbages, while she
herself passed through the little door, not knowing whither she
was going.

By this time night had fallen, and Tephany was very tired.
Thankfully she found herself at the gate of a convent, and asked
if she might stay there till morning.  But the portress answered
roughly that it was no place for beggars, and bade her begone, so
the poor girl dragged herself slowly along the road, till a light
and the bark of a dog told her that she was near a farm.

In front of the house was a group of people; two or three women
and the sons of the farmer.  When their mother heard Tephany's
request to be given a bed the good wife's heart softened, and she
was just going to invite her inside, when the young men, whose
heads were turned by the girl's beauty, began to quarrel as to
which should do most for her.  From words they came to blows, and
the women, frightened at the disturbance, pelted Tephany with
insulting names. She quickly ran down the nearest path, hoping to
escape them in the darkness of the trees, but in an instant she
heard their footsteps behind her.  Wild with fear her legs
trembled under her, when suddenly she bethought herself of her
necklace.  With a violent effort she burst the clasp and flung it
round the neck of a pig which was grunting in a ditch, and as she
did so she heard the footsteps cease from pursuing her and run
after the pig, for her charm had vanished.

On she went, scarcely knowing where she was going, till she found
herself, to her surprise and joy, close to her aunt's house. For
several days she felt so tired and unhappy that she could hardly
get through her work, and to make matters worse Denis scarcely
ever came near her.

'He was too busy,' he said, 'and really it was only rich people
who could afford to waste time in talking.'

As the days went on Tephany grew paler and paler, till everybody
noticed it except her aunt.  The water-pot was almost too heavy
for her now, but morning and evening she carried it to the
spring, though the effort to lift it to her shoulder was often
too much for her.

'How could I have been so foolish,' she whispered to herself,
when she went down as usual at sunset.  'It was not freedom to
see Denis that I should have asked for, for he was soon weary of
me, nor a quick tongue, for he was afraid of it, nor beauty, for
that brought me nothing but trouble, but riches which make life
easy both for oneself and others.  Ah! if I only dared to beg
this gift from the fairy, I should be wiser than before and know
how to choose better.'

'Be satisfied,' said the voice of the old woman, who seemed to be
standing unseen at Tephany's elbow.  'If you look in your right-
hand pocket when you go home you will find a small box.  Rub your
eyes with the ointment it contains, and you will see that you
yourself contain a priceless treasure.'

Tephany did not in the least understand what she meant, but ran
back to the farm as fast as she could, and began to fumble
joyfully in her right-hand pocket.  Sure enough, there was the
little box with the precious ointment.  She was in the act of
rubbing her eyes with it when Barbaik Bourhis entered the room.
Ever since she had been obliged to leave her work and pass her
time, she did not know why, in counting cabbages, everything had
gone wrong, and she could not get a labourer to stay with her
because of her bad temper.  When, therefore, she saw her niece
standing quietly before her mirror, Barbaik broke out:

'So this is what you do when I am out in the fields!  Ah! it is
no wonder if the farm is ruined.  Are you not ashamed, girl, to
behave so?'

Tephany tried to stammer some excuse, but her aunt was half mad
with rage, and a box on the ears was her only answer.  At this
Tephany, hurt, bewildered and excited, could control herself no
longer, and turning away burst into tears.  But what was her
surprise when she saw that each tear-drop was a round and shining
pearl.  Barbaik, who also beheld this marvel, uttered a cry of
astonishment, and threw herself on her knees to pick them up from
the floor.

She was still gathering them when the door opened and in came
Denis.

'Pearls!  Are they really pearls?' he asked, falling on his knees
also, and looking up at Tephany he perceived others still more
beautiful rolling down the girl's cheeks.

'Take care not to let any of the neighbours hear of it, Denis,'
said Barbaik.  'Of course you shall have your share, but nobody
else shall get a single one.  Cry on, my dear, cry on,' she
continued to Tephany.  It is for your good as well as ours,' and
she held out her apron to catch them, and Denis his hat.

But Tephany could hardly bear any more.  She felt half choked at
the sight of their greediness, and wanted to rush from the hall,
and though Barbaik caught her arm to prevent this, and said all
sorts of tender words which she thought would make the girl weep
the more, Tephany with a violent effort forced back her tears,
and wiped her eyes.

'Is she finished already?' cried Barbaik, in a tone of
disappointment.  'Oh, try again, my dear.  Do you think it would
do any good to beat her a little?' she added to Denis, who shook
his head.

'That is enough for the first time.  I will go into the town and
find out the value of each pearl.'

'Then I will go with you,' said Barbaik, who never trusted anyone
and was afraid of being cheated.  So the two went out, leaving
Tephany behind them.

She sat quite still on her chair, her hands clasped tightly
together, as if she was forcing something back.  At last she
raised her eyes, which had been fixed on the ground, and beheld
the fairy standing in a dark corner by the hearth, observing her
with a mocking look.  The girl trembled and jumped up, then,
taking the feather, the pin, and the box, she held them out to
the old woman.

'Here they are, all of them,' she cried; 'they belong to you. Let
me never see them again, but I have learned the lesson that they
taught me.  Others may have riches, beauty and wit, but as for me
I desire nothing but to be the poor peasant girl I always was,
working hard for those she loves.'

'Yes, you have learned your lesson,' answered the fairy, 'and now
you shall lead a peaceful life and marry the man you love. For
after all it was not yourself you thought of but him.'

Never again did Tephany see the old woman, but she forgave Denis
for selling her tears, and in time he grew to be a good husband,
who did his own share of work.

From 'Le Foyer Breton,' par E. Souvestre.






                 The Groac'h of the Isle of Lok




In old times, when all kinds of wonderful things happened in
Brittany, there lived in the village of Lanillis, a young man
named Houarn Pogamm and a girl called Bellah Postik.  They were
cousins, and as their mothers were great friends, and constantly
in and out of each other's houses, they had often been laid in
the same cradle, and had played and fought over their games.

'When they are grown up they will marry,' said the mothers; but
just as every one was beginning to think of wedding bells, the
two mothers died, and the cousins, who had no money, went as
servants in the same house.  This was better than being parted,
of course, but not so good as having a little cottage of their
own, where they could do as they liked, and soon they might have
been heard bewailing to each other the hardness of their lots.

'If we could only manage to buy a cow and get a pig to fatten,'
grumbled Houarn, 'I would rent a bit of ground from the master,
and then we could be married.'

'Yes,' answered Bellah, with a deep sigh; 'but we live in such
hard times, and at the last fair the price of pigs had risen
again.'

'We shall have long to wait, that is quite clear,' replied
Houarn, turning away to his work.

Whenever they met they repeated their grievances, and at length
Houarn's patience was exhausted, and one morning he came to
Bellah and told her that he was going away to seek his fortune.

The girl was very unhappy as she listened to this, and felt sorry
that she had not tried to make the best of things.  She implored
Houarn not to leave her, but he would listen to nothing.

'The birds,' he said, 'continue flying until they reach a field
of corn, and the bees do not stop unless they find the honey-
giving flowers, and why should a man have less sense than they?
Like them, I shall seek till I get what I want--that is, money to
buy a cow and a pig to fatten.   And if you love me, Bellah, you
won't attempt to hinder a plan which will hasten our marriage.'

The girl saw it was useless to say more, so she answered sadly:

'Well, go then, since you must.  But first I will divide with you
all that my parents left me,' and going to her room, she opened a
small chest, and took from it a bell, a knife, and a little
stick.

'This bell,' she said, 'can be heard at any distance, however
far, but it only rings to warn us that our friends are in great
danger. The knife frees all it touches from the spells that have
been laid on them; while the stick will carry you wherever you
want to go. I will give you the knife to guard you against the
enchantments of wizards, and the bell to tell me of your perils.
The stick I shall keep for myself, so that I can fly to you if
ever you have need of me.'

Then they cried for a little on each other's necks, and Houarn
started for the mountains.

But in those days, as in these, beggars abounded, and through
every village he passed they followed Houarn in crowds, mistaking
him for a gentleman, because there were no holes in his clothes.

'There is no fortune to be made here,' he thought to himself; 'it
is a place for spending, and not earning.  I see I must go
further,' and he walked on to Pont-aven, a pretty little town
built on the bank of a river.

He was sitting on a bench outside an inn, when he heard two men
who were loading their mules talking about the Groac'h of the
island of Lok.

'What is a Groac'h?' asked he.  'I have never come across one.'
And the men answered that it was the name given to the fairy that
dwelt in the lake, and that she was rich--oh! richer than all the
kings in the world put together.  Many had gone to the island to
try and get possession of her treasures, but no one had ever come
back.

As he listened Houarn's mind was made up.

'I will go, and return too,' he said to the muleteers.  They
stared at him in astonishment, and besought him not to be so mad
and to throw away his life in such a foolish manner; but he only
laughed, and answered that if they could tell him of any other
way in which to procure a cow and a pig to fatten, he would think
no more about it.  But the men did not know how this was to be
done, and, shaking their heads over his obstinacy, left him to
his fate.

So Houarn went down to the sea, and found a boatman who engaged
to take him to the isle of Lok.

The island was large, and lying almost across it was a lake, with
a narrow opening to the sea.  Houarn paid the boatman and sent
him away, and then proceeded to walk round the lake.  At one end
he perceived a small skiff, painted blue and shaped like a swan,
lying under a clump of yellow broom.  As far as he could see, the
swan's head was tucked under its wing, and Houarn, who had never
beheld a boat of the sort, went quickly towards it and stepped
in, so as to examine it the better.  But no sooner was he on
board than the swan woke suddenly up; his head emerged from under
his wing, his feet began to move in the water, and in another
moment they were in the middle of the lake.

As soon as the young man had recovered from his surprise, he
prepared to jump into the lake and swim to shore.  But the bird
had guessed his intentions, and plunged beneath the water,
carrying Houarn with him to the palace of the Groac'h.

Now, unless you have been under the sea and beheld all the
wonders that lie there, you can never have an idea what the
Groac'h's palace was like.  It was all made of shells, blue and
green and pink and lilac and white, shading into each other till
you could not tell where one colour ended and the other began.
The staircases were of crystal, and every separate stair sang
like a woodland bird as you put your foot on it.  Round the
palace were great gardens full of all the plants that grow in the
sea, with diamonds for flowers.

In a large hall the Groac'h was lying on a couch of gold.  The
pink and white of her face reminded you of the shells of her
palace, while her long black hair was intertwined with strings of
coral, and her dress of green silk seemed formed out of the sea.
At the sight of her Houarn stopped, dazzled by her beauty.

'Come in,' said the Groac'h, rising to her feet.  'Strangers and
handsome youths are always welcome here.  Do not be shy, but tell
me how you found your way, and what you want.'

'My name is Houarn,' he answered, 'Lanillis is my home, and I am
trying to earn enough money to buy a little cow and a pig to
fatten.'

'Well, you can easily get that,' replied she; 'it is nothing to
worry about.  Come in and enjoy yourself.'  And she beckoned him
to follow her into a second hall whose floors and walls were
formed of pearls, while down the sides there were tables laden
with fruit and wines of all kinds; and as he ate and drank, the
Groac'h talked to him and told him how the treasures he saw came
from shipwrecked vessels, and were brought to her palace by a
magic current of water.

'I do not wonder,' exclaimed Houarn, who now felt quite at home--
'I do not wonder that the people on the earth have so much to say
about you.'

'The rich are always envied.'

'For myself,' he added, with a laugh, 'I only ask for the half of
your wealth.'

'You can have it, if you will, Houarn,' answered the fairy.

'What do you mean?' cried he.

'My husband, Korandon, is dead,' she replied, 'and if you wish
it, I will marry you.'

The young man gazed at her in surprise.  Could any one so rich
and so beautiful really wish to be his wife?  He looked at her
again, and Bellah was forgotten as he answered:

'A man would be mad indeed to refuse such an offer.  I can only
accept it with joy.'

'Then the sooner it is done the better,' said the Groac'h, and
gave orders to her servants.  After that was finished, she begged
Houarn to accompany her to a fish-pond at the bottom of the
garden.

'Come lawyer, come miller, come tailor, come singer!' cried she,
holding out a net of steel; and at each summons a fish appeared
and jumped into the net.  When it was full she went into a large
kitchen and threw them all into a golden pot; but above the
bubbling of the water Houarn seemed to hear the whispering of
little voices.

'Who is it whispering in the golden pot, Groac'h?' he inquired at
last.

'It is nothing but the noise of the wood sparkling,' she
answered; but it did not sound the least like that to Houarn.

'There it is again,' he said, after a short pause.

'The water is getting hot, and it makes the fish jump,' she
replied; but soon the noise grew louder and like cries.

'What is it?' asked Houarn, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

'Just the crickets on the hearth,' said she, and broke into a
song which drowned the cries from the pot.

But though Houarn held his peace, he was not as happy as before.
Something seemed to have gone wrong, and then he suddenly
remembered Bellah.

'Is it possible I can have forgotten her so soon?  What a wretch
I am!' he thought to himself; and he remained apart and watched
the Groac'h while she emptied the fish into a plate, and bade him
eat his dinner while she fetched wine from her cellar in a cave.

Houarn sat down and took out the knife which Bellah had given
him, but as soon as the blade touched the fish the enchantment
ceased, and four men stood before him.

'Houarn, save us, we entreat you, and save yourself too!'
murmured they, not daring to raise their voices.

'Why, it must have been you who were crying out in the pot just
now!' exclaimed Houarn.

'Yes, it was us,' they answered.  'Like you, we came to the isle
of Lok to seek our fortunes, and like you we consented to marry
the Groac'h, and no sooner was the ceremony over than she turned
us into fishes, as she had done to all our forerunners, who are
in the fish-pond still, where you will shortly join them.'

On hearing this Houarn leaped into the air, as if he already felt
himself frizzling in the golden pot.  He rushed to the door,
hoping to escape that way; but the Groac'h, who had heard
everything, met him on the threshold.  Instantly she threw the
steel net over his head, and the eyes of a little green frog
peeped through the meshes.

'You shall go and play with the rest,' she said, carrying him off
to the fish-pond.

It was at this very moment that Bellah, who was skimming the milk
in the farm dairy, heard the fairy bell tinkle violently.

At the sound she grew pale, for she knew it meant that Houarn was
in danger; and, hastily, changing the rough dress she wore for
her work, she left the farm with the magic stick in her hand.

Her knees were trembling under her, but she ran as fast as she
could to the cross roads, where she drove her stick into the
ground, murmuring as she did so a verse her mother had taught
her:

Little staff of apple-tree,    Over the earth and over the sea,
Up in the air be guide to me,    Everywhere to wander free,

and immediately the stick became a smart little horse, with a
rosette at each ear and a feather on his forehead.  He stood
quite still while Bellah scrambled up, then he started off, his
pace growing quicker and quicker, till at length the girl could
hardly see the trees and houses as they flashed past.  But, rapid
as the pace was, it was not rapid enough for Bellah, who stooped
and said:

'The swallow is less swift than the wind, the wind is less swift
than the lightning.  But you, my horse, if you love me, must be
swifter than them all, for there is a part of my heart that
suffers --the best part of my heart that is in danger.'

And the horse heard her, and galloped like a straw carried along
by a tempest till they reached the foot of a rock called the Leap
of the Deer.  There he stopped, for no horse or mule that ever
was born could climb that rock, and Bellah knew it, so she began
to sing again:

Horse of Leon, given to me,    Over the earth and over the sea,
Up in the air be guide to me,    Everywhere to wander free,

and when she had finished, the horse's fore legs grew shorter and
spread into wings, his hind legs became claws, feathers sprouted
all over his body, and she sat on the back of a great bird, which
bore her to the summit of the rock.  Here she found a nest made
of clay and lined with dried moss, and in the centre a tiny man,
black and wrinkled, who gave a cry of surprise at the sight of
Bellah.

'Ah! you are the pretty girl who was to come and save me!'

'To save you!' repeated Bellah.  'But who are you, my little
friend?'

'I am the husband of the Groac'h of the isle of Lok, and it is
owing to her that I am here.'

'But what are you doing in this nest?'

'I am sitting on six eggs of stone, and I shall not be set free
till they are hatched.'

On hearing this Bellah began to laugh.

'Poor little cock!' she said, 'and how am I to deliver you?'

'By delivering Houarn, who is in the power of the Groac'h.'

'Ah! tell me how I can manage that, and if I have to walk round
the whole of Brittany on my bended knees I will do it!'

'Well, first you must dress yourself as a young man, and then go
and seek the Groac'h.  When you have found her you must contrive
to get hold of the net of steel that hangs from her waist, and
shut her up in it for ever.'

'But where am I to find a young man's clothes?' asked she.

'I will show you,' he replied, and as he spoke he pulled out
three of his red hairs and blew them away, muttering something
the while. In the twinkling of an eye the four hairs changed into
four tailors, of whom the first carried a cabbage, the second a
pair of scissors, the third a needle, and the fourth an iron.
Without waiting for orders, they sat down in the nest and,
crossing their legs comfortably, began to prepare the suit of
clothes for Bellah.

With one of the leaves of the cabbage they made her a coat, and
another served for a waistcoat; but it took two for the wide
breeches which were then in fashion.  The hat was cut from the
heart of the cabbage, and a pair of shoes from the thick stem.
And when Bellah had put them all on you would have taken her for
a gentleman dressed in green velvet, lined with white satin.

She thanked the little men gratefully, and after a few more
instructions, jumped on the back of her great bird, and was borne
away to the isle of Lok.  Once there, she bade him transform
himself back into a stick, and with it in her hand she stepped
into the blue boat, which conducted her to the palace of shells.

The Groac'h seemed overjoyed to see her, and told her that never
before had she beheld such a handsome young man.  Very soon she
led her visitor into the great hall, where wine and fruit were
always waiting, and on the table lay the magic knife, left there
by Houarn. Unseen by the Groac'h, Bellah hid it in a pocket of
her green coat, and then followed her hostess into the garden,
and to the pond which contained the fish, their sides shining
with a thousand different colours.

'Oh! what beautiful, beautiful creatures!' said she.  'I'm sure I
should never be tired of watching them.'  And she sat down on the
bank, with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands, her
eyes fixed on the fishes as they flashed past.

'Would you not like to stay here always?' asked the Groac'h; and
Bellah answered that she desired nothing better.

'Then you have only to marry me,' said the Groac'h.  'Oh! don't
say no, for I have fallen deeply in love with you.'

'Well, I won't say "No,"' replied Bellah, with a laugh, 'but you
must promise first to let me catch one of those lovely fish in
your net.'

'It is not so easy as it looks,' rejoined the Groac'h, smiling,
'but take it, and try your luck.'

Bellah took the net which the Groac'h held out, and, turning
rapidly, flung it over the witch's head.

'Become in body what you are in soul!' cried she, and in an
instant the lovely fairy of the sea was a toad, horrible to look
upon. She struggled hard to tear the net asunder, but it was no
use. Bellah only drew it the tighter, and, flinging the sorceress
into a pit, she rolled a great stone across the mouth, and left
her.

As she drew near the pond she saw a great procession of fishes
advancing to meet her, crying in hoarse tones:

'This is our lord and master, who has saved us from the net of
steel and the pot of gold!'

'And who will restore you to your proper shapes,' said Bellah,
drawing the knife from her pocket.  But just as she was going to
touch the foremost fish, her eyes fell on a green frog on his
knees beside her, his little paws crossed over his little heart.
Bellah felt as if fingers were tightening round her throat, but
she managed to cry:

'Is this you, my Houarn?  Is this you?'

'It is I,' croaked the little frog; and as the knife touched him
he was a man again, and, springing up, he clasped her in his
arms.

'But we must not forget the others,' she said at last, and began
to transform the fishes to their proper shapes.  There were so
many of them that it took quite a long time.  Just as she had
finished there arrived the little dwarf from the Deer's Leap in a
car drawn by six cockchafers, which once had been the six stone
eggs.

'Here I am!' he exclaimed.  'You have broken the spell that held
me, and now come and get your reward,' and, dismounting from his
chariot, he led them down into the caves filled with gold and
jewels, and bade Bellah and Houarn take as much as they wanted.

When their pockets were full, Bellah ordered her stick to become
a winged carriage, large enough to bear them and the men they had
rescued back to Lanillis.

There they were married the next day, but instead of setting up
housekeeping with the little cow and pig to fatten that they had
so long wished for, they were able to buy lands for miles round
for themselves, and gave each man who had been delivered from the
Groac'h a small farm, where he lived happily to the end of his
days.

From 'Le Foyer Breton,' par E. Souvestre.






                    The Escape of the Mouse




Manawyddan the prince and his friend Pryderi were wanderers, for
the brother of Manawyddan had been slain, and his throne taken
from him. Very sorrowful was Manawyddan, but Pryderi was stout of
heart, and bade him be of good cheer, as he knew a way out of his
trouble.

'And what may that be?' asked Manawyddan.

'It is that thou marry my mother Rhiannon and become lord of the
fair lands that I will give her for dowry. Never did any lady
have more wit than she, and in her youth none was more lovely;
even yet she is good to look upon.'

'Thou art the best friend that ever a man had,' said Manawyddan.
'Let us go now to seek Rhiannon, and the lands where she dwells.'

Then they set forth, but the news of their coming ran swifter
still, and Rhiannon and Kieva, wife of Pryderi, made haste to
prepare a feast for them. And Manawyddan found that Pryderi had
spoken the truth concerning his mother, and asked if she would
take him for her husband. Right gladly did she consent, and
without delay they were married, and rode away to the hunt,
Rhiannon and Manawyddan, Kieva and Pryderi, and they would not be
parted from each other by night or by day, so great was the love
between them.

One day, when they were returned, they were sitting out in a
green place, and suddenly the crash of thunder struck loudly on
their ears, and a wall of mist fell between them, so that they
were hidden one from the other. Trembling they sat till the
darkness fled and the light shone again upon them, but in the
place where they were wont to see cattle, and herds, and
dwellings, they beheld neither house nor beast, nor man nor
smoke; neither was any one remaining in the green place save
these four only.

'Whither have they gone, and my host also?' cried Manawyddan, and
they searched the hall, and there was no man, and the castle, and
there was none, and in the dwellings that were left was nothing
save wild beasts. For a year these four fed on the meat that
Manawyddan and Pryderi killed out hunting, and the honey of the
bees that sucked the mountain heather. For a time they desired
nothing more, but when the next year began they grew weary.

'We cannot spend our lives thus,' said Manawyddan at last, 'let
us go into England and learn some trade by which we may live.' So
they left Wales, and went to Hereford, and there they made
saddles, while Manawyddan fashioned blue enamel ornaments to put
on their trappings. And so greatly did the townsfolk love these
saddles, that no others were bought throughout the whole of
Hereford, till the saddlers banded together and resolved to slay
Manawyddan and his companions.

When Pryderi heard of it, he was very wroth, and wished to stay
and fight. But the counsels of Manawyddan prevailed, and they
moved by night to another city.

'What craft shall we follow?' asked Pryderi.

'We will make shields,' answered Manawyddan.

'But do we know anything of that craft?' answered Pryderi.

'We will try it,' said Manawyddan, and they began to make
shields, and fashioned them after the shape of the shields they
had seen; and these likewise they enamelled. And so greatly did
they prosper that no man in the town bought a shield except they
had made it, till at length the shield-makers banded together as
the saddlers had done, and resolved to slay them. But of this
they had warning, and by night betook themselves to another town.

'Let us take to making shoes,' said Manawyddan, 'for there are
not any among the shoemakers bold enough to fight us.'

'I know nothing of making shoes,' answered Pryderi, who in truth
despised so peaceful a craft.

'But I know,' replied Manawyddan, 'and I will teach thee to
stitch. We will buy the leather ready dressed, and will make the
shoes from it.

Then straightway he sought the town for the best leather, and for
a goldsmith to fashion the clasps, and he himself watched till it
was done, so that he might learn for himself. Soon he became
known as 'The Maker of Gold Shoes,' and prospered so greatly,
that as long as one could be bought from him not a shoe was
purchased from the shoemakers of the town. And the craftsmen were
wroth, and banded together to slay them.

'Pryderi,' said Manawyddan, when he had received news of it, 'we
will not remain in England any longer. Let us set forth to
Dyved.'

So they journeyed until they came to their lands at Narberth.
There they gathered their dogs round them, and hunted for a year
as before.

After that a strange thing happened. One morning Pryderi and
Manawyddan rose up to hunt, and loosened their dogs, which ran
before them, till they came to a small bush. At the bush, the
dogs shrank away as if frightened, and returned to their masters,
their hair brisling on their backs.

'We must see what is in that bush,' said Pryderi, and what was in
it was a boar, with a skin as white as the snow on the mountains.
And he came out, and made a stand as the dogs rushed on him,
driven on by the men. Long he stood at bay; then at last he
betook himself to flight, and fled to a castle which was newly
built, in a place where no building had ever been known. Into the
castle he ran, and the dogs after him, and long though their
masters looked and listened, they neither saw nor heard aught
concerning dogs or boar.

'I will go into the castle and get tidings of the dogs,' said
Pryderi at last.

'Truly,' answered Manawyddan, 'thou wouldst do unwisely, for
whosoever has cast a spell over this land has set this castle
here.'

'I cannot give up my dogs,' replied Pryderi, and to the castle he
went.

But within was neither man nor beast; neither boar nor dogs, but
only a fountain with marble round it, and on the edge a golden
bowl, richly wrought, which pleased Pryderi greatly. In a moment
he forgot about his dogs, and went up to the bowl and took hold
of it, and his hands stuck to the bowl, and his feet to the
marble slab, and despair took possession of him.

Till the close of day Manawyddan waited for him, and when the sun
was fast sinking, he went home, thinking that he had strayed far.

'Where are thy friend and thy dogs?' said Rhiannon, and he told
her what had befallen Pryderi.

'A good friend hast thou lost,' answered Rhiannon, and she went
up to the castle and through the gate, which was open. There, in
the centre of the courtyard, she beheld Pryderi standing, and
hastened towards him.

'What dost thou here?' she asked, laying her hand on the bowl,
and as she spoke she too stuck fast, and was not able to utter a
word. Then thunder was heard and a veil of darkness descended
upon them, and the castle vanished and they with it.

When Kieva, the wife of Pryderi, found that neither her husband
nor his mother returned to her, she was in such sorrow that she
cared not whether she lived or died. Manawyddan was grieved also
in his heart, and said to her:

'It is not fitting that we should stay here, for he have lost our
dogs and cannot get food. Let us go into England--it is easier
for us to live there.' So they set forth.

'What craft wilt thou follow?' asked Kieva as they went along.

'I shall make shoes as once I did,' replied he; and he got all
the finest leather in the town and caused gilded clasps to be
made for the shoes, till everyone flocked to buy, and all the
shoemakers in the town were idle and banded together in anger to
kill him. But luckily Manawyddan got word of it, and he and Kieva
left the town one night and proceeded to Narberth, taking with
him a sheaf of wheat, which he sowed in three plots of ground.
And while the wheat was growing up, he hunted and fished, and
they had food enough and to spare. Thus the months passed until
the harvest; and one evening Manawyddan visited the furthest of
his fields of wheat; and saw that it was ripe.

'To-morrow I will reap this,' said he; but on the morrow when he
went to reap the wheat he found nothing but the bare straw.

Filled with dismay he hastened to the second field, and there the
corn was ripe and golden.

'To-morrow I will reap this,' he said, but on the morrow the ears
had gone, and there was nothing but the bare straw.

'Well, there is still one field left,' he said, and when he
looked at it, it was still fairer than the other two. 'To-night I
will watch here,' thought he, 'for whosoever carried off the
other corn will in like manner take this, and I will know who it
is.' So he hid himself and waited.

The hours slid by, and all was still, so still that Manawyddan
well-nigh dropped asleep. But at midnight there arose the loudest
tumult in the world, and peeping out he beheld a mighty host of
mice, which could neither be numbered nor measured. Each mouse
climbed up a straw till it bent down with its weight, and then it
bit off one of the ears, and carried it away, and there was not
one of the straws that had not got a mouse to it.

Full of wrath he rushed at the mice, but he could no more come up
with them than if they had been gnats, or birds of the air, save
one only which lingered behind the rest, and this mouse
Manawyddan came up with. Stooping down he seized it by the tail,
and put it in his glove, and tied a piece of string across the
opening of the glove, so that the mouse could not escape. When he
entered the hall where Kieva was sitting, he lighted a fire, and
hung the glove up on a peg.

'What hast thou there?' asked she.

'A thief,' he answered, 'that I caught robbing me.'

'What kind of a thief may it be which thou couldst put in thy
glove?' said Kieva.

'That I will tell thee,' he replied, and then he showed her how
his fields of corn had been wasted, and how he had watched for
the mice.

'And one was less nimble than the rest, and is now in my glove.
To-morrow I will hang it, and I only wish I had them all.'

'It is a marvel, truly,' said she, 'yet it would be unseemly for
a man of thy dignity to hang a reptile such as this. Do not
meddle with it, but let it go.'

'Woe betide me,' he cried, 'if I would not hang them all if I
could catch them, and such as I have I will hang.'

'Verily,' said she, 'there is no reason I should succour this
reptile, except to prevent discredit unto thee.'

'If I knew any cause that I should succour it, I would take thy
counsel,' answered Manawyddan, 'but as I know of none, I am
minded to destroy it.'

'Do so then,' said Kieva.

So he went up a hill and set up two forks on the top, and while
he was doing this he saw a scholar coming towards him, whose
clothes were tattered. Now it was seven years since Manawyddan
had seen man or beast in that place, and the sight amazed him.

'Good day to thee, my lord,' said the scholar.

'Good greeting to thee, scholar. Whence dost thou come?'

'From singing in England; but wherefore dost thou ask?'

'Because for seven years no man hath visited this place.'

'I wander where I will,' answered the scholar. 'And what work art
thou upon?'

'I am about to hang a thief that I caught robbing me!'

'What manner of thief is that?' inquired the scholar. 'I see a
creature in thy hand like upon a mouse, and ill does it become a
man of thy rank to touch a reptile like this. Let it go free.'

'I will not let it go free,' cried Manawyddan. 'I caught it
robbing me, and it shall suffer the doom of a thief.'

'Lord!' said the scholar, 'sooner than see a man like thee at
such a work, I would give thee a pound which I have received as
alms to let it go free.'

'I will not let it go free, neither will I sell it.'

'As thou wilt, lord,' answered the scholar, and he went his way.

Manawyddan was placing the cross-beam on the two forked sticks,
where the mouse was to hang, when a priest rode past.

'Good-day to thee, lord; and what art thou doing?'

'I am hanging a thief that I caught robbing me.'

'What manner of thief, lord?'

'A creature in the form of a mouse. It has been robbing me, and
it shall suffer the doom of a thief.'

'Lord,' said the priest, 'sooner than see thee touch this
reptile, I would purchase its freedom.'

'I will neither sell it nor set it free.'

'It is true that a mouse is worth nothing, but rather than see
thee defile thyself with touching such a reptile as this, I will
give thee three pounds for it.'

'I will not take any price for it. It shall be hanged as it
deserves.'

'Willingly, my lord, if it is thy pleasure.' And the priest went
his way.

Then Manawyddan noosed the string about the mouse's neck, and was
about to draw it tight when a bishop, with a great following and
horses bearing huge packs, came by.

'What work art thou upon?' asked the bishop, drawing rein.

'Hanging a thief that I caught robbing me.'

'But is not that a mouse that I see in thine hand?' asked the
bishop.

'Yes; that is the thief,' answered Manawyddan.

'Well, since I have come at the doom of this reptile, I will
ransom it of thee for seven pounds, rather than see a man of thy
rank touch it. Loose it, and let it go.'

'I will not let it loose.'

'I will give thee four and twenty pounds to set it free,' said
the bishop.

'I will not set it free for as much again.'

'If thou wilt not set it free for this, I will give thee all the
horses thou seest and the seven loads of baggage.'

'I will not set it free.'

'Then tell me at what price thou wilt loose it, and I will give
it.'

'The spell must be taken off Rhiannon and Pryderi,' said
Manawyddan.

'That shall be done.'

'But not yet will I loose the mouse. The charm that has been cast
over all my lands must be taken off likewise.'

'This shall be done also.'

'But not yet will I loose the mouse till I know who she is.'

'She is my wife,' answered the bishop.

'And wherefore came she to me?' asked Manawyddan.

'To despoil thee,' replied the bishop, 'for it is I who cast the
charm over thy lands, to avenge Gwawl the son of Clud my friend.
And it was I who threw the spell upon Pryderi to avenge Gwawl for
the trick that had been played on him in the game of Badger in
the Bag. And not only was I wroth, but my people likewise, and
when it was known that thou wast come to dwell in the land, they
besought me much to change them into mice, that they might eat
thy corn. The first and the second nights it was the men of my
own house that destroyed thy two fields, but on the third night
my wife and her ladies came to me and begged me to change them
also into the shape of mice, that they might take part in
avenging Gwawl. Therefore I changed them. Yet had she not been
ill and slow of foot, thou couldst not have overtaken her. Still,
since she was caught, I will restore thee Pryderi and Rhiannon,
and will take the charm from off thy lands. I have told thee who
she is; so now set her free.'

'I will not set her free,' answered Manawyddan, 'till thou swear
that no vengeance shall be taken for his, either upon Pryderi, or
upon Rhiannon, or on me.'

'I will grant thee this boon; and thou hast done wisely to ask
it, for on thy head would have lit all the trouble. Set now my
wife free.'

'I will not set her free till Pryderi and Rhiannon are with me.'

'Behold, here they come,' said the bishop.

Then Manawyddan held out his hands and greeted Pryderi and
Rhiannon, and they seated themselves joyfully on the grass.

'Ah, lord, hast thou not received all thou didst ask?' said the
bishop. 'Set now my wife free!'

'That I will gladly,' answered Manawyddan, unloosing the cord
from her neck, and as he did so the bishop struck her with his
staff, and she turned into a young woman, the fairest that ever
was seen.

'Look around upon thy land,' said he, 'and thou wilt see it all
tilled and peopled, as it was long ago.' And Manawyddan looked,
and saw corn growing in the fields, and cows and sheep grazing on
the hill-side, and huts for the people to dwell in. And he was
satisfied in his soul, but one more question he put to the
bishop.

'What spell didst thou lay upon Pryderi and Rhiannon?'

'Pryderi has had the knockers of the gate of my palace hung about
him, and Rhiannon has carried the collars of my asses around her
neck,' said the bishop with a smile.

From the 'Mabinogion.'






                     The Believing Husbands




Once upon a time there dwelt in the land of Erin a young man who
was seeking a wife, and of all the maidens round about none
pleased him as well as the only daughter of a farmer. The girl
was willing and the father was willing, and very soon they were
married and went to live at the farm. By and bye the season came
when they must cut the peats and pile them up to dry, so that
they might have fires in the winter. So on a fine day the girl
and her husband, and the father and his wife all went out upon
the moor.

They worked hard for many hours, and at length grew hungry, so
the young woman was sent home to bring them food, and also to
give the horses their dinner. When she went into the stables, she
suddenly saw the heavy pack-saddle of the speckled mare just over
her head, and she jumped and said to herself:

'Suppose that pack-saddle were to fall and kill me, how dreadful
it would be!' and she sat down just under the pack-saddle she was
so much afraid of, and began to cry.

Now the others out on the moor grew hungrier and hungrier.

'What can have become of her?' asked they, and at length the
mother declared that she would wait no longer, and must go and
see what had happened.

As the bride was nowhere in the kitchen or the dairy, the old
woman went into the stable, where she found her daughter weeping
bitterly.

'What is the matter, my dove?' and the girl answered, between her
sobs:

'When I came in and saw the pack-saddle over my head, I thought
how dreadful it would be if it fell and killed me,' and she cried
louder than before.

The old woman struck her hands together: 'Ah, to think of it! if
that were to be, what should I do?' and she sat down by her
daughter, and they both wrung their hands and let their tears
flow.

'Something strange must have occurred,' exclaimed the old farmer
on the moor, who by this time was not only hungry, but cross. 'I
must go after them.' And he went and found them in the stable.

'What is the matter?' asked he.

'Oh!' replied his wife, 'when our daughter came home, did she not
see the pack-saddle over her head, and she thought how dreadful
it would be if it were to fall and kill her.'

'Ah, to think of it!' exclaimed he, striking his hands together,
and he sat down beside them and wept too.

As soon as night fell the young man returned full of hunger, and
there they were, all crying together in the stable.

'What is the matter?' asked he.

'When thy wife came home,' answered the farmer, 'she saw the
pack-saddle over her head, and she thought how dreadful it would
be if it were to fall and kill her.'

'Well, but it didn't fall,' replied the young man, and he went
off to the kitchen to get some supper, leaving them to cry as
long as they liked.

The next morning he got up with the sun, and said to the old man
and to the old woman and to his wife:

'Farewell: my foot shall not return to the house till I have
found other three people as silly as you,' and he walked away
till he came to the town, and seeing the door of a cottage
standing open wide, he entered. No man was present, but only some
women spinning at their wheels.

'You do not belong to this town,' said he.

'You speak truth,' they answered, 'nor you either?'

'I do not,' replied he, 'but is it a good place to live in?'

The women looked at each other.

'The men of the town are so silly that we can make them believe
anything we please,' said they.

'Well, here is a gold ring,' replied he, 'and I will give it to
the one amongst you who can make her husband believe the most
impossible thing,' and he left them.

As soon as the first husband came home his wife said to him:

'Thou art sick!'

'Am I?' asked he.

'Yes, thou art,' she answered; 'take off thy clothes and lie
down.'

So he did, and when he was in his bed his wife went to him and
said:

'Thou art dead.'

'Oh, am I?' asked he.

'Thou art,' said she; 'shut thine eyes and stir neither hand nor
foot.'

And dead he felt sure he was.

Soon the second man came home, and his wife said to him:

'You are not my husband!'

'Oh, am I not?' asked he.

'No, it is not you,' answered she, so he went away and slept in
the wood.

When the third man arrived his wife gave him his supper, and
after that he went to bed, just as usual. The next morning a boy
knocked at the door, bidding him attend the burial of the man who
was dead, and he was just going to get up when his wife stopped
him.

'Time enough,' said she, and he lay still till he heard the
funeral passing the window.

'Now rise, and be quick,' called the wife, and the man jumped out
of bed in a great hurry, and began to look about him.

'Why, where are my clothes?' asked he.

'Silly that you are, they are on your back, of course,' answered
the woman.

'Are they?' said he.

'They are,' said she, 'and make haste lest the burying be ended
before you get there.'

Then off he went, running hard, and when the mourners saw a man
coming towards them with nothing on but his nightshirt, they
forgot in their fright what they were there for, and fled to hide
themselves. And the naked man stood alone at the head of the
coffin.

Very soon a man came out of the wood and spoke to him.

'Do you know me?'

'Not I,' answered the naked man. 'I do not know you.'

'But why are you naked?' asked the first man.

'Am I naked? My wife told me that I had all my clothes on,'
answered he.

'And my wife told me that I myself was dead,' said the man in the
coffin.

But at the sound of his voice the two men were so terrified that
they ran straight home, and the man in the coffin got up and
followed them, and it was his wife that gained the gold ring, as
he had been sillier than the other two.

From 'West Highland Tales.'






                        The Hoodie-Crow.




Once there lived a farmer who had three daughters, and good
useful girls they were, up with the sun, and doing all the work
of the house. One morning they all ran down to the river to wash
their clothes, when a hoodie came round and sat on a tree close
by.

'Wilt thou wed me, thou farmer's daughter?' he said to the
eldest.

'Indeed I won't wed thee,' she answered, 'an ugly brute is the
hoodie.' And the bird, much offended, spread his wings and flew
away. But the following day he came back again, and said to the
second girl:

'Wilt thou wed me, farmer's daughter?'

'Indeed I will not,' answered she, 'an ugly brute is the hoodie.'
And the hoodie was more angry than before, and went away in a
rage. However, after a night's rest he was in a better temper,
and thought that he might be more lucky the third time, so back
he went to the old place.

'Wilt thou wed me, farmer's daughter?' he said to the youngest.

'Indeed I will wed thee; a pretty creature is the hoodie,'
answered she, and on the morrow they were married.

'I have something to ask thee,' said the hoodie when they were
far away in his own house. 'Wouldst thou rather I should be a
hoodie by day and a man by night, or a man by day and a hoodie by
night?'

The girl was surprised at his words, for she did not know that he
could be anything but a hoodie at all times.

Still she said nothing of this, and only replied, 'I would rather
thou wert a man by day and a hoodie by night,' And so he was; and
a handsomer man or a more beautiful hoodie never was seen. The
girl loved them both, and never wished for things to be
different.

By and bye they had a son, and very pleased they both were. But
in the night soft music was heard stealing close towards the
house, and every man slept, and the mother slept also. When they
woke again it was morning, and the baby was gone. High and low
they looked for it, but nowhere could they find it, and the
farmer, who had come to see his daughter, was greatly grieved, as
he feared it might be thought that he had stolen it, because he
did not want the hoodie for a son-in-law.

The next year the hoodie's wife had another son, and this time a
watch was set at every door. But it was no use. In vain they
determined that, come what might, they would not close their
eyes; at the first note of music they all fell asleep, and when
the farmer arrived in the morning to see his grandson, he found
them all weeping, for while they had slept the baby had vanished.

Well, the next year it all happened again, and the hoodie's wife
was so unhappy that her husband resolved to take her away to
another house he had, and her sisters with her for company. So
they set out in a coach which was big enough to hold them, and
had not gone very far when the hoodie suddenly said:

'You are sure you have not forgotten anything?'

'I have forgotten my coarse comb,' answered the wife, feeling in
her pocket, and as she spoke the coach changed into a withered
faggot, and the man became a hoodie again, and flew away.

The two sisters returned home, but the wife followed the hoodie.
Sometimes she would see him on a hill-top, and then would hasten
after him, hoping to catch him. But by the time she had got to
the top of the hill, he would be in the valley on the other side.
When night came, and she was tired, she looked about for some
place to rest, and glad she was to see a little house full of
light straight in front of her, and she hurried towards it as
fast as she could.

At the door stood a little boy, and the sight of him filled her
heart with pleasure, she did not know why. A woman came out, and
bade her welcome, and set before her food, and gave her a soft
bed to lie on. And the hoodie's wife lay down, and so tired was
she, that it seemed to her but a moment before the sun rose, and
she awoke again. From hill to hill she went after the hoodie, and
sometimes she saw him on the top; but when she got to the top, he
had flown into the valley, and when she reached the valley he was
on the top of another hill--and so it happened till night came
round again. Then she looked round for some place to rest in, and
she beheld a little house of light before her, and fast she
hurried towards it. At the door stood a little boy, and her heart
was filled with pleasure at the sight of him, she did not know
why. After that a woman bade her enter, and set food before her,
and gave her a soft bed to lie in. And when the sun rose she got
up, and left the house, in search of the hoodie. This day
everything befell as on the two other days, but when she reached
the small house, the woman bade her keep awake, and if the hoodie
flew into the room, to try to seize him.

But the wife had walked far, and was very tired, and strive as
she would, she fell sound asleep.

Many hours she slept, and the hoodie entered through a window,
and let fall a ring on her hand. The girl awoke with a start, and
leant forward to grasp him, but he was already flying off, and
she only seized a feather from his wing. And when dawn came, she
got up and told the woman.

'He has gone over the hill of poison,' said she, 'and there you
cannot follow him without horse-shoes on your hands and feet. But
I will help you. Put on this suit of men's clothes, and go down
this road till you come to the smithy, and there you can learn to
make horse-shoes for yourself.'

The girl thanked her, and put on the cloths and went down the
road to do her bidding. So hard did she work, that in a few days
she was able to make the horse-shoes. Early one morning she set
out for the hill of poison. On her hands and feet she went, but
even with the horse-shoes on she had to be very careful not to
stumble, lest some poisoned thorns should enter into her flesh,
and she should die. But when at last she was over, it was only to
hear that her husband was to be married that day to the daughter
of a great lord.

Now there was to be a race in the town, and everyone meant to be
there, except the stranger who had come over the hill of poison--
everyone, that is, but the cook, who was to make the bridal
supper. Greatly he loved races, and sore was his heart to think
that one should be run without his seeing it, so when he beheld a
woman whom he did not know coming along the street, hope sprang
up in him.

'Will you cook the wedding feast in place of me?' he said, 'and I
will pay you well when I return from the race.'

Gladly she agreed, and cooked the feast in a kitchen that looked
into the great hall, where the company were to eat it. After that
she watched the seat where the bridegroom was sitting, and taking
a plateful of the broth, she dropped the ring and the feather
into it, and set if herself before him.

With the first spoonful he took up the ring, and a thrill ran
through him; in the second he beheld the feather and rose from
his chair.

'Who has cooked this feast?' asked he, and the real cook, who had
come back from the race, was brought before him.

'He may be the cook, but he did not cook this feast,' said the
bridegroom, and then inquiry was made, and the girl was summoned
to the great hall.

'That is my married wife,' he declared, 'and no one else will I
have,' and at that very moment the spells fell off him, and never
more would he be a hoodie. Happy indeed were they to be together
again, and little did they mind that the hill of poison took long
to cross, for she had to go some way forwards, and then throw the
horse-shoes back for him to put on. Still, at last they were
over, and they went back the way she had come, and stopped at the
three houses in order to take their little sons to their own
home.

But the story never says who had stolen them, nor what the coarse
comb had to do with it.

From 'West Highland Tales.'






                    The Brownie of the Lake




Once upon a time there lived in France a man whose name was Jalm
Riou. You might have walked a whole day without meeting anyone
happier or more contented, for he had a large farm, plenty of
money, and above all, a daughter called Barbaik, the most
graceful dancer and the best-dressed girl in the whole country
side. When she appeared on holidays in her embroidered cap, five
petticoats, each one a little shorter than the other, and shoes
with silver buckles, the women were all filled with envy, but
little cared Barbaik what they might whisper behind her back as
long as she knew that her clothes were finer than anyone else's
and that she had more partners than any other girl.

Now amongst all the young men who wanted to marry Barbaik, the
one whose heart was most set on her was her father's head man,
but as his manners were rough and he was exceedingly ugly she
would have nothing to say to him, and, what was worse, often made
fun of him with the rest.

Jegu, for that was his name, of course heard of this, and it made
him very unhappy. Still he would not leave the farm, and look for
work elsewhere, as he might have done, for then he would never
see Barbaik at all, and what was life worth to him without that?

One evening he was bringing back his horses from the fields, and
stopped at a little lake on the way home to let them drink. He
was tired with a long day's work, and stood with his hand on the
mane of one of the animals, waiting till they had done, and
thinking all the while of Barbaik, when a voice came out of the
gorse close by.

'What is the matter, Jegu? You mustn't despair yet.'

The young man glanced up in surprise, and asked who was there.

'It is I, the brownie of the lake,' replied the voice.

'But where are you?' inquired Jegu.

'Look close, and you will see me among the reeds in the form of a
little green frog. I can take,' he added proudly, 'any shape I
choose, and even, which is much harder, be invisible if I want
to.'

'Then show yourself to me in the shape in which your family
generally appear,' replied Jegu.

'Certainly, if you wish,' and the frog jumped on the back of one
of the horses, and changed into a little dwarf, all dressed in
green.

This transformation rather frightened Jegu, but the brownie bade
him have no fears, for he would not do him any harm; indeed, he
hoped that Jegu might find him of some use.

'But why should you take all this interest in me?' asked the
peasant suspiciously.

'Because of a service you did me last winter, which I have never
forgotten,' answered the little fellow. 'You know, I am sure,
that the korigans[FN#3: The spiteful fairies.] who dwell in the
White Corn country have declared war on my people, because they
say that they are the friends of man. We were therefore obliged
to take refuge in distant lands, and to hide ourselves at first
under different animal shapes. Since that time, partly from habit
and partly to amuse ourselves, we have continued to transform
ourselves, and it was in this way that I got to know you.'

'How?' exclaimed Jegu, filled with astonishment.

'Do you remember when you were digging in the field near the
river, three months ago, you found a robin redbreast caught in a
net?

'Yes,' answered Jegu, 'I remember it very well, and I opened the
net and let him go.'

'Well, I was that robin redbreast, and ever since I have vowed to
be your friend, and as you want to marry Barbaik, I will prove
the truth of what I say by helping you to do so.'

'Ah! my little brownie, if you can do that, there is nothing I
won't give you, except my soul.'

'Then let me alone,' rejoined the dwarf, 'and I promise you that
in a very few months you shall be master of the farm and of
Barbaik.'

'But how are you going to do it?' exclaimed Jegu wonderingly.

'That is my affair. Perhaps I may tell you later. Meanwhile you
just eat and sleep, and don't worry yourself about anything.'

Jegu declared that nothing could be easier, and then taking off
his hat, he thanked the dwarf heartily, and led his horses back
to the farm.

Next morning was a holiday, and Barbaik was awake earlier than
usual, as she wished to get through her work as soon as possible,
and be ready to start for a dance which was to be held some
distance off. She went first to the cow-house, which it was her
duty to keep clean, but to her amazement she found fresh straw
put down, the racks filled with hay, the cows milked, and the
pails standing neatly in a row.

'Of course, Jegu must have done this in the hope of my giving him
a dance,' she thought to herself, and when she met him outside
the door she stopped and thanked him for his help. To be sure,
Jegu only replied roughly that he didn't know what she was
talking about, but this answer made her feel all the more certain
that it was he and nobody else.

The same thing took place every day, and never had the cow-house
been so clean nor the cows so fat. Morning and evening Barbaik
found her earthen pots full of milk and a pound of butter freshly
churned, ornamented with leaves. At the end of a few weeks she
grew so used to this state of affairs that she only got up just
in time to prepare breakfast.

Soon even this grew to be unnecessary, for a day arrived when,
coming downstairs, she discovered that the house was swept, the
furniture polished, the fire lit, and the food ready, so that she
had nothing to do except to ring the great bell which summoned
the labourers from the fields to come and eat it. This, also, she
thought was the work of Jegu, and she could not help feeling that
a husband of this sort would be very useful to a girl who liked
to lie in bed and to amuse herself.

Indeed, Barbaik had only to express a wish for it to be
satisfied. If the wind was cold or the sun was hot and she was
afraid to go out lest her complexion should be spoilt, she need
only to run down to the spring close by and say softly, 'I should
like my churns to be full, and my wet linen to be stretched on
the hedge to dry,' and she need never give another thought to the
matter.

If she found the rye bread too hard to bake, or the oven taking
too long to heat, she just murmured, 'I should like to see my six
loaves on the shelf above the bread box,' and two hours after
there they were.

If she was too lazy to walk all the way to market along a dirty
road, she would say out loud the night before, 'Why am I not
already back from Morlaix with my milk pot empty, my butter bowl
inside it, a pound of wild cherries on my wooden plate, and the
money I have gained in my apron pocket?' and in the morning when
she got up, lo and behold! there were standing at the foot of her
bed the empty milk pot with the butter bowl inside, the black
cherries on the wooden plate, and six new pieces of silver in the
pocket of her apron. And she believed that all this was owing to
Jegu, and she could no longer do without him, even in her
thoughts.

When things had reached this pass, the brownie told the young man
that he had better ask Barbaik to marry him, and this time the
girl did not turn rudely away, but listened patiently to the end.
In her eyes he was as ugly and awkward as ever, but he would
certainly make a most useful husband, and she could sleep every
morning till breakfast time, just like a young lady, and as for
the rest of the day, it would not be half long enough for all she
meant to do. She would wear the beautiful dresses that came when
she wished for them, and visit her neighbours, who would be dying
of envy all the while, and she would be able to dance as much as
she wished. Jegu would always be there to work for her and save
for her, and watch over her. So, like a well-brought-up girl,
Barbaik answered that it should be as her father pleased, knowing
quite well that old Riou had often said that after he was dead
there was no one so capable of carrying on the farm.

The marriage took place the following month, and a few days later
the old man died quite suddenly. Now Jegu had everything to see
to himself, and somehow it did not seem so easy as when the
farmer was alive. But once more the brownie stepped in, and was
better than ten labourers. It was he who ploughed and sowed and
reaped, and if, as happened, occasionally, it was needful to get
the work done quickly, the brownie called in some of his friends,
and as soon as it was light a host of little dwarfs might have
been seen in the fields, busy with hoe, fork or sickle. But by
the time the people were about all was finished, and the little
fellows had disappeared.

And all the payment the brownie ever asked for was a bowl of
broth.
From the very day of her marriage Barbaik had noted with surprise
and rage that things ceased to be done for her as they had been
done all the weeks and months before. She complained to Jegu of
his laziness, and he only stared at her, not understanding what
she was talking about. But the brownie, who was standing by,
burst out laughing, and confessed that all the good offices she
spoke of had been performed by him, for the sake of Jegu, but
that now he had other business to do, and it was high time that
she looked after her house herself.

Barbaik was furious. Each morning when she was obliged to get up
before dawn to milk the cows and go to market, and each evening
when she had to sit up till midnight in order to churn the
butter, her heart was filled with rage against the brownie who
had caused her to expect a life of ease and pleasure. But when
she looked at Jegu and beheld his red face, squinting eyes, and
untidy hair, her anger was doubled.

'If it had not been for you, you miserable dwarf!' she would say
between her teeth, 'if it had not been for you I should never
have married that man, and I should still have been going to
dances, where the young men would have brought me present of nuts
and cherries, and told me that I was the prettiest girl in the
parish. While now I can receive no presents except from my
husband. I can never dance, except with my husband. Oh, you
wretched dwarf, I will never, never forgive you!'

In spite of her fierce words, no one knew better than Barbaik how
to put her pride in her pocket when it suited her, and after
receiving an invitation to a wedding, she begged the brownie to
get her a horse to ride there. To her great joy he consented,
bidding her set out for the city of the dwarfs and to tell them
exactly what she wanted. Full of excitement, Barbaik started on
her journey. It was not long, and when she reached the town she
went straight to the dwarfs, who were holding counsel in a wide
green place, and said to them, 'Listen, my friends! I have come
to beg you to lend me a black horse, with eyes, a mouth, ears,
bridle and saddle.'

She had hardly spoken when the horse appeared, and mounting on
his back she started for the village where the wedding was to be
held.

At first she was so delighted with the chance of a holiday from
the work which she hated, that she noticed nothing, but very soon
it struck her as odd that as she passed along the roads full of
people they all laughed as they looked at her horse. At length
she caught some words uttered by one man to another. 'Why, the
farmer's wife has sold her horse's tail!' and turned in her
saddle. Yes; it was true. Her horse had no tail! She had
forgotten to ask for one, and the wicked dwarfs had carried out
her orders to the letter!

'Well, at any rate, I shall soon be there,' she thought, and
shaking the reins, tried to urge the horse to a gallop. But it
was of no use; he declined to move out of a walk; and she was
forced to hear all the jokes that were made upon her.

In the evening she returned to the farm more angry than ever, and
quite determined to revenge herself on the brownie whenever she
had the chance, which happened to be very soon.

It was the spring, and just the time of year when the dwarfs held
their fete, so one day the brownie asked Jegu if he might bring
his friends to have supper in the great barn, and whether he
would allow them to dance there. Of course, Jegu was only too
pleased to be able to do anything for the brownie, and he ordered
Barbaik to spread her best table-cloths in the barn, and to make
a quantity of little loaves and pancakes, and, besides, to keep
all the milk given by the cows that morning. He expected she
would refuse, as he knew she hated the dwarfs, but she said
nothing, and prepared the supper as he had bidden her.

When all was ready, the dwarfs, in new green suits, came bustling
in, very happy and merry, and took their seats at the table. But
in a moment they all sprang up with a cry, and ran away
screaming, for Barbaik had placed pans of hot coals under their
feet, and all their poor little toes were burnt.

'You won't forget that in a hurry,' she said, smiling grimly to
herself, but in a moment they were back again with large pots of
water, which they poured on the fire. Then they joined hands and
danced round it, singing:

          Wicked traitress, Barne Riou,
          Our poor toes are burned by you;
          Now we hurry from your hall--
          Bad luck light upon you all.

That evening they left the country for ever, and Jegu, without
their help, grew poorer and poorer, and at last died of misery,
while Barbaik was glad to find work in the market of Morlaix.

From 'Le Foyer Breton,' par E. Souvestre.






                      The Winning of Olwen




There was once a king and queen who had a little boy, and they
called his name Kilweh. The queen, his mother, fell ill soon
after his birth, and as she could not take care of him herself
she sent him to a woman she knew up in the mountains, so that he
might learn to go out in all weathers, and bear heat and cold,
and grow tall and strong. Kilweh was quite happy with his nurse,
and ran races and climbed hills with the children who were his
playfellows, and in the winter, when the snow lay on the ground,
sometimes a man with a harp would stop and beg for shelter, and
in return would sing them songs of strange things that had
happened in the years gone by.

But long before this changes had taken place in the court of
Kilweh's father. Soon after she had sent her baby away the queen
became much worse, and at length, seeing that she was going to
die, she called her husband to her and said:

'Never again shall I rise from this bed, and by and bye thou wilt
take another wife. But lest she should make thee forget thy son,
I charge thee that thou take not a wife until thou see a briar
with two blossoms upon my grave.' And this he promised her. Then
she further bade him to see to her grave that nothing might grow
thereon. This likewise he promised her, and soon she died, and
for seven years the king sent a man every morning to see that
nothing was growing on the queen's grave, but at the end of seven
years he forgot.

One day when the king was out hunting he rode past the place
where the queen lay buried, and there he saw a briar growing with
two blossoms on it.

'It is time that I took a wife,' said he, and after long looking
he found one. But he did not tell her about his son; indeed he
hardly remembered that he had one till she heard it at last from
an old woman whom she had gone to visit. And the new queen was
very pleased, and sent messengers to fetch the boy, and in his
father's court he stayed, while the years went by till one day
the queen told him that a prophecy had foretold that he was to
win for his wife Olwen the daughter of Yspaddaden Penkawr.

When he heard this Kilweh felt proud and happy. Surely he must be
a man now, he thought, or there would be no talk of a wife for
him, and his mind dwelt all day upon his promised bride, and what
she would be like when he beheld her.

'What aileth thee, my son?' asked his father at last, when Kilweh
had forgotten something he had been bidden to do, and Kilweh
blushed red as he answered:

'My stepmother says that none but Olwen, the daughter of
Yspaddaden Penkawr, shall be my wife.'

'That will be easily fulfilled,' replied his father. 'Arthur the
king is thy cousin. Go therefore unto him and beg him to cut thy
hair, and to grant thee this boon.'

Then the youth pricked forth upon a dapple grey horse of four
years old, with a bridle of linked gold, and gold upon his
saddle. In his hand he bore two spears of silver with heads of
steel; a war-horn of ivory was slung round his shoulder, and by
his side hung a golden sword. Before him were two brindled white-
breasted greyhounds with collars of rubies round their necks, and
the one that was on the left side bounded across to the right
side, and the one on the right to the left, and like two sea-
swallows sported round him. And his horse cast up four sods with
his four hoofs, like four swallows in the air about his head, now
above, now below. About him was a robe of purple, and an apple of
gold was at each corner, and every one of the apples was of the
value of a hundred cows. And the blades of grass bent not beneath
him, so light were his horse's feet as he journeyed toward the
gate of Arthur's palace.

'Is there a porter?' cried Kilweh, looking round for someone to
open the gate.

'There is; and I am Arthur's porter every first day of January,'
answered a man coming out to him. 'The rest of the year there are
other porters, and among them Pennpingyon, who goes upon his head
to save his feet.'

'Well, open the portal, I say.'

'No, that I may not do, for none can enter save the son of a king
or a pedlar who has goods to sell. But elsewhere there will be
food for thy dogs and hay for thy horse, and for thee collops
cooked and peppered, and sweet wine shall be served in the guest
chamber.'

'That will not do for me,' answered Kilweh. 'If thou wilt not
open the gate I will send up three shouts that shall be heard
from Cornwall unto the north, and yet again to Ireland.'

'Whatsoever clamour thou mayest make,' spake Glewlwyd the porter,
'thou shalt not enter until I first go and speak with Arthur.'

Then Glewlwyd went into the hall, and Arthur said to him:

'Hast thou news from the gate?' and the porter answered:

'Far have I travelled, both in this island and elsewhere, and
many kingly men have I seen; but never yet have I beheld one
equal in majesty to him who now stands at the door.'

'If walking thou didst enter here, return thou running,' replied
Arthur, 'and let everyone that opens and shuts the eye show him
respect and serve him, for it is not meet to keep such a man in
the wind and rain.' So Glewlwyd unbarred the gate and Kilweh rode
in upon his charger.

'Greeting unto thee, O ruler of this land,' cried he, 'and
greeting no less to the lowest than to the highest.'

'Greeting to thee also,' answered Arthur. 'Sit thou between two
of my warriors, and thou shalt have minstrels before thee and all
that belongs to one born to be a king, while thou remainest in my
palace.'

'I am not come,' replied Kilweh, 'for meat and drink, but to
obtain a boon, and if thou grant it me I will pay it back, and
will carry thy praise to the four winds of heaven. But if thou
wilt not grant it to me, then I will proclaim thy discourtesy
wherever thy name is known.'

'What thou askest that shalt thou receive,' said Arthur, 'as far
as the wind dries and the rain moistens, and the sun revolves and
the sea encircles and the earth extends. Save only my ship and my
mantle, my word and my lance, my shield and my dagger, and
Guinevere my wife.'

'I would that thou bless my hair,' spake Kilweh, and Arthur
answered:

'That shall be granted thee.'

Forthwith he bade his men fetch him a comb of gold and a scissors
with loops of silver, and he combed the hair of Kilweh his guest.

'Tell me who thou art,' he said, 'for my heart warms to thee, and
I feel thou art come of my blood.'

'I am Kilweh, son of Kilydd,' replied the youth.

'Then my cousin thou art in truth,' replied Arthur, 'and
whatsoever boon thou mayest ask thou shalt receive.'

'The boon I crave is that thou mayest win for me Olwen, the
daughter of Yspaddaden Penkawr, and this boon I seek likewise at
the hands of thy warriors. From Sol, who can stand all day upon
one foot; from Ossol, who, if he were to find himself on the top
of the highest mountain in the world, could make it into a level
plain in the beat of a bird's wing; from Cluse, who, though he
were buried under the earth, could yet hear the ant leave her
nest fifty miles away: from these and from Kai and from Bedwyr
and from all thy mighty men I crave this boon.'

'O Kilweh,' said Arthur, 'never have I heard of the maiden of
whom thou speakest, nor of her kindred, but I will send
messengers to seek her if thou wilt give me time.'

'From this night to the end of the year right willingly will I
grant thee,' replied Kilweh; but when the end of the year came
and the messengers returned Kilweh was wroth, and spoke rough
words to Arthur.

It was Kai, the boldest of the warriors and the swiftest of foot-
- he would could pass nine nights without sleep, and nine days
beneath the water--that answered him:

'Rash youth that thou art, darest thou speak thus to Arthur? Come
with us, and we will not part company till we have won that
maiden, or till thou confess that there is none such in the
world.'

Then Arthur summoned his five best men and bade them go with
Kilweh. There was Bedwyr the one-handed, Kai's comrade and
brother in arms, the swiftest man in Britain save Arthur; there
was Kynddelig, who knew the paths in a land where he had never
been as surely as he did those of his own country; there was
Gwrhyr, that could speak all tongues; and Gwalchmai the son of
Gwyar, who never returned till he had gained what he sought; and
last of all there was Menw, who could weave a spell over them so
that none might see them, while they could see everyone.

So these seven journeyed together till they reached a vast open
plain in which was a fair castle. But though it seemed so close
it was not until the evening of the third day that they really
drew near to it, and in front of it a flock of sheep was spread,
so many in number that there seemed no end to them. A shepherd
stood on a mound watching over them, and by his side was a dog,
as large as a horse nine winters old.

'Whose is this castle, O herdsmen?' asked the knights.

'Stupid are ye truly,' answered the herdsman. 'All the world
knows that this is the castle of Yspaddaden Penkawr.'

'And who art thou?'

'I am called Custennin, brother of Yspaddaden, and ill has he
treated me. And who are you, and what do you here?'

'We come from Arthur the king, to seek Olwen the daughter of
Yspaddaden,' but at this news the shepherd gave a cry:

'O men, be warned and turn back while there is yet time. Others
have gone on that quest, but none have escaped to tell the tale,'
and he rose to his feet as if to leave them. Then Kilweh held out
to him a ring of gold, and he tried to put it on his finger, but
it was too small, so he placed it in his glove, and went home and
gave it to his wife.

'Whence came this ring?' asked she, 'for such good luck is not
wont to befall thee.'

'The man to whom this ring belonged thou shalt see here in the
evening,' answered the shepherd; 'he is Kilweh, son of Kilydd,
cousin to king Arthur, and he has come to seek Olwen.' And when
the wife heard that she knew that Kilweh was her nephew, and her
heart yearned after him, half with joy at the thought of seeing
him, and half with sorrow for the doom she feared.

Soon they heard steps approaching, and Kai and the rest entered
into the house and ate and drank. After that the woman opened a
chest, and out of it came a youth with curling yellow hair.

'It is a pity to hid him thus,' said Gwrhyr, 'for well I know
that he has done no evil.'

'Three and twenty of my sons has Yspaddaden slain, and I have no
more hope of saving this one,' replied she, and Kai was full of
sorrow and answered:

'Let him come with me and be my comrade, and he shall never be
slain unless I am slain also.' And so it was agreed.

'What is your errand here?' asked the woman.

'We seek Olwen the maiden for this youth,' answered Kai; 'does
she ever come hither so that she may be seen?'

'She comes every Saturday to wash her hair, and in the vessel
where she washes she leaves all her rings, and never does she so
much as send a messenger to fetch them.'

'Will she come if she is bidden?' asked Kai, pondering.

'She will come; but unless you pledge me your faith that you will
not harm her I will not fetch her.'

'We pledge it,' said they, and the maiden came.

A fair sight was she in a robe of flame-coloured silk, with a
collar of ruddy gold about her neck, bright with emeralds and
rubies. More yellow was her head than the flower of the broom,
and her skin was whiter than the foam of the wave, and fairer
were her hands than the blossoms of the wood anemone. Four white
trefoils sprang up where she trod, and therefore was she called
Olwen.

She entered, and sat down on a bench beside Kilweh, and he spake
to her:

'Ah, maiden, since first I heard thy name I have loved thee--wilt
thou not come away with me from this evil place?'

'That I cannot do,' answered she, 'for I have given my word to my
father not to go without his knowledge, for his life will only
last till I am betrothed. Whatever is, must be, but this counsel
I will give you. Go, and ask me of my father, and whatsoever he
shall required of thee grant it, and thou shalt win me; but if
thou deny him anything thou wilt not obtain me, and it will be
well for thee if thou escape with thy life.'

'All this I promise,' said he.

So she returned to the castle, and all Arthur's men went after
her, and entered the hall.

'Greeting to thee, Yspaddaden Penkawr,' said they. 'We come to
ask thy daughter Olwen for Kilweh, son of Kilydd.'

'Come hither to-morrow and I will answer you,' replied Yspaddaden
Penkawr, and as they rose to leave the hall he caught up one of
the three poisoned darts that lay beside him and flung it in
their midst. But Bedwyr saw and caught it, and flung it back so
hard that it pierced the knee of Yspaddaden.

'A gentle son-in-law, truly!' he cried, writhing with pain. 'I
shall ever walk the worse for this rudeness. Cursed be the smith
who forged it, and the anvil on which it was wrought!'

That night the men slept in the house of Custennin the herdsman,
and the next day they proceeded to the castle, and entered the
hall, and said:

'Yspaddaden Penkawr, give us thy daughter and thou shalt keep her
dower. And unless thou wilt do this we will slay thee.'

'Her four great grandmothers and her four great grandfathers yet
live,' answered Yspaddaden Penkawr; 'it is needful that I take
counsel with them.'

'Be it so; we will go to meat,' but as they turned he took up the
second dart that lay by his side and cast it after them. And Menw
caught it, and flung it at him, and wounded him in the chest, so
that it came out at his back.

'A gentle son-in-law, truly!' cried Yspaddaden, 'the iron pains
me like the bite of a horse-leech. Cursed be the hearth whereon
it was heated, and the smith who formed it!'
The third day Arthur's men returned to the palace into the
presence of Yspaddaden.

'Shoot not at me again,' said he, 'unless you desire death. But
lift up my eyebrows, which have fallen over my eyes, that I may
see my son-in-law.' Then they arose, and as they did so
Yspaddaden Penkawr took the third poisoned dart and cast it at
them. And Kilweh caught it, and flung it back, and it passed
through his eyeball, and came out on the other side of his head.

'A gentle son-in-law, truly! Cursed be the fire in which it was
forged and the man who fashioned it!'

The next day Arthur's men came again to the palace and said:

'Shoot not at us any more unless thou desirest more pain than
even now thou hast, but give us thy daughter without more words.'

'Where is he that seeks my daughter? Let him come hither so that
I may see him.' And Kilweh sat himself in a chair and spoke face
to face with him.

'Is it thou that seekest my daughter?'

'It is I,' answered Kilweh.

'First give me thy word that thou wilt do nothing towards me that
is not just, and when thou hast won for me that which I shall
ask, then thou shalt wed my daughter.'

'I promise right willingly,' said Kilweh. 'Name what thou wilt.'

'Seest thou yonder hill? Well, in one day it shall be rooted up
and ploughed and sown, and the grain shall ripen, and of that
wheat I will bake the cakes for my daughter's wedding.'

'It will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest
deem it will not be easy,' answered Kilweh, thinking of Ossol,
under whose feet the highest mountain became straightway a plain,
but Yspaddaden paid no heed, and continued:

'Seest thou that field yonder? When my daughter was born nine
bushels of flax were sown therein, and not one blade has sprung
up. I require thee to sow fresh flax in the ground that my
daughter may wear a veil spun from it on the day of her wedding.'

'It will be easy for me to compass this.'

'Though thou compass this there is that which thou wilt not
compass. For thou must bring me the basket of Gwyddneu Garanhir
which will give meat to the whole world. It is for thy wedding
feast. Thou must also fetch me the drinking-horn that is never
empty, and the harp that never ceases to play until it is bidden.
Also the comb and scissors and razor that lie between the two
ears of Trwyth the boar, so that I may arrange my hair for the
wedding. And though thou get this yet there is that which thou
wilt not get, for Trwyth the boar will not let any man take from
him the comb and the scissors, unless Drudwyn the whelp hunt him.
But no leash in the world can hold Drudwyn save the leash of Cant
Ewin, and no collar will hold the leash except the collar of
Canhastyr.'

'It will be easy for me to compass this, though thou mayest think
it will not be easy,' Kilweh answered him.

'Though thou get all these things yet there is that which thou
wilt not get. Throughout the world there is none that can hunt
with this dog save Mabon the son of Modron. He was taken from his
mother when three nights old, and it is not know where he now is,
nor whether he is living or dead, and though thou find him yet
the boar will never be slain save only with the sword of Gwrnach
the giant, and if thou obtain it not neither shalt thou obtain my
daughter.'

'Horses shall I have, and knights from my lord Arthur. And I
shall gain thy daughter, and thou shalt lose thy life.'

The speech of Kilweh the son of Kilydd with Yspaddaden Penkawr
was ended.

Then Arthur's men set forth, and Kilweh with them, and journeyed
till they reached the largest castle in the world, and a black
man came out to meet them.

'Whence comest thou, O man?' asked they, 'and whose is that
castle?'

'That is the castle of Gwrnach the giant, as all the world
knows,' answered the man, 'but no guest ever returned thence
alive, and none may enter the gate except a craftsman, who brings
his trade.' But little did Arthur's men heed his warning, and
they went straight to the gate.

'Open!' cried Gwrhyr.

'I will not open,' replied the porter.

'And wherefore?' asked Kai.

'The knife is in the meat, and the drink is in the horn, and
there is revelry in the hall of Gwrnach the giant, and save for a
craftsman who brings his trade the gate will not be opened to-
night.'

'Verily, then, I may enter,' said Kai, 'for there is no better
burnisher of swords than I.'

'This will I tell Gwrnach the giant, and I will bring thee his
answer.'

'Bid the man come before me,' cried Gwrnach, when the porter had
told his tale, 'for my sword stands much in need of polishing,'
so Kai passed in and saluted Gwrnach the giant.

'Is it true what I hear of thee, that thou canst burnish swords?'

'It is true,' answered Kai. Then was the sword of Gwrnach brought
to him.

'Shall it be burnished white or blue?' said Kai, taking a
whetstone from under his arm.

'As thou wilt,' answered the giant, and speedily did Kai polish
half the sword. The giant marvelled at his skill, and said:

'It is a wonder that such a man as thou shouldst be without a
companion.'

'I have a companion, noble sir, but he has no skill in this art.'

'What is his name?' asked the giant.

'Let the porter go forth, and I will tell him how he may know
him. The head of his lance will leave its shaft, and draw blood
from the wind, and descend upon its shaft again.' So the porter
opened the gate and Bedwyr entered.

Now there was much talk amongst those who remained without when
the gate closed upon Bedwyr, and Goreu, son of Custennin,
prevailed with the porter, and he and his companions got in also
and hid themselves.

By this time the whole of the sword was polished, and Kai gave it
into the hand of Gwrnach the giant, who felt it and said:

'Thy work is good; I am content.'

Then said Kai:

'It is thy scabbard that hath rusted thy sword; give it to me
that I may take out the wooden sides of it and put in new ones.'
And he took the scabbard in one hand and the sword in the other,
and came and stood behind the giant, as if he would have sheathed
the sword in the scabbard. But with it he struck a blow at the
head of the giant, and it rolled from his body. After that they
despoiled the castle of its gold and jewels, and returned,
bearing the sword of the giant, to Arthur's court.

They told Arthur how they had sped, and they all took counsel
together, and agreed that they must set out on the quest for
Mabon the son of Modron, and Gwrhyr, who knew the languages of
beasts and of birds, went with them. SO they journeyed until they
came to the nest of an ousel, and Gwrhyr spoke to her.

'Tell me if thou knowest aught of Mabon the son of Modron, who
was taken when three nights old from between his mother and the
wall.'

And the ousel answered:

'When I first came here I was a young bird, and there was a
smith's anvil in this place. But from that time no work has been
done upon it, save that every evening I have pecked at it, till
now there is not so much as the size of a nut remaining thereof.
Yet all that time I have never once heard of the man you name.
Still, there is a race of beasts older than I, and I will guide
you to them.'

So the ousel flew before them, till she reached the stag of
Redynvre; but when they inquired of the stag whether he knew
aught of Mabon he shook his head.

'When first I came hither,' said he, 'the plain was bare save for
one oak sapling, which grew up to be an oak with a hundred
branches. All that is left of that oak is a withered stump, but
never once have I heard of the man you name. Nevertheless, as you
are Arthur's men, I will guide you to the place where there is an
animal older than I'; and the stag ran before them till he
reached the owl of Cwm Cawlwyd. But when they inquired of the owl
if he knew aught of Mabon he shook his head.

'When first I came hither,' said he, 'the valley was a wooded
glen; then a race of men came and rooted it up. After that there
grew a second wood, and then a third, which you see. Look at my
wings also--are they not withered stumps? Yet until to-day I have
never heard of the man you name. Still, I will guide you to the
oldest animal in the world, and the one that has travelled most,
the eagle of Gwern Abbey.' And he flew before them, as fast as
his old wings would carry him, till he reached the eagle of Gwern
Abbey, but when they inquired of the eagle whether he knew aught
of Mabon he shook his head.

'When I first came hither,' said the eagle, 'there was a rock
here, and every evening I pecked at the stars from the top of it.
Now, behold, it is not even a span high! But only once have I
heard of the man you name, and that was when I went in search of
food as far as Llyn Llyw. I swooped down upon a salmon, and
struck my claws into him, but he drew me down under water till
scarcely could I escape him. Then I summoned all my kindred to
destroy him, but he made peace with me, and I took fifty fish
spears from his back. Unless he may know something of the man
whom you seek I cannot tell who may. But I will guide you to the
place where he is.'

So they followed the eagle, who flew before them, though so high
was he in the sky, it was often hard to mark his flight. At
length he stopped above a deep pool in a river.

'Salmon of Llyn Llyw,' he called, 'I have come to thee with an
embassy from Arthur to inquire if thou knowest aught concerning
Mabon the son of Modron.' And the salmon answered:

'As much as I know I will tell thee. With every tide I go up the
river, till I reach the walls of Gloucester, and there have I
found such wrong as I never found elsewhere. And that you may see
that what I say is true let two of you go thither on my
shoulders.' So Kai and Gwrhyr went upon the shoulders of the
salmon, and were carried under the walls of the prison, from
which proceeded the sound of great weeping.

'Who is it that thus laments in this house of stone?'

'It is I, Mabon the son of Modron.'

'Will silver or gold bring thy freedom, or only battle and
fighting?' asked Gwrhyr again.

'By fighting alone shall I be set free,' said Mabon.

Then they sent a messenger to Arthur to tell him that Mabon was
found, and he brought all his warriors to the castle of
Gloucester and fell fiercely upon it; while Kai and Bedwyr went
on the shoulders of the salmon to the gate of the dungeon, and
broke it down and carried away Mabon. And he now being free
returned home with Arthur.

After this, on a certain day, as Gwythyr was walking across a
mountain he heard a grievous cry, and he hastened towards it. In
a little valley he saw the heather burning and the fire spreading
fast towards the anthill, and all the ants were hurrying to and
fro, not knowing whither to go. Gwythyr had pity on them, and put
out the fire, and in gratitude the ants brought him the nine
bushels of flax seed which Yspaddaden Penkawr required of Kilweh.
And many of the other marvels were done likewise by Arthur and
his knights, and at last it came to the fight with Trwyth the
board, to obtain the comb and the scissors and the razor that lay
between his ears. But hard was the boar to catch, and fiercely
did he fight when Arthur's men gave him battle, so that many of
them were slain.

Up and down the country went Trwyth the boar, and Arthur followed
after him, till they came to the Severn sea. There three knights
caught his feet unawares and plunged him into the water, while
one snatched the razor from him, and another seized the scissors.
But before they laid hold of the comb he had shaken them all off,
and neither man nor horse nor dog could reach him till he came to
Cornwall, whither Arthur had sworn he should not go. Thither
Arthur followed after him with his knights, and if it had been
hard to win the razor and the scissors, the struggle for the comb
was fiercer still, but at length Arthur prevailed, and the boar
was driven into the sea. And whether he was drowned or where he
went no man knows to this day.

In the end all the marvels were done, and Kilweh set forward, and
with him Goreu, the son of Custennin, to Yspaddaden Penkawr,
bearing in their hands the razor, the scissors and the comb, and
Yspaddaden Penkawr was shaved by Kaw.

'Is thy daughter mine now?' asked Kilweh.

'She is thine,' answered Yspaddaden, 'but it is Arthur and none
other who has won her for thee. Of my own free will thou shouldst
never have had her, for now I must lose my life.' And as he spake
Goreu the son of Custennin cut off his head, as if had been ordained,
and Arthur's hosts returned each man to his own country.



From the 'Mabinogion.'





End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Lilac Fairy Book, by Andrew Lang