shame, and so would I be, if you took a goose-girl for your wife! Go and
ask one of the great ladies you will see to-night at the King's ball,
and do not flout poor Tattercoats."
But the more she refused him the sweeter the pipe played, and the deeper
the young man fell in love; till at last he begged her to come that
night at twelve to the King's ball, just as she was, with the gooseherd
and his geese, in her torn petticoat and bare feet, and see if he
wouldn't dance with her before the King and the lords and ladies, and
present her to them all, as his dear and honoured bride.
[Illustration: Tattercoats dancing while the gooseherd pipes]
Now at first Tattercoats said she would not; but the gooseherd said,
"Take fortune when it comes, little one."
So when night came, and the hall in the castle was full of light and
music, and the lords and ladies were dancing before the King, just as
the clock struck twelve, Tattercoats and the gooseherd, followed by his
flock of noisy geese, hissing and swaying their heads, entered at the
great doors, and walked straight up the ball-room, while on either side
the ladies whispered, the lords laughed, and the King seated at the far
end stared in amazement.
But as they came in front of the throne Tattercoats' lover rose from
beside the King, and came to meet her. Taking her by the hand, he kissed
her thrice before them all, and turned to the King.
"Father!" he said--for it was the Prince himself--"I have made my
choice, and here is my bride, the loveliest girl in all the land, and
the sweetest as well!"
Before he had finished speaking, the gooseherd had put his pipe to his
lips and played a few notes that sounded like a bird singing far off in
the woods; and as he played Tattercoats' rags were changed to shining
robes sewn with glittering jewels, a golden crown lay upon her golden
hair, and the flock of geese behind her became a crowd of dainty pages,
bearing her long train.
And as the King rose to greet her as his daughter the trumpets sounded
loudly in honour of the new Princess, and the people outside in the
street said to each other:
"Ah! now the Prince has chosen for his wife the loveliest girl in all
the land!"
But the gooseherd was never seen again, and no one knew what became of
him; while the old lord went home once more to his Palace by the sea,
for he could not stay at Court, when he had sworn never to look on his
granddaughter's face.
So there he still sits by his window,--if you could only see him, as you
may some day--weeping more bitterly than ever. And his white hair has
bound him to the stones, and the river of his tears runs away to the
great sea.
THE THREE FEATHERS
Once upon a time there lived a girl who was wooed and married by a man
she never saw; for he came a-courting her after nightfall, and when they
were married he never came home till it was dark, and always left before
dawn.
Still he was good and kind to her, giving her everything her heart could
desire, so she was well content for a while. But, after a bit, some of
her friends, doubtless full of envy for her good luck, began to whisper
that the unseen husband must have something dreadful the matter with him
which made him averse to being seen.
Now from the very beginning the girl had wondered why her lover did not
come a-courting her as other girls' lovers came, openly and by day, and
though, at first, she paid no heed to her neighbours' nods and winks,
she began at last to think there might be something in what they said.
So she determined to see for herself, and one night when she heard her
husband come into her room, she lit her candle suddenly and saw him.
And, lo and behold! he was handsome as handsome; beautiful enough to
make every woman in the world fall in love with him on the spot. But
even as she got her glimpse of him, he changed into a big brown bird
which looked at her with eyes full of anger and blame.
"Because you have done this faithless thing," it said, "you will see me
no more, unless for seven long years and a day you serve for me
faithfully."
And she cried with tears and sobs, "I will serve seven times seven years
and a day if you will only come back. Tell me what I am to do."
Then the bird-husband said, "I will place you in service, and there you
must remain and do good work for seven years and a day, and you must
listen to no man who may seek to beguile you to leave that service. If
you do I will never return."
To this the girl agreed, and the bird, spreading its broad brown wings,
carried her to a big mansion.
"Here they need a laundry-maid," said the bird-husband. "Go in, ask to
see the mistress, and say you will do the work; but remember you must do
it for seven years and a day."
"But I cannot do it for seven days," answered the girl. "I cannot wash
or iron."
"That matters nothing," replied the bird. "All you have to do is to
pluck three feathers from under my wing close to my heart, and these
feathers will do your bidding whatever it may be. You will only have to
put them on your hand, and say, 'By virtue of these three feathers from
over my true love's heart may this be done,' and it will be done."
So the girl plucked three feathers from under the bird's wing, and after
that the bird flew away.
Then the girl did as she was bidden, and the lady of the house engaged
her for the place. And never was such a quick laundress; for, see you,
she had only to go into the wash-house, bolt the door and close the
shutters, so that no one should see what she was at; then she would out
with the three feathers and say, "By virtue of these three feathers from
over my true love's heart may the copper be lit, the clothes sorted,
washed, boiled, dried, folded, mangled, ironed," and lo! there they came
tumbling on to the table, clean and white, quite ready to be put away.
So her mistress set great store by her and said there never was such a
good laundry-maid. Thus four years passed and there was no talk of her
leaving. But the other servants grew jealous of her, all the more so,
because, being a very pretty girl, all the men-servants fell in love
with her and wanted to marry her.
But she would have none of them, because she was always waiting and
longing for the day when her bird-husband would come back to her in
man's form.
Now one of the men who wanted her was the stout butler, and one day as
he was coming back from the cider-house he chanced to stop by the
laundry, and he heard a voice say, "By virtue of these three feathers
from over my true love's heart may the copper be lit, the clothes
sorted, boiled, dried, folded, mangled, and ironed."
He thought this very queer, so he peeped through the keyhole. And there
was the girl sitting at her ease in a chair, while all the clothes came
flying to the table ready and fit to put away.
Well, that night he went to the girl and said that if she turned up her
nose at him and his proposal any longer, he would up and tell the
mistress that her fine laundress was nothing but a witch; and then, even
if she were not burnt alive, she would lose her place.
Now the girl was in great distress what to do, since if she were not
faithful to her bird-husband, or if she failed to serve her seven years
and a day in one service, he would alike fail to return; so she made an
excuse by saying she could think of no one who did not give her enough
money to satisfy her.
At this the stout butler laughed. "Money?" said he. "I have seventy
pounds laid by with master. Won't that satisfy thee?"
"Happen it would," she replied.
So the very next night the butler came to her with the seventy pounds in
golden sovereigns, and she held out her apron and took them, saying she
was content; for she had thought of a plan. Now as they were going
upstairs together she stopped and said:
"Mr. Butler, excuse me for a minute. I have left the shutters of the
wash-house open, and I must shut them, or they will be banging all night
and disturb master and missus!"
Now though the butler was stout and beginning to grow old, he was
anxious to seem young and gallant; so he said at once:
"Excuse me, my beauty, you shall not go. I will go and shut them. I
shan't be a moment!"
So off he set, and no sooner had he gone than she out with her three
feathers, and putting them on her hand, said in a hurry:
"By virtue of the three feathers from over my true love's heart may the
shutters never cease banging till morning, and may Mr. Butler's hands be
busy trying to shut them."
And so it happened.
Mr. Butler shut the shutters, but--bru-u-u! there they were hanging open
again. Then he shut them once more, and this time they hit him on the
face as they flew open. Yet he couldn't stop; he had to go on. So there
he was the whole livelong night. Such a cursing, and banging, and
swearing, and shutting, never was, until dawn came, and, too tired to be
really angry, he crept back to his bed, resolving that come what might
he would not tell what had happened to him and thus get the laugh on
him. So he kept his own counsel, and the girl kept the seventy pounds,
and laughed in her sleeve at her would-be lover.
Now after a time the coachman, a spruce middle-aged man, who had long
wanted to marry the clever, pretty laundry-maid, going to the pump to
get water for his horses overheard her giving orders to the three
feathers, and peeping through the keyhole as the butler had done, saw
her sitting at her ease in a chair while the clothes, all washed and
ironed and mangled, came flying to the table.
So, just as the butler had done, he went to the girl and said, "I have
you now, my pretty. Don't dare to turn up your nose at me, for if you do
I'll tell mistress you are a witch."
Then the girl said quite calmly, "I look on none who has no money."
"If that is all," replied the coachman, "I have forty pounds laid by
with master. That I'll bring and ask for payment to-morrow night."
So when the night came the girl held out her apron for the money, and as
she was going up the stairs she stopped suddenly and said, "Goody me!
I've left my clothes on the line. Stop a bit till I fetch them in."
Now the coachman was really a very polite fellow, so he said at once:
"Let me go. It is a cold, windy night and you'll be catching your
death."
So off he went, and the girl out with her feathers and said:
"By virtue of the three feathers from over my true love's heart may the
clothes slash and blow about till dawn, and may Mr. Coachman not be able
to gather them up or take his hand from the job."
And when she had said this she went quietly to bed, for she knew what
would happen. And sure enough it did. Never was such a night as Mr.
Coachman spent with the wet clothes flittering and fluttering about his
ears, and the sheets wrapping him into a bundle, and tripping him up,
while the towels slashed at his legs. But though he smarted all over he
had to go on till dawn came, and then a very weary, woebegone coachman
couldn't even creep away to his bed, for he had to feed and water his
horses! And he, also, kept his own counsel for fear of the laugh going
against him; so the clever laundry-maid put the forty pounds with the
seventy in her box, and went on with her work gaily. But after a time
the footman, who was quite an honest lad and truly in love, going by the
laundry peeped through the keyhole to get a glimpse of his dearest dear,
and what should he see but her sitting at her ease in a chair, and the
clothes coming all ready folded and ironed on to the table.
Now when he saw this he was greatly troubled. So he went to his master
and drew out all his savings; and then he went to the girl and told her
that he would have to tell the mistress what he had seen, unless she
consented to marry him.
"You see," he said, "I have been with master this while back, and have
saved up this bit, and you have been here this long while back and must
have saved as well. So let us put the two together and make a home, or
else stay on at service as pleases you."
Well, she tried to put him off; but he insisted so much that at last she
said:
"James! there's a dear, run down to the cellar and fetch me a drop of
brandy. You've made me feel so queer!" And when he had gone she out
with her three feathers, and said, "By virtue of the three feathers from
over my true love's heart may James not be able to pour the brandy
straight, except down his throat."
Well! so it happened. Try as he would, James could not get the brandy
into the glass. It splashed a few drops into it, then it trickled over
his hand, and fell on the floor. And so it went on and on till he grew
so tired that he thought he needed a dram himself. So he tossed off the
few drops and began again; but he fared no better. So he took another
little drain, and went on, and on, and on, till he got quite fuddled.
And who should come down into the cellar but his master to know what the
smell of brandy meant!
Now James the footman was truthful as well as honest, so he told the
master how he had come down to get the sick laundry-maid a drop of
brandy, but that his hand had shaken so that he could not pour it out,
and it had fallen on the ground, and that the smell of it had got to his
head.
"A likely tale," said the master, and beat James soundly.
Then the master went to the mistress, his wife, and said: "Send away
that laundry-maid of yours. Something has come over my men. They have
all drawn out their savings as if they were going to be married, yet
they don't leave, and I believe that girl is at the bottom of it."
But his wife would not hear of the laundry-maid being blamed; she was
the best servant in the house, and worth all the rest of them put
together; it was his men who were at fault. So they quarrelled over it;
but in the end the master gave in, and after this there was peace, since
the mistress bade the girl keep herself to herself, and none of the men
would say ought of what had happened for fear of the laughter of the
other servants.
So it went on until one day when the master was going a-driving, the
coach was at the door, and the footman was standing to hold the coach
open, and the butler on the steps all ready, when who should pass
through the yard, so saucy and bright with a great basket of clean
clothes, but the laundry-maid. And the sight of her was too much for
James, the footman, who began to blub.
"She is a wicked girl," he said. "She got all my savings, and got me a
good thrashing besides."
Then the coachman grew bold. "Did she?" he said. "That was nothing to
what she served me." So he up and told all about the wet clothes and the
awful job he had had the livelong night. Now the butler on the steps
swelled with rage until he nearly burst, and at last he out with his
night of banging shutters.
"And one," he said, "hit me on the nose."
This settled the three men, and they agreed to tell their master the
moment he came out, and get the girl sent about her business. Now the
laundry-maid had sharp ears and had paused behind a door to listen; so
when she heard this she knew she must do something to stop it. So she
out with her three feathers and said, "By virtue of the three feathers
from over my true love's heart may there be striving as to who suffered
most between the men so that they get into the pond for a ducking."
Well! no sooner had she said the words than the three men began
disputing as to which of them had been served the worst; then James up
and hit the stout butler, giving him a black eye, and the fat butler
fell upon James and pommelled him hard, while the coachman scrambled
from his box and belaboured them both, and the laundry-maid stood by
laughing.
So out comes the master, but none of them would listen, and each wanted
to be heard, and fought, and shoved, and pommelled away until they
shoved each other into the pond, and all got a fine ducking.
Then the master asked the girl what it was all about, and she said:
"They all wanted to tell a story against me because I won't marry them,
and one said his was the best, and the next said his was the best, so
they fell a-quarrelling as to which was the likeliest story to get me
into trouble. But they are well punished, so there is no need to do
more."
Then the master went to his wife and said, "You are right. That
laundry-maid of yours is a very wise girl."
So the butler and the coachman and James had nothing to do but look
sheepish and hold their tongues, and the laundry-maid went on with her
duties without further trouble.
Then when the seven years and a day were over, who should drive up to
the door in a fine gilded coach but the bird-husband restored to his
shape as a handsome young man. And he carried the laundry-maid off to be
his wife again, and her master and mistress were so pleased at her good
fortune that they ordered all the other servants to stand on the steps
and give her good luck. So as she passed the butler she put a bag with
seventy pounds in it into his hand and said sweetly, "That is to
recompense you for shutting the shutters."
And when she passed the coachman she put a bag with forty pounds into
his hand and said, "That is your reward for bringing in the clothes."
But when she passed the footman she gave him a bag with a hundred pounds
in it, and laughed, saying, "That is for the drop of brandy you never
brought me!"
So she drove off with her handsome husband, and lived happy ever after.
LAZY JACK
Once upon a time there was a boy whose name was Jack, and he lived with
his mother on a common. They were very poor, and the old woman got her
living by spinning, but Jack was so lazy that he would do nothing but
bask in the sun in the hot weather, and sit by the corner of the hearth
in the winter-time. So they called him Lazy Jack. His mother could not
get him to do anything for her, and at last told him, one Monday, that
if he did not begin to work for his porridge she would turn him out to
get his living as he could.
This roused Jack, and he went out and hired himself for the next day to
a neighbouring farmer for a penny; but as he was coming home, never
having had any money before, he lost it in passing over a brook.
"You stupid boy," said his mother, "you should have put it in your
pocket."
"I'll do so another time," replied Jack.
Well, the next day, Jack went out again and hired himself to a
cowkeeper, who gave him a jar of milk for his day's work. Jack took the
jar and put it into the large pocket of his jacket, spilling it all,
long before he got home.
"Dear me!" said the old woman; "you should have carried it on your
head."
"I'll do so another time," said Jack.
So the following day, Jack hired himself again to a farmer, who agreed
to give him a cream cheese for his services. In the evening Jack took
the cheese, and went home with it on his head. By the time he got home
the cheese was all spoilt, part of it being lost, and part matted with
his hair.
"You stupid lout," said his mother, "you should have carried it very
carefully in your hands."
"I'll do so another time," replied Jack.
Now the next day, Lazy Jack again went out, and hired himself to a
baker, who would give him nothing for his work but a large tom-cat. Jack
took the cat, and began carrying it very carefully in his hands, but in
a short time pussy scratched him so much that he was compelled to let it
go.
When he got home, his mother said to him, "You silly fellow, you should
have tied it with a string, and dragged it along after you."
"I'll do so another time," said Jack.
So on the following day, Jack hired himself to a butcher, who rewarded
him by the handsome present of a shoulder of mutton. Jack took the
mutton, tied it with a string, and trailed it along after him in the
dirt, so that by the time he had got home the meat was completely
spoilt. His mother was this time quite out of patience with him, for the
next day was Sunday, and she was obliged to do with cabbage for her
dinner.
[Illustration: Jack found it hard to hoist the donkey on his shoulders]
"You ninney-hammer," said she to her son, "you should have carried it on
your shoulder."
"I'll do so another time," replied Jack.
Well, on the Monday, Lazy Jack went once more and hired himself to a
cattle-keeper, who gave him a donkey for his trouble. Now though Jack
was strong he found it hard to hoist the donkey on his shoulders, but at
last he did it, and began walking home slowly with his prize. Now it so
happened that in the course of his journey he passed a house where a
rich man lived with his only daughter, a beautiful girl, who was deaf
and dumb. And she had never laughed in her life, and the doctors said
she would never speak till somebody made her laugh. So the father had
given out that any man who made her laugh would receive her hand in
marriage. Now this young lady happened to be looking out of the window
when Jack was passing by with the donkey on his shoulders; and the poor
beast with its legs sticking up in the air was kicking violently and
heehawing with all its might. Well, the sight was so comical that she
burst out into a great fit of laughter, and immediately recovered her
speech and hearing. Her father was overjoyed, and fulfilled his promise
by marrying her to Lazy Jack, who was thus made a rich gentleman. They
lived in a large house, and Jack's mother lived with them in great
happiness until she died.
[Illustration: The giant Cormoran was the terror of all the country-side]
JACK THE GIANT-KILLER
I
When good King Arthur reigned with Guinevere his Queen, there lived,
near the Land's End in Cornwall, a farmer who had one only son called
Jack. Now Jack was brisk and ready; of such a lively wit that none nor
nothing could worst him.
In those days, the Mount of St. Michael in Cornwall was the fastness of
a hugeous giant whose name was Cormoran.
He was full eighteen feet in height, some three yards about his middle,
of a grim fierce face, and he was the terror of all the country-side. He
lived in a cave amidst the rocky Mount, and when he desired victuals he
would wade across the tides to the mainland and furnish himself forth
with all that came in his way. The poor folk and the rich folk alike ran
out of their houses and hid themselves when they heard the swish-swash
of his big feet in the water; for if he saw them, he would think nothing
of broiling half-a-dozen or so of them for breakfast. As it was, he
seized their cattle by the score, carrying off half-a-dozen fat oxen on
his back at a time, and hanging sheep and pigs to his waistbelt like
bunches of dip-candles. Now this had gone on for long years, and the
poor folk of Cornwall were in despair, for none could put an end to the
giant Cormoran.
It so happened that one market day Jack, then quite a young lad, found
the town upside down over some new exploit of the giant's. Women were
weeping, men were cursing, and the magistrates were sitting in Council
over what was to be done. But none could suggest a plan. Then Jack,
blithe and gay, went up to the magistrates, and with a fine
courtesy--for he was ever polite--asked them what reward would be given
to him who killed the giant Cormoran.
"The treasures of the Giant's Cave," quoth they.
"Every whit of it?" quoth Jack, who was never to be done.
"To the last farthing," quoth they.
"Then will I undertake the task," said Jack, and forthwith set about the
business.
It was winter-time, and having got himself a horn, a pickaxe, and a
shovel, he went over to the Mount in the dark evening, set to work, and
before dawn he had dug a pit, no less than twenty-two feet deep and nigh
as big across. This he covered with long thin sticks and straw,
sprinkling a little loose mould over all to make it look like solid
ground. So, just as dawn was breaking, he planted himself fair and
square on the side of the pit that was farthest from the giant's cave,
raised the horn to his lips, and with full blast sounded:
"Tantivy! Tantivy! Tantivy!"
just as he would have done had he been hunting a fox.
Of course this woke the giant, who rushed in a rage out of his cave, and
seeing little Jack, fair and square blowing away at his horn, as calm
and cool as may be, he became still more angry, and made for the
disturber of his rest, bawling out, "I'll teach you to wake a giant, you
little whipper-snapper. You shall pay dearly for your tantivys, I'll
take you and broil you whole for break--"
He had only got as far as this when crash--he fell into the pit! So
there was a break indeed; such an one that it caused the very
foundations of the Mount to shake.