transform the duke's daughter into a white hind]
So Jack, when he had presented the head of Galligantua to King Arthur,
together with all the lords and ladies he had delivered from
enchantment, found he had nothing more to do. As a reward for past
services, however, King Arthur bestowed the hand of the duke's daughter
upon honest Jack the Giant-Killer. So married they were, and the whole
kingdom was filled with joy at their wedding. Furthermore, the King
bestowed on Jack a noble castle with a magnificent estate belonging
thereto, whereon he, his lady, and their children lived in great joy and
content for the rest of their days.
[Illustration: Headpiece--The Three Sillies]
THE THREE SILLIES
Once upon a time, when folk were not so wise as they are nowadays, there
lived a farmer and his wife who had one daughter. And she, being a
pretty lass, was courted by the young squire when he came home from his
travels.
Now every evening he would stroll over from the Hall to see her and stop
to supper in the farm-house, and every evening the daughter would go
down into the cellar to draw the cider for supper.
So one evening when she had gone down to draw the cider and had turned
the tap as usual, she happened to look up at the ceiling, and there she
saw a big wooden mallet stuck in one of the beams.
It must have been there for ages and ages, for it was all covered with
cobwebs; but somehow or another she had never noticed it before, and at
once she began thinking how dangerous it was to have the mallet just
there.
"For," thought she, "supposing him and me was married, and supposing we
was to have a son, and supposing he were to grow up to be a man, and
supposing he were to come down to draw cider like as I'm doing, and
supposing the mallet were to fall on his head and kill him, how dreadful
it would be!"
And with that she put down the candle she was carrying and, seating
herself on a cask, began to cry. And she cried and cried and cried.
Now, upstairs, they began to wonder why she was so long drawing the
cider; so after a time her mother went down to the cellar to see what
had come to her, and found her, seated on the cask, crying ever so hard,
and the cider running all over the floor.
"Lawks a mercy me!" cried her mother, "whatever is the matter?"
"O mother!" says she between her sobs, "it's that horrid mallet.
Supposing him and me was married, and supposing we was to have a son,
and supposing he was to grow up to be a man, and supposing he was to
come down to draw cider like as I'm doing, and supposing the mallet were
to fall on his head and kill him, how dreadful it would be!"
"Dear heart!" said the mother, seating herself beside her daughter and
beginning to cry: "How dreadful it would be!"
So they both sat a-crying.
Now after a time, when they did not come back, the farmer began to
wonder what had happened, and going down to the cellar found them
seated side by side on the cask, crying hard, and the cider running all
over the floor.
"Zounds!" says he, "whatever is the matter?"
"Just look at that horrid mallet up there, father," moaned the mother.
"Supposing our daughter was to marry her sweetheart, and supposing they
was to have a son, and supposing he was to grow to man's estate, and
supposing he was to come down to draw cider like as we're doing, and
supposing that there mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, how
dreadful it would be!"
"Dreadful indeed!" said the father and, seating himself beside his wife
and daughter, started a-crying too.
Now upstairs the young squire wanted his supper; so at last he lost
patience and went down into the cellar to see for himself what they were
all after. And there he found them seated side by side on the cask
a-crying, with their feet all a-wash in cider, for the floor was fair
flooded. So the first thing he did was to run straight and turn off the
tap. Then he said:
"What are you three after, sitting there crying like babies, and letting
good cider run over the floor?"
Then they all three began with one voice, "Look at that horrid mallet!
Supposing you and me/she was married, and supposing we/you had a
son, and supposing he was to grow to man's estate, and supposing he was
to come down here to draw cider like as we be, and supposing that there
mallet was to fall down on his head and kill him, how dreadful it would
be!"
Then the young squire burst out a-laughing, and laughed till he was
tired. But at last he reached up to the old mallet and pulled it out,
and put it safe on the floor. And he shook his head and said, "I've
travelled far and I've travelled fast, but never have I met with three
such sillies as you three. Now I can't marry one of the three biggest
sillies in the world. So I shall start again on my travels, and if I can
find three bigger sillies than you three, then I'll come back and be
married--not otherwise."
So he wished them good-bye and started again on his travels, leaving
them all crying; this time because the marriage was off!
Well, the young man travelled far and he travelled fast, but never did
he find a bigger silly, until one day he came upon an old woman's
cottage that had some grass growing on the thatched roof.
And the old woman was trying her best to cudgel her cow into going up a
ladder to eat the grass. But the poor thing was afraid and durst not go.
Then the old woman tried coaxing, but it wouldn't go. You never saw such
a sight! The cow getting more and more flustered and obstinate, the old
woman getting hotter and hotter.
At last the young squire said, "It would be easier if _you_ went up the
ladder, cut the grass, and threw it down for the cow to eat."
"A likely story that," says the old woman. "A cow can cut grass for
herself. And the foolish thing will be quite safe up there, for I'll tie
a rope round her neck, pass the rope down the chimney, and fasten
t'other end to my wrist, so as when I'm doing my bit o' washing, she
can't fall off the roof without my knowing it. So mind your own
business, young sir."
Well, after a while the old woman coaxed and codgered and bullied and
badgered the cow up the ladder, and when she got it on to the roof she
tied a rope round its neck, passed the rope down the chimney, and
fastened t'other end to her wrist. Then she went about her bit of
washing, and young squire he went on his way.
But he hadn't gone but a bit when he heard the awfullest hullabaloo. He
galloped back, and found that the cow had fallen off the roof and got
strangled by the rope round its neck, while the weight of the cow had
pulled the old woman by her wrist up the chimney, where she had got
stuck half-way and been smothered by the soot!
"That is one bigger silly," quoth the young squire as he journeyed on.
"So now for two more!"
He did not find any, however, till late one night he arrived at a little
inn. And the inn was so full that he had to share a room with another
traveller. Now his room-fellow proved quite a pleasant fellow, and they
forgathered, and each slept well in his bed.
But next morning, when they were dressing, what does the stranger do but
carefully hang his breeches on the knobs of the tallboy!
"What are you doing?" asks young squire.
"I'm putting on my breeches," says the stranger; and with that he goes
to the other end of the room, takes a little run, and tried to jump into
the breeches.
But he didn't succeed, so he took another run and another try, and
another and another and another, until he got quite hot and flustered,
as the old woman had got over her cow that wouldn't go up the ladder.
And all the time young squire was laughing fit to split, for never in
his life did he see anything so comical.
Then the stranger stopped a while and mopped his face with his
handkerchief, for he was all in a sweat. "It's very well laughing," says
he, "but breeches are the most awkwardest things to get into that ever
were. It takes me the best part of an hour every morning before I get
them on. How do you manage yours?"
Then young squire showed him, as well as he could for laughing, how to
put on his breeches, and the stranger was ever so grateful and said he
never should have thought of that way.
"So that," quoth young squire to himself, "is a second bigger silly."
But he travelled far and he travelled fast without finding the third,
until one bright night when the moon was shining right overhead he came
upon a village. And outside the village was a pond, and round about the
pond was a great crowd of villagers. And some had got rakes, and some
had got pitchforks, and some had got brooms. And they were as busy as
busy, shouting out, and raking, and forking, and sweeping away at the
pond.
"What is the matter?" cried young squire, jumping off his horse to help.
"Has any one fallen in?"
"Aye! Matter enough," says they. "Can't 'ee see moon's fallen into the
pond, an' we can't get her out nohow."
And with that they set to again raking, and forking, and sweeping away.
Then the young squire burst out laughing, told them they were fools for
their pains, and bade them look up over their heads where the moon was
riding broad and full. But they wouldn't, and they wouldn't believe that
what they saw in the water was only a reflection. And when he insisted
they began to abuse him roundly and threaten to duck him in the pond. So
he got on his horse again as quickly as he could, leaving them raking,
and forking, and sweeping away; and for all we know they may be at it
yet!
But the young squire said to himself, "There are many more sillies in
this world than I thought for; so I'll just go back and marry the
farmer's daughter. She is no sillier than the rest."
So they were married, and if they didn't live happy ever after, that has
nothing to do with the story of the three sillies.
[Illustration: Headpiece--The Golden Ball]
THE GOLDEN BALL
Once upon a time there lived two lasses, who were sisters, and as they
came from the fair they saw a right handsome young man standing at a
house door before them. They had never seen such a handsome young man
before. He had gold on his cap, gold on his finger, gold on his neck,
gold at his waist! And he had a golden ball in each hand. He gave a ball
to each lass, saying she was to keep it; but if she lost it, she was to
be hanged.
Now the youngest of the lasses lost her ball, and this is how. She was
by a park paling, and she was tossing her ball, and it went up, and up,
and up, till it went fair over the paling; and when she climbed to look
for it, the ball ran along the green grass, and it ran right forward to
the door of a house that stood there, and the ball went into the house
and she saw it no more.
So she was taken away to be hanged by the neck till she was dead,
because she had lost her ball.
But the lass had a sweetheart, and he said he would go and get the ball.
So he went to the park gate, but 'twas shut; then he climbed the
railing, and when he got to the top of it an old woman rose up out of
the ditch before him and said that if he wanted to get the ball he must
sleep three nights in the house: so he said he would.
Well! when it was evening, he went into the house, and looked everywhere
for the ball, but he could not find it, nor any one in the house at all;
but when night came on he thought he heard bogles moving about in the
courtyard; so he looked out o' window, and, sure enough, the yard was
full of them!
Presently he heard steps coming upstairs, so he hid behind the door, and
was as still as a mouse. Then in came a big giant five times as tall as
the lad, and looked around; but seeing nothing he went to the window and
bowed himself to look out; and as he bowed on his elbows to see the
bogles in the yard, the lad stepped behind him, and with one blow of his
sword he cut him in twain, so that the top part of him fell in the yard,
and the bottom part remained standing looking out of the window.
Well! there was a great cry from the bogles when they saw half the giant
come tumbling down to them, and they called out, "There comes half our
master; give us the other half."
Then the lad said, "It's no use of thee, thou pair of legs, standing
alone at the window, as thou hast no eye to see with, so go join thy
brother"; and he cast the lower part of the giant after the top part.
Now when the bogles had gotten all the giant they were quiet.
Next night the lad went to sleep in the house again, and this time a
second giant came in at the door, and as he came in the lad cut him in
twain; but the legs walked on to the fire and went straight up the
chimney.
"Go, get thee after thy legs," said the lad to the head, and he cast the
other half of the giant up the chimney.
Now the third night nothing happened, so the lad got into bed; but
before he went to sleep he heard the bogles striving under the bed, and
he wondered what they were at. So he peeped, and saw that they had the
ball there, and were playing with it, casting it to and fro.
Now after a time one of them thrust his leg out from under the bed, and
quick as anything the lad brings his sword down, and cuts it off. Then
another bogle thrust his arm out at t'other side of the bed, and in a
twinkling the lad cuts that off too. So it went on, till at last he had
maimed them all, and they all went off, crying and wailing, and forgot
the ball! Then the lad got out of bed, found the ball, and went off at
once to seek his true love.
[Illustration: He heard the bogles striving under the bed]
Now the lass had been taken to York to be hanged; she was brought out on
the scaffold, and the hangman said, "Now, lass, thou must hang by the
neck till thou be'st dead." But she cried out:
"Stop, stop, I think I see my mother coming!
O mother, hast thou brought my golden ball
And come to set me free?"
And the mother answered:
"I've neither brought thy golden ball
Nor come to set thee free,
But I have come to see thee hung
Upon this gallows-tree."
Then the hangman said, "Now, lass, say thy prayers for thou must die."
But she said:
"Stop, stop, I think I see my father coming!
O father, hast thou brought my golden ball
And come to set me free?"
And the father answered:
"I've neither brought thy golden ball
Nor come to set thee free,
But I have come to see thee hung
Upon this gallows-tree."
Then the hangman said, "Hast thee done thy prayers? Now, lass, put thy
head into the noose."
But she answered, "Stop, stop, I think I see my brother coming!" And
again she sang her little verse, and the brother sang back the same
words. And so with her sister, her uncle, her aunt, and her cousin. But
they all said the same:
"I've neither brought thy golden ball
Nor come to set thee free,
But I have come to see thee hung
Upon this gallows-tree."
Then the hangman said, "I will stop no longer, thou'rt making game of
me. Thou must be hung at once."
But now, at long last, she saw her sweetheart coming through the crowd,
so she cried to him:
"Stop, stop, I see my sweetheart coming!
Sweetheart, hast thou brought my golden ball
And come to set me free?"
Then her sweetheart held up her golden ball and cried:
"Aye, I have brought to thee thy golden ball
And come to set thee free;
I have not come to see thee hung
Upon this gallows-tree."
So he took her home, then and there, and they lived happy ever after.
THE TWO SISTERS
Once upon a time there were two sisters who were as like each other as
two peas in a pod; but one was good, and the other was bad-tempered. Now
their father had no work, so the girls began to think of going to
service.
"I will go first and see what I can make of it," said the younger
sister, ever so cheerfully, "then you, sis, can follow if I have good
luck."
So she packed up a bundle, said good-bye, and started to find a place;
but no one in the town wanted a girl, and she went farther afield into
the country. And as she journeyed she came upon an oven in which a lot
of loaves were baking. Now as she passed, the loaves cried out with one
voice:
"Little girl! Little girl! Take us out! Please take us out! We have been
baking for seven years, and no one has come to take us out. Do take us
out or we shall soon be burnt!"
Then, being a kind, obliging little girl, she stopped, put down her
bundle, took out the bread, and went on her way saying:
"You will be more comfortable now."
After a time she came to a cow lowing beside an empty pail, and the cow
said to her:
"Little girl! Little girl! Milk me! Please milk me! Seven years have I
been waiting, but no one has come to milk me!"
So the kind girl stopped, put down her bundle, milked the cow into the
pail, and went on her way saying:
"Now you will be more comfortable."
By and by she came to an apple tree so laden with fruit that its
branches were nigh to break, and the apple tree called to her:
"Little girl! Little girl! Please shake my branches. The fruit is so
heavy I can't stand straight!"
Then the kind girl stopped, put down her bundle, and shook the branches
so that the apples fell off, and the tree could stand straight. Then she
went on her way saying:
"You will be more comfortable now."
So she journeyed on till she came to a house where an old witch-woman
lived. Now this witch-woman wanted a servant-maid, and promised good
wages. Therefore the girl agreed to stop with her and try how she liked
service. She had to sweep the floor, keep the house clean and tidy, the
fire bright and cheery. But there was one thing the witch-woman said she
must never do; and that was look up the chimney!
[Illustration: "Tree of mine! O Tree of mine! Have you seen my naughty
little maid?"]
"If you do," said the witch-woman, "something will fall down on you, and
you will come to a bad end." Well! the girl swept, and dusted, and
made up the fire; but ne'er a penny of wages did she see. Now the girl
wanted to go home as she did not like witch-service; for the witch used
to have boiled babies for supper, and bury the bones under some stones
in the garden. But she did not like to go home penniless; so she stayed
on, sweeping, and dusting, and doing her work, just as if she was
pleased. Then one day, as she was sweeping up the hearth, down tumbled
some soot, and, without remembering she was forbidden to look up the
chimney, she looked up to see where the soot came from. And, lo and
behold! a big bag of gold fell plump into her lap.
Now the witch happened to be out on one of her witch errands; so the
girl thought it a fine opportunity to be off home.
So she kilted up her petticoats and started to run home; but she had
only gone a little way when she heard the witch-woman coming after her
on her broomstick. Now the apple tree she had helped to stand straight
happened to be quite close; so she ran to it and cried:
"Apple tree! Apple tree, hide me
So the old witch can't find me,
For if she does she'll pick my bones,
And bury me under the garden stones."
Then the apple tree said, "Of course I will. You helped me to stand
straight, and one good turn deserves another."
So the apple tree hid her finely in its green branches; and when the
witch flew past saying:
"Tree of mine! O Tree of mine!
Have you seen my naughty little maid
With a willy willy wag and a great big bag,
She's stolen my money--all I had?"
The apple tree answered:
"No, mother dear,
Not for seven year!"
So the witch flew on the wrong way, and the girl got down, thanked the
tree politely, and started again. But just as she got to where the cow
was standing beside the pail, she heard the witch coming again, so she
ran to the cow and cried:
"Cow! Cow, please hide me
So the witch can't find me;
If she does she'll pick my bones,
And bury me under the garden stones!"
"Certainly I will," answered the cow. "Didn't you milk me and make me
comfortable? Hide yourself behind me and you'll be quite safe."
And when the witch flew by and called to the cow:
"O Cow of mine! Cow of mine!
Have you seen my naughty little maid
With a willy willy wag and a great big bag,
Who stole my money--all that I had?"
She just said politely:
"No, mother dear,
Not for seven year!"
Then the old witch went on in the wrong direction, and the girl started
afresh on her way home; but just as she got to where the oven stood, she
heard that horrid old witch coming behind her again; so she ran as fast
as she could to the oven and cried:
"O Oven! Oven! hide me
So as the witch can't find me,
For if she does she'll pick my bones,
And bury them under the garden stones."
Then the oven said, "I am afraid there is no room for you, as another
batch of bread is baking; but there is the baker--ask him."
So she asked the baker, and he said, "Of course I will. You saved my
last batch from being burnt; so run into the bakehouse, you will be
quite safe there, and I will settle the witch for you."
So she hid in the bakehouse, only just in time, for there was the old
witch calling angrily:
"O Man of mine! Man of mine!
Have you seen my naughty little maid
With a willy willy wag and a great big bag,
Who's stole my money--all I had?"
Then the baker replied, "Look in the oven. She may be there."
And the witch alighted from her broomstick and peered into the oven: but
she could see no one.
"Creep in and look in the farthest corner," said the baker slyly, and
the witch crept in, when----
Bang!----
he shut the door in her face, and there she was roasting. And when she
came out with the bread she was all crisp and brown, and had to go home
as best she could and put cold cream all over her!
But the kind, obliging little girl got safe home with her bag of money.
Now the ill-tempered elder sister was very jealous of this good luck,
and determined to get a bag of gold for herself. So she in her turn
packed up a bundle and started to seek service by the same road. But
when she came to the oven, and the loaves begged her to take them out
because they had been baking seven years and were nigh to burning, she
tossed her head and said:
"A likely story indeed, that I should burn my fingers to save your
crusts. No, thank you!"
And with that she went on till she came across the cow standing waiting
to be milked beside the pail. But when the cow said:
"Little girl! Little girl! Milk me! Please milk me, I've waited seven
years to be milked----"
She only laughed and replied, "You may wait another seven years for all
I care. I'm not your dairymaid!"
And with that she went on till she came to the apple tree, all
overburdened by its fruit. But when it begged her to shake its branches,
she only giggled, and plucking one ripe apple, said:
"One is enough for me: you can keep the rest yourself." And with that
she went on munching the apple, till she came to the witch-woman's
house.
Now the witch-woman, though she had got over being crisp and brown from
the oven, was dreadfully angry with all little maid-servants, and made
up her mind this one should not trick her. So for a long time she never
went out of the house; thus the ill-tempered sister never had a chance
of looking up the chimney, as she had meant to do at once. And she had
to dust, and clean, and brush, and sweep ever so hard, until she was
quite tired out.
But one day, when the witch-woman went into the garden to bury her
bones, she seized the moment, looked up the chimney, and, sure enough, a
bag of gold fell plump into her lap!
Well! she was off with it in a moment, and ran and ran till she came to
the apple tree, when she heard the witch-woman behind her. So she cried
as her sister had done:
"Apple tree! Apple tree, hide me
So the old witch can't find me,
For if she does she'll break my bones,
Or bury me under the garden stones."
But the apple tree said:
"No room here! I've too many apples."
So she had to run on; and when the witch-woman on her broomstick came
flying by and called:
"O Tree of mine! Tree of mine!
Have you seen a naughty little maid
With a willy willy wag and a great big bag,
Who's stolen my money--all I had?"
The apple tree replied:
"Yes, mother dear,
She's gone down there."
Then the witch-woman went after her, caught her, gave her a thorough
good beating, took the bag of money away from her, and sent her home
without a penny payment for all her dusting, and sweeping, and brushing,
and cleaning.
[Illustration: Headpiece--The Laidly Worm]
THE LAIDLY WORM
In Bamborough Castle there once lived a King who had two children, a son
named Childe Wynde, and a daughter who was called May Margret. Their
mother, a fair woman, was dead, and the King mourned her long and
faithfully. But, after his son Childe Wynde went to seek his fortune,
the King, hunting in the forest, came across a lady of such great beauty
that he fell in love with her at once and determined to marry her.