gold and silver in them; but Jack's own sweetheart was among them, and
she had neither gold nor silver; nought but two copper pennies, that was
all she had.
"Stand aside, lass," said Jack to her, speaking roughly. "Thou hast no
silver nor gold--stand off from the rest." She obeyed, and the tears ran
down her cheeks, and filled her apron with diamonds.
"Up, stick, and bang them!" exclaimed Jack; whereupon the cudgel leaped
up, and running along the line of girls, knocked them all on the heads
and left them senseless on the pavement. Jack took all their money and
poured it into his true-love's lap. "Now, lass," he exclaimed, "thou art
the richest, and I shall marry thee."
THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END
Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it wasn't in my
time, nor in your time, nor any one else's time, there was a girl whose
mother had died, and her father had married again. And her stepmother
hated her because she was more beautiful than she was. And she was very
cruel to her; she used to make her do all the servant's work, and never
let her have any peace. At last, one day, the stepmother thought to get
rid of her altogether; so she handed her a sieve and said to her:
"Go, fill it at the Well of the World's End and bring it home to me
full, or woe betide you." For she thought she would never be able to
find the Well of the World's End, and, if she did, how could she bring
home a sieve full of water?
Well, the girl started off, and asked every one she met to tell her
where was the Well of the World's End. But nobody knew, and she didn't
know what to do, when a queer little old woman, all bent double, told
her where it was, and how she could get to it. So she did what the old
woman told her, and at last arrived at the Well of the World's End. But
when she dipped the sieve in the cold cold water, it all ran out again.
She tried and she tried again, but every time it was the same; and at
last she sate down and cried as if her heart would break.
Suddenly she heard a croaking voice, and she looked up and saw a great
frog with goggle eyes looking at her and speaking to her.
"What's the matter, dearie?" it said.
"Oh dear! oh dear!" she said, "my stepmother has sent me all this long
way to fill this sieve with water from the Well of the World's End, and
I can't fill it no how at all."
"Well," said the frog, "if you promise me to do whatever I bid you for a
whole night long, I'll tell you how to fill it."
So the girl agreed, and then the frog said:
"Stop it with moss and daub it with clay,
And then it will carry the water away";
and then it gave a hop, skip, and jump, and went flop into the Well of
the World's End.
So the girl looked about for some moss, and lined the bottom of the
sieve with it, and over that she put some clay, and then she dipped it
once-again into the Well of the World's End; and this time the water
didn't run out, and she turned to go away.
Just then the frog popped up its head out of the Well of the World's
End, and said, "Remember your promise."
"All right," said the girl; for, thought she, "what harm can a frog do
me?"
So she went back to her stepmother, and brought the sieve full of water
from the Well of the World's End. The stepmother was angry as angry, but
she said nothing at all.
That very evening they heard something tap-tapping at the door low down,
and a voice cried out:
"Open the door, my hinny, my heart,
Open the door, my own darling;
Remember the words that you and I spoke,
At the World's End Well but this morning."
"Whatever can that be?" cried out the stepmother.
Then the girl had to tell her all about it, and what she had promised
the frog.
"Girls must keep their promises," said the stepmother, who was glad the
girl would have to obey a nasty frog. "Go and open the door this
instant."
So the girl went and opened the door, and there was the frog from the
Well of the World's End. And it hopped, and it hopped, and it jumped,
till it reached the girl, and then it said:
"Lift me up, my hinny, my heart,
Lift to your knee, my own darling;
Remember the words that you and I spoke,
At the World's End Well but this morning."
But the girl would not do the frog's bidding, till her stepmother said,
"Lift it up this instant, you hussy! Girls _must_ keep their promises!"
So she lifted the frog up on to her lap, and it lay there comfortably
for a time; till at last it said:
"Give me some supper, my hinny, my heart,
Give me some supper, my darling;
Remember the words you and I spoke,
At the World's End Well but this morning."
Well, that she did not mind doing, so she got it a bowl of milk and
bread, and fed it well. But when the frog had finished, it said:
"Take me to bed, my hinny, my heart,
Take me to bed, my own darling;
Remember the promise you promised to me,
At the World's End Well but this morning."
But that the girl refused to do, till her stepmother said harshly:
"Do what you promised, girl; girls _must_ keep their promises. Do what
you're bid, or out you go, you and your froggie."
So the girl took the frog with her to bed, and kept it as far away from
her as she could. Well, just as the day was beginning to break, what
should the frog say but:
"Chop off my head, my hinny, my heart,
Chop off my head, my own darling;
Remember the promise you promised to me,
At the World's End Well but this morning."
At first the girl wouldn't, for she thought of what the frog had done
for her at the Well of the World's End. But when the frog said the words
over and over again in a pleading voice, she went and took an axe and
chopped off its head, and, lo and behold! there stood before her a
handsome young prince, who told her that he had been enchanted by a
wicked magician, and he could never be unspelled till some girl would do
his bidding for a whole night, and chop off his head at the end of it.
The stepmother was surprised indeed when she found the young prince
instead of the nasty frog, and she was not best pleased, you may be
sure, when the prince told her that he was going to marry her
stepdaughter because she had unspelled him. But married they were, and
went away to live in the castle of the king, his father; and all the
stepmother had to console her was, that it was all through _her_ that
her stepdaughter was married to a prince.
THE ROSE TREE
Once upon a time, long long years ago, in the days when one had to be
careful about witches, there lived a good man, whose young wife died,
leaving him a baby girl.
Now this good man felt he could not look after the baby properly, so he
married a young woman whose husband had died leaving her with a baby
boy.
Thus the two children grew up together, and loved each other dearly,
dearly.
But the boy's mother was really a wicked witch-woman, and so jealous
that she wanted all the boy's love for herself, and when the girl-baby
grew white as milk, with cheeks like roses and lips like cherries, and
when her hair, shining like golden silk, hung down to her feet so that
her father and all the neighbours began to praise her looks, the
stepmother fairly hated her, and did all in her power to spoil her
looks. She would set the child hard tasks, and send her out in all
weathers to do difficult messages, and if they were not well performed
would beat her and scold her cruelly.
Now one cold winter evening when the snow was drifting fast, and the
wild rose tree in the garden under which the children used to play in
summer was all brown and barren save for snowflake flowers, the
stepmother said to the little girl:
"Child! go and buy me a bunch of candles at the grocer's. Here is some
money; go quickly, and don't loiter by the way."
So the little girl took the money and set off quickly through the snow,
for already it was growing dark. Now there was such a wind blowing that
it nearly blew her off her feet, and as she ran her beautiful hair got
all tangled and almost tripped her up. However, she got the candles,
paid for them, and started home again. But this time the wind was behind
her and blew all her beautiful golden hair in front of her like a cloud,
so that she could not see her steps, and, coming to a stile, had to stop
and put down the bundle of candles in order to see how to get over it.
And when she was climbing it a big black dog came by and ran off with
the bunch of candles! Now she was so afraid of her stepmother that she
durst not go home, but turned back and bought another bunch of candles
at the grocer's, and when she arrived at the stile once more, the same
thing happened. A big black dog came down the road and ran away with the
bunch of candles. So yet once again she journeyed back to the grocer's
through wind and snow, and, with her last penny, bought yet another
bunch of candles. To no purpose, for alas, and alack-a-day! when she
laid them down in order to part her beautiful golden hair and to see how
to get over the stile, a big black dog ran away with them.
So nothing was left save to go back to her stepmother in fear and
trembling. But, for a wonder, her stepmother did not seem very angry.
She only scolded her for being so late, for, see you, her father and her
little playmate had gone to their beds and were in the Land of Nod.
Then she said to the child, "I must take the tangles out of your hair
before you go to sleep. Come, put your head on my lap."
So the little girl put her head on her stepmother's lap, and, lo and
behold! her beautiful yellow-silk hair rolled right over the woman's
knees and lay upon the ground.
Then the beauty of it made the stepmother more jealous than before, so
she said, "I cannot part your hair properly on my knee, fetch me a
billet of wood."
So the little girl fetched one. Then said the stepmother, "Your hair is
so thick I cannot part it with a comb; fetch me an axe!"
So the child fetched an axe.
"Now," said that wicked, wicked woman, "lay your head down on the billet
while I part your hair."
And the child did as she was bid without fear; and lo! the beautiful
little golden head was off in a second, by one blow of the axe.
Now the wicked stepmother had thought it all out before, so she took the
poor little dead girl out to the garden, dug a hollow in the snow under
the rose tree, and said to herself, "When spring comes and the snow
melts if people find her bones, they will say she lost her way and fell
asleep in the snow."
But first, because she was a wicked witch-woman, knowing spells and
charms, she took out the heart of the little girl and made it into two
savoury pasties, one for her husband's breakfast and one for the little
boy's, for thus would the love they bore to the little girl become hers.
Nevertheless, she was mistaken, for when morning came and the little
child could not be found, the father sent away his breakfast barely
tasted, and the little boy wept so that he could eat nothing.
So they grieved and grieved. And when the snow melted and they found the
bones of the poor child, they said, "She must have lost her way that
dark night going to the grocer's to buy candles." So they buried the
bones under the children's rose tree, and every day the little boy sate
there and wept and wept for his lost playmate.
Now when summer came the wild rose tree flowered. It was covered with
white roses, and amongst the flowers there sate a beautiful white bird.
And it sang and sang and sang like an angel out of heaven; but what it
sang the little boy could never make out, for he could hardly see for
weeping, hardly hear for sobbing.
So at last the beautiful white bird unfolded its broad white wings and
flew to a cobbler's shop, where a myrtle bush hung over the man and his
last, on which he was making a dainty little pair of rose-red shoes.
Then it perched on a bough and sang ever so sweetly:
"Stepmother slew me,
Father nigh ate me,
He whom I dearly love
Sits below, I sing above,
Stick! Stock! Stone dead!"
"Sing that beautiful song again," said the cobbler. "It is better than a
nightingale's."
"That will I gladly," sang the bird, "if you will give me the little
rose-red shoes you are making."
And the cobbler gave them willingly, so the white bird sang its song
once more. Then with the rose-red shoes in one foot it flew to an ash
tree that grew close beside a goldsmith's bench, and sang:
"Stepmother slew me,
Father nigh ate me,
He whom I dearly love
Sits below, I sing above,
Stick! Stock! Stone dead!"
"Oh, what a beautiful song!" cried the goldsmith.
"Sing again, dear bird, it is sweeter than a nightingale's."
"That will I gladly," sang the bird, "if you will give me the gold chain
you're making."
And the goldsmith gave the bauble willingly, and the bird sang its song
once more. Then with the rose-red shoes in one foot and the golden chain
in the other, the bird flew to an oak tree which overhung the mill
stream, beside which three millers were busy picking out a millstone,
and, perching on a bough, sang its song ever so sweetly:
"My stepmother slew me,
My father nigh ate me,
He whom I dearly love
Sits below, I sing above,
Stick!--"
Just then one of the millers put down his tool and listened.
"Stock!" sang the bird.
And the second miller put aside his tool and listened.
"Stone," sang the bird.
Then the third miller put aside his tool and listened.
"Dead!" sang the bird so sweetly that with one accord the millers looked
up and cried with one voice:
"Oh, what a beautiful song! Sing it again, dear bird, it is sweeter than
a nightingale's."
"That will I gladly," answered the bird, "if you will hang the millstone
you are picking round my neck."
So the millers hung it as they were asked; and when the song was
finished, the bird spread its wide white wings and, with the millstone
round its neck and the little rose-red shoes in one foot, the golden
chain in the other, it flew back to the rose tree. But the little
playmate was not there; he was inside the house eating his dinner.
Then the bird flew to the house, and rattled the millstone about the
eaves until the stepmother cried, "Hearken! How it thunders!"
So the little boy ran out to see, and down dropped the dainty rose-red
shoes at his feet.
"See what fine things the thunder has brought!" he cried with glee as he
ran back.
Then the white bird rattled the millstone about the eaves once more, and
once again the stepmother said, "Hearken! How it thunders!"
So this time the father went out to see, and down dropped the golden
chain about his neck.
"It is true," he said when he came back. "The thunder does bring fine
things!"
Then once more the white bird rattled the millstone about the eaves, and
this time the stepmother said hurriedly, "Hark! there it is again!
Perhaps it has got something for me!"
Then she ran out; but the moment she stepped outside the door, down fell
the millstone right on her head and killed her.
So that was an end of her. And after that the little boy was ever so
much happier, and all the summer time he sate with his little
rose-coloured shoes under the wild rose tree and listened to the white
bird's song. But when winter came and the wild rose tree was all barren
and bare save for snowflake flowers, the white bird came no longer and
the little boy grew tired of waiting for it. So one day he gave up
altogether, and they buried him under the rose tree beside his little
playmate.
Now when the spring came and the rose tree blossomed, the flowers were
no longer white. They were edged with rose colour like the little boy's
shoes, and in the centre of each blossom there was a beautiful tuft of
golden silk like the little girl's hair.
And if you look in a wild rose you will find these things there still.