He called to mind his vow that the loveliest and cleverest girl should
be his bride, and so in order to be rid of all thought of her he
determined to convince himself that although the peasant's daughter
might be beautiful enough, yet she was far from being clever enough for
him. So he wrote a letter to her, enclosing two skeins of silk, and
bidding her weave for him with them a pair of bed curtains. He sent off
a royal courier at once, bidding him bring back an immediate answer. The
messenger returned the same evening with a letter from the woodland
maiden, and in the letter lay two tiny splinters of wood. The maiden had
written that if out of these bits of wood he would make her a loom she
would weave him the curtains he had ordered.
After this the Prince could no longer doubt that she was quite as clever
as he was, and now he felt bound to perform the vow that he had made,
which was just what he most wished to do. So he rode forth with all his
royal train to the cottage in the wild wood; and he told the old people
that he had come to woo their daughter for his bride--if she were
willing. And she was willing. The old folk were very down-hearted at
parting from their child, but they did not wish to stand in the way of
her happiness, so they gave their consent. Then the court ladies clad
the bride in scarlet and silk attire, and adorned her with gold and
jewels. And she had ladies-in-waiting and coaches and carriages and all
sorts of splendor, and the wedding was celebrated with joy and great
magnificence.
"_Lars, my Lad!_"
THERE was once a Prince or a Duke, or something of that sort, but at any
rate he belonged to a very grand family, and he would not stop at home.
So he traveled all over the world, and wherever he went he was well
liked, and was received in the best and gayest families, for he had no
end of money. He made friends and acquaintances, as you may imagine,
wherever he went, for he who has a well-filled trough is sure to fall in
with pigs who want to have their fill. But he went on spending his money
until he came to want, and at last his purse became so empty that he had
not even a farthing left. And now there was an end to all his friends as
well, for they behaved like the pigs; when the trough was empty and he
had no more to give them, they began to grunt and grin, and then they
ran away in all directions. There he stood alone with a long face.
Everybody had been so willing to help him to get rid of his money, but
nobody would help him without it; and so there was nothing for it but to
trudge home and beg for crusts on the way.
So late one evening he came to a great forest. He did not know where he
should find a shelter for the night, but he went on looking and
searching till he caught sight of an old tumble-down hut, which stood in
the middle of some bushes. It was not exactly good enough for such a
fine cavalier, but when you cannot get what you want you must take what
you can get. And, since there was no help for it, he went into the hut.
Not a living soul was to be seen; there was not even a stool to sit
upon, but alongside the wall stood a big chest. What could there be
inside that chest? If only there were some bits of moldy bread in it!
How nice they would taste! For, you must know, he had not had a single
bit of food the whole day, and he was so hungry and his stomach so empty
that it groaned with pain. He lifted the lid. But inside the chest there
was another chest, and inside that chest there was another; and so it
went on, each one smaller than the other, until they became quite tiny
boxes. The more there were the harder he worked away, for there must be
something very fine inside, he thought, since it was so well hidden.
At last he came to a tiny, little box, and in this box lay a bit of
paper--and that was all he got for his trouble! It was very annoying, of
course, but then he discovered there was something written on the paper,
and when he looked at it he was just able to spell it out, although at
first it looked somewhat difficult.
"Lars, my lad!"
As he pronounced these words something answered right in his ear:
"What are master's orders?"
He looked round, but he saw nobody. This was very funny, he thought, and
so he read out the words once more:
"Lars, my lad!"
And the answer came as before:
"What are master's orders?"
But he did not see anybody this time either.
"If there is anybody about who hears what I say, then be kind enough to
bring me something to eat," he said. And the next moment there stood a
table laid out with all the best things one could think of. He set to
work to eat and drink, and had a proper meal. He had never enjoyed
himself so much in all his life, he thought.
When he had eaten all he could get down, he began to feel sleepy, and so
he took out the paper again:
"Lars, my lad!"
"What are master's orders?"
"Well, you have given me food and drink, and now you must get me a bed
to sleep in as well. But I want a really fine bed," he said, for you
must know he was a little more bold now that his hunger was stayed.
Well, there it stood, a bed so fine and dainty that even the King
himself might covet it. Now this was all very well in its way, but when
once you are well off you wish for still more, and he had no sooner got
into bed than he began to think that the room was altogether too
wretched for such a grand bed. So he took out the paper again:
"Lars, my lad!"
"What are master's orders?"
"Since you are able to get me such food and such a bed here in the midst
of the wild forest, I suppose you can manage to get me a better room,
for you see I am accustomed to sleep in a palace, with golden mirrors
and draped walls and ornaments and comforts of all kinds," he said.
Well, he had no sooner spoken the words than he found himself lying in
the grandest chamber anybody had ever seen.
Now he was comfortable, he thought, and felt quite satisfied as he
turned his face to the wall and closed his eyes.
But that was not all the grandeur; for when he woke up in the morning
and looked round, he saw it was a big palace he had been sleeping in.
One room led into the other, and wherever he went the place was full of
all sorts of finery and luxuries, both on the walls and on the ceilings,
and they glittered so much when the sun shone on them that he had to
shade his eyes with his hand, so strong was the glare of gold and silver
wherever he turned. He then happened to look out of the window. Good
gracious! How grand it was! There was something else than pine forests
and juniper bushes to look at, for there was the finest garden anyone
could wish for, with splendid trees and roses of all kinds. But he could
not see a single human being, or even a cat; and that, you know, was
rather lonely, for otherwise he had everything so grand and had been set
up as his own master again.
So he took out the bit of paper:
"Lars, my lad!"
"What are master's orders?"
"Well, now you have given me food and bed and a palace to live in, I
intend to remain here, for I like the place," he said, "yet I don't like
to live quite by myself. I must have both lads and lasses whom I may
order about to wait upon me," he said.
And there they were. There came servants and stewards and scullery maids
and chambermaids of all sorts, and some came bowing and some curtseying.
So now the Duke thought he was really satisfied.
But now it happened that there was a large palace on the other side of
the forest, and there the King lived who owned the forest, and the
great, big fields around it. As he was walking up and down in his room
he happened to look out through the window and saw the new palace, where
the golden weathercocks were swinging to and fro on the roof in the
sunlight, dazzling his eyes.
"This is very strange," he thought; and so he called his courtiers. They
came rushing in, and began bowing and scraping.
"Do you see the palace over there?" said the King.
They opened their eyes and began to stare.
Yes, of course, they saw it.
"Who is it that has dared to build such a palace on my grounds?" said
the King.
They bowed, and they scraped with their feet, but they did not know
anything about it.
The King then called his generals and captains.
They came, stood at attention and presented arms.
"Be gone, soldiers and troopers," said the King, "and pull down the
palace over there, and hang him who has built it; and don't lose any
time about it!"
Well, they set off in great haste to arm themselves, and away they went.
The drummers beat the skins of their drums, and the trumpeters blew
their trumpets, and the other musicians played and blew as best they
could, so that the Duke heard them long before he could see them. But he
had heard that kind of noise before, and knew what it meant, so he took
out his scrap of paper:
"Lars, my lad!"
"What are master's orders?"
"There are soldiers coming here," he said, "and now you must provide me
with soldiers and horses, that I may have double as many as those over
in the wood, and with sabers and pistols, and guns and cannons with all
that belongs to them; but be quick about it."
And no time was lost; for when the Duke looked out, he saw an immense
number of soldiers, who were drawn up around the palace.
When the King's men arrived, they came to a sudden halt and dared not
advance. But the Duke was not afraid; he went straight up to the Colonel
of the King's soldiers and asked him what he wanted.
The Colonel told him his errand.
"It's of no use," said the Duke. "You see how many men I have; and if
the King will listen to me, we shall become good friends, and I will
help him against his enemies, and in such a way that it will be heard
of far and wide," he said.
The Colonel was of the same opinion, and the Duke then invited him and
all his soldiers inside the palace, and the men had more than one glass
to drink and plenty of everything to eat as well.
But while they were eating and drinking they began talking; and the Duke
then got to hear that the King had a daughter who was his only child,
and was so wonderfully fair and beautiful that no one had ever seen her
like before. And the more the King's soldiers ate and drank the more
they thought she would suit the Duke for a wife.
And they went on talking so long that the Duke at last began to be of
the same opinion. "The worst of it," said the soldiers, "is that she is
just as proud as she is beautiful, and will never look at a man."
But the Duke laughed at this. "If that's all," said the Duke, "there's
sure to be a remedy for that complaint."
When the soldiers had eaten and drunk as much as they could find room
for, they shouted "Hurrah!" so that it echoed among the hills, and then
they set out homeward. But, as you may imagine, they did not walk
exactly in parade order, for they were rather unsteady about the knees,
and many of them did not carry their guns in regulation manner. The Duke
asked them to greet the King from him. He would call on him the
following day, he said.
When the Duke was alone again, he began to think of the Princess, and to
wonder if she were as beautiful and fair as they had made her out to be.
He would like to make sure of it; and as so many strange things had
happened that day it might not be impossible to find that out as well,
he thought.
"Lars, my lad!"
"What are master's orders?"
"Well, now you must bring me the King's daughter as soon as she has gone
to sleep," he said; "but she must not be awakened either on the way here
or back. Do you hear that?" he said. And before long the Princess was
lying on the bed. She slept so soundly and looked so wonderfully
beautiful as she lay there. Yes, she was as sweet as sugar, I can tell
you.
The Duke walked round about her, but she was just as beautiful from
whatever point of view he looked at her.
The more he looked the more he liked her.
"Lars, my lad!"
"What are master's orders?"
"You must now carry the Princess home," he said, "for now I know how she
looks, and to-morrow I will ask for her hand," he said.
Next morning the King looked out of the window. "I suppose I shall not
be troubled with the sight of that palace any more," he thought. But,
zounds! There it stood just as on the day before, and the sun shone so
brightly on the roof, and the weathercocks dazzled his eyes.
He now became furious, and called all his men.
They came quicker than usual.
The courtiers bowed and scraped, and the soldiers stood at attention and
presented arms.
"Do you see the palace there?" screamed the King.
They stretched their necks, and stared and gaped.
Yes, of course, that they did.
"Have I not ordered you to pull down the palace and hang the builder?"
he said.
Yes, they could not deny that; but then the Colonel himself stepped
forward and reported what had happened and how many soldiers the Duke
had, and how wonderfully grand the palace was.
And next he told him what the Duke had said, and how he had asked him to
give his greetings to the King, and all that sort of thing.
The King felt quite confused, and had to put his crown on the table and
scratch his head. He could not understand all this, although he was a
king; for he could take his oath it had all been built in a single
night; and if the Duke were not the evil one himself, he must in any
case have done it by magic.
While he sat there pondering, the Princess came into the room.
"Good morning to you, father!" she said. "Just fancy, I had such a
strange and beautiful dream last night!" she said.
"What did you dream then, my girl?" said the King.
"I dreamed I was in the new palace over yonder, and that I saw a Duke
there, so fine and handsome that I could never have imagined the like;
and now I want to get married, father," she said.
"Do you want to get married?--you, who never cared to look at a man!
That's very strange!" said the King.
"That may be," said the Princess; "but it's different now, and I want to
get married, and it's the Duke I want," she said.
The King was quite beside himself, so frightened did he become of the
Duke.
But all of a sudden he heard a terrible noise of drums and trumpets and
instruments of all kinds; and then came a message that the Duke had just
arrived with a large company, all of whom were so grandly dressed that
gold and silver glistened in every fold. The King put on his crown and
his coronation robes, and then went out on the steps to receive them.
And the Princess was not slow to follow him.
The Duke bowed most graciously, and the King of course did likewise, and
when they had talked awhile about their affairs and their grandeur they
became the best of friends. A great banquet was then prepared, and the
Duke was placed next to the Princess at the table. What they talked
about is not easy to tell, but the Duke spoke so well for himself that
the Princess could not very well say "No" to anything he said, and then
he went up to the King and asked for her hand. The King could not
exactly say "No" either, for he could very well see that the Duke was a
person with whom it was best to be on friendly terms; but give his
sanction there and then, he could not very well do that either. He
wanted to see the Duke's palace first, and find out about the state of
affairs over there, as you may understand.
So it was arranged that he should visit the Duke and take the Princess
with him to see his palace; and with this they parted company.
When the Duke returned home, Lars became busier than ever, for there was
so much to attend to. But he set to work and strove hard; and when the
King and his daughter arrived everything was so magnificent and splendid
that no words can describe it. They went through all the rooms and
looked about, and they found everything as it should be, and even still
more splendid, thought the King, and so he was quite pleased.
The wedding then took place, and that in grand style; and on the Duke's
arrival home with his bride he, too, gave a great feast, and then there
was an end to the festivities.
Some time passed by, and one evening the Duke heard these words:
"Are you satisfied now?"
It was Lars, as you may guess, but the Duke could not see him.
"Well, I ought to be," said the Duke. "You have provided me with
everything I have," he said.
"Yes, but what have I got in return?" asked Lars.
"Nothing," said the Duke; "but, bless me, what could I have given you,
who are not of flesh and blood, and whom I cannot see either?" he said.
"But if there is anything I can do for you, tell me what it is, and I
shall do it."
"Well, I should like to ask you for that little scrap of paper which you
found in the chest," said Lars.
"Nothing else?" said the Duke. "If such a trifle can help you, I can
easily do without it, for now I begin to know the words by heart," he
said.
Lars thanked the Duke, and asked him to put the paper on the chair in
front of the bed when he retired to rest, and he would be sure to fetch
it during the night.
The Duke did as he was told; and so he and the Princess lay down and
went to sleep.
But early in the morning the Duke awoke and felt so cold that his teeth
chattered, and when he had got his eyes quite open he found he was quite
naked and had not even as much as a thread on his back; and instead of
the grand bed and the beautiful bedroom, and the magnificent palace, he
lay on the big chest in the old tumble-down hut.
He began to shout:
"Lars, my lad!" But he got no answer. He shouted once more:
"Lars, my lad!" But he got no answer this time either. So he shouted all
he could:
"Lars, my lad!" But it was all in vain.
Now he began to understand how matters stood. When Lars had got the
scrap of paper he was freed from service at the same time, and now he
had taken everything with him, But there was no help for it. There stood
the Duke in the old hut quite naked; and as for the Princess she was not
much better off, although she had her clothes on, for she had got them
from her father, so Lars had no power over them.
The Duke had now to tell the Princess everything, and ask her to leave
him. He would have to manage as best he could, he said. But she would
not hear of it. She well remembered what the parson had said when he
married them, and she would never, never leave him, she said.
In the meantime the King in his palace had also awakened, and when he
looked out of the window he did not see any sign whatever of the other
palace where his daughter and son-in-law lived. He became uneasy, as you
may imagine, and called his courtiers.
They came in, and began to bow and scrape.
"Do you see the palace over yonder behind the forest?" he asked.
They stretched their necks and stared with all their might.
No, they did not see it.
"Where has it gone to, then?" asked the King.
Well, really they did not know.
It was not long before the King set out with all his court through the
forest; and when he arrived at the place where the palace with the
beautiful gardens should have been, he could not see anything but
heather and juniper bushes and firs. But then he discovered the old
tumble-down hut, which stood there among the bushes. He entered the hut
and--mercy on us!--what a sight met his eyes! There stood his
son-in-law, quite naked, and his daughter, who had not very many clothes
on either, and who was crying and moaning.
"Dear, dear! what does all this mean?" said the King; but he did not get
any answer, for the Duke would rather have died than tell him.
The King did his utmost to get him to speak; but in spite of all the
King's promises and threats the Duke remained obstinate and would not
utter a word.
The King then became angry--and no wonder, for now he could see that
this grand Duke was not what he pretended to be, and so he ordered the
Duke to be hanged, and that without any loss of time. The Princess
begged and prayed for mercy; but neither prayers nor tears were of any
help now; for an impostor he was, and as an impostor he should die, said
the King.
And so it had to be. They erected a gallows, and placed the rope round
the Duke's neck. But while they were getting the gallows ready, the
Princess got hold of the hangman, and gave both him and his assistant
some money, that they should so manage the hanging of the Duke that he
should not lose his life, and in the night they were to cut him down, so
that he and the Princess might then flee the country. And that's how the
matter was arranged.
In the meantime they had strung up the Duke, and the King and his court
and all the people went their way.
The Duke was now in great straits. He had, however, plenty of time to
reflect how foolish he had been in not saving some of the crumbs when he
was living in plenty, and how unpardonably stupid he had been in letting
Lars have the scrap of paper. This vexed him more than all. If only he
had it again, he thought, they should see he had been gaining some sense
in return for all he had lost. But it is of little use snarling if you
haven't got any teeth. "Ah, well, well!" he sighed, and so he dangled
his legs, which was really all he could do.
The day passed slowly and tediously for him, and he was not at all
displeased when he saw the sun setting behind the forest. But just
before it disappeared he heard a fearful shouting, and when he looked
down the hill, he saw seven cartloads of worn-out shoes, and on the top
of the hindmost cart he saw a little old man in gray clothes and with a
red pointed cap on his head. His face was like that of the worst
scarecrow, and the rest of him was not very handsome either.
He drove straight up to the gallows, and when he arrived right under it
he stopped and looked up at the Duke, and then burst out laughing, the
ugly old fellow!
"How stupid you were!" he said; "but what should the fool do with his
stupidity if he did not make use of it?" And then he laughed again.
"Yes, there you are hanging now, and here am I carting away all the
shoes I have worn out for your whims. I wonder if you can read what is
written on this bit of paper, and if you recognize it?" he said with an
ugly laugh, holding up the paper before the Duke's eyes.
But all who hang are not dead, and this time it was Lars who was
befooled.
The Duke made a clutch, and snatched the paper from him.
"Lars, my lad!"
"What are master's orders?"
"Well, you must cut me down from the gallows and put the palace and all
the rest in its place again, exactly as it was before, and when the
night has set in you must bring back the Princess."
All went merrily as in a dance, and before long everything was in its
place, just as it was when Lars took himself off.
When the King awoke the next morning he looked out of the window, as was
his custom, and there stood the palace again, with the weathercocks
glittering so beautifully in the sunshine. He called his courtiers, and
they came and began to bow and scrape.
They stretched their necks as far as they could, and stared and gaped.
"Do you see the palace over there?" said the King.
Yes, of course, they did.
The King then sent for the Princess, but she was not to be found. He
then went out to see if his son-in-law was still hanging on the gallows,
but neither son-in-law nor gallows was to be seen.
He had to lift off his crown and scratch his head. But that did not
improve matters; he could not make head or tail of either one thing or
the other. He set off at once with all his court through the forest, and
when he came to the place where the palace should stand, there it stood
sure enough. The gardens and the roses were exactly as they used to be,
and the Duke's people were to be seen everywhere among the trees. His
son-in-law and his daughter received him on the steps, dressed in their
finest clothes.
"Well, I never saw the like of this," said the King to himself; he could
scarcely believe his own eyes, so wonderful did it all seem to him.
"God's peace be with you, father, and welcome here!" said the Duke.
The King stood staring at him.
"Are you my son-in-law?" he asked.
"Well, I suppose I am," said the Duke. "Who else should I be?"
"Did I not order you to be hanged yesterday like any common thief?" said
the King.
"I think you must have been bewitched on the way," said the Duke, with a
laugh. "Do you think I am the man to let myself be hanged? Or is there
anyone here who dares to believe it?" he said, and looked so fiercely at
the courtiers that they felt as if they were being pierced through and
through.
They bowed and scraped and cringed before him.
Who could believe such a thing? Was it at all likely?
"Well, if there is anyone who dares to say the King could have wished me
such evil, let him speak out," said the Duke, and fixed his eyes upon
them still more fiercely than before.
They went on bowing and scraping and cringing.
How could anyone dare to say such a thing? No, they had more sense than
that, they should hope.
The King did not know what to believe, for when he looked at the Duke he
thought he never could have wished him such evil; but still he was not
quite convinced.
"Did I not come here yesterday, and was not the whole palace gone, and
was there not an old hut in its place? And did not I go into that hut,
and did not you stand stark naked right before my eyes?" he asked.
"I wonder the King can talk so," said the Duke. "I think the trolls must
have bewitched your eyes in the forest and made you quite crazy; or what
do you think?" he said, and turned round to the courtiers.
They bowed and bowed till their backs were bent double, and agreed with
everything he said, there could be no mistake about that. The King
rubbed his eyes, and looked round about him.
"I suppose it is as you say, then," he said to the Duke, "and it is well
I have got back my proper sight and have come to my senses again. For it
would have been a sin and a shame if I had let you be hanged," he said;
and so he was happy again, and nobody thought any more about the
matter.
"Once bitten, twice shy," as the proverb says; and the Duke now took
upon himself to manage and look after most of his affairs, so that it
was seldom Lars had to wear out his shoes. The King soon gave the Duke
half the kingdom into the bargain; so he had now plenty to do, and
people said they would have to search a long time to find his equal in
wise and just ruling.
Then one day Lars came to the Duke, looking very little better than the
first time he had seen him; but he was, of course, more humble, and did
not dare to giggle and make grimaces.
"You do not want my help any longer, now," he said; "for although I did
wear out my shoes at first, I am now unable to wear out a single pair,
and my feet will soon be covered all over with moss. So I thought I
might now get my leave of absence," he said.
The Duke quite agreed with him. "I have tried to spare you, and I almost
think I could do without you," he said. "But the palace and all the rest
I do not want to lose, for such a clever builder as you I shall never
get again; nor do I ever want to adorn the gallows again, as you can
well understand; so I cannot give you back the paper on any account," he
said.
"Well, as long as you have got it, I need not fear," said Lars; "but if
anybody else should get hold of it there will be nothing but running and
trudging about again, and that's what I want to avoid; for when one has
been tramping about for a thousand years, as I have done, one begins to
get tired of it," he said.
But they went on talking, and at last they agreed that the Duke should
put the paper in the box, and then bury it seven ells under the ground,
under a stone fixed in the earth. They then gave mutual thanks for the
time they had spent in each other's company, and so they parted.
The Duke carried out his part of the agreement, for he was not likely
to want to change it. He lived happy and contented with the Princess,
and they had both sons and daughters. When the King died, he got the
whole of the kingdom, and you may guess he was none the worse off for
that; and there no doubt he still lives and reigns, if he is not dead.
But as for that box with the scrap of paper in it, there are many who
are still running about looking for it.
_Twigmuntus, Cowbelliantus, Perchnosius_
ONCE upon a time there was a king who was so very learned that no parson
in the whole world could surpass him; in fact, he was so learned that
ordinary folks could hardly understand what he said, nor could he
understand them either. But in order to have some one to talk with he
procured seven wise professors, who were not quite so learned as
himself, but who were just able to interpret his learned sayings so that
people could apprehend them, and who could twist and turn about the talk
of ordinary folk so that it became sufficiently learned and complicated
for the King to understand it.
The King had no son, but he had a daughter, and in order that she should
be happily married, and the country governed according to the
fundamental principles of his learning, he issued an edict that he who
was so learned as to put the King and his professors to silence should
have his daughter and half the kingdom there and then. But anyone who
attempted the task and did not succeed should lose his head for having
dared to exchange words with the King.
That was no joke; but the Princess was so fair and beautiful that it was
no joke to gaze at her either. And the King did not keep her caged up,
for anyone who wished could see her.
There came princes and counts and barons and parsons and doctors and
learned persons from all quarters of the world; and no sooner did they
see the Princess than they one and all wanted to try their luck. But,
however learned they were, their learning never proved sufficient, and
everyone of them lost his head.
Over in a corner of the kingdom there lived a farmer who had a son. This
lad was not stupid; he was quick of apprehension and sharp-witted, and
he was not afraid of anything.
When the King's edict came to this out-of-the-way place, and the parson
had read it from the pulpit, the lad wanted to try his luck. "He who
nothing risks, nothing wins," thought the lad; and so he went to the
parson and told him that if he would give him lessons in the evenings,
he would work for this worship in the daytime, but he wanted to become
so learned that he could try a bout with the King and his professors.
"Whoever means to compete with them must be able to do something more
than munch bread," said the parson.
"That may be," said the lad; "but I'll try my luck."
The parson thought, of course, that he was mad; but when he could get
such a clever hand to work for him only for his keep, he thought he
could not very well say no; and so the lad got what he wanted.
He worked for the parson in the daytime, and the parson read with him in
the evening; and in this way they went on for some time, but at last the
lad grew tired of his books.
"I am not going to sit here and read and grind away, and lose what few
wits I have," he said; "and it won't be of much help either, for if you
are lucky things will come right of themselves, and if you are not lucky
you'll never make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."
And with this he pitched the books on the shelf and went his way.
All at once he came to a large forest, where the trees and the bushes
were so thick that it was with difficulty he could get along. While he
was thus pushing his way through, he began wondering what he should say
when he came to the king's palace, and how best he could make use of the
learning he had picked up from the parson. All of a sudden the twig of
a tree struck him across his mouth, so that his teeth rattled.
"That is Twigmuntus," he said.
A little while after he came to a meadow where a cow was standing
bellowing so furiously that it almost deafened him.
"That is Cowbelliantus," he said.
He then came to a river; but as there was neither bridge nor planks
across it, he had to put his clothes on his head and swim across.
While he was swimming a perch came and bit him on the nose.
"That is Perchnosius," he said.
At last he came to the King's palace, where things did not look at all
pleasant, for there were men's heads stuck on long stakes round about,
and they grinned so horribly that they were enough to frighten anyone
out of his wits. But the lad was not easily frightened.
"God's peace!" he said, and raised his cap. "There you stick and grin at
me; but who knows if I may not be keeping you company before the day is
over, and be grinning with you at others? But if I happen to be alive,
you shall not stick there any longer gaping at people," he said.
So he went up to the palace and knocked at the gate.
The guard came out and asked what he wanted.
"I have come to try my luck with the Princess," said the lad.
"You?" said the guard, "well, you're a likely one, you are! Have you
lost your senses? There have been princes and counts and barons and
parsons and doctors and learned persons here, and all of them have had
to pay with their heads for that pleasure; and yet you think you'll
succeed!" he said.
"I should say it is no concern of yours," said the lad; "just open the
gate, and you'll see one who's not afraid of anything."
But the guard would not let him in.
"Do as I tell you," said the lad, "or there'll be a fine to-do!"
But the guard would not.
The lad then seized him by the collar and flung him against the wall so
that it creaked; and then he walked straight in to the King, who sat in
his parlor with his seven professors about him. Their faces were long
and thin, and they looked like puny, sickly persons about to die. They
were sitting with their heads on one side, meditating and staring at the
floor.
Then one of them, who looked up, asked the lad in ordinary language:
"Who are you?"
"A suitor," said the lad.
"Do you want to try for the Princess's hand?"
"Well, that's about it!" said the lad.
"Have you lost your wits? There have been princes and counts and barons
and parsons and doctors and learned persons here, and all of them have
gone headless away; so you had better turn about and get away while your
head is on your shoulders," he said.
"Don't trouble yourself on that account, but rather think of the head on
your own shoulders," said the lad. "You look after yours, and I'll take
care of mine! So just begin and let me hear how much wit you have got,
for I don't think you look so very clever," he said.
The first professor then began a long harangue of gibberish; and when he
had finished the second went on; and then the third; and in this way
they continued till at length it was the turn of the seventh. The lad
did not understand a single word of it all, but he didn't lose courage
for all that. He only nodded his approval to all of it.
When the last had finished his harangue he asked:
"Can you reply to that?"
"That's easy enough," said the lad. "Why, when I was in my cradle and in
my go-cart I could twist my mouth about and prate and jabber like you,"
he said. "But since you are so terribly learned, I'll put a question to
you, and that shall not be a long one:
"Twigmuntus, Cowbelliantus, Perchnosius? Can you give me an answer to
that?"
And now you should have seen how they stretched their necks and
strained their ears. They put on their spectacles and began to look into
their books and turn over the leaves.
But while they were searching and meditating, the lad put his hands in
his trousers pockets, and looked so frank and fearless that they could
not help admiring him, and wondering that one who was so young could be
so learned and yet look just like other people.
"Well, how are you getting on?" said the lad. "Cannot all your learning
help you to open your mouths, so that I can have an answer to my
question?" he said.
Then they began to ponder and meditate, and then they glanced at the
ceiling, and then they stared at the walls, and then they fixed their
eyes upon the floor. But they could not give him any answer, nor could
the King himself, although he was much more learned than all the others
together. They had to give it up, and the lad got the Princess and half
the kingdom. This he ruled in his own way, and if it did not fare
better, it did not fare worse for him than for the King with all his
fundamental principles.
_Master Tobacco_
ONCE upon a time there was a poor woman who went about begging with her
son; for at home she had neither a morsel to eat nor a stick to burn.
First she tried the country, and went from parish to parish; but it was
poor work, and so she came into the town. There she went about from
house to house for a while, and at last she came to the Lord Mayor. He
was both open-hearted and open-handed, and he was married to the
daughter of the richest merchant in the town, and they had one little
daughter. As they had no more children, you may fancy she was sugar and
spice and all that's nice, and in a word there was nothing too good for
her. This little girl soon came to know the beggar boy as he went about
with his mother; and as the Lord Mayor was a wise man, as soon as he
saw what friends the two were, he took the boy into his house that he
might be his daughter's playmate. Yes, they played and read and went to
school together, and never had so much as one quarrel.
[Illustration: "AND WHEN HE SET HER DOWN HE GAVE HER A KISS"]
One day the Lady Mayoress stood at the window, and watched the children
as they were trudging off to school. There had been a shower of rain,
and the street was flooded, and she saw how the boy first carried the
basket with their dinner over the stream, and then he went back and
lifted the little girl over, and when he set her down he gave her a
kiss.
When the Lady Mayoress saw this, she got very angry. "To think of such a
ragamuffin kissing our daughter--we who are the best people in the
place!" That was what she said. Her husband did his best to stop her
tongue. "No one knew," he said, "how children would turn out in life, or
what might befall his own. The boy was a clever, handy lad, and often
and often a great tree sprang from a slender plant."
But no! it was all the same, whatever he said and whichever way he put
it. The Lady Mayoress held her own, and said beggars on horseback always
rode their cattle to death, and that no one had ever heard of a silk
purse being made out of a sow's ear; adding, that a penny would never
turn into a shilling, even though it glittered like a guinea. The end of
it all was that the poor lad was turned out of the house, and had to
pack up his rags and be off.
When the Lord Mayor saw there was no help for it, he sent him away with
a trader who had come thither with a ship, and he was to be cabin boy on
board her. He told his wife he had sold the boy for a roll of tobacco.
But before he went the Lord Mayor's daughter broke her ring into two
bits and gave the boy one bit, that it might be a token to know him by
if they ever met again; and so the ship sailed away, and the lad came to
a town, far, far off in the world, and to that town a priest had just
come who was so good a preacher that everyone went to church to hear
him, and the crew of the ship went with the rest the Sunday after to
hear the sermon. As for the lad, he was left behind to mind the ship and
to cook the dinner. So while he was hard at work he heard some one
calling out across the water on an island. So he took the boat and rowed
across, and there he saw an old hag, who called and roared.
"Aye," she said, "you have come at last! Here have I stood a hundred
years calling and bawling, and thinking how I should ever get over this
water; but no one has ever heard or heeded but you, and you shall be
well paid if you will put me over to the other side."
So the lad had to row her to her sister's house, who lived on a hill on
the other side close by; and when they got there, she told him to beg
for the old tablecloth which lay on the dresser. Yes! he would beg for
it; and when the old witch who lived there knew that he had helped her
sister over the water, she said he might have whatever he chose to ask.
"Oh," said the boy, "then I won't have anything else than that old
tablecloth on the dresser yonder."
"Oh," said the old witch, "that you never asked out of your own wits."
"Now I must be off," said the lad, "to cook the Sunday dinner for the
church-goers."
"Never mind that," said the first old hag; "it will cook itself while
you are away. Stop with me, and I will pay you better still. Here have I
stood and called and bawled for a hundred years, but no one has ever
heeded me but you."
The end was he had to go with her to another sister, and when he got
there the old hag said he was to be sure and ask for the old sword,
which was such that he could put it into his pocket and it became a
knife, and when he drew it out it was a long sword again. One edge was
black and the other white, and if he smote with the black edge
everything fell dead, and if with the white everything came to life
again. So when they came over, and the second old witch heard how he had
helped her sister across, she said he might have anything he chose to
ask for her fare.
"Oh," said the lad, "then I will have nothing else but that old sword
which hangs up over the cupboard."
"That you never asked out of your own wits," said the old witch; but for
all that he got the sword.
Then the old hag said again: "Come on with me to my third sister. Here
have I stood and called and bawled for a hundred years, and no one has
heeded me but you. Come on to my third sister, and you shall have better
pay still."
So he went with her, and on the way she told him he was to ask for the
old hymn book; and that was such a book that when anyone was sick and
the nurse sang one of the hymns, the sickness passed away, and they were
well again. Well! when they got across, and the third old witch heard he
had helped her sister across, she said he was to have whatever he chose
to ask for his fare.
"Oh," said the lad, "then I won't have anything else but granny's old
hymn book."
"That," said the old hag, "you never asked out of your own wits."
When he got back to the ship the crew were still at church, so he tried
his tablecloth, and spread just a little bit of it out, for he wanted to
see what good it was before he laid it on the table. Yes! in a trice it
was covered with good food and strong drink, enough and to spare. So he
just took a little snack, and then he gave the ship's dog as much as it
could eat.
When the church-goers came on board, the captain said: "Wherever did you
get all that food for the dog? Why, he's as round as a sausage, and as
lazy as a snail."
"Oh, if you must know," said the lad, "I gave him the bones."
"Good boy," said the captain, "to think of the dog."
So he spread out the cloth, and at once the whole table was covered all
over with such brave meat and drink as they had never before seen in all
their born days.
Now when the boy was again alone with the dog, he wanted to try the
sword, so he smote at the dog with the black edge, and it fell dead on
the deck; but when he turned the blade and smote with the white edge
the dog came to life again and wagged his tail and fawned on his
playmate. But the book--that he could not get tried just then.
Then they sailed well and far till a storm overtook them which lasted
many days, so they lay to and drove till they were quite out of their
course, and could not tell where they were. At last the wind fell, and
then they came to a country far, far off that none of them knew; but
they could easily see there was great grief there, as well there might
be, for the King's daughter was a leper. The King came down to the
shore, and asked was there anyone on board who could cure her and make
her well again.
"No, there was not." That was what they all said who were on deck.
"Is there no one else on board the ship than those I see?" asked the
King.
"Yes; there's a little beggar boy."
"Well," said the King, "let him come on deck."
So when he came and heard what the King wanted, he said he thought he
might cure her; and then the captain got so wroth and mad with rage that
he ran round and round like a squirrel in a cage, for he thought the boy
was only putting himself forward to do something in which he was sure to
fail, and he told the King not to listen to such childish chatter.
But the King only said that wit came as children grew, and that there
was the making of a man in every bairn. The boy had said he could do it,
and he might as well try. After all, there were many who had tried and
failed before him. So he took him home to his daughter, and the lad sang
a hymn once. Then the Princess could lift her arm. Once again he sang
it, and she could sit up in bed. And when he had sung it thrice, the
King's daughter was as well as you and I are.
The King was so glad he wanted to give him half his kingdom and the
princess to wife.
"Yes," said the lad, "land and power are fine things to have half of,"
and was very grateful; "but as for the Princess, he was betrothed to
another," he said, "and he could not take her to wife."
So he stayed there awhile and got half the kingdom; and when he had not
been very long there, war broke out, and the lad went out to battle with
the rest, and you may fancy he did not spare the black edge of his
sword. The enemy's soldiers fell before him like flies, and the King won
the day. But when they had conquered, he turned the white edge, and they
all rose up alive and became the King's soldiers, who had granted them
their lives. But then there were so many of them that they were badly
off for food, though the King wished to send them away full, both of
meat and drink. So the lad had to bring out his tablecloth, and then
there was not a man that lacked anything.
Now when he had lived a little longer with the King, he began to long to
see the Lord Mayor's daughter. So he fitted out four ships of war and
set sail; and when he came off the town where the Lord Mayor lived, he
fired off his cannon like thunder, till half the panes of glass in the
town were shivered. On board those ships everything was as grand as in a
King's palace; and as for himself, he had gold on every seam of his
coat, so fine he was. It was not long before the Lord Mayor came down to
the shore and asked if the foreign lord would not be so good as to come
up and dine with him. "Yes, he would go," he said; and so he went up to
the Mansion House where the Lord Mayor lived, and there he took his seat
between the Lady Mayoress and her daughter.
So as they sat there in the greatest state, and ate and drank and were
merry, he threw the half of the ring into the daughter's glass, and no
one saw it; but she was not slow to find out what he meant, and excused
herself from the feast and went out and fitted his half to her half. Her
mother saw there was something in the wind and hurried after her as fast
as she could.
"Do you know who that is in there, mother?" said the daughter.
"No!" said the Lady Mayoress.
"He whom papa sold for a roll of tobacco," said the daughter.
At these words the Lady Mayoress fainted and fell down flat on the
floor.
In a little while the Lord Mayor came out to see what was the matter,
and when he heard how things stood he was almost as uneasy as his wife.
"There is nothing to make a fuss about," said Master Tobacco. "I have
only come to claim the little girl I kissed as we were going to school."
But to the Lady Mayoress he said:
"You should never despise the children of the poor and needy, for none
can tell how they may turn out; since there is the making of a man in
every child of man, and wit and wisdom come with growth and strength."
_The History of Tom Thumb_
IN the days of the great Prince Arthur there lived a mighty magician,
called Merlin, the most learned and skillful enchanter the world has
ever seen.
This famous magician, who could take any form he pleased, was traveling
about as a poor beggar, and being very tired, he stopped at the cottage
of a plowman to rest himself, and asked for some food.
The countryman bade him welcome, and his wife, who was a very
good-hearted woman, soon brought him some milk in a wooden bowl, and
some coarse brown bread on a platter.
Merlin was much pleased with the kindness of the plowman and his wife;
but he could not help noticing that though everything was neat and
comfortable in the cottage, they both seemed to be very unhappy. He
therefore asked them why they were so melancholy, and learned that they
were miserable because they had no children.
The poor woman said, with tears in her eyes: "I should be the happiest
creature in the world if I had a son; although he was no bigger than my
husband's thumb, I would be satisfied."
Merlin was so much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man's
thumb that he determined to grant the poor woman's wish. Accordingly, in
a short time after, the plowman's wife had a son, who, wonderful to
relate, was not a bit bigger than his father's thumb!
The queen of the fairies, wishing to see the little fellow, came in at
the window while the mother was sitting up in the bed admiring him. The
queen kissed the child, and, giving it the name of Tom Thumb, sent for
some of the fairies, who dressed her little godson according to her
orders:
An oak-leaf hat he had for his crown;
His shirt of web by spiders spun,
With jacket wove of thistle's down.
His trousers were of feathers done;
His stockings, of apple-rind, they tie
With eyelash from his mother's eye;
His shoes were made of mouse's skin,
Tann'd with the downy hair within.
Tom never grew any larger than his father's thumb, which was only of
ordinary size; but as he got older he became very cunning and full of
tricks. When he was old enough to play with the boys, and had lost all
his own cherry stones, he used to creep into the bags of his
playfellows, fill his pockets, and, getting out without their noticing
him, would again join in the game.
One day, however, as he was coming out of a bag of cherry stones, where
he had been stealing as usual, the boy to whom it belonged chanced to
see him. "Ah, ah! my little Tommy," said the boy, "so I have caught you
stealing my cherry stones at last, and you shall be rewarded for your
thievish tricks." On saying this, he drew the string tight round his
neck, and gave the bag such a hearty shake that poor little Tom's legs,
thighs, and body were sadly bruised. He roared loud with pain, and
begged to be let out, promising never to steal again.
A short time afterwards his mother was making a batter-pudding, and Tom,
being very anxious to see how it was made, climbed up to the edge of the
bowl; but his foot slipped, and he plumped over head and ears into the
batter, without his mother noticing him, who stirred him into the
pudding-bag, and put him in the pot to boil.
The batter filled Tom's mouth and prevented him from crying; but, on
feeling the hot water, he kicked and struggled so much in the pot that
his mother thought that the pudding was bewitched, and, pulling it out
of the pot, she threw it outside the door. A poor tinker, who was
passing by, lifted up the pudding, and, then putting it into his budget,
walked off. As Tom had now got his mouth cleared of the batter, he then
began to cry aloud, which so frightened the tinker that he flung down
the pudding and ran away. The pudding being broken to pieces by the
fall, Tom crept out, covered all over with the batter, and walked home.
His mother, who was very sorry to see her darling in such a woeful
state, put him into a teacup and soon washed off the batter; after which
she kissed him, and laid him in bed.
Soon after the adventure of the pudding, Tom's mother went to milk her
cow in the meadow, and she took him along with her. As the wind was very
high, for fear of being blown away, she tied him to a thistle with a
piece of fine thread. The cow soon observed Tom's oak-leaf hat, and
liking the appearance of it, took poor Tom and the thistle at one
mouthful. While the cow was chewing the thistle, Tom was afraid of her
great teeth, which threatened to crush him in pieces, and he roared out
as loud as he could: "Mother, mother!"
"Where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?" said his mother.
"Here, mother," replied he, "in the red cow's mouth."
His mother began to cry and wring her hands; but the cow, surprised at
the odd noise in her throat, opened her mouth and let Tom drop out.
Fortunately his mother caught him in her apron as he was falling to the
ground, or he would have been dreadfully hurt. She then put Tom in her
bosom and ran home with him.
Tom's father made him a whip of a barley straw to drive the cattle with,
and having one day gone into the fields, Tom slipped a foot and rolled
into the furrow. A raven, which was flying over, picked him up, and flew
with him over the sea, and there dropped him.
A large fish swallowed Tom the moment he fell into the sea, which was
soon after caught and bought for the table of King Arthur. When they
opened the fish in order to cook it, everyone was astonished at finding
such a little boy, and Tom was quite delighted at being free again. They
carried him to the King, who made Tom his dwarf, and he soon grew a
great favorite at court; for by his tricks and gambols he not only
amused the King and Queen, but also all the Knights of the Round Table.
It is said that when the King rode out on horseback he often took Tom
along with him, and if a shower came on he used to creep into his
majesty's waistcoat pocket, where he slept till the rain was over.
King Arthur one day asked Tom about his parents, wishing to know if they
were as small as he was, and whether they were well off. Tom told the
King that his father and mother were as tall as anybody about the court,
but in rather poor circumstances. On hearing this the King carried Tom
to his treasury, the place where he kept all his money, and told him to
take as much money as he could carry home to his parents, which made the
poor little fellow caper with joy. Tom went immediately to procure a
purse, which was made of a water bubble, and then returned to the
treasury, where he received a silver threepenny-piece to put into it.
Our little hero had some difficulty in lifting the burden upon his back;
but he at last succeeded in getting it placed to his mind, and set
forward on his journey. However, without meeting with any accident, and
after resting himself more than a hundred times by the way, in two days
and two nights he reached his father's house in safety.
Tom had traveled forty-eight hours with a huge silver-piece on his back,
and was almost tired to death, when his mother ran out to meet him, and
carried him into the house. But he soon returned to court.
As Tom's clothes had suffered much in the batter-pudding and the inside
of the fish, his majesty ordered him a new suit of clothes and to be
mounted as a knight on a mouse.
Of butterfly's wings his shirt was made,
His boots of chicken's hide;
And by a nimble fairy blade,
Well learned in the tailoring trade,
His clothing was supplied.
A needle dangled by his side;
A dapper mouse he used to ride,
Thus strutted Tom in stately pride!
It was certainly very diverting to see Tom in this dress and mounted on
the mouse as he rode out a-hunting with the King and nobility, who were
all ready to expire with laughter at Tom and his fine prancing charger.
The King was so charmed with his address that he ordered a little chair
to be made, in order that Tom might sit upon his table, and also a
palace of gold, a span high, with a door an inch wide, to live in. He
also gave him a coach, drawn by six small mice.
The Queen was so enraged at the honors conferred on Sir Thomas that she
resolved to ruin him, and told the King that the little knight had been
saucy to her.
The King sent for Tom in great haste, but being fully aware of the
danger of royal anger, he crept into an empty snail shell, where he lay
for a long time, until he was almost starved with hunger; but at last he
ventured to peep out, and seeing a fine large butterfly on the ground
near the place of his concealment, he got close to it, and jumping
astride on it was carried up into the air. The butterfly flew with him
from tree to tree and from field to field, and at last returned to the
court, where the King and nobility all strove to catch him; but at last
poor Tom fell from his seat into a watering pot, in which he was almost
drowned.
When the Queen saw him she was in a rage, and said he should be
beheaded; and he was again put into a mouse trap until the time of his
execution.
However, a cat, observing something alive in the trap, patted it about
till the wires broke, and set Thomas at liberty.
The King received Tom again into favor, which he did not live to enjoy,
for a large spider one day attacked him; and although he drew his sword
and fought well, yet the spider's poisonous breath at last overcame him.
He fell dead on the ground where he stood,
And the spider suck'd every drop of his blood.
King Arthur and his whole court were so sorry at the loss of their
little favorite that they went into mourning and raised a fine white
marble monument over his grave with the following epitaph:
Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight,
Who died by a spider's cruel bite.
He was well known in Arthur's court,
Where he afforded gallant sport;
He rode a tilt and tournament,
And on a mouse a-hunting went.
Alive he filled the court with mirth;
His death to sorrow soon gave birth.
Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head
And cry,--Alas! Tom Thumb is dead!
_Tattercoats_
IN a great palace by the sea there once dwelt a very rich old lord who
had neither wife nor children living, only one little granddaughter,
whose face he had never seen in all her life. He hated her bitterly,
because at her birth his favorite daughter died; and when the old nurse
brought him the baby he swore that it might live or die as it liked, but
he would never look on its face as long as it lived.
So he turned his back and sat by his window looking out over the sea,
and weeping great tears for his lost daughter, till his white hair and
beard grew down over his shoulders and twined round his chair and crept
into the chinks of the floor, and his tears, dropping on to the window
ledge, wore a channel through the stone and ran away in a little river
to the great sea. And meanwhile his granddaughter grew up with no one to
care for her or clothe her; only the old nurse, when no one was by,
would sometimes give her a dish of scraps from the kitchen or a torn
petticoat from the rag bag; while the other servants of the palace would
drive her from the house with blows and mocking words, calling her
"Tattercoats," and pointing at her bare feet and shoulders, till she ran
away crying, to hide among the bushes.
And so she grew up, with little to eat or wear, spending her days in the
fields and lanes, with only the gooseherd for a companion, who would
play to her so merrily on his little pipe when she was hungry or cold or
tired that she forgot all her troubles, and fell to dancing, with his
flock of noisy geese for partners.
But one day people told each other that the King was traveling through
the land, and in the town near by was to give a great ball to all the
lords and ladies of the country, when the Prince, his only son, was to
choose a wife.
One of the royal invitations was brought to the palace by the sea, and
the servants carried it up to the old lord who still sat by his window,
wrapped in his long white hair and weeping into the little river that
was fed by his tears.
But when he heard the King's command he dried his eyes and bade them
bring shears to cut him loose, for his hair had bound him a fast
prisoner and he could not move. And then he sent them for rich clothes
and jewels, which he put on; and he ordered them to saddle the white
horse with gold and silk that he might ride to meet the King.
Meanwhile Tattercoats had heard of the great doings in the town, and she
sat by the kitchen door weeping because she could not go to see them.
And when the old nurse heard her crying she went to the lord of the
palace, and begged him to take his granddaughter with him to the King's
ball.
But he only frowned and told her to be silent, while the servants
laughed and said: "Tattercoats is happy in her rags, playing with the
gooseherd; let her be--it is all she is fit for."
[Illustration: TATTERCOATS FORGOT ALL HER TROUBLES AND FELL TO DANCING]
A second, and then a third time, the old nurse begged him to let the
girl go with him, but she was answered only by black looks and fierce
words, till she was driven from the room by the jeering servants with
blows and mocking words.
Weeping over her ill success, the old nurse went to look for
Tattercoats; but the girl had been turned from the door by the cook, and
had run away to tell her friend the gooseherd how unhappy she was
because she could not go to the King's ball.
But when the gooseherd had listened to her story he bade her cheer up,
and proposed that they should go together into the town to see the King
and all the fine things; and when she looked sorrowfully down at her
rags and bare feet he played a note or two upon his pipe, so gay and
merry that she forgot all about her tears and her troubles, and, before
she well knew, the herdboy had taken her by the hand, and she and he,
and the geese before them, were dancing down the road toward the town.
Before they had gone very far a handsome young man, splendidly dressed,
rode up and stopped to ask the way to the castle where the King was
staying; and when he found that they too were going thither, he got
off his horse and walked beside them along the road.
The herdboy pulled out his pipe and played a low, sweet tune, and the
stranger looked again and again at Tattercoats' lovely face, till he
fell deeply in love with her and begged her to marry him.
But she only laughed and shook her golden head.
"You would be finely put to shame if you had a goosegirl for your wife!"
said she; "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, as a proof of
his sincerity, to come that night at twelve to the King's ball, just as
she was, with the herdboy and his geese, and in her torn petticoat and
bare feet, and he would dance with her before the King and the lords and
ladies, and present her to them all as his dear and honored bride.
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 herdboy, followed by his
flock of noisy geese, entered at the great doors and walked straight up
the ballroom, 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 herdboy put his pipe to his lips and
played a few low 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 honor 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
some day may, weeping more bitterly than ever, as he looks out over the
sea.
_History of Jack the Giant-Killer_
IN the reign of the famous King Arthur there lived in Cornwall a lad
named Jack, who was a boy of a bold temper and took delight in hearing
or reading of conjurers, giants, and fairies, and used to listen eagerly
to the deeds of the Knights of King Arthur's Round Table.
In those days there lived on St. Michael's Mount, off Cornwall, a huge
giant, eighteen feet high and nine feet round, and whose fierce and
savage looks were the terror of all who beheld him.
He dwelt in a gloomy cavern on the top of the mountain, and used to wade
over to the mainland in search of prey, when he would throw half a dozen
oxen upon his back, tie three times as many sheep and hogs around his
waist, and march back to his own abode.
The giant had done this for many years, when Jack resolved to destroy
him.
Jack took a horn, a shovel, a pickax, his armor, and a dark lantern, and
one winter's evening he went to the mount. There he dug a pit
twenty-two feet deep and twenty broad. He covered the top over so as to
make it look like solid ground. He then blew such a tantivy that the
giant awoke and came out of his den, with a cry: "You saucy villain, you
shall pay for this! I'll broil you for my breakfast!"
He had just finished, when, taking one step farther, he tumbled headlong
into the pit, and Jack struck him a blow on the head with his pickax
that killed him. Jack then returned home to cheer his friends with the
news.
Another giant, called Blunderbore, vowed to be revenged on Jack if ever
he should have him in his power. This giant kept an enchanted castle in
the midst of a lonely wood, and some time after the death of Cormoran,
Jack was passing through a wood, and being weary sat down and went to
sleep.
The giant, passing by and seeing Jack, carried him to his castle, where
he locked him up in a large room, the floor of which was covered with
the bodies, skulls, and bones of men and women.
Soon after the giant went to fetch his brother, who was likewise a
giant, to take a meal off his flesh, and Jack saw with terror through
the bars of his prison the two giants approaching.
Jack, perceiving in one corner of the room a strong cord, took courage,
and making a slipknot at each end, he threw them over their heads and
tied it to the window bars; he then pulled till he had choked them. When
they were black in the face he slid down the rope and quickly disposed
of them.
Jack next took a great bunch of keys from the pocket of Blunderbore and
went into the castle again. He made a strict search through all the
rooms, and in one of them found three ladies tied up by the hair of
their heads and almost starved to death. They told him that their
husbands had been killed by the giants, who had then condemned them to
be starved to death, because they would not eat the flesh of the
captives he brought in.
"Ladies," said Jack, "I have put an end to the monster and his wicked
brother, and I give you this castle and all the riches it contains, to
make some amends for the dreadful pains you have felt." He then very
politely gave them the keys of the castle and went farther on his
journey to Wales.
As Jack had but little money he went on as fast as possible. At length
he came to a handsome house. Jack knocked at the door, when there came
forth a Welsh giant. Jack said he was a traveler who had lost his way,
on which the giant made him welcome and let him into a room where there
was a good bed to sleep in.
Jack took off his clothes quickly, but though he was wear he could not
go to sleep. Soon after this he heard the giant walking backward and
forward in the next room and saying to himself:
"Though here you lodge with me this night,
You shall not see the morning light;
My club shall dash your brains out quite."
"Say you so?" thought Jack. "Are these your tricks upon travelers? But I
hope to prove as cunning as you are." Then, getting out of bed, he
groped about the room, and at last found a large thick billet of wood.
He laid it in his own place in the bed and then hid himself in a dark
corner of the room.
The giant, about midnight, entered the apartment, and with his bludgeon
struck many blows on the bed, in the very place where Jack had laid the
log; and then he went back to his own room, thinking he had broken all
Jack's bones.
Early in the morning Jack put a bold face upon the matter and walked
into the giant's room to thank him for his lodging. The giant started
when he saw him and began to stammer out: "Oh, dear me! Is it you? Pray
how did you sleep last night? Did you hear or see anything in the dead
of the night?"
"Nothing worth speaking of," said Jack carelessly. "A rat, I believe,
gave me three or four slaps with its tail and disturbed me a little, but
I soon went to sleep again."
The giant wondered more and more at this, yet he did not answer a word,
but went to bring two great bowls of hasty pudding for their breakfast.
Jack wanted to make the giant believe that he could eat as much as
himself, so he contrived to button a leathern bag inside his coat and
slip the hasty pudding into this bag, while he seemed to put it into his
mouth.
When breakfast was over he said to the giant: "Now I will show you a
fine trick. I can cure all wounds with a touch. I could cut off my head
in one minute and the next put it sound again on my shoulders. You shall
see an example." He then took hold of the knife, ripped up the leathern
bag, and all the hasty pudding tumbled out upon the floor.
"Ods splutter hur nails!" cried the Welsh giant, who was ashamed to be
outdone by such a little fellow as Jack, "hur can do that hurself." So
he snatched up the knife, plunged it into his own stomach, and in a
moment dropped down dead.
Jack, having hitherto been successful in all his undertakings, resolved
not to be idle in future. He therefore furnished himself with a horse, a
cap of knowledge, a sword of sharpness, shoes of swiftness, and an
invisible coat, the better to perform the wonderful enterprises that lay
before him.
He traveled over high hills, and on the third day he came to a large and
spacious forest through which his road lay. Scarcely had he entered the
forest when he beheld a monstrous giant dragging along by the hair of
their heads a handsome knight and his lady. Jack alighted from his
horse, and tying him to an oak tree, put on his invisible coat, under
which he carried his sword of sharpness.
When he came up to the giant he made several strokes at him, but could
not reach his body, though he wounded his thighs in several places; and
at length putting both hands to his sword and aiming with all his
might, he cut off both his legs. Then Jack, setting his foot upon the
giant's neck, plunged his sword into the great body, when the monster
gave a groan and expired.
[Illustration: "THE GIANT AND THE CONJURER NOW KNEW THAT THEIR WICKED
COURSE WAS AT AN END"]
The knight and his lady thanked Jack for their deliverance and invited
him to their house, to receive a proper reward for his services. "No,"
said Jack, "I cannot be easy till I find out this monster's habitation."
So taking the knight's directions, he mounted his horse and soon after
came in sight of another giant, who was sitting on a block of timber
waiting for his brother's return.
Jack alighted from his horse and, putting on his invisible coat,
approached and aimed a blow at the giant's head, but missing his aim he
only cut off his nose. On this the giant seized his club and laid about
him most unmercifully.
"Nay," said Jack, "if this be the case I'd better dispatch you!" So
jumping upon the block he stabbed him in the back, when he dropped down
dead.
Jack then proceeded on his journey and traveled over hills and dales,
till arriving at the foot of a high mountain he knocked at the door of a
lonely house, when an old man let him in.
When Jack was seated, the hermit thus addressed him: "My son, on the top
of this mountain is an enchanted castle, kept by the giant Galligantus
and a vile magician. I lament the fate of a duke's daughter, whom they
seized as she was walking in her father's garden and brought hither
transformed into a deer."
Jack promised that in the morning, at the risk of his life, he would
break the enchantment, and after a sound sleep he arose early, put on
his invisible coat, and made ready for the attempt.
When he had climbed to the top of the mountain he saw two fiery
griffins, but he passed between them without the least fear of danger,
for they could not see him because of his invisible coat. On the castle
gate he found a golden trumpet, under which were written these lines:
"Whoever can this trumpet blow
Shall cause the giant's overthrow."
As soon as Jack had read this he seized the trumpet and blew a shrill
blast, which made the gates fly open and the very castle itself tremble.
The giant and the conjurer now knew that their wicked course was at an
end, and they stood biting their thumbs and shaking with fear. Jack,
with his sword of sharpness, soon killed the giant, and the magician was
then carried away by a whirlwind; and every knight and beautiful lady
who had been changed into birds and beasts returned to their proper
shapes. The castle vanished away like smoke, and the head of the giant
Galligantus was then sent to King Arthur.
The knights and ladies rested that night at the old man's hermitage, and
next day they set out for the court. Jack then went up to the King and
gave his majesty an account of all his fierce battles.
Jack's fame had now spread through the whole country, and at the King's
desire the duke gave him his daughter in marriage, to the joy of all his
kingdom. After this the King gave him a large estate, on which he and
his lady lived the rest of their days in joy and contentment.
_Yvon and Finette_