There were two brothers who had a small farm and dairy between them,
and they were honest and industrious, and worked hard to get along,
though they had barely enough, after all their labour, just to keep
body and soul together.
One day while churning, the handle of the dash broke, and nothing
being near to mend it, one of the brothers cut off a branch from an
elder-tree that grew close to the house, and tied it to the dash for a
handle. Then the churning went on, but to their surprise, the butter
gathered so thick that all the crocks in the house were soon full, and
still there was more left. The same thing went on every churning day,
so the brothers became rich, for they could fill the market with their
butter, and still had more than enough for every buyer.
At last, being honest and true men, they began to fear that there was
witchcraft in it, and that they were wronging their neighbours by
abstracting their butter, and bringing it to their own churn in some
strange way. So they both went off together to a great fairy doctor,
and told him the whole story, and asked his advice.
“Foolish men,” he said to them, “why did you come to me? for now you
have broken the spell, and you will never have your crocks filled with
butter any more. Your good fortune has passed away, for know the truth
now. You were not wronging your neighbours; all was fair and just that
you did, but this is how it happened. Long ago, the fairies passing
through your land had a dispute and fought a battle, and having no
arms, they flung lumps of butter at each other, which got lodged in the
branches of the elder-tree in great quantities, for it was just after
May Eve, when butter is plenty. This is the butter you have had, for
the elder-tree has a sacred power which preserved it until now, and it
came down to you through the branch you cut for a handle to the dash.
But the spell is broken now that you have uttered the mystery, and you
will have no more butter from the elder-tree.”
Then the brothers went away sorrowful, and never after did the butter
come beyond the usual quantity. However, they had already made so much
money that they were content. And they stocked their farm, and all
things prospered with them, for they had dealt uprightly in the matter,
and the blessing of the Lord was on them.