IN WHICH SWEET WILLIAM TELLS A STORY
There was once a goose-girl named Kora, who used to herd her master’s
geese in a certain field. Now at one end of this field there was a
grassy mound, inside which lived a very rich and wicked troll, who came
every day to his doorway to watch the goose-girl as she sat in the
shadow of a hollow tree, knitting and singing, and minding her geese.
“She is so cheerful and industrious,” said he to himself, “that
doubtless she would make a very good wife.”
But one day when he stood at his threshold to look at her, he saw that
she had let her knitting fall into her lap, and that instead of singing,
she was weeping bitterly. Very cautiously he crept up behind her, and
touched her gently on the arm. Kora started and screamed when she caught
sight of the troll, for he was ugly and misshapen, and had an uncommonly
large head.
“Why are you crying, my girl?” he asked.
“Because one of my geese has strayed,” said she, “and I have sought for
it till I am tired out, and I know that my master will be very angry
with me.”
“That is soon mended,” replied the troll, “for in my house I have a
magic crystal, which tells me where I may find all lost and missing
things. Come with me, pretty maid, and I will see what I can do for
you.”
So Kora followed him joyfully into the little house within the knoll,
and looked with great curiosity at the wonderful crystal. She noticed
that it bore the following inscription:—
“In all the world there is but one spot,
Unknown to men, by fays forgot,
Wherein my power availeth not.”
But she did not pay much attention to the words at the time.
“I can see your goose already,” cried the troll, as he peered into the
crystal; “it has strayed as far as the sand dunes.”
“Then I must go and seek it immediately,” replied Kora, “and I thank you
most heartily for your courtesy.”
“Not so fast, not so fast,” the troll made answer, catching her by the
arm; “you are pretty and neat-fingered, my girl, and have a sweet voice.
You shall stay and keep house for me, and be my wife.”
Kora protested with tears and cries and wringing of hands, but it was
all to no purpose; so she pretended to resign herself to her lot, though
in reality she never ceased planning how she might escape from it.
Presently an idea came to her, and one day, instead of busying herself
about the house as usual, she remained seated by the hearth, her head in
her hands, the picture of dejection.
“What is the matter now?” demanded the troll.
“The matter!” cried Kora, with a great show of indignation; “when you
have never so much as given me a wedding-ring! When men take wives in
the upper world, they give them golden wedding-rings in token of their
troth.”
“Is that all?” said the troll. “Dry your eyes then, my love, for you
shall soon have rings in plenty.”
So saying he went into his own private closet, a dark little room at the
back of the house, and presently returned laden with sacks and caskets,
all full of gold and silver, jewels and trinkets. Kora began trying on
one ring after another, but none of them seemed to please her, and at
last she turned away with a gesture of impatience.
“These are not the right sort,” said she scornfully, “for they are all
set with precious stones, while a real wedding-ring is only a plain gold
circlet. I will not do another stroke of work about the house till you
have brought me a proper wedding-ring.”
“I will go to the goldsmith and get you one, my love,” said her husband,
and he set out that same day.
No sooner, however, had Kora watched him out of sight, than she ran into
the wood that skirted the meadow, and kept on running till she was so
tired and out of breath that she had to sit down and rest. Then she
noticed that something underground was shovelling up the earth at her
feet, throwing it about in all directions. She expected to see a mole
emerge, but when the creature did at last appear it proved to be a
little brown gnome, with a sack flung across his shoulder.
“Tell me, good gnome,” cried Kora, “how I may escape from my husband the
troll. He has a magic crystal by means of which he is able to find all
lost and missing things, so that I cannot think of a safe enough
hiding-place.”
“You must take another shape,” replied the gnome, and he turned her into
a crystal that twinkled on the edge of a jagged rock.
When the troll came home and missed his wife, he was very angry, and
went straight to his magic crystal; and there, sure enough, he not only
saw the sparkle in the rock, but also recognised his wife under her
assumed shape. Immediately he hurried into the wood, carrying a hammer,
and having broken away the splinter of rock, he took it home in triumph,
and no sooner had he crossed his own threshold than his wife stood
before him. After that the troll treated her very hardly, and Kora hated
him more than ever.
[Illustration:
“PRESENTLY AN ELF CAME PAST HER, RIDING ON A LIZARD.”
_Page 96_
_The Fairy Latchkey._
]
Now one day the troll was going fishing, and this time he said to his
wife: “You shall play me no second trick, madam; I will lock you in till
I come back.” So saying he turned the key upon her, and went his way.
But Kora did not despair. She hurried into her husband’s private closet,
and took the keys of all the various caskets in which he kept his
treasure. Then with trembling hands she tried them one by one in the
lock of the door, and as good luck would have it, the last key fitted.
The next thing she did was to try to destroy the magic crystal. She
dashed it on to the floor and against the wall, but finding that she
could not break it, she went and hid it inside the hollow tree in the
field, beneath which in former days she had been wont to sit and watch
her geese. Then she fled into the forest, and ran as fast and as far as
she could. Presently an elf came past her, riding on a lizard.
“Tell me, kind elf,” said she, “how I may escape from the cruel troll,
my husband, for I have hidden his magic crystal which tells him where to
find all lost and missing things.”
“I will do the best I can for you,” replied the elf, and turning Kora
into a dockleaf by the brook, he rode on.
When the troll returned home from his fishing, and found that his wife
had escaped a second time, he was much enraged, and made his way at once
to the place where he kept his crystal. But when he saw that this had
also disappeared, he was in a greater rage than ever, and began to hunt
for it all over the house. At last he thought of the hollow tree, and
there, inside the trunk, and smothered in dry leaves and moss, he found
his missing talisman. No sooner had he looked into it, than he saw the
dockleaf growing by the brook, and once more recognised his wife.
Immediately he went into the wood, and having picked the dockleaf, he
took it home in triumph, and when he had crossed his own threshold his
wife stood before him. After that he treated her yet more hardly, and
Kora hated him even more than before.
Now it is customary that trolls should be the money-lenders of mighty
kings, and Kora’s husband had many a time lent gold and silver and
treasure of all sorts to a certain avaricious king, who loved wealth
above everything, and oppressed his people with unendurable imposts. It
so happened that just at this time the troll received an urgent message
from this king, entreating him for a large sum of money. So he called
his wife to him, and said to her, “I must now go on a journey which will
last several days, and I will take my crystal with me, so that should
you try to escape from me again, I shall be able to discover your
hiding-place in a trice. Bear this in mind, wife, and let me have no
more of these follies.”
For some time after she was left alone, Kora made no further attempt at
escape. She did nothing but sit and brood over her troubles, and say to
herself that there was no way out of them, till she suddenly called to
mind the words of the inscription on the crystal, and understood that
there must be just one country under the sun where she would be safe
from her husband’s pursuit.
“I will try to find it,” said she, “it is the one chance left me.” And
in this forlorn hope she went for the third time into the wood. Far, far
she went, through forest and field and heath, till at last she was
obliged to sit down by the roadside and rest. It had begun to rain, and
dusk was falling. Kora was worn out with her wanderings, and shed many
tears. All at once she felt a hand upon her shoulder. At first she
started and cried out, believing that it was the troll, but then she saw
that it was only an old crone with bent back and grizzled hair, leaning
upon a stick.
“Daughter,” said the old woman, “what is your trouble?”
“I am escaping from my husband, the troll,” said Kora, “and I am afraid
lest he should find me by looking into his magic crystal. I am in search
of an unknown land where the crystal has no power.”
“You seem tired out,” said the old crone kindly, “come with me, for I
can at least offer you shelter.”
Kora thanked her earnestly, and they walked on together. Heather and
bracken stretched to either side of them for mile upon mile, the last
curlew had gone to rest, and it was very still and eerie on the lonely
moor. Kora looked to right and to left, hoping to catch sight of a
shepherd’s cottage, or at least of some hovel which might prove to be
the old woman’s home, but she could see nothing save certain giant
boulders scattered here and there upon the heath. What then was her
surprise when the old crone hobbled up to the largest of these, and
struck it with her stick. Immediately the door was opened by a tabby
cat.
“You are late, mistress,” said he.
“I have brought a guest,” replied the old woman, “so you must all bestir
yourselves.” Then she led Kora into a snug little room, where a bright
fire of peat blazed invitingly on the hearth.
“First you must eat and sleep,” said she, “and to-morrow you shall tell
me of your trouble. I am a Wise Woman, and may be able to help you.”
Kora sank down by the fireside, too weary to make any protest. She
stretched out her cold hands to the ruddy glow, and began to dry her wet
dress and hood. Meanwhile the Wise Woman’s servants were busy preparing
the evening meal, which was soon ready. A black cat served the soup and
a white cat the fish, a grey cat the joint and a tortoiseshell cat the
sweets. Then a sandy cat lit a taper and lighted her to her room, where
she soon fell sound asleep.
When the morning came, Kora at once sought out the Wise Woman, told her
her whole story, and begged for advice.
“The unknown country to which no man has found the way,” replied the
Wise Woman, “is the country whither the cuckoos go in winter, nor do I
myself know the way, but if you will consent to be turned into a cuckoo,
you will at once be able to find it.”
Rather than fall again into her husband’s hands, Kora willingly agreed,
and the Wise Woman thereupon, with a wave of her stick, changed her into
a cuckoo, which spread its wings and flew away, far across the pathless
sea.
The troll meanwhile felt so sure that his wife would not again try to
escape, that several days passed before he thought it necessary to look
into the magic crystal. Great was his dismay, therefore, when he did at
last look into it, to see nothing but a blank. Never before had it
failed him. He hurried home with all speed, and finding his house
deserted, he at once resolved to set out in pursuit of Kora. But since
his heart was in his treasure, he would not start before he had gathered
together as much as he could possibly carry with him, and had loaded it
upon his back. He travelled a long way, through forest and field and
heath, till at last he came to the shores of a great ocean. Here he took
a boat, and began paddling himself out to sea, but the sack of gold
proved so heavy that the boat sank, and the troll was drowned.
But Kora reached the unknown land in safety, and married the king of the
cuckoos, with whom she lived in great happiness and contentment, and
they reigned together over the most beautiful country in all the world.