his temper he should also lose a strip of skin from his back. But the
eldest son had not been in the house a week when the master gave him
so hard a task that he lost his temper and had to give up a strip of
skin from his back. So he went home and told his brothers about it.
Well, the brothers were savage at hearing what he had suffered. And
the second son went to the same man in the hope of getting revenge for
his brother. But the same thing happened to him, and he had to come
with a strip of skin from his back like his elder brother.
Now the third son, whose name was Jack, made up his mind he wouldn't
be done like the other two. And he went to the man and he engaged
himself to serve him for the same wage but on the same conditions that
his two brothers had done.
The very first morning that Jack had to go out to work his master gave
him a piece of dry bread and told him to mind the sheep.
"Is this all I'm to get to eat?" said Jack.
"Why, yes," said the master; "there'll be supper when you come home."
Jack was going to complain when his master called out to him, "Keep
cool, Jack, keep cool," and pointed to his back.
So Jack swallowed his rage and went out into the field. But on his way
he met a man, to whom he sold one of the sheep for five shillings, and
went and bought enough to eat and drink for a whole week.
When he got home that evening his master began to count the sheep, and
when he found one was missing, he said to Jack:
"You've let one of the sheep run away."
"No, no, sir," said Jack, "I sold him to a man passing along."
"You shouldn't have done that without my telling you; but where's the
money?"
"Oh, with the money," said Jack, "I went and bought me some eats." And
he showed him what he had bought.
The master was going to fly in a rage, but Jack said to him: "Keep
cool, master, keep cool," and pointed to his back. So he remembered
and said nothing more.
The next day Jack was ordered to take the pigs to market to sell them,
and after he had cut off all their tails he sold them and pocketed the
money; and then he went to a marsh near the farm and planted all the
tails in the marsh.
When he got home the master asked him if he had sold the pigs.
He said: "No, they all rushed into the marsh at the foot of the
valley."
"I don't believe you," said the master, and was going to get into a
rage when Jack said to him:
"Keep cool, master, keep cool."
So he went with Jack to the marsh, and when he saw the pigs' tails all
peeping out the marsh he went and plucked one of them out of the
ground, and Jack said:
"There, you've torn the tail from the poor pig's back."
Then the master was going to get into a rage again but Jack said:
"Keep cool, master, keep cool," and pointed to his back.
Next day the master didn't like sending Jack out with the animals or
else he might sell them to get some dinner. So he said to him:
"Jack, I want you today to clean the horses and the stable within and
without."
"Very well, master," said Jack, and went to the stable; and he
whitewashed it within and he whitewashed it without. Then he went to
the horses and killed them and took out their insides and cleaned them
within; and then he washed their skins.
In the evening the master came to see how Jack had got on with his
work and was delighted to find the stable looking so clean.
"But where are the horses?" he said; and Jack pointed to them lying
dead on their backs.
"Why, what have you done?" said the master.
"You told me to clean them within and without and how could I clean
them within without killing them?" said Jack.
Then the master was just going to fly into a rage, when Jack said to
him: "Keep cool, master, keep cool," and pointed to his back.
So next day the master had sent Jack out with the sheep, but so that
he should not sell any of them to get money for his lunch he sent his
wife with them telling her to watch Jack from behind a bush, and if he
tried to sell any of the sheep to stop him. But Jack saw her and
didn't say anything or try and sell any of the sheep.
But next day, when he went out with them, he took with him his gun,
and when the farmer's wife got behind the bush to watch him, he called
out: "Ah, wolf, I see you," and fired his gun at her and hit her in
the leg. She screamed out, and the master came running up and said:
"What's this, Jack, what's this?"
Then Jack said: "Why, master, I thought that was a wolf and I shot my
gun at it and it turned out to be the missus."
"How dare you, you scoundrel, shoot my wife!" cried out the master.
"Don't be in a rage, master, don't be in a rage," said Jack.
"Anybody would be in a rage if his wife was shot," said the master.
"Well, then," said Jack, "I'll have that strip off your back." And as
there were witnesses present the master had to let Jack take a strip
of skin from his back.
And with that he went home to his brothers.
[Illustration: The Pig's Tail]
[Illustration: The Dummy]
THE MASTER THIEF
There was once a farmer who had a son named Will, and he sent him out
in the world to learn a trade and seek his fortune. Now he hadn't gone
far when he was stopped by a band of robbers who called out to him:
"Your purse or your life!"
And he gave them his purse and said: "That is an easy way of getting
money, I'd like to be a robber myself."
So they agreed to take him into their band if he could show he was
able to do a robber's work. And the first person who went through the
wood again they sent Will to see if he could rob him. So he went up to
the man and said to him:
"Your purse or your life!"
The man gave him his purse, whereupon Will took all the money out of
it and gave it back to the man and took the purse back to the robbers,
who said:
"Well, what luck?"
"Oh, I got his purse from him quite easily; here it is."
"Well, what about the money?" said they.
"Well, that I gave back to him. You only asked me to say, 'Your purse
or your life.'"
At that the robbers roared with laughter and said: "You'll never be a
thief."
Will was quite ashamed of making such a fool of himself and determined
he would do better next time.
So one day he saw two farmers driving a herd of cattle to market, and
told the robbers that he knew a way to take the cattle from them
without fighting for them.
"If you do that," said they, "you will be a Master Thief."
Then Will went a little way ahead of the robbers with a stout cord,
which he tied under his armpits and then fixed himself upon a branch
of a tree over the road so that it looked as if he had been hanged.
When the farmers came with their cattle they said: "There's one of the
robbers hung up for an example," and drove their cattle on farther.
Then Will got down, and running across a bypath got again in front of
the farmers and hung himself up as before on a tree by the side of the
road.
When the farmers came up to him one of them said: "Goodness gracious
me, why there's the same robber hanged up here again."
"Oh, that's not the same robber," said the other.
"Yes, it is," said the first, "for I noticed he had a white horn
button on his coat, and see, there it is. It must be the same man."
"How could that be?" said the other. "We left that one hanging up dead
half a mile back."
"I am sure it is."
"I am certain it isn't."
"Well, give a good look at him, and we'll go back and see if it isn't
the same."
So the farmers went back to look, and Will took their cattle and drove
them back to the robbers, who agreed that he was a Master Thief.
He stopped with them for several years and made much money, and then
drove back in a carriage and pair to his father's farm.
When he came there his father came to the carriage and bowed to him
and asked him, "What is your pleasure, sir?"
"Oh, I want to make some inquiries about a young fellow named William
who used to be on this farm. What has become of him?"
"Oh, I don't know; he was my son and I have not heard from him for
many years; I am afraid he has come to no good."
"Look at me closely and see if you see any resemblance to him."
Then the farmer recognized Will and took him into the farmhouse and
called Will's mother to come and welcome him back.
"So, Will, you've come back in a carriage and pair," said she. "How
have you earnt so much money?"
So Will told his mother that he had become a Master Thief but begged
her not to mention it to any one, but to tell them that he had been an
explorer and had found gold.
Well, the very next day a neighbouring gossip called in upon Will's
mother and asked her to tell her the news about Will and what he had
been doing.
So she said: "Oh, Will has been an exploiter, I mean explorer, but he
really was a Master Thief. But you mustn't tell anybody; you'll
promise, won't you?"
So the gossip promised, but of course the moment she got home she told
all about Will being a Master Thief.
Now the lord of the village soon heard of this, and he called Will up
to him and said: "I hear you are a Master Thief. You know that you
deserve death for that. But if you can prove that you are really a
master in your thievery I will let you go free. First let us see
whether you can steal my horse out of my stable to-night."
To prevent his horse being stolen, the lord ordered it to be saddled
and put a stable boy on it, telling him to stop there all night.
Will took two flasks of brandy into one of which he had poured a drug,
and dressing himself as an old woman he went to the lord's stable late
at night and asked to rest there as it was so cold and she was so
tired.
The stable boy pointed to some straw in the corner and told the woman
she might rest there for a time.
When she sat down she took one of the brandy flasks out of her pocket
and drank it off, saying, "Ah, that warms one! Would you like to have
a drink?"
And when the stable boy said "Yes," Will gave him the other flask, and
as soon as he had drunk it he fell dead asleep.
So Will lifted him off of the horse and put him on the cross-bar of
the stable as if he were riding, and then he got on the horse and rode
away.
In the morning the lord went down to the stable and there he saw the
stable boy riding the cross-bar and his horse gone.
Then Will rode up to the stable on the lord's horse and said: "Am I
not a Master Thief?"
"Oh, stealing my horse was not so hard. Let us see if you can steal
the sheet from off my bed to-night. But, look out, if you come near my
bedroom I shall shoot you."
That night Will took a dummy man and propped it up on a ladder, which
he put up to the lord's bedroom.
And when the lord saw the dummy coming in at the window he shot his
pistol at it and it fell down. He rushed downstairs and out into the
open air looking to see if he had shot Will.
Meanwhile Will went up to the lord's bedroom and, speaking in the
lord's voice, said to his wife: "Give me the sheet, my dear, to wrap
the body of that poor Master Thief in."
So she gave him the sheet and he went away.
Next morning Will brought up the sheet to the lord, who said: "That
was a good trick, I must confess. But if you want really to prove that
you are a Master Thief bring to me the priest in a bag, and then I
will own your mastery."
So that night Will took a number of crabs and tied candle ends upon
them, and taking them to the cemetery lit the candle ends and let them
loose.
When the priest of the village saw these lights moving over the
cemetery he came to the door and watched them and called out:
"What is that?"
Now Will had dressed himself up like an angel.
"It is the last day of judgment, and I have come for thee, Father
Lawrence, to carry thee to heaven. Come within this bag, and in a
short time thou wilt be in thine appointed place."
So Father Lawrence crept within the bag, and Will dragged him along,
and when he bumped against the ground Father Lawrence said:
"Oh, we must be going through purgatory."
And then Will took him to the hen-coops and threw him in among the
chickens and ducks and geese, and Father Lawrence said:
"We must be getting near the angels for I hear the rustling of their
wings."
So Will went up to the lord's house and made him come down to the
hen-coops and there showed him the priest in the bag, and the lord
said:
"I do not know how you do these things. I cannot tell if you are
really a Master Thief unless you take my horse from under me. If you
can do that I will call you the Master of all Master Thieves."
Well, next day, Will dressed himself up as an old woman, and taking a
cart with an old horse put in it a cask of beer, and then went driving
along with his thumb in the bunghole.
Soon after he met the lord on horseback who asked him if he had seen a
man like Will lurking about there in the forest.
"I think I have," said Will, "and could bring him to you if you
wanted. But I can't leave this cask before the taps come out; I have
to keep my thumb in the bunghole."
"Oh, I will do that," said the lord, "if you will only go and get that
man. Take my horse and run him down."
So Will got on the lord's horse and rode off, leaving the nobleman
with his thumb in the bunghole. He waited and he waited and he waited
till at last he drove in the cart back to his house, and there he saw
no less a person than Will himself riding his horse.
Then the noble said unto Will: "You are indeed a Master Thief. Go your
way in peace."
[Illustration: Anima Goes down the Hole]
THE UNSEEN BRIDEGROOM
Once upon a time there was a king and queen, as many a one has been,
and they had three daughters, all of them beautiful; but the most
beautiful of all was the youngest whose name was Anima. Now it
happened one day that all three sisters were playing in the meadows,
and Anima saw a bush with lovely flowers. As she wished to carry it
home to plant in her own garden she plucked at the root and plucked
and plucked again. At last it gave way, and she saw beneath it a
stairway going down farther into the earth. Being a brave girl and
very curious as to where this could lead to, without calling her
sisters, she crept down the stairs for a long, long way, till at last
she came out into the open air again in a country which she had never
seen before, and not far away, in front of her, she saw a magnificent
palace.
Anima ran towards it, and when she came to the door she knocked at the
knocker and it opened without anybody being there. So she went in and
found all inside richly bedecked with marble walls and rich trappings;
and, as she went along, lovely music broke out and came with her
wherever she went. At last she came to a room with cosy couches, and
she threw herself into one because she was tired with her searching.
Scarcely had she done so, when there appeared a table coming towards
her on wheels, without anybody moving it, and upon the table were
delightful fruits and cakes and cool drinks of all kinds. So Anima
took as much as she needed and fell into slumber and did not awake
till it was getting dark. And then appeared through the air two large
candlesticks, each with three candles in them; and they swam through
the air and settled upon the tables near her, so that she had plenty
of light. But she cried out: "Oh, I must go back to my father and
mother; how shall I go? How shall I go?"
Then a sweet voice near her spoke out and said: "Abide with me and be
my bride, and thou shalt have all thy heart desires."
But Anima cried out in fear and trembling: "But who art thou? Who art
thou? Come forth and let me see thee."
But the voice replied: "Nay, nay, that is forbidden. Never must thou
look upon my face or we must part, for my mother, the Queen, wishes
not that I should wed."
So sweet was his voice and so lonely did Anima feel, that she
consented to become his bride, and they lived happily together, though
he never came near her till all was dark, so that she could not see
him. But after a time Anima became weary even with all these
splendours and happiness, and wished to see her own people again, and
said to her husband:
"Please may I go home and see my father and my mother and my dear
sisters?"
"Nay, nay, child," said the voice of her husband, "ill will come of it
if thou seest them again, and thou and I must part."
But she kept on begging him to let her return to her people for a
visit, or at least to let them come and see her, till at last he
consented and sent a message to her father and mother and sisters,
asking them to come and spend some days with her, at a time when he
himself would have to be absent.
So the King and Queen and Anima's two sisters came and wondered at
the splendours of her new home, and, above all, was surprised to find
that they were waited on by invisible hands, who did all for them that
they could wish for. But Anima's sisters soon became both curious and
envious; they could not guess who or what her husband was, and envied
her having so wonderful a household.
So one of them said to her: "But Anima, how marry a man without ever
seeing him? There must be some reason why he will not show himself;
perhaps he is deformed, or maybe he is some beast transformed."
But Anima laughed and said: "He is no beast, that I am sure; and see
how kind he is to me. I do not care if he is not as handsome as he
does."
Still the sisters kept on insisting that there must be something wrong
where there was something concealed, and at last they got their mother
the Queen to say to her as she was leaving: "Now, Anima, I think it
right to know who and what thy husband is. Wait till he is asleep and
light a lamp, and then see what he is."
Soon after this they all departed. And the same night her husband came
to Anima again, but she had already prepared a lamp of oil with a
spark of fire ready to kindle it. And when she heard him sleeping by
her side she lit the candle and looked at him. She was delighted to
find that he was most handsome, with a strong and well-made body. But
as she was looking at him her hand trembled with delight and three
drops of oil fell upon his cheek from the lamp she was holding. Then
he woke up and saw her, and knew that she had broken her promise, and
said:
"Oh, Anima, oh, Anima, why hast thou done this? Here we part until
thou canst persuade my mother the Queen to let thee see me again."
[Illustration: _The Lamp_]
With that came a rumbling of thunder and her lamp went out, and Anima
fell to the ground in a swoon. And when she awoke the palace had
disappeared and she was on a bleak, bleak moor. She walked and she
walked till she came to a house by the wayside where an old woman
received her and gave her something to eat and drink, and then asked
Anima how she came there. So Anima told all that had happened to her,
and the old woman said:
"Thou hast married my nephew, my sister's son, and I fear she will
never forgive thee. But pluck up courage, go to her and demand thy
husband, and she'll have to give him up to thee if thou canst do all
that she demands from thee. Take this twig; if she asks what I think
she will ask, strike it on the ground thrice and help will come to
thee."
Then she told Anima the way to her husband's mother, and, as it was
far distant, gave her directions where she could find another sister
of hers who might help her. So she came to another house along the way
where she saw another old woman, to whom she told her story, and this
old woman, the Queen's sister, gave her a raven's feather and told
her how to use it.
At last Anima came to the palace of the Queen, the mother of her
invisible husband, and when she came into her presence demanded to see
him.
"What, thou low-born mortal," cried the Queen; "how didst thou dare to
wed my son?"
"It was his choice," said Anima, "and I am now his wife. Surely you
will let me see him once more."
"Well," said the Queen, "if thou canst do what I demand of thee thou
shalt see my son again. And first go into that barn where my stupid
stewards have poured together all the wheat and oats and rice into one
great heap. If by nightfall thou canst separate them into three heaps
perhaps I may grant thy request."
So Anima was led to the great barn of the Queen and there was a huge
heap of grain all mixed together, and she was left alone, and the barn
was closed upon her. Then she bethought herself of the twig that the
Queen's sister had given her, and she struck it thrice upon the
ground, whereupon thousands of ants came out of the ground and began
to work upon the heap of grain, some of them taking the wheat to one
corner, some the oats to another, and the rest carrying off the grains
of rice to a third. By nightfall all the grain had been separated, and
when the Queen came to let out Anima she found the task had been
done.
"Thou hast had help," she cried; "we'll see to-morrow if thou canst do
something by thyself."
Next day the Queen took her into a large loft at the top of the palace
almost filled with feathers of geese, of eider ducks, and of swans,
and from her cupboard she took twelve mattresses and said:
"See these mattresses; by the end of the day thou must fill four of
them with swans' feathers, four of them with eider-down, and the rest
with feathers of geese. Do that and then we will see."
With that she left Anima and closed and locked the door behind her.
And Anima remembered what the other Queen's sister had given her, and
took out the raven's feather and waved it thrice. Immediately birds,
and birds, and birds came flying through the windows, and each of them
picked out different kinds of feathers and placed them in the
mattresses, so that long before night the twelve mattresses were
filled as the Queen had ordered.
Again at nightfall the Queen came in, and as soon as she saw that the
second task had been carried out, she said:
"Again thou hast had help; to-morrow thou shalt have something to do
which thou alone canst carry out."
Next day the Queen summoned her and gave her a small flask and a
letter and said to her:
"Take these to my sister, the Queen of the Nether-World, and bring
back what she will give to thee safely, and then I may let thee see my
son."
"How can I find your sister?" said Anima.
"That thou must find for thyself," and left her.
Poor Anima did not know which way to go, but as she walked along the
voice of some one invisible to her said softly:
"Take with thee a copper coin and a loaf of bread and go down that
deep defile there till thou comest to a deep river and there thou wilt
see an old man ferrying people across the river. Put the coin between
your teeth and let him take it from you, and he will carry you across,
but speak not to him. Then, on the other side, thou wilt come to a
dark cave, and at the entrance is a savage dog; give him the loaf of
bread and he will let thee pass and thou wilt soon come to the Queen
of the Nether-World. Take what she gives thee, but beware lest thou
eat anything or sit down while thou art within the cave."
Anima recognized the voice of her husband and did all that he had told
her, till she came to the Queen of the Nether-World, who read the
letter she had handed to her. Then she offered Anima cake and wine,
but she refused, shaking her head, but saying nothing. Then the Queen
of the Nether-World gave her a curiously wrought box and said to her:
"Take this, I pray thee, to my sister, but beware lest thou open it on
the way or ill may befall thee," and then dismissed her.
[Illustration: The Dog]
Anima went back past the great dog and crossed the dark river. When
she got into the forest beyond she could not resist the temptation to
open the box, and when she did so out jumped a number of little dolls,
which commenced dancing about in front of her and around her and
amused her much by their playful antics. But soon the night was coming
on, and she wanted to put them into the box, and they ran away and hid
behind the trees, and Anima knew that she could not get them back. So
she sat down upon the ground and wept, and wept, and wept. But at last
she heard the voice of her husband once more, who said:
[Illustration: The Casket]
"See what thy curiosity has again brought upon thee; thou canst not
bring back the box to my mother just as my aunt the Queen of the
Nether-World has given it to you, and so we shall not see one another
again."
But at this Anima burst out into weeping and wailing so piteously that
he took compassion on her and said:
"See that golden bough on yonder tree; pluck it and strike the ground
three times with it and see what thou wilt see."
Anima did as she had been told, and soon the little dolls came running
from behind the trees and jumped of their own accord into the box; and
she closed it quickly and took it back to the Queen, her husband's
mother.
The Queen opened the box, and when she found all the little dolls were
in it laughed aloud and said:
"I know who has helped thee; I cannot help myself; I suppose thou must
have my son."
And as soon as she had said this Anima's husband appeared and took her
to him, and they lived happy ever afterwards.
[Illustration: The Master-Maid with the Glass Axe]
THE MASTER-MAID