came out of the shadow, and bade them, with harsh words, go on grinding,
and cease not except for so long as the cuckoo was silent, or while he
himself sang a song. Now it was early summer-time, and the cuckoo was
calling all the day and most of the night.
So the Giant-Maidens waxed very wroth with King Frode, and as they
resumed their labours they sang a song of the hardness of their lot in
the household of this pitiless King.
They had been grinding out wealth and happiness and peace, but now they
bade the magic stones to grind something very different.
Presently, as the great stones moved round and round, Frode, who still
stood by, heard one chant in a low, sing-song voice,--
"I see a fire east of the town--the curlews awake and sound a note of
warning. A host approaches in haste, to burn the dwelling of the king."
And the next took up her song,--
"No longer will Frode sit on his throne, and rule over rings of red gold
and mighty millstones. Now must we grind with all our might--and,
behold! red warriors come forth--and revenge, and bloodshed, and ruin."
Then Frode shook from head to foot in his terror, for he heard the tramp
of a mighty host of warriors advancing from the sea. And as he looked
for a way of escape, the braces of the millstones broke with the strong
grinding, and fell in two. And the whole world shook and trembled with
the mighty shock of that breaking.
But through the crash and din came the voices of the Giant-Maidens,
loudly chanting,--
"We have turned the stone round;
Though weary the maidens,
See what they have ground!"
And that same night a mighty sea-king came up and slew Frode and
plundered his city.
When he had sacked the city, the sea-king took on board his ship the two
Giant-Maidens, and with them the broken millstones. And he bade them
begin at once to grind salt, for of this he had very scanty store.
So they ground and ground; and in the middle of the night, being weary,
they asked the sea-king if he had not got salt enough.
But the sea-king was hard of heart, like Frode, and he roughly bade them
go on grinding. And the maidens did so, and worked to such effect that
within a short time the millstones had ground out so much salt that the
weight of it began to sink the ship. Down, down it sank, ship and giants
and millstones, and in that spot, in the very middle of the ocean, arose
a whirlpool, from whence the salt is carried north and south, east and
west, throughout the waters of the earth.
And that is how the sea became salt.
THE CASTLE OF FORTUNE[33]
One lovely summer morning, just as the sun rose, two travellers started
on a journey. They were both strong young men, but one was a lazy fellow
and the other was a worker.
As the first sunbeams came over the hills, they shone on a great castle
standing on the heights, as far away as the eye could see. It was a
wonderful and beautiful castle, all glistening towers that gleamed like
marble, and glancing windows that shone like crystal. The two young men
looked at it eagerly, and longed to go nearer.
Suddenly, out of the distance, something like a great butterfly, of
white and gold, swept toward them. And when it came nearer, they saw
that it was a most beautiful lady, robed in floating garments as fine as
cobwebs and wearing on her head a crown so bright that no one could tell
whether it was of diamonds or of dew. She stood, light as air, on a
great, shining, golden ball, which rolled along with her, swifter than
the wind. As she passed the travellers, she turned her face to them and
smiled.
"Follow me!" she said.
The lazy man sat down in the grass with a discontented sigh. "She has
an easy time of it!" he said.
But the industrious man ran after the lovely lady and caught the hem of
her floating robe in his grasp. "Who are you, and whither are you
going?" he asked.
"I am the Fairy of Fortune," the beautiful lady said, "and that is my
castle. You may reach it to-day, if you will; there is time, if you
waste none. If you reach it before the last stroke of midnight, I will
receive you there, and will be your friend. But if you come one second
after midnight, it will be too late."
When she had said this, her robe slipped from the traveller's hand and
she was gone.
The industrious man hurried back to his friend, and told him what the
fairy had said.
"The idea!" said the lazy, man, and he laughed; "of course, if we had a
horse there would be some chance, but _walk_ all that way? No, thank
you!"
"Then good-bye," said his friend, "I am off." And he set out, down the
road toward the shining castle, with a good steady stride, his eyes
straight ahead.
The lazy man lay down in the soft grass, and looked rather wistfully at
the far-away towers. "If only I had a good horse!" he sighed.
Just at that moment he felt something warm nosing about at his shoulder,
and heard a little whinny. He turned round, and there stood a little
horse! It was a dainty creature, gentle-looking, and finely built, and
it was saddled and bridled.
"Hello!" said the lazy man. "Luck often comes when one isn't looking for
it!" And in an instant he had leaped on the horse, and headed him for
the castle of fortune. The little horse started at a fine pace, and in a
very few minutes they overtook the other traveller, plodding along on
foot.
"How do you like shank's pony?" laughed the lazy man, as he passed his
friend.
The industrious man only nodded, and kept on with his steady stride,
eyes straight ahead.
The horse kept his good pace, and by noon the towers of the castle stood
out against the sky, much nearer and more beautiful. Exactly at noon,
the horse turned aside from the road, into a shady grove on a hill, and
stopped.
"Wise beast," said his rider: "'haste makes waste,' and all things are
better in moderation. I'll follow your example, and eat and rest a bit."
He dismounted and sat down in the cool moss, with his back against a
tree. He had a lunch in his traveller's pouch, and he ate it
comfortably. Then he felt drowsy from the heat and the early ride, so he
pulled his hat over his eyes, and settled himself for a nap. "It will go
all the better for a little rest," he said.
That _was_ a sleep! He slept like the seven sleepers, and he dreamed the
most beautiful things you could imagine. At last, he dreamed that he had
entered the castle of fortune and was being received with great
festivities. Everything he wanted was brought to him, and music played
while fireworks were set off in his honour. The music was so loud that
he awoke. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and behold, the fireworks were
the very last rays of the setting sun, and the music was the voice of
the other traveller, passing the grove on foot!
"Time to be off," said the lazy man, and looked about him for the pretty
horse. No horse was to be found. The only living thing near was an old,
bony, grey donkey. The man called, and whistled, and looked, but no
little horse appeared. After a long while he gave it up, and, since
there was nothing better to do, he mounted the old grey donkey and set
out again.
The donkey was slow, and he was hard to ride, but he was better than
nothing; and gradually the lazy man saw the towers of the castle draw
nearer.
Now it began to grow dark; in the castle windows the lights began to
show. Then came trouble! Slower, and slower, went the grey donkey;
slower, and slower, till, in the very middle of a pitch-black wood, he
stopped and stood still. Not a step would he budge for all the coaxing
and scolding and beating his rider could give. At last the rider kicked
him, as well as beat him, and at that the donkey felt that he had had
enough. Up went his hind heels, and down went his head, and over it went
the lazy man on to the stony ground.
There he lay groaning for many minutes, for it was not a soft place, I
can assure you. How he wished he were in a soft, warm bed, with his
aching bones comfortable in blankets! The very thought of it made him
remember the Castle of Fortune, for he knew there must be fine beds
there. To get to those beds he was even willing to bestir his poor
limbs, so he sat up and felt about him for the donkey.
No donkey was to be found.
The lazy man crept round and round the spot where he had fallen,
scratched his hands on the stumps, tore his face in the briers, and
bumped his knees on the stones. But no donkey was there. He would have
laid down to sleep again, but he could hear now the howls of hungry
wolves in the woods; that it did not sound pleasant. Finally, his hand
struck against something that felt like a saddle. He grasped it,
thankfully, and started to mount his donkey.
The beast he took hold of seemed very small, and, as he mounted, he felt
that its sides were moist and slimy. It gave him a shudder, and he
hesitated; but at that moment he heard a distant clock strike. It was
striking eleven! There was still time to reach the castle of fortune,
but no more than enough; so he mounted his new steed and rode on once
more. The animal was easier to sit on than the donkey, and the saddle
seemed remarkably high behind; it was good to lean against. But even the
donkey was not so slow as this; the new steed was slower than he. After
a while, however, he pushed his way out of the woods into the open, and
there stood the castle, only a little way ahead! All its windows were
ablaze with lights. A ray from them fell on the lazy man's beast, and he
saw what he was riding: it was a gigantic snail! a snail as large as a
calf!
A cold shudder ran over the lazy man's body, and he would have got off
his horrid animal then and there, but just then the clock struck once
more. It was the first of the long, slow strokes that mark midnight! The
man grew frantic when he heard it. He drove his heels into the snail's
sides, to make him hurry. Instantly, the snail drew in his head, curled
up in his shell, and left the lazy man sitting in a heap on the ground!
The clock struck twice. If the man had run for it, he could still have
reached the castle, but, instead, he sat still and shouted for a horse.
"A beast, a beast!" he wailed, "any kind of a beast that will take me to
the castle!"
The clock struck three times. And as it struck the third note, something
came rustling and rattling out of the darkness, something that sounded
like a horse with harness. The lazy man jumped on its back, a very
queer, low back. As he mounted, he saw the doors of the castle open, and
saw his friend standing on the threshold, waving his cap and beckoning
to him.
The clock struck four times, and the new steed began to stir; as it
struck five, he moved a pace forward; as it struck six, he stopped; as
it struck seven, he turned himself about; as it struck eight, he began
to move backward, away from the castle!
The lazy man shouted, and beat him, but the beast went slowly backward.
And the clock struck nine. The man tried to slide off, then, but from
all sides of his strange animal great arms came reaching up and held him
fast. And in the next ray of moonlight that broke the dark clouds, he
saw that he was mounted on a monster crab!
One by one, the lights went out, in the castle windows. The clock struck
ten. Backward went the crab. Eleven! Still the crab went backward. The
clock struck twelve! Then the great doors shut with a clang, and the
castle of fortune was closed for ever to the lazy man.
What became of him and his crab no one knows to this day, and no one
cares. But the industrious man was received by the Fairy of Fortune, and
made happy in the castle as long as he wanted to stay. And ever
afterward she was his friend, helping him not only to happiness for
himself, but also showing him how to help others, wherever he went.
FOOTNOTES:
[33] Adapted from the German of _Der Faule und der Fleissige_, by Robert
Reinick.
DAVID AND GOLIATH[34]
A long time ago, there was a boy named David, who lived in a country in
the Far East. He was good to look upon, for he had fair hair and a ruddy
skin; and he was very strong and brave and modest. He was shepherd-boy
for his father, and all day--often all night--he was out in the fields,
far from home, watching over the sheep. He had to guard them from wild
animals, and lead them to the right pastures, and care for them.
By and by, war broke out between the people of David's country and a
people that lived near at hand; these men were called Philistines, and
the people of David's country were named Israelites. All the strong men
of Israel went up to the battle, to fight for their king. David's three
older brothers went, but he was only a boy, so he was left behind to
care for the sheep.
After the brothers had been gone some time, David's father longed very
much to hear from them, and to know if they were safe; so he sent for
David, from the fields, and said to him, "Take now for thy brothers an
ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp,
where thy brothers are; and carry these ten cheeses to the captain of
their thousand, and see how thy brothers fare, and bring me word again."
(An ephah is about three pecks.)
David rose early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and
took the corn and the loaves and the cheeses, as his father had
commanded him, and went to the camp of the Israelites.
The camp stood on a mountain on the one side, and the Philistines stood
on a mountain on the other side; and there was a valley between. David
came to the place where the Israelites were, just as the host was going
forth to the fight, shouting for the battle. So he left his gifts in the
hands of the keeper of the baggage, and ran into the army, amongst the
soldiers, to find his brothers. When he found them, he saluted them and
began to talk with them.
But while he was asking them the questions his father had commanded,
there arose a great shouting and tumult among the Israelites, and men
came running back from the front line of battle; everything became
confusion. David looked to see what the trouble was, and he saw a
strange sight: down the slope of the opposite mountain came striding a
Philistine warrior, calling out something in a taunting voice; he was a
gigantic man, the largest David had ever seen, and he was covered with
armour, that shone in the sun: he had a helmet of brass upon his head,
and he was armed with a coat of mail, and he had greaves of brass upon
his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders; his spear was so
tremendous that the staff of it was like a weaver's beam, and his shield
so great that a man went before him, to carry it.
"Who is that?" asked David.
"It is Goliath, of Gath, champion of the Philistines," said the soldiers
about. "Every day, for forty days, he has come forth, so, and challenged
us to send a man against him, in single combat; and since no one dares
to go out against him alone, the armies cannot fight." (That was one of
the laws of warfare in those times.)
"What!" said David, "does none dare go out against him?"
As he spoke, the giant stood still, on the hillside opposite the host
of Israel, and shouted his challenge, scornfully. He said, "Why are ye
come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and ye
servants of Saul? Choose you a man, and let him come down to me. If he
be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants;
but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our
servants, and serve us. I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a
man, that we may fight together!"
When King Saul heard these words, he was dismayed, and all the men of
Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were sore afraid. David
heard them talking among themselves, whispering and murmuring. They were
saying, "Have ye seen this man that is come up? Surely if anyone killeth
him that man will the king make rich; perhaps he will give him his
daughter in marriage, and make his family free in Israel!"
David heard this, and he asked the men if it were so. It was surely so,
they said.
"But," said David, "who is this Philistine, that he should defy the
armies of the living God?" And he was stirred with anger.
Very soon, some of the officers told the king about the youth who was
asking so many questions, and who said that it was shame upon Israel
that a mere Philistine should defy the armies of the living God.
Immediately Saul sent for him. When David came before Saul, he said to
the king, "Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go
and fight with this Philistine."
But Saul looked at David, and said, "Thou art not able to go against
this Philistine, to fight with him, for thou art but a youth, and he has
been a man of war from his youth."
Then David said to Saul, "Once I was keeping my father's sheep, and
there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock; and I
went out after the lion, and struck him; and delivered the lamb out of
his mouth, and when he arose against me, I caught him by the beard, and
struck him, and slew him! Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear;
and this Philistine shall be as one of them, for he hath defied the
armies of the living God. The Lord, who delivered me out of the paw of
the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the
hand of this Philistine."
"Go," said Saul, "and the Lord be with thee!"
And he armed David with his own armour,--he put a helmet of brass upon
his head, and armed him with a coat of mail. But when David girded his
sword upon his armour, and tried to walk, he said to Saul, "I cannot go
with these, for I am not used to them." And he put them off.
Then he took his staff in his hand and went and chose five smooth stones
out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had; and his
sling was in his hand; and he went out and drew near to the Philistine.
And the Philistine came on and drew near to David; and the man that bore
his shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw
David, he disdained him, for David was but a boy, and ruddy, and of a
fair countenance. And he said to David, "Am I a dog, that thou comest to
me with a cudgel?" And with curses he cried out again, "Come to me, and
I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of
the field."
But David looked at him, and answered, "Thou comest to me with a sword,
and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of
the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast
defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand, and I will
smite thee, and take thy head from thee, and I will give the carcasses
of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and
to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there
is a God in Israel! And all this assembly shall know that the Lord
saveth not with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and he
will give you into our hands."
And then, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet
David, David made haste and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
And when he was a little way from him, he put his hand in his bag, and
took from thence a stone, and put it in his sling, and slung it, and
smote the Philistine in the forehead, so that the stone sank into his
forehead; and he fell on his face to the earth.
And David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and
drew it out of its sheath, and slew him with it.
Then, when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
But the army of Israel pursued them, and victory was with the men of
Israel.
And after the battle, David was taken to the king's tent, and made a
captain over many men; and he went no more to his father's house, to
herd the sheep, but became a man, in the king's service.
FOOTNOTES:
[34] From the text of the Revised Version of the Old Testament, with
introduction and slight interpolations, changes of order, and omissions.
THE SHEPHERD'S SONG
David had many fierce battles to fight for King Saul against the enemies
of Israel, and he won them all. Then, later, he had to fight against the
king's own soldiers, to save himself, for King Saul grew wickedly
jealous of David's fame as a soldier, and tried to kill him. Twice, when
David had a chance to kill the king, he forbore to harm him; but even
then, Saul continued trying to take his life, and David was kept away
from his home as if he were an enemy.
But when King Saul died, the people chose David for their king, because
there was no one so brave, so wise, or so faithful to God. King David
lived a long time, and made his people famous for victory and happiness;
he had many troubles and many wars, but he always trusted that God would
help him, and he never deserted his own people in any hard place.
After a battle, or when it was a holiday, or when he was very thankful
for something, King David used to make songs, and sing them before the
people. Some of these songs were so beautiful that they have never been
forgotten. After all these hundreds and hundred of years, we sing them
still; we call them Psalms.
Often, after David had made a song, his chief musician would sing with
him, as the people gathered to worship God. Sometimes the singers were
divided into two great choruses, and went to the service in two
processions; then one chorus would sing a verse of David's song, and the
other procession would answer with the next, and then both would sing
together; it was very beautiful to hear. Even now, we sometimes do that
with the songs of David in our churches.
One of his Psalms that everybody loves is a song that David made when he
remembered the days before he came to Saul's camp. He remembered the
days and nights he used to spend in the fields with the sheep, when he
was just a shepherd-boy; and he thought to himself that God had taken
care of him just as carefully as he himself used to care for the little
lambs. It is a beautiful song; I wish we knew the music that David made
for it, but we only know his words. I will tell it to you now, and then
you may learn it, to say for yourselves.
=The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me
beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod
and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine
enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth
over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.=
THE HIDDEN SERVANTS[35]
This is a legend about a hermit who lived long ago. He lived high up on
the mountainside in a tiny cave; his food was roots and acorns, a bit of
bread given by a peasant, or a cheese brought by a woman who wanted his
prayers; his work was praying, and thinking about God. For forty years
he lived so, preaching to the people, praying for them, comforting them
in trouble, and, most of all, worshipping in his heart. There was just
one thing he cared about: it was to make his soul so pure and perfect
that it could be one of the stones in God's great Temple of Heaven.
One day, after the forty years, he had a great longing to know how far
along he had got with his work,--how it looked to the Heavenly Father.
And he prayed that he might be shown a man--
"Whose soul in the heavenly grace had grown
To the selfsame measure as his own;
Whose treasure on the celestial shore
Could neither be less than his nor more."
As he looked up from his prayer, a white-robed angel stood in the path
before him. The hermit bowed before the messenger with great gladness,
for he knew that his wish was answered. "Go to the nearest town," the
angel said, "and there, in the public square, you will find a mountebank
(a clown) making the people laugh for money. He is the man you seek; his
soul has grown to the selfsame stature as your own; his treasure on the
celestial shore is neither less than yours nor more."
When the angel had faded from sight, the hermit bowed his head again,
but this time with great sorrow and fear. Had his forty years of prayer
been a terrible mistake, and was his soul indeed like a clown, fooling
in the market-place? He knew not what to think. Almost he hoped he
should not find the man, and could believe that he had dreamed the angel
vision. But when he came, after a long, tiring walk to the village, and
the square, alas! there was the clown, doing his silly tricks for the
crowd.