stave of it left, nor would there have been a whole limb on Peik, had he
been there. But when the King came back to the palace, Peik was there
before him, and sat in the court-yard playing on his mouth organ.
"What! You sitting here, you, Peik?"
"Yes! Here I sit, sure enough. Where else should I sit?" said Peik.
"Maybe I can get room here for all my horses and sheep and money."
"But whither was it that I rolled you that you got all this wealth?"
asked the King.
"Oh, you rolled me into the sea," said Peik, "and when I got to the
bottom there was more than enough and to spare, both of horses and
sheep, and of gold and silver. The cattle went about in great flocks,
and the gold and silver lay in large heaps as big as houses."
"What will you take to roll me down the same way?" asked the King.
"Oh," said Peik, "it costs little or nothing to do it. Besides, you took
nothing from me, and so I'll take nothing from you either."
So he stuffed the King into a barrel and rolled him over, and when he
had given him a ride down to the sea for nothing, he went home to the
King's palace.
[Illustration: So he stuffed the King into the barrel and rolled him over]
Then he began to hold his bridal feast with the youngest princess, and
afterwards he ruled the land both well and long. But he kept his fooling
rods to himself, and kept them so well that nothing was ever heard of
Peik and his tricks, but only of "Ourself the King."
THE PRINCESS WHO COULD NOT BE SILENCED
There was once a King, and he had a daughter who was so cross and
crooked in her words that no one could silence her, and so he gave it
out that he who could do it should marry the princess and have half the
kingdom, too. There were plenty of those who wanted to try it, I can
tell you, for it is not every day that you can get a princess and half a
kingdom. The gate to the King's palace did not stand still a minute.
They came in great crowds from the East and the West, both riding and
walking. But there was not one of them who could silence the princess.
At last the king had it given out that those who tried, and failed,
should have both ears marked with the big redhot iron with which he
marked his sheep. He was not going to have all that flurry and worry for
nothing.
Well, there were three brothers, who had heard about the princess, and,
as they did not fare very well at home, they thought they had better set
out to try their luck and see if they could not win the princess and
half the kingdom. They were friends and good fellows, all three of them,
and they set off together.
When they had walked a bit of the way, Boots picked up something.
"I've found--I've found something!" he cried.
"What did you find!" asked the brothers.
"I found a dead crow," said he.
"Ugh! Throw it away! What would you do with that?" said the brothers,
who always thought they knew a great deal.
"Oh, I haven't much to carry, I might as well carry this," said Boots.
So when they had walked on a bit, Boots again picked up something.
"I've found--I've found something!" he cried.
"What have you found now?" said the brothers.
"I found a willow twig," said he.
"Dear, what do you want with that? Throw it away!" said they.
"Oh, I haven't much to carry, I might as well carry that," said Boots.
So when they had walked a bit, Boots picked up something again. "Oh,
lads, I've found--I've found something!" he cried.
"Well, well, what did you find this time?" asked the brothers.
"A piece of a broken saucer," said he.
"Oh, what is the use of that? Throw it away!" said they.
"Oh, I haven't much to carry, I might as well carry that," said Boots.
And when they had walked a bit further, Boots stooped down again and
picked up something else.
"I've found--I've found something, lads!" he cried.
"And what is it now?" said they.
"Two goat horns," said Boots.
"Oh! Throw them away. What could you do with them?" said they.
"Oh, I haven't much to carry, I might as well carry them," said Boots.
In a little while he found something again.
"Oh, lads, see, I've found--I've found something," he cried.
"Dear, dear, what wonderful things you do find! What is it now?" said
the brothers.
"I've found a wedge," said he.
"Oh, throw it away. What do you want with that?" said they.
"Oh, I haven't much to carry, I might as well carry that," said Boots.
And now, as they walked over the fields close up to the King's palace,
Boots bent down again and held something in his fingers.
"Oh, lads, lads, see what I've found!" he cried.
"If you only found a little common sense, it would be good for you,"
said they. "Well, let's see what it is now."
"A worn-out shoe sole," said he.
"Pshaw! Well, that was something to pick up! Throw it away! What do you
want with that?" said the brothers.
"Oh, I haven't much to carry, I might as well carry that, if I am to win
the princess and half the kingdom," said Boots.
"Yes, you are likely to do that--you," said they.
And now they came to the King's palace. The eldest one went in first.
"Good-day," said he.
"Good-day to you," said the princess, and she twisted and turned.
"It's awfully hot here," said he.
"It is hotter over there in the hearth," said the princess. There lay
the red-hot iron ready awaiting. When he saw that he forgot every word
he was going to say, and so it was all over with him.
And now came the next oldest one.
"Good-day," said he.
"Good-day to you," said she, and she turned and twisted herself.
"It's awfully hot here," said he.
"It's hotter over there in the hearth," said she. And when he looked at
the red-hot iron he, too, couldn't get a word out, and so they marked
his ears and sent him home again.
Then it was Boots' turn.
"Good-day," said he.
"Good-day to you," said she, and she twisted and turned again.
"It's nice and warm in here," said Boots.
"It's hotter in the hearth," said she, and she was no sweeter, now the
third one had come.
"That's good, I may bake my crow there, then?" asked he.
"I'm afraid she'll burst," said the princess.
"There's no danger; I'll wind this willow twig around," said the lad.
"It's too loose," said she.
"I'll stick this wedge in," said the lad, and took out the wedge.
"The fat will drop off," said the princess.
"I'll hold this under," said the lad, and pulled out the broken bit of
the saucer.
"You are crooked in your words, that you are," said the princess.
"No, I'm not crooked, but this is crooked," said the lad, and he showed
her the goat's horn.
"Well, I never saw the equal to that!" cried the princess.
"Oh, here is the equal to it," said he, and pulled out the other.
"Now, you think you'll wear out my soul, don't you?" said she.
"No, I won't wear out your soul, for I have a sole that's worn out
already," said the lad, and pulled out the shoe sole.
Then the princess hadn't a word to say.
"Now, you're mine," said Boots.
And so she was.
THE TWELVE WILD DUCKS
Once on a time there was a Queen who had twelve sons but no daughter.
One day she was out driving in the woods and met the prettiest little
lassie one ever did see, and so the Queen stopped her horses, lifted the
child up in her arms, kissed her on both cheeks, all the while thinking:
"I wish I had a little girl of my own, oh, how long I've waited and
wished for one."
Just then an old witch of the trolls came up to her, but you wouldn't
have known it was a witch at all, she looked so kind and good.
"A daughter you shall have," she said, "and she shall be the prettiest
child in twelve kingdoms, if you will give to me what ever comes to meet
you at the bridge."
Now the Queen had a little snow white dog of which she was very fond,
and it always ran to meet her when she had been away. She thought, of
course, it was the dog the old dame wanted, so the Queen said, "Yes, you
may have what comes to meet me on the bridge." With that she hurried
home as fast as she could.
But, who should come to meet her on the bridge but her twelve sons; and
before the mother could cry out to them the wicked witch threw her spell
upon them and turned them into twelve ducks which flapped their wings
and flew away. Away they went and away they stayed.
But the Queen had a daughter, and she was the loveliest child one ever
set eyes upon. The Princess grew up, and she was both tall and fair, but
she was often quiet and sorrowful, and no one could understand what it
was that ailed her. The Queen, too, was often sorrowful, as you may
believe, for she had many strange fears when she thought of her sons.
And one day she said to her daughter, "Why are you so sorrowful, lassie
mine? Is there anything you want? If so, only say the word, and you
shall have it."
"Oh, it seems so dull and lonely here," said the daughter, "every one
else has brothers and sisters, but I am all alone; I have none. That's
why I'm so sorrowful."
"But you had brothers, my daughter," said the Queen; "I had twelve sons,
stout, brave lads, but I lost them all when you came;" and so she told
her the whole story.
When the Princess heard that she had no rest; for she thought it was all
her fault, and in spite of all the Queen could say or do, though she
wept and prayed, the lassie would set off to seek her brothers. On and
on she walked into the wide world, so far you would never have thought
her small feet could have had strength to carry her so far.
Finally, one day, when she was walking through a great, great wood, she
felt tired, and sat down on a mossy tuft and fell asleep. Then she
dreamt that she went deeper and deeper into the wood, till she came to a
little wooden hut, and there she found her brothers. Just then she
awoke, and straight before her she saw a worn path in the green moss.
This path went deeper into the wood, so she followed it, and after a
long time she came to just such a little wooden house as that she had
seen in her dream.
Now, when she went into the room there was no one at home, but there
were twelve beds, and twelve chairs, and twelve spoons,--in short, a
dozen of everything. When she saw that she was very glad; she had not
been so glad for many a long year, for she could guess at once that her
brothers lived there, and that they owned the beds and chairs and
spoons. So she began to make up the fire, and sweep the room and make
the beds and cook the dinner, and to make the house as tidy as she
could.
And when she had done all the work and the dinner was on the table she
suddenly heard something flapping and whirling in the air, and she
slipped behind the door. Then all the twelve ducks came sweeping in; but
as soon as ever they crossed the threshold they became Princes.
"Oh, how nice and warm it is here," they said, "Heaven bless him who
made up the fire and cooked such a nice dinner for us."
"But who can it be?" said the youngest Prince, and they all hunted both
high and low until they found the lassie behind the door. And she threw
her arms around their necks and said, "I'm your sister; I've gone about
seeking you these three years, and if I could set you free, I'd
willingly give my life."
Then all the brothers looked sorrowfully, one at the other, and they
shook their heads.
"No, it's too hard," said the eldest Prince, looking at the pretty young
Princess, "it's too hard," and again they sighed and shook their heads.
"Oh, tell me, only tell me," said the Princess, "how can it be done, and
I'll do it, whatever it be." And as she begged and pleaded for them to
tell her, the youngest brother said at last, "You must pick thistledown,
and you must card it, and spin it, and weave it. After you have done
that, you must cut out and make twelve shirts, one for each of us, and
while you do that, you must neither talk, nor laugh, nor weep. If you
can do that we are free."
"But where shall I ever get thistledown enough for so many shirts?"
asked the sister.
"Well, that is the hardest thing of all," said the eldest brother. "You
must go to the witches' moor at midnight and gather it there," and big
tears stood in his eyes, "and you must go alone, all alone."
But the sister smiled and nodded her head, and when midnight came, and
the moon was high in the sky she said good-bye to her brothers, and went
to the great, wide moor, where the witches lived. There stood a great
crop of thistles, all nodding and nodding in the breeze, while the down
floated and glistened like gossamer through the air in the moonbeams.
The Princess began to pluck and gather it as fast as she could, but she
saw long skinny arms outstretched toward her, and, among the thistles,
she saw a host of wicked faces all looking at her. Her heart stood still
then and she grew icy cold, but never a sound did she utter, only
plucked and gathered until her bag was full; and when she got home at
break of day she set to work carding and spinning yarn from the down.
[Illustration: The Princess began to pluck and gather as fast as she
could]
So she went on a long, long time picking down on the witches' moor,
carding and spinning, and all the while keeping the house of the
Princes, cooking, and making their beds. But she never talked, nor
laughed, nor wept.
At evening home the brothers came, flapping and whirring like wild
ducks, and all night they were Princes, but in the morning off they flew
again, and were wild ducks the whole day.
But, it happened one night when she was out on the moor picking
thistledown, that the young King who ruled that land was out hunting,
and had lost his way. He had become separated from his companions, and
now, as he came riding across the moor, he saw her. He stopped and
wondered who the lovely lady could be that walked alone on the moor
picking thistledown in the dead of the night; and he asked her name.
Getting no answer, he was still more astonished, but he liked her so
much, that at last nothing would do but he must take her home to his
castle and marry her. So he took her and put her upon his horse. The
Princess wrung her hands, and made signs to him, and pointed to the bags
in which her work was, and when the King saw she wished to have them
with her he took the bags and placed them behind them.
When that was done the Princess, little by little, came to herself, for
the King was both a wise man and a handsome man, and he was as gentle
and kind to her as a mother. But when they reached the palace an old
woman met them. She was the King's guardian, and when she set eyes on
the Princess she became so cross and jealous of her, because she was so
lovely, that she said to the King:
"Can't you see now, that this thing whom you have picked up, and whom
you are going to marry, is a witch? Why, she can neither talk nor laugh
nor weep!"
But the King did not care a straw for what she said. He held to the
wedding and married the Princess, and they lived in great joy and glory.
But the Princess didn't forget to go on working on her shirts, and she
neither talked nor laughed nor wept. However, when she had spun and
woven and cut, she found that she still had not enough cloth for the
twelve shirts, and she needs must go to the witches' moor again.
So that night while all the palace slept she quietly slipped out and
walked off to pick her thistledown, but the old woman who was the King's
guardian saw her, and she knew well where the young Queen was going, for
I must tell you she was the same wicked witch who had changed the twelve
Princes into wild ducks. She hurried to the King's chamber, woke him and
said, "Now, come with me and I'll prove to you that your lovely Queen is
a witch, who joins the wicked company on the moor at midnight." The King
would not listen to her at first, but when he saw that the Queen's bed
was empty, he got up and went with the old woman.
And there upon the edge of the moor they stopped, but in the clear
moonlight they could see the Queen among the horrid hags and trolls. The
King turned away sadly and said not a word, for he loved his quiet Queen
very much.
But the wicked old woman began to whisper and tell abroad about the
Queen's nightly visit to the moor, and at last the King's best men came
to him and said, "We will not have a Queen who is a witch; the people
demand of you that she be burnt alive."
Then the King was so sad that there was no end to his sadness, for now
he saw that he could not save her. He was obliged to order her to be
burnt alive on a pile of wood. When the pile was all ablaze, and they
were about to put her on it, she made signs to them to take twelve
boards and lay them around the pile.
On these she laid the shirts for her brothers all completed but that for
the youngest, which lacked its left sleeve; she had not had time to
finish it. And as soon as ever she had done that, they heard a flapping
and whirring in the air, and down came twelve wild ducks from over the
forest, and each snapped up his shirt in his bill and flew off with it.
"See now!" said the old woman to the King, "wasn't I right when I told
you she was a witch! Make haste and burn her before the pile burns low."
"Oh!" said the King, "we've wood enough and to spare, and so I'll wait a
bit, for I have a mind to see what the end of this will be."
As he spoke up came the twelve Princes riding along, as handsome
well-grown lads as you'd wish to see; but the youngest Prince had a wild
duck's wing instead of his left arm. "What's all this about?" asked the
Princes.
"My Queen is to be burnt," said the King, "because she is a witch, so
the people say, and I can't save her."
"Speak now, sister," said the Princes, "you have set us free and saved
us, now save yourself."
Then the young Queen spoke and told the whole story, and the King and
all the people listened with wonder and joy. Only the wicked old woman
stood trembling with fear. And when the Queen had finished her story,
the people took the old witch and bound her and burned her on the pile.
But the King took his wife and the twelve Princes and went home with
them to their father and mother, and told all that had befallen them.
Then there was joy and gladness over the whole kingdom, because the
wicked witch was dead and the Princes saved and set free, and because
the lovely Princess had set free her twelve brothers.
GUDBRAND-ON-THE-HILLSIDE
Once upon a time there was a man whose name was Gudbrand. He had a farm
which lay far, far away upon a hillside, and so they called him
Gudbrand-on-the-Hillside.
Now, you must know this man and his good wife lived so happily together,
and understood one another so well, that all the husband did the wife
thought so well done there was nothing like it in the world, and she was
always pleased at whatever he turned his hand to. The farm was their own
land, and they had a hundred dollars lying at the bottom of their chest
and two cows tethered up in a stall in their farmyard.
So one day his wife said to Gudbrand, "Do you know, dear, I think we
ought to take one of our cows into town and sell it; that's what I
think; for then we shall have some money in hand, and such well-to-do
people as we ought to have ready money as other folks have. As for the
hundred dollars in the chest yonder, we can't make a hole in our
savings, and I'm sure I don't know what we want with more than one cow.
"Besides, we shall gain a little in another way, for then I shall get
off with only looking after one cow, instead of having, as now, to feed
and litter and water two."
Well, Gudbrand thought his wife talked right good sense, so he set off
at once with the cow on the way to town to sell her; but when he got to
the town, there was no one who would buy his cow.
"Well, well, never mind," said Gudbrand, "at the worst, I can only go
back home with my cow. I've both stable and tether for her, and the road
is no farther out than in." And with that he began to toddle home with
his cow.
But when he had gone a bit of the way, a man met him who had a horse to
sell. Gudbrand thought 'twas better to have a horse than a cow, so he
traded with the man. A little farther on he met a man walking along and
driving a fat pig before him, and he thought it better to have a fat pig
than a horse, so he traded with the man. After that he went a little
farther, and a man met him with a goat, so he thought it better to have
a goat than a pig, and he traded with the man who owned the goat. Then
he went on a good bit till he met a man who had a sheep, and he traded
with him too, for he thought it always better to have a sheep than a
goat. After a while he met a man with a goose, and he traded away the
sheep for the goose; and when he had walked a long, long time, he met a
man with a cock, and he traded with him, for he thought in this wise,
"Tis surely better to have a cock than a goose."
Then he went on till the day was far spent, and he began to get very
hungry, so he sold the cock for a shilling, and bought food with the
money, for, thought Gudbrand-on-the-Hillside, "Tis always better to save
one's life than to have a cock."
After that he went on homeward till he reached his nearest neighbor's
house, where he turned in.
"Well," said the owner of the house, "how did things go with you in
town?"
"Rather so-so," said Gudbrand, "I can't praise my luck, nor do I blame
it either," and with that he told the whole story from first to last.
"Ah!" said his friend, "you'll get nicely hauled over the coals, when
you go home to your wife. Heaven help you, I wouldn't stand in your
shoes for anything."
"Well," said Gudbrand-on-the-Hillside, "I think things might have gone
much worse with me; but now, whether I have done wrong or not, I have so
kind a good wife she never has a word to say against anything that I
do."
"Oh!" answered his neighbor, "I hear what you say, but I don't believe
it for all that."
"And so you doubt it?" asked Gudbrand-on-the-Hillside.
"Yes," said the friend, "I have a hundred crowns, at the bottom of my
chest at home, I will give you if you can prove what you say."
So Gudbrand stayed there till evening, when it began to get dark, and
then they went together to his house, and the neighbor was to stand
outside the door and listen, while the man went in to his wife.
"Good evening!" said Gudbrand-on-the Hillside.
"Good evening!" said the good wife. "Oh! is that you? Now, I am happy."
Then the wife asked how things had gone with him in town.
"Oh, only so-so," answered Gudbrand; "not much to brag of. When I got to
town there was no one who would buy the cow, so you must know I traded
it away for a horse."
"For a horse," said his wife; "well that is good of you; thanks with all
my heart. We are so well to do that we may drive to church, just as well
as other people, and if we choose to keep a horse we have a right to get
one, I should think." So, turning to her child she said, "Run out,
deary, and put up the horse."
"Ah!" said Gudbrand, "but you see I have not the horse after all, for
when I got a bit farther on the road, I traded it for a pig."
"Think of that, now!" said the wife. "You did just as I should have done
myself; a thousand thanks! Now I can have a bit of bacon in the house to
set before people when they come to see me, that I can. What do we want
with a horse? People would only say we had got so proud that we couldn't
walk to church. Go out, child, and put up the pig in the sty."
"But I have not the pig either," said Gudbrand, "for when I got a little
farther on, I traded it for a goat."
"Dear me!" cried the wife, "how well you manage everything! Now I think
it over, what should I do with a pig? People would only point at us and
say 'Yonder they eat up all they have.' No, now I have a goat, and I
shall have milk and cheese, and keep the goat too. Run out, child, and
put up the goat."
"Nay, but I haven't the goat either," said Gudbrand, "for a little
farther on I traded it away and got a fine sheep instead!"
"You don't say so!" cried his wife, "why, you do everything to please
me, just as if I had been with you. What do we want with a goat? If I
had it I should lose half my time in climbing up the hills to get it
down. No, if I have a sheep, I shall have both wool and clothing, and
fresh meat in the house. Run out, child, and put up the sheep."
"But I haven't the sheep any more than the rest," said Gudbrand, "for
when I got a bit farther, I traded it away for a goose."
"Thank you, thank you, with all my heart," cried his wife, "what should
I do with a sheep? I have no spinning wheel or carding comb, nor should
I care to worry myself with cutting, and shaping, and sewing clothes. We
can buy clothes now as we have always done; and now I shall have roast
goose, which I have longed for so often; and, besides, down with which
to stuff my little pillow. Run out, child, and put up the goose.
"Well!" said Gudbrand, "I haven't the goose either; for when I had gone
a bit farther I traded it for a cock."