I
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ONCE upon a time very long ago there lived an old man in a glade in the
midst of an ancient forest. His name was Witting, and he lived there
with his three grandsons. Now this old man was all alone in the world
save for these three grandsons, and he had been father and mother to
them from the time when they were quite little. But now they were
full-grown lads, so tall that they came up to their grandfather’s
shoulder, and even taller. Their names were Bluster, Careful and Quest.
One spring morning old Witting got up early, before the sun had risen,
called his three grandsons and told them to go into the wood where they
had gathered honey last year; to see how the little bees had come
through the winter, and whether they had waked up yet from their winter
sleep. Careful, Bluster and Quest got up, dressed, and went out.
It was a good way to the place where the bees lived. Now all three
brothers knew every pathway in the woods, and so they strode cheerily
and boldly along through the great forest. All the same it was somewhat
dark and eerie under the trees, for the sun was not yet up and neither
bird nor beast stirring. Presently the lads began to feel a little
scared in that great silence, because just at dawn, before sunrise, the
wicked Rampogusto, King of Forest Goblins, loves to range the forest,
gliding softly from tree to tree in the gloom.
So the brothers started to ask one another about all the wonderful
things there might be in the world. But as not one of them had ever been
outside the forest, none could tell the others anything about the world;
and so they only became more and more depressed. At last, to keep up
their courage a bit, they began to sing and call upon All-Rosy to bring
out the Sun:
Little lord All-Rosy bright.
Bring golden Sun to give us light;
Show thyself, All-Rosy bright,
Loora-la, Loora-la lay!
Singing at the top of their voices, the lads walked through the woods
towards a spot from where they could see a second range of mountains. As
they neared the spot they saw a light above those mountains brighter
than they had ever seen before, and it fluttered like a golden banner.
The lads were dumbfounded with amazement, when all of a sudden the light
vanished from off the mountain and reappeared above a great rock nearer
at hand, then still nearer, above an old limetree, and at last shone
like burnished gold right in front of them. And then they saw that it
was a lovely youth in glittering raiment, and that it was his golden
cloak which fluttered like a golden banner. They could not bear to look
upon the face of the youth, but covered their eyes with their hands for
very fear.
“Why do you call me, if you are afraid of me, you silly fellows?”
laughed the golden youth—for he was All-Rosy. “You call on All-Rosy, and
then you are afraid of All-Rosy. You talk about the wide world, but you
do not know the wide world. Come along with me and I will show you the
world, both earth and heaven, and tell you what is in store for you.”
Thus spoke All-Rosy, and twirled his golden cloak so that he caught up
Bluster, Careful and Quest, all three in its shimmering folds. Round
went All-Rosy and round went the cloak, and the brothers, clinging to
the hem of the cloak, spun round with it, round and round and round
again, and all the world passed before their eyes. First they saw all
the treasure and all the lands and all the possessions and the riches
that were then in the world. And they went on whirling round and round
and round again, and saw all the armies, and all spears and all arrows
and all the captains and all plunder which were then in the world. And
the cloak twirled yet more quickly, round and round and round again, and
all of a sudden they saw all the stars, great and small, and the moon
and the Seven Sisters and the winds and all the clouds. The brothers
were quite dazed with so many sights, and still the cloak went on
twirling and whirling with a rustling, rushing sound like a golden
banner. At last the golden hem fluttered down; and Bluster, Careful and
Quest stood once more on the turf. Before them stood the golden youth
All-Rosy as before, and said to them:
“There, my lads, now you have seen all there is to see in the world.
Listen to what is in store for you and what you must do to be lucky.”
At that the brothers became more scared than ever, yet they pricked up
their ears and paid good heed, so as to remember everything very
carefully. But All-Rosy went on at once:
“There! this is what you must do. Stay in the glade, and don’t leave
your grandfather until he leaves you; and do not go into the world,
neither for good nor for evil, until you have repaid your grandfather
for all his love to you.” And as All-Rosy said this, he twirled his
cloak round and vanished, as though he had never been; and lo, it was
day in the forest.
But Rampogusto, King of the Forest Goblins, had seen and heard
everything. Like a wraith of mist he had slipped from tree to tree and
kept himself hidden from the brothers among the branches of an old
beech-tree.
Rampogusto had always hated old Witting. He hated him as a mean
scoundrel hates an upright man, and above all things he hated him
because the old man had brought the sacred fire to the glade so that it
might never go out, and the smoke of that fire made Rampogusto cough
most horribly.
So Rampogusto wasn’t pleased with the idea that the brothers should obey
All-Rosy, and stay beside their grandfather and look after him; but he
bethought himself how he could harm old Witting, and somehow turn his
grandsons against him.
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Therefore, no sooner had Bluster, Careful and Quest recovered from their
amazement and turned to go home than Rampogusto slipped swiftly, like a
cloud before the wind, to a wooded glen where there was a big osier
clump, which was chock-full of goblins—tiny, ugly, humpy, grubby,
boss-eyed, and what not, all playing about like mad creatures. They
squeaked and they squawked, they jumped and they romped; they were a
pack of harum-scarum imps, no good to anybody and no harm either, so
long as a man did not take them into his company. But Rampogusto knew
how to manage that.
So he picked out three of them, and told them to jump each on one of the
brothers, and see how they might harm old Witting through his grandsons.
Now while Rampogusto was busy choosing his goblins, Bluster, Careful and
Quest went on their way; and so scared were they that they clean forgot
all they had seen during their flight and everything that All-Rosy had
told them.
So they came back to the cabin, and sat down on a stone outside and told
their grandfather what had happened to them.
“And what did you see as you were flying round, and what did All-Rosy
tell you?” Witting asked Careful, his eldest grandson. Now Careful was
in a real fix, because he had clean forgotten, neither could he remember
what All-Rosy had told him. But from under the stone where they were
sitting crept a wee hobgoblin—ugly and horned and grey as a mouse.
The goblin tweaked Careful’s shirt from behind and whispered: “Say: I
have seen great riches, hundreds of beehives, a house of carved wood and
heaps of fine furs. And All-Rosy said to me: ‘Thou shalt be the richest
of all the three brothers.’”
Careful never bothered to think whether this was the truth that the imp
was suggesting, but just turned and repeated it word for word to his
grandfather. No sooner had he spoken than the goblin hopped into his
pouch, curled himself up in a corner of the pouch—and there stopped!
Then Witting asked Bluster, the second grandson, what he might have seen
in his flight, and what All-Rosy might have told him? And Bluster, too,
had noticed nothing and remembered nothing. But from under the stone
crept the second hobgoblin, quite small, ill-favoured, horned and smutty
as a polecat. The goblin plucked Bluster by the shirt and whispered:
“Say: I saw lots of armed men, many bows and arrows and slaves galore in
chains. And All-Rosy said to me: ‘Thou shalt be the mightiest of the
brothers.’”
Bluster considered no more than Careful had done, but was very pleased,
and lied to his grandfather even as the goblin had prompted him. And the
goblin at once jumped on his neck and crawled down his shirt, hid in his
bosom, and stopped there.
Now the grandfather asked the youngest grandson, Quest, but he, too,
could recall nothing. And from under the stone crept the third
hobgoblin, the youngest, the ugliest, horned with big horns, and black
as a mole.
The hobgoblin tugged Quest by the shirt and whispered: “Say: I have seen
all the heavens and all the stars and all clouds. And All-Rosy said to
me: ‘Thou shalt be the wisest among men and know what the winds say and
the stars tell.’”
But Quest loved the truth, and so he would not listen to the goblin nor
lie to his grandfather, but kicked the goblin and said to his
grandfather:
“I don’t know, grandfather, what I saw or what I heard.”
The goblin gave a squeal, bit Quest’s foot, and then scuttled away under
the stone like a lizard. But Quest gathered potent herbs and bound up
his foot with them, so that it might heal quickly.