Did you ever hear the story of the _three poor soldiers_, who, after
having fought hard in the wars, _set out on their road home_, begging
their way as they went?
They had journeyed on a long way, sick at heart with their bad luck
at thus being turned loose on the world in their old days; when one
evening they reached a deep gloomy wood, through which lay their road.
Night came fast upon them, and they found that they must, however
unwillingly, sleep in this wood; so, to make all as safe as they could,
it was agreed that two should lie down and sleep, while a third sat up
and watched, lest wild beasts should break in and tear them to pieces.
When he was tired he was to wake one of the others, and sleep in his
turn; and so on with the third, so as to share the work fairly among
them.
The two who were to rest first soon lay down and fell fast asleep; and
the other made himself a good fire under the trees, and sat down by
its side to keep watch. He had not sat long before, all of a sudden,
up came a little dwarf in a red jacket. “Who is there?” said he. “A
friend,” said the soldier. “What sort of a friend?” “An old broken
soldier,” said the other, “with his two comrades, who have nothing
left to live on; come, sit down and warm yourself.” “Well, my worthy
fellow,” said the little man, “I will do what I can for you; take this
and show it to your comrades in the morning.” So he took out an old
cloak and gave it to the soldier: telling him, that whenever he put it
over his shoulders anything that he wished for would be done for him.
Then the little man made him a bow and walked away.
The second soldier’s turn to watch soon came, and the first laid him
down to sleep; but the second man had not sat by himself long before up
came the dwarf in the red jacket again. The soldier treated him in as
friendly a way as his comrade had done, and the little man gave him a
purse, which he told him would be always full of gold, let him draw as
much as he would out of it.
Then the third soldier’s turn to watch came; and he also had little
Red-jacket for his guest, who gave him a wonderful horn, that drew
crowds around it whenever it was played, and made every one forget his
business to come and dance to its beautiful music.
In the morning each told his story, and showed the gift he had got
from the elf: and as they all liked each other very much, and were old
friends, they agreed to travel together to see the world, and, for a
while, only to make use of the wonderful purse. And thus they spent
their time very joyously; till at last they began to be tired of this
roving life, and thought they should like to have a home of their
own. So the first soldier put his old cloak on, and wished for a fine
castle. In a moment it stood before their eyes: fine gardens and green
lawns spread round it, and flocks of sheep, and goats, and herds of
oxen were grazing about; and out of the gate came a grand coach with
three dapple-grey horses, to meet them and bring them home.
All this was very well for a time, but they found it would not do to
stay at home always; so they got together all their rich clothes, and
jewels, and money, and ordered their coach with three dapple-grey
horses, and set out on a journey to see a neighbouring king. Now this
king had an only daughter, and as he saw the three soldiers travelling
in such grand style, he took them for king’s sons, and so gave them
a kind welcome. One day, as the second soldier was walking with the
princess, she saw that he had the wonderful purse in his hand. Then she
asked him what it was, and he was foolish enough to tell her,--though,
indeed, it did not much signify what he said, for she was a fairy, and
knew all the wonderful things that the three soldiers brought. Now this
princess was very cunning and artful; so she set to work and made a
purse, so like the soldier’s that no one would know the one from the
other; and then she asked him to come and see her, and made him drink
some wine that she had got ready for him, and which soon made him fall
fast asleep. Then she felt in his pocket, and took away the wonderful
purse, and left the one she had made in its place.
The next morning the soldiers set out home; and soon after they reached
their castle, happening to want some money, they went to their purse
for it, and found something indeed in it; but to their great sorrow,
when they had emptied it, none came in the place of what they took.
Then the cheat was soon found out; for the second soldier knew where he
had been, and how he had told the story to the princess, and he guessed
that she had played him a trick. “Alas!” cried he, “poor wretches
that we are, what shall we do?” “Oh!” said the first soldier, “let no
grey hairs grow for this mishap: I will soon get the purse back.” So
he threw his cloak across his shoulders, and wished himself in the
princess’s chamber.
There he found her sitting alone, telling up her gold, that fell around
her in a shower from the wonderful purse.
But the soldier stood looking at her too long; for she turned round,
and the moment she saw him she started up and cried out with all her
force, “Thieves! thieves!” so that the whole court came running in,
and tried to seize on him. The poor soldier now began to be dreadfully
frightened in his turn, and thought it was high time to make the best
of his way off; so, without thinking of the ready way of travelling
that his cloak gave him, he ran to the window, opened it, and jumped
out; and unluckily, in his haste, his cloak caught and was left
hanging, to the great joy of the princess, who knew its worth.
The poor soldier made the best of his way home to his comrades on foot,
and in a very downcast mood; but the third soldier told him to keep up
his heart, and took his horn and blew a merry tune. At the first blast
a countless troop of foot and horse come rushing to their aid, and they
set out to make war against their enemy. Then the king’s palace was
besieged, and he was told that he must give up the purse and cloak, or
that not one stone should be left upon another. And the king went into
his daughter’s chamber and talked with her; but she said, “Let me try
first if I cannot beat them some way or another.” So she thought of a
cunning scheme to overreach them; and dressing herself out as a poor
girl, with a basket on her arm, she set out by night with her maid, and
went into the enemy’s camp, as if she wanted to sell trinkets.
In the morning she began to ramble about, singing ballads so
beautifully that all the tents were left empty, and the soldiers ran
round in crowds, and thought of nothing but hearing her sing. Amongst
the rest came the soldier to whom the horn belonged, and as soon as she
saw him she winked to her maid, who slipped slily through the crowd,
and went into his tent where it hung, and stole it away. This done,
they both got safely back to the palace, the besieging army went away,
the three wonderful gifts were all left in the hands of the princess,
and the three soldiers were as penniless and forlorn as when little
Red-jacket found them in the wood.
Poor fellows! they began to think what was now to be done. “Comrades,”
at last said the second soldier, who had had the purse, “we had better
part; we cannot live together, let each seek his bread as well as he
can.” So he turned to the right, and the other two went to the left,
for they said they would rather travel together. The second soldier
strayed on till he came to a wood (now this was the same wood where
they had met with so much good luck before), and he walked on a long
time till evening began to fall, when he sat down tired beneath a tree,
and soon fell asleep.
[Illustration: Still it grew and grew]
Morning dawned, and he was greatly delighted, at opening his eyes, to
see that the tree was laden with the most beautiful apples. He was
hungry enough, so he soon plucked and ate first one, then a second,
then a third apple. A strange feeling came over his nose: when he put
the apple to his mouth something was in the way. He felt it--it was
his nose, that grew and grew till it hung down to his breast. It did
not stop there--still it grew and grew. “Heavens!” thought he, “When
will it have done growing?” And well might he ask, for by this time it
reached the ground as he sat on the grass,--and thus it kept creeping
on, till he could not bear its weight or raise himself up; and it
seemed as if it would never end, for already it stretched its enormous
length all through the wood, over hill and dale.
Meantime his comrades were journeying on, till on a sudden one of them
stumbled against something. “What can that be?” said the other. They
looked, and could think of nothing that it was like but a nose. “We
will follow it and find its owner, however,” said they. So they traced
it up, till at last they found their poor comrade, lying stretched
along under the apple-tree.
What was to be done? They tried to carry him, but in vain. They caught
an ass that was passing, and raised him upon its back; but it was soon
tired of carrying such a load. So they sat down in despair, when before
long up came their old friend the dwarf with the red jacket. “Why, how
now, friend?” said he, laughing: “well, I must find a cure for you,
I see.” So he told them to gather a pear from another tree that grew
close by, and the nose would come right again. No time was lost; and
the nose was soon brought to its proper size to the poor soldier’s joy.
“I will do something more for you yet,” said the dwarf: “take some of
those pears and apples with you; whoever eats one of the apples will
have his nose grow like yours just now; but if you give him a pear, all
will come right again. Go to the princess, and get her to eat some of
your apples; her nose will grow twenty times as long as yours did: then
look sharp, and you will get what you want from her.”
Then they thanked their old friend very heartily for all his kindness;
and it was agreed that the poor soldier, who had already tried the
power of the apple, should undertake the task. So he dressed himself
up as a gardener’s boy, and went to the king’s palace, and said he
had apples to sell, so fine and so beautiful as were never seen there
before. Every one that saw them was delighted, and wanted to taste; but
he said they were only for the princess; and she soon sent her maid
to buy his stock. They were so ripe and rosy that she soon began
eating; and had not eaten above a dozen before she too began to wonder
what ailed her nose, for it grew and grew down to the ground, out at
the window, and over the garden, and away, nobody knows where.
[Illustration: “We will follow it and find its owner”]
Then the king made known to all his kingdom that whoever would heal her
of this dreadful disease should be richly rewarded. Many tried, but
the princess got no relief. And now the old soldier dressed himself up
very sprucely as a doctor, and said he could cure her. So he chopped up
some of the apple, and, to punish her a little more, gave her a dose,
saying he would call to-morrow and see her again. The morrow came, and,
of course, instead of being better, the nose had been growing on all
night as before; and the poor princess was in a dreadful fright. So the
doctor then chopped up a very little of the pear and gave her, and said
he was sure that would do good, and he would call again the next day.
Next day came, and the nose was to be sure a little smaller, but yet it
was bigger than when the doctor first began to meddle with it.
Then he thought to himself, “I must frighten this cunning princess a
little more before I shall get what I want from her”; so he gave her
another dose of the apple, and said he would call on the morrow. The
morrow came, and the nose was ten times as bad as before. “My good
lady,” said the doctor, “something works against my medicine, and is
too strong for it; but I know by the force of my art what it is; you
have stolen goods about you, I am sure; and if you do not give them
back, I can do nothing for you.” But the princess denied very stoutly
that she had anything of the kind. “Very well,” said the doctor, “you
may do as you please, but I am sure I am right, and you will die if you
do not own it.” Then he went to the king, and told him how the matter
stood. “Daughter,” said he, “send back the cloak, the purse, and the
horn, that you stole from the right owners.”
[Illustration: As for the doctor, he put on the cloak, and was soon
with his two brothers]
Then she ordered her maid to fetch all three, and gave them to the
doctor, and begged him to give them back to the soldiers; and the
moment he had them safe he gave her a whole pear to eat, and the nose
came right. And as for the doctor, he put on the cloak, wished the
king and all his court a good day, and was soon with his two brothers;
who lived from that time happily at home in their palace, except when
they took an airing to see the world, in their coach with the three
dapple-grey horses.
* * * * *
Puck’s story made all laugh, and the more so because he artfully
contrived a loud sneeze at the finish of it and set everybody thinking
of what would have happened had the afflicted soldier or princess been
given a pinch of snuff by some mischievous person passing by the ends
of their noses. By a quick jerk forward Puck somersaulted on to the
steps of Oberon’s throne where he made a low bow to the fairy king and
queen and then jumped to a thin branch of a shrub growing near where
crossing his legs again in his favourite attitude he swung gently to
and fro waiting for the next story-teller. Who was it to be?
“Can we not have a song?” asked Titania.
“My queen speaks to be obeyed,” replied Oberon; “Robin, let us hear
that song in which you tell of your doings among the mortals.”
Robin Goodfellow was never far away from the king, and at the royal
request he promptly moved to the stool and standing up on it at once
began the song that tells of
[Illustration: Robin Goodfellow]
[Illustration: The pranks of Robin Goodfellow]
[Illustration: “What revel rout”]
From Oberon in fairy-land
The king of ghosts and shadows there,
Mad Robin I, at his command
Am sent to view the night sports here;
What revel rout
Is kept about,
In every corner where I go,
I will o’er see,
And merry be,
And make good sport with ho, ho, ho.
More swift than lightning can I fly
About this airy welkin soon,
And, in a minute’s space, descry
Each thing that’s done below the moon:
There’s not a hag
Or ghost shall wag,
Or cry, ware goblins, where I go;
But Robin I
Their feats will spy,
And send them home with ho, ho, ho.
[Illustration: “There’s not a hag or ghost shall wag”]
Whene’er such wanderers I meet,
As from their night-sports they trudge home,
With counterfeiting voice I greet
And call them on, with me to roam
Thro’ woods, thro’ lakes,
Thro’ bogs, thro’ brakes;
Or else, unseen, with them I go,
All in the nick
To play some trick
And frolic it with ho, ho, ho.
[Illustration: “And call them on with me to roam thro’ lakes, thro’ bogs”]
Sometimes I meet them like a man,
Sometimes an ox, sometimes a hound;
And to a horse I turn me can,
To trip and trot about them round
But if to ride,
My back they stride,
More swift than wind away I go;
O’er hedge and lands
Thro’ pools and ponds,
I whirry, laughing ho, ho, ho.
When lads and lassies merry be,
With possets and with junkets fine,
Unseen of all the company,
I eat their cakes and sip their wine;
And to make sport,
I sneeze and snort,
And out the candles I do blow;
The maids I kiss;
They shriek--who’s this?
I answer nought but ho, ho, ho.
[Illustration: “The maids I kiss”]
Yet now and then, the maids to please,
At midnight I card up their wool;
And while they sleep and take their ease,
With wheel to threads their flax I pull.
I grind at mill
Their malt up still;
I dress their hemp, I spin their tow.
If any wake,
And would me take,
I wend me laughing ho, ho, ho!
When house or hearth doth sluttish lie,
I pinch the maidens black and blue;
The bed clothes from the bed pull I,
And lay them naked all to view;
’Twixt sleep and wake
I do them take,
And on the key-cold floor them throw;
If out they cry
Then forth I fly
And loudly laugh I, ho, ho, ho!
[Illustration: “I them affright with pinchings, dreams, and ho, ho, ho!”]
When any need to borrow aught
We lend them what they do require,
And for the use demand we naught
Our own is all we do desire.
If to repay
They do delay
Abroad amongst them then I go
And night by night
I them affright
With pinchings, dreams, and ho, ho, ho!
When lazy queans have nought to do,
But study how to cog and lie;
To make debate and mischief too,
’Twixt one another secretly;
I mark their gloze,
And it disclose
To them whom they have wronged so;
When I have done,
I get me gone,
And leave them scolding, ho, ho, ho!
[Illustration: “And elf in bed, we leave instead”]
When men do traps and engines set
In loop holes where the vermin creep,
Who from their folds and houses get
Their ducks and geese, and lambs and sheep,
I spy the gin,
And enter in,
And seem a vermin taken so;
But when they there
Approach me near,
I leap out laughing ho, ho, ho!
By wells and rills, in meadows green,
We nightly dance our hey-day guise;
And to our fairy King and Queen
We chant our moonlight minstrelsies.
When larks ’gin sing,
Away we fling,
And babes new born steal as we go,
And elf in bed
We leave instead
And wend us, laughing, ho, ho, ho!
Whereas my fellow-elves and I
In circled ring do trip around;
If that our sports by any eye
Do happen to be seen or found;
If that they
No words do say,
But _mum_ continue as they go,
Each night I do
Put groat in shoe,
And wind out laughing, ho, ho, ho!
From hag-bred Merlin’s time have I
Thus nightly revelled to and fro;
And for my pranks men call me by
The name of Robin Goodfellow.
Fiends, ghosts, and sprites
Who haunt the nights,
The hags and goblins do me know;
And beldames old
My feats have told,
So Vale, Vale, ho, ho, ho!
[Illustration: “So vale, vale, ho, ho, ho!”]
With the last line of his song Robin Goodfellow disappeared off the
stool so quickly that even his fellow-fairies were unable to see where
he went, and at one moment heard him singing his farewell “Vale, Vale,”
from the furthermost part of the fairy ring, and in the next instant,
his laughing “ho, ho, ho!” came from the back of King Oberon’s throne.
The whole fairy realm took up this laughing “ho, ho, ho!” and when
it quieted down, there on the stool was sitting a Swedish troll who,
without any preface, began telling a story of
[Illustration: The Swedish Troll]
[Illustration: There appeared a strong light as of fire]