and it had gone by, the horrible waggon. Yvette went on to the
horse-road, and her little heart was very full; for there, where poor
Zizi had been lying, there was only some yellowish crunched stone. Zizi
had been ground into powder by the huge wheels. The poor child was in
despair, and, with tears in her eyes, she shook her little fists at the
carrier, who was whipping up his horses.
[Illustration: "HER CHILD, HER LITTLE SON, WAS UNDER THE HEAVY WHEELS!"]
"Cruel, wicked man!" she cried, and then her eyes happening to fall on
the heap of stones which had supplied her with a family, she saw another
stone smiling at her now. She ran quickly to it, picked it up and kissed
it affectionately, and then, happy in her new treasure, she cried out
defiantly to the carrier, whom she could still see in the distance: "Ah!
I don't care! I've got another--there, then! and it's a girl this time.
I won't have any more dreadful boys to be afraid of wolves, and to go
and get themselves killed just to make their poor mother unhappy."
* * * * *
Oh! kind, good Fairy, you who watch over the children, and who give them
their happiness and console them in sorrow when they are playing at
life--oh, good Fairy, do not forget your big children.
Older men tell me that I am young, but the younger ones do not think so;
and I, myself, saw, only this morning, a silver thread in my hairs. Oh,
kind Fairy, Fairy of the children, help me, too, to believe that the
moon is made of green cheese; for, after all, our happiness here below
consists in our faith and in our illusions.
"Wittysplinter."
[Illustration]
"WITTYSPLINTER."
From the German of Clemens Brentano.
ONCE upon a time there was a King of Roundabout who had, among many
other servants, a page-boy who was called Wittysplinter, and he
preferred him above all the others, and showered upon him honours and
presents, because of his uncommon skill and cleverness, and because
everything the King gave him to do he always accomplished successfully.
Now, because of the great favour which the King showed to Wittysplinter,
all the other page-boys and servants were jealous of him; for, if his
cleverness were rewarded with money, they generally received nothing but
scoldings for their stupidity; if Wittysplinter received praise from the
King, they generally received a blowing-up; when Wittysplinter got a new
coat to his back, they got instead the application of a stick to theirs;
and if Wittysplinter were permitted to kiss the King's hand, they were
only allowed to touch it when they got a smack from it.
On account of all these things, therefore, they got very angry with
Wittysplinter, and went about murmuring and whispering the whole day
long, and putting their heads together and plotting how best they could
deprive Wittysplinter of the love of the King. One of them scattered a
lot of peas on the steps up to the throne, so that Wittysplinter might
stumble and break the glass sceptre which he always had to present to
the King; another nailed pieces of melon skin to his shoes, so that he
might slide along and make a dreadful mess of the King's gown when he
was handing him the soup; a third put all sorts of horrid flies in a
straw, and blew them into the King's wig when Wittysplinter was dressing
it; a fourth played some other nasty trick, and every one sought to do
something to deprive Wittysplinter of the King's favour. Wittysplinter
was so cautious, however, and so clever and watchful, that everything
they did was in vain, and he brought all the commands of the King to a
successful issue.
Well, when they found that all these manoeuvres were quite useless, they
determined to try something else. Now, the King had an enemy, whom he
could never get the better of, and who was always doing him some
mischief. This was a giant who was called Sleepyhead, and who lived in a
large mountain, where he had a splendid palace surrounded by a thick,
gloomy wood; and with the exception of his wife, Thickasmud, no human
being lived with him; but a lion who was called Hendread, and a bear
called Honeybeard, and a wolf called Lambsnapper, and a dog called
Harescare, acted as his servants. He had also in the stables a horse
called Flyinglegs.
Now, there dwelt in the neighbourhood of Roundabout a very beautiful
Queen, Madam Flosk, who had a daughter, Miss Flink, and the King of
Roundabout, who wanted to possess all the land adjoining his own, was
very anxious to marry Madam Flosk. But she was proud, and let him know
that many other Kings were also anxious to marry her, and that she would
accept in marriage that King only who was most expeditious, and that he
who was first by her side when she went into church next Monday morning
at half-past ten should have her as his wife, and all her possessions
into the bargain.
Thereupon the King summoned all his household, and put the question to
them: "How am I to manage to be first in the church on Monday morning
next, and so gain Queen Flosk for my wife?"
Then his servants answered him, and said: "You must gain possession of
the horse Flyinglegs, belonging to the giant Sleepyhead; if you once get
astride of it, no one can possibly get there before you; and to get this
horse for you no one is more suited than Wittysplinter, who is so
successful in all he undertakes."
Thus spoke the wicked servants, in the hope that the Giant Sleepyhead
would kill Wittysplinter. The King, accordingly, commanded Wittysplinter
to bring the horse Flyinglegs to him.
Wittysplinter got a hand-barrow, and placed a bees hive on it, then a
sack into which he thrust a cock, a hare, and a lamb, and laid it on the
barrow; he took with him, also, a long piece of rope, and a large box
full of snuff; slung round him a riding whip, fastened a pair of good
spurs to his boots, and quietly set off, pushing his barrow in front of
him.
Towards evening he had reached the summit of the high mountain, and when
he had traversed the wood he saw before him the castle of the giant
Sleepyhead. Night drew on, and very soon he heard the giant Sleepyhead
and his wife, Thickasmud, and his lion, Hendread, and his bear,
Honeybeard, and his wolf, Lambsnapper, and his dog, Harescare, all
snoring loudly; only the horse, Flyinglegs, was still awake, and
stamping the floor of the stable with its hoofs.
Then Wittysplinter took the long piece of rope very quietly from the
sack, and stretched it across in front of the door of the castle from
one tree to another, and placed the box of snuff in the middle; next he
took the beehive and placed it in a tree by the side of the path, and
then went into the stable and undid the fastenings of Flyinglegs. He
placed the sack with the lamb, the hare, and the cock on its back, and
jumping up himself and using his spurs, he rode out of the stable.
But the horse Flyinglegs could speak, and screamed out quite loudly:--
"Thickasmud and Sleepyhead!
Honeybeard and Hendread!
Lambsnapper and Harescare!
I'm being stolen, so pray beware!"
and then it galloped off as hard as it could, because, with
Wittysplinter on its back, it couldn't help itself. Then Thickasmud and
Sleepyhead woke up and heard the cry of the horse Flyinglegs. Quickly
they awakened the bear Honeybeard, the lion Hendread, the wolf
Lambsnapper, and the dog Harescare, and all together they rushed
pell-mell out of the house, to try and catch Wittysplinter with the
horse Flyinglegs.
[Illustration: "THEY RUSHED PELL-MELL OUT OF THE HOUSE."]
But in the darkness the giant Sleepyhead and his wife Thickasmud
stumbled over the rope which Wittysplinter had tied in front of the
castle door, and, splosh!--they fell with their eyes and noses right
into the box of snuff which he had placed there. They rubbed their eyes
and sneezed one time after another, and Sleepyhead said: "Your good
health,[1] Thickasmud." "I thank you," answered Thickasmud, and then
said: "Good health to you, Sleepyhead." "I thank you," answered he; and
so on, until they had wept the snuff out of their eyes and sneezed it
out of their noses, and by the time this had happened Wittysplinter was
clear of the wood.
The bear Honeybeard was the first after him, but when he came to the
bees' hive the smell of the honey enticed him, and he wanted to eat it;
then the bees came buzzing out, and stung him all over the face to such
an extent that he ran back half blind to the castle. Wittysplinter had
already got some distance out of the wood when he heard the lion
Hendread coming bounding after him, so he quickly took the cock out of
his sack, and when it flew up into a tree and began to crow, the lion
got so dreadfully frightened that it ran back again.
Now Wittysplinter heard the wolf Lambsnapper behind him. He quickly let
loose the lamb out of his sack, and the wolf galloped after it, and let
him ride off in safety. He was by this time quite near the town when he
heard a bark behind him, and looking round, saw the dog Harescare
coming tearing after him. Quickly he let loose the hare out of the sack,
and the dog ran after it, and he arrived safely in the town.
The King thanked Wittysplinter very much for the horse, but the wicked
servants of the Court were very much annoyed that he had come off with a
whole skin. On the following Monday the King mounted upon his horse
Flyinglegs and rode off to Queen Flosk, and the horse galloped so
quickly that he was there long before any of the other Kings, and had
already danced several of his wedding dances when they arrived. Just
when he was about to start off home with his Queen, his servants said to
him: "Your Majesty has indeed the giant Sleepyhead's horse, but how much
more splendid it would be if you had his clothes as well, which are said
to surpass anything that man has ever seen. The clever Wittysplinter
would, no doubt, very soon bring them to you if you commanded him to do
so."
The King was at once possessed with a great desire for Sleepyhead's
clothes, and again gave the commission to Wittysplinter. When the latter
had started off upon the road the wicked servants rejoiced, and thought
that this time he would surely not escape the clutches of the giant
Sleepyhead.
On this occasion Wittysplinter took nothing with him but a few good
strong sacks. On arriving at the giant's castle he climbed up into a
tree, and lay hid until every one was in bed. When everything had become
quiet he climbed down again. Just then he heard Madam Thickasmud calling
out: "Sleepyhead, my pillow is very low; fetch me a bundle of straw
from outside." Thereupon Wittysplinter quickly slipped into a bundle of
straw, and Sleepyhead carried him, along with the straw, into his room,
shoved him under the pillow, and then lay down in bed again.
As soon as they had fallen asleep Wittysplinter packed all Sleepyhead's
and Thickasmud's clothes into his sack, and very quietly and very
carefully tied it to the tail of the lion Hendread; then he tied the
wolf Lambsnapper, and the bear Honeybeard, and the dog Harescare, who
were lying about asleep, fast to the giant's bed, and opened the door
very wide. So far he had managed everything just as he would have
wished, but he wanted to take away the giant's beautiful bed-cover as
well. So he gave the corner of it a slight tug, then another, and
another, and so on, until it fell on the floor. He immediately wrapped
himself up in it, and seated himself on the sack containing the giant's
clothes, which he had tied to the lion's tail. Soon the cool night wind
began to blow through the open door and over Thickasmud's legs, and
waking up, she cried, "Sleepyhead, you've pulled all the bed-clothes off
me. I've nothing at all over me." "Thickasmud, _you've_ pulled all the
clothes off _me_," and thereupon they began to belabour each other, so
that Wittysplinter began to laugh loudly at them. As soon as they heard
this they called out "Thieves, thieves! Up, Hendread! Up, Lambsnapper!
Up, Honeybeard and Harescare! Thieves, thieves!" At this all the animals
woke up, and the lion sprang forth out of the door. Now Wittysplinter,
wrapped up in the bed-cover, was sitting on the bundle of clothes tied
to the lion's tail; and as soon as the lion began to run, he was driven
along just as if he was in a carriage. He began to cry out several times
"kikriki-ki-kri-ki,' just like a cock, and the lion got such a fright at
this that he ran in mad terror right up to the gates of the city. When
quite near to the gates, Wittysplinter took out his knife and cut the
string, and the lion, who was going at such a rate that he couldn't stop
himself, ran his head full bang against the gates and fell down dead.
[Illustration: "HE COULDN'T STOP HIMSELF" (_p._ 138).]
The other animals, who had been bound to the bedstead of Sleepyhead and
Thickasmud, could not get it out of the door because it was too wide,
and they dragged it and pulled it about the room so much that both
Sleepyhead and Thickasmud fell out, and became so angry that they beat
the wolf, the bear, and the dog to death, although the poor animals
really couldn't help it.
When the watch in the city heard the noise of the great blow which the
lion had given to the gates, they opened them, and Wittysplinter carried
the clothes of Sleepyhead and Thickasmud in triumph to the King, who
nearly jumped out of his skin with joy, for such clothes had never
before been seen. There was, among other things, a hunting-coat, made of
the skins of all the fourfooted animals, and so beautifully sewn
together that one could see the whole story of Reynard the Fox depicted
on it. Also a bird-catcher's coat, made of feathers from all the birds
in the world, an eagle in front and an owl behind; and in the pockets
there were a musical box and a peal of bells, which made music just like
all kinds of birds singing together. Further, there was a bathing-dress
and a fisher's-dress, made from the skins of all the fish in the world,
sewn together so that one saw a whale-hunt and a great catch of herrings
on it. Then a garden-dress of Madam Thickasmud's, on which all sorts of
flowers and fruits, salads and vegetables, were embroidered. But what
surpassed everything else was the bed-cover; it was made entirely of the
skins of bats, and all the stars of heaven were represented on it by
means of diamonds.
The Royal family were quite dumb with astonishment and wonder.
Wittysplinter was kissed and embraced, and his enemies nearly exploded
with rage to see that he had again escaped without hurt from the hands
of Sleepyhead.
Even yet they did not despair, and put the idea into the King's head
that nothing was now wanting to his dignity but that he should possess
the castle of Sleepyhead itself, and the King, who was a very child in
these matters and always wanted to have whatever took his fancy, said
immediately to Wittysplinter that he wanted Sleepyhead's castle, and
that as soon as he got it for him he would be rewarded.
Wittysplinter did not take much time to think about it, and for the
third time ran off to the abode of Sleepyhead. When he arrived there,
the giant was not at home, and he heard something in the room crying
like a calf. Then he looked through the window, and saw Dame Thickasmud
chopping wood, and at the same time nursing a little giant on her arm,
who was showing his teeth and bleating like a calf.
Wittysplinter went in, and said: "Good-day, my great and beautiful,
broad and portly dame! How is it that you have got to do so much work
and have to nurse your child at the same time? Have you no maids or
grooms? Where is your husband, then?"
"Ach," said Madam Thickasmud, "my husband has gone out to invite all
his relations to a feast we are going to hold. And I have to cook
everything for myself now, for my husband killed the bear, and the wolf,
and the dog, that used to help us; and the lion has run off, too."
"That is certainly very hard lines on you," said Wittysplinter. "If I
could do anything to help you, I should be only too glad."
Then Thickasmud asked him to chop up four logs of wood into small pieces
for her; and Wittysplinter took the axe and said to the giantess: "You
might hold the wood for me a moment, please," and the giantess bent down
and caught hold of the wood. Wittysplinter raised the axe in the air,
and swish! down it came, and cut Thickasmud's head off and Mollakopp's
at the same time, and there they lay.
The next thing he proceeded to do was to dig a large, deep hole right in
front of the castle door, into which he threw Thickasmud and Mollakopp,
and then covered over the opening with a thin layer of branches and
leaves. Then he proceeded to light up all the rooms of the castle with
candles and torches, and took a large copper kettle, and beat upon it
with soup ladles. Then he got a tin funnel, and blew a blast on it just
like a trumpet, and between each performance he shouted, "Hurrah! Long
live His Majesty the King of Roundabout."
When Sleepyhead was returning home towards evening, and saw all the
lights in the windows and heard the shouting, he was mad with rage, and
ran with such fury against the door that he fell through the hole
covered with branches and lay there a prisoner, shouting and making a
great noise. Wittysplinter immediately ran down and threw large stones
on him, until he had filled up the hole.
[Illustration: "WITTYSPLINTER THREW LARGE STONES ON HIM."]
And now Wittysplinter took the key of the castle and ran with it to King
Roundabout, who immediately betook himself to the castle, along with his
wife Flosk and her daughter Flink and Wittysplinter, and inspected all
there was to be seen there. After they had spent fourteen whole days in
looking at an immense number of rooms, chambers, cellars, look-out
towers, bakeries, furnaces, kitchens, wood-stove houses, dining-rooms,
smoking-rooms, wash-houses, etc., the King asked Wittysplinter what he
would like as a reward for his faithful services. And Wittysplinter
replied that he would like to marry the Princess Flink, if it were
agreeable to her. The Princess very readily consented, and they were
married and lived in the giant's castle, where they are to be found to
this day.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] The custom of wishing one "Good Health" after a sneeze, prevalent
in Germany and other European countries, is supposed to have origin in
the fact that the crisis, or turning-point for better or worse of a
certain fever, is indicated by a sneeze from the patient, and hence the
natural expression of a hope for a favourable recovery.
The Mid-day Rock.
[Illustration]
THE MID-DAY ROCK.
FROM THE FRENCH of J. JARRY.
ONCE upon a time there was a poor man, who lived somewhere in the middle
of the woods near a place called Gatines de Treigny. Everybody called
him Father Rameau. Not that he had any children--he had not even ever
been married; nor that he was very old, for he was barely fifty; but he
had always had such a hard time of it that his hair had grown grey very
early, and his back had been bent and bowed long before its time.
He was generally to be seen toiling along under a big bundle of brooms,
which he made with the greatest skill from young birch branches, selling
them on market days to the housewives of Saint-Amand or Saint-Sauveur.
Father Rameau was not ambitious, far from it; if he had been alone in
the world, without relations depending on him, he would have been quite
content to live on black bread every day of the week, with an occasional
glass of wine from the charitable folk of the neighbourhood. But Father
Rameau had a younger sister married to a vine-dresser of Perreuse, and
he was god-father to their daughter; she was just growing up into a
woman, and was so pretty and modest and intelligent, that every one had
a good word for her, and now she was engaged to be married to a young
man called George, a capital worker, but without a penny in the world.
The wedding was to take place as soon as she was twenty; and they had
given each other engagement rings--common leaden rings, bought from one
of the pedlars who visit the hamlets of the district.
Humble as he was where he himself only was concerned, Father Rameau was
proud indeed in matters connected with his niece.
"A leaden ring," he murmured, "when so many other girls, not half as
good as my god-daughter, have a gold one! How I wish Madeleine could
choose the one she liked best from the jeweller's shop in Saint-Sauveur!
Ah, it's not much use wishing. If I put by every penny I could spare for
years and years I could never afford it. Madeleine's poor, George is
poor, I am poor, and always shall be. Well, we're honest, that's one
comfort, and we needn't be jealous, at any rate."
As the old broomseller was thinking all this, he met George, who was
driving a pair of oxen, their nostrils steaming in the first rays of the
morning sun. "Good-day, lad," said he.
"Good-day, Father Rameau."
"Off to work already?"
"Yes, father. I'm just going over the master's fields for the last time
before seed sowing; we shall begin next week. We're rather behind hand
you know."
"So you are; October's nearly over."
"Can you guess what I was thinking of as I came along?"
"_What_ you were thinking of? You mean _who_," said Father Rameau,
rather crossly.
"Well, yes, you're right. Madeleine is never out of my mind," answered
George thoughtfully. "I was saying to myself that, if there are plenty
of weeds over there" (and he pointed to the uncultivated moor with his
goad), "there is good soil as well, and that any one who had time to
clear even a corner of it might buy the girl he was engaged to----"
"A gold ring!"
"How _did_ you guess what I meant? You don't come from Cheneau, where
all the wizards live," laughed George.
"No witchcraft in that, nephew. The other day I saw how unhappy you were
that you could only give Madeleine a leaden ring, and I was just as
sorry myself that I couldn't buy her a better one ... and ever since
I've been trying to think of a way...."
"And have you found one, father?"
"_You've_ found it for me, lad. I shall make a clearing of a bit of the
moor."
Even at the risk of offending his future uncle, the young labourer could
not help smiling.
"That's a task for stronger arms than yours, father," he said. "No one
can beat you at cutting birch branches and making them into brooms. But
that doesn't need so much muscle as digging up soil like this, pulling
up the great roots out of it, or smashing and carrying away huge
boulders of rock. Ah, if only I had not given my word to stay with my
master till I am married!"
"You may laugh at me, lad, but I won't bear malice," said the old man.
"If the old are not so strong as the young, they are more persevering. I
shall clear a bit of the moor, and with the money from my first harvest
we will go and buy the ring. Good-bye, lad."
"Good-bye, father; we shall see you doing wonders before long, I know."
"I shall be working for Madeleine," he said, "and your patron saint
(George means cultivator of the soil) will help me."
At twelve precisely, Father Rameau came back to the moor with a heavy
pick on his shoulder; he meant to set to work without delay.
Bang went the first stroke of the pick, accompanied with the significant
grunt diggers, woodmen, and such folk give over their work. But just as
he was raising his arm for another try, he stood suddenly stock-still,
with eyes staring wide in a white, terrified face.
From the midst of the boulders scattered about, which were trembling
like Celtic monuments, had arisen an apparition, which the old man knew
was supernatural and divine, though its form was human.
Imagine a tiny little lady, ethereal rather than thin, youthfully lovely
and dainty, a kind of dream beauty, attired in a silvery tunic
embroidered with gorse blossoms. On her head a wreath of heather; in her
hand a wand of the broom plant in blossom; all around the holly, ferns,
and junipers, all the wild plants and shrubs, were bowing down as if in
homage to a Sovereign. A ray of sunlight was playing round her head like
an aureole. She was the Fairy of the Moor.
"You are a bold man," she said to the old workman, "to dare thus to
encroach on my domains." There was a thrill of anger in her clear voice,
and her blue eyes sparkled.
[Illustration: "HE STOOD SUDDENLY STOCK-STILL" (_p._ 148).]
"Lady Fairy," stammered the old man, "be merciful to a wretched labourer
who never meant to wrong you. Your domains are so vast, I hoped there
would be no harm if I took the liberty of borrowing just a little corner
from you."
"What do you want it for?"
"To cultivate it," answered old Rameau, who was beginning to feel less
frightened.