can neither sail nor row there. But what do you want of Trouble and
Care? Is this, perhaps, the princess who wanted to marry him?" asked the
giantess. Yes, this was the princess. "Well, she will never get him as
long as she lives," said the giantess, "for now he must marry the great
giantess in the golden forest. You might just as well go back home now
as later," said she. No, they would not turn back for anything, and the
maid asked whether it would not be possible for her to take them in for
the darkest part of the night. "I can take you in easily enough," said
the giantess, "but when my husband comes home he will tear off your
heads, and eat you up!" But there was no help for it, they could not go
on in the middle of the night. Then the maid pulled out the yard of
ticking, and gave it to the giantess for linen. "It can't be true! It
can't be true!" cried she. "Here I have been married all of a hundred
years, and have never yet had any ticking!" And she was so pleased that
she invited the wanderers in, received them kindly, and took the best
care of them. After a while, when they had strengthened themselves with
food and drink, the giantess said to them: "Yes, he is a ferocious
fellow, is my husband, and I will have to hide you in the anteroom.
Perhaps he will not find you then." And she prepared a bed for them, as
soft and comfortable as a bed can be; but they did not care to lie down
in it, nor sit in it; no, they could not even close their eyes, for they
had to watch to see that their knees did not bend. So they stood the
whole night through, and took turns holding each other up, for by now
the maid was so weary and wretched that she was ready to give in.
Toward midnight it began to thunder and rumble in a terrible manner.
This was the troll coming home; and no sooner had he thrust his first
head in at the door than he cried out loudly and harshly: "Faugh! faugh!
I smell Christian bodies!" and he rushed about in so wild and furious a
manner that the sparks flew. "Yes," said the giantess, "a bird flew past
with a bone from a Christian, and he let it drop down the chimney. I
threw it out again as quickly as I could, but perhaps one can smell it
still," said the giantess, and soothed him again. And he was satisfied
with her explanation. But the next morning the giantess told him that
the youngest princess and her maid had come in search of a prince named
Trouble and Care, in the golden forest. "O faugh! that is so far to the
north that one can neither sail nor row there!" the troll at once cried.
"It is the princess who wanted to marry him, I know, but she will never
get him as long as she lives, for he has to marry the great giantess in
three days' time. But the maidens shall not get away from me! Where are
they, where are they?" he cried, and sniffed and snuffed about in every
corner. "O no, you must not touch them," said the giantess. "They have
given me a yard of ticking, and here I have been married now for more
than a hundred years, and have never owned any ticking. Therefore you
must lend them your seven-mile waistcoat to the nearest neighbor," said
the giantess, and pleaded for the girls. And the troll was willing when
he heard how kind they had been to his wife.
When they had eaten and were ready to travel, he put his seven-mile
waistcoat on them: "And now you must repeat: 'Forward over willow bush
and pine-tree, over hill and dale, to the nearest neighbor,'" said he.
"And when you get there you must say: 'You are to be hung up this
evening where you were put on this morning!'" The maidens did as he
said, and were carried for miles, over hill and dale. In the evening, at
dusk, they again came to a great, ugly rock. There they pulled off the
seven-mile waistcoat and said: "You are to be hung up this evening where
you were put on this morning," and then the waistcoat ran home by
itself.
"I will knock here," said the maid, and knocked and thumped on the
rock. "O no," said the princess, "please do not knock here. You can see
how sinister everything is here!" "Who is thumping at my door?" cried
the giantess inside the rock, more loudly and harshly than the first
one, and she opened the door and thrust her nose, that was all of two
yards long, right through the crack. "Here stand the youngest princess
and her maid, and they are looking for a prince named Trouble and Care,
who lives in the golden forest," answered the maid. And then this
giantess also said it was so far north that one could neither sail nor
row there, and wanted them to turn back by all means. "You might just as
well turn back now as later," said she. But this the maidens did not
want to do at all, and the maid asked whether she would not, perhaps,
take them in for the night, and if it were only the darkest part of the
night. "Yes, I can take you in easily enough," said the giantess, "but
when my husband comes home to-night, he will tear off your heads and eat
you up!" Then the maid pulled out a yard of drilling, and gave it to the
giantess for linen. "It can't be true! It can't be true! here I have
been married now for over two hundred years, and I have never yet had
any drilling in the house," cried the giantess, and she was so pleased
that she invited them in, and received them kindly, and saw that they
wanted for nothing. After a while, when they had strengthened themselves
with food and drink, the giantess said: "Yes, he is a ferocious fellow,
is my husband, and he eats up every Christian who comes here, root and
branch. I'll have to put you in the anteroom, perhaps he will not find
you there," and she prepared a bed for the maidens. But they did not
dare either to lie down nor sit on it, not for a single moment, for they
had to watch to see that they did not bend their knees. So they stood
there the whole night through, and took turns holding each other up,
while each snatched a little sleep.
Toward midnight it began to rumble and thunder in such a terrible manner
that they could feel the earth tremble beneath them. Then the troll came
rushing in. "Faugh! faugh! I smell Christian bodies!" he cried out
loudly and harshly, and thrashed about in such a furious way that the
sparks flew from him as from a fire. "Yes," said the giantess, "a bird
flew by, and let a bone from a Christian fall through the chimney. I
threw it out again as quickly as I could, but it may well be the case
that the smell still lingers," said she, and quieted her husband. And he
was satisfied with her explanation. But when he got up in the morning,
she told him that the youngest princess and her maid had come in search
of a prince named Trouble and Care, in the golden forest. When the troll
heard that, he also said that it was so far north that one could neither
sail nor row there. "That is the princess who wanted to marry him. Yes,
I know; but she will never get him as long as she lives, for he must
marry the great giantess herself in two days' time," said the troll.
"And where are they, these maidens? They shall not escape from me with
their lives!" he shouted, and sniffed and snuffed about everywhere. "O
no, you must not harm them!" said the giantess, and told him that they
had given her a yard of drilling for linen. "Therefore you must lend
them your seven-mile waistcoat to the nearest neighbor," said she. And
he was willing at once, when he heard how kind they had been to his
giantess. When they had eaten in the morning, he put his seven-mile
waistcoat on them. "When you reach your goal, you need only say: 'Where
you were put on this morning, there you are to hang again to-night!'
and then the seven-mile waistcoat will travel home by itself," said the
troll. Then they were carried for miles, over hill and dale, on and on.
In the evening, at dusk, they again came to a great, ugly rock.
"I will knock here!" said the maid, and knocked and thumped on the rock.
"O no," said the princess, "please do not knock here, you can see how
sinister everything looks here!" "Who is thumping at my door?" the
giantess cried inside the rock, in a ruder and harsher manner than the
other two giantesses, and she opened the door just far enough so that
she could thrust her nose, which was all of three yards long, through
the crack. "Here stand the youngest princess and her maid, in search of
a prince named Trouble and Care, who lives in the golden forest," was
the maid's reply. "O faugh!" cried the giantess, "that is so far to the
north that one can neither sail nor row there. But what do you want of
Trouble and Care? Is this, perhaps, the princess who wanted to marry
him?" asked the giantess. Yes, this was the princess, was the maid's
reply. Then this giantess said in turn: "He must marry the great
giantess in the golden forest, so you might just as well turn back home
now as later!" But this the maidens did not want to do at all, and the
maid asked whether, perhaps, she would not take them in for the night,
and if it were only for the very darkest part of the night.
"Yes, I can take you in easily enough," said the giantess, "but when my
husband comes home to-night he will tear off your heads and eat you up!"
But there was nothing else to do; they could not travel on through the
wood and wilderness, in the very darkest part of the night. Then the
maid pulled out the yard of linen and made the giantess a present of it.
"It can't be true! It can't be true!" cried she. "Here I have been
married now for more than three hundred years, and have never yet had a
bit of linen!" And she was so pleased that she invited the maidens in,
and received them kindly, and let them want for nothing. "He is a
ferocious fellow, is my husband, and he does away with every Christian
soul that strays here," she said, when her guests had eaten. "But I will
hide you in the anteroom. Perhaps he will not find you there." Then she
carefully made up a soft bed for them, as fine as the finest in the
world. But now the princess was weary and wretched and sleepy beyond all
measure. She could no longer stand up at all, and finally had to lie
down and sleep a little, and even though it were but a tiny little
while. The maid was also so weary and wretched that she fell asleep
standing, and fell over from time to time. Yet she still managed to keep
her wits about her to the extent of seizing the princess, and holding
her up, so that she did not bend her knees. Toward midnight it began to
rumble and thunder so that the whole house shook, and it seemed as
though the roof and walls would fall in. This was the great troll, who
was coming home. When he thrust his first nose in at the door, he at
once cried out in a manner so wild and harsh that the like had never
been heard before: "Faugh! faugh! I smell Christian bodies!" and he fell
into a white rage, so that sparks and flame flew from him. "Yes, a bird
flew by, and let a bone from a Christian fall through the chimney. I
threw it out as quickly as ever I could; but it may be that the smell
still persists!" said the giantess, and tried to pacify her troll. And
he was satisfied with her explanation. But when he awoke in the morning,
she told him that the youngest princess and her maid had come in search
of a prince named Trouble and Care, who lived in the golden forest. "O
faugh! That is so far north that one can neither sail nor row there!"
cried the great troll, just as the smaller trolls had. "But she will
never get him as long as she lives, for to-morrow he must marry the
great giantess. Where are they, these maidens? Hm, hm, hm, they will
make tasty eating!" he cried, and danced around everywhere, and sniffed
and snuffed with all his nine noses at once. "O no, you must not harm
them!" cried the giantess. "They have given me a yard of linen, and here
I have been married for more than three hundred years, and have never
had a bit of linen yet. Therefore you must lend them your seven-mile
waistcoat to the nearest neighbor." And when the super-troll heard that
the maidens had been so kind, he was agreeable.
When they had strengthened themselves in the morning, he put his
seven-mile waistcoat on them. "And now you must repeat: 'On, on!
Over willow brush and pine tree, over hill and dale, to the nearest
neighbor.' And when you reach your goal, you need only say: 'You must
hang again to-night on the nail from which you were taken down this
morning!'" said the great troll. They did as he had told them, and were
carried farther and farther along, over hills and deep valleys.
At dusk they came to a large, large forest, where all the trees were
black as coal. If one only so much as touched them, they made one look
like a chimney-sweep. And in the middle of the forest was a clearing,
and there stood a wretched hut, ready to fall apart; it was only held
together by two beams, and looked more forlorn than the most wretched
herdsman's hut. And in front of the door lay a rubbish heap of old
shoes, dirty rags and other ugly stuff. Here the maid took off the
seven-mile waistcoat, and said: "You must hang again to-night from the
nail from which you were taken down this morning!" and the waistcoat
wandered home all by itself.
"I will knock here!" said the maid. "O no, O no," wailed the princess,
"please do not knock here, you can see how ugly everything is!" "If you
do not do as I do, then it will be the worse for both of us!" said the
maid; trampled through the rubbish-pile and knocked. An old, old
troll-woman with a nose all of three yards long, looked out through the
crack in the door. "If you girls want to come in, then come in, and if
you do not want to, you can stay out!" said she, and made as though
to close the door in their faces. "Yes, indeed, we want to come in,"
replied the maid, and drew the princess in with her. "If you girls want
to come through the door, then come through, but if you do not want to,
you can stay out," the woman said once more. "Yes, thanks, we want to
come in," said the maid, and tramped over the threshold through the dirt
and rags. "Alas, alas!" wailed the princess, and tramped after her. All
was black and ugly inside, and as grimy and dirty as a corn-loft. After
a while the giantess went out, and fetched them some milk to drink.
"If you girls want to drink, why, drink, and if you do not, why, do
without!" said she, and was about to carry it out again. "Yes, thanks,
we want to drink," said the maid, and drank. "Alas, alas!" wailed the
princess, when it came her turn, for the milk was in a pig-trough, and
dirt and clots of hair were swimming in it. Then the giantess gave them
something to eat. "If you girls want to eat, why, eat, and if you do
not, why, do without," said the giantess. "Yes, indeed, we will be glad
to," said the maid, before the ugly nosey could take the food away
again. The bread was moldly, mice had been nibbling at the cheese, the
meat was so old that one could smell it at a distance, and two dirty
calves' tails were draped about the butter. "Alas, alas!" wailed the
princess, and was ready to cry; but she had to do what her maid did, and
taste the horrible dishes. Then they had to say they were much obliged.
An old man, whom thus far they had not seen, lay on a bed covered with a
few old odds and ends of fur and other rags. When they went up to him
to thank him, he stood up, and when the princess gave him her hand he
kissed it; and at that very moment he turned into a prince handsome
beyond all measure, and the princess saw that he was Trouble and Care,
for whom she had so greatly longed. "Now you have delivered me!" he
said. "Woe to whoever has delivered you!" cried the giantess, and rushed
out of the door; but on the door-step she stood like a stone, for the
forest was no longer black, and all the trees looked as though they had
been gilded from root to crest, and glittered and sparkled more brightly
than the sun at noon-day. The wretched, dirty hut had changed into a
royal castle, immensely large and handsome. One might have thought that
the roof and walls were made of the purest gold and silver, and so they
were. "Now you may bend your knee again," said the prince, "and if you
have hitherto known nothing but sorrow and care, you shall henceforth
know all the more happiness."
The old giantess had brewed and baked, and prepared the whole wedding
dinner. And when the next day dawned, the prince and the princess, and
all the people in the castle, and in the whole country over which he was
king, celebrated the wedding. And it lasted for four times fourteen
days, so that the news spread through seven kingdoms, and reached the
bride's father and her two sisters. And they would have celebrated it
with them, had they not been so far away. I was invited to the feast
myself, and the bridegroom made me chief cook, and I had to speak the
toast for the bride and groom. But on the last day of the feast, I had
to draw mead from a large, large cask that lay at the farthest end of
the cellar. Before I sent off the filled jug, I took a taste myself, and
the mead was so strong that it suddenly went to my head, and I flew
through the air like a bird, and there I was, floating between heaven
and earth for full nine years, and then I fell down here in the village,
in front of the house up there on the hill. And out came Bertha
Friendly, with a letter for me from the prince, who had become king in
the meantime, and the letter said that he and the young queen were doing
well, and that they sent me their greetings, and that I was to greet
you for them, and that you and your sisters were invited to the castle
Sunday after Michaelmas, and then you should see a pair of dear little
princes, the golden forest, and the old stone giantess, who stands
before the door with her nose three yards long.
NOTE
The story of Cupid and Psyche is the most celebrated
representative of the type of fairy-tale to which "Trouble and
Care" belongs (Hallv. E. Bergh, _Nye Folkeeventyr og Sagn fra
Valdres og Hallindal_, Coll. III, Christiania, 1882, No. 1). The
northern peoples take special pleasure in tales of faithful women,
who try to reach their vanished lovers by means of wearisome and
difficult wanderings. Peculiar is the transformation of the lover
into a squirrel, in this tale, and the condition that the poor
princess must not bend her knees, that is, sit or crouch down,
during her long journey. The end is a typical fairy-tale close,
such as the narrator likes to add, without any inner relationship
to the story itself.
XIX
KARI WOODENCOAT
Once upon a time there was a king whose wife had died, but he had a
daughter who was so good and so beautiful that no one could have been
kinder or lovelier than she. The king mourned a long time for the queen,
because he had loved her greatly; but in the course of time he grew
weary of his lonely life, and married again with the widow of another
king, who also had a daughter; but one who was just as ugly and evil
as the other was handsome and kind. The step-mother and daughter were
jealous of the king's daughter, because she was so handsome; yet so long
as the king was at home, they did not dare harm her, for he was very
fond of her. But after a time, the king began to war against another
king, and went out to battle. Then the queen thought she now could do as
she wished, and she let the king's daughter starve, and beat and pushed
her about everywhere. At last everything else was too good for her, and
she had to herd the cows. So she went out with the cows, and pastured
them in the forest or on the hill. Food she had little or none, and she
grew pale and thin, and was sad most of the time, and wept. In the herd
there was also a great blue bull, who always kept himself neat and
clean, and often came to the queen's daughter and let her scratch him.
Once, as she sat there and cried and was sad, he came to her again,
and asked why she was so unhappy. She did not answer him but kept on
weeping. "Well, I know what your trouble is," said the bull, "even
though you will not tell me. You are weeping because the queen is so
unkind to you, and would gladly starve you to death. But you need not
worry about food, for in my left ear is a cloth and, if you will take it
out and spread it, you can have as much as you want to eat." She did so,
took out the cloth, laid it on the grass, and it was at once covered
with the finest dishes one might desire: bread and mead and honey-cake.
Then she soon regained her strength, and grew so plump, and so rose and
white complexioned that the queen and her daughter, who was as thin as a
rail, turned green and yellow with envy. The queen could not understand
how it was that her step-daughter came to look so well in spite of such
poor fare. So she told a maid to follow her to the forest, and watch and
see how it came about; for she thought some of the servants secretly
gave her food. The maid followed her into the forest, and watched
carefully, and saw how the step-daughter drew the cloth out of the blue
bull's left ear, and spread it out, and how it covered itself with the
finest dishes, and also how the king's daughter ate heartily. And the
maid told the queen at home about it.
Now the king came home, and he had defeated the other king, against whom
he had warred; and the whole castle was overjoyed, and none was more
joyful than the king's daughter. But the queen pretended to be ill, and
gave the physician a great deal of money so that he should say that she
could not recover unless she had some of the blue bull's flesh to eat.
The king's daughter and others as well asked the physician whether
nothing else would do, and pleaded for the bull; for all liked him, and
said that there was not such another in the whole kingdom. But no, he
must be slaughtered, and he should be slaughtered, and there was no help
for it. When the king's daughter heard this, she felt sad, and went into
the stable to the bull. He stood and hung his head, and looked so
mournful that she could not keep from weeping. "Why do you weep?" asked
the bull. Then she told him that the king had come home, and that the
queen had pretended to be ill, and had forced the physician to say that
she could not recover unless she had some of the blue bull's flesh to
eat, and that now he was to be slaughtered. "Once she has done away with
me, it will not be long before she does away with you," said the bull.
"But if it suits you, we will run away from here to-night." The king's
daughter did say that it would be bad enough to leave her father, but
that at the same time it would be worse to remain under the same roof
with the queen, and so she promised the bull to go with him.
In the evening, while the rest were asleep, the king's daughter crept
down to the bull in the stable. He took her on his back, and ran off
as quickly as ever he could. And when the people rose the following
morning, and wanted to slaughter the bull, he was gone; and when the
king rose and asked for his daughter, she was gone as well. The king
sent out messengers on all sides, and had the church-bells rung for her,
but no one had seen anything of her.
In the meantime the bull trotted through many lands with the king's
daughter, and they came to a great copper forest, whose trees, leaves
and flowers were all of copper. But before they entered it, the bull
said to the king's daughter: "Now when we get into the forest you must
be very careful not to touch so much as a single leaf, or else it is all
up with you and with me; for a troll with three heads lives here, and
the forest belongs to him." Yes, indeed, she would be careful, and not
touch anything. And she was very careful, and leaned to one side, and
thrust aside the branches; but the forest was so thick that it was
almost impossible to win through, and for all that she was so careful,
she did tear off a leaf, and it remained in her hand.
"Alas, alas!" cried the bull. "What have you done! Now I must fight for
my very life. But see that you keep the leaf carefully!" Straightway
they reached the end of the forest, and at once a troll with three heads
came rushing up. "Who has touched my forest?" cried he. "The forest is
as much mine as yours!" was the bull's reply. "We'll see if it is!"
shouted the troll. "That suits me!" cried the bull. Then they rushed at
each other, and the bull gored and butted with might and main. But the
troll was just as strong, and it took all day before the bull gained the
upper hand. And then he had so many wounds, and was so weak that he
could scarcely walk. So they had to halt for a whole day; but the bull
told the queen's daughter to take the horn of ointment that hung at the
troll's girdle, and anoint him with the salve. Thereupon he grew strong
and well again, and they went on the next day. Now they wandered for
many, many days, and at last came to a silver forest, whose trees,
branches, leaves, buds and all were of silver.
Before the bull entered the forest he said to the king's daughter: "Now
when we get into this forest, in heaven's name be careful! You must
touch nothing, and not even tear off so much as a single leaf, or else
it is all up with you and me. A troll with six heads lives here, and the
forest belongs to him, and I will hardly be able to hold my own against
him!"