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Popular Tales from the Norse

S >> Sir George Webbe Dasent >> Popular Tales from the Norse




So the King gave him a good bit of money to drink his health, and
bade him be sure and say all kind of pretty things, and many thanks
for the present to his master when he got home.

Next day the Cat went again into the wood, and jumped up on a red
deer's head, and sat between his horns, and forced him to go to the
palace. Then Peter went again into the kitchen, and said he was come
with a little present for the King, if he would be pleased to take
it. And the King was still more glad to get the red deer than he had
been to get the reindeer, and asked again who it was that sent so
fine a present.

'Why, it's Lord Peter, of course', said the lad; but when the King
wanted to know where Lord Peter lived, he got the same answer as the
day before; and this day, too, he gave Peter a good lump of money to
drink his health with.

The third day the Cat came with an elk. And so when Peter got into
the palace kitchen, and said he had a little present for the King, if
he'd be pleased to take it, the King came out at once into the
kitchen; and when he saw the grand big elk, he was so glad he scarce
knew which leg to stand on; and this day, too, he gave Peter many
many more dollars--at least a hundred. He wished now, once for all,
to know where this Lord Peter lived, and asked and asked about this
thing and that, but the lad said he daren't say, for his master's
sake, who had strictly forbidden him to tell.

'Well, then', said the King, 'beg Lord Peter to come and see me.'

Yes, the lad would take that message; but when Peter got out into the
yard again, and met the Cat, he said,

'A pretty scrape you've got me into now, for here's the King, who
wants me to come and see him, and you know I've nothing to go in but
these rags I stand and walk in.'

'Oh, don't be afraid about that', said the Cat; 'in three days you
shall have coach and horses, and fine clothes, so fine that the gold
falls from them, and then you may go and see the king very well. But
mind, whatever you see in the king's palace, you must say you have
far finer and grander things of your own. Don't forget that.'

No, no, Peter would bear that in mind, never fear.

So when three days were over, the Cat came with a coach and horses,
and clothes, and all that Peter wanted, and altogether it was as
grand as anything you ever set eyes on; so off he set, and the Cat
ran alongside the coach. The King met him well and graciously; but
whatever the King offered him, and whatever he showed him, Peter
said, 'twas all very well, but he had far finer and better things in his
own house. The King seemed not quite to believe this, but Peter
stuck to what he said, and at last the King got so angry, he couldn't
bear it any longer.

'Now I'll go home with you', he said, 'and see if it be true what
you've been telling me, that you have far finer and better things of
your own. But if you've been telling a pack of lies, Heaven help you,
that's all I say.'

'Now, you've got me into a fine scrape', said Peter to the Cat, 'for
here's the King coming home with me; but my home, that's not so easy
to find, I think.'

'Oh! never mind', said the Cat; 'only do you drive after me as I run
before.'

So off they set; first Peter, who drove after his Cat, and then the
King and all his court.

But when they had driven a good bit, they came to a great flock of
fine sheep, that had wool so long it almost touched the ground.

'If you'll only say', said the Cat to the Shepherd, 'this flock of
sheep belongs to Lord Peter, when the King asks you, I'll give you
this silver spoon', which she had taken with her from the King's
palace.

Yes! he was willing enough to do that. So when the king came up, he
said to the lad who watched the sheep,

'Well, I never saw so large and fine a flock of sheep in my life!
Whose is it? my little lad.'

'Why', said the lad, 'whose should it be but Lord Peter's.'

A little while after they came to a great, great herd of fine
brindled kine, who were all so sleek the sun shone from them.

'If you'll only say', said the Cat to the neat-herd, 'this herd is
Lord Peter's, when the King asks you, I'll give you this silver
ladle'; and the ladle too she had taken from the King's palace.

'Yes! with all my heart', said the neat-herd.

So when the King came up, he was quite amazed at the fine fat herd,
for such a herd he had never seen before, and so he asked the neat-
herd who owned those brindled kine.

'Why! who should own them but Lord Peter', said the neat-herd.

So they went on a little further, and came to a great, great drove of
horses, the finest you ever saw, six of each colour, bay, and black,
and brown, and chesnut.

'If you'll only say this drove of horses is Lord Peter's when the
King asks you', said the Cat, 'I'll give you this silver stoop'; and
the stoop too she had taken from the palace.

Yes! the lad was willing enough; and so when the King came up, he was
quite amazed at the grand drove of horses, for the matches of such
horses he had never yet set eyes on, he said.

So he asked the lad who watched them, whose all these blacks, and
bays, and browns, and chesnuts were?

'Whose should they be', said the lad, 'but Lord Peter's.'

So when they had gone a good bit farther, they came to a castle;
first there was a gate of tin, and next there was a gate of silver,
and next a gate of gold. The castle itself was of silver, and so
dazzling white, that it quite hurt one's eyes to look at in the
sunbeams which fell on it just as they reached it.

So they went into it, and the Cat told Peter to say this was his
house. As for the castle inside, it was far finer than it looked
outside, for everything was pure gold--chairs, and tables, and
benches, and all. And when the King had gone all over it, and seen
everything high and low, he got quite shameful and downcast.

'Yes', he said at last; 'Lord Peter has everything far finer than I
have, there's no gainsaying that', and so he wanted to be off home
again.

But Peter begged him to stay to supper, and the King stayed, but he
was sour, and surly the whole time.

So as they sat at supper, back came the Troll who owned the castle,
and gave such a great knock at the door.

'WHO'S THIS EATING MY MEAT AND DRINKING MY MEAD LIKE SWINE IN HERE',
roared out the Troll.

As soon as the Cat heard that, she ran down to the gate.

'Stop a bit', she said, 'and I'll tell you how the farmer sets to
work to get in his winter rye.'

And so she told him such a long story about the winter rye.

'First of all, you see, he ploughs his field, and then he dungs it,
and then he ploughs it again, and then he harrows it'; and so she
went on till the sun rose.

'Oh, do look behind you, and there you'll see such a lovely lady',
said the Cat to the Troll.

So the Troll turned round, and, of course, as soon as he saw the sun
he burst.

'Now all this is yours', said the Cat to Lord Peter. 'Now, you must
cut off my head; that's all I ask for what I have done for you.'

'Nay, nay', said Lord Peter, 'I'll never do any such thing, that's
flat.'

'If you don't', said the Cat,' see if I don't claw your eyes out.'

Well! so Lord Peter had to do it, though it was sore against his
will. He cut off the Cat's head, but there and then she became the
loveliest Princess you ever set eyes on, and Lord Peter fell in love
with her at once.

'Yes! all this greatness was mine first', said the Princess, 'but a
Troll bewitched me to be a Cat in your father's and mother's cottage.
Now you may do as you please, whether you take me as your queen or
not, for you are now king over all this realm.'

Well, well; there was little doubt Lord Peter would be willing enough
to have her as his queen, and so there was a wedding that lasted
eight whole days, and a feast besides; and after it was over, I
stayed no longer with Lord Peter and his lovely queen, and so I can't
say anything more about them.




THE SEVEN FOALS

Once on a time there was a poor couple who lived in a wretched hut,
far far away in the wood. How they lived I can't tell, but I'm sure
it was from hand to mouth, and hard work even then; but they had
three sons, and the youngest of them was Boots, of course, for he did
little else than lie there and poke about in the ashes.

So one day the eldest lad said he would go out to earn his bread, and
he soon got leave, and wandered out into the world. There he walked
and walked the whole day, and when evening drew in, he came to a
king's palace, and there stood the King out on the steps, and asked
whither he was bound.

'Oh, I'm going about, looking after a place', said the lad.

'Will you serve me?' asked the King, 'and watch my seven foals. If
you can watch them one whole day, and tell me at night what they eat
and what they drink, you shall have the Princess to wife, and half my
kingdom; but if you can't, I'll cut three red stripes out of your
back. Do you hear?'

Yes! that was an easy task, the lad thought; he'd do that fast
enough, never fear.

So next morning, as soon as the first peep of dawn came, the king's
coachman let out the seven foals. Away they went, and the lad after
them. You may fancy how they tore over hill and dale, through bush
and bog. When the lad had run so a long time, he began to get weary,
and when he had held on a while longer, he had more than enough of
his watching, and just there, he came to a cleft in a rock, where an
old hag sat and spun with a distaff. As soon as she saw the lad who
was running after the foals till the sweat ran down his brow, this
old hag bawled out:

'Come hither, come hither, my pretty son, and let me comb your hair.'

Yes! the lad was willing enough; so he sat down in the cleft of the
rock with the old hag, and laid his head on her lap, and she combed
his hair all day whilst he lay there, and stretched his lazy bones.

So, when evening drew on, the lad wanted to go away. 'I may just as
well toddle straight home now', said he, 'for it's no use my going
back to the palace.'

'Stop a bit till it's dark', said the old hag, 'and then the king's
foals will pass by here again, and then you can run home with them,
and then no one will know that you have lain here all day long,
instead of watching the foals.'

So, when they came, she gave the lad a flask of water and a clod of
turf. Those he was to show to the King, and say that was what his
seven foals ate and drank.

'Have you watched true and well the whole day, now?' asked the King,
when the lad came before him in the evening.

'Yes, I should think so', said the lad.

'Then you can tell me what my seven foals eat and drink', said the
King.

'Yes!' and so the lad pulled out the flask of water and the clod of
turf, which the old hag had given him.

'Here you see their meat, and here you see their drink', said the
lad.

But then the King saw plain enough how he had watched, and he got so
wroth, he ordered his men to chase him away home on the spot; but
first they were to cut three red stripes out of his back, and rub
salt into them. So when the lad got home again, you may fancy what a
temper he was in. He'd gone out once to get a place, he said, but
he'd never do so again.

Next day the second sons aid he would go out into the world to try
his luck. His father and mother said 'No', and bade him look at his
brother's back; but the lad wouldn't give in; he held to his own, and
at last he got leave to go, and set off. So when he had walked the
whole day, he, too, came to the king's palace. There stood the King
out on the steps, and asked whither he was bound? and when the lad
said he was looking about for a place, the King said he might have a
place there, and watch his seven foals. But the king laid down the
same punishment, and the same reward, as he had settled for his
brother. Well, the lad was willing enough; he took the place at once
with the King, for he thought he'd soon watch the foals, and tell the
King what they ate and drank. So, in the gray of the morning, the
coachman let out the seven foals, and off they went again over hill
and dale, and the lad after them. But the same thing happened to him
as had befallen his brother. When he had run after the foals a long
long time, till he was both warm and weary, he passed by the cleft in
a rock, where an old hag sat and spun with a distaff, and she bawled
out to the lad:

'Come hither, come hither, my pretty son, and let me comb your hair.'

That the lad thought a good offer, so he let the foals run on their
way, and sat down in the cleft with the old hag. There he sat, and
there he lay, taking his ease, and stretching his lazy bones the
whole day.

When the foals came back at nightfall, he too got a flask of water
and clod of turf from the old hag to show to the King. But when the
King asked the lad:

'Can you tell me now, what my seven foals eat and drink?' and the lad
pulled out the flask and the clod, and said:

'Here you see their meat, and here you see their drink.'

Then the King got wroth again, and ordered them to cut three red
stripes out of the lad's back, and rub salt in, and chase him home
that very minute. And so when the lad got home, he also told how he
had fared, and said, he had gone out once to get a place, but he'd
never do so any more.

The third day Boots wanted to set out; he had a great mind to try and
watch the seven foals, he said. The others laughed at him, and made
game of him, saying:

'When we fared so ill, you'll do it better--a fine joke; you look
like it--you, who have never done anything but lie there and poke
about in the ashes.'

'Yes!' said Boots, 'I don't see why I shouldn't go, for I've got it
into my head, and can't get it out again.'

And so, in spite of all the jeers of the others and the prayers of
the old people, there was no help for it, and Boots set out.

So after he had walked the whole day, he too came at dusk to the
king's palace. There stood the King out on the steps, and asked
whither he was bound.

'Oh', said Boots, 'I'm going about seeing if I can hear of a place.'

'Whence do you come then?' said the King, for he wanted to know a
little more about them before he took any one into his service.

So Boots said whence he came, and how he was brother to those two who
had watched the king's seven foals, and ended by asking if he might
try to watch them next day.

'Oh, stuff!' said the King, for he got quite cross if he even thought
of them; 'if you're brother to those two, you're not worth much, I'll
be bound. I've had enough of such scamps.'

'Well', said Boots; but since I've come so far, I may just as well
get leave to try, I too.'

'Oh, very well; with all my heart', said the King, 'if you
_will_ have your back flayed, you're quite welcome.'

'I'd much rather have the Princess', said Boots.

So next morning, at gray of dawn, the coachman let out the seven
foals again, and away they went over hill and dale, through bush and
bog, and Boots behind them. And so, when he too had run a long while,
he came to the cleft in the rock, where the old hag sat, spinning at
her distaff. So she bawled out to Boots:

'Come hither, come hither, my pretty son, and let me comb your hair.'

'Don't you wish you may catch me', said Boots. 'Don't you wish you
may catch me', as he ran along, leaping and jumping, and holding on
by one of the foal's tails. And when he had got well past the cleft
in the rock, the youngest foal said:

'Jump up on my back, my lad, for we've a long way before us still.'

So Boots jumped up on his back.

So they went on, and on, a long, long way.

'Do you see anything now', said the Foal.

'No', said Boots.

So they went on a good bit farther.

'Do you see anything now?' asked the Foal.

'Oh no', said the lad.

So when they had gone a great, great way farther--I'm sure I can't
tell how far--the Foal asked again:

'Do you see anything now?'

'Yes', said Boots; 'now I see something that looks white--just like a
tall, big birch trunk.'

'Yes', said the Foal; 'we're going into that trunk.' So when they got
to the trunk, the eldest foal took and pushed it on one side, and
then they saw a door where it had stood, and inside the door was a
little room, and in the room there was scarce anything but a little
fireplace and one or two benches; but behind the door hung a great
rusty sword and a little pitcher.

'Can you brandish the sword?' said the Foals; 'try.' So Boots tried,
but he couldn't; then they made him take a pull at the pitcher; first
once, then twice, and then thrice, and then he could wield it like
anything.

'Yes', said the Foals, 'now you may take the sword with you, and with
it you must cut off all our seven heads on your wedding-day, and then
we'll be princes again as we were before. For we are brothers of that
Princess whom you are to have when you can tell the King what we eat
and drink; but an ugly Troll has thrown this shape over us. Now mind,
when you have hewn off our heads, to take care to lay each head at
the tail of the trunk which it belonged to before, and then the spell
will have no more power over us.'

Yes! Boots promised all that, and then on they went. And when they
had travelled a long long way, the Foal asked:

'Do you see anything?'

'No', said Boots.

So they travelled a good bit still.

'And now?' asked the Foal.

'No, I see nothing', said Boots.

So they travelled many many miles again, over hill and dale.

'Now then', said the Foal, 'do you see anything now?'

'Yes', said Boots, 'now I see something like a blue stripe, far far
away.'

'Yes', said the Foal, 'that's a river we've got to cross.' Over the
river was a long, grand bridge; and when they had got over to the
other side, they travelled on a long, long way. At last the Foal
asked again:

'If Boots didn't see anything?'

'Yes, this time he saw something that looked black far far away, just
as though it were a church steeple.'

'Yes', said the Foal, 'that's where we're going to turn in.'

So when the foals got into the churchyard, they became men again, and
looked like Princes, with such fine clothes that it glistened from
them; and so they went into the church, and took the bread and wine
from the priest who stood at the altar. And Boots he went in too; but
when the priest had laid his hands on the Princes, and given them the
blessing, they went out of the church again, and Boots went out too;
but he took with him a flask of wine and a wafer. And soon as ever
the seven Princes came out into the churchyard, they were turned into
foals again, and so Boots got up on the back of the youngest, and so
they all went back the same way that they had come; only they went
much, much faster. First they crossed the bridge, next they passed
the trunk, and then they passed the old hag, who sat at the cleft and
span, and they went by her so fast, that Boots couldn't hear what the
old hag screeched after him; but he heard so much as to know she was
in an awful rage.

It was almost dark when they got back to the palace, and the King
himself stood out on the steps and waited for them. 'Have you watched
well and true the whole day?' said he to Boots.

'I've done my best', answered Boots.

'Then you can tell me what my seven foals eat and drink', said the
King.

Then Boots pulled out the flask of wine and the wafer, and showed
them to the King.

'Here you see their meat, and here you see their drink', said he.

'Yes', said the King, 'you have watched true and well, and you shall
have the Princess and half the kingdom.'

So they made ready the wedding-feast, and the King said it should be
such a grand one, it should be the talk far and near.

But when they sat down to the bridal-feast, the bridegroom got up and
went down to the stable, for he said he had forgotten something, and
must go to fetch it. And when he got down there, he did as the Foals
had said, and hewed their heads off, all seven, the eldest first, and
the others after him; and at the same time he took care to lay each
head at the tail of the foal to which it belonged; and as he did
this, lo! they all became Princes again.

So when he went into the bridal hall with the seven princes, the King
was so glad he both kissed Boots and patted him on the back, and his
bride was still more glad of him than she had been before.

'Half the kingdom you have got already', said the King, 'and the
other half you shall have after my death; for my sons can easily get
themselves lands and wealth, now they are princes again.'

And so, like enough, there was mirth and fun at that wedding. I was
there too; but there was no one to care for poor me; and so I got
nothing but a bit of bread and butter, and I laid it down on the
stove, and the bread was burnt and the butter ran, and so I didn't
get even the smallest crumb. Wasn't that a great shame?




THE WIDOW'S SON

Once on a time there was a poor, poor widow, who had an only son. She
dragged on with the boy till he had been confirmed, and then she said
she couldn't feed him any longer, he must just go out and earn his
own bread. So the lad wandered out into the world, and when he had
walked a day or so, a strange man met him.

'Whither away?' asked the man.

'Oh, I'm going out into the world to try and get a place', said the
lad.

'Will you come and serve me?' said the man.

'Oh yes; just as soon you as any one else', said the lad.

'Well, you'll have a good place with me', said the man; 'for you'll
only have to keep me company, and do nothing at all else beside.'

So the lad stopped with him, and lived on the fat of the land, both
in meat and drink, and had little or nothing to do; but he never saw
a living soul in that man's house.

So one day the man said:

'Now, I'm going off for eight days, and that time you'll have to
spend here all alone; but you must not go into any one of these four
rooms here. If you do, I'll take your life when I come back.'

'No', said the lad, he'd be sure not to do that. But when the man had
been gone three or four days, the lad couldn't bear it any longer,
but went into the first room, and when he got inside he looked round,
but he saw nothing but a shelf over the door where a bramble-bush rod
lay.

Well, indeed! thought the lad; a pretty thing to forbid my seeing
this.

So when the eight days were out, the man came home, and the first
thing he said was:

'You haven't been into any of these rooms, of course.'

'No, no; that I haven't', said the lad.

'I'll soon see that', said the man, and went at once into the room
where the lad had been.

'Nay, but you have been in here', said he; 'and now you shall lose
your life.'

Then the lad begged and prayed so hard that he got off with his life,
but the man gave him a good thrashing. And when it was over, they
were as good friends as ever.

Some time after the man set off again, and said he should be away
fourteen days; but before he went he forbade the lad to go into any
of the rooms he had not been in before; as for that he had been in,
he might go into that, and welcome. Well, it was the same story aver
again, except that the lad stood out eight days before he went in. In
this room, too, he saw nothing but a shelf over the door, and a big
stone, and a pitcher of water on it. Well, after all, there's not
much to be afraid of my seeing here, thought the lad.

But when the man came back, he asked if he had been into any of the
rooms. No, the lad hadn't done anything of the kind.

'Well, well; I'll soon see that,' said the man; and when he saw that
the lad had been in them after all, he said, 'Ah! now I'll spare you
no longer; now you must lose your life.'

But the lad begged and prayed for himself again, and so this time too
he got off with stripes; though he got as many as his skin could
carry. But when he got sound and well again, he led just as easy a
life as ever, and he and the man were just as good friends.

So a while after the man was to take another journey, and now he said
he should be away three weeks, and he forbade the lad anew to go into
the third room, for if he went in there he might just make up his
mind at once to lose his life. Then after fourteen days the lad
couldn't bear it, but crept into the room, but he saw nothing at all
in there but a trap door on the floor; and when he lifted it up and
looked down, there stood a great copper cauldron which bubbled and
boiled away down there; but he saw no fire under it.

'Well, I should just like to know if it's hot,' thought the lad, and
stuck his finger down into the broth, and when he pulled it out
again, lo! it was gilded all over. So the lad scraped and scrubbed
it, but the gilding wouldn't go off, so he bound a piece of rag round
it; and when the man came back, and asked what was the matter with
his finger, the lad said he'd given it such a bad cut. But the man
tore off the rag, and then he soon saw what was the matter with the
finger. First he wanted to kill the lad outright, but when he wept,
and begged, he only gave him such a thrashing that he had to keep his
bed three days. After that the man took down a pot from the wall, and
rubbed him over with some stuff out of it, and so the lad was sound
and fresh as ever.

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