The Norwegian Fairy Book Part 8

NOTE

The fairy-tale, "The Giant Who Did Not Have His Heart About Him"

(Asbjornsen and Moe, N.F.E., p. 171, No. 36), is founded on the very ancient belief of the corporealization of the soul, and its existence without the body. It is a belief widely current among primitive peoples, and Koschei the Deathless of Russian fairy-tale resembles our giant, though in his case the egg which holds his soul is shattered on the ground, whereupon he dies at once.

XVII

THE THREE PRINCESSES IN WHITELAND

Once upon a time there was a fisherman, who lived near the king's castle, and caught fish for the king's table. One day when he had gone fis.h.i.+ng, he could not catch a thing. Try as he might, no matter how he baited or flung, not the tiniest fish would bite; but when this had gone on for a while, a head rose from the water and said: "If you will give me the first new thing that has come into your house, you shall catch fish a-plenty!" Then the man agreed quickly, for he could think of no new thing that might have come into the house. So he caught fish all day long, and as many as he could wish for, as may well be imagined. But when he got home, he found that heaven had sent him a little son, the first new thing to come into the house since he had made his promise.

And when he told his wife about it, she began to weep and wail, and pray to G.o.d because of the vow her husband had made. And the woman's grief was reported at the castle, and when it came to the king's ears, and he learned the reason, he promised to take the boy and see if he could not save him. And so the king took him and brought him up as though he were his own son, until he was grown. Then one day the boy asked whether he might not go out fis.h.i.+ng with his father, he wanted to so very much, said he. The king would not hear of it; but at last he was given permission, so he went to his father, and everything went well all day long, until they came home in the evening. Then the son found he had forgotten his handkerchief, and went down to the boat to get it. But no sooner was he in the boat than it moved off with a rush, and no matter how hard the youth worked against it with the oars, it was all in vain.

The boat drove on and on, all night long, and at last he came to a white strand, far, far away. He stepped ash.o.r.e, and after he had gone a while he met an old man with a great, white beard. "What is this country called?" asked the youth. "Whiteland," was the man's answer, and he asked the youth where he came from, and what he wanted, and the latter told him. "If you keep right on along the sh.o.r.e," said the man, "you will come to three princesses, buried in the earth so that only their heads show. Then the first will call you--and she is the oldest--and beg you very hard to come to her and help her; and the next will do the same; but you must go to neither of them; walk quickly past them, and act as though you neither saw nor heard them. But go up to the third, and do what she asks of you, for then you will make your fortune."

When the youth came to the first princess, she called out to him, and begged him most earnestly to come to her; but he went on as though he had not seen her. And he pa.s.sed the next one in the same manner; but went over to the third. "If you will do what I tell you to, you shall have whichever one of us you want," said she. Yes, he would do what she wanted. So she told him that three trolls had wished them into the earth where they were; but that formerly they had dwelt in the castle he saw on the edge of the forest.

"Now you must go to the castle, and let the trolls whip you one night through for each one of us," said she, "and if you can hold out, you will have delivered us." "Yes," said the youth, he could manage that.

"When you go in," added the princess, "you will find two lions standing by the door; but if you pa.s.s directly between them, they will do you no harm. Go on into a dark little room and lie down, and then the troll will come and beat you; but after that you must take the bottle that hangs on the wall, and anoint yourself where he has beaten you, and you will be whole again. And take the sword that hangs beside the bottle, and kill the troll with it." He did as the princess had told him, pa.s.sed between the lions as though he did not see them, and right into the little room, where he lay down. The first night a troll with three heads and three whips came, and beat the youth badly; but he held out, and when the troll had finished, he took the bottle and anointed himself, grasped the sword and killed the troll. When he came out in the morning the princesses were out of the ground up to their waists. The next night it was the same; but the troll who came this time had six heads and six whips, and beat him worse than the first one. But when he came out in the morning, the princesses were out of the ground up to their ankles.

The third night came a troll who had nine heads and nine whips, and he beat and whipped the youth so severely that at last he fainted. Then the troll took him and flung him against the wall, and as he did so the bottle fell down, and its whole contents poured over the youth, and he was at once sound and whole again. Then he did not delay, but grasped the sword, killed the troll, and when he came out in the morning, the princesses were entirely out of the ground. So he chose the youngest of them to be his queen, and lived long with her in peace and happiness.

But at last he was minded to travel home, and see how his parents fared.

This did not suit his queen; but since he wanted to go so badly, and finally was on the point of departure, she said to him: "One thing you must promise me, that you will only do what your father tells you to do, but not what your mother tells you to do." And this he promised. Then she gave him a ring which had the power of granting two wishes to the one who wore it. So he wished himself home, and his parents could not get over their surprise at seeing how fine and handsome he had become.

When he had been home a few days, his mother wanted him to go up to the castle and show the king what a man he had grown to be. His father said: "No, he had better not do that, for we will have to do without him in the meantime." But there was no help for it, the mother begged and pleaded until he went. When he got there he was more splendidly dressed and fitted out than the other king. This did not suit the latter, and he said: "You can see what my queen looks like, but I cannot see yours; and I do not believe yours is as beautiful as mine." "G.o.d grant she were standing here, then you would see soon enough!" said the young king, and there she stood that very minute. But she was very sad, and said to him: "Why did you not follow my advice and listen to your father? Now I must go straight home, and you have used up both of your wishes." With that she bound a ring with her name on it in his hair, and wished herself home.

Then the young king grew very sad, and went about day in, day out, with no other thought than getting back to his queen. "I must try and see whether I cannot find out where Whiteland is," thought he, and wandered forth into the wide world. After he had gone a while he came to a hill; and there he met one who was the lord of all the beasts of the forest--for they came when he blew his horn--and him the king asked where Whiteland was. "That I do not know," said he, "but I will ask my beasts." Then he called them up with his horn, and asked whether any of them knew where Whiteland might be; but none of them knew anything about it.

Then the man gave him a pair of snowshoes. "If you stand in them," said he, "you will come to my brother, who lives a hundred miles further on.

He is the lord of the birds of the air. Ask him. When you have found him, turn the snowshoes around so that they point this way, and they will come back home of their own accord." When the king got there, he turned the snowshoes around, as the lord of the beasts had told him, and they ran home again. He asked about Whiteland, and the man called up all the birds with his horn, and asked whether any of them knew where Whiteland might be. But none of them knew. Long after the rest an old eagle came along; and he had been out for some ten years, but did not know either.

"Well," said the man, "I will lend you a pair of snowshoes. When you stand in them you will come to my brother, who lives a hundred miles further on. He is the lord of all the fishes in the sea. Ask him. But do not forget to turn the snowshoes around again." The king thanked him, stepped into the snowshoes, and when he came to the one who was lord of all the fishes in the sea, he turned them around, and they ran back like the others. There he once more asked about Whiteland.

The man called up his fishes with his horn, but none of them knew anything about it. At last there came an old, old carp, whom he had called with his horn only at the cost of much trouble. When he asked him, he said: "Yes, I know it well, for I was cook there for fully ten years. To-morrow I have to go back again, because our queen, whose king has not come home again, is going to marry some one else." "If such be the case," said the man, "I'll give you a bit of advice. Out there by the wall three brothers have been standing for the last hundred years, fighting with each other about a hat, a cloak and a pair of boots. Any one who has these three things can make himself invisible, and wish himself away as far as ever he will. You might say that you would test their possessions, and then decide their quarrel for them." Then the king thanked him, and did as he said. "Why do you stand there fighting till the end of time?" said he to the brothers. "Let me test your possessions if I am to decide your quarrel." That suited them; but when he had hat, cloak and boots, he told them: "I will give you my decision the next time we meet!" and with that he wished himself far away. While he was flying through the air he happened to meet the North Wind. "And where are you going?" asked the North Wind. "To Whiteland," said the king, and then he told him what had happened to him. "Well," said the North Wind, "you are traveling a little quicker than I am; for I must sweep and blow out every corner. But when you come to your journey's end, stand on the steps beside the door, and then I'll come roaring up as though I were going to tear down the whole castle. And when the prince who is to have the queen comes and looks out to see what it all means, I'll just take him along with me."

The king did as the North Wind told him. He stationed himself on the steps; and when the North Wind came roaring and rus.h.i.+ng up, and laid hold of the castle walls till they fairly shook, the prince came out to see what it was all about. But that very moment the king seized him by the collar, and threw him out, and the North Wind took him and carried him off. When he had borne him away, the king went into the castle. At first the queen did not recognize him, for he had grown thin and pale because he had wandered so long in his great distress; but when he showed her the ring, she grew glad at heart, and then they had a wedding which was such a wedding that the news of it spread far and wide.

NOTE

"The Three Princesses in Whiteland" (Asbjornsen and Moe, N.F.E., p. 38, No. 9), tells a story rich in incident, of the youth who could not hold his tongue.

XVIII

TROUBLE AND CARE

Far, far from here there once lived a king, who had three beautiful daughters. But he had no sons, and therefore he grew so fond of the three princesses that he granted their every wish. But in time the enemy invaded the country, and the king had to go to war. When he set out, the oldest princess begged him to buy her a ring that would prevent her dying as long as she wore it. The second princess asked him for a wreath that would make her happy whenever she looked at it, no matter how sad and troubled her heart might be. "Buy me trouble and care!" said the youngest. And the king promised everything.

When he had driven the enemy out of his own land, and out of the neighboring land as well, and was about to set out for home, he remembered what he had promised the three princesses. The ring and the wreath were easy enough to obtain; but trouble and care were to be had neither in one place nor in another, for all the people were so happy that the enemy had been driven out, that there was no sorrow nor care to be found in the entire kingdom. And since he could not buy it, it was not to be had at all, and he had to travel home without it, loathe as he was to do so.

When he was not far from the castle, his way took him through a thick forest. And there sat a squirrel in a tree by the road. "Buy me! buy me!

My name is trouble and care!" it said. Thought the king to himself, It is better to have a squirrel than two empty hands, so he brought it along for his youngest daughter. And she was quite as well pleased with her present as her two sisters were with the ring and the wreath. The squirrel played about in her room, sometimes it balanced itself on the bed-posts, at others it would sit on the top of the wardrobe, and it always had a great deal to chatter about.

But as soon as it grew dark, it turned into a man. And he told her how an evil and malicious giantess dwelt in the golden forest, who had turned him into a squirrel because he would not marry her. During the night she had no power over him; but every morning at daybreak he had to slip back into his squirrel form.

And in the course of time the princess actually wanted to marry Trouble and Care; but when they were betrothed, he begged her earnestly, and as best he knew how, never to light a light at night, and try to look at him, "for then both of us would be unhappy," said he. No, said she, she would be quite sure not to do so.

And every evening, when the princess had lain down and blown out the light, she would hear a man go into Trouble and Care's room; but when morning dawned, the squirrel sat on her bed-post and greeted her, and chattered and babbled about all sorts of things.

Once, when she thought Trouble and Care had gone to sleep, she could not help herself; but stood up quietly, lit a light and crept softly into his room and to his bed, and when the ray of light fell on him, she saw that he was far, far handsomer than the most handsome prince. He was so surpa.s.singly handsome that she bent over him in order to see more clearly, and finally she could not help herself, but had to kiss him.

And then, three drops of wax from the candle fell on his chest, and he awoke.

"But how could you have done this!" he cried, and was quite unhappy.

"Had you only waited three days longer, I should have been free!" said he. "But now I must return to the evil giantess and marry her, and all is over between us." "Can I not follow you there?" asked the princess.

"No, that is something you could not do in all your days, for if you rest or even so much as bend your knees to sit down, you will go back during the night as far as you came forward during the day," said he; leaped to the door, and disappeared.

Then the princess wept and wailed, and waited for him to return; but she heard and saw nothing more of him. After a few days she grew so restless and wretched that she could no longer remain at home, and implored her maid to go along with her to search for the golden forest. The girl finally allowed herself to be moved; but she would not agree to set out until she had gotten together a yard of drilling, a yard of ticking, and a yard of fine linen; and she got them at once, as you may imagine, for there was no shortage of such things in the castle.

So they set out and wandered far, and ever farther, until their feet ached, and their spirits fell. Toward evening they came into the middle of a thick, dark forest; and climbed up into a high tree. The princess was so tired that the maid had to hold her in her arms while she slept a little. But during the night the ground about the tree grew alive with wolves, in the most sinister fas.h.i.+on, and they howled and cried, so that the princess did not venture to close her eyes another moment. But when daylight appeared in the skies, it seemed as though the wolves had suddenly all been blown away.

The following day they wandered far and ever farther, until their feet ached more, and their spirits sank lower. Toward evening they again came to the middle of a thick, dark forest. And they once more climbed into a high, high tree; but the princess was so tired that the maid had to hold her in her arms while she slept a little. When it grew darker, a most alarming number of bears flocked together under the tree, and began to dance and turn in a circle, with alarming speed, and all at once they tried to climb the tree. So the princess and her maid had to stand up in the tree-top the whole night through, and could not close an eye; but when day came, it seemed as though the bears sank into the earth in a single moment.

The third day they wandered far and ever farther, and then a bit more.

Toward evening they again came to a thick, dark forest. There they again climbed into a high, high tree; but no sooner were they up in the tree than the ground beneath the tree and the whole forest were alive with lions, and they all roared and howled together in such a gruesome way that the echoes came back from rock and woodland. Suddenly they began to dance and whirl around in such a terrible fas.h.i.+on that the earth trembled, and in between they would clutch the tree again, and try to shake and loosen it, as though they would pull it out root and branch.

The princess and her maid had to stand up in the very tree-top, and though they were so tired they could have fallen down from time to time, neither of them dared think of sleeping. But the moment day dawned, the lions all suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth, where they were, walking and standing.

Then they stumbled along, this way and that, the whole day long, until their feet ached harder than hard, and their spirits sank lower than low. They lost path and direction, and though they hunted north and south and east and west, they could not find the way out of the great, dark forest.

At last the princess grew tired and sad beyond all measure, and wanted to sit down every moment, in order to rest a little; but the maid held her and dragged her forward, and never let her bend her knees for a moment to sit down, because then they would have gone back just as far as they had come that day; for you must know that the giantess in the golden forest had so arranged matters.

In the evening they came to an enormous, horrible rock. "I will knock here," said the maid, and tapped and knocked. "O no," said the princess, "please don't knock here, you can see how ugly everything is here!"

"Who is knocking there at my door?" cried the giantess in the rock, in a loud, harsh manner, opened the door, and stuck her nose--it was all of a yard long--out through the crack.

"The youngest princess and her maid, they want to get to a prince in the golden forest, whose name is Trouble and Care," 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. "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.