Tales from the Fjeld Part 40

"So they sent another of the same stamp, and this time it was Ritter Red. But it fared no better with him than with the first one, and the princess sent word by him, if they didn't make haste and send the right one, it should go ill with them. When they heard that they were forced to wake up Boots with the water of life; and so he went down to the s.h.i.+p to the princess, but he didn't make too low a bow, I should think; he only nodded his head and brought out the breadth he had cut out of the skirt of the princess in the golden castle.

"'That's my father! that's my father!' bawled out the boy, and gave him the golden apple he was playing with.

"Then there was great joy and mirth all over the realm, and the old king was the gladdest of all of them, because he had got his darling back again. But when what Ritter Red and the eldest princess had done to Boots came out, the king asked to have them both rolled down a hill, each in a cask full of spikes and nails; but Boots and the youngest princess begged hard for them, and so they got off with life.

"Now it happened one day, as they were about to begin the bridal feast, that they stood looking out of window,--it was towards spring, just when they were turning out the horses and cows after the winter--and the last that came out of the stable was the a.s.s; but it was so starved that it came out of the stable-door on its knees.

"Then Boots was cut to the heart because he had forgotten it, and he went down and did not know how to make it up to the poor beast. But the a.s.s said the best thing he could do was to cut his head off. That he was very loath to do, but the a.s.s begged so prettily that he had to yield, and did it at last; and as soon as ever his head fell in the yard, it was all over with the shape which had been thrown over him by witchcraft, and there stood the handsomest prince any one cared to see.

He got the second princess to wife, and they fell to keeping the bridal feast, so that it was heard and talked of over seven kingdoms.

'Then they built themselves houses, And st.i.tched themselves shoon, And had so many bairns They reached up to the moon.'"

LITTLE FREDDY WITH HIS FIDDLE.

"Once on a time there was a cottager who had an only son, and this lad was weakly, and hadn't much health to speak of; so he couldn't go out to work in the field.

"His name was Freddy, and undersized he was, too; and so they called him Little Freddy. At home there was little either to bite or sup, and so his father went about the country trying to bind him over as a cowherd or an errand-boy; but there was no one who would take his son till he came to the sheriff, and he was ready to take him, for he had just packed off his errand-boy, and there was no one who would fill his place, for the story went that he was a skinflint.

"But the cottager thought it was better there than nowhere: he would get his food, for all the pay he was to get was his board--there was nothing said about wages or clothes. So when the lad had served three years he wanted to leave, and then the sheriff gave him all his wages at one time. He was to have a penny a year. 'It couldn't well be less,' said the sheriff. And so he got threepence in all.

"As for little Freddy, he thought it was a great sum, for he had never owned so much; but for all that he asked if he wasn't to have something more.

"'You have already had more than you ought to have,' said the sheriff.

"'Sha'n't I have anything, then, for clothes?' asked little Freddy; 'for those I had on when I came here are worn to rags, and I have had no new ones.'

"And, to tell the truth, he was so ragged that the tatters hung and flapped about him.

"'When you have got what we agreed on,' said the sheriff, 'and three whole pennies beside, I have nothing more to do with you. Be off!'

"But for all that he got leave just to go into the kitchen and get a little food to put in his scrip; and after that he set off on the road to buy himself more clothes. He was both merry and glad, for he had never seen a penny before; and every now and then he felt in his pockets as he went along to see if he had them all three. So when he had gone far, and farther than far, he got into a narrow dale, with high fells on all sides, so that he couldn't tell if there were any way to pa.s.s out; and he began to wonder what there could be on the other side of those fells, and how he ever should get over them.

"But up and up he had to go, and on he strode; he was not strong on his legs, and had to rest every now and then--and then he counted and counted how many pennies he had got. So when he had got quite up to the very top, there was nothing but a great plain overgrown with moss. There he sat him down, and began to see if his money were all right; and before he was aware of him a beggarman came up to him--and he was so tall and big that the lad began to scream and screech when he got a good look of him, and saw his height and length.

"'Don't you be afraid,' said the beggarman, 'I'll do you no harm; I only beg for a penny, in G.o.d's name.'

"'Heaven help me!' said the lad. 'I have only three pennies, and with them I was going to the town to buy clothes.'

"'It is worse for me than for you,' said the beggarman. "'I have got no penny, and I am still more ragged than you.'

"'Well! then you shall have it,' said the lad.

"So when he had walked on awhile he got weary, and sat down to rest again. But when he looked up there he saw another beggarman, and he was still taller and uglier than the first; and so when the lad saw how very tall and ugly and long he was he fell a-screeching.

"'Now, don't you be afraid of me,' said the beggar; 'I'll not do you any harm. I only beg for a penny, in G.o.d's name.'

"'Now, may heaven help me!' said the lad. 'I've only got two pence, and with them I was going to the town to buy clothes. If I had only met you sooner, then----'

"'It's worse for me than for you,' said the beggarman. I have no penny, and a bigger body and less clothing.'

"'Well, you may have it,' said the lad.

"So he went awhile farther, till he got weary, and then he sat down to rest; but he had scarce sat down than a third beggarman came to him. He was so tall and ugly and long, that the lad had to look up and up, right up to the sky. And when he took him all in with his eyes, and saw how very, very tall and ugly and ragged he was he fell a-screeching and screaming again.

"'Now, don't you be afraid of me, my lad,' said the beggarman. 'I'll do you no harm; for I am only a beggarman, who begs for a penny in G.o.d's name.'

"'May heaven help me!' said the lad. 'I have only one penny left, and with it I was going to the town to buy clothes. If I had only met you sooner, then----'

"'As for that,' said the beggarman, 'I have no penny at all--that I haven't, and a bigger body and less clothes, so it is worse for me than for you.'

"'Yes!' said little Freddy, he must have the penny then--there was no help for it; for so each would have what belonged to him, and he would have nothing.

"'Well!' said the beggarman, 'since you have such a good heart that you gave away all that you had in the world, I will give you a wish for each penny.' For you must know it was the same beggarman who had got them all three; he had only changed his shape each time, that the lad might not know him again.

"'I have always had such a longing to hear a fiddle go, and see folk so glad and merry that they couldn't help dancing,' said the lad; and so, if I may wish what I choose, I will wish myself such a fiddle, that everything that has life must dance to its tune.'

"'That he might have,' said the beggarman; but it was a sorry wish. 'You must wish something better for the other two pennies.'

"'I have always had such a love for hunting and shooting,' said little Freddy; 'so if I may wish what I choose, I will wish myself such a gun that I shall hit everything I aim at, were it ever so far off.'

"'That he might have,' said the beggarman; 'but it was a sorry wish. You must wish better for the last penny.'

"'I have always had a longing to be in company with folk who were kind and good,' said little Freddy; and so, if I could get what I wish, I would wish it to be so that no one can say 'Nay' to the first thing I ask.'

"'That wish was not so sorry,' said the beggarman; and off he strode between the hills, and he saw him no more. And so the lad laid down to sleep, and the next day he came down from the fell with his fiddle and his gun.

"First he went to the storekeeper and asked for clothes, and at one farm he asked for a horse, and at another for a sledge; and at this place he asked for a fur-coat, and no one said him 'Nay,'--even the stingiest folk, they were all forced to give him what he asked for. At last he went through the country as a fine gentleman, and had his horse and his sledge; and so when he had gone a bit he met the sheriff with whom he had served.

"'Good-day, master,' said Little Freddy, as he pulled up and took off his hat.

"'Good-day,' said the sheriff. And then he went on, 'When was I ever your master?'

"'Oh, yes!' said little Freddy. 'Don't you remember how I served you three years for three pence?'

"'Heaven help us!' said the sheriff. 'How you have got on all of a hurry! And pray how was it that you got to be such a fine gentleman?'

"'Oh, that's telling!' said little Freddy.

"'And are you full of fun, that you carry a fiddle about with you?'

asked the sheriff.

"'Yes! yes!' said Freddy. 'I have always had such a longing to get folk to dance; but the funniest thing of all is this gun, for it brings down almost anything that I aim at, however far it may be off. Do you see that magpie yonder, sitting in the spruce fir? What'll you bet I don't bag it, as we stand here?'

"On that the sheriff was ready to stake horse and groom, and a hundred dollars beside, that he couldn't do it; but, as it was, he would bet all the money he had about him; and he would go to fetch it when it fell--for he never thought it possible for any gun to carry so far.