Popular Tales from the Norse Part 20

So he made up his mind it would be best to try to get either into h.e.l.l or Heaven, and to try at once, rather than to put it off any longer, so that he might know how things really stood. Then he threw his sledge-hammer over his shoulder and set off; and when he had gone a good bit of the way, he came to a place where two roads met, and where the path to the kingdom of Heaven parts from the path that leads to h.e.l.l, and here he overtook a tailor, who was pelting along with his goose in his hand.

'Good day', said the Smith; 'whither are you off to?'

'To the kingdom of Heaven', said the Tailor, 'if I can only get into it'--'but whither are you going yourself?'

'Oh, our ways don't run together', said the Smith; 'for I have made up my mind to try first in h.e.l.l, as the Devil and I know something of one another, from old times.'

So they bade one another 'Good-bye', and each went his way; but the Smith was a stout, strong man, and got over the ground far faster than the tailor, and so it wasn't long before he stood at the gates of h.e.l.l. Then he called the watch, and bade him go and tell the Devil there was some one outside who wished to speak a word with him.

'Go out', said the Devil to the watch, 'and ask him who he is?' So that when the watch came and told him that, the Smith answered:

'Go and greet the Devil in my name, and say it is the Smith who owns the purse he wots of; and beg him prettily to let me in at once, for I worked at my forge till noon, and I have had a long walk since.'

But when the Devil heard who it was, he charged the watch to go back and lock up all the nine locks on the gates of h.e.l.l.

'And, besides', he said, 'you may as well put on a padlock, for if he only once gets in, he'll turn h.e.l.l topsy-turvy!'

'Well!' said the Smith to himself, when he saw them busy bolting up the gates, 'there's no lodging to be got here, that's plain; so I may as well try my luck in the kingdom of Heaven'; and with that he turned round and went back till he reached the cross-roads, and then he went along the path the tailor had taken. And now, as he was cross at having gone backwards and forwards so far for no good, he strode along with all his might, and reached the gate of Heaven just as St Peter was opening it a very little, just enough to let the half- starved tailor slip in. The Smith was still six or seven strides off the gate, so he thought to himself, 'Now there's no time to be lost'; and, grasping his sledge-hammer, he hurled it into the opening of the door just as the tailor slunk in; and if the Smith didn't get in then, when the door was ajar, why I don't know what has become of him.

THE TWO STEP-SISTERS

Once on a time there was a couple, and each of them had a daughter by a former marriage. The woman's daughter was dull and lazy, and could never turn her hand to anything, and the man's daughter was brisk and ready; but somehow or other she could never do anything to her stepmother's liking, and both the woman and her daughter would have been glad to be rid of her.

So it fell one day the two girls were to go out and spin by the side of the well, and the woman's daughter had flax to spin, but the man's daughter got nothing to spin but bristles.

'I don't know how it is', said the woman's daughter, 'you're always so quick and sharp, but still I'm not afraid to spin a match with you.'

Well, they agreed that she whose thread first snapped, should go down the well. So they span away; but just as they were hard at it, the man's daughter's thread broke, and she had to go down the well. But when she got to the bottom she saw far and wide around her a fair green mead, and she hadn't hurt herself at all.

So she walked on a bit, till she came to a hedge which she had to cross.

'Ah! don't tread hard on me, pray don't, and I'll help you another time, that I will', said the Hedge.

Then the la.s.sie made herself as light as she could, and trode so carefully she scarce touched a twig.

So she went on a bit further, till she came to a brindled cow, which walked there with a milking-pail on her horns. 'Twas a large pretty cow, and her udder was so full and round.

'Ah! be so good as to milk me, pray', said the Cow; 'I'm so full of milk. Drink as much as you please, and throw the rest over my hoofs, and see if I don't help you some day.'

So the man's daughter did as the cow begged. As soon as she touched the teats, the milk spouted out into the pail. Then she drank till her thirst was slaked; and the rest she threw over the cow's hoofs, and the milking-pail she hung on her horns again.

So when she had gone a bit further, a big wether met her, which had such thick long wool, it hung down and draggled after him on the ground, and on one of his horns hung a great pair of shears.

'Ah, please clip off my wool', said the Sheep, 'for here I go about with all this wool, and catch up everything I meet, and besides, it's so warm, I'm almost choked. Take as much of the fleece as you please, and twist the rest round my neck, and see if I don't help you some day.'

Yes! she was willing enough, and the sheep lay down of himself on her lap, and kept quite still, and she clipped him so neatly, there wasn't a scratch on his skin. Then she took as much of the wool as she chose, and the rest she twisted round the neck of the sheep.

A little further on, she came to an apple tree, which was loaded with apples; all its branches were bowed to the ground, and leaning against the stem was a slender pole.

'Ah! do be so good as to pluck my apples off me', said the Tree, 'so that my branches may straighten themselves again, for it's bad work to stand so crooked; but when you beat them down, don't strike me too hard. Then eat as many as you please, lay the rest round my root, and see if I don't help you some day or other.'

Yes, she plucked all she could reach with her hands, and then she took the pole and knocked down the rest, and afterwards she ate her fill, and the rest she laid neatly round the root.

So she walked on a long, long way, and then she came to a great farm- house, where an old hag of the Trolls lived with her daughter. There she turned in to ask if she could get a place.

'Oh!' said the old hag; 'it's no use your trying. We've had ever so many maids, but none of them was worth her salt.'

But she begged so prettily that they would just take her on trial, that at last they let her stay. So the old hag gave her a sieve, and bade her go and fetch water in it. She thought it strange to fetch water in a sieve, but still she went, and when she came to the well, the little birds began to sing,

Daub in clay, Stuff in straw!

Daub in clay, Stuff in straw.

Yes, she did so, and found she could carry water in a sieve well enough; but when she got home with the water, and the old witch saw the sieve, she cried out:

'THIS YOU HAVEN'T SUCKED OUT OF YOUR OWN BREAST.'

So the old witch said, now she might go into the byre to pitch out dung and milk kine; but when she got there, she found a pitchfork so long and heavy, she couldn't stir it, much less work with it. She didn't know at all what to do, or what to make of it; but the little birds sang again that she should take the broom-stick and toss out a little with that, and all the rest of the dung would fly after it. So she did that, and as soon as ever she began with the broom-stick, the byre was as clean as if it had been swept and washed.

Now she had to milk the kine, but they were so restless that they kicked and frisked; there was no getting near them to milk them.

But the little birds sang outside:

A little drop, a tiny sup, For the little birds to drink it up.

Yes, she did that; she just milked a tiny drop, 'twas as much as she could, for the little birds outside; and then all the cows stood still and let her milk them. They neither kicked nor frisked; they didn't even lift a leg.

So when the old witch saw her coming in with the milk, she cried out:

'THIS YOU HAVEN'T SUCKED OUT OF YOUR OWN BREAST. BUT NOW JUST TAKE THIS BLACK WOOL AND WASH IT WHITE.'

This the la.s.sie was at her wits' end to know how to do, for she had never seen or heard of any one who could wash black wool white. Still she said nothing, but took the wool and went down with it to the well. There the little birds sang again and told her to take the wool and dip it into the great b.u.t.t that stood there; and she did so, and out it came as white as snow.

'Well! I never!' said the old witch, when she came in with the wool, 'it's no good keeping you. You can do everything, and at last you'll be the plague of my life. We'd best part, so take your wages and be off.'

Then the old hag drew out three caskets, one red, one green, and one blue, and of these the la.s.sie was to choose one as wages for her service. Now she didn't know at all which to choose, but the little birds sang:

Don't take the red, don't take the green, But take the blue, where may be seen Three little crosses all in a row; We saw the marks, and so we know.

So she took the blue casket, as the birds sang.

'Bad luck to you, then', said the old witch; 'see if I don't make you pay for this!'

So when the man's daughter was just setting off, the old witch shot a red-hot bar of iron after her, but she sprang behind the door and hid herself, so that it missed her, for her friends, the little birds, had told her beforehand how to behave. Then she walked on and on as fast as ever she could; but when she got to the apple tree, she heard an awful clatter behind her on the road, and that was the old witch and her daughter coming after her.

So the la.s.sie was so frightened and scared, she didn't know what to do.