Norwegian Fairy Tales
FARMER WEATHERSKY
Once on a time
there was a man and his wife, who had an only son, and his name was
Jack. The old dame thought it high time for her son to go out into the
world to learn a trade, and bade her husband be off with him.
'But
all you do', she said, 'mind you bind him to some one who can teach him
to be master above all masters'; and with that she put some food and a
roll of tobacco into a bag, and packed them off.
Well! they went
to many masters; but one and all said they could make the lad as good
as themselves, but better they couldn't make him. So when the man came
home again to his wife with that answer, she said:
'I don't care
what you make of him; but this I say and stick to, you must bind him to
some one where he can learn to be master above all masters'; and with
that she packed up more food and another roll of tobacco, and father
and son had to be off again.
Now when they had walked a while
they got upon the ice, and there they met a man who came whisking along
in a sledge, and drove a black horse.
'Whither away?' said the man.
'Well!'
said the father, 'I'm going to bind my son to some one who is good to
teach him a trade; but my old dame comes of such fine folk, she will
have him taught to be master above all masters.'
'Well met
then', said the driver; 'I'm just the man for your money, for I'm
looking out for such an apprentice. Up with you behind!' he added to
the lad, and whisk! off they went, both of them, and sledge and horse,
right up into the air.
'Nay, nay!' cried the lad's father, 'you haven't told me your name, nor where you live.'
'Oh!'
said the master, 'I'm at home alike north and south, and east and west,
and my name's Farmer Weathersky. In a year and a day you may come here
again, and then I'll tell you if I like him.' So away they went through
the air, and were soon out of sight.
So when the man got home, his old dame asked what had become of her son.
'Well',
said the man, 'Heaven knows, I'm sure I don't. They went up aloft'; and
so he told her what had happened. But when the old dame heard that her
husband couldn't tell at all when her son's apprenticeship would be
out, nor whither he had gone, she packed him off again, and gave him
another bag of food and another roll of tobacco.
So, when he had
walked a bit, he came to a great wood, which stretched on and on all
day as he walked through it. When it got dark he saw a great light, and
he went towards it. After a long, long time he came to a little but
under a rock, and outside stood an old hag drawing water out of a well
with her nose, so long was it.
'Good evening, mother!' said the man.
'The same to you', said the old hag. 'It's hundreds of years since any one called me mother.'
'Can I have lodging here to-night?' asked the man.
'No! that you can't', said she.
But
then the man pulled out his roll of tobacco, lighted his pipe, and gave
the old dame a whiff, and a pinch of snuff. Then she was so happy she
began to dance for joy, and the end was, she gave the man leave to stop
the night.
So next morning he began to ask after Farmer
Weathersky. 'No! she never heard tell of him, but she ruled over all
the four-footed beasts; perhaps some of them might know him.' So she
played them all home with a pipe she had, and asked them all, but there
wasn't one of them who knew anything about Farmer Weathersky.
'Well!'
said the old hag, 'there are three sisters of us; maybe one of the
other two know where he lives. I'll lend you my horse and sledge, and
then you'll be at her house by night; but it's at least three hundred
miles off, the nearest way.'
Then the man started off, and at
night reached the house, and when he came there, there stood another
old hag before the door, drawing water out of the well with her nose.
'Good evening, mother!' said the man.
'The same to you', said she; 'it's hundreds of years since any one called me mother.'
'Can I lodge here to-night?' asked the man.
'No!' said the old hag.
But
he took out his roll of tobacco, lighted his pipe, and gave the old
dame a whiff, and a good pinch of snuff besides, on the back of her
hand. Then she was so happy that she began to jump and dance for joy,
and so the man got leave to stay the night. When that was over, he
began to ask after Farmer Weathersky. 'No! she had never heard tell of
him; but she ruled all the fish in the sea; perhaps some of them might
know something about him.' So she played them all home with a pipe she
had, and asked them, but there wasn't one of them who knew anything
about Farmer Weathersky.
'Well, well!' said the old hag,
'there's one sister of us left; maybe she knows something about him.
She lives six hundred miles off, but I'll lend you my horse and sledge,
and then you'll get there by nightfall.'
Then the man started
off, and reached the house by nightfall, and there he found another old
hag who stood before the grate, and stirred the fire with her nose, so
long and tough it was.
'Good evening, mother!' said the man.
'The same to you', said the old hag; 'it's hundreds of years since any one called me mother.'
'Can I lodge here to-night?' asked the man.
'No', said the old hag.
Then
the man pulled out his roll of tobacco again, and lighted his pipe, and
gave the old hag such a pinch of snuff it covered the whole back of her
hand. Then she got so happy she began to dance for joy, and so the man
got leave to stay. But when the night was over, he began to ask after
Farmer Weathersky. She never heard tell of him she said; but she ruled
over all the birds of the air, and so she played them all home with a
pipe she had, and when she had mustered them all, the Eagle was
missing. But a little while after he came flying home, and when she
asked him, he said he had just come straight from Farmer Weathersky.
Then the old hag said he must guide the man thither; but the eagle said
he must have something to eat first, and besides he must rest till the
next day; he was so tired with flying that long way, he could scarce
rise from the earth.
So when he had eaten his fill and taken a
good rest, the old hag pulled a feather out of the Eagle's tail, and
put the man there in its stead; so the Eagle flew off with the man, and
flew, and flew, but they didn't reach Farmer Weathersky's house before
midnight.
So when they got there, the Eagle said
'There
are heaps of dead bodies lying about outside but you mustn't mind them.
Inside the house every man Jack of them are so sound asleep, 't will be
hard work to wake them; but you must go straight to the table drawer,
and take out of it three crumbs of bread, and when you hear some one
snoring loud, pull three feathers out of his head; he won't wake for
all that.'
So the man did as he was told, and after he had taken the crumbs of bread, he pulled out the first feather.
'OOF!' growled Farmer Weathersky, for it was he who snored.
So the man pulled out another feather.
'OOF!' he growled again.
But
when he pulled out the third, Farmer Weathersky roared so, the man
thought roof and wall would have flown asunder, but for all that the
snorer slept on.
After that the Eagle told him what he was to
do. He went to the yard, and there at the stable-door he stumbled
against a big gray stone, and that he lifted up; underneath it lay
three chips of wood, and those he picked up too; then he knocked at the
stable-door, and it opened of itself. Then he threw down the three
crumbs of bread, and a hare came and ate them up; that hare he caught
and kept. After that the Eagle bade him pull three feathers out of his
tail, and put the hare, the stone, the chips, and himself there
instead, and then he would fly away home with them all.
So when the Eagle had flown a long way, he lighted on a rock to rest.
'Do you see anything?' it asked.
'Yes', said the man, 'I see a flock of crows coming flying after us.'
'We'd better be off again, then', said the Eagle, who flew away.
After a while it asked again:
'Do you see anything now?'
'Yes', said the man; 'now the crows are close behind us.'
'Drop now the three feathers you pulled out of his head, said the Eagle. Well,
the man dropped the feathers, and as soon as ever he dropped them they
became a flock of ravens which drove the crows home again. Then the
Eagle flew on far away with the man, and at last it lighted on another
stone to rest.
'Do you see anything?' it said.
'I'm not sure', said the man; 'I fancy I see something coming far far away'.
'We'd better get on then', said the Eagle; and after a while it said again:
'Do you see anything?'
'Yes', said the man, 'now he's close at our heels.'
'Now, you must let fall the chips of wood which you took from under the gray stone at the stable door', said the Eagle.
Yes!
the man let them fall, and they grew at once up into tall thick wood,
so that Farmer Weathersky had to go back home to fetch an axe to hew
his way through. While he did this, the Eagle flew ever so far, but
when it got tired, it lighted on a fir to rest.
'Do you see anything?' it said.
'Well! I'm not sure', said the man; 'but I fancy I catch a glimpse of something far away.'
'We'd best be off then', said the Eagle; and off it flew as fast as it could. After a while it said:
'Do you see anything now?'
'Yes! now he's close behind us', said the man.
'Now, you must drop the big stone you lifted up at the stable door', said the Eagle.
The
man did so, and as it fell it became a great high mountain, which
Farmer Weathersky had to break his way through. When he had got half
through the mountain, he tripped and broke one of his legs, and so he
had to limp home again and patch it up.
But while he was doing
this, the Eagle flew away to the man's house with him and the hare, and
as soon as they got home, the man went into the churchyard and
sprinkled Christian mould over the hare, and lo! it turned into 'Jack',
his son.
Well, you may fancy the old dame was glad to get her
son again, but still she wasn't easy in her mind about his trade, and
she wouldn't rest till he gave her a proof that he was 'master above
all masters'.
So when the fair came round, the lad changed
himself into a bay horse, and told his father to lead him to the fair.
'Now, when any one comes', he said, 'to buy me, you may ask a hundred
dollars for me; but mind you don't forget to take the headstall off me;
if you do, Farmer Weathersky will keep me for ever, for he it is who
will come to deal with you.'
So it turned out. Up came a
horse-dealer, who had a great wish to deal for the horse, and he gave a
hundred dollars down for him; but when the bargain was struck, and
Jack's father had pocketed the money, the horse-dealer wanted to have
the headstall. 'Nay, nay!' said the man, 'there's nothing about that in
the bargain; and besides, you can't have the headstall, for I've other
horses at home to bring to town to-morrow.'
So each went his
way; but they hadn't gone far before Jack took his own shape and ran
away, and when his father got home, there sat Jack in the ingle.
Next day he turned himself into a brown horse, and told his father to drive him to the fair.
'And
when any one comes to buy me, you may ask two hundred dollars for
me—he'll give that and treat you besides; but whatever you do, and
however much you drink, don't forget to take the headstall off me, else
you'll never set eyes on me again.'
So all happened as he had
said; the man got two hundred dollars for the horse and a glass of
drink besides, and when the buyer and seller parted, it was as much as
he could do to remember to take off the headstall. But the buyer and
the horse hadn't got far on the road before Jack took his own shape,
and when the man got home, there sat Jack in the ingle.
The
third day, it was the same story over again: the lad turned himself
into a black horse, and told his father some one would come and bid
three hundred dollars for him, and fill his skin with meat and drink
besides; but however much he ate or drank, he was to mind and not
forget to take the headstall off, else he'd have to stay with Farmer
Weathersky all his life long.
'No, no; I'll not forget, never fear', said the man.
So
when he came to the fair, he got three hundred dollars for the horse,
and as it wasn't to be a dry bargain, Farmer Weathersky made him drink
so much that he quite forgot to take the headstall off, and away went
Farmer Weathersky with the horse. Now when he had gone a little way,
Farmer Weathersky thought he would just stop and have another glass of
brandy; so he put a barrel of red-hot nails under his horse's nose, and
a sieve of oats under his tail, hung the halter, upon a hook, and went
into the inn. So the horse stood there and stamped and pawed, and
snorted and reared. Just then out came a lassie, who thought it a shame
to treat a horse so.
'Oh, poor beastie', she said, 'what a cruel
master you must have to treat you so', and as she said this she pulled
the halter off the hook, so that the horse might turn round and taste
the oats.
'I'M AFTER YOU', roared Farmer Weathersky, who came rushing out of the door.
But
the horse had already shaken off the headstall, and jumped into a
duck-pond, where he turned himself into a tiny fish. In went Farmer
Weathersky after him, and turned himself into a great pike. Then Jack
turned himself into a dove, and Farmer Weathersky made himself into a
hawk, and chased and struck at the dove. But just then a Princess stood
at the window of the palace and saw this struggle.
'Ah! poor dove', she cried, 'if you only knew what I know, you'd fly to me through this window.'
So the dove came flying in through the window, and turned itself into Jack again, who told his own tale. 'Turn yourself into a gold ring, and put yourself on my finger', said the Princess.
'Nay,
nay!' said Jack, 'that'll never do, for then Farmer Weathersky will
make the king sick, and then there'll be no one who can make him well
again till Farmer Weathersky comes and cures him, and then, for his
fee, he'll ask for that gold ring.'
'Then I'll say I had it from my mother, and can't part with it', said the Princess.
Well,
Jack turned himself into a gold ring, and put himself on the Princess'
finger, and so Farmer Weathersky couldn't get at him. But then followed
what the lad had foretold; the king fell sick, and there wasn't a
doctor in the kingdom who could cure him till Farmer Weathersky came,
and he asked for the ring off the Princess' finger for his fee. So the
king sent a messenger to the Princess for the ring; but the Princess
said she wouldn't part with it, her mother had left it her. When the
king heard that, he flew into a rage, and said he would have the ring,
whoever left it to her.
'Well', said the Princess, 'it's no good
being cross about it. I can't get it off, and if you must have the
ring, you must take my finger too.'
'If you'll let me try, I'll soon get the ring off', said Farmer Weathersky. 'No,
thanks, I'll try myself', said the Princess, and flew off to the grate
and put ashes on her finger. Then the ring slipped off and was lost
among the ashes. So Farmer Weathersky turned himself into a cock, who
scratched and pecked after the ring in the grate, till he was up to the
ears in ashes. But while he was doing this, Jack turned himself into a
fox, and bit off the cock's head; and so if the Evil One was in Farmer
Weathersky, it is all over with him now. |