Norwegian Fairy tales
THE BLUE BELT
Once on a time
there was an old beggar-woman, who had gone out to beg. She had a
little lad with her, and when she had got her bag full, she struck
across the hills towards her own home. So when they had gone a bit up
the hill-side, they came upon a little blue belt, which lay where two
paths met, and the lad asked his mother's leave to pick it up.
'No',
said she, 'maybe there's witchcraft in it'; and so with threats she
forced him to follow her. But when they had gone a bit further, the lad
said he must turn aside a moment out of the road, and meanwhile his
mother sat down on a tree-stump. But the lad was a long time gone, for
as soon as he got so far into the wood, that the old dame could not see
him, he ran off to where the belt lay, took it up, tied it round his
waist, and lo! he felt as strong as if he could lift the whole hill.
When he got back, the old dame was in a great rage, and wanted to know
what he had been doing all that while. You don't care how much time you
waste, and yet you know the night is drawing on, and we must cross the
hill before it is dark!' So on they tramped; but when they had got
about half-way, the old dame grew weary, and said she must rest under a
bush.
'Dear mother', said the lad, 'mayn't I just go up to the
top of this high crag while you rest, and try if I can't see some sign
of folk hereabouts?'
Yes! he might do that; so when he had got to the top, he saw a light shining from the north. So he ran down and told his mother.
'We
must get on, mother; we are near a house, for I see a bright light
shining quite close to us in the north.' Then she rose and shouldered
her bag, and set off to see; but they hadn't gone far, before there
stood a steep spur of the hill, right across their path.
'Just as I thought!' said the old dame; 'now we can't go a step farther; a pretty bed we shall have here!'
But the lad took the bag under one arm, and his mother under the other, and ran straight up the steep crag with them.
'Now, don't you see! don't you see that we are close to a house! don't you see the bright light?'
But
the old dame said those were no Christian folk, but Trolls, for she was
at home in all that forest far and near, and knew there was not a
living soul in it, until you were well over the ridge, and had come
down on the other side. But they went on, and in a little while they
came to a great house which was all painted red.
'What's the good?' said the old dame, 'we daren't go in, for here the Trolls live.' 'Don't
say so; we must go in. There must be men where the lights shine so',
said the lad. So in he went, and his mother after him, but he had
scarce opened the door before she swooned away, for there she saw a
great stout man, at least twenty feet high, sitting on the bench.
'Good evening, grandfather!' said the lad.
'Well,
here I've sat three hundred years', said the man who sat on the bench,
'and no one has ever come and called me grandfather before.' Then the
lad sat down by the man's side, and began to talk to him as if they had
been old friends.
'But what's come over your mother?' said the
man, after they had chattered a while. 'I think she swooned away; you
had better look after her.'
So the lad went and took hold of the
old dame; and dragged her up the hall along the floor. That brought her
to herself, and she kicked, and scratched, and flung herself about, and
at last sat down upon a heap of firewood in the corner; but she was so
frightened that she scarce dared to look one in the face.
After a while, the lad asked if they could spend the night there.
'Yes, to be sure', said the man.
So they went on talking again, but the lad soon got hungry, and wanted to know if they could get food as well as lodging.
'Of
course', said the man, 'that might be got too.' And after he had sat a
while longer, he rose up and threw six loads of dry pitch-pine on the
fire. This made the old hag still more afraid.
'Oh! now he's going to roast us alive', she said, in the corner where she sat.
And when the wood had burned down to glowing embers, up got the man and strode out of his house.
'Heaven bless and help us! what a stout heart you have got', said the old dame; 'don't you see we have got amongst Trolls?'
'Stuff and nonsense!' said the lad; 'no harm if we have.'
In
a little while back came the man with an ox so fat and big, the lad had
never seen its like, and he gave it one blow with his fist under the
ear, and down it fell dead on the floor. When that was done, he took it
up by all the four legs, and laid it on the glowing embers, and turned
it and twisted it about till it was burnt brown outside. After that, he
went to a cupboard and took out a great silver dish, and laid the ox on
it; and the dish was so big that none of the ox hung over on any side.
This he put on the table, and then he went down into the cellar, and
fetched a cask of wine, knocked out the head, and put the cask on the
table, together with two knives, which were each six feet long. When
this was done, he bade them go and sit down to supper and eat. So they
went, the lad first and the old dame after, but she began to whimper
and wail, and to wonder how she should ever use such knives. But her
son seized one, and began to cut slices out of the thigh of the ox,
which he placed before his mother. And when they had eaten a bit, he
took up the cask with both hands, and lifted it down to the floor; then
he told his mother to come and drink, but it was still so high she
couldn't reach up to it; so he caught her up, and held her up to the
edge of the cask while she drank; as for himself, he clambered up and
hung down like a cat inside the cask while he drank. So when he had
quenched his thirst, he took up the cask and put it back on the table,
and thanked the man for the good meal, and told his mother to come and
thank him too, and a-feared though she was, she dared do nothing else
but thank the man. Then the lad sat down again alongside the man and
began to gossip, and after they had sat a while, the man said,
'Well!
I must just go and get a bit of supper too'; and so he went to the
table and ate up the whole ox—hoofs, and horns, and all—and drained the
cask to the last drop, and then went back and sat on the bench.
As
for beds', he said, 'I don't know what's to be done. I've only got one
bed and a cradle; but we could get on pretty well if you would sleep in
the cradle, and then your mother might lie in the bed yonder.'
'Thank
you kindly, that'll do nicely', said the lad; and with that he pulled
off his clothes and lay down in the cradle; but, to tell you the truth;
it was quite as big as a four-poster. As for the old dame, she had to
follow the man who showed her to bed, though she was out of her wits
for fear.
'Well!' thought the lad to himself, ''twill never do
to go to sleep yet. I'd best lie awake and listen how things go as the
night wears on.'
So after a while the man began to talk to the old dame, and at last he said:
'We two might live here so happily together, could we only be rid of this son of yours.'
'But do you know how to settle him? Is that what you're thinking of?' said she.
'Nothing
easier', said he; at any rate he would try. He would just say he wished
the old dame would stay and keep house for him a day or two, and then
he would take the lad out with him up the hill to quarry corner-stones,
and roll down a great rock on him. All this the lad lay and listened to.
Next
day the Troll—for it was a Troll as clear as day—asked if the old dame
would stay and keep house for him a few days; and as the day went on he
took a great iron crowbar, and asked the lad if he had a mind to go
with him up the hill and quarry a few corner-stones. With all his
heart, he said, and went with him; and so, after they had split a few
stones, the Troll wanted him to go down below and look after cracks in
the rock; and while he was doing this, the Troll worked away, and
wearied himself with his crowbar till he moved a whole crag out of its
bed, which came rolling right down on the place where the lad was; but
he held it up till he could get on one side, and then let it roll on.
'Oh!'
said the lad to the Troll, 'now I see what you mean to do with me. You
want to crush me to death; so just go down yourself and look after the
cracks and refts in the rock, and I'll stand up above.'
The
Troll did not dare to do otherwise than the lad bade him, and the end
of it was that the lad rolled down a great rock, which fell upon the
Troll, and broke one of his thighs.
'Well! you are in a sad
plight', said the lad, as he strode down, lifted up the rock, and set
the man free. After that he had to put him on his back and carry him
home; so he ran with him as fast as a horse, and shook him so that the
Troll screamed and screeched as if a knife were run into him. And when
he got home, they had to put the Troll to bed, and there he lay in a
sad pickle.
When the night wore on the Troll began to talk to the old dame again, and to wonder how ever they could be rid of the lad.
'Well', said the old dame, 'if you can't hit on a plan to get rid of him, I'm sure I can't.'
'Let
me see', said the Troll; 'I've got twelve lions in a garden; if they
could only get hold of the lad they'd soon tear him to pieces.'
So
the old dame said it would be easy enough to get him there. She would
sham sick, and say she felt so poorly, nothing would do her any good
but lion's milk. All that the lad lay and listened to; and when he got
up in the morning his mother said she was worse than she looked, and
she thought she should never be right again unless she could get some
lion's milk.
'Then I'm afraid you'll be poorly a long time, mother', said the lad, 'for I'm sure I don't know where any is to be got.'
'Oh!
if that be all', said the Troll, 'there's no lack of lion's milk, if we
only had the man to fetch it'; and then he went on to say how his
brother had a garden with twelve lions in it, and how the lad might
have the key if he had a mind to milk the lions. So the lad took the
key and a milking pail, and strode off; and when he unlocked the gate
and got into the garden, there stood all the twelve lions on their
hind-paws, rampant and roaring at him. But the lad laid hold of the
biggest, and led him about by the fore-paws, and dashed him against
stocks and stones, till there wasn't a bit of him left but the two
paws. So when the rest saw that, they were so afraid that they crept up
and lay at his feet like so many curs. After that they followed him
about wherever he went, and when he got home, they lay down outside the
house, with their fore-paws on the door sill.
'Now, mother, you'll soon be well', said the lad, when he went in, 'for here is the lion's milk.'
He had just milked a drop in the pail.
But the Troll, as he lay in bed, swore it was all a lie. He was sure the lad was not the man to milk lions.
When
the lad heard that, he forced the Troll to get out of bed, threw open
the door, and all the lions rose up and seized the Troll, and at last
the lad had to make them leave their hold.
That night the Troll began to talk to the old dame again.
'I'm sure I can't tell how to put this lad out of the way—he is so awfully strong; can't you think of some way?
'No,' said the old dame, 'if you can't tell, I'm sure I can't.'
'Well!'
said the Troll, 'I have two brothers in a castle; they are twelve times
as strong as I am, and that's why I was turned out and had to put up
with this farm. They hold that castle, and round it there is an orchard
with apples in it, and whoever eats those apples sleeps for three days
and three nights. If we could only get the lad to go for the fruit, he
wouldn't be able to keep from tasting the apples, and as soon as ever
he fell asleep my brothers would tear him in pieces.'
The old
dame said she would sham sick, and say she could never be herself again
unless she tasted those apples; for she had set her heart on them.
All this the lad lay and listened to.
When
the morning came the old dame was so poorly that she couldn't utter a
word but groans and sighs. She was sure she should never be well again,
unless she had some of those apples that grew in the orchard near the
castle where the man's brothers lived; only she had no one to send for
them.
Oh! the lad was ready to go that instant; but the eleven
lions went with him. So when he came to the orchard, he climbed up into
the apple tree and ate as many apples as he could, and he had scarce
got down before he fell into a deep sleep; but the lions all lay round
him in a ring. The third day came the Troll's brothers, but they did
not come in man's shape. They came snorting like man-eating steeds, and
wondered who it was that dared to be there, and said they would tear
him to pieces, so small that there should not be a bit of him left. But
up rose the lions and tore the Trolls into small pieces, so that the
place looked as if a dung heap had been tossed about it; and when they
had finished the Trolls they lay down again. The lad did not wake till
late in the afternoon, and when he got on his knees and rubbed the
sleep out of his eyes, he began to wonder what had been going on, when
he saw the marks of hoofs. But when he went towards the castle, a
maiden looked out of a window who had seen all that had happened, and
she said:
'You may thank your stars you weren't in that tussle, else you must have lost your life.'
'What! I lose my life! No fear of that, I think,' said the lad.
So
she begged him to come in, that she might talk with him, for she hadn't
seen a Christian soul ever since she came there. But when she opened
the door the lions wanted to go in too, but she got so frightened that
she began to scream, and so the lad let them lie outside. Then the two
talked and talked, and the lad asked how it came that she, who was so
lovely, could put up with those ugly Trolls. She never wished it, she
said; 'twas quite against her will. They had seized her by force, and
she was the King of Arabia's daughter. So they talked on, and at last
she asked him what he would do; whether she should go back home, or
whether he would have her to wife. Of course he would have her, and she
shouldn't go home.
After that they went round the castle, and at
last they came to a great hall, where the Trolls' two great swords hung
high up on the wall.
'I wonder if you are man enough to wield one of these,' said the Princess. 'Who?—I?' said the lad. ''Twould be a pretty thing if I couldn't wield one of these.'
With
that he put two or three chairs one a-top of the other, jumped up, and
touched the biggest sword with his finger tips, tossed it up in the
air, and caught it again by the hilt; leapt down, and at the same time
dealt such a blow with it on the floor that the whole hall shook. After
he had thus got down, he thrust the sword under his arm and carried it
about with him.
So, when they had lived a little while in the
castle, the Princess thought she ought to go home to her parents, and
let them know what had become of her; so they loaded a ship, and she
set sail from the castle.
After she had gone, and the lad had
wandered about a little, he called to mind that he had been sent on an
errand thither, and had come to fetch something for his mother's
health; and though he said to himself, 'After all, the old dame was not
so bad but she's all right by this time'—still he thought he ought to
go and just see how she was. So he went and found both the man and his
mother quite fresh and hearty.
'What wretches you are to live in
this beggarly hut', said the lad. 'Come with me up to my castle, and
you shall see what a fine fellow I am.'
Well! they were both ready to go, and on the way his mother talked to him, and asked, 'How it was he had got so strong?'
'If
you must know, it came of that blue belt which lay on the hill- side
that time when you and I were out begging', said the lad.
'Have you got it still?' asked she.
'Yes'—he had. It was tied round his waist.
'Might she see it?'
'Yes, she might'; and with that he pulled open his waistcoat and shirt to show it her.
Then she seized it with both hands, tore it off, and twisted it round her fist.
'Now', she cried, 'what shall I do with such a wretch as you? I'll just give you one blow, and dash your brains out!'
'Far
too good a death for such a scamp', said the Troll. 'No! let's first
burn out his eyes, and then turn him adrift in a little boat.'
So
they burned out his eyes and turned him adrift, in spite of his prayers
and tears; but, as the boat drifted, the lions swam after, and at last
they laid hold of it and dragged it ashore on an island, and placed the
lad under a fir tree. They caught game for him, and they plucked the
birds and made him a bed of down; but he was forced to eat his meat
raw, and he was blind. At last, one day the biggest lion was chasing a
hare which was blind, for it ran straight over stock and stone, and the
end was, it ran right up against a fir-stump and tumbled head over
heels across the field right into a spring; but lo! when it came out of
the spring it saw its way quite plain, and so saved its life.
'So,
so!' thought the lion, and went and dragged the lad to the spring, and
dipped him over head and ears in it. So, when he had got his sight
again, he went down to the shore and made signs to the lions that they
should all lie close together like a raft; then he stood upon their
backs while they swam with him to the mainland. When he had reached the
shore he went up into a birchen copse, and made the lions lie quiet.
Then he stole up to the castle, like a thief, to see if he couldn't lay
hands on his belt; and when he got to the door, he peeped through the
keyhole, and there he saw his belt hanging up over a door in the
kitchen. So he crept softly in across the floor, for there was no one
there; but as soon as he had got hold of the belt, he began to kick and
stamp about as though he were mad. Just then his mother came rushing
out.
'Dear heart, my darling little boy! do give me the belt again', she said.
'Thank
you kindly', said he. 'Now you shall have the doom you passed on me',
and he fulfilled it on the spot. When the old Troll heard that, he came
in and begged and prayed so prettily that he might not be smitten to
death.
'Well, you may live', said the lad, 'but you shall
undergo the same punishment you gave me'; and so he burned out the
Troll's eyes, and turned him adrift on the sea in a little boat, but he
had no lions to follow him.
Now the lad was all alone, and he
went about longing and longing for the Princess; at last he could bear
it no longer; he must set out to seek her, his heart was so bent on
having her. So he loaded four ships and set sail for Arabia. For some
time they had fair wind and fine weather, but after that they lay
wind-bound under a rocky island. So the sailors went ashore and
strolled about to spend the time, and there they found a huge egg,
almost as big as a little house. So they began to knock it about with
large stones, but, after all, they couldn't crack the shell. Then the
lad came up with his sword to see what all the noise was about, and
when he saw the egg, he thought it a trifle to crack it; so he gave it
one blow and the egg split, and out came a chicken as big as an
elephant.
'Now we have done wrong', said the lad; 'this can cost
us all our lives'; and then he asked his sailors if they were men
enough to sail to Arabia in four-and-twenty hours if they got a fine
breeze. Yes! they were good to do that, they said, so they set sail
with a fine breeze, and got to Arabia in three-and-twenty hours. As
soon as they landed, the lad ordered all the sailors to go and bury
themselves up to the eyes in a sandhill, so that they could barely see
the ships. The lad and the captains climbed a high crag and sate down
under a fir.
In a little while came a great bird flying with an
island in its claws, and let it fall down on the fleet, and sunk every
ship. After it had done that, it flew up to the sandhill and flapped
its wings, so that the wind nearly took off the heads of the sailors,
and it flew past the fir with such force that it turned the lad right
about, but he was ready with his sword, and gave the bird one blow and
brought it down dead.
After that he went to the town, where
every one was glad because the king had got his daughter back; but now
the king had hidden her away somewhere himself, and promised her hand
as a reward to any one who could find her, and this though she was
betrothed before. Now as the lad went along he met a man who had white
bear-skins for sale, so he bought one of the hides and put it on; and
one of the captains was to take an iron chain and lead him about, and
so he went into the town and began to play pranks. At last the news
came to the king's ears, that there never had been such fun in the town
before, for here was a white bear that danced and cut capers just as it
was bid. So a messenger came to say the bear must come to the castle at
once, for the king wanted to see its tricks. So when it got to the
castle every one was afraid, for such a beast they had never seen
before; but the captain said there was no danger unless they laughed at
it. They mustn't do that, else it would tear them to pieces. When the
king heard that, he warned all the court not to laugh. But while the
fun was going on, in came one of the king's maids, and began to laugh
and make game of the bear, and the bear flew at her and tore her, so
that there was scarce a rag of her left. Then all the court began to
bewail, and the captain most of all.
'Stuff and nonsense', said the king; 'she's only a maid, besides it's more my affair than yours.'
When
the show was over, it was late at night. 'It's no good your going away,
when it's so late', said the king. 'The bear had best sleep here.'
'Perhaps it might sleep in the ingle by the kitchen fire', said the captain.
'Nay',
said the king, 'it shall sleep up here, and it shall have pillows and
cushions to sleep on.' So a whole heap of pillows and cushions was
brought, and the captain had a bed in a side-room.
But at
midnight the king came with a lamp in his hand and a big bunch of keys,
and carried off the white bear. He passed along gallery after gallery,
through doors and rooms, up-stairs and down-stairs, till at last he
came to a pier which ran out into the sea. Then the king began to pull
and haul at posts and pins, this one up and that one down, till at last
a little house floated up to the water's edge. There he kept his
daughter, for she was so dear to him that he had hid her, so that no
one could find her out. He left the white bear outside while he went in
and told her how it had danced and played its pranks. She said she was
afraid, and dared not look at it; but he talked her over, saying there
was no danger, if she only wouldn't laugh. So they brought the bear in,
and locked the door, and it danced and played its tricks; but just when
the fun was at its height, the Princess's maid began to laugh. Then the
lad flew at her and tore her to bits, and the Princess began to cry and
sob.
'Stuff and nonsense', cried the king; 'all this fuss about
a maid! I'll get you just as good a one again. But now I think the bear
had best stay here till morning, for I don't care to have to go and
lead it along all those galleries and stairs at this time of night.'
'Well!' said the Princess, 'if it sleeps here, I'm sure I won't.'
But
just then the bear curled himself up and lay down by the stove; and it
was settled at last that the Princess should sleep there too, with a
light burning. But as soon as the king was well gone, the white bear
came and begged her to undo his collar. The Princess was so scared she
almost swooned away; but she felt about till she found the collar, and
she had scarce undone it before the bear pulled his head off. Then she
knew him again, and was so glad there was no end to her joy, and she
wanted to tell her father at once that her deliverer was come. But the
lad would not hear of it; he would earn her once more, he said. So in
the morning when they heard the king rattling at the posts outside, the
lad drew on the hide, and lay down by the stove.
'Well, has it lain still?' the king asked.
'I should think so', said the Princess; 'it hasn't so much as turned or stretched itself once.'
When
they got up to the castle again, the captain took the bear and led it
away, and then the lad threw off the hide, and went to a tailor and
ordered clothes fit for a prince; and when they were fitted on he went
to the king, and said he wanted to find the Princess.
'You're
not the first who has wished the same thing', said the king, 'but they
have all lost their lives; for if any one who tries can't find her in
four-and-twenty hours his life is forfeited.'
Yes; the lad knew
all that. Still he wished to try, and if he couldn't find her, 'twas
his look-out. Now in the castle there was a band that played sweet
tunes, and there were fair maids to dance with, and so the lad danced
away. When twelve hours were gone, the king said:
'I pity you with all my heart. You're so poor a hand at seeking; you will surely lose your life.'
'Stuff!'
said the lad; 'while there's life there's hope! So long as there's
breath in the body there's no fear; we have lots of time'; and so he
went on dancing till there was only one hour left.
Then he said he would begin to search.
'It's no use now', said the king; 'time's up.'
'Light
your lamp; out with your big bunch of keys', said the lad, 'and follow
me whither I wish to go. There is still a whole hour left.'
So
the lad went the same way which the king had led him the night before,
and he bade the king unlock door after door till they came down to the
pier which ran out into the sea.
'It's all no use, I tell you', said the king; 'time's up, and this will only lead you right out into the sea.'
'Still five minutes more', said the lad, as he pulled and pushed at the posts and pins, and the house floated up.
'Now the time is up', bawled the king; 'come hither, headsman, and take off his head.'
'Nay, nay!' said the lad; 'stop a bit, there are still three minutes! Out with the key, and let me get into this house.' But there stood the king and fumbled with his keys, to draw out the time. At last he said he hadn't any key.
'Well, if you haven't, I have', said the lad, as he gave the door such a kick that it flew to splinters inwards on the floor.
At
the door the Princess met him, and told her father this was her
deliverer, on whom her heart was set. So she had him; and this was how
the beggar boy came to marry the king's daughter of Arabia. |