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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/36465-0.txt b/36465-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1cbfb8c --- /dev/null +++ b/36465-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4374 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Top of the World Stories for Boys and Girls, by +Emilie Poulsson and Laura E. Poulsson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Top of the World Stories for Boys and Girls + Translated from the Scandinavian Languages + +Author: Emilie Poulsson + Laura E. Poulsson + +Illustrator: Florence Liley Young + +Release Date: June 19, 2011 [EBook #36465] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOP OF THE WORLD STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Hunter Monroe, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: obvious typographical errors have been corrected; +hyphenation has been regularised. Close quotes have not been added at +the end of paragraphs followed by more dialogue.] + + + + + TOP-OF-THE-WORLD STORIES + FOR BOYS AND GIRLS + TRANSLATED FROM THE SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES + + BY + EMILIE POULSSON AND LAURA E POULSSON + + ILLUSTRATED BY + FLORENCE LILEY YOUNG + + LORTHROP LEE & SHEPARD CO. BOSTON + + + Published, August, 1916 + Copyright, 1916, BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. + _All Rights Reserved_ + + Top-of-the-World Stories + + Norwood Press BERWICK & SMITH CO. NORWOOD, MASS. U. S. A. + + _In memory of ten happy years, + this little book is dedicated to the children of + John, William, Anna, Martha, and George._ + + + + + PREFACE + + +Not for my dear usual public of little children have I gathered these +stories from Scandinavian authors, but for boys and girls who have +reached a stage which warrants a rather free range in Story Land. For +here are to be encountered creatures and events, deeds and ideas, +unsuited to youngest readers, but which have legitimate attraction for +boys and girls from nine to fourteen years old--the age varying +according to the child's maturity and previous reading. + +Five of these stories were written by the noted Finnish author, Zachris +Topelius, who wrote them, and much else, for the children of Finland and +Sweden more than fifty years ago. His loving sympathy for children, and +his earnest desire to write only what was wholesome and good for them, +shine through all his literary work for the young. His "Läsning för +Barn" (Reading for Children) in several volumes, contains stories, true +and imaginative, poems, songs, hymns, and many charming plays for +children to act. Although a Finn, Topelius wrote in the Swedish +language. + +By the kind permission of Miss Margaret Böcher I have made use of her +excellent rendering of _Sampo Lappelil_. + +Of the other stories presented here, two (_The Forest Witch_ and _The +Testing of the Two Knights_) were translated from the Danish, and one +(_Anton's Errand, or The Boy Who Made Friends by the Way_) from the +Norwegian. + +The translations are not strictly literal, neither are they, I am sure, +unjustifiably free. The liberty exercised consists chiefly of omission. +For example, in Knut Spelevink, extra incidents were omitted which +dragged the story to a tedious length or marred it by the inartistic, +outworn device of explaining Knut's adventures as a dream; in _The +Princess Lindagull_, some details of the wild-beast fight were left out; +in _A Legend of Mercy_, a hampering husk was stripped off from the good +seed of the quaint little story. Most of the minor changes were made +for the sake of smoothness and clarity. + +In general, wherever I, as translator or editor, have varied from the +original, I have done so to make the stories as directly appealing, as +delightful, and as profitable as possible, for our boys and girls. + + EMILIE POULSSON. + + _Boston, Mass._ + + + + + LIST OF STORIES + + + PAGE + + + KNUT SPELEVINK 11 + + THE PRINCESS LINDAGULL 39 + CHAPTER I. The Palace of Shah Nadir 39 + CHAPTER II. The Arena 48 + CHAPTER III. The Captivity 58 + CHAPTER IV. The Release 72 + + SIKKU AND THE TROLLS 86 + + SAMPO LAPPELIL 105 + + A LEGEND OF MERCY 130 + + ANTON'S ERRAND, OR THE BOY WHO MADE FRIENDS BY THE WAY 138 + + THE FOREST WITCH 175 + + THE TESTING OF THE TWO KNIGHTS 185 + + + + + ILLUSTRATIONS + + + It was a life-and-death race (Page 126) _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE + + "Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the Snow King 24 + + The pine-tree raised itself high in air 32 + + Since Shah Nadir could refuse her nothing, he granted + her request 46 + + In the Lapp tent 60 + + Lindagull stepped forth in the clear day 70 + + Out of the mist arose a slender figure 80 + + "Oh, ho!" exclaimed Sikku, recognizing her as the + troll woman 90 + + Sampo was left lying in a snow-drift 114 + + On the back of the reindeer with golden horns 126 + + There stood the wolf and the bear 136 + + The lizard lay perfectly still, listening 146 + + "Turn back, turn back," said the dove 158 + + The Mayor was overwhelmed with wonder 172 + + Nina stood with arms around her little brother 178 + + Klaus brought forth his only treasure 196 + + + + + TOP-OF-THE-WORLD STORIES + +[Illustration] + + KNUT SPELEVINK[1] + + +Knut was a poor orphan boy who lived with his grandmother at Perlebank +in a little hut on the shore. + +He had a shirt, a jacket, a pair of trousers and a cap; and what more +does one need in summer? In winter he had woolen stockings and +birch-bark shoes. That wasn't so little, after all. He was +cheerful,--always happy indeed, though always hungry. It is a great art +to know how to be happy and hungry at the same time! + +His good grandmother was so poor that she seldom had enough food for the +boy to eat all he wanted. She spun woolen yarn and sent Knut with it to +Mr. Peterman's grand estate, The Ridge, several miles away, where he +could always sell the yarn. When Knut returned with the money, +Grandmother would buy flour and bake bread. She made it in big flat +cakes with a hole in the middle, strung these cakes on a stick and hung +the stick high up in the hut where the cakes would dry and harden, and +could be kept for a long time. If the yarn brought a good price, she +might even buy some sour milk, too. Potatoes they got from a tiny +fenced-in field, no larger than the floor of a small room. Then, too, +Grandmother owned a fish-net, so they had fresh fish sometimes,--when +Fisher Jonas's boy could help Knut to put out the net. + +It was indeed seldom, however, that Knut and his grandmother were well +supplied with food, and the boy's little stomach often called for more; +but even then he was as cheerful as ever. + +One morning he sat on the beach, picking up yellowish stones that looked +a little like soft, warm, boiled potatoes. Poor Knut! They would not do +to eat, and he laughingly threw them away, but as he did so, he happened +to see something that lay among the stones. Picking it up, he found that +it was a little whistle or pipe made of reed, such as children often +make for themselves when playing on the shore. There was nothing at all +remarkable about it, but Knut thought he would see if it gave any sound. +Good! It really did. You could play three tones upon it,--_pā_, _pȳ_, +and _pū_. When Knut discovered that, he just for fun stuffed the whistle +into his jacket pocket. + +To-day happened to be a hungry day; Knut had had no breakfast. "Suppose +I were sitting now in Mr. Peterman's kitchen at The Ridge," thought +Knut; and at once he imagined he could smell herring being fried! + +Well, he must do something; so he seated himself on a big rock near the +water and began to fish, but the fish would not bite. There had been a +storm the day before, but to-day the sea shone like a mirror under the +bright sun, and its slow heaving waves swung clear as glass against the +shore. + +"I do wonder what Grandmother has for dinner," thought Knut to himself. + +Just then a wave rolled up so high that it wet Knut's bare foot, and he +heard a voice murmur from the wave, "Knut, have you found the magic pipe +that belongs to the sea-princess? She left it on the shore and wishes +she could find it. You can blow three tones on it, _pā_, _pȳ_, _pū_; and +they all work magic,--_pā_ makes the hearers sleep, _pȳ_ makes the +hearers weep, but _pū_ sets them to laughing." + +"What?" exclaimed Knut. "Is it a magic pipe? Well, you may go your way, +big wave. I found the pipe and I think I shall keep it for a while." + +The wave murmured something,--no one knows what,--rolled slowly away and +did not come back again. + +Knut took the pipe from his pocket and looked closely at it. "So you are +a magic pipe, are you? And can charm, can you? Well, charm a fish on to +my hook, if you please." And with that he blew _pā_, _pā_. + +He had not blown very long before a perch, then a pike, then a white +fish floated up to the surface of the water, lying on their sides as if +they were asleep. + +"Here are fresh fish to be had," thought Knut; and he continued to blow. +In a short time the whole surface of the water near the shore was +covered with floating fish, more white fish, several kinds of perches, +sticklebacks, bream, carp, pike, and salmon,--all the lively finny +throng that live in the sea. + +"This will be a great catch!" thought Knut, and he sprang up to the +house to get a hand-net. + +When he came back, the shore was crowded with water-birds. The sea-gulls +were the greediest and shrieked "Grab! Grab! Grab!" so that they could +be heard a mile away! But there were many others keeping them +company,--ducks and wild geese, together with swans. All these ravenous +visitors were hard at work devouring the floating fish; and in the +midst of the throng was a great sea-eagle that had swooped down and +seized a large salmon in his talons. + +"Go away, you thieves!" called Knut, picking up stones from the beach +and throwing them at the birds. Some were hit in the leg, others in the +wing, but none seemed to think of dropping his prey. + +Just then a shot sounded, then another and another, from a near-lying +bay. Some of the birds fell to the water and floated, lying on their +sides like the fish. The firing continued until all the birds had been +either shot down or sent screaming away, scattering in every direction. + +A boat containing three hunters now approached the beach. The men were +Mr. Peterman and two friends of his, and it was they who had shot the +birds. They stepped ashore in good humor to gather up their booty. + +"Why, there is Knut!" said Mr. Peterman. "How in the world did you get +so many birds together here at Perlebank?" + +"I was playing on my pipe for the fish and the birds came to the party," +answered Knut, jokingly. + +"Then you must certainly be a wonderfully clever player," said Mr. +Peterman. "And hereafter, your name shall be Knut Spelevink."[2] + +"All right," said Knut. He had had no surname before and thought he +might as well have Spelevink as Anderson, Söderlund or Mattsson. + +"But listen, Knut Spelevink; why do you look so poorly to-day? You are +as thin as a rail," said Mr. Peterman. + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly, who see all this food and have not eaten +anything since yesterday noon?" replied Knut, in his cheerful fashion. + +"H'm," said Mr. Peterman. "Well, come to The Ridge to dinner to-day, +since you have provided us with such a good catch. But don't come until +four o'clock because the birds won't be plucked and roasted before +that." + +"Thank you most humbly," answered Knut; but he thought to himself that +four o'clock was rather late for any one who had eaten nothing since +yesterday! + +Mr. Peterman and his friends rowed away and Knut went home to his +grandmother. + +"Well, Knut, have you seen any fish to-day?" + +"Oh, yes! I've seen plenty; but the birds ate the fish and Mr. Peterman +shot the birds." + +"Too bad, Knut. We have nothing for dinner but two herring, four little +potatoes and a half-slice of bread." + +"No matter, Grandmother; you eat that. I am invited to The Ridge for +dinner and I shall bring you a bit of cheese in my pocket if I can." + +"Don't take the short cut through Kiikkala Forest, Knut; there are elves +there, and three troll-kings,--the Mountain King, the Snow King and the +Forest King. Go, rather, along the shore,--that way is safer; only there +you must look out for the mermaids." + +"But it is a long way around by the shore, Grandmother, and I haven't +had anything to eat since yesterday." + +"Well, go whichever way you will then, but don't think about food. That +leads one into temptation." + +"No, Grandmother. I shall think about the next Catechism examination, +and study hard as I go along." + +Knut started on his way, thinking about the Catechism, but when he came +to the beginning of the short cut, he thought: "Surely I should be a +goose if I, with such an empty stomach, should walk seven miles instead +of half that." + +And so he turned off into the short cut through Kiikkala Forest and +determined to hear himself say the Catechism while he was going through +the woods. + +He had not gone far before he saw a thin little old man, dragging a cart +loaded with twelve iron bars. + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the old man. "Why do you look so poorly +to-day?" + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly, when I have eaten nothing but Catechism +since yesterday noon? But how did you know my new name?" + +"I know all names," answered the old man, who was really a troll. + +"Sha'n't I help you?" asked good-natured Knut. "You are all out of +breath with that heavy load." + +"Push away if you like, Spelevink." So Knut pushed, and the old man +pulled and they soon came to a big mountain in the forest. + +"This is where I live," said the old man. "Step in and I will give you +something good to eat, because you helped me with my load." So saying, +he entered the mountain. Knut's stomach said follow him, and Knut +followed. + +Soon they were in a great underground palace where everything glittered +with gold, silver and precious stones. + +"Do you live here?" asked Knut. + +"I should say I did," replied the old man. "I am the King of the +Mountain. To-morrow I give the marriage feast for my daughter; and my +servants are so driven with work that I myself had to bring my food from +the forge where these bars are made." + +"Wasn't that iron in the cart?" asked Knut. + +"Bar iron, my lad, bar iron of the best sort. That is something far +finer than simple iron ore. Bar iron is my favorite food, especially +when it is at white heat. Have you ever eaten bar iron?" + +"Not that I can remember," said Knut. + +"Then you shall be allowed to taste something extra fine for once. See, +I lay two bars in the hot furnace fire. In three minutes they will be at +white heat, and you shall creep into the furnace and eat of them +hot,--fresh cooked!" + +"Thank you very much," said Knut. "But give me rather a bit of bread and +a bowl of sour milk." + +"Oh, come now! You don't know what is good! Get into the furnace there. +Be quick! The iron is red hot already." + +"I believe you!" said Knut. "It is almost too hot for me." + +"What nonsense!" growled the old troll. And he tried with all his might +to thrust Knut into the furnace. + +But the one who took to his heels at that instant was Knut. He ran for +dear life, was lucky enough to find the outside door and was soon again +on the forest path. + +"Grandmother was right," thought Knut. "I really must hear myself the +Catechism and keep my mind on it." + +While Knut was thinking of one of the long explanations following the +oft-recurring question, "What does that mean?" he suddenly felt very +cold. The cause was soon evident, for behold! although it was summer, +there, at a turn in the path, stood a snow mountain! + +"This is remarkable," thought Knut. "How does any one here ever get warm +food?" + +With these words he climbed up on the snow, Catechism forgotten and +thoughts of food uppermost in his mind; and at once he tumbled down +into a deep hole, and found himself in a magnificent palace of +glittering ice. Starlight and moonlight illuminated it. All the great +rooms were ornamented with shining ice-mirrors, all the floors were +strewn with diamonds of hoar frost. Clumsy snow men rolled about on +their stomachs over the floor. Presently one stood upright. He was a +long-bodied stiff creature, with icicles in his hair, icicles in his +beard, a robe of thin sheet-ice, and shoes of frozen berry-juice. + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the Snow King. "Why do you look so +poorly to-day?" + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing but Catechism and +bar iron to eat since yesterday noon?" said Knut with chattering teeth. + +"You are too hot, young man, you are too hot,--that is what is the +matter with you. I am the Snow King and I bring up all my subjects to be +ice-clad--turn them into regular lumps of ice,--and I will do the same +for you. Chief Officer of the Snow Knights, dip this boy seven times in +ice-cold water, hang him on a hook and let him freeze." + +"No,--thank you,--wait a little," suggested Knut. "Give me instead a mug +of hot posset. I am already a lump of ice!" + +"Chief Officer of the Snow Knights, give him a bit of frozen +quicksilver, and a mug of chipped ice before you dip him," ordered the +Snow King. + +Knut wanted to run away but it was already too late. The Chief Officer +had grabbed him by the collar, and it would have been all over with Knut +if he had not chanced to get hold of his magic pipe. Knowing that there +was not another thing he could do to try to save himself but to blow on +his pipe, blow he did, right lustily; and this time the sound was +_pū_, _pū_. + +Instantly the long-bodied troll's features were distorted by a grin that +should have represented merriment, but he was far from merry. He was +boiling with rage over the resistless desire to laugh that unexpectedly +took possession of him. He laughed and laughed; yes, he laughed so +hard that the icicles fell from his hair and chin, his knees doubled +under him, and at last his very head burst into bits! All the snow men +laughed so violently that they, too, fell to pieces; the Chief Officer +sank to the floor, becoming only a pool of mushy, dirty water. The +ice-mirrors broke into small fragments and the whole palace changed into +a wild whirl of snow! + +[Illustration: "GOOD-DAY, KNUT SPELEVINK," SAID THE SNOW KING.--_Page 25_.] + +Knut himself was so overcome by laughter that it was only by the +strongest effort he could hold his lips together on the pipe and keep on +blowing. + +While the snow still whirled about him, he suddenly noticed that he was +again upon the forest path. And lo! the next instant the air cleared, +the last of the snow disappeared in swift-running streams, and summer, +high summer, ruled once more. + +"Now I _will_ look out for myself," thought Knut as he tramped steadily +forward; and he began again to pick out from his memory an answer to +the question, "What does that mean?" + +He had not walked far before he found himself beside the most beautiful +little wooded hill, where strawberries gleamed red all through the +grass. It could not be dangerous to pick a few strawberries to eat, when +one was not to have dinner until four o'clock in the afternoon, thought +hungry Knut; and he climbed a little way up the hill. + +No sooner was he there than he saw that what he had taken for +strawberries was nothing else than many thousand charming little elves +in red clothing. They were no taller than a strawberry stem, and were +dancing merrily around a green hillock upon which sat their queen who +was about three inches tall. + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the elf-queen. "Why do you look so +poorly to-day?" + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing to eat since +yesterday noon except Catechism and bar iron and frozen quicksilver? I +thought that you people were strawberries." + +"Poor thing, he is hungry," said the queen to her lady-in-waiting. "Give +him a dewdrop and the leg of a gnat so that he may for once eat until he +is really satisfied." + +"Thank you very much," answered Knut. "But might I perhaps have a dish +of berries and a pail of milk instead?" + +"What coarseness!" said the elf-queen, highly disgusted with such a +gluttonous appetite. "Do you know, you human child, that you came into +our kingdom without a pass, and that you trod to death three and thirty +of our faithful subjects so that there is nothing left of them but a red +stain? And you have refused our gracious offer of food and shown +yourself to be disgustingly greedy, besides. Forest spinners of our +court, do your duty." + +Scarcely were the words spoken before a legion of long-legged spiders +swung down from the trees and began to spin around Knut a network of +countless fine threads. Knut did not relish this, and thought it a very +poor joke. He beat away the webspinners, and tried to return to the +forest path, but could not stir from the spot. His feet were tangled in +an all too strong net, his arms were glued to his sides, his eyes even +were plastered shut, and at last down he fell in the grass. + +He could see nothing but he could hear how the whole hill rang with +laughter; the elves formed a ring around him, danced over him, nipped +him on the cheeks like gnats, and were beside themselves with joy over +their comical trick. + +"Lie there and starve until you can be satisfied with a dewdrop and a +gnat leg," said the elves. + +Knut fell to pleading with them. "Listen now, little elves," said he. "I +shall be content if I may bite on a small piece of reed I have in my +jacket pocket. Will not some of you be so good as to stick it into my +mouth?" + +The elves thought it would be inexpressibly amusing to see this greedy +human child eat a piece of reed; so four of them climbed into his jacket +pocket and with their united strength drew forth the magic pipe, which, +with great effort, they succeeded in putting into his mouth. Thereupon +they danced more merrily than ever around and over him, and the hill +resounded with their delicate laughter. It was like the humming of a +million swarms of gnats. + +Knut no sooner felt the pipe between his lips than he began to blow; and +this time the tone was _pȳ_, _pȳ_. At once the merry laughter came +to an end, and sobbing was heard from every direction,--a sound as of a +hundred thousand sobbing together, not unlike what one hears in summer +when the beating rain lashes the hill. + +Knut could not see, but he knew that the elves were crying and he felt +that it was a sin, no matter what they had done, to make such merry +creatures sob so grievously. + +"Set me free and you shall laugh again," said Knut to the weeping elves. + +Now it is the elves' greatest joy to laugh. Indeed, they laugh away +their short lives in the summer evenings knowing nothing of sorrow. + +At Knut's words, hundreds of elves began immediately to chase away the +spiders, and to set free the prisoner, loosening his arms and his legs, +and unplastering his eyelids. Knut could now see his tiny enemies and +his anger rose again, so that he blew _pȳ_ once more. Oh, how the +poor little creatures grimaced and trembled! They wished so much to +laugh and yet they must weep because of that frightful _pȳ_! + +Knut had not the heart to tease them any longer. He changed the note to +_pū_ and the elves became almost crazy with joy. They leaped so high +in the air that they nearly overtook the larks, and as they came down, +some of them alighted upon Knut and he had to shake them off. He did not +notice that one elf had fallen into his pocket and remained there. + +"Good-bye, little elves," said Knut as he hastily set off again on his +way through the forest. + +"I must watch out well for that other troll, the Forest King," thought +Knut. "He is said to be the worst of all. Where was I in the Catechism? +Oh, yes. 'What does that mean?'" + +After a while Knut came to a swamp at the roadside where cloudberries +grew in profusion. + +"It can't be wrong to pick a few of these berries as I pass by, since I +sha'n't have any food until four o'clock this afternoon," thought Knut. +To reach the swamp he had to climb over a huge fallen pine-tree, which +lay in the way. Scarcely did he find himself clambering across its +gnarly trunk and thick close branches than the pine-tree, to Knut's +great fright, raised itself high in air, and roared with a gruff voice: + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink. Why do you look so poorly to-day?" + +Knut, hanging over the road in the pine-tree's top, still found courage +to answer: + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing to eat since +yesterday noon except Catechism, and bar iron, and frozen quicksilver +and a gnat's leg?" + +"Well, why did you interrupt my midday nap?" asked the pine-tree. "Don't +you know that I am the King of the Forest and rule over all the trees +and swamps for seven times seven miles around! Here you see my palace. +Haven't I a fine place to live in?" + +Knut saw nothing but a bleak wilderness, so did not answer the question +but ventured to inquire most humbly if he might not get down and pick +some cloudberries to eat. + +"What is that? Cloudberries?" roared the Forest King. "Take a fir-tree +for a ladle and ladle into yourself seven cartloads of swamp mud. That +is what I call a regular meal. It is my favorite food." + +"Perhaps you would give me one load of apple marmalade, and a moderately +big ditch full of wild honey instead!" suggested merry Knut. + +"Apple marmalade? Humph! I shall make marmalade of you for disturbing me +in my nap. My Lord Eagle, I give the boy to you. You can tear him into +Scotch collops for your young ones." + +[Illustration: THE PINE-TREE RAISED ITSELF HIGH IN AIR.--_Page 31_.] + +Knut now became aware of an enormous eagle sitting in the top of the +tree and staring at him with ravenous eyes. He could not jump down, for +the pine-tree held him fast by his arms and legs. He should soon be torn +into Scotch collops. + +Knut Spelevink had never eaten collops, but however much he liked food, +it seemed unbearable that he himself should become food for eagles. + +The situation was indeed dangerous, but at this critical moment Knut +felt something light as a flower creeping up his arm, up to his jacket +collar, then to his chin and finally to his mouth. It was the little elf +that had hidden in Knut's pocket, and was now creeping along and, with +incredible difficulty, dragging after him the magic pipe which was seven +times as long as himself. + +"Blow!" said the elf. + +Knut felt the pipe in his mouth and began to blow with a will. This time +the tone was again _pā_. + +The Forest King yawned, stretched out his branches, and mumbled +something about having been disturbed in his midday nap. Then he threw +himself down at full length beside the swamp, and in his fall crushed +beneath his huge trunk the big ravenous eagle which the magic pipe had +made too drowsy to fly away. + +As Knut crept from among the branches, he heard a snoring through the +forest as loud as if a hundred bears were growling their best for a +wager; and he again took to his heels as nimbly as he could. + +"I must certainly look out," thought Knut. "It is indeed dangerous here +in the forest." + +Without stopping for cloudberries or anything else, he continued to run +and run while he could, but it was not easy, and by and by he had to +walk slowly for the path was almost overgrown. The bramble-bushes seemed +to have a spite against his trousers, tree branches caught hold of his +jacket, and clung fast to it; the heather and the twigs of the +blueberry-bushes pricked his bare feet But to The Ridge he meant to get +and to The Ridge he did get without further adventure, arriving,--tired, +hungry and blowsy,--at precisely four o'clock in the afternoon. + +"Welcome, Knut Spelevink," said Mr. Peterman. "You look right cheerful +this afternoon!" + +"Why shouldn't I look cheerful when I have been offered feasts of hot +bar iron, frozen quicksilver, a dewdrop and a gnat's leg, and seven +cartloads of mud?" laughed Knut. + +"Why, that is a good many courses for one day," said Mr. Peterman. "One +ought not to think much about food. When any one constantly thinks of +what he can get to eat, he is in danger of encountering trolls and such +like, who only fool him. But perhaps you are hungry, my boy?" + +Knut blinked in embarrassment, squeezed his cap between his hands and +said that he was not yet exactly starved to death. + +"Now that rejoices me!" exclaimed Mr. Peterman. "I ate a late breakfast +and the servants have not yet had time to pluck all the birds. You just +wait until eight o'clock and then you shall have some supper." + +This was worse than hot bar iron and seven cartloads of mud, Knut +thought; but he bit his nails and answered that he could wait, of +course, adding to himself, however, "I had better say the Catechism over +again to pass the time." + +Now this Mr. Peterman was a great joker and was only teasing Knut. He +had himself been a poor boy and knew well enough what it meant, when +famished, to wait four hours more for food. + +"Knut Spelevink," said he, "I perceive that you can do more than think +about things to eat. Do you realize that conquering one's self and being +able to give up, even to the very necessities of life, what one craves +here in this world is a kind of heroism? You can conquer yourself like a +hero and keep your merry humor through everything. I like you, my boy, +and I am sure you will make a fine man if you have enough to eat and go +to school as I mean you shall; for I am going to look after you from +this time on. + +"But what does that mean?" continued Mr. Peterman, sniffing. "It seems +to me I smell roast bird! Walk in, my boy. You shall sit with me, at my +own table, and for once in your life eat all you want." + +When Mr. Peterman said "What does that mean?" Knut thought it sounded as +if catechising were going to begin; but the door to the dining-room was +thrown open at that moment, and there stood a dinner-table laden with +smoking-hot savory food awaiting the hungry guests. + +Mr. Peterman led Knut in by the hand and Knut sat at the table like a +lord; and there he might have been sitting yet if he had not long since +carried home the promised piece of cheese to his grandmother, and been +sent to school. + +As for the magic pipe, he had used that three times and once more, and +it had served him well in Kiikkala Forest; but try as he might he could +never again get the magic tones from it, and one day he lost it. The +Catechism, however, stayed in his mind, and Knut could recite it from +end to end any time he was asked. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + +[1] Pronounced K'nūt Spā-lě-veenk. + +[2] "Spelevink" may be translated "Merrymouth." + +[Illustration] + + + + + THE PRINCESS LINDAGULL[3] + + +_Come, boys and girls, let us fly on the wings of the wind to the land +of a thousand tales, to the home of roses and tulips! to the land where +beautiful fairies build their castles in the red sunrise, and black +gnomes flit around in the darkness of midnight; where the sun shines +like fire over the blue mountains in Afghanistan, and the quiet +water-lilies are reflected in the deep lakes; where tigers' eyes gleam +between the reeds by the shore, and where sun-browned, dark-eyed people +glow with hate and burn with love. Let us fly to Persia!_ + + + + + CHAPTER I + + THE PALACE OF SHAH NADIR + + +There was once a Persian king whose name was Shah Nadir, and who was +exceedingly rich. Large and beautiful countries with many millions of +people were under his sway. Great rooms in his palace were filled with +gold and precious stones; and his ships, laden with the riches of India, +sailed over every sea. When he appeared in his capital city, Ispahan, he +was surrounded by a life guard of a thousand men dressed in silver armor +which glistened in the sun; and fifty thousand knights on most beautiful +horses, with golden saddles and harnesses glittering with jewels, stood +ready to speed away and conquer the world at his bidding. + +But the mighty Shah Nadir was old and had no longer any desire for war +and conquest. He had won many battles; many hostile cities had perished +in ashes before his wrath; and many, many a knight had been pierced +through by his sword in the days when his arm was young and none could +withstand him. + +But now he was old and weary, and liked best to recline on the luxurious +purple divans of his gorgeous palace. Occasionally, however, when +golden-edged clouds shielded the burning Persian sun, and a delightful +breeze blew down from Mt. Zagrosch, the old Shah would seat himself in +his richly ornamented palanquin borne by eight black slaves clad in +silver tissue, and allow himself to be carried out that he might review +his troops or watch the wild animals fighting in the arena. + +Shah Nadir had many sons, because he had also many wives, as is the +custom in eastern lands; but his sons brought him little joy. They were +thankless and full of selfish ambition, thinking that their father lived +too long, and plotting against his life and his throne. Therefore the +king drove them all away from his court to distant provinces which they +ruled over as viceroys. But he kept at home with himself his dear and +only daughter, the Princess Lindagull, because he loved her more than +all else on earth,--yes, more than all his treasures and all his riches. + +Now it is well known that such a name as "Lindagull" had never before +been heard in Persia, nor could it indeed be rightly pronounced by the +Persians. The mother of the princess had come from the far North, no one +knew exactly whence. She had been captured in her youth by African +pirates, and after many adventures had been sold to the king of Persia, +who, on account of her extreme beauty, took her in wedlock and loved her +more than all his other wives. + +This beautiful sultana, who was now dead, had called her only daughter +"Lindagull," signifying that the princess was as lovely and pure as the +gold of the sun, shimmering through the lindens of the North. + +And it is true that a more beautiful or purer being could not be found +if you searched the wide world over than the Princess Lindagull. She had +the royal bearing of her father; but in form and disposition she was +like her mother. With a complexion as dazzling as Scandinavian snow and +eyes as soft as August stars on a moonless night, she had also a heart +noble, tender and good; and so there was no one in Shah Nadir's whole +kingdom who did not love the Princess Lindagull; for the fame of her +beauty and goodness had spread through all Persia. This the old king +knew full well, and his proud heart melted like wax every time he looked +upon his lovely child. She was the delight of his eyes;--his comfort by +day, his dream by night. One word of hers could quell his highest rage. +He could not refuse her any request, even to the freedom of a slave. + +When Shah Nadir thought upon his sons with their evil hearts, and of the +trouble which they had made in the kingdom, he decided that none of them +was fit for succession to his throne; and he made up his mind to choose +for his daughter some good and noble man as a husband, and to leave to +her and her descendants the inheritance of his riches and his kingdom. + +The fatherly affection of Shah Nadir for the Princess Lindagull was +right and beautiful; but he fell into the great error of allowing it to +displace other loves and to lead him away from his duties to his +subjects. So a heavy punishment came upon him. + + * * * * * + +No one could live in a more magnificent and delightful manner than did +the Princess Lindagull. In a cool grove, under the shadow of high +palm-trees, amid the music of rippling fountains and surrounded by the +fragrance of a thousand flowers, stood the princess's lovely castle. In +its lofty apartments the sunbeams broke through windows of limpid +rock-crystal. The princess rested on the most elegant couch at night; +and when morning came she was led by her attendant ladies to bathe in a +grand basin of mother-of-pearl into which a fountain poured forth its +waters and made a deep pool, the water playfully rippling around her +delicate figure as she bathed. + +In the daytime she wrought exquisite embroideries with her maidens, or +listened to the songs of the birds or the music of the zither, or +wandered in the grove, playing like a child with the yellow butterflies +and dark red roses. + +The Princess Lindagull was not more than twelve years old; but in the +Eastern countries twelve years makes one appear as old as sixteen in +Northern countries. + +It is not a good thing to live constantly in luxury, and to see one's +wishes fulfilled "at the least wink" as were those of Princess +Lindagull. Many persons become proud and wilful under these +circumstances; but this little princess did not. She merely became +low-spirited. She did not know why it was, but the playing of the +butterflies, the fragrance of the flowers, the rippling of the waters, +and the zither's sweet sounds pleased her no more. She realized that her +heart was often empty, and noticed with surprise that she often had a +desire to weep. She could not understand it at all, and still less could +her ladies. She did not know, this little Lindagull, that as a dark +frame enhances many a picture, so trial and sorrow give one's happy days +an added luster. With pleasures and naught but pleasures in her life, +happiness was slipping from her. She must experience sorrow before she +could know true joy. + +Nevertheless, the princess believed that she had discovered the reason +of her longings. It must be because she had always lived in the +seclusion of her palace. She determined to go out, at least for once, +into the rush and whirl of human life; and so, when her father next came +to visit her, she asked that she might be allowed to see the great +exhibition of wild beasts soon to be held at Ispahan in honor of the +king's sixtieth birthday. Since Shah Nadir could refuse her nothing, he +granted her request; realizing, however, that it was the first time he +had ever done so with absolute unwillingness. + + * * * * * + +Such a conqueror as Shah Nadir, to whom half Asia paid tribute, could +not fail to have many enemies. This, however, troubled him but little, +because he had long held them in complete subjection. + +One of these enemies had fallen under the personal dislike of the king; +and in addition to the usual ceremonies of submission Shah Nadir had +required the captive foe to suffer one of the greatest indignities of +the East,--that is, the shaving of his beard. Having thus contributed to +the king's vindictive amusement, the captive was set free. + +[Illustration: SINCE SHAH NADIR COULD REFUSE HER NOTHING, HE GRANTED HER +REQUEST.--_Page 43_.] + +This man was king of the giants in Turan (that vast, wild region of rock +and desert north of Persia) and his name was Bom Bali. Once, when +warring in the far, far North, Bom Bali had captured a wizard named +Hirmu who could change himself into any animal whatever, and afterward +resume his own natural shape. + +Now when Bom Bali learned through his spies that a grand exhibition of +wild beasts was to be held in Ispahan, he summoned Hirmu into his +presence and said to him: + +"Dog, dost thou wish to live?" + +Hirmu answered, "My lord, may thy beard never grow less! Thou knowest +that thy dog desires greatly to live." + +Bom Bali said, "The first day of the month Moharrem there is to be an +exhibition of wild beasts in Ispahan. Shah Nadir has sent his hunters +into every mountain, even to mountains in our kingdom, to ensnare +fierce creatures for the contests. Take upon thyself the form of a +tiger. Be thou captured by the hunters. Steal and bring back to me the +Princess Lindagull who is the pride of Shah Nadir and of all Asia." + +"Thy hound shall fulfil all thy commands," said the Lappish wizard. + +Soon after this conversation, the Persian hunters came to Turan, +captured alive all the wild beasts they could from its mountains and +deserts, and carried them in strong cages back to Ispahan. + +[3] Pronounced Lin'dah-gōōl. + + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE ARENA + + +The first day of the month Moharrem had now arrived and the arrangements +had all been completed in the capital city. Many of the most dangerous +and terrible wild animals from India, Arabia, Turan, and even from the +Desert of Sahara, were held in readiness in the side rooms or stalls of +the immense semi-circular arena which had been especially built for +this occasion. More than sixty thousand spectators were seated on the +numerous tiers of seats stretching all around the arena. For the safety +of these a strong iron railing had been erected between the benches and +the fighting-ground. + +Early in the morning the whole town was in excitement. Princess +Lindagull was as happy as a child. She was going to be allowed to fly as +a bird out of its cage! She was going to see a play wherein the actors +were real lions, real tigers;--not like those represented by men dressed +in skins which they took off after they had finished the play. + +The spectators were assembled and all things awaited the arrival of the +king. At last he came, followed by his shining guard; and not he alone, +but with him his daughter, the wondrously beautiful Princess Lindagull. +According to the custom in Eastern lands she was veiled. The people +could only admire her charming manners and royal carriage as she, +followed by her attendants, rode in upon a little zebra which caprioled +with pride at bearing such a burden. + +Although no one could see her countenance every one knew by hearsay the +loveliness of the young princess. All knew, too, that she by her +intercession had saved the life of many an unhappy captive, and that she +each day sent out her maidens with medicine and bread for the poor in +Ispahan. Therefore, when she now for the first time showed herself +before the populace, there broke forth such a shout of joy from +thousands of voices that its like had not been heard since the day when +Shah Nadir celebrated his Day of Triumph after his grand conquest, with +twenty captive kings in his train. + +It is probable that the princess blushed; but no one saw it. She seated +herself beside her father on the richly embroidered purple robe which +was spread over the royal bench. And then began the exercises of the +day. + +A strange strife between a wildcat and a pelican came first. One of the +pelican's wings had been clipped so that it could not fly away, and +though it fought fiercely, thrusting its beak into the cat's side, the +wildcat scratched and bit the big bird so savagely that the end soon +came and the cat was declared the winner in the fight. Almost every one +thought this contest very entertaining, but the Princess Lindagull did +not like it at all. + +After this, two monstrous crocodiles were brought forth in long tanks of +water, and a dead pig was thrown out in front of them. The crocodiles +had not had meat for a whole month and were very hungry. Nevertheless, +so sleepy were they that they continued to lie still in the tanks, +warming themselves in the sun. Then a boy sprang boldly forward and +tickled one of the crocodiles on the nose with a switch. The crocodile +thrust up his ugly mouth and began to clamber clumsily out of the tank +to devour the boy. But the boy saved himself by jumping hastily aside, +the crocodile not being able to turn quickly enough to catch him. When +the boy had thoroughly roused this crocodile he awoke the one in the +other tank; and then, swift as a gazelle, escaped through a little gate +in the fence. Soon the crocodiles caught sight of the dead pig and both +started forward to seize it. Falling into a rage at the idea of sharing +it, they fell upon each other in a frightful contest. Each tried to +force his sharp teeth through the scaly skin of the other, but without +success. At last, however, one fell on its back, and the conqueror +mounted its breast and got the pig. + +Next followed a strife between six large Arabian dogs and an equal +number of jackals from the deserts of Turan. These two animals both +belong to the wolf family and though the jackal is a cowardly creature, +he is formidable when once engaged in a fray. This conflict was fierce +indeed. Five dogs lay prone upon the ground and only one jackal had +fallen when a whistling was heard from the bench where sat the brave +young Arab prince Abderraman. He whistled to incite his favorite hound, +Valledivau, to further effort. The dog heard his master's voice and +tackled again. The jackals fell, one after another, before his prowess, +and soon Valledivau was greeted with a loud cheer as conqueror. + +Then came a fight between hyenas and wolves; another between an Indian +elephant and a tiger; and then a leopard and a panther were led to +opposite sides of the arena. A piece of fresh meat was thrown down +before them, and immediately both rushed toward it and fought for its +possession. But the panther, which was stronger and more agile, came off +victor, having covered his adversary with deadly wounds. + +This contest being finished, a royal tiger of unusual strength and +beauty was brought forth. He was called Ahriman, after the Prince of +Darkness. The tiger's adversary was an immense lion, called Ormuz, after +the Prince of Light. A living lamb was cast down before the two, but +this was more than Lindagull could endure. She gave a sign and the +trembling little creature was snatched away; and in its stead one of the +dead dogs was cast before the wild animals. + +The lion was hungry and immediately rushed upon the prey. The tiger, +jealous by nature, also darted forward furiously, eager to deprive the +lion and to get the prey for himself. + +This was the most terrible contest of all. The air echoed the dreadful +roaring of the angry beasts, the sand was thrown up by their paws and +colored red with their blood. + +They fell over each other, they separated, they rushed against each +other again. All the spectators trembled, entranced. Long was the strife +undecided, but the tiger Ahriman finally succumbed and Ormuz was led +from the arena in triumph. + +And now the performances were about to close with a grand strife en +masse, every wild animal taking part. But the heat of the sun being +intense, there was a cessation in the sports, so that the spectators +might refresh themselves with cooling drinks. Many then went down upon +the arena to look at the dead animals which had been left there. + +Even the Princess Lindagull became curious to view the animals at a +nearer point. She, who until now had seen only blossoms and singing +birds, had no idea of the aspect of these dead creatures. So down she +went, followed by her ladies and the guard, into the arena; and slaves +spread gold-embroidered mats before her feet, so that her dainty sandals +should not be soiled by the blood-stained sands. + +What could she fear? All the living animals were shut up in safe cages. +The most dangerous of all, the great tiger Ahriman, lay dead upon the +arena. The princess went toward him, admiring his beauty and marveling +at his splendid striped skin which she determined to ask her father for, +that she might use it as a rug in the marble castle. + +Suddenly the tiger rose up, gave a leap, sprang upon the princess, +seized her in his terrible jaws, and rushed away! Shrieks of horror flew +from tier to tier among the spectators, but no one had the courage to +try to snatch his booty from the tiger. + +No one? Ah, one there was! The valiant Prince Abderraman dashed with the +speed of the wind into the tiger's path, grasped the monster's gory +breast and struggled with him for his precious booty. + +Alas, unhappy prince! His right arm was in an instant bitten almost off +by the tiger, and he was thrown bleeding and helpless upon the sand; and +before any one could come to the aid of the vanquished hero, the tiger +had leaped over the high iron railing and escaped with the Princess +Lindagull in his mighty jaws! + +The anguish of poor old Shah Nadir was great; and great was the grief of +all Ispahan,--indeed, of all Persia. The king's guard and the fifty +thousand knights with gold saddles rode immediately away to seek the +princess. They searched through every bush and cleft in Turan where a +tiger's lair might be. Hundreds of tigers and other wild beasts fell +before their spears, but fruitlessly. After looking through all Turan +and half of Asia, the guard returned sorrowing. No trace of the Princess +or her strange captor was to be found. + +Shah Nadir tore his gray hair and cursed his sixtieth birthday. He had +lost what he held dearest on earth,--his Lindagull. He ordered his +people to array themselves in mourning as if a sultana had died. He also +commanded that prayers should be offered in all the mosques for the +Princess Lindagull's return. And the proclamation was made that whoever +restored his daughter to him, living, should receive the hand of the +princess and inherit the Persian crown; whoever brought her back dead +should receive as a reward sixty asses laden with gold and costly +treasure. The hope of so rich a reward led many princes and noblemen to +undertake the search for the lost daughter of the king. But sooner or +later all came back without having found her. All except one; and that +was Prince Abderraman. He had made a solemn vow to seek for the princess +fifteen years; to find and rescue her, or die. + +If the princess had been carried away by a real tiger, our tale would +have ended with that; because nothing is sacred to a royal tiger, not +even the noblest princess in the world. But this was not the case. The +wizard, Hirmu, had availed himself of the exhibition of wild beasts in +order that, transformed into a tiger, he might carry out his master's +commands for his own advantage. He had exchanged hearts with the tiger; +and so long as the heart was not destroyed or eaten up, Hirmu could not +be killed. But such a treasure as a princess he preferred to keep for +himself; so, instead of taking his captive to old King Bom Bali in +Turan, he carried her away, with flying leaps, to his own far-away home +in Lapland. + + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE CAPTIVITY + + +It was now autumn, and dark in Lapland. + +The Lapp woman, Pimpedora, sat and cooked porridge over a blazing fire +in the tent, while her son Pimpepanturi sat waiting for the porridge and +looking idly at his reindeer shoes. Pimpepanturi was a good-natured boy; +but he was stupid, and not a little lazy besides. His father, Hirmu, +had wished very much to bring him up as a wizard, but it was of no use. +Pimpepanturi thought more about eating and drinking than of learning +anything,--whether sorcery or what not. + +The Lapp woman turned toward the boy, and said, "Don't you hear +something?" + +"I hear the fire crackle and the porridge bubble in the pot," answered +Pimpepanturi with a long yawn. + +"Don't you hear something like a roar out in the autumn night?" asked +the Lapp woman again. + +"Yes," said Pimpepanturi; "that is a wolf taking some of our reindeer." + +"No," said the Lapp woman; "that is Father coming back. He has now been +away four winters, but I hear him growling like a wild animal. He must +have hurried to have reached home so soon again!" + +At that moment Hirmu entered in the semblance of a tiger with the +Princess Lindagull hanging from his mouth. Placing her on a heap of moss +in the corner of the tent, he quickly regained his own body (replacing +his own heart in it now), at the same time calling out, "Mother, what +food have you? I have run a long way." + +The tiger fell dead upon the moss in the tent. The Lapp woman had nearly +fallen into the porridge-pot from fright; but she recognized her husband +and promised him a good supper, if he would tell her where he had been +these four winters, and what kind of a grand doll he had brought home +with him. + +"That is too long a story to tell," grumbled the husband. "Take care of +our grand doll and give her warm reindeer milk to restore her to life. +She is a fine young lady from Persia. She will bring us good fortune." + +Princess Lindagull was not dead,--not even wounded. She had only fainted +from fright. When she awoke she lay (in her rich clothing of pearls and +silver tissue) on a reindeer skin spread over moss, in the Lapp tent. It +was dark and cold. The firelight shone on the close walls of the tent +and on the Lapp woman, who gave her reindeer milk to drink. Lindagull +believed herself to be in death's domain under the earth; and cried +because she, so young, should be snatched away from Persia's sun and +Ispahan's lovely rose gardens. + +[Illustration: IN THE LAPP TENT.--_Page 60_.] + +The wizard, in the meantime, hit upon a happy plan for winning Persian +treasure, and said to Lindagull: + +"Weep not, beautiful princess. Thou art not dead. Thou hast only been +stolen away by a horrid tiger and my son, the brave Knight Morus +Pandorus von Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu, has saved thee at the greatest risk +of his own precious life. We will be thy slaves and serve thee with the +utmost zeal until it becomes possible to conduct thee back to Persia." + +"What lie is that, old man?" said the honest Lapp woman in her own +language to the wizard. + +The wizard continued: "My wife says that if thou wilt take our son, the +surpassingly beautiful and brave knight, Morus Pandorus von +Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu, for thy bridegroom, we will immediately conduct +thee back to Persia." + +Pimpepanturi did not understand Persian; so he made great eyes when his +father pushed him forward toward the princess and pressed his stiff back +down with both hands that it might appear as if Pimpepanturi were +bowing. + +Lindagull would not have been a princess and the daughter of proud Shah +Nadir if she had not felt herself insulted by such an indignity. She +gazed scornfully at the wizard, and at his clumsy lout of a son,--with +such eyes! Nay! it was not a gaze; for her eyes flashed lightning! +(And Persian eyes can flash lightning!) Father and son both flushed +dark red. + +"No, that won't do," said the wizard. "She must first be tamed." + +Then the wizard made a partition in the tent, three yards long and two +yards wide. There he imprisoned Lindagull, and gave her half a reindeer +cheese and a dipper of melted snow-water every day for food. + +Thus day and night passed by in darkness, for winter came quickly; and +the Northern Lights shone in through the cracks of the tent. + +Poor, innocent little Lindagull! Her eyes had flashed lightning once; +but as in thunder-storms it is not long between lightning gleams and +showers of rain, so the tears of Princess Lindagull soon began to fall. +Yes, she cried as one only can cry when one is twelve years old and has +been a princess in Persia and lived in rose-gardens and marble castles, +guarded by the friendliest attendants, and then suddenly finds herself +hungry and freezing, alone, in a dark Lapland winter. Yes, she wept as +one weeps over lost youth, health and beauty;--over a lost life; as the +dew weeps over a beautiful extinguished day in Ispahan's pleasure +garden. + +When she had done weeping she slept. But lo! while she slept, there +stood by her side the friendly old fellow whom the Finns call Nukku +Matti, whom the Swedes call Jon Blund, and whom the Danes and Norwegians +call Ole Luköje,[4]--(I don't know what they call him in Persia;) and +he took her in his arms, bore her to Feather Islands and laid her on a +bed of fragrant roses in a lovely grotto. There all was peaceful and +good. The soft moon shone over date-palms and myrtle forests, just as in +Persia's fairest springtime. Small airy Dreams danced forth to her with +silken shoes over velvet rugs, and led her back to her home; to her +father the old Shah Nadir, to her friendly attendants and to all the +places dear to her from birth. And so passed the long winter nights. + +And so passed weeks and months in the Kingdom of Dreams; because it was +now night altogether. But Lindagull was patient and wept no more. The +Dreams had said to her, "Wait; thy deliverer will come----" + +Who would deliver her? Who should discover a path where no path lay, far +away in the snow? + +The Lapp woman would willingly have set her free, but dared not on +account of her husband. And Pimpepanturi also had thoughts of it, but +was too lazy. + +At length the winter was ended. The sun dared to shine, the snow melted +and the gnats danced about. Then the wizard thought, "Now she is tamed!" +Whereupon he went to Lindagull and asked if she wished to travel back to +Persia. If so, she need only to accept the grandly courageous and highly +admired knight, Morus Pandorus von Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu for her +bridegroom, and the reindeer would immediately stand harnessed at the +door ready to travel southward. + +Lindagull did not shoot glances of lightning this time. But she thought +of the young Prince Abderraman who had once bled for her on Ispahan's +sand; and remembering his face she could not possibly accept +Pimpepanturi. She answered nothing. + +At this the wizard became very angry. He shut the Princess Lindagull in +a deep, dark grotto on a mountainside, and said to her (dropping the +grandiloquent style he had heretofore used): "Soon the cloudberries will +be ripe. You shall keep account of the days as they pass, in this way. +The first day you shall have thirty cloudberries to eat and thirty +dewdrops to drink; the next day twenty-nine cloudberries to eat and +twenty-nine dewdrops to drink; and so on, for each day one berry and one +drop less. On the last day you shall tell me what you have decided." + +So Lindagull stayed there confined in the grotto. The time of year had +now come when barren Lapland shone with light both day and night; but +the grotto was dark. The cloudberries and dewdrops steadily lessened in +number, but Lindagull's cheeks became no paler and her quiet patience +continued the same as before. What she had to forego by day Nukku Matti +and the Dreams made up to her every night. They lifted off the rocky +roof by their magic power so that she could see the glowing midnight sun +and hear the roar of the waterfall as it hurled itself over the edge of +the rock. Drippings from this waterfall fell into the grotto in the form +of a delicious honey-dew, which served the starving one as refreshing +meat and drink. + +The thoughts of Princess Lindagull dwelt often upon Prince Abderraman. +She sang ballads of the Eastern lands, and it pleased her to hear a +hundred clear-voiced echoes answer back from the mountain walls. On the +thirtieth day, the wizard brought her the last berry and the last +dewdrop laid upon a leaf of Lapland dwarf-birch. + +"Well now," he asked, "have you decided?" + +Lindagull covered her fair face and answered nothing. + +"There is still one day's time for thought," said the wizard, "and you +shall have some company to help hasten your decision." As he said this +he opened the door of the grotto, and immediately something like a great +cloud streamed in. It was a swarm of Lapland's starved-out gnats. There +were thousands and thousands and thousands of them, and they filled the +grotto like a thick cloud of smoke. + +"I wish you much joy in your new acquaintances!" said the ugly wizard, +shutting the door quickly as he went out. + +Lindagull did not understand his meaning. She did not know the sting of +the Lapland gnat. She had never been annoyed by the Persian firefly +even, for a slave had always stood at her side night and day with a long +waving peacock feather to protect her from all hurtful insects. The +knowledge of such suffering as the horde of stinging gnats would have +inflicted was kept from her now by the kindly Dreams; who, the instant +the door was shut, threw around her a close-woven veil of finest +texture, from the loom of the fairies. Through this veil the gnats could +not make their way. Not a drop of royal blood did they taste, day or +night. They bit with all their little power at the hard granite rocks; +but finding these too juiceless, the disappointed insects settled +themselves like a gray web about all the cracks and corners of the +grotto. + +At midnight the door of the grotto was noiselessly opened and in walked +the Lapp woman, Pimpedora, with a jar in her hand, followed by +Pimpepanturi carrying a burning torch and some smoked reindeer meat. + +"Poor child," said the good-hearted Lapp woman, "it is a sin to keep you +here; but I dare not let you out, for if I did my husband would change +me to a mountain rat. See, I have brought you some pitch-oil in my jar. +Spread it all over your body; that will keep you from being stung to +death by the gnats." + +"And see here, I have brought you a smoked shoulder of reindeer so that +you shall not starve to death," said Pimpepanturi, good-naturedly. "It +is somewhat nibbled, because I grew so very hungry on the way; but there +is still a little meat on the bone. And I stole the key of the grotto +while Father slept, but I dare not let you out, for if I did Father +would change me into a wolverine. But you need not trouble yourself +about taking me for your husband. I'll wager that you cannot even cook a +black pudding properly." + +"No, I know I cannot, truly," answered Princess Lindagull, and she +thanked them both for their good-will, but explained to them that she +was neither hungry nor gnat-stung. + +"Well! Keep the pitch-oil for safety's sake," said the Lapp woman. + +"Yes, keep the shoulder of reindeer, too," said Pimpepanturi. + +"A thousand thanks," replied Lindagull. + +Then the door was closed and she was again alone. + +The next morning the wizard came, expecting that now he should surely +find his captive half stung to death by gnats and completely subdued. +But when he saw Lindagull as blooming as before, and saw her again look +thoughtfully into his face without speaking, his wrath knew no bounds. + +"Come out!" he shouted. + +Lindagull stepped forth in the clear day, as delicate and bright as a +fairy in moonlight. When she threw back her veil to look about, the sun +shone before her, warm and radiant as on a spring morning in the blue +mountains of Afghanistan. + +Then said the wizard: "I have a great mind to take you to old King Bom +Bali in Turan. He would load six asses with gold to get hold of you +for a single day! But no; I will not give up yet. Listen to what I have +decided upon. You shall be turned into a heather blossom on a Lappish +moor and live only as long as a heather blossom lives, unless you will +yield to my wishes. Notice the sun: it now stands low in the sky. In two +weeks and a day comes the first polar frost. Then the heather blossoms +die. Just before the frost comes, I shall question you for the last +time." + +[Illustration: LINDAGULL STEPPED FORTH IN THE CLEAR DAY.--_Page 70_.] + +Glaring at her, he waited, as if expecting the desired answer at once; +but as Lindagull again only gazed thoughtfully up at him in silence, the +wizard cried out in a voice trembling with anger: + + "_Adáma donai Marrabataësan!_" + +which meant, "Human life! sink into the likeness of a flower!" + +The wizard had learned these magic words one autumn evening from the +South Wind when it came from the African desert and laid itself to rest +on a Lapland mountain. The wind understands all languages, for all +words are spoken in its hearing. + +As the magician uttered this frightful command, it seemed to Lindagull +as if all the flower-stalks on the heath grew to trees and overshadowed +her; but it was she herself who sank down to the earth. The next moment +a stranger's eye could no longer distinguish her from the thousands and +thousands of pale purple-pink heather blossoms on the Lappish waste. "In +one day and two weeks!" mumbled the wizard, casting a malignant glance +behind him as he turned back to his tent. + +[4] Ole Shut-Eye. (The Sandman.) + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE RELEASE + + +While all this was taking place, Prince Abderraman was riding the wide +world over, with his sword at his side and his staff in his hand. There +was not a mountain in Asia, not a desert in Africa, nor a field, town or +city in Southern or Middle Europe which he had not traversed in vain. +But what had he to hope for in Europe? No tigers are found there except +the tame ones exhibited in the city menageries; and among _them_ there +was no _Ahriman_! Sorrow drew the prince back on the way to Persia, and +his trusty dog, Valledivau, accompanied him. + +One day the dog hunted a wild duck among the reeds of a lake, captured +it and carried it alive to his master. Just as the prince was about to +kill it, the duck quacked out: + +"Spare my life, and I will tell you something!" + +"I _will_ spare your life, wonderful bird," the prince exclaimed, +astonished. "What have you to tell me?" + +"Ride to Lapland!" quacked the duck, at the same time escaping into the +water. + +Lapland! The prince had never even heard of such a kingdom. When he +inquired about it and how he should find it, people answered: + +"Ride northward, steadily northward; and stop not until the road ends, +the forest ends, and you no more find a human dwelling with builded +hearth." + +"Wonderful!" thought the prince, and he followed the advice. He rode +northward, steadily northward; stopping not until the road came to an +end, the forest came to an end, and no human dwelling was to be seen but +one lone movable tent. + +It was on the last day of August, after he had ridden many long and +weary miles without seeing a single trace of man, that the prince +suddenly discovered, at the foot of a high mountain, this lone tent of +reindeer skin. The last day of August! The sun still shone and the +heather still blossomed, but the sky had changed and a cool north wind +blew. When the wind ceased, then would come the frost! + +The prince drew nearer to the tent that he might once more repeat his +fruitless query for the lost princess, when to his indescribable +astonishment he perceived in the distance an inscription on a rock on +the mountainside. The characters were very legible. He read the name of + + LINDAGULL! + +The wizard had carved the name there, over the door of the mountain +grotto, so that he could find the place again when he moved his tent +away. + +The prince had dismounted, and was just about to draw his sword and +enter the tent when Hirmu came out on his way to the heath. + +"Give me back the Princess Lindagull or I will send you to the Kingdom +of the Prince of Darkness!" shouted Abderraman. + +The wizard was a crafty fellow who knew many a trick by which to save +himself when in a dilemma. But he lost his presence of mind at this +unexpected encounter and could think of no better way out of the +difficulty than to change himself instantly into a mountain fox. With a +hasty spring he fled swiftly away into the mountain. He thought thus to +be safe from the prince's sword, but he forgot the dog by whom the +prince was followed! + +No sooner had Valledivau seen the fox spring away than he was off on the +hunt after it. The fox hid in every cleft and jumped over the mountain +ravines; but Valledivau, even more agile, chased him to the highest +mountain top, tore him in pieces, and ate up his heart. + +This proved the death of Hirmu the wizard; for his heart had entered the +fox just as it had before gone into the tiger; and when the heart was +eaten up, that was the end of the wizard. + +When the dog returned with his nose covered with blood, his master +understood that now their common enemy had met his destruction. But +where was Lindagull to be found? + + * * * * * + +The prince went to the door of the tent. The Lapp woman, Pimpedora, was +cooking reindeer meat; and her boy, Pimpepanturi, stretched lazily on +the soft moss, was sleeping instead of doing something useful while he +was waiting for dinner. + +"Woman," said the prince, "your husband is dead. Give me back the +Princess Lindagull, and no harm shall come to you." + +"O mercy! And is he dead?" exclaimed the Lapp woman, coming out of the +tent, but not appearing very much distressed. "Ah, well! It's time there +should come an end to his evil arts. As for Lindagull, we must seek her +out there among the heather blossoms. My husband has changed her into a +heather blossom, exactly like many thousands of others; and to-night the +frost will come and then all will be over with her!" + +"Ah! dearest little Lindagull! Must you die to-night and I not be able +to discover the stalk on which you wither?" cried the prince, throwing +himself down among the heather on the boundless moor, where a thousand +times a thousand pale, purple-pink blossoms, exactly like each other, +awaited death. + +"Hold!" said the Lapp woman. "Despair not! Now occurs to me the saying +with which Lindagull was enchanted! I thought he planned a wrong against +the child, and crept back of a big stone to see what my husband was +going to do. Then I heard him say: + + "_Adáma donai Marrabataësan!_" + +"Ah!" sighed the prince, "how can that help us when we do not know the +words which loosen the enchantment?" + +Pimpepanturi, waking and thinking that the dinner had been long enough +deferred, walked out of the tent to look for his mother. When he heard +the prince's words, he scratched his forehead thoughtfully a few times +and said, "Father used to change the saying around when he wanted to +disenchant any one." + +"Yes, so he did!" said the Lapp woman. + +Prince Abderraman, with terrified eagerness, gave a great leap, landed +on a rock, and shouted as loudly as he could over the limitless heath: + + "_Marrabataësan donai Adáma!_" + +The words rang out through the air without effect. No blossom arose. The +sun was sinking rapidly toward the horizon and the wind was growing +still. + +The prince, fearing he should not give the right turn to the magic +command, repeated it time after time saying the words in different order +and with different expression. But in vain. + +At last, at a certain way of saying the words, it seemed to him that a +bit of heather on a distant mound had lifted itself up to listen, but +sunk immediately back, undistinguishable among the multitudinous +blossoms. + +"The sun is going down," said the Lapp woman. "If we do not quickly find +the right manner of saying the words, the frost will come, and then it +will be too late." + +By this time the sun's red beams had sunk quite down to the horizon. All +nature was silent. A cool and damp evening mist, the forerunner of the +frost, spread itself like a veil over moor and mound. All living things +which had ventured to bloom for a short time in Lapland were now doomed +to death. + +Prince Abderraman was pallid with terror. His voice choked, and he could +scarcely articulate the one untried arrangement of the magical words: + + "_Marraba donai Adáma taësan._" + +Behold! On the distant hillock, a heather blossom raised itself on its +stalk. It grew as rapidly as does the lily which the Afghanistan fairies +cause to spring forth in the red dawn, when they tap on the blue +mountains with their magic wands. + +The mist lay all around the mound. Out of the mist arose a slender +figure, and as the prince approached the mound, running breathlessly, +Lindagull came toward him pale with the escape of death. Prince +Abderraman had found the right order for the words just in time to save +her life. + +The Princess Lindagull was borne to the tent in the arms of Abderraman, +and her strength soon returned under the Lappish woman's kind care. +Pimpedora was happy; and Pimpepanturi in his gladness forgot his +longed-for dinner, which was sadly burnt in the pot. + +[Illustration: OUT OF THE MIST AROSE A SLENDER FIGURE.--_Page 80_.] + +The hero-prince, picturing to himself the perils of the princess and the +wonder of her recovery, swooned with rapture. His first words as he +recovered were a prayer to Allah; and then he asked Lindagull: + +"How did it feel to be changed into a heather blossom?" + +"Just as if one sank back into the cradle of childhood and knew no more +of the world than to eat, drink, and be happy in God's love," answered +Lindagull. + +"And how did it feel when you came back to life again?" + +"Just as when one awakes on a clear morning after a deep and pleasant +slumber." + +"To-morrow shall we go back to Persia?" + +"Yes," answered Lindagull. "But the good woman and her son have had a +share in saving the poor captive Lindagull. We will take them with us +and they shall have a palace in Ispahan." + +"No; many, many thanks," answered Pimpedora; "I like my reindeer tent in +Lapland better." + +"Are there snow and reindeer in Persia?" asked Pimpepanturi. + +"Snow is found only on the highest mountains," said the princess; "and +instead of reindeer we have horses, antelopes, and gazelles." + +"No, thank you heartily, then," said Pimpepanturi. "You can go with +pleasure, and marry whom you wish. Nowhere in the world is there to be +found so good a land as Lapland!" + +It was of no use trying to dispute that question with the Laplanders, so +the prince and princess set out the following day without them. Before +departing they presented the Lapp woman and her son with their +gold-embroidered clothes and with many jewels; receiving in return gifts +of Lappish garments made from reindeer skin. + +The Lapp woman put the costly Persian robes carefully away in birch +bark, and rejoiced because with them she could buy a whole field of +grain. + + * * * * * + +Shah Nadir sat alone in Ispahan's golden palace and groaned with grief. +He could not forget his lost daughter. His wicked and ungrateful sons +had raised a rebellion against him, and were marching with a large army +toward the capital to cast their father from the throne. + +While affairs were at this juncture the Grand Vizier announced that a +young foreign couple, dressed in reindeer skin and followed by a dog, +wished to prostrate themselves at the king's feet. + +Shah Nadir never refused audience to a stranger,--(perhaps such a +traveler would know something of his dear lost child!)--and so the two +foreigners were led into his presence. + +The young man cast himself down before the feet of the Shah; but the +young woman, without ado, threw her arms around his neck; at which +proceeding the Grand Vizier's beard became green with consternation! + +But Shah Nadir, under her Lappish hood of reindeer skin, recognized his +child so long sought and so hopelessly bewailed. "Allah! Allah!" cried +he in joy; "now I am willing to die!" + +"No, my lord king," broke out Prince Abderraman. "Now shall you live to +rejoice with us, and to win back your kingdom again." + +When Shah Nadir learned about his daughter's captivity and of the loyal +service which the prince had shown her, he immediately proclaimed Prince +Abderraman successor to his throne, promised him the Princess Lindagull +in marriage, and sent him in command of the fifty thousand knights with +gold saddles to fight the rebellious army. + +It was not long before the prince won a glorious battle, took the rebel +sons prisoners, and came back victorious to the rejoicing people of +Ispahan. + +Then was the wedding of Prince Abderraman and Princess Lindagull +celebrated with great state (but without a wild beast fight!) and they +lived long and happily after. But one day every year,--and that was the +thirty-first of August, the date of Princess Lindagull's +deliverance,--the royal pair showed themselves (to the great wonderment +of magnificent Persia) in the Lapps' outlandish clothes of reindeer +skin, so that in their prosperity they should not forget the great +escape and blessing of the past. + +In his old age, Shah Nadir had happy little grandchildren to sit upon +his knee. The wicked sons ended their careers as swineherds for old King +Bom Bali in Turan. The dog, Valledivau, lived to be thirty years old and +died of the toothache (!); his skin was stuffed and kept in great honor. +But about Pimpedora, and Pimpepanturi who bore for a season the proud +name of Morus Pandorus von Pikkulukulikuck´ulu, nothing has since been +heard in Persia. Probably they have never found a better land on the +earth's broad expanse than Lapland. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + SIKKU AND THE TROLLS + + +In the time of Charles the Twelfth there lived, in North Finland, a poor +herd-boy called Sikku. His name should have been Sixtus, but the tongue +of the Finn is so unmanageable that some names baffle it, and in that +case he simply makes them over to suit himself,--to the form that he can +best pronounce; so for that reason, Sixtus became Sikku. + +Sikku was so poor that he had neither cap nor shirt nor shoes; but not +in the least did this trouble him. He was always gay and happy, and +while tending his cows at the foot of Sipuri Mountain, sang songs from +morning till evening or blew on his wooden horn, taking great delight in +hearing the mountain echoes mimic him. + +Sikku had an old jack-knife, which counted for riches to him; and +besides that he rejoiced in a comrade named Kettu, a long-nosed, +long-tailed yellow dog, faithful to Sikku, but with a testy temper +toward other folk. + +The two stood by each other in plenty and in need, through weal and +through woe. Kettu drove the cows together when they strayed, Kettu +watched them while Sikku took his midday nap, and Sikku shared with +Kettu the hard bread that was, for both, the usual breakfast and dinner. +With the bread, they always had a fine soup of clear spring water, and +almost every day a delicious dessert,--strawberries, raspberries, Arctic +blackberries, blueberries, red whortleberries, wild cherries, or berries +from the mountain-ash. + +Kettu scorned such things, but Sikku enjoyed them all in the course of +the summer, and thought he fared like a prince. When the weather was +very rainy and cold, however, he would begin, toward evening, to long +for the porridge pot. Oh, that nice warm porridge pot, that he could +scrape and scrape, eating all the porridge there was left anywhere in +it! Kettu got the porridge ladle to lick, and stole Miss Pussy's milk +from the broken earthen dish which stood on the floor near the +water-tub, though he seldom got the milk without a battle! + +The master of Anttilla Farm was stingy and grasping and his wife was +like him, but what mattered that to Sikku? He had his freedom, and the +only thing he was responsible for was that all the fifteen cows returned +to the farm every evening to be milked. Not another care in the world +had Sikku, and for a time all went well and happily. + +One day he climbed up the highest peak of the mountain while Kettu +watched the cows in the valley. There was a wide beautiful view over +forests, marshes, and small lonely lakes, but no houses were in sight. +Sikku had never in his life thought that the world could be so big! His +heart warmed within him as he saw the sun sparkle on the lakes between +the dark branches of the pines. When a cloud sailed over the sky, one +gleam after another flashed, vanished in shadow and shone out anew in +another spot. Sikku sang and sang, blowing his wooden horn between +times. The sounds rang out merrily up there on the mountain and turned +into a little song: + + "Oh, Sipuri Mountain! Tu-tu´! Falidu´! + Tu-tu´! Falidu´! + In all the whole world not a boy can be found + Who is tending his cows, with such grandeur around. + Tu-tu´! Falidu´!" + +While he was singing, there suddenly appeared before him a hideous +little old woman who said to him, "All the land that you see shall be +yours if you will be my boy and obey me." + +"Oh, ho!" exclaimed Sikku, observing the woman closely and recognizing +her as the troll woman from Allis Farm. + +"Give me the white cow, Kimmo," continued she, "and say when you go home +that the wolf caught her." + +Sikku's eyes grew big and he answered: "Indeed I will not. I am no such +rascal as that!" + +"Then blame yourself for what happens," said the troll woman; and with +that she hopped, crow fashion, down the mountain. + +Kettu began to howl from the valley. Sikku sprang down and found that +Kimmo had sunk in the wet marsh so that only her horn stood up above the +soft, yielding ground. He tried to drag her out, but he was not strong +enough, and when he had worked over her until he was worn out, he had to +give up and go home driving only fourteen cows, while the bell cow lowed +and Kettu howled. + +Poor Sikku told of the disaster and got a hard thrashing; and the next +morning was sent to his work without anything to eat, not even the dry +bread usually given to him for the noon meal. + +He sang no songs that day but sat hungry and sorrowful at the foot of +the mountain. By and by, the long-bearded old troll man from Allis came +to him and said: + +"Give me the black cow, Mustikka, and say that the wolf tore her to +pieces, and I will give you all the land you can see from Sipuri Peak." + +[Illustration: "OH, HO!" +EXCLAIMED SIKKU, RECOGNIZING HER AS THE TROLL WOMAN.--_Page 89_.] + +"Indeed I will not. I am no such rascal as that!" answered Sikku, +offended. + +"Blame yourself then for what happens," said the troll; and with that +off he went, turning somersaults all the way. + +Kettu began to bark. Sikku ran at once to the herd and found Mustikka +lying dead among the trees on a hillside. She had eaten some poisonous +plant and could not be restored to life. Sikku, distressed and crying, +made a birch-bark cone, in which he brought water from the spring and +dashed over her head; but it was of no use. He must go home with only +thirteen cows and report the misfortune. This time he was shut up in the +cellar without food for three days. The fourth day he was sent out with +the thirteen cows and the usual lunch-bag. Being very hungry he no +sooner reached the gate than he opened the bag, but found in it only a +gray stone! + +Sikku drove the cows toward the mountain, ate berries in the forest, +and sat down, full of grief, on a stump right in the midst of the herd, +so that no further ill might befall. Then there came to him the pretty +little troll maiden from Allis, who held out toward him a fresh wheaten +roll, patted his thin cheek, and said: + +"Give me the red cow, Mansikka, and tell them when you go home that a +bear tore her to pieces, and you shall have this nice fresh roll and all +the land you can see from the top of Sipuri besides." + +Sikku was so hungry that he could have swallowed a roll of moss! He +looked at the wheaten roll, he looked at the pretty little troll maiden +and had to bite his tongue to keep from instantly answering yes. But the +troll maiden laughed and that offended Sikku, and he answered: + +"Indeed I will not. I am no such rascal as that!" + +"Blame yourself then for what happens!" said the troll maiden; and with +that, fluttering like a magpie, away she went into the forest. + +Sikku, fearing a new misfortune, turned at once to Mansikka who had been +grazing right near him. She now lay stretched at full length upon the +grass with a snake hanging fast to her nose; and in a short time she was +dead from the poisonous bite. What did it matter that Sikku killed the +snake? Its bite had killed the cow, and home must he go with only twelve +cows, and tell of this new disaster. + +"Decide yourself what punishment you deserve!" said the angry farmer. +"Shall I roast you in the bath-house furnace or would you rather be +thrown into the deep well?" + +"I couldn't help it,--it wasn't my fault!" said Sikku, weeping bitterly. +"Three times they offered me all the land I could see from Sipuri Peak +if I would steal a cow for them and then lie to you; but that of course +I would not do." + +"They did, did they?" said the farmer. "Very well. That is my land that +you see from Sipuri Peak and I will promise it to you, if you, before +the next full moon, lead to my farm nine beautiful cows in the place of +Kimmo, Mustikka, and Mansikka, lying dead over there by the mountain. +But what shall I do with you now? You must have some kind of +punishment." + +"Bind him hand and foot, lay him on the highest peak of Sipuri Mountain, +and let him eat his fill of the view of the land you promise him," said +the farm mistress, who could not forgive Sikku for the loss of the three +cows. + +This suggestion pleased the farmer. Sikku was bound hand and foot, and +placed on the tip top of the mountain; and everybody was forbidden to +give him anything to eat or drink. The remaining twelve cows were driven +by another boy to graze in fields the other side of the farm, far away +from the mountain. + +There lay Sikku, bound hand and foot, and half dead from hunger. The +forest wafted fragrance, the lakes glittered in the sunshine, twilight +came, night came, the dew fell, the thrushes sang, the stars twinkled, +and the moon looked down upon the poor boy; and it seemed as if no one +in the whole world thought or cared about him. + +But high over mountain and forest, over the lakes, the dew, the thrushes +and even the stars and the moon, there is nevertheless One who sees all +the oppressed and miserable upon earth; and He saw even poor forsaken +Sikku and sent to him a faithful friend. Who was the faithful friend? +Who should it be but Kettu? + +Kettu could have porridge to eat at the farm; he could steal milk, as +was his custom, from the cat's broken dish by the water-tub; but though +he was hungry, Kettu chose rather to dash up the mountain in search of +Sikku, to lie at Sikku's bound feet, and lick his bound hands. Sikku was +so glad to have his dog with him that he once more felt happy and +content; and soon both fell asleep in the moonlight. + + * * * * * + +Now there was at this time,--in the reign of Charles the Twelfth,--a +great war going on in the southern part of the land. The people in +North Finland did not know much about this war, but lived in peace +behind their thick forests. Suddenly an enemy's fleet appeared on their +seacoast and bands of warriors were put ashore. They spread over the +land, fighting and plundering everywhere. + +On this very night, one of these fierce warrior bands had come to the +region near Sipuri. They attacked, burned and plundered Anttilla Farm, +took the master himself prisoner, and drove forth all his cattle as part +of their booty. + +Afterward the warriors separated into smaller groups, to continue their +plundering in other places. And certain Cossacks were left behind to +guard the prisoners and the stolen cattle, until it was convenient to +put them on board the ship. + +Early in the morning, Sikku awoke to find that Kettu was biting a man in +the leg. Two wild-looking, heavily-bearded men had climbed to the +mountain top to get a good view of the land and see whither they should +now betake themselves. Finding a young boy, tied and helpless, they +pitied him,--hostile though they were,--freed him, gave him bread from +their knapsacks and took him along with them. + +Reaching their horses, which had been left tied to trees at the foot of +the mountain, one of the men lifted Sikku to his horse's back, the other +drove Kettu away so that he should not follow them, and off they +galloped, not stopping until the riders neared the shore of a large +lake. + +Much booty and many prisoners had been brought here, but the Cossacks +were so eager to continue their raids that they left only six men to +guard what they had already taken, the others riding forth again +immediately. + +When night came on, the six Cossacks began to be afraid lest some of the +land's own people should attack them in the dark. Therefore, they got +into a small boat, taking Sikku with them, and rowed out to an island in +the lake, so that they might pass the night in safety. They left the +cattle to graze on the shore, while the prisoners and even the six +horses were still securely bound to the trees. + +Sikku lay among the Cossacks on the barren island. The night was dark, +the great waves dashed against the island's pebbly beach, and a strong +wind blew toward the mainland. Sikku was wakeful, and heard the +long-drawn, regular breathing of the weary Cossacks as they slept beside +him. Five of them lay there, but the sixth had stayed on guard in the +boat. + +Sikku raised himself slowly and listened. One of the Cossacks began +talking in his sleep and tossed his arms about, so Sikku lay down again; +but still he could not sleep. + +After a while he sat up once more, and since everything was quiet, he +stole out from among the sleeping Cossacks and went silently down to the +boat at the shore. Here the trusted guard was also asleep, and slept so +heavily that he knew nothing of Sikku's doings, although Sikku shoved +the boat gently out into the water, sat down in the stern and let the +wind drive the boat toward the mainland. + +Still the Cossack watchman slept as the boat sped quietly on. He had +ridden hard, many, many miles. Little wonder that he slept like a log! + +When Sikku felt the boat grate against the land, he climbed softly out, +took his old knife from his pocket, and cut the ropes that bound the +prisoners. The Cossack still slept. The released prisoners could +scarcely believe that they were free. They followed Sikku to the boat, +and bound their enemy with the same ropes by which a moment ago they +themselves had been bound. + +Now at last the Cossack was awake, but too late. He had been made his +captives' captive. + +"Kill him at once! And then let us row to the island and kill the others +while they sleep!" shouted one of the newly freed men. + +"No," said Sikku, who recognized his master's voice. "Let us rather take +their booty and hurry it and ourselves to safety." + +"They have burnt my house and barns, and stolen everything I had," said +the farmer savagely. + +"They freed me and gave me food," said Sikku, who seemed suddenly like a +grown man. + +Most of the men agreed with Sikku. The Cossacks were not killed, some of +the land's folk rode away on the enemy's horses, others drove herds of +cattle off to safe hiding-places in the forest, and each person carried +away as much as he could of the enemy's plunder. Sikku had chosen his +share and was well pleased with it. + +Several days after, the warrior bands returned from their raids and took +to their ships again. + +Then the folk came out from the depths of the forest and from the +mountain caves where they had sought refuge in the hour of danger, and +many came from their burnt farms. They gathered at the church to consult +together as to what was best to be done now. For one thing, they must +decide the fate of the six captive Cossacks,--the five on the island +having also been captured. + +"Kill them! Kill them!" shouted several. + +"No, give them to Sikku," said others. "He captured them." + +So the six Cossacks were given to Sikku who exacted the promise from +them that they would not fight against Finland any more. Then he let +them go, free and unharmed. + +The farmer of Anttilla and his wife had settled themselves in a tiny hut +on their estate which the enemy, in their headlong haste, had not +burned. + +"Alas!" said the wife, the first evening they sat in their new poor +home. "If we only had our beautiful cows now!" + +"If we only had!" said the farmer. + +At that moment they saw a little bareheaded, barefooted boy come from +the hillside grove toward the hut, driving before him, with the help of +a long-nosed, yellow dog, a herd of nine beautiful cows. + +"Isn't that Sikku? And Kettu?" exclaimed the farmer. + +"And are not those our cows?" cried the farm mistress. + +Yes, it was Sikku; and Kettu; and those were the Anttilla Farm cows that +the robbers had taken away with them. Three had been slain, but the nine +that were left, Sikku had asked for as his share of the booty. + +"Here I come, bringing you nine beautiful cows!" shouted Sikku. He would +fain have swung his cap for joy, only he had no cap. + +"Darling boy!" "Is it really you?" exclaimed the farmer and his wife at +the same time. Then they embraced Sikku, and patted the cows again and +again in their delight. + +Kettu had already disappeared in the hut to see whether Miss Pussy's +broken dish still stood by the water-tub. Miss Pussy hissed and spat at +him and so there was again war in the land. + +"Are you hungry, Sikku?" asked the mistress. Her conscience was very +uneasy. + +"No, I thank you," answered Sikku. "I was thinking of something else. It +is not yet full moon." + +At these words, the farmer fumbled with his big ears in embarrassment +and distress, remembering his rash promise. Here was Sikku with nine +cows, and true enough, the moon was not yet full. Well, Sikku had proved +himself a fine fellow;--a promise was a promise;--they needed the cows +sadly. One might as well make the best of the situation. + +"Listen now, Sikku," said he. "Let us be good friends. What could you do +with so much land while you are so little? Serve me faithfully for seven +years, and I will then keep my promise and give you all the land you can +see from Sipuri Mountain." + +"Done!" said Sikku. + +So Sikku served faithfully for seven years at Anttilla Farm, grew tall +and strong, got shirts and caps and shoes, married the farmer's +daughter, the kind Greta, and received with her not only all the land to +be seen from Sipuri Mountain, but a fine new farmhouse besides. + +Kettu and Miss Pussy lived many years and, when they died, were both +buried at the foot of Sipuri Mountain. + +And the three trolls? Oh, yes. Well, there is a big crows' nest at Allis +Farm, in which live three crows. They can give you news of the trolls, +if any one can; but people say, you know, that crows are not to be +relied upon in the least. + + --_Z. Topelius_. +[Illustration] + + + + + SAMPO LAPPELIL + + +There was once a Lapp and a Lapp woman. The Lapps are a people who live +north of the Swedes, the Norwegians, and the Finns, far, far up in the +north. They have neither fields, nor real forests, nor regular houses, +but only great barren bogs and high mountains, and small huts, which +they crawl into through a hole. The country of the Lapps is strange. +Half the year it is light most of the time, for the sun never sets in +the middle of summer, and the other half of the year it is dark most of +the time, and the stars shine all day in winter. + +Ten months of the year it is winter, and then the little Lapp men and +the little Lapp women drive over the snow in small boats, which are +called pulks. There is no horse harnessed before the pulk, but a +reindeer. Have you ever seen a reindeer? It is as large as a little +horse, is gray in color, has high branching horns, a stooping neck, and +a pretty little head with great clear eyes. When it runs at full speed, +it goes flying over mountains and hills like a rushing wild wind, and +its hoofs snap as it dashes along. + +There was, as I have said, a Lapp and a Lapp woman. They lived far up in +Lapland, in Aimio, which lies near Tenojoki or the Tana River. (You can +see it on the map of Finland, where Lapland can be found like a great +nightcap on Finland's high head.) The place was barren and wild, but the +Lapp and his wife felt sure that nowhere on the whole earth could you +see such white snow, such clear stars, and such beautiful Northern +Lights as at Aimio. There they had built themselves a hut such as Lapps +usually live in. No large trees grew in that region,--only slender +birches, that were more like bushes than trees--so where could they get +wood for a house? Instead, they took long, thin sticks, stuck them into +the snow, in a circle, tied the upper ends together, hung reindeer skins +over the sticks, so that altogether it looked like a gray sugar-loaf, +and then the hut was finished. In the top of the sugar-loaf they left a +hole, through which the smoke could escape if they lighted a fire, and +there was another hole in the southern side through which they could +crawl in and out. The Lapps thought it was pretty and warm and were very +happy in it, though they had no other bed and no other floor than the +white snow. + +The man and the woman had a little boy whose name was Sampo, and that +means "luck" in Lapland. But Sampo had two names. Once some strange +gentlemen in great fur coats had come and stayed in the hut. They had +with them little hard, white pieces of snow, such as the Lapp woman had +never seen before, which they called "sugar." They gave Sampo a few +pieces of the sweet snow, and they patted him on the cheek and said: +"Lappelil! Lappelil!" which means "little Lapp." They could not say +anything else, for they could not talk Lapp. And then they traveled away +farther north, to the Arctic Ocean and the northernmost point of Europe +which is called the North Cape. The Lapp woman liked the strange +gentlemen and their sweet snow, and she began from that time to call her +boy "Lappelil." + +"I think Sampo a much better name," said the man, rather vexed. "Sampo +means 'riches,' and I tell you, Mother, don't spoil the name! For, some +time, Sampo will become the king of the Lapps, and reign over thousands +of reindeer and fifty Lapp huts." + +"Yes, but Lappelil sounds so pretty," said the woman. And she called the +boy "Lappelil," and the man called him "Sampo." He was, however, not +christened yet, for at that time there was no priest within a hundred +miles. "Next year we will go to the priest and let him christen the +boy," the man used to say. But next year something came in the way, and +the journey did not take place, and the boy did not get christened. + +Sampo Lappelil was now a fat little fellow seven or eight years old, +with black hair and brown eyes; he had a snub nose and a broad mouth +just like his papa's; in Lapland a face must have such features if it is +to be thought really fine. Sampo was not a stupid boy for his age; he +had his own little snow-shoes and on them he danced over the high hills +near the Tana; and his own little reindeer which he harnessed before his +own pulk. You should have seen how the snow blew about him, as he rushed +off over the ice and the high snow-drifts, so that nothing of the boy +was to be seen but a tuft of his black hair! + +"I shall never feel quite safe until the boy is christened," the Lapp +woman often said. "The wolves may get him some fine day here on the +mountains, or he may meet Hiisi's reindeer with the golden horns--and +then may God protect the poor creature who is not christened!" + +Sampo, hearing this, began to wonder what kind of a reindeer it could be +that had golden horns. "That must be a beautiful reindeer," said he. "I +should like to drive it once; then I would travel to Rastekais!" + +Rastekais is a very wild, high mountain that may be seen from +twenty-five or thirty miles away. + +"Don't you dare to talk so, naughty boy!" said the mother, and scolded +him. "It is just on Rastekais that the trolls are, and there lives +Hiisi." + +"Hiisi--who is that?" asked Sampo. + +The woman became confused. "Now, he must ask about everything, that +boy," she thought to herself. "Why do I stand here and talk about such +things so that he can hear? But at least I will frighten him away from +Rastekais!" + +And so she said: "Dear Lappelil, never go to Rastekais, for there lives +Hiisi, the great mountain king who eats a reindeer in a mouthful, and +swallows boys like gnats." + +Sampo began to wonder when he heard this; but he said nothing. He +thought to himself: "It must be good fun to see such a horrid creature +as the mountain king,--but only from a long way off!" + +It was now already three or four weeks after Christmas, and it was +still dark in Lapland. There was no morning, noon, nor evening. It was +always night; and the moon shone, and the Northern Lights crackled, and +the stars twinkled brightly all the time. Sampo began to feel dull. It +was so long since he had seen the sun that he had almost forgotten what +it looked like; and when any one talked of summer Sampo only remembered +it was the time when the gnats were so bad and tried to eat him up. +Therefore he did not care if the summer stayed away forever, if only it +would grow light enough to go about easily on snow-shoes. + +One day about noon the Lapp said: "Come here, and you shall see +something!" Sampo crept out of the hut in the dark, and looked toward +the south, for it was in that direction that his father pointed. There +he saw a little red streak way down on the horizon. + +"Do you know what that is?" asked the Lapp. + +"That is Southern Lights," said the boy. He had a good idea of the +points of the compass, and knew very well that you could not see +Northern Lights in the south. + +"No," said his father, "that is the forerunner of the sun. To-morrow or +the day after we shall see the sun itself. Only look how strangely the +red light shines on the top of Rastekais." + +Sampo turned to the west and saw how the snow was colored red far away +on the dark, wild top of Rastekais. Immediately it came into his mind +how very pleasant it would be to see the mountain king--from a long way +off. + +Sampo thought about this all day and half the night. He tried to sleep, +but could not. "Yes," he thought, "it would be fun to see the mountain +king once!" He kept thinking about it, until at last he crept quite +softly out from the reindeer-skin under which he lay, and out through +the door. It was so cold that the stars snapped and the snow crackled +under his feet. But Sampo Lappelil was not afraid of cold. Besides he +had a leather jacket, leather trousers, Lapp shoes, and a fur cap and +mittens. Thus fortified, he looked at the stars, and did not know +exactly what he should do next. + +Then he heard his little reindeer scratching in the snow not far off. +"What if I took a drive?" thought Sampo. + +No sooner said than done. Sampo harnessed the reindeer before the pulk +as he usually did, and started off over the great bare snow-field. "I +will drive a little way toward Rastekais, only a little way," he thought +to himself. So he drove down over the frozen river and up on the other +side of the Tana, and then was in the kingdom of Norway, for the Tana +River is the boundary. But that Sampo did not know. + +You, who are reading this story of Sampo Lappelil, did you ever sing: +"Run, my brave reindeer"? Do you know the beautiful songs of the dear, +good Bishop Franzén, whom all Sweden and all Finland love, and have you +ever seen the title-page of the fourth volume of his songs? There you +can see a Lapp boy driving with his reindeer over the snow, and that is +just Sampo Lappelil. So he sat and sang to himself: + + "So short is the day, + The road is so long, + Oh! hark to my song: + Let us hurry away! + The wolf pack lives here, + Rest not, little deer!" + +As he sang he saw in the dark the wolves running like gray dogs around +the pulk, and barking after the reindeer; but he did not mind that; he +knew that no wolf could run as fast as his swift reindeer. Ha, how they +went over stones and hills! The wind whistled in their ears! Sampo +Lappelil only rushed on. The reindeer's hoofs snapped, and the moon in +the sky raced with him, and the high mountains seemed to rebound, but +Sampo Lappelil only rushed on. It was pleasant to drive; he thought of +nothing else. Then it happened that in a sudden turn over a hill, the +pulk upset and Sampo fell out and was left lying in a snow-drift. + +But the reindeer did not notice that; it thought that he still sat in +the pulk, and so ran on, and Sampo had got his mouth so full of snow +that he could not call. There he lay, like a lemming that had lost a +foot, in the dark night, in the midst of the desolate wilderness where +no one lived for many miles around. + +[Illustration: SAMPO WAS LEFT LYING IN A SNOW-DRIFT.--_Page 114_.] + +Sampo was frightened at first--that you cannot wonder at. He worked +himself out of the snow, and found he was not hurt in the least, but +what good would that do? As far as he could see in the pale moonlight, +there were only snow-drifts and snow-fields and high mountains. But one +mountain reached high above all the others, and Sampo guessed that he +was now near Rastekais. Here lived the horrible mountain king, who ate a +reindeer in one mouthful, and swallowed boys like gnats! Now Sampo +Lappelil grew frightened indeed. Ah! how gladly would he have been at +home with his father and mother in the warm hut. But how should he get +there? Would not the mountain king come and swallow him with his +trousers and mittens, as if he were but a poor little gnat? + +Well, there sat Sampo Lappelil in the snow and the dark, on Lapland's +barren mountain. It was so strange, so frightful to see the high black +shadow of Rastekais, where the mountain king lived! But it did not help +him to sit there and cry, for his tears froze in a moment, and ran like +peas down on his furry reindeer-skin jacket. So Sampo got up from the +snow-drift to run himself warm. + +"If I stand here I shall freeze," said he to himself. "No, rather will I +go to the mountain king. If he eat me, then he will eat me. But I will +tell him that it would be better that he should eat the wolves here on +the mountain; they are fatter than I, and he will have less trouble with +their skin than he would with my furs." + +Sampo began to climb up the high mountain. He had not gone far before he +heard something come stealthily over the snow, and immediately afterward +a great furry wolf sprang out close to his side. Sampo started, his +little Lapp heart beat loud, but he determined to behave as if he were +not afraid. "Don't jump in my way," he called to the wolf. "I have an +errand to the mountain king, and if you wish to keep your skin don't do +me any harm!" + +"Well, well, take it easy," said the wolf, for on Rastekais all the +animals could talk. "Who are you, little fellow, working yourself +through the snow?" + +"My name is Sampo Lappelil," answered the boy. "And who are you?" + +"I am the mountain king's highest master-wolf," answered the monster, +"and have been running from mountain to mountain to bring his people to +the great Sun Festival. Since you are coming my way, you can sit up on +my back and ride to the king." + +Sampo climbed up on the wolf's furry coat, and they rushed away over +clefts and precipices. + +"Sun Festival--what does that mean?" asked Sampo. + +"Don't you know?" said the wolf. "After it has been dark in Lapland all +winter, and the sun for the first time rises in the sky, then we +celebrate. All the animals and all the trolls collect here on Rastekais, +and on that day no one is allowed to do any harm. That is lucky for you, +Sampo Lappelil, for otherwise, you see, I should have eaten you up a +long time ago." + +"Is there the same law for the king, too?" asked Sampo. + +"Of course," said the wolf. "For one hour before the sun rises and for +one hour after it sets, the mountain king dare not touch a hair of your +head; but you must take care, after that time; for if you are still on +the mountain, then a hundred thousand wolves and a thousand bears will +rush upon you, and the mountain king will seize the first one he can get +hold of, and then it will soon be over with Sampo Lappelil." + +"Perhaps you will be so kind as to help me back, as soon as there is +danger?" asked Sampo with a beating heart. + +The wolf began to laugh, for on Rastekais the wolves can laugh. "Don't +imagine that, dear Sampo," said he; "I will be the first to stick my +claws into you. You are a fine fat boy; I see that you have been +fattened on reindeer's milk and reindeer cheese. You will taste very +good for an early breakfast." + +Sampo wondered if it would not be as well to jump down from the wolfs +back immediately, but it was too late; they had come to the top of the +mountain, and he saw a wonderful sight. There sat the great mountain +king on his throne of sky-high rocks, looking far out over mountains and +valleys into the dark night. On his head he wore a cap of white +snow-clouds; his eyes were like the full moon when it rises over the +woods, his nose like a mountain top, his mouth like a mountain cleft, +his beard like long icicles; his arms were as thick as the thickest +fir-tree, his hands were like pine branches, his legs were like +coasting-hills in winter, and his great fur coat like a snow mountain. +If you ask how any one could see the mountain king and his people in the +middle of the night, then you must know that the snow cast a light upon +everything, and that over the sky the most beautiful Northern Lights +played. + +Around the mountain king sat millions of gray mountain trolls and +brownies, so small that when they ran on the frozen snow they left no +more trace after them than a squirrel leaves. They had collected here +from the farthest ends of the earth, from Nova Zembla and Spitsbergen +and Greenland and Iceland--yes, from the North Pole itself, to worship +the sun, as savages from fear worship the devil; for the trolls do not +like the sun and would prefer that it should never rise again after it +has once set behind the barren mountains. Farther away stood all the +animals of Lapland in long close rows--a thousand and again a thousand +bears, wolves, and lynxes, the good reindeer, the little lemming, and +the lively reindeer-fleas; but the gnats had not been able to come--they +were frozen to death. + +All this Sampo Lappelil saw with wonder. He climbed down quietly from +the master-wolf's back and hid himself behind a great stone to see what +would happen. + +The mountain king raised his high head so that the snow flew around him; +and the beautiful Northern Lights stood like a halo about his forehead, +and shot in long star-shaped, pale-red rays out over the blue night sky; +there was a crackling and a roaring like that a forest fire makes when +its flames leap up against the crowns of the pine-trees; now the Lights +spread themselves out, now they drew together again; now the brightness +was very dazzling, now it grew pale, then one gleam of light after +another shot like a sudden shower out over the snow-covered mountain. +This pleased the mountain king. He clapped his icy hands, and the echo +from the mountains sounded like thunder, and the trolls whistled with +joy, and the animals round about screamed with fear. This pleased the +mountain king still more, so that he called out, loud, over the +wilderness: + +"So shall it be! So shall it be! Forever winter and forever night! That +is what I like." + +"Yes, so shall it be, so shall it be!" cried the trolls as loud as they +could, for they all liked winter and night better than summer and +sunshine. + +But among the animals there arose a murmur of talking, for all the +beasts of prey and the lemmings thought as the trolls did, while the +reindeer and the other animals would have found no fault with the +summer, if they had not suddenly happened to think of the gnats in +Lapland. It was only the little reindeer-flea who really wanted the +summer; he cried as loud as he could: "Your Majesty, we came here to +wait for the sun!" + +"Will you be quiet, you wretched insect!" growled the white bear, close +beside it. "It is only an old custom that makes us collect together +here. But it will be pleasant; the sun will stay away forever. The sun +is put out! The sun is dead!" + +"The sun is put out! The sun is dead!" murmured all the animals, and a +shiver went through all nature. + +The trolls from the North Pole laughed so that their caps flew off, and +the great mountain king raised his voice of thunder and called out over +the wilderness: "So shall it be! So shall it be! The sun is dead. The +whole earth shall fall down and worship me, Hiisi, the king of +everlasting winter and of everlasting night." + +That provoked Sampo Lappelil, as he sat behind the stone, and he came +out and shouted with his little saucy voice: "You are lying, mountain +king! you are lying, as tall as you are! Yesterday I saw the forerunner +of the sun in the sky, and the sun is not dead! Your beard will still +melt when it comes midsummer." + +At these words the mountain king's brow grew as dark as a black cloud, +and he forgot the law and stretched out his terrible long arm to crush +Sampo Lappelil. But at that moment the Northern Lights grew pale, and a +red ray sprang up in the sky and shone straight into the mountain king's +ice-cold face, so that he was suddenly dazzled and let his arm fall. + +And now the sun's golden rim could be seen lifting itself slowly and +majestically up over the horizon, and it lighted up the mountains and +wildernesses, the snow-drifts and clefts, the trolls and beasts and the +brave little Sampo Lappelil. Then all at once a glow spread over the +snow, as if many million of roses had rained down upon it, and the sun +shone into all their eyes, yes, and into all their hearts, too. Even +those who had rejoiced because the sun was dead were now really glad to +see it again. It was funny to witness the trolls' surprise. They stared +at the sun with their little gray eyes, from under their red caps, and +while it stayed they became against their will so beside themselves with +joy that they stood on their heads in the snow. The terrible mountain +king's beard began to melt and to drip down like a running brook over +his great white coat. + +While they all stood looking at the sun with feelings so different, the +first hour had almost slipped away, and Sampo Lappelil heard one of the +reindeer say to its little one: "Come, come, dear child! We must go now +or we shall be eaten up by the wolves!" + +Then Sampo, too, remembered what he had to expect if he waited there any +longer. And as he saw by his side a reindeer with beautiful golden +horns, he jumped up on its back, and they rushed off at a gallop over +the steep mountain. + +"What can that strange noise be that we hear behind us?" asked Sampo +after a while, when he had got a little used to the violent ride. + +"That is the thousand bears who are coming after us to eat us," answered +the reindeer. "But don't be afraid; I am the mountain king's own magic +reindeer, and no bear has ever gnawed my heels." + +When they had ridden a while longer, Sampo asked: "What can that be that +breathes and moans so strangely behind us?" + +The reindeer answered: "That is the hundred thousand wolves who are +coming after us at full gallop to tear you and me to pieces. But don't +be afraid; no wolf has ever beaten me in a race here in the wilderness." + +They rode on a while longer; then Sampo asked: "Is it thundering in the +mountains there behind us?" + +"No," said the reindeer, and began to shake in all his limbs. "That is +Hiisi, the mountain king himself, who is coming with giant steps after +us; and now it is all over with both of us, for him it is impossible to +escape." + +"Is there no help?" asked Sampo. + +"No," said the reindeer, "there is nothing to do now but to try to get +to the parsonage off there near Enare Lake. If we get there we are +saved, for the mountain king has no power over Christians." + +"Oh," said Sampo, "run now, my brave reindeer, over mountain and valley, +and I will give you golden oats in a silver manger!" + +The reindeer ran and ran; it was a life-and-death race! And they had but +just reached the priest's house when the mountain king came up outside +and knocked so hard on the door that every one thought the whole house +would fall down. "Who is that?" asked the priest. + +"It is I!" answered a voice of thunder outside. + +[Illustration: ON THE BACK OF THE REINDEER WITH GOLDEN HORNS.--_Page +126_.] + +"Open the door for Hiisi, the mountain king. There +is an unchristened child within, and all heathen belong to me!" + +"Wait a minute, until I put on my surplice and collar, so that I can +receive so distinguished a guest with proper dignity," answered the +priest. + +"Hurry, then!" growled the mountain king; "hurry, or I will kick the +walls down." + +"Immediately, immediately, sir," answered the priest. + +But at the same time he took a bowl of water and christened Sampo +Lappelil with all proper ceremony. + +"Well, are you not ready yet?" growled the mountain king, and he lifted +his terrible foot to kick the house down. + +But the priest opened the door and said: "Begone, you king of night and +winter, for with this child you have nothing to do! The sun of God's +grace shines over Sampo Lappelil, and he belongs not to you but to God's +kingdom!" + +Then the mountain king grew so furious that he burst on the spot and +turned into a terrible snow-cloud, and it snowed so hard that the snow +reached up over the roof of the parsonage and they all expected to be +buried alive. But when the morning came the sun shone on the snow, the +snow melted away, and the parsonage and all in it were saved; and there +was no sign of the mountain king. Every one thinks, however, that he +still lives and reigns on Rastekais. + +Sampo Lappelil thanked the priest and borrowed a pulk from him. Then he +harnessed to it the reindeer with the golden horns and went home to his +father in Aimio. There was great joy when Sampo Lappelil came back so +unexpectedly. But how he became a great man and fed his reindeer with +golden oats from a silver manger, that is another story, which it would +take too long to tell now. It is said that since that time when Sampo +had such a narrow escape, the Lapps have never, as before, put off from +year to year having their little children christened--for who would like +to see his child eaten up by the terrible mountain king? Sampo Lappelil +knows what it means to run that risk! And having heard Hiisi's mighty +footsteps, he knows, too, precisely what it is when thunder resounds in +the mountains. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + + _Translated by Margaret Böcher_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + A LEGEND OF MERCY + + +On one side of the lake there was a large town; on the opposite shore +stood a little lone cottage. The snow whirled over the frozen lake in +great clouds and the wind was very keen; for it was winter and +Christmastide in the world. + +At the cottage there was poverty inside, but riches on the roof. Up +there stood the great golden sheaf of grain about which the birds of +heaven gathered joyfully for their Christmas feast, while inside the +cottage food was scanty, as usual. The peasants' little children, +however, listened happily to the birds' joyous twitter from the +housetop, and took great delight in seeing the fine prints of the +sparrow's tiny feet in the smooth snow roundabout. + +"If we had threshed that grain, instead of giving it to the sparrows, we +might have had fresh wheaten rolls for the children for Christmas," +sighed the peasant's wife. + +"Don't you know that the merciful are blessed?" asked the gentle old +peasant with a kind glance at his dissatisfied wife. + +"But to let the birds of the air eat our bread," she sighed again. + +"Yes, the birds. Furthermore, what matter, even if it were the wild +beasts of the forest? Should we not show mercy? Besides, I have saved +enough to be able to buy four fresh rolls and a can of milk for +Christmas. Let us send the children across the lake to the town with +their sled. They will easily get back with the things before evening." + +"But suppose they meet a wolf on the ice," suggested the mother. + +"I will give Arvid a big club," said the father. "He will get along all +right, having that." + +So it happened that Arvid and his sister Hanna went to town to buy the +treat of white rolls and milk. By this time the snow was piled in great +drifts on the ice, and the children had difficulty in dragging the sled, +so that when they turned toward home the early darkness was already +beginning to settle down. They trudged through the snow as fast as they +could, but the drifts were much higher than before, and darkness came on +in earnest while they still had quite a long distance to go. + +As they struggled on, something black moved in the darkness. When it +came nearer, the children saw that it was a wolf. + +"Don't be afraid, Hanna," said Arvid. "I have a good club." And with +these words, he raised it threateningly. + +The wolf was now close beside the children but made no attempt to harm +them. He only howled, but the howling was extraordinary for it sounded +as if he uttered words in it,--words that the children could understand. +"It is so cold, so cold," howled the wolf. "And my little ones have +nothing to eat. Give me some bread for them in the name of mercy." + +"Poor little things!" said Hanna. "We will give you _our_ two rolls for +them, and we ourselves will eat hard bread to-night, but father and +mother must have their Christmas treat." + +"Many thanks," said the wolf as he took the two fresh rolls and glided +away. + +The children strove on through deeper and deeper snow, but in a little +while they heard some creature treading heavily behind them. It proved +to be a bear. + +The bear growled out something in his own language, and at first the +children could not find out what he meant although they tried hard; but +the bear kept on growling and finally, strangely enough, the children +understood. The bear, too, desired a Christmas gift. + +"It is so cold, so cold," growled the big creature. "All the water +everywhere is frozen and my poor little ones have nothing to drink. Be +merciful and give me a little milk for them." + +"How is this?" asked Arvid. "Why are you not asleep in your den for the +winter, as other bears are? But that is your affair. We will give you +our half of the milk for your little ones. Hanna and I can very well +drink water to-night, if only father and mother have something good for +Christmas." + +"Many thanks," said the bear, as he took the milk in a birch-bark cone +which he carried in his fore-paws. Then with slow, pompous steps, he +lumbered away into the darkness. + +The children waded along through the drifts still more eagerly now, for +they could see the Christmas lights shining through the windows of their +home; but they had not gone far before an ugly owl came flapping along +beside them. + +"I will have bread and milk! I will have bread and milk!" screamed the +owl, stretching out her long claws to scratch the children. + +"Oh, ho!" said Arvid. "If that is the kind you are, I shall have to +teach you to be polite." So saying, he gave the owl such a clever blow +on the wings with his club that she flew screaming away. + +Soon after this the children were at home, gaily beating the snow from +their clothes in the little entry. + +"We have met a wolf!" shouted Hanna. + +"And given a bear some milk!" added Arvid. + +"But the owl got a taste of the club!" laughed Hanna. Then they told all +their adventures. + +The parents looked thoughtfully at each other. How wonderful! To think +that their children had shown mercy even to the wild beasts of the +forest! What would happen next? What did it all mean? + +It was now supper-time. The peasant family gathered at the table upon +which, besides the usual poor fare, was the half portion of the expected +treat--all that the children had brought home. + +Arvid and Hanna wished to eat only dry bread and drink only water, so +that their parents might have the Christmas goodies; but the parents +would not allow that. They joyfully shared with the children the two +rolls and the half-tankard of milk which were such luxuries. + +But as they ate, they noticed something very marvelous. However often +they broke and broke pieces from either of the rolls, the fresh +delicious wheaten rolls never grew smaller; and however often they +poured milk from the tankard into one bowl after another the milk never +grew less! + +While they were wondering greatly over this, they heard a scratching at +the little window, and behold! there stood the wolf and the bear with +their fore-paws against the window pane. Both animals grinned and nodded +in a knowing, friendly way. An owl could be heard flapping behind them +in the darkness, and calling out in a hoarse voice to Arvid: + + "Sometimes hits + Sharpen wits. + Hoo, hoo! Hoo, hoo! + Not from need + But from greed + I begged of you. + Hoo, hoo! Hoo, hoo!" + +[Illustration: THERE STOOD THE WOLF AND THE BEAR.--_Page 136_.] + +Then her hoarse cries died away in the distance, and the two +beasts, after a little more grinning and nodding, disappeared from the +window. + +The peasant and his wife and the children understood now that a blessing +rested upon their Christmas food because it had been shared in mercy +with those that needed it; and they finished their meal in wonder and +thankfulness. + +On Christmas morning when they went to get their breakfast of dry bread +and water, not expecting to have anything else, they found to their +amazement that both rolls and milk were as fresh as when the children +bought them,--and with no sign that the rolls had ever been broken or +any milk used! And all that day it was the same! There were not only +riches on the roof, but joy and plenty inside the peasants' cottage, +where the children feasted and sang as gaily as did the sparrows, +fluttering about their Christmas sheaf of golden grain. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + ANTON'S ERRAND + _OR + THE BOY WHO MADE FRIENDS BY THE WAY_ + + +Far to the South lies a beautiful land. High forest-clad mountains lift +themselves toward the sky, and between them spreads a wide fruitful +valley. A mighty river rushes southward singing of courage and joy, and +from the mountains the merry brooks come hurrying along, the one faster +than the other, as if racing to see which would get down first. + +In the fields, the grass is tall and full of flowers, the grain waves +like a billowy sea, and the fruit trees bend beneath the weight of rich +fruits. But more than all else, grapevines grow here. The vines twine +themselves in an endless wreath through the valley; and in the long +arcades hang millions of clusters of grapes cooking themselves ripe in +the sun's heat. + +From olden times, an industrious folk lived in this valley cultivating +their fields and pruning their vines. They gathered themselves together +into small towns which were dotted here and there in the valley's green +expanse like birds' nests in a spreading tree. On the surrounding +heights rose the proud castles where the nobles lived. They tyrannized +over the farmers in the valley, and if the poor peasants made the least +complaint, down from the cliffs came the barons, like eagles from their +eyries, and dug their claws into their defenseless prey. + + * * * * * + +Many, many years ago, a powerful baron named Rudolf Reinhold Rynkebryn +lived in one of the largest of the mountain castles. He had, by force +and violence, made himself Lord over one of the cities in the valley, +and all who lived there must toil and moil for the hard master on +Falkensten. + +When the grain was ripe and the meal ground, many hundred bags of it +must be carried on horses' backs up to the mountain castle; and when the +grapes were ripe and the wine pressed out, many hundred barrels must go +the same way. + +So had it been for many years, but at last the peasants grew tired of +this state of things, and gathered together for consultation. + +"There is no sense in it," said an old man. "Here we plow and sow and +reap and grind so that Rynkebryn can swallow the bread that belongs to +us and our children." + +"Yes. Isn't that the truth?" said another. "Isn't it a sin and a shame, +also? We plant vines and prune them in the sweat of our brows and when +the grapes are ripe, the wine we make must go to Falkensten so that +Rynkebryn and his men may drink themselves crazy and descend like birds +of prey upon us poor peasants. We should not endure it any longer." + +"No, we _will_ not endure it any longer!" shouted all in chorus. Then it +was determined that they should send Rynkebryn a letter, in which they +renounced their allegiance to him. + +For the future he might get his bread and his wine wherever he chose. +Neither bag nor barrel should go from the valley to Falkensten. + +Oh, yes! To come to this decision was easy. Nor was there any great +difficulty about getting the letter written. The Mayor himself wrote it; +and upon the letter he set the city's great seal which bore a sheaf +pierced by a sword. + +The difficulty was to find a messenger to deliver the letter, for every +one well knew that he who carried such a message to the Baron of +Falkensten would not return alive to the valley. + +All to whom the mission was proposed immediately raised objections. One +had no clothes, another had pains in his legs, another could by no means +be spared from home, and another was sure he could never find the way up +there. Oh, there were many difficulties about taking that particular +letter to the Baron! + +Finally someone said, "Why not send little Anton?" And immediately all +shouted, "Yes, that is an excellent plan. Anton can go with the letter." + +Anton was a poor boy, usually called "little Anton." He had neither +father nor mother nor sister nor brother, but had been brought up among +other poor children of the town in the Cloister School. Now that he was +twelve or thirteen years old, he must take care of himself, and since he +could do small jobs of all sorts, people made use of him, here, there +and everywhere. + +He helped to dig in the vineyards, to lay stone and mortar when a house +was to be built; he ran with messages and letters out to the country +roundabout; and as he could manage the most spirited horse, he drove, +too, if there were no other driver to be had. He often took care of the +babies while their mothers were out at work; he carded wool and picked +hops; he sang at funerals and played at weddings. + +Indeed, there was scarcely anything for which they did not use little +Anton. He was quick of foot and light of hand, true as gold and silent +as a locked box, so every one liked him and gave him plenty to do. + +The Mayor himself went to little Anton and told him that the whole city +had decided to entrust to him a very important errand. He was to go to +Falkensten with a letter to Baron Rynkebryn. Of what was in the letter +the Mayor said nothing, for if he had, little Anton would have realized +that he was risking his life. + +The others realized it very decidedly, but they reasoned thus: "Little +Anton is a poor lone child, with no parents to mourn him, and if +anything happens to him,--well!--we must hope that all is for the best. +It is surely better that he should perish than that we who have wives +and children should. Besides, the town is full of these little poor boys +whom we can get to help us when we need them." + +Anton took the big letter, turned it over and over in his hands, and +asked if there would be any answer. + +The Mayor became a little embarrassed and took a pinch of snuff. He +could not look Anton straight in the face as he replied, "Answer? No, I +do not think there will be any answer." + +"So I can come right back?" queried little Anton. + +"Yes, indeed. Deliver the letter and take to your heels as soon as you +can." + +The next day, early in the morning, Anton put on his thickest shoes, +stuffed a couple of rolls and a small bottle of wine into his pocket, +slung an old gun over his shoulder and started on his long tramp from +the valley to Falkensten. He could see the castle high, high up like an +eagle's nest, on the top of a cliff from which it looked out over three +different valleys, many, many miles away. + +It was a hot August day. The sky was without a cloud and the sun stood +and smiled its broadest on the vineyards where the grapes steamed and +cooked in the heat. Vines were planted on the lowest slopes of the +mountain, so here Anton could walk up the stone steps between the +walls. He turned and saw the city which looked shining and gay in the +sunlight. The church was white as snow, and the hands on the clock +glittered like gold. + +By and by the vineyards ended and Anton came to some fields. The grass +had already been cut for the second time and the fields were deserted. +Not a person was to be seen. + +Next he came to the forest of chestnut-trees. From here everything in +the valley looked very small; houses and farms, and even the church, +looked like toys spread out on a green carpet. The sun glowed hotter and +hotter, and Anton took off his jacket, and walked on, in his +shirt-sleeves. The road grew steeper and steeper. He was hot and thirsty +so he sat down in the shade of a rock and took out his bottle of wine. + +When he had refreshed himself, he leaned back, humming a little song and +idly striking the ground with a switch he had broken from a bush. + +As he sat there, he heard a soft rustling at his side and saw a little +lizard come from the wall of rock and creep forth among the ferns. It +wriggled its supple little body out into the sunshine and then lay +perfectly still in front of Anton, gazing at him with its clear eyes. + +"That was a beautiful song you sang," said the lizard. "Would you be so +kind as to sing it once more? I am foolishly crazy over music." + +"I can certainly do that much for you," answered Anton, and hummed the +song again. He kept the switch behind him now, not wishing the lizard to +see that he had it. + +The lizard lay perfectly still, listening, but when the song was +finished the little creature said to Anton, "Come, Anton, what are you +really thinking of? I think your dark eyes have a sly look in them. +Surely you are not, by any chance, intending to harm me?" + +"Oh, I don't know!" said Anton, smacking his whip. "But I do think it +might be amusing to give you a hit with this so that you snapped in two +like a piece of glass." + +"Do you think so?" asked the lizard drawing its tail close. "Well, +well! How strange! It seems to me that would not be at all amusing. I +think it is much more amusing to live, to lie here and enjoy myself in +the sunshine." + +[Illustration: THE LIZARD LAY PERFECTLY STILL, LISTENING--_Page 146_.] + +Anton began to laugh, but continued to beat the ground with his switch. + +"Listen, Anton," said the lizard. "I have really such a very short time +to live. Let me go in peace. Don't do me any harm. Perhaps I can be of +use to you some day. You may be sure you will never regret it if you let +me go." + +"What could such a forlorn little creature as you ever do for me?" asked +Anton, as he got up. "But since you ask me so prettily, I will let you +run. Suppose we see which of us will get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall, I shall!" hissed the lizard; and it hurried away through +the grass, calling back, however, "Farewell, Anton; you may be sure I +shall not lose sight of you." With that, the lizard disappeared and +Anton resumed his toilsome journey. + +The sun mounted higher and higher and the whole sky was like a sea of +burning light. The houses and churches in the valley looked now like +many tiny white stones scattered over the ground. The path, steeper and +steeper, led through a grove of larches, and here little Anton must +again rest. He took two big swallows from his bottle, and wiped his hot +face with his shirt-sleeves. + +Hearing a strange cracking sound over his head and looking up, he saw a +little squirrel that sat on the branch of a neighboring larch, eating +the seeds from a cone. Between the mouthfuls he spat the shells down, +chattering softly meanwhile as if to say, "What an excellent breakfast +this is! Truly a delicious breakfast!" + +Anton took his old gun quietly from his shoulder, got down on his knees, +and crept carefully along. He held the gun by its barrel. With the butt +end he could easily enough hit the little squirrel. But the alert +creature, which was watching him with keen, anxious eyes, saw him before +he had raised the butt end, and with a couple of big leaps, reached a +higher branch of the tree. + +"What are you going to do to me?" asked the frightened squirrel, poking +his little head out. "What is it you really want to do to me?" + +"Oh, I should just like to have your tail!" said Anton. "It would be a +nice fur collar for me when the autumn storms howl from the mountain +tops." + +"But I would so much rather keep my tail myself," said the squirrel, +raising it as high as he could in the air. "You see I was born with this +tail, and therefore it is mine; and so, if you kill me and take it away +from me, you are a thief,--a thief,--a real little tail-stealer!" + +"You must stop saying such rude words," said Anton, lifting the gun. "If +I can only catch you, your tail will be mine." + +"No, stop, stop!" shrieked the squirrel, springing about in the +branches. "It is horrid and ugly and disgusting of you. I don't want to +be crushed with the butt end of a gun. It is ugly of you to think of +it, ugly, ugly! And to be broken off in the middle of my nice breakfast +to be murdered is truly most unpleasant. Would you like that, little +Anton?" + +The squirrel still leaped and sprang from branch to branch in fright. +Anton laid his gun on the ground. + +"Oh, little Anton!" piped the squirrel. "Let me alone! Let me hop +around, a happy living squirrel. That is so much better and pleasanter!" + +"Well, hop then," said Anton, throwing the gun over his shoulder again. +"I am afraid I should dream of the frightened look in your eyes. And now +we might see which of us can get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall, I shall!" called the squirrel, wild with joy. "If you are +going to Falkensten, I shall go, too. No harm shall happen to you while +I am able to hop." With that, the squirrel set off with long leaps from +tree to tree, and soon disappeared; and Anton walked on up the mountain. + +The air became more and more sultry. The sky, which had been bright +blue, grew white in some places, and the white ran together like thick +milk and heaped itself in close masses. The sun was no longer to be +seen. The clouds changed to gray and violet and dark-blue, with glowing +edges, and thunder began to roll among the mountains. Anton could not +see the valley now at all. The lofty peaks towered one behind another, +and there seemed to be nothing else in the world. The path grew steeper +and yet steeper. + +Little Anton began to be frightfully tired. He had to lie down again and +again on the ground, groaning with weariness. Not a drop more of the +refreshing sour wine did he have to quench his thirst,--the bottle had +been drained long ago. + +Suddenly he heard a rushing sound, and lo! from the rock bubbled a white +foaming stream of water, so fresh and living that one could not +understand how it could gush forth from the dead stones. Anton knelt +down and drank eagerly from his hands. Never had he found any draught so +wonderfully reviving. + +When he had quenched his thirst, he thought he would resume his journey, +but at that instant he caught sight of a dove flying toward him. It was +a charming wood-dove, with blue-flecked wings and a little round head. +The dove must, like him, have been thirsty, for she flew directly to the +foaming water and bent over it to drink. "That is a lovely bird," +thought Anton; and he took his gun noiselessly from his shoulder. "I can +surely hit her." + +He had laid the gun to his cheek and was taking aim, when the dove +lifted her head from the water and fluttered her wings. + +"Why should you shoot me, little Anton?" she asked. "You have quenched +your thirst and I have quenched mine. The spring has been good to both +of us. Why should you do evil to me?" + +"You have such beautiful wings," said Anton. "It would look fine if I +stretched you out flat and fastened you on the barn door." + +"It looks much finer when I float upward toward the sunlight," said the +dove. "The mountain path is difficult for you, little Anton; but you +are at least free to pursue your way. Let me fly mine. Here in these +solitudes no one should do another harm." + +The dove looked so gentle and talked in such friendly tones that Anton +felt thoroughly ashamed of himself. + +"Yes, fly away, little dove, fly wherever you will," said he, waving his +hands. "We might see which of us two will get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall!" responded the dove, lifting her wings. "But if it is to +that fierce Baron you are taking a message, I prefer to wait outside on +the tower." Then up she flew. + +The sky was now one dark mass of thunder-clouds. The thunder rumbled +among the mountains; the green fields on the heights shone out like +emeralds against the dark blue haze beyond. All creatures had become +wonderfully silent; not a bird sang, not an insect hummed. Anton went +forward with dragging step, and the dove floated silently above him,--a +white speck against the dark sky. + +But what was that high up there on the cliff? It was a little chamois +that stood with all its four feet close together on a point of rock, and +looked about. + +"Hurrah! I shall get you!" thought Anton as he cocked his gun; but the +chamois with a couple of nimble bounds sprang farther up the mountain. + +"Ho, ho! That won't help you any!" said Anton, running nearer to the +rocks where the chamois stood. "I am a good shot, let me tell you; and I +must have prey of some sort to take with me from the mountain." + +"But why should you kill me?" asked the chamois, bounding a little +farther away. "What harm have I ever done to you? Does it annoy you that +I stand here and look at the view?" + +"No, but you have such handsome little horns. I should like to put them +up over my door as a sign that I had conquered you." + +"For you to conquer me would be easy," said the chamois. "You have a +gun, and I have nothing. But I had always believed that the mountain +was made for us both." + +Anton made no reply but scrambled hastily up the rocks to get nearer the +chamois. + +"Oh, Anton, little Anton! let me alone!" called the chamois, making the +longest leap it could. "I would truly rather have my horns on my head +than over your door! Cannot you understand that? If you love your +freedom, let me keep mine." + +At that moment the thunder pealed with a frightful crash among the +mountains. Anton became altogether uncomfortable and put his gun down. +"Leap where you will, then," he called to the chamois. "Perhaps we might +see which of us can get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall, surely," said the chamois, starting off with a big leap. +"But I will wait for you outside the castle wall, and if you need my +help you will know where to find me." And with these words the chamois +vanished. + +"Shall I never, never reach Falkensten?" groaned Anton. He was dead +tired and began to think he had gone astray, but suddenly, at a turn in +the path, the castle stood before him as if it had sprung up out of the +earth. + +It was of the same color as the rocks upon which it was built, and how +big and high and thick-walled it was! It had but few windows scattered +here and there on the side toward the path. From the tower waved +Rynkebryn's banner,--a fiery red flag on which was a black falcon. The +drawbridge that led over to the castle was drawn up, and over the chasm +that was between the rocks on which the castle was built and the other +rocks, there was only a rough narrow bridge, made of slender branches +placed side by side. + +Anton stood still. It would be dangerous to go over such a bridge +without any kind of a railing to hold fast to; but he must deliver the +letter. Just then he heard something whispering at his feet: + + "Since you can't glide like me, and creep, + Be wise; cross not the chasm deep." + +It was the little lizard that came hurrying toward him with this +warning. + +"But how should I then get the message to Baron Rynkebryn?" said Anton. +He had already started across the bridge. + +And now something came hopping along at his side. It was the squirrel +with his red tail high in the air like a flag, and with wide-open eyes; +and while he hopped about Anton's feet he chattered: + + "Since you can't hop like me, and climb, + That castle shun; be warned in time!" + +"But how then should I attend to my errand?" Anton was now half-way +across the bridge. + +As he stood there, the dove came flying and floating on her wings above +the abyss. + + "Since you can't float and fly like me, + Turn back, turn back and homeward flee," + +said the dove, flying near Anton's cheek. + +"Yes, that I will do when once I have given the Baron his letter," said +Anton, "but I don't turn back when I am half-way over the bridge, nor +flee homeward until my errand is done." + +So he proceeded. The thin branches in the loosely-made bridge creaked +and bent under his feet. On both sides of him was the dizzy chasm. He +had a queer pain in his heart and everything turned black before his +eyes; but he pressed his hands against his breast where he had hidden +the letter, kept his gaze straight ahead, and walked on with firm step. +There! Now he could draw a long breath, a sigh of relief; for he was at +last safely across the frail bridge,--on the other side of the chasm, +and under the castle wall. + +At first he could see no opening in the wall; it stretched up as hard +and impenetrable as the rock upon which it stood, but when Anton stole +around it, he found a small door,--an iron door with many locks and +fastenings. He picked up a stone and knocked hard on the door, but no +one answered. Everything around him was still as death. + +Suddenly he heard a strange rumbling sound, which he thought at first +might be the echo of the thunder among the rocks; but no. The sound came +from the hall where Baron Rynkebryn and his men sat and +drank, and roared with laughter loud enough to make the castle tremble. + +[Illustration: "TURN BACK, TURN BACK," SAID THE DOVE.--_Page 157_.] + +Since no one seemed to hear Anton, he lost patience, took his gun which +was still loaded and shot it off. He could hear the echoes answer from +mountain to mountain and at last die away; but now there were signs of +life in the castle. A man opened a shutter high up in the tower and +called, "Who shoots under Falkensten Castle? Is it friend or foe?" + +Anton put both hands to his mouth and shouted back, "A friend! A friend! +A messenger from the valley!" Then he heard the man slam the shutter to, +come with a clatter down the stairs, trudge across the courtyard, and +begin to rattle the locks and bolts of the iron door. At last the door +opened slowly and a gruff-looking warrior stood before little Anton. + +"What do you want?" asked the warrior. His voice sounded like a bear's. +"What have you to say to the Lord of Falkensten?" + +"That I must tell to Baron Rynkebryn himself," answered Anton. "The +message is to him and none other." + +"Listen to the young sparrow that dares to come into the falcon's nest!" +said the warrior, but he opened the door just wide enough for Anton to +slip in. + +As the boy turned in the doorway, he caught sight of the chamois which +stood on a stone beside the chasm, stretching its head forward. + +"Yes, here I am!" called the chamois. "I will keep on the watch by the +wall, so you will know where to find me!" + +At that instant the heavy iron door clanged shut after Anton, and he was +at last inside the walls of Falkensten. His steps echoed with a hollow +sound in the small courtyard; and it was dark and damp as a cellar, +inside the castle on the great winding stairs that led to the baronial +hall. Little Anton felt his heart beating like a hammer and choking him, +when the warrior opened the door to the hall and let him pass in. + +At the end of a long oaken table sat Baron Rynkebryn and his retainers, +drinking. Their eyes were bloodshot like those of an angry bull, and +they laughed and shouted so that the high rafters shook. Little Anton +squeezed himself into a corner near the door and stood, hat in hand, +waiting until Rynkebryn should speak to him. + +Long did he wait, for the Baron was wholly absorbed in his carousing. +The wine flowed over his beard; he sat with both arms leaning on the +table and laughed till his bones rattled. Suddenly his eye fell upon +Anton. + +"Who is that little whipper-snapper shivering there by the door?" he +asked, pointing with his big finger. So Anton had to go forward. He +bowed many times as he crossed the room, each bow deeper than the last, +and when he reached the Baron, he took the letter from his breast and +presented it. + +The Baron snatched it from him and began to read it, Anton meanwhile +standing still and looking out of the tower window. Never before had he +seen so far out into the world. One mountain chain after another +gleamed forth, lit by the sun; streams lay like narrow white ribbons in +the valley; and the boundless sky arched over all, its big +thunder-clouds looking like mountains above the other mountains. Anton +forgot entirely where he was while gazing at all this glory; but he was +awakened to reality by a roar from Rynkebryn. + +"So this is the kind of message you bring me, is it?" he screamed, and +he struck his fist on the table so violently that the wine bottles +tumbled over, and the rich red wine ran in streams across the white +cloth, like blood. "How dare you bring such a letter to the Lord of +Falkensten?" + +"How should I know what was in the letter?" asked Anton. He trembled +like an aspen leaf. "I do not read the letters people trust me with." + +"Oh, you don't, don't you?" roared Rynkebryn. He had first grown red as +the wine he drank, but now he was as white as the table-cloth. "It might +have been well for you if you had peeped into this letter. If you had, I +think you would have turned back with it. Herein"--he shook the letter +till it rattled--"herein those traitors of the valley renounce their +allegiance to me; and he who goes on errands for traitors is a traitor +himself and shall die a traitor's death. Do you understand that, you +miserable little worm?" + +Anton tried to speak, but could not get a word over his lips. He grew +icy cold and shook as if he had the ague. + +"But I shall revenge myself on that pack," shouted Rynkebryn. "I shall +descend upon them like an overwhelming horror, like a thief in the +night, and lay their land waste. Sure as death, before three nights have +passed there shall be neither stick nor stone left of their city in the +valley." + +"Shall I tell them that?" asked Anton, in a low, frightened voice. + +"No, you can spare yourself the trouble!" shouted Rynkebryn, laughing. +"I shall say it to them myself with a drawn sword. No, my little +friend,"--his eyes glared horribly, "you shall have a night's lodging at +Falkensten. Your guest-chamber is ready. You shall march down to the +castle prison, and there you can lie and amuse yourself guessing what +death you are to die in the morning. Let me see. I must think of +something very fine. I might, for instance, hit you with a club so that +you broke in two like a piece of glass. That might be very amusing to +see. Ha! ha! ha!" + +Anton shuddered. He remembered that he had threatened the little lizard +with this very treatment, and had had the same idea that it would be +amusing to see. + +"Or," continued the Baron, "I could crush you with one whack of my gun, +so!--That would be very quickly done." + +The icy shivers ran down Anton's back. Just this kind of terror that he +was feeling must the squirrel have felt when Anton threatened him with +the butt of his gun. + +"Or I could fasten you out on the castle wall, as one fastens a bird +that has been shot upon a barn door. There you could hang as a warning +to traitors, until you fell to pieces," growled Rynkebryn, stroking his +beard. + +Things turned black before Anton's eyes. "Oh!" he thought with anguish. +"This is just the way I threatened the dove, the innocent little +creature!" + +"Or I could chop your head off!" roared Rynkebryn, rushing toward Anton +with clenched fists. "Then I could put your head on top of the tower +where there is a glorious view. What a treat that would be for you!" All +the men laughed so hard at this that they had to hold their sides. + +But little Anton did not laugh. He stood there thinking, with deep +remorse, how he had threatened to take the life of the harmless chamois, +and put its horns over the door. "Oh, God be praised that I let it run!" +he thought; but just then Rynkebryn's men caught hold of him, tied him +securely, hand and foot, with strong rope, and took him to the castle +prison. + +Dark and damp indeed was the prison cell. It had no windows except, high +up in the wall, a little opening with strong iron bars across it. The +men threw Anton on the floor and then went out, locking the door after +them with so many locks that Anton knew he could never open that door, +even if he had both his hands free. + +There he lay, looking up at the barred window. The sunset glowed through +it still, but faded little by little, and darkness came on. High in the +sky the stars twinkled out, one after another. And Anton lay and thought +that when their light was quenched again, his life was to be put out, as +if it were but a spark. What made him most unhappy was the thought that +he could not get a message to the city in the valley, so that some one +might know that Rynkebryn, the next night, was going to creep upon them +like a thief, burn their city and devastate their land. + +He laid his head on the damp floor of the cell and began to cry. All at +once he heard something rustle,--a queer little sound. He thought it +might be a rat that would bite him, and drew his legs up close; but +something small came creeping lightly over him right up to his cheek. +"Don't be afraid," it whispered. "It is only I, the little lizard you +met on your way. I have hurried at your heels the whole time, until you +disappeared through the castle door. But how have you brought yourself +to this? You should have followed my advice and turned back in +time,--you who can neither creep nor glide." + +"Perhaps," sighed poor Anton. "But it is too late to think of that, and +no one in the world can help me now." + +"Oh," answered the lizard, "one should never give up hope. Since I could +get into the castle prison, we shall manage to get you out." And with +that the tiny creature rustled away in the darkness. + +A minute or two after, little Anton saw something black against the +barred window. It squeezed itself between the bars and dropped with a +thump to the floor. + +"Here am I," chattered the squirrel, hopping to Anton. "What foolishness +has been going on here?" + +"As you see," replied Anton, "I am captured and bound, and in the +morning I am to die." + +"Oh, in the morning!" said the squirrel. "It is a long time to morning. +Much can happen before the sun gets up again." + +"But I cannot stir hand or foot," said Anton. "Don't you see how they +have tied my hands behind my back?" + +"Oh, yes! I see that well enough," replied the squirrel, opening his big +eyes wider than ever. "Where are the knots?" And with one jump he was on +Anton's back, beginning immediately to gnaw at the knots with his small +pointed teeth. He bit and pulled at the rope so that his little body +shook with the effort; and it was not long before Anton felt the +loosening at his wrists and afterward at his ankles. All at once the +ropes fell off and he was free. + +"Oh, you blessed little animal!" said Anton, hugging and kissing the +squirrel. "Now I am a free person again, and not a tied-up bundle!" + +"Yes, but there is still the high, barred window," said the squirrel. +"We must have the dove's help now." And he sprang up to the window and +vanished through it. + +Little Anton stood looking after him, but suddenly he could no longer +see the stars and the sky as before, for they were blotted out by +something that filled the whole window. He soon saw that it was the dove +flapping her out-spread wings against the bars. She could not get in, +but she had something in her bill which she let fall through the window. +It clanged as it hit the floor, and when Anton stooped to pick it up, he +saw that it was a file. + +"I found that in Rynkebryn's own window where it lay, ready to be used +for his evil purposes; but now it shall help you out of prison," said +the dove. + +No one would have imagined they could do it, but the squirrel and the +dove helped Anton to get the ropes he had been tied with up to the +window, and to fasten them there so firmly that he could climb up the +ropes. Then he filed and filed at the iron bars till his hands bled, +while the lizard ran up and down the wall saying: "Make haste! Make +haste! It will soon be morning!" + +But the sun had not yet risen when little Anton stood, rescued and free, +on the rocks outside the castle wall. + +And there was the chamois waiting for him! + +"Seat yourself on my back, little Anton!" said the chamois. "And hold +tight! for we are going to gallop down the mountain so fast that straps +and buckles would not keep you on!" + +So Anton got on the chamois' back and held tight. This was necessary +indeed; for slow as it had been trudging up the mountain, he now went +down with a speed like that of a stone which, being tossed, bounds from +rock to rock as it strikes them on its downward-flying way. + +"I shall fall! I shall fall!" shouted Anton, clinging for dear life to +the chamois' neck. "I shall pitch off head first!" + +"Oh, no! You won't fall," said the chamois; "nor I, either. I am very +sure-footed," and on it leaped as fast as ever. + +Just as the sun rose, Anton stood at the Mayor's door and knocked. The +Mayor himself came to open it, and was overwhelmed with wonder when he +saw little Anton standing there as alive as ever, and without so much as +a hair of his head hurt! + +"I come with bad tidings," said Anton. "If you don't look out, you will +have Rynkebryn and his men after you before you know it; and he is not +going to spare any of you,--yourselves or your property. Every one had +better be armed and ready." + +The next night, Baron Rynkebryn with all his warriors came sneaking down +the mountain expecting to take the peasants by surprise, and to catch +them all as one catches rats in a trap; and he felt himself completely +fooled when he found the peasants on the alert and prepared to give him +a warm welcome! From all the country round had the town folk summoned +help, and the men were armed with lances and javelins, with scythes and +pitchforks; and there was nothing for Rynkebryn to do but to hasten up +the mountain again as fast as his legs could carry him. But the +peasants followed him all the way to Falkensten, gathered brushwood and +branches which they heaped about the castle, and then set on fire, +determined to destroy that den of thieves. It blazed and flamed like a +bonfire and sent ruddy light far and near. The wicked Baron Rynkebryn +and his men were forced to flee and to hide like wild eagles high up in +desolate clefts of the mountains. + +And now there was nothing good that the people did not wish to do for +little Anton! They would have him to be Mayor, and a great festival +should be held in his honor in the palatial hall of the Council House. +But little Anton only thanked them over and over. He had not the least +desire in the world to be Mayor, neither did he care to sit and feast +and sing with those who had recently sent him out on that dangerous +errand without troubling themselves at all as to what would happen to +him. + +Therefore, he asked only that he might have what he needed in order to +give a party to his nearest and dearest friends. Oh, yes! The people +would gladly give him anything; he need only say what he wished for. + +[Illustration: THE MAYOR WAS OVERWHELMED WITH WONDER.--_Page 171_.] + +Then Anton said he would like one vest-pocket full of grain, and the +other full of small snails; and one trousers-pocket full of nuts, and +the other full of salt. He would like also a loaf of white bread, a +bottle of wine and a handful of fresh peaches. + +The people thought his wishes were very peculiar indeed; but he received +what he had asked for and then started toward the mountain. + +A little later, as he sat under a chestnut-tree and looked out over the +valley, he heard the drums and trumpets from the festival in the Council +House, where the people sat and feasted, and shouted hurrahs for their +old Mayor. A spring bubbled near him; the chestnut-tree shaded him; the +sun shone on the vineyards below, while high up at the top of the +mountain, smoke was still rising from the ruins of Falkensten. + +He had spread his table on the fresh green grass. There lay the bread +and the peaches and beside them stood the flask of wine; but before he +began to eat, he invited his guests to take their food. The lizard had +all the little snails; the dove ate grain from Anton's one hand, while +the chamois licked salt from the other; but the little squirrel sat +above in the chestnut-tree and stuffed himself up to his throat with +nuts, throwing all the shells down upon little Anton's head. + + --_Helena Nyblom_. +[Illustration] + + + + + THE FOREST WITCH + + +It was in the earliest springtime. In the shade the air was still quite +cold; but where the clear and strong sunshine streamed down, one could +see that spring had come, for there the blossoms were beginning to +stretch upward on their tiny stalks. + +A couple of children were walking through the forest: a ten-year-old +girl, named Nina, and her little brother Johannes. + +They were seeking flowers. Nina had to find them because the flowers +were too tiny and too much hidden for so small a child as Johannes to +discover them for himself, but she always let him have the pleasure of +picking them. + +It was such a joyous spring walk that Nina did not notice how far they +were straying away from their grandmother's hut, back of the hill. This +little hut had been their home only for a short time. When their dear +father and mother died, their grandmother had kindly taken them to live +with her; and this was their first walk in the forest. + +At last Nina thought they ought to go back, but just as she turned +around with Johannes by the hand, who should stand before them but a +hideous old creature, more glaring and frightful than you can imagine! + +"What are you doing here, you wretched children?" she shrieked; "are you +plucking flowers in my forest? Then shall I pluck you, you may believe!" + +"Oh, pardon us," cried Nina; "we did not know that we must not pick +flowers here. We are strangers in this forest. Pray, pray pardon us." + +"_Snikkesnak!_" (fiddlestick!) answered the terrific old Witch, for such +the creature was. "Don't talk to me! I never pay any attention to what +children say; nor to old folks' talk either, for that matter. Indeed I +don't! Snikkesnak! snikkesnak! But it is not you that I want, silly +girl. It is the boy there who has offended me. The little rascal! It is +he who picked the flowers. Now I shall take him!" + +"Oh! take me, take me instead," cried Nina in terror, flinging her arms +around her brother. "It is my fault! I showed him the flowers, and let +him pick them. You've no right to take him! Oh! do take me; he is too +little." + +"_Snikkesnak!_" answered the Witch; "what a lot of talk! But you are right; +the boy is small to come into my service, so I suppose I shall have to take +you. Now listen well to what I say. Spring and summer are coming and I +shall have no work for you then; so I shall not trouble myself about you +for the present. But when autumn has come and gone, and all the leaves and +flowers have disappeared, then are we very busy in the underground world. +Then you may believe that I shall teach you how to work! and I live deep +down, very, very deep! Now you may go; but I will make a bargain with you. +When the last flower is faded--listen!--when the last flower is faded, meet +me here on this spot--or--or----" + +The old Witch stopped to think what she could best threaten Nina with. +Her wicked eyes glared around for an instant till she noticed that Nina +stood, with her arms about her little brother, ready to ward off any +evil that might come upon him. + +"Or I shall come and catch this little rascal, and twist his arms and +legs all out of joint!" screamed the Witch, shaking her knotty stick at +little Johannes. + +Then, after a dark glance at Nina, she shuffled off through the forest, +with the crows shrieking after her, and the leaves and flowers trembling +on every side. + +As soon as the Witch was out of sight, Nina hastened home with Johannes. +Like a kind sister she suited her frightened pace to his, so that he +should not stumble and fall. + +The poor little boy had been so terrified at the Witch that he had not +in the least understood the cruel threats she had used against him, +or the dreadful fate which was in store for Nina. + +[Illustration: NINA STOOD WITH ARMS AROUND HER LITTLE BROTHER.--_Page +178_.] + +Nina was rejoiced that this was so; for then he could not tell their +grandmother what the Witch had said, and she herself would not disclose +the dreadful doom hanging over her. She was determined that the poor +grandmother should not be made anxious and sorrowful as long as it could +be helped. + +Shortly after this, the spring burst forth in all its power and beauty, +and the blossoms shot up everywhere--in the woods, the fields, the +meadows, and the gardens. Nina welcomed them as her dearest friends. +They would protect her against the Forest Witch. So long as she had a +single one of these, she would not have to go down into the dark earth +to serve the hideous creature. + +Nina had always loved flowers, but never had she thought so much about +them as now. Yet, alas! Spring soon turned into summer, and summer went +faster than ever before, it seemed to poor Nina. The tears streamed +down her cheeks, as she saw the blue cornflowers fall before the +reaper's scythe, when the grain was cut in harvest-time. + +But Nina could still hope, even then; for the roses continued to bloom +on Grandmother's old rose-bush outside the door of the hut. Nina kissed +them and begged them to last as long as ever they could! And so they +did--the dear, friendly roses! + +When the last little rose had at length withered, autumn had almost +passed and the many-colored leaves were dropping from the trees by +thousands. Yet Nina discovered to her joy and comfort that there were +flowers still. Along the roadside stood the simple, hardy wild aster, +which blossomed on and on, although the autumn winds and rains destroyed +everything else. + +Winter began; but so mildly that it seemed as if it were still autumn. +When the asters finally disappeared, other help came to Nina; for the +hazel-bush was completely hoaxed by the mild weather and thought it was +spring; so it began to unfold its yellow catkins, standing beautiful +and bright, as one saw it between the bare trees over the hedges. + +So, even when the winter was far advanced, Nina was still saved from +going to the Witch; but this could not long continue. Cold weather must +soon come, because Grandmother had said that Christmas was near. + +And suddenly winter did come in earnest, with its icy frosts and +drifting snows. For five days it was impossible to get out of the hut, +because the wind kept whirling the snow into high drifts all about it. +But when the sixth day came the wind abated and the snow lay peacefully +on the ground. + +Now Nina dared no longer to stay in the house, for surely all the +flowers were dead, and buried under the cold snow, after this bitter +storm. She must go and keep her compact with the Witch. So gathering +together all her courage, she stole out of the house without being seen +by any one. + +Outside, she stood still for an instant, took a last look at the hut, +which now seemed so cozy and dear, whispered "Farewell," and started on +her way to the forest. + +But she had gathered too little courage, after all; for it melted away +immediately when she discovered the Witch a few steps from the door, +standing in the little roadside garden, waiting for her. + +"You've been rather slow about keeping to your bargain!" exclaimed the +Witch angrily. "I was just coming after you." + +"Oh! do not make me go with you!" cried Nina. + +In her agony she fell down upon the snow at the Witch's great feet, and +besought her wildly: "Let me be free! Oh, do let me be free!" + +"_Snikkesnak!_" snapped the Witch. "Up with you! No nonsense!" + +"Is there not a single flower to save me?" wailed Nina. She half rose, +and, fairly beside herself with fright and despair, began to scrape the +snow away from the garden-bed at the side of the path, trying to find a +flower. + +"Oh, yes, look if you like! _Snikkesnak! snikkesnak!_" laughed the +Witch, her face glowing with exultation at Nina's trouble. + +But an instant after, her countenance became filled with fury, for where +Nina had cleared the snow away, there appeared a plant with fresh +dark-green leaves and white flower buds! + +Nina clasped her hands together in great joy and thankfulness; then, +breaking off a bud, she lifted it up high toward the Witch and rushed +away into the hut. The Witch, in her disappointment and vexation, sprang +about so wildly in the snow that it rose in a cloud all about her, and +Nina never saw her again. + +Safe at home in the little hut, Nina now told all her adventure; and the +grandmother took the little girl's sweet, frightened face between her +two old hands, and kissed her forehead many times. + +Faithfully every day Nina went to pay a loving visit to the little +"Christmas Rose" in the garden (_helleborus niger_); for that was the +flower which had saved her; and the whole winter long, it could be +found fresh and beautiful, here and there under the snow. + +Though no other blossoms dare come forth to face the snows and frosts of +deep winter, the Christmas Rose ventures bravely out into the bleak +weather, and with modest and serene courage holds her own against its +powers. The snow lying over it keeps it from freezing; and if one +brushes away this beautiful covering, the Christmas Rose appears with +its lovely, white, gold-centered blossoms, laughing at the frost. It +blooms steadily on until it can say "Good-day" to spring's first +blossom--the little snowdrop; and so, through all the year, there are +flowers blooming in our dear Northern land, Denmark. + +Thus it was that Nina escaped the Witch, who, being a Forest Witch, did +not know of the Christmas Rose, because that is a garden flower. + + --_J. Krohn_. +[Illustration] + + + + + THE TESTING OF THE TWO KNIGHTS + + +Down in the town all was laughter, dancing and jollity. Banners were +flying from housetops and windows, flowers were wreathed about poles and +arches, and green branches decorated every gateway and door. Clearly, a +great festival was in progress. + +High on a hill overlooking the town, towered the old red castle of a +duke. In front of the castle, on a beautiful green mound, stood gilded +cannon, which at intervals sent thunderous peals through the town and +over the near-lying hills. + +Inside the castle, speeches were being made and toasts given, and many +were the eager shouts of "Hail to the Princess!" and "Long life to the +Princess!" for this was the birthday of the Duke's only daughter, +Princess Inga, and the festival was in her honor. At the conclusion of +each speech and chorus of joyous shouts up at the castle, the cannon +sent forth their signaling volley; and at each volley the people in the +town took up the rejoicing and heartily echoed "Hail! hail! Long life to +the Princess!" for they had loved the beautiful daughter of their good +Duke ever since that first day when she had appeared among them, a tiny +smiling child, in her little carriage drawn by a pair of white goats. + +After the feasting was over, the guests dispersed from the stately hall +and strolled about the terraces and gardens to enjoy the summer night +and its sweet refreshing air. + +Down one of the shadowy garden walks paced the Duke, and with him a man +conspicuous among the richly adorned guests for the dull simplicity of +his attire. He was no other than the Wise One from Fir Forest who wore +now, as at all times, his plain dark robe of brown,--against which +flowed in sharp contrast his long snow-white wavy beard. + +"The day has passed right merrily," said the Duke, "and there has been +no lack of congratulations and speeches; and all the speeches were to no +other end than to wish happiness and good fortune to my beloved +daughter. What showers of good wishes have been poured upon her to-day! +If she receives but a quarter of all these blessings, her life will +overflow with happiness." + +"I pray that it may," said the Wise One gravely. "But the Princess, like +all others, must win her own happiness." + +"What say you?" asked the Duke. + +The Wise One answered slowly, "Happiness comes from forgetting self and +living for the joy of others. In no other way can one be truly happy." + +"Yet I am happy," said the Duke. + +"You, dear Duke, yes!" answered the Wise One. "And well may you be +happy, for you never think of yourself. You take kindliest care of all +in your dukedom, ever doing good among the poor and the sick, and giving +pleasure to all those about you, especially to the Princess. To gladden +her is your greatest pleasure." + +"That is true," assented the Duke, with evident gratification. He could +not but be pleased at the Wise One's praise, never lightly given. + +"And now, my good friend," continued the Duke, "since we speak of the +Princess, I would fain ask your good counsel concerning her. Suitors +will come to strive to win her hand. Indeed, two have already asked to +appear before me, and I receive them in the morning. Many will seek her +for the dukedom's sake, since the one she weds will become duke after +me; and among all the suitors how shall we know which is a true and +worthy knight? She should have the best of all,--only the very best." + +"The best, like the happiest, is the person who thinks last of himself +and first of all others, he who is wholly free from selfishness and +envy. Only to such a one," said the Wise One earnestly, "only to such a +one should we give our dear Princess." + +"Oh, yes!" responded the Duke. "That is right, and very well conceived +and stated, too. But how am I to test the hearts of those who come? +Their hearts are not of glass, so that one may peep into them! How shall +I discover, for instance, the true character of the rivals who seek +audience to-morrow?" + +The Wise One pondered for some minutes and then inquired slowly, "Who is +the most despised, the meanest in station, of all the castle servitors?" + +"Oh, that is easily said," responded the Duke, laughingly. "It could be +no other than that stupid, good-natured Klaus Klodrian. He is but the +fourth groom's under stable-boy, and yet he will never rise higher, +poor, dull-witted fellow!" + +"Good," said the Wise One. "He will serve our present purpose well. Let +the rivals each take his turn dwelling one day as honored guest at the +castle, and one day in the poor hut of Klaus Klodrian, and perhaps this +will disclose the true knight to us. If not, there are other tests, but +let us try this first." + +"Yes, let us try it," said the Duke. "Glad am I to rely on your help, +and most grateful for your counsel." + +After arranging the plan a little more in detail, the Wise One said +farewell and started on his homeward way. He was glad to leave behind +the festivities and excitement of the castle, and longed to reach his +peaceful little log hut in the midst of the great Fir Forest. Seldom +were other sounds heard there than the whispering of the wind in the +tree-tops, the glad twitter of birds and the whirring of their wings. + +Just as he was turning from the roadside into the forest, two knights +came galloping past, and he knew that they must be the expected suitors +for Princess Inga's hand. Both were young and stately and sat proudly +upon their beautiful horses. The one knight was clad in green velvet, +with graceful hat and waving plume of the same color, and the trappings +of his horse shone with gold. The other knight was richly dressed also, +but in blue velvet and with a snowy plume in his blue hat, and silver +on the trappings of his horse. + +As they rode gaily along, looking so happy and handsome, and exchanging +friendly words and glances, it would be hard indeed to wish success to +one at the expense of the other. + +The Wise One went hastily into the forest, directing his steps to its +densest part, where was sequestered his lonely home. Soon after, a great +blackbird stole forth from the woods, turned its yellow beak toward the +road which the two knights had taken and flew after them. The knights +quickly reached the town and rode to "The Golden Fish," an inn not far +below the castle. + +Before they went to their sleeping-rooms, the Blue Knight opened one of +the windows and leaned far out, looking up into the high, dark-blue +heavens, where the stars gleamed in myriads. + +"What are you doing?" asked the Green Knight. + +"Looking at the stars," answered the other. + +"But why, pray?" asked the Green Knight. + +"Oh, it is but a fancy of mine," answered the Blue Knight. "I like to +look up there every evening. The stars shine down upon us with such +benign watchfulness, that I would fain render some return; and to enjoy +their beauty seems all I can do." + + * * * * * + +The next morning the two knights started in good-fellowship riding at +leisurely pace, side by side, through the streets and up the castle +hill. Many eyes peeped out at them through windows and door cracks, and +the host of "The Golden Fish" rubbed his fat hands together with +pleasure. He saw that he should have a profitable day in his tavern, for +the town folk would soon come flocking in and out, to hear what they +could of the suitors. + +In the great gilded hall of the castle, the Duke sat in state to give +audience to the knights. Princess Inga stood by his side. White-robed +and with a cluster of dewy roses in her hand, she looked so fair, so +gracious and lovely, that both the cavaliers were enraptured. + +After the salutations were over, the Duke, in a straightforward manner, +gave them his friendly permission to make further acquaintance with the +Princess, provided they would yield to his wishes in one respect. + +To prevent either suitor from interfering with or standing in the way of +the other, the Duke would have each knight in turn spend one day with +the Princess and one day with Klaus Klodrian, a humble servitor of the +castle, who dwelt in a hut on the borders of the estate. + +If they had any disinclination to do this, the matter was at an end; for +this was the plan he had fixed upon, and it was unalterable. + +"Have the goodness, my honored guests," then continued the Duke, "to +agree between yourselves which of you shall remain here to-day, and +which shall now go to Klaus Klodrian." + +Since the Green Knight sat in silence with the evident intention of +awaiting what the other might say, the Blue Knight politely offered to +give his fellow-suitor the first day with the Princess. The offer was +accepted with much pleasure, and while the Green Knight bowed before the +Princess and began to talk with her, the Blue Knight was conducted out +of the audience hall, down a broad staircase, across a great courtyard, +and thence on and on, through garden and park, through barnyards and +stables, into the lane at the end of which stood the hut of the +stable-boy, Klaus Klodrian. + +Poor Klaus sat inside, being just about to begin his frugal noonday +meal. He jumped up in great confusion at the sudden entrance of a grand +gentleman. + +Holding a long loaf of black bread in his hands, he stood startled and +bewildered, his round eyes staring, his great mouth wide open; but when +the Blue Knight gave him a gentle greeting, courteously asked permission +to spend the day with him, and began to talk to him in a friendly +manner, Klaus gradually recovered from his confusion and became his +quiet, simple self again. He clattered clumsily about on his heavy +wooden shoes, with long straws from the stable dangling from his +clothes and littering the floor. Always good-natured and unused to any +attention save ridicule, he soon glowed with happiness because of the +Blue Knight's kind treatment. + +"I will show you something," said Klaus with joy and pride, though +shyly; and he brought forth his only treasure--two white doves in a +cage,--and began to talk eagerly about them. It seemed as if he could +reiterate the praises of these doves endlessly. To him there was nothing +equal to them in the whole world. + +That day would have been long and tedious, indeed, to the knight, if he +had not found something with which to occupy himself. With his ready +sympathy toward all, he soon discovered that Klaus Klodrian was not +altogether a hopeless dullard. If only one would tell him a thing twelve +or fourteen times, he could then understand most of it; but no one +heretofore had found this out, because no one had taken pains enough, or +been patient enough with him. + +The Blue Knight, feeling sorry for the poor witless fellow, labored +earnestly with him, giving him long explanations, telling him the same +things again and again, and showing him better ways of doing his work +with the horses and about the stalls. + +And Klaus Klodrian, as the day wore on, really began to show a little +comprehension. He laughed so heartily over it all, that it seemed as if +his wide mouth really did stretch from ear to ear. + +As for the Blue Knight, he became so absorbed in trying to teach Klaus, +that the long summer day was neither tiresome nor unhappy. Twice during +the day had he seen the Princess and the Green Knight walking together +in the castle garden. They talked and laughed, and seemed, he thought, +to have become exceedingly good friends. So also thought the Duke, and +he remarked upon it to the Wise One who, in his evening walk, came past +the castle. + +"Ah, but this Green Knight is a magnificent fellow," said the Duke. "And +he is very talented. He will gain the Princess. They are already +excellent friends, and I am greatly prejudiced in his favor. He is +really charming! You should have heard the good stories he told to-day +when we were dining. Yes, he will certainly gain the Princess." + +[Illustration: KLAUS BROUGHT FORTH HIS ONLY TREASURE.--_Page 195_.] + +"To-day he is sailing with the wind," said the Wise One. "Let us see him +to-morrow when the wind is against him." + +The sun had gone down and darkness had spread itself all around, but the +castle was brilliantly illuminated, and from its windows the light +streamed out, while soft strains of music floated through the halls and +into the summer air. There was a ball at the castle. + +Thoughts of the lovely Princess had been present with the Blue Knight +all the day long, no matter how intently he was laboring with Klaus; so +when evening came he sought to get just a glimpse of her through the +castle window. + +Yes--there she was. The Green Knight held her hand and danced with her. +She danced more gaily than any other in the merry company, and oh! how +proud and happy she looked! And the Duke nodded and smiled at the +handsome pair as they glided past him. + +The Blue Knight had seen enough. He turned away and walked sadly back to +the stable-boy's hut. + +Klaus Klodrian had also been out,--to hear the dance music. He could +remember a little of one of the airs, and now sat down upon the edge of +his straw bed, and tried to play it by striking one wooden shoe against +the other. + +"Good-night and sleep well," said Klaus, as the knight entered. "And +thanks for the day." + +"Good-night, and best thanks to yourself, my good Klaus Klodrian," was +the answer. "If I gain nothing more by my journey hither, I have learned +from you how little a man need have in order to be content, and that is +good. When men learn to be content with little, there will be less +trouble in the world." + +"Yes, yes," said Klaus Klodrian. "If one owns a pair of fine doves, one +can hold out against anything." And therewith he settled himself in the +bed and slept. The Blue Knight, however, went out under the summer sky +and gazed long at the stars. He was convinced that he had lost the +Princess, and that the Green Knight had won her; but as he stood there, +looking at the stars, a sense of peace stole over him, and in his heart +were none but good wishes for the Princess and the Green Knight. The +stars seemed to tell him that this was right, for never before had they +sparkled down upon him with such friendly rays. + +The next morning he awoke refreshed, and led out his horse, thinking it +was useless to press his suit after having seen the success which his +rival had met with the previous day. But before he had mounted, a +courteous message came from the Duke, requesting that he should now come +to the castle in his turn, according to their agreement. + +Likewise according to agreement, came the Green Knight down to Klaus +Klodrian; but though he came, he felt that he was being subjected to +great indignity, and showed his ill-humor plainly. + +Simple Klaus began at once to try to entertain him by showing his +precious doves, but the Green Knight sullenly told him to hold his +tongue; and when, a little after, poor Klaus, stupid and forgetful, +began again his rambling talk in praise of the doves, the Green Knight +impatiently kicked over their cage, and the terrified doves flew away. + +They took their flight through the Fir Forest, and when the Wise One saw +them, speeding with fear-quickened wings over the tree-tops, he said, +"Aha! The Green Knight likes not to sail against the wind!" + +Then he gave a call, and out flocked the blackbirds from the trees near +the Wise One's hut. These gloomy-looking, swift-flying birds were his +messengers. Daily they took their flight out into the world, far and +near, and when they came back to the forest, they told their master all +they had seen and heard. Thus he received much strange and minute +information, but so secretly, that no one guessed how he gained his +knowledge. + +This morning he gave some of the birds special directions, and the +result was that all day long, blackbirds hovered in unusual swarms near +the hut of Klaus Klodrian, and over the castle gardens. They had hovered +there, keeping watch, the day before also, but no one had remarked it. +Who notices a few blackbirds more or less? + +That was a hard day for Klaus Klodrian. He missed his kind instructor of +the previous day sadly, and had no gentle doves to cheer his heavy +spirit. The harsh treatment of the Green Knight made him so excited and +unhappy, that though he strove hard to hold fast to all that the Blue +Knight had taught him, he felt only confusion of mind, and in his +bewilderment made more stupid blunders than ever before. But worst of +all, it was impossible for the poor witless fellow to understand the +gathering wrath of the Green Knight, and so, now and again throughout +the day, he made attempts at friendly conversation. At last it ended in +his receiving a thrashing from the ill-tempered cavalier, so that when +evening closed in, poor Klaus was fain to stretch his bruised body on +the soft cool meadow grass, not daring to seek his straw bed. + +Who can tell how miserably the hours dragged by for the Green Knight, +with his jealous, uncontrolled temper? He could not endure to think of +the Blue Knight up at the castle, walking in the garden with the +Princess. And when he went near enough to see her pluck roses for her +companion, he thought that the roses the Blue Knight received were much +richer and redder than those which she had given him the day before from +the same bush! + +Venting his anger upon poor Klaus had not cooled it in the least. Rage +boiled within him hotter than ever, after he had given the thrashing. +And when the day was at last ended and the darkness fell, his bitter +envious thoughts drove him to the castle. Here were music and dancing +and feasting again, this time in honor of the Blue Knight. + +The Green Knight stole cautiously up to the balcony, hid himself in the +shadow of its twining vines, and looked at the gay scene within the +hall. Ah! There were the Princess and the Blue Knight. His heart burned +with envy; he forgot that the Blue Knight was having no more opportunity +and enjoyment than he himself had had. "Never shall that fellow become +Duke, never!" he muttered. + +Full of evil thoughts, the Green Knight drew his sword; but he did not +notice that as he did so, a bird rustled out from the vines above, and +flew swiftly away. + +The music ceased at last with prolonged, rapturous trill. The Princess, +however, was enjoying the ball so much that she asked the Duke if she +might not have just one single dance more. And well it was that her +request was granted. + +After this very last dance was finished, the Blue Knight turned toward +the balcony door, drawn by a great desire to greet the stars, so happy +and thankful did he feel. + +Just at this moment the Wise One strode into the hall. The Duke and all +the guests were greatly astonished, for never before had the revered +counselor visited the castle at such a late hour. + +The Wise One placed himself before the Blue Knight, gave a sign to the +liveried torch-bearers standing near, then threw wide open the large +doors leading to the balcony. There stood the Green Knight, with his +naked sword in his hand. His guilty gaze sought the ground--and his +limbs refused to flee. + +"What means this?" asked the Duke. + +"There stand Envy and Jealousy disclosed," answered the Wise One. Then +he turned and with gentle step approached the Princess. In her terror +she had grasped the Blue Knight's arm and was still clinging to him, +while tears shone in her tender eyes. + +The Wise One looked toward the Duke an instant and then said: + +"There stands the true knight! and I believe that the heart of the +Princess has chosen him." + +"And to him shall she be given," said the Duke. "The day with Klaus +Klodrian has indeed brought to light the true character of the suitors. +Your wise counsel has served us well, good friend. Will you not honor us +now by coming to the banqueting hall and being the first to offer +congratulations and good wishes to the Princess and to her proven +knight?" + +Then the music began again,--the musicians playing gladdest melodies +with all their hearts. + +The Green Knight plunged into the darkness and ran to his horse. Hastily +mounting, he sped his steed mercilessly forward, with whip and spur, +into the murky night. + + * * * * * + +Some days later the Blue Knight rode forth from the castle with face as +radiant as the morning. He was to ride to his home, bearing thither the +news of his good fortune, but he was soon to wend his way back. The +Princess watched as long as her eyes could see him, while he bowed and +waved fond adieus. Behind the Blue Knight rode, rather awkwardly, his +new squire,--none other than Klaus Klodrian! He was proudly conscious of +his fine long riding-boots and other new attire, and happier than ever +before; for not only was he now to serve the knight whose kindness had +won his heart, but his precious doves had been restored to him. The Wise +One had recovered them for him through the aid of the watchful +blackbirds. + + --_J. Krohn_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Top of the World Stories for Boys and +Girls, by Emilie Poulsson and Laura E. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/36465-0.zip b/36465-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1614e84 --- /dev/null +++ b/36465-0.zip diff --git a/36465-8.txt b/36465-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c729dd1 --- /dev/null +++ b/36465-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4374 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Top of the World Stories for Boys and Girls, by +Emilie Poulsson and Laura E. Poulsson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Top of the World Stories for Boys and Girls + Translated from the Scandinavian Languages + +Author: Emilie Poulsson + Laura E. Poulsson + +Illustrator: Florence Liley Young + +Release Date: June 19, 2011 [EBook #36465] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOP OF THE WORLD STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Hunter Monroe, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: obvious typographical errors have been corrected; +hyphenation has been regularised. Close quotes have not been added at +the end of paragraphs followed by more dialogue.] + + + + + TOP-OF-THE-WORLD STORIES + FOR BOYS AND GIRLS + TRANSLATED FROM THE SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES + + BY + EMILIE POULSSON AND LAURA E POULSSON + + ILLUSTRATED BY + FLORENCE LILEY YOUNG + + LORTHROP LEE & SHEPARD CO. BOSTON + + + Published, August, 1916 + Copyright, 1916, BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. + _All Rights Reserved_ + + Top-of-the-World Stories + + Norwood Press BERWICK & SMITH CO. NORWOOD, MASS. U. S. A. + + _In memory of ten happy years, + this little book is dedicated to the children of + John, William, Anna, Martha, and George._ + + + + + PREFACE + + +Not for my dear usual public of little children have I gathered these +stories from Scandinavian authors, but for boys and girls who have +reached a stage which warrants a rather free range in Story Land. For +here are to be encountered creatures and events, deeds and ideas, +unsuited to youngest readers, but which have legitimate attraction for +boys and girls from nine to fourteen years old--the age varying +according to the child's maturity and previous reading. + +Five of these stories were written by the noted Finnish author, Zachris +Topelius, who wrote them, and much else, for the children of Finland and +Sweden more than fifty years ago. His loving sympathy for children, and +his earnest desire to write only what was wholesome and good for them, +shine through all his literary work for the young. His "Lsning fr +Barn" (Reading for Children) in several volumes, contains stories, true +and imaginative, poems, songs, hymns, and many charming plays for +children to act. Although a Finn, Topelius wrote in the Swedish +language. + +By the kind permission of Miss Margaret Bcher I have made use of her +excellent rendering of _Sampo Lappelil_. + +Of the other stories presented here, two (_The Forest Witch_ and _The +Testing of the Two Knights_) were translated from the Danish, and one +(_Anton's Errand, or The Boy Who Made Friends by the Way_) from the +Norwegian. + +The translations are not strictly literal, neither are they, I am sure, +unjustifiably free. The liberty exercised consists chiefly of omission. +For example, in Knut Spelevink, extra incidents were omitted which +dragged the story to a tedious length or marred it by the inartistic, +outworn device of explaining Knut's adventures as a dream; in _The +Princess Lindagull_, some details of the wild-beast fight were left out; +in _A Legend of Mercy_, a hampering husk was stripped off from the good +seed of the quaint little story. Most of the minor changes were made +for the sake of smoothness and clarity. + +In general, wherever I, as translator or editor, have varied from the +original, I have done so to make the stories as directly appealing, as +delightful, and as profitable as possible, for our boys and girls. + + EMILIE POULSSON. + + _Boston, Mass._ + + + + + LIST OF STORIES + + + PAGE + + + KNUT SPELEVINK 11 + + THE PRINCESS LINDAGULL 39 + CHAPTER I. The Palace of Shah Nadir 39 + CHAPTER II. The Arena 48 + CHAPTER III. The Captivity 58 + CHAPTER IV. The Release 72 + + SIKKU AND THE TROLLS 86 + + SAMPO LAPPELIL 105 + + A LEGEND OF MERCY 130 + + ANTON'S ERRAND, OR THE BOY WHO MADE FRIENDS BY THE WAY 138 + + THE FOREST WITCH 175 + + THE TESTING OF THE TWO KNIGHTS 185 + + + + + ILLUSTRATIONS + + + It was a life-and-death race (Page 126) _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE + + "Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the Snow King 24 + + The pine-tree raised itself high in air 32 + + Since Shah Nadir could refuse her nothing, he granted + her request 46 + + In the Lapp tent 60 + + Lindagull stepped forth in the clear day 70 + + Out of the mist arose a slender figure 80 + + "Oh, ho!" exclaimed Sikku, recognizing her as the + troll woman 90 + + Sampo was left lying in a snow-drift 114 + + On the back of the reindeer with golden horns 126 + + There stood the wolf and the bear 136 + + The lizard lay perfectly still, listening 146 + + "Turn back, turn back," said the dove 158 + + The Mayor was overwhelmed with wonder 172 + + Nina stood with arms around her little brother 178 + + Klaus brought forth his only treasure 196 + + + + + TOP-OF-THE-WORLD STORIES + +[Illustration] + + KNUT SPELEVINK[1] + + +Knut was a poor orphan boy who lived with his grandmother at Perlebank +in a little hut on the shore. + +He had a shirt, a jacket, a pair of trousers and a cap; and what more +does one need in summer? In winter he had woolen stockings and +birch-bark shoes. That wasn't so little, after all. He was +cheerful,--always happy indeed, though always hungry. It is a great art +to know how to be happy and hungry at the same time! + +His good grandmother was so poor that she seldom had enough food for the +boy to eat all he wanted. She spun woolen yarn and sent Knut with it to +Mr. Peterman's grand estate, The Ridge, several miles away, where he +could always sell the yarn. When Knut returned with the money, +Grandmother would buy flour and bake bread. She made it in big flat +cakes with a hole in the middle, strung these cakes on a stick and hung +the stick high up in the hut where the cakes would dry and harden, and +could be kept for a long time. If the yarn brought a good price, she +might even buy some sour milk, too. Potatoes they got from a tiny +fenced-in field, no larger than the floor of a small room. Then, too, +Grandmother owned a fish-net, so they had fresh fish sometimes,--when +Fisher Jonas's boy could help Knut to put out the net. + +It was indeed seldom, however, that Knut and his grandmother were well +supplied with food, and the boy's little stomach often called for more; +but even then he was as cheerful as ever. + +One morning he sat on the beach, picking up yellowish stones that looked +a little like soft, warm, boiled potatoes. Poor Knut! They would not do +to eat, and he laughingly threw them away, but as he did so, he happened +to see something that lay among the stones. Picking it up, he found that +it was a little whistle or pipe made of reed, such as children often +make for themselves when playing on the shore. There was nothing at all +remarkable about it, but Knut thought he would see if it gave any sound. +Good! It really did. You could play three tones upon it,--_pa_, _py_, +and _pu_. When Knut discovered that, he just for fun stuffed the whistle +into his jacket pocket. + +To-day happened to be a hungry day; Knut had had no breakfast. "Suppose +I were sitting now in Mr. Peterman's kitchen at The Ridge," thought +Knut; and at once he imagined he could smell herring being fried! + +Well, he must do something; so he seated himself on a big rock near the +water and began to fish, but the fish would not bite. There had been a +storm the day before, but to-day the sea shone like a mirror under the +bright sun, and its slow heaving waves swung clear as glass against the +shore. + +"I do wonder what Grandmother has for dinner," thought Knut to himself. + +Just then a wave rolled up so high that it wet Knut's bare foot, and he +heard a voice murmur from the wave, "Knut, have you found the magic pipe +that belongs to the sea-princess? She left it on the shore and wishes +she could find it. You can blow three tones on it, _pa_, _py_, _pu_; and +they all work magic,--_pa_ makes the hearers sleep, _py_ makes the +hearers weep, but _pu_ sets them to laughing." + +"What?" exclaimed Knut. "Is it a magic pipe? Well, you may go your way, +big wave. I found the pipe and I think I shall keep it for a while." + +The wave murmured something,--no one knows what,--rolled slowly away and +did not come back again. + +Knut took the pipe from his pocket and looked closely at it. "So you are +a magic pipe, are you? And can charm, can you? Well, charm a fish on to +my hook, if you please." And with that he blew _pa_, _pa_. + +He had not blown very long before a perch, then a pike, then a white +fish floated up to the surface of the water, lying on their sides as if +they were asleep. + +"Here are fresh fish to be had," thought Knut; and he continued to blow. +In a short time the whole surface of the water near the shore was +covered with floating fish, more white fish, several kinds of perches, +sticklebacks, bream, carp, pike, and salmon,--all the lively finny +throng that live in the sea. + +"This will be a great catch!" thought Knut, and he sprang up to the +house to get a hand-net. + +When he came back, the shore was crowded with water-birds. The sea-gulls +were the greediest and shrieked "Grab! Grab! Grab!" so that they could +be heard a mile away! But there were many others keeping them +company,--ducks and wild geese, together with swans. All these ravenous +visitors were hard at work devouring the floating fish; and in the +midst of the throng was a great sea-eagle that had swooped down and +seized a large salmon in his talons. + +"Go away, you thieves!" called Knut, picking up stones from the beach +and throwing them at the birds. Some were hit in the leg, others in the +wing, but none seemed to think of dropping his prey. + +Just then a shot sounded, then another and another, from a near-lying +bay. Some of the birds fell to the water and floated, lying on their +sides like the fish. The firing continued until all the birds had been +either shot down or sent screaming away, scattering in every direction. + +A boat containing three hunters now approached the beach. The men were +Mr. Peterman and two friends of his, and it was they who had shot the +birds. They stepped ashore in good humor to gather up their booty. + +"Why, there is Knut!" said Mr. Peterman. "How in the world did you get +so many birds together here at Perlebank?" + +"I was playing on my pipe for the fish and the birds came to the party," +answered Knut, jokingly. + +"Then you must certainly be a wonderfully clever player," said Mr. +Peterman. "And hereafter, your name shall be Knut Spelevink."[2] + +"All right," said Knut. He had had no surname before and thought he +might as well have Spelevink as Anderson, Sderlund or Mattsson. + +"But listen, Knut Spelevink; why do you look so poorly to-day? You are +as thin as a rail," said Mr. Peterman. + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly, who see all this food and have not eaten +anything since yesterday noon?" replied Knut, in his cheerful fashion. + +"H'm," said Mr. Peterman. "Well, come to The Ridge to dinner to-day, +since you have provided us with such a good catch. But don't come until +four o'clock because the birds won't be plucked and roasted before +that." + +"Thank you most humbly," answered Knut; but he thought to himself that +four o'clock was rather late for any one who had eaten nothing since +yesterday! + +Mr. Peterman and his friends rowed away and Knut went home to his +grandmother. + +"Well, Knut, have you seen any fish to-day?" + +"Oh, yes! I've seen plenty; but the birds ate the fish and Mr. Peterman +shot the birds." + +"Too bad, Knut. We have nothing for dinner but two herring, four little +potatoes and a half-slice of bread." + +"No matter, Grandmother; you eat that. I am invited to The Ridge for +dinner and I shall bring you a bit of cheese in my pocket if I can." + +"Don't take the short cut through Kiikkala Forest, Knut; there are elves +there, and three troll-kings,--the Mountain King, the Snow King and the +Forest King. Go, rather, along the shore,--that way is safer; only there +you must look out for the mermaids." + +"But it is a long way around by the shore, Grandmother, and I haven't +had anything to eat since yesterday." + +"Well, go whichever way you will then, but don't think about food. That +leads one into temptation." + +"No, Grandmother. I shall think about the next Catechism examination, +and study hard as I go along." + +Knut started on his way, thinking about the Catechism, but when he came +to the beginning of the short cut, he thought: "Surely I should be a +goose if I, with such an empty stomach, should walk seven miles instead +of half that." + +And so he turned off into the short cut through Kiikkala Forest and +determined to hear himself say the Catechism while he was going through +the woods. + +He had not gone far before he saw a thin little old man, dragging a cart +loaded with twelve iron bars. + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the old man. "Why do you look so poorly +to-day?" + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly, when I have eaten nothing but Catechism +since yesterday noon? But how did you know my new name?" + +"I know all names," answered the old man, who was really a troll. + +"Sha'n't I help you?" asked good-natured Knut. "You are all out of +breath with that heavy load." + +"Push away if you like, Spelevink." So Knut pushed, and the old man +pulled and they soon came to a big mountain in the forest. + +"This is where I live," said the old man. "Step in and I will give you +something good to eat, because you helped me with my load." So saying, +he entered the mountain. Knut's stomach said follow him, and Knut +followed. + +Soon they were in a great underground palace where everything glittered +with gold, silver and precious stones. + +"Do you live here?" asked Knut. + +"I should say I did," replied the old man. "I am the King of the +Mountain. To-morrow I give the marriage feast for my daughter; and my +servants are so driven with work that I myself had to bring my food from +the forge where these bars are made." + +"Wasn't that iron in the cart?" asked Knut. + +"Bar iron, my lad, bar iron of the best sort. That is something far +finer than simple iron ore. Bar iron is my favorite food, especially +when it is at white heat. Have you ever eaten bar iron?" + +"Not that I can remember," said Knut. + +"Then you shall be allowed to taste something extra fine for once. See, +I lay two bars in the hot furnace fire. In three minutes they will be at +white heat, and you shall creep into the furnace and eat of them +hot,--fresh cooked!" + +"Thank you very much," said Knut. "But give me rather a bit of bread and +a bowl of sour milk." + +"Oh, come now! You don't know what is good! Get into the furnace there. +Be quick! The iron is red hot already." + +"I believe you!" said Knut. "It is almost too hot for me." + +"What nonsense!" growled the old troll. And he tried with all his might +to thrust Knut into the furnace. + +But the one who took to his heels at that instant was Knut. He ran for +dear life, was lucky enough to find the outside door and was soon again +on the forest path. + +"Grandmother was right," thought Knut. "I really must hear myself the +Catechism and keep my mind on it." + +While Knut was thinking of one of the long explanations following the +oft-recurring question, "What does that mean?" he suddenly felt very +cold. The cause was soon evident, for behold! although it was summer, +there, at a turn in the path, stood a snow mountain! + +"This is remarkable," thought Knut. "How does any one here ever get warm +food?" + +With these words he climbed up on the snow, Catechism forgotten and +thoughts of food uppermost in his mind; and at once he tumbled down +into a deep hole, and found himself in a magnificent palace of +glittering ice. Starlight and moonlight illuminated it. All the great +rooms were ornamented with shining ice-mirrors, all the floors were +strewn with diamonds of hoar frost. Clumsy snow men rolled about on +their stomachs over the floor. Presently one stood upright. He was a +long-bodied stiff creature, with icicles in his hair, icicles in his +beard, a robe of thin sheet-ice, and shoes of frozen berry-juice. + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the Snow King. "Why do you look so +poorly to-day?" + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing but Catechism and +bar iron to eat since yesterday noon?" said Knut with chattering teeth. + +"You are too hot, young man, you are too hot,--that is what is the +matter with you. I am the Snow King and I bring up all my subjects to be +ice-clad--turn them into regular lumps of ice,--and I will do the same +for you. Chief Officer of the Snow Knights, dip this boy seven times in +ice-cold water, hang him on a hook and let him freeze." + +"No,--thank you,--wait a little," suggested Knut. "Give me instead a mug +of hot posset. I am already a lump of ice!" + +"Chief Officer of the Snow Knights, give him a bit of frozen +quicksilver, and a mug of chipped ice before you dip him," ordered the +Snow King. + +Knut wanted to run away but it was already too late. The Chief Officer +had grabbed him by the collar, and it would have been all over with Knut +if he had not chanced to get hold of his magic pipe. Knowing that there +was not another thing he could do to try to save himself but to blow on +his pipe, blow he did, right lustily; and this time the sound was +_pu_, _pu_. + +Instantly the long-bodied troll's features were distorted by a grin that +should have represented merriment, but he was far from merry. He was +boiling with rage over the resistless desire to laugh that unexpectedly +took possession of him. He laughed and laughed; yes, he laughed so +hard that the icicles fell from his hair and chin, his knees doubled +under him, and at last his very head burst into bits! All the snow men +laughed so violently that they, too, fell to pieces; the Chief Officer +sank to the floor, becoming only a pool of mushy, dirty water. The +ice-mirrors broke into small fragments and the whole palace changed into +a wild whirl of snow! + +[Illustration: "GOOD-DAY, KNUT SPELEVINK," SAID THE SNOW KING.--_Page 25_.] + +Knut himself was so overcome by laughter that it was only by the +strongest effort he could hold his lips together on the pipe and keep on +blowing. + +While the snow still whirled about him, he suddenly noticed that he was +again upon the forest path. And lo! the next instant the air cleared, +the last of the snow disappeared in swift-running streams, and summer, +high summer, ruled once more. + +"Now I _will_ look out for myself," thought Knut as he tramped steadily +forward; and he began again to pick out from his memory an answer to +the question, "What does that mean?" + +He had not walked far before he found himself beside the most beautiful +little wooded hill, where strawberries gleamed red all through the +grass. It could not be dangerous to pick a few strawberries to eat, when +one was not to have dinner until four o'clock in the afternoon, thought +hungry Knut; and he climbed a little way up the hill. + +No sooner was he there than he saw that what he had taken for +strawberries was nothing else than many thousand charming little elves +in red clothing. They were no taller than a strawberry stem, and were +dancing merrily around a green hillock upon which sat their queen who +was about three inches tall. + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the elf-queen. "Why do you look so +poorly to-day?" + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing to eat since +yesterday noon except Catechism and bar iron and frozen quicksilver? I +thought that you people were strawberries." + +"Poor thing, he is hungry," said the queen to her lady-in-waiting. "Give +him a dewdrop and the leg of a gnat so that he may for once eat until he +is really satisfied." + +"Thank you very much," answered Knut. "But might I perhaps have a dish +of berries and a pail of milk instead?" + +"What coarseness!" said the elf-queen, highly disgusted with such a +gluttonous appetite. "Do you know, you human child, that you came into +our kingdom without a pass, and that you trod to death three and thirty +of our faithful subjects so that there is nothing left of them but a red +stain? And you have refused our gracious offer of food and shown +yourself to be disgustingly greedy, besides. Forest spinners of our +court, do your duty." + +Scarcely were the words spoken before a legion of long-legged spiders +swung down from the trees and began to spin around Knut a network of +countless fine threads. Knut did not relish this, and thought it a very +poor joke. He beat away the webspinners, and tried to return to the +forest path, but could not stir from the spot. His feet were tangled in +an all too strong net, his arms were glued to his sides, his eyes even +were plastered shut, and at last down he fell in the grass. + +He could see nothing but he could hear how the whole hill rang with +laughter; the elves formed a ring around him, danced over him, nipped +him on the cheeks like gnats, and were beside themselves with joy over +their comical trick. + +"Lie there and starve until you can be satisfied with a dewdrop and a +gnat leg," said the elves. + +Knut fell to pleading with them. "Listen now, little elves," said he. "I +shall be content if I may bite on a small piece of reed I have in my +jacket pocket. Will not some of you be so good as to stick it into my +mouth?" + +The elves thought it would be inexpressibly amusing to see this greedy +human child eat a piece of reed; so four of them climbed into his jacket +pocket and with their united strength drew forth the magic pipe, which, +with great effort, they succeeded in putting into his mouth. Thereupon +they danced more merrily than ever around and over him, and the hill +resounded with their delicate laughter. It was like the humming of a +million swarms of gnats. + +Knut no sooner felt the pipe between his lips than he began to blow; and +this time the tone was _py_, _py_. At once the merry laughter came +to an end, and sobbing was heard from every direction,--a sound as of a +hundred thousand sobbing together, not unlike what one hears in summer +when the beating rain lashes the hill. + +Knut could not see, but he knew that the elves were crying and he felt +that it was a sin, no matter what they had done, to make such merry +creatures sob so grievously. + +"Set me free and you shall laugh again," said Knut to the weeping elves. + +Now it is the elves' greatest joy to laugh. Indeed, they laugh away +their short lives in the summer evenings knowing nothing of sorrow. + +At Knut's words, hundreds of elves began immediately to chase away the +spiders, and to set free the prisoner, loosening his arms and his legs, +and unplastering his eyelids. Knut could now see his tiny enemies and +his anger rose again, so that he blew _py_ once more. Oh, how the +poor little creatures grimaced and trembled! They wished so much to +laugh and yet they must weep because of that frightful _py_! + +Knut had not the heart to tease them any longer. He changed the note to +_pu_ and the elves became almost crazy with joy. They leaped so high +in the air that they nearly overtook the larks, and as they came down, +some of them alighted upon Knut and he had to shake them off. He did not +notice that one elf had fallen into his pocket and remained there. + +"Good-bye, little elves," said Knut as he hastily set off again on his +way through the forest. + +"I must watch out well for that other troll, the Forest King," thought +Knut. "He is said to be the worst of all. Where was I in the Catechism? +Oh, yes. 'What does that mean?'" + +After a while Knut came to a swamp at the roadside where cloudberries +grew in profusion. + +"It can't be wrong to pick a few of these berries as I pass by, since I +sha'n't have any food until four o'clock this afternoon," thought Knut. +To reach the swamp he had to climb over a huge fallen pine-tree, which +lay in the way. Scarcely did he find himself clambering across its +gnarly trunk and thick close branches than the pine-tree, to Knut's +great fright, raised itself high in air, and roared with a gruff voice: + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink. Why do you look so poorly to-day?" + +Knut, hanging over the road in the pine-tree's top, still found courage +to answer: + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing to eat since +yesterday noon except Catechism, and bar iron, and frozen quicksilver +and a gnat's leg?" + +"Well, why did you interrupt my midday nap?" asked the pine-tree. "Don't +you know that I am the King of the Forest and rule over all the trees +and swamps for seven times seven miles around! Here you see my palace. +Haven't I a fine place to live in?" + +Knut saw nothing but a bleak wilderness, so did not answer the question +but ventured to inquire most humbly if he might not get down and pick +some cloudberries to eat. + +"What is that? Cloudberries?" roared the Forest King. "Take a fir-tree +for a ladle and ladle into yourself seven cartloads of swamp mud. That +is what I call a regular meal. It is my favorite food." + +"Perhaps you would give me one load of apple marmalade, and a moderately +big ditch full of wild honey instead!" suggested merry Knut. + +"Apple marmalade? Humph! I shall make marmalade of you for disturbing me +in my nap. My Lord Eagle, I give the boy to you. You can tear him into +Scotch collops for your young ones." + +[Illustration: THE PINE-TREE RAISED ITSELF HIGH IN AIR.--_Page 31_.] + +Knut now became aware of an enormous eagle sitting in the top of the +tree and staring at him with ravenous eyes. He could not jump down, for +the pine-tree held him fast by his arms and legs. He should soon be torn +into Scotch collops. + +Knut Spelevink had never eaten collops, but however much he liked food, +it seemed unbearable that he himself should become food for eagles. + +The situation was indeed dangerous, but at this critical moment Knut +felt something light as a flower creeping up his arm, up to his jacket +collar, then to his chin and finally to his mouth. It was the little elf +that had hidden in Knut's pocket, and was now creeping along and, with +incredible difficulty, dragging after him the magic pipe which was seven +times as long as himself. + +"Blow!" said the elf. + +Knut felt the pipe in his mouth and began to blow with a will. This time +the tone was again _pa_. + +The Forest King yawned, stretched out his branches, and mumbled +something about having been disturbed in his midday nap. Then he threw +himself down at full length beside the swamp, and in his fall crushed +beneath his huge trunk the big ravenous eagle which the magic pipe had +made too drowsy to fly away. + +As Knut crept from among the branches, he heard a snoring through the +forest as loud as if a hundred bears were growling their best for a +wager; and he again took to his heels as nimbly as he could. + +"I must certainly look out," thought Knut. "It is indeed dangerous here +in the forest." + +Without stopping for cloudberries or anything else, he continued to run +and run while he could, but it was not easy, and by and by he had to +walk slowly for the path was almost overgrown. The bramble-bushes seemed +to have a spite against his trousers, tree branches caught hold of his +jacket, and clung fast to it; the heather and the twigs of the +blueberry-bushes pricked his bare feet But to The Ridge he meant to get +and to The Ridge he did get without further adventure, arriving,--tired, +hungry and blowsy,--at precisely four o'clock in the afternoon. + +"Welcome, Knut Spelevink," said Mr. Peterman. "You look right cheerful +this afternoon!" + +"Why shouldn't I look cheerful when I have been offered feasts of hot +bar iron, frozen quicksilver, a dewdrop and a gnat's leg, and seven +cartloads of mud?" laughed Knut. + +"Why, that is a good many courses for one day," said Mr. Peterman. "One +ought not to think much about food. When any one constantly thinks of +what he can get to eat, he is in danger of encountering trolls and such +like, who only fool him. But perhaps you are hungry, my boy?" + +Knut blinked in embarrassment, squeezed his cap between his hands and +said that he was not yet exactly starved to death. + +"Now that rejoices me!" exclaimed Mr. Peterman. "I ate a late breakfast +and the servants have not yet had time to pluck all the birds. You just +wait until eight o'clock and then you shall have some supper." + +This was worse than hot bar iron and seven cartloads of mud, Knut +thought; but he bit his nails and answered that he could wait, of +course, adding to himself, however, "I had better say the Catechism over +again to pass the time." + +Now this Mr. Peterman was a great joker and was only teasing Knut. He +had himself been a poor boy and knew well enough what it meant, when +famished, to wait four hours more for food. + +"Knut Spelevink," said he, "I perceive that you can do more than think +about things to eat. Do you realize that conquering one's self and being +able to give up, even to the very necessities of life, what one craves +here in this world is a kind of heroism? You can conquer yourself like a +hero and keep your merry humor through everything. I like you, my boy, +and I am sure you will make a fine man if you have enough to eat and go +to school as I mean you shall; for I am going to look after you from +this time on. + +"But what does that mean?" continued Mr. Peterman, sniffing. "It seems +to me I smell roast bird! Walk in, my boy. You shall sit with me, at my +own table, and for once in your life eat all you want." + +When Mr. Peterman said "What does that mean?" Knut thought it sounded as +if catechising were going to begin; but the door to the dining-room was +thrown open at that moment, and there stood a dinner-table laden with +smoking-hot savory food awaiting the hungry guests. + +Mr. Peterman led Knut in by the hand and Knut sat at the table like a +lord; and there he might have been sitting yet if he had not long since +carried home the promised piece of cheese to his grandmother, and been +sent to school. + +As for the magic pipe, he had used that three times and once more, and +it had served him well in Kiikkala Forest; but try as he might he could +never again get the magic tones from it, and one day he lost it. The +Catechism, however, stayed in his mind, and Knut could recite it from +end to end any time he was asked. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + +[1] Pronounced K'nut Spa-le-veenk. + +[2] "Spelevink" may be translated "Merrymouth." + +[Illustration] + + + + + THE PRINCESS LINDAGULL[3] + + +_Come, boys and girls, let us fly on the wings of the wind to the land +of a thousand tales, to the home of roses and tulips! to the land where +beautiful fairies build their castles in the red sunrise, and black +gnomes flit around in the darkness of midnight; where the sun shines +like fire over the blue mountains in Afghanistan, and the quiet +water-lilies are reflected in the deep lakes; where tigers' eyes gleam +between the reeds by the shore, and where sun-browned, dark-eyed people +glow with hate and burn with love. Let us fly to Persia!_ + + + + + CHAPTER I + + THE PALACE OF SHAH NADIR + + +There was once a Persian king whose name was Shah Nadir, and who was +exceedingly rich. Large and beautiful countries with many millions of +people were under his sway. Great rooms in his palace were filled with +gold and precious stones; and his ships, laden with the riches of India, +sailed over every sea. When he appeared in his capital city, Ispahan, he +was surrounded by a life guard of a thousand men dressed in silver armor +which glistened in the sun; and fifty thousand knights on most beautiful +horses, with golden saddles and harnesses glittering with jewels, stood +ready to speed away and conquer the world at his bidding. + +But the mighty Shah Nadir was old and had no longer any desire for war +and conquest. He had won many battles; many hostile cities had perished +in ashes before his wrath; and many, many a knight had been pierced +through by his sword in the days when his arm was young and none could +withstand him. + +But now he was old and weary, and liked best to recline on the luxurious +purple divans of his gorgeous palace. Occasionally, however, when +golden-edged clouds shielded the burning Persian sun, and a delightful +breeze blew down from Mt. Zagrosch, the old Shah would seat himself in +his richly ornamented palanquin borne by eight black slaves clad in +silver tissue, and allow himself to be carried out that he might review +his troops or watch the wild animals fighting in the arena. + +Shah Nadir had many sons, because he had also many wives, as is the +custom in eastern lands; but his sons brought him little joy. They were +thankless and full of selfish ambition, thinking that their father lived +too long, and plotting against his life and his throne. Therefore the +king drove them all away from his court to distant provinces which they +ruled over as viceroys. But he kept at home with himself his dear and +only daughter, the Princess Lindagull, because he loved her more than +all else on earth,--yes, more than all his treasures and all his riches. + +Now it is well known that such a name as "Lindagull" had never before +been heard in Persia, nor could it indeed be rightly pronounced by the +Persians. The mother of the princess had come from the far North, no one +knew exactly whence. She had been captured in her youth by African +pirates, and after many adventures had been sold to the king of Persia, +who, on account of her extreme beauty, took her in wedlock and loved her +more than all his other wives. + +This beautiful sultana, who was now dead, had called her only daughter +"Lindagull," signifying that the princess was as lovely and pure as the +gold of the sun, shimmering through the lindens of the North. + +And it is true that a more beautiful or purer being could not be found +if you searched the wide world over than the Princess Lindagull. She had +the royal bearing of her father; but in form and disposition she was +like her mother. With a complexion as dazzling as Scandinavian snow and +eyes as soft as August stars on a moonless night, she had also a heart +noble, tender and good; and so there was no one in Shah Nadir's whole +kingdom who did not love the Princess Lindagull; for the fame of her +beauty and goodness had spread through all Persia. This the old king +knew full well, and his proud heart melted like wax every time he looked +upon his lovely child. She was the delight of his eyes;--his comfort by +day, his dream by night. One word of hers could quell his highest rage. +He could not refuse her any request, even to the freedom of a slave. + +When Shah Nadir thought upon his sons with their evil hearts, and of the +trouble which they had made in the kingdom, he decided that none of them +was fit for succession to his throne; and he made up his mind to choose +for his daughter some good and noble man as a husband, and to leave to +her and her descendants the inheritance of his riches and his kingdom. + +The fatherly affection of Shah Nadir for the Princess Lindagull was +right and beautiful; but he fell into the great error of allowing it to +displace other loves and to lead him away from his duties to his +subjects. So a heavy punishment came upon him. + + * * * * * + +No one could live in a more magnificent and delightful manner than did +the Princess Lindagull. In a cool grove, under the shadow of high +palm-trees, amid the music of rippling fountains and surrounded by the +fragrance of a thousand flowers, stood the princess's lovely castle. In +its lofty apartments the sunbeams broke through windows of limpid +rock-crystal. The princess rested on the most elegant couch at night; +and when morning came she was led by her attendant ladies to bathe in a +grand basin of mother-of-pearl into which a fountain poured forth its +waters and made a deep pool, the water playfully rippling around her +delicate figure as she bathed. + +In the daytime she wrought exquisite embroideries with her maidens, or +listened to the songs of the birds or the music of the zither, or +wandered in the grove, playing like a child with the yellow butterflies +and dark red roses. + +The Princess Lindagull was not more than twelve years old; but in the +Eastern countries twelve years makes one appear as old as sixteen in +Northern countries. + +It is not a good thing to live constantly in luxury, and to see one's +wishes fulfilled "at the least wink" as were those of Princess +Lindagull. Many persons become proud and wilful under these +circumstances; but this little princess did not. She merely became +low-spirited. She did not know why it was, but the playing of the +butterflies, the fragrance of the flowers, the rippling of the waters, +and the zither's sweet sounds pleased her no more. She realized that her +heart was often empty, and noticed with surprise that she often had a +desire to weep. She could not understand it at all, and still less could +her ladies. She did not know, this little Lindagull, that as a dark +frame enhances many a picture, so trial and sorrow give one's happy days +an added luster. With pleasures and naught but pleasures in her life, +happiness was slipping from her. She must experience sorrow before she +could know true joy. + +Nevertheless, the princess believed that she had discovered the reason +of her longings. It must be because she had always lived in the +seclusion of her palace. She determined to go out, at least for once, +into the rush and whirl of human life; and so, when her father next came +to visit her, she asked that she might be allowed to see the great +exhibition of wild beasts soon to be held at Ispahan in honor of the +king's sixtieth birthday. Since Shah Nadir could refuse her nothing, he +granted her request; realizing, however, that it was the first time he +had ever done so with absolute unwillingness. + + * * * * * + +Such a conqueror as Shah Nadir, to whom half Asia paid tribute, could +not fail to have many enemies. This, however, troubled him but little, +because he had long held them in complete subjection. + +One of these enemies had fallen under the personal dislike of the king; +and in addition to the usual ceremonies of submission Shah Nadir had +required the captive foe to suffer one of the greatest indignities of +the East,--that is, the shaving of his beard. Having thus contributed to +the king's vindictive amusement, the captive was set free. + +[Illustration: SINCE SHAH NADIR COULD REFUSE HER NOTHING, HE GRANTED HER +REQUEST.--_Page 43_.] + +This man was king of the giants in Turan (that vast, wild region of rock +and desert north of Persia) and his name was Bom Bali. Once, when +warring in the far, far North, Bom Bali had captured a wizard named +Hirmu who could change himself into any animal whatever, and afterward +resume his own natural shape. + +Now when Bom Bali learned through his spies that a grand exhibition of +wild beasts was to be held in Ispahan, he summoned Hirmu into his +presence and said to him: + +"Dog, dost thou wish to live?" + +Hirmu answered, "My lord, may thy beard never grow less! Thou knowest +that thy dog desires greatly to live." + +Bom Bali said, "The first day of the month Moharrem there is to be an +exhibition of wild beasts in Ispahan. Shah Nadir has sent his hunters +into every mountain, even to mountains in our kingdom, to ensnare +fierce creatures for the contests. Take upon thyself the form of a +tiger. Be thou captured by the hunters. Steal and bring back to me the +Princess Lindagull who is the pride of Shah Nadir and of all Asia." + +"Thy hound shall fulfil all thy commands," said the Lappish wizard. + +Soon after this conversation, the Persian hunters came to Turan, +captured alive all the wild beasts they could from its mountains and +deserts, and carried them in strong cages back to Ispahan. + +[3] Pronounced Lin'dah-gool. + + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE ARENA + + +The first day of the month Moharrem had now arrived and the arrangements +had all been completed in the capital city. Many of the most dangerous +and terrible wild animals from India, Arabia, Turan, and even from the +Desert of Sahara, were held in readiness in the side rooms or stalls of +the immense semi-circular arena which had been especially built for +this occasion. More than sixty thousand spectators were seated on the +numerous tiers of seats stretching all around the arena. For the safety +of these a strong iron railing had been erected between the benches and +the fighting-ground. + +Early in the morning the whole town was in excitement. Princess +Lindagull was as happy as a child. She was going to be allowed to fly as +a bird out of its cage! She was going to see a play wherein the actors +were real lions, real tigers;--not like those represented by men dressed +in skins which they took off after they had finished the play. + +The spectators were assembled and all things awaited the arrival of the +king. At last he came, followed by his shining guard; and not he alone, +but with him his daughter, the wondrously beautiful Princess Lindagull. +According to the custom in Eastern lands she was veiled. The people +could only admire her charming manners and royal carriage as she, +followed by her attendants, rode in upon a little zebra which caprioled +with pride at bearing such a burden. + +Although no one could see her countenance every one knew by hearsay the +loveliness of the young princess. All knew, too, that she by her +intercession had saved the life of many an unhappy captive, and that she +each day sent out her maidens with medicine and bread for the poor in +Ispahan. Therefore, when she now for the first time showed herself +before the populace, there broke forth such a shout of joy from +thousands of voices that its like had not been heard since the day when +Shah Nadir celebrated his Day of Triumph after his grand conquest, with +twenty captive kings in his train. + +It is probable that the princess blushed; but no one saw it. She seated +herself beside her father on the richly embroidered purple robe which +was spread over the royal bench. And then began the exercises of the +day. + +A strange strife between a wildcat and a pelican came first. One of the +pelican's wings had been clipped so that it could not fly away, and +though it fought fiercely, thrusting its beak into the cat's side, the +wildcat scratched and bit the big bird so savagely that the end soon +came and the cat was declared the winner in the fight. Almost every one +thought this contest very entertaining, but the Princess Lindagull did +not like it at all. + +After this, two monstrous crocodiles were brought forth in long tanks of +water, and a dead pig was thrown out in front of them. The crocodiles +had not had meat for a whole month and were very hungry. Nevertheless, +so sleepy were they that they continued to lie still in the tanks, +warming themselves in the sun. Then a boy sprang boldly forward and +tickled one of the crocodiles on the nose with a switch. The crocodile +thrust up his ugly mouth and began to clamber clumsily out of the tank +to devour the boy. But the boy saved himself by jumping hastily aside, +the crocodile not being able to turn quickly enough to catch him. When +the boy had thoroughly roused this crocodile he awoke the one in the +other tank; and then, swift as a gazelle, escaped through a little gate +in the fence. Soon the crocodiles caught sight of the dead pig and both +started forward to seize it. Falling into a rage at the idea of sharing +it, they fell upon each other in a frightful contest. Each tried to +force his sharp teeth through the scaly skin of the other, but without +success. At last, however, one fell on its back, and the conqueror +mounted its breast and got the pig. + +Next followed a strife between six large Arabian dogs and an equal +number of jackals from the deserts of Turan. These two animals both +belong to the wolf family and though the jackal is a cowardly creature, +he is formidable when once engaged in a fray. This conflict was fierce +indeed. Five dogs lay prone upon the ground and only one jackal had +fallen when a whistling was heard from the bench where sat the brave +young Arab prince Abderraman. He whistled to incite his favorite hound, +Valledivau, to further effort. The dog heard his master's voice and +tackled again. The jackals fell, one after another, before his prowess, +and soon Valledivau was greeted with a loud cheer as conqueror. + +Then came a fight between hyenas and wolves; another between an Indian +elephant and a tiger; and then a leopard and a panther were led to +opposite sides of the arena. A piece of fresh meat was thrown down +before them, and immediately both rushed toward it and fought for its +possession. But the panther, which was stronger and more agile, came off +victor, having covered his adversary with deadly wounds. + +This contest being finished, a royal tiger of unusual strength and +beauty was brought forth. He was called Ahriman, after the Prince of +Darkness. The tiger's adversary was an immense lion, called Ormuz, after +the Prince of Light. A living lamb was cast down before the two, but +this was more than Lindagull could endure. She gave a sign and the +trembling little creature was snatched away; and in its stead one of the +dead dogs was cast before the wild animals. + +The lion was hungry and immediately rushed upon the prey. The tiger, +jealous by nature, also darted forward furiously, eager to deprive the +lion and to get the prey for himself. + +This was the most terrible contest of all. The air echoed the dreadful +roaring of the angry beasts, the sand was thrown up by their paws and +colored red with their blood. + +They fell over each other, they separated, they rushed against each +other again. All the spectators trembled, entranced. Long was the strife +undecided, but the tiger Ahriman finally succumbed and Ormuz was led +from the arena in triumph. + +And now the performances were about to close with a grand strife en +masse, every wild animal taking part. But the heat of the sun being +intense, there was a cessation in the sports, so that the spectators +might refresh themselves with cooling drinks. Many then went down upon +the arena to look at the dead animals which had been left there. + +Even the Princess Lindagull became curious to view the animals at a +nearer point. She, who until now had seen only blossoms and singing +birds, had no idea of the aspect of these dead creatures. So down she +went, followed by her ladies and the guard, into the arena; and slaves +spread gold-embroidered mats before her feet, so that her dainty sandals +should not be soiled by the blood-stained sands. + +What could she fear? All the living animals were shut up in safe cages. +The most dangerous of all, the great tiger Ahriman, lay dead upon the +arena. The princess went toward him, admiring his beauty and marveling +at his splendid striped skin which she determined to ask her father for, +that she might use it as a rug in the marble castle. + +Suddenly the tiger rose up, gave a leap, sprang upon the princess, +seized her in his terrible jaws, and rushed away! Shrieks of horror flew +from tier to tier among the spectators, but no one had the courage to +try to snatch his booty from the tiger. + +No one? Ah, one there was! The valiant Prince Abderraman dashed with the +speed of the wind into the tiger's path, grasped the monster's gory +breast and struggled with him for his precious booty. + +Alas, unhappy prince! His right arm was in an instant bitten almost off +by the tiger, and he was thrown bleeding and helpless upon the sand; and +before any one could come to the aid of the vanquished hero, the tiger +had leaped over the high iron railing and escaped with the Princess +Lindagull in his mighty jaws! + +The anguish of poor old Shah Nadir was great; and great was the grief of +all Ispahan,--indeed, of all Persia. The king's guard and the fifty +thousand knights with gold saddles rode immediately away to seek the +princess. They searched through every bush and cleft in Turan where a +tiger's lair might be. Hundreds of tigers and other wild beasts fell +before their spears, but fruitlessly. After looking through all Turan +and half of Asia, the guard returned sorrowing. No trace of the Princess +or her strange captor was to be found. + +Shah Nadir tore his gray hair and cursed his sixtieth birthday. He had +lost what he held dearest on earth,--his Lindagull. He ordered his +people to array themselves in mourning as if a sultana had died. He also +commanded that prayers should be offered in all the mosques for the +Princess Lindagull's return. And the proclamation was made that whoever +restored his daughter to him, living, should receive the hand of the +princess and inherit the Persian crown; whoever brought her back dead +should receive as a reward sixty asses laden with gold and costly +treasure. The hope of so rich a reward led many princes and noblemen to +undertake the search for the lost daughter of the king. But sooner or +later all came back without having found her. All except one; and that +was Prince Abderraman. He had made a solemn vow to seek for the princess +fifteen years; to find and rescue her, or die. + +If the princess had been carried away by a real tiger, our tale would +have ended with that; because nothing is sacred to a royal tiger, not +even the noblest princess in the world. But this was not the case. The +wizard, Hirmu, had availed himself of the exhibition of wild beasts in +order that, transformed into a tiger, he might carry out his master's +commands for his own advantage. He had exchanged hearts with the tiger; +and so long as the heart was not destroyed or eaten up, Hirmu could not +be killed. But such a treasure as a princess he preferred to keep for +himself; so, instead of taking his captive to old King Bom Bali in +Turan, he carried her away, with flying leaps, to his own far-away home +in Lapland. + + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE CAPTIVITY + + +It was now autumn, and dark in Lapland. + +The Lapp woman, Pimpedora, sat and cooked porridge over a blazing fire +in the tent, while her son Pimpepanturi sat waiting for the porridge and +looking idly at his reindeer shoes. Pimpepanturi was a good-natured boy; +but he was stupid, and not a little lazy besides. His father, Hirmu, +had wished very much to bring him up as a wizard, but it was of no use. +Pimpepanturi thought more about eating and drinking than of learning +anything,--whether sorcery or what not. + +The Lapp woman turned toward the boy, and said, "Don't you hear +something?" + +"I hear the fire crackle and the porridge bubble in the pot," answered +Pimpepanturi with a long yawn. + +"Don't you hear something like a roar out in the autumn night?" asked +the Lapp woman again. + +"Yes," said Pimpepanturi; "that is a wolf taking some of our reindeer." + +"No," said the Lapp woman; "that is Father coming back. He has now been +away four winters, but I hear him growling like a wild animal. He must +have hurried to have reached home so soon again!" + +At that moment Hirmu entered in the semblance of a tiger with the +Princess Lindagull hanging from his mouth. Placing her on a heap of moss +in the corner of the tent, he quickly regained his own body (replacing +his own heart in it now), at the same time calling out, "Mother, what +food have you? I have run a long way." + +The tiger fell dead upon the moss in the tent. The Lapp woman had nearly +fallen into the porridge-pot from fright; but she recognized her husband +and promised him a good supper, if he would tell her where he had been +these four winters, and what kind of a grand doll he had brought home +with him. + +"That is too long a story to tell," grumbled the husband. "Take care of +our grand doll and give her warm reindeer milk to restore her to life. +She is a fine young lady from Persia. She will bring us good fortune." + +Princess Lindagull was not dead,--not even wounded. She had only fainted +from fright. When she awoke she lay (in her rich clothing of pearls and +silver tissue) on a reindeer skin spread over moss, in the Lapp tent. It +was dark and cold. The firelight shone on the close walls of the tent +and on the Lapp woman, who gave her reindeer milk to drink. Lindagull +believed herself to be in death's domain under the earth; and cried +because she, so young, should be snatched away from Persia's sun and +Ispahan's lovely rose gardens. + +[Illustration: IN THE LAPP TENT.--_Page 60_.] + +The wizard, in the meantime, hit upon a happy plan for winning Persian +treasure, and said to Lindagull: + +"Weep not, beautiful princess. Thou art not dead. Thou hast only been +stolen away by a horrid tiger and my son, the brave Knight Morus +Pandorus von Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu, has saved thee at the greatest risk +of his own precious life. We will be thy slaves and serve thee with the +utmost zeal until it becomes possible to conduct thee back to Persia." + +"What lie is that, old man?" said the honest Lapp woman in her own +language to the wizard. + +The wizard continued: "My wife says that if thou wilt take our son, the +surpassingly beautiful and brave knight, Morus Pandorus von +Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu, for thy bridegroom, we will immediately conduct +thee back to Persia." + +Pimpepanturi did not understand Persian; so he made great eyes when his +father pushed him forward toward the princess and pressed his stiff back +down with both hands that it might appear as if Pimpepanturi were +bowing. + +Lindagull would not have been a princess and the daughter of proud Shah +Nadir if she had not felt herself insulted by such an indignity. She +gazed scornfully at the wizard, and at his clumsy lout of a son,--with +such eyes! Nay! it was not a gaze; for her eyes flashed lightning! +(And Persian eyes can flash lightning!) Father and son both flushed +dark red. + +"No, that won't do," said the wizard. "She must first be tamed." + +Then the wizard made a partition in the tent, three yards long and two +yards wide. There he imprisoned Lindagull, and gave her half a reindeer +cheese and a dipper of melted snow-water every day for food. + +Thus day and night passed by in darkness, for winter came quickly; and +the Northern Lights shone in through the cracks of the tent. + +Poor, innocent little Lindagull! Her eyes had flashed lightning once; +but as in thunder-storms it is not long between lightning gleams and +showers of rain, so the tears of Princess Lindagull soon began to fall. +Yes, she cried as one only can cry when one is twelve years old and has +been a princess in Persia and lived in rose-gardens and marble castles, +guarded by the friendliest attendants, and then suddenly finds herself +hungry and freezing, alone, in a dark Lapland winter. Yes, she wept as +one weeps over lost youth, health and beauty;--over a lost life; as the +dew weeps over a beautiful extinguished day in Ispahan's pleasure +garden. + +When she had done weeping she slept. But lo! while she slept, there +stood by her side the friendly old fellow whom the Finns call Nukku +Matti, whom the Swedes call Jon Blund, and whom the Danes and Norwegians +call Ole Lukje,[4]--(I don't know what they call him in Persia;) and +he took her in his arms, bore her to Feather Islands and laid her on a +bed of fragrant roses in a lovely grotto. There all was peaceful and +good. The soft moon shone over date-palms and myrtle forests, just as in +Persia's fairest springtime. Small airy Dreams danced forth to her with +silken shoes over velvet rugs, and led her back to her home; to her +father the old Shah Nadir, to her friendly attendants and to all the +places dear to her from birth. And so passed the long winter nights. + +And so passed weeks and months in the Kingdom of Dreams; because it was +now night altogether. But Lindagull was patient and wept no more. The +Dreams had said to her, "Wait; thy deliverer will come----" + +Who would deliver her? Who should discover a path where no path lay, far +away in the snow? + +The Lapp woman would willingly have set her free, but dared not on +account of her husband. And Pimpepanturi also had thoughts of it, but +was too lazy. + +At length the winter was ended. The sun dared to shine, the snow melted +and the gnats danced about. Then the wizard thought, "Now she is tamed!" +Whereupon he went to Lindagull and asked if she wished to travel back to +Persia. If so, she need only to accept the grandly courageous and highly +admired knight, Morus Pandorus von Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu for her +bridegroom, and the reindeer would immediately stand harnessed at the +door ready to travel southward. + +Lindagull did not shoot glances of lightning this time. But she thought +of the young Prince Abderraman who had once bled for her on Ispahan's +sand; and remembering his face she could not possibly accept +Pimpepanturi. She answered nothing. + +At this the wizard became very angry. He shut the Princess Lindagull in +a deep, dark grotto on a mountainside, and said to her (dropping the +grandiloquent style he had heretofore used): "Soon the cloudberries will +be ripe. You shall keep account of the days as they pass, in this way. +The first day you shall have thirty cloudberries to eat and thirty +dewdrops to drink; the next day twenty-nine cloudberries to eat and +twenty-nine dewdrops to drink; and so on, for each day one berry and one +drop less. On the last day you shall tell me what you have decided." + +So Lindagull stayed there confined in the grotto. The time of year had +now come when barren Lapland shone with light both day and night; but +the grotto was dark. The cloudberries and dewdrops steadily lessened in +number, but Lindagull's cheeks became no paler and her quiet patience +continued the same as before. What she had to forego by day Nukku Matti +and the Dreams made up to her every night. They lifted off the rocky +roof by their magic power so that she could see the glowing midnight sun +and hear the roar of the waterfall as it hurled itself over the edge of +the rock. Drippings from this waterfall fell into the grotto in the form +of a delicious honey-dew, which served the starving one as refreshing +meat and drink. + +The thoughts of Princess Lindagull dwelt often upon Prince Abderraman. +She sang ballads of the Eastern lands, and it pleased her to hear a +hundred clear-voiced echoes answer back from the mountain walls. On the +thirtieth day, the wizard brought her the last berry and the last +dewdrop laid upon a leaf of Lapland dwarf-birch. + +"Well now," he asked, "have you decided?" + +Lindagull covered her fair face and answered nothing. + +"There is still one day's time for thought," said the wizard, "and you +shall have some company to help hasten your decision." As he said this +he opened the door of the grotto, and immediately something like a great +cloud streamed in. It was a swarm of Lapland's starved-out gnats. There +were thousands and thousands and thousands of them, and they filled the +grotto like a thick cloud of smoke. + +"I wish you much joy in your new acquaintances!" said the ugly wizard, +shutting the door quickly as he went out. + +Lindagull did not understand his meaning. She did not know the sting of +the Lapland gnat. She had never been annoyed by the Persian firefly +even, for a slave had always stood at her side night and day with a long +waving peacock feather to protect her from all hurtful insects. The +knowledge of such suffering as the horde of stinging gnats would have +inflicted was kept from her now by the kindly Dreams; who, the instant +the door was shut, threw around her a close-woven veil of finest +texture, from the loom of the fairies. Through this veil the gnats could +not make their way. Not a drop of royal blood did they taste, day or +night. They bit with all their little power at the hard granite rocks; +but finding these too juiceless, the disappointed insects settled +themselves like a gray web about all the cracks and corners of the +grotto. + +At midnight the door of the grotto was noiselessly opened and in walked +the Lapp woman, Pimpedora, with a jar in her hand, followed by +Pimpepanturi carrying a burning torch and some smoked reindeer meat. + +"Poor child," said the good-hearted Lapp woman, "it is a sin to keep you +here; but I dare not let you out, for if I did my husband would change +me to a mountain rat. See, I have brought you some pitch-oil in my jar. +Spread it all over your body; that will keep you from being stung to +death by the gnats." + +"And see here, I have brought you a smoked shoulder of reindeer so that +you shall not starve to death," said Pimpepanturi, good-naturedly. "It +is somewhat nibbled, because I grew so very hungry on the way; but there +is still a little meat on the bone. And I stole the key of the grotto +while Father slept, but I dare not let you out, for if I did Father +would change me into a wolverine. But you need not trouble yourself +about taking me for your husband. I'll wager that you cannot even cook a +black pudding properly." + +"No, I know I cannot, truly," answered Princess Lindagull, and she +thanked them both for their good-will, but explained to them that she +was neither hungry nor gnat-stung. + +"Well! Keep the pitch-oil for safety's sake," said the Lapp woman. + +"Yes, keep the shoulder of reindeer, too," said Pimpepanturi. + +"A thousand thanks," replied Lindagull. + +Then the door was closed and she was again alone. + +The next morning the wizard came, expecting that now he should surely +find his captive half stung to death by gnats and completely subdued. +But when he saw Lindagull as blooming as before, and saw her again look +thoughtfully into his face without speaking, his wrath knew no bounds. + +"Come out!" he shouted. + +Lindagull stepped forth in the clear day, as delicate and bright as a +fairy in moonlight. When she threw back her veil to look about, the sun +shone before her, warm and radiant as on a spring morning in the blue +mountains of Afghanistan. + +Then said the wizard: "I have a great mind to take you to old King Bom +Bali in Turan. He would load six asses with gold to get hold of you +for a single day! But no; I will not give up yet. Listen to what I have +decided upon. You shall be turned into a heather blossom on a Lappish +moor and live only as long as a heather blossom lives, unless you will +yield to my wishes. Notice the sun: it now stands low in the sky. In two +weeks and a day comes the first polar frost. Then the heather blossoms +die. Just before the frost comes, I shall question you for the last +time." + +[Illustration: LINDAGULL STEPPED FORTH IN THE CLEAR DAY.--_Page 70_.] + +Glaring at her, he waited, as if expecting the desired answer at once; +but as Lindagull again only gazed thoughtfully up at him in silence, the +wizard cried out in a voice trembling with anger: + + "_Adma donai Marrabatasan!_" + +which meant, "Human life! sink into the likeness of a flower!" + +The wizard had learned these magic words one autumn evening from the +South Wind when it came from the African desert and laid itself to rest +on a Lapland mountain. The wind understands all languages, for all +words are spoken in its hearing. + +As the magician uttered this frightful command, it seemed to Lindagull +as if all the flower-stalks on the heath grew to trees and overshadowed +her; but it was she herself who sank down to the earth. The next moment +a stranger's eye could no longer distinguish her from the thousands and +thousands of pale purple-pink heather blossoms on the Lappish waste. "In +one day and two weeks!" mumbled the wizard, casting a malignant glance +behind him as he turned back to his tent. + +[4] Ole Shut-Eye. (The Sandman.) + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE RELEASE + + +While all this was taking place, Prince Abderraman was riding the wide +world over, with his sword at his side and his staff in his hand. There +was not a mountain in Asia, not a desert in Africa, nor a field, town or +city in Southern or Middle Europe which he had not traversed in vain. +But what had he to hope for in Europe? No tigers are found there except +the tame ones exhibited in the city menageries; and among _them_ there +was no _Ahriman_! Sorrow drew the prince back on the way to Persia, and +his trusty dog, Valledivau, accompanied him. + +One day the dog hunted a wild duck among the reeds of a lake, captured +it and carried it alive to his master. Just as the prince was about to +kill it, the duck quacked out: + +"Spare my life, and I will tell you something!" + +"I _will_ spare your life, wonderful bird," the prince exclaimed, +astonished. "What have you to tell me?" + +"Ride to Lapland!" quacked the duck, at the same time escaping into the +water. + +Lapland! The prince had never even heard of such a kingdom. When he +inquired about it and how he should find it, people answered: + +"Ride northward, steadily northward; and stop not until the road ends, +the forest ends, and you no more find a human dwelling with builded +hearth." + +"Wonderful!" thought the prince, and he followed the advice. He rode +northward, steadily northward; stopping not until the road came to an +end, the forest came to an end, and no human dwelling was to be seen but +one lone movable tent. + +It was on the last day of August, after he had ridden many long and +weary miles without seeing a single trace of man, that the prince +suddenly discovered, at the foot of a high mountain, this lone tent of +reindeer skin. The last day of August! The sun still shone and the +heather still blossomed, but the sky had changed and a cool north wind +blew. When the wind ceased, then would come the frost! + +The prince drew nearer to the tent that he might once more repeat his +fruitless query for the lost princess, when to his indescribable +astonishment he perceived in the distance an inscription on a rock on +the mountainside. The characters were very legible. He read the name of + + LINDAGULL! + +The wizard had carved the name there, over the door of the mountain +grotto, so that he could find the place again when he moved his tent +away. + +The prince had dismounted, and was just about to draw his sword and +enter the tent when Hirmu came out on his way to the heath. + +"Give me back the Princess Lindagull or I will send you to the Kingdom +of the Prince of Darkness!" shouted Abderraman. + +The wizard was a crafty fellow who knew many a trick by which to save +himself when in a dilemma. But he lost his presence of mind at this +unexpected encounter and could think of no better way out of the +difficulty than to change himself instantly into a mountain fox. With a +hasty spring he fled swiftly away into the mountain. He thought thus to +be safe from the prince's sword, but he forgot the dog by whom the +prince was followed! + +No sooner had Valledivau seen the fox spring away than he was off on the +hunt after it. The fox hid in every cleft and jumped over the mountain +ravines; but Valledivau, even more agile, chased him to the highest +mountain top, tore him in pieces, and ate up his heart. + +This proved the death of Hirmu the wizard; for his heart had entered the +fox just as it had before gone into the tiger; and when the heart was +eaten up, that was the end of the wizard. + +When the dog returned with his nose covered with blood, his master +understood that now their common enemy had met his destruction. But +where was Lindagull to be found? + + * * * * * + +The prince went to the door of the tent. The Lapp woman, Pimpedora, was +cooking reindeer meat; and her boy, Pimpepanturi, stretched lazily on +the soft moss, was sleeping instead of doing something useful while he +was waiting for dinner. + +"Woman," said the prince, "your husband is dead. Give me back the +Princess Lindagull, and no harm shall come to you." + +"O mercy! And is he dead?" exclaimed the Lapp woman, coming out of the +tent, but not appearing very much distressed. "Ah, well! It's time there +should come an end to his evil arts. As for Lindagull, we must seek her +out there among the heather blossoms. My husband has changed her into a +heather blossom, exactly like many thousands of others; and to-night the +frost will come and then all will be over with her!" + +"Ah! dearest little Lindagull! Must you die to-night and I not be able +to discover the stalk on which you wither?" cried the prince, throwing +himself down among the heather on the boundless moor, where a thousand +times a thousand pale, purple-pink blossoms, exactly like each other, +awaited death. + +"Hold!" said the Lapp woman. "Despair not! Now occurs to me the saying +with which Lindagull was enchanted! I thought he planned a wrong against +the child, and crept back of a big stone to see what my husband was +going to do. Then I heard him say: + + "_Adma donai Marrabatasan!_" + +"Ah!" sighed the prince, "how can that help us when we do not know the +words which loosen the enchantment?" + +Pimpepanturi, waking and thinking that the dinner had been long enough +deferred, walked out of the tent to look for his mother. When he heard +the prince's words, he scratched his forehead thoughtfully a few times +and said, "Father used to change the saying around when he wanted to +disenchant any one." + +"Yes, so he did!" said the Lapp woman. + +Prince Abderraman, with terrified eagerness, gave a great leap, landed +on a rock, and shouted as loudly as he could over the limitless heath: + + "_Marrabatasan donai Adma!_" + +The words rang out through the air without effect. No blossom arose. The +sun was sinking rapidly toward the horizon and the wind was growing +still. + +The prince, fearing he should not give the right turn to the magic +command, repeated it time after time saying the words in different order +and with different expression. But in vain. + +At last, at a certain way of saying the words, it seemed to him that a +bit of heather on a distant mound had lifted itself up to listen, but +sunk immediately back, undistinguishable among the multitudinous +blossoms. + +"The sun is going down," said the Lapp woman. "If we do not quickly find +the right manner of saying the words, the frost will come, and then it +will be too late." + +By this time the sun's red beams had sunk quite down to the horizon. All +nature was silent. A cool and damp evening mist, the forerunner of the +frost, spread itself like a veil over moor and mound. All living things +which had ventured to bloom for a short time in Lapland were now doomed +to death. + +Prince Abderraman was pallid with terror. His voice choked, and he could +scarcely articulate the one untried arrangement of the magical words: + + "_Marraba donai Adma tasan._" + +Behold! On the distant hillock, a heather blossom raised itself on its +stalk. It grew as rapidly as does the lily which the Afghanistan fairies +cause to spring forth in the red dawn, when they tap on the blue +mountains with their magic wands. + +The mist lay all around the mound. Out of the mist arose a slender +figure, and as the prince approached the mound, running breathlessly, +Lindagull came toward him pale with the escape of death. Prince +Abderraman had found the right order for the words just in time to save +her life. + +The Princess Lindagull was borne to the tent in the arms of Abderraman, +and her strength soon returned under the Lappish woman's kind care. +Pimpedora was happy; and Pimpepanturi in his gladness forgot his +longed-for dinner, which was sadly burnt in the pot. + +[Illustration: OUT OF THE MIST AROSE A SLENDER FIGURE.--_Page 80_.] + +The hero-prince, picturing to himself the perils of the princess and the +wonder of her recovery, swooned with rapture. His first words as he +recovered were a prayer to Allah; and then he asked Lindagull: + +"How did it feel to be changed into a heather blossom?" + +"Just as if one sank back into the cradle of childhood and knew no more +of the world than to eat, drink, and be happy in God's love," answered +Lindagull. + +"And how did it feel when you came back to life again?" + +"Just as when one awakes on a clear morning after a deep and pleasant +slumber." + +"To-morrow shall we go back to Persia?" + +"Yes," answered Lindagull. "But the good woman and her son have had a +share in saving the poor captive Lindagull. We will take them with us +and they shall have a palace in Ispahan." + +"No; many, many thanks," answered Pimpedora; "I like my reindeer tent in +Lapland better." + +"Are there snow and reindeer in Persia?" asked Pimpepanturi. + +"Snow is found only on the highest mountains," said the princess; "and +instead of reindeer we have horses, antelopes, and gazelles." + +"No, thank you heartily, then," said Pimpepanturi. "You can go with +pleasure, and marry whom you wish. Nowhere in the world is there to be +found so good a land as Lapland!" + +It was of no use trying to dispute that question with the Laplanders, so +the prince and princess set out the following day without them. Before +departing they presented the Lapp woman and her son with their +gold-embroidered clothes and with many jewels; receiving in return gifts +of Lappish garments made from reindeer skin. + +The Lapp woman put the costly Persian robes carefully away in birch +bark, and rejoiced because with them she could buy a whole field of +grain. + + * * * * * + +Shah Nadir sat alone in Ispahan's golden palace and groaned with grief. +He could not forget his lost daughter. His wicked and ungrateful sons +had raised a rebellion against him, and were marching with a large army +toward the capital to cast their father from the throne. + +While affairs were at this juncture the Grand Vizier announced that a +young foreign couple, dressed in reindeer skin and followed by a dog, +wished to prostrate themselves at the king's feet. + +Shah Nadir never refused audience to a stranger,--(perhaps such a +traveler would know something of his dear lost child!)--and so the two +foreigners were led into his presence. + +The young man cast himself down before the feet of the Shah; but the +young woman, without ado, threw her arms around his neck; at which +proceeding the Grand Vizier's beard became green with consternation! + +But Shah Nadir, under her Lappish hood of reindeer skin, recognized his +child so long sought and so hopelessly bewailed. "Allah! Allah!" cried +he in joy; "now I am willing to die!" + +"No, my lord king," broke out Prince Abderraman. "Now shall you live to +rejoice with us, and to win back your kingdom again." + +When Shah Nadir learned about his daughter's captivity and of the loyal +service which the prince had shown her, he immediately proclaimed Prince +Abderraman successor to his throne, promised him the Princess Lindagull +in marriage, and sent him in command of the fifty thousand knights with +gold saddles to fight the rebellious army. + +It was not long before the prince won a glorious battle, took the rebel +sons prisoners, and came back victorious to the rejoicing people of +Ispahan. + +Then was the wedding of Prince Abderraman and Princess Lindagull +celebrated with great state (but without a wild beast fight!) and they +lived long and happily after. But one day every year,--and that was the +thirty-first of August, the date of Princess Lindagull's +deliverance,--the royal pair showed themselves (to the great wonderment +of magnificent Persia) in the Lapps' outlandish clothes of reindeer +skin, so that in their prosperity they should not forget the great +escape and blessing of the past. + +In his old age, Shah Nadir had happy little grandchildren to sit upon +his knee. The wicked sons ended their careers as swineherds for old King +Bom Bali in Turan. The dog, Valledivau, lived to be thirty years old and +died of the toothache (!); his skin was stuffed and kept in great honor. +But about Pimpedora, and Pimpepanturi who bore for a season the proud +name of Morus Pandorus von Pikkulukulikuckulu, nothing has since been +heard in Persia. Probably they have never found a better land on the +earth's broad expanse than Lapland. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + SIKKU AND THE TROLLS + + +In the time of Charles the Twelfth there lived, in North Finland, a poor +herd-boy called Sikku. His name should have been Sixtus, but the tongue +of the Finn is so unmanageable that some names baffle it, and in that +case he simply makes them over to suit himself,--to the form that he can +best pronounce; so for that reason, Sixtus became Sikku. + +Sikku was so poor that he had neither cap nor shirt nor shoes; but not +in the least did this trouble him. He was always gay and happy, and +while tending his cows at the foot of Sipuri Mountain, sang songs from +morning till evening or blew on his wooden horn, taking great delight in +hearing the mountain echoes mimic him. + +Sikku had an old jack-knife, which counted for riches to him; and +besides that he rejoiced in a comrade named Kettu, a long-nosed, +long-tailed yellow dog, faithful to Sikku, but with a testy temper +toward other folk. + +The two stood by each other in plenty and in need, through weal and +through woe. Kettu drove the cows together when they strayed, Kettu +watched them while Sikku took his midday nap, and Sikku shared with +Kettu the hard bread that was, for both, the usual breakfast and dinner. +With the bread, they always had a fine soup of clear spring water, and +almost every day a delicious dessert,--strawberries, raspberries, Arctic +blackberries, blueberries, red whortleberries, wild cherries, or berries +from the mountain-ash. + +Kettu scorned such things, but Sikku enjoyed them all in the course of +the summer, and thought he fared like a prince. When the weather was +very rainy and cold, however, he would begin, toward evening, to long +for the porridge pot. Oh, that nice warm porridge pot, that he could +scrape and scrape, eating all the porridge there was left anywhere in +it! Kettu got the porridge ladle to lick, and stole Miss Pussy's milk +from the broken earthen dish which stood on the floor near the +water-tub, though he seldom got the milk without a battle! + +The master of Anttilla Farm was stingy and grasping and his wife was +like him, but what mattered that to Sikku? He had his freedom, and the +only thing he was responsible for was that all the fifteen cows returned +to the farm every evening to be milked. Not another care in the world +had Sikku, and for a time all went well and happily. + +One day he climbed up the highest peak of the mountain while Kettu +watched the cows in the valley. There was a wide beautiful view over +forests, marshes, and small lonely lakes, but no houses were in sight. +Sikku had never in his life thought that the world could be so big! His +heart warmed within him as he saw the sun sparkle on the lakes between +the dark branches of the pines. When a cloud sailed over the sky, one +gleam after another flashed, vanished in shadow and shone out anew in +another spot. Sikku sang and sang, blowing his wooden horn between +times. The sounds rang out merrily up there on the mountain and turned +into a little song: + + "Oh, Sipuri Mountain! Tu-tu! Falidu! + Tu-tu! Falidu! + In all the whole world not a boy can be found + Who is tending his cows, with such grandeur around. + Tu-tu! Falidu!" + +While he was singing, there suddenly appeared before him a hideous +little old woman who said to him, "All the land that you see shall be +yours if you will be my boy and obey me." + +"Oh, ho!" exclaimed Sikku, observing the woman closely and recognizing +her as the troll woman from Allis Farm. + +"Give me the white cow, Kimmo," continued she, "and say when you go home +that the wolf caught her." + +Sikku's eyes grew big and he answered: "Indeed I will not. I am no such +rascal as that!" + +"Then blame yourself for what happens," said the troll woman; and with +that she hopped, crow fashion, down the mountain. + +Kettu began to howl from the valley. Sikku sprang down and found that +Kimmo had sunk in the wet marsh so that only her horn stood up above the +soft, yielding ground. He tried to drag her out, but he was not strong +enough, and when he had worked over her until he was worn out, he had to +give up and go home driving only fourteen cows, while the bell cow lowed +and Kettu howled. + +Poor Sikku told of the disaster and got a hard thrashing; and the next +morning was sent to his work without anything to eat, not even the dry +bread usually given to him for the noon meal. + +He sang no songs that day but sat hungry and sorrowful at the foot of +the mountain. By and by, the long-bearded old troll man from Allis came +to him and said: + +"Give me the black cow, Mustikka, and say that the wolf tore her to +pieces, and I will give you all the land you can see from Sipuri Peak." + +[Illustration: "OH, HO!" +EXCLAIMED SIKKU, RECOGNIZING HER AS THE TROLL WOMAN.--_Page 89_.] + +"Indeed I will not. I am no such rascal as that!" answered Sikku, +offended. + +"Blame yourself then for what happens," said the troll; and with that +off he went, turning somersaults all the way. + +Kettu began to bark. Sikku ran at once to the herd and found Mustikka +lying dead among the trees on a hillside. She had eaten some poisonous +plant and could not be restored to life. Sikku, distressed and crying, +made a birch-bark cone, in which he brought water from the spring and +dashed over her head; but it was of no use. He must go home with only +thirteen cows and report the misfortune. This time he was shut up in the +cellar without food for three days. The fourth day he was sent out with +the thirteen cows and the usual lunch-bag. Being very hungry he no +sooner reached the gate than he opened the bag, but found in it only a +gray stone! + +Sikku drove the cows toward the mountain, ate berries in the forest, +and sat down, full of grief, on a stump right in the midst of the herd, +so that no further ill might befall. Then there came to him the pretty +little troll maiden from Allis, who held out toward him a fresh wheaten +roll, patted his thin cheek, and said: + +"Give me the red cow, Mansikka, and tell them when you go home that a +bear tore her to pieces, and you shall have this nice fresh roll and all +the land you can see from the top of Sipuri besides." + +Sikku was so hungry that he could have swallowed a roll of moss! He +looked at the wheaten roll, he looked at the pretty little troll maiden +and had to bite his tongue to keep from instantly answering yes. But the +troll maiden laughed and that offended Sikku, and he answered: + +"Indeed I will not. I am no such rascal as that!" + +"Blame yourself then for what happens!" said the troll maiden; and with +that, fluttering like a magpie, away she went into the forest. + +Sikku, fearing a new misfortune, turned at once to Mansikka who had been +grazing right near him. She now lay stretched at full length upon the +grass with a snake hanging fast to her nose; and in a short time she was +dead from the poisonous bite. What did it matter that Sikku killed the +snake? Its bite had killed the cow, and home must he go with only twelve +cows, and tell of this new disaster. + +"Decide yourself what punishment you deserve!" said the angry farmer. +"Shall I roast you in the bath-house furnace or would you rather be +thrown into the deep well?" + +"I couldn't help it,--it wasn't my fault!" said Sikku, weeping bitterly. +"Three times they offered me all the land I could see from Sipuri Peak +if I would steal a cow for them and then lie to you; but that of course +I would not do." + +"They did, did they?" said the farmer. "Very well. That is my land that +you see from Sipuri Peak and I will promise it to you, if you, before +the next full moon, lead to my farm nine beautiful cows in the place of +Kimmo, Mustikka, and Mansikka, lying dead over there by the mountain. +But what shall I do with you now? You must have some kind of +punishment." + +"Bind him hand and foot, lay him on the highest peak of Sipuri Mountain, +and let him eat his fill of the view of the land you promise him," said +the farm mistress, who could not forgive Sikku for the loss of the three +cows. + +This suggestion pleased the farmer. Sikku was bound hand and foot, and +placed on the tip top of the mountain; and everybody was forbidden to +give him anything to eat or drink. The remaining twelve cows were driven +by another boy to graze in fields the other side of the farm, far away +from the mountain. + +There lay Sikku, bound hand and foot, and half dead from hunger. The +forest wafted fragrance, the lakes glittered in the sunshine, twilight +came, night came, the dew fell, the thrushes sang, the stars twinkled, +and the moon looked down upon the poor boy; and it seemed as if no one +in the whole world thought or cared about him. + +But high over mountain and forest, over the lakes, the dew, the thrushes +and even the stars and the moon, there is nevertheless One who sees all +the oppressed and miserable upon earth; and He saw even poor forsaken +Sikku and sent to him a faithful friend. Who was the faithful friend? +Who should it be but Kettu? + +Kettu could have porridge to eat at the farm; he could steal milk, as +was his custom, from the cat's broken dish by the water-tub; but though +he was hungry, Kettu chose rather to dash up the mountain in search of +Sikku, to lie at Sikku's bound feet, and lick his bound hands. Sikku was +so glad to have his dog with him that he once more felt happy and +content; and soon both fell asleep in the moonlight. + + * * * * * + +Now there was at this time,--in the reign of Charles the Twelfth,--a +great war going on in the southern part of the land. The people in +North Finland did not know much about this war, but lived in peace +behind their thick forests. Suddenly an enemy's fleet appeared on their +seacoast and bands of warriors were put ashore. They spread over the +land, fighting and plundering everywhere. + +On this very night, one of these fierce warrior bands had come to the +region near Sipuri. They attacked, burned and plundered Anttilla Farm, +took the master himself prisoner, and drove forth all his cattle as part +of their booty. + +Afterward the warriors separated into smaller groups, to continue their +plundering in other places. And certain Cossacks were left behind to +guard the prisoners and the stolen cattle, until it was convenient to +put them on board the ship. + +Early in the morning, Sikku awoke to find that Kettu was biting a man in +the leg. Two wild-looking, heavily-bearded men had climbed to the +mountain top to get a good view of the land and see whither they should +now betake themselves. Finding a young boy, tied and helpless, they +pitied him,--hostile though they were,--freed him, gave him bread from +their knapsacks and took him along with them. + +Reaching their horses, which had been left tied to trees at the foot of +the mountain, one of the men lifted Sikku to his horse's back, the other +drove Kettu away so that he should not follow them, and off they +galloped, not stopping until the riders neared the shore of a large +lake. + +Much booty and many prisoners had been brought here, but the Cossacks +were so eager to continue their raids that they left only six men to +guard what they had already taken, the others riding forth again +immediately. + +When night came on, the six Cossacks began to be afraid lest some of the +land's own people should attack them in the dark. Therefore, they got +into a small boat, taking Sikku with them, and rowed out to an island in +the lake, so that they might pass the night in safety. They left the +cattle to graze on the shore, while the prisoners and even the six +horses were still securely bound to the trees. + +Sikku lay among the Cossacks on the barren island. The night was dark, +the great waves dashed against the island's pebbly beach, and a strong +wind blew toward the mainland. Sikku was wakeful, and heard the +long-drawn, regular breathing of the weary Cossacks as they slept beside +him. Five of them lay there, but the sixth had stayed on guard in the +boat. + +Sikku raised himself slowly and listened. One of the Cossacks began +talking in his sleep and tossed his arms about, so Sikku lay down again; +but still he could not sleep. + +After a while he sat up once more, and since everything was quiet, he +stole out from among the sleeping Cossacks and went silently down to the +boat at the shore. Here the trusted guard was also asleep, and slept so +heavily that he knew nothing of Sikku's doings, although Sikku shoved +the boat gently out into the water, sat down in the stern and let the +wind drive the boat toward the mainland. + +Still the Cossack watchman slept as the boat sped quietly on. He had +ridden hard, many, many miles. Little wonder that he slept like a log! + +When Sikku felt the boat grate against the land, he climbed softly out, +took his old knife from his pocket, and cut the ropes that bound the +prisoners. The Cossack still slept. The released prisoners could +scarcely believe that they were free. They followed Sikku to the boat, +and bound their enemy with the same ropes by which a moment ago they +themselves had been bound. + +Now at last the Cossack was awake, but too late. He had been made his +captives' captive. + +"Kill him at once! And then let us row to the island and kill the others +while they sleep!" shouted one of the newly freed men. + +"No," said Sikku, who recognized his master's voice. "Let us rather take +their booty and hurry it and ourselves to safety." + +"They have burnt my house and barns, and stolen everything I had," said +the farmer savagely. + +"They freed me and gave me food," said Sikku, who seemed suddenly like a +grown man. + +Most of the men agreed with Sikku. The Cossacks were not killed, some of +the land's folk rode away on the enemy's horses, others drove herds of +cattle off to safe hiding-places in the forest, and each person carried +away as much as he could of the enemy's plunder. Sikku had chosen his +share and was well pleased with it. + +Several days after, the warrior bands returned from their raids and took +to their ships again. + +Then the folk came out from the depths of the forest and from the +mountain caves where they had sought refuge in the hour of danger, and +many came from their burnt farms. They gathered at the church to consult +together as to what was best to be done now. For one thing, they must +decide the fate of the six captive Cossacks,--the five on the island +having also been captured. + +"Kill them! Kill them!" shouted several. + +"No, give them to Sikku," said others. "He captured them." + +So the six Cossacks were given to Sikku who exacted the promise from +them that they would not fight against Finland any more. Then he let +them go, free and unharmed. + +The farmer of Anttilla and his wife had settled themselves in a tiny hut +on their estate which the enemy, in their headlong haste, had not +burned. + +"Alas!" said the wife, the first evening they sat in their new poor +home. "If we only had our beautiful cows now!" + +"If we only had!" said the farmer. + +At that moment they saw a little bareheaded, barefooted boy come from +the hillside grove toward the hut, driving before him, with the help of +a long-nosed, yellow dog, a herd of nine beautiful cows. + +"Isn't that Sikku? And Kettu?" exclaimed the farmer. + +"And are not those our cows?" cried the farm mistress. + +Yes, it was Sikku; and Kettu; and those were the Anttilla Farm cows that +the robbers had taken away with them. Three had been slain, but the nine +that were left, Sikku had asked for as his share of the booty. + +"Here I come, bringing you nine beautiful cows!" shouted Sikku. He would +fain have swung his cap for joy, only he had no cap. + +"Darling boy!" "Is it really you?" exclaimed the farmer and his wife at +the same time. Then they embraced Sikku, and patted the cows again and +again in their delight. + +Kettu had already disappeared in the hut to see whether Miss Pussy's +broken dish still stood by the water-tub. Miss Pussy hissed and spat at +him and so there was again war in the land. + +"Are you hungry, Sikku?" asked the mistress. Her conscience was very +uneasy. + +"No, I thank you," answered Sikku. "I was thinking of something else. It +is not yet full moon." + +At these words, the farmer fumbled with his big ears in embarrassment +and distress, remembering his rash promise. Here was Sikku with nine +cows, and true enough, the moon was not yet full. Well, Sikku had proved +himself a fine fellow;--a promise was a promise;--they needed the cows +sadly. One might as well make the best of the situation. + +"Listen now, Sikku," said he. "Let us be good friends. What could you do +with so much land while you are so little? Serve me faithfully for seven +years, and I will then keep my promise and give you all the land you can +see from Sipuri Mountain." + +"Done!" said Sikku. + +So Sikku served faithfully for seven years at Anttilla Farm, grew tall +and strong, got shirts and caps and shoes, married the farmer's +daughter, the kind Greta, and received with her not only all the land to +be seen from Sipuri Mountain, but a fine new farmhouse besides. + +Kettu and Miss Pussy lived many years and, when they died, were both +buried at the foot of Sipuri Mountain. + +And the three trolls? Oh, yes. Well, there is a big crows' nest at Allis +Farm, in which live three crows. They can give you news of the trolls, +if any one can; but people say, you know, that crows are not to be +relied upon in the least. + + --_Z. Topelius_. +[Illustration] + + + + + SAMPO LAPPELIL + + +There was once a Lapp and a Lapp woman. The Lapps are a people who live +north of the Swedes, the Norwegians, and the Finns, far, far up in the +north. They have neither fields, nor real forests, nor regular houses, +but only great barren bogs and high mountains, and small huts, which +they crawl into through a hole. The country of the Lapps is strange. +Half the year it is light most of the time, for the sun never sets in +the middle of summer, and the other half of the year it is dark most of +the time, and the stars shine all day in winter. + +Ten months of the year it is winter, and then the little Lapp men and +the little Lapp women drive over the snow in small boats, which are +called pulks. There is no horse harnessed before the pulk, but a +reindeer. Have you ever seen a reindeer? It is as large as a little +horse, is gray in color, has high branching horns, a stooping neck, and +a pretty little head with great clear eyes. When it runs at full speed, +it goes flying over mountains and hills like a rushing wild wind, and +its hoofs snap as it dashes along. + +There was, as I have said, a Lapp and a Lapp woman. They lived far up in +Lapland, in Aimio, which lies near Tenojoki or the Tana River. (You can +see it on the map of Finland, where Lapland can be found like a great +nightcap on Finland's high head.) The place was barren and wild, but the +Lapp and his wife felt sure that nowhere on the whole earth could you +see such white snow, such clear stars, and such beautiful Northern +Lights as at Aimio. There they had built themselves a hut such as Lapps +usually live in. No large trees grew in that region,--only slender +birches, that were more like bushes than trees--so where could they get +wood for a house? Instead, they took long, thin sticks, stuck them into +the snow, in a circle, tied the upper ends together, hung reindeer skins +over the sticks, so that altogether it looked like a gray sugar-loaf, +and then the hut was finished. In the top of the sugar-loaf they left a +hole, through which the smoke could escape if they lighted a fire, and +there was another hole in the southern side through which they could +crawl in and out. The Lapps thought it was pretty and warm and were very +happy in it, though they had no other bed and no other floor than the +white snow. + +The man and the woman had a little boy whose name was Sampo, and that +means "luck" in Lapland. But Sampo had two names. Once some strange +gentlemen in great fur coats had come and stayed in the hut. They had +with them little hard, white pieces of snow, such as the Lapp woman had +never seen before, which they called "sugar." They gave Sampo a few +pieces of the sweet snow, and they patted him on the cheek and said: +"Lappelil! Lappelil!" which means "little Lapp." They could not say +anything else, for they could not talk Lapp. And then they traveled away +farther north, to the Arctic Ocean and the northernmost point of Europe +which is called the North Cape. The Lapp woman liked the strange +gentlemen and their sweet snow, and she began from that time to call her +boy "Lappelil." + +"I think Sampo a much better name," said the man, rather vexed. "Sampo +means 'riches,' and I tell you, Mother, don't spoil the name! For, some +time, Sampo will become the king of the Lapps, and reign over thousands +of reindeer and fifty Lapp huts." + +"Yes, but Lappelil sounds so pretty," said the woman. And she called the +boy "Lappelil," and the man called him "Sampo." He was, however, not +christened yet, for at that time there was no priest within a hundred +miles. "Next year we will go to the priest and let him christen the +boy," the man used to say. But next year something came in the way, and +the journey did not take place, and the boy did not get christened. + +Sampo Lappelil was now a fat little fellow seven or eight years old, +with black hair and brown eyes; he had a snub nose and a broad mouth +just like his papa's; in Lapland a face must have such features if it is +to be thought really fine. Sampo was not a stupid boy for his age; he +had his own little snow-shoes and on them he danced over the high hills +near the Tana; and his own little reindeer which he harnessed before his +own pulk. You should have seen how the snow blew about him, as he rushed +off over the ice and the high snow-drifts, so that nothing of the boy +was to be seen but a tuft of his black hair! + +"I shall never feel quite safe until the boy is christened," the Lapp +woman often said. "The wolves may get him some fine day here on the +mountains, or he may meet Hiisi's reindeer with the golden horns--and +then may God protect the poor creature who is not christened!" + +Sampo, hearing this, began to wonder what kind of a reindeer it could be +that had golden horns. "That must be a beautiful reindeer," said he. "I +should like to drive it once; then I would travel to Rastekais!" + +Rastekais is a very wild, high mountain that may be seen from +twenty-five or thirty miles away. + +"Don't you dare to talk so, naughty boy!" said the mother, and scolded +him. "It is just on Rastekais that the trolls are, and there lives +Hiisi." + +"Hiisi--who is that?" asked Sampo. + +The woman became confused. "Now, he must ask about everything, that +boy," she thought to herself. "Why do I stand here and talk about such +things so that he can hear? But at least I will frighten him away from +Rastekais!" + +And so she said: "Dear Lappelil, never go to Rastekais, for there lives +Hiisi, the great mountain king who eats a reindeer in a mouthful, and +swallows boys like gnats." + +Sampo began to wonder when he heard this; but he said nothing. He +thought to himself: "It must be good fun to see such a horrid creature +as the mountain king,--but only from a long way off!" + +It was now already three or four weeks after Christmas, and it was +still dark in Lapland. There was no morning, noon, nor evening. It was +always night; and the moon shone, and the Northern Lights crackled, and +the stars twinkled brightly all the time. Sampo began to feel dull. It +was so long since he had seen the sun that he had almost forgotten what +it looked like; and when any one talked of summer Sampo only remembered +it was the time when the gnats were so bad and tried to eat him up. +Therefore he did not care if the summer stayed away forever, if only it +would grow light enough to go about easily on snow-shoes. + +One day about noon the Lapp said: "Come here, and you shall see +something!" Sampo crept out of the hut in the dark, and looked toward +the south, for it was in that direction that his father pointed. There +he saw a little red streak way down on the horizon. + +"Do you know what that is?" asked the Lapp. + +"That is Southern Lights," said the boy. He had a good idea of the +points of the compass, and knew very well that you could not see +Northern Lights in the south. + +"No," said his father, "that is the forerunner of the sun. To-morrow or +the day after we shall see the sun itself. Only look how strangely the +red light shines on the top of Rastekais." + +Sampo turned to the west and saw how the snow was colored red far away +on the dark, wild top of Rastekais. Immediately it came into his mind +how very pleasant it would be to see the mountain king--from a long way +off. + +Sampo thought about this all day and half the night. He tried to sleep, +but could not. "Yes," he thought, "it would be fun to see the mountain +king once!" He kept thinking about it, until at last he crept quite +softly out from the reindeer-skin under which he lay, and out through +the door. It was so cold that the stars snapped and the snow crackled +under his feet. But Sampo Lappelil was not afraid of cold. Besides he +had a leather jacket, leather trousers, Lapp shoes, and a fur cap and +mittens. Thus fortified, he looked at the stars, and did not know +exactly what he should do next. + +Then he heard his little reindeer scratching in the snow not far off. +"What if I took a drive?" thought Sampo. + +No sooner said than done. Sampo harnessed the reindeer before the pulk +as he usually did, and started off over the great bare snow-field. "I +will drive a little way toward Rastekais, only a little way," he thought +to himself. So he drove down over the frozen river and up on the other +side of the Tana, and then was in the kingdom of Norway, for the Tana +River is the boundary. But that Sampo did not know. + +You, who are reading this story of Sampo Lappelil, did you ever sing: +"Run, my brave reindeer"? Do you know the beautiful songs of the dear, +good Bishop Franzn, whom all Sweden and all Finland love, and have you +ever seen the title-page of the fourth volume of his songs? There you +can see a Lapp boy driving with his reindeer over the snow, and that is +just Sampo Lappelil. So he sat and sang to himself: + + "So short is the day, + The road is so long, + Oh! hark to my song: + Let us hurry away! + The wolf pack lives here, + Rest not, little deer!" + +As he sang he saw in the dark the wolves running like gray dogs around +the pulk, and barking after the reindeer; but he did not mind that; he +knew that no wolf could run as fast as his swift reindeer. Ha, how they +went over stones and hills! The wind whistled in their ears! Sampo +Lappelil only rushed on. The reindeer's hoofs snapped, and the moon in +the sky raced with him, and the high mountains seemed to rebound, but +Sampo Lappelil only rushed on. It was pleasant to drive; he thought of +nothing else. Then it happened that in a sudden turn over a hill, the +pulk upset and Sampo fell out and was left lying in a snow-drift. + +But the reindeer did not notice that; it thought that he still sat in +the pulk, and so ran on, and Sampo had got his mouth so full of snow +that he could not call. There he lay, like a lemming that had lost a +foot, in the dark night, in the midst of the desolate wilderness where +no one lived for many miles around. + +[Illustration: SAMPO WAS LEFT LYING IN A SNOW-DRIFT.--_Page 114_.] + +Sampo was frightened at first--that you cannot wonder at. He worked +himself out of the snow, and found he was not hurt in the least, but +what good would that do? As far as he could see in the pale moonlight, +there were only snow-drifts and snow-fields and high mountains. But one +mountain reached high above all the others, and Sampo guessed that he +was now near Rastekais. Here lived the horrible mountain king, who ate a +reindeer in one mouthful, and swallowed boys like gnats! Now Sampo +Lappelil grew frightened indeed. Ah! how gladly would he have been at +home with his father and mother in the warm hut. But how should he get +there? Would not the mountain king come and swallow him with his +trousers and mittens, as if he were but a poor little gnat? + +Well, there sat Sampo Lappelil in the snow and the dark, on Lapland's +barren mountain. It was so strange, so frightful to see the high black +shadow of Rastekais, where the mountain king lived! But it did not help +him to sit there and cry, for his tears froze in a moment, and ran like +peas down on his furry reindeer-skin jacket. So Sampo got up from the +snow-drift to run himself warm. + +"If I stand here I shall freeze," said he to himself. "No, rather will I +go to the mountain king. If he eat me, then he will eat me. But I will +tell him that it would be better that he should eat the wolves here on +the mountain; they are fatter than I, and he will have less trouble with +their skin than he would with my furs." + +Sampo began to climb up the high mountain. He had not gone far before he +heard something come stealthily over the snow, and immediately afterward +a great furry wolf sprang out close to his side. Sampo started, his +little Lapp heart beat loud, but he determined to behave as if he were +not afraid. "Don't jump in my way," he called to the wolf. "I have an +errand to the mountain king, and if you wish to keep your skin don't do +me any harm!" + +"Well, well, take it easy," said the wolf, for on Rastekais all the +animals could talk. "Who are you, little fellow, working yourself +through the snow?" + +"My name is Sampo Lappelil," answered the boy. "And who are you?" + +"I am the mountain king's highest master-wolf," answered the monster, +"and have been running from mountain to mountain to bring his people to +the great Sun Festival. Since you are coming my way, you can sit up on +my back and ride to the king." + +Sampo climbed up on the wolf's furry coat, and they rushed away over +clefts and precipices. + +"Sun Festival--what does that mean?" asked Sampo. + +"Don't you know?" said the wolf. "After it has been dark in Lapland all +winter, and the sun for the first time rises in the sky, then we +celebrate. All the animals and all the trolls collect here on Rastekais, +and on that day no one is allowed to do any harm. That is lucky for you, +Sampo Lappelil, for otherwise, you see, I should have eaten you up a +long time ago." + +"Is there the same law for the king, too?" asked Sampo. + +"Of course," said the wolf. "For one hour before the sun rises and for +one hour after it sets, the mountain king dare not touch a hair of your +head; but you must take care, after that time; for if you are still on +the mountain, then a hundred thousand wolves and a thousand bears will +rush upon you, and the mountain king will seize the first one he can get +hold of, and then it will soon be over with Sampo Lappelil." + +"Perhaps you will be so kind as to help me back, as soon as there is +danger?" asked Sampo with a beating heart. + +The wolf began to laugh, for on Rastekais the wolves can laugh. "Don't +imagine that, dear Sampo," said he; "I will be the first to stick my +claws into you. You are a fine fat boy; I see that you have been +fattened on reindeer's milk and reindeer cheese. You will taste very +good for an early breakfast." + +Sampo wondered if it would not be as well to jump down from the wolfs +back immediately, but it was too late; they had come to the top of the +mountain, and he saw a wonderful sight. There sat the great mountain +king on his throne of sky-high rocks, looking far out over mountains and +valleys into the dark night. On his head he wore a cap of white +snow-clouds; his eyes were like the full moon when it rises over the +woods, his nose like a mountain top, his mouth like a mountain cleft, +his beard like long icicles; his arms were as thick as the thickest +fir-tree, his hands were like pine branches, his legs were like +coasting-hills in winter, and his great fur coat like a snow mountain. +If you ask how any one could see the mountain king and his people in the +middle of the night, then you must know that the snow cast a light upon +everything, and that over the sky the most beautiful Northern Lights +played. + +Around the mountain king sat millions of gray mountain trolls and +brownies, so small that when they ran on the frozen snow they left no +more trace after them than a squirrel leaves. They had collected here +from the farthest ends of the earth, from Nova Zembla and Spitsbergen +and Greenland and Iceland--yes, from the North Pole itself, to worship +the sun, as savages from fear worship the devil; for the trolls do not +like the sun and would prefer that it should never rise again after it +has once set behind the barren mountains. Farther away stood all the +animals of Lapland in long close rows--a thousand and again a thousand +bears, wolves, and lynxes, the good reindeer, the little lemming, and +the lively reindeer-fleas; but the gnats had not been able to come--they +were frozen to death. + +All this Sampo Lappelil saw with wonder. He climbed down quietly from +the master-wolf's back and hid himself behind a great stone to see what +would happen. + +The mountain king raised his high head so that the snow flew around him; +and the beautiful Northern Lights stood like a halo about his forehead, +and shot in long star-shaped, pale-red rays out over the blue night sky; +there was a crackling and a roaring like that a forest fire makes when +its flames leap up against the crowns of the pine-trees; now the Lights +spread themselves out, now they drew together again; now the brightness +was very dazzling, now it grew pale, then one gleam of light after +another shot like a sudden shower out over the snow-covered mountain. +This pleased the mountain king. He clapped his icy hands, and the echo +from the mountains sounded like thunder, and the trolls whistled with +joy, and the animals round about screamed with fear. This pleased the +mountain king still more, so that he called out, loud, over the +wilderness: + +"So shall it be! So shall it be! Forever winter and forever night! That +is what I like." + +"Yes, so shall it be, so shall it be!" cried the trolls as loud as they +could, for they all liked winter and night better than summer and +sunshine. + +But among the animals there arose a murmur of talking, for all the +beasts of prey and the lemmings thought as the trolls did, while the +reindeer and the other animals would have found no fault with the +summer, if they had not suddenly happened to think of the gnats in +Lapland. It was only the little reindeer-flea who really wanted the +summer; he cried as loud as he could: "Your Majesty, we came here to +wait for the sun!" + +"Will you be quiet, you wretched insect!" growled the white bear, close +beside it. "It is only an old custom that makes us collect together +here. But it will be pleasant; the sun will stay away forever. The sun +is put out! The sun is dead!" + +"The sun is put out! The sun is dead!" murmured all the animals, and a +shiver went through all nature. + +The trolls from the North Pole laughed so that their caps flew off, and +the great mountain king raised his voice of thunder and called out over +the wilderness: "So shall it be! So shall it be! The sun is dead. The +whole earth shall fall down and worship me, Hiisi, the king of +everlasting winter and of everlasting night." + +That provoked Sampo Lappelil, as he sat behind the stone, and he came +out and shouted with his little saucy voice: "You are lying, mountain +king! you are lying, as tall as you are! Yesterday I saw the forerunner +of the sun in the sky, and the sun is not dead! Your beard will still +melt when it comes midsummer." + +At these words the mountain king's brow grew as dark as a black cloud, +and he forgot the law and stretched out his terrible long arm to crush +Sampo Lappelil. But at that moment the Northern Lights grew pale, and a +red ray sprang up in the sky and shone straight into the mountain king's +ice-cold face, so that he was suddenly dazzled and let his arm fall. + +And now the sun's golden rim could be seen lifting itself slowly and +majestically up over the horizon, and it lighted up the mountains and +wildernesses, the snow-drifts and clefts, the trolls and beasts and the +brave little Sampo Lappelil. Then all at once a glow spread over the +snow, as if many million of roses had rained down upon it, and the sun +shone into all their eyes, yes, and into all their hearts, too. Even +those who had rejoiced because the sun was dead were now really glad to +see it again. It was funny to witness the trolls' surprise. They stared +at the sun with their little gray eyes, from under their red caps, and +while it stayed they became against their will so beside themselves with +joy that they stood on their heads in the snow. The terrible mountain +king's beard began to melt and to drip down like a running brook over +his great white coat. + +While they all stood looking at the sun with feelings so different, the +first hour had almost slipped away, and Sampo Lappelil heard one of the +reindeer say to its little one: "Come, come, dear child! We must go now +or we shall be eaten up by the wolves!" + +Then Sampo, too, remembered what he had to expect if he waited there any +longer. And as he saw by his side a reindeer with beautiful golden +horns, he jumped up on its back, and they rushed off at a gallop over +the steep mountain. + +"What can that strange noise be that we hear behind us?" asked Sampo +after a while, when he had got a little used to the violent ride. + +"That is the thousand bears who are coming after us to eat us," answered +the reindeer. "But don't be afraid; I am the mountain king's own magic +reindeer, and no bear has ever gnawed my heels." + +When they had ridden a while longer, Sampo asked: "What can that be that +breathes and moans so strangely behind us?" + +The reindeer answered: "That is the hundred thousand wolves who are +coming after us at full gallop to tear you and me to pieces. But don't +be afraid; no wolf has ever beaten me in a race here in the wilderness." + +They rode on a while longer; then Sampo asked: "Is it thundering in the +mountains there behind us?" + +"No," said the reindeer, and began to shake in all his limbs. "That is +Hiisi, the mountain king himself, who is coming with giant steps after +us; and now it is all over with both of us, for him it is impossible to +escape." + +"Is there no help?" asked Sampo. + +"No," said the reindeer, "there is nothing to do now but to try to get +to the parsonage off there near Enare Lake. If we get there we are +saved, for the mountain king has no power over Christians." + +"Oh," said Sampo, "run now, my brave reindeer, over mountain and valley, +and I will give you golden oats in a silver manger!" + +The reindeer ran and ran; it was a life-and-death race! And they had but +just reached the priest's house when the mountain king came up outside +and knocked so hard on the door that every one thought the whole house +would fall down. "Who is that?" asked the priest. + +"It is I!" answered a voice of thunder outside. + +[Illustration: ON THE BACK OF THE REINDEER WITH GOLDEN HORNS.--_Page +126_.] + +"Open the door for Hiisi, the mountain king. There +is an unchristened child within, and all heathen belong to me!" + +"Wait a minute, until I put on my surplice and collar, so that I can +receive so distinguished a guest with proper dignity," answered the +priest. + +"Hurry, then!" growled the mountain king; "hurry, or I will kick the +walls down." + +"Immediately, immediately, sir," answered the priest. + +But at the same time he took a bowl of water and christened Sampo +Lappelil with all proper ceremony. + +"Well, are you not ready yet?" growled the mountain king, and he lifted +his terrible foot to kick the house down. + +But the priest opened the door and said: "Begone, you king of night and +winter, for with this child you have nothing to do! The sun of God's +grace shines over Sampo Lappelil, and he belongs not to you but to God's +kingdom!" + +Then the mountain king grew so furious that he burst on the spot and +turned into a terrible snow-cloud, and it snowed so hard that the snow +reached up over the roof of the parsonage and they all expected to be +buried alive. But when the morning came the sun shone on the snow, the +snow melted away, and the parsonage and all in it were saved; and there +was no sign of the mountain king. Every one thinks, however, that he +still lives and reigns on Rastekais. + +Sampo Lappelil thanked the priest and borrowed a pulk from him. Then he +harnessed to it the reindeer with the golden horns and went home to his +father in Aimio. There was great joy when Sampo Lappelil came back so +unexpectedly. But how he became a great man and fed his reindeer with +golden oats from a silver manger, that is another story, which it would +take too long to tell now. It is said that since that time when Sampo +had such a narrow escape, the Lapps have never, as before, put off from +year to year having their little children christened--for who would like +to see his child eaten up by the terrible mountain king? Sampo Lappelil +knows what it means to run that risk! And having heard Hiisi's mighty +footsteps, he knows, too, precisely what it is when thunder resounds in +the mountains. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + + _Translated by Margaret Bcher_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + A LEGEND OF MERCY + + +On one side of the lake there was a large town; on the opposite shore +stood a little lone cottage. The snow whirled over the frozen lake in +great clouds and the wind was very keen; for it was winter and +Christmastide in the world. + +At the cottage there was poverty inside, but riches on the roof. Up +there stood the great golden sheaf of grain about which the birds of +heaven gathered joyfully for their Christmas feast, while inside the +cottage food was scanty, as usual. The peasants' little children, +however, listened happily to the birds' joyous twitter from the +housetop, and took great delight in seeing the fine prints of the +sparrow's tiny feet in the smooth snow roundabout. + +"If we had threshed that grain, instead of giving it to the sparrows, we +might have had fresh wheaten rolls for the children for Christmas," +sighed the peasant's wife. + +"Don't you know that the merciful are blessed?" asked the gentle old +peasant with a kind glance at his dissatisfied wife. + +"But to let the birds of the air eat our bread," she sighed again. + +"Yes, the birds. Furthermore, what matter, even if it were the wild +beasts of the forest? Should we not show mercy? Besides, I have saved +enough to be able to buy four fresh rolls and a can of milk for +Christmas. Let us send the children across the lake to the town with +their sled. They will easily get back with the things before evening." + +"But suppose they meet a wolf on the ice," suggested the mother. + +"I will give Arvid a big club," said the father. "He will get along all +right, having that." + +So it happened that Arvid and his sister Hanna went to town to buy the +treat of white rolls and milk. By this time the snow was piled in great +drifts on the ice, and the children had difficulty in dragging the sled, +so that when they turned toward home the early darkness was already +beginning to settle down. They trudged through the snow as fast as they +could, but the drifts were much higher than before, and darkness came on +in earnest while they still had quite a long distance to go. + +As they struggled on, something black moved in the darkness. When it +came nearer, the children saw that it was a wolf. + +"Don't be afraid, Hanna," said Arvid. "I have a good club." And with +these words, he raised it threateningly. + +The wolf was now close beside the children but made no attempt to harm +them. He only howled, but the howling was extraordinary for it sounded +as if he uttered words in it,--words that the children could understand. +"It is so cold, so cold," howled the wolf. "And my little ones have +nothing to eat. Give me some bread for them in the name of mercy." + +"Poor little things!" said Hanna. "We will give you _our_ two rolls for +them, and we ourselves will eat hard bread to-night, but father and +mother must have their Christmas treat." + +"Many thanks," said the wolf as he took the two fresh rolls and glided +away. + +The children strove on through deeper and deeper snow, but in a little +while they heard some creature treading heavily behind them. It proved +to be a bear. + +The bear growled out something in his own language, and at first the +children could not find out what he meant although they tried hard; but +the bear kept on growling and finally, strangely enough, the children +understood. The bear, too, desired a Christmas gift. + +"It is so cold, so cold," growled the big creature. "All the water +everywhere is frozen and my poor little ones have nothing to drink. Be +merciful and give me a little milk for them." + +"How is this?" asked Arvid. "Why are you not asleep in your den for the +winter, as other bears are? But that is your affair. We will give you +our half of the milk for your little ones. Hanna and I can very well +drink water to-night, if only father and mother have something good for +Christmas." + +"Many thanks," said the bear, as he took the milk in a birch-bark cone +which he carried in his fore-paws. Then with slow, pompous steps, he +lumbered away into the darkness. + +The children waded along through the drifts still more eagerly now, for +they could see the Christmas lights shining through the windows of their +home; but they had not gone far before an ugly owl came flapping along +beside them. + +"I will have bread and milk! I will have bread and milk!" screamed the +owl, stretching out her long claws to scratch the children. + +"Oh, ho!" said Arvid. "If that is the kind you are, I shall have to +teach you to be polite." So saying, he gave the owl such a clever blow +on the wings with his club that she flew screaming away. + +Soon after this the children were at home, gaily beating the snow from +their clothes in the little entry. + +"We have met a wolf!" shouted Hanna. + +"And given a bear some milk!" added Arvid. + +"But the owl got a taste of the club!" laughed Hanna. Then they told all +their adventures. + +The parents looked thoughtfully at each other. How wonderful! To think +that their children had shown mercy even to the wild beasts of the +forest! What would happen next? What did it all mean? + +It was now supper-time. The peasant family gathered at the table upon +which, besides the usual poor fare, was the half portion of the expected +treat--all that the children had brought home. + +Arvid and Hanna wished to eat only dry bread and drink only water, so +that their parents might have the Christmas goodies; but the parents +would not allow that. They joyfully shared with the children the two +rolls and the half-tankard of milk which were such luxuries. + +But as they ate, they noticed something very marvelous. However often +they broke and broke pieces from either of the rolls, the fresh +delicious wheaten rolls never grew smaller; and however often they +poured milk from the tankard into one bowl after another the milk never +grew less! + +While they were wondering greatly over this, they heard a scratching at +the little window, and behold! there stood the wolf and the bear with +their fore-paws against the window pane. Both animals grinned and nodded +in a knowing, friendly way. An owl could be heard flapping behind them +in the darkness, and calling out in a hoarse voice to Arvid: + + "Sometimes hits + Sharpen wits. + Hoo, hoo! Hoo, hoo! + Not from need + But from greed + I begged of you. + Hoo, hoo! Hoo, hoo!" + +[Illustration: THERE STOOD THE WOLF AND THE BEAR.--_Page 136_.] + +Then her hoarse cries died away in the distance, and the two +beasts, after a little more grinning and nodding, disappeared from the +window. + +The peasant and his wife and the children understood now that a blessing +rested upon their Christmas food because it had been shared in mercy +with those that needed it; and they finished their meal in wonder and +thankfulness. + +On Christmas morning when they went to get their breakfast of dry bread +and water, not expecting to have anything else, they found to their +amazement that both rolls and milk were as fresh as when the children +bought them,--and with no sign that the rolls had ever been broken or +any milk used! And all that day it was the same! There were not only +riches on the roof, but joy and plenty inside the peasants' cottage, +where the children feasted and sang as gaily as did the sparrows, +fluttering about their Christmas sheaf of golden grain. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + ANTON'S ERRAND + _OR + THE BOY WHO MADE FRIENDS BY THE WAY_ + + +Far to the South lies a beautiful land. High forest-clad mountains lift +themselves toward the sky, and between them spreads a wide fruitful +valley. A mighty river rushes southward singing of courage and joy, and +from the mountains the merry brooks come hurrying along, the one faster +than the other, as if racing to see which would get down first. + +In the fields, the grass is tall and full of flowers, the grain waves +like a billowy sea, and the fruit trees bend beneath the weight of rich +fruits. But more than all else, grapevines grow here. The vines twine +themselves in an endless wreath through the valley; and in the long +arcades hang millions of clusters of grapes cooking themselves ripe in +the sun's heat. + +From olden times, an industrious folk lived in this valley cultivating +their fields and pruning their vines. They gathered themselves together +into small towns which were dotted here and there in the valley's green +expanse like birds' nests in a spreading tree. On the surrounding +heights rose the proud castles where the nobles lived. They tyrannized +over the farmers in the valley, and if the poor peasants made the least +complaint, down from the cliffs came the barons, like eagles from their +eyries, and dug their claws into their defenseless prey. + + * * * * * + +Many, many years ago, a powerful baron named Rudolf Reinhold Rynkebryn +lived in one of the largest of the mountain castles. He had, by force +and violence, made himself Lord over one of the cities in the valley, +and all who lived there must toil and moil for the hard master on +Falkensten. + +When the grain was ripe and the meal ground, many hundred bags of it +must be carried on horses' backs up to the mountain castle; and when the +grapes were ripe and the wine pressed out, many hundred barrels must go +the same way. + +So had it been for many years, but at last the peasants grew tired of +this state of things, and gathered together for consultation. + +"There is no sense in it," said an old man. "Here we plow and sow and +reap and grind so that Rynkebryn can swallow the bread that belongs to +us and our children." + +"Yes. Isn't that the truth?" said another. "Isn't it a sin and a shame, +also? We plant vines and prune them in the sweat of our brows and when +the grapes are ripe, the wine we make must go to Falkensten so that +Rynkebryn and his men may drink themselves crazy and descend like birds +of prey upon us poor peasants. We should not endure it any longer." + +"No, we _will_ not endure it any longer!" shouted all in chorus. Then it +was determined that they should send Rynkebryn a letter, in which they +renounced their allegiance to him. + +For the future he might get his bread and his wine wherever he chose. +Neither bag nor barrel should go from the valley to Falkensten. + +Oh, yes! To come to this decision was easy. Nor was there any great +difficulty about getting the letter written. The Mayor himself wrote it; +and upon the letter he set the city's great seal which bore a sheaf +pierced by a sword. + +The difficulty was to find a messenger to deliver the letter, for every +one well knew that he who carried such a message to the Baron of +Falkensten would not return alive to the valley. + +All to whom the mission was proposed immediately raised objections. One +had no clothes, another had pains in his legs, another could by no means +be spared from home, and another was sure he could never find the way up +there. Oh, there were many difficulties about taking that particular +letter to the Baron! + +Finally someone said, "Why not send little Anton?" And immediately all +shouted, "Yes, that is an excellent plan. Anton can go with the letter." + +Anton was a poor boy, usually called "little Anton." He had neither +father nor mother nor sister nor brother, but had been brought up among +other poor children of the town in the Cloister School. Now that he was +twelve or thirteen years old, he must take care of himself, and since he +could do small jobs of all sorts, people made use of him, here, there +and everywhere. + +He helped to dig in the vineyards, to lay stone and mortar when a house +was to be built; he ran with messages and letters out to the country +roundabout; and as he could manage the most spirited horse, he drove, +too, if there were no other driver to be had. He often took care of the +babies while their mothers were out at work; he carded wool and picked +hops; he sang at funerals and played at weddings. + +Indeed, there was scarcely anything for which they did not use little +Anton. He was quick of foot and light of hand, true as gold and silent +as a locked box, so every one liked him and gave him plenty to do. + +The Mayor himself went to little Anton and told him that the whole city +had decided to entrust to him a very important errand. He was to go to +Falkensten with a letter to Baron Rynkebryn. Of what was in the letter +the Mayor said nothing, for if he had, little Anton would have realized +that he was risking his life. + +The others realized it very decidedly, but they reasoned thus: "Little +Anton is a poor lone child, with no parents to mourn him, and if +anything happens to him,--well!--we must hope that all is for the best. +It is surely better that he should perish than that we who have wives +and children should. Besides, the town is full of these little poor boys +whom we can get to help us when we need them." + +Anton took the big letter, turned it over and over in his hands, and +asked if there would be any answer. + +The Mayor became a little embarrassed and took a pinch of snuff. He +could not look Anton straight in the face as he replied, "Answer? No, I +do not think there will be any answer." + +"So I can come right back?" queried little Anton. + +"Yes, indeed. Deliver the letter and take to your heels as soon as you +can." + +The next day, early in the morning, Anton put on his thickest shoes, +stuffed a couple of rolls and a small bottle of wine into his pocket, +slung an old gun over his shoulder and started on his long tramp from +the valley to Falkensten. He could see the castle high, high up like an +eagle's nest, on the top of a cliff from which it looked out over three +different valleys, many, many miles away. + +It was a hot August day. The sky was without a cloud and the sun stood +and smiled its broadest on the vineyards where the grapes steamed and +cooked in the heat. Vines were planted on the lowest slopes of the +mountain, so here Anton could walk up the stone steps between the +walls. He turned and saw the city which looked shining and gay in the +sunlight. The church was white as snow, and the hands on the clock +glittered like gold. + +By and by the vineyards ended and Anton came to some fields. The grass +had already been cut for the second time and the fields were deserted. +Not a person was to be seen. + +Next he came to the forest of chestnut-trees. From here everything in +the valley looked very small; houses and farms, and even the church, +looked like toys spread out on a green carpet. The sun glowed hotter and +hotter, and Anton took off his jacket, and walked on, in his +shirt-sleeves. The road grew steeper and steeper. He was hot and thirsty +so he sat down in the shade of a rock and took out his bottle of wine. + +When he had refreshed himself, he leaned back, humming a little song and +idly striking the ground with a switch he had broken from a bush. + +As he sat there, he heard a soft rustling at his side and saw a little +lizard come from the wall of rock and creep forth among the ferns. It +wriggled its supple little body out into the sunshine and then lay +perfectly still in front of Anton, gazing at him with its clear eyes. + +"That was a beautiful song you sang," said the lizard. "Would you be so +kind as to sing it once more? I am foolishly crazy over music." + +"I can certainly do that much for you," answered Anton, and hummed the +song again. He kept the switch behind him now, not wishing the lizard to +see that he had it. + +The lizard lay perfectly still, listening, but when the song was +finished the little creature said to Anton, "Come, Anton, what are you +really thinking of? I think your dark eyes have a sly look in them. +Surely you are not, by any chance, intending to harm me?" + +"Oh, I don't know!" said Anton, smacking his whip. "But I do think it +might be amusing to give you a hit with this so that you snapped in two +like a piece of glass." + +"Do you think so?" asked the lizard drawing its tail close. "Well, +well! How strange! It seems to me that would not be at all amusing. I +think it is much more amusing to live, to lie here and enjoy myself in +the sunshine." + +[Illustration: THE LIZARD LAY PERFECTLY STILL, LISTENING--_Page 146_.] + +Anton began to laugh, but continued to beat the ground with his switch. + +"Listen, Anton," said the lizard. "I have really such a very short time +to live. Let me go in peace. Don't do me any harm. Perhaps I can be of +use to you some day. You may be sure you will never regret it if you let +me go." + +"What could such a forlorn little creature as you ever do for me?" asked +Anton, as he got up. "But since you ask me so prettily, I will let you +run. Suppose we see which of us will get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall, I shall!" hissed the lizard; and it hurried away through +the grass, calling back, however, "Farewell, Anton; you may be sure I +shall not lose sight of you." With that, the lizard disappeared and +Anton resumed his toilsome journey. + +The sun mounted higher and higher and the whole sky was like a sea of +burning light. The houses and churches in the valley looked now like +many tiny white stones scattered over the ground. The path, steeper and +steeper, led through a grove of larches, and here little Anton must +again rest. He took two big swallows from his bottle, and wiped his hot +face with his shirt-sleeves. + +Hearing a strange cracking sound over his head and looking up, he saw a +little squirrel that sat on the branch of a neighboring larch, eating +the seeds from a cone. Between the mouthfuls he spat the shells down, +chattering softly meanwhile as if to say, "What an excellent breakfast +this is! Truly a delicious breakfast!" + +Anton took his old gun quietly from his shoulder, got down on his knees, +and crept carefully along. He held the gun by its barrel. With the butt +end he could easily enough hit the little squirrel. But the alert +creature, which was watching him with keen, anxious eyes, saw him before +he had raised the butt end, and with a couple of big leaps, reached a +higher branch of the tree. + +"What are you going to do to me?" asked the frightened squirrel, poking +his little head out. "What is it you really want to do to me?" + +"Oh, I should just like to have your tail!" said Anton. "It would be a +nice fur collar for me when the autumn storms howl from the mountain +tops." + +"But I would so much rather keep my tail myself," said the squirrel, +raising it as high as he could in the air. "You see I was born with this +tail, and therefore it is mine; and so, if you kill me and take it away +from me, you are a thief,--a thief,--a real little tail-stealer!" + +"You must stop saying such rude words," said Anton, lifting the gun. "If +I can only catch you, your tail will be mine." + +"No, stop, stop!" shrieked the squirrel, springing about in the +branches. "It is horrid and ugly and disgusting of you. I don't want to +be crushed with the butt end of a gun. It is ugly of you to think of +it, ugly, ugly! And to be broken off in the middle of my nice breakfast +to be murdered is truly most unpleasant. Would you like that, little +Anton?" + +The squirrel still leaped and sprang from branch to branch in fright. +Anton laid his gun on the ground. + +"Oh, little Anton!" piped the squirrel. "Let me alone! Let me hop +around, a happy living squirrel. That is so much better and pleasanter!" + +"Well, hop then," said Anton, throwing the gun over his shoulder again. +"I am afraid I should dream of the frightened look in your eyes. And now +we might see which of us can get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall, I shall!" called the squirrel, wild with joy. "If you are +going to Falkensten, I shall go, too. No harm shall happen to you while +I am able to hop." With that, the squirrel set off with long leaps from +tree to tree, and soon disappeared; and Anton walked on up the mountain. + +The air became more and more sultry. The sky, which had been bright +blue, grew white in some places, and the white ran together like thick +milk and heaped itself in close masses. The sun was no longer to be +seen. The clouds changed to gray and violet and dark-blue, with glowing +edges, and thunder began to roll among the mountains. Anton could not +see the valley now at all. The lofty peaks towered one behind another, +and there seemed to be nothing else in the world. The path grew steeper +and yet steeper. + +Little Anton began to be frightfully tired. He had to lie down again and +again on the ground, groaning with weariness. Not a drop more of the +refreshing sour wine did he have to quench his thirst,--the bottle had +been drained long ago. + +Suddenly he heard a rushing sound, and lo! from the rock bubbled a white +foaming stream of water, so fresh and living that one could not +understand how it could gush forth from the dead stones. Anton knelt +down and drank eagerly from his hands. Never had he found any draught so +wonderfully reviving. + +When he had quenched his thirst, he thought he would resume his journey, +but at that instant he caught sight of a dove flying toward him. It was +a charming wood-dove, with blue-flecked wings and a little round head. +The dove must, like him, have been thirsty, for she flew directly to the +foaming water and bent over it to drink. "That is a lovely bird," +thought Anton; and he took his gun noiselessly from his shoulder. "I can +surely hit her." + +He had laid the gun to his cheek and was taking aim, when the dove +lifted her head from the water and fluttered her wings. + +"Why should you shoot me, little Anton?" she asked. "You have quenched +your thirst and I have quenched mine. The spring has been good to both +of us. Why should you do evil to me?" + +"You have such beautiful wings," said Anton. "It would look fine if I +stretched you out flat and fastened you on the barn door." + +"It looks much finer when I float upward toward the sunlight," said the +dove. "The mountain path is difficult for you, little Anton; but you +are at least free to pursue your way. Let me fly mine. Here in these +solitudes no one should do another harm." + +The dove looked so gentle and talked in such friendly tones that Anton +felt thoroughly ashamed of himself. + +"Yes, fly away, little dove, fly wherever you will," said he, waving his +hands. "We might see which of us two will get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall!" responded the dove, lifting her wings. "But if it is to +that fierce Baron you are taking a message, I prefer to wait outside on +the tower." Then up she flew. + +The sky was now one dark mass of thunder-clouds. The thunder rumbled +among the mountains; the green fields on the heights shone out like +emeralds against the dark blue haze beyond. All creatures had become +wonderfully silent; not a bird sang, not an insect hummed. Anton went +forward with dragging step, and the dove floated silently above him,--a +white speck against the dark sky. + +But what was that high up there on the cliff? It was a little chamois +that stood with all its four feet close together on a point of rock, and +looked about. + +"Hurrah! I shall get you!" thought Anton as he cocked his gun; but the +chamois with a couple of nimble bounds sprang farther up the mountain. + +"Ho, ho! That won't help you any!" said Anton, running nearer to the +rocks where the chamois stood. "I am a good shot, let me tell you; and I +must have prey of some sort to take with me from the mountain." + +"But why should you kill me?" asked the chamois, bounding a little +farther away. "What harm have I ever done to you? Does it annoy you that +I stand here and look at the view?" + +"No, but you have such handsome little horns. I should like to put them +up over my door as a sign that I had conquered you." + +"For you to conquer me would be easy," said the chamois. "You have a +gun, and I have nothing. But I had always believed that the mountain +was made for us both." + +Anton made no reply but scrambled hastily up the rocks to get nearer the +chamois. + +"Oh, Anton, little Anton! let me alone!" called the chamois, making the +longest leap it could. "I would truly rather have my horns on my head +than over your door! Cannot you understand that? If you love your +freedom, let me keep mine." + +At that moment the thunder pealed with a frightful crash among the +mountains. Anton became altogether uncomfortable and put his gun down. +"Leap where you will, then," he called to the chamois. "Perhaps we might +see which of us can get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall, surely," said the chamois, starting off with a big leap. +"But I will wait for you outside the castle wall, and if you need my +help you will know where to find me." And with these words the chamois +vanished. + +"Shall I never, never reach Falkensten?" groaned Anton. He was dead +tired and began to think he had gone astray, but suddenly, at a turn in +the path, the castle stood before him as if it had sprung up out of the +earth. + +It was of the same color as the rocks upon which it was built, and how +big and high and thick-walled it was! It had but few windows scattered +here and there on the side toward the path. From the tower waved +Rynkebryn's banner,--a fiery red flag on which was a black falcon. The +drawbridge that led over to the castle was drawn up, and over the chasm +that was between the rocks on which the castle was built and the other +rocks, there was only a rough narrow bridge, made of slender branches +placed side by side. + +Anton stood still. It would be dangerous to go over such a bridge +without any kind of a railing to hold fast to; but he must deliver the +letter. Just then he heard something whispering at his feet: + + "Since you can't glide like me, and creep, + Be wise; cross not the chasm deep." + +It was the little lizard that came hurrying toward him with this +warning. + +"But how should I then get the message to Baron Rynkebryn?" said Anton. +He had already started across the bridge. + +And now something came hopping along at his side. It was the squirrel +with his red tail high in the air like a flag, and with wide-open eyes; +and while he hopped about Anton's feet he chattered: + + "Since you can't hop like me, and climb, + That castle shun; be warned in time!" + +"But how then should I attend to my errand?" Anton was now half-way +across the bridge. + +As he stood there, the dove came flying and floating on her wings above +the abyss. + + "Since you can't float and fly like me, + Turn back, turn back and homeward flee," + +said the dove, flying near Anton's cheek. + +"Yes, that I will do when once I have given the Baron his letter," said +Anton, "but I don't turn back when I am half-way over the bridge, nor +flee homeward until my errand is done." + +So he proceeded. The thin branches in the loosely-made bridge creaked +and bent under his feet. On both sides of him was the dizzy chasm. He +had a queer pain in his heart and everything turned black before his +eyes; but he pressed his hands against his breast where he had hidden +the letter, kept his gaze straight ahead, and walked on with firm step. +There! Now he could draw a long breath, a sigh of relief; for he was at +last safely across the frail bridge,--on the other side of the chasm, +and under the castle wall. + +At first he could see no opening in the wall; it stretched up as hard +and impenetrable as the rock upon which it stood, but when Anton stole +around it, he found a small door,--an iron door with many locks and +fastenings. He picked up a stone and knocked hard on the door, but no +one answered. Everything around him was still as death. + +Suddenly he heard a strange rumbling sound, which he thought at first +might be the echo of the thunder among the rocks; but no. The sound came +from the hall where Baron Rynkebryn and his men sat and +drank, and roared with laughter loud enough to make the castle tremble. + +[Illustration: "TURN BACK, TURN BACK," SAID THE DOVE.--_Page 157_.] + +Since no one seemed to hear Anton, he lost patience, took his gun which +was still loaded and shot it off. He could hear the echoes answer from +mountain to mountain and at last die away; but now there were signs of +life in the castle. A man opened a shutter high up in the tower and +called, "Who shoots under Falkensten Castle? Is it friend or foe?" + +Anton put both hands to his mouth and shouted back, "A friend! A friend! +A messenger from the valley!" Then he heard the man slam the shutter to, +come with a clatter down the stairs, trudge across the courtyard, and +begin to rattle the locks and bolts of the iron door. At last the door +opened slowly and a gruff-looking warrior stood before little Anton. + +"What do you want?" asked the warrior. His voice sounded like a bear's. +"What have you to say to the Lord of Falkensten?" + +"That I must tell to Baron Rynkebryn himself," answered Anton. "The +message is to him and none other." + +"Listen to the young sparrow that dares to come into the falcon's nest!" +said the warrior, but he opened the door just wide enough for Anton to +slip in. + +As the boy turned in the doorway, he caught sight of the chamois which +stood on a stone beside the chasm, stretching its head forward. + +"Yes, here I am!" called the chamois. "I will keep on the watch by the +wall, so you will know where to find me!" + +At that instant the heavy iron door clanged shut after Anton, and he was +at last inside the walls of Falkensten. His steps echoed with a hollow +sound in the small courtyard; and it was dark and damp as a cellar, +inside the castle on the great winding stairs that led to the baronial +hall. Little Anton felt his heart beating like a hammer and choking him, +when the warrior opened the door to the hall and let him pass in. + +At the end of a long oaken table sat Baron Rynkebryn and his retainers, +drinking. Their eyes were bloodshot like those of an angry bull, and +they laughed and shouted so that the high rafters shook. Little Anton +squeezed himself into a corner near the door and stood, hat in hand, +waiting until Rynkebryn should speak to him. + +Long did he wait, for the Baron was wholly absorbed in his carousing. +The wine flowed over his beard; he sat with both arms leaning on the +table and laughed till his bones rattled. Suddenly his eye fell upon +Anton. + +"Who is that little whipper-snapper shivering there by the door?" he +asked, pointing with his big finger. So Anton had to go forward. He +bowed many times as he crossed the room, each bow deeper than the last, +and when he reached the Baron, he took the letter from his breast and +presented it. + +The Baron snatched it from him and began to read it, Anton meanwhile +standing still and looking out of the tower window. Never before had he +seen so far out into the world. One mountain chain after another +gleamed forth, lit by the sun; streams lay like narrow white ribbons in +the valley; and the boundless sky arched over all, its big +thunder-clouds looking like mountains above the other mountains. Anton +forgot entirely where he was while gazing at all this glory; but he was +awakened to reality by a roar from Rynkebryn. + +"So this is the kind of message you bring me, is it?" he screamed, and +he struck his fist on the table so violently that the wine bottles +tumbled over, and the rich red wine ran in streams across the white +cloth, like blood. "How dare you bring such a letter to the Lord of +Falkensten?" + +"How should I know what was in the letter?" asked Anton. He trembled +like an aspen leaf. "I do not read the letters people trust me with." + +"Oh, you don't, don't you?" roared Rynkebryn. He had first grown red as +the wine he drank, but now he was as white as the table-cloth. "It might +have been well for you if you had peeped into this letter. If you had, I +think you would have turned back with it. Herein"--he shook the letter +till it rattled--"herein those traitors of the valley renounce their +allegiance to me; and he who goes on errands for traitors is a traitor +himself and shall die a traitor's death. Do you understand that, you +miserable little worm?" + +Anton tried to speak, but could not get a word over his lips. He grew +icy cold and shook as if he had the ague. + +"But I shall revenge myself on that pack," shouted Rynkebryn. "I shall +descend upon them like an overwhelming horror, like a thief in the +night, and lay their land waste. Sure as death, before three nights have +passed there shall be neither stick nor stone left of their city in the +valley." + +"Shall I tell them that?" asked Anton, in a low, frightened voice. + +"No, you can spare yourself the trouble!" shouted Rynkebryn, laughing. +"I shall say it to them myself with a drawn sword. No, my little +friend,"--his eyes glared horribly, "you shall have a night's lodging at +Falkensten. Your guest-chamber is ready. You shall march down to the +castle prison, and there you can lie and amuse yourself guessing what +death you are to die in the morning. Let me see. I must think of +something very fine. I might, for instance, hit you with a club so that +you broke in two like a piece of glass. That might be very amusing to +see. Ha! ha! ha!" + +Anton shuddered. He remembered that he had threatened the little lizard +with this very treatment, and had had the same idea that it would be +amusing to see. + +"Or," continued the Baron, "I could crush you with one whack of my gun, +so!--That would be very quickly done." + +The icy shivers ran down Anton's back. Just this kind of terror that he +was feeling must the squirrel have felt when Anton threatened him with +the butt of his gun. + +"Or I could fasten you out on the castle wall, as one fastens a bird +that has been shot upon a barn door. There you could hang as a warning +to traitors, until you fell to pieces," growled Rynkebryn, stroking his +beard. + +Things turned black before Anton's eyes. "Oh!" he thought with anguish. +"This is just the way I threatened the dove, the innocent little +creature!" + +"Or I could chop your head off!" roared Rynkebryn, rushing toward Anton +with clenched fists. "Then I could put your head on top of the tower +where there is a glorious view. What a treat that would be for you!" All +the men laughed so hard at this that they had to hold their sides. + +But little Anton did not laugh. He stood there thinking, with deep +remorse, how he had threatened to take the life of the harmless chamois, +and put its horns over the door. "Oh, God be praised that I let it run!" +he thought; but just then Rynkebryn's men caught hold of him, tied him +securely, hand and foot, with strong rope, and took him to the castle +prison. + +Dark and damp indeed was the prison cell. It had no windows except, high +up in the wall, a little opening with strong iron bars across it. The +men threw Anton on the floor and then went out, locking the door after +them with so many locks that Anton knew he could never open that door, +even if he had both his hands free. + +There he lay, looking up at the barred window. The sunset glowed through +it still, but faded little by little, and darkness came on. High in the +sky the stars twinkled out, one after another. And Anton lay and thought +that when their light was quenched again, his life was to be put out, as +if it were but a spark. What made him most unhappy was the thought that +he could not get a message to the city in the valley, so that some one +might know that Rynkebryn, the next night, was going to creep upon them +like a thief, burn their city and devastate their land. + +He laid his head on the damp floor of the cell and began to cry. All at +once he heard something rustle,--a queer little sound. He thought it +might be a rat that would bite him, and drew his legs up close; but +something small came creeping lightly over him right up to his cheek. +"Don't be afraid," it whispered. "It is only I, the little lizard you +met on your way. I have hurried at your heels the whole time, until you +disappeared through the castle door. But how have you brought yourself +to this? You should have followed my advice and turned back in +time,--you who can neither creep nor glide." + +"Perhaps," sighed poor Anton. "But it is too late to think of that, and +no one in the world can help me now." + +"Oh," answered the lizard, "one should never give up hope. Since I could +get into the castle prison, we shall manage to get you out." And with +that the tiny creature rustled away in the darkness. + +A minute or two after, little Anton saw something black against the +barred window. It squeezed itself between the bars and dropped with a +thump to the floor. + +"Here am I," chattered the squirrel, hopping to Anton. "What foolishness +has been going on here?" + +"As you see," replied Anton, "I am captured and bound, and in the +morning I am to die." + +"Oh, in the morning!" said the squirrel. "It is a long time to morning. +Much can happen before the sun gets up again." + +"But I cannot stir hand or foot," said Anton. "Don't you see how they +have tied my hands behind my back?" + +"Oh, yes! I see that well enough," replied the squirrel, opening his big +eyes wider than ever. "Where are the knots?" And with one jump he was on +Anton's back, beginning immediately to gnaw at the knots with his small +pointed teeth. He bit and pulled at the rope so that his little body +shook with the effort; and it was not long before Anton felt the +loosening at his wrists and afterward at his ankles. All at once the +ropes fell off and he was free. + +"Oh, you blessed little animal!" said Anton, hugging and kissing the +squirrel. "Now I am a free person again, and not a tied-up bundle!" + +"Yes, but there is still the high, barred window," said the squirrel. +"We must have the dove's help now." And he sprang up to the window and +vanished through it. + +Little Anton stood looking after him, but suddenly he could no longer +see the stars and the sky as before, for they were blotted out by +something that filled the whole window. He soon saw that it was the dove +flapping her out-spread wings against the bars. She could not get in, +but she had something in her bill which she let fall through the window. +It clanged as it hit the floor, and when Anton stooped to pick it up, he +saw that it was a file. + +"I found that in Rynkebryn's own window where it lay, ready to be used +for his evil purposes; but now it shall help you out of prison," said +the dove. + +No one would have imagined they could do it, but the squirrel and the +dove helped Anton to get the ropes he had been tied with up to the +window, and to fasten them there so firmly that he could climb up the +ropes. Then he filed and filed at the iron bars till his hands bled, +while the lizard ran up and down the wall saying: "Make haste! Make +haste! It will soon be morning!" + +But the sun had not yet risen when little Anton stood, rescued and free, +on the rocks outside the castle wall. + +And there was the chamois waiting for him! + +"Seat yourself on my back, little Anton!" said the chamois. "And hold +tight! for we are going to gallop down the mountain so fast that straps +and buckles would not keep you on!" + +So Anton got on the chamois' back and held tight. This was necessary +indeed; for slow as it had been trudging up the mountain, he now went +down with a speed like that of a stone which, being tossed, bounds from +rock to rock as it strikes them on its downward-flying way. + +"I shall fall! I shall fall!" shouted Anton, clinging for dear life to +the chamois' neck. "I shall pitch off head first!" + +"Oh, no! You won't fall," said the chamois; "nor I, either. I am very +sure-footed," and on it leaped as fast as ever. + +Just as the sun rose, Anton stood at the Mayor's door and knocked. The +Mayor himself came to open it, and was overwhelmed with wonder when he +saw little Anton standing there as alive as ever, and without so much as +a hair of his head hurt! + +"I come with bad tidings," said Anton. "If you don't look out, you will +have Rynkebryn and his men after you before you know it; and he is not +going to spare any of you,--yourselves or your property. Every one had +better be armed and ready." + +The next night, Baron Rynkebryn with all his warriors came sneaking down +the mountain expecting to take the peasants by surprise, and to catch +them all as one catches rats in a trap; and he felt himself completely +fooled when he found the peasants on the alert and prepared to give him +a warm welcome! From all the country round had the town folk summoned +help, and the men were armed with lances and javelins, with scythes and +pitchforks; and there was nothing for Rynkebryn to do but to hasten up +the mountain again as fast as his legs could carry him. But the +peasants followed him all the way to Falkensten, gathered brushwood and +branches which they heaped about the castle, and then set on fire, +determined to destroy that den of thieves. It blazed and flamed like a +bonfire and sent ruddy light far and near. The wicked Baron Rynkebryn +and his men were forced to flee and to hide like wild eagles high up in +desolate clefts of the mountains. + +And now there was nothing good that the people did not wish to do for +little Anton! They would have him to be Mayor, and a great festival +should be held in his honor in the palatial hall of the Council House. +But little Anton only thanked them over and over. He had not the least +desire in the world to be Mayor, neither did he care to sit and feast +and sing with those who had recently sent him out on that dangerous +errand without troubling themselves at all as to what would happen to +him. + +Therefore, he asked only that he might have what he needed in order to +give a party to his nearest and dearest friends. Oh, yes! The people +would gladly give him anything; he need only say what he wished for. + +[Illustration: THE MAYOR WAS OVERWHELMED WITH WONDER.--_Page 171_.] + +Then Anton said he would like one vest-pocket full of grain, and the +other full of small snails; and one trousers-pocket full of nuts, and +the other full of salt. He would like also a loaf of white bread, a +bottle of wine and a handful of fresh peaches. + +The people thought his wishes were very peculiar indeed; but he received +what he had asked for and then started toward the mountain. + +A little later, as he sat under a chestnut-tree and looked out over the +valley, he heard the drums and trumpets from the festival in the Council +House, where the people sat and feasted, and shouted hurrahs for their +old Mayor. A spring bubbled near him; the chestnut-tree shaded him; the +sun shone on the vineyards below, while high up at the top of the +mountain, smoke was still rising from the ruins of Falkensten. + +He had spread his table on the fresh green grass. There lay the bread +and the peaches and beside them stood the flask of wine; but before he +began to eat, he invited his guests to take their food. The lizard had +all the little snails; the dove ate grain from Anton's one hand, while +the chamois licked salt from the other; but the little squirrel sat +above in the chestnut-tree and stuffed himself up to his throat with +nuts, throwing all the shells down upon little Anton's head. + + --_Helena Nyblom_. +[Illustration] + + + + + THE FOREST WITCH + + +It was in the earliest springtime. In the shade the air was still quite +cold; but where the clear and strong sunshine streamed down, one could +see that spring had come, for there the blossoms were beginning to +stretch upward on their tiny stalks. + +A couple of children were walking through the forest: a ten-year-old +girl, named Nina, and her little brother Johannes. + +They were seeking flowers. Nina had to find them because the flowers +were too tiny and too much hidden for so small a child as Johannes to +discover them for himself, but she always let him have the pleasure of +picking them. + +It was such a joyous spring walk that Nina did not notice how far they +were straying away from their grandmother's hut, back of the hill. This +little hut had been their home only for a short time. When their dear +father and mother died, their grandmother had kindly taken them to live +with her; and this was their first walk in the forest. + +At last Nina thought they ought to go back, but just as she turned +around with Johannes by the hand, who should stand before them but a +hideous old creature, more glaring and frightful than you can imagine! + +"What are you doing here, you wretched children?" she shrieked; "are you +plucking flowers in my forest? Then shall I pluck you, you may believe!" + +"Oh, pardon us," cried Nina; "we did not know that we must not pick +flowers here. We are strangers in this forest. Pray, pray pardon us." + +"_Snikkesnak!_" (fiddlestick!) answered the terrific old Witch, for such +the creature was. "Don't talk to me! I never pay any attention to what +children say; nor to old folks' talk either, for that matter. Indeed I +don't! Snikkesnak! snikkesnak! But it is not you that I want, silly +girl. It is the boy there who has offended me. The little rascal! It is +he who picked the flowers. Now I shall take him!" + +"Oh! take me, take me instead," cried Nina in terror, flinging her arms +around her brother. "It is my fault! I showed him the flowers, and let +him pick them. You've no right to take him! Oh! do take me; he is too +little." + +"_Snikkesnak!_" answered the Witch; "what a lot of talk! But you are right; +the boy is small to come into my service, so I suppose I shall have to take +you. Now listen well to what I say. Spring and summer are coming and I +shall have no work for you then; so I shall not trouble myself about you +for the present. But when autumn has come and gone, and all the leaves and +flowers have disappeared, then are we very busy in the underground world. +Then you may believe that I shall teach you how to work! and I live deep +down, very, very deep! Now you may go; but I will make a bargain with you. +When the last flower is faded--listen!--when the last flower is faded, meet +me here on this spot--or--or----" + +The old Witch stopped to think what she could best threaten Nina with. +Her wicked eyes glared around for an instant till she noticed that Nina +stood, with her arms about her little brother, ready to ward off any +evil that might come upon him. + +"Or I shall come and catch this little rascal, and twist his arms and +legs all out of joint!" screamed the Witch, shaking her knotty stick at +little Johannes. + +Then, after a dark glance at Nina, she shuffled off through the forest, +with the crows shrieking after her, and the leaves and flowers trembling +on every side. + +As soon as the Witch was out of sight, Nina hastened home with Johannes. +Like a kind sister she suited her frightened pace to his, so that he +should not stumble and fall. + +The poor little boy had been so terrified at the Witch that he had not +in the least understood the cruel threats she had used against him, +or the dreadful fate which was in store for Nina. + +[Illustration: NINA STOOD WITH ARMS AROUND HER LITTLE BROTHER.--_Page +178_.] + +Nina was rejoiced that this was so; for then he could not tell their +grandmother what the Witch had said, and she herself would not disclose +the dreadful doom hanging over her. She was determined that the poor +grandmother should not be made anxious and sorrowful as long as it could +be helped. + +Shortly after this, the spring burst forth in all its power and beauty, +and the blossoms shot up everywhere--in the woods, the fields, the +meadows, and the gardens. Nina welcomed them as her dearest friends. +They would protect her against the Forest Witch. So long as she had a +single one of these, she would not have to go down into the dark earth +to serve the hideous creature. + +Nina had always loved flowers, but never had she thought so much about +them as now. Yet, alas! Spring soon turned into summer, and summer went +faster than ever before, it seemed to poor Nina. The tears streamed +down her cheeks, as she saw the blue cornflowers fall before the +reaper's scythe, when the grain was cut in harvest-time. + +But Nina could still hope, even then; for the roses continued to bloom +on Grandmother's old rose-bush outside the door of the hut. Nina kissed +them and begged them to last as long as ever they could! And so they +did--the dear, friendly roses! + +When the last little rose had at length withered, autumn had almost +passed and the many-colored leaves were dropping from the trees by +thousands. Yet Nina discovered to her joy and comfort that there were +flowers still. Along the roadside stood the simple, hardy wild aster, +which blossomed on and on, although the autumn winds and rains destroyed +everything else. + +Winter began; but so mildly that it seemed as if it were still autumn. +When the asters finally disappeared, other help came to Nina; for the +hazel-bush was completely hoaxed by the mild weather and thought it was +spring; so it began to unfold its yellow catkins, standing beautiful +and bright, as one saw it between the bare trees over the hedges. + +So, even when the winter was far advanced, Nina was still saved from +going to the Witch; but this could not long continue. Cold weather must +soon come, because Grandmother had said that Christmas was near. + +And suddenly winter did come in earnest, with its icy frosts and +drifting snows. For five days it was impossible to get out of the hut, +because the wind kept whirling the snow into high drifts all about it. +But when the sixth day came the wind abated and the snow lay peacefully +on the ground. + +Now Nina dared no longer to stay in the house, for surely all the +flowers were dead, and buried under the cold snow, after this bitter +storm. She must go and keep her compact with the Witch. So gathering +together all her courage, she stole out of the house without being seen +by any one. + +Outside, she stood still for an instant, took a last look at the hut, +which now seemed so cozy and dear, whispered "Farewell," and started on +her way to the forest. + +But she had gathered too little courage, after all; for it melted away +immediately when she discovered the Witch a few steps from the door, +standing in the little roadside garden, waiting for her. + +"You've been rather slow about keeping to your bargain!" exclaimed the +Witch angrily. "I was just coming after you." + +"Oh! do not make me go with you!" cried Nina. + +In her agony she fell down upon the snow at the Witch's great feet, and +besought her wildly: "Let me be free! Oh, do let me be free!" + +"_Snikkesnak!_" snapped the Witch. "Up with you! No nonsense!" + +"Is there not a single flower to save me?" wailed Nina. She half rose, +and, fairly beside herself with fright and despair, began to scrape the +snow away from the garden-bed at the side of the path, trying to find a +flower. + +"Oh, yes, look if you like! _Snikkesnak! snikkesnak!_" laughed the +Witch, her face glowing with exultation at Nina's trouble. + +But an instant after, her countenance became filled with fury, for where +Nina had cleared the snow away, there appeared a plant with fresh +dark-green leaves and white flower buds! + +Nina clasped her hands together in great joy and thankfulness; then, +breaking off a bud, she lifted it up high toward the Witch and rushed +away into the hut. The Witch, in her disappointment and vexation, sprang +about so wildly in the snow that it rose in a cloud all about her, and +Nina never saw her again. + +Safe at home in the little hut, Nina now told all her adventure; and the +grandmother took the little girl's sweet, frightened face between her +two old hands, and kissed her forehead many times. + +Faithfully every day Nina went to pay a loving visit to the little +"Christmas Rose" in the garden (_helleborus niger_); for that was the +flower which had saved her; and the whole winter long, it could be +found fresh and beautiful, here and there under the snow. + +Though no other blossoms dare come forth to face the snows and frosts of +deep winter, the Christmas Rose ventures bravely out into the bleak +weather, and with modest and serene courage holds her own against its +powers. The snow lying over it keeps it from freezing; and if one +brushes away this beautiful covering, the Christmas Rose appears with +its lovely, white, gold-centered blossoms, laughing at the frost. It +blooms steadily on until it can say "Good-day" to spring's first +blossom--the little snowdrop; and so, through all the year, there are +flowers blooming in our dear Northern land, Denmark. + +Thus it was that Nina escaped the Witch, who, being a Forest Witch, did +not know of the Christmas Rose, because that is a garden flower. + + --_J. Krohn_. +[Illustration] + + + + + THE TESTING OF THE TWO KNIGHTS + + +Down in the town all was laughter, dancing and jollity. Banners were +flying from housetops and windows, flowers were wreathed about poles and +arches, and green branches decorated every gateway and door. Clearly, a +great festival was in progress. + +High on a hill overlooking the town, towered the old red castle of a +duke. In front of the castle, on a beautiful green mound, stood gilded +cannon, which at intervals sent thunderous peals through the town and +over the near-lying hills. + +Inside the castle, speeches were being made and toasts given, and many +were the eager shouts of "Hail to the Princess!" and "Long life to the +Princess!" for this was the birthday of the Duke's only daughter, +Princess Inga, and the festival was in her honor. At the conclusion of +each speech and chorus of joyous shouts up at the castle, the cannon +sent forth their signaling volley; and at each volley the people in the +town took up the rejoicing and heartily echoed "Hail! hail! Long life to +the Princess!" for they had loved the beautiful daughter of their good +Duke ever since that first day when she had appeared among them, a tiny +smiling child, in her little carriage drawn by a pair of white goats. + +After the feasting was over, the guests dispersed from the stately hall +and strolled about the terraces and gardens to enjoy the summer night +and its sweet refreshing air. + +Down one of the shadowy garden walks paced the Duke, and with him a man +conspicuous among the richly adorned guests for the dull simplicity of +his attire. He was no other than the Wise One from Fir Forest who wore +now, as at all times, his plain dark robe of brown,--against which +flowed in sharp contrast his long snow-white wavy beard. + +"The day has passed right merrily," said the Duke, "and there has been +no lack of congratulations and speeches; and all the speeches were to no +other end than to wish happiness and good fortune to my beloved +daughter. What showers of good wishes have been poured upon her to-day! +If she receives but a quarter of all these blessings, her life will +overflow with happiness." + +"I pray that it may," said the Wise One gravely. "But the Princess, like +all others, must win her own happiness." + +"What say you?" asked the Duke. + +The Wise One answered slowly, "Happiness comes from forgetting self and +living for the joy of others. In no other way can one be truly happy." + +"Yet I am happy," said the Duke. + +"You, dear Duke, yes!" answered the Wise One. "And well may you be +happy, for you never think of yourself. You take kindliest care of all +in your dukedom, ever doing good among the poor and the sick, and giving +pleasure to all those about you, especially to the Princess. To gladden +her is your greatest pleasure." + +"That is true," assented the Duke, with evident gratification. He could +not but be pleased at the Wise One's praise, never lightly given. + +"And now, my good friend," continued the Duke, "since we speak of the +Princess, I would fain ask your good counsel concerning her. Suitors +will come to strive to win her hand. Indeed, two have already asked to +appear before me, and I receive them in the morning. Many will seek her +for the dukedom's sake, since the one she weds will become duke after +me; and among all the suitors how shall we know which is a true and +worthy knight? She should have the best of all,--only the very best." + +"The best, like the happiest, is the person who thinks last of himself +and first of all others, he who is wholly free from selfishness and +envy. Only to such a one," said the Wise One earnestly, "only to such a +one should we give our dear Princess." + +"Oh, yes!" responded the Duke. "That is right, and very well conceived +and stated, too. But how am I to test the hearts of those who come? +Their hearts are not of glass, so that one may peep into them! How shall +I discover, for instance, the true character of the rivals who seek +audience to-morrow?" + +The Wise One pondered for some minutes and then inquired slowly, "Who is +the most despised, the meanest in station, of all the castle servitors?" + +"Oh, that is easily said," responded the Duke, laughingly. "It could be +no other than that stupid, good-natured Klaus Klodrian. He is but the +fourth groom's under stable-boy, and yet he will never rise higher, +poor, dull-witted fellow!" + +"Good," said the Wise One. "He will serve our present purpose well. Let +the rivals each take his turn dwelling one day as honored guest at the +castle, and one day in the poor hut of Klaus Klodrian, and perhaps this +will disclose the true knight to us. If not, there are other tests, but +let us try this first." + +"Yes, let us try it," said the Duke. "Glad am I to rely on your help, +and most grateful for your counsel." + +After arranging the plan a little more in detail, the Wise One said +farewell and started on his homeward way. He was glad to leave behind +the festivities and excitement of the castle, and longed to reach his +peaceful little log hut in the midst of the great Fir Forest. Seldom +were other sounds heard there than the whispering of the wind in the +tree-tops, the glad twitter of birds and the whirring of their wings. + +Just as he was turning from the roadside into the forest, two knights +came galloping past, and he knew that they must be the expected suitors +for Princess Inga's hand. Both were young and stately and sat proudly +upon their beautiful horses. The one knight was clad in green velvet, +with graceful hat and waving plume of the same color, and the trappings +of his horse shone with gold. The other knight was richly dressed also, +but in blue velvet and with a snowy plume in his blue hat, and silver +on the trappings of his horse. + +As they rode gaily along, looking so happy and handsome, and exchanging +friendly words and glances, it would be hard indeed to wish success to +one at the expense of the other. + +The Wise One went hastily into the forest, directing his steps to its +densest part, where was sequestered his lonely home. Soon after, a great +blackbird stole forth from the woods, turned its yellow beak toward the +road which the two knights had taken and flew after them. The knights +quickly reached the town and rode to "The Golden Fish," an inn not far +below the castle. + +Before they went to their sleeping-rooms, the Blue Knight opened one of +the windows and leaned far out, looking up into the high, dark-blue +heavens, where the stars gleamed in myriads. + +"What are you doing?" asked the Green Knight. + +"Looking at the stars," answered the other. + +"But why, pray?" asked the Green Knight. + +"Oh, it is but a fancy of mine," answered the Blue Knight. "I like to +look up there every evening. The stars shine down upon us with such +benign watchfulness, that I would fain render some return; and to enjoy +their beauty seems all I can do." + + * * * * * + +The next morning the two knights started in good-fellowship riding at +leisurely pace, side by side, through the streets and up the castle +hill. Many eyes peeped out at them through windows and door cracks, and +the host of "The Golden Fish" rubbed his fat hands together with +pleasure. He saw that he should have a profitable day in his tavern, for +the town folk would soon come flocking in and out, to hear what they +could of the suitors. + +In the great gilded hall of the castle, the Duke sat in state to give +audience to the knights. Princess Inga stood by his side. White-robed +and with a cluster of dewy roses in her hand, she looked so fair, so +gracious and lovely, that both the cavaliers were enraptured. + +After the salutations were over, the Duke, in a straightforward manner, +gave them his friendly permission to make further acquaintance with the +Princess, provided they would yield to his wishes in one respect. + +To prevent either suitor from interfering with or standing in the way of +the other, the Duke would have each knight in turn spend one day with +the Princess and one day with Klaus Klodrian, a humble servitor of the +castle, who dwelt in a hut on the borders of the estate. + +If they had any disinclination to do this, the matter was at an end; for +this was the plan he had fixed upon, and it was unalterable. + +"Have the goodness, my honored guests," then continued the Duke, "to +agree between yourselves which of you shall remain here to-day, and +which shall now go to Klaus Klodrian." + +Since the Green Knight sat in silence with the evident intention of +awaiting what the other might say, the Blue Knight politely offered to +give his fellow-suitor the first day with the Princess. The offer was +accepted with much pleasure, and while the Green Knight bowed before the +Princess and began to talk with her, the Blue Knight was conducted out +of the audience hall, down a broad staircase, across a great courtyard, +and thence on and on, through garden and park, through barnyards and +stables, into the lane at the end of which stood the hut of the +stable-boy, Klaus Klodrian. + +Poor Klaus sat inside, being just about to begin his frugal noonday +meal. He jumped up in great confusion at the sudden entrance of a grand +gentleman. + +Holding a long loaf of black bread in his hands, he stood startled and +bewildered, his round eyes staring, his great mouth wide open; but when +the Blue Knight gave him a gentle greeting, courteously asked permission +to spend the day with him, and began to talk to him in a friendly +manner, Klaus gradually recovered from his confusion and became his +quiet, simple self again. He clattered clumsily about on his heavy +wooden shoes, with long straws from the stable dangling from his +clothes and littering the floor. Always good-natured and unused to any +attention save ridicule, he soon glowed with happiness because of the +Blue Knight's kind treatment. + +"I will show you something," said Klaus with joy and pride, though +shyly; and he brought forth his only treasure--two white doves in a +cage,--and began to talk eagerly about them. It seemed as if he could +reiterate the praises of these doves endlessly. To him there was nothing +equal to them in the whole world. + +That day would have been long and tedious, indeed, to the knight, if he +had not found something with which to occupy himself. With his ready +sympathy toward all, he soon discovered that Klaus Klodrian was not +altogether a hopeless dullard. If only one would tell him a thing twelve +or fourteen times, he could then understand most of it; but no one +heretofore had found this out, because no one had taken pains enough, or +been patient enough with him. + +The Blue Knight, feeling sorry for the poor witless fellow, labored +earnestly with him, giving him long explanations, telling him the same +things again and again, and showing him better ways of doing his work +with the horses and about the stalls. + +And Klaus Klodrian, as the day wore on, really began to show a little +comprehension. He laughed so heartily over it all, that it seemed as if +his wide mouth really did stretch from ear to ear. + +As for the Blue Knight, he became so absorbed in trying to teach Klaus, +that the long summer day was neither tiresome nor unhappy. Twice during +the day had he seen the Princess and the Green Knight walking together +in the castle garden. They talked and laughed, and seemed, he thought, +to have become exceedingly good friends. So also thought the Duke, and +he remarked upon it to the Wise One who, in his evening walk, came past +the castle. + +"Ah, but this Green Knight is a magnificent fellow," said the Duke. "And +he is very talented. He will gain the Princess. They are already +excellent friends, and I am greatly prejudiced in his favor. He is +really charming! You should have heard the good stories he told to-day +when we were dining. Yes, he will certainly gain the Princess." + +[Illustration: KLAUS BROUGHT FORTH HIS ONLY TREASURE.--_Page 195_.] + +"To-day he is sailing with the wind," said the Wise One. "Let us see him +to-morrow when the wind is against him." + +The sun had gone down and darkness had spread itself all around, but the +castle was brilliantly illuminated, and from its windows the light +streamed out, while soft strains of music floated through the halls and +into the summer air. There was a ball at the castle. + +Thoughts of the lovely Princess had been present with the Blue Knight +all the day long, no matter how intently he was laboring with Klaus; so +when evening came he sought to get just a glimpse of her through the +castle window. + +Yes--there she was. The Green Knight held her hand and danced with her. +She danced more gaily than any other in the merry company, and oh! how +proud and happy she looked! And the Duke nodded and smiled at the +handsome pair as they glided past him. + +The Blue Knight had seen enough. He turned away and walked sadly back to +the stable-boy's hut. + +Klaus Klodrian had also been out,--to hear the dance music. He could +remember a little of one of the airs, and now sat down upon the edge of +his straw bed, and tried to play it by striking one wooden shoe against +the other. + +"Good-night and sleep well," said Klaus, as the knight entered. "And +thanks for the day." + +"Good-night, and best thanks to yourself, my good Klaus Klodrian," was +the answer. "If I gain nothing more by my journey hither, I have learned +from you how little a man need have in order to be content, and that is +good. When men learn to be content with little, there will be less +trouble in the world." + +"Yes, yes," said Klaus Klodrian. "If one owns a pair of fine doves, one +can hold out against anything." And therewith he settled himself in the +bed and slept. The Blue Knight, however, went out under the summer sky +and gazed long at the stars. He was convinced that he had lost the +Princess, and that the Green Knight had won her; but as he stood there, +looking at the stars, a sense of peace stole over him, and in his heart +were none but good wishes for the Princess and the Green Knight. The +stars seemed to tell him that this was right, for never before had they +sparkled down upon him with such friendly rays. + +The next morning he awoke refreshed, and led out his horse, thinking it +was useless to press his suit after having seen the success which his +rival had met with the previous day. But before he had mounted, a +courteous message came from the Duke, requesting that he should now come +to the castle in his turn, according to their agreement. + +Likewise according to agreement, came the Green Knight down to Klaus +Klodrian; but though he came, he felt that he was being subjected to +great indignity, and showed his ill-humor plainly. + +Simple Klaus began at once to try to entertain him by showing his +precious doves, but the Green Knight sullenly told him to hold his +tongue; and when, a little after, poor Klaus, stupid and forgetful, +began again his rambling talk in praise of the doves, the Green Knight +impatiently kicked over their cage, and the terrified doves flew away. + +They took their flight through the Fir Forest, and when the Wise One saw +them, speeding with fear-quickened wings over the tree-tops, he said, +"Aha! The Green Knight likes not to sail against the wind!" + +Then he gave a call, and out flocked the blackbirds from the trees near +the Wise One's hut. These gloomy-looking, swift-flying birds were his +messengers. Daily they took their flight out into the world, far and +near, and when they came back to the forest, they told their master all +they had seen and heard. Thus he received much strange and minute +information, but so secretly, that no one guessed how he gained his +knowledge. + +This morning he gave some of the birds special directions, and the +result was that all day long, blackbirds hovered in unusual swarms near +the hut of Klaus Klodrian, and over the castle gardens. They had hovered +there, keeping watch, the day before also, but no one had remarked it. +Who notices a few blackbirds more or less? + +That was a hard day for Klaus Klodrian. He missed his kind instructor of +the previous day sadly, and had no gentle doves to cheer his heavy +spirit. The harsh treatment of the Green Knight made him so excited and +unhappy, that though he strove hard to hold fast to all that the Blue +Knight had taught him, he felt only confusion of mind, and in his +bewilderment made more stupid blunders than ever before. But worst of +all, it was impossible for the poor witless fellow to understand the +gathering wrath of the Green Knight, and so, now and again throughout +the day, he made attempts at friendly conversation. At last it ended in +his receiving a thrashing from the ill-tempered cavalier, so that when +evening closed in, poor Klaus was fain to stretch his bruised body on +the soft cool meadow grass, not daring to seek his straw bed. + +Who can tell how miserably the hours dragged by for the Green Knight, +with his jealous, uncontrolled temper? He could not endure to think of +the Blue Knight up at the castle, walking in the garden with the +Princess. And when he went near enough to see her pluck roses for her +companion, he thought that the roses the Blue Knight received were much +richer and redder than those which she had given him the day before from +the same bush! + +Venting his anger upon poor Klaus had not cooled it in the least. Rage +boiled within him hotter than ever, after he had given the thrashing. +And when the day was at last ended and the darkness fell, his bitter +envious thoughts drove him to the castle. Here were music and dancing +and feasting again, this time in honor of the Blue Knight. + +The Green Knight stole cautiously up to the balcony, hid himself in the +shadow of its twining vines, and looked at the gay scene within the +hall. Ah! There were the Princess and the Blue Knight. His heart burned +with envy; he forgot that the Blue Knight was having no more opportunity +and enjoyment than he himself had had. "Never shall that fellow become +Duke, never!" he muttered. + +Full of evil thoughts, the Green Knight drew his sword; but he did not +notice that as he did so, a bird rustled out from the vines above, and +flew swiftly away. + +The music ceased at last with prolonged, rapturous trill. The Princess, +however, was enjoying the ball so much that she asked the Duke if she +might not have just one single dance more. And well it was that her +request was granted. + +After this very last dance was finished, the Blue Knight turned toward +the balcony door, drawn by a great desire to greet the stars, so happy +and thankful did he feel. + +Just at this moment the Wise One strode into the hall. The Duke and all +the guests were greatly astonished, for never before had the revered +counselor visited the castle at such a late hour. + +The Wise One placed himself before the Blue Knight, gave a sign to the +liveried torch-bearers standing near, then threw wide open the large +doors leading to the balcony. There stood the Green Knight, with his +naked sword in his hand. His guilty gaze sought the ground--and his +limbs refused to flee. + +"What means this?" asked the Duke. + +"There stand Envy and Jealousy disclosed," answered the Wise One. Then +he turned and with gentle step approached the Princess. In her terror +she had grasped the Blue Knight's arm and was still clinging to him, +while tears shone in her tender eyes. + +The Wise One looked toward the Duke an instant and then said: + +"There stands the true knight! and I believe that the heart of the +Princess has chosen him." + +"And to him shall she be given," said the Duke. "The day with Klaus +Klodrian has indeed brought to light the true character of the suitors. +Your wise counsel has served us well, good friend. Will you not honor us +now by coming to the banqueting hall and being the first to offer +congratulations and good wishes to the Princess and to her proven +knight?" + +Then the music began again,--the musicians playing gladdest melodies +with all their hearts. + +The Green Knight plunged into the darkness and ran to his horse. Hastily +mounting, he sped his steed mercilessly forward, with whip and spur, +into the murky night. + + * * * * * + +Some days later the Blue Knight rode forth from the castle with face as +radiant as the morning. He was to ride to his home, bearing thither the +news of his good fortune, but he was soon to wend his way back. The +Princess watched as long as her eyes could see him, while he bowed and +waved fond adieus. Behind the Blue Knight rode, rather awkwardly, his +new squire,--none other than Klaus Klodrian! He was proudly conscious of +his fine long riding-boots and other new attire, and happier than ever +before; for not only was he now to serve the knight whose kindness had +won his heart, but his precious doves had been restored to him. The Wise +One had recovered them for him through the aid of the watchful +blackbirds. + + --_J. Krohn_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Top of the World Stories for Boys and +Girls, by Emilie Poulsson and Laura E. 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Poulsson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Top of the World Stories for Boys and Girls + Translated from the Scandinavian Languages + +Author: Emilie Poulsson + Laura E. Poulsson + +Illustrator: Florence Liley Young + +Release Date: June 19, 2011 [EBook #36465] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOP OF THE WORLD STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Hunter Monroe, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="transnote"> +<h4>Transcriber’s note</h4> + +<p>Obvious typographical errors have been corrected; +hyphenation has been regularised. Close quotes have not been added at +the end of paragraphs followed by more dialogue.</p> +</div> + + + +<h1>TOP</h1> +<h3>OF-THE-</h3> +<h1>WORLD</h1> +<h1>STORIES</h1> + +<h3>FOR BOYS AND GIRLS</h3> + +<h4>TRANSLATED FROM +THE SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES</h4> + +<h3>by</h3> + +<h2>EMILIE POULSSON</h2> +<h3>and</h3> +<h2>LAURA E POULSSON</h2> + +<p class="center">Illustrated by</p> + +<h3>FLORENCE +LILEY +YOUNG</h3> + +<h3>LORTHROP LEE & SHEPARD CO.</h3> +<h3>BOSTON</h3> + + + +<p class="center"> +Published, August, 1916<br /> +<br /> +Copyright, 1916,<br /> +<span class="smcap">By Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.</span><br /> +<br /> +<i>All Rights Reserved</i><br /> +<br /> +Top-of-the-World Stories<br /> +<br /> +Norwood Press<br /> +BERWICK & SMITH CO.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Norwood, Mass.</span><br /> +U. S. A.<br /> + +</p> +<p><br/></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="640" height="906" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> +<img src="images/tp.png" width="640" height="737" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="col01" id="col01"></a> +<img src="images/col01.jpg" width="600" height="873" alt="IT WAS A LIFE AND DEATH RACE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">IT WAS A LIFE AND DEATH RACE.</span> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p><br/></p> +<p class="center"><i>In memory of ten happy years,</i></p> +<p class="center"><i>this little book is dedicated to the</i></p> +<p class="center"><i>children of John, William, Anna, Martha, and George.</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p>Not for my dear usual public of little children have I gathered these +stories from Scandinavian authors, but for boys and girls who have +reached a stage which warrants a rather free range in Story Land. For +here are to be encountered creatures and events, deeds and ideas, +unsuited to youngest readers, but which have legitimate attraction for +boys and girls from nine to fourteen years old—the age varying +according to the child's maturity and previous reading.</p> + +<p>Five of these stories were written by the noted Finnish author, Zachris +Topelius, who wrote them, and much else, for the children of Finland and +Sweden more than fifty years ago. His loving sympathy for children, and +his earnest desire to write only what was wholesome and good for them, +shine through all his literary work for the young. His "Läsning för +Barn" (Reading for Children) in several volumes, contains stories, true +and imaginative, poems, songs, hymns, and many charming plays for +children to act. Although a Finn, Topelius wrote in the Swedish +language.</p> + +<p>By the kind permission of Miss Margaret Böcher I have made use of her +excellent rendering of <i>Sampo Lappelil</i>.</p> + +<p>Of the other stories presented here, two (<i>The Forest Witch</i> and <i>The +Testing of the Two Knights</i>) were translated from the Danish, and one +(<i>Anton's Errand, or The Boy Who Made Friends by the Way</i>) from the +Norwegian.</p> + +<p>The translations are not strictly literal, neither are they, I am sure, +unjustifiably free. The liberty exercised consists chiefly of omission. +For example, in <i>Knut Spelevink</i>, extra incidents were omitted which +dragged the story to a tedious length or marred it by the inartistic, +outworn device of explaining Knut's adventures as a dream; in The +<i>Princess Lindagull</i>, some details of the wild-beast fight were left +out; in <i>A Legend of Mercy</i>, a hampering husk was stripped off from the +good seed of the quaint little story. Most of the minor changes were +made for the sake of smoothness and clarity.</p> + +<p>In general, wherever I, as translator or editor, have varied from the +original, I have done so to make the stories as directly appealing, as +delightful, and as profitable as possible, for our boys and girls.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Emilie Poulsson.</span><br /></p> +<p><br /></p> +<p><i>Boston, Ma</i><br /></p> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<table> +<tr><td colspan="2"><h2>LIST OF STORIES</h2></td><td align="right"></td></tr> +<tr><td></td><td align="right"><span class="smcap">Page</span></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#KNUT"><span class="smcap">Knut Spelevink</span></a><br /></td><td align="right">11</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#LINDAGULL"><span class="smcap">The Princess Lindagull</span></a><br /></td><td align="right">39</td></tr> +<tr><td> <a href="#CHAPTER_I"><span >Chapter I.</span> The Palace of Shah Nadir</a><br /></td><td align="right">39</td></tr> +<tr><td> <a href="#CHAPTER_II"><span>Chapter II.</span> The Arena</a><br /></td><td align="right">48</td></tr> +<tr><td> <a href="#CHAPTER_III"><span>Chapter III.</span> The Captivity</a><br /></td><td align="right">58</td></tr> +<tr><td> <a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><span>Chapter IV.</span> The Release</a><br /></td><td align="right">72</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SIKKU"><span class="smcap">Sikku and the Trolls</span></a><br /></td><td align="right">86</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#SAMPO"><span class="smcap">Sampo Lappelil</span></a><br /></td><td align="right">105</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#LEGEND"><span class="smcap">A Legend of Mercy</span></a><br /></td><td align="right">130</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#ANTON"><span class="smcap">Anton's Errand, or The Boy Who Made +Friends by the Way</span></a><br /></td><td align="right">138</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#WITCH"><span class="smcap">The Forest Witch</span></a><br /></td><td align="right">175</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#TESTING"><span class="smcap">The Testing of the Two Knights</span></a><br /></td><td align="right">185</td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"><hr style="width: 65%;" /></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="2"><h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col01">It was a life-and-death race (Page 126)</a><br /></td><td align="right"><i>Frontispiece</i></td></tr> +<tr><td></td><td align="right"><span class="smcap">Facing Page</span></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col02">"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the Snow King</a><br /></td><td align="right">24</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col03">The pine-tree raised itself high in air</a></td><td align="right">32</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col04">Since Shah Nadir could refuse her nothing, he granted her request</a></td><td align="right">46</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col05">In the Lapp tent</a></td><td align="right">60</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col06">Lindagull stepped forth in the clear day</a></td><td align="right">70</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col07">Out of the mist arose a slender figure</a></td><td align="right">80</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col08">"Oh, ho!" exclaimed Sikku, recognizing her as the troll woman</a></td><td align="right">90</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col09">Sampo was left lying in a snow-drift</a></td><td align="right">114</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col10">On the back of the reindeer with golden horns</a></td><td align="right">126</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col11">There stood the wolf and the bear</a></td><td align="right">136</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col12">The lizard lay perfectly still, listening</a></td><td align="right">146</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col13">"Turn back, turn back," said the dove</a></td><td align="right">158</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col14">The Mayor was overwhelmed with wonder</a></td><td align="right">172</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col15">Nina stood with arms around her little brother</a></td><td align="right">178</td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#col16">Klaus brought forth his only treasure</a></td><td align="right">196 </td></tr> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>TOP-OF-THE-WORLD STORIES</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> +<img src="images/ch01.png" width="640" height="267" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<h2><a name="KNUT" id="KNUT">KNUT SPELEVINK</a><a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h2> + +<p>Knut was a poor orphan boy who lived with his grandmother at Perlebank +in a little hut on the shore.</p> + +<p>He had a shirt, a jacket, a pair of trousers and a cap; and what more +does one need in summer? In winter he had woolen stockings and +birch-bark shoes. That wasn't so little, after all. He was +cheerful,—always happy indeed, though always hungry. It is a great art +to know how to be happy and hungry at the same time!</p> + +<p>His good grandmother was so poor that she seldom had enough food for the +boy to eat all he wanted. She spun woolen yarn and sent Knut with it to +Mr. Peterman's grand estate, The Ridge, several miles away, where he +could always sell the yarn. When Knut returned with the money, +Grandmother would buy flour and bake bread. She made it in big flat +cakes with a hole in the middle, strung these cakes on a stick and hung +the stick high up in the hut where the cakes would dry and harden, and +could be kept for a long time. If the yarn brought a good price, she +might even buy some sour milk, too. Potatoes they got from a tiny +fenced-in field, no larger than the floor of a small room. Then, too, +Grandmother owned a fish-net, so they had fresh fish sometimes,—when +Fisher Jonas's boy could help Knut to put out the net.</p> + +<p>It was indeed seldom, however, that Knut and his grandmother were well +supplied with food, and the boy's little stomach often called for more; +but even then he was as cheerful as ever.</p> + +<p>One morning he sat on the beach, picking up yellowish stones that looked +a little like soft, warm, boiled potatoes. Poor Knut! They would not do +to eat, and he laughingly threw them away, but as he did so, he happened +to see something that lay among the stones. Picking it up, he found that +it was a little whistle or pipe made of reed, such as children often +make for themselves when playing on the shore. There was nothing at all +remarkable about it, but Knut thought he would see if it gave any sound. +Good! It really did. You could play three tones upon it,—<i>pā</i>, +<i>pȳ</i>, and <i>pū</i>. When Knut discovered that, he just for fun stuffed +the whistle into his jacket pocket.</p> + +<p>To-day happened to be a hungry day; Knut had had no breakfast. "Suppose +I were sitting now in Mr. Peterman's kitchen at The Ridge," thought +Knut; and at once he imagined he could smell herring being fried!</p> + +<p>Well, he must do something; so he seated himself on a big rock near the +water and began to fish, but the fish would not bite. There had been a +storm the day before, but to-day the sea shone like a mirror under the +bright sun, and its slow heaving waves swung clear as glass against the +shore.</p> + +<p>"I do wonder what Grandmother has for dinner," thought Knut to himself.</p> + +<p>Just then a wave rolled up so high that it wet Knut's bare foot, and he +heard a voice murmur from the wave, "Knut, have you found the magic pipe +that belongs to the sea-princess? She left it on the shore and wishes +she could find it. You can blow three tones on it, <i>pā</i>, <i>pȳ</i>, +<i>pū</i>; and they all work magic,—<i>pā</i> makes the hearers sleep, +<i>pȳ</i> makes the hearers weep, but <i>pū</i> sets them to laughing."</p> + +<p>"What?" exclaimed Knut. "Is it a magic pipe? Well, you may go your way, +big wave. I found the pipe and I think I shall keep it for a while."</p> + +<p>The wave murmured something,—no one knows what,—rolled slowly away and +did not come back again.</p> + +<p>Knut took the pipe from his pocket and looked closely at it. "So you are +a magic pipe, are you? And can charm, can you? Well, charm a fish on to +my hook, if you please." And with that he blew <i>pā, pā</i>.</p> + +<p>He had not blown very long before a perch, then a pike, then a white +fish floated up to the surface of the water, lying on their sides as if +they were asleep.</p> + +<p>"Here are fresh fish to be had," thought Knut; and he continued to blow. +In a short time the whole surface of the water near the shore was +covered with floating fish, more white fish, several kinds of perches, +sticklebacks, bream, carp, pike, and salmon,—all the lively finny +throng that live in the sea.</p> + +<p>"This will be a great catch!" thought Knut, and he sprang up to the +house to get a hand-net.</p> + +<p>When he came back, the shore was crowded with water-birds. The sea-gulls +were the greediest and shrieked "Grab! Grab! Grab!" so that they could +be heard a mile away! But there were many others keeping them +company,—ducks and wild geese, together with swans. All these ravenous +visitors were hard at work devouring the floating fish; and in the +midst of the throng was a great sea-eagle that had swooped down and +seized a large salmon in his talons.</p> + +<p>"Go away, you thieves!" called Knut, picking up stones from the beach +and throwing them at the birds. Some were hit in the leg, others in the +wing, but none seemed to think of dropping his prey.</p> + +<p>Just then a shot sounded, then another and another, from a near-lying +bay. Some of the birds fell to the water and floated, lying on their +sides like the fish. The firing continued until all the birds had been +either shot down or sent screaming away, scattering in every direction.</p> + +<p>A boat containing three hunters now approached the beach. The men were +Mr. Peterman and two friends of his, and it was they who had shot the +birds. They stepped ashore in good humor to gather up their booty.</p> + +<p>"Why, there is Knut!" said Mr. Peterman. "How in the world did you get +so many birds together here at Perlebank?"</p> + +<p>"I was playing on my pipe for the fish and the birds came to the party," +answered Knut, jokingly.</p> + +<p>"Then you must certainly be a wonderfully clever player," said Mr. +Peterman. "And hereafter, your name shall be Knut Spelevink."<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>"All right," said Knut. He had had no surname before and thought he +might as well have Spelevink as Anderson, Söderlund or Mattsson.</p> + +<p>"But listen, Knut Spelevink; why do you look so poorly to-day? You are +as thin as a rail," said Mr. Peterman.</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't I look poorly, who see all this food and have not eaten +anything since yesterday noon?" replied Knut, in his cheerful fashion.</p> + +<p>"H'm," said Mr. Peterman. "Well, come to The Ridge to dinner to-day, +since you have provided us with such a good catch. But don't come until +four o'clock because the birds won't be plucked and roasted before +that."</p> + +<p>"Thank you most humbly," answered Knut; but he thought to himself that +four o'clock was rather late for any one who had eaten nothing since +yesterday!</p> + +<p>Mr. Peterman and his friends rowed away and Knut went home to his +grandmother.</p> + +<p>"Well, Knut, have you seen any fish to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! I've seen plenty; but the birds ate the fish and Mr. Peterman +shot the birds."</p> + +<p>"Too bad, Knut. We have nothing for dinner but two herring, four little +potatoes and a half-slice of bread."</p> + +<p>"No matter, Grandmother; you eat that. I am invited to The Ridge for +dinner and I shall bring you a bit of cheese in my pocket if I can."</p> + +<p>"Don't take the short cut through Kiikkala Forest, Knut; there are elves +there, and three troll-kings,—the Mountain King, the Snow King and the +Forest King. Go, rather, along the shore,—that way is safer; only there +you must look out for the mermaids."</p> + +<p>"But it is a long way around by the shore, Grandmother, and I haven't +had anything to eat since yesterday."</p> + +<p>"Well, go whichever way you will then, but don't think about food. That +leads one into temptation."</p> + +<p>"No, Grandmother. I shall think about the next Catechism examination, +and study hard as I go along."</p> + +<p>Knut started on his way, thinking about the Catechism, but when he came +to the beginning of the short cut, he thought: "Surely I should be a +goose if I, with such an empty stomach, should walk seven miles instead +of half that."</p> + +<p>And so he turned off into the short cut through Kiikkala Forest and +determined to hear himself say the Catechism while he was going through +the woods.</p> + +<p>He had not gone far before he saw a thin little old man, dragging a cart +loaded with twelve iron bars.</p> + +<p>"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the old man. "Why do you look so poorly +to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't I look poorly, when I have eaten nothing but Catechism +since yesterday noon? But how did you know my new name?"</p> + +<p>"I know all names," answered the old man, who was really a troll.</p> + +<p>"Sha'n't I help you?" asked good-natured Knut. "You are all out of +breath with that heavy load."</p> + +<p>"Push away if you like, Spelevink." So Knut pushed, and the old man +pulled and they soon came to a big mountain in the forest.</p> + +<p>"This is where I live," said the old man. "Step in and I will give you +something good to eat, because you helped me with my load." So saying, +he entered the mountain. Knut's stomach said follow him, and Knut +followed.</p> + +<p>Soon they were in a great underground palace where everything glittered +with gold, silver and precious stones.</p> + +<p>"Do you live here?" asked Knut.</p> + +<p>"I should say I did," replied the old man. "I am the King of the +Mountain. To-morrow I give the marriage feast for my daughter; and my +servants are so driven with work that I myself had to bring my food from +the forge where these bars are made."</p> + +<p>"Wasn't that iron in the cart?" asked Knut.</p> + +<p>"Bar iron, my lad, bar iron of the best sort. That is something far +finer than simple iron ore. Bar iron is my favorite food, especially +when it is at white heat. Have you ever eaten bar iron?"</p> + +<p>"Not that I can remember," said Knut.</p> + +<p>"Then you shall be allowed to taste something extra fine for once. See, +I lay two bars in the hot furnace fire. In three minutes they will be at +white heat, and you shall creep into the furnace and eat of them +hot,—fresh cooked!"</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much," said Knut. "But give me rather a bit of bread and +a bowl of sour milk."</p> + +<p>"Oh, come now! You don't know what is good! Get into the furnace there. +Be quick! The iron is red hot already."</p> + +<p>"I believe you!" said Knut. "It is almost too hot for me."</p> + +<p>"What nonsense!" growled the old troll. And he tried with all his might +to thrust Knut into the furnace.</p> + +<p>But the one who took to his heels at that instant was Knut. He ran for +dear life, was lucky enough to find the outside door and was soon again +on the forest path.</p> + +<p>"Grandmother was right," thought Knut. "I really must hear myself the +Catechism and keep my mind on it."</p> + +<p>While Knut was thinking of one of the long explanations following the +oft-recurring question, "What does that mean?" he suddenly felt very +cold. The cause was soon evident, for behold! although it was summer, +there, at a turn in the path, stood a snow mountain!</p> + +<p>"This is remarkable," thought Knut. "How does any one here ever get warm +food?"</p> + +<p>With these words he climbed up on the snow, Catechism forgotten and +thoughts of food uppermost in his mind; and at once he tumbled down +into a deep hole, and found himself in a magnificent palace of +glittering ice. Starlight and moonlight illuminated it. All the great +rooms were ornamented with shining ice-mirrors, all the floors were +strewn with diamonds of hoar frost. Clumsy snow men rolled about on +their stomachs over the floor. Presently one stood upright. He was a +long-bodied stiff creature, with icicles in his hair, icicles in his +beard, a robe of thin sheet-ice, and shoes of frozen berry-juice.</p> + +<p>"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the Snow King. "Why do you look so +poorly to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing but Catechism and +bar iron to eat since yesterday noon?" said Knut with chattering teeth.</p> + +<p>"You are too hot, young man, you are too hot,—that is what is the +matter with you. I am the Snow King and I bring up all my subjects to be +ice-clad—turn them into regular lumps of ice,—and I will do the same +for you. Chief Officer of the Snow Knights, dip this boy seven times in +ice-cold water, hang him on a hook and let him freeze."</p> + +<p>"No,—thank you,—wait a little," suggested Knut. "Give me instead a mug +of hot posset. I am already a lump of ice!"</p> + +<p>"Chief Officer of the Snow Knights, give him a bit of frozen +quicksilver, and a mug of chipped ice before you dip him," ordered the +Snow King.</p> + +<p>Knut wanted to run away but it was already too late. The Chief Officer +had grabbed him by the collar, and it would have been all over with Knut +if he had not chanced to get hold of his magic pipe. Knowing that there +was not another thing he could do to try to save himself but to blow on +his pipe, blow he did, right lustily; and this time the sound was +<i>pū, pū</i>.</p> + +<p>Instantly the long-bodied troll's features were distorted by a grin that +should have represented merriment, but he was far from merry. He was +boiling with rage over the resistless desire to laugh that unexpectedly + +took possession of him. He laughed and laughed; +yes, he laughed so hard that the icicles fell from his hair and chin, +his knees doubled under him, and at last his very head burst into bits! +All the snow men laughed so violently that they, too, fell to pieces; +the Chief Officer sank to the floor, becoming only a pool of mushy, +dirty water. The ice-mirrors broke into small fragments and the whole +palace changed into a wild whirl of snow!</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="col02" id="col02"></a> +<img src="images/col02.jpg" width="600" height="873" alt="" title="" /> +<span class="caption">"GOOD-DAY, KNUT SPELEVINK," SAID THE SNOW KING.</span> +</div> + +<p>Knut himself was so overcome by laughter that it was only by the +strongest effort he could hold his lips together on the pipe and keep on +blowing.</p> + +<p>While the snow still whirled about him, he suddenly noticed that he was +again upon the forest path. And lo! the next instant the air cleared, +the last of the snow disappeared in swift-running streams, and summer, +high summer, ruled once more.</p> + +<p>"Now I <i>will</i> look out for myself," thought Knut as he tramped steadily +forward; and he began again to pick out from his memory an answer to +the question, "What does that mean?"</p> + +<p>He had not walked far before he found himself beside the most beautiful +little wooded hill, where strawberries gleamed red all through the +grass. It could not be dangerous to pick a few strawberries to eat, when +one was not to have dinner until four o'clock in the afternoon, thought +hungry Knut; and he climbed a little way up the hill.</p> + +<p>No sooner was he there than he saw that what he had taken for +strawberries was nothing else than many thousand charming little elves +in red clothing. They were no taller than a strawberry stem, and were +dancing merrily around a green hillock upon which sat their queen who +was about three inches tall.</p> + +<p>"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the elf-queen. "Why do you look so +poorly to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing to eat since +yesterday noon except Catechism and bar iron and frozen quicksilver? I +thought that you people were strawberries."</p> + +<p>"Poor thing, he is hungry," said the queen to her lady-in-waiting. "Give +him a dewdrop and the leg of a gnat so that he may for once eat until he +is really satisfied."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much," answered Knut. "But might I perhaps have a dish +of berries and a pail of milk instead?"</p> + +<p>"What coarseness!" said the elf-queen, highly disgusted with such a +gluttonous appetite. "Do you know, you human child, that you came into +our kingdom without a pass, and that you trod to death three and thirty +of our faithful subjects so that there is nothing left of them but a red +stain? And you have refused our gracious offer of food and shown +yourself to be disgustingly greedy, besides. Forest spinners of our +court, do your duty."</p> + +<p>Scarcely were the words spoken before a legion of long-legged spiders +swung down from the trees and began to spin around Knut a network of +countless fine threads. Knut did not relish this, and thought it a very +poor joke. He beat away the webspinners, and tried to return to the +forest path, but could not stir from the spot. His feet were tangled in +an all too strong net, his arms were glued to his sides, his eyes even +were plastered shut, and at last down he fell in the grass.</p> + +<p>He could see nothing but he could hear how the whole hill rang with +laughter; the elves formed a ring around him, danced over him, nipped +him on the cheeks like gnats, and were beside themselves with joy over +their comical trick.</p> + +<p>"Lie there and starve until you can be satisfied with a dewdrop and a +gnat leg," said the elves.</p> + +<p>Knut fell to pleading with them. "Listen now, little elves," said he. "I +shall be content if I may bite on a small piece of reed I have in my +jacket pocket. Will not some of you be so good as to stick it into my +mouth?"</p> + +<p>The elves thought it would be inexpressibly amusing to see this greedy +human child eat a piece of reed; so four of them climbed into his jacket +pocket and with their united strength drew forth the magic pipe, which, +with great effort, they succeeded in putting into his mouth. Thereupon +they danced more merrily than ever around and over him, and the hill +resounded with their delicate laughter. It was like the humming of a +million swarms of gnats.</p> + +<p>Knut no sooner felt the pipe between his lips than he began to blow; and +this time the tone was <i>pȳ, pȳ</i>. At once the merry laughter came +to an end, and sobbing was heard from every direction,—a sound as of a +hundred thousand sobbing together, not unlike what one hears in summer +when the beating rain lashes the hill.</p> + +<p>Knut could not see, but he knew that the elves were crying and he felt +that it was a sin, no matter what they had done, to make such merry +creatures sob so grievously.</p> + +<p>"Set me free and you shall laugh again," said Knut to the weeping elves.</p> + +<p>Now it is the elves' greatest joy to laugh. Indeed, they laugh away +their short lives in the summer evenings knowing nothing of sorrow.</p> + +<p>At Knut's words, hundreds of elves began immediately to chase away the +spiders, and to set free the prisoner, loosening his arms and his legs, +and unplastering his eyelids. Knut could now see his tiny enemies and +his anger rose again, so that he blew <i>pȳ</i> once more. Oh, how the +poor little creatures grimaced and trembled! They wished so much to +laugh and yet they must weep because of that frightful <i>pȳ</i>!</p> + +<p>Knut had not the heart to tease them any longer. He changed the note to +<i>pū</i> and the elves became almost crazy with joy. They leaped so high +in the air that they nearly overtook the larks, and as they came down, +some of them alighted upon Knut and he had to shake them off. He did not +notice that one elf had fallen into his pocket and remained there.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, little elves," said Knut as he hastily set off again on his +way through the forest.</p> + +<p>"I must watch out well for that other troll, the Forest King," thought +Knut. "He is said to be the worst of all. Where was I in the Catechism? +Oh, yes. 'What does that mean?'"</p> + +<p>After a while Knut came to a swamp at the roadside where cloudberries +grew in profusion.</p> + +<p>"It can't be wrong to pick a few of these berries as I pass by, since I +sha'n't have any food until four o'clock this afternoon," thought Knut. +To reach the swamp he had to climb over a huge fallen pine-tree, which +lay in the way. Scarcely did he find himself clambering across its +gnarly trunk and thick close branches than the pine-tree, to Knut's +great fright, raised itself high in air, and roared with a gruff voice:</p> + +<p>"Good-day, Knut Spelevink. Why do you look so poorly to-day?"</p> + +<p>Knut, hanging over the road in the pine-tree's top, still found courage +to answer:</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing to eat since +yesterday noon except Catechism, and bar iron, and frozen quicksilver +and a gnat's leg?"</p> + +<p>"Well, why did you interrupt my midday nap?" asked the pine-tree. "Don't +you know that I am the King of the Forest and rule over all the trees +and swamps for seven times seven miles around! Here you see my palace. +Haven't I a fine place to live in?"</p> + +<p>Knut saw nothing but a bleak wilderness, so did not answer the question +but ventured to inquire most humbly if he might not get down and pick +some cloudberries to eat.</p> + +<p>"What is that? Cloudberries?" roared the Forest King. "Take a fir-tree +for a ladle and ladle into yourself seven cartloads of swamp mud. That +is what I call a regular meal. It is my favorite food."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you would give me one load of apple marmalade, and a moderately +big ditch full of wild honey instead!" suggested merry Knut.</p> + +<p>"Apple marmalade? Humph! I shall make marmalade of you for disturbing me +in my nap. My Lord Eagle, I give the boy to you. You can tear him into +Scotch collops for your young ones."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col03" id="col03"></a> +<img src="images/col03.jpg" width="640" height="924" alt="THE PINE-TREE RAISED ITSELF HIGH IN AIR." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE PINE-TREE RAISED ITSELF HIGH IN AIR.</span> +</div> + + + + + +<p>Knut now became aware of an enormous eagle sitting in the top of the +tree and staring at him with ravenous eyes. He could not jump down, for +the pine-tree held him fast by his arms and legs. He should soon be torn +into Scotch collops.</p> + +<p>Knut Spelevink had never eaten collops, but however much he liked food, +it seemed unbearable that he himself should become food for eagles.</p> + +<p>The situation was indeed dangerous, but at this critical moment Knut +felt something light as a flower creeping up his arm, up to his jacket +collar, then to his chin and finally to his mouth. It was the little elf +that had hidden in Knut's pocket, and was now creeping along and, with +incredible difficulty, dragging after him the magic pipe which was seven +times as long as himself.</p> + +<p>"Blow!" said the elf.</p> + +<p>Knut felt the pipe in his mouth and began to blow with a will. This time +the tone was again <i>pā</i>.</p> + +<p>The Forest King yawned, stretched out his branches, and mumbled +something about having been disturbed in his midday nap. Then he threw +himself down at full length beside the swamp, and in his fall crushed +beneath his huge trunk the big ravenous eagle which the magic pipe had +made too drowsy to fly away.</p> + +<p>As Knut crept from among the branches, he heard a snoring through the +forest as loud as if a hundred bears were growling their best for a +wager; and he again took to his heels as nimbly as he could.</p> + +<p>"I must certainly look out," thought Knut. "It is indeed dangerous here +in the forest."</p> + +<p>Without stopping for cloudberries or anything else, he continued to run +and run while he could, but it was not easy, and by and by he had to +walk slowly for the path was almost overgrown. The bramble-bushes seemed +to have a spite against his trousers, tree branches caught hold of his +jacket, and clung fast to it; the heather and the twigs of the +blueberry-bushes pricked his bare feet But to The Ridge he meant to get +and to The Ridge he did get without further adventure, arriving,—tired, +hungry and blowsy,—at precisely four o'clock in the afternoon.</p> + +<p>"Welcome, Knut Spelevink," said Mr. Peterman. "You look right cheerful +this afternoon!"</p> + +<p>"Why shouldn't I look cheerful when I have been offered feasts of hot +bar iron, frozen quicksilver, a dewdrop and a gnat's leg, and seven +cartloads of mud?" laughed Knut.</p> + +<p>"Why, that is a good many courses for one day," said Mr. Peterman. "One +ought not to think much about food. When any one constantly thinks of +what he can get to eat, he is in danger of encountering trolls and such +like, who only fool him. But perhaps you are hungry, my boy?"</p> + +<p>Knut blinked in embarrassment, squeezed his cap between his hands and +said that he was not yet exactly starved to death.</p> + +<p>"Now that rejoices me!" exclaimed Mr. Peterman. "I ate a late breakfast +and the servants have not yet had time to pluck all the birds. You just +wait until eight o'clock and then you shall have some supper."</p> + +<p>This was worse than hot bar iron and seven cartloads of mud, Knut +thought; but he bit his nails and answered that he could wait, of +course, adding to himself, however, "I had better say the Catechism over +again to pass the time."</p> + +<p>Now this Mr. Peterman was a great joker and was only teasing Knut. He +had himself been a poor boy and knew well enough what it meant, when +famished, to wait four hours more for food.</p> + +<p>"Knut Spelevink," said he, "I perceive that you can do more than think +about things to eat. Do you realize that conquering one's self and being +able to give up, even to the very necessities of life, what one craves +here in this world is a kind of heroism? You can conquer yourself like a +hero and keep your merry humor through everything. I like you, my boy, +and I am sure you will make a fine man if you have enough to eat and go +to school as I mean you shall; for I am going to look after you from +this time on.</p> + +<p>"But what does that mean?" continued Mr. Peterman, sniffing. "It seems +to me I smell roast bird! Walk in, my boy. You shall sit with me, at my +own table, and for once in your life eat all you want."</p> + +<p>When Mr. Peterman said "What does that mean?" Knut thought it sounded as +if catechising were going to begin; but the door to the dining-room was +thrown open at that moment, and there stood a dinner-table laden with +smoking-hot savory food awaiting the hungry guests.</p> + +<p>Mr. Peterman led Knut in by the hand and Knut sat at the table like a +lord; and there he might have been sitting yet if he had not long since +carried home the promised piece of cheese to his grandmother, and been +sent to school.</p> + +<p>As for the magic pipe, he had used that three times and once more, and +it had served him well in Kiikkala Forest; but try as he might he could +never again get the magic tones from it, and one day he lost it. The +Catechism, however, stayed in his mind, and Knut could recite it from +end to end any time he was asked.</p> + +<p class="right" > +—<i>Z. Topelius.</i><br /> +</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Pronounced K'nūt Spā-lě-veenk.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> "Spelevink" may be translated "Merrymouth."</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> +<img src="images/ch02.png" width="640" height="268" alt="" title="" /> +</div><h2><a name="LINDAGULL" id="LINDAGULL">THE PRINCESS LINDAGULL</a><a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></h2> + +<p><i>Come, boys and girls, let us fly on the wings of the wind to the land +of a thousand tales, to the home of roses and tulips! to the land where +beautiful fairies build their castles in the red sunrise, and black +gnomes flit around in the darkness of midnight; where the sun shines +like fire over the blue mountains in Afghanistan, and the quiet +water-lilies are reflected in the deep lakes; where tigers' eyes gleam +between the reeds by the shore, and where sun-browned, dark-eyed people +glow with hate and burn with love. Let us fly to Persia!</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">The Palace of Shah Nadir</span></h4> + + +<p>There was once a Persian king whose name was Shah Nadir, and who was +exceedingly rich. Large and beautiful countries with many millions of +people were under his sway. Great rooms in his palace were filled with +gold and precious stones; and his ships, laden with the riches of India, +sailed over every sea. When he appeared in his capital city, Ispahan, he +was surrounded by a life guard of a thousand men dressed in silver armor +which glistened in the sun; and fifty thousand knights on most beautiful +horses, with golden saddles and harnesses glittering with jewels, stood +ready to speed away and conquer the world at his bidding.</p> + +<p>But the mighty Shah Nadir was old and had no longer any desire for war +and conquest. He had won many battles; many hostile cities had perished +in ashes before his wrath; and many, many a knight had been pierced +through by his sword in the days when his arm was young and none could +withstand him.</p> + +<p>But now he was old and weary, and liked best to recline on the luxurious +purple divans of his gorgeous palace. Occasionally, however, when +golden-edged clouds shielded the burning Persian sun, and a delightful +breeze blew down from Mt. Zagrosch, the old Shah would seat himself in +his richly ornamented palanquin borne by eight black slaves clad in +silver tissue, and allow himself to be carried out that he might review +his troops or watch the wild animals fighting in the arena.</p> + +<p>Shah Nadir had many sons, because he had also many wives, as is the +custom in eastern lands; but his sons brought him little joy. They were +thankless and full of selfish ambition, thinking that their father lived +too long, and plotting against his life and his throne. Therefore the +king drove them all away from his court to distant provinces which they +ruled over as viceroys. But he kept at home with himself his dear and +only daughter, the Princess Lindagull, because he loved her more than +all else on earth,—yes, more than all his treasures and all his riches.</p> + +<p>Now it is well known that such a name as "Lindagull" had never before +been heard in Persia, nor could it indeed be rightly pronounced by the +Persians. The mother of the princess had come from the far North, no one +knew exactly whence. She had been captured in her youth by African +pirates, and after many adventures had been sold to the king of Persia, +who, on account of her extreme beauty, took her in wedlock and loved her +more than all his other wives.</p> + +<p>This beautiful sultana, who was now dead, had called her only daughter +"Lindagull," signifying that the princess was as lovely and pure as the +gold of the sun, shimmering through the lindens of the North.</p> + +<p>And it is true that a more beautiful or purer being could not be found +if you searched the wide world over than the Princess Lindagull. She had +the royal bearing of her father; but in form and disposition she was +like her mother. With a complexion as dazzling as Scandinavian snow and +eyes as soft as August stars on a moonless night, she had also a heart +noble, tender and good; and so there was no one in Shah Nadir's whole +kingdom who did not love the Princess Lindagull; for the fame of her +beauty and goodness had spread through all Persia. This the old king +knew full well, and his proud heart melted like wax every time he looked +upon his lovely child. She was the delight of his eyes;—his comfort by +day, his dream by night. One word of hers could quell his highest rage. +He could not refuse her any request, even to the freedom of a slave.</p> + +<p>When Shah Nadir thought upon his sons with their evil hearts, and of the +trouble which they had made in the kingdom, he decided that none of them +was fit for succession to his throne; and he made up his mind to choose +for his daughter some good and noble man as a husband, and to leave to +her and her descendants the inheritance of his riches and his kingdom.</p> + +<p>The fatherly affection of Shah Nadir for the Princess Lindagull was +right and beautiful; but he fell into the great error of allowing it to +displace other loves and to lead him away from his duties to his +subjects. So a heavy punishment came upon him.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>No one could live in a more magnificent and delightful manner than did +the Princess Lindagull. In a cool grove, under the shadow of high +palm-trees, amid the music of rippling fountains and surrounded by the +fragrance of a thousand flowers, stood the princess's lovely castle. In +its lofty apartments the sunbeams broke through windows of limpid +rock-crystal. The princess rested on the most elegant couch at night; +and when morning came she was led by her attendant ladies to bathe in a +grand basin of mother-of-pearl into which a fountain poured forth its +waters and made a deep pool, the water playfully rippling around her +delicate figure as she bathed.</p> + +<p>In the daytime she wrought exquisite embroideries with her maidens, or +listened to the songs of the birds or the music of the zither, or +wandered in the grove, playing like a child with the yellow butterflies +and dark red roses.</p> + +<p>The Princess Lindagull was not more than twelve years old; but in the +Eastern countries twelve years makes one appear as old as sixteen in +Northern countries.</p> + +<p>It is not a good thing to live constantly in luxury, and to see one's +wishes fulfilled "at the least wink" as were those of Princess +Lindagull. Many persons become proud and wilful under these +circumstances; but this little princess did not. She merely became +low-spirited. She did not know why it was, but the playing of the +butterflies, the fragrance of the flowers, the rippling of the waters, +and the zither's sweet sounds pleased her no more. She realized that her +heart was often empty, and noticed with surprise that she often had a +desire to weep. She could not understand it at all, and still less could +her ladies. She did not know, this little Lindagull, that as a dark +frame enhances many a picture, so trial and sorrow give one's happy days +an added luster. With pleasures and naught but pleasures in her life, +happiness was slipping from her. She must experience sorrow before she +could know true joy.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the princess believed that she had discovered the reason +of her longings. It must be because she had always lived in the +seclusion of her palace. She determined to go out, at least for once, +into the rush and whirl of human life; and so, when her father next came +to visit her, she asked that she might be allowed to see the great +exhibition of wild beasts soon to be held at Ispahan in honor of the +king's sixtieth birthday. Since Shah Nadir could refuse her nothing, he +granted her request; realizing, however, that it was the first time he +had ever done so with absolute unwillingness.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Such a conqueror as Shah Nadir, to whom half Asia paid tribute, could +not fail to have many enemies. This, however, troubled him but little, +because he had long held them in complete subjection.</p> + +<p>One of these enemies had fallen under the personal dislike of the king; +and in addition to the usual ceremonies of submission Shah Nadir had +required the captive foe to suffer + one of the greatest indignities of the East,—that is, the +shaving of his beard. Having thus contributed to the king's vindictive +amusement, the captive was set free.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col04" id="col04"></a> +<img src="images/col04.jpg" width="640" height="914" alt="SINCE SHAH NADIR +COULD REFUSE HER NOTHING, HE GRANTED HER REQUEST." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SINCE SHAH NADIR +COULD REFUSE HER NOTHING, HE GRANTED HER REQUEST.</span> + +</div> + +<p>This man was king of the giants in Turan (that vast, wild region of rock +and desert north of Persia) and his name was Bom Bali. Once, when +warring in the far, far North, Bom Bali had captured a wizard named +Hirmu who could change himself into any animal whatever, and afterward +resume his own natural shape.</p> + +<p>Now when Bom Bali learned through his spies that a grand exhibition of +wild beasts was to be held in Ispahan, he summoned Hirmu into his +presence and said to him:</p> + +<p>"Dog, dost thou wish to live?"</p> + +<p>Hirmu answered, "My lord, may thy beard never grow less! Thou knowest +that thy dog desires greatly to live."</p> + +<p>Bom Bali said, "The first day of the month Moharrem there is to be an +exhibition of wild beasts in Ispahan. Shah Nadir has sent his hunters +into every mountain, even to mountains in our kingdom, to ensnare +fierce creatures for the contests. Take upon thyself the form of a +tiger. Be thou captured by the hunters. Steal and bring back to me the +Princess Lindagull who is the pride of Shah Nadir and of all Asia."</p> + +<p>"Thy hound shall fulfil all thy commands," said the Lappish wizard.</p> + +<p>Soon after this conversation, the Persian hunters came to Turan, +captured alive all the wild beasts they could from its mountains and +deserts, and carried them in strong cages back to Ispahan.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Pronounced Lin'dah-gōōl.</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">The Arena</span></h4> + + +<p>The first day of the month Moharrem had now arrived and the arrangements +had all been completed in the capital city. Many of the most dangerous +and terrible wild animals from India, Arabia, Turan, and even from the +Desert of Sahara, were held in readiness in the side rooms or stalls of +the immense semi-circular arena which had been especially built for +this occasion. More than sixty thousand spectators were seated on the +numerous tiers of seats stretching all around the arena. For the safety +of these a strong iron railing had been erected between the benches and +the fighting-ground.</p> + +<p>Early in the morning the whole town was in excitement. Princess +Lindagull was as happy as a child. She was going to be allowed to fly as +a bird out of its cage! She was going to see a play wherein the actors +were real lions, real tigers;—not like those represented by men dressed +in skins which they took off after they had finished the play.</p> + +<p>The spectators were assembled and all things awaited the arrival of the +king. At last he came, followed by his shining guard; and not he alone, +but with him his daughter, the wondrously beautiful Princess Lindagull. +According to the custom in Eastern lands she was veiled. The people +could only admire her charming manners and royal carriage as she, +followed by her attendants, rode in upon a little zebra which caprioled +with pride at bearing such a burden.</p> + +<p>Although no one could see her countenance every one knew by hearsay the +loveliness of the young princess. All knew, too, that she by her +intercession had saved the life of many an unhappy captive, and that she +each day sent out her maidens with medicine and bread for the poor in +Ispahan. Therefore, when she now for the first time showed herself +before the populace, there broke forth such a shout of joy from +thousands of voices that its like had not been heard since the day when +Shah Nadir celebrated his Day of Triumph after his grand conquest, with +twenty captive kings in his train.</p> + +<p>It is probable that the princess blushed; but no one saw it. She seated +herself beside her father on the richly embroidered purple robe which +was spread over the royal bench. And then began the exercises of the +day.</p> + +<p>A strange strife between a wildcat and a pelican came first. One of the +pelican's wings had been clipped so that it could not fly away, and +though it fought fiercely, thrusting its beak into the cat's side, the +wildcat scratched and bit the big bird so savagely that the end soon +came and the cat was declared the winner in the fight. Almost every one +thought this contest very entertaining, but the Princess Lindagull did +not like it at all.</p> + +<p>After this, two monstrous crocodiles were brought forth in long tanks of +water, and a dead pig was thrown out in front of them. The crocodiles +had not had meat for a whole month and were very hungry. Nevertheless, +so sleepy were they that they continued to lie still in the tanks, +warming themselves in the sun. Then a boy sprang boldly forward and +tickled one of the crocodiles on the nose with a switch. The crocodile +thrust up his ugly mouth and began to clamber clumsily out of the tank +to devour the boy. But the boy saved himself by jumping hastily aside, +the crocodile not being able to turn quickly enough to catch him. When +the boy had thoroughly roused this crocodile he awoke the one in the +other tank; and then, swift as a gazelle, escaped through a little gate +in the fence. Soon the crocodiles caught sight of the dead pig and both +started forward to seize it. Falling into a rage at the idea of sharing +it, they fell upon each other in a frightful contest. Each tried to +force his sharp teeth through the scaly skin of the other, but without +success. At last, however, one fell on its back, and the conqueror +mounted its breast and got the pig.</p> + +<p>Next followed a strife between six large Arabian dogs and an equal +number of jackals from the deserts of Turan. These two animals both +belong to the wolf family and though the jackal is a cowardly creature, +he is formidable when once engaged in a fray. This conflict was fierce +indeed. Five dogs lay prone upon the ground and only one jackal had +fallen when a whistling was heard from the bench where sat the brave +young Arab prince Abderraman. He whistled to incite his favorite hound, +Valledivau, to further effort. The dog heard his master's voice and +tackled again. The jackals fell, one after another, before his prowess, +and soon Valledivau was greeted with a loud cheer as conqueror.</p> + +<p>Then came a fight between hyenas and wolves; another between an Indian +elephant and a tiger; and then a leopard and a panther were led to +opposite sides of the arena. A piece of fresh meat was thrown down +before them, and immediately both rushed toward it and fought for its +possession. But the panther, which was stronger and more agile, came off +victor, having covered his adversary with deadly wounds.</p> + +<p>This contest being finished, a royal tiger of unusual strength and +beauty was brought forth. He was called Ahriman, after the Prince of +Darkness. The tiger's adversary was an immense lion, called Ormuz, after +the Prince of Light. A living lamb was cast down before the two, but +this was more than Lindagull could endure. She gave a sign and the +trembling little creature was snatched away; and in its stead one of the +dead dogs was cast before the wild animals.</p> + +<p>The lion was hungry and immediately rushed upon the prey. The tiger, +jealous by nature, also darted forward furiously, eager to deprive the +lion and to get the prey for himself.</p> + +<p>This was the most terrible contest of all. The air echoed the dreadful +roaring of the angry beasts, the sand was thrown up by their paws and +colored red with their blood.</p> + +<p>They fell over each other, they separated, they rushed against each +other again. All the spectators trembled, entranced. Long was the strife +undecided, but the tiger Ahriman finally succumbed and Ormuz was led +from the arena in triumph.</p> + +<p>And now the performances were about to close with a grand strife <i>en +masse</i>, every wild animal taking part. But the heat of the sun being +intense, there was a cessation in the sports, so that the spectators +might refresh themselves with cooling drinks. Many then went down upon +the arena to look at the dead animals which had been left there.</p> + +<p>Even the Princess Lindagull became curious to view the animals at a +nearer point. She, who until now had seen only blossoms and singing +birds, had no idea of the aspect of these dead creatures. So down she +went, followed by her ladies and the guard, into the arena; and slaves +spread gold-embroidered mats before her feet, so that her dainty sandals +should not be soiled by the blood-stained sands.</p> + +<p>What could she fear? All the living animals were shut up in safe cages. +The most dangerous of all, the great tiger Ahriman, lay dead upon the +arena. The princess went toward him, admiring his beauty and marveling +at his splendid striped skin which she determined to ask her father for, +that she might use it as a rug in the marble castle.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the tiger rose up, gave a leap, sprang upon the princess, +seized her in his terrible jaws, and rushed away! Shrieks of horror flew +from tier to tier among the spectators, but no one had the courage to +try to snatch his booty from the tiger.</p> + +<p>No one? Ah, one there was! The valiant Prince Abderraman dashed with the +speed of the wind into the tiger's path, grasped the monster's gory +breast and struggled with him for his precious booty.</p> + +<p>Alas, unhappy prince! His right arm was in an instant bitten almost off +by the tiger, and he was thrown bleeding and helpless upon the sand; and +before any one could come to the aid of the vanquished hero, the tiger +had leaped over the high iron railing and escaped with the Princess +Lindagull in his mighty jaws!</p> + +<p>The anguish of poor old Shah Nadir was great; and great was the grief of +all Ispahan,—indeed, of all Persia. The king's guard and the fifty +thousand knights with gold saddles rode immediately away to seek the +princess. They searched through every bush and cleft in Turan where a +tiger's lair might be. Hundreds of tigers and other wild beasts fell +before their spears, but fruitlessly. After looking through all Turan +and half of Asia, the guard returned sorrowing. No trace of the Princess +or her strange captor was to be found.</p> + +<p>Shah Nadir tore his gray hair and cursed his sixtieth birthday. He had +lost what he held dearest on earth,—his Lindagull. He ordered his +people to array themselves in mourning as if a sultana had died. He also +commanded that prayers should be offered in all the mosques for the +Princess Lindagull's return. And the proclamation was made that whoever +restored his daughter to him, living, should receive the hand of the +princess and inherit the Persian crown; whoever brought her back dead +should receive as a reward sixty asses laden with gold and costly +treasure. The hope of so rich a reward led many princes and noblemen to +undertake the search for the lost daughter of the king. But sooner or +later all came back without having found her. All except one; and that +was Prince Abderraman. He had made a solemn vow to seek for the princess +fifteen years; to find and rescue her, or die.</p> + +<p>If the princess had been carried away by a real tiger, our tale would +have ended with that; because nothing is sacred to a royal tiger, not +even the noblest princess in the world. But this was not the case. The +wizard, Hirmu, had availed himself of the exhibition of wild beasts in +order that, transformed into a tiger, he might carry out his master's +commands for his own advantage. He had exchanged hearts with the tiger; +and so long as the heart was not destroyed or eaten up, Hirmu could not +be killed. But such a treasure as a princess he preferred to keep for +himself; so, instead of taking his captive to old King Bom Bali in +Turan, he carried her away, with flying leaps, to his own far-away home +in Lapland.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">The Captivity</span></h4> + + +<p>It was now autumn, and dark in Lapland.</p> + +<p>The Lapp woman, Pimpedora, sat and cooked porridge over a blazing fire +in the tent, while her son Pimpepanturi sat waiting for the porridge and +looking idly at his reindeer shoes. Pimpepanturi was a good-natured boy; +but he was stupid, and not a little lazy besides. His father, Hirmu, +had wished very much to bring him up as a wizard, but it was of no use. +Pimpepanturi thought more about eating and drinking than of learning +anything,—whether sorcery or what not.</p> + +<p>The Lapp woman turned toward the boy, and said, "Don't you hear +something?"</p> + +<p>"I hear the fire crackle and the porridge bubble in the pot," answered +Pimpepanturi with a long yawn.</p> + +<p>"Don't you hear something like a roar out in the autumn night?" asked +the Lapp woman again.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Pimpepanturi; "that is a wolf taking some of our reindeer."</p> + +<p>"No," said the Lapp woman; "that is Father coming back. He has now been +away four winters, but I hear him growling like a wild animal. He must +have hurried to have reached home so soon again!"</p> + +<p>At that moment Hirmu entered in the semblance of a tiger with the +Princess Lindagull hanging from his mouth. Placing her on a heap of moss +in the corner of the tent, he quickly regained his own body (replacing +his own heart in it now), at the same time calling out, "Mother, what +food have you? I have run a long way."</p> + +<p>The tiger fell dead upon the moss in the tent. The Lapp woman had nearly +fallen into the porridge-pot from fright; but she recognized her husband +and promised him a good supper, if he would tell her where he had been +these four winters, and what kind of a grand doll he had brought home +with him.</p> + +<p>"That is too long a story to tell," grumbled the husband. "Take care of +our grand doll and give her warm reindeer milk to restore her to life. +She is a fine young lady from Persia. She will bring us good fortune."</p> + +<p>Princess Lindagull was not dead,—not even wounded. She had only fainted +from fright. When she awoke she lay (in her rich clothing of pearls and +silver tissue) on a reindeer skin spread over moss, in the Lapp tent. It +was dark and cold. The firelight shone on the close walls of the tent +and on the Lapp +woman, who gave her reindeer milk to drink. Lindagull believed herself +to be in death's domain under the earth; and cried because she, so +young, should be snatched away from Persia's sun and Ispahan's lovely +rose gardens.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col05" id="col05"></a> +<img src="images/col05.jpg" width="640" height="899" alt="IN THE LAPP TENT." title="" /> +<span class="caption">IN THE LAPP TENT.</span> +</div> + + +<p>The wizard, in the meantime, hit upon a happy plan for winning Persian +treasure, and said to Lindagull:</p> + +<p>"Weep not, beautiful princess. Thou art not dead. Thou hast only been +stolen away by a horrid tiger and my son, the brave Knight Morus +Pandorus von Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu, has saved thee at the greatest risk +of his own precious life. We will be thy slaves and serve thee with the +utmost zeal until it becomes possible to conduct thee back to Persia."</p> + +<p>"What lie is that, old man?" said the honest Lapp woman in her own +language to the wizard.</p> + +<p>The wizard continued: "My wife says that if thou wilt take our son, the +surpassingly beautiful and brave knight, Morus Pandorus von +Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu, for thy bridegroom, we will immediately conduct +thee back to Persia."</p> + +<p>Pimpepanturi did not understand Persian; so he made great eyes when his +father pushed him forward toward the princess and pressed his stiff back +down with both hands that it might appear as if Pimpepanturi were +bowing.</p> + +<p>Lindagull would not have been a princess and the daughter of proud Shah +Nadir if she had not felt herself insulted by such an indignity. She +gazed scornfully at the wizard, and at his clumsy lout of a son,—with +<i>such</i> eyes! Nay! it was not a gaze; for her eyes flashed lightning! +(And Persian eyes <i>can</i> flash lightning!) Father and son both flushed +dark red.</p> + +<p>"No, that won't do," said the wizard. "She must first be tamed."</p> + +<p>Then the wizard made a partition in the tent, three yards long and two +yards wide. There he imprisoned Lindagull, and gave her half a reindeer +cheese and a dipper of melted snow-water every day for food.</p> + +<p>Thus day and night passed by in darkness, for winter came quickly; and +the Northern Lights shone in through the cracks of the tent.</p> + +<p>Poor, innocent little Lindagull! Her eyes had flashed lightning once; +but as in thunder-storms it is not long between lightning gleams and +showers of rain, so the tears of Princess Lindagull soon began to fall. +Yes, she cried as one only can cry when one is twelve years old and has +been a princess in Persia and lived in rose-gardens and marble castles, +guarded by the friendliest attendants, and then suddenly finds herself +hungry and freezing, alone, in a dark Lapland winter. Yes, she wept as +one weeps over lost youth, health and beauty;—over a lost life; as the +dew weeps over a beautiful extinguished day in Ispahan's pleasure +garden.</p> + +<p>When she had done weeping she slept. But lo! while she slept, there +stood by her side the friendly old fellow whom the Finns call Nukku +Matti, whom the Swedes call Jon Blund, and whom the Danes and Norwegians +call Ole Luköje,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a>—(I don't know what they call him in Persia;) and +he took her in his arms, bore her to Feather Islands and laid her on a +bed of fragrant roses in a lovely grotto. There all was peaceful and +good. The soft moon shone over date-palms and myrtle forests, just as in +Persia's fairest springtime. Small airy Dreams danced forth to her with +silken shoes over velvet rugs, and led her back to her home; to her +father the old Shah Nadir, to her friendly attendants and to all the +places dear to her from birth. And so passed the long winter nights.</p> + +<p>And so passed weeks and months in the Kingdom of Dreams; because it was +now night altogether. But Lindagull was patient and wept no more. The +Dreams had said to her, "Wait; thy deliverer will come——"</p> + +<p>Who would deliver her? Who should discover a path where no path lay, far +away in the snow?</p> + +<p>The Lapp woman would willingly have set her free, but dared not on +account of her husband. And Pimpepanturi also had thoughts of it, but +was too lazy.</p> + +<p>At length the winter was ended. The sun dared to shine, the snow melted +and the gnats danced about. Then the wizard thought, "Now she is tamed!" +Whereupon he went to Lindagull and asked if she wished to travel back to +Persia. If so, she need only to accept the grandly courageous and highly +admired knight, Morus Pandorus von Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu for her +bridegroom, and the reindeer would immediately stand harnessed at the +door ready to travel southward.</p> + +<p>Lindagull did not shoot glances of lightning this time. But she thought +of the young Prince Abderraman who had once bled for her on Ispahan's +sand; and remembering his face she could not possibly accept +Pimpepanturi. She answered nothing.</p> + +<p>At this the wizard became very angry. He shut the Princess Lindagull in +a deep, dark grotto on a mountainside, and said to her (dropping the +grandiloquent style he had heretofore used): "Soon the cloudberries will +be ripe. You shall keep account of the days as they pass, in this way. +The first day you shall have thirty cloudberries to eat and thirty +dewdrops to drink; the next day twenty-nine cloudberries to eat and +twenty-nine dewdrops to drink; and so on, for each day one berry and one +drop less. On the last day you shall tell me what you have decided."</p> + +<p>So Lindagull stayed there confined in the grotto. The time of year had +now come when barren Lapland shone with light both day and night; but +the grotto was dark. The cloudberries and dewdrops steadily lessened in +number, but Lindagull's cheeks became no paler and her quiet patience +continued the same as before. What she had to forego by day Nukku Matti +and the Dreams made up to her every night. They lifted off the rocky +roof by their magic power so that she could see the glowing midnight sun +and hear the roar of the waterfall as it hurled itself over the edge of +the rock. Drippings from this waterfall fell into the grotto in the form +of a delicious honey-dew, which served the starving one as refreshing +meat and drink.</p> + +<p>The thoughts of Princess Lindagull dwelt often upon Prince Abderraman. +She sang ballads of the Eastern lands, and it pleased her to hear a +hundred clear-voiced echoes answer back from the mountain walls. On the +thirtieth day, the wizard brought her the last berry and the last +dewdrop laid upon a leaf of Lapland dwarf-birch.</p> + +<p>"Well now," he asked, "have you decided?"</p> + +<p>Lindagull covered her fair face and answered nothing.</p> + +<p>"There is still one day's time for thought," said the wizard, "and you +shall have some company to help hasten your decision." As he said this +he opened the door of the grotto, and immediately something like a great +cloud streamed in. It was a swarm of Lapland's starved-out gnats. There +were thousands and thousands and thousands of them, and they filled the +grotto like a thick cloud of smoke.</p> + +<p>"I wish you much joy in your new acquaintances!" said the ugly wizard, +shutting the door quickly as he went out.</p> + +<p>Lindagull did not understand his meaning. She did not know the sting of +the Lapland gnat. She had never been annoyed by the Persian firefly +even, for a slave had always stood at her side night and day with a long +waving peacock feather to protect her from all hurtful insects. The +knowledge of such suffering as the horde of stinging gnats would have +inflicted was kept from her now by the kindly Dreams; who, the instant +the door was shut, threw around her a close-woven veil of finest +texture, from the loom of the fairies. Through this veil the gnats could +not make their way. Not a drop of royal blood did they taste, day or +night. They bit with all their little power at the hard granite rocks; +but finding these too juiceless, the disappointed insects settled +themselves like a gray web about all the cracks and corners of the +grotto.</p> + +<p>At midnight the door of the grotto was noiselessly opened and in walked +the Lapp woman, Pimpedora, with a jar in her hand, followed by +Pimpepanturi carrying a burning torch and some smoked reindeer meat.</p> + +<p>"Poor child," said the good-hearted Lapp woman, "it is a sin to keep you +here; but I dare not let you out, for if I did my husband would change +me to a mountain rat. See, I have brought you some pitch-oil in my jar. +Spread it all over your body; that will keep you from being stung to +death by the gnats."</p> + +<p>"And see here, I have brought you a smoked shoulder of reindeer so that +you shall not starve to death," said Pimpepanturi, good-naturedly. "It +is somewhat nibbled, because I grew so very hungry on the way; but there +is still a little meat on the bone. And I stole the key of the grotto +while Father slept, but I dare not let you out, for if I did Father +would change me into a wolverine. But you need not trouble yourself +about taking me for your husband. I'll wager that you cannot even cook a +black pudding properly."</p> + +<p>"No, I know I cannot, truly," answered Princess Lindagull, and she +thanked them both for their good-will, but explained to them that she +was neither hungry nor gnat-stung.</p> + +<p>"Well! Keep the pitch-oil for safety's sake," said the Lapp woman.</p> + +<p>"Yes, keep the shoulder of reindeer, too," said Pimpepanturi.</p> + +<p>"A thousand thanks," replied Lindagull.</p> + +<p>Then the door was closed and she was again alone.</p> + +<p>The next morning the wizard came, expecting that now he should surely +find his captive half stung to death by gnats and completely subdued. +But when he saw Lindagull as blooming as before, and saw her again look +thoughtfully into his face without speaking, his wrath knew no bounds.</p> + +<p>"Come out!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>Lindagull stepped forth in the clear day, as delicate and bright as a +fairy in moonlight. When she threw back her veil to look about, the sun +shone before her, warm and radiant as on a spring morning in the blue +mountains of Afghanistan.</p> + +<p>Then said the wizard: "I have a great mind to take you to old King Bom +Bali in Turan. He would load six asses with gold to + +get hold of you for +a single day! But no; I will not give up yet. Listen +to what I have decided upon. You shall be turned into a heather blossom +on a Lappish moor and live only as long as a heather blossom lives, +unless you will yield to my wishes. Notice the sun: it now stands low in +the sky. In two weeks and a day comes the first polar frost. Then the +heather blossoms die. Just before the frost comes, I shall question you +for the last time."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col06" id="col06"></a> +<img src="images/col06.jpg" width="640" height="894" alt="LINDAGULL STEPPED FORTH IN THE CLEAR DAY." title="" /> +<span class="caption">LINDAGULL STEPPED FORTH IN THE CLEAR DAY.</span> +</div> + +<p>Glaring at her, he waited, as if expecting the desired answer at once; +but as Lindagull again only gazed thoughtfully up at him in silence, the +wizard cried out in a voice trembling with anger:</p> + +<p> +"<i>Adáma donai Marrabataësan!</i>"<br /> +</p> + +<p>which meant, "Human life! sink into the likeness of a flower!"</p> + +<p>The wizard had learned these magic words one autumn evening from the +South Wind when it came from the African desert and laid itself to rest +on a Lapland mountain. The wind understands all languages, for all +words are spoken in its hearing.</p> + +<p>As the magician uttered this frightful command, it seemed to Lindagull +as if all the flower-stalks on the heath grew to trees and overshadowed +her; but it was she herself who sank down to the earth. The next moment +a stranger's eye could no longer distinguish her from the thousands and +thousands of pale purple-pink heather blossoms on the Lappish waste. "In +one day and two weeks!" mumbled the wizard, casting a malignant glance +behind him as he turned back to his tent.</p> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Ole Shut-Eye. (The Sandman.)</p></div> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h3> + +<h4><span class="smcap">The Release</span></h4> + + +<p>While all this was taking place, Prince Abderraman was riding the wide +world over, with his sword at his side and his staff in his hand. There +was not a mountain in Asia, not a desert in Africa, nor a field, town or +city in Southern or Middle Europe which he had not traversed in vain. +But what had he to hope for in Europe? No tigers are found there except +the tame ones exhibited in the city menageries; and among <i>them</i> there +was no <i>Ahriman</i>! Sorrow drew the prince back on the way to Persia, and +his trusty dog, Valledivau, accompanied him.</p> + +<p>One day the dog hunted a wild duck among the reeds of a lake, captured +it and carried it alive to his master. Just as the prince was about to +kill it, the duck quacked out:</p> + +<p>"Spare my life, and I will tell you something!"</p> + +<p>"I <i>will</i> spare your life, wonderful bird," the prince exclaimed, +astonished. "What have you to tell me?"</p> + +<p>"Ride to Lapland!" quacked the duck, at the same time escaping into the +water.</p> + +<p>Lapland! The prince had never even heard of such a kingdom. When he +inquired about it and how he should find it, people answered:</p> + +<p>"Ride northward, steadily northward; and stop not until the road ends, +the forest ends, and you no more find a human dwelling with builded +hearth."</p> + +<p>"Wonderful!" thought the prince, and he followed the advice. He rode +northward, steadily northward; stopping not until the road came to an +end, the forest came to an end, and no human dwelling was to be seen but +one lone movable tent.</p> + +<p>It was on the last day of August, after he had ridden many long and +weary miles without seeing a single trace of man, that the prince +suddenly discovered, at the foot of a high mountain, this lone tent of +reindeer skin. The last day of August! The sun still shone and the +heather still blossomed, but the sky had changed and a cool north wind +blew. When the wind ceased, then would come the frost!</p> + +<p>The prince drew nearer to the tent that he might once more repeat his +fruitless query for the lost princess, when to his indescribable +astonishment he perceived in the distance an inscription on a rock on +the mountainside. The characters were very legible. He read the name of</p> + +<p> +<span class="smcap">Lindagull</span>!<br /> +</p> + +<p>The wizard had carved the name there, over the door of the mountain +grotto, so that he could find the place again when he moved his tent +away.</p> + +<p>The prince had dismounted, and was just about to draw his sword and +enter the tent when Hirmu came out on his way to the heath.</p> + +<p>"Give me back the Princess Lindagull or I will send you to the Kingdom +of the Prince of Darkness!" shouted Abderraman.</p> + +<p>The wizard was a crafty fellow who knew many a trick by which to save +himself when in a dilemma. But he lost his presence of mind at this +unexpected encounter and could think of no better way out of the +difficulty than to change himself instantly into a mountain fox. With a +hasty spring he fled swiftly away into the mountain. He thought thus to +be safe from the prince's sword, but he forgot the dog by whom the +prince was followed!</p> + +<p>No sooner had Valledivau seen the fox spring away than he was off on the +hunt after it. The fox hid in every cleft and jumped over the mountain +ravines; but Valledivau, even more agile, chased him to the highest +mountain top, tore him in pieces, and ate up his heart.</p> + +<p>This proved the death of Hirmu the wizard; for his heart had entered the +fox just as it had before gone into the tiger; and when the heart was +eaten up, that was the end of the wizard.</p> + +<p>When the dog returned with his nose covered with blood, his master +understood that now their common enemy had met his destruction. But +where was Lindagull to be found?</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The prince went to the door of the tent. The Lapp woman, Pimpedora, was +cooking reindeer meat; and her boy, Pimpepanturi, stretched lazily on +the soft moss, was sleeping instead of doing something useful while he +was waiting for dinner.</p> + +<p>"Woman," said the prince, "your husband is dead. Give me back the +Princess Lindagull, and no harm shall come to you."</p> + +<p>"O mercy! And is he dead?" exclaimed the Lapp woman, coming out of the +tent, but not appearing very much distressed. "Ah, well! It's time there +should come an end to his evil arts. As for Lindagull, we must seek her +out there among the heather blossoms. My husband has changed her into a +heather blossom, exactly like many thousands of others; and to-night the +frost will come and then all will be over with her!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! dearest little Lindagull! Must you die to-night and I not be able +to discover the stalk on which you wither?" cried the prince, throwing +himself down among the heather on the boundless moor, where a thousand +times a thousand pale, purple-pink blossoms, exactly like each other, +awaited death.</p> + +<p>"Hold!" said the Lapp woman. "Despair not! Now occurs to me the saying +with which Lindagull was enchanted! I thought he planned a wrong against +the child, and crept back of a big stone to see what my husband was +going to do. Then I heard him say:</p> + +<p> +"<i>Adáma donai Marrabataësan!</i>"<br /> +</p> + +<p>"Ah!" sighed the prince, "how can that help us when we do not know the +words which loosen the enchantment?"</p> + +<p>Pimpepanturi, waking and thinking that the dinner had been long enough +deferred, walked out of the tent to look for his mother. When he heard +the prince's words, he scratched his forehead thoughtfully a few times +and said, "Father used to change the saying around when he wanted to +disenchant any one."</p> + +<p>"Yes, so he did!" said the Lapp woman.</p> + +<p>Prince Abderraman, with terrified eagerness, gave a great leap, landed +on a rock, and shouted as loudly as he could over the limitless heath:</p> + +<p> +"<i>Marrabataësan donai Adáma!</i>"<br /> +</p> + +<p>The words rang out through the air without effect. No blossom arose. The +sun was sinking rapidly toward the horizon and the wind was growing +still.</p> + +<p>The prince, fearing he should not give the right turn to the magic +command, repeated it time after time saying the words in different order +and with different expression. But in vain.</p> + +<p>At last, at a certain way of saying the words, it seemed to him that a +bit of heather on a distant mound had lifted itself up to listen, but +sunk immediately back, undistinguishable among the multitudinous +blossoms.</p> + +<p>"The sun is going down," said the Lapp woman. "If we do not quickly find +the right manner of saying the words, the frost will come, and then it +will be too late."</p> + +<p>By this time the sun's red beams had sunk quite down to the horizon. All +nature was silent. A cool and damp evening mist, the forerunner of the +frost, spread itself like a veil over moor and mound. All living things +which had ventured to bloom for a short time in Lapland were now doomed +to death.</p> + +<p>Prince Abderraman was pallid with terror. His voice choked, and he could +scarcely articulate the one untried arrangement of the magical words:</p> + +<p> +"<i>Marraba donai Adáma taësan.</i>"<br /> +</p> + +<p>Behold! On the distant hillock, a heather blossom raised itself on its +stalk. It grew as rapidly as does the lily which the Afghanistan fairies +cause to spring forth in the red dawn, when they tap on the blue +mountains with their magic wands.</p> + +<p>The mist lay all around the mound. Out of the mist arose a slender +figure, and as the prince approached the mound, running breathlessly, +Lindagull came toward him pale with the escape of death. Prince +Abderraman had found the right order for the words just in time to save +her life.</p> + +<p>The Princess Lindagull was borne to the tent in the arms of Abderraman, +and her strength soon returned under the Lappish woman's kind care. +Pimpedora was happy; and Pimpepanturi in his gladness forgot his +longed-for dinner, which was sadly burnt in the pot.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col07" id="col07"></a> +<img src="images/col07.jpg" width="640" height="921" alt="OUT OF THE MIST AROSE A SLENDER FIGURE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">OUT OF THE MIST AROSE A SLENDER FIGURE.</span> +</div> + +<p>The hero-prince, picturing to himself the perils of the princess and the +wonder of her recovery, swooned with rapture. His first words as he +recovered were a prayer to Allah; and then he asked Lindagull:</p> + +<p>"How did it feel to be changed into a heather blossom?"</p> + +<p>"Just as if one sank back into the cradle of childhood and knew no more +of the world than to eat, drink, and be happy in God's love," answered +Lindagull.</p> + +<p>"And how did it feel when you came back to life again?"</p> + +<p>"Just as when one awakes on a clear morning after a deep and pleasant +slumber."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow shall we go back to Persia?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Lindagull. "But the good woman and her son have had a +share in saving the poor captive Lindagull. We will take them with us +and they shall have a palace in Ispahan."</p> + +<p>"No; many, many thanks," answered Pimpedora; "I like my reindeer tent in +Lapland better."</p> + +<p>"Are there snow and reindeer in Persia?" asked Pimpepanturi.</p> + +<p>"Snow is found only on the highest mountains," said the princess; "and +instead of reindeer we have horses, antelopes, and gazelles."</p> + +<p>"No, thank you heartily, then," said Pimpepanturi. "You can go with +pleasure, and marry whom you wish. Nowhere in the world is there to be +found so good a land as Lapland!"</p> + +<p>It was of no use trying to dispute that question with the Laplanders, so +the prince and princess set out the following day without them. Before +departing they presented the Lapp woman and her son with their +gold-embroidered clothes and with many jewels; receiving in return gifts +of Lappish garments made from reindeer skin.</p> + +<p>The Lapp woman put the costly Persian robes carefully away in birch +bark, and rejoiced because with them she could buy a whole field of +grain.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Shah Nadir sat alone in Ispahan's golden palace and groaned with grief. +He could not forget his lost daughter. His wicked and ungrateful sons +had raised a rebellion against him, and were marching with a large army +toward the capital to cast their father from the throne.</p> + +<p>While affairs were at this juncture the Grand Vizier announced that a +young foreign couple, dressed in reindeer skin and followed by a dog, +wished to prostrate themselves at the king's feet.</p> + +<p>Shah Nadir never refused audience to a stranger,—(perhaps such a +traveler would know something of his dear lost child!)—and so the two +foreigners were led into his presence.</p> + +<p>The young man cast himself down before the feet of the Shah; but the +young woman, without ado, threw her arms around his neck; at which +proceeding the Grand Vizier's beard became green with consternation!</p> + +<p>But Shah Nadir, under her Lappish hood of reindeer skin, recognized his +child so long sought and so hopelessly bewailed. "Allah! Allah!" cried +he in joy; "now I am willing to die!"</p> + +<p>"No, my lord king," broke out Prince Abderraman. "Now shall you live to +rejoice with us, and to win back your kingdom again."</p> + +<p>When Shah Nadir learned about his daughter's captivity and of the loyal +service which the prince had shown her, he immediately proclaimed Prince +Abderraman successor to his throne, promised him the Princess Lindagull +in marriage, and sent him in command of the fifty thousand knights with +gold saddles to fight the rebellious army.</p> + +<p>It was not long before the prince won a glorious battle, took the rebel +sons prisoners, and came back victorious to the rejoicing people of +Ispahan.</p> + +<p>Then was the wedding of Prince Abderraman and Princess Lindagull +celebrated with great state (but without a wild beast fight!) and they +lived long and happily after. But one day every year,—and that was the +thirty-first of August, the date of Princess Lindagull's +deliverance,—the royal pair showed themselves (to the great wonderment +of magnificent Persia) in the Lapps' outlandish clothes of reindeer +skin, so that in their prosperity they should not forget the great +escape and blessing of the past.</p> + +<p>In his old age, Shah Nadir had happy little grandchildren to sit upon +his knee. The wicked sons ended their careers as swineherds for old King +Bom Bali in Turan. The dog, Valledivau, lived to be thirty years old and +died of the toothache (!); his skin was stuffed and kept in great honor. +But about Pimpedora, and Pimpepanturi who bore for a season the proud +name of Morus Pandorus von Pikkuluk´ulikuck´ulu, nothing has since been +heard in Persia. Probably they have never found a better land on the +earth's broad expanse than Lapland.</p> + +<p class="right" > +<i>—Z. Topelius.</i><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> +<img src="images/ch03.png" width="640" height="299" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>SIKKU AND THE TROLLS<a name="SIKKU" id="SIKKU"></a></h2> + +<p>In the time of Charles the Twelfth there lived, in North Finland, a poor +herd-boy called Sikku. His name should have been Sixtus, but the tongue +of the Finn is so unmanageable that some names baffle it, and in that +case he simply makes them over to suit himself,—to the form that he can +best pronounce; so for that reason, Sixtus became Sikku.</p> + +<p>Sikku was so poor that he had neither cap nor shirt nor shoes; but not +in the least did this trouble him. He was always gay and happy, and +while tending his cows at the foot of Sipuri Mountain, sang songs from +morning till evening or blew on his wooden horn, taking great delight in +hearing the mountain echoes mimic him.</p> + +<p>Sikku had an old jack-knife, which counted for riches to him; and +besides that he rejoiced in a comrade named Kettu, a long-nosed, +long-tailed yellow dog, faithful to Sikku, but with a testy temper +toward other folk.</p> + +<p>The two stood by each other in plenty and in need, through weal and +through woe. Kettu drove the cows together when they strayed, Kettu +watched them while Sikku took his midday nap, and Sikku shared with +Kettu the hard bread that was, for both, the usual breakfast and dinner. +With the bread, they always had a fine soup of clear spring water, and +almost every day a delicious dessert,—strawberries, raspberries, Arctic +blackberries, blueberries, red whortleberries, wild cherries, or berries +from the mountain-ash.</p> + +<p>Kettu scorned such things, but Sikku enjoyed them all in the course of +the summer, and thought he fared like a prince. When the weather was +very rainy and cold, however, he would begin, toward evening, to long +for the porridge pot. Oh, that nice warm porridge pot, that he could +scrape and scrape, eating all the porridge there was left anywhere in +it! Kettu got the porridge ladle to lick, and stole Miss Pussy's milk +from the broken earthen dish which stood on the floor near the +water-tub, though he seldom got the milk without a battle!</p> + +<p>The master of Anttilla Farm was stingy and grasping and his wife was +like him, but what mattered that to Sikku? He had his freedom, and the +only thing he was responsible for was that all the fifteen cows returned +to the farm every evening to be milked. Not another care in the world +had Sikku, and for a time all went well and happily.</p> + +<p>One day he climbed up the highest peak of the mountain while Kettu +watched the cows in the valley. There was a wide beautiful view over +forests, marshes, and small lonely lakes, but no houses were in sight. +Sikku had never in his life thought that the world could be so big! His +heart warmed within him as he saw the sun sparkle on the lakes between +the dark branches of the pines. When a cloud sailed over the sky, one +gleam after another flashed, vanished in shadow and shone out anew in +another spot. Sikku sang and sang, blowing his wooden horn between +times. The sounds rang out merrily up there on the mountain and turned +into a little song:</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Sipuri Mountain! Tu-tu! Falidu!<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Tu-tu! Falidu!</span><br /> +In all the whole world not a boy can be found<br /> +Who is tending his cows, with such grandeur around.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">Tu-tu! Falidu!"</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>While he was singing, there suddenly appeared before him a hideous +little old woman who said to him, "All the land that you see shall be +yours if you will be my boy and obey me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho!" exclaimed Sikku, observing the woman closely and recognizing +her as the troll woman from Allis Farm.</p> + +<p>"Give me the white cow, Kimmo," continued she, "and say when you go home +that the wolf caught her."</p> + +<p>Sikku's eyes grew big and he answered: "Indeed I will not. I am no such +rascal as that!"</p> + +<p>"Then blame yourself for what happens," said the troll woman; and with +that she hopped, crow fashion, down the mountain.</p> + +<p>Kettu began to howl from the valley. Sikku sprang down and found that +Kimmo had sunk in the wet marsh so that only her horn stood up above the +soft, yielding ground. He tried to drag her out, but he was not strong +enough, and when he had worked over her until he was worn out, he had to +give up and go home driving only fourteen cows, while the bell cow lowed +and Kettu howled.</p> + +<p>Poor Sikku told of the disaster and got a hard thrashing; and the next +morning was sent to his work without anything to eat, not even the dry +bread usually given to him for the noon meal.</p> + +<p>He sang no songs that day but sat hungry and sorrowful at the foot of +the mountain. By and by, the long-bearded old troll man from Allis came +to him and said:</p> + +<p>"Give me the black cow, Mustikka, and +say that the wolf tore her to pieces, +and I will give you +all the land you can see from Sipuri Peak."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col08" id="col08"></a> +<img src="images/col08.jpg" width="640" height="897" alt=""OH, HO!" +EXCLAIMED SIKKU, RECOGNIZING HER AS THE TROLL WOMAN." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"OH, HO!" +EXCLAIMED SIKKU, RECOGNIZING HER AS THE TROLL WOMAN.</span> +</div> + +<p>"Indeed I will not. I am no such rascal as that!" answered Sikku, +offended.</p> + +<p>"Blame yourself then for what happens," said the troll; and with that +off he went, turning somersaults all the way.</p> + +<p>Kettu began to bark. Sikku ran at once to the herd and found Mustikka +lying dead among the trees on a hillside. She had eaten some poisonous +plant and could not be restored to life. Sikku, distressed and crying, +made a birch-bark cone, in which he brought water from the spring and +dashed over her head; but it was of no use. He must go home with only +thirteen cows and report the misfortune. This time he was shut up in the +cellar without food for three days. The fourth day he was sent out with +the thirteen cows and the usual lunch-bag. Being very hungry he no +sooner reached the gate than he opened the bag, but found in it only a +gray stone!</p> + +<p>Sikku drove the cows toward the mountain, ate berries in the forest, +and sat down, full of grief, on a stump right in the midst of the herd, +so that no further ill might befall. Then there came to him the pretty +little troll maiden from Allis, who held out toward him a fresh wheaten +roll, patted his thin cheek, and said:</p> + +<p>"Give me the red cow, Mansikka, and tell them when you go home that a +bear tore her to pieces, and you shall have this nice fresh roll and all +the land you can see from the top of Sipuri besides."</p> + +<p>Sikku was so hungry that he could have swallowed a roll of moss! He +looked at the wheaten roll, he looked at the pretty little troll maiden +and had to bite his tongue to keep from instantly answering yes. But the +troll maiden laughed and that offended Sikku, and he answered:</p> + +<p>"Indeed I will not. I am no such rascal as that!"</p> + +<p>"Blame yourself then for what happens!" said the troll maiden; and with +that, fluttering like a magpie, away she went into the forest.</p> + +<p>Sikku, fearing a new misfortune, turned at once to Mansikka who had been +grazing right near him. She now lay stretched at full length upon the +grass with a snake hanging fast to her nose; and in a short time she was +dead from the poisonous bite. What did it matter that Sikku killed the +snake? Its bite had killed the cow, and home must he go with only twelve +cows, and tell of this new disaster.</p> + +<p>"Decide yourself what punishment you deserve!" said the angry farmer. +"Shall I roast you in the bath-house furnace or would you rather be +thrown into the deep well?"</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help it,—it wasn't my fault!" said Sikku, weeping bitterly. +"Three times they offered me all the land I could see from Sipuri Peak +if I would steal a cow for them and then lie to you; but that of course +I would not do."</p> + +<p>"They did, did they?" said the farmer. "Very well. That is my land that +you see from Sipuri Peak and I will promise it to you, if you, before +the next full moon, lead to my farm nine beautiful cows in the place of +Kimmo, Mustikka, and Mansikka, lying dead over there by the mountain. +But what shall I do with you now? You must have some kind of +punishment."</p> + +<p>"Bind him hand and foot, lay him on the highest peak of Sipuri Mountain, +and let him eat his fill of the view of the land you promise him," said +the farm mistress, who could not forgive Sikku for the loss of the three +cows.</p> + +<p>This suggestion pleased the farmer. Sikku was bound hand and foot, and +placed on the tip top of the mountain; and everybody was forbidden to +give him anything to eat or drink. The remaining twelve cows were driven +by another boy to graze in fields the other side of the farm, far away +from the mountain.</p> + +<p>There lay Sikku, bound hand and foot, and half dead from hunger. The +forest wafted fragrance, the lakes glittered in the sunshine, twilight +came, night came, the dew fell, the thrushes sang, the stars twinkled, +and the moon looked down upon the poor boy; and it seemed as if no one +in the whole world thought or cared about him.</p> + +<p>But high over mountain and forest, over the lakes, the dew, the thrushes +and even the stars and the moon, there is nevertheless One who sees all +the oppressed and miserable upon earth; and He saw even poor forsaken +Sikku and sent to him a faithful friend. Who was the faithful friend? +Who should it be but Kettu?</p> + +<p>Kettu could have porridge to eat at the farm; he could steal milk, as +was his custom, from the cat's broken dish by the water-tub; but though +he was hungry, Kettu chose rather to dash up the mountain in search of +Sikku, to lie at Sikku's bound feet, and lick his bound hands. Sikku was +so glad to have his dog with him that he once more felt happy and +content; and soon both fell asleep in the moonlight.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Now there was at this time,—in the reign of Charles the Twelfth,—a +great war going on in the southern part of the land. The people in +North Finland did not know much about this war, but lived in peace +behind their thick forests. Suddenly an enemy's fleet appeared on their +seacoast and bands of warriors were put ashore. They spread over the +land, fighting and plundering everywhere.</p> + +<p>On this very night, one of these fierce warrior bands had come to the +region near Sipuri. They attacked, burned and plundered Anttilla Farm, +took the master himself prisoner, and drove forth all his cattle as part +of their booty.</p> + +<p>Afterward the warriors separated into smaller groups, to continue their +plundering in other places. And certain Cossacks were left behind to +guard the prisoners and the stolen cattle, until it was convenient to +put them on board the ship.</p> + +<p>Early in the morning, Sikku awoke to find that Kettu was biting a man in +the leg. Two wild-looking, heavily-bearded men had climbed to the +mountain top to get a good view of the land and see whither they should +now betake themselves. Finding a young boy, tied and helpless, they +pitied him,—hostile though they were,—freed him, gave him bread from +their knapsacks and took him along with them.</p> + +<p>Reaching their horses, which had been left tied to trees at the foot of +the mountain, one of the men lifted Sikku to his horse's back, the other +drove Kettu away so that he should not follow them, and off they +galloped, not stopping until the riders neared the shore of a large +lake.</p> + +<p>Much booty and many prisoners had been brought here, but the Cossacks +were so eager to continue their raids that they left only six men to +guard what they had already taken, the others riding forth again +immediately.</p> + +<p>When night came on, the six Cossacks began to be afraid lest some of the +land's own people should attack them in the dark. Therefore, they got +into a small boat, taking Sikku with them, and rowed out to an island in +the lake, so that they might pass the night in safety. They left the +cattle to graze on the shore, while the prisoners and even the six +horses were still securely bound to the trees.</p> + +<p>Sikku lay among the Cossacks on the barren island. The night was dark, +the great waves dashed against the island's pebbly beach, and a strong +wind blew toward the mainland. Sikku was wakeful, and heard the +long-drawn, regular breathing of the weary Cossacks as they slept beside +him. Five of them lay there, but the sixth had stayed on guard in the +boat.</p> + +<p>Sikku raised himself slowly and listened. One of the Cossacks began +talking in his sleep and tossed his arms about, so Sikku lay down again; +but still he could not sleep.</p> + +<p>After a while he sat up once more, and since everything was quiet, he +stole out from among the sleeping Cossacks and went silently down to the +boat at the shore. Here the trusted guard was also asleep, and slept so +heavily that he knew nothing of Sikku's doings, although Sikku shoved +the boat gently out into the water, sat down in the stern and let the +wind drive the boat toward the mainland.</p> + +<p>Still the Cossack watchman slept as the boat sped quietly on. He had +ridden hard, many, many miles. Little wonder that he slept like a log!</p> + +<p>When Sikku felt the boat grate against the land, he climbed softly out, +took his old knife from his pocket, and cut the ropes that bound the +prisoners. The Cossack still slept. The released prisoners could +scarcely believe that they were free. They followed Sikku to the boat, +and bound their enemy with the same ropes by which a moment ago they +themselves had been bound.</p> + +<p>Now at last the Cossack was awake, but too late. He had been made his +captives' captive.</p> + +<p>"Kill him at once! And then let us row to the island and kill the others +while they sleep!" shouted one of the newly freed men.</p> + +<p>"No," said Sikku, who recognized his master's voice. "Let us rather take +their booty and hurry it and ourselves to safety."</p> + +<p>"They have burnt my house and barns, and stolen everything I had," said +the farmer savagely.</p> + +<p>"They freed me and gave me food," said Sikku, who seemed suddenly like a +grown man.</p> + +<p>Most of the men agreed with Sikku. The Cossacks were not killed, some of +the land's folk rode away on the enemy's horses, others drove herds of +cattle off to safe hiding-places in the forest, and each person carried +away as much as he could of the enemy's plunder. Sikku had chosen his +share and was well pleased with it.</p> + +<p>Several days after, the warrior bands returned from their raids and took +to their ships again.</p> + +<p>Then the folk came out from the depths of the forest and from the +mountain caves where they had sought refuge in the hour of danger, and +many came from their burnt farms. They gathered at the church to consult +together as to what was best to be done now. For one thing, they must +decide the fate of the six captive Cossacks,—the five on the island +having also been captured.</p> + +<p>"Kill them! Kill them!" shouted several.</p> + +<p>"No, give them to Sikku," said others. "He captured them."</p> + +<p>So the six Cossacks were given to Sikku who exacted the promise from +them that they would not fight against Finland any more. Then he let +them go, free and unharmed.</p> + +<p>The farmer of Anttilla and his wife had settled themselves in a tiny hut +on their estate which the enemy, in their headlong haste, had not +burned.</p> + +<p>"Alas!" said the wife, the first evening they sat in their new poor +home. "If we only had our beautiful cows now!"</p> + +<p>"If we only had!" said the farmer.</p> + +<p>At that moment they saw a little bareheaded, barefooted boy come from +the hillside grove toward the hut, driving before him, with the help of +a long-nosed, yellow dog, a herd of nine beautiful cows.</p> + +<p>"Isn't that Sikku? And Kettu?" exclaimed the farmer.</p> + +<p>"And are not those our cows?" cried the farm mistress.</p> + +<p>Yes, it was Sikku; and Kettu; and those were the Anttilla Farm cows that +the robbers had taken away with them. Three had been slain, but the nine +that were left, Sikku had asked for as his share of the booty.</p> + +<p>"Here I come, bringing you nine beautiful cows!" shouted Sikku. He would +fain have swung his cap for joy, only he had no cap.</p> + +<p>"Darling boy!" "Is it really you?" exclaimed the farmer and his wife at +the same time. Then they embraced Sikku, and patted the cows again and +again in their delight.</p> + +<p>Kettu had already disappeared in the hut to see whether Miss Pussy's +broken dish still stood by the water-tub. Miss Pussy hissed and spat at +him and so there was again war in the land.</p> + +<p>"Are you hungry, Sikku?" asked the mistress. Her conscience was very +uneasy.</p> + +<p>"No, I thank you," answered Sikku. "I was thinking of something else. It +is not yet full moon."</p> + +<p>At these words, the farmer fumbled with his big ears in embarrassment +and distress, remembering his rash promise. Here was Sikku with nine +cows, and true enough, the moon was not yet full. Well, Sikku had proved +himself a fine fellow;—a promise was a promise;—they needed the cows +sadly. One might as well make the best of the situation.</p> + +<p>"Listen now, Sikku," said he. "Let us be good friends. What could you do +with so much land while you are so little? Serve me faithfully for seven +years, and I will then keep my promise and give you all the land you can +see from Sipuri Mountain."</p> + +<p>"Done!" said Sikku.</p> + +<p>So Sikku served faithfully for seven years at Anttilla Farm, grew tall +and strong, got shirts and caps and shoes, married the farmer's +daughter, the kind Greta, and received with her not only all the land to +be seen from Sipuri Mountain, but a fine new farmhouse besides.</p> + +<p>Kettu and Miss Pussy lived many years and, when they died, were both +buried at the foot of Sipuri Mountain.</p> + +<p>And the three trolls? Oh, yes. Well, there is a big crows' nest at Allis +Farm, in which live three crows. They can give you news of the trolls, +if any one can; but people say, you know, that crows are not to be +relied upon in the least.</p> + +<p class="right" > +—<i>Z. Topelius.</i><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> +<img src="images/ch04.png" width="640" height="240" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>SAMPO LAPPELIL<a name="SAMPO" id="SAMPO"></a></h2> + + +<p>There was once a Lapp and a Lapp woman. The Lapps are a people who live +north of the Swedes, the Norwegians, and the Finns, far, far up in the +north. They have neither fields, nor real forests, nor regular houses, +but only great barren bogs and high mountains, and small huts, which +they crawl into through a hole. The country of the Lapps is strange. +Half the year it is light most of the time, for the sun never sets in +the middle of summer, and the other half of the year it is dark most of +the time, and the stars shine all day in winter.</p> + +<p>Ten months of the year it is winter, and then the little Lapp men and +the little Lapp women drive over the snow in small boats, which are +called pulks. There is no horse harnessed before the pulk, but a +reindeer. Have you ever seen a reindeer? It is as large as a little +horse, is gray in color, has high branching horns, a stooping neck, and +a pretty little head with great clear eyes. When it runs at full speed, +it goes flying over mountains and hills like a rushing wild wind, and +its hoofs snap as it dashes along.</p> + +<p>There was, as I have said, a Lapp and a Lapp woman. They lived far up in +Lapland, in Aimio, which lies near Tenojoki or the Tana River. (You can +see it on the map of Finland, where Lapland can be found like a great +nightcap on Finland's high head.) The place was barren and wild, but the +Lapp and his wife felt sure that nowhere on the whole earth could you +see such white snow, such clear stars, and such beautiful Northern +Lights as at Aimio. There they had built themselves a hut such as Lapps +usually live in. No large trees grew in that region,—only slender +birches, that were more like bushes than trees—so where could they get +wood for a house? Instead, they took long, thin sticks, stuck them into +the snow, in a circle, tied the upper ends together, hung reindeer skins +over the sticks, so that altogether it looked like a gray sugar-loaf, +and then the hut was finished. In the top of the sugar-loaf they left a +hole, through which the smoke could escape if they lighted a fire, and +there was another hole in the southern side through which they could +crawl in and out. The Lapps thought it was pretty and warm and were very +happy in it, though they had no other bed and no other floor than the +white snow.</p> + +<p>The man and the woman had a little boy whose name was Sampo, and that +means "luck" in Lapland. But Sampo had two names. Once some strange +gentlemen in great fur coats had come and stayed in the hut. They had +with them little hard, white pieces of snow, such as the Lapp woman had +never seen before, which they called "sugar." They gave Sampo a few +pieces of the sweet snow, and they patted him on the cheek and said: +"Lappelil! Lappelil!" which means "little Lapp." They could not say +anything else, for they could not talk Lapp. And then they traveled away +farther north, to the Arctic Ocean and the northernmost point of Europe +which is called the North Cape. The Lapp woman liked the strange +gentlemen and their sweet snow, and she began from that time to call her +boy "Lappelil."</p> + +<p>"I think Sampo a much better name," said the man, rather vexed. "Sampo +means 'riches,' and I tell you, Mother, don't spoil the name! For, some +time, Sampo will become the king of the Lapps, and reign over thousands +of reindeer and fifty Lapp huts."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but Lappelil sounds so pretty," said the woman. And she called the +boy "Lappelil," and the man called him "Sampo." He was, however, not +christened yet, for at that time there was no priest within a hundred +miles. "Next year we will go to the priest and let him christen the +boy," the man used to say. But next year something came in the way, and +the journey did not take place, and the boy did not get christened.</p> + +<p>Sampo Lappelil was now a fat little fellow seven or eight years old, +with black hair and brown eyes; he had a snub nose and a broad mouth +just like his papa's; in Lapland a face must have such features if it is +to be thought really fine. Sampo was not a stupid boy for his age; he +had his own little snow-shoes and on them he danced over the high hills +near the Tana; and his own little reindeer which he harnessed before his +own pulk. You should have seen how the snow blew about him, as he rushed +off over the ice and the high snow-drifts, so that nothing of the boy +was to be seen but a tuft of his black hair!</p> + +<p>"I shall never feel quite safe until the boy is christened," the Lapp +woman often said. "The wolves may get him some fine day here on the +mountains, or he may meet Hiisi's reindeer with the golden horns—and +then may God protect the poor creature who is not christened!"</p> + +<p>Sampo, hearing this, began to wonder what kind of a reindeer it could be +that had golden horns. "That must be a beautiful reindeer," said he. "I +should like to drive it once; then I would travel to Rastekais!"</p> + +<p>Rastekais is a very wild, high mountain that may be seen from +twenty-five or thirty miles away.</p> + +<p>"Don't you dare to talk so, naughty boy!" said the mother, and scolded +him. "It is just on Rastekais that the trolls are, and there lives +Hiisi."</p> + +<p>"Hiisi—who is that?" asked Sampo.</p> + +<p>The woman became confused. "Now, he must ask about everything, that +boy," she thought to herself. "Why do I stand here and talk about such +things so that he can hear? But at least I will frighten him away from +Rastekais!"</p> + +<p>And so she said: "Dear Lappelil, never go to Rastekais, for there lives +Hiisi, the great mountain king who eats a reindeer in a mouthful, and +swallows boys like gnats."</p> + +<p>Sampo began to wonder when he heard this; but he said nothing. He +thought to himself: "It must be good fun to see such a horrid creature +as the mountain king,—but only from a long way off!"</p> + +<p>It was now already three or four weeks after Christmas, and it was +still dark in Lapland. There was no morning, noon, nor evening. It was +always night; and the moon shone, and the Northern Lights crackled, and +the stars twinkled brightly all the time. Sampo began to feel dull. It +was so long since he had seen the sun that he had almost forgotten what +it looked like; and when any one talked of summer Sampo only remembered +it was the time when the gnats were so bad and tried to eat him up. +Therefore he did not care if the summer stayed away forever, if only it +would grow light enough to go about easily on snow-shoes.</p> + +<p>One day about noon the Lapp said: "Come here, and you shall see +something!" Sampo crept out of the hut in the dark, and looked toward +the south, for it was in that direction that his father pointed. There +he saw a little red streak way down on the horizon.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what that is?" asked the Lapp.</p> + +<p>"That is Southern Lights," said the boy. He had a good idea of the +points of the compass, and knew very well that you could not see +Northern Lights in the south.</p> + +<p>"No," said his father, "that is the forerunner of the sun. To-morrow or +the day after we shall see the sun itself. Only look how strangely the +red light shines on the top of Rastekais."</p> + +<p>Sampo turned to the west and saw how the snow was colored red far away +on the dark, wild top of Rastekais. Immediately it came into his mind +how very pleasant it would be to see the mountain king—from a long way +off.</p> + +<p>Sampo thought about this all day and half the night. He tried to sleep, +but could not. "Yes," he thought, "it would be fun to see the mountain +king once!" He kept thinking about it, until at last he crept quite +softly out from the reindeer-skin under which he lay, and out through +the door. It was so cold that the stars snapped and the snow crackled +under his feet. But Sampo Lappelil was not afraid of cold. Besides he +had a leather jacket, leather trousers, Lapp shoes, and a fur cap and +mittens. Thus fortified, he looked at the stars, and did not know +exactly what he should do next.</p> + +<p>Then he heard his little reindeer scratching in the snow not far off. +"What if I took a drive?" thought Sampo.</p> + +<p>No sooner said than done. Sampo harnessed the reindeer before the pulk +as he usually did, and started off over the great bare snow-field. "I +will drive a little way toward Rastekais, only a little way," he thought +to himself. So he drove down over the frozen river and up on the other +side of the Tana, and then was in the kingdom of Norway, for the Tana +River is the boundary. But that Sampo did not know.</p> + +<p>You, who are reading this story of Sampo Lappelil, did you ever sing: +"Run, my brave reindeer"? Do you know the beautiful songs of the dear, +good Bishop Franzén, whom all Sweden and all Finland love, and have you +ever seen the title-page of the fourth volume of his songs? There you +can see a Lapp boy driving with his reindeer over the snow, and that is +just Sampo Lappelil. So he sat and sang to himself:</p> + +<p> +"So short is the day,<br /> +The road is so long,<br /> +Oh! hark to my song:<br /> +Let us hurry away!<br /> +The wolf pack lives here,<br /> +Rest not, little deer!"<br /> +</p> + +<p>As he sang he saw in the dark the wolves running like gray dogs around +the pulk, and barking after the reindeer; but he did not mind that; he +knew that no wolf could run as fast as his swift reindeer. Ha, how they +went over stones and hills! The wind whistled in their ears! Sampo +Lappelil only rushed on. The reindeer's hoofs snapped, and the moon in +the sky raced with him, and the high mountains seemed to rebound, but +Sampo Lappelil only rushed on. It was pleasant to drive; he thought of +nothing else. Then it happened that in a sudden turn over a hill, the +pulk upset and Sampo fell out and was left lying in a snow-drift.</p> + +<p>But the reindeer did not notice that; it thought that he still sat in +the pulk, and so + +ran on, and Sampo had got his +mouth so full of snow that he could not call. There he lay, like a +lemming that had lost a foot, in the dark night, in the midst of the +desolate wilderness where no one lived for many miles around.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col09" id="col09"></a> +<img src="images/col09.jpg" width="640" height="884" alt="SAMPO WAS LEFT LYING IN A +SNOW-DRIFT." title="" /> +<span class="caption">SAMPO WAS LEFT LYING IN A +SNOW-DRIFT.</span> +</div> + +<p>Sampo was frightened at first—that you cannot wonder at. He worked +himself out of the snow, and found he was not hurt in the least, but +what good would that do? As far as he could see in the pale moonlight, +there were only snow-drifts and snow-fields and high mountains. But one +mountain reached high above all the others, and Sampo guessed that he +was now near Rastekais. Here lived the horrible mountain king, who ate a +reindeer in one mouthful, and swallowed boys like gnats! Now Sampo +Lappelil grew frightened indeed. Ah! how gladly would he have been at +home with his father and mother in the warm hut. But how should he get +there? Would not the mountain king come and swallow him with his +trousers and mittens, as if he were but a poor little gnat?</p> + +<p>Well, there sat Sampo Lappelil in the snow and the dark, on Lapland's +barren mountain. It was so strange, so frightful to see the high black +shadow of Rastekais, where the mountain king lived! But it did not help +him to sit there and cry, for his tears froze in a moment, and ran like +peas down on his furry reindeer-skin jacket. So Sampo got up from the +snow-drift to run himself warm.</p> + +<p>"If I stand here I shall freeze," said he to himself. "No, rather will I +go to the mountain king. If he eat me, then he will eat me. But I will +tell him that it would be better that he should eat the wolves here on +the mountain; they are fatter than I, and he will have less trouble with +their skin than he would with my furs."</p> + +<p>Sampo began to climb up the high mountain. He had not gone far before he +heard something come stealthily over the snow, and immediately afterward +a great furry wolf sprang out close to his side. Sampo started, his +little Lapp heart beat loud, but he determined to behave as if he were +not afraid. "Don't jump in my way," he called to the wolf. "I have an +errand to the mountain king, and if you wish to keep your skin don't do +me any harm!"</p> + +<p>"Well, well, take it easy," said the wolf, for on Rastekais all the +animals could talk. "Who are you, little fellow, working yourself +through the snow?"</p> + +<p>"My name is Sampo Lappelil," answered the boy. "And who are you?"</p> + +<p>"I am the mountain king's highest master-wolf," answered the monster, +"and have been running from mountain to mountain to bring his people to +the great Sun Festival. Since you are coming my way, you can sit up on +my back and ride to the king."</p> + +<p>Sampo climbed up on the wolf's furry coat, and they rushed away over +clefts and precipices.</p> + +<p>"Sun Festival—what does that mean?" asked Sampo.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know?" said the wolf. "After it has been dark in Lapland all +winter, and the sun for the first time rises in the sky, then we +celebrate. All the animals and all the trolls collect here on Rastekais, +and on that day no one is allowed to do any harm. That is lucky for you, +Sampo Lappelil, for otherwise, you see, I should have eaten you up a +long time ago."</p> + +<p>"Is there the same law for the king, too?" asked Sampo.</p> + +<p>"Of course," said the wolf. "For one hour before the sun rises and for +one hour after it sets, the mountain king dare not touch a hair of your +head; but you must take care, after that time; for if you are still on +the mountain, then a hundred thousand wolves and a thousand bears will +rush upon you, and the mountain king will seize the first one he can get +hold of, and then it will soon be over with Sampo Lappelil."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you will be so kind as to help me back, as soon as there is +danger?" asked Sampo with a beating heart.</p> + +<p>The wolf began to laugh, for on Rastekais the wolves can laugh. "Don't +imagine that, dear Sampo," said he; "I will be the first to stick my +claws into you. You are a fine fat boy; I see that you have been +fattened on reindeer's milk and reindeer cheese. You will taste very +good for an early breakfast."</p> + +<p>Sampo wondered if it would not be as well to jump down from the wolfs +back immediately, but it was too late; they had come to the top of the +mountain, and he saw a wonderful sight. There sat the great mountain +king on his throne of sky-high rocks, looking far out over mountains and +valleys into the dark night. On his head he wore a cap of white +snow-clouds; his eyes were like the full moon when it rises over the +woods, his nose like a mountain top, his mouth like a mountain cleft, +his beard like long icicles; his arms were as thick as the thickest +fir-tree, his hands were like pine branches, his legs were like +coasting-hills in winter, and his great fur coat like a snow mountain. +If you ask how any one could see the mountain king and his people in the +middle of the night, then you must know that the snow cast a light upon +everything, and that over the sky the most beautiful Northern Lights +played.</p> + +<p>Around the mountain king sat millions of gray mountain trolls and +brownies, so small that when they ran on the frozen snow they left no +more trace after them than a squirrel leaves. They had collected here +from the farthest ends of the earth, from Nova Zembla and Spitsbergen +and Greenland and Iceland—yes, from the North Pole itself, to worship +the sun, as savages from fear worship the devil; for the trolls do not +like the sun and would prefer that it should never rise again after it +has once set behind the barren mountains. Farther away stood all the +animals of Lapland in long close rows—a thousand and again a thousand +bears, wolves, and lynxes, the good reindeer, the little lemming, and +the lively reindeer-fleas; but the gnats had not been able to come—they +were frozen to death.</p> + +<p>All this Sampo Lappelil saw with wonder. He climbed down quietly from +the master-wolf's back and hid himself behind a great stone to see what +would happen.</p> + +<p>The mountain king raised his high head so that the snow flew around him; +and the beautiful Northern Lights stood like a halo about his forehead, +and shot in long star-shaped, pale-red rays out over the blue night sky; +there was a crackling and a roaring like that a forest fire makes when +its flames leap up against the crowns of the pine-trees; now the Lights +spread themselves out, now they drew together again; now the brightness +was very dazzling, now it grew pale, then one gleam of light after +another shot like a sudden shower out over the snow-covered mountain. +This pleased the mountain king. He clapped his icy hands, and the echo +from the mountains sounded like thunder, and the trolls whistled with +joy, and the animals round about screamed with fear. This pleased the +mountain king still more, so that he called out, loud, over the +wilderness:</p> + +<p>"So shall it be! So shall it be! Forever winter and forever night! That +is what I like."</p> + +<p>"Yes, so shall it be, so shall it be!" cried the trolls as loud as they +could, for they all liked winter and night better than summer and +sunshine.</p> + +<p>But among the animals there arose a murmur of talking, for all the +beasts of prey and the lemmings thought as the trolls did, while the +reindeer and the other animals would have found no fault with the +summer, if they had not suddenly happened to think of the gnats in +Lapland. It was only the little reindeer-flea who really wanted the +summer; he cried as loud as he could: "Your Majesty, we came here to +wait for the sun!"</p> + +<p>"Will you be quiet, you wretched insect!" growled the white bear, close +beside it. "It is only an old custom that makes us collect together +here. But it will be pleasant; the sun will stay away forever. The sun +is put out! The sun is dead!"</p> + +<p>"The sun is put out! The sun is dead!" murmured all the animals, and a +shiver went through all nature.</p> + +<p>The trolls from the North Pole laughed so that their caps flew off, and +the great mountain king raised his voice of thunder and called out over +the wilderness: "So shall it be! So shall it be! The sun is dead. The +whole earth shall fall down and worship me, Hiisi, the king of +everlasting winter and of everlasting night."</p> + +<p>That provoked Sampo Lappelil, as he sat behind the stone, and he came +out and shouted with his little saucy voice: "You are lying, mountain +king! you are lying, as tall as you are! Yesterday I saw the forerunner +of the sun in the sky, and the sun is not dead! Your beard will still +melt when it comes midsummer."</p> + +<p>At these words the mountain king's brow grew as dark as a black cloud, +and he forgot the law and stretched out his terrible long arm to crush +Sampo Lappelil. But at that moment the Northern Lights grew pale, and a +red ray sprang up in the sky and shone straight into the mountain king's +ice-cold face, so that he was suddenly dazzled and let his arm fall.</p> + +<p>And now the sun's golden rim could be seen lifting itself slowly and +majestically up over the horizon, and it lighted up the mountains and +wildernesses, the snow-drifts and clefts, the trolls and beasts and the +brave little Sampo Lappelil. Then all at once a glow spread over the +snow, as if many million of roses had rained down upon it, and the sun +shone into all their eyes, yes, and into all their hearts, too. Even +those who had rejoiced because the sun was dead were now really glad to +see it again. It was funny to witness the trolls' surprise. They stared +at the sun with their little gray eyes, from under their red caps, and +while it stayed they became against their will so beside themselves with +joy that they stood on their heads in the snow. The terrible mountain +king's beard began to melt and to drip down like a running brook over +his great white coat.</p> + +<p>While they all stood looking at the sun with feelings so different, the +first hour had almost slipped away, and Sampo Lappelil heard one of the +reindeer say to its little one: "Come, come, dear child! We must go now +or we shall be eaten up by the wolves!"</p> + +<p>Then Sampo, too, remembered what he had to expect if he waited there any +longer. And as he saw by his side a reindeer with beautiful golden +horns, he jumped up on its back, and they rushed off at a gallop over +the steep mountain.</p> + +<p>"What can that strange noise be that we hear behind us?" asked Sampo +after a while, when he had got a little used to the violent ride.</p> + +<p>"That is the thousand bears who are coming after us to eat us," answered +the reindeer. "But don't be afraid; I am the mountain king's own magic +reindeer, and no bear has ever gnawed my heels."</p> + +<p>When they had ridden a while longer, Sampo asked: "What can that be that +breathes and moans so strangely behind us?"</p> + +<p>The reindeer answered: "That is the hundred thousand wolves who are +coming after us at full gallop to tear you and me to pieces. But don't +be afraid; no wolf has ever beaten me in a race here in the wilderness."</p> + +<p>They rode on a while longer; then Sampo asked: "Is it thundering in the +mountains there behind us?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the reindeer, and began to shake in all his limbs. "That is +Hiisi, the mountain king himself, who is coming with giant steps after +us; and now it is all over with both of us, for him it is impossible to +escape."</p> + +<p>"Is there no help?" asked Sampo.</p> + +<p>"No," said the reindeer, "there is nothing to do now but to try to get +to the parsonage off there near Enare Lake. If we get there we are +saved, for the mountain king has no power over Christians."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Sampo, "run now, my brave reindeer, over mountain and valley, +and I will give you golden oats in a silver manger!"</p> + +<p>The reindeer ran and ran; it was a life-and-death race! And they had but +just reached the priest's house when the mountain king came up outside +and knocked so hard on the door that every one thought the whole house +would fall down. "Who is that?" asked the priest.</p> + +<p>"It is I!" answered a voice of thunder outside.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 720px;"><a name="col10" id="col10"></a> +<img src="images/col10.jpg" width="720" height="1046" alt="ON THE BACK OF THE REINDEER WITH GOLDEN HORNS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">ON THE BACK OF THE REINDEER WITH GOLDEN HORNS.</span> +</div> + +<p>"Open the door for Hiisi, the mountain king. There +is an unchristened child within, and all heathen belong to me!"</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute, until I put on my surplice and collar, so that I can +receive so distinguished a guest with proper dignity," answered the +priest.</p> + +<p>"Hurry, then!" growled the mountain king; "hurry, or I will kick the +walls down."</p> + +<p>"Immediately, immediately, sir," answered the priest.</p> + +<p>But at the same time he took a bowl of water and christened Sampo +Lappelil with all proper ceremony.</p> + +<p>"Well, are you not ready yet?" growled the mountain king, and he lifted +his terrible foot to kick the house down.</p> + +<p>But the priest opened the door and said: "Begone, you king of night and +winter, for with this child you have nothing to do! The sun of God's +grace shines over Sampo Lappelil, and he belongs not to you but to God's +kingdom!"</p> + +<p>Then the mountain king grew so furious that he burst on the spot and +turned into a terrible snow-cloud, and it snowed so hard that the snow +reached up over the roof of the parsonage and they all expected to be +buried alive. But when the morning came the sun shone on the snow, the +snow melted away, and the parsonage and all in it were saved; and there +was no sign of the mountain king. Every one thinks, however, that he +still lives and reigns on Rastekais.</p> + +<p>Sampo Lappelil thanked the priest and borrowed a pulk from him. Then he +harnessed to it the reindeer with the golden horns and went home to his +father in Aimio. There was great joy when Sampo Lappelil came back so +unexpectedly. But how he became a great man and fed his reindeer with +golden oats from a silver manger, that is another story, which it would +take too long to tell now. It is said that since that time when Sampo +had such a narrow escape, the Lapps have never, as before, put off from +year to year having their little children christened—for who would like +to see his child eaten up by the terrible mountain king? Sampo Lappelil +knows what it means to run that risk! And having heard Hiisi's mighty +footsteps, he knows, too, precisely what it is when thunder resounds in +the mountains.</p> + +<p class="right" > +—<i>Z. Topelius.</i><br /> +<br /> +<i>Translated by Margaret Böcher.</i><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> +<img src="images/ch05.png" width="640" height="382" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>A LEGEND OF MERCY<a name="LEGEND" id="LEGEND"></a></h2> + + +<p>On one side of the lake there was a large town; on the opposite shore +stood a little lone cottage. The snow whirled over the frozen lake in +great clouds and the wind was very keen; for it was winter and +Christmastide in the world.</p> + +<p>At the cottage there was poverty inside, but riches on the roof. Up +there stood the great golden sheaf of grain about which the birds of +heaven gathered joyfully for their Christmas feast, while inside the +cottage food was scanty, as usual. The peasants' little children, +however, listened happily to the birds' joyous twitter from the +housetop, and took great delight in seeing the fine prints of the +sparrow's tiny feet in the smooth snow roundabout.</p> + +<p>"If we had threshed that grain, instead of giving it to the sparrows, we +might have had fresh wheaten rolls for the children for Christmas," +sighed the peasant's wife.</p> + +<p>"Don't you know that the merciful are blessed?" asked the gentle old +peasant with a kind glance at his dissatisfied wife.</p> + +<p>"But to let the birds of the air eat our bread," she sighed again.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the birds. Furthermore, what matter, even if it were the wild +beasts of the forest? Should we not show mercy? Besides, I have saved +enough to be able to buy four fresh rolls and a can of milk for +Christmas. Let us send the children across the lake to the town with +their sled. They will easily get back with the things before evening."</p> + +<p>"But suppose they meet a wolf on the ice," suggested the mother.</p> + +<p>"I will give Arvid a big club," said the father. "He will get along all +right, having that."</p> + +<p>So it happened that Arvid and his sister Hanna went to town to buy the +treat of white rolls and milk. By this time the snow was piled in great +drifts on the ice, and the children had difficulty in dragging the sled, +so that when they turned toward home the early darkness was already +beginning to settle down. They trudged through the snow as fast as they +could, but the drifts were much higher than before, and darkness came on +in earnest while they still had quite a long distance to go.</p> + +<p>As they struggled on, something black moved in the darkness. When it +came nearer, the children saw that it was a wolf.</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid, Hanna," said Arvid. "I have a good club." And with +these words, he raised it threateningly.</p> + +<p>The wolf was now close beside the children but made no attempt to harm +them. He only howled, but the howling was extraordinary for it sounded +as if he uttered words in it,—words that the children could understand. +"It is so cold, so cold," howled the wolf. "And my little ones have +nothing to eat. Give me some bread for them in the name of mercy."</p> + +<p>"Poor little things!" said Hanna. "We will give you <i>our</i> two rolls for +them, and we ourselves will eat hard bread to-night, but father and +mother must have their Christmas treat."</p> + +<p>"Many thanks," said the wolf as he took the two fresh rolls and glided +away.</p> + +<p>The children strove on through deeper and deeper snow, but in a little +while they heard some creature treading heavily behind them. It proved +to be a bear.</p> + +<p>The bear growled out something in his own language, and at first the +children could not find out what he meant although they tried hard; but +the bear kept on growling and finally, strangely enough, the children +understood. The bear, too, desired a Christmas gift.</p> + +<p>"It is so cold, so cold," growled the big creature. "All the water +everywhere is frozen and my poor little ones have nothing to drink. Be +merciful and give me a little milk for them."</p> + +<p>"How is this?" asked Arvid. "Why are you not asleep in your den for the +winter, as other bears are? But that is your affair. We will give you +our half of the milk for your little ones. Hanna and I can very well +drink water to-night, if only father and mother have something good for +Christmas."</p> + +<p>"Many thanks," said the bear, as he took the milk in a birch-bark cone +which he carried in his fore-paws. Then with slow, pompous steps, he +lumbered away into the darkness.</p> + +<p>The children waded along through the drifts still more eagerly now, for +they could see the Christmas lights shining through the windows of their +home; but they had not gone far before an ugly owl came flapping along +beside them.</p> + +<p>"I will have bread and milk! I will have bread and milk!" screamed the +owl, stretching out her long claws to scratch the children.</p> + +<p>"Oh, ho!" said Arvid. "If that is the kind you are, I shall have to +teach you to be polite." So saying, he gave the owl such a clever blow +on the wings with his club that she flew screaming away.</p> + +<p>Soon after this the children were at home, gaily beating the snow from +their clothes in the little entry.</p> + +<p>"We have met a wolf!" shouted Hanna.</p> + +<p>"And given a bear some milk!" added Arvid.</p> + +<p>"But the owl got a taste of the club!" laughed Hanna. Then they told all +their adventures.</p> + +<p>The parents looked thoughtfully at each other. How wonderful! To think +that their children had shown mercy even to the wild beasts of the +forest! What would happen next? What did it all mean?</p> + +<p>It was now supper-time. The peasant family gathered at the table upon +which, besides the usual poor fare, was the half portion of the expected +treat—all that the children had brought home.</p> + +<p>Arvid and Hanna wished to eat only dry bread and drink only water, so +that their parents might have the Christmas goodies; but the parents +would not allow that. They joyfully shared with the children the two +rolls and the half-tankard of milk which were such luxuries.</p> + +<p>But as they ate, they noticed something very marvelous. However often +they broke and broke pieces from either of the rolls, the fresh +delicious wheaten rolls never grew smaller; and however often they +poured milk from the tankard into one bowl after another the milk never +grew less!</p> + +<p>While they were wondering greatly over this, they heard a scratching at +the little window, and behold! there stood the wolf and the bear with +their fore-paws against the window pane. Both animals grinned and nodded +in a knowing, friendly way. An owl could be heard flapping behind them +in the darkness, and calling out in a hoarse voice to Arvid:</p> + +<p> +"Sometimes hits<br /> +Sharpen wits.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Hoo, hoo! Hoo, hoo!</span><br /> +Not from need<br /> +But from greed<br /> +I begged of you.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Hoo, hoo! Hoo, hoo!"</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col11" id="col11"></a> +<img src="images/col11.jpg" width="640" height="909" alt="THERE STOOD THE WOLF AND THE BEAR." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THERE STOOD THE WOLF AND THE BEAR.</span> +</div> + +<p>Then her hoarse cries died away in the distance, and the two +beasts, after a little more grinning and nodding, disappeared from the +window.</p> + +<p>The peasant and his wife and the children understood now that a blessing +rested upon their Christmas food because it had been shared in mercy +with those that needed it; and they finished their meal in wonder and +thankfulness.</p> + +<p>On Christmas morning when they went to get their breakfast of dry bread +and water, not expecting to have anything else, they found to their +amazement that both rolls and milk were as fresh as when the children +bought them,—and with no sign that the rolls had ever been broken or +any milk used! And all that day it was the same! There were not only +riches on the roof, but joy and plenty inside the peasants' cottage, +where the children feasted and sang as gaily as did the sparrows, +fluttering about their Christmas sheaf of golden grain.</p> + +<p class="right" > +—<i>Z. Topelius.</i><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> +<img src="images/ch06.png" width="640" height="378" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>ANTON'S ERRAND<br /><a name="ANTON" id="ANTON"></a></h2> +<h3><i>OR<br /> +THE BOY WHO MADE FRIENDS BY THE WAY</i><br /></h3> + +<p>Far to the South lies a beautiful land. High forest-clad mountains lift +themselves toward the sky, and between them spreads a wide fruitful +valley. A mighty river rushes southward singing of courage and joy, and +from the mountains the merry brooks come hurrying along, the one faster +than the other, as if racing to see which would get down first.</p> + +<p>In the fields, the grass is tall and full of flowers, the grain waves +like a billowy sea, and the fruit trees bend beneath the weight of rich +fruits. But more than all else, grapevines grow here. The vines twine +themselves in an endless wreath through the valley; and in the long +arcades hang millions of clusters of grapes cooking themselves ripe in +the sun's heat.</p> + +<p>From olden times, an industrious folk lived in this valley cultivating +their fields and pruning their vines. They gathered themselves together +into small towns which were dotted here and there in the valley's green +expanse like birds' nests in a spreading tree. On the surrounding +heights rose the proud castles where the nobles lived. They tyrannized +over the farmers in the valley, and if the poor peasants made the least +complaint, down from the cliffs came the barons, like eagles from their +eyries, and dug their claws into their defenseless prey.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Many, many years ago, a powerful baron named Rudolf Reinhold Rynkebryn +lived in one of the largest of the mountain castles. He had, by force +and violence, made himself Lord over one of the cities in the valley, +and all who lived there must toil and moil for the hard master on +Falkensten.</p> + +<p>When the grain was ripe and the meal ground, many hundred bags of it +must be carried on horses' backs up to the mountain castle; and when the +grapes were ripe and the wine pressed out, many hundred barrels must go +the same way.</p> + +<p>So had it been for many years, but at last the peasants grew tired of +this state of things, and gathered together for consultation.</p> + +<p>"There is no sense in it," said an old man. "Here we plow and sow and +reap and grind so that Rynkebryn can swallow the bread that belongs to +us and our children."</p> + +<p>"Yes. Isn't that the truth?" said another. "Isn't it a sin and a shame, +also? We plant vines and prune them in the sweat of our brows and when +the grapes are ripe, the wine we make must go to Falkensten so that +Rynkebryn and his men may drink themselves crazy and descend like birds +of prey upon us poor peasants. We should not endure it any longer."</p> + +<p>"No, we <i>will</i> not endure it any longer!" shouted all in chorus. Then it +was determined that they should send Rynkebryn a letter, in which they +renounced their allegiance to him.</p> + +<p>For the future he might get his bread and his wine wherever he chose. +Neither bag nor barrel should go from the valley to Falkensten.</p> + +<p>Oh, yes! To come to this decision was easy. Nor was there any great +difficulty about getting the letter written. The Mayor himself wrote it; +and upon the letter he set the city's great seal which bore a sheaf +pierced by a sword.</p> + +<p>The difficulty was to find a messenger to deliver the letter, for every +one well knew that he who carried such a message to the Baron of +Falkensten would not return alive to the valley.</p> + +<p>All to whom the mission was proposed immediately raised objections. One +had no clothes, another had pains in his legs, another could by no means +be spared from home, and another was sure he could never find the way up +there. Oh, there were many difficulties about taking that particular +letter to the Baron!</p> + +<p>Finally someone said, "Why not send little Anton?" And immediately all +shouted, "Yes, that is an excellent plan. Anton can go with the letter."</p> + +<p>Anton was a poor boy, usually called "little Anton." He had neither +father nor mother nor sister nor brother, but had been brought up among +other poor children of the town in the Cloister School. Now that he was +twelve or thirteen years old, he must take care of himself, and since he +could do small jobs of all sorts, people made use of him, here, there +and everywhere.</p> + +<p>He helped to dig in the vineyards, to lay stone and mortar when a house +was to be built; he ran with messages and letters out to the country +roundabout; and as he could manage the most spirited horse, he drove, +too, if there were no other driver to be had. He often took care of the +babies while their mothers were out at work; he carded wool and picked +hops; he sang at funerals and played at weddings.</p> + +<p>Indeed, there was scarcely anything for which they did not use little +Anton. He was quick of foot and light of hand, true as gold and silent +as a locked box, so every one liked him and gave him plenty to do.</p> + +<p>The Mayor himself went to little Anton and told him that the whole city +had decided to entrust to him a very important errand. He was to go to +Falkensten with a letter to Baron Rynkebryn. Of what was in the letter +the Mayor said nothing, for if he had, little Anton would have realized +that he was risking his life.</p> + +<p>The others realized it very decidedly, but they reasoned thus: "Little +Anton is a poor lone child, with no parents to mourn him, and if +anything happens to him,—well!—we must hope that all is for the best. +It is surely better that he should perish than that we who have wives +and children should. Besides, the town is full of these little poor boys +whom we can get to help us when we need them."</p> + +<p>Anton took the big letter, turned it over and over in his hands, and +asked if there would be any answer.</p> + +<p>The Mayor became a little embarrassed and took a pinch of snuff. He +could not look Anton straight in the face as he replied, "Answer? No, I +do not think there will be any answer."</p> + +<p>"So I can come right back?" queried little Anton.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed. Deliver the letter and take to your heels as soon as you +can."</p> + +<p>The next day, early in the morning, Anton put on his thickest shoes, +stuffed a couple of rolls and a small bottle of wine into his pocket, +slung an old gun over his shoulder and started on his long tramp from +the valley to Falkensten. He could see the castle high, high up like an +eagle's nest, on the top of a cliff from which it looked out over three +different valleys, many, many miles away.</p> + +<p>It was a hot August day. The sky was without a cloud and the sun stood +and smiled its broadest on the vineyards where the grapes steamed and +cooked in the heat. Vines were planted on the lowest slopes of the +mountain, so here Anton could walk up the stone steps between the +walls. He turned and saw the city which looked shining and gay in the +sunlight. The church was white as snow, and the hands on the clock +glittered like gold.</p> + +<p>By and by the vineyards ended and Anton came to some fields. The grass +had already been cut for the second time and the fields were deserted. +Not a person was to be seen.</p> + +<p>Next he came to the forest of chestnut-trees. From here everything in +the valley looked very small; houses and farms, and even the church, +looked like toys spread out on a green carpet. The sun glowed hotter and +hotter, and Anton took off his jacket, and walked on, in his +shirt-sleeves. The road grew steeper and steeper. He was hot and thirsty +so he sat down in the shade of a rock and took out his bottle of wine.</p> + +<p>When he had refreshed himself, he leaned back, humming a little song and +idly striking the ground with a switch he had broken from a bush.</p> + +<p>As he sat there, he heard a soft rustling at his side and saw a little +lizard come from the wall of rock and creep forth among the ferns. It +wriggled its supple little body out into the sunshine and then lay +perfectly still in front of Anton, gazing at him with its clear eyes.</p> + +<p>"That was a beautiful song you sang," said the lizard. "Would you be so +kind as to sing it once more? I am foolishly crazy over music."</p> + +<p>"I can certainly do that much for you," answered Anton, and hummed the +song again. He kept the switch behind him now, not wishing the lizard to +see that he had it.</p> + +<p>The lizard lay perfectly still, listening, but when the song was +finished the little creature said to Anton, "Come, Anton, what are you +really thinking of? I think your dark eyes have a sly look in them. +Surely you are not, by any chance, intending to harm me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know!" said Anton, smacking his whip. "But I do think it +might be amusing to give you a hit with this so that you snapped in two +like a piece of glass."</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?" asked the lizard + +drawing its tail +close. "Well, well! How strange! It seems to me that would not be at all +amusing. I think it is much more amusing to live, to lie here and enjoy +myself in the sunshine."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col12" id="col12"></a> +<img src="images/col12.jpg" width="640" height="939" alt="THE LIZARD LAY +PERFECTLY STILL, LISTENING." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE LIZARD LAY +PERFECTLY STILL, LISTENING.</span> +</div> + +<p>Anton began to laugh, but continued to beat the ground with his switch.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Anton," said the lizard. "I have really such a very short time +to live. Let me go in peace. Don't do me any harm. Perhaps I can be of +use to you some day. You may be sure you will never regret it if you let +me go."</p> + +<p>"What could such a forlorn little creature as you ever do for me?" asked +Anton, as he got up. "But since you ask me so prettily, I will let you +run. Suppose we see which of us will get to Falkensten first."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall, I shall!" hissed the lizard; and it hurried away through +the grass, calling back, however, "Farewell, Anton; you may be sure I +shall not lose sight of you." With that, the lizard disappeared and +Anton resumed his toilsome journey.</p> + +<p>The sun mounted higher and higher and the whole sky was like a sea of +burning light. The houses and churches in the valley looked now like +many tiny white stones scattered over the ground. The path, steeper and +steeper, led through a grove of larches, and here little Anton must +again rest. He took two big swallows from his bottle, and wiped his hot +face with his shirt-sleeves.</p> + +<p>Hearing a strange cracking sound over his head and looking up, he saw a +little squirrel that sat on the branch of a neighboring larch, eating +the seeds from a cone. Between the mouthfuls he spat the shells down, +chattering softly meanwhile as if to say, "What an excellent breakfast +this is! Truly a delicious breakfast!"</p> + +<p>Anton took his old gun quietly from his shoulder, got down on his knees, +and crept carefully along. He held the gun by its barrel. With the butt +end he could easily enough hit the little squirrel. But the alert +creature, which was watching him with keen, anxious eyes, saw him before +he had raised the butt end, and with a couple of big leaps, reached a +higher branch of the tree.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to do to me?" asked the frightened squirrel, poking +his little head out. "What is it you really want to do to me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I should just like to have your tail!" said Anton. "It would be a +nice fur collar for me when the autumn storms howl from the mountain +tops."</p> + +<p>"But I would so much rather keep my tail myself," said the squirrel, +raising it as high as he could in the air. "You see I was born with this +tail, and therefore it is mine; and so, if you kill me and take it away +from me, you are a thief,—a thief,—a real little tail-stealer!"</p> + +<p>"You must stop saying such rude words," said Anton, lifting the gun. "If +I can only catch you, your tail will be mine."</p> + +<p>"No, stop, stop!" shrieked the squirrel, springing about in the +branches. "It is horrid and ugly and disgusting of you. I don't want to +be crushed with the butt end of a gun. It is ugly of you to think of +it, ugly, ugly! And to be broken off in the middle of my nice breakfast +to be murdered is truly most unpleasant. Would you like that, little +Anton?"</p> + +<p>The squirrel still leaped and sprang from branch to branch in fright. +Anton laid his gun on the ground.</p> + +<p>"Oh, little Anton!" piped the squirrel. "Let me alone! Let me hop +around, a happy living squirrel. That is so much better and pleasanter!"</p> + +<p>"Well, hop then," said Anton, throwing the gun over his shoulder again. +"I am afraid I should dream of the frightened look in your eyes. And now +we might see which of us can get to Falkensten first."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall, I shall!" called the squirrel, wild with joy. "If you are +going to Falkensten, I shall go, too. No harm shall happen to you while +I am able to hop." With that, the squirrel set off with long leaps from +tree to tree, and soon disappeared; and Anton walked on up the mountain.</p> + +<p>The air became more and more sultry. The sky, which had been bright +blue, grew white in some places, and the white ran together like thick +milk and heaped itself in close masses. The sun was no longer to be +seen. The clouds changed to gray and violet and dark-blue, with glowing +edges, and thunder began to roll among the mountains. Anton could not +see the valley now at all. The lofty peaks towered one behind another, +and there seemed to be nothing else in the world. The path grew steeper +and yet steeper.</p> + +<p>Little Anton began to be frightfully tired. He had to lie down again and +again on the ground, groaning with weariness. Not a drop more of the +refreshing sour wine did he have to quench his thirst,—the bottle had +been drained long ago.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he heard a rushing sound, and lo! from the rock bubbled a white +foaming stream of water, so fresh and living that one could not +understand how it could gush forth from the dead stones. Anton knelt +down and drank eagerly from his hands. Never had he found any draught so +wonderfully reviving.</p> + +<p>When he had quenched his thirst, he thought he would resume his journey, +but at that instant he caught sight of a dove flying toward him. It was +a charming wood-dove, with blue-flecked wings and a little round head. +The dove must, like him, have been thirsty, for she flew directly to the +foaming water and bent over it to drink. "That is a lovely bird," +thought Anton; and he took his gun noiselessly from his shoulder. "I can +surely hit her."</p> + +<p>He had laid the gun to his cheek and was taking aim, when the dove +lifted her head from the water and fluttered her wings.</p> + +<p>"Why should you shoot me, little Anton?" she asked. "You have quenched +your thirst and I have quenched mine. The spring has been good to both +of us. Why should you do evil to me?"</p> + +<p>"You have such beautiful wings," said Anton. "It would look fine if I +stretched you out flat and fastened you on the barn door."</p> + +<p>"It looks much finer when I float upward toward the sunlight," said the +dove. "The mountain path is difficult for you, little Anton; but you +are at least free to pursue your way. Let me fly mine. Here in these +solitudes no one should do another harm."</p> + +<p>The dove looked so gentle and talked in such friendly tones that Anton +felt thoroughly ashamed of himself.</p> + +<p>"Yes, fly away, little dove, fly wherever you will," said he, waving his +hands. "We might see which of us two will get to Falkensten first."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall!" responded the dove, lifting her wings. "But if it is to +that fierce Baron you are taking a message, I prefer to wait outside on +the tower." Then up she flew.</p> + +<p>The sky was now one dark mass of thunder-clouds. The thunder rumbled +among the mountains; the green fields on the heights shone out like +emeralds against the dark blue haze beyond. All creatures had become +wonderfully silent; not a bird sang, not an insect hummed. Anton went +forward with dragging step, and the dove floated silently above him,—a +white speck against the dark sky.</p> + +<p>But what was that high up there on the cliff? It was a little chamois +that stood with all its four feet close together on a point of rock, and +looked about.</p> + +<p>"Hurrah! I shall get you!" thought Anton as he cocked his gun; but the +chamois with a couple of nimble bounds sprang farther up the mountain.</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho! That won't help you any!" said Anton, running nearer to the +rocks where the chamois stood. "I am a good shot, let me tell you; and I +must have prey of some sort to take with me from the mountain."</p> + +<p>"But why should you kill me?" asked the chamois, bounding a little +farther away. "What harm have I ever done to you? Does it annoy you that +I stand here and look at the view?"</p> + +<p>"No, but you have such handsome little horns. I should like to put them +up over my door as a sign that I had conquered you."</p> + +<p>"For you to conquer me would be easy," said the chamois. "You have a +gun, and I have nothing. But I had always believed that the mountain +was made for us both."</p> + +<p>Anton made no reply but scrambled hastily up the rocks to get nearer the +chamois.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Anton, little Anton! let me alone!" called the chamois, making the +longest leap it could. "I would truly rather have my horns on my head +than over your door! Cannot you understand that? If you love your +freedom, let me keep mine."</p> + +<p>At that moment the thunder pealed with a frightful crash among the +mountains. Anton became altogether uncomfortable and put his gun down. +"Leap where you will, then," he called to the chamois. "Perhaps we might +see which of us can get to Falkensten first."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall, surely," said the chamois, starting off with a big leap. +"But I will wait for you outside the castle wall, and if you need my +help you will know where to find me." And with these words the chamois +vanished.</p> + +<p>"Shall I never, never reach Falkensten?" groaned Anton. He was dead +tired and began to think he had gone astray, but suddenly, at a turn in +the path, the castle stood before him as if it had sprung up out of the +earth.</p> + +<p>It was of the same color as the rocks upon which it was built, and how +big and high and thick-walled it was! It had but few windows scattered +here and there on the side toward the path. From the tower waved +Rynkebryn's banner,—a fiery red flag on which was a black falcon. The +drawbridge that led over to the castle was drawn up, and over the chasm +that was between the rocks on which the castle was built and the other +rocks, there was only a rough narrow bridge, made of slender branches +placed side by side.</p> + +<p>Anton stood still. It would be dangerous to go over such a bridge +without any kind of a railing to hold fast to; but he must deliver the +letter. Just then he heard something whispering at his feet:</p> + +<p> +"Since you can't glide like me, and creep,<br /> +Be wise; cross not the chasm deep."<br /> +</p> + +<p>It was the little lizard that came hurrying toward him with this +warning.</p> + +<p>"But how should I then get the message to Baron Rynkebryn?" said Anton. +He had already started across the bridge.</p> + +<p>And now something came hopping along at his side. It was the squirrel +with his red tail high in the air like a flag, and with wide-open eyes; +and while he hopped about Anton's feet he chattered:</p> + +<p> +"Since you can't hop like me, and climb,<br /> +That castle shun; be warned in time!"<br /> +</p> + +<p>"But how then should I attend to my errand?" Anton was now half-way +across the bridge.</p> + +<p>As he stood there, the dove came flying and floating on her wings above +the abyss.</p> + +<p> +"Since you can't float and fly like me,<br /> +Turn back, turn back and homeward flee,"<br /> +</p> + +<p>said the dove, flying near Anton's cheek.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that I will do when once I have given the Baron his letter," said +Anton, "but I don't turn back when I am half-way over the bridge, nor +flee homeward until my errand is done."</p> + +<p>So he proceeded. The thin branches in the loosely-made bridge creaked +and bent under his feet. On both sides of him was the dizzy chasm. He +had a queer pain in his heart and everything turned black before his +eyes; but he pressed his hands against his breast where he had hidden +the letter, kept his gaze straight ahead, and walked on with firm step. +There! Now he could draw a long breath, a sigh of relief; for he was at +last safely across the frail bridge,—on the other side of the chasm, +and under the castle wall.</p> + +<p>At first he could see no opening in the wall; it stretched up as hard +and impenetrable as the rock upon which it stood, but when Anton stole +around it, he found a small door,—an iron door with many locks and +fastenings. He picked up a stone and knocked hard on the door, but no +one answered. Everything around him was still as death.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he heard a strange rumbling sound, which he thought at first +might be the echo of the thunder among the rocks; but no. The sound came +from the hall where Baron + +Rynkebryn and his men sat and +drank, and roared with laughter loud enough to make the castle tremble.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col13" id="col13"></a> +<img src="images/col13.jpg" width="640" height="917" alt=""TURN BACK, TURN BACK," SAID +THE DOVE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"TURN BACK, TURN BACK," SAID +THE DOVE.</span> +</div> + +<p>Since no one seemed to hear Anton, he lost patience, took his gun which +was still loaded and shot it off. He could hear the echoes answer from +mountain to mountain and at last die away; but now there were signs of +life in the castle. A man opened a shutter high up in the tower and +called, "Who shoots under Falkensten Castle? Is it friend or foe?"</p> + +<p>Anton put both hands to his mouth and shouted back, "A friend! A friend! +A messenger from the valley!" Then he heard the man slam the shutter to, +come with a clatter down the stairs, trudge across the courtyard, and +begin to rattle the locks and bolts of the iron door. At last the door +opened slowly and a gruff-looking warrior stood before little Anton.</p> + +<p>"What do you want?" asked the warrior. His voice sounded like a bear's. +"What have you to say to the Lord of Falkensten?"</p> + +<p>"That I must tell to Baron Rynkebryn himself," answered Anton. "The +message is to him and none other."</p> + +<p>"Listen to the young sparrow that dares to come into the falcon's nest!" +said the warrior, but he opened the door just wide enough for Anton to +slip in.</p> + +<p>As the boy turned in the doorway, he caught sight of the chamois which +stood on a stone beside the chasm, stretching its head forward.</p> + +<p>"Yes, here I am!" called the chamois. "I will keep on the watch by the +wall, so you will know where to find me!"</p> + +<p>At that instant the heavy iron door clanged shut after Anton, and he was +at last inside the walls of Falkensten. His steps echoed with a hollow +sound in the small courtyard; and it was dark and damp as a cellar, +inside the castle on the great winding stairs that led to the baronial +hall. Little Anton felt his heart beating like a hammer and choking him, +when the warrior opened the door to the hall and let him pass in.</p> + +<p>At the end of a long oaken table sat Baron Rynkebryn and his retainers, +drinking. Their eyes were bloodshot like those of an angry bull, and +they laughed and shouted so that the high rafters shook. Little Anton +squeezed himself into a corner near the door and stood, hat in hand, +waiting until Rynkebryn should speak to him.</p> + +<p>Long did he wait, for the Baron was wholly absorbed in his carousing. +The wine flowed over his beard; he sat with both arms leaning on the +table and laughed till his bones rattled. Suddenly his eye fell upon +Anton.</p> + +<p>"Who is that little whipper-snapper shivering there by the door?" he +asked, pointing with his big finger. So Anton had to go forward. He +bowed many times as he crossed the room, each bow deeper than the last, +and when he reached the Baron, he took the letter from his breast and +presented it.</p> + +<p>The Baron snatched it from him and began to read it, Anton meanwhile +standing still and looking out of the tower window. Never before had he +seen so far out into the world. One mountain chain after another +gleamed forth, lit by the sun; streams lay like narrow white ribbons in +the valley; and the boundless sky arched over all, its big +thunder-clouds looking like mountains above the other mountains. Anton +forgot entirely where he was while gazing at all this glory; but he was +awakened to reality by a roar from Rynkebryn.</p> + +<p>"So this is the kind of message you bring me, is it?" he screamed, and +he struck his fist on the table so violently that the wine bottles +tumbled over, and the rich red wine ran in streams across the white +cloth, like blood. "How dare you bring such a letter to the Lord of +Falkensten?"</p> + +<p>"How should I know what was in the letter?" asked Anton. He trembled +like an aspen leaf. "I do not read the letters people trust me with."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you don't, don't you?" roared Rynkebryn. He had first grown red as +the wine he drank, but now he was as white as the table-cloth. "It might +have been well for you if you had peeped into this letter. If you had, I +think you would have turned back with it. Herein"—he shook the letter +till it rattled—"herein those traitors of the valley renounce their +allegiance to me; and he who goes on errands for traitors is a traitor +himself and shall die a traitor's death. Do you understand that, you +miserable little worm?"</p> + +<p>Anton tried to speak, but could not get a word over his lips. He grew +icy cold and shook as if he had the ague.</p> + +<p>"But I shall revenge myself on that pack," shouted Rynkebryn. "I shall +descend upon them like an overwhelming horror, like a thief in the +night, and lay their land waste. Sure as death, before three nights have +passed there shall be neither stick nor stone left of their city in the +valley."</p> + +<p>"Shall I tell them that?" asked Anton, in a low, frightened voice.</p> + +<p>"No, you can spare yourself the trouble!" shouted Rynkebryn, laughing. +"I shall say it to them myself with a drawn sword. No, my little +friend,"—his eyes glared horribly, "you shall have a night's lodging at +Falkensten. Your guest-chamber is ready. You shall march down to the +castle prison, and there you can lie and amuse yourself guessing what +death you are to die in the morning. Let me see. I must think of +something very fine. I might, for instance, hit you with a club so that +you broke in two like a piece of glass. That might be very amusing to +see. Ha! ha! ha!"</p> + +<p>Anton shuddered. He remembered that he had threatened the little lizard +with this very treatment, and had had the same idea that it would be +amusing to see.</p> + +<p>"Or," continued the Baron, "I could crush you with one whack of my gun, +so!—That would be very quickly done."</p> + +<p>The icy shivers ran down Anton's back. Just this kind of terror that he +was feeling must the squirrel have felt when Anton threatened him with +the butt of his gun.</p> + +<p>"Or I could fasten you out on the castle wall, as one fastens a bird +that has been shot upon a barn door. There you could hang as a warning +to traitors, until you fell to pieces," growled Rynkebryn, stroking his +beard.</p> + +<p>Things turned black before Anton's eyes. "Oh!" he thought with anguish. +"This is just the way I threatened the dove, the innocent little +creature!"</p> + +<p>"Or I could chop your head off!" roared Rynkebryn, rushing toward Anton +with clenched fists. "Then I could put your head on top of the tower +where there is a glorious view. What a treat that would be for you!" All +the men laughed so hard at this that they had to hold their sides.</p> + +<p>But little Anton did not laugh. He stood there thinking, with deep +remorse, how he had threatened to take the life of the harmless chamois, +and put its horns over the door. "Oh, God be praised that I let it run!" +he thought; but just then Rynkebryn's men caught hold of him, tied him +securely, hand and foot, with strong rope, and took him to the castle +prison.</p> + +<p>Dark and damp indeed was the prison cell. It had no windows except, high +up in the wall, a little opening with strong iron bars across it. The +men threw Anton on the floor and then went out, locking the door after +them with so many locks that Anton knew he could never open that door, +even if he had both his hands free.</p> + +<p>There he lay, looking up at the barred window. The sunset glowed through +it still, but faded little by little, and darkness came on. High in the +sky the stars twinkled out, one after another. And Anton lay and thought +that when their light was quenched again, his life was to be put out, as +if it were but a spark. What made him most unhappy was the thought that +he could not get a message to the city in the valley, so that some one +might know that Rynkebryn, the next night, was going to creep upon them +like a thief, burn their city and devastate their land.</p> + +<p>He laid his head on the damp floor of the cell and began to cry. All at +once he heard something rustle,—a queer little sound. He thought it +might be a rat that would bite him, and drew his legs up close; but +something small came creeping lightly over him right up to his cheek. +"Don't be afraid," it whispered. "It is only I, the little lizard you +met on your way. I have hurried at your heels the whole time, until you +disappeared through the castle door. But how have you brought yourself +to this? You should have followed my advice and turned back in +time,—you who can neither creep nor glide."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," sighed poor Anton. "But it is too late to think of that, and +no one in the world can help me now."</p> + +<p>"Oh," answered the lizard, "one should never give up hope. Since I could +get into the castle prison, we shall manage to get you out." And with +that the tiny creature rustled away in the darkness.</p> + +<p>A minute or two after, little Anton saw something black against the +barred window. It squeezed itself between the bars and dropped with a +thump to the floor.</p> + +<p>"Here am I," chattered the squirrel, hopping to Anton. "What foolishness +has been going on here?"</p> + +<p>"As you see," replied Anton, "I am captured and bound, and in the +morning I am to die."</p> + +<p>"Oh, in the morning!" said the squirrel. "It is a long time to morning. +Much can happen before the sun gets up again."</p> + +<p>"But I cannot stir hand or foot," said Anton. "Don't you see how they +have tied my hands behind my back?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! I see that well enough," replied the squirrel, opening his big +eyes wider than ever. "Where are the knots?" And with one jump he was on +Anton's back, beginning immediately to gnaw at the knots with his small +pointed teeth. He bit and pulled at the rope so that his little body +shook with the effort; and it was not long before Anton felt the +loosening at his wrists and afterward at his ankles. All at once the +ropes fell off and he was free.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you blessed little animal!" said Anton, hugging and kissing the +squirrel. "Now I am a free person again, and not a tied-up bundle!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but there is still the high, barred window," said the squirrel. +"We must have the dove's help now." And he sprang up to the window and +vanished through it.</p> + +<p>Little Anton stood looking after him, but suddenly he could no longer +see the stars and the sky as before, for they were blotted out by +something that filled the whole window. He soon saw that it was the dove +flapping her out-spread wings against the bars. She could not get in, +but she had something in her bill which she let fall through the window. +It clanged as it hit the floor, and when Anton stooped to pick it up, he +saw that it was a file.</p> + +<p>"I found that in Rynkebryn's own window where it lay, ready to be used +for his evil purposes; but now it shall help you out of prison," said +the dove.</p> + +<p>No one would have imagined they could do it, but the squirrel and the +dove helped Anton to get the ropes he had been tied with up to the +window, and to fasten them there so firmly that he could climb up the +ropes. Then he filed and filed at the iron bars till his hands bled, +while the lizard ran up and down the wall saying: "Make haste! Make +haste! It will soon be morning!"</p> + +<p>But the sun had not yet risen when little Anton stood, rescued and free, +on the rocks outside the castle wall.</p> + +<p>And there was the chamois waiting for him!</p> + +<p>"Seat yourself on my back, little Anton!" said the chamois. "And hold +tight! for we are going to gallop down the mountain so fast that straps +and buckles would not keep you on!"</p> + +<p>So Anton got on the chamois' back and held tight. This was necessary +indeed; for slow as it had been trudging up the mountain, he now went +down with a speed like that of a stone which, being tossed, bounds from +rock to rock as it strikes them on its downward-flying way.</p> + +<p>"I shall fall! I shall fall!" shouted Anton, clinging for dear life to +the chamois' neck. "I shall pitch off head first!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! You won't fall," said the chamois; "nor I, either. I am very +sure-footed," and on it leaped as fast as ever.</p> + +<p>Just as the sun rose, Anton stood at the Mayor's door and knocked. The +Mayor himself came to open it, and was overwhelmed with wonder when he +saw little Anton standing there as alive as ever, and without so much as +a hair of his head hurt!</p> + +<p>"I come with bad tidings," said Anton. "If you don't look out, you will +have Rynkebryn and his men after you before you know it; and he is not +going to spare any of you,—yourselves or your property. Every one had +better be armed and ready."</p> + +<p>The next night, Baron Rynkebryn with all his warriors came sneaking down +the mountain expecting to take the peasants by surprise, and to catch +them all as one catches rats in a trap; and he felt himself completely +fooled when he found the peasants on the alert and prepared to give him +a warm welcome! From all the country round had the town folk summoned +help, and the men were armed with lances and javelins, with scythes and +pitchforks; and there was nothing for Rynkebryn to do but to hasten up +the mountain again as fast as his legs could carry him. But the +peasants followed him all the way to Falkensten, gathered brushwood and +branches which they heaped about the castle, and then set on fire, +determined to destroy that den of thieves. It blazed and flamed like a +bonfire and sent ruddy light far and near. The wicked Baron Rynkebryn +and his men were forced to flee and to hide like wild eagles high up in +desolate clefts of the mountains.</p> + +<p>And now there was nothing good that the people did not wish to do for +little Anton! They would have him to be Mayor, and a great festival +should be held in his honor in the palatial hall of the Council House. +But little Anton only thanked them over and over. He had not the least +desire in the world to be Mayor, neither did he care to sit and feast +and sing with those who had recently sent him out on that dangerous +errand without troubling themselves at all as to what would happen to +him.</p> + +<p>Therefore, he asked only that he might have what he needed in order to +give a party + +to his nearest and dearest friends. +Oh, yes! The people would gladly give him anything; he need only say +what he wished for.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col14" id="col14"></a> +<img src="images/col14.jpg" width="640" height="912" alt="THE MAYOR WAS OVERWHELMED WITH +WONDER." title="" /> +<span class="caption">THE MAYOR WAS OVERWHELMED WITH +WONDER.</span> +</div> + +<p>Then Anton said he would like one vest-pocket full of grain, and the +other full of small snails; and one trousers-pocket full of nuts, and +the other full of salt. He would like also a loaf of white bread, a +bottle of wine and a handful of fresh peaches.</p> + +<p>The people thought his wishes were very peculiar indeed; but he received +what he had asked for and then started toward the mountain.</p> + +<p>A little later, as he sat under a chestnut-tree and looked out over the +valley, he heard the drums and trumpets from the festival in the Council +House, where the people sat and feasted, and shouted hurrahs for their +old Mayor. A spring bubbled near him; the chestnut-tree shaded him; the +sun shone on the vineyards below, while high up at the top of the +mountain, smoke was still rising from the ruins of Falkensten.</p> + +<p>He had spread his table on the fresh green grass. There lay the bread +and the peaches and beside them stood the flask of wine; but before he +began to eat, he invited his guests to take their food. The lizard had +all the little snails; the dove ate grain from Anton's one hand, while +the chamois licked salt from the other; but the little squirrel sat +above in the chestnut-tree and stuffed himself up to his throat with +nuts, throwing all the shells down upon little Anton's head.</p> + +<p class="right" > +—<i>Helena Nyblom.</i><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> +<img src="images/ch07.png" width="640" height="300" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + + +<h3>THE FOREST WITCH<a name="WITCH" id="WITCH"></a></h3> + + +<p>It was in the earliest springtime. In the shade the air was still quite +cold; but where the clear and strong sunshine streamed down, one could +see that spring had come, for there the blossoms were beginning to +stretch upward on their tiny stalks.</p> + +<p>A couple of children were walking through the forest: a ten-year-old +girl, named Nina, and her little brother Johannes.</p> + +<p>They were seeking flowers. Nina had to find them because the flowers +were too tiny and too much hidden for so small a child as Johannes to +discover them for himself, but she always let him have the pleasure of +picking them.</p> + +<p>It was such a joyous spring walk that Nina did not notice how far they +were straying away from their grandmother's hut, back of the hill. This +little hut had been their home only for a short time. When their dear +father and mother died, their grandmother had kindly taken them to live +with her; and this was their first walk in the forest.</p> + +<p>At last Nina thought they ought to go back, but just as she turned +around with Johannes by the hand, who should stand before them but a +hideous old creature, more glaring and frightful than you can imagine!</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here, you wretched children?" she shrieked; "are you +plucking flowers in my forest? Then shall I pluck you, you may believe!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, pardon us," cried Nina; "we did not know that we must not pick +flowers here. We are strangers in this forest. Pray, pray pardon us."</p> + +<p>"<i>Snikkesnak!</i>" (fiddlestick!) answered the terrific old Witch, for such +the creature was. "Don't talk to me! I never pay any attention to what +children say; nor to old folks' talk either, for that matter. Indeed I +don't! <i>Snikkesnak! snikkesnak!</i> But it is not you that I want, silly +girl. It is the boy there who has offended me. The little rascal! It is +he who picked the flowers. Now I shall take him!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! take me, take me instead," cried Nina in terror, flinging her arms +around her brother. "It is my fault! I showed him the flowers, and let +him pick them. You've no right to take him! Oh! do take me; he is too +little."</p> + +<p>"<i>Snikkesnak!</i>" answered the Witch; "what a lot of talk! But you are +right; the boy is small to come into my service, so I suppose I shall +have to take you. Now listen well to what I say. Spring and summer are +coming and I shall have no work for you then; so I shall not trouble +myself about you for the present. But when autumn has come and gone, and +all the leaves and flowers have disappeared, then are we very busy in +the underground world. Then you may believe that I shall teach you how +to work! and I live deep down, very, very deep! Now you may go; but I +will make a bargain with you. When the last flower is +faded—listen!—when the last flower is faded, meet me here on this +spot—or—or——"</p> + +<p>The old Witch stopped to think what she could best threaten Nina with. +Her wicked eyes glared around for an instant till she noticed that Nina +stood, with her arms about her little brother, ready to ward off any +evil that might come upon him.</p> + +<p>"Or I shall come and catch this little rascal, and twist his arms and +legs all out of joint!" screamed the Witch, shaking her knotty stick at +little Johannes.</p> + +<p>Then, after a dark glance at Nina, she shuffled off through the forest, +with the crows shrieking after her, and the leaves and flowers trembling +on every side.</p> + +<p>As soon as the Witch was out of sight, Nina hastened home with Johannes. +Like a kind sister she suited her frightened pace to his, so that he +should not stumble and fall.</p> + +<p>The poor little boy had been so terrified at the Witch that he had not +in the least under +stood +the cruel threats she had +used against him, or the dreadful fate which was in store for Nina.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col15" id="col15"></a> +<img src="images/col15.jpg" width="640" height="947" alt="NINA STOOD WITH ARMS AROUND HER +LITTLE BROTHER." title="" /> +<span class="caption">NINA STOOD WITH ARMS AROUND HER +LITTLE BROTHER.</span> +</div> + +<p>Nina was rejoiced that this was so; for then he could not tell their +grandmother what the Witch had said, and she herself would not disclose +the dreadful doom hanging over her. She was determined that the poor +grandmother should not be made anxious and sorrowful as long as it could +be helped.</p> + +<p>Shortly after this, the spring burst forth in all its power and beauty, +and the blossoms shot up everywhere—in the woods, the fields, the +meadows, and the gardens. Nina welcomed them as her dearest friends. +They would protect her against the Forest Witch. So long as she had a +single one of these, she would not have to go down into the dark earth +to serve the hideous creature.</p> + +<p>Nina had always loved flowers, but never had she thought so much about +them as now. Yet, alas! Spring soon turned into summer, and summer went +faster than ever before, it seemed to poor Nina. The tears streamed +down her cheeks, as she saw the blue cornflowers fall before the +reaper's scythe, when the grain was cut in harvest-time.</p> + +<p>But Nina could still hope, even then; for the roses continued to bloom +on Grandmother's old rose-bush outside the door of the hut. Nina kissed +them and begged them to last as long as ever they could! And so they +did—the dear, friendly roses!</p> + +<p>When the last little rose had at length withered, autumn had almost +passed and the many-colored leaves were dropping from the trees by +thousands. Yet Nina discovered to her joy and comfort that there were +flowers still. Along the roadside stood the simple, hardy wild aster, +which blossomed on and on, although the autumn winds and rains destroyed +everything else.</p> + +<p>Winter began; but so mildly that it seemed as if it were still autumn. +When the asters finally disappeared, other help came to Nina; for the +hazel-bush was completely hoaxed by the mild weather and thought it was +spring; so it began to unfold its yellow catkins, standing beautiful +and bright, as one saw it between the bare trees over the hedges.</p> + +<p>So, even when the winter was far advanced, Nina was still saved from +going to the Witch; but this could not long continue. Cold weather must +soon come, because Grandmother had said that Christmas was near.</p> + +<p>And suddenly winter did come in earnest, with its icy frosts and +drifting snows. For five days it was impossible to get out of the hut, +because the wind kept whirling the snow into high drifts all about it. +But when the sixth day came the wind abated and the snow lay peacefully +on the ground.</p> + +<p>Now Nina dared no longer to stay in the house, for surely all the +flowers were dead, and buried under the cold snow, after this bitter +storm. She must go and keep her compact with the Witch. So gathering +together all her courage, she stole out of the house without being seen +by any one.</p> + +<p>Outside, she stood still for an instant, took a last look at the hut, +which now seemed so cozy and dear, whispered "Farewell," and started on +her way to the forest.</p> + +<p>But she had gathered too little courage, after all; for it melted away +immediately when she discovered the Witch a few steps from the door, +standing in the little roadside garden, waiting for her.</p> + +<p>"You've been rather slow about keeping to your bargain!" exclaimed the +Witch angrily. "I was just coming after you."</p> + +<p>"Oh! do not make me go with you!" cried Nina.</p> + +<p>In her agony she fell down upon the snow at the Witch's great feet, and +besought her wildly: "Let me be free! Oh, do let me be free!"</p> + +<p>"<i>Snikkesnak!</i>" snapped the Witch. "Up with you! No nonsense!"</p> + +<p>"Is there not a single flower to save me?" wailed Nina. She half rose, +and, fairly beside herself with fright and despair, began to scrape the +snow away from the garden-bed at the side of the path, trying to find a +flower.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, look if you like! <i>Snikkesnak!</i> <i>snikkesnak!</i>" laughed the +Witch, her face glowing with exultation at Nina's trouble.</p> + +<p>But an instant after, her countenance became filled with fury, for where +Nina had cleared the snow away, there appeared a plant with fresh +dark-green leaves and white flower buds!</p> + +<p>Nina clasped her hands together in great joy and thankfulness; then, +breaking off a bud, she lifted it up high toward the Witch and rushed +away into the hut. The Witch, in her disappointment and vexation, sprang +about so wildly in the snow that it rose in a cloud all about her, and +Nina never saw her again.</p> + +<p>Safe at home in the little hut, Nina now told all her adventure; and the +grandmother took the little girl's sweet, frightened face between her +two old hands, and kissed her forehead many times.</p> + +<p>Faithfully every day Nina went to pay a loving visit to the little +"Christmas Rose" in the garden (<i>helleborus niger</i>); for that was the +flower which had saved her; and the whole winter long, it could be +found fresh and beautiful, here and there under the snow.</p> + +<p>Though no other blossoms dare come forth to face the snows and frosts of +deep winter, the Christmas Rose ventures bravely out into the bleak +weather, and with modest and serene courage holds her own against its +powers. The snow lying over it keeps it from freezing; and if one +brushes away this beautiful covering, the Christmas Rose appears with +its lovely, white, gold-centered blossoms, laughing at the frost. It +blooms steadily on until it can say "Good-day" to spring's first +blossom—the little snowdrop; and so, through all the year, there are +flowers blooming in our dear Northern land, Denmark.</p> + +<p>Thus it was that Nina escaped the Witch, who, being a Forest Witch, did +not know of the Christmas Rose, because that is a garden flower.</p> + +<p class="right" > +—<i>J. Krohn.</i><br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"> +<img src="images/ch08.png" width="640" height="284" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<h3>THE TESTING OF THE TWO KNIGHTS<a name="TESTING" id="TESTING"></a></h3> + + +<p>Down in the town all was laughter, dancing and jollity. Banners were +flying from housetops and windows, flowers were wreathed about poles and +arches, and green branches decorated every gateway and door. Clearly, a +great festival was in progress.</p> + +<p>High on a hill overlooking the town, towered the old red castle of a +duke. In front of the castle, on a beautiful green mound, stood gilded +cannon, which at intervals sent thunderous peals through the town and +over the near-lying hills.</p> + +<p>Inside the castle, speeches were being made and toasts given, and many +were the eager shouts of "Hail to the Princess!" and "Long life to the +Princess!" for this was the birthday of the Duke's only daughter, +Princess Inga, and the festival was in her honor. At the conclusion of +each speech and chorus of joyous shouts up at the castle, the cannon +sent forth their signaling volley; and at each volley the people in the +town took up the rejoicing and heartily echoed "Hail! hail! Long life to +the Princess!" for they had loved the beautiful daughter of their good +Duke ever since that first day when she had appeared among them, a tiny +smiling child, in her little carriage drawn by a pair of white goats.</p> + +<p>After the feasting was over, the guests dispersed from the stately hall +and strolled about the terraces and gardens to enjoy the summer night +and its sweet refreshing air.</p> + +<p>Down one of the shadowy garden walks paced the Duke, and with him a man +conspicuous among the richly adorned guests for the dull simplicity of +his attire. He was no other than the Wise One from Fir Forest who wore +now, as at all times, his plain dark robe of brown,—against which +flowed in sharp contrast his long snow-white wavy beard.</p> + +<p>"The day has passed right merrily," said the Duke, "and there has been +no lack of congratulations and speeches; and all the speeches were to no +other end than to wish happiness and good fortune to my beloved +daughter. What showers of good wishes have been poured upon her to-day! +If she receives but a quarter of all these blessings, her life will +overflow with happiness."</p> + +<p>"I pray that it may," said the Wise One gravely. "But the Princess, like +all others, must win her own happiness."</p> + +<p>"What say you?" asked the Duke.</p> + +<p>The Wise One answered slowly, "Happiness comes from forgetting self and +living for the joy of others. In no other way can one be truly happy."</p> + +<p>"Yet I am happy," said the Duke.</p> + +<p>"You, dear Duke, yes!" answered the Wise One. "And well may you be +happy, for you never think of yourself. You take kindliest care of all +in your dukedom, ever doing good among the poor and the sick, and giving +pleasure to all those about you, especially to the Princess. To gladden +her is your greatest pleasure."</p> + +<p>"That is true," assented the Duke, with evident gratification. He could +not but be pleased at the Wise One's praise, never lightly given.</p> + +<p>"And now, my good friend," continued the Duke, "since we speak of the +Princess, I would fain ask your good counsel concerning her. Suitors +will come to strive to win her hand. Indeed, two have already asked to +appear before me, and I receive them in the morning. Many will seek her +for the dukedom's sake, since the one she weds will become duke after +me; and among all the suitors how shall we know which is a true and +worthy knight? She should have the best of all,—only the very best."</p> + +<p>"The best, like the happiest, is the person who thinks last of himself +and first of all others, he who is wholly free from selfishness and +envy. Only to such a one," said the Wise One earnestly, "only to such a +one should we give our dear Princess."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" responded the Duke. "That is right, and very well conceived +and stated, too. But how am I to test the hearts of those who come? +Their hearts are not of glass, so that one may peep into them! How shall +I discover, for instance, the true character of the rivals who seek +audience to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>The Wise One pondered for some minutes and then inquired slowly, "Who is +the most despised, the meanest in station, of all the castle servitors?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is easily said," responded the Duke, laughingly. "It could be +no other than that stupid, good-natured Klaus Klodrian. He is but the +fourth groom's under stable-boy, and yet he will never rise higher, +poor, dull-witted fellow!"</p> + +<p>"Good," said the Wise One. "He will serve our present purpose well. Let +the rivals each take his turn dwelling one day as honored guest at the +castle, and one day in the poor hut of Klaus Klodrian, and perhaps this +will disclose the true knight to us. If not, there are other tests, but +let us try this first."</p> + +<p>"Yes, let us try it," said the Duke. "Glad am I to rely on your help, +and most grateful for your counsel."</p> + +<p>After arranging the plan a little more in detail, the Wise One said +farewell and started on his homeward way. He was glad to leave behind +the festivities and excitement of the castle, and longed to reach his +peaceful little log hut in the midst of the great Fir Forest. Seldom +were other sounds heard there than the whispering of the wind in the +tree-tops, the glad twitter of birds and the whirring of their wings.</p> + +<p>Just as he was turning from the roadside into the forest, two knights +came galloping past, and he knew that they must be the expected suitors +for Princess Inga's hand. Both were young and stately and sat proudly +upon their beautiful horses. The one knight was clad in green velvet, +with graceful hat and waving plume of the same color, and the trappings +of his horse shone with gold. The other knight was richly dressed also, +but in blue velvet and with a snowy plume in his blue hat, and silver +on the trappings of his horse.</p> + +<p>As they rode gaily along, looking so happy and handsome, and exchanging +friendly words and glances, it would be hard indeed to wish success to +one at the expense of the other.</p> + +<p>The Wise One went hastily into the forest, directing his steps to its +densest part, where was sequestered his lonely home. Soon after, a great +blackbird stole forth from the woods, turned its yellow beak toward the +road which the two knights had taken and flew after them. The knights +quickly reached the town and rode to "The Golden Fish," an inn not far +below the castle.</p> + +<p>Before they went to their sleeping-rooms, the Blue Knight opened one of +the windows and leaned far out, looking up into the high, dark-blue +heavens, where the stars gleamed in myriads.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing?" asked the Green Knight.</p> + +<p>"Looking at the stars," answered the other.</p> + +<p>"But why, pray?" asked the Green Knight.</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is but a fancy of mine," answered the Blue Knight. "I like to +look up there every evening. The stars shine down upon us with such +benign watchfulness, that I would fain render some return; and to enjoy +their beauty seems all I can do."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The next morning the two knights started in good-fellowship riding at +leisurely pace, side by side, through the streets and up the castle +hill. Many eyes peeped out at them through windows and door cracks, and +the host of "The Golden Fish" rubbed his fat hands together with +pleasure. He saw that he should have a profitable day in his tavern, for +the town folk would soon come flocking in and out, to hear what they +could of the suitors.</p> + +<p>In the great gilded hall of the castle, the Duke sat in state to give +audience to the knights. Princess Inga stood by his side. White-robed +and with a cluster of dewy roses in her hand, she looked so fair, so +gracious and lovely, that both the cavaliers were enraptured.</p> + +<p>After the salutations were over, the Duke, in a straightforward manner, +gave them his friendly permission to make further acquaintance with the +Princess, provided they would yield to his wishes in one respect.</p> + +<p>To prevent either suitor from interfering with or standing in the way of +the other, the Duke would have each knight in turn spend one day with +the Princess and one day with Klaus Klodrian, a humble servitor of the +castle, who dwelt in a hut on the borders of the estate.</p> + +<p>If they had any disinclination to do this, the matter was at an end; for +this was the plan he had fixed upon, and it was unalterable.</p> + +<p>"Have the goodness, my honored guests," then continued the Duke, "to +agree between yourselves which of you shall remain here to-day, and +which shall now go to Klaus Klodrian."</p> + +<p>Since the Green Knight sat in silence with the evident intention of +awaiting what the other might say, the Blue Knight politely offered to +give his fellow-suitor the first day with the Princess. The offer was +accepted with much pleasure, and while the Green Knight bowed before the +Princess and began to talk with her, the Blue Knight was conducted out +of the audience hall, down a broad staircase, across a great courtyard, +and thence on and on, through garden and park, through barnyards and +stables, into the lane at the end of which stood the hut of the +stable-boy, Klaus Klodrian.</p> + +<p>Poor Klaus sat inside, being just about to begin his frugal noonday +meal. He jumped up in great confusion at the sudden entrance of a grand +gentleman.</p> + +<p>Holding a long loaf of black bread in his hands, he stood startled and +bewildered, his round eyes staring, his great mouth wide open; but when +the Blue Knight gave him a gentle greeting, courteously asked permission +to spend the day with him, and began to talk to him in a friendly +manner, Klaus gradually recovered from his confusion and became his +quiet, simple self again. He clattered clumsily about on his heavy +wooden shoes, with long straws from the stable dangling from his +clothes and littering the floor. Always good-natured and unused to any +attention save ridicule, he soon glowed with happiness because of the +Blue Knight's kind treatment.</p> + +<p>"I will show you something," said Klaus with joy and pride, though +shyly; and he brought forth his only treasure—two white doves in a +cage,—and began to talk eagerly about them. It seemed as if he could +reiterate the praises of these doves endlessly. To him there was nothing +equal to them in the whole world.</p> + +<p>That day would have been long and tedious, indeed, to the knight, if he +had not found something with which to occupy himself. With his ready +sympathy toward all, he soon discovered that Klaus Klodrian was not +altogether a hopeless dullard. If only one would tell him a thing twelve +or fourteen times, he could then understand most of it; but no one +heretofore had found this out, because no one had taken pains enough, or +been patient enough with him.</p> + +<p>The Blue Knight, feeling sorry for the poor witless fellow, labored +earnestly with him, giving him long explanations, telling him the same +things again and again, and showing him better ways of doing his work +with the horses and about the stalls.</p> + +<p>And Klaus Klodrian, as the day wore on, really began to show a little +comprehension. He laughed so heartily over it all, that it seemed as if +his wide mouth really did stretch from ear to ear.</p> + +<p>As for the Blue Knight, he became so absorbed in trying to teach Klaus, +that the long summer day was neither tiresome nor unhappy. Twice during +the day had he seen the Princess and the Green Knight walking together +in the castle garden. They talked and laughed, and seemed, he thought, +to have become exceedingly good friends. So also thought the Duke, and +he remarked upon it to the Wise One who, in his evening walk, came past +the castle.</p> + +<p>"Ah, but this Green Knight is a magnificent fellow," said the Duke. "And +he is very + +talented. He will gain the Princess. They are +already excellent friends, and I am greatly prejudiced in his favor. He +is really charming! You should have heard the good stories he told +to-day when we were dining. Yes, he will certainly gain the Princess."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 640px;"><a name="col16" id="col16"></a> +<img src="images/col16.jpg" width="640" height="939" alt="KLAUS BROUGHT FORTH HIS ONLY TREASURE." title="" /> +<span class="caption">KLAUS BROUGHT FORTH HIS ONLY TREASURE.</span> +</div> + +<p>"To-day he is sailing with the wind," said the Wise One. "Let us see him +to-morrow when the wind is against him."</p> + +<p>The sun had gone down and darkness had spread itself all around, but the +castle was brilliantly illuminated, and from its windows the light +streamed out, while soft strains of music floated through the halls and +into the summer air. There was a ball at the castle.</p> + +<p>Thoughts of the lovely Princess had been present with the Blue Knight +all the day long, no matter how intently he was laboring with Klaus; so +when evening came he sought to get just a glimpse of her through the +castle window.</p> + +<p>Yes—there she was. The Green Knight held her hand and danced with her. +She danced more gaily than any other in the merry company, and oh! how +proud and happy she looked! And the Duke nodded and smiled at the +handsome pair as they glided past him.</p> + +<p>The Blue Knight had seen enough. He turned away and walked sadly back to +the stable-boy's hut.</p> + +<p>Klaus Klodrian had also been out,—to hear the dance music. He could +remember a little of one of the airs, and now sat down upon the edge of +his straw bed, and tried to play it by striking one wooden shoe against +the other.</p> + +<p>"Good-night and sleep well," said Klaus, as the knight entered. "And +thanks for the day."</p> + +<p>"Good-night, and best thanks to yourself, my good Klaus Klodrian," was +the answer. "If I gain nothing more by my journey hither, I have learned +from you how little a man need have in order to be content, and that is +good. When men learn to be content with little, there will be less +trouble in the world."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," said Klaus Klodrian. "If one owns a pair of fine doves, one +can hold out against anything." And therewith he settled himself in the +bed and slept. The Blue Knight, however, went out under the summer sky +and gazed long at the stars. He was convinced that he had lost the +Princess, and that the Green Knight had won her; but as he stood there, +looking at the stars, a sense of peace stole over him, and in his heart +were none but good wishes for the Princess and the Green Knight. The +stars seemed to tell him that this was right, for never before had they +sparkled down upon him with such friendly rays.</p> + +<p>The next morning he awoke refreshed, and led out his horse, thinking it +was useless to press his suit after having seen the success which his +rival had met with the previous day. But before he had mounted, a +courteous message came from the Duke, requesting that he should now come +to the castle in his turn, according to their agreement.</p> + +<p>Likewise according to agreement, came the Green Knight down to Klaus +Klodrian; but though he came, he felt that he was being subjected to +great indignity, and showed his ill-humor plainly.</p> + +<p>Simple Klaus began at once to try to entertain him by showing his +precious doves, but the Green Knight sullenly told him to hold his +tongue; and when, a little after, poor Klaus, stupid and forgetful, +began again his rambling talk in praise of the doves, the Green Knight +impatiently kicked over their cage, and the terrified doves flew away.</p> + +<p>They took their flight through the Fir Forest, and when the Wise One saw +them, speeding with fear-quickened wings over the tree-tops, he said, +"Aha! The Green Knight likes not to sail against the wind!"</p> + +<p>Then he gave a call, and out flocked the blackbirds from the trees near +the Wise One's hut. These gloomy-looking, swift-flying birds were his +messengers. Daily they took their flight out into the world, far and +near, and when they came back to the forest, they told their master all +they had seen and heard. Thus he received much strange and minute +information, but so secretly, that no one guessed how he gained his +knowledge.</p> + +<p>This morning he gave some of the birds special directions, and the +result was that all day long, blackbirds hovered in unusual swarms near +the hut of Klaus Klodrian, and over the castle gardens. They had hovered +there, keeping watch, the day before also, but no one had remarked it. +Who notices a few blackbirds more or less?</p> + +<p>That was a hard day for Klaus Klodrian. He missed his kind instructor of +the previous day sadly, and had no gentle doves to cheer his heavy +spirit. The harsh treatment of the Green Knight made him so excited and +unhappy, that though he strove hard to hold fast to all that the Blue +Knight had taught him, he felt only confusion of mind, and in his +bewilderment made more stupid blunders than ever before. But worst of +all, it was impossible for the poor witless fellow to understand the +gathering wrath of the Green Knight, and so, now and again throughout +the day, he made attempts at friendly conversation. At last it ended in +his receiving a thrashing from the ill-tempered cavalier, so that when +evening closed in, poor Klaus was fain to stretch his bruised body on +the soft cool meadow grass, not daring to seek his straw bed.</p> + +<p>Who can tell how miserably the hours dragged by for the Green Knight, +with his jealous, uncontrolled temper? He could not endure to think of +the Blue Knight up at the castle, walking in the garden with the +Princess. And when he went near enough to see her pluck roses for her +companion, he thought that the roses the Blue Knight received were much +richer and redder than those which she had given him the day before from +the same bush!</p> + +<p>Venting his anger upon poor Klaus had not cooled it in the least. Rage +boiled within him hotter than ever, after he had given the thrashing. +And when the day was at last ended and the darkness fell, his bitter +envious thoughts drove him to the castle. Here were music and dancing +and feasting again, this time in honor of the Blue Knight.</p> + +<p>The Green Knight stole cautiously up to the balcony, hid himself in the +shadow of its twining vines, and looked at the gay scene within the +hall. Ah! There were the Princess and the Blue Knight. His heart burned +with envy; he forgot that the Blue Knight was having no more opportunity +and enjoyment than he himself had had. "Never shall that fellow become +Duke, never!" he muttered.</p> + +<p>Full of evil thoughts, the Green Knight drew his sword; but he did not +notice that as he did so, a bird rustled out from the vines above, and +flew swiftly away.</p> + +<p>The music ceased at last with prolonged, rapturous trill. The Princess, +however, was enjoying the ball so much that she asked the Duke if she +might not have just one single dance more. And well it was that her +request was granted.</p> + +<p>After this very last dance was finished, the Blue Knight turned toward +the balcony door, drawn by a great desire to greet the stars, so happy +and thankful did he feel.</p> + +<p>Just at this moment the Wise One strode into the hall. The Duke and all +the guests were greatly astonished, for never before had the revered +counselor visited the castle at such a late hour.</p> + +<p>The Wise One placed himself before the Blue Knight, gave a sign to the +liveried torch-bearers standing near, then threw wide open the large +doors leading to the balcony. There stood the Green Knight, with his +naked sword in his hand. His guilty gaze sought the ground—and his +limbs refused to flee.</p> + +<p>"What means this?" asked the Duke.</p> + +<p>"There stand Envy and Jealousy disclosed," answered the Wise One. Then +he turned and with gentle step approached the Princess. In her terror +she had grasped the Blue Knight's arm and was still clinging to him, +while tears shone in her tender eyes.</p> + +<p>The Wise One looked toward the Duke an instant and then said:</p> + +<p>"There stands the true knight! and I believe that the heart of the +Princess has chosen him."</p> + +<p>"And to him shall she be given," said the Duke. "The day with Klaus +Klodrian has indeed brought to light the true character of the suitors. +Your wise counsel has served us well, good friend. Will you not honor us +now by coming to the banqueting hall and being the first to offer +congratulations and good wishes to the Princess and to her proven +knight?"</p> + +<p>Then the music began again,—the musicians playing gladdest melodies +with all their hearts.</p> + +<p>The Green Knight plunged into the darkness and ran to his horse. Hastily +mounting, he sped his steed mercilessly forward, with whip and spur, +into the murky night.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Some days later the Blue Knight rode forth from the castle with face as +radiant as the morning. He was to ride to his home, bearing thither the +news of his good fortune, but he was soon to wend his way back. The +Princess watched as long as her eyes could see him, while he bowed and +waved fond adieus. Behind the Blue Knight rode, rather awkwardly, his +new squire,—none other than Klaus Klodrian! He was proudly conscious of +his fine long riding-boots and other new attire, and happier than ever +before; for not only was he now to serve the knight whose kindness had +won his heart, but his precious doves had been restored to him. The Wise +One had recovered them for him through the aid of the watchful +blackbirds.</p> + +<p class="right" > +—<i>J. Krohn.</i></p> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Top of the World Stories for Boys and +Girls, by Emilie Poulsson and Laura E. 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new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b93deea --- /dev/null +++ b/36465.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4374 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Top of the World Stories for Boys and Girls, by +Emilie Poulsson and Laura E. Poulsson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Top of the World Stories for Boys and Girls + Translated from the Scandinavian Languages + +Author: Emilie Poulsson + Laura E. Poulsson + +Illustrator: Florence Liley Young + +Release Date: June 19, 2011 [EBook #36465] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOP OF THE WORLD STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Hunter Monroe, Suzanne Shell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + +[Transcriber's note: obvious typographical errors have been corrected; +hyphenation has been regularised. Close quotes have not been added at +the end of paragraphs followed by more dialogue.] + + + + + TOP-OF-THE-WORLD STORIES + FOR BOYS AND GIRLS + TRANSLATED FROM THE SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES + + BY + EMILIE POULSSON AND LAURA E POULSSON + + ILLUSTRATED BY + FLORENCE LILEY YOUNG + + LORTHROP LEE & SHEPARD CO. BOSTON + + + Published, August, 1916 + Copyright, 1916, BY LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO. + _All Rights Reserved_ + + Top-of-the-World Stories + + Norwood Press BERWICK & SMITH CO. NORWOOD, MASS. U. S. A. + + _In memory of ten happy years, + this little book is dedicated to the children of + John, William, Anna, Martha, and George._ + + + + + PREFACE + + +Not for my dear usual public of little children have I gathered these +stories from Scandinavian authors, but for boys and girls who have +reached a stage which warrants a rather free range in Story Land. For +here are to be encountered creatures and events, deeds and ideas, +unsuited to youngest readers, but which have legitimate attraction for +boys and girls from nine to fourteen years old--the age varying +according to the child's maturity and previous reading. + +Five of these stories were written by the noted Finnish author, Zachris +Topelius, who wrote them, and much else, for the children of Finland and +Sweden more than fifty years ago. His loving sympathy for children, and +his earnest desire to write only what was wholesome and good for them, +shine through all his literary work for the young. His "Laesning foer +Barn" (Reading for Children) in several volumes, contains stories, true +and imaginative, poems, songs, hymns, and many charming plays for +children to act. Although a Finn, Topelius wrote in the Swedish +language. + +By the kind permission of Miss Margaret Boecher I have made use of her +excellent rendering of _Sampo Lappelil_. + +Of the other stories presented here, two (_The Forest Witch_ and _The +Testing of the Two Knights_) were translated from the Danish, and one +(_Anton's Errand, or The Boy Who Made Friends by the Way_) from the +Norwegian. + +The translations are not strictly literal, neither are they, I am sure, +unjustifiably free. The liberty exercised consists chiefly of omission. +For example, in Knut Spelevink, extra incidents were omitted which +dragged the story to a tedious length or marred it by the inartistic, +outworn device of explaining Knut's adventures as a dream; in _The +Princess Lindagull_, some details of the wild-beast fight were left out; +in _A Legend of Mercy_, a hampering husk was stripped off from the good +seed of the quaint little story. Most of the minor changes were made +for the sake of smoothness and clarity. + +In general, wherever I, as translator or editor, have varied from the +original, I have done so to make the stories as directly appealing, as +delightful, and as profitable as possible, for our boys and girls. + + EMILIE POULSSON. + + _Boston, Mass._ + + + + + LIST OF STORIES + + + PAGE + + + KNUT SPELEVINK 11 + + THE PRINCESS LINDAGULL 39 + CHAPTER I. The Palace of Shah Nadir 39 + CHAPTER II. The Arena 48 + CHAPTER III. The Captivity 58 + CHAPTER IV. The Release 72 + + SIKKU AND THE TROLLS 86 + + SAMPO LAPPELIL 105 + + A LEGEND OF MERCY 130 + + ANTON'S ERRAND, OR THE BOY WHO MADE FRIENDS BY THE WAY 138 + + THE FOREST WITCH 175 + + THE TESTING OF THE TWO KNIGHTS 185 + + + + + ILLUSTRATIONS + + + It was a life-and-death race (Page 126) _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE + + "Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the Snow King 24 + + The pine-tree raised itself high in air 32 + + Since Shah Nadir could refuse her nothing, he granted + her request 46 + + In the Lapp tent 60 + + Lindagull stepped forth in the clear day 70 + + Out of the mist arose a slender figure 80 + + "Oh, ho!" exclaimed Sikku, recognizing her as the + troll woman 90 + + Sampo was left lying in a snow-drift 114 + + On the back of the reindeer with golden horns 126 + + There stood the wolf and the bear 136 + + The lizard lay perfectly still, listening 146 + + "Turn back, turn back," said the dove 158 + + The Mayor was overwhelmed with wonder 172 + + Nina stood with arms around her little brother 178 + + Klaus brought forth his only treasure 196 + + + + + TOP-OF-THE-WORLD STORIES + +[Illustration] + + KNUT SPELEVINK[1] + + +Knut was a poor orphan boy who lived with his grandmother at Perlebank +in a little hut on the shore. + +He had a shirt, a jacket, a pair of trousers and a cap; and what more +does one need in summer? In winter he had woolen stockings and +birch-bark shoes. That wasn't so little, after all. He was +cheerful,--always happy indeed, though always hungry. It is a great art +to know how to be happy and hungry at the same time! + +His good grandmother was so poor that she seldom had enough food for the +boy to eat all he wanted. She spun woolen yarn and sent Knut with it to +Mr. Peterman's grand estate, The Ridge, several miles away, where he +could always sell the yarn. When Knut returned with the money, +Grandmother would buy flour and bake bread. She made it in big flat +cakes with a hole in the middle, strung these cakes on a stick and hung +the stick high up in the hut where the cakes would dry and harden, and +could be kept for a long time. If the yarn brought a good price, she +might even buy some sour milk, too. Potatoes they got from a tiny +fenced-in field, no larger than the floor of a small room. Then, too, +Grandmother owned a fish-net, so they had fresh fish sometimes,--when +Fisher Jonas's boy could help Knut to put out the net. + +It was indeed seldom, however, that Knut and his grandmother were well +supplied with food, and the boy's little stomach often called for more; +but even then he was as cheerful as ever. + +One morning he sat on the beach, picking up yellowish stones that looked +a little like soft, warm, boiled potatoes. Poor Knut! They would not do +to eat, and he laughingly threw them away, but as he did so, he happened +to see something that lay among the stones. Picking it up, he found that +it was a little whistle or pipe made of reed, such as children often +make for themselves when playing on the shore. There was nothing at all +remarkable about it, but Knut thought he would see if it gave any sound. +Good! It really did. You could play three tones upon it,--_pa_, _py_, +and _pu_. When Knut discovered that, he just for fun stuffed the whistle +into his jacket pocket. + +To-day happened to be a hungry day; Knut had had no breakfast. "Suppose +I were sitting now in Mr. Peterman's kitchen at The Ridge," thought +Knut; and at once he imagined he could smell herring being fried! + +Well, he must do something; so he seated himself on a big rock near the +water and began to fish, but the fish would not bite. There had been a +storm the day before, but to-day the sea shone like a mirror under the +bright sun, and its slow heaving waves swung clear as glass against the +shore. + +"I do wonder what Grandmother has for dinner," thought Knut to himself. + +Just then a wave rolled up so high that it wet Knut's bare foot, and he +heard a voice murmur from the wave, "Knut, have you found the magic pipe +that belongs to the sea-princess? She left it on the shore and wishes +she could find it. You can blow three tones on it, _pa_, _py_, _pu_; and +they all work magic,--_pa_ makes the hearers sleep, _py_ makes the +hearers weep, but _pu_ sets them to laughing." + +"What?" exclaimed Knut. "Is it a magic pipe? Well, you may go your way, +big wave. I found the pipe and I think I shall keep it for a while." + +The wave murmured something,--no one knows what,--rolled slowly away and +did not come back again. + +Knut took the pipe from his pocket and looked closely at it. "So you are +a magic pipe, are you? And can charm, can you? Well, charm a fish on to +my hook, if you please." And with that he blew _pa_, _pa_. + +He had not blown very long before a perch, then a pike, then a white +fish floated up to the surface of the water, lying on their sides as if +they were asleep. + +"Here are fresh fish to be had," thought Knut; and he continued to blow. +In a short time the whole surface of the water near the shore was +covered with floating fish, more white fish, several kinds of perches, +sticklebacks, bream, carp, pike, and salmon,--all the lively finny +throng that live in the sea. + +"This will be a great catch!" thought Knut, and he sprang up to the +house to get a hand-net. + +When he came back, the shore was crowded with water-birds. The sea-gulls +were the greediest and shrieked "Grab! Grab! Grab!" so that they could +be heard a mile away! But there were many others keeping them +company,--ducks and wild geese, together with swans. All these ravenous +visitors were hard at work devouring the floating fish; and in the +midst of the throng was a great sea-eagle that had swooped down and +seized a large salmon in his talons. + +"Go away, you thieves!" called Knut, picking up stones from the beach +and throwing them at the birds. Some were hit in the leg, others in the +wing, but none seemed to think of dropping his prey. + +Just then a shot sounded, then another and another, from a near-lying +bay. Some of the birds fell to the water and floated, lying on their +sides like the fish. The firing continued until all the birds had been +either shot down or sent screaming away, scattering in every direction. + +A boat containing three hunters now approached the beach. The men were +Mr. Peterman and two friends of his, and it was they who had shot the +birds. They stepped ashore in good humor to gather up their booty. + +"Why, there is Knut!" said Mr. Peterman. "How in the world did you get +so many birds together here at Perlebank?" + +"I was playing on my pipe for the fish and the birds came to the party," +answered Knut, jokingly. + +"Then you must certainly be a wonderfully clever player," said Mr. +Peterman. "And hereafter, your name shall be Knut Spelevink."[2] + +"All right," said Knut. He had had no surname before and thought he +might as well have Spelevink as Anderson, Soederlund or Mattsson. + +"But listen, Knut Spelevink; why do you look so poorly to-day? You are +as thin as a rail," said Mr. Peterman. + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly, who see all this food and have not eaten +anything since yesterday noon?" replied Knut, in his cheerful fashion. + +"H'm," said Mr. Peterman. "Well, come to The Ridge to dinner to-day, +since you have provided us with such a good catch. But don't come until +four o'clock because the birds won't be plucked and roasted before +that." + +"Thank you most humbly," answered Knut; but he thought to himself that +four o'clock was rather late for any one who had eaten nothing since +yesterday! + +Mr. Peterman and his friends rowed away and Knut went home to his +grandmother. + +"Well, Knut, have you seen any fish to-day?" + +"Oh, yes! I've seen plenty; but the birds ate the fish and Mr. Peterman +shot the birds." + +"Too bad, Knut. We have nothing for dinner but two herring, four little +potatoes and a half-slice of bread." + +"No matter, Grandmother; you eat that. I am invited to The Ridge for +dinner and I shall bring you a bit of cheese in my pocket if I can." + +"Don't take the short cut through Kiikkala Forest, Knut; there are elves +there, and three troll-kings,--the Mountain King, the Snow King and the +Forest King. Go, rather, along the shore,--that way is safer; only there +you must look out for the mermaids." + +"But it is a long way around by the shore, Grandmother, and I haven't +had anything to eat since yesterday." + +"Well, go whichever way you will then, but don't think about food. That +leads one into temptation." + +"No, Grandmother. I shall think about the next Catechism examination, +and study hard as I go along." + +Knut started on his way, thinking about the Catechism, but when he came +to the beginning of the short cut, he thought: "Surely I should be a +goose if I, with such an empty stomach, should walk seven miles instead +of half that." + +And so he turned off into the short cut through Kiikkala Forest and +determined to hear himself say the Catechism while he was going through +the woods. + +He had not gone far before he saw a thin little old man, dragging a cart +loaded with twelve iron bars. + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the old man. "Why do you look so poorly +to-day?" + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly, when I have eaten nothing but Catechism +since yesterday noon? But how did you know my new name?" + +"I know all names," answered the old man, who was really a troll. + +"Sha'n't I help you?" asked good-natured Knut. "You are all out of +breath with that heavy load." + +"Push away if you like, Spelevink." So Knut pushed, and the old man +pulled and they soon came to a big mountain in the forest. + +"This is where I live," said the old man. "Step in and I will give you +something good to eat, because you helped me with my load." So saying, +he entered the mountain. Knut's stomach said follow him, and Knut +followed. + +Soon they were in a great underground palace where everything glittered +with gold, silver and precious stones. + +"Do you live here?" asked Knut. + +"I should say I did," replied the old man. "I am the King of the +Mountain. To-morrow I give the marriage feast for my daughter; and my +servants are so driven with work that I myself had to bring my food from +the forge where these bars are made." + +"Wasn't that iron in the cart?" asked Knut. + +"Bar iron, my lad, bar iron of the best sort. That is something far +finer than simple iron ore. Bar iron is my favorite food, especially +when it is at white heat. Have you ever eaten bar iron?" + +"Not that I can remember," said Knut. + +"Then you shall be allowed to taste something extra fine for once. See, +I lay two bars in the hot furnace fire. In three minutes they will be at +white heat, and you shall creep into the furnace and eat of them +hot,--fresh cooked!" + +"Thank you very much," said Knut. "But give me rather a bit of bread and +a bowl of sour milk." + +"Oh, come now! You don't know what is good! Get into the furnace there. +Be quick! The iron is red hot already." + +"I believe you!" said Knut. "It is almost too hot for me." + +"What nonsense!" growled the old troll. And he tried with all his might +to thrust Knut into the furnace. + +But the one who took to his heels at that instant was Knut. He ran for +dear life, was lucky enough to find the outside door and was soon again +on the forest path. + +"Grandmother was right," thought Knut. "I really must hear myself the +Catechism and keep my mind on it." + +While Knut was thinking of one of the long explanations following the +oft-recurring question, "What does that mean?" he suddenly felt very +cold. The cause was soon evident, for behold! although it was summer, +there, at a turn in the path, stood a snow mountain! + +"This is remarkable," thought Knut. "How does any one here ever get warm +food?" + +With these words he climbed up on the snow, Catechism forgotten and +thoughts of food uppermost in his mind; and at once he tumbled down +into a deep hole, and found himself in a magnificent palace of +glittering ice. Starlight and moonlight illuminated it. All the great +rooms were ornamented with shining ice-mirrors, all the floors were +strewn with diamonds of hoar frost. Clumsy snow men rolled about on +their stomachs over the floor. Presently one stood upright. He was a +long-bodied stiff creature, with icicles in his hair, icicles in his +beard, a robe of thin sheet-ice, and shoes of frozen berry-juice. + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the Snow King. "Why do you look so +poorly to-day?" + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing but Catechism and +bar iron to eat since yesterday noon?" said Knut with chattering teeth. + +"You are too hot, young man, you are too hot,--that is what is the +matter with you. I am the Snow King and I bring up all my subjects to be +ice-clad--turn them into regular lumps of ice,--and I will do the same +for you. Chief Officer of the Snow Knights, dip this boy seven times in +ice-cold water, hang him on a hook and let him freeze." + +"No,--thank you,--wait a little," suggested Knut. "Give me instead a mug +of hot posset. I am already a lump of ice!" + +"Chief Officer of the Snow Knights, give him a bit of frozen +quicksilver, and a mug of chipped ice before you dip him," ordered the +Snow King. + +Knut wanted to run away but it was already too late. The Chief Officer +had grabbed him by the collar, and it would have been all over with Knut +if he had not chanced to get hold of his magic pipe. Knowing that there +was not another thing he could do to try to save himself but to blow on +his pipe, blow he did, right lustily; and this time the sound was +_pu_, _pu_. + +Instantly the long-bodied troll's features were distorted by a grin that +should have represented merriment, but he was far from merry. He was +boiling with rage over the resistless desire to laugh that unexpectedly +took possession of him. He laughed and laughed; yes, he laughed so +hard that the icicles fell from his hair and chin, his knees doubled +under him, and at last his very head burst into bits! All the snow men +laughed so violently that they, too, fell to pieces; the Chief Officer +sank to the floor, becoming only a pool of mushy, dirty water. The +ice-mirrors broke into small fragments and the whole palace changed into +a wild whirl of snow! + +[Illustration: "GOOD-DAY, KNUT SPELEVINK," SAID THE SNOW KING.--_Page 25_.] + +Knut himself was so overcome by laughter that it was only by the +strongest effort he could hold his lips together on the pipe and keep on +blowing. + +While the snow still whirled about him, he suddenly noticed that he was +again upon the forest path. And lo! the next instant the air cleared, +the last of the snow disappeared in swift-running streams, and summer, +high summer, ruled once more. + +"Now I _will_ look out for myself," thought Knut as he tramped steadily +forward; and he began again to pick out from his memory an answer to +the question, "What does that mean?" + +He had not walked far before he found himself beside the most beautiful +little wooded hill, where strawberries gleamed red all through the +grass. It could not be dangerous to pick a few strawberries to eat, when +one was not to have dinner until four o'clock in the afternoon, thought +hungry Knut; and he climbed a little way up the hill. + +No sooner was he there than he saw that what he had taken for +strawberries was nothing else than many thousand charming little elves +in red clothing. They were no taller than a strawberry stem, and were +dancing merrily around a green hillock upon which sat their queen who +was about three inches tall. + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink," said the elf-queen. "Why do you look so +poorly to-day?" + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing to eat since +yesterday noon except Catechism and bar iron and frozen quicksilver? I +thought that you people were strawberries." + +"Poor thing, he is hungry," said the queen to her lady-in-waiting. "Give +him a dewdrop and the leg of a gnat so that he may for once eat until he +is really satisfied." + +"Thank you very much," answered Knut. "But might I perhaps have a dish +of berries and a pail of milk instead?" + +"What coarseness!" said the elf-queen, highly disgusted with such a +gluttonous appetite. "Do you know, you human child, that you came into +our kingdom without a pass, and that you trod to death three and thirty +of our faithful subjects so that there is nothing left of them but a red +stain? And you have refused our gracious offer of food and shown +yourself to be disgustingly greedy, besides. Forest spinners of our +court, do your duty." + +Scarcely were the words spoken before a legion of long-legged spiders +swung down from the trees and began to spin around Knut a network of +countless fine threads. Knut did not relish this, and thought it a very +poor joke. He beat away the webspinners, and tried to return to the +forest path, but could not stir from the spot. His feet were tangled in +an all too strong net, his arms were glued to his sides, his eyes even +were plastered shut, and at last down he fell in the grass. + +He could see nothing but he could hear how the whole hill rang with +laughter; the elves formed a ring around him, danced over him, nipped +him on the cheeks like gnats, and were beside themselves with joy over +their comical trick. + +"Lie there and starve until you can be satisfied with a dewdrop and a +gnat leg," said the elves. + +Knut fell to pleading with them. "Listen now, little elves," said he. "I +shall be content if I may bite on a small piece of reed I have in my +jacket pocket. Will not some of you be so good as to stick it into my +mouth?" + +The elves thought it would be inexpressibly amusing to see this greedy +human child eat a piece of reed; so four of them climbed into his jacket +pocket and with their united strength drew forth the magic pipe, which, +with great effort, they succeeded in putting into his mouth. Thereupon +they danced more merrily than ever around and over him, and the hill +resounded with their delicate laughter. It was like the humming of a +million swarms of gnats. + +Knut no sooner felt the pipe between his lips than he began to blow; and +this time the tone was _py_, _py_. At once the merry laughter came +to an end, and sobbing was heard from every direction,--a sound as of a +hundred thousand sobbing together, not unlike what one hears in summer +when the beating rain lashes the hill. + +Knut could not see, but he knew that the elves were crying and he felt +that it was a sin, no matter what they had done, to make such merry +creatures sob so grievously. + +"Set me free and you shall laugh again," said Knut to the weeping elves. + +Now it is the elves' greatest joy to laugh. Indeed, they laugh away +their short lives in the summer evenings knowing nothing of sorrow. + +At Knut's words, hundreds of elves began immediately to chase away the +spiders, and to set free the prisoner, loosening his arms and his legs, +and unplastering his eyelids. Knut could now see his tiny enemies and +his anger rose again, so that he blew _py_ once more. Oh, how the +poor little creatures grimaced and trembled! They wished so much to +laugh and yet they must weep because of that frightful _py_! + +Knut had not the heart to tease them any longer. He changed the note to +_pu_ and the elves became almost crazy with joy. They leaped so high +in the air that they nearly overtook the larks, and as they came down, +some of them alighted upon Knut and he had to shake them off. He did not +notice that one elf had fallen into his pocket and remained there. + +"Good-bye, little elves," said Knut as he hastily set off again on his +way through the forest. + +"I must watch out well for that other troll, the Forest King," thought +Knut. "He is said to be the worst of all. Where was I in the Catechism? +Oh, yes. 'What does that mean?'" + +After a while Knut came to a swamp at the roadside where cloudberries +grew in profusion. + +"It can't be wrong to pick a few of these berries as I pass by, since I +sha'n't have any food until four o'clock this afternoon," thought Knut. +To reach the swamp he had to climb over a huge fallen pine-tree, which +lay in the way. Scarcely did he find himself clambering across its +gnarly trunk and thick close branches than the pine-tree, to Knut's +great fright, raised itself high in air, and roared with a gruff voice: + +"Good-day, Knut Spelevink. Why do you look so poorly to-day?" + +Knut, hanging over the road in the pine-tree's top, still found courage +to answer: + +"Why shouldn't I look poorly when I have had nothing to eat since +yesterday noon except Catechism, and bar iron, and frozen quicksilver +and a gnat's leg?" + +"Well, why did you interrupt my midday nap?" asked the pine-tree. "Don't +you know that I am the King of the Forest and rule over all the trees +and swamps for seven times seven miles around! Here you see my palace. +Haven't I a fine place to live in?" + +Knut saw nothing but a bleak wilderness, so did not answer the question +but ventured to inquire most humbly if he might not get down and pick +some cloudberries to eat. + +"What is that? Cloudberries?" roared the Forest King. "Take a fir-tree +for a ladle and ladle into yourself seven cartloads of swamp mud. That +is what I call a regular meal. It is my favorite food." + +"Perhaps you would give me one load of apple marmalade, and a moderately +big ditch full of wild honey instead!" suggested merry Knut. + +"Apple marmalade? Humph! I shall make marmalade of you for disturbing me +in my nap. My Lord Eagle, I give the boy to you. You can tear him into +Scotch collops for your young ones." + +[Illustration: THE PINE-TREE RAISED ITSELF HIGH IN AIR.--_Page 31_.] + +Knut now became aware of an enormous eagle sitting in the top of the +tree and staring at him with ravenous eyes. He could not jump down, for +the pine-tree held him fast by his arms and legs. He should soon be torn +into Scotch collops. + +Knut Spelevink had never eaten collops, but however much he liked food, +it seemed unbearable that he himself should become food for eagles. + +The situation was indeed dangerous, but at this critical moment Knut +felt something light as a flower creeping up his arm, up to his jacket +collar, then to his chin and finally to his mouth. It was the little elf +that had hidden in Knut's pocket, and was now creeping along and, with +incredible difficulty, dragging after him the magic pipe which was seven +times as long as himself. + +"Blow!" said the elf. + +Knut felt the pipe in his mouth and began to blow with a will. This time +the tone was again _pa_. + +The Forest King yawned, stretched out his branches, and mumbled +something about having been disturbed in his midday nap. Then he threw +himself down at full length beside the swamp, and in his fall crushed +beneath his huge trunk the big ravenous eagle which the magic pipe had +made too drowsy to fly away. + +As Knut crept from among the branches, he heard a snoring through the +forest as loud as if a hundred bears were growling their best for a +wager; and he again took to his heels as nimbly as he could. + +"I must certainly look out," thought Knut. "It is indeed dangerous here +in the forest." + +Without stopping for cloudberries or anything else, he continued to run +and run while he could, but it was not easy, and by and by he had to +walk slowly for the path was almost overgrown. The bramble-bushes seemed +to have a spite against his trousers, tree branches caught hold of his +jacket, and clung fast to it; the heather and the twigs of the +blueberry-bushes pricked his bare feet But to The Ridge he meant to get +and to The Ridge he did get without further adventure, arriving,--tired, +hungry and blowsy,--at precisely four o'clock in the afternoon. + +"Welcome, Knut Spelevink," said Mr. Peterman. "You look right cheerful +this afternoon!" + +"Why shouldn't I look cheerful when I have been offered feasts of hot +bar iron, frozen quicksilver, a dewdrop and a gnat's leg, and seven +cartloads of mud?" laughed Knut. + +"Why, that is a good many courses for one day," said Mr. Peterman. "One +ought not to think much about food. When any one constantly thinks of +what he can get to eat, he is in danger of encountering trolls and such +like, who only fool him. But perhaps you are hungry, my boy?" + +Knut blinked in embarrassment, squeezed his cap between his hands and +said that he was not yet exactly starved to death. + +"Now that rejoices me!" exclaimed Mr. Peterman. "I ate a late breakfast +and the servants have not yet had time to pluck all the birds. You just +wait until eight o'clock and then you shall have some supper." + +This was worse than hot bar iron and seven cartloads of mud, Knut +thought; but he bit his nails and answered that he could wait, of +course, adding to himself, however, "I had better say the Catechism over +again to pass the time." + +Now this Mr. Peterman was a great joker and was only teasing Knut. He +had himself been a poor boy and knew well enough what it meant, when +famished, to wait four hours more for food. + +"Knut Spelevink," said he, "I perceive that you can do more than think +about things to eat. Do you realize that conquering one's self and being +able to give up, even to the very necessities of life, what one craves +here in this world is a kind of heroism? You can conquer yourself like a +hero and keep your merry humor through everything. I like you, my boy, +and I am sure you will make a fine man if you have enough to eat and go +to school as I mean you shall; for I am going to look after you from +this time on. + +"But what does that mean?" continued Mr. Peterman, sniffing. "It seems +to me I smell roast bird! Walk in, my boy. You shall sit with me, at my +own table, and for once in your life eat all you want." + +When Mr. Peterman said "What does that mean?" Knut thought it sounded as +if catechising were going to begin; but the door to the dining-room was +thrown open at that moment, and there stood a dinner-table laden with +smoking-hot savory food awaiting the hungry guests. + +Mr. Peterman led Knut in by the hand and Knut sat at the table like a +lord; and there he might have been sitting yet if he had not long since +carried home the promised piece of cheese to his grandmother, and been +sent to school. + +As for the magic pipe, he had used that three times and once more, and +it had served him well in Kiikkala Forest; but try as he might he could +never again get the magic tones from it, and one day he lost it. The +Catechism, however, stayed in his mind, and Knut could recite it from +end to end any time he was asked. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + +[1] Pronounced K'nut Spa-le-veenk. + +[2] "Spelevink" may be translated "Merrymouth." + +[Illustration] + + + + + THE PRINCESS LINDAGULL[3] + + +_Come, boys and girls, let us fly on the wings of the wind to the land +of a thousand tales, to the home of roses and tulips! to the land where +beautiful fairies build their castles in the red sunrise, and black +gnomes flit around in the darkness of midnight; where the sun shines +like fire over the blue mountains in Afghanistan, and the quiet +water-lilies are reflected in the deep lakes; where tigers' eyes gleam +between the reeds by the shore, and where sun-browned, dark-eyed people +glow with hate and burn with love. Let us fly to Persia!_ + + + + + CHAPTER I + + THE PALACE OF SHAH NADIR + + +There was once a Persian king whose name was Shah Nadir, and who was +exceedingly rich. Large and beautiful countries with many millions of +people were under his sway. Great rooms in his palace were filled with +gold and precious stones; and his ships, laden with the riches of India, +sailed over every sea. When he appeared in his capital city, Ispahan, he +was surrounded by a life guard of a thousand men dressed in silver armor +which glistened in the sun; and fifty thousand knights on most beautiful +horses, with golden saddles and harnesses glittering with jewels, stood +ready to speed away and conquer the world at his bidding. + +But the mighty Shah Nadir was old and had no longer any desire for war +and conquest. He had won many battles; many hostile cities had perished +in ashes before his wrath; and many, many a knight had been pierced +through by his sword in the days when his arm was young and none could +withstand him. + +But now he was old and weary, and liked best to recline on the luxurious +purple divans of his gorgeous palace. Occasionally, however, when +golden-edged clouds shielded the burning Persian sun, and a delightful +breeze blew down from Mt. Zagrosch, the old Shah would seat himself in +his richly ornamented palanquin borne by eight black slaves clad in +silver tissue, and allow himself to be carried out that he might review +his troops or watch the wild animals fighting in the arena. + +Shah Nadir had many sons, because he had also many wives, as is the +custom in eastern lands; but his sons brought him little joy. They were +thankless and full of selfish ambition, thinking that their father lived +too long, and plotting against his life and his throne. Therefore the +king drove them all away from his court to distant provinces which they +ruled over as viceroys. But he kept at home with himself his dear and +only daughter, the Princess Lindagull, because he loved her more than +all else on earth,--yes, more than all his treasures and all his riches. + +Now it is well known that such a name as "Lindagull" had never before +been heard in Persia, nor could it indeed be rightly pronounced by the +Persians. The mother of the princess had come from the far North, no one +knew exactly whence. She had been captured in her youth by African +pirates, and after many adventures had been sold to the king of Persia, +who, on account of her extreme beauty, took her in wedlock and loved her +more than all his other wives. + +This beautiful sultana, who was now dead, had called her only daughter +"Lindagull," signifying that the princess was as lovely and pure as the +gold of the sun, shimmering through the lindens of the North. + +And it is true that a more beautiful or purer being could not be found +if you searched the wide world over than the Princess Lindagull. She had +the royal bearing of her father; but in form and disposition she was +like her mother. With a complexion as dazzling as Scandinavian snow and +eyes as soft as August stars on a moonless night, she had also a heart +noble, tender and good; and so there was no one in Shah Nadir's whole +kingdom who did not love the Princess Lindagull; for the fame of her +beauty and goodness had spread through all Persia. This the old king +knew full well, and his proud heart melted like wax every time he looked +upon his lovely child. She was the delight of his eyes;--his comfort by +day, his dream by night. One word of hers could quell his highest rage. +He could not refuse her any request, even to the freedom of a slave. + +When Shah Nadir thought upon his sons with their evil hearts, and of the +trouble which they had made in the kingdom, he decided that none of them +was fit for succession to his throne; and he made up his mind to choose +for his daughter some good and noble man as a husband, and to leave to +her and her descendants the inheritance of his riches and his kingdom. + +The fatherly affection of Shah Nadir for the Princess Lindagull was +right and beautiful; but he fell into the great error of allowing it to +displace other loves and to lead him away from his duties to his +subjects. So a heavy punishment came upon him. + + * * * * * + +No one could live in a more magnificent and delightful manner than did +the Princess Lindagull. In a cool grove, under the shadow of high +palm-trees, amid the music of rippling fountains and surrounded by the +fragrance of a thousand flowers, stood the princess's lovely castle. In +its lofty apartments the sunbeams broke through windows of limpid +rock-crystal. The princess rested on the most elegant couch at night; +and when morning came she was led by her attendant ladies to bathe in a +grand basin of mother-of-pearl into which a fountain poured forth its +waters and made a deep pool, the water playfully rippling around her +delicate figure as she bathed. + +In the daytime she wrought exquisite embroideries with her maidens, or +listened to the songs of the birds or the music of the zither, or +wandered in the grove, playing like a child with the yellow butterflies +and dark red roses. + +The Princess Lindagull was not more than twelve years old; but in the +Eastern countries twelve years makes one appear as old as sixteen in +Northern countries. + +It is not a good thing to live constantly in luxury, and to see one's +wishes fulfilled "at the least wink" as were those of Princess +Lindagull. Many persons become proud and wilful under these +circumstances; but this little princess did not. She merely became +low-spirited. She did not know why it was, but the playing of the +butterflies, the fragrance of the flowers, the rippling of the waters, +and the zither's sweet sounds pleased her no more. She realized that her +heart was often empty, and noticed with surprise that she often had a +desire to weep. She could not understand it at all, and still less could +her ladies. She did not know, this little Lindagull, that as a dark +frame enhances many a picture, so trial and sorrow give one's happy days +an added luster. With pleasures and naught but pleasures in her life, +happiness was slipping from her. She must experience sorrow before she +could know true joy. + +Nevertheless, the princess believed that she had discovered the reason +of her longings. It must be because she had always lived in the +seclusion of her palace. She determined to go out, at least for once, +into the rush and whirl of human life; and so, when her father next came +to visit her, she asked that she might be allowed to see the great +exhibition of wild beasts soon to be held at Ispahan in honor of the +king's sixtieth birthday. Since Shah Nadir could refuse her nothing, he +granted her request; realizing, however, that it was the first time he +had ever done so with absolute unwillingness. + + * * * * * + +Such a conqueror as Shah Nadir, to whom half Asia paid tribute, could +not fail to have many enemies. This, however, troubled him but little, +because he had long held them in complete subjection. + +One of these enemies had fallen under the personal dislike of the king; +and in addition to the usual ceremonies of submission Shah Nadir had +required the captive foe to suffer one of the greatest indignities of +the East,--that is, the shaving of his beard. Having thus contributed to +the king's vindictive amusement, the captive was set free. + +[Illustration: SINCE SHAH NADIR COULD REFUSE HER NOTHING, HE GRANTED HER +REQUEST.--_Page 43_.] + +This man was king of the giants in Turan (that vast, wild region of rock +and desert north of Persia) and his name was Bom Bali. Once, when +warring in the far, far North, Bom Bali had captured a wizard named +Hirmu who could change himself into any animal whatever, and afterward +resume his own natural shape. + +Now when Bom Bali learned through his spies that a grand exhibition of +wild beasts was to be held in Ispahan, he summoned Hirmu into his +presence and said to him: + +"Dog, dost thou wish to live?" + +Hirmu answered, "My lord, may thy beard never grow less! Thou knowest +that thy dog desires greatly to live." + +Bom Bali said, "The first day of the month Moharrem there is to be an +exhibition of wild beasts in Ispahan. Shah Nadir has sent his hunters +into every mountain, even to mountains in our kingdom, to ensnare +fierce creatures for the contests. Take upon thyself the form of a +tiger. Be thou captured by the hunters. Steal and bring back to me the +Princess Lindagull who is the pride of Shah Nadir and of all Asia." + +"Thy hound shall fulfil all thy commands," said the Lappish wizard. + +Soon after this conversation, the Persian hunters came to Turan, +captured alive all the wild beasts they could from its mountains and +deserts, and carried them in strong cages back to Ispahan. + +[3] Pronounced Lin'dah-gool. + + + + + CHAPTER II + + THE ARENA + + +The first day of the month Moharrem had now arrived and the arrangements +had all been completed in the capital city. Many of the most dangerous +and terrible wild animals from India, Arabia, Turan, and even from the +Desert of Sahara, were held in readiness in the side rooms or stalls of +the immense semi-circular arena which had been especially built for +this occasion. More than sixty thousand spectators were seated on the +numerous tiers of seats stretching all around the arena. For the safety +of these a strong iron railing had been erected between the benches and +the fighting-ground. + +Early in the morning the whole town was in excitement. Princess +Lindagull was as happy as a child. She was going to be allowed to fly as +a bird out of its cage! She was going to see a play wherein the actors +were real lions, real tigers;--not like those represented by men dressed +in skins which they took off after they had finished the play. + +The spectators were assembled and all things awaited the arrival of the +king. At last he came, followed by his shining guard; and not he alone, +but with him his daughter, the wondrously beautiful Princess Lindagull. +According to the custom in Eastern lands she was veiled. The people +could only admire her charming manners and royal carriage as she, +followed by her attendants, rode in upon a little zebra which caprioled +with pride at bearing such a burden. + +Although no one could see her countenance every one knew by hearsay the +loveliness of the young princess. All knew, too, that she by her +intercession had saved the life of many an unhappy captive, and that she +each day sent out her maidens with medicine and bread for the poor in +Ispahan. Therefore, when she now for the first time showed herself +before the populace, there broke forth such a shout of joy from +thousands of voices that its like had not been heard since the day when +Shah Nadir celebrated his Day of Triumph after his grand conquest, with +twenty captive kings in his train. + +It is probable that the princess blushed; but no one saw it. She seated +herself beside her father on the richly embroidered purple robe which +was spread over the royal bench. And then began the exercises of the +day. + +A strange strife between a wildcat and a pelican came first. One of the +pelican's wings had been clipped so that it could not fly away, and +though it fought fiercely, thrusting its beak into the cat's side, the +wildcat scratched and bit the big bird so savagely that the end soon +came and the cat was declared the winner in the fight. Almost every one +thought this contest very entertaining, but the Princess Lindagull did +not like it at all. + +After this, two monstrous crocodiles were brought forth in long tanks of +water, and a dead pig was thrown out in front of them. The crocodiles +had not had meat for a whole month and were very hungry. Nevertheless, +so sleepy were they that they continued to lie still in the tanks, +warming themselves in the sun. Then a boy sprang boldly forward and +tickled one of the crocodiles on the nose with a switch. The crocodile +thrust up his ugly mouth and began to clamber clumsily out of the tank +to devour the boy. But the boy saved himself by jumping hastily aside, +the crocodile not being able to turn quickly enough to catch him. When +the boy had thoroughly roused this crocodile he awoke the one in the +other tank; and then, swift as a gazelle, escaped through a little gate +in the fence. Soon the crocodiles caught sight of the dead pig and both +started forward to seize it. Falling into a rage at the idea of sharing +it, they fell upon each other in a frightful contest. Each tried to +force his sharp teeth through the scaly skin of the other, but without +success. At last, however, one fell on its back, and the conqueror +mounted its breast and got the pig. + +Next followed a strife between six large Arabian dogs and an equal +number of jackals from the deserts of Turan. These two animals both +belong to the wolf family and though the jackal is a cowardly creature, +he is formidable when once engaged in a fray. This conflict was fierce +indeed. Five dogs lay prone upon the ground and only one jackal had +fallen when a whistling was heard from the bench where sat the brave +young Arab prince Abderraman. He whistled to incite his favorite hound, +Valledivau, to further effort. The dog heard his master's voice and +tackled again. The jackals fell, one after another, before his prowess, +and soon Valledivau was greeted with a loud cheer as conqueror. + +Then came a fight between hyenas and wolves; another between an Indian +elephant and a tiger; and then a leopard and a panther were led to +opposite sides of the arena. A piece of fresh meat was thrown down +before them, and immediately both rushed toward it and fought for its +possession. But the panther, which was stronger and more agile, came off +victor, having covered his adversary with deadly wounds. + +This contest being finished, a royal tiger of unusual strength and +beauty was brought forth. He was called Ahriman, after the Prince of +Darkness. The tiger's adversary was an immense lion, called Ormuz, after +the Prince of Light. A living lamb was cast down before the two, but +this was more than Lindagull could endure. She gave a sign and the +trembling little creature was snatched away; and in its stead one of the +dead dogs was cast before the wild animals. + +The lion was hungry and immediately rushed upon the prey. The tiger, +jealous by nature, also darted forward furiously, eager to deprive the +lion and to get the prey for himself. + +This was the most terrible contest of all. The air echoed the dreadful +roaring of the angry beasts, the sand was thrown up by their paws and +colored red with their blood. + +They fell over each other, they separated, they rushed against each +other again. All the spectators trembled, entranced. Long was the strife +undecided, but the tiger Ahriman finally succumbed and Ormuz was led +from the arena in triumph. + +And now the performances were about to close with a grand strife en +masse, every wild animal taking part. But the heat of the sun being +intense, there was a cessation in the sports, so that the spectators +might refresh themselves with cooling drinks. Many then went down upon +the arena to look at the dead animals which had been left there. + +Even the Princess Lindagull became curious to view the animals at a +nearer point. She, who until now had seen only blossoms and singing +birds, had no idea of the aspect of these dead creatures. So down she +went, followed by her ladies and the guard, into the arena; and slaves +spread gold-embroidered mats before her feet, so that her dainty sandals +should not be soiled by the blood-stained sands. + +What could she fear? All the living animals were shut up in safe cages. +The most dangerous of all, the great tiger Ahriman, lay dead upon the +arena. The princess went toward him, admiring his beauty and marveling +at his splendid striped skin which she determined to ask her father for, +that she might use it as a rug in the marble castle. + +Suddenly the tiger rose up, gave a leap, sprang upon the princess, +seized her in his terrible jaws, and rushed away! Shrieks of horror flew +from tier to tier among the spectators, but no one had the courage to +try to snatch his booty from the tiger. + +No one? Ah, one there was! The valiant Prince Abderraman dashed with the +speed of the wind into the tiger's path, grasped the monster's gory +breast and struggled with him for his precious booty. + +Alas, unhappy prince! His right arm was in an instant bitten almost off +by the tiger, and he was thrown bleeding and helpless upon the sand; and +before any one could come to the aid of the vanquished hero, the tiger +had leaped over the high iron railing and escaped with the Princess +Lindagull in his mighty jaws! + +The anguish of poor old Shah Nadir was great; and great was the grief of +all Ispahan,--indeed, of all Persia. The king's guard and the fifty +thousand knights with gold saddles rode immediately away to seek the +princess. They searched through every bush and cleft in Turan where a +tiger's lair might be. Hundreds of tigers and other wild beasts fell +before their spears, but fruitlessly. After looking through all Turan +and half of Asia, the guard returned sorrowing. No trace of the Princess +or her strange captor was to be found. + +Shah Nadir tore his gray hair and cursed his sixtieth birthday. He had +lost what he held dearest on earth,--his Lindagull. He ordered his +people to array themselves in mourning as if a sultana had died. He also +commanded that prayers should be offered in all the mosques for the +Princess Lindagull's return. And the proclamation was made that whoever +restored his daughter to him, living, should receive the hand of the +princess and inherit the Persian crown; whoever brought her back dead +should receive as a reward sixty asses laden with gold and costly +treasure. The hope of so rich a reward led many princes and noblemen to +undertake the search for the lost daughter of the king. But sooner or +later all came back without having found her. All except one; and that +was Prince Abderraman. He had made a solemn vow to seek for the princess +fifteen years; to find and rescue her, or die. + +If the princess had been carried away by a real tiger, our tale would +have ended with that; because nothing is sacred to a royal tiger, not +even the noblest princess in the world. But this was not the case. The +wizard, Hirmu, had availed himself of the exhibition of wild beasts in +order that, transformed into a tiger, he might carry out his master's +commands for his own advantage. He had exchanged hearts with the tiger; +and so long as the heart was not destroyed or eaten up, Hirmu could not +be killed. But such a treasure as a princess he preferred to keep for +himself; so, instead of taking his captive to old King Bom Bali in +Turan, he carried her away, with flying leaps, to his own far-away home +in Lapland. + + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE CAPTIVITY + + +It was now autumn, and dark in Lapland. + +The Lapp woman, Pimpedora, sat and cooked porridge over a blazing fire +in the tent, while her son Pimpepanturi sat waiting for the porridge and +looking idly at his reindeer shoes. Pimpepanturi was a good-natured boy; +but he was stupid, and not a little lazy besides. His father, Hirmu, +had wished very much to bring him up as a wizard, but it was of no use. +Pimpepanturi thought more about eating and drinking than of learning +anything,--whether sorcery or what not. + +The Lapp woman turned toward the boy, and said, "Don't you hear +something?" + +"I hear the fire crackle and the porridge bubble in the pot," answered +Pimpepanturi with a long yawn. + +"Don't you hear something like a roar out in the autumn night?" asked +the Lapp woman again. + +"Yes," said Pimpepanturi; "that is a wolf taking some of our reindeer." + +"No," said the Lapp woman; "that is Father coming back. He has now been +away four winters, but I hear him growling like a wild animal. He must +have hurried to have reached home so soon again!" + +At that moment Hirmu entered in the semblance of a tiger with the +Princess Lindagull hanging from his mouth. Placing her on a heap of moss +in the corner of the tent, he quickly regained his own body (replacing +his own heart in it now), at the same time calling out, "Mother, what +food have you? I have run a long way." + +The tiger fell dead upon the moss in the tent. The Lapp woman had nearly +fallen into the porridge-pot from fright; but she recognized her husband +and promised him a good supper, if he would tell her where he had been +these four winters, and what kind of a grand doll he had brought home +with him. + +"That is too long a story to tell," grumbled the husband. "Take care of +our grand doll and give her warm reindeer milk to restore her to life. +She is a fine young lady from Persia. She will bring us good fortune." + +Princess Lindagull was not dead,--not even wounded. She had only fainted +from fright. When she awoke she lay (in her rich clothing of pearls and +silver tissue) on a reindeer skin spread over moss, in the Lapp tent. It +was dark and cold. The firelight shone on the close walls of the tent +and on the Lapp woman, who gave her reindeer milk to drink. Lindagull +believed herself to be in death's domain under the earth; and cried +because she, so young, should be snatched away from Persia's sun and +Ispahan's lovely rose gardens. + +[Illustration: IN THE LAPP TENT.--_Page 60_.] + +The wizard, in the meantime, hit upon a happy plan for winning Persian +treasure, and said to Lindagull: + +"Weep not, beautiful princess. Thou art not dead. Thou hast only been +stolen away by a horrid tiger and my son, the brave Knight Morus +Pandorus von Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu, has saved thee at the greatest risk +of his own precious life. We will be thy slaves and serve thee with the +utmost zeal until it becomes possible to conduct thee back to Persia." + +"What lie is that, old man?" said the honest Lapp woman in her own +language to the wizard. + +The wizard continued: "My wife says that if thou wilt take our son, the +surpassingly beautiful and brave knight, Morus Pandorus von +Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu, for thy bridegroom, we will immediately conduct +thee back to Persia." + +Pimpepanturi did not understand Persian; so he made great eyes when his +father pushed him forward toward the princess and pressed his stiff back +down with both hands that it might appear as if Pimpepanturi were +bowing. + +Lindagull would not have been a princess and the daughter of proud Shah +Nadir if she had not felt herself insulted by such an indignity. She +gazed scornfully at the wizard, and at his clumsy lout of a son,--with +such eyes! Nay! it was not a gaze; for her eyes flashed lightning! +(And Persian eyes can flash lightning!) Father and son both flushed +dark red. + +"No, that won't do," said the wizard. "She must first be tamed." + +Then the wizard made a partition in the tent, three yards long and two +yards wide. There he imprisoned Lindagull, and gave her half a reindeer +cheese and a dipper of melted snow-water every day for food. + +Thus day and night passed by in darkness, for winter came quickly; and +the Northern Lights shone in through the cracks of the tent. + +Poor, innocent little Lindagull! Her eyes had flashed lightning once; +but as in thunder-storms it is not long between lightning gleams and +showers of rain, so the tears of Princess Lindagull soon began to fall. +Yes, she cried as one only can cry when one is twelve years old and has +been a princess in Persia and lived in rose-gardens and marble castles, +guarded by the friendliest attendants, and then suddenly finds herself +hungry and freezing, alone, in a dark Lapland winter. Yes, she wept as +one weeps over lost youth, health and beauty;--over a lost life; as the +dew weeps over a beautiful extinguished day in Ispahan's pleasure +garden. + +When she had done weeping she slept. But lo! while she slept, there +stood by her side the friendly old fellow whom the Finns call Nukku +Matti, whom the Swedes call Jon Blund, and whom the Danes and Norwegians +call Ole Lukoeje,[4]--(I don't know what they call him in Persia;) and +he took her in his arms, bore her to Feather Islands and laid her on a +bed of fragrant roses in a lovely grotto. There all was peaceful and +good. The soft moon shone over date-palms and myrtle forests, just as in +Persia's fairest springtime. Small airy Dreams danced forth to her with +silken shoes over velvet rugs, and led her back to her home; to her +father the old Shah Nadir, to her friendly attendants and to all the +places dear to her from birth. And so passed the long winter nights. + +And so passed weeks and months in the Kingdom of Dreams; because it was +now night altogether. But Lindagull was patient and wept no more. The +Dreams had said to her, "Wait; thy deliverer will come----" + +Who would deliver her? Who should discover a path where no path lay, far +away in the snow? + +The Lapp woman would willingly have set her free, but dared not on +account of her husband. And Pimpepanturi also had thoughts of it, but +was too lazy. + +At length the winter was ended. The sun dared to shine, the snow melted +and the gnats danced about. Then the wizard thought, "Now she is tamed!" +Whereupon he went to Lindagull and asked if she wished to travel back to +Persia. If so, she need only to accept the grandly courageous and highly +admired knight, Morus Pandorus von Pikkuluk'ulikuck'ulu for her +bridegroom, and the reindeer would immediately stand harnessed at the +door ready to travel southward. + +Lindagull did not shoot glances of lightning this time. But she thought +of the young Prince Abderraman who had once bled for her on Ispahan's +sand; and remembering his face she could not possibly accept +Pimpepanturi. She answered nothing. + +At this the wizard became very angry. He shut the Princess Lindagull in +a deep, dark grotto on a mountainside, and said to her (dropping the +grandiloquent style he had heretofore used): "Soon the cloudberries will +be ripe. You shall keep account of the days as they pass, in this way. +The first day you shall have thirty cloudberries to eat and thirty +dewdrops to drink; the next day twenty-nine cloudberries to eat and +twenty-nine dewdrops to drink; and so on, for each day one berry and one +drop less. On the last day you shall tell me what you have decided." + +So Lindagull stayed there confined in the grotto. The time of year had +now come when barren Lapland shone with light both day and night; but +the grotto was dark. The cloudberries and dewdrops steadily lessened in +number, but Lindagull's cheeks became no paler and her quiet patience +continued the same as before. What she had to forego by day Nukku Matti +and the Dreams made up to her every night. They lifted off the rocky +roof by their magic power so that she could see the glowing midnight sun +and hear the roar of the waterfall as it hurled itself over the edge of +the rock. Drippings from this waterfall fell into the grotto in the form +of a delicious honey-dew, which served the starving one as refreshing +meat and drink. + +The thoughts of Princess Lindagull dwelt often upon Prince Abderraman. +She sang ballads of the Eastern lands, and it pleased her to hear a +hundred clear-voiced echoes answer back from the mountain walls. On the +thirtieth day, the wizard brought her the last berry and the last +dewdrop laid upon a leaf of Lapland dwarf-birch. + +"Well now," he asked, "have you decided?" + +Lindagull covered her fair face and answered nothing. + +"There is still one day's time for thought," said the wizard, "and you +shall have some company to help hasten your decision." As he said this +he opened the door of the grotto, and immediately something like a great +cloud streamed in. It was a swarm of Lapland's starved-out gnats. There +were thousands and thousands and thousands of them, and they filled the +grotto like a thick cloud of smoke. + +"I wish you much joy in your new acquaintances!" said the ugly wizard, +shutting the door quickly as he went out. + +Lindagull did not understand his meaning. She did not know the sting of +the Lapland gnat. She had never been annoyed by the Persian firefly +even, for a slave had always stood at her side night and day with a long +waving peacock feather to protect her from all hurtful insects. The +knowledge of such suffering as the horde of stinging gnats would have +inflicted was kept from her now by the kindly Dreams; who, the instant +the door was shut, threw around her a close-woven veil of finest +texture, from the loom of the fairies. Through this veil the gnats could +not make their way. Not a drop of royal blood did they taste, day or +night. They bit with all their little power at the hard granite rocks; +but finding these too juiceless, the disappointed insects settled +themselves like a gray web about all the cracks and corners of the +grotto. + +At midnight the door of the grotto was noiselessly opened and in walked +the Lapp woman, Pimpedora, with a jar in her hand, followed by +Pimpepanturi carrying a burning torch and some smoked reindeer meat. + +"Poor child," said the good-hearted Lapp woman, "it is a sin to keep you +here; but I dare not let you out, for if I did my husband would change +me to a mountain rat. See, I have brought you some pitch-oil in my jar. +Spread it all over your body; that will keep you from being stung to +death by the gnats." + +"And see here, I have brought you a smoked shoulder of reindeer so that +you shall not starve to death," said Pimpepanturi, good-naturedly. "It +is somewhat nibbled, because I grew so very hungry on the way; but there +is still a little meat on the bone. And I stole the key of the grotto +while Father slept, but I dare not let you out, for if I did Father +would change me into a wolverine. But you need not trouble yourself +about taking me for your husband. I'll wager that you cannot even cook a +black pudding properly." + +"No, I know I cannot, truly," answered Princess Lindagull, and she +thanked them both for their good-will, but explained to them that she +was neither hungry nor gnat-stung. + +"Well! Keep the pitch-oil for safety's sake," said the Lapp woman. + +"Yes, keep the shoulder of reindeer, too," said Pimpepanturi. + +"A thousand thanks," replied Lindagull. + +Then the door was closed and she was again alone. + +The next morning the wizard came, expecting that now he should surely +find his captive half stung to death by gnats and completely subdued. +But when he saw Lindagull as blooming as before, and saw her again look +thoughtfully into his face without speaking, his wrath knew no bounds. + +"Come out!" he shouted. + +Lindagull stepped forth in the clear day, as delicate and bright as a +fairy in moonlight. When she threw back her veil to look about, the sun +shone before her, warm and radiant as on a spring morning in the blue +mountains of Afghanistan. + +Then said the wizard: "I have a great mind to take you to old King Bom +Bali in Turan. He would load six asses with gold to get hold of you +for a single day! But no; I will not give up yet. Listen to what I have +decided upon. You shall be turned into a heather blossom on a Lappish +moor and live only as long as a heather blossom lives, unless you will +yield to my wishes. Notice the sun: it now stands low in the sky. In two +weeks and a day comes the first polar frost. Then the heather blossoms +die. Just before the frost comes, I shall question you for the last +time." + +[Illustration: LINDAGULL STEPPED FORTH IN THE CLEAR DAY.--_Page 70_.] + +Glaring at her, he waited, as if expecting the desired answer at once; +but as Lindagull again only gazed thoughtfully up at him in silence, the +wizard cried out in a voice trembling with anger: + + "_Adama donai Marrabataesan!_" + +which meant, "Human life! sink into the likeness of a flower!" + +The wizard had learned these magic words one autumn evening from the +South Wind when it came from the African desert and laid itself to rest +on a Lapland mountain. The wind understands all languages, for all +words are spoken in its hearing. + +As the magician uttered this frightful command, it seemed to Lindagull +as if all the flower-stalks on the heath grew to trees and overshadowed +her; but it was she herself who sank down to the earth. The next moment +a stranger's eye could no longer distinguish her from the thousands and +thousands of pale purple-pink heather blossoms on the Lappish waste. "In +one day and two weeks!" mumbled the wizard, casting a malignant glance +behind him as he turned back to his tent. + +[4] Ole Shut-Eye. (The Sandman.) + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + THE RELEASE + + +While all this was taking place, Prince Abderraman was riding the wide +world over, with his sword at his side and his staff in his hand. There +was not a mountain in Asia, not a desert in Africa, nor a field, town or +city in Southern or Middle Europe which he had not traversed in vain. +But what had he to hope for in Europe? No tigers are found there except +the tame ones exhibited in the city menageries; and among _them_ there +was no _Ahriman_! Sorrow drew the prince back on the way to Persia, and +his trusty dog, Valledivau, accompanied him. + +One day the dog hunted a wild duck among the reeds of a lake, captured +it and carried it alive to his master. Just as the prince was about to +kill it, the duck quacked out: + +"Spare my life, and I will tell you something!" + +"I _will_ spare your life, wonderful bird," the prince exclaimed, +astonished. "What have you to tell me?" + +"Ride to Lapland!" quacked the duck, at the same time escaping into the +water. + +Lapland! The prince had never even heard of such a kingdom. When he +inquired about it and how he should find it, people answered: + +"Ride northward, steadily northward; and stop not until the road ends, +the forest ends, and you no more find a human dwelling with builded +hearth." + +"Wonderful!" thought the prince, and he followed the advice. He rode +northward, steadily northward; stopping not until the road came to an +end, the forest came to an end, and no human dwelling was to be seen but +one lone movable tent. + +It was on the last day of August, after he had ridden many long and +weary miles without seeing a single trace of man, that the prince +suddenly discovered, at the foot of a high mountain, this lone tent of +reindeer skin. The last day of August! The sun still shone and the +heather still blossomed, but the sky had changed and a cool north wind +blew. When the wind ceased, then would come the frost! + +The prince drew nearer to the tent that he might once more repeat his +fruitless query for the lost princess, when to his indescribable +astonishment he perceived in the distance an inscription on a rock on +the mountainside. The characters were very legible. He read the name of + + LINDAGULL! + +The wizard had carved the name there, over the door of the mountain +grotto, so that he could find the place again when he moved his tent +away. + +The prince had dismounted, and was just about to draw his sword and +enter the tent when Hirmu came out on his way to the heath. + +"Give me back the Princess Lindagull or I will send you to the Kingdom +of the Prince of Darkness!" shouted Abderraman. + +The wizard was a crafty fellow who knew many a trick by which to save +himself when in a dilemma. But he lost his presence of mind at this +unexpected encounter and could think of no better way out of the +difficulty than to change himself instantly into a mountain fox. With a +hasty spring he fled swiftly away into the mountain. He thought thus to +be safe from the prince's sword, but he forgot the dog by whom the +prince was followed! + +No sooner had Valledivau seen the fox spring away than he was off on the +hunt after it. The fox hid in every cleft and jumped over the mountain +ravines; but Valledivau, even more agile, chased him to the highest +mountain top, tore him in pieces, and ate up his heart. + +This proved the death of Hirmu the wizard; for his heart had entered the +fox just as it had before gone into the tiger; and when the heart was +eaten up, that was the end of the wizard. + +When the dog returned with his nose covered with blood, his master +understood that now their common enemy had met his destruction. But +where was Lindagull to be found? + + * * * * * + +The prince went to the door of the tent. The Lapp woman, Pimpedora, was +cooking reindeer meat; and her boy, Pimpepanturi, stretched lazily on +the soft moss, was sleeping instead of doing something useful while he +was waiting for dinner. + +"Woman," said the prince, "your husband is dead. Give me back the +Princess Lindagull, and no harm shall come to you." + +"O mercy! And is he dead?" exclaimed the Lapp woman, coming out of the +tent, but not appearing very much distressed. "Ah, well! It's time there +should come an end to his evil arts. As for Lindagull, we must seek her +out there among the heather blossoms. My husband has changed her into a +heather blossom, exactly like many thousands of others; and to-night the +frost will come and then all will be over with her!" + +"Ah! dearest little Lindagull! Must you die to-night and I not be able +to discover the stalk on which you wither?" cried the prince, throwing +himself down among the heather on the boundless moor, where a thousand +times a thousand pale, purple-pink blossoms, exactly like each other, +awaited death. + +"Hold!" said the Lapp woman. "Despair not! Now occurs to me the saying +with which Lindagull was enchanted! I thought he planned a wrong against +the child, and crept back of a big stone to see what my husband was +going to do. Then I heard him say: + + "_Adama donai Marrabataesan!_" + +"Ah!" sighed the prince, "how can that help us when we do not know the +words which loosen the enchantment?" + +Pimpepanturi, waking and thinking that the dinner had been long enough +deferred, walked out of the tent to look for his mother. When he heard +the prince's words, he scratched his forehead thoughtfully a few times +and said, "Father used to change the saying around when he wanted to +disenchant any one." + +"Yes, so he did!" said the Lapp woman. + +Prince Abderraman, with terrified eagerness, gave a great leap, landed +on a rock, and shouted as loudly as he could over the limitless heath: + + "_Marrabataesan donai Adama!_" + +The words rang out through the air without effect. No blossom arose. The +sun was sinking rapidly toward the horizon and the wind was growing +still. + +The prince, fearing he should not give the right turn to the magic +command, repeated it time after time saying the words in different order +and with different expression. But in vain. + +At last, at a certain way of saying the words, it seemed to him that a +bit of heather on a distant mound had lifted itself up to listen, but +sunk immediately back, undistinguishable among the multitudinous +blossoms. + +"The sun is going down," said the Lapp woman. "If we do not quickly find +the right manner of saying the words, the frost will come, and then it +will be too late." + +By this time the sun's red beams had sunk quite down to the horizon. All +nature was silent. A cool and damp evening mist, the forerunner of the +frost, spread itself like a veil over moor and mound. All living things +which had ventured to bloom for a short time in Lapland were now doomed +to death. + +Prince Abderraman was pallid with terror. His voice choked, and he could +scarcely articulate the one untried arrangement of the magical words: + + "_Marraba donai Adama taesan._" + +Behold! On the distant hillock, a heather blossom raised itself on its +stalk. It grew as rapidly as does the lily which the Afghanistan fairies +cause to spring forth in the red dawn, when they tap on the blue +mountains with their magic wands. + +The mist lay all around the mound. Out of the mist arose a slender +figure, and as the prince approached the mound, running breathlessly, +Lindagull came toward him pale with the escape of death. Prince +Abderraman had found the right order for the words just in time to save +her life. + +The Princess Lindagull was borne to the tent in the arms of Abderraman, +and her strength soon returned under the Lappish woman's kind care. +Pimpedora was happy; and Pimpepanturi in his gladness forgot his +longed-for dinner, which was sadly burnt in the pot. + +[Illustration: OUT OF THE MIST AROSE A SLENDER FIGURE.--_Page 80_.] + +The hero-prince, picturing to himself the perils of the princess and the +wonder of her recovery, swooned with rapture. His first words as he +recovered were a prayer to Allah; and then he asked Lindagull: + +"How did it feel to be changed into a heather blossom?" + +"Just as if one sank back into the cradle of childhood and knew no more +of the world than to eat, drink, and be happy in God's love," answered +Lindagull. + +"And how did it feel when you came back to life again?" + +"Just as when one awakes on a clear morning after a deep and pleasant +slumber." + +"To-morrow shall we go back to Persia?" + +"Yes," answered Lindagull. "But the good woman and her son have had a +share in saving the poor captive Lindagull. We will take them with us +and they shall have a palace in Ispahan." + +"No; many, many thanks," answered Pimpedora; "I like my reindeer tent in +Lapland better." + +"Are there snow and reindeer in Persia?" asked Pimpepanturi. + +"Snow is found only on the highest mountains," said the princess; "and +instead of reindeer we have horses, antelopes, and gazelles." + +"No, thank you heartily, then," said Pimpepanturi. "You can go with +pleasure, and marry whom you wish. Nowhere in the world is there to be +found so good a land as Lapland!" + +It was of no use trying to dispute that question with the Laplanders, so +the prince and princess set out the following day without them. Before +departing they presented the Lapp woman and her son with their +gold-embroidered clothes and with many jewels; receiving in return gifts +of Lappish garments made from reindeer skin. + +The Lapp woman put the costly Persian robes carefully away in birch +bark, and rejoiced because with them she could buy a whole field of +grain. + + * * * * * + +Shah Nadir sat alone in Ispahan's golden palace and groaned with grief. +He could not forget his lost daughter. His wicked and ungrateful sons +had raised a rebellion against him, and were marching with a large army +toward the capital to cast their father from the throne. + +While affairs were at this juncture the Grand Vizier announced that a +young foreign couple, dressed in reindeer skin and followed by a dog, +wished to prostrate themselves at the king's feet. + +Shah Nadir never refused audience to a stranger,--(perhaps such a +traveler would know something of his dear lost child!)--and so the two +foreigners were led into his presence. + +The young man cast himself down before the feet of the Shah; but the +young woman, without ado, threw her arms around his neck; at which +proceeding the Grand Vizier's beard became green with consternation! + +But Shah Nadir, under her Lappish hood of reindeer skin, recognized his +child so long sought and so hopelessly bewailed. "Allah! Allah!" cried +he in joy; "now I am willing to die!" + +"No, my lord king," broke out Prince Abderraman. "Now shall you live to +rejoice with us, and to win back your kingdom again." + +When Shah Nadir learned about his daughter's captivity and of the loyal +service which the prince had shown her, he immediately proclaimed Prince +Abderraman successor to his throne, promised him the Princess Lindagull +in marriage, and sent him in command of the fifty thousand knights with +gold saddles to fight the rebellious army. + +It was not long before the prince won a glorious battle, took the rebel +sons prisoners, and came back victorious to the rejoicing people of +Ispahan. + +Then was the wedding of Prince Abderraman and Princess Lindagull +celebrated with great state (but without a wild beast fight!) and they +lived long and happily after. But one day every year,--and that was the +thirty-first of August, the date of Princess Lindagull's +deliverance,--the royal pair showed themselves (to the great wonderment +of magnificent Persia) in the Lapps' outlandish clothes of reindeer +skin, so that in their prosperity they should not forget the great +escape and blessing of the past. + +In his old age, Shah Nadir had happy little grandchildren to sit upon +his knee. The wicked sons ended their careers as swineherds for old King +Bom Bali in Turan. The dog, Valledivau, lived to be thirty years old and +died of the toothache (!); his skin was stuffed and kept in great honor. +But about Pimpedora, and Pimpepanturi who bore for a season the proud +name of Morus Pandorus von Pikkulukulikuck'ulu, nothing has since been +heard in Persia. Probably they have never found a better land on the +earth's broad expanse than Lapland. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + SIKKU AND THE TROLLS + + +In the time of Charles the Twelfth there lived, in North Finland, a poor +herd-boy called Sikku. His name should have been Sixtus, but the tongue +of the Finn is so unmanageable that some names baffle it, and in that +case he simply makes them over to suit himself,--to the form that he can +best pronounce; so for that reason, Sixtus became Sikku. + +Sikku was so poor that he had neither cap nor shirt nor shoes; but not +in the least did this trouble him. He was always gay and happy, and +while tending his cows at the foot of Sipuri Mountain, sang songs from +morning till evening or blew on his wooden horn, taking great delight in +hearing the mountain echoes mimic him. + +Sikku had an old jack-knife, which counted for riches to him; and +besides that he rejoiced in a comrade named Kettu, a long-nosed, +long-tailed yellow dog, faithful to Sikku, but with a testy temper +toward other folk. + +The two stood by each other in plenty and in need, through weal and +through woe. Kettu drove the cows together when they strayed, Kettu +watched them while Sikku took his midday nap, and Sikku shared with +Kettu the hard bread that was, for both, the usual breakfast and dinner. +With the bread, they always had a fine soup of clear spring water, and +almost every day a delicious dessert,--strawberries, raspberries, Arctic +blackberries, blueberries, red whortleberries, wild cherries, or berries +from the mountain-ash. + +Kettu scorned such things, but Sikku enjoyed them all in the course of +the summer, and thought he fared like a prince. When the weather was +very rainy and cold, however, he would begin, toward evening, to long +for the porridge pot. Oh, that nice warm porridge pot, that he could +scrape and scrape, eating all the porridge there was left anywhere in +it! Kettu got the porridge ladle to lick, and stole Miss Pussy's milk +from the broken earthen dish which stood on the floor near the +water-tub, though he seldom got the milk without a battle! + +The master of Anttilla Farm was stingy and grasping and his wife was +like him, but what mattered that to Sikku? He had his freedom, and the +only thing he was responsible for was that all the fifteen cows returned +to the farm every evening to be milked. Not another care in the world +had Sikku, and for a time all went well and happily. + +One day he climbed up the highest peak of the mountain while Kettu +watched the cows in the valley. There was a wide beautiful view over +forests, marshes, and small lonely lakes, but no houses were in sight. +Sikku had never in his life thought that the world could be so big! His +heart warmed within him as he saw the sun sparkle on the lakes between +the dark branches of the pines. When a cloud sailed over the sky, one +gleam after another flashed, vanished in shadow and shone out anew in +another spot. Sikku sang and sang, blowing his wooden horn between +times. The sounds rang out merrily up there on the mountain and turned +into a little song: + + "Oh, Sipuri Mountain! Tu-tu'! Falidu'! + Tu-tu'! Falidu'! + In all the whole world not a boy can be found + Who is tending his cows, with such grandeur around. + Tu-tu'! Falidu'!" + +While he was singing, there suddenly appeared before him a hideous +little old woman who said to him, "All the land that you see shall be +yours if you will be my boy and obey me." + +"Oh, ho!" exclaimed Sikku, observing the woman closely and recognizing +her as the troll woman from Allis Farm. + +"Give me the white cow, Kimmo," continued she, "and say when you go home +that the wolf caught her." + +Sikku's eyes grew big and he answered: "Indeed I will not. I am no such +rascal as that!" + +"Then blame yourself for what happens," said the troll woman; and with +that she hopped, crow fashion, down the mountain. + +Kettu began to howl from the valley. Sikku sprang down and found that +Kimmo had sunk in the wet marsh so that only her horn stood up above the +soft, yielding ground. He tried to drag her out, but he was not strong +enough, and when he had worked over her until he was worn out, he had to +give up and go home driving only fourteen cows, while the bell cow lowed +and Kettu howled. + +Poor Sikku told of the disaster and got a hard thrashing; and the next +morning was sent to his work without anything to eat, not even the dry +bread usually given to him for the noon meal. + +He sang no songs that day but sat hungry and sorrowful at the foot of +the mountain. By and by, the long-bearded old troll man from Allis came +to him and said: + +"Give me the black cow, Mustikka, and say that the wolf tore her to +pieces, and I will give you all the land you can see from Sipuri Peak." + +[Illustration: "OH, HO!" +EXCLAIMED SIKKU, RECOGNIZING HER AS THE TROLL WOMAN.--_Page 89_.] + +"Indeed I will not. I am no such rascal as that!" answered Sikku, +offended. + +"Blame yourself then for what happens," said the troll; and with that +off he went, turning somersaults all the way. + +Kettu began to bark. Sikku ran at once to the herd and found Mustikka +lying dead among the trees on a hillside. She had eaten some poisonous +plant and could not be restored to life. Sikku, distressed and crying, +made a birch-bark cone, in which he brought water from the spring and +dashed over her head; but it was of no use. He must go home with only +thirteen cows and report the misfortune. This time he was shut up in the +cellar without food for three days. The fourth day he was sent out with +the thirteen cows and the usual lunch-bag. Being very hungry he no +sooner reached the gate than he opened the bag, but found in it only a +gray stone! + +Sikku drove the cows toward the mountain, ate berries in the forest, +and sat down, full of grief, on a stump right in the midst of the herd, +so that no further ill might befall. Then there came to him the pretty +little troll maiden from Allis, who held out toward him a fresh wheaten +roll, patted his thin cheek, and said: + +"Give me the red cow, Mansikka, and tell them when you go home that a +bear tore her to pieces, and you shall have this nice fresh roll and all +the land you can see from the top of Sipuri besides." + +Sikku was so hungry that he could have swallowed a roll of moss! He +looked at the wheaten roll, he looked at the pretty little troll maiden +and had to bite his tongue to keep from instantly answering yes. But the +troll maiden laughed and that offended Sikku, and he answered: + +"Indeed I will not. I am no such rascal as that!" + +"Blame yourself then for what happens!" said the troll maiden; and with +that, fluttering like a magpie, away she went into the forest. + +Sikku, fearing a new misfortune, turned at once to Mansikka who had been +grazing right near him. She now lay stretched at full length upon the +grass with a snake hanging fast to her nose; and in a short time she was +dead from the poisonous bite. What did it matter that Sikku killed the +snake? Its bite had killed the cow, and home must he go with only twelve +cows, and tell of this new disaster. + +"Decide yourself what punishment you deserve!" said the angry farmer. +"Shall I roast you in the bath-house furnace or would you rather be +thrown into the deep well?" + +"I couldn't help it,--it wasn't my fault!" said Sikku, weeping bitterly. +"Three times they offered me all the land I could see from Sipuri Peak +if I would steal a cow for them and then lie to you; but that of course +I would not do." + +"They did, did they?" said the farmer. "Very well. That is my land that +you see from Sipuri Peak and I will promise it to you, if you, before +the next full moon, lead to my farm nine beautiful cows in the place of +Kimmo, Mustikka, and Mansikka, lying dead over there by the mountain. +But what shall I do with you now? You must have some kind of +punishment." + +"Bind him hand and foot, lay him on the highest peak of Sipuri Mountain, +and let him eat his fill of the view of the land you promise him," said +the farm mistress, who could not forgive Sikku for the loss of the three +cows. + +This suggestion pleased the farmer. Sikku was bound hand and foot, and +placed on the tip top of the mountain; and everybody was forbidden to +give him anything to eat or drink. The remaining twelve cows were driven +by another boy to graze in fields the other side of the farm, far away +from the mountain. + +There lay Sikku, bound hand and foot, and half dead from hunger. The +forest wafted fragrance, the lakes glittered in the sunshine, twilight +came, night came, the dew fell, the thrushes sang, the stars twinkled, +and the moon looked down upon the poor boy; and it seemed as if no one +in the whole world thought or cared about him. + +But high over mountain and forest, over the lakes, the dew, the thrushes +and even the stars and the moon, there is nevertheless One who sees all +the oppressed and miserable upon earth; and He saw even poor forsaken +Sikku and sent to him a faithful friend. Who was the faithful friend? +Who should it be but Kettu? + +Kettu could have porridge to eat at the farm; he could steal milk, as +was his custom, from the cat's broken dish by the water-tub; but though +he was hungry, Kettu chose rather to dash up the mountain in search of +Sikku, to lie at Sikku's bound feet, and lick his bound hands. Sikku was +so glad to have his dog with him that he once more felt happy and +content; and soon both fell asleep in the moonlight. + + * * * * * + +Now there was at this time,--in the reign of Charles the Twelfth,--a +great war going on in the southern part of the land. The people in +North Finland did not know much about this war, but lived in peace +behind their thick forests. Suddenly an enemy's fleet appeared on their +seacoast and bands of warriors were put ashore. They spread over the +land, fighting and plundering everywhere. + +On this very night, one of these fierce warrior bands had come to the +region near Sipuri. They attacked, burned and plundered Anttilla Farm, +took the master himself prisoner, and drove forth all his cattle as part +of their booty. + +Afterward the warriors separated into smaller groups, to continue their +plundering in other places. And certain Cossacks were left behind to +guard the prisoners and the stolen cattle, until it was convenient to +put them on board the ship. + +Early in the morning, Sikku awoke to find that Kettu was biting a man in +the leg. Two wild-looking, heavily-bearded men had climbed to the +mountain top to get a good view of the land and see whither they should +now betake themselves. Finding a young boy, tied and helpless, they +pitied him,--hostile though they were,--freed him, gave him bread from +their knapsacks and took him along with them. + +Reaching their horses, which had been left tied to trees at the foot of +the mountain, one of the men lifted Sikku to his horse's back, the other +drove Kettu away so that he should not follow them, and off they +galloped, not stopping until the riders neared the shore of a large +lake. + +Much booty and many prisoners had been brought here, but the Cossacks +were so eager to continue their raids that they left only six men to +guard what they had already taken, the others riding forth again +immediately. + +When night came on, the six Cossacks began to be afraid lest some of the +land's own people should attack them in the dark. Therefore, they got +into a small boat, taking Sikku with them, and rowed out to an island in +the lake, so that they might pass the night in safety. They left the +cattle to graze on the shore, while the prisoners and even the six +horses were still securely bound to the trees. + +Sikku lay among the Cossacks on the barren island. The night was dark, +the great waves dashed against the island's pebbly beach, and a strong +wind blew toward the mainland. Sikku was wakeful, and heard the +long-drawn, regular breathing of the weary Cossacks as they slept beside +him. Five of them lay there, but the sixth had stayed on guard in the +boat. + +Sikku raised himself slowly and listened. One of the Cossacks began +talking in his sleep and tossed his arms about, so Sikku lay down again; +but still he could not sleep. + +After a while he sat up once more, and since everything was quiet, he +stole out from among the sleeping Cossacks and went silently down to the +boat at the shore. Here the trusted guard was also asleep, and slept so +heavily that he knew nothing of Sikku's doings, although Sikku shoved +the boat gently out into the water, sat down in the stern and let the +wind drive the boat toward the mainland. + +Still the Cossack watchman slept as the boat sped quietly on. He had +ridden hard, many, many miles. Little wonder that he slept like a log! + +When Sikku felt the boat grate against the land, he climbed softly out, +took his old knife from his pocket, and cut the ropes that bound the +prisoners. The Cossack still slept. The released prisoners could +scarcely believe that they were free. They followed Sikku to the boat, +and bound their enemy with the same ropes by which a moment ago they +themselves had been bound. + +Now at last the Cossack was awake, but too late. He had been made his +captives' captive. + +"Kill him at once! And then let us row to the island and kill the others +while they sleep!" shouted one of the newly freed men. + +"No," said Sikku, who recognized his master's voice. "Let us rather take +their booty and hurry it and ourselves to safety." + +"They have burnt my house and barns, and stolen everything I had," said +the farmer savagely. + +"They freed me and gave me food," said Sikku, who seemed suddenly like a +grown man. + +Most of the men agreed with Sikku. The Cossacks were not killed, some of +the land's folk rode away on the enemy's horses, others drove herds of +cattle off to safe hiding-places in the forest, and each person carried +away as much as he could of the enemy's plunder. Sikku had chosen his +share and was well pleased with it. + +Several days after, the warrior bands returned from their raids and took +to their ships again. + +Then the folk came out from the depths of the forest and from the +mountain caves where they had sought refuge in the hour of danger, and +many came from their burnt farms. They gathered at the church to consult +together as to what was best to be done now. For one thing, they must +decide the fate of the six captive Cossacks,--the five on the island +having also been captured. + +"Kill them! Kill them!" shouted several. + +"No, give them to Sikku," said others. "He captured them." + +So the six Cossacks were given to Sikku who exacted the promise from +them that they would not fight against Finland any more. Then he let +them go, free and unharmed. + +The farmer of Anttilla and his wife had settled themselves in a tiny hut +on their estate which the enemy, in their headlong haste, had not +burned. + +"Alas!" said the wife, the first evening they sat in their new poor +home. "If we only had our beautiful cows now!" + +"If we only had!" said the farmer. + +At that moment they saw a little bareheaded, barefooted boy come from +the hillside grove toward the hut, driving before him, with the help of +a long-nosed, yellow dog, a herd of nine beautiful cows. + +"Isn't that Sikku? And Kettu?" exclaimed the farmer. + +"And are not those our cows?" cried the farm mistress. + +Yes, it was Sikku; and Kettu; and those were the Anttilla Farm cows that +the robbers had taken away with them. Three had been slain, but the nine +that were left, Sikku had asked for as his share of the booty. + +"Here I come, bringing you nine beautiful cows!" shouted Sikku. He would +fain have swung his cap for joy, only he had no cap. + +"Darling boy!" "Is it really you?" exclaimed the farmer and his wife at +the same time. Then they embraced Sikku, and patted the cows again and +again in their delight. + +Kettu had already disappeared in the hut to see whether Miss Pussy's +broken dish still stood by the water-tub. Miss Pussy hissed and spat at +him and so there was again war in the land. + +"Are you hungry, Sikku?" asked the mistress. Her conscience was very +uneasy. + +"No, I thank you," answered Sikku. "I was thinking of something else. It +is not yet full moon." + +At these words, the farmer fumbled with his big ears in embarrassment +and distress, remembering his rash promise. Here was Sikku with nine +cows, and true enough, the moon was not yet full. Well, Sikku had proved +himself a fine fellow;--a promise was a promise;--they needed the cows +sadly. One might as well make the best of the situation. + +"Listen now, Sikku," said he. "Let us be good friends. What could you do +with so much land while you are so little? Serve me faithfully for seven +years, and I will then keep my promise and give you all the land you can +see from Sipuri Mountain." + +"Done!" said Sikku. + +So Sikku served faithfully for seven years at Anttilla Farm, grew tall +and strong, got shirts and caps and shoes, married the farmer's +daughter, the kind Greta, and received with her not only all the land to +be seen from Sipuri Mountain, but a fine new farmhouse besides. + +Kettu and Miss Pussy lived many years and, when they died, were both +buried at the foot of Sipuri Mountain. + +And the three trolls? Oh, yes. Well, there is a big crows' nest at Allis +Farm, in which live three crows. They can give you news of the trolls, +if any one can; but people say, you know, that crows are not to be +relied upon in the least. + + --_Z. Topelius_. +[Illustration] + + + + + SAMPO LAPPELIL + + +There was once a Lapp and a Lapp woman. The Lapps are a people who live +north of the Swedes, the Norwegians, and the Finns, far, far up in the +north. They have neither fields, nor real forests, nor regular houses, +but only great barren bogs and high mountains, and small huts, which +they crawl into through a hole. The country of the Lapps is strange. +Half the year it is light most of the time, for the sun never sets in +the middle of summer, and the other half of the year it is dark most of +the time, and the stars shine all day in winter. + +Ten months of the year it is winter, and then the little Lapp men and +the little Lapp women drive over the snow in small boats, which are +called pulks. There is no horse harnessed before the pulk, but a +reindeer. Have you ever seen a reindeer? It is as large as a little +horse, is gray in color, has high branching horns, a stooping neck, and +a pretty little head with great clear eyes. When it runs at full speed, +it goes flying over mountains and hills like a rushing wild wind, and +its hoofs snap as it dashes along. + +There was, as I have said, a Lapp and a Lapp woman. They lived far up in +Lapland, in Aimio, which lies near Tenojoki or the Tana River. (You can +see it on the map of Finland, where Lapland can be found like a great +nightcap on Finland's high head.) The place was barren and wild, but the +Lapp and his wife felt sure that nowhere on the whole earth could you +see such white snow, such clear stars, and such beautiful Northern +Lights as at Aimio. There they had built themselves a hut such as Lapps +usually live in. No large trees grew in that region,--only slender +birches, that were more like bushes than trees--so where could they get +wood for a house? Instead, they took long, thin sticks, stuck them into +the snow, in a circle, tied the upper ends together, hung reindeer skins +over the sticks, so that altogether it looked like a gray sugar-loaf, +and then the hut was finished. In the top of the sugar-loaf they left a +hole, through which the smoke could escape if they lighted a fire, and +there was another hole in the southern side through which they could +crawl in and out. The Lapps thought it was pretty and warm and were very +happy in it, though they had no other bed and no other floor than the +white snow. + +The man and the woman had a little boy whose name was Sampo, and that +means "luck" in Lapland. But Sampo had two names. Once some strange +gentlemen in great fur coats had come and stayed in the hut. They had +with them little hard, white pieces of snow, such as the Lapp woman had +never seen before, which they called "sugar." They gave Sampo a few +pieces of the sweet snow, and they patted him on the cheek and said: +"Lappelil! Lappelil!" which means "little Lapp." They could not say +anything else, for they could not talk Lapp. And then they traveled away +farther north, to the Arctic Ocean and the northernmost point of Europe +which is called the North Cape. The Lapp woman liked the strange +gentlemen and their sweet snow, and she began from that time to call her +boy "Lappelil." + +"I think Sampo a much better name," said the man, rather vexed. "Sampo +means 'riches,' and I tell you, Mother, don't spoil the name! For, some +time, Sampo will become the king of the Lapps, and reign over thousands +of reindeer and fifty Lapp huts." + +"Yes, but Lappelil sounds so pretty," said the woman. And she called the +boy "Lappelil," and the man called him "Sampo." He was, however, not +christened yet, for at that time there was no priest within a hundred +miles. "Next year we will go to the priest and let him christen the +boy," the man used to say. But next year something came in the way, and +the journey did not take place, and the boy did not get christened. + +Sampo Lappelil was now a fat little fellow seven or eight years old, +with black hair and brown eyes; he had a snub nose and a broad mouth +just like his papa's; in Lapland a face must have such features if it is +to be thought really fine. Sampo was not a stupid boy for his age; he +had his own little snow-shoes and on them he danced over the high hills +near the Tana; and his own little reindeer which he harnessed before his +own pulk. You should have seen how the snow blew about him, as he rushed +off over the ice and the high snow-drifts, so that nothing of the boy +was to be seen but a tuft of his black hair! + +"I shall never feel quite safe until the boy is christened," the Lapp +woman often said. "The wolves may get him some fine day here on the +mountains, or he may meet Hiisi's reindeer with the golden horns--and +then may God protect the poor creature who is not christened!" + +Sampo, hearing this, began to wonder what kind of a reindeer it could be +that had golden horns. "That must be a beautiful reindeer," said he. "I +should like to drive it once; then I would travel to Rastekais!" + +Rastekais is a very wild, high mountain that may be seen from +twenty-five or thirty miles away. + +"Don't you dare to talk so, naughty boy!" said the mother, and scolded +him. "It is just on Rastekais that the trolls are, and there lives +Hiisi." + +"Hiisi--who is that?" asked Sampo. + +The woman became confused. "Now, he must ask about everything, that +boy," she thought to herself. "Why do I stand here and talk about such +things so that he can hear? But at least I will frighten him away from +Rastekais!" + +And so she said: "Dear Lappelil, never go to Rastekais, for there lives +Hiisi, the great mountain king who eats a reindeer in a mouthful, and +swallows boys like gnats." + +Sampo began to wonder when he heard this; but he said nothing. He +thought to himself: "It must be good fun to see such a horrid creature +as the mountain king,--but only from a long way off!" + +It was now already three or four weeks after Christmas, and it was +still dark in Lapland. There was no morning, noon, nor evening. It was +always night; and the moon shone, and the Northern Lights crackled, and +the stars twinkled brightly all the time. Sampo began to feel dull. It +was so long since he had seen the sun that he had almost forgotten what +it looked like; and when any one talked of summer Sampo only remembered +it was the time when the gnats were so bad and tried to eat him up. +Therefore he did not care if the summer stayed away forever, if only it +would grow light enough to go about easily on snow-shoes. + +One day about noon the Lapp said: "Come here, and you shall see +something!" Sampo crept out of the hut in the dark, and looked toward +the south, for it was in that direction that his father pointed. There +he saw a little red streak way down on the horizon. + +"Do you know what that is?" asked the Lapp. + +"That is Southern Lights," said the boy. He had a good idea of the +points of the compass, and knew very well that you could not see +Northern Lights in the south. + +"No," said his father, "that is the forerunner of the sun. To-morrow or +the day after we shall see the sun itself. Only look how strangely the +red light shines on the top of Rastekais." + +Sampo turned to the west and saw how the snow was colored red far away +on the dark, wild top of Rastekais. Immediately it came into his mind +how very pleasant it would be to see the mountain king--from a long way +off. + +Sampo thought about this all day and half the night. He tried to sleep, +but could not. "Yes," he thought, "it would be fun to see the mountain +king once!" He kept thinking about it, until at last he crept quite +softly out from the reindeer-skin under which he lay, and out through +the door. It was so cold that the stars snapped and the snow crackled +under his feet. But Sampo Lappelil was not afraid of cold. Besides he +had a leather jacket, leather trousers, Lapp shoes, and a fur cap and +mittens. Thus fortified, he looked at the stars, and did not know +exactly what he should do next. + +Then he heard his little reindeer scratching in the snow not far off. +"What if I took a drive?" thought Sampo. + +No sooner said than done. Sampo harnessed the reindeer before the pulk +as he usually did, and started off over the great bare snow-field. "I +will drive a little way toward Rastekais, only a little way," he thought +to himself. So he drove down over the frozen river and up on the other +side of the Tana, and then was in the kingdom of Norway, for the Tana +River is the boundary. But that Sampo did not know. + +You, who are reading this story of Sampo Lappelil, did you ever sing: +"Run, my brave reindeer"? Do you know the beautiful songs of the dear, +good Bishop Franzen, whom all Sweden and all Finland love, and have you +ever seen the title-page of the fourth volume of his songs? There you +can see a Lapp boy driving with his reindeer over the snow, and that is +just Sampo Lappelil. So he sat and sang to himself: + + "So short is the day, + The road is so long, + Oh! hark to my song: + Let us hurry away! + The wolf pack lives here, + Rest not, little deer!" + +As he sang he saw in the dark the wolves running like gray dogs around +the pulk, and barking after the reindeer; but he did not mind that; he +knew that no wolf could run as fast as his swift reindeer. Ha, how they +went over stones and hills! The wind whistled in their ears! Sampo +Lappelil only rushed on. The reindeer's hoofs snapped, and the moon in +the sky raced with him, and the high mountains seemed to rebound, but +Sampo Lappelil only rushed on. It was pleasant to drive; he thought of +nothing else. Then it happened that in a sudden turn over a hill, the +pulk upset and Sampo fell out and was left lying in a snow-drift. + +But the reindeer did not notice that; it thought that he still sat in +the pulk, and so ran on, and Sampo had got his mouth so full of snow +that he could not call. There he lay, like a lemming that had lost a +foot, in the dark night, in the midst of the desolate wilderness where +no one lived for many miles around. + +[Illustration: SAMPO WAS LEFT LYING IN A SNOW-DRIFT.--_Page 114_.] + +Sampo was frightened at first--that you cannot wonder at. He worked +himself out of the snow, and found he was not hurt in the least, but +what good would that do? As far as he could see in the pale moonlight, +there were only snow-drifts and snow-fields and high mountains. But one +mountain reached high above all the others, and Sampo guessed that he +was now near Rastekais. Here lived the horrible mountain king, who ate a +reindeer in one mouthful, and swallowed boys like gnats! Now Sampo +Lappelil grew frightened indeed. Ah! how gladly would he have been at +home with his father and mother in the warm hut. But how should he get +there? Would not the mountain king come and swallow him with his +trousers and mittens, as if he were but a poor little gnat? + +Well, there sat Sampo Lappelil in the snow and the dark, on Lapland's +barren mountain. It was so strange, so frightful to see the high black +shadow of Rastekais, where the mountain king lived! But it did not help +him to sit there and cry, for his tears froze in a moment, and ran like +peas down on his furry reindeer-skin jacket. So Sampo got up from the +snow-drift to run himself warm. + +"If I stand here I shall freeze," said he to himself. "No, rather will I +go to the mountain king. If he eat me, then he will eat me. But I will +tell him that it would be better that he should eat the wolves here on +the mountain; they are fatter than I, and he will have less trouble with +their skin than he would with my furs." + +Sampo began to climb up the high mountain. He had not gone far before he +heard something come stealthily over the snow, and immediately afterward +a great furry wolf sprang out close to his side. Sampo started, his +little Lapp heart beat loud, but he determined to behave as if he were +not afraid. "Don't jump in my way," he called to the wolf. "I have an +errand to the mountain king, and if you wish to keep your skin don't do +me any harm!" + +"Well, well, take it easy," said the wolf, for on Rastekais all the +animals could talk. "Who are you, little fellow, working yourself +through the snow?" + +"My name is Sampo Lappelil," answered the boy. "And who are you?" + +"I am the mountain king's highest master-wolf," answered the monster, +"and have been running from mountain to mountain to bring his people to +the great Sun Festival. Since you are coming my way, you can sit up on +my back and ride to the king." + +Sampo climbed up on the wolf's furry coat, and they rushed away over +clefts and precipices. + +"Sun Festival--what does that mean?" asked Sampo. + +"Don't you know?" said the wolf. "After it has been dark in Lapland all +winter, and the sun for the first time rises in the sky, then we +celebrate. All the animals and all the trolls collect here on Rastekais, +and on that day no one is allowed to do any harm. That is lucky for you, +Sampo Lappelil, for otherwise, you see, I should have eaten you up a +long time ago." + +"Is there the same law for the king, too?" asked Sampo. + +"Of course," said the wolf. "For one hour before the sun rises and for +one hour after it sets, the mountain king dare not touch a hair of your +head; but you must take care, after that time; for if you are still on +the mountain, then a hundred thousand wolves and a thousand bears will +rush upon you, and the mountain king will seize the first one he can get +hold of, and then it will soon be over with Sampo Lappelil." + +"Perhaps you will be so kind as to help me back, as soon as there is +danger?" asked Sampo with a beating heart. + +The wolf began to laugh, for on Rastekais the wolves can laugh. "Don't +imagine that, dear Sampo," said he; "I will be the first to stick my +claws into you. You are a fine fat boy; I see that you have been +fattened on reindeer's milk and reindeer cheese. You will taste very +good for an early breakfast." + +Sampo wondered if it would not be as well to jump down from the wolfs +back immediately, but it was too late; they had come to the top of the +mountain, and he saw a wonderful sight. There sat the great mountain +king on his throne of sky-high rocks, looking far out over mountains and +valleys into the dark night. On his head he wore a cap of white +snow-clouds; his eyes were like the full moon when it rises over the +woods, his nose like a mountain top, his mouth like a mountain cleft, +his beard like long icicles; his arms were as thick as the thickest +fir-tree, his hands were like pine branches, his legs were like +coasting-hills in winter, and his great fur coat like a snow mountain. +If you ask how any one could see the mountain king and his people in the +middle of the night, then you must know that the snow cast a light upon +everything, and that over the sky the most beautiful Northern Lights +played. + +Around the mountain king sat millions of gray mountain trolls and +brownies, so small that when they ran on the frozen snow they left no +more trace after them than a squirrel leaves. They had collected here +from the farthest ends of the earth, from Nova Zembla and Spitsbergen +and Greenland and Iceland--yes, from the North Pole itself, to worship +the sun, as savages from fear worship the devil; for the trolls do not +like the sun and would prefer that it should never rise again after it +has once set behind the barren mountains. Farther away stood all the +animals of Lapland in long close rows--a thousand and again a thousand +bears, wolves, and lynxes, the good reindeer, the little lemming, and +the lively reindeer-fleas; but the gnats had not been able to come--they +were frozen to death. + +All this Sampo Lappelil saw with wonder. He climbed down quietly from +the master-wolf's back and hid himself behind a great stone to see what +would happen. + +The mountain king raised his high head so that the snow flew around him; +and the beautiful Northern Lights stood like a halo about his forehead, +and shot in long star-shaped, pale-red rays out over the blue night sky; +there was a crackling and a roaring like that a forest fire makes when +its flames leap up against the crowns of the pine-trees; now the Lights +spread themselves out, now they drew together again; now the brightness +was very dazzling, now it grew pale, then one gleam of light after +another shot like a sudden shower out over the snow-covered mountain. +This pleased the mountain king. He clapped his icy hands, and the echo +from the mountains sounded like thunder, and the trolls whistled with +joy, and the animals round about screamed with fear. This pleased the +mountain king still more, so that he called out, loud, over the +wilderness: + +"So shall it be! So shall it be! Forever winter and forever night! That +is what I like." + +"Yes, so shall it be, so shall it be!" cried the trolls as loud as they +could, for they all liked winter and night better than summer and +sunshine. + +But among the animals there arose a murmur of talking, for all the +beasts of prey and the lemmings thought as the trolls did, while the +reindeer and the other animals would have found no fault with the +summer, if they had not suddenly happened to think of the gnats in +Lapland. It was only the little reindeer-flea who really wanted the +summer; he cried as loud as he could: "Your Majesty, we came here to +wait for the sun!" + +"Will you be quiet, you wretched insect!" growled the white bear, close +beside it. "It is only an old custom that makes us collect together +here. But it will be pleasant; the sun will stay away forever. The sun +is put out! The sun is dead!" + +"The sun is put out! The sun is dead!" murmured all the animals, and a +shiver went through all nature. + +The trolls from the North Pole laughed so that their caps flew off, and +the great mountain king raised his voice of thunder and called out over +the wilderness: "So shall it be! So shall it be! The sun is dead. The +whole earth shall fall down and worship me, Hiisi, the king of +everlasting winter and of everlasting night." + +That provoked Sampo Lappelil, as he sat behind the stone, and he came +out and shouted with his little saucy voice: "You are lying, mountain +king! you are lying, as tall as you are! Yesterday I saw the forerunner +of the sun in the sky, and the sun is not dead! Your beard will still +melt when it comes midsummer." + +At these words the mountain king's brow grew as dark as a black cloud, +and he forgot the law and stretched out his terrible long arm to crush +Sampo Lappelil. But at that moment the Northern Lights grew pale, and a +red ray sprang up in the sky and shone straight into the mountain king's +ice-cold face, so that he was suddenly dazzled and let his arm fall. + +And now the sun's golden rim could be seen lifting itself slowly and +majestically up over the horizon, and it lighted up the mountains and +wildernesses, the snow-drifts and clefts, the trolls and beasts and the +brave little Sampo Lappelil. Then all at once a glow spread over the +snow, as if many million of roses had rained down upon it, and the sun +shone into all their eyes, yes, and into all their hearts, too. Even +those who had rejoiced because the sun was dead were now really glad to +see it again. It was funny to witness the trolls' surprise. They stared +at the sun with their little gray eyes, from under their red caps, and +while it stayed they became against their will so beside themselves with +joy that they stood on their heads in the snow. The terrible mountain +king's beard began to melt and to drip down like a running brook over +his great white coat. + +While they all stood looking at the sun with feelings so different, the +first hour had almost slipped away, and Sampo Lappelil heard one of the +reindeer say to its little one: "Come, come, dear child! We must go now +or we shall be eaten up by the wolves!" + +Then Sampo, too, remembered what he had to expect if he waited there any +longer. And as he saw by his side a reindeer with beautiful golden +horns, he jumped up on its back, and they rushed off at a gallop over +the steep mountain. + +"What can that strange noise be that we hear behind us?" asked Sampo +after a while, when he had got a little used to the violent ride. + +"That is the thousand bears who are coming after us to eat us," answered +the reindeer. "But don't be afraid; I am the mountain king's own magic +reindeer, and no bear has ever gnawed my heels." + +When they had ridden a while longer, Sampo asked: "What can that be that +breathes and moans so strangely behind us?" + +The reindeer answered: "That is the hundred thousand wolves who are +coming after us at full gallop to tear you and me to pieces. But don't +be afraid; no wolf has ever beaten me in a race here in the wilderness." + +They rode on a while longer; then Sampo asked: "Is it thundering in the +mountains there behind us?" + +"No," said the reindeer, and began to shake in all his limbs. "That is +Hiisi, the mountain king himself, who is coming with giant steps after +us; and now it is all over with both of us, for him it is impossible to +escape." + +"Is there no help?" asked Sampo. + +"No," said the reindeer, "there is nothing to do now but to try to get +to the parsonage off there near Enare Lake. If we get there we are +saved, for the mountain king has no power over Christians." + +"Oh," said Sampo, "run now, my brave reindeer, over mountain and valley, +and I will give you golden oats in a silver manger!" + +The reindeer ran and ran; it was a life-and-death race! And they had but +just reached the priest's house when the mountain king came up outside +and knocked so hard on the door that every one thought the whole house +would fall down. "Who is that?" asked the priest. + +"It is I!" answered a voice of thunder outside. + +[Illustration: ON THE BACK OF THE REINDEER WITH GOLDEN HORNS.--_Page +126_.] + +"Open the door for Hiisi, the mountain king. There +is an unchristened child within, and all heathen belong to me!" + +"Wait a minute, until I put on my surplice and collar, so that I can +receive so distinguished a guest with proper dignity," answered the +priest. + +"Hurry, then!" growled the mountain king; "hurry, or I will kick the +walls down." + +"Immediately, immediately, sir," answered the priest. + +But at the same time he took a bowl of water and christened Sampo +Lappelil with all proper ceremony. + +"Well, are you not ready yet?" growled the mountain king, and he lifted +his terrible foot to kick the house down. + +But the priest opened the door and said: "Begone, you king of night and +winter, for with this child you have nothing to do! The sun of God's +grace shines over Sampo Lappelil, and he belongs not to you but to God's +kingdom!" + +Then the mountain king grew so furious that he burst on the spot and +turned into a terrible snow-cloud, and it snowed so hard that the snow +reached up over the roof of the parsonage and they all expected to be +buried alive. But when the morning came the sun shone on the snow, the +snow melted away, and the parsonage and all in it were saved; and there +was no sign of the mountain king. Every one thinks, however, that he +still lives and reigns on Rastekais. + +Sampo Lappelil thanked the priest and borrowed a pulk from him. Then he +harnessed to it the reindeer with the golden horns and went home to his +father in Aimio. There was great joy when Sampo Lappelil came back so +unexpectedly. But how he became a great man and fed his reindeer with +golden oats from a silver manger, that is another story, which it would +take too long to tell now. It is said that since that time when Sampo +had such a narrow escape, the Lapps have never, as before, put off from +year to year having their little children christened--for who would like +to see his child eaten up by the terrible mountain king? Sampo Lappelil +knows what it means to run that risk! And having heard Hiisi's mighty +footsteps, he knows, too, precisely what it is when thunder resounds in +the mountains. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + + _Translated by Margaret Boecher_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + A LEGEND OF MERCY + + +On one side of the lake there was a large town; on the opposite shore +stood a little lone cottage. The snow whirled over the frozen lake in +great clouds and the wind was very keen; for it was winter and +Christmastide in the world. + +At the cottage there was poverty inside, but riches on the roof. Up +there stood the great golden sheaf of grain about which the birds of +heaven gathered joyfully for their Christmas feast, while inside the +cottage food was scanty, as usual. The peasants' little children, +however, listened happily to the birds' joyous twitter from the +housetop, and took great delight in seeing the fine prints of the +sparrow's tiny feet in the smooth snow roundabout. + +"If we had threshed that grain, instead of giving it to the sparrows, we +might have had fresh wheaten rolls for the children for Christmas," +sighed the peasant's wife. + +"Don't you know that the merciful are blessed?" asked the gentle old +peasant with a kind glance at his dissatisfied wife. + +"But to let the birds of the air eat our bread," she sighed again. + +"Yes, the birds. Furthermore, what matter, even if it were the wild +beasts of the forest? Should we not show mercy? Besides, I have saved +enough to be able to buy four fresh rolls and a can of milk for +Christmas. Let us send the children across the lake to the town with +their sled. They will easily get back with the things before evening." + +"But suppose they meet a wolf on the ice," suggested the mother. + +"I will give Arvid a big club," said the father. "He will get along all +right, having that." + +So it happened that Arvid and his sister Hanna went to town to buy the +treat of white rolls and milk. By this time the snow was piled in great +drifts on the ice, and the children had difficulty in dragging the sled, +so that when they turned toward home the early darkness was already +beginning to settle down. They trudged through the snow as fast as they +could, but the drifts were much higher than before, and darkness came on +in earnest while they still had quite a long distance to go. + +As they struggled on, something black moved in the darkness. When it +came nearer, the children saw that it was a wolf. + +"Don't be afraid, Hanna," said Arvid. "I have a good club." And with +these words, he raised it threateningly. + +The wolf was now close beside the children but made no attempt to harm +them. He only howled, but the howling was extraordinary for it sounded +as if he uttered words in it,--words that the children could understand. +"It is so cold, so cold," howled the wolf. "And my little ones have +nothing to eat. Give me some bread for them in the name of mercy." + +"Poor little things!" said Hanna. "We will give you _our_ two rolls for +them, and we ourselves will eat hard bread to-night, but father and +mother must have their Christmas treat." + +"Many thanks," said the wolf as he took the two fresh rolls and glided +away. + +The children strove on through deeper and deeper snow, but in a little +while they heard some creature treading heavily behind them. It proved +to be a bear. + +The bear growled out something in his own language, and at first the +children could not find out what he meant although they tried hard; but +the bear kept on growling and finally, strangely enough, the children +understood. The bear, too, desired a Christmas gift. + +"It is so cold, so cold," growled the big creature. "All the water +everywhere is frozen and my poor little ones have nothing to drink. Be +merciful and give me a little milk for them." + +"How is this?" asked Arvid. "Why are you not asleep in your den for the +winter, as other bears are? But that is your affair. We will give you +our half of the milk for your little ones. Hanna and I can very well +drink water to-night, if only father and mother have something good for +Christmas." + +"Many thanks," said the bear, as he took the milk in a birch-bark cone +which he carried in his fore-paws. Then with slow, pompous steps, he +lumbered away into the darkness. + +The children waded along through the drifts still more eagerly now, for +they could see the Christmas lights shining through the windows of their +home; but they had not gone far before an ugly owl came flapping along +beside them. + +"I will have bread and milk! I will have bread and milk!" screamed the +owl, stretching out her long claws to scratch the children. + +"Oh, ho!" said Arvid. "If that is the kind you are, I shall have to +teach you to be polite." So saying, he gave the owl such a clever blow +on the wings with his club that she flew screaming away. + +Soon after this the children were at home, gaily beating the snow from +their clothes in the little entry. + +"We have met a wolf!" shouted Hanna. + +"And given a bear some milk!" added Arvid. + +"But the owl got a taste of the club!" laughed Hanna. Then they told all +their adventures. + +The parents looked thoughtfully at each other. How wonderful! To think +that their children had shown mercy even to the wild beasts of the +forest! What would happen next? What did it all mean? + +It was now supper-time. The peasant family gathered at the table upon +which, besides the usual poor fare, was the half portion of the expected +treat--all that the children had brought home. + +Arvid and Hanna wished to eat only dry bread and drink only water, so +that their parents might have the Christmas goodies; but the parents +would not allow that. They joyfully shared with the children the two +rolls and the half-tankard of milk which were such luxuries. + +But as they ate, they noticed something very marvelous. However often +they broke and broke pieces from either of the rolls, the fresh +delicious wheaten rolls never grew smaller; and however often they +poured milk from the tankard into one bowl after another the milk never +grew less! + +While they were wondering greatly over this, they heard a scratching at +the little window, and behold! there stood the wolf and the bear with +their fore-paws against the window pane. Both animals grinned and nodded +in a knowing, friendly way. An owl could be heard flapping behind them +in the darkness, and calling out in a hoarse voice to Arvid: + + "Sometimes hits + Sharpen wits. + Hoo, hoo! Hoo, hoo! + Not from need + But from greed + I begged of you. + Hoo, hoo! Hoo, hoo!" + +[Illustration: THERE STOOD THE WOLF AND THE BEAR.--_Page 136_.] + +Then her hoarse cries died away in the distance, and the two +beasts, after a little more grinning and nodding, disappeared from the +window. + +The peasant and his wife and the children understood now that a blessing +rested upon their Christmas food because it had been shared in mercy +with those that needed it; and they finished their meal in wonder and +thankfulness. + +On Christmas morning when they went to get their breakfast of dry bread +and water, not expecting to have anything else, they found to their +amazement that both rolls and milk were as fresh as when the children +bought them,--and with no sign that the rolls had ever been broken or +any milk used! And all that day it was the same! There were not only +riches on the roof, but joy and plenty inside the peasants' cottage, +where the children feasted and sang as gaily as did the sparrows, +fluttering about their Christmas sheaf of golden grain. + + --_Z. Topelius_. + +[Illustration] + + + + + ANTON'S ERRAND + _OR + THE BOY WHO MADE FRIENDS BY THE WAY_ + + +Far to the South lies a beautiful land. High forest-clad mountains lift +themselves toward the sky, and between them spreads a wide fruitful +valley. A mighty river rushes southward singing of courage and joy, and +from the mountains the merry brooks come hurrying along, the one faster +than the other, as if racing to see which would get down first. + +In the fields, the grass is tall and full of flowers, the grain waves +like a billowy sea, and the fruit trees bend beneath the weight of rich +fruits. But more than all else, grapevines grow here. The vines twine +themselves in an endless wreath through the valley; and in the long +arcades hang millions of clusters of grapes cooking themselves ripe in +the sun's heat. + +From olden times, an industrious folk lived in this valley cultivating +their fields and pruning their vines. They gathered themselves together +into small towns which were dotted here and there in the valley's green +expanse like birds' nests in a spreading tree. On the surrounding +heights rose the proud castles where the nobles lived. They tyrannized +over the farmers in the valley, and if the poor peasants made the least +complaint, down from the cliffs came the barons, like eagles from their +eyries, and dug their claws into their defenseless prey. + + * * * * * + +Many, many years ago, a powerful baron named Rudolf Reinhold Rynkebryn +lived in one of the largest of the mountain castles. He had, by force +and violence, made himself Lord over one of the cities in the valley, +and all who lived there must toil and moil for the hard master on +Falkensten. + +When the grain was ripe and the meal ground, many hundred bags of it +must be carried on horses' backs up to the mountain castle; and when the +grapes were ripe and the wine pressed out, many hundred barrels must go +the same way. + +So had it been for many years, but at last the peasants grew tired of +this state of things, and gathered together for consultation. + +"There is no sense in it," said an old man. "Here we plow and sow and +reap and grind so that Rynkebryn can swallow the bread that belongs to +us and our children." + +"Yes. Isn't that the truth?" said another. "Isn't it a sin and a shame, +also? We plant vines and prune them in the sweat of our brows and when +the grapes are ripe, the wine we make must go to Falkensten so that +Rynkebryn and his men may drink themselves crazy and descend like birds +of prey upon us poor peasants. We should not endure it any longer." + +"No, we _will_ not endure it any longer!" shouted all in chorus. Then it +was determined that they should send Rynkebryn a letter, in which they +renounced their allegiance to him. + +For the future he might get his bread and his wine wherever he chose. +Neither bag nor barrel should go from the valley to Falkensten. + +Oh, yes! To come to this decision was easy. Nor was there any great +difficulty about getting the letter written. The Mayor himself wrote it; +and upon the letter he set the city's great seal which bore a sheaf +pierced by a sword. + +The difficulty was to find a messenger to deliver the letter, for every +one well knew that he who carried such a message to the Baron of +Falkensten would not return alive to the valley. + +All to whom the mission was proposed immediately raised objections. One +had no clothes, another had pains in his legs, another could by no means +be spared from home, and another was sure he could never find the way up +there. Oh, there were many difficulties about taking that particular +letter to the Baron! + +Finally someone said, "Why not send little Anton?" And immediately all +shouted, "Yes, that is an excellent plan. Anton can go with the letter." + +Anton was a poor boy, usually called "little Anton." He had neither +father nor mother nor sister nor brother, but had been brought up among +other poor children of the town in the Cloister School. Now that he was +twelve or thirteen years old, he must take care of himself, and since he +could do small jobs of all sorts, people made use of him, here, there +and everywhere. + +He helped to dig in the vineyards, to lay stone and mortar when a house +was to be built; he ran with messages and letters out to the country +roundabout; and as he could manage the most spirited horse, he drove, +too, if there were no other driver to be had. He often took care of the +babies while their mothers were out at work; he carded wool and picked +hops; he sang at funerals and played at weddings. + +Indeed, there was scarcely anything for which they did not use little +Anton. He was quick of foot and light of hand, true as gold and silent +as a locked box, so every one liked him and gave him plenty to do. + +The Mayor himself went to little Anton and told him that the whole city +had decided to entrust to him a very important errand. He was to go to +Falkensten with a letter to Baron Rynkebryn. Of what was in the letter +the Mayor said nothing, for if he had, little Anton would have realized +that he was risking his life. + +The others realized it very decidedly, but they reasoned thus: "Little +Anton is a poor lone child, with no parents to mourn him, and if +anything happens to him,--well!--we must hope that all is for the best. +It is surely better that he should perish than that we who have wives +and children should. Besides, the town is full of these little poor boys +whom we can get to help us when we need them." + +Anton took the big letter, turned it over and over in his hands, and +asked if there would be any answer. + +The Mayor became a little embarrassed and took a pinch of snuff. He +could not look Anton straight in the face as he replied, "Answer? No, I +do not think there will be any answer." + +"So I can come right back?" queried little Anton. + +"Yes, indeed. Deliver the letter and take to your heels as soon as you +can." + +The next day, early in the morning, Anton put on his thickest shoes, +stuffed a couple of rolls and a small bottle of wine into his pocket, +slung an old gun over his shoulder and started on his long tramp from +the valley to Falkensten. He could see the castle high, high up like an +eagle's nest, on the top of a cliff from which it looked out over three +different valleys, many, many miles away. + +It was a hot August day. The sky was without a cloud and the sun stood +and smiled its broadest on the vineyards where the grapes steamed and +cooked in the heat. Vines were planted on the lowest slopes of the +mountain, so here Anton could walk up the stone steps between the +walls. He turned and saw the city which looked shining and gay in the +sunlight. The church was white as snow, and the hands on the clock +glittered like gold. + +By and by the vineyards ended and Anton came to some fields. The grass +had already been cut for the second time and the fields were deserted. +Not a person was to be seen. + +Next he came to the forest of chestnut-trees. From here everything in +the valley looked very small; houses and farms, and even the church, +looked like toys spread out on a green carpet. The sun glowed hotter and +hotter, and Anton took off his jacket, and walked on, in his +shirt-sleeves. The road grew steeper and steeper. He was hot and thirsty +so he sat down in the shade of a rock and took out his bottle of wine. + +When he had refreshed himself, he leaned back, humming a little song and +idly striking the ground with a switch he had broken from a bush. + +As he sat there, he heard a soft rustling at his side and saw a little +lizard come from the wall of rock and creep forth among the ferns. It +wriggled its supple little body out into the sunshine and then lay +perfectly still in front of Anton, gazing at him with its clear eyes. + +"That was a beautiful song you sang," said the lizard. "Would you be so +kind as to sing it once more? I am foolishly crazy over music." + +"I can certainly do that much for you," answered Anton, and hummed the +song again. He kept the switch behind him now, not wishing the lizard to +see that he had it. + +The lizard lay perfectly still, listening, but when the song was +finished the little creature said to Anton, "Come, Anton, what are you +really thinking of? I think your dark eyes have a sly look in them. +Surely you are not, by any chance, intending to harm me?" + +"Oh, I don't know!" said Anton, smacking his whip. "But I do think it +might be amusing to give you a hit with this so that you snapped in two +like a piece of glass." + +"Do you think so?" asked the lizard drawing its tail close. "Well, +well! How strange! It seems to me that would not be at all amusing. I +think it is much more amusing to live, to lie here and enjoy myself in +the sunshine." + +[Illustration: THE LIZARD LAY PERFECTLY STILL, LISTENING--_Page 146_.] + +Anton began to laugh, but continued to beat the ground with his switch. + +"Listen, Anton," said the lizard. "I have really such a very short time +to live. Let me go in peace. Don't do me any harm. Perhaps I can be of +use to you some day. You may be sure you will never regret it if you let +me go." + +"What could such a forlorn little creature as you ever do for me?" asked +Anton, as he got up. "But since you ask me so prettily, I will let you +run. Suppose we see which of us will get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall, I shall!" hissed the lizard; and it hurried away through +the grass, calling back, however, "Farewell, Anton; you may be sure I +shall not lose sight of you." With that, the lizard disappeared and +Anton resumed his toilsome journey. + +The sun mounted higher and higher and the whole sky was like a sea of +burning light. The houses and churches in the valley looked now like +many tiny white stones scattered over the ground. The path, steeper and +steeper, led through a grove of larches, and here little Anton must +again rest. He took two big swallows from his bottle, and wiped his hot +face with his shirt-sleeves. + +Hearing a strange cracking sound over his head and looking up, he saw a +little squirrel that sat on the branch of a neighboring larch, eating +the seeds from a cone. Between the mouthfuls he spat the shells down, +chattering softly meanwhile as if to say, "What an excellent breakfast +this is! Truly a delicious breakfast!" + +Anton took his old gun quietly from his shoulder, got down on his knees, +and crept carefully along. He held the gun by its barrel. With the butt +end he could easily enough hit the little squirrel. But the alert +creature, which was watching him with keen, anxious eyes, saw him before +he had raised the butt end, and with a couple of big leaps, reached a +higher branch of the tree. + +"What are you going to do to me?" asked the frightened squirrel, poking +his little head out. "What is it you really want to do to me?" + +"Oh, I should just like to have your tail!" said Anton. "It would be a +nice fur collar for me when the autumn storms howl from the mountain +tops." + +"But I would so much rather keep my tail myself," said the squirrel, +raising it as high as he could in the air. "You see I was born with this +tail, and therefore it is mine; and so, if you kill me and take it away +from me, you are a thief,--a thief,--a real little tail-stealer!" + +"You must stop saying such rude words," said Anton, lifting the gun. "If +I can only catch you, your tail will be mine." + +"No, stop, stop!" shrieked the squirrel, springing about in the +branches. "It is horrid and ugly and disgusting of you. I don't want to +be crushed with the butt end of a gun. It is ugly of you to think of +it, ugly, ugly! And to be broken off in the middle of my nice breakfast +to be murdered is truly most unpleasant. Would you like that, little +Anton?" + +The squirrel still leaped and sprang from branch to branch in fright. +Anton laid his gun on the ground. + +"Oh, little Anton!" piped the squirrel. "Let me alone! Let me hop +around, a happy living squirrel. That is so much better and pleasanter!" + +"Well, hop then," said Anton, throwing the gun over his shoulder again. +"I am afraid I should dream of the frightened look in your eyes. And now +we might see which of us can get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall, I shall!" called the squirrel, wild with joy. "If you are +going to Falkensten, I shall go, too. No harm shall happen to you while +I am able to hop." With that, the squirrel set off with long leaps from +tree to tree, and soon disappeared; and Anton walked on up the mountain. + +The air became more and more sultry. The sky, which had been bright +blue, grew white in some places, and the white ran together like thick +milk and heaped itself in close masses. The sun was no longer to be +seen. The clouds changed to gray and violet and dark-blue, with glowing +edges, and thunder began to roll among the mountains. Anton could not +see the valley now at all. The lofty peaks towered one behind another, +and there seemed to be nothing else in the world. The path grew steeper +and yet steeper. + +Little Anton began to be frightfully tired. He had to lie down again and +again on the ground, groaning with weariness. Not a drop more of the +refreshing sour wine did he have to quench his thirst,--the bottle had +been drained long ago. + +Suddenly he heard a rushing sound, and lo! from the rock bubbled a white +foaming stream of water, so fresh and living that one could not +understand how it could gush forth from the dead stones. Anton knelt +down and drank eagerly from his hands. Never had he found any draught so +wonderfully reviving. + +When he had quenched his thirst, he thought he would resume his journey, +but at that instant he caught sight of a dove flying toward him. It was +a charming wood-dove, with blue-flecked wings and a little round head. +The dove must, like him, have been thirsty, for she flew directly to the +foaming water and bent over it to drink. "That is a lovely bird," +thought Anton; and he took his gun noiselessly from his shoulder. "I can +surely hit her." + +He had laid the gun to his cheek and was taking aim, when the dove +lifted her head from the water and fluttered her wings. + +"Why should you shoot me, little Anton?" she asked. "You have quenched +your thirst and I have quenched mine. The spring has been good to both +of us. Why should you do evil to me?" + +"You have such beautiful wings," said Anton. "It would look fine if I +stretched you out flat and fastened you on the barn door." + +"It looks much finer when I float upward toward the sunlight," said the +dove. "The mountain path is difficult for you, little Anton; but you +are at least free to pursue your way. Let me fly mine. Here in these +solitudes no one should do another harm." + +The dove looked so gentle and talked in such friendly tones that Anton +felt thoroughly ashamed of himself. + +"Yes, fly away, little dove, fly wherever you will," said he, waving his +hands. "We might see which of us two will get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall!" responded the dove, lifting her wings. "But if it is to +that fierce Baron you are taking a message, I prefer to wait outside on +the tower." Then up she flew. + +The sky was now one dark mass of thunder-clouds. The thunder rumbled +among the mountains; the green fields on the heights shone out like +emeralds against the dark blue haze beyond. All creatures had become +wonderfully silent; not a bird sang, not an insect hummed. Anton went +forward with dragging step, and the dove floated silently above him,--a +white speck against the dark sky. + +But what was that high up there on the cliff? It was a little chamois +that stood with all its four feet close together on a point of rock, and +looked about. + +"Hurrah! I shall get you!" thought Anton as he cocked his gun; but the +chamois with a couple of nimble bounds sprang farther up the mountain. + +"Ho, ho! That won't help you any!" said Anton, running nearer to the +rocks where the chamois stood. "I am a good shot, let me tell you; and I +must have prey of some sort to take with me from the mountain." + +"But why should you kill me?" asked the chamois, bounding a little +farther away. "What harm have I ever done to you? Does it annoy you that +I stand here and look at the view?" + +"No, but you have such handsome little horns. I should like to put them +up over my door as a sign that I had conquered you." + +"For you to conquer me would be easy," said the chamois. "You have a +gun, and I have nothing. But I had always believed that the mountain +was made for us both." + +Anton made no reply but scrambled hastily up the rocks to get nearer the +chamois. + +"Oh, Anton, little Anton! let me alone!" called the chamois, making the +longest leap it could. "I would truly rather have my horns on my head +than over your door! Cannot you understand that? If you love your +freedom, let me keep mine." + +At that moment the thunder pealed with a frightful crash among the +mountains. Anton became altogether uncomfortable and put his gun down. +"Leap where you will, then," he called to the chamois. "Perhaps we might +see which of us can get to Falkensten first." + +"Oh, I shall, surely," said the chamois, starting off with a big leap. +"But I will wait for you outside the castle wall, and if you need my +help you will know where to find me." And with these words the chamois +vanished. + +"Shall I never, never reach Falkensten?" groaned Anton. He was dead +tired and began to think he had gone astray, but suddenly, at a turn in +the path, the castle stood before him as if it had sprung up out of the +earth. + +It was of the same color as the rocks upon which it was built, and how +big and high and thick-walled it was! It had but few windows scattered +here and there on the side toward the path. From the tower waved +Rynkebryn's banner,--a fiery red flag on which was a black falcon. The +drawbridge that led over to the castle was drawn up, and over the chasm +that was between the rocks on which the castle was built and the other +rocks, there was only a rough narrow bridge, made of slender branches +placed side by side. + +Anton stood still. It would be dangerous to go over such a bridge +without any kind of a railing to hold fast to; but he must deliver the +letter. Just then he heard something whispering at his feet: + + "Since you can't glide like me, and creep, + Be wise; cross not the chasm deep." + +It was the little lizard that came hurrying toward him with this +warning. + +"But how should I then get the message to Baron Rynkebryn?" said Anton. +He had already started across the bridge. + +And now something came hopping along at his side. It was the squirrel +with his red tail high in the air like a flag, and with wide-open eyes; +and while he hopped about Anton's feet he chattered: + + "Since you can't hop like me, and climb, + That castle shun; be warned in time!" + +"But how then should I attend to my errand?" Anton was now half-way +across the bridge. + +As he stood there, the dove came flying and floating on her wings above +the abyss. + + "Since you can't float and fly like me, + Turn back, turn back and homeward flee," + +said the dove, flying near Anton's cheek. + +"Yes, that I will do when once I have given the Baron his letter," said +Anton, "but I don't turn back when I am half-way over the bridge, nor +flee homeward until my errand is done." + +So he proceeded. The thin branches in the loosely-made bridge creaked +and bent under his feet. On both sides of him was the dizzy chasm. He +had a queer pain in his heart and everything turned black before his +eyes; but he pressed his hands against his breast where he had hidden +the letter, kept his gaze straight ahead, and walked on with firm step. +There! Now he could draw a long breath, a sigh of relief; for he was at +last safely across the frail bridge,--on the other side of the chasm, +and under the castle wall. + +At first he could see no opening in the wall; it stretched up as hard +and impenetrable as the rock upon which it stood, but when Anton stole +around it, he found a small door,--an iron door with many locks and +fastenings. He picked up a stone and knocked hard on the door, but no +one answered. Everything around him was still as death. + +Suddenly he heard a strange rumbling sound, which he thought at first +might be the echo of the thunder among the rocks; but no. The sound came +from the hall where Baron Rynkebryn and his men sat and +drank, and roared with laughter loud enough to make the castle tremble. + +[Illustration: "TURN BACK, TURN BACK," SAID THE DOVE.--_Page 157_.] + +Since no one seemed to hear Anton, he lost patience, took his gun which +was still loaded and shot it off. He could hear the echoes answer from +mountain to mountain and at last die away; but now there were signs of +life in the castle. A man opened a shutter high up in the tower and +called, "Who shoots under Falkensten Castle? Is it friend or foe?" + +Anton put both hands to his mouth and shouted back, "A friend! A friend! +A messenger from the valley!" Then he heard the man slam the shutter to, +come with a clatter down the stairs, trudge across the courtyard, and +begin to rattle the locks and bolts of the iron door. At last the door +opened slowly and a gruff-looking warrior stood before little Anton. + +"What do you want?" asked the warrior. His voice sounded like a bear's. +"What have you to say to the Lord of Falkensten?" + +"That I must tell to Baron Rynkebryn himself," answered Anton. "The +message is to him and none other." + +"Listen to the young sparrow that dares to come into the falcon's nest!" +said the warrior, but he opened the door just wide enough for Anton to +slip in. + +As the boy turned in the doorway, he caught sight of the chamois which +stood on a stone beside the chasm, stretching its head forward. + +"Yes, here I am!" called the chamois. "I will keep on the watch by the +wall, so you will know where to find me!" + +At that instant the heavy iron door clanged shut after Anton, and he was +at last inside the walls of Falkensten. His steps echoed with a hollow +sound in the small courtyard; and it was dark and damp as a cellar, +inside the castle on the great winding stairs that led to the baronial +hall. Little Anton felt his heart beating like a hammer and choking him, +when the warrior opened the door to the hall and let him pass in. + +At the end of a long oaken table sat Baron Rynkebryn and his retainers, +drinking. Their eyes were bloodshot like those of an angry bull, and +they laughed and shouted so that the high rafters shook. Little Anton +squeezed himself into a corner near the door and stood, hat in hand, +waiting until Rynkebryn should speak to him. + +Long did he wait, for the Baron was wholly absorbed in his carousing. +The wine flowed over his beard; he sat with both arms leaning on the +table and laughed till his bones rattled. Suddenly his eye fell upon +Anton. + +"Who is that little whipper-snapper shivering there by the door?" he +asked, pointing with his big finger. So Anton had to go forward. He +bowed many times as he crossed the room, each bow deeper than the last, +and when he reached the Baron, he took the letter from his breast and +presented it. + +The Baron snatched it from him and began to read it, Anton meanwhile +standing still and looking out of the tower window. Never before had he +seen so far out into the world. One mountain chain after another +gleamed forth, lit by the sun; streams lay like narrow white ribbons in +the valley; and the boundless sky arched over all, its big +thunder-clouds looking like mountains above the other mountains. Anton +forgot entirely where he was while gazing at all this glory; but he was +awakened to reality by a roar from Rynkebryn. + +"So this is the kind of message you bring me, is it?" he screamed, and +he struck his fist on the table so violently that the wine bottles +tumbled over, and the rich red wine ran in streams across the white +cloth, like blood. "How dare you bring such a letter to the Lord of +Falkensten?" + +"How should I know what was in the letter?" asked Anton. He trembled +like an aspen leaf. "I do not read the letters people trust me with." + +"Oh, you don't, don't you?" roared Rynkebryn. He had first grown red as +the wine he drank, but now he was as white as the table-cloth. "It might +have been well for you if you had peeped into this letter. If you had, I +think you would have turned back with it. Herein"--he shook the letter +till it rattled--"herein those traitors of the valley renounce their +allegiance to me; and he who goes on errands for traitors is a traitor +himself and shall die a traitor's death. Do you understand that, you +miserable little worm?" + +Anton tried to speak, but could not get a word over his lips. He grew +icy cold and shook as if he had the ague. + +"But I shall revenge myself on that pack," shouted Rynkebryn. "I shall +descend upon them like an overwhelming horror, like a thief in the +night, and lay their land waste. Sure as death, before three nights have +passed there shall be neither stick nor stone left of their city in the +valley." + +"Shall I tell them that?" asked Anton, in a low, frightened voice. + +"No, you can spare yourself the trouble!" shouted Rynkebryn, laughing. +"I shall say it to them myself with a drawn sword. No, my little +friend,"--his eyes glared horribly, "you shall have a night's lodging at +Falkensten. Your guest-chamber is ready. You shall march down to the +castle prison, and there you can lie and amuse yourself guessing what +death you are to die in the morning. Let me see. I must think of +something very fine. I might, for instance, hit you with a club so that +you broke in two like a piece of glass. That might be very amusing to +see. Ha! ha! ha!" + +Anton shuddered. He remembered that he had threatened the little lizard +with this very treatment, and had had the same idea that it would be +amusing to see. + +"Or," continued the Baron, "I could crush you with one whack of my gun, +so!--That would be very quickly done." + +The icy shivers ran down Anton's back. Just this kind of terror that he +was feeling must the squirrel have felt when Anton threatened him with +the butt of his gun. + +"Or I could fasten you out on the castle wall, as one fastens a bird +that has been shot upon a barn door. There you could hang as a warning +to traitors, until you fell to pieces," growled Rynkebryn, stroking his +beard. + +Things turned black before Anton's eyes. "Oh!" he thought with anguish. +"This is just the way I threatened the dove, the innocent little +creature!" + +"Or I could chop your head off!" roared Rynkebryn, rushing toward Anton +with clenched fists. "Then I could put your head on top of the tower +where there is a glorious view. What a treat that would be for you!" All +the men laughed so hard at this that they had to hold their sides. + +But little Anton did not laugh. He stood there thinking, with deep +remorse, how he had threatened to take the life of the harmless chamois, +and put its horns over the door. "Oh, God be praised that I let it run!" +he thought; but just then Rynkebryn's men caught hold of him, tied him +securely, hand and foot, with strong rope, and took him to the castle +prison. + +Dark and damp indeed was the prison cell. It had no windows except, high +up in the wall, a little opening with strong iron bars across it. The +men threw Anton on the floor and then went out, locking the door after +them with so many locks that Anton knew he could never open that door, +even if he had both his hands free. + +There he lay, looking up at the barred window. The sunset glowed through +it still, but faded little by little, and darkness came on. High in the +sky the stars twinkled out, one after another. And Anton lay and thought +that when their light was quenched again, his life was to be put out, as +if it were but a spark. What made him most unhappy was the thought that +he could not get a message to the city in the valley, so that some one +might know that Rynkebryn, the next night, was going to creep upon them +like a thief, burn their city and devastate their land. + +He laid his head on the damp floor of the cell and began to cry. All at +once he heard something rustle,--a queer little sound. He thought it +might be a rat that would bite him, and drew his legs up close; but +something small came creeping lightly over him right up to his cheek. +"Don't be afraid," it whispered. "It is only I, the little lizard you +met on your way. I have hurried at your heels the whole time, until you +disappeared through the castle door. But how have you brought yourself +to this? You should have followed my advice and turned back in +time,--you who can neither creep nor glide." + +"Perhaps," sighed poor Anton. "But it is too late to think of that, and +no one in the world can help me now." + +"Oh," answered the lizard, "one should never give up hope. Since I could +get into the castle prison, we shall manage to get you out." And with +that the tiny creature rustled away in the darkness. + +A minute or two after, little Anton saw something black against the +barred window. It squeezed itself between the bars and dropped with a +thump to the floor. + +"Here am I," chattered the squirrel, hopping to Anton. "What foolishness +has been going on here?" + +"As you see," replied Anton, "I am captured and bound, and in the +morning I am to die." + +"Oh, in the morning!" said the squirrel. "It is a long time to morning. +Much can happen before the sun gets up again." + +"But I cannot stir hand or foot," said Anton. "Don't you see how they +have tied my hands behind my back?" + +"Oh, yes! I see that well enough," replied the squirrel, opening his big +eyes wider than ever. "Where are the knots?" And with one jump he was on +Anton's back, beginning immediately to gnaw at the knots with his small +pointed teeth. He bit and pulled at the rope so that his little body +shook with the effort; and it was not long before Anton felt the +loosening at his wrists and afterward at his ankles. All at once the +ropes fell off and he was free. + +"Oh, you blessed little animal!" said Anton, hugging and kissing the +squirrel. "Now I am a free person again, and not a tied-up bundle!" + +"Yes, but there is still the high, barred window," said the squirrel. +"We must have the dove's help now." And he sprang up to the window and +vanished through it. + +Little Anton stood looking after him, but suddenly he could no longer +see the stars and the sky as before, for they were blotted out by +something that filled the whole window. He soon saw that it was the dove +flapping her out-spread wings against the bars. She could not get in, +but she had something in her bill which she let fall through the window. +It clanged as it hit the floor, and when Anton stooped to pick it up, he +saw that it was a file. + +"I found that in Rynkebryn's own window where it lay, ready to be used +for his evil purposes; but now it shall help you out of prison," said +the dove. + +No one would have imagined they could do it, but the squirrel and the +dove helped Anton to get the ropes he had been tied with up to the +window, and to fasten them there so firmly that he could climb up the +ropes. Then he filed and filed at the iron bars till his hands bled, +while the lizard ran up and down the wall saying: "Make haste! Make +haste! It will soon be morning!" + +But the sun had not yet risen when little Anton stood, rescued and free, +on the rocks outside the castle wall. + +And there was the chamois waiting for him! + +"Seat yourself on my back, little Anton!" said the chamois. "And hold +tight! for we are going to gallop down the mountain so fast that straps +and buckles would not keep you on!" + +So Anton got on the chamois' back and held tight. This was necessary +indeed; for slow as it had been trudging up the mountain, he now went +down with a speed like that of a stone which, being tossed, bounds from +rock to rock as it strikes them on its downward-flying way. + +"I shall fall! I shall fall!" shouted Anton, clinging for dear life to +the chamois' neck. "I shall pitch off head first!" + +"Oh, no! You won't fall," said the chamois; "nor I, either. I am very +sure-footed," and on it leaped as fast as ever. + +Just as the sun rose, Anton stood at the Mayor's door and knocked. The +Mayor himself came to open it, and was overwhelmed with wonder when he +saw little Anton standing there as alive as ever, and without so much as +a hair of his head hurt! + +"I come with bad tidings," said Anton. "If you don't look out, you will +have Rynkebryn and his men after you before you know it; and he is not +going to spare any of you,--yourselves or your property. Every one had +better be armed and ready." + +The next night, Baron Rynkebryn with all his warriors came sneaking down +the mountain expecting to take the peasants by surprise, and to catch +them all as one catches rats in a trap; and he felt himself completely +fooled when he found the peasants on the alert and prepared to give him +a warm welcome! From all the country round had the town folk summoned +help, and the men were armed with lances and javelins, with scythes and +pitchforks; and there was nothing for Rynkebryn to do but to hasten up +the mountain again as fast as his legs could carry him. But the +peasants followed him all the way to Falkensten, gathered brushwood and +branches which they heaped about the castle, and then set on fire, +determined to destroy that den of thieves. It blazed and flamed like a +bonfire and sent ruddy light far and near. The wicked Baron Rynkebryn +and his men were forced to flee and to hide like wild eagles high up in +desolate clefts of the mountains. + +And now there was nothing good that the people did not wish to do for +little Anton! They would have him to be Mayor, and a great festival +should be held in his honor in the palatial hall of the Council House. +But little Anton only thanked them over and over. He had not the least +desire in the world to be Mayor, neither did he care to sit and feast +and sing with those who had recently sent him out on that dangerous +errand without troubling themselves at all as to what would happen to +him. + +Therefore, he asked only that he might have what he needed in order to +give a party to his nearest and dearest friends. Oh, yes! The people +would gladly give him anything; he need only say what he wished for. + +[Illustration: THE MAYOR WAS OVERWHELMED WITH WONDER.--_Page 171_.] + +Then Anton said he would like one vest-pocket full of grain, and the +other full of small snails; and one trousers-pocket full of nuts, and +the other full of salt. He would like also a loaf of white bread, a +bottle of wine and a handful of fresh peaches. + +The people thought his wishes were very peculiar indeed; but he received +what he had asked for and then started toward the mountain. + +A little later, as he sat under a chestnut-tree and looked out over the +valley, he heard the drums and trumpets from the festival in the Council +House, where the people sat and feasted, and shouted hurrahs for their +old Mayor. A spring bubbled near him; the chestnut-tree shaded him; the +sun shone on the vineyards below, while high up at the top of the +mountain, smoke was still rising from the ruins of Falkensten. + +He had spread his table on the fresh green grass. There lay the bread +and the peaches and beside them stood the flask of wine; but before he +began to eat, he invited his guests to take their food. The lizard had +all the little snails; the dove ate grain from Anton's one hand, while +the chamois licked salt from the other; but the little squirrel sat +above in the chestnut-tree and stuffed himself up to his throat with +nuts, throwing all the shells down upon little Anton's head. + + --_Helena Nyblom_. +[Illustration] + + + + + THE FOREST WITCH + + +It was in the earliest springtime. In the shade the air was still quite +cold; but where the clear and strong sunshine streamed down, one could +see that spring had come, for there the blossoms were beginning to +stretch upward on their tiny stalks. + +A couple of children were walking through the forest: a ten-year-old +girl, named Nina, and her little brother Johannes. + +They were seeking flowers. Nina had to find them because the flowers +were too tiny and too much hidden for so small a child as Johannes to +discover them for himself, but she always let him have the pleasure of +picking them. + +It was such a joyous spring walk that Nina did not notice how far they +were straying away from their grandmother's hut, back of the hill. This +little hut had been their home only for a short time. When their dear +father and mother died, their grandmother had kindly taken them to live +with her; and this was their first walk in the forest. + +At last Nina thought they ought to go back, but just as she turned +around with Johannes by the hand, who should stand before them but a +hideous old creature, more glaring and frightful than you can imagine! + +"What are you doing here, you wretched children?" she shrieked; "are you +plucking flowers in my forest? Then shall I pluck you, you may believe!" + +"Oh, pardon us," cried Nina; "we did not know that we must not pick +flowers here. We are strangers in this forest. Pray, pray pardon us." + +"_Snikkesnak!_" (fiddlestick!) answered the terrific old Witch, for such +the creature was. "Don't talk to me! I never pay any attention to what +children say; nor to old folks' talk either, for that matter. Indeed I +don't! Snikkesnak! snikkesnak! But it is not you that I want, silly +girl. It is the boy there who has offended me. The little rascal! It is +he who picked the flowers. Now I shall take him!" + +"Oh! take me, take me instead," cried Nina in terror, flinging her arms +around her brother. "It is my fault! I showed him the flowers, and let +him pick them. You've no right to take him! Oh! do take me; he is too +little." + +"_Snikkesnak!_" answered the Witch; "what a lot of talk! But you are right; +the boy is small to come into my service, so I suppose I shall have to take +you. Now listen well to what I say. Spring and summer are coming and I +shall have no work for you then; so I shall not trouble myself about you +for the present. But when autumn has come and gone, and all the leaves and +flowers have disappeared, then are we very busy in the underground world. +Then you may believe that I shall teach you how to work! and I live deep +down, very, very deep! Now you may go; but I will make a bargain with you. +When the last flower is faded--listen!--when the last flower is faded, meet +me here on this spot--or--or----" + +The old Witch stopped to think what she could best threaten Nina with. +Her wicked eyes glared around for an instant till she noticed that Nina +stood, with her arms about her little brother, ready to ward off any +evil that might come upon him. + +"Or I shall come and catch this little rascal, and twist his arms and +legs all out of joint!" screamed the Witch, shaking her knotty stick at +little Johannes. + +Then, after a dark glance at Nina, she shuffled off through the forest, +with the crows shrieking after her, and the leaves and flowers trembling +on every side. + +As soon as the Witch was out of sight, Nina hastened home with Johannes. +Like a kind sister she suited her frightened pace to his, so that he +should not stumble and fall. + +The poor little boy had been so terrified at the Witch that he had not +in the least understood the cruel threats she had used against him, +or the dreadful fate which was in store for Nina. + +[Illustration: NINA STOOD WITH ARMS AROUND HER LITTLE BROTHER.--_Page +178_.] + +Nina was rejoiced that this was so; for then he could not tell their +grandmother what the Witch had said, and she herself would not disclose +the dreadful doom hanging over her. She was determined that the poor +grandmother should not be made anxious and sorrowful as long as it could +be helped. + +Shortly after this, the spring burst forth in all its power and beauty, +and the blossoms shot up everywhere--in the woods, the fields, the +meadows, and the gardens. Nina welcomed them as her dearest friends. +They would protect her against the Forest Witch. So long as she had a +single one of these, she would not have to go down into the dark earth +to serve the hideous creature. + +Nina had always loved flowers, but never had she thought so much about +them as now. Yet, alas! Spring soon turned into summer, and summer went +faster than ever before, it seemed to poor Nina. The tears streamed +down her cheeks, as she saw the blue cornflowers fall before the +reaper's scythe, when the grain was cut in harvest-time. + +But Nina could still hope, even then; for the roses continued to bloom +on Grandmother's old rose-bush outside the door of the hut. Nina kissed +them and begged them to last as long as ever they could! And so they +did--the dear, friendly roses! + +When the last little rose had at length withered, autumn had almost +passed and the many-colored leaves were dropping from the trees by +thousands. Yet Nina discovered to her joy and comfort that there were +flowers still. Along the roadside stood the simple, hardy wild aster, +which blossomed on and on, although the autumn winds and rains destroyed +everything else. + +Winter began; but so mildly that it seemed as if it were still autumn. +When the asters finally disappeared, other help came to Nina; for the +hazel-bush was completely hoaxed by the mild weather and thought it was +spring; so it began to unfold its yellow catkins, standing beautiful +and bright, as one saw it between the bare trees over the hedges. + +So, even when the winter was far advanced, Nina was still saved from +going to the Witch; but this could not long continue. Cold weather must +soon come, because Grandmother had said that Christmas was near. + +And suddenly winter did come in earnest, with its icy frosts and +drifting snows. For five days it was impossible to get out of the hut, +because the wind kept whirling the snow into high drifts all about it. +But when the sixth day came the wind abated and the snow lay peacefully +on the ground. + +Now Nina dared no longer to stay in the house, for surely all the +flowers were dead, and buried under the cold snow, after this bitter +storm. She must go and keep her compact with the Witch. So gathering +together all her courage, she stole out of the house without being seen +by any one. + +Outside, she stood still for an instant, took a last look at the hut, +which now seemed so cozy and dear, whispered "Farewell," and started on +her way to the forest. + +But she had gathered too little courage, after all; for it melted away +immediately when she discovered the Witch a few steps from the door, +standing in the little roadside garden, waiting for her. + +"You've been rather slow about keeping to your bargain!" exclaimed the +Witch angrily. "I was just coming after you." + +"Oh! do not make me go with you!" cried Nina. + +In her agony she fell down upon the snow at the Witch's great feet, and +besought her wildly: "Let me be free! Oh, do let me be free!" + +"_Snikkesnak!_" snapped the Witch. "Up with you! No nonsense!" + +"Is there not a single flower to save me?" wailed Nina. She half rose, +and, fairly beside herself with fright and despair, began to scrape the +snow away from the garden-bed at the side of the path, trying to find a +flower. + +"Oh, yes, look if you like! _Snikkesnak! snikkesnak!_" laughed the +Witch, her face glowing with exultation at Nina's trouble. + +But an instant after, her countenance became filled with fury, for where +Nina had cleared the snow away, there appeared a plant with fresh +dark-green leaves and white flower buds! + +Nina clasped her hands together in great joy and thankfulness; then, +breaking off a bud, she lifted it up high toward the Witch and rushed +away into the hut. The Witch, in her disappointment and vexation, sprang +about so wildly in the snow that it rose in a cloud all about her, and +Nina never saw her again. + +Safe at home in the little hut, Nina now told all her adventure; and the +grandmother took the little girl's sweet, frightened face between her +two old hands, and kissed her forehead many times. + +Faithfully every day Nina went to pay a loving visit to the little +"Christmas Rose" in the garden (_helleborus niger_); for that was the +flower which had saved her; and the whole winter long, it could be +found fresh and beautiful, here and there under the snow. + +Though no other blossoms dare come forth to face the snows and frosts of +deep winter, the Christmas Rose ventures bravely out into the bleak +weather, and with modest and serene courage holds her own against its +powers. The snow lying over it keeps it from freezing; and if one +brushes away this beautiful covering, the Christmas Rose appears with +its lovely, white, gold-centered blossoms, laughing at the frost. It +blooms steadily on until it can say "Good-day" to spring's first +blossom--the little snowdrop; and so, through all the year, there are +flowers blooming in our dear Northern land, Denmark. + +Thus it was that Nina escaped the Witch, who, being a Forest Witch, did +not know of the Christmas Rose, because that is a garden flower. + + --_J. Krohn_. +[Illustration] + + + + + THE TESTING OF THE TWO KNIGHTS + + +Down in the town all was laughter, dancing and jollity. Banners were +flying from housetops and windows, flowers were wreathed about poles and +arches, and green branches decorated every gateway and door. Clearly, a +great festival was in progress. + +High on a hill overlooking the town, towered the old red castle of a +duke. In front of the castle, on a beautiful green mound, stood gilded +cannon, which at intervals sent thunderous peals through the town and +over the near-lying hills. + +Inside the castle, speeches were being made and toasts given, and many +were the eager shouts of "Hail to the Princess!" and "Long life to the +Princess!" for this was the birthday of the Duke's only daughter, +Princess Inga, and the festival was in her honor. At the conclusion of +each speech and chorus of joyous shouts up at the castle, the cannon +sent forth their signaling volley; and at each volley the people in the +town took up the rejoicing and heartily echoed "Hail! hail! Long life to +the Princess!" for they had loved the beautiful daughter of their good +Duke ever since that first day when she had appeared among them, a tiny +smiling child, in her little carriage drawn by a pair of white goats. + +After the feasting was over, the guests dispersed from the stately hall +and strolled about the terraces and gardens to enjoy the summer night +and its sweet refreshing air. + +Down one of the shadowy garden walks paced the Duke, and with him a man +conspicuous among the richly adorned guests for the dull simplicity of +his attire. He was no other than the Wise One from Fir Forest who wore +now, as at all times, his plain dark robe of brown,--against which +flowed in sharp contrast his long snow-white wavy beard. + +"The day has passed right merrily," said the Duke, "and there has been +no lack of congratulations and speeches; and all the speeches were to no +other end than to wish happiness and good fortune to my beloved +daughter. What showers of good wishes have been poured upon her to-day! +If she receives but a quarter of all these blessings, her life will +overflow with happiness." + +"I pray that it may," said the Wise One gravely. "But the Princess, like +all others, must win her own happiness." + +"What say you?" asked the Duke. + +The Wise One answered slowly, "Happiness comes from forgetting self and +living for the joy of others. In no other way can one be truly happy." + +"Yet I am happy," said the Duke. + +"You, dear Duke, yes!" answered the Wise One. "And well may you be +happy, for you never think of yourself. You take kindliest care of all +in your dukedom, ever doing good among the poor and the sick, and giving +pleasure to all those about you, especially to the Princess. To gladden +her is your greatest pleasure." + +"That is true," assented the Duke, with evident gratification. He could +not but be pleased at the Wise One's praise, never lightly given. + +"And now, my good friend," continued the Duke, "since we speak of the +Princess, I would fain ask your good counsel concerning her. Suitors +will come to strive to win her hand. Indeed, two have already asked to +appear before me, and I receive them in the morning. Many will seek her +for the dukedom's sake, since the one she weds will become duke after +me; and among all the suitors how shall we know which is a true and +worthy knight? She should have the best of all,--only the very best." + +"The best, like the happiest, is the person who thinks last of himself +and first of all others, he who is wholly free from selfishness and +envy. Only to such a one," said the Wise One earnestly, "only to such a +one should we give our dear Princess." + +"Oh, yes!" responded the Duke. "That is right, and very well conceived +and stated, too. But how am I to test the hearts of those who come? +Their hearts are not of glass, so that one may peep into them! How shall +I discover, for instance, the true character of the rivals who seek +audience to-morrow?" + +The Wise One pondered for some minutes and then inquired slowly, "Who is +the most despised, the meanest in station, of all the castle servitors?" + +"Oh, that is easily said," responded the Duke, laughingly. "It could be +no other than that stupid, good-natured Klaus Klodrian. He is but the +fourth groom's under stable-boy, and yet he will never rise higher, +poor, dull-witted fellow!" + +"Good," said the Wise One. "He will serve our present purpose well. Let +the rivals each take his turn dwelling one day as honored guest at the +castle, and one day in the poor hut of Klaus Klodrian, and perhaps this +will disclose the true knight to us. If not, there are other tests, but +let us try this first." + +"Yes, let us try it," said the Duke. "Glad am I to rely on your help, +and most grateful for your counsel." + +After arranging the plan a little more in detail, the Wise One said +farewell and started on his homeward way. He was glad to leave behind +the festivities and excitement of the castle, and longed to reach his +peaceful little log hut in the midst of the great Fir Forest. Seldom +were other sounds heard there than the whispering of the wind in the +tree-tops, the glad twitter of birds and the whirring of their wings. + +Just as he was turning from the roadside into the forest, two knights +came galloping past, and he knew that they must be the expected suitors +for Princess Inga's hand. Both were young and stately and sat proudly +upon their beautiful horses. The one knight was clad in green velvet, +with graceful hat and waving plume of the same color, and the trappings +of his horse shone with gold. The other knight was richly dressed also, +but in blue velvet and with a snowy plume in his blue hat, and silver +on the trappings of his horse. + +As they rode gaily along, looking so happy and handsome, and exchanging +friendly words and glances, it would be hard indeed to wish success to +one at the expense of the other. + +The Wise One went hastily into the forest, directing his steps to its +densest part, where was sequestered his lonely home. Soon after, a great +blackbird stole forth from the woods, turned its yellow beak toward the +road which the two knights had taken and flew after them. The knights +quickly reached the town and rode to "The Golden Fish," an inn not far +below the castle. + +Before they went to their sleeping-rooms, the Blue Knight opened one of +the windows and leaned far out, looking up into the high, dark-blue +heavens, where the stars gleamed in myriads. + +"What are you doing?" asked the Green Knight. + +"Looking at the stars," answered the other. + +"But why, pray?" asked the Green Knight. + +"Oh, it is but a fancy of mine," answered the Blue Knight. "I like to +look up there every evening. The stars shine down upon us with such +benign watchfulness, that I would fain render some return; and to enjoy +their beauty seems all I can do." + + * * * * * + +The next morning the two knights started in good-fellowship riding at +leisurely pace, side by side, through the streets and up the castle +hill. Many eyes peeped out at them through windows and door cracks, and +the host of "The Golden Fish" rubbed his fat hands together with +pleasure. He saw that he should have a profitable day in his tavern, for +the town folk would soon come flocking in and out, to hear what they +could of the suitors. + +In the great gilded hall of the castle, the Duke sat in state to give +audience to the knights. Princess Inga stood by his side. White-robed +and with a cluster of dewy roses in her hand, she looked so fair, so +gracious and lovely, that both the cavaliers were enraptured. + +After the salutations were over, the Duke, in a straightforward manner, +gave them his friendly permission to make further acquaintance with the +Princess, provided they would yield to his wishes in one respect. + +To prevent either suitor from interfering with or standing in the way of +the other, the Duke would have each knight in turn spend one day with +the Princess and one day with Klaus Klodrian, a humble servitor of the +castle, who dwelt in a hut on the borders of the estate. + +If they had any disinclination to do this, the matter was at an end; for +this was the plan he had fixed upon, and it was unalterable. + +"Have the goodness, my honored guests," then continued the Duke, "to +agree between yourselves which of you shall remain here to-day, and +which shall now go to Klaus Klodrian." + +Since the Green Knight sat in silence with the evident intention of +awaiting what the other might say, the Blue Knight politely offered to +give his fellow-suitor the first day with the Princess. The offer was +accepted with much pleasure, and while the Green Knight bowed before the +Princess and began to talk with her, the Blue Knight was conducted out +of the audience hall, down a broad staircase, across a great courtyard, +and thence on and on, through garden and park, through barnyards and +stables, into the lane at the end of which stood the hut of the +stable-boy, Klaus Klodrian. + +Poor Klaus sat inside, being just about to begin his frugal noonday +meal. He jumped up in great confusion at the sudden entrance of a grand +gentleman. + +Holding a long loaf of black bread in his hands, he stood startled and +bewildered, his round eyes staring, his great mouth wide open; but when +the Blue Knight gave him a gentle greeting, courteously asked permission +to spend the day with him, and began to talk to him in a friendly +manner, Klaus gradually recovered from his confusion and became his +quiet, simple self again. He clattered clumsily about on his heavy +wooden shoes, with long straws from the stable dangling from his +clothes and littering the floor. Always good-natured and unused to any +attention save ridicule, he soon glowed with happiness because of the +Blue Knight's kind treatment. + +"I will show you something," said Klaus with joy and pride, though +shyly; and he brought forth his only treasure--two white doves in a +cage,--and began to talk eagerly about them. It seemed as if he could +reiterate the praises of these doves endlessly. To him there was nothing +equal to them in the whole world. + +That day would have been long and tedious, indeed, to the knight, if he +had not found something with which to occupy himself. With his ready +sympathy toward all, he soon discovered that Klaus Klodrian was not +altogether a hopeless dullard. If only one would tell him a thing twelve +or fourteen times, he could then understand most of it; but no one +heretofore had found this out, because no one had taken pains enough, or +been patient enough with him. + +The Blue Knight, feeling sorry for the poor witless fellow, labored +earnestly with him, giving him long explanations, telling him the same +things again and again, and showing him better ways of doing his work +with the horses and about the stalls. + +And Klaus Klodrian, as the day wore on, really began to show a little +comprehension. He laughed so heartily over it all, that it seemed as if +his wide mouth really did stretch from ear to ear. + +As for the Blue Knight, he became so absorbed in trying to teach Klaus, +that the long summer day was neither tiresome nor unhappy. Twice during +the day had he seen the Princess and the Green Knight walking together +in the castle garden. They talked and laughed, and seemed, he thought, +to have become exceedingly good friends. So also thought the Duke, and +he remarked upon it to the Wise One who, in his evening walk, came past +the castle. + +"Ah, but this Green Knight is a magnificent fellow," said the Duke. "And +he is very talented. He will gain the Princess. They are already +excellent friends, and I am greatly prejudiced in his favor. He is +really charming! You should have heard the good stories he told to-day +when we were dining. Yes, he will certainly gain the Princess." + +[Illustration: KLAUS BROUGHT FORTH HIS ONLY TREASURE.--_Page 195_.] + +"To-day he is sailing with the wind," said the Wise One. "Let us see him +to-morrow when the wind is against him." + +The sun had gone down and darkness had spread itself all around, but the +castle was brilliantly illuminated, and from its windows the light +streamed out, while soft strains of music floated through the halls and +into the summer air. There was a ball at the castle. + +Thoughts of the lovely Princess had been present with the Blue Knight +all the day long, no matter how intently he was laboring with Klaus; so +when evening came he sought to get just a glimpse of her through the +castle window. + +Yes--there she was. The Green Knight held her hand and danced with her. +She danced more gaily than any other in the merry company, and oh! how +proud and happy she looked! And the Duke nodded and smiled at the +handsome pair as they glided past him. + +The Blue Knight had seen enough. He turned away and walked sadly back to +the stable-boy's hut. + +Klaus Klodrian had also been out,--to hear the dance music. He could +remember a little of one of the airs, and now sat down upon the edge of +his straw bed, and tried to play it by striking one wooden shoe against +the other. + +"Good-night and sleep well," said Klaus, as the knight entered. "And +thanks for the day." + +"Good-night, and best thanks to yourself, my good Klaus Klodrian," was +the answer. "If I gain nothing more by my journey hither, I have learned +from you how little a man need have in order to be content, and that is +good. When men learn to be content with little, there will be less +trouble in the world." + +"Yes, yes," said Klaus Klodrian. "If one owns a pair of fine doves, one +can hold out against anything." And therewith he settled himself in the +bed and slept. The Blue Knight, however, went out under the summer sky +and gazed long at the stars. He was convinced that he had lost the +Princess, and that the Green Knight had won her; but as he stood there, +looking at the stars, a sense of peace stole over him, and in his heart +were none but good wishes for the Princess and the Green Knight. The +stars seemed to tell him that this was right, for never before had they +sparkled down upon him with such friendly rays. + +The next morning he awoke refreshed, and led out his horse, thinking it +was useless to press his suit after having seen the success which his +rival had met with the previous day. But before he had mounted, a +courteous message came from the Duke, requesting that he should now come +to the castle in his turn, according to their agreement. + +Likewise according to agreement, came the Green Knight down to Klaus +Klodrian; but though he came, he felt that he was being subjected to +great indignity, and showed his ill-humor plainly. + +Simple Klaus began at once to try to entertain him by showing his +precious doves, but the Green Knight sullenly told him to hold his +tongue; and when, a little after, poor Klaus, stupid and forgetful, +began again his rambling talk in praise of the doves, the Green Knight +impatiently kicked over their cage, and the terrified doves flew away. + +They took their flight through the Fir Forest, and when the Wise One saw +them, speeding with fear-quickened wings over the tree-tops, he said, +"Aha! The Green Knight likes not to sail against the wind!" + +Then he gave a call, and out flocked the blackbirds from the trees near +the Wise One's hut. These gloomy-looking, swift-flying birds were his +messengers. Daily they took their flight out into the world, far and +near, and when they came back to the forest, they told their master all +they had seen and heard. Thus he received much strange and minute +information, but so secretly, that no one guessed how he gained his +knowledge. + +This morning he gave some of the birds special directions, and the +result was that all day long, blackbirds hovered in unusual swarms near +the hut of Klaus Klodrian, and over the castle gardens. They had hovered +there, keeping watch, the day before also, but no one had remarked it. +Who notices a few blackbirds more or less? + +That was a hard day for Klaus Klodrian. He missed his kind instructor of +the previous day sadly, and had no gentle doves to cheer his heavy +spirit. The harsh treatment of the Green Knight made him so excited and +unhappy, that though he strove hard to hold fast to all that the Blue +Knight had taught him, he felt only confusion of mind, and in his +bewilderment made more stupid blunders than ever before. But worst of +all, it was impossible for the poor witless fellow to understand the +gathering wrath of the Green Knight, and so, now and again throughout +the day, he made attempts at friendly conversation. At last it ended in +his receiving a thrashing from the ill-tempered cavalier, so that when +evening closed in, poor Klaus was fain to stretch his bruised body on +the soft cool meadow grass, not daring to seek his straw bed. + +Who can tell how miserably the hours dragged by for the Green Knight, +with his jealous, uncontrolled temper? He could not endure to think of +the Blue Knight up at the castle, walking in the garden with the +Princess. And when he went near enough to see her pluck roses for her +companion, he thought that the roses the Blue Knight received were much +richer and redder than those which she had given him the day before from +the same bush! + +Venting his anger upon poor Klaus had not cooled it in the least. Rage +boiled within him hotter than ever, after he had given the thrashing. +And when the day was at last ended and the darkness fell, his bitter +envious thoughts drove him to the castle. Here were music and dancing +and feasting again, this time in honor of the Blue Knight. + +The Green Knight stole cautiously up to the balcony, hid himself in the +shadow of its twining vines, and looked at the gay scene within the +hall. Ah! There were the Princess and the Blue Knight. His heart burned +with envy; he forgot that the Blue Knight was having no more opportunity +and enjoyment than he himself had had. "Never shall that fellow become +Duke, never!" he muttered. + +Full of evil thoughts, the Green Knight drew his sword; but he did not +notice that as he did so, a bird rustled out from the vines above, and +flew swiftly away. + +The music ceased at last with prolonged, rapturous trill. The Princess, +however, was enjoying the ball so much that she asked the Duke if she +might not have just one single dance more. And well it was that her +request was granted. + +After this very last dance was finished, the Blue Knight turned toward +the balcony door, drawn by a great desire to greet the stars, so happy +and thankful did he feel. + +Just at this moment the Wise One strode into the hall. The Duke and all +the guests were greatly astonished, for never before had the revered +counselor visited the castle at such a late hour. + +The Wise One placed himself before the Blue Knight, gave a sign to the +liveried torch-bearers standing near, then threw wide open the large +doors leading to the balcony. There stood the Green Knight, with his +naked sword in his hand. His guilty gaze sought the ground--and his +limbs refused to flee. + +"What means this?" asked the Duke. + +"There stand Envy and Jealousy disclosed," answered the Wise One. Then +he turned and with gentle step approached the Princess. In her terror +she had grasped the Blue Knight's arm and was still clinging to him, +while tears shone in her tender eyes. + +The Wise One looked toward the Duke an instant and then said: + +"There stands the true knight! and I believe that the heart of the +Princess has chosen him." + +"And to him shall she be given," said the Duke. "The day with Klaus +Klodrian has indeed brought to light the true character of the suitors. +Your wise counsel has served us well, good friend. Will you not honor us +now by coming to the banqueting hall and being the first to offer +congratulations and good wishes to the Princess and to her proven +knight?" + +Then the music began again,--the musicians playing gladdest melodies +with all their hearts. + +The Green Knight plunged into the darkness and ran to his horse. Hastily +mounting, he sped his steed mercilessly forward, with whip and spur, +into the murky night. + + * * * * * + +Some days later the Blue Knight rode forth from the castle with face as +radiant as the morning. He was to ride to his home, bearing thither the +news of his good fortune, but he was soon to wend his way back. The +Princess watched as long as her eyes could see him, while he bowed and +waved fond adieus. Behind the Blue Knight rode, rather awkwardly, his +new squire,--none other than Klaus Klodrian! He was proudly conscious of +his fine long riding-boots and other new attire, and happier than ever +before; for not only was he now to serve the knight whose kindness had +won his heart, but his precious doves had been restored to him. The Wise +One had recovered them for him through the aid of the watchful +blackbirds. + + --_J. Krohn_. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Top of the World Stories for Boys and +Girls, by Emilie Poulsson and Laura E. 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