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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/7439-0.txt b/7439-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a3a4694 --- /dev/null +++ b/7439-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7224 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of English Fairy Tales, by Anonymous + +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: English Fairy Tales + +Author: Anonymous + +Editor: Joseph Jacobs + + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7439] +This file was first posted on April 30, 2003 +Last Updated: March 9, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH FAIRY TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP + + + + + + + +ENGLISH FAIRY TALES + +By Anonymous + + +_COLLECTED BY_ JOSEPH JACOBS + + + + +_HOW TO GET INTO THIS BOOK._ + + _Knock at the Knocker on the Door, + Pull the Bell at the side,_ + +_Then, if you are very quiet, you will hear a teeny tiny voice say +through the grating “Take down the Key.” This you will find at the back: +you cannot mistake it, for it has J. J. in the wards. Put the Key in the +Keyhole, which it fits exactly, unlock the door and WALK IN._ + + + +_TO MY DEAR LITTLE MAY_ + + + + +PREFACE + +Who says that English folk have no fairy-tales of their own? The present +volume contains only a selection out of some 140, of which I have found +traces in this country. It is probable that many more exist. + +A quarter of the tales in this volume, have been collected during the +last ten years or so, and some of them have not been hitherto published. +Up to 1870 it was equally said of France and of Italy, that they +possessed no folk-tales. Yet, within fifteen years from that date, over +1000 tales had been collected in each country. I am hoping that the +present volume may lead to equal activity in this country, and would +earnestly beg any reader of this book who knows of similar tales, to +communicate them, written down as they are told, to me, care of Mr. +Nutt. The only reason, I imagine, why such tales have not hitherto +been brought to light, is the lamentable gap between the governing and +recording classes and the dumb working classes of this country--dumb to +others but eloquent among themselves. It would be no unpatriotic task +to help to bridge over this gulf, by giving a common fund of nursery +literature to all classes of the English people, and, in any case, it +can do no harm to add to the innocent gaiety of the nation. + +A word or two as to our title seems necessary. We have called our +stories Fairy Tales though few of them speak of fairies. [Footnote: For +some recent views on fairies and tales _about_ fairies, see Notes.] The +same remark applies to the collection of the Brothers Grimm and to all +the other European collections, which contain exactly the same classes +of tales as ours. Yet our stories are what the little ones mean when +they clamour for “Fairy Tales,” and this is the only name which they +give to them. One cannot imagine a child saying, “Tell us a folk-tale, +nurse,” or “Another nursery tale, please, grandma.” As our book is +intended for the little ones, we have indicated its contents by the name +they use. The words “Fairy Tales” must accordingly be taken to +include tales in which occurs something “fairy,” something +extraordinary--fairies, giants, dwarfs, speaking animals. It must +be taken also to cover tales in which what is extraordinary is the +stupidity of some of the actors. Many of the tales in this volume, as +in similar collections for other European countries, are what the +folklorists call Drolls. They serve to justify the title of Merrie +England, which used to be given to this country of ours, and indicate +unsuspected capacity for fun and humour among the unlettered classes. +The story of Tom Tit Tot, which opens our collection, is unequalled +among all other folk-tales I am acquainted with, for its combined sense +of humour and dramatic power. + +The first adjective of our title also needs a similar extension of its +meaning. I have acted on Molière's principle, and have taken what was +good wherever I could find it. Thus, a couple of these stories have been +found among descendants of English immigrants in America; a couple of +others I tell as I heard them myself in my youth in Australia. One of +the best was taken down from the mouth of an English Gipsy. I have also +included some stories that have only been found in Lowland Scotch. +I have felt justified in doing this, as of the twenty-one folk-tales +contained in Chambers' “Popular Rhymes of Scotland,” no less than +sixteen are also to be found in an English form. With the Folk-tale as +with the Ballad, Lowland Scotch may be regarded as simply a dialect +of English, and it is a mere chance whether a tale is extant in one or +other, or both. + +I have also rescued and re-told a few Fairy Tales that only exist +now-a-days in the form of ballads. There are certain indications that +the “common form” of the English Fairy Tale was the _cante-fable_, a +mixture of narrative and verse of which the most illustrious example in +literature is “Aucassin et Nicolette.” In one case I have endeavoured to +retain this form, as the tale in which it occurs, “Childe Rowland,” + is mentioned by Shakespeare in _King Lear_, and is probably, as I have +shown, the source of Milton's _Comus_. Late as they have been collected, +some dozen of the tales can be traced back to the sixteenth century, two +of them being quoted by Shakespeare himself. + +In the majority of instances I have had largely to rewrite these Fairy +Tales, especially those in dialect, including the Lowland Scotch. +[Footnote: It is perhaps worth remarking that the Brothers Grimm did the +same with their stories. “Dass der Ausdruck,” say they in their Preface, +“und die Ausführung des Einzelnen grossentheils von uns herrührt, +versteht sich von selbst.” I may add that many of their stories +were taken from printed sources. In the first volume of Mrs. Hunt's +translation, Nos. 12, 18, 19, 23, 32, 35, 42, 43, 44, 69, 77, 78, 83, +89, are thus derived.] Children, and sometimes those of larger +growth, will not read dialect. I have also had to reduce the flatulent +phraseology of the eighteenth-century chap-books, and to re-write in +simpler style the stories only extant in “Literary” English. I have, +however, left a few vulgarisms in the mouths of vulgar people. Children +appreciate the dramatic propriety of this as much as their elders. +Generally speaking, it has been my ambition to write as a good old nurse +will speak when she tells Fairy Tales. I am doubtful as to my success in +catching the colloquial-romantic tone appropriate for such narratives, +but the thing had to be done or else my main object, to give a book of +English Fairy Tales which English children will listen to, would have +been unachieved. This book is meant to be read aloud, and not merely +taken in by the eye. + +In a few instances I have introduced or changed an incident. I have +never done so, however, without mentioning the fact in the Notes. These +have been relegated to the obscurity of small print and a back place, +while the little ones have been, perhaps unnecessarily, warned off them. +They indicate my sources and give a few references to parallels and +variants which may be of interest to fellow-students of Folk-lore. It +is, perhaps, not necessary to inform readers who are not fellow-students +that the study of Folk-tales has pretensions to be a science. It has its +special terminology, and its own methods of investigation, by which it +is hoped, one of these days, to gain fuller knowledge of the workings +of the popular mind as well as traces of archaic modes of thought and +custom. I hope on some future occasion to treat the subject of +the English Folk-tale on a larger scale and with all the necessary +paraphernalia of prolegomena and excursus. I shall then, of course, +reproduce my originals with literal accuracy, and have therefore felt +the more at liberty on the present occasion to make the necessary +deviations from this in order to make the tales readable for children. + +Finally, I have to thank those by whose kindness in waiving their rights +to some of these stories, I have been enabled to compile this book. My +friends Mr. E. Clodd, Mr. F. Hindes Groome, and Mr. Andrew Lang, +have thus yielded up to me some of the most attractive stories in +the following pages. The Councils of the English and of the American +Folk-lore Societies, and Messrs. Longmans, have also been equally +generous. Nor can I close these remarks without a word of thanks and +praise to the artistic skill with which my friend, Mr. J. D. Batten, has +made the romance and humour of these stories live again in the brilliant +designs with which he has adorned these pages. It should be added that +the dainty headpieces to “Henny Penny” and “Mr. Fox” are due to my old +friend, Mr. Henry Ryland. + +JOSEPH JACOBS. + + + +CONTENTS + +I. TOM TIT TOT II. THE THREE SILLIES III. THE ROSE-TREE IV. THE OLD +WOMAN AND HER PIG V. HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE VI. MR. VINEGAR +VII. NIX NOUGHT NOTHING VIII. JACK HANNAFORD IX. BINNORIE X. MOUSE AND +MOUSER XI. CAP O' RUSHES XII. TEENY-TINY XIII. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK +XIV. THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS XV. THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL +XVI. TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE XVII. JACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX +XVIII. THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS XIX. JACK THE GIANT-KILLER XX. +HENNY-PENNY XXI. CHILDE ROWLAND XXII. MOLLY WHUPPIE XXIII. THE RED ETTIN +XXIV. THE GOLDEN ARM XXV. THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB XXVI. MR. FOX XXVII. +LAZY JACK XXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE XXIX. EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER XXX. MR. MIACCA +XXXI. WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT XXXII. THE STRANGE VISITOR XXXIII. THE +LAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH XXXIV. THE CAT AND THE MOUSE. XXXV. +THE FISH AND THE RING. XXXVI. THE MAGPIE'S NEST XXXVII. KATE CRACKERNUTS +XXXVIII. THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON XXXIX. THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE +STICK XL. FAIRY OINTMENT XLI. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END. XLII. MASTER +OF ALL MASTERS. XLIII. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + + + + +TOM TIT TOT + +Once upon a time there was a woman, and she baked five pies. And when +they came out of the oven, they were that overbaked the crusts were too +hard to eat. So she says to her daughter: + +“Darter,” says she, “put you them there pies on the shelf, and leave 'em +there a little, and they'll come again.”--She meant, you know, the crust +would get soft. + +But the girl, she says to herself: “Well, if they'll come again, I'll +eat 'em now.” And she set to work and ate 'em all, first and last. + +Well, come supper-time the woman said: “Go you, and get one o' them +there pies. I dare say they've come again now.” + +The girl went and she looked, and there was nothing but the dishes. So +back she came and says she: “Noo, they ain't come again.” + +“Not one of 'em?” says the mother. + +“Not one of 'em,” says she. + +“Well, come again, or not come again,” said the woman “I'll have one for +supper.” + +“But you can't, if they ain't come,” said the girl. + +“But I can,” says she. “Go you, and bring the best of 'em.” + +“Best or worst,” says the girl, “I've ate 'em all, and you can't have +one till that's come again.” + +Well, the woman she was done, and she took her spinning to the door to +spin, and as she span she sang: + + “My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day. + My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day.” + +The king was coming down the street, and he heard her sing, but what she +sang he couldn't hear, so he stopped and said: + +“What was that you were singing, my good woman?” + +The woman was ashamed to let him hear what her daughter had been doing, +so she sang, instead of that: + + “My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day. + My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day.” + +“Stars o' mine!” said the king, “I never heard tell of any one that +could do that.” + +Then he said: “Look you here, I want a wife, and I'll marry your +daughter. But look you here,” says he, “eleven months out of the year +she shall have all she likes to eat, and all the gowns she likes to get, +and all the company she likes to keep; but the last month of the year +she'll have to spin five skeins every day, and if she don't I shall kill +her.” + +“All right,” says the woman; for she thought what a grand marriage that +was. And as for the five skeins, when the time came, there'd be plenty +of ways of getting out of it, and likeliest, he'd have forgotten all +about it. + +Well, so they were married. And for eleven months the girl had all she +liked to eat, and all the gowns she liked to get, and all the company +she liked to keep. + +But when the time was getting over, she began to think about the skeins +and to wonder if he had 'em in mind. But not one word did he say about +'em, and she thought he'd wholly forgotten 'em. + +However, the last day of the last month he takes her to a room she'd +never set eyes on before. There was nothing in it but a spinning-wheel +and a stool. And says he: “Now, my dear, here you'll be shut in +to-morrow with some victuals and some flax, and if you haven't spun five +skeins by the night, your head'll go off.” + +And away he went about his business. + +Well, she was that frightened, she'd always been such a gatless girl, +that she didn't so much as know how to spin, and what was she to do +to-morrow with no one to come nigh her to help her? She sat down on a +stool in the kitchen, and law! how she did cry! + +However, all of a sudden she heard a sort of a knocking low down on the +door. She upped and oped it, and what should she see but a small little +black thing with a long tail. That looked up at her right curious, and +that said: + +“What are you a-crying for?” + +“What's that to you?” says she. + +“Never you mind,” that said, “but tell me what you're a-crying for.” + +“That won't do me no good if I do,” says she. + +“You don't know that,” that said, and twirled that's tail round. + +“Well,” says she, “that won't do no harm, if that don't do no good,” and +she upped and told about the pies, and the skeins, and everything. + +“This is what I'll do,” says the little black thing, “I'll come to your +window every morning and take the flax and bring it spun at night.” + +“What's your pay?” says she. + +That looked out of the corner of that's eyes, and that said: “I'll +give you three guesses every night to guess my name, and if you haven't +guessed it before the month's up you shall be mine.” + +Well, she thought she'd be sure to guess that's name before the month +was up. “All right,” says she, “I agree.” + +“All right,” that says, and law! how that twirled that's tail. + +Well, the next day, her husband took her into the room, and there was +the flax and the day's food. + +“Now there's the flax,” says he, “and if that ain't spun up this night, +off goes your head.” And then he went out and locked the door. + +He'd hardly gone, when there was a knocking against the window. + +She upped and she oped it, and there sure enough was the little old +thing sitting on the ledge. + +“Where's the flax?” says he. + +“Here it be,” says she. And she gave it to him. + +Well, come the evening a knocking came again to the window. She upped +and she oped it, and there was the little old thing with five skeins of +flax on his arm. + +“Here it be,” says he, and he gave it to her. + +“Now, what's my name?” says he. + +“What, is that Bill?” says she. + +“Noo, that ain't,” says he, and he twirled his tail. + +“Is that Ned?” says she. + +“Noo, that ain't,” says he, and he twirled his tail. + +“Well, is that Mark?” says she. + +“Noo, that ain't,” says he, and he twirled his tail harder, and away he +flew. + +Well, when her husband came in, there were the five skeins ready for +him. “I see I shan't have to kill you to-night, my dear,” says he; +“you'll have your food and your flax in the morning,” says he, and away +he goes. + +Well, every day the flax and the food were brought, and every day that +there little black impet used to come mornings and evenings. And all the +day the girl sat trying to think of names to say to it when it came at +night. But she never hit on the right one. And as it got towards the +end of the month, the impet began to look so maliceful, and that twirled +that's tail faster and faster each time she gave a guess. + +At last it came to the last day but one. The impet came at night along +with the five skeins, and that said, + +“What, ain't you got my name yet?” + +“Is that Nicodemus?” says she. + +“Noo, t'ain't,” that says. + +“Is that Sammle?” says she. + +“Noo, t'ain't,” that says. + +“A-well, is that Methusalem?” says she. + +“Noo, t'ain't that neither,” that says. + +Then that looks at her with that's eyes like a coal o' fire, and that +says: “Woman, there's only to-morrow night, and then you'll be mine!” + And away it flew. + +Well, she felt that horrid. However, she heard the king coming along the +passage. In he came, and when he sees the five skeins, he says, says he, + +“Well, my dear,” says he, “I don't see but what you'll have your skeins +ready to-morrow night as well, and as I reckon I shan't have to kill +you, I'll have supper in here to-night.” So they brought supper, and +another stool for him, and down the two sat. + +Well, he hadn't eaten but a mouthful or so, when he stops and begins to +laugh. + +“What is it?” says she. + +“A-why,” says he, “I was out a-hunting to-day, and I got away to a place +in the wood I'd never seen before And there was an old chalk-pit. And I +heard a kind of a sort of a humming. So I got off my hobby, and I went +right quiet to the pit, and I looked down. Well, what should there be +but the funniest little black thing you ever set eyes on. And what was +that doing, but that had a little spinning-wheel, and that was spinning +wonderful fast, and twirling that's tail. And as that span that sang: + + “Nimmy nimmy not + My name's Tom Tit Tot.” + +Well, when the girl heard this, she felt as if she could have jumped out +of her skin for joy, but she didn't say a word. + +Next day that there little thing looked so maliceful when he came for +the flax. And when night came, she heard that knocking against the +window panes. She oped the window, and that come right in on the ledge. +That was grinning from ear to ear, and Oo! that's tail was twirling +round so fast. + +“What's my name?” that says, as that gave her the skeins. + +“Is that Solomon?” she says, pretending to be afeard. + +“Noo, t'ain't,” that says, and that came further into the room. + +“Well, is that Zebedee?” says she again. + +“Noo, t'ain't,” says the impet. And then that laughed and twirled that's +tail till you couldn't hardly see it. + +“Take time, woman,” that says; “next guess, and you're mine.” And that +stretched out that's black hands at her. + +Well, she backed a step or two, and she looked at it, and then she +laughed out, and says she, pointing her finger at it: + +“NIMMY NIMMY NOT, YOUR NAME'S TOM TIT TOT!” + +Well, when that heard her, that gave an awful shriek and away that flew +into the dark, and she never saw it any more. + + + + +THE THREE SILLIES + +Once upon a time there was a farmer and his wife who had one daughter, +and she was courted by a gentleman. Every evening he used to come and +see her, and stop to supper at the farmhouse, and the daughter used to +be sent down into the cellar to draw the beer for supper. So one evening +she had gone down to draw the beer, and she happened to look up at the +ceiling while she was drawing, and she saw a mallet stuck in one of the +beams. It must have been there a long, long time, but somehow or other +she had never noticed it before, and she began a-thinking. And she +thought it was very dangerous to have that mallet there, for she said +to herself: “Suppose him and me was to be married, and we was to have a +son, and he was to grow up to be a man, and come down into the cellar to +draw the beer, like as I'm doing now, and the mallet was to fall on his +head and kill him, what a dreadful thing it would be!” And she put down +the candle and the jug, and sat herself down and began a-crying. + +Well, they began to wonder upstairs how it was that she was so long +drawing the beer, and her mother went down to see after her, and she +found her sitting on the settle crying, and the beer running over the +floor. “Why, whatever is the matter?” said her mother. “Oh, mother!” + says she, “look at that horrid mallet! Suppose we was to be married, and +was to have a son, and he was to grow up, and was to come down to the +cellar to draw the beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill +him, what a dreadful thing it would be!” “Dear, dear! what a dreadful +thing it would be!” said the mother, and she sat her down aside of the +daughter and started a-crying too. Then after a bit the father began to +wonder that they didn't come back, and he went down into the cellar to +look after them himself, and there they two sat a-crying, and the beer +running all over the floor. “Whatever is the matter?” says he. “Why,” + says the mother, “look at that horrid mallet. Just suppose, if our +daughter and her sweetheart was to be married, and was to have a son, +and he was to grow up, and was to come down into the cellar to draw +the beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, what a +dreadful thing it would be!” “Dear, dear, dear! so it would!” said the +father, and he sat himself down aside of the other two, and started +a-crying. + +Now the gentleman got tired of stopping up in the kitchen by himself, +and at last he went down into the cellar too, to see what they were +after; and there they three sat a-crying side by side, and the beer +running all over the floor. And he ran straight and turned the tap. +Then he said: “Whatever are you three doing, sitting there crying, and +letting the beer run all over the floor?” + +“Oh!” says the father, “look at that horrid mallet! Suppose you and our +daughter was to be married, and was to have a son, and he was to grow +up, and was to come down into the cellar to draw the beer, and the +mallet was to fall on his head and kill him!” And then they all started +a-crying worse than before. But the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and +reached up and pulled out the mallet, and then he said: “I've travelled +many miles, and I never met three such big sillies as you three before; +and now I shall start out on my travels again, and when I can find +three bigger sillies than you three, then I'll come back and marry your +daughter.” So he wished them good-bye, and started off on his travels, +and left them all crying because the girl had lost her sweetheart. + +Well, he set out, and he travelled a long way, and at last he came to a +woman's cottage that had some grass growing on the roof. And the woman +was trying to get her cow to go up a ladder to the grass, and the poor +thing durst not go. So the gentleman asked the woman what she was doing. +“Why, lookye,” she said, “look at all that beautiful grass. I'm going to +get the cow on to the roof to eat it. She'll be quite safe, for I shall +tie a string round her neck, and pass it down the chimney, and tie it +to my wrist as I go about the house, so she can't fall off without my +knowing it.” “Oh, you poor silly!” said the gentleman, “you should cut +the grass and throw it down to the cow!” But the woman thought it was +easier to get the cow up the ladder than to get the grass down, so she +pushed her and coaxed her and got her up, and tied a string round her +neck, and passed it down the chimney, and fastened it to her own wrist. +And the gentleman went on his way, but he hadn't gone far when the cow +tumbled off the roof, and hung by the string tied round her neck, and +it strangled her. And the weight of the cow tied to her wrist pulled the +woman up the chimney, and she stuck fast half-way and was smothered in +the soot. + +Well, that was one big silly. + +And the gentleman went on and on, and he went to an inn to stop the +night, and they were so full at the inn that they had to put him in a +double-bedded room, and another traveller was to sleep in the other bed. +The other man was a very pleasant fellow, and they got very friendly +together; but in the morning, when they were both getting up, the +gentleman was surprised to see the other hang his trousers on the knobs +of the chest of drawers and run across the room and try to jump into +them, and he tried over and over again, and couldn't manage it; and the +gentleman wondered whatever he was doing it for. At last he stopped and +wiped his face with his handkerchief. “Oh dear,” he says, “I do think +trousers are the most awkwardest kind of clothes that ever were. I can't +think who could have invented such things. It takes me the best part +of an hour to get into mine every morning, and I get so hot! How do you +manage yours?” So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and showed him how +to put them on; and he was very much obliged to him, and said he never +should have thought of doing it that way. + +So that was another big silly. + +Then the gentleman went on his travels again; and he came to a village, +and outside the village there was a pond, and round the pond was a crowd +of people. And they had got rakes, and brooms, and pitchforks, reaching +into the pond; and the gentleman asked what was the matter. “Why,” they +say, “matter enough! Moon's tumbled into the pond, and we can't rake +her out anyhow!” So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and told them to +look up into the sky, and that it was only the shadow in the water. But +they wouldn't listen to him, and abused him shamefully, and he got away +as quick as he could. + +So there was a whole lot of sillies bigger than them three sillies at +home. So the gentleman turned back home again and married the farmer's +daughter, and if they didn't live happy for ever after, that's nothing +to do with you or me. + + + + +THE ROSE-TREE + +There was once upon a time a good man who had two children: a girl by a +first wife, and a boy by the second. The girl was as white as milk, and +her lips were like cherries. Her hair was like golden silk, and it hung +to the ground. Her brother loved her dearly, but her wicked stepmother +hated her. “Child,” said the stepmother one day, “go to the grocer's +shop and buy me a pound of candles.” She gave her the money; and the +little girl went, bought the candles, and started on her return. There +was a stile to cross. She put down the candles whilst she got over the +stile. Up came a dog and ran off with the candles. + +She went back to the grocer's, and she got a second bunch. She came to +the stile, set down the candles, and proceeded to climb over. Up came +the dog and ran off with the candles. + +She went again to the grocer's, and she got a third bunch; and just the +same happened. Then she came to her stepmother crying, for she had spent +all the money and had lost three bunches of candles. + +The stepmother was angry, but she pretended not to mind the loss. She +said to the child: “Come, lay your head on my lap that I may comb your +hair.” So the little one laid her head in the woman's lap, who proceeded +to comb the yellow silken hair. And when she combed the hair fell over +her knees, and rolled right down to the ground. + +Then the stepmother hated her more for the beauty of her hair; so she +said to her, “I cannot part your hair on my knee, fetch a billet of +wood.” So she fetched it. Then said the stepmother, “I cannot part your +hair with a comb, fetch me an axe.” So she fetched it. + +“Now,” said the wicked woman, “lay your head down on the billet whilst I +part your hair.” + +Well! she laid down her little golden head without fear; and whist! down +came the axe, and it was off. So the mother wiped the axe and laughed. + +Then she took the heart and liver of the little girl, and she stewed +them and brought them into the house for supper. The husband tasted them +and shook his head. He said they tasted very strangely. She gave some +to the little boy, but he would not eat. She tried to force him, but he +refused, and ran out into the garden, and took up his little sister, and +put her in a box, and buried the box under a rose-tree; and every day he +went to the tree and wept, till his tears ran down on the box. + +One day the rose-tree flowered. It was spring, and there among the +flowers was a white bird; and it sang, and sang, and sang like an +angel out of heaven. Away it flew, and it went to a cobbler's shop, and +perched itself on a tree hard by; and thus it sang, + + “My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick, stock, stone dead.” + +“Sing again that beautiful song,” asked the shoemaker. “If you will +first give me those little red shoes you are making.” The cobbler gave +the shoes, and the bird sang the song; then flew to a tree in front of a +watchmaker's, and sang: + + “My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick, stock, stone dead.” + +“Oh, the beautiful song! sing it again, sweet bird,” asked the +watchmaker. “If you will give me first that gold watch and chain in your +hand.” The jeweller gave the watch and chain. The bird took it in one +foot, the shoes in the other, and, after having repeated the song, flew +away to where three millers were picking a millstone. The bird perched +on a tree and sang: + + “My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick!” + +Then one of the men put down his tool and looked up from his work, + + “Stock!” + +Then the second miller's man laid aside his tool and looked up, + + “Stone!” + +Then the third miller's man laid down his tool and looked up, + + “Dead!” + +Then all three cried out with one voice: “Oh, what a beautiful song! +Sing it, sweet bird, again.” “If you will put the millstone round my +neck,” said the bird. The men did what the bird wanted and away to the +tree it flew with the millstone round its neck, the red shoes in one +foot, and the gold watch and chain in the other. It sang the song and +then flew home. It rattled the millstone against the eaves of the house, +and the stepmother said: “It thunders.” Then the little boy ran out to +see the thunder, and down dropped the red shoes at his feet. It +rattled the millstone against the eaves of the house once more, and the +stepmother said again: “It thunders.” Then the father ran out and down +fell the chain about his neck. + +In ran father and son, laughing and saying, “See, what fine things the +thunder has brought us!” Then the bird rattled the millstone against the +eaves of the house a third time; and the stepmother said: “It thunders +again, perhaps the thunder has brought something for me,” and she +ran out; but the moment she stepped outside the door, down fell the +millstone on her head; and so she died. + + + + +THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG + +An old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked +sixpence. “What,” said she, “shall I do with this little sixpence? I +will go to market, and buy a little pig.” + +As she was coming home, she came to a stile: but the piggy wouldn't go +over the stile. + +She went a little further, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog: +“Dog! bite pig; piggy won't go over the stile; and I shan't get home +to-night.” But the dog wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a stick. So she said: “Stick! +stick! beat dog! dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and +I shan't get home to-night.” But the stick wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a fire. So she said: “Fire! fire! +burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get +over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” But the fire wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met some water. So she said: “Water, +water! quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog +won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home +to-night.” But the water wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met an ox. So she said: “Ox! ox! +drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't +beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I +shan't get home to-night.” But the ox wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a butcher. So she said: “Butcher! +butcher! kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire +won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't +get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” But the butcher +wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a rope. So she said: “Rope! rope! +hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't +quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite +pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” + But the rope wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a rat. So she said: “Rat! rat! +gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't +drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't +beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I +shan't get home to-night.” But the rat wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a cat. So she said: “Cat! cat! +kill rat; rat won't gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't +kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn +stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over +the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” But the cat said to her, “If +you will go to yonder cow, and fetch me a saucer of milk, I will kill +the rat.” So away went the old woman to the cow. + +But the cow said to her: “If you will go to yonder hay-stack, and fetch +me a handful of hay, I'll give you the milk.” So away went the old woman +to the haystack and she brought the hay to the cow. + +As soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the old woman the milk; +and away she went with it in a saucer to the cat. + +As soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the +rat; the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher; +the butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the +water began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the +stick began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig; the little +pig in a fright jumped over the stile, and so the old woman got home +that night. + + + + +HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE + +Once on a time there was a boy named Jack, and one morning he started to +go and seek his fortune. + +He hadn't gone very far before he met a cat. + +“Where are you going, Jack?” said the cat. + +“I am going to seek my fortune.” + +“May I go with you?” + +“Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +They went a little further and they met a dog. + +“Where are you going, Jack?” said the dog. + +“I am going to seek my fortune.” + +“May I go with you?” + +“Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. They went a little +further and they met a goat. + +“Where are you going, Jack?” said the goat. + +“I am going to seek my fortune.” + +“May I go with you?” + +“Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +They went a little further and they met a bull. + +“Where are you going, Jack?” said the bull. + +“I am going to seek my fortune.” + +“May I go with you?” + +“Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +They went a little further and they met a rooster. + +“Where are you going, Jack?” said the rooster. + +“I am going to seek my fortune.” + +“May I go with you?” + +“Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +Well, they went on till it was about dark, and they began to think of +some place where they could spend the night. About this time they came +in sight of a house, and Jack told them to keep still while he went up +and looked in through the window. And there were some robbers counting +over their money. Then Jack went back and told them to wait till he gave +the word, and then to make all the noise they could. So when they were +all ready Jack gave the word, and the cat mewed, and the dog barked, and +the goat bleated, and the bull bellowed, and the rooster crowed, and all +together they made such a dreadful noise that it frightened the robbers +all away. + +And then they went in and took possession of the house. Jack was afraid +the robbers would come back in the night, and so when it came time to go +to bed he put the cat in the rocking-chair, and he put the dog under the +table, and he put the goat upstairs, and he put the bull down cellar, +and the rooster flew up on to the roof, and Jack went to bed. + +By-and-by the robbers saw it was all dark and they sent one man back to +the house to look after their money. Before long he came back in a great +fright and told them his story. + +“I went back to the house,” said he, “and went in and tried to sit down +in the rocking-chair, and there was an old woman knitting, and she stuck +her knitting-needles into me.” That was the cat, you know. + +“I went to the table to look after the money and there was a shoemaker +under the table, and he stuck his awl into me.” That was the dog, you +know. + +“I started to go upstairs, and there was a man up there threshing, and +he knocked me down with his flail.” That was the goat, you know. + +“I started to go down cellar, and there was a man down there chopping +wood, and he knocked me up with his axe.” That was the bull, you know. + +“But I shouldn't have minded all that if it hadn't been for that little +fellow on top of the house, who kept a-hollering, 'Chuck him up to me-e! +Chuck him up to me-e!'” Of course that was the cock-a-doodle-do. + + + + +MR. VINEGAR + +Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar lived in a vinegar bottle. Now, one day, when Mr. +Vinegar was from home, Mrs. Vinegar, who was a very good housewife, was +busily sweeping her house, when an unlucky thump of the broom brought +the whole house clitter-clatter, clitter-clatter, about her ears. In an +agony of grief she rushed forth to meet her husband. + +On seeing him she exclaimed, “Oh, Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar, we are +ruined, I have knocked the house down, and it is all to pieces!” Mr. +Vinegar then said: “My dear, let us see what can be done. Here is +the door; I will take it on my back, and we will go forth to seek our +fortune.” + +They walked all that day, and at nightfall entered a thick forest. They +were both very, very tired, and Mr. Vinegar said: “My love, I will climb +up into a tree, drag up the door, and you shall follow.” He accordingly +did so, and they both stretched their weary limbs on the door, and fell +fast asleep. + +In the middle of the night Mr. Vinegar was disturbed by the sound of +voices underneath, and to his horror and dismay found that it was a band +of thieves met to divide their booty. + +“Here, Jack,” said one, “here's five pounds for you; here, Bill, here's +ten pounds for you; here, Bob, here's three pounds for you.” + +Mr. Vinegar could listen no longer; his terror was so great that he +trembled and trembled, and shook down the door on their heads. Away +scampered the thieves, but Mr. Vinegar dared not quit his retreat till +broad daylight. + +He then scrambled out of the tree, and went to lift up the door. What +did he see but a number of golden guineas. “Come down, Mrs. Vinegar,” he +cried; “come down, I say; our fortune's made, our fortune's made! Come +down, I say.” + +Mrs. Vinegar got down as fast as she could, and when she saw the money +she jumped for joy. “Now, my dear,” said she, “I'll tell you what you +shall do. There is a fair at the neighbouring town; you shall take these +forty guineas and buy a cow. I can make butter and cheese, which +you shall sell at market, and we shall then be able to live very +comfortably.” + +Mr. Vinegar joyfully agrees, takes the money, and off he goes to the +fair. When he arrived, he walked up and down, and at length saw a +beautiful red cow. It was an excellent milker, and perfect in every +way. “Oh,” thought Mr. Vinegar, “if I had but that cow, I should be the +happiest, man alive.” + +So he offers the forty guineas for the cow, and the owner said that, as +he was a friend, he'd oblige him. So the bargain was made, and he got +the cow and he drove it backwards and forwards to show it. + +By-and-by he saw a man playing the bagpipes--Tweedle-dum tweedle-dee. +The children followed him about, and he appeared to be pocketing money +on all sides. “Well,” thought Mr. Vinegar, “if I had but that beautiful +instrument I should be the happiest man alive--my fortune would be +made.” + +So he went up to the man. “Friend,” says he, “what a beautiful +instrument that is, and what a deal of money you must make.” “Why, yes,” + said the man, “I make a great deal of money, to be sure, and it is a +wonderful instrument.” “Oh!” cried Mr. Vinegar, “how I should like to +possess it!” “Well,” said the man, “as you are a friend, I don't much +mind parting with it; you shall have it for that red cow.” “Done!” said +the delighted Mr. Vinegar. So the beautiful red cow was given for the +bagpipes. + +He walked up and down with his purchase; but it was in vain he tried +to play a tune, and instead of pocketing pence, the boys followed him +hooting, laughing, and pelting. + +Poor Mr. Vinegar, his fingers grew very cold, and, just as he was +leaving the town, he met a man with a fine thick pair of gloves. “Oh, +my fingers are so very cold,” said Mr. Vinegar to himself. “Now if I had +but those beautiful gloves I should be the happiest man alive.” He went +up to the man, and said to him, “Friend, you seem to have a capital pair +of gloves there.” “Yes, truly,” cried the man; “and my hands are as warm +as possible this cold November day.” “Well,” said Mr. Vinegar, “I should +like to have them.”. “What will you give?” said the man; “as you are +a friend, I don't much mind letting you have them for those bagpipes.” + “Done!” cried Mr. Vinegar. He put on the gloves, and felt perfectly +happy as he trudged homewards. + +At last he grew very tired, when he saw a man coming towards him with a +good stout stick in his hand. + +“Oh,” said Mr. Vinegar, “that I had but that stick! I should then be the +happiest man alive.” He said to the man: “Friend! what a rare good stick +you have got.” “Yes,” said the man; “I have used it for many a long +mile, and a good friend it has been; but if you have a fancy for it, +as you are a friend, I don't mind giving it to you for that pair of +gloves.” Mr. Vinegar's hands were so warm, and his legs so tired, that +he gladly made the exchange. + +As he drew near to the wood where he had left his wife, he heard a +parrot on a tree calling out his name: “Mr. Vinegar, you foolish man, +you blockhead, you simpleton; you went to the fair, and laid out all +your money in buying a cow. Not content with that, you changed it +for bagpipes, on which you could not play, and which were not worth +one-tenth of the money. You fool, you--you had no sooner got the +bagpipes than you changed them for the gloves, which were not worth +one-quarter of the money; and when you had got the gloves, you changed +them for a poor miserable stick; and now for your forty guineas, cow, +bagpipes, and gloves, you have nothing to show but that poor miserable +stick, which you might have cut in any hedge.” On this the bird laughed +and laughed, and Mr. Vinegar, falling into a violent rage, threw the +stick at its head. The stick lodged in the tree, and he returned to his +wife without money, cow, bagpipes, gloves, or stick, and she instantly +gave him such a sound cudgelling that she almost broke every bone in his +skin. + + + + +NIX NOUGHT NOTHING + +There once lived a king and a queen as many a one has been. They were +long married and had no children; but at last a baby-boy came to the +queen when the king was away in the far countries. The queen would not +christen the boy till the king came back, and she said, “We will just +call him _Nix Nought Nothing_ until his father comes home.” But it was +long before he came home, and the boy had grown a nice little laddie. +At length the king was on his way back; but he had a big river to cross, +and there was a whirlpool, and he could not get over the water. But a +giant came up to him, and said “I'll carry you over.” But the king said: +“What's your pay?” “O give me Nix, Nought, Nothing, and I will carry you +over the water on my back.” The king had never heard that his son was +called Nix Nought Nothing, and so he said: “O, I'll give you that and +my thanks into the bargain.” When the king got home again, he was very +happy to see his wife again, and his young son. She told him that she +had not given the child any name, but just Nix Nought Nothing, until he +should come home again himself. The poor king was in a terrible case. +He said: “What have I done? I promised to give the giant who carried me +over the river on his back, Nix Nought Nothing.” The king and the queen +were sad and sorry, but they said: “When the giant comes we will give +him the hen-wife's boy; he will never know the difference.” The next +day the giant came to claim the king's promise, and he sent for the +hen-wife's boy; and the giant went away with the boy on his back. He +travelled till he came to a big stone, and there he sat down to rest. He +said, + +“Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day is that?” + +The poor little boy said: “It is the time that my mother, the hen-wife, +takes up the eggs for the queen's breakfast.” + +The Giant was very angry, and dashed the boy's head on the stone and +killed him. + +So he went back in a tower of a temper and this time they gave him the +gardener's boy. He went off with him on his back till they got to the +stone again when the giant sat down to rest. And he said: + +“Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day do you make that?” + +The gardener's boy said: “Sure it's the time that my mother takes up the +vegetables for the queen's dinner.” Then the giant was right wild and +dashed his brains out on the stone. + +Then the giant went back to the king's house in a terrible temper and +said he would destroy them all if they did not give him Nix Nought +Nothing this time. They had to do it; and when he came to the big stone, +the giant said: “What time of day is that?” Nix Nought Nothing said: “It +is the time that my father the king will be sitting down to supper.” The +giant said: “I've got the right one now;” and took Nix Nought Nothing to +his own house and brought him up till he was a man. + +The giant had a bonny daughter, and she and the lad grew very fond of +each other. The giant said one day to Nix Nought Nothing: “I've work for +you to-morrow. There is a stable seven miles long and seven miles broad, +and it has not been cleaned for seven years, and you must clean it +to-morrow, or I will have you for my supper.” + +The giant's daughter went out next morning with the lad's breakfast, and +found him in a terrible state, for always as he cleaned out a bit, it +just fell in again. The giant's daughter said she would help him, and +she cried all the beasts in the field, and all the fowls of the air, and +in a minute they all came, and carried away everything that was in the +stable and made it all clean before the giant came home. He said: “Shame +on the wit that helped you; but I have a worse job for you to-morrow.” + Then he said to Nix Nought Nothing: “There's a lake seven miles long, +and seven miles deep, and seven miles broad, and you must drain it +to-morrow by nightfall, or else I'll have you for my supper.” Nix Nought +Nothing began early next morning and tried to lave the water with his +pail, but the lake was never getting any less, and he didn't know what +to do; but the giant's daughter called on all the fish in the sea to +come and drink the water, and very soon they drank it dry. When the +giant saw the work done he was in a rage, and said: “I've a worse job +for you to-morrow; there is a tree, seven miles high, and no branch on +it, till you get to the top, and there is a nest with seven eggs in it, +and you must bring down all the eggs without breaking one, or else I'll +have you for my supper.” At first the giant's daughter did not know how +to help Nix Nought Nothing; but she cut off first her fingers and then +her toes, and made steps of them, and he clomb the tree and got all the +eggs safe till he came just to the bottom, and then one was broken. So +they determined to run away together and after the giant's daughter had +tidied up her hair a bit and got her magic flask they set out together +as fast as they could run. And they hadn't got but three fields away +when they looked back and saw the giant walking along at top speed after +them. “Quick, quick,” called out the giant's daughter, “take my comb +from my hair and throw it down.” Nix Nought Nothing took her comb from +her hair and threw it down, and out of every one of its prongs there +sprung up a fine thick briar in the way of the giant. You may be sure it +took him a long time to work his way through the briar bush and by the +time he was well through Nix Nought Nothing and his sweetheart had run +on a tidy step away from him. But he soon came along after them and was +just like to catch 'em up when the giant's daughter called out to Nix +Nought Nothing, “Take my hair dagger and throw it down, quick, quick.” + So Nix Nought Nothing threw down the hair dagger and out of it grew as +quick as lightning a thick hedge of sharp razors placed criss-cross. The +giant had to tread very cautiously to get through all this and meanwhile +the young lovers ran on, and on, and on, till they were nearly out of +sight. But at last the giant was through, and it wasn't long before he +was like to catch them up. But just as he was stretching out his hand +to catch Nix Nought Nothing his daughter took out her magic flask and +dashed it on the ground. And as it broke out of it welled a big, big +wave that grew, and that grew, till it reached the giant's waist and +then his neck, and when it got to his head, he was drowned dead, and +dead, and dead indeed. So he goes out of the story. + +But Nix Nought Nothing fled on till where do you think they came to? +Why, to near the castle of Nix Nought Nothing's father and mother. But +the giant's daughter was so weary that she couldn't move a step further. +So Nix Nought Nothing told her to wait there while he went and found +out a lodging for the night. And he went on towards the lights of the +castle, and on the way he came to the cottage of the hen-wife whose +boy had had his brains dashed out by the giant. Now she knew Nix Nought +Nothing in a moment, and hated him because he was the cause of her son's +death. So when he asked his way to the castle she put a spell upon him, +and when he got to the castle, no sooner was he let in than he fell down +dead asleep upon a bench in the hall. The king and queen tried all they +could do to wake him up, but all in vain. So the king promised that if +any lady could wake him up she should marry him. Meanwhile the giant's +daughter was waiting and waiting for him to come back. And she went up +into a tree to watch for him. The gardener's daughter, going to draw +water in the well, saw the shadow of the lady in the water and thought +it was herself, and said; “If I'm so bonny, if I'm so brave, why do you +send me to draw water?” So she threw down her pail and went to see if +she could wed the sleeping stranger. And she went to the hen-wife, who +taught her an unspelling catch which would keep Nix Nought Nothing awake +as long as the gardener's daughter liked. So she went up to the castle +and sang her catch and Nix Nought Nothing was wakened for a bit and they +promised to wed him to the gardener's daughter. Meanwhile the gardener +went down to draw water from the well and saw the shadow of the lady in +the water. So he looks up and finds her, and he brought the lady from +the tree, and led her into his house. And he told her that a stranger +was to marry his daughter, and took her up to the castle and showed her +the man: and it was Nix Nought Nothing asleep in a chair. And she saw +him, and cried to him: “Waken, waken, and speak to me!” But he would not +waken, and soon she cried: + + “I cleaned the stable, I laved the lake, and I clomb the tree, + And all for the love of thee, + And thou wilt not waken and speak to me.” + +The king and the queen heard this, and came to the bonny young lady, and +she said: + +“I cannot get Nix Nought Nothing to speak to me for all that I can do.” + +Then were they greatly astonished when she spoke of Nix Nought Nothing, +and asked where he was, and she said: “He that sits there in the chair.” + Then they ran to him and kissed him and called him their own dear son; +so they called for the gardener's daughter and made her sing her charm, +and he wakened, and told them all that the giant's daughter had done +for him, and of all her kindness. Then they took her in their arms and +kissed her, and said she should now be their daughter, for their son +should marry her. But they sent for the hen-wife and put her to death. +And they lived happy all their days. + + + + +JACK HANNAFORD + +There was an old soldier who had been long in the wars--so long, that +he was quite out-at-elbows, and he did not know where to go to find a +living. So he walked up moors, down glens, till at last he came to a +farm, from which the good man had gone away to market. The wife of the +farmer was a very foolish woman, who had been a widow when he married +her; the farmer was foolish enough, too, and it is hard to say which of +the two was the more foolish. When you've heard my tale you may decide. + +Now before the farmer goes to market says he to his wife: “Here is ten +pounds all in gold, take care of it till I come home.” If the man had +not been a fool he would never have given the money to his wife to keep. +Well, off he went in his cart to market, and the wife said to herself: +“I will keep the ten pounds quite safe from thieves;” so she tied it up +in a rag, and she put the rag up the parlour chimney. + +“There,” said she, “no thieves will ever find it now, that is quite +sure.” + +Jack Hannaford, the old soldier, came and rapped at the door. + +“Who is there?” asked the wife. + +“Jack Hannaford.” + +“Where do you come from?” + +“Paradise.” + +“Lord a' mercy! and maybe you've seen my old man there,” alluding to her +former husband. + +“Yes, I have.” + +“And how was he a-doing?” asked the goody. + +“But middling; he cobbles old shoes, and he has nothing but cabbage for +victuals.” + +“Deary me!” exclaimed the woman. “Didn't he send a message to me?” + +“Yes, he did,” replied Jack Hannaford. “He said that he was out of +leather, and his pockets were empty, so you were to send him a few +shillings to buy a fresh stock of leather.” + +“He shall have them, bless his poor soul!” And away went the wife to the +parlour chimney, and she pulled the rag with the ten pounds in it from +the chimney, and she gave the whole sum to the soldier, telling him that +her old man was to use as much as he wanted, and to send back the rest. + +It was not long that Jack waited after receiving the money; he went off +as fast as he could walk. + +Presently the farmer came home and asked for his money. The wife told +him that she had sent it by a soldier to her former husband in Paradise, +to buy him leather for cobbling the shoes of the saints and angels of +Heaven. The farmer was very angry, and he swore that he had never met +with such a fool as his wife. But the wife said that her husband was a +greater fool for letting her have the money. + +There was no time to waste words; so the farmer mounted his horse and +rode off after Jack Hannaford. The old soldier heard the horse's hoofs +clattering on the road behind him, so he knew it must be the farmer +pursuing him. He lay down on the ground, and shading his eyes with one +hand, looked up into the sky, and pointed heavenwards with the other +hand. + +“What are you about there?” asked the farmer, pulling up. + +“Lord save you!” exclaimed Jack: “I've seen a rare sight.” + +“What was that?” + +“A man going straight up into the sky, as if he were walking on a road.” + +“Can you see him still?” + +“Yes, I can.” + +“Where?” + +“Get off your horse and lie down.” + +“If you will hold the horse.” + +Jack did so readily. + +“I cannot see him,” said the farmer. + +“Shade your eyes with your hand, and you'll soon see a man flying away +from you.” + +Sure enough he did so, for Jack leaped on the horse, and rode away with +it. The farmer walked home without his horse. + +“You are a bigger fool than I am,” said the wife; “for I did only one +foolish thing, and you have done two.” + + + + +BINNORIE + +Once upon a time there were two king's daughters lived in a bower near +the bonny mill-dams of Binnorie. And Sir William came wooing the eldest +and won her love and plighted troth with glove and with ring. But after +a time he looked upon the youngest, with her cherry cheeks and golden +hair, and his love grew towards her till he cared no longer for the +eldest one. So she hated her sister for taking away Sir William's love, +and day by day her hate grew upon her, and she plotted and she planned +how to get rid of her. + +So one fine morning, fair and clear, she said to her sister, “Let us +go and see our father's boats come in at the bonny mill-stream of +Binnorie.” So they went there hand in hand. And when they got to the +river's bank the youngest got upon a stone to watch for the coming of +the boats. And her sister, coming behind her, caught her round the waist +and dashed her into the rushing mill-stream of Binnorie. + +“O sister, sister, reach me your hand!” she cried, as she floated away, +“and you shall have half of all I've got or shall get.” + +“No, sister, I'll reach you no hand of mine, for I am the heir to all +your land. Shame on me if I touch the hand that has come 'twixt me and +my own heart's love.” + +“O sister, O sister, then reach me your glove!” she cried, as she +floated further away, “and you shall have your William again.” + +“Sink on,” cried the cruel princess, “no hand or glove of mine you'll +touch. Sweet William will be all mine when you are sunk beneath the +bonny mill-stream of Binnorie.” And she turned and went home to the +king's castle. + +And the princess floated down the mill-stream, sometimes swimming +and sometimes sinking, till she came near the mill. Now the miller's +daughter was cooking that day, and needed water for her cooking. And as +she went to draw it from the stream, she saw something floating towards +the mill-dam, and she called out, “Father! father! draw your dam. +There's something white--a merry maid or a milk-white swan--coming down +the stream.” So the miller hastened to the dam and stopped the heavy +cruel mill-wheels. And then they took out the princess and laid her on +the bank. + +Fair and beautiful she looked as she lay there. In her golden hair were +pearls and precious stones; you could not see her waist for her golden +girdle; and the golden fringe of her white dress came down over her lily +feet. But she was drowned, drowned! + +And as she lay there in her beauty a famous harper passed by the +mill-dam of Binnorie, and saw her sweet pale face. And though he +travelled on far away he never forgot that face, and after many days he +came back to the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie. But then all he could +find of her where they had put her to rest were her bones and her +golden hair. So he made a harp out of her breast-bone and her hair, and +travelled on up the hill from the mill-dam of Binnorie, till he came to +the castle of the king her father. + +That night they were all gathered in the castle hall to hear the great +harper--king and queen, their daughter and son, Sir William and all +their Court. And first the harper sang to his old harp, making them joy +and be glad or sorrow and weep just as he liked. But while he sang he +put the harp he had made that day on a stone in the hall. And presently +it began to sing by itself, low and clear, and the harper stopped and +all were hushed. + +And this was what the harp sung: + + “O yonder sits my father, the king, + Binnorie, O Binnorie; + And yonder sits my mother, the queen; + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie, + + “And yonder stands my brother Hugh, + Binnorie, O Binnorie; + And by him, my William, false and true; + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie.” + +Then they all wondered, and the harper told them how he had seen the +princess lying drowned on the bank near the bonny mill-dams o' +Binnorie, and how he had afterwards made this harp out of her hair and +breast-bone. Just then the harp began singing again, and this was what +it sang out loud and clear: + + “And there sits my sister who drownèd me + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie.” + +And the harp snapped and broke, and never sang more. + + + + +MOUSE AND MOUSER + +The Mouse went to visit the Cat, and found her sitting behind the hall +door, spinning. + +MOUSE. What are you doing, my lady, my lady, What are you doing, my +lady? + +CAT (_sharply_). I'm spinning old breeches, good body, good body I'm +spinning old breeches, good body. + +MOUSE. Long may you wear them, my lady, my lady, Long may you wear them, +my lady. + +CAT (_gruffly_). I'll wear' em and tear 'em, good body, good body. I'll +wear 'em and tear 'em, good body. + +MOUSE. I was sweeping my room, my lady, my lady, I was sweeping my room, +my lady. + +CAT. The cleaner you'd be, good body, good body, The cleaner you'd be, +good body. + +MOUSE. I found a silver sixpence, my lady, my lady, I found a silver +sixpence, my lady. + +CAT. The richer you were, good body, good body, The richer you were, +good body. + +MOUSE. I went to the market, my lady, my lady, I went to the market, my +lady. + +CAT. The further you went, good body, good body The further you went, +good body. + +MOUSE. I bought me a pudding, my lady, my lady, I bought me a pudding, +my lady. + +CAT (_snarling_). The more meat you had, good body, good body, The more +meat you had, good body. + +MOUSE. I put it in the window to cool, my lady, I put it in the window +to cool. + +CAT. (_sharply_). The faster you'd eat it, good body, good body, The +faster you'd eat it, good body. + +MOUSE (_timidly_). The cat came and ate it, my lady, my lady, The cat +came and ate it, my lady. + +CAT (_pouncingly_). And I'll eat you, good body, good body, And I'll eat +you, good body. + +(_Springs upon the mouse and kills it._) + + + + +CAP O' RUSHES + +Well, there was once a very rich gentleman, and he'd three daughters, +and he thought he'd see how fond they were of him. So he says to the +first, “How much do you love me, my dear?” + +“Why,” says she, “as I love my life.” + +“That's good,” says he. + +So he says to the second, “How much do _you_ love me, my dear?” + +“Why,” says she, “better nor all the world.” + +“That's good,” says he. + +So he says to the third, “How much do _you_ love me, my dear?” + +“Why, I love you as fresh meat loves salt,” says she. + +Well, he was that angry. “You don't love me at all,” says he, “and in +my house you stay no more.” So he drove her out there and then, and shut +the door in her face. + +Well, she went away on and on till she came to a fen, and there she +gathered a lot of rushes and made them into a kind of a sort of a +cloak with a hood, to cover her from head to foot, and to hide her fine +clothes. And then she went on and on till she came to a great house. + +“Do you want a maid?” says she. + +“No, we don't,” said they. + +“I haven't nowhere to go,” says she; “and I ask no wages, and do any +sort of work,” says she. + +“Well,” says they, “if you like to wash the pots and scrape the +saucepans you may stay,” said they. + +So she stayed there and washed the pots and scraped the saucepans and +did all the dirty work. And because she gave no name they called her +“Cap o' Rushes.” + +Well, one day there was to be a great dance a little way off, and the +servants were allowed to go and look on at the grand people. Cap o' +Rushes said she was too tired to go, so she stayed at home. + +But when they were gone she offed with her cap o' rushes, and cleaned +herself, and went to the dance. And no one there was so finely dressed +as her. + +Well, who should be there but her master's son, and what should he do +but fall in love with her the minute he set eyes on her. He wouldn't +dance with any one else. + +But before the dance was done Cap o' Rushes slipt off, and away she went +home. And when the other maids came back she was pretending to be asleep +with her cap o' rushes on. + +Well, next morning they said to her, “You did miss a sight, Cap o' +Rushes!” + +“What was that?” says she. + +“Why, the beautifullest lady you ever see, dressed right gay and ga'. +The young master, he never took his eyes off her.” + +“Well, I should have liked to have seen her,” says Cap o' Rushes. + +“Well, there's to be another dance this evening, and perhaps she'll be +there.” + +But, come the evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go with +them. Howsoever, when they were gone, she offed with her cap o' rushes +and cleaned herself, and away she went to the dance. + +The master's son had been reckoning on seeing her, and he danced with +no one else, and never took his eyes off her. But, before the dance was +over, she slipt off, and home she went, and when the maids came back +she, pretended to be asleep with her cap o' rushes on. + +Next day they said to her again, “Well, Cap o' Rushes, you should ha' +been there to see the lady. There she was again, gay and ga', and the +young master he never took his eyes off her.” + +“Well, there,” says she, “I should ha' liked to ha' seen her.” + +“Well,” says they, “there's a dance again this evening, and you must go +with us, for she's sure to be there.” + +Well, come this evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go, and +do what they would she stayed at home. But when they were gone she offed +with her cap o' rushes and cleaned herself, and away she went to the +dance. + +The master's son was rarely glad when he saw her. He danced with none +but her and never took his eyes off her. When she wouldn't tell him her +name, nor where she came from, he gave her a ring and told her if he +didn't see her again he should die. + +Well, before the dance was over, off she slipped, and home she went, and +when the maids came home she was pretending to be asleep with her cap o' +rushes on. + +Well, next day they says to her, “There, Cap o' Rushes, you didn't come +last night, and now you won't see the lady, for there's no more dances.” + +“Well I should have rarely liked to have seen her,” says she. + +The master's son he tried every way to find out where the lady was gone, +but go where he might, and ask whom he might, he never heard anything +about her. And he got worse and worse for the love of her till he had to +keep his bed. + +“Make some gruel for the young master,” they said to the cook. “He's +dying for the love of the lady.” The cook she set about making it when +Cap o' Rushes came in. + +“What are you a-doing of?”, says she. + +“I'm going to make some gruel for the young master,” says the cook, “for +he's dying for love of the lady.” + +“Let me make it,” says Cap o' Rushes. + +Well, the cook wouldn't at first, but at last she said yes, and Cap o' +Rushes made the gruel. And when she had made it she slipped the ring +into it on the sly before the cook took it upstairs. + +The young man he drank it and then he saw the ring at the bottom. + +“Send for the cook,” says he. + +So up she comes. + +“Who made this gruel here?” says he. + +“I did,” says the cook, for she was frightened. + +And he looked at her, + +“No, you didn't,” says he. “Say who did it, and you shan't be harmed.” + +“Well, then, 'twas Cap o' Rushes,” says she. + +“Send Cap o' Rushes here,” says he. + +So Cap o' Rushes came. + +“Did you make my gruel?” says he. + +“Yes, I did,” says she. + +“Where did you get this ring?” says he. + +“From him that gave it me,” says she. + +“Who are you, then?” says the young man. + +“I'll show you,” says she. And she offed with her cap o' rushes, and +there she was in her beautiful clothes. + +Well, the master's son he got well very soon, and they were to be +married in a little time. It was to be a very grand wedding, and every +one was asked far and near. And Cap o' Rushes' father was asked. But she +never told anybody who she was. + +But before the wedding she went to the cook, and says she: + +“I want you to dress every dish without a mite o' salt.” + +“That'll be rare nasty,” says the cook. + +“That doesn't signify,” says she. + +“Very well,” says the cook. + +Well, the wedding-day came, and they were married. And after they were +married all the company sat down to the dinner. When they began to eat +the meat, that was so tasteless they couldn't eat it. But Cap o' Rushes' +father he tried first one dish and then another, and then he burst out +crying. + +“What is the matter?” said the master's son to him. + +“Oh!” says he, “I had a daughter. And I asked her how much she loved me. +And she said 'As much as fresh meat loves salt.' And I turned her from +my door, for I thought she didn't love me. And now I see she loved me +best of all. And she may be dead for aught I know.” + +“No, father, here she is!” says Cap o' Rushes. And she goes up to him +and puts her arms round him. + +And so they were happy ever after. + + + + +TEENY-TINY + +Once upon a time there was a teeny-tiny woman lived in a teeny-tiny +house in a teeny-tiny village. Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put +on her teeny-tiny bonnet, and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take +a teeny-tiny walk. And when this teeny-tiny woman had gone a teeny-tiny +way she came to a teeny-tiny gate; so the teeny-tiny woman opened the +teeny-tiny gate, and went into a teeny-tiny churchyard. And when this +teeny-tiny woman had got into the teeny-tiny churchyard, she saw a +teeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny grave, and the teeny-tiny woman said to +her teeny-tiny self, “This teeny-tiny bone will make me some teeny-tiny +soup for my teeny-tiny supper.” So the teeny-tiny woman put the +teeny-tiny bone into her teeny-tiny pocket, and went home to her +teeny-tiny house. + +Now when the teeny-tiny woman got home to her teeny-tiny house she was +a teeny-tiny bit tired; so she went up her teeny-tiny stairs to her +teeny-tiny bed, and put the teeny-tiny bone into a teeny-tiny cupboard. +And when this teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep a teeny-tiny time, she +was awakened by a teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard, which +said: + +“Give me my bone!” + +And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny frightened, so she hid her +teeny-tiny head under the teeny-tiny clothes and went to sleep again. +And when she had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the teeny-tiny +voice again cried out from the teeny-tiny cupboard a teeny-tiny louder, +“Give me my bone!” + +This made the teeny-tiny woman a teeny-tiny more frightened, so she hid +her teeny-tiny head a teeny-tiny further under the teeny-tiny clothes. +And when the teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny +time, the teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard said again a +teeny-tiny louder, + +“Give me my bone!” + +And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny bit more frightened, but she +put her teeny-tiny head out of the teeny-tiny clothes, and said in her +loudest teeny-tiny voice, “TAKE IT!” + + + + +JACK AND THE BEANSTALK + +There was once upon a time a poor widow who had an only son named Jack, +and a cow named Milky-white. And all they had to live on was the milk +the cow gave every morning which they carried to the market and sold. +But one morning Milky-white gave no milk and they didn't know what to +do. + +“What shall we do, what shall we do?” said the widow, wringing her +hands. + +“Cheer up, mother, I'll go and get work somewhere,” said Jack. + +“We've tried that before, and nobody would take you,” said his mother; +“we must sell Milky-white and with the money do something, start shop, +or something.” + +“All right, mother,” says Jack; “it's market-day today, and I'll soon +sell Milky-white, and then we'll see what we can do.” + +So he took the cow's halter in his hand, and off he starts. He hadn't +gone far when he met a funny-looking old man who said to him: “Good +morning, Jack.” + +“Good morning to you,” said Jack, and wondered how he knew his name. + +“Well, Jack, and where are you off to?” said the man. + +“I'm going to market to sell our cow here.” + +“Oh, you look the proper sort of chap to sell cows,” said the man; “I +wonder if you know how many beans make five.” + +“Two in each hand and one in your mouth,” says Jack, as sharp as a +needle. + +“Right you are,” said the man, “and here they are the very beans +themselves,” he went on pulling out of his pocket a number of +strange-looking beans. “As you are so sharp,” says he, “I don't mind +doing a swop with you--your cow for these beans.” + +“Walker!” says Jack; “wouldn't you like it?” + +“Ah! you don't know what these beans are,” said the man; “if you plant +them over-night, by morning they grow right up to the sky.” + +“Really?” says Jack; “you don't say so.” + +“Yes, that is so, and if it doesn't turn out to be true you can have +your cow back.” + +“Right,” says Jack, and hands him over Milky-white's halter and pockets +the beans. + +Back goes Jack home, and as he hadn't gone very far it wasn't dusk by +the time he got to his door. + +“What back, Jack?” said his mother; “I see you haven't got Milky-white, +so you've sold her. How much did you get for her?” + +“You'll never guess, mother,” says Jack. + +“No, you don't say so. Good boy! Five pounds, ten, fifteen, no, it can't +be twenty.” + +“I told you you couldn't guess, what do you say to these beans; they're +magical, plant them over-night and----” + +“What!” says Jack's mother, “have you been such a fool, such a dolt, +such an idiot, as to give away my Milky-white, the best milker in the +parish, and prime beef to boot, for a set of paltry beans. Take that! +Take that! Take that! And as for your precious beans here they go out of +the window. And now off with you to bed. Not a sup shall you drink, and +not a bit shall you swallow this very night.” + +So Jack went upstairs to his little room in the attic, and sad and sorry +he was, to be sure, as much for his mother's sake, as for the loss of +his supper. + +At last he dropped off to sleep. + +When he woke up, the room looked so funny. The sun was shining into part +of it, and yet all the rest was quite dark and shady. So Jack jumped +up and dressed himself and went to the window. And what do you think +he saw? why, the beans his mother had thrown out of the window into the +garden, had sprung up into a big beanstalk which went up and up and up +till it reached the sky. So the man spoke truth after all. + +The beanstalk grew up quite close past Jack's window, so all he had to +do was to open it and give a jump on to the beanstalk which was made +like a big plaited ladder. So Jack climbed and he climbed and he climbed +and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last +he reached the sky. And when he got there he found a long broad road +going as straight as a dart. So he walked along and he walked along +and he walked along till he came to a great big tall house, and on the +doorstep there was a great big tall woman. + +“Good morning, mum,” says Jack, quite polite-like. “Could you be so kind +as to give me some breakfast.” For he hadn't had anything to eat, you +know, the night before and was as hungry as a hunter. + +“It's breakfast you want, is it?” says the great big tall woman, “it's +breakfast you'll be if you don't move off from here. My man is an ogre +and there's nothing he likes better than boys broiled on toast. You'd +better be moving on or he'll soon be coming.” + +“Oh! please mum, do give me something to eat, mum. I've had nothing to +eat since yesterday morning, really and truly, mum,” says Jack. “I may +as well be broiled, as die of hunger.” + +Well, the ogre's wife wasn't such a bad sort, after all. So she took +Jack into the kitchen, and gave him a junk of bread and cheese and a jug +of milk. But Jack hadn't half finished these when thump! thump! thump! +the whole house began to tremble with the noise of someone coming. + +“Goodness gracious me! It's my old man,” said the ogre's wife, “what on +earth shall I do? Here, come quick and jump in here.” And she bundled +Jack into the oven just as the ogre came in. + +He was a big one, to be sure. At his belt he had three calves strung up +by the heels, and he unhooked them and threw them down on the table and +said: “Here, wife, broil me a couple of these for breakfast. Ah what's +this I smell? + + Fee-fi-fo-fum, + I smell the blood of an Englishman, + Be he alive, or be he dead + I'll have his bones to grind my bread.” + +“Nonsense, dear,” said his wife, “you're dreaming. Or perhaps you smell +the scraps of that little boy you liked so much for yesterday's dinner. +Here, go you and have a wash and tidy up, and by the time you come back +your breakfast'll be ready for you.” + +So the ogre went off, and Jack was just going to jump out of the oven +and run off when the woman told him not. “Wait till he's asleep,” says +she; “he always has a snooze after breakfast.” + +Well, the ogre had his breakfast, and after that he goes to a big chest +and takes out of it a couple of bags of gold and sits down counting them +till at last his head began to nod and he began to snore till the whole +house shook again. + +Then Jack crept out on tiptoe from his oven, and as he was passing the +ogre he took one of the bags of gold under his arm, and off he pelters +till he came to the beanstalk, and then he threw down the bag of gold +which of course fell in to his mother's garden, and then he climbed down +and climbed down till at last he got home and told his mother and showed +her the gold and said: “Well, mother, wasn't I right about the beans. +They are really magical, you see.” + +So they lived on the bag of gold for some time, but at last they came to +the end of that so Jack made up his mind to try his luck once more up at +the top of the beanstalk. So one fine morning he got up early, and got +on to the beanstalk, and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and +he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last he got on the road +again and came to the great big tall house he had been to before. There, +sure enough, was the great big tall woman a-standing on the door-step. + +“Good morning, mum,” says Jack, as bold as brass, “could you be so good +as to give me something to eat?” + +“Go away, my boy,” said the big, tall woman, “or else my man will eat +you up for breakfast. But aren't you the youngster who came here once +before? Do you know, that very day, my man missed one of his bags of +gold.” + +“That's strange, mum,” says Jack, “I dare say I could tell you something +about that but I'm so hungry I can't speak till I've had something to +eat.” + +Well the big tall woman was that curious that she took him in and gave +him something to eat. But he had scarcely begun munching it as slowly as +he could when thump! thump! thump! they heard the giant's footstep, and +his wife hid Jack away in the oven. + +All happened as it did before. In came the ogre as he did before, said: +“Fee-fi-fo-fum,” and had his breakfast off three broiled oxen. Then he +said: “Wife, bring me the hen that lays the golden eggs.” So she brought +it, and the ogre said: “Lay,” and it laid an egg all of gold. And then +the ogre began to nod his head, and to snore till the house shook. + +Then Jack crept out of the oven on tiptoe and caught hold of the golden +hen, and was off before you could say “Jack Robinson.” But this time the +hen gave a cackle which woke the ogre, and just as Jack got out of the +house he heard him calling: “Wife, wife, what have you done with my +golden hen?” + +And the wife said: “Why, my dear?” + +But that was all Jack heard, for he rushed off to the beanstalk and +climbed down like a house on fire. And when he got home he showed his +mother the wonderful hen and said “Lay,” to it; and it laid a golden egg +every time he said “Lay.” + +Well, Jack was not content, and it wasn't very long before he determined +to have another try at his luck up there at the top of the beanstalk. So +one fine morning, he got up early, and went on to the beanstalk, and he +climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till he got to +the top. But this time he knew better than to go straight to the ogre's +house. And when he got near it he waited behind a bush till he saw the +ogre's wife come out with a pail to get some water, and then he crept +into the house and got into the copper. He hadn't been there long when +he heard thump! thump! thump! as before, and in come the ogre and his +wife. + +“Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman,” cried out the ogre; +“I smell him, wife, I smell him.” + +“Do you, my dearie?” says the ogre's wife. “Then if it's that little +rogue that stole your gold and the hen that laid the golden eggs he's +sure to have got into the oven.” And they both rushed to the oven. But +Jack wasn't there, luckily, and the ogre's wife said: “There you are +again with your fee-fi-fo-fum. Why of course it's the laddie you caught +last night that I've broiled for your breakfast. How forgetful I am, and +how careless you are not to tell the difference between a live un and a +dead un.” + +So the ogre sat down to the breakfast and ate it, but every now and +then he would mutter: “Well, I could have sworn----” and he'd get up +and search the larder and the cupboards, and everything, only luckily he +didn't think of the copper. + +After breakfast was over, the ogre called out: “Wife, wife, bring me my +golden harp.” So she brought it and put it on the table before him. Then +he said: “Sing!” and the golden harp sang most beautifully. And it +went on singing till the ogre fell asleep, and commenced to snore like +thunder. + +Then Jack lifted up the copper-lid very quietly and got down like a +mouse and crept on hands and knees till he got to the table when he got +up and caught hold of the golden harp and dashed with it towards the +door. But the harp called out quite loud: “Master! Master!” and the ogre +woke up just in time to see Jack running off with his harp. + +Jack ran as fast as he could, and the ogre came rushing after, and would +soon have caught him only Jack had a start and dodged him a bit and knew +where he was going. When he got to the beanstalk the ogre was not more +than twenty yards away when suddenly he saw Jack disappear like, and +when he got up to the end of the road he saw Jack underneath climbing +down for dear life. Well, the ogre didn't like trusting himself to such +a ladder, and he stood and waited, so Jack got another start. But just +then the harp cried out: “Master! master!” and the ogre swung himself +down on to the beanstalk which shook with his weight. Down climbs Jack, +and after him climbed the ogre. By this time Jack had climbed down and +climbed down and climbed down till he was very nearly home. So he called +out: “Mother! mother! bring me an axe, bring me an axe.” And his mother +came rushing out with the axe in her hand, but when she came to the +beanstalk she stood stock still with fright for there she saw the ogre +just coming down below the clouds. + +But Jack jumped down and got hold of the axe and gave a chop at the +beanstalk which cut it half in two. The ogre felt the beanstalk shake +and quiver so he stopped to see what was the matter. Then Jack gave +another chop with the axe, and the beanstalk was cut in two and began +to topple over. Then the ogre fell down and broke his crown, and the +beanstalk came toppling after. + +Then Jack showed his mother his golden harp, and what with showing that +and selling the golden eggs, Jack and his mother became very rich, and +he married a great princess, and they lived happy ever after. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS + + Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme + And monkeys chewed tobacco, + And hens took snuff to make them tough, + And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O! + +There was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough +to keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune. The first that +went off met a man with a bundle of straw, and said to him: + +“Please, man, give me that straw to build me a house.” + +Which the man did, and the little pig built a house with it. Presently +came along a wolf, and knocked at the door, and said: + +“Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” + +To which the pig answered: + +“No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.” + +The wolf then answered to that: + +“Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.” + +So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew his house in, and ate up the +little pig. + +The second little pig met a man with a bundle of furze, and said: + +“Please, man, give me that furze to build a house.” + +Which the man did, and the pig built his house. Then along came the +wolf, and said: + +“Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” + +“No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.” + +“Then I'll puff, and I'll huff, and I'll blow your house in.” + +So he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed, and he huffed, and at last +he blew the house down, and he ate up the little pig. + +The third little pig met a man with a load of bricks, and said: + +“Please, man, give me those bricks to build a house with.” + +So the man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them. So the +wolf came, as he did to the other little pigs, and said: + +“Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” + +“No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.” + +“Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.” + +Well, he huffed, and he puffed, and he huffed and he puffed, and he +puffed and huffed; but he could _not_ get the house down. When he found +that he could not, with all his huffing and puffing, blow the house +down, he said: + +“Little pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips.” + +“Where?” said the little pig. + +“Oh, in Mr. Smith's Home-field, and if you will be ready tomorrow +morning I will call for you, and we will go together, and get some for +dinner.” + +“Very well,” said the little pig, “I will be ready. What time do you +mean to go?” + +“Oh, at six o'clock.” + +Well, the little pig got up at five, and got the turnips before the wolf +came (which he did about six) and who said: + +“Little Pig, are you ready?” + +The little pig said: “Ready! I have been and come back again, and got a +nice potful for dinner.” + +The wolf felt very angry at this, but thought that he would be up to the +little pig somehow or other, so he said: + +“Little pig, I know where there is a nice apple-tree.” + +“Where?” said the pig. + +“Down at Merry-garden,” replied the wolf, “and if you will not deceive +me I will come for you, at five o'clock tomorrow and get some apples.” + +Well, the little pig bustled up the next morning at four o'clock, and +went off for the apples, hoping to get back before the wolf came; but +he had further to go, and had to climb the tree, so that just as he was +coming down from it, he saw the wolf coming, which, as you may suppose, +frightened him very much. When the wolf came up he said: + +“Little pig, what! are you here before me? Are they nice apples?” + +“Yes, very,” said the little pig. “I will throw you down one.” + +And he threw it so far, that, while the wolf was gone to pick it up, the +little pig jumped down and ran home. The next day the wolf came again, +and said to the little pig: + +“Little pig, there is a fair at Shanklin this afternoon, will you go?” + +“Oh yes,” said the pig, “I will go; what time shall you be ready?” + +“At three,” said the wolf. So the little pig went off before the time +as usual, and got to the fair, and bought a butter-churn, which he was +going home with, when he saw the wolf coming. Then he could not tell +what to do. So he got into the churn to hide, and by so doing turned it +round, and it rolled down the hill with the pig in it, which frightened +the wolf so much, that he ran home without going to the fair. He went +to the little pig's house, and told him how frightened he had been by a +great round thing which came down the hill past him. Then the little pig +said: + +“Hah, I frightened you, then. I had been to the fair and bought a +butter-churn, and when I saw you, I got into it, and rolled down the +hill.” + +Then the wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he _would_ eat up the +little pig, and that he would get down the chimney after him. When the +little pig saw what he was about, he hung on the pot full of water, and +made up a blazing fire, and, just as the wolf was coming down, took +off the cover, and in fell the wolf; so the little pig put on the cover +again in an instant, boiled him up, and ate him for supper, and lived +happy ever afterwards. + + + + +THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL + +There was once a very learned man in the north-country who knew all the +languages under the sun, and who was acquainted with all the mysteries +of creation. He had one big book bound in black calf and clasped with +iron, and with iron corners, and chained to a table which was made fast +to the floor; and when he read out of this book, he unlocked it with an +iron key, and none but he read from it, for it contained all the secrets +of the spiritual world. It told how many angels there were in heaven, +and how they marched in their ranks, and sang in their quires, and what +were their several functions, and what was the name of each great angel +of might. And it told of the demons, how many of them there were, and +what were their several powers, and their labours, and their names, and +how they might be summoned, and how tasks might be imposed on them, and +how they might be chained to be as slaves to man. + +Now the master had a pupil who was but a foolish lad, and he acted as +servant to the great master, but never was he suffered to look into the +black book, hardly to enter the private room. + +One day the master was out, and then the lad, as curious as could be, +hurried to the chamber where his master kept his wondrous apparatus +for changing copper into gold, and lead into silver, and where was his +mirror in which he could see all that was passing in the world, and +where was the shell which when held to the ear whispered all the words +that were being spoken by anyone the master desired to know about. The +lad tried in vain with the crucibles to turn copper and lead into gold +and silver--he looked long and vainly into the mirror; smoke and clouds +passed over it, but he saw nothing plain, and the shell to his ear +produced only indistinct murmurings, like the breaking of distant seas +on an unknown shore. “I can do nothing,” he said; “as I don't know the +right words to utter, and they are locked up in yon book.” + +He looked round, and, see! the book was unfastened; the master had +forgotten to lock it before he went out. The boy rushed to it, and +unclosed the volume. It was written with red and black ink, and much of +it he could not understand; but he put his finger on a line and spelled +it through. + +At once the room was darkened, and the house trembled; a clap of thunder +rolled through the passage and the old room, and there stood before him +a horrible, horrible form, breathing fire, and with eyes like burning +lamps. It was the demon Beelzebub, whom he had called up to serve him. + +“Set me a task!” said he, with a voice like the roaring of an iron +furnace. + +The boy only trembled, and his hair stood up. + +“Set me a task, or I shall strangle thee!” + +But the lad could not speak. Then the evil spirit stepped towards him, +and putting forth his hands touched his throat. The fingers burned his +flesh. “Set me a task!” + +“Water yon flower,” cried the boy in despair, pointing to a geranium +which stood in a pot on the floor. Instantly the spirit left the room, +but in another instant he returned with a barrel on his back, and poured +its contents over the flower; and again and again he went and came, and +poured more and more water, till the floor of the room was ankle-deep. + +“Enough, enough!” gasped the lad; but the demon heeded him not; the lad +didn't know the words by which to send him away, and still he fetched +water. + +It rose to the boy's knees and still more water was poured. It mounted +to his waist, and Beelzebub still kept on bringing barrels full. It rose +to his armpits, and he scrambled to the table-top. And now the water +in the room stood up to the window and washed against the glass, and +swirled around his feet on the table. It still rose; it reached his +breast. In vain he cried; the evil spirit would not be dismissed, and +to this day he would have been pouring water, and would have drowned +all Yorkshire. But the master remembered on his journey that he had +not locked his book, and therefore returned, and at the moment when +the water was bubbling about the pupil's chin, rushed into the room and +spoke the words which cast Beelzebub back into his fiery home. + + + + +TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE + +Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse both lived in a house, + +Titty Mouse went a leasing and Tatty Mouse went a leasing, + +So they both went a leasing. + +Titty Mouse leased an ear of corn, and Tatty Mouse leased an ear of +corn, + +So they both leased an ear of corn. + +Titty Mouse made a pudding, and Tatty Mouse made a pudding, + +So they both made a pudding. + +And Tatty Mouse put her pudding into the pot to boil, + +But when Titty went to put hers in, the pot tumbled over, and scalded +her to death. + +Then Tatty sat down and wept; then a three-legged stool said: “Tatty, +why do you weep?” “Titty's dead,” said Tatty, “and so I weep;” “then,” + said the stool, “I'll hop,” so the stool hopped. + +Then a broom in the corner of the room said, “Stool, why do you hop?” + “Oh!” said the stool, “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and so I hop;” + “then,” said the broom, “I'll sweep,” so the broom began to sweep. + +“Then,” said the door, “Broom, why do you sweep?” “Oh!” said the broom, +“Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and so I sweep;” + “Then,” said the door, “I'll jar,” so the door jarred. + +“Then,” said the window, “Door, why do you jar?” “Oh!” said the door, +“Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom +sweeps, and so I jar.” + +“Then,” said the window, “I'll creak,” so the window creaked. Now there +was an old form outside the house, and when the window creaked, the form +said: “Window, why do you creak?” “Oh!” said the window, “Titty's dead, +and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door +jars, and so I creak.” + +“Then,” said the old form, “I'll run round the house;” then the old form +ran round the house. Now there was a fine large walnut-tree growing by +the cottage, and the tree said to the form: “Form, why do you run round +the house?” “Oh!” said the form, “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the +stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, +and so I run round the house.” + +“Then,” said the walnut-tree, “I'll shed my leaves,” so the walnut-tree +shed all its beautiful green leaves. Now there was a little bird perched +on one of the boughs of the tree, and when all the leaves fell, it +said: “Walnut-tree, why do you shed your leaves?” “Oh!” said the tree, +“Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, +the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the house, +and so I shed my leaves.” + +“Then,” said the little bird, “I'll moult all my feathers,” so he +moulted all his pretty feathers. Now there was a little girl walking +below, carrying a jug of milk for her brothers and sisters' supper, +and when she saw the poor little bird moult all its feathers, she said: +“Little bird, why do you moult all your feathers?” “Oh!” said the little +bird, “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom +sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round +the house, the walnut-tree sheds its leaves, and so I moult all my +feathers.” + +“Then,” said the little girl, “I'll spill the milk,” so she dropt the +pitcher and spilt the milk. Now there was an old man just by on the top +of a ladder thatching a rick, and when he saw the little girl spill the +milk, he said: “Little girl, what do you mean by spilling the milk, your +little brothers and sisters must go without their supper.” Then said +the little girl: “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the +broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs +round the house, the walnut-tree sheds all its leaves, the little bird +moults all its feathers, and so I spill the milk.” + +“Oh!” said the old man, “then I'll tumble off the ladder and break my +neck,” so he tumbled off the ladder and broke his neck; and when the old +man broke his neck, the great walnut-tree fell down with a crash, and +upset the old form and house, and the house falling knocked the window +out, and the window knocked the door down, and the door upset the broom, +and the broom upset the stool, and poor little Tatty Mouse was buried +beneath the ruins. + + + + +JACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX + +Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it was neither in +my time nor in your time nor in any one else's time, there was an old +man and an old woman, and they had one son, and they lived in a great +forest. And their son never saw any other people in his life, but he +knew that there was some more in the world besides his own father and +mother, because he had lots of books, and he used to read every day +about them. And when he read about some pretty young women, he used +to go mad to see some of them; till one day, when his father was out +cutting wood, he told his mother that he wished to go away to look for +his living in some other country, and to see some other people besides +them two. And he said, “I see nothing at all here but great trees around +me; and if I stay here, maybe I shall go mad before I see anything.” The +young man's father was out all this time, when this talk was going on +between him and his poor old mother. + +The old woman begins by saying to her son before leaving, “Well, well, +my poor boy, if you want to go, it's better for you to go, and God +be with you.”--(The old woman thought for the best when she said +that.)--“But stop a bit before you go. Which would you like best for me +to make you, a little cake and bless you, or a big cake and curse you?” + “Dear, dear!” said he, “make me a big cake. Maybe I shall be hungry on +the road.” The old woman made the big cake, and she went on top of the +house, and she cursed him as far as she could see him. + +He presently meets with his father, and the old man says to him: “Where +are you going, my poor boy?” when the son told the father the same tale +as he told his mother. “Well,” says his father, “I'm sorry to see you +going away, but if you've made your mind to go, it's better for you to +go.” + +The poor lad had not gone far, when his father called him back; then +the old man drew out of his pocket a golden snuff-box, and said to him: +“Here, take this little box, and put it in your pocket, and be sure not +to open it till you are near your death.” And away went poor Jack upon +his road, and walked till he was tired and hungry, for he had eaten all +his cake upon the road; and by this time night was upon him, so he could +hardly see his way before him. He could see some light a long way before +him, and he made up to it, and found the back door and knocked at it, +till one of the maid-servants came and asked him what he wanted. He said +that night was on him, and he wanted to get some place to sleep. The +maid-servant called him in to the fire, and gave him plenty to eat, +good meat and bread and beer; and as he was eating his food by the fire, +there came the young lady to look at him, and she loved him well and he +loved her. And the young lady ran to tell her father, and said there was +a pretty young man in the back kitchen; and immediately the gentleman +came to him, and questioned him, and asked what work he could do. Jack +said, the silly fellow, that he could do anything. (He meant that he +could do any foolish bit of work, that would be wanted about the house.) + +“Well,” says the gentleman to him, “if you can do anything, at eight +o'clock in the morning I must have a great lake and some of-the largest +man-of-war vessels sailing before my mansion, and one of the largest +vessels must fire a royal salute, and the last round must break the +leg of the bed where my young daughter is sleeping. And if you don't do +that, you will have to forfeit your life.” + +“All right,” said Jack; and away he went to his bed, and said his +prayers quietly, and slept till it was near eight o'clock, and he had +hardly any time to think what he was to do, till all of a sudden he +remembered about the little golden box that his father gave him. And he +said to himself: “Well, well, I never was so near my death as I am now;” + and then he felt in his pocket, and drew the little box out. And when he +opened it, out there hopped three little red men, and asked Jack: “What +is your will with us?” “Well,” said Jack, “I want a great lake and some +of the largest man-of-war vessels in the world before this mansion, and +one of the largest vessels to fire a royal salute, and the last round +to break one of the legs of the bed where this young lady is sleeping.” + “All right,” said the little men; “go to sleep.” + +Jack had hardly time to bring the words out of his mouth, to tell the +little men what to do, but what it struck eight o'clock, when Bang, bang +went one of the largest man-of-war vessels; and it made Jack jump out of +bed to look through the window; and I can assure you it was a wonderful +sight for him to see, after being so long with his father and mother +living in a wood. + +By this time Jack dressed himself, and said his prayers, and came down +laughing; for he was proud, he was, because the thing was done so well. +The gentleman comes to him, and says to him: “Well, my young man, I must +say that you are very clever indeed. Come and have some breakfast.” And +the gentleman tells him, “Now there are two more things you have to +do, and then you shall have my daughter in marriage.” Jack gets his +breakfast, and has a good squint at the young lady, and also she at him. + +The other thing that the gentleman told him to do was to fell all the +great trees for miles around by eight o'clock in the morning; and, to +make my long story short, it was done, and it pleased the gentleman well +The gentleman said to him: “The other thing you have to do”--(and it +was the last thing)--“you must get me a great castle standing on twelve +golden pillars; and there must come regiments of soldiers and go through +their drill. At eight o'clock the commanding officer must say, 'Shoulder +up.'” “All right,” said Jack; when the third and last morning came +the third great feat was finished, and he had the young daughter in +marriage. But, oh dear! there is worse to come yet. + +The gentleman now makes a large hunting party, and invites all the +gentlemen around the country to it, and to see the castle as well. And +by this time Jack has a beautiful horse and a scarlet dress to go with +them. On that morning his valet, when putting Jack's clothes by, +after changing them to go a hunting, put his hand in one of Jack's +waistcoat-pockets, and pulled out the little golden snuffbox, as poor +Jack left behind in a mistake. And that man opened the little box, and +there hopped the three little red men out, and asked him what he wanted +with them. “Well,” said the valet to them, “I want this castle to be +moved from this place far and far across the sea.” “All right,” said +the little red men to him; “do you wish to go with it?” “Yes,” said he. +“Well, get up,” said they to him; and away they went far and far over +the great sea. + +Now the grand hunting party comes back, and the castle upon the twelve +golden pillars had disappeared, to the great disappointment of those +gentlemen as did not see it before. That poor silly Jack is threatened +by taking his beautiful young wife from him, for taking them in in the +way he did. But the gentleman at last made an agreement with him, and he +is to have a twelvemonths and a day to look for it; and off he goes with +a good horse and money in his pocket. + +Now poor Jack goes in search of his missing castle, over hills, dales, +valleys, and mountains, through woolly woods and sheepwalks, further +than I can tell you or ever intend to tell you. Until at last he comes +up to the place where lives the King of all the little mice in the +world. There was one of the little mice on sentry at the front gate +going up to the palace, and did try to stop Jack from going in. He asked +the little mouse: “Where does the King live? I should like to see him.” + This one sent another with him to show him the place; and when the King +saw him, he called him in. And the King questioned him, and asked him +where he was going that way. Well, Jack told him all the truth, that he +had lost the great castle, and was going to look for it, and he had a +whole twelvemonths and a day to find it out. And Jack asked him whether +he knew anything about it; and the King said: “No, but I am the King +of all the little mice in the world, and I will call them all up in the +morning, and maybe they have seen something of it.” + +Then Jack got a good meal and bed, and in the morning he and the King +went on to the fields; and the King called all the mice together, and +asked them whether they had seen the great beautiful castle standing on +golden pillars. And all the little mice said, No, there was none of them +had seen it. The old King said to him that he had two other brothers: +“One is the King of all the frogs; and my other brother, who is the +oldest, he is the King of all the birds in the world. And if you go +there, may be they know something about the missing castle.” The King +said to him: “Leave your horse here with me till you come back, and take +one of my best horses under you, and give this cake to my brother; he +will know then who you got it from. Mind and tell him I am well, and +should like dearly to see him.” And then the King and Jack shook hands +together. + +And when Jack was going through the gates, the little mouse asked him, +should he go with him; and Jack said to him: “No, I shall get myself +into trouble with the King.” And the little thing told him: “It will be +better for you to let me go with you; maybe I shall do some good to you +some time without you knowing it.” “Jump up, then.” And the little mouse +ran up the horse's leg, and made it dance; and Jack put the mouse in his +pocket. + +Now Jack, after wishing good morning to the King and pocketing the +little mouse which was on sentry, trudged on his way; and such a long +way he had to go and this was his first day. At last he found the place; +and there was one of the frogs on sentry, and gun upon his shoulder, and +did try to hinder Jack from going in; but when Jack said to him that he +wanted to see the King, he allowed him to pass; and Jack made up to the +door. The King came out, and asked him his business; and Jack told +him all from beginning to end. “Well, well, come in.” He gets good +entertainment that night; and in the morning the King made such a funny +sound, and collected all the frogs in the world. And he asked them, +did they know or see anything of a castle that stood upon twelve golden +pillars; and they all made a curious sound, _Kro-kro, kro-kro_, and +said, No. + +Jack had to take another horse, and a cake to this King's brother, who +is the King of all the fowls of the air; and as Jack was going through +the gates, the little frog that was on sentry asked John should he go +with him. Jack refused him for a bit; but at last he told him to jump +up, and Jack put him in his other waistcoat pocket. And away he went +again on his great long journey; it was three times as long this time as +it was the first day; however, he found the place, and there was a fine +bird on sentry. And Jack passed him, and he never said a word to him; +and he talked with the King, and told him everything, all about the +castle. “Well,” said the King to him, “you shall know in the morning +from my birds, whether they know anything or not.” Jack put up his horse +in the stable, and then went to bed, after having something to eat. And +when he got up in the morning the King and he went on to some field, and +there the King made some funny noise, and there came all the fowls that +were in all the world. And the King asked them; “Did they see the fine +castle?” and all the birds answered, No. “Well,” said the King, “where +is the great bird?” They had to wait then for a long time for the eagle +to make his appearance, when at last he came all in a perspiration, +after sending two little birds high up in the sky to whistle on him to +make all the haste he possibly could. The King asked the great bird, +Did he see the great castle? and the bird said: “Yes, I came from there +where it now is.” “Well,” says the King to him; “this young gentleman +has lost it, and you must go with him back to it; but stop till you get +a bit of something to eat first.” + +They killed a thief, and sent the best part of it to feed the eagle on +his journey over the seas, and had to carry Jack on his back. Now when +they came in sight of the castle, they did not know what to do to get +the little golden box. Well, the little mouse said to them: “Leave me +down, and I will get the little box for you.” So the mouse stole into +the castle, and got hold of the box; and when he was coming down the +stairs, it fell down, and he was very near being caught. He came running +out with it, laughing his best. “Have you got it?” Jack said to him; he +said: “Yes;” and off they went back again, and left the castle behind. + +As they were all of them (Jack, mouse, frog, and eagle) passing over +the great sea, they fell to quarrelling about which it was that got the +little box, till down it slipped into the water. (It was by them looking +at it and handing it from one hand to the other that they dropped the +little box to the bottom of the sea.) “Well, well,” said the frog, “I +knew that I would have to do something, so you had better let me go down +in the water.” And they let him go, and he was down for three days and +three nights; and up he comes, and shows his nose and little mouth out +of the water; and all of them asked him, Did he get it? and he told +them, No. “Well, what are you doing there, then?” “Nothing at all,” he +said, “only I want my full breath;” and the poor little frog went down +the second time, and he was down for a day and a night, and up he brings +it. + +And away they did go, after being there four days and nights; and after +a long tug over seas and mountains, arrive at the palace of the old +King, who is the master of all the birds in the world. And the King +is very proud to see them, and has a hearty welcome and a long +conversation. Jack opens the little box, and told the little men to go +back and to bring the castle here to them; “and all of you make as much +haste back again as you possibly can.” + +The three little men went off; and when they came near the castle they +were afraid to go to it till the gentleman and lady and all the servants +were gone out to some dance. And there was no one left behind there only +the cook and another maid with her; and the little red men asked them +which would they rather--go, or stop behind? and they both said: “I will +go with you;” and the little men told them to run upstairs quick. They +were no sooner up and in one of the drawing-rooms than here comes just +in sight the gentleman and lady and all the servants; but it was too +late. Off the castle went at full speed, with the women laughing at them +through the window, while they made motions for them to stop, but all to +no purpose. + +They were nine days on their journey, in which they did try to keep the +Sunday holy, when one of the little men turned to be the priest, the +other the clerk, and third presided at the organ, and the women were +the singers, for they had a grand chapel in the castle already. Very +remarkable, there was a discord made in the music, and one of the little +men ran up one of the organ-pipes to see where the bad sound came +from, when he found out it only happened to be that the two women were +laughing at the little red man stretching his little legs full length +on the bass pipes, also his two arms the same time, with his little red +night-cap, which he never forgot to wear, and what they never witnessed +before, could not help calling forth some good merriment while on the +face of the deep. And poor thing! through them not going on with what +they begun with, they very near came to danger, as the castle was once +very near sinking in the middle of the sea. + +At length, after a merry journey, they come again to Jack and the King. +The King was quite struck with the sight of the castle; and going up the +golden stairs, went to see the inside. + +The King was very much pleased with the castle, but poor Jack's time of +a twelvemonths and a day was drawing to a close; and he, wishing to +go home to his young wife, gives orders to the three little men to +get ready by the next morning at eight o'clock to be off to the next +brother, and to stop there for one night; also to proceed from there +to the last or the youngest brother, the master of all the mice in the +world, in such place where the castle shall be left under his care until +it's sent for. Jack takes a farewell of the King, and thanks him very +much for his hospitality. + +Away went Jack and his castle again, and stopped one night in that +place; and away they went again to the third place, and there left the +castle under his care. As Jack had to leave the castle behind, he had to +take to his own horse, which he left there when he first started. + +Now poor Jack leaves his castle behind and faces towards home; and +after having so much merriment with the three brothers every night, Jack +became sleepy on horseback, and would have lost the road if it was not +for the little men a-guiding him. At last he arrived weary and tired, +and they did not seem to receive him with any kindness whatever, +because he had not found the stolen castle; and to make it worse, he was +disappointed in not seeing his young and beautiful wife to come and meet +him, through being hindered by her parents. But that did not stop long. +Jack put full power on and despatched the little men off to bring the +castle from there, and they soon got there. + +Jack shook hands with the King, and returned many thanks for his kingly +kindness in minding the castle for him; and then Jack instructed the +little men to spur up and put speed on. And off they went, and were not +long before they reached their journey's end, when out comes the young +wife to meet him with a fine lump of a young SON, and they all lived +happy ever afterwards. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS + +Once upon a time there were Three Bears, who lived together in a house +of their own, in a wood. One of them was a Little, Small Wee Bear; and +one was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear. They +had each a pot for their porridge, a little pot for the Little, Small, +Wee Bear; and a middle-sized pot for the Middle Bear, and a great pot +for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit in; a little +chair for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized chair for the +Middle Bear; and a great chair for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had +each a bed to sleep in; a little bed for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; +and a middle-sized bed for the Middle Bear; and a great bed for the +Great, Huge Bear. + +One day, after they had made the porridge for their breakfast, and +poured it into their porridge-pots, they walked out into the wood while +the porridge was cooling, that they might not burn their mouths, by +beginning too soon to eat it. And while they were walking, a little +old Woman came to the house. She could not have been a good, honest old +Woman; for first she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in at +the keyhole; and seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch. The +door was not fastened, because the Bears were good Bears, who did nobody +any harm, and never suspected that anybody would harm them. So the +little old Woman opened the door, and went in; and well pleased she was +when she saw the porridge on the table. If she had been a good little +old Woman, she would have waited till the Bears came home, and then, +perhaps, they would have asked her to breakfast; for they were good +Bears--a little rough or so, as the manner of Bears is, but for all +that very good-natured and hospitable. But she was an impudent, bad old +Woman, and set about helping herself. + +So first she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was +too hot for her; and she said a bad word about that. And then she tasted +the porridge of the Middle Bear, and that was too cold for her; and she +said a bad word about that too. And then she went to the porridge of the +Little, Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that; and that was neither too hot, +nor too cold, but just right; and she liked it so well, that she ate +it all up: but the naughty old Woman said a bad word about the little +porridge-pot, because it did not hold enough for her. + +Then the little old Woman sate down in the chair of the Great, Huge +Bear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sate down in the chair +of the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sate +down in the chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither +too hard, nor too soft, but just right. So she seated herself in it, and +there she sate till the bottom of the chair came out, and down she came, +plump upon the ground. And the naughty old Woman said a wicked word +about that too. + +Then the little old Woman went upstairs into the bed-chamber in which +the three Bears slept. And first she lay down upon the bed of the Great, +Huge Bear; but that was too high at the head for her. And next she lay +down upon the bed of the Middle Bear; and that was too high at the foot +for her. And then she lay down upon the bed of the Little, Small, Wee +Bear; and that was neither too high at the head, nor at the foot, but +just right. So she covered herself up comfortably, and lay there till +she fell fast asleep. + +By this time the Three Bears thought their porridge would be cool +enough; so they came home to breakfast. Now the little old Woman had +left the spoon of the Great, Huge Bear, standing in his porridge. + +“Somebody has been at my porridge!” + +said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. And when +the Middle Bear looked at his, he saw that the spoon was standing in it +too. They were wooden spoons; if they had been silver ones, the naughty +old Woman would have put them in her pocket. + +“Somebody has been at my porridge!” + +said the Middle Bear in his middle voice. + +Then the Little, Small, Wee Bear looked at his, and there was the spoon +in the porridge-pot, but the porridge was all gone. + +“Somebody has been at my porridge, and has eaten it all up!” + +said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + +Upon this the Three Bears, seeing that some one had entered their house, +and eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear's breakfast, began to look +about them. Now the little old Woman had not put the hard cushion +straight when she rose from the chair of the Great, Huge Bear. + +“Somebody has been sitting in my chair!” + +said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. + +And the little old Woman had squatted down the soft cushion of the +Middle Bear. + +“Somebody has been sitting in my chair!” + +said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice. + +And you know what the little old Woman had done to the third chair. + +“Somebody has been sitting in my chair and has sate the bottom out of +it!” + +said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + +Then the Three Bears thought it necessary that they should make farther +search; so they went upstairs into their bedchamber. Now the little old +Woman had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear, out of its place. + +“Somebody has been lying in my bed!” + +said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. + +And the little old Woman had pulled the bolster of the Middle Bear out +of its place. + +“Somebody has been lying in my bed!” + +said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice. + +And when the Little, Small, Wee Bear came to look at his bed, there was +the bolster in its place; and the pillow in its place upon the bolster; +and upon the pillow was the little old Woman's ugly, dirty head,--which +was not in its place, for she had no business there. + +“Somebody has been lying in my bed,--and here she is!” + +said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + +The little old Woman had heard in her sleep the great, rough, gruff +voice of the Great, Huge Bear; but she was so fast asleep that it was +no more to her than the roaring of wind, or the rumbling of thunder. And +she had heard the middle voice, of the Middle Bear, but it was only as +if she had heard some one speaking in a dream. But when she heard the +little, small, wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, it was so +sharp, and so shrill, that it awakened her at once. Up she started; and +when she saw the Three Bears on one side of the bed, she tumbled herself +out at the other, and ran to the window. Now the window was open, +because the Bears, like good, tidy Bears, as they were, always opened +their bedchamber window when they got up in the morning. Out the little +old Woman jumped; and whether she broke her neck in the fall; or ran +into the wood and was lost there; or found her way out of the wood, and +was taken up by the constable and sent to the House of Correction for +a vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But the Three Bears never saw +anything more of her. + + + + +JACK THE GIANT-KILLER + +When good King Arthur reigned, there lived near the Land's End of +England, in the county of Cornwall, a farmer who had one only son called +Jack. He was brisk and of a ready lively wit, so that nobody or nothing +could worst him. + +In those days the Mount of Cornwall was kept by a huge giant named +Cormoran. He was eighteen feet in height, and about three yards round +the waist, of a fierce and grim countenance, the terror of all the +neighbouring towns and villages. He lived in a cave in the midst of the +Mount, and whenever he wanted food he would wade over to the main-land, +where he would furnish himself with whatever came in his way. Everybody +at his approach ran out of their houses, while he seized on their +cattle, making nothing of carrying half-a-dozen oxen on his back at a +time; and as for their sheep and hogs, he would tie them round his waist +like a bunch of tallow-dips. He had done this for many years, so that +all Cornwall was in despair. + +One day Jack happened to be at the town-hall when the magistrates were +sitting in council about the Giant. He asked: “What reward will be given +to the man who kills Cormoran?” “The giant's treasure,” they said, “will +be the reward.” Quoth Jack: “Then let me undertake it.” + +So he got a horn, shovel, and pickaxe, and went over to the Mount in the +beginning of a dark winter's evening, when he fell to work, and before +morning had dug a pit twenty-two feet deep, and nearly as broad, +covering it over with long sticks and straw. Then he strewed a little +mould over it, so that it appeared like plain ground. Jack then placed +himself on the opposite side of the pit, farthest from the giant's +lodging, and, just at the break of day, he put the horn to his mouth, +and blew, Tantivy, Tantivy. This noise roused the giant, who rushed +from his cave, crying: “You incorrigible villain, are you come here +to disturb my rest? You shall pay dearly for this. Satisfaction I will +have, and this it shall be, I will take you whole and broil you for +breakfast.” He had no sooner uttered this, than he tumbled into the pit, +and made the very foundations of the Mount to shake. “Oh, Giant,” quoth +Jack, “where are you now? Oh, faith, you are gotten now into Lob's +Pound, where I will surely plague you for your threatening words: what +do you think now of broiling me for your breakfast? Will no other diet +serve you but poor Jack?” Then having tantalised the giant for a while, +he gave him a most weighty knock with his pickaxe on the very crown of +his head, and killed him on the spot. + +Jack then filled up the pit with earth, and went to search the cave, +which he found contained much treasure. When the magistrates heard of +this they made a declaration he should henceforth be termed + +JACK THE GIANT-KILLER + +and presented him with a sword and a belt, on which were written these +words embroidered in letters of gold: + + “Here's the right valiant Cornish man, + Who slew the giant Cormoran.” + +The news of Jack's victory soon spread over all the West of England, +so that another giant, named Blunderbore, hearing of it, vowed to be +revenged on Jack, if ever he should light on him. This giant was the +lord of an enchanted castle situated in the midst of a lonesome wood. +Now Jack, about four months afterwards, walking near this wood in his +journey to Wales, being weary, seated himself near a pleasant fountain +and fell fast asleep. While he was sleeping, the giant, coming there +for water, discovered him, and knew him to be the far-famed Jack the +Giant-killer by the lines written on the belt. Without ado, he took Jack +on his shoulders and carried him towards his castle. Now, as they passed +through a thicket, the rustling of the boughs awakened Jack, who was +strangely surprised to find himself in the clutches of the giant. His +terror was only begun, for, on entering the castle, he saw the ground +strewed with human bones, and the giant told him his own would ere +long be among them. After this the giant locked poor Jack in an immense +chamber, leaving him there while he went to fetch another giant, his +brother, living in the same wood, who might share in the meal on Jack. + +After waiting some time Jack, on going to the window beheld afar off the +two giants coming towards the castle. “Now,” quoth Jack to himself, “my +death or my deliverance is at hand.” Now, there were strong cords in a +corner of the room in which Jack was, and two of these he took, and made +a strong noose at the end; and while the giants were unlocking the iron +gate of the castle he threw the ropes over each of their heads. Then +he drew the other ends across a beam, and pulled with all his might, so +that he throttled them. Then, when he saw they were black in the face, +he slid down the rope, and drawing his sword, slew them both. Then, +taking the giant's keys, and unlocking the rooms, he found three fair +ladies tied by the hair of their heads, almost starved to death. “Sweet +ladies,” quoth Jack, “I have destroyed this monster and his brutish +brother, and obtained your liberties.” This said he presented them with +the keys, and so proceeded on his journey to Wales. + +Jack made the best of his way by travelling as fast as he could, but +lost his road, and was benighted, and could find any habitation until, +coming into a narrow valley, he found a large house, and in order to +get shelter took courage to knock at the gate. But what was his surprise +when there came forth a monstrous giant with two heads; yet he did not +appear so fiery as the others were, for he was a Welsh giant, and +what he did was by private and secret malice under the false show of +friendship. Jack, having told his condition to the giant, was shown into +a bedroom, where, in the dead of night, he heard his host in another +apartment muttering these words: + + “Though here you lodge with me this night, + You shall not see the morning light + My club shall dash your brains outright!” + +“Say'st thou so,” quoth Jack; “that is like one of your Welsh tricks, +yet I hope to be cunning enough for you.” Then, getting out of bed, he +laid a billet in the bed in his stead, and hid himself in a corner of +the room. At the dead time of the night in came the Welsh giant, who +struck several heavy blows on the bed with his club, thinking he had +broken every bone in Jack's skin. The next morning Jack, laughing in his +sleeve, gave him hearty thanks for his night's lodging. “How have you +rested?” quoth the giant; “did you not feel anything in the night?” + “No,” quoth Jack, “nothing but a rat, which gave me two or three slaps +with her tail.” With that, greatly wondering, the giant led Jack to +breakfast, bringing him a bowl containing four gallons of hasty pudding. +Being loth to let the giant think it too much for him, Jack put a large +leather bag under his loose coat, in such a way that he could convey the +pudding into it without its being perceived. Then, telling the giant he +would show him a trick, taking a knife, Jack ripped open the bag, and +out came all the hasty pudding. Whereupon, saying, “Odds splutters hur +nails, hur can do that trick hurself,” the monster took the knife, and +ripping open his belly, fell down dead. + +Now, it happened in these days that King Arthur's only son asked his +father to give him a large sum of money, in order that he might go and +seek his fortune in the principality of Wales, where lived a beautiful +lady possessed with seven evil spirits. The king did his best to +persuade his son from it, but in vain; so at last gave way and the +prince set out with two horses, one loaded with money, the other for +himself to ride upon. Now, after several days' travel, he came to a +market-town in Wales, where he beheld a vast crowd of people gathered +together. The prince asked the reason of it, and was told that they had +arrested a corpse for several large sums of money which the deceased +owed when he died. The prince replied that it was a pity creditors +should be so cruel, and said: “Go bury the dead, and let his creditors +come to my lodging, and there their debts shall be paid.” They came, +in such great numbers that before night he had only twopence left for +himself. + +Now Jack the Giant-Killer, coming that way, was so taken with the +generosity of the prince, that he desired to be his servant. This +being agreed upon, the next morning they set forward on their journey +together, when, as they were riding out of the town, an old woman called +after the prince, saying, “He has owed me twopence these seven years; +pray pay me as well as the rest.” Putting his hand to his pocket, the +prince gave the woman all he had left, so that after their day's food, +which cost what small spell Jack had by him, they were without a penny +between them. + +When the sun got low, the king's son said: “Jack, since we have no +money, where can we lodge this night?” + +But Jack replied: “Master, we'll do well enough, for I have an uncle +lives within two miles of this place; he is a huge and monstrous giant +with three heads; he'll fight five hundred men in armour, and make them +to fly before him.” “Alas!” quoth the prince, “what shall we do there? +He'll certainly chop us up at a mouthful. Nay, we are scarce enough to +fill one of his hollow teeth!” + +“It is no matter for that,” quoth Jack; “I myself will go before and +prepare the way for you; therefore stop here and wait till I return.” + Jack then rode away at full speed, and coming to the gate of the castle, +he knocked so loud that he made the neighbouring hills resound. The +giant roared out at this like thunder: “Who's there?” + +Jack answered: “None but your poor cousin Jack.” + +Quoth he: “What news with my poor cousin Jack?” + +He replied: “Dear uncle, heavy news, God wot!” + +“Prithee,” quoth the giant, “what heavy news can come to me? I am +a giant with three heads, and besides thou knowest I can fight five +hundred men in armour, and make them fly like chaff before the wind.” + +“Oh, but,” quoth Jack, “here's the king's son a-coming with a thousand +men in armour to kill you and destroy all that you have!” + +“Oh, cousin Jack,” said the giant, “this is heavy news indeed! I will +immediately run and hide myself, and thou shalt lock, bolt, and bar +me in, and keep the keys until the prince is gone.” Having secured the +giant, Jack fetched his master, when they made themselves heartily merry +whilst the poor giant lay trembling in a vault under the ground. + +Early in the morning Jack furnished his master with a fresh supply of +gold and silver, and then sent him three miles forward on his journey, +at which time the prince was pretty well out of the smell of the giant. +Jack then returned, and let the giant out of the vault, who asked what +he should give him for keeping the castle from destruction. “Why,” quoth +Jack, “I want nothing but the old coat and cap, together with the old +rusty sword and slippers which are at your bed's head.” Quoth the giant: +“You know not what you ask; they are the most precious things I have. +The coat will keep you invisible, the cap will tell you all you want to +know, the sword cuts asunder whatever you strike, and the shoes are +of extraordinary swiftness. But you have been very serviceable to me, +therefore take them with all my heart.” Jack thanked his uncle, and then +went off with them. He soon overtook his master and they quickly arrived +at the house of the lady the prince sought, who, finding the prince to +be a suitor, prepared a splendid banquet for him. After the repast was +concluded, she told him she had a task for him. She wiped his mouth with +a handkerchief, saying: “You must show me that handkerchief to-morrow +morning, or else you will lose your head.” With that she put it in +her bosom. The prince went to bed in great sorrow, but Jack's cap of +knowledge informed him how it was to be obtained. In the middle of the +night she called upon her familiar spirit to carry her to Lucifer. But +Jack put on his coat of darkness and his shoes of swiftness, and was +there as soon as she was. When she entered the place of the Old One, she +gave the handkerchief to old Lucifer, who laid it upon a shelf, whence +Jack took it and brought it to his master, who showed it to the lady +next day, and so saved his life. On that day, she gave the prince a kiss +and told him he must show her the lips to-morrow morning that she kissed +last night, or lose his head. + +“Ah!” he replied, “if you kiss none but mine, I will.” + +“That is neither here nor there,” said she; “if you do not, death's your +portion!” + +At midnight she went as before, and was angry with old Lucifer for +letting the handkerchief go. “But now,” quoth she, “I will be too hard +for the king's son, for I will kiss thee, and he is to show me thy +lips.” Which she did, and Jack, when she was not standing by, cut off +Lucifer's head and brought it under his invisible coat to his master, +who the next morning pulled it out by the horns before the lady. This +broke the enchantment and the evil spirit left her, and she appeared in +all her beauty. They were married the next morning, and soon after went +to the court of King Arthur, where Jack for his many great exploits, was +made one of the Knights of the Round Table. + +Jack soon went searching for giants again, but he had not ridden far, +when he saw a cave, near the entrance of which he beheld a giant sitting +upon a block of timber, with a knotted iron club by his side. His goggle +eyes were like flames of fire, his countenance grim and ugly, and his +cheeks like a couple of large flitches of bacon, while the bristles of +his beard resembled rods of iron wire, and the locks that hung down upon +his brawny shoulders were like curled snakes or hissing adders. Jack +alighted from his horse, and, putting on the coat of darkness, went up +close to the giant, and said softly: “Oh! are you there? It will not +be long before I take you fast by the beard.” The giant all this while +could not see him, on account of his invisible coat, so that Jack, +coming up close to the monster, struck a blow with his sword at his +head, but, missing his aim, he cut off the nose instead. At this, the +giant roared like claps of thunder, and began to lay about him with his +iron club like one stark mad. But Jack, running behind, drove his sword +up to the hilt in the giant's back, so that he fell down dead. This +done, Jack cut off the giant's head, and sent it, with his brother's +also, to King Arthur, by a waggoner he hired for that purpose. + +Jack now resolved to enter the giant's cave in search of his treasure, +and, passing along through a great many windings and turnings, he came +at length to a large room paved with freestone, at the upper end of +which was a boiling caldron, and on the right hand a large table, at +which the giant used to dine. Then he came to a window, barred with +iron, through which he looked and beheld a vast number of miserable +captives, who, seeing him, cried out: “Alas! young man, art thou come to +be one amongst us in this miserable den?” + +“Ay,” quoth Jack, “but pray tell me what is the meaning of your +captivity?” + +“We are kept here,” said one, “till such time as the giants have a wish +to feast, and then the fattest among us is slaughtered! And many are the +times they have dined upon murdered men!” + +“Say you so,” quoth Jack, and straightway unlocked the gate and let them +free, who all rejoiced like condemned men at sight of a pardon. Then +searching the giant's coffers, he shared the gold and silver equally +amongst them and took them to a neighbouring castle, where they all +feasted and made merry over their deliverance. + +But in the midst of all this mirth a messenger brought news that one +Thunderdell, a giant with two heads, having heard of the death of his +kinsmen, had come from the northern dales to be revenged on Jack, and +was within a mile of the castle, the country people flying before him +like chaff. But Jack was not a bit daunted, and said: “Let him come! I +have a tool to pick his teeth; and you, ladies and gentlemen, walk out +into the garden, and you shall witness this giant Thunderdell's death +and destruction.” + +The castle was situated in the midst of a small island surrounded by a +moat thirty feet deep and twenty feet wide, over which lay a drawbridge. +So Jack employed men to cut through this bridge on both sides, nearly to +the middle; and then, dressing himself in his invisible coat, he marched +against the giant with his sword of sharpness. Although the giant could +not see Jack, he smelt his approach, and cried out in these words: + + “Fee, fi, fo, fum! + I smell the blood of an Englishman! + Be he alive or be he dead, + I'll grind his bones to make me bread!” + +“Say'st thou so,” said Jack; “then thou art a monstrous miller indeed.” + +The giant cried out again: “Art thou that villain who killed my kinsmen? +Then I will tear thee with my teeth, suck thy blood, and grind thy bones +to powder.” + +“You'll have to catch me first,” quoth Jack, and throwing off his +invisible coat, so that the giant might see him, and putting on his +shoes of swiftness, he ran from the giant, who followed like a walking +castle, so that the very foundations of the earth seemed to shake at +every step. Jack led him a long dance, in order that the gentlemen and +ladies might see; and at last to end the matter, ran lightly over the +drawbridge, the giant, in full speed, pursuing him with his club. Then, +coming to the middle of the bridge, the giant's great weight broke +it down, and he tumbled headlong into the water, where he rolled and +wallowed like a whale. Jack, standing by the moat, laughed at him all +the while; but though the giant foamed to hear him scoff, and plunged +from place to place in the moat, yet he could not get out to be +revenged. Jack at length got a cart-rope and cast it over the two heads +of the giant, and drew him ashore by a team of horses, and then cut +off both his heads with his sword of sharpness, and sent them to King +Arthur. + +After some time spent in mirth and pastime, Jack, taking leave of the +knights and ladies, set out for new adventures. Through many woods he +passed, and came at length to the foot of a high mountain. Here, late +at night, he found a lonesome house, and knocked at the door, which was +opened by an aged man with a head as white as snow. “Father,” said Jack, +“can you lodge a benighted traveller that has lost his way?” “Yes,” said +the old man; “you are right welcome to my poor cottage.” Whereupon Jack +entered, and down they sat together, and the old man began to speak as +follows: “Son, I see by your belt you are the great conqueror of giants, +and behold, my son, on the top of this mountain is an enchanted castle, +this is kept by a giant named Galligantua, and he by the help of an +old conjurer, betrays many knights and ladies into his castle, where by +magic art they are transformed into sundry shapes and forms. But above +all, I grieve for a duke's daughter, whom they fetched from her father's +garden, carrying her through the air in a burning chariot drawn by fiery +dragons, when they secured her within the castle, and transformed her +into a white hind. And though many knights have tried to break the +enchantment, and work her deliverance, yet no one could accomplish it, +on account of two dreadful griffins which are placed at the castle gate +and which destroy every one who comes near. But you, my son, may pass +by them undiscovered, where on the gates of the castle you will find +engraven in large letters how the spell may be broken.” Jack gave the +old man his hand, and promised that in the morning he would venture his +life to free the lady. + +In the morning Jack arose and put on his invisible coat and magic cap +and shoes, and prepared himself for the fray. Now, when he had reached +the top of the mountain he soon discovered the two fiery griffins, but +passed them without fear, because of his invisible coat. When he had got +beyond them, he found upon the gates of the castle a golden trumpet hung +by a silver chain, under which these lines were engraved: + + “Whoever shall this trumpet blow, + Shall soon the giant overthrow, + And break the black enchantment straight; + So all shall be in happy state.” + +Jack had no sooner read this but he blew the trumpet, at which the +castle trembled to its vast foundations, and the giant and conjurer were +in horrid confusion, biting their thumbs and tearing their hair, knowing +their wicked reign was at an end. Then the giant stooping to take up +his club, Jack at one blow cut off his head; whereupon the conjurer, +mounting up into the air, was carried away in a whirlwind. Then the +enchantment was broken, and all the lords and ladies who had so long +been transformed into birds and beasts returned to their proper shapes, +and the castle vanished away in a cloud of smoke. This being done, the +head of Galligantua was likewise, in the usual manner, conveyed to the +Court of King Arthur, where, the very next day, Jack followed, with the +knights and ladies who had been delivered. Whereupon, as a reward +for his good services, the king prevailed upon the duke to bestow his +daughter in marriage on honest Jack. So married they were, and the +whole kingdom was filled with joy at the wedding. Furthermore, the king +bestowed on Jack a noble castle, with a very beautiful estate thereto +belonging, where he and his lady lived in great joy and happiness all +the rest of their days. + + + + +HENNY-PENNY + +One day Henny-penny was picking up corn in the cornyard +when--whack!--something hit her upon the head. “Goodness gracious me!” + said Henny-penny; “the sky's a-going to fall; I must go and tell the +king.” + +So she went along and she went along and she went along till she met +Cocky-locky. “Where are you going, Henny-penny?” says Cocky-locky. “Oh! +I'm going to tell the king the sky's a-falling,” says Henny-penny. “May +I come with you?” says Cocky-locky. “Certainly,” says Henny-penny. So +Henny-penny and Cocky-locky went to tell-the king the sky was falling. + +They went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they met +Ducky-daddles. “Where are you going to, Henny-penny and Cocky-locky?” + says Ducky-daddles. “Oh! we're going to tell the king the sky's +a-falling,” said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. “May I come with you?” + says Ducky-daddles. “Certainly,” said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. So +Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles went to tell the king the sky +was a-falling. + +So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they +met Goosey-poosey, “Where are you going to, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and +Ducky-daddles?” said Goosey-poosey. “Oh! we're going to tell the +king the sky's a-falling,” said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky and +Ducky-daddles. “May I come with you,” said Goosey-poosey. “Certainly,” + said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles. So Henny-penny, +Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey went to tell the king the +sky was a-falling. + +So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till +they met Turkey-lurkey. “Where are you going, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles, and Goosey-poosey?” says Turkey-lurkey. “Oh! we're going +to tell the king the sky's a-falling,” said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey. “May I come with you? Henny-penny, +Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey?” said Turkey-lurkey. “Why, +certainly, Turkey-lurkey,” said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, +and Goosey-poosey. So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, +Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey all went to tell the king the sky was +a-falling. + +So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till +they met Foxy-woxy, and Foxy-woxy said to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey: “Where are you +going, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, +and Turkey-lurkey?” And Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, +Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey said to Foxy-woxy: “We're going to tell +the king the sky's a-falling.” “Oh! but this is not the way to the +king, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and +Turkey-lurkey,” says Foxy-woxy; “I know the proper way; shall I show +it you?” “Why certainly, Foxy-woxy,” said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey. So Henny-penny, +Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, Turkey-lurkey, and Foxy-woxy +all went to tell the king the sky was a-falling. So they went along, +and they went along, and they went along, till they came to a narrow and +dark hole. Now this was the door of Foxy-woxy's cave. But Foxy-woxy +said to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and +Turkey-lurkey: “This is the short way to the king's palace you'll +soon get there if you follow me. I will go first and you come +after, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky daddles, Goosey-poosey, and +Turkey-lurkey.” “Why of course, certainly, without doubt, why not?” + said Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and +Turkey-lurkey. + +So Foxy-woxy went into his cave, and he didn't go very far but turned +round to wait for Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey +and Turkey-lurkey. So at last at first Turkey-lurkey went through the +dark hole into the cave. He hadn't got far when “Hrumph,” Foxy-woxy +snapped off Turkey-lurkey's head and threw his body over his left +shoulder. Then Goosey-poosey went in, and “Hrumph,” off went her head +and Goosey-poosey was thrown beside Turkey-lurkey. Then Ducky-daddles +waddled down, and “Hrumph,” snapped Foxy-woxy, and Ducky-daddles' +head was off and Ducky-daddles was thrown alongside Turkey-lurkey and +Goosey-poosey. Then Cocky-locky strutted down into the cave and he +hadn't gone far when “Snap, Hrumph!” went Foxy-woxy and Cocky-locky was +thrown alongside of Turkey-lurkey, Goosey-poosey and Ducky-daddles. + +But Foxy-woxy had made two bites at Cocky-locky, and when the first +snap only hurt Cocky-locky, but didn't kill him, he called out to +Henny-penny. So she turned tail and ran back home, so she never told the +king the sky was a-falling. + + + + +CHILDE ROWLAND + +Childe Rowland and his brothers twain Were playing at the ball, And +there was their sister Burd Ellen In the midst, among them all. + + Childe Rowland kicked it with his foot + And caught it with his knee; + At last as he plunged among them all + O'er the church he made it flee. + + Burd Ellen round about the aisle + To seek the ball is gone, + But long they waited, and longer still, + And she came not back again. + + They sought her east, they sought her west, + They sought her up and down, + And woe were the hearts of those brethren, + For she was not to be found. + +So at last her eldest brother went to the Warlock Merlin and told him +all the case, and asked him if he knew where Burd Ellen was. “The fair +Burd Ellen,” said the Warlock Merlin, “must have been carried off by the +fairies, because she went round the church 'wider shins'--the opposite +way to the sun. She is now in the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland; it +would take the boldest knight in Christendom to bring her back.” + +“If it is possible to bring her back,” said her brother, “I'll do it, or +perish in the attempt.” + +“Possible it is,” said the Warlock Merlin, “but woe to the man or +mother's son that attempts it, if he is not well taught beforehand what +he is to do.” + +The eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear of +danger, from attempting to get her back, so he begged the Warlock Merlin +to tell him what he should do, and what he should not do, in going to +seek his sister. And after he had been taught, and had repeated his +lesson, he set out for Elfland. + + But long they waited, and longer still, + With doubt and muckle pain, + But woe were the hearts of his brethren, + For he came not back again. + +Then the second brother got tired and sick of waiting, and he went to +the Warlock Merlin and asked him the same as his brother. So he set out +to find Burd Ellen. + + But long they waited, and longer still, + With muckle doubt and pain, + And woe were his mother's and brother's heart, + For he came not back again. + +And when they had waited and waited a good long time, Childe Rowland, +the youngest of Burd Ellen's brothers, wished to go, and went to his +mother, the good queen, to ask her to let him go. But she would not at +first, for he was the last of her children she now had, and if he was +lost, all would be lost. But he begged, and he begged, till at last the +good queen let him go, and gave him his father's good brand that never +struck in vain. And as she girt it round his waist, she said the spell +that would give it victory. + +So Childe Rowland said good-bye to the good queen, his mother, and went +to the cave of the Warlock Merlin. “Once more, and but once more,” he +said to the Warlock, “tell how man or mother's son may rescue Burd Ellen +and her brothers twain.” + +“Well, my son,” said the Warlock Merlin, “there are but two things, +simple they may seem, but hard they are to do. One thing to do, and one +thing not to do. And the thing to do is this: after you have entered the +land of Fairy, whoever speaks to you, till you meet the Burd Ellen, +you must out with your father's brand and off with their head. And what +you've not to do is this: bite no bit, and drink no drop, however hungry +or thirsty you be; drink a drop, or bite a bit, while in Elfland you be +and never will you see Middle Earth again.” + +So Childe Rowland said the two things over and over again, till he knew +them by heart, and he thanked the Warlock Merlin and went on his way. +And he went along, and along, and along, and still further along, till +he came to the horse-herd of the King of Elfland feeding his horses. +These he knew by their fiery eyes, and knew that he was at last in +the land of Fairy. “Canst thou tell me,” said Childe Rowland to the +horse-herd, “where the King of Elfland's Dark Tower is?” “I cannot tell +thee,” said the horse-herd, “but go on a little further and thou wilt +come to the cow-herd, and he, maybe, can tell thee.” + +Then, without a word more, Childe Rowland drew the good brand that never +struck in vain, and off went the horse-herd's head, and Childe Rowland +went on further, till he came to the cow-herd, and asked him the same +question. “I can't tell thee,” said he, “but go on a little farther, and +thou wilt come to the hen-wife, and she is sure to know.” Then Childe +Rowland out with his good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went +the cow-herd's head. And he went on a little further, till he came to an +old woman in a grey cloak, and he asked her if she knew where the Dark +Tower of the King of Elfland was. “Go on a little further,” said +the hen-wife, “till you come to a round green hill, surrounded with +terrace-rings, from the bottom to the top; go round it three times, +widershins, and each time say: + + Open, door! open, door! + And let me come in. + +and the third time the door will open, and you may go in.” And Childe +Rowland was just going on, when he remembered what he had to do; so he +out with the good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went the +hen-wife's head. + +Then he went on, and on, and on, till he came to the round green hill +with the terrace-rings from top to bottom, and he went round it three +times, widershins, saying each time: + + Open, door! open, door! + And let me come in. + +And the third time the door did open, and he went in, and it closed with +a click, and Childe Rowland was left in the dark. + +It was not exactly dark, but a kind of twilight or gloaming. There +were neither windows nor candles, and he could not make out where the +twilight came from, if not through the walls and roof. These were rough +arches made of a transparent rock, incrusted with sheepsilver and rock +spar, and other bright stones. But though it was rock, the air was quite +warm, as it always is in Elfland. So he went through this passage till +at last he came to two wide and high folding-doors which stood ajar. And +when he opened them, there he saw a most wonderful and glorious sight. +A large and spacious hall, so large that it seemed to be as long, and as +broad, as the green hill itself. The roof was supported by fine pillars, +so large and lofty, that the pillars of a cathedral were as nothing to +them. They were all of gold and silver, with fretted work, and between +them and around them, wreaths of flowers, composed of what do you think? +Why, of diamonds and emeralds, and all manner of precious stones. And +the very key-stones of the arches had for ornaments clusters of diamonds +and rubies, and pearls, and other precious stones. And all these arches +met in the middle of the roof, and just there, hung by a gold chain, +an immense lamp made out of one big pearl hollowed out and quite +transparent. And in the middle of this was a big, huge carbuncle, which +kept spinning round and round, and this was what gave light by its rays +to the whole hall, which seemed as if the setting sun was shining on it. + +The hall was furnished in a manner equally grand, and at one end of +it was a glorious couch of velvet, silk and gold, and there sate Burd +Ellen, combing her golden hair with a silver comb. And when she saw +Childe Rowland she stood up and said: + + “God pity ye, poor luckless fool, + What have ye here to do? + + “Hear ye this, my youngest brother, + Why didn't ye bide at home? + Had you a hundred thousand lives + Ye couldn't spare any a one. + + “But sit ye down; but woe, O, woe, + That ever ye were born, + For come the King of Elfland in, + Your fortune is forlorn.” + +Then they sate down together, and Childe Rowland told her all that he +had done, and she told him how their two brothers had reached the Dark +Tower, but had been enchanted by the King of Elfland, and lay there +entombed as if dead. And then after they had talked a little longer +Childe Rowland began to feel hungry from his long travels, and told his +sister Burd Ellen how hungry he was and asked for some food, forgetting +all about the Warlock Merlin's warning. + +Burd Ellen looked at Childe Rowland sadly, and shook her head, but she +was under a spell, and could not warn him. So she rose up, and went +out, and soon brought back a golden basin full of bread and milk. Childe +Rowland was just going to raise it to his lips, when he looked at his +sister and remembered why he had come all that way. So he dashed the +bowl to the ground, and said: “Not a sup will I swallow, nor a bit will +I bite, till Burd Ellen is set free.” + +Just at that moment they heard the noise of some one approaching, and a +loud voice was heard saying: + + “Fee, fi, fo, fum, + I smell the blood of a Christian man, + Be he dead, be he living, with my brand, + I'll dash his brains from his brain-pan.” + +And then the folding-doors of the hall were burst open, and the King of +Elfland rushed in. + +“Strike then, Bogle, if thou darest,” shouted out Childe Rowland, and +rushed to meet him with his good brand that never yet did fail. They +fought, and they fought, and they fought, till Childe Rowland beat the +King of Elfland down on to his knees, and caused him to yield and beg +for mercy. “I grant thee mercy,” said Childe Rowland, “release my sister +from thy spells and raise my brothers to life, and let us all go free, +and thou shalt be spared.” “I agree,” said the Elfin King, and rising +up he went to a chest from which he took a phial filled with a blood-red +liquor. With this he anointed the ears, eyelids, nostrils, lips, and +finger-tips, of the two brothers, and they sprang at once into life, and +declared that their souls had been away, but had now returned. The Elfin +king then said some words to Burd Ellen, and she was disenchanted, and +they all four passed out of the hall, through the long passage, and +turned their back on the Dark Tower, never to return again. And they +reached home, and the good queen, their mother, and Burd Ellen never +went round a church widershins again. + + + + +MOLLY WHUPPIE + +Once upon a time there was a man and a wife had too many children, and +they could not get meat for them, so they took the three youngest and +left them in a wood. They travelled and travelled and could see never +a house. It began to be dark, and they were hungry. At last they saw a +light and made for it; it turned out to be a house. They knocked at the +door, and a woman came to it, who said: “What do you want?” They said: +“Please let us in and give us something to eat.” The woman said: “I +can't do that, as my man is a giant, and he would kill you if he comes +home.” They begged hard. “Let us stop for a little while,” said they, +“and we will go away before he comes.” So she took them in, and set them +down before the fire, and gave them milk and bread; but just as they had +begun to eat a great knock came to the door, and a dreadful voice said: + + “Fee, fie, fo, fum, + I smell the blood of some earthly one. + +Who have you there wife?” “Eh,” said the wife, “it's three poor lassies +cold and hungry, and they will go away. Ye won't touch 'em, man.” He +said nothing, but ate up a big supper, and ordered them to stay all +night. Now he had three lassies of his own, and they were to sleep in +the same bed with the three strangers. + +The youngest of the three strange lassies was called Molly Whuppie, and +she was very clever. She noticed that before they went to bed the giant +put straw ropes round her neck and her sisters', and round his own +lassies' necks he put gold chains. So Molly took care and did not fall +asleep, but waited till she was sure every one was sleeping sound. Then +she slipped out of the bed, and took the straw ropes off her own and her +sisters' necks, and took the gold chains off the giant's lassies. She +then put the straw ropes on the giant's lassies and the gold on herself +and her sisters, and lay down. + +And in the middle of the night up rose the giant, armed with a great +club, and felt for the necks with the straw. It was dark. He took his +own lassies out of bed on to the floor, and battered them until they +were dead, and then lay down again, thinking he had managed fine. Molly +thought it time she and her sisters were out of that, so she wakened +them and told them to be quiet, and they slipped out of the house. They +all got out safe, and they ran and ran, and never stopped until morning, +when they saw a grand house before them. It turned out to be a king's +house: so Molly went in, and told her story to the king. He said: “Well, +Molly, you are a clever girl, and you have managed well; but, if you +would manage better, and go back, and steal the giant's sword that hangs +on the back of his bed, I would give your eldest sister my eldest son to +marry.” Molly said she would try. + +So she went back, and managed to slip into the giant's house, and crept +in below the bed. The giant came home, and ate up a great supper, and +went to bed. Molly waited until he was snoring, and she crept out, and +reached over the giant and got down the sword; but just as she got it +out over the bed it gave a rattle, and up jumped the giant, and Molly +ran out at the door and the sword with her; and she ran, and he ran, +till they came to the “Bridge of one hair”; and she got over, but he +couldn't, and he says, “Woe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never ye come +again.” And she says “Twice yet, carle,” quoth she, “I'll come to +Spain.” So Molly took the sword to the king, and her sister was married +to his son. + +Well, the king he says: “Ye've managed well, Molly; but if ye would +manage better, and steal the purse that lies below the giant's pillow, +I would marry your second sister to my second son.” And Molly said she +would try. So she set out for the giant's house, and slipped in, and hid +again below the bed, and waited till the giant had eaten his supper, and +was snoring sound asleep. She slipped out, and slipped her hand below +the pillow, and got out the purse; but just as she was going out the +giant wakened, and ran after her; and she ran, and he ran, till they +came to the “Bridge of one hair,” and she got over, but he couldn't, and +he said, “Woe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never you come again.” “Once yet, +carle,” quoth she, “I'll come to Spain.” So Molly took the purse to the +king, and her second sister was married to the king's second son. + +After that the king says to Molly: “Molly, you are a clever girl, but if +you would do better yet, and steal the giant's ring that he wears on his +finger, I will give you my youngest son for yourself.” Molly said she +would try. So back she goes to the giant's house, and hides herself +below the bed. The giant wasn't long ere he came home, and, after he had +eaten a great big supper, he went to his bed, and shortly was snoring +loud. Molly crept out and reached over the bed, and got hold of the +giant's hand, and she pulled and she pulled until she got off the ring; +but just as she got it off the giant got up, and gripped her by the +hand, and he says: “Now I have catcht you, Molly Whuppie, and, if I had +done as much ill to you as ye have done to me, what would ye do to me?” + +Molly says: “I would put you into a sack, and I'd put the cat inside +with you, and the dog aside you, and a needle and thread and a shears, +and I'd hang you up upon the wall, and I'd go to the wood, and choose +the thickest stick I could get, and I would come home, and take you +down, and bang you till you were dead.” + +“Well, Molly,” says the giant, “I'll just do that to you.” + +So he gets a sack, and puts Molly into it, and the cat and the dog +beside her, and a needle and thread and shears, and hangs her up upon +the wall, and goes to the wood to choose a stick. + +Molly she sings out: “Oh, if ye saw what I see.” + +“Oh,” says the giant's wife, “what do ye see, Molly?” + +But Molly never said a word but, “Oh, if ye saw what I see!” + +The giant's wife begged that Molly would take her up into the sack till +she would see what Molly saw. So Molly took the shears and cut a hole in +the sack, and took out the needle and thread with her, and jumped down +and helped, the giant's wife up into the sack, and sewed up the hole. + +The giant's wife saw nothing, and began to ask to get down again; but +Molly never minded, but hid herself at the back of the door. Home came +the giant, and a great big tree in his hand, and he took down the sack, +and began to batter it. His wife cried, “It's me, man;” but the dog +barked and the cat mewed, and he did not know his wife's voice. But +Molly came out from the back of the door, and the giant saw her, and he +after her; and he ran and she ran, till they came to the “Bridge of one +hair,” and she got over but he couldn't; and he said, “Woe worth you, +Molly Whuppie! never you come again.” “Never more, carle,” quoth she, +“will I come again to Spain.” + +So Molly took the ring to the king, and she was married to his youngest +son, and she never saw the giant again. + + + + +THE RED ETTIN + +There was once a widow that lived on a small bit of ground, which she +rented from a farmer. And she had two sons; and by-and-by it was time +for the wife to send them away to seek their fortune. So she told her +eldest son one day to take a can and bring her water from the well, that +she might bake a cake for him; and however much or however little water +he might bring, the cake would be great or small accordingly, and that +cake was to be all that she could give him when he went on his travels. + +The lad went away with the can to the well, and filled it with water, +and then came away home again; but the can being broken, the most part +of the water had run out before he got back. So his cake was very small; +yet small as it was, his mother asked him if he was willing to take the +half of it with her blessing, telling him that, if he chose rather to +take the whole, he would only get it with her curse. The young man, +thinking he might have to travel a far way, and not knowing when or +how he might get other provisions, said he would like to have the whole +cake, come of his mother's malison what like; so she gave him the whole +cake, and her malison along with it. Then he took his brother aside, and +gave him a knife to keep till he should come back, desiring him to look +at it every morning, and as long as it continued to be clear, then he +might be sure that the owner of it was well; but if it grew dim and +rusty, then for certain some ill had befallen him. + +So the young man went to seek his fortune. And he went all that day, and +all the next day; and on the third day, in the afternoon, he came up to +where a shepherd was sitting with a flock of sheep. And he went up to +the shepherd and asked him who the sheep belonged to; and he answered: + + “The Red Ettin of Ireland + Once lived in Ballygan, + And stole King Malcolm's daughter + The king of fair Scotland. + + He beats her, he binds her, + He lays her on a band; + And every day he strikes her + With a bright silver wand. + Like Julian the Roman, + He's one that fears no man. + + It's said there's one predestinate + To be his mortal foe; + But that man is yet unborn, + And long may it be so.” + +This shepherd also told him to beware of the beasts he should next meet, +for they were of a very different kind from any he had yet seen. + +So the young man went on, and by-and-by he saw a multitude of very +dreadful beasts, with two heads, and on every head four horns. And he +was sore frightened, and ran away from them as fast as he could; and +glad was he when he came to a castle that stood on a hillock, with the +door standing wide open to the wall. And he went into the castle for +shelter, and there he saw an old wife sitting beside the kitchen fire. +He asked the wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with +a long journey; and the wife said he might, but it was not a good +place for him to be in, as it belonged to the Red Ettin, who was a very +terrible beast, with three heads, that spared no living man it could get +hold of. The young man would have gone away, but he was afraid of the +beasts on the outside of the castle; so he beseeched the old woman to +hide him as best she could, and not tell the Ettin he was there. He +thought, if he could put over the night, he might get away in the +morning, without meeting with the beasts, and so escape. But he had not +been long in his hiding-hole, before the awful Ettin came in; and no +sooner was he in, than he was heard crying: + + “Snouk but and snouk ben, + I find the smell of an earthly man, + Be he living, or be he dead, + His heart this night shall kitchen my bread.” + +The monster soon found the poor young man, and pulled him from his hole. +And when he had got him out, he told him that if he could answer him +three questions his life should be spared. So the first head asked: “A +thing without an end, what's that?” But the young man knew not. Then the +second head said: “The smaller, the more dangerous, what's that?” But +the young man knew it not. And then the third head asked: “The dead +carrying the living; riddle me that?” But the young man had to give it +up. The lad not being able to answer one of these questions, the Red +Ettin took a mallet and knocked him on the head, and turned him into a +pillar of stone. + +On the morning after this happened, the younger brother took out the +knife to look at it, and he was grieved to find it all brown with rust. +He told his mother that the time was now come for him to go away upon +his travels also; so she requested him to take the can to the well for +water, that she might make a cake for him. And he went, and as he was +bringing home the water, a raven over his head cried to him to look, and +he would see that the water was running out. And he was a young man of +sense, and seeing the water running out, he took some clay and patched +up the holes, so that he brought home enough water to bake a large cake. +When his mother put it to him to take the half cake with her blessing, +he took it in preference to having the whole with her malison; and yet +the half was bigger than what the other lad had got. + +So he went away on his journey; and after he had travelled a far way, he +met with an old woman that asked him if he would give her a bit of his +johnny-cake. And he said: “I will gladly do that,” and so he gave her a +piece of the johnny-cake; and for that she gave him a magical wand, that +she might yet be of service to him, if he took care to use it rightly. +Then the old woman, who was a fairy, told him a great deal that would +happen to him, and what he ought to do in all circumstances; and after +that she vanished in an instant out of his sight. He went on a great way +farther, and then he came up to the old man herding the sheep; and when +he asked whose sheep these were, the answer was: + + “The Red Ettin of Ireland + Once lived in Ballygan, + And stole King Malcolm's daughter, + The king of Fair Scotland. + + “He beats her, he binds her, + He lays her on a band; + And every day he strikes her + With a bright silver wand. + Like Julian the Roman, + He's one that fears no man. + + “But now I fear his end is near, + And destiny at hand; + And you're to be, I plainly see, + The heir of all his land.” + +When he came to the place where the monstrous beasts were standing, he +did not stop nor run away, but went boldly through amongst them. One +came up roaring with open mouth to devour him, when he struck it with +his wand, and laid it in an instant dead at his feet. He soon came to +the Ettin's castle, where he knocked, and was admitted. The old woman +who sat by the fire warned him of the terrible Ettin, and what had been +the fate of his brother; but he was not to be daunted. The monster soon +came in, saying: + + “Snouk but and snouk ben, + I find the smell of an earthly man; + Be he living, or be he dead, + His heart shall be kitchen to my bread.” + +He quickly espied the young man, and bade him come forth on the floor. +And then he put the three questions to him; but the young man had been +told everything by the good fairy, so he was able to answer all the +questions. So when the first head asked, “What's the thing without an +end?” he said: “A bowl.” And when the second head said: “The smaller the +more dangerous; what's that?” he said at once, “A bridge.” And last, the +third head said: “When does the dead carry the living, riddle me that?” + Then the young man answered up at once and said: “When a ship sails on +the sea with men inside her.” When the Ettin found this, he knew that +his power was gone. The young man then took up an axe and hewed off the +monster's three heads. He next asked the old woman to show him where the +king's daughter lay; and the old woman took him upstairs, and opened a +great many doors, and out of every door came a beautiful lady who had +been imprisoned there by the Ettin; and one of the ladies was the king's +daughter. She also took him down into a low room, and there stood a +stone pillar, that he had only to touch with his wand, when his brother +started into life. And the whole of the prisoners were overjoyed at +their deliverance, for which they thanked the young man. Next day they +all set out for the king's court, and a gallant company they made. And +the king married his daughter to the young man that had delivered +her, and gave a noble's daughter to his brother; and so they all lived +happily all the rest of their days. + + + + +THE GOLDEN ARM + +Here was once a man who travelled the land all over in search of a wife. +He saw young and old, rich and poor, pretty and plain, and could not +meet with one to his mind. At last he found a woman, young, fair, and +rich, who possessed a right arm of solid gold. He married her at once, +and thought no man so fortunate as he was. They lived happily together, +but, though he wished people to think otherwise, he was fonder of the +golden arm than of all his wife's gifts besides. + +At last she died. The husband put on the blackest black, and pulled the +longest face at the funeral; but for all that he got up in the middle of +the night, dug up the body, and cut off the golden arm. He hurried home +to hide his treasure, and thought no one would know. + +The following night he put the golden arm under his pillow, and was just +falling asleep, when the ghost of his dead wife glided into the room. +Stalking up to the bedside it drew the curtain, and looked at him +reproachfully. Pretending not to be afraid, he spoke to the ghost, and +said: “What hast thou done with thy cheeks so red?” + +“All withered and wasted away,” replied the ghost, in a hollow tone. + +“What hast thou done with thy red rosy lips?” + +“All withered and wasted away.” + +“What hast thou done with thy golden hair?” + +“All withered and wasted away.” + +“What hast thou done with thy _Golden Arm_?” + +“THOU HAST IT!” + + + + +THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB + +In the days of the great Prince Arthur, there lived a mighty magician, +called Merlin, the most learned and skilful enchanter the world has ever +seen. + +This famous magician, who could take any form he pleased, was travelling +about as a poor beggar, and being very tired, he stopped at the cottage +of a ploughman to rest himself, and asked for some food. + +The countryman bade him welcome, and his wife, who was a very +good-hearted woman, soon brought him some milk in a wooden bowl, and +some coarse brown bread on a platter. + +Merlin was much pleased with the kindness of the ploughman and his +wife; but he could not help noticing that though everything was neat +and comfortable in the cottage, they seemed both to be very unhappy. He +therefore asked them why they were so melancholy, and learned that they +were miserable because they had no children. + +The poor woman said, with tears in her eyes: “I should be the happiest +creature in the world if I had a son; although he was no bigger than my +husband's thumb, I would be satisfied.” + +Merlin was so much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man's +thumb, that he determined to grant the poor woman's wish. Accordingly, +in a short time after, the ploughman's wife had a son, who, wonderful to +relate! was not a bit bigger than his father's thumb. + +The queen of the fairies, wishing to see the little fellow, came in at +the window while the mother was sitting up in the bed admiring him. The +queen kissed the child, and, giving it the name of Tom Thumb, sent for +some of the fairies, who dressed her little godson according to her +orders: + + “An oak-leaf hat he had for his crown; + His shirt of web by spiders spun; + With jacket wove of thistle's down; + His trowsers were of feathers done. + His stockings, of apple-rind, they tie + With eyelash from his mother's eye + His shoes were made of mouse's skin, + Tann'd with the downy hair within.” + +Tom never grew any larger than his father's thumb, which was only of +ordinary size; but as he got older he became very cunning and full of +tricks. When he was old enough to play with the boys, and had lost +all his own cherry-stones, he used to creep into the bags of his +playfellows, fill his pockets, and, getting out without their noticing +him, would again join in the game. + +One day, however, as he was coming out of a bag of cherry-stones, where +he had been stealing as usual, the boy to whom it belonged chanced to +see him. “Ah, ah! my little Tommy,” said the boy, “so I have caught you +stealing my cherry-stones at last, and you shall be rewarded for your +thievish tricks.” On saying this, he drew the string tight round his +neck, and gave the bag such a hearty shake, that poor little Tom's legs, +thighs, and body were sadly bruised. He roared out with pain, and begged +to be let out, promising never to steal again. + +A short time afterwards his mother was making a batter-pudding, and Tom, +being very anxious to see how it was made, climbed up to the edge of the +bowl; but his foot slipped, and he plumped over head and ears into +the batter, without his mother noticing him, who stirred him into the +pudding-bag, and put him in the pot to boil. + +The batter filled Tom's mouth, and prevented him from crying; but, on +feeling the hot water, he kicked and struggled so much in the pot, that +his mother thought that the pudding was bewitched, and, pulling it +out of the pot, she threw it outside the door. A poor tinker, who was +passing by, lifted up the pudding, and, putting it into his budget, he +then walked off. As Tom had now got his mouth cleared of the batter, he +then began to cry aloud, which so frightened the tinker that he flung +down the pudding and ran away. The pudding being broke to pieces by the +fall, Tom crept out covered all over with the batter, and walked home. +His mother, who was very sorry to see her darling in such a woeful +state, put him into a teacup, and soon washed off the batter; after +which she kissed him, and laid him in bed. + +Soon after the adventure of the pudding, Tom's mother went to milk her +cow in the meadow, and she took him along with her. As the wind was very +high, for fear of being blown away, she tied him to a thistle with a +piece of fine thread. The cow soon observed Tom's oak-leaf hat, and +liking the appearance of it, took poor Tom and the thistle at one +mouthful. While the cow was chewing the thistle Tom was afraid of her +great teeth, which threatened to crush him in pieces, and he roared out +as loud as he could: “Mother, mother!” + +“Where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?” said his mother. + +“Here, mother,” replied he, “in the red cow's mouth.” + +His mother began to cry and wring her hands; but the cow, surprised +at the odd noise in her throat, opened her mouth and let Tom drop out. +Fortunately his mother caught him in her apron as he was falling to the +ground, or he would have been dreadfully hurt. She then put Tom in her +bosom and ran home with him. + +Tom's father made him a whip of a barley straw to drive the cattle with, +and having one day gone into the fields, he slipped a foot and rolled +into the furrow. A raven, which was flying over, picked him up, and flew +with him over the sea, and there dropped him. + +A large fish swallowed Tom the moment he fell into the sea, which was +soon after caught, and bought for the table of King Arthur. When they +opened the fish in order to cook it, every one was astonished at finding +such a little boy, and Tom was quite delighted at being free again. +They carried him to the king, who made Tom his dwarf, and he soon grew +a great favourite at court; for by his tricks and gambols he not only +amused the king and queen, but also all the Knights of the Round Table. + +It is said that when the king rode out on horseback, he often took +Tom along with him, and if a shower came on, he used to creep into his +majesty's waistcoat-pocket, where he slept till the rain was over. + +King Arthur one day asked Tom about his parents, wishing to know if they +were as small as he was, and whether they were well off. Tom told the +king that his father and mother were as tall as anybody about the court, +but in rather poor circumstances. On hearing this, the king carried Tom +to his treasury, the place where he kept all his money, and told him to +take as much money as he could carry home to his parents, which made +the poor little fellow caper with joy. Tom went immediately to procure +a purse, which was made of a water-bubble, and then returned to the +treasury, where he received a silver threepenny-piece to put into it. + +Our little hero had some difficulty in lifting the burden upon his +back; but he at last succeeded in getting it placed to his mind, and set +forward on his journey. However, without meeting with any accident, and +after resting himself more than a hundred times by the way, in two days +and two nights he reached his father's house in safety. + +Tom had travelled forty-eight hours with a huge silver-piece on his +back, and was almost tired to death, when his mother ran out to meet +him, and carried him into the house. But he soon returned to Court. + +As Tom's clothes had suffered much in the batter-pudding, and the inside +of the fish, his majesty ordered him a new suit of clothes, and to be +mounted as a knight on a mouse. + + Of Butterfly's wings his shirt was made, + His boots of chicken's hide; + And by a nimble fairy blade, + Well learned in the tailoring trade, + His clothing was supplied. + A needle dangled by his side; + A dapper mouse he used to ride, + Thus strutted Tom in stately pride! + +It was certainly very diverting to see Tom in this dress and mounted on +the mouse, as he rode out a-hunting with the king and nobility, who were +all ready to expire with laughter at Tom and his fine prancing charger. + +The king was so charmed with his address that he ordered a little chair +to be made, in order that Tom might sit upon his table, and also a +palace of gold, a span high, with a door an inch wide, to live in. He +also gave him a coach, drawn by six small mice. + +The queen was so enraged at the honours conferred on Sir Thomas that she +resolved to ruin him, and told the king that the little knight had been +saucy to her. + +The king sent for Tom in great haste, but being fully aware of the +danger of royal anger, he crept into an empty snail-shell, where he lay +for a long time until he was almost starved with hunger; but at last he +ventured to peep out, and seeing a fine large butterfly on the ground, +near the place of his concealment, he got close to it and jumping +astride on it, was carried up into the air. The butterfly flew with him +from tree to tree and from field to field, and at last returned to the +court, where the king and nobility all strove to catch him; but at last +poor Tom fell from his seat into a watering-pot, in which he was almost +drowned. + +When the queen saw him she was in a rage, and said he should be +beheaded; and he was again put into a mouse trap until the time of his +execution. + +However a cat, observing something alive in the trap, patted it about +till the wires broke, and set Thomas at liberty. + +The king received Tom again into favour, which he did not live to enjoy, +for a large spider one day attacked him; and although he drew his sword +and fought well, yet the spider's poisonous breath at last overcame him. + + He fell dead on the ground where he stood, + And the spider suck'd every drop of his blood. + +King Arthur and his whole court were so sorry at the loss of their +little favourite that they went into mourning and raised a fine white +marble monument over his grave with the following epitaph: + + Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight, + Who died by a spider's cruel bite. + He was well known in Arthur's court, + Where he afforded gallant sport; + He rode at tilt and tournament, + And on a mouse a-hunting went. + Alive he filled the court with mirth; + His death to sorrow soon gave birth. + Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head + And cry,--Alas! Tom Thumb is dead! + + + + +MR. FOX + +Lady Mary was young, and Lady Mary was fair. She had two brothers, and +more lovers than she could count. But of them all, the bravest and most +gallant, was a Mr. Fox, whom she met when she was down at her father's +country-house. No one knew who Mr. Fox was; but he was certainly brave, +and surely rich, and of all her lovers, Lady Mary cared for him alone. +At last it was agreed upon between them that they should be married. +Lady Mary asked Mr. Fox where they should live, and he described to her +his castle, and where it was; but, strange to say, did not ask her, or +her brothers to come and see it. + +So one day, near the wedding-day, when her brothers were out, and Mr. +Fox was away for a day or two on business, as he said, Lady Mary set out +for Mr. Fox's castle. And after many searchings, she came at last to +it, and a fine strong house it was, with high walls and a deep moat. And +when she came up to the gateway she saw written on it: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD. + +But as the gate was open, she went through it, and found no one there. +So she went up to the doorway, and over it she found written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD. + +Still she went on, till she came into the hall, and went up the broad +stairs till she came to a door in the gallery, over which was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD +RUN COLD. + +But Lady Mary was a brave one, she was, and she opened the door, and +what do you think she saw? Why, bodies and skeletons of beautiful young +ladies all stained with blood. So Lady Mary thought it was high time to +get out of that horrid place, and she closed the door, went through the +gallery, and was just going down the stairs, and out of the hall, when +who should she see through the window, but Mr. Fox dragging a beautiful +young lady along from the gateway to the door. Lady Mary rushed +downstairs, and hid herself behind a cask, just in time, as Mr. Fox came +in with the poor young lady who seemed to have fainted. Just as he got +near Lady Mary, Mr. Fox saw a diamond ring glittering on the finger of +the young lady he was dragging, and he tried to pull it off. But it was +tightly fixed, and would not come off, so Mr. Fox cursed and swore, and +drew his sword, raised it, and brought it down upon the hand of the poor +lady. The sword cut off the hand, which jumped up into the air, and fell +of all places in the world into Lady Mary's lap. Mr. Fox looked about a +bit, but did not think of looking behind the cask, so at last he went on +dragging the young lady up the stairs into the Bloody Chamber. + +As soon as she heard him pass through the gallery, Lady Mary crept +out of the door, down through the gateway, and ran home as fast as she +could. + +Now it happened that the very next day the marriage contract of Lady +Mary and Mr. Fox was to be signed, and there was a splendid breakfast +before that. And when Mr. Fox was seated at table opposite Lady Mary, +he looked at her. “How pale you are this morning, my dear.” “Yes,” + said she, “I had a bad night's rest last night. I had horrible dreams.” + “Dreams go by contraries,” said Mr. Fox; “but tell us your dream, and +your sweet voice will make the time pass till the happy hour comes.” + +“I dreamed,” said Lady Mary, “that I went yestermorn to your castle, and +I found it in the woods, with high walls, and a deep moat, and over the +gateway was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD. + +“But it is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox. + +“And when I came to the doorway over it was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD. + +“It is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox. + +“And then I went upstairs, and came to a gallery, at the end of which +was a door, on which was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD +RUN COLD. + +“It is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox. + +“And then--and then I opened the door, and the room was filled with +bodies and skeletons of poor dead women, all stained with their blood.” + +“It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,” said +Mr. Fox. + +“I then dreamed that I rushed down the gallery, and just as I was +going down the stairs, I saw you, Mr. Fox, coming up to the hall door, +dragging after you a poor young lady, rich and beautiful.” + +“It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,” said +Mr. Fox. + +“I rushed downstairs, just in time to hide myself behind a cask, when +you, Mr. Fox, came in dragging the young lady by the arm. And, as you +passed me, Mr. Fox, I thought I saw you try and get off her diamond +ring, and when you could not, Mr. Fox, it seemed to me in my dream, that +you out with your sword and hacked off the poor lady's hand to get the +ring.” + +“It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,” said +Mr. Fox, and was going to say something else as he rose from his seat, +when Lady Mary cried out: + +“But it is so, and it was so. Here's hand and ring I have to show,” and +pulled out the lady's hand from her dress, and pointed it straight at +Mr. Fox. + +At once her brothers and her friends drew their swords and cut Mr. Fox +into a thousand pieces. + + + + +LAZY JACK + +Once upon a time there was a boy whose name was Jack, and he lived with +his mother on a common. They were very poor, and the old woman got her +living by spinning, but Jack was so lazy that he would do nothing but +bask in the sun in the hot weather, and sit by the corner of the hearth +in the winter-time. So they called him Lazy Jack. His mother could not +get him to do anything for her, and at last told him, one Monday, that +if he did not begin to work for his porridge she would turn him out to +get his living as he could. + +This roused Jack, and he went out and hired himself for the next day +to a neighbouring farmer for a penny; but as he was coming home, never +having had any money before, he lost it in passing over a brook. “You +stupid boy,” said his mother, “you should have put it in your pocket.” + “I'll do so another time,” replied Jack. + +On Wednesday, Jack went out again and hired himself to a cow-keeper, who +gave him a jar of milk for his day's work. Jack took the jar and put it +into the large pocket of his jacket, spilling it all, long before he got +home. “Dear me!” said the old woman; “you should have carried it on your +head.” “I'll do so another time,” said Jack. + +So on Thursday, Jack hired himself again to a farmer, who agreed to +give him a cream cheese for his services. In the evening Jack took the +cheese, and went home with it on his head. By the time he got home the +cheese was all spoilt, part of it being lost, and part matted with his +hair. “You stupid lout,” said his mother, “you should have carried it +very carefully in your hands.” “I'll do so another time,” replied Jack. + +On Friday, Lazy Jack again went out, and hired himself to a baker, who +would give him nothing for his work but a large tom-cat. Jack took the +cat, and began carrying it very carefully in his hands, but in a short +time pussy scratched him so much that he was compelled to let it go. +When he got home, his mother said to him, “You silly fellow, you should +have tied it with a string, and dragged it along after you.” “I'll do so +another time,” said Jack. + +So on Saturday, Jack hired himself to a butcher, who rewarded him by the +handsome present of a shoulder of mutton. Jack took the mutton, tied it +to a string, and trailed it along after him in the dirt, so that by the +time he had got home the meat was completely spoilt. His mother was this +time quite out of patience with him, for the next day was Sunday, +and she was obliged to make do with cabbage for her dinner. “You +ninney-hammer,” said she to her son; “you should have carried it on your +shoulder.” “I'll do so another time,” replied Jack. + +On the next Monday, Lazy Jack went once more, and hired himself to a +cattle-keeper, who gave him a donkey for his trouble. Jack found it hard +to hoist the donkey on his shoulders, but at last he did it, and began +walking slowly home with his prize. Now it happened that in the +course of his journey there lived a rich man with his only daughter, +a beautiful girl, but deaf and dumb. Now she had never laughed in her +life, and the doctors said she would never speak till somebody made her +laugh. This young lady happened to be looking out of the window when +Jack was passing with the donkey on his shoulders, with the legs +sticking up in the air, and the sight was so comical and strange that +she burst out into a great fit of laughter, and immediately recovered +her speech and hearing. Her father was overjoyed, and fulfilled +his promise by marrying her to Lazy Jack, who was thus made a rich +gentleman. They lived in a large house, and Jack's mother lived with +them in great happiness until she died. + + + + +JOHNNY-CAKE + +Once upon a time there was an old man, and an old woman, and a little +boy. One morning the old woman made a Johnny-cake, and put it in the +oven to bake. “You watch the Johnny-cake while your father and I go out +to work in the garden.” So the old man and the old woman went out and +began to hoe potatoes, and left the little boy to tend the oven. But he +didn't watch it all the time, and all of a sudden he heard a noise, and +he looked up and the oven door popped open, and out of the oven jumped +Johnny-cake, and went rolling along end over end, towards the open door +of the house. The little boy ran to shut the door, but Johnny-cake was +too quick for him and rolled through the door, down the steps, and out +into the road long before the little boy could catch him. The little boy +ran after him as fast as he could clip it, crying out to his father and +mother, who heard the uproar, and threw down their hoes and gave chase +too. But Johnny-cake outran all three a long way, and was soon out of +sight, while they had to sit down, all out of breath, on a bank to rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two well-diggers who +looked up from their work and called out: “Where ye going, Johnny-cake?” + +He said: “I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, +and I can outrun you too-o-o!” + +“Ye can, can ye? we'll see about that?” said they; and they threw down +their picks and ran after him, but couldn't catch up with him, and soon +they had to sit down by the roadside to rest. + +On ran Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two ditch-diggers who were +digging a ditch. “Where ye going, Johnny-cake?” said they. He said: +“I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two +well-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!” + +“Ye can, can ye? we'll see about that!” said they; and they threw down +their spades, and ran after him too. But Johnny-cake soon outstripped +them also, and seeing they could never catch him, they gave up the chase +and sat down to rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a bear. The bear said: +“Where are ye going, Johnny-cake?” + +He said: “I've outrun an old man, and an old woman and a little boy, and +two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!” + +“Ye can, can ye?” growled the bear, “we'll see about that!” and trotted +as fast as his legs could carry him after Johnny-cake, who never stopped +to look behind him. Before long the bear was left so far behind that +he saw he might as well give up the hunt first as last, so he stretched +himself out by the roadside to rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a wolf. The wolf +said:--“Where ye going, Johnny-cake?” He said: “I've outrun an old +man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two +ditch-diggers and a bear, and I can outrun you too-o-o!” + +“Ye can, can ye?” snarled the wolf, “we'll see about that!” And he set +into a gallop after Johnny-cake, who went on and on so fast that the +wolf too saw there was no hope of overtaking him, and he too lay down to +rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a fox that lay quietly in +a corner of the fence. The fox called out in a sharp voice, but without +getting up: “Where ye going Johnny-cake?” + +He said: “I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, +and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, a bear, and a wolf, and I +can outrun you too-o-o!” + +The fox said: “I can't quite hear you, Johnny-cake, won't you come a +little closer?” turning his head a little to one side. + +Johnny-cake stopped his race for the first time, and went a little +closer, and called out in a very loud voice _“I've outrun an old man, +and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two +ditch-diggers, and a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you too-o-o.”_ + +“Can't quite hear you; won't you come a _little_ closer?” said the fox +in a feeble voice, as he stretched out his neck towards Johnny-cake, and +put one paw behind his ear. + +Johnny-cake came up close, and leaning towards the fox screamed out: +I'VE OUTRUN AN OLD MAN, AND AN OLD WOMAN, AND A LITTLE BOY, AND TWO +WELL-DIGGERS, AND TWO DITCH-DIGGERS, AND A BEAR, AND A WOLF, AND I CAN +OUTRUN YOU TOO-O-O!” + +“You can, can you?” yelped the fox, and he snapped up the Johnny-cake in +his sharp teeth in the twinkling of an eye. + + + + +EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER + +One fine summer's day Earl Mar's daughter went into the castle garden, +dancing and tripping along. And as she played and sported she would stop +from time to time to listen to the music of the birds. After a while as +she sat under the shade of a green oak tree she looked up and spied a +sprightly dove sitting high up on one of its branches. She looked up +and said: “Coo-my-dove, my dear, come down to me and I will give you a +golden cage. I'll take you home and pet you well, as well as any bird +of them all.” Scarcely had she said these words when the dove flew down +from the branch and settled on her shoulder, nestling up against her +neck while she smoothed its feathers. Then she took it home to her own +room. + +The day was done and the night came on and Earl Mar's daughter was +thinking of going to sleep when, turning round, she found at her side a +handsome young man. She _was_ startled, for the door had been locked +for hours. But she was a brave girl and said: “What are you doing here, +young man, to come and startle me so? The door was barred these hours +ago; how ever did you come here?” + +“Hush! hush!” the young man whispered. “I was that cooing dove that you +coaxed from off the tree.” + +“But who are you then?” she said quite low; “and how came you to be +changed into that dear little bird?” + +“My name is Florentine, and my mother is a queen, and something more +than a queen, for she knows magic and spells, and because I would not do +as she wished she turned me into a dove by day, but at night her spells +lose their power and I become a man again. To-day I crossed the sea and +saw you for the first time and I was glad to be a bird that I could come +near you. Unless you love me, I shall never be happy more.” + +“But if I love you,” says she, “will you not fly away and leave me one +of these fine days?” + +“Never, never,” said the prince; “be my wife and I'll be yours for ever. +By day a bird, by night a prince, I will always be by your side as a +husband, dear.” + +So they were married in secret and lived happily in the castle and no +one knew that every night Coo-my-dove became Prince Florentine. And +every year a little son came to them as bonny as bonny could be. But as +each son was born Prince Florentine carried the little thing away on +his back over the sea to where the queen his mother lived and left the +little one with her. + +Seven years passed thus and then a great trouble came to them. For the +Earl Mar wished to marry his daughter to a noble of high degree who came +wooing her. Her father pressed her sore but she said: “Father dear, I do +not wish to marry; I can be quite happy with Coo-my-dove here.” + +Then her father got into a mighty rage and swore a great big oath, and +said: “To-morrow, so sure as I live and eat, I'll twist that birdie's +neck,” and out he stamped from her room. + +“Oh, oh!” said Coo-my-dove; “it's time that I was away,” and so he +jumped upon the window-sill and in a moment was flying away. And he flew +and he flew till he was over the deep, deep sea, and yet on he flew till +he came to his mother's castle. Now the queen his mother was taking her +walk abroad when she saw the pretty dove flying overhead and alighting +on the castle walls. + +“Here, dancers come and dance your jigs,” she called, “and pipers, pipe +you well, for here's my own Florentine, come back to me to stay for he's +brought no bonny boy with him this time.” + +“No, mother,” said Florentine, “no dancers for me and no minstrels, for +my dear wife, the mother of my seven, boys, is to be wed to-morrow, and +sad's the day for me.” + +“What can I do, my son?” said the queen, “tell me, and it shall be done +if my magic has power to do it.” + +“Well then, mother dear, turn the twenty-four dancers and pipers into +twenty-four grey herons, and let my seven sons become seven white swans, +and let me be a goshawk and their leader.” + +“Alas! alas! my son,” she said, “that may not be; my magic reaches +not so far. But perhaps my teacher, the spaewife of Ostree, may know +better.” And away she hurries to the cave of Ostree, and after a while +comes out as white as white can be and muttering over some burning herbs +she brought out of the cave. Suddenly Coo-my-dove changed into a goshawk +and around him flew twenty-four grey herons and above them flew seven +cygnets. + +Without a word or a good-bye off they flew over the deep blue sea which +was tossing and moaning. They flew and they flew till they swooped down +on Earl Mar's castle just as the wedding party were setting out for the +church. First came the men-at-arms and then the bridegroom's friends, +and then Earl Mar's men, and then the bridegroom, and lastly, pale +and beautiful, Earl Mar's daughter herself. They moved down slowly to +stately music till they came past the trees on which the birds were +settling. A word from Prince Florentine, the goshawk, and they all rose +into the air, herons beneath, cygnets above, and goshawk circling above +all. The weddineers wondered at the sight when, swoop! the herons were +down among them scattering the men-at-arms. The swanlets took charge +of the bride while the goshawk dashed down and tied the bridegroom to a +tree. Then the herons gathered themselves together into one feather bed +and the cygnets placed their mother upon them, and suddenly they all +rose in the air bearing the bride away with them in safety towards +Prince Florentine's home. Surely a wedding party was never so disturbed +in this world. What could the weddineers do? They saw their pretty bride +carried away and away till she and the herons and the swans and the +goshawk disappeared, and that very day Prince Florentine brought Earl +Mar's daughter to the castle of the queen his mother, who took the spell +off him and they lived happy ever afterwards. + + + + +MR. MIACCA + +Tommy Grimes was sometimes a good boy, and sometimes a bad boy; and when +he was a bad boy, he was a very bad boy. Now his mother used to say to +him: “Tommy, Tommy, be a good boy, and don't go out of the street, or +else Mr. Miacca will take you.” But still when he was a bad boy he would +go out of the street; and one day, sure enough, he had scarcely got +round the corner, when Mr. Miacca did catch him and popped him into a +bag upside down, and took him off to his house. + +When Mr. Miacca got Tommy inside, he pulled him out of the bag and set +him down, and felt his arms and legs. “You're rather tough,” says he; +“but you're all I've got for supper, and you'll not taste bad boiled. +But body o' me, I've forgot the herbs, and it's bitter you'll taste +without herbs. Sally! Here, I say, Sally!” and he called Mrs. Miacca. + +So Mrs. Miacca came out of another room and said: “What d'ye want, my +dear?” + +“Oh, here's a little boy for supper,” said Mr. Miacca, “and I've forgot +the herbs. Mind him, will ye, while I go for them.” + +“All right, my love,” says Mrs. Miacca, and off he goes. + +Then Tommy Grimes said to Mrs. Miacca: “Does Mr. Miacca always have +little boys for supper?” + +“Mostly, my dear,” said Mrs. Miacca, “if little boys are bad enough, and +get in his way.” + +“And don't you have anything else but boy-meat? No pudding?” asked +Tommy. + +“Ah, I loves pudding,” says Mrs. Miacca. “But it's not often the likes +of me gets pudding.” + +“Why, my mother is making a pudding this very day,” said Tommy Grimes, +“and I am sure she'd give you some, if I ask her. Shall I run and get +some?” + +“Now, that's a thoughtful boy,” said Mrs. Miacca, “only don't be long +and be sure to be back for supper.” + +So off Tommy pelters, and right glad he was to get off so cheap; and for +many a long day he was as good as good could be, and never went round +the corner of the street. But he couldn't always be good; and one day he +went round the corner, and as luck would have it, he hadn't scarcely got +round it when Mr. Miacca grabbed him up, popped him in his bag, and took +him home. + +When he got him there, Mr. Miacca dropped him out; and when he saw him, +he said: “Ah, you're the youngster what served me and my missus that +shabby trick, leaving us without any supper. Well, you shan't do it +again. I'll watch over you myself. Here, get under the sofa, and I'll +set on it and watch the pot boil for you.” + +So poor Tommy Grimes had to creep under the sofa, and Mr. Miacca sat on +it and waited for the pot to boil. And they waited, and they waited, but +still the pot didn't boil, till at last Mr. Miacca got tired of waiting, +and he said: “Here, you under there, I'm not going to wait any longer; +put out your leg, and I'll stop your giving us the slip.” + +So Tommy put out a leg, and Mr. Miacca got a chopper, and chopped it +off, and pops it in the pot. + +Suddenly he calls out: “Sally, my dear, Sally!” and nobody answered. So +he went into the next room to look out for Mrs. Miacca, and while he was +there, Tommy crept out from under the sofa and ran out of the door. For +it was a leg of the sofa that he had put out. + +So Tommy Grimes ran home, and he never went round the corner again till +he was old enough to go alone. + + + + +WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT + +In the reign of the famous King Edward III. there was a little boy +called Dick Whittington, whose father and mother died when he was very +young. As poor Dick was not old enough to work, he was very badly off; +he got but little for his dinner, and sometimes nothing at all for +his breakfast; for the people who lived in the village were very poor +indeed, and could not spare him much more than the parings of potatoes, +and now and then a hard crust of bread. + +Now Dick had heard a great many very strange things about the great city +called London; for the country people at that time thought that folks +in London were all fine gentlemen and ladies; and that there was singing +and music there all day long; and that the streets were all paved with +gold. + +One day a large waggon and eight horses, all with bells at their heads, +drove through the village while Dick was standing by the sign-post. He +thought that this waggon must be going to the fine town of London; so +he took courage, and asked the waggoner to let him walk with him by the +side of the waggon. As soon as the waggoner heard that poor Dick had +no father or mother, and saw by his ragged clothes that he could not be +worse off than he was, he told him he might go if he would, so off they +set together. + +So Dick got safe to London, and was in such a hurry to see the fine +streets paved all over with gold, that he did not even stay to thank the +kind waggoner; but ran off as fast as his legs would carry him, through +many of the streets, thinking every moment to come to those that were +paved with gold; for Dick had seen a guinea three times in his own +little village, and remembered what a deal of money it brought in +change; so he thought he had nothing to do but to take up some little +bits of the pavement, and should then have as much money as he could +wish for. + +Poor Dick ran till he was tired, and had quite forgot his friend the +waggoner; but at last, finding it grow dark, and that every way he +turned he saw nothing but dirt instead of gold, he, sat down in a dark +corner and cried himself to sleep. + +Little Dick was all night in the streets; and next morning, being very +hungry, he got up and walked about, and asked everybody he met to give +him a halfpenny to keep him from starving; but nobody stayed to answer +him, and only two or three gave him a halfpenny; so that the poor boy +was soon quite weak and faint for the want of victuals. + +In this distress he asked charity of several people, and one of them +said crossly: “Go to work, for an idle rogue.” “That I will,” says Dick, +“I will to go work for you, if you will let me.” But the man only cursed +at him and went on. + +At last a good-natured looking gentleman saw how hungry he looked. “Why +don't you go to work my lad?” said he to Dick. “That I would, but I do +not know how to get any,” answered Dick. “If you are willing, come along +with me,” said the gentleman, and took him to a hay-field, where Dick +worked briskly, and lived merrily till the hay was made. + +After this he found himself as badly off as before; and being almost +starved again, he laid himself down at the door of Mr. Fitzwarren, +a rich merchant. Here he was soon seen by the cook-maid, who was an +ill-tempered creature, and happened just then to be very busy dressing +dinner for her master and mistress; so she called out to poor Dick: +“What business have you there, you lazy rogue? there is nothing else but +beggars; if you do not take yourself away, we will see how you will like +a sousing of some dish-water; I have some here hot enough to make you +jump.” + +Just at that time Mr. Fitzwarren himself came home to dinner; and when +he saw a dirty ragged boy lying at the door, he said to him: “Why do +you lie there, my boy? You seem old enough to work; I am afraid you are +inclined to be lazy.” + +“No, indeed, sir,” said Dick to him, “that is not the case, for I would +work with all my heart, but I do not know anybody, and I believe I am +very sick for the want of food.” + +“Poor fellow, get up; let me see what ails you.” Dick now tried to rise, +but was obliged to lie down again, being too weak to stand, for he had +not eaten any food for three days, and was no longer able to run about +and beg a halfpenny of people in the street. So the kind merchant +ordered him to be taken into the house, and have a good dinner given +him, and be kept to do what work he was able to do for the cook. + +Little Dick would have lived very happy in this good family if it had +not been for the ill-natured cook. She used to say: “You are under me, +so look sharp; clean the spit and the dripping-pan, make the fires, wind +up the jack, and do all the scullery work nimbly, or--” and she would +shake the ladle at him. Besides, she was so fond of basting, that when +she had no meat to baste, she would baste poor Dick's head and shoulders +with a broom, or anything else that happened to fall in her way. At last +her ill-usage of him was told to Alice, Mr. Fitzwarren's daughter, who +told the cook she should be turned away if she did not treat him kinder. + +The behaviour of the cook was now a little better; but besides this Dick +had another hardship to get over. His bed stood in a garret, where there +were so many holes in the floor and the walls that every night he was +tormented with rats and mice. A gentleman having given Dick a penny for +cleaning his shoes, he thought he would buy a cat with it. The next day +he saw a girl with a cat, and asked her, “Will you let me have that cat +for a penny?” The girl said: “Yes, that I will, master, though she is an +excellent mouser.” + +Dick hid his cat in the garret, and always took care to carry a part of +his dinner to her; and in a short time he had no more trouble with the +rats and mice, but slept quite sound every night. + +Soon after this, his master had a ship ready to sail; and as it was the +custom that all his servants should have some chance for good fortune as +well as himself, he called them all into the parlour and asked them what +they would send out. + +They all had something that they were willing to venture except poor +Dick, who had neither money nor goods, and therefore could send nothing. +For this reason he did not come into the parlour with the rest; but Miss +Alice guessed what was the matter, and ordered him to be called in. She +then said: “I will lay down some money for him, from my own purse;” but +her father told her: “This will not do, for it must be something of his +own.” + +When poor Dick heard this, he said: “I have nothing but a cat which I +bought for a penny some time since of a little girl.” + +“Fetch your cat then, my lad,” said Mr. Fitzwarren, “and let her go.” + +Dick went upstairs and brought down poor puss, with tears in his eyes, +and gave her to the captain; “For,” he said, “I shall now be kept awake +all night by the rats and mice.” All the company laughed at Dick's odd +venture; and Miss Alice, who felt pity for him, gave him some money to +buy another cat. + +This, and many other marks of kindness shown him by Miss Alice, made the +ill-tempered cook jealous of poor Dick, and she began to use him more +cruelly than ever, and always made game of him for sending his cat to +sea. + +She asked him: “Do you think your cat will sell for as much money as +would buy a stick to beat you?” + +At last poor Dick could not bear this usage any longer, and he thought +he would run away from his place; so he packed up his few things, and +started very early in the morning, on All-hallows Day, the first of +November. He walked as far as Holloway; and there sat down on a stone, +which to this day is called “Whittington's Stone,” and began to think to +himself which road he should take. + +While he was thinking what he should do, the Bells of Bow Church, which +at that time were only six, began to ring, and their sound seemed to say +to him: + +“Turn again, Whittington, Thrice Lord Mayor of London.” + +“Lord Mayor of London!” said he to himself. “Why, to be sure, I would +put up with almost anything now, to be Lord Mayor of London, and ride in +a fine coach, when I grow to be a man! Well, I will go back, and think +nothing of the cuffing and scolding of the old cook, if I am to be Lord +Mayor of London at last.” + +Dick went back, and was lucky enough to get into the house, and set +about his work, before the old cook came downstairs. + +We must now follow Miss Puss to the coast of Africa. The ship with the +cat on board, was a long time at sea; and was at last driven by the +winds on a part of the coast of Barbary, where the only people were the +Moors, unknown to the English. The people came in great numbers to see +the sailors, because they were of different colour to themselves, and +treated them civilly; and, when they became better acquainted, were very +eager to buy the fine things that the ship was loaded with. + +When the captain saw this, he sent patterns of the best things he had to +the king of the country; who was so much pleased with them, that he +sent for the captain to the palace. Here they were placed, as it is the +custom of the country, on rich carpets flowered with gold and silver. +The king and queen were seated at the upper end of the room; and a +number of dishes were brought in for dinner. They had not sat long, when +a vast number of rats and mice rushed in, and devoured all the meat in +an instant. The captain wondered at this, and asked if these vermin were +not unpleasant. + +“Oh yes,” said they, “very offensive, and the king would give half his +treasure to be freed of them, for they not only destroy his dinner, as +you see, but they assault him in his chamber, and even in bed, and +so that he is obliged to be watched while he is sleeping, for fear of +them.” + +The captain jumped for joy; he remembered poor Whittington and his +cat, and told the king he had a creature on board the ship that would +despatch all these vermin immediately. The king jumped so high at the +joy which the news gave him, that his turban dropped off his head. +“Bring this creature to me,” says he; “vermin are dreadful in a court, +and if she will perform what you say, I will load your ship with gold +and jewels in exchange for her.” + +The captain, who knew his business, took this opportunity to set forth +the merits of Miss Puss. He told his majesty; “It is not very convenient +to part with her, as, when she is gone, the rats and mice may destroy +the goods in the ship--but to oblige your majesty, I will fetch her.” + +“Run, run!” said the queen; “I am impatient to see the dear creature.” + +Away went the captain to the ship, while another dinner was got ready. +He put Puss under his arm, and arrived at the place just in time to +see the table full of rats. When the cat saw them, she did not wait for +bidding, but jumped out of the captain's arms, and in a few minutes laid +almost all the rats and mice dead at her feet. The rest of them in their +fright scampered away to their holes. + +The king was quite charmed to get rid so easily of such plagues, and the +queen desired that the creature who had done them so great a kindness +might be brought to her, that she might look at her. Upon which the +captain called: “Pussy, pussy, pussy!” and she came to him. He then +presented her to the queen, who started back, and was afraid to touch +a creature who had made such a havoc among the rats and mice. However, +when the captain stroked the cat and called: “Pussy, pussy,” the queen +also touched her and cried: “Putty, putty,” for she had not learned +English. He then put her down on the queen's lap, where she purred and +played with her majesty's hand, and then purred herself to sleep. + +The king, having seen the exploits of Mrs. Puss, and being informed that +her kittens would stock the whole country, and keep it free from rats, +bargained with the captain for the whole ship's cargo, and then gave him +ten times as much for the cat as all the rest amounted to. + +The captain then took leave of the royal party, and set sail with a fair +wind for England, and after a happy voyage arrived safe in London. + +One morning, early, Mr. Fitzwarren had just come to his counting-house +and seated himself at the desk, to count over the cash, and settle the +business for the day, when somebody came tap, tap, at the door. “Who's +there?” said Mr. Fitzwarren. “A friend,” answered the other; “I come to +bring you good news of your ship _Unicorn_.” The merchant, bustling up +in such a hurry that he forgot his gout, opened the door, and who should +he see waiting but the captain and factor, with a cabinet of jewels, and +a bill of lading; when he looked at this the merchant lifted up his eyes +and thanked Heaven for sending him such a prosperous voyage. + +They then told the story of the cat, and showed the rich present +that the king and queen had sent for her to poor Dick. As soon as the +merchant heard this, he called out to his servants: + + “Go send him in, and tell him of his fame; + Pray call him Mr. Whittington by name.” + +Mr. Fitzwarren now showed himself to be a good man; for when some of +his servants said so great a treasure was too much for him, he answered: +“God forbid I should deprive him of the value of a single penny, it is +his own, and he shall have it to a farthing.” He then sent for Dick, +who at that time was scouring pots for the cook, and was quite dirty. He +would have excused himself from coming into the counting-house, saying, +“The room is swept, and my shoes are dirty and full of hob-nails.” But +the merchant ordered him to come in. + +Mr. Fitzwarren ordered a chair to be set for him, and so he began to +think they were making game of him, at the same time said to them: “Do +not play tricks with a poor simple boy, but let me go down again, if you +please, to my work.” + +“Indeed, Mr. Whittington,” said the merchant, “we are all quite in +earnest with you, and I most heartily rejoice in the news that these +gentlemen have brought you; for the captain has sold your cat to the +King of Barbary, and brought you in return for her more riches than I +possess in the whole world; and I wish you may long enjoy them!” + +Mr. Fitzwarren then told the men to open the great treasure they had +brought with them; and said: “Mr. Whittington has nothing to do but to +put it in some place of safety.” + +Poor Dick hardly knew how to behave himself for joy. He begged his +master to take what part of it he pleased, since he owed it all to his +kindness. “No, no,” answered Mr. Fitzwarren, “this is all your own; and +I have no doubt but you will use it well.” + +Dick next asked his mistress, and then Miss Alice, to accept a part of +his good fortune; but they would not, and at the same time told him +they felt great joy at his good success. But this poor fellow was too +kind-hearted to keep it all to himself; so he made a present to the +captain, the mate, and the rest of Mr. Fitzwarren's servants; and even +to the ill-natured old cook. + +After this Mr. Fitzwarren advised him to send for a proper tailor and +get himself dressed like a gentleman; and told him he was welcome to +live in his house till he could provide himself with a better. + +When Whittington's face was washed, his hair curled, his hat cocked, and +he was dressed in a nice suit of clothes he was as handsome and genteel +as any young man who visited at Mr. Fitzwarren's; so that Miss Alice, +who had once been so kind to him, and thought of him with pity, now +looked upon him as fit to be her sweetheart; and the more so, no doubt, +because Whittington was now always thinking what he could do to oblige +her, and making her the prettiest presents that could be. + +Mr. Fitzwarren soon saw their love for each other, and proposed to join +them in marriage; and to this they both readily agreed. A day for the +wedding was soon fixed; and they were attended to church by the Lord +Mayor, the court of aldermen, the sheriffs, and a great number of the +richest merchants in London, whom they afterwards treated with a very +rich feast. + +History tells us that Mr. Whittington and his lady liven in great +splendour, and were very happy. They had several children. He was +Sheriff of London, thrice Lord Mayor, and received the honour of +knighthood by Henry V. + +He entertained this king and his queen at dinner after his conquest of +France so grandly, that the king said “Never had prince such a subject;” + when Sir Richard heard this, he said: “Never had subject such a prince.” + +The figure of Sir Richard Whittington with his cat in his arms, carved +in stone, was to be seen till the year 1780 over the archway of the old +prison of Newgate, which he built for criminals. + + + + +THE STRANGE VISITOR + +A woman was sitting at her reel one night; And still she sat, and still +she reeled, and still she wished for company. + +In came a pair of broad broad soles, and sat down at the fireside; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of small small legs, and sat down on the broad broad +soles; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of thick thick knees, and sat down on the small small +legs; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of thin thin thighs, and sat down on the thick thick +knees; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of huge huge hips, and sat down on the thin thin thighs; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a wee wee waist, and sat down on the huge huge hips; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of broad broad shoulders, and sat down on the wee wee +waist; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of small small arms, and sat down on the broad broad +shoulders; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of huge huge hands, and sat down on the small small arms; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a small small neck, and sat down on the broad broad shoulders; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a huge huge head, and sat down on the small small neck. + +“How did you get such broad broad feet?” quoth the woman. + +“Much tramping, much tramping” (_gruffly_). + +“How did you get such small small legs?” + +“Aih-h-h!-late--and wee-e-e--moul” (_whiningly_). + +“How did you get such thick thick knees?” + +“Much praying, much praying” (_piously_). + +“How did you get such thin thin thighs?” + +“Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e--moul” (_whiningly_). + +“How did you get such big big hips?” + +“Much sitting, much sitting” (_gruffly_). + +“How did you get such a wee wee waist?” + +“Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e-moul” (_whiningly_). + +“How did you get such broad broad shoulders?” + +“With carrying broom, with carrying broom” (_gruffly_). + +“How did you get such small small arms?” + +“Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e--moul” (_whiningly_.) + +“How did you get such huge huge hands?” + +“Threshing with an iron flail, threshing with an iron flail” + (_gruffly_). + +“How did you get such a small small neck?” + +“Aih-h-h!--late--wee-e-e--moul” (_pitifully_). + +“How did you get such a huge huge head?” + +“Much knowledge, much knowledge” (_keenly_). + +“What do you come for?” + +“FOR YOU!” (_At the top of the voice, with a wave of the arm and a stamp +of the feet._) + + + + +THE LAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH + +In Bamborough Castle once lived a king who had a fair wife and two +children, a son named Childe Wynd and a daughter named Margaret. Childe +Wynd went forth to seek his fortune, and soon after he had gone the +queen his mother died. The king mourned her long and faithfully, but +one day while he was hunting he came across a lady of great beauty, and +became so much in love with her that he determined to marry her. So +he sent word home that he was going to bring a new queen to Bamborough +Castle. + +Princess Margaret was not very glad to hear of her mother's place being +taken, but she did not repine but did her father's bidding. And at the +appointed day came down to the castle gate with the keys all ready to +hand over to her stepmother. Soon the procession drew near, and the new +queen came towards Princess Margaret who bowed low and handed her the +keys of the castle. She stood there with blushing cheeks and eye on +ground, and said: “O welcome, father dear, to your halls and bowers, and +welcome to you my new mother, for all that's here is yours,” and again +she offered the keys. One of the king's knights who had escorted the new +queen, cried out in admiration: “Surely this northern Princess is the +loveliest of her kind.” At that the new queen flushed up and cried out: +“At least your courtesy might have excepted me,” and then she muttered +below her breath: “I'll soon put an end to her beauty.” + +That same night the queen, who was a noted witch, stole down to a lonely +dungeon wherein she did her magic and with spells three times three, and +with passes nine times nine she cast Princess Margaret under her spell. +And this was her spell: + + I weird ye to be a Laidly Worm, + And borrowed shall ye never be, + Until Childe Wynd, the King's own son + Come to the Heugh and thrice kiss thee; + Until the world comes to an end, + Borrowed shall ye never be. + +So Lady Margaret went to bed a beauteous maiden, and rose up a Laidly +Worm. And when her maidens came in to dress her in the morning they +found coiled up on the bed a dreadful dragon, which uncoiled itself +and came towards them. But they ran away shrieking, and the Laidly Worm +crawled and crept, and crept and crawled till it reached the Heugh or +rock of the Spindlestone, round which it coiled itself, and lay there +basking with its terrible snout in the air. + +Soon the country round about had reason to know of the Laidly Worm of +Spindleston Heugh. For hunger drove the monster out from its cave and it +used to devour everything it could come across. So at last they went to +a mighty warlock and asked him what they should do. Then he consulted +his works and his familiar, and told them: “The Laidly Worm is really +the Princess Margaret and it is hunger that drives her forth to do such +deeds. Put aside for her seven kine, and each day as the sun goes down, +carry every drop of milk they yield to the stone trough at the foot of +the Heugh, and the Laidly Worm will trouble the country no longer. But +if ye would that she be borrowed to her natural shape, and that she who +bespelled her be rightly punished, send over the seas for her brother, +Childe Wynd.” + +All was done as the warlock advised, the Laidly Worm lived on the milk +of the seven kine, and the country was troubled no longer. But when +Childe Wynd heard the news, he swore a mighty oath to rescue his sister +and revenge her on her cruel stepmother. And three-and-thirty of his men +took the oath with him. Then they set to work and built a long ship, and +its keel they made of the rowan tree. And when all was ready, they out +with their oars and pulled sheer for Bamborough Keep. + +But as they got near the keep, the stepmother felt by her magic power +that something was being wrought against her, so she summoned her +familiar imps and said: “Childe Wynd is coming over the seas; he must +never land. Raise storms, or bore the hull, but nohow must he touch +shore.” Then the imps went forth to meet Childe Wynd's ship, but when +they got near, they found they had no power over the ship, for its keel +was made of the rowan tree. So back they came to the queen witch, who +knew not what to do. She ordered her men-at-arms to resist Childe Wynd +if he should land near them, and by her spells she caused the Laidly +Worm to wait by the entrance of the harbour. + +As the ship came near, the Worm unfolded its coils, and dipping into +the sea, caught hold of the ship of Childe Wynd, and banged it off +the shore. Three times Childe Wynd urged his men on to row bravely and +strong, but each time the Laidly Worm kept it off the shore. Then Childe +Wynd ordered the ship to be put about, and the witch-queen thought he +had given up the attempt. But instead of that, he only rounded the next +point and landed safe and sound in Budle Creek, and then, with sword +drawn and bow bent, rushed up followed by his men, to fight the terrible +Worm that had kept him from landing. + +But the moment Childe Wynd had landed, the witch-queen's power over the +Laidly Worm had gone, and she went back to her bower all alone, not an +imp, nor a man-at-arms to help her, for she knew her hour was come. So +when Childe Wynd came rushing up to the Laidly Worm it made no attempt +to stop him or hurt him, but just as he was going to raise his sword to +slay it, the voice of his own sister Margaret came from its jaws saying: + + “O, quit your sword, unbend your bow, + And give me kisses three; + For though I am a poisonous worm, + No harm I'll do to thee.” + +Childe Wynd stayed his hand, but he did not know what to think if some +witchery were not in it. Then said the Laidly Worm again: + + “O, quit your sword, unbend your bow, + And give me kisses three, + If I'm not won ere set of sun, + Won never shall I be.” + +Then Childe Wynd went up to the Laidly Worm and kissed it once; but no +change came over it. Then Childe Wynd kissed it once more; but yet no +change came over it. For a third time he kissed the loathsome thing, +and with a hiss and a roar the Laidly Worm reared back and before Childe +Wynd stood his sister Margaret. He wrapped his cloak about her, and then +went up to the castle with her. When he reached the keep, he went off to +the witch queen's bower, and when he saw her, he touched her with a twig +of a rowan tree. No sooner had he touched her than she shrivelled up and +shrivelled up, till she became a huge ugly toad, with bold staring eyes +and a horrible hiss. She croaked and she hissed, and then hopped away +down the castle steps, and Childe Wynd took his father's place as king, +and they all lived happy afterwards. + +But to this day, the loathsome toad is seen at times, haunting the +neighbourhood of Bamborough Keep, and the wicked witch-queen is a Laidly +Toad. + + + + +THE CAT AND THE MOUSE + + The cat and the mouse + Play'd in the malt-house: + +The cat bit the mouse's tail off. “Pray, puss, give me my tail.” “No,” + says the cat, “I'll not give you your tail, till you go to the cow, and +fetch me some milk.” + + First she leapt and then she ran, + Till she came to the cow, and thus began: + +“Pray, Cow, give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me +my own tail again.” “No,” said the cow, “I will give you no milk, till +you go to the farmer, and get me some hay.” + + First she leapt, and then she ran, + Till she came to the farmer and thus began: + +“Pray, Farmer, give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give +me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail +again.” “No,” says the farmer, “I'll give you no hay, till you go to the +butcher and fetch me some meat.” + + First she leapt, and then she ran, + Till she came to the butcher, and thus began: + +“Pray, Butcher, give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer +may give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, +that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.” “No,” + says the butcher, “I'll give you no meat, till you go to the baker and +fetch me some bread.” + + First she leapt and then she ran, + Till she came to the baker, and thus began: + +“Pray, Baker, give me bread, that I may give butcher bread, that butcher +may give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may give me +hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give +cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.” + + “Yes,” says the baker, “I'll give you some bread, + But if you eat my meal, I'll cut off your head.” + +Then the baker gave mouse bread, and mouse gave butcher bread, and +butcher gave mouse meat, and mouse gave farmer meat, and farmer gave +mouse hay, and mouse gave cow hay, and cow gave mouse milk, and mouse +gave cat milk, and cat gave mouse her own tail again! + + + + +THE FISH AND THE RING + +Once upon a time, there was a mighty baron in the North Countrie who was +a great magician that knew everything that would come to pass. So one +day, when his little boy was four years old, he looked into the Book of +Fate to see what would happen to him. And to his dismay, he found that +his son would wed a lowly maid that had just been born in a house under +the shadow of York Minster. Now the Baron knew the father of the little +girl was very, very poor, and he had five children already. So he called +for his horse, and rode into York; and passed by the father's house, and +saw him sitting by the door, sad and doleful. So he dismounted and went +up to him and said: “What is the matter, my good man?” And the man said: +“Well, your honour, the fact is, I've five children already, and now +a sixth's come, a little lass, and where to get the bread from to fill +their mouths, that's more than I can say.” + +“Don't be downhearted, my man,” said the Baron. “If that's your trouble, +I can help you. I'll take away the last little one, and you wont have to +bother about her.” + +“Thank you kindly, sir,” said the man; and he went in and brought out +the lass and gave her to the Baron, who mounted his horse and rode away +with her. And when he got by the bank of the river Ouse, he threw the +little, thing into the river, and rode off to his castle. + +But the little lass didn't sink; her clothes kept her up for a time, and +she floated, and she floated, till she was cast ashore just in front of +a fisherman's hut. There the fisherman found her, and took pity on the +poor little thing and took her into his house, and she lived there till +she was fifteen years old, and a fine handsome girl. + +One day it happened that the Baron went out hunting with some companions +along the banks of the River Ouse, and stopped at the fisherman's hut to +get a drink, and the girl came out to give it to them. They all noticed +her beauty, and one of them said to the Baron: “You can read fates, +Baron, whom will she marry, d'ye think?” + +“Oh! that's easy to guess,” said the Baron; “some yokel or other. But +I'll cast her horoscope. Come here girl, and tell me on what day you +were born?” + +“I don't know, sir,” said the girl, “I was picked up just here after +having been brought down by the river about fifteen years ago.” + +Then the Baron knew who she was, and when they went away, he rode back +and said to the girl: “Hark ye, girl, I will make your fortune. Take +this letter to my brother in Scarborough, and you will be settled for +life.” And the girl took the letter and said she would go. Now this was +what he had written in the letter: + +“Dear Brother,--Take the bearer and put her to death immediately. + +“Yours affectionately, + +“Albert.” + +So soon after the girl set out for Scarborough, and slept for the night +at a little inn. Now that very night a band of robbers broke into the +inn, and searched the girl, who had no money, and only the letter. So +they opened this and read it, and thought it a shame. The captain of the +robbers took a pen and paper and wrote this letter: + +“Dear Brother,--Take the bearer and marry her to my son immediately. + +“Yours affectionately, + +“Albert.” + +And then he gave it to the girl, bidding her begone. So she went on +to the Baron's brother at Scarborough, a noble knight, with whom the +Baron's son was staying. When she gave the letter to his brother, +he gave orders for the wedding to be prepared at once, and they were +married that very day. + +Soon after, the Baron himself came to his brother's castle, and what was +his surprise to find that the very thing he had plotted against had come +to pass. But he was not to be put off that way; and he took out the girl +for a walk, as he said, along the cliffs. And when he got her all alone, +he took her by the arms, and was going to throw her over. But she begged +hard for her life. “I have not done anything,” she said: “if you will +only spare me, I will do whatever you wish. I will never see you or your +son again till you desire it.” Then the Baron took off his gold ring and +threw it into the sea, saying: “Never let me see your face till you can +show me that ring;” and he let her go. + +The poor girl wandered on and on, till at last she came to a great +noble's castle, and she asked to have some work given to her; and they +made her the scullion girl of the castle, for she had been used to such +work in the fisherman's hut. + +Now one day, who should she see coming up to the noble's house but the +Baron and his brother and his son, her husband. She didn't know what +to do; but thought they would not see her in the castle kitchen. So she +went back to her work with a sigh, and set to cleaning a huge big fish +that was to be boiled for their dinner. And, as she was cleaning it, +she saw something shine inside it, and what do you think she found? Why, +there was the Baron's ring, the very one he had thrown over the cliff +at Scarborough. She was right glad to see it, you may be sure. Then she +cooked the fish as nicely as she could, and served it up. + +Well, when the fish came on the table, the guests liked it so well that +they asked the noble who cooked it. He said he didn't know, but called +to his servants: “Ho, there, send up the cook that cooked that fine +fish.” So they went down to the kitchen and told the girl she was wanted +in the hall. Then she washed and tidied herself and put the Baron's gold +ring on her thumb and went up into the hall. + +When the banqueters saw such a young and beautiful cook they were +surprised. But the Baron was in a tower of a temper, and started up as +if he would do her some violence. So the girl went up to him with her +hand before her with the ring on it; and she put it down before him on +the table. Then at last the Baron saw that no one could fight against +Fate, and he handed her to a seat and announced to all the company that +this was his son's true wife; and he took her and his son home to his +castle; and they all lived as happy as could be ever afterwards. + + + + +THE MAGPIE'S NEST + + Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme + And monkeys chewed tobacco, + And hens took snuff to make them tough, + And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O! + +All the birds of the air came to the magpie and asked her to teach +them how to build nests. For the magpie is the cleverest bird of all +at building nests. So she put all the birds round her and began to show +them how to do it. First of all she took some mud and made a sort of +round cake with it. + +“Oh, that's how it's done,” said the thrush; and away it flew, and so +that's how thrushes build their nests. + +Then the magpie took some twigs and arranged them round in the mud. + +“Now I know all about it,” says the blackbird, and off he flew; and +that's how the blackbirds make their nests to this very day. + +Then the magpie put another layer of mud over the twigs. + +“Oh that's quite obvious,” said the wise owl, and away it flew; and owls +have never made better nests since. + +After this the magpie took some twigs and twined them round the outside. + +“The very thing!” said the sparrow, and off he went; so sparrows make +rather slovenly nests to this day. + +Well, then Madge Magpie took some feathers and stuff and lined the nest +very comfortably with it. + +“That suits me,” cried the starling, and off it flew; and very +comfortable nests have starlings. + +So it went on, every bird taking away some knowledge of how to build +nests, but, none of them waiting to the end. Meanwhile Madge Magpie +went on working and working without, looking up till the only bird that +remained was the turtle-dove, and that hadn't paid any attention all +along, but only kept on saying its silly cry “Take two, Taffy, take +two-o-o-o.” + +At last the magpie heard this just as she was putting a twig across. So +she said: “One's enough.” + +But the turtle-dove kept on saying: “Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o.” + +Then the magpie got angry and said: “One's enough I tell you.” + +Still the turtle-dove cried: “Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o.” + +At last, and at last, the magpie looked up and saw nobody near her but +the silly turtle-dove, and then she got rare angry and flew away and +refused to tell the birds how to build nests again. And that is why +different birds build their nests differently. + + + + +KATE CRACKERNUTS + +Once upon a time there was a king and a queen, as in many lands have +been. The king had a daughter, Anne, and the queen had one named Kate, +but Anne was far bonnier than the queen's daughter, though they loved +one another like real sisters. The queen was jealous of the king's +daughter being bonnier than her own, and cast about to spoil her beauty. +So she took counsel of the henwife, who told her to send the lassie to +her next morning fasting. + +So next morning early, the queen said to Anne, “Go, my dear, to the +henwife in the glen, and ask her for some eggs.” So Anne set out, but as +she passed through the kitchen she saw a crust, and she took and munched +it as she went along. + +When she came to the henwife's she asked for eggs, as she had been told +to do; the henwife said to her, “Lift the lid off that pot there and +see.” The lassie did so, but nothing happened. “Go home to your minnie +and tell her to keep her larder door better locked,” said the henwife. +So she went home to the queen and told her what the henwife had said. +The queen knew from this that the lassie had had something to eat, so +watched the next morning and sent her away fasting; but the princess saw +some country-folk picking peas by the roadside, and being very kind she +spoke to them and took a handful of the peas, which she ate by the way. + +When she came to the henwife's, she said, “Lift the lid off the pot +and you'll see.” So Anne lifted the lid but nothing happened. Then the +henwife was rare angry and said to Anne, “Tell your minnie the pot won't +boil if the fire's away.” So Anne went home and told the queen. + +The third day the queen goes along with the girl herself to the henwife. +Now, this time, when Anne lifted the lid off the pot, off falls her own +pretty head, and on jumps a sheep's head. + +So the queen was now quite satisfied, and went back home. + +Her own daughter, Kate, however, took a fine linen cloth and wrapped it +round her sister's head and took her by the hand and they both went out +to seek their fortune. They went on, and they went on, and they went +on, till they came to a castle. Kate knocked at the door and asked for a +night's lodging for herself and a sick sister. They went in and found +it was a king's castle, who had two sons, and one of them was sickening +away to death and no one could find out what ailed him. And the curious +thing was that whoever watched him at night was never seen any more. So +the king had offered a peck of silver to anyone who would stop up with +him. Now Katie was a very brave girl, so she offered to sit up with him. + +Till midnight all goes well. As twelve o clock rings, however, the sick +prince rises, dresses himself, and slips downstairs. Kate followed, but +he didn't seem to notice her. The prince went to the stable, saddled his +horse, called his hound, jumped into the saddle, and Kate leapt lightly +up behind him. Away rode the prince and Kate through the greenwood, +Kate, as they pass, plucking nuts from the trees and filling her apron +with them. They rode on and on till they came to a green hill. The +prince here drew bridle and spoke, “Open, open, green hill, and let the +young prince in with his horse and his hound,” and Kate added, “and his +lady him behind.” + +Immediately the green hill opened and they passed in. The prince entered +a magnificent hall, brightly lighted up, and many beautiful fairies +surrounded the prince and led him off to the dance. Meanwhile, Kate, +without being noticed, hid herself behind the door. There she sees the +prince dancing, and dancing, and dancing, till he could dance no longer +and fell upon a couch. Then the fairies would fan him till he could rise +again and go on dancing. + +At last the cock crew, and the prince made all haste to get on +horseback; Kate jumped up behind, and home they rode. When the morning +sun rose they came in and found Kate sitting down by the fire and +cracking her nuts. Kate said the prince had a good night; but she would +not sit up another night unless she was to get a peck of gold. The +second night passed as the first had done. The prince got up at midnight +and rode away to the green hill and the fairy ball, and Kate went with +him, gathering nuts as they rode through the forest. This time she did +not watch the prince, for she knew he would dance and dance, and dance. +But she sees a fairy baby playing with a wand, and overhears one of the +fairies say: “Three strokes of that wand would make Kate's sick sister +as bonnie as ever she was.” So Kate rolled nuts to the fairy baby, and +rolled nuts till the baby toddled after the nuts and let fall the wand, +and Kate took it up and put it in her apron. And at cockcrow they rode +home as before, and the moment Kate got home to her room she rushed and +touched Anne three times with the wand, and the nasty sheep's head +fell off and she was her own pretty self again. The third night Kate +consented to watch, only if she should marry the sick prince. All went +on as on the first two nights. This time the fairy baby was playing with +a birdie; Kate heard one of the fairies say: “Three bites of that birdie +would make the sick prince as well as ever he was.” Kate rolled all the +nuts she had to the fairy baby till the birdie was dropped, and Kate put +it in her apron. + +At cockcrow they set off again, but instead of cracking her nuts as +she used to do, this time Kate plucked the feathers off and cooked +the birdie. Soon there arose a very savoury smell. “Oh!” said the sick +prince, “I wish I had a bite of that birdie,” so Kate gave him a bite of +the birdie, and he rose up on his elbow. By-and-by he cried out again: +“Oh, if I had another bite of that birdie!” so Kate gave him another +bite, and he sat up on his bed. Then he said again: “Oh! if I only had +a third bite of that birdie!” So Kate gave him a third bite, and he rose +quite well, dressed himself, and sat down by the fire, and when the folk +came in next morning they found Kate and the young prince cracking nuts +together. Meanwhile his brother had seen Annie and had fallen in love +with her, as everybody did who saw her sweet pretty face. So the sick +son married the well sister, and the well son married the sick sister, +and they all lived happy and died happy, and never drank out of a dry +cappy. + + + + +THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON + +At Hilton Hall, long years ago, there lived a Brownie that was the +contrariest Brownie you ever knew. At night, after the servants had +gone to bed, it would turn everything topsy-turvy, put sugar in the +salt-cellars, pepper into the beer, and was up to all kinds of pranks. +It would throw the chairs down, put tables on their backs, rake out +fires, and do as much mischief as could be. But sometimes it would be in +a good temper, and then!--“What's a Brownie?” you say. Oh, it's a kind +of a sort of a Bogle, but it isn't so cruel as a Redcap! What! you don't +know what's a Bogle or a Redcap! Ah, me! what's the world a-coming to? +Of course a Brownie is a funny little thing, half man, half goblin, with +pointed ears and hairy hide. When you bury a treasure, you scatter over +it blood drops of a newly slain kid or lamb, or, better still, bury the +animal with the treasure, and a Brownie will watch over it for you, and +frighten everybody else away. + +Where was I? Well, as I was a-saying, the Brownie at Hilton Hall would +play at mischief, but if the servants laid out for it a bowl of cream, +or a knuckle cake spread with honey, it would clear away things for +them, and make everything tidy in the kitchen. One night, however, when +the servants had stopped up late, they heard a noise in the kitchen, +and, peeping in, saw the Brownie swinging to and fro on the Jack chain, +and saying: + + “Woe's me! woe's me! + The acorn's not yet + Fallen from the tree, + That's to grow the wood, + That's to make the cradle, + That's to rock the bairn, + That's to grow to the man, + That's to lay me. + Woe's me! woe's me!” + +So they took pity on the poor Brownie, and asked the nearest henwife +what they should do to send it away. “That's easy enough,” said the +henwife, and told them that a Brownie that's paid for its service, in +aught that's not perishable, goes away at once. So they made a cloak of +Lincoln green, with a hood to it, and put it by the hearth and watched. +They saw the Brownie come up, and seeing the hood and cloak, put them +on, and frisk about, dancing on one leg and saying: + + “I've taken your cloak, I've taken your hood; + The Cauld Lad of Hilton will do no more good.” + +And with that it vanished, and was never seen or heard of afterwards. + + + + +THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE STICK + +A lad named Jack was once so unhappy at home through his father's +ill-treatment, that he made up his mind to run away and seek his fortune +in the wide world. + +He ran, and he ran, till he could run no longer, and then he ran right +up against a little old woman who was gathering sticks. He was too much +out of breath to beg pardon, but the woman was good-natured, and she +said he seemed to be a likely lad, so she would take him to be her +servant, and would pay him well. He agreed, for he was very hungry, +and she brought him to her house in the wood, where he served her for a +twelvemonths and a day. + +When the year had passed, she called him to her, and said she had good +wages for him. So she presented him with an ass out of the stable, and +he had but to pull Neddy's ears to make him begin at once to ee--aw! And +when he brayed there dropped from his mouth silver sixpences, and half +crowns, and golden guineas. + +The lad was well pleased with the wage he had received, and away he rode +till he reached an inn. There he ordered the best of everything, and +when the innkeeper refused to serve him without being paid beforehand, +the boy went off to the stable, pulled the ass's ears and obtained his +pocket full of money. The host had watched all this through a crack +in the door, and when night came on he put an ass of his own for the +precious Neddy of the poor youth. So Jack without knowing that any +change had been made, rode away next morning to his father's house. + +Now, I must tell you that near his home dwelt a poor widow with an only +daughter. The lad and the maiden were fast friends and true loves; but +when Jack asked his father's leave to marry the girl, “Never till you +have the money to keep her,” was the reply. “I have that, father,” said +the lad, and going to the ass he pulled its long ears; well, he pulled, +and he pulled, till one of them came off in his hands; but Neddy, though +he hee-hawed and he hee-hawed let fall no half crowns or guineas. The +father picked up a hay-fork and beat his son out of the house. I promise +you he ran. Ah! he ran and ran till he came bang against the door, and +burst it open, and there he was in a joiner's shop. “You're a likely +lad,” said the joiner; “serve me for a twelvemonths and a day and I will +pay you well.'” So he agreed, and served the carpenter for a year and +a day. “Now,” said the master, “I will give you your wage;” and he +presented him with a table, telling him he had but to say, “Table, be +covered,” and at once it would be spread with lots to eat and drink. + +Jack hitched the table on his back, and away he went with it till he +came to the inn. “Well, host,” shouted he, “my dinner to-day, and that +of the best.” + +“Very sorry, but there is nothing in the house but ham and eggs.” + +“Ham and eggs for me!” exclaimed Jack. “I can do better than +that.--Come, my table, be covered!” + +At once the table was spread with turkey and sausages, roast mutton, +potatoes, and greens. The publican opened his eyes, but he said nothing, +not he. + +That night he fetched down from his attic a table very like that of +Jack, and exchanged the two. Jack, none the wiser, next morning hitched +the worthless table on to his back and carried it home. “Now, father, +may I marry my lass?” he asked. + +“Not unless you can keep her,” replied the father. “Look here!” + exclaimed Jack. “Father, I have a table which does all my bidding.” + +“Let me see it,” said the old man. + +The lad set it in the middle of the room, and bade it be covered; but +all in vain, the table remained bare. In a rage, the father caught the +warming-pan down from the wall and warmed his son's back with it so that +the boy fled howling from the house, and ran and ran till he came to a +river and tumbled in. A man picked him out and bade him assist him in +making a bridge over the river; and how do you think he was doing it? +Why, by casting a tree across; so Jack climbed up to the top of the tree +and threw his weight on it, so that when the man had rooted the tree up, +Jack and the tree-head dropped on the farther bank. + +“Thank you,” said the man; “and now for what you have done I will pay +you;” so saying, he tore a branch from the tree, and fettled it up into +a club with his knife. “There,” exclaimed he; “take this stick, and when +you say to it, 'Up stick and bang him,' it will knock any one down who +angers you.” + +The lad was overjoyed to get this stick--so away he went with it to the +inn, and as soon as the publican, appeared, “Up stick and bang him!” was +his cry. At the word the cudgel flew from his hand and battered the +old publican on the back, rapped his head, bruised his arms tickled his +ribs, till he fell groaning on the floor; still the stick belaboured +the prostrate man, nor would Jack call it off till he had got back the +stolen ass and table. Then he galloped home on the ass, with the table +on his shoulders, and the stick in his hand. When he arrived there he +found his father was dead, so he brought his ass into the stable, and +pulled its ears till he had filled the manger with money. + +It was soon known through the town that Jack had returned rolling in +wealth, and accordingly all the girls in the place set their caps at +him. “Now,” said Jack, “I shall marry the richest lass in the place; so +tomorrow do you all come in front of my house with your money in your +aprons.” + +Next morning the street was full of girls with aprons held out, and gold +and silver in them; but Jack's own sweetheart was among them, and she +had neither gold nor silver, nought but two copper pennies, that was all +she had. + +“Stand aside, lass;” said Jack to her, speaking roughly. “Thou hast no +silver nor gold--stand off from the rest.” She obeyed, and the tears ran +down her cheeks, and filled her apron with diamonds. + +“Up stick and bang them!” exclaimed Jack; whereupon the cudgel leaped +up, and running along the line of girls, knocked them all on the heads +and left them senseless on the pavement. Jack took all their money and +poured it into his truelove's lap. “Now, lass,” he exclaimed, “thou art +the richest, and I shall marry thee.” + + + + +FAIRY OINTMENT + +Dame Goody was a nurse that looked after sick people, and minded babies. +One night she was woke up at midnight, and when she went downstairs, +she saw a strange squinny-eyed, little ugly old fellow, who asked her +to come to his wife who was too ill to mind her baby. Dame Goody didn't +like the look of the old fellow, but business is business; so she popped +on her things, and went down to him. And when she got down to him, he +whisked her up on to a large coal-black horse with fiery eyes, that +stood at the door; and soon they were going at a rare pace, Dame Goody +holding on to the old fellow like grim death. + +They rode, and they rode, till at last they stopped before a cottage +door. So they got down and went in and found the good woman abed with +the children playing about; and the babe, a fine bouncing boy, beside +her. + +Dame Goody took the babe, which was as fine a baby boy as you'd wish to +see. The mother, when she handed the baby to Dame Goody to mind, gave +her a box of ointment, and told her to stroke the baby's eyes with it +as soon as it opened them. After a while it began to open its eyes. Dame +Goody saw that it had squinny eyes just like its father. So she took the +box of ointment and stroked its two eyelids with it. But she couldn't +help wondering what it was for, as she had never seen such a thing done +before. So she looked to see if the others were looking, and, when they +were not noticing she stroked her own right eyelid with the ointment. + +No sooner had she done so, than everything seemed changed about her. +The cottage became elegantly furnished. The mother in the bed was a +beautiful lady, dressed up in white silk. The little baby was still more +beautiful than before, and its clothes were made of a sort of silvery +gauze. Its little brothers and sisters around the bed were flat-nosed +imps with pointed ears, who made faces at one another, and scratched +their polls. Sometimes they would pull the sick lady's ears with their +long and hairy paws. In fact, they were up to all kinds of mischief; and +Dame Goody knew that she had got into a house of pixies. But she said +nothing to nobody, and as soon as the lady was well enough to mind the +baby, she asked the old fellow to take her back home. So he came round +to the door with the coal-black horse with eyes of fire, and off they +went as fast as before, or perhaps a little faster, till they came to +Dame Goody's cottage, where the squinny-eyed old fellow lifted her down +and left her, thanking her civilly enough, and paying her more than she +had ever been paid before for such service. + +Now next day happened to be market-day, and as Dame Goody had been away +from home, she wanted many things in the house, and trudged off to get +them at the market. As she was buying the things she wanted, who +should she see but the squinny-eyed old fellow who had taken her on the +coal-black horse. And what do you think he was doing? Why he went about +from stall to stall taking up things from each, here some fruit, and +there some eggs, and so on; and no one seemed to take any notice. + +Now Dame Goody did not think it her business to interfere, but she +thought she ought not to let so good a customer pass without speaking. +So she ups to him and bobs a curtsey and said: “Gooden, sir, I hopes as +how your good lady and the little one are as well as----” + +But she couldn't finish what she was a-saying, for the funny old fellow +started back in surprise, and he says to her, says he: “What! do you see +me today?” + +“See you,” says she, “why, of course I do, as plain as the sun in the +skies, and what's more,” says she, “I see you are busy too, into the +bargain.” + +“Ah, you see too much,” said he; “now, pray, with which eye do you see +all this?” + +“With the right eye to be sure,” said she, as proud as can be to find +him out. + +“The ointment! The ointment!” cried the old pixy thief. “Take that for +meddling with what don't concern you: you shall see me no more.” And +with that he struck her on her right eye, and she couldn't see him any +more; and, what was worse, she was blind on the right side from that +hour till the day of her death. + + + + +THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END + +Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it wasn't in my +time, nor in your time, nor any one else's time, there was a girl whose +mother had died, and her father had married again. And her stepmother +hated her because she was more beautiful than herself, and she was very +cruel to her. She used to make her do all the servant's work, and never +let her have any peace. At last, one day, the stepmother thought to get +rid of her altogether; so she handed her a sieve and said to her: “Go, +fill it at the Well of the World's End and bring it home to me full, +or woe betide you.” For she thought she would never be able to find the +Well of the World's End, and, if she did, how could she bring home a +sieve full of water? + +Well, the girl started off, and asked every one she met to tell her +where was the Well of the World's End. But nobody knew, and she didn't +know what to do, when a queer little old woman, all bent double, told +her where it was, and how she could get to it. So she did what the old +woman told her, and at last arrived at the Well of the World's End. But +when she dipped the sieve in the cold, cold water, it all ran out again. +She tried and she tried again, but every time it was the same; and at +last she sate down and cried as if her heart would break. + +Suddenly she heard a croaking voice, and she looked up and saw a great +frog with goggle eyes looking at her and speaking to her. + +“What's the matter, dearie?” it said. + +“Oh, dear, oh dear,” she said, “my stepmother has sent me all this long +way to fill this sieve with water from the Well of the World's End, and +I can't fill it no how at all.” + +“Well,” said the frog, “if you promise me to do whatever I bid you for a +whole night long, I'll tell you how to fill it.” + +So the girl agreed, and then the frog said: + + “Stop it with moss and daub it with clay, + And then it will carry the water away;” + +and then it gave a hop, skip and jump, and went flop into the Well of +the World's End. + +So the girl looked about for some moss, and lined the bottom of the +sieve with it, and over that she put some clay, and then she dipped it +once again into the Well of the World's End; and this time, the water +didn't run out, and she turned to go away. + +Just then the frog popped up its head out of the Well of the World's +End, and said: “Remember your promise.” + +“All right,” said the girl; for thought she, “what harm can a frog do +me?” + +So she went back to her stepmother, and brought the sieve full of water +from the Well of the World's End. The stepmother was fine and angry, but +she said nothing at all. + +That very evening they heard something tap tapping at the door low down, +and a voice cried out: + + “Open the door, my hinny, my heart, + Open the door, my own darling; + Mind you the words that you and I spoke, + Down in the meadow, at the World's End Well.” + +“Whatever can that be?” cried out the stepmother, and the girl had to +tell her all about it, and what she had promised the frog. + +“Girls must keep their promises,” said the stepmother. “Go and open the +door this instant.” For she was glad the girl would have to obey a nasty +frog. + +So the girl went and opened the door, and there was the frog from the +Well of the World's End. And it hopped, and it skipped, and it jumped, +till it reached the girl, and then it said: + + “Lift me to your knee, my hinny, my heart; + Lift me to your knee, my own darling; + Remember the words you and I spoke, + Down in the meadow by the World's End Well.” + +But the girl didn't like to, till her stepmother said “Lift it up this +instant, you hussy! Girls must keep their promises!” + +So at last she lifted the frog up on to her lap, and it lay there for a +time, till at last it said: + + “Give me some supper, my hinny, my heart, + Give me some supper, my darling; + Remember the words you and I spake, + In the meadow, by the Well of the World's End.” + +Well, she didn't mind doing that, so she got it a bowl of milk and +bread, and fed it well. And when the frog, had finished, it said: + + “Go with me to bed, my hinny, my heart, + Go with me to bed, my own darling; + Mind you the words you spake to me, + Down by the cold well, so weary.” + +But that the girl wouldn't do, till her stepmother said: “Do what you +promised, girl; girls must keep their promises. Do what you're bid, or +out you go, you and your froggie.” + +So the girl took the frog with her to bed, and kept it as far away from +her as she could. Well, just as the day was beginning to break what +should the frog say but: + + “Chop off my head, my hinny, my heart, + Chop off my head, my own darling; + Remember the promise you made to me, + Down by the cold well so weary.” + +At first the girl wouldn't, for she thought of what the frog had done +for her at the Well of the World's End. But when the frog said the words +over again, she went and took an axe and chopped off its head, and lo! +and behold, there stood before her a handsome young prince, who told her +that he had been enchanted by a wicked magician, and he could never be +unspelled till some girl would do his bidding for a whole night, and +chop off his head at the end of it. + +The stepmother was that surprised when she found the young prince +instead of the nasty frog, and she wasn't best pleased, you may be sure, +when the prince told her that he was going to marry her stepdaughter +because she had unspelled him. So they were married and went away to +live in the castle of the king, his father, and all the stepmother had +to console her was, that it was all through her that her stepdaughter +was married to a prince. + + + + +MASTER OF ALL MASTERS + +A girl once went to the fair to hire herself for servant. At last a +funny-looking old gentleman engaged her, and took her home to his house. +When she got there, he told her that he had something to teach her, for +that in his house he had his own names for things. + +He said to her: “What will you call me?” + +“Master or mister, or whatever you please sir,” says she. + +He said: “You must call me 'master of all masters.' And what would you +call this?” pointing to his bed. + +“Bed or couch, or whatever you please, sir.” + +“No, that's my 'barnacle.' And what do you call these?” said he pointing +to his pantaloons. + +“Breeches or trousers, or whatever you please, sir.” + +“You must call them 'squibs and crackers.' And what would you call her?” + pointing to the cat. + +“Cat or kit, or whatever you please, sir.” + +“You must call her 'white-faced simminy.' And this now,” showing the +fire, “what would you call this?” + +“Fire or flame, or whatever you please, sir.” + +“You must call it 'hot cockalorum,' and what this?” he went on, pointing +to the water. + +“Water or wet, or whatever you please, sir.” + +“No, 'pondalorum' is its name. And what do you call all this?” asked he, +as he pointed to the house. + +“House or cottage, or whatever you please, sir.” + +“You must call it 'high topper mountain.'” + +That very night the servant woke her master up in a fright and said: +“Master of all masters, get out of your barnacle and put on your squibs +and crackers. For white-faced simminy has got a spark of hot cockalorum +on its tail, and unless you get some pondalorum high topper mountain +will be all on hot cockalorum.” .... That's all. + + + + +THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL + +Long before Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, there reigned in +the eastern part of England a king who kept his Court at Colchester. In +the midst of all his glory, his queen died, leaving behind her an only +daughter, about fifteen years of age, who for her beauty and kindness +was the wonder of all that knew her. But the king hearing of a lady who +had likewise an only daughter, had a mind to marry her for the sake of +her riches, though she was old, ugly, hook-nosed, and hump-backed. Her +daughter was a yellow dowdy, full of envy and ill-nature; and, in short, +was much of the same mould as her mother. But in a few weeks the king, +attended by the nobility and gentry, brought his deformed bride to the +palace, where the marriage rites were performed. They had not been long +in the Court before they set the king against his own beautiful daughter +by false reports. The young princess having lost her father's love, grew +weary of the Court, and one day, meeting with her father in the garden, +she begged him, with tears in her eyes, to let her go and seek her +fortune; to which the king consented, and ordered her mother-in-law to +give her what she pleased. She went to the queen, who gave her a canvas +bag of brown bread and hard cheese, with a bottle of beer; though this +was but a pitiful dowry for a king's daughter. She took it, with +thanks, and proceeded on her journey, passing through groves, woods, +and valleys, till at length she saw an old man sitting on a stone at the +mouth of a cave, who said: “Good morrow, fair maiden, whither away so +fast?” + +“Aged father,” says she, “I am going to seek my fortune.” + +“What have you got in your bag and bottle?” + +“In my bag I have got bread and cheese, and in my bottle good small +beer. Would you like to have some?” + +“Yes,” said he, “with all my heart.” + +With that the lady pulled out her provisions, and bade him eat and +welcome. He did so, and gave her many thanks, and said: “There is a +thick thorny hedge before you, which you cannot get through, but take +this wand in your hand, strike it three times, and say, 'Pray, hedge, +let me come through,' and it will open immediately; then, a little +further, you will find a well; sit down on the brink of it, and there +will come up three golden heads, which will speak; and whatever they +require, that do.” Promising she would, she took her leave of him. +Coming to the hedge and using the old man's wand, it divided, and let +her through; then, coming to the well, she had no sooner sat down than a +golden head came up singing: + + “Wash me, and comb me, + And lay me down softly. + And lay me on a bank to dry, + That I may look pretty, + When somebody passes by.” + +“Yes,” said she, and taking it in her lap combed it with a silver comb, +and then placed it upon a primrose bank. Then up came a second and a +third head, saying the same as the former. So she did the same for them, +and then, pulling out her provisions, sat down to eat her dinner. + +Then said the heads one to another: “What shall we weird for this damsel +who has used us so kindly?” + +The first said: “I weird her to be so beautiful that she shall charm the +most powerful prince in the world.” + +The second said: “I weird her such a sweet voice as shall far exceed the +nightingale.” + +The third said: “My gift shall be none of the least, as she is a king's +daughter, I'll weird her so fortunate that she shall become queen to the +greatest prince that reigns.” + +She then let them down into the well again, and so went on her journey. +She had not travelled long before she saw a king hunting in the park +with his nobles. She would have avoided him, but the king, having caught +a sight of her, approached, and what with her beauty and sweet voice, +fell desperately in love with her, and soon induced her to marry him. + +This king finding that she was the King of Colchester's daughter, +ordered some chariots to be got ready, that he might pay the king, his +father-in-law, a visit. The chariot in which the king and queen rode +was adorned with rich gems of gold. The king, her father, was at first +astonished that his daughter had been so fortunate, till the young +king let him know of all that had happened. Great was the joy at +Court amongst all, with the exception of the queen and her club-footed +daughter, who were ready to burst with envy. The rejoicings, with +feasting and dancing, continued many days. Then at length they returned +home with the dowry her father gave her. + +The hump-backed princess, perceiving that her sister had been so lucky +in seeking her fortune, wanted to do the same; so she told her mother, +and all preparations were made, and she was furnished with rich dresses, +and with sugar, almonds, and sweetmeats, in great quantities, and a +large bottle of Malaga sack. With these she went the same road as +her sister; and coming near the cave, the old man said: “Young woman, +whither so fast?” + +“What's that to you?” said she. + +“Then,” said he, “what have you in your bag and bottle?” + +She answered: “Good things, which you shall not be troubled with.” + +“Won't you give me some?” said he. + +“No, not a bit, nor a drop, unless it would choke you.” + +The old man frowned, saying: “Evil fortune attend ye!” + +Going on, she came to the hedge, through which she espied a gap, and +thought to pass through it; but the hedge closed, and the, thorns +ran into her flesh, so that it was with great difficulty that she +got through. Being now all over blood, she searched for water to wash +herself, and, looking round, she saw the well. She sat down on the brink +of it, and one of the heads came up, saying: “Wash me, comb me, and lay +me down softly,” as before, but she banged it with her bottle, saying, +“Take that for your washing.” So the second and third heads came up, +and met with no better treatment than the first. Whereupon the heads +consulted among themselves what evils to plague her with for such usage. + +The first said: “Let her be struck with leprosy in her face.” + +The second: “Let her voice be as harsh as a corn-crake's.” + +The third said: “Let her have for husband but a poor country cobbler.” + +Well, she goes on till she came to a town, and it being market-day, the +people looked at her, and, seeing such a mangy face, and hearing such +a squeaky voice, all fled but a poor country cobbler. Now he not long +before had mended the shoes of an old hermit, who, having no money +gave him a box of ointment for the cure of the leprosy, and a bottle of +spirits for a harsh voice. So the cobbler having a mind to do an act of +charity, was induced to go up to her and ask her who she was. + +“I am,” said she, “the King of Colchester's daughter-in-law.” + +“Well,” said the cobbler, “if I restore you to your natural complexion, +and make a sound cure both in face and voice, will you in reward take me +for a husband?” + +“Yes, friend,” replied she, “with all my heart!” + +With this the cobbler applied the remedies, and they made her well in +a few weeks; after which they were married, and so set forward for the +Court at Colchester. When the queen found that her daughter had married +nothing but a poor cobbler, she hanged herself in wrath. The death of +the queen so pleased the king, who was glad to get rid of her so soon, +that he gave the cobbler a hundred pounds to quit the Court with his +lady, and take to a remote part of the kingdom, where he lived many +years mending shoes, his wife spinning the thread for him. + + + + +OYEZ-OYEZ-OYEZ + +THE ENGLISH FAIRY TALES + +ARE NOW CLOSED + +LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS + +MUST NOT READ ANY FURTHER + + + + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + +In the following notes I give first the _source_ whence I obtained the +various tales. Then come _parallels_ in some fulness for the United +Kingdom, but only a single example for foreign countries, with a +bibliographical reference where further variants can be found. Finally, +a few _remarks_ are sometimes added where the tale seems to need it. In +two cases (Nos. xvi. and xxi.) I have been more full. + + + +I. TOM TIT TOT. + +_Source_.--Unearthed by Mr. E. Clodd from the “Suffolk Notes and +Queries” of the _Ipswich Journal_, and reprinted by him in a paper on +“The Philosophy of Rumpelstiltskin” in _Folk-Lore Journal_, vii. 138-43. +I have reduced the Suffolk dialect. + +_Parallels_.--In Yorkshire this occurs as “Habetrot and Scantlie Mab,” + in Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, 221-6; in Devonshire +as “Duffy and the Devil” in Hunt's _Romances and Drolls of the West +of England_, 239-47; in Scotland two variants are given by Chambers, +_Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, under the title “Whuppity Stourie.” The +“name-guessing wager” is also found in “Peerifool”, printed by Mr. +Andrew Lang in _Longman's Magazine_, July 1889, also _Folk-Lore_, +September, 1890. It is clearly the same as Grimm's “Rumpelstiltskin” + (No. 14); for other Continental parallels see Mr. Clodd's article, and +Cosquin, _Contes pop. de Lorraine_, i. 269 _seq_. + +_Remarks_.--One of the best folk-tales that have ever been collected, +far superior to any of the continental variants of this tale with which +I am acquainted. Mr. Clodd sees in the class of name-guessing stories, a +“survival” of the superstition that to know a man's name gives you power +over him, for which reason savages object to tell their names. It may be +necessary, I find, to explain to the little ones that Tom Tit can only +be referred to as “that,” because his name is not known till the end. + + + +II. THE THREE SILLIES. + +_Source_.--From _Folk-Lore Journal_, ii. 40-3; to which it was +communicated by Miss C. Burne. + +_Parallels_.--Prof. Stephens gave a variant from his own memory in +_Folk-Lore Record_, iii. 155, as told in Essex at the beginning of the +century. Mr. Toulmin Smith gave another version in _The Constitutional_, +July 1, 1853, which was translated by his daughter, and contributed +to _Mélusine_, t. ii. An Oxfordshire version was given in _Notes and +Queries_, April 17, 1852. It occurs also in Ireland, Kennedy, _Fireside +Stories_, p. 9. It is Grimm's _Kluge Else_, No. 34, and is spread +through the world. Mr. Clouston devotes the seventh chapter of his _Book +of Noodles_ to the Quest of the Three Noodles. + + + +III. THE ROSE TREE. + +_Source_.--From the first edition of Henderson's _Folk-Lore of +Northern Counties_, p. 314, to which it was communicated by the Rev. S. +Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--This is better known under the title, “Orange and Lemon,” + and with the refrain: + + “My mother killed me, + My father picked my bones, + My little sister buried me, + Under the marble stones.” + +I heard this in Australia. Mr. Jones Gives part of it in _Folk Tales +of the Magyars_, 418-20, and another version occurs in 4 _Notes and +Queries_, vi. 496. Mr. I. Gollancz informs me he remembers a version +entitled “Pepper, Salt, and Mustard,” with the refrain just given. +Abroad it is Grimm's “Juniper Tree” (No. 47), where see further +parallels. The German rhyme is sung by Margaret in the mad scene of +Goethe's “Faust.” + + + +IV. OLD WOMAN AND PIG. + +_Source_.--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes and Tales_, 114. + +_Parallels_.--_Cf._ Miss Burne, _Shropshire Folk-Lore_, 529; also No. +xxxiv. _infra_ (“Cat and Mouse”). It occurs also in Scotch, with the +title “The Wife and her Bush of Berries,” Chambers's _Pop. Rhymes_, p. +57. Newell, _Games and Songs of American Children_, gives a game named +“Club-fist” (No. 75), founded on this, and in his notes refers to +German, Danish, and Spanish variants. (_Cf._ Cosquin, ii. 36 _seq._) + +_Remarks_.--One of the class of Accumulative stories, which are well +represented in England. (_Cf. infra_, Nos. xvi., xx., xxxiv.) + + + +V. HOW JACK SOUGHT HIS FORTUNE. + +_Source_.--_American Folk-Lore Journal_ I, 227-8. I have eliminated a +malodorous and un-English skunk. + +_Parallels_.--Two other versions are given in the _Journal l.c._ One +of these, however, was probably derived from Grimm's “Town Musicians of +Bremen” (No. 27). That the others came from across the Atlantic is shown +by the fact that it occurs in Ireland (Kennedy, _Fictions_, pp. 5-10) +and Scotland (Campbell, No. 11). For other variants, see R. Köhler in +Gonzenbach, _Sicil. Märchen_, ii. 245. + + + +VI. MR. VINEGAR. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 149. + +_Parallels_.--This is the _Hans im Glück_ of Grimm (No. 83). _Cf._ too, +“Lazy Jack,” _infra_, No. xxvii. Other variants are given by M. Cosquin, +_Contes pop. de Lorraine_, i. 241. On surprising robbers, see preceding +tale. + +_Remarks_.--In some of the variants the door is carried, because Mr. +Vinegar, or his equivalent, has been told to “mind the door,” or he acts +on the principle “he that is master of the door is master of the +house.” In other stories he makes the foolish exchanges to the entire +satisfaction of his wife. (_Cf._ Cosquin, i. 156-7.) + + + +VII. NIX NOUGHT NOTHING. + +_Source_.--From a Scotch tale, “Nicht Nought Nothing,” collected by Mr. +Andrew Lang in Morayshire, published by him first in _Revue Celtique_, +t. iii; then in his _Custom and Myth_, p. 89; and again in _Folk-Lore_, +Sept. 1890. I have changed the name so as to retain the _équivoque_ of +the giant's reply to the King. I have also inserted the incidents of +the flight, the usual ones in tales of this type, and expanded the +conclusion, which is very curtailed and confused in the original. The +usual ending of tales of this class contains the “sale of bed” incident, +for which see Child, i. 391. + +_Parallels_.--Mr. Lang, in the essay “A Far-travelled Tale” in which +he gives the story, mentions several variants of it, including the +classical myth of Jason and Medea. A fuller study in Cosquin, _l.c._, +ii. 12-28. For the finger ladder, see Köhler, in _Orient and Occident_, +ii. III. + + + +VIII. JACK HANNAFORD. + +_Source_.--Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_ (first edition), +p. 319. Communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--“Pilgrims from Paradise” are enumerated in Clouston's +_Book of Noodles_, pp. 205, 214-8. See also Cosquin, _l.c._, i. 239. + + + +IX. BINNORIE. + +_Source_.--From the ballad of the “Twa Sisters o' Binnorie.” I have used +the longer version in Roberts's _Legendary Ballads_, with one or two +touches from Mr. Allingham's shorter and more powerful variant in +_The Ballad Book_. A tale is the better for length, a ballad for its +curtness. + +_Parallels_.--The story is clearly that of Grimm's “Singing Bone” (No. +28), where one brother slays the other and buries him under a bush. +Years after a shepherd passing by finds a bone under the bush, and, +blowing through this, hears the bone denounce the murderer. For numerous +variants in Ballads and Folk Tales, see Prof. Child's _English and +Scotch Ballads_ (ed. 1886), i. 125, 493; iii. 499. + + + +X. MOUSE AND MOUSER. + +_Source_.--From memory by Mrs. E. Burne-Jones. + +_Parallels_.--A fragment is given in Halliwell, 43; Chambers's _Popular +Rhymes_ has a Scotch version, “The Cattie sits in the Kilnring spinning” + (p. 53). The surprise at the end, similar to that in Perrault's “Red +Riding Hood,” is a frequent device in English folk tales. (_Cf. infra_, +Nos. xii., xxiv., xxix., xxxiii., xli.) + + + +XI. CAP O' RUSHES. + +_Source_.--Discovered by Mr. E. Clodd, in “Suffolk Notes and Queries” of +the _Ipswich Journal_, published by Mr. Lang in _Longinan's Magazine_, +vol. xiii, also in _Folk-Lore_, Sept. 1890. + +_Parallels_.--The beginning recalls “King Lear.” For “loving like salt,” + see the parallels collected by Cosquin, i. 288. The whole story is a +version of the numerous class of Cinderella stories, the particular +variety being the Catskin sub-species analogous to Perrault's _Peau +d'Ane_. “Catskin” was told by Mr. Burchell to the young Primroses in +“The Vicar of Wakefield,'” and has been elaborately studied by the late +H. C. Coote, in _Folk-Lore Record_, iii. 1-25. It is only now extant +in ballad form, of which “Cap o' Rushes” may be regarded as a prose +version. + + + +XII. TEENY-TINY. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, 148. + + + +XIII. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. + +_Source_.--I tell this as it was told me in Australia, somewhere about +the year 1860. + +_Parallels_.--There is a chap-book version which is very poor; it is +given by Mr. E. S. Hartland, _English Folk and Fairy Tales_ (Camelot +Series), p. 35, _seq._ In this, when Jack arrives at the top of the +Beanstalk, he is met by a fairy, who gravely informs him that the ogre +had stolen all his possessions from Jack's father. The object of this +was to prevent the tale becoming an encouragement to theft! I have had +greater confidence in my young friends, and have deleted the fairy who +did not exist in the tale as told to me. For the Beanstalk elsewhere, +see Ralston, _Russian Folk Tales_, 293-8. Cosquin has some remarks on +magical ascents (i. 14). + + + +XIV. THREE LITTLE PIGS. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 16. + +_Parallels_.--The only known parallels are one from Venice, Bernoni, +_Trad. Pop._, punt. iii. p. 65, given in Crane, _Italian Popular +Tales_, p. 267, “The Three Goslings;” and a negro tale in _Lippincott's +Magazine_, December, 1877, p. 753 (“Tiny Pig”). + +_Remarks_.--As little pigs do not have hair on their chinny chin-chins, +I suspect that they were originally kids, who have. This would bring +the tale close to the Grimms' “Wolf and Seven Little Kids,” (No. 5). +In Steel and Temple's “Lambikin” (_Wide-awake Stories_, p. 71), the +Lambikin gets inside a Drumikin, and so nearly escapes the jackal. + + + +XV. MASTER AND PUPIL + +_Source_.--Henderson, _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, first edition, +p. 343, communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. The rhymes on the open +book have been supplied by Mr. Batten, in whose family, if I understand +him rightly, they have been long used for raising the----; something +similar occurs in Halliwell, p. 243, as a riddle rhyme. The mystic signs +in Greek are a familiar “counting-out rhyme”: these have been studied +in a monograph by Mr. H. C. Bolton; he thinks they are “survivals” of +incantations. Under the circumstances, it would be perhaps as well if +the reader did not read the lines out when alone. One never knows what +may happen. + +_Parallels_.--Sorcerers' pupils seem to be generally selected for their +stupidity--in folk-tales. Friar Bacon was defrauded of his labour in +producing the Brazen Head in a similar way. In one of the legends about +Virgil he summoned a number of demons, who would have torn him to +pieces if he had not set them at work (J. S. Tunison, _Master Virgil_, +Cincinnati, 1888, p. 30). + + + +XVI. TATTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 115. + +_Parallels_.--This curious droll is extremely widespread; references +are given in Cosquin, i. 204 _seq._, and Crane, _Italian Popular Tales_, +375-6. As a specimen I may indicate what is implied throughout these +notes by such bibliographical references by drawing up a list of the +variants of this tale noticed by these two authorities, adding one or +two lately printed. Various versions have been discovered in: + +ENGLAND: Halliwell, _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 115. + +SCOTLAND: K. Blind, in _Arch. Rev_. iii. (“Fleakin and Lousikin,” in the +Shetlands). + +FRANCE: _Mélusine_, 1877, col. 424; Sebillot, _Contes pop. de la Haute +Bretagne_, No. 55, _Litterature orale_, p. 232; _Magasin picturesque_, +1869, p. 82; Cosquin, _Contes pop. de Lorraine_, Nos. 18 and 74. + +ITALY: Pitrè, _Novelline popolari siciliane_, No. 134 (translated in +Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, p. 257); Imbriani, _La novellaja Fiorentina_, +p. 244; Bernoni, _Tradizione popolari veneziane_, punt. iii. p. 81; +Gianandrea, _Biblioteca delle tradizioni popolari marchigiane_, p.,11; +Papanti, _Novelline popolari livornesi_, p. 19 (“Vezzino e Madonna +Salciccia”); Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, p. 244; Morosi, _Studi +sui Dialetti Greci della Terra d'Otranto_, p. 75; _Giamb. Basile_, 1884, +p. 37. + +GERMANY: Grimm, _Kinder-und Hausmärchen_, No. 30; Kuhn and Schwarz, +_Norddeutsche Sagen_, No. 16. + +NORWAY: Asbjornsen, No. 103 (translated in Sir G. Dasent's _Tales from +the Field_, p. 30, “Death of Chanticleer”). + +SPAIN: Maspons, _Cuentos populars catalans_, p. 12; Fernan Caballero, +_Cuentos y sefrañes populares_, p. 3 (“La Hormiguita”). + +PORTUGAL: Coelho, _Contes popolares portuguezes_, No. 1. + +ROUMANIA: Kremnitz, _Rumänische Mährchen_, No. 15. + +ASIA MINOR: Von Hahn, _Griechische und Albanesische Märchen_, No. 56. + +INDIA: Steel and Temple, _Wide-awake Stories_, p. 157 (“The Death and +Burial of Poor Hen-Sparrow”). + +_Remarks_.--These 25 variants of the same jingle scattered over the +world from India to Spain, present the problem of the diffusion of +folk-tales in its simplest form. No one is likely to contend with Prof. +Müller and Sir George Cox, that we have here the detritus of archaic +Aryan mythology, a parody of a sun-myth. There is little that is savage +and archaic to attract the school of Dr. Tylor, beyond the speaking +powers of animals and inanimates. Yet even Mr. Lang is not likely to +hold that these variants arose by coincidence and independently in the +various parts of the world where they have been found. The only solution +is that the curious succession of incidents was invented once for all at +some definite place and time by some definite entertainer for children, +and spread thence through all the Old World. In a few instances we can +actually trace the passage-_e.g._, the Shetland version was certainly +brought over from Hamburg. Whether the centre of dispersion was India or +not, it is impossible to say, as it might have spread east from Smyrna +(Hahn, No. 56). Benfey (_Einleitung zu Pantschatantra_, i. 190-91) +suggests that this class of accumulative story may be a sort of parody +on the Indian stories, illustrating the moral, “what great events from +small occasions rise.” Thus, a drop of honey falls on the ground; a fly +goes after it, a bird snaps at the fly, a dog goes for the bird, another +dog goes for the first, the masters of the two dogs--who happen to be +kings--quarrel and go to war, whole provinces are devastated, and +all for a drop of honey! “Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse” also ends in +a universal calamity which seems to arise from a cause of no great +importance. Benfey's suggestion is certainly ingenious, but perhaps too +ingenious to be true. + + + +XVII. JACK AND HIS SNUFF-BOX. + +_Source_.-Mr. F. Hindes Groome, _In Gipsy Tents_, p. 201 _seq._ I have +eliminated a superfluous Gipsy who makes her appearance towards the +end of the tale _à propos des boltes_, but otherwise have left the tale +unaltered as one of the few English folk-tales that have been taken down +from the mouths of the peasantry: this applies also to i., ii., xi. + +_Parallels_.-There is a magic snuff-box with a friendly power in it in +Kennedy's _Fictions of the Irish Celts_, p. 49. The choice between a +small cake with a blessing, &c., is frequent (_cf._ No. xxiii.), but the +closest parallel to the whole story, including the mice, is afforded +by a tale in Carnoy and Nicolaides' _Traditions populaires de l'Asie +Mineure_, which is translated as the first tale in Mr. Lang's _Blue +Fairy Book_. There is much in both that is similar to Aladdin, I beg his +pardon, Allah-ed-din. + + + +XVIII. THE THREE BEARS. + +_Source_.--_Verbatim et literatim_ from Southey, _The Doctor, &c._, +quarto edition, p. 327. + +_Parallels_.--None, as the story was invented by Southey. There is an +Italian translation, _I tre Orsi_, Turin, 1868, and it would be curious +to see if the tale ever acclimatises itself in Italy. + +_Remarks_.--“The Three Bears” is the only example I know of where a +tale that can be definitely traced to a specific author has become a +folk-tale. Not alone is this so, but the folk has developed the tale in +a curious and instructive way, by substituting a pretty little girl with +golden locks for the naughty old woman. In Southey's version there is +nothing of Little Silverhair as the heroine: she seems to have been +introduced in a metrical version by G. N., much be-praised by Southey. +Silverhair seems to have become a favourite, and in Mrs. Valentine's +version of “The Three Bears,” in “The Old, Old Fairy Tales,” the visit +to the bear-house is only the preliminary to a long succession of +adventures of the pretty little girl, of which there is no trace in the +original (and this in “The Old, Old Fairy Tales.” Oh! Mrs. Valentine!). +I have, though somewhat reluctantly, cast back to the original form. +After all, as Prof. Dowden remarks, Southey's memory is kept alive more +by “The Three Bears” than anything else, and the text of such a nursery +classic should be retained in all its purity. + + + +XIX. JACK THE GIANT-KILLER. + +_Source_.--From two chap-books at the British Museum (London, 1805, +Paisley, 1814). I have taken some hints from “Felix Summerly's” (Sir +Henry Cole's) version, 1845. From the latter part, I have removed the +incident of the Giant dragging the lady along by her hair. + +_Parallels_.--The chap-book of “Jack the Giant-Killer” is a curious +jumble. The second part, as in most chap-books, is a weak and late +invention of the enemy, and is not _volkstümlich_ at all. The first part +is compounded of a comic and a serious theme. The first is that of the +Valiant Tailor (Grimm, No. 20); to this belong the incidents of the +fleabite blows (for variants of which see Köhler in _Jahrb. rom. eng. +Phil._, viii. 252), and that of the slit paunch (_cf._ Cosquin, _l.c._, +ii. 51). The Thankful Dead episode, where the hero is assisted by the +soul of a person whom he has caused to be buried, is found as early +as the _Cento novelle antiche_ and Straparola, xi. 2. It has been best +studied by Köhler in _Germania_, iii. 199-209 (_cf._ Cosquin, i. 214-5; +ii. 14 and note; and Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, 350, note 12). It occurs +also in the curious play of Peele's _The Old Wives' Tale_, in which one +of the characters is the Ghost of Jack. Practically the same story as +this part of Jack the Giant-Killer occurs in Kennedy, _Fictions of the +Irish Celts_, p. 32, “Jack the Master and Jack the Servant;” and Kennedy +adds (p. 38), “In some versions Jack the Servant is the spirit of the +buried man.” + +The “Fee-fi-fo-fum” formula is common to all English stories of giants +and ogres; it also occurs in Peele's play and in _King Lear_ (see note +on “Childe Rowland”). Messrs. Jones and Kropf have some remarks on it in +their “Magyar Tales,” pp. 340-1; so has Mr. Lang in his “Perrault,” p. +lxiii., where he traces it to the Furies in Aeschylus' _Eumenides_. + + + +XX. HENNY-PENNY. + +_Source_.--I give this as it was told me in Australia in 1860. The fun +consists in the avoidance of all pronouns, which results in jaw-breaking +sentences almost equal to the celebrated “She stood at the door of the +fish-sauce shop, welcoming him in.” + +_Parallels_.--Halliwell, p. 151, has the same with the title +“Chicken-Licken.” It occurs also in Chambers's _Popular Rhymes_, p. +59, with the same names of the _dramatis personae_, as my version. For +European parallels, see Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, 377, and authorities +there quoted. + + + +XXI. CHILDE ROWLAND. + +_Source_.--Jamieson's _Illustrations of Northern Antiquities_, 1814, p. +397 _seq._, who gives it as told by a tailor in his youth, _c._ 1770. I +have Anglicised the Scotticisms, eliminated an unnecessary ox-herd and +swine-herd, who lose their heads for directing the Childe, and I have +called the Erlkönig's lair the Dark Tower on the strength of the +description and of Shakespeare's reference. I have likewise suggested a +reason why Burd Ellen fell into his power, chiefly in order to introduce +a definition of “widershins.” “All the rest is the original horse,” even +including the erroneous description of the youngest son as the Childe or +heir (_cf._ “Childe Harold” and Childe Wynd, _infra_, No. xxxiii.), +unless this is some “survival” of Junior Right or “Borough English,” the +archaic custom of letting the heirship pass to the youngest son. I +should add that, on the strength of the reference to Merlin, Jamieson +calls Childe Rowland's mother, Queen Guinevere, and introduces +references to King Arthur and his Court. But as he confesses that these +are his own improvements on the tailor's narrative I have eliminated +them. + +_Parallels_.--The search for the Dark Tower is similar to that of the +Red Ettin, (_cf_. Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 222). The formula “youngest +best,” in which the youngest of three brothers succeeds after the +others have failed, is one of the most familiar in folk-tales amusingly +parodied by Mr. Lang in his _Prince Prigio_. The taboo against taking +food in the underworld occurs in the myth of Proserpine, and is also +frequent in folk-tales (Child, i. 322). But the folk-tale parallels +to our tale fade into insignificance before its brilliant literary +relationships. There can be little doubt that Edgar, in his mad scene in +_King Lear_, is alluding to our tale when he breaks into the lines: + +“Childe Rowland to the Dark Tower came....” His word was still: “Fie, +foh and fum, I smell the blood of a British man.” _King Lear_, act iii. +sc. 4, _ad fin_. + +[Footnote: “British” for “English.” This is one of the points that +settles the date of the play; James I. was declared King of Great +_Britain_, October 1604. I may add that Motherwell in his _Minstrelsy_, +p. xiv. note, testifies that the story was still extant in the nursery +at the time he wrote (1828).] + +The latter reference is to the cry of the King of Elfland. That some +such story was current in England in Shakespeare's time, is proved by +that curious _mélange_ of nursery tales, Peele's _The Old Wives' Tale_. +The main plot of this is the search of two brothers, Calypha and +Thelea, for a lost sister, Delia, who has been bespelled by a sorcerer, +Sacrapant (the names are taken from the “Orlando Furioso”). They are +instructed by an old man (like Merlin in “Childe Rowland”) how to rescue +their sister, and ultimately succeed. The play has besides this the +themes of the Thankful Dead, the Three Heads of the Well (which see), +the Life Index, and a transformation, so that it is not to be wondered +at if some of the traits of “Childe Rowland” are observed in it. + +But a still closer parallel is afforded by Milton's _Comus_. Here again +we have two brothers in search of a sister, who has got into the power +of an enchanter. But besides this, there is the refusal of the heroine +to touch the enchanted food, just as Childe Rowland finally refuses. +And ultimately the bespelled heroine is liberated by a liquid, which is +applied to her _lips and finger-tips_, just as Childe Rowland's brothers +are unspelled. Such a minute resemblance as this cannot be accidental, +and it is therefore probable that Milton used the original form of +“Childe Rowland,” or some variant of it, as heard in his youth, and +adapted it to the purposes of the masque at Ludlow Castle, and of +his allegory. Certainly no other folk-tale in the world can claim so +distinguished an offspring. + +_Remarks_.--Distinguished as “Childe Rowland” will be henceforth as +the origin of _Comus_, if my affiliation be accepted, it has even +more remarkable points of interest, both in form and matter, for the +folklorist, unless I am much mistaken. I will therefore touch upon these +points, reserving a more detailed examination for another occasion. + +First, as to the form of the narrative. This begins with verse, then +turns to prose, and throughout drops again at intervals into poetry in a +friendly way like Mr. Wegg. Now this is a form of writing not unknown in +other branches of literature, the _cante-fable_, of which “Aucassin et +Nicolette” is the most distinguished example. Nor is the _cante-fable_ +confined to France. Many of the heroic verses of the Arabs contained +in the _Hamâsa_ would be unintelligible without accompanying narrative, +which is nowadays preserved in the commentary. The verses imbedded +in the _Arabian Nights_ give them something of the character of a +_cante-fable_, and the same may be said of the Indian and Persian +story-books, though the verse is usually of a sententious and moral +kind, as in the _gâthas_ of the Buddhist Jatakas. Even as remote as +Zanzibar, Mr. Lang notes, the folk-tales are told as _cante-fables_. +There are even traces in the Old Testament of such screeds of verse amid +the prose narrative, as in the story of Lamech or that of Balaam. All +this suggests that this is a very early and common form of narrative. + +Among folk-tales there are still many traces of the _cante-fable_. Thus, +in Grimm's collection, verses occur in Nos. 1, 5, 11, 12, 13, 15, 19, +21, 24, 28, 30, 36, 38_a_, _b_, 39_a_, 40, 45, 46, 47, out of the first +fifty tales, 36 per cent. Of Chambers' twenty-one folk-tales, in the +_Popular Rhymes of Scotland_ only five are without interspersed verses. +Of the forty-three tales contained in this volume, three (ix., xxix., +xxxiii.) are derived from ballads and do not therefore count in the +present connection. Of the remaining forty, i., iii., vii., xvi., xix., +xxi., xxiii., xxv., xxxi., xxxv., xxxviii., xli. (made up from verses), +xliii., contain rhymed lines, while xiv., xxii., xxvi., and xxxvii., +contain “survivals” of rhymes (“let me come in--chinny chin-chin”; “once +again ... come to Spain;” “it is not so--should be so”; “and his lady, +him behind”); and x. and xxxii. are rhythmical if not rhyming. As most +of the remainder are drolls, which have probably a different origin, +there seems to be great probability that originally all folk-tales of a +serious character were interspersed with rhyme, and took therefore the +form of the _cante-fable_. It is indeed unlikely that the ballad +itself began as continuous verse, and the _cante-fable_ is probably +the protoplasm out of which both ballad and folk-tale have been +differentiated, the ballad by omitting the narrative prose, the +folk-tale by expanding it. In “Childe Rowland” we have the nearest +example to such protoplasm, and it is not difficult to see how it could +have been shortened into a ballad or reduced to a prose folk-tale pure +and simple. + +The subject-matter of “Childe Rowland” has also claims on our attention +especially with regard to recent views on the true nature and origin of +elves, trolls, and fairies. I refer to the recently published work of +Mr. D. MacRitchie, “The Testimony of Tradition” (Kegan Paul, Trench, +Trübner & Co.)--_i.e._, of tradition about the fairies and the rest. +Briefly put, Mr. MacRitchie's view is that the elves, trolls, and +fairies represented in popular tradition are really the mound-dwellers, +whose remains have been discovered in some abundance in the form of +green hillocks, which have been artificially raised over a long and low +passage leading to a central chamber open to the sky. Mr. MacRitchie +shows that in several instances traditions about trolls or “good +people” have attached themselves to mounds, which have afterwards on +investigation turned out to be evidently the former residence of men of +smaller build than the mortals of to-day. He goes on further to identify +these with the Picts--fairies are called “Pechs” in Scotland--and other +early races, but with these ethnological equations we need not much +concern ourselves. It is otherwise with the mound-traditions and their +relation, if not to fairy tales in general, to tales _about_ fairies, +trolls, elves, etc. These are very few in number, and generally bear the +character of anecdotes. The fairies, etc., steal a child, they help +a wanderer to a drink and then disappear into a green hill, they help +cottagers with their work at night but disappear if their presence is +noticed; human midwives are asked to help fairy mothers, fairy maidens +marry ordinary men or girls marry and live with fairy husbands. All +such things may have happened and bear no such _à priori_ marks of +impossibility as speaking animals, flying through the air, and similar +incidents of the folk-tale pure and simple. If, as archaeologists tell +us, there was once a race of men in Northern Europe, very short and +hairy, that dwelt in underground chambers artificially concealed by +green hillocks, it does not seem unlikely that odd survivors of the +race should have lived on after they had been conquered and nearly +exterminated by Aryan invaders and should occasionally have performed +something like the pranks told of fairies and trolls. + +Certainly the description of the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland in +“Childe Rowland,” has a remarkable resemblance to the dwellings of the +“good folk,” which recent excavations have revealed. By the kindness of +Mr. MacRitchie, I am enabled to give the reader illustrations of one of +the most interesting of these, the Maes-How of Orkney. This is a green +mound some 100 feet in length and 35 in breadth at its broadest part. +Tradition had long located a goblin in its centre, but it was not till +1861 that it was discovered to be pierced by a long passage 53 feet in +length, and only two feet four inches high, for half of its length. This +led into a central chamber 15 feet square and open to the sky. + +Now it is remarkable how accurately all this corresponds to the Dark +Tower of “Childe Rowland,” allowing for a little idealisation on the +part of the narrator. We have the long dark passage leading into the +well-lit central chamber, and all enclosed in a green hill or mound. +It is of course curious to contrast Mr. Batten's frontispiece with the +central chamber of the How, but the essential features are the same. +Even such a minute touch as the terraces on the hill have their bearing, +I believe, on Mr. MacRitchie's “realistic” views of Faerie. For in quite +another connection Mr. G. L. Gomme, in his recent “Village Community” + (W. Scott), pp. 75-98, has given reasons and examples for believing +that terrace cultivation along the sides of hills was a practice of the +non-Aryan and pre-Aryan inhabitants of these isles. [Footnote: To these +may be added Iona (_cf._ Duke of Argyll, _Iona_, p. 109).] Here then +from a quarter quite unexpected by Mr. MacRitchie, we have evidence +of the association of the King of Elfland with a non-Aryan mode of +cultivation of the soil. By Mr. Gomme's kindness I am enabled to give an +illustration of this. + +Altogether it seems not improbable that in such a tale as “Childe +Rowland” we have an idealised picture of a “marriage by capture” of one +of the diminutive non-Aryan dwellers of the green hills with an Aryan +maiden, and her re-capture by her brothers. It is otherwise difficult to +account for such a circumstantial description of the interior of these +mounds, and especially of such a detail as the terrace cultivation on +them. At the same time it must not be thought that Mr. MacRitchie's +views explain all fairy tales, or that his identifications of Finns += Fenians = Fairies = Sidhe = “Pechs” = Picts, will necessarily be +accepted. His interesting book, so far as it goes, seems to throw light +on tales about mermaids (Finnish women in their “kayaks,”) and trolls, +but not necessarily, on fairy tales in general. Thus, in the present +volume, besides “Childe Rowland,” there is only “Tom Tit Tot” in his +hollow, the green hill in “Kate Crackernuts,” the “Cauld Lad of Hilton,” + and perhaps the “Fairy Ointment,” that are affected by his views. + +Finally, there are a couple of words in the narrative that deserve a +couple of words of explanation: “Widershins” is probably, as Mr. Batten +suggests, analogous to the German “wider Schein,” against the appearance +of the sun, “counter-clockwise” as the mathematicians say--_i.e._, W., +S., E., N., instead of with the sun and the hands of a clock; why +it should have an unspelling influence is hard to say. “Bogle” is a +provincial word for “spectre,” and is analogous to the Welsh _bwg_, +“goblin,” and to the English insect of similar name, and still more +curiously to the Russian “Bog,” God, after which so many Russian rivers +are named. I may add that “Burd” is etymologically the same as “bride” + and is frequently used in the early romances for “Lady.” + + + +XXII. MOLLY WHUPPIE. + +_Source_.--_Folk-Lore Journal_, ii. p. 68, forwarded by Rev. Walter +Gregor. I have modified the dialect and changed “Mally” into “Molly.” + +_Parallels_.--The first part is clearly the theme of “Hop o' my Thumb,” + which Mr. Lang has studied in his “Perrault,” pp. civ.-cxi. (_cf._ +Köhler, _Occident_, ii. 301.) The change of night-dresses occurs in +Greek myths. The latter part wanders off into “rob giant of three +things,” a familiar incident in folk-tales (Cosquin, i. 46-7), and +finally winds up with the “out of sack” trick, for which see Cosquin, +i. 113; ii. 209; and Köhler on Campbell, in _Occident and Orient_, ii. +489-506. + + + +XXIII. RED ETTIN. + +_Source_.--“The Red Etin” in Chambers's _Pop. Rhymes of Scotland_, p. +89. I have reduced the adventurers from three to two, and cut down +the herds and their answers. I have substituted riddles from the first +English collection of riddles, _The Demandes Joyous_ of Wynkyn de Worde, +for the poor ones of the original, which are besides not solved. “Ettin” + is the English spelling of the word, as it is thus spelt in a passage +of Beaumont and Fletcher (_Knight of Burning Pestle_, i. 1), which may +refer to this very story, which, as we shall see, is quite as old as +their time. + +_Parallels_.--“The Red Etin” is referred to in _The Complaynt of +Scotland_, about 1548. It has some resemblance to “Childe Rowland,” + which see. The “death index,” as we may call tokens that tell the state +of health of a parted partner, is a usual incident in the theme of the +Two Brothers, and has been studied by the Grimms, i. 421, 453; ii. 403; +by Köhler on Campbell, _Occ. u. Or._, ii. 119-20; on Gonzenbach, ii. +230; on Bladé, 248; by Cosquin, _l.c._, i. 70-2, 193; by Crane, _Ital. +Pop. Tales_, 326; and by Jones and Kropf, _Magyar Tales_, 329. Riddles +generally come in the form of the “riddle-bride-wager” (_cf._ Child, +_Ballads_, i. 415-9; ii. 519), when the hero or heroine wins a spouse by +guessing a riddle or riddles. Here it is the simpler Sphinx form of the +“riddle task,” on which see Köhler in _Jahrb. rom. Phil._, vii. 273, and +on Gonzenbach, 215. + + + +XXIV. GOLDEN ARM. + +_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, p. 338, collected by the Rev. S. +Baring-Gould, in Devonshire. Mr. Burne-Jones remembers hearing it in his +youth in Warwickshire. + +_Parallels_.--The first fragment at the end of Grimm (ii. 467, of Mrs. +Hunt's translation), tells of an innkeeper's wife who had used the liver +of a man hanging on the gallows, whose ghost comes to her and tells her +what has become of his hair, and his eyes, and the dialogue concludes + + “SHE: Where is thy liver? + IT: Thou hast devoured it!” + +For similar “surprise packets” see Cosquin, ii. 77. + +_Remarks_.--It is doubtful how far such gruesome topics should be +introduced into a book for children, but as a matter of fact the +_katharsis_ of pity and terror among the little ones is as effective as +among the spectators of a drama, and they take the same kind of pleasant +thrill from such stories. They know it is all make-believe just as much +as the spectators of a tragedy. Every one who has enjoyed the blessing +of a romantic imagination has been trained up on such tales of wonder. + + + +XXV. TOM THUMB. + +_Source_.--From the chap-book contained in Halliwell, p. 199, and Mr. +Hartland's _English Folk and Fairy Tales_. I have omitted much of the +second part. + +_Parallels_.--Halliwell has also a version entirely in verse. “Tom +Thumb” is “Le petit Poucet” of the French, “Daumling” of the Germans, +and similar diminutive heroes elsewhere (_cf._ Deulin, _Contes de ma +Mère l'Oye_, 326), but of his adventures only that in the cow's stomach +(_cf._ Cosquin, ii. 190) is common with his French and German cousins. +M. Gaston Paris has a monograph on “Tom Thumb.” + + + +XXVI. MR. FOX. + +_Source_.--Contributed by Blakeway to Malone's Variorum Shakespeare, to +illustrate Benedick's remark in _Much Ado about Nothing_ (I. i. 146): +“Like the old tale, my Lord, 'It is not so, nor 'twas not so, but, +indeed, God forbid it should be so;'” which clearly refers to the tale +of Mr. Fox. “The Forbidden Chamber” has been studied by Mr. Hartland, +_Folk-Lore Journal_, iii. 193, _seq._ + +_Parallels_.--Halliwell, p. 166, gives a similar tale of “An Oxford +Student,” whose sweetheart saw him digging her grave. “Mr. Fox” is +clearly a variant of the theme of “The Robber Bridegroom” (Grimm, No. +40, Mrs. Hunt's translation, i. 389, 395; and Cosquin, i. 180-1). + + + +XXVII. LAZY JACK. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, 157. + +_Parallels_.--The same story occurs in Lowland Scotch as “Jock and +his Mother,” Chambers, _l.c._, 101; in Ireland, as “I'll be wiser next +time,” Kennedy, _l.c._, 39-42. Abroad it is Grimm's _Hans im Glück_ +(No. 83). The “cure by laughing” incident is “common form” in folk-tales +(_cf._ Köhler on Gonzenbach, _Sizil. Märchen_, ii. 210, 224; Jones and +Kropf, _Magyar Tales_, 312). + + + +XXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE. + +_Source_.--_American Journal of Folk-Lore_, ii. 60. + +_Parallels_.--Another variant is given in the same _Journal_, p. 277, +where reference is also made to a version “The Gingerbread Boy,” in +_St. Nicholas_, May 1875. Chambers gives two versions of the same story, +under the title “The Wee Bunnock,” the first of which is one of the most +dramatic and humorous of folk-tales. Unfortunately, the Scotticisms are +so frequent as to render the droll practically untranslatable. “The Fate +of Mr. Jack Sparrow” in _Uncle Remus_ is similar to that of Johnny-Cake. + + + +XXIX. EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER. + +_Source_.--From the ballad of the same name as given in Mr. Allingham's +_Ballad Book_: it is clearly a fairy tale and not a ballad proper. + +_Parallels_.--The lover visiting his spouse in guise of a bird, is a +frequent _motif_ in folk-tales. + + + +XXX. MR. MIACCA. + +_Source_.--From memory of Mrs. B. Abrahams, who heard it from her mother +some _x_ years ago (more than 40). I have transposed the two incidents, +as in her version Tommy Grimes was a clever carver and carried about +with him a carven leg. This seemed to me to exceed the limits of +_vraisemblance_ even for a folk-tale. + +_Parallels_.--Getting out of an ogre's clutches by playing on the +simplicity of his wife, occurs in “Molly Whuppie” (No. xxii.), and its +similars. In the Grimms' “Hansel and Grethel,” Hansel pokes out a stick +instead of his finger that the witch may not think him fat enough for +the table. + +_Remarks_.--Mr. Miacca seems to have played the double _rôle_ of a +domestic Providence. He not alone punished bad boys, as here, but also +rewarded the good, by leaving them gifts on appropriate occasions like +Santa Claus or Father Christmas, who, as is well known, only leave +things for good children. Mrs. Abrahams remembers one occasion well +when she nearly caught sight of Mr. Miacca, just after he had left her a +gift; she saw his shadow in the shape of a bright light passing down the +garden. + + + +XXXI. DICK WHITTINGTON. + +_Source_.--I have cobbled this up out of three chap-book versions; (1) +that contained in Mr. Hartland's _English Folk-tales_; (2) that edited +by Mr. H. B. Wheatley for the Villon Society; (3) that appended to +Messrs. Besant and Rice's monograph. + +_Parallels_.--Whittington's cat has made the fortune of his master in +all parts of the Old World, as Mr. W. A. Clouston, among others, +has shown, _Popular Tales and Fictions_, ii. 65-78 (_cf._ Köhler on +Gonzenbach, ii. 251). + +_Remarks_.--If Bow Bells had pealed in the exact and accurate nineteenth +century, they doubtless would have chimed + + Turn again, Whittington, + Thrice and a half Lord Mayor of London. + +For besides his three mayoralties of 1397, 1406, and 1419, he served as +Lord Mayor in place of Adam Bamme, deceased, in the latter half of +the mayoralty of 1396. It will be noticed that the chap-book puts the +introduction of potatoes rather far back. + + + +XXXII. THE STRANGE VISITOR + +_Source_.--From Chambers, _l.c._, 64, much Anglicised. I have retained +“Aih-late-wee-moul,” though I candidly confess I have not the slightest +idea what it means; judging other children by myself, I do not +think that makes the response less effective. The prosaic-minded may +substitute “Up-late-and-little-food.” + +_Parallels_.--The man made by instalments, occurs in the Grimms' No. 4, +and something like it in an English folk-tale, _The Golden Ball_, _ap._ +Henderson, _l.c._, p. 333. + + + +XXXIII. THE LAIDLY WORM. + +_Source_.--From an eighteenth-century ballad of the Rev. Mr. Lamb of +Norham, as given in Prof. Child's _Ballads_; with a few touches and +verses from the more ancient version “Kempion.” A florid prose version +appeared in _Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore_ for May 1890. I +have made the obvious emendation of + +O quit your sword, unbend your bow + +for + +O quit your sword, and bend your bow. + +_Parallels_.--The ballad of “Kempe Owein” is a more general version +which “The Laidly Worm” has localised near Bamborough. We learn from +this that the original hero was Kempe or Champion Owain, the Welsh hero +who flourished in the ninth century. Childe Wynd therefore = Childe +Owein. The “Deliverance Kiss” has been studied by Prof. Child, _l.c._, +i. 207. A noteworthy example occurs in Boiardo's _Orlando Inamorato_, +cc. xxv., xxvi. + +_Remarks_.--It is perhaps unnecessary to give the equations “Laidly Worm += Loathly Worm = Loathsome Dragon,” and “borrowed = changed.” + + + +XXXIV. CAT AND MOUSE. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 154. + +_Parallels_.--Scarcely more than a variant of the “Old Woman and her +Pig” (No. iv.), which see. It is curious that a very similar “run” is +added by Bengali women at the end of every folk-tale they tell (Lal +Behari Day, _Folk Tales of Bengal_, Pref. _ad fin._) + + + +XXXV. THE FISH AND THE RING. + +_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, p. 326, from a communication by the Rev. +S. Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--“Jonah rings” have been put together by Mr. Clouston +in his _Popular Tales_, i. 398, &c.: the most famous are those of +Polycrates, of Solomon, and the Sanskrit drama of “Sakuntala,” the plot +of which turns upon such a ring. “Letters to kill bearer” have been +traced from Homer downwards by Prof. Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 220, and +“the substituted letter” by the same authority in _Occ. u. Or._, ii. +289. Mr. Baring-Gould, who was one of the pioneers of the study of +folk-tales in this country, has given a large number of instances of +“the pre-ordained marriage” in folk-tales in Henderson, _l.c._ + + + +XXXVI. THE MAGPIE'S NEST. + +_Source_.--I have built up the “Magpie's Nest” from two nidification +myths, as a German professor would call them, in the Rev. Mr. +Swainson's _Folk-Lore of British Birds_, pp. 80 and 166. I have received +instruction about the relative values of nests from a little friend of +mine named Katie, who knows all about it. If there is any mistake in +the order of neatness in the various birds' nests, I must have learnt my +lesson badly. + +_Remarks_.--English popular tradition is curiously at variance about the +magpie's nidificatory powers, for another legend given by Mr. Swainson +represents her as refusing to be instructed by the birds and that is why +she does _not_ make a good nest. + + + +XXXVII. KATE CRACKERNUTS. + +_Source_.--Given by Mr. Lang in _Longman's Magazine_, vol. xiv. and +reprinted in _Folk-Lore_, Sept. 1890. It is very corrupt, both girls +being called Kate, and I have had largely to rewrite. + +_Parallels_.--There is a tale which is clearly a cousin if not a parent +of this in _Kennedy's Fictions_, 54 _seq._, containing the visit to the +green hill (for which see “Childe Rowland”), a reference to nuts, +and even the sesame rhyme. The prince is here a corpse who becomes +revivified; the same story is in Campbell No. 13. The jealous stepmother +is “universally human.” (_Cf._ Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 206.) + + + +XXXVIII. THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON. + +_Source_.--Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, 2nd edition, +published by the Folk-Lore Society, pp. 266-7. I have written the +introductory paragraph so as to convey some information about Brownies, +Bogles, and Redcaps, for which Henderson, _l.c._, 246-53, is my +authority. Mr. Batten's portrait renders this somewhat superfluous. + +_Parallels_.--The Grimms' “Elves” (No. 39) behave in like manner +on being rewarded for their services. Milton's “lubbar-fiend” in +_L'Allegro_ has all the characteristics of a Brownie. + + + +XXXIX. ASS, TABLE AND STICK. + +_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, first edition, pp. 327-9, by the Rev. S. +Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--Mr. Baring-Gould gives another version from the East +Riding, _l.c._, 329, in which there are three brothers who go through +the adventures. He also refers to European Variants, p. 311, which could +now be largely supplemented from Cosquin, i. 53-4, ii. 66, 171. + +_Remarks_.--As an example of the sun-myth explanation of folk-tales I +will quote the same authority (p. 314): “The Master, who gives the three +precious gifts, is the All Father, the Supreme Spirit. The gold and +jewel-dropping ass, is the spring cloud, hanging in the sky and shedding +the bright productive vernal showers. The table which covers itself is +the earth becoming covered with flowers and fruit at the bidding of +the New Year. But there is a check; rain is withheld, the process +of vegetation is stayed by some evil influence. Then comes the +thunder-cloud, out of which leaps the bolt; the rains pour down, the +earth receives them, and is covered with abundance--all that was lost is +recovered.” + +Mr. Baring-Gould, it is well-known, has since become a distinguished +writer of fiction. + + + +XL. FAIRY OINTMENT. + +_Source_.--Mrs. Bray, _The Tamar and the Tavy_, i. 174 (letters to +Southey), as quoted by Mr. Hartland in _Folk-Lore_, i. 207-8. I have +christened the anonymous midwife and euphemised her profession. + +_Parallels_.--Mr. Hartland has studied Human Midwives in the _Archaeol. +Review_, iv., and parallels to our story in _Folk-Lore_, i. 209, _seq._; +the most interesting of these is from Gervase of Tilbury (xiii. cent.), +_Otia Imper._, iii. 85, and three Breton tales given by M. Sebillot +(_Contes_, ii. 42; _Litt. orale_, 23; _Trad. et Superst._, i. 109). +_Cf._ Prof. Child, i. 339; ii. 505. + + + +XLI. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END. + +_Source_.--Leyden's edition of _The Complaynt of Scotland_, p. 234 +_seq._, with additional touches from Halliwell, 162-3, who makes up a +slightly different version from the rhymes. The opening formula I have +taken from Mayhew, _London Labour_, iii. 390, who gives it as the usual +one when tramps tell folk-tales. I also added it to No. xvii. + +_Parallels_.--Sir W. Scott remembered a similar story; see Taylor's +_Gammer Grethel, ad fin_. In Scotland it is Chambers's tale of _The +Paddo_, p. 87; Leyden supposes it is referred to in the _Complaynt_, (c. +1548), as “The Wolf of the Warldis End.” The well of this name occurs +also in the Scotch version of the “Three Heads of the Well,” (No. +xliii.). Abroad it is the Grimms' first tale, while frogs who would +a-wooing go are discussed by Prof. Köhler, _Occ. u. Orient_ ii. 330; by +Prof. Child, i. 298; and by Messrs. Jones and Kropf, _l.c._, p. 404. The +sieve-bucket task is widespread from the Danaids of the Greeks to the +leverets of _Uncle Remus_, who, curiously enough, use the same rhyme: +“Fill it wid moss en dob it wid clay.” _Cf._, too, No. xxiii. + + + +XLII. MASTER OF ALL MASTERS. + +_Source_.--I have taken what suited me from a number of sources, which +shows how wide-spread this quaint droll is in England: (i) In Mayhew, +_London Poor_, iii. 391, told by a lad in a workhouse; (ii) several +versions in 7 _Notes and Queries_, iii. 35, 87, 159, 398. + +_Parallels_.--Rev. W. Gregor gives a Scotch version under the title “The +Clever Apprentice,” in _Folk-Lore Journal_, vii. 166. Mr. Hartland, in +_Notes and Queries_, _l.c._, 87, refers to Pitré's _Fiabi sicil._, iii. +120, for a variant. + +_Remarks_.--According to Mr. Hartland, the story is designed as a satire +on pedantry, and is as old in Italy as Straparola (sixteenth century). +In passionate Sicily a wife disgusted with her husband's pedantry +sets the house on fire, and informs her husband of the fact in this +unintelligible gibberish; he, not understanding his own lingo, falls +a victim to the flames, and she marries the servant who had taken the +message. + + + +XLIII. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 158. The second wish has been somewhat +euphemised. + +_Parallels_.--The story forms part of Peele's _Old Wives' Tale_, where +the rhyme was + + _A Head rises in the well_, + Fair maiden, white and red, + Stroke me smooth and comb my head, + And thou shalt have some cockell-bread. + +It is also in Chambers, _l.c._, 105, where the well is at the World's +End (_cf._ No. xli.). The contrasted fates of two step-sisters, is the +Frau Holle (Grimm, No. 24) type of Folk-tale studied by Cosquin, i. 250, +_seq._ “Kate Crackernuts” (No. xxxvii.) is a pleasant contrast to this. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of English Fairy Tales, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH FAIRY TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 7439-0.txt or 7439-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/4/3/7439/ + +Produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. 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: + + 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/7439-0.zip b/7439-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..95005b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/7439-0.zip diff --git a/7439-8.txt b/7439-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..05e9443 --- /dev/null +++ b/7439-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7224 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of English Fairy Tales, by Anonymous + +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: English Fairy Tales + +Author: Anonymous + +Editor: Joseph Jacobs + + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7439] +This file was first posted on April 30, 2003 +Last Updated: May 20, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH FAIRY TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP + + + + + + + +ENGLISH FAIRY TALES + +By Anonymous + + +_COLLECTED BY_ JOSEPH JACOBS + + + + +_HOW TO GET INTO THIS BOOK._ + + _Knock at the Knocker on the Door, + Pull the Bell at the side,_ + +_Then, if you are very quiet, you will hear a teeny tiny voice say +through the grating "Take down the Key." This you will find at the back: +you cannot mistake it, for it has J. J. in the wards. Put the Key in the +Keyhole, which it fits exactly, unlock the door and WALK IN._ + + + +_TO MY DEAR LITTLE MAY_ + + + + +PREFACE + +Who says that English folk have no fairy-tales of their own? The present +volume contains only a selection out of some 140, of which I have found +traces in this country. It is probable that many more exist. + +A quarter of the tales in this volume, have been collected during the +last ten years or so, and some of them have not been hitherto published. +Up to 1870 it was equally said of France and of Italy, that they +possessed no folk-tales. Yet, within fifteen years from that date, over +1000 tales had been collected in each country. I am hoping that the +present volume may lead to equal activity in this country, and would +earnestly beg any reader of this book who knows of similar tales, to +communicate them, written down as they are told, to me, care of Mr. +Nutt. The only reason, I imagine, why such tales have not hitherto +been brought to light, is the lamentable gap between the governing and +recording classes and the dumb working classes of this country--dumb to +others but eloquent among themselves. It would be no unpatriotic task +to help to bridge over this gulf, by giving a common fund of nursery +literature to all classes of the English people, and, in any case, it +can do no harm to add to the innocent gaiety of the nation. + +A word or two as to our title seems necessary. We have called our +stories Fairy Tales though few of them speak of fairies. [Footnote: For +some recent views on fairies and tales _about_ fairies, see Notes.] The +same remark applies to the collection of the Brothers Grimm and to all +the other European collections, which contain exactly the same classes +of tales as ours. Yet our stories are what the little ones mean when +they clamour for "Fairy Tales," and this is the only name which they +give to them. One cannot imagine a child saying, "Tell us a folk-tale, +nurse," or "Another nursery tale, please, grandma." As our book is +intended for the little ones, we have indicated its contents by the name +they use. The words "Fairy Tales" must accordingly be taken to +include tales in which occurs something "fairy," something +extraordinary--fairies, giants, dwarfs, speaking animals. It must +be taken also to cover tales in which what is extraordinary is the +stupidity of some of the actors. Many of the tales in this volume, as +in similar collections for other European countries, are what the +folklorists call Drolls. They serve to justify the title of Merrie +England, which used to be given to this country of ours, and indicate +unsuspected capacity for fun and humour among the unlettered classes. +The story of Tom Tit Tot, which opens our collection, is unequalled +among all other folk-tales I am acquainted with, for its combined sense +of humour and dramatic power. + +The first adjective of our title also needs a similar extension of its +meaning. I have acted on Molire's principle, and have taken what was +good wherever I could find it. Thus, a couple of these stories have been +found among descendants of English immigrants in America; a couple of +others I tell as I heard them myself in my youth in Australia. One of +the best was taken down from the mouth of an English Gipsy. I have also +included some stories that have only been found in Lowland Scotch. +I have felt justified in doing this, as of the twenty-one folk-tales +contained in Chambers' "Popular Rhymes of Scotland," no less than +sixteen are also to be found in an English form. With the Folk-tale as +with the Ballad, Lowland Scotch may be regarded as simply a dialect +of English, and it is a mere chance whether a tale is extant in one or +other, or both. + +I have also rescued and re-told a few Fairy Tales that only exist +now-a-days in the form of ballads. There are certain indications that +the "common form" of the English Fairy Tale was the _cante-fable_, a +mixture of narrative and verse of which the most illustrious example in +literature is "Aucassin et Nicolette." In one case I have endeavoured to +retain this form, as the tale in which it occurs, "Childe Rowland," +is mentioned by Shakespeare in _King Lear_, and is probably, as I have +shown, the source of Milton's _Comus_. Late as they have been collected, +some dozen of the tales can be traced back to the sixteenth century, two +of them being quoted by Shakespeare himself. + +In the majority of instances I have had largely to rewrite these Fairy +Tales, especially those in dialect, including the Lowland Scotch. +[Footnote: It is perhaps worth remarking that the Brothers Grimm did the +same with their stories. "Dass der Ausdruck," say they in their Preface, +"und die Ausfhrung des Einzelnen grossentheils von uns herrhrt, +versteht sich von selbst." I may add that many of their stories +were taken from printed sources. In the first volume of Mrs. Hunt's +translation, Nos. 12, 18, 19, 23, 32, 35, 42, 43, 44, 69, 77, 78, 83, +89, are thus derived.] Children, and sometimes those of larger +growth, will not read dialect. I have also had to reduce the flatulent +phraseology of the eighteenth-century chap-books, and to re-write in +simpler style the stories only extant in "Literary" English. I have, +however, left a few vulgarisms in the mouths of vulgar people. Children +appreciate the dramatic propriety of this as much as their elders. +Generally speaking, it has been my ambition to write as a good old nurse +will speak when she tells Fairy Tales. I am doubtful as to my success in +catching the colloquial-romantic tone appropriate for such narratives, +but the thing had to be done or else my main object, to give a book of +English Fairy Tales which English children will listen to, would have +been unachieved. This book is meant to be read aloud, and not merely +taken in by the eye. + +In a few instances I have introduced or changed an incident. I have +never done so, however, without mentioning the fact in the Notes. These +have been relegated to the obscurity of small print and a back place, +while the little ones have been, perhaps unnecessarily, warned off them. +They indicate my sources and give a few references to parallels and +variants which may be of interest to fellow-students of Folk-lore. It +is, perhaps, not necessary to inform readers who are not fellow-students +that the study of Folk-tales has pretensions to be a science. It has its +special terminology, and its own methods of investigation, by which it +is hoped, one of these days, to gain fuller knowledge of the workings +of the popular mind as well as traces of archaic modes of thought and +custom. I hope on some future occasion to treat the subject of +the English Folk-tale on a larger scale and with all the necessary +paraphernalia of prolegomena and excursus. I shall then, of course, +reproduce my originals with literal accuracy, and have therefore felt +the more at liberty on the present occasion to make the necessary +deviations from this in order to make the tales readable for children. + +Finally, I have to thank those by whose kindness in waiving their rights +to some of these stories, I have been enabled to compile this book. My +friends Mr. E. Clodd, Mr. F. Hindes Groome, and Mr. Andrew Lang, +have thus yielded up to me some of the most attractive stories in +the following pages. The Councils of the English and of the American +Folk-lore Societies, and Messrs. Longmans, have also been equally +generous. Nor can I close these remarks without a word of thanks and +praise to the artistic skill with which my friend, Mr. J. D. Batten, has +made the romance and humour of these stories live again in the brilliant +designs with which he has adorned these pages. It should be added that +the dainty headpieces to "Henny Penny" and "Mr. Fox" are due to my old +friend, Mr. Henry Ryland. + +JOSEPH JACOBS. + + + +CONTENTS + +I. TOM TIT TOT II. THE THREE SILLIES III. THE ROSE-TREE IV. THE OLD +WOMAN AND HER PIG V. HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE VI. MR. VINEGAR +VII. NIX NOUGHT NOTHING VIII. JACK HANNAFORD IX. BINNORIE X. MOUSE AND +MOUSER XI. CAP O' RUSHES XII. TEENY-TINY XIII. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK +XIV. THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS XV. THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL +XVI. TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE XVII. JACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX +XVIII. THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS XIX. JACK THE GIANT-KILLER XX. +HENNY-PENNY XXI. CHILDE ROWLAND XXII. MOLLY WHUPPIE XXIII. THE RED ETTIN +XXIV. THE GOLDEN ARM XXV. THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB XXVI. MR. FOX XXVII. +LAZY JACK XXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE XXIX. EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER XXX. MR. MIACCA +XXXI. WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT XXXII. THE STRANGE VISITOR XXXIII. THE +LAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH XXXIV. THE CAT AND THE MOUSE. XXXV. +THE FISH AND THE RING. XXXVI. THE MAGPIE'S NEST XXXVII. KATE CRACKERNUTS +XXXVIII. THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON XXXIX. THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE +STICK XL. FAIRY OINTMENT XLI. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END. XLII. MASTER +OF ALL MASTERS. XLIII. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + + + + +TOM TIT TOT + +Once upon a time there was a woman, and she baked five pies. And when +they came out of the oven, they were that overbaked the crusts were too +hard to eat. So she says to her daughter: + +"Darter," says she, "put you them there pies on the shelf, and leave 'em +there a little, and they'll come again."--She meant, you know, the crust +would get soft. + +But the girl, she says to herself: "Well, if they'll come again, I'll +eat 'em now." And she set to work and ate 'em all, first and last. + +Well, come supper-time the woman said: "Go you, and get one o' them +there pies. I dare say they've come again now." + +The girl went and she looked, and there was nothing but the dishes. So +back she came and says she: "Noo, they ain't come again." + +"Not one of 'em?" says the mother. + +"Not one of 'em," says she. + +"Well, come again, or not come again," said the woman "I'll have one for +supper." + +"But you can't, if they ain't come," said the girl. + +"But I can," says she. "Go you, and bring the best of 'em." + +"Best or worst," says the girl, "I've ate 'em all, and you can't have +one till that's come again." + +Well, the woman she was done, and she took her spinning to the door to +spin, and as she span she sang: + + "My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day. + My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day." + +The king was coming down the street, and he heard her sing, but what she +sang he couldn't hear, so he stopped and said: + +"What was that you were singing, my good woman?" + +The woman was ashamed to let him hear what her daughter had been doing, +so she sang, instead of that: + + "My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day. + My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day." + +"Stars o' mine!" said the king, "I never heard tell of any one that +could do that." + +Then he said: "Look you here, I want a wife, and I'll marry your +daughter. But look you here," says he, "eleven months out of the year +she shall have all she likes to eat, and all the gowns she likes to get, +and all the company she likes to keep; but the last month of the year +she'll have to spin five skeins every day, and if she don't I shall kill +her." + +"All right," says the woman; for she thought what a grand marriage that +was. And as for the five skeins, when the time came, there'd be plenty +of ways of getting out of it, and likeliest, he'd have forgotten all +about it. + +Well, so they were married. And for eleven months the girl had all she +liked to eat, and all the gowns she liked to get, and all the company +she liked to keep. + +But when the time was getting over, she began to think about the skeins +and to wonder if he had 'em in mind. But not one word did he say about +'em, and she thought he'd wholly forgotten 'em. + +However, the last day of the last month he takes her to a room she'd +never set eyes on before. There was nothing in it but a spinning-wheel +and a stool. And says he: "Now, my dear, here you'll be shut in +to-morrow with some victuals and some flax, and if you haven't spun five +skeins by the night, your head'll go off." + +And away he went about his business. + +Well, she was that frightened, she'd always been such a gatless girl, +that she didn't so much as know how to spin, and what was she to do +to-morrow with no one to come nigh her to help her? She sat down on a +stool in the kitchen, and law! how she did cry! + +However, all of a sudden she heard a sort of a knocking low down on the +door. She upped and oped it, and what should she see but a small little +black thing with a long tail. That looked up at her right curious, and +that said: + +"What are you a-crying for?" + +"What's that to you?" says she. + +"Never you mind," that said, "but tell me what you're a-crying for." + +"That won't do me no good if I do," says she. + +"You don't know that," that said, and twirled that's tail round. + +"Well," says she, "that won't do no harm, if that don't do no good," and +she upped and told about the pies, and the skeins, and everything. + +"This is what I'll do," says the little black thing, "I'll come to your +window every morning and take the flax and bring it spun at night." + +"What's your pay?" says she. + +That looked out of the corner of that's eyes, and that said: "I'll +give you three guesses every night to guess my name, and if you haven't +guessed it before the month's up you shall be mine." + +Well, she thought she'd be sure to guess that's name before the month +was up. "All right," says she, "I agree." + +"All right," that says, and law! how that twirled that's tail. + +Well, the next day, her husband took her into the room, and there was +the flax and the day's food. + +"Now there's the flax," says he, "and if that ain't spun up this night, +off goes your head." And then he went out and locked the door. + +He'd hardly gone, when there was a knocking against the window. + +She upped and she oped it, and there sure enough was the little old +thing sitting on the ledge. + +"Where's the flax?" says he. + +"Here it be," says she. And she gave it to him. + +Well, come the evening a knocking came again to the window. She upped +and she oped it, and there was the little old thing with five skeins of +flax on his arm. + +"Here it be," says he, and he gave it to her. + +"Now, what's my name?" says he. + +"What, is that Bill?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he, and he twirled his tail. + +"Is that Ned?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he, and he twirled his tail. + +"Well, is that Mark?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he, and he twirled his tail harder, and away he +flew. + +Well, when her husband came in, there were the five skeins ready for +him. "I see I shan't have to kill you to-night, my dear," says he; +"you'll have your food and your flax in the morning," says he, and away +he goes. + +Well, every day the flax and the food were brought, and every day that +there little black impet used to come mornings and evenings. And all the +day the girl sat trying to think of names to say to it when it came at +night. But she never hit on the right one. And as it got towards the +end of the month, the impet began to look so maliceful, and that twirled +that's tail faster and faster each time she gave a guess. + +At last it came to the last day but one. The impet came at night along +with the five skeins, and that said, + +"What, ain't you got my name yet?" + +"Is that Nicodemus?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't," that says. + +"Is that Sammle?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't," that says. + +"A-well, is that Methusalem?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't that neither," that says. + +Then that looks at her with that's eyes like a coal o' fire, and that +says: "Woman, there's only to-morrow night, and then you'll be mine!" +And away it flew. + +Well, she felt that horrid. However, she heard the king coming along the +passage. In he came, and when he sees the five skeins, he says, says he, + +"Well, my dear," says he, "I don't see but what you'll have your skeins +ready to-morrow night as well, and as I reckon I shan't have to kill +you, I'll have supper in here to-night." So they brought supper, and +another stool for him, and down the two sat. + +Well, he hadn't eaten but a mouthful or so, when he stops and begins to +laugh. + +"What is it?" says she. + +"A-why," says he, "I was out a-hunting to-day, and I got away to a place +in the wood I'd never seen before And there was an old chalk-pit. And I +heard a kind of a sort of a humming. So I got off my hobby, and I went +right quiet to the pit, and I looked down. Well, what should there be +but the funniest little black thing you ever set eyes on. And what was +that doing, but that had a little spinning-wheel, and that was spinning +wonderful fast, and twirling that's tail. And as that span that sang: + + "Nimmy nimmy not + My name's Tom Tit Tot." + +Well, when the girl heard this, she felt as if she could have jumped out +of her skin for joy, but she didn't say a word. + +Next day that there little thing looked so maliceful when he came for +the flax. And when night came, she heard that knocking against the +window panes. She oped the window, and that come right in on the ledge. +That was grinning from ear to ear, and Oo! that's tail was twirling +round so fast. + +"What's my name?" that says, as that gave her the skeins. + +"Is that Solomon?" she says, pretending to be afeard. + +"Noo, t'ain't," that says, and that came further into the room. + +"Well, is that Zebedee?" says she again. + +"Noo, t'ain't," says the impet. And then that laughed and twirled that's +tail till you couldn't hardly see it. + +"Take time, woman," that says; "next guess, and you're mine." And that +stretched out that's black hands at her. + +Well, she backed a step or two, and she looked at it, and then she +laughed out, and says she, pointing her finger at it: + +"NIMMY NIMMY NOT, YOUR NAME'S TOM TIT TOT!" + +Well, when that heard her, that gave an awful shriek and away that flew +into the dark, and she never saw it any more. + + + + +THE THREE SILLIES + +Once upon a time there was a farmer and his wife who had one daughter, +and she was courted by a gentleman. Every evening he used to come and +see her, and stop to supper at the farmhouse, and the daughter used to +be sent down into the cellar to draw the beer for supper. So one evening +she had gone down to draw the beer, and she happened to look up at the +ceiling while she was drawing, and she saw a mallet stuck in one of the +beams. It must have been there a long, long time, but somehow or other +she had never noticed it before, and she began a-thinking. And she +thought it was very dangerous to have that mallet there, for she said +to herself: "Suppose him and me was to be married, and we was to have a +son, and he was to grow up to be a man, and come down into the cellar to +draw the beer, like as I'm doing now, and the mallet was to fall on his +head and kill him, what a dreadful thing it would be!" And she put down +the candle and the jug, and sat herself down and began a-crying. + +Well, they began to wonder upstairs how it was that she was so long +drawing the beer, and her mother went down to see after her, and she +found her sitting on the settle crying, and the beer running over the +floor. "Why, whatever is the matter?" said her mother. "Oh, mother!" +says she, "look at that horrid mallet! Suppose we was to be married, and +was to have a son, and he was to grow up, and was to come down to the +cellar to draw the beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill +him, what a dreadful thing it would be!" "Dear, dear! what a dreadful +thing it would be!" said the mother, and she sat her down aside of the +daughter and started a-crying too. Then after a bit the father began to +wonder that they didn't come back, and he went down into the cellar to +look after them himself, and there they two sat a-crying, and the beer +running all over the floor. "Whatever is the matter?" says he. "Why," +says the mother, "look at that horrid mallet. Just suppose, if our +daughter and her sweetheart was to be married, and was to have a son, +and he was to grow up, and was to come down into the cellar to draw +the beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, what a +dreadful thing it would be!" "Dear, dear, dear! so it would!" said the +father, and he sat himself down aside of the other two, and started +a-crying. + +Now the gentleman got tired of stopping up in the kitchen by himself, +and at last he went down into the cellar too, to see what they were +after; and there they three sat a-crying side by side, and the beer +running all over the floor. And he ran straight and turned the tap. +Then he said: "Whatever are you three doing, sitting there crying, and +letting the beer run all over the floor?" + +"Oh!" says the father, "look at that horrid mallet! Suppose you and our +daughter was to be married, and was to have a son, and he was to grow +up, and was to come down into the cellar to draw the beer, and the +mallet was to fall on his head and kill him!" And then they all started +a-crying worse than before. But the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and +reached up and pulled out the mallet, and then he said: "I've travelled +many miles, and I never met three such big sillies as you three before; +and now I shall start out on my travels again, and when I can find +three bigger sillies than you three, then I'll come back and marry your +daughter." So he wished them good-bye, and started off on his travels, +and left them all crying because the girl had lost her sweetheart. + +Well, he set out, and he travelled a long way, and at last he came to a +woman's cottage that had some grass growing on the roof. And the woman +was trying to get her cow to go up a ladder to the grass, and the poor +thing durst not go. So the gentleman asked the woman what she was doing. +"Why, lookye," she said, "look at all that beautiful grass. I'm going to +get the cow on to the roof to eat it. She'll be quite safe, for I shall +tie a string round her neck, and pass it down the chimney, and tie it +to my wrist as I go about the house, so she can't fall off without my +knowing it." "Oh, you poor silly!" said the gentleman, "you should cut +the grass and throw it down to the cow!" But the woman thought it was +easier to get the cow up the ladder than to get the grass down, so she +pushed her and coaxed her and got her up, and tied a string round her +neck, and passed it down the chimney, and fastened it to her own wrist. +And the gentleman went on his way, but he hadn't gone far when the cow +tumbled off the roof, and hung by the string tied round her neck, and +it strangled her. And the weight of the cow tied to her wrist pulled the +woman up the chimney, and she stuck fast half-way and was smothered in +the soot. + +Well, that was one big silly. + +And the gentleman went on and on, and he went to an inn to stop the +night, and they were so full at the inn that they had to put him in a +double-bedded room, and another traveller was to sleep in the other bed. +The other man was a very pleasant fellow, and they got very friendly +together; but in the morning, when they were both getting up, the +gentleman was surprised to see the other hang his trousers on the knobs +of the chest of drawers and run across the room and try to jump into +them, and he tried over and over again, and couldn't manage it; and the +gentleman wondered whatever he was doing it for. At last he stopped and +wiped his face with his handkerchief. "Oh dear," he says, "I do think +trousers are the most awkwardest kind of clothes that ever were. I can't +think who could have invented such things. It takes me the best part +of an hour to get into mine every morning, and I get so hot! How do you +manage yours?" So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and showed him how +to put them on; and he was very much obliged to him, and said he never +should have thought of doing it that way. + +So that was another big silly. + +Then the gentleman went on his travels again; and he came to a village, +and outside the village there was a pond, and round the pond was a crowd +of people. And they had got rakes, and brooms, and pitchforks, reaching +into the pond; and the gentleman asked what was the matter. "Why," they +say, "matter enough! Moon's tumbled into the pond, and we can't rake +her out anyhow!" So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and told them to +look up into the sky, and that it was only the shadow in the water. But +they wouldn't listen to him, and abused him shamefully, and he got away +as quick as he could. + +So there was a whole lot of sillies bigger than them three sillies at +home. So the gentleman turned back home again and married the farmer's +daughter, and if they didn't live happy for ever after, that's nothing +to do with you or me. + + + + +THE ROSE-TREE + +There was once upon a time a good man who had two children: a girl by a +first wife, and a boy by the second. The girl was as white as milk, and +her lips were like cherries. Her hair was like golden silk, and it hung +to the ground. Her brother loved her dearly, but her wicked stepmother +hated her. "Child," said the stepmother one day, "go to the grocer's +shop and buy me a pound of candles." She gave her the money; and the +little girl went, bought the candles, and started on her return. There +was a stile to cross. She put down the candles whilst she got over the +stile. Up came a dog and ran off with the candles. + +She went back to the grocer's, and she got a second bunch. She came to +the stile, set down the candles, and proceeded to climb over. Up came +the dog and ran off with the candles. + +She went again to the grocer's, and she got a third bunch; and just the +same happened. Then she came to her stepmother crying, for she had spent +all the money and had lost three bunches of candles. + +The stepmother was angry, but she pretended not to mind the loss. She +said to the child: "Come, lay your head on my lap that I may comb your +hair." So the little one laid her head in the woman's lap, who proceeded +to comb the yellow silken hair. And when she combed the hair fell over +her knees, and rolled right down to the ground. + +Then the stepmother hated her more for the beauty of her hair; so she +said to her, "I cannot part your hair on my knee, fetch a billet of +wood." So she fetched it. Then said the stepmother, "I cannot part your +hair with a comb, fetch me an axe." So she fetched it. + +"Now," said the wicked woman, "lay your head down on the billet whilst I +part your hair." + +Well! she laid down her little golden head without fear; and whist! down +came the axe, and it was off. So the mother wiped the axe and laughed. + +Then she took the heart and liver of the little girl, and she stewed +them and brought them into the house for supper. The husband tasted them +and shook his head. He said they tasted very strangely. She gave some +to the little boy, but he would not eat. She tried to force him, but he +refused, and ran out into the garden, and took up his little sister, and +put her in a box, and buried the box under a rose-tree; and every day he +went to the tree and wept, till his tears ran down on the box. + +One day the rose-tree flowered. It was spring, and there among the +flowers was a white bird; and it sang, and sang, and sang like an +angel out of heaven. Away it flew, and it went to a cobbler's shop, and +perched itself on a tree hard by; and thus it sang, + + "My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick, stock, stone dead." + +"Sing again that beautiful song," asked the shoemaker. "If you will +first give me those little red shoes you are making." The cobbler gave +the shoes, and the bird sang the song; then flew to a tree in front of a +watchmaker's, and sang: + + "My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick, stock, stone dead." + +"Oh, the beautiful song! sing it again, sweet bird," asked the +watchmaker. "If you will give me first that gold watch and chain in your +hand." The jeweller gave the watch and chain. The bird took it in one +foot, the shoes in the other, and, after having repeated the song, flew +away to where three millers were picking a millstone. The bird perched +on a tree and sang: + + "My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick!" + +Then one of the men put down his tool and looked up from his work, + + "Stock!" + +Then the second miller's man laid aside his tool and looked up, + + "Stone!" + +Then the third miller's man laid down his tool and looked up, + + "Dead!" + +Then all three cried out with one voice: "Oh, what a beautiful song! +Sing it, sweet bird, again." "If you will put the millstone round my +neck," said the bird. The men did what the bird wanted and away to the +tree it flew with the millstone round its neck, the red shoes in one +foot, and the gold watch and chain in the other. It sang the song and +then flew home. It rattled the millstone against the eaves of the house, +and the stepmother said: "It thunders." Then the little boy ran out to +see the thunder, and down dropped the red shoes at his feet. It +rattled the millstone against the eaves of the house once more, and the +stepmother said again: "It thunders." Then the father ran out and down +fell the chain about his neck. + +In ran father and son, laughing and saying, "See, what fine things the +thunder has brought us!" Then the bird rattled the millstone against the +eaves of the house a third time; and the stepmother said: "It thunders +again, perhaps the thunder has brought something for me," and she +ran out; but the moment she stepped outside the door, down fell the +millstone on her head; and so she died. + + + + +THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG + +An old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked +sixpence. "What," said she, "shall I do with this little sixpence? I +will go to market, and buy a little pig." + +As she was coming home, she came to a stile: but the piggy wouldn't go +over the stile. + +She went a little further, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog: +"Dog! bite pig; piggy won't go over the stile; and I shan't get home +to-night." But the dog wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a stick. So she said: "Stick! +stick! beat dog! dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and +I shan't get home to-night." But the stick wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a fire. So she said: "Fire! fire! +burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get +over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the fire wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met some water. So she said: "Water, +water! quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog +won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home +to-night." But the water wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met an ox. So she said: "Ox! ox! +drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't +beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I +shan't get home to-night." But the ox wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a butcher. So she said: "Butcher! +butcher! kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire +won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't +get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the butcher +wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a rope. So she said: "Rope! rope! +hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't +quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite +pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." +But the rope wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a rat. So she said: "Rat! rat! +gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't +drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't +beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I +shan't get home to-night." But the rat wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a cat. So she said: "Cat! cat! +kill rat; rat won't gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't +kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn +stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over +the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the cat said to her, "If +you will go to yonder cow, and fetch me a saucer of milk, I will kill +the rat." So away went the old woman to the cow. + +But the cow said to her: "If you will go to yonder hay-stack, and fetch +me a handful of hay, I'll give you the milk." So away went the old woman +to the haystack and she brought the hay to the cow. + +As soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the old woman the milk; +and away she went with it in a saucer to the cat. + +As soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the +rat; the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher; +the butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the +water began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the +stick began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig; the little +pig in a fright jumped over the stile, and so the old woman got home +that night. + + + + +HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE + +Once on a time there was a boy named Jack, and one morning he started to +go and seek his fortune. + +He hadn't gone very far before he met a cat. + +"Where are you going, Jack?" said the cat. + +"I am going to seek my fortune." + +"May I go with you?" + +"Yes," said Jack, "the more the merrier." + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +They went a little further and they met a dog. + +"Where are you going, Jack?" said the dog. + +"I am going to seek my fortune." + +"May I go with you?" + +"Yes," said Jack, "the more the merrier." + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. They went a little +further and they met a goat. + +"Where are you going, Jack?" said the goat. + +"I am going to seek my fortune." + +"May I go with you?" + +"Yes," said Jack, "the more the merrier." + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +They went a little further and they met a bull. + +"Where are you going, Jack?" said the bull. + +"I am going to seek my fortune." + +"May I go with you?" + +"Yes," said Jack, "the more the merrier." + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +They went a little further and they met a rooster. + +"Where are you going, Jack?" said the rooster. + +"I am going to seek my fortune." + +"May I go with you?" + +"Yes," said Jack, "the more the merrier." + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +Well, they went on till it was about dark, and they began to think of +some place where they could spend the night. About this time they came +in sight of a house, and Jack told them to keep still while he went up +and looked in through the window. And there were some robbers counting +over their money. Then Jack went back and told them to wait till he gave +the word, and then to make all the noise they could. So when they were +all ready Jack gave the word, and the cat mewed, and the dog barked, and +the goat bleated, and the bull bellowed, and the rooster crowed, and all +together they made such a dreadful noise that it frightened the robbers +all away. + +And then they went in and took possession of the house. Jack was afraid +the robbers would come back in the night, and so when it came time to go +to bed he put the cat in the rocking-chair, and he put the dog under the +table, and he put the goat upstairs, and he put the bull down cellar, +and the rooster flew up on to the roof, and Jack went to bed. + +By-and-by the robbers saw it was all dark and they sent one man back to +the house to look after their money. Before long he came back in a great +fright and told them his story. + +"I went back to the house," said he, "and went in and tried to sit down +in the rocking-chair, and there was an old woman knitting, and she stuck +her knitting-needles into me." That was the cat, you know. + +"I went to the table to look after the money and there was a shoemaker +under the table, and he stuck his awl into me." That was the dog, you +know. + +"I started to go upstairs, and there was a man up there threshing, and +he knocked me down with his flail." That was the goat, you know. + +"I started to go down cellar, and there was a man down there chopping +wood, and he knocked me up with his axe." That was the bull, you know. + +"But I shouldn't have minded all that if it hadn't been for that little +fellow on top of the house, who kept a-hollering, 'Chuck him up to me-e! +Chuck him up to me-e!'" Of course that was the cock-a-doodle-do. + + + + +MR. VINEGAR + +Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar lived in a vinegar bottle. Now, one day, when Mr. +Vinegar was from home, Mrs. Vinegar, who was a very good housewife, was +busily sweeping her house, when an unlucky thump of the broom brought +the whole house clitter-clatter, clitter-clatter, about her ears. In an +agony of grief she rushed forth to meet her husband. + +On seeing him she exclaimed, "Oh, Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar, we are +ruined, I have knocked the house down, and it is all to pieces!" Mr. +Vinegar then said: "My dear, let us see what can be done. Here is +the door; I will take it on my back, and we will go forth to seek our +fortune." + +They walked all that day, and at nightfall entered a thick forest. They +were both very, very tired, and Mr. Vinegar said: "My love, I will climb +up into a tree, drag up the door, and you shall follow." He accordingly +did so, and they both stretched their weary limbs on the door, and fell +fast asleep. + +In the middle of the night Mr. Vinegar was disturbed by the sound of +voices underneath, and to his horror and dismay found that it was a band +of thieves met to divide their booty. + +"Here, Jack," said one, "here's five pounds for you; here, Bill, here's +ten pounds for you; here, Bob, here's three pounds for you." + +Mr. Vinegar could listen no longer; his terror was so great that he +trembled and trembled, and shook down the door on their heads. Away +scampered the thieves, but Mr. Vinegar dared not quit his retreat till +broad daylight. + +He then scrambled out of the tree, and went to lift up the door. What +did he see but a number of golden guineas. "Come down, Mrs. Vinegar," he +cried; "come down, I say; our fortune's made, our fortune's made! Come +down, I say." + +Mrs. Vinegar got down as fast as she could, and when she saw the money +she jumped for joy. "Now, my dear," said she, "I'll tell you what you +shall do. There is a fair at the neighbouring town; you shall take these +forty guineas and buy a cow. I can make butter and cheese, which +you shall sell at market, and we shall then be able to live very +comfortably." + +Mr. Vinegar joyfully agrees, takes the money, and off he goes to the +fair. When he arrived, he walked up and down, and at length saw a +beautiful red cow. It was an excellent milker, and perfect in every +way. "Oh," thought Mr. Vinegar, "if I had but that cow, I should be the +happiest, man alive." + +So he offers the forty guineas for the cow, and the owner said that, as +he was a friend, he'd oblige him. So the bargain was made, and he got +the cow and he drove it backwards and forwards to show it. + +By-and-by he saw a man playing the bagpipes--Tweedle-dum tweedle-dee. +The children followed him about, and he appeared to be pocketing money +on all sides. "Well," thought Mr. Vinegar, "if I had but that beautiful +instrument I should be the happiest man alive--my fortune would be +made." + +So he went up to the man. "Friend," says he, "what a beautiful +instrument that is, and what a deal of money you must make." "Why, yes," +said the man, "I make a great deal of money, to be sure, and it is a +wonderful instrument." "Oh!" cried Mr. Vinegar, "how I should like to +possess it!" "Well," said the man, "as you are a friend, I don't much +mind parting with it; you shall have it for that red cow." "Done!" said +the delighted Mr. Vinegar. So the beautiful red cow was given for the +bagpipes. + +He walked up and down with his purchase; but it was in vain he tried +to play a tune, and instead of pocketing pence, the boys followed him +hooting, laughing, and pelting. + +Poor Mr. Vinegar, his fingers grew very cold, and, just as he was +leaving the town, he met a man with a fine thick pair of gloves. "Oh, +my fingers are so very cold," said Mr. Vinegar to himself. "Now if I had +but those beautiful gloves I should be the happiest man alive." He went +up to the man, and said to him, "Friend, you seem to have a capital pair +of gloves there." "Yes, truly," cried the man; "and my hands are as warm +as possible this cold November day." "Well," said Mr. Vinegar, "I should +like to have them.". "What will you give?" said the man; "as you are +a friend, I don't much mind letting you have them for those bagpipes." +"Done!" cried Mr. Vinegar. He put on the gloves, and felt perfectly +happy as he trudged homewards. + +At last he grew very tired, when he saw a man coming towards him with a +good stout stick in his hand. + +"Oh," said Mr. Vinegar, "that I had but that stick! I should then be the +happiest man alive." He said to the man: "Friend! what a rare good stick +you have got." "Yes," said the man; "I have used it for many a long +mile, and a good friend it has been; but if you have a fancy for it, +as you are a friend, I don't mind giving it to you for that pair of +gloves." Mr. Vinegar's hands were so warm, and his legs so tired, that +he gladly made the exchange. + +As he drew near to the wood where he had left his wife, he heard a +parrot on a tree calling out his name: "Mr. Vinegar, you foolish man, +you blockhead, you simpleton; you went to the fair, and laid out all +your money in buying a cow. Not content with that, you changed it +for bagpipes, on which you could not play, and which were not worth +one-tenth of the money. You fool, you--you had no sooner got the +bagpipes than you changed them for the gloves, which were not worth +one-quarter of the money; and when you had got the gloves, you changed +them for a poor miserable stick; and now for your forty guineas, cow, +bagpipes, and gloves, you have nothing to show but that poor miserable +stick, which you might have cut in any hedge." On this the bird laughed +and laughed, and Mr. Vinegar, falling into a violent rage, threw the +stick at its head. The stick lodged in the tree, and he returned to his +wife without money, cow, bagpipes, gloves, or stick, and she instantly +gave him such a sound cudgelling that she almost broke every bone in his +skin. + + + + +NIX NOUGHT NOTHING + +There once lived a king and a queen as many a one has been. They were +long married and had no children; but at last a baby-boy came to the +queen when the king was away in the far countries. The queen would not +christen the boy till the king came back, and she said, "We will just +call him _Nix Nought Nothing_ until his father comes home." But it was +long before he came home, and the boy had grown a nice little laddie. +At length the king was on his way back; but he had a big river to cross, +and there was a whirlpool, and he could not get over the water. But a +giant came up to him, and said "I'll carry you over." But the king said: +"What's your pay?" "O give me Nix, Nought, Nothing, and I will carry you +over the water on my back." The king had never heard that his son was +called Nix Nought Nothing, and so he said: "O, I'll give you that and +my thanks into the bargain." When the king got home again, he was very +happy to see his wife again, and his young son. She told him that she +had not given the child any name, but just Nix Nought Nothing, until he +should come home again himself. The poor king was in a terrible case. +He said: "What have I done? I promised to give the giant who carried me +over the river on his back, Nix Nought Nothing." The king and the queen +were sad and sorry, but they said: "When the giant comes we will give +him the hen-wife's boy; he will never know the difference." The next +day the giant came to claim the king's promise, and he sent for the +hen-wife's boy; and the giant went away with the boy on his back. He +travelled till he came to a big stone, and there he sat down to rest. He +said, + +"Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day is that?" + +The poor little boy said: "It is the time that my mother, the hen-wife, +takes up the eggs for the queen's breakfast." + +The Giant was very angry, and dashed the boy's head on the stone and +killed him. + +So he went back in a tower of a temper and this time they gave him the +gardener's boy. He went off with him on his back till they got to the +stone again when the giant sat down to rest. And he said: + +"Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day do you make that?" + +The gardener's boy said: "Sure it's the time that my mother takes up the +vegetables for the queen's dinner." Then the giant was right wild and +dashed his brains out on the stone. + +Then the giant went back to the king's house in a terrible temper and +said he would destroy them all if they did not give him Nix Nought +Nothing this time. They had to do it; and when he came to the big stone, +the giant said: "What time of day is that?" Nix Nought Nothing said: "It +is the time that my father the king will be sitting down to supper." The +giant said: "I've got the right one now;" and took Nix Nought Nothing to +his own house and brought him up till he was a man. + +The giant had a bonny daughter, and she and the lad grew very fond of +each other. The giant said one day to Nix Nought Nothing: "I've work for +you to-morrow. There is a stable seven miles long and seven miles broad, +and it has not been cleaned for seven years, and you must clean it +to-morrow, or I will have you for my supper." + +The giant's daughter went out next morning with the lad's breakfast, and +found him in a terrible state, for always as he cleaned out a bit, it +just fell in again. The giant's daughter said she would help him, and +she cried all the beasts in the field, and all the fowls of the air, and +in a minute they all came, and carried away everything that was in the +stable and made it all clean before the giant came home. He said: "Shame +on the wit that helped you; but I have a worse job for you to-morrow." +Then he said to Nix Nought Nothing: "There's a lake seven miles long, +and seven miles deep, and seven miles broad, and you must drain it +to-morrow by nightfall, or else I'll have you for my supper." Nix Nought +Nothing began early next morning and tried to lave the water with his +pail, but the lake was never getting any less, and he didn't know what +to do; but the giant's daughter called on all the fish in the sea to +come and drink the water, and very soon they drank it dry. When the +giant saw the work done he was in a rage, and said: "I've a worse job +for you to-morrow; there is a tree, seven miles high, and no branch on +it, till you get to the top, and there is a nest with seven eggs in it, +and you must bring down all the eggs without breaking one, or else I'll +have you for my supper." At first the giant's daughter did not know how +to help Nix Nought Nothing; but she cut off first her fingers and then +her toes, and made steps of them, and he clomb the tree and got all the +eggs safe till he came just to the bottom, and then one was broken. So +they determined to run away together and after the giant's daughter had +tidied up her hair a bit and got her magic flask they set out together +as fast as they could run. And they hadn't got but three fields away +when they looked back and saw the giant walking along at top speed after +them. "Quick, quick," called out the giant's daughter, "take my comb +from my hair and throw it down." Nix Nought Nothing took her comb from +her hair and threw it down, and out of every one of its prongs there +sprung up a fine thick briar in the way of the giant. You may be sure it +took him a long time to work his way through the briar bush and by the +time he was well through Nix Nought Nothing and his sweetheart had run +on a tidy step away from him. But he soon came along after them and was +just like to catch 'em up when the giant's daughter called out to Nix +Nought Nothing, "Take my hair dagger and throw it down, quick, quick." +So Nix Nought Nothing threw down the hair dagger and out of it grew as +quick as lightning a thick hedge of sharp razors placed criss-cross. The +giant had to tread very cautiously to get through all this and meanwhile +the young lovers ran on, and on, and on, till they were nearly out of +sight. But at last the giant was through, and it wasn't long before he +was like to catch them up. But just as he was stretching out his hand +to catch Nix Nought Nothing his daughter took out her magic flask and +dashed it on the ground. And as it broke out of it welled a big, big +wave that grew, and that grew, till it reached the giant's waist and +then his neck, and when it got to his head, he was drowned dead, and +dead, and dead indeed. So he goes out of the story. + +But Nix Nought Nothing fled on till where do you think they came to? +Why, to near the castle of Nix Nought Nothing's father and mother. But +the giant's daughter was so weary that she couldn't move a step further. +So Nix Nought Nothing told her to wait there while he went and found +out a lodging for the night. And he went on towards the lights of the +castle, and on the way he came to the cottage of the hen-wife whose +boy had had his brains dashed out by the giant. Now she knew Nix Nought +Nothing in a moment, and hated him because he was the cause of her son's +death. So when he asked his way to the castle she put a spell upon him, +and when he got to the castle, no sooner was he let in than he fell down +dead asleep upon a bench in the hall. The king and queen tried all they +could do to wake him up, but all in vain. So the king promised that if +any lady could wake him up she should marry him. Meanwhile the giant's +daughter was waiting and waiting for him to come back. And she went up +into a tree to watch for him. The gardener's daughter, going to draw +water in the well, saw the shadow of the lady in the water and thought +it was herself, and said; "If I'm so bonny, if I'm so brave, why do you +send me to draw water?" So she threw down her pail and went to see if +she could wed the sleeping stranger. And she went to the hen-wife, who +taught her an unspelling catch which would keep Nix Nought Nothing awake +as long as the gardener's daughter liked. So she went up to the castle +and sang her catch and Nix Nought Nothing was wakened for a bit and they +promised to wed him to the gardener's daughter. Meanwhile the gardener +went down to draw water from the well and saw the shadow of the lady in +the water. So he looks up and finds her, and he brought the lady from +the tree, and led her into his house. And he told her that a stranger +was to marry his daughter, and took her up to the castle and showed her +the man: and it was Nix Nought Nothing asleep in a chair. And she saw +him, and cried to him: "Waken, waken, and speak to me!" But he would not +waken, and soon she cried: + + "I cleaned the stable, I laved the lake, and I clomb the tree, + And all for the love of thee, + And thou wilt not waken and speak to me." + +The king and the queen heard this, and came to the bonny young lady, and +she said: + +"I cannot get Nix Nought Nothing to speak to me for all that I can do." + +Then were they greatly astonished when she spoke of Nix Nought Nothing, +and asked where he was, and she said: "He that sits there in the chair." +Then they ran to him and kissed him and called him their own dear son; +so they called for the gardener's daughter and made her sing her charm, +and he wakened, and told them all that the giant's daughter had done +for him, and of all her kindness. Then they took her in their arms and +kissed her, and said she should now be their daughter, for their son +should marry her. But they sent for the hen-wife and put her to death. +And they lived happy all their days. + + + + +JACK HANNAFORD + +There was an old soldier who had been long in the wars--so long, that +he was quite out-at-elbows, and he did not know where to go to find a +living. So he walked up moors, down glens, till at last he came to a +farm, from which the good man had gone away to market. The wife of the +farmer was a very foolish woman, who had been a widow when he married +her; the farmer was foolish enough, too, and it is hard to say which of +the two was the more foolish. When you've heard my tale you may decide. + +Now before the farmer goes to market says he to his wife: "Here is ten +pounds all in gold, take care of it till I come home." If the man had +not been a fool he would never have given the money to his wife to keep. +Well, off he went in his cart to market, and the wife said to herself: +"I will keep the ten pounds quite safe from thieves;" so she tied it up +in a rag, and she put the rag up the parlour chimney. + +"There," said she, "no thieves will ever find it now, that is quite +sure." + +Jack Hannaford, the old soldier, came and rapped at the door. + +"Who is there?" asked the wife. + +"Jack Hannaford." + +"Where do you come from?" + +"Paradise." + +"Lord a' mercy! and maybe you've seen my old man there," alluding to her +former husband. + +"Yes, I have." + +"And how was he a-doing?" asked the goody. + +"But middling; he cobbles old shoes, and he has nothing but cabbage for +victuals." + +"Deary me!" exclaimed the woman. "Didn't he send a message to me?" + +"Yes, he did," replied Jack Hannaford. "He said that he was out of +leather, and his pockets were empty, so you were to send him a few +shillings to buy a fresh stock of leather." + +"He shall have them, bless his poor soul!" And away went the wife to the +parlour chimney, and she pulled the rag with the ten pounds in it from +the chimney, and she gave the whole sum to the soldier, telling him that +her old man was to use as much as he wanted, and to send back the rest. + +It was not long that Jack waited after receiving the money; he went off +as fast as he could walk. + +Presently the farmer came home and asked for his money. The wife told +him that she had sent it by a soldier to her former husband in Paradise, +to buy him leather for cobbling the shoes of the saints and angels of +Heaven. The farmer was very angry, and he swore that he had never met +with such a fool as his wife. But the wife said that her husband was a +greater fool for letting her have the money. + +There was no time to waste words; so the farmer mounted his horse and +rode off after Jack Hannaford. The old soldier heard the horse's hoofs +clattering on the road behind him, so he knew it must be the farmer +pursuing him. He lay down on the ground, and shading his eyes with one +hand, looked up into the sky, and pointed heavenwards with the other +hand. + +"What are you about there?" asked the farmer, pulling up. + +"Lord save you!" exclaimed Jack: "I've seen a rare sight." + +"What was that?" + +"A man going straight up into the sky, as if he were walking on a road." + +"Can you see him still?" + +"Yes, I can." + +"Where?" + +"Get off your horse and lie down." + +"If you will hold the horse." + +Jack did so readily. + +"I cannot see him," said the farmer. + +"Shade your eyes with your hand, and you'll soon see a man flying away +from you." + +Sure enough he did so, for Jack leaped on the horse, and rode away with +it. The farmer walked home without his horse. + +"You are a bigger fool than I am," said the wife; "for I did only one +foolish thing, and you have done two." + + + + +BINNORIE + +Once upon a time there were two king's daughters lived in a bower near +the bonny mill-dams of Binnorie. And Sir William came wooing the eldest +and won her love and plighted troth with glove and with ring. But after +a time he looked upon the youngest, with her cherry cheeks and golden +hair, and his love grew towards her till he cared no longer for the +eldest one. So she hated her sister for taking away Sir William's love, +and day by day her hate grew upon her, and she plotted and she planned +how to get rid of her. + +So one fine morning, fair and clear, she said to her sister, "Let us +go and see our father's boats come in at the bonny mill-stream of +Binnorie." So they went there hand in hand. And when they got to the +river's bank the youngest got upon a stone to watch for the coming of +the boats. And her sister, coming behind her, caught her round the waist +and dashed her into the rushing mill-stream of Binnorie. + +"O sister, sister, reach me your hand!" she cried, as she floated away, +"and you shall have half of all I've got or shall get." + +"No, sister, I'll reach you no hand of mine, for I am the heir to all +your land. Shame on me if I touch the hand that has come 'twixt me and +my own heart's love." + +"O sister, O sister, then reach me your glove!" she cried, as she +floated further away, "and you shall have your William again." + +"Sink on," cried the cruel princess, "no hand or glove of mine you'll +touch. Sweet William will be all mine when you are sunk beneath the +bonny mill-stream of Binnorie." And she turned and went home to the +king's castle. + +And the princess floated down the mill-stream, sometimes swimming +and sometimes sinking, till she came near the mill. Now the miller's +daughter was cooking that day, and needed water for her cooking. And as +she went to draw it from the stream, she saw something floating towards +the mill-dam, and she called out, "Father! father! draw your dam. +There's something white--a merry maid or a milk-white swan--coming down +the stream." So the miller hastened to the dam and stopped the heavy +cruel mill-wheels. And then they took out the princess and laid her on +the bank. + +Fair and beautiful she looked as she lay there. In her golden hair were +pearls and precious stones; you could not see her waist for her golden +girdle; and the golden fringe of her white dress came down over her lily +feet. But she was drowned, drowned! + +And as she lay there in her beauty a famous harper passed by the +mill-dam of Binnorie, and saw her sweet pale face. And though he +travelled on far away he never forgot that face, and after many days he +came back to the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie. But then all he could +find of her where they had put her to rest were her bones and her +golden hair. So he made a harp out of her breast-bone and her hair, and +travelled on up the hill from the mill-dam of Binnorie, till he came to +the castle of the king her father. + +That night they were all gathered in the castle hall to hear the great +harper--king and queen, their daughter and son, Sir William and all +their Court. And first the harper sang to his old harp, making them joy +and be glad or sorrow and weep just as he liked. But while he sang he +put the harp he had made that day on a stone in the hall. And presently +it began to sing by itself, low and clear, and the harper stopped and +all were hushed. + +And this was what the harp sung: + + "O yonder sits my father, the king, + Binnorie, O Binnorie; + And yonder sits my mother, the queen; + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie, + + "And yonder stands my brother Hugh, + Binnorie, O Binnorie; + And by him, my William, false and true; + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie." + +Then they all wondered, and the harper told them how he had seen the +princess lying drowned on the bank near the bonny mill-dams o' +Binnorie, and how he had afterwards made this harp out of her hair and +breast-bone. Just then the harp began singing again, and this was what +it sang out loud and clear: + + "And there sits my sister who drownd me + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie." + +And the harp snapped and broke, and never sang more. + + + + +MOUSE AND MOUSER + +The Mouse went to visit the Cat, and found her sitting behind the hall +door, spinning. + +MOUSE. What are you doing, my lady, my lady, What are you doing, my +lady? + +CAT (_sharply_). I'm spinning old breeches, good body, good body I'm +spinning old breeches, good body. + +MOUSE. Long may you wear them, my lady, my lady, Long may you wear them, +my lady. + +CAT (_gruffly_). I'll wear' em and tear 'em, good body, good body. I'll +wear 'em and tear 'em, good body. + +MOUSE. I was sweeping my room, my lady, my lady, I was sweeping my room, +my lady. + +CAT. The cleaner you'd be, good body, good body, The cleaner you'd be, +good body. + +MOUSE. I found a silver sixpence, my lady, my lady, I found a silver +sixpence, my lady. + +CAT. The richer you were, good body, good body, The richer you were, +good body. + +MOUSE. I went to the market, my lady, my lady, I went to the market, my +lady. + +CAT. The further you went, good body, good body The further you went, +good body. + +MOUSE. I bought me a pudding, my lady, my lady, I bought me a pudding, +my lady. + +CAT (_snarling_). The more meat you had, good body, good body, The more +meat you had, good body. + +MOUSE. I put it in the window to cool, my lady, I put it in the window +to cool. + +CAT. (_sharply_). The faster you'd eat it, good body, good body, The +faster you'd eat it, good body. + +MOUSE (_timidly_). The cat came and ate it, my lady, my lady, The cat +came and ate it, my lady. + +CAT (_pouncingly_). And I'll eat you, good body, good body, And I'll eat +you, good body. + +(_Springs upon the mouse and kills it._) + + + + +CAP O' RUSHES + +Well, there was once a very rich gentleman, and he'd three daughters, +and he thought he'd see how fond they were of him. So he says to the +first, "How much do you love me, my dear?" + +"Why," says she, "as I love my life." + +"That's good," says he. + +So he says to the second, "How much do _you_ love me, my dear?" + +"Why," says she, "better nor all the world." + +"That's good," says he. + +So he says to the third, "How much do _you_ love me, my dear?" + +"Why, I love you as fresh meat loves salt," says she. + +Well, he was that angry. "You don't love me at all," says he, "and in +my house you stay no more." So he drove her out there and then, and shut +the door in her face. + +Well, she went away on and on till she came to a fen, and there she +gathered a lot of rushes and made them into a kind of a sort of a +cloak with a hood, to cover her from head to foot, and to hide her fine +clothes. And then she went on and on till she came to a great house. + +"Do you want a maid?" says she. + +"No, we don't," said they. + +"I haven't nowhere to go," says she; "and I ask no wages, and do any +sort of work," says she. + +"Well," says they, "if you like to wash the pots and scrape the +saucepans you may stay," said they. + +So she stayed there and washed the pots and scraped the saucepans and +did all the dirty work. And because she gave no name they called her +"Cap o' Rushes." + +Well, one day there was to be a great dance a little way off, and the +servants were allowed to go and look on at the grand people. Cap o' +Rushes said she was too tired to go, so she stayed at home. + +But when they were gone she offed with her cap o' rushes, and cleaned +herself, and went to the dance. And no one there was so finely dressed +as her. + +Well, who should be there but her master's son, and what should he do +but fall in love with her the minute he set eyes on her. He wouldn't +dance with any one else. + +But before the dance was done Cap o' Rushes slipt off, and away she went +home. And when the other maids came back she was pretending to be asleep +with her cap o' rushes on. + +Well, next morning they said to her, "You did miss a sight, Cap o' +Rushes!" + +"What was that?" says she. + +"Why, the beautifullest lady you ever see, dressed right gay and ga'. +The young master, he never took his eyes off her." + +"Well, I should have liked to have seen her," says Cap o' Rushes. + +"Well, there's to be another dance this evening, and perhaps she'll be +there." + +But, come the evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go with +them. Howsoever, when they were gone, she offed with her cap o' rushes +and cleaned herself, and away she went to the dance. + +The master's son had been reckoning on seeing her, and he danced with +no one else, and never took his eyes off her. But, before the dance was +over, she slipt off, and home she went, and when the maids came back +she, pretended to be asleep with her cap o' rushes on. + +Next day they said to her again, "Well, Cap o' Rushes, you should ha' +been there to see the lady. There she was again, gay and ga', and the +young master he never took his eyes off her." + +"Well, there," says she, "I should ha' liked to ha' seen her." + +"Well," says they, "there's a dance again this evening, and you must go +with us, for she's sure to be there." + +Well, come this evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go, and +do what they would she stayed at home. But when they were gone she offed +with her cap o' rushes and cleaned herself, and away she went to the +dance. + +The master's son was rarely glad when he saw her. He danced with none +but her and never took his eyes off her. When she wouldn't tell him her +name, nor where she came from, he gave her a ring and told her if he +didn't see her again he should die. + +Well, before the dance was over, off she slipped, and home she went, and +when the maids came home she was pretending to be asleep with her cap o' +rushes on. + +Well, next day they says to her, "There, Cap o' Rushes, you didn't come +last night, and now you won't see the lady, for there's no more dances." + +"Well I should have rarely liked to have seen her," says she. + +The master's son he tried every way to find out where the lady was gone, +but go where he might, and ask whom he might, he never heard anything +about her. And he got worse and worse for the love of her till he had to +keep his bed. + +"Make some gruel for the young master," they said to the cook. "He's +dying for the love of the lady." The cook she set about making it when +Cap o' Rushes came in. + +"What are you a-doing of?", says she. + +"I'm going to make some gruel for the young master," says the cook, "for +he's dying for love of the lady." + +"Let me make it," says Cap o' Rushes. + +Well, the cook wouldn't at first, but at last she said yes, and Cap o' +Rushes made the gruel. And when she had made it she slipped the ring +into it on the sly before the cook took it upstairs. + +The young man he drank it and then he saw the ring at the bottom. + +"Send for the cook," says he. + +So up she comes. + +"Who made this gruel here?" says he. + +"I did," says the cook, for she was frightened. + +And he looked at her, + +"No, you didn't," says he. "Say who did it, and you shan't be harmed." + +"Well, then, 'twas Cap o' Rushes," says she. + +"Send Cap o' Rushes here," says he. + +So Cap o' Rushes came. + +"Did you make my gruel?" says he. + +"Yes, I did," says she. + +"Where did you get this ring?" says he. + +"From him that gave it me," says she. + +"Who are you, then?" says the young man. + +"I'll show you," says she. And she offed with her cap o' rushes, and +there she was in her beautiful clothes. + +Well, the master's son he got well very soon, and they were to be +married in a little time. It was to be a very grand wedding, and every +one was asked far and near. And Cap o' Rushes' father was asked. But she +never told anybody who she was. + +But before the wedding she went to the cook, and says she: + +"I want you to dress every dish without a mite o' salt." + +"That'll be rare nasty," says the cook. + +"That doesn't signify," says she. + +"Very well," says the cook. + +Well, the wedding-day came, and they were married. And after they were +married all the company sat down to the dinner. When they began to eat +the meat, that was so tasteless they couldn't eat it. But Cap o' Rushes' +father he tried first one dish and then another, and then he burst out +crying. + +"What is the matter?" said the master's son to him. + +"Oh!" says he, "I had a daughter. And I asked her how much she loved me. +And she said 'As much as fresh meat loves salt.' And I turned her from +my door, for I thought she didn't love me. And now I see she loved me +best of all. And she may be dead for aught I know." + +"No, father, here she is!" says Cap o' Rushes. And she goes up to him +and puts her arms round him. + +And so they were happy ever after. + + + + +TEENY-TINY + +Once upon a time there was a teeny-tiny woman lived in a teeny-tiny +house in a teeny-tiny village. Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put +on her teeny-tiny bonnet, and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take +a teeny-tiny walk. And when this teeny-tiny woman had gone a teeny-tiny +way she came to a teeny-tiny gate; so the teeny-tiny woman opened the +teeny-tiny gate, and went into a teeny-tiny churchyard. And when this +teeny-tiny woman had got into the teeny-tiny churchyard, she saw a +teeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny grave, and the teeny-tiny woman said to +her teeny-tiny self, "This teeny-tiny bone will make me some teeny-tiny +soup for my teeny-tiny supper." So the teeny-tiny woman put the +teeny-tiny bone into her teeny-tiny pocket, and went home to her +teeny-tiny house. + +Now when the teeny-tiny woman got home to her teeny-tiny house she was +a teeny-tiny bit tired; so she went up her teeny-tiny stairs to her +teeny-tiny bed, and put the teeny-tiny bone into a teeny-tiny cupboard. +And when this teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep a teeny-tiny time, she +was awakened by a teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard, which +said: + +"Give me my bone!" + +And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny frightened, so she hid her +teeny-tiny head under the teeny-tiny clothes and went to sleep again. +And when she had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the teeny-tiny +voice again cried out from the teeny-tiny cupboard a teeny-tiny louder, +"Give me my bone!" + +This made the teeny-tiny woman a teeny-tiny more frightened, so she hid +her teeny-tiny head a teeny-tiny further under the teeny-tiny clothes. +And when the teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny +time, the teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard said again a +teeny-tiny louder, + +"Give me my bone!" + +And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny bit more frightened, but she +put her teeny-tiny head out of the teeny-tiny clothes, and said in her +loudest teeny-tiny voice, "TAKE IT!" + + + + +JACK AND THE BEANSTALK + +There was once upon a time a poor widow who had an only son named Jack, +and a cow named Milky-white. And all they had to live on was the milk +the cow gave every morning which they carried to the market and sold. +But one morning Milky-white gave no milk and they didn't know what to +do. + +"What shall we do, what shall we do?" said the widow, wringing her +hands. + +"Cheer up, mother, I'll go and get work somewhere," said Jack. + +"We've tried that before, and nobody would take you," said his mother; +"we must sell Milky-white and with the money do something, start shop, +or something." + +"All right, mother," says Jack; "it's market-day today, and I'll soon +sell Milky-white, and then we'll see what we can do." + +So he took the cow's halter in his hand, and off he starts. He hadn't +gone far when he met a funny-looking old man who said to him: "Good +morning, Jack." + +"Good morning to you," said Jack, and wondered how he knew his name. + +"Well, Jack, and where are you off to?" said the man. + +"I'm going to market to sell our cow here." + +"Oh, you look the proper sort of chap to sell cows," said the man; "I +wonder if you know how many beans make five." + +"Two in each hand and one in your mouth," says Jack, as sharp as a +needle. + +"Right you are," said the man, "and here they are the very beans +themselves," he went on pulling out of his pocket a number of +strange-looking beans. "As you are so sharp," says he, "I don't mind +doing a swop with you--your cow for these beans." + +"Walker!" says Jack; "wouldn't you like it?" + +"Ah! you don't know what these beans are," said the man; "if you plant +them over-night, by morning they grow right up to the sky." + +"Really?" says Jack; "you don't say so." + +"Yes, that is so, and if it doesn't turn out to be true you can have +your cow back." + +"Right," says Jack, and hands him over Milky-white's halter and pockets +the beans. + +Back goes Jack home, and as he hadn't gone very far it wasn't dusk by +the time he got to his door. + +"What back, Jack?" said his mother; "I see you haven't got Milky-white, +so you've sold her. How much did you get for her?" + +"You'll never guess, mother," says Jack. + +"No, you don't say so. Good boy! Five pounds, ten, fifteen, no, it can't +be twenty." + +"I told you you couldn't guess, what do you say to these beans; they're +magical, plant them over-night and----" + +"What!" says Jack's mother, "have you been such a fool, such a dolt, +such an idiot, as to give away my Milky-white, the best milker in the +parish, and prime beef to boot, for a set of paltry beans. Take that! +Take that! Take that! And as for your precious beans here they go out of +the window. And now off with you to bed. Not a sup shall you drink, and +not a bit shall you swallow this very night." + +So Jack went upstairs to his little room in the attic, and sad and sorry +he was, to be sure, as much for his mother's sake, as for the loss of +his supper. + +At last he dropped off to sleep. + +When he woke up, the room looked so funny. The sun was shining into part +of it, and yet all the rest was quite dark and shady. So Jack jumped +up and dressed himself and went to the window. And what do you think +he saw? why, the beans his mother had thrown out of the window into the +garden, had sprung up into a big beanstalk which went up and up and up +till it reached the sky. So the man spoke truth after all. + +The beanstalk grew up quite close past Jack's window, so all he had to +do was to open it and give a jump on to the beanstalk which was made +like a big plaited ladder. So Jack climbed and he climbed and he climbed +and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last +he reached the sky. And when he got there he found a long broad road +going as straight as a dart. So he walked along and he walked along +and he walked along till he came to a great big tall house, and on the +doorstep there was a great big tall woman. + +"Good morning, mum," says Jack, quite polite-like. "Could you be so kind +as to give me some breakfast." For he hadn't had anything to eat, you +know, the night before and was as hungry as a hunter. + +"It's breakfast you want, is it?" says the great big tall woman, "it's +breakfast you'll be if you don't move off from here. My man is an ogre +and there's nothing he likes better than boys broiled on toast. You'd +better be moving on or he'll soon be coming." + +"Oh! please mum, do give me something to eat, mum. I've had nothing to +eat since yesterday morning, really and truly, mum," says Jack. "I may +as well be broiled, as die of hunger." + +Well, the ogre's wife wasn't such a bad sort, after all. So she took +Jack into the kitchen, and gave him a junk of bread and cheese and a jug +of milk. But Jack hadn't half finished these when thump! thump! thump! +the whole house began to tremble with the noise of someone coming. + +"Goodness gracious me! It's my old man," said the ogre's wife, "what on +earth shall I do? Here, come quick and jump in here." And she bundled +Jack into the oven just as the ogre came in. + +He was a big one, to be sure. At his belt he had three calves strung up +by the heels, and he unhooked them and threw them down on the table and +said: "Here, wife, broil me a couple of these for breakfast. Ah what's +this I smell? + + Fee-fi-fo-fum, + I smell the blood of an Englishman, + Be he alive, or be he dead + I'll have his bones to grind my bread." + +"Nonsense, dear," said his wife, "you're dreaming. Or perhaps you smell +the scraps of that little boy you liked so much for yesterday's dinner. +Here, go you and have a wash and tidy up, and by the time you come back +your breakfast'll be ready for you." + +So the ogre went off, and Jack was just going to jump out of the oven +and run off when the woman told him not. "Wait till he's asleep," says +she; "he always has a snooze after breakfast." + +Well, the ogre had his breakfast, and after that he goes to a big chest +and takes out of it a couple of bags of gold and sits down counting them +till at last his head began to nod and he began to snore till the whole +house shook again. + +Then Jack crept out on tiptoe from his oven, and as he was passing the +ogre he took one of the bags of gold under his arm, and off he pelters +till he came to the beanstalk, and then he threw down the bag of gold +which of course fell in to his mother's garden, and then he climbed down +and climbed down till at last he got home and told his mother and showed +her the gold and said: "Well, mother, wasn't I right about the beans. +They are really magical, you see." + +So they lived on the bag of gold for some time, but at last they came to +the end of that so Jack made up his mind to try his luck once more up at +the top of the beanstalk. So one fine morning he got up early, and got +on to the beanstalk, and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and +he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last he got on the road +again and came to the great big tall house he had been to before. There, +sure enough, was the great big tall woman a-standing on the door-step. + +"Good morning, mum," says Jack, as bold as brass, "could you be so good +as to give me something to eat?" + +"Go away, my boy," said the big, tall woman, "or else my man will eat +you up for breakfast. But aren't you the youngster who came here once +before? Do you know, that very day, my man missed one of his bags of +gold." + +"That's strange, mum," says Jack, "I dare say I could tell you something +about that but I'm so hungry I can't speak till I've had something to +eat." + +Well the big tall woman was that curious that she took him in and gave +him something to eat. But he had scarcely begun munching it as slowly as +he could when thump! thump! thump! they heard the giant's footstep, and +his wife hid Jack away in the oven. + +All happened as it did before. In came the ogre as he did before, said: +"Fee-fi-fo-fum," and had his breakfast off three broiled oxen. Then he +said: "Wife, bring me the hen that lays the golden eggs." So she brought +it, and the ogre said: "Lay," and it laid an egg all of gold. And then +the ogre began to nod his head, and to snore till the house shook. + +Then Jack crept out of the oven on tiptoe and caught hold of the golden +hen, and was off before you could say "Jack Robinson." But this time the +hen gave a cackle which woke the ogre, and just as Jack got out of the +house he heard him calling: "Wife, wife, what have you done with my +golden hen?" + +And the wife said: "Why, my dear?" + +But that was all Jack heard, for he rushed off to the beanstalk and +climbed down like a house on fire. And when he got home he showed his +mother the wonderful hen and said "Lay," to it; and it laid a golden egg +every time he said "Lay." + +Well, Jack was not content, and it wasn't very long before he determined +to have another try at his luck up there at the top of the beanstalk. So +one fine morning, he got up early, and went on to the beanstalk, and he +climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till he got to +the top. But this time he knew better than to go straight to the ogre's +house. And when he got near it he waited behind a bush till he saw the +ogre's wife come out with a pail to get some water, and then he crept +into the house and got into the copper. He hadn't been there long when +he heard thump! thump! thump! as before, and in come the ogre and his +wife. + +"Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman," cried out the ogre; +"I smell him, wife, I smell him." + +"Do you, my dearie?" says the ogre's wife. "Then if it's that little +rogue that stole your gold and the hen that laid the golden eggs he's +sure to have got into the oven." And they both rushed to the oven. But +Jack wasn't there, luckily, and the ogre's wife said: "There you are +again with your fee-fi-fo-fum. Why of course it's the laddie you caught +last night that I've broiled for your breakfast. How forgetful I am, and +how careless you are not to tell the difference between a live un and a +dead un." + +So the ogre sat down to the breakfast and ate it, but every now and +then he would mutter: "Well, I could have sworn----" and he'd get up +and search the larder and the cupboards, and everything, only luckily he +didn't think of the copper. + +After breakfast was over, the ogre called out: "Wife, wife, bring me my +golden harp." So she brought it and put it on the table before him. Then +he said: "Sing!" and the golden harp sang most beautifully. And it +went on singing till the ogre fell asleep, and commenced to snore like +thunder. + +Then Jack lifted up the copper-lid very quietly and got down like a +mouse and crept on hands and knees till he got to the table when he got +up and caught hold of the golden harp and dashed with it towards the +door. But the harp called out quite loud: "Master! Master!" and the ogre +woke up just in time to see Jack running off with his harp. + +Jack ran as fast as he could, and the ogre came rushing after, and would +soon have caught him only Jack had a start and dodged him a bit and knew +where he was going. When he got to the beanstalk the ogre was not more +than twenty yards away when suddenly he saw Jack disappear like, and +when he got up to the end of the road he saw Jack underneath climbing +down for dear life. Well, the ogre didn't like trusting himself to such +a ladder, and he stood and waited, so Jack got another start. But just +then the harp cried out: "Master! master!" and the ogre swung himself +down on to the beanstalk which shook with his weight. Down climbs Jack, +and after him climbed the ogre. By this time Jack had climbed down and +climbed down and climbed down till he was very nearly home. So he called +out: "Mother! mother! bring me an axe, bring me an axe." And his mother +came rushing out with the axe in her hand, but when she came to the +beanstalk she stood stock still with fright for there she saw the ogre +just coming down below the clouds. + +But Jack jumped down and got hold of the axe and gave a chop at the +beanstalk which cut it half in two. The ogre felt the beanstalk shake +and quiver so he stopped to see what was the matter. Then Jack gave +another chop with the axe, and the beanstalk was cut in two and began +to topple over. Then the ogre fell down and broke his crown, and the +beanstalk came toppling after. + +Then Jack showed his mother his golden harp, and what with showing that +and selling the golden eggs, Jack and his mother became very rich, and +he married a great princess, and they lived happy ever after. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS + + Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme + And monkeys chewed tobacco, + And hens took snuff to make them tough, + And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O! + +There was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough +to keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune. The first that +went off met a man with a bundle of straw, and said to him: + +"Please, man, give me that straw to build me a house." + +Which the man did, and the little pig built a house with it. Presently +came along a wolf, and knocked at the door, and said: + +"Little pig, little pig, let me come in." + +To which the pig answered: + +"No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin." + +The wolf then answered to that: + +"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in." + +So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew his house in, and ate up the +little pig. + +The second little pig met a man with a bundle of furze, and said: + +"Please, man, give me that furze to build a house." + +Which the man did, and the pig built his house. Then along came the +wolf, and said: + +"Little pig, little pig, let me come in." + +"No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin." + +"Then I'll puff, and I'll huff, and I'll blow your house in." + +So he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed, and he huffed, and at last +he blew the house down, and he ate up the little pig. + +The third little pig met a man with a load of bricks, and said: + +"Please, man, give me those bricks to build a house with." + +So the man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them. So the +wolf came, as he did to the other little pigs, and said: + +"Little pig, little pig, let me come in." + +"No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin." + +"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in." + +Well, he huffed, and he puffed, and he huffed and he puffed, and he +puffed and huffed; but he could _not_ get the house down. When he found +that he could not, with all his huffing and puffing, blow the house +down, he said: + +"Little pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips." + +"Where?" said the little pig. + +"Oh, in Mr. Smith's Home-field, and if you will be ready tomorrow +morning I will call for you, and we will go together, and get some for +dinner." + +"Very well," said the little pig, "I will be ready. What time do you +mean to go?" + +"Oh, at six o'clock." + +Well, the little pig got up at five, and got the turnips before the wolf +came (which he did about six) and who said: + +"Little Pig, are you ready?" + +The little pig said: "Ready! I have been and come back again, and got a +nice potful for dinner." + +The wolf felt very angry at this, but thought that he would be up to the +little pig somehow or other, so he said: + +"Little pig, I know where there is a nice apple-tree." + +"Where?" said the pig. + +"Down at Merry-garden," replied the wolf, "and if you will not deceive +me I will come for you, at five o'clock tomorrow and get some apples." + +Well, the little pig bustled up the next morning at four o'clock, and +went off for the apples, hoping to get back before the wolf came; but +he had further to go, and had to climb the tree, so that just as he was +coming down from it, he saw the wolf coming, which, as you may suppose, +frightened him very much. When the wolf came up he said: + +"Little pig, what! are you here before me? Are they nice apples?" + +"Yes, very," said the little pig. "I will throw you down one." + +And he threw it so far, that, while the wolf was gone to pick it up, the +little pig jumped down and ran home. The next day the wolf came again, +and said to the little pig: + +"Little pig, there is a fair at Shanklin this afternoon, will you go?" + +"Oh yes," said the pig, "I will go; what time shall you be ready?" + +"At three," said the wolf. So the little pig went off before the time +as usual, and got to the fair, and bought a butter-churn, which he was +going home with, when he saw the wolf coming. Then he could not tell +what to do. So he got into the churn to hide, and by so doing turned it +round, and it rolled down the hill with the pig in it, which frightened +the wolf so much, that he ran home without going to the fair. He went +to the little pig's house, and told him how frightened he had been by a +great round thing which came down the hill past him. Then the little pig +said: + +"Hah, I frightened you, then. I had been to the fair and bought a +butter-churn, and when I saw you, I got into it, and rolled down the +hill." + +Then the wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he _would_ eat up the +little pig, and that he would get down the chimney after him. When the +little pig saw what he was about, he hung on the pot full of water, and +made up a blazing fire, and, just as the wolf was coming down, took +off the cover, and in fell the wolf; so the little pig put on the cover +again in an instant, boiled him up, and ate him for supper, and lived +happy ever afterwards. + + + + +THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL + +There was once a very learned man in the north-country who knew all the +languages under the sun, and who was acquainted with all the mysteries +of creation. He had one big book bound in black calf and clasped with +iron, and with iron corners, and chained to a table which was made fast +to the floor; and when he read out of this book, he unlocked it with an +iron key, and none but he read from it, for it contained all the secrets +of the spiritual world. It told how many angels there were in heaven, +and how they marched in their ranks, and sang in their quires, and what +were their several functions, and what was the name of each great angel +of might. And it told of the demons, how many of them there were, and +what were their several powers, and their labours, and their names, and +how they might be summoned, and how tasks might be imposed on them, and +how they might be chained to be as slaves to man. + +Now the master had a pupil who was but a foolish lad, and he acted as +servant to the great master, but never was he suffered to look into the +black book, hardly to enter the private room. + +One day the master was out, and then the lad, as curious as could be, +hurried to the chamber where his master kept his wondrous apparatus +for changing copper into gold, and lead into silver, and where was his +mirror in which he could see all that was passing in the world, and +where was the shell which when held to the ear whispered all the words +that were being spoken by anyone the master desired to know about. The +lad tried in vain with the crucibles to turn copper and lead into gold +and silver--he looked long and vainly into the mirror; smoke and clouds +passed over it, but he saw nothing plain, and the shell to his ear +produced only indistinct murmurings, like the breaking of distant seas +on an unknown shore. "I can do nothing," he said; "as I don't know the +right words to utter, and they are locked up in yon book." + +He looked round, and, see! the book was unfastened; the master had +forgotten to lock it before he went out. The boy rushed to it, and +unclosed the volume. It was written with red and black ink, and much of +it he could not understand; but he put his finger on a line and spelled +it through. + +At once the room was darkened, and the house trembled; a clap of thunder +rolled through the passage and the old room, and there stood before him +a horrible, horrible form, breathing fire, and with eyes like burning +lamps. It was the demon Beelzebub, whom he had called up to serve him. + +"Set me a task!" said he, with a voice like the roaring of an iron +furnace. + +The boy only trembled, and his hair stood up. + +"Set me a task, or I shall strangle thee!" + +But the lad could not speak. Then the evil spirit stepped towards him, +and putting forth his hands touched his throat. The fingers burned his +flesh. "Set me a task!" + +"Water yon flower," cried the boy in despair, pointing to a geranium +which stood in a pot on the floor. Instantly the spirit left the room, +but in another instant he returned with a barrel on his back, and poured +its contents over the flower; and again and again he went and came, and +poured more and more water, till the floor of the room was ankle-deep. + +"Enough, enough!" gasped the lad; but the demon heeded him not; the lad +didn't know the words by which to send him away, and still he fetched +water. + +It rose to the boy's knees and still more water was poured. It mounted +to his waist, and Beelzebub still kept on bringing barrels full. It rose +to his armpits, and he scrambled to the table-top. And now the water +in the room stood up to the window and washed against the glass, and +swirled around his feet on the table. It still rose; it reached his +breast. In vain he cried; the evil spirit would not be dismissed, and +to this day he would have been pouring water, and would have drowned +all Yorkshire. But the master remembered on his journey that he had +not locked his book, and therefore returned, and at the moment when +the water was bubbling about the pupil's chin, rushed into the room and +spoke the words which cast Beelzebub back into his fiery home. + + + + +TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE + +Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse both lived in a house, + +Titty Mouse went a leasing and Tatty Mouse went a leasing, + +So they both went a leasing. + +Titty Mouse leased an ear of corn, and Tatty Mouse leased an ear of +corn, + +So they both leased an ear of corn. + +Titty Mouse made a pudding, and Tatty Mouse made a pudding, + +So they both made a pudding. + +And Tatty Mouse put her pudding into the pot to boil, + +But when Titty went to put hers in, the pot tumbled over, and scalded +her to death. + +Then Tatty sat down and wept; then a three-legged stool said: "Tatty, +why do you weep?" "Titty's dead," said Tatty, "and so I weep;" "then," +said the stool, "I'll hop," so the stool hopped. + +Then a broom in the corner of the room said, "Stool, why do you hop?" +"Oh!" said the stool, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and so I hop;" +"then," said the broom, "I'll sweep," so the broom began to sweep. + +"Then," said the door, "Broom, why do you sweep?" "Oh!" said the broom, +"Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and so I sweep;" +"Then," said the door, "I'll jar," so the door jarred. + +"Then," said the window, "Door, why do you jar?" "Oh!" said the door, +"Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom +sweeps, and so I jar." + +"Then," said the window, "I'll creak," so the window creaked. Now there +was an old form outside the house, and when the window creaked, the form +said: "Window, why do you creak?" "Oh!" said the window, "Titty's dead, +and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door +jars, and so I creak." + +"Then," said the old form, "I'll run round the house;" then the old form +ran round the house. Now there was a fine large walnut-tree growing by +the cottage, and the tree said to the form: "Form, why do you run round +the house?" "Oh!" said the form, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the +stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, +and so I run round the house." + +"Then," said the walnut-tree, "I'll shed my leaves," so the walnut-tree +shed all its beautiful green leaves. Now there was a little bird perched +on one of the boughs of the tree, and when all the leaves fell, it +said: "Walnut-tree, why do you shed your leaves?" "Oh!" said the tree, +"Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, +the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the house, +and so I shed my leaves." + +"Then," said the little bird, "I'll moult all my feathers," so he +moulted all his pretty feathers. Now there was a little girl walking +below, carrying a jug of milk for her brothers and sisters' supper, +and when she saw the poor little bird moult all its feathers, she said: +"Little bird, why do you moult all your feathers?" "Oh!" said the little +bird, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom +sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round +the house, the walnut-tree sheds its leaves, and so I moult all my +feathers." + +"Then," said the little girl, "I'll spill the milk," so she dropt the +pitcher and spilt the milk. Now there was an old man just by on the top +of a ladder thatching a rick, and when he saw the little girl spill the +milk, he said: "Little girl, what do you mean by spilling the milk, your +little brothers and sisters must go without their supper." Then said +the little girl: "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the +broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs +round the house, the walnut-tree sheds all its leaves, the little bird +moults all its feathers, and so I spill the milk." + +"Oh!" said the old man, "then I'll tumble off the ladder and break my +neck," so he tumbled off the ladder and broke his neck; and when the old +man broke his neck, the great walnut-tree fell down with a crash, and +upset the old form and house, and the house falling knocked the window +out, and the window knocked the door down, and the door upset the broom, +and the broom upset the stool, and poor little Tatty Mouse was buried +beneath the ruins. + + + + +JACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX + +Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it was neither in +my time nor in your time nor in any one else's time, there was an old +man and an old woman, and they had one son, and they lived in a great +forest. And their son never saw any other people in his life, but he +knew that there was some more in the world besides his own father and +mother, because he had lots of books, and he used to read every day +about them. And when he read about some pretty young women, he used +to go mad to see some of them; till one day, when his father was out +cutting wood, he told his mother that he wished to go away to look for +his living in some other country, and to see some other people besides +them two. And he said, "I see nothing at all here but great trees around +me; and if I stay here, maybe I shall go mad before I see anything." The +young man's father was out all this time, when this talk was going on +between him and his poor old mother. + +The old woman begins by saying to her son before leaving, "Well, well, +my poor boy, if you want to go, it's better for you to go, and God +be with you."--(The old woman thought for the best when she said +that.)--"But stop a bit before you go. Which would you like best for me +to make you, a little cake and bless you, or a big cake and curse you?" +"Dear, dear!" said he, "make me a big cake. Maybe I shall be hungry on +the road." The old woman made the big cake, and she went on top of the +house, and she cursed him as far as she could see him. + +He presently meets with his father, and the old man says to him: "Where +are you going, my poor boy?" when the son told the father the same tale +as he told his mother. "Well," says his father, "I'm sorry to see you +going away, but if you've made your mind to go, it's better for you to +go." + +The poor lad had not gone far, when his father called him back; then +the old man drew out of his pocket a golden snuff-box, and said to him: +"Here, take this little box, and put it in your pocket, and be sure not +to open it till you are near your death." And away went poor Jack upon +his road, and walked till he was tired and hungry, for he had eaten all +his cake upon the road; and by this time night was upon him, so he could +hardly see his way before him. He could see some light a long way before +him, and he made up to it, and found the back door and knocked at it, +till one of the maid-servants came and asked him what he wanted. He said +that night was on him, and he wanted to get some place to sleep. The +maid-servant called him in to the fire, and gave him plenty to eat, +good meat and bread and beer; and as he was eating his food by the fire, +there came the young lady to look at him, and she loved him well and he +loved her. And the young lady ran to tell her father, and said there was +a pretty young man in the back kitchen; and immediately the gentleman +came to him, and questioned him, and asked what work he could do. Jack +said, the silly fellow, that he could do anything. (He meant that he +could do any foolish bit of work, that would be wanted about the house.) + +"Well," says the gentleman to him, "if you can do anything, at eight +o'clock in the morning I must have a great lake and some of-the largest +man-of-war vessels sailing before my mansion, and one of the largest +vessels must fire a royal salute, and the last round must break the +leg of the bed where my young daughter is sleeping. And if you don't do +that, you will have to forfeit your life." + +"All right," said Jack; and away he went to his bed, and said his +prayers quietly, and slept till it was near eight o'clock, and he had +hardly any time to think what he was to do, till all of a sudden he +remembered about the little golden box that his father gave him. And he +said to himself: "Well, well, I never was so near my death as I am now;" +and then he felt in his pocket, and drew the little box out. And when he +opened it, out there hopped three little red men, and asked Jack: "What +is your will with us?" "Well," said Jack, "I want a great lake and some +of the largest man-of-war vessels in the world before this mansion, and +one of the largest vessels to fire a royal salute, and the last round +to break one of the legs of the bed where this young lady is sleeping." +"All right," said the little men; "go to sleep." + +Jack had hardly time to bring the words out of his mouth, to tell the +little men what to do, but what it struck eight o'clock, when Bang, bang +went one of the largest man-of-war vessels; and it made Jack jump out of +bed to look through the window; and I can assure you it was a wonderful +sight for him to see, after being so long with his father and mother +living in a wood. + +By this time Jack dressed himself, and said his prayers, and came down +laughing; for he was proud, he was, because the thing was done so well. +The gentleman comes to him, and says to him: "Well, my young man, I must +say that you are very clever indeed. Come and have some breakfast." And +the gentleman tells him, "Now there are two more things you have to +do, and then you shall have my daughter in marriage." Jack gets his +breakfast, and has a good squint at the young lady, and also she at him. + +The other thing that the gentleman told him to do was to fell all the +great trees for miles around by eight o'clock in the morning; and, to +make my long story short, it was done, and it pleased the gentleman well +The gentleman said to him: "The other thing you have to do"--(and it +was the last thing)--"you must get me a great castle standing on twelve +golden pillars; and there must come regiments of soldiers and go through +their drill. At eight o'clock the commanding officer must say, 'Shoulder +up.'" "All right," said Jack; when the third and last morning came +the third great feat was finished, and he had the young daughter in +marriage. But, oh dear! there is worse to come yet. + +The gentleman now makes a large hunting party, and invites all the +gentlemen around the country to it, and to see the castle as well. And +by this time Jack has a beautiful horse and a scarlet dress to go with +them. On that morning his valet, when putting Jack's clothes by, +after changing them to go a hunting, put his hand in one of Jack's +waistcoat-pockets, and pulled out the little golden snuffbox, as poor +Jack left behind in a mistake. And that man opened the little box, and +there hopped the three little red men out, and asked him what he wanted +with them. "Well," said the valet to them, "I want this castle to be +moved from this place far and far across the sea." "All right," said +the little red men to him; "do you wish to go with it?" "Yes," said he. +"Well, get up," said they to him; and away they went far and far over +the great sea. + +Now the grand hunting party comes back, and the castle upon the twelve +golden pillars had disappeared, to the great disappointment of those +gentlemen as did not see it before. That poor silly Jack is threatened +by taking his beautiful young wife from him, for taking them in in the +way he did. But the gentleman at last made an agreement with him, and he +is to have a twelvemonths and a day to look for it; and off he goes with +a good horse and money in his pocket. + +Now poor Jack goes in search of his missing castle, over hills, dales, +valleys, and mountains, through woolly woods and sheepwalks, further +than I can tell you or ever intend to tell you. Until at last he comes +up to the place where lives the King of all the little mice in the +world. There was one of the little mice on sentry at the front gate +going up to the palace, and did try to stop Jack from going in. He asked +the little mouse: "Where does the King live? I should like to see him." +This one sent another with him to show him the place; and when the King +saw him, he called him in. And the King questioned him, and asked him +where he was going that way. Well, Jack told him all the truth, that he +had lost the great castle, and was going to look for it, and he had a +whole twelvemonths and a day to find it out. And Jack asked him whether +he knew anything about it; and the King said: "No, but I am the King +of all the little mice in the world, and I will call them all up in the +morning, and maybe they have seen something of it." + +Then Jack got a good meal and bed, and in the morning he and the King +went on to the fields; and the King called all the mice together, and +asked them whether they had seen the great beautiful castle standing on +golden pillars. And all the little mice said, No, there was none of them +had seen it. The old King said to him that he had two other brothers: +"One is the King of all the frogs; and my other brother, who is the +oldest, he is the King of all the birds in the world. And if you go +there, may be they know something about the missing castle." The King +said to him: "Leave your horse here with me till you come back, and take +one of my best horses under you, and give this cake to my brother; he +will know then who you got it from. Mind and tell him I am well, and +should like dearly to see him." And then the King and Jack shook hands +together. + +And when Jack was going through the gates, the little mouse asked him, +should he go with him; and Jack said to him: "No, I shall get myself +into trouble with the King." And the little thing told him: "It will be +better for you to let me go with you; maybe I shall do some good to you +some time without you knowing it." "Jump up, then." And the little mouse +ran up the horse's leg, and made it dance; and Jack put the mouse in his +pocket. + +Now Jack, after wishing good morning to the King and pocketing the +little mouse which was on sentry, trudged on his way; and such a long +way he had to go and this was his first day. At last he found the place; +and there was one of the frogs on sentry, and gun upon his shoulder, and +did try to hinder Jack from going in; but when Jack said to him that he +wanted to see the King, he allowed him to pass; and Jack made up to the +door. The King came out, and asked him his business; and Jack told +him all from beginning to end. "Well, well, come in." He gets good +entertainment that night; and in the morning the King made such a funny +sound, and collected all the frogs in the world. And he asked them, +did they know or see anything of a castle that stood upon twelve golden +pillars; and they all made a curious sound, _Kro-kro, kro-kro_, and +said, No. + +Jack had to take another horse, and a cake to this King's brother, who +is the King of all the fowls of the air; and as Jack was going through +the gates, the little frog that was on sentry asked John should he go +with him. Jack refused him for a bit; but at last he told him to jump +up, and Jack put him in his other waistcoat pocket. And away he went +again on his great long journey; it was three times as long this time as +it was the first day; however, he found the place, and there was a fine +bird on sentry. And Jack passed him, and he never said a word to him; +and he talked with the King, and told him everything, all about the +castle. "Well," said the King to him, "you shall know in the morning +from my birds, whether they know anything or not." Jack put up his horse +in the stable, and then went to bed, after having something to eat. And +when he got up in the morning the King and he went on to some field, and +there the King made some funny noise, and there came all the fowls that +were in all the world. And the King asked them; "Did they see the fine +castle?" and all the birds answered, No. "Well," said the King, "where +is the great bird?" They had to wait then for a long time for the eagle +to make his appearance, when at last he came all in a perspiration, +after sending two little birds high up in the sky to whistle on him to +make all the haste he possibly could. The King asked the great bird, +Did he see the great castle? and the bird said: "Yes, I came from there +where it now is." "Well," says the King to him; "this young gentleman +has lost it, and you must go with him back to it; but stop till you get +a bit of something to eat first." + +They killed a thief, and sent the best part of it to feed the eagle on +his journey over the seas, and had to carry Jack on his back. Now when +they came in sight of the castle, they did not know what to do to get +the little golden box. Well, the little mouse said to them: "Leave me +down, and I will get the little box for you." So the mouse stole into +the castle, and got hold of the box; and when he was coming down the +stairs, it fell down, and he was very near being caught. He came running +out with it, laughing his best. "Have you got it?" Jack said to him; he +said: "Yes;" and off they went back again, and left the castle behind. + +As they were all of them (Jack, mouse, frog, and eagle) passing over +the great sea, they fell to quarrelling about which it was that got the +little box, till down it slipped into the water. (It was by them looking +at it and handing it from one hand to the other that they dropped the +little box to the bottom of the sea.) "Well, well," said the frog, "I +knew that I would have to do something, so you had better let me go down +in the water." And they let him go, and he was down for three days and +three nights; and up he comes, and shows his nose and little mouth out +of the water; and all of them asked him, Did he get it? and he told +them, No. "Well, what are you doing there, then?" "Nothing at all," he +said, "only I want my full breath;" and the poor little frog went down +the second time, and he was down for a day and a night, and up he brings +it. + +And away they did go, after being there four days and nights; and after +a long tug over seas and mountains, arrive at the palace of the old +King, who is the master of all the birds in the world. And the King +is very proud to see them, and has a hearty welcome and a long +conversation. Jack opens the little box, and told the little men to go +back and to bring the castle here to them; "and all of you make as much +haste back again as you possibly can." + +The three little men went off; and when they came near the castle they +were afraid to go to it till the gentleman and lady and all the servants +were gone out to some dance. And there was no one left behind there only +the cook and another maid with her; and the little red men asked them +which would they rather--go, or stop behind? and they both said: "I will +go with you;" and the little men told them to run upstairs quick. They +were no sooner up and in one of the drawing-rooms than here comes just +in sight the gentleman and lady and all the servants; but it was too +late. Off the castle went at full speed, with the women laughing at them +through the window, while they made motions for them to stop, but all to +no purpose. + +They were nine days on their journey, in which they did try to keep the +Sunday holy, when one of the little men turned to be the priest, the +other the clerk, and third presided at the organ, and the women were +the singers, for they had a grand chapel in the castle already. Very +remarkable, there was a discord made in the music, and one of the little +men ran up one of the organ-pipes to see where the bad sound came +from, when he found out it only happened to be that the two women were +laughing at the little red man stretching his little legs full length +on the bass pipes, also his two arms the same time, with his little red +night-cap, which he never forgot to wear, and what they never witnessed +before, could not help calling forth some good merriment while on the +face of the deep. And poor thing! through them not going on with what +they begun with, they very near came to danger, as the castle was once +very near sinking in the middle of the sea. + +At length, after a merry journey, they come again to Jack and the King. +The King was quite struck with the sight of the castle; and going up the +golden stairs, went to see the inside. + +The King was very much pleased with the castle, but poor Jack's time of +a twelvemonths and a day was drawing to a close; and he, wishing to +go home to his young wife, gives orders to the three little men to +get ready by the next morning at eight o'clock to be off to the next +brother, and to stop there for one night; also to proceed from there +to the last or the youngest brother, the master of all the mice in the +world, in such place where the castle shall be left under his care until +it's sent for. Jack takes a farewell of the King, and thanks him very +much for his hospitality. + +Away went Jack and his castle again, and stopped one night in that +place; and away they went again to the third place, and there left the +castle under his care. As Jack had to leave the castle behind, he had to +take to his own horse, which he left there when he first started. + +Now poor Jack leaves his castle behind and faces towards home; and +after having so much merriment with the three brothers every night, Jack +became sleepy on horseback, and would have lost the road if it was not +for the little men a-guiding him. At last he arrived weary and tired, +and they did not seem to receive him with any kindness whatever, +because he had not found the stolen castle; and to make it worse, he was +disappointed in not seeing his young and beautiful wife to come and meet +him, through being hindered by her parents. But that did not stop long. +Jack put full power on and despatched the little men off to bring the +castle from there, and they soon got there. + +Jack shook hands with the King, and returned many thanks for his kingly +kindness in minding the castle for him; and then Jack instructed the +little men to spur up and put speed on. And off they went, and were not +long before they reached their journey's end, when out comes the young +wife to meet him with a fine lump of a young SON, and they all lived +happy ever afterwards. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS + +Once upon a time there were Three Bears, who lived together in a house +of their own, in a wood. One of them was a Little, Small Wee Bear; and +one was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear. They +had each a pot for their porridge, a little pot for the Little, Small, +Wee Bear; and a middle-sized pot for the Middle Bear, and a great pot +for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit in; a little +chair for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized chair for the +Middle Bear; and a great chair for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had +each a bed to sleep in; a little bed for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; +and a middle-sized bed for the Middle Bear; and a great bed for the +Great, Huge Bear. + +One day, after they had made the porridge for their breakfast, and +poured it into their porridge-pots, they walked out into the wood while +the porridge was cooling, that they might not burn their mouths, by +beginning too soon to eat it. And while they were walking, a little +old Woman came to the house. She could not have been a good, honest old +Woman; for first she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in at +the keyhole; and seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch. The +door was not fastened, because the Bears were good Bears, who did nobody +any harm, and never suspected that anybody would harm them. So the +little old Woman opened the door, and went in; and well pleased she was +when she saw the porridge on the table. If she had been a good little +old Woman, she would have waited till the Bears came home, and then, +perhaps, they would have asked her to breakfast; for they were good +Bears--a little rough or so, as the manner of Bears is, but for all +that very good-natured and hospitable. But she was an impudent, bad old +Woman, and set about helping herself. + +So first she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was +too hot for her; and she said a bad word about that. And then she tasted +the porridge of the Middle Bear, and that was too cold for her; and she +said a bad word about that too. And then she went to the porridge of the +Little, Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that; and that was neither too hot, +nor too cold, but just right; and she liked it so well, that she ate +it all up: but the naughty old Woman said a bad word about the little +porridge-pot, because it did not hold enough for her. + +Then the little old Woman sate down in the chair of the Great, Huge +Bear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sate down in the chair +of the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sate +down in the chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither +too hard, nor too soft, but just right. So she seated herself in it, and +there she sate till the bottom of the chair came out, and down she came, +plump upon the ground. And the naughty old Woman said a wicked word +about that too. + +Then the little old Woman went upstairs into the bed-chamber in which +the three Bears slept. And first she lay down upon the bed of the Great, +Huge Bear; but that was too high at the head for her. And next she lay +down upon the bed of the Middle Bear; and that was too high at the foot +for her. And then she lay down upon the bed of the Little, Small, Wee +Bear; and that was neither too high at the head, nor at the foot, but +just right. So she covered herself up comfortably, and lay there till +she fell fast asleep. + +By this time the Three Bears thought their porridge would be cool +enough; so they came home to breakfast. Now the little old Woman had +left the spoon of the Great, Huge Bear, standing in his porridge. + +"Somebody has been at my porridge!" + +said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. And when +the Middle Bear looked at his, he saw that the spoon was standing in it +too. They were wooden spoons; if they had been silver ones, the naughty +old Woman would have put them in her pocket. + +"Somebody has been at my porridge!" + +said the Middle Bear in his middle voice. + +Then the Little, Small, Wee Bear looked at his, and there was the spoon +in the porridge-pot, but the porridge was all gone. + +"Somebody has been at my porridge, and has eaten it all up!" + +said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + +Upon this the Three Bears, seeing that some one had entered their house, +and eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear's breakfast, began to look +about them. Now the little old Woman had not put the hard cushion +straight when she rose from the chair of the Great, Huge Bear. + +"Somebody has been sitting in my chair!" + +said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. + +And the little old Woman had squatted down the soft cushion of the +Middle Bear. + +"Somebody has been sitting in my chair!" + +said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice. + +And you know what the little old Woman had done to the third chair. + +"Somebody has been sitting in my chair and has sate the bottom out of +it!" + +said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + +Then the Three Bears thought it necessary that they should make farther +search; so they went upstairs into their bedchamber. Now the little old +Woman had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear, out of its place. + +"Somebody has been lying in my bed!" + +said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. + +And the little old Woman had pulled the bolster of the Middle Bear out +of its place. + +"Somebody has been lying in my bed!" + +said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice. + +And when the Little, Small, Wee Bear came to look at his bed, there was +the bolster in its place; and the pillow in its place upon the bolster; +and upon the pillow was the little old Woman's ugly, dirty head,--which +was not in its place, for she had no business there. + +"Somebody has been lying in my bed,--and here she is!" + +said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + +The little old Woman had heard in her sleep the great, rough, gruff +voice of the Great, Huge Bear; but she was so fast asleep that it was +no more to her than the roaring of wind, or the rumbling of thunder. And +she had heard the middle voice, of the Middle Bear, but it was only as +if she had heard some one speaking in a dream. But when she heard the +little, small, wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, it was so +sharp, and so shrill, that it awakened her at once. Up she started; and +when she saw the Three Bears on one side of the bed, she tumbled herself +out at the other, and ran to the window. Now the window was open, +because the Bears, like good, tidy Bears, as they were, always opened +their bedchamber window when they got up in the morning. Out the little +old Woman jumped; and whether she broke her neck in the fall; or ran +into the wood and was lost there; or found her way out of the wood, and +was taken up by the constable and sent to the House of Correction for +a vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But the Three Bears never saw +anything more of her. + + + + +JACK THE GIANT-KILLER + +When good King Arthur reigned, there lived near the Land's End of +England, in the county of Cornwall, a farmer who had one only son called +Jack. He was brisk and of a ready lively wit, so that nobody or nothing +could worst him. + +In those days the Mount of Cornwall was kept by a huge giant named +Cormoran. He was eighteen feet in height, and about three yards round +the waist, of a fierce and grim countenance, the terror of all the +neighbouring towns and villages. He lived in a cave in the midst of the +Mount, and whenever he wanted food he would wade over to the main-land, +where he would furnish himself with whatever came in his way. Everybody +at his approach ran out of their houses, while he seized on their +cattle, making nothing of carrying half-a-dozen oxen on his back at a +time; and as for their sheep and hogs, he would tie them round his waist +like a bunch of tallow-dips. He had done this for many years, so that +all Cornwall was in despair. + +One day Jack happened to be at the town-hall when the magistrates were +sitting in council about the Giant. He asked: "What reward will be given +to the man who kills Cormoran?" "The giant's treasure," they said, "will +be the reward." Quoth Jack: "Then let me undertake it." + +So he got a horn, shovel, and pickaxe, and went over to the Mount in the +beginning of a dark winter's evening, when he fell to work, and before +morning had dug a pit twenty-two feet deep, and nearly as broad, +covering it over with long sticks and straw. Then he strewed a little +mould over it, so that it appeared like plain ground. Jack then placed +himself on the opposite side of the pit, farthest from the giant's +lodging, and, just at the break of day, he put the horn to his mouth, +and blew, Tantivy, Tantivy. This noise roused the giant, who rushed +from his cave, crying: "You incorrigible villain, are you come here +to disturb my rest? You shall pay dearly for this. Satisfaction I will +have, and this it shall be, I will take you whole and broil you for +breakfast." He had no sooner uttered this, than he tumbled into the pit, +and made the very foundations of the Mount to shake. "Oh, Giant," quoth +Jack, "where are you now? Oh, faith, you are gotten now into Lob's +Pound, where I will surely plague you for your threatening words: what +do you think now of broiling me for your breakfast? Will no other diet +serve you but poor Jack?" Then having tantalised the giant for a while, +he gave him a most weighty knock with his pickaxe on the very crown of +his head, and killed him on the spot. + +Jack then filled up the pit with earth, and went to search the cave, +which he found contained much treasure. When the magistrates heard of +this they made a declaration he should henceforth be termed + +JACK THE GIANT-KILLER + +and presented him with a sword and a belt, on which were written these +words embroidered in letters of gold: + + "Here's the right valiant Cornish man, + Who slew the giant Cormoran." + +The news of Jack's victory soon spread over all the West of England, +so that another giant, named Blunderbore, hearing of it, vowed to be +revenged on Jack, if ever he should light on him. This giant was the +lord of an enchanted castle situated in the midst of a lonesome wood. +Now Jack, about four months afterwards, walking near this wood in his +journey to Wales, being weary, seated himself near a pleasant fountain +and fell fast asleep. While he was sleeping, the giant, coming there +for water, discovered him, and knew him to be the far-famed Jack the +Giant-killer by the lines written on the belt. Without ado, he took Jack +on his shoulders and carried him towards his castle. Now, as they passed +through a thicket, the rustling of the boughs awakened Jack, who was +strangely surprised to find himself in the clutches of the giant. His +terror was only begun, for, on entering the castle, he saw the ground +strewed with human bones, and the giant told him his own would ere +long be among them. After this the giant locked poor Jack in an immense +chamber, leaving him there while he went to fetch another giant, his +brother, living in the same wood, who might share in the meal on Jack. + +After waiting some time Jack, on going to the window beheld afar off the +two giants coming towards the castle. "Now," quoth Jack to himself, "my +death or my deliverance is at hand." Now, there were strong cords in a +corner of the room in which Jack was, and two of these he took, and made +a strong noose at the end; and while the giants were unlocking the iron +gate of the castle he threw the ropes over each of their heads. Then +he drew the other ends across a beam, and pulled with all his might, so +that he throttled them. Then, when he saw they were black in the face, +he slid down the rope, and drawing his sword, slew them both. Then, +taking the giant's keys, and unlocking the rooms, he found three fair +ladies tied by the hair of their heads, almost starved to death. "Sweet +ladies," quoth Jack, "I have destroyed this monster and his brutish +brother, and obtained your liberties." This said he presented them with +the keys, and so proceeded on his journey to Wales. + +Jack made the best of his way by travelling as fast as he could, but +lost his road, and was benighted, and could find any habitation until, +coming into a narrow valley, he found a large house, and in order to +get shelter took courage to knock at the gate. But what was his surprise +when there came forth a monstrous giant with two heads; yet he did not +appear so fiery as the others were, for he was a Welsh giant, and +what he did was by private and secret malice under the false show of +friendship. Jack, having told his condition to the giant, was shown into +a bedroom, where, in the dead of night, he heard his host in another +apartment muttering these words: + + "Though here you lodge with me this night, + You shall not see the morning light + My club shall dash your brains outright!" + +"Say'st thou so," quoth Jack; "that is like one of your Welsh tricks, +yet I hope to be cunning enough for you." Then, getting out of bed, he +laid a billet in the bed in his stead, and hid himself in a corner of +the room. At the dead time of the night in came the Welsh giant, who +struck several heavy blows on the bed with his club, thinking he had +broken every bone in Jack's skin. The next morning Jack, laughing in his +sleeve, gave him hearty thanks for his night's lodging. "How have you +rested?" quoth the giant; "did you not feel anything in the night?" +"No," quoth Jack, "nothing but a rat, which gave me two or three slaps +with her tail." With that, greatly wondering, the giant led Jack to +breakfast, bringing him a bowl containing four gallons of hasty pudding. +Being loth to let the giant think it too much for him, Jack put a large +leather bag under his loose coat, in such a way that he could convey the +pudding into it without its being perceived. Then, telling the giant he +would show him a trick, taking a knife, Jack ripped open the bag, and +out came all the hasty pudding. Whereupon, saying, "Odds splutters hur +nails, hur can do that trick hurself," the monster took the knife, and +ripping open his belly, fell down dead. + +Now, it happened in these days that King Arthur's only son asked his +father to give him a large sum of money, in order that he might go and +seek his fortune in the principality of Wales, where lived a beautiful +lady possessed with seven evil spirits. The king did his best to +persuade his son from it, but in vain; so at last gave way and the +prince set out with two horses, one loaded with money, the other for +himself to ride upon. Now, after several days' travel, he came to a +market-town in Wales, where he beheld a vast crowd of people gathered +together. The prince asked the reason of it, and was told that they had +arrested a corpse for several large sums of money which the deceased +owed when he died. The prince replied that it was a pity creditors +should be so cruel, and said: "Go bury the dead, and let his creditors +come to my lodging, and there their debts shall be paid." They came, +in such great numbers that before night he had only twopence left for +himself. + +Now Jack the Giant-Killer, coming that way, was so taken with the +generosity of the prince, that he desired to be his servant. This +being agreed upon, the next morning they set forward on their journey +together, when, as they were riding out of the town, an old woman called +after the prince, saying, "He has owed me twopence these seven years; +pray pay me as well as the rest." Putting his hand to his pocket, the +prince gave the woman all he had left, so that after their day's food, +which cost what small spell Jack had by him, they were without a penny +between them. + +When the sun got low, the king's son said: "Jack, since we have no +money, where can we lodge this night?" + +But Jack replied: "Master, we'll do well enough, for I have an uncle +lives within two miles of this place; he is a huge and monstrous giant +with three heads; he'll fight five hundred men in armour, and make them +to fly before him." "Alas!" quoth the prince, "what shall we do there? +He'll certainly chop us up at a mouthful. Nay, we are scarce enough to +fill one of his hollow teeth!" + +"It is no matter for that," quoth Jack; "I myself will go before and +prepare the way for you; therefore stop here and wait till I return." +Jack then rode away at full speed, and coming to the gate of the castle, +he knocked so loud that he made the neighbouring hills resound. The +giant roared out at this like thunder: "Who's there?" + +Jack answered: "None but your poor cousin Jack." + +Quoth he: "What news with my poor cousin Jack?" + +He replied: "Dear uncle, heavy news, God wot!" + +"Prithee," quoth the giant, "what heavy news can come to me? I am +a giant with three heads, and besides thou knowest I can fight five +hundred men in armour, and make them fly like chaff before the wind." + +"Oh, but," quoth Jack, "here's the king's son a-coming with a thousand +men in armour to kill you and destroy all that you have!" + +"Oh, cousin Jack," said the giant, "this is heavy news indeed! I will +immediately run and hide myself, and thou shalt lock, bolt, and bar +me in, and keep the keys until the prince is gone." Having secured the +giant, Jack fetched his master, when they made themselves heartily merry +whilst the poor giant lay trembling in a vault under the ground. + +Early in the morning Jack furnished his master with a fresh supply of +gold and silver, and then sent him three miles forward on his journey, +at which time the prince was pretty well out of the smell of the giant. +Jack then returned, and let the giant out of the vault, who asked what +he should give him for keeping the castle from destruction. "Why," quoth +Jack, "I want nothing but the old coat and cap, together with the old +rusty sword and slippers which are at your bed's head." Quoth the giant: +"You know not what you ask; they are the most precious things I have. +The coat will keep you invisible, the cap will tell you all you want to +know, the sword cuts asunder whatever you strike, and the shoes are +of extraordinary swiftness. But you have been very serviceable to me, +therefore take them with all my heart." Jack thanked his uncle, and then +went off with them. He soon overtook his master and they quickly arrived +at the house of the lady the prince sought, who, finding the prince to +be a suitor, prepared a splendid banquet for him. After the repast was +concluded, she told him she had a task for him. She wiped his mouth with +a handkerchief, saying: "You must show me that handkerchief to-morrow +morning, or else you will lose your head." With that she put it in +her bosom. The prince went to bed in great sorrow, but Jack's cap of +knowledge informed him how it was to be obtained. In the middle of the +night she called upon her familiar spirit to carry her to Lucifer. But +Jack put on his coat of darkness and his shoes of swiftness, and was +there as soon as she was. When she entered the place of the Old One, she +gave the handkerchief to old Lucifer, who laid it upon a shelf, whence +Jack took it and brought it to his master, who showed it to the lady +next day, and so saved his life. On that day, she gave the prince a kiss +and told him he must show her the lips to-morrow morning that she kissed +last night, or lose his head. + +"Ah!" he replied, "if you kiss none but mine, I will." + +"That is neither here nor there," said she; "if you do not, death's your +portion!" + +At midnight she went as before, and was angry with old Lucifer for +letting the handkerchief go. "But now," quoth she, "I will be too hard +for the king's son, for I will kiss thee, and he is to show me thy +lips." Which she did, and Jack, when she was not standing by, cut off +Lucifer's head and brought it under his invisible coat to his master, +who the next morning pulled it out by the horns before the lady. This +broke the enchantment and the evil spirit left her, and she appeared in +all her beauty. They were married the next morning, and soon after went +to the court of King Arthur, where Jack for his many great exploits, was +made one of the Knights of the Round Table. + +Jack soon went searching for giants again, but he had not ridden far, +when he saw a cave, near the entrance of which he beheld a giant sitting +upon a block of timber, with a knotted iron club by his side. His goggle +eyes were like flames of fire, his countenance grim and ugly, and his +cheeks like a couple of large flitches of bacon, while the bristles of +his beard resembled rods of iron wire, and the locks that hung down upon +his brawny shoulders were like curled snakes or hissing adders. Jack +alighted from his horse, and, putting on the coat of darkness, went up +close to the giant, and said softly: "Oh! are you there? It will not +be long before I take you fast by the beard." The giant all this while +could not see him, on account of his invisible coat, so that Jack, +coming up close to the monster, struck a blow with his sword at his +head, but, missing his aim, he cut off the nose instead. At this, the +giant roared like claps of thunder, and began to lay about him with his +iron club like one stark mad. But Jack, running behind, drove his sword +up to the hilt in the giant's back, so that he fell down dead. This +done, Jack cut off the giant's head, and sent it, with his brother's +also, to King Arthur, by a waggoner he hired for that purpose. + +Jack now resolved to enter the giant's cave in search of his treasure, +and, passing along through a great many windings and turnings, he came +at length to a large room paved with freestone, at the upper end of +which was a boiling caldron, and on the right hand a large table, at +which the giant used to dine. Then he came to a window, barred with +iron, through which he looked and beheld a vast number of miserable +captives, who, seeing him, cried out: "Alas! young man, art thou come to +be one amongst us in this miserable den?" + +"Ay," quoth Jack, "but pray tell me what is the meaning of your +captivity?" + +"We are kept here," said one, "till such time as the giants have a wish +to feast, and then the fattest among us is slaughtered! And many are the +times they have dined upon murdered men!" + +"Say you so," quoth Jack, and straightway unlocked the gate and let them +free, who all rejoiced like condemned men at sight of a pardon. Then +searching the giant's coffers, he shared the gold and silver equally +amongst them and took them to a neighbouring castle, where they all +feasted and made merry over their deliverance. + +But in the midst of all this mirth a messenger brought news that one +Thunderdell, a giant with two heads, having heard of the death of his +kinsmen, had come from the northern dales to be revenged on Jack, and +was within a mile of the castle, the country people flying before him +like chaff. But Jack was not a bit daunted, and said: "Let him come! I +have a tool to pick his teeth; and you, ladies and gentlemen, walk out +into the garden, and you shall witness this giant Thunderdell's death +and destruction." + +The castle was situated in the midst of a small island surrounded by a +moat thirty feet deep and twenty feet wide, over which lay a drawbridge. +So Jack employed men to cut through this bridge on both sides, nearly to +the middle; and then, dressing himself in his invisible coat, he marched +against the giant with his sword of sharpness. Although the giant could +not see Jack, he smelt his approach, and cried out in these words: + + "Fee, fi, fo, fum! + I smell the blood of an Englishman! + Be he alive or be he dead, + I'll grind his bones to make me bread!" + +"Say'st thou so," said Jack; "then thou art a monstrous miller indeed." + +The giant cried out again: "Art thou that villain who killed my kinsmen? +Then I will tear thee with my teeth, suck thy blood, and grind thy bones +to powder." + +"You'll have to catch me first," quoth Jack, and throwing off his +invisible coat, so that the giant might see him, and putting on his +shoes of swiftness, he ran from the giant, who followed like a walking +castle, so that the very foundations of the earth seemed to shake at +every step. Jack led him a long dance, in order that the gentlemen and +ladies might see; and at last to end the matter, ran lightly over the +drawbridge, the giant, in full speed, pursuing him with his club. Then, +coming to the middle of the bridge, the giant's great weight broke +it down, and he tumbled headlong into the water, where he rolled and +wallowed like a whale. Jack, standing by the moat, laughed at him all +the while; but though the giant foamed to hear him scoff, and plunged +from place to place in the moat, yet he could not get out to be +revenged. Jack at length got a cart-rope and cast it over the two heads +of the giant, and drew him ashore by a team of horses, and then cut +off both his heads with his sword of sharpness, and sent them to King +Arthur. + +After some time spent in mirth and pastime, Jack, taking leave of the +knights and ladies, set out for new adventures. Through many woods he +passed, and came at length to the foot of a high mountain. Here, late +at night, he found a lonesome house, and knocked at the door, which was +opened by an aged man with a head as white as snow. "Father," said Jack, +"can you lodge a benighted traveller that has lost his way?" "Yes," said +the old man; "you are right welcome to my poor cottage." Whereupon Jack +entered, and down they sat together, and the old man began to speak as +follows: "Son, I see by your belt you are the great conqueror of giants, +and behold, my son, on the top of this mountain is an enchanted castle, +this is kept by a giant named Galligantua, and he by the help of an +old conjurer, betrays many knights and ladies into his castle, where by +magic art they are transformed into sundry shapes and forms. But above +all, I grieve for a duke's daughter, whom they fetched from her father's +garden, carrying her through the air in a burning chariot drawn by fiery +dragons, when they secured her within the castle, and transformed her +into a white hind. And though many knights have tried to break the +enchantment, and work her deliverance, yet no one could accomplish it, +on account of two dreadful griffins which are placed at the castle gate +and which destroy every one who comes near. But you, my son, may pass +by them undiscovered, where on the gates of the castle you will find +engraven in large letters how the spell may be broken." Jack gave the +old man his hand, and promised that in the morning he would venture his +life to free the lady. + +In the morning Jack arose and put on his invisible coat and magic cap +and shoes, and prepared himself for the fray. Now, when he had reached +the top of the mountain he soon discovered the two fiery griffins, but +passed them without fear, because of his invisible coat. When he had got +beyond them, he found upon the gates of the castle a golden trumpet hung +by a silver chain, under which these lines were engraved: + + "Whoever shall this trumpet blow, + Shall soon the giant overthrow, + And break the black enchantment straight; + So all shall be in happy state." + +Jack had no sooner read this but he blew the trumpet, at which the +castle trembled to its vast foundations, and the giant and conjurer were +in horrid confusion, biting their thumbs and tearing their hair, knowing +their wicked reign was at an end. Then the giant stooping to take up +his club, Jack at one blow cut off his head; whereupon the conjurer, +mounting up into the air, was carried away in a whirlwind. Then the +enchantment was broken, and all the lords and ladies who had so long +been transformed into birds and beasts returned to their proper shapes, +and the castle vanished away in a cloud of smoke. This being done, the +head of Galligantua was likewise, in the usual manner, conveyed to the +Court of King Arthur, where, the very next day, Jack followed, with the +knights and ladies who had been delivered. Whereupon, as a reward +for his good services, the king prevailed upon the duke to bestow his +daughter in marriage on honest Jack. So married they were, and the +whole kingdom was filled with joy at the wedding. Furthermore, the king +bestowed on Jack a noble castle, with a very beautiful estate thereto +belonging, where he and his lady lived in great joy and happiness all +the rest of their days. + + + + +HENNY-PENNY + +One day Henny-penny was picking up corn in the cornyard +when--whack!--something hit her upon the head. "Goodness gracious me!" +said Henny-penny; "the sky's a-going to fall; I must go and tell the +king." + +So she went along and she went along and she went along till she met +Cocky-locky. "Where are you going, Henny-penny?" says Cocky-locky. "Oh! +I'm going to tell the king the sky's a-falling," says Henny-penny. "May +I come with you?" says Cocky-locky. "Certainly," says Henny-penny. So +Henny-penny and Cocky-locky went to tell-the king the sky was falling. + +They went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they met +Ducky-daddles. "Where are you going to, Henny-penny and Cocky-locky?" +says Ducky-daddles. "Oh! we're going to tell the king the sky's +a-falling," said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. "May I come with you?" +says Ducky-daddles. "Certainly," said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. So +Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles went to tell the king the sky +was a-falling. + +So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they +met Goosey-poosey, "Where are you going to, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and +Ducky-daddles?" said Goosey-poosey. "Oh! we're going to tell the +king the sky's a-falling," said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky and +Ducky-daddles. "May I come with you," said Goosey-poosey. "Certainly," +said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles. So Henny-penny, +Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey went to tell the king the +sky was a-falling. + +So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till +they met Turkey-lurkey. "Where are you going, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles, and Goosey-poosey?" says Turkey-lurkey. "Oh! we're going +to tell the king the sky's a-falling," said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey. "May I come with you? Henny-penny, +Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey?" said Turkey-lurkey. "Why, +certainly, Turkey-lurkey," said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, +and Goosey-poosey. So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, +Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey all went to tell the king the sky was +a-falling. + +So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till +they met Foxy-woxy, and Foxy-woxy said to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey: "Where are you +going, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, +and Turkey-lurkey?" And Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, +Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey said to Foxy-woxy: "We're going to tell +the king the sky's a-falling." "Oh! but this is not the way to the +king, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and +Turkey-lurkey," says Foxy-woxy; "I know the proper way; shall I show +it you?" "Why certainly, Foxy-woxy," said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey. So Henny-penny, +Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, Turkey-lurkey, and Foxy-woxy +all went to tell the king the sky was a-falling. So they went along, +and they went along, and they went along, till they came to a narrow and +dark hole. Now this was the door of Foxy-woxy's cave. But Foxy-woxy +said to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and +Turkey-lurkey: "This is the short way to the king's palace you'll +soon get there if you follow me. I will go first and you come +after, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky daddles, Goosey-poosey, and +Turkey-lurkey." "Why of course, certainly, without doubt, why not?" +said Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and +Turkey-lurkey. + +So Foxy-woxy went into his cave, and he didn't go very far but turned +round to wait for Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey +and Turkey-lurkey. So at last at first Turkey-lurkey went through the +dark hole into the cave. He hadn't got far when "Hrumph," Foxy-woxy +snapped off Turkey-lurkey's head and threw his body over his left +shoulder. Then Goosey-poosey went in, and "Hrumph," off went her head +and Goosey-poosey was thrown beside Turkey-lurkey. Then Ducky-daddles +waddled down, and "Hrumph," snapped Foxy-woxy, and Ducky-daddles' +head was off and Ducky-daddles was thrown alongside Turkey-lurkey and +Goosey-poosey. Then Cocky-locky strutted down into the cave and he +hadn't gone far when "Snap, Hrumph!" went Foxy-woxy and Cocky-locky was +thrown alongside of Turkey-lurkey, Goosey-poosey and Ducky-daddles. + +But Foxy-woxy had made two bites at Cocky-locky, and when the first +snap only hurt Cocky-locky, but didn't kill him, he called out to +Henny-penny. So she turned tail and ran back home, so she never told the +king the sky was a-falling. + + + + +CHILDE ROWLAND + +Childe Rowland and his brothers twain Were playing at the ball, And +there was their sister Burd Ellen In the midst, among them all. + + Childe Rowland kicked it with his foot + And caught it with his knee; + At last as he plunged among them all + O'er the church he made it flee. + + Burd Ellen round about the aisle + To seek the ball is gone, + But long they waited, and longer still, + And she came not back again. + + They sought her east, they sought her west, + They sought her up and down, + And woe were the hearts of those brethren, + For she was not to be found. + +So at last her eldest brother went to the Warlock Merlin and told him +all the case, and asked him if he knew where Burd Ellen was. "The fair +Burd Ellen," said the Warlock Merlin, "must have been carried off by the +fairies, because she went round the church 'wider shins'--the opposite +way to the sun. She is now in the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland; it +would take the boldest knight in Christendom to bring her back." + +"If it is possible to bring her back," said her brother, "I'll do it, or +perish in the attempt." + +"Possible it is," said the Warlock Merlin, "but woe to the man or +mother's son that attempts it, if he is not well taught beforehand what +he is to do." + +The eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear of +danger, from attempting to get her back, so he begged the Warlock Merlin +to tell him what he should do, and what he should not do, in going to +seek his sister. And after he had been taught, and had repeated his +lesson, he set out for Elfland. + + But long they waited, and longer still, + With doubt and muckle pain, + But woe were the hearts of his brethren, + For he came not back again. + +Then the second brother got tired and sick of waiting, and he went to +the Warlock Merlin and asked him the same as his brother. So he set out +to find Burd Ellen. + + But long they waited, and longer still, + With muckle doubt and pain, + And woe were his mother's and brother's heart, + For he came not back again. + +And when they had waited and waited a good long time, Childe Rowland, +the youngest of Burd Ellen's brothers, wished to go, and went to his +mother, the good queen, to ask her to let him go. But she would not at +first, for he was the last of her children she now had, and if he was +lost, all would be lost. But he begged, and he begged, till at last the +good queen let him go, and gave him his father's good brand that never +struck in vain. And as she girt it round his waist, she said the spell +that would give it victory. + +So Childe Rowland said good-bye to the good queen, his mother, and went +to the cave of the Warlock Merlin. "Once more, and but once more," he +said to the Warlock, "tell how man or mother's son may rescue Burd Ellen +and her brothers twain." + +"Well, my son," said the Warlock Merlin, "there are but two things, +simple they may seem, but hard they are to do. One thing to do, and one +thing not to do. And the thing to do is this: after you have entered the +land of Fairy, whoever speaks to you, till you meet the Burd Ellen, +you must out with your father's brand and off with their head. And what +you've not to do is this: bite no bit, and drink no drop, however hungry +or thirsty you be; drink a drop, or bite a bit, while in Elfland you be +and never will you see Middle Earth again." + +So Childe Rowland said the two things over and over again, till he knew +them by heart, and he thanked the Warlock Merlin and went on his way. +And he went along, and along, and along, and still further along, till +he came to the horse-herd of the King of Elfland feeding his horses. +These he knew by their fiery eyes, and knew that he was at last in +the land of Fairy. "Canst thou tell me," said Childe Rowland to the +horse-herd, "where the King of Elfland's Dark Tower is?" "I cannot tell +thee," said the horse-herd, "but go on a little further and thou wilt +come to the cow-herd, and he, maybe, can tell thee." + +Then, without a word more, Childe Rowland drew the good brand that never +struck in vain, and off went the horse-herd's head, and Childe Rowland +went on further, till he came to the cow-herd, and asked him the same +question. "I can't tell thee," said he, "but go on a little farther, and +thou wilt come to the hen-wife, and she is sure to know." Then Childe +Rowland out with his good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went +the cow-herd's head. And he went on a little further, till he came to an +old woman in a grey cloak, and he asked her if she knew where the Dark +Tower of the King of Elfland was. "Go on a little further," said +the hen-wife, "till you come to a round green hill, surrounded with +terrace-rings, from the bottom to the top; go round it three times, +widershins, and each time say: + + Open, door! open, door! + And let me come in. + +and the third time the door will open, and you may go in." And Childe +Rowland was just going on, when he remembered what he had to do; so he +out with the good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went the +hen-wife's head. + +Then he went on, and on, and on, till he came to the round green hill +with the terrace-rings from top to bottom, and he went round it three +times, widershins, saying each time: + + Open, door! open, door! + And let me come in. + +And the third time the door did open, and he went in, and it closed with +a click, and Childe Rowland was left in the dark. + +It was not exactly dark, but a kind of twilight or gloaming. There +were neither windows nor candles, and he could not make out where the +twilight came from, if not through the walls and roof. These were rough +arches made of a transparent rock, incrusted with sheepsilver and rock +spar, and other bright stones. But though it was rock, the air was quite +warm, as it always is in Elfland. So he went through this passage till +at last he came to two wide and high folding-doors which stood ajar. And +when he opened them, there he saw a most wonderful and glorious sight. +A large and spacious hall, so large that it seemed to be as long, and as +broad, as the green hill itself. The roof was supported by fine pillars, +so large and lofty, that the pillars of a cathedral were as nothing to +them. They were all of gold and silver, with fretted work, and between +them and around them, wreaths of flowers, composed of what do you think? +Why, of diamonds and emeralds, and all manner of precious stones. And +the very key-stones of the arches had for ornaments clusters of diamonds +and rubies, and pearls, and other precious stones. And all these arches +met in the middle of the roof, and just there, hung by a gold chain, +an immense lamp made out of one big pearl hollowed out and quite +transparent. And in the middle of this was a big, huge carbuncle, which +kept spinning round and round, and this was what gave light by its rays +to the whole hall, which seemed as if the setting sun was shining on it. + +The hall was furnished in a manner equally grand, and at one end of +it was a glorious couch of velvet, silk and gold, and there sate Burd +Ellen, combing her golden hair with a silver comb. And when she saw +Childe Rowland she stood up and said: + + "God pity ye, poor luckless fool, + What have ye here to do? + + "Hear ye this, my youngest brother, + Why didn't ye bide at home? + Had you a hundred thousand lives + Ye couldn't spare any a one. + + "But sit ye down; but woe, O, woe, + That ever ye were born, + For come the King of Elfland in, + Your fortune is forlorn." + +Then they sate down together, and Childe Rowland told her all that he +had done, and she told him how their two brothers had reached the Dark +Tower, but had been enchanted by the King of Elfland, and lay there +entombed as if dead. And then after they had talked a little longer +Childe Rowland began to feel hungry from his long travels, and told his +sister Burd Ellen how hungry he was and asked for some food, forgetting +all about the Warlock Merlin's warning. + +Burd Ellen looked at Childe Rowland sadly, and shook her head, but she +was under a spell, and could not warn him. So she rose up, and went +out, and soon brought back a golden basin full of bread and milk. Childe +Rowland was just going to raise it to his lips, when he looked at his +sister and remembered why he had come all that way. So he dashed the +bowl to the ground, and said: "Not a sup will I swallow, nor a bit will +I bite, till Burd Ellen is set free." + +Just at that moment they heard the noise of some one approaching, and a +loud voice was heard saying: + + "Fee, fi, fo, fum, + I smell the blood of a Christian man, + Be he dead, be he living, with my brand, + I'll dash his brains from his brain-pan." + +And then the folding-doors of the hall were burst open, and the King of +Elfland rushed in. + +"Strike then, Bogle, if thou darest," shouted out Childe Rowland, and +rushed to meet him with his good brand that never yet did fail. They +fought, and they fought, and they fought, till Childe Rowland beat the +King of Elfland down on to his knees, and caused him to yield and beg +for mercy. "I grant thee mercy," said Childe Rowland, "release my sister +from thy spells and raise my brothers to life, and let us all go free, +and thou shalt be spared." "I agree," said the Elfin King, and rising +up he went to a chest from which he took a phial filled with a blood-red +liquor. With this he anointed the ears, eyelids, nostrils, lips, and +finger-tips, of the two brothers, and they sprang at once into life, and +declared that their souls had been away, but had now returned. The Elfin +king then said some words to Burd Ellen, and she was disenchanted, and +they all four passed out of the hall, through the long passage, and +turned their back on the Dark Tower, never to return again. And they +reached home, and the good queen, their mother, and Burd Ellen never +went round a church widershins again. + + + + +MOLLY WHUPPIE + +Once upon a time there was a man and a wife had too many children, and +they could not get meat for them, so they took the three youngest and +left them in a wood. They travelled and travelled and could see never +a house. It began to be dark, and they were hungry. At last they saw a +light and made for it; it turned out to be a house. They knocked at the +door, and a woman came to it, who said: "What do you want?" They said: +"Please let us in and give us something to eat." The woman said: "I +can't do that, as my man is a giant, and he would kill you if he comes +home." They begged hard. "Let us stop for a little while," said they, +"and we will go away before he comes." So she took them in, and set them +down before the fire, and gave them milk and bread; but just as they had +begun to eat a great knock came to the door, and a dreadful voice said: + + "Fee, fie, fo, fum, + I smell the blood of some earthly one. + +Who have you there wife?" "Eh," said the wife, "it's three poor lassies +cold and hungry, and they will go away. Ye won't touch 'em, man." He +said nothing, but ate up a big supper, and ordered them to stay all +night. Now he had three lassies of his own, and they were to sleep in +the same bed with the three strangers. + +The youngest of the three strange lassies was called Molly Whuppie, and +she was very clever. She noticed that before they went to bed the giant +put straw ropes round her neck and her sisters', and round his own +lassies' necks he put gold chains. So Molly took care and did not fall +asleep, but waited till she was sure every one was sleeping sound. Then +she slipped out of the bed, and took the straw ropes off her own and her +sisters' necks, and took the gold chains off the giant's lassies. She +then put the straw ropes on the giant's lassies and the gold on herself +and her sisters, and lay down. + +And in the middle of the night up rose the giant, armed with a great +club, and felt for the necks with the straw. It was dark. He took his +own lassies out of bed on to the floor, and battered them until they +were dead, and then lay down again, thinking he had managed fine. Molly +thought it time she and her sisters were out of that, so she wakened +them and told them to be quiet, and they slipped out of the house. They +all got out safe, and they ran and ran, and never stopped until morning, +when they saw a grand house before them. It turned out to be a king's +house: so Molly went in, and told her story to the king. He said: "Well, +Molly, you are a clever girl, and you have managed well; but, if you +would manage better, and go back, and steal the giant's sword that hangs +on the back of his bed, I would give your eldest sister my eldest son to +marry." Molly said she would try. + +So she went back, and managed to slip into the giant's house, and crept +in below the bed. The giant came home, and ate up a great supper, and +went to bed. Molly waited until he was snoring, and she crept out, and +reached over the giant and got down the sword; but just as she got it +out over the bed it gave a rattle, and up jumped the giant, and Molly +ran out at the door and the sword with her; and she ran, and he ran, +till they came to the "Bridge of one hair"; and she got over, but he +couldn't, and he says, "Woe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never ye come +again." And she says "Twice yet, carle," quoth she, "I'll come to +Spain." So Molly took the sword to the king, and her sister was married +to his son. + +Well, the king he says: "Ye've managed well, Molly; but if ye would +manage better, and steal the purse that lies below the giant's pillow, +I would marry your second sister to my second son." And Molly said she +would try. So she set out for the giant's house, and slipped in, and hid +again below the bed, and waited till the giant had eaten his supper, and +was snoring sound asleep. She slipped out, and slipped her hand below +the pillow, and got out the purse; but just as she was going out the +giant wakened, and ran after her; and she ran, and he ran, till they +came to the "Bridge of one hair," and she got over, but he couldn't, and +he said, "Woe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never you come again." "Once yet, +carle," quoth she, "I'll come to Spain." So Molly took the purse to the +king, and her second sister was married to the king's second son. + +After that the king says to Molly: "Molly, you are a clever girl, but if +you would do better yet, and steal the giant's ring that he wears on his +finger, I will give you my youngest son for yourself." Molly said she +would try. So back she goes to the giant's house, and hides herself +below the bed. The giant wasn't long ere he came home, and, after he had +eaten a great big supper, he went to his bed, and shortly was snoring +loud. Molly crept out and reached over the bed, and got hold of the +giant's hand, and she pulled and she pulled until she got off the ring; +but just as she got it off the giant got up, and gripped her by the +hand, and he says: "Now I have catcht you, Molly Whuppie, and, if I had +done as much ill to you as ye have done to me, what would ye do to me?" + +Molly says: "I would put you into a sack, and I'd put the cat inside +with you, and the dog aside you, and a needle and thread and a shears, +and I'd hang you up upon the wall, and I'd go to the wood, and choose +the thickest stick I could get, and I would come home, and take you +down, and bang you till you were dead." + +"Well, Molly," says the giant, "I'll just do that to you." + +So he gets a sack, and puts Molly into it, and the cat and the dog +beside her, and a needle and thread and shears, and hangs her up upon +the wall, and goes to the wood to choose a stick. + +Molly she sings out: "Oh, if ye saw what I see." + +"Oh," says the giant's wife, "what do ye see, Molly?" + +But Molly never said a word but, "Oh, if ye saw what I see!" + +The giant's wife begged that Molly would take her up into the sack till +she would see what Molly saw. So Molly took the shears and cut a hole in +the sack, and took out the needle and thread with her, and jumped down +and helped, the giant's wife up into the sack, and sewed up the hole. + +The giant's wife saw nothing, and began to ask to get down again; but +Molly never minded, but hid herself at the back of the door. Home came +the giant, and a great big tree in his hand, and he took down the sack, +and began to batter it. His wife cried, "It's me, man;" but the dog +barked and the cat mewed, and he did not know his wife's voice. But +Molly came out from the back of the door, and the giant saw her, and he +after her; and he ran and she ran, till they came to the "Bridge of one +hair," and she got over but he couldn't; and he said, "Woe worth you, +Molly Whuppie! never you come again." "Never more, carle," quoth she, +"will I come again to Spain." + +So Molly took the ring to the king, and she was married to his youngest +son, and she never saw the giant again. + + + + +THE RED ETTIN + +There was once a widow that lived on a small bit of ground, which she +rented from a farmer. And she had two sons; and by-and-by it was time +for the wife to send them away to seek their fortune. So she told her +eldest son one day to take a can and bring her water from the well, that +she might bake a cake for him; and however much or however little water +he might bring, the cake would be great or small accordingly, and that +cake was to be all that she could give him when he went on his travels. + +The lad went away with the can to the well, and filled it with water, +and then came away home again; but the can being broken, the most part +of the water had run out before he got back. So his cake was very small; +yet small as it was, his mother asked him if he was willing to take the +half of it with her blessing, telling him that, if he chose rather to +take the whole, he would only get it with her curse. The young man, +thinking he might have to travel a far way, and not knowing when or +how he might get other provisions, said he would like to have the whole +cake, come of his mother's malison what like; so she gave him the whole +cake, and her malison along with it. Then he took his brother aside, and +gave him a knife to keep till he should come back, desiring him to look +at it every morning, and as long as it continued to be clear, then he +might be sure that the owner of it was well; but if it grew dim and +rusty, then for certain some ill had befallen him. + +So the young man went to seek his fortune. And he went all that day, and +all the next day; and on the third day, in the afternoon, he came up to +where a shepherd was sitting with a flock of sheep. And he went up to +the shepherd and asked him who the sheep belonged to; and he answered: + + "The Red Ettin of Ireland + Once lived in Ballygan, + And stole King Malcolm's daughter + The king of fair Scotland. + + He beats her, he binds her, + He lays her on a band; + And every day he strikes her + With a bright silver wand. + Like Julian the Roman, + He's one that fears no man. + + It's said there's one predestinate + To be his mortal foe; + But that man is yet unborn, + And long may it be so." + +This shepherd also told him to beware of the beasts he should next meet, +for they were of a very different kind from any he had yet seen. + +So the young man went on, and by-and-by he saw a multitude of very +dreadful beasts, with two heads, and on every head four horns. And he +was sore frightened, and ran away from them as fast as he could; and +glad was he when he came to a castle that stood on a hillock, with the +door standing wide open to the wall. And he went into the castle for +shelter, and there he saw an old wife sitting beside the kitchen fire. +He asked the wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with +a long journey; and the wife said he might, but it was not a good +place for him to be in, as it belonged to the Red Ettin, who was a very +terrible beast, with three heads, that spared no living man it could get +hold of. The young man would have gone away, but he was afraid of the +beasts on the outside of the castle; so he beseeched the old woman to +hide him as best she could, and not tell the Ettin he was there. He +thought, if he could put over the night, he might get away in the +morning, without meeting with the beasts, and so escape. But he had not +been long in his hiding-hole, before the awful Ettin came in; and no +sooner was he in, than he was heard crying: + + "Snouk but and snouk ben, + I find the smell of an earthly man, + Be he living, or be he dead, + His heart this night shall kitchen my bread." + +The monster soon found the poor young man, and pulled him from his hole. +And when he had got him out, he told him that if he could answer him +three questions his life should be spared. So the first head asked: "A +thing without an end, what's that?" But the young man knew not. Then the +second head said: "The smaller, the more dangerous, what's that?" But +the young man knew it not. And then the third head asked: "The dead +carrying the living; riddle me that?" But the young man had to give it +up. The lad not being able to answer one of these questions, the Red +Ettin took a mallet and knocked him on the head, and turned him into a +pillar of stone. + +On the morning after this happened, the younger brother took out the +knife to look at it, and he was grieved to find it all brown with rust. +He told his mother that the time was now come for him to go away upon +his travels also; so she requested him to take the can to the well for +water, that she might make a cake for him. And he went, and as he was +bringing home the water, a raven over his head cried to him to look, and +he would see that the water was running out. And he was a young man of +sense, and seeing the water running out, he took some clay and patched +up the holes, so that he brought home enough water to bake a large cake. +When his mother put it to him to take the half cake with her blessing, +he took it in preference to having the whole with her malison; and yet +the half was bigger than what the other lad had got. + +So he went away on his journey; and after he had travelled a far way, he +met with an old woman that asked him if he would give her a bit of his +johnny-cake. And he said: "I will gladly do that," and so he gave her a +piece of the johnny-cake; and for that she gave him a magical wand, that +she might yet be of service to him, if he took care to use it rightly. +Then the old woman, who was a fairy, told him a great deal that would +happen to him, and what he ought to do in all circumstances; and after +that she vanished in an instant out of his sight. He went on a great way +farther, and then he came up to the old man herding the sheep; and when +he asked whose sheep these were, the answer was: + + "The Red Ettin of Ireland + Once lived in Ballygan, + And stole King Malcolm's daughter, + The king of Fair Scotland. + + "He beats her, he binds her, + He lays her on a band; + And every day he strikes her + With a bright silver wand. + Like Julian the Roman, + He's one that fears no man. + + "But now I fear his end is near, + And destiny at hand; + And you're to be, I plainly see, + The heir of all his land." + +When he came to the place where the monstrous beasts were standing, he +did not stop nor run away, but went boldly through amongst them. One +came up roaring with open mouth to devour him, when he struck it with +his wand, and laid it in an instant dead at his feet. He soon came to +the Ettin's castle, where he knocked, and was admitted. The old woman +who sat by the fire warned him of the terrible Ettin, and what had been +the fate of his brother; but he was not to be daunted. The monster soon +came in, saying: + + "Snouk but and snouk ben, + I find the smell of an earthly man; + Be he living, or be he dead, + His heart shall be kitchen to my bread." + +He quickly espied the young man, and bade him come forth on the floor. +And then he put the three questions to him; but the young man had been +told everything by the good fairy, so he was able to answer all the +questions. So when the first head asked, "What's the thing without an +end?" he said: "A bowl." And when the second head said: "The smaller the +more dangerous; what's that?" he said at once, "A bridge." And last, the +third head said: "When does the dead carry the living, riddle me that?" +Then the young man answered up at once and said: "When a ship sails on +the sea with men inside her." When the Ettin found this, he knew that +his power was gone. The young man then took up an axe and hewed off the +monster's three heads. He next asked the old woman to show him where the +king's daughter lay; and the old woman took him upstairs, and opened a +great many doors, and out of every door came a beautiful lady who had +been imprisoned there by the Ettin; and one of the ladies was the king's +daughter. She also took him down into a low room, and there stood a +stone pillar, that he had only to touch with his wand, when his brother +started into life. And the whole of the prisoners were overjoyed at +their deliverance, for which they thanked the young man. Next day they +all set out for the king's court, and a gallant company they made. And +the king married his daughter to the young man that had delivered +her, and gave a noble's daughter to his brother; and so they all lived +happily all the rest of their days. + + + + +THE GOLDEN ARM + +Here was once a man who travelled the land all over in search of a wife. +He saw young and old, rich and poor, pretty and plain, and could not +meet with one to his mind. At last he found a woman, young, fair, and +rich, who possessed a right arm of solid gold. He married her at once, +and thought no man so fortunate as he was. They lived happily together, +but, though he wished people to think otherwise, he was fonder of the +golden arm than of all his wife's gifts besides. + +At last she died. The husband put on the blackest black, and pulled the +longest face at the funeral; but for all that he got up in the middle of +the night, dug up the body, and cut off the golden arm. He hurried home +to hide his treasure, and thought no one would know. + +The following night he put the golden arm under his pillow, and was just +falling asleep, when the ghost of his dead wife glided into the room. +Stalking up to the bedside it drew the curtain, and looked at him +reproachfully. Pretending not to be afraid, he spoke to the ghost, and +said: "What hast thou done with thy cheeks so red?" + +"All withered and wasted away," replied the ghost, in a hollow tone. + +"What hast thou done with thy red rosy lips?" + +"All withered and wasted away." + +"What hast thou done with thy golden hair?" + +"All withered and wasted away." + +"What hast thou done with thy _Golden Arm_?" + +"THOU HAST IT!" + + + + +THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB + +In the days of the great Prince Arthur, there lived a mighty magician, +called Merlin, the most learned and skilful enchanter the world has ever +seen. + +This famous magician, who could take any form he pleased, was travelling +about as a poor beggar, and being very tired, he stopped at the cottage +of a ploughman to rest himself, and asked for some food. + +The countryman bade him welcome, and his wife, who was a very +good-hearted woman, soon brought him some milk in a wooden bowl, and +some coarse brown bread on a platter. + +Merlin was much pleased with the kindness of the ploughman and his +wife; but he could not help noticing that though everything was neat +and comfortable in the cottage, they seemed both to be very unhappy. He +therefore asked them why they were so melancholy, and learned that they +were miserable because they had no children. + +The poor woman said, with tears in her eyes: "I should be the happiest +creature in the world if I had a son; although he was no bigger than my +husband's thumb, I would be satisfied." + +Merlin was so much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man's +thumb, that he determined to grant the poor woman's wish. Accordingly, +in a short time after, the ploughman's wife had a son, who, wonderful to +relate! was not a bit bigger than his father's thumb. + +The queen of the fairies, wishing to see the little fellow, came in at +the window while the mother was sitting up in the bed admiring him. The +queen kissed the child, and, giving it the name of Tom Thumb, sent for +some of the fairies, who dressed her little godson according to her +orders: + + "An oak-leaf hat he had for his crown; + His shirt of web by spiders spun; + With jacket wove of thistle's down; + His trowsers were of feathers done. + His stockings, of apple-rind, they tie + With eyelash from his mother's eye + His shoes were made of mouse's skin, + Tann'd with the downy hair within." + +Tom never grew any larger than his father's thumb, which was only of +ordinary size; but as he got older he became very cunning and full of +tricks. When he was old enough to play with the boys, and had lost +all his own cherry-stones, he used to creep into the bags of his +playfellows, fill his pockets, and, getting out without their noticing +him, would again join in the game. + +One day, however, as he was coming out of a bag of cherry-stones, where +he had been stealing as usual, the boy to whom it belonged chanced to +see him. "Ah, ah! my little Tommy," said the boy, "so I have caught you +stealing my cherry-stones at last, and you shall be rewarded for your +thievish tricks." On saying this, he drew the string tight round his +neck, and gave the bag such a hearty shake, that poor little Tom's legs, +thighs, and body were sadly bruised. He roared out with pain, and begged +to be let out, promising never to steal again. + +A short time afterwards his mother was making a batter-pudding, and Tom, +being very anxious to see how it was made, climbed up to the edge of the +bowl; but his foot slipped, and he plumped over head and ears into +the batter, without his mother noticing him, who stirred him into the +pudding-bag, and put him in the pot to boil. + +The batter filled Tom's mouth, and prevented him from crying; but, on +feeling the hot water, he kicked and struggled so much in the pot, that +his mother thought that the pudding was bewitched, and, pulling it +out of the pot, she threw it outside the door. A poor tinker, who was +passing by, lifted up the pudding, and, putting it into his budget, he +then walked off. As Tom had now got his mouth cleared of the batter, he +then began to cry aloud, which so frightened the tinker that he flung +down the pudding and ran away. The pudding being broke to pieces by the +fall, Tom crept out covered all over with the batter, and walked home. +His mother, who was very sorry to see her darling in such a woeful +state, put him into a teacup, and soon washed off the batter; after +which she kissed him, and laid him in bed. + +Soon after the adventure of the pudding, Tom's mother went to milk her +cow in the meadow, and she took him along with her. As the wind was very +high, for fear of being blown away, she tied him to a thistle with a +piece of fine thread. The cow soon observed Tom's oak-leaf hat, and +liking the appearance of it, took poor Tom and the thistle at one +mouthful. While the cow was chewing the thistle Tom was afraid of her +great teeth, which threatened to crush him in pieces, and he roared out +as loud as he could: "Mother, mother!" + +"Where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?" said his mother. + +"Here, mother," replied he, "in the red cow's mouth." + +His mother began to cry and wring her hands; but the cow, surprised +at the odd noise in her throat, opened her mouth and let Tom drop out. +Fortunately his mother caught him in her apron as he was falling to the +ground, or he would have been dreadfully hurt. She then put Tom in her +bosom and ran home with him. + +Tom's father made him a whip of a barley straw to drive the cattle with, +and having one day gone into the fields, he slipped a foot and rolled +into the furrow. A raven, which was flying over, picked him up, and flew +with him over the sea, and there dropped him. + +A large fish swallowed Tom the moment he fell into the sea, which was +soon after caught, and bought for the table of King Arthur. When they +opened the fish in order to cook it, every one was astonished at finding +such a little boy, and Tom was quite delighted at being free again. +They carried him to the king, who made Tom his dwarf, and he soon grew +a great favourite at court; for by his tricks and gambols he not only +amused the king and queen, but also all the Knights of the Round Table. + +It is said that when the king rode out on horseback, he often took +Tom along with him, and if a shower came on, he used to creep into his +majesty's waistcoat-pocket, where he slept till the rain was over. + +King Arthur one day asked Tom about his parents, wishing to know if they +were as small as he was, and whether they were well off. Tom told the +king that his father and mother were as tall as anybody about the court, +but in rather poor circumstances. On hearing this, the king carried Tom +to his treasury, the place where he kept all his money, and told him to +take as much money as he could carry home to his parents, which made +the poor little fellow caper with joy. Tom went immediately to procure +a purse, which was made of a water-bubble, and then returned to the +treasury, where he received a silver threepenny-piece to put into it. + +Our little hero had some difficulty in lifting the burden upon his +back; but he at last succeeded in getting it placed to his mind, and set +forward on his journey. However, without meeting with any accident, and +after resting himself more than a hundred times by the way, in two days +and two nights he reached his father's house in safety. + +Tom had travelled forty-eight hours with a huge silver-piece on his +back, and was almost tired to death, when his mother ran out to meet +him, and carried him into the house. But he soon returned to Court. + +As Tom's clothes had suffered much in the batter-pudding, and the inside +of the fish, his majesty ordered him a new suit of clothes, and to be +mounted as a knight on a mouse. + + Of Butterfly's wings his shirt was made, + His boots of chicken's hide; + And by a nimble fairy blade, + Well learned in the tailoring trade, + His clothing was supplied. + A needle dangled by his side; + A dapper mouse he used to ride, + Thus strutted Tom in stately pride! + +It was certainly very diverting to see Tom in this dress and mounted on +the mouse, as he rode out a-hunting with the king and nobility, who were +all ready to expire with laughter at Tom and his fine prancing charger. + +The king was so charmed with his address that he ordered a little chair +to be made, in order that Tom might sit upon his table, and also a +palace of gold, a span high, with a door an inch wide, to live in. He +also gave him a coach, drawn by six small mice. + +The queen was so enraged at the honours conferred on Sir Thomas that she +resolved to ruin him, and told the king that the little knight had been +saucy to her. + +The king sent for Tom in great haste, but being fully aware of the +danger of royal anger, he crept into an empty snail-shell, where he lay +for a long time until he was almost starved with hunger; but at last he +ventured to peep out, and seeing a fine large butterfly on the ground, +near the place of his concealment, he got close to it and jumping +astride on it, was carried up into the air. The butterfly flew with him +from tree to tree and from field to field, and at last returned to the +court, where the king and nobility all strove to catch him; but at last +poor Tom fell from his seat into a watering-pot, in which he was almost +drowned. + +When the queen saw him she was in a rage, and said he should be +beheaded; and he was again put into a mouse trap until the time of his +execution. + +However a cat, observing something alive in the trap, patted it about +till the wires broke, and set Thomas at liberty. + +The king received Tom again into favour, which he did not live to enjoy, +for a large spider one day attacked him; and although he drew his sword +and fought well, yet the spider's poisonous breath at last overcame him. + + He fell dead on the ground where he stood, + And the spider suck'd every drop of his blood. + +King Arthur and his whole court were so sorry at the loss of their +little favourite that they went into mourning and raised a fine white +marble monument over his grave with the following epitaph: + + Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight, + Who died by a spider's cruel bite. + He was well known in Arthur's court, + Where he afforded gallant sport; + He rode at tilt and tournament, + And on a mouse a-hunting went. + Alive he filled the court with mirth; + His death to sorrow soon gave birth. + Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head + And cry,--Alas! Tom Thumb is dead! + + + + +MR. FOX + +Lady Mary was young, and Lady Mary was fair. She had two brothers, and +more lovers than she could count. But of them all, the bravest and most +gallant, was a Mr. Fox, whom she met when she was down at her father's +country-house. No one knew who Mr. Fox was; but he was certainly brave, +and surely rich, and of all her lovers, Lady Mary cared for him alone. +At last it was agreed upon between them that they should be married. +Lady Mary asked Mr. Fox where they should live, and he described to her +his castle, and where it was; but, strange to say, did not ask her, or +her brothers to come and see it. + +So one day, near the wedding-day, when her brothers were out, and Mr. +Fox was away for a day or two on business, as he said, Lady Mary set out +for Mr. Fox's castle. And after many searchings, she came at last to +it, and a fine strong house it was, with high walls and a deep moat. And +when she came up to the gateway she saw written on it: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD. + +But as the gate was open, she went through it, and found no one there. +So she went up to the doorway, and over it she found written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD. + +Still she went on, till she came into the hall, and went up the broad +stairs till she came to a door in the gallery, over which was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD +RUN COLD. + +But Lady Mary was a brave one, she was, and she opened the door, and +what do you think she saw? Why, bodies and skeletons of beautiful young +ladies all stained with blood. So Lady Mary thought it was high time to +get out of that horrid place, and she closed the door, went through the +gallery, and was just going down the stairs, and out of the hall, when +who should she see through the window, but Mr. Fox dragging a beautiful +young lady along from the gateway to the door. Lady Mary rushed +downstairs, and hid herself behind a cask, just in time, as Mr. Fox came +in with the poor young lady who seemed to have fainted. Just as he got +near Lady Mary, Mr. Fox saw a diamond ring glittering on the finger of +the young lady he was dragging, and he tried to pull it off. But it was +tightly fixed, and would not come off, so Mr. Fox cursed and swore, and +drew his sword, raised it, and brought it down upon the hand of the poor +lady. The sword cut off the hand, which jumped up into the air, and fell +of all places in the world into Lady Mary's lap. Mr. Fox looked about a +bit, but did not think of looking behind the cask, so at last he went on +dragging the young lady up the stairs into the Bloody Chamber. + +As soon as she heard him pass through the gallery, Lady Mary crept +out of the door, down through the gateway, and ran home as fast as she +could. + +Now it happened that the very next day the marriage contract of Lady +Mary and Mr. Fox was to be signed, and there was a splendid breakfast +before that. And when Mr. Fox was seated at table opposite Lady Mary, +he looked at her. "How pale you are this morning, my dear." "Yes," +said she, "I had a bad night's rest last night. I had horrible dreams." +"Dreams go by contraries," said Mr. Fox; "but tell us your dream, and +your sweet voice will make the time pass till the happy hour comes." + +"I dreamed," said Lady Mary, "that I went yestermorn to your castle, and +I found it in the woods, with high walls, and a deep moat, and over the +gateway was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD. + +"But it is not so, nor it was not so," said Mr. Fox. + +"And when I came to the doorway over it was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD. + +"It is not so, nor it was not so," said Mr. Fox. + +"And then I went upstairs, and came to a gallery, at the end of which +was a door, on which was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD +RUN COLD. + +"It is not so, nor it was not so," said Mr. Fox. + +"And then--and then I opened the door, and the room was filled with +bodies and skeletons of poor dead women, all stained with their blood." + +"It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so," said +Mr. Fox. + +"I then dreamed that I rushed down the gallery, and just as I was +going down the stairs, I saw you, Mr. Fox, coming up to the hall door, +dragging after you a poor young lady, rich and beautiful." + +"It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so," said +Mr. Fox. + +"I rushed downstairs, just in time to hide myself behind a cask, when +you, Mr. Fox, came in dragging the young lady by the arm. And, as you +passed me, Mr. Fox, I thought I saw you try and get off her diamond +ring, and when you could not, Mr. Fox, it seemed to me in my dream, that +you out with your sword and hacked off the poor lady's hand to get the +ring." + +"It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so," said +Mr. Fox, and was going to say something else as he rose from his seat, +when Lady Mary cried out: + +"But it is so, and it was so. Here's hand and ring I have to show," and +pulled out the lady's hand from her dress, and pointed it straight at +Mr. Fox. + +At once her brothers and her friends drew their swords and cut Mr. Fox +into a thousand pieces. + + + + +LAZY JACK + +Once upon a time there was a boy whose name was Jack, and he lived with +his mother on a common. They were very poor, and the old woman got her +living by spinning, but Jack was so lazy that he would do nothing but +bask in the sun in the hot weather, and sit by the corner of the hearth +in the winter-time. So they called him Lazy Jack. His mother could not +get him to do anything for her, and at last told him, one Monday, that +if he did not begin to work for his porridge she would turn him out to +get his living as he could. + +This roused Jack, and he went out and hired himself for the next day +to a neighbouring farmer for a penny; but as he was coming home, never +having had any money before, he lost it in passing over a brook. "You +stupid boy," said his mother, "you should have put it in your pocket." +"I'll do so another time," replied Jack. + +On Wednesday, Jack went out again and hired himself to a cow-keeper, who +gave him a jar of milk for his day's work. Jack took the jar and put it +into the large pocket of his jacket, spilling it all, long before he got +home. "Dear me!" said the old woman; "you should have carried it on your +head." "I'll do so another time," said Jack. + +So on Thursday, Jack hired himself again to a farmer, who agreed to +give him a cream cheese for his services. In the evening Jack took the +cheese, and went home with it on his head. By the time he got home the +cheese was all spoilt, part of it being lost, and part matted with his +hair. "You stupid lout," said his mother, "you should have carried it +very carefully in your hands." "I'll do so another time," replied Jack. + +On Friday, Lazy Jack again went out, and hired himself to a baker, who +would give him nothing for his work but a large tom-cat. Jack took the +cat, and began carrying it very carefully in his hands, but in a short +time pussy scratched him so much that he was compelled to let it go. +When he got home, his mother said to him, "You silly fellow, you should +have tied it with a string, and dragged it along after you." "I'll do so +another time," said Jack. + +So on Saturday, Jack hired himself to a butcher, who rewarded him by the +handsome present of a shoulder of mutton. Jack took the mutton, tied it +to a string, and trailed it along after him in the dirt, so that by the +time he had got home the meat was completely spoilt. His mother was this +time quite out of patience with him, for the next day was Sunday, +and she was obliged to make do with cabbage for her dinner. "You +ninney-hammer," said she to her son; "you should have carried it on your +shoulder." "I'll do so another time," replied Jack. + +On the next Monday, Lazy Jack went once more, and hired himself to a +cattle-keeper, who gave him a donkey for his trouble. Jack found it hard +to hoist the donkey on his shoulders, but at last he did it, and began +walking slowly home with his prize. Now it happened that in the +course of his journey there lived a rich man with his only daughter, +a beautiful girl, but deaf and dumb. Now she had never laughed in her +life, and the doctors said she would never speak till somebody made her +laugh. This young lady happened to be looking out of the window when +Jack was passing with the donkey on his shoulders, with the legs +sticking up in the air, and the sight was so comical and strange that +she burst out into a great fit of laughter, and immediately recovered +her speech and hearing. Her father was overjoyed, and fulfilled +his promise by marrying her to Lazy Jack, who was thus made a rich +gentleman. They lived in a large house, and Jack's mother lived with +them in great happiness until she died. + + + + +JOHNNY-CAKE + +Once upon a time there was an old man, and an old woman, and a little +boy. One morning the old woman made a Johnny-cake, and put it in the +oven to bake. "You watch the Johnny-cake while your father and I go out +to work in the garden." So the old man and the old woman went out and +began to hoe potatoes, and left the little boy to tend the oven. But he +didn't watch it all the time, and all of a sudden he heard a noise, and +he looked up and the oven door popped open, and out of the oven jumped +Johnny-cake, and went rolling along end over end, towards the open door +of the house. The little boy ran to shut the door, but Johnny-cake was +too quick for him and rolled through the door, down the steps, and out +into the road long before the little boy could catch him. The little boy +ran after him as fast as he could clip it, crying out to his father and +mother, who heard the uproar, and threw down their hoes and gave chase +too. But Johnny-cake outran all three a long way, and was soon out of +sight, while they had to sit down, all out of breath, on a bank to rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two well-diggers who +looked up from their work and called out: "Where ye going, Johnny-cake?" + +He said: "I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, +and I can outrun you too-o-o!" + +"Ye can, can ye? we'll see about that?" said they; and they threw down +their picks and ran after him, but couldn't catch up with him, and soon +they had to sit down by the roadside to rest. + +On ran Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two ditch-diggers who were +digging a ditch. "Where ye going, Johnny-cake?" said they. He said: +"I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two +well-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!" + +"Ye can, can ye? we'll see about that!" said they; and they threw down +their spades, and ran after him too. But Johnny-cake soon outstripped +them also, and seeing they could never catch him, they gave up the chase +and sat down to rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a bear. The bear said: +"Where are ye going, Johnny-cake?" + +He said: "I've outrun an old man, and an old woman and a little boy, and +two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!" + +"Ye can, can ye?" growled the bear, "we'll see about that!" and trotted +as fast as his legs could carry him after Johnny-cake, who never stopped +to look behind him. Before long the bear was left so far behind that +he saw he might as well give up the hunt first as last, so he stretched +himself out by the roadside to rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a wolf. The wolf +said:--"Where ye going, Johnny-cake?" He said: "I've outrun an old +man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two +ditch-diggers and a bear, and I can outrun you too-o-o!" + +"Ye can, can ye?" snarled the wolf, "we'll see about that!" And he set +into a gallop after Johnny-cake, who went on and on so fast that the +wolf too saw there was no hope of overtaking him, and he too lay down to +rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a fox that lay quietly in +a corner of the fence. The fox called out in a sharp voice, but without +getting up: "Where ye going Johnny-cake?" + +He said: "I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, +and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, a bear, and a wolf, and I +can outrun you too-o-o!" + +The fox said: "I can't quite hear you, Johnny-cake, won't you come a +little closer?" turning his head a little to one side. + +Johnny-cake stopped his race for the first time, and went a little +closer, and called out in a very loud voice _"I've outrun an old man, +and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two +ditch-diggers, and a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you too-o-o."_ + +"Can't quite hear you; won't you come a _little_ closer?" said the fox +in a feeble voice, as he stretched out his neck towards Johnny-cake, and +put one paw behind his ear. + +Johnny-cake came up close, and leaning towards the fox screamed out: +I'VE OUTRUN AN OLD MAN, AND AN OLD WOMAN, AND A LITTLE BOY, AND TWO +WELL-DIGGERS, AND TWO DITCH-DIGGERS, AND A BEAR, AND A WOLF, AND I CAN +OUTRUN YOU TOO-O-O!" + +"You can, can you?" yelped the fox, and he snapped up the Johnny-cake in +his sharp teeth in the twinkling of an eye. + + + + +EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER + +One fine summer's day Earl Mar's daughter went into the castle garden, +dancing and tripping along. And as she played and sported she would stop +from time to time to listen to the music of the birds. After a while as +she sat under the shade of a green oak tree she looked up and spied a +sprightly dove sitting high up on one of its branches. She looked up +and said: "Coo-my-dove, my dear, come down to me and I will give you a +golden cage. I'll take you home and pet you well, as well as any bird +of them all." Scarcely had she said these words when the dove flew down +from the branch and settled on her shoulder, nestling up against her +neck while she smoothed its feathers. Then she took it home to her own +room. + +The day was done and the night came on and Earl Mar's daughter was +thinking of going to sleep when, turning round, she found at her side a +handsome young man. She _was_ startled, for the door had been locked +for hours. But she was a brave girl and said: "What are you doing here, +young man, to come and startle me so? The door was barred these hours +ago; how ever did you come here?" + +"Hush! hush!" the young man whispered. "I was that cooing dove that you +coaxed from off the tree." + +"But who are you then?" she said quite low; "and how came you to be +changed into that dear little bird?" + +"My name is Florentine, and my mother is a queen, and something more +than a queen, for she knows magic and spells, and because I would not do +as she wished she turned me into a dove by day, but at night her spells +lose their power and I become a man again. To-day I crossed the sea and +saw you for the first time and I was glad to be a bird that I could come +near you. Unless you love me, I shall never be happy more." + +"But if I love you," says she, "will you not fly away and leave me one +of these fine days?" + +"Never, never," said the prince; "be my wife and I'll be yours for ever. +By day a bird, by night a prince, I will always be by your side as a +husband, dear." + +So they were married in secret and lived happily in the castle and no +one knew that every night Coo-my-dove became Prince Florentine. And +every year a little son came to them as bonny as bonny could be. But as +each son was born Prince Florentine carried the little thing away on +his back over the sea to where the queen his mother lived and left the +little one with her. + +Seven years passed thus and then a great trouble came to them. For the +Earl Mar wished to marry his daughter to a noble of high degree who came +wooing her. Her father pressed her sore but she said: "Father dear, I do +not wish to marry; I can be quite happy with Coo-my-dove here." + +Then her father got into a mighty rage and swore a great big oath, and +said: "To-morrow, so sure as I live and eat, I'll twist that birdie's +neck," and out he stamped from her room. + +"Oh, oh!" said Coo-my-dove; "it's time that I was away," and so he +jumped upon the window-sill and in a moment was flying away. And he flew +and he flew till he was over the deep, deep sea, and yet on he flew till +he came to his mother's castle. Now the queen his mother was taking her +walk abroad when she saw the pretty dove flying overhead and alighting +on the castle walls. + +"Here, dancers come and dance your jigs," she called, "and pipers, pipe +you well, for here's my own Florentine, come back to me to stay for he's +brought no bonny boy with him this time." + +"No, mother," said Florentine, "no dancers for me and no minstrels, for +my dear wife, the mother of my seven, boys, is to be wed to-morrow, and +sad's the day for me." + +"What can I do, my son?" said the queen, "tell me, and it shall be done +if my magic has power to do it." + +"Well then, mother dear, turn the twenty-four dancers and pipers into +twenty-four grey herons, and let my seven sons become seven white swans, +and let me be a goshawk and their leader." + +"Alas! alas! my son," she said, "that may not be; my magic reaches +not so far. But perhaps my teacher, the spaewife of Ostree, may know +better." And away she hurries to the cave of Ostree, and after a while +comes out as white as white can be and muttering over some burning herbs +she brought out of the cave. Suddenly Coo-my-dove changed into a goshawk +and around him flew twenty-four grey herons and above them flew seven +cygnets. + +Without a word or a good-bye off they flew over the deep blue sea which +was tossing and moaning. They flew and they flew till they swooped down +on Earl Mar's castle just as the wedding party were setting out for the +church. First came the men-at-arms and then the bridegroom's friends, +and then Earl Mar's men, and then the bridegroom, and lastly, pale +and beautiful, Earl Mar's daughter herself. They moved down slowly to +stately music till they came past the trees on which the birds were +settling. A word from Prince Florentine, the goshawk, and they all rose +into the air, herons beneath, cygnets above, and goshawk circling above +all. The weddineers wondered at the sight when, swoop! the herons were +down among them scattering the men-at-arms. The swanlets took charge +of the bride while the goshawk dashed down and tied the bridegroom to a +tree. Then the herons gathered themselves together into one feather bed +and the cygnets placed their mother upon them, and suddenly they all +rose in the air bearing the bride away with them in safety towards +Prince Florentine's home. Surely a wedding party was never so disturbed +in this world. What could the weddineers do? They saw their pretty bride +carried away and away till she and the herons and the swans and the +goshawk disappeared, and that very day Prince Florentine brought Earl +Mar's daughter to the castle of the queen his mother, who took the spell +off him and they lived happy ever afterwards. + + + + +MR. MIACCA + +Tommy Grimes was sometimes a good boy, and sometimes a bad boy; and when +he was a bad boy, he was a very bad boy. Now his mother used to say to +him: "Tommy, Tommy, be a good boy, and don't go out of the street, or +else Mr. Miacca will take you." But still when he was a bad boy he would +go out of the street; and one day, sure enough, he had scarcely got +round the corner, when Mr. Miacca did catch him and popped him into a +bag upside down, and took him off to his house. + +When Mr. Miacca got Tommy inside, he pulled him out of the bag and set +him down, and felt his arms and legs. "You're rather tough," says he; +"but you're all I've got for supper, and you'll not taste bad boiled. +But body o' me, I've forgot the herbs, and it's bitter you'll taste +without herbs. Sally! Here, I say, Sally!" and he called Mrs. Miacca. + +So Mrs. Miacca came out of another room and said: "What d'ye want, my +dear?" + +"Oh, here's a little boy for supper," said Mr. Miacca, "and I've forgot +the herbs. Mind him, will ye, while I go for them." + +"All right, my love," says Mrs. Miacca, and off he goes. + +Then Tommy Grimes said to Mrs. Miacca: "Does Mr. Miacca always have +little boys for supper?" + +"Mostly, my dear," said Mrs. Miacca, "if little boys are bad enough, and +get in his way." + +"And don't you have anything else but boy-meat? No pudding?" asked +Tommy. + +"Ah, I loves pudding," says Mrs. Miacca. "But it's not often the likes +of me gets pudding." + +"Why, my mother is making a pudding this very day," said Tommy Grimes, +"and I am sure she'd give you some, if I ask her. Shall I run and get +some?" + +"Now, that's a thoughtful boy," said Mrs. Miacca, "only don't be long +and be sure to be back for supper." + +So off Tommy pelters, and right glad he was to get off so cheap; and for +many a long day he was as good as good could be, and never went round +the corner of the street. But he couldn't always be good; and one day he +went round the corner, and as luck would have it, he hadn't scarcely got +round it when Mr. Miacca grabbed him up, popped him in his bag, and took +him home. + +When he got him there, Mr. Miacca dropped him out; and when he saw him, +he said: "Ah, you're the youngster what served me and my missus that +shabby trick, leaving us without any supper. Well, you shan't do it +again. I'll watch over you myself. Here, get under the sofa, and I'll +set on it and watch the pot boil for you." + +So poor Tommy Grimes had to creep under the sofa, and Mr. Miacca sat on +it and waited for the pot to boil. And they waited, and they waited, but +still the pot didn't boil, till at last Mr. Miacca got tired of waiting, +and he said: "Here, you under there, I'm not going to wait any longer; +put out your leg, and I'll stop your giving us the slip." + +So Tommy put out a leg, and Mr. Miacca got a chopper, and chopped it +off, and pops it in the pot. + +Suddenly he calls out: "Sally, my dear, Sally!" and nobody answered. So +he went into the next room to look out for Mrs. Miacca, and while he was +there, Tommy crept out from under the sofa and ran out of the door. For +it was a leg of the sofa that he had put out. + +So Tommy Grimes ran home, and he never went round the corner again till +he was old enough to go alone. + + + + +WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT + +In the reign of the famous King Edward III. there was a little boy +called Dick Whittington, whose father and mother died when he was very +young. As poor Dick was not old enough to work, he was very badly off; +he got but little for his dinner, and sometimes nothing at all for +his breakfast; for the people who lived in the village were very poor +indeed, and could not spare him much more than the parings of potatoes, +and now and then a hard crust of bread. + +Now Dick had heard a great many very strange things about the great city +called London; for the country people at that time thought that folks +in London were all fine gentlemen and ladies; and that there was singing +and music there all day long; and that the streets were all paved with +gold. + +One day a large waggon and eight horses, all with bells at their heads, +drove through the village while Dick was standing by the sign-post. He +thought that this waggon must be going to the fine town of London; so +he took courage, and asked the waggoner to let him walk with him by the +side of the waggon. As soon as the waggoner heard that poor Dick had +no father or mother, and saw by his ragged clothes that he could not be +worse off than he was, he told him he might go if he would, so off they +set together. + +So Dick got safe to London, and was in such a hurry to see the fine +streets paved all over with gold, that he did not even stay to thank the +kind waggoner; but ran off as fast as his legs would carry him, through +many of the streets, thinking every moment to come to those that were +paved with gold; for Dick had seen a guinea three times in his own +little village, and remembered what a deal of money it brought in +change; so he thought he had nothing to do but to take up some little +bits of the pavement, and should then have as much money as he could +wish for. + +Poor Dick ran till he was tired, and had quite forgot his friend the +waggoner; but at last, finding it grow dark, and that every way he +turned he saw nothing but dirt instead of gold, he, sat down in a dark +corner and cried himself to sleep. + +Little Dick was all night in the streets; and next morning, being very +hungry, he got up and walked about, and asked everybody he met to give +him a halfpenny to keep him from starving; but nobody stayed to answer +him, and only two or three gave him a halfpenny; so that the poor boy +was soon quite weak and faint for the want of victuals. + +In this distress he asked charity of several people, and one of them +said crossly: "Go to work, for an idle rogue." "That I will," says Dick, +"I will to go work for you, if you will let me." But the man only cursed +at him and went on. + +At last a good-natured looking gentleman saw how hungry he looked. "Why +don't you go to work my lad?" said he to Dick. "That I would, but I do +not know how to get any," answered Dick. "If you are willing, come along +with me," said the gentleman, and took him to a hay-field, where Dick +worked briskly, and lived merrily till the hay was made. + +After this he found himself as badly off as before; and being almost +starved again, he laid himself down at the door of Mr. Fitzwarren, +a rich merchant. Here he was soon seen by the cook-maid, who was an +ill-tempered creature, and happened just then to be very busy dressing +dinner for her master and mistress; so she called out to poor Dick: +"What business have you there, you lazy rogue? there is nothing else but +beggars; if you do not take yourself away, we will see how you will like +a sousing of some dish-water; I have some here hot enough to make you +jump." + +Just at that time Mr. Fitzwarren himself came home to dinner; and when +he saw a dirty ragged boy lying at the door, he said to him: "Why do +you lie there, my boy? You seem old enough to work; I am afraid you are +inclined to be lazy." + +"No, indeed, sir," said Dick to him, "that is not the case, for I would +work with all my heart, but I do not know anybody, and I believe I am +very sick for the want of food." + +"Poor fellow, get up; let me see what ails you." Dick now tried to rise, +but was obliged to lie down again, being too weak to stand, for he had +not eaten any food for three days, and was no longer able to run about +and beg a halfpenny of people in the street. So the kind merchant +ordered him to be taken into the house, and have a good dinner given +him, and be kept to do what work he was able to do for the cook. + +Little Dick would have lived very happy in this good family if it had +not been for the ill-natured cook. She used to say: "You are under me, +so look sharp; clean the spit and the dripping-pan, make the fires, wind +up the jack, and do all the scullery work nimbly, or--" and she would +shake the ladle at him. Besides, she was so fond of basting, that when +she had no meat to baste, she would baste poor Dick's head and shoulders +with a broom, or anything else that happened to fall in her way. At last +her ill-usage of him was told to Alice, Mr. Fitzwarren's daughter, who +told the cook she should be turned away if she did not treat him kinder. + +The behaviour of the cook was now a little better; but besides this Dick +had another hardship to get over. His bed stood in a garret, where there +were so many holes in the floor and the walls that every night he was +tormented with rats and mice. A gentleman having given Dick a penny for +cleaning his shoes, he thought he would buy a cat with it. The next day +he saw a girl with a cat, and asked her, "Will you let me have that cat +for a penny?" The girl said: "Yes, that I will, master, though she is an +excellent mouser." + +Dick hid his cat in the garret, and always took care to carry a part of +his dinner to her; and in a short time he had no more trouble with the +rats and mice, but slept quite sound every night. + +Soon after this, his master had a ship ready to sail; and as it was the +custom that all his servants should have some chance for good fortune as +well as himself, he called them all into the parlour and asked them what +they would send out. + +They all had something that they were willing to venture except poor +Dick, who had neither money nor goods, and therefore could send nothing. +For this reason he did not come into the parlour with the rest; but Miss +Alice guessed what was the matter, and ordered him to be called in. She +then said: "I will lay down some money for him, from my own purse;" but +her father told her: "This will not do, for it must be something of his +own." + +When poor Dick heard this, he said: "I have nothing but a cat which I +bought for a penny some time since of a little girl." + +"Fetch your cat then, my lad," said Mr. Fitzwarren, "and let her go." + +Dick went upstairs and brought down poor puss, with tears in his eyes, +and gave her to the captain; "For," he said, "I shall now be kept awake +all night by the rats and mice." All the company laughed at Dick's odd +venture; and Miss Alice, who felt pity for him, gave him some money to +buy another cat. + +This, and many other marks of kindness shown him by Miss Alice, made the +ill-tempered cook jealous of poor Dick, and she began to use him more +cruelly than ever, and always made game of him for sending his cat to +sea. + +She asked him: "Do you think your cat will sell for as much money as +would buy a stick to beat you?" + +At last poor Dick could not bear this usage any longer, and he thought +he would run away from his place; so he packed up his few things, and +started very early in the morning, on All-hallows Day, the first of +November. He walked as far as Holloway; and there sat down on a stone, +which to this day is called "Whittington's Stone," and began to think to +himself which road he should take. + +While he was thinking what he should do, the Bells of Bow Church, which +at that time were only six, began to ring, and their sound seemed to say +to him: + +"Turn again, Whittington, Thrice Lord Mayor of London." + +"Lord Mayor of London!" said he to himself. "Why, to be sure, I would +put up with almost anything now, to be Lord Mayor of London, and ride in +a fine coach, when I grow to be a man! Well, I will go back, and think +nothing of the cuffing and scolding of the old cook, if I am to be Lord +Mayor of London at last." + +Dick went back, and was lucky enough to get into the house, and set +about his work, before the old cook came downstairs. + +We must now follow Miss Puss to the coast of Africa. The ship with the +cat on board, was a long time at sea; and was at last driven by the +winds on a part of the coast of Barbary, where the only people were the +Moors, unknown to the English. The people came in great numbers to see +the sailors, because they were of different colour to themselves, and +treated them civilly; and, when they became better acquainted, were very +eager to buy the fine things that the ship was loaded with. + +When the captain saw this, he sent patterns of the best things he had to +the king of the country; who was so much pleased with them, that he +sent for the captain to the palace. Here they were placed, as it is the +custom of the country, on rich carpets flowered with gold and silver. +The king and queen were seated at the upper end of the room; and a +number of dishes were brought in for dinner. They had not sat long, when +a vast number of rats and mice rushed in, and devoured all the meat in +an instant. The captain wondered at this, and asked if these vermin were +not unpleasant. + +"Oh yes," said they, "very offensive, and the king would give half his +treasure to be freed of them, for they not only destroy his dinner, as +you see, but they assault him in his chamber, and even in bed, and +so that he is obliged to be watched while he is sleeping, for fear of +them." + +The captain jumped for joy; he remembered poor Whittington and his +cat, and told the king he had a creature on board the ship that would +despatch all these vermin immediately. The king jumped so high at the +joy which the news gave him, that his turban dropped off his head. +"Bring this creature to me," says he; "vermin are dreadful in a court, +and if she will perform what you say, I will load your ship with gold +and jewels in exchange for her." + +The captain, who knew his business, took this opportunity to set forth +the merits of Miss Puss. He told his majesty; "It is not very convenient +to part with her, as, when she is gone, the rats and mice may destroy +the goods in the ship--but to oblige your majesty, I will fetch her." + +"Run, run!" said the queen; "I am impatient to see the dear creature." + +Away went the captain to the ship, while another dinner was got ready. +He put Puss under his arm, and arrived at the place just in time to +see the table full of rats. When the cat saw them, she did not wait for +bidding, but jumped out of the captain's arms, and in a few minutes laid +almost all the rats and mice dead at her feet. The rest of them in their +fright scampered away to their holes. + +The king was quite charmed to get rid so easily of such plagues, and the +queen desired that the creature who had done them so great a kindness +might be brought to her, that she might look at her. Upon which the +captain called: "Pussy, pussy, pussy!" and she came to him. He then +presented her to the queen, who started back, and was afraid to touch +a creature who had made such a havoc among the rats and mice. However, +when the captain stroked the cat and called: "Pussy, pussy," the queen +also touched her and cried: "Putty, putty," for she had not learned +English. He then put her down on the queen's lap, where she purred and +played with her majesty's hand, and then purred herself to sleep. + +The king, having seen the exploits of Mrs. Puss, and being informed that +her kittens would stock the whole country, and keep it free from rats, +bargained with the captain for the whole ship's cargo, and then gave him +ten times as much for the cat as all the rest amounted to. + +The captain then took leave of the royal party, and set sail with a fair +wind for England, and after a happy voyage arrived safe in London. + +One morning, early, Mr. Fitzwarren had just come to his counting-house +and seated himself at the desk, to count over the cash, and settle the +business for the day, when somebody came tap, tap, at the door. "Who's +there?" said Mr. Fitzwarren. "A friend," answered the other; "I come to +bring you good news of your ship _Unicorn_." The merchant, bustling up +in such a hurry that he forgot his gout, opened the door, and who should +he see waiting but the captain and factor, with a cabinet of jewels, and +a bill of lading; when he looked at this the merchant lifted up his eyes +and thanked Heaven for sending him such a prosperous voyage. + +They then told the story of the cat, and showed the rich present +that the king and queen had sent for her to poor Dick. As soon as the +merchant heard this, he called out to his servants: + + "Go send him in, and tell him of his fame; + Pray call him Mr. Whittington by name." + +Mr. Fitzwarren now showed himself to be a good man; for when some of +his servants said so great a treasure was too much for him, he answered: +"God forbid I should deprive him of the value of a single penny, it is +his own, and he shall have it to a farthing." He then sent for Dick, +who at that time was scouring pots for the cook, and was quite dirty. He +would have excused himself from coming into the counting-house, saying, +"The room is swept, and my shoes are dirty and full of hob-nails." But +the merchant ordered him to come in. + +Mr. Fitzwarren ordered a chair to be set for him, and so he began to +think they were making game of him, at the same time said to them: "Do +not play tricks with a poor simple boy, but let me go down again, if you +please, to my work." + +"Indeed, Mr. Whittington," said the merchant, "we are all quite in +earnest with you, and I most heartily rejoice in the news that these +gentlemen have brought you; for the captain has sold your cat to the +King of Barbary, and brought you in return for her more riches than I +possess in the whole world; and I wish you may long enjoy them!" + +Mr. Fitzwarren then told the men to open the great treasure they had +brought with them; and said: "Mr. Whittington has nothing to do but to +put it in some place of safety." + +Poor Dick hardly knew how to behave himself for joy. He begged his +master to take what part of it he pleased, since he owed it all to his +kindness. "No, no," answered Mr. Fitzwarren, "this is all your own; and +I have no doubt but you will use it well." + +Dick next asked his mistress, and then Miss Alice, to accept a part of +his good fortune; but they would not, and at the same time told him +they felt great joy at his good success. But this poor fellow was too +kind-hearted to keep it all to himself; so he made a present to the +captain, the mate, and the rest of Mr. Fitzwarren's servants; and even +to the ill-natured old cook. + +After this Mr. Fitzwarren advised him to send for a proper tailor and +get himself dressed like a gentleman; and told him he was welcome to +live in his house till he could provide himself with a better. + +When Whittington's face was washed, his hair curled, his hat cocked, and +he was dressed in a nice suit of clothes he was as handsome and genteel +as any young man who visited at Mr. Fitzwarren's; so that Miss Alice, +who had once been so kind to him, and thought of him with pity, now +looked upon him as fit to be her sweetheart; and the more so, no doubt, +because Whittington was now always thinking what he could do to oblige +her, and making her the prettiest presents that could be. + +Mr. Fitzwarren soon saw their love for each other, and proposed to join +them in marriage; and to this they both readily agreed. A day for the +wedding was soon fixed; and they were attended to church by the Lord +Mayor, the court of aldermen, the sheriffs, and a great number of the +richest merchants in London, whom they afterwards treated with a very +rich feast. + +History tells us that Mr. Whittington and his lady liven in great +splendour, and were very happy. They had several children. He was +Sheriff of London, thrice Lord Mayor, and received the honour of +knighthood by Henry V. + +He entertained this king and his queen at dinner after his conquest of +France so grandly, that the king said "Never had prince such a subject;" +when Sir Richard heard this, he said: "Never had subject such a prince." + +The figure of Sir Richard Whittington with his cat in his arms, carved +in stone, was to be seen till the year 1780 over the archway of the old +prison of Newgate, which he built for criminals. + + + + +THE STRANGE VISITOR + +A woman was sitting at her reel one night; And still she sat, and still +she reeled, and still she wished for company. + +In came a pair of broad broad soles, and sat down at the fireside; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of small small legs, and sat down on the broad broad +soles; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of thick thick knees, and sat down on the small small +legs; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of thin thin thighs, and sat down on the thick thick +knees; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of huge huge hips, and sat down on the thin thin thighs; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a wee wee waist, and sat down on the huge huge hips; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of broad broad shoulders, and sat down on the wee wee +waist; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of small small arms, and sat down on the broad broad +shoulders; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of huge huge hands, and sat down on the small small arms; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a small small neck, and sat down on the broad broad shoulders; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a huge huge head, and sat down on the small small neck. + +"How did you get such broad broad feet?" quoth the woman. + +"Much tramping, much tramping" (_gruffly_). + +"How did you get such small small legs?" + +"Aih-h-h!-late--and wee-e-e--moul" (_whiningly_). + +"How did you get such thick thick knees?" + +"Much praying, much praying" (_piously_). + +"How did you get such thin thin thighs?" + +"Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e--moul" (_whiningly_). + +"How did you get such big big hips?" + +"Much sitting, much sitting" (_gruffly_). + +"How did you get such a wee wee waist?" + +"Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e-moul" (_whiningly_). + +"How did you get such broad broad shoulders?" + +"With carrying broom, with carrying broom" (_gruffly_). + +"How did you get such small small arms?" + +"Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e--moul" (_whiningly_.) + +"How did you get such huge huge hands?" + +"Threshing with an iron flail, threshing with an iron flail" +(_gruffly_). + +"How did you get such a small small neck?" + +"Aih-h-h!--late--wee-e-e--moul" (_pitifully_). + +"How did you get such a huge huge head?" + +"Much knowledge, much knowledge" (_keenly_). + +"What do you come for?" + +"FOR YOU!" (_At the top of the voice, with a wave of the arm and a stamp +of the feet._) + + + + +THE LAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH + +In Bamborough Castle once lived a king who had a fair wife and two +children, a son named Childe Wynd and a daughter named Margaret. Childe +Wynd went forth to seek his fortune, and soon after he had gone the +queen his mother died. The king mourned her long and faithfully, but +one day while he was hunting he came across a lady of great beauty, and +became so much in love with her that he determined to marry her. So +he sent word home that he was going to bring a new queen to Bamborough +Castle. + +Princess Margaret was not very glad to hear of her mother's place being +taken, but she did not repine but did her father's bidding. And at the +appointed day came down to the castle gate with the keys all ready to +hand over to her stepmother. Soon the procession drew near, and the new +queen came towards Princess Margaret who bowed low and handed her the +keys of the castle. She stood there with blushing cheeks and eye on +ground, and said: "O welcome, father dear, to your halls and bowers, and +welcome to you my new mother, for all that's here is yours," and again +she offered the keys. One of the king's knights who had escorted the new +queen, cried out in admiration: "Surely this northern Princess is the +loveliest of her kind." At that the new queen flushed up and cried out: +"At least your courtesy might have excepted me," and then she muttered +below her breath: "I'll soon put an end to her beauty." + +That same night the queen, who was a noted witch, stole down to a lonely +dungeon wherein she did her magic and with spells three times three, and +with passes nine times nine she cast Princess Margaret under her spell. +And this was her spell: + + I weird ye to be a Laidly Worm, + And borrowed shall ye never be, + Until Childe Wynd, the King's own son + Come to the Heugh and thrice kiss thee; + Until the world comes to an end, + Borrowed shall ye never be. + +So Lady Margaret went to bed a beauteous maiden, and rose up a Laidly +Worm. And when her maidens came in to dress her in the morning they +found coiled up on the bed a dreadful dragon, which uncoiled itself +and came towards them. But they ran away shrieking, and the Laidly Worm +crawled and crept, and crept and crawled till it reached the Heugh or +rock of the Spindlestone, round which it coiled itself, and lay there +basking with its terrible snout in the air. + +Soon the country round about had reason to know of the Laidly Worm of +Spindleston Heugh. For hunger drove the monster out from its cave and it +used to devour everything it could come across. So at last they went to +a mighty warlock and asked him what they should do. Then he consulted +his works and his familiar, and told them: "The Laidly Worm is really +the Princess Margaret and it is hunger that drives her forth to do such +deeds. Put aside for her seven kine, and each day as the sun goes down, +carry every drop of milk they yield to the stone trough at the foot of +the Heugh, and the Laidly Worm will trouble the country no longer. But +if ye would that she be borrowed to her natural shape, and that she who +bespelled her be rightly punished, send over the seas for her brother, +Childe Wynd." + +All was done as the warlock advised, the Laidly Worm lived on the milk +of the seven kine, and the country was troubled no longer. But when +Childe Wynd heard the news, he swore a mighty oath to rescue his sister +and revenge her on her cruel stepmother. And three-and-thirty of his men +took the oath with him. Then they set to work and built a long ship, and +its keel they made of the rowan tree. And when all was ready, they out +with their oars and pulled sheer for Bamborough Keep. + +But as they got near the keep, the stepmother felt by her magic power +that something was being wrought against her, so she summoned her +familiar imps and said: "Childe Wynd is coming over the seas; he must +never land. Raise storms, or bore the hull, but nohow must he touch +shore." Then the imps went forth to meet Childe Wynd's ship, but when +they got near, they found they had no power over the ship, for its keel +was made of the rowan tree. So back they came to the queen witch, who +knew not what to do. She ordered her men-at-arms to resist Childe Wynd +if he should land near them, and by her spells she caused the Laidly +Worm to wait by the entrance of the harbour. + +As the ship came near, the Worm unfolded its coils, and dipping into +the sea, caught hold of the ship of Childe Wynd, and banged it off +the shore. Three times Childe Wynd urged his men on to row bravely and +strong, but each time the Laidly Worm kept it off the shore. Then Childe +Wynd ordered the ship to be put about, and the witch-queen thought he +had given up the attempt. But instead of that, he only rounded the next +point and landed safe and sound in Budle Creek, and then, with sword +drawn and bow bent, rushed up followed by his men, to fight the terrible +Worm that had kept him from landing. + +But the moment Childe Wynd had landed, the witch-queen's power over the +Laidly Worm had gone, and she went back to her bower all alone, not an +imp, nor a man-at-arms to help her, for she knew her hour was come. So +when Childe Wynd came rushing up to the Laidly Worm it made no attempt +to stop him or hurt him, but just as he was going to raise his sword to +slay it, the voice of his own sister Margaret came from its jaws saying: + + "O, quit your sword, unbend your bow, + And give me kisses three; + For though I am a poisonous worm, + No harm I'll do to thee." + +Childe Wynd stayed his hand, but he did not know what to think if some +witchery were not in it. Then said the Laidly Worm again: + + "O, quit your sword, unbend your bow, + And give me kisses three, + If I'm not won ere set of sun, + Won never shall I be." + +Then Childe Wynd went up to the Laidly Worm and kissed it once; but no +change came over it. Then Childe Wynd kissed it once more; but yet no +change came over it. For a third time he kissed the loathsome thing, +and with a hiss and a roar the Laidly Worm reared back and before Childe +Wynd stood his sister Margaret. He wrapped his cloak about her, and then +went up to the castle with her. When he reached the keep, he went off to +the witch queen's bower, and when he saw her, he touched her with a twig +of a rowan tree. No sooner had he touched her than she shrivelled up and +shrivelled up, till she became a huge ugly toad, with bold staring eyes +and a horrible hiss. She croaked and she hissed, and then hopped away +down the castle steps, and Childe Wynd took his father's place as king, +and they all lived happy afterwards. + +But to this day, the loathsome toad is seen at times, haunting the +neighbourhood of Bamborough Keep, and the wicked witch-queen is a Laidly +Toad. + + + + +THE CAT AND THE MOUSE + + The cat and the mouse + Play'd in the malt-house: + +The cat bit the mouse's tail off. "Pray, puss, give me my tail." "No," +says the cat, "I'll not give you your tail, till you go to the cow, and +fetch me some milk." + + First she leapt and then she ran, + Till she came to the cow, and thus began: + +"Pray, Cow, give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me +my own tail again." "No," said the cow, "I will give you no milk, till +you go to the farmer, and get me some hay." + + First she leapt, and then she ran, + Till she came to the farmer and thus began: + +"Pray, Farmer, give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give +me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail +again." "No," says the farmer, "I'll give you no hay, till you go to the +butcher and fetch me some meat." + + First she leapt, and then she ran, + Till she came to the butcher, and thus began: + +"Pray, Butcher, give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer +may give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, +that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again." "No," +says the butcher, "I'll give you no meat, till you go to the baker and +fetch me some bread." + + First she leapt and then she ran, + Till she came to the baker, and thus began: + +"Pray, Baker, give me bread, that I may give butcher bread, that butcher +may give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may give me +hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give +cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again." + + "Yes," says the baker, "I'll give you some bread, + But if you eat my meal, I'll cut off your head." + +Then the baker gave mouse bread, and mouse gave butcher bread, and +butcher gave mouse meat, and mouse gave farmer meat, and farmer gave +mouse hay, and mouse gave cow hay, and cow gave mouse milk, and mouse +gave cat milk, and cat gave mouse her own tail again! + + + + +THE FISH AND THE RING + +Once upon a time, there was a mighty baron in the North Countrie who was +a great magician that knew everything that would come to pass. So one +day, when his little boy was four years old, he looked into the Book of +Fate to see what would happen to him. And to his dismay, he found that +his son would wed a lowly maid that had just been born in a house under +the shadow of York Minster. Now the Baron knew the father of the little +girl was very, very poor, and he had five children already. So he called +for his horse, and rode into York; and passed by the father's house, and +saw him sitting by the door, sad and doleful. So he dismounted and went +up to him and said: "What is the matter, my good man?" And the man said: +"Well, your honour, the fact is, I've five children already, and now +a sixth's come, a little lass, and where to get the bread from to fill +their mouths, that's more than I can say." + +"Don't be downhearted, my man," said the Baron. "If that's your trouble, +I can help you. I'll take away the last little one, and you wont have to +bother about her." + +"Thank you kindly, sir," said the man; and he went in and brought out +the lass and gave her to the Baron, who mounted his horse and rode away +with her. And when he got by the bank of the river Ouse, he threw the +little, thing into the river, and rode off to his castle. + +But the little lass didn't sink; her clothes kept her up for a time, and +she floated, and she floated, till she was cast ashore just in front of +a fisherman's hut. There the fisherman found her, and took pity on the +poor little thing and took her into his house, and she lived there till +she was fifteen years old, and a fine handsome girl. + +One day it happened that the Baron went out hunting with some companions +along the banks of the River Ouse, and stopped at the fisherman's hut to +get a drink, and the girl came out to give it to them. They all noticed +her beauty, and one of them said to the Baron: "You can read fates, +Baron, whom will she marry, d'ye think?" + +"Oh! that's easy to guess," said the Baron; "some yokel or other. But +I'll cast her horoscope. Come here girl, and tell me on what day you +were born?" + +"I don't know, sir," said the girl, "I was picked up just here after +having been brought down by the river about fifteen years ago." + +Then the Baron knew who she was, and when they went away, he rode back +and said to the girl: "Hark ye, girl, I will make your fortune. Take +this letter to my brother in Scarborough, and you will be settled for +life." And the girl took the letter and said she would go. Now this was +what he had written in the letter: + +"Dear Brother,--Take the bearer and put her to death immediately. + +"Yours affectionately, + +"Albert." + +So soon after the girl set out for Scarborough, and slept for the night +at a little inn. Now that very night a band of robbers broke into the +inn, and searched the girl, who had no money, and only the letter. So +they opened this and read it, and thought it a shame. The captain of the +robbers took a pen and paper and wrote this letter: + +"Dear Brother,--Take the bearer and marry her to my son immediately. + +"Yours affectionately, + +"Albert." + +And then he gave it to the girl, bidding her begone. So she went on +to the Baron's brother at Scarborough, a noble knight, with whom the +Baron's son was staying. When she gave the letter to his brother, +he gave orders for the wedding to be prepared at once, and they were +married that very day. + +Soon after, the Baron himself came to his brother's castle, and what was +his surprise to find that the very thing he had plotted against had come +to pass. But he was not to be put off that way; and he took out the girl +for a walk, as he said, along the cliffs. And when he got her all alone, +he took her by the arms, and was going to throw her over. But she begged +hard for her life. "I have not done anything," she said: "if you will +only spare me, I will do whatever you wish. I will never see you or your +son again till you desire it." Then the Baron took off his gold ring and +threw it into the sea, saying: "Never let me see your face till you can +show me that ring;" and he let her go. + +The poor girl wandered on and on, till at last she came to a great +noble's castle, and she asked to have some work given to her; and they +made her the scullion girl of the castle, for she had been used to such +work in the fisherman's hut. + +Now one day, who should she see coming up to the noble's house but the +Baron and his brother and his son, her husband. She didn't know what +to do; but thought they would not see her in the castle kitchen. So she +went back to her work with a sigh, and set to cleaning a huge big fish +that was to be boiled for their dinner. And, as she was cleaning it, +she saw something shine inside it, and what do you think she found? Why, +there was the Baron's ring, the very one he had thrown over the cliff +at Scarborough. She was right glad to see it, you may be sure. Then she +cooked the fish as nicely as she could, and served it up. + +Well, when the fish came on the table, the guests liked it so well that +they asked the noble who cooked it. He said he didn't know, but called +to his servants: "Ho, there, send up the cook that cooked that fine +fish." So they went down to the kitchen and told the girl she was wanted +in the hall. Then she washed and tidied herself and put the Baron's gold +ring on her thumb and went up into the hall. + +When the banqueters saw such a young and beautiful cook they were +surprised. But the Baron was in a tower of a temper, and started up as +if he would do her some violence. So the girl went up to him with her +hand before her with the ring on it; and she put it down before him on +the table. Then at last the Baron saw that no one could fight against +Fate, and he handed her to a seat and announced to all the company that +this was his son's true wife; and he took her and his son home to his +castle; and they all lived as happy as could be ever afterwards. + + + + +THE MAGPIE'S NEST + + Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme + And monkeys chewed tobacco, + And hens took snuff to make them tough, + And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O! + +All the birds of the air came to the magpie and asked her to teach +them how to build nests. For the magpie is the cleverest bird of all +at building nests. So she put all the birds round her and began to show +them how to do it. First of all she took some mud and made a sort of +round cake with it. + +"Oh, that's how it's done," said the thrush; and away it flew, and so +that's how thrushes build their nests. + +Then the magpie took some twigs and arranged them round in the mud. + +"Now I know all about it," says the blackbird, and off he flew; and +that's how the blackbirds make their nests to this very day. + +Then the magpie put another layer of mud over the twigs. + +"Oh that's quite obvious," said the wise owl, and away it flew; and owls +have never made better nests since. + +After this the magpie took some twigs and twined them round the outside. + +"The very thing!" said the sparrow, and off he went; so sparrows make +rather slovenly nests to this day. + +Well, then Madge Magpie took some feathers and stuff and lined the nest +very comfortably with it. + +"That suits me," cried the starling, and off it flew; and very +comfortable nests have starlings. + +So it went on, every bird taking away some knowledge of how to build +nests, but, none of them waiting to the end. Meanwhile Madge Magpie +went on working and working without, looking up till the only bird that +remained was the turtle-dove, and that hadn't paid any attention all +along, but only kept on saying its silly cry "Take two, Taffy, take +two-o-o-o." + +At last the magpie heard this just as she was putting a twig across. So +she said: "One's enough." + +But the turtle-dove kept on saying: "Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o." + +Then the magpie got angry and said: "One's enough I tell you." + +Still the turtle-dove cried: "Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o." + +At last, and at last, the magpie looked up and saw nobody near her but +the silly turtle-dove, and then she got rare angry and flew away and +refused to tell the birds how to build nests again. And that is why +different birds build their nests differently. + + + + +KATE CRACKERNUTS + +Once upon a time there was a king and a queen, as in many lands have +been. The king had a daughter, Anne, and the queen had one named Kate, +but Anne was far bonnier than the queen's daughter, though they loved +one another like real sisters. The queen was jealous of the king's +daughter being bonnier than her own, and cast about to spoil her beauty. +So she took counsel of the henwife, who told her to send the lassie to +her next morning fasting. + +So next morning early, the queen said to Anne, "Go, my dear, to the +henwife in the glen, and ask her for some eggs." So Anne set out, but as +she passed through the kitchen she saw a crust, and she took and munched +it as she went along. + +When she came to the henwife's she asked for eggs, as she had been told +to do; the henwife said to her, "Lift the lid off that pot there and +see." The lassie did so, but nothing happened. "Go home to your minnie +and tell her to keep her larder door better locked," said the henwife. +So she went home to the queen and told her what the henwife had said. +The queen knew from this that the lassie had had something to eat, so +watched the next morning and sent her away fasting; but the princess saw +some country-folk picking peas by the roadside, and being very kind she +spoke to them and took a handful of the peas, which she ate by the way. + +When she came to the henwife's, she said, "Lift the lid off the pot +and you'll see." So Anne lifted the lid but nothing happened. Then the +henwife was rare angry and said to Anne, "Tell your minnie the pot won't +boil if the fire's away." So Anne went home and told the queen. + +The third day the queen goes along with the girl herself to the henwife. +Now, this time, when Anne lifted the lid off the pot, off falls her own +pretty head, and on jumps a sheep's head. + +So the queen was now quite satisfied, and went back home. + +Her own daughter, Kate, however, took a fine linen cloth and wrapped it +round her sister's head and took her by the hand and they both went out +to seek their fortune. They went on, and they went on, and they went +on, till they came to a castle. Kate knocked at the door and asked for a +night's lodging for herself and a sick sister. They went in and found +it was a king's castle, who had two sons, and one of them was sickening +away to death and no one could find out what ailed him. And the curious +thing was that whoever watched him at night was never seen any more. So +the king had offered a peck of silver to anyone who would stop up with +him. Now Katie was a very brave girl, so she offered to sit up with him. + +Till midnight all goes well. As twelve o clock rings, however, the sick +prince rises, dresses himself, and slips downstairs. Kate followed, but +he didn't seem to notice her. The prince went to the stable, saddled his +horse, called his hound, jumped into the saddle, and Kate leapt lightly +up behind him. Away rode the prince and Kate through the greenwood, +Kate, as they pass, plucking nuts from the trees and filling her apron +with them. They rode on and on till they came to a green hill. The +prince here drew bridle and spoke, "Open, open, green hill, and let the +young prince in with his horse and his hound," and Kate added, "and his +lady him behind." + +Immediately the green hill opened and they passed in. The prince entered +a magnificent hall, brightly lighted up, and many beautiful fairies +surrounded the prince and led him off to the dance. Meanwhile, Kate, +without being noticed, hid herself behind the door. There she sees the +prince dancing, and dancing, and dancing, till he could dance no longer +and fell upon a couch. Then the fairies would fan him till he could rise +again and go on dancing. + +At last the cock crew, and the prince made all haste to get on +horseback; Kate jumped up behind, and home they rode. When the morning +sun rose they came in and found Kate sitting down by the fire and +cracking her nuts. Kate said the prince had a good night; but she would +not sit up another night unless she was to get a peck of gold. The +second night passed as the first had done. The prince got up at midnight +and rode away to the green hill and the fairy ball, and Kate went with +him, gathering nuts as they rode through the forest. This time she did +not watch the prince, for she knew he would dance and dance, and dance. +But she sees a fairy baby playing with a wand, and overhears one of the +fairies say: "Three strokes of that wand would make Kate's sick sister +as bonnie as ever she was." So Kate rolled nuts to the fairy baby, and +rolled nuts till the baby toddled after the nuts and let fall the wand, +and Kate took it up and put it in her apron. And at cockcrow they rode +home as before, and the moment Kate got home to her room she rushed and +touched Anne three times with the wand, and the nasty sheep's head +fell off and she was her own pretty self again. The third night Kate +consented to watch, only if she should marry the sick prince. All went +on as on the first two nights. This time the fairy baby was playing with +a birdie; Kate heard one of the fairies say: "Three bites of that birdie +would make the sick prince as well as ever he was." Kate rolled all the +nuts she had to the fairy baby till the birdie was dropped, and Kate put +it in her apron. + +At cockcrow they set off again, but instead of cracking her nuts as +she used to do, this time Kate plucked the feathers off and cooked +the birdie. Soon there arose a very savoury smell. "Oh!" said the sick +prince, "I wish I had a bite of that birdie," so Kate gave him a bite of +the birdie, and he rose up on his elbow. By-and-by he cried out again: +"Oh, if I had another bite of that birdie!" so Kate gave him another +bite, and he sat up on his bed. Then he said again: "Oh! if I only had +a third bite of that birdie!" So Kate gave him a third bite, and he rose +quite well, dressed himself, and sat down by the fire, and when the folk +came in next morning they found Kate and the young prince cracking nuts +together. Meanwhile his brother had seen Annie and had fallen in love +with her, as everybody did who saw her sweet pretty face. So the sick +son married the well sister, and the well son married the sick sister, +and they all lived happy and died happy, and never drank out of a dry +cappy. + + + + +THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON + +At Hilton Hall, long years ago, there lived a Brownie that was the +contrariest Brownie you ever knew. At night, after the servants had +gone to bed, it would turn everything topsy-turvy, put sugar in the +salt-cellars, pepper into the beer, and was up to all kinds of pranks. +It would throw the chairs down, put tables on their backs, rake out +fires, and do as much mischief as could be. But sometimes it would be in +a good temper, and then!--"What's a Brownie?" you say. Oh, it's a kind +of a sort of a Bogle, but it isn't so cruel as a Redcap! What! you don't +know what's a Bogle or a Redcap! Ah, me! what's the world a-coming to? +Of course a Brownie is a funny little thing, half man, half goblin, with +pointed ears and hairy hide. When you bury a treasure, you scatter over +it blood drops of a newly slain kid or lamb, or, better still, bury the +animal with the treasure, and a Brownie will watch over it for you, and +frighten everybody else away. + +Where was I? Well, as I was a-saying, the Brownie at Hilton Hall would +play at mischief, but if the servants laid out for it a bowl of cream, +or a knuckle cake spread with honey, it would clear away things for +them, and make everything tidy in the kitchen. One night, however, when +the servants had stopped up late, they heard a noise in the kitchen, +and, peeping in, saw the Brownie swinging to and fro on the Jack chain, +and saying: + + "Woe's me! woe's me! + The acorn's not yet + Fallen from the tree, + That's to grow the wood, + That's to make the cradle, + That's to rock the bairn, + That's to grow to the man, + That's to lay me. + Woe's me! woe's me!" + +So they took pity on the poor Brownie, and asked the nearest henwife +what they should do to send it away. "That's easy enough," said the +henwife, and told them that a Brownie that's paid for its service, in +aught that's not perishable, goes away at once. So they made a cloak of +Lincoln green, with a hood to it, and put it by the hearth and watched. +They saw the Brownie come up, and seeing the hood and cloak, put them +on, and frisk about, dancing on one leg and saying: + + "I've taken your cloak, I've taken your hood; + The Cauld Lad of Hilton will do no more good." + +And with that it vanished, and was never seen or heard of afterwards. + + + + +THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE STICK + +A lad named Jack was once so unhappy at home through his father's +ill-treatment, that he made up his mind to run away and seek his fortune +in the wide world. + +He ran, and he ran, till he could run no longer, and then he ran right +up against a little old woman who was gathering sticks. He was too much +out of breath to beg pardon, but the woman was good-natured, and she +said he seemed to be a likely lad, so she would take him to be her +servant, and would pay him well. He agreed, for he was very hungry, +and she brought him to her house in the wood, where he served her for a +twelvemonths and a day. + +When the year had passed, she called him to her, and said she had good +wages for him. So she presented him with an ass out of the stable, and +he had but to pull Neddy's ears to make him begin at once to ee--aw! And +when he brayed there dropped from his mouth silver sixpences, and half +crowns, and golden guineas. + +The lad was well pleased with the wage he had received, and away he rode +till he reached an inn. There he ordered the best of everything, and +when the innkeeper refused to serve him without being paid beforehand, +the boy went off to the stable, pulled the ass's ears and obtained his +pocket full of money. The host had watched all this through a crack +in the door, and when night came on he put an ass of his own for the +precious Neddy of the poor youth. So Jack without knowing that any +change had been made, rode away next morning to his father's house. + +Now, I must tell you that near his home dwelt a poor widow with an only +daughter. The lad and the maiden were fast friends and true loves; but +when Jack asked his father's leave to marry the girl, "Never till you +have the money to keep her," was the reply. "I have that, father," said +the lad, and going to the ass he pulled its long ears; well, he pulled, +and he pulled, till one of them came off in his hands; but Neddy, though +he hee-hawed and he hee-hawed let fall no half crowns or guineas. The +father picked up a hay-fork and beat his son out of the house. I promise +you he ran. Ah! he ran and ran till he came bang against the door, and +burst it open, and there he was in a joiner's shop. "You're a likely +lad," said the joiner; "serve me for a twelvemonths and a day and I will +pay you well.'" So he agreed, and served the carpenter for a year and +a day. "Now," said the master, "I will give you your wage;" and he +presented him with a table, telling him he had but to say, "Table, be +covered," and at once it would be spread with lots to eat and drink. + +Jack hitched the table on his back, and away he went with it till he +came to the inn. "Well, host," shouted he, "my dinner to-day, and that +of the best." + +"Very sorry, but there is nothing in the house but ham and eggs." + +"Ham and eggs for me!" exclaimed Jack. "I can do better than +that.--Come, my table, be covered!" + +At once the table was spread with turkey and sausages, roast mutton, +potatoes, and greens. The publican opened his eyes, but he said nothing, +not he. + +That night he fetched down from his attic a table very like that of +Jack, and exchanged the two. Jack, none the wiser, next morning hitched +the worthless table on to his back and carried it home. "Now, father, +may I marry my lass?" he asked. + +"Not unless you can keep her," replied the father. "Look here!" +exclaimed Jack. "Father, I have a table which does all my bidding." + +"Let me see it," said the old man. + +The lad set it in the middle of the room, and bade it be covered; but +all in vain, the table remained bare. In a rage, the father caught the +warming-pan down from the wall and warmed his son's back with it so that +the boy fled howling from the house, and ran and ran till he came to a +river and tumbled in. A man picked him out and bade him assist him in +making a bridge over the river; and how do you think he was doing it? +Why, by casting a tree across; so Jack climbed up to the top of the tree +and threw his weight on it, so that when the man had rooted the tree up, +Jack and the tree-head dropped on the farther bank. + +"Thank you," said the man; "and now for what you have done I will pay +you;" so saying, he tore a branch from the tree, and fettled it up into +a club with his knife. "There," exclaimed he; "take this stick, and when +you say to it, 'Up stick and bang him,' it will knock any one down who +angers you." + +The lad was overjoyed to get this stick--so away he went with it to the +inn, and as soon as the publican, appeared, "Up stick and bang him!" was +his cry. At the word the cudgel flew from his hand and battered the +old publican on the back, rapped his head, bruised his arms tickled his +ribs, till he fell groaning on the floor; still the stick belaboured +the prostrate man, nor would Jack call it off till he had got back the +stolen ass and table. Then he galloped home on the ass, with the table +on his shoulders, and the stick in his hand. When he arrived there he +found his father was dead, so he brought his ass into the stable, and +pulled its ears till he had filled the manger with money. + +It was soon known through the town that Jack had returned rolling in +wealth, and accordingly all the girls in the place set their caps at +him. "Now," said Jack, "I shall marry the richest lass in the place; so +tomorrow do you all come in front of my house with your money in your +aprons." + +Next morning the street was full of girls with aprons held out, and gold +and silver in them; but Jack's own sweetheart was among them, and she +had neither gold nor silver, nought but two copper pennies, that was all +she had. + +"Stand aside, lass;" said Jack to her, speaking roughly. "Thou hast no +silver nor gold--stand off from the rest." She obeyed, and the tears ran +down her cheeks, and filled her apron with diamonds. + +"Up stick and bang them!" exclaimed Jack; whereupon the cudgel leaped +up, and running along the line of girls, knocked them all on the heads +and left them senseless on the pavement. Jack took all their money and +poured it into his truelove's lap. "Now, lass," he exclaimed, "thou art +the richest, and I shall marry thee." + + + + +FAIRY OINTMENT + +Dame Goody was a nurse that looked after sick people, and minded babies. +One night she was woke up at midnight, and when she went downstairs, +she saw a strange squinny-eyed, little ugly old fellow, who asked her +to come to his wife who was too ill to mind her baby. Dame Goody didn't +like the look of the old fellow, but business is business; so she popped +on her things, and went down to him. And when she got down to him, he +whisked her up on to a large coal-black horse with fiery eyes, that +stood at the door; and soon they were going at a rare pace, Dame Goody +holding on to the old fellow like grim death. + +They rode, and they rode, till at last they stopped before a cottage +door. So they got down and went in and found the good woman abed with +the children playing about; and the babe, a fine bouncing boy, beside +her. + +Dame Goody took the babe, which was as fine a baby boy as you'd wish to +see. The mother, when she handed the baby to Dame Goody to mind, gave +her a box of ointment, and told her to stroke the baby's eyes with it +as soon as it opened them. After a while it began to open its eyes. Dame +Goody saw that it had squinny eyes just like its father. So she took the +box of ointment and stroked its two eyelids with it. But she couldn't +help wondering what it was for, as she had never seen such a thing done +before. So she looked to see if the others were looking, and, when they +were not noticing she stroked her own right eyelid with the ointment. + +No sooner had she done so, than everything seemed changed about her. +The cottage became elegantly furnished. The mother in the bed was a +beautiful lady, dressed up in white silk. The little baby was still more +beautiful than before, and its clothes were made of a sort of silvery +gauze. Its little brothers and sisters around the bed were flat-nosed +imps with pointed ears, who made faces at one another, and scratched +their polls. Sometimes they would pull the sick lady's ears with their +long and hairy paws. In fact, they were up to all kinds of mischief; and +Dame Goody knew that she had got into a house of pixies. But she said +nothing to nobody, and as soon as the lady was well enough to mind the +baby, she asked the old fellow to take her back home. So he came round +to the door with the coal-black horse with eyes of fire, and off they +went as fast as before, or perhaps a little faster, till they came to +Dame Goody's cottage, where the squinny-eyed old fellow lifted her down +and left her, thanking her civilly enough, and paying her more than she +had ever been paid before for such service. + +Now next day happened to be market-day, and as Dame Goody had been away +from home, she wanted many things in the house, and trudged off to get +them at the market. As she was buying the things she wanted, who +should she see but the squinny-eyed old fellow who had taken her on the +coal-black horse. And what do you think he was doing? Why he went about +from stall to stall taking up things from each, here some fruit, and +there some eggs, and so on; and no one seemed to take any notice. + +Now Dame Goody did not think it her business to interfere, but she +thought she ought not to let so good a customer pass without speaking. +So she ups to him and bobs a curtsey and said: "Gooden, sir, I hopes as +how your good lady and the little one are as well as----" + +But she couldn't finish what she was a-saying, for the funny old fellow +started back in surprise, and he says to her, says he: "What! do you see +me today?" + +"See you," says she, "why, of course I do, as plain as the sun in the +skies, and what's more," says she, "I see you are busy too, into the +bargain." + +"Ah, you see too much," said he; "now, pray, with which eye do you see +all this?" + +"With the right eye to be sure," said she, as proud as can be to find +him out. + +"The ointment! The ointment!" cried the old pixy thief. "Take that for +meddling with what don't concern you: you shall see me no more." And +with that he struck her on her right eye, and she couldn't see him any +more; and, what was worse, she was blind on the right side from that +hour till the day of her death. + + + + +THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END + +Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it wasn't in my +time, nor in your time, nor any one else's time, there was a girl whose +mother had died, and her father had married again. And her stepmother +hated her because she was more beautiful than herself, and she was very +cruel to her. She used to make her do all the servant's work, and never +let her have any peace. At last, one day, the stepmother thought to get +rid of her altogether; so she handed her a sieve and said to her: "Go, +fill it at the Well of the World's End and bring it home to me full, +or woe betide you." For she thought she would never be able to find the +Well of the World's End, and, if she did, how could she bring home a +sieve full of water? + +Well, the girl started off, and asked every one she met to tell her +where was the Well of the World's End. But nobody knew, and she didn't +know what to do, when a queer little old woman, all bent double, told +her where it was, and how she could get to it. So she did what the old +woman told her, and at last arrived at the Well of the World's End. But +when she dipped the sieve in the cold, cold water, it all ran out again. +She tried and she tried again, but every time it was the same; and at +last she sate down and cried as if her heart would break. + +Suddenly she heard a croaking voice, and she looked up and saw a great +frog with goggle eyes looking at her and speaking to her. + +"What's the matter, dearie?" it said. + +"Oh, dear, oh dear," she said, "my stepmother has sent me all this long +way to fill this sieve with water from the Well of the World's End, and +I can't fill it no how at all." + +"Well," said the frog, "if you promise me to do whatever I bid you for a +whole night long, I'll tell you how to fill it." + +So the girl agreed, and then the frog said: + + "Stop it with moss and daub it with clay, + And then it will carry the water away;" + +and then it gave a hop, skip and jump, and went flop into the Well of +the World's End. + +So the girl looked about for some moss, and lined the bottom of the +sieve with it, and over that she put some clay, and then she dipped it +once again into the Well of the World's End; and this time, the water +didn't run out, and she turned to go away. + +Just then the frog popped up its head out of the Well of the World's +End, and said: "Remember your promise." + +"All right," said the girl; for thought she, "what harm can a frog do +me?" + +So she went back to her stepmother, and brought the sieve full of water +from the Well of the World's End. The stepmother was fine and angry, but +she said nothing at all. + +That very evening they heard something tap tapping at the door low down, +and a voice cried out: + + "Open the door, my hinny, my heart, + Open the door, my own darling; + Mind you the words that you and I spoke, + Down in the meadow, at the World's End Well." + +"Whatever can that be?" cried out the stepmother, and the girl had to +tell her all about it, and what she had promised the frog. + +"Girls must keep their promises," said the stepmother. "Go and open the +door this instant." For she was glad the girl would have to obey a nasty +frog. + +So the girl went and opened the door, and there was the frog from the +Well of the World's End. And it hopped, and it skipped, and it jumped, +till it reached the girl, and then it said: + + "Lift me to your knee, my hinny, my heart; + Lift me to your knee, my own darling; + Remember the words you and I spoke, + Down in the meadow by the World's End Well." + +But the girl didn't like to, till her stepmother said "Lift it up this +instant, you hussy! Girls must keep their promises!" + +So at last she lifted the frog up on to her lap, and it lay there for a +time, till at last it said: + + "Give me some supper, my hinny, my heart, + Give me some supper, my darling; + Remember the words you and I spake, + In the meadow, by the Well of the World's End." + +Well, she didn't mind doing that, so she got it a bowl of milk and +bread, and fed it well. And when the frog, had finished, it said: + + "Go with me to bed, my hinny, my heart, + Go with me to bed, my own darling; + Mind you the words you spake to me, + Down by the cold well, so weary." + +But that the girl wouldn't do, till her stepmother said: "Do what you +promised, girl; girls must keep their promises. Do what you're bid, or +out you go, you and your froggie." + +So the girl took the frog with her to bed, and kept it as far away from +her as she could. Well, just as the day was beginning to break what +should the frog say but: + + "Chop off my head, my hinny, my heart, + Chop off my head, my own darling; + Remember the promise you made to me, + Down by the cold well so weary." + +At first the girl wouldn't, for she thought of what the frog had done +for her at the Well of the World's End. But when the frog said the words +over again, she went and took an axe and chopped off its head, and lo! +and behold, there stood before her a handsome young prince, who told her +that he had been enchanted by a wicked magician, and he could never be +unspelled till some girl would do his bidding for a whole night, and +chop off his head at the end of it. + +The stepmother was that surprised when she found the young prince +instead of the nasty frog, and she wasn't best pleased, you may be sure, +when the prince told her that he was going to marry her stepdaughter +because she had unspelled him. So they were married and went away to +live in the castle of the king, his father, and all the stepmother had +to console her was, that it was all through her that her stepdaughter +was married to a prince. + + + + +MASTER OF ALL MASTERS + +A girl once went to the fair to hire herself for servant. At last a +funny-looking old gentleman engaged her, and took her home to his house. +When she got there, he told her that he had something to teach her, for +that in his house he had his own names for things. + +He said to her: "What will you call me?" + +"Master or mister, or whatever you please sir," says she. + +He said: "You must call me 'master of all masters.' And what would you +call this?" pointing to his bed. + +"Bed or couch, or whatever you please, sir." + +"No, that's my 'barnacle.' And what do you call these?" said he pointing +to his pantaloons. + +"Breeches or trousers, or whatever you please, sir." + +"You must call them 'squibs and crackers.' And what would you call her?" +pointing to the cat. + +"Cat or kit, or whatever you please, sir." + +"You must call her 'white-faced simminy.' And this now," showing the +fire, "what would you call this?" + +"Fire or flame, or whatever you please, sir." + +"You must call it 'hot cockalorum,' and what this?" he went on, pointing +to the water. + +"Water or wet, or whatever you please, sir." + +"No, 'pondalorum' is its name. And what do you call all this?" asked he, +as he pointed to the house. + +"House or cottage, or whatever you please, sir." + +"You must call it 'high topper mountain.'" + +That very night the servant woke her master up in a fright and said: +"Master of all masters, get out of your barnacle and put on your squibs +and crackers. For white-faced simminy has got a spark of hot cockalorum +on its tail, and unless you get some pondalorum high topper mountain +will be all on hot cockalorum." .... That's all. + + + + +THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL + +Long before Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, there reigned in +the eastern part of England a king who kept his Court at Colchester. In +the midst of all his glory, his queen died, leaving behind her an only +daughter, about fifteen years of age, who for her beauty and kindness +was the wonder of all that knew her. But the king hearing of a lady who +had likewise an only daughter, had a mind to marry her for the sake of +her riches, though she was old, ugly, hook-nosed, and hump-backed. Her +daughter was a yellow dowdy, full of envy and ill-nature; and, in short, +was much of the same mould as her mother. But in a few weeks the king, +attended by the nobility and gentry, brought his deformed bride to the +palace, where the marriage rites were performed. They had not been long +in the Court before they set the king against his own beautiful daughter +by false reports. The young princess having lost her father's love, grew +weary of the Court, and one day, meeting with her father in the garden, +she begged him, with tears in her eyes, to let her go and seek her +fortune; to which the king consented, and ordered her mother-in-law to +give her what she pleased. She went to the queen, who gave her a canvas +bag of brown bread and hard cheese, with a bottle of beer; though this +was but a pitiful dowry for a king's daughter. She took it, with +thanks, and proceeded on her journey, passing through groves, woods, +and valleys, till at length she saw an old man sitting on a stone at the +mouth of a cave, who said: "Good morrow, fair maiden, whither away so +fast?" + +"Aged father," says she, "I am going to seek my fortune." + +"What have you got in your bag and bottle?" + +"In my bag I have got bread and cheese, and in my bottle good small +beer. Would you like to have some?" + +"Yes," said he, "with all my heart." + +With that the lady pulled out her provisions, and bade him eat and +welcome. He did so, and gave her many thanks, and said: "There is a +thick thorny hedge before you, which you cannot get through, but take +this wand in your hand, strike it three times, and say, 'Pray, hedge, +let me come through,' and it will open immediately; then, a little +further, you will find a well; sit down on the brink of it, and there +will come up three golden heads, which will speak; and whatever they +require, that do." Promising she would, she took her leave of him. +Coming to the hedge and using the old man's wand, it divided, and let +her through; then, coming to the well, she had no sooner sat down than a +golden head came up singing: + + "Wash me, and comb me, + And lay me down softly. + And lay me on a bank to dry, + That I may look pretty, + When somebody passes by." + +"Yes," said she, and taking it in her lap combed it with a silver comb, +and then placed it upon a primrose bank. Then up came a second and a +third head, saying the same as the former. So she did the same for them, +and then, pulling out her provisions, sat down to eat her dinner. + +Then said the heads one to another: "What shall we weird for this damsel +who has used us so kindly?" + +The first said: "I weird her to be so beautiful that she shall charm the +most powerful prince in the world." + +The second said: "I weird her such a sweet voice as shall far exceed the +nightingale." + +The third said: "My gift shall be none of the least, as she is a king's +daughter, I'll weird her so fortunate that she shall become queen to the +greatest prince that reigns." + +She then let them down into the well again, and so went on her journey. +She had not travelled long before she saw a king hunting in the park +with his nobles. She would have avoided him, but the king, having caught +a sight of her, approached, and what with her beauty and sweet voice, +fell desperately in love with her, and soon induced her to marry him. + +This king finding that she was the King of Colchester's daughter, +ordered some chariots to be got ready, that he might pay the king, his +father-in-law, a visit. The chariot in which the king and queen rode +was adorned with rich gems of gold. The king, her father, was at first +astonished that his daughter had been so fortunate, till the young +king let him know of all that had happened. Great was the joy at +Court amongst all, with the exception of the queen and her club-footed +daughter, who were ready to burst with envy. The rejoicings, with +feasting and dancing, continued many days. Then at length they returned +home with the dowry her father gave her. + +The hump-backed princess, perceiving that her sister had been so lucky +in seeking her fortune, wanted to do the same; so she told her mother, +and all preparations were made, and she was furnished with rich dresses, +and with sugar, almonds, and sweetmeats, in great quantities, and a +large bottle of Malaga sack. With these she went the same road as +her sister; and coming near the cave, the old man said: "Young woman, +whither so fast?" + +"What's that to you?" said she. + +"Then," said he, "what have you in your bag and bottle?" + +She answered: "Good things, which you shall not be troubled with." + +"Won't you give me some?" said he. + +"No, not a bit, nor a drop, unless it would choke you." + +The old man frowned, saying: "Evil fortune attend ye!" + +Going on, she came to the hedge, through which she espied a gap, and +thought to pass through it; but the hedge closed, and the, thorns +ran into her flesh, so that it was with great difficulty that she +got through. Being now all over blood, she searched for water to wash +herself, and, looking round, she saw the well. She sat down on the brink +of it, and one of the heads came up, saying: "Wash me, comb me, and lay +me down softly," as before, but she banged it with her bottle, saying, +"Take that for your washing." So the second and third heads came up, +and met with no better treatment than the first. Whereupon the heads +consulted among themselves what evils to plague her with for such usage. + +The first said: "Let her be struck with leprosy in her face." + +The second: "Let her voice be as harsh as a corn-crake's." + +The third said: "Let her have for husband but a poor country cobbler." + +Well, she goes on till she came to a town, and it being market-day, the +people looked at her, and, seeing such a mangy face, and hearing such +a squeaky voice, all fled but a poor country cobbler. Now he not long +before had mended the shoes of an old hermit, who, having no money +gave him a box of ointment for the cure of the leprosy, and a bottle of +spirits for a harsh voice. So the cobbler having a mind to do an act of +charity, was induced to go up to her and ask her who she was. + +"I am," said she, "the King of Colchester's daughter-in-law." + +"Well," said the cobbler, "if I restore you to your natural complexion, +and make a sound cure both in face and voice, will you in reward take me +for a husband?" + +"Yes, friend," replied she, "with all my heart!" + +With this the cobbler applied the remedies, and they made her well in +a few weeks; after which they were married, and so set forward for the +Court at Colchester. When the queen found that her daughter had married +nothing but a poor cobbler, she hanged herself in wrath. The death of +the queen so pleased the king, who was glad to get rid of her so soon, +that he gave the cobbler a hundred pounds to quit the Court with his +lady, and take to a remote part of the kingdom, where he lived many +years mending shoes, his wife spinning the thread for him. + + + + +OYEZ-OYEZ-OYEZ + +THE ENGLISH FAIRY TALES + +ARE NOW CLOSED + +LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS + +MUST NOT READ ANY FURTHER + + + + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + +In the following notes I give first the _source_ whence I obtained the +various tales. Then come _parallels_ in some fulness for the United +Kingdom, but only a single example for foreign countries, with a +bibliographical reference where further variants can be found. Finally, +a few _remarks_ are sometimes added where the tale seems to need it. In +two cases (Nos. xvi. and xxi.) I have been more full. + + + +I. TOM TIT TOT. + +_Source_.--Unearthed by Mr. E. Clodd from the "Suffolk Notes and +Queries" of the _Ipswich Journal_, and reprinted by him in a paper on +"The Philosophy of Rumpelstiltskin" in _Folk-Lore Journal_, vii. 138-43. +I have reduced the Suffolk dialect. + +_Parallels_.--In Yorkshire this occurs as "Habetrot and Scantlie Mab," +in Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, 221-6; in Devonshire +as "Duffy and the Devil" in Hunt's _Romances and Drolls of the West +of England_, 239-47; in Scotland two variants are given by Chambers, +_Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, under the title "Whuppity Stourie." The +"name-guessing wager" is also found in "Peerifool", printed by Mr. +Andrew Lang in _Longman's Magazine_, July 1889, also _Folk-Lore_, +September, 1890. It is clearly the same as Grimm's "Rumpelstiltskin" +(No. 14); for other Continental parallels see Mr. Clodd's article, and +Cosquin, _Contes pop. de Lorraine_, i. 269 _seq_. + +_Remarks_.--One of the best folk-tales that have ever been collected, +far superior to any of the continental variants of this tale with which +I am acquainted. Mr. Clodd sees in the class of name-guessing stories, a +"survival" of the superstition that to know a man's name gives you power +over him, for which reason savages object to tell their names. It may be +necessary, I find, to explain to the little ones that Tom Tit can only +be referred to as "that," because his name is not known till the end. + + + +II. THE THREE SILLIES. + +_Source_.--From _Folk-Lore Journal_, ii. 40-3; to which it was +communicated by Miss C. Burne. + +_Parallels_.--Prof. Stephens gave a variant from his own memory in +_Folk-Lore Record_, iii. 155, as told in Essex at the beginning of the +century. Mr. Toulmin Smith gave another version in _The Constitutional_, +July 1, 1853, which was translated by his daughter, and contributed +to _Mlusine_, t. ii. An Oxfordshire version was given in _Notes and +Queries_, April 17, 1852. It occurs also in Ireland, Kennedy, _Fireside +Stories_, p. 9. It is Grimm's _Kluge Else_, No. 34, and is spread +through the world. Mr. Clouston devotes the seventh chapter of his _Book +of Noodles_ to the Quest of the Three Noodles. + + + +III. THE ROSE TREE. + +_Source_.--From the first edition of Henderson's _Folk-Lore of +Northern Counties_, p. 314, to which it was communicated by the Rev. S. +Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--This is better known under the title, "Orange and Lemon," +and with the refrain: + + "My mother killed me, + My father picked my bones, + My little sister buried me, + Under the marble stones." + +I heard this in Australia. Mr. Jones Gives part of it in _Folk Tales +of the Magyars_, 418-20, and another version occurs in 4 _Notes and +Queries_, vi. 496. Mr. I. Gollancz informs me he remembers a version +entitled "Pepper, Salt, and Mustard," with the refrain just given. +Abroad it is Grimm's "Juniper Tree" (No. 47), where see further +parallels. The German rhyme is sung by Margaret in the mad scene of +Goethe's "Faust." + + + +IV. OLD WOMAN AND PIG. + +_Source_.--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes and Tales_, 114. + +_Parallels_.--_Cf._ Miss Burne, _Shropshire Folk-Lore_, 529; also No. +xxxiv. _infra_ ("Cat and Mouse"). It occurs also in Scotch, with the +title "The Wife and her Bush of Berries," Chambers's _Pop. Rhymes_, p. +57. Newell, _Games and Songs of American Children_, gives a game named +"Club-fist" (No. 75), founded on this, and in his notes refers to +German, Danish, and Spanish variants. (_Cf._ Cosquin, ii. 36 _seq._) + +_Remarks_.--One of the class of Accumulative stories, which are well +represented in England. (_Cf. infra_, Nos. xvi., xx., xxxiv.) + + + +V. HOW JACK SOUGHT HIS FORTUNE. + +_Source_.--_American Folk-Lore Journal_ I, 227-8. I have eliminated a +malodorous and un-English skunk. + +_Parallels_.--Two other versions are given in the _Journal l.c._ One +of these, however, was probably derived from Grimm's "Town Musicians of +Bremen" (No. 27). That the others came from across the Atlantic is shown +by the fact that it occurs in Ireland (Kennedy, _Fictions_, pp. 5-10) +and Scotland (Campbell, No. 11). For other variants, see R. Khler in +Gonzenbach, _Sicil. Mrchen_, ii. 245. + + + +VI. MR. VINEGAR. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 149. + +_Parallels_.--This is the _Hans im Glck_ of Grimm (No. 83). _Cf._ too, +"Lazy Jack," _infra_, No. xxvii. Other variants are given by M. Cosquin, +_Contes pop. de Lorraine_, i. 241. On surprising robbers, see preceding +tale. + +_Remarks_.--In some of the variants the door is carried, because Mr. +Vinegar, or his equivalent, has been told to "mind the door," or he acts +on the principle "he that is master of the door is master of the +house." In other stories he makes the foolish exchanges to the entire +satisfaction of his wife. (_Cf._ Cosquin, i. 156-7.) + + + +VII. NIX NOUGHT NOTHING. + +_Source_.--From a Scotch tale, "Nicht Nought Nothing," collected by Mr. +Andrew Lang in Morayshire, published by him first in _Revue Celtique_, +t. iii; then in his _Custom and Myth_, p. 89; and again in _Folk-Lore_, +Sept. 1890. I have changed the name so as to retain the _quivoque_ of +the giant's reply to the King. I have also inserted the incidents of +the flight, the usual ones in tales of this type, and expanded the +conclusion, which is very curtailed and confused in the original. The +usual ending of tales of this class contains the "sale of bed" incident, +for which see Child, i. 391. + +_Parallels_.--Mr. Lang, in the essay "A Far-travelled Tale" in which +he gives the story, mentions several variants of it, including the +classical myth of Jason and Medea. A fuller study in Cosquin, _l.c._, +ii. 12-28. For the finger ladder, see Khler, in _Orient and Occident_, +ii. III. + + + +VIII. JACK HANNAFORD. + +_Source_.--Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_ (first edition), +p. 319. Communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--"Pilgrims from Paradise" are enumerated in Clouston's +_Book of Noodles_, pp. 205, 214-8. See also Cosquin, _l.c._, i. 239. + + + +IX. BINNORIE. + +_Source_.--From the ballad of the "Twa Sisters o' Binnorie." I have used +the longer version in Roberts's _Legendary Ballads_, with one or two +touches from Mr. Allingham's shorter and more powerful variant in +_The Ballad Book_. A tale is the better for length, a ballad for its +curtness. + +_Parallels_.--The story is clearly that of Grimm's "Singing Bone" (No. +28), where one brother slays the other and buries him under a bush. +Years after a shepherd passing by finds a bone under the bush, and, +blowing through this, hears the bone denounce the murderer. For numerous +variants in Ballads and Folk Tales, see Prof. Child's _English and +Scotch Ballads_ (ed. 1886), i. 125, 493; iii. 499. + + + +X. MOUSE AND MOUSER. + +_Source_.--From memory by Mrs. E. Burne-Jones. + +_Parallels_.--A fragment is given in Halliwell, 43; Chambers's _Popular +Rhymes_ has a Scotch version, "The Cattie sits in the Kilnring spinning" +(p. 53). The surprise at the end, similar to that in Perrault's "Red +Riding Hood," is a frequent device in English folk tales. (_Cf. infra_, +Nos. xii., xxiv., xxix., xxxiii., xli.) + + + +XI. CAP O' RUSHES. + +_Source_.--Discovered by Mr. E. Clodd, in "Suffolk Notes and Queries" of +the _Ipswich Journal_, published by Mr. Lang in _Longinan's Magazine_, +vol. xiii, also in _Folk-Lore_, Sept. 1890. + +_Parallels_.--The beginning recalls "King Lear." For "loving like salt," +see the parallels collected by Cosquin, i. 288. The whole story is a +version of the numerous class of Cinderella stories, the particular +variety being the Catskin sub-species analogous to Perrault's _Peau +d'Ane_. "Catskin" was told by Mr. Burchell to the young Primroses in +"The Vicar of Wakefield,'" and has been elaborately studied by the late +H. C. Coote, in _Folk-Lore Record_, iii. 1-25. It is only now extant +in ballad form, of which "Cap o' Rushes" may be regarded as a prose +version. + + + +XII. TEENY-TINY. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, 148. + + + +XIII. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. + +_Source_.--I tell this as it was told me in Australia, somewhere about +the year 1860. + +_Parallels_.--There is a chap-book version which is very poor; it is +given by Mr. E. S. Hartland, _English Folk and Fairy Tales_ (Camelot +Series), p. 35, _seq._ In this, when Jack arrives at the top of the +Beanstalk, he is met by a fairy, who gravely informs him that the ogre +had stolen all his possessions from Jack's father. The object of this +was to prevent the tale becoming an encouragement to theft! I have had +greater confidence in my young friends, and have deleted the fairy who +did not exist in the tale as told to me. For the Beanstalk elsewhere, +see Ralston, _Russian Folk Tales_, 293-8. Cosquin has some remarks on +magical ascents (i. 14). + + + +XIV. THREE LITTLE PIGS. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 16. + +_Parallels_.--The only known parallels are one from Venice, Bernoni, +_Trad. Pop._, punt. iii. p. 65, given in Crane, _Italian Popular +Tales_, p. 267, "The Three Goslings;" and a negro tale in _Lippincott's +Magazine_, December, 1877, p. 753 ("Tiny Pig"). + +_Remarks_.--As little pigs do not have hair on their chinny chin-chins, +I suspect that they were originally kids, who have. This would bring +the tale close to the Grimms' "Wolf and Seven Little Kids," (No. 5). +In Steel and Temple's "Lambikin" (_Wide-awake Stories_, p. 71), the +Lambikin gets inside a Drumikin, and so nearly escapes the jackal. + + + +XV. MASTER AND PUPIL + +_Source_.--Henderson, _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, first edition, +p. 343, communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. The rhymes on the open +book have been supplied by Mr. Batten, in whose family, if I understand +him rightly, they have been long used for raising the----; something +similar occurs in Halliwell, p. 243, as a riddle rhyme. The mystic signs +in Greek are a familiar "counting-out rhyme": these have been studied +in a monograph by Mr. H. C. Bolton; he thinks they are "survivals" of +incantations. Under the circumstances, it would be perhaps as well if +the reader did not read the lines out when alone. One never knows what +may happen. + +_Parallels_.--Sorcerers' pupils seem to be generally selected for their +stupidity--in folk-tales. Friar Bacon was defrauded of his labour in +producing the Brazen Head in a similar way. In one of the legends about +Virgil he summoned a number of demons, who would have torn him to +pieces if he had not set them at work (J. S. Tunison, _Master Virgil_, +Cincinnati, 1888, p. 30). + + + +XVI. TATTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 115. + +_Parallels_.--This curious droll is extremely widespread; references +are given in Cosquin, i. 204 _seq._, and Crane, _Italian Popular Tales_, +375-6. As a specimen I may indicate what is implied throughout these +notes by such bibliographical references by drawing up a list of the +variants of this tale noticed by these two authorities, adding one or +two lately printed. Various versions have been discovered in: + +ENGLAND: Halliwell, _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 115. + +SCOTLAND: K. Blind, in _Arch. Rev_. iii. ("Fleakin and Lousikin," in the +Shetlands). + +FRANCE: _Mlusine_, 1877, col. 424; Sebillot, _Contes pop. de la Haute +Bretagne_, No. 55, _Litterature orale_, p. 232; _Magasin picturesque_, +1869, p. 82; Cosquin, _Contes pop. de Lorraine_, Nos. 18 and 74. + +ITALY: Pitr, _Novelline popolari siciliane_, No. 134 (translated in +Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, p. 257); Imbriani, _La novellaja Fiorentina_, +p. 244; Bernoni, _Tradizione popolari veneziane_, punt. iii. p. 81; +Gianandrea, _Biblioteca delle tradizioni popolari marchigiane_, p.,11; +Papanti, _Novelline popolari livornesi_, p. 19 ("Vezzino e Madonna +Salciccia"); Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, p. 244; Morosi, _Studi +sui Dialetti Greci della Terra d'Otranto_, p. 75; _Giamb. Basile_, 1884, +p. 37. + +GERMANY: Grimm, _Kinder-und Hausmrchen_, No. 30; Kuhn and Schwarz, +_Norddeutsche Sagen_, No. 16. + +NORWAY: Asbjornsen, No. 103 (translated in Sir G. Dasent's _Tales from +the Field_, p. 30, "Death of Chanticleer"). + +SPAIN: Maspons, _Cuentos populars catalans_, p. 12; Fernan Caballero, +_Cuentos y sefraes populares_, p. 3 ("La Hormiguita"). + +PORTUGAL: Coelho, _Contes popolares portuguezes_, No. 1. + +ROUMANIA: Kremnitz, _Rumnische Mhrchen_, No. 15. + +ASIA MINOR: Von Hahn, _Griechische und Albanesische Mrchen_, No. 56. + +INDIA: Steel and Temple, _Wide-awake Stories_, p. 157 ("The Death and +Burial of Poor Hen-Sparrow"). + +_Remarks_.--These 25 variants of the same jingle scattered over the +world from India to Spain, present the problem of the diffusion of +folk-tales in its simplest form. No one is likely to contend with Prof. +Mller and Sir George Cox, that we have here the detritus of archaic +Aryan mythology, a parody of a sun-myth. There is little that is savage +and archaic to attract the school of Dr. Tylor, beyond the speaking +powers of animals and inanimates. Yet even Mr. Lang is not likely to +hold that these variants arose by coincidence and independently in the +various parts of the world where they have been found. The only solution +is that the curious succession of incidents was invented once for all at +some definite place and time by some definite entertainer for children, +and spread thence through all the Old World. In a few instances we can +actually trace the passage-_e.g._, the Shetland version was certainly +brought over from Hamburg. Whether the centre of dispersion was India or +not, it is impossible to say, as it might have spread east from Smyrna +(Hahn, No. 56). Benfey (_Einleitung zu Pantschatantra_, i. 190-91) +suggests that this class of accumulative story may be a sort of parody +on the Indian stories, illustrating the moral, "what great events from +small occasions rise." Thus, a drop of honey falls on the ground; a fly +goes after it, a bird snaps at the fly, a dog goes for the bird, another +dog goes for the first, the masters of the two dogs--who happen to be +kings--quarrel and go to war, whole provinces are devastated, and +all for a drop of honey! "Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse" also ends in +a universal calamity which seems to arise from a cause of no great +importance. Benfey's suggestion is certainly ingenious, but perhaps too +ingenious to be true. + + + +XVII. JACK AND HIS SNUFF-BOX. + +_Source_.-Mr. F. Hindes Groome, _In Gipsy Tents_, p. 201 _seq._ I have +eliminated a superfluous Gipsy who makes her appearance towards the +end of the tale _ propos des boltes_, but otherwise have left the tale +unaltered as one of the few English folk-tales that have been taken down +from the mouths of the peasantry: this applies also to i., ii., xi. + +_Parallels_.-There is a magic snuff-box with a friendly power in it in +Kennedy's _Fictions of the Irish Celts_, p. 49. The choice between a +small cake with a blessing, &c., is frequent (_cf._ No. xxiii.), but the +closest parallel to the whole story, including the mice, is afforded +by a tale in Carnoy and Nicolaides' _Traditions populaires de l'Asie +Mineure_, which is translated as the first tale in Mr. Lang's _Blue +Fairy Book_. There is much in both that is similar to Aladdin, I beg his +pardon, Allah-ed-din. + + + +XVIII. THE THREE BEARS. + +_Source_.--_Verbatim et literatim_ from Southey, _The Doctor, &c._, +quarto edition, p. 327. + +_Parallels_.--None, as the story was invented by Southey. There is an +Italian translation, _I tre Orsi_, Turin, 1868, and it would be curious +to see if the tale ever acclimatises itself in Italy. + +_Remarks_.--"The Three Bears" is the only example I know of where a +tale that can be definitely traced to a specific author has become a +folk-tale. Not alone is this so, but the folk has developed the tale in +a curious and instructive way, by substituting a pretty little girl with +golden locks for the naughty old woman. In Southey's version there is +nothing of Little Silverhair as the heroine: she seems to have been +introduced in a metrical version by G. N., much be-praised by Southey. +Silverhair seems to have become a favourite, and in Mrs. Valentine's +version of "The Three Bears," in "The Old, Old Fairy Tales," the visit +to the bear-house is only the preliminary to a long succession of +adventures of the pretty little girl, of which there is no trace in the +original (and this in "The Old, Old Fairy Tales." Oh! Mrs. Valentine!). +I have, though somewhat reluctantly, cast back to the original form. +After all, as Prof. Dowden remarks, Southey's memory is kept alive more +by "The Three Bears" than anything else, and the text of such a nursery +classic should be retained in all its purity. + + + +XIX. JACK THE GIANT-KILLER. + +_Source_.--From two chap-books at the British Museum (London, 1805, +Paisley, 1814). I have taken some hints from "Felix Summerly's" (Sir +Henry Cole's) version, 1845. From the latter part, I have removed the +incident of the Giant dragging the lady along by her hair. + +_Parallels_.--The chap-book of "Jack the Giant-Killer" is a curious +jumble. The second part, as in most chap-books, is a weak and late +invention of the enemy, and is not _volkstmlich_ at all. The first part +is compounded of a comic and a serious theme. The first is that of the +Valiant Tailor (Grimm, No. 20); to this belong the incidents of the +fleabite blows (for variants of which see Khler in _Jahrb. rom. eng. +Phil._, viii. 252), and that of the slit paunch (_cf._ Cosquin, _l.c._, +ii. 51). The Thankful Dead episode, where the hero is assisted by the +soul of a person whom he has caused to be buried, is found as early +as the _Cento novelle antiche_ and Straparola, xi. 2. It has been best +studied by Khler in _Germania_, iii. 199-209 (_cf._ Cosquin, i. 214-5; +ii. 14 and note; and Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, 350, note 12). It occurs +also in the curious play of Peele's _The Old Wives' Tale_, in which one +of the characters is the Ghost of Jack. Practically the same story as +this part of Jack the Giant-Killer occurs in Kennedy, _Fictions of the +Irish Celts_, p. 32, "Jack the Master and Jack the Servant;" and Kennedy +adds (p. 38), "In some versions Jack the Servant is the spirit of the +buried man." + +The "Fee-fi-fo-fum" formula is common to all English stories of giants +and ogres; it also occurs in Peele's play and in _King Lear_ (see note +on "Childe Rowland"). Messrs. Jones and Kropf have some remarks on it in +their "Magyar Tales," pp. 340-1; so has Mr. Lang in his "Perrault," p. +lxiii., where he traces it to the Furies in Aeschylus' _Eumenides_. + + + +XX. HENNY-PENNY. + +_Source_.--I give this as it was told me in Australia in 1860. The fun +consists in the avoidance of all pronouns, which results in jaw-breaking +sentences almost equal to the celebrated "She stood at the door of the +fish-sauce shop, welcoming him in." + +_Parallels_.--Halliwell, p. 151, has the same with the title +"Chicken-Licken." It occurs also in Chambers's _Popular Rhymes_, p. +59, with the same names of the _dramatis personae_, as my version. For +European parallels, see Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, 377, and authorities +there quoted. + + + +XXI. CHILDE ROWLAND. + +_Source_.--Jamieson's _Illustrations of Northern Antiquities_, 1814, p. +397 _seq._, who gives it as told by a tailor in his youth, _c._ 1770. I +have Anglicised the Scotticisms, eliminated an unnecessary ox-herd and +swine-herd, who lose their heads for directing the Childe, and I have +called the Erlknig's lair the Dark Tower on the strength of the +description and of Shakespeare's reference. I have likewise suggested a +reason why Burd Ellen fell into his power, chiefly in order to introduce +a definition of "widershins." "All the rest is the original horse," even +including the erroneous description of the youngest son as the Childe or +heir (_cf._ "Childe Harold" and Childe Wynd, _infra_, No. xxxiii.), +unless this is some "survival" of Junior Right or "Borough English," the +archaic custom of letting the heirship pass to the youngest son. I +should add that, on the strength of the reference to Merlin, Jamieson +calls Childe Rowland's mother, Queen Guinevere, and introduces +references to King Arthur and his Court. But as he confesses that these +are his own improvements on the tailor's narrative I have eliminated +them. + +_Parallels_.--The search for the Dark Tower is similar to that of the +Red Ettin, (_cf_. Khler on Gonzenbach, ii. 222). The formula "youngest +best," in which the youngest of three brothers succeeds after the +others have failed, is one of the most familiar in folk-tales amusingly +parodied by Mr. Lang in his _Prince Prigio_. The taboo against taking +food in the underworld occurs in the myth of Proserpine, and is also +frequent in folk-tales (Child, i. 322). But the folk-tale parallels +to our tale fade into insignificance before its brilliant literary +relationships. There can be little doubt that Edgar, in his mad scene in +_King Lear_, is alluding to our tale when he breaks into the lines: + +"Childe Rowland to the Dark Tower came...." His word was still: "Fie, +foh and fum, I smell the blood of a British man." _King Lear_, act iii. +sc. 4, _ad fin_. + +[Footnote: "British" for "English." This is one of the points that +settles the date of the play; James I. was declared King of Great +_Britain_, October 1604. I may add that Motherwell in his _Minstrelsy_, +p. xiv. note, testifies that the story was still extant in the nursery +at the time he wrote (1828).] + +The latter reference is to the cry of the King of Elfland. That some +such story was current in England in Shakespeare's time, is proved by +that curious _mlange_ of nursery tales, Peele's _The Old Wives' Tale_. +The main plot of this is the search of two brothers, Calypha and +Thelea, for a lost sister, Delia, who has been bespelled by a sorcerer, +Sacrapant (the names are taken from the "Orlando Furioso"). They are +instructed by an old man (like Merlin in "Childe Rowland") how to rescue +their sister, and ultimately succeed. The play has besides this the +themes of the Thankful Dead, the Three Heads of the Well (which see), +the Life Index, and a transformation, so that it is not to be wondered +at if some of the traits of "Childe Rowland" are observed in it. + +But a still closer parallel is afforded by Milton's _Comus_. Here again +we have two brothers in search of a sister, who has got into the power +of an enchanter. But besides this, there is the refusal of the heroine +to touch the enchanted food, just as Childe Rowland finally refuses. +And ultimately the bespelled heroine is liberated by a liquid, which is +applied to her _lips and finger-tips_, just as Childe Rowland's brothers +are unspelled. Such a minute resemblance as this cannot be accidental, +and it is therefore probable that Milton used the original form of +"Childe Rowland," or some variant of it, as heard in his youth, and +adapted it to the purposes of the masque at Ludlow Castle, and of +his allegory. Certainly no other folk-tale in the world can claim so +distinguished an offspring. + +_Remarks_.--Distinguished as "Childe Rowland" will be henceforth as +the origin of _Comus_, if my affiliation be accepted, it has even +more remarkable points of interest, both in form and matter, for the +folklorist, unless I am much mistaken. I will therefore touch upon these +points, reserving a more detailed examination for another occasion. + +First, as to the form of the narrative. This begins with verse, then +turns to prose, and throughout drops again at intervals into poetry in a +friendly way like Mr. Wegg. Now this is a form of writing not unknown in +other branches of literature, the _cante-fable_, of which "Aucassin et +Nicolette" is the most distinguished example. Nor is the _cante-fable_ +confined to France. Many of the heroic verses of the Arabs contained +in the _Hamsa_ would be unintelligible without accompanying narrative, +which is nowadays preserved in the commentary. The verses imbedded +in the _Arabian Nights_ give them something of the character of a +_cante-fable_, and the same may be said of the Indian and Persian +story-books, though the verse is usually of a sententious and moral +kind, as in the _gthas_ of the Buddhist Jatakas. Even as remote as +Zanzibar, Mr. Lang notes, the folk-tales are told as _cante-fables_. +There are even traces in the Old Testament of such screeds of verse amid +the prose narrative, as in the story of Lamech or that of Balaam. All +this suggests that this is a very early and common form of narrative. + +Among folk-tales there are still many traces of the _cante-fable_. Thus, +in Grimm's collection, verses occur in Nos. 1, 5, 11, 12, 13, 15, 19, +21, 24, 28, 30, 36, 38_a_, _b_, 39_a_, 40, 45, 46, 47, out of the first +fifty tales, 36 per cent. Of Chambers' twenty-one folk-tales, in the +_Popular Rhymes of Scotland_ only five are without interspersed verses. +Of the forty-three tales contained in this volume, three (ix., xxix., +xxxiii.) are derived from ballads and do not therefore count in the +present connection. Of the remaining forty, i., iii., vii., xvi., xix., +xxi., xxiii., xxv., xxxi., xxxv., xxxviii., xli. (made up from verses), +xliii., contain rhymed lines, while xiv., xxii., xxvi., and xxxvii., +contain "survivals" of rhymes ("let me come in--chinny chin-chin"; "once +again ... come to Spain;" "it is not so--should be so"; "and his lady, +him behind"); and x. and xxxii. are rhythmical if not rhyming. As most +of the remainder are drolls, which have probably a different origin, +there seems to be great probability that originally all folk-tales of a +serious character were interspersed with rhyme, and took therefore the +form of the _cante-fable_. It is indeed unlikely that the ballad +itself began as continuous verse, and the _cante-fable_ is probably +the protoplasm out of which both ballad and folk-tale have been +differentiated, the ballad by omitting the narrative prose, the +folk-tale by expanding it. In "Childe Rowland" we have the nearest +example to such protoplasm, and it is not difficult to see how it could +have been shortened into a ballad or reduced to a prose folk-tale pure +and simple. + +The subject-matter of "Childe Rowland" has also claims on our attention +especially with regard to recent views on the true nature and origin of +elves, trolls, and fairies. I refer to the recently published work of +Mr. D. MacRitchie, "The Testimony of Tradition" (Kegan Paul, Trench, +Trbner & Co.)--_i.e._, of tradition about the fairies and the rest. +Briefly put, Mr. MacRitchie's view is that the elves, trolls, and +fairies represented in popular tradition are really the mound-dwellers, +whose remains have been discovered in some abundance in the form of +green hillocks, which have been artificially raised over a long and low +passage leading to a central chamber open to the sky. Mr. MacRitchie +shows that in several instances traditions about trolls or "good +people" have attached themselves to mounds, which have afterwards on +investigation turned out to be evidently the former residence of men of +smaller build than the mortals of to-day. He goes on further to identify +these with the Picts--fairies are called "Pechs" in Scotland--and other +early races, but with these ethnological equations we need not much +concern ourselves. It is otherwise with the mound-traditions and their +relation, if not to fairy tales in general, to tales _about_ fairies, +trolls, elves, etc. These are very few in number, and generally bear the +character of anecdotes. The fairies, etc., steal a child, they help +a wanderer to a drink and then disappear into a green hill, they help +cottagers with their work at night but disappear if their presence is +noticed; human midwives are asked to help fairy mothers, fairy maidens +marry ordinary men or girls marry and live with fairy husbands. All +such things may have happened and bear no such _ priori_ marks of +impossibility as speaking animals, flying through the air, and similar +incidents of the folk-tale pure and simple. If, as archaeologists tell +us, there was once a race of men in Northern Europe, very short and +hairy, that dwelt in underground chambers artificially concealed by +green hillocks, it does not seem unlikely that odd survivors of the +race should have lived on after they had been conquered and nearly +exterminated by Aryan invaders and should occasionally have performed +something like the pranks told of fairies and trolls. + +Certainly the description of the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland in +"Childe Rowland," has a remarkable resemblance to the dwellings of the +"good folk," which recent excavations have revealed. By the kindness of +Mr. MacRitchie, I am enabled to give the reader illustrations of one of +the most interesting of these, the Maes-How of Orkney. This is a green +mound some 100 feet in length and 35 in breadth at its broadest part. +Tradition had long located a goblin in its centre, but it was not till +1861 that it was discovered to be pierced by a long passage 53 feet in +length, and only two feet four inches high, for half of its length. This +led into a central chamber 15 feet square and open to the sky. + +Now it is remarkable how accurately all this corresponds to the Dark +Tower of "Childe Rowland," allowing for a little idealisation on the +part of the narrator. We have the long dark passage leading into the +well-lit central chamber, and all enclosed in a green hill or mound. +It is of course curious to contrast Mr. Batten's frontispiece with the +central chamber of the How, but the essential features are the same. +Even such a minute touch as the terraces on the hill have their bearing, +I believe, on Mr. MacRitchie's "realistic" views of Faerie. For in quite +another connection Mr. G. L. Gomme, in his recent "Village Community" +(W. Scott), pp. 75-98, has given reasons and examples for believing +that terrace cultivation along the sides of hills was a practice of the +non-Aryan and pre-Aryan inhabitants of these isles. [Footnote: To these +may be added Iona (_cf._ Duke of Argyll, _Iona_, p. 109).] Here then +from a quarter quite unexpected by Mr. MacRitchie, we have evidence +of the association of the King of Elfland with a non-Aryan mode of +cultivation of the soil. By Mr. Gomme's kindness I am enabled to give an +illustration of this. + +Altogether it seems not improbable that in such a tale as "Childe +Rowland" we have an idealised picture of a "marriage by capture" of one +of the diminutive non-Aryan dwellers of the green hills with an Aryan +maiden, and her re-capture by her brothers. It is otherwise difficult to +account for such a circumstantial description of the interior of these +mounds, and especially of such a detail as the terrace cultivation on +them. At the same time it must not be thought that Mr. MacRitchie's +views explain all fairy tales, or that his identifications of Finns += Fenians = Fairies = Sidhe = "Pechs" = Picts, will necessarily be +accepted. His interesting book, so far as it goes, seems to throw light +on tales about mermaids (Finnish women in their "kayaks,") and trolls, +but not necessarily, on fairy tales in general. Thus, in the present +volume, besides "Childe Rowland," there is only "Tom Tit Tot" in his +hollow, the green hill in "Kate Crackernuts," the "Cauld Lad of Hilton," +and perhaps the "Fairy Ointment," that are affected by his views. + +Finally, there are a couple of words in the narrative that deserve a +couple of words of explanation: "Widershins" is probably, as Mr. Batten +suggests, analogous to the German "wider Schein," against the appearance +of the sun, "counter-clockwise" as the mathematicians say--_i.e._, W., +S., E., N., instead of with the sun and the hands of a clock; why +it should have an unspelling influence is hard to say. "Bogle" is a +provincial word for "spectre," and is analogous to the Welsh _bwg_, +"goblin," and to the English insect of similar name, and still more +curiously to the Russian "Bog," God, after which so many Russian rivers +are named. I may add that "Burd" is etymologically the same as "bride" +and is frequently used in the early romances for "Lady." + + + +XXII. MOLLY WHUPPIE. + +_Source_.--_Folk-Lore Journal_, ii. p. 68, forwarded by Rev. Walter +Gregor. I have modified the dialect and changed "Mally" into "Molly." + +_Parallels_.--The first part is clearly the theme of "Hop o' my Thumb," +which Mr. Lang has studied in his "Perrault," pp. civ.-cxi. (_cf._ +Khler, _Occident_, ii. 301.) The change of night-dresses occurs in +Greek myths. The latter part wanders off into "rob giant of three +things," a familiar incident in folk-tales (Cosquin, i. 46-7), and +finally winds up with the "out of sack" trick, for which see Cosquin, +i. 113; ii. 209; and Khler on Campbell, in _Occident and Orient_, ii. +489-506. + + + +XXIII. RED ETTIN. + +_Source_.--"The Red Etin" in Chambers's _Pop. Rhymes of Scotland_, p. +89. I have reduced the adventurers from three to two, and cut down +the herds and their answers. I have substituted riddles from the first +English collection of riddles, _The Demandes Joyous_ of Wynkyn de Worde, +for the poor ones of the original, which are besides not solved. "Ettin" +is the English spelling of the word, as it is thus spelt in a passage +of Beaumont and Fletcher (_Knight of Burning Pestle_, i. 1), which may +refer to this very story, which, as we shall see, is quite as old as +their time. + +_Parallels_.--"The Red Etin" is referred to in _The Complaynt of +Scotland_, about 1548. It has some resemblance to "Childe Rowland," +which see. The "death index," as we may call tokens that tell the state +of health of a parted partner, is a usual incident in the theme of the +Two Brothers, and has been studied by the Grimms, i. 421, 453; ii. 403; +by Khler on Campbell, _Occ. u. Or._, ii. 119-20; on Gonzenbach, ii. +230; on Blad, 248; by Cosquin, _l.c._, i. 70-2, 193; by Crane, _Ital. +Pop. Tales_, 326; and by Jones and Kropf, _Magyar Tales_, 329. Riddles +generally come in the form of the "riddle-bride-wager" (_cf._ Child, +_Ballads_, i. 415-9; ii. 519), when the hero or heroine wins a spouse by +guessing a riddle or riddles. Here it is the simpler Sphinx form of the +"riddle task," on which see Khler in _Jahrb. rom. Phil._, vii. 273, and +on Gonzenbach, 215. + + + +XXIV. GOLDEN ARM. + +_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, p. 338, collected by the Rev. S. +Baring-Gould, in Devonshire. Mr. Burne-Jones remembers hearing it in his +youth in Warwickshire. + +_Parallels_.--The first fragment at the end of Grimm (ii. 467, of Mrs. +Hunt's translation), tells of an innkeeper's wife who had used the liver +of a man hanging on the gallows, whose ghost comes to her and tells her +what has become of his hair, and his eyes, and the dialogue concludes + + "SHE: Where is thy liver? + IT: Thou hast devoured it!" + +For similar "surprise packets" see Cosquin, ii. 77. + +_Remarks_.--It is doubtful how far such gruesome topics should be +introduced into a book for children, but as a matter of fact the +_katharsis_ of pity and terror among the little ones is as effective as +among the spectators of a drama, and they take the same kind of pleasant +thrill from such stories. They know it is all make-believe just as much +as the spectators of a tragedy. Every one who has enjoyed the blessing +of a romantic imagination has been trained up on such tales of wonder. + + + +XXV. TOM THUMB. + +_Source_.--From the chap-book contained in Halliwell, p. 199, and Mr. +Hartland's _English Folk and Fairy Tales_. I have omitted much of the +second part. + +_Parallels_.--Halliwell has also a version entirely in verse. "Tom +Thumb" is "Le petit Poucet" of the French, "Daumling" of the Germans, +and similar diminutive heroes elsewhere (_cf._ Deulin, _Contes de ma +Mre l'Oye_, 326), but of his adventures only that in the cow's stomach +(_cf._ Cosquin, ii. 190) is common with his French and German cousins. +M. Gaston Paris has a monograph on "Tom Thumb." + + + +XXVI. MR. FOX. + +_Source_.--Contributed by Blakeway to Malone's Variorum Shakespeare, to +illustrate Benedick's remark in _Much Ado about Nothing_ (I. i. 146): +"Like the old tale, my Lord, 'It is not so, nor 'twas not so, but, +indeed, God forbid it should be so;'" which clearly refers to the tale +of Mr. Fox. "The Forbidden Chamber" has been studied by Mr. Hartland, +_Folk-Lore Journal_, iii. 193, _seq._ + +_Parallels_.--Halliwell, p. 166, gives a similar tale of "An Oxford +Student," whose sweetheart saw him digging her grave. "Mr. Fox" is +clearly a variant of the theme of "The Robber Bridegroom" (Grimm, No. +40, Mrs. Hunt's translation, i. 389, 395; and Cosquin, i. 180-1). + + + +XXVII. LAZY JACK. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, 157. + +_Parallels_.--The same story occurs in Lowland Scotch as "Jock and +his Mother," Chambers, _l.c._, 101; in Ireland, as "I'll be wiser next +time," Kennedy, _l.c._, 39-42. Abroad it is Grimm's _Hans im Glck_ +(No. 83). The "cure by laughing" incident is "common form" in folk-tales +(_cf._ Khler on Gonzenbach, _Sizil. Mrchen_, ii. 210, 224; Jones and +Kropf, _Magyar Tales_, 312). + + + +XXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE. + +_Source_.--_American Journal of Folk-Lore_, ii. 60. + +_Parallels_.--Another variant is given in the same _Journal_, p. 277, +where reference is also made to a version "The Gingerbread Boy," in +_St. Nicholas_, May 1875. Chambers gives two versions of the same story, +under the title "The Wee Bunnock," the first of which is one of the most +dramatic and humorous of folk-tales. Unfortunately, the Scotticisms are +so frequent as to render the droll practically untranslatable. "The Fate +of Mr. Jack Sparrow" in _Uncle Remus_ is similar to that of Johnny-Cake. + + + +XXIX. EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER. + +_Source_.--From the ballad of the same name as given in Mr. Allingham's +_Ballad Book_: it is clearly a fairy tale and not a ballad proper. + +_Parallels_.--The lover visiting his spouse in guise of a bird, is a +frequent _motif_ in folk-tales. + + + +XXX. MR. MIACCA. + +_Source_.--From memory of Mrs. B. Abrahams, who heard it from her mother +some _x_ years ago (more than 40). I have transposed the two incidents, +as in her version Tommy Grimes was a clever carver and carried about +with him a carven leg. This seemed to me to exceed the limits of +_vraisemblance_ even for a folk-tale. + +_Parallels_.--Getting out of an ogre's clutches by playing on the +simplicity of his wife, occurs in "Molly Whuppie" (No. xxii.), and its +similars. In the Grimms' "Hansel and Grethel," Hansel pokes out a stick +instead of his finger that the witch may not think him fat enough for +the table. + +_Remarks_.--Mr. Miacca seems to have played the double _rle_ of a +domestic Providence. He not alone punished bad boys, as here, but also +rewarded the good, by leaving them gifts on appropriate occasions like +Santa Claus or Father Christmas, who, as is well known, only leave +things for good children. Mrs. Abrahams remembers one occasion well +when she nearly caught sight of Mr. Miacca, just after he had left her a +gift; she saw his shadow in the shape of a bright light passing down the +garden. + + + +XXXI. DICK WHITTINGTON. + +_Source_.--I have cobbled this up out of three chap-book versions; (1) +that contained in Mr. Hartland's _English Folk-tales_; (2) that edited +by Mr. H. B. Wheatley for the Villon Society; (3) that appended to +Messrs. Besant and Rice's monograph. + +_Parallels_.--Whittington's cat has made the fortune of his master in +all parts of the Old World, as Mr. W. A. Clouston, among others, +has shown, _Popular Tales and Fictions_, ii. 65-78 (_cf._ Khler on +Gonzenbach, ii. 251). + +_Remarks_.--If Bow Bells had pealed in the exact and accurate nineteenth +century, they doubtless would have chimed + + Turn again, Whittington, + Thrice and a half Lord Mayor of London. + +For besides his three mayoralties of 1397, 1406, and 1419, he served as +Lord Mayor in place of Adam Bamme, deceased, in the latter half of +the mayoralty of 1396. It will be noticed that the chap-book puts the +introduction of potatoes rather far back. + + + +XXXII. THE STRANGE VISITOR + +_Source_.--From Chambers, _l.c._, 64, much Anglicised. I have retained +"Aih-late-wee-moul," though I candidly confess I have not the slightest +idea what it means; judging other children by myself, I do not +think that makes the response less effective. The prosaic-minded may +substitute "Up-late-and-little-food." + +_Parallels_.--The man made by instalments, occurs in the Grimms' No. 4, +and something like it in an English folk-tale, _The Golden Ball_, _ap._ +Henderson, _l.c._, p. 333. + + + +XXXIII. THE LAIDLY WORM. + +_Source_.--From an eighteenth-century ballad of the Rev. Mr. Lamb of +Norham, as given in Prof. Child's _Ballads_; with a few touches and +verses from the more ancient version "Kempion." A florid prose version +appeared in _Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore_ for May 1890. I +have made the obvious emendation of + +O quit your sword, unbend your bow + +for + +O quit your sword, and bend your bow. + +_Parallels_.--The ballad of "Kempe Owein" is a more general version +which "The Laidly Worm" has localised near Bamborough. We learn from +this that the original hero was Kempe or Champion Owain, the Welsh hero +who flourished in the ninth century. Childe Wynd therefore = Childe +Owein. The "Deliverance Kiss" has been studied by Prof. Child, _l.c._, +i. 207. A noteworthy example occurs in Boiardo's _Orlando Inamorato_, +cc. xxv., xxvi. + +_Remarks_.--It is perhaps unnecessary to give the equations "Laidly Worm += Loathly Worm = Loathsome Dragon," and "borrowed = changed." + + + +XXXIV. CAT AND MOUSE. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 154. + +_Parallels_.--Scarcely more than a variant of the "Old Woman and her +Pig" (No. iv.), which see. It is curious that a very similar "run" is +added by Bengali women at the end of every folk-tale they tell (Lal +Behari Day, _Folk Tales of Bengal_, Pref. _ad fin._) + + + +XXXV. THE FISH AND THE RING. + +_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, p. 326, from a communication by the Rev. +S. Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--"Jonah rings" have been put together by Mr. Clouston +in his _Popular Tales_, i. 398, &c.: the most famous are those of +Polycrates, of Solomon, and the Sanskrit drama of "Sakuntala," the plot +of which turns upon such a ring. "Letters to kill bearer" have been +traced from Homer downwards by Prof. Khler on Gonzenbach, ii. 220, and +"the substituted letter" by the same authority in _Occ. u. Or._, ii. +289. Mr. Baring-Gould, who was one of the pioneers of the study of +folk-tales in this country, has given a large number of instances of +"the pre-ordained marriage" in folk-tales in Henderson, _l.c._ + + + +XXXVI. THE MAGPIE'S NEST. + +_Source_.--I have built up the "Magpie's Nest" from two nidification +myths, as a German professor would call them, in the Rev. Mr. +Swainson's _Folk-Lore of British Birds_, pp. 80 and 166. I have received +instruction about the relative values of nests from a little friend of +mine named Katie, who knows all about it. If there is any mistake in +the order of neatness in the various birds' nests, I must have learnt my +lesson badly. + +_Remarks_.--English popular tradition is curiously at variance about the +magpie's nidificatory powers, for another legend given by Mr. Swainson +represents her as refusing to be instructed by the birds and that is why +she does _not_ make a good nest. + + + +XXXVII. KATE CRACKERNUTS. + +_Source_.--Given by Mr. Lang in _Longman's Magazine_, vol. xiv. and +reprinted in _Folk-Lore_, Sept. 1890. It is very corrupt, both girls +being called Kate, and I have had largely to rewrite. + +_Parallels_.--There is a tale which is clearly a cousin if not a parent +of this in _Kennedy's Fictions_, 54 _seq._, containing the visit to the +green hill (for which see "Childe Rowland"), a reference to nuts, +and even the sesame rhyme. The prince is here a corpse who becomes +revivified; the same story is in Campbell No. 13. The jealous stepmother +is "universally human." (_Cf._ Khler on Gonzenbach, ii. 206.) + + + +XXXVIII. THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON. + +_Source_.--Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, 2nd edition, +published by the Folk-Lore Society, pp. 266-7. I have written the +introductory paragraph so as to convey some information about Brownies, +Bogles, and Redcaps, for which Henderson, _l.c._, 246-53, is my +authority. Mr. Batten's portrait renders this somewhat superfluous. + +_Parallels_.--The Grimms' "Elves" (No. 39) behave in like manner +on being rewarded for their services. Milton's "lubbar-fiend" in +_L'Allegro_ has all the characteristics of a Brownie. + + + +XXXIX. ASS, TABLE AND STICK. + +_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, first edition, pp. 327-9, by the Rev. S. +Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--Mr. Baring-Gould gives another version from the East +Riding, _l.c._, 329, in which there are three brothers who go through +the adventures. He also refers to European Variants, p. 311, which could +now be largely supplemented from Cosquin, i. 53-4, ii. 66, 171. + +_Remarks_.--As an example of the sun-myth explanation of folk-tales I +will quote the same authority (p. 314): "The Master, who gives the three +precious gifts, is the All Father, the Supreme Spirit. The gold and +jewel-dropping ass, is the spring cloud, hanging in the sky and shedding +the bright productive vernal showers. The table which covers itself is +the earth becoming covered with flowers and fruit at the bidding of +the New Year. But there is a check; rain is withheld, the process +of vegetation is stayed by some evil influence. Then comes the +thunder-cloud, out of which leaps the bolt; the rains pour down, the +earth receives them, and is covered with abundance--all that was lost is +recovered." + +Mr. Baring-Gould, it is well-known, has since become a distinguished +writer of fiction. + + + +XL. FAIRY OINTMENT. + +_Source_.--Mrs. Bray, _The Tamar and the Tavy_, i. 174 (letters to +Southey), as quoted by Mr. Hartland in _Folk-Lore_, i. 207-8. I have +christened the anonymous midwife and euphemised her profession. + +_Parallels_.--Mr. Hartland has studied Human Midwives in the _Archaeol. +Review_, iv., and parallels to our story in _Folk-Lore_, i. 209, _seq._; +the most interesting of these is from Gervase of Tilbury (xiii. cent.), +_Otia Imper._, iii. 85, and three Breton tales given by M. Sebillot +(_Contes_, ii. 42; _Litt. orale_, 23; _Trad. et Superst._, i. 109). +_Cf._ Prof. Child, i. 339; ii. 505. + + + +XLI. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END. + +_Source_.--Leyden's edition of _The Complaynt of Scotland_, p. 234 +_seq._, with additional touches from Halliwell, 162-3, who makes up a +slightly different version from the rhymes. The opening formula I have +taken from Mayhew, _London Labour_, iii. 390, who gives it as the usual +one when tramps tell folk-tales. I also added it to No. xvii. + +_Parallels_.--Sir W. Scott remembered a similar story; see Taylor's +_Gammer Grethel, ad fin_. In Scotland it is Chambers's tale of _The +Paddo_, p. 87; Leyden supposes it is referred to in the _Complaynt_, (c. +1548), as "The Wolf of the Warldis End." The well of this name occurs +also in the Scotch version of the "Three Heads of the Well," (No. +xliii.). Abroad it is the Grimms' first tale, while frogs who would +a-wooing go are discussed by Prof. Khler, _Occ. u. Orient_ ii. 330; by +Prof. Child, i. 298; and by Messrs. Jones and Kropf, _l.c._, p. 404. The +sieve-bucket task is widespread from the Danaids of the Greeks to the +leverets of _Uncle Remus_, who, curiously enough, use the same rhyme: +"Fill it wid moss en dob it wid clay." _Cf._, too, No. xxiii. + + + +XLII. MASTER OF ALL MASTERS. + +_Source_.--I have taken what suited me from a number of sources, which +shows how wide-spread this quaint droll is in England: (i) In Mayhew, +_London Poor_, iii. 391, told by a lad in a workhouse; (ii) several +versions in 7 _Notes and Queries_, iii. 35, 87, 159, 398. + +_Parallels_.--Rev. W. Gregor gives a Scotch version under the title "The +Clever Apprentice," in _Folk-Lore Journal_, vii. 166. Mr. Hartland, in +_Notes and Queries_, _l.c._, 87, refers to Pitr's _Fiabi sicil._, iii. +120, for a variant. + +_Remarks_.--According to Mr. Hartland, the story is designed as a satire +on pedantry, and is as old in Italy as Straparola (sixteenth century). +In passionate Sicily a wife disgusted with her husband's pedantry +sets the house on fire, and informs her husband of the fact in this +unintelligible gibberish; he, not understanding his own lingo, falls +a victim to the flames, and she marries the servant who had taken the +message. + + + +XLIII. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 158. The second wish has been somewhat +euphemised. + +_Parallels_.--The story forms part of Peele's _Old Wives' Tale_, where +the rhyme was + + _A Head rises in the well_, + Fair maiden, white and red, + Stroke me smooth and comb my head, + And thou shalt have some cockell-bread. + +It is also in Chambers, _l.c._, 105, where the well is at the World's +End (_cf._ No. xli.). The contrasted fates of two step-sisters, is the +Frau Holle (Grimm, No. 24) type of Folk-tale studied by Cosquin, i. 250, +_seq._ "Kate Crackernuts" (No. xxxvii.) is a pleasant contrast to this. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of English Fairy Tales, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH FAIRY TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 7439-8.txt or 7439-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/4/3/7439/ + +Produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: English Fairy Tales + +Author: Anonymous + +Editor: Joseph Jacobs + + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7439] +This file was first posted on April 30, 2003 +Last Updated: March 9, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH FAIRY TALES *** + + + + +Text file produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + +</pre> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + ENGLISH FAIRY TALES + </h1> + <h2> + By Anonymous + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + <i>COLLECTED BY</i> JOSEPH JACOBS + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + <i>HOW TO GET INTO THIS BOOK.</i> + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Knock at the Knocker on the Door, + Pull the Bell at the side,</i> +</pre> + <p> + <i>Then, if you are very quiet, you will hear a teeny tiny voice say + through the grating “Take down the Key.” This you will find at the back: + you cannot mistake it, for it has J. J. in the wards. Put the Key in the + Keyhole, which it fits exactly, unlock the door and WALK IN.</i> + </p> + <h3> + <i>TO MY DEAR LITTLE MAY</i> + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + Who says that English folk have no fairy-tales of their own? The present + volume contains only a selection out of some 140, of which I have found + traces in this country. It is probable that many more exist. + </p> + <p> + A quarter of the tales in this volume, have been collected during the last + ten years or so, and some of them have not been hitherto published. Up to + 1870 it was equally said of France and of Italy, that they possessed no + folk-tales. Yet, within fifteen years from that date, over 1000 tales had + been collected in each country. I am hoping that the present volume may + lead to equal activity in this country, and would earnestly beg any reader + of this book who knows of similar tales, to communicate them, written down + as they are told, to me, care of Mr. Nutt. The only reason, I imagine, why + such tales have not hitherto been brought to light, is the lamentable gap + between the governing and recording classes and the dumb working classes + of this country—dumb to others but eloquent among themselves. It + would be no unpatriotic task to help to bridge over this gulf, by giving a + common fund of nursery literature to all classes of the English people, + and, in any case, it can do no harm to add to the innocent gaiety of the + nation. + </p> + <p> + A word or two as to our title seems necessary. We have called our stories + Fairy Tales though few of them speak of fairies. [Footnote: For some + recent views on fairies and tales <i>about</i> fairies, see Notes.] The + same remark applies to the collection of the Brothers Grimm and to all the + other European collections, which contain exactly the same classes of + tales as ours. Yet our stories are what the little ones mean when they + clamour for “Fairy Tales,” and this is the only name which they give to + them. One cannot imagine a child saying, “Tell us a folk-tale, nurse,” or + “Another nursery tale, please, grandma.” As our book is intended for the + little ones, we have indicated its contents by the name they use. The + words “Fairy Tales” must accordingly be taken to include tales in which + occurs something “fairy,” something extraordinary—fairies, giants, + dwarfs, speaking animals. It must be taken also to cover tales in which + what is extraordinary is the stupidity of some of the actors. Many of the + tales in this volume, as in similar collections for other European + countries, are what the folklorists call Drolls. They serve to justify the + title of Merrie England, which used to be given to this country of ours, + and indicate unsuspected capacity for fun and humour among the unlettered + classes. The story of Tom Tit Tot, which opens our collection, is + unequalled among all other folk-tales I am acquainted with, for its + combined sense of humour and dramatic power. + </p> + <p> + The first adjective of our title also needs a similar extension of its + meaning. I have acted on Molière's principle, and have taken what was good + wherever I could find it. Thus, a couple of these stories have been found + among descendants of English immigrants in America; a couple of others I + tell as I heard them myself in my youth in Australia. One of the best was + taken down from the mouth of an English Gipsy. I have also included some + stories that have only been found in Lowland Scotch. I have felt justified + in doing this, as of the twenty-one folk-tales contained in Chambers' + “Popular Rhymes of Scotland,” no less than sixteen are also to be found in + an English form. With the Folk-tale as with the Ballad, Lowland Scotch may + be regarded as simply a dialect of English, and it is a mere chance + whether a tale is extant in one or other, or both. + </p> + <p> + I have also rescued and re-told a few Fairy Tales that only exist + now-a-days in the form of ballads. There are certain indications that the + “common form” of the English Fairy Tale was the <i>cante-fable</i>, a + mixture of narrative and verse of which the most illustrious example in + literature is “Aucassin et Nicolette.” In one case I have endeavoured to + retain this form, as the tale in which it occurs, “Childe Rowland,” is + mentioned by Shakespeare in <i>King Lear</i>, and is probably, as I have + shown, the source of Milton's <i>Comus</i>. Late as they have been + collected, some dozen of the tales can be traced back to the sixteenth + century, two of them being quoted by Shakespeare himself. + </p> + <p> + In the majority of instances I have had largely to rewrite these Fairy + Tales, especially those in dialect, including the Lowland Scotch. + [Footnote: It is perhaps worth remarking that the Brothers Grimm did the + same with their stories. “Dass der Ausdruck,” say they in their Preface, + “und die Ausführung des Einzelnen grossentheils von uns herrührt, versteht + sich von selbst.” I may add that many of their stories were taken from + printed sources. In the first volume of Mrs. Hunt's translation, Nos. 12, + 18, 19, 23, 32, 35, 42, 43, 44, 69, 77, 78, 83, 89, are thus derived.] + Children, and sometimes those of larger growth, will not read dialect. I + have also had to reduce the flatulent phraseology of the + eighteenth-century chap-books, and to re-write in simpler style the + stories only extant in “Literary” English. I have, however, left a few + vulgarisms in the mouths of vulgar people. Children appreciate the + dramatic propriety of this as much as their elders. Generally speaking, it + has been my ambition to write as a good old nurse will speak when she + tells Fairy Tales. I am doubtful as to my success in catching the + colloquial-romantic tone appropriate for such narratives, but the thing + had to be done or else my main object, to give a book of English Fairy + Tales which English children will listen to, would have been unachieved. + This book is meant to be read aloud, and not merely taken in by the eye. + </p> + <p> + In a few instances I have introduced or changed an incident. I have never + done so, however, without mentioning the fact in the Notes. These have + been relegated to the obscurity of small print and a back place, while the + little ones have been, perhaps unnecessarily, warned off them. They + indicate my sources and give a few references to parallels and variants + which may be of interest to fellow-students of Folk-lore. It is, perhaps, + not necessary to inform readers who are not fellow-students that the study + of Folk-tales has pretensions to be a science. It has its special + terminology, and its own methods of investigation, by which it is hoped, + one of these days, to gain fuller knowledge of the workings of the popular + mind as well as traces of archaic modes of thought and custom. I hope on + some future occasion to treat the subject of the English Folk-tale on a + larger scale and with all the necessary paraphernalia of prolegomena and + excursus. I shall then, of course, reproduce my originals with literal + accuracy, and have therefore felt the more at liberty on the present + occasion to make the necessary deviations from this in order to make the + tales readable for children. + </p> + <p> + Finally, I have to thank those by whose kindness in waiving their rights + to some of these stories, I have been enabled to compile this book. My + friends Mr. E. Clodd, Mr. F. Hindes Groome, and Mr. Andrew Lang, have thus + yielded up to me some of the most attractive stories in the following + pages. The Councils of the English and of the American Folk-lore + Societies, and Messrs. Longmans, have also been equally generous. Nor can + I close these remarks without a word of thanks and praise to the artistic + skill with which my friend, Mr. J. D. Batten, has made the romance and + humour of these stories live again in the brilliant designs with which he + has adorned these pages. It should be added that the dainty headpieces to + “Henny Penny” and “Mr. Fox” are due to my old friend, Mr. Henry Ryland. + </p> + <h3> + JOSEPH JACOBS. + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <i>HOW TO GET INTO THIS BOOK.</i> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> TOM TIT TOT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> THE THREE SILLIES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> THE ROSE-TREE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> MR. VINEGAR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> NIX NOUGHT NOTHING </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> JACK HANNAFORD </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> BINNORIE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> MOUSE AND MOUSER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> CAP O' RUSHES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> TEENY-TINY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> JACK AND THE BEANSTALK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> JACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> JACK THE GIANT-KILLER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> HENNY-PENNY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> CHILDE ROWLAND </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> MOLLY WHUPPIE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> THE RED ETTIN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> THE GOLDEN ARM </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> MR. FOX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> LAZY JACK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> JOHNNY-CAKE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> MR. MIACCA </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> THE STRANGE VISITOR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> THE LAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> THE CAT AND THE MOUSE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> THE FISH AND THE RING </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> THE MAGPIE'S NEST </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> KATE CRACKERNUTS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE STICK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0042"> FAIRY OINTMENT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0043"> THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0044"> MASTER OF ALL MASTERS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0045"> THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0046"> OYEZ-OYEZ-OYEZ </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_NOTE"> NOTES AND REFERENCES </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TOM TIT TOT + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a woman, and she baked five pies. And when they + came out of the oven, they were that overbaked the crusts were too hard to + eat. So she says to her daughter: + </p> + <p> + “Darter,” says she, “put you them there pies on the shelf, and leave 'em + there a little, and they'll come again.”—She meant, you know, the + crust would get soft. + </p> + <p> + But the girl, she says to herself: “Well, if they'll come again, I'll eat + 'em now.” And she set to work and ate 'em all, first and last. + </p> + <p> + Well, come supper-time the woman said: “Go you, and get one o' them there + pies. I dare say they've come again now.” + </p> + <p> + The girl went and she looked, and there was nothing but the dishes. So + back she came and says she: “Noo, they ain't come again.” + </p> + <p> + “Not one of 'em?” says the mother. + </p> + <p> + “Not one of 'em,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Well, come again, or not come again,” said the woman “I'll have one for + supper.” + </p> + <p> + “But you can't, if they ain't come,” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + “But I can,” says she. “Go you, and bring the best of 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “Best or worst,” says the girl, “I've ate 'em all, and you can't have one + till that's come again.” + </p> + <p> + Well, the woman she was done, and she took her spinning to the door to + spin, and as she span she sang: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day. + My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day.” + </pre> + <p> + The king was coming down the street, and he heard her sing, but what she + sang he couldn't hear, so he stopped and said: + </p> + <p> + “What was that you were singing, my good woman?” + </p> + <p> + The woman was ashamed to let him hear what her daughter had been doing, so + she sang, instead of that: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day. + My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day.” + </pre> + <p> + “Stars o' mine!” said the king, “I never heard tell of any one that could + do that.” + </p> + <p> + Then he said: “Look you here, I want a wife, and I'll marry your daughter. + But look you here,” says he, “eleven months out of the year she shall have + all she likes to eat, and all the gowns she likes to get, and all the + company she likes to keep; but the last month of the year she'll have to + spin five skeins every day, and if she don't I shall kill her.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” says the woman; for she thought what a grand marriage that + was. And as for the five skeins, when the time came, there'd be plenty of + ways of getting out of it, and likeliest, he'd have forgotten all about + it. + </p> + <p> + Well, so they were married. And for eleven months the girl had all she + liked to eat, and all the gowns she liked to get, and all the company she + liked to keep. + </p> + <p> + But when the time was getting over, she began to think about the skeins + and to wonder if he had 'em in mind. But not one word did he say about + 'em, and she thought he'd wholly forgotten 'em. + </p> + <p> + However, the last day of the last month he takes her to a room she'd never + set eyes on before. There was nothing in it but a spinning-wheel and a + stool. And says he: “Now, my dear, here you'll be shut in to-morrow with + some victuals and some flax, and if you haven't spun five skeins by the + night, your head'll go off.” + </p> + <p> + And away he went about his business. + </p> + <p> + Well, she was that frightened, she'd always been such a gatless girl, that + she didn't so much as know how to spin, and what was she to do to-morrow + with no one to come nigh her to help her? She sat down on a stool in the + kitchen, and law! how she did cry! + </p> + <p> + However, all of a sudden she heard a sort of a knocking low down on the + door. She upped and oped it, and what should she see but a small little + black thing with a long tail. That looked up at her right curious, and + that said: + </p> + <p> + “What are you a-crying for?” + </p> + <p> + “What's that to you?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Never you mind,” that said, “but tell me what you're a-crying for.” + </p> + <p> + “That won't do me no good if I do,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “You don't know that,” that said, and twirled that's tail round. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” says she, “that won't do no harm, if that don't do no good,” and + she upped and told about the pies, and the skeins, and everything. + </p> + <p> + “This is what I'll do,” says the little black thing, “I'll come to your + window every morning and take the flax and bring it spun at night.” + </p> + <p> + “What's your pay?” says she. + </p> + <p> + That looked out of the corner of that's eyes, and that said: “I'll give + you three guesses every night to guess my name, and if you haven't guessed + it before the month's up you shall be mine.” + </p> + <p> + Well, she thought she'd be sure to guess that's name before the month was + up. “All right,” says she, “I agree.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” that says, and law! how that twirled that's tail. + </p> + <p> + Well, the next day, her husband took her into the room, and there was the + flax and the day's food. + </p> + <p> + “Now there's the flax,” says he, “and if that ain't spun up this night, + off goes your head.” And then he went out and locked the door. + </p> + <p> + He'd hardly gone, when there was a knocking against the window. + </p> + <p> + She upped and she oped it, and there sure enough was the little old thing + sitting on the ledge. + </p> + <p> + “Where's the flax?” says he. + </p> + <p> + “Here it be,” says she. And she gave it to him. + </p> + <p> + Well, come the evening a knocking came again to the window. She upped and + she oped it, and there was the little old thing with five skeins of flax + on his arm. + </p> + <p> + “Here it be,” says he, and he gave it to her. + </p> + <p> + “Now, what's my name?” says he. + </p> + <p> + “What, is that Bill?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, that ain't,” says he, and he twirled his tail. + </p> + <p> + “Is that Ned?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, that ain't,” says he, and he twirled his tail. + </p> + <p> + “Well, is that Mark?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, that ain't,” says he, and he twirled his tail harder, and away he + flew. + </p> + <p> + Well, when her husband came in, there were the five skeins ready for him. + “I see I shan't have to kill you to-night, my dear,” says he; “you'll have + your food and your flax in the morning,” says he, and away he goes. + </p> + <p> + Well, every day the flax and the food were brought, and every day that + there little black impet used to come mornings and evenings. And all the + day the girl sat trying to think of names to say to it when it came at + night. But she never hit on the right one. And as it got towards the end + of the month, the impet began to look so maliceful, and that twirled + that's tail faster and faster each time she gave a guess. + </p> + <p> + At last it came to the last day but one. The impet came at night along + with the five skeins, and that said, + </p> + <p> + “What, ain't you got my name yet?” + </p> + <p> + “Is that Nicodemus?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, t'ain't,” that says. + </p> + <p> + “Is that Sammle?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, t'ain't,” that says. + </p> + <p> + “A-well, is that Methusalem?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, t'ain't that neither,” that says. + </p> + <p> + Then that looks at her with that's eyes like a coal o' fire, and that + says: “Woman, there's only to-morrow night, and then you'll be mine!” And + away it flew. + </p> + <p> + Well, she felt that horrid. However, she heard the king coming along the + passage. In he came, and when he sees the five skeins, he says, says he, + </p> + <p> + “Well, my dear,” says he, “I don't see but what you'll have your skeins + ready to-morrow night as well, and as I reckon I shan't have to kill you, + I'll have supper in here to-night.” So they brought supper, and another + stool for him, and down the two sat. + </p> + <p> + Well, he hadn't eaten but a mouthful or so, when he stops and begins to + laugh. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “A-why,” says he, “I was out a-hunting to-day, and I got away to a place + in the wood I'd never seen before And there was an old chalk-pit. And I + heard a kind of a sort of a humming. So I got off my hobby, and I went + right quiet to the pit, and I looked down. Well, what should there be but + the funniest little black thing you ever set eyes on. And what was that + doing, but that had a little spinning-wheel, and that was spinning + wonderful fast, and twirling that's tail. And as that span that sang: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nimmy nimmy not + My name's Tom Tit Tot.” + </pre> + <p> + Well, when the girl heard this, she felt as if she could have jumped out + of her skin for joy, but she didn't say a word. + </p> + <p> + Next day that there little thing looked so maliceful when he came for the + flax. And when night came, she heard that knocking against the window + panes. She oped the window, and that come right in on the ledge. That was + grinning from ear to ear, and Oo! that's tail was twirling round so fast. + </p> + <p> + “What's my name?” that says, as that gave her the skeins. + </p> + <p> + “Is that Solomon?” she says, pretending to be afeard. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, t'ain't,” that says, and that came further into the room. + </p> + <p> + “Well, is that Zebedee?” says she again. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, t'ain't,” says the impet. And then that laughed and twirled that's + tail till you couldn't hardly see it. + </p> + <p> + “Take time, woman,” that says; “next guess, and you're mine.” And that + stretched out that's black hands at her. + </p> + <p> + Well, she backed a step or two, and she looked at it, and then she laughed + out, and says she, pointing her finger at it: + </p> + <h3> + “NIMMY NIMMY NOT, YOUR NAME'S TOM TIT TOT!” + </h3> + <p> + Well, when that heard her, that gave an awful shriek and away that flew + into the dark, and she never saw it any more. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE THREE SILLIES + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a farmer and his wife who had one daughter, and + she was courted by a gentleman. Every evening he used to come and see her, + and stop to supper at the farmhouse, and the daughter used to be sent down + into the cellar to draw the beer for supper. So one evening she had gone + down to draw the beer, and she happened to look up at the ceiling while + she was drawing, and she saw a mallet stuck in one of the beams. It must + have been there a long, long time, but somehow or other she had never + noticed it before, and she began a-thinking. And she thought it was very + dangerous to have that mallet there, for she said to herself: “Suppose him + and me was to be married, and we was to have a son, and he was to grow up + to be a man, and come down into the cellar to draw the beer, like as I'm + doing now, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, what a + dreadful thing it would be!” And she put down the candle and the jug, and + sat herself down and began a-crying. + </p> + <p> + Well, they began to wonder upstairs how it was that she was so long + drawing the beer, and her mother went down to see after her, and she found + her sitting on the settle crying, and the beer running over the floor. + “Why, whatever is the matter?” said her mother. “Oh, mother!” says she, + “look at that horrid mallet! Suppose we was to be married, and was to have + a son, and he was to grow up, and was to come down to the cellar to draw + the beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, what a + dreadful thing it would be!” “Dear, dear! what a dreadful thing it would + be!” said the mother, and she sat her down aside of the daughter and + started a-crying too. Then after a bit the father began to wonder that + they didn't come back, and he went down into the cellar to look after them + himself, and there they two sat a-crying, and the beer running all over + the floor. “Whatever is the matter?” says he. “Why,” says the mother, + “look at that horrid mallet. Just suppose, if our daughter and her + sweetheart was to be married, and was to have a son, and he was to grow + up, and was to come down into the cellar to draw the beer, and the mallet + was to fall on his head and kill him, what a dreadful thing it would be!” + “Dear, dear, dear! so it would!” said the father, and he sat himself down + aside of the other two, and started a-crying. + </p> + <p> + Now the gentleman got tired of stopping up in the kitchen by himself, and + at last he went down into the cellar too, to see what they were after; and + there they three sat a-crying side by side, and the beer running all over + the floor. And he ran straight and turned the tap. Then he said: “Whatever + are you three doing, sitting there crying, and letting the beer run all + over the floor?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” says the father, “look at that horrid mallet! Suppose you and our + daughter was to be married, and was to have a son, and he was to grow up, + and was to come down into the cellar to draw the beer, and the mallet was + to fall on his head and kill him!” And then they all started a-crying + worse than before. But the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and reached up + and pulled out the mallet, and then he said: “I've travelled many miles, + and I never met three such big sillies as you three before; and now I + shall start out on my travels again, and when I can find three bigger + sillies than you three, then I'll come back and marry your daughter.” So + he wished them good-bye, and started off on his travels, and left them all + crying because the girl had lost her sweetheart. + </p> + <p> + Well, he set out, and he travelled a long way, and at last he came to a + woman's cottage that had some grass growing on the roof. And the woman was + trying to get her cow to go up a ladder to the grass, and the poor thing + durst not go. So the gentleman asked the woman what she was doing. “Why, + lookye,” she said, “look at all that beautiful grass. I'm going to get the + cow on to the roof to eat it. She'll be quite safe, for I shall tie a + string round her neck, and pass it down the chimney, and tie it to my + wrist as I go about the house, so she can't fall off without my knowing + it.” “Oh, you poor silly!” said the gentleman, “you should cut the grass + and throw it down to the cow!” But the woman thought it was easier to get + the cow up the ladder than to get the grass down, so she pushed her and + coaxed her and got her up, and tied a string round her neck, and passed it + down the chimney, and fastened it to her own wrist. And the gentleman went + on his way, but he hadn't gone far when the cow tumbled off the roof, and + hung by the string tied round her neck, and it strangled her. And the + weight of the cow tied to her wrist pulled the woman up the chimney, and + she stuck fast half-way and was smothered in the soot. + </p> + <p> + Well, that was one big silly. + </p> + <p> + And the gentleman went on and on, and he went to an inn to stop the night, + and they were so full at the inn that they had to put him in a + double-bedded room, and another traveller was to sleep in the other bed. + The other man was a very pleasant fellow, and they got very friendly + together; but in the morning, when they were both getting up, the + gentleman was surprised to see the other hang his trousers on the knobs of + the chest of drawers and run across the room and try to jump into them, + and he tried over and over again, and couldn't manage it; and the + gentleman wondered whatever he was doing it for. At last he stopped and + wiped his face with his handkerchief. “Oh dear,” he says, “I do think + trousers are the most awkwardest kind of clothes that ever were. I can't + think who could have invented such things. It takes me the best part of an + hour to get into mine every morning, and I get so hot! How do you manage + yours?” So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and showed him how to put + them on; and he was very much obliged to him, and said he never should + have thought of doing it that way. + </p> + <p> + So that was another big silly. + </p> + <p> + Then the gentleman went on his travels again; and he came to a village, + and outside the village there was a pond, and round the pond was a crowd + of people. And they had got rakes, and brooms, and pitchforks, reaching + into the pond; and the gentleman asked what was the matter. “Why,” they + say, “matter enough! Moon's tumbled into the pond, and we can't rake her + out anyhow!” So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and told them to look + up into the sky, and that it was only the shadow in the water. But they + wouldn't listen to him, and abused him shamefully, and he got away as + quick as he could. + </p> + <p> + So there was a whole lot of sillies bigger than them three sillies at + home. So the gentleman turned back home again and married the farmer's + daughter, and if they didn't live happy for ever after, that's nothing to + do with you or me. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE ROSE-TREE + </h2> + <p> + There was once upon a time a good man who had two children: a girl by a + first wife, and a boy by the second. The girl was as white as milk, and + her lips were like cherries. Her hair was like golden silk, and it hung to + the ground. Her brother loved her dearly, but her wicked stepmother hated + her. “Child,” said the stepmother one day, “go to the grocer's shop and + buy me a pound of candles.” She gave her the money; and the little girl + went, bought the candles, and started on her return. There was a stile to + cross. She put down the candles whilst she got over the stile. Up came a + dog and ran off with the candles. + </p> + <p> + She went back to the grocer's, and she got a second bunch. She came to the + stile, set down the candles, and proceeded to climb over. Up came the dog + and ran off with the candles. + </p> + <p> + She went again to the grocer's, and she got a third bunch; and just the + same happened. Then she came to her stepmother crying, for she had spent + all the money and had lost three bunches of candles. + </p> + <p> + The stepmother was angry, but she pretended not to mind the loss. She said + to the child: “Come, lay your head on my lap that I may comb your hair.” + So the little one laid her head in the woman's lap, who proceeded to comb + the yellow silken hair. And when she combed the hair fell over her knees, + and rolled right down to the ground. + </p> + <p> + Then the stepmother hated her more for the beauty of her hair; so she said + to her, “I cannot part your hair on my knee, fetch a billet of wood.” So + she fetched it. Then said the stepmother, “I cannot part your hair with a + comb, fetch me an axe.” So she fetched it. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” said the wicked woman, “lay your head down on the billet whilst I + part your hair.” + </p> + <p> + Well! she laid down her little golden head without fear; and whist! down + came the axe, and it was off. So the mother wiped the axe and laughed. + </p> + <p> + Then she took the heart and liver of the little girl, and she stewed them + and brought them into the house for supper. The husband tasted them and + shook his head. He said they tasted very strangely. She gave some to the + little boy, but he would not eat. She tried to force him, but he refused, + and ran out into the garden, and took up his little sister, and put her in + a box, and buried the box under a rose-tree; and every day he went to the + tree and wept, till his tears ran down on the box. + </p> + <p> + One day the rose-tree flowered. It was spring, and there among the flowers + was a white bird; and it sang, and sang, and sang like an angel out of + heaven. Away it flew, and it went to a cobbler's shop, and perched itself + on a tree hard by; and thus it sang, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick, stock, stone dead.” + </pre> + <p> + “Sing again that beautiful song,” asked the shoemaker. “If you will first + give me those little red shoes you are making.” The cobbler gave the + shoes, and the bird sang the song; then flew to a tree in front of a + watchmaker's, and sang: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick, stock, stone dead.” + </pre> + <p> + “Oh, the beautiful song! sing it again, sweet bird,” asked the watchmaker. + “If you will give me first that gold watch and chain in your hand.” The + jeweller gave the watch and chain. The bird took it in one foot, the shoes + in the other, and, after having repeated the song, flew away to where + three millers were picking a millstone. The bird perched on a tree and + sang: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick!” + </pre> + <p> + Then one of the men put down his tool and looked up from his work, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stock!” + </pre> + <p> + Then the second miller's man laid aside his tool and looked up, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stone!” + </pre> + <p> + Then the third miller's man laid down his tool and looked up, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dead!” + </pre> + <p> + Then all three cried out with one voice: “Oh, what a beautiful song! Sing + it, sweet bird, again.” “If you will put the millstone round my neck,” + said the bird. The men did what the bird wanted and away to the tree it + flew with the millstone round its neck, the red shoes in one foot, and the + gold watch and chain in the other. It sang the song and then flew home. It + rattled the millstone against the eaves of the house, and the stepmother + said: “It thunders.” Then the little boy ran out to see the thunder, and + down dropped the red shoes at his feet. It rattled the millstone against + the eaves of the house once more, and the stepmother said again: “It + thunders.” Then the father ran out and down fell the chain about his neck. + </p> + <p> + In ran father and son, laughing and saying, “See, what fine things the + thunder has brought us!” Then the bird rattled the millstone against the + eaves of the house a third time; and the stepmother said: “It thunders + again, perhaps the thunder has brought something for me,” and she ran out; + but the moment she stepped outside the door, down fell the millstone on + her head; and so she died. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG + </h2> + <p> + An old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked + sixpence. “What,” said she, “shall I do with this little sixpence? I will + go to market, and buy a little pig.” + </p> + <p> + As she was coming home, she came to a stile: but the piggy wouldn't go + over the stile. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog: + “Dog! bite pig; piggy won't go over the stile; and I shan't get home + to-night.” But the dog wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a stick. So she said: “Stick! + stick! beat dog! dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I + shan't get home to-night.” But the stick wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a fire. So she said: “Fire! fire! + burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over + the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” But the fire wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met some water. So she said: “Water, + water! quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't + bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” + But the water wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met an ox. So she said: “Ox! ox! drink + water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat + dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get + home to-night.” But the ox wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a butcher. So she said: “Butcher! + butcher! kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire + won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't + get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” But the butcher + wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a rope. So she said: “Rope! rope! + hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't + quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite + pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” But + the rope wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a rat. So she said: “Rat! rat! gnaw + rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink + water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat + dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get + home to-night.” But the rat wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a cat. So she said: “Cat! cat! kill + rat; rat won't gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; + ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; + stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; + and I shan't get home to-night.” But the cat said to her, “If you will go + to yonder cow, and fetch me a saucer of milk, I will kill the rat.” So + away went the old woman to the cow. + </p> + <p> + But the cow said to her: “If you will go to yonder hay-stack, and fetch me + a handful of hay, I'll give you the milk.” So away went the old woman to + the haystack and she brought the hay to the cow. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the old woman the milk; and + away she went with it in a saucer to the cat. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the rat; + the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher; the + butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the water + began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the stick + began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig; the little pig in a + fright jumped over the stile, and so the old woman got home that night. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE + </h2> + <p> + Once on a time there was a boy named Jack, and one morning he started to + go and seek his fortune. + </p> + <p> + He hadn't gone very far before he met a cat. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Jack?” said the cat. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “May I go with you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + </p> + <p> + So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + </p> + <p> + They went a little further and they met a dog. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Jack?” said the dog. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “May I go with you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + </p> + <p> + So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. They went a little further + and they met a goat. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Jack?” said the goat. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “May I go with you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + </p> + <p> + So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + </p> + <p> + They went a little further and they met a bull. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Jack?” said the bull. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “May I go with you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + </p> + <p> + So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + </p> + <p> + They went a little further and they met a rooster. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Jack?” said the rooster. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “May I go with you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + </p> + <p> + So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + </p> + <p> + Well, they went on till it was about dark, and they began to think of some + place where they could spend the night. About this time they came in sight + of a house, and Jack told them to keep still while he went up and looked + in through the window. And there were some robbers counting over their + money. Then Jack went back and told them to wait till he gave the word, + and then to make all the noise they could. So when they were all ready + Jack gave the word, and the cat mewed, and the dog barked, and the goat + bleated, and the bull bellowed, and the rooster crowed, and all together + they made such a dreadful noise that it frightened the robbers all away. + </p> + <p> + And then they went in and took possession of the house. Jack was afraid + the robbers would come back in the night, and so when it came time to go + to bed he put the cat in the rocking-chair, and he put the dog under the + table, and he put the goat upstairs, and he put the bull down cellar, and + the rooster flew up on to the roof, and Jack went to bed. + </p> + <p> + By-and-by the robbers saw it was all dark and they sent one man back to + the house to look after their money. Before long he came back in a great + fright and told them his story. + </p> + <p> + “I went back to the house,” said he, “and went in and tried to sit down in + the rocking-chair, and there was an old woman knitting, and she stuck her + knitting-needles into me.” That was the cat, you know. + </p> + <p> + “I went to the table to look after the money and there was a shoemaker + under the table, and he stuck his awl into me.” That was the dog, you + know. + </p> + <p> + “I started to go upstairs, and there was a man up there threshing, and he + knocked me down with his flail.” That was the goat, you know. + </p> + <p> + “I started to go down cellar, and there was a man down there chopping + wood, and he knocked me up with his axe.” That was the bull, you know. + </p> + <p> + “But I shouldn't have minded all that if it hadn't been for that little + fellow on top of the house, who kept a-hollering, 'Chuck him up to me-e! + Chuck him up to me-e!'” Of course that was the cock-a-doodle-do. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MR. VINEGAR + </h2> + <p> + Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar lived in a vinegar bottle. Now, one day, when Mr. + Vinegar was from home, Mrs. Vinegar, who was a very good housewife, was + busily sweeping her house, when an unlucky thump of the broom brought the + whole house clitter-clatter, clitter-clatter, about her ears. In an agony + of grief she rushed forth to meet her husband. + </p> + <p> + On seeing him she exclaimed, “Oh, Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar, we are ruined, + I have knocked the house down, and it is all to pieces!” Mr. Vinegar then + said: “My dear, let us see what can be done. Here is the door; I will take + it on my back, and we will go forth to seek our fortune.” + </p> + <p> + They walked all that day, and at nightfall entered a thick forest. They + were both very, very tired, and Mr. Vinegar said: “My love, I will climb + up into a tree, drag up the door, and you shall follow.” He accordingly + did so, and they both stretched their weary limbs on the door, and fell + fast asleep. + </p> + <p> + In the middle of the night Mr. Vinegar was disturbed by the sound of + voices underneath, and to his horror and dismay found that it was a band + of thieves met to divide their booty. + </p> + <p> + “Here, Jack,” said one, “here's five pounds for you; here, Bill, here's + ten pounds for you; here, Bob, here's three pounds for you.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Vinegar could listen no longer; his terror was so great that he + trembled and trembled, and shook down the door on their heads. Away + scampered the thieves, but Mr. Vinegar dared not quit his retreat till + broad daylight. + </p> + <p> + He then scrambled out of the tree, and went to lift up the door. What did + he see but a number of golden guineas. “Come down, Mrs. Vinegar,” he + cried; “come down, I say; our fortune's made, our fortune's made! Come + down, I say.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Vinegar got down as fast as she could, and when she saw the money she + jumped for joy. “Now, my dear,” said she, “I'll tell you what you shall + do. There is a fair at the neighbouring town; you shall take these forty + guineas and buy a cow. I can make butter and cheese, which you shall sell + at market, and we shall then be able to live very comfortably.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Vinegar joyfully agrees, takes the money, and off he goes to the fair. + When he arrived, he walked up and down, and at length saw a beautiful red + cow. It was an excellent milker, and perfect in every way. “Oh,” thought + Mr. Vinegar, “if I had but that cow, I should be the happiest, man alive.” + </p> + <p> + So he offers the forty guineas for the cow, and the owner said that, as he + was a friend, he'd oblige him. So the bargain was made, and he got the cow + and he drove it backwards and forwards to show it. + </p> + <p> + By-and-by he saw a man playing the bagpipes—Tweedle-dum tweedle-dee. + The children followed him about, and he appeared to be pocketing money on + all sides. “Well,” thought Mr. Vinegar, “if I had but that beautiful + instrument I should be the happiest man alive—my fortune would be + made.” + </p> + <p> + So he went up to the man. “Friend,” says he, “what a beautiful instrument + that is, and what a deal of money you must make.” “Why, yes,” said the + man, “I make a great deal of money, to be sure, and it is a wonderful + instrument.” “Oh!” cried Mr. Vinegar, “how I should like to possess it!” + “Well,” said the man, “as you are a friend, I don't much mind parting with + it; you shall have it for that red cow.” “Done!” said the delighted Mr. + Vinegar. So the beautiful red cow was given for the bagpipes. + </p> + <p> + He walked up and down with his purchase; but it was in vain he tried to + play a tune, and instead of pocketing pence, the boys followed him + hooting, laughing, and pelting. + </p> + <p> + Poor Mr. Vinegar, his fingers grew very cold, and, just as he was leaving + the town, he met a man with a fine thick pair of gloves. “Oh, my fingers + are so very cold,” said Mr. Vinegar to himself. “Now if I had but those + beautiful gloves I should be the happiest man alive.” He went up to the + man, and said to him, “Friend, you seem to have a capital pair of gloves + there.” “Yes, truly,” cried the man; “and my hands are as warm as possible + this cold November day.” “Well,” said Mr. Vinegar, “I should like to have + them.”. “What will you give?” said the man; “as you are a friend, I don't + much mind letting you have them for those bagpipes.” “Done!” cried Mr. + Vinegar. He put on the gloves, and felt perfectly happy as he trudged + homewards. + </p> + <p> + At last he grew very tired, when he saw a man coming towards him with a + good stout stick in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Oh,” said Mr. Vinegar, “that I had but that stick! I should then be the + happiest man alive.” He said to the man: “Friend! what a rare good stick + you have got.” “Yes,” said the man; “I have used it for many a long mile, + and a good friend it has been; but if you have a fancy for it, as you are + a friend, I don't mind giving it to you for that pair of gloves.” Mr. + Vinegar's hands were so warm, and his legs so tired, that he gladly made + the exchange. + </p> + <p> + As he drew near to the wood where he had left his wife, he heard a parrot + on a tree calling out his name: “Mr. Vinegar, you foolish man, you + blockhead, you simpleton; you went to the fair, and laid out all your + money in buying a cow. Not content with that, you changed it for bagpipes, + on which you could not play, and which were not worth one-tenth of the + money. You fool, you—you had no sooner got the bagpipes than you + changed them for the gloves, which were not worth one-quarter of the + money; and when you had got the gloves, you changed them for a poor + miserable stick; and now for your forty guineas, cow, bagpipes, and + gloves, you have nothing to show but that poor miserable stick, which you + might have cut in any hedge.” On this the bird laughed and laughed, and + Mr. Vinegar, falling into a violent rage, threw the stick at its head. The + stick lodged in the tree, and he returned to his wife without money, cow, + bagpipes, gloves, or stick, and she instantly gave him such a sound + cudgelling that she almost broke every bone in his skin. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NIX NOUGHT NOTHING + </h2> + <p> + There once lived a king and a queen as many a one has been. They were long + married and had no children; but at last a baby-boy came to the queen when + the king was away in the far countries. The queen would not christen the + boy till the king came back, and she said, “We will just call him <i>Nix + Nought Nothing</i> until his father comes home.” But it was long before he + came home, and the boy had grown a nice little laddie. At length the king + was on his way back; but he had a big river to cross, and there was a + whirlpool, and he could not get over the water. But a giant came up to + him, and said “I'll carry you over.” But the king said: “What's your pay?” + “O give me Nix, Nought, Nothing, and I will carry you over the water on my + back.” The king had never heard that his son was called Nix Nought + Nothing, and so he said: “O, I'll give you that and my thanks into the + bargain.” When the king got home again, he was very happy to see his wife + again, and his young son. She told him that she had not given the child + any name, but just Nix Nought Nothing, until he should come home again + himself. The poor king was in a terrible case. He said: “What have I done? + I promised to give the giant who carried me over the river on his back, + Nix Nought Nothing.” The king and the queen were sad and sorry, but they + said: “When the giant comes we will give him the hen-wife's boy; he will + never know the difference.” The next day the giant came to claim the + king's promise, and he sent for the hen-wife's boy; and the giant went + away with the boy on his back. He travelled till he came to a big stone, + and there he sat down to rest. He said, + </p> + <p> + “Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day is that?” + </p> + <p> + The poor little boy said: “It is the time that my mother, the hen-wife, + takes up the eggs for the queen's breakfast.” + </p> + <p> + The Giant was very angry, and dashed the boy's head on the stone and + killed him. + </p> + <p> + So he went back in a tower of a temper and this time they gave him the + gardener's boy. He went off with him on his back till they got to the + stone again when the giant sat down to rest. And he said: + </p> + <p> + “Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day do you make that?” + </p> + <p> + The gardener's boy said: “Sure it's the time that my mother takes up the + vegetables for the queen's dinner.” Then the giant was right wild and + dashed his brains out on the stone. + </p> + <p> + Then the giant went back to the king's house in a terrible temper and said + he would destroy them all if they did not give him Nix Nought Nothing this + time. They had to do it; and when he came to the big stone, the giant + said: “What time of day is that?” Nix Nought Nothing said: “It is the time + that my father the king will be sitting down to supper.” The giant said: + “I've got the right one now;” and took Nix Nought Nothing to his own house + and brought him up till he was a man. + </p> + <p> + The giant had a bonny daughter, and she and the lad grew very fond of each + other. The giant said one day to Nix Nought Nothing: “I've work for you + to-morrow. There is a stable seven miles long and seven miles broad, and + it has not been cleaned for seven years, and you must clean it to-morrow, + or I will have you for my supper.” + </p> + <p> + The giant's daughter went out next morning with the lad's breakfast, and + found him in a terrible state, for always as he cleaned out a bit, it just + fell in again. The giant's daughter said she would help him, and she cried + all the beasts in the field, and all the fowls of the air, and in a minute + they all came, and carried away everything that was in the stable and made + it all clean before the giant came home. He said: “Shame on the wit that + helped you; but I have a worse job for you to-morrow.” Then he said to Nix + Nought Nothing: “There's a lake seven miles long, and seven miles deep, + and seven miles broad, and you must drain it to-morrow by nightfall, or + else I'll have you for my supper.” Nix Nought Nothing began early next + morning and tried to lave the water with his pail, but the lake was never + getting any less, and he didn't know what to do; but the giant's daughter + called on all the fish in the sea to come and drink the water, and very + soon they drank it dry. When the giant saw the work done he was in a rage, + and said: “I've a worse job for you to-morrow; there is a tree, seven + miles high, and no branch on it, till you get to the top, and there is a + nest with seven eggs in it, and you must bring down all the eggs without + breaking one, or else I'll have you for my supper.” At first the giant's + daughter did not know how to help Nix Nought Nothing; but she cut off + first her fingers and then her toes, and made steps of them, and he clomb + the tree and got all the eggs safe till he came just to the bottom, and + then one was broken. So they determined to run away together and after the + giant's daughter had tidied up her hair a bit and got her magic flask they + set out together as fast as they could run. And they hadn't got but three + fields away when they looked back and saw the giant walking along at top + speed after them. “Quick, quick,” called out the giant's daughter, “take + my comb from my hair and throw it down.” Nix Nought Nothing took her comb + from her hair and threw it down, and out of every one of its prongs there + sprung up a fine thick briar in the way of the giant. You may be sure it + took him a long time to work his way through the briar bush and by the + time he was well through Nix Nought Nothing and his sweetheart had run on + a tidy step away from him. But he soon came along after them and was just + like to catch 'em up when the giant's daughter called out to Nix Nought + Nothing, “Take my hair dagger and throw it down, quick, quick.” So Nix + Nought Nothing threw down the hair dagger and out of it grew as quick as + lightning a thick hedge of sharp razors placed criss-cross. The giant had + to tread very cautiously to get through all this and meanwhile the young + lovers ran on, and on, and on, till they were nearly out of sight. But at + last the giant was through, and it wasn't long before he was like to catch + them up. But just as he was stretching out his hand to catch Nix Nought + Nothing his daughter took out her magic flask and dashed it on the ground. + And as it broke out of it welled a big, big wave that grew, and that grew, + till it reached the giant's waist and then his neck, and when it got to + his head, he was drowned dead, and dead, and dead indeed. So he goes out + of the story. + </p> + <p> + But Nix Nought Nothing fled on till where do you think they came to? Why, + to near the castle of Nix Nought Nothing's father and mother. But the + giant's daughter was so weary that she couldn't move a step further. So + Nix Nought Nothing told her to wait there while he went and found out a + lodging for the night. And he went on towards the lights of the castle, + and on the way he came to the cottage of the hen-wife whose boy had had + his brains dashed out by the giant. Now she knew Nix Nought Nothing in a + moment, and hated him because he was the cause of her son's death. So when + he asked his way to the castle she put a spell upon him, and when he got + to the castle, no sooner was he let in than he fell down dead asleep upon + a bench in the hall. The king and queen tried all they could do to wake + him up, but all in vain. So the king promised that if any lady could wake + him up she should marry him. Meanwhile the giant's daughter was waiting + and waiting for him to come back. And she went up into a tree to watch for + him. The gardener's daughter, going to draw water in the well, saw the + shadow of the lady in the water and thought it was herself, and said; “If + I'm so bonny, if I'm so brave, why do you send me to draw water?” So she + threw down her pail and went to see if she could wed the sleeping + stranger. And she went to the hen-wife, who taught her an unspelling catch + which would keep Nix Nought Nothing awake as long as the gardener's + daughter liked. So she went up to the castle and sang her catch and Nix + Nought Nothing was wakened for a bit and they promised to wed him to the + gardener's daughter. Meanwhile the gardener went down to draw water from + the well and saw the shadow of the lady in the water. So he looks up and + finds her, and he brought the lady from the tree, and led her into his + house. And he told her that a stranger was to marry his daughter, and took + her up to the castle and showed her the man: and it was Nix Nought Nothing + asleep in a chair. And she saw him, and cried to him: “Waken, waken, and + speak to me!” But he would not waken, and soon she cried: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “I cleaned the stable, I laved the lake, and I clomb the tree, + And all for the love of thee, + And thou wilt not waken and speak to me.” + </pre> + <p> + The king and the queen heard this, and came to the bonny young lady, and + she said: + </p> + <p> + “I cannot get Nix Nought Nothing to speak to me for all that I can do.” + </p> + <p> + Then were they greatly astonished when she spoke of Nix Nought Nothing, + and asked where he was, and she said: “He that sits there in the chair.” + Then they ran to him and kissed him and called him their own dear son; so + they called for the gardener's daughter and made her sing her charm, and + he wakened, and told them all that the giant's daughter had done for him, + and of all her kindness. Then they took her in their arms and kissed her, + and said she should now be their daughter, for their son should marry her. + But they sent for the hen-wife and put her to death. And they lived happy + all their days. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JACK HANNAFORD + </h2> + <p> + There was an old soldier who had been long in the wars—so long, that + he was quite out-at-elbows, and he did not know where to go to find a + living. So he walked up moors, down glens, till at last he came to a farm, + from which the good man had gone away to market. The wife of the farmer + was a very foolish woman, who had been a widow when he married her; the + farmer was foolish enough, too, and it is hard to say which of the two was + the more foolish. When you've heard my tale you may decide. + </p> + <p> + Now before the farmer goes to market says he to his wife: “Here is ten + pounds all in gold, take care of it till I come home.” If the man had not + been a fool he would never have given the money to his wife to keep. Well, + off he went in his cart to market, and the wife said to herself: “I will + keep the ten pounds quite safe from thieves;” so she tied it up in a rag, + and she put the rag up the parlour chimney. + </p> + <p> + “There,” said she, “no thieves will ever find it now, that is quite sure.” + </p> + <p> + Jack Hannaford, the old soldier, came and rapped at the door. + </p> + <p> + “Who is there?” asked the wife. + </p> + <p> + “Jack Hannaford.” + </p> + <p> + “Where do you come from?” + </p> + <p> + “Paradise.” + </p> + <p> + “Lord a' mercy! and maybe you've seen my old man there,” alluding to her + former husband. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I have.” + </p> + <p> + “And how was he a-doing?” asked the goody. + </p> + <p> + “But middling; he cobbles old shoes, and he has nothing but cabbage for + victuals.” + </p> + <p> + “Deary me!” exclaimed the woman. “Didn't he send a message to me?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he did,” replied Jack Hannaford. “He said that he was out of + leather, and his pockets were empty, so you were to send him a few + shillings to buy a fresh stock of leather.” + </p> + <p> + “He shall have them, bless his poor soul!” And away went the wife to the + parlour chimney, and she pulled the rag with the ten pounds in it from the + chimney, and she gave the whole sum to the soldier, telling him that her + old man was to use as much as he wanted, and to send back the rest. + </p> + <p> + It was not long that Jack waited after receiving the money; he went off as + fast as he could walk. + </p> + <p> + Presently the farmer came home and asked for his money. The wife told him + that she had sent it by a soldier to her former husband in Paradise, to + buy him leather for cobbling the shoes of the saints and angels of Heaven. + The farmer was very angry, and he swore that he had never met with such a + fool as his wife. But the wife said that her husband was a greater fool + for letting her have the money. + </p> + <p> + There was no time to waste words; so the farmer mounted his horse and rode + off after Jack Hannaford. The old soldier heard the horse's hoofs + clattering on the road behind him, so he knew it must be the farmer + pursuing him. He lay down on the ground, and shading his eyes with one + hand, looked up into the sky, and pointed heavenwards with the other hand. + </p> + <p> + “What are you about there?” asked the farmer, pulling up. + </p> + <p> + “Lord save you!” exclaimed Jack: “I've seen a rare sight.” + </p> + <p> + “What was that?” + </p> + <p> + “A man going straight up into the sky, as if he were walking on a road.” + </p> + <p> + “Can you see him still?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I can.” + </p> + <p> + “Where?” + </p> + <p> + “Get off your horse and lie down.” + </p> + <p> + “If you will hold the horse.” + </p> + <p> + Jack did so readily. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot see him,” said the farmer. + </p> + <p> + “Shade your eyes with your hand, and you'll soon see a man flying away + from you.” + </p> + <p> + Sure enough he did so, for Jack leaped on the horse, and rode away with + it. The farmer walked home without his horse. + </p> + <p> + “You are a bigger fool than I am,” said the wife; “for I did only one + foolish thing, and you have done two.” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BINNORIE + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there were two king's daughters lived in a bower near the + bonny mill-dams of Binnorie. And Sir William came wooing the eldest and + won her love and plighted troth with glove and with ring. But after a time + he looked upon the youngest, with her cherry cheeks and golden hair, and + his love grew towards her till he cared no longer for the eldest one. So + she hated her sister for taking away Sir William's love, and day by day + her hate grew upon her, and she plotted and she planned how to get rid of + her. + </p> + <p> + So one fine morning, fair and clear, she said to her sister, “Let us go + and see our father's boats come in at the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie.” + So they went there hand in hand. And when they got to the river's bank the + youngest got upon a stone to watch for the coming of the boats. And her + sister, coming behind her, caught her round the waist and dashed her into + the rushing mill-stream of Binnorie. + </p> + <p> + “O sister, sister, reach me your hand!” she cried, as she floated away, + “and you shall have half of all I've got or shall get.” + </p> + <p> + “No, sister, I'll reach you no hand of mine, for I am the heir to all your + land. Shame on me if I touch the hand that has come 'twixt me and my own + heart's love.” + </p> + <p> + “O sister, O sister, then reach me your glove!” she cried, as she floated + further away, “and you shall have your William again.” + </p> + <p> + “Sink on,” cried the cruel princess, “no hand or glove of mine you'll + touch. Sweet William will be all mine when you are sunk beneath the bonny + mill-stream of Binnorie.” And she turned and went home to the king's + castle. + </p> + <p> + And the princess floated down the mill-stream, sometimes swimming and + sometimes sinking, till she came near the mill. Now the miller's daughter + was cooking that day, and needed water for her cooking. And as she went to + draw it from the stream, she saw something floating towards the mill-dam, + and she called out, “Father! father! draw your dam. There's something + white—a merry maid or a milk-white swan—coming down the + stream.” So the miller hastened to the dam and stopped the heavy cruel + mill-wheels. And then they took out the princess and laid her on the bank. + </p> + <p> + Fair and beautiful she looked as she lay there. In her golden hair were + pearls and precious stones; you could not see her waist for her golden + girdle; and the golden fringe of her white dress came down over her lily + feet. But she was drowned, drowned! + </p> + <p> + And as she lay there in her beauty a famous harper passed by the mill-dam + of Binnorie, and saw her sweet pale face. And though he travelled on far + away he never forgot that face, and after many days he came back to the + bonny mill-stream of Binnorie. But then all he could find of her where + they had put her to rest were her bones and her golden hair. So he made a + harp out of her breast-bone and her hair, and travelled on up the hill + from the mill-dam of Binnorie, till he came to the castle of the king her + father. + </p> + <p> + That night they were all gathered in the castle hall to hear the great + harper—king and queen, their daughter and son, Sir William and all + their Court. And first the harper sang to his old harp, making them joy + and be glad or sorrow and weep just as he liked. But while he sang he put + the harp he had made that day on a stone in the hall. And presently it + began to sing by itself, low and clear, and the harper stopped and all + were hushed. + </p> + <p> + And this was what the harp sung: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O yonder sits my father, the king, + Binnorie, O Binnorie; + And yonder sits my mother, the queen; + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie, + + “And yonder stands my brother Hugh, + Binnorie, O Binnorie; + And by him, my William, false and true; + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie.” + </pre> + <p> + Then they all wondered, and the harper told them how he had seen the + princess lying drowned on the bank near the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie, + and how he had afterwards made this harp out of her hair and breast-bone. + Just then the harp began singing again, and this was what it sang out loud + and clear: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “And there sits my sister who drownèd me + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie.” + </pre> + <p> + And the harp snapped and broke, and never sang more. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MOUSE AND MOUSER + </h2> + <p> + The Mouse went to visit the Cat, and found her sitting behind the hall + door, spinning. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. What are you doing, my lady, my lady, What are you doing, my lady? + </p> + <p> + CAT (<i>sharply</i>). I'm spinning old breeches, good body, good body I'm + spinning old breeches, good body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. Long may you wear them, my lady, my lady, Long may you wear them, + my lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT (<i>gruffly</i>). I'll wear' em and tear 'em, good body, good body. + I'll wear 'em and tear 'em, good body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. I was sweeping my room, my lady, my lady, I was sweeping my room, + my lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT. The cleaner you'd be, good body, good body, The cleaner you'd be, + good body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. I found a silver sixpence, my lady, my lady, I found a silver + sixpence, my lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT. The richer you were, good body, good body, The richer you were, good + body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. I went to the market, my lady, my lady, I went to the market, my + lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT. The further you went, good body, good body The further you went, good + body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. I bought me a pudding, my lady, my lady, I bought me a pudding, my + lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT (<i>snarling</i>). The more meat you had, good body, good body, The + more meat you had, good body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. I put it in the window to cool, my lady, I put it in the window to + cool. + </p> + <p> + CAT. (<i>sharply</i>). The faster you'd eat it, good body, good body, The + faster you'd eat it, good body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE (<i>timidly</i>). The cat came and ate it, my lady, my lady, The cat + came and ate it, my lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT (<i>pouncingly</i>). And I'll eat you, good body, good body, And I'll + eat you, good body. + </p> + <p> + (<i>Springs upon the mouse and kills it.</i>) + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CAP O' RUSHES + </h2> + <p> + Well, there was once a very rich gentleman, and he'd three daughters, and + he thought he'd see how fond they were of him. So he says to the first, + “How much do you love me, my dear?” + </p> + <p> + “Why,” says she, “as I love my life.” + </p> + <p> + “That's good,” says he. + </p> + <p> + So he says to the second, “How much do <i>you</i> love me, my dear?” + </p> + <p> + “Why,” says she, “better nor all the world.” + </p> + <p> + “That's good,” says he. + </p> + <p> + So he says to the third, “How much do <i>you</i> love me, my dear?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, I love you as fresh meat loves salt,” says she. + </p> + <p> + Well, he was that angry. “You don't love me at all,” says he, “and in my + house you stay no more.” So he drove her out there and then, and shut the + door in her face. + </p> + <p> + Well, she went away on and on till she came to a fen, and there she + gathered a lot of rushes and made them into a kind of a sort of a cloak + with a hood, to cover her from head to foot, and to hide her fine clothes. + And then she went on and on till she came to a great house. + </p> + <p> + “Do you want a maid?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “No, we don't,” said they. + </p> + <p> + “I haven't nowhere to go,” says she; “and I ask no wages, and do any sort + of work,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” says they, “if you like to wash the pots and scrape the saucepans + you may stay,” said they. + </p> + <p> + So she stayed there and washed the pots and scraped the saucepans and did + all the dirty work. And because she gave no name they called her “Cap o' + Rushes.” + </p> + <p> + Well, one day there was to be a great dance a little way off, and the + servants were allowed to go and look on at the grand people. Cap o' Rushes + said she was too tired to go, so she stayed at home. + </p> + <p> + But when they were gone she offed with her cap o' rushes, and cleaned + herself, and went to the dance. And no one there was so finely dressed as + her. + </p> + <p> + Well, who should be there but her master's son, and what should he do but + fall in love with her the minute he set eyes on her. He wouldn't dance + with any one else. + </p> + <p> + But before the dance was done Cap o' Rushes slipt off, and away she went + home. And when the other maids came back she was pretending to be asleep + with her cap o' rushes on. + </p> + <p> + Well, next morning they said to her, “You did miss a sight, Cap o' + Rushes!” + </p> + <p> + “What was that?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Why, the beautifullest lady you ever see, dressed right gay and ga'. The + young master, he never took his eyes off her.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I should have liked to have seen her,” says Cap o' Rushes. + </p> + <p> + “Well, there's to be another dance this evening, and perhaps she'll be + there.” + </p> + <p> + But, come the evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go with + them. Howsoever, when they were gone, she offed with her cap o' rushes and + cleaned herself, and away she went to the dance. + </p> + <p> + The master's son had been reckoning on seeing her, and he danced with no + one else, and never took his eyes off her. But, before the dance was over, + she slipt off, and home she went, and when the maids came back she, + pretended to be asleep with her cap o' rushes on. + </p> + <p> + Next day they said to her again, “Well, Cap o' Rushes, you should ha' been + there to see the lady. There she was again, gay and ga', and the young + master he never took his eyes off her.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, there,” says she, “I should ha' liked to ha' seen her.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” says they, “there's a dance again this evening, and you must go + with us, for she's sure to be there.” + </p> + <p> + Well, come this evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go, and + do what they would she stayed at home. But when they were gone she offed + with her cap o' rushes and cleaned herself, and away she went to the + dance. + </p> + <p> + The master's son was rarely glad when he saw her. He danced with none but + her and never took his eyes off her. When she wouldn't tell him her name, + nor where she came from, he gave her a ring and told her if he didn't see + her again he should die. + </p> + <p> + Well, before the dance was over, off she slipped, and home she went, and + when the maids came home she was pretending to be asleep with her cap o' + rushes on. + </p> + <p> + Well, next day they says to her, “There, Cap o' Rushes, you didn't come + last night, and now you won't see the lady, for there's no more dances.” + </p> + <p> + “Well I should have rarely liked to have seen her,” says she. + </p> + <p> + The master's son he tried every way to find out where the lady was gone, + but go where he might, and ask whom he might, he never heard anything + about her. And he got worse and worse for the love of her till he had to + keep his bed. + </p> + <p> + “Make some gruel for the young master,” they said to the cook. “He's dying + for the love of the lady.” The cook she set about making it when Cap o' + Rushes came in. + </p> + <p> + “What are you a-doing of?”, says she. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to make some gruel for the young master,” says the cook, “for + he's dying for love of the lady.” + </p> + <p> + “Let me make it,” says Cap o' Rushes. + </p> + <p> + Well, the cook wouldn't at first, but at last she said yes, and Cap o' + Rushes made the gruel. And when she had made it she slipped the ring into + it on the sly before the cook took it upstairs. + </p> + <p> + The young man he drank it and then he saw the ring at the bottom. + </p> + <p> + “Send for the cook,” says he. + </p> + <p> + So up she comes. + </p> + <p> + “Who made this gruel here?” says he. + </p> + <p> + “I did,” says the cook, for she was frightened. + </p> + <p> + And he looked at her, + </p> + <p> + “No, you didn't,” says he. “Say who did it, and you shan't be harmed.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, 'twas Cap o' Rushes,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Send Cap o' Rushes here,” says he. + </p> + <p> + So Cap o' Rushes came. + </p> + <p> + “Did you make my gruel?” says he. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I did,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Where did you get this ring?” says he. + </p> + <p> + “From him that gave it me,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Who are you, then?” says the young man. + </p> + <p> + “I'll show you,” says she. And she offed with her cap o' rushes, and there + she was in her beautiful clothes. + </p> + <p> + Well, the master's son he got well very soon, and they were to be married + in a little time. It was to be a very grand wedding, and every one was + asked far and near. And Cap o' Rushes' father was asked. But she never + told anybody who she was. + </p> + <p> + But before the wedding she went to the cook, and says she: + </p> + <p> + “I want you to dress every dish without a mite o' salt.” + </p> + <p> + “That'll be rare nasty,” says the cook. + </p> + <p> + “That doesn't signify,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Very well,” says the cook. + </p> + <p> + Well, the wedding-day came, and they were married. And after they were + married all the company sat down to the dinner. When they began to eat the + meat, that was so tasteless they couldn't eat it. But Cap o' Rushes' + father he tried first one dish and then another, and then he burst out + crying. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter?” said the master's son to him. + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” says he, “I had a daughter. And I asked her how much she loved me. + And she said 'As much as fresh meat loves salt.' And I turned her from my + door, for I thought she didn't love me. And now I see she loved me best of + all. And she may be dead for aught I know.” + </p> + <p> + “No, father, here she is!” says Cap o' Rushes. And she goes up to him and + puts her arms round him. + </p> + <p> + And so they were happy ever after. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TEENY-TINY + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a teeny-tiny woman lived in a teeny-tiny house + in a teeny-tiny village. Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put on her + teeny-tiny bonnet, and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take a + teeny-tiny walk. And when this teeny-tiny woman had gone a teeny-tiny way + she came to a teeny-tiny gate; so the teeny-tiny woman opened the + teeny-tiny gate, and went into a teeny-tiny churchyard. And when this + teeny-tiny woman had got into the teeny-tiny churchyard, she saw a + teeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny grave, and the teeny-tiny woman said to + her teeny-tiny self, “This teeny-tiny bone will make me some teeny-tiny + soup for my teeny-tiny supper.” So the teeny-tiny woman put the teeny-tiny + bone into her teeny-tiny pocket, and went home to her teeny-tiny house. + </p> + <p> + Now when the teeny-tiny woman got home to her teeny-tiny house she was a + teeny-tiny bit tired; so she went up her teeny-tiny stairs to her + teeny-tiny bed, and put the teeny-tiny bone into a teeny-tiny cupboard. + And when this teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep a teeny-tiny time, she + was awakened by a teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard, which + said: + </p> + <p> + “Give me my bone!” + </p> + <p> + And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny frightened, so she hid her + teeny-tiny head under the teeny-tiny clothes and went to sleep again. And + when she had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the teeny-tiny voice + again cried out from the teeny-tiny cupboard a teeny-tiny louder, “Give me + my bone!” + </p> + <p> + This made the teeny-tiny woman a teeny-tiny more frightened, so she hid + her teeny-tiny head a teeny-tiny further under the teeny-tiny clothes. And + when the teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the + teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard said again a teeny-tiny + louder, + </p> + <p> + “Give me my bone!” + </p> + <p> + And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny bit more frightened, but she + put her teeny-tiny head out of the teeny-tiny clothes, and said in her + loudest teeny-tiny voice, “TAKE IT!” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JACK AND THE BEANSTALK + </h2> + <p> + There was once upon a time a poor widow who had an only son named Jack, + and a cow named Milky-white. And all they had to live on was the milk the + cow gave every morning which they carried to the market and sold. But one + morning Milky-white gave no milk and they didn't know what to do. + </p> + <p> + “What shall we do, what shall we do?” said the widow, wringing her hands. + </p> + <p> + “Cheer up, mother, I'll go and get work somewhere,” said Jack. + </p> + <p> + “We've tried that before, and nobody would take you,” said his mother; “we + must sell Milky-white and with the money do something, start shop, or + something.” + </p> + <p> + “All right, mother,” says Jack; “it's market-day today, and I'll soon sell + Milky-white, and then we'll see what we can do.” + </p> + <p> + So he took the cow's halter in his hand, and off he starts. He hadn't gone + far when he met a funny-looking old man who said to him: “Good morning, + Jack.” + </p> + <p> + “Good morning to you,” said Jack, and wondered how he knew his name. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Jack, and where are you off to?” said the man. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to market to sell our cow here.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you look the proper sort of chap to sell cows,” said the man; “I + wonder if you know how many beans make five.” + </p> + <p> + “Two in each hand and one in your mouth,” says Jack, as sharp as a needle. + </p> + <p> + “Right you are,” said the man, “and here they are the very beans + themselves,” he went on pulling out of his pocket a number of + strange-looking beans. “As you are so sharp,” says he, “I don't mind doing + a swop with you—your cow for these beans.” + </p> + <p> + “Walker!” says Jack; “wouldn't you like it?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! you don't know what these beans are,” said the man; “if you plant + them over-night, by morning they grow right up to the sky.” + </p> + <p> + “Really?” says Jack; “you don't say so.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, that is so, and if it doesn't turn out to be true you can have your + cow back.” + </p> + <p> + “Right,” says Jack, and hands him over Milky-white's halter and pockets + the beans. + </p> + <p> + Back goes Jack home, and as he hadn't gone very far it wasn't dusk by the + time he got to his door. + </p> + <p> + “What back, Jack?” said his mother; “I see you haven't got Milky-white, so + you've sold her. How much did you get for her?” + </p> + <p> + “You'll never guess, mother,” says Jack. + </p> + <p> + “No, you don't say so. Good boy! Five pounds, ten, fifteen, no, it can't + be twenty.” + </p> + <p> + “I told you you couldn't guess, what do you say to these beans; they're + magical, plant them over-night and——” + </p> + <p> + “What!” says Jack's mother, “have you been such a fool, such a dolt, such + an idiot, as to give away my Milky-white, the best milker in the parish, + and prime beef to boot, for a set of paltry beans. Take that! Take that! + Take that! And as for your precious beans here they go out of the window. + And now off with you to bed. Not a sup shall you drink, and not a bit + shall you swallow this very night.” + </p> + <p> + So Jack went upstairs to his little room in the attic, and sad and sorry + he was, to be sure, as much for his mother's sake, as for the loss of his + supper. + </p> + <p> + At last he dropped off to sleep. + </p> + <p> + When he woke up, the room looked so funny. The sun was shining into part + of it, and yet all the rest was quite dark and shady. So Jack jumped up + and dressed himself and went to the window. And what do you think he saw? + why, the beans his mother had thrown out of the window into the garden, + had sprung up into a big beanstalk which went up and up and up till it + reached the sky. So the man spoke truth after all. + </p> + <p> + The beanstalk grew up quite close past Jack's window, so all he had to do + was to open it and give a jump on to the beanstalk which was made like a + big plaited ladder. So Jack climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he + climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last he + reached the sky. And when he got there he found a long broad road going as + straight as a dart. So he walked along and he walked along and he walked + along till he came to a great big tall house, and on the doorstep there + was a great big tall woman. + </p> + <p> + “Good morning, mum,” says Jack, quite polite-like. “Could you be so kind + as to give me some breakfast.” For he hadn't had anything to eat, you + know, the night before and was as hungry as a hunter. + </p> + <p> + “It's breakfast you want, is it?” says the great big tall woman, “it's + breakfast you'll be if you don't move off from here. My man is an ogre and + there's nothing he likes better than boys broiled on toast. You'd better + be moving on or he'll soon be coming.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! please mum, do give me something to eat, mum. I've had nothing to eat + since yesterday morning, really and truly, mum,” says Jack. “I may as well + be broiled, as die of hunger.” + </p> + <p> + Well, the ogre's wife wasn't such a bad sort, after all. So she took Jack + into the kitchen, and gave him a junk of bread and cheese and a jug of + milk. But Jack hadn't half finished these when thump! thump! thump! the + whole house began to tremble with the noise of someone coming. + </p> + <p> + “Goodness gracious me! It's my old man,” said the ogre's wife, “what on + earth shall I do? Here, come quick and jump in here.” And she bundled Jack + into the oven just as the ogre came in. + </p> + <p> + He was a big one, to be sure. At his belt he had three calves strung up by + the heels, and he unhooked them and threw them down on the table and said: + “Here, wife, broil me a couple of these for breakfast. Ah what's this I + smell? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Fee-fi-fo-fum, + I smell the blood of an Englishman, + Be he alive, or be he dead + I'll have his bones to grind my bread.” + </pre> + <p> + “Nonsense, dear,” said his wife, “you're dreaming. Or perhaps you smell + the scraps of that little boy you liked so much for yesterday's dinner. + Here, go you and have a wash and tidy up, and by the time you come back + your breakfast'll be ready for you.” + </p> + <p> + So the ogre went off, and Jack was just going to jump out of the oven and + run off when the woman told him not. “Wait till he's asleep,” says she; + “he always has a snooze after breakfast.” + </p> + <p> + Well, the ogre had his breakfast, and after that he goes to a big chest + and takes out of it a couple of bags of gold and sits down counting them + till at last his head began to nod and he began to snore till the whole + house shook again. + </p> + <p> + Then Jack crept out on tiptoe from his oven, and as he was passing the + ogre he took one of the bags of gold under his arm, and off he pelters + till he came to the beanstalk, and then he threw down the bag of gold + which of course fell in to his mother's garden, and then he climbed down + and climbed down till at last he got home and told his mother and showed + her the gold and said: “Well, mother, wasn't I right about the beans. They + are really magical, you see.” + </p> + <p> + So they lived on the bag of gold for some time, but at last they came to + the end of that so Jack made up his mind to try his luck once more up at + the top of the beanstalk. So one fine morning he got up early, and got on + to the beanstalk, and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he + climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last he got on the road + again and came to the great big tall house he had been to before. There, + sure enough, was the great big tall woman a-standing on the door-step. + </p> + <p> + “Good morning, mum,” says Jack, as bold as brass, “could you be so good as + to give me something to eat?” + </p> + <p> + “Go away, my boy,” said the big, tall woman, “or else my man will eat you + up for breakfast. But aren't you the youngster who came here once before? + Do you know, that very day, my man missed one of his bags of gold.” + </p> + <p> + “That's strange, mum,” says Jack, “I dare say I could tell you something + about that but I'm so hungry I can't speak till I've had something to + eat.” + </p> + <p> + Well the big tall woman was that curious that she took him in and gave him + something to eat. But he had scarcely begun munching it as slowly as he + could when thump! thump! thump! they heard the giant's footstep, and his + wife hid Jack away in the oven. + </p> + <p> + All happened as it did before. In came the ogre as he did before, said: + “Fee-fi-fo-fum,” and had his breakfast off three broiled oxen. Then he + said: “Wife, bring me the hen that lays the golden eggs.” So she brought + it, and the ogre said: “Lay,” and it laid an egg all of gold. And then the + ogre began to nod his head, and to snore till the house shook. + </p> + <p> + Then Jack crept out of the oven on tiptoe and caught hold of the golden + hen, and was off before you could say “Jack Robinson.” But this time the + hen gave a cackle which woke the ogre, and just as Jack got out of the + house he heard him calling: “Wife, wife, what have you done with my golden + hen?” + </p> + <p> + And the wife said: “Why, my dear?” + </p> + <p> + But that was all Jack heard, for he rushed off to the beanstalk and + climbed down like a house on fire. And when he got home he showed his + mother the wonderful hen and said “Lay,” to it; and it laid a golden egg + every time he said “Lay.” + </p> + <p> + Well, Jack was not content, and it wasn't very long before he determined + to have another try at his luck up there at the top of the beanstalk. So + one fine morning, he got up early, and went on to the beanstalk, and he + climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till he got to the + top. But this time he knew better than to go straight to the ogre's house. + And when he got near it he waited behind a bush till he saw the ogre's + wife come out with a pail to get some water, and then he crept into the + house and got into the copper. He hadn't been there long when he heard + thump! thump! thump! as before, and in come the ogre and his wife. + </p> + <p> + “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman,” cried out the ogre; + “I smell him, wife, I smell him.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you, my dearie?” says the ogre's wife. “Then if it's that little rogue + that stole your gold and the hen that laid the golden eggs he's sure to + have got into the oven.” And they both rushed to the oven. But Jack wasn't + there, luckily, and the ogre's wife said: “There you are again with your + fee-fi-fo-fum. Why of course it's the laddie you caught last night that + I've broiled for your breakfast. How forgetful I am, and how careless you + are not to tell the difference between a live un and a dead un.” + </p> + <p> + So the ogre sat down to the breakfast and ate it, but every now and then + he would mutter: “Well, I could have sworn——” and he'd get up + and search the larder and the cupboards, and everything, only luckily he + didn't think of the copper. + </p> + <p> + After breakfast was over, the ogre called out: “Wife, wife, bring me my + golden harp.” So she brought it and put it on the table before him. Then + he said: “Sing!” and the golden harp sang most beautifully. And it went on + singing till the ogre fell asleep, and commenced to snore like thunder. + </p> + <p> + Then Jack lifted up the copper-lid very quietly and got down like a mouse + and crept on hands and knees till he got to the table when he got up and + caught hold of the golden harp and dashed with it towards the door. But + the harp called out quite loud: “Master! Master!” and the ogre woke up + just in time to see Jack running off with his harp. + </p> + <p> + Jack ran as fast as he could, and the ogre came rushing after, and would + soon have caught him only Jack had a start and dodged him a bit and knew + where he was going. When he got to the beanstalk the ogre was not more + than twenty yards away when suddenly he saw Jack disappear like, and when + he got up to the end of the road he saw Jack underneath climbing down for + dear life. Well, the ogre didn't like trusting himself to such a ladder, + and he stood and waited, so Jack got another start. But just then the harp + cried out: “Master! master!” and the ogre swung himself down on to the + beanstalk which shook with his weight. Down climbs Jack, and after him + climbed the ogre. By this time Jack had climbed down and climbed down and + climbed down till he was very nearly home. So he called out: “Mother! + mother! bring me an axe, bring me an axe.” And his mother came rushing out + with the axe in her hand, but when she came to the beanstalk she stood + stock still with fright for there she saw the ogre just coming down below + the clouds. + </p> + <p> + But Jack jumped down and got hold of the axe and gave a chop at the + beanstalk which cut it half in two. The ogre felt the beanstalk shake and + quiver so he stopped to see what was the matter. Then Jack gave another + chop with the axe, and the beanstalk was cut in two and began to topple + over. Then the ogre fell down and broke his crown, and the beanstalk came + toppling after. + </p> + <p> + Then Jack showed his mother his golden harp, and what with showing that + and selling the golden eggs, Jack and his mother became very rich, and he + married a great princess, and they lived happy ever after. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme + And monkeys chewed tobacco, + And hens took snuff to make them tough, + And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O! +</pre> + <p> + There was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough to + keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune. The first that went + off met a man with a bundle of straw, and said to him: + </p> + <p> + “Please, man, give me that straw to build me a house.” + </p> + <p> + Which the man did, and the little pig built a house with it. Presently + came along a wolf, and knocked at the door, and said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” + </p> + <p> + To which the pig answered: + </p> + <p> + “No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.” + </p> + <p> + The wolf then answered to that: + </p> + <p> + “Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.” + </p> + <p> + So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew his house in, and ate up the + little pig. + </p> + <p> + The second little pig met a man with a bundle of furze, and said: + </p> + <p> + “Please, man, give me that furze to build a house.” + </p> + <p> + Which the man did, and the pig built his house. Then along came the wolf, + and said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I'll puff, and I'll huff, and I'll blow your house in.” + </p> + <p> + So he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed, and he huffed, and at last he + blew the house down, and he ate up the little pig. + </p> + <p> + The third little pig met a man with a load of bricks, and said: + </p> + <p> + “Please, man, give me those bricks to build a house with.” + </p> + <p> + So the man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them. So the + wolf came, as he did to the other little pigs, and said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.” + </p> + <p> + Well, he huffed, and he puffed, and he huffed and he puffed, and he puffed + and huffed; but he could <i>not</i> get the house down. When he found that + he could not, with all his huffing and puffing, blow the house down, he + said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips.” + </p> + <p> + “Where?” said the little pig. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, in Mr. Smith's Home-field, and if you will be ready tomorrow morning + I will call for you, and we will go together, and get some for dinner.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well,” said the little pig, “I will be ready. What time do you mean + to go?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, at six o'clock.” + </p> + <p> + Well, the little pig got up at five, and got the turnips before the wolf + came (which he did about six) and who said: + </p> + <p> + “Little Pig, are you ready?” + </p> + <p> + The little pig said: “Ready! I have been and come back again, and got a + nice potful for dinner.” + </p> + <p> + The wolf felt very angry at this, but thought that he would be up to the + little pig somehow or other, so he said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, I know where there is a nice apple-tree.” + </p> + <p> + “Where?” said the pig. + </p> + <p> + “Down at Merry-garden,” replied the wolf, “and if you will not deceive me + I will come for you, at five o'clock tomorrow and get some apples.” + </p> + <p> + Well, the little pig bustled up the next morning at four o'clock, and went + off for the apples, hoping to get back before the wolf came; but he had + further to go, and had to climb the tree, so that just as he was coming + down from it, he saw the wolf coming, which, as you may suppose, + frightened him very much. When the wolf came up he said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, what! are you here before me? Are they nice apples?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, very,” said the little pig. “I will throw you down one.” + </p> + <p> + And he threw it so far, that, while the wolf was gone to pick it up, the + little pig jumped down and ran home. The next day the wolf came again, and + said to the little pig: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, there is a fair at Shanklin this afternoon, will you go?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes,” said the pig, “I will go; what time shall you be ready?” + </p> + <p> + “At three,” said the wolf. So the little pig went off before the time as + usual, and got to the fair, and bought a butter-churn, which he was going + home with, when he saw the wolf coming. Then he could not tell what to do. + So he got into the churn to hide, and by so doing turned it round, and it + rolled down the hill with the pig in it, which frightened the wolf so + much, that he ran home without going to the fair. He went to the little + pig's house, and told him how frightened he had been by a great round + thing which came down the hill past him. Then the little pig said: + </p> + <p> + “Hah, I frightened you, then. I had been to the fair and bought a + butter-churn, and when I saw you, I got into it, and rolled down the + hill.” + </p> + <p> + Then the wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he <i>would</i> eat up + the little pig, and that he would get down the chimney after him. When the + little pig saw what he was about, he hung on the pot full of water, and + made up a blazing fire, and, just as the wolf was coming down, took off + the cover, and in fell the wolf; so the little pig put on the cover again + in an instant, boiled him up, and ate him for supper, and lived happy ever + afterwards. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL + </h2> + <p> + There was once a very learned man in the north-country who knew all the + languages under the sun, and who was acquainted with all the mysteries of + creation. He had one big book bound in black calf and clasped with iron, + and with iron corners, and chained to a table which was made fast to the + floor; and when he read out of this book, he unlocked it with an iron key, + and none but he read from it, for it contained all the secrets of the + spiritual world. It told how many angels there were in heaven, and how + they marched in their ranks, and sang in their quires, and what were their + several functions, and what was the name of each great angel of might. And + it told of the demons, how many of them there were, and what were their + several powers, and their labours, and their names, and how they might be + summoned, and how tasks might be imposed on them, and how they might be + chained to be as slaves to man. + </p> + <p> + Now the master had a pupil who was but a foolish lad, and he acted as + servant to the great master, but never was he suffered to look into the + black book, hardly to enter the private room. + </p> + <p> + One day the master was out, and then the lad, as curious as could be, + hurried to the chamber where his master kept his wondrous apparatus for + changing copper into gold, and lead into silver, and where was his mirror + in which he could see all that was passing in the world, and where was the + shell which when held to the ear whispered all the words that were being + spoken by anyone the master desired to know about. The lad tried in vain + with the crucibles to turn copper and lead into gold and silver—he + looked long and vainly into the mirror; smoke and clouds passed over it, + but he saw nothing plain, and the shell to his ear produced only + indistinct murmurings, like the breaking of distant seas on an unknown + shore. “I can do nothing,” he said; “as I don't know the right words to + utter, and they are locked up in yon book.” + </p> + <p> + He looked round, and, see! the book was unfastened; the master had + forgotten to lock it before he went out. The boy rushed to it, and + unclosed the volume. It was written with red and black ink, and much of it + he could not understand; but he put his finger on a line and spelled it + through. + </p> + <p> + At once the room was darkened, and the house trembled; a clap of thunder + rolled through the passage and the old room, and there stood before him a + horrible, horrible form, breathing fire, and with eyes like burning lamps. + It was the demon Beelzebub, whom he had called up to serve him. + </p> + <p> + “Set me a task!” said he, with a voice like the roaring of an iron + furnace. + </p> + <p> + The boy only trembled, and his hair stood up. + </p> + <p> + “Set me a task, or I shall strangle thee!” + </p> + <p> + But the lad could not speak. Then the evil spirit stepped towards him, and + putting forth his hands touched his throat. The fingers burned his flesh. + “Set me a task!” + </p> + <p> + “Water yon flower,” cried the boy in despair, pointing to a geranium which + stood in a pot on the floor. Instantly the spirit left the room, but in + another instant he returned with a barrel on his back, and poured its + contents over the flower; and again and again he went and came, and poured + more and more water, till the floor of the room was ankle-deep. + </p> + <p> + “Enough, enough!” gasped the lad; but the demon heeded him not; the lad + didn't know the words by which to send him away, and still he fetched + water. + </p> + <p> + It rose to the boy's knees and still more water was poured. It mounted to + his waist, and Beelzebub still kept on bringing barrels full. It rose to + his armpits, and he scrambled to the table-top. And now the water in the + room stood up to the window and washed against the glass, and swirled + around his feet on the table. It still rose; it reached his breast. In + vain he cried; the evil spirit would not be dismissed, and to this day he + would have been pouring water, and would have drowned all Yorkshire. But + the master remembered on his journey that he had not locked his book, and + therefore returned, and at the moment when the water was bubbling about + the pupil's chin, rushed into the room and spoke the words which cast + Beelzebub back into his fiery home. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE + </h2> + <h3> + Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse both lived in a house, + </h3> + <p> + Titty Mouse went a leasing and Tatty Mouse went a leasing, + </p> + <p> + So they both went a leasing. + </p> + <p> + Titty Mouse leased an ear of corn, and Tatty Mouse leased an ear of corn, + </p> + <p> + So they both leased an ear of corn. + </p> + <p> + Titty Mouse made a pudding, and Tatty Mouse made a pudding, + </p> + <p> + So they both made a pudding. + </p> + <p> + And Tatty Mouse put her pudding into the pot to boil, + </p> + <p> + But when Titty went to put hers in, the pot tumbled over, and scalded her + to death. + </p> + <p> + Then Tatty sat down and wept; then a three-legged stool said: “Tatty, why + do you weep?” “Titty's dead,” said Tatty, “and so I weep;” “then,” said + the stool, “I'll hop,” so the stool hopped. + </p> + <p> + Then a broom in the corner of the room said, “Stool, why do you hop?” + “Oh!” said the stool, “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and so I hop;” + “then,” said the broom, “I'll sweep,” so the broom began to sweep. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the door, “Broom, why do you sweep?” “Oh!” said the broom, + “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and so I sweep;” + “Then,” said the door, “I'll jar,” so the door jarred. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the window, “Door, why do you jar?” “Oh!” said the door, + “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, + and so I jar.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the window, “I'll creak,” so the window creaked. Now there + was an old form outside the house, and when the window creaked, the form + said: “Window, why do you creak?” “Oh!” said the window, “Titty's dead, + and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, + and so I creak.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the old form, “I'll run round the house;” then the old form + ran round the house. Now there was a fine large walnut-tree growing by the + cottage, and the tree said to the form: “Form, why do you run round the + house?” “Oh!” said the form, “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool + hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, and so I + run round the house.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the walnut-tree, “I'll shed my leaves,” so the walnut-tree + shed all its beautiful green leaves. Now there was a little bird perched + on one of the boughs of the tree, and when all the leaves fell, it said: + “Walnut-tree, why do you shed your leaves?” “Oh!” said the tree, “Titty's + dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door + jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the house, and so I + shed my leaves.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the little bird, “I'll moult all my feathers,” so he moulted + all his pretty feathers. Now there was a little girl walking below, + carrying a jug of milk for her brothers and sisters' supper, and when she + saw the poor little bird moult all its feathers, she said: “Little bird, + why do you moult all your feathers?” “Oh!” said the little bird, “Titty's + dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door + jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the house, the + walnut-tree sheds its leaves, and so I moult all my feathers.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the little girl, “I'll spill the milk,” so she dropt the + pitcher and spilt the milk. Now there was an old man just by on the top of + a ladder thatching a rick, and when he saw the little girl spill the milk, + he said: “Little girl, what do you mean by spilling the milk, your little + brothers and sisters must go without their supper.” Then said the little + girl: “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom + sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the + house, the walnut-tree sheds all its leaves, the little bird moults all + its feathers, and so I spill the milk.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” said the old man, “then I'll tumble off the ladder and break my + neck,” so he tumbled off the ladder and broke his neck; and when the old + man broke his neck, the great walnut-tree fell down with a crash, and + upset the old form and house, and the house falling knocked the window + out, and the window knocked the door down, and the door upset the broom, + and the broom upset the stool, and poor little Tatty Mouse was buried + beneath the ruins. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it was neither in my + time nor in your time nor in any one else's time, there was an old man and + an old woman, and they had one son, and they lived in a great forest. And + their son never saw any other people in his life, but he knew that there + was some more in the world besides his own father and mother, because he + had lots of books, and he used to read every day about them. And when he + read about some pretty young women, he used to go mad to see some of them; + till one day, when his father was out cutting wood, he told his mother + that he wished to go away to look for his living in some other country, + and to see some other people besides them two. And he said, “I see nothing + at all here but great trees around me; and if I stay here, maybe I shall + go mad before I see anything.” The young man's father was out all this + time, when this talk was going on between him and his poor old mother. + </p> + <p> + The old woman begins by saying to her son before leaving, “Well, well, my + poor boy, if you want to go, it's better for you to go, and God be with + you.”—(The old woman thought for the best when she said that.)—“But + stop a bit before you go. Which would you like best for me to make you, a + little cake and bless you, or a big cake and curse you?” “Dear, dear!” + said he, “make me a big cake. Maybe I shall be hungry on the road.” The + old woman made the big cake, and she went on top of the house, and she + cursed him as far as she could see him. + </p> + <p> + He presently meets with his father, and the old man says to him: “Where + are you going, my poor boy?” when the son told the father the same tale as + he told his mother. “Well,” says his father, “I'm sorry to see you going + away, but if you've made your mind to go, it's better for you to go.” + </p> + <p> + The poor lad had not gone far, when his father called him back; then the + old man drew out of his pocket a golden snuff-box, and said to him: “Here, + take this little box, and put it in your pocket, and be sure not to open + it till you are near your death.” And away went poor Jack upon his road, + and walked till he was tired and hungry, for he had eaten all his cake + upon the road; and by this time night was upon him, so he could hardly see + his way before him. He could see some light a long way before him, and he + made up to it, and found the back door and knocked at it, till one of the + maid-servants came and asked him what he wanted. He said that night was on + him, and he wanted to get some place to sleep. The maid-servant called him + in to the fire, and gave him plenty to eat, good meat and bread and beer; + and as he was eating his food by the fire, there came the young lady to + look at him, and she loved him well and he loved her. And the young lady + ran to tell her father, and said there was a pretty young man in the back + kitchen; and immediately the gentleman came to him, and questioned him, + and asked what work he could do. Jack said, the silly fellow, that he + could do anything. (He meant that he could do any foolish bit of work, + that would be wanted about the house.) + </p> + <p> + “Well,” says the gentleman to him, “if you can do anything, at eight + o'clock in the morning I must have a great lake and some of-the largest + man-of-war vessels sailing before my mansion, and one of the largest + vessels must fire a royal salute, and the last round must break the leg of + the bed where my young daughter is sleeping. And if you don't do that, you + will have to forfeit your life.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” said Jack; and away he went to his bed, and said his prayers + quietly, and slept till it was near eight o'clock, and he had hardly any + time to think what he was to do, till all of a sudden he remembered about + the little golden box that his father gave him. And he said to himself: + “Well, well, I never was so near my death as I am now;” and then he felt + in his pocket, and drew the little box out. And when he opened it, out + there hopped three little red men, and asked Jack: “What is your will with + us?” “Well,” said Jack, “I want a great lake and some of the largest + man-of-war vessels in the world before this mansion, and one of the + largest vessels to fire a royal salute, and the last round to break one of + the legs of the bed where this young lady is sleeping.” “All right,” said + the little men; “go to sleep.” + </p> + <p> + Jack had hardly time to bring the words out of his mouth, to tell the + little men what to do, but what it struck eight o'clock, when Bang, bang + went one of the largest man-of-war vessels; and it made Jack jump out of + bed to look through the window; and I can assure you it was a wonderful + sight for him to see, after being so long with his father and mother + living in a wood. + </p> + <p> + By this time Jack dressed himself, and said his prayers, and came down + laughing; for he was proud, he was, because the thing was done so well. + The gentleman comes to him, and says to him: “Well, my young man, I must + say that you are very clever indeed. Come and have some breakfast.” And + the gentleman tells him, “Now there are two more things you have to do, + and then you shall have my daughter in marriage.” Jack gets his breakfast, + and has a good squint at the young lady, and also she at him. + </p> + <p> + The other thing that the gentleman told him to do was to fell all the + great trees for miles around by eight o'clock in the morning; and, to make + my long story short, it was done, and it pleased the gentleman well The + gentleman said to him: “The other thing you have to do”—(and it was + the last thing)—“you must get me a great castle standing on twelve + golden pillars; and there must come regiments of soldiers and go through + their drill. At eight o'clock the commanding officer must say, 'Shoulder + up.'” “All right,” said Jack; when the third and last morning came the + third great feat was finished, and he had the young daughter in marriage. + But, oh dear! there is worse to come yet. + </p> + <p> + The gentleman now makes a large hunting party, and invites all the + gentlemen around the country to it, and to see the castle as well. And by + this time Jack has a beautiful horse and a scarlet dress to go with them. + On that morning his valet, when putting Jack's clothes by, after changing + them to go a hunting, put his hand in one of Jack's waistcoat-pockets, and + pulled out the little golden snuffbox, as poor Jack left behind in a + mistake. And that man opened the little box, and there hopped the three + little red men out, and asked him what he wanted with them. “Well,” said + the valet to them, “I want this castle to be moved from this place far and + far across the sea.” “All right,” said the little red men to him; “do you + wish to go with it?” “Yes,” said he. “Well, get up,” said they to him; and + away they went far and far over the great sea. + </p> + <p> + Now the grand hunting party comes back, and the castle upon the twelve + golden pillars had disappeared, to the great disappointment of those + gentlemen as did not see it before. That poor silly Jack is threatened by + taking his beautiful young wife from him, for taking them in in the way he + did. But the gentleman at last made an agreement with him, and he is to + have a twelvemonths and a day to look for it; and off he goes with a good + horse and money in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + Now poor Jack goes in search of his missing castle, over hills, dales, + valleys, and mountains, through woolly woods and sheepwalks, further than + I can tell you or ever intend to tell you. Until at last he comes up to + the place where lives the King of all the little mice in the world. There + was one of the little mice on sentry at the front gate going up to the + palace, and did try to stop Jack from going in. He asked the little mouse: + “Where does the King live? I should like to see him.” This one sent + another with him to show him the place; and when the King saw him, he + called him in. And the King questioned him, and asked him where he was + going that way. Well, Jack told him all the truth, that he had lost the + great castle, and was going to look for it, and he had a whole + twelvemonths and a day to find it out. And Jack asked him whether he knew + anything about it; and the King said: “No, but I am the King of all the + little mice in the world, and I will call them all up in the morning, and + maybe they have seen something of it.” + </p> + <p> + Then Jack got a good meal and bed, and in the morning he and the King went + on to the fields; and the King called all the mice together, and asked + them whether they had seen the great beautiful castle standing on golden + pillars. And all the little mice said, No, there was none of them had seen + it. The old King said to him that he had two other brothers: “One is the + King of all the frogs; and my other brother, who is the oldest, he is the + King of all the birds in the world. And if you go there, may be they know + something about the missing castle.” The King said to him: “Leave your + horse here with me till you come back, and take one of my best horses + under you, and give this cake to my brother; he will know then who you got + it from. Mind and tell him I am well, and should like dearly to see him.” + And then the King and Jack shook hands together. + </p> + <p> + And when Jack was going through the gates, the little mouse asked him, + should he go with him; and Jack said to him: “No, I shall get myself into + trouble with the King.” And the little thing told him: “It will be better + for you to let me go with you; maybe I shall do some good to you some time + without you knowing it.” “Jump up, then.” And the little mouse ran up the + horse's leg, and made it dance; and Jack put the mouse in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + Now Jack, after wishing good morning to the King and pocketing the little + mouse which was on sentry, trudged on his way; and such a long way he had + to go and this was his first day. At last he found the place; and there + was one of the frogs on sentry, and gun upon his shoulder, and did try to + hinder Jack from going in; but when Jack said to him that he wanted to see + the King, he allowed him to pass; and Jack made up to the door. The King + came out, and asked him his business; and Jack told him all from beginning + to end. “Well, well, come in.” He gets good entertainment that night; and + in the morning the King made such a funny sound, and collected all the + frogs in the world. And he asked them, did they know or see anything of a + castle that stood upon twelve golden pillars; and they all made a curious + sound, <i>Kro-kro, kro-kro</i>, and said, No. + </p> + <p> + Jack had to take another horse, and a cake to this King's brother, who is + the King of all the fowls of the air; and as Jack was going through the + gates, the little frog that was on sentry asked John should he go with + him. Jack refused him for a bit; but at last he told him to jump up, and + Jack put him in his other waistcoat pocket. And away he went again on his + great long journey; it was three times as long this time as it was the + first day; however, he found the place, and there was a fine bird on + sentry. And Jack passed him, and he never said a word to him; and he + talked with the King, and told him everything, all about the castle. + “Well,” said the King to him, “you shall know in the morning from my + birds, whether they know anything or not.” Jack put up his horse in the + stable, and then went to bed, after having something to eat. And when he + got up in the morning the King and he went on to some field, and there the + King made some funny noise, and there came all the fowls that were in all + the world. And the King asked them; “Did they see the fine castle?” and + all the birds answered, No. “Well,” said the King, “where is the great + bird?” They had to wait then for a long time for the eagle to make his + appearance, when at last he came all in a perspiration, after sending two + little birds high up in the sky to whistle on him to make all the haste he + possibly could. The King asked the great bird, Did he see the great + castle? and the bird said: “Yes, I came from there where it now is.” + “Well,” says the King to him; “this young gentleman has lost it, and you + must go with him back to it; but stop till you get a bit of something to + eat first.” + </p> + <p> + They killed a thief, and sent the best part of it to feed the eagle on his + journey over the seas, and had to carry Jack on his back. Now when they + came in sight of the castle, they did not know what to do to get the + little golden box. Well, the little mouse said to them: “Leave me down, + and I will get the little box for you.” So the mouse stole into the + castle, and got hold of the box; and when he was coming down the stairs, + it fell down, and he was very near being caught. He came running out with + it, laughing his best. “Have you got it?” Jack said to him; he said: + “Yes;” and off they went back again, and left the castle behind. + </p> + <p> + As they were all of them (Jack, mouse, frog, and eagle) passing over the + great sea, they fell to quarrelling about which it was that got the little + box, till down it slipped into the water. (It was by them looking at it + and handing it from one hand to the other that they dropped the little box + to the bottom of the sea.) “Well, well,” said the frog, “I knew that I + would have to do something, so you had better let me go down in the + water.” And they let him go, and he was down for three days and three + nights; and up he comes, and shows his nose and little mouth out of the + water; and all of them asked him, Did he get it? and he told them, No. + “Well, what are you doing there, then?” “Nothing at all,” he said, “only I + want my full breath;” and the poor little frog went down the second time, + and he was down for a day and a night, and up he brings it. + </p> + <p> + And away they did go, after being there four days and nights; and after a + long tug over seas and mountains, arrive at the palace of the old King, + who is the master of all the birds in the world. And the King is very + proud to see them, and has a hearty welcome and a long conversation. Jack + opens the little box, and told the little men to go back and to bring the + castle here to them; “and all of you make as much haste back again as you + possibly can.” + </p> + <p> + The three little men went off; and when they came near the castle they + were afraid to go to it till the gentleman and lady and all the servants + were gone out to some dance. And there was no one left behind there only + the cook and another maid with her; and the little red men asked them + which would they rather—go, or stop behind? and they both said: “I + will go with you;” and the little men told them to run upstairs quick. + They were no sooner up and in one of the drawing-rooms than here comes + just in sight the gentleman and lady and all the servants; but it was too + late. Off the castle went at full speed, with the women laughing at them + through the window, while they made motions for them to stop, but all to + no purpose. + </p> + <p> + They were nine days on their journey, in which they did try to keep the + Sunday holy, when one of the little men turned to be the priest, the other + the clerk, and third presided at the organ, and the women were the + singers, for they had a grand chapel in the castle already. Very + remarkable, there was a discord made in the music, and one of the little + men ran up one of the organ-pipes to see where the bad sound came from, + when he found out it only happened to be that the two women were laughing + at the little red man stretching his little legs full length on the bass + pipes, also his two arms the same time, with his little red night-cap, + which he never forgot to wear, and what they never witnessed before, could + not help calling forth some good merriment while on the face of the deep. + And poor thing! through them not going on with what they begun with, they + very near came to danger, as the castle was once very near sinking in the + middle of the sea. + </p> + <p> + At length, after a merry journey, they come again to Jack and the King. + The King was quite struck with the sight of the castle; and going up the + golden stairs, went to see the inside. + </p> + <p> + The King was very much pleased with the castle, but poor Jack's time of a + twelvemonths and a day was drawing to a close; and he, wishing to go home + to his young wife, gives orders to the three little men to get ready by + the next morning at eight o'clock to be off to the next brother, and to + stop there for one night; also to proceed from there to the last or the + youngest brother, the master of all the mice in the world, in such place + where the castle shall be left under his care until it's sent for. Jack + takes a farewell of the King, and thanks him very much for his + hospitality. + </p> + <p> + Away went Jack and his castle again, and stopped one night in that place; + and away they went again to the third place, and there left the castle + under his care. As Jack had to leave the castle behind, he had to take to + his own horse, which he left there when he first started. + </p> + <p> + Now poor Jack leaves his castle behind and faces towards home; and after + having so much merriment with the three brothers every night, Jack became + sleepy on horseback, and would have lost the road if it was not for the + little men a-guiding him. At last he arrived weary and tired, and they did + not seem to receive him with any kindness whatever, because he had not + found the stolen castle; and to make it worse, he was disappointed in not + seeing his young and beautiful wife to come and meet him, through being + hindered by her parents. But that did not stop long. Jack put full power + on and despatched the little men off to bring the castle from there, and + they soon got there. + </p> + <p> + Jack shook hands with the King, and returned many thanks for his kingly + kindness in minding the castle for him; and then Jack instructed the + little men to spur up and put speed on. And off they went, and were not + long before they reached their journey's end, when out comes the young + wife to meet him with a fine lump of a young SON, and they all lived happy + ever afterwards. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there were Three Bears, who lived together in a house of + their own, in a wood. One of them was a Little, Small Wee Bear; and one + was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear. They had + each a pot for their porridge, a little pot for the Little, Small, Wee + Bear; and a middle-sized pot for the Middle Bear, and a great pot for the + Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit in; a little chair for + the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized chair for the Middle Bear; + and a great chair for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a bed to + sleep in; a little bed for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized + bed for the Middle Bear; and a great bed for the Great, Huge Bear. + </p> + <p> + One day, after they had made the porridge for their breakfast, and poured + it into their porridge-pots, they walked out into the wood while the + porridge was cooling, that they might not burn their mouths, by beginning + too soon to eat it. And while they were walking, a little old Woman came + to the house. She could not have been a good, honest old Woman; for first + she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in at the keyhole; and + seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch. The door was not + fastened, because the Bears were good Bears, who did nobody any harm, and + never suspected that anybody would harm them. So the little old Woman + opened the door, and went in; and well pleased she was when she saw the + porridge on the table. If she had been a good little old Woman, she would + have waited till the Bears came home, and then, perhaps, they would have + asked her to breakfast; for they were good Bears—a little rough or + so, as the manner of Bears is, but for all that very good-natured and + hospitable. But she was an impudent, bad old Woman, and set about helping + herself. + </p> + <p> + So first she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was too + hot for her; and she said a bad word about that. And then she tasted the + porridge of the Middle Bear, and that was too cold for her; and she said a + bad word about that too. And then she went to the porridge of the Little, + Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that; and that was neither too hot, nor too + cold, but just right; and she liked it so well, that she ate it all up: + but the naughty old Woman said a bad word about the little porridge-pot, + because it did not hold enough for her. + </p> + <p> + Then the little old Woman sate down in the chair of the Great, Huge Bear, + and that was too hard for her. And then she sate down in the chair of the + Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sate down in the + chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither too hard, nor + too soft, but just right. So she seated herself in it, and there she sate + till the bottom of the chair came out, and down she came, plump upon the + ground. And the naughty old Woman said a wicked word about that too. + </p> + <p> + Then the little old Woman went upstairs into the bed-chamber in which the + three Bears slept. And first she lay down upon the bed of the Great, Huge + Bear; but that was too high at the head for her. And next she lay down + upon the bed of the Middle Bear; and that was too high at the foot for + her. And then she lay down upon the bed of the Little, Small, Wee Bear; + and that was neither too high at the head, nor at the foot, but just + right. So she covered herself up comfortably, and lay there till she fell + fast asleep. + </p> + <p> + By this time the Three Bears thought their porridge would be cool enough; + so they came home to breakfast. Now the little old Woman had left the + spoon of the Great, Huge Bear, standing in his porridge. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been at my porridge!” + </p> + <p> + said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. And when the + Middle Bear looked at his, he saw that the spoon was standing in it too. + They were wooden spoons; if they had been silver ones, the naughty old + Woman would have put them in her pocket. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been at my porridge!” + </p> + <p> + said the Middle Bear in his middle voice. + </p> + <p> + Then the Little, Small, Wee Bear looked at his, and there was the spoon in + the porridge-pot, but the porridge was all gone. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been at my porridge, and has eaten it all up!” + </p> + <p> + said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + </p> + <p> + Upon this the Three Bears, seeing that some one had entered their house, + and eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear's breakfast, began to look about + them. Now the little old Woman had not put the hard cushion straight when + she rose from the chair of the Great, Huge Bear. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been sitting in my chair!” + </p> + <p> + said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. + </p> + <p> + And the little old Woman had squatted down the soft cushion of the Middle + Bear. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been sitting in my chair!” + </p> + <p> + said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice. + </p> + <p> + And you know what the little old Woman had done to the third chair. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been sitting in my chair and has sate the bottom out of it!” + </p> + <p> + said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + </p> + <p> + Then the Three Bears thought it necessary that they should make farther + search; so they went upstairs into their bedchamber. Now the little old + Woman had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear, out of its place. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been lying in my bed!” + </p> + <p> + said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. + </p> + <p> + And the little old Woman had pulled the bolster of the Middle Bear out of + its place. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been lying in my bed!” + </p> + <p> + said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice. + </p> + <p> + And when the Little, Small, Wee Bear came to look at his bed, there was + the bolster in its place; and the pillow in its place upon the bolster; + and upon the pillow was the little old Woman's ugly, dirty head,—which + was not in its place, for she had no business there. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been lying in my bed,—and here she is!” + </p> + <p> + said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + </p> + <p> + The little old Woman had heard in her sleep the great, rough, gruff voice + of the Great, Huge Bear; but she was so fast asleep that it was no more to + her than the roaring of wind, or the rumbling of thunder. And she had + heard the middle voice, of the Middle Bear, but it was only as if she had + heard some one speaking in a dream. But when she heard the little, small, + wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, it was so sharp, and so shrill, + that it awakened her at once. Up she started; and when she saw the Three + Bears on one side of the bed, she tumbled herself out at the other, and + ran to the window. Now the window was open, because the Bears, like good, + tidy Bears, as they were, always opened their bedchamber window when they + got up in the morning. Out the little old Woman jumped; and whether she + broke her neck in the fall; or ran into the wood and was lost there; or + found her way out of the wood, and was taken up by the constable and sent + to the House of Correction for a vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But + the Three Bears never saw anything more of her. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JACK THE GIANT-KILLER + </h2> + <p> + When good King Arthur reigned, there lived near the Land's End of England, + in the county of Cornwall, a farmer who had one only son called Jack. He + was brisk and of a ready lively wit, so that nobody or nothing could worst + him. + </p> + <p> + In those days the Mount of Cornwall was kept by a huge giant named + Cormoran. He was eighteen feet in height, and about three yards round the + waist, of a fierce and grim countenance, the terror of all the + neighbouring towns and villages. He lived in a cave in the midst of the + Mount, and whenever he wanted food he would wade over to the main-land, + where he would furnish himself with whatever came in his way. Everybody at + his approach ran out of their houses, while he seized on their cattle, + making nothing of carrying half-a-dozen oxen on his back at a time; and as + for their sheep and hogs, he would tie them round his waist like a bunch + of tallow-dips. He had done this for many years, so that all Cornwall was + in despair. + </p> + <p> + One day Jack happened to be at the town-hall when the magistrates were + sitting in council about the Giant. He asked: “What reward will be given + to the man who kills Cormoran?” “The giant's treasure,” they said, “will + be the reward.” Quoth Jack: “Then let me undertake it.” + </p> + <p> + So he got a horn, shovel, and pickaxe, and went over to the Mount in the + beginning of a dark winter's evening, when he fell to work, and before + morning had dug a pit twenty-two feet deep, and nearly as broad, covering + it over with long sticks and straw. Then he strewed a little mould over + it, so that it appeared like plain ground. Jack then placed himself on the + opposite side of the pit, farthest from the giant's lodging, and, just at + the break of day, he put the horn to his mouth, and blew, Tantivy, + Tantivy. This noise roused the giant, who rushed from his cave, crying: + “You incorrigible villain, are you come here to disturb my rest? You shall + pay dearly for this. Satisfaction I will have, and this it shall be, I + will take you whole and broil you for breakfast.” He had no sooner uttered + this, than he tumbled into the pit, and made the very foundations of the + Mount to shake. “Oh, Giant,” quoth Jack, “where are you now? Oh, faith, + you are gotten now into Lob's Pound, where I will surely plague you for + your threatening words: what do you think now of broiling me for your + breakfast? Will no other diet serve you but poor Jack?” Then having + tantalised the giant for a while, he gave him a most weighty knock with + his pickaxe on the very crown of his head, and killed him on the spot. + </p> + <p> + Jack then filled up the pit with earth, and went to search the cave, which + he found contained much treasure. When the magistrates heard of this they + made a declaration he should henceforth be termed + </p> + <h3> + JACK THE GIANT-KILLER + </h3> + <p> + and presented him with a sword and a belt, on which were written these + words embroidered in letters of gold: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Here's the right valiant Cornish man, + Who slew the giant Cormoran.” + </pre> + <p> + The news of Jack's victory soon spread over all the West of England, so + that another giant, named Blunderbore, hearing of it, vowed to be revenged + on Jack, if ever he should light on him. This giant was the lord of an + enchanted castle situated in the midst of a lonesome wood. Now Jack, about + four months afterwards, walking near this wood in his journey to Wales, + being weary, seated himself near a pleasant fountain and fell fast asleep. + While he was sleeping, the giant, coming there for water, discovered him, + and knew him to be the far-famed Jack the Giant-killer by the lines + written on the belt. Without ado, he took Jack on his shoulders and + carried him towards his castle. Now, as they passed through a thicket, the + rustling of the boughs awakened Jack, who was strangely surprised to find + himself in the clutches of the giant. His terror was only begun, for, on + entering the castle, he saw the ground strewed with human bones, and the + giant told him his own would ere long be among them. After this the giant + locked poor Jack in an immense chamber, leaving him there while he went to + fetch another giant, his brother, living in the same wood, who might share + in the meal on Jack. + </p> + <p> + After waiting some time Jack, on going to the window beheld afar off the + two giants coming towards the castle. “Now,” quoth Jack to himself, “my + death or my deliverance is at hand.” Now, there were strong cords in a + corner of the room in which Jack was, and two of these he took, and made a + strong noose at the end; and while the giants were unlocking the iron gate + of the castle he threw the ropes over each of their heads. Then he drew + the other ends across a beam, and pulled with all his might, so that he + throttled them. Then, when he saw they were black in the face, he slid + down the rope, and drawing his sword, slew them both. Then, taking the + giant's keys, and unlocking the rooms, he found three fair ladies tied by + the hair of their heads, almost starved to death. “Sweet ladies,” quoth + Jack, “I have destroyed this monster and his brutish brother, and obtained + your liberties.” This said he presented them with the keys, and so + proceeded on his journey to Wales. + </p> + <p> + Jack made the best of his way by travelling as fast as he could, but lost + his road, and was benighted, and could find any habitation until, coming + into a narrow valley, he found a large house, and in order to get shelter + took courage to knock at the gate. But what was his surprise when there + came forth a monstrous giant with two heads; yet he did not appear so + fiery as the others were, for he was a Welsh giant, and what he did was by + private and secret malice under the false show of friendship. Jack, having + told his condition to the giant, was shown into a bedroom, where, in the + dead of night, he heard his host in another apartment muttering these + words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Though here you lodge with me this night, + You shall not see the morning light + My club shall dash your brains outright!” + </pre> + <p> + “Say'st thou so,” quoth Jack; “that is like one of your Welsh tricks, yet + I hope to be cunning enough for you.” Then, getting out of bed, he laid a + billet in the bed in his stead, and hid himself in a corner of the room. + At the dead time of the night in came the Welsh giant, who struck several + heavy blows on the bed with his club, thinking he had broken every bone in + Jack's skin. The next morning Jack, laughing in his sleeve, gave him + hearty thanks for his night's lodging. “How have you rested?” quoth the + giant; “did you not feel anything in the night?” “No,” quoth Jack, + “nothing but a rat, which gave me two or three slaps with her tail.” With + that, greatly wondering, the giant led Jack to breakfast, bringing him a + bowl containing four gallons of hasty pudding. Being loth to let the giant + think it too much for him, Jack put a large leather bag under his loose + coat, in such a way that he could convey the pudding into it without its + being perceived. Then, telling the giant he would show him a trick, taking + a knife, Jack ripped open the bag, and out came all the hasty pudding. + Whereupon, saying, “Odds splutters hur nails, hur can do that trick + hurself,” the monster took the knife, and ripping open his belly, fell + down dead. + </p> + <p> + Now, it happened in these days that King Arthur's only son asked his + father to give him a large sum of money, in order that he might go and + seek his fortune in the principality of Wales, where lived a beautiful + lady possessed with seven evil spirits. The king did his best to persuade + his son from it, but in vain; so at last gave way and the prince set out + with two horses, one loaded with money, the other for himself to ride + upon. Now, after several days' travel, he came to a market-town in Wales, + where he beheld a vast crowd of people gathered together. The prince asked + the reason of it, and was told that they had arrested a corpse for several + large sums of money which the deceased owed when he died. The prince + replied that it was a pity creditors should be so cruel, and said: “Go + bury the dead, and let his creditors come to my lodging, and there their + debts shall be paid.” They came, in such great numbers that before night + he had only twopence left for himself. + </p> + <p> + Now Jack the Giant-Killer, coming that way, was so taken with the + generosity of the prince, that he desired to be his servant. This being + agreed upon, the next morning they set forward on their journey together, + when, as they were riding out of the town, an old woman called after the + prince, saying, “He has owed me twopence these seven years; pray pay me as + well as the rest.” Putting his hand to his pocket, the prince gave the + woman all he had left, so that after their day's food, which cost what + small spell Jack had by him, they were without a penny between them. + </p> + <p> + When the sun got low, the king's son said: “Jack, since we have no money, + where can we lodge this night?” + </p> + <p> + But Jack replied: “Master, we'll do well enough, for I have an uncle lives + within two miles of this place; he is a huge and monstrous giant with + three heads; he'll fight five hundred men in armour, and make them to fly + before him.” “Alas!” quoth the prince, “what shall we do there? He'll + certainly chop us up at a mouthful. Nay, we are scarce enough to fill one + of his hollow teeth!” + </p> + <p> + “It is no matter for that,” quoth Jack; “I myself will go before and + prepare the way for you; therefore stop here and wait till I return.” Jack + then rode away at full speed, and coming to the gate of the castle, he + knocked so loud that he made the neighbouring hills resound. The giant + roared out at this like thunder: “Who's there?” + </p> + <p> + Jack answered: “None but your poor cousin Jack.” + </p> + <p> + Quoth he: “What news with my poor cousin Jack?” + </p> + <p> + He replied: “Dear uncle, heavy news, God wot!” + </p> + <p> + “Prithee,” quoth the giant, “what heavy news can come to me? I am a giant + with three heads, and besides thou knowest I can fight five hundred men in + armour, and make them fly like chaff before the wind.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, but,” quoth Jack, “here's the king's son a-coming with a thousand men + in armour to kill you and destroy all that you have!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, cousin Jack,” said the giant, “this is heavy news indeed! I will + immediately run and hide myself, and thou shalt lock, bolt, and bar me in, + and keep the keys until the prince is gone.” Having secured the giant, + Jack fetched his master, when they made themselves heartily merry whilst + the poor giant lay trembling in a vault under the ground. + </p> + <p> + Early in the morning Jack furnished his master with a fresh supply of gold + and silver, and then sent him three miles forward on his journey, at which + time the prince was pretty well out of the smell of the giant. Jack then + returned, and let the giant out of the vault, who asked what he should + give him for keeping the castle from destruction. “Why,” quoth Jack, “I + want nothing but the old coat and cap, together with the old rusty sword + and slippers which are at your bed's head.” Quoth the giant: “You know not + what you ask; they are the most precious things I have. The coat will keep + you invisible, the cap will tell you all you want to know, the sword cuts + asunder whatever you strike, and the shoes are of extraordinary swiftness. + But you have been very serviceable to me, therefore take them with all my + heart.” Jack thanked his uncle, and then went off with them. He soon + overtook his master and they quickly arrived at the house of the lady the + prince sought, who, finding the prince to be a suitor, prepared a splendid + banquet for him. After the repast was concluded, she told him she had a + task for him. She wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, saying: “You must + show me that handkerchief to-morrow morning, or else you will lose your + head.” With that she put it in her bosom. The prince went to bed in great + sorrow, but Jack's cap of knowledge informed him how it was to be + obtained. In the middle of the night she called upon her familiar spirit + to carry her to Lucifer. But Jack put on his coat of darkness and his + shoes of swiftness, and was there as soon as she was. When she entered the + place of the Old One, she gave the handkerchief to old Lucifer, who laid + it upon a shelf, whence Jack took it and brought it to his master, who + showed it to the lady next day, and so saved his life. On that day, she + gave the prince a kiss and told him he must show her the lips to-morrow + morning that she kissed last night, or lose his head. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” he replied, “if you kiss none but mine, I will.” + </p> + <p> + “That is neither here nor there,” said she; “if you do not, death's your + portion!” + </p> + <p> + At midnight she went as before, and was angry with old Lucifer for letting + the handkerchief go. “But now,” quoth she, “I will be too hard for the + king's son, for I will kiss thee, and he is to show me thy lips.” Which + she did, and Jack, when she was not standing by, cut off Lucifer's head + and brought it under his invisible coat to his master, who the next + morning pulled it out by the horns before the lady. This broke the + enchantment and the evil spirit left her, and she appeared in all her + beauty. They were married the next morning, and soon after went to the + court of King Arthur, where Jack for his many great exploits, was made one + of the Knights of the Round Table. + </p> + <p> + Jack soon went searching for giants again, but he had not ridden far, when + he saw a cave, near the entrance of which he beheld a giant sitting upon a + block of timber, with a knotted iron club by his side. His goggle eyes + were like flames of fire, his countenance grim and ugly, and his cheeks + like a couple of large flitches of bacon, while the bristles of his beard + resembled rods of iron wire, and the locks that hung down upon his brawny + shoulders were like curled snakes or hissing adders. Jack alighted from + his horse, and, putting on the coat of darkness, went up close to the + giant, and said softly: “Oh! are you there? It will not be long before I + take you fast by the beard.” The giant all this while could not see him, + on account of his invisible coat, so that Jack, coming up close to the + monster, struck a blow with his sword at his head, but, missing his aim, + he cut off the nose instead. At this, the giant roared like claps of + thunder, and began to lay about him with his iron club like one stark mad. + But Jack, running behind, drove his sword up to the hilt in the giant's + back, so that he fell down dead. This done, Jack cut off the giant's head, + and sent it, with his brother's also, to King Arthur, by a waggoner he + hired for that purpose. + </p> + <p> + Jack now resolved to enter the giant's cave in search of his treasure, + and, passing along through a great many windings and turnings, he came at + length to a large room paved with freestone, at the upper end of which was + a boiling caldron, and on the right hand a large table, at which the giant + used to dine. Then he came to a window, barred with iron, through which he + looked and beheld a vast number of miserable captives, who, seeing him, + cried out: “Alas! young man, art thou come to be one amongst us in this + miserable den?” + </p> + <p> + “Ay,” quoth Jack, “but pray tell me what is the meaning of your + captivity?” + </p> + <p> + “We are kept here,” said one, “till such time as the giants have a wish to + feast, and then the fattest among us is slaughtered! And many are the + times they have dined upon murdered men!” + </p> + <p> + “Say you so,” quoth Jack, and straightway unlocked the gate and let them + free, who all rejoiced like condemned men at sight of a pardon. Then + searching the giant's coffers, he shared the gold and silver equally + amongst them and took them to a neighbouring castle, where they all + feasted and made merry over their deliverance. + </p> + <p> + But in the midst of all this mirth a messenger brought news that one + Thunderdell, a giant with two heads, having heard of the death of his + kinsmen, had come from the northern dales to be revenged on Jack, and was + within a mile of the castle, the country people flying before him like + chaff. But Jack was not a bit daunted, and said: “Let him come! I have a + tool to pick his teeth; and you, ladies and gentlemen, walk out into the + garden, and you shall witness this giant Thunderdell's death and + destruction.” + </p> + <p> + The castle was situated in the midst of a small island surrounded by a + moat thirty feet deep and twenty feet wide, over which lay a drawbridge. + So Jack employed men to cut through this bridge on both sides, nearly to + the middle; and then, dressing himself in his invisible coat, he marched + against the giant with his sword of sharpness. Although the giant could + not see Jack, he smelt his approach, and cried out in these words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fee, fi, fo, fum! + I smell the blood of an Englishman! + Be he alive or be he dead, + I'll grind his bones to make me bread!” + </pre> + <p> + “Say'st thou so,” said Jack; “then thou art a monstrous miller indeed.” + </p> + <p> + The giant cried out again: “Art thou that villain who killed my kinsmen? + Then I will tear thee with my teeth, suck thy blood, and grind thy bones + to powder.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll have to catch me first,” quoth Jack, and throwing off his + invisible coat, so that the giant might see him, and putting on his shoes + of swiftness, he ran from the giant, who followed like a walking castle, + so that the very foundations of the earth seemed to shake at every step. + Jack led him a long dance, in order that the gentlemen and ladies might + see; and at last to end the matter, ran lightly over the drawbridge, the + giant, in full speed, pursuing him with his club. Then, coming to the + middle of the bridge, the giant's great weight broke it down, and he + tumbled headlong into the water, where he rolled and wallowed like a + whale. Jack, standing by the moat, laughed at him all the while; but + though the giant foamed to hear him scoff, and plunged from place to place + in the moat, yet he could not get out to be revenged. Jack at length got a + cart-rope and cast it over the two heads of the giant, and drew him ashore + by a team of horses, and then cut off both his heads with his sword of + sharpness, and sent them to King Arthur. + </p> + <p> + After some time spent in mirth and pastime, Jack, taking leave of the + knights and ladies, set out for new adventures. Through many woods he + passed, and came at length to the foot of a high mountain. Here, late at + night, he found a lonesome house, and knocked at the door, which was + opened by an aged man with a head as white as snow. “Father,” said Jack, + “can you lodge a benighted traveller that has lost his way?” “Yes,” said + the old man; “you are right welcome to my poor cottage.” Whereupon Jack + entered, and down they sat together, and the old man began to speak as + follows: “Son, I see by your belt you are the great conqueror of giants, + and behold, my son, on the top of this mountain is an enchanted castle, + this is kept by a giant named Galligantua, and he by the help of an old + conjurer, betrays many knights and ladies into his castle, where by magic + art they are transformed into sundry shapes and forms. But above all, I + grieve for a duke's daughter, whom they fetched from her father's garden, + carrying her through the air in a burning chariot drawn by fiery dragons, + when they secured her within the castle, and transformed her into a white + hind. And though many knights have tried to break the enchantment, and + work her deliverance, yet no one could accomplish it, on account of two + dreadful griffins which are placed at the castle gate and which destroy + every one who comes near. But you, my son, may pass by them undiscovered, + where on the gates of the castle you will find engraven in large letters + how the spell may be broken.” Jack gave the old man his hand, and promised + that in the morning he would venture his life to free the lady. + </p> + <p> + In the morning Jack arose and put on his invisible coat and magic cap and + shoes, and prepared himself for the fray. Now, when he had reached the top + of the mountain he soon discovered the two fiery griffins, but passed them + without fear, because of his invisible coat. When he had got beyond them, + he found upon the gates of the castle a golden trumpet hung by a silver + chain, under which these lines were engraved: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Whoever shall this trumpet blow, + Shall soon the giant overthrow, + And break the black enchantment straight; + So all shall be in happy state.” + </pre> + <p> + Jack had no sooner read this but he blew the trumpet, at which the castle + trembled to its vast foundations, and the giant and conjurer were in + horrid confusion, biting their thumbs and tearing their hair, knowing + their wicked reign was at an end. Then the giant stooping to take up his + club, Jack at one blow cut off his head; whereupon the conjurer, mounting + up into the air, was carried away in a whirlwind. Then the enchantment was + broken, and all the lords and ladies who had so long been transformed into + birds and beasts returned to their proper shapes, and the castle vanished + away in a cloud of smoke. This being done, the head of Galligantua was + likewise, in the usual manner, conveyed to the Court of King Arthur, + where, the very next day, Jack followed, with the knights and ladies who + had been delivered. Whereupon, as a reward for his good services, the king + prevailed upon the duke to bestow his daughter in marriage on honest Jack. + So married they were, and the whole kingdom was filled with joy at the + wedding. Furthermore, the king bestowed on Jack a noble castle, with a + very beautiful estate thereto belonging, where he and his lady lived in + great joy and happiness all the rest of their days. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HENNY-PENNY + </h2> + <p> + One day Henny-penny was picking up corn in the cornyard when—whack!—something + hit her upon the head. “Goodness gracious me!” said Henny-penny; “the + sky's a-going to fall; I must go and tell the king.” + </p> + <p> + So she went along and she went along and she went along till she met + Cocky-locky. “Where are you going, Henny-penny?” says Cocky-locky. “Oh! + I'm going to tell the king the sky's a-falling,” says Henny-penny. “May I + come with you?” says Cocky-locky. “Certainly,” says Henny-penny. So + Henny-penny and Cocky-locky went to tell-the king the sky was falling. + </p> + <p> + They went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they met + Ducky-daddles. “Where are you going to, Henny-penny and Cocky-locky?” says + Ducky-daddles. “Oh! we're going to tell the king the sky's a-falling,” + said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. “May I come with you?” says + Ducky-daddles. “Certainly,” said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. So + Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles went to tell the king the sky + was a-falling. + </p> + <p> + So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they + met Goosey-poosey, “Where are you going to, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and + Ducky-daddles?” said Goosey-poosey. “Oh! we're going to tell the king the + sky's a-falling,” said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles. “May + I come with you,” said Goosey-poosey. “Certainly,” said Henny-penny, + Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles. So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles + and Goosey-poosey went to tell the king the sky was a-falling. + </p> + <p> + So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they + met Turkey-lurkey. “Where are you going, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, + Ducky-daddles, and Goosey-poosey?” says Turkey-lurkey. “Oh! we're going to + tell the king the sky's a-falling,” said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, + Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey. “May I come with you? Henny-penny, + Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey?” said Turkey-lurkey. “Why, + certainly, Turkey-lurkey,” said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, + and Goosey-poosey. So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, + Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey all went to tell the king the sky was + a-falling. + </p> + <p> + So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they + met Foxy-woxy, and Foxy-woxy said to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, + Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey: “Where are you going, + Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and + Turkey-lurkey?” And Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, + Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey said to Foxy-woxy: “We're going to tell + the king the sky's a-falling.” “Oh! but this is not the way to the king, + Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey,” + says Foxy-woxy; “I know the proper way; shall I show it you?” “Why + certainly, Foxy-woxy,” said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, + Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey. So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, + Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, Turkey-lurkey, and Foxy-woxy all went to + tell the king the sky was a-falling. So they went along, and they went + along, and they went along, till they came to a narrow and dark hole. Now + this was the door of Foxy-woxy's cave. But Foxy-woxy said to Henny-penny, + Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey: “This is the + short way to the king's palace you'll soon get there if you follow me. I + will go first and you come after, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky daddles, + Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey.” “Why of course, certainly, without + doubt, why not?” said Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, + Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey. + </p> + <p> + So Foxy-woxy went into his cave, and he didn't go very far but turned + round to wait for Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey + and Turkey-lurkey. So at last at first Turkey-lurkey went through the dark + hole into the cave. He hadn't got far when “Hrumph,” Foxy-woxy snapped off + Turkey-lurkey's head and threw his body over his left shoulder. Then + Goosey-poosey went in, and “Hrumph,” off went her head and Goosey-poosey + was thrown beside Turkey-lurkey. Then Ducky-daddles waddled down, and + “Hrumph,” snapped Foxy-woxy, and Ducky-daddles' head was off and + Ducky-daddles was thrown alongside Turkey-lurkey and Goosey-poosey. Then + Cocky-locky strutted down into the cave and he hadn't gone far when “Snap, + Hrumph!” went Foxy-woxy and Cocky-locky was thrown alongside of + Turkey-lurkey, Goosey-poosey and Ducky-daddles. + </p> + <p> + But Foxy-woxy had made two bites at Cocky-locky, and when the first snap + only hurt Cocky-locky, but didn't kill him, he called out to Henny-penny. + So she turned tail and ran back home, so she never told the king the sky + was a-falling. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHILDE ROWLAND + </h2> + <p> + Childe Rowland and his brothers twain Were playing at the ball, And there + was their sister Burd Ellen In the midst, among them all. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Childe Rowland kicked it with his foot + And caught it with his knee; + At last as he plunged among them all + O'er the church he made it flee. + + Burd Ellen round about the aisle + To seek the ball is gone, + But long they waited, and longer still, + And she came not back again. + + They sought her east, they sought her west, + They sought her up and down, + And woe were the hearts of those brethren, + For she was not to be found. +</pre> + <p> + So at last her eldest brother went to the Warlock Merlin and told him all + the case, and asked him if he knew where Burd Ellen was. “The fair Burd + Ellen,” said the Warlock Merlin, “must have been carried off by the + fairies, because she went round the church 'wider shins'—the + opposite way to the sun. She is now in the Dark Tower of the King of + Elfland; it would take the boldest knight in Christendom to bring her + back.” + </p> + <p> + “If it is possible to bring her back,” said her brother, “I'll do it, or + perish in the attempt.” + </p> + <p> + “Possible it is,” said the Warlock Merlin, “but woe to the man or mother's + son that attempts it, if he is not well taught beforehand what he is to + do.” + </p> + <p> + The eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear of + danger, from attempting to get her back, so he begged the Warlock Merlin + to tell him what he should do, and what he should not do, in going to seek + his sister. And after he had been taught, and had repeated his lesson, he + set out for Elfland. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + But long they waited, and longer still, + With doubt and muckle pain, + But woe were the hearts of his brethren, + For he came not back again. +</pre> + <p> + Then the second brother got tired and sick of waiting, and he went to the + Warlock Merlin and asked him the same as his brother. So he set out to + find Burd Ellen. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + But long they waited, and longer still, + With muckle doubt and pain, + And woe were his mother's and brother's heart, + For he came not back again. +</pre> + <p> + And when they had waited and waited a good long time, Childe Rowland, the + youngest of Burd Ellen's brothers, wished to go, and went to his mother, + the good queen, to ask her to let him go. But she would not at first, for + he was the last of her children she now had, and if he was lost, all would + be lost. But he begged, and he begged, till at last the good queen let him + go, and gave him his father's good brand that never struck in vain. And as + she girt it round his waist, she said the spell that would give it + victory. + </p> + <p> + So Childe Rowland said good-bye to the good queen, his mother, and went to + the cave of the Warlock Merlin. “Once more, and but once more,” he said to + the Warlock, “tell how man or mother's son may rescue Burd Ellen and her + brothers twain.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, my son,” said the Warlock Merlin, “there are but two things, simple + they may seem, but hard they are to do. One thing to do, and one thing not + to do. And the thing to do is this: after you have entered the land of + Fairy, whoever speaks to you, till you meet the Burd Ellen, you must out + with your father's brand and off with their head. And what you've not to + do is this: bite no bit, and drink no drop, however hungry or thirsty you + be; drink a drop, or bite a bit, while in Elfland you be and never will + you see Middle Earth again.” + </p> + <p> + So Childe Rowland said the two things over and over again, till he knew + them by heart, and he thanked the Warlock Merlin and went on his way. And + he went along, and along, and along, and still further along, till he came + to the horse-herd of the King of Elfland feeding his horses. These he knew + by their fiery eyes, and knew that he was at last in the land of Fairy. + “Canst thou tell me,” said Childe Rowland to the horse-herd, “where the + King of Elfland's Dark Tower is?” “I cannot tell thee,” said the + horse-herd, “but go on a little further and thou wilt come to the + cow-herd, and he, maybe, can tell thee.” + </p> + <p> + Then, without a word more, Childe Rowland drew the good brand that never + struck in vain, and off went the horse-herd's head, and Childe Rowland + went on further, till he came to the cow-herd, and asked him the same + question. “I can't tell thee,” said he, “but go on a little farther, and + thou wilt come to the hen-wife, and she is sure to know.” Then Childe + Rowland out with his good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went + the cow-herd's head. And he went on a little further, till he came to an + old woman in a grey cloak, and he asked her if she knew where the Dark + Tower of the King of Elfland was. “Go on a little further,” said the + hen-wife, “till you come to a round green hill, surrounded with + terrace-rings, from the bottom to the top; go round it three times, + widershins, and each time say: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Open, door! open, door! + And let me come in. +</pre> + <p> + and the third time the door will open, and you may go in.” And Childe + Rowland was just going on, when he remembered what he had to do; so he out + with the good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went the + hen-wife's head. + </p> + <p> + Then he went on, and on, and on, till he came to the round green hill with + the terrace-rings from top to bottom, and he went round it three times, + widershins, saying each time: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Open, door! open, door! + And let me come in. +</pre> + <p> + And the third time the door did open, and he went in, and it closed with a + click, and Childe Rowland was left in the dark. + </p> + <p> + It was not exactly dark, but a kind of twilight or gloaming. There were + neither windows nor candles, and he could not make out where the twilight + came from, if not through the walls and roof. These were rough arches made + of a transparent rock, incrusted with sheepsilver and rock spar, and other + bright stones. But though it was rock, the air was quite warm, as it + always is in Elfland. So he went through this passage till at last he came + to two wide and high folding-doors which stood ajar. And when he opened + them, there he saw a most wonderful and glorious sight. A large and + spacious hall, so large that it seemed to be as long, and as broad, as the + green hill itself. The roof was supported by fine pillars, so large and + lofty, that the pillars of a cathedral were as nothing to them. They were + all of gold and silver, with fretted work, and between them and around + them, wreaths of flowers, composed of what do you think? Why, of diamonds + and emeralds, and all manner of precious stones. And the very key-stones + of the arches had for ornaments clusters of diamonds and rubies, and + pearls, and other precious stones. And all these arches met in the middle + of the roof, and just there, hung by a gold chain, an immense lamp made + out of one big pearl hollowed out and quite transparent. And in the middle + of this was a big, huge carbuncle, which kept spinning round and round, + and this was what gave light by its rays to the whole hall, which seemed + as if the setting sun was shining on it. + </p> + <p> + The hall was furnished in a manner equally grand, and at one end of it was + a glorious couch of velvet, silk and gold, and there sate Burd Ellen, + combing her golden hair with a silver comb. And when she saw Childe + Rowland she stood up and said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “God pity ye, poor luckless fool, + What have ye here to do? + + “Hear ye this, my youngest brother, + Why didn't ye bide at home? + Had you a hundred thousand lives + Ye couldn't spare any a one. + + “But sit ye down; but woe, O, woe, + That ever ye were born, + For come the King of Elfland in, + Your fortune is forlorn.” + </pre> + <p> + Then they sate down together, and Childe Rowland told her all that he had + done, and she told him how their two brothers had reached the Dark Tower, + but had been enchanted by the King of Elfland, and lay there entombed as + if dead. And then after they had talked a little longer Childe Rowland + began to feel hungry from his long travels, and told his sister Burd Ellen + how hungry he was and asked for some food, forgetting all about the + Warlock Merlin's warning. + </p> + <p> + Burd Ellen looked at Childe Rowland sadly, and shook her head, but she was + under a spell, and could not warn him. So she rose up, and went out, and + soon brought back a golden basin full of bread and milk. Childe Rowland + was just going to raise it to his lips, when he looked at his sister and + remembered why he had come all that way. So he dashed the bowl to the + ground, and said: “Not a sup will I swallow, nor a bit will I bite, till + Burd Ellen is set free.” + </p> + <p> + Just at that moment they heard the noise of some one approaching, and a + loud voice was heard saying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fee, fi, fo, fum, + I smell the blood of a Christian man, + Be he dead, be he living, with my brand, + I'll dash his brains from his brain-pan.” + </pre> + <p> + And then the folding-doors of the hall were burst open, and the King of + Elfland rushed in. + </p> + <p> + “Strike then, Bogle, if thou darest,” shouted out Childe Rowland, and + rushed to meet him with his good brand that never yet did fail. They + fought, and they fought, and they fought, till Childe Rowland beat the + King of Elfland down on to his knees, and caused him to yield and beg for + mercy. “I grant thee mercy,” said Childe Rowland, “release my sister from + thy spells and raise my brothers to life, and let us all go free, and thou + shalt be spared.” “I agree,” said the Elfin King, and rising up he went to + a chest from which he took a phial filled with a blood-red liquor. With + this he anointed the ears, eyelids, nostrils, lips, and finger-tips, of + the two brothers, and they sprang at once into life, and declared that + their souls had been away, but had now returned. The Elfin king then said + some words to Burd Ellen, and she was disenchanted, and they all four + passed out of the hall, through the long passage, and turned their back on + the Dark Tower, never to return again. And they reached home, and the good + queen, their mother, and Burd Ellen never went round a church widershins + again. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MOLLY WHUPPIE + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a man and a wife had too many children, and + they could not get meat for them, so they took the three youngest and left + them in a wood. They travelled and travelled and could see never a house. + It began to be dark, and they were hungry. At last they saw a light and + made for it; it turned out to be a house. They knocked at the door, and a + woman came to it, who said: “What do you want?” They said: “Please let us + in and give us something to eat.” The woman said: “I can't do that, as my + man is a giant, and he would kill you if he comes home.” They begged hard. + “Let us stop for a little while,” said they, “and we will go away before + he comes.” So she took them in, and set them down before the fire, and + gave them milk and bread; but just as they had begun to eat a great knock + came to the door, and a dreadful voice said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fee, fie, fo, fum, + I smell the blood of some earthly one. +</pre> + <p> + Who have you there wife?” “Eh,” said the wife, “it's three poor lassies + cold and hungry, and they will go away. Ye won't touch 'em, man.” He said + nothing, but ate up a big supper, and ordered them to stay all night. Now + he had three lassies of his own, and they were to sleep in the same bed + with the three strangers. + </p> + <p> + The youngest of the three strange lassies was called Molly Whuppie, and + she was very clever. She noticed that before they went to bed the giant + put straw ropes round her neck and her sisters', and round his own + lassies' necks he put gold chains. So Molly took care and did not fall + asleep, but waited till she was sure every one was sleeping sound. Then + she slipped out of the bed, and took the straw ropes off her own and her + sisters' necks, and took the gold chains off the giant's lassies. She then + put the straw ropes on the giant's lassies and the gold on herself and her + sisters, and lay down. + </p> + <p> + And in the middle of the night up rose the giant, armed with a great club, + and felt for the necks with the straw. It was dark. He took his own + lassies out of bed on to the floor, and battered them until they were + dead, and then lay down again, thinking he had managed fine. Molly thought + it time she and her sisters were out of that, so she wakened them and told + them to be quiet, and they slipped out of the house. They all got out + safe, and they ran and ran, and never stopped until morning, when they saw + a grand house before them. It turned out to be a king's house: so Molly + went in, and told her story to the king. He said: “Well, Molly, you are a + clever girl, and you have managed well; but, if you would manage better, + and go back, and steal the giant's sword that hangs on the back of his + bed, I would give your eldest sister my eldest son to marry.” Molly said + she would try. + </p> + <p> + So she went back, and managed to slip into the giant's house, and crept in + below the bed. The giant came home, and ate up a great supper, and went to + bed. Molly waited until he was snoring, and she crept out, and reached + over the giant and got down the sword; but just as she got it out over the + bed it gave a rattle, and up jumped the giant, and Molly ran out at the + door and the sword with her; and she ran, and he ran, till they came to + the “Bridge of one hair”; and she got over, but he couldn't, and he says, + “Woe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never ye come again.” And she says “Twice + yet, carle,” quoth she, “I'll come to Spain.” So Molly took the sword to + the king, and her sister was married to his son. + </p> + <p> + Well, the king he says: “Ye've managed well, Molly; but if ye would manage + better, and steal the purse that lies below the giant's pillow, I would + marry your second sister to my second son.” And Molly said she would try. + So she set out for the giant's house, and slipped in, and hid again below + the bed, and waited till the giant had eaten his supper, and was snoring + sound asleep. She slipped out, and slipped her hand below the pillow, and + got out the purse; but just as she was going out the giant wakened, and + ran after her; and she ran, and he ran, till they came to the “Bridge of + one hair,” and she got over, but he couldn't, and he said, “Woe worth ye, + Molly Whuppie! never you come again.” “Once yet, carle,” quoth she, “I'll + come to Spain.” So Molly took the purse to the king, and her second sister + was married to the king's second son. + </p> + <p> + After that the king says to Molly: “Molly, you are a clever girl, but if + you would do better yet, and steal the giant's ring that he wears on his + finger, I will give you my youngest son for yourself.” Molly said she + would try. So back she goes to the giant's house, and hides herself below + the bed. The giant wasn't long ere he came home, and, after he had eaten a + great big supper, he went to his bed, and shortly was snoring loud. Molly + crept out and reached over the bed, and got hold of the giant's hand, and + she pulled and she pulled until she got off the ring; but just as she got + it off the giant got up, and gripped her by the hand, and he says: “Now I + have catcht you, Molly Whuppie, and, if I had done as much ill to you as + ye have done to me, what would ye do to me?” + </p> + <p> + Molly says: “I would put you into a sack, and I'd put the cat inside with + you, and the dog aside you, and a needle and thread and a shears, and I'd + hang you up upon the wall, and I'd go to the wood, and choose the thickest + stick I could get, and I would come home, and take you down, and bang you + till you were dead.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Molly,” says the giant, “I'll just do that to you.” + </p> + <p> + So he gets a sack, and puts Molly into it, and the cat and the dog beside + her, and a needle and thread and shears, and hangs her up upon the wall, + and goes to the wood to choose a stick. + </p> + <p> + Molly she sings out: “Oh, if ye saw what I see.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh,” says the giant's wife, “what do ye see, Molly?” + </p> + <p> + But Molly never said a word but, “Oh, if ye saw what I see!” + </p> + <p> + The giant's wife begged that Molly would take her up into the sack till + she would see what Molly saw. So Molly took the shears and cut a hole in + the sack, and took out the needle and thread with her, and jumped down and + helped, the giant's wife up into the sack, and sewed up the hole. + </p> + <p> + The giant's wife saw nothing, and began to ask to get down again; but + Molly never minded, but hid herself at the back of the door. Home came the + giant, and a great big tree in his hand, and he took down the sack, and + began to batter it. His wife cried, “It's me, man;” but the dog barked and + the cat mewed, and he did not know his wife's voice. But Molly came out + from the back of the door, and the giant saw her, and he after her; and he + ran and she ran, till they came to the “Bridge of one hair,” and she got + over but he couldn't; and he said, “Woe worth you, Molly Whuppie! never + you come again.” “Never more, carle,” quoth she, “will I come again to + Spain.” + </p> + <p> + So Molly took the ring to the king, and she was married to his youngest + son, and she never saw the giant again. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE RED ETTIN + </h2> + <p> + There was once a widow that lived on a small bit of ground, which she + rented from a farmer. And she had two sons; and by-and-by it was time for + the wife to send them away to seek their fortune. So she told her eldest + son one day to take a can and bring her water from the well, that she + might bake a cake for him; and however much or however little water he + might bring, the cake would be great or small accordingly, and that cake + was to be all that she could give him when he went on his travels. + </p> + <p> + The lad went away with the can to the well, and filled it with water, and + then came away home again; but the can being broken, the most part of the + water had run out before he got back. So his cake was very small; yet + small as it was, his mother asked him if he was willing to take the half + of it with her blessing, telling him that, if he chose rather to take the + whole, he would only get it with her curse. The young man, thinking he + might have to travel a far way, and not knowing when or how he might get + other provisions, said he would like to have the whole cake, come of his + mother's malison what like; so she gave him the whole cake, and her + malison along with it. Then he took his brother aside, and gave him a + knife to keep till he should come back, desiring him to look at it every + morning, and as long as it continued to be clear, then he might be sure + that the owner of it was well; but if it grew dim and rusty, then for + certain some ill had befallen him. + </p> + <p> + So the young man went to seek his fortune. And he went all that day, and + all the next day; and on the third day, in the afternoon, he came up to + where a shepherd was sitting with a flock of sheep. And he went up to the + shepherd and asked him who the sheep belonged to; and he answered: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The Red Ettin of Ireland + Once lived in Ballygan, + And stole King Malcolm's daughter + The king of fair Scotland. + + He beats her, he binds her, + He lays her on a band; + And every day he strikes her + With a bright silver wand. + Like Julian the Roman, + He's one that fears no man. + + It's said there's one predestinate + To be his mortal foe; + But that man is yet unborn, + And long may it be so.” + </pre> + <p> + This shepherd also told him to beware of the beasts he should next meet, + for they were of a very different kind from any he had yet seen. + </p> + <p> + So the young man went on, and by-and-by he saw a multitude of very + dreadful beasts, with two heads, and on every head four horns. And he was + sore frightened, and ran away from them as fast as he could; and glad was + he when he came to a castle that stood on a hillock, with the door + standing wide open to the wall. And he went into the castle for shelter, + and there he saw an old wife sitting beside the kitchen fire. He asked the + wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with a long journey; + and the wife said he might, but it was not a good place for him to be in, + as it belonged to the Red Ettin, who was a very terrible beast, with three + heads, that spared no living man it could get hold of. The young man would + have gone away, but he was afraid of the beasts on the outside of the + castle; so he beseeched the old woman to hide him as best she could, and + not tell the Ettin he was there. He thought, if he could put over the + night, he might get away in the morning, without meeting with the beasts, + and so escape. But he had not been long in his hiding-hole, before the + awful Ettin came in; and no sooner was he in, than he was heard crying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Snouk but and snouk ben, + I find the smell of an earthly man, + Be he living, or be he dead, + His heart this night shall kitchen my bread.” + </pre> + <p> + The monster soon found the poor young man, and pulled him from his hole. + And when he had got him out, he told him that if he could answer him three + questions his life should be spared. So the first head asked: “A thing + without an end, what's that?” But the young man knew not. Then the second + head said: “The smaller, the more dangerous, what's that?” But the young + man knew it not. And then the third head asked: “The dead carrying the + living; riddle me that?” But the young man had to give it up. The lad not + being able to answer one of these questions, the Red Ettin took a mallet + and knocked him on the head, and turned him into a pillar of stone. + </p> + <p> + On the morning after this happened, the younger brother took out the knife + to look at it, and he was grieved to find it all brown with rust. He told + his mother that the time was now come for him to go away upon his travels + also; so she requested him to take the can to the well for water, that she + might make a cake for him. And he went, and as he was bringing home the + water, a raven over his head cried to him to look, and he would see that + the water was running out. And he was a young man of sense, and seeing the + water running out, he took some clay and patched up the holes, so that he + brought home enough water to bake a large cake. When his mother put it to + him to take the half cake with her blessing, he took it in preference to + having the whole with her malison; and yet the half was bigger than what + the other lad had got. + </p> + <p> + So he went away on his journey; and after he had travelled a far way, he + met with an old woman that asked him if he would give her a bit of his + johnny-cake. And he said: “I will gladly do that,” and so he gave her a + piece of the johnny-cake; and for that she gave him a magical wand, that + she might yet be of service to him, if he took care to use it rightly. + Then the old woman, who was a fairy, told him a great deal that would + happen to him, and what he ought to do in all circumstances; and after + that she vanished in an instant out of his sight. He went on a great way + farther, and then he came up to the old man herding the sheep; and when he + asked whose sheep these were, the answer was: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The Red Ettin of Ireland + Once lived in Ballygan, + And stole King Malcolm's daughter, + The king of Fair Scotland. + + “He beats her, he binds her, + He lays her on a band; + And every day he strikes her + With a bright silver wand. + Like Julian the Roman, + He's one that fears no man. + + “But now I fear his end is near, + And destiny at hand; + And you're to be, I plainly see, + The heir of all his land.” + </pre> + <p> + When he came to the place where the monstrous beasts were standing, he did + not stop nor run away, but went boldly through amongst them. One came up + roaring with open mouth to devour him, when he struck it with his wand, + and laid it in an instant dead at his feet. He soon came to the Ettin's + castle, where he knocked, and was admitted. The old woman who sat by the + fire warned him of the terrible Ettin, and what had been the fate of his + brother; but he was not to be daunted. The monster soon came in, saying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Snouk but and snouk ben, + I find the smell of an earthly man; + Be he living, or be he dead, + His heart shall be kitchen to my bread.” + </pre> + <p> + He quickly espied the young man, and bade him come forth on the floor. And + then he put the three questions to him; but the young man had been told + everything by the good fairy, so he was able to answer all the questions. + So when the first head asked, “What's the thing without an end?” he said: + “A bowl.” And when the second head said: “The smaller the more dangerous; + what's that?” he said at once, “A bridge.” And last, the third head said: + “When does the dead carry the living, riddle me that?” Then the young man + answered up at once and said: “When a ship sails on the sea with men + inside her.” When the Ettin found this, he knew that his power was gone. + The young man then took up an axe and hewed off the monster's three heads. + He next asked the old woman to show him where the king's daughter lay; and + the old woman took him upstairs, and opened a great many doors, and out of + every door came a beautiful lady who had been imprisoned there by the + Ettin; and one of the ladies was the king's daughter. She also took him + down into a low room, and there stood a stone pillar, that he had only to + touch with his wand, when his brother started into life. And the whole of + the prisoners were overjoyed at their deliverance, for which they thanked + the young man. Next day they all set out for the king's court, and a + gallant company they made. And the king married his daughter to the young + man that had delivered her, and gave a noble's daughter to his brother; + and so they all lived happily all the rest of their days. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE GOLDEN ARM + </h2> + <p> + Here was once a man who travelled the land all over in search of a wife. + He saw young and old, rich and poor, pretty and plain, and could not meet + with one to his mind. At last he found a woman, young, fair, and rich, who + possessed a right arm of solid gold. He married her at once, and thought + no man so fortunate as he was. They lived happily together, but, though he + wished people to think otherwise, he was fonder of the golden arm than of + all his wife's gifts besides. + </p> + <p> + At last she died. The husband put on the blackest black, and pulled the + longest face at the funeral; but for all that he got up in the middle of + the night, dug up the body, and cut off the golden arm. He hurried home to + hide his treasure, and thought no one would know. + </p> + <p> + The following night he put the golden arm under his pillow, and was just + falling asleep, when the ghost of his dead wife glided into the room. + Stalking up to the bedside it drew the curtain, and looked at him + reproachfully. Pretending not to be afraid, he spoke to the ghost, and + said: “What hast thou done with thy cheeks so red?” + </p> + <p> + “All withered and wasted away,” replied the ghost, in a hollow tone. + </p> + <p> + “What hast thou done with thy red rosy lips?” + </p> + <p> + “All withered and wasted away.” + </p> + <p> + “What hast thou done with thy golden hair?” + </p> + <p> + “All withered and wasted away.” + </p> + <p> + “What hast thou done with thy <i>Golden Arm</i>?” + </p> + <h3> + “THOU HAST IT!” + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB + </h2> + <p> + In the days of the great Prince Arthur, there lived a mighty magician, + called Merlin, the most learned and skilful enchanter the world has ever + seen. + </p> + <p> + This famous magician, who could take any form he pleased, was travelling + about as a poor beggar, and being very tired, he stopped at the cottage of + a ploughman to rest himself, and asked for some food. + </p> + <p> + The countryman bade him welcome, and his wife, who was a very good-hearted + woman, soon brought him some milk in a wooden bowl, and some coarse brown + bread on a platter. + </p> + <p> + Merlin was much pleased with the kindness of the ploughman and his wife; + but he could not help noticing that though everything was neat and + comfortable in the cottage, they seemed both to be very unhappy. He + therefore asked them why they were so melancholy, and learned that they + were miserable because they had no children. + </p> + <p> + The poor woman said, with tears in her eyes: “I should be the happiest + creature in the world if I had a son; although he was no bigger than my + husband's thumb, I would be satisfied.” + </p> + <p> + Merlin was so much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man's + thumb, that he determined to grant the poor woman's wish. Accordingly, in + a short time after, the ploughman's wife had a son, who, wonderful to + relate! was not a bit bigger than his father's thumb. + </p> + <p> + The queen of the fairies, wishing to see the little fellow, came in at the + window while the mother was sitting up in the bed admiring him. The queen + kissed the child, and, giving it the name of Tom Thumb, sent for some of + the fairies, who dressed her little godson according to her orders: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “An oak-leaf hat he had for his crown; + His shirt of web by spiders spun; + With jacket wove of thistle's down; + His trowsers were of feathers done. + His stockings, of apple-rind, they tie + With eyelash from his mother's eye + His shoes were made of mouse's skin, + Tann'd with the downy hair within.” + </pre> + <p> + Tom never grew any larger than his father's thumb, which was only of + ordinary size; but as he got older he became very cunning and full of + tricks. When he was old enough to play with the boys, and had lost all his + own cherry-stones, he used to creep into the bags of his playfellows, fill + his pockets, and, getting out without their noticing him, would again join + in the game. + </p> + <p> + One day, however, as he was coming out of a bag of cherry-stones, where he + had been stealing as usual, the boy to whom it belonged chanced to see + him. “Ah, ah! my little Tommy,” said the boy, “so I have caught you + stealing my cherry-stones at last, and you shall be rewarded for your + thievish tricks.” On saying this, he drew the string tight round his neck, + and gave the bag such a hearty shake, that poor little Tom's legs, thighs, + and body were sadly bruised. He roared out with pain, and begged to be let + out, promising never to steal again. + </p> + <p> + A short time afterwards his mother was making a batter-pudding, and Tom, + being very anxious to see how it was made, climbed up to the edge of the + bowl; but his foot slipped, and he plumped over head and ears into the + batter, without his mother noticing him, who stirred him into the + pudding-bag, and put him in the pot to boil. + </p> + <p> + The batter filled Tom's mouth, and prevented him from crying; but, on + feeling the hot water, he kicked and struggled so much in the pot, that + his mother thought that the pudding was bewitched, and, pulling it out of + the pot, she threw it outside the door. A poor tinker, who was passing by, + lifted up the pudding, and, putting it into his budget, he then walked + off. As Tom had now got his mouth cleared of the batter, he then began to + cry aloud, which so frightened the tinker that he flung down the pudding + and ran away. The pudding being broke to pieces by the fall, Tom crept out + covered all over with the batter, and walked home. His mother, who was + very sorry to see her darling in such a woeful state, put him into a + teacup, and soon washed off the batter; after which she kissed him, and + laid him in bed. + </p> + <p> + Soon after the adventure of the pudding, Tom's mother went to milk her cow + in the meadow, and she took him along with her. As the wind was very high, + for fear of being blown away, she tied him to a thistle with a piece of + fine thread. The cow soon observed Tom's oak-leaf hat, and liking the + appearance of it, took poor Tom and the thistle at one mouthful. While the + cow was chewing the thistle Tom was afraid of her great teeth, which + threatened to crush him in pieces, and he roared out as loud as he could: + “Mother, mother!” + </p> + <p> + “Where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?” said his mother. + </p> + <p> + “Here, mother,” replied he, “in the red cow's mouth.” + </p> + <p> + His mother began to cry and wring her hands; but the cow, surprised at the + odd noise in her throat, opened her mouth and let Tom drop out. + Fortunately his mother caught him in her apron as he was falling to the + ground, or he would have been dreadfully hurt. She then put Tom in her + bosom and ran home with him. + </p> + <p> + Tom's father made him a whip of a barley straw to drive the cattle with, + and having one day gone into the fields, he slipped a foot and rolled into + the furrow. A raven, which was flying over, picked him up, and flew with + him over the sea, and there dropped him. + </p> + <p> + A large fish swallowed Tom the moment he fell into the sea, which was soon + after caught, and bought for the table of King Arthur. When they opened + the fish in order to cook it, every one was astonished at finding such a + little boy, and Tom was quite delighted at being free again. They carried + him to the king, who made Tom his dwarf, and he soon grew a great + favourite at court; for by his tricks and gambols he not only amused the + king and queen, but also all the Knights of the Round Table. + </p> + <p> + It is said that when the king rode out on horseback, he often took Tom + along with him, and if a shower came on, he used to creep into his + majesty's waistcoat-pocket, where he slept till the rain was over. + </p> + <p> + King Arthur one day asked Tom about his parents, wishing to know if they + were as small as he was, and whether they were well off. Tom told the king + that his father and mother were as tall as anybody about the court, but in + rather poor circumstances. On hearing this, the king carried Tom to his + treasury, the place where he kept all his money, and told him to take as + much money as he could carry home to his parents, which made the poor + little fellow caper with joy. Tom went immediately to procure a purse, + which was made of a water-bubble, and then returned to the treasury, where + he received a silver threepenny-piece to put into it. + </p> + <p> + Our little hero had some difficulty in lifting the burden upon his back; + but he at last succeeded in getting it placed to his mind, and set forward + on his journey. However, without meeting with any accident, and after + resting himself more than a hundred times by the way, in two days and two + nights he reached his father's house in safety. + </p> + <p> + Tom had travelled forty-eight hours with a huge silver-piece on his back, + and was almost tired to death, when his mother ran out to meet him, and + carried him into the house. But he soon returned to Court. + </p> + <p> + As Tom's clothes had suffered much in the batter-pudding, and the inside + of the fish, his majesty ordered him a new suit of clothes, and to be + mounted as a knight on a mouse. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Of Butterfly's wings his shirt was made, + His boots of chicken's hide; + And by a nimble fairy blade, + Well learned in the tailoring trade, + His clothing was supplied. + A needle dangled by his side; + A dapper mouse he used to ride, + Thus strutted Tom in stately pride! +</pre> + <p> + It was certainly very diverting to see Tom in this dress and mounted on + the mouse, as he rode out a-hunting with the king and nobility, who were + all ready to expire with laughter at Tom and his fine prancing charger. + </p> + <p> + The king was so charmed with his address that he ordered a little chair to + be made, in order that Tom might sit upon his table, and also a palace of + gold, a span high, with a door an inch wide, to live in. He also gave him + a coach, drawn by six small mice. + </p> + <p> + The queen was so enraged at the honours conferred on Sir Thomas that she + resolved to ruin him, and told the king that the little knight had been + saucy to her. + </p> + <p> + The king sent for Tom in great haste, but being fully aware of the danger + of royal anger, he crept into an empty snail-shell, where he lay for a + long time until he was almost starved with hunger; but at last he ventured + to peep out, and seeing a fine large butterfly on the ground, near the + place of his concealment, he got close to it and jumping astride on it, + was carried up into the air. The butterfly flew with him from tree to tree + and from field to field, and at last returned to the court, where the king + and nobility all strove to catch him; but at last poor Tom fell from his + seat into a watering-pot, in which he was almost drowned. + </p> + <p> + When the queen saw him she was in a rage, and said he should be beheaded; + and he was again put into a mouse trap until the time of his execution. + </p> + <p> + However a cat, observing something alive in the trap, patted it about till + the wires broke, and set Thomas at liberty. + </p> + <p> + The king received Tom again into favour, which he did not live to enjoy, + for a large spider one day attacked him; and although he drew his sword + and fought well, yet the spider's poisonous breath at last overcame him. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + He fell dead on the ground where he stood, + And the spider suck'd every drop of his blood. +</pre> + <p> + King Arthur and his whole court were so sorry at the loss of their little + favourite that they went into mourning and raised a fine white marble + monument over his grave with the following epitaph: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight, + Who died by a spider's cruel bite. + He was well known in Arthur's court, + Where he afforded gallant sport; + He rode at tilt and tournament, + And on a mouse a-hunting went. + Alive he filled the court with mirth; + His death to sorrow soon gave birth. + Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head + And cry,—Alas! Tom Thumb is dead! +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MR. FOX + </h2> + <p> + Lady Mary was young, and Lady Mary was fair. She had two brothers, and + more lovers than she could count. But of them all, the bravest and most + gallant, was a Mr. Fox, whom she met when she was down at her father's + country-house. No one knew who Mr. Fox was; but he was certainly brave, + and surely rich, and of all her lovers, Lady Mary cared for him alone. At + last it was agreed upon between them that they should be married. Lady + Mary asked Mr. Fox where they should live, and he described to her his + castle, and where it was; but, strange to say, did not ask her, or her + brothers to come and see it. + </p> + <p> + So one day, near the wedding-day, when her brothers were out, and Mr. Fox + was away for a day or two on business, as he said, Lady Mary set out for + Mr. Fox's castle. And after many searchings, she came at last to it, and a + fine strong house it was, with high walls and a deep moat. And when she + came up to the gateway she saw written on it: + </p> + <h3> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD. + </h3> + <p> + But as the gate was open, she went through it, and found no one there. So + she went up to the doorway, and over it she found written: + </p> + <h3> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD. + </h3> + <p> + Still she went on, till she came into the hall, and went up the broad + stairs till she came to a door in the gallery, over which was written: + </p> + <p> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD + RUN COLD. + </p> + <p> + But Lady Mary was a brave one, she was, and she opened the door, and what + do you think she saw? Why, bodies and skeletons of beautiful young ladies + all stained with blood. So Lady Mary thought it was high time to get out + of that horrid place, and she closed the door, went through the gallery, + and was just going down the stairs, and out of the hall, when who should + she see through the window, but Mr. Fox dragging a beautiful young lady + along from the gateway to the door. Lady Mary rushed downstairs, and hid + herself behind a cask, just in time, as Mr. Fox came in with the poor + young lady who seemed to have fainted. Just as he got near Lady Mary, Mr. + Fox saw a diamond ring glittering on the finger of the young lady he was + dragging, and he tried to pull it off. But it was tightly fixed, and would + not come off, so Mr. Fox cursed and swore, and drew his sword, raised it, + and brought it down upon the hand of the poor lady. The sword cut off the + hand, which jumped up into the air, and fell of all places in the world + into Lady Mary's lap. Mr. Fox looked about a bit, but did not think of + looking behind the cask, so at last he went on dragging the young lady up + the stairs into the Bloody Chamber. + </p> + <p> + As soon as she heard him pass through the gallery, Lady Mary crept out of + the door, down through the gateway, and ran home as fast as she could. + </p> + <p> + Now it happened that the very next day the marriage contract of Lady Mary + and Mr. Fox was to be signed, and there was a splendid breakfast before + that. And when Mr. Fox was seated at table opposite Lady Mary, he looked + at her. “How pale you are this morning, my dear.” “Yes,” said she, “I had + a bad night's rest last night. I had horrible dreams.” “Dreams go by + contraries,” said Mr. Fox; “but tell us your dream, and your sweet voice + will make the time pass till the happy hour comes.” + </p> + <p> + “I dreamed,” said Lady Mary, “that I went yestermorn to your castle, and I + found it in the woods, with high walls, and a deep moat, and over the + gateway was written: + </p> + <h3> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD. + </h3> + <p> + “But it is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox. + </p> + <p> + “And when I came to the doorway over it was written: + </p> + <h3> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD. + </h3> + <p> + “It is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox. + </p> + <p> + “And then I went upstairs, and came to a gallery, at the end of which was + a door, on which was written: + </p> + <p> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD + RUN COLD. + </p> + <p> + “It is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox. + </p> + <p> + “And then—and then I opened the door, and the room was filled with + bodies and skeletons of poor dead women, all stained with their blood.” + </p> + <p> + “It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,” said + Mr. Fox. + </p> + <p> + “I then dreamed that I rushed down the gallery, and just as I was going + down the stairs, I saw you, Mr. Fox, coming up to the hall door, dragging + after you a poor young lady, rich and beautiful.” + </p> + <p> + “It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,” said + Mr. Fox. + </p> + <p> + “I rushed downstairs, just in time to hide myself behind a cask, when you, + Mr. Fox, came in dragging the young lady by the arm. And, as you passed + me, Mr. Fox, I thought I saw you try and get off her diamond ring, and + when you could not, Mr. Fox, it seemed to me in my dream, that you out + with your sword and hacked off the poor lady's hand to get the ring.” + </p> + <p> + “It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,” said + Mr. Fox, and was going to say something else as he rose from his seat, + when Lady Mary cried out: + </p> + <p> + “But it is so, and it was so. Here's hand and ring I have to show,” and + pulled out the lady's hand from her dress, and pointed it straight at Mr. + Fox. + </p> + <p> + At once her brothers and her friends drew their swords and cut Mr. Fox + into a thousand pieces. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LAZY JACK + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a boy whose name was Jack, and he lived with + his mother on a common. They were very poor, and the old woman got her + living by spinning, but Jack was so lazy that he would do nothing but bask + in the sun in the hot weather, and sit by the corner of the hearth in the + winter-time. So they called him Lazy Jack. His mother could not get him to + do anything for her, and at last told him, one Monday, that if he did not + begin to work for his porridge she would turn him out to get his living as + he could. + </p> + <p> + This roused Jack, and he went out and hired himself for the next day to a + neighbouring farmer for a penny; but as he was coming home, never having + had any money before, he lost it in passing over a brook. “You stupid + boy,” said his mother, “you should have put it in your pocket.” “I'll do + so another time,” replied Jack. + </p> + <p> + On Wednesday, Jack went out again and hired himself to a cow-keeper, who + gave him a jar of milk for his day's work. Jack took the jar and put it + into the large pocket of his jacket, spilling it all, long before he got + home. “Dear me!” said the old woman; “you should have carried it on your + head.” “I'll do so another time,” said Jack. + </p> + <p> + So on Thursday, Jack hired himself again to a farmer, who agreed to give + him a cream cheese for his services. In the evening Jack took the cheese, + and went home with it on his head. By the time he got home the cheese was + all spoilt, part of it being lost, and part matted with his hair. “You + stupid lout,” said his mother, “you should have carried it very carefully + in your hands.” “I'll do so another time,” replied Jack. + </p> + <p> + On Friday, Lazy Jack again went out, and hired himself to a baker, who + would give him nothing for his work but a large tom-cat. Jack took the + cat, and began carrying it very carefully in his hands, but in a short + time pussy scratched him so much that he was compelled to let it go. When + he got home, his mother said to him, “You silly fellow, you should have + tied it with a string, and dragged it along after you.” “I'll do so + another time,” said Jack. + </p> + <p> + So on Saturday, Jack hired himself to a butcher, who rewarded him by the + handsome present of a shoulder of mutton. Jack took the mutton, tied it to + a string, and trailed it along after him in the dirt, so that by the time + he had got home the meat was completely spoilt. His mother was this time + quite out of patience with him, for the next day was Sunday, and she was + obliged to make do with cabbage for her dinner. “You ninney-hammer,” said + she to her son; “you should have carried it on your shoulder.” “I'll do so + another time,” replied Jack. + </p> + <p> + On the next Monday, Lazy Jack went once more, and hired himself to a + cattle-keeper, who gave him a donkey for his trouble. Jack found it hard + to hoist the donkey on his shoulders, but at last he did it, and began + walking slowly home with his prize. Now it happened that in the course of + his journey there lived a rich man with his only daughter, a beautiful + girl, but deaf and dumb. Now she had never laughed in her life, and the + doctors said she would never speak till somebody made her laugh. This + young lady happened to be looking out of the window when Jack was passing + with the donkey on his shoulders, with the legs sticking up in the air, + and the sight was so comical and strange that she burst out into a great + fit of laughter, and immediately recovered her speech and hearing. Her + father was overjoyed, and fulfilled his promise by marrying her to Lazy + Jack, who was thus made a rich gentleman. They lived in a large house, and + Jack's mother lived with them in great happiness until she died. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JOHNNY-CAKE + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy. + One morning the old woman made a Johnny-cake, and put it in the oven to + bake. “You watch the Johnny-cake while your father and I go out to work in + the garden.” So the old man and the old woman went out and began to hoe + potatoes, and left the little boy to tend the oven. But he didn't watch it + all the time, and all of a sudden he heard a noise, and he looked up and + the oven door popped open, and out of the oven jumped Johnny-cake, and + went rolling along end over end, towards the open door of the house. The + little boy ran to shut the door, but Johnny-cake was too quick for him and + rolled through the door, down the steps, and out into the road long before + the little boy could catch him. The little boy ran after him as fast as he + could clip it, crying out to his father and mother, who heard the uproar, + and threw down their hoes and gave chase too. But Johnny-cake outran all + three a long way, and was soon out of sight, while they had to sit down, + all out of breath, on a bank to rest. + </p> + <p> + On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two well-diggers who looked + up from their work and called out: “Where ye going, Johnny-cake?” + </p> + <p> + He said: “I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and + I can outrun you too-o-o!” + </p> + <p> + “Ye can, can ye? we'll see about that?” said they; and they threw down + their picks and ran after him, but couldn't catch up with him, and soon + they had to sit down by the roadside to rest. + </p> + <p> + On ran Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two ditch-diggers who were + digging a ditch. “Where ye going, Johnny-cake?” said they. He said: “I've + outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two + well-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!” + </p> + <p> + “Ye can, can ye? we'll see about that!” said they; and they threw down + their spades, and ran after him too. But Johnny-cake soon outstripped them + also, and seeing they could never catch him, they gave up the chase and + sat down to rest. + </p> + <p> + On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a bear. The bear said: + “Where are ye going, Johnny-cake?” + </p> + <p> + He said: “I've outrun an old man, and an old woman and a little boy, and + two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!” + </p> + <p> + “Ye can, can ye?” growled the bear, “we'll see about that!” and trotted as + fast as his legs could carry him after Johnny-cake, who never stopped to + look behind him. Before long the bear was left so far behind that he saw + he might as well give up the hunt first as last, so he stretched himself + out by the roadside to rest. + </p> + <p> + On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a wolf. The wolf said:—“Where + ye going, Johnny-cake?” He said: “I've outrun an old man, and an old + woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers and a + bear, and I can outrun you too-o-o!” + </p> + <p> + “Ye can, can ye?” snarled the wolf, “we'll see about that!” And he set + into a gallop after Johnny-cake, who went on and on so fast that the wolf + too saw there was no hope of overtaking him, and he too lay down to rest. + </p> + <p> + On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a fox that lay quietly in a + corner of the fence. The fox called out in a sharp voice, but without + getting up: “Where ye going Johnny-cake?” + </p> + <p> + He said: “I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and + two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, a bear, and a wolf, and I can + outrun you too-o-o!” + </p> + <p> + The fox said: “I can't quite hear you, Johnny-cake, won't you come a + little closer?” turning his head a little to one side. + </p> + <p> + Johnny-cake stopped his race for the first time, and went a little closer, + and called out in a very loud voice <i>“I've outrun an old man, and an old + woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, and + a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you too-o-o.”</i> + </p> + <p> + “Can't quite hear you; won't you come a <i>little</i> closer?” said the + fox in a feeble voice, as he stretched out his neck towards Johnny-cake, + and put one paw behind his ear. + </p> + <p> + Johnny-cake came up close, and leaning towards the fox screamed out: I'VE + OUTRUN AN OLD MAN, AND AN OLD WOMAN, AND A LITTLE BOY, AND TWO + WELL-DIGGERS, AND TWO DITCH-DIGGERS, AND A BEAR, AND A WOLF, AND I CAN + OUTRUN YOU TOO-O-O!” + </p> + <p> + “You can, can you?” yelped the fox, and he snapped up the Johnny-cake in + his sharp teeth in the twinkling of an eye. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER + </h2> + <p> + One fine summer's day Earl Mar's daughter went into the castle garden, + dancing and tripping along. And as she played and sported she would stop + from time to time to listen to the music of the birds. After a while as + she sat under the shade of a green oak tree she looked up and spied a + sprightly dove sitting high up on one of its branches. She looked up and + said: “Coo-my-dove, my dear, come down to me and I will give you a golden + cage. I'll take you home and pet you well, as well as any bird of them + all.” Scarcely had she said these words when the dove flew down from the + branch and settled on her shoulder, nestling up against her neck while she + smoothed its feathers. Then she took it home to her own room. + </p> + <p> + The day was done and the night came on and Earl Mar's daughter was + thinking of going to sleep when, turning round, she found at her side a + handsome young man. She <i>was</i> startled, for the door had been locked + for hours. But she was a brave girl and said: “What are you doing here, + young man, to come and startle me so? The door was barred these hours ago; + how ever did you come here?” + </p> + <p> + “Hush! hush!” the young man whispered. “I was that cooing dove that you + coaxed from off the tree.” + </p> + <p> + “But who are you then?” she said quite low; “and how came you to be + changed into that dear little bird?” + </p> + <p> + “My name is Florentine, and my mother is a queen, and something more than + a queen, for she knows magic and spells, and because I would not do as she + wished she turned me into a dove by day, but at night her spells lose + their power and I become a man again. To-day I crossed the sea and saw you + for the first time and I was glad to be a bird that I could come near you. + Unless you love me, I shall never be happy more.” + </p> + <p> + “But if I love you,” says she, “will you not fly away and leave me one of + these fine days?” + </p> + <p> + “Never, never,” said the prince; “be my wife and I'll be yours for ever. + By day a bird, by night a prince, I will always be by your side as a + husband, dear.” + </p> + <p> + So they were married in secret and lived happily in the castle and no one + knew that every night Coo-my-dove became Prince Florentine. And every year + a little son came to them as bonny as bonny could be. But as each son was + born Prince Florentine carried the little thing away on his back over the + sea to where the queen his mother lived and left the little one with her. + </p> + <p> + Seven years passed thus and then a great trouble came to them. For the + Earl Mar wished to marry his daughter to a noble of high degree who came + wooing her. Her father pressed her sore but she said: “Father dear, I do + not wish to marry; I can be quite happy with Coo-my-dove here.” + </p> + <p> + Then her father got into a mighty rage and swore a great big oath, and + said: “To-morrow, so sure as I live and eat, I'll twist that birdie's + neck,” and out he stamped from her room. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, oh!” said Coo-my-dove; “it's time that I was away,” and so he jumped + upon the window-sill and in a moment was flying away. And he flew and he + flew till he was over the deep, deep sea, and yet on he flew till he came + to his mother's castle. Now the queen his mother was taking her walk + abroad when she saw the pretty dove flying overhead and alighting on the + castle walls. + </p> + <p> + “Here, dancers come and dance your jigs,” she called, “and pipers, pipe + you well, for here's my own Florentine, come back to me to stay for he's + brought no bonny boy with him this time.” + </p> + <p> + “No, mother,” said Florentine, “no dancers for me and no minstrels, for my + dear wife, the mother of my seven, boys, is to be wed to-morrow, and sad's + the day for me.” + </p> + <p> + “What can I do, my son?” said the queen, “tell me, and it shall be done if + my magic has power to do it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well then, mother dear, turn the twenty-four dancers and pipers into + twenty-four grey herons, and let my seven sons become seven white swans, + and let me be a goshawk and their leader.” + </p> + <p> + “Alas! alas! my son,” she said, “that may not be; my magic reaches not so + far. But perhaps my teacher, the spaewife of Ostree, may know better.” And + away she hurries to the cave of Ostree, and after a while comes out as + white as white can be and muttering over some burning herbs she brought + out of the cave. Suddenly Coo-my-dove changed into a goshawk and around + him flew twenty-four grey herons and above them flew seven cygnets. + </p> + <p> + Without a word or a good-bye off they flew over the deep blue sea which + was tossing and moaning. They flew and they flew till they swooped down on + Earl Mar's castle just as the wedding party were setting out for the + church. First came the men-at-arms and then the bridegroom's friends, and + then Earl Mar's men, and then the bridegroom, and lastly, pale and + beautiful, Earl Mar's daughter herself. They moved down slowly to stately + music till they came past the trees on which the birds were settling. A + word from Prince Florentine, the goshawk, and they all rose into the air, + herons beneath, cygnets above, and goshawk circling above all. The + weddineers wondered at the sight when, swoop! the herons were down among + them scattering the men-at-arms. The swanlets took charge of the bride + while the goshawk dashed down and tied the bridegroom to a tree. Then the + herons gathered themselves together into one feather bed and the cygnets + placed their mother upon them, and suddenly they all rose in the air + bearing the bride away with them in safety towards Prince Florentine's + home. Surely a wedding party was never so disturbed in this world. What + could the weddineers do? They saw their pretty bride carried away and away + till she and the herons and the swans and the goshawk disappeared, and + that very day Prince Florentine brought Earl Mar's daughter to the castle + of the queen his mother, who took the spell off him and they lived happy + ever afterwards. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MR. MIACCA + </h2> + <p> + Tommy Grimes was sometimes a good boy, and sometimes a bad boy; and when + he was a bad boy, he was a very bad boy. Now his mother used to say to + him: “Tommy, Tommy, be a good boy, and don't go out of the street, or else + Mr. Miacca will take you.” But still when he was a bad boy he would go out + of the street; and one day, sure enough, he had scarcely got round the + corner, when Mr. Miacca did catch him and popped him into a bag upside + down, and took him off to his house. + </p> + <p> + When Mr. Miacca got Tommy inside, he pulled him out of the bag and set him + down, and felt his arms and legs. “You're rather tough,” says he; “but + you're all I've got for supper, and you'll not taste bad boiled. But body + o' me, I've forgot the herbs, and it's bitter you'll taste without herbs. + Sally! Here, I say, Sally!” and he called Mrs. Miacca. + </p> + <p> + So Mrs. Miacca came out of another room and said: “What d'ye want, my + dear?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, here's a little boy for supper,” said Mr. Miacca, “and I've forgot + the herbs. Mind him, will ye, while I go for them.” + </p> + <p> + “All right, my love,” says Mrs. Miacca, and off he goes. + </p> + <p> + Then Tommy Grimes said to Mrs. Miacca: “Does Mr. Miacca always have little + boys for supper?” + </p> + <p> + “Mostly, my dear,” said Mrs. Miacca, “if little boys are bad enough, and + get in his way.” + </p> + <p> + “And don't you have anything else but boy-meat? No pudding?” asked Tommy. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, I loves pudding,” says Mrs. Miacca. “But it's not often the likes of + me gets pudding.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, my mother is making a pudding this very day,” said Tommy Grimes, + “and I am sure she'd give you some, if I ask her. Shall I run and get + some?” + </p> + <p> + “Now, that's a thoughtful boy,” said Mrs. Miacca, “only don't be long and + be sure to be back for supper.” + </p> + <p> + So off Tommy pelters, and right glad he was to get off so cheap; and for + many a long day he was as good as good could be, and never went round the + corner of the street. But he couldn't always be good; and one day he went + round the corner, and as luck would have it, he hadn't scarcely got round + it when Mr. Miacca grabbed him up, popped him in his bag, and took him + home. + </p> + <p> + When he got him there, Mr. Miacca dropped him out; and when he saw him, he + said: “Ah, you're the youngster what served me and my missus that shabby + trick, leaving us without any supper. Well, you shan't do it again. I'll + watch over you myself. Here, get under the sofa, and I'll set on it and + watch the pot boil for you.” + </p> + <p> + So poor Tommy Grimes had to creep under the sofa, and Mr. Miacca sat on it + and waited for the pot to boil. And they waited, and they waited, but + still the pot didn't boil, till at last Mr. Miacca got tired of waiting, + and he said: “Here, you under there, I'm not going to wait any longer; put + out your leg, and I'll stop your giving us the slip.” + </p> + <p> + So Tommy put out a leg, and Mr. Miacca got a chopper, and chopped it off, + and pops it in the pot. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he calls out: “Sally, my dear, Sally!” and nobody answered. So he + went into the next room to look out for Mrs. Miacca, and while he was + there, Tommy crept out from under the sofa and ran out of the door. For it + was a leg of the sofa that he had put out. + </p> + <p> + So Tommy Grimes ran home, and he never went round the corner again till he + was old enough to go alone. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT + </h2> + <p> + In the reign of the famous King Edward III. there was a little boy called + Dick Whittington, whose father and mother died when he was very young. As + poor Dick was not old enough to work, he was very badly off; he got but + little for his dinner, and sometimes nothing at all for his breakfast; for + the people who lived in the village were very poor indeed, and could not + spare him much more than the parings of potatoes, and now and then a hard + crust of bread. + </p> + <p> + Now Dick had heard a great many very strange things about the great city + called London; for the country people at that time thought that folks in + London were all fine gentlemen and ladies; and that there was singing and + music there all day long; and that the streets were all paved with gold. + </p> + <p> + One day a large waggon and eight horses, all with bells at their heads, + drove through the village while Dick was standing by the sign-post. He + thought that this waggon must be going to the fine town of London; so he + took courage, and asked the waggoner to let him walk with him by the side + of the waggon. As soon as the waggoner heard that poor Dick had no father + or mother, and saw by his ragged clothes that he could not be worse off + than he was, he told him he might go if he would, so off they set + together. + </p> + <p> + So Dick got safe to London, and was in such a hurry to see the fine + streets paved all over with gold, that he did not even stay to thank the + kind waggoner; but ran off as fast as his legs would carry him, through + many of the streets, thinking every moment to come to those that were + paved with gold; for Dick had seen a guinea three times in his own little + village, and remembered what a deal of money it brought in change; so he + thought he had nothing to do but to take up some little bits of the + pavement, and should then have as much money as he could wish for. + </p> + <p> + Poor Dick ran till he was tired, and had quite forgot his friend the + waggoner; but at last, finding it grow dark, and that every way he turned + he saw nothing but dirt instead of gold, he, sat down in a dark corner and + cried himself to sleep. + </p> + <p> + Little Dick was all night in the streets; and next morning, being very + hungry, he got up and walked about, and asked everybody he met to give him + a halfpenny to keep him from starving; but nobody stayed to answer him, + and only two or three gave him a halfpenny; so that the poor boy was soon + quite weak and faint for the want of victuals. + </p> + <p> + In this distress he asked charity of several people, and one of them said + crossly: “Go to work, for an idle rogue.” “That I will,” says Dick, “I + will to go work for you, if you will let me.” But the man only cursed at + him and went on. + </p> + <p> + At last a good-natured looking gentleman saw how hungry he looked. “Why + don't you go to work my lad?” said he to Dick. “That I would, but I do not + know how to get any,” answered Dick. “If you are willing, come along with + me,” said the gentleman, and took him to a hay-field, where Dick worked + briskly, and lived merrily till the hay was made. + </p> + <p> + After this he found himself as badly off as before; and being almost + starved again, he laid himself down at the door of Mr. Fitzwarren, a rich + merchant. Here he was soon seen by the cook-maid, who was an ill-tempered + creature, and happened just then to be very busy dressing dinner for her + master and mistress; so she called out to poor Dick: “What business have + you there, you lazy rogue? there is nothing else but beggars; if you do + not take yourself away, we will see how you will like a sousing of some + dish-water; I have some here hot enough to make you jump.” + </p> + <p> + Just at that time Mr. Fitzwarren himself came home to dinner; and when he + saw a dirty ragged boy lying at the door, he said to him: “Why do you lie + there, my boy? You seem old enough to work; I am afraid you are inclined + to be lazy.” + </p> + <p> + “No, indeed, sir,” said Dick to him, “that is not the case, for I would + work with all my heart, but I do not know anybody, and I believe I am very + sick for the want of food.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor fellow, get up; let me see what ails you.” Dick now tried to rise, + but was obliged to lie down again, being too weak to stand, for he had not + eaten any food for three days, and was no longer able to run about and beg + a halfpenny of people in the street. So the kind merchant ordered him to + be taken into the house, and have a good dinner given him, and be kept to + do what work he was able to do for the cook. + </p> + <p> + Little Dick would have lived very happy in this good family if it had not + been for the ill-natured cook. She used to say: “You are under me, so look + sharp; clean the spit and the dripping-pan, make the fires, wind up the + jack, and do all the scullery work nimbly, or—” and she would shake + the ladle at him. Besides, she was so fond of basting, that when she had + no meat to baste, she would baste poor Dick's head and shoulders with a + broom, or anything else that happened to fall in her way. At last her + ill-usage of him was told to Alice, Mr. Fitzwarren's daughter, who told + the cook she should be turned away if she did not treat him kinder. + </p> + <p> + The behaviour of the cook was now a little better; but besides this Dick + had another hardship to get over. His bed stood in a garret, where there + were so many holes in the floor and the walls that every night he was + tormented with rats and mice. A gentleman having given Dick a penny for + cleaning his shoes, he thought he would buy a cat with it. The next day he + saw a girl with a cat, and asked her, “Will you let me have that cat for a + penny?” The girl said: “Yes, that I will, master, though she is an + excellent mouser.” + </p> + <p> + Dick hid his cat in the garret, and always took care to carry a part of + his dinner to her; and in a short time he had no more trouble with the + rats and mice, but slept quite sound every night. + </p> + <p> + Soon after this, his master had a ship ready to sail; and as it was the + custom that all his servants should have some chance for good fortune as + well as himself, he called them all into the parlour and asked them what + they would send out. + </p> + <p> + They all had something that they were willing to venture except poor Dick, + who had neither money nor goods, and therefore could send nothing. For + this reason he did not come into the parlour with the rest; but Miss Alice + guessed what was the matter, and ordered him to be called in. She then + said: “I will lay down some money for him, from my own purse;” but her + father told her: “This will not do, for it must be something of his own.” + </p> + <p> + When poor Dick heard this, he said: “I have nothing but a cat which I + bought for a penny some time since of a little girl.” + </p> + <p> + “Fetch your cat then, my lad,” said Mr. Fitzwarren, “and let her go.” + </p> + <p> + Dick went upstairs and brought down poor puss, with tears in his eyes, and + gave her to the captain; “For,” he said, “I shall now be kept awake all + night by the rats and mice.” All the company laughed at Dick's odd + venture; and Miss Alice, who felt pity for him, gave him some money to buy + another cat. + </p> + <p> + This, and many other marks of kindness shown him by Miss Alice, made the + ill-tempered cook jealous of poor Dick, and she began to use him more + cruelly than ever, and always made game of him for sending his cat to sea. + </p> + <p> + She asked him: “Do you think your cat will sell for as much money as would + buy a stick to beat you?” + </p> + <p> + At last poor Dick could not bear this usage any longer, and he thought he + would run away from his place; so he packed up his few things, and started + very early in the morning, on All-hallows Day, the first of November. He + walked as far as Holloway; and there sat down on a stone, which to this + day is called “Whittington's Stone,” and began to think to himself which + road he should take. + </p> + <p> + While he was thinking what he should do, the Bells of Bow Church, which at + that time were only six, began to ring, and their sound seemed to say to + him: + </p> + <p> + “Turn again, Whittington, Thrice Lord Mayor of London.” + </p> + <p> + “Lord Mayor of London!” said he to himself. “Why, to be sure, I would put + up with almost anything now, to be Lord Mayor of London, and ride in a + fine coach, when I grow to be a man! Well, I will go back, and think + nothing of the cuffing and scolding of the old cook, if I am to be Lord + Mayor of London at last.” + </p> + <p> + Dick went back, and was lucky enough to get into the house, and set about + his work, before the old cook came downstairs. + </p> + <p> + We must now follow Miss Puss to the coast of Africa. The ship with the cat + on board, was a long time at sea; and was at last driven by the winds on a + part of the coast of Barbary, where the only people were the Moors, + unknown to the English. The people came in great numbers to see the + sailors, because they were of different colour to themselves, and treated + them civilly; and, when they became better acquainted, were very eager to + buy the fine things that the ship was loaded with. + </p> + <p> + When the captain saw this, he sent patterns of the best things he had to + the king of the country; who was so much pleased with them, that he sent + for the captain to the palace. Here they were placed, as it is the custom + of the country, on rich carpets flowered with gold and silver. The king + and queen were seated at the upper end of the room; and a number of dishes + were brought in for dinner. They had not sat long, when a vast number of + rats and mice rushed in, and devoured all the meat in an instant. The + captain wondered at this, and asked if these vermin were not unpleasant. + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes,” said they, “very offensive, and the king would give half his + treasure to be freed of them, for they not only destroy his dinner, as you + see, but they assault him in his chamber, and even in bed, and so that he + is obliged to be watched while he is sleeping, for fear of them.” + </p> + <p> + The captain jumped for joy; he remembered poor Whittington and his cat, + and told the king he had a creature on board the ship that would despatch + all these vermin immediately. The king jumped so high at the joy which the + news gave him, that his turban dropped off his head. “Bring this creature + to me,” says he; “vermin are dreadful in a court, and if she will perform + what you say, I will load your ship with gold and jewels in exchange for + her.” + </p> + <p> + The captain, who knew his business, took this opportunity to set forth the + merits of Miss Puss. He told his majesty; “It is not very convenient to + part with her, as, when she is gone, the rats and mice may destroy the + goods in the ship—but to oblige your majesty, I will fetch her.” + </p> + <p> + “Run, run!” said the queen; “I am impatient to see the dear creature.” + </p> + <p> + Away went the captain to the ship, while another dinner was got ready. He + put Puss under his arm, and arrived at the place just in time to see the + table full of rats. When the cat saw them, she did not wait for bidding, + but jumped out of the captain's arms, and in a few minutes laid almost all + the rats and mice dead at her feet. The rest of them in their fright + scampered away to their holes. + </p> + <p> + The king was quite charmed to get rid so easily of such plagues, and the + queen desired that the creature who had done them so great a kindness + might be brought to her, that she might look at her. Upon which the + captain called: “Pussy, pussy, pussy!” and she came to him. He then + presented her to the queen, who started back, and was afraid to touch a + creature who had made such a havoc among the rats and mice. However, when + the captain stroked the cat and called: “Pussy, pussy,” the queen also + touched her and cried: “Putty, putty,” for she had not learned English. He + then put her down on the queen's lap, where she purred and played with her + majesty's hand, and then purred herself to sleep. + </p> + <p> + The king, having seen the exploits of Mrs. Puss, and being informed that + her kittens would stock the whole country, and keep it free from rats, + bargained with the captain for the whole ship's cargo, and then gave him + ten times as much for the cat as all the rest amounted to. + </p> + <p> + The captain then took leave of the royal party, and set sail with a fair + wind for England, and after a happy voyage arrived safe in London. + </p> + <p> + One morning, early, Mr. Fitzwarren had just come to his counting-house and + seated himself at the desk, to count over the cash, and settle the + business for the day, when somebody came tap, tap, at the door. “Who's + there?” said Mr. Fitzwarren. “A friend,” answered the other; “I come to + bring you good news of your ship <i>Unicorn</i>.” The merchant, bustling + up in such a hurry that he forgot his gout, opened the door, and who + should he see waiting but the captain and factor, with a cabinet of + jewels, and a bill of lading; when he looked at this the merchant lifted + up his eyes and thanked Heaven for sending him such a prosperous voyage. + </p> + <p> + They then told the story of the cat, and showed the rich present that the + king and queen had sent for her to poor Dick. As soon as the merchant + heard this, he called out to his servants: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Go send him in, and tell him of his fame; + Pray call him Mr. Whittington by name.” + </pre> + <p> + Mr. Fitzwarren now showed himself to be a good man; for when some of his + servants said so great a treasure was too much for him, he answered: “God + forbid I should deprive him of the value of a single penny, it is his own, + and he shall have it to a farthing.” He then sent for Dick, who at that + time was scouring pots for the cook, and was quite dirty. He would have + excused himself from coming into the counting-house, saying, “The room is + swept, and my shoes are dirty and full of hob-nails.” But the merchant + ordered him to come in. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Fitzwarren ordered a chair to be set for him, and so he began to think + they were making game of him, at the same time said to them: “Do not play + tricks with a poor simple boy, but let me go down again, if you please, to + my work.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, Mr. Whittington,” said the merchant, “we are all quite in earnest + with you, and I most heartily rejoice in the news that these gentlemen + have brought you; for the captain has sold your cat to the King of + Barbary, and brought you in return for her more riches than I possess in + the whole world; and I wish you may long enjoy them!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Fitzwarren then told the men to open the great treasure they had + brought with them; and said: “Mr. Whittington has nothing to do but to put + it in some place of safety.” + </p> + <p> + Poor Dick hardly knew how to behave himself for joy. He begged his master + to take what part of it he pleased, since he owed it all to his kindness. + “No, no,” answered Mr. Fitzwarren, “this is all your own; and I have no + doubt but you will use it well.” + </p> + <p> + Dick next asked his mistress, and then Miss Alice, to accept a part of his + good fortune; but they would not, and at the same time told him they felt + great joy at his good success. But this poor fellow was too kind-hearted + to keep it all to himself; so he made a present to the captain, the mate, + and the rest of Mr. Fitzwarren's servants; and even to the ill-natured old + cook. + </p> + <p> + After this Mr. Fitzwarren advised him to send for a proper tailor and get + himself dressed like a gentleman; and told him he was welcome to live in + his house till he could provide himself with a better. + </p> + <p> + When Whittington's face was washed, his hair curled, his hat cocked, and + he was dressed in a nice suit of clothes he was as handsome and genteel as + any young man who visited at Mr. Fitzwarren's; so that Miss Alice, who had + once been so kind to him, and thought of him with pity, now looked upon + him as fit to be her sweetheart; and the more so, no doubt, because + Whittington was now always thinking what he could do to oblige her, and + making her the prettiest presents that could be. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Fitzwarren soon saw their love for each other, and proposed to join + them in marriage; and to this they both readily agreed. A day for the + wedding was soon fixed; and they were attended to church by the Lord + Mayor, the court of aldermen, the sheriffs, and a great number of the + richest merchants in London, whom they afterwards treated with a very rich + feast. + </p> + <p> + History tells us that Mr. Whittington and his lady liven in great + splendour, and were very happy. They had several children. He was Sheriff + of London, thrice Lord Mayor, and received the honour of knighthood by + Henry V. + </p> + <p> + He entertained this king and his queen at dinner after his conquest of + France so grandly, that the king said “Never had prince such a subject;” + when Sir Richard heard this, he said: “Never had subject such a prince.” + </p> + <p> + The figure of Sir Richard Whittington with his cat in his arms, carved in + stone, was to be seen till the year 1780 over the archway of the old + prison of Newgate, which he built for criminals. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE STRANGE VISITOR + </h2> + <p> + A woman was sitting at her reel one night; And still she sat, and still + she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of broad broad soles, and sat down at the fireside; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of small small legs, and sat down on the broad broad soles; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of thick thick knees, and sat down on the small small legs; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of thin thin thighs, and sat down on the thick thick knees; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of huge huge hips, and sat down on the thin thin thighs; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a wee wee waist, and sat down on the huge huge hips; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of broad broad shoulders, and sat down on the wee wee + waist; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of small small arms, and sat down on the broad broad + shoulders; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of huge huge hands, and sat down on the small small arms; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a small small neck, and sat down on the broad broad shoulders; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a huge huge head, and sat down on the small small neck. + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such broad broad feet?” quoth the woman. + </p> + <p> + “Much tramping, much tramping” (<i>gruffly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such small small legs?” + </p> + <p> + “Aih-h-h!-late—and wee-e-e—moul” (<i>whiningly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such thick thick knees?” + </p> + <p> + “Much praying, much praying” (<i>piously</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such thin thin thighs?” + </p> + <p> + “Aih-h-h!—late—and wee-e-e—moul” (<i>whiningly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such big big hips?” + </p> + <p> + “Much sitting, much sitting” (<i>gruffly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such a wee wee waist?” + </p> + <p> + “Aih-h-h!—late—and wee-e-e-moul” (<i>whiningly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such broad broad shoulders?” + </p> + <p> + “With carrying broom, with carrying broom” (<i>gruffly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such small small arms?” + </p> + <p> + “Aih-h-h!—late—and wee-e-e—moul” (<i>whiningly</i>.) + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such huge huge hands?” + </p> + <p> + “Threshing with an iron flail, threshing with an iron flail” (<i>gruffly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such a small small neck?” + </p> + <p> + “Aih-h-h!—late—wee-e-e—moul” (<i>pitifully</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such a huge huge head?” + </p> + <p> + “Much knowledge, much knowledge” (<i>keenly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “What do you come for?” + </p> + <p> + “FOR YOU!” (<i>At the top of the voice, with a wave of the arm and a stamp + of the feet.</i>) + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE LAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH + </h2> + <p> + In Bamborough Castle once lived a king who had a fair wife and two + children, a son named Childe Wynd and a daughter named Margaret. Childe + Wynd went forth to seek his fortune, and soon after he had gone the queen + his mother died. The king mourned her long and faithfully, but one day + while he was hunting he came across a lady of great beauty, and became so + much in love with her that he determined to marry her. So he sent word + home that he was going to bring a new queen to Bamborough Castle. + </p> + <p> + Princess Margaret was not very glad to hear of her mother's place being + taken, but she did not repine but did her father's bidding. And at the + appointed day came down to the castle gate with the keys all ready to hand + over to her stepmother. Soon the procession drew near, and the new queen + came towards Princess Margaret who bowed low and handed her the keys of + the castle. She stood there with blushing cheeks and eye on ground, and + said: “O welcome, father dear, to your halls and bowers, and welcome to + you my new mother, for all that's here is yours,” and again she offered + the keys. One of the king's knights who had escorted the new queen, cried + out in admiration: “Surely this northern Princess is the loveliest of her + kind.” At that the new queen flushed up and cried out: “At least your + courtesy might have excepted me,” and then she muttered below her breath: + “I'll soon put an end to her beauty.” + </p> + <p> + That same night the queen, who was a noted witch, stole down to a lonely + dungeon wherein she did her magic and with spells three times three, and + with passes nine times nine she cast Princess Margaret under her spell. + And this was her spell: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I weird ye to be a Laidly Worm, + And borrowed shall ye never be, + Until Childe Wynd, the King's own son + Come to the Heugh and thrice kiss thee; + Until the world comes to an end, + Borrowed shall ye never be. +</pre> + <p> + So Lady Margaret went to bed a beauteous maiden, and rose up a Laidly + Worm. And when her maidens came in to dress her in the morning they found + coiled up on the bed a dreadful dragon, which uncoiled itself and came + towards them. But they ran away shrieking, and the Laidly Worm crawled and + crept, and crept and crawled till it reached the Heugh or rock of the + Spindlestone, round which it coiled itself, and lay there basking with its + terrible snout in the air. + </p> + <p> + Soon the country round about had reason to know of the Laidly Worm of + Spindleston Heugh. For hunger drove the monster out from its cave and it + used to devour everything it could come across. So at last they went to a + mighty warlock and asked him what they should do. Then he consulted his + works and his familiar, and told them: “The Laidly Worm is really the + Princess Margaret and it is hunger that drives her forth to do such deeds. + Put aside for her seven kine, and each day as the sun goes down, carry + every drop of milk they yield to the stone trough at the foot of the + Heugh, and the Laidly Worm will trouble the country no longer. But if ye + would that she be borrowed to her natural shape, and that she who + bespelled her be rightly punished, send over the seas for her brother, + Childe Wynd.” + </p> + <p> + All was done as the warlock advised, the Laidly Worm lived on the milk of + the seven kine, and the country was troubled no longer. But when Childe + Wynd heard the news, he swore a mighty oath to rescue his sister and + revenge her on her cruel stepmother. And three-and-thirty of his men took + the oath with him. Then they set to work and built a long ship, and its + keel they made of the rowan tree. And when all was ready, they out with + their oars and pulled sheer for Bamborough Keep. + </p> + <p> + But as they got near the keep, the stepmother felt by her magic power that + something was being wrought against her, so she summoned her familiar imps + and said: “Childe Wynd is coming over the seas; he must never land. Raise + storms, or bore the hull, but nohow must he touch shore.” Then the imps + went forth to meet Childe Wynd's ship, but when they got near, they found + they had no power over the ship, for its keel was made of the rowan tree. + So back they came to the queen witch, who knew not what to do. She ordered + her men-at-arms to resist Childe Wynd if he should land near them, and by + her spells she caused the Laidly Worm to wait by the entrance of the + harbour. + </p> + <p> + As the ship came near, the Worm unfolded its coils, and dipping into the + sea, caught hold of the ship of Childe Wynd, and banged it off the shore. + Three times Childe Wynd urged his men on to row bravely and strong, but + each time the Laidly Worm kept it off the shore. Then Childe Wynd ordered + the ship to be put about, and the witch-queen thought he had given up the + attempt. But instead of that, he only rounded the next point and landed + safe and sound in Budle Creek, and then, with sword drawn and bow bent, + rushed up followed by his men, to fight the terrible Worm that had kept + him from landing. + </p> + <p> + But the moment Childe Wynd had landed, the witch-queen's power over the + Laidly Worm had gone, and she went back to her bower all alone, not an + imp, nor a man-at-arms to help her, for she knew her hour was come. So + when Childe Wynd came rushing up to the Laidly Worm it made no attempt to + stop him or hurt him, but just as he was going to raise his sword to slay + it, the voice of his own sister Margaret came from its jaws saying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O, quit your sword, unbend your bow, + And give me kisses three; + For though I am a poisonous worm, + No harm I'll do to thee.” + </pre> + <p> + Childe Wynd stayed his hand, but he did not know what to think if some + witchery were not in it. Then said the Laidly Worm again: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O, quit your sword, unbend your bow, + And give me kisses three, + If I'm not won ere set of sun, + Won never shall I be.” + </pre> + <p> + Then Childe Wynd went up to the Laidly Worm and kissed it once; but no + change came over it. Then Childe Wynd kissed it once more; but yet no + change came over it. For a third time he kissed the loathsome thing, and + with a hiss and a roar the Laidly Worm reared back and before Childe Wynd + stood his sister Margaret. He wrapped his cloak about her, and then went + up to the castle with her. When he reached the keep, he went off to the + witch queen's bower, and when he saw her, he touched her with a twig of a + rowan tree. No sooner had he touched her than she shrivelled up and + shrivelled up, till she became a huge ugly toad, with bold staring eyes + and a horrible hiss. She croaked and she hissed, and then hopped away down + the castle steps, and Childe Wynd took his father's place as king, and + they all lived happy afterwards. + </p> + <p> + But to this day, the loathsome toad is seen at times, haunting the + neighbourhood of Bamborough Keep, and the wicked witch-queen is a Laidly + Toad. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CAT AND THE MOUSE + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The cat and the mouse + Play'd in the malt-house: +</pre> + <p> + The cat bit the mouse's tail off. “Pray, puss, give me my tail.” “No,” + says the cat, “I'll not give you your tail, till you go to the cow, and + fetch me some milk.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + First she leapt and then she ran, + Till she came to the cow, and thus began: +</pre> + <p> + “Pray, Cow, give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me + my own tail again.” “No,” said the cow, “I will give you no milk, till you + go to the farmer, and get me some hay.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + First she leapt, and then she ran, + Till she came to the farmer and thus began: +</pre> + <p> + “Pray, Farmer, give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me + milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.” + “No,” says the farmer, “I'll give you no hay, till you go to the butcher + and fetch me some meat.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + First she leapt, and then she ran, + Till she came to the butcher, and thus began: +</pre> + <p> + “Pray, Butcher, give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may + give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I + may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.” “No,” says the + butcher, “I'll give you no meat, till you go to the baker and fetch me + some bread.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + First she leapt and then she ran, + Till she came to the baker, and thus began: +</pre> + <p> + “Pray, Baker, give me bread, that I may give butcher bread, that butcher + may give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may give me + hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give + cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Yes,” says the baker, “I'll give you some bread, + But if you eat my meal, I'll cut off your head.” + </pre> + <p> + Then the baker gave mouse bread, and mouse gave butcher bread, and butcher + gave mouse meat, and mouse gave farmer meat, and farmer gave mouse hay, + and mouse gave cow hay, and cow gave mouse milk, and mouse gave cat milk, + and cat gave mouse her own tail again! + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE FISH AND THE RING + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time, there was a mighty baron in the North Countrie who was a + great magician that knew everything that would come to pass. So one day, + when his little boy was four years old, he looked into the Book of Fate to + see what would happen to him. And to his dismay, he found that his son + would wed a lowly maid that had just been born in a house under the shadow + of York Minster. Now the Baron knew the father of the little girl was + very, very poor, and he had five children already. So he called for his + horse, and rode into York; and passed by the father's house, and saw him + sitting by the door, sad and doleful. So he dismounted and went up to him + and said: “What is the matter, my good man?” And the man said: “Well, your + honour, the fact is, I've five children already, and now a sixth's come, a + little lass, and where to get the bread from to fill their mouths, that's + more than I can say.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be downhearted, my man,” said the Baron. “If that's your trouble, I + can help you. I'll take away the last little one, and you wont have to + bother about her.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you kindly, sir,” said the man; and he went in and brought out the + lass and gave her to the Baron, who mounted his horse and rode away with + her. And when he got by the bank of the river Ouse, he threw the little, + thing into the river, and rode off to his castle. + </p> + <p> + But the little lass didn't sink; her clothes kept her up for a time, and + she floated, and she floated, till she was cast ashore just in front of a + fisherman's hut. There the fisherman found her, and took pity on the poor + little thing and took her into his house, and she lived there till she was + fifteen years old, and a fine handsome girl. + </p> + <p> + One day it happened that the Baron went out hunting with some companions + along the banks of the River Ouse, and stopped at the fisherman's hut to + get a drink, and the girl came out to give it to them. They all noticed + her beauty, and one of them said to the Baron: “You can read fates, Baron, + whom will she marry, d'ye think?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! that's easy to guess,” said the Baron; “some yokel or other. But I'll + cast her horoscope. Come here girl, and tell me on what day you were + born?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know, sir,” said the girl, “I was picked up just here after + having been brought down by the river about fifteen years ago.” + </p> + <p> + Then the Baron knew who she was, and when they went away, he rode back and + said to the girl: “Hark ye, girl, I will make your fortune. Take this + letter to my brother in Scarborough, and you will be settled for life.” + And the girl took the letter and said she would go. Now this was what he + had written in the letter: + </p> + <p> + “Dear Brother,—Take the bearer and put her to death immediately. + </p> + <p> + “Yours affectionately, + </p> + <p> + “Albert.” + </p> + <p> + So soon after the girl set out for Scarborough, and slept for the night at + a little inn. Now that very night a band of robbers broke into the inn, + and searched the girl, who had no money, and only the letter. So they + opened this and read it, and thought it a shame. The captain of the + robbers took a pen and paper and wrote this letter: + </p> + <p> + “Dear Brother,—Take the bearer and marry her to my son immediately. + </p> + <p> + “Yours affectionately, + </p> + <p> + “Albert.” + </p> + <p> + And then he gave it to the girl, bidding her begone. So she went on to the + Baron's brother at Scarborough, a noble knight, with whom the Baron's son + was staying. When she gave the letter to his brother, he gave orders for + the wedding to be prepared at once, and they were married that very day. + </p> + <p> + Soon after, the Baron himself came to his brother's castle, and what was + his surprise to find that the very thing he had plotted against had come + to pass. But he was not to be put off that way; and he took out the girl + for a walk, as he said, along the cliffs. And when he got her all alone, + he took her by the arms, and was going to throw her over. But she begged + hard for her life. “I have not done anything,” she said: “if you will only + spare me, I will do whatever you wish. I will never see you or your son + again till you desire it.” Then the Baron took off his gold ring and threw + it into the sea, saying: “Never let me see your face till you can show me + that ring;” and he let her go. + </p> + <p> + The poor girl wandered on and on, till at last she came to a great noble's + castle, and she asked to have some work given to her; and they made her + the scullion girl of the castle, for she had been used to such work in the + fisherman's hut. + </p> + <p> + Now one day, who should she see coming up to the noble's house but the + Baron and his brother and his son, her husband. She didn't know what to + do; but thought they would not see her in the castle kitchen. So she went + back to her work with a sigh, and set to cleaning a huge big fish that was + to be boiled for their dinner. And, as she was cleaning it, she saw + something shine inside it, and what do you think she found? Why, there was + the Baron's ring, the very one he had thrown over the cliff at + Scarborough. She was right glad to see it, you may be sure. Then she + cooked the fish as nicely as she could, and served it up. + </p> + <p> + Well, when the fish came on the table, the guests liked it so well that + they asked the noble who cooked it. He said he didn't know, but called to + his servants: “Ho, there, send up the cook that cooked that fine fish.” So + they went down to the kitchen and told the girl she was wanted in the + hall. Then she washed and tidied herself and put the Baron's gold ring on + her thumb and went up into the hall. + </p> + <p> + When the banqueters saw such a young and beautiful cook they were + surprised. But the Baron was in a tower of a temper, and started up as if + he would do her some violence. So the girl went up to him with her hand + before her with the ring on it; and she put it down before him on the + table. Then at last the Baron saw that no one could fight against Fate, + and he handed her to a seat and announced to all the company that this was + his son's true wife; and he took her and his son home to his castle; and + they all lived as happy as could be ever afterwards. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE MAGPIE'S NEST + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme + And monkeys chewed tobacco, + And hens took snuff to make them tough, + And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O! +</pre> + <p> + All the birds of the air came to the magpie and asked her to teach them + how to build nests. For the magpie is the cleverest bird of all at + building nests. So she put all the birds round her and began to show them + how to do it. First of all she took some mud and made a sort of round cake + with it. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that's how it's done,” said the thrush; and away it flew, and so + that's how thrushes build their nests. + </p> + <p> + Then the magpie took some twigs and arranged them round in the mud. + </p> + <p> + “Now I know all about it,” says the blackbird, and off he flew; and that's + how the blackbirds make their nests to this very day. + </p> + <p> + Then the magpie put another layer of mud over the twigs. + </p> + <p> + “Oh that's quite obvious,” said the wise owl, and away it flew; and owls + have never made better nests since. + </p> + <p> + After this the magpie took some twigs and twined them round the outside. + </p> + <p> + “The very thing!” said the sparrow, and off he went; so sparrows make + rather slovenly nests to this day. + </p> + <p> + Well, then Madge Magpie took some feathers and stuff and lined the nest + very comfortably with it. + </p> + <p> + “That suits me,” cried the starling, and off it flew; and very comfortable + nests have starlings. + </p> + <p> + So it went on, every bird taking away some knowledge of how to build + nests, but, none of them waiting to the end. Meanwhile Madge Magpie went + on working and working without, looking up till the only bird that + remained was the turtle-dove, and that hadn't paid any attention all + along, but only kept on saying its silly cry “Take two, Taffy, take + two-o-o-o.” + </p> + <p> + At last the magpie heard this just as she was putting a twig across. So + she said: “One's enough.” + </p> + <p> + But the turtle-dove kept on saying: “Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o.” + </p> + <p> + Then the magpie got angry and said: “One's enough I tell you.” + </p> + <p> + Still the turtle-dove cried: “Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o.” + </p> + <p> + At last, and at last, the magpie looked up and saw nobody near her but the + silly turtle-dove, and then she got rare angry and flew away and refused + to tell the birds how to build nests again. And that is why different + birds build their nests differently. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + KATE CRACKERNUTS + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a king and a queen, as in many lands have been. + The king had a daughter, Anne, and the queen had one named Kate, but Anne + was far bonnier than the queen's daughter, though they loved one another + like real sisters. The queen was jealous of the king's daughter being + bonnier than her own, and cast about to spoil her beauty. So she took + counsel of the henwife, who told her to send the lassie to her next + morning fasting. + </p> + <p> + So next morning early, the queen said to Anne, “Go, my dear, to the + henwife in the glen, and ask her for some eggs.” So Anne set out, but as + she passed through the kitchen she saw a crust, and she took and munched + it as she went along. + </p> + <p> + When she came to the henwife's she asked for eggs, as she had been told to + do; the henwife said to her, “Lift the lid off that pot there and see.” + The lassie did so, but nothing happened. “Go home to your minnie and tell + her to keep her larder door better locked,” said the henwife. So she went + home to the queen and told her what the henwife had said. The queen knew + from this that the lassie had had something to eat, so watched the next + morning and sent her away fasting; but the princess saw some country-folk + picking peas by the roadside, and being very kind she spoke to them and + took a handful of the peas, which she ate by the way. + </p> + <p> + When she came to the henwife's, she said, “Lift the lid off the pot and + you'll see.” So Anne lifted the lid but nothing happened. Then the henwife + was rare angry and said to Anne, “Tell your minnie the pot won't boil if + the fire's away.” So Anne went home and told the queen. + </p> + <p> + The third day the queen goes along with the girl herself to the henwife. + Now, this time, when Anne lifted the lid off the pot, off falls her own + pretty head, and on jumps a sheep's head. + </p> + <p> + So the queen was now quite satisfied, and went back home. + </p> + <p> + Her own daughter, Kate, however, took a fine linen cloth and wrapped it + round her sister's head and took her by the hand and they both went out to + seek their fortune. They went on, and they went on, and they went on, till + they came to a castle. Kate knocked at the door and asked for a night's + lodging for herself and a sick sister. They went in and found it was a + king's castle, who had two sons, and one of them was sickening away to + death and no one could find out what ailed him. And the curious thing was + that whoever watched him at night was never seen any more. So the king had + offered a peck of silver to anyone who would stop up with him. Now Katie + was a very brave girl, so she offered to sit up with him. + </p> + <p> + Till midnight all goes well. As twelve o clock rings, however, the sick + prince rises, dresses himself, and slips downstairs. Kate followed, but he + didn't seem to notice her. The prince went to the stable, saddled his + horse, called his hound, jumped into the saddle, and Kate leapt lightly up + behind him. Away rode the prince and Kate through the greenwood, Kate, as + they pass, plucking nuts from the trees and filling her apron with them. + They rode on and on till they came to a green hill. The prince here drew + bridle and spoke, “Open, open, green hill, and let the young prince in + with his horse and his hound,” and Kate added, “and his lady him behind.” + </p> + <p> + Immediately the green hill opened and they passed in. The prince entered a + magnificent hall, brightly lighted up, and many beautiful fairies + surrounded the prince and led him off to the dance. Meanwhile, Kate, + without being noticed, hid herself behind the door. There she sees the + prince dancing, and dancing, and dancing, till he could dance no longer + and fell upon a couch. Then the fairies would fan him till he could rise + again and go on dancing. + </p> + <p> + At last the cock crew, and the prince made all haste to get on horseback; + Kate jumped up behind, and home they rode. When the morning sun rose they + came in and found Kate sitting down by the fire and cracking her nuts. + Kate said the prince had a good night; but she would not sit up another + night unless she was to get a peck of gold. The second night passed as the + first had done. The prince got up at midnight and rode away to the green + hill and the fairy ball, and Kate went with him, gathering nuts as they + rode through the forest. This time she did not watch the prince, for she + knew he would dance and dance, and dance. But she sees a fairy baby + playing with a wand, and overhears one of the fairies say: “Three strokes + of that wand would make Kate's sick sister as bonnie as ever she was.” So + Kate rolled nuts to the fairy baby, and rolled nuts till the baby toddled + after the nuts and let fall the wand, and Kate took it up and put it in + her apron. And at cockcrow they rode home as before, and the moment Kate + got home to her room she rushed and touched Anne three times with the + wand, and the nasty sheep's head fell off and she was her own pretty self + again. The third night Kate consented to watch, only if she should marry + the sick prince. All went on as on the first two nights. This time the + fairy baby was playing with a birdie; Kate heard one of the fairies say: + “Three bites of that birdie would make the sick prince as well as ever he + was.” Kate rolled all the nuts she had to the fairy baby till the birdie + was dropped, and Kate put it in her apron. + </p> + <p> + At cockcrow they set off again, but instead of cracking her nuts as she + used to do, this time Kate plucked the feathers off and cooked the birdie. + Soon there arose a very savoury smell. “Oh!” said the sick prince, “I wish + I had a bite of that birdie,” so Kate gave him a bite of the birdie, and + he rose up on his elbow. By-and-by he cried out again: “Oh, if I had + another bite of that birdie!” so Kate gave him another bite, and he sat up + on his bed. Then he said again: “Oh! if I only had a third bite of that + birdie!” So Kate gave him a third bite, and he rose quite well, dressed + himself, and sat down by the fire, and when the folk came in next morning + they found Kate and the young prince cracking nuts together. Meanwhile his + brother had seen Annie and had fallen in love with her, as everybody did + who saw her sweet pretty face. So the sick son married the well sister, + and the well son married the sick sister, and they all lived happy and + died happy, and never drank out of a dry cappy. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON + </h2> + <p> + At Hilton Hall, long years ago, there lived a Brownie that was the + contrariest Brownie you ever knew. At night, after the servants had gone + to bed, it would turn everything topsy-turvy, put sugar in the + salt-cellars, pepper into the beer, and was up to all kinds of pranks. It + would throw the chairs down, put tables on their backs, rake out fires, + and do as much mischief as could be. But sometimes it would be in a good + temper, and then!—“What's a Brownie?” you say. Oh, it's a kind of a + sort of a Bogle, but it isn't so cruel as a Redcap! What! you don't know + what's a Bogle or a Redcap! Ah, me! what's the world a-coming to? Of + course a Brownie is a funny little thing, half man, half goblin, with + pointed ears and hairy hide. When you bury a treasure, you scatter over it + blood drops of a newly slain kid or lamb, or, better still, bury the + animal with the treasure, and a Brownie will watch over it for you, and + frighten everybody else away. + </p> + <p> + Where was I? Well, as I was a-saying, the Brownie at Hilton Hall would + play at mischief, but if the servants laid out for it a bowl of cream, or + a knuckle cake spread with honey, it would clear away things for them, and + make everything tidy in the kitchen. One night, however, when the servants + had stopped up late, they heard a noise in the kitchen, and, peeping in, + saw the Brownie swinging to and fro on the Jack chain, and saying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Woe's me! woe's me! + The acorn's not yet + Fallen from the tree, + That's to grow the wood, + That's to make the cradle, + That's to rock the bairn, + That's to grow to the man, + That's to lay me. + Woe's me! woe's me!” + </pre> + <p> + So they took pity on the poor Brownie, and asked the nearest henwife what + they should do to send it away. “That's easy enough,” said the henwife, + and told them that a Brownie that's paid for its service, in aught that's + not perishable, goes away at once. So they made a cloak of Lincoln green, + with a hood to it, and put it by the hearth and watched. They saw the + Brownie come up, and seeing the hood and cloak, put them on, and frisk + about, dancing on one leg and saying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “I've taken your cloak, I've taken your hood; + The Cauld Lad of Hilton will do no more good.” + </pre> + <p> + And with that it vanished, and was never seen or heard of afterwards. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE STICK + </h2> + <p> + A lad named Jack was once so unhappy at home through his father's + ill-treatment, that he made up his mind to run away and seek his fortune + in the wide world. + </p> + <p> + He ran, and he ran, till he could run no longer, and then he ran right up + against a little old woman who was gathering sticks. He was too much out + of breath to beg pardon, but the woman was good-natured, and she said he + seemed to be a likely lad, so she would take him to be her servant, and + would pay him well. He agreed, for he was very hungry, and she brought him + to her house in the wood, where he served her for a twelvemonths and a + day. + </p> + <p> + When the year had passed, she called him to her, and said she had good + wages for him. So she presented him with an ass out of the stable, and he + had but to pull Neddy's ears to make him begin at once to ee—aw! And + when he brayed there dropped from his mouth silver sixpences, and half + crowns, and golden guineas. + </p> + <p> + The lad was well pleased with the wage he had received, and away he rode + till he reached an inn. There he ordered the best of everything, and when + the innkeeper refused to serve him without being paid beforehand, the boy + went off to the stable, pulled the ass's ears and obtained his pocket full + of money. The host had watched all this through a crack in the door, and + when night came on he put an ass of his own for the precious Neddy of the + poor youth. So Jack without knowing that any change had been made, rode + away next morning to his father's house. + </p> + <p> + Now, I must tell you that near his home dwelt a poor widow with an only + daughter. The lad and the maiden were fast friends and true loves; but + when Jack asked his father's leave to marry the girl, “Never till you have + the money to keep her,” was the reply. “I have that, father,” said the + lad, and going to the ass he pulled its long ears; well, he pulled, and he + pulled, till one of them came off in his hands; but Neddy, though he + hee-hawed and he hee-hawed let fall no half crowns or guineas. The father + picked up a hay-fork and beat his son out of the house. I promise you he + ran. Ah! he ran and ran till he came bang against the door, and burst it + open, and there he was in a joiner's shop. “You're a likely lad,” said the + joiner; “serve me for a twelvemonths and a day and I will pay you well.'” + So he agreed, and served the carpenter for a year and a day. “Now,” said + the master, “I will give you your wage;” and he presented him with a + table, telling him he had but to say, “Table, be covered,” and at once it + would be spread with lots to eat and drink. + </p> + <p> + Jack hitched the table on his back, and away he went with it till he came + to the inn. “Well, host,” shouted he, “my dinner to-day, and that of the + best.” + </p> + <p> + “Very sorry, but there is nothing in the house but ham and eggs.” + </p> + <p> + “Ham and eggs for me!” exclaimed Jack. “I can do better than that.—Come, + my table, be covered!” + </p> + <p> + At once the table was spread with turkey and sausages, roast mutton, + potatoes, and greens. The publican opened his eyes, but he said nothing, + not he. + </p> + <p> + That night he fetched down from his attic a table very like that of Jack, + and exchanged the two. Jack, none the wiser, next morning hitched the + worthless table on to his back and carried it home. “Now, father, may I + marry my lass?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Not unless you can keep her,” replied the father. “Look here!” exclaimed + Jack. “Father, I have a table which does all my bidding.” + </p> + <p> + “Let me see it,” said the old man. + </p> + <p> + The lad set it in the middle of the room, and bade it be covered; but all + in vain, the table remained bare. In a rage, the father caught the + warming-pan down from the wall and warmed his son's back with it so that + the boy fled howling from the house, and ran and ran till he came to a + river and tumbled in. A man picked him out and bade him assist him in + making a bridge over the river; and how do you think he was doing it? Why, + by casting a tree across; so Jack climbed up to the top of the tree and + threw his weight on it, so that when the man had rooted the tree up, Jack + and the tree-head dropped on the farther bank. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” said the man; “and now for what you have done I will pay + you;” so saying, he tore a branch from the tree, and fettled it up into a + club with his knife. “There,” exclaimed he; “take this stick, and when you + say to it, 'Up stick and bang him,' it will knock any one down who angers + you.” + </p> + <p> + The lad was overjoyed to get this stick—so away he went with it to + the inn, and as soon as the publican, appeared, “Up stick and bang him!” + was his cry. At the word the cudgel flew from his hand and battered the + old publican on the back, rapped his head, bruised his arms tickled his + ribs, till he fell groaning on the floor; still the stick belaboured the + prostrate man, nor would Jack call it off till he had got back the stolen + ass and table. Then he galloped home on the ass, with the table on his + shoulders, and the stick in his hand. When he arrived there he found his + father was dead, so he brought his ass into the stable, and pulled its + ears till he had filled the manger with money. + </p> + <p> + It was soon known through the town that Jack had returned rolling in + wealth, and accordingly all the girls in the place set their caps at him. + “Now,” said Jack, “I shall marry the richest lass in the place; so + tomorrow do you all come in front of my house with your money in your + aprons.” + </p> + <p> + Next morning the street was full of girls with aprons held out, and gold + and silver in them; but Jack's own sweetheart was among them, and she had + neither gold nor silver, nought but two copper pennies, that was all she + had. + </p> + <p> + “Stand aside, lass;” said Jack to her, speaking roughly. “Thou hast no + silver nor gold—stand off from the rest.” She obeyed, and the tears + ran down her cheeks, and filled her apron with diamonds. + </p> + <p> + “Up stick and bang them!” exclaimed Jack; whereupon the cudgel leaped up, + and running along the line of girls, knocked them all on the heads and + left them senseless on the pavement. Jack took all their money and poured + it into his truelove's lap. “Now, lass,” he exclaimed, “thou art the + richest, and I shall marry thee.” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0042" id="link2H_4_0042"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FAIRY OINTMENT + </h2> + <p> + Dame Goody was a nurse that looked after sick people, and minded babies. + One night she was woke up at midnight, and when she went downstairs, she + saw a strange squinny-eyed, little ugly old fellow, who asked her to come + to his wife who was too ill to mind her baby. Dame Goody didn't like the + look of the old fellow, but business is business; so she popped on her + things, and went down to him. And when she got down to him, he whisked her + up on to a large coal-black horse with fiery eyes, that stood at the door; + and soon they were going at a rare pace, Dame Goody holding on to the old + fellow like grim death. + </p> + <p> + They rode, and they rode, till at last they stopped before a cottage door. + So they got down and went in and found the good woman abed with the + children playing about; and the babe, a fine bouncing boy, beside her. + </p> + <p> + Dame Goody took the babe, which was as fine a baby boy as you'd wish to + see. The mother, when she handed the baby to Dame Goody to mind, gave her + a box of ointment, and told her to stroke the baby's eyes with it as soon + as it opened them. After a while it began to open its eyes. Dame Goody saw + that it had squinny eyes just like its father. So she took the box of + ointment and stroked its two eyelids with it. But she couldn't help + wondering what it was for, as she had never seen such a thing done before. + So she looked to see if the others were looking, and, when they were not + noticing she stroked her own right eyelid with the ointment. + </p> + <p> + No sooner had she done so, than everything seemed changed about her. The + cottage became elegantly furnished. The mother in the bed was a beautiful + lady, dressed up in white silk. The little baby was still more beautiful + than before, and its clothes were made of a sort of silvery gauze. Its + little brothers and sisters around the bed were flat-nosed imps with + pointed ears, who made faces at one another, and scratched their polls. + Sometimes they would pull the sick lady's ears with their long and hairy + paws. In fact, they were up to all kinds of mischief; and Dame Goody knew + that she had got into a house of pixies. But she said nothing to nobody, + and as soon as the lady was well enough to mind the baby, she asked the + old fellow to take her back home. So he came round to the door with the + coal-black horse with eyes of fire, and off they went as fast as before, + or perhaps a little faster, till they came to Dame Goody's cottage, where + the squinny-eyed old fellow lifted her down and left her, thanking her + civilly enough, and paying her more than she had ever been paid before for + such service. + </p> + <p> + Now next day happened to be market-day, and as Dame Goody had been away + from home, she wanted many things in the house, and trudged off to get + them at the market. As she was buying the things she wanted, who should + she see but the squinny-eyed old fellow who had taken her on the + coal-black horse. And what do you think he was doing? Why he went about + from stall to stall taking up things from each, here some fruit, and there + some eggs, and so on; and no one seemed to take any notice. + </p> + <p> + Now Dame Goody did not think it her business to interfere, but she thought + she ought not to let so good a customer pass without speaking. So she ups + to him and bobs a curtsey and said: “Gooden, sir, I hopes as how your good + lady and the little one are as well as——” + </p> + <p> + But she couldn't finish what she was a-saying, for the funny old fellow + started back in surprise, and he says to her, says he: “What! do you see + me today?” + </p> + <p> + “See you,” says she, “why, of course I do, as plain as the sun in the + skies, and what's more,” says she, “I see you are busy too, into the + bargain.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, you see too much,” said he; “now, pray, with which eye do you see all + this?” + </p> + <p> + “With the right eye to be sure,” said she, as proud as can be to find him + out. + </p> + <p> + “The ointment! The ointment!” cried the old pixy thief. “Take that for + meddling with what don't concern you: you shall see me no more.” And with + that he struck her on her right eye, and she couldn't see him any more; + and, what was worse, she was blind on the right side from that hour till + the day of her death. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0043" id="link2H_4_0043"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it wasn't in my + time, nor in your time, nor any one else's time, there was a girl whose + mother had died, and her father had married again. And her stepmother + hated her because she was more beautiful than herself, and she was very + cruel to her. She used to make her do all the servant's work, and never + let her have any peace. At last, one day, the stepmother thought to get + rid of her altogether; so she handed her a sieve and said to her: “Go, + fill it at the Well of the World's End and bring it home to me full, or + woe betide you.” For she thought she would never be able to find the Well + of the World's End, and, if she did, how could she bring home a sieve full + of water? + </p> + <p> + Well, the girl started off, and asked every one she met to tell her where + was the Well of the World's End. But nobody knew, and she didn't know what + to do, when a queer little old woman, all bent double, told her where it + was, and how she could get to it. So she did what the old woman told her, + and at last arrived at the Well of the World's End. But when she dipped + the sieve in the cold, cold water, it all ran out again. She tried and she + tried again, but every time it was the same; and at last she sate down and + cried as if her heart would break. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly she heard a croaking voice, and she looked up and saw a great + frog with goggle eyes looking at her and speaking to her. + </p> + <p> + “What's the matter, dearie?” it said. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear, oh dear,” she said, “my stepmother has sent me all this long + way to fill this sieve with water from the Well of the World's End, and I + can't fill it no how at all.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the frog, “if you promise me to do whatever I bid you for a + whole night long, I'll tell you how to fill it.” + </p> + <p> + So the girl agreed, and then the frog said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stop it with moss and daub it with clay, + And then it will carry the water away;” + </pre> + <p> + and then it gave a hop, skip and jump, and went flop into the Well of the + World's End. + </p> + <p> + So the girl looked about for some moss, and lined the bottom of the sieve + with it, and over that she put some clay, and then she dipped it once + again into the Well of the World's End; and this time, the water didn't + run out, and she turned to go away. + </p> + <p> + Just then the frog popped up its head out of the Well of the World's End, + and said: “Remember your promise.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” said the girl; for thought she, “what harm can a frog do me?” + </p> + <p> + So she went back to her stepmother, and brought the sieve full of water + from the Well of the World's End. The stepmother was fine and angry, but + she said nothing at all. + </p> + <p> + That very evening they heard something tap tapping at the door low down, + and a voice cried out: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Open the door, my hinny, my heart, + Open the door, my own darling; + Mind you the words that you and I spoke, + Down in the meadow, at the World's End Well.” + </pre> + <p> + “Whatever can that be?” cried out the stepmother, and the girl had to tell + her all about it, and what she had promised the frog. + </p> + <p> + “Girls must keep their promises,” said the stepmother. “Go and open the + door this instant.” For she was glad the girl would have to obey a nasty + frog. + </p> + <p> + So the girl went and opened the door, and there was the frog from the Well + of the World's End. And it hopped, and it skipped, and it jumped, till it + reached the girl, and then it said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Lift me to your knee, my hinny, my heart; + Lift me to your knee, my own darling; + Remember the words you and I spoke, + Down in the meadow by the World's End Well.” + </pre> + <p> + But the girl didn't like to, till her stepmother said “Lift it up this + instant, you hussy! Girls must keep their promises!” + </p> + <p> + So at last she lifted the frog up on to her lap, and it lay there for a + time, till at last it said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Give me some supper, my hinny, my heart, + Give me some supper, my darling; + Remember the words you and I spake, + In the meadow, by the Well of the World's End.” + </pre> + <p> + Well, she didn't mind doing that, so she got it a bowl of milk and bread, + and fed it well. And when the frog, had finished, it said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Go with me to bed, my hinny, my heart, + Go with me to bed, my own darling; + Mind you the words you spake to me, + Down by the cold well, so weary.” + </pre> + <p> + But that the girl wouldn't do, till her stepmother said: “Do what you + promised, girl; girls must keep their promises. Do what you're bid, or out + you go, you and your froggie.” + </p> + <p> + So the girl took the frog with her to bed, and kept it as far away from + her as she could. Well, just as the day was beginning to break what should + the frog say but: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Chop off my head, my hinny, my heart, + Chop off my head, my own darling; + Remember the promise you made to me, + Down by the cold well so weary.” + </pre> + <p> + At first the girl wouldn't, for she thought of what the frog had done for + her at the Well of the World's End. But when the frog said the words over + again, she went and took an axe and chopped off its head, and lo! and + behold, there stood before her a handsome young prince, who told her that + he had been enchanted by a wicked magician, and he could never be + unspelled till some girl would do his bidding for a whole night, and chop + off his head at the end of it. + </p> + <p> + The stepmother was that surprised when she found the young prince instead + of the nasty frog, and she wasn't best pleased, you may be sure, when the + prince told her that he was going to marry her stepdaughter because she + had unspelled him. So they were married and went away to live in the + castle of the king, his father, and all the stepmother had to console her + was, that it was all through her that her stepdaughter was married to a + prince. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0044" id="link2H_4_0044"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MASTER OF ALL MASTERS + </h2> + <p> + A girl once went to the fair to hire herself for servant. At last a + funny-looking old gentleman engaged her, and took her home to his house. + When she got there, he told her that he had something to teach her, for + that in his house he had his own names for things. + </p> + <p> + He said to her: “What will you call me?” + </p> + <p> + “Master or mister, or whatever you please sir,” says she. + </p> + <p> + He said: “You must call me 'master of all masters.' And what would you + call this?” pointing to his bed. + </p> + <p> + “Bed or couch, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “No, that's my 'barnacle.' And what do you call these?” said he pointing + to his pantaloons. + </p> + <p> + “Breeches or trousers, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “You must call them 'squibs and crackers.' And what would you call her?” + pointing to the cat. + </p> + <p> + “Cat or kit, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “You must call her 'white-faced simminy.' And this now,” showing the fire, + “what would you call this?” + </p> + <p> + “Fire or flame, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “You must call it 'hot cockalorum,' and what this?” he went on, pointing + to the water. + </p> + <p> + “Water or wet, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “No, 'pondalorum' is its name. And what do you call all this?” asked he, + as he pointed to the house. + </p> + <p> + “House or cottage, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “You must call it 'high topper mountain.'” + </p> + <p> + That very night the servant woke her master up in a fright and said: + “Master of all masters, get out of your barnacle and put on your squibs + and crackers. For white-faced simminy has got a spark of hot cockalorum on + its tail, and unless you get some pondalorum high topper mountain will be + all on hot cockalorum.” .... That's all. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0045" id="link2H_4_0045"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL + </h2> + <p> + Long before Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, there reigned in + the eastern part of England a king who kept his Court at Colchester. In + the midst of all his glory, his queen died, leaving behind her an only + daughter, about fifteen years of age, who for her beauty and kindness was + the wonder of all that knew her. But the king hearing of a lady who had + likewise an only daughter, had a mind to marry her for the sake of her + riches, though she was old, ugly, hook-nosed, and hump-backed. Her + daughter was a yellow dowdy, full of envy and ill-nature; and, in short, + was much of the same mould as her mother. But in a few weeks the king, + attended by the nobility and gentry, brought his deformed bride to the + palace, where the marriage rites were performed. They had not been long in + the Court before they set the king against his own beautiful daughter by + false reports. The young princess having lost her father's love, grew + weary of the Court, and one day, meeting with her father in the garden, + she begged him, with tears in her eyes, to let her go and seek her + fortune; to which the king consented, and ordered her mother-in-law to + give her what she pleased. She went to the queen, who gave her a canvas + bag of brown bread and hard cheese, with a bottle of beer; though this was + but a pitiful dowry for a king's daughter. She took it, with thanks, and + proceeded on her journey, passing through groves, woods, and valleys, till + at length she saw an old man sitting on a stone at the mouth of a cave, + who said: “Good morrow, fair maiden, whither away so fast?” + </p> + <p> + “Aged father,” says she, “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “What have you got in your bag and bottle?” + </p> + <p> + “In my bag I have got bread and cheese, and in my bottle good small beer. + Would you like to have some?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said he, “with all my heart.” + </p> + <p> + With that the lady pulled out her provisions, and bade him eat and + welcome. He did so, and gave her many thanks, and said: “There is a thick + thorny hedge before you, which you cannot get through, but take this wand + in your hand, strike it three times, and say, 'Pray, hedge, let me come + through,' and it will open immediately; then, a little further, you will + find a well; sit down on the brink of it, and there will come up three + golden heads, which will speak; and whatever they require, that do.” + Promising she would, she took her leave of him. Coming to the hedge and + using the old man's wand, it divided, and let her through; then, coming to + the well, she had no sooner sat down than a golden head came up singing: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Wash me, and comb me, + And lay me down softly. + And lay me on a bank to dry, + That I may look pretty, + When somebody passes by.” + </pre> + <p> + “Yes,” said she, and taking it in her lap combed it with a silver comb, + and then placed it upon a primrose bank. Then up came a second and a third + head, saying the same as the former. So she did the same for them, and + then, pulling out her provisions, sat down to eat her dinner. + </p> + <p> + Then said the heads one to another: “What shall we weird for this damsel + who has used us so kindly?” + </p> + <p> + The first said: “I weird her to be so beautiful that she shall charm the + most powerful prince in the world.” + </p> + <p> + The second said: “I weird her such a sweet voice as shall far exceed the + nightingale.” + </p> + <p> + The third said: “My gift shall be none of the least, as she is a king's + daughter, I'll weird her so fortunate that she shall become queen to the + greatest prince that reigns.” + </p> + <p> + She then let them down into the well again, and so went on her journey. + She had not travelled long before she saw a king hunting in the park with + his nobles. She would have avoided him, but the king, having caught a + sight of her, approached, and what with her beauty and sweet voice, fell + desperately in love with her, and soon induced her to marry him. + </p> + <p> + This king finding that she was the King of Colchester's daughter, ordered + some chariots to be got ready, that he might pay the king, his + father-in-law, a visit. The chariot in which the king and queen rode was + adorned with rich gems of gold. The king, her father, was at first + astonished that his daughter had been so fortunate, till the young king + let him know of all that had happened. Great was the joy at Court amongst + all, with the exception of the queen and her club-footed daughter, who + were ready to burst with envy. The rejoicings, with feasting and dancing, + continued many days. Then at length they returned home with the dowry her + father gave her. + </p> + <p> + The hump-backed princess, perceiving that her sister had been so lucky in + seeking her fortune, wanted to do the same; so she told her mother, and + all preparations were made, and she was furnished with rich dresses, and + with sugar, almonds, and sweetmeats, in great quantities, and a large + bottle of Malaga sack. With these she went the same road as her sister; + and coming near the cave, the old man said: “Young woman, whither so + fast?” + </p> + <p> + “What's that to you?” said she. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said he, “what have you in your bag and bottle?” + </p> + <p> + She answered: “Good things, which you shall not be troubled with.” + </p> + <p> + “Won't you give me some?” said he. + </p> + <p> + “No, not a bit, nor a drop, unless it would choke you.” + </p> + <p> + The old man frowned, saying: “Evil fortune attend ye!” + </p> + <p> + Going on, she came to the hedge, through which she espied a gap, and + thought to pass through it; but the hedge closed, and the, thorns ran into + her flesh, so that it was with great difficulty that she got through. + Being now all over blood, she searched for water to wash herself, and, + looking round, she saw the well. She sat down on the brink of it, and one + of the heads came up, saying: “Wash me, comb me, and lay me down softly,” + as before, but she banged it with her bottle, saying, “Take that for your + washing.” So the second and third heads came up, and met with no better + treatment than the first. Whereupon the heads consulted among themselves + what evils to plague her with for such usage. + </p> + <p> + The first said: “Let her be struck with leprosy in her face.” + </p> + <p> + The second: “Let her voice be as harsh as a corn-crake's.” + </p> + <p> + The third said: “Let her have for husband but a poor country cobbler.” + </p> + <p> + Well, she goes on till she came to a town, and it being market-day, the + people looked at her, and, seeing such a mangy face, and hearing such a + squeaky voice, all fled but a poor country cobbler. Now he not long before + had mended the shoes of an old hermit, who, having no money gave him a box + of ointment for the cure of the leprosy, and a bottle of spirits for a + harsh voice. So the cobbler having a mind to do an act of charity, was + induced to go up to her and ask her who she was. + </p> + <p> + “I am,” said she, “the King of Colchester's daughter-in-law.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the cobbler, “if I restore you to your natural complexion, + and make a sound cure both in face and voice, will you in reward take me + for a husband?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, friend,” replied she, “with all my heart!” + </p> + <p> + With this the cobbler applied the remedies, and they made her well in a + few weeks; after which they were married, and so set forward for the Court + at Colchester. When the queen found that her daughter had married nothing + but a poor cobbler, she hanged herself in wrath. The death of the queen so + pleased the king, who was glad to get rid of her so soon, that he gave the + cobbler a hundred pounds to quit the Court with his lady, and take to a + remote part of the kingdom, where he lived many years mending shoes, his + wife spinning the thread for him. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0046" id="link2H_4_0046"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + OYEZ-OYEZ-OYEZ + </h2> + <h3> + THE ENGLISH FAIRY TALES + </h3> + <h3> + ARE NOW CLOSED + </h3> + <h3> + LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS + </h3> + <h3> + MUST NOT READ ANY FURTHER + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_NOTE" id="link2H_NOTE"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTES AND REFERENCES + </h2> + <p> + In the following notes I give first the <i>source</i> whence I obtained + the various tales. Then come <i>parallels</i> in some fulness for the + United Kingdom, but only a single example for foreign countries, with a + bibliographical reference where further variants can be found. Finally, a + few <i>remarks</i> are sometimes added where the tale seems to need it. In + two cases (Nos. xvi. and xxi.) I have been more full. + </p> + <h3> + I. TOM TIT TOT. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Unearthed by Mr. E. Clodd from the “Suffolk Notes and + Queries” of the <i>Ipswich Journal</i>, and reprinted by him in a paper on + “The Philosophy of Rumpelstiltskin” in <i>Folk-Lore Journal</i>, vii. + 138-43. I have reduced the Suffolk dialect. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—In Yorkshire this occurs as “Habetrot and Scantlie + Mab,” in Henderson's <i>Folk-Lore of Northern Counties</i>, 221-6; in + Devonshire as “Duffy and the Devil” in Hunt's <i>Romances and Drolls of + the West of England</i>, 239-47; in Scotland two variants are given by + Chambers, <i>Popular Rhymes of Scotland</i>, under the title “Whuppity + Stourie.” The “name-guessing wager” is also found in “Peerifool”, printed + by Mr. Andrew Lang in <i>Longman's Magazine</i>, July 1889, also <i>Folk-Lore</i>, + September, 1890. It is clearly the same as Grimm's “Rumpelstiltskin” (No. + 14); for other Continental parallels see Mr. Clodd's article, and Cosquin, + <i>Contes pop. de Lorraine</i>, i. 269 <i>seq</i>. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—One of the best folk-tales that have ever been + collected, far superior to any of the continental variants of this tale + with which I am acquainted. Mr. Clodd sees in the class of name-guessing + stories, a “survival” of the superstition that to know a man's name gives + you power over him, for which reason savages object to tell their names. + It may be necessary, I find, to explain to the little ones that Tom Tit + can only be referred to as “that,” because his name is not known till the + end. + </p> + <h3> + II. THE THREE SILLIES. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From <i>Folk-Lore Journal</i>, ii. 40-3; to which it + was communicated by Miss C. Burne. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Prof. Stephens gave a variant from his own memory + in <i>Folk-Lore Record</i>, iii. 155, as told in Essex at the beginning of + the century. Mr. Toulmin Smith gave another version in <i>The + Constitutional</i>, July 1, 1853, which was translated by his daughter, + and contributed to <i>Mélusine</i>, t. ii. An Oxfordshire version was + given in <i>Notes and Queries</i>, April 17, 1852. It occurs also in + Ireland, Kennedy, <i>Fireside Stories</i>, p. 9. It is Grimm's <i>Kluge + Else</i>, No. 34, and is spread through the world. Mr. Clouston devotes + the seventh chapter of his <i>Book of Noodles</i> to the Quest of the + Three Noodles. + </p> + <h3> + III. THE ROSE TREE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From the first edition of Henderson's <i>Folk-Lore of + Northern Counties</i>, p. 314, to which it was communicated by the Rev. S. + Baring-Gould. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—This is better known under the title, “Orange and + Lemon,” and with the refrain: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My mother killed me, + My father picked my bones, + My little sister buried me, + Under the marble stones.” + </pre> + <p> + I heard this in Australia. Mr. Jones Gives part of it in <i>Folk Tales of + the Magyars</i>, 418-20, and another version occurs in 4 <i>Notes and + Queries</i>, vi. 496. Mr. I. Gollancz informs me he remembers a version + entitled “Pepper, Salt, and Mustard,” with the refrain just given. Abroad + it is Grimm's “Juniper Tree” (No. 47), where see further parallels. The + German rhyme is sung by Margaret in the mad scene of Goethe's “Faust.” + </p> + <h3> + IV. OLD WOMAN AND PIG. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell's <i>Nursery Rhymes and Tales</i>, 114. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—<i>Cf.</i> Miss Burne, <i>Shropshire Folk-Lore</i>, + 529; also No. xxxiv. <i>infra</i> (“Cat and Mouse”). It occurs also in + Scotch, with the title “The Wife and her Bush of Berries,” Chambers's <i>Pop. + Rhymes</i>, p. 57. Newell, <i>Games and Songs of American Children</i>, + gives a game named “Club-fist” (No. 75), founded on this, and in his notes + refers to German, Danish, and Spanish variants. (<i>Cf.</i> Cosquin, ii. + 36 <i>seq.</i>) + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—One of the class of Accumulative stories, which are + well represented in England. (<i>Cf. infra</i>, Nos. xvi., xx., xxxiv.) + </p> + <h3> + V. HOW JACK SOUGHT HIS FORTUNE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—<i>American Folk-Lore Journal</i> I, 227-8. I have + eliminated a malodorous and un-English skunk. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Two other versions are given in the <i>Journal + l.c.</i> One of these, however, was probably derived from Grimm's “Town + Musicians of Bremen” (No. 27). That the others came from across the + Atlantic is shown by the fact that it occurs in Ireland (Kennedy, <i>Fictions</i>, + pp. 5-10) and Scotland (Campbell, No. 11). For other variants, see R. + Köhler in Gonzenbach, <i>Sicil. Märchen</i>, ii. 245. + </p> + <h3> + VI. MR. VINEGAR. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, p. 149. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—This is the <i>Hans im Glück</i> of Grimm (No. + 83). <i>Cf.</i> too, “Lazy Jack,” <i>infra</i>, No. xxvii. Other variants + are given by M. Cosquin, <i>Contes pop. de Lorraine</i>, i. 241. On + surprising robbers, see preceding tale. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—In some of the variants the door is carried, because + Mr. Vinegar, or his equivalent, has been told to “mind the door,” or he + acts on the principle “he that is master of the door is master of the + house.” In other stories he makes the foolish exchanges to the entire + satisfaction of his wife. (<i>Cf.</i> Cosquin, i. 156-7.) + </p> + <h3> + VII. NIX NOUGHT NOTHING. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From a Scotch tale, “Nicht Nought Nothing,” collected + by Mr. Andrew Lang in Morayshire, published by him first in <i>Revue + Celtique</i>, t. iii; then in his <i>Custom and Myth</i>, p. 89; and again + in <i>Folk-Lore</i>, Sept. 1890. I have changed the name so as to retain + the <i>équivoque</i> of the giant's reply to the King. I have also + inserted the incidents of the flight, the usual ones in tales of this + type, and expanded the conclusion, which is very curtailed and confused in + the original. The usual ending of tales of this class contains the “sale + of bed” incident, for which see Child, i. 391. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Mr. Lang, in the essay “A Far-travelled Tale” in + which he gives the story, mentions several variants of it, including the + classical myth of Jason and Medea. A fuller study in Cosquin, <i>l.c.</i>, + ii. 12-28. For the finger ladder, see Köhler, in <i>Orient and Occident</i>, + ii. III. + </p> + <h3> + VIII. JACK HANNAFORD. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson's <i>Folk-Lore of Northern Counties</i> + (first edition), p. 319. Communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—“Pilgrims from Paradise” are enumerated in + Clouston's <i>Book of Noodles</i>, pp. 205, 214-8. See also Cosquin, <i>l.c.</i>, + i. 239. + </p> + <h3> + IX. BINNORIE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From the ballad of the “Twa Sisters o' Binnorie.” I + have used the longer version in Roberts's <i>Legendary Ballads</i>, with + one or two touches from Mr. Allingham's shorter and more powerful variant + in <i>The Ballad Book</i>. A tale is the better for length, a ballad for + its curtness. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The story is clearly that of Grimm's “Singing + Bone” (No. 28), where one brother slays the other and buries him under a + bush. Years after a shepherd passing by finds a bone under the bush, and, + blowing through this, hears the bone denounce the murderer. For numerous + variants in Ballads and Folk Tales, see Prof. Child's <i>English and + Scotch Ballads</i> (ed. 1886), i. 125, 493; iii. 499. + </p> + <h3> + X. MOUSE AND MOUSER. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From memory by Mrs. E. Burne-Jones. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—A fragment is given in Halliwell, 43; Chambers's + <i>Popular Rhymes</i> has a Scotch version, “The Cattie sits in the + Kilnring spinning” (p. 53). The surprise at the end, similar to that in + Perrault's “Red Riding Hood,” is a frequent device in English folk tales. + (<i>Cf. infra</i>, Nos. xii., xxiv., xxix., xxxiii., xli.) + </p> + <h3> + XI. CAP O' RUSHES. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Discovered by Mr. E. Clodd, in “Suffolk Notes and + Queries” of the <i>Ipswich Journal</i>, published by Mr. Lang in <i>Longinan's + Magazine</i>, vol. xiii, also in <i>Folk-Lore</i>, Sept. 1890. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The beginning recalls “King Lear.” For “loving + like salt,” see the parallels collected by Cosquin, i. 288. The whole + story is a version of the numerous class of Cinderella stories, the + particular variety being the Catskin sub-species analogous to Perrault's + <i>Peau d'Ane</i>. “Catskin” was told by Mr. Burchell to the young + Primroses in “The Vicar of Wakefield,'” and has been elaborately studied + by the late H. C. Coote, in <i>Folk-Lore Record</i>, iii. 1-25. It is only + now extant in ballad form, of which “Cap o' Rushes” may be regarded as a + prose version. + </p> + <h3> + XII. TEENY-TINY. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, 148. + </p> + <h3> + XIII. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—I tell this as it was told me in Australia, somewhere + about the year 1860. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—There is a chap-book version which is very poor; + it is given by Mr. E. S. Hartland, <i>English Folk and Fairy Tales</i> + (Camelot Series), p. 35, <i>seq.</i> In this, when Jack arrives at the top + of the Beanstalk, he is met by a fairy, who gravely informs him that the + ogre had stolen all his possessions from Jack's father. The object of this + was to prevent the tale becoming an encouragement to theft! I have had + greater confidence in my young friends, and have deleted the fairy who did + not exist in the tale as told to me. For the Beanstalk elsewhere, see + Ralston, <i>Russian Folk Tales</i>, 293-8. Cosquin has some remarks on + magical ascents (i. 14). + </p> + <h3> + XIV. THREE LITTLE PIGS. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, p. 16. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The only known parallels are one from Venice, + Bernoni, <i>Trad. Pop.</i>, punt. iii. p. 65, given in Crane, <i>Italian + Popular Tales</i>, p. 267, “The Three Goslings;” and a negro tale in <i>Lippincott's + Magazine</i>, December, 1877, p. 753 (“Tiny Pig”). + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—As little pigs do not have hair on their chinny + chin-chins, I suspect that they were originally kids, who have. This would + bring the tale close to the Grimms' “Wolf and Seven Little Kids,” (No. 5). + In Steel and Temple's “Lambikin” (<i>Wide-awake Stories</i>, p. 71), the + Lambikin gets inside a Drumikin, and so nearly escapes the jackal. + </p> + <h3> + XV. MASTER AND PUPIL + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson, <i>Folk-Lore of Northern Counties</i>, + first edition, p. 343, communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. The + rhymes on the open book have been supplied by Mr. Batten, in whose family, + if I understand him rightly, they have been long used for raising the——; + something similar occurs in Halliwell, p. 243, as a riddle rhyme. The + mystic signs in Greek are a familiar “counting-out rhyme”: these have been + studied in a monograph by Mr. H. C. Bolton; he thinks they are “survivals” + of incantations. Under the circumstances, it would be perhaps as well if + the reader did not read the lines out when alone. One never knows what may + happen. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Sorcerers' pupils seem to be generally selected + for their stupidity—in folk-tales. Friar Bacon was defrauded of his + labour in producing the Brazen Head in a similar way. In one of the + legends about Virgil he summoned a number of demons, who would have torn + him to pieces if he had not set them at work (J. S. Tunison, <i>Master + Virgil</i>, Cincinnati, 1888, p. 30). + </p> + <h3> + XVI. TATTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, p. 115. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—This curious droll is extremely widespread; + references are given in Cosquin, i. 204 <i>seq.</i>, and Crane, <i>Italian + Popular Tales</i>, 375-6. As a specimen I may indicate what is implied + throughout these notes by such bibliographical references by drawing up a + list of the variants of this tale noticed by these two authorities, adding + one or two lately printed. Various versions have been discovered in: + </p> + <p> + ENGLAND: Halliwell, <i>Nursery Rhymes</i>, p. 115. + </p> + <p> + SCOTLAND: K. Blind, in <i>Arch. Rev</i>. iii. (“Fleakin and Lousikin,” in + the Shetlands). + </p> + <p> + FRANCE: <i>Mélusine</i>, 1877, col. 424; Sebillot, <i>Contes pop. de la + Haute Bretagne</i>, No. 55, <i>Litterature orale</i>, p. 232; <i>Magasin + picturesque</i>, 1869, p. 82; Cosquin, <i>Contes pop. de Lorraine</i>, + Nos. 18 and 74. + </p> + <p> + ITALY: Pitrè, <i>Novelline popolari siciliane</i>, No. 134 (translated in + Crane, <i>Ital. Pop. Tales</i>, p. 257); Imbriani, <i>La novellaja + Fiorentina</i>, p. 244; Bernoni, <i>Tradizione popolari veneziane</i>, + punt. iii. p. 81; Gianandrea, <i>Biblioteca delle tradizioni popolari + marchigiane</i>, p.,11; Papanti, <i>Novelline popolari livornesi</i>, p. + 19 (“Vezzino e Madonna Salciccia”); Finamore, <i>Trad. pop. abruzzesi</i>, + p. 244; Morosi, <i>Studi sui Dialetti Greci della Terra d'Otranto</i>, p. + 75; <i>Giamb. Basile</i>, 1884, p. 37. + </p> + <p> + GERMANY: Grimm, <i>Kinder-und Hausmärchen</i>, No. 30; Kuhn and Schwarz, + <i>Norddeutsche Sagen</i>, No. 16. + </p> + <p> + NORWAY: Asbjornsen, No. 103 (translated in Sir G. Dasent's <i>Tales from + the Field</i>, p. 30, “Death of Chanticleer”). + </p> + <p> + SPAIN: Maspons, <i>Cuentos populars catalans</i>, p. 12; Fernan Caballero, + <i>Cuentos y sefrañes populares</i>, p. 3 (“La Hormiguita”). + </p> + <p> + PORTUGAL: Coelho, <i>Contes popolares portuguezes</i>, No. 1. + </p> + <p> + ROUMANIA: Kremnitz, <i>Rumänische Mährchen</i>, No. 15. + </p> + <p> + ASIA MINOR: Von Hahn, <i>Griechische und Albanesische Märchen</i>, No. 56. + </p> + <p> + INDIA: Steel and Temple, <i>Wide-awake Stories</i>, p. 157 (“The Death and + Burial of Poor Hen-Sparrow”). + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—These 25 variants of the same jingle scattered over + the world from India to Spain, present the problem of the diffusion of + folk-tales in its simplest form. No one is likely to contend with Prof. + Müller and Sir George Cox, that we have here the detritus of archaic Aryan + mythology, a parody of a sun-myth. There is little that is savage and + archaic to attract the school of Dr. Tylor, beyond the speaking powers of + animals and inanimates. Yet even Mr. Lang is not likely to hold that these + variants arose by coincidence and independently in the various parts of + the world where they have been found. The only solution is that the + curious succession of incidents was invented once for all at some definite + place and time by some definite entertainer for children, and spread + thence through all the Old World. In a few instances we can actually trace + the passage-<i>e.g.</i>, the Shetland version was certainly brought over + from Hamburg. Whether the centre of dispersion was India or not, it is + impossible to say, as it might have spread east from Smyrna (Hahn, No. + 56). Benfey (<i>Einleitung zu Pantschatantra</i>, i. 190-91) suggests that + this class of accumulative story may be a sort of parody on the Indian + stories, illustrating the moral, “what great events from small occasions + rise.” Thus, a drop of honey falls on the ground; a fly goes after it, a + bird snaps at the fly, a dog goes for the bird, another dog goes for the + first, the masters of the two dogs—who happen to be kings—quarrel + and go to war, whole provinces are devastated, and all for a drop of + honey! “Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse” also ends in a universal calamity + which seems to arise from a cause of no great importance. Benfey's + suggestion is certainly ingenious, but perhaps too ingenious to be true. + </p> + <h3> + XVII. JACK AND HIS SNUFF-BOX. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.-Mr. F. Hindes Groome, <i>In Gipsy Tents</i>, p. 201 <i>seq.</i> + I have eliminated a superfluous Gipsy who makes her appearance towards the + end of the tale <i>à propos des boltes</i>, but otherwise have left the + tale unaltered as one of the few English folk-tales that have been taken + down from the mouths of the peasantry: this applies also to i., ii., xi. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.-There is a magic snuff-box with a friendly power in it + in Kennedy's <i>Fictions of the Irish Celts</i>, p. 49. The choice between + a small cake with a blessing, &c., is frequent (<i>cf.</i> No. + xxiii.), but the closest parallel to the whole story, including the mice, + is afforded by a tale in Carnoy and Nicolaides' <i>Traditions populaires + de l'Asie Mineure</i>, which is translated as the first tale in Mr. Lang's + <i>Blue Fairy Book</i>. There is much in both that is similar to Aladdin, + I beg his pardon, Allah-ed-din. + </p> + <h3> + XVIII. THE THREE BEARS. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—<i>Verbatim et literatim</i> from Southey, <i>The + Doctor, &c.</i>, quarto edition, p. 327. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—None, as the story was invented by Southey. There + is an Italian translation, <i>I tre Orsi</i>, Turin, 1868, and it would be + curious to see if the tale ever acclimatises itself in Italy. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—“The Three Bears” is the only example I know of + where a tale that can be definitely traced to a specific author has become + a folk-tale. Not alone is this so, but the folk has developed the tale in + a curious and instructive way, by substituting a pretty little girl with + golden locks for the naughty old woman. In Southey's version there is + nothing of Little Silverhair as the heroine: she seems to have been + introduced in a metrical version by G. N., much be-praised by Southey. + Silverhair seems to have become a favourite, and in Mrs. Valentine's + version of “The Three Bears,” in “The Old, Old Fairy Tales,” the visit to + the bear-house is only the preliminary to a long succession of adventures + of the pretty little girl, of which there is no trace in the original (and + this in “The Old, Old Fairy Tales.” Oh! Mrs. Valentine!). I have, though + somewhat reluctantly, cast back to the original form. After all, as Prof. + Dowden remarks, Southey's memory is kept alive more by “The Three Bears” + than anything else, and the text of such a nursery classic should be + retained in all its purity. + </p> + <h3> + XIX. JACK THE GIANT-KILLER. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From two chap-books at the British Museum (London, + 1805, Paisley, 1814). I have taken some hints from “Felix Summerly's” (Sir + Henry Cole's) version, 1845. From the latter part, I have removed the + incident of the Giant dragging the lady along by her hair. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The chap-book of “Jack the Giant-Killer” is a + curious jumble. The second part, as in most chap-books, is a weak and late + invention of the enemy, and is not <i>volkstümlich</i> at all. The first + part is compounded of a comic and a serious theme. The first is that of + the Valiant Tailor (Grimm, No. 20); to this belong the incidents of the + fleabite blows (for variants of which see Köhler in <i>Jahrb. rom. eng. + Phil.</i>, viii. 252), and that of the slit paunch (<i>cf.</i> Cosquin, <i>l.c.</i>, + ii. 51). The Thankful Dead episode, where the hero is assisted by the soul + of a person whom he has caused to be buried, is found as early as the <i>Cento + novelle antiche</i> and Straparola, xi. 2. It has been best studied by + Köhler in <i>Germania</i>, iii. 199-209 (<i>cf.</i> Cosquin, i. 214-5; ii. + 14 and note; and Crane, <i>Ital. Pop. Tales</i>, 350, note 12). It occurs + also in the curious play of Peele's <i>The Old Wives' Tale</i>, in which + one of the characters is the Ghost of Jack. Practically the same story as + this part of Jack the Giant-Killer occurs in Kennedy, <i>Fictions of the + Irish Celts</i>, p. 32, “Jack the Master and Jack the Servant;” and + Kennedy adds (p. 38), “In some versions Jack the Servant is the spirit of + the buried man.” + </p> + <p> + The “Fee-fi-fo-fum” formula is common to all English stories of giants and + ogres; it also occurs in Peele's play and in <i>King Lear</i> (see note on + “Childe Rowland”). Messrs. Jones and Kropf have some remarks on it in + their “Magyar Tales,” pp. 340-1; so has Mr. Lang in his “Perrault,” p. + lxiii., where he traces it to the Furies in Aeschylus' <i>Eumenides</i>. + </p> + <h3> + XX. HENNY-PENNY. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—I give this as it was told me in Australia in 1860. + The fun consists in the avoidance of all pronouns, which results in + jaw-breaking sentences almost equal to the celebrated “She stood at the + door of the fish-sauce shop, welcoming him in.” + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Halliwell, p. 151, has the same with the title + “Chicken-Licken.” It occurs also in Chambers's <i>Popular Rhymes</i>, p. + 59, with the same names of the <i>dramatis personae</i>, as my version. + For European parallels, see Crane, <i>Ital. Pop. Tales</i>, 377, and + authorities there quoted. + </p> + <h3> + XXI. CHILDE ROWLAND. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Jamieson's <i>Illustrations of Northern Antiquities</i>, + 1814, p. 397 <i>seq.</i>, who gives it as told by a tailor in his youth, + <i>c.</i> 1770. I have Anglicised the Scotticisms, eliminated an + unnecessary ox-herd and swine-herd, who lose their heads for directing the + Childe, and I have called the Erlkönig's lair the Dark Tower on the + strength of the description and of Shakespeare's reference. I have + likewise suggested a reason why Burd Ellen fell into his power, chiefly in + order to introduce a definition of “widershins.” “All the rest is the + original horse,” even including the erroneous description of the youngest + son as the Childe or heir (<i>cf.</i> “Childe Harold” and Childe Wynd, <i>infra</i>, + No. xxxiii.), unless this is some “survival” of Junior Right or “Borough + English,” the archaic custom of letting the heirship pass to the youngest + son. I should add that, on the strength of the reference to Merlin, + Jamieson calls Childe Rowland's mother, Queen Guinevere, and introduces + references to King Arthur and his Court. But as he confesses that these + are his own improvements on the tailor's narrative I have eliminated them. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The search for the Dark Tower is similar to that + of the Red Ettin, (<i>cf</i>. Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 222). The formula + “youngest best,” in which the youngest of three brothers succeeds after + the others have failed, is one of the most familiar in folk-tales + amusingly parodied by Mr. Lang in his <i>Prince Prigio</i>. The taboo + against taking food in the underworld occurs in the myth of Proserpine, + and is also frequent in folk-tales (Child, i. 322). But the folk-tale + parallels to our tale fade into insignificance before its brilliant + literary relationships. There can be little doubt that Edgar, in his mad + scene in <i>King Lear</i>, is alluding to our tale when he breaks into the + lines: + </p> + <p> + “Childe Rowland to the Dark Tower came....” His word was still: “Fie, foh + and fum, I smell the blood of a British man.” <i>King Lear</i>, act iii. + sc. 4, <i>ad fin</i>. + </p> + <p> + [Footnote: “British” for “English.” This is one of the points that settles + the date of the play; James I. was declared King of Great <i>Britain</i>, + October 1604. I may add that Motherwell in his <i>Minstrelsy</i>, p. xiv. + note, testifies that the story was still extant in the nursery at the time + he wrote (1828).] + </p> + <p> + The latter reference is to the cry of the King of Elfland. That some such + story was current in England in Shakespeare's time, is proved by that + curious <i>mélange</i> of nursery tales, Peele's <i>The Old Wives' Tale</i>. + The main plot of this is the search of two brothers, Calypha and Thelea, + for a lost sister, Delia, who has been bespelled by a sorcerer, Sacrapant + (the names are taken from the “Orlando Furioso”). They are instructed by + an old man (like Merlin in “Childe Rowland”) how to rescue their sister, + and ultimately succeed. The play has besides this the themes of the + Thankful Dead, the Three Heads of the Well (which see), the Life Index, + and a transformation, so that it is not to be wondered at if some of the + traits of “Childe Rowland” are observed in it. + </p> + <p> + But a still closer parallel is afforded by Milton's <i>Comus</i>. Here + again we have two brothers in search of a sister, who has got into the + power of an enchanter. But besides this, there is the refusal of the + heroine to touch the enchanted food, just as Childe Rowland finally + refuses. And ultimately the bespelled heroine is liberated by a liquid, + which is applied to her <i>lips and finger-tips</i>, just as Childe + Rowland's brothers are unspelled. Such a minute resemblance as this cannot + be accidental, and it is therefore probable that Milton used the original + form of “Childe Rowland,” or some variant of it, as heard in his youth, + and adapted it to the purposes of the masque at Ludlow Castle, and of his + allegory. Certainly no other folk-tale in the world can claim so + distinguished an offspring. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—Distinguished as “Childe Rowland” will be henceforth + as the origin of <i>Comus</i>, if my affiliation be accepted, it has even + more remarkable points of interest, both in form and matter, for the + folklorist, unless I am much mistaken. I will therefore touch upon these + points, reserving a more detailed examination for another occasion. + </p> + <p> + First, as to the form of the narrative. This begins with verse, then turns + to prose, and throughout drops again at intervals into poetry in a + friendly way like Mr. Wegg. Now this is a form of writing not unknown in + other branches of literature, the <i>cante-fable</i>, of which “Aucassin + et Nicolette” is the most distinguished example. Nor is the <i>cante-fable</i> + confined to France. Many of the heroic verses of the Arabs contained in + the <i>Hamâsa</i> would be unintelligible without accompanying narrative, + which is nowadays preserved in the commentary. The verses imbedded in the + <i>Arabian Nights</i> give them something of the character of a <i>cante-fable</i>, + and the same may be said of the Indian and Persian story-books, though the + verse is usually of a sententious and moral kind, as in the <i>gâthas</i> + of the Buddhist Jatakas. Even as remote as Zanzibar, Mr. Lang notes, the + folk-tales are told as <i>cante-fables</i>. There are even traces in the + Old Testament of such screeds of verse amid the prose narrative, as in the + story of Lamech or that of Balaam. All this suggests that this is a very + early and common form of narrative. + </p> + <p> + Among folk-tales there are still many traces of the <i>cante-fable</i>. + Thus, in Grimm's collection, verses occur in Nos. 1, 5, 11, 12, 13, 15, + 19, 21, 24, 28, 30, 36, 38<i>a</i>, <i>b</i>, 39<i>a</i>, 40, 45, 46, 47, + out of the first fifty tales, 36 per cent. Of Chambers' twenty-one + folk-tales, in the <i>Popular Rhymes of Scotland</i> only five are without + interspersed verses. Of the forty-three tales contained in this volume, + three (ix., xxix., xxxiii.) are derived from ballads and do not therefore + count in the present connection. Of the remaining forty, i., iii., vii., + xvi., xix., xxi., xxiii., xxv., xxxi., xxxv., xxxviii., xli. (made up from + verses), xliii., contain rhymed lines, while xiv., xxii., xxvi., and + xxxvii., contain “survivals” of rhymes (“let me come in—chinny + chin-chin”; “once again ... come to Spain;” “it is not so—should be + so”; “and his lady, him behind”); and x. and xxxii. are rhythmical if not + rhyming. As most of the remainder are drolls, which have probably a + different origin, there seems to be great probability that originally all + folk-tales of a serious character were interspersed with rhyme, and took + therefore the form of the <i>cante-fable</i>. It is indeed unlikely that + the ballad itself began as continuous verse, and the <i>cante-fable</i> is + probably the protoplasm out of which both ballad and folk-tale have been + differentiated, the ballad by omitting the narrative prose, the folk-tale + by expanding it. In “Childe Rowland” we have the nearest example to such + protoplasm, and it is not difficult to see how it could have been + shortened into a ballad or reduced to a prose folk-tale pure and simple. + </p> + <p> + The subject-matter of “Childe Rowland” has also claims on our attention + especially with regard to recent views on the true nature and origin of + elves, trolls, and fairies. I refer to the recently published work of Mr. + D. MacRitchie, “The Testimony of Tradition” (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner + & Co.)—<i>i.e.</i>, of tradition about the fairies and the rest. + Briefly put, Mr. MacRitchie's view is that the elves, trolls, and fairies + represented in popular tradition are really the mound-dwellers, whose + remains have been discovered in some abundance in the form of green + hillocks, which have been artificially raised over a long and low passage + leading to a central chamber open to the sky. Mr. MacRitchie shows that in + several instances traditions about trolls or “good people” have attached + themselves to mounds, which have afterwards on investigation turned out to + be evidently the former residence of men of smaller build than the mortals + of to-day. He goes on further to identify these with the Picts—fairies + are called “Pechs” in Scotland—and other early races, but with these + ethnological equations we need not much concern ourselves. It is otherwise + with the mound-traditions and their relation, if not to fairy tales in + general, to tales <i>about</i> fairies, trolls, elves, etc. These are very + few in number, and generally bear the character of anecdotes. The fairies, + etc., steal a child, they help a wanderer to a drink and then disappear + into a green hill, they help cottagers with their work at night but + disappear if their presence is noticed; human midwives are asked to help + fairy mothers, fairy maidens marry ordinary men or girls marry and live + with fairy husbands. All such things may have happened and bear no such <i>à + priori</i> marks of impossibility as speaking animals, flying through the + air, and similar incidents of the folk-tale pure and simple. If, as + archaeologists tell us, there was once a race of men in Northern Europe, + very short and hairy, that dwelt in underground chambers artificially + concealed by green hillocks, it does not seem unlikely that odd survivors + of the race should have lived on after they had been conquered and nearly + exterminated by Aryan invaders and should occasionally have performed + something like the pranks told of fairies and trolls. + </p> + <p> + Certainly the description of the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland in + “Childe Rowland,” has a remarkable resemblance to the dwellings of the + “good folk,” which recent excavations have revealed. By the kindness of + Mr. MacRitchie, I am enabled to give the reader illustrations of one of + the most interesting of these, the Maes-How of Orkney. This is a green + mound some 100 feet in length and 35 in breadth at its broadest part. + Tradition had long located a goblin in its centre, but it was not till + 1861 that it was discovered to be pierced by a long passage 53 feet in + length, and only two feet four inches high, for half of its length. This + led into a central chamber 15 feet square and open to the sky. + </p> + <p> + Now it is remarkable how accurately all this corresponds to the Dark Tower + of “Childe Rowland,” allowing for a little idealisation on the part of the + narrator. We have the long dark passage leading into the well-lit central + chamber, and all enclosed in a green hill or mound. It is of course + curious to contrast Mr. Batten's frontispiece with the central chamber of + the How, but the essential features are the same. Even such a minute touch + as the terraces on the hill have their bearing, I believe, on Mr. + MacRitchie's “realistic” views of Faerie. For in quite another connection + Mr. G. L. Gomme, in his recent “Village Community” (W. Scott), pp. 75-98, + has given reasons and examples for believing that terrace cultivation + along the sides of hills was a practice of the non-Aryan and pre-Aryan + inhabitants of these isles. [Footnote: To these may be added Iona (<i>cf.</i> + Duke of Argyll, <i>Iona</i>, p. 109).] Here then from a quarter quite + unexpected by Mr. MacRitchie, we have evidence of the association of the + King of Elfland with a non-Aryan mode of cultivation of the soil. By Mr. + Gomme's kindness I am enabled to give an illustration of this. + </p> + <p> + Altogether it seems not improbable that in such a tale as “Childe Rowland” + we have an idealised picture of a “marriage by capture” of one of the + diminutive non-Aryan dwellers of the green hills with an Aryan maiden, and + her re-capture by her brothers. It is otherwise difficult to account for + such a circumstantial description of the interior of these mounds, and + especially of such a detail as the terrace cultivation on them. At the + same time it must not be thought that Mr. MacRitchie's views explain all + fairy tales, or that his identifications of Finns = Fenians = Fairies = + Sidhe = “Pechs” = Picts, will necessarily be accepted. His interesting + book, so far as it goes, seems to throw light on tales about mermaids + (Finnish women in their “kayaks,”) and trolls, but not necessarily, on + fairy tales in general. Thus, in the present volume, besides “Childe + Rowland,” there is only “Tom Tit Tot” in his hollow, the green hill in + “Kate Crackernuts,” the “Cauld Lad of Hilton,” and perhaps the “Fairy + Ointment,” that are affected by his views. + </p> + <p> + Finally, there are a couple of words in the narrative that deserve a + couple of words of explanation: “Widershins” is probably, as Mr. Batten + suggests, analogous to the German “wider Schein,” against the appearance + of the sun, “counter-clockwise” as the mathematicians say—<i>i.e.</i>, + W., S., E., N., instead of with the sun and the hands of a clock; why it + should have an unspelling influence is hard to say. “Bogle” is a + provincial word for “spectre,” and is analogous to the Welsh <i>bwg</i>, + “goblin,” and to the English insect of similar name, and still more + curiously to the Russian “Bog,” God, after which so many Russian rivers + are named. I may add that “Burd” is etymologically the same as “bride” and + is frequently used in the early romances for “Lady.” + </p> + <h3> + XXII. MOLLY WHUPPIE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—<i>Folk-Lore Journal</i>, ii. p. 68, forwarded by + Rev. Walter Gregor. I have modified the dialect and changed “Mally” into + “Molly.” + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The first part is clearly the theme of “Hop o' my + Thumb,” which Mr. Lang has studied in his “Perrault,” pp. civ.-cxi. (<i>cf.</i> + Köhler, <i>Occident</i>, ii. 301.) The change of night-dresses occurs in + Greek myths. The latter part wanders off into “rob giant of three things,” + a familiar incident in folk-tales (Cosquin, i. 46-7), and finally winds up + with the “out of sack” trick, for which see Cosquin, i. 113; ii. 209; and + Köhler on Campbell, in <i>Occident and Orient</i>, ii. 489-506. + </p> + <h3> + XXIII. RED ETTIN. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—“The Red Etin” in Chambers's <i>Pop. Rhymes of + Scotland</i>, p. 89. I have reduced the adventurers from three to two, and + cut down the herds and their answers. I have substituted riddles from the + first English collection of riddles, <i>The Demandes Joyous</i> of Wynkyn + de Worde, for the poor ones of the original, which are besides not solved. + “Ettin” is the English spelling of the word, as it is thus spelt in a + passage of Beaumont and Fletcher (<i>Knight of Burning Pestle</i>, i. 1), + which may refer to this very story, which, as we shall see, is quite as + old as their time. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—“The Red Etin” is referred to in <i>The Complaynt + of Scotland</i>, about 1548. It has some resemblance to “Childe Rowland,” + which see. The “death index,” as we may call tokens that tell the state of + health of a parted partner, is a usual incident in the theme of the Two + Brothers, and has been studied by the Grimms, i. 421, 453; ii. 403; by + Köhler on Campbell, <i>Occ. u. Or.</i>, ii. 119-20; on Gonzenbach, ii. + 230; on Bladé, 248; by Cosquin, <i>l.c.</i>, i. 70-2, 193; by Crane, <i>Ital. + Pop. Tales</i>, 326; and by Jones and Kropf, <i>Magyar Tales</i>, 329. + Riddles generally come in the form of the “riddle-bride-wager” (<i>cf.</i> + Child, <i>Ballads</i>, i. 415-9; ii. 519), when the hero or heroine wins a + spouse by guessing a riddle or riddles. Here it is the simpler Sphinx form + of the “riddle task,” on which see Köhler in <i>Jahrb. rom. Phil.</i>, + vii. 273, and on Gonzenbach, 215. + </p> + <h3> + XXIV. GOLDEN ARM. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson, <i>l.c.</i>, p. 338, collected by the Rev. + S. Baring-Gould, in Devonshire. Mr. Burne-Jones remembers hearing it in + his youth in Warwickshire. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The first fragment at the end of Grimm (ii. 467, + of Mrs. Hunt's translation), tells of an innkeeper's wife who had used the + liver of a man hanging on the gallows, whose ghost comes to her and tells + her what has become of his hair, and his eyes, and the dialogue concludes + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “SHE: Where is thy liver? + IT: Thou hast devoured it!” + </pre> + <p> + For similar “surprise packets” see Cosquin, ii. 77. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—It is doubtful how far such gruesome topics should + be introduced into a book for children, but as a matter of fact the <i>katharsis</i> + of pity and terror among the little ones is as effective as among the + spectators of a drama, and they take the same kind of pleasant thrill from + such stories. They know it is all make-believe just as much as the + spectators of a tragedy. Every one who has enjoyed the blessing of a + romantic imagination has been trained up on such tales of wonder. + </p> + <h3> + XXV. TOM THUMB. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From the chap-book contained in Halliwell, p. 199, + and Mr. Hartland's <i>English Folk and Fairy Tales</i>. I have omitted + much of the second part. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Halliwell has also a version entirely in verse. + “Tom Thumb” is “Le petit Poucet” of the French, “Daumling” of the Germans, + and similar diminutive heroes elsewhere (<i>cf.</i> Deulin, <i>Contes de + ma Mère l'Oye</i>, 326), but of his adventures only that in the cow's + stomach (<i>cf.</i> Cosquin, ii. 190) is common with his French and German + cousins. M. Gaston Paris has a monograph on “Tom Thumb.” + </p> + <h3> + XXVI. MR. FOX. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Contributed by Blakeway to Malone's Variorum + Shakespeare, to illustrate Benedick's remark in <i>Much Ado about Nothing</i> + (I. i. 146): “Like the old tale, my Lord, 'It is not so, nor 'twas not so, + but, indeed, God forbid it should be so;'” which clearly refers to the + tale of Mr. Fox. “The Forbidden Chamber” has been studied by Mr. Hartland, + <i>Folk-Lore Journal</i>, iii. 193, <i>seq.</i> + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Halliwell, p. 166, gives a similar tale of “An + Oxford Student,” whose sweetheart saw him digging her grave. “Mr. Fox” is + clearly a variant of the theme of “The Robber Bridegroom” (Grimm, No. 40, + Mrs. Hunt's translation, i. 389, 395; and Cosquin, i. 180-1). + </p> + <h3> + XXVII. LAZY JACK. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, 157. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The same story occurs in Lowland Scotch as “Jock + and his Mother,” Chambers, <i>l.c.</i>, 101; in Ireland, as “I'll be wiser + next time,” Kennedy, <i>l.c.</i>, 39-42. Abroad it is Grimm's <i>Hans im + Glück</i> (No. 83). The “cure by laughing” incident is “common form” in + folk-tales (<i>cf.</i> Köhler on Gonzenbach, <i>Sizil. Märchen</i>, ii. + 210, 224; Jones and Kropf, <i>Magyar Tales</i>, 312). + </p> + <h3> + XXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—<i>American Journal of Folk-Lore</i>, ii. 60. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Another variant is given in the same <i>Journal</i>, + p. 277, where reference is also made to a version “The Gingerbread Boy,” + in <i>St. Nicholas</i>, May 1875. Chambers gives two versions of the same + story, under the title “The Wee Bunnock,” the first of which is one of the + most dramatic and humorous of folk-tales. Unfortunately, the Scotticisms + are so frequent as to render the droll practically untranslatable. “The + Fate of Mr. Jack Sparrow” in <i>Uncle Remus</i> is similar to that of + Johnny-Cake. + </p> + <h3> + XXIX. EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From the ballad of the same name as given in Mr. + Allingham's <i>Ballad Book</i>: it is clearly a fairy tale and not a + ballad proper. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The lover visiting his spouse in guise of a bird, + is a frequent <i>motif</i> in folk-tales. + </p> + <h3> + XXX. MR. MIACCA. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From memory of Mrs. B. Abrahams, who heard it from + her mother some <i>x</i> years ago (more than 40). I have transposed the + two incidents, as in her version Tommy Grimes was a clever carver and + carried about with him a carven leg. This seemed to me to exceed the + limits of <i>vraisemblance</i> even for a folk-tale. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Getting out of an ogre's clutches by playing on + the simplicity of his wife, occurs in “Molly Whuppie” (No. xxii.), and its + similars. In the Grimms' “Hansel and Grethel,” Hansel pokes out a stick + instead of his finger that the witch may not think him fat enough for the + table. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—Mr. Miacca seems to have played the double <i>rôle</i> + of a domestic Providence. He not alone punished bad boys, as here, but + also rewarded the good, by leaving them gifts on appropriate occasions + like Santa Claus or Father Christmas, who, as is well known, only leave + things for good children. Mrs. Abrahams remembers one occasion well when + she nearly caught sight of Mr. Miacca, just after he had left her a gift; + she saw his shadow in the shape of a bright light passing down the garden. + </p> + <h3> + XXXI. DICK WHITTINGTON. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—I have cobbled this up out of three chap-book + versions; (1) that contained in Mr. Hartland's <i>English Folk-tales</i>; + (2) that edited by Mr. H. B. Wheatley for the Villon Society; (3) that + appended to Messrs. Besant and Rice's monograph. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Whittington's cat has made the fortune of his + master in all parts of the Old World, as Mr. W. A. Clouston, among others, + has shown, <i>Popular Tales and Fictions</i>, ii. 65-78 (<i>cf.</i> Köhler + on Gonzenbach, ii. 251). + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—If Bow Bells had pealed in the exact and accurate + nineteenth century, they doubtless would have chimed + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Turn again, Whittington, + Thrice and a half Lord Mayor of London. +</pre> + <p> + For besides his three mayoralties of 1397, 1406, and 1419, he served as + Lord Mayor in place of Adam Bamme, deceased, in the latter half of the + mayoralty of 1396. It will be noticed that the chap-book puts the + introduction of potatoes rather far back. + </p> + <h3> + XXXII. THE STRANGE VISITOR + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From Chambers, <i>l.c.</i>, 64, much Anglicised. I + have retained “Aih-late-wee-moul,” though I candidly confess I have not + the slightest idea what it means; judging other children by myself, I do + not think that makes the response less effective. The prosaic-minded may + substitute “Up-late-and-little-food.” + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The man made by instalments, occurs in the Grimms' + No. 4, and something like it in an English folk-tale, <i>The Golden Ball</i>, + <i>ap.</i> Henderson, <i>l.c.</i>, p. 333. + </p> + <h3> + XXXIII. THE LAIDLY WORM. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From an eighteenth-century ballad of the Rev. Mr. + Lamb of Norham, as given in Prof. Child's <i>Ballads</i>; with a few + touches and verses from the more ancient version “Kempion.” A florid prose + version appeared in <i>Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore</i> for May + 1890. I have made the obvious emendation of + </p> + <p> + O quit your sword, unbend your bow + </p> + <p> + for + </p> + <p> + O quit your sword, and bend your bow. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The ballad of “Kempe Owein” is a more general + version which “The Laidly Worm” has localised near Bamborough. We learn + from this that the original hero was Kempe or Champion Owain, the Welsh + hero who flourished in the ninth century. Childe Wynd therefore = Childe + Owein. The “Deliverance Kiss” has been studied by Prof. Child, <i>l.c.</i>, + i. 207. A noteworthy example occurs in Boiardo's <i>Orlando Inamorato</i>, + cc. xxv., xxvi. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—It is perhaps unnecessary to give the equations + “Laidly Worm = Loathly Worm = Loathsome Dragon,” and “borrowed = changed.” + </p> + <h3> + XXXIV. CAT AND MOUSE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, p. 154. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Scarcely more than a variant of the “Old Woman and + her Pig” (No. iv.), which see. It is curious that a very similar “run” is + added by Bengali women at the end of every folk-tale they tell (Lal Behari + Day, <i>Folk Tales of Bengal</i>, Pref. <i>ad fin.</i>) + </p> + <h3> + XXXV. THE FISH AND THE RING. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson, <i>l.c.</i>, p. 326, from a communication + by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—“Jonah rings” have been put together by Mr. + Clouston in his <i>Popular Tales</i>, i. 398, &c.: the most famous are + those of Polycrates, of Solomon, and the Sanskrit drama of “Sakuntala,” + the plot of which turns upon such a ring. “Letters to kill bearer” have + been traced from Homer downwards by Prof. Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 220, + and “the substituted letter” by the same authority in <i>Occ. u. Or.</i>, + ii. 289. Mr. Baring-Gould, who was one of the pioneers of the study of + folk-tales in this country, has given a large number of instances of “the + pre-ordained marriage” in folk-tales in Henderson, <i>l.c.</i> + </p> + <h3> + XXXVI. THE MAGPIE'S NEST. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—I have built up the “Magpie's Nest” from two + nidification myths, as a German professor would call them, in the Rev. Mr. + Swainson's <i>Folk-Lore of British Birds</i>, pp. 80 and 166. I have + received instruction about the relative values of nests from a little + friend of mine named Katie, who knows all about it. If there is any + mistake in the order of neatness in the various birds' nests, I must have + learnt my lesson badly. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—English popular tradition is curiously at variance + about the magpie's nidificatory powers, for another legend given by Mr. + Swainson represents her as refusing to be instructed by the birds and that + is why she does <i>not</i> make a good nest. + </p> + <h3> + XXXVII. KATE CRACKERNUTS. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Given by Mr. Lang in <i>Longman's Magazine</i>, vol. + xiv. and reprinted in <i>Folk-Lore</i>, Sept. 1890. It is very corrupt, + both girls being called Kate, and I have had largely to rewrite. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—There is a tale which is clearly a cousin if not a + parent of this in <i>Kennedy's Fictions</i>, 54 <i>seq.</i>, containing + the visit to the green hill (for which see “Childe Rowland”), a reference + to nuts, and even the sesame rhyme. The prince is here a corpse who + becomes revivified; the same story is in Campbell No. 13. The jealous + stepmother is “universally human.” (<i>Cf.</i> Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. + 206.) + </p> + <h3> + XXXVIII. THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson's <i>Folk-Lore of Northern Counties</i>, + 2nd edition, published by the Folk-Lore Society, pp. 266-7. I have written + the introductory paragraph so as to convey some information about + Brownies, Bogles, and Redcaps, for which Henderson, <i>l.c.</i>, 246-53, + is my authority. Mr. Batten's portrait renders this somewhat superfluous. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The Grimms' “Elves” (No. 39) behave in like manner + on being rewarded for their services. Milton's “lubbar-fiend” in <i>L'Allegro</i> + has all the characteristics of a Brownie. + </p> + <h3> + XXXIX. ASS, TABLE AND STICK. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson, <i>l.c.</i>, first edition, pp. 327-9, by + the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Mr. Baring-Gould gives another version from the + East Riding, <i>l.c.</i>, 329, in which there are three brothers who go + through the adventures. He also refers to European Variants, p. 311, which + could now be largely supplemented from Cosquin, i. 53-4, ii. 66, 171. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—As an example of the sun-myth explanation of + folk-tales I will quote the same authority (p. 314): “The Master, who + gives the three precious gifts, is the All Father, the Supreme Spirit. The + gold and jewel-dropping ass, is the spring cloud, hanging in the sky and + shedding the bright productive vernal showers. The table which covers + itself is the earth becoming covered with flowers and fruit at the bidding + of the New Year. But there is a check; rain is withheld, the process of + vegetation is stayed by some evil influence. Then comes the thunder-cloud, + out of which leaps the bolt; the rains pour down, the earth receives them, + and is covered with abundance—all that was lost is recovered.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Baring-Gould, it is well-known, has since become a distinguished + writer of fiction. + </p> + <h3> + XL. FAIRY OINTMENT. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Mrs. Bray, <i>The Tamar and the Tavy</i>, i. 174 + (letters to Southey), as quoted by Mr. Hartland in <i>Folk-Lore</i>, i. + 207-8. I have christened the anonymous midwife and euphemised her + profession. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Mr. Hartland has studied Human Midwives in the <i>Archaeol. + Review</i>, iv., and parallels to our story in <i>Folk-Lore</i>, i. 209, + <i>seq.</i>; the most interesting of these is from Gervase of Tilbury + (xiii. cent.), <i>Otia Imper.</i>, iii. 85, and three Breton tales given + by M. Sebillot (<i>Contes</i>, ii. 42; <i>Litt. orale</i>, 23; <i>Trad. et + Superst.</i>, i. 109). <i>Cf.</i> Prof. Child, i. 339; ii. 505. + </p> + <h3> + XLI. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Leyden's edition of <i>The Complaynt of Scotland</i>, + p. 234 <i>seq.</i>, with additional touches from Halliwell, 162-3, who + makes up a slightly different version from the rhymes. The opening formula + I have taken from Mayhew, <i>London Labour</i>, iii. 390, who gives it as + the usual one when tramps tell folk-tales. I also added it to No. xvii. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Sir W. Scott remembered a similar story; see + Taylor's <i>Gammer Grethel, ad fin</i>. In Scotland it is Chambers's tale + of <i>The Paddo</i>, p. 87; Leyden supposes it is referred to in the <i>Complaynt</i>, + (c. 1548), as “The Wolf of the Warldis End.” The well of this name occurs + also in the Scotch version of the “Three Heads of the Well,” (No. xliii.). + Abroad it is the Grimms' first tale, while frogs who would a-wooing go are + discussed by Prof. Köhler, <i>Occ. u. Orient</i> ii. 330; by Prof. Child, + i. 298; and by Messrs. Jones and Kropf, <i>l.c.</i>, p. 404. The + sieve-bucket task is widespread from the Danaids of the Greeks to the + leverets of <i>Uncle Remus</i>, who, curiously enough, use the same rhyme: + “Fill it wid moss en dob it wid clay.” <i>Cf.</i>, too, No. xxiii. + </p> + <h3> + XLII. MASTER OF ALL MASTERS. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—I have taken what suited me from a number of sources, + which shows how wide-spread this quaint droll is in England: (i) In + Mayhew, <i>London Poor</i>, iii. 391, told by a lad in a workhouse; (ii) + several versions in 7 <i>Notes and Queries</i>, iii. 35, 87, 159, 398. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Rev. W. Gregor gives a Scotch version under the + title “The Clever Apprentice,” in <i>Folk-Lore Journal</i>, vii. 166. Mr. + Hartland, in <i>Notes and Queries</i>, <i>l.c.</i>, 87, refers to Pitré's + <i>Fiabi sicil.</i>, iii. 120, for a variant. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—According to Mr. Hartland, the story is designed as + a satire on pedantry, and is as old in Italy as Straparola (sixteenth + century). In passionate Sicily a wife disgusted with her husband's + pedantry sets the house on fire, and informs her husband of the fact in + this unintelligible gibberish; he, not understanding his own lingo, falls + a victim to the flames, and she marries the servant who had taken the + message. + </p> + <h3> + XLIII. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, p. 158. The second wish has been somewhat + euphemised. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The story forms part of Peele's <i>Old Wives' Tale</i>, + where the rhyme was + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>A Head rises in the well</i>, + Fair maiden, white and red, + Stroke me smooth and comb my head, + And thou shalt have some cockell-bread. +</pre> + <p> + It is also in Chambers, <i>l.c.</i>, 105, where the well is at the World's + End (<i>cf.</i> No. xli.). The contrasted fates of two step-sisters, is + the Frau Holle (Grimm, No. 24) type of Folk-tale studied by Cosquin, i. + 250, <i>seq.</i> “Kate Crackernuts” (No. xxxvii.) is a pleasant contrast + to this. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of English Fairy Tales, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH FAIRY TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 7439-h.htm or 7439-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/4/3/7439/ + + +Text file produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: English Fairy Tales + +Author: Anonymous + +Editor: Joseph Jacobs + + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7439] +This file was first posted on April 30, 2003 +Last Updated: May 20, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH FAIRY TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP + + + + + + + +ENGLISH FAIRY TALES + +By Anonymous + + +_COLLECTED BY_ JOSEPH JACOBS + + + + +_HOW TO GET INTO THIS BOOK._ + + _Knock at the Knocker on the Door, + Pull the Bell at the side,_ + +_Then, if you are very quiet, you will hear a teeny tiny voice say +through the grating "Take down the Key." This you will find at the back: +you cannot mistake it, for it has J. J. in the wards. Put the Key in the +Keyhole, which it fits exactly, unlock the door and WALK IN._ + + + +_TO MY DEAR LITTLE MAY_ + + + + +PREFACE + +Who says that English folk have no fairy-tales of their own? The present +volume contains only a selection out of some 140, of which I have found +traces in this country. It is probable that many more exist. + +A quarter of the tales in this volume, have been collected during the +last ten years or so, and some of them have not been hitherto published. +Up to 1870 it was equally said of France and of Italy, that they +possessed no folk-tales. Yet, within fifteen years from that date, over +1000 tales had been collected in each country. I am hoping that the +present volume may lead to equal activity in this country, and would +earnestly beg any reader of this book who knows of similar tales, to +communicate them, written down as they are told, to me, care of Mr. +Nutt. The only reason, I imagine, why such tales have not hitherto +been brought to light, is the lamentable gap between the governing and +recording classes and the dumb working classes of this country--dumb to +others but eloquent among themselves. It would be no unpatriotic task +to help to bridge over this gulf, by giving a common fund of nursery +literature to all classes of the English people, and, in any case, it +can do no harm to add to the innocent gaiety of the nation. + +A word or two as to our title seems necessary. We have called our +stories Fairy Tales though few of them speak of fairies. [Footnote: For +some recent views on fairies and tales _about_ fairies, see Notes.] The +same remark applies to the collection of the Brothers Grimm and to all +the other European collections, which contain exactly the same classes +of tales as ours. Yet our stories are what the little ones mean when +they clamour for "Fairy Tales," and this is the only name which they +give to them. One cannot imagine a child saying, "Tell us a folk-tale, +nurse," or "Another nursery tale, please, grandma." As our book is +intended for the little ones, we have indicated its contents by the name +they use. The words "Fairy Tales" must accordingly be taken to +include tales in which occurs something "fairy," something +extraordinary--fairies, giants, dwarfs, speaking animals. It must +be taken also to cover tales in which what is extraordinary is the +stupidity of some of the actors. Many of the tales in this volume, as +in similar collections for other European countries, are what the +folklorists call Drolls. They serve to justify the title of Merrie +England, which used to be given to this country of ours, and indicate +unsuspected capacity for fun and humour among the unlettered classes. +The story of Tom Tit Tot, which opens our collection, is unequalled +among all other folk-tales I am acquainted with, for its combined sense +of humour and dramatic power. + +The first adjective of our title also needs a similar extension of its +meaning. I have acted on Moliere's principle, and have taken what was +good wherever I could find it. Thus, a couple of these stories have been +found among descendants of English immigrants in America; a couple of +others I tell as I heard them myself in my youth in Australia. One of +the best was taken down from the mouth of an English Gipsy. I have also +included some stories that have only been found in Lowland Scotch. +I have felt justified in doing this, as of the twenty-one folk-tales +contained in Chambers' "Popular Rhymes of Scotland," no less than +sixteen are also to be found in an English form. With the Folk-tale as +with the Ballad, Lowland Scotch may be regarded as simply a dialect +of English, and it is a mere chance whether a tale is extant in one or +other, or both. + +I have also rescued and re-told a few Fairy Tales that only exist +now-a-days in the form of ballads. There are certain indications that +the "common form" of the English Fairy Tale was the _cante-fable_, a +mixture of narrative and verse of which the most illustrious example in +literature is "Aucassin et Nicolette." In one case I have endeavoured to +retain this form, as the tale in which it occurs, "Childe Rowland," +is mentioned by Shakespeare in _King Lear_, and is probably, as I have +shown, the source of Milton's _Comus_. Late as they have been collected, +some dozen of the tales can be traced back to the sixteenth century, two +of them being quoted by Shakespeare himself. + +In the majority of instances I have had largely to rewrite these Fairy +Tales, especially those in dialect, including the Lowland Scotch. +[Footnote: It is perhaps worth remarking that the Brothers Grimm did the +same with their stories. "Dass der Ausdruck," say they in their Preface, +"und die Ausfuehrung des Einzelnen grossentheils von uns herruehrt, +versteht sich von selbst." I may add that many of their stories +were taken from printed sources. In the first volume of Mrs. Hunt's +translation, Nos. 12, 18, 19, 23, 32, 35, 42, 43, 44, 69, 77, 78, 83, +89, are thus derived.] Children, and sometimes those of larger +growth, will not read dialect. I have also had to reduce the flatulent +phraseology of the eighteenth-century chap-books, and to re-write in +simpler style the stories only extant in "Literary" English. I have, +however, left a few vulgarisms in the mouths of vulgar people. Children +appreciate the dramatic propriety of this as much as their elders. +Generally speaking, it has been my ambition to write as a good old nurse +will speak when she tells Fairy Tales. I am doubtful as to my success in +catching the colloquial-romantic tone appropriate for such narratives, +but the thing had to be done or else my main object, to give a book of +English Fairy Tales which English children will listen to, would have +been unachieved. This book is meant to be read aloud, and not merely +taken in by the eye. + +In a few instances I have introduced or changed an incident. I have +never done so, however, without mentioning the fact in the Notes. These +have been relegated to the obscurity of small print and a back place, +while the little ones have been, perhaps unnecessarily, warned off them. +They indicate my sources and give a few references to parallels and +variants which may be of interest to fellow-students of Folk-lore. It +is, perhaps, not necessary to inform readers who are not fellow-students +that the study of Folk-tales has pretensions to be a science. It has its +special terminology, and its own methods of investigation, by which it +is hoped, one of these days, to gain fuller knowledge of the workings +of the popular mind as well as traces of archaic modes of thought and +custom. I hope on some future occasion to treat the subject of +the English Folk-tale on a larger scale and with all the necessary +paraphernalia of prolegomena and excursus. I shall then, of course, +reproduce my originals with literal accuracy, and have therefore felt +the more at liberty on the present occasion to make the necessary +deviations from this in order to make the tales readable for children. + +Finally, I have to thank those by whose kindness in waiving their rights +to some of these stories, I have been enabled to compile this book. My +friends Mr. E. Clodd, Mr. F. Hindes Groome, and Mr. Andrew Lang, +have thus yielded up to me some of the most attractive stories in +the following pages. The Councils of the English and of the American +Folk-lore Societies, and Messrs. Longmans, have also been equally +generous. Nor can I close these remarks without a word of thanks and +praise to the artistic skill with which my friend, Mr. J. D. Batten, has +made the romance and humour of these stories live again in the brilliant +designs with which he has adorned these pages. It should be added that +the dainty headpieces to "Henny Penny" and "Mr. Fox" are due to my old +friend, Mr. Henry Ryland. + +JOSEPH JACOBS. + + + +CONTENTS + +I. TOM TIT TOT II. THE THREE SILLIES III. THE ROSE-TREE IV. THE OLD +WOMAN AND HER PIG V. HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE VI. MR. VINEGAR +VII. NIX NOUGHT NOTHING VIII. JACK HANNAFORD IX. BINNORIE X. MOUSE AND +MOUSER XI. CAP O' RUSHES XII. TEENY-TINY XIII. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK +XIV. THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS XV. THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL +XVI. TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE XVII. JACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX +XVIII. THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS XIX. JACK THE GIANT-KILLER XX. +HENNY-PENNY XXI. CHILDE ROWLAND XXII. MOLLY WHUPPIE XXIII. THE RED ETTIN +XXIV. THE GOLDEN ARM XXV. THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB XXVI. MR. FOX XXVII. +LAZY JACK XXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE XXIX. EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER XXX. MR. MIACCA +XXXI. WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT XXXII. THE STRANGE VISITOR XXXIII. THE +LAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH XXXIV. THE CAT AND THE MOUSE. XXXV. +THE FISH AND THE RING. XXXVI. THE MAGPIE'S NEST XXXVII. KATE CRACKERNUTS +XXXVIII. THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON XXXIX. THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE +STICK XL. FAIRY OINTMENT XLI. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END. XLII. MASTER +OF ALL MASTERS. XLIII. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + + + + +TOM TIT TOT + +Once upon a time there was a woman, and she baked five pies. And when +they came out of the oven, they were that overbaked the crusts were too +hard to eat. So she says to her daughter: + +"Darter," says she, "put you them there pies on the shelf, and leave 'em +there a little, and they'll come again."--She meant, you know, the crust +would get soft. + +But the girl, she says to herself: "Well, if they'll come again, I'll +eat 'em now." And she set to work and ate 'em all, first and last. + +Well, come supper-time the woman said: "Go you, and get one o' them +there pies. I dare say they've come again now." + +The girl went and she looked, and there was nothing but the dishes. So +back she came and says she: "Noo, they ain't come again." + +"Not one of 'em?" says the mother. + +"Not one of 'em," says she. + +"Well, come again, or not come again," said the woman "I'll have one for +supper." + +"But you can't, if they ain't come," said the girl. + +"But I can," says she. "Go you, and bring the best of 'em." + +"Best or worst," says the girl, "I've ate 'em all, and you can't have +one till that's come again." + +Well, the woman she was done, and she took her spinning to the door to +spin, and as she span she sang: + + "My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day. + My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day." + +The king was coming down the street, and he heard her sing, but what she +sang he couldn't hear, so he stopped and said: + +"What was that you were singing, my good woman?" + +The woman was ashamed to let him hear what her daughter had been doing, +so she sang, instead of that: + + "My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day. + My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day." + +"Stars o' mine!" said the king, "I never heard tell of any one that +could do that." + +Then he said: "Look you here, I want a wife, and I'll marry your +daughter. But look you here," says he, "eleven months out of the year +she shall have all she likes to eat, and all the gowns she likes to get, +and all the company she likes to keep; but the last month of the year +she'll have to spin five skeins every day, and if she don't I shall kill +her." + +"All right," says the woman; for she thought what a grand marriage that +was. And as for the five skeins, when the time came, there'd be plenty +of ways of getting out of it, and likeliest, he'd have forgotten all +about it. + +Well, so they were married. And for eleven months the girl had all she +liked to eat, and all the gowns she liked to get, and all the company +she liked to keep. + +But when the time was getting over, she began to think about the skeins +and to wonder if he had 'em in mind. But not one word did he say about +'em, and she thought he'd wholly forgotten 'em. + +However, the last day of the last month he takes her to a room she'd +never set eyes on before. There was nothing in it but a spinning-wheel +and a stool. And says he: "Now, my dear, here you'll be shut in +to-morrow with some victuals and some flax, and if you haven't spun five +skeins by the night, your head'll go off." + +And away he went about his business. + +Well, she was that frightened, she'd always been such a gatless girl, +that she didn't so much as know how to spin, and what was she to do +to-morrow with no one to come nigh her to help her? She sat down on a +stool in the kitchen, and law! how she did cry! + +However, all of a sudden she heard a sort of a knocking low down on the +door. She upped and oped it, and what should she see but a small little +black thing with a long tail. That looked up at her right curious, and +that said: + +"What are you a-crying for?" + +"What's that to you?" says she. + +"Never you mind," that said, "but tell me what you're a-crying for." + +"That won't do me no good if I do," says she. + +"You don't know that," that said, and twirled that's tail round. + +"Well," says she, "that won't do no harm, if that don't do no good," and +she upped and told about the pies, and the skeins, and everything. + +"This is what I'll do," says the little black thing, "I'll come to your +window every morning and take the flax and bring it spun at night." + +"What's your pay?" says she. + +That looked out of the corner of that's eyes, and that said: "I'll +give you three guesses every night to guess my name, and if you haven't +guessed it before the month's up you shall be mine." + +Well, she thought she'd be sure to guess that's name before the month +was up. "All right," says she, "I agree." + +"All right," that says, and law! how that twirled that's tail. + +Well, the next day, her husband took her into the room, and there was +the flax and the day's food. + +"Now there's the flax," says he, "and if that ain't spun up this night, +off goes your head." And then he went out and locked the door. + +He'd hardly gone, when there was a knocking against the window. + +She upped and she oped it, and there sure enough was the little old +thing sitting on the ledge. + +"Where's the flax?" says he. + +"Here it be," says she. And she gave it to him. + +Well, come the evening a knocking came again to the window. She upped +and she oped it, and there was the little old thing with five skeins of +flax on his arm. + +"Here it be," says he, and he gave it to her. + +"Now, what's my name?" says he. + +"What, is that Bill?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he, and he twirled his tail. + +"Is that Ned?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he, and he twirled his tail. + +"Well, is that Mark?" says she. + +"Noo, that ain't," says he, and he twirled his tail harder, and away he +flew. + +Well, when her husband came in, there were the five skeins ready for +him. "I see I shan't have to kill you to-night, my dear," says he; +"you'll have your food and your flax in the morning," says he, and away +he goes. + +Well, every day the flax and the food were brought, and every day that +there little black impet used to come mornings and evenings. And all the +day the girl sat trying to think of names to say to it when it came at +night. But she never hit on the right one. And as it got towards the +end of the month, the impet began to look so maliceful, and that twirled +that's tail faster and faster each time she gave a guess. + +At last it came to the last day but one. The impet came at night along +with the five skeins, and that said, + +"What, ain't you got my name yet?" + +"Is that Nicodemus?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't," that says. + +"Is that Sammle?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't," that says. + +"A-well, is that Methusalem?" says she. + +"Noo, t'ain't that neither," that says. + +Then that looks at her with that's eyes like a coal o' fire, and that +says: "Woman, there's only to-morrow night, and then you'll be mine!" +And away it flew. + +Well, she felt that horrid. However, she heard the king coming along the +passage. In he came, and when he sees the five skeins, he says, says he, + +"Well, my dear," says he, "I don't see but what you'll have your skeins +ready to-morrow night as well, and as I reckon I shan't have to kill +you, I'll have supper in here to-night." So they brought supper, and +another stool for him, and down the two sat. + +Well, he hadn't eaten but a mouthful or so, when he stops and begins to +laugh. + +"What is it?" says she. + +"A-why," says he, "I was out a-hunting to-day, and I got away to a place +in the wood I'd never seen before And there was an old chalk-pit. And I +heard a kind of a sort of a humming. So I got off my hobby, and I went +right quiet to the pit, and I looked down. Well, what should there be +but the funniest little black thing you ever set eyes on. And what was +that doing, but that had a little spinning-wheel, and that was spinning +wonderful fast, and twirling that's tail. And as that span that sang: + + "Nimmy nimmy not + My name's Tom Tit Tot." + +Well, when the girl heard this, she felt as if she could have jumped out +of her skin for joy, but she didn't say a word. + +Next day that there little thing looked so maliceful when he came for +the flax. And when night came, she heard that knocking against the +window panes. She oped the window, and that come right in on the ledge. +That was grinning from ear to ear, and Oo! that's tail was twirling +round so fast. + +"What's my name?" that says, as that gave her the skeins. + +"Is that Solomon?" she says, pretending to be afeard. + +"Noo, t'ain't," that says, and that came further into the room. + +"Well, is that Zebedee?" says she again. + +"Noo, t'ain't," says the impet. And then that laughed and twirled that's +tail till you couldn't hardly see it. + +"Take time, woman," that says; "next guess, and you're mine." And that +stretched out that's black hands at her. + +Well, she backed a step or two, and she looked at it, and then she +laughed out, and says she, pointing her finger at it: + +"NIMMY NIMMY NOT, YOUR NAME'S TOM TIT TOT!" + +Well, when that heard her, that gave an awful shriek and away that flew +into the dark, and she never saw it any more. + + + + +THE THREE SILLIES + +Once upon a time there was a farmer and his wife who had one daughter, +and she was courted by a gentleman. Every evening he used to come and +see her, and stop to supper at the farmhouse, and the daughter used to +be sent down into the cellar to draw the beer for supper. So one evening +she had gone down to draw the beer, and she happened to look up at the +ceiling while she was drawing, and she saw a mallet stuck in one of the +beams. It must have been there a long, long time, but somehow or other +she had never noticed it before, and she began a-thinking. And she +thought it was very dangerous to have that mallet there, for she said +to herself: "Suppose him and me was to be married, and we was to have a +son, and he was to grow up to be a man, and come down into the cellar to +draw the beer, like as I'm doing now, and the mallet was to fall on his +head and kill him, what a dreadful thing it would be!" And she put down +the candle and the jug, and sat herself down and began a-crying. + +Well, they began to wonder upstairs how it was that she was so long +drawing the beer, and her mother went down to see after her, and she +found her sitting on the settle crying, and the beer running over the +floor. "Why, whatever is the matter?" said her mother. "Oh, mother!" +says she, "look at that horrid mallet! Suppose we was to be married, and +was to have a son, and he was to grow up, and was to come down to the +cellar to draw the beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill +him, what a dreadful thing it would be!" "Dear, dear! what a dreadful +thing it would be!" said the mother, and she sat her down aside of the +daughter and started a-crying too. Then after a bit the father began to +wonder that they didn't come back, and he went down into the cellar to +look after them himself, and there they two sat a-crying, and the beer +running all over the floor. "Whatever is the matter?" says he. "Why," +says the mother, "look at that horrid mallet. Just suppose, if our +daughter and her sweetheart was to be married, and was to have a son, +and he was to grow up, and was to come down into the cellar to draw +the beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, what a +dreadful thing it would be!" "Dear, dear, dear! so it would!" said the +father, and he sat himself down aside of the other two, and started +a-crying. + +Now the gentleman got tired of stopping up in the kitchen by himself, +and at last he went down into the cellar too, to see what they were +after; and there they three sat a-crying side by side, and the beer +running all over the floor. And he ran straight and turned the tap. +Then he said: "Whatever are you three doing, sitting there crying, and +letting the beer run all over the floor?" + +"Oh!" says the father, "look at that horrid mallet! Suppose you and our +daughter was to be married, and was to have a son, and he was to grow +up, and was to come down into the cellar to draw the beer, and the +mallet was to fall on his head and kill him!" And then they all started +a-crying worse than before. But the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and +reached up and pulled out the mallet, and then he said: "I've travelled +many miles, and I never met three such big sillies as you three before; +and now I shall start out on my travels again, and when I can find +three bigger sillies than you three, then I'll come back and marry your +daughter." So he wished them good-bye, and started off on his travels, +and left them all crying because the girl had lost her sweetheart. + +Well, he set out, and he travelled a long way, and at last he came to a +woman's cottage that had some grass growing on the roof. And the woman +was trying to get her cow to go up a ladder to the grass, and the poor +thing durst not go. So the gentleman asked the woman what she was doing. +"Why, lookye," she said, "look at all that beautiful grass. I'm going to +get the cow on to the roof to eat it. She'll be quite safe, for I shall +tie a string round her neck, and pass it down the chimney, and tie it +to my wrist as I go about the house, so she can't fall off without my +knowing it." "Oh, you poor silly!" said the gentleman, "you should cut +the grass and throw it down to the cow!" But the woman thought it was +easier to get the cow up the ladder than to get the grass down, so she +pushed her and coaxed her and got her up, and tied a string round her +neck, and passed it down the chimney, and fastened it to her own wrist. +And the gentleman went on his way, but he hadn't gone far when the cow +tumbled off the roof, and hung by the string tied round her neck, and +it strangled her. And the weight of the cow tied to her wrist pulled the +woman up the chimney, and she stuck fast half-way and was smothered in +the soot. + +Well, that was one big silly. + +And the gentleman went on and on, and he went to an inn to stop the +night, and they were so full at the inn that they had to put him in a +double-bedded room, and another traveller was to sleep in the other bed. +The other man was a very pleasant fellow, and they got very friendly +together; but in the morning, when they were both getting up, the +gentleman was surprised to see the other hang his trousers on the knobs +of the chest of drawers and run across the room and try to jump into +them, and he tried over and over again, and couldn't manage it; and the +gentleman wondered whatever he was doing it for. At last he stopped and +wiped his face with his handkerchief. "Oh dear," he says, "I do think +trousers are the most awkwardest kind of clothes that ever were. I can't +think who could have invented such things. It takes me the best part +of an hour to get into mine every morning, and I get so hot! How do you +manage yours?" So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and showed him how +to put them on; and he was very much obliged to him, and said he never +should have thought of doing it that way. + +So that was another big silly. + +Then the gentleman went on his travels again; and he came to a village, +and outside the village there was a pond, and round the pond was a crowd +of people. And they had got rakes, and brooms, and pitchforks, reaching +into the pond; and the gentleman asked what was the matter. "Why," they +say, "matter enough! Moon's tumbled into the pond, and we can't rake +her out anyhow!" So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and told them to +look up into the sky, and that it was only the shadow in the water. But +they wouldn't listen to him, and abused him shamefully, and he got away +as quick as he could. + +So there was a whole lot of sillies bigger than them three sillies at +home. So the gentleman turned back home again and married the farmer's +daughter, and if they didn't live happy for ever after, that's nothing +to do with you or me. + + + + +THE ROSE-TREE + +There was once upon a time a good man who had two children: a girl by a +first wife, and a boy by the second. The girl was as white as milk, and +her lips were like cherries. Her hair was like golden silk, and it hung +to the ground. Her brother loved her dearly, but her wicked stepmother +hated her. "Child," said the stepmother one day, "go to the grocer's +shop and buy me a pound of candles." She gave her the money; and the +little girl went, bought the candles, and started on her return. There +was a stile to cross. She put down the candles whilst she got over the +stile. Up came a dog and ran off with the candles. + +She went back to the grocer's, and she got a second bunch. She came to +the stile, set down the candles, and proceeded to climb over. Up came +the dog and ran off with the candles. + +She went again to the grocer's, and she got a third bunch; and just the +same happened. Then she came to her stepmother crying, for she had spent +all the money and had lost three bunches of candles. + +The stepmother was angry, but she pretended not to mind the loss. She +said to the child: "Come, lay your head on my lap that I may comb your +hair." So the little one laid her head in the woman's lap, who proceeded +to comb the yellow silken hair. And when she combed the hair fell over +her knees, and rolled right down to the ground. + +Then the stepmother hated her more for the beauty of her hair; so she +said to her, "I cannot part your hair on my knee, fetch a billet of +wood." So she fetched it. Then said the stepmother, "I cannot part your +hair with a comb, fetch me an axe." So she fetched it. + +"Now," said the wicked woman, "lay your head down on the billet whilst I +part your hair." + +Well! she laid down her little golden head without fear; and whist! down +came the axe, and it was off. So the mother wiped the axe and laughed. + +Then she took the heart and liver of the little girl, and she stewed +them and brought them into the house for supper. The husband tasted them +and shook his head. He said they tasted very strangely. She gave some +to the little boy, but he would not eat. She tried to force him, but he +refused, and ran out into the garden, and took up his little sister, and +put her in a box, and buried the box under a rose-tree; and every day he +went to the tree and wept, till his tears ran down on the box. + +One day the rose-tree flowered. It was spring, and there among the +flowers was a white bird; and it sang, and sang, and sang like an +angel out of heaven. Away it flew, and it went to a cobbler's shop, and +perched itself on a tree hard by; and thus it sang, + + "My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick, stock, stone dead." + +"Sing again that beautiful song," asked the shoemaker. "If you will +first give me those little red shoes you are making." The cobbler gave +the shoes, and the bird sang the song; then flew to a tree in front of a +watchmaker's, and sang: + + "My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick, stock, stone dead." + +"Oh, the beautiful song! sing it again, sweet bird," asked the +watchmaker. "If you will give me first that gold watch and chain in your +hand." The jeweller gave the watch and chain. The bird took it in one +foot, the shoes in the other, and, after having repeated the song, flew +away to where three millers were picking a millstone. The bird perched +on a tree and sang: + + "My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick!" + +Then one of the men put down his tool and looked up from his work, + + "Stock!" + +Then the second miller's man laid aside his tool and looked up, + + "Stone!" + +Then the third miller's man laid down his tool and looked up, + + "Dead!" + +Then all three cried out with one voice: "Oh, what a beautiful song! +Sing it, sweet bird, again." "If you will put the millstone round my +neck," said the bird. The men did what the bird wanted and away to the +tree it flew with the millstone round its neck, the red shoes in one +foot, and the gold watch and chain in the other. It sang the song and +then flew home. It rattled the millstone against the eaves of the house, +and the stepmother said: "It thunders." Then the little boy ran out to +see the thunder, and down dropped the red shoes at his feet. It +rattled the millstone against the eaves of the house once more, and the +stepmother said again: "It thunders." Then the father ran out and down +fell the chain about his neck. + +In ran father and son, laughing and saying, "See, what fine things the +thunder has brought us!" Then the bird rattled the millstone against the +eaves of the house a third time; and the stepmother said: "It thunders +again, perhaps the thunder has brought something for me," and she +ran out; but the moment she stepped outside the door, down fell the +millstone on her head; and so she died. + + + + +THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG + +An old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked +sixpence. "What," said she, "shall I do with this little sixpence? I +will go to market, and buy a little pig." + +As she was coming home, she came to a stile: but the piggy wouldn't go +over the stile. + +She went a little further, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog: +"Dog! bite pig; piggy won't go over the stile; and I shan't get home +to-night." But the dog wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a stick. So she said: "Stick! +stick! beat dog! dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and +I shan't get home to-night." But the stick wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a fire. So she said: "Fire! fire! +burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get +over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the fire wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met some water. So she said: "Water, +water! quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog +won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home +to-night." But the water wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met an ox. So she said: "Ox! ox! +drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't +beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I +shan't get home to-night." But the ox wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a butcher. So she said: "Butcher! +butcher! kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire +won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't +get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the butcher +wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a rope. So she said: "Rope! rope! +hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't +quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite +pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." +But the rope wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a rat. So she said: "Rat! rat! +gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't +drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't +beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I +shan't get home to-night." But the rat wouldn't. + +She went a little further, and she met a cat. So she said: "Cat! cat! +kill rat; rat won't gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't +kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn +stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over +the stile; and I shan't get home to-night." But the cat said to her, "If +you will go to yonder cow, and fetch me a saucer of milk, I will kill +the rat." So away went the old woman to the cow. + +But the cow said to her: "If you will go to yonder hay-stack, and fetch +me a handful of hay, I'll give you the milk." So away went the old woman +to the haystack and she brought the hay to the cow. + +As soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the old woman the milk; +and away she went with it in a saucer to the cat. + +As soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the +rat; the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher; +the butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the +water began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the +stick began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig; the little +pig in a fright jumped over the stile, and so the old woman got home +that night. + + + + +HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE + +Once on a time there was a boy named Jack, and one morning he started to +go and seek his fortune. + +He hadn't gone very far before he met a cat. + +"Where are you going, Jack?" said the cat. + +"I am going to seek my fortune." + +"May I go with you?" + +"Yes," said Jack, "the more the merrier." + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +They went a little further and they met a dog. + +"Where are you going, Jack?" said the dog. + +"I am going to seek my fortune." + +"May I go with you?" + +"Yes," said Jack, "the more the merrier." + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. They went a little +further and they met a goat. + +"Where are you going, Jack?" said the goat. + +"I am going to seek my fortune." + +"May I go with you?" + +"Yes," said Jack, "the more the merrier." + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +They went a little further and they met a bull. + +"Where are you going, Jack?" said the bull. + +"I am going to seek my fortune." + +"May I go with you?" + +"Yes," said Jack, "the more the merrier." + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +They went a little further and they met a rooster. + +"Where are you going, Jack?" said the rooster. + +"I am going to seek my fortune." + +"May I go with you?" + +"Yes," said Jack, "the more the merrier." + +So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + +Well, they went on till it was about dark, and they began to think of +some place where they could spend the night. About this time they came +in sight of a house, and Jack told them to keep still while he went up +and looked in through the window. And there were some robbers counting +over their money. Then Jack went back and told them to wait till he gave +the word, and then to make all the noise they could. So when they were +all ready Jack gave the word, and the cat mewed, and the dog barked, and +the goat bleated, and the bull bellowed, and the rooster crowed, and all +together they made such a dreadful noise that it frightened the robbers +all away. + +And then they went in and took possession of the house. Jack was afraid +the robbers would come back in the night, and so when it came time to go +to bed he put the cat in the rocking-chair, and he put the dog under the +table, and he put the goat upstairs, and he put the bull down cellar, +and the rooster flew up on to the roof, and Jack went to bed. + +By-and-by the robbers saw it was all dark and they sent one man back to +the house to look after their money. Before long he came back in a great +fright and told them his story. + +"I went back to the house," said he, "and went in and tried to sit down +in the rocking-chair, and there was an old woman knitting, and she stuck +her knitting-needles into me." That was the cat, you know. + +"I went to the table to look after the money and there was a shoemaker +under the table, and he stuck his awl into me." That was the dog, you +know. + +"I started to go upstairs, and there was a man up there threshing, and +he knocked me down with his flail." That was the goat, you know. + +"I started to go down cellar, and there was a man down there chopping +wood, and he knocked me up with his axe." That was the bull, you know. + +"But I shouldn't have minded all that if it hadn't been for that little +fellow on top of the house, who kept a-hollering, 'Chuck him up to me-e! +Chuck him up to me-e!'" Of course that was the cock-a-doodle-do. + + + + +MR. VINEGAR + +Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar lived in a vinegar bottle. Now, one day, when Mr. +Vinegar was from home, Mrs. Vinegar, who was a very good housewife, was +busily sweeping her house, when an unlucky thump of the broom brought +the whole house clitter-clatter, clitter-clatter, about her ears. In an +agony of grief she rushed forth to meet her husband. + +On seeing him she exclaimed, "Oh, Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar, we are +ruined, I have knocked the house down, and it is all to pieces!" Mr. +Vinegar then said: "My dear, let us see what can be done. Here is +the door; I will take it on my back, and we will go forth to seek our +fortune." + +They walked all that day, and at nightfall entered a thick forest. They +were both very, very tired, and Mr. Vinegar said: "My love, I will climb +up into a tree, drag up the door, and you shall follow." He accordingly +did so, and they both stretched their weary limbs on the door, and fell +fast asleep. + +In the middle of the night Mr. Vinegar was disturbed by the sound of +voices underneath, and to his horror and dismay found that it was a band +of thieves met to divide their booty. + +"Here, Jack," said one, "here's five pounds for you; here, Bill, here's +ten pounds for you; here, Bob, here's three pounds for you." + +Mr. Vinegar could listen no longer; his terror was so great that he +trembled and trembled, and shook down the door on their heads. Away +scampered the thieves, but Mr. Vinegar dared not quit his retreat till +broad daylight. + +He then scrambled out of the tree, and went to lift up the door. What +did he see but a number of golden guineas. "Come down, Mrs. Vinegar," he +cried; "come down, I say; our fortune's made, our fortune's made! Come +down, I say." + +Mrs. Vinegar got down as fast as she could, and when she saw the money +she jumped for joy. "Now, my dear," said she, "I'll tell you what you +shall do. There is a fair at the neighbouring town; you shall take these +forty guineas and buy a cow. I can make butter and cheese, which +you shall sell at market, and we shall then be able to live very +comfortably." + +Mr. Vinegar joyfully agrees, takes the money, and off he goes to the +fair. When he arrived, he walked up and down, and at length saw a +beautiful red cow. It was an excellent milker, and perfect in every +way. "Oh," thought Mr. Vinegar, "if I had but that cow, I should be the +happiest, man alive." + +So he offers the forty guineas for the cow, and the owner said that, as +he was a friend, he'd oblige him. So the bargain was made, and he got +the cow and he drove it backwards and forwards to show it. + +By-and-by he saw a man playing the bagpipes--Tweedle-dum tweedle-dee. +The children followed him about, and he appeared to be pocketing money +on all sides. "Well," thought Mr. Vinegar, "if I had but that beautiful +instrument I should be the happiest man alive--my fortune would be +made." + +So he went up to the man. "Friend," says he, "what a beautiful +instrument that is, and what a deal of money you must make." "Why, yes," +said the man, "I make a great deal of money, to be sure, and it is a +wonderful instrument." "Oh!" cried Mr. Vinegar, "how I should like to +possess it!" "Well," said the man, "as you are a friend, I don't much +mind parting with it; you shall have it for that red cow." "Done!" said +the delighted Mr. Vinegar. So the beautiful red cow was given for the +bagpipes. + +He walked up and down with his purchase; but it was in vain he tried +to play a tune, and instead of pocketing pence, the boys followed him +hooting, laughing, and pelting. + +Poor Mr. Vinegar, his fingers grew very cold, and, just as he was +leaving the town, he met a man with a fine thick pair of gloves. "Oh, +my fingers are so very cold," said Mr. Vinegar to himself. "Now if I had +but those beautiful gloves I should be the happiest man alive." He went +up to the man, and said to him, "Friend, you seem to have a capital pair +of gloves there." "Yes, truly," cried the man; "and my hands are as warm +as possible this cold November day." "Well," said Mr. Vinegar, "I should +like to have them.". "What will you give?" said the man; "as you are +a friend, I don't much mind letting you have them for those bagpipes." +"Done!" cried Mr. Vinegar. He put on the gloves, and felt perfectly +happy as he trudged homewards. + +At last he grew very tired, when he saw a man coming towards him with a +good stout stick in his hand. + +"Oh," said Mr. Vinegar, "that I had but that stick! I should then be the +happiest man alive." He said to the man: "Friend! what a rare good stick +you have got." "Yes," said the man; "I have used it for many a long +mile, and a good friend it has been; but if you have a fancy for it, +as you are a friend, I don't mind giving it to you for that pair of +gloves." Mr. Vinegar's hands were so warm, and his legs so tired, that +he gladly made the exchange. + +As he drew near to the wood where he had left his wife, he heard a +parrot on a tree calling out his name: "Mr. Vinegar, you foolish man, +you blockhead, you simpleton; you went to the fair, and laid out all +your money in buying a cow. Not content with that, you changed it +for bagpipes, on which you could not play, and which were not worth +one-tenth of the money. You fool, you--you had no sooner got the +bagpipes than you changed them for the gloves, which were not worth +one-quarter of the money; and when you had got the gloves, you changed +them for a poor miserable stick; and now for your forty guineas, cow, +bagpipes, and gloves, you have nothing to show but that poor miserable +stick, which you might have cut in any hedge." On this the bird laughed +and laughed, and Mr. Vinegar, falling into a violent rage, threw the +stick at its head. The stick lodged in the tree, and he returned to his +wife without money, cow, bagpipes, gloves, or stick, and she instantly +gave him such a sound cudgelling that she almost broke every bone in his +skin. + + + + +NIX NOUGHT NOTHING + +There once lived a king and a queen as many a one has been. They were +long married and had no children; but at last a baby-boy came to the +queen when the king was away in the far countries. The queen would not +christen the boy till the king came back, and she said, "We will just +call him _Nix Nought Nothing_ until his father comes home." But it was +long before he came home, and the boy had grown a nice little laddie. +At length the king was on his way back; but he had a big river to cross, +and there was a whirlpool, and he could not get over the water. But a +giant came up to him, and said "I'll carry you over." But the king said: +"What's your pay?" "O give me Nix, Nought, Nothing, and I will carry you +over the water on my back." The king had never heard that his son was +called Nix Nought Nothing, and so he said: "O, I'll give you that and +my thanks into the bargain." When the king got home again, he was very +happy to see his wife again, and his young son. She told him that she +had not given the child any name, but just Nix Nought Nothing, until he +should come home again himself. The poor king was in a terrible case. +He said: "What have I done? I promised to give the giant who carried me +over the river on his back, Nix Nought Nothing." The king and the queen +were sad and sorry, but they said: "When the giant comes we will give +him the hen-wife's boy; he will never know the difference." The next +day the giant came to claim the king's promise, and he sent for the +hen-wife's boy; and the giant went away with the boy on his back. He +travelled till he came to a big stone, and there he sat down to rest. He +said, + +"Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day is that?" + +The poor little boy said: "It is the time that my mother, the hen-wife, +takes up the eggs for the queen's breakfast." + +The Giant was very angry, and dashed the boy's head on the stone and +killed him. + +So he went back in a tower of a temper and this time they gave him the +gardener's boy. He went off with him on his back till they got to the +stone again when the giant sat down to rest. And he said: + +"Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day do you make that?" + +The gardener's boy said: "Sure it's the time that my mother takes up the +vegetables for the queen's dinner." Then the giant was right wild and +dashed his brains out on the stone. + +Then the giant went back to the king's house in a terrible temper and +said he would destroy them all if they did not give him Nix Nought +Nothing this time. They had to do it; and when he came to the big stone, +the giant said: "What time of day is that?" Nix Nought Nothing said: "It +is the time that my father the king will be sitting down to supper." The +giant said: "I've got the right one now;" and took Nix Nought Nothing to +his own house and brought him up till he was a man. + +The giant had a bonny daughter, and she and the lad grew very fond of +each other. The giant said one day to Nix Nought Nothing: "I've work for +you to-morrow. There is a stable seven miles long and seven miles broad, +and it has not been cleaned for seven years, and you must clean it +to-morrow, or I will have you for my supper." + +The giant's daughter went out next morning with the lad's breakfast, and +found him in a terrible state, for always as he cleaned out a bit, it +just fell in again. The giant's daughter said she would help him, and +she cried all the beasts in the field, and all the fowls of the air, and +in a minute they all came, and carried away everything that was in the +stable and made it all clean before the giant came home. He said: "Shame +on the wit that helped you; but I have a worse job for you to-morrow." +Then he said to Nix Nought Nothing: "There's a lake seven miles long, +and seven miles deep, and seven miles broad, and you must drain it +to-morrow by nightfall, or else I'll have you for my supper." Nix Nought +Nothing began early next morning and tried to lave the water with his +pail, but the lake was never getting any less, and he didn't know what +to do; but the giant's daughter called on all the fish in the sea to +come and drink the water, and very soon they drank it dry. When the +giant saw the work done he was in a rage, and said: "I've a worse job +for you to-morrow; there is a tree, seven miles high, and no branch on +it, till you get to the top, and there is a nest with seven eggs in it, +and you must bring down all the eggs without breaking one, or else I'll +have you for my supper." At first the giant's daughter did not know how +to help Nix Nought Nothing; but she cut off first her fingers and then +her toes, and made steps of them, and he clomb the tree and got all the +eggs safe till he came just to the bottom, and then one was broken. So +they determined to run away together and after the giant's daughter had +tidied up her hair a bit and got her magic flask they set out together +as fast as they could run. And they hadn't got but three fields away +when they looked back and saw the giant walking along at top speed after +them. "Quick, quick," called out the giant's daughter, "take my comb +from my hair and throw it down." Nix Nought Nothing took her comb from +her hair and threw it down, and out of every one of its prongs there +sprung up a fine thick briar in the way of the giant. You may be sure it +took him a long time to work his way through the briar bush and by the +time he was well through Nix Nought Nothing and his sweetheart had run +on a tidy step away from him. But he soon came along after them and was +just like to catch 'em up when the giant's daughter called out to Nix +Nought Nothing, "Take my hair dagger and throw it down, quick, quick." +So Nix Nought Nothing threw down the hair dagger and out of it grew as +quick as lightning a thick hedge of sharp razors placed criss-cross. The +giant had to tread very cautiously to get through all this and meanwhile +the young lovers ran on, and on, and on, till they were nearly out of +sight. But at last the giant was through, and it wasn't long before he +was like to catch them up. But just as he was stretching out his hand +to catch Nix Nought Nothing his daughter took out her magic flask and +dashed it on the ground. And as it broke out of it welled a big, big +wave that grew, and that grew, till it reached the giant's waist and +then his neck, and when it got to his head, he was drowned dead, and +dead, and dead indeed. So he goes out of the story. + +But Nix Nought Nothing fled on till where do you think they came to? +Why, to near the castle of Nix Nought Nothing's father and mother. But +the giant's daughter was so weary that she couldn't move a step further. +So Nix Nought Nothing told her to wait there while he went and found +out a lodging for the night. And he went on towards the lights of the +castle, and on the way he came to the cottage of the hen-wife whose +boy had had his brains dashed out by the giant. Now she knew Nix Nought +Nothing in a moment, and hated him because he was the cause of her son's +death. So when he asked his way to the castle she put a spell upon him, +and when he got to the castle, no sooner was he let in than he fell down +dead asleep upon a bench in the hall. The king and queen tried all they +could do to wake him up, but all in vain. So the king promised that if +any lady could wake him up she should marry him. Meanwhile the giant's +daughter was waiting and waiting for him to come back. And she went up +into a tree to watch for him. The gardener's daughter, going to draw +water in the well, saw the shadow of the lady in the water and thought +it was herself, and said; "If I'm so bonny, if I'm so brave, why do you +send me to draw water?" So she threw down her pail and went to see if +she could wed the sleeping stranger. And she went to the hen-wife, who +taught her an unspelling catch which would keep Nix Nought Nothing awake +as long as the gardener's daughter liked. So she went up to the castle +and sang her catch and Nix Nought Nothing was wakened for a bit and they +promised to wed him to the gardener's daughter. Meanwhile the gardener +went down to draw water from the well and saw the shadow of the lady in +the water. So he looks up and finds her, and he brought the lady from +the tree, and led her into his house. And he told her that a stranger +was to marry his daughter, and took her up to the castle and showed her +the man: and it was Nix Nought Nothing asleep in a chair. And she saw +him, and cried to him: "Waken, waken, and speak to me!" But he would not +waken, and soon she cried: + + "I cleaned the stable, I laved the lake, and I clomb the tree, + And all for the love of thee, + And thou wilt not waken and speak to me." + +The king and the queen heard this, and came to the bonny young lady, and +she said: + +"I cannot get Nix Nought Nothing to speak to me for all that I can do." + +Then were they greatly astonished when she spoke of Nix Nought Nothing, +and asked where he was, and she said: "He that sits there in the chair." +Then they ran to him and kissed him and called him their own dear son; +so they called for the gardener's daughter and made her sing her charm, +and he wakened, and told them all that the giant's daughter had done +for him, and of all her kindness. Then they took her in their arms and +kissed her, and said she should now be their daughter, for their son +should marry her. But they sent for the hen-wife and put her to death. +And they lived happy all their days. + + + + +JACK HANNAFORD + +There was an old soldier who had been long in the wars--so long, that +he was quite out-at-elbows, and he did not know where to go to find a +living. So he walked up moors, down glens, till at last he came to a +farm, from which the good man had gone away to market. The wife of the +farmer was a very foolish woman, who had been a widow when he married +her; the farmer was foolish enough, too, and it is hard to say which of +the two was the more foolish. When you've heard my tale you may decide. + +Now before the farmer goes to market says he to his wife: "Here is ten +pounds all in gold, take care of it till I come home." If the man had +not been a fool he would never have given the money to his wife to keep. +Well, off he went in his cart to market, and the wife said to herself: +"I will keep the ten pounds quite safe from thieves;" so she tied it up +in a rag, and she put the rag up the parlour chimney. + +"There," said she, "no thieves will ever find it now, that is quite +sure." + +Jack Hannaford, the old soldier, came and rapped at the door. + +"Who is there?" asked the wife. + +"Jack Hannaford." + +"Where do you come from?" + +"Paradise." + +"Lord a' mercy! and maybe you've seen my old man there," alluding to her +former husband. + +"Yes, I have." + +"And how was he a-doing?" asked the goody. + +"But middling; he cobbles old shoes, and he has nothing but cabbage for +victuals." + +"Deary me!" exclaimed the woman. "Didn't he send a message to me?" + +"Yes, he did," replied Jack Hannaford. "He said that he was out of +leather, and his pockets were empty, so you were to send him a few +shillings to buy a fresh stock of leather." + +"He shall have them, bless his poor soul!" And away went the wife to the +parlour chimney, and she pulled the rag with the ten pounds in it from +the chimney, and she gave the whole sum to the soldier, telling him that +her old man was to use as much as he wanted, and to send back the rest. + +It was not long that Jack waited after receiving the money; he went off +as fast as he could walk. + +Presently the farmer came home and asked for his money. The wife told +him that she had sent it by a soldier to her former husband in Paradise, +to buy him leather for cobbling the shoes of the saints and angels of +Heaven. The farmer was very angry, and he swore that he had never met +with such a fool as his wife. But the wife said that her husband was a +greater fool for letting her have the money. + +There was no time to waste words; so the farmer mounted his horse and +rode off after Jack Hannaford. The old soldier heard the horse's hoofs +clattering on the road behind him, so he knew it must be the farmer +pursuing him. He lay down on the ground, and shading his eyes with one +hand, looked up into the sky, and pointed heavenwards with the other +hand. + +"What are you about there?" asked the farmer, pulling up. + +"Lord save you!" exclaimed Jack: "I've seen a rare sight." + +"What was that?" + +"A man going straight up into the sky, as if he were walking on a road." + +"Can you see him still?" + +"Yes, I can." + +"Where?" + +"Get off your horse and lie down." + +"If you will hold the horse." + +Jack did so readily. + +"I cannot see him," said the farmer. + +"Shade your eyes with your hand, and you'll soon see a man flying away +from you." + +Sure enough he did so, for Jack leaped on the horse, and rode away with +it. The farmer walked home without his horse. + +"You are a bigger fool than I am," said the wife; "for I did only one +foolish thing, and you have done two." + + + + +BINNORIE + +Once upon a time there were two king's daughters lived in a bower near +the bonny mill-dams of Binnorie. And Sir William came wooing the eldest +and won her love and plighted troth with glove and with ring. But after +a time he looked upon the youngest, with her cherry cheeks and golden +hair, and his love grew towards her till he cared no longer for the +eldest one. So she hated her sister for taking away Sir William's love, +and day by day her hate grew upon her, and she plotted and she planned +how to get rid of her. + +So one fine morning, fair and clear, she said to her sister, "Let us +go and see our father's boats come in at the bonny mill-stream of +Binnorie." So they went there hand in hand. And when they got to the +river's bank the youngest got upon a stone to watch for the coming of +the boats. And her sister, coming behind her, caught her round the waist +and dashed her into the rushing mill-stream of Binnorie. + +"O sister, sister, reach me your hand!" she cried, as she floated away, +"and you shall have half of all I've got or shall get." + +"No, sister, I'll reach you no hand of mine, for I am the heir to all +your land. Shame on me if I touch the hand that has come 'twixt me and +my own heart's love." + +"O sister, O sister, then reach me your glove!" she cried, as she +floated further away, "and you shall have your William again." + +"Sink on," cried the cruel princess, "no hand or glove of mine you'll +touch. Sweet William will be all mine when you are sunk beneath the +bonny mill-stream of Binnorie." And she turned and went home to the +king's castle. + +And the princess floated down the mill-stream, sometimes swimming +and sometimes sinking, till she came near the mill. Now the miller's +daughter was cooking that day, and needed water for her cooking. And as +she went to draw it from the stream, she saw something floating towards +the mill-dam, and she called out, "Father! father! draw your dam. +There's something white--a merry maid or a milk-white swan--coming down +the stream." So the miller hastened to the dam and stopped the heavy +cruel mill-wheels. And then they took out the princess and laid her on +the bank. + +Fair and beautiful she looked as she lay there. In her golden hair were +pearls and precious stones; you could not see her waist for her golden +girdle; and the golden fringe of her white dress came down over her lily +feet. But she was drowned, drowned! + +And as she lay there in her beauty a famous harper passed by the +mill-dam of Binnorie, and saw her sweet pale face. And though he +travelled on far away he never forgot that face, and after many days he +came back to the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie. But then all he could +find of her where they had put her to rest were her bones and her +golden hair. So he made a harp out of her breast-bone and her hair, and +travelled on up the hill from the mill-dam of Binnorie, till he came to +the castle of the king her father. + +That night they were all gathered in the castle hall to hear the great +harper--king and queen, their daughter and son, Sir William and all +their Court. And first the harper sang to his old harp, making them joy +and be glad or sorrow and weep just as he liked. But while he sang he +put the harp he had made that day on a stone in the hall. And presently +it began to sing by itself, low and clear, and the harper stopped and +all were hushed. + +And this was what the harp sung: + + "O yonder sits my father, the king, + Binnorie, O Binnorie; + And yonder sits my mother, the queen; + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie, + + "And yonder stands my brother Hugh, + Binnorie, O Binnorie; + And by him, my William, false and true; + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie." + +Then they all wondered, and the harper told them how he had seen the +princess lying drowned on the bank near the bonny mill-dams o' +Binnorie, and how he had afterwards made this harp out of her hair and +breast-bone. Just then the harp began singing again, and this was what +it sang out loud and clear: + + "And there sits my sister who drowned me + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie." + +And the harp snapped and broke, and never sang more. + + + + +MOUSE AND MOUSER + +The Mouse went to visit the Cat, and found her sitting behind the hall +door, spinning. + +MOUSE. What are you doing, my lady, my lady, What are you doing, my +lady? + +CAT (_sharply_). I'm spinning old breeches, good body, good body I'm +spinning old breeches, good body. + +MOUSE. Long may you wear them, my lady, my lady, Long may you wear them, +my lady. + +CAT (_gruffly_). I'll wear' em and tear 'em, good body, good body. I'll +wear 'em and tear 'em, good body. + +MOUSE. I was sweeping my room, my lady, my lady, I was sweeping my room, +my lady. + +CAT. The cleaner you'd be, good body, good body, The cleaner you'd be, +good body. + +MOUSE. I found a silver sixpence, my lady, my lady, I found a silver +sixpence, my lady. + +CAT. The richer you were, good body, good body, The richer you were, +good body. + +MOUSE. I went to the market, my lady, my lady, I went to the market, my +lady. + +CAT. The further you went, good body, good body The further you went, +good body. + +MOUSE. I bought me a pudding, my lady, my lady, I bought me a pudding, +my lady. + +CAT (_snarling_). The more meat you had, good body, good body, The more +meat you had, good body. + +MOUSE. I put it in the window to cool, my lady, I put it in the window +to cool. + +CAT. (_sharply_). The faster you'd eat it, good body, good body, The +faster you'd eat it, good body. + +MOUSE (_timidly_). The cat came and ate it, my lady, my lady, The cat +came and ate it, my lady. + +CAT (_pouncingly_). And I'll eat you, good body, good body, And I'll eat +you, good body. + +(_Springs upon the mouse and kills it._) + + + + +CAP O' RUSHES + +Well, there was once a very rich gentleman, and he'd three daughters, +and he thought he'd see how fond they were of him. So he says to the +first, "How much do you love me, my dear?" + +"Why," says she, "as I love my life." + +"That's good," says he. + +So he says to the second, "How much do _you_ love me, my dear?" + +"Why," says she, "better nor all the world." + +"That's good," says he. + +So he says to the third, "How much do _you_ love me, my dear?" + +"Why, I love you as fresh meat loves salt," says she. + +Well, he was that angry. "You don't love me at all," says he, "and in +my house you stay no more." So he drove her out there and then, and shut +the door in her face. + +Well, she went away on and on till she came to a fen, and there she +gathered a lot of rushes and made them into a kind of a sort of a +cloak with a hood, to cover her from head to foot, and to hide her fine +clothes. And then she went on and on till she came to a great house. + +"Do you want a maid?" says she. + +"No, we don't," said they. + +"I haven't nowhere to go," says she; "and I ask no wages, and do any +sort of work," says she. + +"Well," says they, "if you like to wash the pots and scrape the +saucepans you may stay," said they. + +So she stayed there and washed the pots and scraped the saucepans and +did all the dirty work. And because she gave no name they called her +"Cap o' Rushes." + +Well, one day there was to be a great dance a little way off, and the +servants were allowed to go and look on at the grand people. Cap o' +Rushes said she was too tired to go, so she stayed at home. + +But when they were gone she offed with her cap o' rushes, and cleaned +herself, and went to the dance. And no one there was so finely dressed +as her. + +Well, who should be there but her master's son, and what should he do +but fall in love with her the minute he set eyes on her. He wouldn't +dance with any one else. + +But before the dance was done Cap o' Rushes slipt off, and away she went +home. And when the other maids came back she was pretending to be asleep +with her cap o' rushes on. + +Well, next morning they said to her, "You did miss a sight, Cap o' +Rushes!" + +"What was that?" says she. + +"Why, the beautifullest lady you ever see, dressed right gay and ga'. +The young master, he never took his eyes off her." + +"Well, I should have liked to have seen her," says Cap o' Rushes. + +"Well, there's to be another dance this evening, and perhaps she'll be +there." + +But, come the evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go with +them. Howsoever, when they were gone, she offed with her cap o' rushes +and cleaned herself, and away she went to the dance. + +The master's son had been reckoning on seeing her, and he danced with +no one else, and never took his eyes off her. But, before the dance was +over, she slipt off, and home she went, and when the maids came back +she, pretended to be asleep with her cap o' rushes on. + +Next day they said to her again, "Well, Cap o' Rushes, you should ha' +been there to see the lady. There she was again, gay and ga', and the +young master he never took his eyes off her." + +"Well, there," says she, "I should ha' liked to ha' seen her." + +"Well," says they, "there's a dance again this evening, and you must go +with us, for she's sure to be there." + +Well, come this evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go, and +do what they would she stayed at home. But when they were gone she offed +with her cap o' rushes and cleaned herself, and away she went to the +dance. + +The master's son was rarely glad when he saw her. He danced with none +but her and never took his eyes off her. When she wouldn't tell him her +name, nor where she came from, he gave her a ring and told her if he +didn't see her again he should die. + +Well, before the dance was over, off she slipped, and home she went, and +when the maids came home she was pretending to be asleep with her cap o' +rushes on. + +Well, next day they says to her, "There, Cap o' Rushes, you didn't come +last night, and now you won't see the lady, for there's no more dances." + +"Well I should have rarely liked to have seen her," says she. + +The master's son he tried every way to find out where the lady was gone, +but go where he might, and ask whom he might, he never heard anything +about her. And he got worse and worse for the love of her till he had to +keep his bed. + +"Make some gruel for the young master," they said to the cook. "He's +dying for the love of the lady." The cook she set about making it when +Cap o' Rushes came in. + +"What are you a-doing of?", says she. + +"I'm going to make some gruel for the young master," says the cook, "for +he's dying for love of the lady." + +"Let me make it," says Cap o' Rushes. + +Well, the cook wouldn't at first, but at last she said yes, and Cap o' +Rushes made the gruel. And when she had made it she slipped the ring +into it on the sly before the cook took it upstairs. + +The young man he drank it and then he saw the ring at the bottom. + +"Send for the cook," says he. + +So up she comes. + +"Who made this gruel here?" says he. + +"I did," says the cook, for she was frightened. + +And he looked at her, + +"No, you didn't," says he. "Say who did it, and you shan't be harmed." + +"Well, then, 'twas Cap o' Rushes," says she. + +"Send Cap o' Rushes here," says he. + +So Cap o' Rushes came. + +"Did you make my gruel?" says he. + +"Yes, I did," says she. + +"Where did you get this ring?" says he. + +"From him that gave it me," says she. + +"Who are you, then?" says the young man. + +"I'll show you," says she. And she offed with her cap o' rushes, and +there she was in her beautiful clothes. + +Well, the master's son he got well very soon, and they were to be +married in a little time. It was to be a very grand wedding, and every +one was asked far and near. And Cap o' Rushes' father was asked. But she +never told anybody who she was. + +But before the wedding she went to the cook, and says she: + +"I want you to dress every dish without a mite o' salt." + +"That'll be rare nasty," says the cook. + +"That doesn't signify," says she. + +"Very well," says the cook. + +Well, the wedding-day came, and they were married. And after they were +married all the company sat down to the dinner. When they began to eat +the meat, that was so tasteless they couldn't eat it. But Cap o' Rushes' +father he tried first one dish and then another, and then he burst out +crying. + +"What is the matter?" said the master's son to him. + +"Oh!" says he, "I had a daughter. And I asked her how much she loved me. +And she said 'As much as fresh meat loves salt.' And I turned her from +my door, for I thought she didn't love me. And now I see she loved me +best of all. And she may be dead for aught I know." + +"No, father, here she is!" says Cap o' Rushes. And she goes up to him +and puts her arms round him. + +And so they were happy ever after. + + + + +TEENY-TINY + +Once upon a time there was a teeny-tiny woman lived in a teeny-tiny +house in a teeny-tiny village. Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put +on her teeny-tiny bonnet, and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take +a teeny-tiny walk. And when this teeny-tiny woman had gone a teeny-tiny +way she came to a teeny-tiny gate; so the teeny-tiny woman opened the +teeny-tiny gate, and went into a teeny-tiny churchyard. And when this +teeny-tiny woman had got into the teeny-tiny churchyard, she saw a +teeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny grave, and the teeny-tiny woman said to +her teeny-tiny self, "This teeny-tiny bone will make me some teeny-tiny +soup for my teeny-tiny supper." So the teeny-tiny woman put the +teeny-tiny bone into her teeny-tiny pocket, and went home to her +teeny-tiny house. + +Now when the teeny-tiny woman got home to her teeny-tiny house she was +a teeny-tiny bit tired; so she went up her teeny-tiny stairs to her +teeny-tiny bed, and put the teeny-tiny bone into a teeny-tiny cupboard. +And when this teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep a teeny-tiny time, she +was awakened by a teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard, which +said: + +"Give me my bone!" + +And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny frightened, so she hid her +teeny-tiny head under the teeny-tiny clothes and went to sleep again. +And when she had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the teeny-tiny +voice again cried out from the teeny-tiny cupboard a teeny-tiny louder, +"Give me my bone!" + +This made the teeny-tiny woman a teeny-tiny more frightened, so she hid +her teeny-tiny head a teeny-tiny further under the teeny-tiny clothes. +And when the teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny +time, the teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard said again a +teeny-tiny louder, + +"Give me my bone!" + +And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny bit more frightened, but she +put her teeny-tiny head out of the teeny-tiny clothes, and said in her +loudest teeny-tiny voice, "TAKE IT!" + + + + +JACK AND THE BEANSTALK + +There was once upon a time a poor widow who had an only son named Jack, +and a cow named Milky-white. And all they had to live on was the milk +the cow gave every morning which they carried to the market and sold. +But one morning Milky-white gave no milk and they didn't know what to +do. + +"What shall we do, what shall we do?" said the widow, wringing her +hands. + +"Cheer up, mother, I'll go and get work somewhere," said Jack. + +"We've tried that before, and nobody would take you," said his mother; +"we must sell Milky-white and with the money do something, start shop, +or something." + +"All right, mother," says Jack; "it's market-day today, and I'll soon +sell Milky-white, and then we'll see what we can do." + +So he took the cow's halter in his hand, and off he starts. He hadn't +gone far when he met a funny-looking old man who said to him: "Good +morning, Jack." + +"Good morning to you," said Jack, and wondered how he knew his name. + +"Well, Jack, and where are you off to?" said the man. + +"I'm going to market to sell our cow here." + +"Oh, you look the proper sort of chap to sell cows," said the man; "I +wonder if you know how many beans make five." + +"Two in each hand and one in your mouth," says Jack, as sharp as a +needle. + +"Right you are," said the man, "and here they are the very beans +themselves," he went on pulling out of his pocket a number of +strange-looking beans. "As you are so sharp," says he, "I don't mind +doing a swop with you--your cow for these beans." + +"Walker!" says Jack; "wouldn't you like it?" + +"Ah! you don't know what these beans are," said the man; "if you plant +them over-night, by morning they grow right up to the sky." + +"Really?" says Jack; "you don't say so." + +"Yes, that is so, and if it doesn't turn out to be true you can have +your cow back." + +"Right," says Jack, and hands him over Milky-white's halter and pockets +the beans. + +Back goes Jack home, and as he hadn't gone very far it wasn't dusk by +the time he got to his door. + +"What back, Jack?" said his mother; "I see you haven't got Milky-white, +so you've sold her. How much did you get for her?" + +"You'll never guess, mother," says Jack. + +"No, you don't say so. Good boy! Five pounds, ten, fifteen, no, it can't +be twenty." + +"I told you you couldn't guess, what do you say to these beans; they're +magical, plant them over-night and----" + +"What!" says Jack's mother, "have you been such a fool, such a dolt, +such an idiot, as to give away my Milky-white, the best milker in the +parish, and prime beef to boot, for a set of paltry beans. Take that! +Take that! Take that! And as for your precious beans here they go out of +the window. And now off with you to bed. Not a sup shall you drink, and +not a bit shall you swallow this very night." + +So Jack went upstairs to his little room in the attic, and sad and sorry +he was, to be sure, as much for his mother's sake, as for the loss of +his supper. + +At last he dropped off to sleep. + +When he woke up, the room looked so funny. The sun was shining into part +of it, and yet all the rest was quite dark and shady. So Jack jumped +up and dressed himself and went to the window. And what do you think +he saw? why, the beans his mother had thrown out of the window into the +garden, had sprung up into a big beanstalk which went up and up and up +till it reached the sky. So the man spoke truth after all. + +The beanstalk grew up quite close past Jack's window, so all he had to +do was to open it and give a jump on to the beanstalk which was made +like a big plaited ladder. So Jack climbed and he climbed and he climbed +and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last +he reached the sky. And when he got there he found a long broad road +going as straight as a dart. So he walked along and he walked along +and he walked along till he came to a great big tall house, and on the +doorstep there was a great big tall woman. + +"Good morning, mum," says Jack, quite polite-like. "Could you be so kind +as to give me some breakfast." For he hadn't had anything to eat, you +know, the night before and was as hungry as a hunter. + +"It's breakfast you want, is it?" says the great big tall woman, "it's +breakfast you'll be if you don't move off from here. My man is an ogre +and there's nothing he likes better than boys broiled on toast. You'd +better be moving on or he'll soon be coming." + +"Oh! please mum, do give me something to eat, mum. I've had nothing to +eat since yesterday morning, really and truly, mum," says Jack. "I may +as well be broiled, as die of hunger." + +Well, the ogre's wife wasn't such a bad sort, after all. So she took +Jack into the kitchen, and gave him a junk of bread and cheese and a jug +of milk. But Jack hadn't half finished these when thump! thump! thump! +the whole house began to tremble with the noise of someone coming. + +"Goodness gracious me! It's my old man," said the ogre's wife, "what on +earth shall I do? Here, come quick and jump in here." And she bundled +Jack into the oven just as the ogre came in. + +He was a big one, to be sure. At his belt he had three calves strung up +by the heels, and he unhooked them and threw them down on the table and +said: "Here, wife, broil me a couple of these for breakfast. Ah what's +this I smell? + + Fee-fi-fo-fum, + I smell the blood of an Englishman, + Be he alive, or be he dead + I'll have his bones to grind my bread." + +"Nonsense, dear," said his wife, "you're dreaming. Or perhaps you smell +the scraps of that little boy you liked so much for yesterday's dinner. +Here, go you and have a wash and tidy up, and by the time you come back +your breakfast'll be ready for you." + +So the ogre went off, and Jack was just going to jump out of the oven +and run off when the woman told him not. "Wait till he's asleep," says +she; "he always has a snooze after breakfast." + +Well, the ogre had his breakfast, and after that he goes to a big chest +and takes out of it a couple of bags of gold and sits down counting them +till at last his head began to nod and he began to snore till the whole +house shook again. + +Then Jack crept out on tiptoe from his oven, and as he was passing the +ogre he took one of the bags of gold under his arm, and off he pelters +till he came to the beanstalk, and then he threw down the bag of gold +which of course fell in to his mother's garden, and then he climbed down +and climbed down till at last he got home and told his mother and showed +her the gold and said: "Well, mother, wasn't I right about the beans. +They are really magical, you see." + +So they lived on the bag of gold for some time, but at last they came to +the end of that so Jack made up his mind to try his luck once more up at +the top of the beanstalk. So one fine morning he got up early, and got +on to the beanstalk, and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and +he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last he got on the road +again and came to the great big tall house he had been to before. There, +sure enough, was the great big tall woman a-standing on the door-step. + +"Good morning, mum," says Jack, as bold as brass, "could you be so good +as to give me something to eat?" + +"Go away, my boy," said the big, tall woman, "or else my man will eat +you up for breakfast. But aren't you the youngster who came here once +before? Do you know, that very day, my man missed one of his bags of +gold." + +"That's strange, mum," says Jack, "I dare say I could tell you something +about that but I'm so hungry I can't speak till I've had something to +eat." + +Well the big tall woman was that curious that she took him in and gave +him something to eat. But he had scarcely begun munching it as slowly as +he could when thump! thump! thump! they heard the giant's footstep, and +his wife hid Jack away in the oven. + +All happened as it did before. In came the ogre as he did before, said: +"Fee-fi-fo-fum," and had his breakfast off three broiled oxen. Then he +said: "Wife, bring me the hen that lays the golden eggs." So she brought +it, and the ogre said: "Lay," and it laid an egg all of gold. And then +the ogre began to nod his head, and to snore till the house shook. + +Then Jack crept out of the oven on tiptoe and caught hold of the golden +hen, and was off before you could say "Jack Robinson." But this time the +hen gave a cackle which woke the ogre, and just as Jack got out of the +house he heard him calling: "Wife, wife, what have you done with my +golden hen?" + +And the wife said: "Why, my dear?" + +But that was all Jack heard, for he rushed off to the beanstalk and +climbed down like a house on fire. And when he got home he showed his +mother the wonderful hen and said "Lay," to it; and it laid a golden egg +every time he said "Lay." + +Well, Jack was not content, and it wasn't very long before he determined +to have another try at his luck up there at the top of the beanstalk. So +one fine morning, he got up early, and went on to the beanstalk, and he +climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till he got to +the top. But this time he knew better than to go straight to the ogre's +house. And when he got near it he waited behind a bush till he saw the +ogre's wife come out with a pail to get some water, and then he crept +into the house and got into the copper. He hadn't been there long when +he heard thump! thump! thump! as before, and in come the ogre and his +wife. + +"Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman," cried out the ogre; +"I smell him, wife, I smell him." + +"Do you, my dearie?" says the ogre's wife. "Then if it's that little +rogue that stole your gold and the hen that laid the golden eggs he's +sure to have got into the oven." And they both rushed to the oven. But +Jack wasn't there, luckily, and the ogre's wife said: "There you are +again with your fee-fi-fo-fum. Why of course it's the laddie you caught +last night that I've broiled for your breakfast. How forgetful I am, and +how careless you are not to tell the difference between a live un and a +dead un." + +So the ogre sat down to the breakfast and ate it, but every now and +then he would mutter: "Well, I could have sworn----" and he'd get up +and search the larder and the cupboards, and everything, only luckily he +didn't think of the copper. + +After breakfast was over, the ogre called out: "Wife, wife, bring me my +golden harp." So she brought it and put it on the table before him. Then +he said: "Sing!" and the golden harp sang most beautifully. And it +went on singing till the ogre fell asleep, and commenced to snore like +thunder. + +Then Jack lifted up the copper-lid very quietly and got down like a +mouse and crept on hands and knees till he got to the table when he got +up and caught hold of the golden harp and dashed with it towards the +door. But the harp called out quite loud: "Master! Master!" and the ogre +woke up just in time to see Jack running off with his harp. + +Jack ran as fast as he could, and the ogre came rushing after, and would +soon have caught him only Jack had a start and dodged him a bit and knew +where he was going. When he got to the beanstalk the ogre was not more +than twenty yards away when suddenly he saw Jack disappear like, and +when he got up to the end of the road he saw Jack underneath climbing +down for dear life. Well, the ogre didn't like trusting himself to such +a ladder, and he stood and waited, so Jack got another start. But just +then the harp cried out: "Master! master!" and the ogre swung himself +down on to the beanstalk which shook with his weight. Down climbs Jack, +and after him climbed the ogre. By this time Jack had climbed down and +climbed down and climbed down till he was very nearly home. So he called +out: "Mother! mother! bring me an axe, bring me an axe." And his mother +came rushing out with the axe in her hand, but when she came to the +beanstalk she stood stock still with fright for there she saw the ogre +just coming down below the clouds. + +But Jack jumped down and got hold of the axe and gave a chop at the +beanstalk which cut it half in two. The ogre felt the beanstalk shake +and quiver so he stopped to see what was the matter. Then Jack gave +another chop with the axe, and the beanstalk was cut in two and began +to topple over. Then the ogre fell down and broke his crown, and the +beanstalk came toppling after. + +Then Jack showed his mother his golden harp, and what with showing that +and selling the golden eggs, Jack and his mother became very rich, and +he married a great princess, and they lived happy ever after. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS + + Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme + And monkeys chewed tobacco, + And hens took snuff to make them tough, + And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O! + +There was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough +to keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune. The first that +went off met a man with a bundle of straw, and said to him: + +"Please, man, give me that straw to build me a house." + +Which the man did, and the little pig built a house with it. Presently +came along a wolf, and knocked at the door, and said: + +"Little pig, little pig, let me come in." + +To which the pig answered: + +"No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin." + +The wolf then answered to that: + +"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in." + +So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew his house in, and ate up the +little pig. + +The second little pig met a man with a bundle of furze, and said: + +"Please, man, give me that furze to build a house." + +Which the man did, and the pig built his house. Then along came the +wolf, and said: + +"Little pig, little pig, let me come in." + +"No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin." + +"Then I'll puff, and I'll huff, and I'll blow your house in." + +So he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed, and he huffed, and at last +he blew the house down, and he ate up the little pig. + +The third little pig met a man with a load of bricks, and said: + +"Please, man, give me those bricks to build a house with." + +So the man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them. So the +wolf came, as he did to the other little pigs, and said: + +"Little pig, little pig, let me come in." + +"No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin." + +"Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in." + +Well, he huffed, and he puffed, and he huffed and he puffed, and he +puffed and huffed; but he could _not_ get the house down. When he found +that he could not, with all his huffing and puffing, blow the house +down, he said: + +"Little pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips." + +"Where?" said the little pig. + +"Oh, in Mr. Smith's Home-field, and if you will be ready tomorrow +morning I will call for you, and we will go together, and get some for +dinner." + +"Very well," said the little pig, "I will be ready. What time do you +mean to go?" + +"Oh, at six o'clock." + +Well, the little pig got up at five, and got the turnips before the wolf +came (which he did about six) and who said: + +"Little Pig, are you ready?" + +The little pig said: "Ready! I have been and come back again, and got a +nice potful for dinner." + +The wolf felt very angry at this, but thought that he would be up to the +little pig somehow or other, so he said: + +"Little pig, I know where there is a nice apple-tree." + +"Where?" said the pig. + +"Down at Merry-garden," replied the wolf, "and if you will not deceive +me I will come for you, at five o'clock tomorrow and get some apples." + +Well, the little pig bustled up the next morning at four o'clock, and +went off for the apples, hoping to get back before the wolf came; but +he had further to go, and had to climb the tree, so that just as he was +coming down from it, he saw the wolf coming, which, as you may suppose, +frightened him very much. When the wolf came up he said: + +"Little pig, what! are you here before me? Are they nice apples?" + +"Yes, very," said the little pig. "I will throw you down one." + +And he threw it so far, that, while the wolf was gone to pick it up, the +little pig jumped down and ran home. The next day the wolf came again, +and said to the little pig: + +"Little pig, there is a fair at Shanklin this afternoon, will you go?" + +"Oh yes," said the pig, "I will go; what time shall you be ready?" + +"At three," said the wolf. So the little pig went off before the time +as usual, and got to the fair, and bought a butter-churn, which he was +going home with, when he saw the wolf coming. Then he could not tell +what to do. So he got into the churn to hide, and by so doing turned it +round, and it rolled down the hill with the pig in it, which frightened +the wolf so much, that he ran home without going to the fair. He went +to the little pig's house, and told him how frightened he had been by a +great round thing which came down the hill past him. Then the little pig +said: + +"Hah, I frightened you, then. I had been to the fair and bought a +butter-churn, and when I saw you, I got into it, and rolled down the +hill." + +Then the wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he _would_ eat up the +little pig, and that he would get down the chimney after him. When the +little pig saw what he was about, he hung on the pot full of water, and +made up a blazing fire, and, just as the wolf was coming down, took +off the cover, and in fell the wolf; so the little pig put on the cover +again in an instant, boiled him up, and ate him for supper, and lived +happy ever afterwards. + + + + +THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL + +There was once a very learned man in the north-country who knew all the +languages under the sun, and who was acquainted with all the mysteries +of creation. He had one big book bound in black calf and clasped with +iron, and with iron corners, and chained to a table which was made fast +to the floor; and when he read out of this book, he unlocked it with an +iron key, and none but he read from it, for it contained all the secrets +of the spiritual world. It told how many angels there were in heaven, +and how they marched in their ranks, and sang in their quires, and what +were their several functions, and what was the name of each great angel +of might. And it told of the demons, how many of them there were, and +what were their several powers, and their labours, and their names, and +how they might be summoned, and how tasks might be imposed on them, and +how they might be chained to be as slaves to man. + +Now the master had a pupil who was but a foolish lad, and he acted as +servant to the great master, but never was he suffered to look into the +black book, hardly to enter the private room. + +One day the master was out, and then the lad, as curious as could be, +hurried to the chamber where his master kept his wondrous apparatus +for changing copper into gold, and lead into silver, and where was his +mirror in which he could see all that was passing in the world, and +where was the shell which when held to the ear whispered all the words +that were being spoken by anyone the master desired to know about. The +lad tried in vain with the crucibles to turn copper and lead into gold +and silver--he looked long and vainly into the mirror; smoke and clouds +passed over it, but he saw nothing plain, and the shell to his ear +produced only indistinct murmurings, like the breaking of distant seas +on an unknown shore. "I can do nothing," he said; "as I don't know the +right words to utter, and they are locked up in yon book." + +He looked round, and, see! the book was unfastened; the master had +forgotten to lock it before he went out. The boy rushed to it, and +unclosed the volume. It was written with red and black ink, and much of +it he could not understand; but he put his finger on a line and spelled +it through. + +At once the room was darkened, and the house trembled; a clap of thunder +rolled through the passage and the old room, and there stood before him +a horrible, horrible form, breathing fire, and with eyes like burning +lamps. It was the demon Beelzebub, whom he had called up to serve him. + +"Set me a task!" said he, with a voice like the roaring of an iron +furnace. + +The boy only trembled, and his hair stood up. + +"Set me a task, or I shall strangle thee!" + +But the lad could not speak. Then the evil spirit stepped towards him, +and putting forth his hands touched his throat. The fingers burned his +flesh. "Set me a task!" + +"Water yon flower," cried the boy in despair, pointing to a geranium +which stood in a pot on the floor. Instantly the spirit left the room, +but in another instant he returned with a barrel on his back, and poured +its contents over the flower; and again and again he went and came, and +poured more and more water, till the floor of the room was ankle-deep. + +"Enough, enough!" gasped the lad; but the demon heeded him not; the lad +didn't know the words by which to send him away, and still he fetched +water. + +It rose to the boy's knees and still more water was poured. It mounted +to his waist, and Beelzebub still kept on bringing barrels full. It rose +to his armpits, and he scrambled to the table-top. And now the water +in the room stood up to the window and washed against the glass, and +swirled around his feet on the table. It still rose; it reached his +breast. In vain he cried; the evil spirit would not be dismissed, and +to this day he would have been pouring water, and would have drowned +all Yorkshire. But the master remembered on his journey that he had +not locked his book, and therefore returned, and at the moment when +the water was bubbling about the pupil's chin, rushed into the room and +spoke the words which cast Beelzebub back into his fiery home. + + + + +TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE + +Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse both lived in a house, + +Titty Mouse went a leasing and Tatty Mouse went a leasing, + +So they both went a leasing. + +Titty Mouse leased an ear of corn, and Tatty Mouse leased an ear of +corn, + +So they both leased an ear of corn. + +Titty Mouse made a pudding, and Tatty Mouse made a pudding, + +So they both made a pudding. + +And Tatty Mouse put her pudding into the pot to boil, + +But when Titty went to put hers in, the pot tumbled over, and scalded +her to death. + +Then Tatty sat down and wept; then a three-legged stool said: "Tatty, +why do you weep?" "Titty's dead," said Tatty, "and so I weep;" "then," +said the stool, "I'll hop," so the stool hopped. + +Then a broom in the corner of the room said, "Stool, why do you hop?" +"Oh!" said the stool, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and so I hop;" +"then," said the broom, "I'll sweep," so the broom began to sweep. + +"Then," said the door, "Broom, why do you sweep?" "Oh!" said the broom, +"Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and so I sweep;" +"Then," said the door, "I'll jar," so the door jarred. + +"Then," said the window, "Door, why do you jar?" "Oh!" said the door, +"Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom +sweeps, and so I jar." + +"Then," said the window, "I'll creak," so the window creaked. Now there +was an old form outside the house, and when the window creaked, the form +said: "Window, why do you creak?" "Oh!" said the window, "Titty's dead, +and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door +jars, and so I creak." + +"Then," said the old form, "I'll run round the house;" then the old form +ran round the house. Now there was a fine large walnut-tree growing by +the cottage, and the tree said to the form: "Form, why do you run round +the house?" "Oh!" said the form, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the +stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, +and so I run round the house." + +"Then," said the walnut-tree, "I'll shed my leaves," so the walnut-tree +shed all its beautiful green leaves. Now there was a little bird perched +on one of the boughs of the tree, and when all the leaves fell, it +said: "Walnut-tree, why do you shed your leaves?" "Oh!" said the tree, +"Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, +the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the house, +and so I shed my leaves." + +"Then," said the little bird, "I'll moult all my feathers," so he +moulted all his pretty feathers. Now there was a little girl walking +below, carrying a jug of milk for her brothers and sisters' supper, +and when she saw the poor little bird moult all its feathers, she said: +"Little bird, why do you moult all your feathers?" "Oh!" said the little +bird, "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom +sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round +the house, the walnut-tree sheds its leaves, and so I moult all my +feathers." + +"Then," said the little girl, "I'll spill the milk," so she dropt the +pitcher and spilt the milk. Now there was an old man just by on the top +of a ladder thatching a rick, and when he saw the little girl spill the +milk, he said: "Little girl, what do you mean by spilling the milk, your +little brothers and sisters must go without their supper." Then said +the little girl: "Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the +broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs +round the house, the walnut-tree sheds all its leaves, the little bird +moults all its feathers, and so I spill the milk." + +"Oh!" said the old man, "then I'll tumble off the ladder and break my +neck," so he tumbled off the ladder and broke his neck; and when the old +man broke his neck, the great walnut-tree fell down with a crash, and +upset the old form and house, and the house falling knocked the window +out, and the window knocked the door down, and the door upset the broom, +and the broom upset the stool, and poor little Tatty Mouse was buried +beneath the ruins. + + + + +JACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX + +Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it was neither in +my time nor in your time nor in any one else's time, there was an old +man and an old woman, and they had one son, and they lived in a great +forest. And their son never saw any other people in his life, but he +knew that there was some more in the world besides his own father and +mother, because he had lots of books, and he used to read every day +about them. And when he read about some pretty young women, he used +to go mad to see some of them; till one day, when his father was out +cutting wood, he told his mother that he wished to go away to look for +his living in some other country, and to see some other people besides +them two. And he said, "I see nothing at all here but great trees around +me; and if I stay here, maybe I shall go mad before I see anything." The +young man's father was out all this time, when this talk was going on +between him and his poor old mother. + +The old woman begins by saying to her son before leaving, "Well, well, +my poor boy, if you want to go, it's better for you to go, and God +be with you."--(The old woman thought for the best when she said +that.)--"But stop a bit before you go. Which would you like best for me +to make you, a little cake and bless you, or a big cake and curse you?" +"Dear, dear!" said he, "make me a big cake. Maybe I shall be hungry on +the road." The old woman made the big cake, and she went on top of the +house, and she cursed him as far as she could see him. + +He presently meets with his father, and the old man says to him: "Where +are you going, my poor boy?" when the son told the father the same tale +as he told his mother. "Well," says his father, "I'm sorry to see you +going away, but if you've made your mind to go, it's better for you to +go." + +The poor lad had not gone far, when his father called him back; then +the old man drew out of his pocket a golden snuff-box, and said to him: +"Here, take this little box, and put it in your pocket, and be sure not +to open it till you are near your death." And away went poor Jack upon +his road, and walked till he was tired and hungry, for he had eaten all +his cake upon the road; and by this time night was upon him, so he could +hardly see his way before him. He could see some light a long way before +him, and he made up to it, and found the back door and knocked at it, +till one of the maid-servants came and asked him what he wanted. He said +that night was on him, and he wanted to get some place to sleep. The +maid-servant called him in to the fire, and gave him plenty to eat, +good meat and bread and beer; and as he was eating his food by the fire, +there came the young lady to look at him, and she loved him well and he +loved her. And the young lady ran to tell her father, and said there was +a pretty young man in the back kitchen; and immediately the gentleman +came to him, and questioned him, and asked what work he could do. Jack +said, the silly fellow, that he could do anything. (He meant that he +could do any foolish bit of work, that would be wanted about the house.) + +"Well," says the gentleman to him, "if you can do anything, at eight +o'clock in the morning I must have a great lake and some of-the largest +man-of-war vessels sailing before my mansion, and one of the largest +vessels must fire a royal salute, and the last round must break the +leg of the bed where my young daughter is sleeping. And if you don't do +that, you will have to forfeit your life." + +"All right," said Jack; and away he went to his bed, and said his +prayers quietly, and slept till it was near eight o'clock, and he had +hardly any time to think what he was to do, till all of a sudden he +remembered about the little golden box that his father gave him. And he +said to himself: "Well, well, I never was so near my death as I am now;" +and then he felt in his pocket, and drew the little box out. And when he +opened it, out there hopped three little red men, and asked Jack: "What +is your will with us?" "Well," said Jack, "I want a great lake and some +of the largest man-of-war vessels in the world before this mansion, and +one of the largest vessels to fire a royal salute, and the last round +to break one of the legs of the bed where this young lady is sleeping." +"All right," said the little men; "go to sleep." + +Jack had hardly time to bring the words out of his mouth, to tell the +little men what to do, but what it struck eight o'clock, when Bang, bang +went one of the largest man-of-war vessels; and it made Jack jump out of +bed to look through the window; and I can assure you it was a wonderful +sight for him to see, after being so long with his father and mother +living in a wood. + +By this time Jack dressed himself, and said his prayers, and came down +laughing; for he was proud, he was, because the thing was done so well. +The gentleman comes to him, and says to him: "Well, my young man, I must +say that you are very clever indeed. Come and have some breakfast." And +the gentleman tells him, "Now there are two more things you have to +do, and then you shall have my daughter in marriage." Jack gets his +breakfast, and has a good squint at the young lady, and also she at him. + +The other thing that the gentleman told him to do was to fell all the +great trees for miles around by eight o'clock in the morning; and, to +make my long story short, it was done, and it pleased the gentleman well +The gentleman said to him: "The other thing you have to do"--(and it +was the last thing)--"you must get me a great castle standing on twelve +golden pillars; and there must come regiments of soldiers and go through +their drill. At eight o'clock the commanding officer must say, 'Shoulder +up.'" "All right," said Jack; when the third and last morning came +the third great feat was finished, and he had the young daughter in +marriage. But, oh dear! there is worse to come yet. + +The gentleman now makes a large hunting party, and invites all the +gentlemen around the country to it, and to see the castle as well. And +by this time Jack has a beautiful horse and a scarlet dress to go with +them. On that morning his valet, when putting Jack's clothes by, +after changing them to go a hunting, put his hand in one of Jack's +waistcoat-pockets, and pulled out the little golden snuffbox, as poor +Jack left behind in a mistake. And that man opened the little box, and +there hopped the three little red men out, and asked him what he wanted +with them. "Well," said the valet to them, "I want this castle to be +moved from this place far and far across the sea." "All right," said +the little red men to him; "do you wish to go with it?" "Yes," said he. +"Well, get up," said they to him; and away they went far and far over +the great sea. + +Now the grand hunting party comes back, and the castle upon the twelve +golden pillars had disappeared, to the great disappointment of those +gentlemen as did not see it before. That poor silly Jack is threatened +by taking his beautiful young wife from him, for taking them in in the +way he did. But the gentleman at last made an agreement with him, and he +is to have a twelvemonths and a day to look for it; and off he goes with +a good horse and money in his pocket. + +Now poor Jack goes in search of his missing castle, over hills, dales, +valleys, and mountains, through woolly woods and sheepwalks, further +than I can tell you or ever intend to tell you. Until at last he comes +up to the place where lives the King of all the little mice in the +world. There was one of the little mice on sentry at the front gate +going up to the palace, and did try to stop Jack from going in. He asked +the little mouse: "Where does the King live? I should like to see him." +This one sent another with him to show him the place; and when the King +saw him, he called him in. And the King questioned him, and asked him +where he was going that way. Well, Jack told him all the truth, that he +had lost the great castle, and was going to look for it, and he had a +whole twelvemonths and a day to find it out. And Jack asked him whether +he knew anything about it; and the King said: "No, but I am the King +of all the little mice in the world, and I will call them all up in the +morning, and maybe they have seen something of it." + +Then Jack got a good meal and bed, and in the morning he and the King +went on to the fields; and the King called all the mice together, and +asked them whether they had seen the great beautiful castle standing on +golden pillars. And all the little mice said, No, there was none of them +had seen it. The old King said to him that he had two other brothers: +"One is the King of all the frogs; and my other brother, who is the +oldest, he is the King of all the birds in the world. And if you go +there, may be they know something about the missing castle." The King +said to him: "Leave your horse here with me till you come back, and take +one of my best horses under you, and give this cake to my brother; he +will know then who you got it from. Mind and tell him I am well, and +should like dearly to see him." And then the King and Jack shook hands +together. + +And when Jack was going through the gates, the little mouse asked him, +should he go with him; and Jack said to him: "No, I shall get myself +into trouble with the King." And the little thing told him: "It will be +better for you to let me go with you; maybe I shall do some good to you +some time without you knowing it." "Jump up, then." And the little mouse +ran up the horse's leg, and made it dance; and Jack put the mouse in his +pocket. + +Now Jack, after wishing good morning to the King and pocketing the +little mouse which was on sentry, trudged on his way; and such a long +way he had to go and this was his first day. At last he found the place; +and there was one of the frogs on sentry, and gun upon his shoulder, and +did try to hinder Jack from going in; but when Jack said to him that he +wanted to see the King, he allowed him to pass; and Jack made up to the +door. The King came out, and asked him his business; and Jack told +him all from beginning to end. "Well, well, come in." He gets good +entertainment that night; and in the morning the King made such a funny +sound, and collected all the frogs in the world. And he asked them, +did they know or see anything of a castle that stood upon twelve golden +pillars; and they all made a curious sound, _Kro-kro, kro-kro_, and +said, No. + +Jack had to take another horse, and a cake to this King's brother, who +is the King of all the fowls of the air; and as Jack was going through +the gates, the little frog that was on sentry asked John should he go +with him. Jack refused him for a bit; but at last he told him to jump +up, and Jack put him in his other waistcoat pocket. And away he went +again on his great long journey; it was three times as long this time as +it was the first day; however, he found the place, and there was a fine +bird on sentry. And Jack passed him, and he never said a word to him; +and he talked with the King, and told him everything, all about the +castle. "Well," said the King to him, "you shall know in the morning +from my birds, whether they know anything or not." Jack put up his horse +in the stable, and then went to bed, after having something to eat. And +when he got up in the morning the King and he went on to some field, and +there the King made some funny noise, and there came all the fowls that +were in all the world. And the King asked them; "Did they see the fine +castle?" and all the birds answered, No. "Well," said the King, "where +is the great bird?" They had to wait then for a long time for the eagle +to make his appearance, when at last he came all in a perspiration, +after sending two little birds high up in the sky to whistle on him to +make all the haste he possibly could. The King asked the great bird, +Did he see the great castle? and the bird said: "Yes, I came from there +where it now is." "Well," says the King to him; "this young gentleman +has lost it, and you must go with him back to it; but stop till you get +a bit of something to eat first." + +They killed a thief, and sent the best part of it to feed the eagle on +his journey over the seas, and had to carry Jack on his back. Now when +they came in sight of the castle, they did not know what to do to get +the little golden box. Well, the little mouse said to them: "Leave me +down, and I will get the little box for you." So the mouse stole into +the castle, and got hold of the box; and when he was coming down the +stairs, it fell down, and he was very near being caught. He came running +out with it, laughing his best. "Have you got it?" Jack said to him; he +said: "Yes;" and off they went back again, and left the castle behind. + +As they were all of them (Jack, mouse, frog, and eagle) passing over +the great sea, they fell to quarrelling about which it was that got the +little box, till down it slipped into the water. (It was by them looking +at it and handing it from one hand to the other that they dropped the +little box to the bottom of the sea.) "Well, well," said the frog, "I +knew that I would have to do something, so you had better let me go down +in the water." And they let him go, and he was down for three days and +three nights; and up he comes, and shows his nose and little mouth out +of the water; and all of them asked him, Did he get it? and he told +them, No. "Well, what are you doing there, then?" "Nothing at all," he +said, "only I want my full breath;" and the poor little frog went down +the second time, and he was down for a day and a night, and up he brings +it. + +And away they did go, after being there four days and nights; and after +a long tug over seas and mountains, arrive at the palace of the old +King, who is the master of all the birds in the world. And the King +is very proud to see them, and has a hearty welcome and a long +conversation. Jack opens the little box, and told the little men to go +back and to bring the castle here to them; "and all of you make as much +haste back again as you possibly can." + +The three little men went off; and when they came near the castle they +were afraid to go to it till the gentleman and lady and all the servants +were gone out to some dance. And there was no one left behind there only +the cook and another maid with her; and the little red men asked them +which would they rather--go, or stop behind? and they both said: "I will +go with you;" and the little men told them to run upstairs quick. They +were no sooner up and in one of the drawing-rooms than here comes just +in sight the gentleman and lady and all the servants; but it was too +late. Off the castle went at full speed, with the women laughing at them +through the window, while they made motions for them to stop, but all to +no purpose. + +They were nine days on their journey, in which they did try to keep the +Sunday holy, when one of the little men turned to be the priest, the +other the clerk, and third presided at the organ, and the women were +the singers, for they had a grand chapel in the castle already. Very +remarkable, there was a discord made in the music, and one of the little +men ran up one of the organ-pipes to see where the bad sound came +from, when he found out it only happened to be that the two women were +laughing at the little red man stretching his little legs full length +on the bass pipes, also his two arms the same time, with his little red +night-cap, which he never forgot to wear, and what they never witnessed +before, could not help calling forth some good merriment while on the +face of the deep. And poor thing! through them not going on with what +they begun with, they very near came to danger, as the castle was once +very near sinking in the middle of the sea. + +At length, after a merry journey, they come again to Jack and the King. +The King was quite struck with the sight of the castle; and going up the +golden stairs, went to see the inside. + +The King was very much pleased with the castle, but poor Jack's time of +a twelvemonths and a day was drawing to a close; and he, wishing to +go home to his young wife, gives orders to the three little men to +get ready by the next morning at eight o'clock to be off to the next +brother, and to stop there for one night; also to proceed from there +to the last or the youngest brother, the master of all the mice in the +world, in such place where the castle shall be left under his care until +it's sent for. Jack takes a farewell of the King, and thanks him very +much for his hospitality. + +Away went Jack and his castle again, and stopped one night in that +place; and away they went again to the third place, and there left the +castle under his care. As Jack had to leave the castle behind, he had to +take to his own horse, which he left there when he first started. + +Now poor Jack leaves his castle behind and faces towards home; and +after having so much merriment with the three brothers every night, Jack +became sleepy on horseback, and would have lost the road if it was not +for the little men a-guiding him. At last he arrived weary and tired, +and they did not seem to receive him with any kindness whatever, +because he had not found the stolen castle; and to make it worse, he was +disappointed in not seeing his young and beautiful wife to come and meet +him, through being hindered by her parents. But that did not stop long. +Jack put full power on and despatched the little men off to bring the +castle from there, and they soon got there. + +Jack shook hands with the King, and returned many thanks for his kingly +kindness in minding the castle for him; and then Jack instructed the +little men to spur up and put speed on. And off they went, and were not +long before they reached their journey's end, when out comes the young +wife to meet him with a fine lump of a young SON, and they all lived +happy ever afterwards. + + + + +THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS + +Once upon a time there were Three Bears, who lived together in a house +of their own, in a wood. One of them was a Little, Small Wee Bear; and +one was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear. They +had each a pot for their porridge, a little pot for the Little, Small, +Wee Bear; and a middle-sized pot for the Middle Bear, and a great pot +for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit in; a little +chair for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized chair for the +Middle Bear; and a great chair for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had +each a bed to sleep in; a little bed for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; +and a middle-sized bed for the Middle Bear; and a great bed for the +Great, Huge Bear. + +One day, after they had made the porridge for their breakfast, and +poured it into their porridge-pots, they walked out into the wood while +the porridge was cooling, that they might not burn their mouths, by +beginning too soon to eat it. And while they were walking, a little +old Woman came to the house. She could not have been a good, honest old +Woman; for first she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in at +the keyhole; and seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch. The +door was not fastened, because the Bears were good Bears, who did nobody +any harm, and never suspected that anybody would harm them. So the +little old Woman opened the door, and went in; and well pleased she was +when she saw the porridge on the table. If she had been a good little +old Woman, she would have waited till the Bears came home, and then, +perhaps, they would have asked her to breakfast; for they were good +Bears--a little rough or so, as the manner of Bears is, but for all +that very good-natured and hospitable. But she was an impudent, bad old +Woman, and set about helping herself. + +So first she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was +too hot for her; and she said a bad word about that. And then she tasted +the porridge of the Middle Bear, and that was too cold for her; and she +said a bad word about that too. And then she went to the porridge of the +Little, Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that; and that was neither too hot, +nor too cold, but just right; and she liked it so well, that she ate +it all up: but the naughty old Woman said a bad word about the little +porridge-pot, because it did not hold enough for her. + +Then the little old Woman sate down in the chair of the Great, Huge +Bear, and that was too hard for her. And then she sate down in the chair +of the Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sate +down in the chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither +too hard, nor too soft, but just right. So she seated herself in it, and +there she sate till the bottom of the chair came out, and down she came, +plump upon the ground. And the naughty old Woman said a wicked word +about that too. + +Then the little old Woman went upstairs into the bed-chamber in which +the three Bears slept. And first she lay down upon the bed of the Great, +Huge Bear; but that was too high at the head for her. And next she lay +down upon the bed of the Middle Bear; and that was too high at the foot +for her. And then she lay down upon the bed of the Little, Small, Wee +Bear; and that was neither too high at the head, nor at the foot, but +just right. So she covered herself up comfortably, and lay there till +she fell fast asleep. + +By this time the Three Bears thought their porridge would be cool +enough; so they came home to breakfast. Now the little old Woman had +left the spoon of the Great, Huge Bear, standing in his porridge. + +"Somebody has been at my porridge!" + +said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. And when +the Middle Bear looked at his, he saw that the spoon was standing in it +too. They were wooden spoons; if they had been silver ones, the naughty +old Woman would have put them in her pocket. + +"Somebody has been at my porridge!" + +said the Middle Bear in his middle voice. + +Then the Little, Small, Wee Bear looked at his, and there was the spoon +in the porridge-pot, but the porridge was all gone. + +"Somebody has been at my porridge, and has eaten it all up!" + +said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + +Upon this the Three Bears, seeing that some one had entered their house, +and eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear's breakfast, began to look +about them. Now the little old Woman had not put the hard cushion +straight when she rose from the chair of the Great, Huge Bear. + +"Somebody has been sitting in my chair!" + +said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. + +And the little old Woman had squatted down the soft cushion of the +Middle Bear. + +"Somebody has been sitting in my chair!" + +said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice. + +And you know what the little old Woman had done to the third chair. + +"Somebody has been sitting in my chair and has sate the bottom out of +it!" + +said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + +Then the Three Bears thought it necessary that they should make farther +search; so they went upstairs into their bedchamber. Now the little old +Woman had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear, out of its place. + +"Somebody has been lying in my bed!" + +said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. + +And the little old Woman had pulled the bolster of the Middle Bear out +of its place. + +"Somebody has been lying in my bed!" + +said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice. + +And when the Little, Small, Wee Bear came to look at his bed, there was +the bolster in its place; and the pillow in its place upon the bolster; +and upon the pillow was the little old Woman's ugly, dirty head,--which +was not in its place, for she had no business there. + +"Somebody has been lying in my bed,--and here she is!" + +said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + +The little old Woman had heard in her sleep the great, rough, gruff +voice of the Great, Huge Bear; but she was so fast asleep that it was +no more to her than the roaring of wind, or the rumbling of thunder. And +she had heard the middle voice, of the Middle Bear, but it was only as +if she had heard some one speaking in a dream. But when she heard the +little, small, wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, it was so +sharp, and so shrill, that it awakened her at once. Up she started; and +when she saw the Three Bears on one side of the bed, she tumbled herself +out at the other, and ran to the window. Now the window was open, +because the Bears, like good, tidy Bears, as they were, always opened +their bedchamber window when they got up in the morning. Out the little +old Woman jumped; and whether she broke her neck in the fall; or ran +into the wood and was lost there; or found her way out of the wood, and +was taken up by the constable and sent to the House of Correction for +a vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But the Three Bears never saw +anything more of her. + + + + +JACK THE GIANT-KILLER + +When good King Arthur reigned, there lived near the Land's End of +England, in the county of Cornwall, a farmer who had one only son called +Jack. He was brisk and of a ready lively wit, so that nobody or nothing +could worst him. + +In those days the Mount of Cornwall was kept by a huge giant named +Cormoran. He was eighteen feet in height, and about three yards round +the waist, of a fierce and grim countenance, the terror of all the +neighbouring towns and villages. He lived in a cave in the midst of the +Mount, and whenever he wanted food he would wade over to the main-land, +where he would furnish himself with whatever came in his way. Everybody +at his approach ran out of their houses, while he seized on their +cattle, making nothing of carrying half-a-dozen oxen on his back at a +time; and as for their sheep and hogs, he would tie them round his waist +like a bunch of tallow-dips. He had done this for many years, so that +all Cornwall was in despair. + +One day Jack happened to be at the town-hall when the magistrates were +sitting in council about the Giant. He asked: "What reward will be given +to the man who kills Cormoran?" "The giant's treasure," they said, "will +be the reward." Quoth Jack: "Then let me undertake it." + +So he got a horn, shovel, and pickaxe, and went over to the Mount in the +beginning of a dark winter's evening, when he fell to work, and before +morning had dug a pit twenty-two feet deep, and nearly as broad, +covering it over with long sticks and straw. Then he strewed a little +mould over it, so that it appeared like plain ground. Jack then placed +himself on the opposite side of the pit, farthest from the giant's +lodging, and, just at the break of day, he put the horn to his mouth, +and blew, Tantivy, Tantivy. This noise roused the giant, who rushed +from his cave, crying: "You incorrigible villain, are you come here +to disturb my rest? You shall pay dearly for this. Satisfaction I will +have, and this it shall be, I will take you whole and broil you for +breakfast." He had no sooner uttered this, than he tumbled into the pit, +and made the very foundations of the Mount to shake. "Oh, Giant," quoth +Jack, "where are you now? Oh, faith, you are gotten now into Lob's +Pound, where I will surely plague you for your threatening words: what +do you think now of broiling me for your breakfast? Will no other diet +serve you but poor Jack?" Then having tantalised the giant for a while, +he gave him a most weighty knock with his pickaxe on the very crown of +his head, and killed him on the spot. + +Jack then filled up the pit with earth, and went to search the cave, +which he found contained much treasure. When the magistrates heard of +this they made a declaration he should henceforth be termed + +JACK THE GIANT-KILLER + +and presented him with a sword and a belt, on which were written these +words embroidered in letters of gold: + + "Here's the right valiant Cornish man, + Who slew the giant Cormoran." + +The news of Jack's victory soon spread over all the West of England, +so that another giant, named Blunderbore, hearing of it, vowed to be +revenged on Jack, if ever he should light on him. This giant was the +lord of an enchanted castle situated in the midst of a lonesome wood. +Now Jack, about four months afterwards, walking near this wood in his +journey to Wales, being weary, seated himself near a pleasant fountain +and fell fast asleep. While he was sleeping, the giant, coming there +for water, discovered him, and knew him to be the far-famed Jack the +Giant-killer by the lines written on the belt. Without ado, he took Jack +on his shoulders and carried him towards his castle. Now, as they passed +through a thicket, the rustling of the boughs awakened Jack, who was +strangely surprised to find himself in the clutches of the giant. His +terror was only begun, for, on entering the castle, he saw the ground +strewed with human bones, and the giant told him his own would ere +long be among them. After this the giant locked poor Jack in an immense +chamber, leaving him there while he went to fetch another giant, his +brother, living in the same wood, who might share in the meal on Jack. + +After waiting some time Jack, on going to the window beheld afar off the +two giants coming towards the castle. "Now," quoth Jack to himself, "my +death or my deliverance is at hand." Now, there were strong cords in a +corner of the room in which Jack was, and two of these he took, and made +a strong noose at the end; and while the giants were unlocking the iron +gate of the castle he threw the ropes over each of their heads. Then +he drew the other ends across a beam, and pulled with all his might, so +that he throttled them. Then, when he saw they were black in the face, +he slid down the rope, and drawing his sword, slew them both. Then, +taking the giant's keys, and unlocking the rooms, he found three fair +ladies tied by the hair of their heads, almost starved to death. "Sweet +ladies," quoth Jack, "I have destroyed this monster and his brutish +brother, and obtained your liberties." This said he presented them with +the keys, and so proceeded on his journey to Wales. + +Jack made the best of his way by travelling as fast as he could, but +lost his road, and was benighted, and could find any habitation until, +coming into a narrow valley, he found a large house, and in order to +get shelter took courage to knock at the gate. But what was his surprise +when there came forth a monstrous giant with two heads; yet he did not +appear so fiery as the others were, for he was a Welsh giant, and +what he did was by private and secret malice under the false show of +friendship. Jack, having told his condition to the giant, was shown into +a bedroom, where, in the dead of night, he heard his host in another +apartment muttering these words: + + "Though here you lodge with me this night, + You shall not see the morning light + My club shall dash your brains outright!" + +"Say'st thou so," quoth Jack; "that is like one of your Welsh tricks, +yet I hope to be cunning enough for you." Then, getting out of bed, he +laid a billet in the bed in his stead, and hid himself in a corner of +the room. At the dead time of the night in came the Welsh giant, who +struck several heavy blows on the bed with his club, thinking he had +broken every bone in Jack's skin. The next morning Jack, laughing in his +sleeve, gave him hearty thanks for his night's lodging. "How have you +rested?" quoth the giant; "did you not feel anything in the night?" +"No," quoth Jack, "nothing but a rat, which gave me two or three slaps +with her tail." With that, greatly wondering, the giant led Jack to +breakfast, bringing him a bowl containing four gallons of hasty pudding. +Being loth to let the giant think it too much for him, Jack put a large +leather bag under his loose coat, in such a way that he could convey the +pudding into it without its being perceived. Then, telling the giant he +would show him a trick, taking a knife, Jack ripped open the bag, and +out came all the hasty pudding. Whereupon, saying, "Odds splutters hur +nails, hur can do that trick hurself," the monster took the knife, and +ripping open his belly, fell down dead. + +Now, it happened in these days that King Arthur's only son asked his +father to give him a large sum of money, in order that he might go and +seek his fortune in the principality of Wales, where lived a beautiful +lady possessed with seven evil spirits. The king did his best to +persuade his son from it, but in vain; so at last gave way and the +prince set out with two horses, one loaded with money, the other for +himself to ride upon. Now, after several days' travel, he came to a +market-town in Wales, where he beheld a vast crowd of people gathered +together. The prince asked the reason of it, and was told that they had +arrested a corpse for several large sums of money which the deceased +owed when he died. The prince replied that it was a pity creditors +should be so cruel, and said: "Go bury the dead, and let his creditors +come to my lodging, and there their debts shall be paid." They came, +in such great numbers that before night he had only twopence left for +himself. + +Now Jack the Giant-Killer, coming that way, was so taken with the +generosity of the prince, that he desired to be his servant. This +being agreed upon, the next morning they set forward on their journey +together, when, as they were riding out of the town, an old woman called +after the prince, saying, "He has owed me twopence these seven years; +pray pay me as well as the rest." Putting his hand to his pocket, the +prince gave the woman all he had left, so that after their day's food, +which cost what small spell Jack had by him, they were without a penny +between them. + +When the sun got low, the king's son said: "Jack, since we have no +money, where can we lodge this night?" + +But Jack replied: "Master, we'll do well enough, for I have an uncle +lives within two miles of this place; he is a huge and monstrous giant +with three heads; he'll fight five hundred men in armour, and make them +to fly before him." "Alas!" quoth the prince, "what shall we do there? +He'll certainly chop us up at a mouthful. Nay, we are scarce enough to +fill one of his hollow teeth!" + +"It is no matter for that," quoth Jack; "I myself will go before and +prepare the way for you; therefore stop here and wait till I return." +Jack then rode away at full speed, and coming to the gate of the castle, +he knocked so loud that he made the neighbouring hills resound. The +giant roared out at this like thunder: "Who's there?" + +Jack answered: "None but your poor cousin Jack." + +Quoth he: "What news with my poor cousin Jack?" + +He replied: "Dear uncle, heavy news, God wot!" + +"Prithee," quoth the giant, "what heavy news can come to me? I am +a giant with three heads, and besides thou knowest I can fight five +hundred men in armour, and make them fly like chaff before the wind." + +"Oh, but," quoth Jack, "here's the king's son a-coming with a thousand +men in armour to kill you and destroy all that you have!" + +"Oh, cousin Jack," said the giant, "this is heavy news indeed! I will +immediately run and hide myself, and thou shalt lock, bolt, and bar +me in, and keep the keys until the prince is gone." Having secured the +giant, Jack fetched his master, when they made themselves heartily merry +whilst the poor giant lay trembling in a vault under the ground. + +Early in the morning Jack furnished his master with a fresh supply of +gold and silver, and then sent him three miles forward on his journey, +at which time the prince was pretty well out of the smell of the giant. +Jack then returned, and let the giant out of the vault, who asked what +he should give him for keeping the castle from destruction. "Why," quoth +Jack, "I want nothing but the old coat and cap, together with the old +rusty sword and slippers which are at your bed's head." Quoth the giant: +"You know not what you ask; they are the most precious things I have. +The coat will keep you invisible, the cap will tell you all you want to +know, the sword cuts asunder whatever you strike, and the shoes are +of extraordinary swiftness. But you have been very serviceable to me, +therefore take them with all my heart." Jack thanked his uncle, and then +went off with them. He soon overtook his master and they quickly arrived +at the house of the lady the prince sought, who, finding the prince to +be a suitor, prepared a splendid banquet for him. After the repast was +concluded, she told him she had a task for him. She wiped his mouth with +a handkerchief, saying: "You must show me that handkerchief to-morrow +morning, or else you will lose your head." With that she put it in +her bosom. The prince went to bed in great sorrow, but Jack's cap of +knowledge informed him how it was to be obtained. In the middle of the +night she called upon her familiar spirit to carry her to Lucifer. But +Jack put on his coat of darkness and his shoes of swiftness, and was +there as soon as she was. When she entered the place of the Old One, she +gave the handkerchief to old Lucifer, who laid it upon a shelf, whence +Jack took it and brought it to his master, who showed it to the lady +next day, and so saved his life. On that day, she gave the prince a kiss +and told him he must show her the lips to-morrow morning that she kissed +last night, or lose his head. + +"Ah!" he replied, "if you kiss none but mine, I will." + +"That is neither here nor there," said she; "if you do not, death's your +portion!" + +At midnight she went as before, and was angry with old Lucifer for +letting the handkerchief go. "But now," quoth she, "I will be too hard +for the king's son, for I will kiss thee, and he is to show me thy +lips." Which she did, and Jack, when she was not standing by, cut off +Lucifer's head and brought it under his invisible coat to his master, +who the next morning pulled it out by the horns before the lady. This +broke the enchantment and the evil spirit left her, and she appeared in +all her beauty. They were married the next morning, and soon after went +to the court of King Arthur, where Jack for his many great exploits, was +made one of the Knights of the Round Table. + +Jack soon went searching for giants again, but he had not ridden far, +when he saw a cave, near the entrance of which he beheld a giant sitting +upon a block of timber, with a knotted iron club by his side. His goggle +eyes were like flames of fire, his countenance grim and ugly, and his +cheeks like a couple of large flitches of bacon, while the bristles of +his beard resembled rods of iron wire, and the locks that hung down upon +his brawny shoulders were like curled snakes or hissing adders. Jack +alighted from his horse, and, putting on the coat of darkness, went up +close to the giant, and said softly: "Oh! are you there? It will not +be long before I take you fast by the beard." The giant all this while +could not see him, on account of his invisible coat, so that Jack, +coming up close to the monster, struck a blow with his sword at his +head, but, missing his aim, he cut off the nose instead. At this, the +giant roared like claps of thunder, and began to lay about him with his +iron club like one stark mad. But Jack, running behind, drove his sword +up to the hilt in the giant's back, so that he fell down dead. This +done, Jack cut off the giant's head, and sent it, with his brother's +also, to King Arthur, by a waggoner he hired for that purpose. + +Jack now resolved to enter the giant's cave in search of his treasure, +and, passing along through a great many windings and turnings, he came +at length to a large room paved with freestone, at the upper end of +which was a boiling caldron, and on the right hand a large table, at +which the giant used to dine. Then he came to a window, barred with +iron, through which he looked and beheld a vast number of miserable +captives, who, seeing him, cried out: "Alas! young man, art thou come to +be one amongst us in this miserable den?" + +"Ay," quoth Jack, "but pray tell me what is the meaning of your +captivity?" + +"We are kept here," said one, "till such time as the giants have a wish +to feast, and then the fattest among us is slaughtered! And many are the +times they have dined upon murdered men!" + +"Say you so," quoth Jack, and straightway unlocked the gate and let them +free, who all rejoiced like condemned men at sight of a pardon. Then +searching the giant's coffers, he shared the gold and silver equally +amongst them and took them to a neighbouring castle, where they all +feasted and made merry over their deliverance. + +But in the midst of all this mirth a messenger brought news that one +Thunderdell, a giant with two heads, having heard of the death of his +kinsmen, had come from the northern dales to be revenged on Jack, and +was within a mile of the castle, the country people flying before him +like chaff. But Jack was not a bit daunted, and said: "Let him come! I +have a tool to pick his teeth; and you, ladies and gentlemen, walk out +into the garden, and you shall witness this giant Thunderdell's death +and destruction." + +The castle was situated in the midst of a small island surrounded by a +moat thirty feet deep and twenty feet wide, over which lay a drawbridge. +So Jack employed men to cut through this bridge on both sides, nearly to +the middle; and then, dressing himself in his invisible coat, he marched +against the giant with his sword of sharpness. Although the giant could +not see Jack, he smelt his approach, and cried out in these words: + + "Fee, fi, fo, fum! + I smell the blood of an Englishman! + Be he alive or be he dead, + I'll grind his bones to make me bread!" + +"Say'st thou so," said Jack; "then thou art a monstrous miller indeed." + +The giant cried out again: "Art thou that villain who killed my kinsmen? +Then I will tear thee with my teeth, suck thy blood, and grind thy bones +to powder." + +"You'll have to catch me first," quoth Jack, and throwing off his +invisible coat, so that the giant might see him, and putting on his +shoes of swiftness, he ran from the giant, who followed like a walking +castle, so that the very foundations of the earth seemed to shake at +every step. Jack led him a long dance, in order that the gentlemen and +ladies might see; and at last to end the matter, ran lightly over the +drawbridge, the giant, in full speed, pursuing him with his club. Then, +coming to the middle of the bridge, the giant's great weight broke +it down, and he tumbled headlong into the water, where he rolled and +wallowed like a whale. Jack, standing by the moat, laughed at him all +the while; but though the giant foamed to hear him scoff, and plunged +from place to place in the moat, yet he could not get out to be +revenged. Jack at length got a cart-rope and cast it over the two heads +of the giant, and drew him ashore by a team of horses, and then cut +off both his heads with his sword of sharpness, and sent them to King +Arthur. + +After some time spent in mirth and pastime, Jack, taking leave of the +knights and ladies, set out for new adventures. Through many woods he +passed, and came at length to the foot of a high mountain. Here, late +at night, he found a lonesome house, and knocked at the door, which was +opened by an aged man with a head as white as snow. "Father," said Jack, +"can you lodge a benighted traveller that has lost his way?" "Yes," said +the old man; "you are right welcome to my poor cottage." Whereupon Jack +entered, and down they sat together, and the old man began to speak as +follows: "Son, I see by your belt you are the great conqueror of giants, +and behold, my son, on the top of this mountain is an enchanted castle, +this is kept by a giant named Galligantua, and he by the help of an +old conjurer, betrays many knights and ladies into his castle, where by +magic art they are transformed into sundry shapes and forms. But above +all, I grieve for a duke's daughter, whom they fetched from her father's +garden, carrying her through the air in a burning chariot drawn by fiery +dragons, when they secured her within the castle, and transformed her +into a white hind. And though many knights have tried to break the +enchantment, and work her deliverance, yet no one could accomplish it, +on account of two dreadful griffins which are placed at the castle gate +and which destroy every one who comes near. But you, my son, may pass +by them undiscovered, where on the gates of the castle you will find +engraven in large letters how the spell may be broken." Jack gave the +old man his hand, and promised that in the morning he would venture his +life to free the lady. + +In the morning Jack arose and put on his invisible coat and magic cap +and shoes, and prepared himself for the fray. Now, when he had reached +the top of the mountain he soon discovered the two fiery griffins, but +passed them without fear, because of his invisible coat. When he had got +beyond them, he found upon the gates of the castle a golden trumpet hung +by a silver chain, under which these lines were engraved: + + "Whoever shall this trumpet blow, + Shall soon the giant overthrow, + And break the black enchantment straight; + So all shall be in happy state." + +Jack had no sooner read this but he blew the trumpet, at which the +castle trembled to its vast foundations, and the giant and conjurer were +in horrid confusion, biting their thumbs and tearing their hair, knowing +their wicked reign was at an end. Then the giant stooping to take up +his club, Jack at one blow cut off his head; whereupon the conjurer, +mounting up into the air, was carried away in a whirlwind. Then the +enchantment was broken, and all the lords and ladies who had so long +been transformed into birds and beasts returned to their proper shapes, +and the castle vanished away in a cloud of smoke. This being done, the +head of Galligantua was likewise, in the usual manner, conveyed to the +Court of King Arthur, where, the very next day, Jack followed, with the +knights and ladies who had been delivered. Whereupon, as a reward +for his good services, the king prevailed upon the duke to bestow his +daughter in marriage on honest Jack. So married they were, and the +whole kingdom was filled with joy at the wedding. Furthermore, the king +bestowed on Jack a noble castle, with a very beautiful estate thereto +belonging, where he and his lady lived in great joy and happiness all +the rest of their days. + + + + +HENNY-PENNY + +One day Henny-penny was picking up corn in the cornyard +when--whack!--something hit her upon the head. "Goodness gracious me!" +said Henny-penny; "the sky's a-going to fall; I must go and tell the +king." + +So she went along and she went along and she went along till she met +Cocky-locky. "Where are you going, Henny-penny?" says Cocky-locky. "Oh! +I'm going to tell the king the sky's a-falling," says Henny-penny. "May +I come with you?" says Cocky-locky. "Certainly," says Henny-penny. So +Henny-penny and Cocky-locky went to tell-the king the sky was falling. + +They went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they met +Ducky-daddles. "Where are you going to, Henny-penny and Cocky-locky?" +says Ducky-daddles. "Oh! we're going to tell the king the sky's +a-falling," said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. "May I come with you?" +says Ducky-daddles. "Certainly," said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. So +Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles went to tell the king the sky +was a-falling. + +So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they +met Goosey-poosey, "Where are you going to, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and +Ducky-daddles?" said Goosey-poosey. "Oh! we're going to tell the +king the sky's a-falling," said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky and +Ducky-daddles. "May I come with you," said Goosey-poosey. "Certainly," +said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles. So Henny-penny, +Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey went to tell the king the +sky was a-falling. + +So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till +they met Turkey-lurkey. "Where are you going, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles, and Goosey-poosey?" says Turkey-lurkey. "Oh! we're going +to tell the king the sky's a-falling," said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey. "May I come with you? Henny-penny, +Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey?" said Turkey-lurkey. "Why, +certainly, Turkey-lurkey," said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, +and Goosey-poosey. So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, +Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey all went to tell the king the sky was +a-falling. + +So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till +they met Foxy-woxy, and Foxy-woxy said to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey: "Where are you +going, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, +and Turkey-lurkey?" And Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, +Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey said to Foxy-woxy: "We're going to tell +the king the sky's a-falling." "Oh! but this is not the way to the +king, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and +Turkey-lurkey," says Foxy-woxy; "I know the proper way; shall I show +it you?" "Why certainly, Foxy-woxy," said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, +Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey. So Henny-penny, +Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, Turkey-lurkey, and Foxy-woxy +all went to tell the king the sky was a-falling. So they went along, +and they went along, and they went along, till they came to a narrow and +dark hole. Now this was the door of Foxy-woxy's cave. But Foxy-woxy +said to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and +Turkey-lurkey: "This is the short way to the king's palace you'll +soon get there if you follow me. I will go first and you come +after, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky daddles, Goosey-poosey, and +Turkey-lurkey." "Why of course, certainly, without doubt, why not?" +said Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and +Turkey-lurkey. + +So Foxy-woxy went into his cave, and he didn't go very far but turned +round to wait for Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey +and Turkey-lurkey. So at last at first Turkey-lurkey went through the +dark hole into the cave. He hadn't got far when "Hrumph," Foxy-woxy +snapped off Turkey-lurkey's head and threw his body over his left +shoulder. Then Goosey-poosey went in, and "Hrumph," off went her head +and Goosey-poosey was thrown beside Turkey-lurkey. Then Ducky-daddles +waddled down, and "Hrumph," snapped Foxy-woxy, and Ducky-daddles' +head was off and Ducky-daddles was thrown alongside Turkey-lurkey and +Goosey-poosey. Then Cocky-locky strutted down into the cave and he +hadn't gone far when "Snap, Hrumph!" went Foxy-woxy and Cocky-locky was +thrown alongside of Turkey-lurkey, Goosey-poosey and Ducky-daddles. + +But Foxy-woxy had made two bites at Cocky-locky, and when the first +snap only hurt Cocky-locky, but didn't kill him, he called out to +Henny-penny. So she turned tail and ran back home, so she never told the +king the sky was a-falling. + + + + +CHILDE ROWLAND + +Childe Rowland and his brothers twain Were playing at the ball, And +there was their sister Burd Ellen In the midst, among them all. + + Childe Rowland kicked it with his foot + And caught it with his knee; + At last as he plunged among them all + O'er the church he made it flee. + + Burd Ellen round about the aisle + To seek the ball is gone, + But long they waited, and longer still, + And she came not back again. + + They sought her east, they sought her west, + They sought her up and down, + And woe were the hearts of those brethren, + For she was not to be found. + +So at last her eldest brother went to the Warlock Merlin and told him +all the case, and asked him if he knew where Burd Ellen was. "The fair +Burd Ellen," said the Warlock Merlin, "must have been carried off by the +fairies, because she went round the church 'wider shins'--the opposite +way to the sun. She is now in the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland; it +would take the boldest knight in Christendom to bring her back." + +"If it is possible to bring her back," said her brother, "I'll do it, or +perish in the attempt." + +"Possible it is," said the Warlock Merlin, "but woe to the man or +mother's son that attempts it, if he is not well taught beforehand what +he is to do." + +The eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear of +danger, from attempting to get her back, so he begged the Warlock Merlin +to tell him what he should do, and what he should not do, in going to +seek his sister. And after he had been taught, and had repeated his +lesson, he set out for Elfland. + + But long they waited, and longer still, + With doubt and muckle pain, + But woe were the hearts of his brethren, + For he came not back again. + +Then the second brother got tired and sick of waiting, and he went to +the Warlock Merlin and asked him the same as his brother. So he set out +to find Burd Ellen. + + But long they waited, and longer still, + With muckle doubt and pain, + And woe were his mother's and brother's heart, + For he came not back again. + +And when they had waited and waited a good long time, Childe Rowland, +the youngest of Burd Ellen's brothers, wished to go, and went to his +mother, the good queen, to ask her to let him go. But she would not at +first, for he was the last of her children she now had, and if he was +lost, all would be lost. But he begged, and he begged, till at last the +good queen let him go, and gave him his father's good brand that never +struck in vain. And as she girt it round his waist, she said the spell +that would give it victory. + +So Childe Rowland said good-bye to the good queen, his mother, and went +to the cave of the Warlock Merlin. "Once more, and but once more," he +said to the Warlock, "tell how man or mother's son may rescue Burd Ellen +and her brothers twain." + +"Well, my son," said the Warlock Merlin, "there are but two things, +simple they may seem, but hard they are to do. One thing to do, and one +thing not to do. And the thing to do is this: after you have entered the +land of Fairy, whoever speaks to you, till you meet the Burd Ellen, +you must out with your father's brand and off with their head. And what +you've not to do is this: bite no bit, and drink no drop, however hungry +or thirsty you be; drink a drop, or bite a bit, while in Elfland you be +and never will you see Middle Earth again." + +So Childe Rowland said the two things over and over again, till he knew +them by heart, and he thanked the Warlock Merlin and went on his way. +And he went along, and along, and along, and still further along, till +he came to the horse-herd of the King of Elfland feeding his horses. +These he knew by their fiery eyes, and knew that he was at last in +the land of Fairy. "Canst thou tell me," said Childe Rowland to the +horse-herd, "where the King of Elfland's Dark Tower is?" "I cannot tell +thee," said the horse-herd, "but go on a little further and thou wilt +come to the cow-herd, and he, maybe, can tell thee." + +Then, without a word more, Childe Rowland drew the good brand that never +struck in vain, and off went the horse-herd's head, and Childe Rowland +went on further, till he came to the cow-herd, and asked him the same +question. "I can't tell thee," said he, "but go on a little farther, and +thou wilt come to the hen-wife, and she is sure to know." Then Childe +Rowland out with his good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went +the cow-herd's head. And he went on a little further, till he came to an +old woman in a grey cloak, and he asked her if she knew where the Dark +Tower of the King of Elfland was. "Go on a little further," said +the hen-wife, "till you come to a round green hill, surrounded with +terrace-rings, from the bottom to the top; go round it three times, +widershins, and each time say: + + Open, door! open, door! + And let me come in. + +and the third time the door will open, and you may go in." And Childe +Rowland was just going on, when he remembered what he had to do; so he +out with the good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went the +hen-wife's head. + +Then he went on, and on, and on, till he came to the round green hill +with the terrace-rings from top to bottom, and he went round it three +times, widershins, saying each time: + + Open, door! open, door! + And let me come in. + +And the third time the door did open, and he went in, and it closed with +a click, and Childe Rowland was left in the dark. + +It was not exactly dark, but a kind of twilight or gloaming. There +were neither windows nor candles, and he could not make out where the +twilight came from, if not through the walls and roof. These were rough +arches made of a transparent rock, incrusted with sheepsilver and rock +spar, and other bright stones. But though it was rock, the air was quite +warm, as it always is in Elfland. So he went through this passage till +at last he came to two wide and high folding-doors which stood ajar. And +when he opened them, there he saw a most wonderful and glorious sight. +A large and spacious hall, so large that it seemed to be as long, and as +broad, as the green hill itself. The roof was supported by fine pillars, +so large and lofty, that the pillars of a cathedral were as nothing to +them. They were all of gold and silver, with fretted work, and between +them and around them, wreaths of flowers, composed of what do you think? +Why, of diamonds and emeralds, and all manner of precious stones. And +the very key-stones of the arches had for ornaments clusters of diamonds +and rubies, and pearls, and other precious stones. And all these arches +met in the middle of the roof, and just there, hung by a gold chain, +an immense lamp made out of one big pearl hollowed out and quite +transparent. And in the middle of this was a big, huge carbuncle, which +kept spinning round and round, and this was what gave light by its rays +to the whole hall, which seemed as if the setting sun was shining on it. + +The hall was furnished in a manner equally grand, and at one end of +it was a glorious couch of velvet, silk and gold, and there sate Burd +Ellen, combing her golden hair with a silver comb. And when she saw +Childe Rowland she stood up and said: + + "God pity ye, poor luckless fool, + What have ye here to do? + + "Hear ye this, my youngest brother, + Why didn't ye bide at home? + Had you a hundred thousand lives + Ye couldn't spare any a one. + + "But sit ye down; but woe, O, woe, + That ever ye were born, + For come the King of Elfland in, + Your fortune is forlorn." + +Then they sate down together, and Childe Rowland told her all that he +had done, and she told him how their two brothers had reached the Dark +Tower, but had been enchanted by the King of Elfland, and lay there +entombed as if dead. And then after they had talked a little longer +Childe Rowland began to feel hungry from his long travels, and told his +sister Burd Ellen how hungry he was and asked for some food, forgetting +all about the Warlock Merlin's warning. + +Burd Ellen looked at Childe Rowland sadly, and shook her head, but she +was under a spell, and could not warn him. So she rose up, and went +out, and soon brought back a golden basin full of bread and milk. Childe +Rowland was just going to raise it to his lips, when he looked at his +sister and remembered why he had come all that way. So he dashed the +bowl to the ground, and said: "Not a sup will I swallow, nor a bit will +I bite, till Burd Ellen is set free." + +Just at that moment they heard the noise of some one approaching, and a +loud voice was heard saying: + + "Fee, fi, fo, fum, + I smell the blood of a Christian man, + Be he dead, be he living, with my brand, + I'll dash his brains from his brain-pan." + +And then the folding-doors of the hall were burst open, and the King of +Elfland rushed in. + +"Strike then, Bogle, if thou darest," shouted out Childe Rowland, and +rushed to meet him with his good brand that never yet did fail. They +fought, and they fought, and they fought, till Childe Rowland beat the +King of Elfland down on to his knees, and caused him to yield and beg +for mercy. "I grant thee mercy," said Childe Rowland, "release my sister +from thy spells and raise my brothers to life, and let us all go free, +and thou shalt be spared." "I agree," said the Elfin King, and rising +up he went to a chest from which he took a phial filled with a blood-red +liquor. With this he anointed the ears, eyelids, nostrils, lips, and +finger-tips, of the two brothers, and they sprang at once into life, and +declared that their souls had been away, but had now returned. The Elfin +king then said some words to Burd Ellen, and she was disenchanted, and +they all four passed out of the hall, through the long passage, and +turned their back on the Dark Tower, never to return again. And they +reached home, and the good queen, their mother, and Burd Ellen never +went round a church widershins again. + + + + +MOLLY WHUPPIE + +Once upon a time there was a man and a wife had too many children, and +they could not get meat for them, so they took the three youngest and +left them in a wood. They travelled and travelled and could see never +a house. It began to be dark, and they were hungry. At last they saw a +light and made for it; it turned out to be a house. They knocked at the +door, and a woman came to it, who said: "What do you want?" They said: +"Please let us in and give us something to eat." The woman said: "I +can't do that, as my man is a giant, and he would kill you if he comes +home." They begged hard. "Let us stop for a little while," said they, +"and we will go away before he comes." So she took them in, and set them +down before the fire, and gave them milk and bread; but just as they had +begun to eat a great knock came to the door, and a dreadful voice said: + + "Fee, fie, fo, fum, + I smell the blood of some earthly one. + +Who have you there wife?" "Eh," said the wife, "it's three poor lassies +cold and hungry, and they will go away. Ye won't touch 'em, man." He +said nothing, but ate up a big supper, and ordered them to stay all +night. Now he had three lassies of his own, and they were to sleep in +the same bed with the three strangers. + +The youngest of the three strange lassies was called Molly Whuppie, and +she was very clever. She noticed that before they went to bed the giant +put straw ropes round her neck and her sisters', and round his own +lassies' necks he put gold chains. So Molly took care and did not fall +asleep, but waited till she was sure every one was sleeping sound. Then +she slipped out of the bed, and took the straw ropes off her own and her +sisters' necks, and took the gold chains off the giant's lassies. She +then put the straw ropes on the giant's lassies and the gold on herself +and her sisters, and lay down. + +And in the middle of the night up rose the giant, armed with a great +club, and felt for the necks with the straw. It was dark. He took his +own lassies out of bed on to the floor, and battered them until they +were dead, and then lay down again, thinking he had managed fine. Molly +thought it time she and her sisters were out of that, so she wakened +them and told them to be quiet, and they slipped out of the house. They +all got out safe, and they ran and ran, and never stopped until morning, +when they saw a grand house before them. It turned out to be a king's +house: so Molly went in, and told her story to the king. He said: "Well, +Molly, you are a clever girl, and you have managed well; but, if you +would manage better, and go back, and steal the giant's sword that hangs +on the back of his bed, I would give your eldest sister my eldest son to +marry." Molly said she would try. + +So she went back, and managed to slip into the giant's house, and crept +in below the bed. The giant came home, and ate up a great supper, and +went to bed. Molly waited until he was snoring, and she crept out, and +reached over the giant and got down the sword; but just as she got it +out over the bed it gave a rattle, and up jumped the giant, and Molly +ran out at the door and the sword with her; and she ran, and he ran, +till they came to the "Bridge of one hair"; and she got over, but he +couldn't, and he says, "Woe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never ye come +again." And she says "Twice yet, carle," quoth she, "I'll come to +Spain." So Molly took the sword to the king, and her sister was married +to his son. + +Well, the king he says: "Ye've managed well, Molly; but if ye would +manage better, and steal the purse that lies below the giant's pillow, +I would marry your second sister to my second son." And Molly said she +would try. So she set out for the giant's house, and slipped in, and hid +again below the bed, and waited till the giant had eaten his supper, and +was snoring sound asleep. She slipped out, and slipped her hand below +the pillow, and got out the purse; but just as she was going out the +giant wakened, and ran after her; and she ran, and he ran, till they +came to the "Bridge of one hair," and she got over, but he couldn't, and +he said, "Woe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never you come again." "Once yet, +carle," quoth she, "I'll come to Spain." So Molly took the purse to the +king, and her second sister was married to the king's second son. + +After that the king says to Molly: "Molly, you are a clever girl, but if +you would do better yet, and steal the giant's ring that he wears on his +finger, I will give you my youngest son for yourself." Molly said she +would try. So back she goes to the giant's house, and hides herself +below the bed. The giant wasn't long ere he came home, and, after he had +eaten a great big supper, he went to his bed, and shortly was snoring +loud. Molly crept out and reached over the bed, and got hold of the +giant's hand, and she pulled and she pulled until she got off the ring; +but just as she got it off the giant got up, and gripped her by the +hand, and he says: "Now I have catcht you, Molly Whuppie, and, if I had +done as much ill to you as ye have done to me, what would ye do to me?" + +Molly says: "I would put you into a sack, and I'd put the cat inside +with you, and the dog aside you, and a needle and thread and a shears, +and I'd hang you up upon the wall, and I'd go to the wood, and choose +the thickest stick I could get, and I would come home, and take you +down, and bang you till you were dead." + +"Well, Molly," says the giant, "I'll just do that to you." + +So he gets a sack, and puts Molly into it, and the cat and the dog +beside her, and a needle and thread and shears, and hangs her up upon +the wall, and goes to the wood to choose a stick. + +Molly she sings out: "Oh, if ye saw what I see." + +"Oh," says the giant's wife, "what do ye see, Molly?" + +But Molly never said a word but, "Oh, if ye saw what I see!" + +The giant's wife begged that Molly would take her up into the sack till +she would see what Molly saw. So Molly took the shears and cut a hole in +the sack, and took out the needle and thread with her, and jumped down +and helped, the giant's wife up into the sack, and sewed up the hole. + +The giant's wife saw nothing, and began to ask to get down again; but +Molly never minded, but hid herself at the back of the door. Home came +the giant, and a great big tree in his hand, and he took down the sack, +and began to batter it. His wife cried, "It's me, man;" but the dog +barked and the cat mewed, and he did not know his wife's voice. But +Molly came out from the back of the door, and the giant saw her, and he +after her; and he ran and she ran, till they came to the "Bridge of one +hair," and she got over but he couldn't; and he said, "Woe worth you, +Molly Whuppie! never you come again." "Never more, carle," quoth she, +"will I come again to Spain." + +So Molly took the ring to the king, and she was married to his youngest +son, and she never saw the giant again. + + + + +THE RED ETTIN + +There was once a widow that lived on a small bit of ground, which she +rented from a farmer. And she had two sons; and by-and-by it was time +for the wife to send them away to seek their fortune. So she told her +eldest son one day to take a can and bring her water from the well, that +she might bake a cake for him; and however much or however little water +he might bring, the cake would be great or small accordingly, and that +cake was to be all that she could give him when he went on his travels. + +The lad went away with the can to the well, and filled it with water, +and then came away home again; but the can being broken, the most part +of the water had run out before he got back. So his cake was very small; +yet small as it was, his mother asked him if he was willing to take the +half of it with her blessing, telling him that, if he chose rather to +take the whole, he would only get it with her curse. The young man, +thinking he might have to travel a far way, and not knowing when or +how he might get other provisions, said he would like to have the whole +cake, come of his mother's malison what like; so she gave him the whole +cake, and her malison along with it. Then he took his brother aside, and +gave him a knife to keep till he should come back, desiring him to look +at it every morning, and as long as it continued to be clear, then he +might be sure that the owner of it was well; but if it grew dim and +rusty, then for certain some ill had befallen him. + +So the young man went to seek his fortune. And he went all that day, and +all the next day; and on the third day, in the afternoon, he came up to +where a shepherd was sitting with a flock of sheep. And he went up to +the shepherd and asked him who the sheep belonged to; and he answered: + + "The Red Ettin of Ireland + Once lived in Ballygan, + And stole King Malcolm's daughter + The king of fair Scotland. + + He beats her, he binds her, + He lays her on a band; + And every day he strikes her + With a bright silver wand. + Like Julian the Roman, + He's one that fears no man. + + It's said there's one predestinate + To be his mortal foe; + But that man is yet unborn, + And long may it be so." + +This shepherd also told him to beware of the beasts he should next meet, +for they were of a very different kind from any he had yet seen. + +So the young man went on, and by-and-by he saw a multitude of very +dreadful beasts, with two heads, and on every head four horns. And he +was sore frightened, and ran away from them as fast as he could; and +glad was he when he came to a castle that stood on a hillock, with the +door standing wide open to the wall. And he went into the castle for +shelter, and there he saw an old wife sitting beside the kitchen fire. +He asked the wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with +a long journey; and the wife said he might, but it was not a good +place for him to be in, as it belonged to the Red Ettin, who was a very +terrible beast, with three heads, that spared no living man it could get +hold of. The young man would have gone away, but he was afraid of the +beasts on the outside of the castle; so he beseeched the old woman to +hide him as best she could, and not tell the Ettin he was there. He +thought, if he could put over the night, he might get away in the +morning, without meeting with the beasts, and so escape. But he had not +been long in his hiding-hole, before the awful Ettin came in; and no +sooner was he in, than he was heard crying: + + "Snouk but and snouk ben, + I find the smell of an earthly man, + Be he living, or be he dead, + His heart this night shall kitchen my bread." + +The monster soon found the poor young man, and pulled him from his hole. +And when he had got him out, he told him that if he could answer him +three questions his life should be spared. So the first head asked: "A +thing without an end, what's that?" But the young man knew not. Then the +second head said: "The smaller, the more dangerous, what's that?" But +the young man knew it not. And then the third head asked: "The dead +carrying the living; riddle me that?" But the young man had to give it +up. The lad not being able to answer one of these questions, the Red +Ettin took a mallet and knocked him on the head, and turned him into a +pillar of stone. + +On the morning after this happened, the younger brother took out the +knife to look at it, and he was grieved to find it all brown with rust. +He told his mother that the time was now come for him to go away upon +his travels also; so she requested him to take the can to the well for +water, that she might make a cake for him. And he went, and as he was +bringing home the water, a raven over his head cried to him to look, and +he would see that the water was running out. And he was a young man of +sense, and seeing the water running out, he took some clay and patched +up the holes, so that he brought home enough water to bake a large cake. +When his mother put it to him to take the half cake with her blessing, +he took it in preference to having the whole with her malison; and yet +the half was bigger than what the other lad had got. + +So he went away on his journey; and after he had travelled a far way, he +met with an old woman that asked him if he would give her a bit of his +johnny-cake. And he said: "I will gladly do that," and so he gave her a +piece of the johnny-cake; and for that she gave him a magical wand, that +she might yet be of service to him, if he took care to use it rightly. +Then the old woman, who was a fairy, told him a great deal that would +happen to him, and what he ought to do in all circumstances; and after +that she vanished in an instant out of his sight. He went on a great way +farther, and then he came up to the old man herding the sheep; and when +he asked whose sheep these were, the answer was: + + "The Red Ettin of Ireland + Once lived in Ballygan, + And stole King Malcolm's daughter, + The king of Fair Scotland. + + "He beats her, he binds her, + He lays her on a band; + And every day he strikes her + With a bright silver wand. + Like Julian the Roman, + He's one that fears no man. + + "But now I fear his end is near, + And destiny at hand; + And you're to be, I plainly see, + The heir of all his land." + +When he came to the place where the monstrous beasts were standing, he +did not stop nor run away, but went boldly through amongst them. One +came up roaring with open mouth to devour him, when he struck it with +his wand, and laid it in an instant dead at his feet. He soon came to +the Ettin's castle, where he knocked, and was admitted. The old woman +who sat by the fire warned him of the terrible Ettin, and what had been +the fate of his brother; but he was not to be daunted. The monster soon +came in, saying: + + "Snouk but and snouk ben, + I find the smell of an earthly man; + Be he living, or be he dead, + His heart shall be kitchen to my bread." + +He quickly espied the young man, and bade him come forth on the floor. +And then he put the three questions to him; but the young man had been +told everything by the good fairy, so he was able to answer all the +questions. So when the first head asked, "What's the thing without an +end?" he said: "A bowl." And when the second head said: "The smaller the +more dangerous; what's that?" he said at once, "A bridge." And last, the +third head said: "When does the dead carry the living, riddle me that?" +Then the young man answered up at once and said: "When a ship sails on +the sea with men inside her." When the Ettin found this, he knew that +his power was gone. The young man then took up an axe and hewed off the +monster's three heads. He next asked the old woman to show him where the +king's daughter lay; and the old woman took him upstairs, and opened a +great many doors, and out of every door came a beautiful lady who had +been imprisoned there by the Ettin; and one of the ladies was the king's +daughter. She also took him down into a low room, and there stood a +stone pillar, that he had only to touch with his wand, when his brother +started into life. And the whole of the prisoners were overjoyed at +their deliverance, for which they thanked the young man. Next day they +all set out for the king's court, and a gallant company they made. And +the king married his daughter to the young man that had delivered +her, and gave a noble's daughter to his brother; and so they all lived +happily all the rest of their days. + + + + +THE GOLDEN ARM + +Here was once a man who travelled the land all over in search of a wife. +He saw young and old, rich and poor, pretty and plain, and could not +meet with one to his mind. At last he found a woman, young, fair, and +rich, who possessed a right arm of solid gold. He married her at once, +and thought no man so fortunate as he was. They lived happily together, +but, though he wished people to think otherwise, he was fonder of the +golden arm than of all his wife's gifts besides. + +At last she died. The husband put on the blackest black, and pulled the +longest face at the funeral; but for all that he got up in the middle of +the night, dug up the body, and cut off the golden arm. He hurried home +to hide his treasure, and thought no one would know. + +The following night he put the golden arm under his pillow, and was just +falling asleep, when the ghost of his dead wife glided into the room. +Stalking up to the bedside it drew the curtain, and looked at him +reproachfully. Pretending not to be afraid, he spoke to the ghost, and +said: "What hast thou done with thy cheeks so red?" + +"All withered and wasted away," replied the ghost, in a hollow tone. + +"What hast thou done with thy red rosy lips?" + +"All withered and wasted away." + +"What hast thou done with thy golden hair?" + +"All withered and wasted away." + +"What hast thou done with thy _Golden Arm_?" + +"THOU HAST IT!" + + + + +THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB + +In the days of the great Prince Arthur, there lived a mighty magician, +called Merlin, the most learned and skilful enchanter the world has ever +seen. + +This famous magician, who could take any form he pleased, was travelling +about as a poor beggar, and being very tired, he stopped at the cottage +of a ploughman to rest himself, and asked for some food. + +The countryman bade him welcome, and his wife, who was a very +good-hearted woman, soon brought him some milk in a wooden bowl, and +some coarse brown bread on a platter. + +Merlin was much pleased with the kindness of the ploughman and his +wife; but he could not help noticing that though everything was neat +and comfortable in the cottage, they seemed both to be very unhappy. He +therefore asked them why they were so melancholy, and learned that they +were miserable because they had no children. + +The poor woman said, with tears in her eyes: "I should be the happiest +creature in the world if I had a son; although he was no bigger than my +husband's thumb, I would be satisfied." + +Merlin was so much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man's +thumb, that he determined to grant the poor woman's wish. Accordingly, +in a short time after, the ploughman's wife had a son, who, wonderful to +relate! was not a bit bigger than his father's thumb. + +The queen of the fairies, wishing to see the little fellow, came in at +the window while the mother was sitting up in the bed admiring him. The +queen kissed the child, and, giving it the name of Tom Thumb, sent for +some of the fairies, who dressed her little godson according to her +orders: + + "An oak-leaf hat he had for his crown; + His shirt of web by spiders spun; + With jacket wove of thistle's down; + His trowsers were of feathers done. + His stockings, of apple-rind, they tie + With eyelash from his mother's eye + His shoes were made of mouse's skin, + Tann'd with the downy hair within." + +Tom never grew any larger than his father's thumb, which was only of +ordinary size; but as he got older he became very cunning and full of +tricks. When he was old enough to play with the boys, and had lost +all his own cherry-stones, he used to creep into the bags of his +playfellows, fill his pockets, and, getting out without their noticing +him, would again join in the game. + +One day, however, as he was coming out of a bag of cherry-stones, where +he had been stealing as usual, the boy to whom it belonged chanced to +see him. "Ah, ah! my little Tommy," said the boy, "so I have caught you +stealing my cherry-stones at last, and you shall be rewarded for your +thievish tricks." On saying this, he drew the string tight round his +neck, and gave the bag such a hearty shake, that poor little Tom's legs, +thighs, and body were sadly bruised. He roared out with pain, and begged +to be let out, promising never to steal again. + +A short time afterwards his mother was making a batter-pudding, and Tom, +being very anxious to see how it was made, climbed up to the edge of the +bowl; but his foot slipped, and he plumped over head and ears into +the batter, without his mother noticing him, who stirred him into the +pudding-bag, and put him in the pot to boil. + +The batter filled Tom's mouth, and prevented him from crying; but, on +feeling the hot water, he kicked and struggled so much in the pot, that +his mother thought that the pudding was bewitched, and, pulling it +out of the pot, she threw it outside the door. A poor tinker, who was +passing by, lifted up the pudding, and, putting it into his budget, he +then walked off. As Tom had now got his mouth cleared of the batter, he +then began to cry aloud, which so frightened the tinker that he flung +down the pudding and ran away. The pudding being broke to pieces by the +fall, Tom crept out covered all over with the batter, and walked home. +His mother, who was very sorry to see her darling in such a woeful +state, put him into a teacup, and soon washed off the batter; after +which she kissed him, and laid him in bed. + +Soon after the adventure of the pudding, Tom's mother went to milk her +cow in the meadow, and she took him along with her. As the wind was very +high, for fear of being blown away, she tied him to a thistle with a +piece of fine thread. The cow soon observed Tom's oak-leaf hat, and +liking the appearance of it, took poor Tom and the thistle at one +mouthful. While the cow was chewing the thistle Tom was afraid of her +great teeth, which threatened to crush him in pieces, and he roared out +as loud as he could: "Mother, mother!" + +"Where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?" said his mother. + +"Here, mother," replied he, "in the red cow's mouth." + +His mother began to cry and wring her hands; but the cow, surprised +at the odd noise in her throat, opened her mouth and let Tom drop out. +Fortunately his mother caught him in her apron as he was falling to the +ground, or he would have been dreadfully hurt. She then put Tom in her +bosom and ran home with him. + +Tom's father made him a whip of a barley straw to drive the cattle with, +and having one day gone into the fields, he slipped a foot and rolled +into the furrow. A raven, which was flying over, picked him up, and flew +with him over the sea, and there dropped him. + +A large fish swallowed Tom the moment he fell into the sea, which was +soon after caught, and bought for the table of King Arthur. When they +opened the fish in order to cook it, every one was astonished at finding +such a little boy, and Tom was quite delighted at being free again. +They carried him to the king, who made Tom his dwarf, and he soon grew +a great favourite at court; for by his tricks and gambols he not only +amused the king and queen, but also all the Knights of the Round Table. + +It is said that when the king rode out on horseback, he often took +Tom along with him, and if a shower came on, he used to creep into his +majesty's waistcoat-pocket, where he slept till the rain was over. + +King Arthur one day asked Tom about his parents, wishing to know if they +were as small as he was, and whether they were well off. Tom told the +king that his father and mother were as tall as anybody about the court, +but in rather poor circumstances. On hearing this, the king carried Tom +to his treasury, the place where he kept all his money, and told him to +take as much money as he could carry home to his parents, which made +the poor little fellow caper with joy. Tom went immediately to procure +a purse, which was made of a water-bubble, and then returned to the +treasury, where he received a silver threepenny-piece to put into it. + +Our little hero had some difficulty in lifting the burden upon his +back; but he at last succeeded in getting it placed to his mind, and set +forward on his journey. However, without meeting with any accident, and +after resting himself more than a hundred times by the way, in two days +and two nights he reached his father's house in safety. + +Tom had travelled forty-eight hours with a huge silver-piece on his +back, and was almost tired to death, when his mother ran out to meet +him, and carried him into the house. But he soon returned to Court. + +As Tom's clothes had suffered much in the batter-pudding, and the inside +of the fish, his majesty ordered him a new suit of clothes, and to be +mounted as a knight on a mouse. + + Of Butterfly's wings his shirt was made, + His boots of chicken's hide; + And by a nimble fairy blade, + Well learned in the tailoring trade, + His clothing was supplied. + A needle dangled by his side; + A dapper mouse he used to ride, + Thus strutted Tom in stately pride! + +It was certainly very diverting to see Tom in this dress and mounted on +the mouse, as he rode out a-hunting with the king and nobility, who were +all ready to expire with laughter at Tom and his fine prancing charger. + +The king was so charmed with his address that he ordered a little chair +to be made, in order that Tom might sit upon his table, and also a +palace of gold, a span high, with a door an inch wide, to live in. He +also gave him a coach, drawn by six small mice. + +The queen was so enraged at the honours conferred on Sir Thomas that she +resolved to ruin him, and told the king that the little knight had been +saucy to her. + +The king sent for Tom in great haste, but being fully aware of the +danger of royal anger, he crept into an empty snail-shell, where he lay +for a long time until he was almost starved with hunger; but at last he +ventured to peep out, and seeing a fine large butterfly on the ground, +near the place of his concealment, he got close to it and jumping +astride on it, was carried up into the air. The butterfly flew with him +from tree to tree and from field to field, and at last returned to the +court, where the king and nobility all strove to catch him; but at last +poor Tom fell from his seat into a watering-pot, in which he was almost +drowned. + +When the queen saw him she was in a rage, and said he should be +beheaded; and he was again put into a mouse trap until the time of his +execution. + +However a cat, observing something alive in the trap, patted it about +till the wires broke, and set Thomas at liberty. + +The king received Tom again into favour, which he did not live to enjoy, +for a large spider one day attacked him; and although he drew his sword +and fought well, yet the spider's poisonous breath at last overcame him. + + He fell dead on the ground where he stood, + And the spider suck'd every drop of his blood. + +King Arthur and his whole court were so sorry at the loss of their +little favourite that they went into mourning and raised a fine white +marble monument over his grave with the following epitaph: + + Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight, + Who died by a spider's cruel bite. + He was well known in Arthur's court, + Where he afforded gallant sport; + He rode at tilt and tournament, + And on a mouse a-hunting went. + Alive he filled the court with mirth; + His death to sorrow soon gave birth. + Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head + And cry,--Alas! Tom Thumb is dead! + + + + +MR. FOX + +Lady Mary was young, and Lady Mary was fair. She had two brothers, and +more lovers than she could count. But of them all, the bravest and most +gallant, was a Mr. Fox, whom she met when she was down at her father's +country-house. No one knew who Mr. Fox was; but he was certainly brave, +and surely rich, and of all her lovers, Lady Mary cared for him alone. +At last it was agreed upon between them that they should be married. +Lady Mary asked Mr. Fox where they should live, and he described to her +his castle, and where it was; but, strange to say, did not ask her, or +her brothers to come and see it. + +So one day, near the wedding-day, when her brothers were out, and Mr. +Fox was away for a day or two on business, as he said, Lady Mary set out +for Mr. Fox's castle. And after many searchings, she came at last to +it, and a fine strong house it was, with high walls and a deep moat. And +when she came up to the gateway she saw written on it: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD. + +But as the gate was open, she went through it, and found no one there. +So she went up to the doorway, and over it she found written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD. + +Still she went on, till she came into the hall, and went up the broad +stairs till she came to a door in the gallery, over which was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD +RUN COLD. + +But Lady Mary was a brave one, she was, and she opened the door, and +what do you think she saw? Why, bodies and skeletons of beautiful young +ladies all stained with blood. So Lady Mary thought it was high time to +get out of that horrid place, and she closed the door, went through the +gallery, and was just going down the stairs, and out of the hall, when +who should she see through the window, but Mr. Fox dragging a beautiful +young lady along from the gateway to the door. Lady Mary rushed +downstairs, and hid herself behind a cask, just in time, as Mr. Fox came +in with the poor young lady who seemed to have fainted. Just as he got +near Lady Mary, Mr. Fox saw a diamond ring glittering on the finger of +the young lady he was dragging, and he tried to pull it off. But it was +tightly fixed, and would not come off, so Mr. Fox cursed and swore, and +drew his sword, raised it, and brought it down upon the hand of the poor +lady. The sword cut off the hand, which jumped up into the air, and fell +of all places in the world into Lady Mary's lap. Mr. Fox looked about a +bit, but did not think of looking behind the cask, so at last he went on +dragging the young lady up the stairs into the Bloody Chamber. + +As soon as she heard him pass through the gallery, Lady Mary crept +out of the door, down through the gateway, and ran home as fast as she +could. + +Now it happened that the very next day the marriage contract of Lady +Mary and Mr. Fox was to be signed, and there was a splendid breakfast +before that. And when Mr. Fox was seated at table opposite Lady Mary, +he looked at her. "How pale you are this morning, my dear." "Yes," +said she, "I had a bad night's rest last night. I had horrible dreams." +"Dreams go by contraries," said Mr. Fox; "but tell us your dream, and +your sweet voice will make the time pass till the happy hour comes." + +"I dreamed," said Lady Mary, "that I went yestermorn to your castle, and +I found it in the woods, with high walls, and a deep moat, and over the +gateway was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD. + +"But it is not so, nor it was not so," said Mr. Fox. + +"And when I came to the doorway over it was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD. + +"It is not so, nor it was not so," said Mr. Fox. + +"And then I went upstairs, and came to a gallery, at the end of which +was a door, on which was written: + +BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD +RUN COLD. + +"It is not so, nor it was not so," said Mr. Fox. + +"And then--and then I opened the door, and the room was filled with +bodies and skeletons of poor dead women, all stained with their blood." + +"It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so," said +Mr. Fox. + +"I then dreamed that I rushed down the gallery, and just as I was +going down the stairs, I saw you, Mr. Fox, coming up to the hall door, +dragging after you a poor young lady, rich and beautiful." + +"It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so," said +Mr. Fox. + +"I rushed downstairs, just in time to hide myself behind a cask, when +you, Mr. Fox, came in dragging the young lady by the arm. And, as you +passed me, Mr. Fox, I thought I saw you try and get off her diamond +ring, and when you could not, Mr. Fox, it seemed to me in my dream, that +you out with your sword and hacked off the poor lady's hand to get the +ring." + +"It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so," said +Mr. Fox, and was going to say something else as he rose from his seat, +when Lady Mary cried out: + +"But it is so, and it was so. Here's hand and ring I have to show," and +pulled out the lady's hand from her dress, and pointed it straight at +Mr. Fox. + +At once her brothers and her friends drew their swords and cut Mr. Fox +into a thousand pieces. + + + + +LAZY JACK + +Once upon a time there was a boy whose name was Jack, and he lived with +his mother on a common. They were very poor, and the old woman got her +living by spinning, but Jack was so lazy that he would do nothing but +bask in the sun in the hot weather, and sit by the corner of the hearth +in the winter-time. So they called him Lazy Jack. His mother could not +get him to do anything for her, and at last told him, one Monday, that +if he did not begin to work for his porridge she would turn him out to +get his living as he could. + +This roused Jack, and he went out and hired himself for the next day +to a neighbouring farmer for a penny; but as he was coming home, never +having had any money before, he lost it in passing over a brook. "You +stupid boy," said his mother, "you should have put it in your pocket." +"I'll do so another time," replied Jack. + +On Wednesday, Jack went out again and hired himself to a cow-keeper, who +gave him a jar of milk for his day's work. Jack took the jar and put it +into the large pocket of his jacket, spilling it all, long before he got +home. "Dear me!" said the old woman; "you should have carried it on your +head." "I'll do so another time," said Jack. + +So on Thursday, Jack hired himself again to a farmer, who agreed to +give him a cream cheese for his services. In the evening Jack took the +cheese, and went home with it on his head. By the time he got home the +cheese was all spoilt, part of it being lost, and part matted with his +hair. "You stupid lout," said his mother, "you should have carried it +very carefully in your hands." "I'll do so another time," replied Jack. + +On Friday, Lazy Jack again went out, and hired himself to a baker, who +would give him nothing for his work but a large tom-cat. Jack took the +cat, and began carrying it very carefully in his hands, but in a short +time pussy scratched him so much that he was compelled to let it go. +When he got home, his mother said to him, "You silly fellow, you should +have tied it with a string, and dragged it along after you." "I'll do so +another time," said Jack. + +So on Saturday, Jack hired himself to a butcher, who rewarded him by the +handsome present of a shoulder of mutton. Jack took the mutton, tied it +to a string, and trailed it along after him in the dirt, so that by the +time he had got home the meat was completely spoilt. His mother was this +time quite out of patience with him, for the next day was Sunday, +and she was obliged to make do with cabbage for her dinner. "You +ninney-hammer," said she to her son; "you should have carried it on your +shoulder." "I'll do so another time," replied Jack. + +On the next Monday, Lazy Jack went once more, and hired himself to a +cattle-keeper, who gave him a donkey for his trouble. Jack found it hard +to hoist the donkey on his shoulders, but at last he did it, and began +walking slowly home with his prize. Now it happened that in the +course of his journey there lived a rich man with his only daughter, +a beautiful girl, but deaf and dumb. Now she had never laughed in her +life, and the doctors said she would never speak till somebody made her +laugh. This young lady happened to be looking out of the window when +Jack was passing with the donkey on his shoulders, with the legs +sticking up in the air, and the sight was so comical and strange that +she burst out into a great fit of laughter, and immediately recovered +her speech and hearing. Her father was overjoyed, and fulfilled +his promise by marrying her to Lazy Jack, who was thus made a rich +gentleman. They lived in a large house, and Jack's mother lived with +them in great happiness until she died. + + + + +JOHNNY-CAKE + +Once upon a time there was an old man, and an old woman, and a little +boy. One morning the old woman made a Johnny-cake, and put it in the +oven to bake. "You watch the Johnny-cake while your father and I go out +to work in the garden." So the old man and the old woman went out and +began to hoe potatoes, and left the little boy to tend the oven. But he +didn't watch it all the time, and all of a sudden he heard a noise, and +he looked up and the oven door popped open, and out of the oven jumped +Johnny-cake, and went rolling along end over end, towards the open door +of the house. The little boy ran to shut the door, but Johnny-cake was +too quick for him and rolled through the door, down the steps, and out +into the road long before the little boy could catch him. The little boy +ran after him as fast as he could clip it, crying out to his father and +mother, who heard the uproar, and threw down their hoes and gave chase +too. But Johnny-cake outran all three a long way, and was soon out of +sight, while they had to sit down, all out of breath, on a bank to rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two well-diggers who +looked up from their work and called out: "Where ye going, Johnny-cake?" + +He said: "I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, +and I can outrun you too-o-o!" + +"Ye can, can ye? we'll see about that?" said they; and they threw down +their picks and ran after him, but couldn't catch up with him, and soon +they had to sit down by the roadside to rest. + +On ran Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two ditch-diggers who were +digging a ditch. "Where ye going, Johnny-cake?" said they. He said: +"I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two +well-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!" + +"Ye can, can ye? we'll see about that!" said they; and they threw down +their spades, and ran after him too. But Johnny-cake soon outstripped +them also, and seeing they could never catch him, they gave up the chase +and sat down to rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a bear. The bear said: +"Where are ye going, Johnny-cake?" + +He said: "I've outrun an old man, and an old woman and a little boy, and +two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!" + +"Ye can, can ye?" growled the bear, "we'll see about that!" and trotted +as fast as his legs could carry him after Johnny-cake, who never stopped +to look behind him. Before long the bear was left so far behind that +he saw he might as well give up the hunt first as last, so he stretched +himself out by the roadside to rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a wolf. The wolf +said:--"Where ye going, Johnny-cake?" He said: "I've outrun an old +man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two +ditch-diggers and a bear, and I can outrun you too-o-o!" + +"Ye can, can ye?" snarled the wolf, "we'll see about that!" And he set +into a gallop after Johnny-cake, who went on and on so fast that the +wolf too saw there was no hope of overtaking him, and he too lay down to +rest. + +On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a fox that lay quietly in +a corner of the fence. The fox called out in a sharp voice, but without +getting up: "Where ye going Johnny-cake?" + +He said: "I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, +and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, a bear, and a wolf, and I +can outrun you too-o-o!" + +The fox said: "I can't quite hear you, Johnny-cake, won't you come a +little closer?" turning his head a little to one side. + +Johnny-cake stopped his race for the first time, and went a little +closer, and called out in a very loud voice _"I've outrun an old man, +and an old woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two +ditch-diggers, and a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you too-o-o."_ + +"Can't quite hear you; won't you come a _little_ closer?" said the fox +in a feeble voice, as he stretched out his neck towards Johnny-cake, and +put one paw behind his ear. + +Johnny-cake came up close, and leaning towards the fox screamed out: +I'VE OUTRUN AN OLD MAN, AND AN OLD WOMAN, AND A LITTLE BOY, AND TWO +WELL-DIGGERS, AND TWO DITCH-DIGGERS, AND A BEAR, AND A WOLF, AND I CAN +OUTRUN YOU TOO-O-O!" + +"You can, can you?" yelped the fox, and he snapped up the Johnny-cake in +his sharp teeth in the twinkling of an eye. + + + + +EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER + +One fine summer's day Earl Mar's daughter went into the castle garden, +dancing and tripping along. And as she played and sported she would stop +from time to time to listen to the music of the birds. After a while as +she sat under the shade of a green oak tree she looked up and spied a +sprightly dove sitting high up on one of its branches. She looked up +and said: "Coo-my-dove, my dear, come down to me and I will give you a +golden cage. I'll take you home and pet you well, as well as any bird +of them all." Scarcely had she said these words when the dove flew down +from the branch and settled on her shoulder, nestling up against her +neck while she smoothed its feathers. Then she took it home to her own +room. + +The day was done and the night came on and Earl Mar's daughter was +thinking of going to sleep when, turning round, she found at her side a +handsome young man. She _was_ startled, for the door had been locked +for hours. But she was a brave girl and said: "What are you doing here, +young man, to come and startle me so? The door was barred these hours +ago; how ever did you come here?" + +"Hush! hush!" the young man whispered. "I was that cooing dove that you +coaxed from off the tree." + +"But who are you then?" she said quite low; "and how came you to be +changed into that dear little bird?" + +"My name is Florentine, and my mother is a queen, and something more +than a queen, for she knows magic and spells, and because I would not do +as she wished she turned me into a dove by day, but at night her spells +lose their power and I become a man again. To-day I crossed the sea and +saw you for the first time and I was glad to be a bird that I could come +near you. Unless you love me, I shall never be happy more." + +"But if I love you," says she, "will you not fly away and leave me one +of these fine days?" + +"Never, never," said the prince; "be my wife and I'll be yours for ever. +By day a bird, by night a prince, I will always be by your side as a +husband, dear." + +So they were married in secret and lived happily in the castle and no +one knew that every night Coo-my-dove became Prince Florentine. And +every year a little son came to them as bonny as bonny could be. But as +each son was born Prince Florentine carried the little thing away on +his back over the sea to where the queen his mother lived and left the +little one with her. + +Seven years passed thus and then a great trouble came to them. For the +Earl Mar wished to marry his daughter to a noble of high degree who came +wooing her. Her father pressed her sore but she said: "Father dear, I do +not wish to marry; I can be quite happy with Coo-my-dove here." + +Then her father got into a mighty rage and swore a great big oath, and +said: "To-morrow, so sure as I live and eat, I'll twist that birdie's +neck," and out he stamped from her room. + +"Oh, oh!" said Coo-my-dove; "it's time that I was away," and so he +jumped upon the window-sill and in a moment was flying away. And he flew +and he flew till he was over the deep, deep sea, and yet on he flew till +he came to his mother's castle. Now the queen his mother was taking her +walk abroad when she saw the pretty dove flying overhead and alighting +on the castle walls. + +"Here, dancers come and dance your jigs," she called, "and pipers, pipe +you well, for here's my own Florentine, come back to me to stay for he's +brought no bonny boy with him this time." + +"No, mother," said Florentine, "no dancers for me and no minstrels, for +my dear wife, the mother of my seven, boys, is to be wed to-morrow, and +sad's the day for me." + +"What can I do, my son?" said the queen, "tell me, and it shall be done +if my magic has power to do it." + +"Well then, mother dear, turn the twenty-four dancers and pipers into +twenty-four grey herons, and let my seven sons become seven white swans, +and let me be a goshawk and their leader." + +"Alas! alas! my son," she said, "that may not be; my magic reaches +not so far. But perhaps my teacher, the spaewife of Ostree, may know +better." And away she hurries to the cave of Ostree, and after a while +comes out as white as white can be and muttering over some burning herbs +she brought out of the cave. Suddenly Coo-my-dove changed into a goshawk +and around him flew twenty-four grey herons and above them flew seven +cygnets. + +Without a word or a good-bye off they flew over the deep blue sea which +was tossing and moaning. They flew and they flew till they swooped down +on Earl Mar's castle just as the wedding party were setting out for the +church. First came the men-at-arms and then the bridegroom's friends, +and then Earl Mar's men, and then the bridegroom, and lastly, pale +and beautiful, Earl Mar's daughter herself. They moved down slowly to +stately music till they came past the trees on which the birds were +settling. A word from Prince Florentine, the goshawk, and they all rose +into the air, herons beneath, cygnets above, and goshawk circling above +all. The weddineers wondered at the sight when, swoop! the herons were +down among them scattering the men-at-arms. The swanlets took charge +of the bride while the goshawk dashed down and tied the bridegroom to a +tree. Then the herons gathered themselves together into one feather bed +and the cygnets placed their mother upon them, and suddenly they all +rose in the air bearing the bride away with them in safety towards +Prince Florentine's home. Surely a wedding party was never so disturbed +in this world. What could the weddineers do? They saw their pretty bride +carried away and away till she and the herons and the swans and the +goshawk disappeared, and that very day Prince Florentine brought Earl +Mar's daughter to the castle of the queen his mother, who took the spell +off him and they lived happy ever afterwards. + + + + +MR. MIACCA + +Tommy Grimes was sometimes a good boy, and sometimes a bad boy; and when +he was a bad boy, he was a very bad boy. Now his mother used to say to +him: "Tommy, Tommy, be a good boy, and don't go out of the street, or +else Mr. Miacca will take you." But still when he was a bad boy he would +go out of the street; and one day, sure enough, he had scarcely got +round the corner, when Mr. Miacca did catch him and popped him into a +bag upside down, and took him off to his house. + +When Mr. Miacca got Tommy inside, he pulled him out of the bag and set +him down, and felt his arms and legs. "You're rather tough," says he; +"but you're all I've got for supper, and you'll not taste bad boiled. +But body o' me, I've forgot the herbs, and it's bitter you'll taste +without herbs. Sally! Here, I say, Sally!" and he called Mrs. Miacca. + +So Mrs. Miacca came out of another room and said: "What d'ye want, my +dear?" + +"Oh, here's a little boy for supper," said Mr. Miacca, "and I've forgot +the herbs. Mind him, will ye, while I go for them." + +"All right, my love," says Mrs. Miacca, and off he goes. + +Then Tommy Grimes said to Mrs. Miacca: "Does Mr. Miacca always have +little boys for supper?" + +"Mostly, my dear," said Mrs. Miacca, "if little boys are bad enough, and +get in his way." + +"And don't you have anything else but boy-meat? No pudding?" asked +Tommy. + +"Ah, I loves pudding," says Mrs. Miacca. "But it's not often the likes +of me gets pudding." + +"Why, my mother is making a pudding this very day," said Tommy Grimes, +"and I am sure she'd give you some, if I ask her. Shall I run and get +some?" + +"Now, that's a thoughtful boy," said Mrs. Miacca, "only don't be long +and be sure to be back for supper." + +So off Tommy pelters, and right glad he was to get off so cheap; and for +many a long day he was as good as good could be, and never went round +the corner of the street. But he couldn't always be good; and one day he +went round the corner, and as luck would have it, he hadn't scarcely got +round it when Mr. Miacca grabbed him up, popped him in his bag, and took +him home. + +When he got him there, Mr. Miacca dropped him out; and when he saw him, +he said: "Ah, you're the youngster what served me and my missus that +shabby trick, leaving us without any supper. Well, you shan't do it +again. I'll watch over you myself. Here, get under the sofa, and I'll +set on it and watch the pot boil for you." + +So poor Tommy Grimes had to creep under the sofa, and Mr. Miacca sat on +it and waited for the pot to boil. And they waited, and they waited, but +still the pot didn't boil, till at last Mr. Miacca got tired of waiting, +and he said: "Here, you under there, I'm not going to wait any longer; +put out your leg, and I'll stop your giving us the slip." + +So Tommy put out a leg, and Mr. Miacca got a chopper, and chopped it +off, and pops it in the pot. + +Suddenly he calls out: "Sally, my dear, Sally!" and nobody answered. So +he went into the next room to look out for Mrs. Miacca, and while he was +there, Tommy crept out from under the sofa and ran out of the door. For +it was a leg of the sofa that he had put out. + +So Tommy Grimes ran home, and he never went round the corner again till +he was old enough to go alone. + + + + +WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT + +In the reign of the famous King Edward III. there was a little boy +called Dick Whittington, whose father and mother died when he was very +young. As poor Dick was not old enough to work, he was very badly off; +he got but little for his dinner, and sometimes nothing at all for +his breakfast; for the people who lived in the village were very poor +indeed, and could not spare him much more than the parings of potatoes, +and now and then a hard crust of bread. + +Now Dick had heard a great many very strange things about the great city +called London; for the country people at that time thought that folks +in London were all fine gentlemen and ladies; and that there was singing +and music there all day long; and that the streets were all paved with +gold. + +One day a large waggon and eight horses, all with bells at their heads, +drove through the village while Dick was standing by the sign-post. He +thought that this waggon must be going to the fine town of London; so +he took courage, and asked the waggoner to let him walk with him by the +side of the waggon. As soon as the waggoner heard that poor Dick had +no father or mother, and saw by his ragged clothes that he could not be +worse off than he was, he told him he might go if he would, so off they +set together. + +So Dick got safe to London, and was in such a hurry to see the fine +streets paved all over with gold, that he did not even stay to thank the +kind waggoner; but ran off as fast as his legs would carry him, through +many of the streets, thinking every moment to come to those that were +paved with gold; for Dick had seen a guinea three times in his own +little village, and remembered what a deal of money it brought in +change; so he thought he had nothing to do but to take up some little +bits of the pavement, and should then have as much money as he could +wish for. + +Poor Dick ran till he was tired, and had quite forgot his friend the +waggoner; but at last, finding it grow dark, and that every way he +turned he saw nothing but dirt instead of gold, he, sat down in a dark +corner and cried himself to sleep. + +Little Dick was all night in the streets; and next morning, being very +hungry, he got up and walked about, and asked everybody he met to give +him a halfpenny to keep him from starving; but nobody stayed to answer +him, and only two or three gave him a halfpenny; so that the poor boy +was soon quite weak and faint for the want of victuals. + +In this distress he asked charity of several people, and one of them +said crossly: "Go to work, for an idle rogue." "That I will," says Dick, +"I will to go work for you, if you will let me." But the man only cursed +at him and went on. + +At last a good-natured looking gentleman saw how hungry he looked. "Why +don't you go to work my lad?" said he to Dick. "That I would, but I do +not know how to get any," answered Dick. "If you are willing, come along +with me," said the gentleman, and took him to a hay-field, where Dick +worked briskly, and lived merrily till the hay was made. + +After this he found himself as badly off as before; and being almost +starved again, he laid himself down at the door of Mr. Fitzwarren, +a rich merchant. Here he was soon seen by the cook-maid, who was an +ill-tempered creature, and happened just then to be very busy dressing +dinner for her master and mistress; so she called out to poor Dick: +"What business have you there, you lazy rogue? there is nothing else but +beggars; if you do not take yourself away, we will see how you will like +a sousing of some dish-water; I have some here hot enough to make you +jump." + +Just at that time Mr. Fitzwarren himself came home to dinner; and when +he saw a dirty ragged boy lying at the door, he said to him: "Why do +you lie there, my boy? You seem old enough to work; I am afraid you are +inclined to be lazy." + +"No, indeed, sir," said Dick to him, "that is not the case, for I would +work with all my heart, but I do not know anybody, and I believe I am +very sick for the want of food." + +"Poor fellow, get up; let me see what ails you." Dick now tried to rise, +but was obliged to lie down again, being too weak to stand, for he had +not eaten any food for three days, and was no longer able to run about +and beg a halfpenny of people in the street. So the kind merchant +ordered him to be taken into the house, and have a good dinner given +him, and be kept to do what work he was able to do for the cook. + +Little Dick would have lived very happy in this good family if it had +not been for the ill-natured cook. She used to say: "You are under me, +so look sharp; clean the spit and the dripping-pan, make the fires, wind +up the jack, and do all the scullery work nimbly, or--" and she would +shake the ladle at him. Besides, she was so fond of basting, that when +she had no meat to baste, she would baste poor Dick's head and shoulders +with a broom, or anything else that happened to fall in her way. At last +her ill-usage of him was told to Alice, Mr. Fitzwarren's daughter, who +told the cook she should be turned away if she did not treat him kinder. + +The behaviour of the cook was now a little better; but besides this Dick +had another hardship to get over. His bed stood in a garret, where there +were so many holes in the floor and the walls that every night he was +tormented with rats and mice. A gentleman having given Dick a penny for +cleaning his shoes, he thought he would buy a cat with it. The next day +he saw a girl with a cat, and asked her, "Will you let me have that cat +for a penny?" The girl said: "Yes, that I will, master, though she is an +excellent mouser." + +Dick hid his cat in the garret, and always took care to carry a part of +his dinner to her; and in a short time he had no more trouble with the +rats and mice, but slept quite sound every night. + +Soon after this, his master had a ship ready to sail; and as it was the +custom that all his servants should have some chance for good fortune as +well as himself, he called them all into the parlour and asked them what +they would send out. + +They all had something that they were willing to venture except poor +Dick, who had neither money nor goods, and therefore could send nothing. +For this reason he did not come into the parlour with the rest; but Miss +Alice guessed what was the matter, and ordered him to be called in. She +then said: "I will lay down some money for him, from my own purse;" but +her father told her: "This will not do, for it must be something of his +own." + +When poor Dick heard this, he said: "I have nothing but a cat which I +bought for a penny some time since of a little girl." + +"Fetch your cat then, my lad," said Mr. Fitzwarren, "and let her go." + +Dick went upstairs and brought down poor puss, with tears in his eyes, +and gave her to the captain; "For," he said, "I shall now be kept awake +all night by the rats and mice." All the company laughed at Dick's odd +venture; and Miss Alice, who felt pity for him, gave him some money to +buy another cat. + +This, and many other marks of kindness shown him by Miss Alice, made the +ill-tempered cook jealous of poor Dick, and she began to use him more +cruelly than ever, and always made game of him for sending his cat to +sea. + +She asked him: "Do you think your cat will sell for as much money as +would buy a stick to beat you?" + +At last poor Dick could not bear this usage any longer, and he thought +he would run away from his place; so he packed up his few things, and +started very early in the morning, on All-hallows Day, the first of +November. He walked as far as Holloway; and there sat down on a stone, +which to this day is called "Whittington's Stone," and began to think to +himself which road he should take. + +While he was thinking what he should do, the Bells of Bow Church, which +at that time were only six, began to ring, and their sound seemed to say +to him: + +"Turn again, Whittington, Thrice Lord Mayor of London." + +"Lord Mayor of London!" said he to himself. "Why, to be sure, I would +put up with almost anything now, to be Lord Mayor of London, and ride in +a fine coach, when I grow to be a man! Well, I will go back, and think +nothing of the cuffing and scolding of the old cook, if I am to be Lord +Mayor of London at last." + +Dick went back, and was lucky enough to get into the house, and set +about his work, before the old cook came downstairs. + +We must now follow Miss Puss to the coast of Africa. The ship with the +cat on board, was a long time at sea; and was at last driven by the +winds on a part of the coast of Barbary, where the only people were the +Moors, unknown to the English. The people came in great numbers to see +the sailors, because they were of different colour to themselves, and +treated them civilly; and, when they became better acquainted, were very +eager to buy the fine things that the ship was loaded with. + +When the captain saw this, he sent patterns of the best things he had to +the king of the country; who was so much pleased with them, that he +sent for the captain to the palace. Here they were placed, as it is the +custom of the country, on rich carpets flowered with gold and silver. +The king and queen were seated at the upper end of the room; and a +number of dishes were brought in for dinner. They had not sat long, when +a vast number of rats and mice rushed in, and devoured all the meat in +an instant. The captain wondered at this, and asked if these vermin were +not unpleasant. + +"Oh yes," said they, "very offensive, and the king would give half his +treasure to be freed of them, for they not only destroy his dinner, as +you see, but they assault him in his chamber, and even in bed, and +so that he is obliged to be watched while he is sleeping, for fear of +them." + +The captain jumped for joy; he remembered poor Whittington and his +cat, and told the king he had a creature on board the ship that would +despatch all these vermin immediately. The king jumped so high at the +joy which the news gave him, that his turban dropped off his head. +"Bring this creature to me," says he; "vermin are dreadful in a court, +and if she will perform what you say, I will load your ship with gold +and jewels in exchange for her." + +The captain, who knew his business, took this opportunity to set forth +the merits of Miss Puss. He told his majesty; "It is not very convenient +to part with her, as, when she is gone, the rats and mice may destroy +the goods in the ship--but to oblige your majesty, I will fetch her." + +"Run, run!" said the queen; "I am impatient to see the dear creature." + +Away went the captain to the ship, while another dinner was got ready. +He put Puss under his arm, and arrived at the place just in time to +see the table full of rats. When the cat saw them, she did not wait for +bidding, but jumped out of the captain's arms, and in a few minutes laid +almost all the rats and mice dead at her feet. The rest of them in their +fright scampered away to their holes. + +The king was quite charmed to get rid so easily of such plagues, and the +queen desired that the creature who had done them so great a kindness +might be brought to her, that she might look at her. Upon which the +captain called: "Pussy, pussy, pussy!" and she came to him. He then +presented her to the queen, who started back, and was afraid to touch +a creature who had made such a havoc among the rats and mice. However, +when the captain stroked the cat and called: "Pussy, pussy," the queen +also touched her and cried: "Putty, putty," for she had not learned +English. He then put her down on the queen's lap, where she purred and +played with her majesty's hand, and then purred herself to sleep. + +The king, having seen the exploits of Mrs. Puss, and being informed that +her kittens would stock the whole country, and keep it free from rats, +bargained with the captain for the whole ship's cargo, and then gave him +ten times as much for the cat as all the rest amounted to. + +The captain then took leave of the royal party, and set sail with a fair +wind for England, and after a happy voyage arrived safe in London. + +One morning, early, Mr. Fitzwarren had just come to his counting-house +and seated himself at the desk, to count over the cash, and settle the +business for the day, when somebody came tap, tap, at the door. "Who's +there?" said Mr. Fitzwarren. "A friend," answered the other; "I come to +bring you good news of your ship _Unicorn_." The merchant, bustling up +in such a hurry that he forgot his gout, opened the door, and who should +he see waiting but the captain and factor, with a cabinet of jewels, and +a bill of lading; when he looked at this the merchant lifted up his eyes +and thanked Heaven for sending him such a prosperous voyage. + +They then told the story of the cat, and showed the rich present +that the king and queen had sent for her to poor Dick. As soon as the +merchant heard this, he called out to his servants: + + "Go send him in, and tell him of his fame; + Pray call him Mr. Whittington by name." + +Mr. Fitzwarren now showed himself to be a good man; for when some of +his servants said so great a treasure was too much for him, he answered: +"God forbid I should deprive him of the value of a single penny, it is +his own, and he shall have it to a farthing." He then sent for Dick, +who at that time was scouring pots for the cook, and was quite dirty. He +would have excused himself from coming into the counting-house, saying, +"The room is swept, and my shoes are dirty and full of hob-nails." But +the merchant ordered him to come in. + +Mr. Fitzwarren ordered a chair to be set for him, and so he began to +think they were making game of him, at the same time said to them: "Do +not play tricks with a poor simple boy, but let me go down again, if you +please, to my work." + +"Indeed, Mr. Whittington," said the merchant, "we are all quite in +earnest with you, and I most heartily rejoice in the news that these +gentlemen have brought you; for the captain has sold your cat to the +King of Barbary, and brought you in return for her more riches than I +possess in the whole world; and I wish you may long enjoy them!" + +Mr. Fitzwarren then told the men to open the great treasure they had +brought with them; and said: "Mr. Whittington has nothing to do but to +put it in some place of safety." + +Poor Dick hardly knew how to behave himself for joy. He begged his +master to take what part of it he pleased, since he owed it all to his +kindness. "No, no," answered Mr. Fitzwarren, "this is all your own; and +I have no doubt but you will use it well." + +Dick next asked his mistress, and then Miss Alice, to accept a part of +his good fortune; but they would not, and at the same time told him +they felt great joy at his good success. But this poor fellow was too +kind-hearted to keep it all to himself; so he made a present to the +captain, the mate, and the rest of Mr. Fitzwarren's servants; and even +to the ill-natured old cook. + +After this Mr. Fitzwarren advised him to send for a proper tailor and +get himself dressed like a gentleman; and told him he was welcome to +live in his house till he could provide himself with a better. + +When Whittington's face was washed, his hair curled, his hat cocked, and +he was dressed in a nice suit of clothes he was as handsome and genteel +as any young man who visited at Mr. Fitzwarren's; so that Miss Alice, +who had once been so kind to him, and thought of him with pity, now +looked upon him as fit to be her sweetheart; and the more so, no doubt, +because Whittington was now always thinking what he could do to oblige +her, and making her the prettiest presents that could be. + +Mr. Fitzwarren soon saw their love for each other, and proposed to join +them in marriage; and to this they both readily agreed. A day for the +wedding was soon fixed; and they were attended to church by the Lord +Mayor, the court of aldermen, the sheriffs, and a great number of the +richest merchants in London, whom they afterwards treated with a very +rich feast. + +History tells us that Mr. Whittington and his lady liven in great +splendour, and were very happy. They had several children. He was +Sheriff of London, thrice Lord Mayor, and received the honour of +knighthood by Henry V. + +He entertained this king and his queen at dinner after his conquest of +France so grandly, that the king said "Never had prince such a subject;" +when Sir Richard heard this, he said: "Never had subject such a prince." + +The figure of Sir Richard Whittington with his cat in his arms, carved +in stone, was to be seen till the year 1780 over the archway of the old +prison of Newgate, which he built for criminals. + + + + +THE STRANGE VISITOR + +A woman was sitting at her reel one night; And still she sat, and still +she reeled, and still she wished for company. + +In came a pair of broad broad soles, and sat down at the fireside; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of small small legs, and sat down on the broad broad +soles; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of thick thick knees, and sat down on the small small +legs; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of thin thin thighs, and sat down on the thick thick +knees; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of huge huge hips, and sat down on the thin thin thighs; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a wee wee waist, and sat down on the huge huge hips; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of broad broad shoulders, and sat down on the wee wee +waist; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of small small arms, and sat down on the broad broad +shoulders; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a pair of huge huge hands, and sat down on the small small arms; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a small small neck, and sat down on the broad broad shoulders; + +And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for +company. + +In came a huge huge head, and sat down on the small small neck. + +"How did you get such broad broad feet?" quoth the woman. + +"Much tramping, much tramping" (_gruffly_). + +"How did you get such small small legs?" + +"Aih-h-h!-late--and wee-e-e--moul" (_whiningly_). + +"How did you get such thick thick knees?" + +"Much praying, much praying" (_piously_). + +"How did you get such thin thin thighs?" + +"Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e--moul" (_whiningly_). + +"How did you get such big big hips?" + +"Much sitting, much sitting" (_gruffly_). + +"How did you get such a wee wee waist?" + +"Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e-moul" (_whiningly_). + +"How did you get such broad broad shoulders?" + +"With carrying broom, with carrying broom" (_gruffly_). + +"How did you get such small small arms?" + +"Aih-h-h!--late--and wee-e-e--moul" (_whiningly_.) + +"How did you get such huge huge hands?" + +"Threshing with an iron flail, threshing with an iron flail" +(_gruffly_). + +"How did you get such a small small neck?" + +"Aih-h-h!--late--wee-e-e--moul" (_pitifully_). + +"How did you get such a huge huge head?" + +"Much knowledge, much knowledge" (_keenly_). + +"What do you come for?" + +"FOR YOU!" (_At the top of the voice, with a wave of the arm and a stamp +of the feet._) + + + + +THE LAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH + +In Bamborough Castle once lived a king who had a fair wife and two +children, a son named Childe Wynd and a daughter named Margaret. Childe +Wynd went forth to seek his fortune, and soon after he had gone the +queen his mother died. The king mourned her long and faithfully, but +one day while he was hunting he came across a lady of great beauty, and +became so much in love with her that he determined to marry her. So +he sent word home that he was going to bring a new queen to Bamborough +Castle. + +Princess Margaret was not very glad to hear of her mother's place being +taken, but she did not repine but did her father's bidding. And at the +appointed day came down to the castle gate with the keys all ready to +hand over to her stepmother. Soon the procession drew near, and the new +queen came towards Princess Margaret who bowed low and handed her the +keys of the castle. She stood there with blushing cheeks and eye on +ground, and said: "O welcome, father dear, to your halls and bowers, and +welcome to you my new mother, for all that's here is yours," and again +she offered the keys. One of the king's knights who had escorted the new +queen, cried out in admiration: "Surely this northern Princess is the +loveliest of her kind." At that the new queen flushed up and cried out: +"At least your courtesy might have excepted me," and then she muttered +below her breath: "I'll soon put an end to her beauty." + +That same night the queen, who was a noted witch, stole down to a lonely +dungeon wherein she did her magic and with spells three times three, and +with passes nine times nine she cast Princess Margaret under her spell. +And this was her spell: + + I weird ye to be a Laidly Worm, + And borrowed shall ye never be, + Until Childe Wynd, the King's own son + Come to the Heugh and thrice kiss thee; + Until the world comes to an end, + Borrowed shall ye never be. + +So Lady Margaret went to bed a beauteous maiden, and rose up a Laidly +Worm. And when her maidens came in to dress her in the morning they +found coiled up on the bed a dreadful dragon, which uncoiled itself +and came towards them. But they ran away shrieking, and the Laidly Worm +crawled and crept, and crept and crawled till it reached the Heugh or +rock of the Spindlestone, round which it coiled itself, and lay there +basking with its terrible snout in the air. + +Soon the country round about had reason to know of the Laidly Worm of +Spindleston Heugh. For hunger drove the monster out from its cave and it +used to devour everything it could come across. So at last they went to +a mighty warlock and asked him what they should do. Then he consulted +his works and his familiar, and told them: "The Laidly Worm is really +the Princess Margaret and it is hunger that drives her forth to do such +deeds. Put aside for her seven kine, and each day as the sun goes down, +carry every drop of milk they yield to the stone trough at the foot of +the Heugh, and the Laidly Worm will trouble the country no longer. But +if ye would that she be borrowed to her natural shape, and that she who +bespelled her be rightly punished, send over the seas for her brother, +Childe Wynd." + +All was done as the warlock advised, the Laidly Worm lived on the milk +of the seven kine, and the country was troubled no longer. But when +Childe Wynd heard the news, he swore a mighty oath to rescue his sister +and revenge her on her cruel stepmother. And three-and-thirty of his men +took the oath with him. Then they set to work and built a long ship, and +its keel they made of the rowan tree. And when all was ready, they out +with their oars and pulled sheer for Bamborough Keep. + +But as they got near the keep, the stepmother felt by her magic power +that something was being wrought against her, so she summoned her +familiar imps and said: "Childe Wynd is coming over the seas; he must +never land. Raise storms, or bore the hull, but nohow must he touch +shore." Then the imps went forth to meet Childe Wynd's ship, but when +they got near, they found they had no power over the ship, for its keel +was made of the rowan tree. So back they came to the queen witch, who +knew not what to do. She ordered her men-at-arms to resist Childe Wynd +if he should land near them, and by her spells she caused the Laidly +Worm to wait by the entrance of the harbour. + +As the ship came near, the Worm unfolded its coils, and dipping into +the sea, caught hold of the ship of Childe Wynd, and banged it off +the shore. Three times Childe Wynd urged his men on to row bravely and +strong, but each time the Laidly Worm kept it off the shore. Then Childe +Wynd ordered the ship to be put about, and the witch-queen thought he +had given up the attempt. But instead of that, he only rounded the next +point and landed safe and sound in Budle Creek, and then, with sword +drawn and bow bent, rushed up followed by his men, to fight the terrible +Worm that had kept him from landing. + +But the moment Childe Wynd had landed, the witch-queen's power over the +Laidly Worm had gone, and she went back to her bower all alone, not an +imp, nor a man-at-arms to help her, for she knew her hour was come. So +when Childe Wynd came rushing up to the Laidly Worm it made no attempt +to stop him or hurt him, but just as he was going to raise his sword to +slay it, the voice of his own sister Margaret came from its jaws saying: + + "O, quit your sword, unbend your bow, + And give me kisses three; + For though I am a poisonous worm, + No harm I'll do to thee." + +Childe Wynd stayed his hand, but he did not know what to think if some +witchery were not in it. Then said the Laidly Worm again: + + "O, quit your sword, unbend your bow, + And give me kisses three, + If I'm not won ere set of sun, + Won never shall I be." + +Then Childe Wynd went up to the Laidly Worm and kissed it once; but no +change came over it. Then Childe Wynd kissed it once more; but yet no +change came over it. For a third time he kissed the loathsome thing, +and with a hiss and a roar the Laidly Worm reared back and before Childe +Wynd stood his sister Margaret. He wrapped his cloak about her, and then +went up to the castle with her. When he reached the keep, he went off to +the witch queen's bower, and when he saw her, he touched her with a twig +of a rowan tree. No sooner had he touched her than she shrivelled up and +shrivelled up, till she became a huge ugly toad, with bold staring eyes +and a horrible hiss. She croaked and she hissed, and then hopped away +down the castle steps, and Childe Wynd took his father's place as king, +and they all lived happy afterwards. + +But to this day, the loathsome toad is seen at times, haunting the +neighbourhood of Bamborough Keep, and the wicked witch-queen is a Laidly +Toad. + + + + +THE CAT AND THE MOUSE + + The cat and the mouse + Play'd in the malt-house: + +The cat bit the mouse's tail off. "Pray, puss, give me my tail." "No," +says the cat, "I'll not give you your tail, till you go to the cow, and +fetch me some milk." + + First she leapt and then she ran, + Till she came to the cow, and thus began: + +"Pray, Cow, give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me +my own tail again." "No," said the cow, "I will give you no milk, till +you go to the farmer, and get me some hay." + + First she leapt, and then she ran, + Till she came to the farmer and thus began: + +"Pray, Farmer, give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give +me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail +again." "No," says the farmer, "I'll give you no hay, till you go to the +butcher and fetch me some meat." + + First she leapt, and then she ran, + Till she came to the butcher, and thus began: + +"Pray, Butcher, give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer +may give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, +that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again." "No," +says the butcher, "I'll give you no meat, till you go to the baker and +fetch me some bread." + + First she leapt and then she ran, + Till she came to the baker, and thus began: + +"Pray, Baker, give me bread, that I may give butcher bread, that butcher +may give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may give me +hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give +cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again." + + "Yes," says the baker, "I'll give you some bread, + But if you eat my meal, I'll cut off your head." + +Then the baker gave mouse bread, and mouse gave butcher bread, and +butcher gave mouse meat, and mouse gave farmer meat, and farmer gave +mouse hay, and mouse gave cow hay, and cow gave mouse milk, and mouse +gave cat milk, and cat gave mouse her own tail again! + + + + +THE FISH AND THE RING + +Once upon a time, there was a mighty baron in the North Countrie who was +a great magician that knew everything that would come to pass. So one +day, when his little boy was four years old, he looked into the Book of +Fate to see what would happen to him. And to his dismay, he found that +his son would wed a lowly maid that had just been born in a house under +the shadow of York Minster. Now the Baron knew the father of the little +girl was very, very poor, and he had five children already. So he called +for his horse, and rode into York; and passed by the father's house, and +saw him sitting by the door, sad and doleful. So he dismounted and went +up to him and said: "What is the matter, my good man?" And the man said: +"Well, your honour, the fact is, I've five children already, and now +a sixth's come, a little lass, and where to get the bread from to fill +their mouths, that's more than I can say." + +"Don't be downhearted, my man," said the Baron. "If that's your trouble, +I can help you. I'll take away the last little one, and you wont have to +bother about her." + +"Thank you kindly, sir," said the man; and he went in and brought out +the lass and gave her to the Baron, who mounted his horse and rode away +with her. And when he got by the bank of the river Ouse, he threw the +little, thing into the river, and rode off to his castle. + +But the little lass didn't sink; her clothes kept her up for a time, and +she floated, and she floated, till she was cast ashore just in front of +a fisherman's hut. There the fisherman found her, and took pity on the +poor little thing and took her into his house, and she lived there till +she was fifteen years old, and a fine handsome girl. + +One day it happened that the Baron went out hunting with some companions +along the banks of the River Ouse, and stopped at the fisherman's hut to +get a drink, and the girl came out to give it to them. They all noticed +her beauty, and one of them said to the Baron: "You can read fates, +Baron, whom will she marry, d'ye think?" + +"Oh! that's easy to guess," said the Baron; "some yokel or other. But +I'll cast her horoscope. Come here girl, and tell me on what day you +were born?" + +"I don't know, sir," said the girl, "I was picked up just here after +having been brought down by the river about fifteen years ago." + +Then the Baron knew who she was, and when they went away, he rode back +and said to the girl: "Hark ye, girl, I will make your fortune. Take +this letter to my brother in Scarborough, and you will be settled for +life." And the girl took the letter and said she would go. Now this was +what he had written in the letter: + +"Dear Brother,--Take the bearer and put her to death immediately. + +"Yours affectionately, + +"Albert." + +So soon after the girl set out for Scarborough, and slept for the night +at a little inn. Now that very night a band of robbers broke into the +inn, and searched the girl, who had no money, and only the letter. So +they opened this and read it, and thought it a shame. The captain of the +robbers took a pen and paper and wrote this letter: + +"Dear Brother,--Take the bearer and marry her to my son immediately. + +"Yours affectionately, + +"Albert." + +And then he gave it to the girl, bidding her begone. So she went on +to the Baron's brother at Scarborough, a noble knight, with whom the +Baron's son was staying. When she gave the letter to his brother, +he gave orders for the wedding to be prepared at once, and they were +married that very day. + +Soon after, the Baron himself came to his brother's castle, and what was +his surprise to find that the very thing he had plotted against had come +to pass. But he was not to be put off that way; and he took out the girl +for a walk, as he said, along the cliffs. And when he got her all alone, +he took her by the arms, and was going to throw her over. But she begged +hard for her life. "I have not done anything," she said: "if you will +only spare me, I will do whatever you wish. I will never see you or your +son again till you desire it." Then the Baron took off his gold ring and +threw it into the sea, saying: "Never let me see your face till you can +show me that ring;" and he let her go. + +The poor girl wandered on and on, till at last she came to a great +noble's castle, and she asked to have some work given to her; and they +made her the scullion girl of the castle, for she had been used to such +work in the fisherman's hut. + +Now one day, who should she see coming up to the noble's house but the +Baron and his brother and his son, her husband. She didn't know what +to do; but thought they would not see her in the castle kitchen. So she +went back to her work with a sigh, and set to cleaning a huge big fish +that was to be boiled for their dinner. And, as she was cleaning it, +she saw something shine inside it, and what do you think she found? Why, +there was the Baron's ring, the very one he had thrown over the cliff +at Scarborough. She was right glad to see it, you may be sure. Then she +cooked the fish as nicely as she could, and served it up. + +Well, when the fish came on the table, the guests liked it so well that +they asked the noble who cooked it. He said he didn't know, but called +to his servants: "Ho, there, send up the cook that cooked that fine +fish." So they went down to the kitchen and told the girl she was wanted +in the hall. Then she washed and tidied herself and put the Baron's gold +ring on her thumb and went up into the hall. + +When the banqueters saw such a young and beautiful cook they were +surprised. But the Baron was in a tower of a temper, and started up as +if he would do her some violence. So the girl went up to him with her +hand before her with the ring on it; and she put it down before him on +the table. Then at last the Baron saw that no one could fight against +Fate, and he handed her to a seat and announced to all the company that +this was his son's true wife; and he took her and his son home to his +castle; and they all lived as happy as could be ever afterwards. + + + + +THE MAGPIE'S NEST + + Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme + And monkeys chewed tobacco, + And hens took snuff to make them tough, + And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O! + +All the birds of the air came to the magpie and asked her to teach +them how to build nests. For the magpie is the cleverest bird of all +at building nests. So she put all the birds round her and began to show +them how to do it. First of all she took some mud and made a sort of +round cake with it. + +"Oh, that's how it's done," said the thrush; and away it flew, and so +that's how thrushes build their nests. + +Then the magpie took some twigs and arranged them round in the mud. + +"Now I know all about it," says the blackbird, and off he flew; and +that's how the blackbirds make their nests to this very day. + +Then the magpie put another layer of mud over the twigs. + +"Oh that's quite obvious," said the wise owl, and away it flew; and owls +have never made better nests since. + +After this the magpie took some twigs and twined them round the outside. + +"The very thing!" said the sparrow, and off he went; so sparrows make +rather slovenly nests to this day. + +Well, then Madge Magpie took some feathers and stuff and lined the nest +very comfortably with it. + +"That suits me," cried the starling, and off it flew; and very +comfortable nests have starlings. + +So it went on, every bird taking away some knowledge of how to build +nests, but, none of them waiting to the end. Meanwhile Madge Magpie +went on working and working without, looking up till the only bird that +remained was the turtle-dove, and that hadn't paid any attention all +along, but only kept on saying its silly cry "Take two, Taffy, take +two-o-o-o." + +At last the magpie heard this just as she was putting a twig across. So +she said: "One's enough." + +But the turtle-dove kept on saying: "Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o." + +Then the magpie got angry and said: "One's enough I tell you." + +Still the turtle-dove cried: "Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o." + +At last, and at last, the magpie looked up and saw nobody near her but +the silly turtle-dove, and then she got rare angry and flew away and +refused to tell the birds how to build nests again. And that is why +different birds build their nests differently. + + + + +KATE CRACKERNUTS + +Once upon a time there was a king and a queen, as in many lands have +been. The king had a daughter, Anne, and the queen had one named Kate, +but Anne was far bonnier than the queen's daughter, though they loved +one another like real sisters. The queen was jealous of the king's +daughter being bonnier than her own, and cast about to spoil her beauty. +So she took counsel of the henwife, who told her to send the lassie to +her next morning fasting. + +So next morning early, the queen said to Anne, "Go, my dear, to the +henwife in the glen, and ask her for some eggs." So Anne set out, but as +she passed through the kitchen she saw a crust, and she took and munched +it as she went along. + +When she came to the henwife's she asked for eggs, as she had been told +to do; the henwife said to her, "Lift the lid off that pot there and +see." The lassie did so, but nothing happened. "Go home to your minnie +and tell her to keep her larder door better locked," said the henwife. +So she went home to the queen and told her what the henwife had said. +The queen knew from this that the lassie had had something to eat, so +watched the next morning and sent her away fasting; but the princess saw +some country-folk picking peas by the roadside, and being very kind she +spoke to them and took a handful of the peas, which she ate by the way. + +When she came to the henwife's, she said, "Lift the lid off the pot +and you'll see." So Anne lifted the lid but nothing happened. Then the +henwife was rare angry and said to Anne, "Tell your minnie the pot won't +boil if the fire's away." So Anne went home and told the queen. + +The third day the queen goes along with the girl herself to the henwife. +Now, this time, when Anne lifted the lid off the pot, off falls her own +pretty head, and on jumps a sheep's head. + +So the queen was now quite satisfied, and went back home. + +Her own daughter, Kate, however, took a fine linen cloth and wrapped it +round her sister's head and took her by the hand and they both went out +to seek their fortune. They went on, and they went on, and they went +on, till they came to a castle. Kate knocked at the door and asked for a +night's lodging for herself and a sick sister. They went in and found +it was a king's castle, who had two sons, and one of them was sickening +away to death and no one could find out what ailed him. And the curious +thing was that whoever watched him at night was never seen any more. So +the king had offered a peck of silver to anyone who would stop up with +him. Now Katie was a very brave girl, so she offered to sit up with him. + +Till midnight all goes well. As twelve o clock rings, however, the sick +prince rises, dresses himself, and slips downstairs. Kate followed, but +he didn't seem to notice her. The prince went to the stable, saddled his +horse, called his hound, jumped into the saddle, and Kate leapt lightly +up behind him. Away rode the prince and Kate through the greenwood, +Kate, as they pass, plucking nuts from the trees and filling her apron +with them. They rode on and on till they came to a green hill. The +prince here drew bridle and spoke, "Open, open, green hill, and let the +young prince in with his horse and his hound," and Kate added, "and his +lady him behind." + +Immediately the green hill opened and they passed in. The prince entered +a magnificent hall, brightly lighted up, and many beautiful fairies +surrounded the prince and led him off to the dance. Meanwhile, Kate, +without being noticed, hid herself behind the door. There she sees the +prince dancing, and dancing, and dancing, till he could dance no longer +and fell upon a couch. Then the fairies would fan him till he could rise +again and go on dancing. + +At last the cock crew, and the prince made all haste to get on +horseback; Kate jumped up behind, and home they rode. When the morning +sun rose they came in and found Kate sitting down by the fire and +cracking her nuts. Kate said the prince had a good night; but she would +not sit up another night unless she was to get a peck of gold. The +second night passed as the first had done. The prince got up at midnight +and rode away to the green hill and the fairy ball, and Kate went with +him, gathering nuts as they rode through the forest. This time she did +not watch the prince, for she knew he would dance and dance, and dance. +But she sees a fairy baby playing with a wand, and overhears one of the +fairies say: "Three strokes of that wand would make Kate's sick sister +as bonnie as ever she was." So Kate rolled nuts to the fairy baby, and +rolled nuts till the baby toddled after the nuts and let fall the wand, +and Kate took it up and put it in her apron. And at cockcrow they rode +home as before, and the moment Kate got home to her room she rushed and +touched Anne three times with the wand, and the nasty sheep's head +fell off and she was her own pretty self again. The third night Kate +consented to watch, only if she should marry the sick prince. All went +on as on the first two nights. This time the fairy baby was playing with +a birdie; Kate heard one of the fairies say: "Three bites of that birdie +would make the sick prince as well as ever he was." Kate rolled all the +nuts she had to the fairy baby till the birdie was dropped, and Kate put +it in her apron. + +At cockcrow they set off again, but instead of cracking her nuts as +she used to do, this time Kate plucked the feathers off and cooked +the birdie. Soon there arose a very savoury smell. "Oh!" said the sick +prince, "I wish I had a bite of that birdie," so Kate gave him a bite of +the birdie, and he rose up on his elbow. By-and-by he cried out again: +"Oh, if I had another bite of that birdie!" so Kate gave him another +bite, and he sat up on his bed. Then he said again: "Oh! if I only had +a third bite of that birdie!" So Kate gave him a third bite, and he rose +quite well, dressed himself, and sat down by the fire, and when the folk +came in next morning they found Kate and the young prince cracking nuts +together. Meanwhile his brother had seen Annie and had fallen in love +with her, as everybody did who saw her sweet pretty face. So the sick +son married the well sister, and the well son married the sick sister, +and they all lived happy and died happy, and never drank out of a dry +cappy. + + + + +THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON + +At Hilton Hall, long years ago, there lived a Brownie that was the +contrariest Brownie you ever knew. At night, after the servants had +gone to bed, it would turn everything topsy-turvy, put sugar in the +salt-cellars, pepper into the beer, and was up to all kinds of pranks. +It would throw the chairs down, put tables on their backs, rake out +fires, and do as much mischief as could be. But sometimes it would be in +a good temper, and then!--"What's a Brownie?" you say. Oh, it's a kind +of a sort of a Bogle, but it isn't so cruel as a Redcap! What! you don't +know what's a Bogle or a Redcap! Ah, me! what's the world a-coming to? +Of course a Brownie is a funny little thing, half man, half goblin, with +pointed ears and hairy hide. When you bury a treasure, you scatter over +it blood drops of a newly slain kid or lamb, or, better still, bury the +animal with the treasure, and a Brownie will watch over it for you, and +frighten everybody else away. + +Where was I? Well, as I was a-saying, the Brownie at Hilton Hall would +play at mischief, but if the servants laid out for it a bowl of cream, +or a knuckle cake spread with honey, it would clear away things for +them, and make everything tidy in the kitchen. One night, however, when +the servants had stopped up late, they heard a noise in the kitchen, +and, peeping in, saw the Brownie swinging to and fro on the Jack chain, +and saying: + + "Woe's me! woe's me! + The acorn's not yet + Fallen from the tree, + That's to grow the wood, + That's to make the cradle, + That's to rock the bairn, + That's to grow to the man, + That's to lay me. + Woe's me! woe's me!" + +So they took pity on the poor Brownie, and asked the nearest henwife +what they should do to send it away. "That's easy enough," said the +henwife, and told them that a Brownie that's paid for its service, in +aught that's not perishable, goes away at once. So they made a cloak of +Lincoln green, with a hood to it, and put it by the hearth and watched. +They saw the Brownie come up, and seeing the hood and cloak, put them +on, and frisk about, dancing on one leg and saying: + + "I've taken your cloak, I've taken your hood; + The Cauld Lad of Hilton will do no more good." + +And with that it vanished, and was never seen or heard of afterwards. + + + + +THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE STICK + +A lad named Jack was once so unhappy at home through his father's +ill-treatment, that he made up his mind to run away and seek his fortune +in the wide world. + +He ran, and he ran, till he could run no longer, and then he ran right +up against a little old woman who was gathering sticks. He was too much +out of breath to beg pardon, but the woman was good-natured, and she +said he seemed to be a likely lad, so she would take him to be her +servant, and would pay him well. He agreed, for he was very hungry, +and she brought him to her house in the wood, where he served her for a +twelvemonths and a day. + +When the year had passed, she called him to her, and said she had good +wages for him. So she presented him with an ass out of the stable, and +he had but to pull Neddy's ears to make him begin at once to ee--aw! And +when he brayed there dropped from his mouth silver sixpences, and half +crowns, and golden guineas. + +The lad was well pleased with the wage he had received, and away he rode +till he reached an inn. There he ordered the best of everything, and +when the innkeeper refused to serve him without being paid beforehand, +the boy went off to the stable, pulled the ass's ears and obtained his +pocket full of money. The host had watched all this through a crack +in the door, and when night came on he put an ass of his own for the +precious Neddy of the poor youth. So Jack without knowing that any +change had been made, rode away next morning to his father's house. + +Now, I must tell you that near his home dwelt a poor widow with an only +daughter. The lad and the maiden were fast friends and true loves; but +when Jack asked his father's leave to marry the girl, "Never till you +have the money to keep her," was the reply. "I have that, father," said +the lad, and going to the ass he pulled its long ears; well, he pulled, +and he pulled, till one of them came off in his hands; but Neddy, though +he hee-hawed and he hee-hawed let fall no half crowns or guineas. The +father picked up a hay-fork and beat his son out of the house. I promise +you he ran. Ah! he ran and ran till he came bang against the door, and +burst it open, and there he was in a joiner's shop. "You're a likely +lad," said the joiner; "serve me for a twelvemonths and a day and I will +pay you well.'" So he agreed, and served the carpenter for a year and +a day. "Now," said the master, "I will give you your wage;" and he +presented him with a table, telling him he had but to say, "Table, be +covered," and at once it would be spread with lots to eat and drink. + +Jack hitched the table on his back, and away he went with it till he +came to the inn. "Well, host," shouted he, "my dinner to-day, and that +of the best." + +"Very sorry, but there is nothing in the house but ham and eggs." + +"Ham and eggs for me!" exclaimed Jack. "I can do better than +that.--Come, my table, be covered!" + +At once the table was spread with turkey and sausages, roast mutton, +potatoes, and greens. The publican opened his eyes, but he said nothing, +not he. + +That night he fetched down from his attic a table very like that of +Jack, and exchanged the two. Jack, none the wiser, next morning hitched +the worthless table on to his back and carried it home. "Now, father, +may I marry my lass?" he asked. + +"Not unless you can keep her," replied the father. "Look here!" +exclaimed Jack. "Father, I have a table which does all my bidding." + +"Let me see it," said the old man. + +The lad set it in the middle of the room, and bade it be covered; but +all in vain, the table remained bare. In a rage, the father caught the +warming-pan down from the wall and warmed his son's back with it so that +the boy fled howling from the house, and ran and ran till he came to a +river and tumbled in. A man picked him out and bade him assist him in +making a bridge over the river; and how do you think he was doing it? +Why, by casting a tree across; so Jack climbed up to the top of the tree +and threw his weight on it, so that when the man had rooted the tree up, +Jack and the tree-head dropped on the farther bank. + +"Thank you," said the man; "and now for what you have done I will pay +you;" so saying, he tore a branch from the tree, and fettled it up into +a club with his knife. "There," exclaimed he; "take this stick, and when +you say to it, 'Up stick and bang him,' it will knock any one down who +angers you." + +The lad was overjoyed to get this stick--so away he went with it to the +inn, and as soon as the publican, appeared, "Up stick and bang him!" was +his cry. At the word the cudgel flew from his hand and battered the +old publican on the back, rapped his head, bruised his arms tickled his +ribs, till he fell groaning on the floor; still the stick belaboured +the prostrate man, nor would Jack call it off till he had got back the +stolen ass and table. Then he galloped home on the ass, with the table +on his shoulders, and the stick in his hand. When he arrived there he +found his father was dead, so he brought his ass into the stable, and +pulled its ears till he had filled the manger with money. + +It was soon known through the town that Jack had returned rolling in +wealth, and accordingly all the girls in the place set their caps at +him. "Now," said Jack, "I shall marry the richest lass in the place; so +tomorrow do you all come in front of my house with your money in your +aprons." + +Next morning the street was full of girls with aprons held out, and gold +and silver in them; but Jack's own sweetheart was among them, and she +had neither gold nor silver, nought but two copper pennies, that was all +she had. + +"Stand aside, lass;" said Jack to her, speaking roughly. "Thou hast no +silver nor gold--stand off from the rest." She obeyed, and the tears ran +down her cheeks, and filled her apron with diamonds. + +"Up stick and bang them!" exclaimed Jack; whereupon the cudgel leaped +up, and running along the line of girls, knocked them all on the heads +and left them senseless on the pavement. Jack took all their money and +poured it into his truelove's lap. "Now, lass," he exclaimed, "thou art +the richest, and I shall marry thee." + + + + +FAIRY OINTMENT + +Dame Goody was a nurse that looked after sick people, and minded babies. +One night she was woke up at midnight, and when she went downstairs, +she saw a strange squinny-eyed, little ugly old fellow, who asked her +to come to his wife who was too ill to mind her baby. Dame Goody didn't +like the look of the old fellow, but business is business; so she popped +on her things, and went down to him. And when she got down to him, he +whisked her up on to a large coal-black horse with fiery eyes, that +stood at the door; and soon they were going at a rare pace, Dame Goody +holding on to the old fellow like grim death. + +They rode, and they rode, till at last they stopped before a cottage +door. So they got down and went in and found the good woman abed with +the children playing about; and the babe, a fine bouncing boy, beside +her. + +Dame Goody took the babe, which was as fine a baby boy as you'd wish to +see. The mother, when she handed the baby to Dame Goody to mind, gave +her a box of ointment, and told her to stroke the baby's eyes with it +as soon as it opened them. After a while it began to open its eyes. Dame +Goody saw that it had squinny eyes just like its father. So she took the +box of ointment and stroked its two eyelids with it. But she couldn't +help wondering what it was for, as she had never seen such a thing done +before. So she looked to see if the others were looking, and, when they +were not noticing she stroked her own right eyelid with the ointment. + +No sooner had she done so, than everything seemed changed about her. +The cottage became elegantly furnished. The mother in the bed was a +beautiful lady, dressed up in white silk. The little baby was still more +beautiful than before, and its clothes were made of a sort of silvery +gauze. Its little brothers and sisters around the bed were flat-nosed +imps with pointed ears, who made faces at one another, and scratched +their polls. Sometimes they would pull the sick lady's ears with their +long and hairy paws. In fact, they were up to all kinds of mischief; and +Dame Goody knew that she had got into a house of pixies. But she said +nothing to nobody, and as soon as the lady was well enough to mind the +baby, she asked the old fellow to take her back home. So he came round +to the door with the coal-black horse with eyes of fire, and off they +went as fast as before, or perhaps a little faster, till they came to +Dame Goody's cottage, where the squinny-eyed old fellow lifted her down +and left her, thanking her civilly enough, and paying her more than she +had ever been paid before for such service. + +Now next day happened to be market-day, and as Dame Goody had been away +from home, she wanted many things in the house, and trudged off to get +them at the market. As she was buying the things she wanted, who +should she see but the squinny-eyed old fellow who had taken her on the +coal-black horse. And what do you think he was doing? Why he went about +from stall to stall taking up things from each, here some fruit, and +there some eggs, and so on; and no one seemed to take any notice. + +Now Dame Goody did not think it her business to interfere, but she +thought she ought not to let so good a customer pass without speaking. +So she ups to him and bobs a curtsey and said: "Gooden, sir, I hopes as +how your good lady and the little one are as well as----" + +But she couldn't finish what she was a-saying, for the funny old fellow +started back in surprise, and he says to her, says he: "What! do you see +me today?" + +"See you," says she, "why, of course I do, as plain as the sun in the +skies, and what's more," says she, "I see you are busy too, into the +bargain." + +"Ah, you see too much," said he; "now, pray, with which eye do you see +all this?" + +"With the right eye to be sure," said she, as proud as can be to find +him out. + +"The ointment! The ointment!" cried the old pixy thief. "Take that for +meddling with what don't concern you: you shall see me no more." And +with that he struck her on her right eye, and she couldn't see him any +more; and, what was worse, she was blind on the right side from that +hour till the day of her death. + + + + +THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END + +Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it wasn't in my +time, nor in your time, nor any one else's time, there was a girl whose +mother had died, and her father had married again. And her stepmother +hated her because she was more beautiful than herself, and she was very +cruel to her. She used to make her do all the servant's work, and never +let her have any peace. At last, one day, the stepmother thought to get +rid of her altogether; so she handed her a sieve and said to her: "Go, +fill it at the Well of the World's End and bring it home to me full, +or woe betide you." For she thought she would never be able to find the +Well of the World's End, and, if she did, how could she bring home a +sieve full of water? + +Well, the girl started off, and asked every one she met to tell her +where was the Well of the World's End. But nobody knew, and she didn't +know what to do, when a queer little old woman, all bent double, told +her where it was, and how she could get to it. So she did what the old +woman told her, and at last arrived at the Well of the World's End. But +when she dipped the sieve in the cold, cold water, it all ran out again. +She tried and she tried again, but every time it was the same; and at +last she sate down and cried as if her heart would break. + +Suddenly she heard a croaking voice, and she looked up and saw a great +frog with goggle eyes looking at her and speaking to her. + +"What's the matter, dearie?" it said. + +"Oh, dear, oh dear," she said, "my stepmother has sent me all this long +way to fill this sieve with water from the Well of the World's End, and +I can't fill it no how at all." + +"Well," said the frog, "if you promise me to do whatever I bid you for a +whole night long, I'll tell you how to fill it." + +So the girl agreed, and then the frog said: + + "Stop it with moss and daub it with clay, + And then it will carry the water away;" + +and then it gave a hop, skip and jump, and went flop into the Well of +the World's End. + +So the girl looked about for some moss, and lined the bottom of the +sieve with it, and over that she put some clay, and then she dipped it +once again into the Well of the World's End; and this time, the water +didn't run out, and she turned to go away. + +Just then the frog popped up its head out of the Well of the World's +End, and said: "Remember your promise." + +"All right," said the girl; for thought she, "what harm can a frog do +me?" + +So she went back to her stepmother, and brought the sieve full of water +from the Well of the World's End. The stepmother was fine and angry, but +she said nothing at all. + +That very evening they heard something tap tapping at the door low down, +and a voice cried out: + + "Open the door, my hinny, my heart, + Open the door, my own darling; + Mind you the words that you and I spoke, + Down in the meadow, at the World's End Well." + +"Whatever can that be?" cried out the stepmother, and the girl had to +tell her all about it, and what she had promised the frog. + +"Girls must keep their promises," said the stepmother. "Go and open the +door this instant." For she was glad the girl would have to obey a nasty +frog. + +So the girl went and opened the door, and there was the frog from the +Well of the World's End. And it hopped, and it skipped, and it jumped, +till it reached the girl, and then it said: + + "Lift me to your knee, my hinny, my heart; + Lift me to your knee, my own darling; + Remember the words you and I spoke, + Down in the meadow by the World's End Well." + +But the girl didn't like to, till her stepmother said "Lift it up this +instant, you hussy! Girls must keep their promises!" + +So at last she lifted the frog up on to her lap, and it lay there for a +time, till at last it said: + + "Give me some supper, my hinny, my heart, + Give me some supper, my darling; + Remember the words you and I spake, + In the meadow, by the Well of the World's End." + +Well, she didn't mind doing that, so she got it a bowl of milk and +bread, and fed it well. And when the frog, had finished, it said: + + "Go with me to bed, my hinny, my heart, + Go with me to bed, my own darling; + Mind you the words you spake to me, + Down by the cold well, so weary." + +But that the girl wouldn't do, till her stepmother said: "Do what you +promised, girl; girls must keep their promises. Do what you're bid, or +out you go, you and your froggie." + +So the girl took the frog with her to bed, and kept it as far away from +her as she could. Well, just as the day was beginning to break what +should the frog say but: + + "Chop off my head, my hinny, my heart, + Chop off my head, my own darling; + Remember the promise you made to me, + Down by the cold well so weary." + +At first the girl wouldn't, for she thought of what the frog had done +for her at the Well of the World's End. But when the frog said the words +over again, she went and took an axe and chopped off its head, and lo! +and behold, there stood before her a handsome young prince, who told her +that he had been enchanted by a wicked magician, and he could never be +unspelled till some girl would do his bidding for a whole night, and +chop off his head at the end of it. + +The stepmother was that surprised when she found the young prince +instead of the nasty frog, and she wasn't best pleased, you may be sure, +when the prince told her that he was going to marry her stepdaughter +because she had unspelled him. So they were married and went away to +live in the castle of the king, his father, and all the stepmother had +to console her was, that it was all through her that her stepdaughter +was married to a prince. + + + + +MASTER OF ALL MASTERS + +A girl once went to the fair to hire herself for servant. At last a +funny-looking old gentleman engaged her, and took her home to his house. +When she got there, he told her that he had something to teach her, for +that in his house he had his own names for things. + +He said to her: "What will you call me?" + +"Master or mister, or whatever you please sir," says she. + +He said: "You must call me 'master of all masters.' And what would you +call this?" pointing to his bed. + +"Bed or couch, or whatever you please, sir." + +"No, that's my 'barnacle.' And what do you call these?" said he pointing +to his pantaloons. + +"Breeches or trousers, or whatever you please, sir." + +"You must call them 'squibs and crackers.' And what would you call her?" +pointing to the cat. + +"Cat or kit, or whatever you please, sir." + +"You must call her 'white-faced simminy.' And this now," showing the +fire, "what would you call this?" + +"Fire or flame, or whatever you please, sir." + +"You must call it 'hot cockalorum,' and what this?" he went on, pointing +to the water. + +"Water or wet, or whatever you please, sir." + +"No, 'pondalorum' is its name. And what do you call all this?" asked he, +as he pointed to the house. + +"House or cottage, or whatever you please, sir." + +"You must call it 'high topper mountain.'" + +That very night the servant woke her master up in a fright and said: +"Master of all masters, get out of your barnacle and put on your squibs +and crackers. For white-faced simminy has got a spark of hot cockalorum +on its tail, and unless you get some pondalorum high topper mountain +will be all on hot cockalorum." .... That's all. + + + + +THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL + +Long before Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, there reigned in +the eastern part of England a king who kept his Court at Colchester. In +the midst of all his glory, his queen died, leaving behind her an only +daughter, about fifteen years of age, who for her beauty and kindness +was the wonder of all that knew her. But the king hearing of a lady who +had likewise an only daughter, had a mind to marry her for the sake of +her riches, though she was old, ugly, hook-nosed, and hump-backed. Her +daughter was a yellow dowdy, full of envy and ill-nature; and, in short, +was much of the same mould as her mother. But in a few weeks the king, +attended by the nobility and gentry, brought his deformed bride to the +palace, where the marriage rites were performed. They had not been long +in the Court before they set the king against his own beautiful daughter +by false reports. The young princess having lost her father's love, grew +weary of the Court, and one day, meeting with her father in the garden, +she begged him, with tears in her eyes, to let her go and seek her +fortune; to which the king consented, and ordered her mother-in-law to +give her what she pleased. She went to the queen, who gave her a canvas +bag of brown bread and hard cheese, with a bottle of beer; though this +was but a pitiful dowry for a king's daughter. She took it, with +thanks, and proceeded on her journey, passing through groves, woods, +and valleys, till at length she saw an old man sitting on a stone at the +mouth of a cave, who said: "Good morrow, fair maiden, whither away so +fast?" + +"Aged father," says she, "I am going to seek my fortune." + +"What have you got in your bag and bottle?" + +"In my bag I have got bread and cheese, and in my bottle good small +beer. Would you like to have some?" + +"Yes," said he, "with all my heart." + +With that the lady pulled out her provisions, and bade him eat and +welcome. He did so, and gave her many thanks, and said: "There is a +thick thorny hedge before you, which you cannot get through, but take +this wand in your hand, strike it three times, and say, 'Pray, hedge, +let me come through,' and it will open immediately; then, a little +further, you will find a well; sit down on the brink of it, and there +will come up three golden heads, which will speak; and whatever they +require, that do." Promising she would, she took her leave of him. +Coming to the hedge and using the old man's wand, it divided, and let +her through; then, coming to the well, she had no sooner sat down than a +golden head came up singing: + + "Wash me, and comb me, + And lay me down softly. + And lay me on a bank to dry, + That I may look pretty, + When somebody passes by." + +"Yes," said she, and taking it in her lap combed it with a silver comb, +and then placed it upon a primrose bank. Then up came a second and a +third head, saying the same as the former. So she did the same for them, +and then, pulling out her provisions, sat down to eat her dinner. + +Then said the heads one to another: "What shall we weird for this damsel +who has used us so kindly?" + +The first said: "I weird her to be so beautiful that she shall charm the +most powerful prince in the world." + +The second said: "I weird her such a sweet voice as shall far exceed the +nightingale." + +The third said: "My gift shall be none of the least, as she is a king's +daughter, I'll weird her so fortunate that she shall become queen to the +greatest prince that reigns." + +She then let them down into the well again, and so went on her journey. +She had not travelled long before she saw a king hunting in the park +with his nobles. She would have avoided him, but the king, having caught +a sight of her, approached, and what with her beauty and sweet voice, +fell desperately in love with her, and soon induced her to marry him. + +This king finding that she was the King of Colchester's daughter, +ordered some chariots to be got ready, that he might pay the king, his +father-in-law, a visit. The chariot in which the king and queen rode +was adorned with rich gems of gold. The king, her father, was at first +astonished that his daughter had been so fortunate, till the young +king let him know of all that had happened. Great was the joy at +Court amongst all, with the exception of the queen and her club-footed +daughter, who were ready to burst with envy. The rejoicings, with +feasting and dancing, continued many days. Then at length they returned +home with the dowry her father gave her. + +The hump-backed princess, perceiving that her sister had been so lucky +in seeking her fortune, wanted to do the same; so she told her mother, +and all preparations were made, and she was furnished with rich dresses, +and with sugar, almonds, and sweetmeats, in great quantities, and a +large bottle of Malaga sack. With these she went the same road as +her sister; and coming near the cave, the old man said: "Young woman, +whither so fast?" + +"What's that to you?" said she. + +"Then," said he, "what have you in your bag and bottle?" + +She answered: "Good things, which you shall not be troubled with." + +"Won't you give me some?" said he. + +"No, not a bit, nor a drop, unless it would choke you." + +The old man frowned, saying: "Evil fortune attend ye!" + +Going on, she came to the hedge, through which she espied a gap, and +thought to pass through it; but the hedge closed, and the, thorns +ran into her flesh, so that it was with great difficulty that she +got through. Being now all over blood, she searched for water to wash +herself, and, looking round, she saw the well. She sat down on the brink +of it, and one of the heads came up, saying: "Wash me, comb me, and lay +me down softly," as before, but she banged it with her bottle, saying, +"Take that for your washing." So the second and third heads came up, +and met with no better treatment than the first. Whereupon the heads +consulted among themselves what evils to plague her with for such usage. + +The first said: "Let her be struck with leprosy in her face." + +The second: "Let her voice be as harsh as a corn-crake's." + +The third said: "Let her have for husband but a poor country cobbler." + +Well, she goes on till she came to a town, and it being market-day, the +people looked at her, and, seeing such a mangy face, and hearing such +a squeaky voice, all fled but a poor country cobbler. Now he not long +before had mended the shoes of an old hermit, who, having no money +gave him a box of ointment for the cure of the leprosy, and a bottle of +spirits for a harsh voice. So the cobbler having a mind to do an act of +charity, was induced to go up to her and ask her who she was. + +"I am," said she, "the King of Colchester's daughter-in-law." + +"Well," said the cobbler, "if I restore you to your natural complexion, +and make a sound cure both in face and voice, will you in reward take me +for a husband?" + +"Yes, friend," replied she, "with all my heart!" + +With this the cobbler applied the remedies, and they made her well in +a few weeks; after which they were married, and so set forward for the +Court at Colchester. When the queen found that her daughter had married +nothing but a poor cobbler, she hanged herself in wrath. The death of +the queen so pleased the king, who was glad to get rid of her so soon, +that he gave the cobbler a hundred pounds to quit the Court with his +lady, and take to a remote part of the kingdom, where he lived many +years mending shoes, his wife spinning the thread for him. + + + + +OYEZ-OYEZ-OYEZ + +THE ENGLISH FAIRY TALES + +ARE NOW CLOSED + +LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS + +MUST NOT READ ANY FURTHER + + + + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + +In the following notes I give first the _source_ whence I obtained the +various tales. Then come _parallels_ in some fulness for the United +Kingdom, but only a single example for foreign countries, with a +bibliographical reference where further variants can be found. Finally, +a few _remarks_ are sometimes added where the tale seems to need it. In +two cases (Nos. xvi. and xxi.) I have been more full. + + + +I. TOM TIT TOT. + +_Source_.--Unearthed by Mr. E. Clodd from the "Suffolk Notes and +Queries" of the _Ipswich Journal_, and reprinted by him in a paper on +"The Philosophy of Rumpelstiltskin" in _Folk-Lore Journal_, vii. 138-43. +I have reduced the Suffolk dialect. + +_Parallels_.--In Yorkshire this occurs as "Habetrot and Scantlie Mab," +in Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, 221-6; in Devonshire +as "Duffy and the Devil" in Hunt's _Romances and Drolls of the West +of England_, 239-47; in Scotland two variants are given by Chambers, +_Popular Rhymes of Scotland_, under the title "Whuppity Stourie." The +"name-guessing wager" is also found in "Peerifool", printed by Mr. +Andrew Lang in _Longman's Magazine_, July 1889, also _Folk-Lore_, +September, 1890. It is clearly the same as Grimm's "Rumpelstiltskin" +(No. 14); for other Continental parallels see Mr. Clodd's article, and +Cosquin, _Contes pop. de Lorraine_, i. 269 _seq_. + +_Remarks_.--One of the best folk-tales that have ever been collected, +far superior to any of the continental variants of this tale with which +I am acquainted. Mr. Clodd sees in the class of name-guessing stories, a +"survival" of the superstition that to know a man's name gives you power +over him, for which reason savages object to tell their names. It may be +necessary, I find, to explain to the little ones that Tom Tit can only +be referred to as "that," because his name is not known till the end. + + + +II. THE THREE SILLIES. + +_Source_.--From _Folk-Lore Journal_, ii. 40-3; to which it was +communicated by Miss C. Burne. + +_Parallels_.--Prof. Stephens gave a variant from his own memory in +_Folk-Lore Record_, iii. 155, as told in Essex at the beginning of the +century. Mr. Toulmin Smith gave another version in _The Constitutional_, +July 1, 1853, which was translated by his daughter, and contributed +to _Melusine_, t. ii. An Oxfordshire version was given in _Notes and +Queries_, April 17, 1852. It occurs also in Ireland, Kennedy, _Fireside +Stories_, p. 9. It is Grimm's _Kluge Else_, No. 34, and is spread +through the world. Mr. Clouston devotes the seventh chapter of his _Book +of Noodles_ to the Quest of the Three Noodles. + + + +III. THE ROSE TREE. + +_Source_.--From the first edition of Henderson's _Folk-Lore of +Northern Counties_, p. 314, to which it was communicated by the Rev. S. +Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--This is better known under the title, "Orange and Lemon," +and with the refrain: + + "My mother killed me, + My father picked my bones, + My little sister buried me, + Under the marble stones." + +I heard this in Australia. Mr. Jones Gives part of it in _Folk Tales +of the Magyars_, 418-20, and another version occurs in 4 _Notes and +Queries_, vi. 496. Mr. I. Gollancz informs me he remembers a version +entitled "Pepper, Salt, and Mustard," with the refrain just given. +Abroad it is Grimm's "Juniper Tree" (No. 47), where see further +parallels. The German rhyme is sung by Margaret in the mad scene of +Goethe's "Faust." + + + +IV. OLD WOMAN AND PIG. + +_Source_.--Halliwell's _Nursery Rhymes and Tales_, 114. + +_Parallels_.--_Cf._ Miss Burne, _Shropshire Folk-Lore_, 529; also No. +xxxiv. _infra_ ("Cat and Mouse"). It occurs also in Scotch, with the +title "The Wife and her Bush of Berries," Chambers's _Pop. Rhymes_, p. +57. Newell, _Games and Songs of American Children_, gives a game named +"Club-fist" (No. 75), founded on this, and in his notes refers to +German, Danish, and Spanish variants. (_Cf._ Cosquin, ii. 36 _seq._) + +_Remarks_.--One of the class of Accumulative stories, which are well +represented in England. (_Cf. infra_, Nos. xvi., xx., xxxiv.) + + + +V. HOW JACK SOUGHT HIS FORTUNE. + +_Source_.--_American Folk-Lore Journal_ I, 227-8. I have eliminated a +malodorous and un-English skunk. + +_Parallels_.--Two other versions are given in the _Journal l.c._ One +of these, however, was probably derived from Grimm's "Town Musicians of +Bremen" (No. 27). That the others came from across the Atlantic is shown +by the fact that it occurs in Ireland (Kennedy, _Fictions_, pp. 5-10) +and Scotland (Campbell, No. 11). For other variants, see R. Koehler in +Gonzenbach, _Sicil. Maerchen_, ii. 245. + + + +VI. MR. VINEGAR. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 149. + +_Parallels_.--This is the _Hans im Glueck_ of Grimm (No. 83). _Cf._ too, +"Lazy Jack," _infra_, No. xxvii. Other variants are given by M. Cosquin, +_Contes pop. de Lorraine_, i. 241. On surprising robbers, see preceding +tale. + +_Remarks_.--In some of the variants the door is carried, because Mr. +Vinegar, or his equivalent, has been told to "mind the door," or he acts +on the principle "he that is master of the door is master of the +house." In other stories he makes the foolish exchanges to the entire +satisfaction of his wife. (_Cf._ Cosquin, i. 156-7.) + + + +VII. NIX NOUGHT NOTHING. + +_Source_.--From a Scotch tale, "Nicht Nought Nothing," collected by Mr. +Andrew Lang in Morayshire, published by him first in _Revue Celtique_, +t. iii; then in his _Custom and Myth_, p. 89; and again in _Folk-Lore_, +Sept. 1890. I have changed the name so as to retain the _equivoque_ of +the giant's reply to the King. I have also inserted the incidents of +the flight, the usual ones in tales of this type, and expanded the +conclusion, which is very curtailed and confused in the original. The +usual ending of tales of this class contains the "sale of bed" incident, +for which see Child, i. 391. + +_Parallels_.--Mr. Lang, in the essay "A Far-travelled Tale" in which +he gives the story, mentions several variants of it, including the +classical myth of Jason and Medea. A fuller study in Cosquin, _l.c._, +ii. 12-28. For the finger ladder, see Koehler, in _Orient and Occident_, +ii. III. + + + +VIII. JACK HANNAFORD. + +_Source_.--Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_ (first edition), +p. 319. Communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--"Pilgrims from Paradise" are enumerated in Clouston's +_Book of Noodles_, pp. 205, 214-8. See also Cosquin, _l.c._, i. 239. + + + +IX. BINNORIE. + +_Source_.--From the ballad of the "Twa Sisters o' Binnorie." I have used +the longer version in Roberts's _Legendary Ballads_, with one or two +touches from Mr. Allingham's shorter and more powerful variant in +_The Ballad Book_. A tale is the better for length, a ballad for its +curtness. + +_Parallels_.--The story is clearly that of Grimm's "Singing Bone" (No. +28), where one brother slays the other and buries him under a bush. +Years after a shepherd passing by finds a bone under the bush, and, +blowing through this, hears the bone denounce the murderer. For numerous +variants in Ballads and Folk Tales, see Prof. Child's _English and +Scotch Ballads_ (ed. 1886), i. 125, 493; iii. 499. + + + +X. MOUSE AND MOUSER. + +_Source_.--From memory by Mrs. E. Burne-Jones. + +_Parallels_.--A fragment is given in Halliwell, 43; Chambers's _Popular +Rhymes_ has a Scotch version, "The Cattie sits in the Kilnring spinning" +(p. 53). The surprise at the end, similar to that in Perrault's "Red +Riding Hood," is a frequent device in English folk tales. (_Cf. infra_, +Nos. xii., xxiv., xxix., xxxiii., xli.) + + + +XI. CAP O' RUSHES. + +_Source_.--Discovered by Mr. E. Clodd, in "Suffolk Notes and Queries" of +the _Ipswich Journal_, published by Mr. Lang in _Longinan's Magazine_, +vol. xiii, also in _Folk-Lore_, Sept. 1890. + +_Parallels_.--The beginning recalls "King Lear." For "loving like salt," +see the parallels collected by Cosquin, i. 288. The whole story is a +version of the numerous class of Cinderella stories, the particular +variety being the Catskin sub-species analogous to Perrault's _Peau +d'Ane_. "Catskin" was told by Mr. Burchell to the young Primroses in +"The Vicar of Wakefield,'" and has been elaborately studied by the late +H. C. Coote, in _Folk-Lore Record_, iii. 1-25. It is only now extant +in ballad form, of which "Cap o' Rushes" may be regarded as a prose +version. + + + +XII. TEENY-TINY. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, 148. + + + +XIII. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. + +_Source_.--I tell this as it was told me in Australia, somewhere about +the year 1860. + +_Parallels_.--There is a chap-book version which is very poor; it is +given by Mr. E. S. Hartland, _English Folk and Fairy Tales_ (Camelot +Series), p. 35, _seq._ In this, when Jack arrives at the top of the +Beanstalk, he is met by a fairy, who gravely informs him that the ogre +had stolen all his possessions from Jack's father. The object of this +was to prevent the tale becoming an encouragement to theft! I have had +greater confidence in my young friends, and have deleted the fairy who +did not exist in the tale as told to me. For the Beanstalk elsewhere, +see Ralston, _Russian Folk Tales_, 293-8. Cosquin has some remarks on +magical ascents (i. 14). + + + +XIV. THREE LITTLE PIGS. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 16. + +_Parallels_.--The only known parallels are one from Venice, Bernoni, +_Trad. Pop._, punt. iii. p. 65, given in Crane, _Italian Popular +Tales_, p. 267, "The Three Goslings;" and a negro tale in _Lippincott's +Magazine_, December, 1877, p. 753 ("Tiny Pig"). + +_Remarks_.--As little pigs do not have hair on their chinny chin-chins, +I suspect that they were originally kids, who have. This would bring +the tale close to the Grimms' "Wolf and Seven Little Kids," (No. 5). +In Steel and Temple's "Lambikin" (_Wide-awake Stories_, p. 71), the +Lambikin gets inside a Drumikin, and so nearly escapes the jackal. + + + +XV. MASTER AND PUPIL + +_Source_.--Henderson, _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, first edition, +p. 343, communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. The rhymes on the open +book have been supplied by Mr. Batten, in whose family, if I understand +him rightly, they have been long used for raising the----; something +similar occurs in Halliwell, p. 243, as a riddle rhyme. The mystic signs +in Greek are a familiar "counting-out rhyme": these have been studied +in a monograph by Mr. H. C. Bolton; he thinks they are "survivals" of +incantations. Under the circumstances, it would be perhaps as well if +the reader did not read the lines out when alone. One never knows what +may happen. + +_Parallels_.--Sorcerers' pupils seem to be generally selected for their +stupidity--in folk-tales. Friar Bacon was defrauded of his labour in +producing the Brazen Head in a similar way. In one of the legends about +Virgil he summoned a number of demons, who would have torn him to +pieces if he had not set them at work (J. S. Tunison, _Master Virgil_, +Cincinnati, 1888, p. 30). + + + +XVI. TATTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 115. + +_Parallels_.--This curious droll is extremely widespread; references +are given in Cosquin, i. 204 _seq._, and Crane, _Italian Popular Tales_, +375-6. As a specimen I may indicate what is implied throughout these +notes by such bibliographical references by drawing up a list of the +variants of this tale noticed by these two authorities, adding one or +two lately printed. Various versions have been discovered in: + +ENGLAND: Halliwell, _Nursery Rhymes_, p. 115. + +SCOTLAND: K. Blind, in _Arch. Rev_. iii. ("Fleakin and Lousikin," in the +Shetlands). + +FRANCE: _Melusine_, 1877, col. 424; Sebillot, _Contes pop. de la Haute +Bretagne_, No. 55, _Litterature orale_, p. 232; _Magasin picturesque_, +1869, p. 82; Cosquin, _Contes pop. de Lorraine_, Nos. 18 and 74. + +ITALY: Pitre, _Novelline popolari siciliane_, No. 134 (translated in +Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, p. 257); Imbriani, _La novellaja Fiorentina_, +p. 244; Bernoni, _Tradizione popolari veneziane_, punt. iii. p. 81; +Gianandrea, _Biblioteca delle tradizioni popolari marchigiane_, p.,11; +Papanti, _Novelline popolari livornesi_, p. 19 ("Vezzino e Madonna +Salciccia"); Finamore, _Trad. pop. abruzzesi_, p. 244; Morosi, _Studi +sui Dialetti Greci della Terra d'Otranto_, p. 75; _Giamb. Basile_, 1884, +p. 37. + +GERMANY: Grimm, _Kinder-und Hausmaerchen_, No. 30; Kuhn and Schwarz, +_Norddeutsche Sagen_, No. 16. + +NORWAY: Asbjornsen, No. 103 (translated in Sir G. Dasent's _Tales from +the Field_, p. 30, "Death of Chanticleer"). + +SPAIN: Maspons, _Cuentos populars catalans_, p. 12; Fernan Caballero, +_Cuentos y sefranes populares_, p. 3 ("La Hormiguita"). + +PORTUGAL: Coelho, _Contes popolares portuguezes_, No. 1. + +ROUMANIA: Kremnitz, _Rumaenische Maehrchen_, No. 15. + +ASIA MINOR: Von Hahn, _Griechische und Albanesische Maerchen_, No. 56. + +INDIA: Steel and Temple, _Wide-awake Stories_, p. 157 ("The Death and +Burial of Poor Hen-Sparrow"). + +_Remarks_.--These 25 variants of the same jingle scattered over the +world from India to Spain, present the problem of the diffusion of +folk-tales in its simplest form. No one is likely to contend with Prof. +Mueller and Sir George Cox, that we have here the detritus of archaic +Aryan mythology, a parody of a sun-myth. There is little that is savage +and archaic to attract the school of Dr. Tylor, beyond the speaking +powers of animals and inanimates. Yet even Mr. Lang is not likely to +hold that these variants arose by coincidence and independently in the +various parts of the world where they have been found. The only solution +is that the curious succession of incidents was invented once for all at +some definite place and time by some definite entertainer for children, +and spread thence through all the Old World. In a few instances we can +actually trace the passage-_e.g._, the Shetland version was certainly +brought over from Hamburg. Whether the centre of dispersion was India or +not, it is impossible to say, as it might have spread east from Smyrna +(Hahn, No. 56). Benfey (_Einleitung zu Pantschatantra_, i. 190-91) +suggests that this class of accumulative story may be a sort of parody +on the Indian stories, illustrating the moral, "what great events from +small occasions rise." Thus, a drop of honey falls on the ground; a fly +goes after it, a bird snaps at the fly, a dog goes for the bird, another +dog goes for the first, the masters of the two dogs--who happen to be +kings--quarrel and go to war, whole provinces are devastated, and +all for a drop of honey! "Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse" also ends in +a universal calamity which seems to arise from a cause of no great +importance. Benfey's suggestion is certainly ingenious, but perhaps too +ingenious to be true. + + + +XVII. JACK AND HIS SNUFF-BOX. + +_Source_.-Mr. F. Hindes Groome, _In Gipsy Tents_, p. 201 _seq._ I have +eliminated a superfluous Gipsy who makes her appearance towards the +end of the tale _a propos des boltes_, but otherwise have left the tale +unaltered as one of the few English folk-tales that have been taken down +from the mouths of the peasantry: this applies also to i., ii., xi. + +_Parallels_.-There is a magic snuff-box with a friendly power in it in +Kennedy's _Fictions of the Irish Celts_, p. 49. The choice between a +small cake with a blessing, &c., is frequent (_cf._ No. xxiii.), but the +closest parallel to the whole story, including the mice, is afforded +by a tale in Carnoy and Nicolaides' _Traditions populaires de l'Asie +Mineure_, which is translated as the first tale in Mr. Lang's _Blue +Fairy Book_. There is much in both that is similar to Aladdin, I beg his +pardon, Allah-ed-din. + + + +XVIII. THE THREE BEARS. + +_Source_.--_Verbatim et literatim_ from Southey, _The Doctor, &c._, +quarto edition, p. 327. + +_Parallels_.--None, as the story was invented by Southey. There is an +Italian translation, _I tre Orsi_, Turin, 1868, and it would be curious +to see if the tale ever acclimatises itself in Italy. + +_Remarks_.--"The Three Bears" is the only example I know of where a +tale that can be definitely traced to a specific author has become a +folk-tale. Not alone is this so, but the folk has developed the tale in +a curious and instructive way, by substituting a pretty little girl with +golden locks for the naughty old woman. In Southey's version there is +nothing of Little Silverhair as the heroine: she seems to have been +introduced in a metrical version by G. N., much be-praised by Southey. +Silverhair seems to have become a favourite, and in Mrs. Valentine's +version of "The Three Bears," in "The Old, Old Fairy Tales," the visit +to the bear-house is only the preliminary to a long succession of +adventures of the pretty little girl, of which there is no trace in the +original (and this in "The Old, Old Fairy Tales." Oh! Mrs. Valentine!). +I have, though somewhat reluctantly, cast back to the original form. +After all, as Prof. Dowden remarks, Southey's memory is kept alive more +by "The Three Bears" than anything else, and the text of such a nursery +classic should be retained in all its purity. + + + +XIX. JACK THE GIANT-KILLER. + +_Source_.--From two chap-books at the British Museum (London, 1805, +Paisley, 1814). I have taken some hints from "Felix Summerly's" (Sir +Henry Cole's) version, 1845. From the latter part, I have removed the +incident of the Giant dragging the lady along by her hair. + +_Parallels_.--The chap-book of "Jack the Giant-Killer" is a curious +jumble. The second part, as in most chap-books, is a weak and late +invention of the enemy, and is not _volkstuemlich_ at all. The first part +is compounded of a comic and a serious theme. The first is that of the +Valiant Tailor (Grimm, No. 20); to this belong the incidents of the +fleabite blows (for variants of which see Koehler in _Jahrb. rom. eng. +Phil._, viii. 252), and that of the slit paunch (_cf._ Cosquin, _l.c._, +ii. 51). The Thankful Dead episode, where the hero is assisted by the +soul of a person whom he has caused to be buried, is found as early +as the _Cento novelle antiche_ and Straparola, xi. 2. It has been best +studied by Koehler in _Germania_, iii. 199-209 (_cf._ Cosquin, i. 214-5; +ii. 14 and note; and Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, 350, note 12). It occurs +also in the curious play of Peele's _The Old Wives' Tale_, in which one +of the characters is the Ghost of Jack. Practically the same story as +this part of Jack the Giant-Killer occurs in Kennedy, _Fictions of the +Irish Celts_, p. 32, "Jack the Master and Jack the Servant;" and Kennedy +adds (p. 38), "In some versions Jack the Servant is the spirit of the +buried man." + +The "Fee-fi-fo-fum" formula is common to all English stories of giants +and ogres; it also occurs in Peele's play and in _King Lear_ (see note +on "Childe Rowland"). Messrs. Jones and Kropf have some remarks on it in +their "Magyar Tales," pp. 340-1; so has Mr. Lang in his "Perrault," p. +lxiii., where he traces it to the Furies in Aeschylus' _Eumenides_. + + + +XX. HENNY-PENNY. + +_Source_.--I give this as it was told me in Australia in 1860. The fun +consists in the avoidance of all pronouns, which results in jaw-breaking +sentences almost equal to the celebrated "She stood at the door of the +fish-sauce shop, welcoming him in." + +_Parallels_.--Halliwell, p. 151, has the same with the title +"Chicken-Licken." It occurs also in Chambers's _Popular Rhymes_, p. +59, with the same names of the _dramatis personae_, as my version. For +European parallels, see Crane, _Ital. Pop. Tales_, 377, and authorities +there quoted. + + + +XXI. CHILDE ROWLAND. + +_Source_.--Jamieson's _Illustrations of Northern Antiquities_, 1814, p. +397 _seq._, who gives it as told by a tailor in his youth, _c._ 1770. I +have Anglicised the Scotticisms, eliminated an unnecessary ox-herd and +swine-herd, who lose their heads for directing the Childe, and I have +called the Erlkoenig's lair the Dark Tower on the strength of the +description and of Shakespeare's reference. I have likewise suggested a +reason why Burd Ellen fell into his power, chiefly in order to introduce +a definition of "widershins." "All the rest is the original horse," even +including the erroneous description of the youngest son as the Childe or +heir (_cf._ "Childe Harold" and Childe Wynd, _infra_, No. xxxiii.), +unless this is some "survival" of Junior Right or "Borough English," the +archaic custom of letting the heirship pass to the youngest son. I +should add that, on the strength of the reference to Merlin, Jamieson +calls Childe Rowland's mother, Queen Guinevere, and introduces +references to King Arthur and his Court. But as he confesses that these +are his own improvements on the tailor's narrative I have eliminated +them. + +_Parallels_.--The search for the Dark Tower is similar to that of the +Red Ettin, (_cf_. Koehler on Gonzenbach, ii. 222). The formula "youngest +best," in which the youngest of three brothers succeeds after the +others have failed, is one of the most familiar in folk-tales amusingly +parodied by Mr. Lang in his _Prince Prigio_. The taboo against taking +food in the underworld occurs in the myth of Proserpine, and is also +frequent in folk-tales (Child, i. 322). But the folk-tale parallels +to our tale fade into insignificance before its brilliant literary +relationships. There can be little doubt that Edgar, in his mad scene in +_King Lear_, is alluding to our tale when he breaks into the lines: + +"Childe Rowland to the Dark Tower came...." His word was still: "Fie, +foh and fum, I smell the blood of a British man." _King Lear_, act iii. +sc. 4, _ad fin_. + +[Footnote: "British" for "English." This is one of the points that +settles the date of the play; James I. was declared King of Great +_Britain_, October 1604. I may add that Motherwell in his _Minstrelsy_, +p. xiv. note, testifies that the story was still extant in the nursery +at the time he wrote (1828).] + +The latter reference is to the cry of the King of Elfland. That some +such story was current in England in Shakespeare's time, is proved by +that curious _melange_ of nursery tales, Peele's _The Old Wives' Tale_. +The main plot of this is the search of two brothers, Calypha and +Thelea, for a lost sister, Delia, who has been bespelled by a sorcerer, +Sacrapant (the names are taken from the "Orlando Furioso"). They are +instructed by an old man (like Merlin in "Childe Rowland") how to rescue +their sister, and ultimately succeed. The play has besides this the +themes of the Thankful Dead, the Three Heads of the Well (which see), +the Life Index, and a transformation, so that it is not to be wondered +at if some of the traits of "Childe Rowland" are observed in it. + +But a still closer parallel is afforded by Milton's _Comus_. Here again +we have two brothers in search of a sister, who has got into the power +of an enchanter. But besides this, there is the refusal of the heroine +to touch the enchanted food, just as Childe Rowland finally refuses. +And ultimately the bespelled heroine is liberated by a liquid, which is +applied to her _lips and finger-tips_, just as Childe Rowland's brothers +are unspelled. Such a minute resemblance as this cannot be accidental, +and it is therefore probable that Milton used the original form of +"Childe Rowland," or some variant of it, as heard in his youth, and +adapted it to the purposes of the masque at Ludlow Castle, and of +his allegory. Certainly no other folk-tale in the world can claim so +distinguished an offspring. + +_Remarks_.--Distinguished as "Childe Rowland" will be henceforth as +the origin of _Comus_, if my affiliation be accepted, it has even +more remarkable points of interest, both in form and matter, for the +folklorist, unless I am much mistaken. I will therefore touch upon these +points, reserving a more detailed examination for another occasion. + +First, as to the form of the narrative. This begins with verse, then +turns to prose, and throughout drops again at intervals into poetry in a +friendly way like Mr. Wegg. Now this is a form of writing not unknown in +other branches of literature, the _cante-fable_, of which "Aucassin et +Nicolette" is the most distinguished example. Nor is the _cante-fable_ +confined to France. Many of the heroic verses of the Arabs contained +in the _Hamasa_ would be unintelligible without accompanying narrative, +which is nowadays preserved in the commentary. The verses imbedded +in the _Arabian Nights_ give them something of the character of a +_cante-fable_, and the same may be said of the Indian and Persian +story-books, though the verse is usually of a sententious and moral +kind, as in the _gathas_ of the Buddhist Jatakas. Even as remote as +Zanzibar, Mr. Lang notes, the folk-tales are told as _cante-fables_. +There are even traces in the Old Testament of such screeds of verse amid +the prose narrative, as in the story of Lamech or that of Balaam. All +this suggests that this is a very early and common form of narrative. + +Among folk-tales there are still many traces of the _cante-fable_. Thus, +in Grimm's collection, verses occur in Nos. 1, 5, 11, 12, 13, 15, 19, +21, 24, 28, 30, 36, 38_a_, _b_, 39_a_, 40, 45, 46, 47, out of the first +fifty tales, 36 per cent. Of Chambers' twenty-one folk-tales, in the +_Popular Rhymes of Scotland_ only five are without interspersed verses. +Of the forty-three tales contained in this volume, three (ix., xxix., +xxxiii.) are derived from ballads and do not therefore count in the +present connection. Of the remaining forty, i., iii., vii., xvi., xix., +xxi., xxiii., xxv., xxxi., xxxv., xxxviii., xli. (made up from verses), +xliii., contain rhymed lines, while xiv., xxii., xxvi., and xxxvii., +contain "survivals" of rhymes ("let me come in--chinny chin-chin"; "once +again ... come to Spain;" "it is not so--should be so"; "and his lady, +him behind"); and x. and xxxii. are rhythmical if not rhyming. As most +of the remainder are drolls, which have probably a different origin, +there seems to be great probability that originally all folk-tales of a +serious character were interspersed with rhyme, and took therefore the +form of the _cante-fable_. It is indeed unlikely that the ballad +itself began as continuous verse, and the _cante-fable_ is probably +the protoplasm out of which both ballad and folk-tale have been +differentiated, the ballad by omitting the narrative prose, the +folk-tale by expanding it. In "Childe Rowland" we have the nearest +example to such protoplasm, and it is not difficult to see how it could +have been shortened into a ballad or reduced to a prose folk-tale pure +and simple. + +The subject-matter of "Childe Rowland" has also claims on our attention +especially with regard to recent views on the true nature and origin of +elves, trolls, and fairies. I refer to the recently published work of +Mr. D. MacRitchie, "The Testimony of Tradition" (Kegan Paul, Trench, +Truebner & Co.)--_i.e._, of tradition about the fairies and the rest. +Briefly put, Mr. MacRitchie's view is that the elves, trolls, and +fairies represented in popular tradition are really the mound-dwellers, +whose remains have been discovered in some abundance in the form of +green hillocks, which have been artificially raised over a long and low +passage leading to a central chamber open to the sky. Mr. MacRitchie +shows that in several instances traditions about trolls or "good +people" have attached themselves to mounds, which have afterwards on +investigation turned out to be evidently the former residence of men of +smaller build than the mortals of to-day. He goes on further to identify +these with the Picts--fairies are called "Pechs" in Scotland--and other +early races, but with these ethnological equations we need not much +concern ourselves. It is otherwise with the mound-traditions and their +relation, if not to fairy tales in general, to tales _about_ fairies, +trolls, elves, etc. These are very few in number, and generally bear the +character of anecdotes. The fairies, etc., steal a child, they help +a wanderer to a drink and then disappear into a green hill, they help +cottagers with their work at night but disappear if their presence is +noticed; human midwives are asked to help fairy mothers, fairy maidens +marry ordinary men or girls marry and live with fairy husbands. All +such things may have happened and bear no such _a priori_ marks of +impossibility as speaking animals, flying through the air, and similar +incidents of the folk-tale pure and simple. If, as archaeologists tell +us, there was once a race of men in Northern Europe, very short and +hairy, that dwelt in underground chambers artificially concealed by +green hillocks, it does not seem unlikely that odd survivors of the +race should have lived on after they had been conquered and nearly +exterminated by Aryan invaders and should occasionally have performed +something like the pranks told of fairies and trolls. + +Certainly the description of the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland in +"Childe Rowland," has a remarkable resemblance to the dwellings of the +"good folk," which recent excavations have revealed. By the kindness of +Mr. MacRitchie, I am enabled to give the reader illustrations of one of +the most interesting of these, the Maes-How of Orkney. This is a green +mound some 100 feet in length and 35 in breadth at its broadest part. +Tradition had long located a goblin in its centre, but it was not till +1861 that it was discovered to be pierced by a long passage 53 feet in +length, and only two feet four inches high, for half of its length. This +led into a central chamber 15 feet square and open to the sky. + +Now it is remarkable how accurately all this corresponds to the Dark +Tower of "Childe Rowland," allowing for a little idealisation on the +part of the narrator. We have the long dark passage leading into the +well-lit central chamber, and all enclosed in a green hill or mound. +It is of course curious to contrast Mr. Batten's frontispiece with the +central chamber of the How, but the essential features are the same. +Even such a minute touch as the terraces on the hill have their bearing, +I believe, on Mr. MacRitchie's "realistic" views of Faerie. For in quite +another connection Mr. G. L. Gomme, in his recent "Village Community" +(W. Scott), pp. 75-98, has given reasons and examples for believing +that terrace cultivation along the sides of hills was a practice of the +non-Aryan and pre-Aryan inhabitants of these isles. [Footnote: To these +may be added Iona (_cf._ Duke of Argyll, _Iona_, p. 109).] Here then +from a quarter quite unexpected by Mr. MacRitchie, we have evidence +of the association of the King of Elfland with a non-Aryan mode of +cultivation of the soil. By Mr. Gomme's kindness I am enabled to give an +illustration of this. + +Altogether it seems not improbable that in such a tale as "Childe +Rowland" we have an idealised picture of a "marriage by capture" of one +of the diminutive non-Aryan dwellers of the green hills with an Aryan +maiden, and her re-capture by her brothers. It is otherwise difficult to +account for such a circumstantial description of the interior of these +mounds, and especially of such a detail as the terrace cultivation on +them. At the same time it must not be thought that Mr. MacRitchie's +views explain all fairy tales, or that his identifications of Finns += Fenians = Fairies = Sidhe = "Pechs" = Picts, will necessarily be +accepted. His interesting book, so far as it goes, seems to throw light +on tales about mermaids (Finnish women in their "kayaks,") and trolls, +but not necessarily, on fairy tales in general. Thus, in the present +volume, besides "Childe Rowland," there is only "Tom Tit Tot" in his +hollow, the green hill in "Kate Crackernuts," the "Cauld Lad of Hilton," +and perhaps the "Fairy Ointment," that are affected by his views. + +Finally, there are a couple of words in the narrative that deserve a +couple of words of explanation: "Widershins" is probably, as Mr. Batten +suggests, analogous to the German "wider Schein," against the appearance +of the sun, "counter-clockwise" as the mathematicians say--_i.e._, W., +S., E., N., instead of with the sun and the hands of a clock; why +it should have an unspelling influence is hard to say. "Bogle" is a +provincial word for "spectre," and is analogous to the Welsh _bwg_, +"goblin," and to the English insect of similar name, and still more +curiously to the Russian "Bog," God, after which so many Russian rivers +are named. I may add that "Burd" is etymologically the same as "bride" +and is frequently used in the early romances for "Lady." + + + +XXII. MOLLY WHUPPIE. + +_Source_.--_Folk-Lore Journal_, ii. p. 68, forwarded by Rev. Walter +Gregor. I have modified the dialect and changed "Mally" into "Molly." + +_Parallels_.--The first part is clearly the theme of "Hop o' my Thumb," +which Mr. Lang has studied in his "Perrault," pp. civ.-cxi. (_cf._ +Koehler, _Occident_, ii. 301.) The change of night-dresses occurs in +Greek myths. The latter part wanders off into "rob giant of three +things," a familiar incident in folk-tales (Cosquin, i. 46-7), and +finally winds up with the "out of sack" trick, for which see Cosquin, +i. 113; ii. 209; and Koehler on Campbell, in _Occident and Orient_, ii. +489-506. + + + +XXIII. RED ETTIN. + +_Source_.--"The Red Etin" in Chambers's _Pop. Rhymes of Scotland_, p. +89. I have reduced the adventurers from three to two, and cut down +the herds and their answers. I have substituted riddles from the first +English collection of riddles, _The Demandes Joyous_ of Wynkyn de Worde, +for the poor ones of the original, which are besides not solved. "Ettin" +is the English spelling of the word, as it is thus spelt in a passage +of Beaumont and Fletcher (_Knight of Burning Pestle_, i. 1), which may +refer to this very story, which, as we shall see, is quite as old as +their time. + +_Parallels_.--"The Red Etin" is referred to in _The Complaynt of +Scotland_, about 1548. It has some resemblance to "Childe Rowland," +which see. The "death index," as we may call tokens that tell the state +of health of a parted partner, is a usual incident in the theme of the +Two Brothers, and has been studied by the Grimms, i. 421, 453; ii. 403; +by Koehler on Campbell, _Occ. u. Or._, ii. 119-20; on Gonzenbach, ii. +230; on Blade, 248; by Cosquin, _l.c._, i. 70-2, 193; by Crane, _Ital. +Pop. Tales_, 326; and by Jones and Kropf, _Magyar Tales_, 329. Riddles +generally come in the form of the "riddle-bride-wager" (_cf._ Child, +_Ballads_, i. 415-9; ii. 519), when the hero or heroine wins a spouse by +guessing a riddle or riddles. Here it is the simpler Sphinx form of the +"riddle task," on which see Koehler in _Jahrb. rom. Phil._, vii. 273, and +on Gonzenbach, 215. + + + +XXIV. GOLDEN ARM. + +_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, p. 338, collected by the Rev. S. +Baring-Gould, in Devonshire. Mr. Burne-Jones remembers hearing it in his +youth in Warwickshire. + +_Parallels_.--The first fragment at the end of Grimm (ii. 467, of Mrs. +Hunt's translation), tells of an innkeeper's wife who had used the liver +of a man hanging on the gallows, whose ghost comes to her and tells her +what has become of his hair, and his eyes, and the dialogue concludes + + "SHE: Where is thy liver? + IT: Thou hast devoured it!" + +For similar "surprise packets" see Cosquin, ii. 77. + +_Remarks_.--It is doubtful how far such gruesome topics should be +introduced into a book for children, but as a matter of fact the +_katharsis_ of pity and terror among the little ones is as effective as +among the spectators of a drama, and they take the same kind of pleasant +thrill from such stories. They know it is all make-believe just as much +as the spectators of a tragedy. Every one who has enjoyed the blessing +of a romantic imagination has been trained up on such tales of wonder. + + + +XXV. TOM THUMB. + +_Source_.--From the chap-book contained in Halliwell, p. 199, and Mr. +Hartland's _English Folk and Fairy Tales_. I have omitted much of the +second part. + +_Parallels_.--Halliwell has also a version entirely in verse. "Tom +Thumb" is "Le petit Poucet" of the French, "Daumling" of the Germans, +and similar diminutive heroes elsewhere (_cf._ Deulin, _Contes de ma +Mere l'Oye_, 326), but of his adventures only that in the cow's stomach +(_cf._ Cosquin, ii. 190) is common with his French and German cousins. +M. Gaston Paris has a monograph on "Tom Thumb." + + + +XXVI. MR. FOX. + +_Source_.--Contributed by Blakeway to Malone's Variorum Shakespeare, to +illustrate Benedick's remark in _Much Ado about Nothing_ (I. i. 146): +"Like the old tale, my Lord, 'It is not so, nor 'twas not so, but, +indeed, God forbid it should be so;'" which clearly refers to the tale +of Mr. Fox. "The Forbidden Chamber" has been studied by Mr. Hartland, +_Folk-Lore Journal_, iii. 193, _seq._ + +_Parallels_.--Halliwell, p. 166, gives a similar tale of "An Oxford +Student," whose sweetheart saw him digging her grave. "Mr. Fox" is +clearly a variant of the theme of "The Robber Bridegroom" (Grimm, No. +40, Mrs. Hunt's translation, i. 389, 395; and Cosquin, i. 180-1). + + + +XXVII. LAZY JACK. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, 157. + +_Parallels_.--The same story occurs in Lowland Scotch as "Jock and +his Mother," Chambers, _l.c._, 101; in Ireland, as "I'll be wiser next +time," Kennedy, _l.c._, 39-42. Abroad it is Grimm's _Hans im Glueck_ +(No. 83). The "cure by laughing" incident is "common form" in folk-tales +(_cf._ Koehler on Gonzenbach, _Sizil. Maerchen_, ii. 210, 224; Jones and +Kropf, _Magyar Tales_, 312). + + + +XXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE. + +_Source_.--_American Journal of Folk-Lore_, ii. 60. + +_Parallels_.--Another variant is given in the same _Journal_, p. 277, +where reference is also made to a version "The Gingerbread Boy," in +_St. Nicholas_, May 1875. Chambers gives two versions of the same story, +under the title "The Wee Bunnock," the first of which is one of the most +dramatic and humorous of folk-tales. Unfortunately, the Scotticisms are +so frequent as to render the droll practically untranslatable. "The Fate +of Mr. Jack Sparrow" in _Uncle Remus_ is similar to that of Johnny-Cake. + + + +XXIX. EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER. + +_Source_.--From the ballad of the same name as given in Mr. Allingham's +_Ballad Book_: it is clearly a fairy tale and not a ballad proper. + +_Parallels_.--The lover visiting his spouse in guise of a bird, is a +frequent _motif_ in folk-tales. + + + +XXX. MR. MIACCA. + +_Source_.--From memory of Mrs. B. Abrahams, who heard it from her mother +some _x_ years ago (more than 40). I have transposed the two incidents, +as in her version Tommy Grimes was a clever carver and carried about +with him a carven leg. This seemed to me to exceed the limits of +_vraisemblance_ even for a folk-tale. + +_Parallels_.--Getting out of an ogre's clutches by playing on the +simplicity of his wife, occurs in "Molly Whuppie" (No. xxii.), and its +similars. In the Grimms' "Hansel and Grethel," Hansel pokes out a stick +instead of his finger that the witch may not think him fat enough for +the table. + +_Remarks_.--Mr. Miacca seems to have played the double _role_ of a +domestic Providence. He not alone punished bad boys, as here, but also +rewarded the good, by leaving them gifts on appropriate occasions like +Santa Claus or Father Christmas, who, as is well known, only leave +things for good children. Mrs. Abrahams remembers one occasion well +when she nearly caught sight of Mr. Miacca, just after he had left her a +gift; she saw his shadow in the shape of a bright light passing down the +garden. + + + +XXXI. DICK WHITTINGTON. + +_Source_.--I have cobbled this up out of three chap-book versions; (1) +that contained in Mr. Hartland's _English Folk-tales_; (2) that edited +by Mr. H. B. Wheatley for the Villon Society; (3) that appended to +Messrs. Besant and Rice's monograph. + +_Parallels_.--Whittington's cat has made the fortune of his master in +all parts of the Old World, as Mr. W. A. Clouston, among others, +has shown, _Popular Tales and Fictions_, ii. 65-78 (_cf._ Koehler on +Gonzenbach, ii. 251). + +_Remarks_.--If Bow Bells had pealed in the exact and accurate nineteenth +century, they doubtless would have chimed + + Turn again, Whittington, + Thrice and a half Lord Mayor of London. + +For besides his three mayoralties of 1397, 1406, and 1419, he served as +Lord Mayor in place of Adam Bamme, deceased, in the latter half of +the mayoralty of 1396. It will be noticed that the chap-book puts the +introduction of potatoes rather far back. + + + +XXXII. THE STRANGE VISITOR + +_Source_.--From Chambers, _l.c._, 64, much Anglicised. I have retained +"Aih-late-wee-moul," though I candidly confess I have not the slightest +idea what it means; judging other children by myself, I do not +think that makes the response less effective. The prosaic-minded may +substitute "Up-late-and-little-food." + +_Parallels_.--The man made by instalments, occurs in the Grimms' No. 4, +and something like it in an English folk-tale, _The Golden Ball_, _ap._ +Henderson, _l.c._, p. 333. + + + +XXXIII. THE LAIDLY WORM. + +_Source_.--From an eighteenth-century ballad of the Rev. Mr. Lamb of +Norham, as given in Prof. Child's _Ballads_; with a few touches and +verses from the more ancient version "Kempion." A florid prose version +appeared in _Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore_ for May 1890. I +have made the obvious emendation of + +O quit your sword, unbend your bow + +for + +O quit your sword, and bend your bow. + +_Parallels_.--The ballad of "Kempe Owein" is a more general version +which "The Laidly Worm" has localised near Bamborough. We learn from +this that the original hero was Kempe or Champion Owain, the Welsh hero +who flourished in the ninth century. Childe Wynd therefore = Childe +Owein. The "Deliverance Kiss" has been studied by Prof. Child, _l.c._, +i. 207. A noteworthy example occurs in Boiardo's _Orlando Inamorato_, +cc. xxv., xxvi. + +_Remarks_.--It is perhaps unnecessary to give the equations "Laidly Worm += Loathly Worm = Loathsome Dragon," and "borrowed = changed." + + + +XXXIV. CAT AND MOUSE. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 154. + +_Parallels_.--Scarcely more than a variant of the "Old Woman and her +Pig" (No. iv.), which see. It is curious that a very similar "run" is +added by Bengali women at the end of every folk-tale they tell (Lal +Behari Day, _Folk Tales of Bengal_, Pref. _ad fin._) + + + +XXXV. THE FISH AND THE RING. + +_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, p. 326, from a communication by the Rev. +S. Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--"Jonah rings" have been put together by Mr. Clouston +in his _Popular Tales_, i. 398, &c.: the most famous are those of +Polycrates, of Solomon, and the Sanskrit drama of "Sakuntala," the plot +of which turns upon such a ring. "Letters to kill bearer" have been +traced from Homer downwards by Prof. Koehler on Gonzenbach, ii. 220, and +"the substituted letter" by the same authority in _Occ. u. Or._, ii. +289. Mr. Baring-Gould, who was one of the pioneers of the study of +folk-tales in this country, has given a large number of instances of +"the pre-ordained marriage" in folk-tales in Henderson, _l.c._ + + + +XXXVI. THE MAGPIE'S NEST. + +_Source_.--I have built up the "Magpie's Nest" from two nidification +myths, as a German professor would call them, in the Rev. Mr. +Swainson's _Folk-Lore of British Birds_, pp. 80 and 166. I have received +instruction about the relative values of nests from a little friend of +mine named Katie, who knows all about it. If there is any mistake in +the order of neatness in the various birds' nests, I must have learnt my +lesson badly. + +_Remarks_.--English popular tradition is curiously at variance about the +magpie's nidificatory powers, for another legend given by Mr. Swainson +represents her as refusing to be instructed by the birds and that is why +she does _not_ make a good nest. + + + +XXXVII. KATE CRACKERNUTS. + +_Source_.--Given by Mr. Lang in _Longman's Magazine_, vol. xiv. and +reprinted in _Folk-Lore_, Sept. 1890. It is very corrupt, both girls +being called Kate, and I have had largely to rewrite. + +_Parallels_.--There is a tale which is clearly a cousin if not a parent +of this in _Kennedy's Fictions_, 54 _seq._, containing the visit to the +green hill (for which see "Childe Rowland"), a reference to nuts, +and even the sesame rhyme. The prince is here a corpse who becomes +revivified; the same story is in Campbell No. 13. The jealous stepmother +is "universally human." (_Cf._ Koehler on Gonzenbach, ii. 206.) + + + +XXXVIII. THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON. + +_Source_.--Henderson's _Folk-Lore of Northern Counties_, 2nd edition, +published by the Folk-Lore Society, pp. 266-7. I have written the +introductory paragraph so as to convey some information about Brownies, +Bogles, and Redcaps, for which Henderson, _l.c._, 246-53, is my +authority. Mr. Batten's portrait renders this somewhat superfluous. + +_Parallels_.--The Grimms' "Elves" (No. 39) behave in like manner +on being rewarded for their services. Milton's "lubbar-fiend" in +_L'Allegro_ has all the characteristics of a Brownie. + + + +XXXIX. ASS, TABLE AND STICK. + +_Source_.--Henderson, _l.c._, first edition, pp. 327-9, by the Rev. S. +Baring-Gould. + +_Parallels_.--Mr. Baring-Gould gives another version from the East +Riding, _l.c._, 329, in which there are three brothers who go through +the adventures. He also refers to European Variants, p. 311, which could +now be largely supplemented from Cosquin, i. 53-4, ii. 66, 171. + +_Remarks_.--As an example of the sun-myth explanation of folk-tales I +will quote the same authority (p. 314): "The Master, who gives the three +precious gifts, is the All Father, the Supreme Spirit. The gold and +jewel-dropping ass, is the spring cloud, hanging in the sky and shedding +the bright productive vernal showers. The table which covers itself is +the earth becoming covered with flowers and fruit at the bidding of +the New Year. But there is a check; rain is withheld, the process +of vegetation is stayed by some evil influence. Then comes the +thunder-cloud, out of which leaps the bolt; the rains pour down, the +earth receives them, and is covered with abundance--all that was lost is +recovered." + +Mr. Baring-Gould, it is well-known, has since become a distinguished +writer of fiction. + + + +XL. FAIRY OINTMENT. + +_Source_.--Mrs. Bray, _The Tamar and the Tavy_, i. 174 (letters to +Southey), as quoted by Mr. Hartland in _Folk-Lore_, i. 207-8. I have +christened the anonymous midwife and euphemised her profession. + +_Parallels_.--Mr. Hartland has studied Human Midwives in the _Archaeol. +Review_, iv., and parallels to our story in _Folk-Lore_, i. 209, _seq._; +the most interesting of these is from Gervase of Tilbury (xiii. cent.), +_Otia Imper._, iii. 85, and three Breton tales given by M. Sebillot +(_Contes_, ii. 42; _Litt. orale_, 23; _Trad. et Superst._, i. 109). +_Cf._ Prof. Child, i. 339; ii. 505. + + + +XLI. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END. + +_Source_.--Leyden's edition of _The Complaynt of Scotland_, p. 234 +_seq._, with additional touches from Halliwell, 162-3, who makes up a +slightly different version from the rhymes. The opening formula I have +taken from Mayhew, _London Labour_, iii. 390, who gives it as the usual +one when tramps tell folk-tales. I also added it to No. xvii. + +_Parallels_.--Sir W. Scott remembered a similar story; see Taylor's +_Gammer Grethel, ad fin_. In Scotland it is Chambers's tale of _The +Paddo_, p. 87; Leyden supposes it is referred to in the _Complaynt_, (c. +1548), as "The Wolf of the Warldis End." The well of this name occurs +also in the Scotch version of the "Three Heads of the Well," (No. +xliii.). Abroad it is the Grimms' first tale, while frogs who would +a-wooing go are discussed by Prof. Koehler, _Occ. u. Orient_ ii. 330; by +Prof. Child, i. 298; and by Messrs. Jones and Kropf, _l.c._, p. 404. The +sieve-bucket task is widespread from the Danaids of the Greeks to the +leverets of _Uncle Remus_, who, curiously enough, use the same rhyme: +"Fill it wid moss en dob it wid clay." _Cf._, too, No. xxiii. + + + +XLII. MASTER OF ALL MASTERS. + +_Source_.--I have taken what suited me from a number of sources, which +shows how wide-spread this quaint droll is in England: (i) In Mayhew, +_London Poor_, iii. 391, told by a lad in a workhouse; (ii) several +versions in 7 _Notes and Queries_, iii. 35, 87, 159, 398. + +_Parallels_.--Rev. W. Gregor gives a Scotch version under the title "The +Clever Apprentice," in _Folk-Lore Journal_, vii. 166. Mr. Hartland, in +_Notes and Queries_, _l.c._, 87, refers to Pitre's _Fiabi sicil._, iii. +120, for a variant. + +_Remarks_.--According to Mr. Hartland, the story is designed as a satire +on pedantry, and is as old in Italy as Straparola (sixteenth century). +In passionate Sicily a wife disgusted with her husband's pedantry +sets the house on fire, and informs her husband of the fact in this +unintelligible gibberish; he, not understanding his own lingo, falls +a victim to the flames, and she marries the servant who had taken the +message. + + + +XLIII. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL. + +_Source_.--Halliwell, p. 158. The second wish has been somewhat +euphemised. + +_Parallels_.--The story forms part of Peele's _Old Wives' Tale_, where +the rhyme was + + _A Head rises in the well_, + Fair maiden, white and red, + Stroke me smooth and comb my head, + And thou shalt have some cockell-bread. + +It is also in Chambers, _l.c._, 105, where the well is at the World's +End (_cf._ No. xli.). The contrasted fates of two step-sisters, is the +Frau Holle (Grimm, No. 24) type of Folk-tale studied by Cosquin, i. 250, +_seq._ "Kate Crackernuts" (No. xxxvii.) is a pleasant contrast to this. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of English Fairy Tales, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH FAIRY TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 7439.txt or 7439.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/4/3/7439/ + +Produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: English Fairy Tales + +Author: Anonymous + +Editor: Joseph Jacobs + + +Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7439] +This file was first posted on April 30, 2003 +Last Updated: March 9, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH FAIRY TALES *** + + + + +Text file produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + + +</pre> + + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + ENGLISH FAIRY TALES + </h1> + <h2> + By Anonymous + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + <i>COLLECTED BY</i> JOSEPH JACOBS + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + <i>HOW TO GET INTO THIS BOOK.</i> + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>Knock at the Knocker on the Door, + Pull the Bell at the side,</i> +</pre> + <p> + <i>Then, if you are very quiet, you will hear a teeny tiny voice say + through the grating “Take down the Key.” This you will find at the back: + you cannot mistake it, for it has J. J. in the wards. Put the Key in the + Keyhole, which it fits exactly, unlock the door and WALK IN.</i> + </p> + <h3> + <i>TO MY DEAR LITTLE MAY</i> + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + Who says that English folk have no fairy-tales of their own? The present + volume contains only a selection out of some 140, of which I have found + traces in this country. It is probable that many more exist. + </p> + <p> + A quarter of the tales in this volume, have been collected during the last + ten years or so, and some of them have not been hitherto published. Up to + 1870 it was equally said of France and of Italy, that they possessed no + folk-tales. Yet, within fifteen years from that date, over 1000 tales had + been collected in each country. I am hoping that the present volume may + lead to equal activity in this country, and would earnestly beg any reader + of this book who knows of similar tales, to communicate them, written down + as they are told, to me, care of Mr. Nutt. The only reason, I imagine, why + such tales have not hitherto been brought to light, is the lamentable gap + between the governing and recording classes and the dumb working classes + of this country—dumb to others but eloquent among themselves. It + would be no unpatriotic task to help to bridge over this gulf, by giving a + common fund of nursery literature to all classes of the English people, + and, in any case, it can do no harm to add to the innocent gaiety of the + nation. + </p> + <p> + A word or two as to our title seems necessary. We have called our stories + Fairy Tales though few of them speak of fairies. [Footnote: For some + recent views on fairies and tales <i>about</i> fairies, see Notes.] The + same remark applies to the collection of the Brothers Grimm and to all the + other European collections, which contain exactly the same classes of + tales as ours. Yet our stories are what the little ones mean when they + clamour for “Fairy Tales,” and this is the only name which they give to + them. One cannot imagine a child saying, “Tell us a folk-tale, nurse,” or + “Another nursery tale, please, grandma.” As our book is intended for the + little ones, we have indicated its contents by the name they use. The + words “Fairy Tales” must accordingly be taken to include tales in which + occurs something “fairy,” something extraordinary—fairies, giants, + dwarfs, speaking animals. It must be taken also to cover tales in which + what is extraordinary is the stupidity of some of the actors. Many of the + tales in this volume, as in similar collections for other European + countries, are what the folklorists call Drolls. They serve to justify the + title of Merrie England, which used to be given to this country of ours, + and indicate unsuspected capacity for fun and humour among the unlettered + classes. The story of Tom Tit Tot, which opens our collection, is + unequalled among all other folk-tales I am acquainted with, for its + combined sense of humour and dramatic power. + </p> + <p> + The first adjective of our title also needs a similar extension of its + meaning. I have acted on Molière's principle, and have taken what was good + wherever I could find it. Thus, a couple of these stories have been found + among descendants of English immigrants in America; a couple of others I + tell as I heard them myself in my youth in Australia. One of the best was + taken down from the mouth of an English Gipsy. I have also included some + stories that have only been found in Lowland Scotch. I have felt justified + in doing this, as of the twenty-one folk-tales contained in Chambers' + “Popular Rhymes of Scotland,” no less than sixteen are also to be found in + an English form. With the Folk-tale as with the Ballad, Lowland Scotch may + be regarded as simply a dialect of English, and it is a mere chance + whether a tale is extant in one or other, or both. + </p> + <p> + I have also rescued and re-told a few Fairy Tales that only exist + now-a-days in the form of ballads. There are certain indications that the + “common form” of the English Fairy Tale was the <i>cante-fable</i>, a + mixture of narrative and verse of which the most illustrious example in + literature is “Aucassin et Nicolette.” In one case I have endeavoured to + retain this form, as the tale in which it occurs, “Childe Rowland,” is + mentioned by Shakespeare in <i>King Lear</i>, and is probably, as I have + shown, the source of Milton's <i>Comus</i>. Late as they have been + collected, some dozen of the tales can be traced back to the sixteenth + century, two of them being quoted by Shakespeare himself. + </p> + <p> + In the majority of instances I have had largely to rewrite these Fairy + Tales, especially those in dialect, including the Lowland Scotch. + [Footnote: It is perhaps worth remarking that the Brothers Grimm did the + same with their stories. “Dass der Ausdruck,” say they in their Preface, + “und die Ausführung des Einzelnen grossentheils von uns herrührt, versteht + sich von selbst.” I may add that many of their stories were taken from + printed sources. In the first volume of Mrs. Hunt's translation, Nos. 12, + 18, 19, 23, 32, 35, 42, 43, 44, 69, 77, 78, 83, 89, are thus derived.] + Children, and sometimes those of larger growth, will not read dialect. I + have also had to reduce the flatulent phraseology of the + eighteenth-century chap-books, and to re-write in simpler style the + stories only extant in “Literary” English. I have, however, left a few + vulgarisms in the mouths of vulgar people. Children appreciate the + dramatic propriety of this as much as their elders. Generally speaking, it + has been my ambition to write as a good old nurse will speak when she + tells Fairy Tales. I am doubtful as to my success in catching the + colloquial-romantic tone appropriate for such narratives, but the thing + had to be done or else my main object, to give a book of English Fairy + Tales which English children will listen to, would have been unachieved. + This book is meant to be read aloud, and not merely taken in by the eye. + </p> + <p> + In a few instances I have introduced or changed an incident. I have never + done so, however, without mentioning the fact in the Notes. These have + been relegated to the obscurity of small print and a back place, while the + little ones have been, perhaps unnecessarily, warned off them. They + indicate my sources and give a few references to parallels and variants + which may be of interest to fellow-students of Folk-lore. It is, perhaps, + not necessary to inform readers who are not fellow-students that the study + of Folk-tales has pretensions to be a science. It has its special + terminology, and its own methods of investigation, by which it is hoped, + one of these days, to gain fuller knowledge of the workings of the popular + mind as well as traces of archaic modes of thought and custom. I hope on + some future occasion to treat the subject of the English Folk-tale on a + larger scale and with all the necessary paraphernalia of prolegomena and + excursus. I shall then, of course, reproduce my originals with literal + accuracy, and have therefore felt the more at liberty on the present + occasion to make the necessary deviations from this in order to make the + tales readable for children. + </p> + <p> + Finally, I have to thank those by whose kindness in waiving their rights + to some of these stories, I have been enabled to compile this book. My + friends Mr. E. Clodd, Mr. F. Hindes Groome, and Mr. Andrew Lang, have thus + yielded up to me some of the most attractive stories in the following + pages. The Councils of the English and of the American Folk-lore + Societies, and Messrs. Longmans, have also been equally generous. Nor can + I close these remarks without a word of thanks and praise to the artistic + skill with which my friend, Mr. J. D. Batten, has made the romance and + humour of these stories live again in the brilliant designs with which he + has adorned these pages. It should be added that the dainty headpieces to + “Henny Penny” and “Mr. Fox” are due to my old friend, Mr. Henry Ryland. + </p> + <h3> + JOSEPH JACOBS. + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <p> + <b>CONTENTS</b> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <i>HOW TO GET INTO THIS BOOK.</i> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> TOM TIT TOT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> THE THREE SILLIES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> THE ROSE-TREE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> MR. VINEGAR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> NIX NOUGHT NOTHING </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> JACK HANNAFORD </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> BINNORIE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> MOUSE AND MOUSER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> CAP O' RUSHES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> TEENY-TINY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> JACK AND THE BEANSTALK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> JACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> JACK THE GIANT-KILLER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> HENNY-PENNY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> CHILDE ROWLAND </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> MOLLY WHUPPIE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> THE RED ETTIN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> THE GOLDEN ARM </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> MR. FOX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> LAZY JACK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> JOHNNY-CAKE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> MR. MIACCA </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> THE STRANGE VISITOR </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> THE LAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> THE CAT AND THE MOUSE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> THE FISH AND THE RING </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> THE MAGPIE'S NEST </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> KATE CRACKERNUTS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE STICK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0042"> FAIRY OINTMENT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0043"> THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0044"> MASTER OF ALL MASTERS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0045"> THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0046"> OYEZ-OYEZ-OYEZ </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_NOTE"> NOTES AND REFERENCES </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TOM TIT TOT + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a woman, and she baked five pies. And when they + came out of the oven, they were that overbaked the crusts were too hard to + eat. So she says to her daughter: + </p> + <p> + “Darter,” says she, “put you them there pies on the shelf, and leave 'em + there a little, and they'll come again.”—She meant, you know, the + crust would get soft. + </p> + <p> + But the girl, she says to herself: “Well, if they'll come again, I'll eat + 'em now.” And she set to work and ate 'em all, first and last. + </p> + <p> + Well, come supper-time the woman said: “Go you, and get one o' them there + pies. I dare say they've come again now.” + </p> + <p> + The girl went and she looked, and there was nothing but the dishes. So + back she came and says she: “Noo, they ain't come again.” + </p> + <p> + “Not one of 'em?” says the mother. + </p> + <p> + “Not one of 'em,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Well, come again, or not come again,” said the woman “I'll have one for + supper.” + </p> + <p> + “But you can't, if they ain't come,” said the girl. + </p> + <p> + “But I can,” says she. “Go you, and bring the best of 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “Best or worst,” says the girl, “I've ate 'em all, and you can't have one + till that's come again.” + </p> + <p> + Well, the woman she was done, and she took her spinning to the door to + spin, and as she span she sang: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day. + My darter ha' ate five, five pies to-day.” + </pre> + <p> + The king was coming down the street, and he heard her sing, but what she + sang he couldn't hear, so he stopped and said: + </p> + <p> + “What was that you were singing, my good woman?” + </p> + <p> + The woman was ashamed to let him hear what her daughter had been doing, so + she sang, instead of that: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day. + My darter ha' spun five, five skeins to-day.” + </pre> + <p> + “Stars o' mine!” said the king, “I never heard tell of any one that could + do that.” + </p> + <p> + Then he said: “Look you here, I want a wife, and I'll marry your daughter. + But look you here,” says he, “eleven months out of the year she shall have + all she likes to eat, and all the gowns she likes to get, and all the + company she likes to keep; but the last month of the year she'll have to + spin five skeins every day, and if she don't I shall kill her.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” says the woman; for she thought what a grand marriage that + was. And as for the five skeins, when the time came, there'd be plenty of + ways of getting out of it, and likeliest, he'd have forgotten all about + it. + </p> + <p> + Well, so they were married. And for eleven months the girl had all she + liked to eat, and all the gowns she liked to get, and all the company she + liked to keep. + </p> + <p> + But when the time was getting over, she began to think about the skeins + and to wonder if he had 'em in mind. But not one word did he say about + 'em, and she thought he'd wholly forgotten 'em. + </p> + <p> + However, the last day of the last month he takes her to a room she'd never + set eyes on before. There was nothing in it but a spinning-wheel and a + stool. And says he: “Now, my dear, here you'll be shut in to-morrow with + some victuals and some flax, and if you haven't spun five skeins by the + night, your head'll go off.” + </p> + <p> + And away he went about his business. + </p> + <p> + Well, she was that frightened, she'd always been such a gatless girl, that + she didn't so much as know how to spin, and what was she to do to-morrow + with no one to come nigh her to help her? She sat down on a stool in the + kitchen, and law! how she did cry! + </p> + <p> + However, all of a sudden she heard a sort of a knocking low down on the + door. She upped and oped it, and what should she see but a small little + black thing with a long tail. That looked up at her right curious, and + that said: + </p> + <p> + “What are you a-crying for?” + </p> + <p> + “What's that to you?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Never you mind,” that said, “but tell me what you're a-crying for.” + </p> + <p> + “That won't do me no good if I do,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “You don't know that,” that said, and twirled that's tail round. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” says she, “that won't do no harm, if that don't do no good,” and + she upped and told about the pies, and the skeins, and everything. + </p> + <p> + “This is what I'll do,” says the little black thing, “I'll come to your + window every morning and take the flax and bring it spun at night.” + </p> + <p> + “What's your pay?” says she. + </p> + <p> + That looked out of the corner of that's eyes, and that said: “I'll give + you three guesses every night to guess my name, and if you haven't guessed + it before the month's up you shall be mine.” + </p> + <p> + Well, she thought she'd be sure to guess that's name before the month was + up. “All right,” says she, “I agree.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” that says, and law! how that twirled that's tail. + </p> + <p> + Well, the next day, her husband took her into the room, and there was the + flax and the day's food. + </p> + <p> + “Now there's the flax,” says he, “and if that ain't spun up this night, + off goes your head.” And then he went out and locked the door. + </p> + <p> + He'd hardly gone, when there was a knocking against the window. + </p> + <p> + She upped and she oped it, and there sure enough was the little old thing + sitting on the ledge. + </p> + <p> + “Where's the flax?” says he. + </p> + <p> + “Here it be,” says she. And she gave it to him. + </p> + <p> + Well, come the evening a knocking came again to the window. She upped and + she oped it, and there was the little old thing with five skeins of flax + on his arm. + </p> + <p> + “Here it be,” says he, and he gave it to her. + </p> + <p> + “Now, what's my name?” says he. + </p> + <p> + “What, is that Bill?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, that ain't,” says he, and he twirled his tail. + </p> + <p> + “Is that Ned?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, that ain't,” says he, and he twirled his tail. + </p> + <p> + “Well, is that Mark?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, that ain't,” says he, and he twirled his tail harder, and away he + flew. + </p> + <p> + Well, when her husband came in, there were the five skeins ready for him. + “I see I shan't have to kill you to-night, my dear,” says he; “you'll have + your food and your flax in the morning,” says he, and away he goes. + </p> + <p> + Well, every day the flax and the food were brought, and every day that + there little black impet used to come mornings and evenings. And all the + day the girl sat trying to think of names to say to it when it came at + night. But she never hit on the right one. And as it got towards the end + of the month, the impet began to look so maliceful, and that twirled + that's tail faster and faster each time she gave a guess. + </p> + <p> + At last it came to the last day but one. The impet came at night along + with the five skeins, and that said, + </p> + <p> + “What, ain't you got my name yet?” + </p> + <p> + “Is that Nicodemus?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, t'ain't,” that says. + </p> + <p> + “Is that Sammle?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, t'ain't,” that says. + </p> + <p> + “A-well, is that Methusalem?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, t'ain't that neither,” that says. + </p> + <p> + Then that looks at her with that's eyes like a coal o' fire, and that + says: “Woman, there's only to-morrow night, and then you'll be mine!” And + away it flew. + </p> + <p> + Well, she felt that horrid. However, she heard the king coming along the + passage. In he came, and when he sees the five skeins, he says, says he, + </p> + <p> + “Well, my dear,” says he, “I don't see but what you'll have your skeins + ready to-morrow night as well, and as I reckon I shan't have to kill you, + I'll have supper in here to-night.” So they brought supper, and another + stool for him, and down the two sat. + </p> + <p> + Well, he hadn't eaten but a mouthful or so, when he stops and begins to + laugh. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “A-why,” says he, “I was out a-hunting to-day, and I got away to a place + in the wood I'd never seen before And there was an old chalk-pit. And I + heard a kind of a sort of a humming. So I got off my hobby, and I went + right quiet to the pit, and I looked down. Well, what should there be but + the funniest little black thing you ever set eyes on. And what was that + doing, but that had a little spinning-wheel, and that was spinning + wonderful fast, and twirling that's tail. And as that span that sang: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Nimmy nimmy not + My name's Tom Tit Tot.” + </pre> + <p> + Well, when the girl heard this, she felt as if she could have jumped out + of her skin for joy, but she didn't say a word. + </p> + <p> + Next day that there little thing looked so maliceful when he came for the + flax. And when night came, she heard that knocking against the window + panes. She oped the window, and that come right in on the ledge. That was + grinning from ear to ear, and Oo! that's tail was twirling round so fast. + </p> + <p> + “What's my name?” that says, as that gave her the skeins. + </p> + <p> + “Is that Solomon?” she says, pretending to be afeard. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, t'ain't,” that says, and that came further into the room. + </p> + <p> + “Well, is that Zebedee?” says she again. + </p> + <p> + “Noo, t'ain't,” says the impet. And then that laughed and twirled that's + tail till you couldn't hardly see it. + </p> + <p> + “Take time, woman,” that says; “next guess, and you're mine.” And that + stretched out that's black hands at her. + </p> + <p> + Well, she backed a step or two, and she looked at it, and then she laughed + out, and says she, pointing her finger at it: + </p> + <h3> + “NIMMY NIMMY NOT, YOUR NAME'S TOM TIT TOT!” + </h3> + <p> + Well, when that heard her, that gave an awful shriek and away that flew + into the dark, and she never saw it any more. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE THREE SILLIES + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a farmer and his wife who had one daughter, and + she was courted by a gentleman. Every evening he used to come and see her, + and stop to supper at the farmhouse, and the daughter used to be sent down + into the cellar to draw the beer for supper. So one evening she had gone + down to draw the beer, and she happened to look up at the ceiling while + she was drawing, and she saw a mallet stuck in one of the beams. It must + have been there a long, long time, but somehow or other she had never + noticed it before, and she began a-thinking. And she thought it was very + dangerous to have that mallet there, for she said to herself: “Suppose him + and me was to be married, and we was to have a son, and he was to grow up + to be a man, and come down into the cellar to draw the beer, like as I'm + doing now, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, what a + dreadful thing it would be!” And she put down the candle and the jug, and + sat herself down and began a-crying. + </p> + <p> + Well, they began to wonder upstairs how it was that she was so long + drawing the beer, and her mother went down to see after her, and she found + her sitting on the settle crying, and the beer running over the floor. + “Why, whatever is the matter?” said her mother. “Oh, mother!” says she, + “look at that horrid mallet! Suppose we was to be married, and was to have + a son, and he was to grow up, and was to come down to the cellar to draw + the beer, and the mallet was to fall on his head and kill him, what a + dreadful thing it would be!” “Dear, dear! what a dreadful thing it would + be!” said the mother, and she sat her down aside of the daughter and + started a-crying too. Then after a bit the father began to wonder that + they didn't come back, and he went down into the cellar to look after them + himself, and there they two sat a-crying, and the beer running all over + the floor. “Whatever is the matter?” says he. “Why,” says the mother, + “look at that horrid mallet. Just suppose, if our daughter and her + sweetheart was to be married, and was to have a son, and he was to grow + up, and was to come down into the cellar to draw the beer, and the mallet + was to fall on his head and kill him, what a dreadful thing it would be!” + “Dear, dear, dear! so it would!” said the father, and he sat himself down + aside of the other two, and started a-crying. + </p> + <p> + Now the gentleman got tired of stopping up in the kitchen by himself, and + at last he went down into the cellar too, to see what they were after; and + there they three sat a-crying side by side, and the beer running all over + the floor. And he ran straight and turned the tap. Then he said: “Whatever + are you three doing, sitting there crying, and letting the beer run all + over the floor?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” says the father, “look at that horrid mallet! Suppose you and our + daughter was to be married, and was to have a son, and he was to grow up, + and was to come down into the cellar to draw the beer, and the mallet was + to fall on his head and kill him!” And then they all started a-crying + worse than before. But the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and reached up + and pulled out the mallet, and then he said: “I've travelled many miles, + and I never met three such big sillies as you three before; and now I + shall start out on my travels again, and when I can find three bigger + sillies than you three, then I'll come back and marry your daughter.” So + he wished them good-bye, and started off on his travels, and left them all + crying because the girl had lost her sweetheart. + </p> + <p> + Well, he set out, and he travelled a long way, and at last he came to a + woman's cottage that had some grass growing on the roof. And the woman was + trying to get her cow to go up a ladder to the grass, and the poor thing + durst not go. So the gentleman asked the woman what she was doing. “Why, + lookye,” she said, “look at all that beautiful grass. I'm going to get the + cow on to the roof to eat it. She'll be quite safe, for I shall tie a + string round her neck, and pass it down the chimney, and tie it to my + wrist as I go about the house, so she can't fall off without my knowing + it.” “Oh, you poor silly!” said the gentleman, “you should cut the grass + and throw it down to the cow!” But the woman thought it was easier to get + the cow up the ladder than to get the grass down, so she pushed her and + coaxed her and got her up, and tied a string round her neck, and passed it + down the chimney, and fastened it to her own wrist. And the gentleman went + on his way, but he hadn't gone far when the cow tumbled off the roof, and + hung by the string tied round her neck, and it strangled her. And the + weight of the cow tied to her wrist pulled the woman up the chimney, and + she stuck fast half-way and was smothered in the soot. + </p> + <p> + Well, that was one big silly. + </p> + <p> + And the gentleman went on and on, and he went to an inn to stop the night, + and they were so full at the inn that they had to put him in a + double-bedded room, and another traveller was to sleep in the other bed. + The other man was a very pleasant fellow, and they got very friendly + together; but in the morning, when they were both getting up, the + gentleman was surprised to see the other hang his trousers on the knobs of + the chest of drawers and run across the room and try to jump into them, + and he tried over and over again, and couldn't manage it; and the + gentleman wondered whatever he was doing it for. At last he stopped and + wiped his face with his handkerchief. “Oh dear,” he says, “I do think + trousers are the most awkwardest kind of clothes that ever were. I can't + think who could have invented such things. It takes me the best part of an + hour to get into mine every morning, and I get so hot! How do you manage + yours?” So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and showed him how to put + them on; and he was very much obliged to him, and said he never should + have thought of doing it that way. + </p> + <p> + So that was another big silly. + </p> + <p> + Then the gentleman went on his travels again; and he came to a village, + and outside the village there was a pond, and round the pond was a crowd + of people. And they had got rakes, and brooms, and pitchforks, reaching + into the pond; and the gentleman asked what was the matter. “Why,” they + say, “matter enough! Moon's tumbled into the pond, and we can't rake her + out anyhow!” So the gentleman burst out a-laughing, and told them to look + up into the sky, and that it was only the shadow in the water. But they + wouldn't listen to him, and abused him shamefully, and he got away as + quick as he could. + </p> + <p> + So there was a whole lot of sillies bigger than them three sillies at + home. So the gentleman turned back home again and married the farmer's + daughter, and if they didn't live happy for ever after, that's nothing to + do with you or me. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE ROSE-TREE + </h2> + <p> + There was once upon a time a good man who had two children: a girl by a + first wife, and a boy by the second. The girl was as white as milk, and + her lips were like cherries. Her hair was like golden silk, and it hung to + the ground. Her brother loved her dearly, but her wicked stepmother hated + her. “Child,” said the stepmother one day, “go to the grocer's shop and + buy me a pound of candles.” She gave her the money; and the little girl + went, bought the candles, and started on her return. There was a stile to + cross. She put down the candles whilst she got over the stile. Up came a + dog and ran off with the candles. + </p> + <p> + She went back to the grocer's, and she got a second bunch. She came to the + stile, set down the candles, and proceeded to climb over. Up came the dog + and ran off with the candles. + </p> + <p> + She went again to the grocer's, and she got a third bunch; and just the + same happened. Then she came to her stepmother crying, for she had spent + all the money and had lost three bunches of candles. + </p> + <p> + The stepmother was angry, but she pretended not to mind the loss. She said + to the child: “Come, lay your head on my lap that I may comb your hair.” + So the little one laid her head in the woman's lap, who proceeded to comb + the yellow silken hair. And when she combed the hair fell over her knees, + and rolled right down to the ground. + </p> + <p> + Then the stepmother hated her more for the beauty of her hair; so she said + to her, “I cannot part your hair on my knee, fetch a billet of wood.” So + she fetched it. Then said the stepmother, “I cannot part your hair with a + comb, fetch me an axe.” So she fetched it. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” said the wicked woman, “lay your head down on the billet whilst I + part your hair.” + </p> + <p> + Well! she laid down her little golden head without fear; and whist! down + came the axe, and it was off. So the mother wiped the axe and laughed. + </p> + <p> + Then she took the heart and liver of the little girl, and she stewed them + and brought them into the house for supper. The husband tasted them and + shook his head. He said they tasted very strangely. She gave some to the + little boy, but he would not eat. She tried to force him, but he refused, + and ran out into the garden, and took up his little sister, and put her in + a box, and buried the box under a rose-tree; and every day he went to the + tree and wept, till his tears ran down on the box. + </p> + <p> + One day the rose-tree flowered. It was spring, and there among the flowers + was a white bird; and it sang, and sang, and sang like an angel out of + heaven. Away it flew, and it went to a cobbler's shop, and perched itself + on a tree hard by; and thus it sang, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick, stock, stone dead.” + </pre> + <p> + “Sing again that beautiful song,” asked the shoemaker. “If you will first + give me those little red shoes you are making.” The cobbler gave the + shoes, and the bird sang the song; then flew to a tree in front of a + watchmaker's, and sang: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick, stock, stone dead.” + </pre> + <p> + “Oh, the beautiful song! sing it again, sweet bird,” asked the watchmaker. + “If you will give me first that gold watch and chain in your hand.” The + jeweller gave the watch and chain. The bird took it in one foot, the shoes + in the other, and, after having repeated the song, flew away to where + three millers were picking a millstone. The bird perched on a tree and + sang: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My wicked mother slew me, + My dear father ate me, + My little brother whom I love + Sits below, and I sing above + Stick!” + </pre> + <p> + Then one of the men put down his tool and looked up from his work, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stock!” + </pre> + <p> + Then the second miller's man laid aside his tool and looked up, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stone!” + </pre> + <p> + Then the third miller's man laid down his tool and looked up, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Dead!” + </pre> + <p> + Then all three cried out with one voice: “Oh, what a beautiful song! Sing + it, sweet bird, again.” “If you will put the millstone round my neck,” + said the bird. The men did what the bird wanted and away to the tree it + flew with the millstone round its neck, the red shoes in one foot, and the + gold watch and chain in the other. It sang the song and then flew home. It + rattled the millstone against the eaves of the house, and the stepmother + said: “It thunders.” Then the little boy ran out to see the thunder, and + down dropped the red shoes at his feet. It rattled the millstone against + the eaves of the house once more, and the stepmother said again: “It + thunders.” Then the father ran out and down fell the chain about his neck. + </p> + <p> + In ran father and son, laughing and saying, “See, what fine things the + thunder has brought us!” Then the bird rattled the millstone against the + eaves of the house a third time; and the stepmother said: “It thunders + again, perhaps the thunder has brought something for me,” and she ran out; + but the moment she stepped outside the door, down fell the millstone on + her head; and so she died. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG + </h2> + <p> + An old woman was sweeping her house, and she found a little crooked + sixpence. “What,” said she, “shall I do with this little sixpence? I will + go to market, and buy a little pig.” + </p> + <p> + As she was coming home, she came to a stile: but the piggy wouldn't go + over the stile. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a dog. So she said to the dog: + “Dog! bite pig; piggy won't go over the stile; and I shan't get home + to-night.” But the dog wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a stick. So she said: “Stick! + stick! beat dog! dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I + shan't get home to-night.” But the stick wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a fire. So she said: “Fire! fire! + burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over + the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” But the fire wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met some water. So she said: “Water, + water! quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't + bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” + But the water wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met an ox. So she said: “Ox! ox! drink + water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat + dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get + home to-night.” But the ox wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a butcher. So she said: “Butcher! + butcher! kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire + won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't + get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” But the butcher + wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a rope. So she said: “Rope! rope! + hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink water; water won't + quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite + pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get home to-night.” But + the rope wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a rat. So she said: “Rat! rat! gnaw + rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; ox won't drink + water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; stick won't beat + dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; and I shan't get + home to-night.” But the rat wouldn't. + </p> + <p> + She went a little further, and she met a cat. So she said: “Cat! cat! kill + rat; rat won't gnaw rope; rope won't hang butcher; butcher won't kill ox; + ox won't drink water; water won't quench fire; fire won't burn stick; + stick won't beat dog; dog won't bite pig; piggy won't get over the stile; + and I shan't get home to-night.” But the cat said to her, “If you will go + to yonder cow, and fetch me a saucer of milk, I will kill the rat.” So + away went the old woman to the cow. + </p> + <p> + But the cow said to her: “If you will go to yonder hay-stack, and fetch me + a handful of hay, I'll give you the milk.” So away went the old woman to + the haystack and she brought the hay to the cow. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the cow had eaten the hay, she gave the old woman the milk; and + away she went with it in a saucer to the cat. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the cat had lapped up the milk, the cat began to kill the rat; + the rat began to gnaw the rope; the rope began to hang the butcher; the + butcher began to kill the ox; the ox began to drink the water; the water + began to quench the fire; the fire began to burn the stick; the stick + began to beat the dog; the dog began to bite the pig; the little pig in a + fright jumped over the stile, and so the old woman got home that night. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HOW JACK WENT TO SEEK HIS FORTUNE + </h2> + <p> + Once on a time there was a boy named Jack, and one morning he started to + go and seek his fortune. + </p> + <p> + He hadn't gone very far before he met a cat. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Jack?” said the cat. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “May I go with you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + </p> + <p> + So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + </p> + <p> + They went a little further and they met a dog. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Jack?” said the dog. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “May I go with you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + </p> + <p> + So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. They went a little further + and they met a goat. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Jack?” said the goat. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “May I go with you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + </p> + <p> + So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + </p> + <p> + They went a little further and they met a bull. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Jack?” said the bull. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “May I go with you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + </p> + <p> + So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + </p> + <p> + They went a little further and they met a rooster. + </p> + <p> + “Where are you going, Jack?” said the rooster. + </p> + <p> + “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “May I go with you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Jack, “the more the merrier.” + </p> + <p> + So on they went, jiggelty-jolt, jiggelty-jolt. + </p> + <p> + Well, they went on till it was about dark, and they began to think of some + place where they could spend the night. About this time they came in sight + of a house, and Jack told them to keep still while he went up and looked + in through the window. And there were some robbers counting over their + money. Then Jack went back and told them to wait till he gave the word, + and then to make all the noise they could. So when they were all ready + Jack gave the word, and the cat mewed, and the dog barked, and the goat + bleated, and the bull bellowed, and the rooster crowed, and all together + they made such a dreadful noise that it frightened the robbers all away. + </p> + <p> + And then they went in and took possession of the house. Jack was afraid + the robbers would come back in the night, and so when it came time to go + to bed he put the cat in the rocking-chair, and he put the dog under the + table, and he put the goat upstairs, and he put the bull down cellar, and + the rooster flew up on to the roof, and Jack went to bed. + </p> + <p> + By-and-by the robbers saw it was all dark and they sent one man back to + the house to look after their money. Before long he came back in a great + fright and told them his story. + </p> + <p> + “I went back to the house,” said he, “and went in and tried to sit down in + the rocking-chair, and there was an old woman knitting, and she stuck her + knitting-needles into me.” That was the cat, you know. + </p> + <p> + “I went to the table to look after the money and there was a shoemaker + under the table, and he stuck his awl into me.” That was the dog, you + know. + </p> + <p> + “I started to go upstairs, and there was a man up there threshing, and he + knocked me down with his flail.” That was the goat, you know. + </p> + <p> + “I started to go down cellar, and there was a man down there chopping + wood, and he knocked me up with his axe.” That was the bull, you know. + </p> + <p> + “But I shouldn't have minded all that if it hadn't been for that little + fellow on top of the house, who kept a-hollering, 'Chuck him up to me-e! + Chuck him up to me-e!'” Of course that was the cock-a-doodle-do. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MR. VINEGAR + </h2> + <p> + Mr. and Mrs. Vinegar lived in a vinegar bottle. Now, one day, when Mr. + Vinegar was from home, Mrs. Vinegar, who was a very good housewife, was + busily sweeping her house, when an unlucky thump of the broom brought the + whole house clitter-clatter, clitter-clatter, about her ears. In an agony + of grief she rushed forth to meet her husband. + </p> + <p> + On seeing him she exclaimed, “Oh, Mr. Vinegar, Mr. Vinegar, we are ruined, + I have knocked the house down, and it is all to pieces!” Mr. Vinegar then + said: “My dear, let us see what can be done. Here is the door; I will take + it on my back, and we will go forth to seek our fortune.” + </p> + <p> + They walked all that day, and at nightfall entered a thick forest. They + were both very, very tired, and Mr. Vinegar said: “My love, I will climb + up into a tree, drag up the door, and you shall follow.” He accordingly + did so, and they both stretched their weary limbs on the door, and fell + fast asleep. + </p> + <p> + In the middle of the night Mr. Vinegar was disturbed by the sound of + voices underneath, and to his horror and dismay found that it was a band + of thieves met to divide their booty. + </p> + <p> + “Here, Jack,” said one, “here's five pounds for you; here, Bill, here's + ten pounds for you; here, Bob, here's three pounds for you.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Vinegar could listen no longer; his terror was so great that he + trembled and trembled, and shook down the door on their heads. Away + scampered the thieves, but Mr. Vinegar dared not quit his retreat till + broad daylight. + </p> + <p> + He then scrambled out of the tree, and went to lift up the door. What did + he see but a number of golden guineas. “Come down, Mrs. Vinegar,” he + cried; “come down, I say; our fortune's made, our fortune's made! Come + down, I say.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Vinegar got down as fast as she could, and when she saw the money she + jumped for joy. “Now, my dear,” said she, “I'll tell you what you shall + do. There is a fair at the neighbouring town; you shall take these forty + guineas and buy a cow. I can make butter and cheese, which you shall sell + at market, and we shall then be able to live very comfortably.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Vinegar joyfully agrees, takes the money, and off he goes to the fair. + When he arrived, he walked up and down, and at length saw a beautiful red + cow. It was an excellent milker, and perfect in every way. “Oh,” thought + Mr. Vinegar, “if I had but that cow, I should be the happiest, man alive.” + </p> + <p> + So he offers the forty guineas for the cow, and the owner said that, as he + was a friend, he'd oblige him. So the bargain was made, and he got the cow + and he drove it backwards and forwards to show it. + </p> + <p> + By-and-by he saw a man playing the bagpipes—Tweedle-dum tweedle-dee. + The children followed him about, and he appeared to be pocketing money on + all sides. “Well,” thought Mr. Vinegar, “if I had but that beautiful + instrument I should be the happiest man alive—my fortune would be + made.” + </p> + <p> + So he went up to the man. “Friend,” says he, “what a beautiful instrument + that is, and what a deal of money you must make.” “Why, yes,” said the + man, “I make a great deal of money, to be sure, and it is a wonderful + instrument.” “Oh!” cried Mr. Vinegar, “how I should like to possess it!” + “Well,” said the man, “as you are a friend, I don't much mind parting with + it; you shall have it for that red cow.” “Done!” said the delighted Mr. + Vinegar. So the beautiful red cow was given for the bagpipes. + </p> + <p> + He walked up and down with his purchase; but it was in vain he tried to + play a tune, and instead of pocketing pence, the boys followed him + hooting, laughing, and pelting. + </p> + <p> + Poor Mr. Vinegar, his fingers grew very cold, and, just as he was leaving + the town, he met a man with a fine thick pair of gloves. “Oh, my fingers + are so very cold,” said Mr. Vinegar to himself. “Now if I had but those + beautiful gloves I should be the happiest man alive.” He went up to the + man, and said to him, “Friend, you seem to have a capital pair of gloves + there.” “Yes, truly,” cried the man; “and my hands are as warm as possible + this cold November day.” “Well,” said Mr. Vinegar, “I should like to have + them.”. “What will you give?” said the man; “as you are a friend, I don't + much mind letting you have them for those bagpipes.” “Done!” cried Mr. + Vinegar. He put on the gloves, and felt perfectly happy as he trudged + homewards. + </p> + <p> + At last he grew very tired, when he saw a man coming towards him with a + good stout stick in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “Oh,” said Mr. Vinegar, “that I had but that stick! I should then be the + happiest man alive.” He said to the man: “Friend! what a rare good stick + you have got.” “Yes,” said the man; “I have used it for many a long mile, + and a good friend it has been; but if you have a fancy for it, as you are + a friend, I don't mind giving it to you for that pair of gloves.” Mr. + Vinegar's hands were so warm, and his legs so tired, that he gladly made + the exchange. + </p> + <p> + As he drew near to the wood where he had left his wife, he heard a parrot + on a tree calling out his name: “Mr. Vinegar, you foolish man, you + blockhead, you simpleton; you went to the fair, and laid out all your + money in buying a cow. Not content with that, you changed it for bagpipes, + on which you could not play, and which were not worth one-tenth of the + money. You fool, you—you had no sooner got the bagpipes than you + changed them for the gloves, which were not worth one-quarter of the + money; and when you had got the gloves, you changed them for a poor + miserable stick; and now for your forty guineas, cow, bagpipes, and + gloves, you have nothing to show but that poor miserable stick, which you + might have cut in any hedge.” On this the bird laughed and laughed, and + Mr. Vinegar, falling into a violent rage, threw the stick at its head. The + stick lodged in the tree, and he returned to his wife without money, cow, + bagpipes, gloves, or stick, and she instantly gave him such a sound + cudgelling that she almost broke every bone in his skin. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NIX NOUGHT NOTHING + </h2> + <p> + There once lived a king and a queen as many a one has been. They were long + married and had no children; but at last a baby-boy came to the queen when + the king was away in the far countries. The queen would not christen the + boy till the king came back, and she said, “We will just call him <i>Nix + Nought Nothing</i> until his father comes home.” But it was long before he + came home, and the boy had grown a nice little laddie. At length the king + was on his way back; but he had a big river to cross, and there was a + whirlpool, and he could not get over the water. But a giant came up to + him, and said “I'll carry you over.” But the king said: “What's your pay?” + “O give me Nix, Nought, Nothing, and I will carry you over the water on my + back.” The king had never heard that his son was called Nix Nought + Nothing, and so he said: “O, I'll give you that and my thanks into the + bargain.” When the king got home again, he was very happy to see his wife + again, and his young son. She told him that she had not given the child + any name, but just Nix Nought Nothing, until he should come home again + himself. The poor king was in a terrible case. He said: “What have I done? + I promised to give the giant who carried me over the river on his back, + Nix Nought Nothing.” The king and the queen were sad and sorry, but they + said: “When the giant comes we will give him the hen-wife's boy; he will + never know the difference.” The next day the giant came to claim the + king's promise, and he sent for the hen-wife's boy; and the giant went + away with the boy on his back. He travelled till he came to a big stone, + and there he sat down to rest. He said, + </p> + <p> + “Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day is that?” + </p> + <p> + The poor little boy said: “It is the time that my mother, the hen-wife, + takes up the eggs for the queen's breakfast.” + </p> + <p> + The Giant was very angry, and dashed the boy's head on the stone and + killed him. + </p> + <p> + So he went back in a tower of a temper and this time they gave him the + gardener's boy. He went off with him on his back till they got to the + stone again when the giant sat down to rest. And he said: + </p> + <p> + “Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day do you make that?” + </p> + <p> + The gardener's boy said: “Sure it's the time that my mother takes up the + vegetables for the queen's dinner.” Then the giant was right wild and + dashed his brains out on the stone. + </p> + <p> + Then the giant went back to the king's house in a terrible temper and said + he would destroy them all if they did not give him Nix Nought Nothing this + time. They had to do it; and when he came to the big stone, the giant + said: “What time of day is that?” Nix Nought Nothing said: “It is the time + that my father the king will be sitting down to supper.” The giant said: + “I've got the right one now;” and took Nix Nought Nothing to his own house + and brought him up till he was a man. + </p> + <p> + The giant had a bonny daughter, and she and the lad grew very fond of each + other. The giant said one day to Nix Nought Nothing: “I've work for you + to-morrow. There is a stable seven miles long and seven miles broad, and + it has not been cleaned for seven years, and you must clean it to-morrow, + or I will have you for my supper.” + </p> + <p> + The giant's daughter went out next morning with the lad's breakfast, and + found him in a terrible state, for always as he cleaned out a bit, it just + fell in again. The giant's daughter said she would help him, and she cried + all the beasts in the field, and all the fowls of the air, and in a minute + they all came, and carried away everything that was in the stable and made + it all clean before the giant came home. He said: “Shame on the wit that + helped you; but I have a worse job for you to-morrow.” Then he said to Nix + Nought Nothing: “There's a lake seven miles long, and seven miles deep, + and seven miles broad, and you must drain it to-morrow by nightfall, or + else I'll have you for my supper.” Nix Nought Nothing began early next + morning and tried to lave the water with his pail, but the lake was never + getting any less, and he didn't know what to do; but the giant's daughter + called on all the fish in the sea to come and drink the water, and very + soon they drank it dry. When the giant saw the work done he was in a rage, + and said: “I've a worse job for you to-morrow; there is a tree, seven + miles high, and no branch on it, till you get to the top, and there is a + nest with seven eggs in it, and you must bring down all the eggs without + breaking one, or else I'll have you for my supper.” At first the giant's + daughter did not know how to help Nix Nought Nothing; but she cut off + first her fingers and then her toes, and made steps of them, and he clomb + the tree and got all the eggs safe till he came just to the bottom, and + then one was broken. So they determined to run away together and after the + giant's daughter had tidied up her hair a bit and got her magic flask they + set out together as fast as they could run. And they hadn't got but three + fields away when they looked back and saw the giant walking along at top + speed after them. “Quick, quick,” called out the giant's daughter, “take + my comb from my hair and throw it down.” Nix Nought Nothing took her comb + from her hair and threw it down, and out of every one of its prongs there + sprung up a fine thick briar in the way of the giant. You may be sure it + took him a long time to work his way through the briar bush and by the + time he was well through Nix Nought Nothing and his sweetheart had run on + a tidy step away from him. But he soon came along after them and was just + like to catch 'em up when the giant's daughter called out to Nix Nought + Nothing, “Take my hair dagger and throw it down, quick, quick.” So Nix + Nought Nothing threw down the hair dagger and out of it grew as quick as + lightning a thick hedge of sharp razors placed criss-cross. The giant had + to tread very cautiously to get through all this and meanwhile the young + lovers ran on, and on, and on, till they were nearly out of sight. But at + last the giant was through, and it wasn't long before he was like to catch + them up. But just as he was stretching out his hand to catch Nix Nought + Nothing his daughter took out her magic flask and dashed it on the ground. + And as it broke out of it welled a big, big wave that grew, and that grew, + till it reached the giant's waist and then his neck, and when it got to + his head, he was drowned dead, and dead, and dead indeed. So he goes out + of the story. + </p> + <p> + But Nix Nought Nothing fled on till where do you think they came to? Why, + to near the castle of Nix Nought Nothing's father and mother. But the + giant's daughter was so weary that she couldn't move a step further. So + Nix Nought Nothing told her to wait there while he went and found out a + lodging for the night. And he went on towards the lights of the castle, + and on the way he came to the cottage of the hen-wife whose boy had had + his brains dashed out by the giant. Now she knew Nix Nought Nothing in a + moment, and hated him because he was the cause of her son's death. So when + he asked his way to the castle she put a spell upon him, and when he got + to the castle, no sooner was he let in than he fell down dead asleep upon + a bench in the hall. The king and queen tried all they could do to wake + him up, but all in vain. So the king promised that if any lady could wake + him up she should marry him. Meanwhile the giant's daughter was waiting + and waiting for him to come back. And she went up into a tree to watch for + him. The gardener's daughter, going to draw water in the well, saw the + shadow of the lady in the water and thought it was herself, and said; “If + I'm so bonny, if I'm so brave, why do you send me to draw water?” So she + threw down her pail and went to see if she could wed the sleeping + stranger. And she went to the hen-wife, who taught her an unspelling catch + which would keep Nix Nought Nothing awake as long as the gardener's + daughter liked. So she went up to the castle and sang her catch and Nix + Nought Nothing was wakened for a bit and they promised to wed him to the + gardener's daughter. Meanwhile the gardener went down to draw water from + the well and saw the shadow of the lady in the water. So he looks up and + finds her, and he brought the lady from the tree, and led her into his + house. And he told her that a stranger was to marry his daughter, and took + her up to the castle and showed her the man: and it was Nix Nought Nothing + asleep in a chair. And she saw him, and cried to him: “Waken, waken, and + speak to me!” But he would not waken, and soon she cried: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “I cleaned the stable, I laved the lake, and I clomb the tree, + And all for the love of thee, + And thou wilt not waken and speak to me.” + </pre> + <p> + The king and the queen heard this, and came to the bonny young lady, and + she said: + </p> + <p> + “I cannot get Nix Nought Nothing to speak to me for all that I can do.” + </p> + <p> + Then were they greatly astonished when she spoke of Nix Nought Nothing, + and asked where he was, and she said: “He that sits there in the chair.” + Then they ran to him and kissed him and called him their own dear son; so + they called for the gardener's daughter and made her sing her charm, and + he wakened, and told them all that the giant's daughter had done for him, + and of all her kindness. Then they took her in their arms and kissed her, + and said she should now be their daughter, for their son should marry her. + But they sent for the hen-wife and put her to death. And they lived happy + all their days. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JACK HANNAFORD + </h2> + <p> + There was an old soldier who had been long in the wars—so long, that + he was quite out-at-elbows, and he did not know where to go to find a + living. So he walked up moors, down glens, till at last he came to a farm, + from which the good man had gone away to market. The wife of the farmer + was a very foolish woman, who had been a widow when he married her; the + farmer was foolish enough, too, and it is hard to say which of the two was + the more foolish. When you've heard my tale you may decide. + </p> + <p> + Now before the farmer goes to market says he to his wife: “Here is ten + pounds all in gold, take care of it till I come home.” If the man had not + been a fool he would never have given the money to his wife to keep. Well, + off he went in his cart to market, and the wife said to herself: “I will + keep the ten pounds quite safe from thieves;” so she tied it up in a rag, + and she put the rag up the parlour chimney. + </p> + <p> + “There,” said she, “no thieves will ever find it now, that is quite sure.” + </p> + <p> + Jack Hannaford, the old soldier, came and rapped at the door. + </p> + <p> + “Who is there?” asked the wife. + </p> + <p> + “Jack Hannaford.” + </p> + <p> + “Where do you come from?” + </p> + <p> + “Paradise.” + </p> + <p> + “Lord a' mercy! and maybe you've seen my old man there,” alluding to her + former husband. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I have.” + </p> + <p> + “And how was he a-doing?” asked the goody. + </p> + <p> + “But middling; he cobbles old shoes, and he has nothing but cabbage for + victuals.” + </p> + <p> + “Deary me!” exclaimed the woman. “Didn't he send a message to me?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he did,” replied Jack Hannaford. “He said that he was out of + leather, and his pockets were empty, so you were to send him a few + shillings to buy a fresh stock of leather.” + </p> + <p> + “He shall have them, bless his poor soul!” And away went the wife to the + parlour chimney, and she pulled the rag with the ten pounds in it from the + chimney, and she gave the whole sum to the soldier, telling him that her + old man was to use as much as he wanted, and to send back the rest. + </p> + <p> + It was not long that Jack waited after receiving the money; he went off as + fast as he could walk. + </p> + <p> + Presently the farmer came home and asked for his money. The wife told him + that she had sent it by a soldier to her former husband in Paradise, to + buy him leather for cobbling the shoes of the saints and angels of Heaven. + The farmer was very angry, and he swore that he had never met with such a + fool as his wife. But the wife said that her husband was a greater fool + for letting her have the money. + </p> + <p> + There was no time to waste words; so the farmer mounted his horse and rode + off after Jack Hannaford. The old soldier heard the horse's hoofs + clattering on the road behind him, so he knew it must be the farmer + pursuing him. He lay down on the ground, and shading his eyes with one + hand, looked up into the sky, and pointed heavenwards with the other hand. + </p> + <p> + “What are you about there?” asked the farmer, pulling up. + </p> + <p> + “Lord save you!” exclaimed Jack: “I've seen a rare sight.” + </p> + <p> + “What was that?” + </p> + <p> + “A man going straight up into the sky, as if he were walking on a road.” + </p> + <p> + “Can you see him still?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I can.” + </p> + <p> + “Where?” + </p> + <p> + “Get off your horse and lie down.” + </p> + <p> + “If you will hold the horse.” + </p> + <p> + Jack did so readily. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot see him,” said the farmer. + </p> + <p> + “Shade your eyes with your hand, and you'll soon see a man flying away + from you.” + </p> + <p> + Sure enough he did so, for Jack leaped on the horse, and rode away with + it. The farmer walked home without his horse. + </p> + <p> + “You are a bigger fool than I am,” said the wife; “for I did only one + foolish thing, and you have done two.” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BINNORIE + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there were two king's daughters lived in a bower near the + bonny mill-dams of Binnorie. And Sir William came wooing the eldest and + won her love and plighted troth with glove and with ring. But after a time + he looked upon the youngest, with her cherry cheeks and golden hair, and + his love grew towards her till he cared no longer for the eldest one. So + she hated her sister for taking away Sir William's love, and day by day + her hate grew upon her, and she plotted and she planned how to get rid of + her. + </p> + <p> + So one fine morning, fair and clear, she said to her sister, “Let us go + and see our father's boats come in at the bonny mill-stream of Binnorie.” + So they went there hand in hand. And when they got to the river's bank the + youngest got upon a stone to watch for the coming of the boats. And her + sister, coming behind her, caught her round the waist and dashed her into + the rushing mill-stream of Binnorie. + </p> + <p> + “O sister, sister, reach me your hand!” she cried, as she floated away, + “and you shall have half of all I've got or shall get.” + </p> + <p> + “No, sister, I'll reach you no hand of mine, for I am the heir to all your + land. Shame on me if I touch the hand that has come 'twixt me and my own + heart's love.” + </p> + <p> + “O sister, O sister, then reach me your glove!” she cried, as she floated + further away, “and you shall have your William again.” + </p> + <p> + “Sink on,” cried the cruel princess, “no hand or glove of mine you'll + touch. Sweet William will be all mine when you are sunk beneath the bonny + mill-stream of Binnorie.” And she turned and went home to the king's + castle. + </p> + <p> + And the princess floated down the mill-stream, sometimes swimming and + sometimes sinking, till she came near the mill. Now the miller's daughter + was cooking that day, and needed water for her cooking. And as she went to + draw it from the stream, she saw something floating towards the mill-dam, + and she called out, “Father! father! draw your dam. There's something + white—a merry maid or a milk-white swan—coming down the + stream.” So the miller hastened to the dam and stopped the heavy cruel + mill-wheels. And then they took out the princess and laid her on the bank. + </p> + <p> + Fair and beautiful she looked as she lay there. In her golden hair were + pearls and precious stones; you could not see her waist for her golden + girdle; and the golden fringe of her white dress came down over her lily + feet. But she was drowned, drowned! + </p> + <p> + And as she lay there in her beauty a famous harper passed by the mill-dam + of Binnorie, and saw her sweet pale face. And though he travelled on far + away he never forgot that face, and after many days he came back to the + bonny mill-stream of Binnorie. But then all he could find of her where + they had put her to rest were her bones and her golden hair. So he made a + harp out of her breast-bone and her hair, and travelled on up the hill + from the mill-dam of Binnorie, till he came to the castle of the king her + father. + </p> + <p> + That night they were all gathered in the castle hall to hear the great + harper—king and queen, their daughter and son, Sir William and all + their Court. And first the harper sang to his old harp, making them joy + and be glad or sorrow and weep just as he liked. But while he sang he put + the harp he had made that day on a stone in the hall. And presently it + began to sing by itself, low and clear, and the harper stopped and all + were hushed. + </p> + <p> + And this was what the harp sung: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O yonder sits my father, the king, + Binnorie, O Binnorie; + And yonder sits my mother, the queen; + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie, + + “And yonder stands my brother Hugh, + Binnorie, O Binnorie; + And by him, my William, false and true; + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie.” + </pre> + <p> + Then they all wondered, and the harper told them how he had seen the + princess lying drowned on the bank near the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie, + and how he had afterwards made this harp out of her hair and breast-bone. + Just then the harp began singing again, and this was what it sang out loud + and clear: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “And there sits my sister who drownèd me + By the bonny mill-dams o' Binnorie.” + </pre> + <p> + And the harp snapped and broke, and never sang more. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MOUSE AND MOUSER + </h2> + <p> + The Mouse went to visit the Cat, and found her sitting behind the hall + door, spinning. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. What are you doing, my lady, my lady, What are you doing, my lady? + </p> + <p> + CAT (<i>sharply</i>). I'm spinning old breeches, good body, good body I'm + spinning old breeches, good body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. Long may you wear them, my lady, my lady, Long may you wear them, + my lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT (<i>gruffly</i>). I'll wear' em and tear 'em, good body, good body. + I'll wear 'em and tear 'em, good body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. I was sweeping my room, my lady, my lady, I was sweeping my room, + my lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT. The cleaner you'd be, good body, good body, The cleaner you'd be, + good body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. I found a silver sixpence, my lady, my lady, I found a silver + sixpence, my lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT. The richer you were, good body, good body, The richer you were, good + body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. I went to the market, my lady, my lady, I went to the market, my + lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT. The further you went, good body, good body The further you went, good + body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. I bought me a pudding, my lady, my lady, I bought me a pudding, my + lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT (<i>snarling</i>). The more meat you had, good body, good body, The + more meat you had, good body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE. I put it in the window to cool, my lady, I put it in the window to + cool. + </p> + <p> + CAT. (<i>sharply</i>). The faster you'd eat it, good body, good body, The + faster you'd eat it, good body. + </p> + <p> + MOUSE (<i>timidly</i>). The cat came and ate it, my lady, my lady, The cat + came and ate it, my lady. + </p> + <p> + CAT (<i>pouncingly</i>). And I'll eat you, good body, good body, And I'll + eat you, good body. + </p> + <p> + (<i>Springs upon the mouse and kills it.</i>) + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CAP O' RUSHES + </h2> + <p> + Well, there was once a very rich gentleman, and he'd three daughters, and + he thought he'd see how fond they were of him. So he says to the first, + “How much do you love me, my dear?” + </p> + <p> + “Why,” says she, “as I love my life.” + </p> + <p> + “That's good,” says he. + </p> + <p> + So he says to the second, “How much do <i>you</i> love me, my dear?” + </p> + <p> + “Why,” says she, “better nor all the world.” + </p> + <p> + “That's good,” says he. + </p> + <p> + So he says to the third, “How much do <i>you</i> love me, my dear?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, I love you as fresh meat loves salt,” says she. + </p> + <p> + Well, he was that angry. “You don't love me at all,” says he, “and in my + house you stay no more.” So he drove her out there and then, and shut the + door in her face. + </p> + <p> + Well, she went away on and on till she came to a fen, and there she + gathered a lot of rushes and made them into a kind of a sort of a cloak + with a hood, to cover her from head to foot, and to hide her fine clothes. + And then she went on and on till she came to a great house. + </p> + <p> + “Do you want a maid?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “No, we don't,” said they. + </p> + <p> + “I haven't nowhere to go,” says she; “and I ask no wages, and do any sort + of work,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” says they, “if you like to wash the pots and scrape the saucepans + you may stay,” said they. + </p> + <p> + So she stayed there and washed the pots and scraped the saucepans and did + all the dirty work. And because she gave no name they called her “Cap o' + Rushes.” + </p> + <p> + Well, one day there was to be a great dance a little way off, and the + servants were allowed to go and look on at the grand people. Cap o' Rushes + said she was too tired to go, so she stayed at home. + </p> + <p> + But when they were gone she offed with her cap o' rushes, and cleaned + herself, and went to the dance. And no one there was so finely dressed as + her. + </p> + <p> + Well, who should be there but her master's son, and what should he do but + fall in love with her the minute he set eyes on her. He wouldn't dance + with any one else. + </p> + <p> + But before the dance was done Cap o' Rushes slipt off, and away she went + home. And when the other maids came back she was pretending to be asleep + with her cap o' rushes on. + </p> + <p> + Well, next morning they said to her, “You did miss a sight, Cap o' + Rushes!” + </p> + <p> + “What was that?” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Why, the beautifullest lady you ever see, dressed right gay and ga'. The + young master, he never took his eyes off her.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I should have liked to have seen her,” says Cap o' Rushes. + </p> + <p> + “Well, there's to be another dance this evening, and perhaps she'll be + there.” + </p> + <p> + But, come the evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go with + them. Howsoever, when they were gone, she offed with her cap o' rushes and + cleaned herself, and away she went to the dance. + </p> + <p> + The master's son had been reckoning on seeing her, and he danced with no + one else, and never took his eyes off her. But, before the dance was over, + she slipt off, and home she went, and when the maids came back she, + pretended to be asleep with her cap o' rushes on. + </p> + <p> + Next day they said to her again, “Well, Cap o' Rushes, you should ha' been + there to see the lady. There she was again, gay and ga', and the young + master he never took his eyes off her.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, there,” says she, “I should ha' liked to ha' seen her.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” says they, “there's a dance again this evening, and you must go + with us, for she's sure to be there.” + </p> + <p> + Well, come this evening, Cap o' Rushes said she was too tired to go, and + do what they would she stayed at home. But when they were gone she offed + with her cap o' rushes and cleaned herself, and away she went to the + dance. + </p> + <p> + The master's son was rarely glad when he saw her. He danced with none but + her and never took his eyes off her. When she wouldn't tell him her name, + nor where she came from, he gave her a ring and told her if he didn't see + her again he should die. + </p> + <p> + Well, before the dance was over, off she slipped, and home she went, and + when the maids came home she was pretending to be asleep with her cap o' + rushes on. + </p> + <p> + Well, next day they says to her, “There, Cap o' Rushes, you didn't come + last night, and now you won't see the lady, for there's no more dances.” + </p> + <p> + “Well I should have rarely liked to have seen her,” says she. + </p> + <p> + The master's son he tried every way to find out where the lady was gone, + but go where he might, and ask whom he might, he never heard anything + about her. And he got worse and worse for the love of her till he had to + keep his bed. + </p> + <p> + “Make some gruel for the young master,” they said to the cook. “He's dying + for the love of the lady.” The cook she set about making it when Cap o' + Rushes came in. + </p> + <p> + “What are you a-doing of?”, says she. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to make some gruel for the young master,” says the cook, “for + he's dying for love of the lady.” + </p> + <p> + “Let me make it,” says Cap o' Rushes. + </p> + <p> + Well, the cook wouldn't at first, but at last she said yes, and Cap o' + Rushes made the gruel. And when she had made it she slipped the ring into + it on the sly before the cook took it upstairs. + </p> + <p> + The young man he drank it and then he saw the ring at the bottom. + </p> + <p> + “Send for the cook,” says he. + </p> + <p> + So up she comes. + </p> + <p> + “Who made this gruel here?” says he. + </p> + <p> + “I did,” says the cook, for she was frightened. + </p> + <p> + And he looked at her, + </p> + <p> + “No, you didn't,” says he. “Say who did it, and you shan't be harmed.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, 'twas Cap o' Rushes,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Send Cap o' Rushes here,” says he. + </p> + <p> + So Cap o' Rushes came. + </p> + <p> + “Did you make my gruel?” says he. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I did,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Where did you get this ring?” says he. + </p> + <p> + “From him that gave it me,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Who are you, then?” says the young man. + </p> + <p> + “I'll show you,” says she. And she offed with her cap o' rushes, and there + she was in her beautiful clothes. + </p> + <p> + Well, the master's son he got well very soon, and they were to be married + in a little time. It was to be a very grand wedding, and every one was + asked far and near. And Cap o' Rushes' father was asked. But she never + told anybody who she was. + </p> + <p> + But before the wedding she went to the cook, and says she: + </p> + <p> + “I want you to dress every dish without a mite o' salt.” + </p> + <p> + “That'll be rare nasty,” says the cook. + </p> + <p> + “That doesn't signify,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Very well,” says the cook. + </p> + <p> + Well, the wedding-day came, and they were married. And after they were + married all the company sat down to the dinner. When they began to eat the + meat, that was so tasteless they couldn't eat it. But Cap o' Rushes' + father he tried first one dish and then another, and then he burst out + crying. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter?” said the master's son to him. + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” says he, “I had a daughter. And I asked her how much she loved me. + And she said 'As much as fresh meat loves salt.' And I turned her from my + door, for I thought she didn't love me. And now I see she loved me best of + all. And she may be dead for aught I know.” + </p> + <p> + “No, father, here she is!” says Cap o' Rushes. And she goes up to him and + puts her arms round him. + </p> + <p> + And so they were happy ever after. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TEENY-TINY + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a teeny-tiny woman lived in a teeny-tiny house + in a teeny-tiny village. Now, one day this teeny-tiny woman put on her + teeny-tiny bonnet, and went out of her teeny-tiny house to take a + teeny-tiny walk. And when this teeny-tiny woman had gone a teeny-tiny way + she came to a teeny-tiny gate; so the teeny-tiny woman opened the + teeny-tiny gate, and went into a teeny-tiny churchyard. And when this + teeny-tiny woman had got into the teeny-tiny churchyard, she saw a + teeny-tiny bone on a teeny-tiny grave, and the teeny-tiny woman said to + her teeny-tiny self, “This teeny-tiny bone will make me some teeny-tiny + soup for my teeny-tiny supper.” So the teeny-tiny woman put the teeny-tiny + bone into her teeny-tiny pocket, and went home to her teeny-tiny house. + </p> + <p> + Now when the teeny-tiny woman got home to her teeny-tiny house she was a + teeny-tiny bit tired; so she went up her teeny-tiny stairs to her + teeny-tiny bed, and put the teeny-tiny bone into a teeny-tiny cupboard. + And when this teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep a teeny-tiny time, she + was awakened by a teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard, which + said: + </p> + <p> + “Give me my bone!” + </p> + <p> + And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny frightened, so she hid her + teeny-tiny head under the teeny-tiny clothes and went to sleep again. And + when she had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the teeny-tiny voice + again cried out from the teeny-tiny cupboard a teeny-tiny louder, “Give me + my bone!” + </p> + <p> + This made the teeny-tiny woman a teeny-tiny more frightened, so she hid + her teeny-tiny head a teeny-tiny further under the teeny-tiny clothes. And + when the teeny-tiny woman had been to sleep again a teeny-tiny time, the + teeny-tiny voice from the teeny-tiny cupboard said again a teeny-tiny + louder, + </p> + <p> + “Give me my bone!” + </p> + <p> + And this teeny-tiny woman was a teeny-tiny bit more frightened, but she + put her teeny-tiny head out of the teeny-tiny clothes, and said in her + loudest teeny-tiny voice, “TAKE IT!” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JACK AND THE BEANSTALK + </h2> + <p> + There was once upon a time a poor widow who had an only son named Jack, + and a cow named Milky-white. And all they had to live on was the milk the + cow gave every morning which they carried to the market and sold. But one + morning Milky-white gave no milk and they didn't know what to do. + </p> + <p> + “What shall we do, what shall we do?” said the widow, wringing her hands. + </p> + <p> + “Cheer up, mother, I'll go and get work somewhere,” said Jack. + </p> + <p> + “We've tried that before, and nobody would take you,” said his mother; “we + must sell Milky-white and with the money do something, start shop, or + something.” + </p> + <p> + “All right, mother,” says Jack; “it's market-day today, and I'll soon sell + Milky-white, and then we'll see what we can do.” + </p> + <p> + So he took the cow's halter in his hand, and off he starts. He hadn't gone + far when he met a funny-looking old man who said to him: “Good morning, + Jack.” + </p> + <p> + “Good morning to you,” said Jack, and wondered how he knew his name. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Jack, and where are you off to?” said the man. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going to market to sell our cow here.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you look the proper sort of chap to sell cows,” said the man; “I + wonder if you know how many beans make five.” + </p> + <p> + “Two in each hand and one in your mouth,” says Jack, as sharp as a needle. + </p> + <p> + “Right you are,” said the man, “and here they are the very beans + themselves,” he went on pulling out of his pocket a number of + strange-looking beans. “As you are so sharp,” says he, “I don't mind doing + a swop with you—your cow for these beans.” + </p> + <p> + “Walker!” says Jack; “wouldn't you like it?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! you don't know what these beans are,” said the man; “if you plant + them over-night, by morning they grow right up to the sky.” + </p> + <p> + “Really?” says Jack; “you don't say so.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, that is so, and if it doesn't turn out to be true you can have your + cow back.” + </p> + <p> + “Right,” says Jack, and hands him over Milky-white's halter and pockets + the beans. + </p> + <p> + Back goes Jack home, and as he hadn't gone very far it wasn't dusk by the + time he got to his door. + </p> + <p> + “What back, Jack?” said his mother; “I see you haven't got Milky-white, so + you've sold her. How much did you get for her?” + </p> + <p> + “You'll never guess, mother,” says Jack. + </p> + <p> + “No, you don't say so. Good boy! Five pounds, ten, fifteen, no, it can't + be twenty.” + </p> + <p> + “I told you you couldn't guess, what do you say to these beans; they're + magical, plant them over-night and——” + </p> + <p> + “What!” says Jack's mother, “have you been such a fool, such a dolt, such + an idiot, as to give away my Milky-white, the best milker in the parish, + and prime beef to boot, for a set of paltry beans. Take that! Take that! + Take that! And as for your precious beans here they go out of the window. + And now off with you to bed. Not a sup shall you drink, and not a bit + shall you swallow this very night.” + </p> + <p> + So Jack went upstairs to his little room in the attic, and sad and sorry + he was, to be sure, as much for his mother's sake, as for the loss of his + supper. + </p> + <p> + At last he dropped off to sleep. + </p> + <p> + When he woke up, the room looked so funny. The sun was shining into part + of it, and yet all the rest was quite dark and shady. So Jack jumped up + and dressed himself and went to the window. And what do you think he saw? + why, the beans his mother had thrown out of the window into the garden, + had sprung up into a big beanstalk which went up and up and up till it + reached the sky. So the man spoke truth after all. + </p> + <p> + The beanstalk grew up quite close past Jack's window, so all he had to do + was to open it and give a jump on to the beanstalk which was made like a + big plaited ladder. So Jack climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he + climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last he + reached the sky. And when he got there he found a long broad road going as + straight as a dart. So he walked along and he walked along and he walked + along till he came to a great big tall house, and on the doorstep there + was a great big tall woman. + </p> + <p> + “Good morning, mum,” says Jack, quite polite-like. “Could you be so kind + as to give me some breakfast.” For he hadn't had anything to eat, you + know, the night before and was as hungry as a hunter. + </p> + <p> + “It's breakfast you want, is it?” says the great big tall woman, “it's + breakfast you'll be if you don't move off from here. My man is an ogre and + there's nothing he likes better than boys broiled on toast. You'd better + be moving on or he'll soon be coming.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! please mum, do give me something to eat, mum. I've had nothing to eat + since yesterday morning, really and truly, mum,” says Jack. “I may as well + be broiled, as die of hunger.” + </p> + <p> + Well, the ogre's wife wasn't such a bad sort, after all. So she took Jack + into the kitchen, and gave him a junk of bread and cheese and a jug of + milk. But Jack hadn't half finished these when thump! thump! thump! the + whole house began to tremble with the noise of someone coming. + </p> + <p> + “Goodness gracious me! It's my old man,” said the ogre's wife, “what on + earth shall I do? Here, come quick and jump in here.” And she bundled Jack + into the oven just as the ogre came in. + </p> + <p> + He was a big one, to be sure. At his belt he had three calves strung up by + the heels, and he unhooked them and threw them down on the table and said: + “Here, wife, broil me a couple of these for breakfast. Ah what's this I + smell? + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Fee-fi-fo-fum, + I smell the blood of an Englishman, + Be he alive, or be he dead + I'll have his bones to grind my bread.” + </pre> + <p> + “Nonsense, dear,” said his wife, “you're dreaming. Or perhaps you smell + the scraps of that little boy you liked so much for yesterday's dinner. + Here, go you and have a wash and tidy up, and by the time you come back + your breakfast'll be ready for you.” + </p> + <p> + So the ogre went off, and Jack was just going to jump out of the oven and + run off when the woman told him not. “Wait till he's asleep,” says she; + “he always has a snooze after breakfast.” + </p> + <p> + Well, the ogre had his breakfast, and after that he goes to a big chest + and takes out of it a couple of bags of gold and sits down counting them + till at last his head began to nod and he began to snore till the whole + house shook again. + </p> + <p> + Then Jack crept out on tiptoe from his oven, and as he was passing the + ogre he took one of the bags of gold under his arm, and off he pelters + till he came to the beanstalk, and then he threw down the bag of gold + which of course fell in to his mother's garden, and then he climbed down + and climbed down till at last he got home and told his mother and showed + her the gold and said: “Well, mother, wasn't I right about the beans. They + are really magical, you see.” + </p> + <p> + So they lived on the bag of gold for some time, but at last they came to + the end of that so Jack made up his mind to try his luck once more up at + the top of the beanstalk. So one fine morning he got up early, and got on + to the beanstalk, and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he + climbed and he climbed and he climbed till at last he got on the road + again and came to the great big tall house he had been to before. There, + sure enough, was the great big tall woman a-standing on the door-step. + </p> + <p> + “Good morning, mum,” says Jack, as bold as brass, “could you be so good as + to give me something to eat?” + </p> + <p> + “Go away, my boy,” said the big, tall woman, “or else my man will eat you + up for breakfast. But aren't you the youngster who came here once before? + Do you know, that very day, my man missed one of his bags of gold.” + </p> + <p> + “That's strange, mum,” says Jack, “I dare say I could tell you something + about that but I'm so hungry I can't speak till I've had something to + eat.” + </p> + <p> + Well the big tall woman was that curious that she took him in and gave him + something to eat. But he had scarcely begun munching it as slowly as he + could when thump! thump! thump! they heard the giant's footstep, and his + wife hid Jack away in the oven. + </p> + <p> + All happened as it did before. In came the ogre as he did before, said: + “Fee-fi-fo-fum,” and had his breakfast off three broiled oxen. Then he + said: “Wife, bring me the hen that lays the golden eggs.” So she brought + it, and the ogre said: “Lay,” and it laid an egg all of gold. And then the + ogre began to nod his head, and to snore till the house shook. + </p> + <p> + Then Jack crept out of the oven on tiptoe and caught hold of the golden + hen, and was off before you could say “Jack Robinson.” But this time the + hen gave a cackle which woke the ogre, and just as Jack got out of the + house he heard him calling: “Wife, wife, what have you done with my golden + hen?” + </p> + <p> + And the wife said: “Why, my dear?” + </p> + <p> + But that was all Jack heard, for he rushed off to the beanstalk and + climbed down like a house on fire. And when he got home he showed his + mother the wonderful hen and said “Lay,” to it; and it laid a golden egg + every time he said “Lay.” + </p> + <p> + Well, Jack was not content, and it wasn't very long before he determined + to have another try at his luck up there at the top of the beanstalk. So + one fine morning, he got up early, and went on to the beanstalk, and he + climbed and he climbed and he climbed and he climbed till he got to the + top. But this time he knew better than to go straight to the ogre's house. + And when he got near it he waited behind a bush till he saw the ogre's + wife come out with a pail to get some water, and then he crept into the + house and got into the copper. He hadn't been there long when he heard + thump! thump! thump! as before, and in come the ogre and his wife. + </p> + <p> + “Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman,” cried out the ogre; + “I smell him, wife, I smell him.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you, my dearie?” says the ogre's wife. “Then if it's that little rogue + that stole your gold and the hen that laid the golden eggs he's sure to + have got into the oven.” And they both rushed to the oven. But Jack wasn't + there, luckily, and the ogre's wife said: “There you are again with your + fee-fi-fo-fum. Why of course it's the laddie you caught last night that + I've broiled for your breakfast. How forgetful I am, and how careless you + are not to tell the difference between a live un and a dead un.” + </p> + <p> + So the ogre sat down to the breakfast and ate it, but every now and then + he would mutter: “Well, I could have sworn——” and he'd get up + and search the larder and the cupboards, and everything, only luckily he + didn't think of the copper. + </p> + <p> + After breakfast was over, the ogre called out: “Wife, wife, bring me my + golden harp.” So she brought it and put it on the table before him. Then + he said: “Sing!” and the golden harp sang most beautifully. And it went on + singing till the ogre fell asleep, and commenced to snore like thunder. + </p> + <p> + Then Jack lifted up the copper-lid very quietly and got down like a mouse + and crept on hands and knees till he got to the table when he got up and + caught hold of the golden harp and dashed with it towards the door. But + the harp called out quite loud: “Master! Master!” and the ogre woke up + just in time to see Jack running off with his harp. + </p> + <p> + Jack ran as fast as he could, and the ogre came rushing after, and would + soon have caught him only Jack had a start and dodged him a bit and knew + where he was going. When he got to the beanstalk the ogre was not more + than twenty yards away when suddenly he saw Jack disappear like, and when + he got up to the end of the road he saw Jack underneath climbing down for + dear life. Well, the ogre didn't like trusting himself to such a ladder, + and he stood and waited, so Jack got another start. But just then the harp + cried out: “Master! master!” and the ogre swung himself down on to the + beanstalk which shook with his weight. Down climbs Jack, and after him + climbed the ogre. By this time Jack had climbed down and climbed down and + climbed down till he was very nearly home. So he called out: “Mother! + mother! bring me an axe, bring me an axe.” And his mother came rushing out + with the axe in her hand, but when she came to the beanstalk she stood + stock still with fright for there she saw the ogre just coming down below + the clouds. + </p> + <p> + But Jack jumped down and got hold of the axe and gave a chop at the + beanstalk which cut it half in two. The ogre felt the beanstalk shake and + quiver so he stopped to see what was the matter. Then Jack gave another + chop with the axe, and the beanstalk was cut in two and began to topple + over. Then the ogre fell down and broke his crown, and the beanstalk came + toppling after. + </p> + <p> + Then Jack showed his mother his golden harp, and what with showing that + and selling the golden eggs, Jack and his mother became very rich, and he + married a great princess, and they lived happy ever after. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE STORY OF THE THREE LITTLE PIGS + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme + And monkeys chewed tobacco, + And hens took snuff to make them tough, + And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O! +</pre> + <p> + There was an old sow with three little pigs, and as she had not enough to + keep them, she sent them out to seek their fortune. The first that went + off met a man with a bundle of straw, and said to him: + </p> + <p> + “Please, man, give me that straw to build me a house.” + </p> + <p> + Which the man did, and the little pig built a house with it. Presently + came along a wolf, and knocked at the door, and said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” + </p> + <p> + To which the pig answered: + </p> + <p> + “No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.” + </p> + <p> + The wolf then answered to that: + </p> + <p> + “Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.” + </p> + <p> + So he huffed, and he puffed, and he blew his house in, and ate up the + little pig. + </p> + <p> + The second little pig met a man with a bundle of furze, and said: + </p> + <p> + “Please, man, give me that furze to build a house.” + </p> + <p> + Which the man did, and the pig built his house. Then along came the wolf, + and said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I'll puff, and I'll huff, and I'll blow your house in.” + </p> + <p> + So he huffed, and he puffed, and he puffed, and he huffed, and at last he + blew the house down, and he ate up the little pig. + </p> + <p> + The third little pig met a man with a load of bricks, and said: + </p> + <p> + “Please, man, give me those bricks to build a house with.” + </p> + <p> + So the man gave him the bricks, and he built his house with them. So the + wolf came, as he did to the other little pigs, and said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, by the hair of my chiny chin chin.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in.” + </p> + <p> + Well, he huffed, and he puffed, and he huffed and he puffed, and he puffed + and huffed; but he could <i>not</i> get the house down. When he found that + he could not, with all his huffing and puffing, blow the house down, he + said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, I know where there is a nice field of turnips.” + </p> + <p> + “Where?” said the little pig. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, in Mr. Smith's Home-field, and if you will be ready tomorrow morning + I will call for you, and we will go together, and get some for dinner.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well,” said the little pig, “I will be ready. What time do you mean + to go?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, at six o'clock.” + </p> + <p> + Well, the little pig got up at five, and got the turnips before the wolf + came (which he did about six) and who said: + </p> + <p> + “Little Pig, are you ready?” + </p> + <p> + The little pig said: “Ready! I have been and come back again, and got a + nice potful for dinner.” + </p> + <p> + The wolf felt very angry at this, but thought that he would be up to the + little pig somehow or other, so he said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, I know where there is a nice apple-tree.” + </p> + <p> + “Where?” said the pig. + </p> + <p> + “Down at Merry-garden,” replied the wolf, “and if you will not deceive me + I will come for you, at five o'clock tomorrow and get some apples.” + </p> + <p> + Well, the little pig bustled up the next morning at four o'clock, and went + off for the apples, hoping to get back before the wolf came; but he had + further to go, and had to climb the tree, so that just as he was coming + down from it, he saw the wolf coming, which, as you may suppose, + frightened him very much. When the wolf came up he said: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, what! are you here before me? Are they nice apples?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, very,” said the little pig. “I will throw you down one.” + </p> + <p> + And he threw it so far, that, while the wolf was gone to pick it up, the + little pig jumped down and ran home. The next day the wolf came again, and + said to the little pig: + </p> + <p> + “Little pig, there is a fair at Shanklin this afternoon, will you go?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes,” said the pig, “I will go; what time shall you be ready?” + </p> + <p> + “At three,” said the wolf. So the little pig went off before the time as + usual, and got to the fair, and bought a butter-churn, which he was going + home with, when he saw the wolf coming. Then he could not tell what to do. + So he got into the churn to hide, and by so doing turned it round, and it + rolled down the hill with the pig in it, which frightened the wolf so + much, that he ran home without going to the fair. He went to the little + pig's house, and told him how frightened he had been by a great round + thing which came down the hill past him. Then the little pig said: + </p> + <p> + “Hah, I frightened you, then. I had been to the fair and bought a + butter-churn, and when I saw you, I got into it, and rolled down the + hill.” + </p> + <p> + Then the wolf was very angry indeed, and declared he <i>would</i> eat up + the little pig, and that he would get down the chimney after him. When the + little pig saw what he was about, he hung on the pot full of water, and + made up a blazing fire, and, just as the wolf was coming down, took off + the cover, and in fell the wolf; so the little pig put on the cover again + in an instant, boiled him up, and ate him for supper, and lived happy ever + afterwards. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE MASTER AND HIS PUPIL + </h2> + <p> + There was once a very learned man in the north-country who knew all the + languages under the sun, and who was acquainted with all the mysteries of + creation. He had one big book bound in black calf and clasped with iron, + and with iron corners, and chained to a table which was made fast to the + floor; and when he read out of this book, he unlocked it with an iron key, + and none but he read from it, for it contained all the secrets of the + spiritual world. It told how many angels there were in heaven, and how + they marched in their ranks, and sang in their quires, and what were their + several functions, and what was the name of each great angel of might. And + it told of the demons, how many of them there were, and what were their + several powers, and their labours, and their names, and how they might be + summoned, and how tasks might be imposed on them, and how they might be + chained to be as slaves to man. + </p> + <p> + Now the master had a pupil who was but a foolish lad, and he acted as + servant to the great master, but never was he suffered to look into the + black book, hardly to enter the private room. + </p> + <p> + One day the master was out, and then the lad, as curious as could be, + hurried to the chamber where his master kept his wondrous apparatus for + changing copper into gold, and lead into silver, and where was his mirror + in which he could see all that was passing in the world, and where was the + shell which when held to the ear whispered all the words that were being + spoken by anyone the master desired to know about. The lad tried in vain + with the crucibles to turn copper and lead into gold and silver—he + looked long and vainly into the mirror; smoke and clouds passed over it, + but he saw nothing plain, and the shell to his ear produced only + indistinct murmurings, like the breaking of distant seas on an unknown + shore. “I can do nothing,” he said; “as I don't know the right words to + utter, and they are locked up in yon book.” + </p> + <p> + He looked round, and, see! the book was unfastened; the master had + forgotten to lock it before he went out. The boy rushed to it, and + unclosed the volume. It was written with red and black ink, and much of it + he could not understand; but he put his finger on a line and spelled it + through. + </p> + <p> + At once the room was darkened, and the house trembled; a clap of thunder + rolled through the passage and the old room, and there stood before him a + horrible, horrible form, breathing fire, and with eyes like burning lamps. + It was the demon Beelzebub, whom he had called up to serve him. + </p> + <p> + “Set me a task!” said he, with a voice like the roaring of an iron + furnace. + </p> + <p> + The boy only trembled, and his hair stood up. + </p> + <p> + “Set me a task, or I shall strangle thee!” + </p> + <p> + But the lad could not speak. Then the evil spirit stepped towards him, and + putting forth his hands touched his throat. The fingers burned his flesh. + “Set me a task!” + </p> + <p> + “Water yon flower,” cried the boy in despair, pointing to a geranium which + stood in a pot on the floor. Instantly the spirit left the room, but in + another instant he returned with a barrel on his back, and poured its + contents over the flower; and again and again he went and came, and poured + more and more water, till the floor of the room was ankle-deep. + </p> + <p> + “Enough, enough!” gasped the lad; but the demon heeded him not; the lad + didn't know the words by which to send him away, and still he fetched + water. + </p> + <p> + It rose to the boy's knees and still more water was poured. It mounted to + his waist, and Beelzebub still kept on bringing barrels full. It rose to + his armpits, and he scrambled to the table-top. And now the water in the + room stood up to the window and washed against the glass, and swirled + around his feet on the table. It still rose; it reached his breast. In + vain he cried; the evil spirit would not be dismissed, and to this day he + would have been pouring water, and would have drowned all Yorkshire. But + the master remembered on his journey that he had not locked his book, and + therefore returned, and at the moment when the water was bubbling about + the pupil's chin, rushed into the room and spoke the words which cast + Beelzebub back into his fiery home. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + TITTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE + </h2> + <h3> + Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse both lived in a house, + </h3> + <p> + Titty Mouse went a leasing and Tatty Mouse went a leasing, + </p> + <p> + So they both went a leasing. + </p> + <p> + Titty Mouse leased an ear of corn, and Tatty Mouse leased an ear of corn, + </p> + <p> + So they both leased an ear of corn. + </p> + <p> + Titty Mouse made a pudding, and Tatty Mouse made a pudding, + </p> + <p> + So they both made a pudding. + </p> + <p> + And Tatty Mouse put her pudding into the pot to boil, + </p> + <p> + But when Titty went to put hers in, the pot tumbled over, and scalded her + to death. + </p> + <p> + Then Tatty sat down and wept; then a three-legged stool said: “Tatty, why + do you weep?” “Titty's dead,” said Tatty, “and so I weep;” “then,” said + the stool, “I'll hop,” so the stool hopped. + </p> + <p> + Then a broom in the corner of the room said, “Stool, why do you hop?” + “Oh!” said the stool, “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and so I hop;” + “then,” said the broom, “I'll sweep,” so the broom began to sweep. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the door, “Broom, why do you sweep?” “Oh!” said the broom, + “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and so I sweep;” + “Then,” said the door, “I'll jar,” so the door jarred. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the window, “Door, why do you jar?” “Oh!” said the door, + “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, + and so I jar.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the window, “I'll creak,” so the window creaked. Now there + was an old form outside the house, and when the window creaked, the form + said: “Window, why do you creak?” “Oh!” said the window, “Titty's dead, + and Tatty weeps, and the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, + and so I creak.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the old form, “I'll run round the house;” then the old form + ran round the house. Now there was a fine large walnut-tree growing by the + cottage, and the tree said to the form: “Form, why do you run round the + house?” “Oh!” said the form, “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, and the stool + hops, and the broom sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, and so I + run round the house.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the walnut-tree, “I'll shed my leaves,” so the walnut-tree + shed all its beautiful green leaves. Now there was a little bird perched + on one of the boughs of the tree, and when all the leaves fell, it said: + “Walnut-tree, why do you shed your leaves?” “Oh!” said the tree, “Titty's + dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door + jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the house, and so I + shed my leaves.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the little bird, “I'll moult all my feathers,” so he moulted + all his pretty feathers. Now there was a little girl walking below, + carrying a jug of milk for her brothers and sisters' supper, and when she + saw the poor little bird moult all its feathers, she said: “Little bird, + why do you moult all your feathers?” “Oh!” said the little bird, “Titty's + dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom sweeps, the door + jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the house, the + walnut-tree sheds its leaves, and so I moult all my feathers.” + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said the little girl, “I'll spill the milk,” so she dropt the + pitcher and spilt the milk. Now there was an old man just by on the top of + a ladder thatching a rick, and when he saw the little girl spill the milk, + he said: “Little girl, what do you mean by spilling the milk, your little + brothers and sisters must go without their supper.” Then said the little + girl: “Titty's dead, and Tatty weeps, the stool hops, and the broom + sweeps, the door jars, and the window creaks, the old form runs round the + house, the walnut-tree sheds all its leaves, the little bird moults all + its feathers, and so I spill the milk.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” said the old man, “then I'll tumble off the ladder and break my + neck,” so he tumbled off the ladder and broke his neck; and when the old + man broke his neck, the great walnut-tree fell down with a crash, and + upset the old form and house, and the house falling knocked the window + out, and the window knocked the door down, and the door upset the broom, + and the broom upset the stool, and poor little Tatty Mouse was buried + beneath the ruins. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JACK AND HIS GOLDEN SNUFF-BOX + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it was neither in my + time nor in your time nor in any one else's time, there was an old man and + an old woman, and they had one son, and they lived in a great forest. And + their son never saw any other people in his life, but he knew that there + was some more in the world besides his own father and mother, because he + had lots of books, and he used to read every day about them. And when he + read about some pretty young women, he used to go mad to see some of them; + till one day, when his father was out cutting wood, he told his mother + that he wished to go away to look for his living in some other country, + and to see some other people besides them two. And he said, “I see nothing + at all here but great trees around me; and if I stay here, maybe I shall + go mad before I see anything.” The young man's father was out all this + time, when this talk was going on between him and his poor old mother. + </p> + <p> + The old woman begins by saying to her son before leaving, “Well, well, my + poor boy, if you want to go, it's better for you to go, and God be with + you.”—(The old woman thought for the best when she said that.)—“But + stop a bit before you go. Which would you like best for me to make you, a + little cake and bless you, or a big cake and curse you?” “Dear, dear!” + said he, “make me a big cake. Maybe I shall be hungry on the road.” The + old woman made the big cake, and she went on top of the house, and she + cursed him as far as she could see him. + </p> + <p> + He presently meets with his father, and the old man says to him: “Where + are you going, my poor boy?” when the son told the father the same tale as + he told his mother. “Well,” says his father, “I'm sorry to see you going + away, but if you've made your mind to go, it's better for you to go.” + </p> + <p> + The poor lad had not gone far, when his father called him back; then the + old man drew out of his pocket a golden snuff-box, and said to him: “Here, + take this little box, and put it in your pocket, and be sure not to open + it till you are near your death.” And away went poor Jack upon his road, + and walked till he was tired and hungry, for he had eaten all his cake + upon the road; and by this time night was upon him, so he could hardly see + his way before him. He could see some light a long way before him, and he + made up to it, and found the back door and knocked at it, till one of the + maid-servants came and asked him what he wanted. He said that night was on + him, and he wanted to get some place to sleep. The maid-servant called him + in to the fire, and gave him plenty to eat, good meat and bread and beer; + and as he was eating his food by the fire, there came the young lady to + look at him, and she loved him well and he loved her. And the young lady + ran to tell her father, and said there was a pretty young man in the back + kitchen; and immediately the gentleman came to him, and questioned him, + and asked what work he could do. Jack said, the silly fellow, that he + could do anything. (He meant that he could do any foolish bit of work, + that would be wanted about the house.) + </p> + <p> + “Well,” says the gentleman to him, “if you can do anything, at eight + o'clock in the morning I must have a great lake and some of-the largest + man-of-war vessels sailing before my mansion, and one of the largest + vessels must fire a royal salute, and the last round must break the leg of + the bed where my young daughter is sleeping. And if you don't do that, you + will have to forfeit your life.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” said Jack; and away he went to his bed, and said his prayers + quietly, and slept till it was near eight o'clock, and he had hardly any + time to think what he was to do, till all of a sudden he remembered about + the little golden box that his father gave him. And he said to himself: + “Well, well, I never was so near my death as I am now;” and then he felt + in his pocket, and drew the little box out. And when he opened it, out + there hopped three little red men, and asked Jack: “What is your will with + us?” “Well,” said Jack, “I want a great lake and some of the largest + man-of-war vessels in the world before this mansion, and one of the + largest vessels to fire a royal salute, and the last round to break one of + the legs of the bed where this young lady is sleeping.” “All right,” said + the little men; “go to sleep.” + </p> + <p> + Jack had hardly time to bring the words out of his mouth, to tell the + little men what to do, but what it struck eight o'clock, when Bang, bang + went one of the largest man-of-war vessels; and it made Jack jump out of + bed to look through the window; and I can assure you it was a wonderful + sight for him to see, after being so long with his father and mother + living in a wood. + </p> + <p> + By this time Jack dressed himself, and said his prayers, and came down + laughing; for he was proud, he was, because the thing was done so well. + The gentleman comes to him, and says to him: “Well, my young man, I must + say that you are very clever indeed. Come and have some breakfast.” And + the gentleman tells him, “Now there are two more things you have to do, + and then you shall have my daughter in marriage.” Jack gets his breakfast, + and has a good squint at the young lady, and also she at him. + </p> + <p> + The other thing that the gentleman told him to do was to fell all the + great trees for miles around by eight o'clock in the morning; and, to make + my long story short, it was done, and it pleased the gentleman well The + gentleman said to him: “The other thing you have to do”—(and it was + the last thing)—“you must get me a great castle standing on twelve + golden pillars; and there must come regiments of soldiers and go through + their drill. At eight o'clock the commanding officer must say, 'Shoulder + up.'” “All right,” said Jack; when the third and last morning came the + third great feat was finished, and he had the young daughter in marriage. + But, oh dear! there is worse to come yet. + </p> + <p> + The gentleman now makes a large hunting party, and invites all the + gentlemen around the country to it, and to see the castle as well. And by + this time Jack has a beautiful horse and a scarlet dress to go with them. + On that morning his valet, when putting Jack's clothes by, after changing + them to go a hunting, put his hand in one of Jack's waistcoat-pockets, and + pulled out the little golden snuffbox, as poor Jack left behind in a + mistake. And that man opened the little box, and there hopped the three + little red men out, and asked him what he wanted with them. “Well,” said + the valet to them, “I want this castle to be moved from this place far and + far across the sea.” “All right,” said the little red men to him; “do you + wish to go with it?” “Yes,” said he. “Well, get up,” said they to him; and + away they went far and far over the great sea. + </p> + <p> + Now the grand hunting party comes back, and the castle upon the twelve + golden pillars had disappeared, to the great disappointment of those + gentlemen as did not see it before. That poor silly Jack is threatened by + taking his beautiful young wife from him, for taking them in in the way he + did. But the gentleman at last made an agreement with him, and he is to + have a twelvemonths and a day to look for it; and off he goes with a good + horse and money in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + Now poor Jack goes in search of his missing castle, over hills, dales, + valleys, and mountains, through woolly woods and sheepwalks, further than + I can tell you or ever intend to tell you. Until at last he comes up to + the place where lives the King of all the little mice in the world. There + was one of the little mice on sentry at the front gate going up to the + palace, and did try to stop Jack from going in. He asked the little mouse: + “Where does the King live? I should like to see him.” This one sent + another with him to show him the place; and when the King saw him, he + called him in. And the King questioned him, and asked him where he was + going that way. Well, Jack told him all the truth, that he had lost the + great castle, and was going to look for it, and he had a whole + twelvemonths and a day to find it out. And Jack asked him whether he knew + anything about it; and the King said: “No, but I am the King of all the + little mice in the world, and I will call them all up in the morning, and + maybe they have seen something of it.” + </p> + <p> + Then Jack got a good meal and bed, and in the morning he and the King went + on to the fields; and the King called all the mice together, and asked + them whether they had seen the great beautiful castle standing on golden + pillars. And all the little mice said, No, there was none of them had seen + it. The old King said to him that he had two other brothers: “One is the + King of all the frogs; and my other brother, who is the oldest, he is the + King of all the birds in the world. And if you go there, may be they know + something about the missing castle.” The King said to him: “Leave your + horse here with me till you come back, and take one of my best horses + under you, and give this cake to my brother; he will know then who you got + it from. Mind and tell him I am well, and should like dearly to see him.” + And then the King and Jack shook hands together. + </p> + <p> + And when Jack was going through the gates, the little mouse asked him, + should he go with him; and Jack said to him: “No, I shall get myself into + trouble with the King.” And the little thing told him: “It will be better + for you to let me go with you; maybe I shall do some good to you some time + without you knowing it.” “Jump up, then.” And the little mouse ran up the + horse's leg, and made it dance; and Jack put the mouse in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + Now Jack, after wishing good morning to the King and pocketing the little + mouse which was on sentry, trudged on his way; and such a long way he had + to go and this was his first day. At last he found the place; and there + was one of the frogs on sentry, and gun upon his shoulder, and did try to + hinder Jack from going in; but when Jack said to him that he wanted to see + the King, he allowed him to pass; and Jack made up to the door. The King + came out, and asked him his business; and Jack told him all from beginning + to end. “Well, well, come in.” He gets good entertainment that night; and + in the morning the King made such a funny sound, and collected all the + frogs in the world. And he asked them, did they know or see anything of a + castle that stood upon twelve golden pillars; and they all made a curious + sound, <i>Kro-kro, kro-kro</i>, and said, No. + </p> + <p> + Jack had to take another horse, and a cake to this King's brother, who is + the King of all the fowls of the air; and as Jack was going through the + gates, the little frog that was on sentry asked John should he go with + him. Jack refused him for a bit; but at last he told him to jump up, and + Jack put him in his other waistcoat pocket. And away he went again on his + great long journey; it was three times as long this time as it was the + first day; however, he found the place, and there was a fine bird on + sentry. And Jack passed him, and he never said a word to him; and he + talked with the King, and told him everything, all about the castle. + “Well,” said the King to him, “you shall know in the morning from my + birds, whether they know anything or not.” Jack put up his horse in the + stable, and then went to bed, after having something to eat. And when he + got up in the morning the King and he went on to some field, and there the + King made some funny noise, and there came all the fowls that were in all + the world. And the King asked them; “Did they see the fine castle?” and + all the birds answered, No. “Well,” said the King, “where is the great + bird?” They had to wait then for a long time for the eagle to make his + appearance, when at last he came all in a perspiration, after sending two + little birds high up in the sky to whistle on him to make all the haste he + possibly could. The King asked the great bird, Did he see the great + castle? and the bird said: “Yes, I came from there where it now is.” + “Well,” says the King to him; “this young gentleman has lost it, and you + must go with him back to it; but stop till you get a bit of something to + eat first.” + </p> + <p> + They killed a thief, and sent the best part of it to feed the eagle on his + journey over the seas, and had to carry Jack on his back. Now when they + came in sight of the castle, they did not know what to do to get the + little golden box. Well, the little mouse said to them: “Leave me down, + and I will get the little box for you.” So the mouse stole into the + castle, and got hold of the box; and when he was coming down the stairs, + it fell down, and he was very near being caught. He came running out with + it, laughing his best. “Have you got it?” Jack said to him; he said: + “Yes;” and off they went back again, and left the castle behind. + </p> + <p> + As they were all of them (Jack, mouse, frog, and eagle) passing over the + great sea, they fell to quarrelling about which it was that got the little + box, till down it slipped into the water. (It was by them looking at it + and handing it from one hand to the other that they dropped the little box + to the bottom of the sea.) “Well, well,” said the frog, “I knew that I + would have to do something, so you had better let me go down in the + water.” And they let him go, and he was down for three days and three + nights; and up he comes, and shows his nose and little mouth out of the + water; and all of them asked him, Did he get it? and he told them, No. + “Well, what are you doing there, then?” “Nothing at all,” he said, “only I + want my full breath;” and the poor little frog went down the second time, + and he was down for a day and a night, and up he brings it. + </p> + <p> + And away they did go, after being there four days and nights; and after a + long tug over seas and mountains, arrive at the palace of the old King, + who is the master of all the birds in the world. And the King is very + proud to see them, and has a hearty welcome and a long conversation. Jack + opens the little box, and told the little men to go back and to bring the + castle here to them; “and all of you make as much haste back again as you + possibly can.” + </p> + <p> + The three little men went off; and when they came near the castle they + were afraid to go to it till the gentleman and lady and all the servants + were gone out to some dance. And there was no one left behind there only + the cook and another maid with her; and the little red men asked them + which would they rather—go, or stop behind? and they both said: “I + will go with you;” and the little men told them to run upstairs quick. + They were no sooner up and in one of the drawing-rooms than here comes + just in sight the gentleman and lady and all the servants; but it was too + late. Off the castle went at full speed, with the women laughing at them + through the window, while they made motions for them to stop, but all to + no purpose. + </p> + <p> + They were nine days on their journey, in which they did try to keep the + Sunday holy, when one of the little men turned to be the priest, the other + the clerk, and third presided at the organ, and the women were the + singers, for they had a grand chapel in the castle already. Very + remarkable, there was a discord made in the music, and one of the little + men ran up one of the organ-pipes to see where the bad sound came from, + when he found out it only happened to be that the two women were laughing + at the little red man stretching his little legs full length on the bass + pipes, also his two arms the same time, with his little red night-cap, + which he never forgot to wear, and what they never witnessed before, could + not help calling forth some good merriment while on the face of the deep. + And poor thing! through them not going on with what they begun with, they + very near came to danger, as the castle was once very near sinking in the + middle of the sea. + </p> + <p> + At length, after a merry journey, they come again to Jack and the King. + The King was quite struck with the sight of the castle; and going up the + golden stairs, went to see the inside. + </p> + <p> + The King was very much pleased with the castle, but poor Jack's time of a + twelvemonths and a day was drawing to a close; and he, wishing to go home + to his young wife, gives orders to the three little men to get ready by + the next morning at eight o'clock to be off to the next brother, and to + stop there for one night; also to proceed from there to the last or the + youngest brother, the master of all the mice in the world, in such place + where the castle shall be left under his care until it's sent for. Jack + takes a farewell of the King, and thanks him very much for his + hospitality. + </p> + <p> + Away went Jack and his castle again, and stopped one night in that place; + and away they went again to the third place, and there left the castle + under his care. As Jack had to leave the castle behind, he had to take to + his own horse, which he left there when he first started. + </p> + <p> + Now poor Jack leaves his castle behind and faces towards home; and after + having so much merriment with the three brothers every night, Jack became + sleepy on horseback, and would have lost the road if it was not for the + little men a-guiding him. At last he arrived weary and tired, and they did + not seem to receive him with any kindness whatever, because he had not + found the stolen castle; and to make it worse, he was disappointed in not + seeing his young and beautiful wife to come and meet him, through being + hindered by her parents. But that did not stop long. Jack put full power + on and despatched the little men off to bring the castle from there, and + they soon got there. + </p> + <p> + Jack shook hands with the King, and returned many thanks for his kingly + kindness in minding the castle for him; and then Jack instructed the + little men to spur up and put speed on. And off they went, and were not + long before they reached their journey's end, when out comes the young + wife to meet him with a fine lump of a young SON, and they all lived happy + ever afterwards. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE STORY OF THE THREE BEARS + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there were Three Bears, who lived together in a house of + their own, in a wood. One of them was a Little, Small Wee Bear; and one + was a Middle-sized Bear, and the other was a Great, Huge Bear. They had + each a pot for their porridge, a little pot for the Little, Small, Wee + Bear; and a middle-sized pot for the Middle Bear, and a great pot for the + Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a chair to sit in; a little chair for + the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized chair for the Middle Bear; + and a great chair for the Great, Huge Bear. And they had each a bed to + sleep in; a little bed for the Little, Small, Wee Bear; and a middle-sized + bed for the Middle Bear; and a great bed for the Great, Huge Bear. + </p> + <p> + One day, after they had made the porridge for their breakfast, and poured + it into their porridge-pots, they walked out into the wood while the + porridge was cooling, that they might not burn their mouths, by beginning + too soon to eat it. And while they were walking, a little old Woman came + to the house. She could not have been a good, honest old Woman; for first + she looked in at the window, and then she peeped in at the keyhole; and + seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch. The door was not + fastened, because the Bears were good Bears, who did nobody any harm, and + never suspected that anybody would harm them. So the little old Woman + opened the door, and went in; and well pleased she was when she saw the + porridge on the table. If she had been a good little old Woman, she would + have waited till the Bears came home, and then, perhaps, they would have + asked her to breakfast; for they were good Bears—a little rough or + so, as the manner of Bears is, but for all that very good-natured and + hospitable. But she was an impudent, bad old Woman, and set about helping + herself. + </p> + <p> + So first she tasted the porridge of the Great, Huge Bear, and that was too + hot for her; and she said a bad word about that. And then she tasted the + porridge of the Middle Bear, and that was too cold for her; and she said a + bad word about that too. And then she went to the porridge of the Little, + Small, Wee Bear, and tasted that; and that was neither too hot, nor too + cold, but just right; and she liked it so well, that she ate it all up: + but the naughty old Woman said a bad word about the little porridge-pot, + because it did not hold enough for her. + </p> + <p> + Then the little old Woman sate down in the chair of the Great, Huge Bear, + and that was too hard for her. And then she sate down in the chair of the + Middle Bear, and that was too soft for her. And then she sate down in the + chair of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, and that was neither too hard, nor + too soft, but just right. So she seated herself in it, and there she sate + till the bottom of the chair came out, and down she came, plump upon the + ground. And the naughty old Woman said a wicked word about that too. + </p> + <p> + Then the little old Woman went upstairs into the bed-chamber in which the + three Bears slept. And first she lay down upon the bed of the Great, Huge + Bear; but that was too high at the head for her. And next she lay down + upon the bed of the Middle Bear; and that was too high at the foot for + her. And then she lay down upon the bed of the Little, Small, Wee Bear; + and that was neither too high at the head, nor at the foot, but just + right. So she covered herself up comfortably, and lay there till she fell + fast asleep. + </p> + <p> + By this time the Three Bears thought their porridge would be cool enough; + so they came home to breakfast. Now the little old Woman had left the + spoon of the Great, Huge Bear, standing in his porridge. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been at my porridge!” + </p> + <p> + said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. And when the + Middle Bear looked at his, he saw that the spoon was standing in it too. + They were wooden spoons; if they had been silver ones, the naughty old + Woman would have put them in her pocket. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been at my porridge!” + </p> + <p> + said the Middle Bear in his middle voice. + </p> + <p> + Then the Little, Small, Wee Bear looked at his, and there was the spoon in + the porridge-pot, but the porridge was all gone. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been at my porridge, and has eaten it all up!” + </p> + <p> + said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + </p> + <p> + Upon this the Three Bears, seeing that some one had entered their house, + and eaten up the Little, Small, Wee Bear's breakfast, began to look about + them. Now the little old Woman had not put the hard cushion straight when + she rose from the chair of the Great, Huge Bear. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been sitting in my chair!” + </p> + <p> + said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. + </p> + <p> + And the little old Woman had squatted down the soft cushion of the Middle + Bear. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been sitting in my chair!” + </p> + <p> + said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice. + </p> + <p> + And you know what the little old Woman had done to the third chair. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been sitting in my chair and has sate the bottom out of it!” + </p> + <p> + said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + </p> + <p> + Then the Three Bears thought it necessary that they should make farther + search; so they went upstairs into their bedchamber. Now the little old + Woman had pulled the pillow of the Great, Huge Bear, out of its place. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been lying in my bed!” + </p> + <p> + said the Great, Huge Bear, in his great, rough, gruff voice. + </p> + <p> + And the little old Woman had pulled the bolster of the Middle Bear out of + its place. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been lying in my bed!” + </p> + <p> + said the Middle Bear, in his middle voice. + </p> + <p> + And when the Little, Small, Wee Bear came to look at his bed, there was + the bolster in its place; and the pillow in its place upon the bolster; + and upon the pillow was the little old Woman's ugly, dirty head,—which + was not in its place, for she had no business there. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody has been lying in my bed,—and here she is!” + </p> + <p> + said the Little, Small, Wee Bear, in his little, small, wee voice. + </p> + <p> + The little old Woman had heard in her sleep the great, rough, gruff voice + of the Great, Huge Bear; but she was so fast asleep that it was no more to + her than the roaring of wind, or the rumbling of thunder. And she had + heard the middle voice, of the Middle Bear, but it was only as if she had + heard some one speaking in a dream. But when she heard the little, small, + wee voice of the Little, Small, Wee Bear, it was so sharp, and so shrill, + that it awakened her at once. Up she started; and when she saw the Three + Bears on one side of the bed, she tumbled herself out at the other, and + ran to the window. Now the window was open, because the Bears, like good, + tidy Bears, as they were, always opened their bedchamber window when they + got up in the morning. Out the little old Woman jumped; and whether she + broke her neck in the fall; or ran into the wood and was lost there; or + found her way out of the wood, and was taken up by the constable and sent + to the House of Correction for a vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But + the Three Bears never saw anything more of her. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JACK THE GIANT-KILLER + </h2> + <p> + When good King Arthur reigned, there lived near the Land's End of England, + in the county of Cornwall, a farmer who had one only son called Jack. He + was brisk and of a ready lively wit, so that nobody or nothing could worst + him. + </p> + <p> + In those days the Mount of Cornwall was kept by a huge giant named + Cormoran. He was eighteen feet in height, and about three yards round the + waist, of a fierce and grim countenance, the terror of all the + neighbouring towns and villages. He lived in a cave in the midst of the + Mount, and whenever he wanted food he would wade over to the main-land, + where he would furnish himself with whatever came in his way. Everybody at + his approach ran out of their houses, while he seized on their cattle, + making nothing of carrying half-a-dozen oxen on his back at a time; and as + for their sheep and hogs, he would tie them round his waist like a bunch + of tallow-dips. He had done this for many years, so that all Cornwall was + in despair. + </p> + <p> + One day Jack happened to be at the town-hall when the magistrates were + sitting in council about the Giant. He asked: “What reward will be given + to the man who kills Cormoran?” “The giant's treasure,” they said, “will + be the reward.” Quoth Jack: “Then let me undertake it.” + </p> + <p> + So he got a horn, shovel, and pickaxe, and went over to the Mount in the + beginning of a dark winter's evening, when he fell to work, and before + morning had dug a pit twenty-two feet deep, and nearly as broad, covering + it over with long sticks and straw. Then he strewed a little mould over + it, so that it appeared like plain ground. Jack then placed himself on the + opposite side of the pit, farthest from the giant's lodging, and, just at + the break of day, he put the horn to his mouth, and blew, Tantivy, + Tantivy. This noise roused the giant, who rushed from his cave, crying: + “You incorrigible villain, are you come here to disturb my rest? You shall + pay dearly for this. Satisfaction I will have, and this it shall be, I + will take you whole and broil you for breakfast.” He had no sooner uttered + this, than he tumbled into the pit, and made the very foundations of the + Mount to shake. “Oh, Giant,” quoth Jack, “where are you now? Oh, faith, + you are gotten now into Lob's Pound, where I will surely plague you for + your threatening words: what do you think now of broiling me for your + breakfast? Will no other diet serve you but poor Jack?” Then having + tantalised the giant for a while, he gave him a most weighty knock with + his pickaxe on the very crown of his head, and killed him on the spot. + </p> + <p> + Jack then filled up the pit with earth, and went to search the cave, which + he found contained much treasure. When the magistrates heard of this they + made a declaration he should henceforth be termed + </p> + <h3> + JACK THE GIANT-KILLER + </h3> + <p> + and presented him with a sword and a belt, on which were written these + words embroidered in letters of gold: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Here's the right valiant Cornish man, + Who slew the giant Cormoran.” + </pre> + <p> + The news of Jack's victory soon spread over all the West of England, so + that another giant, named Blunderbore, hearing of it, vowed to be revenged + on Jack, if ever he should light on him. This giant was the lord of an + enchanted castle situated in the midst of a lonesome wood. Now Jack, about + four months afterwards, walking near this wood in his journey to Wales, + being weary, seated himself near a pleasant fountain and fell fast asleep. + While he was sleeping, the giant, coming there for water, discovered him, + and knew him to be the far-famed Jack the Giant-killer by the lines + written on the belt. Without ado, he took Jack on his shoulders and + carried him towards his castle. Now, as they passed through a thicket, the + rustling of the boughs awakened Jack, who was strangely surprised to find + himself in the clutches of the giant. His terror was only begun, for, on + entering the castle, he saw the ground strewed with human bones, and the + giant told him his own would ere long be among them. After this the giant + locked poor Jack in an immense chamber, leaving him there while he went to + fetch another giant, his brother, living in the same wood, who might share + in the meal on Jack. + </p> + <p> + After waiting some time Jack, on going to the window beheld afar off the + two giants coming towards the castle. “Now,” quoth Jack to himself, “my + death or my deliverance is at hand.” Now, there were strong cords in a + corner of the room in which Jack was, and two of these he took, and made a + strong noose at the end; and while the giants were unlocking the iron gate + of the castle he threw the ropes over each of their heads. Then he drew + the other ends across a beam, and pulled with all his might, so that he + throttled them. Then, when he saw they were black in the face, he slid + down the rope, and drawing his sword, slew them both. Then, taking the + giant's keys, and unlocking the rooms, he found three fair ladies tied by + the hair of their heads, almost starved to death. “Sweet ladies,” quoth + Jack, “I have destroyed this monster and his brutish brother, and obtained + your liberties.” This said he presented them with the keys, and so + proceeded on his journey to Wales. + </p> + <p> + Jack made the best of his way by travelling as fast as he could, but lost + his road, and was benighted, and could find any habitation until, coming + into a narrow valley, he found a large house, and in order to get shelter + took courage to knock at the gate. But what was his surprise when there + came forth a monstrous giant with two heads; yet he did not appear so + fiery as the others were, for he was a Welsh giant, and what he did was by + private and secret malice under the false show of friendship. Jack, having + told his condition to the giant, was shown into a bedroom, where, in the + dead of night, he heard his host in another apartment muttering these + words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Though here you lodge with me this night, + You shall not see the morning light + My club shall dash your brains outright!” + </pre> + <p> + “Say'st thou so,” quoth Jack; “that is like one of your Welsh tricks, yet + I hope to be cunning enough for you.” Then, getting out of bed, he laid a + billet in the bed in his stead, and hid himself in a corner of the room. + At the dead time of the night in came the Welsh giant, who struck several + heavy blows on the bed with his club, thinking he had broken every bone in + Jack's skin. The next morning Jack, laughing in his sleeve, gave him + hearty thanks for his night's lodging. “How have you rested?” quoth the + giant; “did you not feel anything in the night?” “No,” quoth Jack, + “nothing but a rat, which gave me two or three slaps with her tail.” With + that, greatly wondering, the giant led Jack to breakfast, bringing him a + bowl containing four gallons of hasty pudding. Being loth to let the giant + think it too much for him, Jack put a large leather bag under his loose + coat, in such a way that he could convey the pudding into it without its + being perceived. Then, telling the giant he would show him a trick, taking + a knife, Jack ripped open the bag, and out came all the hasty pudding. + Whereupon, saying, “Odds splutters hur nails, hur can do that trick + hurself,” the monster took the knife, and ripping open his belly, fell + down dead. + </p> + <p> + Now, it happened in these days that King Arthur's only son asked his + father to give him a large sum of money, in order that he might go and + seek his fortune in the principality of Wales, where lived a beautiful + lady possessed with seven evil spirits. The king did his best to persuade + his son from it, but in vain; so at last gave way and the prince set out + with two horses, one loaded with money, the other for himself to ride + upon. Now, after several days' travel, he came to a market-town in Wales, + where he beheld a vast crowd of people gathered together. The prince asked + the reason of it, and was told that they had arrested a corpse for several + large sums of money which the deceased owed when he died. The prince + replied that it was a pity creditors should be so cruel, and said: “Go + bury the dead, and let his creditors come to my lodging, and there their + debts shall be paid.” They came, in such great numbers that before night + he had only twopence left for himself. + </p> + <p> + Now Jack the Giant-Killer, coming that way, was so taken with the + generosity of the prince, that he desired to be his servant. This being + agreed upon, the next morning they set forward on their journey together, + when, as they were riding out of the town, an old woman called after the + prince, saying, “He has owed me twopence these seven years; pray pay me as + well as the rest.” Putting his hand to his pocket, the prince gave the + woman all he had left, so that after their day's food, which cost what + small spell Jack had by him, they were without a penny between them. + </p> + <p> + When the sun got low, the king's son said: “Jack, since we have no money, + where can we lodge this night?” + </p> + <p> + But Jack replied: “Master, we'll do well enough, for I have an uncle lives + within two miles of this place; he is a huge and monstrous giant with + three heads; he'll fight five hundred men in armour, and make them to fly + before him.” “Alas!” quoth the prince, “what shall we do there? He'll + certainly chop us up at a mouthful. Nay, we are scarce enough to fill one + of his hollow teeth!” + </p> + <p> + “It is no matter for that,” quoth Jack; “I myself will go before and + prepare the way for you; therefore stop here and wait till I return.” Jack + then rode away at full speed, and coming to the gate of the castle, he + knocked so loud that he made the neighbouring hills resound. The giant + roared out at this like thunder: “Who's there?” + </p> + <p> + Jack answered: “None but your poor cousin Jack.” + </p> + <p> + Quoth he: “What news with my poor cousin Jack?” + </p> + <p> + He replied: “Dear uncle, heavy news, God wot!” + </p> + <p> + “Prithee,” quoth the giant, “what heavy news can come to me? I am a giant + with three heads, and besides thou knowest I can fight five hundred men in + armour, and make them fly like chaff before the wind.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, but,” quoth Jack, “here's the king's son a-coming with a thousand men + in armour to kill you and destroy all that you have!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, cousin Jack,” said the giant, “this is heavy news indeed! I will + immediately run and hide myself, and thou shalt lock, bolt, and bar me in, + and keep the keys until the prince is gone.” Having secured the giant, + Jack fetched his master, when they made themselves heartily merry whilst + the poor giant lay trembling in a vault under the ground. + </p> + <p> + Early in the morning Jack furnished his master with a fresh supply of gold + and silver, and then sent him three miles forward on his journey, at which + time the prince was pretty well out of the smell of the giant. Jack then + returned, and let the giant out of the vault, who asked what he should + give him for keeping the castle from destruction. “Why,” quoth Jack, “I + want nothing but the old coat and cap, together with the old rusty sword + and slippers which are at your bed's head.” Quoth the giant: “You know not + what you ask; they are the most precious things I have. The coat will keep + you invisible, the cap will tell you all you want to know, the sword cuts + asunder whatever you strike, and the shoes are of extraordinary swiftness. + But you have been very serviceable to me, therefore take them with all my + heart.” Jack thanked his uncle, and then went off with them. He soon + overtook his master and they quickly arrived at the house of the lady the + prince sought, who, finding the prince to be a suitor, prepared a splendid + banquet for him. After the repast was concluded, she told him she had a + task for him. She wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, saying: “You must + show me that handkerchief to-morrow morning, or else you will lose your + head.” With that she put it in her bosom. The prince went to bed in great + sorrow, but Jack's cap of knowledge informed him how it was to be + obtained. In the middle of the night she called upon her familiar spirit + to carry her to Lucifer. But Jack put on his coat of darkness and his + shoes of swiftness, and was there as soon as she was. When she entered the + place of the Old One, she gave the handkerchief to old Lucifer, who laid + it upon a shelf, whence Jack took it and brought it to his master, who + showed it to the lady next day, and so saved his life. On that day, she + gave the prince a kiss and told him he must show her the lips to-morrow + morning that she kissed last night, or lose his head. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” he replied, “if you kiss none but mine, I will.” + </p> + <p> + “That is neither here nor there,” said she; “if you do not, death's your + portion!” + </p> + <p> + At midnight she went as before, and was angry with old Lucifer for letting + the handkerchief go. “But now,” quoth she, “I will be too hard for the + king's son, for I will kiss thee, and he is to show me thy lips.” Which + she did, and Jack, when she was not standing by, cut off Lucifer's head + and brought it under his invisible coat to his master, who the next + morning pulled it out by the horns before the lady. This broke the + enchantment and the evil spirit left her, and she appeared in all her + beauty. They were married the next morning, and soon after went to the + court of King Arthur, where Jack for his many great exploits, was made one + of the Knights of the Round Table. + </p> + <p> + Jack soon went searching for giants again, but he had not ridden far, when + he saw a cave, near the entrance of which he beheld a giant sitting upon a + block of timber, with a knotted iron club by his side. His goggle eyes + were like flames of fire, his countenance grim and ugly, and his cheeks + like a couple of large flitches of bacon, while the bristles of his beard + resembled rods of iron wire, and the locks that hung down upon his brawny + shoulders were like curled snakes or hissing adders. Jack alighted from + his horse, and, putting on the coat of darkness, went up close to the + giant, and said softly: “Oh! are you there? It will not be long before I + take you fast by the beard.” The giant all this while could not see him, + on account of his invisible coat, so that Jack, coming up close to the + monster, struck a blow with his sword at his head, but, missing his aim, + he cut off the nose instead. At this, the giant roared like claps of + thunder, and began to lay about him with his iron club like one stark mad. + But Jack, running behind, drove his sword up to the hilt in the giant's + back, so that he fell down dead. This done, Jack cut off the giant's head, + and sent it, with his brother's also, to King Arthur, by a waggoner he + hired for that purpose. + </p> + <p> + Jack now resolved to enter the giant's cave in search of his treasure, + and, passing along through a great many windings and turnings, he came at + length to a large room paved with freestone, at the upper end of which was + a boiling caldron, and on the right hand a large table, at which the giant + used to dine. Then he came to a window, barred with iron, through which he + looked and beheld a vast number of miserable captives, who, seeing him, + cried out: “Alas! young man, art thou come to be one amongst us in this + miserable den?” + </p> + <p> + “Ay,” quoth Jack, “but pray tell me what is the meaning of your + captivity?” + </p> + <p> + “We are kept here,” said one, “till such time as the giants have a wish to + feast, and then the fattest among us is slaughtered! And many are the + times they have dined upon murdered men!” + </p> + <p> + “Say you so,” quoth Jack, and straightway unlocked the gate and let them + free, who all rejoiced like condemned men at sight of a pardon. Then + searching the giant's coffers, he shared the gold and silver equally + amongst them and took them to a neighbouring castle, where they all + feasted and made merry over their deliverance. + </p> + <p> + But in the midst of all this mirth a messenger brought news that one + Thunderdell, a giant with two heads, having heard of the death of his + kinsmen, had come from the northern dales to be revenged on Jack, and was + within a mile of the castle, the country people flying before him like + chaff. But Jack was not a bit daunted, and said: “Let him come! I have a + tool to pick his teeth; and you, ladies and gentlemen, walk out into the + garden, and you shall witness this giant Thunderdell's death and + destruction.” + </p> + <p> + The castle was situated in the midst of a small island surrounded by a + moat thirty feet deep and twenty feet wide, over which lay a drawbridge. + So Jack employed men to cut through this bridge on both sides, nearly to + the middle; and then, dressing himself in his invisible coat, he marched + against the giant with his sword of sharpness. Although the giant could + not see Jack, he smelt his approach, and cried out in these words: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fee, fi, fo, fum! + I smell the blood of an Englishman! + Be he alive or be he dead, + I'll grind his bones to make me bread!” + </pre> + <p> + “Say'st thou so,” said Jack; “then thou art a monstrous miller indeed.” + </p> + <p> + The giant cried out again: “Art thou that villain who killed my kinsmen? + Then I will tear thee with my teeth, suck thy blood, and grind thy bones + to powder.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll have to catch me first,” quoth Jack, and throwing off his + invisible coat, so that the giant might see him, and putting on his shoes + of swiftness, he ran from the giant, who followed like a walking castle, + so that the very foundations of the earth seemed to shake at every step. + Jack led him a long dance, in order that the gentlemen and ladies might + see; and at last to end the matter, ran lightly over the drawbridge, the + giant, in full speed, pursuing him with his club. Then, coming to the + middle of the bridge, the giant's great weight broke it down, and he + tumbled headlong into the water, where he rolled and wallowed like a + whale. Jack, standing by the moat, laughed at him all the while; but + though the giant foamed to hear him scoff, and plunged from place to place + in the moat, yet he could not get out to be revenged. Jack at length got a + cart-rope and cast it over the two heads of the giant, and drew him ashore + by a team of horses, and then cut off both his heads with his sword of + sharpness, and sent them to King Arthur. + </p> + <p> + After some time spent in mirth and pastime, Jack, taking leave of the + knights and ladies, set out for new adventures. Through many woods he + passed, and came at length to the foot of a high mountain. Here, late at + night, he found a lonesome house, and knocked at the door, which was + opened by an aged man with a head as white as snow. “Father,” said Jack, + “can you lodge a benighted traveller that has lost his way?” “Yes,” said + the old man; “you are right welcome to my poor cottage.” Whereupon Jack + entered, and down they sat together, and the old man began to speak as + follows: “Son, I see by your belt you are the great conqueror of giants, + and behold, my son, on the top of this mountain is an enchanted castle, + this is kept by a giant named Galligantua, and he by the help of an old + conjurer, betrays many knights and ladies into his castle, where by magic + art they are transformed into sundry shapes and forms. But above all, I + grieve for a duke's daughter, whom they fetched from her father's garden, + carrying her through the air in a burning chariot drawn by fiery dragons, + when they secured her within the castle, and transformed her into a white + hind. And though many knights have tried to break the enchantment, and + work her deliverance, yet no one could accomplish it, on account of two + dreadful griffins which are placed at the castle gate and which destroy + every one who comes near. But you, my son, may pass by them undiscovered, + where on the gates of the castle you will find engraven in large letters + how the spell may be broken.” Jack gave the old man his hand, and promised + that in the morning he would venture his life to free the lady. + </p> + <p> + In the morning Jack arose and put on his invisible coat and magic cap and + shoes, and prepared himself for the fray. Now, when he had reached the top + of the mountain he soon discovered the two fiery griffins, but passed them + without fear, because of his invisible coat. When he had got beyond them, + he found upon the gates of the castle a golden trumpet hung by a silver + chain, under which these lines were engraved: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Whoever shall this trumpet blow, + Shall soon the giant overthrow, + And break the black enchantment straight; + So all shall be in happy state.” + </pre> + <p> + Jack had no sooner read this but he blew the trumpet, at which the castle + trembled to its vast foundations, and the giant and conjurer were in + horrid confusion, biting their thumbs and tearing their hair, knowing + their wicked reign was at an end. Then the giant stooping to take up his + club, Jack at one blow cut off his head; whereupon the conjurer, mounting + up into the air, was carried away in a whirlwind. Then the enchantment was + broken, and all the lords and ladies who had so long been transformed into + birds and beasts returned to their proper shapes, and the castle vanished + away in a cloud of smoke. This being done, the head of Galligantua was + likewise, in the usual manner, conveyed to the Court of King Arthur, + where, the very next day, Jack followed, with the knights and ladies who + had been delivered. Whereupon, as a reward for his good services, the king + prevailed upon the duke to bestow his daughter in marriage on honest Jack. + So married they were, and the whole kingdom was filled with joy at the + wedding. Furthermore, the king bestowed on Jack a noble castle, with a + very beautiful estate thereto belonging, where he and his lady lived in + great joy and happiness all the rest of their days. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + HENNY-PENNY + </h2> + <p> + One day Henny-penny was picking up corn in the cornyard when—whack!—something + hit her upon the head. “Goodness gracious me!” said Henny-penny; “the + sky's a-going to fall; I must go and tell the king.” + </p> + <p> + So she went along and she went along and she went along till she met + Cocky-locky. “Where are you going, Henny-penny?” says Cocky-locky. “Oh! + I'm going to tell the king the sky's a-falling,” says Henny-penny. “May I + come with you?” says Cocky-locky. “Certainly,” says Henny-penny. So + Henny-penny and Cocky-locky went to tell-the king the sky was falling. + </p> + <p> + They went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they met + Ducky-daddles. “Where are you going to, Henny-penny and Cocky-locky?” says + Ducky-daddles. “Oh! we're going to tell the king the sky's a-falling,” + said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. “May I come with you?” says + Ducky-daddles. “Certainly,” said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky. So + Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles went to tell the king the sky + was a-falling. + </p> + <p> + So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they + met Goosey-poosey, “Where are you going to, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky and + Ducky-daddles?” said Goosey-poosey. “Oh! we're going to tell the king the + sky's a-falling,” said Henny-penny and Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles. “May + I come with you,” said Goosey-poosey. “Certainly,” said Henny-penny, + Cocky-locky and Ducky-daddles. So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles + and Goosey-poosey went to tell the king the sky was a-falling. + </p> + <p> + So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they + met Turkey-lurkey. “Where are you going, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, + Ducky-daddles, and Goosey-poosey?” says Turkey-lurkey. “Oh! we're going to + tell the king the sky's a-falling,” said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, + Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey. “May I come with you? Henny-penny, + Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles and Goosey-poosey?” said Turkey-lurkey. “Why, + certainly, Turkey-lurkey,” said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, + and Goosey-poosey. So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, + Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey all went to tell the king the sky was + a-falling. + </p> + <p> + So they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till they + met Foxy-woxy, and Foxy-woxy said to Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, + Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey: “Where are you going, + Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and + Turkey-lurkey?” And Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, + Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey said to Foxy-woxy: “We're going to tell + the king the sky's a-falling.” “Oh! but this is not the way to the king, + Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey and Turkey-lurkey,” + says Foxy-woxy; “I know the proper way; shall I show it you?” “Why + certainly, Foxy-woxy,” said Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, + Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey. So Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, + Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, Turkey-lurkey, and Foxy-woxy all went to + tell the king the sky was a-falling. So they went along, and they went + along, and they went along, till they came to a narrow and dark hole. Now + this was the door of Foxy-woxy's cave. But Foxy-woxy said to Henny-penny, + Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey: “This is the + short way to the king's palace you'll soon get there if you follow me. I + will go first and you come after, Henny-penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky daddles, + Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey.” “Why of course, certainly, without + doubt, why not?” said Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, + Goosey-poosey, and Turkey-lurkey. + </p> + <p> + So Foxy-woxy went into his cave, and he didn't go very far but turned + round to wait for Henny-Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Goosey-poosey + and Turkey-lurkey. So at last at first Turkey-lurkey went through the dark + hole into the cave. He hadn't got far when “Hrumph,” Foxy-woxy snapped off + Turkey-lurkey's head and threw his body over his left shoulder. Then + Goosey-poosey went in, and “Hrumph,” off went her head and Goosey-poosey + was thrown beside Turkey-lurkey. Then Ducky-daddles waddled down, and + “Hrumph,” snapped Foxy-woxy, and Ducky-daddles' head was off and + Ducky-daddles was thrown alongside Turkey-lurkey and Goosey-poosey. Then + Cocky-locky strutted down into the cave and he hadn't gone far when “Snap, + Hrumph!” went Foxy-woxy and Cocky-locky was thrown alongside of + Turkey-lurkey, Goosey-poosey and Ducky-daddles. + </p> + <p> + But Foxy-woxy had made two bites at Cocky-locky, and when the first snap + only hurt Cocky-locky, but didn't kill him, he called out to Henny-penny. + So she turned tail and ran back home, so she never told the king the sky + was a-falling. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHILDE ROWLAND + </h2> + <p> + Childe Rowland and his brothers twain Were playing at the ball, And there + was their sister Burd Ellen In the midst, among them all. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Childe Rowland kicked it with his foot + And caught it with his knee; + At last as he plunged among them all + O'er the church he made it flee. + + Burd Ellen round about the aisle + To seek the ball is gone, + But long they waited, and longer still, + And she came not back again. + + They sought her east, they sought her west, + They sought her up and down, + And woe were the hearts of those brethren, + For she was not to be found. +</pre> + <p> + So at last her eldest brother went to the Warlock Merlin and told him all + the case, and asked him if he knew where Burd Ellen was. “The fair Burd + Ellen,” said the Warlock Merlin, “must have been carried off by the + fairies, because she went round the church 'wider shins'—the + opposite way to the sun. She is now in the Dark Tower of the King of + Elfland; it would take the boldest knight in Christendom to bring her + back.” + </p> + <p> + “If it is possible to bring her back,” said her brother, “I'll do it, or + perish in the attempt.” + </p> + <p> + “Possible it is,” said the Warlock Merlin, “but woe to the man or mother's + son that attempts it, if he is not well taught beforehand what he is to + do.” + </p> + <p> + The eldest brother of Burd Ellen was not to be put off, by any fear of + danger, from attempting to get her back, so he begged the Warlock Merlin + to tell him what he should do, and what he should not do, in going to seek + his sister. And after he had been taught, and had repeated his lesson, he + set out for Elfland. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + But long they waited, and longer still, + With doubt and muckle pain, + But woe were the hearts of his brethren, + For he came not back again. +</pre> + <p> + Then the second brother got tired and sick of waiting, and he went to the + Warlock Merlin and asked him the same as his brother. So he set out to + find Burd Ellen. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + But long they waited, and longer still, + With muckle doubt and pain, + And woe were his mother's and brother's heart, + For he came not back again. +</pre> + <p> + And when they had waited and waited a good long time, Childe Rowland, the + youngest of Burd Ellen's brothers, wished to go, and went to his mother, + the good queen, to ask her to let him go. But she would not at first, for + he was the last of her children she now had, and if he was lost, all would + be lost. But he begged, and he begged, till at last the good queen let him + go, and gave him his father's good brand that never struck in vain. And as + she girt it round his waist, she said the spell that would give it + victory. + </p> + <p> + So Childe Rowland said good-bye to the good queen, his mother, and went to + the cave of the Warlock Merlin. “Once more, and but once more,” he said to + the Warlock, “tell how man or mother's son may rescue Burd Ellen and her + brothers twain.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, my son,” said the Warlock Merlin, “there are but two things, simple + they may seem, but hard they are to do. One thing to do, and one thing not + to do. And the thing to do is this: after you have entered the land of + Fairy, whoever speaks to you, till you meet the Burd Ellen, you must out + with your father's brand and off with their head. And what you've not to + do is this: bite no bit, and drink no drop, however hungry or thirsty you + be; drink a drop, or bite a bit, while in Elfland you be and never will + you see Middle Earth again.” + </p> + <p> + So Childe Rowland said the two things over and over again, till he knew + them by heart, and he thanked the Warlock Merlin and went on his way. And + he went along, and along, and along, and still further along, till he came + to the horse-herd of the King of Elfland feeding his horses. These he knew + by their fiery eyes, and knew that he was at last in the land of Fairy. + “Canst thou tell me,” said Childe Rowland to the horse-herd, “where the + King of Elfland's Dark Tower is?” “I cannot tell thee,” said the + horse-herd, “but go on a little further and thou wilt come to the + cow-herd, and he, maybe, can tell thee.” + </p> + <p> + Then, without a word more, Childe Rowland drew the good brand that never + struck in vain, and off went the horse-herd's head, and Childe Rowland + went on further, till he came to the cow-herd, and asked him the same + question. “I can't tell thee,” said he, “but go on a little farther, and + thou wilt come to the hen-wife, and she is sure to know.” Then Childe + Rowland out with his good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went + the cow-herd's head. And he went on a little further, till he came to an + old woman in a grey cloak, and he asked her if she knew where the Dark + Tower of the King of Elfland was. “Go on a little further,” said the + hen-wife, “till you come to a round green hill, surrounded with + terrace-rings, from the bottom to the top; go round it three times, + widershins, and each time say: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Open, door! open, door! + And let me come in. +</pre> + <p> + and the third time the door will open, and you may go in.” And Childe + Rowland was just going on, when he remembered what he had to do; so he out + with the good brand, that never struck in vain, and off went the + hen-wife's head. + </p> + <p> + Then he went on, and on, and on, till he came to the round green hill with + the terrace-rings from top to bottom, and he went round it three times, + widershins, saying each time: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Open, door! open, door! + And let me come in. +</pre> + <p> + And the third time the door did open, and he went in, and it closed with a + click, and Childe Rowland was left in the dark. + </p> + <p> + It was not exactly dark, but a kind of twilight or gloaming. There were + neither windows nor candles, and he could not make out where the twilight + came from, if not through the walls and roof. These were rough arches made + of a transparent rock, incrusted with sheepsilver and rock spar, and other + bright stones. But though it was rock, the air was quite warm, as it + always is in Elfland. So he went through this passage till at last he came + to two wide and high folding-doors which stood ajar. And when he opened + them, there he saw a most wonderful and glorious sight. A large and + spacious hall, so large that it seemed to be as long, and as broad, as the + green hill itself. The roof was supported by fine pillars, so large and + lofty, that the pillars of a cathedral were as nothing to them. They were + all of gold and silver, with fretted work, and between them and around + them, wreaths of flowers, composed of what do you think? Why, of diamonds + and emeralds, and all manner of precious stones. And the very key-stones + of the arches had for ornaments clusters of diamonds and rubies, and + pearls, and other precious stones. And all these arches met in the middle + of the roof, and just there, hung by a gold chain, an immense lamp made + out of one big pearl hollowed out and quite transparent. And in the middle + of this was a big, huge carbuncle, which kept spinning round and round, + and this was what gave light by its rays to the whole hall, which seemed + as if the setting sun was shining on it. + </p> + <p> + The hall was furnished in a manner equally grand, and at one end of it was + a glorious couch of velvet, silk and gold, and there sate Burd Ellen, + combing her golden hair with a silver comb. And when she saw Childe + Rowland she stood up and said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “God pity ye, poor luckless fool, + What have ye here to do? + + “Hear ye this, my youngest brother, + Why didn't ye bide at home? + Had you a hundred thousand lives + Ye couldn't spare any a one. + + “But sit ye down; but woe, O, woe, + That ever ye were born, + For come the King of Elfland in, + Your fortune is forlorn.” + </pre> + <p> + Then they sate down together, and Childe Rowland told her all that he had + done, and she told him how their two brothers had reached the Dark Tower, + but had been enchanted by the King of Elfland, and lay there entombed as + if dead. And then after they had talked a little longer Childe Rowland + began to feel hungry from his long travels, and told his sister Burd Ellen + how hungry he was and asked for some food, forgetting all about the + Warlock Merlin's warning. + </p> + <p> + Burd Ellen looked at Childe Rowland sadly, and shook her head, but she was + under a spell, and could not warn him. So she rose up, and went out, and + soon brought back a golden basin full of bread and milk. Childe Rowland + was just going to raise it to his lips, when he looked at his sister and + remembered why he had come all that way. So he dashed the bowl to the + ground, and said: “Not a sup will I swallow, nor a bit will I bite, till + Burd Ellen is set free.” + </p> + <p> + Just at that moment they heard the noise of some one approaching, and a + loud voice was heard saying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fee, fi, fo, fum, + I smell the blood of a Christian man, + Be he dead, be he living, with my brand, + I'll dash his brains from his brain-pan.” + </pre> + <p> + And then the folding-doors of the hall were burst open, and the King of + Elfland rushed in. + </p> + <p> + “Strike then, Bogle, if thou darest,” shouted out Childe Rowland, and + rushed to meet him with his good brand that never yet did fail. They + fought, and they fought, and they fought, till Childe Rowland beat the + King of Elfland down on to his knees, and caused him to yield and beg for + mercy. “I grant thee mercy,” said Childe Rowland, “release my sister from + thy spells and raise my brothers to life, and let us all go free, and thou + shalt be spared.” “I agree,” said the Elfin King, and rising up he went to + a chest from which he took a phial filled with a blood-red liquor. With + this he anointed the ears, eyelids, nostrils, lips, and finger-tips, of + the two brothers, and they sprang at once into life, and declared that + their souls had been away, but had now returned. The Elfin king then said + some words to Burd Ellen, and she was disenchanted, and they all four + passed out of the hall, through the long passage, and turned their back on + the Dark Tower, never to return again. And they reached home, and the good + queen, their mother, and Burd Ellen never went round a church widershins + again. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MOLLY WHUPPIE + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a man and a wife had too many children, and + they could not get meat for them, so they took the three youngest and left + them in a wood. They travelled and travelled and could see never a house. + It began to be dark, and they were hungry. At last they saw a light and + made for it; it turned out to be a house. They knocked at the door, and a + woman came to it, who said: “What do you want?” They said: “Please let us + in and give us something to eat.” The woman said: “I can't do that, as my + man is a giant, and he would kill you if he comes home.” They begged hard. + “Let us stop for a little while,” said they, “and we will go away before + he comes.” So she took them in, and set them down before the fire, and + gave them milk and bread; but just as they had begun to eat a great knock + came to the door, and a dreadful voice said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Fee, fie, fo, fum, + I smell the blood of some earthly one. +</pre> + <p> + Who have you there wife?” “Eh,” said the wife, “it's three poor lassies + cold and hungry, and they will go away. Ye won't touch 'em, man.” He said + nothing, but ate up a big supper, and ordered them to stay all night. Now + he had three lassies of his own, and they were to sleep in the same bed + with the three strangers. + </p> + <p> + The youngest of the three strange lassies was called Molly Whuppie, and + she was very clever. She noticed that before they went to bed the giant + put straw ropes round her neck and her sisters', and round his own + lassies' necks he put gold chains. So Molly took care and did not fall + asleep, but waited till she was sure every one was sleeping sound. Then + she slipped out of the bed, and took the straw ropes off her own and her + sisters' necks, and took the gold chains off the giant's lassies. She then + put the straw ropes on the giant's lassies and the gold on herself and her + sisters, and lay down. + </p> + <p> + And in the middle of the night up rose the giant, armed with a great club, + and felt for the necks with the straw. It was dark. He took his own + lassies out of bed on to the floor, and battered them until they were + dead, and then lay down again, thinking he had managed fine. Molly thought + it time she and her sisters were out of that, so she wakened them and told + them to be quiet, and they slipped out of the house. They all got out + safe, and they ran and ran, and never stopped until morning, when they saw + a grand house before them. It turned out to be a king's house: so Molly + went in, and told her story to the king. He said: “Well, Molly, you are a + clever girl, and you have managed well; but, if you would manage better, + and go back, and steal the giant's sword that hangs on the back of his + bed, I would give your eldest sister my eldest son to marry.” Molly said + she would try. + </p> + <p> + So she went back, and managed to slip into the giant's house, and crept in + below the bed. The giant came home, and ate up a great supper, and went to + bed. Molly waited until he was snoring, and she crept out, and reached + over the giant and got down the sword; but just as she got it out over the + bed it gave a rattle, and up jumped the giant, and Molly ran out at the + door and the sword with her; and she ran, and he ran, till they came to + the “Bridge of one hair”; and she got over, but he couldn't, and he says, + “Woe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never ye come again.” And she says “Twice + yet, carle,” quoth she, “I'll come to Spain.” So Molly took the sword to + the king, and her sister was married to his son. + </p> + <p> + Well, the king he says: “Ye've managed well, Molly; but if ye would manage + better, and steal the purse that lies below the giant's pillow, I would + marry your second sister to my second son.” And Molly said she would try. + So she set out for the giant's house, and slipped in, and hid again below + the bed, and waited till the giant had eaten his supper, and was snoring + sound asleep. She slipped out, and slipped her hand below the pillow, and + got out the purse; but just as she was going out the giant wakened, and + ran after her; and she ran, and he ran, till they came to the “Bridge of + one hair,” and she got over, but he couldn't, and he said, “Woe worth ye, + Molly Whuppie! never you come again.” “Once yet, carle,” quoth she, “I'll + come to Spain.” So Molly took the purse to the king, and her second sister + was married to the king's second son. + </p> + <p> + After that the king says to Molly: “Molly, you are a clever girl, but if + you would do better yet, and steal the giant's ring that he wears on his + finger, I will give you my youngest son for yourself.” Molly said she + would try. So back she goes to the giant's house, and hides herself below + the bed. The giant wasn't long ere he came home, and, after he had eaten a + great big supper, he went to his bed, and shortly was snoring loud. Molly + crept out and reached over the bed, and got hold of the giant's hand, and + she pulled and she pulled until she got off the ring; but just as she got + it off the giant got up, and gripped her by the hand, and he says: “Now I + have catcht you, Molly Whuppie, and, if I had done as much ill to you as + ye have done to me, what would ye do to me?” + </p> + <p> + Molly says: “I would put you into a sack, and I'd put the cat inside with + you, and the dog aside you, and a needle and thread and a shears, and I'd + hang you up upon the wall, and I'd go to the wood, and choose the thickest + stick I could get, and I would come home, and take you down, and bang you + till you were dead.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Molly,” says the giant, “I'll just do that to you.” + </p> + <p> + So he gets a sack, and puts Molly into it, and the cat and the dog beside + her, and a needle and thread and shears, and hangs her up upon the wall, + and goes to the wood to choose a stick. + </p> + <p> + Molly she sings out: “Oh, if ye saw what I see.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh,” says the giant's wife, “what do ye see, Molly?” + </p> + <p> + But Molly never said a word but, “Oh, if ye saw what I see!” + </p> + <p> + The giant's wife begged that Molly would take her up into the sack till + she would see what Molly saw. So Molly took the shears and cut a hole in + the sack, and took out the needle and thread with her, and jumped down and + helped, the giant's wife up into the sack, and sewed up the hole. + </p> + <p> + The giant's wife saw nothing, and began to ask to get down again; but + Molly never minded, but hid herself at the back of the door. Home came the + giant, and a great big tree in his hand, and he took down the sack, and + began to batter it. His wife cried, “It's me, man;” but the dog barked and + the cat mewed, and he did not know his wife's voice. But Molly came out + from the back of the door, and the giant saw her, and he after her; and he + ran and she ran, till they came to the “Bridge of one hair,” and she got + over but he couldn't; and he said, “Woe worth you, Molly Whuppie! never + you come again.” “Never more, carle,” quoth she, “will I come again to + Spain.” + </p> + <p> + So Molly took the ring to the king, and she was married to his youngest + son, and she never saw the giant again. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE RED ETTIN + </h2> + <p> + There was once a widow that lived on a small bit of ground, which she + rented from a farmer. And she had two sons; and by-and-by it was time for + the wife to send them away to seek their fortune. So she told her eldest + son one day to take a can and bring her water from the well, that she + might bake a cake for him; and however much or however little water he + might bring, the cake would be great or small accordingly, and that cake + was to be all that she could give him when he went on his travels. + </p> + <p> + The lad went away with the can to the well, and filled it with water, and + then came away home again; but the can being broken, the most part of the + water had run out before he got back. So his cake was very small; yet + small as it was, his mother asked him if he was willing to take the half + of it with her blessing, telling him that, if he chose rather to take the + whole, he would only get it with her curse. The young man, thinking he + might have to travel a far way, and not knowing when or how he might get + other provisions, said he would like to have the whole cake, come of his + mother's malison what like; so she gave him the whole cake, and her + malison along with it. Then he took his brother aside, and gave him a + knife to keep till he should come back, desiring him to look at it every + morning, and as long as it continued to be clear, then he might be sure + that the owner of it was well; but if it grew dim and rusty, then for + certain some ill had befallen him. + </p> + <p> + So the young man went to seek his fortune. And he went all that day, and + all the next day; and on the third day, in the afternoon, he came up to + where a shepherd was sitting with a flock of sheep. And he went up to the + shepherd and asked him who the sheep belonged to; and he answered: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The Red Ettin of Ireland + Once lived in Ballygan, + And stole King Malcolm's daughter + The king of fair Scotland. + + He beats her, he binds her, + He lays her on a band; + And every day he strikes her + With a bright silver wand. + Like Julian the Roman, + He's one that fears no man. + + It's said there's one predestinate + To be his mortal foe; + But that man is yet unborn, + And long may it be so.” + </pre> + <p> + This shepherd also told him to beware of the beasts he should next meet, + for they were of a very different kind from any he had yet seen. + </p> + <p> + So the young man went on, and by-and-by he saw a multitude of very + dreadful beasts, with two heads, and on every head four horns. And he was + sore frightened, and ran away from them as fast as he could; and glad was + he when he came to a castle that stood on a hillock, with the door + standing wide open to the wall. And he went into the castle for shelter, + and there he saw an old wife sitting beside the kitchen fire. He asked the + wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with a long journey; + and the wife said he might, but it was not a good place for him to be in, + as it belonged to the Red Ettin, who was a very terrible beast, with three + heads, that spared no living man it could get hold of. The young man would + have gone away, but he was afraid of the beasts on the outside of the + castle; so he beseeched the old woman to hide him as best she could, and + not tell the Ettin he was there. He thought, if he could put over the + night, he might get away in the morning, without meeting with the beasts, + and so escape. But he had not been long in his hiding-hole, before the + awful Ettin came in; and no sooner was he in, than he was heard crying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Snouk but and snouk ben, + I find the smell of an earthly man, + Be he living, or be he dead, + His heart this night shall kitchen my bread.” + </pre> + <p> + The monster soon found the poor young man, and pulled him from his hole. + And when he had got him out, he told him that if he could answer him three + questions his life should be spared. So the first head asked: “A thing + without an end, what's that?” But the young man knew not. Then the second + head said: “The smaller, the more dangerous, what's that?” But the young + man knew it not. And then the third head asked: “The dead carrying the + living; riddle me that?” But the young man had to give it up. The lad not + being able to answer one of these questions, the Red Ettin took a mallet + and knocked him on the head, and turned him into a pillar of stone. + </p> + <p> + On the morning after this happened, the younger brother took out the knife + to look at it, and he was grieved to find it all brown with rust. He told + his mother that the time was now come for him to go away upon his travels + also; so she requested him to take the can to the well for water, that she + might make a cake for him. And he went, and as he was bringing home the + water, a raven over his head cried to him to look, and he would see that + the water was running out. And he was a young man of sense, and seeing the + water running out, he took some clay and patched up the holes, so that he + brought home enough water to bake a large cake. When his mother put it to + him to take the half cake with her blessing, he took it in preference to + having the whole with her malison; and yet the half was bigger than what + the other lad had got. + </p> + <p> + So he went away on his journey; and after he had travelled a far way, he + met with an old woman that asked him if he would give her a bit of his + johnny-cake. And he said: “I will gladly do that,” and so he gave her a + piece of the johnny-cake; and for that she gave him a magical wand, that + she might yet be of service to him, if he took care to use it rightly. + Then the old woman, who was a fairy, told him a great deal that would + happen to him, and what he ought to do in all circumstances; and after + that she vanished in an instant out of his sight. He went on a great way + farther, and then he came up to the old man herding the sheep; and when he + asked whose sheep these were, the answer was: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “The Red Ettin of Ireland + Once lived in Ballygan, + And stole King Malcolm's daughter, + The king of Fair Scotland. + + “He beats her, he binds her, + He lays her on a band; + And every day he strikes her + With a bright silver wand. + Like Julian the Roman, + He's one that fears no man. + + “But now I fear his end is near, + And destiny at hand; + And you're to be, I plainly see, + The heir of all his land.” + </pre> + <p> + When he came to the place where the monstrous beasts were standing, he did + not stop nor run away, but went boldly through amongst them. One came up + roaring with open mouth to devour him, when he struck it with his wand, + and laid it in an instant dead at his feet. He soon came to the Ettin's + castle, where he knocked, and was admitted. The old woman who sat by the + fire warned him of the terrible Ettin, and what had been the fate of his + brother; but he was not to be daunted. The monster soon came in, saying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Snouk but and snouk ben, + I find the smell of an earthly man; + Be he living, or be he dead, + His heart shall be kitchen to my bread.” + </pre> + <p> + He quickly espied the young man, and bade him come forth on the floor. And + then he put the three questions to him; but the young man had been told + everything by the good fairy, so he was able to answer all the questions. + So when the first head asked, “What's the thing without an end?” he said: + “A bowl.” And when the second head said: “The smaller the more dangerous; + what's that?” he said at once, “A bridge.” And last, the third head said: + “When does the dead carry the living, riddle me that?” Then the young man + answered up at once and said: “When a ship sails on the sea with men + inside her.” When the Ettin found this, he knew that his power was gone. + The young man then took up an axe and hewed off the monster's three heads. + He next asked the old woman to show him where the king's daughter lay; and + the old woman took him upstairs, and opened a great many doors, and out of + every door came a beautiful lady who had been imprisoned there by the + Ettin; and one of the ladies was the king's daughter. She also took him + down into a low room, and there stood a stone pillar, that he had only to + touch with his wand, when his brother started into life. And the whole of + the prisoners were overjoyed at their deliverance, for which they thanked + the young man. Next day they all set out for the king's court, and a + gallant company they made. And the king married his daughter to the young + man that had delivered her, and gave a noble's daughter to his brother; + and so they all lived happily all the rest of their days. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE GOLDEN ARM + </h2> + <p> + Here was once a man who travelled the land all over in search of a wife. + He saw young and old, rich and poor, pretty and plain, and could not meet + with one to his mind. At last he found a woman, young, fair, and rich, who + possessed a right arm of solid gold. He married her at once, and thought + no man so fortunate as he was. They lived happily together, but, though he + wished people to think otherwise, he was fonder of the golden arm than of + all his wife's gifts besides. + </p> + <p> + At last she died. The husband put on the blackest black, and pulled the + longest face at the funeral; but for all that he got up in the middle of + the night, dug up the body, and cut off the golden arm. He hurried home to + hide his treasure, and thought no one would know. + </p> + <p> + The following night he put the golden arm under his pillow, and was just + falling asleep, when the ghost of his dead wife glided into the room. + Stalking up to the bedside it drew the curtain, and looked at him + reproachfully. Pretending not to be afraid, he spoke to the ghost, and + said: “What hast thou done with thy cheeks so red?” + </p> + <p> + “All withered and wasted away,” replied the ghost, in a hollow tone. + </p> + <p> + “What hast thou done with thy red rosy lips?” + </p> + <p> + “All withered and wasted away.” + </p> + <p> + “What hast thou done with thy golden hair?” + </p> + <p> + “All withered and wasted away.” + </p> + <p> + “What hast thou done with thy <i>Golden Arm</i>?” + </p> + <h3> + “THOU HAST IT!” + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE HISTORY OF TOM THUMB + </h2> + <p> + In the days of the great Prince Arthur, there lived a mighty magician, + called Merlin, the most learned and skilful enchanter the world has ever + seen. + </p> + <p> + This famous magician, who could take any form he pleased, was travelling + about as a poor beggar, and being very tired, he stopped at the cottage of + a ploughman to rest himself, and asked for some food. + </p> + <p> + The countryman bade him welcome, and his wife, who was a very good-hearted + woman, soon brought him some milk in a wooden bowl, and some coarse brown + bread on a platter. + </p> + <p> + Merlin was much pleased with the kindness of the ploughman and his wife; + but he could not help noticing that though everything was neat and + comfortable in the cottage, they seemed both to be very unhappy. He + therefore asked them why they were so melancholy, and learned that they + were miserable because they had no children. + </p> + <p> + The poor woman said, with tears in her eyes: “I should be the happiest + creature in the world if I had a son; although he was no bigger than my + husband's thumb, I would be satisfied.” + </p> + <p> + Merlin was so much amused with the idea of a boy no bigger than a man's + thumb, that he determined to grant the poor woman's wish. Accordingly, in + a short time after, the ploughman's wife had a son, who, wonderful to + relate! was not a bit bigger than his father's thumb. + </p> + <p> + The queen of the fairies, wishing to see the little fellow, came in at the + window while the mother was sitting up in the bed admiring him. The queen + kissed the child, and, giving it the name of Tom Thumb, sent for some of + the fairies, who dressed her little godson according to her orders: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “An oak-leaf hat he had for his crown; + His shirt of web by spiders spun; + With jacket wove of thistle's down; + His trowsers were of feathers done. + His stockings, of apple-rind, they tie + With eyelash from his mother's eye + His shoes were made of mouse's skin, + Tann'd with the downy hair within.” + </pre> + <p> + Tom never grew any larger than his father's thumb, which was only of + ordinary size; but as he got older he became very cunning and full of + tricks. When he was old enough to play with the boys, and had lost all his + own cherry-stones, he used to creep into the bags of his playfellows, fill + his pockets, and, getting out without their noticing him, would again join + in the game. + </p> + <p> + One day, however, as he was coming out of a bag of cherry-stones, where he + had been stealing as usual, the boy to whom it belonged chanced to see + him. “Ah, ah! my little Tommy,” said the boy, “so I have caught you + stealing my cherry-stones at last, and you shall be rewarded for your + thievish tricks.” On saying this, he drew the string tight round his neck, + and gave the bag such a hearty shake, that poor little Tom's legs, thighs, + and body were sadly bruised. He roared out with pain, and begged to be let + out, promising never to steal again. + </p> + <p> + A short time afterwards his mother was making a batter-pudding, and Tom, + being very anxious to see how it was made, climbed up to the edge of the + bowl; but his foot slipped, and he plumped over head and ears into the + batter, without his mother noticing him, who stirred him into the + pudding-bag, and put him in the pot to boil. + </p> + <p> + The batter filled Tom's mouth, and prevented him from crying; but, on + feeling the hot water, he kicked and struggled so much in the pot, that + his mother thought that the pudding was bewitched, and, pulling it out of + the pot, she threw it outside the door. A poor tinker, who was passing by, + lifted up the pudding, and, putting it into his budget, he then walked + off. As Tom had now got his mouth cleared of the batter, he then began to + cry aloud, which so frightened the tinker that he flung down the pudding + and ran away. The pudding being broke to pieces by the fall, Tom crept out + covered all over with the batter, and walked home. His mother, who was + very sorry to see her darling in such a woeful state, put him into a + teacup, and soon washed off the batter; after which she kissed him, and + laid him in bed. + </p> + <p> + Soon after the adventure of the pudding, Tom's mother went to milk her cow + in the meadow, and she took him along with her. As the wind was very high, + for fear of being blown away, she tied him to a thistle with a piece of + fine thread. The cow soon observed Tom's oak-leaf hat, and liking the + appearance of it, took poor Tom and the thistle at one mouthful. While the + cow was chewing the thistle Tom was afraid of her great teeth, which + threatened to crush him in pieces, and he roared out as loud as he could: + “Mother, mother!” + </p> + <p> + “Where are you, Tommy, my dear Tommy?” said his mother. + </p> + <p> + “Here, mother,” replied he, “in the red cow's mouth.” + </p> + <p> + His mother began to cry and wring her hands; but the cow, surprised at the + odd noise in her throat, opened her mouth and let Tom drop out. + Fortunately his mother caught him in her apron as he was falling to the + ground, or he would have been dreadfully hurt. She then put Tom in her + bosom and ran home with him. + </p> + <p> + Tom's father made him a whip of a barley straw to drive the cattle with, + and having one day gone into the fields, he slipped a foot and rolled into + the furrow. A raven, which was flying over, picked him up, and flew with + him over the sea, and there dropped him. + </p> + <p> + A large fish swallowed Tom the moment he fell into the sea, which was soon + after caught, and bought for the table of King Arthur. When they opened + the fish in order to cook it, every one was astonished at finding such a + little boy, and Tom was quite delighted at being free again. They carried + him to the king, who made Tom his dwarf, and he soon grew a great + favourite at court; for by his tricks and gambols he not only amused the + king and queen, but also all the Knights of the Round Table. + </p> + <p> + It is said that when the king rode out on horseback, he often took Tom + along with him, and if a shower came on, he used to creep into his + majesty's waistcoat-pocket, where he slept till the rain was over. + </p> + <p> + King Arthur one day asked Tom about his parents, wishing to know if they + were as small as he was, and whether they were well off. Tom told the king + that his father and mother were as tall as anybody about the court, but in + rather poor circumstances. On hearing this, the king carried Tom to his + treasury, the place where he kept all his money, and told him to take as + much money as he could carry home to his parents, which made the poor + little fellow caper with joy. Tom went immediately to procure a purse, + which was made of a water-bubble, and then returned to the treasury, where + he received a silver threepenny-piece to put into it. + </p> + <p> + Our little hero had some difficulty in lifting the burden upon his back; + but he at last succeeded in getting it placed to his mind, and set forward + on his journey. However, without meeting with any accident, and after + resting himself more than a hundred times by the way, in two days and two + nights he reached his father's house in safety. + </p> + <p> + Tom had travelled forty-eight hours with a huge silver-piece on his back, + and was almost tired to death, when his mother ran out to meet him, and + carried him into the house. But he soon returned to Court. + </p> + <p> + As Tom's clothes had suffered much in the batter-pudding, and the inside + of the fish, his majesty ordered him a new suit of clothes, and to be + mounted as a knight on a mouse. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Of Butterfly's wings his shirt was made, + His boots of chicken's hide; + And by a nimble fairy blade, + Well learned in the tailoring trade, + His clothing was supplied. + A needle dangled by his side; + A dapper mouse he used to ride, + Thus strutted Tom in stately pride! +</pre> + <p> + It was certainly very diverting to see Tom in this dress and mounted on + the mouse, as he rode out a-hunting with the king and nobility, who were + all ready to expire with laughter at Tom and his fine prancing charger. + </p> + <p> + The king was so charmed with his address that he ordered a little chair to + be made, in order that Tom might sit upon his table, and also a palace of + gold, a span high, with a door an inch wide, to live in. He also gave him + a coach, drawn by six small mice. + </p> + <p> + The queen was so enraged at the honours conferred on Sir Thomas that she + resolved to ruin him, and told the king that the little knight had been + saucy to her. + </p> + <p> + The king sent for Tom in great haste, but being fully aware of the danger + of royal anger, he crept into an empty snail-shell, where he lay for a + long time until he was almost starved with hunger; but at last he ventured + to peep out, and seeing a fine large butterfly on the ground, near the + place of his concealment, he got close to it and jumping astride on it, + was carried up into the air. The butterfly flew with him from tree to tree + and from field to field, and at last returned to the court, where the king + and nobility all strove to catch him; but at last poor Tom fell from his + seat into a watering-pot, in which he was almost drowned. + </p> + <p> + When the queen saw him she was in a rage, and said he should be beheaded; + and he was again put into a mouse trap until the time of his execution. + </p> + <p> + However a cat, observing something alive in the trap, patted it about till + the wires broke, and set Thomas at liberty. + </p> + <p> + The king received Tom again into favour, which he did not live to enjoy, + for a large spider one day attacked him; and although he drew his sword + and fought well, yet the spider's poisonous breath at last overcame him. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + He fell dead on the ground where he stood, + And the spider suck'd every drop of his blood. +</pre> + <p> + King Arthur and his whole court were so sorry at the loss of their little + favourite that they went into mourning and raised a fine white marble + monument over his grave with the following epitaph: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Here lies Tom Thumb, King Arthur's knight, + Who died by a spider's cruel bite. + He was well known in Arthur's court, + Where he afforded gallant sport; + He rode at tilt and tournament, + And on a mouse a-hunting went. + Alive he filled the court with mirth; + His death to sorrow soon gave birth. + Wipe, wipe your eyes, and shake your head + And cry,—Alas! Tom Thumb is dead! +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MR. FOX + </h2> + <p> + Lady Mary was young, and Lady Mary was fair. She had two brothers, and + more lovers than she could count. But of them all, the bravest and most + gallant, was a Mr. Fox, whom she met when she was down at her father's + country-house. No one knew who Mr. Fox was; but he was certainly brave, + and surely rich, and of all her lovers, Lady Mary cared for him alone. At + last it was agreed upon between them that they should be married. Lady + Mary asked Mr. Fox where they should live, and he described to her his + castle, and where it was; but, strange to say, did not ask her, or her + brothers to come and see it. + </p> + <p> + So one day, near the wedding-day, when her brothers were out, and Mr. Fox + was away for a day or two on business, as he said, Lady Mary set out for + Mr. Fox's castle. And after many searchings, she came at last to it, and a + fine strong house it was, with high walls and a deep moat. And when she + came up to the gateway she saw written on it: + </p> + <h3> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD. + </h3> + <p> + But as the gate was open, she went through it, and found no one there. So + she went up to the doorway, and over it she found written: + </p> + <h3> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD. + </h3> + <p> + Still she went on, till she came into the hall, and went up the broad + stairs till she came to a door in the gallery, over which was written: + </p> + <p> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD + RUN COLD. + </p> + <p> + But Lady Mary was a brave one, she was, and she opened the door, and what + do you think she saw? Why, bodies and skeletons of beautiful young ladies + all stained with blood. So Lady Mary thought it was high time to get out + of that horrid place, and she closed the door, went through the gallery, + and was just going down the stairs, and out of the hall, when who should + she see through the window, but Mr. Fox dragging a beautiful young lady + along from the gateway to the door. Lady Mary rushed downstairs, and hid + herself behind a cask, just in time, as Mr. Fox came in with the poor + young lady who seemed to have fainted. Just as he got near Lady Mary, Mr. + Fox saw a diamond ring glittering on the finger of the young lady he was + dragging, and he tried to pull it off. But it was tightly fixed, and would + not come off, so Mr. Fox cursed and swore, and drew his sword, raised it, + and brought it down upon the hand of the poor lady. The sword cut off the + hand, which jumped up into the air, and fell of all places in the world + into Lady Mary's lap. Mr. Fox looked about a bit, but did not think of + looking behind the cask, so at last he went on dragging the young lady up + the stairs into the Bloody Chamber. + </p> + <p> + As soon as she heard him pass through the gallery, Lady Mary crept out of + the door, down through the gateway, and ran home as fast as she could. + </p> + <p> + Now it happened that the very next day the marriage contract of Lady Mary + and Mr. Fox was to be signed, and there was a splendid breakfast before + that. And when Mr. Fox was seated at table opposite Lady Mary, he looked + at her. “How pale you are this morning, my dear.” “Yes,” said she, “I had + a bad night's rest last night. I had horrible dreams.” “Dreams go by + contraries,” said Mr. Fox; “but tell us your dream, and your sweet voice + will make the time pass till the happy hour comes.” + </p> + <p> + “I dreamed,” said Lady Mary, “that I went yestermorn to your castle, and I + found it in the woods, with high walls, and a deep moat, and over the + gateway was written: + </p> + <h3> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD. + </h3> + <p> + “But it is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox. + </p> + <p> + “And when I came to the doorway over it was written: + </p> + <h3> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD. + </h3> + <p> + “It is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox. + </p> + <p> + “And then I went upstairs, and came to a gallery, at the end of which was + a door, on which was written: + </p> + <p> + BE BOLD, BE BOLD, BUT NOT TOO BOLD, LEST THAT YOUR HEART'S BLOOD SHOULD + RUN COLD. + </p> + <p> + “It is not so, nor it was not so,” said Mr. Fox. + </p> + <p> + “And then—and then I opened the door, and the room was filled with + bodies and skeletons of poor dead women, all stained with their blood.” + </p> + <p> + “It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,” said + Mr. Fox. + </p> + <p> + “I then dreamed that I rushed down the gallery, and just as I was going + down the stairs, I saw you, Mr. Fox, coming up to the hall door, dragging + after you a poor young lady, rich and beautiful.” + </p> + <p> + “It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,” said + Mr. Fox. + </p> + <p> + “I rushed downstairs, just in time to hide myself behind a cask, when you, + Mr. Fox, came in dragging the young lady by the arm. And, as you passed + me, Mr. Fox, I thought I saw you try and get off her diamond ring, and + when you could not, Mr. Fox, it seemed to me in my dream, that you out + with your sword and hacked off the poor lady's hand to get the ring.” + </p> + <p> + “It is not so, nor it was not so. And God forbid it should be so,” said + Mr. Fox, and was going to say something else as he rose from his seat, + when Lady Mary cried out: + </p> + <p> + “But it is so, and it was so. Here's hand and ring I have to show,” and + pulled out the lady's hand from her dress, and pointed it straight at Mr. + Fox. + </p> + <p> + At once her brothers and her friends drew their swords and cut Mr. Fox + into a thousand pieces. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + LAZY JACK + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a boy whose name was Jack, and he lived with + his mother on a common. They were very poor, and the old woman got her + living by spinning, but Jack was so lazy that he would do nothing but bask + in the sun in the hot weather, and sit by the corner of the hearth in the + winter-time. So they called him Lazy Jack. His mother could not get him to + do anything for her, and at last told him, one Monday, that if he did not + begin to work for his porridge she would turn him out to get his living as + he could. + </p> + <p> + This roused Jack, and he went out and hired himself for the next day to a + neighbouring farmer for a penny; but as he was coming home, never having + had any money before, he lost it in passing over a brook. “You stupid + boy,” said his mother, “you should have put it in your pocket.” “I'll do + so another time,” replied Jack. + </p> + <p> + On Wednesday, Jack went out again and hired himself to a cow-keeper, who + gave him a jar of milk for his day's work. Jack took the jar and put it + into the large pocket of his jacket, spilling it all, long before he got + home. “Dear me!” said the old woman; “you should have carried it on your + head.” “I'll do so another time,” said Jack. + </p> + <p> + So on Thursday, Jack hired himself again to a farmer, who agreed to give + him a cream cheese for his services. In the evening Jack took the cheese, + and went home with it on his head. By the time he got home the cheese was + all spoilt, part of it being lost, and part matted with his hair. “You + stupid lout,” said his mother, “you should have carried it very carefully + in your hands.” “I'll do so another time,” replied Jack. + </p> + <p> + On Friday, Lazy Jack again went out, and hired himself to a baker, who + would give him nothing for his work but a large tom-cat. Jack took the + cat, and began carrying it very carefully in his hands, but in a short + time pussy scratched him so much that he was compelled to let it go. When + he got home, his mother said to him, “You silly fellow, you should have + tied it with a string, and dragged it along after you.” “I'll do so + another time,” said Jack. + </p> + <p> + So on Saturday, Jack hired himself to a butcher, who rewarded him by the + handsome present of a shoulder of mutton. Jack took the mutton, tied it to + a string, and trailed it along after him in the dirt, so that by the time + he had got home the meat was completely spoilt. His mother was this time + quite out of patience with him, for the next day was Sunday, and she was + obliged to make do with cabbage for her dinner. “You ninney-hammer,” said + she to her son; “you should have carried it on your shoulder.” “I'll do so + another time,” replied Jack. + </p> + <p> + On the next Monday, Lazy Jack went once more, and hired himself to a + cattle-keeper, who gave him a donkey for his trouble. Jack found it hard + to hoist the donkey on his shoulders, but at last he did it, and began + walking slowly home with his prize. Now it happened that in the course of + his journey there lived a rich man with his only daughter, a beautiful + girl, but deaf and dumb. Now she had never laughed in her life, and the + doctors said she would never speak till somebody made her laugh. This + young lady happened to be looking out of the window when Jack was passing + with the donkey on his shoulders, with the legs sticking up in the air, + and the sight was so comical and strange that she burst out into a great + fit of laughter, and immediately recovered her speech and hearing. Her + father was overjoyed, and fulfilled his promise by marrying her to Lazy + Jack, who was thus made a rich gentleman. They lived in a large house, and + Jack's mother lived with them in great happiness until she died. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + JOHNNY-CAKE + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy. + One morning the old woman made a Johnny-cake, and put it in the oven to + bake. “You watch the Johnny-cake while your father and I go out to work in + the garden.” So the old man and the old woman went out and began to hoe + potatoes, and left the little boy to tend the oven. But he didn't watch it + all the time, and all of a sudden he heard a noise, and he looked up and + the oven door popped open, and out of the oven jumped Johnny-cake, and + went rolling along end over end, towards the open door of the house. The + little boy ran to shut the door, but Johnny-cake was too quick for him and + rolled through the door, down the steps, and out into the road long before + the little boy could catch him. The little boy ran after him as fast as he + could clip it, crying out to his father and mother, who heard the uproar, + and threw down their hoes and gave chase too. But Johnny-cake outran all + three a long way, and was soon out of sight, while they had to sit down, + all out of breath, on a bank to rest. + </p> + <p> + On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two well-diggers who looked + up from their work and called out: “Where ye going, Johnny-cake?” + </p> + <p> + He said: “I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and + I can outrun you too-o-o!” + </p> + <p> + “Ye can, can ye? we'll see about that?” said they; and they threw down + their picks and ran after him, but couldn't catch up with him, and soon + they had to sit down by the roadside to rest. + </p> + <p> + On ran Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to two ditch-diggers who were + digging a ditch. “Where ye going, Johnny-cake?” said they. He said: “I've + outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and two + well-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!” + </p> + <p> + “Ye can, can ye? we'll see about that!” said they; and they threw down + their spades, and ran after him too. But Johnny-cake soon outstripped them + also, and seeing they could never catch him, they gave up the chase and + sat down to rest. + </p> + <p> + On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a bear. The bear said: + “Where are ye going, Johnny-cake?” + </p> + <p> + He said: “I've outrun an old man, and an old woman and a little boy, and + two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, and I can outrun you too-o-o!” + </p> + <p> + “Ye can, can ye?” growled the bear, “we'll see about that!” and trotted as + fast as his legs could carry him after Johnny-cake, who never stopped to + look behind him. Before long the bear was left so far behind that he saw + he might as well give up the hunt first as last, so he stretched himself + out by the roadside to rest. + </p> + <p> + On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a wolf. The wolf said:—“Where + ye going, Johnny-cake?” He said: “I've outrun an old man, and an old + woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers and a + bear, and I can outrun you too-o-o!” + </p> + <p> + “Ye can, can ye?” snarled the wolf, “we'll see about that!” And he set + into a gallop after Johnny-cake, who went on and on so fast that the wolf + too saw there was no hope of overtaking him, and he too lay down to rest. + </p> + <p> + On went Johnny-cake, and by-and-by he came to a fox that lay quietly in a + corner of the fence. The fox called out in a sharp voice, but without + getting up: “Where ye going Johnny-cake?” + </p> + <p> + He said: “I've outrun an old man, and an old woman, and a little boy, and + two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, a bear, and a wolf, and I can + outrun you too-o-o!” + </p> + <p> + The fox said: “I can't quite hear you, Johnny-cake, won't you come a + little closer?” turning his head a little to one side. + </p> + <p> + Johnny-cake stopped his race for the first time, and went a little closer, + and called out in a very loud voice <i>“I've outrun an old man, and an old + woman, and a little boy, and two well-diggers, and two ditch-diggers, and + a bear, and a wolf, and I can outrun you too-o-o.”</i> + </p> + <p> + “Can't quite hear you; won't you come a <i>little</i> closer?” said the + fox in a feeble voice, as he stretched out his neck towards Johnny-cake, + and put one paw behind his ear. + </p> + <p> + Johnny-cake came up close, and leaning towards the fox screamed out: I'VE + OUTRUN AN OLD MAN, AND AN OLD WOMAN, AND A LITTLE BOY, AND TWO + WELL-DIGGERS, AND TWO DITCH-DIGGERS, AND A BEAR, AND A WOLF, AND I CAN + OUTRUN YOU TOO-O-O!” + </p> + <p> + “You can, can you?” yelped the fox, and he snapped up the Johnny-cake in + his sharp teeth in the twinkling of an eye. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER + </h2> + <p> + One fine summer's day Earl Mar's daughter went into the castle garden, + dancing and tripping along. And as she played and sported she would stop + from time to time to listen to the music of the birds. After a while as + she sat under the shade of a green oak tree she looked up and spied a + sprightly dove sitting high up on one of its branches. She looked up and + said: “Coo-my-dove, my dear, come down to me and I will give you a golden + cage. I'll take you home and pet you well, as well as any bird of them + all.” Scarcely had she said these words when the dove flew down from the + branch and settled on her shoulder, nestling up against her neck while she + smoothed its feathers. Then she took it home to her own room. + </p> + <p> + The day was done and the night came on and Earl Mar's daughter was + thinking of going to sleep when, turning round, she found at her side a + handsome young man. She <i>was</i> startled, for the door had been locked + for hours. But she was a brave girl and said: “What are you doing here, + young man, to come and startle me so? The door was barred these hours ago; + how ever did you come here?” + </p> + <p> + “Hush! hush!” the young man whispered. “I was that cooing dove that you + coaxed from off the tree.” + </p> + <p> + “But who are you then?” she said quite low; “and how came you to be + changed into that dear little bird?” + </p> + <p> + “My name is Florentine, and my mother is a queen, and something more than + a queen, for she knows magic and spells, and because I would not do as she + wished she turned me into a dove by day, but at night her spells lose + their power and I become a man again. To-day I crossed the sea and saw you + for the first time and I was glad to be a bird that I could come near you. + Unless you love me, I shall never be happy more.” + </p> + <p> + “But if I love you,” says she, “will you not fly away and leave me one of + these fine days?” + </p> + <p> + “Never, never,” said the prince; “be my wife and I'll be yours for ever. + By day a bird, by night a prince, I will always be by your side as a + husband, dear.” + </p> + <p> + So they were married in secret and lived happily in the castle and no one + knew that every night Coo-my-dove became Prince Florentine. And every year + a little son came to them as bonny as bonny could be. But as each son was + born Prince Florentine carried the little thing away on his back over the + sea to where the queen his mother lived and left the little one with her. + </p> + <p> + Seven years passed thus and then a great trouble came to them. For the + Earl Mar wished to marry his daughter to a noble of high degree who came + wooing her. Her father pressed her sore but she said: “Father dear, I do + not wish to marry; I can be quite happy with Coo-my-dove here.” + </p> + <p> + Then her father got into a mighty rage and swore a great big oath, and + said: “To-morrow, so sure as I live and eat, I'll twist that birdie's + neck,” and out he stamped from her room. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, oh!” said Coo-my-dove; “it's time that I was away,” and so he jumped + upon the window-sill and in a moment was flying away. And he flew and he + flew till he was over the deep, deep sea, and yet on he flew till he came + to his mother's castle. Now the queen his mother was taking her walk + abroad when she saw the pretty dove flying overhead and alighting on the + castle walls. + </p> + <p> + “Here, dancers come and dance your jigs,” she called, “and pipers, pipe + you well, for here's my own Florentine, come back to me to stay for he's + brought no bonny boy with him this time.” + </p> + <p> + “No, mother,” said Florentine, “no dancers for me and no minstrels, for my + dear wife, the mother of my seven, boys, is to be wed to-morrow, and sad's + the day for me.” + </p> + <p> + “What can I do, my son?” said the queen, “tell me, and it shall be done if + my magic has power to do it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well then, mother dear, turn the twenty-four dancers and pipers into + twenty-four grey herons, and let my seven sons become seven white swans, + and let me be a goshawk and their leader.” + </p> + <p> + “Alas! alas! my son,” she said, “that may not be; my magic reaches not so + far. But perhaps my teacher, the spaewife of Ostree, may know better.” And + away she hurries to the cave of Ostree, and after a while comes out as + white as white can be and muttering over some burning herbs she brought + out of the cave. Suddenly Coo-my-dove changed into a goshawk and around + him flew twenty-four grey herons and above them flew seven cygnets. + </p> + <p> + Without a word or a good-bye off they flew over the deep blue sea which + was tossing and moaning. They flew and they flew till they swooped down on + Earl Mar's castle just as the wedding party were setting out for the + church. First came the men-at-arms and then the bridegroom's friends, and + then Earl Mar's men, and then the bridegroom, and lastly, pale and + beautiful, Earl Mar's daughter herself. They moved down slowly to stately + music till they came past the trees on which the birds were settling. A + word from Prince Florentine, the goshawk, and they all rose into the air, + herons beneath, cygnets above, and goshawk circling above all. The + weddineers wondered at the sight when, swoop! the herons were down among + them scattering the men-at-arms. The swanlets took charge of the bride + while the goshawk dashed down and tied the bridegroom to a tree. Then the + herons gathered themselves together into one feather bed and the cygnets + placed their mother upon them, and suddenly they all rose in the air + bearing the bride away with them in safety towards Prince Florentine's + home. Surely a wedding party was never so disturbed in this world. What + could the weddineers do? They saw their pretty bride carried away and away + till she and the herons and the swans and the goshawk disappeared, and + that very day Prince Florentine brought Earl Mar's daughter to the castle + of the queen his mother, who took the spell off him and they lived happy + ever afterwards. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MR. MIACCA + </h2> + <p> + Tommy Grimes was sometimes a good boy, and sometimes a bad boy; and when + he was a bad boy, he was a very bad boy. Now his mother used to say to + him: “Tommy, Tommy, be a good boy, and don't go out of the street, or else + Mr. Miacca will take you.” But still when he was a bad boy he would go out + of the street; and one day, sure enough, he had scarcely got round the + corner, when Mr. Miacca did catch him and popped him into a bag upside + down, and took him off to his house. + </p> + <p> + When Mr. Miacca got Tommy inside, he pulled him out of the bag and set him + down, and felt his arms and legs. “You're rather tough,” says he; “but + you're all I've got for supper, and you'll not taste bad boiled. But body + o' me, I've forgot the herbs, and it's bitter you'll taste without herbs. + Sally! Here, I say, Sally!” and he called Mrs. Miacca. + </p> + <p> + So Mrs. Miacca came out of another room and said: “What d'ye want, my + dear?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, here's a little boy for supper,” said Mr. Miacca, “and I've forgot + the herbs. Mind him, will ye, while I go for them.” + </p> + <p> + “All right, my love,” says Mrs. Miacca, and off he goes. + </p> + <p> + Then Tommy Grimes said to Mrs. Miacca: “Does Mr. Miacca always have little + boys for supper?” + </p> + <p> + “Mostly, my dear,” said Mrs. Miacca, “if little boys are bad enough, and + get in his way.” + </p> + <p> + “And don't you have anything else but boy-meat? No pudding?” asked Tommy. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, I loves pudding,” says Mrs. Miacca. “But it's not often the likes of + me gets pudding.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, my mother is making a pudding this very day,” said Tommy Grimes, + “and I am sure she'd give you some, if I ask her. Shall I run and get + some?” + </p> + <p> + “Now, that's a thoughtful boy,” said Mrs. Miacca, “only don't be long and + be sure to be back for supper.” + </p> + <p> + So off Tommy pelters, and right glad he was to get off so cheap; and for + many a long day he was as good as good could be, and never went round the + corner of the street. But he couldn't always be good; and one day he went + round the corner, and as luck would have it, he hadn't scarcely got round + it when Mr. Miacca grabbed him up, popped him in his bag, and took him + home. + </p> + <p> + When he got him there, Mr. Miacca dropped him out; and when he saw him, he + said: “Ah, you're the youngster what served me and my missus that shabby + trick, leaving us without any supper. Well, you shan't do it again. I'll + watch over you myself. Here, get under the sofa, and I'll set on it and + watch the pot boil for you.” + </p> + <p> + So poor Tommy Grimes had to creep under the sofa, and Mr. Miacca sat on it + and waited for the pot to boil. And they waited, and they waited, but + still the pot didn't boil, till at last Mr. Miacca got tired of waiting, + and he said: “Here, you under there, I'm not going to wait any longer; put + out your leg, and I'll stop your giving us the slip.” + </p> + <p> + So Tommy put out a leg, and Mr. Miacca got a chopper, and chopped it off, + and pops it in the pot. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly he calls out: “Sally, my dear, Sally!” and nobody answered. So he + went into the next room to look out for Mrs. Miacca, and while he was + there, Tommy crept out from under the sofa and ran out of the door. For it + was a leg of the sofa that he had put out. + </p> + <p> + So Tommy Grimes ran home, and he never went round the corner again till he + was old enough to go alone. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT + </h2> + <p> + In the reign of the famous King Edward III. there was a little boy called + Dick Whittington, whose father and mother died when he was very young. As + poor Dick was not old enough to work, he was very badly off; he got but + little for his dinner, and sometimes nothing at all for his breakfast; for + the people who lived in the village were very poor indeed, and could not + spare him much more than the parings of potatoes, and now and then a hard + crust of bread. + </p> + <p> + Now Dick had heard a great many very strange things about the great city + called London; for the country people at that time thought that folks in + London were all fine gentlemen and ladies; and that there was singing and + music there all day long; and that the streets were all paved with gold. + </p> + <p> + One day a large waggon and eight horses, all with bells at their heads, + drove through the village while Dick was standing by the sign-post. He + thought that this waggon must be going to the fine town of London; so he + took courage, and asked the waggoner to let him walk with him by the side + of the waggon. As soon as the waggoner heard that poor Dick had no father + or mother, and saw by his ragged clothes that he could not be worse off + than he was, he told him he might go if he would, so off they set + together. + </p> + <p> + So Dick got safe to London, and was in such a hurry to see the fine + streets paved all over with gold, that he did not even stay to thank the + kind waggoner; but ran off as fast as his legs would carry him, through + many of the streets, thinking every moment to come to those that were + paved with gold; for Dick had seen a guinea three times in his own little + village, and remembered what a deal of money it brought in change; so he + thought he had nothing to do but to take up some little bits of the + pavement, and should then have as much money as he could wish for. + </p> + <p> + Poor Dick ran till he was tired, and had quite forgot his friend the + waggoner; but at last, finding it grow dark, and that every way he turned + he saw nothing but dirt instead of gold, he, sat down in a dark corner and + cried himself to sleep. + </p> + <p> + Little Dick was all night in the streets; and next morning, being very + hungry, he got up and walked about, and asked everybody he met to give him + a halfpenny to keep him from starving; but nobody stayed to answer him, + and only two or three gave him a halfpenny; so that the poor boy was soon + quite weak and faint for the want of victuals. + </p> + <p> + In this distress he asked charity of several people, and one of them said + crossly: “Go to work, for an idle rogue.” “That I will,” says Dick, “I + will to go work for you, if you will let me.” But the man only cursed at + him and went on. + </p> + <p> + At last a good-natured looking gentleman saw how hungry he looked. “Why + don't you go to work my lad?” said he to Dick. “That I would, but I do not + know how to get any,” answered Dick. “If you are willing, come along with + me,” said the gentleman, and took him to a hay-field, where Dick worked + briskly, and lived merrily till the hay was made. + </p> + <p> + After this he found himself as badly off as before; and being almost + starved again, he laid himself down at the door of Mr. Fitzwarren, a rich + merchant. Here he was soon seen by the cook-maid, who was an ill-tempered + creature, and happened just then to be very busy dressing dinner for her + master and mistress; so she called out to poor Dick: “What business have + you there, you lazy rogue? there is nothing else but beggars; if you do + not take yourself away, we will see how you will like a sousing of some + dish-water; I have some here hot enough to make you jump.” + </p> + <p> + Just at that time Mr. Fitzwarren himself came home to dinner; and when he + saw a dirty ragged boy lying at the door, he said to him: “Why do you lie + there, my boy? You seem old enough to work; I am afraid you are inclined + to be lazy.” + </p> + <p> + “No, indeed, sir,” said Dick to him, “that is not the case, for I would + work with all my heart, but I do not know anybody, and I believe I am very + sick for the want of food.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor fellow, get up; let me see what ails you.” Dick now tried to rise, + but was obliged to lie down again, being too weak to stand, for he had not + eaten any food for three days, and was no longer able to run about and beg + a halfpenny of people in the street. So the kind merchant ordered him to + be taken into the house, and have a good dinner given him, and be kept to + do what work he was able to do for the cook. + </p> + <p> + Little Dick would have lived very happy in this good family if it had not + been for the ill-natured cook. She used to say: “You are under me, so look + sharp; clean the spit and the dripping-pan, make the fires, wind up the + jack, and do all the scullery work nimbly, or—” and she would shake + the ladle at him. Besides, she was so fond of basting, that when she had + no meat to baste, she would baste poor Dick's head and shoulders with a + broom, or anything else that happened to fall in her way. At last her + ill-usage of him was told to Alice, Mr. Fitzwarren's daughter, who told + the cook she should be turned away if she did not treat him kinder. + </p> + <p> + The behaviour of the cook was now a little better; but besides this Dick + had another hardship to get over. His bed stood in a garret, where there + were so many holes in the floor and the walls that every night he was + tormented with rats and mice. A gentleman having given Dick a penny for + cleaning his shoes, he thought he would buy a cat with it. The next day he + saw a girl with a cat, and asked her, “Will you let me have that cat for a + penny?” The girl said: “Yes, that I will, master, though she is an + excellent mouser.” + </p> + <p> + Dick hid his cat in the garret, and always took care to carry a part of + his dinner to her; and in a short time he had no more trouble with the + rats and mice, but slept quite sound every night. + </p> + <p> + Soon after this, his master had a ship ready to sail; and as it was the + custom that all his servants should have some chance for good fortune as + well as himself, he called them all into the parlour and asked them what + they would send out. + </p> + <p> + They all had something that they were willing to venture except poor Dick, + who had neither money nor goods, and therefore could send nothing. For + this reason he did not come into the parlour with the rest; but Miss Alice + guessed what was the matter, and ordered him to be called in. She then + said: “I will lay down some money for him, from my own purse;” but her + father told her: “This will not do, for it must be something of his own.” + </p> + <p> + When poor Dick heard this, he said: “I have nothing but a cat which I + bought for a penny some time since of a little girl.” + </p> + <p> + “Fetch your cat then, my lad,” said Mr. Fitzwarren, “and let her go.” + </p> + <p> + Dick went upstairs and brought down poor puss, with tears in his eyes, and + gave her to the captain; “For,” he said, “I shall now be kept awake all + night by the rats and mice.” All the company laughed at Dick's odd + venture; and Miss Alice, who felt pity for him, gave him some money to buy + another cat. + </p> + <p> + This, and many other marks of kindness shown him by Miss Alice, made the + ill-tempered cook jealous of poor Dick, and she began to use him more + cruelly than ever, and always made game of him for sending his cat to sea. + </p> + <p> + She asked him: “Do you think your cat will sell for as much money as would + buy a stick to beat you?” + </p> + <p> + At last poor Dick could not bear this usage any longer, and he thought he + would run away from his place; so he packed up his few things, and started + very early in the morning, on All-hallows Day, the first of November. He + walked as far as Holloway; and there sat down on a stone, which to this + day is called “Whittington's Stone,” and began to think to himself which + road he should take. + </p> + <p> + While he was thinking what he should do, the Bells of Bow Church, which at + that time were only six, began to ring, and their sound seemed to say to + him: + </p> + <p> + “Turn again, Whittington, Thrice Lord Mayor of London.” + </p> + <p> + “Lord Mayor of London!” said he to himself. “Why, to be sure, I would put + up with almost anything now, to be Lord Mayor of London, and ride in a + fine coach, when I grow to be a man! Well, I will go back, and think + nothing of the cuffing and scolding of the old cook, if I am to be Lord + Mayor of London at last.” + </p> + <p> + Dick went back, and was lucky enough to get into the house, and set about + his work, before the old cook came downstairs. + </p> + <p> + We must now follow Miss Puss to the coast of Africa. The ship with the cat + on board, was a long time at sea; and was at last driven by the winds on a + part of the coast of Barbary, where the only people were the Moors, + unknown to the English. The people came in great numbers to see the + sailors, because they were of different colour to themselves, and treated + them civilly; and, when they became better acquainted, were very eager to + buy the fine things that the ship was loaded with. + </p> + <p> + When the captain saw this, he sent patterns of the best things he had to + the king of the country; who was so much pleased with them, that he sent + for the captain to the palace. Here they were placed, as it is the custom + of the country, on rich carpets flowered with gold and silver. The king + and queen were seated at the upper end of the room; and a number of dishes + were brought in for dinner. They had not sat long, when a vast number of + rats and mice rushed in, and devoured all the meat in an instant. The + captain wondered at this, and asked if these vermin were not unpleasant. + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes,” said they, “very offensive, and the king would give half his + treasure to be freed of them, for they not only destroy his dinner, as you + see, but they assault him in his chamber, and even in bed, and so that he + is obliged to be watched while he is sleeping, for fear of them.” + </p> + <p> + The captain jumped for joy; he remembered poor Whittington and his cat, + and told the king he had a creature on board the ship that would despatch + all these vermin immediately. The king jumped so high at the joy which the + news gave him, that his turban dropped off his head. “Bring this creature + to me,” says he; “vermin are dreadful in a court, and if she will perform + what you say, I will load your ship with gold and jewels in exchange for + her.” + </p> + <p> + The captain, who knew his business, took this opportunity to set forth the + merits of Miss Puss. He told his majesty; “It is not very convenient to + part with her, as, when she is gone, the rats and mice may destroy the + goods in the ship—but to oblige your majesty, I will fetch her.” + </p> + <p> + “Run, run!” said the queen; “I am impatient to see the dear creature.” + </p> + <p> + Away went the captain to the ship, while another dinner was got ready. He + put Puss under his arm, and arrived at the place just in time to see the + table full of rats. When the cat saw them, she did not wait for bidding, + but jumped out of the captain's arms, and in a few minutes laid almost all + the rats and mice dead at her feet. The rest of them in their fright + scampered away to their holes. + </p> + <p> + The king was quite charmed to get rid so easily of such plagues, and the + queen desired that the creature who had done them so great a kindness + might be brought to her, that she might look at her. Upon which the + captain called: “Pussy, pussy, pussy!” and she came to him. He then + presented her to the queen, who started back, and was afraid to touch a + creature who had made such a havoc among the rats and mice. However, when + the captain stroked the cat and called: “Pussy, pussy,” the queen also + touched her and cried: “Putty, putty,” for she had not learned English. He + then put her down on the queen's lap, where she purred and played with her + majesty's hand, and then purred herself to sleep. + </p> + <p> + The king, having seen the exploits of Mrs. Puss, and being informed that + her kittens would stock the whole country, and keep it free from rats, + bargained with the captain for the whole ship's cargo, and then gave him + ten times as much for the cat as all the rest amounted to. + </p> + <p> + The captain then took leave of the royal party, and set sail with a fair + wind for England, and after a happy voyage arrived safe in London. + </p> + <p> + One morning, early, Mr. Fitzwarren had just come to his counting-house and + seated himself at the desk, to count over the cash, and settle the + business for the day, when somebody came tap, tap, at the door. “Who's + there?” said Mr. Fitzwarren. “A friend,” answered the other; “I come to + bring you good news of your ship <i>Unicorn</i>.” The merchant, bustling + up in such a hurry that he forgot his gout, opened the door, and who + should he see waiting but the captain and factor, with a cabinet of + jewels, and a bill of lading; when he looked at this the merchant lifted + up his eyes and thanked Heaven for sending him such a prosperous voyage. + </p> + <p> + They then told the story of the cat, and showed the rich present that the + king and queen had sent for her to poor Dick. As soon as the merchant + heard this, he called out to his servants: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Go send him in, and tell him of his fame; + Pray call him Mr. Whittington by name.” + </pre> + <p> + Mr. Fitzwarren now showed himself to be a good man; for when some of his + servants said so great a treasure was too much for him, he answered: “God + forbid I should deprive him of the value of a single penny, it is his own, + and he shall have it to a farthing.” He then sent for Dick, who at that + time was scouring pots for the cook, and was quite dirty. He would have + excused himself from coming into the counting-house, saying, “The room is + swept, and my shoes are dirty and full of hob-nails.” But the merchant + ordered him to come in. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Fitzwarren ordered a chair to be set for him, and so he began to think + they were making game of him, at the same time said to them: “Do not play + tricks with a poor simple boy, but let me go down again, if you please, to + my work.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, Mr. Whittington,” said the merchant, “we are all quite in earnest + with you, and I most heartily rejoice in the news that these gentlemen + have brought you; for the captain has sold your cat to the King of + Barbary, and brought you in return for her more riches than I possess in + the whole world; and I wish you may long enjoy them!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Fitzwarren then told the men to open the great treasure they had + brought with them; and said: “Mr. Whittington has nothing to do but to put + it in some place of safety.” + </p> + <p> + Poor Dick hardly knew how to behave himself for joy. He begged his master + to take what part of it he pleased, since he owed it all to his kindness. + “No, no,” answered Mr. Fitzwarren, “this is all your own; and I have no + doubt but you will use it well.” + </p> + <p> + Dick next asked his mistress, and then Miss Alice, to accept a part of his + good fortune; but they would not, and at the same time told him they felt + great joy at his good success. But this poor fellow was too kind-hearted + to keep it all to himself; so he made a present to the captain, the mate, + and the rest of Mr. Fitzwarren's servants; and even to the ill-natured old + cook. + </p> + <p> + After this Mr. Fitzwarren advised him to send for a proper tailor and get + himself dressed like a gentleman; and told him he was welcome to live in + his house till he could provide himself with a better. + </p> + <p> + When Whittington's face was washed, his hair curled, his hat cocked, and + he was dressed in a nice suit of clothes he was as handsome and genteel as + any young man who visited at Mr. Fitzwarren's; so that Miss Alice, who had + once been so kind to him, and thought of him with pity, now looked upon + him as fit to be her sweetheart; and the more so, no doubt, because + Whittington was now always thinking what he could do to oblige her, and + making her the prettiest presents that could be. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Fitzwarren soon saw their love for each other, and proposed to join + them in marriage; and to this they both readily agreed. A day for the + wedding was soon fixed; and they were attended to church by the Lord + Mayor, the court of aldermen, the sheriffs, and a great number of the + richest merchants in London, whom they afterwards treated with a very rich + feast. + </p> + <p> + History tells us that Mr. Whittington and his lady liven in great + splendour, and were very happy. They had several children. He was Sheriff + of London, thrice Lord Mayor, and received the honour of knighthood by + Henry V. + </p> + <p> + He entertained this king and his queen at dinner after his conquest of + France so grandly, that the king said “Never had prince such a subject;” + when Sir Richard heard this, he said: “Never had subject such a prince.” + </p> + <p> + The figure of Sir Richard Whittington with his cat in his arms, carved in + stone, was to be seen till the year 1780 over the archway of the old + prison of Newgate, which he built for criminals. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE STRANGE VISITOR + </h2> + <p> + A woman was sitting at her reel one night; And still she sat, and still + she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of broad broad soles, and sat down at the fireside; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of small small legs, and sat down on the broad broad soles; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of thick thick knees, and sat down on the small small legs; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of thin thin thighs, and sat down on the thick thick knees; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of huge huge hips, and sat down on the thin thin thighs; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a wee wee waist, and sat down on the huge huge hips; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of broad broad shoulders, and sat down on the wee wee + waist; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of small small arms, and sat down on the broad broad + shoulders; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a pair of huge huge hands, and sat down on the small small arms; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a small small neck, and sat down on the broad broad shoulders; + </p> + <p> + And still she sat, and still she reeled, and still she wished for company. + </p> + <p> + In came a huge huge head, and sat down on the small small neck. + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such broad broad feet?” quoth the woman. + </p> + <p> + “Much tramping, much tramping” (<i>gruffly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such small small legs?” + </p> + <p> + “Aih-h-h!-late—and wee-e-e—moul” (<i>whiningly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such thick thick knees?” + </p> + <p> + “Much praying, much praying” (<i>piously</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such thin thin thighs?” + </p> + <p> + “Aih-h-h!—late—and wee-e-e—moul” (<i>whiningly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such big big hips?” + </p> + <p> + “Much sitting, much sitting” (<i>gruffly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such a wee wee waist?” + </p> + <p> + “Aih-h-h!—late—and wee-e-e-moul” (<i>whiningly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such broad broad shoulders?” + </p> + <p> + “With carrying broom, with carrying broom” (<i>gruffly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such small small arms?” + </p> + <p> + “Aih-h-h!—late—and wee-e-e—moul” (<i>whiningly</i>.) + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such huge huge hands?” + </p> + <p> + “Threshing with an iron flail, threshing with an iron flail” (<i>gruffly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such a small small neck?” + </p> + <p> + “Aih-h-h!—late—wee-e-e—moul” (<i>pitifully</i>). + </p> + <p> + “How did you get such a huge huge head?” + </p> + <p> + “Much knowledge, much knowledge” (<i>keenly</i>). + </p> + <p> + “What do you come for?” + </p> + <p> + “FOR YOU!” (<i>At the top of the voice, with a wave of the arm and a stamp + of the feet.</i>) + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE LAIDLY WORM OF SPINDLESTON HEUGH + </h2> + <p> + In Bamborough Castle once lived a king who had a fair wife and two + children, a son named Childe Wynd and a daughter named Margaret. Childe + Wynd went forth to seek his fortune, and soon after he had gone the queen + his mother died. The king mourned her long and faithfully, but one day + while he was hunting he came across a lady of great beauty, and became so + much in love with her that he determined to marry her. So he sent word + home that he was going to bring a new queen to Bamborough Castle. + </p> + <p> + Princess Margaret was not very glad to hear of her mother's place being + taken, but she did not repine but did her father's bidding. And at the + appointed day came down to the castle gate with the keys all ready to hand + over to her stepmother. Soon the procession drew near, and the new queen + came towards Princess Margaret who bowed low and handed her the keys of + the castle. She stood there with blushing cheeks and eye on ground, and + said: “O welcome, father dear, to your halls and bowers, and welcome to + you my new mother, for all that's here is yours,” and again she offered + the keys. One of the king's knights who had escorted the new queen, cried + out in admiration: “Surely this northern Princess is the loveliest of her + kind.” At that the new queen flushed up and cried out: “At least your + courtesy might have excepted me,” and then she muttered below her breath: + “I'll soon put an end to her beauty.” + </p> + <p> + That same night the queen, who was a noted witch, stole down to a lonely + dungeon wherein she did her magic and with spells three times three, and + with passes nine times nine she cast Princess Margaret under her spell. + And this was her spell: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + I weird ye to be a Laidly Worm, + And borrowed shall ye never be, + Until Childe Wynd, the King's own son + Come to the Heugh and thrice kiss thee; + Until the world comes to an end, + Borrowed shall ye never be. +</pre> + <p> + So Lady Margaret went to bed a beauteous maiden, and rose up a Laidly + Worm. And when her maidens came in to dress her in the morning they found + coiled up on the bed a dreadful dragon, which uncoiled itself and came + towards them. But they ran away shrieking, and the Laidly Worm crawled and + crept, and crept and crawled till it reached the Heugh or rock of the + Spindlestone, round which it coiled itself, and lay there basking with its + terrible snout in the air. + </p> + <p> + Soon the country round about had reason to know of the Laidly Worm of + Spindleston Heugh. For hunger drove the monster out from its cave and it + used to devour everything it could come across. So at last they went to a + mighty warlock and asked him what they should do. Then he consulted his + works and his familiar, and told them: “The Laidly Worm is really the + Princess Margaret and it is hunger that drives her forth to do such deeds. + Put aside for her seven kine, and each day as the sun goes down, carry + every drop of milk they yield to the stone trough at the foot of the + Heugh, and the Laidly Worm will trouble the country no longer. But if ye + would that she be borrowed to her natural shape, and that she who + bespelled her be rightly punished, send over the seas for her brother, + Childe Wynd.” + </p> + <p> + All was done as the warlock advised, the Laidly Worm lived on the milk of + the seven kine, and the country was troubled no longer. But when Childe + Wynd heard the news, he swore a mighty oath to rescue his sister and + revenge her on her cruel stepmother. And three-and-thirty of his men took + the oath with him. Then they set to work and built a long ship, and its + keel they made of the rowan tree. And when all was ready, they out with + their oars and pulled sheer for Bamborough Keep. + </p> + <p> + But as they got near the keep, the stepmother felt by her magic power that + something was being wrought against her, so she summoned her familiar imps + and said: “Childe Wynd is coming over the seas; he must never land. Raise + storms, or bore the hull, but nohow must he touch shore.” Then the imps + went forth to meet Childe Wynd's ship, but when they got near, they found + they had no power over the ship, for its keel was made of the rowan tree. + So back they came to the queen witch, who knew not what to do. She ordered + her men-at-arms to resist Childe Wynd if he should land near them, and by + her spells she caused the Laidly Worm to wait by the entrance of the + harbour. + </p> + <p> + As the ship came near, the Worm unfolded its coils, and dipping into the + sea, caught hold of the ship of Childe Wynd, and banged it off the shore. + Three times Childe Wynd urged his men on to row bravely and strong, but + each time the Laidly Worm kept it off the shore. Then Childe Wynd ordered + the ship to be put about, and the witch-queen thought he had given up the + attempt. But instead of that, he only rounded the next point and landed + safe and sound in Budle Creek, and then, with sword drawn and bow bent, + rushed up followed by his men, to fight the terrible Worm that had kept + him from landing. + </p> + <p> + But the moment Childe Wynd had landed, the witch-queen's power over the + Laidly Worm had gone, and she went back to her bower all alone, not an + imp, nor a man-at-arms to help her, for she knew her hour was come. So + when Childe Wynd came rushing up to the Laidly Worm it made no attempt to + stop him or hurt him, but just as he was going to raise his sword to slay + it, the voice of his own sister Margaret came from its jaws saying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O, quit your sword, unbend your bow, + And give me kisses three; + For though I am a poisonous worm, + No harm I'll do to thee.” + </pre> + <p> + Childe Wynd stayed his hand, but he did not know what to think if some + witchery were not in it. Then said the Laidly Worm again: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “O, quit your sword, unbend your bow, + And give me kisses three, + If I'm not won ere set of sun, + Won never shall I be.” + </pre> + <p> + Then Childe Wynd went up to the Laidly Worm and kissed it once; but no + change came over it. Then Childe Wynd kissed it once more; but yet no + change came over it. For a third time he kissed the loathsome thing, and + with a hiss and a roar the Laidly Worm reared back and before Childe Wynd + stood his sister Margaret. He wrapped his cloak about her, and then went + up to the castle with her. When he reached the keep, he went off to the + witch queen's bower, and when he saw her, he touched her with a twig of a + rowan tree. No sooner had he touched her than she shrivelled up and + shrivelled up, till she became a huge ugly toad, with bold staring eyes + and a horrible hiss. She croaked and she hissed, and then hopped away down + the castle steps, and Childe Wynd took his father's place as king, and + they all lived happy afterwards. + </p> + <p> + But to this day, the loathsome toad is seen at times, haunting the + neighbourhood of Bamborough Keep, and the wicked witch-queen is a Laidly + Toad. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CAT AND THE MOUSE + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + The cat and the mouse + Play'd in the malt-house: +</pre> + <p> + The cat bit the mouse's tail off. “Pray, puss, give me my tail.” “No,” + says the cat, “I'll not give you your tail, till you go to the cow, and + fetch me some milk.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + First she leapt and then she ran, + Till she came to the cow, and thus began: +</pre> + <p> + “Pray, Cow, give me milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me + my own tail again.” “No,” said the cow, “I will give you no milk, till you + go to the farmer, and get me some hay.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + First she leapt, and then she ran, + Till she came to the farmer and thus began: +</pre> + <p> + “Pray, Farmer, give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me + milk, that I may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.” + “No,” says the farmer, “I'll give you no hay, till you go to the butcher + and fetch me some meat.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + First she leapt, and then she ran, + Till she came to the butcher, and thus began: +</pre> + <p> + “Pray, Butcher, give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may + give me hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I + may give cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.” “No,” says the + butcher, “I'll give you no meat, till you go to the baker and fetch me + some bread.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + First she leapt and then she ran, + Till she came to the baker, and thus began: +</pre> + <p> + “Pray, Baker, give me bread, that I may give butcher bread, that butcher + may give me meat, that I may give farmer meat, that farmer may give me + hay, that I may give cow hay, that cow may give me milk, that I may give + cat milk, that cat may give me my own tail again.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Yes,” says the baker, “I'll give you some bread, + But if you eat my meal, I'll cut off your head.” + </pre> + <p> + Then the baker gave mouse bread, and mouse gave butcher bread, and butcher + gave mouse meat, and mouse gave farmer meat, and farmer gave mouse hay, + and mouse gave cow hay, and cow gave mouse milk, and mouse gave cat milk, + and cat gave mouse her own tail again! + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE FISH AND THE RING + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time, there was a mighty baron in the North Countrie who was a + great magician that knew everything that would come to pass. So one day, + when his little boy was four years old, he looked into the Book of Fate to + see what would happen to him. And to his dismay, he found that his son + would wed a lowly maid that had just been born in a house under the shadow + of York Minster. Now the Baron knew the father of the little girl was + very, very poor, and he had five children already. So he called for his + horse, and rode into York; and passed by the father's house, and saw him + sitting by the door, sad and doleful. So he dismounted and went up to him + and said: “What is the matter, my good man?” And the man said: “Well, your + honour, the fact is, I've five children already, and now a sixth's come, a + little lass, and where to get the bread from to fill their mouths, that's + more than I can say.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be downhearted, my man,” said the Baron. “If that's your trouble, I + can help you. I'll take away the last little one, and you wont have to + bother about her.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you kindly, sir,” said the man; and he went in and brought out the + lass and gave her to the Baron, who mounted his horse and rode away with + her. And when he got by the bank of the river Ouse, he threw the little, + thing into the river, and rode off to his castle. + </p> + <p> + But the little lass didn't sink; her clothes kept her up for a time, and + she floated, and she floated, till she was cast ashore just in front of a + fisherman's hut. There the fisherman found her, and took pity on the poor + little thing and took her into his house, and she lived there till she was + fifteen years old, and a fine handsome girl. + </p> + <p> + One day it happened that the Baron went out hunting with some companions + along the banks of the River Ouse, and stopped at the fisherman's hut to + get a drink, and the girl came out to give it to them. They all noticed + her beauty, and one of them said to the Baron: “You can read fates, Baron, + whom will she marry, d'ye think?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! that's easy to guess,” said the Baron; “some yokel or other. But I'll + cast her horoscope. Come here girl, and tell me on what day you were + born?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know, sir,” said the girl, “I was picked up just here after + having been brought down by the river about fifteen years ago.” + </p> + <p> + Then the Baron knew who she was, and when they went away, he rode back and + said to the girl: “Hark ye, girl, I will make your fortune. Take this + letter to my brother in Scarborough, and you will be settled for life.” + And the girl took the letter and said she would go. Now this was what he + had written in the letter: + </p> + <p> + “Dear Brother,—Take the bearer and put her to death immediately. + </p> + <p> + “Yours affectionately, + </p> + <p> + “Albert.” + </p> + <p> + So soon after the girl set out for Scarborough, and slept for the night at + a little inn. Now that very night a band of robbers broke into the inn, + and searched the girl, who had no money, and only the letter. So they + opened this and read it, and thought it a shame. The captain of the + robbers took a pen and paper and wrote this letter: + </p> + <p> + “Dear Brother,—Take the bearer and marry her to my son immediately. + </p> + <p> + “Yours affectionately, + </p> + <p> + “Albert.” + </p> + <p> + And then he gave it to the girl, bidding her begone. So she went on to the + Baron's brother at Scarborough, a noble knight, with whom the Baron's son + was staying. When she gave the letter to his brother, he gave orders for + the wedding to be prepared at once, and they were married that very day. + </p> + <p> + Soon after, the Baron himself came to his brother's castle, and what was + his surprise to find that the very thing he had plotted against had come + to pass. But he was not to be put off that way; and he took out the girl + for a walk, as he said, along the cliffs. And when he got her all alone, + he took her by the arms, and was going to throw her over. But she begged + hard for her life. “I have not done anything,” she said: “if you will only + spare me, I will do whatever you wish. I will never see you or your son + again till you desire it.” Then the Baron took off his gold ring and threw + it into the sea, saying: “Never let me see your face till you can show me + that ring;” and he let her go. + </p> + <p> + The poor girl wandered on and on, till at last she came to a great noble's + castle, and she asked to have some work given to her; and they made her + the scullion girl of the castle, for she had been used to such work in the + fisherman's hut. + </p> + <p> + Now one day, who should she see coming up to the noble's house but the + Baron and his brother and his son, her husband. She didn't know what to + do; but thought they would not see her in the castle kitchen. So she went + back to her work with a sigh, and set to cleaning a huge big fish that was + to be boiled for their dinner. And, as she was cleaning it, she saw + something shine inside it, and what do you think she found? Why, there was + the Baron's ring, the very one he had thrown over the cliff at + Scarborough. She was right glad to see it, you may be sure. Then she + cooked the fish as nicely as she could, and served it up. + </p> + <p> + Well, when the fish came on the table, the guests liked it so well that + they asked the noble who cooked it. He said he didn't know, but called to + his servants: “Ho, there, send up the cook that cooked that fine fish.” So + they went down to the kitchen and told the girl she was wanted in the + hall. Then she washed and tidied herself and put the Baron's gold ring on + her thumb and went up into the hall. + </p> + <p> + When the banqueters saw such a young and beautiful cook they were + surprised. But the Baron was in a tower of a temper, and started up as if + he would do her some violence. So the girl went up to him with her hand + before her with the ring on it; and she put it down before him on the + table. Then at last the Baron saw that no one could fight against Fate, + and he handed her to a seat and announced to all the company that this was + his son's true wife; and he took her and his son home to his castle; and + they all lived as happy as could be ever afterwards. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE MAGPIE'S NEST + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Once upon a time when pigs spoke rhyme + And monkeys chewed tobacco, + And hens took snuff to make them tough, + And ducks went quack, quack, quack, O! +</pre> + <p> + All the birds of the air came to the magpie and asked her to teach them + how to build nests. For the magpie is the cleverest bird of all at + building nests. So she put all the birds round her and began to show them + how to do it. First of all she took some mud and made a sort of round cake + with it. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that's how it's done,” said the thrush; and away it flew, and so + that's how thrushes build their nests. + </p> + <p> + Then the magpie took some twigs and arranged them round in the mud. + </p> + <p> + “Now I know all about it,” says the blackbird, and off he flew; and that's + how the blackbirds make their nests to this very day. + </p> + <p> + Then the magpie put another layer of mud over the twigs. + </p> + <p> + “Oh that's quite obvious,” said the wise owl, and away it flew; and owls + have never made better nests since. + </p> + <p> + After this the magpie took some twigs and twined them round the outside. + </p> + <p> + “The very thing!” said the sparrow, and off he went; so sparrows make + rather slovenly nests to this day. + </p> + <p> + Well, then Madge Magpie took some feathers and stuff and lined the nest + very comfortably with it. + </p> + <p> + “That suits me,” cried the starling, and off it flew; and very comfortable + nests have starlings. + </p> + <p> + So it went on, every bird taking away some knowledge of how to build + nests, but, none of them waiting to the end. Meanwhile Madge Magpie went + on working and working without, looking up till the only bird that + remained was the turtle-dove, and that hadn't paid any attention all + along, but only kept on saying its silly cry “Take two, Taffy, take + two-o-o-o.” + </p> + <p> + At last the magpie heard this just as she was putting a twig across. So + she said: “One's enough.” + </p> + <p> + But the turtle-dove kept on saying: “Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o.” + </p> + <p> + Then the magpie got angry and said: “One's enough I tell you.” + </p> + <p> + Still the turtle-dove cried: “Take two, Taffy, take two-o-o-o.” + </p> + <p> + At last, and at last, the magpie looked up and saw nobody near her but the + silly turtle-dove, and then she got rare angry and flew away and refused + to tell the birds how to build nests again. And that is why different + birds build their nests differently. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + KATE CRACKERNUTS + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time there was a king and a queen, as in many lands have been. + The king had a daughter, Anne, and the queen had one named Kate, but Anne + was far bonnier than the queen's daughter, though they loved one another + like real sisters. The queen was jealous of the king's daughter being + bonnier than her own, and cast about to spoil her beauty. So she took + counsel of the henwife, who told her to send the lassie to her next + morning fasting. + </p> + <p> + So next morning early, the queen said to Anne, “Go, my dear, to the + henwife in the glen, and ask her for some eggs.” So Anne set out, but as + she passed through the kitchen she saw a crust, and she took and munched + it as she went along. + </p> + <p> + When she came to the henwife's she asked for eggs, as she had been told to + do; the henwife said to her, “Lift the lid off that pot there and see.” + The lassie did so, but nothing happened. “Go home to your minnie and tell + her to keep her larder door better locked,” said the henwife. So she went + home to the queen and told her what the henwife had said. The queen knew + from this that the lassie had had something to eat, so watched the next + morning and sent her away fasting; but the princess saw some country-folk + picking peas by the roadside, and being very kind she spoke to them and + took a handful of the peas, which she ate by the way. + </p> + <p> + When she came to the henwife's, she said, “Lift the lid off the pot and + you'll see.” So Anne lifted the lid but nothing happened. Then the henwife + was rare angry and said to Anne, “Tell your minnie the pot won't boil if + the fire's away.” So Anne went home and told the queen. + </p> + <p> + The third day the queen goes along with the girl herself to the henwife. + Now, this time, when Anne lifted the lid off the pot, off falls her own + pretty head, and on jumps a sheep's head. + </p> + <p> + So the queen was now quite satisfied, and went back home. + </p> + <p> + Her own daughter, Kate, however, took a fine linen cloth and wrapped it + round her sister's head and took her by the hand and they both went out to + seek their fortune. They went on, and they went on, and they went on, till + they came to a castle. Kate knocked at the door and asked for a night's + lodging for herself and a sick sister. They went in and found it was a + king's castle, who had two sons, and one of them was sickening away to + death and no one could find out what ailed him. And the curious thing was + that whoever watched him at night was never seen any more. So the king had + offered a peck of silver to anyone who would stop up with him. Now Katie + was a very brave girl, so she offered to sit up with him. + </p> + <p> + Till midnight all goes well. As twelve o clock rings, however, the sick + prince rises, dresses himself, and slips downstairs. Kate followed, but he + didn't seem to notice her. The prince went to the stable, saddled his + horse, called his hound, jumped into the saddle, and Kate leapt lightly up + behind him. Away rode the prince and Kate through the greenwood, Kate, as + they pass, plucking nuts from the trees and filling her apron with them. + They rode on and on till they came to a green hill. The prince here drew + bridle and spoke, “Open, open, green hill, and let the young prince in + with his horse and his hound,” and Kate added, “and his lady him behind.” + </p> + <p> + Immediately the green hill opened and they passed in. The prince entered a + magnificent hall, brightly lighted up, and many beautiful fairies + surrounded the prince and led him off to the dance. Meanwhile, Kate, + without being noticed, hid herself behind the door. There she sees the + prince dancing, and dancing, and dancing, till he could dance no longer + and fell upon a couch. Then the fairies would fan him till he could rise + again and go on dancing. + </p> + <p> + At last the cock crew, and the prince made all haste to get on horseback; + Kate jumped up behind, and home they rode. When the morning sun rose they + came in and found Kate sitting down by the fire and cracking her nuts. + Kate said the prince had a good night; but she would not sit up another + night unless she was to get a peck of gold. The second night passed as the + first had done. The prince got up at midnight and rode away to the green + hill and the fairy ball, and Kate went with him, gathering nuts as they + rode through the forest. This time she did not watch the prince, for she + knew he would dance and dance, and dance. But she sees a fairy baby + playing with a wand, and overhears one of the fairies say: “Three strokes + of that wand would make Kate's sick sister as bonnie as ever she was.” So + Kate rolled nuts to the fairy baby, and rolled nuts till the baby toddled + after the nuts and let fall the wand, and Kate took it up and put it in + her apron. And at cockcrow they rode home as before, and the moment Kate + got home to her room she rushed and touched Anne three times with the + wand, and the nasty sheep's head fell off and she was her own pretty self + again. The third night Kate consented to watch, only if she should marry + the sick prince. All went on as on the first two nights. This time the + fairy baby was playing with a birdie; Kate heard one of the fairies say: + “Three bites of that birdie would make the sick prince as well as ever he + was.” Kate rolled all the nuts she had to the fairy baby till the birdie + was dropped, and Kate put it in her apron. + </p> + <p> + At cockcrow they set off again, but instead of cracking her nuts as she + used to do, this time Kate plucked the feathers off and cooked the birdie. + Soon there arose a very savoury smell. “Oh!” said the sick prince, “I wish + I had a bite of that birdie,” so Kate gave him a bite of the birdie, and + he rose up on his elbow. By-and-by he cried out again: “Oh, if I had + another bite of that birdie!” so Kate gave him another bite, and he sat up + on his bed. Then he said again: “Oh! if I only had a third bite of that + birdie!” So Kate gave him a third bite, and he rose quite well, dressed + himself, and sat down by the fire, and when the folk came in next morning + they found Kate and the young prince cracking nuts together. Meanwhile his + brother had seen Annie and had fallen in love with her, as everybody did + who saw her sweet pretty face. So the sick son married the well sister, + and the well son married the sick sister, and they all lived happy and + died happy, and never drank out of a dry cappy. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON + </h2> + <p> + At Hilton Hall, long years ago, there lived a Brownie that was the + contrariest Brownie you ever knew. At night, after the servants had gone + to bed, it would turn everything topsy-turvy, put sugar in the + salt-cellars, pepper into the beer, and was up to all kinds of pranks. It + would throw the chairs down, put tables on their backs, rake out fires, + and do as much mischief as could be. But sometimes it would be in a good + temper, and then!—“What's a Brownie?” you say. Oh, it's a kind of a + sort of a Bogle, but it isn't so cruel as a Redcap! What! you don't know + what's a Bogle or a Redcap! Ah, me! what's the world a-coming to? Of + course a Brownie is a funny little thing, half man, half goblin, with + pointed ears and hairy hide. When you bury a treasure, you scatter over it + blood drops of a newly slain kid or lamb, or, better still, bury the + animal with the treasure, and a Brownie will watch over it for you, and + frighten everybody else away. + </p> + <p> + Where was I? Well, as I was a-saying, the Brownie at Hilton Hall would + play at mischief, but if the servants laid out for it a bowl of cream, or + a knuckle cake spread with honey, it would clear away things for them, and + make everything tidy in the kitchen. One night, however, when the servants + had stopped up late, they heard a noise in the kitchen, and, peeping in, + saw the Brownie swinging to and fro on the Jack chain, and saying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Woe's me! woe's me! + The acorn's not yet + Fallen from the tree, + That's to grow the wood, + That's to make the cradle, + That's to rock the bairn, + That's to grow to the man, + That's to lay me. + Woe's me! woe's me!” + </pre> + <p> + So they took pity on the poor Brownie, and asked the nearest henwife what + they should do to send it away. “That's easy enough,” said the henwife, + and told them that a Brownie that's paid for its service, in aught that's + not perishable, goes away at once. So they made a cloak of Lincoln green, + with a hood to it, and put it by the hearth and watched. They saw the + Brownie come up, and seeing the hood and cloak, put them on, and frisk + about, dancing on one leg and saying: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “I've taken your cloak, I've taken your hood; + The Cauld Lad of Hilton will do no more good.” + </pre> + <p> + And with that it vanished, and was never seen or heard of afterwards. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE ASS, THE TABLE, AND THE STICK + </h2> + <p> + A lad named Jack was once so unhappy at home through his father's + ill-treatment, that he made up his mind to run away and seek his fortune + in the wide world. + </p> + <p> + He ran, and he ran, till he could run no longer, and then he ran right up + against a little old woman who was gathering sticks. He was too much out + of breath to beg pardon, but the woman was good-natured, and she said he + seemed to be a likely lad, so she would take him to be her servant, and + would pay him well. He agreed, for he was very hungry, and she brought him + to her house in the wood, where he served her for a twelvemonths and a + day. + </p> + <p> + When the year had passed, she called him to her, and said she had good + wages for him. So she presented him with an ass out of the stable, and he + had but to pull Neddy's ears to make him begin at once to ee—aw! And + when he brayed there dropped from his mouth silver sixpences, and half + crowns, and golden guineas. + </p> + <p> + The lad was well pleased with the wage he had received, and away he rode + till he reached an inn. There he ordered the best of everything, and when + the innkeeper refused to serve him without being paid beforehand, the boy + went off to the stable, pulled the ass's ears and obtained his pocket full + of money. The host had watched all this through a crack in the door, and + when night came on he put an ass of his own for the precious Neddy of the + poor youth. So Jack without knowing that any change had been made, rode + away next morning to his father's house. + </p> + <p> + Now, I must tell you that near his home dwelt a poor widow with an only + daughter. The lad and the maiden were fast friends and true loves; but + when Jack asked his father's leave to marry the girl, “Never till you have + the money to keep her,” was the reply. “I have that, father,” said the + lad, and going to the ass he pulled its long ears; well, he pulled, and he + pulled, till one of them came off in his hands; but Neddy, though he + hee-hawed and he hee-hawed let fall no half crowns or guineas. The father + picked up a hay-fork and beat his son out of the house. I promise you he + ran. Ah! he ran and ran till he came bang against the door, and burst it + open, and there he was in a joiner's shop. “You're a likely lad,” said the + joiner; “serve me for a twelvemonths and a day and I will pay you well.'” + So he agreed, and served the carpenter for a year and a day. “Now,” said + the master, “I will give you your wage;” and he presented him with a + table, telling him he had but to say, “Table, be covered,” and at once it + would be spread with lots to eat and drink. + </p> + <p> + Jack hitched the table on his back, and away he went with it till he came + to the inn. “Well, host,” shouted he, “my dinner to-day, and that of the + best.” + </p> + <p> + “Very sorry, but there is nothing in the house but ham and eggs.” + </p> + <p> + “Ham and eggs for me!” exclaimed Jack. “I can do better than that.—Come, + my table, be covered!” + </p> + <p> + At once the table was spread with turkey and sausages, roast mutton, + potatoes, and greens. The publican opened his eyes, but he said nothing, + not he. + </p> + <p> + That night he fetched down from his attic a table very like that of Jack, + and exchanged the two. Jack, none the wiser, next morning hitched the + worthless table on to his back and carried it home. “Now, father, may I + marry my lass?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Not unless you can keep her,” replied the father. “Look here!” exclaimed + Jack. “Father, I have a table which does all my bidding.” + </p> + <p> + “Let me see it,” said the old man. + </p> + <p> + The lad set it in the middle of the room, and bade it be covered; but all + in vain, the table remained bare. In a rage, the father caught the + warming-pan down from the wall and warmed his son's back with it so that + the boy fled howling from the house, and ran and ran till he came to a + river and tumbled in. A man picked him out and bade him assist him in + making a bridge over the river; and how do you think he was doing it? Why, + by casting a tree across; so Jack climbed up to the top of the tree and + threw his weight on it, so that when the man had rooted the tree up, Jack + and the tree-head dropped on the farther bank. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” said the man; “and now for what you have done I will pay + you;” so saying, he tore a branch from the tree, and fettled it up into a + club with his knife. “There,” exclaimed he; “take this stick, and when you + say to it, 'Up stick and bang him,' it will knock any one down who angers + you.” + </p> + <p> + The lad was overjoyed to get this stick—so away he went with it to + the inn, and as soon as the publican, appeared, “Up stick and bang him!” + was his cry. At the word the cudgel flew from his hand and battered the + old publican on the back, rapped his head, bruised his arms tickled his + ribs, till he fell groaning on the floor; still the stick belaboured the + prostrate man, nor would Jack call it off till he had got back the stolen + ass and table. Then he galloped home on the ass, with the table on his + shoulders, and the stick in his hand. When he arrived there he found his + father was dead, so he brought his ass into the stable, and pulled its + ears till he had filled the manger with money. + </p> + <p> + It was soon known through the town that Jack had returned rolling in + wealth, and accordingly all the girls in the place set their caps at him. + “Now,” said Jack, “I shall marry the richest lass in the place; so + tomorrow do you all come in front of my house with your money in your + aprons.” + </p> + <p> + Next morning the street was full of girls with aprons held out, and gold + and silver in them; but Jack's own sweetheart was among them, and she had + neither gold nor silver, nought but two copper pennies, that was all she + had. + </p> + <p> + “Stand aside, lass;” said Jack to her, speaking roughly. “Thou hast no + silver nor gold—stand off from the rest.” She obeyed, and the tears + ran down her cheeks, and filled her apron with diamonds. + </p> + <p> + “Up stick and bang them!” exclaimed Jack; whereupon the cudgel leaped up, + and running along the line of girls, knocked them all on the heads and + left them senseless on the pavement. Jack took all their money and poured + it into his truelove's lap. “Now, lass,” he exclaimed, “thou art the + richest, and I shall marry thee.” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0042" id="link2H_4_0042"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FAIRY OINTMENT + </h2> + <p> + Dame Goody was a nurse that looked after sick people, and minded babies. + One night she was woke up at midnight, and when she went downstairs, she + saw a strange squinny-eyed, little ugly old fellow, who asked her to come + to his wife who was too ill to mind her baby. Dame Goody didn't like the + look of the old fellow, but business is business; so she popped on her + things, and went down to him. And when she got down to him, he whisked her + up on to a large coal-black horse with fiery eyes, that stood at the door; + and soon they were going at a rare pace, Dame Goody holding on to the old + fellow like grim death. + </p> + <p> + They rode, and they rode, till at last they stopped before a cottage door. + So they got down and went in and found the good woman abed with the + children playing about; and the babe, a fine bouncing boy, beside her. + </p> + <p> + Dame Goody took the babe, which was as fine a baby boy as you'd wish to + see. The mother, when she handed the baby to Dame Goody to mind, gave her + a box of ointment, and told her to stroke the baby's eyes with it as soon + as it opened them. After a while it began to open its eyes. Dame Goody saw + that it had squinny eyes just like its father. So she took the box of + ointment and stroked its two eyelids with it. But she couldn't help + wondering what it was for, as she had never seen such a thing done before. + So she looked to see if the others were looking, and, when they were not + noticing she stroked her own right eyelid with the ointment. + </p> + <p> + No sooner had she done so, than everything seemed changed about her. The + cottage became elegantly furnished. The mother in the bed was a beautiful + lady, dressed up in white silk. The little baby was still more beautiful + than before, and its clothes were made of a sort of silvery gauze. Its + little brothers and sisters around the bed were flat-nosed imps with + pointed ears, who made faces at one another, and scratched their polls. + Sometimes they would pull the sick lady's ears with their long and hairy + paws. In fact, they were up to all kinds of mischief; and Dame Goody knew + that she had got into a house of pixies. But she said nothing to nobody, + and as soon as the lady was well enough to mind the baby, she asked the + old fellow to take her back home. So he came round to the door with the + coal-black horse with eyes of fire, and off they went as fast as before, + or perhaps a little faster, till they came to Dame Goody's cottage, where + the squinny-eyed old fellow lifted her down and left her, thanking her + civilly enough, and paying her more than she had ever been paid before for + such service. + </p> + <p> + Now next day happened to be market-day, and as Dame Goody had been away + from home, she wanted many things in the house, and trudged off to get + them at the market. As she was buying the things she wanted, who should + she see but the squinny-eyed old fellow who had taken her on the + coal-black horse. And what do you think he was doing? Why he went about + from stall to stall taking up things from each, here some fruit, and there + some eggs, and so on; and no one seemed to take any notice. + </p> + <p> + Now Dame Goody did not think it her business to interfere, but she thought + she ought not to let so good a customer pass without speaking. So she ups + to him and bobs a curtsey and said: “Gooden, sir, I hopes as how your good + lady and the little one are as well as——” + </p> + <p> + But she couldn't finish what she was a-saying, for the funny old fellow + started back in surprise, and he says to her, says he: “What! do you see + me today?” + </p> + <p> + “See you,” says she, “why, of course I do, as plain as the sun in the + skies, and what's more,” says she, “I see you are busy too, into the + bargain.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, you see too much,” said he; “now, pray, with which eye do you see all + this?” + </p> + <p> + “With the right eye to be sure,” said she, as proud as can be to find him + out. + </p> + <p> + “The ointment! The ointment!” cried the old pixy thief. “Take that for + meddling with what don't concern you: you shall see me no more.” And with + that he struck her on her right eye, and she couldn't see him any more; + and, what was worse, she was blind on the right side from that hour till + the day of her death. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0043" id="link2H_4_0043"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END + </h2> + <p> + Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, though it wasn't in my + time, nor in your time, nor any one else's time, there was a girl whose + mother had died, and her father had married again. And her stepmother + hated her because she was more beautiful than herself, and she was very + cruel to her. She used to make her do all the servant's work, and never + let her have any peace. At last, one day, the stepmother thought to get + rid of her altogether; so she handed her a sieve and said to her: “Go, + fill it at the Well of the World's End and bring it home to me full, or + woe betide you.” For she thought she would never be able to find the Well + of the World's End, and, if she did, how could she bring home a sieve full + of water? + </p> + <p> + Well, the girl started off, and asked every one she met to tell her where + was the Well of the World's End. But nobody knew, and she didn't know what + to do, when a queer little old woman, all bent double, told her where it + was, and how she could get to it. So she did what the old woman told her, + and at last arrived at the Well of the World's End. But when she dipped + the sieve in the cold, cold water, it all ran out again. She tried and she + tried again, but every time it was the same; and at last she sate down and + cried as if her heart would break. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly she heard a croaking voice, and she looked up and saw a great + frog with goggle eyes looking at her and speaking to her. + </p> + <p> + “What's the matter, dearie?” it said. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear, oh dear,” she said, “my stepmother has sent me all this long + way to fill this sieve with water from the Well of the World's End, and I + can't fill it no how at all.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the frog, “if you promise me to do whatever I bid you for a + whole night long, I'll tell you how to fill it.” + </p> + <p> + So the girl agreed, and then the frog said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Stop it with moss and daub it with clay, + And then it will carry the water away;” + </pre> + <p> + and then it gave a hop, skip and jump, and went flop into the Well of the + World's End. + </p> + <p> + So the girl looked about for some moss, and lined the bottom of the sieve + with it, and over that she put some clay, and then she dipped it once + again into the Well of the World's End; and this time, the water didn't + run out, and she turned to go away. + </p> + <p> + Just then the frog popped up its head out of the Well of the World's End, + and said: “Remember your promise.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” said the girl; for thought she, “what harm can a frog do me?” + </p> + <p> + So she went back to her stepmother, and brought the sieve full of water + from the Well of the World's End. The stepmother was fine and angry, but + she said nothing at all. + </p> + <p> + That very evening they heard something tap tapping at the door low down, + and a voice cried out: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Open the door, my hinny, my heart, + Open the door, my own darling; + Mind you the words that you and I spoke, + Down in the meadow, at the World's End Well.” + </pre> + <p> + “Whatever can that be?” cried out the stepmother, and the girl had to tell + her all about it, and what she had promised the frog. + </p> + <p> + “Girls must keep their promises,” said the stepmother. “Go and open the + door this instant.” For she was glad the girl would have to obey a nasty + frog. + </p> + <p> + So the girl went and opened the door, and there was the frog from the Well + of the World's End. And it hopped, and it skipped, and it jumped, till it + reached the girl, and then it said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Lift me to your knee, my hinny, my heart; + Lift me to your knee, my own darling; + Remember the words you and I spoke, + Down in the meadow by the World's End Well.” + </pre> + <p> + But the girl didn't like to, till her stepmother said “Lift it up this + instant, you hussy! Girls must keep their promises!” + </p> + <p> + So at last she lifted the frog up on to her lap, and it lay there for a + time, till at last it said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Give me some supper, my hinny, my heart, + Give me some supper, my darling; + Remember the words you and I spake, + In the meadow, by the Well of the World's End.” + </pre> + <p> + Well, she didn't mind doing that, so she got it a bowl of milk and bread, + and fed it well. And when the frog, had finished, it said: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Go with me to bed, my hinny, my heart, + Go with me to bed, my own darling; + Mind you the words you spake to me, + Down by the cold well, so weary.” + </pre> + <p> + But that the girl wouldn't do, till her stepmother said: “Do what you + promised, girl; girls must keep their promises. Do what you're bid, or out + you go, you and your froggie.” + </p> + <p> + So the girl took the frog with her to bed, and kept it as far away from + her as she could. Well, just as the day was beginning to break what should + the frog say but: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Chop off my head, my hinny, my heart, + Chop off my head, my own darling; + Remember the promise you made to me, + Down by the cold well so weary.” + </pre> + <p> + At first the girl wouldn't, for she thought of what the frog had done for + her at the Well of the World's End. But when the frog said the words over + again, she went and took an axe and chopped off its head, and lo! and + behold, there stood before her a handsome young prince, who told her that + he had been enchanted by a wicked magician, and he could never be + unspelled till some girl would do his bidding for a whole night, and chop + off his head at the end of it. + </p> + <p> + The stepmother was that surprised when she found the young prince instead + of the nasty frog, and she wasn't best pleased, you may be sure, when the + prince told her that he was going to marry her stepdaughter because she + had unspelled him. So they were married and went away to live in the + castle of the king, his father, and all the stepmother had to console her + was, that it was all through her that her stepdaughter was married to a + prince. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0044" id="link2H_4_0044"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + MASTER OF ALL MASTERS + </h2> + <p> + A girl once went to the fair to hire herself for servant. At last a + funny-looking old gentleman engaged her, and took her home to his house. + When she got there, he told her that he had something to teach her, for + that in his house he had his own names for things. + </p> + <p> + He said to her: “What will you call me?” + </p> + <p> + “Master or mister, or whatever you please sir,” says she. + </p> + <p> + He said: “You must call me 'master of all masters.' And what would you + call this?” pointing to his bed. + </p> + <p> + “Bed or couch, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “No, that's my 'barnacle.' And what do you call these?” said he pointing + to his pantaloons. + </p> + <p> + “Breeches or trousers, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “You must call them 'squibs and crackers.' And what would you call her?” + pointing to the cat. + </p> + <p> + “Cat or kit, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “You must call her 'white-faced simminy.' And this now,” showing the fire, + “what would you call this?” + </p> + <p> + “Fire or flame, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “You must call it 'hot cockalorum,' and what this?” he went on, pointing + to the water. + </p> + <p> + “Water or wet, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “No, 'pondalorum' is its name. And what do you call all this?” asked he, + as he pointed to the house. + </p> + <p> + “House or cottage, or whatever you please, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “You must call it 'high topper mountain.'” + </p> + <p> + That very night the servant woke her master up in a fright and said: + “Master of all masters, get out of your barnacle and put on your squibs + and crackers. For white-faced simminy has got a spark of hot cockalorum on + its tail, and unless you get some pondalorum high topper mountain will be + all on hot cockalorum.” .... That's all. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0045" id="link2H_4_0045"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL + </h2> + <p> + Long before Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, there reigned in + the eastern part of England a king who kept his Court at Colchester. In + the midst of all his glory, his queen died, leaving behind her an only + daughter, about fifteen years of age, who for her beauty and kindness was + the wonder of all that knew her. But the king hearing of a lady who had + likewise an only daughter, had a mind to marry her for the sake of her + riches, though she was old, ugly, hook-nosed, and hump-backed. Her + daughter was a yellow dowdy, full of envy and ill-nature; and, in short, + was much of the same mould as her mother. But in a few weeks the king, + attended by the nobility and gentry, brought his deformed bride to the + palace, where the marriage rites were performed. They had not been long in + the Court before they set the king against his own beautiful daughter by + false reports. The young princess having lost her father's love, grew + weary of the Court, and one day, meeting with her father in the garden, + she begged him, with tears in her eyes, to let her go and seek her + fortune; to which the king consented, and ordered her mother-in-law to + give her what she pleased. She went to the queen, who gave her a canvas + bag of brown bread and hard cheese, with a bottle of beer; though this was + but a pitiful dowry for a king's daughter. She took it, with thanks, and + proceeded on her journey, passing through groves, woods, and valleys, till + at length she saw an old man sitting on a stone at the mouth of a cave, + who said: “Good morrow, fair maiden, whither away so fast?” + </p> + <p> + “Aged father,” says she, “I am going to seek my fortune.” + </p> + <p> + “What have you got in your bag and bottle?” + </p> + <p> + “In my bag I have got bread and cheese, and in my bottle good small beer. + Would you like to have some?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said he, “with all my heart.” + </p> + <p> + With that the lady pulled out her provisions, and bade him eat and + welcome. He did so, and gave her many thanks, and said: “There is a thick + thorny hedge before you, which you cannot get through, but take this wand + in your hand, strike it three times, and say, 'Pray, hedge, let me come + through,' and it will open immediately; then, a little further, you will + find a well; sit down on the brink of it, and there will come up three + golden heads, which will speak; and whatever they require, that do.” + Promising she would, she took her leave of him. Coming to the hedge and + using the old man's wand, it divided, and let her through; then, coming to + the well, she had no sooner sat down than a golden head came up singing: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Wash me, and comb me, + And lay me down softly. + And lay me on a bank to dry, + That I may look pretty, + When somebody passes by.” + </pre> + <p> + “Yes,” said she, and taking it in her lap combed it with a silver comb, + and then placed it upon a primrose bank. Then up came a second and a third + head, saying the same as the former. So she did the same for them, and + then, pulling out her provisions, sat down to eat her dinner. + </p> + <p> + Then said the heads one to another: “What shall we weird for this damsel + who has used us so kindly?” + </p> + <p> + The first said: “I weird her to be so beautiful that she shall charm the + most powerful prince in the world.” + </p> + <p> + The second said: “I weird her such a sweet voice as shall far exceed the + nightingale.” + </p> + <p> + The third said: “My gift shall be none of the least, as she is a king's + daughter, I'll weird her so fortunate that she shall become queen to the + greatest prince that reigns.” + </p> + <p> + She then let them down into the well again, and so went on her journey. + She had not travelled long before she saw a king hunting in the park with + his nobles. She would have avoided him, but the king, having caught a + sight of her, approached, and what with her beauty and sweet voice, fell + desperately in love with her, and soon induced her to marry him. + </p> + <p> + This king finding that she was the King of Colchester's daughter, ordered + some chariots to be got ready, that he might pay the king, his + father-in-law, a visit. The chariot in which the king and queen rode was + adorned with rich gems of gold. The king, her father, was at first + astonished that his daughter had been so fortunate, till the young king + let him know of all that had happened. Great was the joy at Court amongst + all, with the exception of the queen and her club-footed daughter, who + were ready to burst with envy. The rejoicings, with feasting and dancing, + continued many days. Then at length they returned home with the dowry her + father gave her. + </p> + <p> + The hump-backed princess, perceiving that her sister had been so lucky in + seeking her fortune, wanted to do the same; so she told her mother, and + all preparations were made, and she was furnished with rich dresses, and + with sugar, almonds, and sweetmeats, in great quantities, and a large + bottle of Malaga sack. With these she went the same road as her sister; + and coming near the cave, the old man said: “Young woman, whither so + fast?” + </p> + <p> + “What's that to you?” said she. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said he, “what have you in your bag and bottle?” + </p> + <p> + She answered: “Good things, which you shall not be troubled with.” + </p> + <p> + “Won't you give me some?” said he. + </p> + <p> + “No, not a bit, nor a drop, unless it would choke you.” + </p> + <p> + The old man frowned, saying: “Evil fortune attend ye!” + </p> + <p> + Going on, she came to the hedge, through which she espied a gap, and + thought to pass through it; but the hedge closed, and the, thorns ran into + her flesh, so that it was with great difficulty that she got through. + Being now all over blood, she searched for water to wash herself, and, + looking round, she saw the well. She sat down on the brink of it, and one + of the heads came up, saying: “Wash me, comb me, and lay me down softly,” + as before, but she banged it with her bottle, saying, “Take that for your + washing.” So the second and third heads came up, and met with no better + treatment than the first. Whereupon the heads consulted among themselves + what evils to plague her with for such usage. + </p> + <p> + The first said: “Let her be struck with leprosy in her face.” + </p> + <p> + The second: “Let her voice be as harsh as a corn-crake's.” + </p> + <p> + The third said: “Let her have for husband but a poor country cobbler.” + </p> + <p> + Well, she goes on till she came to a town, and it being market-day, the + people looked at her, and, seeing such a mangy face, and hearing such a + squeaky voice, all fled but a poor country cobbler. Now he not long before + had mended the shoes of an old hermit, who, having no money gave him a box + of ointment for the cure of the leprosy, and a bottle of spirits for a + harsh voice. So the cobbler having a mind to do an act of charity, was + induced to go up to her and ask her who she was. + </p> + <p> + “I am,” said she, “the King of Colchester's daughter-in-law.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the cobbler, “if I restore you to your natural complexion, + and make a sound cure both in face and voice, will you in reward take me + for a husband?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, friend,” replied she, “with all my heart!” + </p> + <p> + With this the cobbler applied the remedies, and they made her well in a + few weeks; after which they were married, and so set forward for the Court + at Colchester. When the queen found that her daughter had married nothing + but a poor cobbler, she hanged herself in wrath. The death of the queen so + pleased the king, who was glad to get rid of her so soon, that he gave the + cobbler a hundred pounds to quit the Court with his lady, and take to a + remote part of the kingdom, where he lived many years mending shoes, his + wife spinning the thread for him. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0046" id="link2H_4_0046"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + OYEZ-OYEZ-OYEZ + </h2> + <h3> + THE ENGLISH FAIRY TALES + </h3> + <h3> + ARE NOW CLOSED + </h3> + <h3> + LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS + </h3> + <h3> + MUST NOT READ ANY FURTHER + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_NOTE" id="link2H_NOTE"> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + NOTES AND REFERENCES + </h2> + <p> + In the following notes I give first the <i>source</i> whence I obtained + the various tales. Then come <i>parallels</i> in some fulness for the + United Kingdom, but only a single example for foreign countries, with a + bibliographical reference where further variants can be found. Finally, a + few <i>remarks</i> are sometimes added where the tale seems to need it. In + two cases (Nos. xvi. and xxi.) I have been more full. + </p> + <h3> + I. TOM TIT TOT. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Unearthed by Mr. E. Clodd from the “Suffolk Notes and + Queries” of the <i>Ipswich Journal</i>, and reprinted by him in a paper on + “The Philosophy of Rumpelstiltskin” in <i>Folk-Lore Journal</i>, vii. + 138-43. I have reduced the Suffolk dialect. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—In Yorkshire this occurs as “Habetrot and Scantlie + Mab,” in Henderson's <i>Folk-Lore of Northern Counties</i>, 221-6; in + Devonshire as “Duffy and the Devil” in Hunt's <i>Romances and Drolls of + the West of England</i>, 239-47; in Scotland two variants are given by + Chambers, <i>Popular Rhymes of Scotland</i>, under the title “Whuppity + Stourie.” The “name-guessing wager” is also found in “Peerifool”, printed + by Mr. Andrew Lang in <i>Longman's Magazine</i>, July 1889, also <i>Folk-Lore</i>, + September, 1890. It is clearly the same as Grimm's “Rumpelstiltskin” (No. + 14); for other Continental parallels see Mr. Clodd's article, and Cosquin, + <i>Contes pop. de Lorraine</i>, i. 269 <i>seq</i>. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—One of the best folk-tales that have ever been + collected, far superior to any of the continental variants of this tale + with which I am acquainted. Mr. Clodd sees in the class of name-guessing + stories, a “survival” of the superstition that to know a man's name gives + you power over him, for which reason savages object to tell their names. + It may be necessary, I find, to explain to the little ones that Tom Tit + can only be referred to as “that,” because his name is not known till the + end. + </p> + <h3> + II. THE THREE SILLIES. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From <i>Folk-Lore Journal</i>, ii. 40-3; to which it + was communicated by Miss C. Burne. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Prof. Stephens gave a variant from his own memory + in <i>Folk-Lore Record</i>, iii. 155, as told in Essex at the beginning of + the century. Mr. Toulmin Smith gave another version in <i>The + Constitutional</i>, July 1, 1853, which was translated by his daughter, + and contributed to <i>Mélusine</i>, t. ii. An Oxfordshire version was + given in <i>Notes and Queries</i>, April 17, 1852. It occurs also in + Ireland, Kennedy, <i>Fireside Stories</i>, p. 9. It is Grimm's <i>Kluge + Else</i>, No. 34, and is spread through the world. Mr. Clouston devotes + the seventh chapter of his <i>Book of Noodles</i> to the Quest of the + Three Noodles. + </p> + <h3> + III. THE ROSE TREE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From the first edition of Henderson's <i>Folk-Lore of + Northern Counties</i>, p. 314, to which it was communicated by the Rev. S. + Baring-Gould. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—This is better known under the title, “Orange and + Lemon,” and with the refrain: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My mother killed me, + My father picked my bones, + My little sister buried me, + Under the marble stones.” + </pre> + <p> + I heard this in Australia. Mr. Jones Gives part of it in <i>Folk Tales of + the Magyars</i>, 418-20, and another version occurs in 4 <i>Notes and + Queries</i>, vi. 496. Mr. I. Gollancz informs me he remembers a version + entitled “Pepper, Salt, and Mustard,” with the refrain just given. Abroad + it is Grimm's “Juniper Tree” (No. 47), where see further parallels. The + German rhyme is sung by Margaret in the mad scene of Goethe's “Faust.” + </p> + <h3> + IV. OLD WOMAN AND PIG. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell's <i>Nursery Rhymes and Tales</i>, 114. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—<i>Cf.</i> Miss Burne, <i>Shropshire Folk-Lore</i>, + 529; also No. xxxiv. <i>infra</i> (“Cat and Mouse”). It occurs also in + Scotch, with the title “The Wife and her Bush of Berries,” Chambers's <i>Pop. + Rhymes</i>, p. 57. Newell, <i>Games and Songs of American Children</i>, + gives a game named “Club-fist” (No. 75), founded on this, and in his notes + refers to German, Danish, and Spanish variants. (<i>Cf.</i> Cosquin, ii. + 36 <i>seq.</i>) + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—One of the class of Accumulative stories, which are + well represented in England. (<i>Cf. infra</i>, Nos. xvi., xx., xxxiv.) + </p> + <h3> + V. HOW JACK SOUGHT HIS FORTUNE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—<i>American Folk-Lore Journal</i> I, 227-8. I have + eliminated a malodorous and un-English skunk. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Two other versions are given in the <i>Journal + l.c.</i> One of these, however, was probably derived from Grimm's “Town + Musicians of Bremen” (No. 27). That the others came from across the + Atlantic is shown by the fact that it occurs in Ireland (Kennedy, <i>Fictions</i>, + pp. 5-10) and Scotland (Campbell, No. 11). For other variants, see R. + Köhler in Gonzenbach, <i>Sicil. Märchen</i>, ii. 245. + </p> + <h3> + VI. MR. VINEGAR. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, p. 149. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—This is the <i>Hans im Glück</i> of Grimm (No. + 83). <i>Cf.</i> too, “Lazy Jack,” <i>infra</i>, No. xxvii. Other variants + are given by M. Cosquin, <i>Contes pop. de Lorraine</i>, i. 241. On + surprising robbers, see preceding tale. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—In some of the variants the door is carried, because + Mr. Vinegar, or his equivalent, has been told to “mind the door,” or he + acts on the principle “he that is master of the door is master of the + house.” In other stories he makes the foolish exchanges to the entire + satisfaction of his wife. (<i>Cf.</i> Cosquin, i. 156-7.) + </p> + <h3> + VII. NIX NOUGHT NOTHING. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From a Scotch tale, “Nicht Nought Nothing,” collected + by Mr. Andrew Lang in Morayshire, published by him first in <i>Revue + Celtique</i>, t. iii; then in his <i>Custom and Myth</i>, p. 89; and again + in <i>Folk-Lore</i>, Sept. 1890. I have changed the name so as to retain + the <i>équivoque</i> of the giant's reply to the King. I have also + inserted the incidents of the flight, the usual ones in tales of this + type, and expanded the conclusion, which is very curtailed and confused in + the original. The usual ending of tales of this class contains the “sale + of bed” incident, for which see Child, i. 391. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Mr. Lang, in the essay “A Far-travelled Tale” in + which he gives the story, mentions several variants of it, including the + classical myth of Jason and Medea. A fuller study in Cosquin, <i>l.c.</i>, + ii. 12-28. For the finger ladder, see Köhler, in <i>Orient and Occident</i>, + ii. III. + </p> + <h3> + VIII. JACK HANNAFORD. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson's <i>Folk-Lore of Northern Counties</i> + (first edition), p. 319. Communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—“Pilgrims from Paradise” are enumerated in + Clouston's <i>Book of Noodles</i>, pp. 205, 214-8. See also Cosquin, <i>l.c.</i>, + i. 239. + </p> + <h3> + IX. BINNORIE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From the ballad of the “Twa Sisters o' Binnorie.” I + have used the longer version in Roberts's <i>Legendary Ballads</i>, with + one or two touches from Mr. Allingham's shorter and more powerful variant + in <i>The Ballad Book</i>. A tale is the better for length, a ballad for + its curtness. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The story is clearly that of Grimm's “Singing + Bone” (No. 28), where one brother slays the other and buries him under a + bush. Years after a shepherd passing by finds a bone under the bush, and, + blowing through this, hears the bone denounce the murderer. For numerous + variants in Ballads and Folk Tales, see Prof. Child's <i>English and + Scotch Ballads</i> (ed. 1886), i. 125, 493; iii. 499. + </p> + <h3> + X. MOUSE AND MOUSER. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From memory by Mrs. E. Burne-Jones. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—A fragment is given in Halliwell, 43; Chambers's + <i>Popular Rhymes</i> has a Scotch version, “The Cattie sits in the + Kilnring spinning” (p. 53). The surprise at the end, similar to that in + Perrault's “Red Riding Hood,” is a frequent device in English folk tales. + (<i>Cf. infra</i>, Nos. xii., xxiv., xxix., xxxiii., xli.) + </p> + <h3> + XI. CAP O' RUSHES. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Discovered by Mr. E. Clodd, in “Suffolk Notes and + Queries” of the <i>Ipswich Journal</i>, published by Mr. Lang in <i>Longinan's + Magazine</i>, vol. xiii, also in <i>Folk-Lore</i>, Sept. 1890. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The beginning recalls “King Lear.” For “loving + like salt,” see the parallels collected by Cosquin, i. 288. The whole + story is a version of the numerous class of Cinderella stories, the + particular variety being the Catskin sub-species analogous to Perrault's + <i>Peau d'Ane</i>. “Catskin” was told by Mr. Burchell to the young + Primroses in “The Vicar of Wakefield,'” and has been elaborately studied + by the late H. C. Coote, in <i>Folk-Lore Record</i>, iii. 1-25. It is only + now extant in ballad form, of which “Cap o' Rushes” may be regarded as a + prose version. + </p> + <h3> + XII. TEENY-TINY. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, 148. + </p> + <h3> + XIII. JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—I tell this as it was told me in Australia, somewhere + about the year 1860. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—There is a chap-book version which is very poor; + it is given by Mr. E. S. Hartland, <i>English Folk and Fairy Tales</i> + (Camelot Series), p. 35, <i>seq.</i> In this, when Jack arrives at the top + of the Beanstalk, he is met by a fairy, who gravely informs him that the + ogre had stolen all his possessions from Jack's father. The object of this + was to prevent the tale becoming an encouragement to theft! I have had + greater confidence in my young friends, and have deleted the fairy who did + not exist in the tale as told to me. For the Beanstalk elsewhere, see + Ralston, <i>Russian Folk Tales</i>, 293-8. Cosquin has some remarks on + magical ascents (i. 14). + </p> + <h3> + XIV. THREE LITTLE PIGS. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, p. 16. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The only known parallels are one from Venice, + Bernoni, <i>Trad. Pop.</i>, punt. iii. p. 65, given in Crane, <i>Italian + Popular Tales</i>, p. 267, “The Three Goslings;” and a negro tale in <i>Lippincott's + Magazine</i>, December, 1877, p. 753 (“Tiny Pig”). + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—As little pigs do not have hair on their chinny + chin-chins, I suspect that they were originally kids, who have. This would + bring the tale close to the Grimms' “Wolf and Seven Little Kids,” (No. 5). + In Steel and Temple's “Lambikin” (<i>Wide-awake Stories</i>, p. 71), the + Lambikin gets inside a Drumikin, and so nearly escapes the jackal. + </p> + <h3> + XV. MASTER AND PUPIL + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson, <i>Folk-Lore of Northern Counties</i>, + first edition, p. 343, communicated by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. The + rhymes on the open book have been supplied by Mr. Batten, in whose family, + if I understand him rightly, they have been long used for raising the——; + something similar occurs in Halliwell, p. 243, as a riddle rhyme. The + mystic signs in Greek are a familiar “counting-out rhyme”: these have been + studied in a monograph by Mr. H. C. Bolton; he thinks they are “survivals” + of incantations. Under the circumstances, it would be perhaps as well if + the reader did not read the lines out when alone. One never knows what may + happen. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Sorcerers' pupils seem to be generally selected + for their stupidity—in folk-tales. Friar Bacon was defrauded of his + labour in producing the Brazen Head in a similar way. In one of the + legends about Virgil he summoned a number of demons, who would have torn + him to pieces if he had not set them at work (J. S. Tunison, <i>Master + Virgil</i>, Cincinnati, 1888, p. 30). + </p> + <h3> + XVI. TATTY MOUSE AND TATTY MOUSE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, p. 115. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—This curious droll is extremely widespread; + references are given in Cosquin, i. 204 <i>seq.</i>, and Crane, <i>Italian + Popular Tales</i>, 375-6. As a specimen I may indicate what is implied + throughout these notes by such bibliographical references by drawing up a + list of the variants of this tale noticed by these two authorities, adding + one or two lately printed. Various versions have been discovered in: + </p> + <p> + ENGLAND: Halliwell, <i>Nursery Rhymes</i>, p. 115. + </p> + <p> + SCOTLAND: K. Blind, in <i>Arch. Rev</i>. iii. (“Fleakin and Lousikin,” in + the Shetlands). + </p> + <p> + FRANCE: <i>Mélusine</i>, 1877, col. 424; Sebillot, <i>Contes pop. de la + Haute Bretagne</i>, No. 55, <i>Litterature orale</i>, p. 232; <i>Magasin + picturesque</i>, 1869, p. 82; Cosquin, <i>Contes pop. de Lorraine</i>, + Nos. 18 and 74. + </p> + <p> + ITALY: Pitrè, <i>Novelline popolari siciliane</i>, No. 134 (translated in + Crane, <i>Ital. Pop. Tales</i>, p. 257); Imbriani, <i>La novellaja + Fiorentina</i>, p. 244; Bernoni, <i>Tradizione popolari veneziane</i>, + punt. iii. p. 81; Gianandrea, <i>Biblioteca delle tradizioni popolari + marchigiane</i>, p.,11; Papanti, <i>Novelline popolari livornesi</i>, p. + 19 (“Vezzino e Madonna Salciccia”); Finamore, <i>Trad. pop. abruzzesi</i>, + p. 244; Morosi, <i>Studi sui Dialetti Greci della Terra d'Otranto</i>, p. + 75; <i>Giamb. Basile</i>, 1884, p. 37. + </p> + <p> + GERMANY: Grimm, <i>Kinder-und Hausmärchen</i>, No. 30; Kuhn and Schwarz, + <i>Norddeutsche Sagen</i>, No. 16. + </p> + <p> + NORWAY: Asbjornsen, No. 103 (translated in Sir G. Dasent's <i>Tales from + the Field</i>, p. 30, “Death of Chanticleer”). + </p> + <p> + SPAIN: Maspons, <i>Cuentos populars catalans</i>, p. 12; Fernan Caballero, + <i>Cuentos y sefrañes populares</i>, p. 3 (“La Hormiguita”). + </p> + <p> + PORTUGAL: Coelho, <i>Contes popolares portuguezes</i>, No. 1. + </p> + <p> + ROUMANIA: Kremnitz, <i>Rumänische Mährchen</i>, No. 15. + </p> + <p> + ASIA MINOR: Von Hahn, <i>Griechische und Albanesische Märchen</i>, No. 56. + </p> + <p> + INDIA: Steel and Temple, <i>Wide-awake Stories</i>, p. 157 (“The Death and + Burial of Poor Hen-Sparrow”). + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—These 25 variants of the same jingle scattered over + the world from India to Spain, present the problem of the diffusion of + folk-tales in its simplest form. No one is likely to contend with Prof. + Müller and Sir George Cox, that we have here the detritus of archaic Aryan + mythology, a parody of a sun-myth. There is little that is savage and + archaic to attract the school of Dr. Tylor, beyond the speaking powers of + animals and inanimates. Yet even Mr. Lang is not likely to hold that these + variants arose by coincidence and independently in the various parts of + the world where they have been found. The only solution is that the + curious succession of incidents was invented once for all at some definite + place and time by some definite entertainer for children, and spread + thence through all the Old World. In a few instances we can actually trace + the passage-<i>e.g.</i>, the Shetland version was certainly brought over + from Hamburg. Whether the centre of dispersion was India or not, it is + impossible to say, as it might have spread east from Smyrna (Hahn, No. + 56). Benfey (<i>Einleitung zu Pantschatantra</i>, i. 190-91) suggests that + this class of accumulative story may be a sort of parody on the Indian + stories, illustrating the moral, “what great events from small occasions + rise.” Thus, a drop of honey falls on the ground; a fly goes after it, a + bird snaps at the fly, a dog goes for the bird, another dog goes for the + first, the masters of the two dogs—who happen to be kings—quarrel + and go to war, whole provinces are devastated, and all for a drop of + honey! “Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse” also ends in a universal calamity + which seems to arise from a cause of no great importance. Benfey's + suggestion is certainly ingenious, but perhaps too ingenious to be true. + </p> + <h3> + XVII. JACK AND HIS SNUFF-BOX. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.-Mr. F. Hindes Groome, <i>In Gipsy Tents</i>, p. 201 <i>seq.</i> + I have eliminated a superfluous Gipsy who makes her appearance towards the + end of the tale <i>à propos des boltes</i>, but otherwise have left the + tale unaltered as one of the few English folk-tales that have been taken + down from the mouths of the peasantry: this applies also to i., ii., xi. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.-There is a magic snuff-box with a friendly power in it + in Kennedy's <i>Fictions of the Irish Celts</i>, p. 49. The choice between + a small cake with a blessing, &c., is frequent (<i>cf.</i> No. + xxiii.), but the closest parallel to the whole story, including the mice, + is afforded by a tale in Carnoy and Nicolaides' <i>Traditions populaires + de l'Asie Mineure</i>, which is translated as the first tale in Mr. Lang's + <i>Blue Fairy Book</i>. There is much in both that is similar to Aladdin, + I beg his pardon, Allah-ed-din. + </p> + <h3> + XVIII. THE THREE BEARS. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—<i>Verbatim et literatim</i> from Southey, <i>The + Doctor, &c.</i>, quarto edition, p. 327. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—None, as the story was invented by Southey. There + is an Italian translation, <i>I tre Orsi</i>, Turin, 1868, and it would be + curious to see if the tale ever acclimatises itself in Italy. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—“The Three Bears” is the only example I know of + where a tale that can be definitely traced to a specific author has become + a folk-tale. Not alone is this so, but the folk has developed the tale in + a curious and instructive way, by substituting a pretty little girl with + golden locks for the naughty old woman. In Southey's version there is + nothing of Little Silverhair as the heroine: she seems to have been + introduced in a metrical version by G. N., much be-praised by Southey. + Silverhair seems to have become a favourite, and in Mrs. Valentine's + version of “The Three Bears,” in “The Old, Old Fairy Tales,” the visit to + the bear-house is only the preliminary to a long succession of adventures + of the pretty little girl, of which there is no trace in the original (and + this in “The Old, Old Fairy Tales.” Oh! Mrs. Valentine!). I have, though + somewhat reluctantly, cast back to the original form. After all, as Prof. + Dowden remarks, Southey's memory is kept alive more by “The Three Bears” + than anything else, and the text of such a nursery classic should be + retained in all its purity. + </p> + <h3> + XIX. JACK THE GIANT-KILLER. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From two chap-books at the British Museum (London, + 1805, Paisley, 1814). I have taken some hints from “Felix Summerly's” (Sir + Henry Cole's) version, 1845. From the latter part, I have removed the + incident of the Giant dragging the lady along by her hair. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The chap-book of “Jack the Giant-Killer” is a + curious jumble. The second part, as in most chap-books, is a weak and late + invention of the enemy, and is not <i>volkstümlich</i> at all. The first + part is compounded of a comic and a serious theme. The first is that of + the Valiant Tailor (Grimm, No. 20); to this belong the incidents of the + fleabite blows (for variants of which see Köhler in <i>Jahrb. rom. eng. + Phil.</i>, viii. 252), and that of the slit paunch (<i>cf.</i> Cosquin, <i>l.c.</i>, + ii. 51). The Thankful Dead episode, where the hero is assisted by the soul + of a person whom he has caused to be buried, is found as early as the <i>Cento + novelle antiche</i> and Straparola, xi. 2. It has been best studied by + Köhler in <i>Germania</i>, iii. 199-209 (<i>cf.</i> Cosquin, i. 214-5; ii. + 14 and note; and Crane, <i>Ital. Pop. Tales</i>, 350, note 12). It occurs + also in the curious play of Peele's <i>The Old Wives' Tale</i>, in which + one of the characters is the Ghost of Jack. Practically the same story as + this part of Jack the Giant-Killer occurs in Kennedy, <i>Fictions of the + Irish Celts</i>, p. 32, “Jack the Master and Jack the Servant;” and + Kennedy adds (p. 38), “In some versions Jack the Servant is the spirit of + the buried man.” + </p> + <p> + The “Fee-fi-fo-fum” formula is common to all English stories of giants and + ogres; it also occurs in Peele's play and in <i>King Lear</i> (see note on + “Childe Rowland”). Messrs. Jones and Kropf have some remarks on it in + their “Magyar Tales,” pp. 340-1; so has Mr. Lang in his “Perrault,” p. + lxiii., where he traces it to the Furies in Aeschylus' <i>Eumenides</i>. + </p> + <h3> + XX. HENNY-PENNY. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—I give this as it was told me in Australia in 1860. + The fun consists in the avoidance of all pronouns, which results in + jaw-breaking sentences almost equal to the celebrated “She stood at the + door of the fish-sauce shop, welcoming him in.” + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Halliwell, p. 151, has the same with the title + “Chicken-Licken.” It occurs also in Chambers's <i>Popular Rhymes</i>, p. + 59, with the same names of the <i>dramatis personae</i>, as my version. + For European parallels, see Crane, <i>Ital. Pop. Tales</i>, 377, and + authorities there quoted. + </p> + <h3> + XXI. CHILDE ROWLAND. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Jamieson's <i>Illustrations of Northern Antiquities</i>, + 1814, p. 397 <i>seq.</i>, who gives it as told by a tailor in his youth, + <i>c.</i> 1770. I have Anglicised the Scotticisms, eliminated an + unnecessary ox-herd and swine-herd, who lose their heads for directing the + Childe, and I have called the Erlkönig's lair the Dark Tower on the + strength of the description and of Shakespeare's reference. I have + likewise suggested a reason why Burd Ellen fell into his power, chiefly in + order to introduce a definition of “widershins.” “All the rest is the + original horse,” even including the erroneous description of the youngest + son as the Childe or heir (<i>cf.</i> “Childe Harold” and Childe Wynd, <i>infra</i>, + No. xxxiii.), unless this is some “survival” of Junior Right or “Borough + English,” the archaic custom of letting the heirship pass to the youngest + son. I should add that, on the strength of the reference to Merlin, + Jamieson calls Childe Rowland's mother, Queen Guinevere, and introduces + references to King Arthur and his Court. But as he confesses that these + are his own improvements on the tailor's narrative I have eliminated them. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The search for the Dark Tower is similar to that + of the Red Ettin, (<i>cf</i>. Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 222). The formula + “youngest best,” in which the youngest of three brothers succeeds after + the others have failed, is one of the most familiar in folk-tales + amusingly parodied by Mr. Lang in his <i>Prince Prigio</i>. The taboo + against taking food in the underworld occurs in the myth of Proserpine, + and is also frequent in folk-tales (Child, i. 322). But the folk-tale + parallels to our tale fade into insignificance before its brilliant + literary relationships. There can be little doubt that Edgar, in his mad + scene in <i>King Lear</i>, is alluding to our tale when he breaks into the + lines: + </p> + <p> + “Childe Rowland to the Dark Tower came....” His word was still: “Fie, foh + and fum, I smell the blood of a British man.” <i>King Lear</i>, act iii. + sc. 4, <i>ad fin</i>. + </p> + <p> + [Footnote: “British” for “English.” This is one of the points that settles + the date of the play; James I. was declared King of Great <i>Britain</i>, + October 1604. I may add that Motherwell in his <i>Minstrelsy</i>, p. xiv. + note, testifies that the story was still extant in the nursery at the time + he wrote (1828).] + </p> + <p> + The latter reference is to the cry of the King of Elfland. That some such + story was current in England in Shakespeare's time, is proved by that + curious <i>mélange</i> of nursery tales, Peele's <i>The Old Wives' Tale</i>. + The main plot of this is the search of two brothers, Calypha and Thelea, + for a lost sister, Delia, who has been bespelled by a sorcerer, Sacrapant + (the names are taken from the “Orlando Furioso”). They are instructed by + an old man (like Merlin in “Childe Rowland”) how to rescue their sister, + and ultimately succeed. The play has besides this the themes of the + Thankful Dead, the Three Heads of the Well (which see), the Life Index, + and a transformation, so that it is not to be wondered at if some of the + traits of “Childe Rowland” are observed in it. + </p> + <p> + But a still closer parallel is afforded by Milton's <i>Comus</i>. Here + again we have two brothers in search of a sister, who has got into the + power of an enchanter. But besides this, there is the refusal of the + heroine to touch the enchanted food, just as Childe Rowland finally + refuses. And ultimately the bespelled heroine is liberated by a liquid, + which is applied to her <i>lips and finger-tips</i>, just as Childe + Rowland's brothers are unspelled. Such a minute resemblance as this cannot + be accidental, and it is therefore probable that Milton used the original + form of “Childe Rowland,” or some variant of it, as heard in his youth, + and adapted it to the purposes of the masque at Ludlow Castle, and of his + allegory. Certainly no other folk-tale in the world can claim so + distinguished an offspring. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—Distinguished as “Childe Rowland” will be henceforth + as the origin of <i>Comus</i>, if my affiliation be accepted, it has even + more remarkable points of interest, both in form and matter, for the + folklorist, unless I am much mistaken. I will therefore touch upon these + points, reserving a more detailed examination for another occasion. + </p> + <p> + First, as to the form of the narrative. This begins with verse, then turns + to prose, and throughout drops again at intervals into poetry in a + friendly way like Mr. Wegg. Now this is a form of writing not unknown in + other branches of literature, the <i>cante-fable</i>, of which “Aucassin + et Nicolette” is the most distinguished example. Nor is the <i>cante-fable</i> + confined to France. Many of the heroic verses of the Arabs contained in + the <i>Hamâsa</i> would be unintelligible without accompanying narrative, + which is nowadays preserved in the commentary. The verses imbedded in the + <i>Arabian Nights</i> give them something of the character of a <i>cante-fable</i>, + and the same may be said of the Indian and Persian story-books, though the + verse is usually of a sententious and moral kind, as in the <i>gâthas</i> + of the Buddhist Jatakas. Even as remote as Zanzibar, Mr. Lang notes, the + folk-tales are told as <i>cante-fables</i>. There are even traces in the + Old Testament of such screeds of verse amid the prose narrative, as in the + story of Lamech or that of Balaam. All this suggests that this is a very + early and common form of narrative. + </p> + <p> + Among folk-tales there are still many traces of the <i>cante-fable</i>. + Thus, in Grimm's collection, verses occur in Nos. 1, 5, 11, 12, 13, 15, + 19, 21, 24, 28, 30, 36, 38<i>a</i>, <i>b</i>, 39<i>a</i>, 40, 45, 46, 47, + out of the first fifty tales, 36 per cent. Of Chambers' twenty-one + folk-tales, in the <i>Popular Rhymes of Scotland</i> only five are without + interspersed verses. Of the forty-three tales contained in this volume, + three (ix., xxix., xxxiii.) are derived from ballads and do not therefore + count in the present connection. Of the remaining forty, i., iii., vii., + xvi., xix., xxi., xxiii., xxv., xxxi., xxxv., xxxviii., xli. (made up from + verses), xliii., contain rhymed lines, while xiv., xxii., xxvi., and + xxxvii., contain “survivals” of rhymes (“let me come in—chinny + chin-chin”; “once again ... come to Spain;” “it is not so—should be + so”; “and his lady, him behind”); and x. and xxxii. are rhythmical if not + rhyming. As most of the remainder are drolls, which have probably a + different origin, there seems to be great probability that originally all + folk-tales of a serious character were interspersed with rhyme, and took + therefore the form of the <i>cante-fable</i>. It is indeed unlikely that + the ballad itself began as continuous verse, and the <i>cante-fable</i> is + probably the protoplasm out of which both ballad and folk-tale have been + differentiated, the ballad by omitting the narrative prose, the folk-tale + by expanding it. In “Childe Rowland” we have the nearest example to such + protoplasm, and it is not difficult to see how it could have been + shortened into a ballad or reduced to a prose folk-tale pure and simple. + </p> + <p> + The subject-matter of “Childe Rowland” has also claims on our attention + especially with regard to recent views on the true nature and origin of + elves, trolls, and fairies. I refer to the recently published work of Mr. + D. MacRitchie, “The Testimony of Tradition” (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner + & Co.)—<i>i.e.</i>, of tradition about the fairies and the rest. + Briefly put, Mr. MacRitchie's view is that the elves, trolls, and fairies + represented in popular tradition are really the mound-dwellers, whose + remains have been discovered in some abundance in the form of green + hillocks, which have been artificially raised over a long and low passage + leading to a central chamber open to the sky. Mr. MacRitchie shows that in + several instances traditions about trolls or “good people” have attached + themselves to mounds, which have afterwards on investigation turned out to + be evidently the former residence of men of smaller build than the mortals + of to-day. He goes on further to identify these with the Picts—fairies + are called “Pechs” in Scotland—and other early races, but with these + ethnological equations we need not much concern ourselves. It is otherwise + with the mound-traditions and their relation, if not to fairy tales in + general, to tales <i>about</i> fairies, trolls, elves, etc. These are very + few in number, and generally bear the character of anecdotes. The fairies, + etc., steal a child, they help a wanderer to a drink and then disappear + into a green hill, they help cottagers with their work at night but + disappear if their presence is noticed; human midwives are asked to help + fairy mothers, fairy maidens marry ordinary men or girls marry and live + with fairy husbands. All such things may have happened and bear no such <i>à + priori</i> marks of impossibility as speaking animals, flying through the + air, and similar incidents of the folk-tale pure and simple. If, as + archaeologists tell us, there was once a race of men in Northern Europe, + very short and hairy, that dwelt in underground chambers artificially + concealed by green hillocks, it does not seem unlikely that odd survivors + of the race should have lived on after they had been conquered and nearly + exterminated by Aryan invaders and should occasionally have performed + something like the pranks told of fairies and trolls. + </p> + <p> + Certainly the description of the Dark Tower of the King of Elfland in + “Childe Rowland,” has a remarkable resemblance to the dwellings of the + “good folk,” which recent excavations have revealed. By the kindness of + Mr. MacRitchie, I am enabled to give the reader illustrations of one of + the most interesting of these, the Maes-How of Orkney. This is a green + mound some 100 feet in length and 35 in breadth at its broadest part. + Tradition had long located a goblin in its centre, but it was not till + 1861 that it was discovered to be pierced by a long passage 53 feet in + length, and only two feet four inches high, for half of its length. This + led into a central chamber 15 feet square and open to the sky. + </p> + <p> + Now it is remarkable how accurately all this corresponds to the Dark Tower + of “Childe Rowland,” allowing for a little idealisation on the part of the + narrator. We have the long dark passage leading into the well-lit central + chamber, and all enclosed in a green hill or mound. It is of course + curious to contrast Mr. Batten's frontispiece with the central chamber of + the How, but the essential features are the same. Even such a minute touch + as the terraces on the hill have their bearing, I believe, on Mr. + MacRitchie's “realistic” views of Faerie. For in quite another connection + Mr. G. L. Gomme, in his recent “Village Community” (W. Scott), pp. 75-98, + has given reasons and examples for believing that terrace cultivation + along the sides of hills was a practice of the non-Aryan and pre-Aryan + inhabitants of these isles. [Footnote: To these may be added Iona (<i>cf.</i> + Duke of Argyll, <i>Iona</i>, p. 109).] Here then from a quarter quite + unexpected by Mr. MacRitchie, we have evidence of the association of the + King of Elfland with a non-Aryan mode of cultivation of the soil. By Mr. + Gomme's kindness I am enabled to give an illustration of this. + </p> + <p> + Altogether it seems not improbable that in such a tale as “Childe Rowland” + we have an idealised picture of a “marriage by capture” of one of the + diminutive non-Aryan dwellers of the green hills with an Aryan maiden, and + her re-capture by her brothers. It is otherwise difficult to account for + such a circumstantial description of the interior of these mounds, and + especially of such a detail as the terrace cultivation on them. At the + same time it must not be thought that Mr. MacRitchie's views explain all + fairy tales, or that his identifications of Finns = Fenians = Fairies = + Sidhe = “Pechs” = Picts, will necessarily be accepted. His interesting + book, so far as it goes, seems to throw light on tales about mermaids + (Finnish women in their “kayaks,”) and trolls, but not necessarily, on + fairy tales in general. Thus, in the present volume, besides “Childe + Rowland,” there is only “Tom Tit Tot” in his hollow, the green hill in + “Kate Crackernuts,” the “Cauld Lad of Hilton,” and perhaps the “Fairy + Ointment,” that are affected by his views. + </p> + <p> + Finally, there are a couple of words in the narrative that deserve a + couple of words of explanation: “Widershins” is probably, as Mr. Batten + suggests, analogous to the German “wider Schein,” against the appearance + of the sun, “counter-clockwise” as the mathematicians say—<i>i.e.</i>, + W., S., E., N., instead of with the sun and the hands of a clock; why it + should have an unspelling influence is hard to say. “Bogle” is a + provincial word for “spectre,” and is analogous to the Welsh <i>bwg</i>, + “goblin,” and to the English insect of similar name, and still more + curiously to the Russian “Bog,” God, after which so many Russian rivers + are named. I may add that “Burd” is etymologically the same as “bride” and + is frequently used in the early romances for “Lady.” + </p> + <h3> + XXII. MOLLY WHUPPIE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—<i>Folk-Lore Journal</i>, ii. p. 68, forwarded by + Rev. Walter Gregor. I have modified the dialect and changed “Mally” into + “Molly.” + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The first part is clearly the theme of “Hop o' my + Thumb,” which Mr. Lang has studied in his “Perrault,” pp. civ.-cxi. (<i>cf.</i> + Köhler, <i>Occident</i>, ii. 301.) The change of night-dresses occurs in + Greek myths. The latter part wanders off into “rob giant of three things,” + a familiar incident in folk-tales (Cosquin, i. 46-7), and finally winds up + with the “out of sack” trick, for which see Cosquin, i. 113; ii. 209; and + Köhler on Campbell, in <i>Occident and Orient</i>, ii. 489-506. + </p> + <h3> + XXIII. RED ETTIN. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—“The Red Etin” in Chambers's <i>Pop. Rhymes of + Scotland</i>, p. 89. I have reduced the adventurers from three to two, and + cut down the herds and their answers. I have substituted riddles from the + first English collection of riddles, <i>The Demandes Joyous</i> of Wynkyn + de Worde, for the poor ones of the original, which are besides not solved. + “Ettin” is the English spelling of the word, as it is thus spelt in a + passage of Beaumont and Fletcher (<i>Knight of Burning Pestle</i>, i. 1), + which may refer to this very story, which, as we shall see, is quite as + old as their time. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—“The Red Etin” is referred to in <i>The Complaynt + of Scotland</i>, about 1548. It has some resemblance to “Childe Rowland,” + which see. The “death index,” as we may call tokens that tell the state of + health of a parted partner, is a usual incident in the theme of the Two + Brothers, and has been studied by the Grimms, i. 421, 453; ii. 403; by + Köhler on Campbell, <i>Occ. u. Or.</i>, ii. 119-20; on Gonzenbach, ii. + 230; on Bladé, 248; by Cosquin, <i>l.c.</i>, i. 70-2, 193; by Crane, <i>Ital. + Pop. Tales</i>, 326; and by Jones and Kropf, <i>Magyar Tales</i>, 329. + Riddles generally come in the form of the “riddle-bride-wager” (<i>cf.</i> + Child, <i>Ballads</i>, i. 415-9; ii. 519), when the hero or heroine wins a + spouse by guessing a riddle or riddles. Here it is the simpler Sphinx form + of the “riddle task,” on which see Köhler in <i>Jahrb. rom. Phil.</i>, + vii. 273, and on Gonzenbach, 215. + </p> + <h3> + XXIV. GOLDEN ARM. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson, <i>l.c.</i>, p. 338, collected by the Rev. + S. Baring-Gould, in Devonshire. Mr. Burne-Jones remembers hearing it in + his youth in Warwickshire. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The first fragment at the end of Grimm (ii. 467, + of Mrs. Hunt's translation), tells of an innkeeper's wife who had used the + liver of a man hanging on the gallows, whose ghost comes to her and tells + her what has become of his hair, and his eyes, and the dialogue concludes + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “SHE: Where is thy liver? + IT: Thou hast devoured it!” + </pre> + <p> + For similar “surprise packets” see Cosquin, ii. 77. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—It is doubtful how far such gruesome topics should + be introduced into a book for children, but as a matter of fact the <i>katharsis</i> + of pity and terror among the little ones is as effective as among the + spectators of a drama, and they take the same kind of pleasant thrill from + such stories. They know it is all make-believe just as much as the + spectators of a tragedy. Every one who has enjoyed the blessing of a + romantic imagination has been trained up on such tales of wonder. + </p> + <h3> + XXV. TOM THUMB. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From the chap-book contained in Halliwell, p. 199, + and Mr. Hartland's <i>English Folk and Fairy Tales</i>. I have omitted + much of the second part. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Halliwell has also a version entirely in verse. + “Tom Thumb” is “Le petit Poucet” of the French, “Daumling” of the Germans, + and similar diminutive heroes elsewhere (<i>cf.</i> Deulin, <i>Contes de + ma Mère l'Oye</i>, 326), but of his adventures only that in the cow's + stomach (<i>cf.</i> Cosquin, ii. 190) is common with his French and German + cousins. M. Gaston Paris has a monograph on “Tom Thumb.” + </p> + <h3> + XXVI. MR. FOX. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Contributed by Blakeway to Malone's Variorum + Shakespeare, to illustrate Benedick's remark in <i>Much Ado about Nothing</i> + (I. i. 146): “Like the old tale, my Lord, 'It is not so, nor 'twas not so, + but, indeed, God forbid it should be so;'” which clearly refers to the + tale of Mr. Fox. “The Forbidden Chamber” has been studied by Mr. Hartland, + <i>Folk-Lore Journal</i>, iii. 193, <i>seq.</i> + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Halliwell, p. 166, gives a similar tale of “An + Oxford Student,” whose sweetheart saw him digging her grave. “Mr. Fox” is + clearly a variant of the theme of “The Robber Bridegroom” (Grimm, No. 40, + Mrs. Hunt's translation, i. 389, 395; and Cosquin, i. 180-1). + </p> + <h3> + XXVII. LAZY JACK. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, 157. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The same story occurs in Lowland Scotch as “Jock + and his Mother,” Chambers, <i>l.c.</i>, 101; in Ireland, as “I'll be wiser + next time,” Kennedy, <i>l.c.</i>, 39-42. Abroad it is Grimm's <i>Hans im + Glück</i> (No. 83). The “cure by laughing” incident is “common form” in + folk-tales (<i>cf.</i> Köhler on Gonzenbach, <i>Sizil. Märchen</i>, ii. + 210, 224; Jones and Kropf, <i>Magyar Tales</i>, 312). + </p> + <h3> + XXVIII. JOHNNY-CAKE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—<i>American Journal of Folk-Lore</i>, ii. 60. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Another variant is given in the same <i>Journal</i>, + p. 277, where reference is also made to a version “The Gingerbread Boy,” + in <i>St. Nicholas</i>, May 1875. Chambers gives two versions of the same + story, under the title “The Wee Bunnock,” the first of which is one of the + most dramatic and humorous of folk-tales. Unfortunately, the Scotticisms + are so frequent as to render the droll practically untranslatable. “The + Fate of Mr. Jack Sparrow” in <i>Uncle Remus</i> is similar to that of + Johnny-Cake. + </p> + <h3> + XXIX. EARL MAR'S DAUGHTER. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From the ballad of the same name as given in Mr. + Allingham's <i>Ballad Book</i>: it is clearly a fairy tale and not a + ballad proper. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The lover visiting his spouse in guise of a bird, + is a frequent <i>motif</i> in folk-tales. + </p> + <h3> + XXX. MR. MIACCA. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From memory of Mrs. B. Abrahams, who heard it from + her mother some <i>x</i> years ago (more than 40). I have transposed the + two incidents, as in her version Tommy Grimes was a clever carver and + carried about with him a carven leg. This seemed to me to exceed the + limits of <i>vraisemblance</i> even for a folk-tale. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Getting out of an ogre's clutches by playing on + the simplicity of his wife, occurs in “Molly Whuppie” (No. xxii.), and its + similars. In the Grimms' “Hansel and Grethel,” Hansel pokes out a stick + instead of his finger that the witch may not think him fat enough for the + table. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—Mr. Miacca seems to have played the double <i>rôle</i> + of a domestic Providence. He not alone punished bad boys, as here, but + also rewarded the good, by leaving them gifts on appropriate occasions + like Santa Claus or Father Christmas, who, as is well known, only leave + things for good children. Mrs. Abrahams remembers one occasion well when + she nearly caught sight of Mr. Miacca, just after he had left her a gift; + she saw his shadow in the shape of a bright light passing down the garden. + </p> + <h3> + XXXI. DICK WHITTINGTON. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—I have cobbled this up out of three chap-book + versions; (1) that contained in Mr. Hartland's <i>English Folk-tales</i>; + (2) that edited by Mr. H. B. Wheatley for the Villon Society; (3) that + appended to Messrs. Besant and Rice's monograph. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Whittington's cat has made the fortune of his + master in all parts of the Old World, as Mr. W. A. Clouston, among others, + has shown, <i>Popular Tales and Fictions</i>, ii. 65-78 (<i>cf.</i> Köhler + on Gonzenbach, ii. 251). + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—If Bow Bells had pealed in the exact and accurate + nineteenth century, they doubtless would have chimed + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Turn again, Whittington, + Thrice and a half Lord Mayor of London. +</pre> + <p> + For besides his three mayoralties of 1397, 1406, and 1419, he served as + Lord Mayor in place of Adam Bamme, deceased, in the latter half of the + mayoralty of 1396. It will be noticed that the chap-book puts the + introduction of potatoes rather far back. + </p> + <h3> + XXXII. THE STRANGE VISITOR + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From Chambers, <i>l.c.</i>, 64, much Anglicised. I + have retained “Aih-late-wee-moul,” though I candidly confess I have not + the slightest idea what it means; judging other children by myself, I do + not think that makes the response less effective. The prosaic-minded may + substitute “Up-late-and-little-food.” + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The man made by instalments, occurs in the Grimms' + No. 4, and something like it in an English folk-tale, <i>The Golden Ball</i>, + <i>ap.</i> Henderson, <i>l.c.</i>, p. 333. + </p> + <h3> + XXXIII. THE LAIDLY WORM. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—From an eighteenth-century ballad of the Rev. Mr. + Lamb of Norham, as given in Prof. Child's <i>Ballads</i>; with a few + touches and verses from the more ancient version “Kempion.” A florid prose + version appeared in <i>Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore</i> for May + 1890. I have made the obvious emendation of + </p> + <p> + O quit your sword, unbend your bow + </p> + <p> + for + </p> + <p> + O quit your sword, and bend your bow. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The ballad of “Kempe Owein” is a more general + version which “The Laidly Worm” has localised near Bamborough. We learn + from this that the original hero was Kempe or Champion Owain, the Welsh + hero who flourished in the ninth century. Childe Wynd therefore = Childe + Owein. The “Deliverance Kiss” has been studied by Prof. Child, <i>l.c.</i>, + i. 207. A noteworthy example occurs in Boiardo's <i>Orlando Inamorato</i>, + cc. xxv., xxvi. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—It is perhaps unnecessary to give the equations + “Laidly Worm = Loathly Worm = Loathsome Dragon,” and “borrowed = changed.” + </p> + <h3> + XXXIV. CAT AND MOUSE. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, p. 154. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Scarcely more than a variant of the “Old Woman and + her Pig” (No. iv.), which see. It is curious that a very similar “run” is + added by Bengali women at the end of every folk-tale they tell (Lal Behari + Day, <i>Folk Tales of Bengal</i>, Pref. <i>ad fin.</i>) + </p> + <h3> + XXXV. THE FISH AND THE RING. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson, <i>l.c.</i>, p. 326, from a communication + by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—“Jonah rings” have been put together by Mr. + Clouston in his <i>Popular Tales</i>, i. 398, &c.: the most famous are + those of Polycrates, of Solomon, and the Sanskrit drama of “Sakuntala,” + the plot of which turns upon such a ring. “Letters to kill bearer” have + been traced from Homer downwards by Prof. Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. 220, + and “the substituted letter” by the same authority in <i>Occ. u. Or.</i>, + ii. 289. Mr. Baring-Gould, who was one of the pioneers of the study of + folk-tales in this country, has given a large number of instances of “the + pre-ordained marriage” in folk-tales in Henderson, <i>l.c.</i> + </p> + <h3> + XXXVI. THE MAGPIE'S NEST. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—I have built up the “Magpie's Nest” from two + nidification myths, as a German professor would call them, in the Rev. Mr. + Swainson's <i>Folk-Lore of British Birds</i>, pp. 80 and 166. I have + received instruction about the relative values of nests from a little + friend of mine named Katie, who knows all about it. If there is any + mistake in the order of neatness in the various birds' nests, I must have + learnt my lesson badly. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—English popular tradition is curiously at variance + about the magpie's nidificatory powers, for another legend given by Mr. + Swainson represents her as refusing to be instructed by the birds and that + is why she does <i>not</i> make a good nest. + </p> + <h3> + XXXVII. KATE CRACKERNUTS. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Given by Mr. Lang in <i>Longman's Magazine</i>, vol. + xiv. and reprinted in <i>Folk-Lore</i>, Sept. 1890. It is very corrupt, + both girls being called Kate, and I have had largely to rewrite. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—There is a tale which is clearly a cousin if not a + parent of this in <i>Kennedy's Fictions</i>, 54 <i>seq.</i>, containing + the visit to the green hill (for which see “Childe Rowland”), a reference + to nuts, and even the sesame rhyme. The prince is here a corpse who + becomes revivified; the same story is in Campbell No. 13. The jealous + stepmother is “universally human.” (<i>Cf.</i> Köhler on Gonzenbach, ii. + 206.) + </p> + <h3> + XXXVIII. THE CAULD LAD OF HILTON. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson's <i>Folk-Lore of Northern Counties</i>, + 2nd edition, published by the Folk-Lore Society, pp. 266-7. I have written + the introductory paragraph so as to convey some information about + Brownies, Bogles, and Redcaps, for which Henderson, <i>l.c.</i>, 246-53, + is my authority. Mr. Batten's portrait renders this somewhat superfluous. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The Grimms' “Elves” (No. 39) behave in like manner + on being rewarded for their services. Milton's “lubbar-fiend” in <i>L'Allegro</i> + has all the characteristics of a Brownie. + </p> + <h3> + XXXIX. ASS, TABLE AND STICK. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Henderson, <i>l.c.</i>, first edition, pp. 327-9, by + the Rev. S. Baring-Gould. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Mr. Baring-Gould gives another version from the + East Riding, <i>l.c.</i>, 329, in which there are three brothers who go + through the adventures. He also refers to European Variants, p. 311, which + could now be largely supplemented from Cosquin, i. 53-4, ii. 66, 171. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—As an example of the sun-myth explanation of + folk-tales I will quote the same authority (p. 314): “The Master, who + gives the three precious gifts, is the All Father, the Supreme Spirit. The + gold and jewel-dropping ass, is the spring cloud, hanging in the sky and + shedding the bright productive vernal showers. The table which covers + itself is the earth becoming covered with flowers and fruit at the bidding + of the New Year. But there is a check; rain is withheld, the process of + vegetation is stayed by some evil influence. Then comes the thunder-cloud, + out of which leaps the bolt; the rains pour down, the earth receives them, + and is covered with abundance—all that was lost is recovered.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Baring-Gould, it is well-known, has since become a distinguished + writer of fiction. + </p> + <h3> + XL. FAIRY OINTMENT. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Mrs. Bray, <i>The Tamar and the Tavy</i>, i. 174 + (letters to Southey), as quoted by Mr. Hartland in <i>Folk-Lore</i>, i. + 207-8. I have christened the anonymous midwife and euphemised her + profession. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Mr. Hartland has studied Human Midwives in the <i>Archaeol. + Review</i>, iv., and parallels to our story in <i>Folk-Lore</i>, i. 209, + <i>seq.</i>; the most interesting of these is from Gervase of Tilbury + (xiii. cent.), <i>Otia Imper.</i>, iii. 85, and three Breton tales given + by M. Sebillot (<i>Contes</i>, ii. 42; <i>Litt. orale</i>, 23; <i>Trad. et + Superst.</i>, i. 109). <i>Cf.</i> Prof. Child, i. 339; ii. 505. + </p> + <h3> + XLI. THE WELL OF THE WORLD'S END. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Leyden's edition of <i>The Complaynt of Scotland</i>, + p. 234 <i>seq.</i>, with additional touches from Halliwell, 162-3, who + makes up a slightly different version from the rhymes. The opening formula + I have taken from Mayhew, <i>London Labour</i>, iii. 390, who gives it as + the usual one when tramps tell folk-tales. I also added it to No. xvii. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Sir W. Scott remembered a similar story; see + Taylor's <i>Gammer Grethel, ad fin</i>. In Scotland it is Chambers's tale + of <i>The Paddo</i>, p. 87; Leyden supposes it is referred to in the <i>Complaynt</i>, + (c. 1548), as “The Wolf of the Warldis End.” The well of this name occurs + also in the Scotch version of the “Three Heads of the Well,” (No. xliii.). + Abroad it is the Grimms' first tale, while frogs who would a-wooing go are + discussed by Prof. Köhler, <i>Occ. u. Orient</i> ii. 330; by Prof. Child, + i. 298; and by Messrs. Jones and Kropf, <i>l.c.</i>, p. 404. The + sieve-bucket task is widespread from the Danaids of the Greeks to the + leverets of <i>Uncle Remus</i>, who, curiously enough, use the same rhyme: + “Fill it wid moss en dob it wid clay.” <i>Cf.</i>, too, No. xxiii. + </p> + <h3> + XLII. MASTER OF ALL MASTERS. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—I have taken what suited me from a number of sources, + which shows how wide-spread this quaint droll is in England: (i) In + Mayhew, <i>London Poor</i>, iii. 391, told by a lad in a workhouse; (ii) + several versions in 7 <i>Notes and Queries</i>, iii. 35, 87, 159, 398. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—Rev. W. Gregor gives a Scotch version under the + title “The Clever Apprentice,” in <i>Folk-Lore Journal</i>, vii. 166. Mr. + Hartland, in <i>Notes and Queries</i>, <i>l.c.</i>, 87, refers to Pitré's + <i>Fiabi sicil.</i>, iii. 120, for a variant. + </p> + <p> + <i>Remarks</i>.—According to Mr. Hartland, the story is designed as + a satire on pedantry, and is as old in Italy as Straparola (sixteenth + century). In passionate Sicily a wife disgusted with her husband's + pedantry sets the house on fire, and informs her husband of the fact in + this unintelligible gibberish; he, not understanding his own lingo, falls + a victim to the flames, and she marries the servant who had taken the + message. + </p> + <h3> + XLIII. THE THREE HEADS OF THE WELL. + </h3> + <p> + <i>Source</i>.—Halliwell, p. 158. The second wish has been somewhat + euphemised. + </p> + <p> + <i>Parallels</i>.—The story forms part of Peele's <i>Old Wives' Tale</i>, + where the rhyme was + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>A Head rises in the well</i>, + Fair maiden, white and red, + Stroke me smooth and comb my head, + And thou shalt have some cockell-bread. +</pre> + <p> + It is also in Chambers, <i>l.c.</i>, 105, where the well is at the World's + End (<i>cf.</i> No. xli.). The contrasted fates of two step-sisters, is + the Frau Holle (Grimm, No. 24) type of Folk-tale studied by Cosquin, i. + 250, <i>seq.</i> “Kate Crackernuts” (No. xxxvii.) is a pleasant contrast + to this. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of English Fairy Tales, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH FAIRY TALES *** + +***** This file should be named 7439-h.htm or 7439-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/4/3/7439/ + + +Text file produced by Charles Franks, Delphine Lettau and the people at DP + +HTML file produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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