Andrew Lang_Fairy Book 09 (29 page)

The king and queen were very anxious to bring their children up
well, and the young prince and princess were taught everything
likely to make them clever and accomplished. They lived at home
in their father's palace, and he spared no pains to make their
lives happy.

Prince Asmund dearly loved all outdoor sports and an open-air
life, and from his earliest childhood he had longed to live
entirely in the forest close by. After many arguments and
entreaties he succeeded in persuading the king to give him two
great oak trees for his very own.

'Now,' said he to his sister, 'I will have the trees hollowed
out, and then I will make rooms in them and furnish them so that
I shall be able to live out in the forest.'

'Oh, Asmund!' exclaimed Signy, 'what a delightful idea! Do let me
come too, and live in one of your trees. I will bring all my
pretty things and ornaments, and the trees are so near home we
shall be quite safe in them.'

Asmund, who was extremely fond of his sister, readily consented,
and they had a very happy time together, carrying over all their
pet treasures, and Signy's jewels and other ornaments, and
arranging them in the pretty little rooms inside the trees.

Unfortunately sadder days were to come. A war with another
country broke out, and the king had to lead his army against
their enemy. During his absence the queen fell ill, and after
lingering for some time she died, to the great grief of her
children. They made up their minds to live altogether for a time
in their trees, and for this purpose they had provisions enough
stored up inside to last them a year.

Now, I must tell you, in another country a long way off, there
reigned a king who had an only son named Ring. Prince Ring had
heard so much about the beauty and goodness of Princess Signy
that he determined to marry her if possible. So he begged his
father to let him have a ship for the voyage, set sail with a
favourable wind, and after a time landed in the country where
Signy lived.

The prince lost no time in setting out for the royal palace, and
on his way there he met such a wonderfully lovely woman that he
felt he had never seen such beauty in all his life. He stopped
her and at once asked who she was.

'I am Signy, the king's daughter,' was the reply.

Then the prince inquired why she was wandering about all by
herself, and she told him that since her mother's death she was
so sad that whilst her father was away she preferred being alone.

Ring was quite deceived by her, and never guessed that she was
not Princess Signy at all, but a strong, gigantic, wicked witch
bent on deceiving him under a beautiful shape. He confided to
her that he had travelled all the way from his own country for
her sake, having fallen in love with the accounts he had heard of
her beauty, and he then and there asked her to be his wife.

The witch listened to all he said and, much pleased, ended by
accepting his offer; but she begged him to return to his ship for
a little while as she wished to go some way further into the
forest, promising to join him later on.

Prince Ring did as she wished and went back to his ship to wait,
whilst she walked on into the forest till she reached the two oak
trees.

Here she resumed her own gigantic shape, tore up the trees by
their roots, threw one of them over her back and clasped the
other to her breast, carried them down to the shore and waded out
with them to the ship.

She took care not to be noticed as she reached the ship, and
directly she got on board she once more changed to her former
lovely appearance and told the prince that her luggage was now
all on board, and that they need wait for nothing more.

The prince gave orders to set sail at once, and after a fine
voyage landed in his own country, where his parents and his only
sister received him with the greatest joy and affection.

The false Signy was also very kindly welcomed. A beautiful house
was got ready for her, and Prince Ring had the two oaks planted
in the garden just in front of her windows so that she might have
the pleasure of seeing them constantly. He often went to visit
the witch, whom he believed to be Princess Signy, and one day he
asked: 'Don't you think we might be married before long?'

'Yes,' said she, quite pleased, 'I am quite ready to marry you
whenever you like.'

'Then,' replied Ring, 'let us decide on this day fortnight. And
see, I have brought you some stuff to make your wedding-dress
of.' So saying he gave her a large piece of the most beautiful
brocade, all woven over with gold threads, and embroidered with
pearls and other jewels.

The prince had hardly left her before the witch resumed her
proper shape and tore about the room, raging and storming and
flinging the beautiful silk on the floor.

'What was SHE to do with such things?' she roared. 'SHE did not
know how to sew or make clothes, and she was sure to die of
starvation into the bargain if her brother Ironhead did not come
soon and bring her some raw meat and bones, for she really could
eat nothing else.'

As she was raving and roaring in this frantic manner part of the
floor suddenly opened and a huge giant rose up carrying a great
chest in his arms. The witch was enchanted at this sight, and
eagerly helped her brother to set down and open the chest, which
was full of the ghastly food she had been longing for. The
horrid pair set to and greedily devoured it all, and when the
chest was quite empty the giant put it on his shoulder and
disappeared as he had come, without leaving any trace of his
visit.

But his sister did not keep quiet for long, and tore and pulled
at the rich brocade as if she wanted to destroy it, stamping
about and shouting angrily.

Now, all this time Prince Asmund and his sister sat in their
trees just outside the window and saw all that was going on.

'Dear Signy,' said Asmund, 'do try to get hold of that piece of
brocade and make the clothes yourself, for really we shall have
no rest day or night with such a noise.'

'I will try,' said Signy; 'it won't be an easy matter, but it's
worth while taking some trouble to have a little peace.'

So she watched for an opportunity and managed to carry off the
brocade the first time the witch left her room. Then she set to
work, cutting out and sewing as best she could, and by the end of
six days she had turned it into an elegant robe with a long train
and a mantle. When it was finished she climbed to the top of her
tree and contrived to throw the clothes on to a table through the
open window.

How delighted the witch was when she found the clothes all
finished! The next time Prince Ring came to see her she gave them
to him, and he paid her many compliments on her skilful work,
after which he took leave of her in the most friendly manner.
But he had scarcely left the house when the witch began to rage
as furiously as ever, and never stopped till her brother Ironhead
appeared.

When Asmund saw all these wild doings from his tree he felt he
could no longer keep silence. He went to Prince Ring and said:
'Do come with me and see the strange things that are happening in
the new princess's room.'

The prince was not a little surprised, but he consented to hide
himself with Asmund behind the panelling of the room, from where
they could see all that went on through a little slit. The witch
was raving and roaring as usual, and said to her brother:

'Once I am married to the king's son I shall be better off than
now. I shall take care to have all that pack of courtiers put to
death, and then I shall send for all my relations to come and
live here instead. I fancy the giants will enjoy themselves very
much with me and my husband.'

When Prince Ring heard this he fell into such a rage that he
ordered the house to be set on fire, and it was burnt to the
ground, with the witch and her brother in it.

Asmund then told the prince about the two oak trees and took him
to see them. The prince was quite astonished at them and at all
their contents, but still more so at the extreme beauty of Signy.
He fell in love with her at once, and entreated her to marry him,
which, after a time, she consented to do. Asmund, on his side,
asked for the hand of Prince Ring's sister, which was gladly
granted him, and the double wedding was celebrated with great
rejoicings.

After this Prince Asmund and his bride returned to his country to
live with the king his father. The two couples often met, and
lived happily for many, many years. And that is the end of the
story.

(From Islandische Mahrchen.)

Over all the vast under-world the mountain Gnome Rubezahl was
lord; and busy enough the care of his dominions kept him. There
were the endless treasure chambers to be gone through, and the
hosts of gnomes to be kept to their tasks. Some built strong
barriers to hold back the fiery vapours to change dull stones to
precious metal, or were hard at work filling every cranny of the
rocks with diamonds and rubies; for Rubezahl loved all pretty
things. Sometimes the fancy would take him to leave those gloomy
regions, and come out upon the green earth for a while, and bask
in the sunshine and hear the birds sing. And as gnomes live many
hundreds of years he saw strange things. For, the first time he
came up, the great hills were covered with thick forests, in
which wild animals roamed, and Rubezahl watched the fierce fights
between bear and bison, or chased the grey wolves, or amused
himself by rolling great rocks down into the desolate valleys, to
hear the thunder of their fall echoing among the hills. But the
next time he ventured above ground, what was his surprise to find
everything changed! The dark woods were hewn down, and in their
place appeared blossoming orchards surrounding cosy-looking
thatched cottages; for every chimney the blue smoke curled
peacefully into the air, sheep and oxen fed in the flowery
meadows, while from the shade of the hedges came the music of the
shepherd's pipe. The strangeness and pleasantness of the sight
so delighted the gnome that he never thought of resenting the
intrusion of these unexpected guests, who, without saying 'by
your leave' or 'with your leave,' had made themselves so very
much at home upon is hills; nor did he wish to interfere with
their doings, but left them in quiet possession of their homes,
as a good householder leaves in peace the swallows who have built
their nests under his eaves. He was indeed greatly minded to
make friends with this being called 'man,' so, taking the form of
an old field labourer, he entered the service of a farmer. Under
his care all the crops flourished exceedingly, but the master
proved to be wasteful and ungrateful, and Rubezahl soon left him,
and went to be shepherd to his next neighbour. He tended the
flock so diligently, and knew so well where to lead the sheep to
the sweetest pastures, and where among the hills to look for any
who strayed away, that they too prospered under his care, and not
one was lost or torn by wolves; but this new master was a hard
man, and begrudged him his well-earned wages. So he ran away and
went to serve the judge. Here he upheld the law with might and
main, and was a terror to thieves and evildoers; but the judge
was a bad man, who took bribes, and despised the law. Rubezahl
would not be the tool of an unjust man, and so he told his
master, who thereupon ordered him to be thrown in prison. Of
course that did not trouble the gnome at all, he simply got out
through the keyhole, and went away down to his underground
palace, very much disappointed by his first experience of
mankind. But, as time went on, he forgot the disagreeable things
that had happened to him, and thought he would take another look
at the upper world.

So he stole into the valley, keeping himself carefully hidden in
copse or hedgerow, and very soon met with an adventure; for,
peeping through a screen of leaves, he saw before him a green
lawn where stood a charming maiden, fresh as the spring, and
beautiful to look upon. Around her upon the grass lay her young
companions, as if they had thrown themselves down to rest after
some merry game. Beyond them flowed a little brook, into which a
waterfall leapt from a high rock, filling the air with its
pleasant sound, and making a coolness even in the sultry
noontide. The sight of the maiden so pleased the gnome that, for
the first time, he wished himself a mortal; and, longing for a
better view of the gay company, he changed himself into a raven
and perched upon an oaktree which overhung the brook. But he
soon found that this was not at all a good plan. He could only
see with a raven's eyes, and feel as a raven feels; and a nest of
field-mice at the foot of the tree interested him far more than
the sport of the maidens. When he understood this he flew down
again in a great hurry into the thicket, and took the form of a
handsome young man—that was the best way—and he fell in love
with the girl then and there. The fair maiden was the daughter
of the king of the country, and she often wandered in the forest
with her play fellows gathering the wild flowers and fruits, till
the midday heat drove the merry band to the shady lawn by the
brook to rest, or to bathe in the cool waters. On this
particular morning the fancy took them to wander off again into
the wood. This was Master Rubezahl's opportunity. Stepping out
of his hiding-place he stood in the midst of the little lawn,
weaving his magic spells, till slowly all about him changed, and
when the maidens returned at noon to their favourite resting-
place they stood lost in amazement, and almost fancied that they
must be dreaming. The red rocks had become white marble and
alabaster; the stream that murmured and struggled before in its
rocky bed, flowed in silence now in its smooth channel, from
which a clear fountain leapt, to fall again in showers of diamond
drops, now on this side now on that, as the wandering breeze
scattered it.