Part 50 (1/2)

”'For all our brewing and stilling, it's no good, we have too many to find drink for.'

”But the princess said, 'It was not for sale for money, but if she might have leave to sleep with her sweetheart that night, she might have it.'

”'Well!' the old hag said, 'she might have that leave and welcome, but she must herself lull him off to sleep and wake him in the morning.'

”So when he went to bed she gave him another sleeping draught, so that it went no better that night than the first. He was not able to keep his eyes open, for all that the princess bawled and wept.

”But that night, there was one of the workmen who worked in a room next to theirs. He heard the weeping and knew how things stood, and next day he told the prince that she must be come, that princess who was to set him free.

”That day it was just the same story with the napkin as with the scissors and the flask. When it was about dinner-time the princess went outside the castle, took out the napkin and said, 'Napkin, spread yourself out and be covered with all dainty dishes,' and there was meat enough, and to spare, for hundreds of men; but the princess sat down to table by herself.

”So when the old hag set her eyes on the napkin, she wanted to buy it, 'For all their roasting and boiling is worth nothing, we have too many mouths to feed.'

”But the princess said, 'It was not for sale for money, but if she might have leave to sleep with her sweetheart that night, she might have it.

”'Well! she might do so and welcome,' said the old hag; 'but she must first lull him off to sleep and wake him up in the morning.'

”So when he was going to bed, she came with the sleeping draught, but this time he was aware of her and made as though he slept. But the old hag did not trust him for all that, for she took a pin and stuck it into his arm to try if he were sound asleep, but for all the pain it gave him he did not stir a bit, and so the princess got leave to come into him.

”Then everything was soon set right between them, and if they could only get rid of the old hag, he would be free. So he got the carpenters to make him a trap-door on the bridge over which the bridal train had to pa.s.s, for it was the custom there that the bride rode at the head of the train with her friends.

”So when they got well on the bridge, the trap-door tipped up with the bride and all the other old hags who were her bridesmaids. But King Valemon and the princess, and all the rest of the train, turned back to the castle and took all they could carry away of the gold and goods of the old hag, and so they set off for his own land, and were to hold their real wedding.

”And on the way King Valemon picked up those three little girls in the three huts and took them with them, and now she saw why it was he had taken her babes away and put them out at nurse; it was, that they might help her to find him out. And so they drank their bridal ale both stiff and strong.”

THE GOLDEN BIRD.

”Once on a time there was a king who had a garden, and in that garden stood an apple-tree, and on that apple-tree grew one golden apple every year. But when the time drew on for plucking it, away it went, and there was no one who could tell who took it or what became of it. It was gone, and that was all they knew.

”This king had three sons, and so he said to them one day that he of them who could get him his apple again or lay hold of the thief should have the kingdom after him, were he the eldest, or the youngest, or the midmost.

”So the eldest set out first on this quest, and sat him down under the tree, and was to watch for the thief; and when night drew near a golden bird came flying, and his feathers gleamed a long way off; but when the king's son saw the bird and his beams he got so afraid he daren't stay his watch out, but flew back into the palace as fast as ever he could.

”Next morning the apple was gone. By that time the king's son had got back his heart into his body, and so he fell to filling his scrip with food, and was all for setting out to try if lie could find the bird. So the king fitted him out well, and spared neither money nor clothes, and when the king's son had gone a bit he got hungry and took out his scrip, and sat him down to eat his dinner by the wayside. Then out came a fox from a spruce clump and sat by him and looked on.

”'Do, dear friend, give me a morsel of food,' said the fox.

”'I'll give you burnt horn, that I will,' said the king's son. 'I'm like to need food myself, for no one knows how far and how long I may have to travel.'

”'Oh! that's your game, is it?' said the fox, and back he went into the wood.

”So when the king's son had eaten and rested awhile he set off on his way again. After a long, long time he came to a great town, and in that town was an inn, where there was always mirth and never sorrow; there he thought it would be good to be, and so he turned in there. But there was so much dancing and drinking, and fun and jollity, that he forgot the bird and its feathers, and his father, and his quest, and the whole kingdom. Away he was and away he stayed.

”The year after the midmost king's son was to watch for the apple thief in the garden. Yes, he too sat him down under the tree when it began to ripen. So all at once one night the golden bird came s.h.i.+ning like the sun, and the lad got so afraid he put his tail between his legs and ran indoors as fast as ever he could.

”Next morning the apple was gone; but by that time the king's son had taken heart again, and was all for setting off to see if he could find the bird. Yes, he began to put up his travelling fare, and the king fitted him out well, and spared neither clothes nor money. But just the same befell him as had befallen his brother. When he had travelled a bit he got hungry, and opened his scrip, and sat him down to eat his dinner by the wayside. So out came a fox from a spruce clump and sat up and looked on.

”'Dear friend, give me a morsel of food, do?' said the fox.