East o' the sun and west o' the moon / with other Norwegian folk tales

Front matter

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Foreword

OLK tales are a direct expression of the childhood of a race, and must always partake in character of the nursery in which first they were told, of the land which was the cradle of that race. Oriental legends are filled with all the rich imagery of the fabled East. They teem with white ele¬ phants, talking monkeys, enchanted parrots, and wise old cobras: they shimmer with rich fabrics, they glitter with jewels, they breath the very air of:

The myths of the Greeks clothe the sights and sounds of nature, the mountains, the waterfalls, the wave-beats on the shore, with that classic beauty that was Greece, while the

Romans added, in those heavy feasts on Mount Olympus, an expression of that love of living that was so characteristic¬ ally Roman.

Through the Indian legends, the only real American folk tales we possess, sounds the thunder drum, the lightning crash, the vivid outdoor life the Indians knew in the forests that walled the nursery of their race.

The folk tales of a nation reflect the land from which they spring, and in this collection of legends from the Norwegian people, the stories have caught the rugged character of the country itself, the hills, the broken coast line, the fiords, with their clear cold depths sparkling blue in the vivid northern sunshine.

The very characters of these tales breathe the spirit of the place. They walk with the stars, they talk with the moon, they run with the rivers, they are lifted high on the wings of the winds, and carried to strange lands east of the sun and west of the moon, as Norway lies at the gateway of those dark polar seas, where distances are vast, and even estab¬ lished directions begin to reverse themselves, and it is this casual acquaintance with natural forces, this easy familiarity with elemental things, that gives them a charm and an indi¬ viduality all their own.

But here and there they show a kinship with old tales of other lands, the kinship that only proves that all the races were rocked in the same first cradle. In the first story, which gives the collection its delightful name, one finds that legend of love that doubted, that would be answered, and so lost all, the same story as that told in the Cupid and Psyche myth, the very theme of the legend of Eilsa and Lohengrin, the Knight of the Swan Boat.

Trolls do their part in giving these tales a distinctive flavor too.

“Up tfje airp mountain, boton tfje rusfjp glen, bare not go afjuntmg, for fear of little men.”

we cannot but admire the courage and cleverness of that “lad who fooled the troll and won the princess” and our re¬ gard for him is only heightened by finding a parallel for his quick-wittedness in that of Hansel, in the Grimm story of Hansel and Gretel.

Then there is a sturdy democracy in these tales that ac¬ cords perfectly with the present status of royalty in Norway . Ragged lads say “Yes sir” quite unconcernedly, to kings, with never a hint of that humble phrase “Your Majesty” on their lips, and kings walk about their palace grounds and ask casual questions of total strangers in the most delightfully informal manner possible.

Nor is there mere simpering sweetness and useless pretti¬ ness in the princesses of these tales. They are ladies who do things, and while “the Princess who would not be silenced” seems to have been a somewhat sharp tongued and shrewish person, yet she gave promise of being the reverse of dull as a life partner.

There is something for everyone in these quaint tales. Children will be sure to recognize their friends of the zoo in the “cat on the Dovrefell,” “the Stumpy-tailed Bear,” “the three Billy Goats Gruff” and “Father Bruin.”

Fathers and mothers will acknowledge the truth of that homely aphorism “One’s own children are always prettiest.” Wives are sure to laugh in complete understanding of the plight of that “husband who was to mind the house” and who found the simple domestic tasks so much more complicated than he had supposed.

Husband will see in that amiable wife of Gudbrand-onthe-hillside who thought her good man perfect no matter what he did, that greatly to be desired wife of Holy Writ whose worth was far above rubies.

And teachers can find no greater lesson in the proper use of our possessions, and a proper appreciation of our blessings and benefits, than that to be found in “Why the Sea is Salt,” with its story of man’s eagerness to gain sudden riches with¬ out caring to learn the proper use of them. This story well deserves to stand among the world’s classics. Admirably translated, preserving the simplicity and straightforwardness of the originals, these tales form a series of vivid word pic¬ tures not easily forgotten, bright playthings from the world’s childhood.

From Story (The Two Brothers)

i

Page

Why the Bear Is Stumpy-Tailed. 9

The Three Billy Goats Gruff. 41

The Lad Who Fooled the Troll and Won the

Princess. 44

One’s Own Children Are Always the Prettiest 84

The Cat on the Dovrefell. 107

The Husband Who Was to Mind the House.. 110

(Contents-Continued

Page

The Parson and the Deacon. 122

Father Bruin. 180 jfull=<Page Color SUusrtrattonS

Page

“Rap, Rap, Rap,” Three Times, Just Like

That .Frontispiece

She Made Up Her Mind to Go With the

Bear. 17

The Bear Told Her to Ring the Bell. 19

Three Drops Fell. 23

The Chips Flew to All Sides. 25

The Spade Began to Dig and Delve. 37

He Walked Along the Beach, Scattering the

Grain. 48

One of the Trolls Came Out With the Quilt 49 lUsit of SUusitrattonS —Continued

Page

They Began to Bid for the Bacon. 61

They Met the Stream of Broth and Her¬ rings . 65

In the Middle of the Meadow Was a Barn 68

Right Up the Slippery Side He Rode. 81

There Was a Small Door in a Birch Tree 86 You Poor Old Stone, You Must Be Very

The Mice Came Swarming Out When Din¬ ner Was Served.. 103

How Easy It Would Be for Me With Such

a Cloth .. 117

The Stick Began to Beat the Innkeeper... 121 He Put the Saddle on the Wolfs Back.... 129 He Was Able to Lift and Swing the Sword 141

The Ring Has Lost Its Power. 145

The King of England Is Losing His Sight 153

Thus True Became a Rich Man.... 159

He Set His Horse at the Hill and Rode

The Youngest One of Them Had a Duck’s

Wing. 171

So He Let It Be Known All Over the Land 185 Here Is the Equal, If You Please. 191

O NCE upon a time there was a wood-cutter who had a large family of children, but who was so poor that he could not give them much to eat or wear. Fine looking children they all were, but the youngest daughter was the fairest of them all. Indeed she was so lovely that such as she had never before been seen.

One evening late in the fall they were all sit¬ ting around the fire. Outside it was cold, dark, and rainy, and the wind blew so hard that it shook the whole cottage. All at once they heard: “Rap, rap, rap,” three times, just like that. The father went outside to see who it could be and, what should he find there but a Great White Bear!

“Good evening to you,” said the Bear.

“The same to you,” answered the wood-cutter.

“Please give me your youngest daughter,” said the Bear, “and I will make you as rich as you are poor.”

The father thought it would be very nice to be rich, but he did not want to give up his fairest daughter. However, he said that he would ask the girl herself about it and went to tell her what the Bear had said.

When she heard what the Bear wanted, the girl was very much afraid and did not want to go with him at all. So the father opened the door just a little and called out to the Bear, then shut it again quick and tight. But the Bear called back:

“Think it over, and I will come back again next Thursday night for your answer.”

And so it was that in the days that followed the girl kept thinking how nice it would be for her father and all of them to be rich. At last she made up her mind to go with the Bear, and mended her ragged clothes and made herself as neat and as tidy as she could for the journey. But indeed the pack¬ ing did not give her much trouble.

Sure enough, when Thursday evening came, the bear rapped three times on the window pane.

She made up her mind to go with the Bear, and mended her ragged clothes

The girl bade her family good bye, and went out to meet him. He asked her to sit on his back, and as soon as she was there, with her little bundle tucked under her arm, away they went. After they had gone part of the way, the Bear asked her if she felt afraid.

“No! not a bit,” answered the girl.

“Well, just you hold tight to my coat and there will be nothing to fear,” said the Bear.

And so they rode on and on, until at last they came to a huge mountain. The Bear rapped on the side of it, a door sprung open, and in they went. Within there was a castle of many rooms all lighted up. Silver and gold shone everywhere and there was a table all laid with the best things you ever saw. The Bear gave the girl a little silver bell and told her to ring it if there was anything that she wanted.

When she had eaten her nice supper, she felt very sleepy and wanted to go to bed. So she rang the bell. No sooner had she touched it than she found herself in a lovely bed room with two beds as fair and white as any one could wish. But after she had gone to bed and blown out her candle, some one came into the room and lay down on the other bed. Every night this same thing happened

The Bear told her to ring the bell if there was anything she wanted but she could not find out who it was because he always came in the darkness and was gone before morning.

And so time went on, and though the girl had all she wanted she began to feel very lonely and homesick. She had no one but the Bear to talk to— and she soon grew tired of that. Then she could not help wondering who it could be that came to her room every night. Soon she grew tired and silent and did not care for the fine food any more.

At last one day the Bear came to her and said: “Why are you so sad? I have given you the castle and all its riches and I ask only one thing in return —ask no questions, only trust me and every thing will come out all right.”

So the girl tried hard to do as she was asked, but she could not get any peace of mind. She just had to know who it was that slept in the other bed every night.

At last she could stand it no longer, and when she was sure he was fast asleep, she got up, lighted a candle, and held it over the bed. What do you suppose she saw? None but a young Prince so fair and lovely that she could not help stooping down and kissing him, but as she did so, three drops of candle grease fell upon his shirt and wakened him.

“Oh! what have you done,” he cried. “You have made us both unhappy. If you had only done as I told you, the year would soon be up and I would be free. I have a wicked step-mother who has be¬ witched me so that I am a Bear by day and a human being only at night. But now, all is over and I must •go to her. She lives in a castle that is East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon, and there also lives a Princess with a nose three yards long, and now I will be forced to marry her.”

The girl wept and pleaded with him, but it was no use, for he had to go. Then she asked him if she might go with him.

“No!” he said, “that can never be.”

“Tell me the way, then,” she went on, “and I shall find you.”

“You can try,” he said, “but there is no real way to the castle, East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon, and I am afraid that you will never find it.”

At that, the castle and the Prince disappeared, and the girl found herself lying in a green spot in the dark woods, with her poor little bundle lying beside her.

She cried and cried until she was tired, and then she started out to find the handsome Prince. She walked and walked for many days and she asked every one she met if they could tell her the way to the castle that lay East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon. But no one ever seemed to know any thing about it, and she had almost lost hope, when she came to the house of the East Wind.

“Yes, I have heard of that castle,” said the East Wind, “but I have never been so far and I do not know the way. However, just you sit on my back and I will take you to my brother, the West Wind, who is much stronger than I and may know the way, too.”

She did as she was told, and off they went. But the West Wind could not help her either.

“But there is my brother, the South Wind,” he said, “and he has been both near and far. Perhaps he can tell you the way. So sit upon my back and I will carry you thither,” and off they went with such speed that they were soon there.

The West Wind asked the question once more and the South Wind answered:

“I have been to many places in my time, but so far as that, I have never blown. But just sit upon my back and I will take you to my brother, the North Wind, who is the strongest and oldest of us all. If he does not know the way, you will never find it.”

And off they went faster than ever before, and soon they came to the North Wind. He was very ugly and wild and they could feel his cold, puffing breath a long way off.

“What do you want!” he cried in such a voice that they both shivered.

“Do not be so cross, brother mine,” the South Wind said. “You are so strong and wise that I have brought this girl hither because I thought you could tell her the way to that castle that lies East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon.”

“I know quite well where it is,” answered the North Wind, “for I once blew an aspen leaf there. But it made me so tired that I could not blow for nearly three days after. However, if you want to go so badly and are not afraid, I shall take you on my back and try to get you there.”

So the North Wind blew himself up until he was very big and blustering, and away they went over towns and oceans, and wherever they came, the storm tore up houses and trees, and on the sea the ships had a hard time of it. On and on they flew, farther than anyone could believe, and always the North Wind swept out over the ocean. But he grew more and more tired and sank lower and lower until the foam from the waves touched his heels.

“Are you afraid?” he asked.

“No, not at all,” answered the girl.

They were not far from land and the North Wind had just strength enough to toss her up on the beach close to the castle that was East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon, but then he was so weary and worn that he had to rest several days before he could start back.

The girl began to look around for the Prince but not a living soul did she see. She seated her¬ self under the windows of the castle, and as the sun went down, a great crew of witches and trolls came tumbling up out of the ground, making a great noise, and running hither and thither. The girl was very much frightened at first but soon she took courage and spoke to one of them:

“Please tell me what is going to happen here, since you are so busy? And maybe you would give me a little to eat, I am so hungry.”

“Ha, ha!” laughed the old witch she had spoken to, “where do you come from that you do not know that tonight the Prince is going to choose his bride. When the moon comes up over the tree tops, we will all meet under the old oak, and the Prince will choose the one who can wash three spots of tallow off his shirt. Ha! ha!” she cried again, with a terrible laugh, and then hurried away.

Though the girl was really very much afraid, she bravely followed the trolls and witches to a clearing in the woods under the big oak tree. The moon shone down on a huge cauldron filled with boiling, soapy water, and all the trolls and witches grouped themselves around it. You can well be¬ lieve that it was not a very goodly company to look at.

Then the Prince came and he saw the girl right away, but said not a word. Presently they began the trial. A witch with a nose three yards long took up the shirt and washed away as fast as she could, but the more she washed, the worse the spots be¬ came.

“Ah ha, you do not know how to wash,” cried a very old witch, “let me try.”

But she had no better luck than the first. Then all the other witches and trolls tried but the spots only grew bigger and blacker and the shirt looked as though it had been up a chimney.

“Oh, you are all of you no good,” cried the Prince, “not one of you knows how to wash. But there is a strange girl standing yonder. Let us see if she can do better. Come and wash it clean,” he called to the girl.

“Well I can try,” she said.

And no sooner had she slipped it into the water, than all the spots came out, and the shirt was as white as snow.

“Here is the one I choose for my bride,” cried the Prince—and at the same insant the sun rose over the woods. The witch with the long nose was so full of rage that she broke into pieces, and all the other trolls and witches did the same. And the pieces were scattered all over and could not be put together again.

But the Prince took the girl by the hand and together they hurried away as fast as ever they could from the castle that lay East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon.

The chips flew to all sides (The Three Brothers)

O NCE there was a man who had three sons, Peter, Paul, and Espen. Espen being the youngest was “* Boots,” of course. But they were all the fortune that the man had, he was so poor. Indeed he did not have even a single penny. He told his sons again and again that they must go out into the world and seek their fortune, for at home they would starve to death.

Some few leagues from their cottage was the King’s palace and just outside the King’s windows had grown a great oak so big and dark, that it hid all the light from the palace. Now the King had promised a great sum of money to the one who could fell the oak, but no one had been able to do it

*A Danish nickname for the youngest son of a family.

for as soon as one chip of the trunk was chopped off, two more grew in its place. Then the King wanted very much to have a well dug that would hold water all the year around. Everyone near him had wells but he had none, and he thought that a great shame indeed.

So he promised gold and costly gifts to anyone who could make him such a well, but thus far, no one had been able to do it. For the palace stood on a great hill, and when one dug down a few inches, he found solid rock. But the King had his heart set on having these two things, so he caused it to be told at all the churches in the land, that the one who could fell the oak and dig the well that would hold water all the year around, should have his daughter and half the kingdom besides.

Of course you may know that there were many who tried, but all their hacking and all their dig¬ ging was of no avail. The oak only grew bigger and stouter for every blow, and the rock was as hard as ever.

Now the three brothers thought they would like to try their fortune and their father did not hold them back, for even if they could not win the Princess and half the kingdom, they might find a good master and good work somewhere, and that was all that he asked.

So all three brothers started off together and when they had walked a little way they came to a wood with a steep hill rising on one side of it. They could hear someone hacking away up there among the trees.

“I wonder who it can be that is chopping up there,” said Espen.

“You are always wondering at something or other,” said both Peter and Paul. “Is it so strange that a wood cutter should be working up there?”

“Well I want to see who it may be just the same,” said Espen, as he started up after the sound.

“Oh well, if you are such a child, it serves you right to be taught a lesson,” cried the other brothers.

But Espen paid no attention to them and climbed the hill until he came to the spot where the sound came from. And such a funny thing he saw there! It was an ax chopping away at a fir tree, all by itself.

“Good day,” said Espen. “So you stay here and chop away all by yourself?”

“Yes,” answered the ax, “and here I have stood a long, long time, waiting for you.”

“Well, here I am now,” cried Espen, and took the ax and put it in his wallet.

When he came back to his brothers they laughed and made fun of him.

“Well, what did you find up on the hill there?” they asked him.

“Oh, nothing much,” answered Boots, as they walked on, “It was just an ax we heard.”

A little further on they passed under a steep rock, and the sound of someone digging came down to them.

“I wonder who it can be that is digging on top of that rock?” said Boots.

“There you are again with your wondering” said Peter and Paul. “Have you never heard a woodpecker tapping at a tree before?”

But I should like to see for myself, just the same,” answered Boots, and in spite of their laugh¬ ter he began to climb the rock.

When he reached the top he saw that it was a spade that stood there digging all by itself.

“Good day to you,” said Boots. “So you stand there and dig all by yourself?”

“Yes, I do,” answered the spade, “and that is what I have been doing these many years, waiting for you.”

“Well, here I am now,” said Boots, and tak¬ ing the spade, he took off the handle, and put both in his wallet.

“Was it anything strange and wonderful that you saw up there?” asked his brothers when he came down again.

“Oh, no,” answered Boots. “It was nothing much—only a spade.”

So they walked on a little farther until they came to a brooklet, and as they were all very thirsty from their long walk, they lay down at the banks to drink.

“I wonder where this water comes from,” said Boots.

“And I wonder if you have lost what little sense you once had,” said the other two, together. “Wondering where the brook comes from indeed! As if you had never seen water rising from a spring in the earth.”

“Yes, I know,” said Espen, “but still I want to see it with my own eyes,” and off he went, following the brook and paying no heed to the laughter and teasing of his brothers.

He walked on and on, and the brook grew smaller and smaller. Then when he had gone a little farther still he found out where the water came from. And do you know, it came trickling out of a great walnut!

“Good day to you,” said Espen. “So you lie there and trickle all by yourself?”

“Yes, so I do,” answered the walnut, “and here have I trickled and waited for you these many years.”

“Well, here I am now,” said Boots, and he took the walnut and putting a bit of moss in the hole so that the water would not run out, he thrust it in his wallet.

Did you find out where the water came from?” asked the brothers. “It must have been a wonderful sight.”

Oh, it ran out of a hole, that was all,” said Espen, and again they laughed and made fun of him, but he did not care.

“I had a good time finding it, just the same,” he said.

When they had walked a bit farther, they came at last to the King’s palace. As many had heard that one could have the Princess and half the king¬ dom, if he should but fell the oak, and as many had tried, the oak was just twice as big as it had been before. For it seemed that the more they chopped it, the more it grew.

“Here have I trickled and waited for you these many years 1 *

So now the King had grown tired of having the tree become even larger and he let it be known that should any one try to fell it and fail, he would be put on a barren island all alone.

But this did not frighten the brothers at all for they were sure that they could do it. Peter, being the oldest, was the first to try, but he had no better luck than all the rest before him. For every chip he cut off, two grew in its place, and the King’s men took him, and bound him hand and foot and put him on the island.

Then Paul tried and fared no better, and then at last it was Espen’s turn. But the King was tired of it and said to him:

“You can spare yourself the trouble, for we can send you after your brothers, first, as well as last.

But Boots pleaded to try, and so finally they let him. He took the ax out of his wallet.

“Hew away now!” he said, and the ax hewed so that the chips flew to all sides, and it was not long before the big oak came down with a crash.

When that was done, Boots took out the spade and fitted the handle to it, and said:

“Dig away now!” and the spade began to dig and delve so that the earth and rock flew away in splinters, and you may well believe that at last the well was there.

When it was as deep and as big as he wanted it, he took out the walnut, put it down in the corner, and pulled out the moss.

“Trickle away now! ” said Boots, and the water trickled and ran out of the hole until the well was full to the brim.

And so, as Boots had felled the oak that dark¬ ened the King’s castle, and dug a well that would hold water all the year around, he got the Princess and half the kingdom, as the King had promised.

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And it was well for Peter and Paul that they were away on the island, else they would have heard every day and every hour of the day, all the people say:

“Well Boots certainly did not wonder about things for nothing.”

O NE fine day the bear met the fox who came sneaking along with a bunch of fish he had stolen.

“Where did you get all those?” asked the bear. “Oh! I was just out fishing and caught these myself, Mr. Bear,” answered the fox.

Then the bear wanted to do some fishing him¬ self and asked the fox if he would be good enough to teach him how.