Peter Christen Asbjørnsen

“ As soon as the lad heard that he crept out through the keyholes, and through the crack in the rock, till he got outside. Then he turned himself into a falcon, and flew whither the dragon lay. Then he hunted till he found the grain of sand under the ninth tongue of the ninth head, and flew off with it; but when he came to the lake he got so tired, so tired, that he had to sink down and perch on a stone by the strand. And just as he sat there he dozed and nodded for the twinkling of an eye; and, meantime, the grain of sand fell out of his bill down among the sand on the shore. ”

“ A while after the man met the fox.
"Have you seen my horse and sledge?"
"Yes, I have," said the fox; "and Bruin Goodfellow sat on it and drove just as though he had stolen both horse and harness."
"De'il take him," said the man, "I'll be bound he'll drive my horse to death."
"If he does, flay him," said Reynard, "and roast him before the fire! But if you get your horse again you may give me a lift over the fell, for I can ride well, and besides I have a fancy to see how it feels when one has four legs before one." ”

“ When they had gone on a bit farther, their road passed under a steep spur of rock, where they heard something digging and shovelling.
"I wonder now," said Boots, "what is digging and shovelling up yonder at the top of the rock."
"Ah, you're always so clever with your wondering," laughed Peter and Paul again, "as if you'd never heard a woodpecker hacking and pecking at a hollow tree."
"Well, well," said Boots, "I just think it would be fun to see what it really is." ”

“ Now Grumblegizzard wanted to take the king with him to try the bridge, but he had no mind to do that. So he got up himself on a horse, and threw the fat milkmaid from the king's grange upon the pommel before him—she looked for all the world like a big fir-stump—and then he rode over till the bridge thundered under him.
"Where is the Sound due? Where have you put the soul?" screamed Old Nick. ”

“ So the charcoal-burner had to go into the parlour to the queen. He took a chair and sat down in the middle of the floor, while the queen walked up and down the room.
"One should never count one's chickens before they are hatched, and never quarrel about a baby's name before it is born," said the charcoal-burner; "but I never heard or saw such a thing before! When the queen comes toward me, I almost think it will be a prince, and when she goes away from me it looks as if it would be a princess." ”

“ Mayn't we just as well reap the field after all?" he asked.
"No! no! shear! shear!" bawled out the goody, who jumped about and clipped like a pair of scissors under her husband's nose. In her shrewishness she took such little heed that she tripped over a beam on the bridge, and down she went plump into the stream.
"'Tis hard to wean any one from bad ways," said the man, "but it were strange if I were not sometimes in the right too." ”

“ Well, she thought it was a great pity to give the brownie such a dainty dish, so she ate the porridge herself, and the melted butter in the bargain, and went up into the hay-loft with the plain oatmeal porridge and sour milk, in a pig's trough instead. 'There, that's good enough for you, Master Brownie,' she said. But no sooner had she spoken the words than the brownie stood right before her, seized her round the waist, and danced about with her, which he kept up till she lay gasping for breath, and when the people came up into the hay-loft in the morning, she was more dead than alive. ”

“ So he fell to telling how the king came to him, and about the white horse down on the marsh, and how, if the king was to have the pipe, he must—"Yes, your majesty, if the vat is ever to be full I must go on and lie hard," said Osborn Boots.
"Hold! hold, lad! It's full to the brim," roared out the king; "don't you see how it is foaming over?"
So both the king and the queen thought it best he should have the princess to wife and half the kingdom. There was no help for it.
"That was something like a pipe," said Osborn Boots. ”

“ So little Freddy was not slow in getting his fiddle to speak, and all that were there fell a-dancing at once—those who went on two legs, and those who went on four; both the dean and the parson, and the lawyer, and the bailiff, and the sheriff; masters and men, dogs and swine, they all danced and laughed and screeched at one another. Some danced till they lay for dead; some danced till they fell into a swoon. It went badly with all of them, but worst of all with the sheriff, for there he stood bound to the birch, and he danced and scraped great bits off his back against the trunk. ”

“ Then the man asked if he wouldn't like to have a servant.
"No," said the lad; "I am wont to be my own servant, therefore I have need of none; and even if I wanted one ever so much, I have no means to get one, for I have no money to pay for his food and wages."
"You do need a servant, that I know better than you," said the man, "and you have need of one whom you can trust in life and death. If you won't have me as a servant, you may take me as your companion, I give you my word I will stand you in good stead, and it shan't cost you a penny. ”

“ So, she changed clothes with him, packed up and started off as fast as she could; but Peik sat all alone in his sister's clothes.
"Where is that Peik?" roared the King, as as he came, in a towering rage, through the door.
"He has run away," said Peik. "He knew that your Majesty was coming, so he left me all alone without a morsel of bread or a penny in my purse," and he made himself as gentle and sweet as a young lady.
"Come along, then, to the King's palace, and you shall have enough to live on. There's no good sitting here and starving in this cabin by yourself," said the King. ”

“ Then the pig began to gore and bite him, the goose to nip and peck him, the cock upon the roost to crow and chatter; and as for the hare, he was so frightened out of his wits, that he ran about aloft and on the floor, and scratched and scrambled in every corner of the house.
So after a long time the wolf came out.
"Well," said the one who waited for him outside, "neighbourhood makes brotherhood. You must have come into a perfect paradise on bare earth since you stayed so long. ”

“ My dear ox! do, ox, drink up the water, for the water won't quench the fire, the fire won't burn the fir, the fir won't fall on the Finn, the Finn won't shoot the bear, the bear won't slay the wolf, the wolf won't tear the fox, the fox won't bite Hairlock, and Hairlock won't come home in good time for tea to-day. ”

“ Away ran the lassie for the goody, and she came, and all the lasses with her, with sticks and brooms to beat Reynard; and, to tell the truth, they nearly banged the life out of him; but, just as it was almost all over with him, and he thought his last hour was come, he found a hole in the floor, and so he crept out, and limped and hobbled off to the wood.
"Oh, oh," said Reynard; "how true it is. 'Tis the way of the world; and this is how it pays its debts." ”

“ So when they had travelled on a while, the ass asked—
"Do you see anything now?"
"Yes," said Boots; "now it shines like the sun."
"That's whither we are bound," said the ass; "it's the golden castle that hangs in the air, and there lives a princess who has been stolen by a Troll with nine heads; but all the wild beasts there are in the world lie on watch, and stop the way thither." ”

“ When he came back, the Horse told him to pull off his clothes and get into the cauldron which stood and boiled in the other room, and bathe himself there. “If I do,” thought the lad, “I shall look an awful fright;” but for all that, he did as he was told. So when he had taken his bath, he became so handsome and sleek, and as red and white as milk and blood, and much stronger than he had been before. ”

“ There was no one who could get so much as a yard up the hill; and now all waited for the knight in silver mail, but they neither saw nor heard of him. At last came one riding on a steed, so brave that no one had ever seen his match; and the knight had a suit of golden mail, and a golden saddle and bridle, so wondrous bright that the sunbeams gleamed from them a mile off. The other knights and princes could not find time to call out to him not to try his luck, for they were amazed to see how grand he was. ”

“ I am not worth my food, and so I am to have a bullet through me, he says. Nay! nay! It's the way of the world. That's how the world pays its debts.'
"'Well, now I'm coming to eat you,' said the Dragon, who gaped wide, and wanted to swallow the man. But he begged again hard for his life.
"But the Dragon said he must have a mouthful of man's meat; he was so hungry, he couldn't bear it any longer.
"'See, yonder comes one who looks as if he was sent to be a judge between us,' said the man, as he pointed to Reynard the fox, who came stealing between the stones of the heap. ”

“ I tried to divert myself in my loneliness and melancholy mood by looking out at all the people who passed up and down the street in the snow and wind, with blue noses and half-shut eyes. It amused me to see the bustle and the life in the apothecary's shop across the street. The door was scarcely shut for a moment. Servants and peasants streamed in and out, and commenced to study the labels and directions when they came out in the street. ”