Klara Stroebe

“ In the castle there was a fire on the hearth, and Halvor went into the kitchen, which was beautiful. The kitchenware was all of silver and gold; but there were no human beings to be seen. After Halvor had waited a while, and no one came out, he went and opened a door. There he saw a princess sitting and spinning. “Alas, no!” cried she. “Has a Christian soul really come here! But it would be best for you to go again, if you do not want the troll to swallow you; for a troll with three heads lives here.” ”

“ The forest grew thicker and denser, and at last it seemed as though it would be impossible to push on at all. She was much afraid of tearing off anything, and wound and twisted and bent herself in every direction, in order to avoid the branches, and thrust them aside with her hands. But each moment they struck her in the face, so that she could not see where she was reaching, and before she had a chance to think, she held a golden apple in her hand. ”

“ And every evening, when the princess had lain down and blown out the light, she would hear a man go into Trouble and Care’s room; but when morning dawned, the squirrel sat on her bed-post and greeted [120] her, and chattered and babbled about all sorts of things.
Once, when she thought Trouble and Care had gone to sleep, she could not help herself; but stood up quietly, lit a light and crept softly into his room and to his bed, and when the ray of light fell on him, she saw that he was far, far handsomer than the most handsome prince. ”

“ And when they came in again, they were so ashamed that they did not venture to look at Halvor, whom they had always treated with such scorn and contempt. “Well, you always acted as though you were so fine and handsome that no one on earth could compare with you. But you ought to see the oldest princess, whom I delivered,” said Halvor. “Compared to her you look like dairy-maids, and the middle princess is still handsomer; while the youngest princess, who is my sweetheart, is more beautiful than the sun and moon. ”

“ When they found him, the West Wind asked whether the South Wind could show [174] them the road that led to the castle that lay east of the sun and west of the moon; and that this was the maiden who was to have the prince.
“Well, well, so this is the girl?” cried the South Wind. “Yes, it is true that I have gone about a good deal during my life,” said he, “yet I have never blown so far. But if you wish, I will take you to my brother, the North Wind. He is the oldest and strongest of us all. If he does not know where the castle lies, then no one in the whole world can tell you. ”

“ Before the bull entered the forest he said to the king’s daughter: “Now when we get into this forest, in heaven’s name be careful! You must touch nothing, and not even tear off so much as a single leaf, or else it is all up with you and me. A troll with six heads lives here, and the forest belongs to him, and I will hardly be able to hold my own against him!” ”

“ The king went on ahead, and after him the queen, and then went the princess, just in advance of the youth. Then he at once wished to be the handsomest man in the world, and so he was, that very minute. When the princess saw what a splendid figure he suddenly cut, she nudged the queen, who in turn nudged the king, and after they had stared at him long enough, they at last realized that the youth was more than he had at first appeared to be, in his rags. ”

“ But when Murmur asked for more work, he told him to travel to his troll’s castle, where no one dared go, and to remain there until he had built a bridge across the sound, so that people could cross. If he could do that, he would reward him well, yes, he would even give him his daughter, said the king. He would attend to it, said Murmur.
Yet no human being had ever returned thence alive; all who had gotten so far, lay on the ground dead, and crushed to a jelly, and the king thought, when sending him there, that he would never see him again. ”

“ Yet any one could see that she was a human being, for she was tall, and handsomer than the meer-folk. In fact, Lucky Andrew thought that she was handsomer than any girl he ever had seen. The schooner headed for the land where Andrew stood; but with his usual presence of mind, he hurried to the fisherman’s hut, pulled down his gun from the wall, and crept up into the large loft and hid himself, so that he could see all that passed in the hut. He soon noticed that the whole room was alive with people. ”

“ When the folk at the castle had gone to bed, the rat crept around, and sniffed and spied out the room of the prince and princess; and at last he found a little hole through which he crawled. Then he heard the prince and princess talking to each other, and saw that the prince was wearing the ring on his finger. Before she went, the princess said: “Good night. And see that you take good care of the ring, my dearest!”
“Pooh! no one will come in through the walls for the sake of a ring,” said the prince, “but if you think it is not safe enough on my hand, why, I can put it in my mouth.” ”

“ When he rode toward the pasture, such a fire burned in the herdsman’s hut that it lit up every road, and then he knew that the mountain folk were inside. So he tied his horse to a pine-tree, took a pistol from its holster, crept up to the hut, and peeped through the [198] window. And there sat an old man and a woman who were quite crooked and shriveled up with age, and so unspeakably ugly that he had never seen anything like it in his life; but with them was a maiden, and she was so surpassingly beautiful that he fell in love with her at once, and felt that he could not live without her. ”

“ If one only so much as touched them, they made one look like a chimney-sweep. And in the middle of the forest was a clearing, and there stood a wretched hut, ready to fall apart; it was only held together by two beams, and looked more forlorn than the most wretched herdsman’s hut. And in front of the door lay a rubbish heap of old shoes, dirty rags and other ugly stuff. Here the maid took off the seven-mile waistcoat, and said: “You must hang again to-night from the nail from which you were taken down this morning!” ”

“ He had never ridden so swiftly before. “When we have gone a little further I will show you the place where the giants live,” said the wolf; and in a short time they were there. “Well, this is where the giants live,” said the wolf. “There you see your six brothers, whom the giant turned into stone, and yonder are their six brides; and up there is the door through which you must pass.” “No, I would not dare do that,” said the king’s son. “He would murder me.” “O no,” was the wolf’s reply, “when you go in you will find a princess, and she will tell you how to set about getting rid of the giant. ”

“ When the young fellow saw that they were really going, he went quite out of his mind. He had grown so very fond of the younger huldra maiden, and now he was never to see her again. Without knowing what he did, he threw the jew’s-harp at her, and hit her on the head, just as she was passing through the door. And with that she came in again.
“Mother, mother! A Christian has won sister Sireld!” cried the other, out in front of the hut. Soon after a very ancient woman came hobbling and shuffling into the hut. ”

“ When the king arrived, and saw the swart, homely kitchen-maid, he grew red and white in turn; but when he heard the people say she was the greatest beauty in twelve kingdoms, he had to believe, willy-nilly, that there was something in it, and he did not want to be unjust to Mike by the Stove, who had taken so much trouble to find her. She might grow more beautiful in time, thought he, if she were adorned with jewels, and dressed in fine clothes, and so he took her home with him. Then they sent for wig-makers and seamstresses, and she was adorned and dressed like a princess ”

“ The youth looked through all his pockets; but his shears were not there, and he was more than unhappy when he realized that he had lost them.
“Well, well, never mind. I will see whether I can get them back for you,” said his comrade, and went down into the stable. There stood an enormous goat which belonged to the princess, and could fly through the air more swiftly than he could walk on level ground. The comrade took the Three-Sisters Sword, gave him a blow between the horns, and asked: “At what time does the princess ride to meet her lover to-night?” ”

“ Then the cat and Ebe wandered on for a while, and came to a dense forest slope. There they met folk who were tending goats. The goats skipped and leaped about everywhere, and gave such fine milk that better could no where be found.
“To whom do the goats belong?” asked the cat.
“To Helge-Hal in the Blue Hill,” said the herdsmen. Then the cat again went through her ferocious preparations, and the herdsmen were so frightened that they did not dare oppose her wishes.
“Now who in the world can be the owner of so many goats?” asked the king. “I myself have none finer!” ”

“ What could be more human and moving than the tragic “The Player on the Jew’s-Harp,” or more genuinely entertaining than “The King’s Hares”? “The Master-Girl” is a Candida of fairy-land, and the thrill and glamor of black magic and mystery run through such stories as “The Secret Church,” “The Comrade,” and “Lucky Andrew.” In “The Honest Four-Shilling Piece” we have the adventures of a Norse Dick Whittington. ”

“ And she laid her hand in his. “I wish we were far beyond the end of the world!” said the youth, and there they were. But the king’s daughter wept, and begged to be allowed to go home again. He could have all the gold and silver in the castle in return. “I have money enough for myself,” said the youth, and he shook his purse so that money just rolled about. He could sit down at the royal table and eat the finest food, and drink the finest wines, said she. “I have enough to eat and drink myself,” said the youth. ”

“ He ought to know, for he shines on everything.” And then, when the moon rose bright and clear above the tree-tops, the woman went out. “You moon, you moon,” she cried, “can you tell me the way to Soria-Moria Castle?” “No,” said the moon, “I cannot do that, because when I was shining there, a cloud lay in my way.”
“Just wait a little while,” said the old woman to Halvor. “The West Wind will be right along, and he is sure to know, for he sweeps and blows about in every corner. Well, I declare, you have a horse, too!” ”

“ Then Murmur Goose-Egg went into the smithy, and had the smith make an iron ax of five hundred-weights. With that he went into the forest and began to chop. He chopped down big pine and fir trees, as thick as masts, and all that he found on the king’s ground, as well as what he found on that of his neighbors. But he cut off neither the branches nor the tree-tops, so that all lay there as though felled by the storm. Then he loaded a sizable stack on the sled, and put to the horses. ”

“ When they had eaten in the morning, he put his seven-mile waistcoat on them. “When you reach your goal, you need only say: ‘Where you were put on this morning, there you are to hang again to-night!’ and then the seven-mile waistcoat will travel home by itself,” said the troll. Then they were carried for miles, over hill and dale, on and on. In the evening, at dusk, they again came to a great, ugly rock.
“I will knock here!” said the maid, and knocked and thumped on the rock. “O no,” said the princess, “please do not knock here, you can see how sinister everything looks here!” ”

“ Then Esben began to tell how the king had come to him, and about the white mare who was grazing on the moor, “and since he insisted on having the whistle he had to—he had to—well, with all due respect, I have to make up plenty of stories in order to fill the cauldron,” said Esben. [212]
“Stop, stop! It is full, fellow!” cried the king. “Can’t you see that it is running over?”
The king and the queen were of the opinion that it would be best for Esben to receive the princess and half the kingdom; there did not seem anything else to do. ”

“ She did not answer him but kept on weeping. “Well, I know what your trouble is,” said the bull, “even though you will not tell me. You are weeping because the queen is so unkind to you, and would gladly starve you to death. But you need not worry about food, for in my left ear is a cloth and, if you will take it out and spread it, you can have as much as you want to eat.” She did so, took out the cloth, laid it on the grass, and it was at once covered with the finest dishes one might desire: bread and mead and honey-cake. ”

“ When he was not far from the castle, his way took him through a thick forest. And there sat a squirrel in a tree by the road. “Buy me! buy me! My name is trouble and care!” it said. Thought the king to himself, It is better to have a squirrel than two empty hands, so he brought it along for his youngest daughter. And she was quite as well pleased with her present as her two sisters were with the ring and the wreath. ”

“ Then, after some time had passed, the youngest decided to set out to herd the king’s hares, and told his father of his intention. He thought that would be just the work for him, to loaf about in forest and field, look for strawberry patches, herd a flock of hares, and lie down and sleep in the sun between times. His father thought that there was other work that would suit him better, and that even if he fared no worse than his brothers, it was quite certain that he would fare no better. ”

“ Once they spoke of a little white lamb that had gone lame that day.
“Yes, it is the fault of that young fellow who has been rushing around in all the empty huts among the hills, looking for his fire-red ox. I saw him throw a stone at the little lamb,” said the older girl, the one with the large mouth and dark skin. “He really should be punished for that!” said she.
“Yes, but he never knew it was a lamb,” replied the younger one, the beauty with the red cheeks. “And it was not right of grandmother to hide his ox, and make him hunt for it far and near.” ”

“ I smell Christian bodies!” and he fell into a white rage, so that sparks and flame flew from him. “Yes, a bird flew by, and let a bone from a Christian fall through the chimney. I threw it out as quickly as ever I could; but it may be that the smell still persists!” said the giantess, and tried to pacify her troll. And he was satisfied with her explanation. But when he awoke in the morning, she told him that the youngest princess and her maid had come in search of a prince named Trouble and Care, who lived in the golden forest. ”

“ THE MASTER GIRL Once upon a time there was a king who had several sons; I do not just know how many there were, but the youngest was not content at home, and insisted on going out into the world to seek his fortune. And in the end the king had to give him permission to do so. After he had wandered for a few days, he came to a giant’s castle, and took service with the giant. In the morning the giant wanted to go off to herd his goats, and when he started he told the king’s son he was to clean the stable in the meantime. ”

“ The goat bleated, and said he did not dare tell; but when the comrade had given him another thump, he did say that the princess would come at eleven o’clock sharp. Then the comrade put on the Three-Sisters Hat, which made him invisible, and waited for the princess. When she came, she anointed the goat with a salve she carried in a great horn, and cried out: “Up, up! over gable and roof, over land and sea, over hill and dale, to my dearest, who waits for me in the hill!” ”

“ The following evening the princess pretended to be quite unhappy. She was well aware, said she, that he did not attach much importance to her love, when he would not even tell her what she wanted so much to know. If he could not even oblige her in such a small matter, his love could not amount to a great deal. Then the youth fell into despair, and to make up with her again, he told her everything. She lost no time, and let the king and queen know all about it. ”

“ An old man, whom thus far they had not seen, lay on a bed covered with a few old odds and ends of fur and other rags. When they went up to him to thank him, he stood up, and when the princess gave him her hand he kissed it; and at that very moment he turned into a prince handsome beyond all measure, and the princess saw that he was Trouble and Care, for whom she had so greatly longed. ”

“ Now I must fight for my very life, for the troll with six heads is twice as strong as the first [141] one; but see that you take care of the leaf and keep it carefully!”
At once the troll came rushing up. “Who has touched my forest?” cried he. “The forest is as much mine as yours!” cried the bull. “Oho, we’ll see if it is!” cried the troll. “That suits me!” said the bull, and rushed on the troll, gored him, and thrust his horns right through him. But the troll was just as strong, and it took three whole days before the bull got the better of him. ”