Walter Taylor Field

“ The walls were of gold and silver, and were hung with diamonds.
How the diamonds shone!
And there sat the princess Ellen in a great chair of gold, with diamonds all about her head.
When she saw Childe Rowland, she came to him and said:
"Brother, why are you here? If the king of the elves comes, it will be a sad day for you."
[21]
But this did not frighten Childe Rowland. ”

“ Hermes showed him, and Apollo sat down and played until it grew dark.
"O, give me this thing! I must have it," said Apollo.
So Hermes gave it to him, and Apollo played upon it, gently at first, and then louder. He made such wild, sweet music as had never before been heard.
To pay for the lyre, Apollo gave Hermes a magic stick which would bring sleep to men and would stop all quarreling.
One day Hermes saw two snakes [184] fighting. He touched them with the magic stick, and they stopped at once and wound themselves around it, and stayed there ever after. ”

“ The Sun was called Apollo.
He was said to be a beautiful young man with golden hair, and he made wonderful music on a kind of harp called a lyre.
Men loved him, but they were a little afraid of him, too; he was so bright and strong.
His sister was the Moon. Her name was Artemis, or Diana. She rode through the sky at night in a silver car, and she, too, had a bow and arrows. ”

“ Artemis was so beautiful that men were afraid to look at her. It was said that if any man should look full at her he would lose his mind.
So when she came to those whom she did not wish to hurt, she covered herself with clouds.
For a time the good giant Orion helped Artemis in her hunting, for he too was a great hunter. Artemis [177] loved him as well as she loved any one, but she was very cold and did not care much for anybody. ”

“ The bear and the monkey said:
"Wait till the men go to sleep. Then run quickly under the door, jump quickly up on the bed, scratch the nose of one of the men, and bite off one of his whiskers."
The mouse did as he was told. ”

“ It is the root of some plant.
(He showed them the shoe string hanging at the side.)
See this long, fine root. Surely it is a root!
Birds. O, just hear him talk!
Beasts. Just hear him!
Bear. I tell you it is the husk of a fruit.
Wolf. And I tell you it is a nest.
[99]
Goat. And I tell you it is a root. Surely it is a root!
Owl. Let me speak. I have lived among men, and I have seen many such things as this. It is a man's shoe.
Bear. What is a man?
Goat. What is a shoe?
Owl. A man is a thing with two legs. He can stand up like a monkey, he can walk like a bird, but he cannot fly. ”

“ You are all that I have, now," said the queen.
But Childe Rowland asked again and again, till at last the queen said, "Go, my boy."
Then she gave him his father's sword, and he set out.
He went to the wise man and asked the way.
The wise man told him and said:
"I will tell you two things. One thing is for you to do, and one thing is for you not to do.
[15]
"The thing to do is this: When you get to the country of the elves, take hold of your father's sword, pull it out quickly, and cut off the head of any one who speaks to you, till you find the princess Ellen. ”

“ One day, after she had been saying this to herself many times, a great coconut fell from a tree.
"What was that!" said the hare.
She jumped as if she had been shot.
"The earth must be falling in!" she cried.
So she ran and she ran as fast as she could run.
Soon she met another hare.
[92]
"O Brother Hare," she said, "run for your life! The earth is falling in!"
"What is that you say!" cried the other hare. "Then I will run, too." ”

“ This time he came out with the ax that the woodcutter had lost.
"Is this your ax?" he asked.
"Yes," said the woodcutter, "thank you! How glad I am! But who are you, kind sir? You must be more than a man."
[47]
"I am Mercury," said the other, "and you are an honest woodcutter. I will give you the golden ax and the silver ax."
The woodcutter thanked him and went home.
Soon he met another woodcutter and told what Mercury had done.
This other woodcutter thought he should like a golden ax, too. ”

“ Gold leaves are beautiful, but men carry them away. Glass leaves are beautiful, but the wind breaks them. Green leaves are beautiful, but goats eat them. My old green needles were best. I wish I could have them back. ”

“ Instead of that, he put out the eyes of Orion, but Orion went to Apollo, and was made to see again.
Then Orion went back to help Artemis with her hunting, but Apollo did not like that and wished to get rid of him.
He did not wish, himself, to hurt Orion, so he made Artemis do it.
[178]
"Sister," he said to her one day, "some men say that you can shoot as well as I can, but we all know that is not so."
"I should like to know why it is not so!" said Artemis.
"Well, let us try," said Apollo. "Do you see that little black speck away out there in the sea?" ”

“ There you will find a black lake. Across the lake are three black rocks. One of them is like the head of a moose.
"Dig in the earth before this rock. There you will find a cave full of wampum. It is on strings of elk skin. Take all you want.
"While you dig, twelve otters will come out of the black lake. Put a string of wampum around the neck of each of the otters and upon each of the three black rocks." ”

“ The monkey said nothing.
"Why don't you talk to me?" asked the bear.
"Silly!" said the monkey. "How do you think I can talk [84] when I have a stone in my mouth?"
As he said this, the stone rolled out into the water.
"Never mind," said the bear. "The frogs will get it for us."
So he asked the frogs to get it, and one of them brought it to him.
"Thank you," said the bear. "That is what we need."
Then the three faithful beasts broke open the great box.
They gave the stone to the man.
He took it and wished himself in the castle again, and wished the three faithful beasts with him. ”

“ This old woman answered her as the first had done, and lent her another horse and gave her the golden comb.
The girl got on the horse and rode till she came to another old woman spinning on a golden spinning wheel. This old woman did as the others had done, and lent her another horse and gave her the golden spinning wheel.
"You might ask the East Wind. Maybe he will know," she said.
So the girl rode on until she came to the house of the East Wind.
"I have heard of the prince and his castle, but I never went so far as that," said the East Wind. ”

“ The wise men said, "Let her choose what shape she will take. She may live in the top of a tree, or she may live in a flower, or she may live where she will."
Every night the star came down a little lower in the sky, and stood over the valley where the Indians lived, and made it very bright.
Then one night it fell down upon the side of the mountain and became a white rose.
But it was lonely on the mountain. The rose could see the Indians, but it could not hear them talk. So one day it left the mountain and came down into the plain and became a great white prairie flower. ”

“ The little pine tree was bare.
"O," cried the little tree, "I don't want gold leaves any more, for men will take them away. I want something beautiful that they will not take away. I think I should like glass leaves." ”

“ When the girl came, he was awake, and she told him her story.
"You are just in time," said the prince, "for to-morrow I was to be married to Long-Nose.
"Now I will have no one but you. I will tell Long-Nose that I will marry no one who cannot wash three drops of candle grease out of my coat. She cannot do it, but I know that you can."
[133]
So the next morning the prince said that he must have three drops of grease washed out of his coat, and that he would marry no one who couldn't wash them out. ”

“ White Maiden put a wonderful dress of deerskin and a string of golden beads on Little Scar-Face, and she was more beautiful than any of the other maidens.
And Big Moose made her his wife.
[148]
THE HUNTER WHO FORGOT
Once there was a great hunter who was very rich. He had many strings of shell money around his neck. The Indians call these shells wampum.
In the woods near his home lived a big white elk that used to come and talk to him. The elk told him what was right and what was wrong. The Great Spirit sent the elk to him. ”

“ She filled her pitcher and gave the old woman some water.
The woman drank, and then said, "You are so kind and good, my dear, that I will give you a gift."
Now this old woman was a fairy, but the girl did not know it.
"I will give you a gift," she said, "and this shall be the gift: With every word that you speak, either a flower or a jewel shall fall from your mouth."
When the younger girl came home, her mother scolded her because she had been so long at the spring.
"I am very sorry indeed, mother," said the girl.
[113]
At once two roses, two pearls, and two diamonds fell from her mouth. ”

“ A poor beggar, with a ragged old bag, crept along the road one day, begging his bread.
As he went he grumbled to himself because there were so many rich men in the world.
"The rich never think that they have enough," he said to himself. "They always want more than they have. ”

“ I will give you all the gold that it will hold. But if any falls out upon the ground, it will turn to dust. Your bag is old. Don't try to have it too full, for if you do, it will break, and you will lose all. ”

“ Beasts. Who ever heard of such a thing as a shoe?
Goat. Hear that! The man puts them on his feet!
Wolf. It is not true!
Bear. No, it is not true! The owl doesn't know.
[101]
Wolf. You know nothing, Owl. Get out of our woods. You are not fit to live with us.
Bear. Yes, Owl, go away!
Beasts. Leave us! Go away!
Birds. Leave us! Leave us, Owl! You surely don't know what you are talking about!
(The beasts chase the owl out of the woods.)
Owl. (Going off) But it is a shoe, anyway.
[102]
THE CAMEL AND THE JACKAL
Once upon a time a camel and a jackal lived together by the side of a river. ”

“ He called this thing a lyre.
On the same day, toward evening, he looked across the meadows and saw some beautiful white cows. His brother Apollo was looking after them.
"What fun it would be to drive those cows away!" he said.
So he crept up behind the cows while Apollo was not looking, and he drove them away. He drove them far, and at last shut them up in a cave, where he thought Apollo could not find them.
Apollo saw that the cows were gone, and went to look for them, but he had a hard time.
[182]
He thought that Hermes might have had something to do with them. ”

“ All the other trees in the woods have beautiful leaves, but I have only needles. I do not like needles. I wish I could have leaves. But I should like to be more beautiful than the other trees. I should not like green leaves. I should like gold leaves. ”

“ As she sat at the door spinning, she kept mumbling to herself:
"My daughter ate five pies to‐day,
My daughter ate five pies to‐day."
The king was going by, and he heard the woman mumbling.
"What are you saying, woman?" asked the king.
The woman did not like to tell him about the pies, so she said:
"My daughter spun five skeins to‐day,
My daughter spun five skeins to‐day."
"Well, well, well!" said the king, "I didn't know that any one could spin so much as that!"
"My daughter knows how to spin," said the woman.
[28]
The king thought a little while. ”

“ Long-Nose began to wash the coat, but she couldn't get the grease out. It turned black.
Then the old witch tried, but she had no better luck.
Then the younger witches tried.
[134]
"You cannot wash," said the prince. "I believe the poor girl out under the window can wash better than you. Let her try." ”

“ Childe Rowland
princess
name
Ellen
ball
12. elves
dark
tower
far
13. youngest
14. sword
things
15. country
head
speaks
16. drop
thirsty
forget
eyes
knew
18. around
each
20. dim
light
seemed
himself
hall
gold
silver
diamonds
shone
sad
21. turned
stone
golden
22. floor
free
noise
outside
fee-fi-fo-fum
blood
Englishman
fought
23. enough
bottle
24. hand
sister
left
25. Tom Tit Tot
hard
daughter
those
meant
soft
26. herself
27. spinning
mumbling
to-day
heard
spun
skeins
28. ”

“ At this the old witch flew into such a rage that she fell to pieces, and Princess Long-Nose fell to pieces, and the younger witches all fell to pieces. And no one could ever put them together again.
The prince married the poor girl, and they flew away as far as they could from the castle that lay East of the Sun and West of the Moon.
[135]
POEMS BY ABBIE FARWELL BROWN THE SAILOR
Little girl, O little girl,
Where did you sail to-day?
The greeny grass is all about ”

“ Thursday
121. bell
ring
122. bent
123. coat
trouble
witch
123. marry
yards
124. lent
horse
125. switch
126. rode
comb
128. boo-oo-oo
roared
tired
130. sale
132. to-morrow
grease
134. rage
135. greeny
bay
tacking
island
beneath
ought
aboard
drowned
ocean
billows
136. fare
passenger
voyage
sheet
137. wound
living
[207] tune
naughty
cross
rude
tangled
spoil
138. scar
quiet
wigwam
Indian
moose
maiden
marks
snow
sled
ice
139. brave
hunter
wonderful
choose
140. sunset
end
angry
ashes
141. shell
beads
dress
142. skin
145. ”