Snowdrop and Other Tales Part 27

[Ill.u.s.tration: He tied them all together and drove them along till he came to a mill.]

When the Huntsman had washed his face so that the transformed creatures might know him, he went into the courtyard, and said: 'Now, you shall be paid for your treachery.'

He tied them all together with a rope, and drove them along till he came to a mill. He tapped at the window, and the Miller put his head out and asked what he wanted.

'I have three bad animals here,' he said, 'that I want to get rid of.

If you will take them and feed them, and treat them as I wish, I will pay you what you like to ask.'

'Why not?' said the Miller. 'How do you want them treated?'

The Huntsman said he wanted the old she-a.s.s (the Witch) to be well beaten three times a day and fed once. The younger one, which was the Maid, beaten once and fed three times. The youngest of all, who was the beautiful Maiden, was to be fed three times, and not beaten at all; he could not find it in his heart to have her beaten.

Then he went back to the castle and found everything he wanted in it.

A few days later the Miller came and told him that the old a.s.s which was to be beaten three times and fed once, was dead. 'The other two,'

he said, 'which are to be fed three times, are not dead, but they are pining away, and won't last long.'

The Huntsman's heart was stirred with pity, and he told the Miller to bring them back to him.

When they came he gave them some of the other salad to eat, so that they took their human shapes again.

The beautiful Maiden fell on her knees before him, and said: 'O my beloved, forgive me all the wrong I have done you. My mother forced me to do it. It was against my own will, for I love you dearly. Your wishing-cloak is hanging in the cupboard, and you shall have the bird's heart back too.'

But he said: 'Keep it; it will be all the same, as I will take you to be my own true wife.'

Their marriage was soon after celebrated, and they lived happily together till they died.

The Youth who could not Shudder

There was once a Father who had two sons. One was clever and sensible, and always knew how to get on. But the younger one was stupid, and could not learn anything, and he had no imagination.

When people saw him, they said: 'His Father will have plenty of trouble with him.'

Whenever there was anything to be done, the eldest one always had to do it. But if his Father sent him to fetch anything late in the evening, or at night, and the way lay through the churchyard, or any other dreary place, he would answer: 'Oh no, Father, not there; it makes me shudder!' For he was afraid.

In the evening, when stories were being told round the fire which made one's flesh creep, and the listeners said: 'Oh, you make me shudder!'

the youngest son, sitting in the corner listening, could not imagine what they meant. 'They always say "It makes me shudder! It makes me shudder!" And it doesn't make me shudder a bit. It must be some art which I can't understand.'

Now it happened one day that his Father said to him: 'I say, you in the corner there, you are growing big and strong. You must learn something by which you can make a living. See what pains your brother takes, but you are not worth your salt.'

'Well, Father,' he answered, 'I am quite ready to learn something; nay, I should very much like to learn how to shudder, for I know nothing about that.'

The elder son laughed when he heard him, and thought: 'Good heavens!

what a fool my brother is; he will never do any good as long as he lives.'

But his Father sighed, and answered: 'You will easily enough learn how to shudder, but you won't make your bread by it.'

Soon after, the s.e.xton came to the house on a visit, and the Father confided his troubles about his son to him. He told him how stupid he was, and how he never could learn anything. 'Would you believe that when I asked him how he was going to make his living, he said he would like to learn how to shudder?'

'If that's all,' said the s.e.xton, 'he may learn that from me. Just let me have him, and I'll soon put the polish on him.'

The Father was pleased, for he thought: 'Anyhow, the Lad will gain something by it.'

So the s.e.xton took him home with him, and he had to ring the church bells.

A few days after, the s.e.xton woke him at midnight, and told him to get up and ring the bells. 'You shall soon be taught how to shudder!' he thought, as he crept stealthily up the stairs beforehand.

When the Lad got up into the tower, and turned round to catch hold of the bell rope, he saw a white figure standing on the steps opposite the belfry window.

'Who is there?' he cried; but the figure neither moved nor answered.

'Answer,' cried the Lad, 'or get out of the way. You have no business here in the night.'

But so that the Lad should think he was a ghost, the s.e.xton did not stir.

The Lad cried for the second time: 'What do you want here? Speak if you are an honest fellow, or I'll throw you down the stairs.'

The s.e.xton did not think he would go to such lengths, so he made no sound, and stood as still as if he were made of stone.

Then the Lad called to him the third time, and, as he had no answer, he took a run and threw the ghost down the stairs. It fell down ten steps, and remained lying in a corner.

Then he rang the bells, went home, and, without saying a word to anybody, went to bed and was soon fast asleep.

The s.e.xton's wife waited a long time for her husband, but, as he never came back, she got frightened, and woke up the Lad.

'Don't you know what has become of my husband?' she asked. 'He went up into the church tower before you.'

'No,' answered the Lad. 'There was somebody standing on the stairs opposite the belfry window, and, as he would neither answer me nor go away, I took him to be a rogue and threw him downstairs. Go and see if it was your husband; I should be sorry if it were.'

The woman hurried away and found her husband lying in the corner, moaning, with a broken leg. She carried him down, and then hastened with loud cries to the Lad's father.

'Your son has brought about a great misfortune; he has thrown my husband downstairs and broken his leg. Take the good-for-nothing fellow away, out of our house.'

The Father was horrified, and, going back with her, gave the Lad a good scolding.

'What is the meaning of this inhuman prank? The evil one must have put it into your head.'

'Father,' answered the Lad, 'just listen to me. I am quite innocent.

He stood there in the dark, like a man with some wicked design. I did not know who it was, and I warned him three times to speak, or to go away!'

'Alas!' said his Father, 'you bring me nothing but disaster. Go away out of my sight. I will have nothing more to do with you.'

'Gladly, Father. Only wait till daylight; then I will go away, and learn to shudder. Then, at least, I shall have one art to make my living by.'