Tales from the Fjeld Part 38

"'If our brother only would, he has said he was good to get the king's daughter back.'

"You may fancy it was not long before the coachman went to the king with this story, and when the king heard it, he called for Boots, and said,

"'Your brothers say you can bring back my daughter again, and now you must do it.'

"Boots answered, he had never known it was the king's daughter till the king said so himself, and if he could free her and fetch her he would be sure to do his best; but two days he must have to think over it and fit himself out. Yes, he might have two days.

"So Boots took the grey ball of wool and threw it down on the road, and it rolled and rolled before him, and he followed it till he came to the old hag, from whom he had got it. Her he asked what he must do, and she said he must take with him that old gun of his and three hundred chests of nails and horseshoe brads, and three hundred barrels of barley, and three hundred barrels of grits, and three hundred carcases of pigs, and three hundred beeves, and then he was to roll the ball of wool before him till he met a raven and a baby troll, and then he would be all right, for they were both of her stock. Yes, the lad did as she bade him; he went right on to the King's Grange, and took his old gun with him, and he asked the king for the nails and the brads, and meat and flesh, and grain, and for horses and men, and carts to carry them in.

The king thought it was a good deal to ask, but if he could only get his daughter back, he might have whatever he chose, even to the half of his kingdom.

"So when the lad had fitted himself out, he rolled the ball of wool before him again, and he hadn't gone many days before he came to a high hill, and there sat a raven, up in a fir tree. So Boots went on till he came close under the tree, and then he began to aim and point at the raven with his gun.

"'No, no,' cried the raven, 'don't shoot me, don't shoot me, and I'll help you.'

"'Well,' said Boots, 'I never heard of anyone who boasted he had eaten roast raven, and since you are so eager to save your life, I may just as well spare it.'

"So he threw down his gun, and the raven came flying down to him, and said,

"'Here, up on this fell there is a baby troll walking up and down, for he has lost his way and can't get down again. I will help you up, and then you can lead him home, and ask a boon which will stand you in good stead. When you get to the troll's house he will offer you all the grandest things he has, but you should not heed them a pin. Mind you take nothing else but the little grey a.s.s which stands behind the stable door.'

"Then the raven took Boots on his back and flew up on the hill with him, and put him off there. When he had gone about on it a bit, he heard the baby troll howling and whining, because it couldn't get down again. So the lad talked kindly to it, and they got the best friends in the world, and he said he would help it down and guide it to the old troll's house, that it mightn't lose itself on the way back. Then they went to the raven, and he took them both on his back, and carried them off the hill troll's house.

"And when the old troll saw his baby, he was so glad he was beside himself, and told Boots he might come indoors and take whatever he chose, because he had freed his child. Then they offered him both gold and silver, and all that was rare and costly; but the lad said he would rather have a horse than anything else. Yes, he should have a horse, the troll said, and off they went to the stable. It was full of the grandest horses, whose coats shone like the sun and moon; but Boots thought they were all too big for him. So he peeped behind the stable door, and when he set eyes on the little grey a.s.s that stood there, he said,

"'I'll take this one. It will suit me to a T, and if I fall off I shall be no farther from the ground than that ---- high.'

"The old troll did not at all like to part with his a.s.s, but as he had given his word he had to stand by it. So Boots got the a.s.s, and saddle, and bridle, and all that belonged to it, and then he set off. They travelled through wood and field, and over fells and wide wastes. So when they had gone farther than far, the a.s.s asked Boots if he saw anything.

"'No, I see naught else than a hill, which looks blue in the distance,'

said Boots.

"'Oh,' said the a.s.s, 'that hill we have to pa.s.s through.'

"'All very fine, I daresay,' said Boots, for he didn't believe a word of it.

"So when they got close to the hill, an unicorn came tearing along at them, just as if he were going to eat them up all alive.

"'I almost think now I'm afraid,' said Boots.

"'Oh,' said the a.s.s, 'don't say so; just throw it a score or so of beeves, and beg it to bore a hole, and break a way for us through the hill.'

"So Boots did as he was told, and when the unicorn had eaten his fill, they said they would give him a score or two of pigs' carca.s.ses, if he would go before them and bore a hole in the hill, so that they might get through it. So when he heard that he set to work and bored the hole, and broke a way so fast that they had hard work to keep up with him, and when he had done his work they threw him two score of pigs.

"So when they had got well out of that they travelled far away, until they pa.s.sed again through woods and fields and across fells and wide wastes.

"'Do you see anything now?' asked the a.s.s.

"'Now I see naught but the bare sky and wild fells,' said Boots.

"So they travelled on far and farther than far, and the higher up they came the fell got smoother and flatter, so that they could see farther about them.

"'Do you see anything now?' said the a.s.s.

"'Yes, I see something far, far away,' said Boots, 'and it gleams and twinkles like a little star.'

"'It's not so very little for all that,' said the a.s.s.

"So when they had gone on farther and farther than far again, the a.s.s asked again,

"'Do you see anything now?'

"'Yes,' said Boots, 'I see something a long way off, that shines like a moon.'

"'It is no moon,' said the a.s.s, 'but the silver castle we are bound for.

Now, when we get there you will see three dragons lying on the watch before the gate. They have not been awakened for hundreds of years, and so the moss has grown over their eyes.'

"'I almost think I shall be afraid of them,' said Boots.

"'Oh, don't say that,' said the a.s.s, 'you've only got to wake up the youngest, and throw it a score or so of beeves and swine, and then it will talk to the others, and so you'll come into the castle.'

"So on they travelled far and farther than far again before they came up to the castle, but when they reached it it was both grand and great, and everything they saw was cast in silver, and outside the gate lay the dragons, and blocked up the way so that no one could get in; but they had a nice easy time of it, and had not been much troubled in their watch; for they were so overgrown with moss that no one could tell what they were made of, and at their sides underwood was springing up between the tufts of moss. So Boots woke up the youngest of them, and it began to rub its eyes and clear the moss out of them. But when the dragon saw there was folk there, he came at them with his maw wide a-gape; but then the lad stood ready, and tossed into it the carca.s.ses of beeves, and swung after them salted swine, till the dragon had got his fill, and grew a little more sensible to talk to. Then the lad begged he would wake up his fellows, and ask them to be so good as to get out of the way, so that he might get into the castle; but the dragon neither would nor dared to do that at first, for he said, as they had not been awake or tasted anything for hundreds of years, he was afraid lest they should get raving mad, and swallow up everything alive or dead.

"But Boots thought there was no need to fear that, for they could leave behind them a hundred carca.s.ses of beeves, and a hundred salt swine, and go a little way off and then the dragons would have time to eat their fill, and to come to themselves before the others came back to the castle.

"Yes, the dragon was ready to do that, and so they did it; but before the dragons were well awake, and got the moss rubbed off their eyes; they went about roaring and raving, and riving and rending at everything alive or dead, so that the youngest dragon had enough to do to shield himself from them till they had snuffed up the smell of flesh. Then they swallowed down whole oxen and swine, and ate and ate till they were full. And after that they were just as tame and buxom as the youngest, and let Boots pa.s.s between them into the castle.

"When he got inside it was all so grand he never could have thought anything could be so good anywhere; but there was not a soul in it, for he went from room to room, and opened all the doors, but he could see no one. Well, at last he peeped through a door that led to a bedroom, which he had not seen before, and in there sat a princess, spinning, and she was so glad and happy when she saw him.

"'No, no,' she cried, 'can it be that Christian folk dare to come hither? but it will be best for you to be off again, else the troll might kill you, for you must know a troll lives with three heads.'

"But Boots said he would not fly even if he had seven heads. When the princess heard that, she said she wished him to try if he could brandish the great rusty sword that hung behind the door. No, he could not brandish it, he could not so much as even lift it.

"'Ah,' said the princess, 'if you can't do that you must take a drink of that flask yonder, that hangs by the side of the sword, for that's what the troll does when he goes out to use it.'

"So Boots took two or three drinks, and then he could brandish the sword as though it were a rolling pin.

"Just then came the troll, so that the wind sung after him.

"'Hu!' he screeched out, 'what a smell of Christian blood there is in here.'

"'I know there is,' said Boots, 'but you needn't blow and snort so at it; you shan't suffer long from that smell,' and in a trice he cut off all his heads.

"The princess was so glad, just as if she had got something so good; but in a little while she got heavy-hearted, for she pined for her sister, who had been stolen by a troll with six heads, and lived in a golden castle three hundred miles on this side of the world's end. Boots thought that was not so very bad, for he could go and fetch both the princess and the castle; and so he took the sword and the flask, and got on the a.s.s, and bade the dragons follow him, and carry the meat, and grain, and nails which he had.

"So when they had been a while on the way, and had travelled far, far away over land and strand, the a.s.s said one day,

"'Do you see anything?'