Tales from the Fjeld Part 46

"'And what then did you do with the needles?' said the goody.

"'I stuck them in the hay!'

"'Ah!' said his mother. 'You _are_ a born fool. You should have stuck them in and out of your cap.'

"'Well! don't say another word, mother, and I'll be sure to do so next time.'

"Next day, when the lad stood down at the foot of the bridge again, there came a man from the mill with a sack of meal, and wanted to cross.

"'You can't cross till you pay the toll,' said the lad.

"'I've no pence to pay it with,' said the man.

"'Well! You can't cross,' said the lad; 'but goods are good pay.' So he got a pound of meal, and the man had leave to cross.

"Not long after came a smith, with a horse-pack of smith's work, and wanted to cross; but it was still the same.

"'You mustn't cross till you've paid the toll,' said the lad. But he too had no money either; so he gave the lad a gimlet, and then he had leave to cross.

"So when the lad got home to his mother, the toll was the first thing she asked about.

"'What did you take for toll to-day?'

"'Oh! there came a man from the mill with a sack of meal, and he gave me a pound of meal; and then came a smith, with a horse-load of smith's-work, and he gave me a gimlet.'

"'And pray what did you do with the gimlet?' asked the goody.

"'I did as you bade me, mother,' said the lad. 'I stuck it in and out of my cap.'

"'Oh! but that was silly,' said the goody; 'you oughtn't to have stuck it out and in your cap; but you should have stuck it up your shirt-sleeve.'

"'Ay! ay! only be still, mother; and I'll be sure to do it next time.'

"'And what did you do with the meal, I'd like to know?' said the goody.

"'Oh! I did as you bade me, mother. I spread it over the byre-floor.'

"'Never heard anything so silly in my born days,' said the goody; 'why, you ought to have gone home for a pail and put it into it.'

"'Well! well! only be still, mother,' said the lad; 'and I'll be sure to do it next time.'

"Next day the lad was down at the foot of the bridge to take toll, and so there came a man with a horse-load of brandy, and wanted to cross.

"'You can't cross till you pay the toll,' said the lad.

"'I've got no money,' said the man.

"'Well, then, you can't cross; but you have goods, of course;' said the lad. Yes; so he got half a quart of brandy, and that he poured up his shirt-sleeve.

"A while after came a man with a drove of goats, and wanted to cross the bridge.

"'You can't cross till you pay the toll,' said the lad.

"Well! he was no richer than the rest. He had no money; but still he gave the lad a little billy-goat, and he got over with his drove. But the lad took the goat and trod it down into a bucket he had brought with him. So when he got home, the goody asked again--

"'What did you take to-day?'

"'Oh! there came a man with a load of brandy, and from him I got a pint of brandy.'

"'And what did you do with it?'

"'I did as you bade me, mother; I poured it up my shirt-sleeve.'

"'Ay! but that was silly, my son; you should have come home to fetch a bottle and poured it into it.'

"'Well! well! be still this time, mother, and I'll be sure to do what you say next time,' and then he went on--

"'Next came a man with a drove of goats, and he gave me a little billy-goat, and that I trod down into the bucket.'

"'Dear me!' said his mother, 'that was silly, and sillier than silly, my son; you should have twisted a withy round its neck, and led the billy-goat home by it.'

"'Well! be still, mother, and see if I don't do as you say next time.'

"Next day he set off for the bridge again to take toll, and so a man came with a load of b.u.t.ter, and wanted to cross. But the lad said 'he couldn't cross unless he paid toll.'

"'I've nothing to pay it with,' said the man.

"'Well! then you can't cross,' said the lad; 'but you have goods, and I'll take them instead of money.'

"So the man gave him a pat of b.u.t.ter, and then he had leave to cross the bridge, and the lad strode off to a grove of willows and twisted a withy, and twined it round the b.u.t.ter, and dragged it home along the road; but so long as he went he left some of the b.u.t.ter behind him, and when he got home there was none left.

"'And what did you take to-day?' asked his mother.

"'There came a man with a load of b.u.t.ter, and he gave a pat.'

"'b.u.t.ter!' said the goody, 'where is it?'

"'I did as you bade me, mother,' said the lad. 'I tied a withy round the pat and led it home; but it was all lost by the way.'

"'Oh!' said the goody, 'you were born a fool, and you'll die a fool. Now you are not one bit better off for all your toil; but had you been like other folk, you might have had both meat and brandy, and both hay and tools. If you don't know better how to behave, I don't know what's to be done with you. Maybe, you might be more like the rest of the world, and get some sense into you if you were married to some one who could settle things for you, and so I think you had better set off and see about finding a brave la.s.s; but you must be sure you know how to behave well on the way and to greet folk prettily when you meet them.'

"'And pray what shall I say to them?' asked the lad.

"'To think of your asking that,' said his mother. 'Why, of course, you must bid them "G.o.d's Peace," Don't you know that?'

"'Yes! yes! I'll do as you bid,' said the lad; and so he set off on his way to woo him a wife.

"So, when he had gone a bit of the way, he met Greylegs, the wolf, with her seven cubs; and when he got so far as to be alongside them, he stood still and greeted them with 'G.o.d's Peace!' and when he had said that, he went home again.