Chapter X: Part 10

"'What, you here, my boy?" said the rat. 'Thank yon kindly for coming to me. I have waited long for you. You come, of course, to woo me, and you are eager at it, I can very well see; but you must have patience yet awhile, for I shall have a great dower, and I am not ready for my wedding just yet, but I'll do my best that it shall be as soon as ever I can.'

"When she had said that she brought out ever so many eggshells with all sorts of bits and scraps, such as rats are wont to eat, and set them before him, and said,

"'Now, you must sit down and eat; I am sure you must be both tired and hungry.'

"But the lad thought he had no liking for such food.

"'If I were only well away from this, above ground again,' he thought to himself, but he said nothing out loud.

"'Now, I daresay, you'ld be glad to go home again,' said the rat. 'I know your heart is set on this wedding, and I'll make all the haste I can, and you must take with you this linen thread, and when you get up above you must not look round, but go straight home, and on the way you must mind and say nothing but

'Short before, and long back,
Short before, and long back;'

and as she said this she put the linen thread into his hand.

"'Heaven be praised!' said the lad, when he got above ground. 'Thither I'll never come again, if I can help it.'

"But he still had the thread in his hand, and he sprang and sang as he was wont; but even though he thought no more of the rat-hole, he had got his tongue into the tune, and so he sang,

'Short before, and long back,
Short before, and long back;'

"So when he got back home into the porch he turned round, and there lay many many hundred ells of the whitest linen, so fine that the handiest weaving girl could not have woven it finer.

"'Mother! mother! come out,' he cried and roared. Out came the goody in a bustle, and asked what ever was the matter; but when she saw the linen woof, which stretched as far back as she could see and a bit beside, she couldn't believe her eyes, till the lad told her how it had all happened. And when she had heard it and tried the woof between her fingers, she got so glad that she too began to dance and sing.

"So she took the linen and cut it out, and sewed shirts out of it both for herself and her son, and the rest she took into the town and sold, and got money for it. And now they both lived well and happily a while; but when the money was all gone the goody had no more food in the house, and so she told her son he really must now begin to go to work, and live like the rest of the world, else there was nothing for it but starving for them both.

"But the lad had more mind to go to Mother Roundabout and woo her daughter. Well, the goody thought that a very fine thing, for now he had good clothes on his back, and he was not such a bad looking fellow either. So she made him smart and fitted him out as well as she could, and he took out his new shoes and brushed them till they were as bright as glass, and when he had done that off he went.

"But all happened just as it did before. When he got out of doors the sun shone warm and bright, but it had rained over night, so that it was soft and miry, and all the bog-holes were full of water. The lad took the short cut to Mother Roundabout, and he sang and sprang as he was ever wont. Now he took another way than the one he went before, but just as he leaped and jumped he got upon the bridge over the moor again, and from it he had to jump over a bog-hole on to a tuft that he might not dirty his shoes. But _plump_ it went, and down it went under him, and there was no stopping till he found himself in a nasty, deep dark hole. At first he could see nothing, but when he had been there a while he got a glimpse of a rat with a bunch of keys at the tip of her tail, who came wiggle-waggle up to him.

"'What, you here, my boy?' said the rat. 'That was nice of you to wish to see me so soon again. You are very eager, that I can see; but you really must wait a while, for there is still something wanting to my dower, but the next time you come it shall be all right.'

"When she had said this she set before him all kinds of scraps and bits in eggshells, such as rats eat and like; but the lad thought it all looked like meat that had been already eaten once, and he wasn't hungry, he said; and all the time he thought, 'If I could only once get above ground, well out of this hole.' But he said nothing out loud.

"So after a while the rat said,

"I dare say now you would be glad to get home again; but I'll hasten on the wedding as fast as ever I can. And now you must take with you this thread of wool, and when you come above ground you must not look round, but go straight home, and all the way you must mind and say nothing than

'Short before, and long back,
Short before, and long back;'

and as she said that she gave him a thread of wool into his hand.

"'Heaven be praised!' said the lad, 'that I got away. Thither I'll never go again if I can help it;' and so he sang and jumped as he was wont. As for the rat-hole he thought no more about it, but as he had got his tongue into tune and he sang,

'Short before, and long back,
Short before, and long back;'

so he kept on the whole way home.

"So when he had got into the yard at home again he turned and looked behind him, and there lay the finest cloth more than many hundred ells; ay! almost above half a mile long, and so fine that no town dandy could have had finer cloth to his coat.

"'Mother! mother! come out,' bawled the lad.

"So the goody came out of doors, and clapped her hands, and was almost ready to swoon for joy when she saw all that lovely cloth, and then he had to tell her how he had got it, and how it had all happened from first to last. Then they had a fine time of it, you may fancy. The lad got new clothes of the finest sort, and the goody went off to the town and sold the cloth by little and little, and made heaps of money. Then she decked out her cottage and got so smart in her old days as though she had been a born lady. So they lived well and happily, but at last that money came to an end too, and so the day came when the goody had no more food in the house, and then she told her son, he really must turn his hand to work, and live like the rest of the world, else there was nothing but starving staring both of them in the face.

"But the lad thought it far better to go to Mother Roundabout and woo her daughter. This time the goody thought so too, and said not a word against it, for now he had new clothes of the finest kind, and he looked so well she thought it quite out of the question that any one could say, 'No!' to so smart a lad. So she smartened him up, and made him as tidy as she could, and he himself brought out his new shoes and rubbed them till they shone so he could see his face in them, and when he had done that off he went.

"This time he did not take the short cut, but made a great bend, for down to the rats he would not go if he could help it, he was so tired of all that wiggle-waggle and that everlasting bridal gossip. As for the weather and the ways they were just as they had been twice before. The sun shone, so that it was dazzling on the pools and bog-holes, and the lad sang and sprang as he was wont; but just as he sang and jumped, before he knew where he was, he was on the very same bridge across the bog again. So he was to jump from the bridge over a bog-hole on to a tuft, that he might not dirty his bright shoes. '_Plump_,' it said, and it gave way with him, and there was no stopping till he was down in the same nasty deep dark hole again. At first he was glad, for he could see nothing, but when he had been there a while he had a glimpse of the ugly rat, and he was so loath to see her with the bunch of keys at the end of her tail.

"'Good day, my boy!' said the rat. 'You shall be heartily welcome again, for I see you can't bear to be any longer without me. Thank you, thank you kindly; but now everything is ready for the wedding, and we shall set off to church at once.'

"'Something dreadful is going to happen,' thought the lad, but he said nothing out loud.

"Then the rat whistled, and there came swarming out such a lot of small rats and mice out of all the holes and crannies, and six big rats came harnessed to a frying-pan; two mice got up behind as footmen, and two got up before and drove; some, too, got into the pan, and the rat with the bunch of keys at her tail took her seat among them. Then she said to the lad,

"'The road is a little narrow here, so you must be good enough to walk by the side of the carriage, my darling boy, till it gets broader, and then you shall have leave to sit up in the carriage alongside of me.'

"'Very fine that will be, I dare say,' thought the lad. 'If I were only well above ground, I'd run away from the whole pack of you.' That was what he thought, but he said nothing out loud!

"So he followed them as well as he could; sometimes he had to creep on all fours, and sometimes he had to stoop and bend his back well, for the road was low and narrow in places; but when it got broader he went on in front, and looked about him how he might best give them the slip and run away. But as he went forward he heard a clear, sweet voice behind him, which said, "'Now the road is good. Come, my dear, and get up into the carriage.'

"The lad turned round in a trice, and had near lost both nose and ears. There stood the grandest carriage with six white horses to it, and in the carriage sat a maiden, as bright and lovely as the sun, and round her sat others who were as pretty and soft as stars. They were a princess and her playfellows, who had been bewitched all together. But now they were free because he had come down to them, and never said a word against them.

"'Come now,' said the princess. So the lad stepped up into the carriage, and they drove to church, and when they drove from church again the princess said, 'Now, we will drive first to my house, and then we'll send to fetch your mother.'

"'That is all very well!' thought the lad, for he still said nothing, even now; but, for all that, he thought it would be better to go home to his mother than down into that nasty rat-hole. But just as he thought that, they came to a grand castle; into it they turned, and there they were to dwell. And so a grand carriage with six horses was sent to fetch the goody, and when it came back they set to work at the wedding feast. It lasted fourteen days, and maybe they are still at it. So let us all make haste; perhaps, we too may come in time to drink the bride-groom's health and dance with the bride."

THE GREEN KNIGHT.

"Once on a time there was a king who was a widower, and he had an only daughter. But it is an old saying, that widower's grief is like knocking your funny-bone, it hurts, but it soon passes away; and so the king married a queen who had two daughters. Now, this queen--well! she was no better than step-mothers are wont to be, snappish and spiteful she always was to her step-daughter.

"Well! a long time after, when they were grown up, these three girls, war broke out, and the king had to go forth to fight for his country and his kingdom. But before he went the three daughters had leave to say what the king should buy and bring home for each of them, if he won the day against the foe.

"So the step-daughters were to speak first, as you may fancy, and say what they wished.

"Well! the first wished for a golden spinning-wheel, so small that it could stand on a sixpenny-piece; and the second, she begged for a golden winder, so small that it could stand on a sixpenny-piece; that was what they wanted to have, and till they had them there was no spinning or winding to be got out of them. But his own daughter, she would ask for no other thing than that he would greet the Green Knight in her name.

"So the king went out to war, and whithersoever he went he won, and however things turned out he brought the things he had promised his step-daughters; but he had clean forgotten what his own daughter had begged him to do, till at last he made a feast because he had won the day.

"Then it was that he set eyes on a Green Knight, and all at once his daughter's words came into his head, and he greeted him in her name. The Green Knight thanked him for the greeting, and gave him a book which looked like a hymn-book with parchment clasps. That the king was to take home and give her; but he was not to unclasp it, or the princess either, till she was all alone.

"So, when the king had done fighting and feasting he went home again, and he had scarce got inside the door before his step-daughters clung round him to get what he had promised to buy them. 'Yes,' he said, he had brought them what they wished; but his own daughter, she held back and asked for nothing, and the king forgot all about it too, till one day, when he was going out, and he put on the coat he had worn at the feast, and just as he thrust his hand into his pocket for his handkerchief, he felt the book and knew what it was.

"So he gave it to his daughter, and said he was to greet her with it from the Green Knight, and she mustn't unclasp it till she was all alone.

"Well! that evening when she was by herself in her bedroom she unclasped the book, and as soon as she did so she heard a strain of music, so sweet she had never heard the like of it, and then, what do you think! Why, the Green Knight came to her and told her the book was such a book that whenever she unclasped it he must come to her, and it would be all the same wherever she might be, and when she clasped it again he would be off and away again.

"Well! she unclasped the book often and often in the evenings when she was alone and at rest, and the knight always came to her and was almost always there. But her step-mother, who was always thrusting her nose into everything, she found out there was some one with her in her room, and she was not long in telling it to the king. But he wouldn't believe it. 'No!' he said, they must watch first and see if it was so before they trumped up such stories, and took her to task for them.

"So one evening they stood outside the door and listened, and it seemed as though they heard some one talking inside; but when they went in there was no one.

"'Who was it you were talking with? asked the step-mother, both sharp and cross.

"'It was no one, indeed,' said the princess.

"'Nay! said she; 'I heard it as plain as day.'

"'Oh!' said the princess, 'I only lay and read aloud out of a prayer-book.'

"'Show it me; said the queen.

"'Well! then it was only a prayer-book after all, and she must have leave to read that,' the king said.

"But the step-mother thought just the same as before, and so she bored a hole through the wall and stood prying about there. So one evening, when she heard that the knight was in the room she tore open the door and came flying into her step-daughter's room like a blast of wind; but she was not slow in clasping the book either, and he was off and away in a trice; but however quick she had been, for all that her step-mother caught a glimpse of him, so that she was sure some one had been there.

"It happened just then that the king was setting out on a long, long journey, and while he was away the queen had a deep pit dug down into the ground, and there she built up a dungeon, and in the stone and mortar she laid ratsbane and other strong poisons, so that not so much as a mouse could get through the wall. As for the master-mason he was well paid, and gave his word to fly the land, but he didn't, for he stayed where he was. Then the princess was thrown into that dungeon with her maid, and when they were inside the queen walled up the door and left only a little hole open at the top to let down food to them. So there she sat and sorrowed, and the time seemed long, and longer than long; but at last she remembered she had her book with her, and took it out and unclasped it. First of all she heard the same sweet strain she had heard before, and then arose a grievous sound of wailing, and just then the Green Knight came.

"'I am at death's door,' he said, and then he told her that her step-mother bad laid poison in the mortar, and he did not know if he should ever come out alive. So when she clasped the book up as fast as she could she heard the same wailing sound.

"But you must know the maid who was shut up with her had a sweetheart, and she sent word to him to go to the master-mason, and beg him to make the hole at top big enough for them to creep out at it. If he would do that the princess would pay him so well he could live in plenty all his days. Yes! he did so, and they set out and travelled far, far away in strange lands, she and her maid, and wherever they came they asked after the Green Knight.

"So after a long, long time they came to a castle, which was all hung with black, and just as they were passing by it a shower of rain fell, and so the princess stepped into the church porch to wait till the rain was over. As she stood there, a young man and an old man came by, who also wished to take shelter; but the princess drew away farther into a corner, so that they did not see her.

"'Why is it,' said the young man, 'that the king's castle is hung with black?'

"'Don't you know,' said the grey-beard, 'the prince here is sick to death, he whom they call the Green Knight;' And so he went on telling him how it had all happened. So when the young man had listened to the story, he asked if there was anyone who could make him well again.

"'Nay, nay!' said the other. 'There is but one cure, and that is if the maiden who was shut up in the dungeon were to come and pluck healing plants in the fields, and boil them in sweet milk, and wash him with them thrice.'

"Then he went on reckoning up the plants that were needful before he could get well again.

"All this the princess heard, and she kept it in her head, and when the rain was over the two men went away, nor did she bide there long either.

"So when they got home to the house in which they lived, out they went at once to get all kinds of plants and grasses in the field and wood, she and the maid, and they plucked and gathered early and late till she had got all that she was to boil. Then she bought her a doctor's hat and a doctor's gown, and went to the king's castle, and offered to make the prince well again.

"'No, no; it is no good,' said the king. So many had been there and tried, but he always got worse instead of better. But she would not yield, and gave her word he should be well, and that soon and happily. Well, then, she might have leave to try, and so she went into the Green Knight's bedroom and washed him the first time. And when she came the next day he was so well he could sit up in bed; the day after he was man enough to walk about the room, and the third he was as well and lively as a fish in the water.

"'Now he may go out hunting,' said the doctor.

"Then the king was so overjoyed with the doctor as a bird in broad day. But the doctor said he must go home.

"Then she threw off her hat and gown, and dressed herself smart, and made a feast, and then she unclasped the book. Then arose the same joyful strain as of old, and in a trice the Green Knight was there, and he wondered much to know how she had got thither.

"So she told him all about it, and how it had happened, and when they had eaten and drunk he took her straight up to the castle, and told the king the whole story from beginning to end. Then there was such a bridal and such a feast, and when it was over they set off to the bride's home, and there was great joy in her father's heart, but they took the step-mother and rolled her down hill in a cask full of spikes."

BOOTS AND HIS CREW.

"Once on a time there was a king, and that king had heard talk of a ship that went as fast by land as it did by water; so he set his heart on having such a ship, and he gave his word that the man who could build it should have the princess and half the kingdom. And this promise he had given out in every parish church in the realm, and at every parish meeting. There were many that tried their hands you may fancy, for it was a nice thing to have half the kingdom, and it was brave to get the princess into the bargain, but it went ill with most of them.

"So there were three brothers away in the wood; the eldest was called Peter, the second Paul, and the youngest Osborn Boots, because he was for ever sitting and grubbing in the ashes. But it so happened that on the Sunday, when the king's promise was given out, he was at church too. So when he got home and told the story, his eldest brother, Peter, begged his mother for some food, for he was bent on setting off, and trying his luck, if he couldn't build the ship and win the princess and half the realm. So when he had got his wallet full he strode off from the farm, and on the way he met an old, old man, who was so bent and wretched.

"'Whither away?' asked the old man.

"'Oh!' said Peter, 'I'm off to the wood to make a platter for my father, for he doesn't like to eat out of the same dish with us.'

"'A platter it shall be,' said the man; 'but what have you in your knapsack?'

"'Muck,' said Peter.

"'Muck it shall be,' said the man, and they parted.

"So Peter strode on till he came to a grove of oaks, and then he fell to chopping and carpentering, but for all his hewing and all his carpentering he could turn out nothing but platter after platter. So when it got towards mid-day, he was going to take a snack, and opened his wallet. But there was not a morsel of food in it, and as he had nothing to eat, and did not get on any better with the carpentering, he got weary of the work, and took his axe and wallet on his back and strode off home to his mother again.

"Next Paul was for setting off to try if he had any luck in shipbuilding, and could win the king's daughter and half the kingdom. He, too, begged his mother for food, and when he had got it he threw his wallet over his shoulder and set off from their farm. On the way he met an old man who was so bent and wretched.

"'Whither away?' said the man.

"'Oh! I'm just going to the wood to make a pig trough for our little pig,' said Paul.

"'A pig trough it shall be,' said the man.

"'What have you got in your wallet?' asked the man.

"'Muck,' said Paul.

"'Muck it shall be,' said the man.

"'So Paul trudged off to the wood, and fell to hewing and carpentering as hard as he could; but however he hewed and however he carpentered, he could turn out nothing but pig troughs and pig tubs. Still he wouldn't give in, but worked till far on in the afternoon before he thought of taking a little snack; then he got so hungry all at once that he must take out his knapsack, but when he opened it there was not a morsel of food in it. Then Paul got so cross that he rolled up the knapsack and dashed it against a stump, and then he shouldered his axe and trudged away home from the wood as fast as he could.

"So when Paul had come home, Boots was all for setting out in his turn, and begged his mother for food.

"'May be I might be man enough to get the ship built and win the princess and half the kingdom.' That was what he said.

"'Yes! yes! a likely thing,' said his mother. 'You look like winning the princess and the kingdom, that you do, by my troth; you, who have done naught else than grub and poke about in the ashes! No! no! you don't get any food,' said the goody.

"'But Boots would not give in; he begged so long that at last he got leave. As for food he got none, was it likely? But he got by stealth two oat cakes and a drop of stale beer, and with them he trudged off from the farm.

"Well! when he had walked a while he met the same old man, who was so bent and vile and wretched.

"'Whither away?' asked the man.

"Oh! I'm going into the wood to build me a ship which will go as well on land as on sea; for you must know that the king has given out that the man who can build such a ship shall have the princess and half the realm.'

"'What have you got in your wallet?' asked the man.

"'Not much to brag of,' said Boots, 'though it's called travelling fare.'

"'If you'll give me some of your food, I'll help you,' said the man.

"'With all my heart,' said Boots; 'but there's nothing but two oat cakes and a drop of stale beer.'

"'It was all the same to him what it was,' said the man, so that he got something; and he would be sure to help him.

"So when they got up to the old oak in the wood, the man said to the lad,--

"'Now you must chop out one chip, and you must put it back where it came from, and when you have done that you may lie down and sleep.

"Yes! Boots did as he said, he lay him down to sleep, and in his slumber he thought he heard some one hewing and hammering, and carpentering and sawing, and planing, but he could not wake up till the man called him, and then there stood the ship all ready, alongside the oak.

"'Now you must go aboard her, and every one you meet you must take as one of your crew,' he said.

"Yes! Boots thanked him for the ship, and sailed off saying he'd be sure to do what he said.

"So when he had sailed a while, he came upon a great, long, thin fellow, who lay away by the hillside and ate granite.

"'What kind of chap are you?' said Boots, 'that you lie here eating granite?'

"Well! he was so sharp set for meat he could never have his fill, and that was why he was forced to eat granite. That was what he said; and then he begged if he might have leave to be one of the ship's company.

"'Oh, yes,' said Boots, 'if you care to come, step on board.'

"Yes, he was willing enough, and he took with him a few big granite boulders as his sea stores.

"So when they had sailed a bit farther they met a man who lay on a sunny brae and sucked at a tap.

"'What sort of a chap are you?' asked Boots, and what good is it that you lie there sucking at that tap?'

"'Oh!' said he, 'when one hasn't got the cask, one must be thankful for the tap. I am always so thirsty for ale, that I can never drink enough ale or wine;' and then he asked if he might have leave to be one of the ship's company.

"'If you care to come, step on board,' said Boots.

"Yes, he was willing enough, and he stepped on board and took the tap with him lest he should be a-thirst.

"So when they had sailed a bit farther they met one who lay with one ear on the ground, listening.

"'What sort of a chap are you?' asked Boots 'and what good is it that you lie there on the ground, listening?'

"'I am listening to the grass growing,' he said, 'for I am so quick of hearing that I can hear it grow;' and so he begged that he might be one of the ship's company. Well, he too did not get 'Nay.'

"'If you care to come, step on board,' said Boots.

"Yes, he was willing enough, and so up he too stepped into the ship.

"So when they had sailed a bit farther, they came to a man who stood aiming and aiming.

"'What sort of a chap are you?' said Boots, 'and why is it that you stand there aiming and aiming?'

"'I am so sharp-sighted,' he said, 'that I'm a dead shot up to the world's end;' and so he too asked if he might have leave to be one of the ship's company.

"'If you care to come, step in,' said Boots.

"Yes, he was willing enough, and so he stepped up into the ship and joined Boots and his comrades.

"So when they had sailed a bit farther, they came on a man who went about hopping on one leg, and on the other he had seven hundred weight.

"What sort of a chap are you?' asked Boots; 'and what's the good of your limping and hopping on one leg, with seven hundred weight on the other?'

"'Oh?' said he, 'I'm as light as a feather, and if I went on both legs I should be at the world's end in less than five minutes;' and so he too begged if he might have leave to be one of the ship's company.

"'If you care to come, step in,' said Boots.

"Yes, he was willing enough, and he stepped on board to Boots and his comrades.'

"So when they had sailed a bit farther, they met a man who stood holding his throat.

"'What sort of a chap are you?' asked Boots, 'and why in the world do you stand here holding your throat?'

"'Oh!' said he, 'you must know I have got seven summers and fifteen winters inside me, so I've good need to hold my gullet, for if they all slipped out at once they'd freeze the whole world in a trice.' That was what he said, and so he begged leave to be with them.

"'If you care to come, step in,' said Boots. Yes, he was willing enough, and so he too stepped on board the ship to the rest.

"So when they had sailed a good bit farther, they came to the king's grange. Then Boots strode straight into the king, and said, that the ship was ready out in the courtyard, and now he was come to claim the princess, as the king had given his word.

"But the king wouldn't hear of it, for Boots did not look very nice; he was grimy and sooty, and the king was loath to give his daughter to such a fellow. So he said he must wait a little, he couldn't have the princess until they cleared a barn which the king had with three hundred casks of salt meat in it.

"'All the same,' said the king, 'if you can do it by this time to-morrow you shall have her.'

"'I can but try,' said Boots; 'I may have leave, perhaps, to take one of my crew with me?'

"'Yes, he might have leave to do that, even if he took them all six,' said the king, for he thought it quite beyond his power though he had six hundred to help him.

"But Boots only took with him the man who ate granite, and was always so sharp set; and so when they came next morning and unlocked the barn, if he hadn't eaten all the casks, so that there was nothing left but half a dozen spare-ribs, and that was only one for each of his other comrades. So Boots strode into the king, and said, now the barn was empty, and now he might have the princess.

"Then the king went out to the barn, and empty it was, that was plain enough; but still Boots was so sooty and smutty, that the king thought it a shame that such a fellow should have his daughter. So he said he had a cellar full of ale and old wine, three hundred casks of each kind, which he must have drunk out first, and said the king,--

"'All the same, if you are man enough to drink them out by this time to-morrow, you shall have her.'

"'I can but try,' said Boots; 'but I may have leave perhaps, to take one of my comrades with me.'

"'With all my heart,' said the king, who thought he had so much ale and wine that the whole seven of them would soon get more than their skins could hold.

"But Boots only took with him the man who sucked the tap, and who had such a swallow for ale, and then the king locked them both up in the cellar.

"So he drank cask after cask as long as there were any left, but at last he spared a drop or two, about as much as a quart or two, for each of his comrades. Next morning they unlocked the cellar, and Boots strode off at once to the king, and said he was done with the ale and wine, and now he must have his daughter as he had given his word.

"'Ay, ay, but I must first go down into the cellar and see,' said the king, for he didn't believe it. But when he got to the cellar, there was nothing in it but empty casks. But Boots was still black and smutty, and the king thought he never could bear to have such a fellow for his son-in-law. So he said, 'No,' but all the same if he could fetch him water from the world's end, in ten minutes, for the princess's tea, he should have both her and half the realm, for he thought that quite out of his power.

"'I can but try,' said Boots; so he laid hand on him who limped on one leg, with seven hundred weight on the other, and said he must unbuckle the weights and use both his legs as fast as ever he could, for he must have water from the world's end for the princess's tea in ten minutes.

"So he took off the weights, and got a pail, and set off and was out of sight in a trice. But time went on and on, for seven lengths and seven breadths, and yet he did not come back. At last there were no more than three minutes left till the time was up, and the king was as pleased as though some one had given him a horse. But just then Boots bawled out to him who heard the grass grow, and bade him listen and hear what had become of him.

"'He has fallen asleep at the well,' he said. 'I can hear him snoring, and the trolls are combing his hair.'

"So Boots called him, who could shoot to the world's end, and bade him put a bullet into the troll. Yes! he did that, and shot him right in the eye, and the troll set up such a howl that he woke up at once, he that was to fetch the water for tea; and when he got back to the king's grange, there was still one minute left of the ten.

"Then Boots strode into the king, and said there was the water, and now he must have the princess, there must be no more words about it. But the king thought him just as sooty and smutty as before, and did not at all like to have him for a son-in-law. So the king said he had three hundred fathoms of wood, with which he was about to dry corn in the malt-house, and 'all the same, if you are man enough to get inside it while I burn up all that fuel, you shall have her, and I will make no more bones about it.'

"'I can but try,' said Boots; 'but I must have leave to take one of my crew with me.'

"'Yes, yes!' said the king, 'all six of them if you like;' for he thought it would be warm enough in there for all of them.

"But Boots took with him the man who had fifteen winters and seven summers inside him, and they trudged off to the malt-house at night. But the king had laid the fuel on thick, and there was such a pile burning, it almost melted the stove. Out again they could not come, for they had scarce set foot inside than the king shot the bolt behind them, and hung two padlocks on the door besides. Then Boots said,--

"'You'd better slip out six or seven winters at once, so that it may be a nice summer heat.'

"Then the heat fell, and they could bear it, but on in the night it began to grow chilly; so Boots said he must make it milder, with two summers, and then they slept till far on next day.

"But when they heard the king rattling at the door outside, Boots said,--

"'Now you must let slip two more winters, but lay them so that the last may go full on his face.'

"Yes, he did so, and when the king unlocked the malt-house door, and thought to find them lying there burnt to cinders, there they sat shivering and shaking till their teeth chattered, and the man with the fifteen winters let slip the last right into the king's face, so that it swelled up at once into a big frost-bite.

"'MAY I HAVE YOUR DAUGHTER NOW?' said Boots.

"'Yes, yes! Pray take her and keep her, and half the realm besides,' said the king, for he couldn't say 'No' any longer.

"So they held the bridal feast, and kept it up and rejoiced and fired off witch shots, and meanwhile they went looking about for charges, and then they took me and gave me porridge in a flask, and milk in a basket, and then they shot me off here to you, that I might tell you all how the wedding went off."

THE TOWN-MOUSE AND THE FELL-MOUSE.

"Once on a time there was a fell-mouse and a town-mouse, and they met on a hill brae, where the fell-mouse sat in a hazel thicket and plucked nuts.

"'God help you, sister,' said the town-mouse. 'Do I meet my kinsfolk here so far out in the country?'

"'Yes! so it is;' said the fell-mouse.

"'You gather these nuts and carry them to your house?' said the town-mouse.

"'Yes; I must do it,' said the fell-mouse, 'if we are to have anything to live on.'

"'The husks are long and the kernels full this year,' said the town-mouse; 'so I dare say they will help to fill out a starveling body.'

"'You are quite right,' said the fell-mouse, and then she told her how well and happily she lived. But the town-mouse thought she was better off, and the fell-mouse would not give in, but said there was no place so good as wood and fell, and as for herself, she had far the best of it.

"Still the town-mouse said she was sure she had the best of it, and they could not agree at all. So, at last, they promised to pay one another a visit at Yule, that they might taste and see which lived best. The town-mouse was the one that had to pay the first visit, and she went through woods and deep dales, for though the fell-mouse had come down to the lowlands for the winter, the road was both long and heavy. It was up-hill work, and the snow was both deep and soft, so that she was both weary and hungry by the time she got to her journey's end.

"'Now I shall be glad to get some food,' she said, when she got there. As for the fell-mouse, she had scraped together all sorts of good things. There were kernels of nuts, and liquorish-root and other roots, and much else that grows in wood and field. All this she had in a hole deep under ground where it would not freeze, and close by was a spring which was open all the winter, so that she could drink as much water as she chose. There was plenty of what was to be had, and they fed both well and good; but the town-mouse thought it was not more than sorry fare.

"'One can keep life together with this,' she said; 'but it isn't choice, not at all. But now you must be so kind as come to me, and taste what we have in town.'

"Well, the fell-mouse was willing, and it was not long before she came. Then the town-mouse had gathered together something of all the Christmas fare which the mistress of the house had dropped as she went about, when she had taken a drop too much at Yule. There were bits of cheese, and odds and ends of butter and tallow, and cheesecakes and tipsycake, and much else that was nice. In the jar under the ale-tap she had drink enough, and the whole room was full of all kinds of dainties. They fed and lived well, and there was no end to the fell-mouse's greediness. Such fare she had never tasted. At last, she got thirsty, for the food was both strong and rich, and now she must have a drink of water.

"'It is not far off to the ale,' said the town-mouse; 'that's the drink for us;' and with that she jumped up on the edge of the jar, and drank her thirst out, but she drank no more than she could carry, for she knew the Yule ale and how strong it was. But as for the fell-mouse, she thought it famous drink, for she had never tasted anything but water, and now she took sip after sip; but she was no judge of strong drink, and so the end was she got drunk, for she tumbled down and got wild in her head, and felt her feet tingle, till she began to run and to jump about from one beer-barrel to the other, and to dance and cut capers on the shelves among the cups and jugs, and to whistle and whine, just as though she were tipsy and silly; and tipsy she was, there was no gainsaying it.

"'You mustn't behave as though you had just come from the hills,' said the town-mouse. 'Don't make such a noise, and don't lead us such a life; we have a hard master here.'

"But the fell-mouse said: 'She cared not a pin for man or master!'

"But all this while the cat sat up on the trap-door above the cellar, and listened and spied both to their talk and pranks. Just then, the goody came down to draw a mug of ale, and as she lifted the trap-door, the cat stole into the cellar and fixed her claws into the fell-mouse. Then there was another dance. The town-mouse crept into her hole, and sat safe looking on, but the fell-mouse got sober all at once as soon as she felt the cat's claws.

"'Oh, my dear master, my dear master; be merciful and spare my life, and I'll tell you a story.' That was what she said.

"'Out with it then,' said the cat.

"'Once on a time there were two small mice,' said the fell-mouse; and she squeaked so pitifully and slowly, for she wanted to drag the story out as long as she could.

"'Then they were not alone,' said the cat, both sharply and drily.

"'And so we had a steak we were going to cook.'

"'Then you were not starved,' said the cat.

"'So we put it up on the roof that it might cool itself well,' said the fell-mouse.

"'Then you didn't burn your tongues,' said the cat.

"'So, then the fox and the crow came and gobbled it up,' said the fell-mouse.

"'And so I'll gobble you up,' said the cat.

"But just then the goody slammed to the trap-door again, so that the cat got afraid and loosed her hold, and--pop--the fell-mouse was away in the town-mouse's hole, and from it there was a way out into the snow, and the fell-mouse was not slow in setting off home.

"'This you call living well, and you say that you live best?' she said to the town-mouse. 'Heaven help me to a better mind, for with such a big house, and such a hawk for a master I could scarce get off with my life."

SILLY MATT.

"Once on a time there was a goody who had a son called Matthew, but he was so stupid that he had no sense for anything, nor would he do much either; and the little he did was always topsy-turvy and never right, and so they never called him anything but 'Silly Matt.'

"All this the goody thought bad; and it was still worse she thought that her son idled about and never turned his hand to anything else than yawning and stretching himself between the four walls.

"Now close to where they lived ran a great river, and the stream was strong and bad to cross. So, one day, the goody said to the lad, there was no lack of timber there, for it grew almost up to the cottage-wall; he must cut some down and drag it to the bank and try to build a bridge over the river and take toll, and then he would both have something to do and something to live upon besides.

"Yes! Matt thought so too, for his mother had said it; what she begged him do, he would do. That was safe and sure he said, for what she said must be so and not otherwise. So he hewed down timber and dragged it down and built a bridge. It didn't go so awfully fast with the work, but at any rate he had his hands full while it went on.

"When the bridge was ready, the lad was to stand down at its end and take toll of those who wanted to cross, and his mother bade him be sure not to let any one over unless they paid the toll. It was all the same, she said, if it were not always in money. Goods and wares were just as good pay.

"So the first day came three chaps with each his load of hay, and wanted to cross the bridge.

"'No! no!' said the lad; 'you can't go over till I've taken the toll.'

"'We've nothing to pay it with,' they said.

"'Well, then! you can't cross; but it's all the same, if it isn't money. Goods will do just as well.'

"So they gave him each a wisp of hay, and he had as much as would go on a little hand-sledge, and then they had leave to pass over the bridge.

"Next came a pedlar with his pack, who sold needles and thread, and such like small wares, and he wanted to cross.

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

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

"'You have wares, at any rate.'

"So the pedlar took out two needles and gave them him, and then he had leave to cross the bridge. As for the needles, the lad stuck them into the hay, and soon set off home.

"So when he got home, he said, 'Now, I have taken the toll, and got something to live on.'

"'What did you get?' asked the goody.

"'Oh!' said he, 'there came three chaps, each with his load of hay. They each gave me a wisp of hay, so that I got a little sledge-load; and next, I got two needles from a pedlar.'

"'What did you do with the hay?' asked the goody.

"'I tried it between my teeth; but it tasted only of grass, so I threw into the river.'

"'You ought to have spread it out on the byre-floor,' said the goody.

"'Well! I'll do that next time, mother,' he said.

"'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?'