by Jane Yolen
The day passed. In the evening when the girl had gone to bed, the young man said:
“Mademoiselle, if you wish—”
The girl, hearing his voice, cried out to her parents, who came at once.
“What’s the matter?”
“There’s someone talking in here!”
But the young man turned back into a grain of wheat and rolled under the table. The parents turned on the lights, looked everywhere, and, finding nothing, departed.
The young man took his own shape and made more advances. The girl cried and her parents returned.
“There’s been more talking in the room.”
“Have you gone mad?” said the father.
“Well! Go to bed here if you want to hear it.”
The father stayed a moment, then went away. The young man reappeared and the girl ended by acceding to him.
“Nights I shall sleep with you and days you may wear me as an engagement ring on your finger.”
But the doctor found out all that was going on by consulting his books. He caused the father to become ill and came as a doctor to cure him.
“Heal me and I will pay you well,” said the father.
“All I want is the ring on your daughter’s finger.”
The father promised. But the young man was aware of what was going on.
“The doctor is going to ask you for your ring,” he said to the girl. “Don’t give it to him; let it fall on the floor.”
When the father was cured he called his daughter and told her to give the ring to the doctor. She took it off and let it fall; the ring turned into grains of wheat, which scattered out on the floor. The doctor turned into a rooster to pick them up. The young man turned into a fox and ate the rooster.
THE SWAN-MAIDEN
Sweden
A young peasant, in the parish of Mellby, who often amused himself with hunting, saw one day three swans flying toward him, which settled down upon the strand of a sound nearby. Approaching the place, he was astonished at seeing the three swans divest themselves of their feathery attire, which they threw into the grass, and three maidens of dazzling beauty step forth and spring into the water.
After sporting in the waves awhile they returned to the land, where they resumed their former garb and shape and flew away in the same direction from which they came.
One of them, the youngest and fairest, had, in the meantime, so smitten the young hunter that neither night nor day could he tear his thoughts from the bright image.
His mother, noticing that something was wrong with her son, and that the chase, which had formerly been his favorite pleasure, had lost its attractions, asked him finally the cause of his melancholy, whereupon he related to her what he had seen, and declared that there was no longer any happiness in this life for him if he would not possess the fair swan-maiden.
“Nothing is easier,” said the mother. “Go at sunset next Thursday evening to the place where you last saw her. When the three swans come give attention to where your chosen one lays her feathery garb, take it, and hasten away.”
The young man listened to his mother’s instructions, and, betaking himself, the following Thursday evening, to a convenient hiding place near the sound, he waited, with impatience, the coming of the swans. The sun was just sinking behind the trees when the young man’s ears were greeted by a whizzing in the air, and the three swans settled down upon the beach, as on their former visit. As soon as they had laid off their swan attire they were again transformed into the most beautiful maidens, and, springing out upon the white sand, they were soon enjoying themselves in the water.
From his hiding place the young hunter had taken careful note of where his enchantress had laid her swan feathers. Stealing softly forth, he took them and returned to his place of concealment in the surrounding foliage.
Soon thereafter two of the swans were heard to fly away, but the third, in search of her clothes, discovered the young man, before whom, believing him responsible for their disappearance, she fell upon her knees and prayed that her swan attire might be returned to her. The hunter was, however, unwilling to yield the beautiful prize, and, casting a cloak around her shoulders, carried her home.
Preparations were soon made for a magnificent wedding, which took place in due form, and the young couple dwelt lovingly and contentedly together.
One Thursday evening, seven years later, the hunter related to her how he had sought and won his wife. He brought forth and showed her, also, the white swan feathers of her former days. No sooner were they placed in her hands than she was transformed once more into a swan, and instantly took flight through the open window. In breathless astonishment, the man stared wildly after his rapidly vanishing wife, and before a year and a day had passed, he was laid, with his longings and sorrows, in his allotted place in the village churchyard.
SISTER ALIONUSHKA, BROTHER IVANUSHKA
Russia
Once there lived a king and a queen; they had a son and a daughter, called Ivanushka and Alionushka. When their parents died the children remained alone and went wandering in the wide world. They walked and walked and walked till they saw a pond, and near the pond a herd of cows was grazing.
“I am thirsty,” said Ivanushka. “I want to drink.”
“Do not drink, little brother, or you will become a calf,” said Alionushka. The brother heeded her and they went on farther; they walked and walked and saw a river, and near it a drove of horses.
“Ah, little sister,” Ivanushka said, “if you only knew how thirsty I am!”
“Do not drink, little brother, or you will become a colt.” Ivanushka heeded her, and they went on farther; they walked and walked and saw a lake, and near it a flock of sheep.
“Ah, little sister, I am terribly thirsty,” Ivanushka said.
“Do not drink, little brother, or you will become a sheep.” Ivanuska heeded her and they went on farther; they walked and walked and saw a stream, and near it pigs were feeding.
“Ah, little sister, I must drink,” Ivanuska said. “I am terribly thirsty.”
“Do not drink, little brother, or you will become a piglet.” Ivanuska heeded her again and they went on farther; they walked and walked and saw a flock of goats grazing near a well.
“Ah, little sister, now I must drink,” Ivanuska said.
“Do not drink, little brother, or you will become a kid.” But he could not restrain himself and did not heed his sister; he drank from the well, and became a kid. He leaped before Alionushka and cried, “Maa-ka-ka! maa-ka-ka!”
Alionushka tied him with a silken belt and led him on, shedding tears, bitter tears. The kid ran and ran till he ran into the garden of a certain king. The servants saw him and at once reported to the king. “Your Majesty,” they said, “in our garden there is a kid; a maiden is leading him on a belt, and she is a great beauty.”
The king ordered them to find out who she was. The servants asked her whence she came and of what parentage she was.
“There were a king and a queen and they died,” said Alionushka. “We children remained—I, the princess, and my little brother, the prince. He could not restrain himself, drank water from a well, and became a kid.”
The servants reported all this to the king. He called Alionushka before him and questioned her about everything. She pleased him and he wanted to marry her. Soon they celebrated their wedding and began to live together, and the kid lived with them. He walked in the garden and ate and drank with the king and queen.
One day the king went hunting. While he was away a sorceress came and cast a spell on the queen. Alionushka fell ill and became thin and pale. Everything became gloomy at the king’s palace; the flowers in the garden began to fade, the trees to dry, and the grass to wither. The king returned and asked the queen, “Are you sick?”
“Yes, I am sick,” answered the queen.
Next day the king again went hunting. Alionushka lay ill; the sorceress came to her and said, “Do you want me to heal you? Go to such and su
ch a sea at twilight and drink water there.”
The queen heeded her and at twilight went to that sea. The sorceress was waiting for her, seized her, tied a stone around her neck, and cast her into the sea. Alionushka sank to the bottom; the kid ran to the shore and wept bitterly. But the sorceress turned herself into the likeness of the queen and went back to the palace.
The king came home and was overjoyed to find that the queen was well again. They set the table and began to dine. “But where is the kid?” asked the king.
“We don’t want him with us,” said the sorceress. “I gave orders that he be shut out; he has a goatlike smell.” Next day, as soon as the king went hunting, the sorceress beat and beat the kid and threatened, “When the king returns I will ask him to slaughter you.”
The king returned and the sorceress begged him over and over again to have the kid slaughtered. “I am annoyed with him, I am tired of him,” she said.
The king pitied the kid, but there was nothing to be done; the queen insisted and urged him so much that in the end he consented and gave leave to have the kid slaughtered. The kid saw that steel knives were being sharpened for him, and he wept. He ran to the king and implored him, “King, give me leave to go to the sea, to drink water, to rinse my insides.”
The king let him go. The kid ran to the sea, stood on the shore, and cried plaintively:
Alionushka, my little sister,
Come up, come up to the shore.
Hot fires are burning
Big kettles are boiling,
Steel knives are being sharpened—
They want to slaughter me!
She answered him:
Ivanushka, my little brother,
The heavy stone is pulling me down,
The cruel serpent has sucked out my heart.
The kid wept and returned home. In the middle of the day he again asked the king, “King, give me leave to go to the sea, to drink water and rinse my insides.” The king allowed him to go. The kid ran to the sea and cried plaintively:
Alionushka, my little sister,
Come up, come up to the shore.
Hot fires are burning,
Big kettles are boiling,
Steel knives are being sharpened—
They want to slaughter me!
She answered him:
Ivanushka, my little brother,
The heavy stone is pulling me down,
The cruel serpent has sucked out my heart.
The kid wept and returned home. The king wondered why the kid kept running to the sea. Now the kid asked him for the third time, “King, give me leave to go to the sea, to drink water and rinse my insides.” The king let him go and followed him. When he came to the sea he heard the kid calling to his sister:
Alionushka, my little sister,
Come up, come up to the shore.
Hot fires are burning,
Big kettles are boiling,
Steel knives are being sharpened—
They want to slaughter me!
She answered him:
Ivanushka, my little brother,
The heavy stone is pulling me down,
The cruel serpent has sucked out my heart.
The kid again called to his sister. Alionushka swam up and came to the surface. The king snatched her, tore the stone from her neck, pulled her ashore, and asked her how all this had happened. She told him everything.
The king was overjoyed and so also was the kid; he capered, and everything in the garden grew green and blossomed again. The king ordered the sorceress to be put to death; a stake of wood was set up in the courtyard and she was burned. After that the king, the queen, and the kid began to live happily and to prosper and to eat and drink together as before.
THE BLACKSMITH’S WIFE OF YARROWFOOT
Scotland
Some years back, the blacksmith of Yarrowfoot had for apprentices two brothers, both steady lads, and, when bound to him, fine healthy fellows. After a few months, however, the younger of the two began to grow pale and lean, lose his appetite, and show other marks of declining health. His brother, much concerned, often questioned him as to what ailed him, but to no purpose. At last, however, the poor lad burst into an agony of tears, and confessed that he was quite worn out, and should soon be brought to the grave through the usage of his mistress, who was in truth a witch, though none suspected it. “Every night,” he sobbed out, “she comes to my bedside, puts a magic bridle on me, and changes me into a horse. Then, seated on my back, she urges me on for many a mile to the wild moors, where she and I know not what other vile creatures hold their hideous feasts. There she keeps me all night, and at early morning I carry her home. She takes off my bridle, and there I am, but so weary I can ill stand. And thus I pass my nights while you are soundly sleeping.”
The elder brother at once declared he would take his chance of a night among the witches, so he put the younger one in his own place next to the wall, and lay awake himself till the usual time of the witch-woman’s arrival. She came, bridle in hand, and flinging it over the elder brother’s head, up sprang a fine hunting horse. The lady leaped on his back, and started for the trysting place, which on this occasion, as it chances, was the cellar of a neighboring laird.
While she and the rest of the vile crew were regaling themselves with claret and sack, the hunter, who was left in a spare stall of the stable, rubbed and rubbed his head against the wall till he loosened the bridle, and finally got it off, on which he recovered his human form. Holding the bridle firmly in his hand, he concealed himself at the back of the stall till his mistress came within reach, when in an instant he flung the magic bridle over her head, and behold, a fine grey mare! He mounted her and dashed off, riding through hedge and ditch, till, looking down, he perceived she had lost a shoe from one of her forefeet. He took her to the first smithy that was open, had the shoe replaced, and a new one put on the other forefoot, and then rode her up and down a plowed field till he was nearly worn out. At last he took her home, and pulled the bridle off just in time for her to creep into bed before her husband awoke and got up for his day’s work.
The honest blacksmith arose, little thinking what had been going on all night; but his wife complained of being very ill, almost dying, and begged him to send for a doctor. He accordingly aroused his apprentices; the elder one went out, and soon returned with one whom he had chanced to meet already abroad. The doctor wished to feel his patient’s pulse, but she resolutely hid her hands, and refused to show them. The village Esculapius was perplexed; but the husband, impatient at her obstinacy, pulled off the bedclothes, and found, to his horror, that horseshoes were tightly nailed to both her hands! On further examination, her sides appeared galled with kicks, the same that the apprentice had given her during his ride up and down the plowed field.
The brothers now came forward, and related all that had passed. On the following day the witch was tried by the magistrates of Selkirk, and condemned to be burned to death on a stone at the Bullsheugh, a sentence which was promptly carried into effect. It is added that the younger apprentice was at last restored to health by eating butter made from the milk of cows fed in kirkyards, a sovereign remedy for consumption brought on through being witch-ridden.
THE SEAL’S SKIN
Iceland
There was once some man from Myrdal in eastern Iceland who went walking among the rocks by the sea one morning before anyone else was up. He came to the mouth of a cave, and inside the cave he could hear merriment and dancing, but outside it he saw a great many sealskins. He took one skin away with him, carried it home, and locked it away in a chest. Later in the day he went back to the mouth of the cave; there was a young and lovely woman sitting there, and she was stark naked, and weeping bitterly. This was the seal whose skin it was that the man had taken. He gave the girl some clothes, comforted her, and took her home with him. She grew very fond of him, but did not get on so well with other people. Often she would sit alone and stare out to sea.
After some while th
e man married her, and they got on well together, and had several children. As for the skin, the man always kept it locked up in the chest, and kept the key on him wherever he went. But after many years, he went fishing one day and forgot it under his pillow at home. Other people say that he went to church one Christmas with the rest of his household, but that his wife was ill and stayed at home; he had forgotten to take the key out of the pocket of his everyday clothes when he changed. Be that as it may, when he came home again the chest was open, and both wife and skin were gone. She had taken the key and examined the chest, and there she had found the skin; she had been been unable to resist the temptation, but had said farewell to her children, put the skin on, and flung herself into the sea.
Before the woman flung herself into the sea, it is said that she spoke these words:
Woe is me! Ah, woe is me!
I have seven bairns on land,
And seven in the sea.
It is said that the man was broken-hearted about this. Whenever he rowed out fishing afterwards, a seal would often swim round and round his boat, and it looked as if tears were running from its eyes. From that time on, he had excellent luck in his fishing, and various valuable things were washed ashore on his beach. People often noticed, too, that when the children he had had by this woman went walking along the seashore, a seal would show itself near the edge of the water and keep level with them as they walked along the shore, and would toss them jellyfish and pretty shells. But never did their mother come back to land again.
