The princess was overjoyed. She said, “Yes, I’ll do it, I’ll go!”
The queen was very upset about this; she didn’t want to lose her wee daughter. When she told the king, he went out of his mind – “No way!” – he wouldn’t have it. No way. But the queen got him finally talked around to it.
So the next day the king said, “Well, if that’s to be, what’s to be shall be. But she’s gaunna be well protected if I can help it.” So he ordered for ten soldiers, his best soldiers, and ten horses. He even got panniers on the horses’ backs to carry the geese, so’s their feet wouldn’t be sore travelling too far. He ordered that the geese should be in baskets, and travel for many leagues till they came to the Land of the Queen of Knowledge, and suppose they had to wait for a lifetime, not to return without her! So everything was planned and arranged for the next day; ten soldiers were to look after the princess, guide her on her way till they came to the Land of the Queen of Knowledge, and then they were to let her out and stay in one particular place till she came back. If she didn’t come back, they were never to return, said the king, fir the peril o’ their life: “Return without my daughter and yese’ll be dead when youse come back!”
So the next day, true to their word, the king and queen bade the princess goodbye; a ragged dress, bare feet and ten soldiers, the horses and five geese, they set on their journey. They travelled far and they travelled wide, and they’re asking along the way how far it is to the next kingdom. They travelled for many, many miles and many, many days. At last they came into a green valley in a land that was so flat there weren’t a hill for miles, with beautiful forests and running streams. The soldiers were amazed.
And the princess said, “Look, I think this is far enough. I can make my way from here.” So she donned her ragged dress, took her geese, and the soldiers said they would stay in the one spot till she returned. True enough, we’ll leave the soldiers there camped in the one spot and go with the princess, the goose girl.
So, the goose girl travelled on for many days, traded the geese along the way, sold some, got some strange ones and travelled on till she came to a town. When she landed in the town she made inquiries: “Where is the palace of the queen?”
And they pointed to a large castle on the hill: “That’s the palace of the queen, but nobody goes there.” They were warned not to go there. The queen had one son who would ride through the forest many, many times but never come near the town. And they asked the goose girl what she wanted.
She said she just wanted to see the queen. The goose girl made up her mind that she would go to the palace. So the next morning she left the village and took her geese, drove them on her way. She had travelled many miles, and the palace looked as far away as ever when she came to a forest. She walked through, she came to a clearing, full of grass, beautiful high. The geese were hungry, began to pick the grass. She sat down to rest. When all in a minute who should come riding through the forest but this young man, most beautiful young man she ever saw in her life! When he saw the young goose girl in the forest he stopped. And he sat there; he watched this beautiful young girl dressed in rags, long golden plaits down her back and her bare feet, and the geese. He jumped off his horse, he walked over.
And he said, “Hello, goose girl.”
She said, “Hello, Sir.”
He said, “Where have you come from?”
She says, “I came from the village.”
“Where are you journeying to?”
She says, “I’m journeying to seek the Queen of Knowledge.”
“Ha-ha,” he said, “you’re journeying to seek the Queen of Knowledge, are ye?”
“Yes,” she said, “I am.”
“Well, why should you seek the Queen of Knowledge,” he said – “just a goose girl?”
“Well,” she said, “I may be a goose girl, but I have a problem.”
“Look,” he said, “ye’re no getting near my mother. My mother knows all the problems of everything that goes on over the world, but it’s getting her tae tell ye them is another thing.”
She said, “Is the queen yir mother?”
“Yes,” he said, “the queen’s my mother. I’m the prince and the queen’s my mother.” But he took a liking to the goose girl and he felt sorry for her. He said, “Look, I couldn’t take ye to the palace in any way, but me and my mother gets on very well together. If ye tell me yir problem I’ll try and find it out fir ye.”
So the princess sat down and she told him the story I’m telling you. And when he realised that she was a king’s daughter he fell in love with her right away. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight.
“Now,” he says, “I can’t take ye, I can’t take ye back to the palace with me because ye never know what my mother may do or may think. But you wait here – nobody’ll touch ye in this place because nobody’s allowed here. Ye’ll be quite safe. You stay here and I’ll be back!”
Away rides the prince back to the palace. Jumps off his horse, and his mother meets him at the door. He walks up.
She said, “Where have you been, my son?”
“Oh, Mother,” he said, “I’ve been riding all over and the day was so warm.”
“Come and have something tae eat.”
So he sat with his mother and they talked for a long while.
“You know, Mother,” he said… She loved this boy so much. He always used to come by her side when she sat in the chair and place his head on her knee. She would run her hands through his hair, that’s all she loved to do. He was her only son… He said, “Mother, when I was out riding…”
She said, “Tell me what ye’ve been doing all day!”
“When I was out riding today, Mother,” he said, “I fell asleep and I had a wonderful dream.”
“Oh, please tell me,” she said. “What was it about?”
“Well,” he said, “it’s a funny dream, Mother; I dreamt that in a faraway land in a faraway place, a land I’ve never seen, a land of hills and mountains and seas, there lived a king and queen and they had twelve sons.”
“Oh,” says the queen, “they had twelve sons.”
“And the king hated the sons so much, and the queen loved the sons…” He told her the story I’m telling you.
“Oh,” says the queen, “that’s a wonderful dream!”
“And,” he said, “one o’ the sons – after they all came back – was left with a wing on his arm, and there I wakened up. But, Mother, I’m worried, I’m worried about my dream, Mother…” and she’s still groping his hair, ye see… He said, “Mother, I wonder why I should have wakent up? I wanted my dream to finish!”
She said, “I’ll finish yir dream for ye, I’ll finish yir dream for ye, son, if it’ll make ye happy.”
He said, “I wonder why the prince in my dream had never got his arm back.”
“Oh dear,” she said, “he could get his arm back in your dream; if you’d hae dreamt a little more, you’d have seen the end o’ yir dream. If he’d only went and found a swan’s nest, where he’d find an unhatched egg, and get someone to get the unhatched egg that had never come to be a young swan, and break it over his wing – the wing would disappear and he’d have his arm back wonst more. That’s the bit o’ yir dream that ye missed.”
“Oh, Mother,” he said, “thank you very much. Now I’m happy!” He couldn’t hardly wait till the next day, now he had the secret that he wanted. So, he’s up and, early as possible, rode down the valley. And sure enough he came to the clearing, there was the princess with her geese. He rode over.
He spoke to her, said, “I talked to my mother.”
She says, “Did you find the solution to my brother’s problem?”
“Yes, I found the solution to your brother’s problem.”
She says, “Tell me, tell me, please!”
“I’ll tell ye on one condition.”
“Well, what is the condition?”
He said, “On one condition I’ll tell ye: if you marry me! And be my wife!”
He says, “Mother, I’ve brought you back the rest o’ my dream.”
And the queen said, “What, you have deceived me?” she said to her son.
“Yes, Mother,” he said, “I knew that you would never have told me, only in a dream. This is a princess, and it’s her brother who has the wing. And I’m going to marry her, I’m going to take her to be my wife.”
“Well,” says the queen, “it’s about time that ye’re having a wife!” and the queen liked this young woman right away. She ordered the rags to be taken off her, sent for a beautiful dress. They had a great banquet and they had a great party that went on for days, and the prince married the princess.
Now the soldiers are still waiting and waiting and waiting to see would she return; for the peril of their death they couldn’t go back. When they had waited for over a month, one day who should they see coming but a coach and five white horses. And the head man with the soldiers went out, he stopped the coach and asked if they’d seen a goose girl.
And a young man leans out of the coach, says, “No, I’ve never seen a goose girl, but I saw a princess – and she’s here!”
They told the soldiers all about it. The soldiers joined behind them, came behind the coach, and they all rode back the way they came, back to their own country to their own palace. And the king and queen were happy to see the return of them. And all the sons gathered there together.
But still no egg.
Now the princess had the secret, she was married, she had the secret but she still had no egg. She was still worried about her brother, so the next day she goes back to the old henwife wonst more.
She said, “I’ve been there.”
And the old henwife said, “I know you’ve been, and now ye have a husband. And now ye have the secret, but ye don’t know where tae find an egg, a swan’s egg.” (It had to be a swan’s egg, no other was any good, a buff.) “But,” she says, “ye’re a lucky young woman tae have a beautiful husband and twelve beautiful brothers.”
“But,” she says to the old henwife, “I don’t have an egg!”
“But,” says the old henwife, “ye’re luckier than ye thought, because yesterday jist below my house a swan walked away with five young ones and left a buff egg in the nest.”
And the princess walked down – sure enough – there was the egg in the nest. She picked it up; she walked back. And when she walked back there was a great banquet in the palace, everybody was dancing and singing and having great fun – welcome back the princess! Except for the young brother who was sitting sad at the corner with a cloak held round him with one hand.
The princess walks up, she whispers to him and both of them walk out the door.
And she said, “Take back yir cloak!” He pulled back his cloak and she broke the rotten swan’s egg on his wing. And lo and behold, she no sooner broke it... the rotten, smelly stuff ran down over his wing and dropped on the ground... than an amazing thing happened – his fingers began to appear, the feathers began to disappear, and the wing was gone for ever!
And when he saw this he was so happy, he threw his arms round his sister’s neck and kissed her, walked back into the banquet hall, held up his arms and said, “Look at me, look at me!”
All his brothers walked round, said, “What’s so funny about ye, why ye waving yir arms in the air?”
He said, “I’m not waving my arms in the air; I’m showing ye I don’t have a wing any more!” And they were all so happy, they all gathered round him. And he came to his little sister the princess, said, “Thank you, my little sister, fir what you’ve done fir me!”
She says, “Don’t thank me, thank your brother-in-law; he’s the one that did it for ye, not me!” And everybody lived happy ever after, and that’s the end of my story.
Freddy Far-off
A long time ago there lived a poor widow lady who had one little son, and she had a small house away out in the forest. She was very poor and her one little son she loved very dearly. His daddy had been killed in the forest a long time before and the boy never had any memory of his daddy. This little boy’s name was Freddy. And, of course, Freddy was very fond of his mother, and he always, always did everything his mother told him to do – inside the house. But when Freddy went out of doors he would not look anywhere but high up in the sky. He spent all his time staring at the white fleecy clouds. At night–time he’d lie and watch the stars in the sky. He spent all his time – up there. Freddy never looked around his feet. He would walk in his mummy’s garden, crush all the strawberries and stand on all the little creatures; he never paid attention to them. He didn’t want anything around his feet, he wanted up there in the white fleecy clouds. Till one morning things were about to change for Freddy.
Freddy was out walking in his mummy’s garden watching the white fleecy clouds passing by, when a little voice at his feet said, “Be careful, you nearly walked on me!” For the first time Freddy looked down at his feet. And there to his amazement was a tiny little man dressed in green, and he was very angry. He had a little beard and said, “You nearly walked on me with your big feet!”
“Well,” Freddy said, “it’s your own fault – you should not be under my feet.”
And the little man said, “It’s not my fault. You watch where you’re going in future; you nearly trod on me. And you tread on the little creatures. Why are you staring at the sky all of the time?”
“Oh,” Freddy said, “I’d love to be up in the sky among those white fleecy clouds. Everything is up there!”
And the little man said, “There’s nothing up there but clouds.”
“Oh,” Freddy said, “if I could only be up there...”
And the little man said, “Would you like to be up there?”
“Oh,” Freddy said, “I would love to be up there. I’d do anything just to be up among those white fleecy clouds.”
Then the little man said, “Very well then, Freddy, up there you shall be.” And he pointed his finger at Freddy, and Freddy got smaller and smaller and smaller, and soon he was the size of the little man. The little man pulled a leaf from the garden and bent it over with his fingers, made a little boat.
“Now,” he said, “Freddy, climb into the boat!” And Freddy was small. He climbed into the little boat made of the leaf. Now the little man came up and said, “Freddy, you want to go to the sky, don’t you?”
“Oh,” Freddy said, “I’d love to go up there among the white clouds, everything’s up there.”
“Well, I’m warning you,” said the little man, “there’s nothing up there. But I will send you up there on one condition, if you’ll do something for me.”
“Oh,” Freddy said, “I’ll do anything for you, I’ll do anything if you will send me up there in the sky.”
“Very well,” said the little man, “listen carefully! I want you to find something for me.”
“I’ll find anything for you,” said Freddy, “anything!”
“Well,” he said, “listen: it’s red without, it’s white within, got golden dots upon its skin, it’s sharp sometimes but often sweet – you must travel till you meet! Will you find it for me, Freddy? Say it after me,” said the little man.
And Freddy said, “It’s red without, it’s white within, got golden dots upon its skin, it’s sharp sometimes but often sweet – we must travel till we meet.”
And the little man said, “Now, Freddy, anywhere you want to go, just ask the little boat and it will take you. But remember, you must find that thing for me before you return.”
So Freddy said, “Little boat, fly me high, take me far into the sky!” And there the little leaf took off. Up and up and up it went, and it flew around the white fleecy clouds floating around the Milky Way, all round the sky amo
ng the stars.
And Freddy’s leaning over his little boat and he says, “It’s red without, it’s white within, got golden dots upon its skin, it’s sharp sometimes but often sweet – we must travel till we meet.”
And he travelled the whole sky round and round searching and searching and searching. But he couldn’t find anything, there was nothing up there, till Freddy was so tired, he said, “Little leaf, I don’t want to roam. Please, little leaf, take me home.” And then the little leaf dipped and back it came, down, down, down, right down back into Freddy’s mummy’s garden. And there it landed and there stood the little man.
He came up to the leafy boat and he said, “Well, Freddy, are you happy?”
“Oh,” Freddy said, “I’m very, very happy but I’m sorry I couldn’t find anything for you, I couldn’t find the thing you wanted.”
“Didn’t you,” said the little man, “didn’t you promise you would find it for me?”
“But I searched,” said Freddy, “I could not find it; there’s nothing up there.”
“Didn’t I tell you,” said the little man, “there’s nothing up there?” And he pointed his finger at Freddy once again and Freddy began to grow. Soon he was back to his normal size again. And the little man said, “Freddy, lean over!” And when Freddy leaned over, the little man looked up and said, “Freddy, do you know why you could not find what you were looking for up there?”
And Freddy said, “No.”
“Because,” he said, “you never look at your feet – just look at your feet.” And Freddy looked at his feet. There in his mummy’s garden, to his amazement, what do you think he saw? A big juicy strawberry. And the little man said, “Pick it up!”
The Flight of the Golden Bird Page 7
