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Once upon
a time...
There was a poor husbandman who had many children and little
to give them in the way either of food or clothing. They were all
pretty, but the prettiest of all was the youngest daughter, who was
so beautiful that there were no bounds to her beauty.
So once--it was late on a Thursday evening in autumn, and wild
weather outside, terribly dark, and raining so heavily and blowing
so hard that the walls of the cottage shook again--they were all
sitting together by the fireside, each of them busy with something
or other, when suddenly some one rapped three times against the
window- pane. The man went out to see what could be the matter, and
when he got out there stood a great big white bear.
"Good-evening to you," said the White Bear.
"Good-evening," said the man.
"Will you give me your youngest daughter?" said the White Bear; "if
you will, you shall be as rich as you are now poor.
Truly the man would have had no objection to be rich, but he thought
to himself: "I must first ask my daughter about this," so he went in
and told them that there was a great white bear outside who had
faithfully promised to make them all rich if he might but have the
youngest daughter.
She said no, and would not hear of it; so the man went out again,
and settled with the White Bear that he should come again next
Thursday evening, and get her answer. Then the man persuaded her,
and talked so much to her about the wealth that they would have, and
what a good thing it would be for herself, that at last she made up
her mind to go, and washed and mended all her rags, made herself as
smart as she could, and held herself in readiness to set out. Little
enough had she to take away with her.
Next Thursday evening the White Bear came to fetch her. She seated
herself on his back with her bundle, and thus they departed. When
they had gone a great part of the way, the White Bear said: "Are you
afraid?"
"No, that I am not," said she.
" Keep tight hold of my fur, and then there is no danger," said he.
And thus she rode far, far away, until they came to a great
mountain. Then the White Bear knocked on it, and a door opened, and
they went into a castle where there were many brilliantly lighted
rooms which shone with gold and silver, likewise a large hall in
which there was a well-spread table, and it was so magnificent that
it would be hard to make anyone understand how splendid it was. The
White Bear gave her a silver bell, and told her that when she needed
anything she had but to ring this bell, and what she wanted would
appear. So after she had eaten, and night was drawing near, she grew
sleepy after her journey, and thought she would like to go to bed.
She rang the bell, and scarcely had she touched it before she found
herself in a chamber where a bed stood ready made for her, which was
as pretty as anyone could wish to sleep in. It had pillows of silk,
and curtains of silk fringed with gold, and everything that was in
the room was of gold or silver, but when she had lain down and put
out the light a man came and lay down beside her, and behold it was
the White Bear, who cast off the form of a beast during the night.
She never saw him, however, for he always came after she had put out
her light, and went away before daylight appeared.
So all went well and happily for a time, but then she began to be
very sad and sorrowful, for all day long she had to go about alone;
and she did so wish to go home to her father and mother and brothers
and sisters. Then the White Bear asked what it was that she wanted,
and she told him that it was so dull there in the mountain, and that
she had to go about all alone, and that in her parents' house at
home there were all her brothers and sisters, and it was because she
could not go to them that she was so sorrowful.
"There might be a cure for that," said the White Bear, "if you would
but promise me never to talk with your mother alone, but only when
the others are there too; for she will take hold of your hand," he
said, "and will want to lead you into a room to talk with you alone;
but that you must by no means do, or you will bring great misery on
both of us."
So one Sunday the White Bear came and said that they could now set
out to see her father and mother, and they journeyed thither, she
sitting on his back, and they went a long, long way, and it took a
long, long time; but at last they came to a large white farmhouse,
and her brothers and sisters were running about outside it, playing,
and it was so pretty that it was a pleasure to look at it.
"Your parents dwell here now," said the White Bear; "but do not
forget what I said to you, or you will do much harm both to yourself
and me."
"No, indeed," said she, "I shall never forget;" and as soon as she
was at home the White Bear turned round and went back again.
There were such rejoicings when she went in to her parents that it
seemed as if they would never come to an end. Everyone thought that
he could never be sufficiently grateful to her for all she had done
for them all. Now they had everything that they wanted, and
everything was as good as it could be. They all asked her how she
was getting on where she was. All was well with her too, she said;
and she had everything that she could want. What other answers she
gave I cannot say, but I am pretty sure that they did not learn much
from her. But in the afternoon, after they had dined at midday, all
happened just as the White Bear had said. Her mother wanted to talk
with her alone in her own chamber. But she remembered what the White
Bear had said, and would on no account go. "What we have to say can
be said at any time," she answered. But somehow or other her mother
at last persuaded her, and she was forced to tell the whole story.
So she told how every night a man came and lay down beside her when
the lights were all put out, and how she never saw him, because he
always went away before it grew light in the morning, and how she
continually went about in sadness, thinking how happy she would be
if she could but see him, and how all day long she had to go about
alone, and it was so dull and solitary. "Oh!" cried the mother, in
horror, "you are very likely sleeping with a troll! But I will teach
you a way to see him. You shall have a bit of one of my candles,
which you can take away with you hidden in your breast. Look at him
with that when he is asleep, but take care not to let any tallow
drop upon him."
So she took the candle, and hid it in her breast, and when evening
drew near the White Bear came to fetch her away. When they had gone
some distance on their way, the White Bear asked her if everything
had not happened just as he had foretold, and she could not but own
that it had. "Then, if you have done what your mother wished," said
he, "you have brought great misery on both of us." "No," she said,
"I have not done anything at all." So when she had reached home and
had gone to bed it was just the same as it had been before, and a
man came and lay down beside her, and late at night, when she could
hear that he was sleeping, she got up and kindled a light, lit her
candle, let her light shine on him, and saw him, and he was the
handsomest prince that eyes had ever beheld, and she loved him so
much that it seemed to her that she must die if she did not kiss him
that very moment. So she did kiss him; but while she was doing it
she let three drops of hot tallow fall upon his shirt, and he awoke.
"What have you done now?" said he; "you have brought misery on both
of us. If you had but held out for the space of one year I should
have been free. I have a step- mother who has bewitched me so that I
am a white bear by day and a man by night; but now all is at an end
between you and me, and I must leave you, and go to her. She lives
in a castle which lies east of the sun and west of the moon, and
there too is a princess with a nose which is three ells long, and
she now is the one whom I must marry."
She wept and lamented, but all in vain, for go he must. Then she
asked him if she could not go with him. But no, that could not be.
"Can you tell me the way then, and I will seek you--that I may
surely be allowed to do!"
"Yes, you may do that," said he; "but there is no way thither. It
lies east of the sun and west of the moon, and never would you find
your way there."
When she awoke in the morning both the Prince and the castle were
gone, and she was lying on a small green patch in the midst of a
dark, thick wood. By her side lay the self-same bundle of rags which
she had brought with her from her own home. So when she had rubbed
the sleep out of her eyes, and wept till she was weary, she set out
on her way, and thus she walked for many and many a long day, until
at last she came to a great mountain. Outside it an aged woman was
sitting, playing with a golden apple. The girl asked her if she knew
the way to the Prince who lived with his stepmother in the castle
which lay east of the sun and west of the moon, and who was to marry
a princess with a nose which was three ells long. "How do you happen
to know about him?" inquired the old woman; "maybe you are she who
ought to have had him." "Yes, indeed, I am," she said. "So it is
you, then?" said the old woman; "I know nothing about him but that
he dwells in a castle which is east of the sun and west of the moon.
You will be a long time in getting to it, if ever you get to it at
all; but you shall have the loan of my horse, and then you can ride
on it to an old woman who is a neighbour of mine: perhaps she can
tell you about him. When you have got there you must just strike the
horse beneath the left ear and bid it go home again; but you may
take the golden apple with you."
So the girl seated herself on the horse, and rode for a long, long
way, and at last she came to the mountain, where an aged woman was
sitting outside with a gold carding- comb. The girl asked her if she
knew the way to the castle which lay east of the sun and west of the
moon; but she said what the first old woman had said: "I know
nothing about it, but that it is east of the sun and west of the
moon, and that you will be a long time in getting to it, if ever you
get there at all; but you shall have the loan of my horse to an old
woman who lives the nearest to me: perhaps she may know where the
castle is, and when you have got to her you may just strike the
horse beneath the left ear and bid it go home again." Then she gave
her the gold carding-comb, for it might, perhaps, be of use to her,
she said.
So the girl seated herself on the horse, and rode a wearisome long
way onward again, and after a very long time she came to a great
mountain, where an aged woman was sitting, spinning at a golden
spinning-wheel. Of this woman, too, she inquired if she knew the way
to the Prince, and where to find the castle which lay east of the
sun and west of the moon. But it was only the same thing once again.
"Maybe it was you who should have had the Prince," said the old
woman. "Yes, indeed, I should have been the one," said the girl. But
this old crone knew the way no better than the others--it was east
of the sun and west of the moon, she knew that, "and you will be a
long time in getting to it, if ever you get to it at all," she said;
"but you may have the loan of my horse, and I think you had better
ride to the East Wind, and ask him: perhaps he may know where the
castle is, and will blow you thither. But when you have got to him
you must just strike the horse beneath the left ear, and he will
come home again." And then she gave her the golden spinning-wheel,
saying: "Perhaps you may find that you have a use for it."
The girl had to ride for a great many days, and for a long and
wearisome time, before she got there; but at last she did arrive,
and then she asked the East Wind if he could tell her the way to the
Prince who dwelt east of the sun and west of the moon. "Well," said
the East Wind, "I have heard tell of the Prince, and of his castle,
but I do not know the way to it, for I have never blown so far; but,
if you like, I will go with you to my brother the West Wind: he may
know that, for he is much stronger than I am. You may sit on my
back, and then I can carry you there." So she seated herself on his
back, and they did go so swiftly! When they got there, the East Wind
went in and said that the girl whom he had brought was the one who
ought to have had the Prince up at the castle which lay east of the
sun and west of the moon, and that now she was travelling about to
find him again, so he had come there with her, and would like to
hear if the West Wind knew whereabouts the castle was. "No," said
the West Wind; "so far as that have I never blown; but if you like I
will go with you to the South Wind, for he is much stronger than
either of us, and he has roamed far and wide, and perhaps he can
tell you what you want to know. You may seat yourself on my back,
and then I will carry you to him.".
So she did this, and journeyed to the South Wind, neither was she
very long on the way. When they had got there, the West Wind asked
him if he could tell her the way to the castle that lay east of the
sun and west of the moon, for she was the girl who ought to marry
the Prince who lived there. "Oh, indeed!" said the South Wind, "is
that she? Well," said he, "I have wandered about a great deal in my
time, and in all kinds of places, but I have never blown so far as
that. If you like, however, I will go with you to my brother, the
North Wind; he is the oldest and strongest of all of us, and if he
does not know where it is no one in the whole world will be able to
tell you. You may sit upon my back, and then I will carry you
there." So she seated herself on his back, and off he went from his
house in great haste, and they were not long on the way. When they
came near the North Wind's dwelling, he was so wild and frantic that
they felt cold gusts a long while before they got there. "What do
you want?" he roared out from afar, and they froze as they heard.
Said the South Wind: "It is I, and this is she who should have had
the Prince who lives in the castle which lies east of the sun and
west of the moon. And now she wishes to ask you if you have ever
been there, and can tell her the way, for she would gladly find him
again."
"Yes," said the North Wind, "I know where it is. I once blew an
aspen leaf there, but I was so tired that for many days afterward I
was not able to blow at all. However, if you really are anxious to
go there, and are not afraid to go with me, I will take you on my
back, and try if I can blow you there."
"Get there I must," said she; "and if there is any way of going I
will; and I have no fear, no matter how fast you go."
"Very well then," said the North Wind; "but you must sleep here
to-night, for if we are ever to get there we must have the day
before us."
The North Wind woke her betimes next morning, and puffed himself up,
and made himself so big and so strong that it was frightful to see
him, and away they went, high up through the air, as if they would
not stop until they had reached the very end of the world. Down
below there was such a storm! It blew down woods and houses, and
when they were above the sea the ships were wrecked by hundreds. And
thus they tore on and on, and a long time went by, and then yet more
time passed, and still they were above the sea, and the North Wind
grew tired, and more tired, and at last so utterly weary that he was
scarcely able to blow any longer, and he sank and sank, lower and
lower, until at last he went so low that the waves dashed against
the heels of the poor girl he was carrying. "Art thou afraid?" said
the North Wind. "I have no fear," said she; and it was true. But
they were not very, very far from land, and there was just enough
strength left in the North Wind to enable him to throw her on to the
shore, immediately under the windows of a castle which lay east of
the sun and west of the moon; but then he was so weary and worn out
that he was forced to rest for several days before he could go to
his own home again.
Next morning she sat down beneath the walls of the castle to play
with the golden apple, and the first person she saw was the maiden
with the long nose, who was to have the Prince. "How much do you
want for that gold apple of yours, girl?" said she, opening the
window. "It can't be bought either for gold or money," answered the
girl. "If it cannot be bought either for gold or money, what will
buy it? You may say what you please," said the Princess.
"Well, if I may go to the Prince who is here, and be with him
to-night, you shall have it," said the girl who had come with the
North Wind. "You may do that," said the Princess, for she had made
up her mind what she would do. So the Princess got the golden apple,
but when the girl went up to the Prince's apartment that night he
was asleep, for the Princess had so contrived it. The poor girl
called to him, and shook him, and between whiles she wept; but she
could not wake him. In the morning, as soon as day dawned, in came
the Princess with the long nose, and drove her out again. In the
daytime she sat down once more beneath the windows of the castle,
and began to card with her golden carding-comb; and then all
happened as it had happened before. The Princess asked her what she
wanted for it, and she replied that it was not for sale, either for
gold or money, but that if she could get leave to go to the Prince,
and be with him during the night, she should have it. But when she
went up to the Prince's room he was again asleep, and, let her call
him, or shake him, or weep as she would, he still slept on, and she
could not put any life in him. When daylight came in the morning,
the Princess with the long nose came too, and once more drove her
away. When day had quite come, the girl seated herself under the
castle windows, to spin with her golden spinning-wheel, and the
Princess with the long nose wanted to have that also. So she opened
the window, and asked what she would take for it. The girl said what
she had said on each of the former occasions--that it was not for
sale either for gold or for money, but if she could get leave to go
to the Prince who lived there, and be with him during the night, she
should have it.
"Yes," said the Princess, "I will gladly consent to that."
But in that place there were some Christian folk who had been
carried off, and they had been sitting in the chamber which was next
to that of the Prince, and had heard how a woman had been in there
who had wept and called on him two nights running, and they told the
Prince of this. So that evening, when the Princess came once more
with her sleeping-drink, he pretended to drink, but threw it away
behind him, for he suspected that it was a sleeping-drink. So, when
the girl went into the Prince's room this time he was awake, and she
had to tell him how she had come there. "You have come just in
time," said the Prince, "for I should have been married to-morrow;
but I will not have the long-nosed Princess, and you alone can save
me. I will say that I want to see what my bride can do, and bid her
wash the shirt which has the three drops of tallow on it. This she
will consent to do, for she does not know that it is you who let
them fall on it; but no one can wash them out but one born of
Christian folk: it cannot be done by one of a pack of trolls; and
then I will say that no one shall ever be my bride but the woman who
can do this, and I know that you can." There was great joy and
gladness between them all that night, but the next day, when the
wedding was to take place, the Prince said, "I must see what my
bride can do." "That you may do," said the stepmother.
"I have a fine shirt which I want to wear as my wedding shirt, but
three drops of tallow have got upon it which I want to have washed
off, and I have vowed to marry no one but the woman who is able to
do it. If she cannot do that, she is not worth having."
Well, that was a very small matter, they thought, and agreed to do
it. The Princess with the long nose began to wash as well as she
could, but, the more she washed and rubbed, the larger the spots
grew. "Ah! you can't wash at all," said the old troll-hag, who was
her mother. "Give it to me." But she too had not had the shirt very
long in her hands before it looked worse still, and, the more she
washed it and rubbed it, the larger and blacker grew the spots.
So the other trolls had to come and wash, but, the more they did,
the blacker and uglier grew the shirt, until at length it was as
black as if it had been up the chimney. "Oh," cried the Prince, "not
one of you is good for anything at all! There is a beggar-girl
sitting outside the window, and I'll be bound that she can wash
better than any of you! Come in, you girl there!" he cried. So she
came in. "Can you wash this shirt clean?" he cried. "Oh! I don't
know," she said; "but I will try." And no sooner had she taken the
shirt and dipped it in the water than it was white as driven snow,
and even whiter than that. "I will marry you," said the Prince.
Then the old troll-hag flew into such a rage that she burst, and the
Princess with the long nose and all the little trolls must have
burst too, for they have never been heard of since. The Prince and
his bride set free all the Christian folk who were imprisoned there,
and took away with them all the gold and silver that they could
carry, and moved far away from the castle which lay east of the sun
and west of the moon.
East of the Sun and West
of the Moon
from the Blue Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
