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Once upon
a time...
A father had two sons, of whom the eldest was clever and
bright, and always knew what he was about; but the youngest was
stupid, and couldn't learn or understand anything. So much so that
those who saw him exclaimed: "What a burden he'll be to his father!"
Now when there was anything to be done, the eldest had always to do
it; but if something was required later or in the night-time, and
the way led through the churchyard or some such ghostly place, he
always replied: "Oh! no, father: nothing will induce me to go there,
it makes me shudder!" for he was afraid. Or, when they sat of an
evening around the fire telling stories which made one's flesh
creep, the listeners sometimes said: "Oh! it makes one shudder," the
youngest sat in a corner, heard the exclamation, and could not
understand what it meant. "They are always saying it makes one
shudder! it makes one shudder! Nothing makes me shudder. It's
probably an art quite beyond me."
Now it happened that his father said to him one day: "Hearken, you
there in the corner; you are growing big and strong, and you must
learn to earn your own bread. Look at your brother, what pains he
takes; but all the money I've spent on your education is thrown
away." "My dear father," he replied, "I will gladly learn in fact,
if it were possible I should like to learn to shudder; I don't
understand that a bit yet." The eldest laughed when he heard this,
and thought to himself: "Good heavens! what a ninny my brother is!
he'll never come to any good; as the twig is bent, so is the tree
inclined." The father sighed, and answered him: "You'll soon learn
to shudder; but that won't help you to make a living."
Shortly after this, when the sexton came to pay them a visit, the
father broke out to him, and told him what a bad hand his youngest
son was at everything: he knew nothing and learned nothing. "Only
think! when I asked him how he purposed gaining a livelihood, he
actually asked to be taught to shudder." "If that's all he wants,"
said the sexton, "I can teach him that; just you send him to me,
I'll soon polish him up." The father was quite pleased with the
proposal, because he thought: "It will be a good discipline for the
youth." And so the sexton took him into his house, and his duty was
to toll the bell. After a few days he woke him at midnight, and bade
him rise and climb into the tower and toll. "Now, my friend, I'll
teach you to shudder," thought he. He stole forth secretly in front,
and when the youth was up above, and had turned round to grasp the
bell-rope, he saw, standing opposite the hole of the belfry, a white
figure. "Who's there?" he called out, but the figure gave no answer,
and neither stirred nor moved. "Answer," cried the youth, "or
begone; you have no business here at this hour of the night." But
the sexton remained motionless, so that the youth might think that
it was a ghost. The youth called out the second time: "What do you
want here? Speak if you are an honest fellow, or I'll knock you down
the stairs." The sexton thought: "He can't mean that in earnest," so
gave forth no sound, and stood as though he were made of stone. Then
the youth shouted out to him the third time, and as that too had no
effect, he made a dash at the spectre and knocked it down the
stairs, so that it fell about ten steps and remained lying in a
corner. Thereupon he tolled the bell, went home to bed without
saying a word, and fell asleep. The sexton's wife waited a long time
for her husband, but he never appeared. At last she became anxious,
and woke the youth, and asked: "Don't you know where my husband is?
He went up to the tower in front of you." "No," answered the youth;
"but someone stood on the stairs up there just opposite the
trap-door in the belfry, and because he wouldn't answer me, or go
away, I took him for a rogue and knocked him down. You'd better go
and see if it was he; I should be much distressed if it were." The
wife ran and found her husband who was lying groaning in a corner,
with his leg broken.
She carried him down, and then hurried with loud protestations to
the youth's father. "Your son has been the cause of a pretty
misfortune," she cried; "he threw my husband downstairs so that he
broke his leg. Take the good-for-nothing wretch out of our house."
The father was horrified, hurried to the youth, and gave him a
scolding.
"What unholy pranks are these? The evil one must have put them into
your head." "Father," he replied, "only listen to me; I am quite
guiltless. He stood there in the night, like one who meant harm. I
didn't know who it was, and warned him three times to speak or
begone." "Oh!" groaned the father, "you'll bring me nothing but
misfortune; get out of my sight, I won't have anything more to do
with you." "Yes, father, willingly; only wait till daylight, then
I'll set out and learn to shudder, and in that way I shall be master
of an art which will gain me a living." "Learn what you will," said
the father, "it's all one to me. Here are fifty dollars for you, set
forth into the wide world with them; but see you tell no one where
you come from or who your father is, for I am ashamed of you." "Yes,
father, whatever you wish; and if that's all you ask, I can easily
keep it in mind."
When day broke the youth put the fifty dollars into his pocket, set
out on the hard high road, and kept muttering to himself: "If I
could only shudder! if I could only shudder!" Just at this moment a
man came by who heard the youth speaking to himself, and when they
had gone on a bit and were in sight of the gallows the man said to
him: "Look! there is the tree where seven people have been hanged,
and are now learning to fly; sit down under it and wait till
nightfall, and then you'll pretty soon learn to shudder." "If that's
all I have to do," answered the youth, "it's easily done; but if I
learn to shudder so quickly, then you shall have my fifty dollars.
Just come back to me tomorrow morning early." Then the youth went to
the gallows-tree and sat down underneath it, and waited for the
evening; and because he felt cold he lit himself a fire. But at
midnight it got so chill that in spite of the fire he couldn't keep
warm. And as the wind blew the corpses one against the other,
tossing them to and fro, he thought to himself: "If you are
perishing down here by the fire, how those poor things up there must
be shaking and shivering!" And because he had a tender heart, he put
up a ladder, which he climbed unhooked one body after the other, and
took down all the seven. Then he stirred the fire, blew it up, and
placed them all round in a circle, that they might warm themselves.
But they sat there and did not move, and the fire caught their
clothes. Then he spoke: "Take care, or I'll hang you up again." But
the dead men did not hear and let their rags go on burning. Then he
got angry, and said: "If you aren't careful yourselves, then I can't
help you, and I don't mean to burn with you"; and he hung them up
again in a row. Then he sat down at his fire and fell asleep. On the
following morning the man came to him, and, wishing to get his fifty
dollars, said: "Now you know what it is to shudder." "No," he
answered, "how should I? Those fellows up there never opened their
mouths, and were so stupid that they let those few old tatters they
have on their bodies burn." Then the man saw he wouldn't get his
fifty dollars that day, and went off, saying: "Well, I'm blessed if
I ever met such a person in my life before."
The youth went too on his way, and began to murmur to himself: "Oh!
if I could only shudder! if I could only shudder!" A carrier who was
walking behind him heard these words, and asked him: "Who are you"
"I don't know," said the youth. "Where do you hail from?" "I don't
know." "Who's your father?" "I mayn't say." "What are you constantly
muttering to yourself?" "Oh!" said the youth, "I would give worlds
to shudder, but no one can teach me." "Stuff and nonsense!" spoke
the carrier; "come along with me, and I'll soon put that right." The
youth went with the carrier, and in the evening they reached an inn,
where they were to spend the night. Then, just as he was entering
the room, he said again, quite aloud: "Oh! if I could only shudder!
if I could only shudder!" The landlord, who heard this, laughed and
said: "If that's what you're sighing for, you shall be given every
opportunity here." "Oh! hold your tongue!" said the landlord's wife;
"so many people have paid for their curiosity with their lives, it
were a thousand pities if those beautiful eyes were never again to
behold daylight." But the youth said: "No matter how difficult, I
insist on learning it; why, that's what I've set out to do." He left
the landlord no peace till he told him that in the neighbourhood
stood a haunted castle, where one could easily learn to shudder if
one only kept watch in it for three nights. The King had promised
the man who dared to do this thing his daughter as wife, and she was
the most beautiful maiden under the sun. There was also much
treasure hid in the castle, guarded by evil spirits, which would
then be free, and was sufficient to make a poor man more than rich.
Many had already gone in, but so far none had ever come out again.
So the youth went to the King and spoke: "If I were allowed, I
should much like to watch for three nights in the castle." The King
looked at him, and because he pleased him, he said: "You can ask for
three things, none of them living, and those you may take with you
into the castle." Then he answered: "Well, I shall beg for a fire, a
turning lathe, and a carving bench with the knife attached."
On the following day the King had everything put into the castle;
and when night drew on the youth took up his position there, lit a
bright fire in one of the rooms, placed the carving bench with the
knife close to it, and sat himself down on the turning lathe. "Oh!
if I could only shudder!" he said: "but I sha'n't learn it here
either." Toward midnight he wanted to make up the fire, and as he
was blowing up a blaze he heard a shriek from a corner. "Ou, miou!
how cold we are!" "You fools!" he cried; "why do you scream? If you
are cold, come and sit at the fire and warm yourselves." And as he
spoke two huge black cats sprang fiercely forward and sat down, one
on each side of him, and gazed wildly at him with their fiery eyes.
After a time, when they had warmed themselves, they said: "Friend,
shall we play a little game of cards?" "Why not?" he replied; "but
first let me see your paws." Then they stretched out their claws.
"Ha!" said he; "what long nails you've got! Wait a minute: I must
first cut them off." Thereupon he seized them by the scruff of their
necks, lifted them on to the carving bench, and screwed down their
paws firmly. "After watching you narrowly," said he, "I no longer
feel any desire to play cards with you"; and with these words he
struck them dead and threw them out into the water. But when he had
thus sent the two of them to their final rest, and was again about
to sit down at the fire, out of every nook and corner came forth
black cats and black dogs with fiery chains in such swarms that he
couldn't possibly get away from them. They yelled in the most
ghastly manner, jumped upon his fire, scattered it all, and tried to
put it out. He looked on quietly for a time, but when it got beyond
a joke he seized his carving-knife and called out: "Be off, you
rabble rout!" and let fly at them. Some of them fled away, and the
others he struck dead and threw them out into the pond below. When
he returned he blew up the sparks of the fire once more, and warmed
himself. And as he sat thus his eyes refused to keep open any
longer, and a desire to sleep stole over him. Then he looked around
him and beheld in the corner a large bed. "The very thing," he said,
and laid himself down in it. But when he wished to close his eyes
the bed began to move by itself, and ran all round the castle.
"Capital," he said, "only a little quicker." Then the bed sped on as
if drawn by six horses, over thresholds and stairs, up this way and
down that. All of a sudden--crash, crash! with a bound it turned
over, upside down, and lay like a mountain on the top of him. But he
tossed the blankets and pillows in the air, emerged from underneath,
and said: "Now anyone who has the fancy for it may go a drive," lay
down at his fire, and slept till daylight. In the morning the King
came, and when he beheld him lying on the ground he imagined the
ghosts had been too much for him, and that he was dead. Then he
said: "What a pity! and such a fine fellow he was." The youth heard
this, got up, and said: "It's not come to that yet." Then the King
was astonished, but very glad, and asked how it had fared with him.
"First-rate," he answered; "and now I've survived the one night, I
shall get through the other two also." The landlord, when he went to
him, opened his eyes wide, and said: "Well, I never thought to see
you alive again. Have you learned now what shuddering is ?" "No," he
replied, "it's quite hopeless; if someone could only tell me how
to!"
The second night he went up again to the old castle, sat down at the
fire, and began his old refrain: "If I could only shudder!" As
midnight approached, a noise and din broke out, at first gentle, but
gradually increasing; then all was quiet for a minute, and at
length, with a loud scream, half of a man dropped down the chimney
and fell before him. "Hi, up there!" shouted he; "there's another
half wanted down here, that's not enough"; then the din commenced
once more, there was a shrieking and a yelling, and then the other
half fell down. "Wait a bit," he said; "I'll stir up the fire for
you." When he had done this and again looked around, the two pieces
had united, and a horrible-looking man sat on his seat. "Come," said
the youth, "I didn't bargain for that, the seat is mine." The man
tried to shove him away, but the youth wouldn't allow it for a
moment, and, pushing him off by force, sat down in his place again.
Then more men dropped down, one after the other, who fetching nine
skeleton legs and two skulls, put them up and played ninepins with
them. The youth thought he would like to play too, and said: "Look
here; do you mind my joining the game?" "No, not if you have money."
"I've money enough," he replied, "but your balls aren't round
enough." Then he took the skulls, placed them on his lathe, and
turned them till they were round. "Now they'll roll along better,"
said he, "and houp-la! now the fun begins." He played with them and
lost some of his money, but when twelve struck everything vanished
before his eyes. He lay down and slept peacefully. The next morning
the King came, anxious for news. "How have you got on this time?" he
asked. "I played ninepins," he answered, "and lost a few pence."
"Didn't you shudder then?" "No such luck," said he; "I made myself
merry. Oh! if I only knew what it was to shudder!"
On the third night he sat down again on his bench, and said, in the
most desponding way: "If I could only shudder!" When it got late,
six big men came in carrying a coffin. Then he cried: "Ha! ha!
that's most likely my little cousin who only died a few days ago";
and beckoning with his finger he called out: "Come, my small cousin,
come." They placed the coffin on the ground, and he approached it
and took off the cover. In it lay a dead man. He felt his face, and
it was cold as ice. "Wait," he said "I'll heat you up a bit," went
to the fire, warmed his hand, and laid it on the man's face, but the
dead remained cold. Then he lifted him out, sat down at the fire,
laid him on his knee, and rubbed his arms that the blood should
circulate again. When that too had no effect it occurred to him that
if two people lay together in bed they warmed each other; so he put
him into the bed, covered him up, and lay down beside him; after a
time the corpse became warm and began to move. Then the youth said:
"Now, my little cousin, what would have happened if I hadn't warmed
you?" But the dead man rose up and cried out: "Now I will strangle
you." "What!" said he, "is that all the thanks I get? You should be
put straight back into your coffin," lifted him up, threw him in,
and closed the lid. Then the six men came and carried him out again.
"I simply can't shudder," he said, "and it's clear I sha'n't learn
it in a lifetime here."
Then a man entered, of more than ordinary size and of a very fearful
appearance; but he was old and had a white beard. "Oh! you miserable
creature, now you will soon know what it is to shudder," he cried,
"for you must die." "Not so quickly," answered the youth. "If I am
to die, you must catch me first." "I shall soon lay hold of you,"
spoke the monster. "Gently, gently, don't boast too much, I'm as
strong as you, and stronger too." "We'll soon see," said the old
man; "if you are stronger than I then I'll let you off; come, let's
have a try." Then he led him through some dark passages to a forge,
and grasping an axe he drove one of the anvils with a blow into the
earth. "I can do better than that," cried the youth, and went to the
other anvil. The old man drew near him in order to watch closely,
and his white beard hung right down. The youth seized the axe, cleft
the anvil open, and jammed in the old man's beard. "Now I have you,"
said the youth; "this time it's your turn to die." Then he seized an
iron rod and belaboured the old man till he, whimpering, begged him
to leave off, and he would give him great riches. The youth drew out
the axe and let him go. The old man led him back to the castle and
showed him in a cellar three chests of gold. "One of these," said
he, "belongs to the poor, one to the King, and the third is yours."
At that moment twelve struck, and the spirit vanished, leaving the
youth alone in the dark. "I'll surely be able to find a way out,"
said he, and groping about he at length found his way back to the
room, and fell asleep at his fire. The next morning the King came,
and said: "Well, now you've surely learned to shudder?" "No," he
answered; "what can it be? My dead cousin was here, and an old
bearded man came, who showed me heaps of money down below there, but
what shuddering is no one has told me." Then the King spoke: "You
have freed the castle from its curse, and you shall marry my
daughter." "That's all charming," he said; abut I still don't know
what it is to shudder."
Then the gold was brought up, and the wedding was celebrated, but
the young King, though he loved his wife dearly, and though he was
very happy, still kept on saying: "If I could only shudder! if I
could only shudder!" At last he reduced her to despair. Then her
maid said: "I'll help you; we'll soon make him shudder." So she went
out to the stream that flowed through the garden, and had a pail
full of little gudgeons brought to her. At night, when the young
King was asleep, his wife had to pull the clothes off him, and pour
the pail full of little gudgeons over him, so that the little fish
swam all about him. Then he awoke and cried out: "Oh! how I shudder,
how I shudder, dear wife! Yes, now I know what shuddering is."
Tale of a Youth who set
out to learn what Fear was
from the Blue Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
