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Once upon
a time...
There was once a lad who went to look for a place. As he went
along he met a man, who asked him where he was going. He told him
his errand, and the stranger said, 'Then you can serve me; I am just
in want of a lad like you, and I will give you good wages--a bushel
of money the first year, two the second year, and three the third
year, for you must serve me three years, and obey me in everything,
however strange it seems to you. You need not be afraid of taking
service with me, for there is no danger in it if you only know how
to obey.'
The bargain was made, and the lad went home with the man to whom he
had engaged himself. It was a strange place indeed, for he lived in
a bank in the middle of the wild forest, and the lad saw there no
other person than his master. The latter was a great troll, and had
marvellous power over both men and beasts.
Next day the lad had to begin his service. The first thing that the
troll set him to was to feed all the wild animals from the forest.
These the troll had tied up, and there were both wolves and bears,
deer and hares, which the troll had gathered in the stalls and folds
in his stable down beneath the ground, and that stable was a mile
long. The boy, however, accomplished all this work on that day, and
the troll praised him and said that it was very well done.
Next morning the troll said to him, 'To-day the animals are not to
be fed; they don't get the like of that every day. You shall have
leave to play about for a little, until they are to be fed again.'
Then the troll said some words to him which he did not understand,
and with that the lad turned into a hare, and ran out into the wood.
He got plenty to run for, too, for all the hunters aimed at him, and
tried to shoot him, and the dogs barked and ran after him wherever
they got wind of him. He was the only animal that was left in the
wood now, for the troll had tied up all the others, and every hunter
in the whole country was eager to knock him over. But in this they
met with no success; there was no dog that could overtake him, and
no marksman that could hit him. They shot and shot at him, and he
ran and ran. It was an unquiet life, but in the long run he got used
to it, when he saw that there was no danger in it, and it even
amused him to befool all the hunters and dogs that were so eager
after him.
Thus a whole year passed, and when it was over the troll called him
home, for he was now in his power like all the other animals. The
troll then said some words to him which he did not understand, and
the hare immediately became a human being again. 'Well, how do you
like to serve me?' said the troll, 'and how do you like being a
hare?'
The lad replied that he liked it very well; he had never been able
to go over the ground so quickly before. The troll then showed him
the bushel of money that he had already earned, and the lad was well
pleased to serve him for another year.
The first day of the second year the boy had the same work to do as
on the previous one--namely, to feed all the wild animals in the
troll's stable. When he had done this the troll again said some
words to him, and with that he became a raven, and flew high up into
the air. This was delightful, the lad thought; he could go even
faster now than when he was a hare, and the dogs could not come
after him here. This was a great delight to him, but he soon found
out that he was not to be left quite at peace, for all the marksmen
and hunters who saw him aimed at him and fired away, for they had no
other birds to shoot at than himself, as the troll had tied up all
the others.
This, however, he also got used to, when he saw that they could
never hit him, and in this way he flew about all that year, until
the troll called him home again, said some strange words to him, and
gave him his human shape again. 'Well, how did you like being a
raven?' said the troll.
'I liked it very well,' said the lad, 'for never in all my days have
I been able to rise so high.' The troll then showed him the two
bushels of money which he had earned that year, and the lad was well
content to remain in his service for another year.
Next day he got his old task of feeding all the wild beasts. When
this was done the troll again said some words to him, and at these
he turned into a fish, and sprang into the river. He swam up and he
swam down, and thought it was pleasant to let himself drive with the
stream. In this way he came right out into the sea, and swam further
and further out. At last he came to a glass palace, which stood at
the bottom of the sea. He could see into all the rooms and halls,
where everything was very grand; all the furniture was of white
ivory, inlaid with gold and pearl. There were soft rugs and cushions
of all the colours of the rainbow, and beautiful carpets that looked
like the finest moss, and flowers and trees with curiously crooked
branches, both green and yellow, white and red, and there were also
little fountains which sprang up from the most beautiful
snail-shells, and fell into bright mussel-shells, and at the same
time made a most delightful music, which filled the whole palace.
The most beautiful thing of all, however, was a young girl who went
about there, all alone. She went about from one room to another, but
did not seem to be happy with all the grandeur she had about her.
She walked in solitude and melancholy, and never even thought of
looking at her own image in the polished glass walls that were on
every side of her, although she was the prettiest creature anyone
could wish to see. The lad thought so too while he swam round the
palace and peeped in from every side.
'Here, indeed, it would be better to be a man than such a poor dumb
fish as I am now,' said he to himself; 'if I could only remember the
words that the troll says when he changes my shape, then perhaps I
could help myself to become a man again.' He swam and he pondered
and he thought over this until he remembered the sound of what the
troll said, and then he tried to say it himself. In a moment he
stood in human form at the bottom of the sea.
He made haste then to enter the glass palace, and went up to the
young girl and spoke to her.
At first he nearly frightened the life out of her, but he talked to
her so kindly and explained how he had come down there that she soon
recovered from her alarm, and was very pleased to have some company
to relieve the terrible solitude that she lived in. Time passed so
quickly for both of them that the youth (for now he was quite a
young man, and no more a lad) forgot altogether how long he had been
there.
One day the girl said to him that now it was close on the time when
he must become a fish again--the troll would soon call him home, and
he would have to go, but before that he must put on the shape of the
fish, otherwise he could not pass through the sea alive. Before
this, while he was staying down there, she had told him that she was
a daughter of the same troll whom the youth served, and he had shut
her up there to keep her away from everyone. She had now devised a
plan by which they could perhaps succeed in getting to see each
other again, and spending the rest of their lives together. But
there was much to attend to, and he must give careful heed to all
that she told him.
She told him then that all the kings in the country round about were
in debt to her father the troll, and the king of a certain kingdom,
the name of which she told him, was the first who had to pay, and if
he could not do so at the time appointed he would lose his head.
'And he cannot pay,' said she; 'I know that for certain. Now you
must, first of all, give up your service with my father; the three
years are past, and you are at liberty to go. You will go off with
your six bushels of money, to the kingdom that I have told you of,
and there enter the service of the king. When the time comes near
for his debt becoming due you will be able to notice by his manner
that he is ill at ease. You shall then say to him that you know well
enough what it is that is weighing upon him--that it is the debt
which he owes to the troll and cannot pay, but that you can lend him
the money. The amount is six bushels--just what you have. You shall,
however, only lend them to him on condition that you may accompany
him when he goes to make the payment, and that you then have
permission to run before him as a fool. When you arrive at the
troll's abode, you must perform all kinds of foolish tricks, and see
that you break a whole lot of his windows, and do all other damage
that you can. My father will then get very angry, and as the king
must answer for what his fool does he will sentence him, even
although he has paid his debt, either to answer three questions or
to lose his life. The first question my father will ask will be,
"Where is my daughter?" Then you shall step forward and answer "She
is at the bottom of the sea." He will then ask you whether you can
recognise her, and to this you will answer "Yes." Then he will bring
forward a whole troop of women, and cause them to pass before you,
in order that you may pick out the one that you take for his
daughter. You will not be able to recognise me at all, and therefore
I will catch hold of you as I go past, so that you can notice it,
and you must then make haste to catch me and hold me fast. You have
then answered his first question. His next question will be, "Where
is my heart?" You shall then step forward again and answer, "It is
in a fish." "Do you know that fish?" he will say, and you will again
answer "Yes." He will then cause all kinds of fish to come before
you, and you shall choose between them. I shall take good care to
keep by your side, and when the right fish comes I will give you a
little push, and with that you will seize the fish and cut it up.
Then all will be over with the troll; he will ask no more questions,
and we shall be free to wed.'
When the youth had got all these directions as to what he had to do
when he got ashore again the next thing was to remember the words
which the troll said when he changed him from a human being to an
animal; but these he had forgotten, and the girl did not know them
either. He went about all day in despair, and thought and thought,
but he could not remember what they sounded like. During the night
he could not sleep, until towards morning he fell into a slumber,
and all at once it flashed upon him what the troll used to say. He
made haste to repeat the words, and at the same moment he became a
fish again and slipped out into the sea. Immediately after this he
was called upon, and swam through the sea up the river to where the
troll stood on the bank and restored him to human shape with the
same words as before.
'Well, how do you like to be a fish?' asked the troll.
It was what he had liked best of all, said the youth, and that was
no lie, as everybody can guess.
The troll then showed him the three bushels of money which he had
earned during the past year; they stood beside the other three, and
all the six now belonged to him.
'Perhaps you will serve me for another year yet,' said the troll,
'and you will get six bushels of money for it; that m&kes twelve in
all, and that is a pretty penny.'
'No,' said the youth; he thought he had done enough, and was anxious
to go to some other place to serve, and learn other people's ways;
but he would, perhaps, come back to the troll some other time.
The troll said that he would always be welcome; he had served him
faithfully for the three years they had agreed upon, and he could
make no objections to his leaving now.
The youth then got his six bushels of money, and with these he
betook himself straight to the kingdom which his sweetheart had told
him of. He got his money buried in a lonely spot close to the king's
palace, and then went in there and asked to be taken into service.
He obtained his request, and was taken on as stableman, to tend the
king's horses.
Some time passed, and he noticed how the king always went about
sorrowing and grieving, and was never glad or happy. One day the
king came into the stable, where there was no one present except the
youth, who said straight out to him that, with his majesty's
permission, he wished to ask him why he was so sorrowful.
'It's of no use speaking about that,' said the king; 'you cannot
help me, at any rate.'
'You don't know about that,' said the youth; ' I know well enough
what it is that lies so heavy on your mind, and I know also of a
plan to get the money paid.'
This was quite another case, and the king had more talk with the
stableman, who said that he could easily lend the king the six
bushels of money, but would only do it on condition that he should
be allowed to accompany the king when he went to pay the debt, and
that he should then be dressed like the king's court fool, and run
before him. He would cause some trouble, for which the king would be
severely spoken to, but he would answer for it that no harm would
befall him.
The king gladly agreed to all that the youth proposed, and it was
now high time for them to set out.
When they came to the troll's dwelling it was no longer in the bank,
but on the top of this there stood a large castle which the youth
had never seen before. The troll could, in fact, make it visible or
invisible, just as he pleased, and, knowing as much as he did of the
troll's magic arts, the youth was not at all surprised at this.
When they came near to this castle, which looked as if it was of
pure glass, the youth ran on in front as the king's fool. Heran
sometimes facing forwards, sometimes backwards, stood sometimes on
his head, and sometimes on his feet, and he dashed in pieces so many
of the troll's big glass windows and doors that it was something
awful to see, and overturned everything he could, and made a fearful
disturbance.
The troll came rushing out, and was so angry and furious, and abused
the king with all his might for bringing such a wretched fool with
him, as he was sure that he could not pay the least bit of all the
damage that had been done when he could not even pay off his old
debt.
The fool, however, spoke up, and said that he could do so quite
easily, and the king then came forward with the six bushels of money
which the youth had lent him. They were measured and found to be
correct. This the troll had not reckoned on, but he could make no
objection against it. The old debt was honestly paid, and the king
got his bond back again.
But there still remained all the damage that had been done that day,
and the king had nothing with which to pay for this. The troll,
therefore, sentenced the king, either to answer three questions that
he would put to him, or have his head taken off, as was agreed on in
the old bond.
There was nothing else to be done than to try to answer the troll's
riddles. The fool then stationed himself just by the king's side
while the troll came forward with his questions. He first asked,
'Where is my daughter?'
The fool spoke up and said, 'She is at the bottom of the sea.'
'How do you know that?' said the troll.
'The little fish saw it,' said the fool.
'Would you know her?' said the troll.
'Yes, bring her forward,' said the fool.
The troll made a whole crowd of women go past them, one after the
other, but all these were nothing but shadows and deceptions.
Amongst the very last was the troll's real daughter, who pinched the
fool as she went past him to make him aware of her presence. He
thereupon caught her round the waist and held her fast, and the
troll had to admit that his first riddle was solved.
Then the troll asked again: 'Where is my heart?'
'It is in a fish,' said the fool.
'Would you know that fish?' said the troll.
'Yes, bring it forward,' said the fool.
Then all the fishes came swimming past them, and meanwhile the
troll's daughter stood just by the youth's side. When at last the
right fish came swimming along she gave him a nudge, and he seized
it at once, drove his knife into it, and split it up, took the heart
out of it, and cut it through the middle.
At the same moment the troll fell dead and turned into pieces of
flint. With that a,ll the bonds that the troll had bound were
broken; all the wild beasts and birds which he had caught and hid
under the ground were free now, and dispersed themselves in the
woods and in the air.
The youth and his sweetheart entered the castle, which was now
theirs, and held their wedding; and all the kings roundabout, who
had been in the troll's debt, and were now out of it, came to the
wedding, and saluted the youth as their emperor, and he ruled over
them all, and kept peace between them, and lived in his castle with
his beautiful empress in great joy and magnificence. And if they
have not died since they are living there to this day.
The Troll's Daughter
from the Pink Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
