|
Once upon
a time...
There was once upon a time a poor boy who had neither father
nor mother. In order to gain a living he looked after the sheep of a
great Lord. Day and night he spent out in the open fields, and only
when it was very wet and stormy did he take refuge in a little hut
on the edge of a big forest.
Now one night, when he
was sitting on the grass beside his flocks, he heard not very far
from him the sound as of some one crying. He rose up and followed
the direction of the noise. To his dismay and astonishment he found
a Giant lying at the entrance of the wood; he was about to run off
as fast as his legs could carry him, when the Giant called out:
'Don't be afraid, I won't harm you. On the contrary, I will reward
you handsomely if you will bind up my foot. I hurt it when I was
trying to root up an oak-tree.' The Herd-boy took off his shirt, and
bound up the Giant's wounded foot with it. Then the Giant rose up
and said, 'Now come and I will reward you. We are going to celebrate
a marriage to-day, and I promise you we shall have plenty of fun.
Come and enjoy yourself, but in order that my brothers mayn't see
you, put this band round your waist and then you'll be invisible.'
With these words he handed the Herd-boy a belt, and walking on in
front he led him to a fountain where hundreds of Giants and
Giantesses were assembled preparing to hold a wedding.
They danced and played
different games till midnight; then one of the Giants tore up a
plant by its roots, and all the Giants and Giantesses made
themselves so thin that they disappeared into the earth through the
hole made by the uprooting of the plant. The wounded Giant remained
behind to the last and called out, 'Herd-boy, where are you?' 'Here
I am, close to you,' was the reply. 'Touch me,' said the Giant, 'so
that you too may come with us under ground.' The Herd-boy did as he
was told, and before he could have believed it possible he found
himself in a big hall, where even the walls were made of pure gold.
Then to his astonishment he saw that the hall was furnished with the
tables and chairs that belonged to his master. In a few minutes the
company began to eat and drink.
The banquet was a very gorgeous one, and the poor youth fell to and
ate and drank lustily. When he had eaten and drunk as much as he
could he thought to himself, 'Why shouldn't I put a loaf of bread in
my pocket? I shall be glad of it to-morrow.' So he seized a loaf
when no one was looking and stowed it away under his tunic. No
sooner had he done so than the wounded Giant limped up to him and
whispered softly, 'Herd-boy, where are you?' 'Here I am,' replied
the youth. 'Then hold on to me,' said the Giant, 'so that I may lead
you up above again.' So the Herd-boy held on to the Giant, and in a
few moments he found himself on the earth once more, but the Giant
had vanished. The Herd-boy returned to his sheep, and took off the
invisible belt which he hid carefully in his bag.
The next morning the lad felt hungry, and thought he would cut off a
piece of the loaf he had carried away from the Giants' wedding
feast, and eat it. But although he tried with all his might, he
couldn't cut off the smallest piece. Then in despair he bit the
loaf, and what was his astonishment when a piece of gold fell out of
his mouth and rolled at his feet. He bit the bread a second and
third time, and each time a piece of gold fell out of his mouth; but
the bread remained untouched. The Herd-boy was very much delighted
over his stroke of good fortune, and, hiding the magic loaf in his
bag, he hurried off to the nearest village to buy himself something
to eat, and then returned to his sheep.
Now the Lord whose sheep the Herd-boy looked after had a very lovely
daughter, who always smiled and nodded to the youth when she walked
with her father in his fields. For a long time the Herd-boy had made
up his mind to prepare a surprise for this beautiful creature on her
birthday. So when the day approached he put on his invisible belt,
took a sack of gold pieces with him, and slipping into her room in
the middle of the night, he placed the bag of gold beside her bed
and returned to his sheep. The girl's joy was great, and so was her
parents' next day when they found the sack full of gold pieces. The
Herd-boy was so pleased to think what pleasure he had given that the
next night he placed another bag of gold beside the girl's bed. And
this he continued to do for seven nights, and the girl and her
parents made up their minds that it must be a good Fairy who brought
the gold every night. But one night they determined to watch, and
see from their hiding place who the bringer of the sack of gold
really was.
On the eighth night a fearful storm of wind and rain came on while
the Herd-boy was on his way to bring the beautiful girl another bag
of gold. Then for the first time he noticed, just as he reached his
master's house, that he had forgotten the belt which made him
invisible. He didn't like the idea of going back to his hut in the
wind and wet, so he just stepped as he was into the girl's room,
laid the sack of gold beside her, and was turning to leave the room,
when his master confronted him and said, 'You young rogue, so you
were going to steal the gold that a good Fairy brings every night,
were you?' The Herd-boy was so taken aback by his words, that he
stood trembling before him, and did not dare to explain his
presence. Then his master spoke. 'As you have hitherto always
behaved well in my service I will not send you to prison; but leave
your place instantly and never let me see your face again.'
So the Herd-boy went
back to his hut, and taking his loaf and belt with him, he went to
the nearest town. There he bought himself some fine clothes, and a
beautiful coach with four horses, hired two servants, and drove back
to his master. You may imagine how astonished he was to see his
Herd-boy returning to him in this manner! Then the youth told him of
the piece of good luck that had befallen him, and asked him for the
hand of his beautiful daughter. This was readily granted, and the
two lived in peace and happiness to the end of their lives.
The Giants and the
Herd-Boy
from the Yellow Fairy Book
Story Edited
by Andrew Lang |
