CHAPTER IX

IN WHICH SWEET WILLIAM TELLS A STORY

There was once a goose-girl named Kora, who used to herd her master’s geese in a certain field. Now at one end of this field there was a grassy mound, inside which lived a very rich and wicked troll, who came every day to his doorway to watch the goose-girl as she sat in the shadow of a hollow tree, knitting and singing, and minding her geese. “She is so cheerful and industrious,” said he to himself, “that doubtless she would make a very good wife.”

But one day when he stood at his threshold to look at her, he saw that she had let her knitting fall into her lap, and that instead of singing, she was weeping bitterly. Very cautiously he crept up behind her, and touched her gently on the arm. Kora started and screamed when she caught sight of the troll, for he was ugly and misshapen, and had an uncommonly large head.

“Why are you crying, my girl?” he asked.

“Because one of my geese has strayed,” said she, “and I have sought for it till I am tired out, and I know that my master will be very angry with me.”

“That is soon mended,” replied the troll, “for in my house I have a magic crystal, which tells me where I may find all lost and missing things. Come with me, pretty maid, and I will see what I can do for you.”

So Kora followed him joyfully into the little house within the knoll, and looked with great curiosity at the wonderful crystal. She noticed that it bore the following inscription:—

“In all the world there is but one spot, Unknown to men, by fays forgot, Wherein my power availeth not.”

But she did not pay much attention to the words at the time.

“I can see your goose already,” cried the troll, as he peered into the crystal; “it has strayed as far as the sand dunes.”

“Then I must go and seek it immediately,” replied Kora, “and I thank you most heartily for your courtesy.”

“Not so fast, not so fast,” the troll made answer, catching her by the arm; “you are pretty and neat-fingered, my girl, and have a sweet voice. You shall stay and keep house for me, and be my wife.”

Kora protested with tears and cries and wringing of hands, but it was all to no purpose; so she pretended to resign herself to her lot, though in reality she never ceased planning how she might escape from it. Presently an idea came to her, and one day, instead of busying herself about the house as usual, she remained seated by the hearth, her head in her hands, the picture of dejection.

“What is the matter now?” demanded the troll.

“The matter!” cried Kora, with a great show of indignation; “when you have never so much as given me a wedding-ring! When men take wives in the upper world, they give them golden wedding-rings in token of their troth.”

“Is that all?” said the troll. “Dry your eyes then, my love, for you shall soon have rings in plenty.”

So saying he went into his own private closet, a dark little room at the back of the house, and presently returned laden with sacks and caskets, all full of gold and silver, jewels and trinkets. Kora began trying on one ring after another, but none of them seemed to please her, and at last she turned away with a gesture of impatience.

“These are not the right sort,” said she scornfully, “for they are all set with precious stones, while a real wedding-ring is only a plain gold circlet. I will not do another stroke of work about the house till you have brought me a proper wedding-ring.”

“I will go to the goldsmith and get you one, my love,” said her husband, and he set out that same day.

No sooner, however, had Kora watched him out of sight, than she ran into the wood that skirted the meadow, and kept on running till she was so tired and out of breath that she had to sit down and rest. Then she noticed that something underground was shovelling up the earth at her feet, throwing it about in all directions. She expected to see a mole emerge, but when the creature did at last appear it proved to be a little brown gnome, with a sack flung across his shoulder.

“Tell me, good gnome,” cried Kora, “how I may escape from my husband the troll. He has a magic crystal by means of which he is able to find all lost and missing things, so that I cannot think of a safe enough hiding-place.”

“You must take another shape,” replied the gnome, and he turned her into a crystal that twinkled on the edge of a jagged rock.

When the troll came home and missed his wife, he was very angry, and went straight to his magic crystal; and there, sure enough, he not only saw the sparkle in the rock, but also recognised his wife under her assumed shape. Immediately he hurried into the wood, carrying a hammer, and having broken away the splinter of rock, he took it home in triumph, and no sooner had he crossed his own threshold than his wife stood before him. After that the troll treated her very hardly, and Kora hated him more than ever.

Now one day the troll was going fishing, and this time he said to his wife: “You shall play me no second trick, madam; I will lock you in till I come back.” So saying he turned the key upon her, and went his way. But Kora did not despair. She hurried into her husband’s private closet, and took the keys of all the various caskets in which he kept his treasure. Then with trembling hands she tried them one by one in the lock of the door, and as good luck would have it, the last key fitted. The next thing she did was to try to destroy the magic crystal. She dashed it on to the floor and against the wall, but finding that she could not break it, she went and hid it inside the hollow tree in the field, beneath which in former days she had been wont to sit and watch her geese. Then she fled into the forest, and ran as fast and as far as she could. Presently an elf came past her, riding on a lizard.

“Tell me, kind elf,” said she, “how I may escape from the cruel troll, my husband, for I have hidden his magic crystal which tells him where to find all lost and missing things.”

“I will do the best I can for you,” replied the elf, and turning Kora into a dockleaf by the brook, he rode on.

When the troll returned home from his fishing, and found that his wife had escaped a second time, he was much enraged, and made his way at once to the place where he kept his crystal. But when he saw that this had also disappeared, he was in a greater rage than ever, and began to hunt for it all over the house. At last he thought of the hollow tree, and there, inside the trunk, and smothered in dry leaves and moss, he found his missing talisman. No sooner had he looked into it, than he saw the dockleaf growing by the brook, and once more recognised his wife. Immediately he went into the wood, and having picked the dockleaf, he took it home in triumph, and when he had crossed his own threshold his wife stood before him. After that he treated her yet more hardly, and Kora hated him even more than before.

Now it is customary that trolls should be the money-lenders of mighty kings, and Kora’s husband had many a time lent gold and silver and treasure of all sorts to a certain avaricious king, who loved wealth above everything, and oppressed his people with unendurable imposts. It so happened that just at this time the troll received an urgent message from this king, entreating him for a large sum of money. So he called his wife to him, and said to her, “I must now go on a journey which will last several days, and I will take my crystal with me, so that should you try to escape from me again, I shall be able to discover your hiding-place in a trice. Bear this in mind, wife, and let me have no more of these follies.”

For some time after she was left alone, Kora made no further attempt at escape. She did nothing but sit and brood over her troubles, and say to herself that there was no way out of them, till she suddenly called to mind the words of the inscription on the crystal, and understood that there must be just one country under the sun where she would be safe from her husband’s pursuit.

“I will try to find it,” said she, “it is the one chance left me.” And in this forlorn hope she went for the third time into the wood. Far, far she went, through forest and field and heath, till at last she was obliged to sit down by the roadside and rest. It had begun to rain, and dusk was falling. Kora was worn out with her wanderings, and shed many tears. All at once she felt a hand upon her shoulder. At first she started and cried out, believing that it was the troll, but then she saw that it was only an old crone with bent back and grizzled hair, leaning upon a stick.

“Daughter,” said the old woman, “what is your trouble?”

“I am escaping from my husband, the troll,” said Kora, “and I am afraid lest he should find me by looking into his magic crystal. I am in search of an unknown land where the crystal has no power.”

“You seem tired out,” said the old crone kindly, “come with me, for I can at least offer you shelter.”

Kora thanked her earnestly, and they walked on together. Heather and bracken stretched to either side of them for mile upon mile, the last curlew had gone to rest, and it was very still and eerie on the lonely moor. Kora looked to right and to left, hoping to catch sight of a shepherd’s cottage, or at least of some hovel which might prove to be the old woman’s home, but she could see nothing save certain giant boulders scattered here and there upon the heath. What then was her surprise when the old crone hobbled up to the largest of these, and struck it with her stick. Immediately the door was opened by a tabby cat.

“You are late, mistress,” said he.

“I have brought a guest,” replied the old woman, “so you must all bestir yourselves.” Then she led Kora into a snug little room, where a bright fire of peat blazed invitingly on the hearth.

“First you must eat and sleep,” said she, “and to-morrow you shall tell me of your trouble. I am a Wise Woman, and may be able to help you.”

Kora sank down by the fireside, too weary to make any protest. She stretched out her cold hands to the ruddy glow, and began to dry her wet dress and hood. Meanwhile the Wise Woman’s servants were busy preparing the evening meal, which was soon ready. A black cat served the soup and a white cat the fish, a grey cat the joint and a tortoiseshell cat the sweets. Then a sandy cat lit a taper and lighted her to her room, where she soon fell sound asleep.

When the morning came, Kora at once sought out the Wise Woman, told her her whole story, and begged for advice.

“The unknown country to which no man has found the way,” replied the Wise Woman, “is the country whither the cuckoos go in winter, nor do I myself know the way, but if you will consent to be turned into a cuckoo, you will at once be able to find it.”

Rather than fall again into her husband’s hands, Kora willingly agreed, and the Wise Woman thereupon, with a wave of her stick, changed her into a cuckoo, which spread its wings and flew away, far across the pathless sea.

The troll meanwhile felt so sure that his wife would not again try to escape, that several days passed before he thought it necessary to look into the magic crystal. Great was his dismay, therefore, when he did at last look into it, to see nothing but a blank. Never before had it failed him. He hurried home with all speed, and finding his house deserted, he at once resolved to set out in pursuit of Kora. But since his heart was in his treasure, he would not start before he had gathered together as much as he could possibly carry with him, and had loaded it upon his back. He travelled a long way, through forest and field and heath, till at last he came to the shores of a great ocean. Here he took a boat, and began paddling himself out to sea, but the sack of gold proved so heavy that the boat sank, and the troll was drowned.

But Kora reached the unknown land in safety, and married the king of the cuckoos, with whom she lived in great happiness and contentment, and they reigned together over the most beautiful country in all the world.