PART TWO

_In which our hero proves himself a wrestler and a swordsman._

After Theseus had killed the giant robber, he traveled to another village where he thought he would rest awhile. He had hardly entered the place when a band of soldiers arrested him and said, “You are a prisoner.”

“What have I done to be treated this way?” asked Theseus. The soldiers told him that every stranger in the village had to wrestle with the king before he could leave it. If he threw the king he could go free, but if the king threw him he would be put to death. No one had as yet escaped with his life.

“Very well,” said Theseus, “lead me to the king’s garden where I may wrestle with him.” But when he saw the king he knew he had found a mighty antagonist. The king was of great height with broad shoulders and muscles that stood out like ropes around his body.

Then they began to wrestle. The king tried to crush Theseus with his great arms, but the young man slipped through every time, and was so agile that the king could not hold him at all. Finally the king made a great leap at his enemy, but Theseus jumped aside and threw the king with his foot. He fell so heavily that he lay with back broken. After that all passengers could go through that village in safety, for there was no king to stop them.

Theseus went on until he came to a wild country, and wandered through the woods until he reached a castle, and being very tired he asked the lord of the castle if he might have a bed for the night.

The lord was named Procrustes, and gladly invited Theseus in and took him to the guest room where there were already two other travelers waiting. “This is the guest bed,” said Procrustes. “I hope it will fit you, for it is law of the castle that guests must be made to fit the bed.”

Thereupon the lord made his servants seize one of the travelers and stretch him over the bed. But the traveler was too long for the bed, so they chopped off his feet to make him fit. Then they seized the other traveler and stretched him over the bed, but he was too short, so they brought ropes and pulleys and pulled him out until he was the right length.

“Now for you,” said Procrustes to Theseus. “You may fit exactly, but if not you must be made to fit. Come, get ready for bed.”

Theseus was in no humor for retiring at that moment, so he drew his sword, and made at the king. “I have a mind that you are a whole head too long for your own bed, so I am going to shorten you by that much,” said he, and before the king could escape he cut off his head and made the servants stretch him on the bed, and he fitted exactly.

But after that travelers to that castle slept peacefully whether they were long or short.

KRIS AND THE BEAR

_One should be ready to help another--especially should a boy help a girl._

Once there lived in Northern Germany a little boy named Kris. Kris loved music very much, but his mother and father were too poor to buy him an instrument on which to play. One day he went to walk in the woods, and while there he cut a piece of wood and made a pipe on which he could play.

It was a poor kind of an instrument, but what beautiful music he played on it! When his father and mother heard him they shouted for joy. Kris decided to go to town and play for the people there, in order to make a little money.

As he was going along the road to the forest, he heard some one cry, “Help! Help!” He listened and heard the cry again. He started in the direction of the cry, and when he had gone a little distance he saw a little girl named Christina, with whom he often played, standing on a high rock with a huge bear growling fiercely at the bottom.

Kris was terrified, but he did not run away. When Christina saw him, she exclaimed: “Kris, save me! Save me!”

Kris was a brave boy, but his courage almost failed him when he saw the huge bear. He wondered how he could save Christina. At last he thought of his pipe and began to play so as to attract the notice of the bear. The bear turned round to see where the music came from, and for the first time saw Kris. He started towards him, growling fiercely as he came.

When Kris saw the bear coming toward him he shouted to Christina: “Run home as fast as you can and get father to come and kill him. Maybe I can keep him off until father can get here. Hurry!”

Kris played on bravely in spite of the fact that the bear was coming towards him. He would not run while Christina was in danger. The bear stopped and listened to the music. He seemed delighted and ceased growling. Kris played his best, and the bear lay down and stretched out his paws as if he liked it. He got up afterwards and began to sway with the time of the music as if he would like to dance.

Christina climbed down from the rock and ran home and brought her father with his gun. They expected to find Kris eaten up by the bear, but when they came near they heard him still playing, and as they crept down and peered through the bushes, they saw the old bear get up from the ground, shake himself, and slowly disappear in the forest. The music had charmed him, and Kris had saved Christina’s life and his own by his sweet music.

A RACE WITH A FLOOD

_A real hero must have presence of mind as well as courage in times of danger._

To-day we are going to learn how a man saved a whole village from destruction. The little village was built on the banks of a river, and a few miles above it was a great dam holding back the water until it looked like a large lake. It was very beautiful on bright sunny days to see the great sheet of water, and to watch the falls of the dam.

It had been raining for many days and the lake was becoming larger and larger. The water rose until it came to the very level of the dam; but everybody thought it was safe, for the great rocks looked as strong as the hills themselves. So one night after the rain had stopped all the people of the village went to sleep as usual. Late in the night the water ran over the dam and tore a rock loose. Then a larger rock followed, and then another and another. By daybreak a great hole was in the dam and the sides were tottering.

Collins Graves, a young farmer, rose early and went on his way to the mill.

“I believe I will go by and take a look at the dam,” he said to his wife, as he started off. It was well he did so. When he came to the lake he noticed how the water was going down. Then he went over to the dam and saw the great hole in it, and saw it was growing bigger and bigger every minute. As he stood watching it the whole dam gave way and the lake was emptied into the river.

“The village! the village!” he cried. “I must save the people!” and with that he leaped upon his horse and began a race with the flood. Five miles down the river lay the village asleep. Onward went the waters in a wave big enough to wash down the mill and all the houses of the people. On swept the brave horse as fast as he could race. Graves threw away his bags, his coat, even his hat to lighten the load, and called to his horse to run for the lives of the people.

He passed the big wave--gained on it--then rode a mile ahead of it and dashed into the village as the people were getting up.

“Run for your lives! The dam has broken and the waters are coming! Save the children and the stock--nothing else, for the wave will be here in a minute!” he cried out at the top of his voice. “Be quick!”

The people rushed from their houses, carrying the babes in their arms and calling for the children. The barns were opened and the stock ran, scenting the danger. Up to the hills they flew--all of them--not a soul was left in the village; and the great wave rolled over their houses, barns, bridges and fences.

“Thank God for Collins Graves!” shouted the people, “one minute more and we should all have been drowned in the flood!”

ODIN AND THE DWARFS

_A legend of the Norsemen in which the dwarfs are made to work for the good of mankind._

Odin was the head of all the gods. He sat upon the Air Throne and looked down on the earth and the sea. One morning he said:

“The earth is very beautiful, but the men on it are very idle and stupid. I see dwarfs who play tricks with the farmers. I see a farmer sowing wheat, and a dwarf comes after him and changes the wheat into stones. I see two ugly dwarfs who are holding the head of a wise man under water until he is dead. They are mixing his blood with honey and putting it into stone jars. I will attend to them this very day.” And so he called Flying Word and sent him down to earth to make all the dwarfs come before him.

The dwarfs were very frightened when they came before Odin. He was powerful and big, and they were tiny and weak. But they were not scared long, and began to scamper and dance and laugh right in his face. Odin frowned and looked very fiercely at them. There were, however, a few good little dwarfs who looked very serious. Odin spoke to the dwarfs who were drowning the wise man.

“Whose blood was that you were mixing with honey and putting into jars?” The dwarfs clapped their hands.

“Oh, that was Kvasir, who was so wise. We found him lying in a meadow, drowned in his own wisdom!”

But Odin knew that they had killed the wise man, and so he sent all those bad dwarfs away down into the earth. He made some of them put fuel on the earth’s fires, and he made the others dig in the gold and diamond mines. They might come up at night, but by daybreak they had to go back to their underground work. And so the dwarfs scampered off and burrowed in the ground.

The good little dwarfs hung around, weeping and wailing by turns like “a morning shower.”

“We have never done anybody any harm; let us stay on the earth; we will be very good,” they begged and promised. And Odin said: “You must help then with the flowers and insects and wild bees, and help the farmers, or down you go, too.”

“If we only had some one to teach us,” said they. “We are such tiny foolish little people!” Odin looked at them a while, and then sent Niord out to find them a teacher. Niord left the great hall and went out and sat on the side of a mountain. He whistled for a long time a low sweet note, and then out of the sky came two forms--a brother and sister--one named Frey and the other Freyja. Summer and Beauty were their other names. Niord brought Frey to Odin and said:

“Here is my son, the genius of sunshine and flowers, and forests and harvests. He will teach the dwarfs to work.”

Odin liked the gentle Frey and said: “It is well. Take your little people away and put them to work.” And so began the work of all the dwarfs and they are working to this very day.

THE ADVENTURES OF THOR

_A legend showing what the Norsemen thought about thunder and lightning._

Thor was the son of Odin, and was one of the strongest men that ever lived. He had a hammer that always returned to him no matter how far or how hard he threw it. Every time he threw the hammer it glowed brighter than the sun. Once upon a time he and Loki, a mischievous friend, set out to fight the giants that lived in Jotunheim. They traveled all day and at night came to a countryman’s home. There was nothing to eat, so Thor killed two goats that drew his chariot, and cooked them for supper.

He said to the countryman’s family:

“Do not, on any account, eat or crack any of the bones of these goats.” But the countryman broke one of the bones and ate the marrow. The next morning Thor took his hammer and held it over the skins of the two goats. He spoke some words, and struck the skins lightly, when lo! the skins jumped up, two live goats, just as if they had not been eaten the night before.

But one of the goats limped because there was no bone in his hind leg. Thor was very angry, and the countryman confessed to having cracked a bone and eaten the marrow. To punish him, Thor made him join the party on the way to the land of the giants.

One evening they came to a big hall with a wide open door. They all went in and found it empty, but they lay down and slept very comfortably. Late in the night they heard noises and groanings like thunder near by. They wondered what these fearful sounds could be. The next morning Thor found in the forest an enormous giant fast asleep and snoring like thunder and earthquakes. The giant woke up and Thor said:

“You make too much noise. You disturbed my sleep.” The giant said: “You are Thor, and what have you done with my glove?” And then Thor found that he and his friends had been sleeping in the thumb of the giant’s glove. Thor said:

“I have come to kill such giants as you,” and threw his hammer at his head. “Oh, did a leaf touch my head?” said the giant. Again Thor threw his hammer at the giant’s chest.

“Oh, my! an acorn must have fallen on me,” said the giant. Thor then threw the hammer with all his might and hit the giant between the eyes.

“Why, some bird has dropped a feather in my face,” said the giant.

Thor was so enraged at his failure to hurt the giant that he turned to go. The giant called after him: “I am a little giant compared to others whom you will see!” But Thor and his friends went on to find other adventures.

THOR CONTENDS WITH THE GIANTS

_A Norway legend showing the folly of contending against the forces of nature._

The next day Thor and his friends came to a large city, very gloomy and silent. They walked up to a high building where the gates stood wide open. They crossed the threshold and found themselves in an immense hall where there was a long table with many giants seated about it on stone thrones. They looked very cold and solemn, but Thor’s men were not at all afraid. The head giant said:

“You are Thor, and very welcome, but what can you and your friends do to entitle you to enter here?” Loki spoke up and said:

“I am famous for eating; I can beat any one at that.” The head giant ordered the table filled with food, and told a long, lean, hungry man to begin at one end, and Loki to begin at the other. Loki ate to the middle of the table and met the other man half way; but Loki had only eaten the food, while the other man had devoured bones, plates, table cloth and all.

“What else can you do?” said the head giant. This time the countryman who had cracked the goat’s bone spoke up and said:

“I can run faster than any one here.” Then the head giant took them all out to a great field, and selected a slender lad and started him and the countryman on a race. The countryman ran like the wind in a gale; but the slender lad ran past him on around the field and past him again and again.

“You must do better than that,” said the head giant, “or we shall think you are mere braggarts. What can you do, Thor?”

“I can drink more than anybody here,” said Thor.

Then the giant had a huge horn brought on and told Thor to drink three times. Thor drank and drank and drank, but the more he drank the more the horn would fill, until at last he had to give it up with great mortification.

“You cannot even lift my old cat off the ground,” said the giant. Then Thor seized the cat and pulled and pulled, but the cat’s feet never left the earth. Thor was very much mortified at the failure of his friends and himself. But the head giant said:

“Thor, you have some lessons to learn yet. Loki is indeed a great eater, but he was contending with fire that consumed all things; the countryman was running against thought that is swifter than the wind; you were drinking from a horn the other end of which is in the ocean, and my old cat’s legs engirdle the earth.”

When Thor heard these things he went back home and told his father, Odin, that there were some things he could not do after all.

FREYJA’S NECKLACE

_A Norse legend to show that sorrow follows in the footsteps of pride and vanity._

You will remember that Freyja was the sister of Frey, and that her other name was Beauty. Everybody loved Freyja and liked to look at her beautiful face and listen to her sweet voice. She had a wonderful husband named Odur whom she loved very dearly and of whom she was very proud.

Now, it happened that all the gods and their wives were to dine at Valhalla one day, and Freyja was greatly distressed because she had no jewels to wear.

“You are more beautiful without jewels,” said her husband; but Freyja thought of the other women and shook her head.

She went out to ask Frey to get her some flowers at least, but her steps took her down into the heart of the earth where the dwarfs were digging gold and diamonds. Four little dwarfs were tugging at something heavy and very beautiful. Freyja saw it was a diamond necklace of wonderful charm.

“Oh, give it to me!” she cried, shielding her eyes from its dazzling light.

“All right,” said the dwarfs, “but you had better let it alone.” Freyja did not heed them but seized the necklace and hastened back home. She put the brilliant ornament around her neck, looked at her lovely face in a pool of water and went to find her husband. But Odur was not in his room. Odur had gone to the home of the immortals for he and the dwarf’s necklace could not live in the same house. But Freyja did not know this.

Nobody spoke to her nor admired the necklace. They all went to the feast while Freyja sat at the door of the palace and mourned. The necklace sparkled in the sun and her tears dropped down and looked like jewels themselves. She arose and went to Odin and said:

“Let me go find my husband.” And Odin answered:

“Go, Freyja, and good fortune attend you.”

Freyja sprang into her chariot and began her search for her husband. She went to the houses in the big cities, and to the homes of the poor and destitute. “Is my husband here?” she asked everywhere. But all looked at the necklace and shook their heads.

“The necklace is very fair, but it is so heavy, and it makes my heart like lead,” she said.

She went to the Iron Wood and asked the old witch, but the old witch was cross and drove her away. She drove up to the Vedar on the mountain side, but he was like a tree and merely shook his branches. And so she went on and on always with her necklace, but she never found her husband. And sometimes she stops to weep, and then people say: “The summer rain is falling on the flowers.”

THE BINDING OF FENRIR

_A Norse legend to show that little things are often stronger than large ones._

Loki, who was always doing what he should not do, had a fierce son named Fenrir. He looked like a wolf, and was so strong that nothing could bind him. Fenrir prowled around and was fed by Tyr who was the only god that Fenrir had the least fear of. Fenrir grew stronger and fiercer every day until Odin said he must be chained. The question was how to get a chain strong enough.

Thor said he would make one with his hammer. So he took his mighty hammer and went to the forge and worked all night making a chain. When the chain was ready he brought it to Odin, but Odin shook his head in doubt. Soon Fenrir came in and, strangely enough, he did not mind the chain being put around him and fastened to a stone. When he had finished eating he snapped the chain apart and walked away laughing.

Thor went to work to make another chain. For three days he hammered and forged until the chain was so big and strong and long that Thor himself could hardly carry it. All the gods said:

“It is a marvelous chain. Surely Fenrir cannot break this!” Fenrir again allowed himself to be bound as before, and when he had finished eating he broke that chain as easily as he had the other, and went away laughing again.

Frey now spoke up and said:

“I will go into the earth and get the dwarfs to forge me a chain.” So he departed and was gone for a long time. The dwarfs made the chain for him as he asked them, but they made it so light that it could hang on a dwarf’s little finger.

They made it out of the noise of a cat’s foot, the beard of a woman, the roots of stones, the breath of a fish and a few other things like that, but when Frey tried to break it he found that he was powerless even to stretch a tiny bit. What made it so strong, and in what manner the dwarfs made it no man ever knew.

Frey carried it back to Odin, and again Fenrir came in to be fed. He seemed afraid of the chain and would not let them put it on him unless he could hold Tyr’s hand in his mouth. Tyr agreed to this, and they tied Fenrir and bound him to a great tree. Fenrir roared and struggled and bit Tyr’s hand off in his efforts to get away. All in vain! The little chain held him. He was bound at last and could not get away.

All the gods set up a shout of joy, and Thor thrust his sword into the wolf man’s mouth. A mighty red river gushed forth and poured over the valley. It is a dark and turbid torrent that roars down the mountain like a great wolf in distress and pain; and it is running to this very day.

JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN