Popular Tales from the Norse Part 15

Yes! the Prince would mind and do that; and so he sat in there the whole day, talking and chattering with the Mastermaid about one thing and another, but they always came back to how happy they would be if they could only have one another, and get well away from the Giant; and, to tell the truth, the Prince would have clean forgotten both the horse and the hill-side, if the Mastermaid hadn't put him in mind of them when evening drew on, telling him he had better set out to fetch the horse before the Giant came home. So he set off, and took the bit which hung in the corner, ran up the hill, and it wasn't long before he met the horse, with fire and flame streaming out of its nostrils. But he watched his time, and, as the horse came open-jawed up to him, he threw the bit into its mouth, and it stood as quiet as a lamb. After that, it was no great matter to ride it home and put it up, you may fancy; and then the Prince went into his room again, and began to carol and sing.

So the Giant came home again at even with his goats; and the first words he said were:

'Have you brought my horse down from the hill?'

'Yes, master, that I have', said the Prince; 'and a better horse I never bestrode; but for all that I rode him straight home, and put him up safe and sound.'

'I'll soon see to that', said the Giant, and ran out to the stable, and there stood the horse just as the Prince had said.

'You've talked to my Mastermaid, I'll be bound, for you haven't sucked this out of your own breast', said the Giant again.

'Yesterday master talked of this Mastermaid, and to-day it's the same story', said the Prince, who pretended to be silly and stupid. 'Bless you, master! why don't you show me the thing at once? I should so like to see it only once in my life.'

'Oh, if that's all', said the Giant, 'you'll see her soon enough.'

The third day, at dawn, the Giant went off to the wood again with his goats; but before he went he said to the Prince:

'To-day you must go to h.e.l.l and fetch my fire-tax. When you have done that you can rest yourself all day, for you must know it is an easy master you have come to'; and with that off he went.

'Easy master, indeed!' said the Prince. 'You may be easy, but you set me hard tasks all the same. But I may as well see if I can find your Mastermaid, as you call her. I daresay she'll tell me what to do'; and so in he went to her again.

So when the Mastermaid asked what the Giant had set him to do that day, he told her how he was to go to h.e.l.l and fetch the fire-tax.

'And how will you set about it?' asked the Mastermaid.

'Oh, that you must tell me', said the Prince. 'I have never been to h.e.l.l in my life; and even if I knew the way, I don't know how much I am to ask for.'

'Well, I'll soon tell you', said the Mastermaid; 'you must go to the steep rock away yonder, under the hill-side, and take the club that lies there, and knock on the face of the rock. Then there will come out one all glistening with fire; to him you must tell your errand; and when he asks you how much you will have, mind you say, "As much as I can carry."'

Yes; he would be sure to say that; so he sat in there with the Mastermaid all that day too; and though evening drew on, he would have sat there till now, had not the Mastermaid put him in mind that it was high time to be off to h.e.l.l to fetch the Giant's fire-tax before he came home. So he went on his way, and did just as the Mastermaid had told him; and when he reached the rock, he took up the club and gave a great thump. Then the rock opened, and out came one whose face glistened, and out of whose eyes and nostrils flew sparks of fire.

'What is your will?' said he.

'Oh! I'm only come from the Giant to fetch his fire-tax', said the Prince.

'How much will you have then?' said the other.

'I never wish for more than I am able to carry', said the Prince.

'Lucky for you that you did not ask for a whole horse-load', said he who came out of the rock; 'but come now into the rock with me, and you shall have it.'

So the Prince went in with him, and you may fancy what heaps and heaps of gold and silver he saw lying in there, just like stones in a gravel pit; and he got a load just as big as he was able to carry, and set off home with it. Now, when the Giant came home with his goats at even, the Prince went into his room, and began to carol and sing as he had done the evenings before.

'Have you been to h.e.l.l after my fire-tax?' roared the Giant.

'Oh yes; that I have, master', answered the Prince.

'Where have you put it?' said the Giant.

'There stands the sack on the bench yonder', said the Prince.

'I'll soon see to that', said the Giant, who strode off to the bench, and there he saw the sack so full that the gold and silver dropped out on the floor as soon as ever he untied the string.

'You've been talking to my Mastermaid, that I can see', said the Giant; 'but if you have, I'll wring your head off.'

'Mastermaid!' said the Prince; 'yesterday master talked of this Mastermaid, and to-day he talks of her again, and the day before yesterday it was the same story. I only wish I could see what sort of thing she is! that I do.'

'Well, well, wait till to-morrow', said the Giant, 'and then I'll take you in to her myself.'

'Thank you kindly, master', said the Prince; 'but it's only a joke of master's, I'll be bound.'

So next day the Giant took him in to the Mastermaid, and said to her:

'Now, you must cut his throat, and boil him in the great big pot you wot of; and when the broth is ready, just give me a call.'

After that, he laid him down on the bench to sleep, and began to snore so, that it sounded like thunder on the hills.

So the Mastermaid took a knife and cut the Prince in his little finger, and let three drops of blood fall on a three-legged stool; and after that she took all the old rags, and soles of shoes, and all the rubbish she could lay hands on, and put them into the pot; and then she filled a chest full of ground gold, and took a lump of salt, and a flask of water that hung behind the door, and she took, besides, a golden apple, and two golden chickens, and off she set with the Prince from the Giant's house as fast as they could; and when they had gone a little way, they came to the sea, and after that they sailed over the sea; but where they got the s.h.i.+p from, I have never heard tell.

So when the Giant had slumbered a good bit, he began to stretch himself as he lay on the bench and called out, 'Will it be soon done?'

'Only just begun', answered the first drop of blood on the stool.

So the Giant lay down to sleep again, and slumbered a long, long time. At last he began to toss about a little, and cried out:

'Do you hear what I say; will it be soon done?' but he did not look up this time, any more than the first, for he was still half asleep.

'Half done', said the second drop of blood.

Then the Giant thought again it was the Mastermaid, so he turned over on his other side, and fell asleep again; and when he had gone on sleeping for many hours, he began to stir and stretch his old bones, and to call out,--

'Isn't it done yet?'

'Done to a turn', said the third drop of blood.

Then the Giant rose up and began to rub his eyes, but he couldn't see who it was that was talking to him, so he searched and called for the Mastermaid, but no one answered.

'Ah, well! I dare say she's just run out of doors for a bit', he thought, and took up a spoon and went up to the pot to taste the broth; but he found nothing but shoe-soles, and rags, and such stuff; and it was all boiled up together, so that he couldn't tell which was thick and which was thin. As soon as he saw this, he could tell how things had gone, and he got so angry he scarce knew which leg to stand upon. Away he went after the Prince and the Mastermaid, till the wind whistled behind him; but before long, he came to the water and couldn't cross it.

'Never mind', he said; 'I know a cure for this. I've only got to call on my stream-sucker.'

So he called on his stream-sucker, and he came and stooped down, and took one, two, three gulps; and then the water fell so much in the sea, that the Giant could see the Mastermaid and the Prince sailing in their s.h.i.+p.

'Now, you must cast out the lump of salt', said the Mastermaid.

So the Prince threw it overboard, and it grew up into a mountain so high, right across the sea, that the Giant couldn't pa.s.s it, and the stream-sucker couldn't help him by swilling any more water.

'Never mind!' cried the Giant; 'there's a cure for this too.' So he called on his hill-borer to come and bore through the mountain, that the stream-sucker might creep through and take another swill; but just as they had made a hole through the hill, and the stream-sucker was about to drink, the Mastermaid told the Prince to throw overboard a drop or two out of the flask, and then the sea was just as full as ever, and before the stream-sucker could take another gulp, they reached the land and were saved from the Giant.