Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks
by
William Elliot Griffis
Part 1 out of 3
Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Tonya Allen
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
[Illustration: Flying out of the sky they came bringing cheeses]
DUTCH FAIRY TALES FOR
YOUNG FOLKS
By
WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS
_Author of "The Firefly's Lovers," "The Unmannerly Tiger," "Brave
Little Holland," "Bonnie Scotland," etc._
CONTENTS
THE ENTANGLED MERMAID
THE BOY WHO WANTED MORE CHEESE
THE PRINCESS WITH TWENTY PETTICOATS
THE CAT AND THE CRADLE
PRINCE SPIN HEAD AND MISS SNOW WHITE
THE BOAR WITH THE GOLDEN BRISTLES
THE ICE KING AND HIS WONDERFUL GRANDCHILD
THE ELVES AND THEIR ANTICS
THE KABOUTERS AND THE BELLS
THE WOMAN WITH THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX CHILDREN
THE ONI ON HIS TRAVELS
THE LEGEND OF THE WOODEN SHOE
THE CURLY-TAILED LION
BRABO AND THE GIANT
THE FARM THAT RAN AWAY AND CAME BACK
SANTA KLAAS AND BLACK PETE
THE GOBLINS TURNED TO STONE
THE MOULDY PENNY
THE GOLDEN HELMET
WHEN WHEAT WORKED WOE
WHY THE STORK LOVES HOLLAND
THE ENTANGLED MERMAID
Long ago, in Dutch Fairy Land, there lived a young mermaid who was very
proud of her good looks. She was one of a family of mere or lake folks
dwelling not far from the sea. Her home was a great pool of water that
was half salt and half fresh, for it lay around an island near the mouth
of a river. Part of the day, when the sea tides were out, she splashed
and played, dived and swam in the soft water of the inland current. When
the ocean heaved and the salt water rushed in, the mermaid floated and
frolicked and paddled to her heart's content. Her father was a
gray-bearded merryman and very proud of his handsome daughter. He owned
an island near the river mouth, where the young mermaids held their
picnics and parties and received the visits of young merrymen.
Her mother and two aunts were merwomen. All of these were sober folks
and attended to the business which occupies all well brought up mermaids
and merrymen. This was to keep their pool clean and nice. No frogs,
toads or eels were allowed near, but in the work of daily housecleaning,
the storks and the mermaids were great friends.
All water-creatures that were not thought to be polite and well behaved
were expected to keep away. Even some silly birds, such as loons and
plovers and all screaming and fighting creatures with wings, were warned
off the premises, because they were not wanted. This family of merry
folks liked to have a nice, quiet time by themselves, without any rude
folks on legs, or with wings or fins from the outside. Indeed they
wished to make their pool a model, for all respectable mermaids and
merrymen, for ten leagues around. It was very funny to see the old daddy
merman, with a switch made of reeds, shooing off the saucy birds, such
as the sandpipers and screeching gulls. For the bullfrogs, too big for
the storks to swallow, and for impudent fishes, he had a whip made of
seaweed.
Of course, all the mermaids in good society were welcome, but young
mermen were allowed to call only once a month, during the week when the
moon was full. Then the evenings were usually clear, so that when the
party broke up, the mermen could see their way in the moonlight to swim
home safely with their mermaid friends. For, there were sea monsters
that loved to plague the merefolk, and even threatened to eat them up!
The mermaids, dear creatures, had to be escorted home, but they felt
safe, for their mermen brothers and daddies were so fierce that, except
sharks, even the larger fish, such as porpoises and dolphins were afraid
to come near them.
One day daddy and the mother left to visit some relatives near the
island of Urk. They were to be gone several days. Meanwhile, their
daughter was to have a party, her aunts being the chaperones.
The mermaids usually held their picnics on an island in the midst of the
pool. Here they would sit and sun themselves. They talked about the
fashions and the prettiest way to dress their hair. Each one had a
pocket mirror, but where they kept these, while swimming, no mortal ever
found out. They made wreaths of bright colored seaweed, orange and
black, blue, gray and red and wore them on their brows like coronets.
Or, they twined them, along with sea berries and bubble blossoms, among
their tresses. Sometimes they made girdles of the strongest and knotted
them around their waists.
Every once in a while they chose a queen of beauty for their ruler. Then
each of the others pretended to be a princess. Their games and sports
often lasted all day and they were very happy.
Swimming out in the salt water, the mermaids would go in quest of
pearls, coral, ambergris and other pretty things. These they would bring
to their queen, or with them richly adorn themselves. Thus the Mermaid
Queen and her maidens made a court of beauty that was famed wherever
mermaids and merrymen lived. They often talked about human maids.
"How funny it must be to wear clothes," said one.
"Are they cold that they have to keep warm?" It was a little chit of a
mermaid, whose flippers had hardly begun to grow into hands, that asked
this question.
"How can they swim with petticoats on?" asked another.
"My brother heard that real men wear wooden shoes! These must bother
them, when on the water, to have their feet floating," said a third,
whose name was Silver Scales. "What a pity they don't have flukes like
us," and then she looked at her own glistening scaly coat in admiration.
"I can hardly believe it," said a mermaid, that was very proud of her
fine figure and slender waist. "Their girls can't be half as pretty as
we are."
"Well, I should like to be a real woman for a while, just to try it, and
see how it feels to walk on legs," said another, rather demurely, as if
afraid the other mermaids might not like her remark.
They didn't. Out sounded a lusty chorus, "No! No! Horrible! What an
idea! Who wouldn't be a mermaid?"
"Why, I've heard," cried one, "that real women have to work, wash their
husband's clothes, milk cows, dig potatoes, scrub floors and take care
of calves. Who would be a woman? Not I"--and her snub nose--since it
could not turn up--grew wide at the roots. She was sneering at the idea
that a creature in petticoats could ever look lovelier than one in
shining scales.
"Besides," said she, "think of their big noses, and I'm told, too, that
girls have even to wear hairpins."
At this--the very thought that any one should have to bind up their
tresses--there was a shock of disgust with some, while others clapped
their hands, partly in envy and partly in glee.
But the funniest things the mermaids heard of were gloves, and they
laughed heartily over such things as covers for the fingers. Just for
fun, one of the little mermaids used to draw some bag-like seaweed over
her hands, to see how such things looked.
One day, while sunning themselves in the grass on the island, one of
their number found a bush on which foxgloves grew. Plucking these, she
covered each one of her fingers with a red flower. Then, flopping over
to the other girls, she held up her gloved hands. Half in fright and
half in envy, they heard her story.
After listening, the party was about to break up, when suddenly a young
merman splashed into view. The tide was running out and the stream low,
so he had had hard work to get through the fresh water of the river and
to the island. His eyes dropped salt water, as if he were crying. He
looked tired, while puffing and blowing, and he could hardly get his
breath. The queen of the mermaids asked him what he meant by coming
among her maids at such an hour and in such condition.
At this the bashful merman began to blubber. Some of the mergirls put
their hands over their mouths to hide their laughing, while they winked
at each other and their eyes showed how they enjoyed the fun. To have a
merman among them, at that hour, in broad daylight, and crying, was too
much for dignity.
"Boo-hoo, boo-hoo," and the merman still wept salt water tears, as he
tried to catch his breath. At last, he talked sensibly. He warned the
Queen that a party of horrid men, in wooden shoes, with pickaxes, spades
and pumps, were coming to drain the swamp and pump out the pool. He had
heard that they would make the river a canal and build a dyke that
should keep out the ocean.
"Alas! alas!" cried one mermaid, wringing her hands. "Where shall we go
when our pool is destroyed? We can't live in the ocean all the time."
Then she wept copiously. The salt water tears fell from her great round
eyes in big drops.
"Hush!" cried the Queen. "I don't believe the merman's story. He only
tells it to frighten us. It's just like him."
In fact, the Queen suspected that the merman's story was all a sham and
that he had come among her maids with a set purpose to run off with
Silver Scales. She was one of the prettiest mermaids in the company, but
very young, vain and frivolous. It was no secret that she and the merman
were in love and wanted to get married.
So the Queen, without even thanking him, dismissed the swimming
messenger. After dinner, the company broke up and the Queen retired to
her cave to take a long nap! She was quite tired after entertaining so
much company. Besides, since daddy and mother were away, and there were
no beaus to entertain, since it was a dark night and no moon shining on
the water, why need she get up early in the morning?
So the Mermaid Queen slept much longer than ever before. Indeed, it was
not till near sunset the next day that she awoke. Then, taking her comb
and mirror in hand, she started to swim and splash in the pool, in order
to smooth out her tresses and get ready for supper.
But oh, what a change from the day before! What was the matter? All
around her things looked different. The water had fallen low and the
pool was nearly empty. The river, instead of flowing, was as quiet as a
pond. Horrors! when she swam forward, what should she see but a dyke and
fences! An army of horrid men had come, when she was asleep, and built a
dam. They had fenced round the swamp and were actually beginning to dig
sluices to drain the land. Some were at work, building a windmill to
help in pumping out the water.
The first thing she knew she had bumped her pretty nose against the dam.
She thought at once of escaping over the logs and into the sea. When she
tried to clamber over the top and get through the fence, her hair got so
entangled between the bars that she had to throw away her comb and
mirror and try to untangle her tresses. The more she tried, the worse
became the tangle. Soon her long hair was all twisted up in the timber.
In vain were her struggles to escape. She was ready to die with fright,
when she saw four horrid men rush up to seize her. She attempted to
waddle away, but her long hair held her to the post and rails. Her
modesty was so dreadfully shocked that she fainted away.
When she came to herself, she found she was in a big long tub. A crowd
of curious little girls and boys were looking at her, for she was on
show as a great curiosity. They were bound to see her and get their
money's worth in looking, for they had paid a stiver (two cents)
admission to the show. Again, before all these eyes, her modesty was so
shocked that she gave one groan, flopped over and died in the tub.
Woe to the poor father and mother at Urk! They came back to find their
old home gone. Unable to get into it, they swam out to sea, never
stopping till they reached Spitzbergen.
What became of the body of the Mermaid Queen?
Learned men came from Leyden to examine what was now only a specimen,
and to see how mermaids were made up. Then her skin was stuffed, and
glass eyes put in, where her shining orbs had been. After this, her body
was stuffed and mounted in the museum, that is, set up above a glass
case and resting upon iron rods. Artists came to Leyden to make pictures
of her and no fewer than nine noblemen copied her pretty form and
features into their coats of arms. Instead of the Mermaid's Pool is now
a cheese farm of fifty cows, a fine house and barn, and a family of
pink-cheeked, yellow-haired children who walk and play in wooden shoes.
So this particular mermaid, all because of her entanglement in the
fence, was more famous when stuffed than when living, while all her
young friends and older relatives were forgotten.
THE BOY WHO WANTED MORE CHEESE
Klaas Van Bommel was a Dutch boy, twelve years old, who lived where cows
were plentiful. He was over five feet high, weighed a hundred pounds,
and had rosy cheeks. His appetite was always good and his mother
declared his stomach had no bottom. His hair was of a color half-way
between a carrot and a sweet potato. It was as thick as reeds in a swamp
and was cut level, from under one ear to another.
Klaas stood in a pair of timber shoes, that made an awful rattle when he
ran fast to catch a rabbit, or scuffed slowly along to school over the
brick road of his village. In summer Klaas was dressed in a rough, blue
linen blouse. In winter he wore woollen breeches as wide as coffee bags.
They were called bell trousers, and in shape were like a couple of
cow-bells turned upwards. These were buttoned on to a thick warm jacket.
Until he was five years old, Klaas was dressed like his sisters. Then,
on his birthday, he had boy's clothes, with two pockets in them, of
which he was proud enough.
Klaas was a farmer's boy. He had rye bread and fresh milk for breakfast.
At dinner time, beside cheese and bread, he was given a plate heaped
with boiled potatoes. Into these he first plunged a fork and then dipped
each round, white ball into a bowl of hot melted butter. Very quickly
then did potato and butter disappear "down the red lane." At supper, he
had bread and skim milk, left after the cream had been taken off, with a
saucer, to make butter. Twice a week the children enjoyed a bowl of
bonnyclabber or curds, with a little brown sugar sprinkled on the top.
But at every meal there was cheese, usually in thin slices, which the
boy thought not thick enough. When Klaas went to bed he usually fell
asleep as soon as his shock of yellow hair touched the pillow. In summer
time he slept till the birds began to sing, at dawn. In winter, when the
bed felt warm and Jack Frost was lively, he often heard the cows
talking, in their way, before he jumped out of his bag of straw, which
served for a mattress. The Van Bommels were not rich, but everything was
shining clean.
There was always plenty to eat at the Van Bommels' house. Stacks of rye
bread, a yard long and thicker than a man's arm, stood on end in the
corner of the cool, stone-lined basement. The loaves of dough were put
in the oven once a week. Baking time was a great event at the Van
Bommels' and no men-folks were allowed in the kitchen on that day,
unless they were called in to help. As for the milk-pails and pans,
filled or emptied, scrubbed or set in the sun every day to dry, and the
cheeses, piled up in the pantry, they seemed sometimes enough to feed a
small army.
But Klaas always wanted more cheese. In other ways, he was a good boy,
obedient at home, always ready to work on the cow-farm, and diligent in
school. But at the table he never had enough. Sometimes his father
laughed and asked him if he had a well, or a cave, under his jacket.
Klaas had three younger sisters, Trintje, Anneke and Saartje; which is
Dutch for Kate, Annie and Sallie. These, their fond mother, who loved
them dearly, called her "orange blossoms"; but when at dinner, Klaas
would keep on, dipping his potatoes into the hot butter, while others
were all through, his mother would laugh and call him her Buttercup. But
always Klaas wanted more cheese. When unusually greedy, she twitted him
as a boy "worse than Butter-and-Eggs"; that is, as troublesome as the
yellow and white plant, called toad-flax, is to the farmer--very
pretty, but nothing but a weed.
One summer's evening, after a good scolding, which he deserved well,
Klaas moped and, almost crying, went to bed in bad humor. He had teased
each one of his sisters to give him her bit of cheese, and this, added
to his own slice, made his stomach feel as heavy as lead.
Klaas's bed was up in the garret. When the house was first built, one of
the red tiles of the roof had been taken out and another one, made of
glass, was put in its place. In the morning, this gave the boy light to
put on his clothes. At night, in fair weather, it supplied air to his
room.
A gentle breeze was blowing from the pine woods on the sandy slope, not
far away. So Klaas climbed up on the stool to sniff the sweet piny
odors. He thought he saw lights dancing under the tree. One beam seemed
to approach his roof hole, and coming nearer played round the chimney.
Then it passed to and fro in front of him. It seemed to whisper in his
ear, as it moved by. It looked very much as if a hundred fire-flies had
united their cold light into one lamp. Then Klaas thought that the
strange beams bore the shape of a lovely girl, but he only laughed at
himself at the idea. Pretty soon, however, he thought the whisper became
a voice. Again, he laughed so heartily, that he forgot his moping and
the scolding his mother had given him. In fact, his eyes twinkled with
delight, when the voice gave this invitation:
"There's plenty of cheese. Come with us."
To make sure of it, the sleepy boy now rubbed his eyes and cocked his
ears. Again, the light-bearer spoke to him: "Come."
Could it be? He had heard old people tell of the ladies of the wood,
that whispered and warned travellers. In fact, he himself had often seen
the "fairies' ring" in the pine woods. To this, the flame-lady was
inviting him.
Again and again the moving, cold light circled round the red tile roof,
which the moon, then rising and peeping over the chimneys, seemed to
turn into silver plates. As the disc rose higher in the sky, he could
hardly see the moving light, that had looked like a lady; but the voice,
no longer a whisper, as at first, was now even plainer:
"There's plenty of cheese. Come with us."
"I'll see what it is, anyhow," said Klaas, as he drew on his thick
woolen stockings and prepared to go down-stairs and out, without waking
a soul. At the door he stepped into his wooden shoes. Just then the cat
purred and rubbed up against his shins. He jumped, for he was scared;
but looking down, for a moment, he saw the two balls of yellow fire in
her head and knew what they were. Then he sped to the pine woods and
towards the fairy ring.
What an odd sight! At first Klaas thought it was a circle of big
fire-flies. Then he saw clearly that there were dozens of pretty
creatures, hardly as large as dolls, but as lively as crickets. They
were as full of light, as if lamps had wings. Hand in hand, they flitted
and danced around the ring of grass, as if this was fun.
Hardly had Klaas got over his first surprise, than of a sudden he felt
himself surrounded by the fairies. Some of the strongest among them had
left the main party in the circle and come to him. He felt himself
pulled by their dainty fingers. One of them, the loveliest of all,
whispered in his ear:
"Come, you must dance with us."
Then a dozen of the pretty creatures murmured in chorus:
"Plenty of cheese here. Plenty of cheese here. Come, come!"
Upon this, the heels of Klaas seemed as light as a feather. In a moment,
with both hands clasped in those of the fairies, he was dancing in high
glee. It was as much fun as if he were at the kermiss, with a row of
boys and girls, hand in hand, swinging along the streets, as Dutch maids
and youth do, during kermiss week.
Klaas had not time to look hard at the fairies, for he was too full of
the fun. He danced and danced, all night and until the sky in the east
began to turn, first gray and then rosy. Then he tumbled down, tired
out, and fell asleep. His head lay on the inner curve of the fairy ring,
with his feet in the centre.
Klaas felt very happy, for he had no sense of being tired, and he did
not know he was asleep. He thought his fairy partners, who had danced
with him, were now waiting on him to bring him cheeses. With a golden
knife, they sliced them off and fed him out of their own hands. How good
it tasted! He thought now he could, and would, eat all the cheese he had
longed for all his life. There was no mother to scold him, or daddy to
shake his finger at him. How delightful!
But by and by, he wanted to stop eating and rest a while. His jaws were
tired. His stomach seemed to be loaded with cannon-balls. He gasped for
breath.
But the fairies would not let him stop, for Dutch fairies never get
tired. Flying out of the sky--from the north, south, east and west--they
came, bringing cheeses. These they dropped down around him, until the
piles of the round masses threatened first to enclose him as with a
wall, and then to overtop him. There were the red balls from Edam, the
pink and yellow spheres from Gouda, and the gray loaf-shaped ones from
Leyden. Down through the vista of sand, in the pine woods, he looked,
and oh, horrors! There were the tallest and strongest of the fairies
rolling along the huge, round, flat cheeses from Friesland! Any one of
these was as big as a cart wheel, and would feed a regiment. The fairies
trundled the heavy discs along, as if they were playing with hoops. They
shouted hilariously, as, with a pine stick, they beat them forward like
boys at play. Farm cheese, factory cheese, Alkmaar cheese, and, to crown
all, cheese from Limburg--which Klaas never could bear, because of its
strong odor. Soon the cakes and balls were heaped so high around him
that the boy, as he looked up, felt like a frog in a well. He groaned
when he thought the high cheese walls were tottering to fall on him.
Then he screamed, but the fairies thought he was making music. They, not
being human, do not know how a boy feels.
At last, with a thick slice in one hand and a big hunk in the other, he
could eat no more cheese; though the fairies, led by their queen,
standing on one side, or hovering over his head, still urged him to take
more.
At this moment, while afraid that he would burst, Klaas saw the pile of
cheeses, as big as a house, topple over. The heavy mass fell inwards
upon him. With a scream of terror, he thought himself crushed as flat as
a Friesland cheese.
But he wasn't! Waking up and rubbing his eyes, he saw the red sun rising
on the sand-dunes. Birds were singing and the cocks were crowing all
around him, in chorus, as if saluting him. Just then also the village
clock chimed out the hour. He felt his clothes. They were wet with dew.
He sat up to look around. There were no fairies, but in his mouth was a
bunch of grass which he had been chewing lustily.
Klaas never would tell the story of his night with the fairies, nor has
he yet settled the question whether they left him because the
cheese-house of his dream had fallen, or because daylight had come.
THE PRINCESS WITH TWENTY PETTICOATS
Long, long ago, before ever a blue flax-flower bloomed in Holland, and
when Dutch mothers wore wolf-skin clothes, there was a little princess,
very much beloved by her father, who was a great king, or war chief. She
was very pretty and fond of seeing herself. There were no metal mirrors
in those days, nor any looking glass. So she went into the woods and
before the pools and the deep, quiet watercourses, made reflection of
her own lovely face. Of this pleasure she never seemed weary.
Yet sometimes this little princess was very naughty. Then her temper was
not nearly so sweet as her face. She would play in the sand and roll
around in the woods among the leaves and bushes until her curls were all
tangled up. When her nurse combed out her hair with a stone comb--for no
other kinds were then known--she would fret and scold and often stamp
her foot. When very angry, she called her nurse or governess an
"aurochs,"--a big beast like a buffalo. At this, the maid put up her
hands to her face. "Me--an aurochs! Horrible!" Then she would feel her
forehead to see if horns were growing there.
The nurse--they called her "governess," as the years went on--grew tired
of the behavior of the bad young princess. Sometimes she went and told
her mother how naughty her daughter was, even to calling her an aurochs.
Then the little girl only showed her bad temper worse. She rolled among
the leaves all the more and mussed up her ringlets, so that the
governess could hardly comb them out smooth again.
It seemed useless to punish the perverse little maid by boxing her ears,
pinching her arm, or giving her a good spanking. They even tried to
improve her temper by taking away her dinner, but it did no good.
Then the governess and mother went together to her father. When they
complained of his daughter to the king, he was much worried. He could
fight strong men with his club and spear, and even giants with his sword
and battle-axe; but how to correct his little daughter, whom he loved as
his own eyes, was too much for him. He had no son and the princess was
his only child, and the hopes of the family all rested on her. The king
wondered how she would govern his people, after he should die, and she
became the queen. Yet he was glad for one thing: that, with all her
naughtiness, she was, like her father, always kind to animals. Her pet
was a little aurochs calf. Some hunters had killed the mother of the
poor little thing in winter time. So the princess kept the creature warm
and it fed out of her hand daily.
It was in gloom and with a sad face that the king walked in the woods,
thinking how to make a sweet-tempered lady out of his petulant daughter,
who was fast growing up to be a tall, fine-looking woman.
Now when the king had been himself a little boy, he was very kind to all
living creatures, wild and tame, dumb and with voice--yes, even to the
trees in the forest. When a prince, the boy would never let the axe men
cut down an oak until they first begged pardon of the fairy that lived
in the tree.
There was one big oak, especially, which was near the mansion of his
father, the king. It was said that the doctors found little babies in
its leafy branches, and brought them to their mothers. The prince-boy
took great care of this tree. He was taught by a wise man to cut off the
dead limbs, keep off the worms, and warn away all people seeking to
break off branches--even for Yule-tide, which came at our Christmas
time.
Once when some hunters had chased a young she-aurochs, with her two
calves, into the king's park, the prince, though he was then only a boy,
ran out and drove the rough fellows away. Then he sheltered and fed the
aurochs family of three, until they were fresh and fat. After this he
sent a skilled hunter to imitate the sound of an aurochs mother, to call
the aurochs father to the edge of the woods. He then let them all go
free, and was happy to see the dumb brutes frisking together.
Now that the boy-prince was grown to be a man and had long been king,
and had forgotten all about the incident of his earlier years, he was
one day walking in the forest.
Suddenly a gentle breeze arose and the leaves of the old oak tree began
first to rustle and then to whisper. Soon the words were clear, and the
spirit in the oak said:
"I have seen a thousand years pass by, since I was an acorn planted
here. In a few moments I shall die and fall down. Cut my body into
staves. Of these make a wooden petticoat, like a barrel, for your
daughter. When her temper is bad, let her put it on and wear it until
she promises to be good."
The king was sad at the thought of losing the grand old tree, under
which he had played as a boy and his fathers before him. His countenance
fell.
"Cheer up, my friend," said the oak, "for something better shall follow.
When I pass away, you will find on this spot a blue flower growing.
Where the forest was shall be fields, on which the sun shines. Then, if
your daughter be good, young women shall spin something prettier than
wooden petticoats. Watch for the blue flower. Moreover," added the voice
of the tree, "that I may not be forgotten, do you take, henceforth, as
your family name Ten Eyck" (which, in Dutch, means "at the oak ").
At this moment, a huge aurochs rushed into the wood. Its long hair and
shaggy mane were gray with age. The king, thinking the beast would lower
his horns and charge at him, drew his sword to fight the mighty brute
that seemed to weigh well-nigh a ton.
But the aurochs stopped within ten feet of the king and bellowed; but,
in a minute or two, the bellowing changed to a voice and the king heard
these good words:
"I die with the oak, for we are brothers, kept under an enchantment for
a thousand years, which is to end in a few moments. Neither a tree nor
an aurochs can forget your kindness to us, when you were a prince. As
soon as our spirits are released, and we both go back to our home in the
moon, saw off my right horn and make of it a comb for use on your
daughter's curls. It will be smoother than stone."
In a moment a tempest arose, which drove the king for shelter behind
some rocks hard by. After a few minutes, the wind ceased and the sky was
clear. The king looked and there lay the oak, fallen at full length, and
the aurochs lay lifeless beside it.
Just then, the king's woodmen, who were out--thinking their master
might be hurt--drew near. He ordered them to take out the right horn of
the aurochs and to split up part of the oak for slaves. The next day,
they made a wooden petticoat and a horn comb. They were such novelties
that nearly every woman in the kingdom came to see them.
After this, the king called himself the Lord of the Land of Ten Eyck,
and ever after this was his family name, which all his descendants bore.
Whenever the princess showed bad temper, she was forced to wear the
wooden petticoat. To have the boys and girls point at her and make fun
of her was severe punishment.
But a curious thing took place. It was found that every time the maid
combed the hair of the princess she became gentler and more sweet
tempered. She often thanked her governess and said she liked to have her
curls smoothed with the new comb. She even begged her father to let her
own one and have the comb all to herself. It was not long before she
surprised her governess and her parents by combing and curling her own
hair. In truth, such a wonderful change came over the princess that she
did not often have to wear the wooden petticoat, and after a year or
two, not at all. So the gossips nearly forgot all about it.
One summer's day, as the princess was walking in the open, sunny space,
where the old oak had stood, she saw a blue flower. It seemed as
beautiful as it was strange. She plucked it and put it in her hair. When
she reached home, her old aunt, who had been in southern lands, declared
it to be the flower of the flax.
During that spring, millions of tiny green blades sprang up where the
forest had been, and when summer came, the plants were half a yard high.
The women learned how to put the stalks in water and rot the coarse,
outer fibre of the flax. Then they took the silk-like strands from the
inside and spun them on their spinning-wheels. Then they wove them into
pretty cloth.
This, when laid out on the grass, under the sunshine, was bleached
white. The flax thread was made first into linen, and then into lace.
"Let us name the place Groen-e'-veld" (Green Field), the happy people
cried, when they saw how green the earth was where had been the dark
forest. So the place was ever after called the Green Field.
Now when the princess saw what pretty clothes the snow white linen made,
she invented a new style of dress. The upper garment, or "rok," that is,
the one above the waist, she called the "boven rok" and the lower one,
beneath the waist, her "beneden rok." In Dutch "boven" means above and
"beneden" means beneath. By and by, when, at the looms, more of the
beautiful white linen was woven, she had a new petticoat made and put it
on. She was so delighted with this one that she wanted more. One after
the other, she belted them around her waist, until she had on twenty
petticoats at a time. Proud she was of her skirts, even though they made
her look like a barrel. When her mother, and maids, and all the women of
Groen-e-veld, young and old, saw the princess set the fashion, they all
followed. It was not always easy for poor girls, who were to be married,
to buy as many as twenty petticoats. But, as it was the fashion, every
bride had to obey the rule. It grew to be the custom to have at least
twenty; for only this number was thought proper.
So, a new rule, even among the men, grew up. A betrothed young man, or
his female relatives assisting him, was accustomed to make a present of
one or more petticoats to his sweetheart to increase her wardrobe.
Thus the fashion prevailed and still holds among the women of the coast.
Fat or thin, tall or short, they pile on the petticoats and swing their
skirts proudly as they walk or go to market, sell their fish, cry "fresh
herring" in the streets, or do their knitting at home, or in front of
their houses. In some parts of the country, nothing makes a girl so
happy as to present her with a new petticoat. It is the fashion to have
a figure like a barrel and wear one's clothes so as to look like a small
hogshead.
By and by, the men built a dam to get plenty of water in winter for the
rotting of the flax stalks. The linen industry made the people rich. In
time, a city sprang up, which they called Rotterdam, or the dam where
they rotted the flax.
And, because where had been a forest of oaks, with the pool and rivulet,
there was now a silvery stream flowing gently between verdant meadows,
they made the arms and seal of the city green and white, two of the
former and one of the latter; that is, verdure and silver. To this day,
on the arms and flags of the great city, and on the high smoke-stacks of
the mighty steamers that cross the ocean, from land to land, one sees
the wide, white band between the two broad stripes of green.
[Illustration: ON AND ON THE RAGING FLOOD BORE THEM UNTIL DARK NIGHT CAME
DOWN]
THE CAT AND THE CRADLE
In the early ages, when our far-off ancestors lived in the woods, ate
acorns, slept in caves, and dressed in the skins of wild animals, they
had no horses, cows or cats. Their only pets and helpers were dogs. The
men and the dogs were more like each other than they are now.
However, they knew about bees. So the women gathered honey and from it
they made mead. Not having any sugar, the children enjoyed tasting honey
more than anything else, and it was the only sweet thing they had.
By and by, cows were brought into the country and the Dutch soil being
good for grass, the cows had plenty to eat. When these animals
multiplied, the people drank milk and learned to make cheese and butter.
So the Dutch boys and girls grew fat and healthy.
The oxen were so strong that they could pull logs of wood or draw a
plough. So, little by little, the forests were cut down and grassy
meadows, full of bright colored flowers, took their place. Houses were
built and the people were rich and happy.
Yet there were still many cruel men and bad people in the land.
Sometimes, too, floods came and drowned the cattle and covered the
fields with sand, or salt water. In such times, food was very scarce.
Thus it happened that not all the babies born could live, or every
little child be fed. The baby girls especially were often left to die,
because war was common and only boys, that grew into strong warriors,
were wanted.
It grew to be a custom that families would hold a council and decide
whether the baby should be raised or not. But if any one should give the
infant even a tiny drop of milk, or food of any kind, it was allowed to
live and grow up. If no one gave it milk or honey, it died. No matter
how much a mother might love her baby, she was not allowed to put milk
to its lips, if the grandmother or elders forbade it. The young bride,
coming into her husband's home, always had to obey his mother, for she
was now as a daughter and one of the family. All lived together in one
house, and the grandmother ruled all the women and girls that were under
one roof.
This was the way of the world, when our ancestors were pagans, and not
always as kind to little babies as our own mothers and fathers are now.
Many times was the old grandmother angry, when her son had taken a wife
and a girl was born. If the old woman expected a grandson, who should
grow up and be a fighter, with sword and spear, and it turned out to be
a girl, she was mad as fire. Often the pretty bride, brought into the
house, had a hard time of it, with her husband's mother, if she did not
in time have a baby boy. In those days a "Herman," a "War Man" and
"German" were one and the same word.
Now when the good missionaries came into Friesland, one of the first of
the families to receive the gospel was one named Altfrid. With his
bride, who also became a Christian, Altfrid helped the missionary to
build a church. By and by, a sweet little baby was born in the family
and the parents were very happy. They loved the little thing sent from
God, as fathers and mothers love their children now.
But when some one went and told the pagan grandmother that the new baby
was a girl instead of a boy, the old woman flew into a rage and would
have gone at once to get hold of the baby and put it to death. Her
lameness, however, made her move slowly, and she could not find her
crutch; for the midwife, who knew the bad temper of the grandmother, had
purposely hid it. The old woman was angry, because she did not want any
more females in the big house, where she thought there were already too
many mouths to fill. Food was hard to get, and there were not enough war
men to defend the tribe. She meant to get the new baby and throw it to
the wolves. The old grandmother was a pagan and still worshipped the
cruel gods that loved fighting. She hated the new religion, because it
taught gentleness and peace.
But the midwife, who was a neighbor, feared that the old woman was
malicious and she had hid her crutch. This she did, so that if the baby
was a girl, she could save its life. The midwife was a good woman, who
had been taught that the Great Creator loves little girls as well as
boys.
So when the midwife heard the grandmother storm and rave, while hunting
for her crutch, she ran first to the honey jar, dipped her forefinger in
it and put some drops of honey on the baby's tongue. Then she passed it
out the window to some women friends, who were waiting outside. She knew
the law, that if a child tasted food, it must be allowed to live.
The kind women took the baby to their home and fed it carefully. A hole
was drilled in the small end of a cow's horn and the warm milk, fresh
from the cow, was allowed to fall, drop by drop, into the baby's mouth.
In a few days the little one was able to suck its breakfast slowly out
of the horn, while one of the girls held it. So the baby grew bigger
every day. All the time it was carefully hidden.
The foolish old grandmother was foiled, for she could never find out
where the baby girl was, which all the time was growing strong and
plump. Her father secretly made her a cradle and he and the babe's
mother came often to see their child. Every one called her Honig-je', or
Little Honey.
Now about this time, cats were brought into the country and the children
made such pets of them that some of the cows seemed to be jealous of the
attentions paid to Pussy and the kittens. These were the days when cows
and people all lived under one long roof. The children learned to tell
the time of day, whether it was morning, noon or night by looking into
the cats' eyes. These seemed to open and shut, very much as if they had
doors.
The fat pussy, which was brought into the house where Honig-je' was,
seemed to be very fond of the little girl, and the two, the cat and the
child, played much together. It was often said that the cat loved the
baby even more than her own kittens. Every one called the affectionate
animal by the nickname of Dub-belt-je', which means Little Double;
because this puss was twice as loving as most cat mothers are. When her
own furry little babies were very young, she carried them from one place
to another in her mouth. But this way, of holding kittens, she never
tried on the baby. She seemed to know better. Indeed, Dub-belt-je' often
wondered why human babies were born so naked and helpless; for at an age
when her kittens could feed themselves and run about and play with their
tails and with each other, Honig-je' was not yet able to crawl.
But other dangers were in store for the little girl. One day, when the
men were out hunting, and the women went to the woods to gather nuts and
acorns, a great flood came. The waters washed away the houses, so that
everything floated into the great river, and then down towards the sea.
What had, what would, become of our baby? So thought the parents of
Honig-je', when they came back to find the houses swept away and no sign
of their little daughter. Dub-belt-je' and her kittens, and all the
cows, were gone too.
Now it had happened that when the flood came and the house crashed down,
baby was sound asleep. The cat, leaving its kittens, that were now
pretty well grown up, leaped up and on to the top of the cradle and the
two floated off together. Pretty soon they found themselves left alone,
with nothing in sight that was familiar, except one funny thing. That
was a wooden shoe, in which was a fuzzy little yellow chicken hardly
four days old. It had been playing in the shoe, when the floods came
and swept it off from under the very beak of the old hen, that, with all
her other chicks, was speedily drowned.
On and on, the raging flood bore baby and puss, until dark night came
down. For hours more they drifted until, happily, the cradle was swept
into an eddy in front of a village. There it spun round and round, and
might soon have been borne into the greater flood, which seemed to roar
louder as the waters rose.
Now a cat can see sometimes in the night, better even than in the day,
for the darker it becomes, the wider open the eyes of puss. In bright
sunshine, at noon, the inside doors of the cat's eyes close to a narrow
slit, while at night these doors open wide. That is the reason why, in
the days before clocks and watches were made, the children could tell
about the time of day by looking at the cat's eyes. Sometimes they named
their pussy Klok'-oog, which means Clock Eye, or Bell Eye, for bell
clocks are older than clocks with a dial, and because in Holland the
bells ring out the hours and quarter hours.
Puss looked up and saw the church tower looming up in the dark. At once
she began to meouw and caterwaul with all her might. She hoped that some
one in one of the houses near the river bank might catch the sound. But
none seemed to hear or heed. At last, when Puss was nearly dead with
howling, a light appeared at one of the windows. This showed that some
one was up and moving. It was a boy, who was named Dirck, after the
saint Theodoric, who had first, long ago, built a church in the village.
Then Puss opened her mouth and lungs again and set up a regular
cat-scream. This wakened all her other relatives in the village and
every Tom and Kitty made answer, until there was a cat concert of meouws
and caterwauls.
The boy heard, rushed down-stairs, and, opening the door, listened. The
wind blew out his candle, but the brave lad was guided by the sound
which Pussy made. Reaching the bank, he threw off his wooden klomps,
plunged into the boiling waters, and, seizing the cradle, towed it
ashore. Then he woke up his mother and showed her his prize. The way
that baby laughed and crowed, and patted the horn of milk, and kicked up
its toes in delight over the warm milk, which was brought, was a joy to
see. Near the hearth, in the middle of the floor, Dub-belt-je', the
puss, was given some straw for a bed and, after purring joyfully, was
soon, like the baby, sound asleep.
Thus the cat warned the boy, and the boy saved the baby, that was very
welcome in a family where there were no girls, but only a boy. When
Honig-je' grew up to be a young woman, she looked as lovely as a
princess and in the church was married to Dirck! It was the month of
April and all the world was waking to flowers, when the wedding
procession came out of the church and the air was sweet with the opening
of the buds.
Before the next New Year's day arrived, there lay in the same cradle,
and put to sleep over the same rockers, a baby boy. When they brought
him to the font, the good grandmother named him Luid-i-ger. He grew up
to be the great missionary, whose name in Friesland is, even today,
after a thousand years, a household word. He it was who drove out bad
fairies, vile enchanters, wicked spirits and terrible diseases. Best of
all, he banished "eye-bite," which was the name the people gave to
witchcraft. Luid-i-ger, also, made it hard for the naughty elves and
sprites that delude men.
After this, it was easy for all the good spirits, that live in kind
hearts and noble lives, to multiply and prosper. The wolves were driven
away or killed off and became very few, while the cattle and sheep
multiplied, until everybody could have a woollen coat, and there was a
cow to every person in the land.
But the people still suffered from the floods, that from time to time
drowned the cattle and human beings, and the ebb tides, that carried
everything out to sea. Then the good missionary taught the men how to
build dykes, that kept out the ocean and made the water of the rivers
stay between the banks. The floods became fewer and fewer and at last
rarely happened. Then Santa Klaas arrived, to keep alive in the hearts
of the people the spirit of love and kindness and good cheer forever.
At last, when nearly a hundred years had passed away, Honig-je', once
the girl baby, and then the dear old lady, who was kind to everybody and
prepared the way for Santa Klaas, died. Then, also, Dub-belt-je' the
cat, that had nine lives in one, died with her. They buried the old lady
under the church floor and stuffed the pussy that everybody, kittens,
boys, girls and people loved. By and by, when the cat's tail and fur
fell to pieces, and ears tumbled off, and its glass eyes dropped out, a
skilful artist chiselled a statue of Dub-belt-je', which still stands
over the tomb in the church. Every year, on Santa Klaas day, December
sixth, the children put a new collar around its neck and talk about the
cat that saved a baby's life.
PRINCE SPIN HEAD AND MISS SNOW WHITE
Long, long ago, before the Romans came into the land and when the
fairies ruled in the forest, there was a maiden who lived under an oak
tree. When she was a baby they called her Bundlekin. She had four
brothers, who loved their younger sister very dearly and did everything
they could to make her happy. Her fat father was a famous hunter. When
he roamed the woods, no bear, wolf, aurochs, roebuck, deer, or big
animal of any kind, could escape from his arrows, his spear, or his
pit-trap. He taught his sons to be skilful in the chase, but also to be
kind to the dumb creatures when captured. Especially when the mother
beast was killed, the boys were always told to care for the cubs, whelps
and kittens. As for the smaller animals, foxes, hares, weasels, rabbits
and ermine, these were so numerous, that the father left the business of
hunting them to the lads, who had great sport.
The house under the oak tree was always well provided with meat and
furs. The four brothers brought the little animals, which they took in
the woods, to make presents to their sister. So there was always a
plenty of pets, bear and wolf cubs, wildcats' kittens and baby aurochs
for the girl to play with. Every day, while the animals were so young as
to be fed on milk, she enjoyed frolicking with the four-footed babies.
When they grew bigger, she romped and sported with them, as if she and
they were equal members of the same family. The older brother watched
carefully, so that the little brutes, as they increased in size, should
not bite or claw his sister, for he knew the fierce nature that was in
wild creatures. Yet the maiden had wonderful power over these beasts of
the forest, whether little or big. She was not very much afraid of them
and often made them run, by looking at them hard in the eye.
While the girl made a pet of the animals, her parents made a pet of her.
The mother prepared the skins of the wolves and bears, until these were
very soft, keeping the fur on, to make rugs for the floor, and winter
coats for her children. The hides of the aurochs sufficed for rougher
use, but from what had once been the clothes of the fawn, the weasel,
the rabbit, and the ermine, garments were made that were smooth enough
to suit a baby's tender flesh. The forest folk wrapped their infants in
swaddling hands made of these dressed pelts. After feeding the darling,
a mother hung her baby up, warmly covered, to a tree branch. The cradle,
which was a furry bag, was made of the same material and swung in the
wind.
Bundlekin usually fell asleep right after she had had her breakfast.
When she woke up crowing, the squirrels were playing all around her. She
even learned to watch the spiders, spinning their houses of silk,
without being afraid. When Bundlekin grew up, she always called this
curious creature, that could make silk, Spin Head. She jokingly called
it her lover, in remembrance of baby days.
It was funny to see how deft the mother was with her needles, fashioned
from bone, and her rough thread, which was made of the intestines of the
deer. From her own childhood in the woods, Bundlekin's mother had been
used to this kind of dressmaking. Now, when her daughter had grown, from
babyhood and through her teens, to be a lovely maiden, fair of face and
strong of limb, her sweet, unselfish parent was equal to new tasks. To
the soft leather coats, made from the skins of fawns, martens, and
weasels, she added trimmings of snow white ermine. Caps and mittens,
cloaks for the body, and coverings for the feet, were fashioned to fit
neatly. Fringes, here and there, were put on them, until her girl looked
like a king's daughter. In summer, the skins of birds and their feathers
clothed her lightly, and with many and rich colors, while the forest
flowers decked her hair.
In winter, in her white forest robes, the maiden, except for her rosy
face and sparkling eyes, seemed as if she might have been born of the
snow, or was a daughter of the northern ice god at Ulrum. And because
she was so lovely, her parents changed her baby name and called her
Dri'-fa, which means Snow White.
Yet, though no other girl in Gelderland equalled, and none, not even the
princesses, excelled Snow White in beauty of face, form, or raiment, the
maiden was not happy, even though many lovers came to her and offered to
marry her. Some, as proof of their skill as hunters, brought the finest
furs the forest furnished. Others showed their strength or fleetness of
foot. Some bargained with the kabouters, or fairies of the mines, to
bring them shining ore or precious gems which they offered to Snow
White. Others, again, went afar to get strange wonders, amber and
ambergris, from the seashores of the far north to please her. One fine
fellow, who had been in the south and was proud of his travels, told her
of what he had seen in the great cities, and offered her a necklace of
pearls.
But all was in vain. Every lover went away sorrowful, for Snow White
wearied of them and sent each one home, disappointed.
Last of all, among the lovers came a strange looking one, named Spin
Head, resembling a spider, promising a secret worth more than furs,
gold, gems, or necklace; but the mother, seeing the ugly creature, drove
it off with hard words.
So the months and years passed, until her father feared he would not
live to see his daughter a wife.
But one day, when all in the household were absent, the leaves of the
oak tree rustled loudly. There was no wind, and Snow White, surprised,
strained her ears to find out what this might mean. Soon she could make
out these words:
"When the spider, that you called Spin Head, comes to make love to you,
listen to him. He is the wisest being in all the forest. He knows the
future. He will tell you a secret. I shall pass away, but what he
teaches you shall live."
Then the leaves of the oak ceased to rustle and all was quiet and still
again.
While wondering what this message might mean, down came the real spider
she had named Spin Head. He lowered himself from a tree branch, high
above on a silken thread. The creature sat down on the log beside the
maiden; but she was not in the least startled and did not scream nor run
away. Indeed, she spoke to the spider as an old friend:
"Well, playmate of my babyhood, what have you to tell me?"
"I came to offer you my love. You need not marry me yet, but if you will
let me spin a web in your room, I shall live there, and, by and by,
reward you. Let me be in your sight always, and you will not be sorry
for it."
The maiden had no sooner agreed than a terrible tempest uprooted the oak
and levelled the trees of the forest. In a moment more, a new and very
beautiful house rose up out of the ground. It was as noble to look at as
a palace. Near by was a garden, and one day when she walked in it, out
of it sprang a blue flower, almost under her feet.
"Choose the best room for your own self," said Spin Head, "and then show
me my corner. After a hundred days, if you treat me kindly, I shall
reveal the secret of that blue flower."
Dri'-fa, the maiden, chose the sunniest room, and gave Spin Head the
best corner, near the window and close to the ceiling. At once he began
to weave a shining web for his own house. She wondered at such fine
work, which no human weaver could excel, and why she was not able to
spin silk out of her head, nor even with her fingers, like her strange
lover. But the oak had promised that Spin Head would reveal a secret,
and she was curious to know what it was. Like all girls, she was in a
hurry to have the secret. To ease her impatience, Dri'-fa looked on,
while Spin Head was thus busy at making his dwelling place, with shining
threads which he spun out, never ceasing. She was so intent upon
watching him that night came down before she noticed that her room was
not furnished. There was not even a bed to sleep on.
Spin Head looked at her closely and then spoke with a deep voice, like a
man's:
"Ah, I know, you want a bed, and pretty things for your room."
In another moment, soft furs lined the floor, and soon all that Dri'-fa
had possessed in the forest for comfort she had now, and more. Lost in
wonder as she was, in a few minutes she was fast asleep.
She dreamed she wore a dress of some strange, new, white fabric, such as
her people had never seen before. Instead of being close in texture,
like the skin of an animal, it was as open work, full of thousands of
little holes, yet strongly held together. It was light and gauzy, like a
silvery spider's web on the summer grass before sunrise, when pearly
with dewdrops.
The hundred days were passing swiftly by, and Spin Head and Snow White
had become fast friends. Each lived in a different world--a world within
a world. She was waiting for the secret he would tell her. She bravely
resolved not to be impatient, but let Spin Head speak first.
One day, when autumn had come and she was lonely, she sauntered out into
the garden. The chill winds were blowing and the leaves falling, till
they covered the ground like a yellow carpet. One fell into her hand, as
if it bore words of friendly greeting. Yet, though she waited, not one
of the millions of them brought a message to her! Never a word had she
ever heard from her parents and brothers! The blue flower had long ago
fallen away and there was nothing in its place but a hard, rough, black
stalk. Then she said to herself:
"Is there anything in this ugly stick? How will Spin Head reveal his
secret?" Never had she been so cast down.
Again the tempest howled. All the winds of heaven seemed to have broken
loose. Many a sturdy oak lay prostrate. The leaves darkened the air, so
that Snow White could see nothing. Then there was a great calm. The maid
cleared her sight, and lo! there, beside her, stood a youth, more
beautiful than any of her brothers, or her lovers, or any man she had
ever seen. He was dressed in fine white clothing, excelling in its
texture any skin of fawn, or animal of the forest. Instead of being
leather, however soft, it seemed woven of a multitude of threads. In his
hand he held the black stalk of what had been the blue flower.
"I am Spin Head," he said. "The hundred days are over. The spell is
broken and my deliverance from enchantment has come. I bring to you, as
my gift, this ugly stalk, on which the blue flower bloomed."
Between surprise at the change of Spin Head from a spider to a handsome
youth, and disappointment at such a present offered her, Snow White was
dumb. She could hardly draw her breath. Was that all?
"Break it open," said Spin Head.
Splitting the stalk from end to end, the maiden was surprised to find
inside many long silky fibres, almost as fine as the strands in a
spider's web. She pulled them out and her eyes danced with joy.
"Plant the seed and let the blue flowers blossom by the million," said
the youth. "Then gather the stalks and, from the fibres, weave them
together and make this. The black rod is a sceptre of wealth."
Then, separating the delicate strands one by one, Spin Head wove them
together. The result was a rich robe, of a snow white fabric, never seen
in the forest. It was linen.
Snow White clapped her hands with joy.
"'Tis for your wedding dress, if you will marry me," said Spin Head.
Snow White's cheeks blushed red, but she looked at him and her eyes said
"yes."
"Wait," said Spin Head. "I'll make you a bridal veil."
Once more his fingers wrought wonders. He produced yards of a gauzy,
open work stuff. He made it float in the air first. Then he threw it
over her head. It trailed down her back and covered her rosy face. It
was lace.
Happily married, they left the forest and travelled into the land where
the blue flax flowers made a new sky on the earth. Soon on the map men
read the names of cities unknown before. At a time when Europe had no
such masses of happy people, joyous in their toil, Courtrai, Tournay,
Ypres, Ghent, and Bruges told what the blue flower of the flax had done
for the country. More than gold, gems, or the wealth of forest or mine,
was the gift of Spin Head to Snow White, for the making of Belgic Land.
THE BOAR WITH THE GOLDEN BRISTLES
Long, long ago, there were brave fighters and skilful hunters in
Holland, but neither men nor women ever dreamed that food was to be got
out of the ground, but only from the trees and bushes, such as berries,
acorns and honey. They thought the crust of the earth was too hard to be
broken up for seed, even if they knew what grain and bread were. They
supposed that what nature provided in the forest was the only food for
men. Besides this, they made their women do all the work and cook the
acorns and brew the honey into mead, while they went out to fish and
hunt and fight.
So the fairies took pity on the cold, northern people, who lived where
it rained and snowed a great deal. They held a council and agreed that
it was time to send down to the earth an animal, with tusks, to tear up
the ground. Then the people would see the riches of the earth and learn
what soil was. They would be blessed with farms and gardens, barns and
stalls, hay and grain, horses and cattle, wheat and barley, pigs and
clover.
Now there were powerful fairies, of a certain kind, who lived in a Happy
Land far, far away, who had charge of everything in the air and water.
One of them was named Fro, who became lord of the summer sunshine and
warm showers, that make all things grow. It was in this bright region
that the white elves lived.
It was a pretty custom in fairy-land that when a fairy baby cut its
first tooth, the mother's friends should make the little one some pretty
present.
When Nerthus, the mother of the infant Fro, looked into its mouth and
saw the little white thing that had come up through the baby's gums, she
went in great glee and told the glad news to all the other fairies. It
was a great event and she tried to guess what present her wonderful
boy-baby should receive.
There was one giant-like fairy as strong as a polar bear, who agreed to
get, for little Fro, a creature that could put his nose under the sod
and root up the ground. In this way he would show men what the earth,
just under its surface, contained, without their going into mines and
caverns.
One day this giant fairy heard two stout dwarfs talking loudly in the
region under the earth. They were boasting as to which could beat the
other at the fire and bellows, for both were blacksmiths. One was the
king of the dwarfs, who made a bet that he could excel the other. So he
set them to work as rivals, while a third dwarf worked the bellows. The
dwarf-king threw some gold in the flames to melt; but, fearing he might
not win the bet, he went away to get other fairies to help him. He told
the bellows dwarf to keep on pumping air on the fire, no matter what
might happen to him.
So when one giant fairy, in the form of a gadfly, flew at him, and bit
him in the hand, the bellows-blower did not stop for the pain, but kept
on until the fire roared loudly, as to make the cavern echo. Then all
the gold melted and could be transformed. As soon as the dwarf-king came
back, the bellows-blower took up the tongs and drew out of the fire a
boar having golden bristles.
This fire-born golden boar had the power of travelling through the air
as swiftly as a streak of lightning. It was named Gullin, or Golden, and
was given to the fairy Fro, and he, when grown, used the wonderful
creature as his steed. All the other good fairies and the elves
rejoiced, because men on the earth would now be helped to do great
things.
Even more wonderful to tell, this fire-born creature became the father
of all the animals that have tusks and that roam in the woods. A tusk is
a big tooth, of which the hardest and sharpest part grows, long and
sharp, outside of the mouth and it stays there, even when the mouth is
shut.
When Gullin was not occupied, or being ridden by Fro on his errands over
the world, he taught his sons, that is, the wild boars of the forest,
how to root up the ground and make it soft for things to grow in. Then
his master Fro sent the sunbeams and the warm showers to make the
turned-up earth fruitful.
To do this, the wild boars were given two long tusks, as pointed as
needles and sharp as knives. With one sweep of his head a boar could rip
open a dog or a wolf, a bull or a bear, or furrow the earth like a
ploughshare.
Now there were several cousins in the Tusk family. The elephant on land,
and the walrus and narwhal in the seas; but none of these could plough
ground, but because the boar's tusks grew out so long and were so sharp,
and hooked at the end, it could tear open the earth's hard crust and
root up the ground. This made a soil fit for tender plants to grow in,
and even the wild flowers sprang up in them.
All this, when they first noticed it, was very wonderful to human
beings. The children called one to the other to come and see the unusual
sight. The little troughs, made first by the ripping of the boar's
tusks, were widened by rooting with their snouts. These were welcomed by
the birds, for they hopped into the lines thus made, to feed on the
worms. So the birds, supposing that these little gutters in the ground
were made especially for them, made great friends with the boars. They
would even perch near by, or fly to their backs, and ride on them.
As for the men fathers, when they looked at the clods and the loose
earth thus turned over, they found them to be very soft. So the women
and girls were able to break them up with their sticks. Then the seeds,
dropped by the birds that came flying back every spring time, from
far-away lands, sprouted. It was noticed that new kinds of plants grew
up, which had stalks. In the heads or ears of these were a hundredfold
more seeds. When the children tasted them, they found, to their delight,
that the little grains were good to eat. They swallowed them whole, they
roasted them at the fire, or they pounded them with stones. Then they
baked the meal thus made or made it into mush, eating it with honey.
For the first time people in the Dutch world had bread. When they added
the honey, brought by the bees, they had sweet cakes with mead. Then,
saving the seeds over, from one summer to another, they in the spring
time planted them in the little trenches made by the animal's tusks.
Then the Dutch words for "boar" and "row" were put together, meaning
boar row, and there issued, in time, our word "furrow."
The women were the first to become skilful in baking. In the beginning
they used hot stones on which to lay the lump of meal, or flour and
water, or the batter. Then having learned about yeast, which "raised"
the flour, that is, lifted it up, with gas and bubbles, they made real
bread and cakes and baked them in the ovens which the men had made. When
they put a slice of meat between upper and lower layers of bread, they
called it "broodje," that is, little bread; or, sandwich. In time,
instead of one kind of bread, or cake, they had a dozen or twenty
different sorts, besides griddle cakes and waffles.
Now when the wise men of the mark, or neighborhood, saw that the women
did such wonderful things, they put their heads together and said one to
the other:
"We are quite ready to confess that fairies, and elves, and even the
kabouters are smarter than we are. Our women, also, are certainly
wonderful; but it will never do to let the boars think that they know
more than we do. They did indeed teach us how to make furrows, and the
birds brought us grain; but we are the greater, for we can hunt and kill
the boars with our spears.
"Although they can tear up the sod and root in the ground with tusk and
snout, they cannot make cakes, as our women can. So let us see if we
cannot beat both the boars and birds, and even excel our women. We shall
be more like the fairies, if we invent something that will outshine them
all."
So they thought and planned, and, little by little, they made the
plough. First, with a sharp stick in their hands, the men scratched the
surface of the ground into lines that were not very deep. Then they
nailed plates of iron on those sticks. Next, they fixed this iron-shod
wood in a frame to be pulled forward, and, by and by, they added
handles. Men and women, harnessed together, pulled the plough. Indeed it
was ages before they had oxen to do this heavy work for them. At last
the perfect plough was seen. It had a knife in front to cut the clods, a
coulter, a beam, a mould board and handles, and, after a while, a wheel
to keep it straight. Then they set horses to draw it.
Fro the fairy was the owner, not only of the boar with the golden
bristles, but also of the lightning-like horse, Sleipnir, that could
ride through fire and water with the speed of light. Fro also owned the
magic ship, which could navigate both land and sea. It was so very
elastic that it could be stretched out to carry a host of warriors over
the seas to war, or fold up like a lady's handkerchief. With this flying
vessel, Fro was able to move about like a cloud and also to change like
them. He could also appear, or disappear, as he pleased, in one place or
another.
By and by, the wild boars were all hunted to death and disappeared. Yet
in one way, and a glorious one also, their name and fame were kept in
men's memories. Brave knights had the boar's head painted on their
shields and coats of arms. When the faith of the Prince of Peace made
wars less frequent, the temples in honor of Fro were deserted, but the
yule log and the revels, held to celebrate the passing of the Mother
Night, in December, that is, the longest one of the year, were changed
for the Christmas festival.
Then again, the memory of man's teacher of the plough was still kept
green; for the boar was remembered as the giver, not only of nourishing
meat, but of ideas for men's brains. Baked in the oven, and made
delightful to the appetite, served on the dish, with its own savory
odors; withal, decorated with sprigs of rosemary, the boar's head was
brought in for the great dinner, with the singing of Christmas carols.
THE ICE KING AND HIS WONDERFUL GRANDCHILD
In the far-off ages, all the lands of northern Europe were one, for the
deep seas had not yet separated them. Then our forefathers thought that
fairies were gods. They built temples in their honor, and prayed to
them. Then, in the place where is now the little town of Ulrum in
Friesland was the home of the spirit in the ice, Uller. That is what
Ulrum means, the home of the good fairy Uller.
Uller was the patron of boys and girls. They liked him, because he
invented skates and sleds and sleighs. He had charge of things in winter
and enjoyed the cold. He delighted also in hunting. Dressed in thick
furs, he loved to roam over the hills and through the forests, seeking
out the wolf, the bear, the deer, and the aurochs. His bow and arrows
were terrible, for they were very big and he was a sure shot. Being the
patron of archery, hunters always sought his favor. The yew tree was
sacred to Uller, because the best bows were made from its wood. No one
could cut down a yew tree without angering Uller.
Nobody knew who Uller's father was, and if he knew himself, he did not
care to tell any one. He would not bestow many blessings upon mankind;
yet thousands of people used to come to Ulrum every year to invoke his
aid and ask him to send a heavy fall of snow to cover the ground. That
meant good crops of food for the next year. The white snow, lying thick
upon the ground, kept back the frost giants from biting the earth too
hard. Because of deep winter snows, the ground was soft during the next
summer. So the seed sprouted more easily and there was plenty to eat.
When Uller travelled over the winter snow, to go out on hunting trips,
he strapped snow-shoes on his feet. Because these were shaped like a
warrior's shield, Uller was often called the shield-god. His protection
was especially invoked by men who fought duels with sword or spear,
which were very common in early days; or by soldiers or hunters, who
wished to be very brave, or had engaged in perilous ventures.
Now when Uller wanted a wife to marry him, he made love to Skadi,
because she was a huntress and liked the things which he liked. So they
never had a quarrel. She was very strong, fond of sports, and of chasing
the wild animals. She wore a short skirt, which allowed freedom of
motion to her limbs. Then she ranged over the hills and valleys with
wonderful swiftness. So rapid were her movements that many people
likened her to the cold mountain stream, that leaps down from the high
peaks and over the rocks, foaming and dashing to the lowlands. They gave
the same name to both this fairy woman and the water, because they were
so much alike.
Indeed Skadi was very lovely to look at. It was no wonder that many of
the gods, fairies and men fell in love with her. It is even said that
she had had several husbands before marrying Uller. When you look at her
pictures, you will see that she was as pretty as bright winter itself,
when Jack Frost clothes the trees with white and makes the cheeks of the
girls so rosy. She wore armor of shining steel, a silver helmet, short
white skirts and white fur leggings. Her snow-shoes were of the hue of
winter. Besides a glittering spear, she had a bow and sharp arrows.
These were held in a silver quiver slung over her shoulders. Altogether,
she looked like winter alive. She loved to live in the mountains, and
hear the thunders of cataracts, the crash of avalanches, the moaning of
the winds in the pine forests. Even the howling of wolves was music in
her ears. She was afraid of nothing.
Now from such a father and mother one would expect wonderful children,
yet very much like their parents. It turned out that the offspring of
Uller and Skadi were all daughters. To them--one after another--were
given the names meaning Glacier, Cold, Snow, Drift, Snow Whirl, and Snow
Dust, the oldest being the biggest and hardiest. The others were in
degree softer and more easily influenced by the sun and the wind. They
all looked alike, so that some people called them the Six White Sisters.
Yet they were all so great and powerful that many considered them
giantesses. It was not possible for men to tame them, for they did very
much as they pleased. No one could stop their doings or drive them away,
except Woden, who was the god of the sun. Yet in winter, even he left
off ruling the world and went away. During that time, that is, during
seven months, Uller took Woden's throne and governed the affairs of the
world. When summer came, Uller went with his wife up to the North Pole;
or they lived in a house, on the top of the Alps. There they could hunt
and roam on their snow-shoes. To these cold places, which the whole
family enjoyed, their daughters went also and all were very happy so far
above the earth.
Things went on pleasantly in Uller's family so long as his daughters
were young, for then the girls found enough to delight in at their daily
play. But when grown up and their heads began to be filled with notions
about the young giants, who paid visits to them, then the family
troubles began.
[Illustration: YET ALL THE TIME HE WAS CALLING ON HUMAN BEINGS TO HARNESS
HIM TO WHEELS]
There was one young giant fairy named Vuur, who came often to see all
six of Uller's daughters, from the youngest to the oldest. Yet no one
could tell which of them he was in love with, or could name the girl he
liked best; no, not even the daughters themselves. His character and his
qualities were not well known, for he put on many disguises and appeared
in many places. It was believed, however, that he had already done a
good deal of mischief and was likely to do more, for he loved
destruction. Yet he often helped the kabouter dwarfs to do great things;
so that showed he was of some use. In fact he was the fire fairy. He
kept on, courting all the six sisters, long after May day came, and he
lengthened his visits until the heat turned the entire half dozen of
them into water. So they became one.
At this, Uller was so angry at Vuur's having delayed so long before
popping the question, and at his daughters' losing their shapes, that he
made Vuur marry them all and at once, they taking the name of Regen.
Now when the child of Vuur and Regen was born, it turned out to be, in
body and in character, just what people expected from such a father and
mother. It was named in Dutch, Stoom. It grew fast and soon showed that
it was as powerful as its parents had been; yet it was much worse, when
shut up, than when allowed to go free in the air. Stoom loved to do all
sorts of tricks. In the kitchen, it would make the iron kettle lid flop
up and down with a lively noise. If it were confined in a vessel,
whether of iron or earthenware, when set over the fire, it would blow
the pot or kettle all to pieces, in order to get out. Thinking itself a
great singer, it would make rather a pleasant sound, when its mother let
it come out of a spout. Yet it never obeyed either of its parents. When
they tried to shut up Stoom inside of anything, it always escaped with a
terrible sound. In fact, nothing could long hold it in, without an
explosion.
Sometimes Stoom would go down into the bowels of the earth and turn on a
stream of water so as to meet the deep fires which are ever burning far
down below us. Then there would come an awful earthquake, because Stoom
wanted to get out, and the earth crust would not let him, but tried to
hold him down. Sometimes Stoom slipped down into a volcano's mouth. Then
the mountain, in order to save itself from being choked, had to spit
Stoom out, and this always made a terrible mess on the ground, and men
called it lava. Or, Stoom might stay down in the crater as a guest, and
quietly come out, occasionally, in jets and puffs.
Even when Jack Frost was around and froze the pipes in the house, or
turned the water of the pots, pans, kettles and bottles into solid ice,
Stoom behaved very badly. If the frozen kettles, or any other closed
vessel were put over the stove, or near the fire, and the ice melted at
the bottom too fast, Stoom would blow the whole thing up. In this way,
he often put men's lives in danger and made them lose their property.
No one seemed to know how to handle this mischievous fairy. Not one man
on earth could do anything with him. So they let him have his own way.
Yet all the time, though he was enjoying his own tricks and lively fun,
he was, with his own voice, calling on human beings to use him properly,
and harness him to wheels; for he was willing to be useful to them, and
was all ready to pull or drive, lift or lower, grind or pump, as the
need might be.
As long as men did not treat him properly and give him the right to get
out into the air, after he had done his work, Stoom would explode, blow
up and destroy everything. He could be made to sing, hiss, squeal,
whistle, and make all kinds of sounds, but, unless the bands that held
him in were strong enough, or if Vuur got too hot, or his mother would
not give him drink enough, when the iron pipes were red with heat, he
would lose his temper and explode. He had no respect for bad or
neglected boilers, or for lazy or careless firemen and engineers.
Yet properly harnessed and treated well, and fed with the food such as
his mother can give, and roused by his father's persuasion, Stoom is
greater than any giant or fairy that ever was. He can drive a ship, a
locomotive, a submarine, or an aeroplane, as fast as Fro's boar, horse
or ship. Everybody to-day is glad that Stoom is such a good servant and
friend all over the world.
THE ELVES AND THEIR ANTICS
The elves are the little white creatures that live between heaven and
earth. They are not in the clouds, nor down in the caves and mines, like
the kabouters. They are bright and fair, dwelling in the air, and in the
world of light. The direct heat of the sun is usually too much for them,
so they are not often seen during the day, except towards sunset. They
love the silvery moonlight. There used to be many folks, who thought
they had seen the beautiful creatures, full of fun and joy, dancing hand
in hand, in a circle.
In these old days, long since gone by, there were more people than there
are now, who were sure they had many times enjoyed the sight of the
elves. Some places in Holland show, by their names, where this kind of
fairies used to live. These little creatures, that looked as thin as
gauze, were very lively and mischievous, though they often helped honest
and hard working people in their tasks, as we shall see. But first and
most of all, they were fond of fun. They loved to vex cross people and
to please those who were bonnie and blithe. They hated misers, but they
loved the kind and generous. These little folks usually took their
pleasure in the grassy meadows, among the flowers and butterflies. On
bright nights they played among the moonbeams.
There were certain times when the elves were busy, in such a way as to
make men and girls think about them. Then their tricks were generally in
the stable, or in the field among the cows. Sometimes, in the kitchen or
dairy, among the dishes or milk-pans, they made an awful mess for the
maids to clean up. They tumbled over the churns, upset the milk jugs,
and played hoops with the round cheeses. In a bedroom they made things
look as if the pigs had run over them.
When a farmer found his horse's mane twisted into knots, or two cows
with their tails tied together, he said at once, "That's the work of
elves." If the mares did not feel well, or looked untidy, their owners
were sure the elves had taken the animals out and had been riding them
all night. If a cow was sick, or fell down on the grass, it was believed
that the elves had shot an arrow into its body. The inquest, held on
many a dead calf or its mother, was, that it died from an "elf-shot."
They were so sure of this, that even when a stone arrow head--such as
our far-off ancestors used in hunting, when they were cave men--was
picked up off the ground, it was called an "elf bolt," or "elf-arrow."
Near a certain village named Elf-berg or Elf Hill, because there were so
many of the little people in that neighborhood, there was one very old
elf, named Styf, which means Stiff, because though so old he stood up
straight as a lance. Even more than the young elves, he was famous for
his pranks. Sometimes he was nicknamed Haan-e'-kam or Cock's Comb. He
got this name, because he loved to mock the roosters, when they crowed,
early in the morning. With his red cap on, he did look like a rooster.
Sometimes he fooled the hens, that heard him crowing. Old Styf loved
nothing better than to go to a house where was a party indoors. All the
wooden shoes of the twenty or thirty people within, men and women, girls
and boys, would be left outside the door. All good Dutch folks step out
of their heavy timber shoes, or klomps, before they enter a house. It is
always a curious sight, at a country church, or gathering of people at a
party, to see the klomps, big and little, belonging to baby boys and
girls, and to the big men, who wear a number thirteen shoe of wood. One
wonders how each one of the owners knows his own, but he does. Each pair
is put in its own place, but Old Styf would come and mix them all up
together, and then leave them in a pile. So when the people came out to
go home, they had a terrible time in finding and sorting out their
shoes. Often they scolded each other; or, some innocent boy was blamed
for the mischief. Some did not find out, till the next day, that they
had on one foot their own, and on another foot, their neighbor's shoe.
It usually took a week to get the klomps sorted out, exchanged, and the
proper feet into the right shoes. In this way, which was a special trick
with him, this naughty elf, Styf, spoiled the temper of many people.
Beside the meadow elves, there were other kinds in Elfin Land; some
living in the woods, some in the sand-dunes, but those called
Staalkaars, or elves of the stall, were Old Styf's particular friends.
These lived in stables and among the cows. The Moss Maidens, that could
do anything with leaves, even turning them into money, helped Styf, for
they too liked mischief. They teased men-folks, and enjoyed nothing
better than misleading the stupid fellows that fuddled their brains with
too much liquor.
Styf's especially famous trick was played on misers. It was this. When
he heard of any old fellow, who wanted to save the cost of candles, he
would get a kabouter to lead him off in the swamps, where the sooty
elves come out, on dark nights, to dance. Hoping to catch these lights
and use them for candles, the mean fellow would find himself in a swamp,
full of water and chilled to the marrow. Then the kabouters would laugh
loudly.
Old Styf had the most fun with another stingy fellow, who always scolded
children when he found them spending a penny. If he saw a girl buying
flowers, or a boy giving a copper coin for a waffle, he talked roughly
to them for wasting money. Meeting this miser one day, as he was walking
along the brick road, leading from the village, Styf offered to pay the
old man a thousand guilders, in exchange for four striped tulips, that
grew in his garden. The miser, thinking it real silver, eagerly took the
money and put it away in his iron strong box. The next night, when he
went, as he did three times a week, to count, and feel, and rub, and
gloat, over his cash, there was nothing but leaves in a round form.
These, at his touch, crumbled to pieces. The Moss Maidens laughed
uproariously, when the mean old fellow was mad about it.
But let no one suppose that the elves, because they were smarter than
stupid human beings, were always in mischief. No, no! They did, indeed,
have far more intelligence than dull grown folks, lazy boys, or careless
girls; but many good things they did. They sewed shoes for poor
cobblers, when they were sick, and made clothes for children, when the
mother was tired. When they were around, the butter came quick in the
churn.
When the blue flower of the flax bloomed in Holland, the earth, in
spring time, seemed like the sky. Old Styf then saw his opportunity to
do a good thing. Men thought it a great affair to have even coarse linen
tow for clothes. No longer need they hunt the wolf and deer in the
forest, for their garments. By degrees, they learned to make finer
stuff, both linen for clothes and sails for ships, and this fabric they
spread out on the grass until the cloth was well bleached. When taken
up, it was white as the summer clouds that sailed in the blue sky. All
the world admired the product, and soon the word "Holland" was less the
name of a country, than of a dainty fabric, so snow white, that it was
fit to robe a queen. The world wanted more and more of it, and the Dutch
linen weaver grew rich. Yet still there was more to come.
Now, on one moonlight night in summer, the lady elves, beautiful
creatures, dressed in gauze and film, with wings to fly and with feet
that made no sound, came down into the meadows for their fairy dances.
But when, instead of green grass, they saw a white landscape, they
wondered, Was it winter?
Surely not, for the air was warm. No one shivered, or was cold. Yet
there were whole acres as white as snow, while all the old fairy rings,
grass and flowers were hidden.
They found that the meadows had become bleaching grounds, so that the
cows had to go elsewhere to get their dinner, and that this white area
was all linen. However, they quickly got over their surprise, for elves
are very quick to notice things. But now that men had stolen a march on
them, they asked whether, after all, these human beings had more
intelligence than elves. Not one of these fairies but believed that men
and women were the inferiors of elves.
So, then and there, began a battle of wits.
"They have spoiled our dancing floor with their new invention; so we
shall have to find another," said the elfin queen, who led the party.
"They are very proud of their linen, these men are; but, without the
spider to teach them, what could they have done? Even a wild boar can
instruct these human beings. Let us show them, that we, also, can do
even more. I'll get Old Styf to put on his thinking cap. He'll add
something new that will make them prouder yet."
"But we shall get the glory of it," the elves shouted in chorus. Then
they left off talking and began their dances, floating in the air, until
they looked, from a distance, like a wreath of stars.
The next day, a procession of lovely elf maidens and mothers waited on
Styf and asked him to devise something that would excel the invention of
linen; which, after all, men had learned from the spider.
"Yes, and they would not have any grain fields, if they had not learned
from the wild boar," added the elf queen.
Old Styf answered "yes" at once to their request, and put on his red
thinking cap. Then some of the girl elves giggled, for they saw that he
did, really, look like a cock's comb. "No wonder they called him
Haan-e'-kam," said one elf girl to the other.
Now Old Styf enjoyed fooling, just for the fun of it, and he taught all
the younger elves that those who did the most work with their hands and
head, would have the most fun when they were old.
First of all, he went at once to see Fro, the spirit of the golden
sunshine and the warm summer showers, who owned two of the most
wonderful things in the world. One was his sword, which, as soon as it
was drawn out of its sheath, against wicked enemies, fought of its own
accord and won every battle. Fro's chief enemies were the frost giants,
who wilted the flowers and blasted the plants useful to man. Fro was
absent, when Styf came, but his wife promised he would come next day,
which he did. He was happy to meet all the elves and fairies, and they,
in turn, joyfully did whatever he told them. Fro knew all the secrets of
the grain fields, for he could see what was in every kernel of both the
stalks and the ripe ears. He arrived, in a golden chariot, drawn by his
wild boar which served him instead of a horse. Both chariot and boar
drove over the tops of the ears of wheat, and faster than the wind.
The Boar was named Gullin, or Golden Bristles because of its sunshiny
color and splendor. In this chariot, Fro had specimens of all the
grains, fruits, and vegetables known to man, from which Styf could
choose, for these he was accustomed to scatter over the earth.
When Styf told him just what he wanted to do, Fro picked out a sheaf of
wheat and whispered a secret in his ear. Then he drove away, in a burst
of golden glory, which dazzled even the elves, that loved the bright
sunshine. These elves were always glad to see the golden chariot coming
or passing by.
Styf also summoned to his aid the kabouters, and, from these ugly little
fellows, got some useful hints; for they, dwelling in the dark caverns,
know many secrets which men used to name alchemy, and which they now
call chemistry.
Then Styf fenced himself off from all intruders, on the top of a bright,
sunny hilltop, with his thinking cap on and made experiments for seven
days. No elves, except his servants, were allowed to see him. At the end
of a week, still keeping his secret and having instructed a dozen or so
of the elf girls in his new art, he invited all the elves in the Low
Countries to come to a great exhibition, which he intended to give.
What a funny show it was! On one long bench, were half a dozen washtubs;
and on a table, near by, were a dozen more washtubs; and on a longer
table not far away were six ironing boards, with smoothing irons. A
stove, made hot with a peat fire, was to heat the irons. Behind the tubs
and tables, stood the twelve elf maidens, all arrayed in shining white
garments and caps, as spotless as snow. One might almost think they were
white elves of the meadow and not kabouters of the mines. The wonder was
that their linen clothes were not only as dainty as stars, but that they
glistened, as if they had laid on the ground during a hoar frost.
Yet it was still warm summer. Nothing had frozen, or melted, and the
rosy-faced elf-maidens were as dry as an ivory fan. Yet they resembled
the lilies of the garden when pearly with dew-drops.
When all were gathered together, Old Styf called for some of the
company, who had come from afar, to take off their dusty and
travel-stained linen garments and give them to him. These were passed
over to the trained girls waiting to receive them. In a jiffy, they were
washed, wrung out, rinsed and dried. It was noticed that those
elf-maidens, who were standing at the last tub, were intently expecting
to do something great, while those five elf maids at the table took off
the hot irons from the stove. They touched the bottom of the flat-irons
with a drop of water to see if it rolled off hissing. They kept their
eyes fixed on Styf, who now came forward before all and said, in a loud
voice:
"Elves and fairies, moss maidens and stall sprites, one and all, behold
our invention, which our great friend Fro and our no less helpful
friends, the kabouters, have helped me to produce. Now watch me prove
its virtues."
Forthwith he produced before all a glistening substance, partly in
powder, and partly in square lumps, as white as chalk. He easily broke
up a handful under his fingers, and flung it into the fifth tub, which
had hot water in it. After dipping the washed garments in the white
gummy mass, he took them up, wrung them out, dried them with his breath,
and then handed them to the elf ironers. In a few moments, these held
up, before the company, what a few minutes before had been only dusty
and stained clothes. Now, they were white and resplendent. No fuller's
earth could have bleached them thus, nor added so glistening a surface.
It was starch, a new thing for clothes. The fairies, one and all,
clapped their hands in delight.
"What shall we name it?" modestly asked Styf of the oldest gnome
present.
"Hereafter, we shall call you Styf Sterk, Stiff Starch." They all
laughed.
Very quickly did the Dutch folks, men and women, hear and make use of
the elves' invention. Their linen closets now looked like piles of snow.
All over the Low Countries, women made caps, in new fashions, of lace or
plain linen, with horns and wings, flaps and crimps, with quilling and
with whirligigs. Soon, in every town, one could read the sign "Hier
mangled men" (Here we do ironing).
In time, kings, queens and nobles made huge ruffs, often so big that
their necks were invisible, and their heads nearly lost from sight, in
rings of quilled linen, or of lace, that stuck out a foot or so. Worldly
people dyed their starch yellow; zealous folk made it blue; but moderate
people kept it snowy white.
Starch added money and riches to the nation. Kings' treasuries became
fat with money gained by taxes laid on ruffs, and on the cargoes of
starch, which was now imported by the shipload, or made on the spot, in
many countries. So, out of the ancient grain came a new spirit that
worked for sweetness and beauty, cleanliness, and health. From a useful
substance, as old as Egypt, was born a fine art, that added to the sum
of the world's wealth and pleasure.
THE KABOUTERS AND THE BELLS
When the young queen Wilhelmina visited Brabant and Limburg, they amused
her with pageants and plays, in which the little fellows called
kabouters, in Dutch, and kobolds in German, played and showed off their
tricks. Other small folk, named gnomes, took part in the tableaux. The
kabouters are the dark elves, who live in forests and mines. The white
elves live in the open fields and the sunshine.
The gnomes do the thinking, but the kabouters carry out the work of
mining and gathering the precious stones and minerals. They are short,
thick fellows, very strong and are strenuous in digging out coal and
iron, copper and gold. When they were first made, they were so ugly,
that they had to live where they could not be seen, that is, in the dark
places. The grown imps look like old men with beards, but no one ever
heard of a kabouter that was taller than a yardstick. As for the babies,
they are hardly bigger than a man's thumb. The big boys and girls, in
the kabouter kingdom, are not much over a foot high.
[Illustration: THE MASTER OF THE CHOIR TRIED AGAIN AND AGAIN]
What is peculiar about them all is, that they help the good and wise
people to do things better; but they love to plague and punish the dull
folks, that are stupid, or foolish or naughty. In impish glee, they lure
the blockheads, or in Dutch, the "cheese-heads," to do worse.
A long time ago, there were no church spires or bells in the land of the
Dutch folks, as there are now by the thousands. The good teachers from
the South came into the country and taught the people to have better
manners, finer clothes and more wholesome food. They also persuaded them
to forget their cruel gods and habits of revenge. They told of the
Father in Heaven, who loves us all, as his children, and forgives us
when we repent of our evil doings.
Now when the chief gnomes and kabouters heard of the newcomers in the
land, they held a meeting and said one to the other:
"We shall help all the teachers that are good and kind, but we shall
plague and punish the rough fellows among them."
So word was sent to all little people in the mines and hills,
instructing them how they were to act and what they were to do.
Some of the new teachers, who were foreigners, and did not know the
customs of the country, were very rude and rough. Every day they hurt
the feelings of the people. With their axes they cut down the sacred
trees. They laughed scornfully at the holy wells and springs of water.
They reviled the people, when they prayed to great Woden, with his black
ravens that told him everything, or to the gentle Freya, with her white
doves, who helped good girls to get kind husbands. They scolded the
children at play, and this made their fathers and mothers feel
miserable. This is the reason why so many people were angry and sullen,
and would not listen to the foreign teachers.
Worse than this, many troubles came to these outsiders. Their bread was
sour, when they took it out of the oven. So was the milk, in their pans.
Sometimes they found their beds turned upside down. Gravel stones
rattled down into their fireplaces. Their hats and shoes were missing.
In fact, they had a terrible time generally and wanted to go back home.
When the kabouter has a grudge against any one, he knows how to plague
him.
But the teachers that were wise and gentle had no trouble. They
persuaded the people with kind words, and, just as a baby learns to eat
other food at the table, so the people were weaned away from cruel
customs and foolish beliefs. Many of the land's folk came to listen to
the teachers and helped them gladly to build churches.
More wonderful than this, were the good things that came to these kind
teachers, they knew not how. Their bread and milk were always sweet and
in plenty. They found their beds made up and their clothes kept clean,
gardens planted with blooming flowers, and much hard work done for them.
When they would build a church in a village, they wondered how it was
that the wood and the nails, the iron necessary to brace the beams, and
the copper and brass for the sacred vessels, came so easily and in
plenty. When, on some nights, they wondered where they would get food to
eat, they found, on waking up in the morning, that there was always
something good ready for them. Thus many houses of worship were built,
and the more numerous were the churches, the more did farms, cows, grain
fields, and happy people multiply.
Now when the gnomes and kabouters, who like to do work for pleasant
people, heard that the good teachers wanted church bells, to call the
people to worship, they resolved to help the strangers. They would make
not only a bell, or a chime, but, actually a carillon, or concert of
bells to hang up in the air.
The dark dwarfs did not like to dig metal for swords or spears, or what
would hurt people; but the church bells would guide travellers in the
forest, and quiet the storms, that destroyed houses and upset boats and
killed or drowned people, besides inviting the people to come and pray
and sing. They knew that the good teachers were poor and could not buy
bells in France or Italy. Even if they had money, they could not get
them through the thick forests, or over the stormy seas, for they were
too heavy.
When all the kabouters were told of this, they came together to work,
night and day, in the mines. With pick and shovel, crowbar and chisel,
and hammer and mallet, they broke up the rocks containing copper and
tin. Then they built great roaring fires, to smelt the ore into ingots.
They would show the teachers that the Dutch kabouters could make bells,
as well as the men in the lands of the South. These dwarfish people are
jealous of men and very proud of what they can do.
It was the funniest sight to see these short legged fellows, with tiny
coats coming just below their thighs, and little red caps, looking like
a stocking and ending in a tassel, on their heads, and in shoes that had
no laces, but very long points. They flew around as lively as monkeys,
and when the fire was hot they threw off everything and worked much
harder and longer than men do.
Were they like other fairies? Well, hardly. One must put away all his
usual thoughts, when he thinks of kabouters. No filmy wings on their
backs! No pretty clothes or gauzy garments, or stars, or crowns, or
wands! Instead of these were hammers, pickaxes, and chisels. But how
diligent, useful and lively these little folks, in plain, coarse coats
and with bare legs, were! In place of things light, clean and easy, the
kabouters had furnaces, crucibles and fires of coal and wood.
Sometimes they were grimy, with smoke and coal dust, and the sweat ran
down their faces and bodies. Yet there was always plenty of water in the
mines, and when hard work was over they washed and looked plain but
tidy. Besides their stores of gold, and silver, and precious stones,
which they kept ready, to give to good people, they had tools with which
to tease or tantalize cruel, mean or lazy folks.
Now when the kabouter daddies began the roaring fires for the making of
the bells, the little mothers and the small fry in the kabouter world
could not afford to be idle. One and all, they came down from off the
earth, and into the mines they went in a crowd. They left off teasing
milkmaids, tangling skeins of flax, tearing fishermen's nets, tying
knots in cows' tails, tumbling pots, pans and dishes, in the kitchen, or
hiding hats, and throwing stones down the chimneys onto the fireplaces.
They even ceased their fun of mocking children, who were calling the
cows home, by hiding behind the rocks and shouting to them. Instead of
these tricks, they saved their breath to blow the fires into a blast.
Everybody wondered where the "kabs" were, for on the farms and in town
nothing happened and all was as quiet as when a baby is asleep.
For days and weeks underground, the dwarfs toiled, until their skins,
already dark, became as sooty as the rafters in the houses of our
ancestors. Finally, when all the labor was over, the chief gnomes were
invited down into the mines to inspect the work.
What a sight! There were at least a hundred bells, of all sizes, like as
in a family; where there are daddy, mother, grown ups, young sons and
daughters, little folk and babies, whether single, twins or triplets.
Big bells, that could scarcely be put inside a hogshead, bells that
would go into a barrel, bells that filled a bushel, and others a peck,
stood in rows. From the middle, and tapering down the row, were scores
more, some of them no larger than cow-bells. Others, at the end, were so
small, that one had to think of pint and gill measures.
Besides all these, there were stacks of iron rods and bars, bolts, nuts,
screws, and wires and yokes on which to hang the bells.
One party of the strongest of the kabouters had been busy in the forest,
close to a village, where some men, ordered to do so by a foreign
teacher, had begun to cut down some of the finest and most sacred of the
grand old trees. They had left their tools in the woods; but the "kabs,"
at night, seized their axes and before morning, without making any
noise, they had levelled all but the holy trees. Those they spared.
Then, the timber, all cut and squared, ready to hold the bells, was
brought to the mouth of the mine.
Now in Dutch, the name for bell is "klok." So a wise and gray-bearded
gnome was chosen by the high sounding title of klokken-spieler, or bell
player, to test the bells for a carillon. They were all hung, for
practice, on the big trestles, in a long row. Each one of these frames
was called a "hang," for they were just like those on which fishermen's
nets were laid to dry and be mended.
So when all were ready, washed, and in their clean clothes, every one of
the kabouter families, daddies, mothers, and young ones, were ranged in
lines and made to sing. The heavy male tenors and baritones, the female
sopranos and contraltos, the trebles of the little folks, and the
squeaks of the very small children, down to the babies' cooing, were all
heard by the gnomes, who were judges. The high and mighty
klokken-spieler, or master of the carillon, chose those voices with best
tone and quality, from which to set in order and regulate the bells.
It was pitiful to see how mad and jealous some of the kabouters, both
male and female, were, when they were not appointed to the first row, in
which were some of the biggest of the males, and some of the fattest of
the females. Then the line tapered off, to forty or fifty young folks,
including urchins of either sex, down to mere babies, that could hardly
stand. These had bibs on and had to be held up by their fond mothers.
Each one by itself could squeal and squall, coo and crow lustily; but,
at a distance, their voices blended and the noise they made sounded like
a tinkle.
All being ready, the old gnome bit his tuning fork, hummed a moment, and
then started a tune. Along the line, at a signal from the chief gnome,
they started a tune.
In the long line, there were, at first, booms and peals, twanging and
clanging, jangling and wrangling, making such a clangor that it sounded
more like an uproar than an opera. The chief gnome was almost
discouraged.
But neither a gnome nor a kabouter ever gives up. The master of the
choir tried again and again. He scolded one old daddy, for singing too
low. He frowned at a stalwart young fellow, who tried to drown out all
the rest with his bull-like bellow. He shook his finger at a kabouter
girl, that was flirting with a handsome lad near her. He cheered up the
little folks, encouraging them to hold up their voices, until finally he
had all in order. Then they practiced, until the master gnome thought he
had his scale of notation perfect and gave orders to attune the bells.
To the delight of all the gnomes, kabouters and elves, that had been
invited to the concert, the rows of bells, a hundred or more, from
boomers to tinklers, made harmony. Strung one above the other, they
could render merriment, or sadness, in solos, peals, chimes, cascades
and carillons, with sweetness and effect. At the low notes the babies
called out "cow, cow;" but at the high notes, "bird, bird."
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