Gypsy folk-tales

by Francis Hindes Groome

‘If you are of our trade, eat, drink, and smoke as much as your heart desires.’

When he had eaten and drunk, they said, ‘Since you are such a clever chap, and such a good shot, there is a castle with a princess in it, whom we went after, but could not come at her anyhow, this princess. Maybe, as you are so smart, there’s a big dog yonder that made us run, but as you are such a good shot, and your gun makes no report, you’ll kill this dog, and then we’ll make you our captain.’

Then they broke up camp, took something to eat and to drink, and came to the castle. When they reached the castle the dog made a great noise. They lifted him up, the forester’s son; he aimed his gun, and, as the dog sprang at him, he fired and hit him. The dog made ten more paces, and fell to the earth. As he fell, the lad said to the robbers, ‘Comrades, the dog is dead.’

‘Brave fellow,’ said they, ‘now you shall be our captain, for killing the dog; but one thing more you must do. We will make a hole for you in the wall. When we have done that, then—you are so slender—you will creep through the hole.’[2]

They made the hole, and he crept through it. Then the robbers said to him, ‘Here you, you have to go up a flight of steps, and at the fourth flight you will come to a door. There is one door, two doors, three doors.’

So through each door he passed; then he passed through the third, there were a quantity of swords. He saw they were very fine swords, and took one of them. Then he went to the fourth, opened it slowly; it did not stop him, for the [[147]]keys were there. Through the keyhole he saw a bed. Then he opened it, and went in. There he saw a princess lying, quite naked, but[3] covered with a cloth of gold. At her feet stood a table, on which lay a pair of golden scissors. There were golden clasps, and there were two rings, and her name was engraved inside one of them. And when he sees her sleeping thus, he thought, ‘O great God, what if I were to lie down beside her! Do, my God, as thou wilt.’ So he took the scissors, and cut off half the cloth of gold, and lay down beside her; and she could not awake. Then he arose, and took to himself the half of the coverlet and one of the rings and one of her slippers, and went out, taking the sword with him, and shutting the door. As he passed through the fourth door he said to himself, ‘I must open it carefully, so as not to waken her mother and father.’ He got out safely, then he went through the courtyard to the robbers. When he reached the hole he said to them, ‘My dear men, I know where she is. Come, we’ll soon have the princess, but you must creep through the hole one after the other.’ Then he drew his sword, and, as one came through after the other, he seized him by the head, cut off his head, and cast him aside. When he had done so to the twenty-fourth, he cast away the sword, and returned by the way that he had come to his mother, where they had slept. (He had thought never again to see his mother and his brother.) When he came to his mother, he said, ‘Mother, how do you find yourself? you must be sleepy.’

His mother asked him, ‘My dear son, how have you managed to do with so little sleep?’

His younger brother said, ‘Why didn’t you wake me up?’

‘You were so sleepy, I let you sleep.’

Then they made a fire, ate and drank, and wandered on again through the forest. They arrived in a town, and sought employment. The mother said to her eldest son, ‘My son, we will stay at least a year here.’ She fortunately got a place at a big house as cook, and the two lads went as servants to an innkeeper. When they had been a year there, the mother said to her two sons, ‘Just see how well off we were at home, and here we have to work, and I an old body. [[148]]You are young folk, and can stick to it, but I am old, and can’t stand it any longer. The father ill-used us; still, let us return home, if the Lord God gives us health and strength to do so.’