“Nonsense, if self did it, then self must suffer for it!” came the answer from below the hill.
NOTE
“Self Did It” (Asbjörnsen, Huldreeventyr, I, p. 10. From the vicinity of Sandakar, told by a half-grown boy) belongs to the cycle of the Polyphemus fairy-tales, with a possible glimmer of the old belief that beings low in the mythological scale are most easily controlled by fire.
XV
THE MASTER GIRL
Once upon a time there was a king who had several sons; I do not just know how many there were, but the youngest was not content at home, and insisted on going out into the world to seek his fortune. And in the end the king had to give him permission to do so. After he had wandered for a few days, he came to a giant’s castle, and took service with the giant. In the morning the giant wanted to go off to herd his goats, and when he started he told the king’s son he was to clean the stable in the meantime. “And when you are through with that, you need do nothing more for to-day, for you might as well know that you have come to a kind master,” said he. “But you must do what you are told to do conscientiously and, besides, you must not go into any of the rooms that lie behind the one in which you slept last night, else your life will pay the forfeit.”
“He surely is a kind master,” said the king’s son to himself, walked up and down the room, and whistled and sang; for, thought he, there would be plenty of time to clean the stable. “But it would be nice to take a look at the other room, there surely must be something in it that he is alarmed about, since I am not so much as to take a look,” thought he, and went into the first room. There hung a kettle, and it was boiling, but the king’s son could find no fire beneath it. “What can there be in it?” thought he, and dipped in a lock of his hair, and at once the hair grew just like copper. “That’s a fine soup, and whoever tastes it will burn his mouth,” said the youth, and went into the next room. There hung another kettle that bubbled and boiled; but there was no fire beneath it, either. “I must try this one, too,” said the king’s son, and again he dipped in a lock of his hair and it grew just like silver. “We have no such expensive soup at home,” said the king’s son, “but the main thing is, how does it taste?” and with that he went into the third room. And there hung still another kettle, a-boiling just like those in the two other rooms, and the king’s son wanted to try this one, too. He dipped in a lock of his hair, and it came out like pure gold, and fairly shimmered.
Then the king’s son said: “Better and better! But if he cooks gold here, I wonder what he cooks inside, there?” And he wanted to see, so he went into the fourth room. Here there was no kettle to be seen; but a maiden sat on a bench who must have been a king’s daughter; yet whatever she might be, the king’s son had never seen any one so beautiful in all his days. “Now in heaven’s name, what are you doing here?” asked the maiden. “I hired myself out here yesterday,” said the king’s son. “May God be your aid, for it is a fine service you have chosen!” said she. “O, the master is very friendly,” said the king’s son. “He has given me no hard work to do to-day. When I have cleaned out the stable, I need do nothing more.” “Yes, but how are you going to manage it?” she went on. “If you do as the others have done, then for every shovelful you pitch out, ten fresh shovelfuls will fly in. But I’ll tell you how to go about it. You must turn around the shovel, and work with the handle, then everything will fly out by itself.”
This he would do, said the king’s son; and he sat there with her all day long, for they had soon agreed that they would marry, he and the king’s daughter, and in this way his first day in the giant’s service did not weary him at all. When evening came on, she told him that now he must clean out the stable before the giant came, and when he got there he thought he would try out her advice, and began to use the shovel as he had seen his father’s grooms use it. And sure enough, he had to stop quickly, for after he had worked a little while, he hardly had room in which to stand. Then he did as the king’s daughter had told him, turned the shovel around and used the handle. And in a wink the stable was as clean as though it had been scrubbed. When he had finished he went to the room that the giant had assigned him, and walked up and down, whistling and singing. Then the giant came home with his goats. “Have you cleaned out the stable?” he asked. “Yes, indeed, master, it is spick and span,” said the king’s son. “I’ll have to see that,” said the giant, and went into the stable; but it was just as the king’s son had said. “You surely have been talking to the Master Girl, for you could not have done that alone,” said the giant. “Master Girl? What is a Master Girl?” said the king’s son, and pretended to be very stupid. “I’d like to see her, too.” “You will see her in plenty of time,” said the giant.