The Giants and the Herd-boy

THE GIANTS AND THE HERD-BOY[12]

[Illustration: The Herd-boy binds up the Giant’s foot.]

There was once upon a time a poor boy who had neither father nor

mother. In order to gain a living he looked after the sheep of a great

Lord. Day and night he spent out in the open fields, and only when it

was very wet and stormy did he take refuge in a little hut on the edge

of a big forest. Now one night, when he was sitting on the grass

beside his flocks, he heard not very far from him the sound as of some

one crying. He rose up and followed the direction of the noise. To his

dismay and astonishment he found a Giant lying at the entrance of the

wood; he was about to run off as fast as his legs could carry him,

when the Giant called out: ‘Don’t be afraid, I won’t harm you. On the

contrary, I will reward you handsomely if you will bind up my foot. I

hurt it when I was trying to root up an oak-tree.’ The Herd-boy took

off his shirt, and bound up the Giant’s wounded foot with it. Then the

Giant rose up and said, ‘Now come and I will reward you. We are going

to celebrate a marriage to-day, and I promise you we shall have plenty

of fun. Come and enjoy yourself, but in order that my brothers mayn’t

see you, put this band round your waist and then you’ll be invisible.’

With these words he handed the Herd-boy a belt, and walking on in

front he led him to a fountain where hundreds of Giants and Giantesses

were assembled preparing to hold a wedding. They danced and played

different games till midnight; then one of the Giants tore up a plant

by its roots, and all the Giants and Giantesses made themselves so

thin that they disappeared into the earth through the hole made by the

uprooting of the plant. The wounded Giant remained behind to the last

and called out, ‘Herd-boy, where are you?’ ‘Here I am, close to you,’

was the reply. ‘Touch me,’ said the Giant, ‘so that you too may come

with us under ground.’ The Herd-boy did as he was told, and before he

could have believed it possible he found himself in a big hall, where

even the walls were made of pure gold. Then to his astonishment he saw

that the hall was furnished with the tables and chairs that belonged

to his master. In a few minutes the company began to eat and drink.

The banquet was a very gorgeous one, and the poor youth fell to and

ate and drank lustily. When he had eaten and drunk as much as he could

he thought to himself, ‘Why shouldn’t I put a loaf of bread in my

pocket? I shall be glad of it to-morrow.’ So he seized a loaf when no

one was looking and stowed it away under his tunic. No sooner had he

done so than the wounded Giant limped up to him and whispered softly,

‘Herd-boy, where are you?’ ‘Here I am,’ replied the youth. ‘Then hold

on to me,’ said the Giant, ‘so that I may lead you up above again.’ So

the Herd-boy held on to the Giant, and in a few moments he found

himself on the earth once more, but the Giant had vanished. The

Herd-boy returned to his sheep, and took off the invisible belt which

he hid carefully in his bag.

[Footnote 12: From the Bukowniaer. Von Wliolocki.]

The next morning the lad felt hungry, and thought he would cut off a

piece of the loaf he had carried away from the Giants’ wedding feast,

and eat it. But although he tried with all his might, he couldn’t cut

off the smallest piece. Then in despair he bit the loaf, and what was

his astonishment when a piece of gold fell out of his mouth and rolled

at his feet. He bit the bread a second and third time, and each time a

piece of gold fell out of his mouth; but the bread remained untouched.

The Herd-boy was very much delighted over his stroke of good fortune,

and, hiding the magic loaf in his bag, he hurried off to the nearest

village to buy himself something to eat, and then returned to his

sheep.

Now the Lord whose sheep the Herd-boy looked after had a very lovely

daughter, who always smiled and nodded to the youth when she walked

with her father in his fields. For a long time the Herd-boy had made

up his mind to prepare a surprise for this beautiful creature on her

birthday. So when the day approached he put on his invisible belt,

took a sack of gold pieces with him, and slipping into her room in the

middle of the night, he placed the bag of gold beside her bed and

returned to his sheep. The girl’s joy was great, and so was her

parents’ next day when they found the sack full of gold pieces. The

Herd-boy was so pleased to think what pleasure he had given that the

next night he placed another bag of gold beside the girl’s bed. And

this he continued to do for seven nights, and the girl and her parents

made up their minds that it must be a good Fairy who brought the gold

every night. But one night they determined to watch, and see from

their hiding-place who the bringer of the sack of gold really was.

On the eighth night a fearful storm of wind and rain came on while the

Herd-boy was on his way to bring the beautiful girl another bag of

gold. Then for the first time he noticed, just as he reached his

master’s house, that he had forgotten the belt which made him

invisible. He didn’t like the idea of going back to his hut in the

wind and wet, so he just stepped as he was into the girl’s room, laid

the sack of gold beside her, and was turning to leave the room, when

his master confronted him and said, ‘You young rogue, so you were

going to steal the gold that a good Fairy brings every night, were

you?’ The Herd-boy was so taken aback by his words, that he stood

trembling before him, and did not dare to explain his presence. Then

his master spoke. ‘As you have hitherto always behaved well in my

service I will not send you to prison; but leave your place instantly

and never let me see your face again.’ So the Herd-boy went back to

his hut, and taking his loaf and belt with him, he went to the nearest

town. There he bought himself some fine clothes, and a beautiful coach

with four horses, hired two servants, and drove back to his master.

You may imagine how astonished he was to see his Herd-boy returning to

him in this manner! Then the youth told him of the piece of good luck

that had befallen him, and asked him for the hand of his beautiful

daughter. This was readily granted, and the two lived in peace and

happiness to the end of their lives.