East O the Sun and West O the Moon | Page 4

so off she went, high on the back of the
North Wind up through the air, as if they would never stop till they got
to the world's end.
Down here below there was a terrible storm; it threw down long tracts
of woodland and many houses, and when it swept over the great sea
ships foundered by hundreds.
So they tore on and on,--no one can believe how far they went,--and all
the while they still went over the sea, and the North Wind got more and
more weary, and so out of breath he could scarce bring out a puff, and

his wings drooped and drooped, till at last he sunk so low that the crests
of the waves lashed over her heels.
"Are you afraid?" said the North Wind.
She wasn't.
But they were not very far from land; and the North Wind had still so
much strength left in him that he managed to throw her up on shore
close by the castle which lay East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon; but
then he was so weak and worn out, that he had to stay there and rest
many days before he could get home again.
And now the lassie began to look about her and to think of how she
might free the Prince, but nowhere did she see a sign of life.
Then she sat herself down right under the castle windows, and as soon
as the sun went down, out they came, trolls and witches, red-eyed,
long-nosed, hunch-backed hags, tumbling over each other, scolding,
hurrying and scurrying hither and thither.
At first they almost frightened the life out of her, but when she had
watched them awhile and they had not noticed her, she took courage
and walked up to one of them and said: "Pray tell me what goes on here
to-night that you are all so busy, and could I perhaps get something to
do for a night's lodging and a bit of food?"
"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the horrid witch, "and where do you come from
that you do not know that it is to-night that the Prince chooses his bride.
When the moon stands high over the tree tops yonder we meet in the
clearing by the old oak. There the caldrons are ready with boiling lye,
for don't you know?--he's going to choose for his bride the one who can
wash three spots of tallow from his shirt, Ha, ha, ha!"
And the wicked witch hurried off again, laughing such a horrible laugh
that it made the lassie's blood run cold.
But now the trolls and witches came trooping out of the very earth, it
seemed, and all turned their steps toward the clearing in the woods.
So the lassie went too, and found a place among the rest. Now the
moon stood high above the tree tops, and there was the caldron in the
middle and round about sat the trolls and witches;--such gruesome
company I'm sure you were never in. Then came the Prince; he looked
about from one to the other, and he saw the lassie, and his face grew
white, but he said nothing.
"Now, let's begin," said a witch with a nose three ells long. She was

sure she was going to have the Prince, and she began to wash away as
hard as she could, but the more she rubbed and scrubbed, the bigger the
spots grew.
"Ah!" said an old hag, "you can't wash, let me try."
But she hadn't long taken the shirt in hand, before it was far worse than
ever, and with all her rubbing and scrubbing and wringing, the spots
grew bigger and blacker, and the darker and uglier was the shirt.
Then all the other trolls began to wash, but the longer it lasted, the
blacker and uglier the shirt grew, till at last it was as black all over as if
it had been up the chimney.
"Ah!" said the Prince, "you're none of you worth a straw, you can't
wash. Why there sits a beggar lassie, I'll be bound she knows how to
wash better than the whole lot of you. Come here, lassie," he shouted.
"Can you wash the shirt clean, lassie?" said he.
"I don't know," she said, "but I think I can."
And almost before she had taken it and dipped it in the water, it was as
white as snow, and whiter still.
"Yes; you are the lassie for me," said the Prince.
At that moment the sun rose and the whole pack of trolls turned to
stone.
There you may see them to this very day sitting around in a circle, big
ones and little ones, all hard, cold stone.
But the Prince took the lassie by the