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Age rating 8 Plus.
From The blue fairy book by Andrew lang
Start of Story
And many a hunting song they sung,
And song of game and glee;
Then tuned to plaintive strains their tongue,
"Of Scotland's luve and lee."
To wilder measures next they turn
"The Black, Black Bull of Norroway!"
Sudden the tapers cease to burn,
The minstrels cease to play.
In Norroway, langsyne, there lived a certain lady, and she had three
dochters. The auldest o' them said to her mither: "Mither, bake me a
bannock, and roast me a collop, for I'm gaun awa' to seek my fortune."
Her mither did sae; and the dochter gaed awa' to an auld witch
washerwife and telled her purpose. The auld wife bade her stay that day,
and gang and look out o' her back door, and see what she could see. She
saw nocht the first day. The second day she did the same, and saw nocht.
On the third day she looked again, and saw a coach-and-six coming along
the road. She ran in and telled the auld wife what she saw. "Aweel,"
quo' the auld wife, "yon's for you." Sae they took her into the coach,
and galloped aff.
The second dochter next says to her mither: "Mither, bake me a bannock,
and roast me a collop, fur I'm gaun awa' to seek my fortune." Her mither
did sae; and awa' she gaed to the auld wife, as her sister had dune. On
the third day she looked out o' the back door, and saw a coach-and-four
coming along the road. "Aweel," quo' the auld wife, "yon's for you." Sae
they took her in, and aff they set.
The third dochter says to her mither: "Mither, bake me a bannock, and
roast me a collop, for I'm gaun awa' to seek my fortune." Her mither did
sae; and awa' she gaed to the auld witch-wife. She bade her look out
o' her back door, and see what she could see. She did sae; and when she
came back said she saw nocht. The second day she did the same, and saw
nocht. The third day she looked again, and on coming back said to the
auld wife she saw nocht but a muckle Black Bull coming roaring alang the
road. "Aweel," quo' the auld wife, "yon's for you." On hearing this she
was next to distracted wi' grief and terror; but she was lifted up and
Aye they traveled, and on they traveled, till the lady grew faint wi'
hunger. "Eat out o' my right lug," says the Black Bull, "and drink out
o' my left lug, and set by your leavings." Sae she did as he said, and
was wonderfully refreshed. And lang they gaed, and sair they rade, till
they came in sight o' a very big and bonny castle. "Yonder we maun be
this night," quo' the bull; "for my auld brither lives yonder"; and
presently they were at the place. They lifted her aff his back, and took
her in, and sent him away to a park for the night. In the morning,
when they brought the bull hame, they took the lady into a fine shining
parlor, and gave her a beautiful apple, telling her no to break it till
she was in the greatest strait ever mortal was in in the world, and that
wad bring her o't. Again she was lifted on the bull's back, and after
she had ridden far, and farer than I can tell, they came in sight o' a
far bonnier castle, and far farther awa' than the last. Says the bull
till her: "Yonder we maun be the night, for my second brither lives
yonder"; and they were at the place directly.
set on his back, and awa' they went.
They lifted her down
and took her in, and sent the bull to the field for the night. In the
morning they took the lady into a fine and rich room, and gave her the
finest pear she had ever seen, bidding her no to break it till she was
in the greatest strait ever mortal could be in, and that wad get her out
o't. Again she was lifted and set on his back, and awa' they went. And
lang they gaed, and sair they rade, till they came in sight o' the far
biggest castle, and far farthest aff, they had yet seen. "We maun be
yonder the night," says the bull, "for my young brither lives yonder";
and they were there directly. They lifted her down, took her in, and
sent the bull to the field for the night. In the morning they took her
into a room, the finest of a', and gied her a plum, telling her no to
break it till she was in the greatest strait mortal could be in, and
that wad get her out o't. Presently they brought hame the bull, set the
lady on his back, and awa' they went.
And aye they gaed, and on they rade, till they came to a dark and ugsome
glen, where they stopped, and the lady lighted down. Says the bull to
her: "Here ye maun stay till I gang and fight the deil. Ye maun seat
yoursel' on that stane, and move neither hand nor fit till I come back,
else I'll never find ye again. And if everything round about ye turns
blue I hae beated the deil; but should a' things turn red he'll hae
conquered me." She set hersel' down on the stane, and by-and-by a' round
her turned blue. O'ercome wi' joy, she lifted the ae fit and crossed it
owre the ither, sae glad was she that her companion was victorious. The
bull returned and sought for but never could find her.
Lang she sat, and aye she grat, till she wearied. At last she rase and
gaed awa', she kedna whaur till. On she wandered till she came to a
great hill o' glass, that she tried a' she could to climb, bat wasna
able. Round the bottom o' the hill she gaed, sabbing and seeking a
passage owre, till at last she came to a smith's house; and the smith
promised, if she wad serve him seven years, he wad make her iron shoon,
wherewi' she could climb owre the glassy hill.
At seven years' end she
got her iron shoon, clamb the glassy hill, and chanced to come to the
auld washerwife's habitation. There she was telled of a gallant young
knight that had given in some bluidy sarks to wash, and whaever washed
thae sarks was to be his wife. The auld wife had washed till she was
tired, and then she set to her dochter, and baith washed, and they
washed, and they better washed, in hopes of getting the young knight;
but a' they could do they couldna bring out a stain. At length they set
the stranger damosel to wark; and whenever she began the stains came
out pure and clean, but the auld wife made the knight believe it was her
dochter had washed the sarks. So the knight and the eldest dochter were
to be married, and the stranger damosel was distracted at the thought
of it, for she was deeply in love wi' him. So she bethought her of her
apple, and breaking it, found it filled with gold and precious jewelry,
the richest she had ever seen. "All these," she said to the eldest
dochter, "I will give you, on condition that you put off your marriage
for ae day, and allow me to go into his room alone at night."
So
the lady consented; but meanwhile the auld wife had prepared a
sleeping-drink, and given it to the knight, wha drank it, and never
wakened till next morning. The lee-lang night ther damosel sabbed and
sang:
"Seven lang years I served for thee,
The glassy hill I clamb for thee,
The bluidy shirt I wrang for thee;
And wilt thou no wauken and turn to me?"
Next day she kentna what to do for grief. She then brak the pear, and
found it filled wi' jewelry far richer than the contents o' the apple.
Wi' thae jewels she bargained for permission to be a second night in
the young knight's chamber; but the auld wife gied him anither
sleeping-drink, and he again sleepit till morning. A' night she kept
sighing and singing as before:
"Seven lang years I served for thee," &c. Still he sleepit, and she
nearly lost hope a'thegither. But that day when he was out at the
hunting, somebody asked him what noise and moaning was yon they heard
all last night in his bedchamber. He said he heardna ony noise. But they
assured him there was sae; and he resolved to keep waking that night
to try what he could hear.
That being the third night, and the damosel
being between hope and despair, she brak her plum, and it held far the
richest jewelry of the three. She bargained as before; and the auld
wife, as before, took in the sleeping-drink to the young knight's
chamber; but he telled her he couldna drink it that night without
sweetening. And when she gaed awa' for some honey to sweeten it wi', he
poured out the drink, and sae made the auld wife think he had drunk it.
They a' went to bed again, and the damosel began, as before, singing:
"Seven lang years I served for thee,
The glassy hill I clamb for thee,
The bluidy shirt I wrang for thee;
And wilt thou no wauken and turn to me?"
He heard, and turned to her. And she telled him a' that had befa'en her,
and he telled her a' that had happened to him. And he caused the auld
washerwife and her dochter to be burned. And they were married, and he
and she are living happy till this day, for aught I ken
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