East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon

EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON

Once on a time there was a poor husbandman who had so many children that he

hadn’t much of either food or clothing to give them. Pretty children they

all were, but the prettiest was the youngest daughter, who was so lovely there

was no end to her loveliness.

So one day, ’twas on a Thursday evening late at the fall of the year, the

weather was so wild and rough outside, and it was so cruelly dark, and rain

fell and wind blew, till the walls of the cottage shook again. There they all

sat round the fire busy with this thing and that. But just then, all at once

something gave three taps on the window-pane. Then the father went out to see

what was the matter; and, when he got out of doors, what should he see but a

great big White Bear.

“Good evening to you!” said the White Bear.

“The same to you”, said the man.

“Will you give me your youngest daughter? If you will, I’ll make

you as rich as you are now poor”, said the Bear.

Well, the man would not be at all sorry to be so rich; but still he thought he

must have a bit of a talk with his daughter first; so he went in and told them

how there was a great White Bear waiting outside, who had given his word to

make them so rich if he could only have the youngest daughter.

The lassie said “No!” outright. Nothing could get her to say

anything else; so the man went out and settled it with the White Bear, that he

should come again the next Thursday evening and get an answer. Meantime he

talked his daughter over, and kept on telling her of all the riches they would

get, and how well off she would be herself; and so at last she thought better

of it, and washed and mended her rags, made herself as smart as she could, and

was ready to start. I can’t say her packing gave her much trouble.

Next Thursday evening came the White Bear to fetch her, and she got upon his

back with her bundle, and off they went. So, when they had gone a bit of the

way, the White Bear said:

“Are you afraid?”

“No! she wasn’t.”

“Well! mind and hold tight by my shaggy coat, and then there’s

nothing to fear”, said the Bear.

So she rode a long, long way, till they came to a great steep hill. There, on

the face of it, the White Bear gave a knock, and a door opened, and they came

into a castle, where there were many rooms all lit up; rooms gleaming with

silver and gold; and there too was a table ready laid, and it was all as grand

as grand could be. Then the White Bear gave her a silver bell; and when she

wanted anything, she was only to ring it, and she would get it at once.

Well, after she had eaten and drunk, and evening wore on, she got sleepy after

her journey, and thought she would like to go to bed, so she rang the bell; and

she had scarce taken hold of it before she came into a chamber, where there was

a bed made, as fair and white as any one would wish to sleep in, with silken

pillows and curtains, and gold fringe. All that was in the room was gold or

silver; but when she had gone to bed, and put out the light, a man came and

laid himself alongside her. That was the White Bear, who threw off his beast

shape at night; but she never saw him, for he always came after she had put out

the light, and before the day dawned he was up and off again. So things went on

happily for a while, but at last she began to get silent and sorrowful; for

there she went about all day alone, and she longed to go home to see her father

and mother and brothers and sisters. So one day, when the White Bear asked what

it was that she lacked, she said it was so dull and lonely there, and how she

longed to go home to see her father and mother, and brothers and sisters, and

that was why she was so sad and sorrowful, because she couldn’t get to

them.

“Well, well!” said the Bear, “perhaps there’s a cure

for all this; but you must promise me one thing, not to talk alone with your

mother, but only when the rest are by to hear; for she’ll take you by the

hand and try to lead you into a room alone to talk; but you must mind and not

do that, else you’ll bring bad luck on both of us.”

So one Sunday the White Bear came and said now they could set off to see her

father and mother. Well, off they started, she sitting on his back; and they

went far and long. At last they came to a grand house, and there her brothers

and sisters were running about out of doors at play, and everything was so

pretty, ’twas a joy to see.

“This is where your father and mother live now”, said the White

Bear; “but don’t forget what I told you, else you’ll make us

both unlucky.”

“No! bless her, she’d not forget”; and when she had reached

the house, the White Bear turned right about and left her.

Then when she went in to see her father and mother, there was such joy, there

was no end to it. None of them thought they could thank her enough for all she

had done for them. Now, they had everything they wished, as good as good could

be, and they all wanted to know how she got on where she lived.

Well, she said, it was very good to live where she did; she had all she wished.

What she said beside I don’t know; but I don’t think any of them

had the right end of the stick, or that they got much out of her. But so in the

afternoon, after they had done dinner, all happened as the White Bear had said.

Her mother wanted to talk with her alone in her bed-room; but she minded what

the White Bear had said, and wouldn’t go upstairs.

“Oh! what we have to talk about, will keep”, she said, and put her

mother off. But some how or other, her mother got round her at last, and she

had to tell her the whole story. So she said, how every night, when she had

gone to bed, a man came and lay down beside her as soon as she had put out the

light, and how she never saw him, because he was always up and away before the

morning dawned; and how she went about woeful and sorrowing, for she thought

she should so like to see him, and how all day long she walked about there

alone, and how dull, and dreary, and lonesome it was.

“My!” said her mother; “it may well be a Troll you slept

with! But now I’ll teach you a lesson how to set eyes on him. I’ll

give you a bit of candle, which you can carry home in your bosom; just light

that while he is asleep, but take care not to drop the tallow on him.”

Yes! she took the candle, and hid it in her bosom, and as night drew on, the

White Bear came and fetched her away.

But when they had gone a bit of the way, the White Bear asked if all

hadn’t happened as he had said?

“Well, she couldn’t say it hadn’t.”

“Now, mind”, said he, “if you have listened to your

mother’s advice, you have brought bad luck on us both, and then, all that

has passed between us will be as nothing.”

“No”, she said, “she hadn’t listened to her

mother’s advice.”

So when she reached home, and had gone to bed, it was the old story over again.

There came a man and lay down beside her; but at dead of night, when she heard

he slept, she got up and struck a light, lit the candle, and let the light

shine on him, and so she saw that he was the loveliest Prince one ever set eyes

on, and she fell so deep in love with him on the spot, that she thought she

couldn’t live if she didn’t give him a kiss there and then. And so

she did, but as she kissed him, she dropped three hot drops of tallow on his

shirt, and he woke up.

“What have you done?” he cried; “now you have made us both

unlucky, for had you held out only this one year, I had been freed. For I have

a stepmother who has bewitched me, so that I am a White Bear by day, and a Man

by night. But now all ties are snapt between us; now I must set off from you to

her. She lives in a Castle which stands EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’

THE MOON, and there, too, is a Princess, with a nose three ells long, and

she’s the wife I must have now.”

She wept and took it ill, but there was no help for it; go he must.

Then she asked if she mightn’t go with him?

No, she mightn’t.

“Tell me the way, then”, she said, “and I’ll search you

out; that surely I may get leave to do.”

“Yes, she might do that”, he said; “but there was no way to

that place. It lay EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON, and

thither she’d never find her way.”

So next morning, when she woke up, both Prince and castle were gone, and then

she lay on a little green patch, in the midst of the gloomy thick wood, and by

her side lay the same bundle of rags she had brought with her from her old

home.

So when she had rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and wept till she was tired,

she set out on her way, and walked many, many days, till she came to a lofty

crag. Under it sat an old hag, and played with a gold apple which she tossed

about. Her the lassie asked if she knew the way to the Prince, who lived with

his step-mother in the Castle, that lay EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’

THE MOON, and who was to marry the Princess with a nose three ells long.

“How did you come to know about him?” asked the old hag; “but

maybe you are the lassie who ought to have had him?”

Yes, she was.

“So, so; it’s you, is it?” said the old hag. “Well, all

I know about him is, that he lives in the castle that lies EAST O’ THE

SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON, and thither you’ll come, late or never;

but still you may have the loan of my horse, and on him you can ride to my next

neighbour. Maybe she’ll be able to tell you; and when you get there, just

give the horse a switch under the left ear, and beg him to be off home; and,

stay, this gold apple you may take with you.”

So she got upon the horse, and rode a long long time, till she came to another

crag, under which sat another old hag, with a gold carding-comb. Her the lassie

asked if she knew the way to the castle that lay EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST

O’ THE MOON, and she answered, like the first old hag, that she knew

nothing about it, except it was east o’ the sun and west o’ the

moon.

“And thither you’ll come, late or never, but you shall have the

loan of my horse to my next neighbour; maybe she’ll tell you all about

it; and when you get there, just switch the horse under the left ear, and beg

him to be off home.”

And this old hag gave her the golden carding-comb; it might be she’d find

some use for it, she said. So the lassie got up on the horse, and rode a far

far way, and a weary time; and so at last she came to another great crag, under

which sat another old hag, spinning with a golden spinning-wheel. Her, too, she

asked if she knew the way to the Prince, and where the castle was that lay EAST

O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON. So it was the same thing over

again.

“Maybe it’s you who ought to have had the Prince?” said the

old hag.

Yes, it was.

But she, too, didn’t know the way a bit better than the other two.

“East o’ the sun and west o’ the moon it was”, she

knew—that was all.

“And thither you’ll come, late or never; but I’ll lend you my

horse, and then I think you’d best ride to the East Wind and ask him;

maybe, he knows those parts, and can blow you thither. But when you get to him,

you need only give the horse a switch under the left ear, and he’ll trot

home of himself.”

And so, too, she gave her the gold spinning-wheel. “Maybe you’ll

find a use for it”, said the old hag.

Then on she rode many many days, a weary time, before she got to the East

Wind’s house, but at last she did reach it, and then she asked the East

Wind if he could tell her the way to the Prince who dwelt east o’ the sun

and west o’ the moon. Yes, the East Wind had often heard tell of it, the

Prince and the castle, but he couldn’t tell the way, for he had never

blown so far.

“But, if you will, I’ll go with you to my brother the West Wind,

maybe he knows, for he’s much stronger. So, if you will just get on my

back, I’ll carry you thither.”

Yes, she got on his back, and I should just think they went briskly along.

So when they got there, they went into the West Wind’s house, and the

East Wind said the lassie he had brought was the one who ought to have had the

Prince who lived in the castle EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE

MOON; and so she had set out to seek him, and how he had come with her, and

would be glad to know if the West Wind knew how to get to the castle.

“Nay”, said the West Wind, “so far I’ve never blown;

but if you will, I’ll go with you to our brother the South Wind, for

he’s much stronger than either of us, and he has flapped his wings far

and wide. Maybe he’ll tell you. You can get on my back, and I’ll

carry you to him.”

Yes! she got on his back, and so they travelled to the South Wind, and

weren’t so very long on the way, I should think.

When they got there, the West Wind asked him if he could tell her the way to

the castle that lay EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON, for it

was she who ought to have had the prince who lived there.

“You don’t say so! That’s she, is it?” said the South

Wind.

“Well, I have blustered about in most places in my time, but so far have

I never blown; but if you will, I’ll take you to my brother the North

Wind; he is the oldest and strongest of the whole lot of us, and if he

don’t know where it is, you’ll never find any one in the world to

tell you. You can get on my back, and I’ll carry you thither.”

Yes! she got on his back, and away he went from his house at a fine rate. And

this time, too, she wasn’t long on her way.

So when they got to the North Wind’s house, he was so wild and cross,

cold puffs came from him a long way off.

“BLAST YOU BOTH, WHAT DO YOU WANT?” he roared out to them ever so

far off, so that it struck them with an icy shiver.

“Well”, said the South Wind, “you needn’t be so

foul-mouthed, for here I am, your brother, the South Wind, and here is the

lassie who ought to have had the Prince who dwells in the castle that lies EAST

O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON, and now she wants to ask you if

you ever were there, and can tell her the way, for she would be so glad to find

him again.”

“YES, I KNOW WELL ENOUGH WHERE IT IS”, said the North Wind;

“once in my life I blew an aspen-leaf thither, but I was so tired I

couldn’t blow a puff for ever so many days after. But if you really wish

to go thither, and aren’t afraid to come along with me, I’ll take

you on my back and see if I can blow you thither.”

Yes! with all her heart; she must and would get thither if it were possible in

any way; and as for fear, however madly he went, she wouldn’t be at all

afraid.

“Very well, then”, said the North Wind, “but you must sleep

here to-night, for we must have the whole day before us, if we’re to get

thither at all.”

Early next morning the North Wind woke her, and puffed himself up, and blew

himself out, and made himself so stout and big, ’twas gruesome to look at

him; and so off they went high up through the air, as if they would never stop

till they got to the world’s end.

Down here below there was such a storm; it threw down long tracts of wood 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

dashed over his heels.

“Are you afraid?” said the North Wind.

“No!” she wasn’t.

But they weren’t very far from land; and the North Wind had still so much

strength left in him that he managed to throw her up on the shore under the

windows of the castle which lay EAST O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE

MOON; but then he was so weak and worn out, he had to stay there and rest many

days before he could get home again.

Next morning the lassie sat down under the castle window, and began to play

with the gold apple; and the first person she saw was the Long-nose who was to

have the Prince.

“What do you want for your gold apple, you lassie?” said the

Long-nose, and threw up the window.

“It’s not for sale, for gold or money”, said the lassie.

“If it’s not for sale for gold or money, what is it that you will

sell it for? You may name your own price”, said the Princess.

“Well! if I may get to the Prince, who lives here, and be with him

to-night, you shall have it”, said the lassie whom the North Wind had

brought.

Yes! she might; that could be done. So the Princess got the gold apple; but

when the lassie came up to the Prince’s bed-room at night he was fast

asleep; she called him and shook him, and between whiles she wept sore; but all

she could do she couldn’t wake him up. Next morning as soon as day broke,

came the Princess with the long nose, and drove her out again.

So in the daytime she sat down under the castle windows and began to card with

her carding-comb, and the same thing happened. The Princess asked what she

wanted for it; and she said it wasn’t for sale for gold or money, but if

she might get leave to go up to the Prince and be with him that night, the

Princess should have it. But when she went up she found him fast asleep again,

and all she called, and all she shook, and wept, and prayed, she couldn’t

get life into him; and as soon as the first gray peep of day came, then came

the Princess with the long nose, and chased her out again.

So, in the day time, the lassie sat down outside under the castle window, and

began to spin with her golden spinning-wheel, and that, too, the Princess with

the long nose wanted to have. So she threw up the window and asked what she

wanted for it. The lassie said, as she had said twice before, it wasn’t

for sale for gold or money; but if she might go up to the Prince who was there,

and be with him alone that night, she might have it.

Yes! she might do that and welcome. But now you must know there were some

Christian folk who had been carried off thither, and as they sat in their room,

which was next the Prince, they had heard how a woman had been in there, and

wept and prayed, and called to him two nights running, and they told that to

the Prince.

That evening, when the Princess came with her sleepy drink, the Prince made as

if he drank, but threw it over his shoulder, for he could guess it was a sleepy

drink. So, when the lassie came in, she found the Prince wide awake; and then

she told him the whole story how she had come thither.

“Ah”, said the Prince, “you’ve just come in the very

nick of time, for to-morrow is to be our wedding-day; but now I won’t

have the Long-nose, and you are the only woman in the world who can set me

free. I’ll say I want to see what my wife is fit for, and beg her to wash

the shirt which has the three spots of tallow on it; she’ll say yes, for

she doesn’t know ’tis you who put them there; but that’s a

work only for Christian folk, and not for such a pack of Trolls, and so

I’ll say that I won’t have any other for my bride than the woman

who can wash them out, and ask you to do it.”

So there was great joy and love between them all that night. But next day, when

the wedding was to be, the Prince said:

“First of all, I’d like to see what my bride is fit for.”

“Yes!” said the step-mother, with all her heart.

“Well”, said the Prince, “I’ve got a fine shirt which

I’d like for my wedding shirt, but some how or other it has got three

spots of tallow on it, which I must have washed out; and I have sworn never to

take any other bride than the woman who’s able to do that. If she

can’t, she’s not worth having.”

Well, that was no great thing they said, so they agreed, and she with the

long-nose began to wash away as hard as she could, but the more she rubbed and

scrubbed, the bigger the spots grew.

“Ah!” said the old hag, her mother, “you can’t wash;

let me try.”

But she hadn’t long taken the shirt in hand, before it got far worse than

ever, and with all her rubbing, and wringing, and scrubbing, 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, outside, sits a beggar lassie,

I’ll be bound she knows how to wash better than the whole lot of you.

COME IN LASSIE!” he shouted.

Well, in she came.

“Can you wash this shirt clean, lassie, you?” 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 driven snow, and whiter still.

“Yes; you are the lassie for me”, said the Prince.

At that the old hag flew into such a rage, she burst on the spot, and the

Princess with the long nose after her, and the whole pack of Trolls after

her—at least I’ve never heard a word about them since.

As for the Prince and Princess, they set free all the poor Christian folk who

had been carried off and shut up there; and they took with them all the silver

and gold, and flitted away as far as they could from the Castle that lay EAST

O’ THE SUN AND WEST O’ THE MOON.