Andras Baive
:
The Orange Fairy Book
Once upon a time there lived in Lapland a man who was so very strong
and swift of foot that nobody in his native town of Vadso could come
near him if they were running races in the summer evenings. The people
of Vadso were very proud of their champion, and thought that there was
no one like him in the world, till, by-and-by, it came to their ears
that there dwelt among the mountains a Lapp, Andras Baive by name, who
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was said by his friends to be even stronger and swifter than the
bailiff. Of course not a creature in Vadso believed that, and declared
that if it made the mountaineers happier to talk such nonsense, why,
let them!
The winter was long and cold, and the thoughts of the villagers were
much busier with wolves than with Andras Baive, when suddenly, on a
frosty day, he made his appearance in the little town of Vadso. The
bailiff was delighted at this chance of trying his strength, and at
once went out to seek Andras and to coax him into giving proof of his
vigour. As he walked along his eyes fell upon a big eight-oared boat
that lay upon the shore, and his face shone with pleasure. 'That is
the very thing,' laughed he, 'I will make him jump over that boat.'
Andras was quite ready to accept the challenge, and they soon settled
the terms of the wager. He who could jump over the boat without so
much as touching it with his heel was to be the winner, and would get a
large sum of money as the prize. So, followed by many of the
villagers, the two men walked down to the sea.
An old fisherman was chosen to stand near the boat to watch fair play,
and to hold the stakes, and Andras, as the stranger was told to jump
first. Going back to the flag which had been stuck into the sand to
mark the starting place, he ran forward, with his head well thrown
back, and cleared the boat with a mighty bound. The lookers- on
cheered him, and indeed he well deserve it; but they waited anxiously
all the same to see what the bailiff would do. On he came, taller than
Andras by several inches, but heavier of build. He too sprang high and
well, but as he came down his heel just grazed the edge of the boat.
Dead silence reigned amidst the townsfolk, but Andras only laughed and
said carelessly:
'Just a little too short, bailiff; next time you must do better than
that.'
The bailiff turned red with anger at his rival's scornful words, and
answered quickly: 'Next time you will have something harder to do.'
And turning his back on his friends, he went sulkily home. Andras,
putting the money he had earned in his pocket, went home also.
The following spring Andras happened to be driving his reindeer along a
great fiord to the west of Vadso. A boy who had met him hastened to
tell the bailiff that his enemy was only a few miles off; and the
bailiff, disguising himself as a Stalo, or ogre, called his son and his
dog and rowed away across the fiord to the place where the boy had met
Andras.
Now the mountaineer was lazily walking along the sands, thinking of the
new hut that he was building with the money that he had won on the day
of his lucky jump. He wandered on, his eyes fixed on the sands, so
that he did not see the bailiff drive his boat behind a rock, while he
changed himself into a heap of wreckage which floated in on the waves.
A stumble over a stone recalled Andras to himself, and looking up he
beheld the mass of wreckage. 'Dear me! I may find some use for that,'
he said; and hastened down to the sea, waiting till he could lay hold
of some stray rope which might float towards him. Suddenly--he could
not have told why--a nameless fear seized upon him, and he fled away
from the shore as if for his life. As he ran he heard the sound of a
pipe, such as only ogres of the Stalo kind were wont to use; and there
flashed into his mind what the bailiff had said when they jumped the
boat: 'Next time you will have something harder to do.' So it was no
wreckage after all that he had seen, but the bailiff himself.
It happened that in the long summer nights up in the mountain, where
the sun never set, and it was very difficult to get to sleep, Andras
had spent many hours in the study of magic, and this stood him in good
stead now. The instant he heard the Stalo music he wished himself to
become the feet of a reindeer, and in this guise he galloped like the
wind for several miles. Then he stopped to take breath and find out
what his enemy was doing. Nothing he could see, but to his ears the
notes of a pipe floated over the plain, and ever, as he listened, it
drew nearer.
A cold shiver shook Andras, and this time he wished himself the feet of
a reindeer calf. For when a reindeer calf has reached the age at which
he begins first to lose his hair he is so swift that neither beast nor
bird can come near him. A reindeer calf is the swiftest of all things
living. Yes; but not so swift as a Stalo, as Andras found out when he
stopped to rest, and heard the pipe playing!
For a moment his heart sank, and he gave himself up for dead, till he
remembered that, not far off, were two little lakes joined together by
a short though very broad river. In the middle of the river lay a
stone that was always covered by water, except in dry seasons, and as
the winter rains had been very heavy, he felt quite sure that not even
the top of it could be seen. The next minute, if anyone had been
looking that way, he would have beheld a small reindeer calf speeding
northwards, and by-and-by giving a great spring, which landed him in
the midst of the stream. But, instead of sinking to the bottom, he
paused a second to steady himself, then gave a second spring which
landed him on the further shore. He next ran on to a little hill where
he saw down and began to neigh loudly, so that the Stalo might know
exactly where he was.
'Ah! There you are,' cried the Stalo, appearing on the opposite bank;
'for a moment I really thought I had lost you.'
'No such luck,' answered Andras, shaking his head sorrowfully. By this
time he had taken his own shape again.
'Well, but I don't see how I am to get to you1' said the Stalo, looking
up and down.
'Jump over, as I did,' answered Andras; 'it is quite easy.'
'But I could not jump this river; and I don't know how you did,'
replied the Stalo.
'I should be ashamed to say such things,' exclaimed Andras. 'Do you
mean to tell me that a jump, which the weakest Lapp boy would make
nothing of, is beyond your strength?'
The Stalo grew red and angry when he heard these words, just as Andras
meant him to do. He bounded into the air and fell straight into the
river. Not that that would have mattered, for he was a good swimmer;
but Andras drew out the bow and arrows which every Lapp carries, and
took aim at him. His aim was good, but the Stalo sprang so high into
the air that the arrow flew between his feet. A second shot, directed
at his forehead, fared no better, for this time the Stalo jumped so
high to the other side that the arrow passed between his finger and
thumb. Then Andras aimed his third arrow a little over the Stalo's
head, and when he sprang up, just an instant too soon, it hit him
between the ribs.
Mortally wounded as he was, the Stalo was not yet dead, and managed to
swim to the shore. Stretching himself on the sand, he said slowly to
Andras:
'Promise that you will give me an honourable burial, and when my body
is laid in the grave go in my boat across the fiord, and take whatever
you find in my house which belongs to me. My dog you must kill, but
spare my son, Andras.'
Then he died; and Andras sailed in his boat away across the fiord and
found the dog and boy. The dog, a fierce, wicked-looking creature, he
slew with one blow from his fist, for it is well known that if a
Stalo's dog licks the blood that flows from his dead master's wounds
the Stalo comes to life again. That is why no REAL Stalo is ever seen
without his dog; but the bailiff, being only half a Stalo, had
forgotten him, when he went to the little lakes in search of Andras.
Next, Andras put all the gold and jewels which he found in the boat
into his pockets, and bidding the boy get in, pushed it off from the
shore, leaving the little craft to drift as it would, while he himself
ran home. With the treasure he possessed he was able to buy a great
herd of reindeer; and he soon married a rich wife, whose parents would
not have him as a son-in-law when he was poor, and the two lived happy
for ever after.
[From Lapplandische Mahrchen, J. C. Poestion.]