Great Heart And The Three Tests
:
Canadian Fairy Tales
Somewhere near the sea in olden times a boy was living with his father
and mother. He had no brothers or sisters. His father was a great
hunter and the boy inherited something of his power, for he was always
very successful in the killing of game. And his mother said, "Some day
he will be a great man, for before his birth a vision came to me in
the night and told me that my son would win wide fame. And fairy gifts
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were laid by the fairies in his cradle." And his father, listening to
her boasting, said, "Time will tell; time will tell; but if he is to
be a great man it is his own deeds and not your boasting that must
prove it." As the boy grew up he became strangely beautiful and he had
great strength. And his father said, "It is time he set out to seek
his fortune. I was in the forest doing for myself when I was no older
than he." And his mother said, "Wait a little and be not so impatient.
He is yet young and there is yet much time." So the boy remained at
home a while longer.
Now it happened that far away in a distant village there lived a young
girl of very great beauty and grace. Her father had been a great
Chief, but he was now dead. Her mother too was dead, and she was all
alone in the world. But her parents had left her vast lands and a
great store of goods and many servants, and because of her treasures
and her great beauty she had many suitors. But she was not easily
pleased by men and on all who came to seek her hand she imposed severe
feats of skill to test their sincerity and their worth. She was
carefully guarded by an old woman and many servants who kept
troublesome and meddlesome people away.
Soon the fame of the girl's wealth and beauty spread through all the
land. It reached the sea coast village where the young man dwelt. His
father thought to himself, "Here is a good chance for my son to prove
his worth." So he called his boy to him and said, "It is time you were
setting out to seek your fortune in the world and to find a wife, for
your spring-time is passing and your summer of life will soon be here,
and before you know it your autumn will be upon you and your winter
will be near. There is no time to lose. Seek out the beautiful girl of
the rich treasures in the distant inland village and try to win her as
your wife." And his mother gave him the fairy gifts which had been
laid in his cradle at his birth, and he said good-bye to his parents
and set out on his long journey. He had no misgivings, for he was very
vain of his beauty and he was sure, too, of his strength.
As he travelled inland he came one day upon a man clad in scarlet
sitting on the side of a rocky hill tying stones to his feet. "Hello,"
he said to the man, "why are you tying these heavy rocks to your
ankles?" "I am a hunter," replied the man, "but when I follow the deer
I run so fast that I am soon far in front of them instead of behind
them, and I am putting heavy weights on my feet so that I will not run
so rapidly." "You are indeed a wonderful man," said the boy; "but I am
alone and I need a companion. Let us go along together." "Who are
you?" said the man. "I am Lad of the Great Heart," said the boy, "and
I can do great deeds and I can win for you great treasure." So the
Scarlet Runner went along with him.
Towards evening when they were now far inland, they came to a large
lake. Among the trees on the fringe of the lake a large fat man was
lying flat on his stomach with his mouth in the water drinking as hard
as he could. For some time they watched him, but still he drank and
the lake grew smaller and smaller and still his thirst was not
quenched. They laughed at such a strange sight, and as they approached
him the boy said, "Hello! Why do you lie there drinking so much
water?" "Oh," answered the fat man, "there are times when I cannot get
enough water to drink. When I have drunk this lake dry I shall still
be thirsty." "Who are you?" asked the boy. "I am Man of the Great
Thirst," said the fat man. "That is well," said Great Heart, "we two
need a third companion. We can do great deeds and we can win for you
great treasure." So the three went along together.
They had not gone far when they came to a wide open plain where they
saw a man walking along with his face raised upwards, peering at the
sky. He moved along rapidly and seemed to find his way without his
eyes, for he gazed steadily at the heavens. "Hello," said Great Heart
as the sky-gazer rushed past him and almost knocked him over, "what
are you looking at so intently?" "Oh," said the man, "I have shot an
arrow into the sky and I am waiting for it to fall. It has gone so far
that it will be some time before it drops." "Who are you?" asked the
boy. "I am the Far-Darter," said the sky-gazer. "We three need a
fourth companion," said the boy. "We can do great deeds and win for
you much treasure. Come along with us." So the four went along
together.
They had gone but a short distance across the plain to the edge of a
forest when they came upon a man lying down at full length with his
head upon his hand. The edge of his hand was on the ground and it was
half closed around his ear, which rested upon it. As he saw the four
men approaching him he placed a finger of his other hand upon his lips
and signalled to them to keep quiet. "Hello," said Great Heart in a
whisper, "what are you doing there with your ear to the ground?" "I am
listening to the plants growing far away in the forest," he answered.
"There is a beautiful flower I wish to find, and I am trying to hear
it breathing so that I may go and get it. Aha! I hear it now." So
saying he rose from the ground. The boy said, "Who are you?" "I am
Keen Ears," said the listener. "We four need another companion," said
Great Heart. "We can do great deeds and win for you much treasure.
Come along with us." So the four men and the boy went along together,
Keen Ears, and Scarlet Runner, and Far Darter, and Man of the Great
Thirst, and Lad of the Great Heart. Then Great Heart unfolded to the
others his plan to win the beautiful girl who lived with her treasures
in the distant village. And they gladly agreed to help him in his
dangerous undertaking.
When they reached the village, the people were all very curious when
they saw the five strangers. They marvelled at Great Heart's beauty.
But when they heard that he wished to marry the daughter of the former
Chief they shook their heads gravely and said, "It will never be. She
places hard conditions on all who seek her hand. He who fails in the
tests is doomed to death. Many suitors have tried and failed and
died." But Great Heart was not alarmed, and with his four companions
he went to the girl's home. The old woman who guarded her met him at
the door and he made known his wishes. She laughed scornfully when she
saw his great beauty, and she said, "You look more like a girl than
like a warrior. You cannot endure the tests." But the young man
insisted on making the trials.
The old woman said, "If you fail in the tests you will die," and Great
Heart said, "It is so agreed." Then the woman said, "If you wish to
win the maiden you must first push away this great rock from before
her window. It keeps the sunlight from her in the mornings." Then
Great Heart, calling to his aid the fairy gifts of his cradle, placed
his shoulder against the huge stone which rose higher than the house,
and he pushed with all his strength. With a mighty crash it rolled
down the hill and broke into millions of pieces. The bits of rock flew
all over the earth so great was the fall, and the little pebbles and
stones that came from it are seen throughout the world to this day.
The sunlight streamed in at the window, and the maiden knew that the
first test had been successfully passed by a suitor.
Then came the second test. The old woman and her servants brought
great quantities of food and drink and bade the strangers consume it
all at one meal. They were very hungry, for they had eaten nothing all
day and they easily ate up the food. But when Great Heart saw the
great barrels of water, his spirits sank, and he said, "I fear I am
beaten." But Man of the Great Thirst said, "Not so fast, my friend.
The spell of great stomach-burning is again upon me. I am very dry as
if there was a fire in my belly. Give me a chance to drink." He went
from barrel to barrel and in a twinkling he had drained them all of
every drop. And the people wondered greatly.
But there was still another test. "You must have one of your party run
a race," said the old woman to Great Heart. And she brought out a man
who had never been beaten in running. "Who is your choice of runners?"
she asked; "he must race with this man, and if he wins you may have
the maiden for your wife and all the treasure with her, for this is
the final test. But if he loses the race you shall die." Great Heart
called Scarlet Runner to the mark and told the old woman that this was
the man selected. Then he untied the rocks from the runner's feet, and
when all was ready the race began. The course lay far across the
plains for many miles until the runners should pass from sight, and
back again to the starting point. The two runners kept together for
some distance, talking together in a friendly way as they ran. When
they had passed from sight of the village the maiden's runner said,
"Now we are out of sight of the village. Let us rest here a while on
this grassy bank, for the day is hot." The Scarlet Runner agreed to
this and they both stretched out on the grass. Now this was an old
trick of the maiden's runner, who always won by craft rather than by
speed. They had not lain down long on the grass when Scarlet Runner
fell asleep under the hot sun, just as his rival had hoped. When the
latter was sure that his rival was sound asleep, he set out for the
village, running as fast as he could. The people soon saw their runner
approaching far off on the plains, but there was no sign of the
stranger, and they thought that the new suitor for the girl's hand
had at last failed like all the others before him.
Great Heart was much puzzled when Scarlet Runner did not appear, and
as he saw the maiden's runner coming nearer, he said, "What can have
happened? I fear I am beaten." But Keen Ears threw himself flat on the
ground and listened. "Scarlet Runner is asleep," he called; "I hear
him snoring on the plains far away." And with his keen sense of sound
he located the exact spot where the runner was lying. "I will soon
wake him," said Far-Darter, as he fitted an arrow to his bow-string.
The people all thought him mad, for they had never seen an arrow shot
so great a distance beyond their sight. But Far-Darter was not
dismayed. He quickly shot an arrow from his bow to the spot which Keen
Ears had indicated. His aim was so true that the arrow hit Scarlet
Runner on the nose and aroused him from his sleep. But when he rose to
his feet he found that his rival was gone and he knew that he had been
deceived. So in a great rage because of the trick and the pain in his
nose, he set out for the village running like the wind. His rival had
almost reached the end of the race, but by putting all his strength
into his effort, Scarlet Runner quickly over-took him and passed him
near the winning-post and won the race. And the people wondered
greatly at these great deeds of the strangers.
Then the old woman said to Great Heart, "You have won the maiden as
your wife, for you alone have succeeded in these tests." So the two
were married with great ceremony. Great Heart gave much treasure to
his companions, and they promised to help him always in his need. Then
with his wife and her servants and her great store of goods he went
back to his native village by the sea. His father and mother were glad
to see him again and to hear of his success, and his mother said, "I
told you he would win great fame because of the fairy gifts that were
laid in his cradle at his birth." And they all lived together and were
henceforth very happy.