The Troll's Daughter

: The Pink Fairy Book

From the Danish.





There was once a lad who went to look for a place. As he went along he

met a man, who asked him where he was going. He told him his errand, and

the stranger said, 'Then you can serve me; I am just in want of a lad

like you, and I will give you good wages--a bushel of money the first

year, two the second year, and three the third year, for you must serve

me three years, and o
ey me in everything, however strange it seems to

you. You need not be afraid of taking service with me, for there is no

danger in it if you only know how to obey.'



The bargain was made, and the lad went home with the man to whom he had

engaged himself. It was a strange place indeed, for he lived in a bank

in the middle of the wild forest, and the lad saw there no other person

than his master. The latter was a great troll, and had marvellous power

over both men and beasts.



Next day the lad had to begin his service. The first thing that the

troll set him to was to feed all the wild animals from the forest. These

the troll had tied up, and there were both wolves and bears, deer and

hares, which the troll had gathered in the stalls and folds in his

stable down beneath the ground, and that stable was a mile long. The

boy, however, accomplished all this work on that day, and the troll

praised him and said that it was very well done.



Next morning the troll said to him, 'To-day the animals are not to be

fed; they don't get the like of that every day. You shall have leave to

play about for a little, until they are to be fed again.'



Then the troll said some words to him which he did not understand, and

with that the lad turned into a hare, and ran out into the wood. He got

plenty to run for, too, for all the hunters aimed at him, and tried to

shoot him, and the dogs barked and ran after him wherever they got wind

of him. He was the only animal that was left in the wood now, for the

troll had tied up all the others, and every hunter in the whole country

was eager to knock him over. But in this they met with no success; there

was no dog that could overtake him, and no marksman that could hit him.

They shot and shot at him, and he ran and ran. It was an unquiet life,

but in the long run he got used to it, when he saw that there was no

danger in it, and it even amused him to befool all the hunters and dogs

that were so eager after him.



Thus a whole year passed, and when it was over the troll called him

home, for he was now in his power like all the other animals. The troll

then said some words to him which he did not understand, and the hare

immediately became a human being again. 'Well, how do you like to serve

me?' said the troll, 'and how do you like being a hare?'



The lad replied that he liked it very well; he had never been able to go

over the ground so quickly before. The troll then showed him the bushel

of money that he had already earned, and the lad was well pleased to

serve him for another year.



The first day of the second year the boy had the same work to do as on

the previous one--namely, to feed all the wild animals in the troll's

stable. When he had done this the troll again said some words to him,

and with that he became a raven, and flew high up into the air. This was

delightful, the lad thought; he could go even faster now than when he

was a hare, and the dogs could not come after him here. This was a great

delight to him, but he soon found out that he was not to be left quite

at peace, for all the marksmen and hunters who saw him aimed at him and

fired away, for they had no other birds to shoot at than himself, as the

troll had tied up all the others.



This, however, he also got used to, when he saw that they could never

hit him, and in this way he flew about all that year, until the troll

called him home again, said some strange words to him, and gave him

his human shape again. 'Well, how did you like being a raven?' said the

troll.



'I liked it very well,' said the lad, 'for never in all my days have I

been able to rise so high.' The troll then showed him the two bushels

of money which he had earned that year, and the lad was well content to

remain in his service for another year.



Next day he got his old task of feeding all the wild beasts. When this

was done the troll again said some words to him, and at these he turned

into a fish, and sprang into the river. He swam up and he swam down, and

thought it was pleasant to let himself drive with the stream. In this

way he came right out into the sea, and swam further and further out. At

last he came to a glass palace, which stood at the bottom of the sea. He

could see into all the rooms and halls, where everything was very grand;

all the furniture was of white ivory, inlaid with gold and pearl. There

were soft rugs and cushions of all the colours of the rainbow, and

beautiful carpets that looked like the finest moss, and flowers and

trees with curiously crooked branches, both green and yellow, white and

red, and there were also little fountains which sprang up from the most

beautiful snail-shells, and fell into bright mussel-shells, and at the

same time made a most delightful music, which filled the whole palace.



The most beautiful thing of all, however, was a young girl who went

about there, all alone. She went about from one room to another, but did

not seem to be happy with all the grandeur she had about her. She walked

in solitude and melancholy, and never even thought of looking at her

own image in the polished glass walls that were on every side of her,

although she was the prettiest creature anyone could wish to see. The

lad thought so too while he swam round the palace and peeped in from

every side.



'Here, indeed, it would be better to be a man than such a poor dumb fish

as I am now,' said he to himself; 'if I could only remember the words

that the troll says when he changes my shape, then perhaps I could help

myself to become a man again.' He swam and he pondered and he thought

over this until he remembered the sound of what the troll said, and then

he tried to say it himself. In a moment he stood in human form at the

bottom of the sea.



He made haste then to enter the glass palace, and went up to the young

girl and spoke to her.



At first he nearly frightened the life out of her, but he talked to

her so kindly and explained how he had come down there that she soon

recovered from her alarm, and was very pleased to have some company to

relieve the terrible solitude that she lived in. Time passed so quickly

for both of them that the youth (for now he was quite a young man, and

no more a lad) forgot altogether how long he had been there.



One day the girl said to him that now it was close on the time when he

must become a fish again--the troll would soon call him home, and he

would have to go, but before that he must put on the shape of the fish,

otherwise he could not pass through the sea alive. Before this, while he

was staying down there, she had told him that she was a daughter of the

same troll whom the youth served, and he had shut her up there to keep

her away from everyone. She had now devised a plan by which they could

perhaps succeed in getting to see each other again, and spending the

rest of their lives together. But there was much to attend to, and he

must give careful heed to all that she told him.



She told him then that all the kings in the country round about were

in debt to her father the troll, and the king of a certain kingdom,

the name of which she told him, was the first who had to pay, and if he

could not do so at the time appointed he would lose his head. 'And he

cannot pay,' said she; 'I know that for certain. Now you must, first of

all, give up your service with my father; the three years are past,

and you are at liberty to go. You will go off with your six bushels

of money, to the kingdom that I have told you of, and there enter the

service of the king. When the time comes near for his debt becoming due

you will be able to notice by his manner that he is ill at ease. You

shall then say to him that you know well enough what it is that is

weighing upon him--that it is the debt which he owes to the troll and

cannot pay, but that you can lend him the money. The amount is six

bushels--just what you have. You shall, however, only lend them to

him on condition that you may accompany him when he goes to make the

payment, and that you then have permission to run before him as a fool.

When you arrive at the troll's abode, you must perform all kinds of

foolish tricks, and see that you break a whole lot of his windows, and

do all other damage that you can. My father will then get very angry,

and as the king must answer for what his fool does he will sentence him,

even although he has paid his debt, either to answer three questions or

to lose his life. The first question my father will ask will be, "Where

is my daughter?" Then you shall step forward and answer "She is at the

bottom of the sea." He will then ask you whether you can recognise her,

and to this you will answer "Yes." Then he will bring forward a whole

troop of women, and cause them to pass before you, in order that you may

pick out the one that you take for his daughter. You will not be able

to recognise me at all, and therefore I will catch hold of you as I go

past, so that you can notice it, and you must then make haste to catch

me and hold me fast. You have then answered his first question. His next

question will be, "Where is my heart?" You shall then step forward again

and answer, "It is in a fish." "Do you know that fish?" he will say,

and you will again answer "Yes." He will then cause all kinds of fish

to come before you, and you shall choose between them. I shall take good

care to keep by your side, and when the right fish comes I will give you

a little push, and with that you will seize the fish and cut it up. Then

all will be over with the troll; he will ask no more questions, and we

shall be free to wed.'



When the youth had got all these directions as to what he had to do when

he got ashore again the next thing was to remember the words which the

troll said when he changed him from a human being to an animal; but

these he had forgotten, and the girl did not know them either. He went

about all day in despair, and thought and thought, but he could not

remember what they sounded like. During the night he could not sleep,

until towards morning he fell into a slumber, and all at once it flashed

upon him what the troll used to say. He made haste to repeat the words,

and at the same moment he became a fish again and slipped out into the

sea. Immediately after this he was called upon, and swam through the sea

up the river to where the troll stood on the bank and restored him to

human shape with the same words as before.



'Well, how do you like to be a fish?' asked the troll.



It was what he had liked best of all, said the youth, and that was no

lie, as everybody can guess.



The troll then showed him the three bushels of money which he had earned

during the past year; they stood beside the other three, and all the six

now belonged to him.



'Perhaps you will serve me for another year yet,' said the troll, 'and

you will get six bushels of money for it; that makes twelve in all, and

that is a pretty penny.'



'No,' said the youth; he thought he had done enough, and was anxious to

go to some other place to serve, and learn other people's ways; but he

would, perhaps, come back to the troll some other time.



The troll said that he would always be welcome; he had served him

faithfully for the three years they had agreed upon, and he could make

no objections to his leaving now.



The youth then got his six bushels of money, and with these he betook

himself straight to the kingdom which his sweetheart had told him of.

He got his money buried in a lonely spot close to the king's palace, and

then went in there and asked to be taken into service. He obtained his

request, and was taken on as stableman, to tend the king's horses.



Some time passed, and he noticed how the king always went about

sorrowing and grieving, and was never glad or happy. One day the king

came into the stable, where there was no one present except the youth,

who said straight out to him that, with his majesty's permission, he

wished to ask him why he was so sorrowful.



'It's of no use speaking about that,' said the king; 'you cannot help

me, at any rate.'



'You don't know about that,' said the youth; ' I know well enough what

it is that lies so heavy on your mind, and I know also of a plan to get

the money paid.'



This was quite another case, and the king had more talk with the

stableman, who said that he could easily lend the king the six bushels

of money, but would only do it on condition that he should be allowed to

accompany the king when he went to pay the debt, and that he should

then be dressed like the king's court fool, and run before him. He would

cause some trouble, for which the king would be severely spoken to, but

he would answer for it that no harm would befall him.



The king gladly agreed to all that the youth proposed, and it was now

high time for them to set out.



When they came to the troll's dwelling it was no longer in the bank, but

on the top of this there stood a large castle which the youth had never

seen before. The troll could, in fact, make it visible or invisible,

just as he pleased, and, knowing as much as he did of the troll's magic

arts, the youth was not at all surprised at this.



When they came near to this castle, which looked as if it was of pure

glass, the youth ran on in front as the king's fool. Heran sometimes

facing forwards, sometimes backwards, stood sometimes on his head, and

sometimes on his feet, and he dashed in pieces so many of the troll's

big glass windows and doors that it was something awful to see, and

overturned everything he could, and made a fearful disturbance.



The troll came rushing out, and was so angry and furious, and abused the

king with all his might for bringing such a wretched fool with him, as

he was sure that he could not pay the least bit of all the damage that

had been done when he could not even pay off his old debt.



The fool, however, spoke up, and said that he could do so quite easily,

and the king then came forward with the six bushels of money which the

youth had lent him. They were measured and found to be correct. This the

troll had not reckoned on, but he could make no objection against it.

The old debt was honestly paid, and the king got his bond back again.



But there still remained all the damage that had been done that day, and

the king had nothing with which to pay for this. The troll, therefore,

sentenced the king, either to answer three questions that he would put

to him, or have his head taken off, as was agreed on in the old bond.



There was nothing else to be done than to try to answer the troll's

riddles. The fool then stationed himself just by the king's side while

the troll came forward with his questions. He first asked, 'Where is my

daughter?'



The fool spoke up and said, 'She is at the bottom of the sea.'



'How do you know that?' said the troll.



'The little fish saw it,' said the fool.



'Would you know her?' said the troll.



'Yes, bring her forward,' said the fool.



The troll made a whole crowd of women go past them, one after the other,

but all these were nothing but shadows and deceptions. Amongst the very

last was the troll's real daughter, who pinched the fool as she went

past him to make him aware of her presence. He thereupon caught her

round the waist and held her fast, and the troll had to admit that his

first riddle was solved.



Then the troll asked again: 'Where is my heart?'



'It is in a fish,' said the fool.



'Would you know that fish?' said the troll.



'Yes, bring it forward,' said the fool.



Then all the fishes came swimming past them, and meanwhile the troll's

daughter stood just by the youth's side. When at last the right fish

came swimming along she gave him a nudge, and he seized it at once,

drove his knife into it, and split it up, took the heart out of it, and

cut it through the middle.



At the same moment the troll fell dead and turned into pieces of flint.

With that a,ll the bonds that the troll had bound were broken; all the

wild beasts and birds which he had caught and hid under the ground were

free now, and dispersed themselves in the woods and in the air.



The youth and his sweetheart entered the castle, which was now theirs,

and held their wedding; and all the kings roundabout, who had been

in the troll's debt, and were now out of it, came to the wedding, and

saluted the youth as their emperor, and he ruled over them all, and kept

peace between them, and lived in his castle with his beautiful empress

in great joy and magnificence. And if they have not died since they are

living there to this day.



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