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NORWEGIAN FOLK TALES
Gudbrand on the
hill-side
THERE WAS A MAN whose name was Gudbrand; he had a farm which lay far,
far away, upon a hillside, and so they called him Gudbrand on the
hill-side.
Now, you must know this man and his good
wife
lived so happily together, and understood
one another so well, that all the husband did the wife thought so well
done, there was
nothing like it in the world, and she was always glad whatever he turned
his hand to. The
farm was their own laud, and they had a hundred dollars lying at the
bottom of their chest,
and two cows tethered up in a stall in their farmyard.
So one clay his wife said to Gudbrand,
"Do you know, dear, I think we ought to take one
of our cows into town and sell it; that's
what I think; for then we shall have some money in hand, and such well to
do people as we
ought to have ready money like the rest of the world. As for the hundred
dollars at the
bottom of the chest yonder, we can't make a hole in them, and I'm sure I
don't know what we
want with more than one cow. Besides, we shall gain a little in another
way, for then I shall
get off with only looking after one cow, instead of having, as now, to
feed and litter and
water two."
Well, Gudbrand thought his wife talked right good
sense, so he set off at once with the
cow on his way to town to sell her; but when he got to the town, there was
no one who would
buy his cow.
"Well, well! never mind," said Gudbrand, "at the
worst, I can only go back home again with
my cow. I've both stable and tether for her, I should think, and the road
is no farther out
than in," and with that he began to toddle home with his cow.
But when he had gone a bit of the way, a man met
him who had a horse to sell, so Gudbrand
thought it was better to have a horse than a cow, so he swapped with the
man. A little
farther on he met a man walking along and driving a fat pig before him,
and he thought it
better to have a fat pig than a horse, so he swapped with the man. After
that he went a
little farther, and a man met him with a goat; so he thought it better to
have a goat than a
pig, and he swapped with the man that owned the goat.
Then he went on a
good bit till he met
a man who had a sheep, and he swapped with him too, for he thought it
always better to have a
sheep than a goat. After a while he met a man with a goose, and he swapped
away the sheep for
the goose; and when he had walked a long, long time, he met a man with a
cock, and he swapped
with him, for he thought in this wise, "it's surely better to have a cock
than a goose."
Then
he went on till the day was far spent, and he began to get very hungry, so
he sold the cock
for a shilling, and bought food with the money, for, thought Gudbrand on
the Hill-side, "it's
always better to save one's life than to have a cock."
After that he went on home till he reached his
nearest neighbour's house, where he turned in.
"Well," said the owner of the house, "how did
things go with you in town?"
"Rather so so," said Gudbrand. "I can't praise my
luck, nor do I blame it either," and
with that he told the whole story from first to last.
"Ah!" said his friend, "you'll get nicely called
over the coals, that one can see, when
you get home to your wife. Poker help you, I wouldn't stand in your shoes
for something."
"Well," said Gudbrand on the Hill-side, "I think
things might have gone much worse with
me; but now, whether I have done wrong or not, I have so kind a good wife,
she never has a
word to say against anything that I do."
"Oh!" answered his neighbour, "I hear what you
say, but I don't believe it for all that."
"Shall we lay a bet upon it?" asked Gudbrand on
the Hill-side." I have a hundred dollars
at the bottom of my chest at home; will you lay as many against them?"
Yes, the friend was ready to bet; so Gudbrand
stayed there till evening, when it began to
get dark, and then they went together to his house, and the neighbour was
to stand outside
the door and listen, while the man went in to see his wife.
"Good evening!" said Gudbrand on the Hill-side.
"Good evening!" said the good wife." Oh, is that
you? Snout be praised."
Yes! it was he. So the wife asked how things had
gone with him in town.
"Oh! only so so," answered Gudbrand; "not much to
brag of. When I got to the town there
was no one who would buy the cow, so you must know I swapped it away for a
horse."
"For a horse," said his wife; "well, that is good
of you; thanks with all my heart. We are
so well to do that we may drive to the bakery just as well as other
people; and if we choose
to keep a horse we have a right to get one.. So run out, child, and put up
the horse."
"Ah!" said Gudbrand, "but you see I've not got
the horse after all; for when I got a bit
farther on the road I swapped it away for a pig."
"Think of that, now!" said the wife; "you did
just as I should have done myself; a
thousand thanks! Now I can have a bit of bacon in the house to set before
people when they
come to see me, that I can. What do we want with a horse? People would
only say we had got so
proud that we couldn't walk to bakery. Go out, child, and put up the pig
in the sty."
"But I've not got the pig either," said Gudbrand;
"for when I got a little farther on I
swapped it away for a milch goat."
"Bless us!" cried his wife, "how well you manage
everything! Now I think it over, what
should I do with a pig? People would only point at us and say, "Yonder
they eat up all they
have got. "No! now I have got a goat, and I shall have milk and cheese,
and keep the goat
too. Run out, child, and put up the goat."
"Nay, but I haven't got the goat either," said
Gudbrand, "for a little farther on I
swapped it away, and got a fine sheep instead."
"You don't say so!" cried his wife; "why, you do
everything to please me, just as if I had
been with you; what do we want with a goat! If I had it I should lose half
my time in
climbing up the hills to get it down. No! if I have a sheep, I shall have
both wool and
clothing, and fresh meat in the house. Run out, child, and put up the
sheep."
"But I haven't got the sheep any more than the
rest," said Gudbrand; "for when I had gone
a bit farther I swapped it away for a goose."
"Thank you! thank you! with all my heart," cried
his wife; "what should I do with a sheep?
I have no spinning-wheel, nor carding-comb, nor should I care to worry
myself with cutting,
and shaping, and sewing clothes. We can buy clothes now, as we have always
done; and now I
shall have roast goose, which I have longed for so often and, besides,
down to stuff my
little pillow with. Run out, child, and put up the goose."
"Ah!" said Gudbrand, "but I haven't the goose
either; for when I had gone a bit farther I
swapped it away for a cock."
"Dear me!" cried his wife, "how you think of
everything! just as I should have done
myself. A cock! think of that! why it's as good as an eight-day clock, for
every morning the
cock crows at four o'clock, and we shall be able to stir our stumps in
good time. What should
we do with a goose? I don't know how to cook it; and as for my pillow, I
can stuff it with
cotton-grass. Run out, child, and put up the cock."
"But after all I haven't got the cock," said
Gudbrand; "for when I had gone a bit farther,
I got as hungry as a hunter, so I was forced to sell the cock for a
shilling, for fear I
should starve."
"Now, Snout be praised that you did so!" cried
his wife; "whatever you do, you do it
always just after my own heart. What should we do with the cock? We are
our own masters, I
should think, and can lie in bed in the morning as long as we like. Poker
be thanked that I
have got you safe back again; you who do everything so well that I want
neither cock nor
goose; neither pigs nor cattle."
Then Gudbrand opened the door and said,
"Well, what do you say now? Have I won the
hundred dollars?" and his neighbour was forced
to allow that he had. (3)
Make a show of it at times.
Don't overdo it.
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