The Elf Maiden

The Elf Maiden

Once upon a time two young men living in a small village fell in love

with the same girl. During the winter, it was all night except for an

hour or so about noon, when the darkness seemed a little less dark, and

then they used to see which of them could tempt her out for a sleigh

ride with the Northern Lights flashing above them, or which could

persuade her to come to a dance in some neighbouring barn. But when the

spring began, and the light grew longer, the hearts of the villagers

leapt at the sight of the sun, and a day was fixed for the boats to be

brought out, and the great nets to be spread in the bays of some

islands that lay a few miles to the north. Everybody went on this

expedition, and the two young men and the girl went with them.

They all sailed merrily across the sea chattering like a flock of

magpies, or singing their favourite songs. And when they reached the

shore, what an unpacking there was! For this was a noted fishing

ground, and here they would live, in little wooden huts, till autumn

and bad weather came round again.

The maiden and the two young men happened to share the same hut with

some friends, and fished daily from the same boat. And as time went on,

one of the youths remarked that the girl took less notice of him than

she did of his companion. At first he tried to think that he was

dreaming, and for a long while he kept his eyes shut very tight to what

he did not want to see, but in spite of his efforts, the truth managed

to wriggle through, and then the young man gave up trying to deceive

himself, and set about finding some way to get the better of his rival.

The plan that he hit upon could not be carried out for some months; but

the longer the young man thought of it, the more pleased he was with

it, so he made no sign of his feelings, and waited patiently till the

moment came. This was the very day that they were all going to leave

the islands, and sail back to the mainland for the winter. In the

bustle and hurry of departure, the cunning fisherman contrived that

their boat should be the last to put off, and when everything was

ready, and the sails about to be set, he suddenly called out:

“Oh, dear, what shall I do! I have left my best knife behind in the

hut. Run, like a good fellow, and get it for me, while I raise the

anchor and loosen the tiller.”

Not thinking any harm, the youth jumped back on shore and made his way

up the steep hank. At the door of the hut he stopped and looked back,

then started and gazed in horror. The head of the boat stood out to

sea, and he was left alone on the island.

Yes, there was no doubt of it—he was quite alone; and he had nothing to

help him except the knife which his comrade had purposely dropped on

the ledge of the window. For some minutes he was too stunned by the

treachery of his friend to think about anything at all, but after a

while he shook himself awake, and determined that he would manage to

keep alive somehow, if it were only to revenge himself.

So he put the knife in his pocket and went off to a part of the island

which was not so bare as the rest, and had a small grove of trees. From

one of these he cut himself a bow, which he strung with a piece of cord

that had been left lying about the huts.

When this was ready the young man ran down to the shore and shot one or

two sea-birds, which he plucked and cooked for supper.

In this way the months slipped by, and Christmas came round again. The

evening before, the youth went down to the rocks and into the copse,

collecting all the drift wood the sea had washed up or the gale had

blown down, and he piled it up in a great stack outside the door, so

that he might not have to fetch any all the next day. As soon as his

task was done, he paused and looked out towards the mainland, thinking

of Christmas Eve last year, and the merry dance they had had. The night

was still and cold, and by the help of the Northern Lights he could

almost sea across to the opposite coast, when, suddenly, he noticed a

boat, which seemed steering straight for the island. At first he could

hardly stand for joy, the chance of speaking to another man was so

delightful; but as the boat drew near there was something, he could not

tell what, that was different from the boats which he had been used to

all his life, and when it touched the shore he saw that the people that

filled it were beings of another world than ours. Then he hastily

stepped behind the wood stack, and waited for what might happen next.

The strange folk one by one jumped on to the rocks, each bearing a load

of something that they wanted. Among the women he remarked two young

girls, more beautiful and better dressed than any of the rest, carrying

between them two great baskets full of provisions. The young man peeped

out cautiously to see what all this crowd could be doing inside the

tiny hut, but in a moment he drew back again, as the girls returned,

and looked about as if they wanted to find out what sort of a place the

island was.

Their sharp eyes soon discovered the form of a man crouching behind the

bundles of sticks, and at first they felt a little frightened, and

started as if they would run away. But the youth remained so still,

that they took courage and laughed gaily to each other. “What a strange

creature, let us try what he is made of,” said one, and she stooped

down and gave him a pinch.

Now the young man had a pin sticking in the sleeve of his jacket, and

the moment the girl’s hand touched him she pricked it so sharply that

the blood came. The girl screamed so loudly that the people all ran out

of their huts to see what was the matter. But directly they caught

sight of the man they turned and fled in the other direction, and

picking up the goods they had brought with them scampered as fast as

they could down to the shore. In an instant, boat, people, and goods

had vanished completely.

In their hurry they had, however, forgotten two things: a bundle of

keys which lay on the table, and the girl whom the pin had pricked, and

who now stood pale and helpless beside the wood stack.

“You will have to make me your wife,” she said at last, “for you have

drawn my blood, and I belong to you.”

“Why not? I am quite willing,” answered he. “But how do you suppose we

can manage to live till summer comes round again?”

“Do not be anxious about that,” said the girl; “if you will only marry

me all will be well. I am very rich, and all my family are rich also.”

Then the young man gave her his promise to make her his wife, and the

girl fulfilled her part of the bargain, and food was plentiful on the

island all through the long winter months, though he never knew how it

got there. And by-and-by it was spring once more, and time for the

fisher-folk to sail from the mainland.

“Where are we to go now?” asked the girl, one day, when the sun seemed

brighter and the wind softer than usual.

“I do not care where I go,” answered the young man; “what do you

think?”

The girl replied that she would like to go somewhere right at the other

end of the island, and build a house, far away from the huts of the

fishing-folk. And he consented, and that very day they set off in

search of a sheltered spot on the banks of a stream, so that it would

be easy to get water.

In a tiny bay, on the opposite side of the island they found the very

thing, which seemed to have been made on purpose for them; and as they

were tired with their long walk, they laid themselves down on a bank of

moss among some birches and prepared to have a good night’s rest, so as

to be fresh for work next day. But before she went to sleep the girl

turned to her husband, and said: “If in your dreams you fancy that you

hear strange noises, be sure you do not stir, or get up to see what it

is.”

“Oh, it is not likely we shall hear any noises in such a quiet place,”

answered he, and fell sound asleep.

Suddenly he was awakened by a great clatter about his ears, as if all

the workmen in the world were sawing and hammering and building close

to him. He was just going to spring up and go to see what it meant,

when he luckily remembered his wife’s words and lay still. But the time

till morning seemed very long, and with the first ray of sun they both

rose, and pushed aside the branches of the birch trees. There, in the

very place they had chosen, stood a beautiful house—doors and windows,

and everything all complete!

“Now you must fix on a spot for your cow-stalls,” said the girl, when

they had breakfasted off wild cherries; “and take care it is the proper

size, neither too large nor too small.” And the husband did as he was

bid, though he wondered what use a cow-house could be, as they had no

cows to put in it. But as he was a little afraid of his wife, who knew

so much more than he, he asked no questions.

This night also he was awakened by the same sounds as before, and in

the morning they found, near the stream, the most beautiful cow-house

that ever was seen, with stalls and milk-pails and stools all complete,

indeed, everything that a cow-house could possibly want, except the

cows. Then the girl bade him measure out the ground for a storehouse,

and this, she said, might be as large as he pleased; and when the

storehouse was ready she proposed that they should set off to pay her

parents a visit.

The old people welcomed them heartily, and summoned their neighbours,

for many miles round, to a great feast in their honour. In fact, for

several weeks there was no work done on the farm at all; and at length

the young man and his wife grew tired of so much play, and declared

that they must return to their own home. But, before they started on

the journey, the wife whispered to her husband: “Take care to jump over

the threshold as quick as you can, or it will be the worse for you.”

The young man listened to her words, and sprang over the threshold like

an arrow from a bow; and it was well he did, for, no sooner was he on

the other side, than his father-in-law threw a great hammer at him,

which would have broken both his legs, if it had only touched them.

When they had gone some distance on the road home, the girl turned to

her husband and said: “Till you step inside the house, be sure you do

not look back, whatever you may hear or see.”

And the husband promised, and for a while all was still; and he thought

no more about the matter till he noticed at last that the nearer he

drew to the house the louder grew the noise of the trampling of feet

behind him. As he laid his hand upon the door he thought he was safe,

and turned to look. There, sure enough, was a vast herd of cattle,

which had been sent after him by his father-in-law when he found that

his daughter had been cleverer than he. Half of the herd were already

through the fence and cropping the grass on the banks of the stream,

but half still remained outside and faded into nothing, even as he

watched them.

However, enough cattle were left to make the young man rich, and he and

his wife lived happily together, except that every now and then the

girl vanished from his sight, and never told him where she had been.

For a long time he kept silence about it; but one day, when he had been

complaining of her absence, she said to him: “Dear husband, I am bound

to go, even against my will, and there is only one way to stop me.

Drive a nail into the threshold, and then I can never pass in or out.”

And so he did.

[Lapplandische Mahrchen.]