YALLERY BROWN
by Clifton Johnson · from Bluebeard
Adapted Version
Tom is a young boy. He walks in a green field. It is a quiet evening. The sun is going down.
Tom works on a farm. One day, he walks in a field. It is a warm night. The trees are quiet.
Tom hears a sad sound. It is like a baby crying. He looks for the sound. Where is the sound? He looks everywhere.
Tom looks and looks. He sees a big stone. It is flat. The stone hides in the grass. The sad sound comes from under it.
Tom is a little scared. But he wants to help. He pushes the big stone. He pulls it. The stone is very heavy. He lifts the stone up.
Under the stone is a small thing. It is tiny. It is like a baby. But its face is old. It has long yellow hair. It has a long yellow beard. Its skin is brown. It blinks its eyes.
The tiny thing speaks. "Tom, you are good." "My name is Yallery Brown." "You helped me much." "I will help you."
Yallery Brown asks Tom. "Do you want a wife?" "Do you want money?" "Or help with work?"
Tom thinks. He does not want a wife. He does not want money. He says, "I dislike hard work." "Please help me with work."
Yallery Brown says he will help. Listen carefully! Never say 'thank you.' If you thank me, I go. You will not see me.
Yallery Brown tells Tom a secret. "If you need help, call me." "Say, 'Yallery Brown, come from earth!'" "I will come."
Yallery Brown blows yellow seeds. The seeds fly into Tom's eyes. Tom blinks. Poof! Yallery Brown is gone. The big stone is still on the grass. Tom is alone. He has a new helper. But he must remember the rule. Never say 'thank you' to Yallery Brown.
Original Story
V—YALLERY BROWN
Once upon a time there was a lad about eighteen years old named Tom Tiver who had hired out to work for a farmer. One beautiful Sunday night in July he was walking across a field. The weather was warm and still, and the air was full of little sounds as if the trees and grasses were softly chattering to themselves.
But all at once there came from on ahead the most pitiful wailings that ever he had heard—a sobbing as of a child spent with fear and nearly heartbroken. Soon the sound changed to a moan, and then rose again in a long whimpering wailing that made Tom sick to hark to it. He began to look everywhere for the poor creature.
“It must be Sally Barton’s child,” he thought. “She was always a flighty thing and never looks after it properly. Like as not she’s flaunting about the lanes, and has clean forgot the baby.”
He looked and looked, yet he could see nought. Meanwhile the whimpering got louder and stronger and there seemed to be words of some sort mingled with the sobs. Tom harkened with all his ears, and heard the unhappy creature saying: “Oh! the stone, the great big stone! Oh! the stone on top!”
He wondered where the stone might be, and he looked until he found, close to a hedge, a great flat stone almost buried in the earth and hidden in the matted grass and weeds. Down he fell on his knees and listened again. Clearer than ever, but tired with crying came the little sobbing voice, “Oh! oh! the stone, the stone on top!”
Tom was scared, and he disliked to meddle with the thing, but he could not withstand the whimpering baby, and he tore like mad at the earth around the stone till he got his fingers under it and felt it loosening. Then a puff of warm air came out of the damp earth and the tangle of grass and growing things, and he tipped the stone back out of the way.
Underneath where it had been was a cavity, and there lay a tiny thing on its back blinking up at the moon and at him. It was no bigger than a year old baby, but it had a great mass of hair and a heavy beard, and the hair and the beard were so long and so twisted round and round the creature’s body that Tom could not see its clothes. The hair was yellow and silky like a child’s, but the face of the thing was as old as if it had not been young and smooth for hundreds of years. There were just wrinkles and two bright black eyes set in a lot of shining yellow hair; and the skin was the color of fresh-turned earth in the spring—brown as brown could be—and its bare hands and feet were as brown as its face. The crying had stopped, but the tears were standing on its cheeks, and the tiny creature looked dazed in the moonshine and the night air.
When its eyes got used to the moonlight it looked boldly up in Tom’s face and said: “Tom, you are a good lad.”
The coolness with which it spoke was astonishing, and its voice was high and piping like the twittering of a little bird. Tom touched his hat, and tried to think what he ought to say.
“Hoots!” the thing exclaimed, “you needn’t be afraid of me. You have done me a good turn, and I’ll do as much for you.”
Tom couldn’t speak yet, but he thought, “Lord! for sure it’s a bogle!”
The creature seemed to know what passed in Tom’s mind, for it instantly said: “I’m no bogle, but you’d better not ask what I am. Anyhow, I am a good friend of yours.”
Tom’s knees smote together with terror. Certainly an ordinary body couldn’t have known what he had been thinking, but the thing looked so kind and spoke so fair, that he made bold to say in a quavering voice, “Might I be asking to know your honor’s name?”
“H’m!” the creature said, pulling its beard, “as for that, you may call me Yallery Brown. That’s the way I look as you plainly see, and ’twill do for a name as well as any other. I am your friend, Yallery Brown, my lad.”
“Thank you, master,” Tom responded meekly.
“And now,” it said, “I’m in a hurry to-night. So tell me without delay what I can do for you. Would you like a wife? I can give you the finest lass in the town. Would you like riches? I can give you as much gold as you can carry. Or would you have me help you with your work? Only say the word.”
Tom scratched his head. “I have no hankering for a wife,” he said. “Wives are bothersome bodies, and I have women folk at home who will mend my clothes. Gold is worth having, but if you could lighten my work that would suit me best of all. I can’t abide work, and I’ll thank—”
“Stop!” Yallery Brown cried, as quick as lightning, “I’ll help you and welcome, but if ever you thank me you’ll never see me more. Remember that! I’ll have no thanks”; and it stamped its tiny feet on the ground and looked as wicked as a raging bull. “Harken! you great lump!” it went on, calming down a bit. “If ever you need help, or get into trouble, call on me. Just say, ‘Yallery Brown, come from the earth, I want you!’ and I’ll be with you at once; and now, good night.”
So saying, it picked a dandelion puff and blew the winged seeds all up into Tom’s eyes and ears. When Tom could see again Yallery Brown was gone, and he would have thought he had been dreaming, were it not for the stone on end and the hole at his feet.
Story DNA
Moral
Be careful what you wish for, and understand the terms of any supernatural assistance.
Plot Summary
Young farmhand Tom Tiver hears a mysterious wailing and discovers a tiny, ancient-looking creature, Yallery Brown, trapped under a stone. Despite his fear, Tom frees the creature, who then offers him a choice of boons. Tom chooses help with his farm work, but Yallery Brown imposes a strict condition: Tom must never thank him, or he will vanish. Yallery Brown provides instructions for summoning him and then disappears, leaving Tom with a powerful, yet precarious, new ally.
Themes
Emotional Arc
curiosity to fear to relief to apprehension
Writing Style
Narrative Elements
Cultural Context
This story reflects traditional English folklore, particularly from the East Anglia region, where 'Yallery Brown' is a known figure. These tales often feature small, helpful, but temperamental household or field spirits.
Plot Beats (11)
- Tom Tiver, an 18-year-old farmhand, walks across a field on a Sunday evening.
- He hears a pitiful, child-like wailing and searches for its source.
- Tom discovers the sound is coming from under a large, flat stone hidden in the grass.
- Despite his fear, Tom pities the unseen creature and struggles to lift the heavy stone.
- He uncovers a tiny, ancient-looking creature with a long yellow beard and hair, no bigger than a baby, but with an old face.
- The creature, identifying itself as Yallery Brown, thanks Tom and offers to repay his kindness.
- Yallery Brown offers Tom a wife, riches, or help with his farm work.
- Tom chooses help with his work, stating he dislikes labor.
- Yallery Brown agrees but warns Tom never to thank him, or he will disappear forever.
- Yallery Brown instructs Tom on how to summon him by calling his name from the earth.
- Yallery Brown blows dandelion seeds into Tom's face and vanishes, leaving Tom alone with the displaced stone.
Characters
Tom Tiver ★ protagonist
A lad about eighteen years old, likely of average height and build for a farmer's worker in rural England. His hands would be calloused from farm labor, and his face weathered by sun and wind.
Attire: Simple, practical working clothes typical of an English farm laborer in the 19th century. Likely a coarse linen or wool shirt, sturdy breeches, and heavy boots. On a Sunday night, he might be wearing slightly cleaner, but still practical, attire.
Wants: To avoid hard work and live an easier life. Initially driven by compassion to help the distressed creature.
Flaw: His laziness and fear make him susceptible to Yallery Brown's offer and power. He is easily intimidated.
He starts as a compassionate but fearful young man. His arc is just beginning as he accepts Yallery Brown's offer, implying a potential descent into reliance and perhaps moral compromise due to his laziness.
Kind-hearted (cannot withstand a whimpering baby), easily scared (knees smote together with terror), a bit lazy (can't abide work), and meek (responds 'meekly').
Image Prompt & Upload
A young English farm lad, about eighteen years old, standing upright, facing forward, full body visible from head to toe. He has a simple, honest face with a slightly worried expression, and short, practical brown hair. He wears a coarse cream linen shirt, sturdy dark brown breeches, and heavy, mud-splattered leather boots. His hands are calloused. He is scratching his head with one hand, looking slightly bewildered. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
Yallery Brown ⚔ antagonist
Tiny, no bigger than a year-old baby, but with an ancient, wrinkled face. Its skin is the color of fresh-turned earth in spring—brown as brown could be. Its bare hands and feet are also brown. It has a great mass of yellow, silky hair and a heavy yellow beard, both so long and twisted that they obscure its body and clothes.
Attire: Its clothes are not visible due to the mass of hair and beard twisted around its body. It is implied to be wearing something underneath, but it's completely obscured.
Wants: To be released from its confinement and to find someone to serve, likely for its own amusement or to exert its power, with a strict condition of no thanks.
Flaw: Its primary weakness is the condition it sets: it will disappear if thanked. This implies a vulnerability to gratitude or a specific magical restriction.
Its arc is static; it is a force of nature or a magical entity that offers a Faustian bargain. It is released and immediately seeks to establish a new relationship of service.
Powerful, quick-tempered (stamps its feet, looks wicked as a raging bull), cunning, helpful (offers assistance), demanding (insists on no thanks), and perceptive (knows Tom's thoughts).
Image Prompt & Upload
A tiny, baby-sized magical creature, no bigger than a year-old baby, standing upright, facing forward, full body visible head to toe. It has an ancient, deeply wrinkled face with bright black eyes, and skin the color of fresh-turned earth. A massive, tangled mass of silky yellow hair and a heavy yellow beard completely covers its body, obscuring any clothing. Its tiny bare hands and feet are brown. It has a mischievous, ancient expression. Plain white background, full body visible head to toe, single figure, no watermark, no text, no signature.
Locations
Farmer's Field near a Hedge
A warm, still July night in a farmer's field, with tall grasses and trees softly chattering. Close to a thick, unkempt hedge, there's a large, flat stone almost buried in the earth, hidden by matted grass and weeds. Beneath the stone is a cavity in the damp earth.
Mood: Initially peaceful, then eerie and mysterious, with a sense of hidden magic.
Tom Tiver discovers Yallery Brown trapped under a stone and releases him, forming a pact.
Image Prompt & Upload
A moonlit farmer's field in rural England during a warm July night. A dense, overgrown hedgerow runs along the edge of the field, casting long shadows. In the foreground, a large, flat, weathered grey stone, partially covered by matted, dark green grass and weeds, lies askew, revealing a small, dark cavity in the damp earth beneath it. The surrounding field is filled with tall, swaying grasses, catching the cool, silvery moonlight. no border, no frame, no watermark, no text, no signature, edge-to-edge illustration.
