Nix Nought Nothing

NIX NOUGHT NOTHING

There once lived a king and a queen as many a one has been. They were long

  married and had no children; but at last a baby-boy came to the queen when


  the king was away in the far countries. The queen would not christen the


  boy till the king came back, and she said, “We will just call him Nix


  Nought Nothing until his father comes home.” But it was long before he


  came home, and the boy had grown a nice little laddie. At length the king


  was on his way back; but he had a big river to cross, and there was a


  whirlpool, and he could not get over the water. But a giant came up to


  him, and said “I'll carry you over.” But the king said: “What's your pay?”


   “O give me Nix, Nought, Nothing, and I will carry you over the water on my


  back.” The king had never heard that his son was called Nix Nought


  Nothing, and so he said: “O, I'll give you that and my thanks into the


  bargain.” When the king got home again, he was very happy to see his wife


  again, and his young son. She told him that she had not given the child


  any name, but just Nix Nought Nothing, until he should come home again


  himself. The poor king was in a terrible case. He said: “What have I done?


  I promised to give the giant who carried me over the river on his back,


  Nix Nought Nothing.” The king and the queen were sad and sorry, but they


  said: “When the giant comes we will give him the hen-wife's boy; he will


  never know the difference.” The next day the giant came to claim the


  king's promise, and he sent for the hen-wife's boy; and the giant went


  away with the boy on his back. He travelled till he came to a big stone,


  and there he sat down to rest. He said,

“Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day is that?”

The poor little boy said: “It is the time that my mother, the hen-wife,

  takes up the eggs for the queen's breakfast.”

The Giant was very angry, and dashed the boy's head on the stone and

  killed him.

So he went back in a tower of a temper and this time they gave him the

  gardener's boy. He went off with him on his back till they got to the


  stone again when the giant sat down to rest. And he said:

“Hidge, Hodge, on my back, what time of day do you make that?”

The gardener's boy said: “Sure it's the time that my mother takes up the

  vegetables for the queen's dinner.” Then the giant was right wild and


  dashed his brains out on the stone.

Then the giant went back to the king's house in a terrible temper and said

  he would destroy them all if they did not give him Nix Nought Nothing this


  time. They had to do it; and when he came to the big stone, the giant


  said: “What time of day is that?” Nix Nought Nothing said: “It is the time


  that my father the king will be sitting down to supper.” The giant said:


  “I've got the right one now;” and took Nix Nought Nothing to his own house


  and brought him up till he was a man.

The giant had a bonny daughter, and she and the lad grew very fond of each

  other. The giant said one day to Nix Nought Nothing: “I've work for you


  to-morrow. There is a stable seven miles long and seven miles broad, and


  it has not been cleaned for seven years, and you must clean it to-morrow,


  or I will have you for my supper.”

The giant's daughter went out next morning with the lad's breakfast, and

  found him in a terrible state, for always as he cleaned out a bit, it just


  fell in again. The giant's daughter said she would help him, and she cried


  all the beasts in the field, and all the fowls of the air, and in a minute


  they all came, and carried away everything that was in the stable and made


  it all clean before the giant came home. He said: “Shame on the wit that


  helped you; but I have a worse job for you to-morrow.” Then he said to Nix


  Nought Nothing: “There's a lake seven miles long, and seven miles deep,


  and seven miles broad, and you must drain it to-morrow by nightfall, or


  else I'll have you for my supper.” Nix Nought Nothing began early next


  morning and tried to lave the water with his pail, but the lake was never


  getting any less, and he didn't know what to do; but the giant's daughter


  called on all the fish in the sea to come and drink the water, and very


  soon they drank it dry. When the giant saw the work done he was in a rage,


  and said: “I've a worse job for you to-morrow; there is a tree, seven


  miles high, and no branch on it, till you get to the top, and there is a


  nest with seven eggs in it, and you must bring down all the eggs without


  breaking one, or else I'll have you for my supper.” At first the giant's


  daughter did not know how to help Nix Nought Nothing; but she cut off


  first her fingers and then her toes, and made steps of them, and he clomb


  the tree and got all the eggs safe till he came just to the bottom, and


  then one was broken. So they determined to run away together and after the


  giant's daughter had tidied up her hair a bit and got her magic flask they


  set out together as fast as they could run. And they hadn't got but three


  fields away when they looked back and saw the giant walking along at top


  speed after them. “Quick, quick,” called out the giant's daughter, “take


  my comb from my hair and throw it down.” Nix Nought Nothing took her comb


  from her hair and threw it down, and out of every one of its prongs there


  sprung up a fine thick briar in the way of the giant. You may be sure it


  took him a long time to work his way through the briar bush and by the


  time he was well through Nix Nought Nothing and his sweetheart had run on


  a tidy step away from him. But he soon came along after them and was just


  like to catch 'em up when the giant's daughter called out to Nix Nought


  Nothing, “Take my hair dagger and throw it down, quick, quick.” So Nix


  Nought Nothing threw down the hair dagger and out of it grew as quick as


  lightning a thick hedge of sharp razors placed criss-cross. The giant had


  to tread very cautiously to get through all this and meanwhile the young


  lovers ran on, and on, and on, till they were nearly out of sight. But at


  last the giant was through, and it wasn't long before he was like to catch


  them up. But just as he was stretching out his hand to catch Nix Nought


  Nothing his daughter took out her magic flask and dashed it on the ground.


  And as it broke out of it welled a big, big wave that grew, and that grew,


  till it reached the giant's waist and then his neck, and when it got to


  his head, he was drowned dead, and dead, and dead indeed. So he goes out


  of the story.

But Nix Nought Nothing fled on till where do you think they came to? Why,

  to near the castle of Nix Nought Nothing's father and mother. But the


  giant's daughter was so weary that she couldn't move a step further. So


  Nix Nought Nothing told her to wait there while he went and found out a


  lodging for the night. And he went on towards the lights of the castle,


  and on the way he came to the cottage of the hen-wife whose boy had had


  his brains dashed out by the giant. Now she knew Nix Nought Nothing in a


  moment, and hated him because he was the cause of her son's death. So when


  he asked his way to the castle she put a spell upon him, and when he got


  to the castle, no sooner was he let in than he fell down dead asleep upon


  a bench in the hall. The king and queen tried all they could do to wake


  him up, but all in vain. So the king promised that if any lady could wake


  him up she should marry him. Meanwhile the giant's daughter was waiting


  and waiting for him to come back. And she went up into a tree to watch for


  him. The gardener's daughter, going to draw water in the well, saw the


  shadow of the lady in the water and thought it was herself, and said; “If


  I'm so bonny, if I'm so brave, why do you send me to draw water?” So she


  threw down her pail and went to see if she could wed the sleeping


  stranger. And she went to the hen-wife, who taught her an unspelling catch


  which would keep Nix Nought Nothing awake as long as the gardener's


  daughter liked. So she went up to the castle and sang her catch and Nix


  Nought Nothing was wakened for a bit and they promised to wed him to the


  gardener's daughter. Meanwhile the gardener went down to draw water from


  the well and saw the shadow of the lady in the water. So he looks up and


  finds her, and he brought the lady from the tree, and led her into his


  house. And he told her that a stranger was to marry his daughter, and took


  her up to the castle and showed her the man: and it was Nix Nought Nothing


  asleep in a chair. And she saw him, and cried to him: “Waken, waken, and


  speak to me!” But he would not waken, and soon she cried:

“I cleaned the stable, I laved the lake, and I clomb the tree,

And all for the love of thee,

And thou wilt not waken and speak to me.”

The king and the queen heard this, and came to the bonny young lady, and

  she said:

“I cannot get Nix Nought Nothing to speak to me for all that I can do.”

Then were they greatly astonished when she spoke of Nix Nought Nothing,

  and asked where he was, and she said: “He that sits there in the chair.”


   Then they ran to him and kissed him and called him their own dear son; so


  they called for the gardener's daughter and made her sing her charm, and


  he wakened, and told them all that the giant's daughter had done for him,


  and of all her kindness. Then they took her in their arms and kissed her,


  and said she should now be their daughter, for their son should marry her.


  But they sent for the hen-wife and put her to death. And they lived happy


  all their days.