Litill, Tritill, the Birds, and the Peasant Lad

There once reigned a king and a queen, and in the same country there

also lived a poor old man and his wife. The king had an only daughter,

called Enid, who was greatly beloved by both her father and mother.

They spared no expense, and she had the best masters and governesses,

and a number of servants to wait upon her; but notwithstanding that she

was so carefully watched and looked after, she suddenly disappeared.

The head-governess said she had left her in her room only for a few

minutes practising her harp, with two of her maidens in attendance, and

when she came back she found both the girls fast asleep, and the

princess gone. Inquiries were made of every one, but nothing could be

heard of the princess. No one had seen her; she had vanished in the

most mysterious manner. The king, in despair, sent out messengers in

all directions, and spent a great part of his treasure searching for

her; but all in vain. Then, at last, he vowed that he would give the

princess in marriage to whoever should be fortunate enough to find her,

and also give him the half of his kingdom. But though many of the

knights and nobles about the court, eager to secure so great a prize,

went off in search of her, they one and all returned empty-handed.

Now, the poor old man who lived outside the palace grounds had three

sons. Their names were Osmond, Tostig, and Harald. The two eldest boys

were greatly beloved by their parents; but Harald, the youngest and

handsomest, was disliked by his father and mother, and both his elder

brothers ill-treated him and made him do all the work, while they went

out shooting and fishing.

When the boys were grown up, Osmond came to his parents, and said he

would like to start off and see the world, and try to win fame and

riches for himself.

His father and mother were quite willing he should do so, and providing

him with a new pair of boots and a large bag of food, he started off on

his journey.

After he had gone a long, long way, he arrived at a little hillock.

Here he sat down to rest, and unpacked his bag of provisions.

Just as he was beginning to eat, a tiny little man, dressed in grey,

came up to him, begging for a morsel of food. Osmond angrily ordered

him away, threatening to beat him if he did not go quickly.

After he had rested, Osmond went on again a long, long way, till he

came to another hillock. Here he again sat down to rest, and began to

eat. But he had hardly commenced than a still smaller and shabbier

little man, dressed in green, came up to him and asked him for a morsel

of food. Osmond spoke angrily to him, and sent him away with a volley

of abuse.

He then went on again a long, long way, till he reached a large open

glade in the wood. Here he sat down on the soft, mossy grass at the

foot of a big beech tree, and thought he would eat another morsel. But

no sooner had he opened his bag and taken out the food, than a whole

flock of birds flew down beside him; but he angrily chased them away,

and then, having rested himself, went on his way, till he came to a big

cave. Looking in, and seeing no one, only a lot of cattle, he thought

he would go in and wait till the dawn arrived.

Just as the sun was setting, an enormously big giantess walked in.

Osmond was greatly startled, but, taking courage, he went up to her,

and asked whether he might stay the night there.

The giantess said yes, on condition that in the morning he would do the

work she would require of him. This he promised he would do; so she

allowed him to remain the night, she herself retiring into an inner

cave.

The next morning the giantess told him that he must clean out the cave,

and put down fresh bedding for the cattle, and that he must have it all

finished before the evening, else she would take his life. With these

words she went away.

Osmond took up a prong he saw standing in a corner, but no sooner did

he begin to turn up the straw than the prong stuck fast in the bedding.

In vain he pushed and pulled and tried to drag it out, the prong

remained firmly fixed; and when in the evening the giantess came home

and found that the cave had not been cleaned out, she took hold of

Osmond and hung him up to a nail in the cave.

Meanwhile Tostig, the second son, thought he, too, would like to go out

into the world to seek his fortune, for he felt sure his brother by

this time must be quite a rich man. So he told his parents that he did

not care to remain at home now his elder brother was away, and with

only that stupid Harald at home; so having gained their consent, he,

too, started off, provided with a pair of new boots and a big bag of

provisions.

But he was not more fortunate than Osmond had been. He flouted the

little men while he rested on the hillocks, he chased and killed some

of the birds who came flocking round him for crumbs; and when he

reached the cave, he also received leave from the giantess to remain

the night, on condition that he cleaned out the cave next morning. When

he went and took up the prong to throw out the old bedding, it stuck

fast in the straw, and no efforts of his could move it. So the giantess

coming home, and finding that he had failed to accomplish his task,

took him and hanged him beside his brother.

So now there was only the youngest son, Harald, left. But though he was

the only one at home, his parents did not love him any better, and the

poor lad often felt that his presence reminded them of their lost sons,

and that they regretted not having sent him away in their place. So he

also decided to go away.

“I do not suppose I shall win riches and fame. All I hope is that I may

be able to earn enough to support myself, and be no longer a burden to

you.”

Then his parents told him he might go; but instead of nice strong new

boots, they only gave him an old pair of his brother’s, and his sack

contained nothing but some hard, dry crusts.

But Harald started off with a light heart, and as it chanced he, too,

took the same road his brothers had done, and presently he came to the

first hillock. “I think my brothers must have rested here, if they felt

as tired as I do,” he said, “so I will do the same.” And seating

himself on the hillock, he began to eat one of his dry crusts, when,

looking up, he saw a little old man in grey standing beside him.

“Will you share your crust with me? I am very hungry, and have had no

food to-day,” he said.

Harald pitied the old man, who looked so feeble and tired. He begged

him to sit down beside him and share his meal. When they had done, the

old man got up, and, after thanking him, said, “My name is Tritill.

Although I am old and feeble, if ever you are in need of help, call me,

and I will come to you.” So saying, he went round the back of the

hillock and disappeared.

Harald then continued his journey till he came to the second hillock.

“I feel sure my brothers must have rested here,” he said. “It is a long

way from the last hillock. I, too, will rest here awhile.” And he sat

down, and opening his bag, took out another crust. Hardly had he done

so when a tiny, shabby, little old man, dressed in green, came up to

him and asked for a morsel of food. Harald very good-naturedly asked

him to sit down beside him, and shared his crust with him. When they

had finished eating, the little green man got up, and, after thanking

Harald, said—

“Call me, if ever you think I can do you a service. My name is Litill.”

And he, too, went away, and was soon out of sight.

Harald then continued his journey until he came to the large open glade

in the wood.

“I am sure my brothers must have rested here,” he thought. “I will do

the same.” And he sat down and took out another crust. No sooner had he

done so than a great flock of birds came down. They circled round and

round him, and seemed so hungry and fought so eagerly over every crumb

he threw them, that Harald’s heart was filled with pity. “Poor little

things!” he said; “they need it more than I do.” And he broke up the

remaining crusts and threw the crumbs among them.

When they had eaten up every crumb, the biggest bird alighted gently on

Harald’s shoulder and whistled softly—

“If ever you think we can do you a service, call us. We shall hear you

wherever we are, for we are your birds.” And ere he had recovered from

his astonishment, they had all flown away and were out of sight.

Harald then continued his journey, until he, too, came to the big cave.

Looking in, he saw it was full of cattle, and hanging from a beam in

one corner he saw the bodies of his two brothers.

Startled at the sight, Harald’s first impulse was to go away; but he

thought he must first bury his brothers. So he took down the bodies,

and seeing a spade near the entrance, he speedily dug a grave and

buried them in the sand outside the cave. Just as he had finished, the

giantess arrived.

Harald, who was very tired, asked her if he might stay the night there.

“You may do so, if you will promise to do what I tell you in the

morning,” answered the giantess.

This Harald agreed to, and he slept that night in the cave.

Next morning, the giantess, who had slept in an inner cave, told him

that he would have to clean out the cave, and put down clean bedding

for the oxen.

“But remember, if your work is not finished when I come home, I shall

hang you the same as I did your brothers;” and so saying she went away.

Harald took up the prong standing in the corner and began his work. But

no sooner had he pushed the prong into the bedding and tried to lift it

than it stuck fast to the ground. In vain he used all his strength, the

prong remained firmly fixed. In his despair he called out: “Oh, dear

Tritill, come and help me!”

No sooner had the words passed his lips than he saw Tritill standing

beside him, who asked what he could do for him. Harald showed him the

difficulty he was in.

Then Tritill called out: “Prick prong and shovel spade!” and

immediately the prong pricked up the bedding and the spade shovelled it

away, till in a very short time the cave was all cleaned out and fresh

straw put down. Harald thanked him warmly for his help, and Tritill

went away.

When the giantess came home in the evening and saw that the work was

done, she said to Harald—

“Oh, man, man! you have not done this by yourself! But I will let it

pass!” and she retired into the inner cave.

The next morning the giantess told Harald that she had some fresh work

for him to do. He was to carry her own bedding outside the cave, take

out all the feathers, spread them out in the sun to air, and then put

them back again.

“But remember, if when I come back in the evening there is a single

feather missing, I shall hang you as I did your brothers!” And with

these words she went away.

Harald carried out the great featherbed and the big pillows; and as the

sun was shining warm and bright, and there was not a breath of wind, he

ripped open the seams and spread out the feathers in the sun.

No sooner had he done so than a strong wind arose, and in one moment

all the feathers were whirled away, not a single one remaining.

In despair Harald called out: “Dear Tritill, dear Litill, and all my

dear birds—oh, come and help me if you can!” And almost before the

words had passed his lips, Tritill, Litill, and the whole flight of

birds, came bringing the feathers with them; and while Tritill and

Litill helped Harald to fill the bed and the pillows, and sew them up

again, the birds flew round picking up all the stray feathers, so that

none were missing. But out of each pillow they took one feather, and,

tying them together, told Harald that when the giantess missed them and

threatened to kill him, he was to tickle her nose with the feathers.

Thereupon Tritill, Litill, and the birds all disappeared.

When the giantess came home in the evening, she went up to her bed, and

threw herself down on it so heavily that the whole cave shook. Then she

began carefully feeling all over the bed, and when she came to the

pillows she cried out—

“Aha, man! I have caught you—there is a feather missing in each pillow!

Now I shall hang you like your brothers!”

But as she took hold of him, Harold quickly pulled the two feathers out

of his pocket and tickled her nose with them.

In an instant the giantess fell back on her bed looking terribly white

and frightened; but Harald laughingly gave her back her feathers,

telling her he did not want to keep them.

“Ah, man, man!” said the giantess, “I know you did not do this alone;

but I will let it pass this time!”

So this third night Harald also passed in the cave, and in the morning

the giantess said to him—

“I have some fresh work for you to-day. You must kill one of my oxen.

Then you must scrape and clean the skin to make a leather bag; cut up

the animal in joints ready for cooking; clean all the entrails, and

make spoons out of its horns. All must be finished ere I return this

evening. I have fifty oxen, as you see, and it is one of these I want

killed. I shall not, however, tell you which one I have fixed upon;

that you must find out for yourself. If all is done as I wish when I

return, you can depart in the morning and go wherever you like; and in

addition, as a reward, you may choose three things from among such of

my treasures as I value most. If, however, everything is not finished,

or if you kill the wrong animal, then it will cost you your life, and I

shall hang you the same as I did your brothers.” And so saying the

giantess departed.

Harald was sorely puzzled. How could he possibly decide which of the

animals the giantess wished killed? Then he remembered his friends.

“Dear Tritill, dear Litill, come once again to my aid,” he cried.

Hardly had the words passed his lips, than he saw them both coming

towards him, leading a huge ox between them. They at once set to work

and killed him, and while Harald cleaned the entrails and cut up the

joints, Tritill scraped the skin and prepared it for making the bag,

and Litill began fashioning the spoons out of the horns.

So the work sped along quickly and merrily, and all was ready ere the

sun sank to rest.

Harald now told his friends what the giantess had promised him if he

should have finished his task ere she returned.

“Can you advise me what to ask for?” he said.

Then they told him he should first ask for that which was over her bed,

then for the chest which stood beside her bed, and lastly for that

which was behind the wall of her bed.

Harald thanked them warmly for all they had done for him, and said he

would do as they had told him, whereupon the little men disappeared.

When the giantess came home in the evening and found that Harald had

finished all the tasks she had set him, she exclaimed—

“Ah, man, man! you never did all this alone; but you have conquered, so

I must let it pass.” And so saying she retired to rest.

The next morning, the giantess called Harald into the inner cave and

told him he might choose the reward she had promised him, and that then

he might go where he liked.

“Then,” said Harald, “if I may have whatever I like, I choose, first,

that which is above your bed; then the chest which is beside your bed;

and, lastly, that which is behind the wall of your bed.”

“Ah, man, man!” cried the giantess. “You have not chosen these things

by yourself; but I cannot refuse you; you are too strong for me, and

you have conquered, and I must give you the reward you claim.”

So saying, she mounted some steps above her bed cut into the rock, and,

opening a secret door, she led forth a beautiful maiden. This was none

other than the fair Princess Enid, who had disappeared so mysteriously

some time ago.

“Take her back to her father, and he will reward you as you deserve,”

said the giantess as she placed the princess’s hand in that of Harald.

She then opened the lid of the chest beside her bed. This was filled

with gold, pearls, and precious stones; and then moving aside the bed,

she touched a secret spring, and the wall sliding back, they saw the

blue sea, and anchored close to the cave lay a beautiful ship

completely fitted out, her sails all set, and her pennant flying, and

possessing the power of sailing wherever its owner wished, without aid

of either captain or crew.

When the giantess had handed him over these gifts, she told Harald that

he would henceforth be one of the happiest and luckiest of men.

Harald then carried the chest containing the gold and precious stones

on board ship, and then having arranged some soft cushions for the

Princess Enid, in the stern of the vessel, they quickly departed, and

reached her father’s country.

The delight of the king and queen on recovering their long-lost

daughter can be more easily imagined than described. They never tired

hearing of the wonderful adventures through which Harald had gone, and

the king ordered a great feast in honour of the rescuer of his child,

which ended with the wedding of Enid and Harald.

The king then made Harald his prime minister; and so well and so wisely

did he rule the country, that on the king’s death he was chosen to

succeed him, and he and Queen Enid lived long and happily together,

seeing their children and grandchildren growing up around them.