from around the world
translated and/or edited by
D. L. Ashliman
© 1999-2000
folktales of Aarne-Thompson types 275, 275A, 275A*, and
1074
from around the world
translated and/or edited by
D. L. Ashliman
© 1999-2000
The hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. "I have never yet been beaten," said he, "when I put forth my full speed. I challenge anyone here to race with me."
The tortoise said quietly, "I accept your challenge."
"That is a good joke," said the hare. "I could dance around you all the way."
"Keep your boasting until you've beaten," answered the tortoise. "Shall we race?"
So a course was fixed and a start was made. The hare darted almost out of sight at once, but soon stopped and, to show his contempt for the tortoise, lay down to have a nap. The tortoise plodded on and plodded on, and when the hare awoke from his nap, he saw the tortoise nearing the finish line, and he could not catch up in time to save the race.
Moral: Plodding wins the race.
One warm summer's day Master Fox was resting at Schwäg Meadow. He saw a snail next to him and immediately proposed a wager as to which of them could run faster to St. Gallen.
"You're on!" said the snail, and set forth immediately -- a little slowly to be sure, for he was carrying his house with him on his back, as was his custom.
The fox, in contrast, continued his rest, intending to start off in the cool of the evening, and he dozed off. The snail took advantage of this circumstance and secretly crept into the fox's thick bushy tail. As evening approached, the fox took off and was surprised that the snail was nowhere to be seen. He presumed that he had covered a little bit of the course already.
When he reached St. Gallen's gate and could still see nothing of the snail, he turned around proudly and called out tauntingly, "Snail, are you coming soon?"
"I'm already here!" answered the snail, for without being seen, he had removed himself from the fox's tail and crept through the bottom of the gate.
Thus the proud fox had to admit that he had lost.
The fox went out one beautiful morning, and on the road he met a crab. Seeing the fox, the crab called out loudly and friendly, "Good morning, fox!"
This angered the proud fox. "What do you want with me, you miserable little rascal?"
"What? I can't even wish you a good morning? Don't be so arrogant. I may be small, but I can beat you in cleverness."
"Just listen to the twit! You more clever than I?" said the fox scornfully.
"For sure, and I am faster afoot than you are as well."
The fox could not let that go unchallenged, so he entered into a wager with the crab. The one of them who could run the fastest would receive a shiny taler from the other one.
So they both went out to a meadow. Arriving there, the fox positioned himself next to the crab, but the latter said, "I'll give you a head start of one whole step. Then after I count to three, take off."
The fox moved one step forward and got ready to start. His beautiful bushy tail hung down to the ground. The crab carefully fastened himself onto the tail, then counted, "One, two, three!"
The fox ran until the meadow shook, and when he arrived at the goal he turned around lightning fast to see where the crab was. But the crab had quickly dropped into the grass, and said, "What are you looking for, fox? I've been here a long time!"
What else could the fox do? He had to admit defeat and pay the taler.
Once upon a time, in the days when the world was young and all animals understood each other's languages, an old, old tiger named Tsuden went out hunting for some food. As he was creeping quietly along the banks of a stream a frog saw him and was badly scared. He thought, "This tiger is coming to eat me up."
He climbed up on a little bunch of sod, and when the tiger came near, called out, "Hello, where are you going?"
The tiger answered, "I am going up into the forest to hunt something to eat. I haven't had any food for two or three days, and I am very weak and hungry. I guess I'll eat you up. You're awfully small, but I can't find anything else. Who are you, anyway?"
The frog replied, swelling up as big as he could, "I am the king of frogs. I can jump any distance and can do anything. Here's a river. Let's see who can jump across."
The tiger answered, "All right," and as he crouched ready to jump, the frog slipped up and got hold of the end of his tail with his mouth, and when the tiger jumped, he was thrown away up the bank across the river. After Tsuden got across, he turned around and looked and looked into the river for the frog. But as the tiger turned, the frog let loose of his tail and said, "What are you looking for, old tiger, down there?"
The tiger whirled quickly, very much surprised to see the frog away up the bank behind him.
Said the frog, "Now I beat you in that test, let's try another. Suppose we both vomit."
The tiger being empty could only throw up a little water, but the frog spit up some tiger hair.
The tiger, much astonished, asked, "How do you happen to be able to do that?"
The frog replied, "Oh, yesterday I killed a tiger and ate him, and these are just a few of the hairs that aren't yet digested."
The tiger began to think to himself, "He must be very strong. Yesterday he killed and ate a tiger, and now he has jumped farther than I did over the river. Guess I'd better slip away before he eats me." Then he sidled away a little piece, quickly turned, and began to run away as fast as he could, up the mountain.
He met a fox coming down who asked, "What's the matter? Why are you running away so fast?"
"Say," the old tiger said, "I met the king of all the frogs, who is very strong. Why, he has been eating tigers, and he jumped across the river and landed farther up the bank than I did."
The fox laughed at him and said, "What, are you running away from that little frog? He is nothing at all. I am only a little fox, but I could put my foot on him and kill him."
The tiger answered, "I know what this frog can do, but if you think you can kill him, I'll go back with you. I am afraid you will get frightened and run away, however, so we must tie our tails together."
So they tied their tails fast in a lot of knots and went down to see the frog, who still sat on his piece of sod, looking as important as he could. He saw them coming and called out to the fox, "You're a great fox. You haven't paid your toll to the king today, nor brought any meat either. Is that a dog you've got tied to your tail, and are you bringing him for my dinner?"
Then the tiger was frightened, for he thought the fox was taking him to the king to be eaten. So he turned and ran and ran as fast as he could go, dragging the poor fox with him, and if they are not dead, they are still running today.
This story was actually made up, young ones, but it really is true, for my grandfather, who told it to me, always said whenever he told it, "it must be true, my son, otherwise it couldn't be told." Anyway, this is how the story goes:
It was on a Sunday morning at harvest time, just when the buckwheat was in bloom. The sun was shining bright in the heaven, the morning wind was blowing warmly across the stubble, the larks were singing in the air, the bees were buzzing in the buckwheat, and the people in their Sunday best were on their way to church, and all the creatures were happy, including the hedgehog.
The hedgehog was standing before his door with his arms crossed, humming a little song to himself, neither better nor worse than hedgehogs usually sing on a nice Sunday morning. Singing there to himself, half silently, it suddenly occurred to him that while his wife was washing and drying the children, he could take a little walk into the field and see how his turnips were doing. The turnips were close by his house, and he and his family were accustomed to eating them, so he considered them his own.
No sooner said than done. The hedgehog closed the house door behind him and started down the path to the field. He hadn't gone very far away from his house at all, only as far as the blackthorn bush which stands at the front of the field, near the turnip patch, when he met up with the hare, who had gone out for a similar purpose, namely to examine his cabbage.
When the hedgehog saw the hare, he wished him a friendly good morning. The hare, however, who was in his own way a distinguished gentleman, and terribly arrogant about it, did not answer the hedgehog's greeting, but instead said to the hedgehog, in a terribly sarcastic manner, "How is it that you are running around in the field so early in the morning?"
"I'm taking a walk," said the hedgehog.
"Taking a walk?" laughed the hare. "I should think that you could better use your legs for other purposes."
This answer made the hedgehog terribly angry, for he could stand anything except remarks about his legs, for by nature they were crooked.
"Do you imagine," said the hedgehog to the hare, "that you can accomplish more with your legs?"
"I should think so," said the hare.
"That would depend on the situation," said the hedgehog. "I bet, if we were to run a race, I'd pass you up."
"That is a laugh! You with your crooked legs!" said the hare. "But for all I care, let it be, if you are so eager. What will we wager?"
"A gold louis d'or and a bottle of brandy," said the hedgehog.
"Accepted," said the hare. "Shake hands, and we can take right off."
"No, I'm not in such a hurry," said the hedgehog. "I'm very hungry. First I want to go home and eat a little breakfast. I'll be back here at this spot in a half hour."
The hare was agreeable with this, and the hedgehog left.
On his way home the hedgehog thought to himself, "The hare is relying on his long legs, but I'll still beat him. He may well be a distinguished gentleman, but he's still a fool, and he'll be the one to pay."
Arriving home, he said to his wife, "Wife, get dressed quickly. You've got to go out to the field with me."
"What's the matter?" said his wife.
"I bet a gold louis d'or and a bottle of brandy with the hare that I could beat him in a race, and you should be there too."
"My God, man," the hedgehog's wife began to cry, "are you mad? Have you entirely lost your mind? How can you agree to run a race with the hare?"
"Hold your mouth, woman," said the hedgehog. "This is my affair. Don't get mixed up in men's business. Hurry up now, get dressed, and come with me."
What was the hedgehog's wife to do? She had to obey, whether she wanted to or not.
As they walked toward the field together, the hedgehog said to his wife, "Now pay attention to what I tell you. You see, we are going to run the race down the long field. The hare will run in one furrow and I in another one. We'll begin running from up there. All you have to do is to stand here in the furrow, and when the hare approaches from the other side, just call out to him, 'I'm already here.'"
With that they arrived at the field, the hedgehog showed his wife her place, then he went to the top of the field. When he arrived the hare was already there.
"Can we start?" said the hare.
"Yes, indeed," said the hedgehog. "On your mark!" And each one took his place in his furrow.
The hare counted "One, two, three," and he tore down the field like a windstorm. But the hedgehog ran only about three steps and then ducked down in the furrow and remained there sitting quietly.
When the hare, in full run, arrived at the bottom of the field, the hedgehog's wife called out to him, "I'm already here!"
The hare, startled and bewildered, thought it was the hedgehog himself, for as everyone knows, a hedgehog's wife looks just like her husband.
The hare thought, "Something's not right here." He called out, "Let's run back again!" And he took off again like a windstorm, with his ears flying from his head. But the hedgehog's wife remained quietly in place.
When the hare arrived at the top, the hedgehog called out to him, "I'm already here!"
The hare, beside himself with excitement, shouted, "Let's run back again!"
"It's all right with me," answered the hedgehog. "For all I care, as often as you want."
So the hare ran seventy-three more times, and the hedgehog always kept up with him. Each time the hare arrived at the top or the bottom of the field, the hedgehog or his wife said, "I am already here!"
But the hare did not complete the seventy-fourth time. In the middle of the field, with blood flowing from his neck, he fell dead to the ground.
The hedgehog took the gold louis d'or and the bottle of brandy he had won, called his wife from her furrow, and happily they went back home.
And if they have not died, then they are still alive.
Thus it happened that the hedgehog ran the hare to death on the Buxtehude Heath, and since that time no hare has agreed to enter a race with a hedgehog.
The moral of this story is, first, that no one, however distinguished he thinks himself, should make fun of a lesser man, even if this man is a hedgehog. And second, when a man marries, it is recommended that he take a wife from his own class, one who looks just like him. In other words, a hedgehog should always take care that his wife is also a hedgehog, and so forth.
Both did run very fast, and neither would give in to the other. So it went on year after year, and there seemed to be no end to the strife. Tired of this constant fight, one day the hare said to the buffalo, "Let us try a race together and settle this quarrel once for all."
The buffalo was well contented with the proposal, and they agreed to race one another. When the day came, the hare, putting his ears back, started the race. He ran so fast that you might have said he was flying upon the ground.
But the buffalo was a match for him. He went thundering away, his hoofs splashing the mud and raising seas of mire. The earth shook at his furious tread. He soon overtook the breathless hare which was running, panting as fast as its little legs could carry it.
Then a thought struck the hare, and he cried to the buffalo, "Ho, friend! Take heed how you are thundering along. The earth is shaking, and if you are not careful, the earth will give way under you. See how it is rocking under your feet."
When the buffalo heard the hare's story, he stopped still for a while bewildered, and then, being frightened, lest the earth should give way under him and he sink beneath, he checked his pace and began to walk slowly and tread gently.
That was just what the hare had wanted, and pulling a long nose at the buffalo, he ran swiftly by, leaving the buffalo a long way behind. Thus he won the race, and there was no longer any strife between the hares and the buffaloes.
But ever since the buffalo walks slowly and treads lightly upon the ground.
One day when Brer Rabbit was going lippity-clippiting down the road, he meets up with old Brer Terrapin, and after they pass the time of day with one another, they keep on talking, they did, until by and by they got to disputing about which was the swiftest.
Brer Rabbit, he says he can outrun Brer Terrapin, and Brer Terrapin, he just vows that he can outrun Brer Rabbit. Up and down they had it, until first thing you know, Brer Terrapin says he has a fifty-dollar bill in the chink of his chimney at home, and that bill done told him that he could beat Brer Rabbit in a fair race.
Then Brer Rabbit says he has a fifty-dollar bill that says that he can leave Brer Terrapin so far behind that he could sow barley as he went along, and it would be ripe enough to cut by the time Brer Terrapin passed that way.
Anyhow, they make the bet and put up the money, and old Brer Turkey Buzzard, he was summoned to be the judge and the stakeholder. And it wasn't long before all the arrangements were made. The race was a five-mile heat, and the ground was measured off, and at the end of every mile a post was stuck up. Brer Rabbit was to run down the big road, and Brer Terrapin, he says he'd gallop through the woods. Folks told him he could get along faster in the road, but old Brer Terrapin, he knows what he's doing.
Miss Meadows and the gals and most all the neighbors got wind of the fun, and when the day was set, they were determined to be on hand.
Brer Rabbit, he trains himself every day, and he skips over the ground just as gaily as a June cricket.
Old Brer Terrapin, he lies low in the swamp. He had a wife and three children, old Brer Terrapin did, and they were all the very spitting image of the old man. Anybody who knew one from the other had to take a spyglass, and then they were liable to get fooled.
That's the way matters stand until the day of the race, and on that day old Brer Terrapin and his old woman and his three children, they got up before sun-up and went to the place. The old woman, she took her stand near the first milepost, she did, and the children near the others, up to the last, and there old Brer Terrapin, he took his stand.
By and by, here come the folks. Judge Buzzard, he comes, and Miss Meadows and the gals, they come, and then here comes Brer Rabbit with ribbons tied around his neck and streaming from his ears. The folks all went to the other end of the track to see how they would come out.
When the time comes, Judge Buzzard struts around and pulls out his watch and hollers out, "Gents, are you ready?"
Brer Rabbit, he says "yes," and old Miss Terrapin hollers "go" from the edge of the woods.
Brer Rabbit, he lit out on the race, and old Miss Terrapin, she put out for home. Judge Buzzard arose and skimmed along to see that the race was run fair.
When Brer Rabbit got to the first milepost, one of the terrapin children crawls out of the woods, he does, and makes for the place.
Brer Rabbit, he hollers out, "Where are you, Brer Terrapin?"
"Here I come a-bulging," says the terrapin.
Brer Rabbit is so glad he's ahead that he puts out harder than ever, and the Terrapin, he makes for home. When he comes to the next post, another terrapin crawls out of the woods.
"Where are you, Brer Terrapin?" says Brer Rabbit.
"Here I come a-boiling," says the terrapin.
Brer Rabbit, he lit out, he did, and comes to the next post, and there was the terrapin. Then he comes to the next, and there was the terrapin. Then he had one more mile to run, and he's wheezing and puffing. By and by old Brer Terrapin looks way off down the road, and he sees Judge Buzzard sailing along, and he knows it's time for him to be up. So he scrambles out of the wood and rolls across the ditch and shuffles through the crowd of folks and gets to the milepost and crawls behind it.
By and by, first thing you know, here comes Brer Rabbit. He looks around and he don't see Brer Terrapin, and he squalls out, "Give me the money, Brer Buzzard, give me the money!"
Then Miss Meadows and the gals, they holler and laugh fit to kill themselves, and old Brer Terrapin, he rises up from behind the post and says, "If you'll give me time to catch my breath, gents and ladies, one and all, I suspect I'll finger that money myself," he says, and sure enough, Brer Terrapin ties the purse around his neck and scaddles off home.
Antelope was chief there. He was the fastest runner. His medicine was strong. No person could beat him at running. Many had tried. All gave it up. Antelope was the fastest runner!
There was another village on Tobacco Plains. Frog was chief there. He could not run fast. But he was a smart man.
One day when his people were playing gaves he said to them, "Listen! The antelope is faster than I am. But I am smarter than he is. I will prove this to you. Stay where you are until I come back."
He hopped along the trail that led to the antelope village. When he found the chief's lodge he went inside. They smoked the pipe there, and then the antelope chief began to brag about his running. "No person can beat me," he said. "I can just trot along and beat most persons."
"I like racing, myself," said the frog chief, passing the pipe to Antelope. "All my people like racing."
"But you cannot run -- ha-ha-ha!" laughed the antelope, taking a long draw on the pipe.
"Oh, I don't know about that. I am not so slow at running, and I am a fast thinker," said the frog chief.
"Of course you would not say that you would race with me, though," smiled the antelope, handing back the pipe.
"I might," said the frog chief slowly.
"What is that?" asked the antelope. "You might?
"Yes."
"When?"
"Tomorrow."
"Where?"
"Here, along the trail between our villages. I cannot run well where the ground is rough, you know. I must have a smooth place."
"Ha-ha-ha!" laughed the antelope. "How far shall we run?"
"From your village to mine and back again," answered the frog seriously.
"All right," agreed the antelope. "I suppose I shall be laughed at for racing with you. But I will race just the same. Aperson must use his power or he will lose it."
"Yes," said the frog chief, scratching his nose. "I am sure you will be laughed at, all right. Now, what will you bet on our race?"
"Bet? Why, anything -- everything I have. What have you got to bet?"
"Well, not much," sighed the frog chief. "But you will admit that our clothes are pretty. I will bet my clothes, and all my tribe will do the same. How will that suit you?"
"Fine!" smiled the antelope. "I like nice clothes."
The frog's clothes were green and beautiful. Besides, they were always cool in summer.
"Fine! Be here at sunrise," smiled the antelope, thinking of all the nice clothes that would be his after the race.
"I will be here," promised the frog chief, "and I will bring the whole tribe. Ho!"
Then he went out, and down the trail to his village, hopping, hopping, hopping, and thinking, thinking, thinking, till he got home to his lodge.
When he was gone the antelope made his people a speech. He told them to go to a side-hill at sunrise to watch the race. "When it is finished," he said, "I shall have more clothes than I need. I will divide them among you, and you know that the frog-persons' clothes are fine in summer. I suppose I shall be laughed at for racing this person," he added, smiling, "but think of the pretty clothes we shall have, to pay for the laughing. Be on the hillside at sunrise. I have spoken." Then he went back to his lodge to laugh.
The frog chief did not make a speech to his tribe. He just went quietyly into his lodge and kept thinking and smoking and thinking till morning was near. Then he went outside and called his people.
"Follow me!" he said, and began hopping up the trail toward the antelope's village. All his people were behind him, hopping, hopping, hopping along, wondering and wondering and wondering what was going on in their chief's head. But nobody asked him. They just hopped along, each one tending to his own business of hopping until they were all there.
The sun was not yet up, and the air was fine and clear.
"Now listen to me, all of you," said the frog chief, looking back along the trail that was green with frog-persons. "I am going to run a race with the antelope chief this morning at sunrise. I have bett all my clothes and yours on it. If I lose this race we shall have bad times. That is all."
The frogs laid their hand upon their mouths, for they were astonished.
"There must be no mistakes made here this morning," went on the frog chief sternly. "Pay attention to me!"
"First frog, turn around! No, you hop one long hop down this trail. That is it. Now hide yourself and stay still. Second frog, turn around! Now you hop one long hop past the first frog. That is it! Now hide yourself, and stay still. Third frog, turn around! Now you hope one long hop past the second frog. That is it! Now hide youself, and stay still."
He made enough frogs turn around and hop one long hop past the last one until they reached to his village along the trail. And when the last one hopped into his place near their village, not one of them could be seen. But there were frogs all the was from the antelope's village to the frog's village. Andy they were just one long hop apart.
"Now you trail-frogs, listen!" said the frog chief. "You are all in this race, every one of you, and there must be no mistakes made if you want to save your clothes. when we start this race, I will hop one long hop down the trail, then number one will hope one long hop down the trail, then number two, and number three, and number four, and so on clear to our own village, each one stopping right where he lands after hopping one long hop. But the hopper must hop just ahead of this fast antelope-person. Understand what I am doing? I am cheating him. We all look alike! He will think the alst hopper down there by our village is me."
"Now listen again! As soon as you hop and land, turn around. Then when the antelope starts back, you will be ready to beat him back by hopping one long hop just as you did before, only you must hop the other war. If anybody does not understand this smartness he had better say so now. There must be no mistakes here this morning, if we want to save our clothes."
Nobody said a word.
"All right," said the frog chief. "The rest of you come along with me."
"Good morning," bowed the antelope, stretching himself, and looking toward the east, where the sun was coming. "Good morning. You have brought many people with you," he smiled.
"Yes, quite a few. More than you realize, I think. We are not very tall, you know," answered the frog chief.
"Are you ready?" asked the antelope, bounding about to show off.
"Yes, I am all ready," said the frog chief, and the sun is rising, too."
"All right, then." The antelope chief whistled, and out of their lodges came all his people. They ran up on the hillside and stood still to watch the race.
"Here we go," laughed the antelope chief, trotting down the trail. But the frog-person was alwasy a little ahead of him.
"Well! He is faster than I thought," said the antelpe, beginning to run. Still the frog was a little ahead of him -- always a little ahead.
"Well! This person is not so slow." he thought, and began to go like the wind.
But always the frog-person was a little ahead of him -- one long hop ahead.
He began to think of his property now. Oh, ho! The frog-person was a little ahead when finally he reached the frog village, and turned to race back.
"I will beat him now," he thought. "This way is uphill." He ran as fast as he could go, pounding the trail with his hoofs, But, as before, always the frog-person hopped a little ahead of him, till, out of breath, he fell down near his own lodge -- beaten!
Oh, ho! Now everybody began to laugh. They laughed very hard, and while they were laughing, the frog chief hopped near the antelope, whose sides were panting so fast he could not speak. Oh, ho!
"A little running seems to tire you," smiled the frog chief, looking around at all the property he had won in the race. His sides were not panting. He had only hopped two long hops -- one down the trail and one up again.
"I guess you a short-of-breath-person," he added, sitting down.
"Well, you have beaten me, and I admit it," panted the antelope chief. "You are a very fast runner. That is all I can say. I misjudged you. But I know now."
"Oh, I am not so very fast at running, replied the frog chief, beginning to gather up the antelope's property, "but I spend a good deal of time thinking. I am a pretty fast thinker, you will find."
Ho!
One day, when the tortoise was basking in the sun, a stag passed by, and stopped for a little conversation.
"Would you care to see which of us can run fastest?" asked the tortoise, after some talk.
The stag thought the question so silly that he only shrugged his shoulders.
"Of course, the victor would have the right to kill the other," went on the tortoise.
"Oh, on that condition I agree," answered the deer, "but I am afraid that you are a dead man."
"It is no use trying to frighten me," replied the tortoise. "But I should like three days for training; then I shall be ready to start when the sun strikes on the big tree at the edge of the great clearing."
The first thing the tortoise did was to call his brothers and his cousins together, and he posted them carefully under ferns all along the line of the great clearing, making a sort of ladder which stretched for many miles. This done to his satisfaction, he went back to the starting place.
The stag was quite punctual, and as soon as the sun's rays struck the trunk of the tree the stag started off, and was soon far out of the sight of the tortoise. Every now and then he would turn his head as he ran, and call out, "How are you getting on?" and the tortoise who happened to be nearest at the moment would answer, "All right, I am close up to you."
Full of astonishment, the stag would redouble his efforts, but it was no use. Each time he asked, "Are you there?" the answer would come, "Yes, of course, where else should I be?" And the stag ran, and ran, and ran, till he could run no more, and dropped down dead on the grass.
And the tortoise, when he thinks about it, laughs still.
"You are very slow," said the carabao to the shell.
"Oh, no," replied the shell. "I can beat you in a race."
"Then let us try and see," said the carabao.
So they went out on the bank and started to run.
After the carabao had gone a long distance he stopped and called, "Shell!"
And another shell lying by the river answered, "Here I am!"
Then the carabao, thinking that it was the same shell with which he was racing, ran on.
By and by he stopped again and called, "Shell!"
And another shell answered, "Here I am!"
The carabao was surprised that the shell could keep up with him. But he ran on and on, and every time he stopped to call, another shell answered him. But he was determined that the shell should not beat him, so he ran until he dropped dead.
There was once a girl who was so mad about dancing that she nearly went out of her mind whenever she heard a fiddle strike up.
She was a very clever dancer, and a smarter girl to whirl round in a dance or kick her heels was not easily to be found, although she only had shoes made of birch bark, and knitted leggings on her feet. She swept past at such a rate that the air whistled round her like a humming top. She might have whirled round still more quickly and lightly, of course, if she had had leather shoes. But how was she to get them, when she had no money to pay for them? For she was very poor, this girl, and could ill afford them.
So one day, when the fair was being held at Amberg Heath, whom should she meet but Old Nick [the devil]! He was going to see the fun of the fair, as you may guess, for all sorts of tramps and vagabonds and watch dealers and rogues go there. And where such gentry are to be found, others of the same feather are sure to flock together.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Old Nick, who knew well enough how matters stood.
"I am wondering how I shall be able to get a pair of leather shoes to dance in," said the girl, "for I haven't any money to pay for them," she said.
"Is that all? We'll soon get over that," said Old Nick, and produced a pair of leather shoes, which he showed her. "Do you like these?" he asked.
The girl stood staring at the shoes. She could never have believed that there were such fine, splendid shoes, for they were not common ones sewn with pitched thread, but real German shoes with welted soles, and looked as French as one could wish.
"Is there a spring in them as well?" she asked.
"Yes, that you may be sure of," said Old Nick. "Do you want them?"
Yes, that she did. There could be no doubt about that. And so they began bargaining and higgling about the payment, till at last they came to terms. She was to have the shoes for a whole year for nothing, if only she would dance in his interest, and afterwards she should belong to him.
She did not exactly make a good bargain, but Old Nick is not a person one can bargain with. But there was to be such a spring in them that no human being would be able to swing round quicker in a dance or kick higher than she did. And if they did not satisfy her, he would take them back for nothing, and she should be free.
With this they parted.
And now the girl seemed to wake up thoroughly. She thought of nothing else but going to dances, wherever they might be, night after night. Well, she danced and danced, and before she knew it the year came to an end, and Old Nick came and asked for his due.
"They were a rubbishy pair of shoes you gave me," said the girl. "There was no spring at all in them," she said.
"Wasn't there any spring in the shoes? That's very strange," said Old Nick
"No, there wasn't!" said the girl. "Why, my bark shoes are far better, and I can get on much faster in them than in these wretched things."
"You twist about as if you were dancing," said Old Nick. "But now I think you will have to dance away with me after all."
"Well, if you don't believe my words, I suppose you'll believe your eyes," she said. "Put on these grand shoes of yours, and try them yourself," she said. "And I'll put on my bark shoes, and then we'll have a race, so that you can see what they are good for," she said.
Well, that was reasonable enough, he thought, and, no doubt, he felt there was very little danger in trying it. So they agreed to race to the end of Lake Fryken and back, on each side of the lake, which, as you know, is a very long one indeed. If she came in first she was to be free, but if she came in last she was to belong to him.
But the girl had to run home first of all, for she had a roll of cloth for the parson, which she must deliver before she tried her speed with Old Nick. Very well, that she might, for he went in fear of the parson. But the race should take place on the third day afterwards.
Now, as bad luck would have it for Old Nick, it so happened that the girl had a sister, who was so like her that it was impossible to know one from the other, for they were twins, the two girls.
But the sister was not mad about dancing, so Old Nick had not got scent of her. The girl now asked her sister to place herself at Frykstad, the south end of the lake, and she herself took up her position at Fryksend, the north end of it.
She had the bark shoes on, and Old Nick the leather ones. And so they set off, each on their side of the lake. The girl did not run very far, for she knew well enough how little running she need do. But Old Nick set off at full speed, much faster than one can ride on the railway.
But when he came to Frykstad he found the girl already there. And when he came back to Fryksend there she was too.
"Well, you see now?" said the girl.
"Of course I see," said Old Nick, but he was not the man to give in at once. "One time is no time, that you know," he said.
"Well, let's have another try," said the girl.
Yes, that he would, for the soles of his shoes were almost worn out, and then he knew what state the bark shoes would be in.
They set off for the second time, and Old Nick ran so fast that the air whistled round the corners of the houses in Sonne and Emtervik parishes. But when he came to Frykstad, the girl was already there, and when he got back to Fryksend, she was there before him this time also.
"Can you see now who comes in first?" she said.
"Yes, of course I can," said Old Nick, and began to dry the perspiration off his face, thinking all the time what a wonderful runner that girl must be. "But you know," he said, "twice is hardly half a time! It's the third time that counts."
"Let's have another try, then," said the girl.
Yes, that he would, for Old Nick is very sly, you know, for when the leather shoes were so torn to pieces that his feet were bleeding, he knew well enough what state the bark shoes would be in.
And so they set off again. Old Nick went at a terrible speed. It was just like a regular north-wester rushing past, for now he was furious. He rushed onwards, so that the roofs were swept away and the fences creaked and groaned all the way through Sonne and Emtervik parishes. But when he got to Frykstad the girl war there, and when he got back to Fryksend then she was there too.
His feet were now in such a plight that the flesh hung in pieces from them, and he was so out of breath, and groaned so hard, that the sound echoed in the mountains. The girl almost pitied the old creature, disgusting as he was.
"Do you see, now," she said, "that there's a better spring in my bark shoes than in your leather ones? There's nothing left of yours, while mine will hold out for another run, if you would like to try," she said.
No. Old Nick had now to acknowledge himself beaten, and so she was free.
"I've never seen the like of such a woman," he said, "but if you go on dancing and jumping about like that all your days we are sure to meet once more," he said.
"Oh, no!" said the girl. And since then she has never danced again, for it is not every time that you can succeed in getting away from Old Nick.
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Revised October 25, 2000.