Once upon a
time There was a poor husbandman who had many
children and little to give them in the way either of food or
clothing. They were all pretty, but the prettiest of all was the
youngest daughter, who was so beautiful that there were no bounds
to her beauty.
So once--it
was late on a Thursday evening in autumn, and wild weather outside,
terribly dark, and raining so heavily and blowing so hard that the
walls of the cottage shook again--they were all sitting together by
the fireside, each of them busy with something or other, when
suddenly some one rapped three times against the window- pane. The
man went out to see what could be the matter, and when he got out
there stood a great big white bear.
"Good-evening to you," said the White Bear.
"Good-evening," said the man.
"Will you give me your youngest daughter?" said the White Bear; "if
you will, you shall be as rich as you are now poor.
Truly the
man would have had no objection to be rich, but he thought to
himself: "I must first ask my daughter about this," so he went in
and told them that there was a great white bear outside who had
faithfully promised to make them all rich if he might but have the
youngest daughter.
She said
no, and would not hear of it; so the man went out again, and
settled with the White Bear that he should come again next Thursday
evening, and get her answer. Then the man persuaded her, and talked
so much to her about the wealth that they would have, and what a
good thing it would be for herself, that at last she made up her
mind to go, and washed and mended all her rags, made herself as
smart as she could, and held herself in readiness to set out.
Little enough had she to take away with her.
Next
Thursday evening the White Bear came to fetch her. She seated
herself on his back with her bundle, and thus they departed. When
they had gone a great part of the way, the White Bear said: "Are
you afraid?"
"No, that I am not," said she.
" Keep tight hold of my fur, and then there is no danger," said
he.
And thus she rode far, far
away, until they came to a great mountain. Then the White Bear
knocked on it, and a door opened, and they went into a castle where
there were many brilliantly lighted rooms which shone with gold and
silver, likewise a large hall in which there was a well-spread
table, and it was so magnificent that it would be hard to make
anyone understand how splendid it was. The White Bear gave her a
silver bell, and told her that when she needed anything she had but
to ring this bell, and what she wanted would appear. So after she
had eaten, and night was drawing near, she grew sleepy after her
journey, and thought she would like to go to bed. She rang the
bell, and scarcely had she touched it before she found herself in a
chamber where a bed stood ready made
for her, which was as pretty as anyone could wish to sleep in. It
had pillows of silk, and curtains of silk fringed with gold, and
everything that was in the room was of gold or silver, but when she
had lain down and put out the light a man came and lay down beside
her, and behold it was the White Bear, who cast off the form of a
beast during the night. She never saw him, however, for he always
came after she had put out her light, and went away before daylight
appeared.
So all went well and happily
for a time, but then she began to be very sad and sorrowful, for
all day long she had to go about alone; and she did so wish to go
home to her father and mother and brothers and sisters. Then the
White Bear asked what it was that she wanted, and she told him that
it was so dull there in the mountain, and that she had to go about
all alone, and that in her parents' house at home there were all
her brothers and sisters, and it was because she could not go to
them that she was so sorrowful.
"There
might be a cure for that," said the White Bear, "if you would but
promise me never to talk with your mother alone, but only when the
others are there too; for she will take hold of your hand," he
said, "and will want to lead you into a room to talk with you
alone; but that you must by no means do, or you will bring great
misery on both of us."
So one
Sunday the White Bear came and said that they could now set out to
see her father and mother, and they journeyed thither, she sitting
on his back, and they went a long, long way, and it took a long,
long time; but at last they came to a large white farmhouse, and
her brothers and sisters were running about outside it, playing,
and it was so pretty that it was a pleasure to look at
it.
"Your
parents dwell here now," said the White Bear; "but do not forget
what I said to you, or you will do much harm both to yourself and
me."
"No, indeed," said she, "I shall never forget;" and as soon as she
was at home the White Bear turned round and went back
again.
There were
such rejoicings when she went in to her parents that it seemed as
if they would never come to an end. Everyone thought that he could
never be sufficiently grateful to her for all she had done for them
all. Now they had everything that they wanted, and everything was
as good as it could be. They all asked her how she was getting on
where she was. All was well with her too, she said; and she had
everything that she could want. What other answers she gave I
cannot say, but I am pretty sure that they did not learn much from
her. But in the afternoon, after they had dined at midday, all
happened just as the White Bear had said. Her mother wanted to talk
with her alone in her own chamber. But she remembered what the
White Bear had said, and would on no account go. "What we have to
say can be said
at any time," she answered. But somehow or other her mother at last
persuaded her, and she was forced to tell the whole story. So she
told how every night a man came and lay down beside her when the
lights were all put out, and how she never saw him, because he
always went away before it grew light in the morning, and how she
continually went about in sadness, thinking how happy she would be
if she could but see him, and how all day long she had to go about
alone, and it was so dull and solitary. "Oh!" cried the mother, in
horror, "you are very likely sleeping with a troll! But I will
teach you a way to see him. You shall have a bit of one of my
candles, which you can take away with you hidden in your breast.
Look at him with that when he is asleep, but take care not to let
any tallow drop upon him."
So she
took the candle, and hid it in her breast, and when evening drew
near the White Bear came to fetch her away. When they had gone some
distance on their way, the White Bear asked her if everything had
not happened just as he had foretold, and she could not but own
that it had. "Then, if you have done what your mother wished," said
he, "you have brought great misery on both of us." "No," she said,
"I have not done anything at all." So when she had reached home and
had gone to bed it was just the same as it had been before, and a
man came and lay down beside her, and late at night, when she could
hear that he was sleeping, she got up and kindled a light, lit her
candle, let her light shine on him, and saw him, and he was the
handsomest prince that eyes had ever beheld, and she loved him so
much that it seemed to her that she must die if she did not kiss
him that very moment. So she did kiss him; but while she was doing
it she let three drops of hot tallow fall upon his shirt, and he
awoke. "What have you done now?" said he; "you have brought misery
on both of us. If you had but held out for the space of one year I
should have been free. I have a step- mother who has bewitched me
so that I am a white bear by day and a man by night; but now all is
at an end between you and me, and I must leave you, and go to her.
She lives in a castle which lies east of the sun and west of the
moon, and there too is a princess with a nose which is three ells
long, and she now is the one whom I must marry."
She wept
and lamented, but all in vain, for go he must. Then she asked him
if she could not go with him. But no, that could not be. "Can you
tell me the way then, and I will seek you--that I may surely be
allowed to do!"
"Yes, you
may do that," said he; "but there is no way thither. It lies east
of the sun and west of the moon, and never would you find your way
there."
When she
awoke in the morning both the Prince and the castle were gone, and
she was lying on a small green patch in the midst of a dark,
th
ick
wood. By her side lay the self-same bundle of rags which she had
brought with her from her own home. So when she had rubbed the
sleep out of her eyes, and wept till she was weary, she set out on
her way, and thus she walked for many and many a long day, until at
last she came to a great mountain. Outside it an aged woman was
sitting, playing with a golden apple. The girl asked her if she
knew the way to the Prince who lived with his stepmother in the
castle which lay east of the sun and west of the moon, and who was
to marry a princess with a nose which was three ells long. "How do
you happen to know about him?" inquired the old woman; "maybe you
are she who ought to have had him." "Yes, indeed, I am," she said.
"So it is you, then?" said the old woman; "I know nothing about him
but that he dwells in a castle which is east of the sun and west of
the moon. You will be a long time in getting to it, if ever you get
to it at all; but you shall have the loan of my horse, and
then
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