Prevod

Once upon a time there was a couple who had a son named Halvor. Ever since he was a little boy, he had refused to do any work, but only sat poking about in the ashes. His parents sent him away to learn all sorts of trades, but Halvor never stayed anywhere, for after a few days he would run away from his apprenticeship, hurry home, and settle down in the hearth to rake through the ashes again. But one day a skipper came along and asked Halvor whether he would like to go to sea with him and see foreign lands. Yes, Halvor would like that, and he was ready in no time.

How long they sailed I cannot tell, but at last a great storm arose, and when it was over and the sea was calm again, they had no idea where they were. They had been driven to a foreign shore that none of them knew.

As there was no wind at all, they lay becalmed there, and Halvor asked the skipper if he might go ashore and look about, for he would rather walk than lie sleeping. “Do you think you are fit to show yourself among people?” said the skipper. “You have nothing to wear but the rags you stand up in.” But Halvor would not give in, and at last he was given leave, though he was to come back as soon as the wind began to blow. So he went ashore, and it was a beautiful country. Wherever he went, there were broad, level fields and meadows, but not a soul did he see. Then the wind began to blow, but Halvor felt he had not seen enough yet, and wanted to go a little farther to see whether he could find anyone. After a while he came to a great road, so smooth and level that you could have rolled an egg along it. Halvor followed this road, and towards evening he saw a great castle far away, all gleaming with light.

Now, he had walked all day with scarcely any food in his bag, and he was very hungry; but the nearer he came to the castle, the more frightened he grew.

A fire was burning in the castle, and Halvor went into the kitchen, which was finer than any kitchen he had ever seen. There were vessels of both gold and silver, but not a soul was there. When Halvor had stood there a while and no one appeared, he went over and opened a door;

inside sat a princess, spinning at a wheel. “Oh, no!” she cried. “How dare any Christian soul come here? You had better go away again, unless you want the troll to swallow you, for a troll with three heads lives here.” “I would not care if he had four; I should like to see the fellow,” said the lad. “And I am not going away. I have done no harm. But you must get me something to eat, for I am terribly hungry.” When Halvor had eaten his fill, the princess told him to try whether he could wield the sword hanging on the wall. No, he could not wield it; he could not even lift it. “Well,” said the princess, “then you must take a drink from the bottle hanging beside it, for that is what the troll does when he is going out to use the sword.” Halvor took a drink, and at once he could swing the sword as though it weighed nothing. Now, he thought, the troll could not come soon enough. All at once the troll came rushing up, and Halvor slipped behind the door. “Huff, huff! I smell Christian blood!” said the troll, thrusting its head through the doorway. “Yes, and you shall know it!” said Halvor, and cut off all its heads. The princess was so happy to be saved that she danced and sang, but then she thought of her sisters, and said, “If only my sisters were saved too!” “Where are they?” asked Halvor. So she told him:

one was held captive by a troll in a castle six miles away, and the other was held in a castle nine miles farther on.

“But now,” she said, “you must first help me get this carcass out of here.” Halvor was strong enough for that; he dragged everything away and soon had the place clean and tidy. Then he ate and drank well and made himself comfortable, and next morning he set off at daybreak;

he could not rest, but walked and ran all day. When he caught sight of the castle, he grew a little frightened again. It was far grander than the first, but here too there was not a soul to be seen. Halvor went into the kitchen, and did not linger there either, but went straight on inside. “How dare any Christian soul come here?” cried the princess. “I do not know how long I have been here, but in all that time I have never seen a Christian soul. You had better make your way out again, for a troll with six heads lives here.” “No, I am not going,” said Halvor, “even if he had six more.” “He will swallow you alive!” said the princess. But it was no use; Halvor would not go. He was not afraid of the troll;

but he wanted food and drink, for he was hungry after his journey. He was given as much as he wanted, but then the princess tried to make him leave again. “No,” said Halvor, “I am not going, for I have done no harm, and I have nothing to fear.” “He will not trouble about that,” said the princess, “for he will take you without right or reason. But since you will not go, try whether you can wield the sword the troll uses in battle.” He could not wield the sword, but then the princess told him to take a drink from the bottle hanging beside it, and when he had done so, he could swing it.

All at once the troll came home. It was so huge and bulky that it had to turn sideways to get through the door. As soon as the troll put its first head inside, it cried, “Huff, huff! I smell Christian blood!” At that very moment Halvor struck off the first head, and then all the others. The princess was overjoyed, but then she thought of her sisters and wished that they too might be saved. Halvor thought that could surely be managed, and wanted to set off at once; but first he had to help the princess carry away the troll’s body, and so he took to the road the following morning. It was a long way to the castle, and he both walked and ran to reach it in time. Towards evening he saw the castle, and it was far grander than either of the others. Now he was scarcely frightened at all, but went through the kitchen and straight inside. There sat a princess so beautiful that there was no describing her. She told him, just as the others had, that no Christian soul had been there since she came, and begged him to go away, or the troll would swallow him alive. It had nine heads, she said. “Well, even if it had nine more on top of those nine, and another nine besides, I am not going,” said Halvor, and took his stand by the stove. The princess begged him as sweetly as she could to leave, so that the troll would not eat him, but Halvor said, “Let him come whenever he likes.” Then she gave him the troll’s sword and told him to take a drink from the bottle, so that he could wield it.

All at once the troll came rushing home with a roar. It was even bigger and bulkier than the other two, and it too had to turn sideways to get through the door;

when it put its first head inside, it said, just like the others, “Huff, huff! I smell Christian blood!” At once Halvor struck off the first head, and then all the others, but the last was the toughest of them all, and cutting it off was the hardest work Halvor had ever done, though he had certainly thought he had strength enough.

Then all the princesses gathered at that castle, and they were happier than they had ever been in their lives. They were all fond of Halvor, and he of them, and he could have whichever one he liked best; but the youngest loved him most of all. Yet Halvor went about behaving rather strangely, so gloomy and quiet that at last the princess asked what he was longing for, and whether he did not like living with them. Yes, he liked it well enough, for they had plenty to live on and he was well cared for there; but he longed so much for home, for his parents were still alive, and he dearly wished to visit them. They thought that could easily be arranged. “You shall get there and back unharmed, if you will follow our advice,” said the princesses. Yes, he would do just as they wished. Then they dressed him up as finely as a king’s son, and put a ring on his finger that would let him wish himself there and back again. But they told him he must not throw it away or speak their names, for then all his good fortune would be over;

and he would never see them again. “How happy I should be if I were home now!” said Halvor, and no sooner had he wished it than it came true. Before he knew it, Halvor was standing outside his parents’ cottage. Dusk was falling, and when they saw such a fine, splendid gentleman come in, they were so startled that they began bowing and curtsying. Halvor asked whether he might stay there and have a roof over his head for the night. No, that was quite impossible. “We have no place fit for you,” they said, “for we have neither this nor that to suit such a gentleman. You had best go up to the farm. It is not far—you can see the chimney from here—and they have plenty of everything.” Halvor did not like that at all and insisted on staying, but the old couple kept telling him to go up to the farm, where he could get both food and drink, while they did not even have a chair to offer him.

“No,” said Halvor, “I will not go there until tomorrow morning. Let me stay here tonight; I can sit in the hearth.” They could find no objection to that, so Halvor sat down in the hearth and began digging in the ashes, just as he had done when he idled away his days at home.

They talked of all sorts of things and told Halvor about this and that, and then he asked whether they had ever had a child. Yes, they had had a boy named Halvor, but they did not know where he roamed, or even whether he was dead or alive. “Could I not be he?” said Halvor. “A likely story!” said the old woman, half rising from her seat. “Our Halvor was so idle and lazy that he never did a thing, and he was so ragged that one tatter slapped another senseless. He could never have become such a fine man as you, sir.” A little later the old woman went over to stir the fire, and when the glow of the embers shone on Halvor, just as it used to when he sat at home raking through the ashes, she knew him again.

“Why, Halvor, it really is you!” she said. Then the old parents were beside themselves with joy, and he had to tell them all that had happened to him. The old woman was so proud of him that she wanted to take him up to the farm that very moment and show him off to the girls, who had always been so full of themselves. So she went on ahead, and Halvor followed. When she got there, she told them Halvor had come home again, and they ought to see how splendid he was. He looked like a prince, she said.

“A likely story!” said the girls, tossing their heads. “He is surely the same ragged good-for-nothing he always was.” Just then Halvor came in, and the girls were so flustered that they left their shifts behind in the hearth, where they had been sitting picking off fleas, and rushed out in nothing but their skirts. When they came back in, they were so ashamed that they scarcely dared look at Halvor, whom they had always treated so proudly and scornfully before. “Yes, you have always thought yourselves so pretty and lovely that no one could equal you, but you should just see the eldest princess I have saved,” said Halvor. “Beside her you look like mere herdswomen, and the middle one is lovelier still; but the youngest, who is my sweetheart, is fairer than both sun and moon;

I only wish they were here, so you could see,” said Halvor. No sooner had he said it than there they stood, and then he was terribly distressed, for he remembered what they had told him. At the farm they made a feast for the princesses and treated them with great honour, but they would not stay. “We want to go down to your parents’ house,” they said to Halvor, “and then we want to look about.” So he went with them.

Then they came to a great lake beyond the farm. Beside the lake was a lovely green slope, and there the princesses wanted to sit and rest a while, for it was so beautiful to sit looking out over the water, they said.

So they sat down there, and after a while the youngest princess said, “I think I shall pick through your hair a little, Halvor.” Halvor laid his head in her lap, and she picked through his hair, and before long he was asleep. Then she took the ring off his finger and put another in its place, and said, “Now all of you hold on to me—and may we be at Soria Moria Castle!” When Halvor woke, he knew well enough that he had lost the princesses, and began to weep and lament. He was so utterly heartbroken that no one could comfort him. Though his parents begged him, he would not stay, but said farewell and told them he would surely never see them again, for if he could not find the princesses, he did not think life worth living.

He had three hundred dollars left; he put them in his pocket and set off. When he had gone some way, he met a man with a decent horse. He wanted to buy it, and began bargaining with the man. “Well, I had not really thought of selling it,” said the man, “but if we could agree on a price, then perhaps—” Halvor asked what he wanted for it. “I did not give much for it, and it is not worth much. It is a good horse to ride, but not much use for pulling. Still, it can certainly carry your bag of food, and you as well, if you walk part of the way,” said the man.

At last they agreed on a price, and Halvor put his bag on the horse, and sometimes he walked and sometimes he rode. Towards evening he came to a grassy bank where a great tree stood, and sat down beneath it. There he turned the horse loose, and instead of lying down to sleep, he took out his bag of food. As soon as day dawned he set off again, for he felt he could not rest. So he walked and rode all day through a great forest, where many green clearings shone beautifully among the trees.

He did not know where he was or where he was heading, but he took no more time to rest than the horse needed to graze a little and he himself to open his food bag when they came to one of the green clearings. He walked and he rode, and it seemed the forest would never end.

But at dusk on the second day he saw a light shining through the trees. “If only there are people still up, so I can warm myself and get something to eat,” thought Halvor. When he reached it, he found a poor little cottage, and through the window he saw an old couple inside. They were so old and as grey-headed as doves, and the old woman had such a long nose that she sat by the hearth using it to rake the embers. “Good evening!” “Good evening!” said the old woman. “But what brings you here?” she asked. “No Christian soul has been here for more than a hundred years.” Halvor told her he was going to Soria Moria Castle, and asked if she knew the way. “No,” said the old woman, “I do not, but the Moon will be along presently, and I shall ask it. It is sure to know, for it must see the place, since it shines on everything.” When the Moon stood bright and clear above the treetops, the old woman went outside.

“Moon, Moon!” she cried. “Can you tell me the way to Soria Moria Castle?” “No,” said the Moon, “I cannot, for when I shone there, a cloud stood in my way.” “Wait a little longer,” said the old woman to Halvor. “The West Wind will be along presently. He is sure to know, for he gusts and blows into every corner.” “Well, well, have you a horse too?” said the old woman when she came back in. “Oh, turn the poor creature out into the pasture, and do not leave it standing here at the door to starve! But would you trade it with me?” she said;

“we have a pair of old boots here that will carry you fifteen quarter-miles at every step. You shall have them for the horse, and then you will reach Soria Moria Castle all the sooner.” Halvor agreed at once, and the old woman was so pleased with the horse that she was ready to dance. “Now I too can ride to church,” she said. Halvor could not rest and wanted to leave at once, but the old woman said there was no hurry.

“Lie down on the bench and get a little sleep, for we have no bed for you,” said the old woman. “I shall keep watch for the West Wind.” All at once the West Wind came roaring up till the walls creaked. Out went the old woman. “West Wind! West Wind! Can you tell me the way to Soria Moria Castle?

There is someone here who wants to go there.” “Yes, I know it well,” said the West Wind. “I am just going there to dry clothes for the wedding that is to be held. If he is quick on his feet, he can come with me.” Out came Halvor. “You will have to hurry if you want to keep up,” said the West Wind, and away they went, far over moors and hills and mountains, with Halvor hard put to it to keep pace. “Now I have no time to go with you any farther,” said the West Wind, “for I must blow down a stretch of spruce forest before I go to the bleaching green to dry the clothes. But if you follow the ridge, you will come to some girls washing clothes, and then you will not have far to go to Soria Moria Castle.” A little later Halvor came to the girls who stood washing, and they asked whether he had seen anything of the West Wind, who was supposed to come and dry the clothes for the wedding.

“Yes,” said Halvor, “he has only gone to blow down a stretch of spruce forest. He will be here before long.” Then he asked them the way to Soria Moria Castle. They set him on the right road, and when he approached the castle, the place was swarming with horses and people. But Halvor was so ragged and torn from following the West Wind through bushes and thickets that he kept out of sight and would not come forward until the last day, when they were to sit down to dinner. Now, as was the custom, they were to drink the health of the bride and bridegroom and wish them happiness, and the cupbearer was to offer the toast to everyone, knights and squires alike. At long last he came to Halvor too. Halvor drank the toast, slipped into the glass the ring the princess had put on his finger as he lay beside the lake, and asked the cupbearer to take it to the bride with his greetings. At once the princess rose from the table. “Who has best earned the right to marry one of us,” she said, “the man who saved us, or the man sitting here as bridegroom?” Everyone agreed there could be only one answer to that, and when Halvor heard it, he was not long in throwing off his beggar’s rags and dressing himself as a bridegroom. “Yes, there is the right one!” cried the youngest princess when she saw him. Then she sent the other fellow packing and celebrated her wedding with Halvor.