Just at that moment they heard the noise of some one approaching, and a
loud voice was heard saying:
“Fee, fi, fo, fum,
I smell the blood of a Christian man,
Be he dead, be he living, with my brand,
I'll dash his brains from his brain-pan.”
And then the folding-doors of the hall were burst open, and the King of
Elfland rushed in.
“Strike then, Bogle, if thou darest,” shouted out Childe Rowland, and
rushed to meet him with his good brand that never yet did fail. They
fought, and they fought, and they fought, till Childe Rowland beat the
King of Elfland down on to his knees, and caused him to yield and beg
for mercy. “I grant thee mercy,” said Childe Rowland, “release my sister
from thy spells and raise my brothers to life, and let us all go free,
and thou shalt be spared.” “I agree,” said the Elfin King, and rising
up he went to a chest from which he took a phial filled with a blood-red
liquor. With this he anointed the ears, eyelids, nostrils, lips, and
finger-tips, of the two brothers, and they sprang at once into life, and
declared that their souls had been away, but had now returned. The Elfin
king then said some words to Burd Ellen, and she was disenchanted, and
they all four passed out of the hall, through the long passage, and
turned their back on the Dark Tower, never to return again. And they
reached home, and the good queen, their mother, and Burd Ellen never
went round a church widershins again.
MOLLY WHUPPIE
Once upon a time there was a man and a wife had too many children, and
they could not get meat for them, so they took the three youngest and
left them in a wood. They travelled and travelled and could see never
a house. It began to be dark, and they were hungry. At last they saw a
light and made for it; it turned out to be a house. They knocked at the
door, and a woman came to it, who said: “What do you want?” They said:
“Please let us in and give us something to eat.” The woman said: “I
can't do that, as my man is a giant, and he would kill you if he comes
home.” They begged hard. “Let us stop for a little while,” said they,
“and we will go away before he comes.” So she took them in, and set them
down before the fire, and gave them milk and bread; but just as they had
begun to eat a great knock came to the door, and a dreadful voice said:
“Fee, fie, fo, fum,
I smell the blood of some earthly one.
Who have you there wife?” “Eh,” said the wife, “it's three poor lassies
cold and hungry, and they will go away. Ye won't touch 'em, man.” He
said nothing, but ate up a big supper, and ordered them to stay all
night. Now he had three lassies of his own, and they were to sleep in
the same bed with the three strangers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account