‘I have forgotten my coarse comb,’ answered the wife, feeling in her
pocket, and as she spoke the coach changed into a withered faggot, and
the man became a hoodie again, and flew away.
The two sisters returned home, but the wife followed the hoodie.
Sometimes she would see him on a hill-top, and then would hasten after
him, hoping to catch him. But by the time she had got to the top of the
hill, he would be in the valley on the other side. When night came, and
she was tired, she looked about for some place to rest, and glad she was
to see a little house full of light straight in front of her, and she
hurried towards it as fast as she could.
At the door stood a little boy, and the sight of him filled her heart
with pleasure, she did not know why. A woman came out, and bade her
welcome, and set before her food, and gave her a soft bed to lie on. And
the hoodie’s wife lay down, and so tired was she, that it seemed to her
but a moment before the sun rose, and she awoke again. From hill to hill
she went after the hoodie, and sometimes she saw him on the top; but
when she got to the top, he had flown into the valley, and when she
reached the valley he was on the top of another hill--and so it happened
till night came round again. Then she looked round for some place to
rest in, and she beheld a little house of light before her, and fast she
hurried towards it. At the door stood a little boy, and her heart was
filled with pleasure at the sight of him, she did not know why. After
that a woman bade her enter, and set food before her, and gave her
a soft bed to lie in. And when the sun rose she got up, and left the
house, in search of the hoodie. This day everything befell as on the
two other days, but when she reached the small house, the woman bade her
keep awake, and if the hoodie flew into the room, to try to seize him.
But the wife had walked far, and was very tired, and strive as she
would, she fell sound asleep.
Many hours she slept, and the hoodie entered through a window, and let
fall a ring on her hand. The girl awoke with a start, and leant forward
to grasp him, but he was already flying off, and she only seized a
feather from his wing. And when dawn came, she got up and told the
woman.
‘He has gone over the hill of poison,’ said she, ‘and there you cannot
follow him without horse-shoes on your hands and feet. But I will help
you. Put on this suit of men’s clothes, and go down this road till you
come to the smithy, and there you can learn to make horse-shoes for
yourself.’
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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