The Cauld Lad of Hilton

Long ago, at Hylton Hall, near Sunderland, there lived a mischievous brownie whom the servants called the 'Cauld Lad', because he wore no clothes and Hylton Hall was a cold kind of place in those days. This little fellow had a habit of turning the day's work upside down after everyone had gone to bed. The chairs and tables would be thrown on their backs and sides, and the dishes would be taken from the cupboards and strewn about the kitchen along with most of the cutlery. Food would be taken from the pantry and liberally spread around the place. (Especially the flour, for the Cauld Lad liked nothing better than to see clouds of this white powder cascading through the air.) If the ashes from the fire-place were still warm, he liked to rake them out, spread them over the hearth mat and lie on them.

But sometimes, just when the scullery maids could stand no more of the brownie's pranks, they would come into the kitchen and find the place spic and span, even things that they had left unfinished were tidied up and put in their proper places! So contrary was this faerie that they never knew what to expect next.

One night, near Christmas, the cook and her husband were returning from an evening out, and it was very late, so they entered the hall very quietly so as not to disturb those already asleep. As they crept past the darkened kitchen, they noticed a strange light coming from under the door, and, as they went to check what it was, they heard a small voice, singing:

Wae's me, wae's me,
The acorn's not yet
Fallen from the tree,
That's to grow the wood,
That's to make the cradle
That's to rock the bairn,
That's to grow to the man
That's to lay me!

The cook pushed the door until it was slightly ajar, and peered into the kitchen. There, sitting on the edge of the table, and swinging his legs over the side, sat the brownie. He looked a forlorn little thing, wearing such a frown as might suit a child who is tired and refuses to walk any further. He was about as high as a milking stool, and his skin was brown as you might expect, but it was covered in fine hair, so that he had the warm looks of a rabbit, though he was far too thin to be mistaken for one! His eyes were big as horse-chestnuts and their colour almost the same, and the cook and her husband smiled with delight when they saw his pointed little ears!

But at that moment he heard a tiny noise from them, and he was gone in a flash.

"Where did he go?" asked the astonished cook. Her husband did not know, but they suspected that they had scared the little fellow off, and that he would not return that night, so they took themselves off to bed.

The next day the downstairs parlour was full of talk of the Cauld Lad, for this was the first time that any of the servants had actually seen the brownie. The cook told everybody said what a cute little chap he was, and those who had not seen him were very disappointed indeed. Then the gardener suddenly said :

"You know, when I was a boy my father told me that brownie was under a spell." The others immediately wanted to know more and the gardener went on to tell them that the Cauld Lad had been always been mischievous and had once angered the Faerie king who placed the brownie under a spell which made him stay at Hylton Hall, and though he would much rather be with his own kind, in a place of which men know nothing, he must stay until such a time as someone released him from the spell. That, he told them, was the reason that he caused such a mess about the place, in the hopes that someone would banish him forever.

"Just how would we go about this spell-breaking?" asked cook, who had become most distressed at hearing the story.

"If I remember right," the gardener replied, "He has to be offered a gift of something which is not perishable, and if he accepts it, we'll see him no more."

This made the cook sad to think he would be gone forever, but she decided that it was the best thing to do for the brownie himself. So she set about making him a cloak and a hood, which he would be proud to show off once he reached the land of his own people. All that evening, she toiled away sewing and cutting and stitching until at last she had the finest hooded cloak that it was possible to create. It was of the smoothest silk, and lined with shimmering satin. Her husband told her that it was a wonderful gift that she had made for the Cauld Lad.

Late that night, they laid the cloak upon the kitchen table, and then hid themselves in a root-cellar at the far end of the room, where they could watch without being seen. Quietly they waited, as the hall clock ticked away the minutes, and chimed away the hours. At last, the dim light that they had seen before now glowed near the table, and as they strained their eyes to see, they could make out the shape of the Cauld Lad as he went immediately to the place where the cloak lay. He looked at it with the suspicion at first, then, on picking it up and holding it out, he saw that it was his size and must be meant as a present. His eyes lit up and an enormous smile stretched over his face from ear to ear! The cook and her husband were smiling too, but this time they were sure to make no noise in case they were to frighten the brownie away again. Carefully, the little faerie pulled the cloak across his shoulders and tied the draw cord around the neck. How splendid he did look! He skipped around the table-top and sang with delight:

"Here's a cloak, and here's a hood,The Cauld Lad of Hylton will do no more good!"

And with that, he jumped in the air, snapped his fingers and disappeared ... and has never been seen or heard from that day to this!

Tsar Saltan

Once upon a time in a far away land Tsar Saltan sat listening to the future plans of three sisters. One of these sisters said that she wanted to give birth to a great warrior, and employ the other two sisters in her charge. Tsar Saltan decided to marry this sister, making the other two sisters become very jealous. These two women decided to do everything they could to make the married sister's life unhappy.

Tsar Saltan soon went away to war. During his absence his queen gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Gvidon. It looked as if her dream of the future were beginning to be fulfilled, but her evil sisters wrote to the Tsar and convinced him that his son was an evil monster. Believing their ridiculous story, the Tsar then ordered that his wife and son be sealed in a barrel and cast into the sea.

The barrel drifted for many years, finally washing ashore after Prince Gvidon had already grown into a man. On this shore Prince Gvidon performed his first great task, he rescued a swan being attacked by an evil magician. Having been saved, the swan then turned into an enchanting princess who promised to help Gvidon find his father. The Prince then became ruler of the land that he had washed ashore upon, and his kingdom became famous throughout the world.

One day a merchant ship en route to Tsar Saltan's country passed through Prince Gvidon's magnificent land. On arrival to Tsar Saltan's country the merchant told the Tsar about his son's great land. Tsar Saltan made plans to travel there, but the evil sisters talked him out of it. The next time the merchant passed through the kingdom of Prince Gvidon he saw the Magic Squirrel which lived in a crystal cage that Prince Gvidon had built for it. Again the merchant arrived home to tell Tsar Saltan of his son's magical land, but again the evil sisters interfered. They told the Tsar that he should instead go to the land where one can see 33 warriors and Chernomor rise from the ocean.

The Princess Swan explained to Prince Gvidon that these warriors were her brothers, so when the merchant passed through the land a third time this feat was performed for him. Having heard this story the wicked sisters dissuaded the Tsar once more from traveling to his son by telling him that it would be more worth his while to find the Magic Princess with the Sea Star above her head.

Prince Gvidon was sad when he discovered once more that his father would not come to see him. Little did he know that the Swan Princess and the Magic Princess were one in the same! The merchant then returned home a fourth time to inform the Tsar that his son had married the Magic Princess. The Tsar then immediately set sail for Gvidon's kingdom where the family was reunited.

They lived there happily ever after.

Sancho Mitarra

Berta de Maurac era la más hermosa doncella de Gascuña. Todas las mañanas se encontraba con su amado, Nuño Inthalitzna, a orillas del turbio Garoña. Querían casarse y esperaban con impaciencia la llegada del padre de Berta para pedirle el correspondente consentimiento.

Tenía miedo el galán de una más que posible oposición, a pesar de los argumentos con que ella trataba de tranquilizarlo. El señor de Maurac había dicho en varias ocasiones que jamás contrariaría la voluntad de su hija, salvo en el caso de que ésta pusiera sus ojos en un hombre indigno de su condición. Además, su madre era vasca como don Nuño, y el duque de Gascuña le distinguía como ningún otro.

Envolvía al duque de Gascuña una fama caballeresca y romántica. Berta se interesaba por su personalidad y preguntaba a su paladín pormenores de su vida anterior. Le contó Nuño que era hijo y hermano de reyes, vencedor de los normandos, que devastaban este hermoso país, y de mil luchas más, y la posibilidad que tenía de ser rey de Pamplona por la abdicación de su hermano. Mas los honores y las riquezas no complacían al duque. Sólo entre las montañas se sentía de veras feliz. Y por eso era llamado " el Montañés".

Berta, criada en la llanura y en la ciudad, no comprendía el amor que podía inspirar un apisaje montañoso lejo del lujo y de las comodidades.

Nuño quería llevársela a vivir a su país, y para convencerla le habló de sus rincones y bellezas: visitar en días calurosos las frescas grutas de Isturitz y Lecea, moradas de los genios de las montañas, o vagar a la sombra de las hayas y abetos de la selva de Achabar. Hasta las ninfas que se bañaban en el fresco torrente de Ulreitxca envidiarían su felicidad.

Pero no logró convencerla. La hermosa quería lucir su belleza en suntuosos salones y ser el mejor ornamento de las ciudades. No podía sufrir la soledad y el silencio de los campos, el no ser admirada y envidiada por damas y galanes cortesanos; le encantaba la alegría y el bulliciode los festinos.

Nuño le imploró que fuese a vivir con él a las montañas. Que su amor supliría la alegría de las fiestas y, los bellos rincones, el bullicio de la ciudad. Pero Berta no quiso renunciar a lo que más amaba en su vida: su belleza y su vanidad y rompió su amor con Nuño.

Desesperado el galán, le reveló su verdadera personalidad: no era Nuño de Inthalitzna, sino el mismo duque de Gascuña.

Berta quedó sorprendida y cambió de actitud. De pronto estaba dispuesta a renunciar a todos sus caprichos y acompañar al duque a las montañas. Pero el duque no quiso aceptar sacrificio tan calculado y marchó triste, prediciéndole un porvenir desgraciado.

Así ocurrió, en efecto, Berta murió poco tiempo después apuñalada por su marido, un rico vasallo de Carlos el Simple, llamado Sancho Mitarra, que le prometió grandes riquezas y vida bulliciosa; promesa que luego no cumplió, por ser terriblemente celoso, encerrándola en cambio en su castillo sin dejarla salir ni ver a nadie y matándola, al fin en un arrebato de celos.

The Golden Hair Girl

Many, many years ago there was a great magician, Poloza, who was known for as keeper of the Ural mountains' treasures. This magician had hundreds of guards who watched over all his gold, silver, and jewels he had. But living among such valuable possession, he treasured most of all his daughter the Golden Hair Girl, whom Poloza was guarding more than all his material riches.

Once upon a time Golden Hair met a handsome nomad from the Bashkirian tribe, who was hunting nearby Poloza's Palace. They fell in love, decided to get married, and to go to live in the hunter's house.

However, Poloza was against letting his daughter live in the forest with the simple-folk Hunter-nomad and refused the marriage. Despite Poloza's refusal, the young Hunter decided to abduct Golden Hair. When he did so, the father twice returned his daughter back to the Palace using his magical powers.

The young hunter then went to seek advise from the magic wise owl, which lived deep in the forest. The owl explained to him that there was only one place where the magical powers of Poloza could not reach, and that was the large island, located in the middle of the Lake.

For the last time the young Hunter abducts the Golden Hair girl from her father's palace and takes her to the Island in the middle of the Lake. This time the magic powers of Poloza were unable to take the daughter away from the Hunter.

On this beautiful Island the couple found meadows and forests, herds of horses and sheep, wonderful gar-dens with flowers in bloom all year round, plenty of food, and all manners of comfort.

However, there was one condition that the magic wise owl told the hunter, and that was that both he and the Golden Hair girl were to be captives on this Island for eternity. Knowing this they still decided to live on this island.

Although, many centuries have passed, since these days even today the old folks living nearby the Lake say that sometimes at dawn, couples, walking along the bank of the Lake bank, can see the Island and the beautiful maiden sitting on a stone at the water's edge. She lets her hair down, and the water turns into pure gold.