THE ELFIN HILL故事

　　 A FEW large lizards were running nimbly about in the

　　 clefts of an old tree; they could understand one another very

　　 well, for they spoke the lizard language.

　　 "What a buzzing and a rumbling there is in the elfin

　　 hill," said one of the lizards; "I have not been able to close

　　 my eyes for two nights on account of the noise; I might just

　　 as well have had the toothache, for that always keeps me

　　 awake."

　　 "There is something going on within there," said the other

　　 lizard; "they propped up the top of the hill with four red

　　 posts, till cock-crow this morning, so that it is thoroughly

　　 aired, and the elfin girls have learnt new dances; there is

　　 something."

　　 "I spoke about it to an earth-worm of my acquaintance,"

　　 said a third lizard; "the earth-worm had just come from the

　　 elfin hill, where he has been groping about in the earth day

　　 and night. He has heard a great deal; although he cannot see,

　　 poor miserable creature, yet he understands very well how to

　　 wriggle and lurk about. They expect friends in the elfin hill,

　　 grand company, too; but who they are the earth-worm would not

　　 say, or, perhaps, he really did not know. All the

　　 will-o'-the-wisps are ordered to be there to hold a torch

　　 dance, as it is called. The silver and gold which is plentiful

　　 in the hill will be polished and placed out in the moonlight."

　　 "Who can the strangers be?" asked the lizards; "what can

　　 the matter be? Hark, what a buzzing and humming there is!"

　　 Just at this moment the elfin hill opened, and an old

　　 elfin maiden, hollow behind, came tripping out; she was the

　　 old elf king's housekeeper, and a distant relative of the

　　 family; therefore she wore an amber heart on the middle of her

　　 forehead. Her feet moved very fast, "trip, trip;" good

　　 gracious, how she could trip right down to the sea to the

　　 night-raven.

　　 "You are invited to the elf hill for this evening," said

　　 she; "but will you do me a great favor and undertake the

　　 invitations? you ought to do something, for you have no

　　 housekeeping to attend to as I have. We are going to have some

　　 very grand people, conjurors, who have always something to

　　 say; and therefore the old elf king wishes to make a great

　　 display."

　　 "Who is to be invited?" asked the raven.

　　 "All the world may come to the great ball, even human

　　 beings, if they can only talk in their sleep, or do something

　　 after our fashion. But for the feast the company must be

　　 carefully selected; we can only admit persons of high rank; I

　　 have had a dispute myself with the elf king, as he thought we

　　 could not admit ghosts. The merman and his daughter must be

　　 invited first, although it may not be agreeable to them to

　　 remain so long on dry land, but they shall have a wet stone to

　　 sit on, or perhaps something better; so I think they will not

　　 refuse this time. We must have all the old demons of the first

　　 class, with tails, and the hobgoblins and imps; and then I

　　 think we ought not to leave out the death-horse, or the

　　 grave-pig, or even the church dwarf, although they do belong

　　 to the clergy, and are not reckoned among our people; but that

　　 is merely their office, they are nearly related to us, and

　　 visit us very frequently."

　　 "Croak," said the night-raven as he flew away with the

　　 invitations.

　　 The elfin maidens we're already dancing on the elf hill,

　　 and they danced in shawls woven from moonshine and mist, which

　　 look very pretty to those who like such things. The large hall

　　 within the elf hill was splendidly decorated; the floor had

　　 been washed with moonshine, and the walls had been rubbed with

　　 magic ointment, so that they glowed like tulip-leaves in the

　　bsp; light. In the kitchen were frogs roasting on the spit, and

　　 dishes preparing of snail skins, with children's fingers in

　　 them, salad of mushroom seed, hemlock, noses and marrow of

　　 mice, beer from the marsh woman's brewery, and sparkling

　　 salt-petre wine from the grave cellars. These were all

　　 substantial food. Rusty nails and church-window glass formed

　　 the dessert. The old elf king had his gold crown polished up

　　 with powdered slate-pencil; it was like that used by the first

　　 form, and very difficult for an elf king to obtain. In the

　　 bedrooms, curtains were hung up and fastened with the slime of

　　 snails; there was, indeed, a buzzing and humming everywhere.

　　 "Now we must fumigate the place with burnt horse-hair and

　　 pig's bristles, and then I think I shall have done my part,"

　　 said the elf man-servant.

　　 "Father, dear," said the youngest daughter, "may I now

　　 hear who our high-born visitors are?"

　　 "Well, I suppose I must tell you now," he replied; "two of

　　 my daughters must prepare themselves to be married, for the

　　 marriages certainly will take place. The old goblin from

　　 Norway, who lives in the ancient Dovre mountains, and who

　　 possesses many castles built of rock and freestone, besides a

　　 gold mine, which is better than all, so it is thought, is

　　 coming with his two sons, who are both seeking a wife. The old

　　 goblin is a true-hearted, honest, old Norwegian graybeard;

　　 cheerful and straightforward. I knew him formerly, when we

　　 used to drink together to our good fellowship: he came here

　　 once to fetch his wife, she is dead now. She was the daughter

　　 of the king of the chalk-hills at Moen. They say he took his

　　 wife from chalk; I shall be delighted to see him again. It is

　　 said that the boys are ill-bred, forward lads, but perhaps

　　 that is not quite correct, and they will become better as they

　　 grow older. Let me see that you know how to teach them good

　　 manners."

　　 "And when are they coming?" asked the daughter.

　　 "That depends upon wind and weather," said the elf king;

　　 "they travel economically. They will come when there is the

　　 chance of a ship. I wanted them to come over to Sweden, but

　　 the old man was not inclined to take my advice. He does not go

　　 forward with the times, and that I do not like."

　　 Two will-o'-the-wisps came jumping in, one quicker than

　　 the other, so of course, one arrived first. "They are coming!

　　 they are coming!" he cried.

　　 "Give me my crown," said the elf king, "and let me stand

　　 in the moonshine."

　　 The daughters drew on their shawls and bowed down to the

　　 ground. There stood the old goblin from the Dovre mountains,

　　 with his crown of hardened ice and polished fir-cones. Besides

　　 this, he wore a bear-skin, and great, warm boots, while his

　　 sons went with their throats bare and wore no braces, for they

　　 were strong men.

　　 "Is that a hill?" said the youngest of the boys, pointing

　　 to the elf hill, "we should call it a hole in Norway."

　　 "Boys," said the old man, "a hole goes in, and a hill

　　 stands out; have you no eyes in your heads?"

　　 Another thing they wondered at was, that they were able

　　 without trouble to understand the language.

　　 "Take care," said the old man, "or people will think you

　　 have not been well brought up."

　　 Then they entered the elfin hill, where the select and

　　 grand company were assembled, and so quickly had they appeared

　　 that they seemed to have been blown together. But for each

　　 guest the neatest and pleasantest arrangement had been made.

　　 The sea folks sat at table in great water-tubs, and they said

　　 it was just like being at home. All behaved themselves

　　 properly excepting the two young northern goblins; they put

　　 their legs on the table and thought they were all right.

　　 "Feet off the table-cloth!" said the old goblin. They

　　 obeyed, but not immediately. Then they tickled the ladies who

　　 waited at table, with the fir-cones, which they carried in

　　 their pockets. They took off their boots, that they might be

　　 more at ease, and gave them to the ladies to hold. But their

　　 father, the old goblin, was very different; he talked

　　 pleasantly about the stately Norwegian rocks, and told fine

　　 tales of the waterfalls which dashed over them with a

　　 clattering noise like thunder or the sound of an organ,

　　 spreading their white foam on every side. He told of the

　　 salmon that leaps in the rushing waters, while the water-god

　　 plays on his golden harp. He spoke of the bright winter

　　 nights, when the sledge bells are ringing, and the boys run

　　 with burning torches across the smooth ice, which is so

　　 transparent that they can see the fishes dart forward beneath

　　 their feet. He described everything so clearly, that those who

　　 listened could see it all; they could see the saw-mills going,

　　 the men-servants and the maidens singing songs, and dancing a

　　 rattling dance,- when all at once the old goblin gave the old

　　 elfin maiden a kiss, such a tremendous kiss, and yet they were

　　 almost strangers to each other.

　　 Then the elfin girls had to dance, first in the usual way,

　　 and then with stamping feet, which they performed very well;

　　 then followed the artistic and solo dance. Dear me, how they

　　 did throw their legs about! No one could tell where the dance

　　 begun, or where it ended, nor indeed which were legs and which

　　 were arms, for they were all flying about together, like the

　　 shavings in a saw-pit! And then they spun round so quickly

　　 that the death-horse and the grave-pig became sick and giddy,

　　 and were obliged to leave the table.

　　 "Stop!" cried the old goblin," is that the only

　　 house-keeping they can perform? Can they do anything more than

　　 dance and throw about their legs, and make a whirlwind?"

　　 "You shall soon see what they can do," said the elf king.

　　 And then he called his youngest daughter to him. She was

　　 slender and fair as moonlight, and the most graceful of all

　　 the sisters. She took a white chip in her mouth, and vanished

　　 instantly; this was her accomplishment. But the old goblin

　　 said he should not like his wife to have such an

　　 accomplishment, and thought his boys would have the same

　　 objection. Another daughter could make a figure like herself

　　 follow her, as if she had a shadow, which none of the goblin

　　 folk ever had. The third was of quite a different sort; she

　　 had learnt in the brew-house of the moor witch how to lard

　　 elfin puddings with glow-worms.

　　 "She will make a good housewife," said the old goblin, and

　　 then saluted her with his eyes instead of drinking her health;

　　 for he did not drink much.

　　 Now came the fourth daughter, with a large harp to play

　　 upon; and when she struck the first chord, every one lifted up

　　 the left leg (for the goblins are left-legged), and at the

　　 second chord they found they must all do just what she wanted.

　　 "That is a dangerous woman," said the old goblin; and the

　　 two sons walked out of the hill; they had had enough of it.

　　 "And what can the next daughter do?" asked the old goblin.

　　 "I have learnt everything that is Norwegian," said she;

　　 "and I will never marry, unless I can go to Norway."

　　 Then her youngest sister whispered to the old goblin,

　　 "That is only because she has heard, in a Norwegian song, that

　　 when the world shall decay, the cliffs of Norway will remain

　　 standing like monuments; and she wants to get there, that she

　　 may be safe; for she is so afraid of sinking."

　　 "Ho! ho!"said the old goblin, "is that what she means?

　　 Well, what can the seventh and last do?"

　　 "The sixth comes before the seventh," said the elf king,

　　 for he could reckon; but the sixth would not come forward.

　　 "I can only tell people the truth," said she. "No one

　　 cares for me, nor troubles himself about me; and I have enough

　　 to do to sew my grave clothes."

　　 So the seventh and last came; and what could she do? Why,

　　 she could tell stories, as many as you liked, on any subject.

　　 "Here are my five fingers," said the old goblin; "now tell

　　 me a story for each of them."

　　 So she took him by the wrist, and he laughed till he

　　 nearly choked; and when she came to the fourth finger, there

　　 was a gold ring on it, as if it knew there was to be a

　　 betrothal. Then the old goblin said, "Hold fast what you have:

　　 this hand is yours; for I will have you for a wife myself."

　　 Then the elfin girl said that the stories about the

　　 ring-finger and little Peter Playman had not yet been told.

　　 "We will hear them in the winter," said the old goblin,

　　 "and also about the fir and the birch-trees, and the ghost

　　 stories, and of the tingling frost. You shall tell your tales,

　　 for no one over there can do it so well; and we will sit in

　　 the stone rooms, where the pine logs are burning, and drink

　　 mead out of the golden drinking-horn of the old Norwegian

　　 kings. The water-god has given me two; and when we sit there,

　　 Nix comes to pay us a visit, and will sing you all the songs

　　 of the mountain shepherdesses. How merry we shall be! The

　　 salmon will be leaping in the waterfalls, and dashing against

　　 the stone walls, but he will not be able to come in. It is

　　 indeed very pleasant to live in old Norway. But where are the

　　 lads?"

　　 Where indeed were they? Why, running about the fields, and

　　 blowing out the will-o'-the-wisps, who so good-naturedly came

　　 and brought their torches.

　　 "What tricks have you been playing?" said the old goblin.

　　 "I have taken a mother for you, and now you may take one of

　　 your aunts."

　　 But the youngsters said they would rather make a speech

　　 and drink to their good fellowship; they had no wish to marry.

　　 Then they made speeches and drank toasts, and tipped their

　　 glasses, to show that they were empty. Then they took off

　　 their coats, and lay down on the table to sleep; for they made

　　 themselves quite at home. But the old goblin danced about the

　　 room with his young bride, and exchanged boots with her, which

　　 is more fashionable than exchanging rings.

　　 "The cock is crowing," said the old elfin maiden who acted

　　 as housekeeper; now we must close the shutters, that the sun

　　 may not scorch us."

　　 Then the hill closed up. But the lizards continued to run

　　 up and down the riven tree; and one said to the other, "Oh,

　　 how much I was pleased with the old goblin!"

　　 "The boys pleased me better," said the earth-worm. But

　　 then the poor miserable creature could not see.

　　 THE END