The Little Robber Girl
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
AMERICAN INDIAN STORIES
Animal Sketches And Stories
Blondine Bonne Biche and Beau Minon
BRER RABBIT and HIS NEIGHBORS
CHINESE MOTHER-GOOSE RHYMES
FABLES FOR CHILDREN
FABLES FROM INDIA
FATHER PLAYS AND MOTHER PLAYS
FIRST STORIES FOR VERY LITTLE FOLK
For Classes Ii. And Iii.
For Classes Iv. And V.
For Kindergarten And Class I.
FUN FOR VERY LITTLE FOLK
Good Little Henry
JAPANESE AND OTHER ORIENTAL TALES]
Jean De La Fontaine
King Alexander's Adventures
KINGS AND WARRIORS
LAND AND WATER FAIRIES
Lessons From Nature
LITTLE STORIES that GROW BIG
MODERN FAIRY TALES
MOTHER GOOSE CONTINUED
MOTHER GOOSE JINGLES
MOTHER GOOSE SONGS AND STORIES
Myths And Legends
NEGLECT THE FIRE
ON POPULAR EDUCATION
PLACES AND FAMILIES
Poems Of Nature
RESURRECTION DAY (EASTER)
RHYMES CONCERNING "MOTHER"
RIDING SONGS for FATHER'S KNEE
ROMANCES OF THE MIDDLE AGES
SAINT VALENTINE'S DAY
Selections From The Bible
SLEEPY-TIME SONGS AND STORIES
Some Children's Poets
Songs Of Life
STORIES BY FAVORITE AMERICAN WRITERS
STORIES FOR CHILDREN
STORIES for LITTLE BOYS
STORIES FROM BOTANY
STORIES FROM GREAT BRITAIN
STORIES FROM IRELAND
STORIES FROM PHYSICS
STORIES FROM SCANDINAVIA
STORIES FROM ZOOLOGY
STORIES _for_ LITTLE GIRLS
THE DAYS OF THE WEEK
The King Of The Golden River; Or, The Black Brothers
The Little Grey Mouse
THE OLD FAIRY TALES
The Princess Rosette
THE THREE HERMITS
THE TWO OLD MEN
UNCLES AND AUNTS AND OTHER RELATIVES
VERSES ABOUT FAIRIES
WHAT MEN LIVE BY
WHERE LOVE IS, THERE GOD IS ALSO
Princess Finola And The Dwarf
from Boys And Girls Bookshelf
- MODERN FAIRY TALES
BY EDMUND LEAMY
A long, long time ago there lived in a little hut in the midst of a
bare, brown, lonely moor an old woman and a young girl. The old woman
was withered, sour-tempered, and dumb. The young girl was as sweet and
as fresh as an opening rosebud, and her voice was as musical as the
whisper of a stream in the woods in the hot days of summer. The little
hut, made of branches woven closely together, was shaped like a
bee-hive. In the center of the hut a fire burned night and day from
year's end to year's end, though it was never touched or tended by human
hand. In the cold days and nights of winter it gave out light and heat
that made the hut cozy and warm, but in the summer nights and days it
gave out light only. With their heads to the wall of the hut and their
feet toward the fire were two sleeping-couches--one of plain woodwork,
in which slept the old woman; the other was Finola's. It was of bog-oak,
polished as a looking-glass, and on it were carved flowers and birds of
all kinds that gleamed and shone in the light of the fire. This couch
was fit for a Princess, and a Princess Finola was, though she did not
know it herself.
Outside the hut the bare, brown, lonely moor stretched for miles on
every side, but toward the east it was bounded by a range of mountains
that looked to Finola blue in the daytime, but which put on a hundred
changing colors as the sun went down. Nowhere was a house to be seen,
nor a tree, nor a flower, nor sign of any living thing. From morning
till night, nor hum of bee, nor song of bird, nor voice of man, nor any
sound fell on Finola's ear. When the storm was in the air the great
waves thundered on the shore beyond the mountains, and the wind shouted
in the glens; but when it sped across the moor it lost its voice, and
passed as silently as the dead. At first the silence frightened Finola,
but she got used to it after a time, and often broke it by talking to
herself and singing.
The only other person beside the old woman Finola ever saw was a dumb
Dwarf who, mounted on a broken-down horse, came once a month to the hut,
bringing with him a sack of corn for the old woman and Finola. Although
he couldn't speak to her, Finola was always glad to see the Dwarf and
his old horse, and she used to give them cake made with her own white
hands. As for the Dwarf he would have died for the little Princess, he
was so much in love with her, and often and often his heart was heavy
and sad as he thought of her pining away in the lonely moor.
It chanced that he came one day, and she did not, as usual, come out to
greet him. He made signs to the old woman, but she took up a stick and
struck him, and beat his horse and drove him away; but as he was leaving
he caught a glimpse of Finola at the door of the hut, and saw that she
was crying. This sight made him so very miserable that he could think of
nothing else but her sad face, that he had always seen so bright; and he
allowed the old horse to go on without minding where he was going.
Suddenly he heard a voice saying: "It is time for you to come."
The Dwarf looked, and right before him, at the foot of a green hill, was
a little man not half as big as himself, dressed in a green jacket with
brass buttons, and a red cap and tassel.
"It is time for you to come," he said the second time; "but you are
welcome, anyhow. Get off your horse and come in with me, that I may
touch your lips with the wand of speech, that we may have a talk
The Dwarf got off his horse and followed the little man through a hole
in the side of a green hill. The hole was so small that he had to go on
his hands and knees to pass through it, and when he was able to stand he
was only the same height as the little Fairyman. After walking three or
four steps they were in a splendid room, as bright as day. Diamonds
sparkled in the roof as stars sparkle in the sky when the night is
without a cloud. The roof rested on golden pillars, and between the
pillars were silver lamps, but their light was dimmed by that of the
diamonds. In the middle of the room was a table, on which were two
golden plates and two silver knives and forks, and a brass bell as big
as a hazelnut, and beside the table were two little chairs.
"Take a chair," said the Fairy, "and I will ring for the wand of
The Dwarf sat down, and the Fairyman rang the little brass bell, and in
came a little weeny Dwarf no bigger than your hand.
"Bring me the wand of speech," said the Fairy, and the weeny Dwarf bowed
three times and walked out backward, and in a minute he returned,
carrying a little black wand with a red berry at the top of it, and,
giving it to the Fairy, he bowed three times and walked out backward as
he had done before.
The little man waved the rod three times over the Dwarf, and struck him
once on the right shoulder and once on the left shoulder, and then
touched his lips with the red berry, and said: "Speak!"
The Dwarf spoke, and he was so rejoiced at hearing the sound of his own
voice that he danced about the room.
"Who are you at all, at all?" said he to the Fairy.
"Who is yourself?" said the Fairy. "But come, before we have any talk
let us have something to eat, for I am sure you are hungry."
Then they sat down to table, and the Fairy rang the little brass bell
twice, and the weeny Dwarf brought in two boiled snails in their shells,
and when they had eaten the snails he brought in a dormouse, and when
they had eaten the dormouse he brought in two wrens, and when they had
eaten the wrens he brought in two nuts full of wine, and they became
very merry, and the Fairyman sang "Cooleen Dhas," and the Dwarf sang
"The Little Blackbird of the Glen."
"Did you ever hear the 'Foggy Dew'?" said the Fairy.
"No," said the Dwarf.
"Well, then, I'll give it to you; but we must have some more wine."
And the wine was brought, and he sang the "Foggy Dew," and the Dwarf
said it was the sweetest song he had ever heard, and that the Fairyman's
voice would coax the birds off the bushes!
"You asked me who I am?" said the Fairy.
"I did," said the Dwarf.
"And I asked you who is yourself?"
"You did," said the Dwarf.
"And who are you, then?"
"Well, to tell the truth, I don't know," said the Dwarf, and he blushed
like a rose.
"Well, tell me what you know about yourself."
"I remember nothing at all," said the Dwarf, "before the day I found
myself going along with a crowd of all sorts of people to the great fair
of the Liffey. We had to pass by the King's palace on our way, and as we
were passing the King sent for a band of jugglers to come and show their
tricks before him. I followed the jugglers to look on, and when the play
was over the King called me to him, and asked me who I was and where I
came from. I was dumb then, and couldn't answer; but even if I could
speak I could not tell him what he wanted to know, for I remembered
nothing of myself before that day. Then the King asked the jugglers, but
they knew nothing about me, and no one knew anything, and then the King
said he would take me into his service; and the only work I have to do
is to go once a month with a bag of corn to the hut in the lonely moor."
"And there you fell in love with the little Princess," said the Fairy,
winking at the Dwarf.
The poor Dwarf blushed twice as much as he had done before.
"You need not blush," said the Fairy; "it is a good man's case. And now
tell me, truly, do you love the Princess, and what would you give to
free her from the spell of enchantment that is over her?"
"I would give my life," said the Dwarf.
"Well, then, listen to me," said the Fairy. "The Princess Finola was
banished to the lonely moor by the King, your master. He killed her
father, who was the rightful King, and would have killed Finola, only he
was told by an old sorceress that if he killed her he would die himself
on the same day, and she advised him to banish her to the lonely moor,
and she said she would fling a spell of enchantment over it, and that
until the spell was broken Finola could not leave the moor. And the
sorceress also promised that she would send an old woman to watch over
the Princess by night and by day, so that no harm should come to her;
but she told the King that he himself should select a messenger to take
food to the hut, and that he should look out for someone who had never
seen or heard of the Princess, and whom he could trust never to tell
anyone anything about her; and that is the reason he selected you."
"Since you know so much," said the Dwarf, "can you tell me who I am, and
where I came from?"
"You will know that time enough," said the Fairy. "I have given you back
your speech. It will depend solely on yourself whether you will get back
your memory of who and what you were before the day you entered the
King's service. But are you really willing to try and break the spell of
enchantment and free the Princess?"
"I am," said the Dwarf.
"Whatever it will cost you?"
"Yes, if it cost me my life," said the Dwarf; "but tell me, how can the
spell be broken?"
"Oh, it is easy enough to break the spell if you have the weapons," said
"And what are they, and where are they?" said the Dwarf.
"The spear of the shining haft and the dark blue blade and the silver
shield," said the Fairy. "They are on the farther bank of the Mystic
Lake in the Island of the Western Seas. They are there for the man who
is bold enough to seek them. If you are the man who will bring them back
to the lonely moor you will only have to strike the shield three times
with the haft, and three times with the blade of the spear, and the
silence of the moor will be broken forever, the spell of enchantment
will be removed, and the Princess will be free."
"I will set out at once," said the Dwarf, jumping from his chair.
"And whatever it cost you," said the Fairy, "will you pay the price?"
"I will," said the Dwarf.
"Well, then, mount your horse, give him his head, and he will take you
to the shore opposite the Island of the Mystic Lake. You must cross to
the island on his back, and make your way through the water-steeds that
swim around the island night and day to guard it; but woe betide you if
you attempt to cross without paying the price, for if you do the angry
water-steeds will rend you and your horse to pieces. And when you come
to the Mystic Lake you must wait until the waters are as red as wine,
and then swim your horse across it, and on the farther side you will
find the spear and shield; but woe betide you if you attempt to cross
the lake before you pay the price, for if you do, the black Cormorants
of the Western Seas will pick the flesh from your bones."
"What is the price?" said the Dwarf.
"You will know that time enough," said the Fairy; "but now go, and good
luck go with you."
The Dwarf thanked the Fairy, and said good-by. He then threw the reins
on his horse's neck, and started up the hill, that seemed to grow bigger
and bigger as he ascended, and the Dwarf soon found that what he took
for a hill was a great mountain. After traveling all the day, toiling up
by steep crags and heathery passes, he reached the top as the sun was
setting in the ocean, and he saw far below him out in the waters the
island of the Mystic Lake.
He began his descent to the shore, but long before he reached it the sun
had set, and darkness, unpierced by a single star, dropped upon the sea.
The old horse, worn out by his long and painful journey, sank beneath
him, and the Dwarf was so tired that he rolled off his back and fell
asleep by his side.
He awoke at the breaking of the morning, and saw that he was almost at
the water's edge. He looked out to sea, and saw the island, but nowhere
could he see the water-steeds, and he began to fear he must have taken a
wrong course in the night, and that the island before him was not the
one he was in search of. But even while he was so thinking he heard
fierce and angry snortings, and, coming swiftly from the island to the
shore, he saw the swimming and prancing steeds. Sometimes their heads
and manes only were visible, and sometimes, rearing, they rose half out
of the water, and, striking it with their hoofs, churned it into foam,
and tossed the white spray to the skies. As they approached nearer and
nearer their snortings became more terrible, and their nostrils shot
forth clouds of vapor. The Dwarf trembled at the sight and sound, and
his old horse, quivering in every limb, moaned piteously, as if in pain.
On came the steeds, until they almost touched the shore, then rearing,
they seemed about to spring on to it.
The frightened Dwarf turned his head to fly, and as he did so he heard
the twang of a golden harp, and right before him whom should he see but
the little man of the hills, holding a harp in one hand and striking the
strings with the other.
"Are you ready to pay the price?" said he, nodding gayly to the Dwarf.
As he asked the question, the listening water-steeds snorted more
furiously than ever.
"Are you ready to pay the price?" said the little man a second time.
A shower of spray, tossed on shore by the angry steeds, drenched the
Dwarf to the skin, and sent a cold shiver to his bones, and he was so
terrified that he could not answer.
"For the third and last time, are you ready to pay the price?" asked the
Fairy, as he flung the harp behind him and turned to depart.
When the Dwarf saw him going he thought of the little Princess in the
lonely moor, and his courage came back, and he answered bravely:
"Yes, I am ready."
The water-steeds, hearing his answer, and snorting with rage, struck the
shore with their pounding hoofs.
"Back to your waves!" cried the little harper; and as he ran his fingers
across his lyre, the frightened steeds drew back into the waters.
"What is the price?" asked the Dwarf.
"Your right eye," said the Fairy; and before the Dwarf could say a word,
the Fairy scooped out the eye with his finger, and put it into his
The Dwarf suffered most terrible agony; but he resolved to bear it for
the sake of the little Princess. Then the Fairy sat down on a rock at
the edge of the sea, and, after striking a few notes, he began to play
the "Strains of Slumber."
The sound crept along the waters, and the steeds, so ferocious a moment
before, became perfectly still. They had no longer any motion of their
own, and they floated on the top of the tide like foam before a breeze.
"Now," said the Fairy, as he led the Dwarf's horse to the edge of the
The Dwarf urged the horse into the water, and once out of his depth, the
old horse struck out boldly for the island. The sleeping water-steeds
drifted helplessly against him, and in a short time he reached the
island safely, and he neighed joyously as his hoofs touched solid
The Dwarf rode on and on, until he came to a bridle-path, and following
this, it led him up through winding lanes, bordered with golden furze
that filled the air with fragrance, and brought him to the summit of the
green hills that girdled and looked down on the Mystic Lake. Here the
horse stopped of his own accord, and the Dwarf's heart beat quickly as
his eye rested on the lake, that, clipped round by the ring of hills,
seemed in the breezeless and sunlit air--
"As still as death.
And as bright as life can be."
After gazing at it for a long time, he dismounted, and lay at his ease
in the pleasant grass. Hour after hour passed, but no change came over
the face of the waters; and when the night fell, sleep closed the
eyelids of the Dwarf.
The song of the lark awoke him in the early morning, and, starting up,
he looked at the lake, but its waters were as bright as they had been
the day before.
Toward midday he beheld what he thought was a black cloud sailing across
the sky from east to west. It seemed to grow larger as it came nearer
and nearer, and when it was high above the lake he saw it was a huge
bird, the shadow of whose outstretched wings darkened the waters of the
lake; and the Dwarf knew it was one of the Cormorants of the Western
Seas. As it descended slowly, he saw that it held in one of its claws a
branch of a tree larger than a full-grown oak, and laden with clusters
of ripe red berries. It alighted at some distance from the Dwarf, and,
after resting for a time, it began to eat the berries and to throw the
stones into the lake, and wherever a stone fell a bright red stain
appeared in the water. As he looked more closely at the bird the Dwarf
saw that it had all the signs of old age, and he could not help
wondering how it was able to carry such a heavy tree.
Later in the day, two other birds, as large as the first, but younger,
came up from the west and settled down beside him. They also ate the
berries, and throwing the stones into the lake it was soon as red as
When they had eaten all the berries, the young birds began to pick the
decayed feathers off the old bird and to smooth his plumage. As soon as
they had completed their task, he rose slowly from the hill and sailed
out over the lake, and dropping down on the waters dived beneath them.
In a moment he came to the surface, and shot up into the air with a
joyous cry, and flew off to the west in all the vigor of renewed youth,
followed by the other birds.
When they had gone so far that they were like specks in the sky, the
Dwarf mounted his horse and descended toward the lake.
He was almost at the margin, and in another minute would have plunged
in, when he heard a fierce screaming in the air, and before he had time
to look up, the three birds were hovering over the lake.
The Dwarf drew back frightened.
The birds wheeled over his head, and then, swooping down, they flew
close to the water, covering it with their wings, and uttering harsh
Then, rising to a great height, they folded their wings and dropped
headlong, like three rocks, on the lake, crashing its surface, and
scattering a wine-red shower upon the hills.
Then the Dwarf remembered what the Fairy told him, that if he attempted
to swim the lake, without paying the price, the three Cormorants of the
Western Seas would pick the flesh off his bones. He knew not what to do,
and was about to turn away, when he heard once more the twang of the
golden harp, and the little fairy of the hills stood before him.
"Faint heart never won fair lady," said the little harper. "Are you
ready to pay the price? The spear and shield are on the opposite bank,
and the Princess Finola is crying this moment in the lonely moor."
At the mention of Finola's name the Dwarf's heart grew strong.
"Yes," he said; "I am ready--win or die. What is the price?"
"Your left eye," said the Fairy. And as soon as said he scooped out the
eye, and put it in his pocket.
The poor blind Dwarf almost fainted with pain.
"It's your last trial," said the Fairy, "and now do what I tell you.
Twist your horse's mane round your right hand, and I will lead him to
the water. Plunge in, and fear not. I gave you back your speech. When
you reach the opposite bank you will get back your memory, and you will
know who and what you are."
Then the Fairy led the horse to the margin of the lake.
"In with you now, and good luck go with you," said the Fairy.
The Dwarf urged the horse. He plunged into the lake, and went down and
down until his feet struck the bottom. Then he began to ascend, and
as he came near the surface of the water the Dwarf thought he saw a
glimmering light, and when he rose above the water he saw the bright sun
shining and the green hills before him, and he shouted with joy at
finding his sight restored.
But he saw more. Instead of the old horse he had ridden into the lake he
was bestride a noble steed, and as the steed swam to the bank the Dwarf
felt a change coming over himself, and an unknown vigor in his limbs.
When the steed touched the shore he galloped up the hillside, and on the
top of the hill was a silver shield, bright as the sun, resting against
a spear standing upright in the ground.
The Dwarf jumped off, and, running toward the shield, he saw himself as
in a looking-glass.
He was no longer a dwarf, but a gallant knight. At that moment his
memory came back to him, and he knew he was Conal, one of the Knights of
the Red Branch, and he remembered now that the spell of dumbness and
deformity had been cast upon him by the Witch of the Palace of the
Slinging his shield upon his left arm, he plucked the spear from the
ground and leaped on to his horse. With a light heart he swam back over
the lake, and nowhere could he see the black Cormorants of the Western
Seas, but three white swans floating abreast followed him to the bank.
When he reached the bank he galloped down to the sea, and crossed to the
Then he flung the reins upon his horse's neck, and swifter than the wind
the gallant horse swept on and on, and it was not long until he was
bounding over the enchanted moor. Wherever his hoofs struck the ground,
grass and flowers sprang up, and great trees with leafy branches rose on
At last the knight reached the little hut. Three times he struck the
shield with the haft and three times with the blade of his spear. At the
last blow the hut disappeared, and standing before him was the little
The knight took her in his arms and kissed her; then he lifted her on to
the horse, and, leaping up before her, he turned toward the north, to
the palace of the Red Branch Knights; and as they rode on beneath the
leafy trees, from every tree the birds sang out, for the spell of
deathly silence over the lonely moor was broken forever.
[H] From "The Golden Spear," by Edmund Leamy; used by permission of the
publisher, Desmond Fitzgerald, New York.
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