Crimson Fairy Book

Chapter 29 Nils and the Giants

There are no trees in the Jatlan area because the soil here is sandy and there are often strong winds.In this wilderness, there lived a couple.The two own a small house, a herd of sheep and two sons.The name of the elder son was Rasmus, and the name of the younger was Nils.Like his father, Rasmus likes to herd sheep, but Nils dreams of becoming a hunter, so he is depressed all day long, and he is not happy until he has a gun and has the opportunity to shoot.In fact, his gun was just an old-fashioned muzzle-loading flint gun, but Niels regarded it as a treasure. He carried the gun and shot whatever he saw.

He practiced shooting so hard, and soon became an excellent shooter, and even people who had never seen him knew his name.Many people think that Niels has no other strengths except shooting. Of course, this view will change with the passage of time.

Both Rasmus and Niels' parents were devout Catholics. As they grew older, their mother had an idea: She wanted to go to Rome to meet the Pope.Although the family felt that it was unnecessary, the mother was determined to realize her wish in the end.They sold all their sheep, locked their house, and set foot on the road to Rome.Nils also brought his own gun.

"What do you want to do with a gun?" Rasmus said. "We've got a lot to take." But Niels insisted on bringing his own gun, because he couldn't be happy without one.

The day when they set off was the hottest time in summer. Because it was too hot, they dared not travel at noon, and at night they were afraid of getting lost or meeting robbers, so they dared not travel.One day, before sunset, they arrived at a small inn on the edge of the forest.

"Let's just spend the night here," said Rasmus.

"I can figure it out!" Niels said, gradually losing patience with this kind of slow travel.

"We are afraid of the heat during the day and stop to rest at night. If this continues, when will we arrive in Rome?"

Rasmus was unwilling to go on, but the two old men agreed with Niels. Niels said: "The night is not dark, and the moon will come out in a while. We can go to the inn and see what we can do." Walk."

So they went on, and came to an open place in the forest, where the road split in two.There were no signposts around, and the people at the inn didn't tell them which way to take.

"What now?" said Rasmus. "I said we should stay at the inn."

"It won't do any harm to come here," Niles said. "It's warm to-night, and we can wait here till tomorrow and ask somebody. We can put one man on watch, and put another in the middle of the night."

Rasmus was first on duty, and the others lay down to rest.The forest was very still, and Rasmus heard deer, foxes, and other animals running about in the bushes, making the leaves rustle.After the moon rose, he could see these animals running around from time to time.Suddenly, seeing a stag running close to him, he took Nils' gun and fired.

Nils was awakened by gunfire. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"I shot a stag," said Rasmus, not without pride.

"What the heck," Niels said, "I shoot squirrels a lot, it's a lot harder than that."

It was almost midnight, and it was time for Rasmus to rest, and Nils was on duty.It was getting colder and colder. In order to keep warm, Nils kept walking up and down.He found that they were not far from the exit of the forest, and climbing up the tree he could see the open space beyond.Farther on, he saw three giants round a fire, busy eating beef and drinking broth.They were so tall that they used spoons like spades and meat forks like hay forks.Using these gargantuan utensils, they scooped buckets of broth from a gigantic pot and removed chunks of beef.At first Nils was taken aback, but then he consoled himself by saying that the giants were far away, and that even if they came he could easily hide in the bushes.After watching for a while, his fear was completely gone, and he slid down the tree, picked up his gun, and tried to play tricks on them.

He climbed back up the old tree, took aim, and waited until a giant was about to pop a chunk of flesh into its mouth.boom!Niels' gun went off, and the bullet hit the handle of the fork so hard that instead of entering the mouth, the meat landed on his chin.

"Stop playing tricks," the Giant yelled at a Giant next to him, "Why did you hit me with a fork and make me poke myself?"

"I didn't even touch your fork," said the other giant, "don't pick a fight with me."

"See for yourself," said the first giant, "shall I poke my own chin for fun?"

The two giants were so angry that they wanted to fight at once, and it was only thanks to the mediation of the third giant that they sat down to eat.

While the giants were fighting, Nils reloaded the gun.When the second giant is about to put a piece of meat in its mouth, boom!The gun went off again, the fork flew, and the meat was in pieces.

This giant was even angrier than the first giant, and cursed at each other with the first giant, and it looked like a fight, thanks to the third giant who stopped them.

"Don't be a fool," he said to them, "what good is it if we kill each other, and now we must unite and take the king's power. It is a difficult task, and there is no hope if we do not cooperate. Sit down and finish your meal. This time, I'll sit between you so you don't blame each other."

Niels was far away from them and couldn't hear what they were saying, but from their gestures, he guessed what was going on, and he found it very interesting.

"Three is a lucky number," Niels thought to himself, "I'll have to come again."

This time, the fork of the third giant was shot and broke in two.

"If I were as dumb as you two," he said, "I'd be mad too. But I don't. I want to see who's playing tricks on us."

The giant's eyesight was really good, although Nils quickly slipped down the tree, trying to hide in the bushes, but just as he got down from the tree, the giant was already standing in front of him.

"Stand still," said the Giant, "or I will step on your head, and you will be nothing but mud."

Nils had to surrender, and the giant brought him before his fellows.

"You don't deserve our pardon at all," said the giant, "but I think you're a good shot, and you'll be of great use to us, so we'll spare your life if you do anything for us. There's a castle not far from here." , the king's daughter lives in it. We are at war with the king, and we want to seize the king's power by hijacking the princess. But the castle is heavily guarded, and it is impossible to rush in. We used magic to hypnotize everyone in the castle, There is only one little black dog left. As long as it is awake, we can't go in. Because once we climb the wall, the dog will hear it, and when it barks, everyone will be woken up. With you Easy, we can put you where you can shoot the dog, and shoot it before it barks. That way, no one can stop us from kidnapping the princess. If you do what we say, we will not only let you go You will also be rewarded handsomely."

Nils had no choice but to agree, and the giants immediately set off for the castle.The castle was surrounded by high walls, and even giants could not reach the top of the walls. "How do I climb up?" Nils asked.

"That's easy," said the third giant, "and I'll throw you up."

"No," Nils said, "maybe I'll fall over the wall, or break my neck and break my leg, and then I won't be able to shoot a dog."

"Don't worry," said the Giant, "the walls are very wide, and there is so much grass on top of them that you will feel as comfortable as falling on a pile of feathers."

Nils had no choice but to believe and let the giant throw himself up.When he fell, he was really not hurt, but the little black dog heard the movement and rushed out of the kennel immediately.Before it could bark, Nils fired and the dog fell dead.

"Jump into the wall," said the Giant, "and see if you can open the door for us."

Nils went into the courtyard and walked towards the outer door, where he found himself standing at the entrance of a hall.Through the open door he saw the great hall, but there was no one in it.Niels walked in and looked around.I saw a sword without a scabbard hanging on the wall, and under the sword was a long-horned wine glass inlaid with silver.Niels took a closer look and saw that there was still a word engraved on the silver rim of the wine glass.He took down the wine glass, turned it around to read the inscription on it:

Please drink the wine in the glass freely, and hold the long sword on the wall in your hand.

If the long sword is saved for justice, it can win the hearts of deep palace daughters.

Niels took off the stopper of the long-horn wine glass and drank some wine. He reached out to take off the long sword, but the sword didn't move.He put the wine glass back and walked into the castle. "Let the giants wait a little longer."

He said.

Soon, he came to a house, and saw a beautiful princess lying on the bed, and on the table beside her was a handkerchief trimmed with gold.Nils tore the handkerchief in half, put one half in his pocket, and left the other half on the table.He also saw a pair of slippers embroidered with gold thread on the ground, so he put one into his pocket.When all this was done, he went back into the hall, and took down the long-horned goblet, thinking perhaps I must drink all the wine in it, before I can take the long sword.So he put the glass to his mouth and drank all the wine in it.After drinking, he could swing the sword easily.He felt that he was extremely strong, omnipotent, and could even kill the giants outside the door. Those guys must still be wondering: Why didn't he open the door for them?He thought that killing the giant might mean "if the long sword exists for justice".As for "getting the heart of a daughter in the palace", this shepherd's son dared not even think about it.

Niels came to the exit of the castle and found two doors, one large and one small, and he opened the small door.

"Why don't you open the gate?" asked the giant. "We can't go through this gate."

"The latch of the gate is too heavy for me to push it." Nils said, "If you bend down, you can come in." So the first giant bowed his head, bent down and entered the door, and Nils Before he could straighten his waist, he swung his long sword and chopped it down, and the giant's head disappeared immediately.The power of the wine made Nils so powerful that he dragged the giant's body aside without any effort.The second giant got the same treatment.The third giant walked very slowly, and Nils called to him: "Please hurry up, you must be the oldest of the three, because you move too slowly.

But I cannot stay here long.I have to hurry to find my family. The giant finally came in, and the same fate awaited him. The giant in the story didn't seem to have been treated fairly.

At this time, it was gradually dawning, and Nils guessed that his family must be looking for him everywhere.So, he lost his mind to read the ending of the story in the castle, and hurried back to the forest with the long sword in his hand.He woke up the sleeping family members, and everyone started the trek again.He didn't say a word about what happened that night.When they asked him where he got the sword, he pointed in the direction of the castle, and said, "Over there." They thought he had picked it up there, and asked no more.

But Nils didn't know that when he left the castle, he closed the city gate, and the sound of closing the gate woke up the gatekeeper.When the gatekeeper saw the three headless giant corpses piled up in the yard, he couldn't believe his eyes, and couldn't imagine what had happened.After a while, everyone in the castle was awakened, although they didn't know what happened.However, it was not long before they recognized the three dead bodies as the three great enemies of the King.How they got into the castle and why they died here remains a mystery.Then it was discovered that the longhorn was empty and the sword was missing.And news came from the princess: half of the princess's handkerchief was missing, and one of the embroidered shoes was missing.

In this way, the killing of the giant seems to have some clues, but who killed the giant is still an unsolved mystery.The old knight who was in charge of the castle said that it seemed to him that a young knight must have killed the giant, and that he must have set off at once to the palace to ask the king to give him the princess in marriage.This explanation seemed reasonable, but the messenger sent to the palace came back and said that the palace knew nothing about it.

"We must find him," said the princess, "if he wants to marry me, I cannot refuse him, and I will marry him as my father wrote on the wine glass." So she summoned her father's wisest courtiers Come and discuss with them what to do.They gave her many ideas, one of which was to let her build a house at the intersection of the main road, and put a notice on the door: "Anyone who tells his personal life experience can stay here for free for three days." The princess did so, I also heard many strange stories, but no one mentioned the three giants.

During this period, Niels and his family have been trekking on the way to Rome. From autumn to winter, they came to the foot of the continuous mountains, the top of which pierced into the sky. "Do we have to go over these mountains?" they thought, "and we'll either freeze to death or be buried in snow."

"There is a man over there," said Nils, "we can ask him the way to Rome." So they asked the man, and they learned that there was no other way but here.

"Is there still a long way to go?" asked the two old men, exhausted from their long journey.

The man lifted his foot, exposing the sole, which was as thin as a piece of paper, and there was a hole in the middle.

"These shoes were new when I left Rome," said the man. "Look at these shoes now, and you will know how far Rome is."

After hearing this, the two old men were completely discouraged. They no longer wanted to continue the journey, but just wanted to return to Denmark as soon as possible.Because of the harsh winter and the mud, they took longer to get home than they had come.Finally, they finally saw the forest where they had stayed.

"What's that?" Rasmus said. "A big house was built here when we passed by."

"Yeah," Niels said, "let's go and sleep in there."

"We can't afford it," said the two elderly people. "The house is too expensive for us."

However, after reading the notice on the door, they were very happy because they could stay for free.They received warm reception and special care, and the two old people were a little embarrassed.When they were settled, the princess' steward came to hear their stories.

"You saw the notice on the door," said the steward to the old man, "tell me who you are and tell me about your experience."

"My God, I have nothing worth telling," said the old man, "if it hadn't been for our two sons, we would never take the liberty of bothering you."

"You don't mind," said the butler, "just tell us your own personal experience, and we'll be glad."

"Well, well, I'll tell," said the old man, "but there's nothing to tell. My wife and I have lived all our lives in the wilds of North Gitland. Last year we both had the idea to visit Rome. .we set off with our two sons, but before we got there, we turned back, and now we are heading home. This is my story. The two sons are with us all day, so they have nothing to tell .”

"No, I have something to tell," said Rasmus. "One day, on our way down here, we were spending the night here, and I shot a stag."

The butler was used to hearing these meaningless stories, and felt that there was no need to continue asking.So he told the princess that these newcomers had no stories to tell.

"Have you asked them all?" asked the princess.

"I didn't ask directly," said the steward, "but their father told me they had nothing to say."

"You are very careless," said the princess, "I will go and talk to them myself."

Nils recognized the princess as soon as she entered the room.He was startled, and immediately understood that all these actions were aimed at finding out the person who took away the sword, embroidered shoes and half of the handkerchief. He thought that if he was found out, he would suffer disaster.So, he told his own story lightly, which was no different from others'. After telling these stories, he thought everything would be all right.Unexpectedly, Rasmus interrupted, "You forgot one thing, Nils," he said, "You forgot that you found a sword that night where I shot the stag."

"Where is the sword now?" asked the princess.

"I know," said the butler, "when they came in, I saw he had put the sword there." Then he ran out to get the sword, while Nils began to think about how to escape.However, before he finished thinking, the butler had already returned with the sword, and the princess recognized the sword at a glance.

"Where did you get that?" she asked Niels.

Nils didn't answer, he thought to himself: he, the poor shepherd's son, had the misfortune to save the princess, and he took the princess's personal belongings. He didn't know what kind of punishment he would receive.

"Check what else is on him," said the princess to the steward, and Nils had to accept the search.The butler found an embroidered shoe in one of his pockets, and half a gold-edged handkerchief in the other.

"That is enough," said the Princess, "and we need not ask any more questions. Go and fetch my father at once."

"Please let me go," Niles said. "I've done you more good than bad anyway."

"Who says you have done something wrong?" said the princess, "you must stay here until my father comes."

The princess smiled as she spoke, which gave Nils a little hope that things might not be so bad.He seemed more courageous when he thought of the lines engraved on the sword, even though this last line seemed too beautiful to be true.

At last, the king's arrival solved the mystery, and both the princess and Nils were willing to marry each other, and the wedding took place a few days later.At that time, Nils had already been made an earl, and he was more handsome than any earl in his gown.

Soon, the king died and Nils succeeded to the throne.As for whether his parents lived with him, or returned to the wilderness of Giatlan, or went to Rome in a four-wheeled carriage, the historians under him forgot to record this.

(End of this chapter)