Speaker 1: The Black Bull of Noroway written by Flora Annie Steele.
Speaker 1: Long ago in Norway, there lived a lady who had
Speaker 1: three daughters. Now, they were all pretty, and one night
Speaker 1: they fell a talking of whom they meant to marry.
Speaker 1: And the eldest said, I will have no one lower
Speaker 1: than a king, and the second said, I will have
Speaker 1: none lower than a lord. But the third, the prettiest
Speaker 1: and the merriest, tossed her head and said, with a
Speaker 1: twinkle in her eye, why so proud as for me,
Speaker 1: I would be content with the black Bull of Norroway.
Speaker 1: At that the other sisters bade her be silent and
Speaker 1: not talk lightly of such a monster. No doubt, the
Speaker 1: Black Bull of Norroway was held to be a horrible monster.
Speaker 1: But the youngest daughter would have her laugh. So she
Speaker 1: said three times that she would be content with the
Speaker 1: Black Bull of Norroway. Well, it so happened that the
Speaker 1: very next morning a king had come to ask the
Speaker 1: hand of the eldest daughter in marriage. So there were
Speaker 1: great rejoicings over the wedding, and the bride and bridegroom
Speaker 1: drove away. Then the next thing that happened was that
Speaker 1: a lord came swinging along the road, and he wanted
Speaker 1: to marry the second daughter. So they were wed, and
Speaker 1: there were great rejoicings, and the bride and bridegroom drove away.
Speaker 1: Now after this there was only the youngest, the prettiest,
Speaker 1: and the merriest of the sisters left, and she became
Speaker 1: the apple of her mother's eye. So you may imagine
Speaker 1: how the mother felt when one morning a terrible bellowing
Speaker 1: was heard at the door, and there was a great,
Speaker 1: big black bull waiting for his bride. She wept and
Speaker 1: she wailed, and at first the girl ran away and
Speaker 1: hid herself for fear. But there the bull stood waiting,
Speaker 1: and at last the girl came up and said, I
Speaker 1: promised I would be content with the black Bull of Norway,
Speaker 1: and I must keep my word. Farewell, mother, you will
Speaker 1: not see me again. Then she mounted on the black
Speaker 1: bull's bag and it walked away with her quietly. The
Speaker 1: bull chose the smoothest parts and the easiest roads, so
Speaker 1: that at last the girl grew less afraid. But she
Speaker 1: became very hungry and was nigh to faint when the
Speaker 1: black bull said to her, in quite a soft voice,
Speaker 1: that wasn't a bellow at all. Eat out of my
Speaker 1: left ear, drink out of my right, and said, by
Speaker 1: what you leave to serve the tomorrow's night. So she
Speaker 1: did as she was bid, and lo, the left ear
Speaker 1: was full of delicious things to eat, and the right
Speaker 1: was full of the most delicious rings, and there was
Speaker 1: plenty left over for several days. Thus they journeyed on
Speaker 1: through many dreadful forests, and the black bull never paused
Speaker 1: for bite. But ever the girl he carried ate out
Speaker 1: of his left ear, and rank out of his right,
Speaker 1: and said, by what she left to serve the tomorrow's night.
Speaker 1: And she slept soft and warm on his broad back.
Speaker 1: So it came to pass that he grew tired and
Speaker 1: was limping with one foot. When just as the sun
Speaker 1: was setting, they came to a beautiful palace where princes
Speaker 1: and princesses were enjoying themselves with party on the green grass. Now,
Speaker 1: though the company greatly wondered at the strange companions, they
Speaker 1: asked the girl to join them, and ordered the grooms
Speaker 1: to lead away the black bull to a field. But
Speaker 1: the girl, remembering all the black bull done for her,
Speaker 1: said not, so he will stay with me. Then, seeing
Speaker 1: a large thorn in the foot, with which he had
Speaker 1: been limping. She stooped down and pulled it out, and
Speaker 1: lo and behold. In an instant, to everyone's surprise, there
Speaker 1: appeared not a frightful, monstrous bull, but one of the
Speaker 1: most beautiful princes ever beheld, who fell at his deliverer's feet,
Speaker 1: thanking her for having broken his cruel enchantment. A wicked
Speaker 1: woman who wanted to marry him, had, he said, spelled
Speaker 1: him until a beautiful girl of her own free will
Speaker 1: should do him a favor. But he said, the danger
Speaker 1: is not all over. You have broken the enchantment by
Speaker 1: night that by day has to be overcome. So the
Speaker 1: next morning the prince had to resume the form of
Speaker 1: a bull, and they set out together. And they rode
Speaker 1: till they came to a dark and horrible valley, And
Speaker 1: here he bade her dismount and sit on a great rock.
Speaker 1: Here you must stay, he said, while I go and
Speaker 1: fight the wicked lady. And mind move neither hand nor
Speaker 1: foot while I am away, else I shall never find
Speaker 1: you again. If everything around you turns blue, I shall
Speaker 1: have beaten the wicked one. But if everything turns red,
Speaker 1: she will have conquered me. And with that and a
Speaker 1: tremendous roaring bellow, he set off to find his enemy. Well,
Speaker 1: she sat as still as a mouse, moving neither hand
Speaker 1: nor feet, nor even her eyes, and waited and waited
Speaker 1: and waited. Then at last everything turned blue. The girl
Speaker 1: overcame with joy to think that her lover was victorious.
Speaker 1: That she forgot to keep still, and lifting one of
Speaker 1: her feet, crossed it over the other. So she waited
Speaker 1: and waited, and waited long she sat, but the prince
Speaker 1: never found her. At last she rose and went to
Speaker 1: seek her lover through the whole wide world. So the
Speaker 1: girl journeyed on until one day, in a dark forest,
Speaker 1: she came to a little hut where an old woman
Speaker 1: gave her food and shelter. At last she gave her
Speaker 1: three nuts, a walnut, a filbert, and a hazel nut,
Speaker 1: with these words, when your heart is like to break,
Speaker 1: and once again is like to break, crack a nut,
Speaker 1: and in its shell that will be that suits you well.
Speaker 1: After this, she felt heartened up and wandered on till
Speaker 1: she came to a castle, where the courtyards were full
Speaker 1: of cooks and bakers, some running this way, some running that,
Speaker 1: and also busy that they did not know what to
Speaker 1: do first. Then she heard the horns of hunters and
Speaker 1: cries of room room for the Duke of Norroway and
Speaker 1: his bride. And who should ride past by the beautiful
Speaker 1: prince she had but half unspelled, and by his side
Speaker 1: was the wicked woman, who was determined to marry him
Speaker 1: that very day. Well at the sight, she felt that
Speaker 1: her heart was indeed like to break, and over again
Speaker 1: was like to break, so that the time had come
Speaker 1: for her to crack one of the nuts. So she
Speaker 1: broke the walnut as it was the biggest, and out
Speaker 1: of it came a wonderful little woman, spinning wool as
Speaker 1: fast as she ever could. Now. When the wicked woman
Speaker 1: saw this wonderful thing, she offered the girl her choice
Speaker 1: of anything in the castle for it, if you will
Speaker 1: put off your wedding with the prince for a day
Speaker 1: and let me watch in his room tonight, said the girl.
Speaker 1: You shall have it now. Like all wicked women, the
Speaker 1: bride wanted everything her own way, and so she made
Speaker 1: sure that her groom safe. She consented, But before the
Speaker 1: duke went to rest, she gave him with her own
Speaker 1: hands a hot drink, so made that anyone who drank
Speaker 1: it would sleep till morning. Thus, though the girl was
Speaker 1: allowed alone into the princess chamber, and though she spent
Speaker 1: the live long night sighing and singing, far have I
Speaker 1: sought for THEE? Long have I wrought? For thee near?
Speaker 1: Am I brought to thee dear Duke Honoroway, Wilt you
Speaker 1: say no to me? The Prince never awakened, but slept on,
Speaker 1: so when they came the girl had to leave him,
Speaker 1: without his ever knowing she had been there. Then once
Speaker 1: again her heart was like to break, and over and
Speaker 1: over again like to break, and she cracked the filbert nut.
Speaker 1: But it was the next biggest, and out of it
Speaker 1: came a wonderful little woman, spinning away as fast as
Speaker 1: ever she could spin. Now, when the witch bride saw
Speaker 1: this wonderful thing, she once again put off her wedding
Speaker 1: so that she might possess it. And once again the
Speaker 1: girl spent the livelong night in the Prince's chamber, sighing
Speaker 1: and singing, far have I sought for thee? Long have
Speaker 1: I wrought? For thee near? Am I brought to thee
Speaker 1: dear dyuknor Away? Wilt you say no to me? But
Speaker 1: the prince, who had drunk the sleeping drink from the
Speaker 1: hands of his witch bride, never stirred, and when dawn came,
Speaker 1: the girl had to leave him, without his ever knowing
Speaker 1: she had been there. Then, indeed, the girl's heart was
Speaker 1: like to break, and over and over and over again.
Speaker 1: So she cracked the last nut, the hazel nut, and
Speaker 1: out of it came the most wonderful little woman, spinning
Speaker 1: away a yarn as fast as she could spin. And
Speaker 1: this marvel delighted the witch bride so much that once
Speaker 1: again she consented to put off her wedding for a day,
Speaker 1: and allowed the girl to watch in the Duke's chamber
Speaker 1: the night through, in order to possess it. Now. It
Speaker 1: so happened that when the Duke was dressing that morning,
Speaker 1: he heard his servants talking amongst themselves of the strange
Speaker 1: sighing and singing they had heard in the night, And
Speaker 1: he asked his faithful old servant, what do you mean?
Speaker 1: And the old servant, who hated the wicked bride, said,
Speaker 1: if the Master will take no sleeping drink tonight, mayhap
Speaker 1: he may also hear what for two nights has kept
Speaker 1: me awake. At this the prince marveled greatly, and when
Speaker 1: the wicked bride brought him his evening drink, he made
Speaker 1: excuse it was not sweet enough, and while she went
Speaker 1: away to get honey to sweeten it, he poured away
Speaker 1: the drink and made her belief that he had swallowed it.
Speaker 1: So that night, when dark had come and the girl
Speaker 1: stole into his chamber with a heavy heart, thinking it
Speaker 1: would be the very last time she would ever see him,
Speaker 1: the prince was really broad awake, and when she sat
Speaker 1: down by his bedside and began to sing, far have
Speaker 1: I sought for thee? He knew her voice at once
Speaker 1: and clasped her in his arms. Then he told her
Speaker 1: how he had been in the power of the wicked
Speaker 1: woman and had forgotten everything, but that now he remembered all,
Speaker 1: and that the spell was broken forever. So the wedding
Speaker 1: feast served for their marriage, since their wicked bride, seeing
Speaker 1: her power was gone, quickly fled the country and was
Speaker 1: never heard of again.