The fisherman’s son jumped off the boat on this island and he walked up the beach. This was a funny island; there were trees, there were flowers, there were birds, there were animals, everything; and he walked farther and farther and the more he walked it got more beautiful. At last he walked for about five or six hundred yards into the middle of this little island, he came to a castle, the most beautiful old stone castle he’d ever seen. He said, ‘This is where I’m bound to go.’ And he walked up three stone steps to the great oak door. He knocked hard on the door because he wasn’t afraid, because he had come to do something for the king – and he made sure he was going to do it – suppose it cost him his life! He knocked again and then he heard footsteps coming.
Then lo and behold the door opened, out came a woman, a very old woman. But she was three times as big as the fisherman’s son! She was tall and thin with long grey hair and a long flowing dress on her that swept the floor – the fisherman’s son couldn’t even see her feet. The old woman was surprised when she saw the young man standing at her door, she rubbed her eyes, said, ‘My son, what are you doing here?’
He said, ‘Mother’ (he was very kindly this fisherman’s son), ‘mother, I hev come a long long way tae find you.’
‘Well,’ she says, ‘ye found me now but peril fir you it might be!’
‘Why?’ said the fisherman’s son. ‘I’ve only come fir three things; please, help me!’
And the old woman never saw a human being for many many years, alone she lived there on the island with her son the Giant with the Golden Hair who was out hunting for deer in his forest, and no one had ever come near his place. She said, ‘If my son finds you here, young man, your life won’t be worth nothing.’
‘Please, mother,’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘please help me! I have come a long long way to find the truth.’
‘What truth do ye want tae find?’
‘I want to find three hairs of your son’s head.’
She says, ‘Hairs of my son’s head is impossible tae get.’
‘Please, mother,’ he said, ‘help me; I’ve come a long long way.’
‘Well,’ she says, ‘come in.’ So she took him in and she gave him something to eat. ‘Now, sit down an tell me yir story.’
So the story he told the old woman is the same story I’m telling you, he said, ‘I’m jist a fisherman’s son an I married a young princess, her father sent me out tae seek three golden hairs from the Giant of Knowledge.
She said, ‘That is my son, and the’re nothing in the world that my son doesn’t know – he knows everything! He is giftit with the golden hair of knowledge.’
‘Mother,’ he said, ‘if ye cuid only get me three hairs from his head to bring back tae the king, I’d be happy to live with my bride the princess fir evermore.’
And the old woman felt sad for him, she says, ‘My son will be home in very few minutes, he’s out huntin. But what else dae ye seek?’
He said, ‘I seek … as I rode on my way I came to a village, in that village there is a tree an that tree bore the Fruit of Life; an all its people were happy to eat the fruit, they lived happy ever after, no one tuik any trouble, no one tuik any disease an no one ever suffered from nothin. But now the tree is barren an grows nothing anymore – I want to know the reason why.’
‘Oh,’ says the old woman, ‘I wouldn’t know about that, but my son would know.’
‘Then,’ he said, ‘I rode fir many many more miles an I came to another village; there in the village everyone was sad because they had a stream that beared pure wine, an everyone used to drink an enjoy the wine that ran through the stream – but now they are sad because the stream has gone dry.’
‘Nice,’ says the old woman, ‘but my son would know about that better than me.’
‘Then’ he said, ‘at the end of the land I came tae an auld boatman who took me here, who ferried me across. An he wonders why that he should be stuck in that boat, rows it back, foremost, back an foremos from the mainland tae the island with no passengers in it day out an day in?’
The old woman says, ‘I don’t know about that, but my son wad know.’ But she was busy talking to him when they heard what was like a thunderclap, she said, ‘He’s comin home!’ And the old woman was sitting in a high chair and her dress was hanging to the floor, ‘Climb in below my chair, son,’ she says, ‘before he finds ye!’
And the fisherman’s son, with the long dresses the old women wore in these days and the high chair which she’s sitting on, he climbed in below the chair and she pulled her old dress over the top o’ him. He sat there quite content, when who should walk in but a monstrous young giant with golden hair hanging down his back; but he never saw him, but he knew!
‘Mother,’ he said, ‘hev you made something fir supper – I’m hungry!’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘my son, I’ve something fir supper for you, I’ve roastit …’ And he had a deer on his back, he threw the deer down on the floor. ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘son, I made ye supper.’
‘What … any trouble or anything happen while I been gone?’ he says. ‘Things seems queer around this place … hev you hed any visitors while I was gone?’
‘No, my son,’ she said, ‘no visitors. Only the aul boatman who has been …’
‘Oh,’ he said, ‘him; he’ll keep on rowin as long as … he’ll go on rowin his wey till the end of time.’
She brought forth a haunch of deer, roasted haunch o’ deer round the fire and she placed it before him, he ate it up. Then she brought a big flagon o’ wine. She said, ‘My son, you know you been gone fir a long time.’
‘Yes, Mother,’ he said, ‘I had a long hunt today, but I might be luckier tomorrow.’ And he sat by the fire after drinking three or four gallons o’ wine.
She says, ‘My son, you look tired and weary, come beside yir mother,’ because this old woman loved this son like nothing in the world, and she took him beside her. He sat on the floor and she sat on a high stool. His head only came to her knee, he placed his head on, and being him hunting all day and after a feast and a drink o’ wine, he fell sound asleep on his mother’s knee. She began to run her fingers through his golden hair, which was long and beautiful. And then she wapped one of the golden hairs round her finger, and she pulled it. And the Giant wakened up!
He said, ‘Mother, what hae ye been doin, you been pullin my hair!’
‘Oh, my son, I’m sorry tae wake ye up, but I had a terrible dream.’
‘Mother,’ he says, ‘what was yir dream?’
‘I dreamt, my son,’ she says, ‘a long way from here in the mainland far from our island there is a village an in that village there is a tree an that tree bore beautiful fruit, the Fruit of Health, and all these people loved that Fruit of Health, they enjoyed it. But now they are so sad because their tree is withering an dying.’
‘Ho, my Mother,’ he said, ‘if they only knew! If they only knew: there’s a wicked, wicked wicked wizard had cast a spell on that tree an put a padlock an chain round the roots; if they only knew – jist tae dig up the root o’ the tree an break the padlock – their tree would blossom for evermore. Please, let me sleep, Mother!’ he said, an he placed his head on his mother’s knee once more.
Now the old woman has one hair on her finger. She waited till the Giant fell asleep once more. She wrapped another hair round her finger and she pulled another hair from his head. The Giant woke up.
‘Mother!’ he said ‘what are ye pullin my hair fir?’
‘Oh, my son,’ she said, ‘while you were asleep I had another dream: I dreamt there’s another village many miles from the first one; an through that village there runs a beautiful stream o’ beautiful sweet wine, an now the stream has stopped the villagers are so upset – there’s no more wine fir them an they’re so sad! They would give anything in the world if their stream would run wine once more.’
‘Ha,’ says the Giant, ‘it’s quite simple! If they only knew: under the steppin stone in the well there is a frog an in
that frog’s throat is a crust o’ bread thrown by a child in the well, stuck in the frog’s throat. If they dig up the steppin stone that leads to the stream an takes the crust from the frog’s throat – then their stream will run again for ever. But they’ll never know an no one’s gaun tae tell them!’
The wee laddie’s sitting in below the old woman’s dress and he’s hearing everything. The Giant stretched his feet out again by the heat o’ the fire and he laid his head upon his mother’s lap once more, then he fell asleep. When the old woman gathered another hair round her finger once more, and she pulled – he woke up.
‘Mother,’ he says, ‘stop pullin my hair!’
‘Oh, my son,’ she says, I had another wonderful dream.’
‘Mother,’ he said, ‘ye’ve hed better dreams an me! What’s your problem this time?’
‘Well,’ she said, ‘son, I had another dream an I think I won’t dream anymore tonight. But tell me: why is it that the auld boatman who rows across from our island tae the mainland back an forward, back an forward, although suppose he never takes you or takes me, hemus be confined tae that boat all his life an never can get a-free from it?’
‘Ha-ha-ha,’ said the Giant. ‘I know, but he’ll never know!’
‘But what’s the problem,’ said the old woman, ‘why has he got tae do this?’
‘Well,’ said the Giant, it’s quite simple: there’s no problem if he only knew, but he’ll never know by me; if only he would give a shot o’ the rows to the first person who comes in the boat, an give them a shot an let them row. When the boat leaves the beach – not in my island but on the mainland – an jump out, then the person who takes the oars will take his place, will be confined for evermore tae row back and forward till the end of eternity!’ And the Giant fell asleep once more.
When the Giant was asleep, the woman beckoned to the wee fisherman’s son – the Giant was asleep – ‘Now,’ she said, she took the three golden hairs from her finger – ‘take them carefully, luik after them an bring them back to the king. But remember – did ye hear what I told ye?’
‘I know,’ said the son, ‘I heard every word.’ The fisherman’s son rolled the hairs up in his hand, put them in his purse around his waist and he quietly stole away from the castle of the sleeping Giant with the Golden Hairs of Knowledge – for he knew he had done what he had set out to do. He walked for many miles till he came to the beach, by the time he reached the beach it was daylight.
There lo and behold was the old boatman waiting on the beach for him, the old boatman said, ‘Tell me, my son, hev you found the secret fir me, why I row this boat back and forward from side to side fir eternity?’
And the young man said, ‘Luik, auld boatman, after ye take me tae the mainland I’ll tell ye!’
‘Jump in, then,’ says the old man, and the young fisherman’s son jumped in the boat. The old man rowed back to the mainland and he jumped out. ‘Now,’ said the boatman, ‘tell me why I’m confined tae this for evermore!’
And the fisherman’s son said, ‘The Giant of Golden Knowledge says: “You are confined fir only one reason – the first person who comes here to ask you to row them across to the island, tell em you’re tired an give em a shot o’ the oars – when it leaves the beach on this side, jump out an you’ll be free for evermore! And the person who takes the oars will be confined tae the boat fir the rest o’ their life.”’
‘Guid,’ says the old boatman, ‘guid.’
He bade the old boatman ‘farewell’, goes back to his horse and his horse had eaten all the grass around where it was tied to, but it was still there. He takes the saddle, saddles his horse, puts the bridle on it, jumps on his horse’s back and rides back, because the old woman had given him a good meal in the Giant’s palace, he rides back. Lo and behold when he landed in the same village he had come to, the second village, there was the people once more gathered round the stream. And they’re all moaning and they’re very upset, why this stream was dry.
Up comes the old woman once more with the long grey hair, ‘Welcome back, stranger,’ she said, ‘did ye find your quest?’
‘I have found my quest, mother,’ he said.
‘Please,’ she said, ‘tell us an we’ll make you rich, we’ll give ye a donkey with as much gold as you can carry, if ye will only tell us why wir stream doesn’t run wine anymore!’
And the young man said, ‘I have been with the Giant of Golden Hair of Knowledge an he says: “Under yir steppin stone there is a frog, an in that frog’s throat is a crust o’ bread thrown by a careless child an he cannae swalla it; but you must retrieve the frog an take the piece o’ bread from his throat – wonst ye retrieve the bread yir stream will run again!”’
The old woman talked to some o’ the men, within seconds they lifted the flagstone, and there lo and behold was the frog. Sure enough they took the frog, they relieved the frog of a crust o’ bread in his throat and within seconds the stream was running most1 wine once more! And everybody in the village ran into it, they were diving into it, they were sprinkling it on their faces, they were drinking it, they were playing – the kids were swimming in it – the most beautiful wine of all! And the old woman said, ‘Stop, we must help our young stranger who has found the secret.’ She called once more for the donkey, loaded it with two bags of gold, she gave it to the young stranger, the fisherman’s son, to go on his way.
He took the donkey behind his horse with two bags o’ gold, he rode on and rode on for many days and many days and many days. At last he came to the first village, and lo and behold when he landed, sure enough there was the people gathered round the green once more. They’re weeping, they’re a-crying and the tree was getting withered, the leaves were falling off and it looked in a horrible state.
When he rode up the old man with the long white beard came, he said, ‘Welcome back, stranger, where have you been?’
He said, ‘I have been to the Island of the Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge.’
‘Have you found our secret, stranger?’ said the old man.
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘old man, I have.’
‘Why our tree doesn’t nourish the most beautiful fruit?’
Said the young fisherman’s son, ‘Take a spade an dig under the tree an you will find a chain an padlock around the root of yir tree. Break the padlock of the chain – then once more yir tree will blossom in life with Fruit of Health!’
No sooner said than done, three men ran with spades, they dug up under the tree and lo and behold there was the truth: under the tree was a chain and a padlock; they broke the chain, threw the chain away, covered the roots up once more. And lo and behold the amazing thing happened – the tree was blossomed in minutes – it was hanging with fruit! And the people were running, the children were running, they’re picking it off and they’re eating them. They’re happy and they’re clapping their hands.
And then the old man said, ‘Stop!’ and they all stopped. ‘We must thank our friend, the young stranger who has come here tae found the secret of our tree, we mus reward him handsomely.’ And then once more they called for another donkey, it was given two large bags of gold. Once more the fisherman’s son went on his way with two donkeys laden with four bags of gold.
He travelled on and he made his way back, all the way he had come, till at last after many days’ travel he landed back in the palace. And there was the queen and there was the princess to welcome him home. His donkeys were taken care of, his horse was taken care of, the four bags of gold were carried up and placed before the king. And the fisherman’s son walked up, from his purse he took out the three golden hairs of knowledge.
‘You are back,’ said the king.
‘I am back,’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘an I done yir quest: there is yir three golden hairs,’ and he put them in the king’s hand.
‘Where in the world did you find em?’ said the king.
‘I found them at Land’s End,’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘an after the Land’s End there�
�s an island, there lives in that island the Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge.’
‘But,’ said the king, ‘there’s only three hairs – that will only give me a little knowledge – it won’t give me all the Giant knows!’
‘Well,’ said the fisherman’s son, ‘if ye want any more knowledge, ye’ll hev to go and find it yirself, because I cam home to spend the rest o’ my life with my wife the princess.’
‘Well,’ says the king, ‘you have deserved it. But I myself will go, I will find the Giant with the Golden Hair of Knowledge through your directions.’
‘Go,’ said the young fisherman’s son, ‘you are welcome,’ and he told the king where to go. The princess was happy to see her young man back and she cuddled him and kissed him, and so was the queen. Now he had plenty gold.
The next day the king said he would go on his way, and himself, he was not content with three golden hairs, he wanted many many more. So he chose his best horse and he took as much gold that would carry him on his way. He left the queen and he left the young fisherman’s son and the princess to take care of the kingdom till he came home, and he rode on his way. The king rode for many many miles, he rode through the first village, he never saw the Tree of Fruit; he rode through the second village, he never saw the Stream of Beautiful Wine; and he rode till the End of the Land, all he saw was an old man in a boat.
He looked out and there was the island, ‘That,’ says the king, ‘is the place I want tae go to!’ And he says to the old man, ‘I leave my horse here if you will take me across there.’
‘Willingly,’ says the old boatman, ‘I’ll take ye across. But,’ he said, ‘I been rowin fir many many days an I’m tired; would ye do me one favour?’
‘I’ll do anything,’ said the king who was an aged man by this time, but was still fit and strong.
The King and the Lamp Page 27