Milly and Olly, Mrs. Humphry Ward [ebook e reader .TXT] 📗

Norton. "You see there would always be that dreadful night to think about, if she ever felt inclined to be; but I daresay the queen didn't find it very easy at first."

"I would have made her be a shepherdess," said Olly, shaking his head gravely. "She wasn't nice, not a bit."

"Little Mr. Severity!" said Aunt Emma, pulling his brown curls. "It's your turn next, Olly."

"Then Milly must kiss me first," said Olly, looking rather scared, as if something he didn't quite understand was going to happen to him.

So Milly went through the operation of kissing him three times on the back of the head, and then Olly's eyes, finding it did no good to stare at Aunt Emma or mother, went wandering all round the room in search of something else to help him. Suddenly they came to the window, where a brown speck was dancing up and down, and then Olly's face brightened, and he began in a great hurry:

"Once upon a time there was a daddy-long-legs--"

"Well," said Milly, when they had waited a little while, and nothing more came.

"I don't know any more," said Olly.

"Oh, that _is_ silly," said Milly, "why, that isn't a story at all. Shut your eyes tight, that's much the best way of making a story."

So Olly shut his eyes, and pressed his two hands tightly over them, and then he began again:

"Once upon a time there was a daddy-long-legs--"

Another stop.

"Was it a _good_ daddy-long-legs?" asked Milly, anxious to help him on.

"Yes," said Olly, "that's it, Milly. Once upon a time there was a good daddy-long-legs--"

"Well, what did he do?" asked Milly, impatiently.

"He--he--flewed on to father's nose!" said Olly, keeping his hands tight over his eyes, while his little white teeth appeared below in a broad grin.

"And father said, 'Who's that on my nose?' and the daddy-long-legs said, 'It's me, don't you know?' And father said, 'Get away off my nose, I don't like you a bit.' And the daddy-long-legs said, 'I shan't go away. It's hot on the window, the sun gets in my eyes. I like sitting up here best.' So father took a big sofa-cushion and gave his nose _ever_ such a bang! And the daddy-long-legs tumbled down dead. And the cushion tumbled down dead. And father tumbled down dead. And that's all," said Olly opening his eyes, and looking extremely proud of himself.

"Oh, you silly boy!" cried Milly, "that isn't a bit like a real story."

But Aunt Emma and father and mother laughed a good deal at Olly's story, and Aunt Emma said it would do very well for such a small boy.

Whose turn was it next?

"Father's turn! father's turn!" cried the children, in great glee, looking round for him; but while Olly's story had been going on, Mr. Norton, who was sitting behind them in a big arm-chair, had been covering himself up with sofa cushions and newspapers, till there was only the tip of one of his boots to be seen, coming out from under the heap. The children were a long time dragging him out, for he pelted them with cushions, and crumpled the newspapers over their heads, till they were so tired with laughing and struggling they had no strength left.

"Father, it isn't fair, I don't think," said Milly at last, sitting a breathless heap on the floor. "Of course little people can't _make_ big people do things, so the big people ought to do them without making."

"That's not at all good reasoning, Milly," said Mr. Norton, who could not resist the temptation of throwing one more sofa cushion at her laughing face. "You can't _make_ nurse stand on her head, but that's no reason why nurse should stand on her head."

Just then Olly, moving up a stool behind his father's chair, brought his little mouth suddenly down on his father's head, and gave him three kisses in a great hurry, with a shout of triumph at the end.

"Dear me!" said Mr. Norton, shutting his eyes and falling back as if something had happened to him. "This is very serious. Aunt Emma, that spell of yours is really _too_ strong. My poor head! It will certainly burst if I don't get this story out directly! Come, jump up, children--quick!"

Up jumped the children, one on each knee, and Mr. Norton began at once.


CHAPTER VIII

THE STORY OF BEOWULF

Once upon a time there was a great--"

"Father," interrupted Milly, "I shall soon be getting tired of 'Once upon a time there was a great king.'"

"Don't cry till you're hurt, Milly; which means, wait till I get to the end of my sentence. Well, once upon a time there was a great--hero."

"What is a hero?" asked Olly.

"I know," said Milly, eagerly, "it's a brave man that's always fighting and killing giants and dragons and cruel people."

"That'll do to begin with," said Mr. Norton, "though, when you grow older, you will find that people can be heroes without fighting or killing. However, the man I am going to tell you about was just the kind of hero you're thinking of, Milly. He loved fighting with giants and dragons and wild people, and my story is going to be about two of his fights--the greatest he ever fought. The name of this hero was Beowulf, and he lived in a country called Sweden (Milly knows all about Sweden, Olly, and you must get her to show it you on the map), with a number of other brave men who were his friends, and helped him in his battles. And one day a messenger came over the sea from another country close by, called Denmark, and the messenger said, 'Which of all you brave men will come over and help my master, King Hrothgar, who is in sore trouble?' And the messenger told them how Hrothgar, for many years past, had been plagued by a monster--the hateful monster Grendel--half a man and half a beast, who lived at the bottom of a great bog near the king's palace. Every night, he said, Grendel the monster came out of the bog with his horrible mother beside him--a wolf-like creature, fearful to look upon--and he and she would roam about the country, killing and slaying all whom they met. Sometimes they would come stalking to the king's palace, where his brave men were sleeping round the fire in the big hall, and before anyone could withstand him Grendel would fall upon the king's warriors, kill them by tens and twenties, and carry off their dead bodies to his bog. Many a brave man had tried to slay the monster, but none had been able so much as to wound him.

"When Beowulf and his friends had heard this story they thought a while, and then each said to the other, 'Let us go across the sea and rid King Hrothgar of this monster.' So they took ship and went across the sea to Hrothgar's country, and Hrothgar welcomed them royally, and made a great feast in their honour. And after the feast Hrothgar said to Beowulf, 'Now, I give over to you the hall of my palace, that you may guard it against the monster.' So Beowulf and the brave men who had come over with him made a great fire in the hall, and they all lay down to sleep beside it. You may imagine that they did not find it very easy to get to sleep, and some of them thought as they lay there that very likely they should never see their homes in Sweden again. But they were tired with journeying and feasting, and one after another they all fell asleep. Then in the dead of the night, when all was still, Grendel rose up out of the bog, and came stalking over the moor to the palace. His eyes flamed with a kind of horrible light in the darkness, and his steps seemed to shake the earth; but those inside the palace were sleeping so heavily that they heard nothing, not even when Grendel burst open the door of the hall and came in among them. Before anyone had wakened, the monster had seized one of the sleeping men and torn him to pieces. Then he came to Beowulf; but Beowulf sprang up out of his sleep and laid hold upon him boldly. He used no sword to strike him, for there was no sword which men could make was strong enough to hurt Grendel; but he seized him with his strong hands, and the two struggled together in the palace. And they fought till the benches were torn from the walls, and everything in the hall was smashed and broken. The brave men, springing up all round, seized their swords and would gladly have helped their lord, but there was no one but Beowulf could harm Grendel.

"So they fought, till at last Beowulf tore away Grendel's hand and arm, and the monster fled away howling into the darkness. Over the moor he rushed till he came to his bog, and there he sank down into the middle of the bog, wailing and shrieking like one whose last hour was come. Then there was great rejoicing at Heorot, the palace, and King Hrothgar, when he saw Grendel's hand which Beowulf had torn away, embraced him and blessed him, and he and all his friends were laden with splendid gifts.

"But all was not over yet. When the next night came, and Hrothgar's men and Beowulf's men were asleep together in the great hall, Grendel's horrible mother, half a woman and half a wolf, came rushing to the palace and while they were all asleep she carried off one of Hrothgar's dearest friends--a young noble whom he loved best of all his nobles. And she killed him, and carried his body back to the bog. Then the next morning there was grief and weeping in Heorot; but Beowulf said to the king, 'Grieve not, O king! till we have found out Grendel's mother and punished her for her evil deeds. I promise you she shall give an account for this. She shall not be able to hide herself in the water, nor under the earth, nor in the forest, nor at the bottom of the sea; let her go where she will, I will find a way after her.'

"So Beowulf and his friends put on their armour and mounted their horses, and set out to look for her. And when they had ridden a long and weary way over steep lonely paths and past caves where dragons and serpents lived, they came at last to Grendel's bog--a fearful place indeed. There in the middle of it lay a pool of black water, and over the water hung withered trees, which seemed as if they had been poisoned by the air rising from the water beneath them. No bird or beast would ever come near Grendel's pool. If the hounds were hunting a stag, and they drove him down to the edge, he would sooner let them tear him to pieces than hide himself in the water. And every night the black water seemed to burn and flame, and it hissed and bubbled and groaned as if there were evil creatures tossing underneath. And now when Beowulf and his men came near it, they saw fierce water dragons lying near the edge or swimming about the pool. There also, beside the water, they found the dead body of Hrothgar's friend, who had been killed by Grendel's mother, and they took it up, and mourned over him afresh.