CHAPTER VI.
OTHER HOUSE-HELPERS.
IN modern Greece the Brownie was known as the Stoechia. He was calledPara in Finland; Trasgo or Duende in Spain; Lutin, Gobelin, Follet, inFrance and Normandy; Niss-god-drange in Norway and Denmark; Tomte, inSweden; Niss in Jutland, Denmark and Friesland; Bwbach or Pwcca inWales; in Ireland, Fir-Darrig and, sometimes, Cluricaune; Kobold, inGermany; and in England, Brownie figured as Boggart, Puck, Hobgoblin,and Robin Goodfellow.
Often the Stoechia, a wayward little black being, went about the houseunder the shape of a lizard or small snake. He was harmless; hispresence was an omen of prosperity; and great care was taken that nodisrespect was shown him.
The services of the Para, who was a well-meaning rascal, were rathersingular, and not at all indispensable. He had a way of following theneighbor's cows to pasture, and milking them himself, in a calf'sfashion, until he had swallowed quart on quart, and was as full as alittle hogshead. Then he went home, uncorked his thieving throat, andobligingly emptied every drop of his ill-gotten goods into his master'schurn! How his feelings must have been hurt if anybody criticized thecheese and butter!
The Spanish house-goblin was a statelier person, and wore an enormousplumed hat, and threw stones in a stolid and haughty manner at people hedisliked. But occasionally the Duende had the form of a little busyfriar, like the Monachiello at Naples.
The Lutin, or Gobelin, or Follet of French belief, was likewise astone-thrower. He was fond of children, and of horses; taking it uponhimself to feed and caress his landlord's children when they were good,and to whip them when they were naughty; and he rode the willing horses,and combed them, and plaited their manes into knotty braids, for which,we may fear, the stable-boy never thanked him. He knew, too, how toworry and tease; and certain French mothers threatened troublesomelittle folk with the "Gobelin:" "_Le gobelin vous mangera!_" which wemay translate into: "The goblin will gobble you!" or into the whimsicallines of an American poet:
The gobble uns'll git you, Ef You Don't Watch Out!
The Norwegian Nis was like a strong-shouldered child, in a coat andpeaky cap, who carried a pretty blue light at night. He enjoyed hoppingor skating across the farmyard under the moon's ray. Dogs he would notallow in his house. If he was first promised a gray sheep for his own,he would teach any one to play the violin. Like many another of theBrownie race, he was a dandy, and loved nothing better than fineclothes.
Tomte of Sweden lived in a tree near the house. He was as tall as ayear-old boy, with a knowing old face beneath his cap. In harvest-timehe tugged away at one straw, or one grain, until he laid it in hismaster's barn; for his strength was not much greater than an ant's. Ifthe farmer scorned his diligent little servant, and made fun of his tinyload, all luck departed from him, and the Tomte went away in anger. Heliked tobacco, played merry pranks, and doubled up comically when helaughed. But he had another laugh, scoffing and sarcastic, which hesometimes gave at the top of his voice.
Like the Devon Piskies, the Niss-Puk required water left at his disposalover-night. The Nis of Jutland was the Puk of Friesland. He also likedhis porridge with butter. He lived under the roof, or in dark corners ofthe stable and house. He was of the Tomte's size; he wore red stockingson his stumpy little legs, and a pointed red cap, and a long gray orgreen coat. For soft, easy slippers he had a great longing; and if apair were left out for him, he was soon heard shuffling in them over thefloor. He had long arms, and a big head, and big bright eyes, so thatthe people of Silt have a saying concerning an inquisitive or astonishedperson: "He stares like a Puk." Puk, too, played sorry tricks on theservants, and was indignant if he was ever deprived of his nightly bowlof groute.
The Bwbach of Wales churned the cream, and begged for his portion, likea true Brownie; he was a hairy blackamoor with the best-natured grin inthe world. But he had an unpleasant habit of whisking mortals into theair, and doing flighty mischiefs generally.
AN IRISH CLURICAUNE.]
The unique Irish Cluricaune, who had that name in Cork, was calledLuricaune and Leprechaun in other parts of the country. He differed fromthe Shefro in living alone, and in his queer appearance and habits. Forthough he was a house-spirit and did house-work, his ambitions ran in anopposite direction, and in his every spare minute, when he was notsmoking or drinking, you might have seen him, a miniature old man, witha cocked hat, and a leather apron, sitting on a low stool, humming afairy-tune, and perpetually cobbling at a pair of shoes no bigger thanacorns. The shoes were occasionally captured and shown. And as we haveseen, Mr. Cluricaune was a fortune-hunter, and a very wide-awake,versatile goblin altogether. In his capacity of Brownie, he once wreakeda hard revenge on a maid who served him shabbily. A Mr. Harris, aQuaker, had on his farm a Cluricaune named Little Wildbeam. Whenever theservants left the beer-barrel running through negligence, LittleWildbeam wedged himself into the cock, and stopped the flow, at greatinconvenience to his poor little body, until some one came to turn theknob. So the master bade the cook always put a good dinner down cellarfor Little Wildbeam. One Friday she had nothing but part of a herring,and some cold potatoes, which she left in place of the usual feast. Thatvery midnight the fat cook got pulled out of bed, and thrown down thecellar-stairs, bumping from side to side, so that it made her very soreindeed, and meanwhile the smirking Cluricaune stood at the head of thesteps, and sang at the luckless heap below:
Molly Jones, Molly Jones! Potato-skin and herring-bones! I'll knock your head against the stones, Molly Jones!
In Japanese houses, even, Brownies were familiar comers and goers. Theywere important and smooth-mannered pigmies, and serenely dealt outrewards and punishments as they saw fit. When they were engaged inbefriending commendable boys and girls, their features had, somehow, theingenious likeness of letters signifying "good;" and if they made ittheir business to plague and hinder naughty idlers, who, instead ofdoing their errands promptly, stopped at the shops to buy goodies, theirqueer little faces were screwed up to mean "bad," as you see inJapanese artists' pictures.
JAPANESE CHILDREN AND BROWNIES.]
The English names for the affable Brownie-folk bring to our minds themost wayward, frolicsome elves of all fairydom. Boggart was theYorkshire sprite, and the Boggart commonly disliked children, and stoletheir food and playthings; wherein he differed from his kindly kindred.Hobgoblin (Hop-goblin) was so called because he hopped on one leg.Hobgoblin is the same as Rob or Bob-Goblin, a goblin whose full nameseemed to be Robert. Robin Hood, the famous outlaw, dear to all of us,was thought to have been christened after Robin Hood the fairy, becausehe, too, was tricksy and sportive, wore a hood, and lived in the deepforest.
A LITTLE FIR-DARRIG.]
In Ireland lived the mocking, whimsical little Fir-Darrig, RobinGoodfellow's own twin. He dressed in tight-fitting red; Fir-Darrigitself meant "the red man." He had big humorous ears, and the softestand most flexible voice in the world, which could mimic any sound atwill. He sat by the fire, and smoked a pipe, big as himself, belongingto the man of the house. He loved cleanliness, brought good-luck to hisabode, and, like a cat, generally preferred places to people.
Puck and Robin Goodfellow were the names best known and cherished.There is no doubt that Shakespeare, from whom we have now our prevailingidea of Puck, got the idea of him, in his turn, from the popularsuperstitions of his day. But Puck's very identity was all butforgotten, and since Shakespeare was, therefore, his poetical creator,we will forego mention of him here, and entitle Robin Goodfellow, thesame "shrewd and meddling elf," under another nickname, the true Brownieof England.
He was both House-Helper and Mischief-Maker, "the most active andextraordinary fellow of a fairy," says Ritson, "that we anywhere meetwith." He was said to have had a supplementary brother called RobinBadfellow; but there was no need of that, because he was Robin Badfellowin himself, and united in his whimsical little character so manyopposite qualities, that he may be considered the repr
esentative elf theworld over; for the old Saxon Hudkin, the Niss of Scandinavia, andKnecht Ruprecht, the Robin of Germany, are nothing but our masqueradinggoblin-friend on continental soil. And in the red-capped smilingMikumwess among the Passamaquoddy Indians, there he is again!
By this name of Robin he was known earlier than the thirteenth century,and "famosed in everie olde wives' chronicle for his mad merrieprankes," two hundred years later. His biography was put forth in ablack-letter tract in 1628, and in a yet better-known ballad whichrecited his jests, and was in free circulation while Queen Bess wasreigning. The forgotten annalist says very heartily, alluding to hisstring of aliases:
But call him by what name you list; I have studied on my pillow, And think the name he best deserves Is Robin, the Good Fellow!
We class him rightly as a Brownie, because he skimmed milk, knew allabout domestic life, and was the delight or terror of servants, as thecase might be. He was fond of making a noise and clatter on the stairs,of playing harps, ringing bells, and misleading passing travellers; anddespite his knavery, he came to be much beloved by his house-mates. Verylike him was the German Hempelman, who laughed a great deal. But thelaugh of Master Robin sometimes foreboded trouble and death to people,which Hempelman's never did.
The jolly German Kobold had a laugh which filled his throat, and couldbe heard a mile away. Bu he was a gnome malignant enough if he wasneglected or insulted. He very seldom made a mine-sprite of himself, butstayed at home, Brownie-like, and "ran" the house pretty much as he sawfit. To the Dwarves he was, however, closely related, and dressed aftertheir fashion, except that sometimes he wore a coat of as many colors asthe rainbow, with tinkling bells fastened to it. He objected to anychopping or spinning done on a Thursday. Change of servants, while heheld his throne in the kitchen, affected him not in the least; for themaid going away recommended her successor to treat him civilly, at herperil. A very remarkable Kobold was Hinzelmann, who called himself aChristian, and came to the old castle of Huedemuehlen in 1584; whosehistory, too long to add here, is given charmingly in Mr. Keightley'sFairy Mythology.
A certain bearded little Kobold lived with some fishermen in a hut, andtried a trick which was quite classic, and reminds one of the Greekstory of Procrustes, which all of you have met with, or will meet with,some day. Says Mr. Benjamin Thorpe: "His chief amusement, when thefishermen were lying asleep at night, was to lay them even. For thispurpose he would first draw them up until their heads all lay in astraight line, but then their legs would be out of the line! and he hadto go to their feet and pull them up until the tips of their toes wereall in a row. This game he would continue till broad daylight."
Now all Brownies, Nissen, Kobolds and the rest, were very much of apiece, and when you know the virtues and faults of one of them, you knowthe habits of the race. So that you can understand, despite the slightbut steady help given in household matters, that a person so variableand exacting and high-tempered as this curious little sprite mighthappen sometimes to be a great bore, and might inspire his master ormistress with the sighing wish to be rid of him. It was a tradition inNormandy that to shake off the Lutin or Gobelin, it was merely necessaryto scatter flax-seed where he was wont to pass; for he was too neat tolet it lie there, and yet tired so soon of picking it up, that he leftit in disgust, and went away for good. And there was a sprite namedFlerus who lived in a farm-house near Ostend, and worked so hard,sweeping and drawing water, and turning himself into a plough-horse thathe might replace the old horse who was sick, for no reward, either, savea little fresh sugared milk--that soon his master was the wealthiest manin the neighborhood. But a giddy young servant-maid once offended him,at the day's end, by giving him garlic in his milk; and as soon as poorFlerus tasted it, he departed, very wrathful and hurt, from thepremises, forever.
There were few such successful instances on record. Though Brownie wasready, in every land under the sun, to leave home when he took thefancy, or when he was puffed up with gifts of lace and velvet, so thatno mortal residence was gorgeous enough for him, yet he would take nohint, nor obey any command, when either pointed to a banishment.
THE PERSISTENT KOBOLD OF KOePENICK.]
Near Koepenick once, a man thought of buying a new house, and turning hisback on a vexatious Kobold. The morning before he meant to changequarters, he saw his Kobold sitting by a pool, and asked him what he wasdoing. "I am doing my washing!" said the sharp rogue, "because we moveto-morrow." And the man saw very well that as he could not avoid him, hehad better take the little nuisance along. The same thing happened inthe capital Polish anecdote of Iskrzycki (make your respects to hisexcruciating name!) and over Northern Europe the sarcastic joke "Yes,we're flitting!" prevails in folk-song and story.
There is many and many an example of families selling the old house, andgoing off in great glee with the furniture, thinking the elf-rascalcheated and left behind; and lo! there he was, perched on a rope, orpeering from a hole in the cart itself, on his congratulated master.
The funniest hap of all befell an ungrateful farmer who fired his barnto burn the poor Kobold in it. As he was driving off, he turned to lookat the blaze, and what should he see on the seat behind him but the sameexcited Kobold, chattering, monkey-like, and shrieking sympathizingly:"It was about time for us to get out of that, wasn't it?"
The dark-skinned little house-sprites came to stay; and as for beingsnubbed, they were quite above it. They were the sort of callers towhom you could never show the door, with any dignity; for if you haddone so, the grinning goblin would have examined knob and panels with asquinted eye, and gone back whistling to your easy-chair.