A German Fairy Tale

Once upon a time, near the borders of a dense forest, there dwelt a poor man who earned his living by cutting wood.

One day, on his way home through the wood, he found a poor little girl who had been carried away by an eagle, and left high up on the branch of a tree to die. He took the little girl home to his wife, and they called her Grethel, and brought her up with their only son, Hansel. But the wife died, and the woodcutter married again. After a little while he became very poor indeed, and could hardly earn enough money to buy bread.

One night as they were lying awake, weak from hunger, Hansel and Grethel heard their stepmother say to their father:

“In a few days we shall die of hunger. If we had only ourselves to keep we might manage to live. I know what we must do. Tomorrow morning we will take the children far into the forest and leave them there.”

“No, wife,” said the man. “How can I have the heart to leave my children alone in the forest for wild beasts to devour?”

But the hardhearted woman talked and talked until the poor man agreed to what she proposed.

Hearing this dreadful plan, Grethel wept bitterly. But Hansel comforted her.

“Do not cry, dear Grethel,” he said; “I will find a way to get home safely.”

He then got up quietly, crept out of the house, and filled his pockets with little white pebbles. At sunrise their stepmother wakened Hansel and Grethel, saying: “Get up, children! We are going into the forest to gather wood”; and she gave them two slices of bread for their dinner. Grethel carried both pieces in her apron, as Hansel’s pockets were full of pebbles.

As they went along, Hansel kept looking back, until at last his stepmother asked him sharply why he kept lingering and looking behind.

“I can see my little white cat sitting on the roof, and I am sure she is crying for me,” said Hansel.

“You stupid!” she replied. “It is only the sun shining on the chimney pot.”

When they reached the middle of the wood their stepmother said: “Run and collect twigs, and we will make a bonfire to keep warm.”

And Hansel and Grethel soon had a blazing bonfire of brushwood. Tired with their long walk, they fell asleep; when they woke up it was dark, and they were alone. Grethel began to cry bitterly; but Hansel said: “We shall be able to find our way home all right when the moon rises, because I dropped a white pebble every time I looked behind this morning.”

When they reached home they were scolded by their stepmother for straying away; but their father was pleased to see them come back safely.

Not long afterward, however, the same poverty came upon them, and the stepmother persuaded her husband to take the children much farther into the wood. The children again overheard the cruel scheme; but Hansel was unable to get a pocketful of stones because his mother bad locked the door. He bravely lingered behind, however, and dropped crumbs from his piece of bread all the way along.

“Why do you lag behind so, Hansel?” said the woman.

“I am looking at my little dove sitting on the roof to say good-bye to me,” replied Hansel.

“Silly!” said she. “It is only the morning sun shining on the housetop.”

Their parents left them when they were asleep, just as before. When they awoke Grethel said: “What are we to do, Hansel, for the night is coming on and we are much farther in the forest than we were last time?” Hansel replied: “Do not fear, dear Grethel; I have left all my bread in little crumbs on the wayside.”

So Grethel dried her eyes and shared her piece of bread with Hansel. When the moon rose they started off; but, to their alarm, they found that there were no crumbs to be seen. The birds had eaten them all up. They wandered about the forest all through the night and the next day, finding only berries to eat; but they could not find their way home, so they lay down and went to sleep.

About noon the next day they saw a lovely snow-whitebird sitting on a branch, and singing so beautifully that they listened to it for a long while. When it had finished singing it flew slowly away, looking round at the children as if inviting them to follow. This Hansel and Grethel did, and after a little while the bird perched on the roof of a tiny house.

To their surprise they found that the walls of this little house were made of gingerbread, the roof of cake and the windows of frosting.

“Oh! Something to eat at last!” cried the hungry Hansel. And the two children pulled pieces of gingerbread off the walls, and ate to their heart’s content. Suddenly came a voice from within: “Munching, crunching, munching,
Who is eating up my house?”

And the children answered: “The wind, the wind, ‘Tis only the wind ‘” and went on eating hungrily.

In a minute or two the door opened, and a little old woman hobbled out.

“Poor little children,” said she. “How tired and hungry you look! Come in with me, and I will give you plenty to eat and drink.”

The children followed her in, and had a meal of milk and pancakes and apples and nuts. And then she put them into two pretty little beds, and they fell asleep.

Now, the old woman was really a bad witch, who had built this gingerbread house to attract children, so that she could capture them and eat them. So when Hansel was asleep she took hold of him and quickly shut him up in an iron cage. Then she shook Grethel, and said: “Get up, lazy-bones, and help me get water and cook some food, for I am going to fatten your brother and eat him.”

After breakfast the old woman went out. Grethel immediately ran and told Hansel all the old woman had said.

“The old woman must be a witch,” said Hansel. “Search for her magic wand and pipe, and then help me out of this cage.”

So Grethel found the wand and pipe, and they ran away together. After some time the old witch came back, and was very angry to find that Hansel and Grethel had escaped. She put on her seven-league boots, and quickly caught up with the children.

As soon as she saw the witch, however, Grethel waved the magic wand, and changed herself into a lake, and Hansel into a swan floating on it. The witch tried hard to entice the swan to the shore by offering him crumbs of bread and cake, but he would not move, so she gave it up and went home in disgust. Grethel then changed Hansel and herself back into their proper forms, and on they went. Next day they saw the witch overtaking them again. This time Grethel changed herself into a rose in a prickly hedge, and Hansel sat on a mossy bank beside it and waited.

The witch soon came up and mounted the bank to pick the rose which she knew must be Grethel. Hansel quickly put the pipe to his mouth and began to play. Now, as it was a fairy pipe, everyone who heard its music had to dance, even the old witch, and there she capered and jigged, till she was fixed firmly into the hedge, where the sharp thorns tore her clothes off and pricked her skin.

Grethel freed herself and the children once more started for home, but, getting tired, they went to sleep in an old hollow tree.

In the morning when they awakened, the sun had risen high above the trees, and it was very hot. Little Hansel said: “Sister, I am very thirsty; if I could find a brook I would go and drink, and fetch you some water too. Listen! I think I hear the sound of one.”

Then Hansel rose up and took Grethel by the hand and went in search of a brook. But the witch had found out all that had happened, and was ready to do them harm. When they had found a brook that ran sparkling over the pebbles, Hansel wanted to drink, but Grethel thought she heard the brook, as it babbled along, say: “Whoever drinks here will be turned into a tiger.” Then she cried out: “Ah, brother, do not drink, or you will be turned into a wild beast and tear me to pieces.”

“I will wait,” said Hansel, “for the next brook.”

But when they came to the next, Grethel listened again, and thought she heard: “Whoever drinks here will become a wolf.”

Then she cried: “Brother, brother, do not drink, or you will become a wolf and eat me!”

So he did not drink, but said: “I shall wait for the next brook; there I must drink, say what you will, for I am so thirsty.”

As they came to the third brook, Grethel listened, and heard: “Whoever drinks here will become a fawn.”

“Ah, brother,” said she, “do not drink, or you will be turned into a fawn and run away from me!”

But Hansel had already stooped down upon his knees, and the moment he put his lips into the Water he was turned into a fawn.

Grethel wept bitterly over the poor creature, and the tears, too, rolled down his eyes as he laid himself beside her. Then she said: “Rest in peace, dear fawn; I will never leave you.”

So she took off her little bead necklace, and put it around his neck, and plucked some rushes and plaited them into a soft string to fasten it, and led the poor little thing by her side farther into the wood.

After they had traveled a long way they came at last to a little cottage; and Grethel having looked in and seen that it was empty, thought to herself, “We can live here.” Then she went and gathered leaves and moss to make a soft bed for the fawn, and every morning she went out and plucked nuts,. roots and berries for herself, and sweet shrubs and tender grass for her companion; and it ate out of her hand, and was pleased; and played and frisked about her. They lived thus a long while in the wood by themselves, till it chanced that the king of that country came to hold a great hunt there. And when the fawn heard all around the echoing of the horns, and the baying of the dogs, and the merry shouts of the hunts- men, he wished very much to go to see what was going on.

“Ah, sister,” said he, “let me go out into the wood. I can stay no longert”

And he begged so hard that at last she agreed to let him go.

“But,” said she, “be sure to come to me in the evening. I shall bar the door to keep out those wild hunts- men; and if you tap at it, and say: ‘Sister, let me in,’ I shall know you; but if you don’t speak, I shall keep the door fast.”

Then away sprang the fawn and frisked and bounded along in the open air. The king and his huntsmen saw the beautiful creature and followed, but could not overtake him; for when they thought they were sure of their prize, he sprang over the bushes and was out of sight in a moment.

As it grew dark he came running home to the hut, and tapped, and said: “Sister, sister, let me in.” Then she opened the little door, and in he jumped, and slept soundly all night on his soft bed of moss.
Next morning the hunt began again; and when he heard the huntsmen’s horns, he said: “Sister, open the door for me, I must go again.”

Then she let him out, and said: “Come back in the evening, and remember what you are to say.”

When the king and the huntsmen again saw the fawn with the beaded collar they chased him; but he was too quick for them. The chase lasted the whole day; but at last the huntsmen nearly caught up with him, and one of them wounded him in the foot, so that he could hardly crawl home. The man who had wounded him followed close behind, and hid himself, so that he heard the little fawn say: “Sister, sister, let me in.” Then the door opened, and shut again. The hunts- man went to the king and told him what he had seen and heard. The king replied: “To-morrow we shall have another chase.”

Grethel was very much frightened whe’i she saw that her dear little fawn was wounded; but she washed the blood away and put some healing herbs on it, and said: “Now go to bed, dear fawn, and you will soon be well again.”

The wound was so small that in the morning there was nothing to be seen of it, and when the horn blew, the little creature said: “I can’t stay here; I must go to look on.”

But Grethel said: “I am sure they will kill you this time; I will not let you go.”

“I shall die,” answered he, “if you keep me here. When I hear the horns, I feel as if I could fly.”

Then Grethel was forced to let him go; so she opened the door with a heavy heart, and he bounded out gaily into the wood.

When the king saw him, he said to his huntsmen: “Now chase him all day long till you catch him; but let none of you do him any harm.”

The sun set, however, without their being able to overtake him, and the king called away the huntsmen, and said to the one who had watched the fawn: “Now come and show me the hut.”

So they tapped on the door, and said: “Sister, sister, let me in.”

Then the door opened, and the king went in, and there stood a maiden more lovely than any he had ever seen. Grethel was frightened to see that it was not her fawn but a king with a golden crown. However, he spoke kindly:
“Will you come with me to my castle and be my wife?”

“Yes,” said the maiden. “But if I do, my fawn must go with me.”

“Well,” said the king, “he shall come and live with you, and want for nothing.”

Just at that moment in sprang the fawn, and his sister tied the string to his neck.

Then the king took Grethel to his palace, and celebrated the marriage in great state. And she told the king all her story; and he sent for the witch and punished her. And the fawn was changed into Hansel again, and he and his sister and the king lived happily together all their days.

As Sindbad the Sailor was sitting in the mansion which he had built in the city of Bagdad, he heard a poor porter say: “Men are not rewarded according to their merit. I have worked harder than Sindbad, and yet he lives in splendor and I live in misery.”

Sindbad was moved by the porter’s complaint and invited him to come in and listen to the story of his adventures.

“Perhaps when you have learned by what sufferings I won my wealth,” said Sindbad, “you will be more contented with your own lot in life.

“Look at my white hair and worn facet I seem an old man. But how young and strong I was when I sailed away to make my fortune by trading in strange countries! Soon after we departed, our ship was becalmed near a small island, but when we landed to look at the place, we found that what we had taken for land was only the green back of a great beast, a sort of ocean cow, called a whale.

“No sooner had we landed than it began to sway to and fro, and then it plunged beneath the waves and left us struggling in the sea. Clinging to a large piece of wood, I was washed ashore on a desert island.

“Here I thought I should have starved. But on wandering about I found a clump of fruit trees and hidden among them a great white ball about fifty feet in size. By this time I was very weary, and so when I had eaten some of the fruit I crept beneath the ball and lay down to sleep. Just as I was closing my eyes I looked up and saw that the sky was darkened by the wings of a gigantic bird.

“‘Good heavens!’ I exclaimed. ‘This great white ball is the egg of the monstrous bird that sailors call a roc.’

“And so it was. The roc settled on the egg under which I was lying, and one of its claws, which was as big as the trunk of a tree, caught my dress.

“At daybreak the roc flew up into the air and carried me to such a height that I could not see the earth. Then it descended with such speed that I nearly lost my senses. As it alighted I freed my dress and found myself in a deep valley cut off from the world by a circle of high, steep mountains.

“It was the Valley of Diamonds! The grouQd was covered with precious stones. Full of joy, I began to fill my pockets with them, but my joy was soon turned to terror. The valley was haunted by great serpents, and I could find no means of escape.

“I crept into a cave and blocked up the opening with a large stone, but all night I was kept awake by the hissing of the serpents. At daybreak they retired, as they were afraid of the roc that used then to visit the valley in search of food. Then I stole out of the cave, only .to be knocked over by something that came tumbling down the mountainside. It was a great piece of fresh meat. As it rolled along, the diamonds on the ground stuck to it. Looking up, I saw on the mountains a band of men, who were preparing to roll another piece of meat into the valley.

“‘I have heard of this means of getting diamonds,’ I said to myself. ‘It strikes me that it is also a good means of getting away.’

“So I tied myself to the piece of meat and hid beneath it, and presently an eagle swooped down and seized the meat and carried it to its nest on the top of the mountains. The band of men drove the eagle away, and turned the meat over to pick off the diamonds that had stuck to it, and found me tied to it.

“When they had all the diamonds they needed, we sailed for home. But on passing the desert island my companions landed with an ax and broke open the great white ball. A terrible scream rang through the sky. The roc had seen them. They rushed back to the ship, and we quickly sailed away; but the roc followed us, bearing in its claws a great piece of granite. This it dropped on our ship, and down we all went into the sea. Holding on to a fragment of wreckage with one hand, and swimming with the other, as the sea was calm, I managed to reach another island.

“It was a delicious spot! Sparkling streams ran between vineyards full of grapes and orchards full of fruit.

There I met a strange old man, who made signs to me to carry him over one of the streams. As soon as I hoisted him on my back, the old man threw his legs over my neck and squeezed my throat so that I fainted. When I came to, he was still fixed on my shoulders. And there he remained.

“He made me his slave. When, in order to keep up my strength, I made some wine out of the grapes, he took it from me and drank it all up. Happily, it was too strong for him, and releasing his hold of my neck, he fell to the ground, and I killed him.

“By the shore I met some sailors, with whom I returned to Bagdad.

“‘That was the Old Man of the Sea’, they said to me. ‘You are the first person that has escaped from being at last strangled by him.’

“Now don’t you think,” said Sindbad to the porter, “that I have earned all the riches that I brought away from the Valley of Diamonds?” The porter agreed that he had.

Once upon a time there lived a king and .1 queen who had no children, and this was a great sorrow to them. But one day as the queen was walking by the side of the river, a little fish lifted his head out of the water and said, ‘Your wish shall be fulfilled; you shall have a daughter.”

What the little fish had foretold soon came to pass, and the queen had a little girl whom they called Brier Rose. She was so beautiful that the king, in great joy, determined to hold a feast.

He invited not only his relations, friends, and neighbors, but also all the fairies that they might be good to his little daughter.

Now there were thirteen fairies in his kingdom, and he had only twelve golden dishes, so he was obliged to leave one of the fairies without an invitation. The rest came, and after the feast was over, they gave their gifts to the little princess. One gave her virtue, another beauty, another wisdom, and so on till she had all that was excellent in the world.

But just as the eleventh fairy had done blessing her, a great noise was heard at the door, and the thirteenth fairy stormed in, very angry that she had not been invited.

“Here is my gift!” she cried. “The princess shall in her fifteenth year be wounded by a spindle and fall down dead!” Then she rushed out again, not knowing that the twelfth fairy had not yet spoken.

Now the twelfth fairy came forward and soothed the weeping queen.

“I can not promise that the wish of the thirteenth fairy shall not be fulfilled,” she said, “but I can soften it. Your daughter shall not die, but will fall asleep for a hundred years.”

But the queen would not be comforted. “Only say that we may sleep with her!” she begged. And the twelfth fairy said this might be done.

The king called all his soldiers to him. “Search the kingdom,” he ordered. “Buy up and destroy every spindle. Let not a single one be left in all the land.” And he commanded that the princess be guarded day and night, so that never, till she passed her fifteenth birthday, should a spindle come near her.

As the years passed, the fairies’ gifts were all fulfilled. The princess was so beautiful, well-behaved, amiable and wise that everyone loved her.

Now it happened that on the eve of the day Brier Rose was fifteen years old, a birthday feast was prepared for her, with great rejoicing in all the land, for the king and queen felt that the danger was now over. Everyone was busy hanging garlands in the palace or preparing the feast, and for a few minutes in the afternoon no one was with the princess. She roved about, well pleased to be alone, and she came at last to an old tower to which there was a narrow staircase. Upstairs there sat an old woman spinning away busily.

“How now, good mother,” said the princess, “what are you doing there?”

“Spinning,” said the old woman.

“How prettily that little thing turns around!” said the princess. “I wish I might try it.”

“Take it then,” said the old woman.

The princess sat down and took the spindle and began to spin. But scarcely had she touched it when she fell down on the floor as though dead.

However, she was not dead, but had only fallen into a deep sleep.

Immediately the king and queen fell asleep too. And the horses slept in the stables, and the dogs in the court, the pigeons on the housetop and flies on the walls. Even the fire on the hearth left off blazing and went to sleep, and the meat that was roasting stood still.

The cook, who was at the moment pulling the kitchen-boy by the hair to give him a box on the ear for something he had done amiss, let him go, and both fell asleep. And so everything stood still, and slept soundly.

A large hedge of thorns soon grew round the palace, and every year it became higher and thicker till at last the whole palace was surrounded and hid, so that not even the roof or the chimneys could be seen. But there went a report through all the land of the beautiful sleeping princess, so that from time to time several king’s sons came and tried to break through the thicket into the palace. This they could never do, for the thorns and bushes laid hold of them as if with hands, and there they stuck fast.

Now on the day that the hundred years were completed, a prince came to the thicket. He saw no thorns, as he had expected; he saw nothing but beautiful roses and flowering shrubs, through which he passed with ease, and they closed after him as firm as ever. He came at last to the palace, and there in the court lay the dogs asleep, and the horses in the stables, and on the roof sat the pigeons fast asleep with their heads under their wings. And when he came inside the palace, the flies slept on the walls, and the cook in the kitchen was still holding up her hand as if she would box the ears of the kitchen-boy, and the maid sat with a black fowl in her hand ready to be plucked.

Then he went on still farther, and all was so still that he could hear every breath he drew; till at last he came to the old tower and opened the door of the room in which the princess lay. There she was, fast asleep. She looked so beautiful that he could not take his eyes off her, and he stooped down and gave her a kiss. The moment he kissed her, she opened her eyes and smiled upon him.

Then the king and queen awoke, and all the court. The horses got up and shook themselves, and the dogs jumped about and barked; the pigeons took their heads from under their wings and looked about and flew into the fields; the flies on the walls buzzed away; the fire in the kitchen blazed up and cooked the dinner, and. the roasting meat turned again. The cook gave the boy the box on his ear so that he cried out, and the maid went on plucking the fowl.

And then was the wedding of the prince and the princess celebrated, and they lived happily together all their lives long.

Once upon a time, in the far north of what is now called Europe, there was a kingdom known as Geatsiand, and its ruler was named Hygelac. It was a harsh country, with high mountains and narrow stony valleys, and it had a long seacoast with many harbors and inlets, and the men who lived there were famous for their bravery on both sea and land.

Now, for many years Hygelac ruled over his people with a stern but kind hand. Beside him was his queen, named Hygd, and called the Wise and Fair. About the king and queen were gathered the finest lords of the land. All. were valiant warriors whose courage had been proved.

Among the number of youths who were in. thrall to Hygelac was Beowulf, the son of the king’s sister. As a small boy, Beowulf had shown such strength of body that Hygelac had early named him one of his thanes. So his mother and father gave him up, and young Beowulf went to live with his uncle, to learn the arts of war and the handling of ships.

For several years he led a lonely life, for so great was the strength of his limbs that even among those men of vast vigor he was a youth to be marveled at. As the years slipped by and he grew to manhood, he became more and more sullen in his strength, and his companions dubbed him “The Silent.” His movements were clumsy. He tripped over his sword. He broke whatever he touched. The other youths laughed at him for his awkwardness, but in secret they envied the immense spread of his shoulders and the terrible swiftness of his stride.

When Beowulf had at last reached the full tide of his manhood, a feast was held one night in the king’s drinking-hall. From all over Geatsland famous warriors and earls gathered at the drinking-benches of their king to hear the songs of the minstrels and take part in games and feats of strength.

At the feet of the royal couple sat Beowulf, at a table especially prepared for the king’s earls. But Beowulf, unmindful of the talk about him, sat in gloomy silence, brooding.

His strength was great, but there was no use for him to put it to, and he longed for wild adventure and the chance to stretch his muscles to the limit of their power.

Then, at a signal from Hygelac, the minstrel came forward with his harp. He was a tall rugged man, with a beard streaked with gray. He had the air of one who had traveled long distances, and his blue eyes were wide and fixed like one used to watching the far horizon.

Around him was wrapped a cloak of deep blue, held together by a curious clasp of gold. Beowulf, noting the clasp, thought it resembled a coiled snake, for there were two green stones set in it which glittered. This man, Beowulf thought, has been in far-away places. He will chant us a good song.

Then the Wanderer (for so he was called) sat down upon a wooden stool, threw back the cloak from about his arms, and with long thin fingers struck the resounding strings of his harp.

He sang in a sharp voice that was like the crying of birds on the gray sea, hut there was a sweetness in it at the same time which held his hearers, and the lords of Geatsiand leaned forward on their benches in eagerness to catch every word.

He sang of the vast and frozen North, where winter lay upon the land for many, many months, and men foi.ght in the gloomy light of the night-burning sun.

He sang of endless forests stretching black and forbidding in a sea of snow; of mountains higher and bleaker than the highest mountains of Geatsiand; of the strange and fearful demons that inhabited this ghostly region.

Then the tune of the Wanderer changed. His voice fell to a lower note, and he sang of Hrothgar who was king of the Danes, that country not far from Geatsiand, across the water.

He told a sad story of desolation and despair in Hrothgar’s land, because of a beast which had struck mortal fear into the hearts of the lords of Daneland. For on one cruel night, twelve years before, there had come a monster, part animal, part man, part bird. The lords of Daneland were sleeping soundly, and the monster, who was called Grendel, had forced open the solid doors of the king’s ball and carried away in their sleep thirty of the greatest earls of the Danes.

There had been lamentation throughout the land, and many were the attempts to slay Grendel, but none had succeeded. And for twelve long years Grendel repeatedly visited the king’s hall and wrought destruction there. Now the land was despoiled of its youthful strength, and there remained to the king only those fighters whose early vigor had long since passed, and Daneland had become a country of old men and defenseless women.

Now, all the while that the Wanderer was singing, Beowulf sat as one bewitched.

He leaned forward upon the table, his arms folded under his still beardless chin, his eyes fixed upon the minstrel. Now and again he lifted his head and shook out the fair hair that hung beneath the golden band encircling his wide white forehead. The huge bracelets that weighted his wrists gleamed like his eyes, and the jeweled collar about his throat was tight because of the swelling veins of his neck. One thought possessed him:

He would seek out this monster, Grendel, and slay him - yes! slay him with bare hands!

He saw himself face to face with the monster Grendel, and suddenly a wild cry broke from his lips and he leaped from his seat.

“Lords of Geatsiand and earls of Hygelac,” he shouted, as the minstrel finished the song, “I am the son of Ecgtheow and of Hygelac’s sister, and in olden times this Hrothgar was a war-brother of my father. Therefore I claim kinship to him, and I will go to the land of the Danes and I will slay this Grendel!”

Then there was great confusion in the hail of Hygelac, and the earls called to one another, and dogs barked. But Hygd the queen stood up amid the turmoil, and holding a jeweled cup in her two hands because of its weight, stepped down to where Beowulf was, and offered him the cup, and smiled at him in affection.

Once again Hygelac commanded silence among the guests in the drinking-hall, and turning to Beowulf said:

“The time has come, 0 Beowulf, for you to prove your worth. The gods have gifted you with the strength of thirty men, and this strength you should use to the advantage of your fellows, Our neighbor Hrothgar is in sore need. Go forth, then, from Geatsland to the land of the Danes, and do mortal combat with this Grendel-fiend.”

For seven days and seven nights there were great preparations in the halls of Hygelac the Great, that Beowulf might go on his adventure fully equipped for whatever a aited him in Daneland. From the group of companions who had come to manhood at the same time as himself, Beowulf selected fourteen earls to accompany him. He had wiched to go alone to the land of the Danes, but his uncle the king had commanded that he be suitably companioned on such a voyage, so that at the court of Hrothgar it could not be said that Hygelac had sent the, youth upon a fool’s errand and badly equipped.

Special shields were made, of stout wood covered with thick hides and bound with iron and studded with golden nails. Rich cloaks of scarlet and blue there were for the warriors, and massive bracelets of fine gold for their arms and wrists, and collars of gold wire.

When at last they stood ready in the meadhall of Hygelac, they were a fine company of young men, whose like was not to be seen in all the countries of the North. Each stood well over six feet in height, with broad shoulders and sturdy legs; and each was swift as a deer.

Then came the signal for the journey down to the beach whre a ship lay in readiness to receive Beowulf and his earls, and with torches flaming in the grayness of approaching dawn, they departed.

They came at length to the coast of Daneland and the sea boiled white between them and the land, and the land itself was scarred and pitted with a thousand narrow inlets, which were treacherous to seafarers unfamiliar with them. The forests that clung to the shore line were half hidden in gray mists that moved and twisted like smoke about the trees, but as the storm lessened, they beached their boat on a tiny strip of sand at the edge of a deep forest hung with gray fog and silent as death.

That night, after Beowulf and his companions had rested, for the first time in twelve years there was a great banquet in the hall of Hrothgar. The place was decorated with fine hangings, the gold-bright roof burnished until it shone like the sun, and the benches had been scraped and polished by many willing hands. Huge fires were built on the hearths, and the smell of roasting meats pervaded the hall.

The fires were burnt out on the hearths when the last of Hrothgar’s train had departed. Then Beowulf and his companions set themselves to fastening tightly the door of the hall. They secured it with wooden bolts and tied it with leathern thongs, and so strong was it that no mortal could have passed through.

Then the warriors of Geatsland unfolded their cloaks upon the benches and laid themselves down to slumber, and Beowulf stretched his great length upon the dais of the king, and resolved that through the long night he would never once close his eyes. Near the door lay the young Hondscio, Beowulf’s favorite earl, who swore that if anyone broke through the door he would be the first to give the intruder battle.

Silence crept over the shrouded forms where they lay upon the floor and benches, and there was no sound save their steady breathing and the faint sighing of the night wind in the trees about the hall.

Beowulf, upon his couch, lay still as death, but his eyes moved here and there in the deepening gloom of the hail.

Outside, a fog was creeping up from the sea, obscuring the moon in milky eclipse, and at last there was not even the sound of the wind in the trees. To Beowulf the deep silence seemed full of moving things invisible to human eyes.

Gradually there came over him a kind of drowsiness that he fought to ward off. His eyelids fluttered against his eyes, and then he swooned with a sleep that lay upon his limbs like a heavy garment.

But suddenly there was a rustling among the wet trees, and a noise like the deep grunt of a pig, but soft and low, startled the fog- bound night, and the drops of mist-water on the trees fell sharply to the ground like heavy rain. Then the fog parted evenly, and in the wide path it made through the night a Shadow loomed gigantic in all that was left of moonlight.

Slowly, slowly it neared the great hail and the night shuddered at its coming, and behind it, as it moved, the fog closed again with a sucking sound. And the Shadow stood before the great door of the hail, and swayed hideously in the ghastly light.

Within there was a deep stillness, and Beowulf and the Geatish earls slept soundly, with no knowledge of what stood so evilly beyond the door. For the monstrous Shadow was the fiend Grendel, and standing there in the fog- strewn night he placed a spell upon those who slept to make them sleep more soundly.

But Beowulf hung between sleeping and waking, and while the spell did not completely deaden his senses, it so ensnared his waking dream that he fought desperately against it in his half-sleep and was not quite overpowered.

Little by little the thongs that secured the door gave way, and the huge wooden bolts yielded under the pressure that was strained against them, but no sound broke upon the silent struggle that went on between Grendel and the door.

Beowulf tossed and turned in waking, but the other earls of Geatsiand fell deeper and deeper into the swooning sleep.

Then with a rush, the door flew wide, and the fog and salt-smelling night swept in. And in the doorway, swaying this way and that, stood Grendel, huge and dark against the dark night, the fog weaving about him in white veils, and the door of the hail limp on its hinges.

And Beowulf came out of his dream-spell and saw what stood so vast and evil in the doorway. But his eyes were heavy with the spell that clung to him as the wisps of fog clung about the body of Grendel, and only slowly was he able to distinguish the monster. Through his nightmare, now, there came the sense of what had befallen him, and he strove to cast the last remnant of the magic from him as he saw the great form of Grendel swoop down upon the innocent form of young Hondscio, catch him up in enormous hands, and tear him limb from sleeping limb.

And now at last Beowulf saw what manner of thing this Grendel was. His legs were like the trunks of trees and they were covered with a kind of gray dry scale that made a noise like paper as the fiend moved this way and that. The body of the beast was shaped like that of a man, but such a man as no mortal eyes had ever before beheld, and the size and shape of it were something to be marveled at.

The head was the head neither of beast or man, yet had something of the features of both, and the great jaw was filled with blunt fangs that ground the bones of the unhappy Hondscio to pulp. Shaggy matted hair hung over the low forehead, and the eyes in the face of Grendel were the color of milk.

Horror-struck upon his couch, Beowulf felt his limbs in thrall and could move neither leg nor arm to raise himself as Grendel devoured the body of the young Hondscio.

And when Grendel had finished his horrid meal, the beast straightened a little his vast form and looked now to the left, now to the right, until his gaze fell upon the length of Beowulf. Then the milk-white eyes burned with a dull light that was like the light of the moon, and slowly, slowly Grendel moved toward the dais.

But Beowulf, stung with loathing, leaped from his bed.

Silently they fought in the fog-strewn hail. Silently their bodies twisted and bent, this way and that, and Beowulf kept Grendel’s huge hands with their long claws of sharp bone from him, and Grendel in turn sought to tear apart the quick body that slipped so easily through his arms and legs.

Their bodies wove in and out among the sleepers, and Beowulf felt the hot reek of Grendel’s breath upon his cheek, and the sweat stood out on Beowulf’s broad brow and ran down into his eyes and blinded him. And Grendel’s huge hands sought over and over again to clasp his opponent’s head, to crush it in their grip.

Then the fight became a deadly struggle in one far corner of the hall, and neither one gained any advantage over the other. Then Beowulf slipped. On the earthen floor they fell together and the force of their fall made the earth tremble.

But Grendel’s hold lessened, and fear smote the heart of the fiend. He strove only to free himself from Beowulf’s grasp and flee into the night away from this white youth whose strength was the strength of thirty men.

And now Beowulf had the upper hand, and flew at the giant’s throat. But here his hands clutched at thick scales upon which he could get no grip. Grendel nearly took the advantage, but before he could seize Beowulf, the lord of Geatsiand had fastened both mighty hands upon the monster’s arm, and with a sudden twist that forced a groan of agony from Grendel’s lips, leaped behind him.

Now came the final struggle, and sweat poured from Beowulf, while from Grendel there oozed a slimy sap that smelled like vinegar, and sickened Beowulf. But he clung to the monster’s arm, and slowly, slowly he felt its great muscles and sinews give way, and as his foot found Grendel’s neck, he prayed to all the gods for help, and called upon his father Ecgtheow for strength to sustain him in this desperate effort.

And the mighty arm of Grendel gave way in the terrible hands of Beowulf, and, with a piercing shriek that shook the gilded rafters, Grendel stumbled forward, leaving in Beowulf’s hands the gory arm.

Beowulf fell back upon the dais, the bleeding arm of Grendel in his hands. And Grendel, with a prolonged and ghastly wail, his blunt fangs gnashing together In dumb fury, stumbled toward the door, and before Beowulf could recover, the fiend was away into the fog which swallowed him as surely and completely as though he had plunged into the everlasting sea.

This fascinating game is good fun at all times, but it is especially suited for dull afternoons. It is easily made and is played by only one person at a time. The object of the game is to get all of the pegs off the board except one, which should be left in the centre hole. The pegs are removed by jumping with one over another, removing each peg jumped, as is done in playing checkers.

How to Make

A peg game may be made from heavy cardboard, the following directions are given for constructing it from poplar or other soft wood because of the lasting qualities of wood. If you prefer the more permanent game secure one piece of poplar or other soft wood either or 34 of an inch by 93/2 inches by 934 inches, and one piece dowel rod 34 of an inch by 48 inches.

After squaring and planing the board as desired, mark off spacing for holes, making them x inch apart on centres, as shown in the accompanying drawing. Then bore holes to depth of 3/2 inch, using 34 inch bit. Next cut 32 pins from the rod, making each pin x3/ inch long and slightly pointed on both ends. Now sand the board with No. 34 or any fine sandpaper. If desired, the board may be made more attractive by marking off x inch squares, as shown in the accompanying drawing. These squares can then be painted with two bright colors, as shown. Either water-colors or paints may be used. Shellac with thin shellac (two coats must be applied) or wax with good furniture or floor wax.

How to Play

The jump-peg game is played by filling with pegs all of the holes except the centre one. The player begins to play by jumping any peg over another into the hole and removing from the board the peg thus jumped. All jumps should be made in straight lines, either in a horizontal or a vertical direction.

As explained at the outset, the purpose of this game is to remove all pegs except one from the board. This last peg should be left in the centre hole. This may look very easy, but it is much more difficult than it seems at first sight. The peg sometimes will not jump to the centre hole. If you wish, you may compare your skill in playing jump-peg with that of your friends by seeing who can remove all the pegs but one in the least possible number of moves.

Six girls. One cave. And a whole lot of shakin’ going on.

Get yourself a big bowl of popcorn, dim the lights, and wrap an arm around your favorite scary-movie-watching partner.

In The Descent, Shauna Macdonald and Natalie Jackson Mendoza lead a six girl gang of thrill seekers down into the depths of a cave. Their goal is to find a passage past the pain of the freak tragedy that opens the story. After a rockslide traps them inside the cave with a race of cannibal cave crawlers, their goal is to find a passage … the *bleep* out of there!

Neil Marshall does a great job writing and directing The Descent. The story is full of excitement, suspense and interesting characters. There is a clash of egos, a hidden history, and a fracturing of relationships that gives you more than you’d expect from a horror flick.

Get Inspired

After you’ve had your heebie-jeebies rocked and tossed popcorn all over your living room with every scream it’s time to get inspired. After all, this is a movie about adventurous girls. And it is a new year …

Rock Climbing For Women

Rock climbing is a great sport for women for two reasons. One, women have greater flexibility than men. And two, women have less upper body strength than men. Now you’d think less strength would make it harder, but that’s not the case.

Men, and even experienced male climbers, tend to rely on their upper body strength while climbing. Pushing your upper body to the limit saps your strength and can tire out your whole body very quickly. Women on the other hand, use their legs more because they have to. The best climbers of both sexes rely on the strength and stamina of their legs to carry them up a rock face.

Want a great workout? Rock climbing is a great workout. Find an indoor climbing gym near you and take a few lessons to kick off the new year. Or if you’re seriously hardcore, check out what other adventurous women are doing outdoors.

After you watch The Descent, don’t forget to check out the blooper reel … there’s nothing funnier than a dancing cannibal!

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Especially when she has super powers.

Would you like to hurl your ex’s car into space? Throw a live shark into his living room? Leave him standing awkwardly naked in front of his co-workers? You might be an ex-girlfriend. But if you actually could do all those things, you would be a super ex-girlfriend.

That’s just some of the stuff Uma Thurman does to Luke Wilson after their break-up in My Super Ex-Girlfriend. When Matt (Wilson) meets Jenny (Thurman), he thinks he’s found the perfect girl. Little does he know that Jenny is actually G-Girl, the city’s resident superhero. She flies, puts out burning buildings, catches the bad guys, and stops runaway test missiles. You know, the ususal superhero stuff.

But Jenny has a needy and jealous side. Matt dumps her because he’s really in love with Hanna (Anna Faris). Jenny loses it. Payback sucks. Matt then decides to strike back and hatches a plan to strip Jenny of her G-Girl powers with Professor Bedlam (The arch enemy played by Eddie Izzard).

My Super Ex-Girlfriend looks really cheesy on the surface, but it has a nice mix of romance, action and comedy. The only downside; Anna Faris doesn’t get to truly flex her funny. If you remember the toothpaste scene in Just Friends, you know how easily she can own a movie when she turns it on.

Diana Krall has put together a colorful and balanced mix of songs on her new album From This Moment On. She takes the tempo up, takes it down, shakes it about, and passes it around.

There is an air of playfulness in the album. Coincidentally, she and husband Elvis Costello became the proud parents of twins this December and you have to wonder if her new mom status is providing the fuel for the whimsical flow of it. Maybe the groove just comes with the verve. Whatever her inspiration, she’s put together an album that’s not your typical jazz offering. It’s something more adventurous. Something more interesting. Something better.

The first couple songs are pretty standard. From that moment on, the album starts to catch your attention. How Insensitive throws a little smoke into the cabaret. Exactly Like You and Day In Day Out take the tempo up. Whether you like the duelling brass of the title track From This Moment On, or you find a skip in your step while listening to I Was Doing All Right, the standout track is Willow Weep For Me.

Willow Weep For Me has a wisp of James Bond running through it. It’s cool. International spy cool. It’s the kind of jazz that’s bigger than life. It just works and Diana Krall works it with perfection.

ZingFu is dumb. Really Dumb. And that’s just they way they like it!

At ZingFu, you can upload photos from your computer or your photobucket account and dress them up with all sorts of fun and silly effects. Then you can share your crazy creations with your friends on ZingFu with your own zingfolio. You can also share them on other social networks like MySpace, facebook, xanga, piczo, bebo and Hi5. ZingFu has hundreds of zings that you can choose from ranging from the hilarious to the absurd.

Some of the zing categories that you can choose from include Celebz, Holidayz, and Destinationz. You can turn your picture into a magazine cover or an employee of the month style award photo. You can even add your own funny captions with speech bubbles.

There is an amazing new convergence of technology and media happening on the internet right now. The ability for anyone and everyone to produce their own TV show and broadcast it for next to no cost is forming a wave of creativity that can only be described as reality TV 2.0.

Payperpost is an internet startup that is injecting big media business savvy into the blogging world. They enable bloggers to write about an advertiser’s new product or promo spiel and get paid for it. This has always been controversial because it blurs the line between unbiased articles and advertisements. New policies of disclosure, stating that a post is indeed a paid post are calming down much of the controversy. As John Chow recently showed after conducting a poll of bloggers, pay-per-post blogging can be a great revenue generator for small, low traffic blogs.

Why Does Pay Per Post Work?

Unique people are grabbing the spotlight and creating runaway hits simply by offering their own unique perspective on things. The power of a unique perspective can capture an audience’s attention. While most people were recently writing about Time Magazine’s interesting choice for Person of The Year, Problogger Darren Rowse commented on how Time magazine made itself into linkbaiter of the year with it’s decision to crown you, me, and everyone else, Person of the Year for “seizing the reins of the global media”.

This kind of unique perspective on a big story is what makes pay per post advertising potentially so engaging, viral, and cost effective for advertisers.

Rockstartup and Reality TV 2.0

Payperpost.com is clearly an internet savvy group that’s playing with a cutting edge advertising model. But their own advertising push might even be more cutting edge.

They started a side project called Rockstartup where they film the daily adventures of building their internet startup. It’s reality TV on the web. It’s interactive, it’s unique content, and it’s an economical way to promote their company and get the word out there about Payperpost. They’re even welcoming interested network TV execs to give them a call if they want to pick up the show. This cool advertising push has become an interesting business model all in itself.

Do-it-yourself reality TV is here. And it has the power to level the playing field for small companies that can leverage the viral interactivity of the internet to get people involved.

The Future of Internet TV … Video … TV …

Google’s purchase of YouTube and the YouTube phenomenon in itself are fueling a scenario where your cable TV bill might one day come from Google. Not likely right. Tell that to the big networks like Fox, Viacom, NBC Universal and perhaps CBS that are looking to join forces to form their own YouTube killer.

The internet is your TV. You are the reality. Better get started.

Disclosure? … this is not a paid post