I fled to a rock cavern after my brother, Susa the Impetuous, came to the High Heavens and wrecked havoc, tangling me in the threads of my loom. I went inside and rolled a rock in front of the cave’s mouth. All went dark outside. In the cavern, bright light...
My father had a great deal of land, and he had wanted a son to take possession of it. Instead, my mother gave him a girl. Me. My mother would say, “Oh, look, she’s so bonny, bonny as can be!” But he wouldn’t even look at me. He said, “Let...
I tried to be good. I was quiet and only wanted to live in peace, but my stepmother would never allow peace. She beat and cuffed to me from morning till night, and, since she had the approval of my father, there was no remedy. I suffered her abuse for two years, and...
When I came to the village in the mountains, it was midwinter in Lapland, yet the villagers had heard of my strength. The town bailiff soon made it known that he wanted to compete with me. He fancied himself the strongest, fastest man in the land, and he...
I had gone through many trials through the winter. I had suffered loneliness and the frigid cold, but nothing and no one was crueler to me than my own kind. It was very difficult for me to forget the old mother duck who said, “Have you ever seen anything quite...
My mistress Maleen, didn’t want to marry her father’s choice of a man. She loved a neighboring king’s son, and he loved her. His father was all for it, but not Maleen’s. He was too mighty. He had to have the last word. Maleen refused to marry...
One day when I was eight years old, I was playing in the courtyard with my golden ball when it rolled away from me and into the cage of the wild man. I asked him to give it back, but he wouldn’t, not until I had unlocked his prison door. I refused at first, but when...
I was in the carriage with the family when the robbers attacked. They sprang out of the thicket, and killed everyone but me. I ran and ran and now I’m alone in the woods, without any food or shelter. What will I do? I can’t find my way back to the road,...
I was poor, but worse than poor, I couldn’t keep any money in my pockets. I had borrowed from a banker who was charging me interest, and my debt had tripled. Business was bad, I couldn’t sell my oil, and I couldn’t pay the banker. He kept coming...
I’m not a big fellow like my eleven brothers. I’m just a little guy. My brothers work in the fields and the forest with my father, while I stay home with my mother. My father is getting old and weak now, and my brothers are biting at the bit to go and seek...
