Читать книгу Лучшие сказки загадочной Шотландии. Уровень 1 / The Best Tales of Enchanted Scotland - Сборник - Страница 6

Once upon a time there was a young man named Farquhar MacNeill. One day the farmer's wife asked him to go over the hill to the house of a neighbour. She wanted to borrow flour, because she didn't have any left.

Farquhar agreed to do so. He set out at once upon his errand. The farmer's wife showed him the path to follow. She said that it was easy to find the house. So he looked for the light in the window.

Soon on his left hand he saw something that he took for the light[20]. He forgot his Mistress's instructions to follow the path right over the hill. He left it, and walked towards the light.

He thought he reached it. Suddenly his foot tripped. He fell down, down, down, into a Fairy Parlour, far under the ground. It was full of Fairies.

He saw two little elderly women, in black aprons and white mutches. They stood close by the door. They ground corn between two flat millstones. Other two Fairies, younger women, in blue print gowns and white kerchiefs, gathered up the freshly ground meal. They baked it into bannocks. Then they toasted it on a girdle over a peat fire. The fire burnt slowly in a corner.

In the centre of the large apartment many Fairies, Elves, and Sprites danced to the music of a tiny set of bagpipes. A brown-faced[21] Gnome played it. The Gnome sat on a ledge of rock far above their heads.

Farquhar came suddenly down in their midst. They all stopped, and looked at him in alarm. But then they saw that he was not hurt. They bowed gravely. Then they went on with their work and with their play.

Farquhar liked to dance very much. So he asked the Fairies to join them. They looked surprised at his request. But then they allowed him to do so. In a few minutes the young man danced with them.

As he danced a strange change came over him. He forgot about the flour. He forgot his home. He forgot everything. He only knew that he wanted to remain with the Fairies all the rest of his life[22].

And he remained with them. A magic spell was cast over him. He could be invisible and sip the dew from the grass and honey from the flowers daintily and noiselessly.

Time passed by. One night he and his merry companions set out for a long journey through the air. They started early. They intended to pay a visit to the Man in the Moon and be back again before cock-crow[23].

During the flight Farquhar fell in love with a young Fairy Maiden. He did not see a cottage that was right in his way. Suddenly he struck against the chimney. Then he stuck fast in the thatch.

His companions sped merrily on.

Farquhar glanced down the wide chimney. In the cottage kitchen he saw a lovely young woman. She had a rosy-cheeked baby in her arms. Now Farquhar was in his mortal state again. He liked children very much. A word of blessing rose to his lips. He looked at the mother and child and said,

“God shield you[24]”.

The Holy Name crossed his lips. The spell was broken. Instantly his thoughts flew to his friends at home. His thoughts flew to the Mistress and to her flour. He was sure that he was absent for some weeks. So he hurried to the farm.

He arrived in the neighbourhood. Everything seemed strange. There were woods, and walls in the neighborhood! To his amazement, he did not find his way to the farm. He expected to find his father's house. But he found a crop of rank green nettles.

What does it all mean? In great distress he looked about for someone to tell him. At last he found an old man. That man thatched the roof of a cottage.