Gudgekin the Thistle Girl Read Online Free PDF

“Any reward a man dares to name! Think of it!” They were all eager to be off to the imperial palace.
    But the woodchopper merely pursed his lips and read the proclamation three times, carefully, running his finger along beneath the words. “Bah, there’s got to be a catch,” he said at last, and he went back over to the curbstone and sat down.
    â€œWhat catch?” the people all said angrily. “How could there possibly be a catch? It’s from the emperor himself. Don’t you believe in anything? ”
    â€œWe’ll see,” the woodchopper said. “How are you going to tell the shape-shifters from ordinary people? False arrest is a serious business.”
    But he was talking to himself, for by now everybody in the village had gone to the imperial palace. Or, rather, everybody but the woodchopper and two old hags who were beating an ox with a long, thick stick.
    Meanwhile, at the imperial palace, the emperor watched all the people gathering, and he was pleased with the turnout. They came from the farthest corners of the empire—knights and dukes, wizards, scholars, housewives, adventurers, hucksters, tailors—and the palace was packed so full there was nowhere more to stand. “Welcome!” cried the emperor, clapping his hands with pleasure. “Welcome one and all!”
    Now the first to offer his services was a humpbacked knight dressed in scarlet. “If I rid the empire of the shape-shifters, Your Imperial Majesty,” the knight said slyly, “I ask one half of the empire as my prize.”
    The people all widened their eyes a little, startled that he should ask for so much. You could have heard a pin drop. But then the emperor said, “Done!”—a little crossly—and it was settled.
    So the humpbacked knight in scarlet set out from the palace and said he’d return by the first day’s sunrise. However, he didn’t return. A hush fell over the great crowd waiting at the palace gates, and they watched the sun rise higher and higher, and some said, “He’ll come yet,” and some said, “Never.” And then it was noon, and they knew that the knight wouldn’t make it.
    Meanwhile, the feeble old woodchopper was sitting on the curbstone, at home in his village with his ax beside him, watching the two old hags beating their ox. He watched for a long time, having nothing to do, and after a while it occurred to him that maybe they were shape-shifters. Otherwise why hadn’t they gone off to the palace with the rest? “But nothing’s simple in this world,” he thought, for he had no faith in logic. “There must be some catch.” On second thought, though, he walked over closer, taking his ax, and stood watching them until sunset. Sure enough, just at sunset, the two old hags turned into oxen, and the ox turned into a hedgehog. Before they could run away the wood-chopper cut off their heads and stuffed them in a sack.
    Now the woodchopper was the only one left in the village, so he decided to go to a neighboring village and see if there was anyone there who hadn’t gone off to the palace with the others. There was no one there but a humpbacked knight in scarlet. The woodchopper shook his head and chuckled and said to himself, “There’s got to be a catch.” However, he cut off the knight’s head and put it in his sack and hurried to the next town to see what was there.
    Back at the palace, the second man to offer aid to the emperor was an ancient wizard all dressed in black. He said, “If I rid the empire of the shape-shifters, Your Imperial Majesty, my reward shall be half the empire and your daughter’s hand in marriage.”

    Again the people were dismayed by such boldness, but again the emperor, after swallowing twice, said “Done!” and the wizard rode off. He said he would return by the second day at sunrise, but he, too, was wrong. The sky grew light on