“An Ouphe!” perhaps you
exclaim, “and pray what might that be?”
An Ouphe, fair questioner, though
you may never have heard of him, was a
creature well known (by hearsay, at least) to your
great-great-grandmother. It was currently reported
that every forest had one within its precincts, who
ruled over the woodmen, and exacted tribute from them
in the shape of little blocks of wood ready hewn for
the fire of his underground palace, such
blocks as are bought at shops in these degenerate
days, and called in London “kindling.”
It was said that he had a silver axe,
with which he marked those trees that he did not object
to have cut down; moreover, he was supposed to possess
great riches, and to appear but seldom above ground,
and when he did to look like an old man in all respects
but one, which was that he always carried some green
ash-keys about with him which he could not conceal,
and by which he might be known.
Do I hear you say that you don’t
believe he ever existed? It matters not at all
to my story whether you do or not. He certainly
does not exist now. The Commissioners of Woods
and Forests have much to answer for, if it was they
who put an end to his reign; but I do not think they
did; it is more likely that the spelling-book used
in woodland districts disagreed with his constitution.
After this short preface please to
listen while I tell you that once in a little black-timbered
cottage, at the skirts of a wood, a young woman sat
before the fire rocking her baby, and, as she did so,
building a castle in the air: “What a good
thing it would be,” she thought to herself,
“if we were rich!”
It had been a bright day, but the
evening was chilly; and, as she watched the glowing
logs that were blazing on her hearth, she wished that
all the lighted part of them would turn to gold.
She was very much in the habit this
little wife of building castles in the
air, particularly when she had nothing else to do,
or her husband was late in coming home to his supper.
Just as she was thinking how late he was there was
a tap at the door, and an old man walked in, who said:
“Mistress, will you give a poor man a warm at
your fire?”
“And welcome,” said the young woman, setting
him a chair.
So he sat down as close to the fire
as he could, and spread out his hands to the flames.
He had a little knapsack on his back,
and the young woman did not doubt that he was an old
soldier.
“Maybe you are used to the hot countries,”
she said.
“All countries are much the
same to me,” replied the stranger. “I
see nothing to find fault with in this one. You
have fine hawthorn-trees hereabouts; just now they
are as white as snow; and then you have a noble wood
behind you.”
“Ah, you may well say that,”
said the young woman. “It is a noble wood
to us; it gets us bread. My husband works in it.”
“And a fine sheet of water there
is in it,” continued the old man. “As
I sat by it to-day it was pretty to see those cranes,
with red legs, stepping from leaf to leaf of the water-lilies
so lightly.”
As he spoke he looked rather wistfully
at a little saucepan which stood upon the hearth.
“Why, I shouldn’t wonder
if you were hungry,” said the young woman, laying
her baby in the cradle, and spreading a cloth on the
round table. “My husband will be home soon,
and if you like to stay and sup with him and me, you
will be kindly welcome.”
The old man’s eyes sparkled
when she said this, and he looked so very old and
seemed so weak that she pitied him. He turned
a little aside from the fire, and watched her while
she set a brown loaf on the table, and fried a few
slices of bacon; but all was ready, and the kettle
had been boiling some time before there were any signs
of the husband’s return.
“I never knew Will to be so
late before,” said the stranger. “Perhaps
he is carrying his logs to the saw-pits.”
“Will!” exclaimed the
wife. “What, you know my husband, then?
I thought you were a stranger in these parts.”
“Oh, I have been past this place
several times,” said the old man, looking rather
confused; “and so, of course, I have heard of
your husband. Nobody’s stroke in the wood
is so regular and strong as his.”
“And I can tell you he is the
handiest man at home,” began his wife.
“Ah, ah,” said the old
man, smiling at her eagerness; “and here he
comes, if I am not mistaken.”
At that moment the woodman entered.
“Will,” said his wife,
as she took his bill-book from him, and hung up his
hat, “here’s an old soldier come to sup
with us, my dear.” And as she spoke, she
gave her husband a gentle push toward the old man,
and made a sign that he should speak to him.
“Kindly welcome, master,”
said the woodman. “Wife, I’m hungry;
let’s to supper.”
The wife turned some potatoes out
of the little saucepan, set a jug of beer on the table,
and they all began to sup. The best of everything
was offered by the wife to the stranger. The
husband, after looking earnestly at him for a few
minutes, kept silence.
“And where might you be going
to lodge to-night, good man, if I’m not too
bold?” asked she.
The old man heaved a deep sigh, and
said he supposed he must lie out in the forest.
“Well, that would be a great
pity,” remarked his kind hostess. “No
wonder your bones ache if you have no better shelter.”
As she said this, she looked appealingly at her husband.
“My wife, I’m thinking,
would like to offer you a bed,” said the woodman;
“at least, if you don’t mind sleeping in
this clean kitchen, I think that we could toss you
up something of that sort that you need not disdain.”
“Disdain, indeed!” said
the wife. “Why, Will, when there’s
not a tighter cottage than ours in all the wood, and
with a curtain, as we have, and a brick floor, and
everything so good about us ”
The husband laughed; the old man looked
on with a twinkle in his eye.
“I’m sure I shall be humbly grateful,”
said he.
Accordingly, when supper was over,
they made him up a bed on the floor, and spread clean
sheets upon it of the young wife’s own spinning,
and heaped several fresh logs on the fire. Then
they wished the stranger good night, and crept up
the ladder to their own snug little chamber.
“Disdain, indeed!” laughed
the wife, as soon as they shut the door. “Why,
Will, how could you say it? I should like to see
him disdain me and mine. It isn’t often,
I’ll engage to say, that he sleeps in such a
well-furnished kitchen.”
The husband said nothing, but secretly
laughed to himself.
“What are you laughing at, Will?”
said his wife, as she put out the candle.
“Why, you soft little thing,”
answered the woodman, “didn’t you see that
bunch of green ash-keys in his cap; and don’t
you know that nobody would dare to wear them but the
Ouphe of the Wood? I saw him cutting those very
keys for himself as I passed to the sawmill this morning,
and I knew him again directly, though he has disguised
himself as an old man.”
“Bless us!” exclaimed
the little wife; “is the Wood Ouphe in our cottage?
How frightened I am! I wish I hadn’t put
the candle out.”
The husband laughed more and more.
“Will,” said his wife,
in a solemn voice, “I wonder how you dare laugh,
and that powerful creature under the very bed where
you lie!”
“And she to be so pitiful over
him,” said the woodman, laughing till the floor
shook under him, “and to talk and boast of our
house, and insist on helping him to more potatoes,
when he has a palace of his own, and heaps of riches!
Oh, dear! oh, dear!”
“Don’t laugh, Will,”
said the wife, “and I’ll make you the most
beautiful firmity you ever tasted to-morrow.
Don’t let him hear you laughing.”
“Why, he comes for no harm,”
said the woodman. “I’ve never cut
down any trees that he had not marked, and I’ve
always laid his toll of the wood, neatly cut up, beside
his foot-path, so I am not afraid. Besides, don’t
you know that he always pays where he lodges, and very
handsomely, too?”
“Pays, does he?” said
the wife. “Well, but he is an awful creature
to have so near one. I would much rather he had
really been an old soldier. I hope he is not
looking after my baby; he shall not have him, let him
offer ever so much.”
The more the wife talked, the more
the husband laughed at her fears, till at length he
fell asleep, whilst she lay awake, thinking and thinking,
till by degrees she forgot her fears, and began to
wonder what they might expect by way of reward.
Hours appeared to pass away during these thoughts.
At length, to her great surprise, while it was still
quite dark, her husband called to her from below:
“Come down, Kitty; only come
down to see what the Ouphe has left us.”
As quickly as possible Kitty started
up and dressed herself, and ran down the ladder, and
then she saw her husband kneeling on the floor over
the knapsack, which the Ouphe had left behind him.
Kitty rushed to the spot, and saw the knapsack bursting
open with gold coins, which were rolling out over
the brick floor. Here was good fortune! She
began to pick them up, and count them into her apron.
The more she gathered, the faster they rolled, till
she left off counting, out of breath with joy and
surprise.
“What shall we do with all this
money?” said the delighted woodman.
They consulted for some time.
At last they decided to bury it in the garden, all
but twenty pieces, which they would spend directly.
Accordingly they dug a hole and carefully hid the rest
of the money, and then the woodman went to the town,
and soon returned laden with the things they had agreed
upon as desirable possessions; namely, a leg of mutton,
two bottles of wine, a necklace for Kitty, some tea
and sugar, a grand velvet waistcoat, a silver watch,
a large clock, a red silk cloak, and a hat and feather
for the baby, a quilted petticoat, a great many muffins
and crumpets, a rattle, and two new pairs of shoes.
How enchanted they both were!
Kitty cooked the nice things, and they dressed themselves
in the finery, and sat down to a very good dinner.
But, alas! the woodman drank so much of the wine that
he soon got quite tipsy, and began to dance and sing.
Kitty was very much shocked; but when he proposed
to dig up some more of the gold, and go to market for
some more wine and some more blue velvet waistcoats,
she remonstrated very strongly. Such was the
change that had come over this loving couple, that
they presently began to quarrel, and from words the
woodman soon got to blows, and, after beating his
little wife, lay down on the floor and fell fast asleep,
while she sat crying in a corner.
The next day they both felt very miserable,
and the woodman had such a terrible headache that
he could neither eat nor work; but the day after,
being pretty well again, he dug up some more gold and
went to town, where he bought such quantities of fine
clothes and furniture and so many good things to eat,
that in the end he was obliged to buy a wagon to bring
them home in, and great was the delight of his wife
when she saw him coming home on the top of it, driving
the four gray horses himself.
They soon began to unpack the goods
and lay them out on the grass, for the cottage was
far too small to hold them.
“There are some red silk curtains
with gold rods,” said the woodman.
“And grand indeed they are!”
exclaimed his wife, spreading them over the onion
bed.
“And here’s a great looking-glass,”
continued the woodman, setting one up against the
outside of the cottage, for it would not go in the
door.
So they went on handing down the things,
and it took nearly the whole afternoon to empty the
wagon. No wonder, when it contained, among other
things, a coral and bells for the baby, and five very
large tea-trays adorned with handsome pictures of
impossible scenery, two large sofas covered with green
damask, three bonnets trimmed with feathers and flowers,
two glass tumblers for them to drink out of, for
Kitty had decided that mugs were very vulgar things, six
books bound in handsome red morocco, a mahogany table,
a large tin saucepan, a spit and silver waiter, a
blue coat with gilt buttons, a yellow waistcoat, some
pictures, a dozen bottles of wine, a quarter of lamb,
cakes, tarts, pies, ale, porter, gin, silk stockings,
blue and red and white shoes, lace, ham, mirrors,
three clocks, a four-post bedstead, and a bag of sugar
candy.
These articles filled the cottage
and garden; the wagon stood outside the paling.
Though the little kitchen was very much encumbered
with furniture, they contrived to make a fire in it;
and, having eaten a sumptuous dinner, they drank each
other’s health, using the new tumblers to their
great satisfaction.
“All these things remind me
that we must have another house built,” said
Kitty.
“You may do just as you please
about that, my dear,” replied her husband, with
a bottle of wine in his hand.
“My dear,” said Kitty,
“how vulgar you are! Why don’t you
drink out of one of our new tumblers, like a gentleman?”
The woodman refused, and said it was
much more handy to drink it out of the bottle.
“Handy, indeed!” retorted
Kitty; “yes, and by that means none will be
left for me.”
Thereupon another quarrel ensued,
and the woodman, being by this time quite tipsy, beat
his wife again. The next day they went and got
numbers of workmen to build them a new house in their
garden. It was quite astonishing even to Kitty,
who did not know much about building, to see how quick
these workmen were; in one week the house was ready.
But in the meantime the woodman, who had very often
been tipsy, felt so unwell that he could not look
after them; therefore it is not surprising that they
stole a great many of his fine things while he lay
smoking on the green damask sofa which stood on the
carrot bed. Those articles which the workmen
did not steal the rain and dust spoilt; but that they
thought did not much matter, for still more than half
the gold was left; so they soon furnished the new
house. And now Kitty had a servant, and used
to sit every morning on a couch dressed in silks and
jewels till dinner-time, when the most delicious hot
beefsteaks and sausage pudding or roast goose were
served up, with more sweet pies, fritters, tarts,
and cheese-cakes than they could possibly eat.
As for the baby, he had three elegant cots, in which
he was put to sleep by turns; he was allowed to tear
his picture-books as often as he pleased, and to eat
so many sugar-plums and macaroons that they often
made him quite ill.
The woodman looked very pale and miserable,
though he often said what a fine thing it was to be
rich. He never thought of going to his work, and
used generally to sit in the kitchen till dinner was
ready, watching the spit. Kitty wished she could
see him looking as well and cheerful as in old days,
though she felt naturally proud that her husband should
always be dressed like a gentleman, namely, in a blue
coat, red waistcoat, and top-boots.
He and Kitty could never agree as
to what should be done with the rest of the money;
in fact, no one would have known them for the same
people; they quarrelled almost every day, and lost
nearly all their love for one another. Kitty
often cried herself to sleep a thing she
had never done when they were poor; she thought it
was very strange that she should be a lady, and yet
not be happy. Every morning when the woodman was
sober they invented new plans for making themselves
happy, yet, strange to say, none of them succeeded,
and matters grew worse and worse. At last Kitty
thought she should be happy if she had a coach; so
she went to the place where the knapsack was buried,
and began to dig; but the garden was so trodden down
that she could not dig deep enough, and soon got tired
of trying. At last she called the servant, and
told her the secret as to where the money was, promising
her a gold piece if she could dig it up. The
servant dug with all her strength, and with a great
deal of trouble they got the knapsack up, and Kitty
found that not many gold pieces were left. However,
she resolved to have the coach, so she took them and
went to the town, where she bought a yellow chariot,
with a most beautiful coat of arms upon it, and two
cream-colored horses to draw it.
In the meantime the maid ran to the
magistrates, and told them she had discovered something
very dreadful, which was, that her mistress had nothing
to do but dig in the ground and that she could make
money come coined money: “which,”
said the maid, “is a very terrible thing, and
it proves that she must be a witch.”
The mayor and aldermen were very much
shocked, for witches were commonly believed in in
those days; and when they heard that Kitty had dug
up money that very morning, and bought a yellow coach
with it, they decided that the matter must be investigated.
When Kitty drove up to her own door,
she saw the mayor and aldermen standing in the kitchen
waiting for her. She demanded what they wanted,
and they said they were come in the king’s name
to search the house.
Kitty immediately ran up-stairs and
took the baby out of his cradle, lest any of them
should steal him, which, of course, seemed a very
probable thing for them to do. Then she went to
look for her husband, who, shocking to relate, was
quite tipsy, quarrelling and arguing with the mayor,
and she actually saw him box an alderman’s ears.
“The thing is proved,”
said the indignant mayor; “this woman is certainly
a witch.”
Kitty was very much bewildered at
this; but how much more when she saw her husband seize
the mayor yes, the very mayor himself and
shake him so hard that he actually shook his head
off, and it rolled under the dresser! “If
I had not seen this with my own eyes,” said Kitty,
“I could not have believed it even
now it does not seem at all real.”
All the aldermen wrung their hands.
“Murder! murder!” cried the maid.
“Yes,” said the aldermen,
“this woman and her husband must immediately
be put to death, and the baby must be taken from them
and made a slave.”
In vain Kitty fell on her knees; the
proofs of their guilt were so plain that there was
no hope for mercy; and they were just going to be led
out to execution when why, then she opened
her eyes, and saw that she was lying in bed in her
own little chamber where she had lived and been so
happy; her baby beside her in his wicker cradle
was crowing and sucking his fingers.
“So, then, I have never been
rich, after all,” said Kitty; “and it was
all only a dream! I thought it was very strange
at the time that a man’s head should roll off.”
And she heaved a deep sigh, and put
her hand to her face, which was wet with the tears
she had shed when she thought that she and her husband
were going to be executed.
“I am very glad, then, my husband
is not a drunken man; and he does not beat
me; but he goes to work every day, and I am as happy
as a queen.”
Just then she heard her husband’s
good-tempered voice whistling as he went down the
ladder.
“Kitty, Kitty,” said he,
“come, get up, my little woman; it’s later
than usual, and our good visitor will want his breakfast.”
“Oh, Will, Will, do come here,”
answered the wife; and presently her husband came
up again, dressed in his fustian jacket, and looking
quite healthy and good-tempered not at
all like the pale man in the blue coat, who sat watching
the meat while it roasted.
“Oh, Will, I have had such a
frightful dream,” said Kitty, and she began
to cry; “we are not going to quarrel and hate
each other, are we?”
“Why, what a silly little thing
thou art to cry about a dream,” said the woodman,
smiling. “No, we are not going to quarrel
as I know of. Come, Kitty, remember the Ouphe.”
“Oh, yes, yes, I remember,”
said Kitty, and she made haste to dress herself and
come down.
“Good morning, mistress; how
have you slept?” said the Ouphe, in a gentle
voice, to her.
“Not so well as I could have wished, sir,”
said Kitty.
The Ouphe smiled. “I
slept very well,” he said. “The supper
was good, and kindly given, without any thought of
reward.”
“And that is the certain truth,”
interrupted Kitty: “I never had the least
thought what you were till my husband told me.”
The woodman had gone out to cut some
fresh cresses, for his guest’s breakfast.
“I am sorry, mistress,”
said the Ouphe, “that you slept uneasily my
race are said sometimes by their presence to affect
the dreams of you mortals. Where is my knapsack?
Shall I leave it behind me in payment of bed and board?”
“Oh, no, no, I pray you don’t,”
said the little wife, blushing and stepping back;
“you are kindly welcome to all you have had,
I’m sure: don’t repay us so, sir.”
“What, mistress, and why not?”
asked the Ouphe, smiling. “It is as full
of gold pieces as it can hold, and I shall never miss
them.”
“No, I entreat you, do not,”
said Kitty, “and do not offer it to my husband,
for maybe he has not been warned as I have.”
Just then the woodman came in.
“I have been thanking your wife
for my good entertainment,” said the Ouphe,
“and if there is anything in reason that I can
give either of you ”
“Will, we do very well as we
are,” said his wife, going up to him and looking
anxiously in his face.
“I don’t deny,”
said the woodman, thoughtfully, “that there are
one or two things I should like my wife to have, but
somehow I’ve not been able to get them for her
yet.”
“What are they?” asked the Ouphe.
“One is a spinning-wheel,”
answered the woodman; “she used to spin a good
deal when she was at home with her mother.”
“She shall have a spinning-wheel,”
replied the Ouphe; “and is there nothing else,
my good host?”
“Well,” said the woodman,
frankly, “since you are so obliging, we should
like a hive of bees.”
“The bees you shall have also;
and now, good morning both, and a thousand thanks
to you.”
So saying, he took his leave, and
no pressing could make him stay to breakfast.
“Well,” thought Kitty,
when she had had a little time for reflection, “a
spinning-wheel is just what I wanted; but if people
had told me this time yesterday morning that I should
be offered a knapsack full of money, and should refuse
it, I could not possibly have believed them!”