Chapter Chapter 22 · Molly Whuppie

Once upon a time there was a man and a wife had too many children, and

they could not get meat for them, so they took the three youngest and

left them in a wood. They travelled and travelled and could see never

a house. It began to be dark, and they were hungry. At last they saw a

light and made for it; it turned out to be a house. They knocked at the

door, and a woman came to it, who said: “What do you want?” They said:

“Please let us in and give us something to eat.” The woman said: “I

can't do that, as my man is a giant, and he would kill you if he comes

home.” They begged hard. “Let us stop for a little while,” said they,

“and we will go away before he comes.” So she took them in, and set them

down before the fire, and gave them milk and bread; but just as they had

begun to eat a great knock came to the door, and a dreadful voice said:

“Fee, fie, fo, fum,

I smell the blood of some earthly one.

Who have you there wife?” “Eh,” said the wife, “it's three poor lassies

cold and hungry, and they will go away. Ye won't touch 'em, man.” He

said nothing, but ate up a big supper, and ordered them to stay all

night. Now he had three lassies of his own, and they were to sleep in

the same bed with the three strangers.

The youngest of the three strange lassies was called Molly Whuppie, and

she was very clever. She noticed that before they went to bed the giant

put straw ropes round her neck and her sisters', and round his own

lassies' necks he put gold chains. So Molly took care and did not fall

asleep, but waited till she was sure every one was sleeping sound. Then

she slipped out of the bed, and took the straw ropes off her own and her

sisters' necks, and took the gold chains off the giant's lassies. She

then put the straw ropes on the giant's lassies and the gold on herself

and her sisters, and lay down.

And in the middle of the night up rose the giant, armed with a great

club, and felt for the necks with the straw. It was dark. He took his

own lassies out of bed on to the floor, and battered them until they

were dead, and then lay down again, thinking he had managed fine. Molly

thought it time she and her sisters were out of that, so she wakened

them and told them to be quiet, and they slipped out of the house. They

all got out safe, and they ran and ran, and never stopped until morning,

when they saw a grand house before them. It turned out to be a king's

house: so Molly went in, and told her story to the king. He said: “Well,

Molly, you are a clever girl, and you have managed well; but, if you

would manage better, and go back, and steal the giant's sword that hangs

on the back of his bed, I would give your eldest sister my eldest son to

marry.” Molly said she would try.

So she went back, and managed to slip into the giant's house, and crept

in below the bed. The giant came home, and ate up a great supper, and

went to bed. Molly waited until he was snoring, and she crept out, and

reached over the giant and got down the sword; but just as she got it

out over the bed it gave a rattle, and up jumped the giant, and Molly

ran out at the door and the sword with her; and she ran, and he ran,

till they came to the “Bridge of one hair”; and she got over, but he

couldn't, and he says, “Woe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never ye come

again.” And she says “Twice yet, carle,” quoth she, “I'll come to

Spain.” So Molly took the sword to the king, and her sister was married

to his son.

Well, the king he says: “Ye've managed well, Molly; but if ye would

manage better, and steal the purse that lies below the giant's pillow,

I would marry your second sister to my second son.” And Molly said she

would try. So she set out for the giant's house, and slipped in, and hid

again below the bed, and waited till the giant had eaten his supper, and

was snoring sound asleep. She slipped out, and slipped her hand below

the pillow, and got out the purse; but just as she was going out the

giant wakened, and ran after her; and she ran, and he ran, till they

came to the “Bridge of one hair,” and she got over, but he couldn't, and

he said, “Woe worth ye, Molly Whuppie! never you come again.” “Once yet,

carle,” quoth she, “I'll come to Spain.” So Molly took the purse to the

king, and her second sister was married to the king's second son.

After that the king says to Molly: “Molly, you are a clever girl, but if

you would do better yet, and steal the giant's ring that he wears on his

finger, I will give you my youngest son for yourself.” Molly said she

would try. So back she goes to the giant's house, and hides herself

below the bed. The giant wasn't long ere he came home, and, after he had

eaten a great big supper, he went to his bed, and shortly was snoring

loud. Molly crept out and reached over the bed, and got hold of the

giant's hand, and she pulled and she pulled until she got off the ring;

but just as she got it off the giant got up, and gripped her by the

hand, and he says: “Now I have catcht you, Molly Whuppie, and, if I had

done as much ill to you as ye have done to me, what would ye do to me?”

Molly says: “I would put you into a sack, and I'd put the cat inside

with you, and the dog aside you, and a needle and thread and a shears,

and I'd hang you up upon the wall, and I'd go to the wood, and choose

the thickest stick I could get, and I would come home, and take you

down, and bang you till you were dead.”

“Well, Molly,” says the giant, “I'll just do that to you.”

So he gets a sack, and puts Molly into it, and the cat and the dog

beside her, and a needle and thread and shears, and hangs her up upon

the wall, and goes to the wood to choose a stick.

Molly she sings out: “Oh, if ye saw what I see.”

“Oh,” says the giant's wife, “what do ye see, Molly?”

But Molly never said a word but, “Oh, if ye saw what I see!”

The giant's wife begged that Molly would take her up into the sack till

she would see what Molly saw. So Molly took the shears and cut a hole in

the sack, and took out the needle and thread with her, and jumped down

and helped, the giant's wife up into the sack, and sewed up the hole.

The giant's wife saw nothing, and began to ask to get down again; but

Molly never minded, but hid herself at the back of the door. Home came

the giant, and a great big tree in his hand, and he took down the sack,

and began to batter it. His wife cried, “It's me, man;” but the dog

barked and the cat mewed, and he did not know his wife's voice. But

Molly came out from the back of the door, and the giant saw her, and he

after her; and he ran and she ran, till they came to the “Bridge of one

hair,” and she got over but he couldn't; and he said, “Woe worth you,

Molly Whuppie! never you come again.” “Never more, carle,” quoth she,

“will I come again to Spain.”

So Molly took the ring to the king, and she was married to his youngest

son, and she never saw the giant again.