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Title: Grimm's Fairy Tales: Roland and May-Bird
Date of first publication: 1930
Author: Jacob Grimm (1785-1863)
Author: Wilhelm Grimm (1786-1859)
Illustrator: Noel Pocock (1880-1955)
Date first posted: October 31 2012
Date last updated: October 31 2012
Faded Page eBook #20121049

This eBook was produced by: David Edwards, Donna M. Ritchey
& the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at http://www.pgdpcanada.net

(This file was produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive/American Libraries.)




Roland and May-Bird


There was once a poor man who went every day to cut wood in the forest.
One day as he went along he heard a cry like a little child's; so he
followed the sound till at last he looked up a high tree, and on one of
the branches sat a very little girl. Its mother had fallen asleep, and a
vulture had taken it out of her lap and flown away with it and left it
on the tree. Then the wood-cutter climbed up, took the little child
down, and said to himself, "I will take this poor child home and bring
it up with my own son Roland." So he brought it to his cottage, and both
grew up together; and he called the little girl May-bird, because he had
found her on a tree in May; and May-bird and Roland were so very fond of
each other that they were never happy but when they were together.

But the wood-cutter became very poor, and had nothing in the world he
could call his own, and indeed he had scarcely bread enough for his wife
and the two children to eat. At last the time came when even that was
all gone, and he knew not where to seek for help in his need. Then at
night, as he lay on his bed and turned himself here and there, restless
and full of care, his wife said to him, "Husband listen to me, and take
the two children out early to-morrow morning; give each of them a piece
of bread, and then lead them into the midst of the wood where it is
thickest, make a fire for them, and go away and leave them alone to
shift for themselves, for we can no longer keep them here." "No, wife,"
said the husband, "I cannot find it in my heart to leave the children to
the wild beasts of the forest, who would soon tear them to pieces."
"Well, if you will not do as I say," answered the wife, "we must all
starve together:" and she let him have no peace until he came into her
plan.

Meantime the poor children too were lying awake restless and weak from
hunger, so that they heard all that their mother said to her husband.
"Now," thought May-bird to herself, "it is all up with us:" and she
began to weep. But Roland crept to her bedside, and said, "Do not be
afraid, May-bird, I will find out some help for us." Then he got up, put
on his jacket, and opened the door and went out.

The moon shone bright upon the little court before the cottage, and the
white pebbles glittered like daisies on the green meadows. So he stooped
down, and put as many as he could into his pocket, and then went back to
the house. "Now, May-bird," said he, "rest in peace;" and he went to bed
and fell fast asleep.

Early in the morning, before the sun had risen, the woodman's wife came
and woke them. "Get up, children," said she, "we are going into the
wood; there is a piece of bread for each of you, but take care of it and
keep some for the afternoon." May-bird took the bread and carried it in
her apron, because Roland had his pocket full of stones, and they made
their way into the wood.

After they had walked on for a time, Roland stood still and looked
towards home, and after a while turned again, and so on several times.
Then his father said, "Roland, why do you keep turning and lagging about
so? move your legs on a little faster." "Ah! father," answered Roland,
"I am stopping to look at my white cat that sits on the roof, and wants
to say good-bye to me." "You little fool!" said his mother, "that is
not your cat; 'tis the morning sun shining on the chimney top." Now
Roland had not been looking at the cat, but had all the while been
staying behind to drop from his pocket one white pebble after another
along the road.

When they came into the midst of the wood, the woodman said, "Run about,
children, and pick up some wood, and I will make a fire to keep us all
warm." So they piled up a little heap of brush-wood, and set it a-fire;
and as the flame burnt bright, the mother said, "Now set yourselves by
the fire and go to sleep, while we go and cut wood in the forest; be
sure you wait till we come again and fetch you." Roland and May-bird sat
by the fire-side till the afternoon, and then each of them ate their
piece of bread. They fancied the woodman was still in the wood, because
they thought they heard the blows of his axe; but it was a bough which
he had cunningly hung upon a tree, so that the wind blew it backwards
and forwards, and it sounded like the axe as it hit the other boughs.
Thus they waited till evening; but the woodman and his wife kept away,
and no one came to fetch them.

When it was quite dark May-bird began to cry; but Roland said, "Wait
awhile till the moon rises." And when the moon rose, he took her by the
hand, and there lay the pebbles along the ground, glittering like new
pieces of money, and marked the way out. Towards morning they came again
to the woodman's house, and he was glad in his heart when he saw the
children again; for he had grieved at leaving them alone. His wife also
seemed to be glad; but in her heart she was angry at it.

Not long after there was again no bread in the house, and May-bird and
Roland heard the wife say to her husband, "The children found their way
back once, and I took it in good part; but there is only half a loaf of
bread left for them in the house; to-morrow you must take them deeper
into the wood, that they may not find their way out, or we shall all be
starved." It grieved the husband in his heart to do as his wife wished,
and he thought it would be better to share their last morsel with the
children; but as he had done as she said once, he did not dare to say
no. When the children had heard all their plan, Roland got up and wanted
to pick up pebbles as before; but when he came to the door he found his
mother had locked it. Still he comforted May-bird, and said, "Sleep in
peace, dear May-bird; God is very kind and will help us." Early in the
morning a piece of bread was given to each of them, but still smaller
than the one they had before. Upon the road Roland crumbled his in his
pocket, and often stood still, and threw a crumb upon the ground. "Why
do you lag so behind, Roland?" said the woodman; "go your ways on
before." "I am looking at my little dove that is sitting upon the roof
and wants to say good-bye to me." "You silly boy!" said the wife, "that
is not your little dove, it is the morning sun that shines on the
chimney top." But Roland went on crumbling his bread, and throwing it on
the ground. And thus they went on still further into the wood, where
they had never been before in all their life. There they were again told
to sit down by a large fire, and sleep; and the woodman and his wife
said they would come in the evening and fetch them away. In the
afternoon Roland shared May-bird's bread, because he had strewed all his
upon the road; but the day passed away, and evening passed away too, and
no one came to the poor children. Still Roland comforted May-bird, and
said, "Wait till the moon rises; then I shall see the crumbs of bread
which I have strewed, and they will show us the way home."

The moon rose; but when Roland looked for the crumbs, they were gone;
for thousands of little birds in the wood had found them and picked
them up. Roland, however, set out to try and find his way home; but they
soon lost themselves in the wilderness, and went on through the night
and all the next day, till at last they lay down and fell asleep for
weariness: and another day they went on as before, but still did not
reach the end of the wood, and were as hungry as could be, for they had
nothing to eat.

In the afternoon of the third day they came to a strange little hut,
made of bread, with a roof of cake, and windows of sparkling sugar. "Now
we will sit down and eat till we have had enough," said Roland; "I will
eat off the roof for my share; do you eat the windows, May-bird, they
will be nice and sweet for you." Whilst May-bird, however, was picking
at the sugar, a sweet pretty voice called from within:

    "Tip, tap! who goes there?"

But the children answered:

    "The wind, the wind,
    That blows through the air;"

and went on eating; and May-bird broke out a round pane of the window
for herself, and Roland tore off a large piece of cake from the roof,
when the door opened, and a little old fairy came gliding out. At this
May-bird and Roland were so frightened, that they let fall what they had
in their hands. But the old lady shook her head, and said, "Dear
children, where have you been wandering about? come in with me; you
shall have something good." So she took them both by the hand, and led
them into her little hut, and brought out plenty to eat--milk and
pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts; and then two beautiful little
beds were got ready, and May-bird and Roland laid themselves down, and
thought they were in heaven: but the fairy was a spiteful one, and had
made her pretty sweetmeat house to entrap little children. Early in the
morning, before they were awake, she went to their little beds, and when
she saw the two sleeping and looking so sweetly, she had no pity on
them, but was glad they were in her power. Then she took up Roland, and
put him in a little coop by himself; and when he awoke, he found himself
behind a grating, shut up as little chickens are: but she shook
May-bird, and called out, "Get up, you lazy little thing, and fetch some
water; and go into the kitchen and cook something good to eat: your
brother is shut up yonder; I shall first fatten him, and when he is fat,
I think I shall eat him."

When the fairy was gone, the little girl watched her time and got up and
ran to Roland, and told him what she had heard, and said, "We must run
away quickly, for the old woman is a bad fairy, and will kill us." But
Roland said, "You must first steal away her fairy wand, that we may save
ourselves, if she should follow." Then the little maiden ran back, and
fetched the magic wand, and away they went together; so when the old
fairy came back, she could see no one at home, and sprang in a great
rage to the window, and looked out into the wide world (which she could
do far and near), and a long way off she spied May-bird running away
with her dear Roland; "You are already a great way off," said she; "but
you will still fall into my hands." Then she put on her boots, which
walked several miles at a step, and scarcely made two steps with them,
before she overtook the children: but May-bird saw that the fairy was
coming after them, and by the help of the wand turned her dear Roland
into a lake, and herself into a swan which swam about in the middle of
it. So the fairy set herself down on the shore, and took a great deal of
trouble to decoy the swan, and threw crumbs of bread to it; but it would
not come near her, and she was forced to go home in the evening, without
taking her revenge. And May-bird changed herself and her dear Roland
back into their own forms once more and they went journeying on the
whole night until the dawn of day; and then the maiden turned herself
into a beautiful rose, which grew in the midst of a quickset hedge, and
Roland sat by the side and played upon his flute.

[Illustration: "The door opened and a little old fairy came gliding
out."]

The fairy soon came striding along. "Good piper," said she, "may I pluck
the beautiful rose for myself?" "Oh yes," answered he; "and I will play
to you meantime." So when she had crept into the hedge in a great hurry
to gather the flower (for she well knew what it was), he began to play
upon his flute; and, whether she liked it or not, such was the wonderful
power of the music that she was forced to dance a merry jig, on and on
without any rest. And as he did not cease playing a moment, the thorns
at length tore the clothes from off her body, and pricked her sorely,
and there she stuck quite fast.

Then May-bird was free once more; but she was very tired, and Roland
said, "Now I will hasten home for help, and by and by we will be
married." And May-bird said, "I will stay here in the meantime and wait
for you; and, that no one may know me, I will turn myself into a stone
and lie in the corner of yonder field." Then Roland went away, and
May-bird was to wait for him. But Roland met with another maiden, who
pleased him so much that he stopped where she lived, and forgot his
former friend; and when May-bird had staid in the field a long time, and
found he did not come back, she became quite sorrowful, and turned
herself into a little daisy, and thought to herself, "Some one will come
and tread me under foot, and so my sorrows will end." But it so
happened that as a shepherd was keeping watch in the field he found the
flower, and thinking it very pretty, took it home, placed it in a box in
his room, and said, "I have never found so pretty a flower before." From
that time everything throve wonderfully at the shepherd's house: when he
got up in the morning, all the household work was ready done; the room
was swept and cleaned; the fire made, and the water fetched: and in the
afternoon, when he came home, the table-cloth was laid and a good dinner
ready set for him. He could not make out how all this happened; for he
saw no one in his house; and although it pleased him well enough, he was
at length troubled to think how it could be, and went to a cunning woman
who lived hard by, and asked her what he should do. She said, "There
must be witchcraft in it; look out to-morrow morning early, and see if
anything stirs about in the room; if it does, throw a white cloth at
once over it, and then the witchcraft will be stopped." The shepherd did
as she said, and the next morning saw the box open and the daisy come
out: then he sprang up quickly and threw a white cloth over it: in an
instant the spell was broken, and May-bird stood before him; for it was
she who had taken care of his house for him; and as she was so beautiful
he asked her if she would marry him. She said "No," because she wished
to be faithful to her dear Roland; but she agreed to stay and keep house
for him.

Time passed on, and Roland was to be married to the maiden that he had
found; and according to an old custom in that land, all the maidens were
to come and sing songs in praise of the bride and bridegroom. But
May-bird was so grieved when she heard that her dearest Roland had
forgotten her, and was to be married to another, that her heart seemed
as if it would burst within her, and she would not go for a long time.
At length she was forced to go with the rest; but she kept hiding
herself behind the others until she was left the last. Then she could
not any longer help coming forward; and the moment she began to sing,
Roland sprang up, and cried out, "That is the true bride; I will have no
other but her"; for he knew her by the sound of her voice; and all that
he had forgotten came back into his mind, and his heart was opened
towards her. So faithful May-bird was married to her dear Roland, and
there was an end of her sorrows; and from that time forward she lived
happily till she died.


[The end of _Grimm's Fairy Tales: Roland and May-Bird_ by the Brothers
Grimm]