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The
Fairy Wife
From "The Welsh Fairy Book"
by W.
Jenkyn Thomas [1908]
VERY
many years ago there lived in the farmhouse of
Ystrad, in Nant y Bettws, the Vale of the Beadhouse,
a youth who was joyous and active, brave and determined
of heart. On moonlight nights he used to amuse
himself with watching the Fairy Family dancing,
and with listening to their music. One night they
came very near the house, to a field near the
lake, which was afterwards called Llyn y Dywarchen,
the Lake of the Sod, there to beguile the night
in merrymaking. The young fellow, as was his wont,
went out to watch them. Immediately his eye fell
on one of the fairy damsels, whose beauty was
beyond anything he had ever seen in a human being.
Her complexion was like blood upon snow: her voice
was like the voice of a nightingale and as gentle
as the breeze of a summer evening in a flower
garden: her bearing was graceful and noble, and
she tripped on the greensward as lightly as the
rays of the sun had danced a few hours before
on the ripples of the lake hard by. He fell in
love with her over head and ears, and under the
impulse of that sudden passion, when the merriment
was at its height, he rushed into the middle of
the fair crowd, snatched the lovely maiden in
his arms, and ran off instantly with her into
the house. As soon as the other fairies saw the
violence that had been done by a mortal, they
broke up the dance and ran off after her towards
the house. But they were too late: the door was
locked and bolted, and the stolen maiden was safely
lodged in a chamber. The iron bolt and lock made
it impossible for them to reclaim her, for the
Fair Family abhor iron. When the young man had
got her under his roof, he applied every means
in his power to win her affection and asked her
to marry him. She refused him, though he begged
her time after time to be his wife. When, however,
she saw that he would not allow her to return
to her own people, she said to him, "I will not
be your wife, but if you can find out my name
I will be your servant." He, thinking that the
task was by no means impossible, reluctantly agreed
to the condition.
But the task was harder than he had imagined.
He tried every name that he had ever heard of,
even such curious Bible names as Zeruiah, La-ruhamel
and Hazelelponi, but found himself no nearer his
point. Nevertheless, he was not willing to give
up, and at last fortune came to his rescue. One
night, as he was returning from Carnarvon market,
he espied a number of the Fair Family in a turbary
not far from his path. They seemed as if they
were seriously deliberating together in council,
and he at once thought to himself, "I am sure
they are planning how to recover their stolen
sister. Perhaps if I can get within hearing distance
of them without being observed I shall be able
to find out my darling's name."
On looking carefully around, he saw that a deep
ditch ran through the turbary, and passed near
the spot where the Fair Family sat in council.
So he made his way round to the ditch and crept,
on all fours, along it as quietly as a snail and
almost as slowly, until he was within hearing
of the group. After listening a while he found
that he had been correct in his surmise: they
were discussing the fate of the maiden whom he
had carried away from them, and he heard one of
them wailing aloud, "Oh, Penelope, Penelope, my
sister, why didst thou run away with a mortal?"
"Penelope,"
said the young man to himself; "that must be the
name of my beloved: that is enough." At once he
began to creep back as quietly as he had crept
there, and he managed to reach home without being
seen by the fairies. When he got into the house
he called out to the damsel, "Penelope, my heart
of gold, come hither."
She came forward and asked in astonishment, "Oh,
mortal, who has betrayed my name to thee?" Then
folding her tiny hands, she exclaimed, "Alas,
my fate, my fate! " But she resigned herself to
her lot and took to her work as servant in earnest.
Everything in the house and on the farm prospered
under her charge. There was no better or cleanlier
housewife in all the country around, or one that
was more provident and thrifty than she was. She
milked the cows three times a day, and they gave
the usual quantity of milk each time. The butter
she made was so good that it fetched a penny a
pound more than any other butter sold at Carnarvon
market. The young man, however, was by no means
willing that she should be a servant to him, and
he persistently begged her to marry him. Many
a blow will break the stone, says the Welsh proverb,
and she at last consented to be married. But,
said she, "There is one condition you must observe:
you must never strike me with iron: if you do,
I must be free to leave you and return to my family."
The young man would have agreed to any conditions,
and this one he considered very easy to observe.
So they were wedded, and lived happily together
for years, and were blessed with two children,
a boy and a girl, the images of their mother and
the idols of their father. So wise and active
was the fairy wife that he became one of the richest
men of that country, and besides the farm of Ystrad
he farmed all the lands on the north of Nant y
Bettws to the top of Snowdon and all Cwm Brwynog,
in Llanberis, or about five thousand acres.
One day the husband wanted to go to a fair at
Carnarvon, and went out to catch a filly that
was grazing in a field near the house, in order
to sell her at the fair. But for the life of him
he could not secure her, and he called to his
wife to come to assist him. She came with-out
delay, and they managed to drive the frisky young
creature to a secure corner, as they thought:
but, as he approached her to put on the bridle,
the frolicsome animal rushed past him. In his
anger he threw the bridle after her; but who should
be running after her but his wife! The iron bit
struck her on the cheek, and she vanished out
of sight in a moment. But, though the broken compact
had compelled her disappearance, the fairy wife
could not forget her love for her children and
husband. One cold night, a long time after this
event, when the Dead Men's Feet Wind was blowing,
the husband was awakened from his sleep by a gentle
tapping on the glass of his bedroom window. After
he had given a response he recognised the gentle
and tender voice of his wife saying to him:
"Should
the cold oppress my son,
See his father's coat's put on
If my daughter feels the cold,
Wrap her in my skirt's thick fold."
She even contrived a way to see and speak to her
loved ones regularly. The law of her country would
not allow her to walk the earth after her return
to Fairyland, so she made a large sod to float
on the surface of the lake: on this she would
spend hours and hours, freely conversing in tenderness
with her husband and children on the shore. By
means of this contrivance they managed to live
together, until husband and children breathed
their last. The floating island she made may still
be seen, and it is from this that the lake acquired
its name.
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The
Fairy Wife - From "The Welsh Fairy Book"
© W. Jenkyn Thomas [1908] |
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