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silver tree and gold tree text version
ONCE upon a time there was a king who had a wife, whose name was Silver-tree, and a daughter, whose name was Gold-tree. On a certain day of the days, Gold-tree and Silver-tree went to a glen, where there was a well, and in it there was a trout.Said Silver-tree, "Troutie, bonny little fellow, am not I the most beautiful queen in the world?"
"Oh indeed you are not."
"Who then?"
"Why, Gold-tree, your daughter."
Silver-tree went home, blind with rage. She lay down on the bed, and vowed she would never be well until she could get the heart and the liver of Gold-tree, her daughter, to eat.
At nightfall the king came home, and it was told him
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that Silver-tree, his wife, was very ill. He went where she was, and asked her what was wrong with her.
"Oh! only a thing which you may heal if you like."
"Oh! indeed there is nothing at all which I could do for you that I would not do."
"If I get the heart and the liver of Gold-tree, my daughter, to eat, I shall be well.''
Now it happened about this time that the son of a great king had come from abroad to ask Gold-tree for marrying. The King now agreed to this, and they went abroad.
The king then went and sent his lads to the hunting-hill for a he-goat, and he gave its heart and its liver to his wife to eat; and she rose well and healthy.
A year after this Silver-tree went to the glen, where there was the well in which there was the trout.
"Troutie, bonny little fellow," said she, " am not I the most beautiful queen in the world?"
"Oh! indeed you are not."
"Who then?"
"Why, Gold-tree, your daughter."
"Oh! well, it is long since she was living. It is a year since I ate her heart and liver."
"Oh! indeed she is not dead. She is married to a great prince abroad."
Silver-tree went home, and begged the king to put the long-ship in order, and said, "I am going to see my dear Gold-tree, for it is so long since I saw her." The long-ship was put in order, and they went away.
It was Silver-tree herself that was at the helm, and she steered the ship so well that they were not long at all hefore they arrived.
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The prince was out hunting on the hills. Gold-tree knew the long-ship of her father coming.
"Oh!" said she to the servants, "my mother is coming, and she will kill me."
"She shall not kill you at all; we will lock you in a room where she cannot get near you."
This is how it was done; and when Silver-tree came ashore, she began to cry out: "Come to meet your own mother, when she comes to see you," Gold-tree said that she could not, that she was locked in the room, and that she could not get out of it.


"Will you not put out," said Silver-tree, "your little finger through the keyhole, so that your own mother may give a kiss to it?"

She put out her little finger, and Silver-tree went and put a poisoned stab in it, and Gold-tree fell dead.
When the prince came home, and found Gold-tree dead, he was in great sorrow, and when he saw how beautiful she was, he did not bury her at all, but he locked her in a room where nobody would get near her.
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In the course of time he married again, and the whole house was under the hand of this wife but one room, and he himself always kept the key of that room. On a certain day of the days he forgot to take the key with him, and the second wife got into the room. What did she see there but the most beautiful woman that she ever saw.
She began to turn and try to wake her, and she noticed the poisoned stab in her finger. She took the stab out, and Gold-tree rose alive, as beautiful as she was ever.
At the fall of night the prince came home from the hunting-hill, looking very downcast.
"What gift," said his wife, "would you give me that I could make you laugh?"
"Oh! indeed, nothing could make me laugh, except Gold-tree were to come alive again."
"Well, you'll find her alive down there in the room."
When the prince saw Gold-tree alive he made great rejoicings, and he began to kiss her, and kiss her, and kiss her. Said the second wife, "Since she is the first one you had it is better for you to stick to her, and I will go away."
"Oh! indeed you shall not go away, but I shall have both of you."
At the end of the year, Silver-tree went to the glen, where there was the well, in which there was the trout.
"Troutie, bonny little fellow," said she, "am not I the most beautiful queen in the world?"
"Oh! indeed you are not."
"Who then?"
"Why, Gold-tree, your daughter."
"Oh! well, she is not alive. It is a year since I put the poisoned stab into her finger."
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"Oh! indeed she is not dead at all, at all."
Silver-tree went home, and begged the king to put the long-ship in order, for that she was going to see her dear Gold-tree, as it was so long since she saw her. The long-ship was put in order, and they went away. It was Silver-tree herself that was at the helm, and she steered the ship so well that they were not long at all before they arrived.
The prince was out hunting on the hills. Gold-tree knew her father's ship coming.
"Oh!" said she, "my mother is coming, and she will kill me."
"Not at all," said the second wife; "we will go down to meet her."
Silver-tree came ashore. "Come down, Gold-tree, love," said she, "for your own mother has come to you with a precious drink."
"It is a custom in this country," said the second wife, "that the person who offers a drink takes a draught out of it first."
Silver-tree put her mouth to it, and the second wife went and struck it so that some of it went down her throat, and she fell dead. They had only to carry her home a dead corpse and bury her.
The prince and his two wives were long alive after this, pleased and peaceful.
I left them there.
migrating bighorn sheep text version
Migrating Bighorn Sheep - When Minds are One, What is Far Comes Near

once in a time long ago flock of Bighorn sheep was Autumn grazing in a remote Rocky Mountain pond. The grasses were delicious and the autumn Sun was shining gently down.As the season turned, they knew they could not remain there forever. they knew the weather would change, and the snow would come and the grasses sould disappear. they knew they must move down to a lower altitude or they would not be able to find enough food toget through the winter. but where to go?One sheep, called by Banti had a special love for the taste of young pine tree samplings in the distance Southeast lands of Malimo Valley."Me want the Pines" Banti bellowed loudly, and in order to make his pointhe butted horns with the other Rams loudly.after a while he gave up, seeing that the other Rams we're not convinced, and said fine forget you guys! and decided to set off towards malimo Valley all alone .. chasing the aromas in his mind of abundant pinesaplings." be careful banti" said jaro the elder .. "only when minds are one, does what is far come near"
but banti could only think of his desire for those young delicious pine saplings.he was mesmerized and followed the path towards Malimo Valley as though in a dream.He did not dream for long though because as he walked he was found by a pack of wolves.And since he was alone, and following a dream, he was very vulnerable.And the wolves, who shared a common goal to have Banti for lunch, worked together to bring Banti down and had plenty of food to eat that day.Meanwhile back at the pond another sheep, this one by the name ofSinga, was having fantasies about the sparkling clear waterfalls of the Slamon Valley."Lets all go to Slamon Valley!"Singa said."I love those waterfalls so much!" and he too butted horns loudly with the other rams to make his point.But as with Banti, the other rams were not convinced.And so Singa exclaimed .. "Bah! forget you guys .. I just cant wait to wash my horns in those wonderful waters," and he decided to say his goodbyes and head off on his own." be careful singa" said jaro the elder .. "only when minds are one, does what is far come near"
But, as with Banti, Singa did not listen to the elder.He was soexcited by the idea of the crystal clear waters splashing across his horns that he set off all on his own, as though in a dream.He did not dream for long though because as he walked he was found by a pack of wolves.And since he was alone, and following a dream, he was very vulnerable.And the wolves, who shared a common goal to have Singa for lunch, worked together to bring Singa down and had plenty of food to eat that day.Finally Jaro the Elder knew that he must take the lead, otherwise more sheep would run off following a dream and be lost to the wolves.So instead of butting heads with the others, he slowly walked among them speaking wisely for ge had no personal urgent dreams."I propose we all go together to Hvnor Valley" he said, "where thereare abundant young clovers and goldenrod stems for our children to eat.And there are abundant rocks and boulders from which we may keep a lookout for predators, and upon which our children can play.When our children are safe and well nourished and happy and inspired, then we will all feel our sense of purpose and we will be happy as well.And because we will be together, we will be safe."The other rams all thought about this.They of course had their own dreams and desires, their favorite foods andvalleys.But because they all loved so much to see the children safe and happy and inspired, and
because Jaro was an elder and communicated in a wise and patient way, they understood deeply the truth of his words.And they all went together to Hvnor, remembering at last his wise words to Banti and Singa:"When minds are one, what is far comes near."The en
shee an gannon text version
The Shee an Gannon was born in the morning, named at noon, and went in the evening to ask his daughter of the king of Erin.
“I will give you my daughter in marriage,” said the king of Erin; “you won’t get her, though, unless you go and bring me back the tidings that I want, and tell me what it is that put a stop to the laughing of the Gruagach Gaire, who before this laughed always, and laughed so loud that the whole world heard him. There are twelve iron spikes out here in the garden behind my castle. On eleven of the spikes are the heads of kings’ sons who came seeking my daughter in marriage, and all of them went away to get the knowledge I wanted. Not one was able to get it and tell me what stopped the Gruagach Gaire from laughing. I took the heads off them all when they came back without the tidings for which they went, and I’m greatly in dread that your head’ll be on the twelfth spike, for I’ll do the same to you that I did to the eleven kings’ sons unless you tell what put a stop to the laughing of the Gruagach.”
The Shee an Gannon made no answer, but left the king and pushed away to know could he find why the Gruagach was silent.
He took a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and travelled all day till evening. Then he came to a house. The master of the house asked him what sort was he, and he said: “A young man looking for hire.”
“Well,” said the master of the house, “I was going tomorrow to look for a man to mind my cows. If you’ll work for me, you’ll have a good place, the best food a man could have to eat in this world, and a soft bed to lie on.”
The Shee an Gannon took service, and ate his supper. Then the master of the house said: “I am the Gruagach Gaire; now that you are my man and have eaten your supper, you’ll have a bed of silk to sleep on.”
Next morning after breakfast the Gruagach said to the Shee an Gannon: “Go out now and loosen my five golden cows and my bull without horns, and drive them to pasture; but when you have them out on the grass, be careful you don’t let them go near the land of the giant.”
The new cowboy drove the cattle to pasture, and when near the land of the giant, he saw it was covered with woods and surrounded by a high wall. He went up, put his back against the wall, and threw in a great stretch of it; then he went inside and threw out another great stretch of the wall, and put the five golden cows and the bull without horns on the land of the giant.
Then he climbed a tree, ate the sweet apples himself, and threw the sour ones down to the cattle of the Gruagach Gaire.
Soon a great crashing was heard in the woods,—the noise of young trees bending, and old trees breaking. The cowboy looked around and saw a five-headed giant pushing through the trees; and soon he was before him.
“Poor miserable creature!” said the giant; “but weren’t you impudent to come to my land and trouble me in this way? You’re too big for one bite, and too small for two. I don’t know what to do but tear you to pieces.”
“You nasty brute,” said the cowboy, coming down to him from the tree, “’tis little I care for you;” and then they went at each other. So great was the noise between them that there was nothing in the world but what was looking on and listening to the combat.
They fought till late in the afternoon, when the giant was getting the upper hand; and then the cowboy thought that if the giant should kill him, his father and mother would never find him or set eyes on him again, and he would never get the daughter of the king of Erin. The heart in his body grew strong at this thought. He sprang on the giant, and with the first squeeze and thrust he put him to his knees in the hard ground, with the second thrust to his waist, and with the third to his shoulders.
“I have you at last; you’re done for now!”, said the cowboy. Then he took out his knife, cut the five heads off the giant, and when he had them off he cut out the tongues and threw the heads over the wall.
Then he put the tongues in his pocket and drove home the cattle. That evening the Gruagach couldn’t find vessels enough in all his place to hold the milk of the five golden cows.
But when the cowboy was on the way home with the cattle, the son of the king of Tisean came and took the giant’s heads and claimed the princess in marriage when the Gruagach Gaire should laugh.
After supper the cowboy would give no talk to his master, but kept his mind to himself, and went to the bed of silk to sleep.
On the morning the cowboy rose before his master, and the first words he said to the Gruagach were:
“What keeps you from laughing, you who used to laugh so loud that the whole world heard you?”
“I’m sorry,” said the Gruagach, “that the daughter of the king of Erin sent you here.”
“If you don’t tell me of your own will, I’ll make you tell me,” said the cowboy; and he put a face on himself that was terrible to look at, and running through the house like a madman, could find nothing that would give pain enough to the Gruagach but some ropes made of untanned sheepskin hanging on the wall.
He took these down, caught the Gruagach, fastened him by the three smalls, and tied him so that his little toes were whispering to his ears. When he was in this state the Gruagach said: “I’ll tell you what stopped my laughing if you set me free.”
So the cowboy unbound him, the two sat down together, and the Gruagach said:--
“I lived in this castle here with my twelve sons. We ate, drank, played cards, and enjoyed ourselves, till one day when my sons and I were playing, a slender brown hare came rushing in, jumped on to the hearth, tossed up the ashes to the rafters and ran away.
“On another day he came again; but if he did, we were ready for him, my twelve sons and myself. As soon as he tossed up the ashes and ran off, we made after him, and followed him till nightfall, when he went into a glen. We saw a light before us. I ran on, and came to a house with a great apartment, where there was a man named Yellow Face with twelve daughters, and the hare was tied to the side of the room near the women.
“There was a large pot over the fire in the room, and a great stork boiling in the pot. The man of the house said to me: ’There are bundles of rushes at the end of the room, go there and sit down with your men!’
“He went into the next room and brought out two pikes, one of wood, the other of iron, and asked me which of the pikes would I take. I said, ’I’ll take the iron one;’ for I thought in my heart that if an attack should come on me, I could defend myself better with the iron than the wooden pike.
“Yellow Face gave me the iron pike, and the first chance of taking what I could out of the pot on the point of the pike. I got but a small piece of the stork, and the man of the house took all the rest on his wooden pike. We had to fast that night; and when the man and his twelve daughters ate the flesh of the stork, they hurled the bare bones in the faces of my sons and myself. We had to stop all night that way, beaten on the faces by the bones of the stork.
“Next morning, when we were going away, the man of the house asked me to stay a while; and going into the next room, he brought out twelve loops of iron and one of wood, and said to me: ’Put the heads of your twelve sons into the iron loops, or your own head into the wooden one;’ and I said: ’I’ll put the twelve heads of my sons in the iron loops, and keep my own out of the wooden one.’
“He put the iron loops on the necks of my twelve sons, and put the wooden one on his own neck. Then he snapped the loops one after another, till he took the heads off my twelve sons and threw the heads and bodies out of the house; but he did nothing to hurt his own neck.
“When he had killed my sons he took hold of me and stripped the skin and flesh from the small of my back down, and when he had done that he took the skin of a black sheep that had been hanging on the wall for seven years and clapped it on my body in place of my own flesh and skin; and the sheepskin grew on me, and every year since then I shear myself, and every bit of wool I use for the stockings that I wear I clip off my own back.”
When he had said this, the Gruagach showed the cowboy his back covered with thick black wool.
After what he had seen and heard, the cowboy said: “I know now why you don’t laugh, and small blame to you. But does that hare come here still?”
“He does indeed,” said the Gruagach.
Both went to the table to play, and they were not long playing cards when the hare ran in; and before they could stop him he was out again.
But the cowboy made after the hare, and the Gruagach after the cowboy, and they ran as fast as ever their legs could carry them till nightfall; and when the hare was entering the castle where the twelve sons of the Gruagach were killed, the cowboy caught him by the two hind legs and dashed out his brains against the wall; and the skull of the hare was knocked into the chief room of the castle, and fell at the feet of the master of the place.
“Who has dared to interfere with my fighting pet?” screamed Yellow Face.
“I,” said the cowboy; “and if your pet had had manners, he might be alive now.”
The cowboy and the Gruagach stood by the fire. A stork was boiling in the pot, as when the Gruagach came the first time. The master of the house went into the next room and brought out an iron and a wooden pike, and asked the cowboy which would he choose.
“I’ll take the wooden one,” said the cowboy; “and you may keep the iron one for yourself.”
So he took the wooden one; and going to the pot, brought out on the pike all the stork except a small bite, and he and the Gruagach fell to eating, and they were eating the flesh of the stork all night. The cowboy and the Gruagach were at home in the place that time.
In the morning the master of the house went into the next room, took down the twelve iron loops with a wooden one, brought them out, and asked the cowboy which would he take, the twelve iron or the one wooden loop.
“What could I do with the twelve iron ones for myself or my master? I’ll take the wooden one.”
He put it on, and taking the twelve iron loops, put them on the necks of the twelve daughters of the house, then snapped the twelve heads off them, and turning to their father, said: “I’ll do the same thing to you unless you bring the twelve sons of my master to life, and make them as well and strong as when you took their heads.”
The master of the house went out and brought the twelve to life again; and when the Gruagach saw all his sons alive and as well as ever, he let a laugh out of himself, and all the Eastern world heard the laugh.
taM LIN AND JANET text version
Story 1 - Ballad of tam lin and fair janet

O I forbid you, maidens all,
That wear gold in your hair,
To come or go by Carterhaugh,
For young Tam Lin is there. 
There's none that goes by Carterhaugh
But they leave him a wad,     *token, object of value
Either their rings, or green mantles,
Or else their maidenhead. 
Janet has kilted her green kirtle
A little above her knee,
And she has braided her yellow hair
A little above her brow,
And she's away to Carterhaugh
As fast as she can go. 
When she came to Carterhaugh
Tam Lin was at the well,
And there she found his steed standing,
But he was away himself. 
She had not pulled a double rose,
A rose but only two,
Till up then started young Tam Lin,
Saying "Lady, pull thou no more." 
"Why pullest thou the rose, Janet,
And why breakest thou the wand?
Or why comest thou to Carterhaugh
Withoutten my command?" 
"Carterhaugh, it is my own,
My daddy gave it me,
I'll come and go by Carterhaugh,
And ask no leave of thee." 
Janet has kilted her green kirtle
A little above her knee,
And she has braided her yellow hair
A little above her brow,
And she is to her father's house,
As fast as she can go. 
Four and twenty ladies fair
Were playing at the ball,
And out then came the fair Janet,
The flower among them all. 
Four and twenty ladies fair
Were playing at the chess,
And out then came the fair Janet,
As green as any glass. 
Out then spake an old grey knight,
Lay over the castle wall,
And says, "Alas, fair Janet, for thee,
But we'll be blamed all." 
"Hold your tongue, ye old faced knight,
Some ill death may ye die!
Father my babe on whom I will,
I'll father none on thee." 
Out then spake her father dear,
And he spake meek and mild,
"And ever alas, sweet Janet," he says,
"I think thou goest with child." 
"If that I go with child, Father,
Myself must bear the blame,
There's never a lord about your hall,
Shall give the child a name." 
"If my love were an earthly knight,
Though he's an elfin grey,
I would not give my own true-love
For any lord that ye have." 
"The steed that my true love rides on
Is lighter than the wind,
With silver he is shod before,
With burning gold behind." 
Janet has kilted her green kirtle
A little above her knee,
And she has braided her yellow hair
A little above her brow,
And she's away to Carterhaugh
As fast as she can go. 
When she came to Carterhaugh,
Tam Lin was at the well,
And there she found his steed standing,
But he was away himself. 
She had not pulled a double rose,
A rose but only two,
Till up then started young Tam Lin,
Saying "Lady, pull thou no more." 
"Why pullest thou the rose, Janet,
Among the groves so green,
And all to kill the bonny babe
That we got us between?" 
"O tell me, tell me, Tam Lin," she says,
"For His sake that died on tree,
If ever ye were in holy chapel,
Or Christendom did see?" 
"Roxbrugh he was my grandfather,
Took me with him to bide
And once it fell upon a day
That woe did me betide. 
"And once it fell upon a day
A cold day and a snell, *windy and sharp
When we were from the hunting come,
That from my horse I fell,
The Queen of Fairies she caught me,
In yon green hill to dwell." 
"And pleasant is the fairy land,
But, an eerie tale to tell,
At the end of every seven years,
We pay a tithe to Hell,
I am so fair and firm of flesh,
I'm feared it be myself." 
"But the night is Halloween, lady,
The morn is Hallowday,
Then win me, win me, if ye will,
For well I think ye may." 
"Just at the mirk and midnight hour
The fairy folk will ride,
And they that would their true-love win,
At Miles Cross they must bide." 
"But how shall I thee know, Tam Lin,
Or how my true-love know,
Among so many uncouth knights,
The like I never saw?" 
"O first let pass the black, lady,
And then let pass the brown,
But quickly run to the milk-white steed,
Pull ye his rider down." 
"For I'll ride on the milk-white steed,
And ride nearest the town;
Because I was an earthly knight
They give me that renown." 
"My right hand will be gloved, lady,
My left hand will be bare,
Cocked up shall my bonnet be,
And combed down shall be my hair,
And there's the tokens I give thee;
No doubt I will be there." 
"They'll turn me in your arms, lady,
A lizard and an adder,
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
I am your child's father." 
"They'll turn me to a bear so grim,
And then a lion bold,
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
And ye shall love your child." 
"Again they'll turn me in your arms
To a red hot brand of iron,
But hold me fast, and fear me not,
I'll do you no harm." 
"And last they'll turn me in your arms
Into the burning gleed,             *torch
Then throw me into well water,
O throw me in with speed." 
"And then I'll be your own true-love,
I'll turn a naked knight,
Then cover me with your green mantle,
And hide me out o sight." 
Gloomy, gloomy was the night,
And eerie was the way,
As fair Jenny in her green mantle
To Miles Cross she did go. 
At the mirk and midnight hour
She heard the bridles sing,
She was as glad at that
As any earthly thing. 
First she let the black pass by,
And then she let the brown,
But quickly she ran to the milk-white steed,
And pulled the rider down. 
So well she minded what he did say,
And young Tam Lin did win,
Then covered him with her mantle green,
As happy as a bird in spring. 
Out then spake the Queen of Fairies,
Out of a bush of broom,
"She that has gotten young Tam Lin
Has gotten a stately-groom." 
Out then spake the Queen of Fairies,
And an angry woman was she,
"Shame betide her ill-fared face,
And an ill death may she die,
For she's taken away the bonniest knight
In all my company." 
"But had I known, Tam Lin," she said,
"What now this night I see,
I would have taken out thy two grey eyes,
And put in two of tree."       *wood, i.e. blinded him. 
GIRLS SANCTUARY
(text version forthcoming)