saraspakmo

[saraspakmo]

All my finals, side by side!

[saraspakmo]

The Armless maiden

The whole story of the Armless Maiden, translated to english.

In a certain kingdom, not in our land, there lived a wealthy merchant; he had two children, a son and a daughter. The father and mother died. The brother said to the sister: ‘Let us leave this town, little sister; I will rent a shop and trade, and find lodgings for you; we will live together.’ They went to another province. When they came there, the brother inscribed himself in the merchants’ guild, and rented a shop of woven cloths. The brother decided to marry and took a sorceress to wife. One day he went to trade in his shop and said to his sister: ‘Keep order in the house, sister.’ The wife felt offended because he said this to his sister. To revenge herself she broke all the furniture and when her husband came back she met him and said: ‘See what a sister you have; she has broken all the furniture in the house.’ ‘Too bad, but we can get some new things,’ said the husband. The next day when leaving for his shop he said farewell to his wife and his sister and said to his sister: ‘Please, little sister, see to it that everything in the house is kept as well as possible.’ The wife bided her time, went to the stables, and cut off the head of her husband’s favorite horse with a saber. She awaited him on the porch. ‘See what a sister you have,’ she said. ‘She has cut off the head of your favorite horse.’ ‘Ah, let the dogs eat what is theirs,’ answered the husband. On the third day the husband again went to his shop, said farewell, and said to his sister: ‘Please look after my wife, so that she does not hurt herself or the baby, if by chance she gives birth to one.’ When the wife gave birth to her child, she cut off his head. When her husband came home he found her sitting and lamenting over her baby. ‘See what a sister you have! No sooner had I given birth to my baby than she cut off his head with a saber.’ The husband did not say anything; he wept bitter tears and turned away. Night came. At the stroke of midnight he rose and said: ‘Little sister, make ready; we are going to mass.’ She said: ‘My beloved brother, I do not think it is a holiday today.’ ‘Yes, my sister, it is a holiday; let us go.’ ‘It is still too early to go, brother,’ she said. ‘No,’ he answered, ‘young maidens always take a long time to get ready.’ The sister began to dress; she was very slow and reluctant. Her brother said: ‘Hurry, sister, get dressed.’ ‘Please,’ she said, ‘it is still early, brother.’ ‘No, little sister, it is not early, it is high time to be gone.’ When the sister was ready they sat in a carriage and set out for mass. They drove for a long time or a short time. Finally they came to a wood. The sister said: ‘What wood is this?’ He answered: ‘This is the hedge around the church.’ The carriage caught in a bush. The brother said: ‘Get out, little sister, disentangle the carriage.’ ‘Ah, my beloved brother, I cannot do that, I will dirty my dress.’ ‘I will buy you a new dress, sister, a better one than this.’ She got down from the carriage, began to disentangle it, and her brother cut off her arms to the elbows, struck his horse with the whip, and drove away. The little sister was left alone; she burst into tears and began to walk in the woods. She walked and walked, a long time or a short time; she was all scratched, but could not find a path leading out of the woods. Finally, after several years, she found a path. She came to a market town and stood beneath the window of the wealthiest merchant to beg for alms. This merchant had a son, an only one, who was the apple of his father’s eye. He fell in love with the beggar woman and said: ‘Dear Father and Mother, marry me.’ ‘To whom shall we marry you?’ ‘To this beggar woman.’ ‘Ah, my dear child, do not the merchants of our town have lovely daughters?’ ‘Please marry me to her,’ he said. ‘If you do not, I will do something to myself.’ They were distressed, because he was their only son, their life’s treasure. They gathered all the merchants and clerics and asked them to judge the matter: should they marry their son to the beggar woman or not? The priest said: ‘Such must be his fate, and God gives your son his sanction to marry the beggar woman.’ So the son lived with her for a year and then another year. At the end of that time he went to another province, where her brother had his shop. When taking his leave he said: ‘Dear Father and Mother, do not abandon my wife; as soon as she gives birth to a child, write to me that very hour.’ Two or three months after the son left, his wife gave birth to a child; his arms were golden up to the elbows, his sides were studded with stars, there was a bright moon on his forehead and a radiant sun near his heart. The grandparents were overjoyed and at once wrote their beloved son a letter. They dispatched an old man with this note in all haste. Meanwhile the wicked sister-in-law had learned about all this and invited the old messenger into her house: ‘Come in, little father,’ she said, ‘and take a rest.’ ‘No, I have no time, I am bringing an urgent message.’ ‘Come in, little father, take a rest, have something to eat.’ She sat him down to dinner, took his bag, found the letter in it, read it, tore it into little pieces, and wrote another letter instead: ‘Your wife,’ it said, ‘has given birth to a half dog and half bear that she conceived with beasts in the woods.’ The old messenger came to the merchant’s son and handed him the letter; he read it and burst into tears. He wrote in answer, asking that his son be not molested till he returned. ‘When I come back,’ he said, ‘I will see what kind of baby it is.’ The sorceress again invited the old messenger into her house. ‘Come in, sit down, take a rest,’ she said. Again she charmed him with talk, stole the letter he carried, read it, tore it up, and instead ordered that her sister-in-law be driven out the moment the letter was received. The old messenger brought this letter; the father and mother read it and were grieved. ‘Why does he cause us so much trouble?’ they said. ‘We married him to the girl, and now he does not want his wife!’ They pitied not so much the wife as the babe. So they gave their blessing to her and the babe, tied the babe to her breast, and sent her away. She went, shedding bitter tears. She walked, for a long time or a short time, all in the open field, and there was no wood or village anywhere. She came to a dale and was very thirsty. She looked to the right and saw a well. She wanted to drink from it but was afraid to stoop, lest she drop her baby. Then she fancied that the water came closer. She stooped to drink and her baby fell into the well. She began to walk around the well, weeping, and wondering how to get her child out of the well. An old man came up to her and said: ‘Why are you weeping, you slave of God?’ ‘How can I help weeping? I stooped over the well to drink water and my baby fell into it.’ ‘Bend down and take him out.’ ‘No, little father, I cannot; I have no hands, only stumps.’ ‘Do as I tell you. Take your baby.’ She went to the well, stretched out her arms, and God helped, for suddenly she had her hands, all whole. She bent down, pulled her baby out, and began to give thanks to God, bowing to all four sides. She said her prayers, went on farther, and came to the house where her brother and husband were staying, and asked for shelter. Her husband said: ‘Brother, let the beggar woman in; beggar women can tell stories and recount real happenings.’ The wicked sister-in-law said: ‘We have no room for visitors, we are overcrowded.’ ‘Please, brother, let her come; there is nothing I like better than to hear beggar women tell tales.’ They let her in. She sat on the stove with her baby. Her husband said: ‘Now, little dove, tell us a tale – any kind of story.’ She said: ‘I do not know any tales or stories, but I can tell the truth. Listen, here is a true happening that I can recount to you.’ And she began: ‘In a certain kingdom, not in our land lived a wealthy merchant; he had two children, a son and a daughter. The father and mother died. The brother said to the sister: “Let us leave this town, little sister.” And they came to another province. The brother inscribed himself in the merchants’ guild and took a shop of woven cloth. He decided to marry and took a sorceress to wife.’ At this point the sister-in-law muttered: ‘Why does she bore us with her stories, that hag?’ But the husband said: ‘Go on, go on, little mother, I love such stories more than anything!’ ‘And so,’ the beggar woman went on, ‘the brother went to trade in his shop and said to his sister: “Keep order in the house, sister.” The wife felt offended because he had said this to his sister and out of spite broke all the furniture.’ And then she went on to tell how her brother took her to mass and cut off her hands, how she gave birth to a baby, how her sister-in-law lured the old messenger – and again the sister-in-law interrupted her, crying: ‘What gibberish she is telling!’ But the husband said: ‘Brother, order your wife to keep quiet; it is a wonderful story, is it not?’ She came to the point when her husband wrote to his parents ordering that the baby be left in peace until his return, and the sister-in-law mumbled: ‘What nonsense!’ Then she reached the point when she came to their house as a beggar woman, and the sister-in-law mumbled: ‘What is this old bitch gibbering about!’ And the husband said: ‘Brother, order her to keep quiet; why does she interrupt all the time?’ Finally she came to the point in the story when she was let in and began to tell the truth instead of a story. And then she pointed at them and said: ‘This is my husband, this is my brother, and this is my sister-in-law.’ Then her husband jumped up to her on the stove and said: ‘Now, my dear, show me the baby. Let me see whether my father and mother wrote me the truth.’ They took the baby, removed its swaddling clothes – and the whole room was illumined! ‘So it is true that she did not tell us just a tale; here is my wife, and here is my son – golden up to the elbows – his sides studded with stars, a bright moon on his forehead, and a radiant sun near his heart!’ The brother took the best mare from his stable, tied his wife to its tail, and let it run in the open field. The mare dragged her on the ground until she brought back only her braid; the rest was strewn on the field. Then they harnessed three horses and went home to the young husband’s father and mother; they began to live happily and to prosper. I was there and drank mead and wine; it ran down my mustache, but did not go into my mouth.

[saraspakmo]

The Companion

The whole companion story, translated to english.

Once upon a time, long ago, there was a farmers boy that had a dream he would get a kings daughter from a land far away. She was as red and white as blood and milk and so rich that her gold was never ending. When he woke, she seemed to be standing in front of him, breathing and glowing. She was so beautiful that he did not know what to do if she was not his. He sold what he owned and started his journey into the world to find her. When he had walked far and further then far, as winter had come and he had reached a land where all roads stopped bending, he came to a village. Outside the church there was a big lump of ice with a corpse inside it. As the villagers entered the church they spat on it as they passed. The boy wondered why this was so and when the priest exited the church he asked him why. “This is the corpse of a criminal,” said the priest, “he is serving his sentence for his ungodly behavior, set up to be stared and mocked.” “Whatever did he do? ” asked the boy. “In his life he was a wine salesman,” said the priest, “and ha mixed his wine with water.” The boy thought that was not that bad of a crime, since he had already payed for his crime with his life he should get to go to Christian soil and have a peaceful death. No, the priest told him, that would not go as he would need people to break him out of the ice, money to buy the soil from the church, the gravedigger needed money to dig, the church owner would need his cut for the bells to chime and the priest to bless the burial. “Do you think anyone would pay for all this for a convicted criminal?” asked the priest. Yes, said the boy, when the criminal was buried he would pay for it all with the little he had. So they broke him out of the ice and buried him, chimed the bells and blessed the funeral as they drank funeral beer until they all laughed and cried for each other. After the whole affair the boy barely had any coins left. He got back on his path, but had barely left the village before a man came after him and asked him if he did not think it was awfully lonely to walk alone. No, said the boy, as he had his thoughts and they would always change. “That is well and good, but you might still have room for a servant then?” asked the man. “No, ” said the boy, “I am used to being my own servant and even if I truly wanted one, I can not afford one.” “You need a servant, I know that better then you do,” said the man, “and you need one you can trust with life and death. If you will not have me as your servant, you can have me as your companion. I promise you I will be useful and I will not cost you anything. I shall carry myself, feed myself and dress myself.” Yes, in that way the boy would like to have him as his companion. Since then they traveled together, the man in front leading the way. When they had traveled far between the lands, over mountains and through fields, they came to a hill with a door. The companion knocked and asked for them to come in. It opened up and as they came far into the hill a troll-witch appeared and asked them to have a seat. “No you sit!” said the companion as he pushed her into it and as the chair was enchanted, she could not stand back up. While she struggled to rise back up, they walked further into the hill. The companion then saw a sword hanging above the door. “I would quite like that sword,” he said, “If you give it to me I promise I will let you out of the chair” “NO!” she screamed, “Ask for anything else! You can take anything but that because that is my three-sister-sword!” -They were three sisters that shared the sword. “Then you can sitt there til the end of the world,” said the companion, but when she heard this she said he could have it if he only released her. So he took the sword and left the hill, leaving her to sit. When they had walked over naked mountains and through thin forests they came to another hill a door. The companion knocked and asked for them to come in. It opened up and as they came far into the hill another troll-witch appeared and asked them to have a seat. “No you sit!” said the companion as he pushed her into it and as the chair was also enchanted, she could not stand back up. While she struggled to rise back up, they walked further into the hill. The companion searched through cupboards and drawers before he found what he wanted, a golden skein of yarn. “I would quite like this yarn” he said, “If you give it to me I promise I will let you out of the chair” “NO!” she screamed, “Ask for anything else! You can take anything but that because I share that skein with my sisters!“ “Then you can sitt there til the end of the world,” said the companion, but when she heard this she said he could have it if he only released her. So he took the skein and left the hill, leaving her to sit as well. Then they walked for days crossing rivers and through passes they came to yet another hill with a door. The companion knocked and asked for them to come in. It opened up and as they came far into the hill a third troll-witch appeared and asked them to have a seat. “No you sit!” said the companion as he pushed her into it and as the chair was enchanted like the last two, so she could not stand back up. While she struggled to rise back up, they walked further into the hill. The companion searched several rooms before he saw an old hat hanging behind a door. “I would quite like that hat,” he said, “If you give it to me I promise I will let you out of the chair” “NO!” she screamed, “Ask for anything else! You can take anything but that because I share that hat with my sisters!” “Then you can sitt there til the end of the world,” said the companion, but when she heard this she said he could have it if he only released her. So he took the hat and left the hill, leaving her to sit like her sisters. A long time after they came to a river, too wide, deep and wild for them to cross. There the companion took out the golden skein and threw it against a boulder on the other side. The skein bounced back into his hands and after he had thrown it a few times it had made a bridge to the other side. They crossed the river and once they were at the other side the man told the boy to reread the thread as fast as he could. “If you are not fast enough, the three sisters will catch up to us and rip us apart.” Said the companion. The boy went as fast as he could and just as he was on the last thread the troll-witches came sprinting and jumped out to reach the end of the thread, but instead they fell into the river and drowned. After they had walked for a few more days the companion said: “Soon we will be at the castle where she is, the kings daughter that was in your dream. When we arrive you shall walk inside, stand in front of the king and tell him about your dream and the reason behind your journey.” When they entered the castle they were well received and the boy got his own room and a room for his servant and when the evening came they were invited to dine at the kings table. When the boy saw the kings daughter he recognized her instantly as the girl from his dreams. He told her his mission and she said she liked him well and would like to have him, but first he had to pass three tests. After they had eaten she gave him a pair of golden scissors and told him his first test was to hide the scissors and give them back tomorrow during dinner. That’s not that hard of a test thought the boy. “Should you fail, however, you will have to pay with your life. That is the law and we will put your head on a stake amongst the skulls of the last men who asked for my hand.” The boy look out the window to see the heads of dozens of men standing around the back of the castle. That’s one way to decorate, thought the boy, confident he could easily hide the scissors, but the kings daughter was so bright and wild that he forgot about the scissors and she easily slipped them away from him without him noticing. When he came back to his room for the night he told his companion how it went and about the scissors he had to hide. “You have the scissors on you now?” asked the man and it was first then that the boy felt his pockets and realized in terror that the scissors were gone. “Oh well, do not fret over it, I shall retrieve them.” Said the companion and went out into the stables. There stood a gigantic ram that belonged to the kings daughter. It was so that it could fly many times faster then it could walk. The companion hit it between its horns with the three-sisters-sword and asked it when will the kings daughter fly to her boyfriend tonight. At first the ram would not dare to say, but after the companion hit it another time it told him at eleven. The companion put on the troll-witches hat and turned invisible as he waited for the kings daughter. When she came she jumped on the ram and said “Go up, go up, towards the skies, over bell towers and moonlit waters, over mountains and valleys, over bugs and birds, to my boyfriend who is waiting for me.” Just as the ram was about to jump off the companion jumped onto the back of it and they flew like the wind. After a short time they came to a mountain and the kings daughter knocked on a door carved into it. It opened up to the troll that was her boyfriend. “A new man who wants my hand has arrived at my castle, my love,” said the kings daughter, “He is young and beautiful, but I only want you.” She said as she showed off for the troll. “I gave him a test, and these are the scissors I asked him to hide and return, you hide them instead!” She gave them to the troll and the both laughed and mocked the boy. “Yes I will hide it and watch it, and I shall sleep with the bride as the boys head turns into a meal for the crows” said the troll and put the scissors into a iron box with three locks to secure it, but as he dropped it the companion cached it. They could not see him with the hat and he watched the troll hide the key to his still empty chest in a whole he had in his tooth. As midnight came around the kings daughter decided to head home and the companion jumped onto the back of her ram once again and they went back home. The next day the boy was asked to come down for dinner, but when he came down the kings daughter suddenly refused to give him any attention and would not even look in his direction, but as the meal came to an end she turned to him and gave him a sugar sweet smile and asked: “So, do you have those scissors I gave you?” “Yes, I do!” said the boy and slammed them so hard into the table that everyone jumped. The kings daughter look like he had hit her, but just as soon she look all sugar sweet again and said: “Since you watched my scissors so well how about you watch my wooden doll? If you can not you have to pay with your life, that is the law.” That was easy enough he thought and put it into his pocket, but as the kings daughter started joking around and as they joked and playfully bumped into each other she took the doll from his pocket. When he came back to his room he told his companion what his new task was. “Do you have the doll on you?” asked the companion and it was first then that the boy felt his pockets and realized in terror that the scissors were gone. “Oh well, do not fret over it, I shall retrieve them.” Said the companion and went out into the stables. He once again hit the ram between the horns and asked “When will the kings daughter ride to her boyfriend?” “Twelve o’clock” said the ram. The companion put on the troll-witches hat and turned invisible as he waited for the kings daughter. When she came she jumped on the ram and said “Go up, go up, towards the skies, over bell towers and moonlit waters, over mountains and valleys, over bugs and birds, to my boyfriend who is waiting for me.” Just as the ram was about to jump off the companion jumped onto the back of it and they flew like the wind. After a short time they came to the same mountain and the kings daughter knocked on a door carved into it. It opened up to the troll that was her boyfriend. “How did you hide the scissors I gave you yesterday, my love?” asked the kings daughter. “The boy had them and gave them back to me.” That was impossible, said the troll, as it was well hidden inside the iron box with the key inside his tooth, but when he opened the box he saw there was no scissors there. The kings daughter then told him she had given him her doll, but she had it on her. They started to ponder how they could hide this to ensure the boy would not be able to retrieve it. The troll then figured if they burned it there would be no way for the boy to retrieve it. The troll then threw the doll onto the fire, but before it hit the flames the companion caught it. Neither of them saw it as he was wearing the hat. When morning was just around the corner the kings daughter traveled back home and the companion jumped onto the back of the ram again. When the boy was asked back to dinner, the kings daughter was even less willing to acknowledge him and did not dare breath in his direction. Once they had eaten she smiled a smile that was too sweet and asked: “I was wondering if I could finally get back my dear wooden doll that I gave you yesterday?” “Yes, you can have it!” said the boy and slammed it so hard the whole table shook. The kings daughter turned pale as a corpse, but soon was back to smiling and said well done, but there was still one more test: “I want you to give me the thing I am thinking of by dinner tomorrow, then you can have me.” She said. The boy felt as all hope was lost as there was no way to know what she was thinking of, much less how he was going to get it. When he came to his room he told his companion how all hope was lost, but the man told him to stay calm and let him figure this out while he slept. The boy then went to sleep as the companion went out and sharpened the sword. He then went to the stables and hit the ram once again and asked: “When will the kings daughter ride to her boyfriend?” “One o’clock” said the ram. The companion put on the troll-witches hat and turned invisible as he waited for the kings daughter. When she came she jumped on the ram and said “Go up, go up, towards the skies, over bell towers and moonlit waters, over mountains and valleys, over bugs and birds, to my boyfriend who is waiting for me.” Just as the ram was about to jump off the companion jumped onto the back of it and they flew like the wind. This time he did not have a light hand, he would pinch and squeeze the kings daughter all over so she turned both purple and blue. After a short time they came to the same mountain and the kings daughter knocked on a door carved into it. It opened up to the troll that was her boyfriend. “The weather was much worse then I thought on the way over, I felt like I was getting a proper beating,” She told the troll. “But never mind that, the boy somehow managed to get the doll, but I have given him a task he could never complete. I told him to get me whatever I was thinking off right then and that, my love, was your head!” “How clever, he can never get that!” Boosted the troll and they both laughed and joked until the morning came around. When the kings daughter was about to jump on her ram she was suddenly scared for the weather. She told the troll and asked if he could not accompany and watch her trip home. Yes, that he should and he then found his own ram, as he had given the kings daughter hers. When the troll jumped onto his, the companion jumped on behind him and they flew away. On the way the man hit the troll and his ram so hard and so much with his sword that the ram started to descend. When the troll realized his ram was to tired to ride straight back he decided to land in the courtyard with the kings daughter to rest and watched her go back into the castle. As soon as the door closed, the companion cut the head off the troll clean off. He wrapped it and bought it back to the boy, telling him this is what she had thought of. The next day the boy came down for dinner and the kings daughter was as happy as could be when she asked him: “Do you by chance have what I was thinking of?” Yes he surely had, he thought as he pulled the trolls head out from his bag and slammed it on the table so everyone around stood up in shock. The kings daughter turned truly white and almost teary, but she could not deny that was what she had thought of. Then there was a wedding and the whole kingdom rejoiced their marriage. After the party the companion took the boy off to the side and told him that he had to close his eyes and pretend to sleep tonight, if he enjoyed living, and not rest before he released her from the trolls spell. He had to whip her with nine new birch sticks until they break, then wash her in three tubs of milk; first to scrub her in year-old whey, then rub her in sour milk then rinse her in sweet milk. He had put the sticks under the bed and the tubs were in the bathroom, all ready to go. The boy promised to do as he said. When night came round, the boy pretended to sleep next to the kings daughter. She rose up to her elbows and watched him sleep and tickled his nose, but he slept well. She pulled his hair and beard, but he still slept soundly, or so she thought. She then pulled out a huge butchers knife from under her pillow and raised her hand to chop off his head, but the boy jumped up and knocked the knife out of her hand. He pushed her down into the bed and grabbed the sticks and started whipping her. When there was only woodchips left of the sticks he threw her into the tub of whey. He then saw what she truly was as her skin turned a moldy green. When he had scrubbed, rubbed and rinsed her she emerged more happy and beautiful then she had ever been and embraced the boy to thank him for releasing her from the trolls spell. The next day the companion said he needed to go on a trip. The boy and the kings daughter both agreed to come with him the next day and return to his father. That night the companion went back to the kings mountain and grabbed all the gold and silver and moved it into the courtyard of the castle. When the castle woke up in the morning they could barely get out of the gate with all the riches from the troll. The companion had found six more rams in the trolls mountain and they strapped them up with all the riches and set out for new lands. When they had traveled for a long and an even longer time, as they had almost come back to the boys father, the companion landed the rams and told the boy it was time they spilt up. The boy did not understand why and asked if he could not at least come along to say hello to his father, but the man said he could not. The boy asked if there was any way he could repay him for all the help and he said yes, in five years he would like to come back and have half of his earnings. The boy supposed that would be fine. Once he came home he shoved his father his new wife and all the riches he had brought and the father rejoiced over his sons return. Soon they had built a bigger and better farm with their new gold. Five years later the companion surly returned and wanted his half and the boy, now a man, was true to his word and split all his belongings into two equal parts. “There is one thing you have not given me half of,” said the companion. “And what is that.” said the man. “You have had a child, you have to spilt him as well.” said the companion. The man supposed that was true and grabbed his sword, ready to cut his child into two, but the companion grabbed his hand before he swung the sword. “Are you not happy I did not let you swing that sword?” said the companion. “Yes, I have never been so happy,” said the man “Well that is how happy I was when you freed me from that lump of ice,” said the companion, “You may keep everything, I need nothing as I am just a ghost.” He was the wine salesman that had stood outside the church and he had helped the boy in thanks for finally allowing him to rest and find peace. He had only been given a year to accompany him and that year was up when they had last seen each other, but now they had to be separated forever as the heavenly bells were ringing him back in.

[saraspakmo]

The final version of the girl in whey photo from “The Companion”

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My process photos of the girl in whey from “The Companion” for my finals

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The final version of the ram photo from “The Companion”

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My process photos of the ram from “The Companion” for my finals

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The final version of my corpse photo from “The Companion”

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My process photos of the corpse from “The Companion” for my finals

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The final version of my baby photo from “The Armless Maiden”

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My process photos of the baby from “The armless Maiden” for my finals

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The final version of my Arms photo from “The Armless Maiden”

[saraspakmo]

My process photos of the arms from “The armless Maiden” for my finals