VIP Class Notes (Vicki)

The Lad and the North Wind 

The Wonderful Cloth 

One day a poor woman was making some porridge. She sent her son to the cupboard for some meal. As the lad got the meal, the North Wind came along, puffing and blowing. He puffed at the meal and blew it away.

The lad went back to the cupboard for more meal, but the North Wind blew it away a second time. The lad got more meal, and a third time the North Wind blew it away. Then the lad became angry. “I will go to the North Wind and make him give me back my meal,” he said.

He walked and walked until he came to the North Wind’s house. “Good-day, North Wind,” said the lad. “Good-day!” roared the North Wind. “What do you want?” “I want my meal,” said the lad. “We are poor, and we need it.” “Your meal is not here,” said the Wind. “But because you are poor, I will give you this cloth instead. When you want food, just say, ‘Cloth, spread yourself,’ and you will have plenty to eat.”

“Thank you, North Wind,” said the lad. “This cloth is certainly worth more than the meal.” And he set out for home. The lad could not get home that night. So he went to an inn to stay. “I am very hungry,” thought the lad. “I will get out my magic cloth and see if it will give me some bread and meat.” Then he laid the cloth on the table and said, “Cloth, spread yourself.”

At once he had a fine supper. “What a wonderful cloth!” the inn-keeper said to himself. “I wish it were mine.” Late that night the inn-keeper went quietly to the room where the boy slept. He took away the magic cloth and put another cloth in its place. In the morning the lad took the cloth and went home to his mother. “Where have you been, my son?” she asked.

“Oh, I have been to visit the North Wind” said the lad. “I went to get our meal back, but he did not have it. He gave me this cloth instead. When I say, ‘Cloth, spread yourself,’ it gives me all the good things I can eat.” “I can’t believe that is true,” said his mother, “until I see it myself.”

So the boy laid the cloth on the table and said, “Cloth, spread yourself.” But the cloth did not give him any food. He was too surprised to say a word.

The Sheep That Gave Money 

Again the boy went to the North Wind. “What do you want now?” roared the North Wind, when the lad came to his door the second time. “I want my meal,” said the boy. “This cloth will not give me any food.” “Your meal is not here,” said the Wind, “but I will give you this sheep instead. When you need money, just say, ‘Sheep, sheep, give money!’ Then you will have all the gold you want.”

“This sheep is certainly worth more than a bit of meal,” said the boy. Off went the lad, and that night he stopped at the same inn. After supper he wanted to see if the sheep would really give money. So he brought the sheep into the inn and said, “Sheep, sheep, give money.” The sheep opened its mouth wide, and bright yellow gold pieces fell out.

When the sly old inn-keeper saw his wonderful sight, he said to himself, “That sheep will soon be mine, too.” Now, he had a sheep that looked just like the lad’s. While the lad slept, the man quietly took the magic sheep away and put his own in its place. Next morning when the lad got home, he said to his mother, “The North Wind isn’t a bad fellow, after all. He gave me a sheep that will give us plenty of gold.”

His mother said, “I can’t believe that is really true until I see the gold.” “Sheep, sheep, give money!” said the lad. But the sheep did not even open his mouth.

The Magic Stick

So the boy went to visit the North Wind a third time. “I want my meal,” he said. “My sheep will not give me any money.” “I have no meal,” said the Wind, “but I will give you this magic stick instead. When you say, ‘Stick, stick, beat him!’ it will beat anyone who tried to take it. When you want it to stop, you must say, ‘Stick, stick, stop!”

The lad took the stick, and went again to the inn. He said to himself, “I think I know who took my magic cloth and my sheep. I will see if I can get them back.” So he sat down on a chair. “I’ll play that I am asleep,” he thought, “and see if anyone tries to get my stick.” Soon the sly inn-keeper came along and saw the stick standing against the wall beside the lad.

He said to himself, “I have a wonderful cloth that give me good things to eat and a wonderful sheep that gives me gold. Perhaps this is a wonderful stick.” He went to the woods with his ax and cut a stick just like the one beside the boy’s chair. Then he came back and started to take the boy’s stick.

Just as he touched the stick, the lad shouted, “Stick, stick, beat him!” The stick began to beat the inn-keeper at once. The man bumped against tables and chairs, trying to get away. “Stop the stick!” he cried. “Don’t let it beat me any more. I will give you back your cloth and your sheep.” So the boy said, “Stick, stick, stop!”

Then he took the cloth and the sheep and the stick, and went home. “Well, Mother,” he said, “the North Wind has been good to us after all.”