Once there was a widow who had a number of children and they were so poor they barely had enough clothes to share, and even less food. One night when the children were crying with hunger the widow could think of no way to get them quietly to bed. Finally she had an idea and taking the cooking pot out to the well she filled it with water and into the water she added a large round stone.
‘Now here’s a fine lump of meat,’ she told them when she came back in, ‘so if you all go to sleep now I’ll make soup and it will be ready when you wake up.’ She hung the pot over the fire and began to stir and one by one the hungry children fell asleep, even her oldest, a son.
A little later there was a knock at the door and when she opened it there stood a stranger.
‘I’ve travelled a long way and I have a long way yet to travel. May I stay the night?’ he said.
‘This is a poor house and I have no food to offer you,’ she replied, ashamed because she had nothing to share with the weary traveller, ‘but you are welcome to sleep here tonight.’
‘Tell me then, what are you cooking in the pot over the fire?’ he asked her.
‘It’s only a stone,’ she told him, ‘a trick to send the children to sleep.’
The stranger walked over, peered into the pot and called her to come and look.
‘Why, this is an excellent piece of beef,’ he said, and to her great surprise that’s just what he pulled out of the pot.
She rubbed her eyes and could not believe what she was seeing. The stranger spoke again, ‘Go to the chest and bring out plenty of bread, some butter and whatever else you think should go into the pot.’
She did as he said even though she knew the chest was empty. However, when she opened it up there, to her amazement, she found bread, butter, milk and plenty of vegetables to add to the pot.
When the soup was ready she woke the children. They had never seen so much food and after every one of them had eaten all they could the oldest son begged the stranger for a story. The stranger was happy to tell a story, for every traveller has a tale to tell.
When it was ended he turned to the young lad, ‘Now you have the story what will you give me in return?’
‘I have nothing to give,’ replied the lad.
The stranger took him outside and turned him into a snake, letting him loose in the long grass, ‘At the end of seven days you must tell me what you will give,’ he told the snake.
After seven days the stranger returned and asked again, ‘What will you give in return for the story I gave you?’
‘I have nothing to give,’ replied the snake.
So the stranger took the snake, turned it into a deer and said, ‘At the end of seven days you must tell me what you will give for my story.’
For seven days the deer ran in the woods and when the stranger returned he asked again, ‘Have you thought what you will give for the story I gave you?’
‘I have nothing to give,’ replied the deer.
The stranger turned the deer into an eagle and said, ‘At the end of seven days you must tell me what you will give and this will be your last chance.’
The eagle flew off, over the forest and over the mountains.
But at the end of these seven days he was waiting when the stranger asked for the last time, ‘What will you give me for my story?’
This time he received a different answer.
‘I have nothing to give except for my thanks,’ said the eagle and instantly was turned back into the poor widow’s son.
‘If you had said this the first time,’ said the stranger, ‘you would have saved both of us a great deal of trouble. Now let me tell you how you might change your family’s fortune forever. Have you heard of an old castle that’s kept by a giant?’
The poor widow’s son knew of the castle. ‘People say it is enchanted,’ he told the stranger.
‘Well if you truly want to seek your fortune that is where you must go,’ said the stranger. ‘When you arrive you will find the guards sleeping, for everyone there is under a spell. Go through all the rooms until you find the King of Scotland’s daughter asleep on a marble table. Above her head hangs a sword that you must touch but do not take it down for that will only bring you bad luck. The princess will wake for a short time and she will tell you what you must do to save her and all those under the sleeping spell.’
The stranger left and the poor widow’s son set off. Because he had lived as a snake he travelled silently and because he had lived as a deer he ran swiftly. He knew just where to go because as an eagle he had flown over the castle. He travelled and he travelled until at last he reached the silent castle. The giant was nowhere to be seen and inside everything was just as he’d been told. The guards were asleep and sleeping on a marble table he found the king’s daughter. He touched the sword and she woke up amazed that anyone had been able to enter the giant’s castle without being seen.
‘I saw no giant,’ he told her.
‘Then beware,’ she said, ‘for he will return to the castle shortly to stand guard outside.’
‘If I am to save you and the others in this castle what must I do?’ he asked her.
‘You must slay the giant. But that cannot be done with an axe or a sword,’ replied the princess. ‘The life of the giant is in an egg and it is the egg you must crush to kill the giant.’
‘And where shall I find the egg?’ he asked.
‘It is kept by an old witch who lives in the woods nearby and you must destroy her before you can find the egg. Once found it will easily be broken and once broken we are all safe,’ replied the princess. She told him how to find the witch’s house and then immediately fell back asleep.
So the young lad set off again and soon reached the house of the witch. He saw her sitting shivering and huddled in front of the fire. He opened the door and went inside.
‘Good morning,’ he said. ‘I see you are not well, old wife. Is there anything I can do for you?’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘if you would carry me outside into the fresh air I would feel better.’
The young lad took her up on his back but quick as a blink he tossed her on to the fire. Up the chimney she went with a noise like rumbling thunder. The poor widow’s son lost no time and began to look for the egg. He searched and he searched and eventually he found it in a dark, dusty cupboard. He put in on to the floor and crushed it beneath his boot. Splat!
At that very moment, outside the castle, the giant let out an enormous roar and fell down dead with a tremendous crash right where he stood. People across that land heard the noise and wondered what had happened.
Inside the castle, all those who’d been kept asleep as prisoners began to wake up and one by one they learned the story of the poor widow’s son from the king’s daughter. By the time he arrived back he was a hero.
The young lad returned the princess to her father, King Malcolm, who gave him her hand in marriage.
So the poor widow was poor no longer and the young couple lived a long and happy life. It is thought the Dukes of Buccleuch are descended from this marriage.
And the stranger remained just that, a mysterious stranger.