Simon and the gold



Simon had recently lost his mother. And that would have been bad enough even if his father hadn't married a rich and miserly lady who only thought of herself. His daddy was proud of his rich new wife and gave her all the love he had. There was nothing left for Simon. He was never given his allowance, and didn't receive as much as a hug from his father.

Simon could have managed without love and an allowance if he had had good friends. But his daddy was the chief policeman in town, and after ha had married the wicked lady he had become so nasty that the kids didn't want to play with Simon. They bullied him at school, and at home there was nobody that cared about him any more. Sad and lonely Simon started to think about money.

He thought about money all day long and when he went to bed he dreamt of being rich. He wanted to be so rich that he could buy back his friends, and maybe his father too.

One night while he was thinking about that, an eagle came flying through his open window and sat down on his bed-post. The eagle had only one eye, which stared at Simon. "I know what you are dreaming about," the eagle said. Simon was afraid of the big eagle, but curious as well. "How do you know?" he asked carefully. "Eagles can read children's thoughts and dreams," the eagle said. "Since you always think about money I've come to tell you where you can find a troll-treasure." Simon stared into the dark eagles eye. "Can you really find money for me?" "Yes," the eagle said. "But for you to see where the treasure is, you must give me one of your eyes and one of your ears."

"Will you give me the eye and ear back again afterwards?" Simon asked. "No," the eagle replied. "Those I will keep as payment for finding the gold." At first Simon found the deal appalling. But when he held his hand over one eye he realised that he could see perfectly well with the other. I can see nearly as well with one eye, and hear nearly as well with one ear, he thought. Maybe it isn't such a high price to pay if my dream comes true in exchange. "OK, it's a deal," Simon said to the eagle. "Fly away with one of my eyes and one of my ears, and show me the treasure." The eagle took his eye and ear so quickly that Simon hardly noticed it. Then it flapped its wings and flew out of the window.

As Simon lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling, he could see the same as the eagle saw while it flew away. He could see what the town looked like from the sky and hear the wind passing over the eagle's wings. He saw how the moon shone down from the sky and over the big, dark forest below. Simon followed the eagles flight as it flew over a mountain, down into a valley and dived into a cave filled with gold and money. He sat up in his bed when he saw it. Now I know where he treasure is, he thought happily and set off as soon as he was dressed.

Simon went out of town, through the forest, over the mountain and down in the valley to the treasure-cave. He was completely exhausted after the long walk, but when he saw the glittering piles of gold he threw himself over it and shouted "Hurrah." Suddenly he heard a deep voice saying: "What are you doing in my cave?" Simon turned and saw a huge brown troll approaching him. "I gave the eagle one eye and ear to show me this treasure," Simon said. "And now I have enough to buy back all my friends and daddy too." "Ha, ha, ha, that was a smart eagle," the troll said. "It showed you the treasure, but didn't mention that it all belongs to me."

Wen Simon heard this he sat down on a pile of gold and started to cry. "I've given away my eye and ear," he whimpered. The troll came towards him and said: "If you will exchange my stone-heart with your heart, I'll give you all my gold. What do you say to that?" Simon started to thing about it. A trolls heart isn't as good as a human heart, he thought. But with all this gold I can have all my friends and my daddy back - and they can't see if my heart is made of stone. "OK, that's a deal," Simon said when he had made up his mind. The troll smiled broadly and changed their hearts so quickly that Simon hardly noticed. "Good luck with the gold," the Troll said and wagged back into the dark of the cave with Simon's heart in his chest. "Where are you going?" Simon asked. "I'm going to sleep," the Troll replied. "Sleep and wait."

When the Troll had disappeared Simon filled his pockets with as much gold as he could carry. He climbed up the mountain, went through the woods and entered his town. There he bought all the toys he could find, and all the cakes and goodies as well. Excited and happy he brought everything to the town square and started to shout: "Come everyone who wants goodies and toys." He looked for his old buddies with his one eye and shouted again: "Come everybody who wants to eat and play." But then he heard there was something missing in his voice. It seemed so cold and stiff when he shouted. He held his hand against his chest and shouted once more, as softly and gently as he could.

But anyway he tried, his voice wasn't nice. People stood around him in a circle a good distance away. Simon tried to pretend nothing was wrong. He ate cakes and goodies and played with the toys, hoping the kids would join him. But they didn't come. Finally Simon started to throw pieces of gold to tempt them. A little boy picked a piece of gold from the ground and said: "Thank you very much, one-eyed Troll."

Then Simon realised what he had become. Terribly sad he left the toys and cakes and went back to the cave in the valley. "Troll, troll, I want my heart back," he cried. Behind him he heard the Troll's laughter. "Aren't you happy with the gold?" "I don't have any use for the gold, as long as I have a heart of stone," Simon said. "Please give me my heart back." "Oh, no I can't do that. You see, with your heart in my body a lady could fall in love with me." "A lady?" Simon said. "Yes. If you can arrange it so that a lady marries me, you can have your heart back afterwards." "But there isn't any lady who wants to be married to a Troll." The Troll smiled. "Just tell her that I can make her the most beautiful woman in the world and give her eternal youth."

The only one who can find such a lady must be the eagle, Simon thought and went off to find it. That was the easy part. All Simon had to do was to look through the eye the eagle had to see where it was.

He found the eagle's nest on the top of the mountain. "I already know what you are thinking about," the eagle said when it caught sight of Simon. "But if I am to find a woman so stupid that she falls in love with a Troll, you must make me a nest of fish hair." "But fish-hair doesn't exist," Simon said desperately. "If you don't help me, I won't help you," the eagle said and stood up in his nest. "OK then," Simon said. "I'll try to get you a fish-hair nest one way or another."

As Simon went towards the sea to find fish-hair he looked through the eye in the eagle's head to find out how it set about finding a lady for the Troll. When the eagle landed in town it hid in an empty plastic bag to spy on the ladies. Thin ladies and fat ladies came by. There were ladies with babies and ladies in wheelchairs. But then Simon saw his stepmother in a flashy red dress. She went into a beauty parlour and the eagle followed after her in the plastic bag. With his ear on the eagles head Simon could overhear everything that was said.

"I want you to make me even prettier," Simon's stepmother said to the owner. "But dear Mrs policeman," the poor owner said. "I can't make you any prettier than you are now." Simon's stepmother became furious. "I want to be prettier, cost what it may, and if you, useless woman, can't do it I'll make my husband close your shop. "But dear me, I don't know what to do to make you prettier. Please don't close my shop," the poor owner said. Then Simon's stepmother kicked the wall. "You useless creep, I'll go home now and ask my husband to throw you out of this place as soon as he can."

Then the eagle pulled of it's plastic bag and cleared its throat. "Ahem, beautiful lady. I know someone who can make you the most beautiful lady in the world, and give you eternal youth as well." Simon's stepmother turned and smiled when she saw the eagle. "Most beautiful in the world? Eternal youth? That's precisely what I'm interested in."

Simon also smiled when he realised that it was his wicked stepmother who was to become the Troll's wife. Then all we need now is the fish-hair nest, he thought and went down to the beach. He found a rowing-boat there and rowed out over the salt waves until he was well out on the open sea. He threw the net out and sat down to wait while he covered his eye and ear to see and hear better what happened to the eagle and his stepmother.

The eagle showed Simon's stepmother the way to the cave. The troll came out into the light and smiled. "Well, that's some a lady," he said. Simon's stepmother wrinkled her nose. "Is it you who will make me the most beautiful lady in the world and give me eternal youth?" "Yupp," the Troll said. "But for the beauty you must marry me. Afterwards I'll tell you what you must do for eternal youth." "But I'm already married," Simon's stepmother said. "That doesn't matter," the Troll said. "A troll marriage lasts for eternity." "Well, that's a deal then," Simon's stepmother said and married the Troll right away.

At the same moment they were married, the Troll made her the most beautiful lady in the world. Simon's stepmother sat down with a mirror to enjoy her beauty. ""Now that you don't need your human heart any more," the eagle said to the Troll. "Simon should have it back, shouldn't he?" "Yes, he can," the Troll said and put Simon's heart in a leather-bag and hung it around the eagle's neck.

When Simon saw that he felt so happy. He pulled the fishnets into the rowing-boat. They were heavy and full of fish. But Simon became sad again. Not a single one of them had hair. He was about to throw them out again when he realised he had caught a lot of cod, and as we all know. Cod have beards. He shouted hooray so loud the seagulls jumped. Then he began to shave the fish. When he had enough hair for an eagles nest he let the fish loose and rowed to shore as fast as he could.

Simon met the eagle on the mountaintop. He gave him his bag of fish-hair. "Now you can give me back my heart and eye and ear." But the eagle shook its head. "The nest must be finished and it has to be on the roof of the police-station." "Whatever for?" Simon said. "Because I want to sit there and enjoy thinking about how the policeman wife got married to the Troll."

When they came to town Simon climbed onto the roof of the police-station and made a nest from the fish-hair. "Are you happy now?" Simon asked as the eagle took over its new home. "Yes, this is perfect," the eagle said and gave back both heart and eye and ear to Simon.

But as Simon climbed down from the roof, he was caught by his father - the angry policeman. "What were you doing up there?" he said. "I have made a fish-hair nest for the eagle," Simon said. Simon's father then drew his gun and shot at the eagle. "That's the eagle that took my wife," he yelled. But the eagle got away without being hurt.

"You show me where she is," Simon's father demanded and put him on a horse. Simon led his father threw the woods, over the mountain and down into the valley where the cave was. When they entered the cave the policeman's wife still sat with the mirror, admiring herself. She was fantastically beautiful and young but Simon's father was frightened by the sight. "What on earth has happened to you?" he asked. "You have become as cold as stone."

"I feel warm and well," she said and smiled like a sculpture. The Troll came up to them chuckling: "She married me for beauty, but she could only have eternal youth by giving me her heart."

The policeman shivered and backed out of the cave. "I have been mistaken," he said, his eyes full of tears. "I did all that she asked for - just because she was so beautiful. But now I understand that she made me blind and cruel." He sat on a stone outside the cave and looked miserable. "Can you be my good old kind daddy again now?" Simon asked carefully. The policeman smiled and lifted Simon onto his lap. "Yes," he said and hugged him so hard that Simon could hear his father's heart beat. "Now we two will be together and everything will be all right again," he said.

© Martin Nygaard - Illustration Victoria Dahr