The Tale of a Brave Boy’s Journey to Learn How to Shudder
There was once a father who had two sons. The elder son was smart and wise, always finding the best solutions to problems. In contrast, the younger son was dull and ignorant, unable to understand anything. People would shake their heads and say:
“That boy is a burden to his father.”
Whenever there was a task to be done, no matter the hour, the elder son would be the one to take care of it. However, he had a timid streak. If his father asked him to go through a cemetery or any deserted place after dark, he would refuse:
“Oh, I can’t do that, Father. I’m too scared. I shudder at the thought!”
In the evenings, the family would gather around the fire and share spine-chilling stories, occasionally exclaiming:
“My, that makes me shudder!”
The younger son would sit in the corner, listening but not understanding a thing. He thought to himself:
“They keep saying, ‘I shudder!’ I don’t understand what that means. It must be some special phrase that I don’t know.”
One day, the father turned to his younger son and said:
“Son, you’re old enough now, and you’re strong. It’s time you learned a trade to earn your keep. Look at your brother; he works hard, but you’re just a waste of food. What good are you?”
The younger son replied:
“Father, I’ve been thinking of learning a trade, too. I don’t know how to shudder, so if you permit, I’d like to learn that.”
Hearing this, the elder son laughed to himself and thought:
“Goodness me! My foolish brother will never amount to anything! You need good steel to make a proper hook.”
The father sighed and said to his younger son:
“Learning to shudder might be something you can do. But how will that help you earn a living?”
After a while, the sexton came to visit, and the father confided in him about his worries regarding his younger son’s clumsiness and ignorance. He said:
“There, you see, I asked him what trade he wanted to learn, and he insists on learning how to shudder.”
The sexton replied:
“If that’s all he wants to learn, I can teach him. Send him to me, and I’ll try to knock some sense into him.”
The father was delighted, thinking his son would finally receive some proper guidance.
So, the younger son went to live with the sexton, whose job was to ring the church bell. A few days later, in the middle of the night, the sexton woke his apprentice and told him to go up to the belfry and ring the bell. The sexton thought to himself:
“Now he’ll learn what it means to shudder.”
The sexton quietly climbed up to the belfry ahead of his apprentice. When the young man reached the top and turned around, about to grab the bell rope, he saw a white figure standing opposite him on the other side of the tower. He shouted:
“Who’s there?”
But the figure remained silent and motionless.
The young man shouted again:
“Speak up, or leave! What are you doing here at this hour?”
Illustration.
The sexton, pretending to be a ghost, stayed still, hoping to scare the young man. Undeterred, the young man shouted for the third time:
“Tell me what you want, or I’ll throw you down the stairs!”
The sexton thought to himself:
“He won’t dare.”
But when the young man asked for the third time and received no answer, he pushed the “ghost” down the stairs. The sexton tumbled down ten steps and lay sprawled in a corner. Unfazed, the young man calmly rang the bell, then went straight back to bed and fell asleep.
The sexton’s wife, worried about her husband’s prolonged absence, woke the young man and asked:
“Do you know where my husband is? He went up to the belfry before you.”
The young man replied:
“No, ma’am, I don’t. But I saw a figure lurking in the shadows across from the stairs. I asked who it was, and when they didn’t answer and refused to leave, I assumed it was a thief and pushed them down the stairs. Go and see if it’s your husband. If it is, I’m truly sorry.”
The wife rushed to the belfry and found her husband lying in a corner, with a broken leg, groaning in pain. She carried him home and went straight to the young man’s father, shouting:
“Your son has injured my husband! He pushed him down the stairs and broke his leg. Take him away from me at once!”
The father was shocked and rushed to scold his son. “What have you done? Are you possessed by demons?”
The son replied:
“Father, hear me out. I’m innocent. In the middle of the night, he stood there like he was up to no good. I asked him three times to identify himself, and when he didn’t, I had no choice but to assume the worst.”
The father said:
“You’ve caused me nothing but trouble. Get out of my sight! I don’t want to see your face again.”
“Yes, Father, I will obey. But please let me wait until morning. Then, I’ll go on my journey to learn how to shudder.”
“Learn whatever you want. It’s all the same to me. Here, take these fifty coins for your journey. But remember, don’t tell anyone where you’re from or who your father is. I’m ashamed of you.”
“Yes, Father, I will do as you say. If that’s all you ask of me, I can remember that.”
As dawn broke, the young man put the coins in his pocket and set off, muttering to himself:
“Oh, if only I could shudder! Oh, if only I could shudder!”
A carriage driver, hearing these words, asked him:
“What’s your name, lad?”
“I don’t know.”
“Where are you from?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s your father’s name?”
“I’m not allowed to say.”
“Then what are you muttering about?”
“Oh, I want to learn how to shudder, but no one will teach me.”
The carriage driver said:
“Stop your nonsense. Come with me, and I’ll find you a place to sleep.”
The two traveled together and reached an inn by evening, where they decided to spend the night. As soon as they entered, the young man started muttering again:
“Oh, if only I could shudder! Oh, if only I could shudder!”
Hearing this, the innkeeper laughed and said:
“You’re quite obsessed with that, aren’t you? Well, you’ve come to the right place.”
The innkeeper’s wife interrupted him:
“Now, now, leave him be. Many a brave lad has lost his life because of his curiosity. It would be a shame if those bright eyes never saw the light of day again.”
But the young man said:
“No matter how difficult it is, I want to learn. That’s why I’ve traveled so far.”
The innkeeper told him about a nearby haunted castle where anyone who spent three nights in a row would either learn how to shudder or be rewarded with great riches. The king had promised his beautiful daughter’s hand in marriage to anyone brave enough to take on this challenge. Many had tried, but none had returned.
The next morning, the young man went to see the king and said:
“Your Majesty, with your permission, I would like to spend three nights in the haunted castle.”
The king looked at him for a long time, thinking he was quite handsome, and said:
“You may take three items with you, but they must be inanimate objects, not living beings.”
The young man replied:
“Then I shall take a fire-burning stove, a lathe, and a carving bench with a knife.”
During the day, the king had these items brought to the castle. When night fell, the young man entered the castle and lit a large fire in one of the rooms. He placed the knife and carving bench to one side and sat down at the lathe. He said to himself:
“Well, I wish I could shudder, but I suppose that’s not going to happen here.”
Around midnight, as he was about to stoke the fire, he heard a voice from one corner of the room:
“Meow! Meow! We’re freezing!”
The young man said:
“You fools, what are you complaining about? Come and warm yourselves by the fire.”
As soon as he finished speaking, two huge black cats leaped into the room and sat on either side of him, their eyes glowing like fire and staring at him menacingly. After a while, when they had warmed up, they said:
“Hey, let’s play a game of cards.”
“Sure, why not? But first, show me your paws.”
The cats stretched out their paws, and the young man said:
“My, what long claws you have! Wait, let me trim them for you.”
He grabbed the cats, placed them on the carving bench, and bound their paws. Then he said:
“Now I feel like playing cards.”
He killed the cats and threw their bodies out the window into a lake. He returned to the fire and soon felt sleepy. Looking around, he spotted a large bed in one corner of the room. He said:
“How fortunate I am.”
He climbed into bed and was just about to fall asleep when the bed started moving, racing through the castle. He said:
“Go faster if you can!”
The bed raced like a carriage pulled by four horses, through doorways and down stairs, thumping and bumping along. Suddenly, the bed hit a bump and flipped over, dumping the young man and the bedding onto the floor. He said:
“Now, whoever wants the bed can have it.”
He returned to the fire and slept soundly until morning.
The next day, the king came to the castle and found the young man lying on the floor. Thinking he was dead, the king exclaimed:
“What a shame! Such a fine young man!”
The young man heard this, sat up, and said:
“No, Your Majesty, I’m still alive. How did the night go? Just fine, thank you. Two nights to go.”
When he returned to the inn, the innkeeper was astonished and asked:
“You’re still alive? Have you learned how to shudder yet?”
“No, it was a waste of time. I wish someone would teach me.”
On the second night, the young man returned to the castle and sat by the fire, muttering to himself:
“Oh, if only I could shudder!”
Around midnight, he heard noises and whispers, at first faint but gradually getting louder. Suddenly, there was a loud scream. A hideous-looking man had taken his seat by the fire. The young man said:
“This seat is taken. Get your own.”
The man tried to intimidate him, but the young man stood his ground and pushed him away, reclaiming his seat. Then, more people started dropping down from the chimney, carrying nine bones and two skulls, which they used to play a game similar to ninepins. The young man said:
“Hey, let me play, too.”
“Sure, but it’ll cost you.”
“That’s fine, but your balls aren’t very round.”
He took the two skulls and placed them on the lathe, turning them until they were perfectly round. Then he said:
“Now we can play properly.”
He played and lost a few pennies. When the clock struck twelve, the ghostly players vanished. The young man lay down on the floor and slept soundly until morning.
The next day, the king came to see how he had fared. “Well, did you shudder this time?”
“No, Your Majesty, I played a game and lost a few pennies. I still don’t know what it means to shudder.”
“Then spend one more night there. If you succeed, you shall marry my daughter.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. I will try, but I still wish someone would teach me how to shudder.”
That night, the young man sat by the fire as usual, wishing he could shudder. Suddenly, a giant with a long white beard that reached his feet appeared and said:
“Ah, young man, you’re about to learn what it means to shudder, for you’re about to die.”
“Not so fast! We’ll see about that. I’m as strong as you, if not stronger.”
The giant said:
“We’ll see. Let’s have a contest. If you win, I’ll let you live. Follow me.”
The giant led him through dark passages until they reached a blacksmith’s forge. The giant grabbed an ax and, with one mighty blow, embedded it in the anvil. “Now it’s your turn,” he said.
The young man said:
“Stand back and watch.”
He swung the ax and chopped off the giant’s beard, which was stuck to the anvil. “Now it’s your turn to shudder, for you’re about to die,” he said.
He grabbed an iron bar and beat the giant until he begged for mercy, promising to show him where the castle’s treasure was hidden. The giant led him to a cellar and pointed out three chests filled with gold. He said:
“One chest is for the poor, one for the king, and one for you.”
Just then, the clock struck twelve, and the giant vanished. The young man was left alone in the dark. He said:
“Now to find my way out.”
After groping around for a while, he found his way back to the room with the fire. He lay down and slept until morning.
The next day, the king came to see him and asked:
“Well, did you shudder this time?”
“No, Your Majesty, I didn’t. A bearded man showed me where the treasure was hidden, but I still don’t know what it means to shudder.”
The king said:
“You’ve conquered the haunted castle. I will give you my daughter’s hand in marriage.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. I gladly accept, but I still wish I knew how to shudder.”
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