# The Black Bull of Norroway

An episode of [Classic English Stories For Kids](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1509930659), 2 Aug 2022, 11 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/66895613/audio.mp3

Written by: Flora Annie Steel Once upon a time, there was a lady who had 3 daughters. While discussing, who will they like to marry, the youngest and prettiest one said that she doesn't mind even marrying the Black Bull of Norroway, who was considered a horrible monster. Then one morning, a great big bull was at the door to marry the little girl. The girl finally decided to keep her words and went away with the big bull. As they continued on their journey, she realized that the big black bull was not just an animal but filled with secrets. If you like the show, support us by becoming a patron on this link: https://www.patreon.com/chimesradio Visit our website to know more: https://chimesradio.com All podcast listening links: http://chimesradio.bio.link/ Connect with us on our social handles to get all content updates: https://www.instagram.com/vrchimesradio/ https://www.facebook.com/chimesradioSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/chimesradioSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: The Black Bull of Noroway written by Flora Annie Steele.
[0:07] Speaker 1: Long ago in Norway, there lived a lady who had
[0:10] Speaker 1: three daughters. Now, they were all pretty, and one night
[0:15] Speaker 1: they fell a talking of whom they meant to marry.
[0:19] Speaker 1: And the eldest said, I will have no one lower
[0:22] Speaker 1: than a king, and the second said, I will have
[0:26] Speaker 1: none lower than a lord. But the third, the prettiest
[0:30] Speaker 1: and the merriest, tossed her head and said, with a
[0:33] Speaker 1: twinkle in her eye, why so proud as for me,
[0:38] Speaker 1: I would be content with the black Bull of Norroway.
[0:41] Speaker 1: At that the other sisters bade her be silent and
[0:44] Speaker 1: not talk lightly of such a monster. No doubt, the
[0:48] Speaker 1: Black Bull of Norroway was held to be a horrible monster.
[0:52] Speaker 1: But the youngest daughter would have her laugh. So she
[0:56] Speaker 1: said three times that she would be content with the
[0:58] Speaker 1: Black Bull of Norroway. Well, it so happened that the
[1:03] Speaker 1: very next morning a king had come to ask the
[1:05] Speaker 1: hand of the eldest daughter in marriage. So there were
[1:08] Speaker 1: great rejoicings over the wedding, and the bride and bridegroom
[1:12] Speaker 1: drove away. Then the next thing that happened was that
[1:16] Speaker 1: a lord came swinging along the road, and he wanted
[1:20] Speaker 1: to marry the second daughter. So they were wed, and
[1:23] Speaker 1: there were great rejoicings, and the bride and bridegroom drove away.
[1:29] Speaker 1: Now after this there was only the youngest, the prettiest,
[1:32] Speaker 1: and the merriest of the sisters left, and she became
[1:36] Speaker 1: the apple of her mother's eye. So you may imagine
[1:40] Speaker 1: how the mother felt when one morning a terrible bellowing
[1:43] Speaker 1: was heard at the door, and there was a great,
[1:47] Speaker 1: big black bull waiting for his bride. She wept and
[1:50] Speaker 1: she wailed, and at first the girl ran away and
[1:53] Speaker 1: hid herself for fear. But there the bull stood waiting,
[1:58] Speaker 1: and at last the girl came up and said, I
[2:01] Speaker 1: promised I would be content with the black Bull of Norway,
[2:04] Speaker 1: and I must keep my word. Farewell, mother, you will
[2:09] Speaker 1: not see me again. Then she mounted on the black
[2:12] Speaker 1: bull's bag and it walked away with her quietly. The
[2:15] Speaker 1: bull chose the smoothest parts and the easiest roads, so
[2:19] Speaker 1: that at last the girl grew less afraid. But she
[2:22] Speaker 1: became very hungry and was nigh to faint when the
[2:26] Speaker 1: black bull said to her, in quite a soft voice,
[2:29] Speaker 1: that wasn't a bellow at all. Eat out of my
[2:32] Speaker 1: left ear, drink out of my right, and said, by
[2:37] Speaker 1: what you leave to serve the tomorrow's night. So she
[2:41] Speaker 1: did as she was bid, and lo, the left ear
[2:44] Speaker 1: was full of delicious things to eat, and the right
[2:46] Speaker 1: was full of the most delicious rings, and there was
[2:50] Speaker 1: plenty left over for several days. Thus they journeyed on
[2:54] Speaker 1: through many dreadful forests, and the black bull never paused
[2:58] Speaker 1: for bite. But ever the girl he carried ate out
[3:01] Speaker 1: of his left ear, and rank out of his right,
[3:05] Speaker 1: and said, by what she left to serve the tomorrow's night.
[3:09] Speaker 1: And she slept soft and warm on his broad back.
[3:12] Speaker 1: So it came to pass that he grew tired and
[3:15] Speaker 1: was limping with one foot. When just as the sun
[3:18] Speaker 1: was setting, they came to a beautiful palace where princes
[3:21] Speaker 1: and princesses were enjoying themselves with party on the green grass. Now,
[3:27] Speaker 1: though the company greatly wondered at the strange companions, they
[3:30] Speaker 1: asked the girl to join them, and ordered the grooms
[3:33] Speaker 1: to lead away the black bull to a field. But
[3:37] Speaker 1: the girl, remembering all the black bull done for her,
[3:40] Speaker 1: said not, so he will stay with me. Then, seeing
[3:44] Speaker 1: a large thorn in the foot, with which he had
[3:46] Speaker 1: been limping. She stooped down and pulled it out, and
[3:50] Speaker 1: lo and behold. In an instant, to everyone's surprise, there
[3:55] Speaker 1: appeared not a frightful, monstrous bull, but one of the
[3:58] Speaker 1: most beautiful princes ever beheld, who fell at his deliverer's feet,
[4:04] Speaker 1: thanking her for having broken his cruel enchantment. A wicked
[4:09] Speaker 1: woman who wanted to marry him, had, he said, spelled
[4:12] Speaker 1: him until a beautiful girl of her own free will
[4:15] Speaker 1: should do him a favor. But he said, the danger
[4:18] Speaker 1: is not all over. You have broken the enchantment by
[4:21] Speaker 1: night that by day has to be overcome. So the
[4:25] Speaker 1: next morning the prince had to resume the form of
[4:27] Speaker 1: a bull, and they set out together. And they rode
[4:31] Speaker 1: till they came to a dark and horrible valley, And
[4:34] Speaker 1: here he bade her dismount and sit on a great rock.
[4:38] Speaker 1: Here you must stay, he said, while I go and
[4:40] Speaker 1: fight the wicked lady. And mind move neither hand nor
[4:44] Speaker 1: foot while I am away, else I shall never find
[4:47] Speaker 1: you again. If everything around you turns blue, I shall
[4:51] Speaker 1: have beaten the wicked one. But if everything turns red,
[4:55] Speaker 1: she will have conquered me. And with that and a
[4:58] Speaker 1: tremendous roaring bellow, he set off to find his enemy. Well,
[5:02] Speaker 1: she sat as still as a mouse, moving neither hand
[5:05] Speaker 1: nor feet, nor even her eyes, and waited and waited
[5:10] Speaker 1: and waited. Then at last everything turned blue. The girl
[5:14] Speaker 1: overcame with joy to think that her lover was victorious.
[5:17] Speaker 1: That she forgot to keep still, and lifting one of
[5:20] Speaker 1: her feet, crossed it over the other. So she waited
[5:24] Speaker 1: and waited, and waited long she sat, but the prince
[5:28] Speaker 1: never found her. At last she rose and went to
[5:32] Speaker 1: seek her lover through the whole wide world. So the
[5:35] Speaker 1: girl journeyed on until one day, in a dark forest,
[5:38] Speaker 1: she came to a little hut where an old woman
[5:41] Speaker 1: gave her food and shelter. At last she gave her
[5:44] Speaker 1: three nuts, a walnut, a filbert, and a hazel nut,
[5:49] Speaker 1: with these words, when your heart is like to break,
[5:53] Speaker 1: and once again is like to break, crack a nut,
[5:56] Speaker 1: and in its shell that will be that suits you well.
[5:59] Speaker 1: After this, she felt heartened up and wandered on till
[6:02] Speaker 1: she came to a castle, where the courtyards were full
[6:05] Speaker 1: of cooks and bakers, some running this way, some running that,
[6:10] Speaker 1: and also busy that they did not know what to
[6:12] Speaker 1: do first. Then she heard the horns of hunters and
[6:16] Speaker 1: cries of room room for the Duke of Norroway and
[6:19] Speaker 1: his bride. And who should ride past by the beautiful
[6:22] Speaker 1: prince she had but half unspelled, and by his side
[6:26] Speaker 1: was the wicked woman, who was determined to marry him
[6:29] Speaker 1: that very day. Well at the sight, she felt that
[6:32] Speaker 1: her heart was indeed like to break, and over again
[6:35] Speaker 1: was like to break, so that the time had come
[6:38] Speaker 1: for her to crack one of the nuts. So she
[6:41] Speaker 1: broke the walnut as it was the biggest, and out
[6:45] Speaker 1: of it came a wonderful little woman, spinning wool as
[6:48] Speaker 1: fast as she ever could. Now. When the wicked woman
[6:51] Speaker 1: saw this wonderful thing, she offered the girl her choice
[6:55] Speaker 1: of anything in the castle for it, if you will
[6:57] Speaker 1: put off your wedding with the prince for a day
[7:00] Speaker 1: and let me watch in his room tonight, said the girl.
[7:03] Speaker 1: You shall have it now. Like all wicked women, the
[7:07] Speaker 1: bride wanted everything her own way, and so she made
[7:11] Speaker 1: sure that her groom safe. She consented, But before the
[7:14] Speaker 1: duke went to rest, she gave him with her own
[7:17] Speaker 1: hands a hot drink, so made that anyone who drank
[7:21] Speaker 1: it would sleep till morning. Thus, though the girl was
[7:24] Speaker 1: allowed alone into the princess chamber, and though she spent
[7:27] Speaker 1: the live long night sighing and singing, far have I
[7:31] Speaker 1: sought for THEE? Long have I wrought? For thee near?
[7:34] Speaker 1: Am I brought to thee dear Duke Honoroway, Wilt you
[7:38] Speaker 1: say no to me? The Prince never awakened, but slept on,
[7:42] Speaker 1: so when they came the girl had to leave him,
[7:45] Speaker 1: without his ever knowing she had been there. Then once
[7:49] Speaker 1: again her heart was like to break, and over and
[7:52] Speaker 1: over again like to break, and she cracked the filbert nut.
[7:57] Speaker 1: But it was the next biggest, and out of it
[8:00] Speaker 1: came a wonderful little woman, spinning away as fast as
[8:04] Speaker 1: ever she could spin. Now, when the witch bride saw
[8:07] Speaker 1: this wonderful thing, she once again put off her wedding
[8:10] Speaker 1: so that she might possess it. And once again the
[8:14] Speaker 1: girl spent the livelong night in the Prince's chamber, sighing
[8:18] Speaker 1: and singing, far have I sought for thee? Long have
[8:21] Speaker 1: I wrought? For thee near? Am I brought to thee
[8:24] Speaker 1: dear dyuknor Away? Wilt you say no to me? But
[8:28] Speaker 1: the prince, who had drunk the sleeping drink from the
[8:30] Speaker 1: hands of his witch bride, never stirred, and when dawn came,
[8:34] Speaker 1: the girl had to leave him, without his ever knowing
[8:37] Speaker 1: she had been there. Then, indeed, the girl's heart was
[8:41] Speaker 1: like to break, and over and over and over again.
[8:45] Speaker 1: So she cracked the last nut, the hazel nut, and
[8:48] Speaker 1: out of it came the most wonderful little woman, spinning
[8:51] Speaker 1: away a yarn as fast as she could spin. And
[8:55] Speaker 1: this marvel delighted the witch bride so much that once
[8:58] Speaker 1: again she consented to put off her wedding for a day,
[9:01] Speaker 1: and allowed the girl to watch in the Duke's chamber
[9:03] Speaker 1: the night through, in order to possess it. Now. It
[9:06] Speaker 1: so happened that when the Duke was dressing that morning,
[9:10] Speaker 1: he heard his servants talking amongst themselves of the strange
[9:13] Speaker 1: sighing and singing they had heard in the night, And
[9:17] Speaker 1: he asked his faithful old servant, what do you mean?
[9:21] Speaker 1: And the old servant, who hated the wicked bride, said,
[9:25] Speaker 1: if the Master will take no sleeping drink tonight, mayhap
[9:28] Speaker 1: he may also hear what for two nights has kept
[9:31] Speaker 1: me awake. At this the prince marveled greatly, and when
[9:35] Speaker 1: the wicked bride brought him his evening drink, he made
[9:38] Speaker 1: excuse it was not sweet enough, and while she went
[9:41] Speaker 1: away to get honey to sweeten it, he poured away
[9:43] Speaker 1: the drink and made her belief that he had swallowed it.
[9:47] Speaker 1: So that night, when dark had come and the girl
[9:50] Speaker 1: stole into his chamber with a heavy heart, thinking it
[9:52] Speaker 1: would be the very last time she would ever see him,
[9:55] Speaker 1: the prince was really broad awake, and when she sat
[9:58] Speaker 1: down by his bedside and began to sing, far have
[10:02] Speaker 1: I sought for thee? He knew her voice at once
[10:05] Speaker 1: and clasped her in his arms. Then he told her
[10:08] Speaker 1: how he had been in the power of the wicked
[10:10] Speaker 1: woman and had forgotten everything, but that now he remembered all,
[10:15] Speaker 1: and that the spell was broken forever. So the wedding
[10:19] Speaker 1: feast served for their marriage, since their wicked bride, seeing
[10:23] Speaker 1: her power was gone, quickly fled the country and was
[10:27] Speaker 1: never heard of again.

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