In a distant, distant time, in the wild mountains in the very north of Scotland, a brave hunter named Finlay lived with his young sister.
Every morning Finlay went with the dogs to hunt - for red deer, partridge or mountain hare, and left his sister at home. And every time he left the house, he ordered her to keep the fire burning and not to open the window that looked north.
There, in the north, behind the snowy mountain peak, evil giants lived in a deep cave. These giants loved the cold north wind and hated the hot fire in the hearth.
The most evil and cunning in the family of giants was old Caillich.
There was a rumor that huge treasures and even magical objects were kept in the mountain cave of giants, but no one had yet dared to go up there to get them.
But I must tell you that Finlay’s sister was a very reckless girl. She had never seen not only the giants themselves, but even their traces. And what she couldn’t see with her own eyes, she didn’t want to believe. And therefore, when leaving the house, she did not even think about throwing peat on the fire, and if the fireplace was smoking, she, without any embarrassment, opened wide the window looking north to let out the smoke.
And one day she did both - just what her brother asked her not to do: she opened the window to the north and forgot to add peat to the fire, and the hearth went out. And leaving the house, she saw an unfamiliar handsome young man on the attack. He greeted her affectionately, talked about this and that, and in the end she invited him to come into the house.
But I must tell you that this handsome young man was none other than the youngest of the giants who lived in that very cave. And so that he would not be recognized, he took on the form of a man. He asked the girl to promise that she would not tell her brother who came to her.
Stupid girl - I wish she hadn't agreed to this! But she hastened to give the young man a promise. And that's all he needed. Now he could bewitch her so that she would fall in love with him without memory.
He completely started talking to the poor thing, and finally she even agreed to leave her brother’s house and run away with an unfamiliar young man. Even worse, he made her vow that if her brother interfered with her and entered into battle with him, she would not help her brother.
With this the young giant left Finlay's house.
Evening has come. Tired Finlay was returning home after hunting with his dogs and, without noticing how, wandered into an unfamiliar hollow. This surprised him all the more because he believed that he knew well all the hollows and hollows in his mountains. There, in the shadow of rowan trees and spruce trees, near a clear stream, he saw a hut. Behind the hut, a plowed field stretched up the hillside. The seedlings were already green on it, although spring in these harsh mountain regions was just beginning.
Finlay ordered the dogs to lie still and wait, while he walked up to the hut and knocked on the door. A pretty girl opened the door for him, and he saw an old woman in the hut.
- Hello, Finlay! - said the old lady.
- How do you know my name? - Finlay was surprised. - And where did you come from here, in our mountains, and you, and this pretty girl, and your house, and the rowan trees, and all that stuff?
“Just call me the Good Witch,” said the old woman. - This girl is my daughter. We're here to save you, Finlay! Even though you are a brave hunter, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to warn a brave hunter about danger. Did you know that the youngest of the giants visited your house today? And your sister invited him into the house, and he managed to entangle her with evil spells. Tomorrow he will come again to kill you with an enchanted blue sword.
- I'm sad to hear this! said Finlay.
“Just don’t ask your sister anything,” the old woman warned. - Remember, she is now under the power of evil spells.
Finlay returned home with the dogs and did not ask his sister anything.
The next morning, as always, he got ready to hunt, but did not go far, but hid. And as soon as a giant appeared on the road - well, the same one who pretended to be a handsome young man and entangled Finlay’s sister with evil spells - he unleashed his dogs on him. The giant was so surprised that he even forgot about the magical blue sword with which he wanted to kill Finlay.
Yes, unfortunately, the dogs started barking loudly, and the girl went out of the house to see what had happened. Then the giant grabbed her hand and they ran away.
Finlay was left alone.
But he knew it wouldn't last long. Soon the giants will come to visit him to avenge their younger brother. He blocked the door with a log, then threw more peat into the fireplace, and soon a bright fire was blazing in the middle of the hut. But Finlay still felt trembling.
Suddenly he heard a terrible noise, like thunder in the mountains. It was large stones falling from under the feet of a giant descending from the mountain.
The giant approached Finlay’s house and shouted, growled, roared:
- Fi! Fo! Ugh! Who dared to close the door? Shame and shame on the one who does not let the weary traveler into the house!
And he pressed his shoulder on the door, knocked it down and burst into the hut. But Finlay was already waiting for him. He stood under the cover of a blazing fireplace with his bow and arrows at the ready. And as soon as the giant burst into the hut, he fired the first arrow. But she only wounded the giant. He roared in pain and lunged at Finlay.
It is unknown what would have happened to the brave Finlay if not for his faithful dogs. They attacked the giant, and while he was fighting them off, Finlay managed to shoot a second arrow from his bow and killed the monster.
In the morning, Finlay hurried to the familiar hollow to the Good Witch, taking with him the giant's head.
- You are a brave young man! - the old lady praised him. - How did you do it?
And Finlay told her everything how it was, how the dogs helped him defeat the terrible giant.
“Well, this battle is not a battle yet,” said the Good Witch. - The battle will be ahead. Take care of your dogs!
And that night Finlay was alone in the hut, because his sister had run away with the young giant. In the middle of the night, he again heard a terrible noise, like thunder in the mountains, and even more terrible than the day before. Again heavy stones rolled down the mountainside and a loud knock was heard on the door of the hut.
- Fi! Fo! Ugh! - the giant roared and growled. “You killed my son, but you can’t kill me!”
And the giant knocked down the door and burst into the hut. But Finlay was already waiting for him. In the light of the fireplace, he saw that this giant had five heads, one more terrible than the other. A hot battle broke out, and Finlay would have been in trouble if not for his faithful dogs. They grabbed and bit the giant, and while he was fighting them off, Finlay drew his sword and plunged it straight into the monster’s heart.
And in the morning Finlay again went to the Good Witch and said to her:
“The dogs helped me again.” Without them it would be the end!
“No,” said the old woman, “this battle is not yet a battle.” The battle will be ahead! Listen to me carefully, brave hunter. Tonight, old Caillich herself will come to you to avenge her husband and eldest son. But she will come without noise and thunder, but quietly and imperceptibly. She will speak to you in a sweet voice and ask you to let her into the house. But remember: she will come to take your life! Do exactly as I tell you, and everything will end well.
And the Good Witch taught brave Finlay what he should do and what he should not do.
When night came, Finlay again sat alone in the hut and listened to the silence. A hot fire was burning in the hearth. The dogs lay nearby and warmed themselves.
Suddenly there was a slight rustling sound, like a dead leaf rustling in the wind, and Finlay heard a weak, trembling voice behind the door:
- Let the tired, poor old lady in to warm herself by the fire! Open the door!
Finlay shouted to her:
“I’ll let you into the house, old lady, if you promise to be quiet and not harm anyone in my house.”
The old woman promised.
And Finlay let her into the house. She really turned out to be a completely decrepit, hunched old woman. Having bowed to Finlay, she sat down near the hearth on one side, and he sat on the other. The dogs scurried restlessly around the hut, baring their teeth and muffled growls.
- What scary dogs you have! — the old woman muttered in a trembling voice. - Better tie them up!
“Dogs will never touch a good old woman,” said Finlay.
“Tie them up, I beg you.” I'm so afraid of angry dogs!
“I don’t have anything to tie them with,” he said.
- I'll give you three hairs from my head. They are so strong that you could weave them into an anchor chain for a large ship.
Finlay took three hairs and pretended to tie the dogs. In reality, he simply ordered them to sit quietly in the corner.
-Have you tied them yet? - asked the old woman.
“You can see for yourself how quietly they lie,” he answered.
The old woman looked at the dogs and calmed down. Without saying another word, they continued to sit by the fire, and it suddenly seemed to Finlay that the old woman began to grow.
- What's wrong with you? he asked. - Do you seem to be growing?
- Well, what are you talking about! - said the old woman. - It's the cold night's fault. I was frozen and huddled in a ball, and now I warmed up by your fireplace.
They were silent again. Finlay did not take his eyes off the old woman and finally said:
- Well, of course, you are growing before our eyes! And don't deny it!
The old woman frowned and said angrily:
- Yes, I’m growing! And you killed my husband and my eldest son!
With these words, she jumped up and rested her head on the ceiling, so that the whole hut shook. Finlay also jumped to his feet, but the giantess managed to grab him by the hair. The good thing is that she couldn't break her promise and attack him in his house. But she dragged him over the threshold. Then the dogs jumped up from their places and rushed at her.
Finlay fought to the death with the giantess. They rolled on the ground, hitting each other, and, of course, she would have defeated Finlay if not for the dogs. They grabbed and bit her, and so Finlay managed to throw her to the ground and put a sword to her throat.
Here she seemed to resign herself and began to promise the brave hunter any riches, if only he would let her go.
- I will give you all the treasures from our cave! - said the giantess.
- No! - answered the hunter.
“You will receive an enchanted sword that will slay man and beast without fail!”
- No! - answered the hunter.
“I will give you a magic wand that can turn a stone pillar into a glorious warrior and a glorious warrior into a stone pillar!”
- No! - the hunter answered and plunged his sword into the giantess’s heart.
This is what the Good Witch told him.
Then he applied red moss, sphagnum, to his wounds and the next morning he was already healthy. He went to the Good Witch's hut and told her everything that happened, how the dogs helped him defeat old Cailleach.
- Now you are a hero, Finlay! - said the Good Witch. - What a battle it was! - And she stroked the dogs.
“Tell me,” Finlay asked the Good Witch, “how to get the treasures of the giants and an enchanted sword that strikes without a miss?”
“Tonight, my daughter and I were going to go to the giants’ cave to take my magic wand from them,” said the Good Witch. - If you want, you can come with us.
Brave Finlay happily agreed. And when the moon came out, all three set off on their way to the cave of the giants. The Good Witch told her daughter and Finlay to collect more dry heather. She piled this heather at the entrance to the cave and lit a fire.
“Giants don’t like fire,” she said, “and we’ll smoke them out of the cave.”
That's how it all turned out. Smoke from the burning heather went into the cave, and soon the head of a young giant poked out of there. His eyes were watering from the smoke, he was sneezing and completely out of breath.
- Just don't shoot him! - the Good Witch shouted to Finlay, seeing that he was aiming at the giant with a bow. “I’d rather turn it into a stone pillar as soon as I find my wand.”
But the young giant had already realized what was going on. Returning to the cave, he grabbed Finlay's sister by the hand and jumped out of the cave with her. Then he blew on the fire with all his strength and, hiding behind a smoke screen, disappeared from sight...
Less than a week had passed before Finlay married the Good Witch's pretty daughter. They lived quite happily. They did not know the need - after all, all the treasures of the giants went to them. And they were not afraid of anyone - after all, they were guarded by Finlay’s faithful dogs.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru