The Greatest World Classics Retold for Children. Гарриет Бичер-Стоу

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СКАЧАТЬ and made her a new sail.

      "This will be the longest voyage that she ever made," Ingolf said.

      When the work was done, they put into her great stores, axes, hammers, fish-nets, cooking-kettles, kegs of ale, chests of hard bread, chests of smoked meat, brass kettles full of flour, skin bottles of water. They stowed these things away in the ends of the ship. When they were ready they put in four head of cattle.

      "We shall need the milk and perhaps the meat," Ingolf said.

      Many men wished to go, but Ingolf had said:

      "There is little room to spare and little food and drink. I have planned for half a year. But perhaps we must be sailing longer than that. Our food may run short. We must not have extra mouths to feed. There are thirty oars in our boat. I will take only one man for every oar, and Leif and I will steer."

      So they started off. Leif stood in the prow leaning forward and looking far ahead, and he sang:

      "What does the swimming dragon smell?

       A stormy sea, an empty land,

       Hunger, darkness, giants, fire.

       Leif and his sword do laugh at that."

      They sailed for days and saw no land. Sometimes they passed ships and always made sure to sail close enough to hail them.

      "Where are you going?" Ingolf would call.

      "To Norway," would come back the answer.

      "For trade or fight?" Leif would shout.

      Then would ring out a great laugh from that boat and this answer:

      "A shut mouth is a good friend."

      So the two ships sailed on, and the men were glad to have heard a greeting and to have called one.

      But at last there were the Shetlands.

      "We will go in here and rest," Ingolf said.

      When they rowed to shore a certain Shetland man stood there. He watched them land and looked them all over. Then he walked up to Ingolf and said:

      "You look like brave men. Welcome to Shetland. You shall come to my house and rest your legs from ship-going and fill your stomachs. I hunger for news of Norway."

      So they went to his house and stayed there for three days. And good it seemed to be near a fire and in a quiet bed and before a steaming platter. When they went to the shore to start off again, the Shetland man had his thralls carry a keg of ale and a great kettle of cooked meat and put them into the ship.

      "Think of me when you eat this," he said.

      Then the Norsemen put to sea again and sailed for a long time.

      One day a terrible storm came up; the sky was black; the wind howled through the ship. Great waves leaped in the sea.

      "Down with the sail and out with the oars!" Ingolf shouted.

      So the men furled the sail and took down the mast and laid it along the bottom of the boat. As they worked, one man was washed overboard and drowned. The men sat down to row, but the tumbling waves tossed the boat about and poured over her and broke three of the oars. But still the men held on. They were wet to the skin and were cold, and their arms and legs ached with the hard work, and they were hungry from the long waiting, but not one face was white with fear.

      "Ran, in her caves under sea, wants us for company to-night," Ingolf laughed.

      So they tossed about all night, but in the morning the wind died down. Great waves still rolled, and for days the sea was rough, but they could put up the sail. Then one day Leif, as he sat in the pilot's seat, jumped to his feet and sang:

      "To eyes grown tired with looking far,

       All at once appeared an island,

       A stretching-place for sea-legs,

       A quiet bed for backs grown stiff

       On rowing-bench on rolling sea.

       A place to build a red fire

       And thaw the blood that sea-winds froze."

      But when they came near they saw no place to land. The island was like a mountain of rock standing out of the water. The sides were steep and smooth. They sailed around it, but found no place to climb up.

      "There are many other islands here," said Leif. "We will try another."

      So he steered to another. It, too, was a steep rock, but one side sloped down to the water and was green with grass.

      "Oh, I have not seen anything so good as that green grass since I looked into my mother's face," one man said.

      There was a little harbor there. The men rowed in and quickly jumped out and put the rollers under the ship and pulled her upon shore. Then they threw themselves down on the grass and rolled and stretched their arms and shouted for joy. After that they built a fire and warmed themselves and cooked a meal and ate like wolves. They slept there that night.

      In the morning before Ingolf's men started away they were standing high up on the hillside, looking about. They saw no houses on any of the islands, but they saw smoke rise from one hillside.

      "Some other men, like us, weary of the sea and stopping to rest," said Ingolf.

      They saw the island that they had sailed around the night before.

      "There can surely be nothing but birds' nests on top of that," Sighvat said.

      "Look!" cried another, pointing.

      Men were standing on the flat top of that island. They were letting a boat down the steep side with ropes. When it struck the water, they made a rope fast to the rock and slid down it into the ship and sailed off.

      "Some robber vikings from Scotland or Ireland," laughed Leif. "It is a good hiding place for treasure."

      Soon Ingolf and his men got into their ship and were off. Old Sighvat grumbled.

      "Is this land not new enough and empty enough and far enough? I am tired of sea, sea, sea, and nothing else."

      "We started for Iceland," said Ingolf, "and I will not stop before I come there. I have a vow. Did you make none, Sighvat?"

      Then they were on the water again for weeks with no sight of land.

      "Oh! I would give my right hand to see a dragon pawing the water off there and to fling a word to its men," Sighvat said.

      "No hope of that," replied Ingolf. "Only three dragons before ours have ever swept this water, and men are not sailing this way for pleasure or riches."

      So only the desolate sea stretched around them. Sometimes it was smooth and shining under the sun. Often it was torn by winds, and a gray sky hung over it, and the men were drenched with rain. Once they ran into a fog. For three days and nights they СКАЧАТЬ