The little brownie lived in a big house called Hilton Hall.
"Wait, who is that brownie?" - you ask.
Brownie - this is how brownies are called in England. Most likely they look like tiny funny little people and are quite cute, but terribly capricious. If they feel like it, they will do all the homework for you, but no, they will only be mischievous. It is said that there was one brownie in Cornwell who could grind more grain in a night than the owner himself could in a whole week. But this brownie only got to work if they remembered to leave him a large bowl of fresh cream overnight.
And another brownie - a very famous named Robin Hood - was a desperate mischief and a big fan of all sorts of tricks. For example, he liked to sneak up on some respectable lady at the table and quietly splash out all the ale she was just about to drink. And then he did worse: he unlocked the stable and released all the horses into the wild. But the Hilton Hall brownie was not as desperate as this Robin Hood, nor was he as virtuous as the Cornish brownie. Everything depended on his mood.
When he was out of sorts, they would not have time to fall asleep in the house, he didn’t waste time in vain: he would pour pepper into the sugar bowls, salt into the beer, throw ash into the fire in the hearth, which was deliberately left to burn all night, and even splashes clean water prepared for the morning.
Well, if he was in a good mood - fortunately, this happened more often - then while the maids were sleeping, he swept all the rooms behind them, cleaned the hearth, made a bright fire, tidied up everything in the kitchen: scrubbing pots, rubbing dishes, washing, scraped until everything in the kitchen sparkles and shines. Brownie did this most willingly when the maids left him a bowl of cream or a loaf of bread and honey overnight.
And then it happened one day that the maids sat up late, telling each other terrible stories. And when the two, the youngest of them - the cook's assistant and the maid - finally went to bed, then, going up the stairs with a candle, they suddenly heard a slight noise in the kitchen. "What if it's a brownie?" - thought the girls.
And I must tell you that no one has ever seen a brownie - brownies do not really like to show themselves to people - and the girls really wanted to look at him. So they went down the stairs on the sly, crept up to the kitchen door and, plucking up courage, opened it slightly.
This is true! There was a little brownie in the kitchen. And what do you think this imp was doing? He sat astride a hook from a long chain screwed into the ceiling, on which pots are hung over the hearth, and swayed like on a swing. Rocked and hummed:
| Oh woe to me, woe! An acorn has not yet fallen into the ground, That will rise into the sky with an oak tree, That will go to the unsteady cradle, That will swing the child, What will become then a man, That will set me free. Oh woe to me, woe! |
The servant girls were kind girls. And while they were undressing to go to bed, they managed to talk about everything and agreed that it was a shame and a shame to keep the poor brownie in the house against his wishes. After all, he was such a cutie! And if sometimes he played pranks, he helped much more often. And they decided to set him free.
The next day, they asked everyone they met how they could release the little brownie. But nobody knew. Finally they asked the old henwoman.
- Oh, my God! - exclaimed the henwoman. - Nothing is easier!
And she told them what to do and how to do it. About that time there was a fair in the neighboring town, and the girls asked to go there. Each of them grabbed some of the money they were saving for their wedding, and with this money they bought the best green Lincoln cloth at the fair.
All the next day they cut and sewed and sewed a very nice green cape with a hood for the brownie. And when evening came, they put it in the kitchen near the hearth, while they themselves hid and peeped through the crack.
Soon a brownie appeared, frowning and frowning. It was evident that he came in a bad mood.
But as soon as he noticed a green cape with a hood near the hearth - my God, what started here! He smiled, grinned, picked up the cloak to examine it carefully, then put it on and began to gaze into the polished copper pan. And then, well, dance and gallop around the kitchen, singing:
| My cape, my hood is now mine, And no longer serves you as a brownie! |
And so, singing and dancing, he disappeared from the kitchen, and no one ever saw him again.
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