Scotland's Storybook: stories in English (1.1 - Education Scotland

opened the door as quietly as he could. When the horse Teetgong saw him he
knew that this was not his master, and he started to kick and to rear up, but
Assipattle gave him a pat on the left shoulder and he stood as still as a statue.
He climbed up on the horse’s back and gave him a pat on the right shoulder and
Teetgong set off with a loud neigh. The noise woke the old man and his sons,
and they ran outside and took horses and followed Teetgong, shouting ‘Stop!
Thief!’
Assipattle’s father had no idea it was his son who was the thief, and soon his
horse was catching up with him.
The old man shouted as loud as he could, ‘Hi, Hi Ho! Teetgong Whoa!’
Teetgong stopped dead in his tracks, but Assipattle pulled the goose’s
thrapple from his pocket and blew through it. When Teetgong heard the sound
it made he pricked up his ears, neighed loudly and set off as fast as an arrow
from a bow; it was all that Assipattle could do to breathe as the horse ran so
fast. When the old man and his sons saw this they stopped and turned their
horses for home, as they knew there was no way they could catch up with
Teetgong.
Assipattle rode through the night until he came to the top of the cliffs that
slope down to the sandy shore of a large bay. There in the bay was a huge black
island, but this was no island at all, it was the Stoor Worm’s head. Assipattle
rode down to the bay and quietly slipped into an old cottage that stood close to
the shore. In it was an old woman asleep in her bed with a great grey cat curled
up at her feet. The fire had been rested for the night with damp peats, as it was
considered bad luck to let your fire go out, and bad luck to lend fire to a
neighbour, in case the luck of the house should leave with it. (It was also before
matches were invented!) The fire smouldered in the damp peats, which had
been cut from the hill and dried that summer. Assipattle took a small iron pot
from beside the fire and he picked up a glowing peat and put it into the pot
before slipping quietly outside and heading for the shore. There he saw the
king’s boat, ready for him to sail for battle with the Stoor Worm. There was a
guard on board, and he was shuffling about and flapping his arms to keep warm.
‘Hello,’ shouted Assipattle to him, ‘I was just going to build a small fire to boil
some limpets for my breakfast. Would you like to come and warm yourself by
my fire?’
‘I had better not,’ replied the guard, ‘because if they find out I’ve left my post
I’ll be beaten.’
‘You had better stay where you are then,’ replied Assipattle as he started to
dig a shallow hole in which to light his fire.
Suddenly Assipattle started to jump around wildly shouting;
‘Gold! Gold! I’ve found gold! Look how it shines, like the mid-day sun. Gold!’
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