The Genre of Trolls - Doria

1) The Soldier and the Peasant
Once a peasant went to sell hay and foodstuff to the soldiers. He received one hundred
gulden for his load. When he went home, a soldier placed himself ahead of him on the
road, so that the peasant caught up with him. The soldier started talking with him and
wondered if he didn’t need a dram and some pipe tobacco, “I need it too”, he said further.
“I don’t have any money, I can’t get myself a dram and some pipe tobacco”, the peasant
answered. “I don’t have any money either, but a short distance from here there’s a statue
called Dellforius; he’s helped me several times before and he’ll surely help me now too, if
we just go there and ask him, I’ve asked him before and been helped”, the soldier thought.
The peasant followed him, and they went to that statue. When they got there, the soldier
let the peasant feel in his pockets that he was without [money], but still he had a gulden.
Then he fell to his knees in front of the statue and pretended to pray: the peasant, he saw
that his lips were moving, but he didn’t hear the soldier say anything. When he rose, he
put his ear to the statue’s mouth and pretended to listen to what he would say. As he’d
done that, he walked away from the statue and said to the peasant: “He says that I have a
gulden in my pocket, and that we should split it in half.” The peasant groped in his pocket
and there was a gulden in it. They went to an inn, and the soldier split the gulden with
the peasant, and they took something to drink. When there was no money left, they went
to that statue a second time, and the soldier fell on his knees and pretended to pray. The
peasant saw the soldier moving his lips, but he didn’t hear him say anything. When he
had prayed, he put his ear to the statue’s mouth and pretended to listen to what it would
say. When he removed his ear from the statue’s mouth, he said to the peasant: “There are
a hundred gulden in your pocket, and as I’ve shared the small sum I had in my pocket, you
should share the big one that you have in yours.” When the peasant heard that, he wanted
to squirm, but when he had a share in the small sum, he had to share the big one. He
shouldn’t be so stingy.
2) Bonden och fäktmästaren
He va’ ejngang in fektmestar, som fälast okring o fekta me’ vem som vila; sliutligen treffa’
’an in bund, som va’ nögd ti’ fekt’ me’ ’an. Bundin, han tåo’ slagun, men dem sku föst vís’
’va’ strekk var o ín briuka. På e torg sku’ dem jer’ fysök. Bundin vila to he fektmestarin
föst sku’ vís’ ’va’ strekk ’an briuka. Fektmestarin rejd to okring torji’ o fekta’ me’ verjun, än
som ’an sku’ ha’ anfalli’, än som sku’ ha’ fy’svara’ se’. To ’an ha’ jåost he dé, so sá’ ’an åt
bundin he ’an sku’ vís’ ’va’ strekk han briuka: “Ja’ briuka’ bara bundstrekk ja” tykt bundin o
slåo’ ’an me’ slagun i huvu’, so ’an föll óv hestryddjin. (R II 13)
2) The Peasant and the Fencing Master
Once there was a fencing master who travelled around fencing with anyone who wanted
to; finally he met a peasant who was content to fence with him. The peasant, he took his
flail, but first each of them would show the tricks they used. They would make an attempt
on a square. The peasant wanted the fencing master to show what tricks he used first.
The fencing master rode around the square and fenced with his rapier, at times as if he
was charging, at other times as if he was defending himself. When he had done this, he
said to the peasant to show what tricks he used: “Me, I only use dirty tricks”, the peasant
thought and hit him with the flail in the head, so that he fell off the horse.
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