THE GIANT GOULAFFRE
The Giant Goulaffre.
However, Allanic and Fistilou had arrived in Paris. They went to the king's palace to ask for work, and they were taken as stable boys.
The king's son loved hunting passionately; but it seems that it was a rather unfortunate passion for him and that his gamebag was often empty on his return, so much so that Fistilou said one day in front of his comrades:
"My friend Allanic would catch, in a single day, as much game as the young prince in a whole year."
The remarks were reported to the prince. He called Allanic and took him with him hunting the next day. Allanic did not forget to take his seven-league boots in his gamebag because as they were fairy boots, they increased or decreased in volume at will. He was given a good rifle, the first he had ever held in his hands, and he and the prince went to a large wood where game of all kinds abounded. Under the pretext of doing the honors of the day to his companion, Allanic let him shoot all the pieces, hares, deer, and foxes, and as he was extremely clumsy, he missed everything.
Around noon, they sat down on the moss, at the foot of an oak tree, to eat a piece of pâté and drink a glass of wine. Allanic then said to the prince:
"Rest a little, my prince, while I push a little point in that direction. In an hour at most, I will come back to join you."
"Go", said the prince, "And have more luck than me."
A few steps away, Allanic put on his seven-league boots, and in less than an hour he had caught so much game of all kinds that he had to ask for a cart from a neighboring farm to take them to the palace.
"And how could you, in such a short time, carry out such a massacre?" said the prince, seeing him return with his full cart.
"It’s luck, my prince, and a little skill too; but you know very well, there are days when you really think you are bewitched because you are so unhappy, and you are, it seems, in one of those days."
The prince seemed content with this explanation, and they returned to the palace, where they were amazed to see such a quantity of game arrive.
From that day on, Allanic was welcomed by the king, and especially by the prince whom he accompanied almost every day hunting.
Fistilou, jealous of this favor, undertook to cause further embarrassment to his former friend. He told the stablemen and others of their visit to the castle of the giant Goulaffre and how they had managed to escape without harm; he also spoke of the giant's seven-league boots, with which Allanic carried out such marvelous hunts. These rumors quickly reached the ears of the king, who called Allanic and spoke to him thus:
"They say that you went to the castle of the giant Goulaffre and that you came back without harm?"
"Nothing is more true, sire."
"Ah! What a brigand, what a monster is this Goulaffre! And he hurt me! He stole my half-moon, an incomparable marvel, and my golden cage which made me happy! Ah! if I could take revenge on him and recover my half-moon and my golden cage! But since you have already been to his house and returned without harm, you will be able to return there."
"Ah! Sire, if you only knew what a terrible monster this giant is! He would surely eat me if I returned to his house."
"You have already been there, and you brought back his seven-league boots. You must go back and bring me my half-moon, or you will be burned alive."
"Being burned alive here, or being eaten by Goulaffre, matters little to me, and since that is so, I will try the adventure."
Source: Le Géant Goulaffre from the French book Contes et légendes de Basse-Bretagne published in 1891.
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5
Hello, my name is Vincent Celier.
I am writing translations of folk tales that I found in public domain French books, so that people who do not understand French may enjoy them too.
Now that Allanic and Fistilou are working for the palace in Paris, their friendship starts to dissolve.
Fistilou is jealous of the successes that Allanic has with the seven-league boots.
Now that Allanic is sent back to the Giant Goulaffre, will that be the end of him? Probably not, as Allanic is a very smart boy.
For Christmas, we were given a jigsaw puzzle.
The picture is a scene in a French village.
The puzzle has 1,000 parts and its dimensions are 68 cm by 48 cm.
We have started to work on it, but we have not gone very far.
We will continue to work on it for many days. We must be very patient.
-- Vincent Celier