The Cat on the Dovrefell (Campfire Story)

Once upon a time, up in Finnmark, in the far north of Norway, there was a man who caught a great white BEAR. And he decided to take it all the way to the King of Denmark as a present.

Now, it so happened that he came to the Dovrefell, the high mountains in the middle of Norway, on Christmas Eve. And he knocked on the door of a cottage where a man named HALVOR lived, and asked if he and his bear could stay the night.

'Heaven help us,' said Halvor. 'I'm sorry, but we can't give anyone a bed tonight. Every Christmas Eve, a whole pack of TROLLS comes down from the mountain. And we have to leave our own house, and we don't even have a roof over our own heads.'

'Oh,' said the man. 'If that's all, you can let me in all the same. My bear can lie under the stove there. And I can sleep in the side room.'

Well, he begged so hard that at last Halvor let him stay. Then Halvor and his family ran out of the house. But before they went, they set the table, and they put out porridge, and fish, and sausages, and everything else that was good, just like for any grand Christmas feast.

And as soon as it was dark, in came the TROLLS. Some were big, and some were small. Some had long tails, and some had no tails at all. And some had long, long noses. And they ate, and they drank, and they tasted everything on the table. TROLLS!

And then one of the little trolls spotted the white BEAR lying under the stove. And he took a piece of sausage, and stuck it on a fork, and went over to the bear. And he poked it right on the nose. 'Kitty, kitty,' he said. 'Will you have some sausage?'

And the white BEAR got up. And it roared. ROAR! And it chased every single one of those TROLLS, big and small, tails and no tails, right out of the house and away up the mountain.

So HALVOR and his family had their Christmas dinner after all. And in the morning, the man and his bear went on their way to the King of Denmark.

A whole year went by. And the next year, on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, Halvor was out in the forest, cutting wood for the holidays. Because he expected the trolls again. And while he was chopping, he heard a voice calling out from the woods.

'HALVOR! Halvor!'

'Well,' said Halvor, 'what is it?'

'Do you still have that big cat of yours?'

'Oh, yes,' said Halvor. 'She's lying at home under the stove. And she's had seven kittens now, far bigger and fiercer than she is.'

'Then we'll never come to see you again!' cried the troll.

And the TROLLS never did. From that day to this, they've never eaten Christmas dinner with Halvor on the Dovrefell again.