THE GIANT GOULAFFRE

_{The Giant Goulaffre.}

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So Allanic set out, and as he knew the way and had his seven-league boots, he easily arrived in front of the giant's castle. Roofers were repairing the roofs. He hid in the woods to wait for the night. Around ten o'clock, as it was very dark, the half-moon was raised on the highest tower, and immediately everything lit up for several leagues around.

The roofers, when they retired in the evening, had left their ladders against the walls of the castle. About midnight Allanic came out of the wood, and, using these ladders, he climbed onto the platform of the tower, removed the half-moon, put it in a bag that he had taken with him, and left without staying, as they say, to look for a sheep with five feet. When darkness suddenly fell, the giant went out to find out the cause. He saw Allanic leaving, carrying his half-moon on his back. He screamed, he howled like a ferocious beast. He wanted to pursue the thief, but unfortunately ! he no longer had his seven-league boots.

When Allanic arrived in Paris with the half-moon, he immediately displayed it on the highest tower of the king's palace, and the entire city, previously plunged into darkness, suddenly found itself illuminated as in broad daylight. The inhabitants got up and ran towards the palace, where the light came from, and seeing that their king had found his half-moon, they were very happy. The king himself could not hold back his joy. He ordered a great feast to which the princes, the princesses, the generals, and all the great ones of the kingdom were invited, and he presented Allanic to them as the conqueror of the half-moon and ordered them to honor him and consider him as their best friend. The festivals and rejoicings lasted fifteen whole days throughout the city.

When he had admired his half-moon for three months, the old king began to miss his golden cage more than ever, and each day his joy dissipated and he became more and more sad. Allanic noticed this, like everyone else, and he said to himself:

"Things are going badly; the king will never be consoled for the loss of his golden cage, and one of these days he will order me, I fear, to go and get it for him."

And, in fact, a little later, the king called him into his room, and said to him:

"Allanic, you see that I am wasting away with sadness and sorrow; it is the loss of my golden cage that is the cause, and if I do not see it again in my palace, I will die without delay. You removed his seven-league boots from Goulaffre; you also won back my half-moon. You must now bring me back my golden cage."

"Ah! Sire, what you are asking there, no man in the world could do. Just think that this cage is suspended by four golden chains above the giant's bed! How can I enter his room and cut the four golden chains without him waking up? It's impossible."

"You brought me back my half-moon, you must also bring me back my golden cage, or there is only death for you!"

"You want to send me to certain death; but dying here or dying there, it doesn't matter to me after all, and I prefer to try the adventure again. Make me scissors capable of cutting chains of gold like threads of linen or hemp, and then I will leave."

A craftsman skilled enough to make the necessary scissors was found, and Allanic left. When he arrived near the castle, he saw with pleasure that the roofers had not finished their work and that their ladders were still leaning against the walls. Around midnight, he entered Goulaffre's room, breaking a window. The giant was sleeping so soundly that he heard nothing. The room was lit. Allanic saw the golden cage above Goulaffre's forehead. He placed one of his feet on the edge of the bed, the other against the wall, and with a flick of his scissors he cut a golden chain, reinn! The giant did not move. Then he cut a second chain, reinn! The giant moved. Then a third, reinn! The giant turned over in his bed but did not wake up. Finally, the fourth chain was cut, reinn! But unfortunately, the cage fell on Goulaffre's face and woke him up.

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Source: Le Géant Goulaffre from the French book Contes et légendes de Basse-Bretagne published in 1891.

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Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

Part 8

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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.

 
Allanic is sent two times to the Giant Goulaffre's castle. The first time, he succeeded, but the second time the giant catches him.

Will he be able to extricate himself from this difficult situation?

By the way, I have no idea what this "half-moon" (demi-lune in the French text) is.

 
For more than three years, I have been playing every day the Hive game Rising Star.

In this game, you are a musician. You start playing illegally in the streets, and if you play for a long time you become a world-renowned superstar.

I am at level 1,072, which is pretty high.

Recently, I finished a part of the game that consists of gathering small parts of pianos and assembling them in NFTs.
There are 36 different piano NFTs. I got them all.

 
To get one part, you need to do a mission that lasts 5 minutes. I had to do more than 1,700 of these missions. That is more than 140 hours! I am glad I finished that.

-- Vincent Celier