Crazy Nellie
In one of the valleys of Northumberland County, on a small farm, lived the Wilson family, consisting of a husband and wife, their son Ned, and their daughter Amy.Just opposite the Wilsons' house, about twenty fathoms away, lay a large granite boulder. Every evening, as soon as it began to grow dark, the figure of an old woman, wrapped in an old gray cloak, would appear near this fragment of rock. She would bend down, take a hammer from her pocket, and begin striking the stone with all her might, as if trying to break the solid granite mass.
She worked fruitlessly all night and would leave as soon as the first faint rays of light appeared in the sky. She was called Crazy Nellie, and no one knew how old she was. The farm's inhabitants had grown accustomed to the constant sound of the old woman's hammer and paid no attention to it. Servants returning late by moonlight always saw her in the same dress, winter and summer, in heat and cold.
However, when the farmer's children grew up, they became intrigued by the old woman who worked so diligently and so pointlessly every night.
One clear moonlit evening, Ned and Amy approached her and asked why she was trying to chip away at the granite, but Nellie turned such an angry face toward them, and her sunken eyes gleamed so fiercely in the moonlight, that Amy recoiled in horror and burst into tears. Her brother had to lead her aside and calm her down, saying that Nellie was just an unfortunate, sick woman who couldn't harm them. Amy calmed down, but when Ned suggested they return to the stone, she flatly refused, and the siblings went home.
Nevertheless, Ned decided to uncover the madwoman's secret, and the next day, at dusk, he went back to the granite boulder, even though the weather had turned foul: dark clouds hung in the sky, and a fine, cold rain was drizzling.
"Surely the poor woman is still sitting by her stone," thought Ned as he walked along the slippery clay path. And as if in answer to his thought, the rhythmic sound of a hammer rang out at that moment.
Crazy Nellie was in her usual spot, busy with her work. Ned stopped near her. She paid no attention to the young man and continued hammering. A dim lantern, placed on the stone, illuminated her weary face. The wind had pushed her hat to one side and was tousling her gray hair. Drops of the intensifying rain ran down her wrinkles like large tears, and her soaked cloak clung to her thin, aged shoulders.
"No, I can't bear this," thought Ned. "Nellie," he said loudly, "what are you doing? Why are you pointlessly chipping away at this stone? Stop! Come with me, I'll take you to our house. If you want, we can go through the kitchen porch, and no one will see you."
The old woman glared at him angrily and continued hammering.
"Listen, stop," Ned repeated, "spend the night in our kitchen, we'll dry you off and warm you up. Spend at least one night like a good Christian." The old woman remained silent.
Then Ned, frustrated and a tall, strong young man, bent down, picked up Nellie, and, ignoring her attempts to hit him with the hammer, carried her to the house.
He brought her into the kitchen, lit a lamp, and stoked the stove. Once inside, the old woman calmed down and dropped the hammer... She sat on the chair where Ned had placed her, her eyes closed, as if lifeless.
Ned quietly called his sister, careful not to wake their parents, and Amy, overcoming her fear, removed the old woman's soaked cloak and worn, wet shoes. She slipped her mother's carpet slippers onto the old woman's feet and wrapped her in her own large shawl. Nellie didn't resist; she drank some warm milk but said nothing.
Soon, Amy brought a bundle of straw and her old pillow and made a bed for Nellie, who fell into a deep sleep.
Afraid their parents would scold them if they left the mad beggar alone in the kitchen, the siblings decided not to go to bed and spent the night dozing on uncomfortable wooden stools near the kitchen table.
As soon as dawn broke, they woke up. The old woman also woke and, still half-asleep, as if stretching, said:
"Ah, how nice!"
After that, she quickly sat up, looked around in surprise, and asked:
"Where am I?"
Amy approached her with a cup of warm milk. The old woman smiled kindly at the young girl. Strangely, there was no trace of the sternness that had so recently frightened Amy. Old Nellie drank the milk and said:
"Thank you, children. You gave me a night of rest, and for me, an even more desired peace is approaching. But you, too, remember Nellie with kind words. Come to the stone tonight... And here's what, son," she said to Ned, "bring workers or try yourself to destroy or move that heavy granite I've been trying to break for so many years. You won't regret it."
The old woman wrapped herself in her dried cloak, put on her old shoes, and left.
After telling his father everything, Ned, with his permission, went to a nearby town, bought a drill, gunpowder, and a fuse. Together with his father and a worker (to whom Ned didn't explain his purpose), the young man drilled into the stone and blew it up that evening. The granite boulder split into several pieces. When the fragments were moved aside, a large hole was revealed beneath them.
Ned didn’t allow anyone to descend into it. He asked everyone to leave, and at night, around twelve o’clock, he returned with Amy to the place where the stone had once lain.
Nelly was already waiting for the young people. In her hand was the same small lit lantern. By its faint light, the old woman began to descend underground using a ladder that appeared in the opening. The brother and sister followed her.
When the ladder ended and they stepped into the underground chamber, the old woman took three wax candles from her pocket, kept one for herself, gave one to Amy, and one to Ned. By their light, the brother and sister saw that they were in a large underground hall filled with the most extraordinary things. There were enormous golden jugs, golden dishes, goblets, plates, weapons adorned with precious stones, precious golden and silver belts and headdresses, ancient golden shields and gilded helmets, ostrich-feather fans, and finally, chests filled with gold coins and beautiful boxes full of diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and pearls.
“Sit down,” said Nelly, pointing to ancient chairs, and she herself sat on one of the chests. “Now listen to the story of old Nelly.”
Long ago, when dense forests covered almost the entire land, there was a mountain here, and on it stood the proud castle of Lord Lambert. A happy family lived there: Lord Lambert, his wife, the beautiful Lady Ellen, and their son Archie, as lovely and kind as a ray of sunshine. But happiness does not last forever. When Archie turned sixteen, he and his father went hunting and never returned home: evil men killed them. Only their bodies were brought back to Lady Ellen. The huntsmen and other servants who had accompanied the lord stumbled over their explanations, spoke of an ambush, of masked bandits who had attacked them, and insisted that they could not help either the lord or his son, as they were too far away and did not arrive in time.
But Lady Ellen would not listen to them. The misfortune that had struck her so suddenly hardened her heart. She locked herself in the castle with her most loyal servants and severed all ties with her neighbors.
The servants who had failed to protect her son and husband were shot by her own hand with a bow, and then she decided to amass a vast, unheard-of fortune to drown her sorrow in luxury. She ordered a suit of chainmail, a helmet, armor, a spear, and trappings for her horse, and with her loyal followers, she rode into the forest to the main road, where she attacked passing merchants, mercilessly robbing and killing them.
Years passed. Lady Ellen accumulated enormous wealth, but it never seemed enough. Now she simply loved gold and continued to seize it, despite the pleas of her relatives and letters from the bishop.
Greed awakened in her, and she became miserly. No one ever received a single penny from her, and if a poor man entered the castle courtyard, she would heartlessly order her servants to drive him away.
One day, returning from a raid and dressed in a gray house dress and a gray cloak, she sat on the porch, watching as her new chestnut stallion was being trained. Despite the fact that the castle drawbridge was raised, a stranger in long robes entered the courtyard and stopped before Lady Ellen.
“Remove this vagabond,” she shouted.
Obedient servants rushed toward the stranger, but as soon as they touched him, their arms fell limp.
“Enough crimes, Ellen,” he said. “The hour of your punishment has come! The castle and its bloodstained splendor will sink into the earth. Your dishonest servants will perish, and you yourself will vainly desire to reclaim your lost treasures. In wind and storm, under the scorching sun and icy rain, you will strive to reach the place where your riches lie. Many years will pass, yet death will not grant you peace. The curse that now falls upon you will end only when, somewhere, sometime, you feel happy and content, if only for a moment, despite your unquenched thirst to reclaim the lost treasures and all the suffering you have endured.”
The stranger’s face shone with a wondrous light, the sky darkened, an underground rumble was heard, and with a crash and roar, the castle collapsed and sank into the earth, into a wide-open abyss. The entire mountain crumbled as well...
When the abyss closed again and the dust raised by the terrible destruction dispersed, the woman who had once been the mistress of the proud Lambert Castle saw before her a pile of rubble and a huge stone. It lay directly above the entrance to the underground chamber where the cruel lady’s treasures had once been stored.
And so the proud Ellen became a poor beggar. Keeping only a lantern and a hammer from her former possessions, she began to strike the stone, hoping to retrieve her wealth.
Time passed. People who had known Lady Ellen died. The forests were cut down, wars raged. The name of the Lords Lambert was forgotten. Everything changed, and only the mad Nelly still knocked on her underground chamber every night.
“I have endured much suffering, children,” the old woman continued her story, “but insatiable greed tormented me, and I could think of nothing but the lost gold. Finally, the hour of relief came for me. Yesterday, in your home, when you warmed and comforted me, I felt content, and today I awoke truly happy.”
The old woman gestured to the treasures and added:
“All of this is yours. Build a church, give to the poor, and then live richly and happily, doing good for others and praying for the soul of the now-rested Nelly Lambert.”
Having said this, the old woman crossed herself, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. When Ned and Amy leaned over her, hoping to revive her, they saw an expression of happiness and peace on her face. She had died.
The Wilsons became wealthy. They buried Nelly, built a church, fulfilled all her wishes, and lived long and happily, doing good deeds.
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