Gobborn Seer

Gobborn Seer

Once upon a time there lived a craftsman known as Gobborn the Wise. His walls were so smooth that you could run a hand along them without feeling a single bump. His roofs were so sound that the rain could rage all it liked without a drop getting in.

Gobborn had a son, Jack. The boy was kind and hardworking, but his father's riddles often confused him.

One morning Gobborn handed his son a sheepskin.

“Sell this,” he said, “but bring me back both the skin and the money you get for it.”

Jack blinked.

“Both the skin and the money?”

“Exactly.”

Jack went to the fair.

“Sheepskin for sale!” he called.

The buyers came up and bargained, but as soon as they heard the terms, they threw up their hands.

“If we pay, we will take the skin.”

That evening, Jack returned home without a sale.

The next day he tried again. And again no one agreed. On the third day he sat down by the bridge and thought.

On the bank of the stream nearby, a young woman was rinsing woolen cloth. Seeing Jack looking gloomy, she asked:

“Why are you sighing like that?”

“My father has set me a task I can’t manage. I have to sell this sheepskin and bring back both the skin and its price.”

The woman smiled.

“Give it here.”

She carefully removed the wool from the skin.

“Here’s your skin back,” she said. “And I’ll pay you a fair price for the wool.”

Jack laughed.

“So simple!”

“When you know just what you’re selling, many riddles become easier,” she replied.

Gobborn listened to his son and immediately asked:

“Who thought of that?”

Jack told him about the woman by the bridge.

“I’d like to meet someone who thinks like that,” said Gobborn.

The next day Jack invited her to tea. Her name was Maeve. She talked with Gobborn about work, wood, the value of things, and why the simplest answer is sometimes right before our eyes.

Jack loved listening to her, and Maeve was happy to visit again. In time, they decided to marry.

Some time passed, and a royal messenger arrived at Gobborn’s house.

“The king wants a palace better than all the others,” he announced. “And he says that only Gobborn the Wise can build it.”

Gobborn agreed and took Jack with him.

It was a long journey. After several hours of walking, Gobborn said:

“Jack, shorten the road for me.”

The son looked ahead. The path stretched all the way to the hills.

“How can I shorten it? You can’t cut a piece off a road.”

Gobborn shook his head.

“Then go home and think about it.”

Jack came to Maeve and told her about the strange request.

“He wasn’t asking you to change the road,” she said. “He wants you to make it seem shorter. Tell him a good story. Your feet keep moving, and the time flies by.”

Jack caught up with his father and began a story at once. They became so absorbed in it that before long Gobborn stopped and smiled.

“There! You’ve shortened the road.”

And so they reached the construction site.

The king wanted a palace with tall towers, large windows, a spacious hall and a roof that could be seen from afar. Gobborn and Jack worked for many months. They treated the stonemasons, carpenters, cooks and servants well, greeted everyone and listened to people who knew the palace inside out.

Maeve had told them before they set off:

“Wits are useful, but sometimes a kind conversation can save you where no tool could.”

And so it happened.

When the construction was almost complete, the senior palace caretaker called Gobborn and Jack aside.

“Be careful, master builders. The king is proud of his new palace and afraid you’ll build another like it for someone else. He has decided to keep you here after the work is done.”

Jack was alarmed.

“What should we do?”

“Don’t panic,” answered Gobborn. “Fear and haste seldom help us think.”

The next morning the king came to inspect the palace.

“Is everything ready?” he asked.

“Almost,” Gobborn replied. “For the last job I need a special tool. It was left at home. Jack can bring it quickly.”

“No,” said the king. “You two will stay here. I will send my son.”

Gobborn thought for a moment and nodded.

“Very well. Ask him to tell Maeve: ‘Give him the Crooked and the Straight.’”

The king’s son set off for their home.

“I have orders to take the Crooked and the Straight,” he told Maeve.

Maeve understood at once. This was no tool’s name: Gobborn was warning her that he and Jack were being kept from returning home.

She led her guest to the pantry.

“I think it’s on the top shelf. Will you help me get it down?”

When the prince went inside, Maeve closed the door from the outside.

“Don’t worry,” she said through the door. “There’s a window, water, and a bench. I don’t mean you any harm. But your father won’t let my family go. You’ll get out of here as soon as Gobborn and Jack are home.”

The prince was indignant at first, but quickly realized that Maeve was serious.

“Give me some paper,” he asked. “I’ll write to my father.”

In the letter, he explained everything that had happened.

The king read the message, was silent for a long time, and then admitted:

“I brought this trouble on myself. I tried to hold the craftsmen by force, and now I’ve been answered with a trick as clever as my own.”

He paid Gobborn and Jack everything he had promised, thanked them for the palace, and allowed them to return home.

As soon as they crossed the threshold, Maeve opened the pantry.

“Our agreement has been kept,” she told the prince.

“I hope next time our families will speak plainly, without riddles or locked doors,” he replied.

“That would be the wisest agreement of all,” said Maeve, laughing.

Later, Gobborn, Jack, and Maeve built a fine house of their own. It was neither the largest nor the grandest in the world, but every detail was carefully planned. There was always room for work, for guests, and for stories in the evening.

And when someone asked Gobborn to explain what the secret of true craftsmanship was, he replied:

“Skilled hands matter. Good tools matter too. But the best tool a craftsman has is a mind that can look at a problem from another side.”

And Jack and Maeve agreed with that.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨