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MANHOOD | L. Frank Baum | |
1. The Laughing Valley |
Page 3 of 4 |
Then came the Fairies, merry but noiseless, bringing skillets and pots and dishes and pans and all the tools necessary to prepare food and to comfort a mortal. With these they filled cupboard and fireplace, finally placing a stout suit of wool clothing on the stool by the bedside. When Claus awoke he rubbed his eyes again, and laughed, and spoke aloud his thanks to the Fairies and the Master Woodsman who had sent them. With eager joy he examined all his new possessions, wondering what some might be used for. But, in the days when he had clung to the girdle of the great Ak and visited the cities of men, his eyes had been quick to note all the manners and customs of the race to which he belonged; so he guessed from the gifts brought by the Fairies that the Master expected him hereafter to live in the fashion of his fellow-creatures. "Which means that I must plow the earth and plant corn," he reflected; "so that when winter comes I shall have garnered food in plenty." But, as he stood in the grassy Valley, he saw that to turn up the earth in furrows would be to destroy hundreds of pretty, helpless flowers, as well as thousands of the tender blades of grass. And this he could not bear to do. Therefore he stretched out his arms and uttered a peculiar whistle he had learned in the Forest, afterward crying: "Ryls of the Field Flowers--come to me!" Instantly a dozen of the queer little Ryls were squatting upon the ground before him, and they nodded to him in cheerful greeting. Claus gazed upon them earnestly. |
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The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus L. Frank Baum |
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