1. The Laughing Valley
When Claus came the Valley was empty save for the grass, the brook, thewildflowers, the bees and the butterflies. If he would make his homehere and live after the fashion of men he must have a house. Thispuzzled him at first, but while he stood smiling in the sunshine hesuddenly found beside him old Nelko, the servant of the MasterWoodsman. Nelko bore an ax, strong and broad, with blade that gleamedlike burnished silver. This he placed in the young man's hand, thendisappeared without a word.
Claus understood, and turning to the Forest's edge he selected a numberof fallen tree-trunks, which he began to clear of their dead branches.He would not cut into a living tree. His life among the nymphs whoguarded the Forest had taught him that a live tree is sacred, being acreated thing endowed with feeling. But with the dead and fallen treesit was different. They had fulfilled their destiny, as active membersof the Forest community, and now it was fitting that their remainsshould minister to the needs of man.
The ax bit deep into the logs at every stroke. It seemed to have aforce of its own, and Claus had but to swing and guide it.
When shadows began creeping over the green hills to lie in the Valleyovernight, the young man had chopped many logs into equal lengths andproper shapes for building a house such as he had seen the poorerclasses of men inhabit. Then, resolving to await another day before hetried to fit the logs together, Claus ate some of the sweet roots hewell knew how to find, drank deeply from the laughing brook, and laydown to sleep on the grass, first seeking a spot where no flowers grew,lest the weight of his body should crush them.
And while he slumbered and breathed in the perfume of the wondrousValley the Spirit of Happiness crept into his heart and drove out allterror and care and misgivings. Never more would the face of Claus beclouded with anxieties; never more would the trials of life weigh himdown as with a burden. The Laughing Valley had claimed him for its own.
Would that we all might live in that delightful place!--but then,maybe, it would become overcrowded. For ages it had awaited a tenant.Was it chance that led young Claus to make his home in this happy vale?Or may we guess that his thoughtful friends, the immortals, haddirected his steps when he wandered away from Burzee to seek a home inthe great world?
Certain it is that while the moon peered over the hilltop and floodedwith its soft beams the body of the sleeping stranger, the LaughingValley was filled with the queer, crooked shapes of the friendlyKnooks. These people spoke no words, but worked with skill andswiftness. The logs Claus had trimmed with his bright ax were carriedto a spot beside the brook and fitted one upon another, and during thenight a strong and roomy dwelling was built.
The birds came sweeping into the Valley at daybreak, and their songs,so seldom heard in the deep wood, aroused the stranger. He rubbed theweb of sleep from his eyelids and looked around. The house met hisgaze.
"I must thank the Knooks for this," said he, gratefully. Then hewalked to his dwelling and entered at the doorway. A large room facedhim, having a fireplace at the end and a table and bench in the middle.Beside the fireplace was a cupboard. Another doorway was beyond.Claus entered here, also, and saw a smaller room with a bed against thewall and a stool set near a small stand. On the bed were many layersof dried moss brought from the Forest.
"Indeed, it is a palace!" exclaimed the smiling Claus. "I must thankthe good Knooks again, for their knowledge of man's needs as well asfor their labors in my behalf."
He left his new home with a glad feeling that he was not quite alone inthe world, although he had chosen to abandon his Forest life.Friendships are not easily broken, and the immortals are everywhere.
Upon reaching the brook he drank of the pure water, and then sat downon the bank to laugh at the mischievous gambols of the ripples as theypushed one another against rocks or crowded desperately to see whichshould first reach the turn beyond. And as they raced away he listenedto the song they sang:
"Rushing, pushing, on we go! Not a wave may gently flow-- All are too excited. Ev'ry drop, delighted, Turns to spray in merry play As we tumble on our way!"
Next Claus searched for roots to eat, while the daffodils turned theirlittle eyes up to him laughingly and lisped their dainty song:
"Blooming fairly, growing rarely, Never flowerets were so gay! Perfume breathing, joy bequeathing, As our colors we display."
It made Claus laugh to hear the little things voice their happiness asthey nodded gracefully on their stems. But another strain caught hisear as the sunbeams fell gently across his face and whispered:
"Here is gladness, that our rays Warm the valley through the days; Here is happiness, to give Comfort unto all who live!"
"Yes!" cried Claus in answer, "there is happiness and joy in all thingshere. The Laughing Valley is a valley of peace and good-will."
He passed the day talking with the ants and beetles and exchangingjokes with the light-hearted butterflies. And at night he lay on hisbed of soft moss and slept soundly.
Then came the Fairies, merry but noiseless, bringing skillets and potsand dishes and pans and all the tools necessary to prepare food and tocomfort a mortal. With these they filled cupboard and fireplace,finally placing a stout suit of wool clothing on the stool by thebedside.
When Claus awoke he rubbed his eyes again, and laughed, and spoke aloudhis thanks to the Fairies and the Master Woodsman who had sent them.With eager joy he examined all his new possessions, wondering what somemight be used for. But, in the days when he had clung to the girdle ofthe great Ak and visited the cities of men, his eyes had been quick tonote all the manners and customs of the race to which he belonged; sohe guessed from the gifts brought by the Fairies that the Masterexpected 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 earthin furrows would be to destroy hundreds of pretty, helpless flowers, aswell as thousands of the tender blades of grass. And this he could notbear to do.
Therefore he stretched out his arms and uttered a peculiar whistle hehad 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 theground before him, and they nodded to him in cheerful greeting.
Claus gazed upon them earnestly.
"Your brothers of the Forest," he said, "I have known and loved manyyears. I shall love you, also, when we have become friends. To me thelaws of the Ryls, whether those of the Forest or of the field, aresacred. I have never wilfully destroyed one of the flowers you tend socarefully; but I must plant grain to use for food during the coldwinter, and how am I to do this without killing the little creaturesthat sing to me so prettily of their fragrant blossoms?"
The Yellow Ryl, he who tends the buttercups, made answer:
"Fret not, friend Claus. The great Ak has spoken to us of you. Thereis better work for you in life than to labor for food, and though, notbeing of the Forest, Ak has no command over us, nevertheless are weglad to favor one he loves. Live, therefore, to do the good work youare resolved to undertake. We, the Field Ryls, will attend to yourfood supplies."
After this speech the Ryls were no longer to be seen, and Claus drovefrom his mind the thought of tilling the earth.
When next he wandered back to his dwelling a bowl of fresh milk stoodupon the table; bread was in the cupboard and sweet honey filled a dishbeside it. A pretty basket of rosy apples and new-plucked grapes wasalso awaiting him. He called out "Thanks, my friends!" to theinvisible Ryls, and straightway began to eat of the food.
Thereafter, when hungry, he had but to look into the cupboard to findgoodly supplies brought by the kindly Ryls. And the Knooks cut andstacked much wood for his fireplace. And the Fairies brought him warmblankets and clothing.
So b
egan his life in the Laughing Valley, with the favor and friendshipof the immortals to minister to his every want.