Latest / Adventure Books Collection / 05 - The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus - L Frank Baum
Transcript
- Chapter two, How Claws made the first toy. Truly, our claws had wisdom for his good fortune, but strengthened his resolve to befriend the little ones of his own race. He knew his plan was approved by the immortals, else they would not have favored him so greatly. So he began at once to make acquaintance with mankind. He walked through the valley to the plain beyond, and crossed the plain in many directions to reach the abodes of men. These stood stingly or in groups of dwellings called villages, And in nearly all the houses, whether big or little, Claws found children. The youngsters soon came to know his merry, laughing face and the kind glance of his bright eyes. And the parents, while they regarded the young man with some scorn for loving children more than their elders, were content that the girls and boys had found and a playfellow who seemed willing to amuse them. So the children romped and played games with Claws, and the boys rode upon his shoulders, and the girls nestled in his strong arms, and the babies clung fondly to his knees. Wherever the young man chanced to be the sound of childish laughter followed him. And to understand this better, you must know that children were much neglected in those days, and received little attention from their parents, so that it became to them a marvel that so goodly a man as Claws devoted his time to making them happy, And those who knew him were, you may be sure, very happy. Indeed, the sad faces of the poor and abused grew bright, for once the cripple smile despite his misfortune. The ailing ones hushed their moans, and the grieved ones their cries when their merry friend came nigh to comfort them. Only at the beautiful palace of the Lord of Lurd, and at the frowning castle of the barren Brown was Claw's refused admittance. There were children at both places, but the servants at the palace shut the door in the young stranger's face, and the fierce baron threatened to hang him from an iron hook on the castle walls, whereupon Claws sighed and went back to the poorer dwellings, where he was welcome. After a time, the winter drew near. The flowers lived out their lives and faded, and disappeared. The beetles burrowed far into the warm earth, and the butterflies deserted the meadows, and the voice of the brook grew hoarse, as if it had taken cold. One day, snowflakes filled all the air in the Laughing valley, dancing boisterously toward the earth, and clothing in pure white raiment the roof of Claws's dwelling. At night, Jack Frost rapped at the door. Come in, cried Claws. Come out, answered Jack, for you have a fire inside. So Claws came out. He had known Jack Frost in the forest and liked the jolly rogue, even while he mistrusted him. There will be rare sport for me to night, Claws shouted the sprite. Isn't this glorious weather? I shall nip scores of noses and ears and toes before daybreak. If you love me, Jack, spare the children, begged Claws, And why, asked the other in surprise. They are tender and helpless, answered Claws. But I love to nip the tender ones, declared Jack. The older ones are tough and tire my fingers. The young ones are weak and cannot fight. You, said Claws true, agreed Jack thoughtfully. Well, I will not pinch a child this night, if I can resist the temptation, he promised. Good night, Claws, good night. The young man went in and closed the door, and Jack Frost ran on to the nearest village. Claws threw a log on the fire, which burned up brightly. Beside the hearth sat Blinky, a big cat given him by Peter the Nook. Her fur was soft and glossy, and she purred never ending songs of contentment. I shall not see the children again soon, said Claws to the cat, who kindly paused in her song to listen. The winter is upon us. The snow will be deep for many days, and I shall be unable to play with my little friends. The cat raised a paw and stroked her nose thoughtfully, but made no reply. So long as the fire burned and Claws sat in his easy chair by the she did not mind the weather. So passed many days and many long evenings. The cupboard was always full, but Claws became weary with having nothing to do more than to feed the fire from the big wood pile the knooks had brought him. One evening, he picked up a stick of wood and began to cut it with his sharp knife. He had no thought at first except to occupy his time, and he whistled and sang to the cat as he carved away portions of the stick. Puss sat up on her haunches and watched him, listening at the same time to her master's merry whistle, which she loved to hear, even more than her own purring songs. Claws glanced at Puss, and then at the stick he was whittling, until presently the wood began to have a shape, and the shape was like the head of a cat, with two ears sticking upward. Claws stopped whistling to laugh, and then both he and the cat looked at the wooden image in some surprise. Then he carved out the eyes and the nose, and rounded the lower part of the head so that it rested upon a neck. Puss hardly knew what to make of it now, and sat up stiffly, as if watching with some suspicion what would come next. Claws knew the head gave him an idea. He plied his knife carefully and with skill, forming slowly the body of the cat, which he made to sit upon its haunches, as the real cat did, with her tail wound around her two front legs. The work cost him much time, but the evening was long and he had nothing better to do. Finally, he gave a loud and delighted laugh at the result of his labors, and placed the wooden cat, now completed, upon the hearth opposite the real one. Puss thereupon glared at her image, raised her hair in anger, and uttered a defiant mew. The wooden cat paid no attention, and claws, much amused, laughed again. Then Blinky advanced toward the wooden image to eye it closely and smell of it intelligently. Eyes and nose told her the creature was wood in spite of its natural appearance. So Puss resumed her seat and her purring. But as she neatly washed her face with her padded paw, she cast more than one admiring glance at her clever master. Perhaps she felt the same satisfaction we feel when we look upon good photographs of ourselves. The cat's master was himself pleased with his handiwork, without knowing exactly why. Indeed, he had great cause to congratulate himself that night, and all the children throughout the world should have joined him rejoicing, for Claws had made his first toy. End of Chapter two, Chapter three, how the ryls colored the toys. A hush lay on the laughing valley, now snow covered it like a white spread, and pillows of downy flakes drifted before the dwelling where Claws sat feeding the blaze of the fire. The brook gurgled on beneath a heavy sheet of ice, and all living plants and insects nestled close to Mother Earth to keep warm. The face of the moon was hid by dark clouds, and the wind, delighting in the wintry sport, pushed and whirled the snowflakes in so many directions that they could get no chance to fall to the ground. Claws heard the wind whistling and shrieking in its play, and thanked the good nooks again for his comfortable shelter. Blinkie washed her face lazily and stared at the coals with a look of perfect content. The toy cat sat opposite the real one and gazed straight ahead as toy cats should. Suddenly, Claws heard a noise that sounded different from the voice of the wind. It was more like a wail of suffering and despair. He stood up and listened, but the wind, growing boisterous, shook the door and rattled the windows to distract his attention. He waited until the wind was tired, and then, still listening, he heard once more the shrill cry of distress. Quickly, he drew on his coat, pulled his cap over his eyes, and opened the door. The wind dashed in and scattered the embers over the hearth, at the same time, blowing Blinkie's fur so furiously that she crept under the table to escape. Then the door was closed and Claws was outside, peering anxiously into the darkness. The wind laughed and scolded and tried to push him over, but he stood firm. The helpless flake stumbled against his eyes and dimmed his sight, but he rubbed them away and looked again. Snow was everywhere, white and glittering. It covered the earth and filled the air. The cry was not repeated. Claws turned to go back into the house, but the long wind caught him unawares, and he stumbled and fell across a snow drift. His hand plunged into the snow drift, and touched something that was not snow. This he seized, and, pulling it gently toward him, found it to be a child. The next moment, he had lifted it in his arms and carried it into the house. The wind followed him through the door, but Claw shut it out Quickly. He laid the rescued child on the hearth, and brushing away the snow, he discovered it to be weakum the little boy who lived in a house beyond the valley. Claws wrapped a warm blanket around the little one and rubbed the frost from its limbs. Before long, the child opened his eyes, and, seeing where he was, smiled happily. Then Claws warmed milk and fed it to the boy slowly, while the cat looked on with sober curiosity. Finally, the little one curled up in his friend's arms and sighed and fell asleep, and Claws, filled with gladness that he had found the wanderer, held him closely while he slumbered. The wind, finding no more mischief to do, climbed the hill and swept on toward the north. This gave the wary snowflakes time to settle down to earth, and the valley became still again. The boy, having slept well in the arms of his friend, opened his eyes and sat up. Then, as a child will, he looked around the room and saw all that it contained. Your cat is a nice cat, Claws, he said, at last, let me hold it. But Puss objected and ran away. The other cat won't run, Claws continued the boy. Let me hold that one. Claws placed the toy in his arms, and the boy held it lovingly and kiss the tip of its wooden ear. How did you get lost in the storm, Weakam, asked Claws. I started to walk to my Auntie's house and lost my way, answered Weakam. Were you frightened? It was cold, said Weakam, and the snow got in my eyes so I could not see. Then I kept on till I fell on the snow without knowing where I was, and the wind blew the flakes over me and covered me up. Claws gently stroked his head, and the boy looked up at him and smiled. I'm all right now, said weakm Yes, replied Claws, happily. Now I will put you in my warm bed, and you must sleep until morning, when I will carry you back to your mother. May the cat sleep with me, asked the boy, Yes, if you wish it to, answered Claws. It's a nice cat, Weakham said, smiling, as Claws tucked the blankets around him, and presently the one fell asleep with a wooden toy in his arms. When morning came, the sun claimed the laughing valley and flooded it with its rays. So Claws prepared to take the lost child back to its mother. May I keep the cat, Claws asked weakm It's nicer than real cats. It doesn't run away or scratch or bite. May I keep it? Yes? Indeed, answered Claws, please that the toy he had made could give pleasure to the child. So he wrapped the boy and the wooden cat in a warm cloak, perching the bundle upon his own broad shoulders, and then he tramped through the snow and the drifts of the valley and across the plain beyond to the poor cottage where Wickham's mother lived. See Mamma, cried the boy as soon as they entered. I've got a cat. The good woman wept tears of joy over the rescue of her darling, and thanked Claws many times for his kind act. So he carried a warm and happy heart back to his home in the valley. That night, he said to Puss, I believe the children will love the wooden cats almost as well as the real ones, and they can't hurt them by pulling their tails in ears. I'll make another. So this was the beginning of his great work. The next cat was made better than the first. While Klaw sat whittling it out, the yellow rill came in to make him a visit, and so pleased was he with the man's skill, that he ran away and brought several of his fellows. There sat the red rill, the Black rill, the Green rill, the Blue rill, and the yellow rill in a circle on the floor, while Claws whittled and whistled, and the wooden cat grew into shape. If it could be made the same color as the real cat, no one would know the difference, said the yellow rill thoughtfully. The little ones maybe would not the difference, replied Claws, pleased with the idea. I will bring you some of the red that I color my roses and tulips with, cried the red rill, And then you can make the cat's lips and tongue red. I will bring some of the green that I color my grasses and leaves with, said the green rill, and then you can color the cat's eyes green. Ah, they will need a bit of yellow, also, remarked the yellow rill. I must fetch some of the yellow that I use to color my buttercups and goldenrods with. The real cat is black, said the black rill. I will bring some of the black that I used to color the eyes of my pansies with, and then you can paint your wooden cat black. I see you have a blue ribbon around Blinkie's neck, added the blue rill. I will get some of the color that I used to paint the bluebells and forget me nots with, and then you can carve a wooden ribbon on the toy cat's neck and painted blue. So the rills disappeared, and by the time claws had finished carving out the form of the cat, they were all back with the paints and brushes. They made Blinky sit upon the table that claws might paint the toy cat just the right color, and when the work was done, the rills declared it was exactly as good as a live cat, that is, to all appearances, added the red rill. Blinkie seemed a little offended by the attention bestowed upon the toy and that she might not seem to approve the imitation cat. She walked to the corner of the hearth and sat down with a dignified air. But Claws was delighted, and as soon as morning came he started out and tramped through the snow, across the valley and the plain, until he came to a village. There, in a poor hut, near the walls of the beautiful palace of the Lord of Lurd, a little girl lay upon a wretched cot, moaning with pain. Claws approached the child and kissed her and comforted her, And then he drew the toy cat from beneath his coat where he had hidden it, and placed it in her arms. Ah, how well he felt himself repaid for his labor and his long walk. When he saw the little one's eyes grow bright with pleasure. She hugged the kiddy tight to her breast as if it had been a precious gem, and would not let it go for a single moment. The fever was quieted, the pain grew less, and she fell into a sweet and refreshing sleep. Claws laughed and whistled and sang all the way home. Never had he been so happy as on that day. When he entered his house, he found Chiegra, the lioness, awaiting him. Since his babyhood, Chiegra had loved Claws, and while he dwelt in the forest, she had often come to visit him at Nesile's bower. After Claws had gone to live in the Laughing Valley, Chiegra became lonely and ill at ease. And now she had braved the snow drifts which all lions abhorre, to see him once more. Chiagro was getting old and her teeth were beginning to fall out, while the hairs that tipped her ears and tail had changed from tawny yellow to white. Claws found her lying on his hearth, and he put his arms round the neck of the lioness and hugged her lovingly. The cat had retired into a far corner she did not care to associate with. Chiagra. Claws told his friend about the cats he had made and how much pleasure they had given Wakham and the sick girl. Chiagra did not know much about children. Indeed, if she met a child, she could scarcely be trusted. Not to devour it. But she was interested in Claus's new labors, and said, these images seemed to me very attractive. Yet I cannot see why you should make cats, which are very unimportant animals. Suppose now that I am here, you make the image of a lioness, the queen of all beasts, Then indeed your children will be happy and safe. At the same time, Claws thought this was a good suggestion, so he got a piece of wood and sharpened his knife while Chiagra crouched upon the hearth at his feet. With much care, he carved the head in the likeness of the lioness, even to the two fierce teeth that curved over her lower lip and the deep frowning lines above her wide open eyes. When it was finished, he said, you have a terrible look, Chiagra. Then the image is like me, she answered, for I am indeed terrible to all who are not my friends. Claws now carved out the body, with Chiagra's long tail trailing behind it. The image of the crouching lioness was very lifelike. It pleases me, said Chiagra, yawning and stretching her body gracefully. Now I will watch while you paint. He brought the paints the Rills had given him from the cupboard and colored the image to resemble the real Chiagra. The lioness placed her big, padded paws upon the edge of the table and raised herself while she carefully examined the toy that was her likeness. You are indeed skillful, she said proudly. The children will like that better than cats, I'm sure, then, snarling at Blinkie, who arched her back in terror and whined fearfully, she walked away toward her forest home with stately strides. End of chapter three.