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02 - The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus - L Frank Baum · Adventure Books Collection

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Chapter three, The Adoption, The Master Woodsman suddenly rose with knitted brows.
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There was a strange presence in the forest, he declared. Then the Queen
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and her nymphs turned and saw standing before them Necile, with the sleeping infant
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clasped tightly in her arms, and a defiant look in her deep blue eyes.
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And thus for a moment they remained, the nymphs filled with surprise and
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consternation, but the brow of the Master Woodsman gradually clearing as he gazed intently
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upon the beautiful immortal who had wilfully broken the law. Then the great act
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to the wonder of all, laid his hand softly on Nisilee's flowing locks and
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kissed her on her fair forehead for the first time within my knowledge, said
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he, jess, a nymph has defied me and my laws. Yet in
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my heart I can find no word of chiding. What is your desire,
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Nail, Let me keep the child, she answered, beginning to tremble and
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falling on her knees in supplication. Here in the forest of Berzi, where
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the human race has never yet penetrated, questioned ac Here in the forest of
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Berzi, replied the nymph boldly, it is my home, and I am
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weary for lack of occupation. Let me care for the babe. See how
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weak and helpless it is. Surely it cannot harm Berzi nor the Master Woodsman
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of the world. But the law child, the law, cried ac sternly.
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The law is made by the master Woodsman, returned Narcile. If he
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bids me care for the babe, he himself has saved from death. Who
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in all the world dare oppose me? Queen Zurline, who had listened intently
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to this conversation, clapped her pretty hands gleefully at the Nymph's answer. You
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are fairly trapped, o Ac, she exclaimed, laughing. Now I pray
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you give heed to Nisile's petition. The woodsman, as was his habit,
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when the in thought stroked his grizzled beard slowly. Then he said, she
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shall keep the babe, and I will give it my protection. But I
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warn you all that, as this is the first time I have relaxed the
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law, so shall it be the last time? Nevermore, to the end
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of the world shall a mortal be adopted by an immortal? Otherwise would we
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abandon our happy existence for one of trouble? And anxiety. Good night,
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my nymphs. Then ac was gone from their midst, and this Usille hurried
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away to her bower to rejoice over her newfound treasure. End of Chapter three,
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Chapter four Claws. Another day found Nasilee's bower the most popular place in
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the forest. The nymphs clustered around her and the child that lay asleep in
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her lap, with expressions of curiosity and delight. Nor were they wanting in
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praises for the Great Ax's kindness in allowing Nzilee to keep the babe and to
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care for it. Even the Queen came to peer into the innocent, childish
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face and to hold a helpless, chubby fist in her own fair hand.
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What shall we call him, Nasilee, she asked, smiling. He must
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have a name, you know. Let him be called Claus, answered Nasile,
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for that means a little one. Rather let him be called Necklaus.
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Begin footnote. Some people have spelled this name Nicklaus, and others Nicolas,
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which is the reason that Santa Claus is still known in some lands as Saint
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Nicholas. But of course Neclaus is his right name, and Claus the nickname
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given him by his adopted mother. The fair nymph Nessilee end footnote. Rather
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let him be called Neclaus, returned the queen, for that will mean Nessilee's
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little one. The nymphs clapped their hands in delight, and Necklaus became the
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infant's name, although Nesicile loved best to call him Claus, and in after
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days many of her sisters followed her example. Nessille gathered the softest moss in
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all the forest for Claus to lie upon, and she made his bed in
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her own bower of food. The infant had no las. The nymphs searched
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the forest for bell utters, which grow upon the goa tree, and when
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opened, are found to be filled with sweet milk, and the soft eyed
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doze willingly gave a share of their milk to support the little stranger, while
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Chiegra, the lioness, often crept stealthily into Nicile's bower and purred softly as
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she lay beside the babe and fed it. So the little one flourished and
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grew big and sturdy day by day. While Nicilee taught him to speak and
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to walk, and to play. His thoughts and words were sweet and gentle,
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for the nymphs knew no evil, and their hearts were pure and loving.
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He became the pet of the forest, for acte decree had forbidden beast
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or reptile to molest him, and he walked fearlessly wherever his will guided him.
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Presently, the news reached the other immortals that the nymphs of Burzee had
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adopted a human infant, and that the act had been sanctioned by the Great
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ac. Therefore, many of them came to visit the little stranger, looking
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upon him with much interest. First the rills, who are first cousins to
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the wood nymphs, although so differently formed, for the rills are required to
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watch over the flowers and plants. As the nymphs watch over the forest trees,
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they search the wide world for the food required by the roots of the
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flowering plants, while the brilliant colors possessed by the full blown flowers are due
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to the dyes placed in the soil by the rills, which are drawn through
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the little veins and the roots and the body of the plants as they reach
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maturity. The rills are a busy people, for their flowers bloom and fade
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continually, but they are merry and light hearted and are very popular with the
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other immortals. Next came the nooks, whose duty it is to watch over
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the beasts of the world, both gentle and wild. The knooks have a
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hard time of it, since many of the beasts are ungovernable and rebel against
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restraint. But they know how to manage them after all, and you will
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find that certain laws of the knooks are obeyed by even the most ferocious animals.
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Their anxieties make the knooks look old and worn and crooked, and their
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natures are a bit rough from associating with wild creatures continually. Yet they are
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most useful to humanity and to the world in general, as their laws are
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the only laws the forest beasts recognize, except those of the master woodsmen.
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Then there were the fairies, the guardians of mankind, who were much interested
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in the adoption of claus because their own laws forbade them to become familiar with
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their human charges. There are instances on record where the fairies have shown themselves
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to human beings and have even conversed with them. But they are supposed to
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guard the lives of mankind, unseen and unknown, and if they favor some
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people more than others, it is because they have won such distinction fairly,
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as the fairies are very just and impartial. But the idea of adopting a
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child of men had never occurred to them, because it was in every way
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opposed to their laws. So their curiosity was intense to behold the little stranger,
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adopted by Nisilla and her sister nymphs claws. Looked upon the immortals,
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who thronged around him with fearless eyes and smiling lips. He rode laughingly upon
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the shoulders of the merry rills. He mischievously pulled the gray beards of the
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low browed knooks. He rested his curly head confidently upon the dainty bosom of
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the fairy queen herself, and the ryls loved the sound of his laughter.
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The knooks loved his courage, the fairies loved his innocence. The boy made
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friends of them all and learned to know their laws intimately. No forest flower
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was trapped beneath his feet lest the friendly rill should be grieved. He never
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interfered with the beasts of the forest, lest his friends, the knooks,
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should become angry. The fairies he loved dearly, but knowing nothing of mankind,
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he could not understand that he was the only one of his race admitted
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to friendly intercourse with them. Indeed, Claws came to consider that he alone,
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of all the forest people, had no like nor fellow to him.
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The forest was the world. He had no idea that millions of toiling,
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striving human creatures existed, and he was happy and content. End of Chapter
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four, Chapter five, the Master Woodsman. Years passed swiftly in Bursey,
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for the nymphs had no need to regard time in any way. Even centuries
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make no change in the dainty creatures. Ever, and ever, they remained
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the same, immortal and unchanging. Claws, however, being mortal, grew
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to manhood day by day. Nessilee was disturbed presently to find him too big
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to lie in her lap, and he had a desire for other food than
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milk. His stout legs carried him far into Bersey's heart, where he gathered
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supplies of nuts and berries, as well as several sweet and wholesome roots,
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which suited his stomach better than the bell utters. He sought Nesilee's bower less
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frequently, till finally it became his custom to return thither only to sleep.
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The nymph who had come to love him dearly, was puzzled to comprehend the
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changed nature of her charge, and unconsciously altered her own mode of life to
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conform to his whims. She followed him readily through the forest paths, as
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did many of her sister nymphs, explaining as they walked all the mysteries of
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the gigantic wood and the habits and nature sure of the living things which dwelt
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beneath its shade. The language of the beasts became clear to little claws,
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but he never could understand their sulky and morose tempers. Only the squirrels,
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the mice, and the rabbits seemed to possess cheerful and merry natures. Yet
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would the boy laugh when the panther growled and stroke the bear's glossy coat,
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while the creature snarled and bared its teeth menacingly. The growls and snarls were
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not for claws, he well knew, so what did they matter. He
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could sing the songs of the bees, recite the poetry of the wood flowers,
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and relate the history of every blinking owl in Burzee. He helped the
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rills to feed their plants, and the nooks to keep order among the animals.
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The little immortals regarded him as a privileged person, being especially protected by
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Queen Zerline and her nymphs, and favored by the Great Ac himself. One
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day the Master Woodsman came back to the forest of Burzee. He had visited
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in turn all his forests throughout the world, and they were many and broad.
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Not until he entered the glade where the Queen and her nymphs were assembled
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to greet him, did Ac remember the child he had permitted Nesile to adopt.
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Then he found, sitting familiarly in the circle of lovely immortals, a
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broad shouldered, stalwart youth, who, when erect stood fully as high as
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the shoulder of the Master himself. Ac paused, silent and frowning, to
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bend his piercing gaze upon claws. The clear eyes met his own steadfastly,
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and the Woodsman gave a sigh of relief as he marked their placid depths and
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read the youth's brave and innocent heart. Nevertheless, as Ak sat beside the
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fair Queen and the golden chalice filled with rare nectar passed from lip to lip,
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the Master woodsman was strangely silent and reserved, and stroked his beard many
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times with a thoughtful motion with mourning. He called claws aside in kindly fashion,
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saying bid good bye for a time to Nasille and her sisters, for
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you shall accompany me on my journey through the world. The venture pleased Claus,
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who knew well the honor of being companion of the master woodsman of the
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world. But Nasile wept for the first time in her life, and clung
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to the boy's neck as if she could not bear to let him go.
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The nymph who had mothered this sturdy youth was still as dainty, as charming
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and beautiful as when she had dared to face ak with the babe clasped to
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her breast, Nor was her love less. Great ac beheld the two clinging
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together seemingly as brother and sister to one another, and again he wore his
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thoughts for look end of chapter five