Some twenty years ago, in a pleasant old town by the sea, lived a lad
who was very, very fond of fairy tales. When he had read all the
fairy-books which his parents and his uncles and his cousins and his
sisters and his aunts had been kind enough to give him, he turned to the
town library and read every single fairy tale he could find mentioned in
the catalogue. But there was an end even to this treasure; and, finally,
a day came when the fairy-tale lover could find no new tales to read.
Every Christmas he would peek at the new books in the bookshops, only to
find the same old stories printed, with new pictures, meant to please
grown-ups. What could be the matter? Had the fairies all gone away, or
locked the doors of Fairyland? Where, where, where were the new stories,
and why, why, why did n't people write them?
Some years passed. One pleasant summer day, as the fairy-tale lover sat
reading a book beneath the low spreading branches of an oak tree, he
heard a hum of wings, and looking up startled from his book, he
discovered the Fairy Goldenwand standing close by.
"Are you still seeking new fairy tales?" said the Fairy Goldenwand.
"Yes," said the reader.
"Will you write them down if I tell you some really new ones?" said the
Fairy.
"Oh yes, indeed," said the reader. "And I'll put them into a book; and
next Saturday Mr. Day, the artist, will come down; we shall have tea
here under the oak tree,--do you like hot buttered toast?--and you must
tell him all about the fashions in Fairyland."
"Oh, that will be fine!" said the Fairy Goldenwand. "I knew you would
n't mind my appearing so suddenly. Ever so many things have happened in
Fairyland since the last books were written, and we all think it's a
dreadful shame that children have n't heard about them. Just imagine
boys and girls not knowing about the adventures of the Prince in Lantern
Land! Shall I tell you the story?"
And that's the way the author heard about the Shepherd of Clouds,
Florian, Marianna, Giles, Bobo, and all the other new friends. That you
may long enjoy their adventures is the wish of
HENRY BESTON
MAURICE E. DAY
THE FAIRY GOLDENWAND
The Parson Capen Home
Topsfield, Massachusetts