When Claus came the Valley was empty save for the grass, the brook, the
wildflowers, the bees and the butterflies. If he would make his home
here and live after the fashion of men he must have a house. This
puzzled him at first, but while he stood smiling in the sunshine he
suddenly found beside him old Nelko, the servant of the Master
Woodsman. Nelko bore an ax, strong and broad, with blade that gleamed
like burnished silver. This he placed in the young man's hand, then
disappeared without a word.
Claus understood, and turning to the Forest's edge he selected a number
of 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 who
guarded the Forest had taught him that a live tree is sacred, being a
created thing endowed with feeling. But with the dead and fallen trees
it was different. They had fulfilled their destiny, as active members
of the Forest community, and now it was fitting that their remains
should minister to the needs of man.
The ax bit deep into the logs at every stroke. It seemed to have a
force of its own, and Claus had but to swing and guide it.
When shadows began creeping over the green hills to lie in the Valley
overnight, the young man had chopped many logs into equal lengths and
proper shapes for building a house such as he had seen the poorer
classes of men inhabit. Then, resolving to await another day before he
tried to fit the logs together, Claus ate some of the sweet roots he
well knew how to find, drank deeply from the laughing brook, and lay
down 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 wondrous
Valley the Spirit of Happiness crept into his heart and drove out all
terror and care and misgivings. Never more would the face of Claus be
clouded with anxieties; never more would the trials of life weigh him
down 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, had
directed his steps when he wandered away from Burzee to seek a home in
the great world?
Certain it is that while the moon peered over the hilltop and flooded
with its soft beams the body of the sleeping stranger, the Laughing
Valley was filled with the queer, crooked shapes of the friendly
Knooks. These people spoke no words, but worked with skill and
swiftness. The logs Claus had trimmed with his bright ax were carried
to a spot beside the brook and fitted one upon another, and during the
night 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 the
web of sleep from his eyelids and looked around. The house met his
gaze.
"I must thank the Knooks for this," said he, gratefully. Then he
walked to his dwelling and entered at the doorway. A large room faced
him, 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 the
wall and a stool set near a small stand. On the bed were many layers
of dried moss brought from the Forest.
"Indeed, it is a palace!" exclaimed the smiling Claus. "I must thank
the good Knooks again, for their knowledge of man's needs as well as
for their labors in my behalf."
He left his new home with a glad feeling that he was not quite alone in
the 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 down
on the bank to laugh at the mischievous gambols of the ripples as they
pushed one another against rocks or crowded desperately to see which
should first reach the turn beyond. And as they raced away he listened
to 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 their
little 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 as
they nodded gracefully on their stems. But another strain caught his
ear 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 things
here. The Laughing Valley is a valley of peace and good-will."
He passed the day talking with the ants and beetles and exchanging
jokes with the light-hearted butterflies. And at night he lay on his
bed of soft moss and slept soundly.
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.
"Your brothers of the Forest," he said, "I have known and loved many
years. I shall love you, also, when we have become friends. To me the
laws of the Ryls, whether those of the Forest or of the field, are
sacred. I have never wilfully destroyed one of the flowers you tend so
carefully; but I must plant grain to use for food during the cold
winter, and how am I to do this without killing the little creatures
that 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. There
is better work for you in life than to labor for food, and though, not
being of the Forest, Ak has no command over us, nevertheless are we
glad to favor one he loves. Live, therefore, to do the good work you
are resolved to undertake. We, the Field Ryls, will attend to your
food supplies."
After this speech the Ryls were no longer to be seen, and Claus drove
from his mind the thought of tilling the earth.
When next he wandered back to his dwelling a bowl of fresh milk stood
upon the table; bread was in the cupboard and sweet honey filled a dish
beside it. A pretty basket of rosy apples and new-plucked grapes was
also awaiting him. He called out "Thanks, my friends!" to the
invisible Ryls, and straightway began to eat of the food.
Thereafter, when hungry, he had but to look into the cupboard to find
goodly supplies brought by the kindly Ryls. And the Knooks cut and
stacked much wood for his fireplace. And the Fairies brought him warm
blankets and clothing.
So began his life in the Laughing Valley, with the favor and friendship
of the immortals to minister to his every want.