The Baldwin Library University B vst [LUTLD arias Tele heee Leno : : : : oo or eee G q ON) fae re) ] Ne pti tane ks: jf Es ‘ Sia i? iy es f “ aes —< CAUTION AD We \ Ww M f \ 4, ul CH, Ny YW SY t . == i Z \ /)) i MS “( 1 | 4 A The Forest Fairy a | Christmas in Switzerland BY E. H. K. HUGESSEN ILLUSTRATED BY L. J. BRIDGMAN BOSTON - DANA ESTES & COMPANY PUBLISHERS Copyright, r896 By Estes & LAuRIAT Golonial Press ; C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston, Mass., U. S. A. Electrotyped by Geo. C. Scott & Sons THE FOREST FAIRY. OME people think that there are no Fairies nowadays. There are so many large towns full of dust and smoke, and so many railroads, on which trains run snorting and screaming through the pretty, lovely country places, where the Fairies used to be found, that a great many people fancy these things have quite driven the Fairies out, but, indeed, this is not the case. It isnot so easy to get rid of the Fairies. Even in the dark, dull towns, there are gleams of Fairy brightness to be seen sometimes, and scenes of Fairyland float before the eyes of many a child whose heart is light and whose spirit is pure ; and the Fairies come in dreams, and take it away to dance and play with them for a while, and forget the toils and hard- ships of its every-day life. Ay, and even when the railway train whistles and screeches through the woods where the Fairies used to hold their midnight meetings, and over the soft meadows where they danced so often in the Fairy-ring, it can- -not drive the little Elves away for good and all. They stop their ears sometimes, and go further away from the harsh, screeching sound, but they do not quite desert the place, and they never will desert it, as long as there are warm and tender hearts to love their kind ways, and eager little ears to hear all thé pretty stories of which Fairyland is full, and which help to make it so pleasant. - But there was no big town and no railroad in that part of Switzerland where dwelt the Fairy of whom I am going to tell you. There was a large wood, full of very tall trees, so thick 5 6 CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. with their beautiful foliage that the rays of the sun could scarcely force their way through in the brightest summer day; but underneath the boughs it was right pleasant to walk, for there you found beautiful shade, and the mossy turf beneath your feet was as soft as velvet. And when the calm, pale moon shed her mild rays over the earth, peeping in through the thick foliage, she gave a quiet, holy light to the wood here and there, and you felt as if you were in some sacred spot, where you were inclined to speak in whispering tones, lest you should disturb the solemn silence of the place- 5 One tree — much larger than most of its companions — stood in the middle of the wood. It was very old, but yet it was not quite hollow, for its wood was stout and tough. Its great roots ran out on all sides of it, and you could not look upon it with- out confessing at once that it was a Royal tree. And in the crown of this tree dwelt the loveliest little Fairy that any one had ever set eyes upon. She was about seven inches high, of. perfect face and form, and with a queenly look about her which inspired respect, just as her beauty and sweet manners com- pelled people to love the very sight of her. But that forest was her kingdom, and that tree was her palace, and she wore the lightest, prettiest dress you can imagine. Her greatest pleasure was to do good wherever she could. If any of the animals in the forest were hurt, they would often. come moaning up to the tree, and seldom, indeed, was it that they did not receive assistance; and many of the poor people who lived near that forest had felt the kind- ness of the Fairy, and had had pieces of good luck happen to them, which you may be very sure were all of her doing. 5 She usually drove about the forest in a little wicker carriage, drawn by six squirrels; and it was the prettiest sight imagi- CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. 9 nable to see her drive the dear little creatures, well broken in as they were, and dart about through the trees in the most graceful manner possible. This was her favorite conveyance; but sometimes she would ride about on the back of a squirrel or a rabbit, and now and then she took a flight on a wood-pigeon; for she was not ate all a stay-at-home Fairy, but loved to roam about the country, and see what there was to be seen. Now it happened that at no great FRANK distance “¥ Wy from the forest lived an old man, in a small cottage, which was still older than himself, and was, therefore, in a sad state of decay. This old man was by trade a faggot-seller; for he had the right of cutting wood in the forest; and he used to cut faggots and sell them to the 10 CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. people around, by which means he earned enough to keep the pot boiling. His only companion was his little granddaughter, who was everything in the world to him, for he had no other relative or friend. She was as good a little girl as you will find any- where, and was very fond of her old grandfather, who, also, was tenderly attached to her. Every morning she would be up early enough to light the fire and get his bit of breakfast ready for him before he went out to his work; and when he was gone, she would sweep the room, and make the place tidy; and then, when she had finished, it was time to get his dinner ready, and she would prepare it very carefully and then take it out to him in the forest in a little basket; and right glad was the old man to see his little Marie (for so was the child called) coming along under the shady trees. He would listen to her pretty prattle while he ate his din- ner; and often she would bring her knitting out, and sit there, in the fine summer afternoons, until he had finished his work and they could walk home together. It was a pretty sight to see the old man and the young child walking hand in hand, her large, loving, blue eyes turned up to his old weather-beaten face, and her little tongue asking him questions about the forest, and the big world beyond it, of which he knew but little more than she did; for the old man had passed nearly all his life in the cottage where he lived, and the little he knew of the wide world was gathered CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. II from conversations now and then with neighbours as poor as himself, but who had been tempted, from time to time, to roam further from home. Very happily and contentediy: did Marie and her grand- father live for some tinie, till she grew to be about eleven years old, and the old man’s strength began to fail. He could no longer do such a long day’s work as he used to do, and seemed to get more tired of an evening, and less and less inclined to get up early in the morning. But worse than that— for troubles seldom come alone—he could no longer sell his faggots so easily as in the old days. People had taken more and more to burning coal, and he had to go far and wide to gather the few pence which his faggots would bring him. No ‘other occupation could he get; and all this time the old cottage got worse and worse. The rain came in, and the cold got through the walls, and when the high winds blew, it often seemed as if the whole cottage would be blown down —the windows rattled in their casements, and the walls seemed to shake, and everything showed that thé place was hardly fit to live in. But what distressed the old man more than anything else in these hard times was the thought of his little grandchild. What would become of her if he was to be taken away from her? She could not live alone in the cot- tage, even if it were better, and stronger, and safer. How would she live, and where would she go to? These thoughts greatly troubled him, and he hardly dared to look forward to the future. Still times got worse— meat became a scarce article in the cottage, and, save as they could, there was so little to save from, that. their prospects were very bad. Winter came on, and the old man felt his heart grow heavier and heavier, as he thought of the joyous days of his boyhood, when Christmas- 12 : CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. time brought lightness of heart and gladness of spirit to him, and all seemed so mirthful and happy. Why should Christmas- time be so different to his little Marie? Not that she was wanting in cheerfulness, for she was a light-hearted, lively child; but she had little to make her so, and he could do so little for her! These thoughts were in his heart as he sallied forth the =~ day before Christmas, and walked slowly into = the forest. He came to the place where he had been working last, and determined . that he would try and cut and make up a few faggots, and forget his cares in the healthy work before him. At it he went, and -. worked steadily on till past f =—twelve o’clock. The leaves were crisp under his feet, and the air was fresh; for there was frost abroad, but. cold; it was the kind of weather that makes folks genial and happy in their hearts, and tingles their fingers, without mak- ing them more than just so cold ~ s that a hearty rub sends the warm blood through the veins, and makes them warm and glowing again. And the old man looked up from his work, and put down his axe, and rubbed his hands, as he saw Marie coming slowly along the wood with her little bas’e*. On she came till she got close to him, . . © CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. 13 «Poor Gran, there isn’t much dinner, to-day — only potatoes and a crust of bread; but the salt will make the potatoes taste nice, and then, how many poor people have no bread at all!” This was the most cheerful thing that poor Marie could say, and she was quite right in reminding her grandfather how many people were worse off than he was. For I think all of us are much too fond of comparing ourselves with those who are better off than we, ! are; and this makes us discon- : s tented ; whereas, if we would only think how very many more there iA \ are who are worse off, we should |" he find we had great reason to be con- af a tented with our lot. The old AY man sighed, but he did not wish to “”". Ae seem sad before Marie, so he tried to put on a cheerful tone, and proposed that they should stroll down into the forest, and find a sheltered nook where they might eat their dinner. So they walked down a little way, carry- ing the basket, till they came to a large beech-tree, which seemed to offer the very shelter they sought. Accordingly they sat down close to it, made them- selves as comfortable as they could, and opened the basket and began to take out its contents. But scarcely had the cloth been spread upon the ground and disclosed the pota- toes that were in it, and scarcely had Marie produced the dark-coloured* © F hich was to aid the meal, when a clear, luctle silve .vvve weit heads said, very distinctly : 14 CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. «Who is it that eats bread and potatoes for dinner on Christmas eve?” Marie and her grandfather both looked up, but could see nothing but a pretty brown squirrel munching a nut in the boughs above them; so they looked at each other and stared ; and then each thought that it must have been a mistake, and the grandfather put out his hand to take a potato. But, wonder of wonders! the potato, which, to all appearances, was a vege- table of unblemished character, duly baked, and only wanting to be eaten, deliberately rolled away of its own accord, and was immediately followed by all the others. Marie and her grandfather were too much astonished to try and prevent them, but the old man, being uncommonly hungry after his work, made a rapid snatch at the bread. Back, however, he drew his hand more quickly than he had put it out, for, instead of the brown loaf, there was only a hedgehog, who scuttled off as fast as he could towards a neighbouring rabbit hole, while, at the same time, the identical voice again exclaimed : “Not bread and potatoes on Christmas eve, / think /” and both Marie and her grandfather jumped up in the greatest CHRISTMAS [IN SWITZERLAND. 17 astonishment. There, on a large bough of the beech-tree, immediately above their heads, stood the Forest Fairy. She was dressed in her winter cloak of mole skin, but so elegantly was it made, that you could tell at once that it belonged to a Fairy, even if you had not seen the beautiful diamond buttons, and the gold and silver braid all over it. She had a branch of mistletoe in her hand, and a squirrel sat on each side of her, whilst she stood on the bough, and spoke to her visitors below. The latter, though startled at first, felt that no harm was intended, for they had only to look upon the kind expres- - ' sion on the face of the Forest Fairy, to be quite sure that she had the most friendly feeling towards them. “Why have you come to my palace, good people?” she asked; and the grandfather opened his mouth very wide, as some people always. do when they are asked a question by a person of higher rank than themselves. But Marie clasped her little hands, and said at once to the Fairy: «‘Oh, do not be angry, dear Lady, for we did not know — Gran and I-—that this was your palace, and we came down here to eat our dinner quietly under the boughs of the beech. And, as to our having only bread and potatoes, indeed that isn’t our choice, but we can get.nothing else, for we are poor, very poor, Gran and I, and we hardly know one day whether we can look forward to any dinner at all on the next. But it is my fault bringing Grn down under the beech, so pray don’t be angry with Az /’ Then the Fairy smiled sweetly upon the child, and she said : : “ Marie!”’ (for Fairies know children’s names by chen and, if they are good -children, are very partial to them) “I, am not angry, nor are you so:‘very, very poor; for no one is, 18 CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. very poor who has a loving heart like yours, and tries to be contented. But you shall not dine off: bread and potatoes to-day. I am obliged to go away on business; but when you and your grandfather are hungry, look on the other side of the beech, and if you want anything, rap three times on the old tree.” . When she had done speaking, the Fairy gracefully bent her head, and disappeared immediately. The old man looked at Marie, and Marie looked at the old man, till at last the former said : «But how about our victuals? I’m precious hungry.” “Oh, Gran!” said Marie, “let’s trust the beautiful Lady, and look the other side of the beech.” So they walked round the other side of the beech, and what do you think they saw? A plain deal table, firmly fixed in the ground, with a chair on each side of it. Upon it was a snowy-white tablecloth, and opposite each chair was a plate, a knife and fork, a piece of bread, and a mug. But, glorious to behold, in the middle of the table was a magnificent sirloin of beef, done to a turn, with the fat still crackling from the fire, and a perfect pool of rich, good gravy all round it. On one side of it was a dish of smoking hot potatoes, and on the other, one of tempting looking sausages, whilst a large carving-knife and fork lay by the dish, and seemed by their appearance and attitude to invite the strangers to make use of them without further delay. Gran wanted no second invitation; seating himself at the table without the loss of a moment, he only waited until Marie had said grace for both of them, before he commenced a vig- orous attack upon the joint before them. You never saw an old man with such an appetite! Consider, this was the sixth a ae oS =. gE (H SB SS SSS ih , b MUS Aa HNN get GAN Ti \ WG ™ fa) " be ; @ , CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. 21 day he had had no meat, and the clear, cold air, together with the exercise of chopping wood, had given him a tremendous capacity for eating. Marie, too, enjoyed her beef thoroughly, though she continually stopped, and her eyes glistened with pleasure, as she saw the dear old grandfather so supremely happy. Presently, however, he stopped, and, looking round, per- ceived a jug of cider upon the table, which he had not observed before. He instantly filled both mugs, and they drank the Fairy’s health with great glee. However, in this world nothing lasts forever, and after a while they seemed to have had as much beef as they wanted. Marie, who had only had half a mugful of the cider, thought she should like a glass of water, and modestly knocked three times at the tree, according to the Fairy’s directions. _ Instantly there appeared, to her great surprise, four Rabbits, ~ in the livery of the Fairy, that is to say, white breeches with light “blue stripes, and silver jackets with gold embroidery. In their hands they bore a large dish, and, having removed the. beef from the table, they deposited upon it an enormous pudding, and stood bowing around the table as if. tos invite © the company to fall to at once. This was not to be; and, although Marie resisted all. her grandfather’s entreaties to do more than just taste the pudding, the old man fell to with a relish, in which no one could have believed who had seen him previously tackle the beef. The pudding removed, the attendant Rabbits at once produced a magnificent cheese, of which, however, the old man could partake but sparingly, and in a few minutes the dinner was over. When Marie had said grace, she was not quite sure what 22 CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. to do next, for it seemed very ungrateful to go away without thanking the kind Fairy who had given them so good a dinner in exchange for their bread and potatoes. There was Silben, Suu, ZB , lh a re i no Fairy, however, to be seen, and the Rabbits stood there bowing so politely, that neither Marie nor her grandfather felt it right to be sitting there so long and keeping them out CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. 23 in the cold. They slowly rose, therefore, and left the table, which almost immediately afterwards disappeared, and the Rabbits also. The well-dined couple stood gazing at the beech- tree a little time, with a look of lingering affection, and then walked slowly back to the place where the old man had been at work. All of a sudden, Marie remembered that she had left her basket behind her, with the cloth which had held the potatoes. So she ran back as quickly as she could, but neither cloth nor basket could she see. She looked about everywhere, but in vain, Gs and felt quite inclined to / A cry; but having always been \ (Ch taught to make the best of S \ AN everything, she tried to hope f that these little articles had | been picked up by some one still poorer and in greater distress than her grandfather and she, and that they might be of great service to them. Still, she could not help being sorry that she had lost her property. Her grandfather, however, was not angry with her, partly because he was too fond of her for chat, and ~ partly because he had eaten such a good dinner, which put him, as a good dinner puts most people, in a particularly good humour. He did not do much more work that day, and when Marie and he walked home together, the old boy was in better spirits than he had been for many a long day. He cracked a joke or two, and laughed at his own jokes (which is generally the 24 CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. sign of a contented disposition), and even went so far as to sing a verse or two of a merry old song, which quite delighted both the child and himself. As they got near home, however, and he began to think how differently things would look there to what they had done under the beech-tree, a kind of heaviness seemed to steal over him, which Marie strove to chase away by cheerful con-. versation; and so they jour- neyed on until they turned a corner which brought them in full view of their cottage home. But what a strange sight met their eyes! How changed +1, the appearance of everything! The fence round the garden, in front of the cottage, which \ Ky, \ : y had been quite broken down, had ( \ \\y \ 4 aS disappeared altogether, and a spick WM ‘ \\\ == and span iron rail fence stood > there in its place. The weeds, which Marie had not had time to «nish plucking up, were gone, every weed of them, and the ga::ien was as neat and tidy as if a regular gardener had been looking after it, every day in the week. And then the house! Instead of leaning a little over on one side as it used to do, tempt-, ing the cruel wind to drive the cold rain against it, and to Ve Ae ——————— —S== = Me CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. 27 _try to turn it quite over—there it was, upright and firm as any new model cottage. No casements shook, all were firmly fixed; and the brown paper, with which many broken panes of glass had been from time to time replaced, had all dis- appeared, and new panes appeared in every window. The door, too, had its broken latch mended, and, instead of the wind whistling under it, as before, a stout, thick bit of list, care- fully nailed on, quite put a stop to ¢#at; and as to the roof! why, there wasn’t a broken tile left upon it, but every tile was as straight and new as if it had just been put on, and well put on, too. The whole place was so altered that the old grandfather opened his mouth nearly wide enough to have swallowed it, cottage and all, while Marie darted forward with a scream of delight, crying out : « Oh, the Fairy! the Fairy !— the dear, good | fairy ! ! Tam sure it is she who has been here.” The old man stood stock- still in amazement until another cry from Marie, who had now opened the door, woke him up. He hurried on to the cottage and entered after her. What do you think he saw? In the middle of the room in which they usually lived was a brand-new table, whilst four. new chairs were placed about in different parts of the room, which (28 CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. had also been newly papered, and had a nice new carpet of a common but strong and useful sort. Everything appeared to have been changed, as if by magic, from being old and worn-out, to new and strong, and there was an air of comfort about the whole place which was perfectly delightful. Nor did the wonders cease Here They opened the door. which led into the kitchen behind the living-room, and a sight met their eyes which caused them both to start back. with astonishment. There, indeed, was the kitchen, the same as ever, but the grate was evidently new; new saucepans, a bright and clean row, hung by the side of the wall; a new set of crockery was ranged upon the shelves ; ti even the big kitchen poker was bright and clean, and evidently prepared to start upon a new life, fit for any work that might be required of him. But, more marvellous than all, in the middle of the kitchen, as much at home as if it had been born and bred there, stood the identical table ‘which had borne the welcome meal which Marie and her grandfather had enjoyed under the Fairy’s beech-tree — yes! there was no mistake about it —and a neat, white tablecloth upon it, marked in the corner “F. F.,” which plainly stood for “Forest Fairy,” showed whence it came. Nor was the table empty —the remainder of that noble sirloin of beef was there, and the magnificent pudding stood by its side, so tempting as almost to induce the old man to attack it again, at once. There it was, and there were the knives and _ forks they had used in the forest, and the very crumbs of the bread and cheese they had left,— even the sausages and potatoes had ‘not been forgotten; for the table seemed to have been transported just as it was, from beneath the beech-tree, except 30 CHRISTMAS IN SWITZERLAND. that the beef and pudding, which the Rabbit footmen had taken away, had been put back upon it. And, upon the kitchen dresser, lo and behold! stood Marie’s basket safe and sound. “Oh, my dear old basket!” cried the child, and ran up and took hold of it; when, on lifting up the lid, what do you think she saw? The cloth was there in which the potatoes had been wrapped; but, instead of potatoes, there was a fat goose, all trussed ready for roasting, with a stuffing of sage and onions which it made cance th t eae your mou water to EZ Ee look at, while close by, carefully wrapped up in a cloth, were two beautiful Led- Rs : kuchen (Christmas Wii ‘oe 2 “3 cakes), one for each, (n= WM.