THE FAIRY OF THE WOOD.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 67, 20 March 1926, Page 26

THE FAIRY OF THE WOOD.

A fairy was walking about the country one day when she met little Michael, the woodcutter's son. The boy stopped, much amazed. "Beautiful lady," he said, "who are you V "I am the fairy of the wood," she answered; "Can I do anything for you, little man?" Michael, who was getting over his surprise, replied: "Oh, please, Mistress Fairy, will you help my father and mother? They are very poor, and bread is-scarce in the house." "Very good, my friend," said the fairy. "Do not fail to come to the end of the wood to-morrow morn, to the spot where the high road lies. You will find a white wall there; inside the door is the Garden of the Fairies. In the garden stands a fine tree with apples of gold as big as your two fists. I will give you one big enough to make you rich. Only be careful: the entrance to the garden is not free; three magic words are needed to obtain the apple." The fairy then smiled and vanished. At dawn the next day Michael stood at the end of the wood where the high road lay. The door was there but closed and locked. He raised his voice: "Open! It is I, Michael. I have come to fetch the gold apple." But, cry and knock as loud as he would, the door did not open. Michael, sorely disappointed and perplexed, departed. The next day, at dawn, he appeared again at the door, much worried in hia mind. "I was wrong to make a great noise," he thought, "when I might have spoken gently." He knocked quietly and said: "Open,- if you please. It is little Michael who has come to fetch the gold apple." The door opened wide before him. What a lovely garden! The child was dazzled with so many gay flowers and birds and sweet scents. The gold apple tree stood proudly there with its ruddy apples. Yet at the foot of the

tree eat no fairy, but an old dame, spinning busily, with a hood on her head, and just the tip of her pointed *nose sticking out. Michael went up to her and spoke: "Madam, I come for a gold apple." No answer; not a sign. He repeated his words. The old woman never moved. Undaunted, he stretched out his hand to the tree. But the old woman was neither deaf nor blind. She exclaimed: "Beware, child, or woe to you!" The boy drew back and was gone, more and more disappointed. He nevertheless returned at dawn the next day and neared the tree, thinking: "I shall be more civil to the old dame." He entered the garden and walked across to where the spinning dame sat. "Good day, ma'am," he said; 'will you please give mc one of your apples?' The old woman rose, picked out the finest fruit and handed it to Michael, who seized it and ran away. Alas, no sooner had he left the garden than his hands were empty. The more he wondered the less he found the clue to the mystery. But the next day he bethought him--self, "I was careless indeed and ill-bred not to thank the kind old dame who troubled to get mc the apple." He returned to the garden and begged for an apple, which the spinner gave him readily. This time he did not run away. He bowed to the dame and said: "I thank you, mistress, for your beautiful present has made mc very happy." At the same moment the old dame turned into someone whom Michael knew immediately. She was no other than the fairy of the wood. She smiled and looked at him. "You have at last found the magic words," she said. "Take the apple to your father and mother; you have earned it well. But in future remember these words: Good day, if you please, and thank you. They will open every door. I am the Fairy Good Manners;" and she vanished.