THE LIMP and THE CANDLE

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1930, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE LIMP and THE CANDLE

...... ?\ ■/' (By-M. L.Tyrell.) , •jJonjr ago, when the Strange Reople, the imps and fairies, still inhabited the hill®/nd the queer dark holes in trees, there lived a httle imp mother who thought it would be nice to have a good, ordinary child. She was tired of imps; she-had three. . So one cold night, when she guessdd there would ' ' be nobody about,.she took her imp baby under her prm, and 7 ran quickly, like the shadow of a bird , passing on the ground, to the nearest town It : ' was very dark, and the little imp mother could not ' 'see. So she whispered: ... > -. “Moon, give me a light; Jubt.«?ray-bright, . *• ; . , ' ■■ A glow — a-'gleam—a spark, To aruide me in the dark. . Now on the edge of the moon there us- always ' " ■' an exquisite perfume, and when the moon neard • 4he soft-voice of .the little imp^ fcher ® he ■some perfume to fall to • ■ '.-"-A®? it was; a cold night, the perfume *:fefflt of the little. imp mother—all except J.topf At- the very top there was a AmKer of moon- ' • -light.. It was the first candle ever Men. The ■ ' little imp mother snatched it up, and just at that 1 ' /iXM heard an ordinary baby , gurgle and C * Walking on' tip-toes, with the tiny candle Bmker- ■' ing in .her hand, the: little. imp mother went swiftly . ‘ up*b a small house, clambered through* the open ■ window, sped up the stairs, and in a tiny room ' ' 2 found a baby in a cradle.. Oh, he looked so good. By the moon-candle slip could see his round . face' smiling, .and she knew that he would never, Tiever ub to impish; trick®. '\ . - : ■ 1 '•. ... quickly,-put' her oWn- imp baby ' away just' like’ the shadow the ground;-.,' ' •; ? morning .the; ordinary mother, looked in the cradlel .She could ■' -that hbi^. Christopher,. with his • round, - could change so much ,in ■<■ much darker,, .and..- hie eyes \ -poked out his little .-red. i? ‘ .He: 'made her laugh because . '. ?i2”^k^BoSfunny, ; but‘alasl- He: becanie..naughtier . rf Quickly, and when he began to walk and :' ,; -tai£ l ?th»: ordinary mother . had. terrible time. ' goose’e

quill in his tangled black hair, drank rhe milk out of the jug, and went hunting mice with ail the Ca “c£i«Spher W what shall I do with you?” ask-d when .he Joujd hta makms a nest in the chimney for an owl he had brou 0 h JSoX"“«e.v«.d «lti ««!. and te .ouled as he answered:— ' ,<'My legs, will climb . \ My feet will jump, . - And the smell of thyme, Makes my heart thump-. I want to roam - ' When the stars wake, I’d like a home, 'i ' •• With the green grads cnake.. . .. . I 'want' wings, ’ . , ? ; 5’ • So I’ve caught an owl; y Where the wind swings, We two will prowl.”

“You must not talk in that silly wa 7>” the ordinary mother. “I shall put you to bed. And Christopher ran off laughing. ' “Catch me—if you get the chance! Beat: me—l shall only dance. / Scold me—l .will-sing a song. • Don’t you think there’s something wrong? The ordinary mother caught him in the pantiy,

but he jumped to the- top and said he would throw down all the best plates it she him and give him a pot of jam. So she had , When the neighbours complained that Christophei took the from under the fowls, arid shot arrows into their apples, and blew the hats of thenchildren into puddles the ordinary mother knew that there was something very wrong indeed, only sho couldn’t think, what it was. THE CHRISTMAS GIFT. On Christmas night the ordinary mother made a Christmas tree for Christopher, and he loved i , but he climbed to the top and would not come down. He just giggled: “I shall stay till I float away, I love this tree but it seems to me, That in the night I spy a light.’ . The ordinary mother nearly cried, and just then the door opened very gently and there stood the little imp mother. In one hand she held the mooncandle; with the other she led a little-boy who had a nice, round, good-good face. . “Mv own Christopher,” cried the ordinary mother. And the little imp mother answered softly: “Take him—your nice little, good little son. I’ve come for my imp, full of mischief and fun. Someone to play with me right through the In return for his pranks, I’ll give you my-light. ' My imp boy, come hither, and let me forget. The best, sweetest nice--child I ever have met. Then the imp sprang from the Christinas tree to the floor, and rolled over in delight till his mother caught him by the hair, and the owl flew out of the chimney, and th© three of them vanished into the night like shadows. ■ , Christopher ran to his mother, and she kissed him, and he said lie would love to be a good boy because it was so tiring with the imps. Then his mother put the lovely little moon-candle on top of the Christmas tree, and called all the neio-hbours to hear the good news. They were_ s<> happy—only they wished the little imp mdther had given them candles. However, they made some out of beeswax, and put them on their Christmas trees. If you look carefully at candles, I think you will see something impish about them even to this day. Just as if that little imp had come back to peep at you through the flame.