For the Children

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17410, 12 December 1924, Page 12

For the Children

THE STORY OF ENID AND GERAINT. (From the Story of Kins Arthur.) One day while Queen Guinevere, the wife ot Kins Arthur, was riding up a hill. ?. tall, strong. and handsome knight went riding by. He was Prince Geraint, one of the Knights of the Round Table. While they were talking together the Queen noticed three people walking at the foot of the hill —a l.nigut accompanied by a lady, and a dwarf who followed them some distance behind. The Queen was anxious to know who the three travellers we"' . and so she lent her mrid to inquire. After <t little time the maid returned saying, that wh »n she inquired from the dwarf who his master was the dwarf cracked his whip across her face. Prince Geraint was so indignant at the way that the dwarf had treated a Indy that he asked the Queen's permission to ride after the three travellers. After sursuing the three horsemen over a hill and dale they entered a town, where Geraint lost them to • icw. He decided to seek lodging for tl e right anil find out who the knight was on the morrow. He spent 1 lie night at a ruined castle, which belonged to an earl arc! his daughter Enid. Eni.l was a very beautiful girl and fair *u> look upon an l Geraint fell in love with h»-r. While Geraint was staying with the old Earl at his i astle he told him the story of the three travellers. The dwarf was the servant of a cruel and wicked knight called Sparrow Hawk, who wanted to marry Enid : but Enid did not love him. and because of this Sparrow-Hawk had tried to turn the people against the old carl by telling false tales against him. Geraint was so angry with SparrowHawk that he begged, the earl’s permission to fight Sparrow-Hawk the next day. So Geraint set out the next, morning like a brave and courageous knight to defend Enid and the Queen. Rut Enid was brave too. because she sent Geraint off to the fight cheerfully although in her heart she was frightened that any harm should befal him bcc-iuse she loved him dearly. Geraint won the light, and let Spat-row-Hawk go on condition that he? went to th** court and begged the Queen's pardon. Soon after this Geraint and Enid were married. Thev were very happy, but when Enid had been some time u. King Arthur’s court, and ever "one had learnt to love her. because of her good ami simple nature and her beautiful face. Geraint became jealous, and thought that Enid was paying more attention to those around her than to her husband, and so he begged Ring Arthur to let him go back to his own land arc! live quietly with Enid there. Enid was sorry that Geraint had given up all his brave deeds and heroic life for her. and one night in her sleep, she said out loud that she had been no true wife. Geraint was so upset because he believed that Enid had not been true to him that he hade her put on her oldest dress, unbraid her hair, and ride on nelore him over rough ground. On m> account was she to turn round and speak to him. After riding like that all dav. just about sunset Enid saw three knights riding towards her. hut just as Bicv got up to her Geraint stepped forward quickly and made them /lire up their arm-. I hey quickly surrendered, and meekly rode before Ivriid. Soon after this, as they were riding through the forest, they happened upon a lady woli weeping over a knight who lay dead on the ground. J hoy asked her what had happened. Sim told them that as they were riding through the forest three villains had set upon them and killed her husban Geraint hastened forward and slew the th’;ee men who had pretended to bo k nights. One day. as Geraint and Enid were ruling. Geraint fell hack in his f addle and swooned. Enid at once jumped from her horse. While jshe was attending to Geraint the Earl of Doorm «nd a great company of pe<,ni c rode • rij c carl made some of his men carry Geraint into his castle, and ~|| day and all night Geraint lav still upon hi- slueld and his sword beside him Enid would not he parted from him and when the Earl of Doom, asked her to sleep and to rest she refused and said she would not leave Geraint. ». s she loved only him and would he with him always The Earl of Doorm was an voved that Enid would not do v . !nu /,* asked to at he struck her on her cheek. At that moment Geraint sprang , n l ihe 1 r ° f the swor 'l he* slew listening to what Enid had said and TW.I ” e ' Kn,d still '"ved him ■ IOy mu) I’aPPiness tW- bar k ‘oeether-to June \rth"r s court to live happy over after.

the rainbow fairy. °nc® upon a time there ’ivcrl a ' f £° U . d " n . ot k """- what a Homili- ' ts, look m your dictionary and ' >ou will not find it there! huV°™ haled'fl Ved ' anbane .. that the. fl ?r sarfens. and raid that. the. ..-ere a waste of time. One P.Rht the Sweet Pea Fair. would have a little fun with old ! Grumpv, so she tripped h’ghtlv to his i garden, and right in the middle of the I cabbage patch she planted a rainbow i sweet pea Being planted bv a fairy it i was in fuU blossom next ‘ <>h, such a gorgeous sweet pea it! was! Every petal aflame with the <•«>!- ! ours of the rainbow, and yet no two petals looked qute a’ike. The colours j seemed to change as the petals moved , in the breeze. But all their beauty was lost op i Homiligog when he came along next evening and saw the intruder in his nice tidy cabbage patch. Me scratched his head and growled and grumbled. lie couldn’t believe his own eves, because, • on see, he felt sure he had not left one weed in his cabbage patch, and yet there was one in full flower! So' <>:.• he went' to the tool-shed to : fetch It: • hoc but the Rainbow Fairy ! v:i- .In. wring r.car. and she pinched his o': pt*k '! h.\ heels with \vnn<;. ii;.. icaiit: -Cirumpv ; fanev he hail i!i:lb‘ain- : •■, !•:•* ;it down and t- ok on ,h;> sl.iipn to rub ill in Tin.-:i le. iorgot ail a bon* vhe sw.:cl. p.-a- • and wer‘4 indoor - to -upper. The- m I evening b:• went 1o hi ba;,x j»nh again., and there wa-- the rainbow sweet pea. more beautiful than ever. Just as he arrived wi h his hoe to dig it out a lady drove bv in a car, and, stopping to buy some of Homiligog's fine cabbages, she saw the rainbow sweet pea. • "Oh; Oh; Oh!" she criew. "What are you going to do. 7 You cruel, foolish Homiligog! Where, oh. where did you- get that beautiful part:* I thought"! possessed every kind of

sweet pea that ever was; but I have never seen this kind before." You can have it,” said Homiligog. “ I was just going to dig it up.’’ But she put out her hand, saying, " No, let every flower go to seed, and I will give you a guinea for every seed there is.” Homiligog promised, and the lady went away quite happy. " A guinea for every seed!" muttered old Homiligog. " You are worth taking care of. my beauty.” And he pulled up the cabbages which crowded the sweet pea in order to fence the plant by wire netting. Homiligog could scarcely wait for the seeds to ripen, so eager was he to gather and count them. He forgot to take his cabbages to market, too, and ever so many of them went to seed. He would sit and smoke his pipe and reckon just how many peas he thought would be in each pod. and then plan what he would do with the money. There were so many things he wanted : and what should he do next year jf lie gave the lady all the seeds? They would be quite a common flower, and she would never offer a guinea a seed again. Then the sly old fellow went oft to the hedgerows and gathered a handful of the seeds of wild peas to mix with the rainbow seeds for the lady. When the little pods had been gathered and Homiligog had kept more than half the seeds for himself, he put the rest, in a box on the. shelf to wait for the. lady. Now the Rainbow Fairy was a sportive little creature, and she loved placing jokes, especially on mean Ilomiligogs. so that night she crept in and touched all the sweet pea seeds in the box with her wand and turned them into nasty little creepy-crawiies. Next day the lad;- arrived for the seeds, and - oh ! how funny Homiligog felt when, opening the box to count them for her. he saw all changed into creepy-crawiies! The lady, of course, was very puzzled and went away disappointed; but what was her surprise on arriving at her own door to find a lovely little rainbow sweet pea full of blooms and pods right under her casement window! She danced for joy. and though she guessed the fairies had placed it there, she was not sure. So she carefully preserved every seed as it ripened, and everywhere she went she popped one into a friend’s garden. into a tired looking garden. or gardens of the sick folk and busy folk. The Rainbow Fairv took care to see that every seed grew, and that land was lovely ever after ! LITTLE BY LITTLE. “ Little bv littie," an acorll aiil. Vs it slowly sank in its mossy bed, “ I am in! pro vine every day Hidden deep in the earth aw,ay.” Little bv little each day it grew, Little by little it sipped the dew. Downward it sent out a thread-like root, l'p in the air sprang a tiny shoot-; Day by clay, ancl year by year, kittle by’ little the leaves appear; And the slender branches spread far and wide, Till the mighty oak is the forest’s ] slide. DRESSING IT. In grandma’s attic is » box Full of old-fashioned suits and frocks. And often on a rainy day At dressing-up we love to play. Kittle Red Riding-Hood is Bess In scarlet cloak: Grace wears a dress Of lilac print and dimity Mittens and sash -80-peep is she. The twins as Jack and Jill parade, Ho wears long liose of amber shade, A cocked hat and a shepherd's smock, Jill has a flowered muslin frock. A pale blue satin gown 1 choose. With rustling train, and high-heeled shoes, And grandma’- smartest fan of all—l m ( inderella at the ball ! THE PI DDLE. A fairy dropped a piece of tHe sky In our road yesterday! (Tear and blue as a speedwell flower After tho rain, it lay. There were tiny white clouds drifting through. And it looked so deep and cool.— Then the wind ruffled by and the blue sky went. And left a muddy pool ! MARJORIE PRYOR. THE SHEPHERD AND HIS FLOCK. This is a very busy period of the year on the farm, and no man is busiei than the shepherd. One fine morning. when the sky is blue and a soft breeze is blowing, the shepherd will take his flock to the water to wash Jf there is a river or wide stream near tiie farm the shepherd will decide on a nice spot, and when the time comes he will drive his flock with the aid ot hK old sheep-dog down the lane. Some times there are a hundred ewes and nearly twice asjnany lambs Afost of the ewes had twins, and, though some have only one lamb, others have throe. There is a loud and constant bleating ns the flock moves down the narrow lane. Some jf the lambs lose their mothers in the crowd, and get so frightened that they try to gallop back to the field, but the old sheep dog barks and barks, am! drives them oil again. Down by the water the shepherd. with the help of two farm boys, has made with iron hurdles a sheeppen, into which the sheep are driven. It any little lambs get in they are quickly taken out again, and placed on the grass outside. Then comes the task of washing the sheep, which is not an easy one. The shepherd and one boy stand on either side ol a little dip in the bank holding “ washers.” These look like wooden hay rakes without the teeth. Phen two hoys go inside the pen, seize a sheep, drag her L«> tin- edge of tile water, and throw her in. 1 hey mu-L l.hrow her in tail first, so that she may lie in !< s- danger ot striking; her lead as >he drops wriggling into the w ater, because a -light blow on t he head Will kill a -beep. Another rea -ui why die 1-. thrown in tail first is that the water will soak well into her wool at once. Splash! In she goes, right over her head, and comes up gasping and snorting. Then the two on tho bank begin to rub hard with the washers, and the water around lregins to become dark and muddy. The sheep don’t like it. and try to get away. They oven try to swim across t > zik* other bank, because sheep are

good swimmers, but. tlio men easily stop them by putting the washer under their chins. After a minute or two the sheep scrambles on to the bank, and as she walks away the water pours off her coat in little streams She looks so funny that even her own lambs, rushing down with twenty others to see if this is their mother, do not know her, and run away agpin. This goes on until all the owes are washed. The lambs are not washed or shorn until they are more, tl an a year old. The shepherd is very careful, as he goes back to the field, that the sheep do not run or scamper, because if the lane is dusty and the sheep are hurried they will scuffle up the.dust into the clean fleeces. TWO WONDER FT L GIFTS. There was once a Prince who was in love- with a fair Princess. He wanted to send her the two most beautiful gifts he could find. He searched over the country for a long time, but be could find nothing more beautiful than what his father, the King, bad given him, and which he had in the castle grounds. One of the most beautiful tilings was a deep red rose, which bloomed every summer, and which gave out a most delightful scent. Anyone who smelt it was reminded of all the most lovely scents in the world at the same The other precious thing was a nightingale, which sang so beautifully that it enchanted all who heard its song, an«l reminded them of fairies singing in fairyland. What more beautiful gifts could be, have than these? So he ordered his servants to make two silver caskets and place the red rose in one and the nightingale in tho other, and he sent these in charge of a servant to the When the Princess heard of tho presents she was delighted, and rushed to open the caskets. Quicklv she undid the lid. What was inside? Only a red rose -a flower that would grow in any garden. Fancy sending a single rose to a Princess ! What was inside the other casket? A bird! A bird that would sing in any garden? Quicklv the Princess shut down the lid. *’ I will have nothing more to clo

with the Prince,*' she cried, and handed the casket hack to the servant. When the Prince hoard that the Princess would not. accept the gifts he was very sad but he thought of another plan. Sj he dressed himself in ragged clothes, disguised himself so that no one would know him, ami called upon the Princess’s father and begged for help. He was sent to weed the garden and help the other men. While he was in the garden be thought of a plan, so. taking liis red rose with him. he planted one of the precious seeds. And. taking the sweet nigh tingale, he placed it in a tree under the Princess’s window. After some time rose bushes started to grow, anu on their stems red rose buds appeared, and hy-and-bye more than one sweet song of the nightingale could be heard. The Princess was heard to remark that at night such a sweet, smell invaded her room that in her dreams she was reminded of all the most beautiful things she had ever smelt. And after a while the Princess was carried awav into fairyland every night by soft lullabies which reminded her of fairy bells. Where could they come from? Everyone searched the castle’s grounds, but nothing unusual could be seen. The Princess was puzzled, but no one could tell her whence they came. A reward was offered, but still no one could answer the riddle. At length tile old King the Princess’s father, who would never be beaten in anything, offered his daughter’s hand in marriage to anyone who would tell him whence the enchanting smell and the sweet singing came from. t\ ben the man in rags, who worked in the garden, begged to be allowed to speak to the King, everyone laughed at the idea that he would know about these wonderful things. " Let him have a chance!” exclaimed the Princess, not knowing that it was her lover, the Prince, in disguise. Snatching off his rags, and revealing himself as the Prince, he told tliem of his love for the Princess and her refusal of his precious gifts, and how he thought of a plan whereby the Princess could find that the red rose was not an ordinary rose and the bird not an ordinary nightingale. The old King was so pleased that the Prince was so clever that the happy marriage day was soon arranged, and both Prince and Princess lived joyfully ever after.