MANHOOD



  1.  The Laughing Valley

  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.