Dutch Fairy Tales for Young Folks | Page 5

taken out and another one, made of
glass, was put in its place. In the morning, this gave the boy light to put
on his clothes. At night, in fair weather, it supplied air to his room.
A gentle breeze was blowing from the pine woods on the sandy slope,
not far away. So Klaas climbed up on the stool to sniff the sweet piny
odors. He thought he saw lights dancing under the tree. One beam
seemed to approach his roof hole, and coming nearer played round the
chimney. Then it passed to and fro in front of him. It seemed to whisper
in his ear, as it moved by. It looked very much as if a hundred fire-flies
had united their cold light into one lamp. Then Klaas thought that the
strange beams bore the shape of a lovely girl, but he only laughed at
himself at the idea. Pretty soon, however, he thought the whisper
became a voice. Again, he laughed so heartily, that he forgot his
moping and the scolding his mother had given him. In fact, his eyes
twinkled with delight, when the voice gave this invitation:
"There's plenty of cheese. Come with us."

To make sure of it, the sleepy boy now rubbed his eyes and cocked his
ears. Again, the light-bearer spoke to him: "Come."
Could it be? He had heard old people tell of the ladies of the wood, that
whispered and warned travellers. In fact, he himself had often seen the
"fairies' ring" in the pine woods. To this, the flame-lady was inviting
him.
Again and again the moving, cold light circled round the red tile roof,
which the moon, then rising and peeping over the chimneys, seemed to
turn into silver plates. As the disc rose higher in the sky, he could
hardly see the moving light, that had looked like a lady; but the voice,
no longer a whisper, as at first, was now even plainer:
"There's plenty of cheese. Come with us."
"I'll see what it is, anyhow," said Klaas, as he drew on his thick woolen
stockings and prepared to go down-stairs and out, without waking a
soul. At the door he stepped into his wooden shoes. Just then the cat
purred and rubbed up against his shins. He jumped, for he was scared;
but looking down, for a moment, he saw the two balls of yellow fire in
her head and knew what they were. Then he sped to the pine woods and
towards the fairy ring.
What an odd sight! At first Klaas thought it was a circle of big fire-flies.
Then he saw clearly that there were dozens of pretty creatures, hardly
as large as dolls, but as lively as crickets. They were as full of light, as
if lamps had wings. Hand in hand, they flitted and danced around the
ring of grass, as if this was fun.
Hardly had Klaas got over his first surprise, than of a sudden he felt
himself surrounded by the fairies. Some of the strongest among them
had left the main party in the circle and come to him. He felt himself
pulled by their dainty fingers. One of them, the loveliest of all,
whispered in his ear:
"Come, you must dance with us."

Then a dozen of the pretty creatures murmured in chorus:
"Plenty of cheese here. Plenty of cheese here. Come, come!"
Upon this, the heels of Klaas seemed as light as a feather. In a moment,
with both hands clasped in those of the fairies, he was dancing in high
glee. It was as much fun as if he were at the kermiss, with a row of
boys and girls, hand in hand, swinging along the streets, as Dutch
maids and youth do, during kermiss week.
Klaas had not time to look hard at the fairies, for he was too full of the
fun. He danced and danced, all night and until the sky in the east began
to turn, first gray and then rosy. Then he tumbled down, tired out, and
fell asleep. His head lay on the inner curve of the fairy ring, with his
feet in the centre.
Klaas felt very happy, for he had no sense of being tired, and he did not
know he was asleep. He thought his fairy partners, who had danced
with him, were now waiting on him to bring him cheeses. With a
golden knife, they sliced them off and fed him out of their own hands.
How good it tasted! He thought now he could, and would, eat all the
cheese he had longed for all his life. There was no mother to scold him,
or daddy to shake his finger at him. How delightful!
But by and by, he wanted to stop eating and rest