Ever hear of the Kilarney Beast? It is supposed to be a large BlackDog, Beautiful and Graceful. It is the protector of children and the town of Kilarney.
The Beast was once a Pookha,and like all of its kind would lead humans to their doom. One nightof the Dark Moon, a child wandered from Kilarney. The mother and townspeople searched for the child for hours. They could find no sign of her. Fearing the worst, or that she was stolen by the Fae, The mother began to sing the little girl's favorite tunes. In responce was heard a voice deep and husky, singing the songs in harmony. The voice was coming from the woods, which noone had dared to enter for fear of wolves. As the mother followed the voice people tried to stop her. She shook them off. With trepidation she approached the woods, but the voice did not move as a trickster might. It stayed still. At the edge of the woods, the mother found her child........lying so still, she feared her dead. Standing over her daughter was a large black dog, singing. The mother approached and the dog squared off , no one was getting near the child. The mother again began singing and the dog cut her off. He asked what she wanted, she said to have her child. The Dog told her the child was claimed by the Pookha and was not to be given up by any but he. The mother asked why she had been led to the child. The dog told her he would make a deal with her. If she would allow him the warmth of her hearth for 1 fortnight, the child's soul would be returned, whole and healthy. Neither would the child's form waste away during this fortnight. The mother agreed.
They returned to the village with the child. The people of the town would not enter the home while the dog was there, neither would they chase it away . To do so would be to lose the child. The mother became very lonely without the visits of the neighbors and began to talk with the dog. One night after all were asleep, she heard a noise, and concerned for her daughter sat up to check on her. Astonished, she saw the noise came from the dog.As she watched, the dog's shape elongated, fur became cloth,hair, and beard. The man rose from his spot by the fire and started to walk out the door. She called to him and he turned. He thanked her for her kindness( for she had never said a mean word to him and always made sure he had enough to eat) and told her the fortnight was over. She told him she was ever in his debt for saving her child. She also told him he would always have a spot by her hearth any time he needed.
He walked to the little girl, kissed her forehead and told the mother he released her soul. As the child stirred, he crossed the threshold. The mother then invited him to come and visit anytime he felt the need for company. He promised her she would always have safe roads to and from Kilarney, and he left.
They say the woman lived alone ever after that. Her grown daughter often told of a Dark Man who would come and sing with her mother. The same man would go with them to towns or send his dog as protection. And when her mother died, the man came and kissed the old woman and told her daughter....... You are as much my child as hers... she made your body, I held your soul. As long as you and yours live in Kilarney, you will always have my protection. And woe betides the man who harms you. I loved you as a child and you are still my heart's child. If you have need of me anytime, call for Beast and I will be there in but a moment. With that he was gone.
It is said that the Black Dog still roams the hills and alleys of the town of Kilarney. And that a Pookha can learn to protect and love instead of destroy.
Fairy tale by Doris Diedrich, translation assistance: Susan Dirks Henry
Long ago, one day in the cold of Winter, a little old witch was sitting in front of her chimney and playing on her harp..
*Pling, plang, harping along*
As she was playing, whe was dreaming and drifting. As she dreamed, so the melody that she played changed: As she dreamed of summer, her melody was warm and firey and happy and wild. The fire heard it and danced so happily to the music that a spark flew out of the chimney into the cold winter night.
As the witch dreamed of the wind, her harp playing sounded sometimes soft, sometimes complaining, and sometimes as cold and wild as the winter wind.
The wind outside heard her play and began to dance with the spark in the cold Winter's night.
Then the witch's dream changed again, and she dreamed of the earth.
And so her melody sounded like a cradle song, as mild and protecting.
Outside in the forrest, the wild animals, sleeping in their lairs heard her play and had dreams of green trees and meadows. The earth, who always feels with her children, heard their dreams and sent an autumnleaf, to see what happened. The leaf came and joined in the dance of the wind and the spark as they danced around to the harp music as soft or wild as the witch played.
Again, the witch's dream changed: now it was a dream of water, falling from heaven as snow in the winter, as rain in summer and as a stream whispers along like her harp was whispering now.
The snow outside heard it and joined the dance. Now they were all there dancing around in that winter's night.
And as the witch's dream changed again, she dreamed of an animal as beautiful as you could ever think of!
In the same moment, the spark, the snow, the wind and the leaf joined into one amidst the harp music and "puff!" the first dragon was born.
THE FAIRY'S NEW YEAR GIFT
By Emilie Poulsson
Two little boys were at play one day when a Fairy suddenly appeared before them and said: "I have been sent to give you New Year presents."
She handed to each child a package, and in an instant was gone.
Carl and Philip opened the packages and found in them two beautiful books, with pages as pure and white as the snow when it first falls.
Many months passed and the Fairy came again to the boys. "I have brought you each another book?" said she, "and will take the first ones back to Father Time who sent them to you."
"May I not keep mine a little longer?" asked Philip. "I have hardly thought about it lately. I 'd like to paint something on the last leaf that lies open."
"No," said the Fairy; "I must take it just as it is."
"I wish that I could look through mine just once," said Carl; "I have only seen one page at a time, for when the leaf turns over it sticks fast, and I can never open the book at more than one place each day."
"You shall look at your book," said the Fairy, "and Philip, at his." And she lit for them two little silver lamps, by the light of which they saw the pages as she turned them.
The boys looked in wonder. Could it be that these were the same fair books she had given them a year ago? Where were the clean, white pages, as pure and beautiful as the snow when it first falls? Here was a page with ugly, black spots and scratches upon it; while the very next page showed a lovely little picture. Some pages were decorated with gold and silver and gorgeous colors, others with beautiful flowers, and still others with a rainbow of softest, most delicate brightness. Yet even on the most beautiful of the pages there were ugly blots and scratches.
Carl and Philip looked up at the Fairy at last.
"Who did this?" they asked. "Every page was white and fair as we opened to it; yet now there is not a single blank place in the whole book!"
"Shall I explain some of the pictures to you?" said the Fairy, smiling at the two little boys.
"See, Philip, the spray of roses blossomed on this page when you let the baby have your playthings; and this pretty bird, that looks as if it were singing with all its might, would never have been on this page if you had not tried to be kind and pleasant the other day, instead of quarreling."
"But what makes this blot?" asked Philip.
"That," said the Fairy sadly; "that came when you told an untruth one day, and this when you did not mind mamma. All these blots and scratches that look so ugly, both in your book and in Carl's, were made when you were naughty. Each pretty thing in your books came on its page when you were good."
"Oh, if we could only have the books again!" said Carl and Philip.
"That cannot be," said the Fairy. "See! they are dated for this year, and they must now go back into Father Time's bookcase, but I have brought you each a new one. Perhaps you can make these more beautiful than the others."
So saying, she vanished, and the boys were left alone, but each held in his hand a new book open at the first page.
And on the back of this book was written in letters of gold, "For the New Year."
