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Page 7
Presently the news reached the other immortals that the nymphs of
Burzee had adopted a human infant, and that the act had been
sanctioned by the great Ak. Therefore many of them came to visit the
little stranger, looking upon him with much interest. First the Ryls,
who are first cousins to the wood-nymphs, although so differently
formed. For the Ryls are required to watch over the flowers and
plants, as the nymphs watch over the forest trees. They search the
wide world for the food required by the roots of the flowering plants,
while the brilliant colors possessed by the full-blown flowers are due
to the dyes placed in the soil by the Ryls, which are drawn through
the little veins in the roots and the body of the plants, as they
reach maturity. The Ryls are a busy people, for their flowers bloom
and fade continually, but they are merry and light-hearted and are
very popular with the other immortals.
Next came the Knooks, whose duty it is to watch over the beasts of the
world, both gentle and wild. The Knooks have a hard time of it, since
many of the beasts are ungovernable and rebel against restraint. But
they know how to manage them, after all, and you will find that
certain laws of the Knooks are obeyed by even the most ferocious
animals. Their anxieties make the Knooks look old and worn and
crooked, and their natures are a bit rough from associating with wild
creatures continually; yet they are most useful to humanity and to the
world in general, as their laws are the only laws the forest beasts
recognize except those of the Master Woodsman.
Then there were the Fairies, the guardians of mankind, who were much
interested in the adoption of Claus because their own laws forbade
them to become familiar with their human charges. There are instances
on record where the Fairies have shown themselves to human beings, and
have even conversed with them; but they are supposed to guard the
lives of mankind unseen and unknown, and if they favor some people
more than others it is because these have won such distinction fairly,
as the Fairies are very just and impartial. But the idea of adopting
a child of men had never occurred to them because it was in every way
opposed to their laws; so their curiosity was intense to behold the
little stranger adopted by Necile and her sister nymphs.
Claus looked upon the immortals who thronged around him with fearless
eyes and smiling lips. He rode laughingly upon the shoulders of the
merry Ryls; he mischievously pulled the gray beards of the low-browed
Knooks; he rested his curly head confidently upon the dainty bosom of
the Fairy Queen herself. And the Ryls loved the sound of his laughter;
the Knooks loved his courage; the Fairies loved his innocence.
The boy made friends of them all, and learned to know their laws
intimately. No forest flower was trampled beneath his feet, lest the
friendly Ryls should be grieved. He never interfered with the beasts
of the forest, lest his friends the Knooks should become angry. The
Fairies he loved dearly, but, knowing nothing of mankind, he could not
understand that he was the only one of his race admitted to friendly
intercourse with them.
Indeed, Claus came to consider that he alone, of all the forest
people, had no like nor fellow. To him the forest was the world.
He had no idea that millions of toiling, striving human
creatures existed.
And he was happy and content.
** Some people have spelled this name Nicklaus and others Nicolas,
which is the reason that Santa Claus is still known in some lands
as St. Nicolas. But, of course, Neclaus is his right name, and
Claus the nickname given him by his adopted mother, the fair nymph
Necile.
5. The Master Woodsman
Years pass swiftly in Burzee, for the nymphs have no need to regard
time in any way. Even centuries make no change in the dainty creatures;
ever and ever they remain the same, immortal and unchanging.
Claus, however, being mortal, grew to manhood day by day. Necile was
disturbed, presently, to find him too big to lie in her lap, and he
had a desire for other food than milk. His stout legs carried him far
into Burzee's heart, where he gathered supplies of nuts and berries,
as well as several sweet and wholesome roots, which suited his stomach
better than the belludders. He sought Necile's bower less frequently,
till finally it became his custom to return thither only to sleep.
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