Welsh Folklore and Fairytales
A BOY THAT VISITED FAIRYLAND
Welsh Fairy tale
Many are the places in Wales where the ground is lumpy and humpy with
tumuli, or little artificial mounds. Among these the sheep graze, the
donkeys bray, and the cows chew the cud.
Here the ground is strewn with the ruins of cromlechs, or Cymric
strongholds, of old Roman camps, of chapels and monasteries, showing
that many different races of men have come and gone, while the birds
still fly and the flowers bloom.
Centuries ago, the good monks of St. David had a school where lads
were taught Latin and good manners. One of their pupils was a boy
named Elidyr. He was such a poor scholar and he so hated books and
loved play, that in his case spankings and whippings were almost of
daily occurrence. Still he made no improvement. He was in the habit
also of playing truant, or what one of the monks called "traveling to
Bagdad." One of the consequences was that certain soft parts of his
body--apparently provided by nature for this express purpose--often
received a warming from his daddy.
His mother loved her boy dearly, and she often gently chided him, but
he would not listen to her, and when she urged him to be more
diligent, he ran out of the room. The monks did not spare the birch
rod, and soon it was a case of a whipping for every lesson not
learned.
One day, though he was only twelve years old, the boy started on a
long run into the country. The further he got, the happier he felt--at
least for one day.
At night, tired out, he crept into a cave. When he woke up, in the
morning, he thought it was glorious to be as free as the wild asses.
So like them, he quenched his thirst at the brook. But when, towards
noon, he could find nothing to eat, and his inside cavity seemed to
enlarge with very emptiness, his hunger grew every minute. Then he
thought that a bit of oat cake, a leek, or a bowl of oat meal, whether
porridge or flummery, might suit a king.
He dared not go out far and pick berries, for, by this time, he saw
that people were out searching for him. He did not feel yet, like
going back to books, rods and scoldings, but the day seemed as long as
a week. Meanwhile, he discovered that he had a stomach, which seemed
to grow more and more into an aching void. He was glad when the sunset
and darkness came. His bed was no softer in the cave, as he lay down
with a stone for his pillow. Yet he had no dreams like those of Jacob
and the angels.
When daylight came, the question in his mind was still, whether to
stay and starve, or to go home and get two thrashings--one from his
daddy, and another from the monks. But how about that thing inside of
him, which seemed to be a live creature gnawing away, and which only
something to eat would quiet? Finally, he came to a stern resolve. He
started out, ready to face two whippings, rather than one death by
starvation.
But he did not have to go home yet, for at the cave's mouth, he met
two elves, who delivered a most welcome message.
"Come with us to a land full of fun, play, and good things to eat."
All at once, his hunger left him and he forgot that he ever wanted to
swallow anything. All fear, or desire to go home, or to risk either
schooling or a thrashing, passed away also.
Into a dark passage all three went, but they soon came out into a
beautiful country. How the birds sang and the flowers bloomed! All
around could be heard the joyful shouts of little folks at play. Never
did things look so lovely.
[Illustration: THE KING SPOKE KINDLY TO ELIDYR, ASKING HIM WHO HE WAS]
Soon, in front of the broad path along which they were traveling,
there rose up before him a glorious palace. It had a splendid gateway,
and the silver-topped towers seemed to touch the blue sky.
"What building is this?" asked the lad of his two guides.
They made answer that it was the palace of the King of Fairyland. Then
they led him into the throne room, where, sat in golden splendor, a
king, of august figure and of majestic presence, who was clad in
resplendent robes. He was surrounded by courtiers in rich apparel, and
all about him was magnificence, such as this boy, Elidyr, had never
even read about or dreamed.
Yet everything was so small that it looked like Toy Land, and he felt
like a giant among them, even though many of the little men around him
were old enough to have whiskers on their cheeks and beards on their
chins.
The King spoke kindly to Elidyr, asking him who he was, and whence he
had come.
While talking thus, the Prince, the King's only son appeared. He was
dressed in white velvet and gold, and had a long feather in his cap.
In the pleasantest way, he took Elidyr's hand and said:
"Glad to see you. Come and let us play together."
That was just what Elidyr liked to hear. The King smiled and said to
his visitor, "You will attend my son?" Then, with a wave of his hand,
he signified to the boys to run out and play games.
A right merry time they did have, for there were many other little
fellows for playmates.
These wee folks, with whom Elidyr played, were hardly as big as our
babies, and certainly would not reach up to his mother's knee. To
them, he looked like a giant, and he richly enjoyed the fun of having
such little men, but with beards growing on their faces, look up to
him.
They played with golden balls, and rode little horses, with silver
saddles and bridles, but these pretty animals were no larger than
small dogs, or grayhounds.
No meat was ever seen on the table, but always plenty of milk. They
never told a lie, nor used bad language, or swear-words. They often
talked about mortal men, but usually to despise them; because what
they liked to do, seemed so absurd and they always wanted foolish and
useless things. To the elves, human beings were never satisfied, or
long happy, even when they got what they wanted.
Everything in this part of fairyland was lovely, but it was always
cloudy. No sun, star or moon was ever seen, yet the little men did not
seem to mind it and enjoyed themselves every day. There was no end of
play, and that suited Elidyr.
Yet by and by, he got tired even of games and play, and grew very
homesick. He wanted to see his mother. So he asked the King to let him
visit his old home. He promised solemnly to come back, after a few
hours. His Majesty gave his permission, but charged him not to take
with him anything whatever from fairyland, and to go with only the
clothes on his back.
The same two elves or dwarfs, who had brought him into fairyland, were
chosen to conduct him back. When they had led him again through the
underground passage into the sunlight, they made him invisible until
he arrived at his mother's cottage. She was overjoyed to find that no
wolf had torn him to pieces, or wild bull had pushed him over a
precipice.
She asked him many questions, and he told her all he had seen, felt,
or known.
When he rose up to go, she begged him to stay longer, but he said he
must keep his word. Besides, he feared the rod of the monks, or his
daddy, if he remained. So he made his mother agree not to tell
anything--not even to his father, as to where he was, or what he was
doing. Then he made off and reported again to his playmates in
fairyland.
The King was so pleased at the lad's promptness in returning, and
keeping his word, and telling the truth, that he allowed him to go see
his mother as often as he wanted to do so. He even gave orders
releasing the two little men from constantly guarding him and told
them to let the lad go alone, and when he would, for he always kept
his word.
Many times did Elidyr visit his mother. By one road, or another, he
made his way, keeping himself invisible all the time, until he got
inside her cottage. He ran off, when anyone called in to pay a visit,
or when he thought his daddy, or one of the monks was coming. He never
saw any of these men.
One day, in telling his mother of the fun and good times he had in
fairyland, he spoke of the heavy yellow balls, with which he and the
King's sons played, and how these rolled around.
Before leaving home, this boy had never seen any gold, and did not
know what it was, but his mother guessed that it was the precious
metal, of which the coins called sovereigns, and worth five dollars
apiece, were made. So she begged him to bring one of them back to her.
This, Elidyr thought, would not be right; but after much argument, his
parents being poor, and she telling him that, out of hundreds in the
King's palace, one single ball would not be missed, he decided to
please her.
So one day, when he supposed no one was looking, he picked up one of
the yellow balls and started off through the narrow dark passageway
homeward.
But no sooner was he back on the earth, and in the sunlight again,
than he heard footsteps behind him. Then he knew that he had been
discovered.
He glanced over his shoulder and there were the two little men, who
had led him first and had formerly been his guards. They scowled at
him as if they were mad enough to bite off the heads of tenpenny
nails. Then they rushed after him, and there began a race to the
cottage.
But the boy had legs twice as long as the little men, and got to the
cottage door first. He now thought himself safe, but pushing open the
door, he stumbled over the copper threshold, and the ball rolled out
of his hand, across the floor of hardened clay, even to the nearly
white-washed border, which ran about the edges of the room. It stopped
at the feet of his mother, whose eyes opened wide at the sight of the
ball of shining gold.
As he lay sprawling on the floor, and before he could pick himself up,
one of the little men leaped over him, rushed into the room, and, from
under his mother's petticoats, picked up the ball.
They spat at the boy and shouted, "traitor," "rascal," "thief," "false
mortal," "fox," "rat," "wolf," and other bad names. Then they turned
and sped away.
Now Elidyr, though he had been a mischievous boy, often willful, lazy,
and never liking his books, had always loved the truth. He was very
sad and miserable, beyond the telling, because he had broken his word
of honor. So, almost mad with grief and shame, and from an accusing
conscience, he went back to find the cave, in which he had slept. He
would return to the King of the fairies, and ask his pardon, even if
His Majesty never allowed him to visit Fairyland again.
But though he often searched, and spent whole days in trying to find
the opening in the hills, he could never discover it.
So, fully penitent, and resolving to live right, and become what his
father wanted him to be, he went back to the monastery.
There he plied his tasks so diligently that he excelled all in
book-learning. In time, he became one of the most famous scholars in
Welsh history. When he died, he asked to be buried, not in the monk's
cemetery, but with his father and mother, in the churchyard. He made
request that no name, record, or epitaph, be chiseled on his tomb, but
only these words:
WE CAN DO NOTHING AGAINST THE TRUTH, BUT ONLY FOR THE TRUTH.