The Leprechaun’s Gold - Merlyn's Pen

1 23 The leprechaun s GoldTofind a treasure, you must look within your upon a time there was a poor woodcutterand his family who lived near a deep,dark three daughters were named Esther, Clara,and Katy. At one time their food supply became verymeager, and the faces in the often grieved little house-hold were pale and appeared exhausted. The kind father could not bear to see his daughters starve,so he announced one day, when the last of the breadwas nearly gone, I m going out to forage for food inthe forest today. Perhaps I will find something for usto eat. The women could not protest, so off he happened that an Irish leprechaun dwelled nearthe little cabin. The fortunate father seized the littleman when he saw him passing. Aha! he excitedly ex-claimed. It has been said that when anyone capturesa leprechaun ,the leprechaun s duty is to share his gold ! Hogwash, all of it! declared the leprechaun , whoonly reached his captor s thought awhile andby CARYNBRADY24 WRITINGTALL said craftily, I might give some treasure to one whocan prove he needs and deserves it.

2 But how am I toknow that you will not spend unwisely and carelessly? The woodcutter replied, I have three young daugh-ters and a loving wife. I should desire only a bit of gold ,to provide food for them, so they need not starve! Well! exclaimed the magic dwarf. A pitiful storyindeed! Very convincing, but how can I trust any hu-man? If you are to prove yourself honorable, caring,honest, and trustworthy, you must be able to make afriend, despite difficult circumstances. Aha!thought the poor simple!He saidaloud, I shall be put to the test. The leprechaun chuckled with glee. As you wish! he chortled. He then pulled out a staff made of pol-ished wood that gleamed like the staff touchedthe bewildered woodcutter s shoulder, the larger mansuddenly shrank and was transformed into a wretched,ugly dwarf. To prove you are trustworthy, you may notreturn home to your family and tell them of your cheer-less situation. Instead, on your own, you must befriendsomeone in three days without informing them of yourtrue identity.

3 That will prove you are caring indeed! And, with a wink of his green sparkling eye, the lep-rechaun near the end of the day the father had stillnot returned to the cabin, the mother and daughtersbecame eldest daughter,Esther,pleaded withher forlorn mother to allow her to go and search fortheir missing last the anxious woman relented,but warned Esther to return home before set out into the woods, confident that shewould surely find her beloved the hours passedTHELEPRECHAUN SGOLD25and stars began to sprinkle the darkening sky,she grewmore and more young girl was about toturn and go back when she happened to see a repul-sive dwarf with a crooked nose and a tangled beard. Ugh! she shuddered, and began to run swiftly. Wait! cried the dwarf. A man s face does not de-termine his character! But the terrified girl ran she arrived at the cabin, frightened and outof breath, she broke into tears and sobbed out, I didnot find anything but a disgusting old dwarf!

4 Upon hearing this, Clara, the second eldest daugh-ter, begged, Oh, Mother, may I please go search forFather? What makes you believe you can do any betterthan Esther? I may try, though, can t I? Very well, child. Set out in the morning, and I dowish you all the luck in the world. As soon as the sun rose, Clara quietly left the houseand resolved that she would find her walkedon and on until she could walk no farther, and thencollapsed from pure dwarf, observing hersituation, hastily ran to her aid and helped the maidento her feet. She turned to thank the little fellow, butone glance at his hideous face and she instantly bolted,despite the dwarf s protests and her weakened condi-tion. She never stopped running until the little housewas in she walked in the door, Clara, like Esther, be-gan to weep and told them that she too had found onlya broke down the courage of them all, ex-cept for Katy, who tried to comfort them, though sheherself Mother dear, never worry.

5 I shall search for our fa-ther. Oh,you silly girl! sobbed her heartbroken mother. How could you find even a clue of him when yourtwo elder sisters have found only an unsightly troll!? But kind Katy pleaded and pleaded, and at last hermother gave in. You may start off early tomorrow, shesaid. Katy prayed with all her heart that she might findher father, for she loved him soon as dawn broke, Katy softly closed the doorand began to walk briskly through the forest. It grewdark as she passed through a thick, lonely section ofthe woods, and here she nearly gave up entirely. Butsomething told her to continue, so she asked a whiterabbit on her path whether he had seen her animal made no sign that he understood her butscampered away in a different direction. Katy she reached a clearing where the sun s raysshone down gaze fell on a little dwarf withhis head in his hands, weeping bitterly. Oh, do stop, Katy begged. Whatever is the matter that makes youcry so?

6 The dwarf looked up slowly and nearly leaped withjoy at seeing his youngest he did not showany sign of recognition, as he had promised the lep-rechaun to tell no one of his true identity. In spite ofhis frightful appearance, the young girl did not flinchat all. I have no friends in the world, explained the dwarf, because of my ill-looking face. I don t mind it a bit, said Katy resolutely, as sheclasped his hands in hers. Then she told him of herTHELEPRECHAUN then the leprechaun appeared because it wasthe end of the third day. He stared incredulously at thedwarf and the maiden, deep in earnest conversation. Great Saint Patrick! he exclaimed loudly. You haveactually made a true friend! Yes, he has, volunteered Katy. The dwarf lookedup at her appreciatively. The leprechaun once againtook out his shimmering staff and touched the dwarfgently on the shoulder, whereupon he immediately sprang back into his original form.

7 Father! cried Katy, as she flew at him with hugsand tried to explain very quickly what hadhappened, both at the same time, and if you have everbeen in a similar situation, you ll know they got ab-solutely leprechaun was quite generous with his goldand jewels, and Katy and her father thanked him gra-ciously over and over they returned home,where everyone laughed merrily and kissed and huggedand explained. Because of Katy s kindness, her father sloyalty, and the leprechaun s gold , they all lived hap-pily ever THEAUTHORC aryn Brady lives in Canandaigua, New York, where she attendsCanandaiguaSenior her interests are writing shortfiction, reading,soccer, canoeing, and sailing.