Read Ebook: The Forest Beyond the Woodlands: A Fairy Tale by Kennedy Mildred Knowlton Vianna Illustrator

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Ebook has 436 lines and 23721 words, and 9 pages

"Not a very great way from it," said the old Woman. "You will see a Blue Bird some day, little boy; I am sure of that. I am glad that I met you. Thank you for bringing me the cool, refreshing water. Now I must go on my way, since I have told you about the Blue Bird. Remember, David: seek for it and follow it. You will know what it really means only when you have reached the end of the trail.--Help me lift the basket to my back again.--Thank you.--Now I must be off."

"Here," said David, "take this birch cup: you may grow thirsty again before you reach home, and if you come to a brook or spring, you will be glad to have this with you."

She turned and walked slowly down the wooded path.

David returned to his father's home. For many, many days the memory of the old woman remained with him. Indeed, he never really forgot her, though a very long time passed and strange things happened,

before he saw her again, that sometimes made his memory grow dim.

One day--it must have been several months after this meeting in the woods--David had been felling trees and gathering faggots of wood; for this was his daily task. Suddenly a bird's clear, glad song broke upon the calm of the noontime air. It was unusual to hear any bird's song at that hour; but to this fact David gave no thought, for the clear, rich sweetness of the notes held him spellbound. He paused, resting his axe upon the ground, his head thrown back, listening. He closed his eyes, for the beauty of the music was such that he desired to think only of it and to shut out all other thoughts from his mind.

A deep silence fell upon the woodlands. Then, suddenly, but as gently as a breeze stirring the petals of a rose, the song came again--clear, sweet notes that thrilled through David's heart. All at once, as the music faded again, a bird darted from the topmost branch of a neighbouring birch tree. The sunlight played upon its wings and breast, and the heavenly beauty of the little creature dazzled David's eyes, as he caught a glimpse of it before it was lost in the deep shadows of the pine-clad hillside. But in that fleeting moment, he saw the colour of the bird.

It was blue--the deep celestial blue of the cloudless sky.

THE BLUE BIRD'S TRAIL

In an instant there appeared to David, as if in a vision, the moss-covered seat and the beautiful little old woman of so many months ago. Again he seemed to hear the words, "When you see the Bird, little boy, follow it."

He stooped, picked up his woodsman's axe and the sharp hunting knife in its leathern case, strapped the belt around his waist, swung the axe over his shoulder, and started off in the direction in which the bird had flown. He ran to the dark cedar grove toward which the Blue Bird had disappeared. There he hurried from tree to tree, seeking, in the thick foliage, the brightly iridescent gleam of the beautiful little creature's feathers. But no sign of it could David find. After searching and searching, he sat down quite discouraged.

Suddenly he heard again the clear liquid notes of the song. Springing to his feet, he looked in the direction of the bird's music. And, sure enough, there was the exquisite creature, resting on a twig just above his head.

This time he had a fine chance to study it carefully, to note the markings on its wings, head, and breast; and after this he never forgot how the Blue Bird looked--no, he remembered every detail through all the long years to come.

Its back and wings were of the colour that we sometimes see reflected in the surface of the ocean or of a lake or river--the wonderful deep blue of a serene sky. Its breast was like the shade of the sky on a soft summer day when great white clouds are floating about and a faint haze rests over all the earth. Its head was of the same rich, deep tone as the wings and back, and its throat was of that softer blue of the breast. When the Bird flew, it seemed as if a line of gold encircled it, for the wings and tail were tipped and outlined with a golden yellow band. When one saw it darting through the sunlight, one could not but think of a bit of the sky itself, outlined by a golden sunbeam. Its song was like the music of a rushing mountain brook in early springtime. Having once seen and heard this little songster, David had no other desire than to follow it wherever its flight might lead.

The Bird flew and David followed. It took no long flights, but went from tree to tree. It was as if it understood that David wished to follow, for always, before flying further, it waited till the boy had come to the foot of the tree on which it rested. Such a journey as he made! for in a short time the Bird had left the woodland trail and was flying cross-country, where there was no path to make David's progress less difficult. Soon he was climbing a steep mountainside; then he descended a deep valley over steep and slippery cliffs; once he became so entangled in briers that he was almost on the point of crying. But he pushed bravely on; and in a little while he stood free from the vexing briers, in an open meadow by the edge of a sparkling lake upon the surface of which bloomed white water lilies. Behind him rose the mountain over which he had journeyed and the steep, high ridges down which he had slipped and fallen; their sheer damp walls shone now, as the sunlight played upon them. It was no easy path that he had walked, and as he looked back upon it he half wondered how he had been able to accomplish it all in safety.

Now his way was very different. He found himself on a well-marked trail, following the edge of the lake through a beautiful pine forest. The trees had scattered their brown leaves upon the ground, and it was very soft under his sore and tired feet. The Bird flew before him, leading him on step by step till at last he came out of the pine forest at the head of the lake. He paused for a moment to look across the smooth surface of the water that stretched away before him. There, beyond its furthest boundary, rose the mountain; and beyond that, he knew, lay his home.

Suddenly the Bird sang. David listened. Again there filled his heart that same mysterious desire to follow wherever the Bird might lead him. Nothing else in the world seemed to him to matter half so much. The Bird flew on. Now they were in a region of white birch trees and low-growing bushes, and the ground all about was covered with a carpet of tiny purple flowers with bright yellow centres.

In the distance David saw a large tree. It was greater than any other tree which grew thereabout, and its broad-spreading branches cast a cool shade. Its huge trunk, roughened and scarred by time, looked as old as the mountain itself. The Bird flew toward it, David still following; and all at once it darted into a hole in the tree-trunk, more than a tall man's height from the ground, and disappeared from sight. David ran to the

foot of the tree and fastened the head of his axe in the hole, which he could just reach by standing on tiptoe. Then, using the handle of his axe to help him, he pulled himself up till he was able to look in.

Such a sight as met his eyes! Instead of being dark and black, as were most holes of its kind into which David had ever looked, this opening seemed filled with light. It gave him the same feeling of wonder that comes over one when first one looks at the moon through a telescope. He saw a blaze of golden light; and within the light lay a world that seemed to him like Fairyland itself. He gazed and gazed, clinging to the axe handle, digging his toes into the rough bark, lest he fall to the ground and so see no more.

At last, unable to hold on any longer, he was obliged to let go and drop to the ground. Somehow his axe became dislodged from the hole, and try as he might, he could not fasten it in again. He sat down at the foot of the tree, for he was very tired; and in a few moments he had fallen fast asleep.

THE LITTLE DOOR IN THE TREE TRUNK

He had no idea how long he had slept or what awakened him; but when he finally opened his eyes, the sun was low in the western sky. His first thought was of the Blue Bird: what had happened to it? Had it flown away and left David there? Had he really lost the Bird after all this long adventure of following it faithfully? Perhaps it was waiting for him somewhere near; perhaps if he listened he should hear the song again. He waited. The sun sank lower and lower. But no bird's song came to his listening ear. At last the sun almost touched the horizon.

"I must look for the Bird!" cried David. "Perhaps it is waiting for me to find it." He jumped up and searched all about in the branches of the great tree, but no trace could he find of his little wing?d guide.

He looked about him and rubbed his eyes, for he could not believe that he was really there. The first thing that he noticed was that the sun, instead of being in the western sky as it had been on the other side of the tree, appeared in the east, so that it was now morning in this land, instead of evening. He gazed about him. Everything was marvellously bright and fresh and beautiful. Then he noticed how clearly he could see. All things were more distinct, more clearly outlined, than he had ever known them to be before. "Where am I?" he thought to himself.

Then a voice within him seemed to ask: "Why did you come through the door? Let us go back."

"Go back!" cried David. "Well, I guess not! This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen: I'm going on."

"No!" said the Voice. "Come back; I want to go back."

"Why do you want to go back?" asked David.

"Because I'm afraid," answered the Voice.

"Afraid! afraid of what?" said David.

"I do not know of what," answered the Voice. "I'm just afraid--afraid of everything here. The light, for instance--I'm afraid of that. It is too bright, and it hurts."

David knew that this Voice which he had heard was nothing but the voice of the coward within himself, although he talked aloud to it just as if it were a real person.

"Well," said David, "walk behind me, then; I will shield you from the light as much as I can. But, for my part, that is the very thing that I most love. Only think how the Blue Bird will look in this light, when we see him again! It is worth staying here just for that alone."

Some one must have heard the sound of his voice, for when he looked up he saw a young man approaching.

"How did you get in?" asked the stranger.

"Through the little door in the Tree," answered David.

"How did you find the door?"

"I was seeking for the Blue Bird that I have followed a long, long way, and he flew into a hole in the tree, and I lost him. After I had awakened from a sleep--for I was very tired and so fell fast asleep--I tried to find the Bird again, and in my searching I found the little door."

"Oh!" said the stranger, "you followed the Blue Bird here, did you? Then you are welcome; you may stay here as long as you wish."

"That is very nice," said David. "But do you mind telling me where I am?"

"No," said the stranger, smiling. "You are on the edge of the Forest."

"What Forest?" asked David.

"The Forest beyond the Woodlands," answered the stranger.

"Oh!" said David. "Thank you. I have heard of that Forest before. There is a beautiful Garden in it, is there not? I think I should like to find the Garden: can you tell me how to get to it?"

"There is but one way," said the stranger. "Follow your nose till you get there."

David looked up at him in surprise, for he could not quite tell whether the stranger were making fun of him or not.

"I mean it!" said the young man earnestly. "The fragrance from the Garden is so wonderfully sweet that it fills all the air round about. If you take a deep breath now, you will notice what I mean." He sniffed at the air as he spoke. David did the same; and as he did so he noticed a quality of sweetness that he had never imagined could be in any atmosphere save where hosts of flowers were shedding their gentle fragrance.

"I do see what you mean," said David.

"Good!" cried the stranger. "I thought you would understand me. It truly is the only way to find the Garden: just to follow your nose till you get there. It sounds queer, doesn't it? But there is lots of sense in that advice, and it is good to follow. I am sure you will get there. Good luck to you. I must go on my way now."

AT THE COBBLER'S COTTAGE

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