HOLD YOUR BREATH STORIES

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 32, 30 April 1927, Page 23 (Supplement)

HOLD YOUR BREATH STORIES

{By H.T.G.) SEASTRENGTH AND MOONGLADE On the rock beside me sat the lovely mermaid, slowly combing her glorious hair. “Yes!” she said, “the sea-birds and the land-birds have always been gv>ml friends, but they liked to boast and to argue about beauty and sons on the one side, and about speed and strength on the other. Now, all avguments ha\ e ceased. You see, the land-birds said that they could make a more beautiful fairy than the sea-birds could, and the soil-birds laughed, and said. both sides try. You make your fairy, and we will make ours.’ “This was no jest, and oft' they all flew to carry out the idea. “The sea-birds put their grace and speed, their strength and dignity of flight, their knowledge of th© oceans and the storms into one magnificent spirit, and the sun lent hi* brightest ays and welded together ad this magnificence into the most glorious man-fairy the world had ever seen. Ills muscles were as powerful as the invisible chains that hold the earth in its place, and his shoulders as strong as the shoulders of Atlas, who carri- d the world on his back. And so they christened their fairy ‘Seastrength.* “Meanwhile, the land-birds also gathered their glories into a wonderful fairy-form. The sweetest singers gave the music of their songs, and the shapliest gave the grace of their fonts. And (here the mermaid blushed a dainty pink) as 1 knew that my hsjr was like the glory of ti e morning, l yielded them its splendour. Neptune was angry, but at one touch of his trident my hair grew again as lovely as ever.

“Well, all the birds of the forest, of the hills and of the lakes gava their charm a<id their elegance. And the moon cast the softest of rays upon all these glories so that there appeared a fairy so beautiful, so enchanting, blit so fragile that at once the birds hid her from the sun’s strong light. They called her ’Moonglade,’ and hid her iit a cave upon the sea-shore, and tended and worshipped her until the sea-birds had finished their task. “And when the time came for the rival fairies to appear, the land-birds fluttered around the mouth of the cave, gaily singing, ‘Come forth, sweet maid, and charm the world to gladness and to joy.’ And the sea-birds called to the rugged reefs that line the shore. ‘Arise from thy bed among the rocks, oh Seastrength! Arise, and rule at will o’er land and sea!’ “At once Seastrength came to the shore in all his might and grandeur. The land-birds gazed at him in amazement, and so great was their awe at his majestic appearance that they closed their eyes in silence. But front the mouth of the cave there shone a radiant light, and the land-bird ’ loveliness came forth, her face and form so startling In their beauty, her eyes so bright and vivid, her hair so golden, her whole presence so lustrous in its blaze of glory, that at once the sea-birds had also to close their eyes, so were they by her radiance. “Directly Seastrength saw the wondrous Moonglade he fell in love with her, ana she fell in love with him, just as the humans do. Shyly she hurried away into the darkness of the cave and, calling loudly to her. he .swiftly followed. But she knew the way through the long dark passages, and he did not. Hurriedly ho scrambled along, but fell many times on the hard, sharp stones. At last he paused, bewildered, and cried out, ‘Beauteous fairy, will you not wait lor me? I cannot see. I cannot follow!’ But no answer came to him and he stood still in the silence. ‘Ah!’ he cried, ‘had I even a feeble light, a gentle glow, I coulu find her!’ “Then came a.vqjce from a cleft in the rocks, and a friendly bat spoke up, ‘Oh, threads that hang from the roof, will you not help this fairy to find his maid?’ And a tiny voice called from above, 'Wo shall! Command us. We shall obey!’ At once the bat, in clour, firm tones commanded, ‘Glow. worm. , glow!’ and on the instant the cave was flooded with a dim, soft light. • light which burno to this day in .11 the caves where fairies dwell.

“Well, by the light of the glowworms’ glow, Seastrength caught up to Moonglade, and so pleased was he that he shouted in joy, and the noise of his shouting made the air in the caves tremble and shake so much that the light of the glow-worms went out. “‘Darkness again.” cried Seastrength in despair. ‘Sweet maid, will you not lead the way out to the air and the sunlight to which we belong?' “ But why, my prince,’ said Moonglade, hei ..ice like the sound of silver bells. Why should we clamber along these rocky passages when you can cleave the hills apart and open the caves to the of day?’ “Instantly Seastrength put forth his mighty power, so that the caves crashed asunder, and from the dust of the upheaval the fairies came forth unhurt. “The sea-birds and the land-birds, terrified at the splitting of the liiil.-;, flew screaming awtiv, and never again did they see their beloved fairies, tor out of the clouds came the spirits of the air, crying aloud, ‘They're safe! They’re safe!’ and at once they reached down, amidst a great flash of lightning and a roar of thunder they took the fairies to dwell with them for ever, to rule ove- the land and the sea. And to this lay they rule together as one, in eriningling beauty and their power, their sweetness and their strength, so that the humans cali them by the one name; Nature. “Thus, when the gentle breezes blow amid sunshine and beauty, or when the moon shines over the calmness of the land and the lakes, we know that the sweet fairy of the land-birds is awake, watching and ruling, and that her partner sleeps. And. when the gales tear up the trees and roar across the oceans, when the waves lash the rocks and the earth trembles and quakes, we know that the fairy of the sea-birds i.s sporting with the air and the earth an i the sea, and that his lady sleeps.