THE PROFESSOR

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 62, 4 June 1927, Page 27 (Supplement)

THE PROFESSOR

He is the only Fairy man who can walk the tight-rope without having a long stick to balance with. And this is how he came to be so wonderful.| He was kind to a poor old Elf one day, and took him home out of the snow, .and let him stay in his house until the springtime. So the old Elf asked him what he could do for him in turn. And the Professor said he did not want anything. “No, you must choose,” said the old Elf. “What do you do for a living?” And the Professor said he could walk on a rope, but he did not get much money, for other people could walk on a rope as well as he did.” “Well, you shall walk on a rope better than anyone,” said the old Elf. “Here is a belt, and when you wear it, you need not have a balancing pole, and you can walk on a slack rope as easily as a tight one. And no one else will be as clever as you. Now, good-bye, and thank you very much indeed, kind Professor.” When he had gone, the Professor looked at the belt. It was made of iron. It had funny silvery stuff inside it, called quick-silver. When he moved, the quick-silver ran about inside the belt, and so he did not lose his balance and topple over. And he could do anything he chose on the rope; he even sat down on a chair and drank a cup of tea without spilling it! So the Fairy King made him Royal Tight-Rope Walker, and called him Professor Hightem Tightem, and gave him quite a lot of money. And every winter the old Elf used to come and stay with him. THE SONG OF THE LEAVES Some leaves fell off an old oak tree. Sing a song of the leaves, oh! They fell on the ground where all could see, Red and brown and gold, oh! A pixie passed with a goblin tin, Big and black and dai7k, oh! He gathered those leaves and popped them in, And smiled to himself the while, oh! The leaves were laid on a fairy’s bed. As she slept on a mossy bank, oh! And our elf crept off as he laughing said: “Oh, the song of the leaves, oh!” Mother (to her small boy): Can you tell me how many seconds there are in a minute, Bobby? Bobby: Yes, mother: but do you mean a really minute or one of those big wait-a-minutes?