DANCING ELF

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 128, 20 August 1927, Page 27

DANCING ELF

FIRST PRIZE STORY A long time ago there lived an elf, a small and merry-hearted creature. Some people called him Laughing Elf—• he was so full of laughter; others called him Dancing Elf, but Queen Rose called him her Own Particular : Elf. Dancing Elf had one fault—he loved playing tricks. He dazzled the cock with his little red lantern to make it think it was morning, and with loud crows it would wake everyone up; he would turn the milk sour, pull the cat’s tail, and play all manner of tricks, but all the same the fairy folk still loved him. One day he played a trick on Queen Rose, which made her very angry, and, in her fury, she dismissed poor Dancing Elf from Fairyland. Sadly and slowly, little Dancing Elf wended his way down the long, long, stairs to Earth-land, this time not to play jokes, but to live there as a Flower Elf. Now, all the flowers in the Earthworld hated Dancing Elf because he ruffled their waxen dresses, and tousled their pretty hats, so when they heard that he had been exiled, they all taunted him and gave him many disdainful looks, all except a little flower called Violet, who peeped up at him shyly with her blue, starry eyes. At this time the Violet did not have the sweet scent which she has now; that is why she was never noticed, even in the smallest garden. Dancing Elf was so pleased at little Violet’s kindness tha.t he gave her a most exquisite perfume, which would make her renowned in the garden and enable her to bring joy into the hearts of the poor and unhappy. That is why, in the springtime, we find the starry blue flower with its exquisite scent, given to it in return for : its kindness to little Dancing Elf, of long ago. —lsabel Davis, Epsom (aged 12). HIDDEN COUNTRIES 1. IS SURA. 2. —PANJA. 3. —ERMGAAI. 4. —TUSLARIA A. —GEORGE DUNKLEY.