MAGIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 418, 1 September 1928, Page 31

MAGIC

there lived, a great Magician wlio knew all the magic that there was to know in the world. He knew what made the sky blue and the sunset re*, and why the stars twinkled at night. Tie knew how to make flowers grow in desolate places, how to find water in the desert, and how to tame th« birds and beasts ami fishes so th:. ’ they would come at his call. He could make trees talk and fountains sing could turn stones into rabbits and squirrels and little things of that kind He could build you a fairy palace in a night, or dry up a river for you in th*morning, or transplant you to the farthest ends of the world in a moment of time. He knew. too. how to bring forth dragons and terrible monsters from the depths of the sea, how to change men and women into trees and rocks, how to bring fire out of a mountain, and rain down ruin and desolation upon the lend. But he did not very often do any of these unpleasant things. For he was a good Magician as well as a great one. and he lik«*d best to do kind and cheerful thing and to make people happy. In fa£i his chief fault was that he was to«. good-natured, for he tried to make 111* too easy for everybody as you shall hear. One of his greatest pleasures was i: granting people's wishes. With himagic powers, of course, he was easily able to do this. He would wand to through the world, disguised as an old beggar-man. And whenever he heard anybody wish some innocent wish—child for a toy, a young maid for - blue goWn, a housewife for a newsf-i of pots and pans, or a poor working - man for a good dinner —he would drop a tiny grain of magic into the palm of the wisher’s hand and say: “Wishes come true, my friend!” And sure enough, whatever it was that the person had wished for always did come true. Well, of course, people soon began ; to put two and two together, and they guessed that the old beggar-man must be a magician in disguise. They began to look out for his coming, and as soon as they caught sight of him they would say to each other: “Here comes the l*edlar of Wishes: Now. then, think what we can wish for!” And they all began to wish .is hard as they could and say their wishes aloud, in the hope that the M.«gician would drop a grain of his magi* into the palms of their hands and t«*l! their wishes to come true. The Magician was kept busy eu -t;.I can tell you, granting all the wish* He was so busy that he hadn’t tin to take in what were all the wish that he was granting, and soon thine began to get into a dreadful state, r isn’t really very good for people have all their wishes granted. you know. And the people to whom ti Magician gave his magic grain:-. b« gan to grow terribly lazy. The men would say to themselves: “What is the sense of working so hard for our daily food when we can get a good dinner just by wishing fui it?” And they began to leave off tilling the fields and sowing the corn. Th* housewives no longer bothered about taking care of their pots and pans when they knew that they could gei a fresh set, just as good or even better, whenever they wished. Tinmaidens had so many new gowns that they never troubled to mend their old ones, and the children had so many toys and sweets that they were quit* spoilt and grew cross and discontented and disagreeable as children do som* times —and grown-up people as well—when they have everything in the world that they are wanting. At last, things grew so bad that even the Magician began to notice what a lot of harm his magic was doing. People were all so idle and quarrelsome, children so peevish and sickly No work was betas tow. The field were overgrown with weeds, the shops were empty of goods, everything wa going to rack and ruin. The poor old Magician was dreadfully distressed. "Dear, dear! I shall have to stop making wishes come true.”4ie said. So. instead of going about the world disguised as a beggar-man. he put a!' his magic into a big sack and shut it up in his barn, and stopped at home. But the people had all grown so used to having their wishes granted by this time that they took it as a matter of course, and they weren't going to let him stop at home in peace as easily as that. They found out where the Magician lived and came and threatened him. “Grant us our wishes again!” thev cried. “If you do not, we will kill you and help ourselves to the magic that lies in the sack in your barn.” “Dear, dear, dear!” said the Magician. “This will not do. I must tak* the magic far away where nobody can find it. If these poor fools should get hold of it, there is no knowing what mischief they may not work.” So he conjured up a Flying Carpet, and seating hints*-]r upon it with his sack of magic, he flew ever and ever and ever so far away, right up to the moon, and there he lives to this very day. But now let me tell you u secret There is still a. little magic left in the world. The Magician did not know it. but there was a tiny, tiny hole at the bottom ol the sack, where a mouse had begun to gnaw it. And some of the grains of magic dropped through the hole and rolled off the edge of the Flying Carpet and fell down to th.j earth while the old Magician was living up to the moon. That is why it is still possible for wishes to come true | especially on a bright, blue, sunshmv ! sort of day.