1. The Laughing Valley

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

by L. Frank Baum

When Claus came the Valley was empty save for the grass, the
brook, the wildflowers, the bees and the butterflies. If he would
make his home here and live after the fashion of men he must have a
house. This puzzled him at first, but while he stood smiling in the
sunshine he suddenly found beside him old Nelko, the servant of the
Master Woodsman. Nelko bore an ax, strong and broad, with blade that
gleamed like burnished silver. This he placed in the young man's
hand, then disappeared without a word.

Claus understood, and turning to the Forest's edge he selected a
number of fallen tree-trunks, which he began to clear of their dead
branches. He would not cut into a living tree. His life among the
nymphs who guarded the Forest had taught him that a live tree is
sacred, being a created thing endowed with feeling. But with the
dead and fallen trees it was different. They had fulfilled their
destiny, as active members of the Forest community, and now it was
fitting that their remains should minister to the needs of man.

The ax bit deep into the logs at every stroke. It seemed to
have a force of its own, and Claus had but to swing and guide it.

When shadows began creeping over the green hills to lie in the
Valley overnight, the young man had chopped many logs into equal
lengths and proper shapes for building a house such as he had seen
the poorer classes of men inhabit. Then, resolving to await another
day before he tried to fit the logs together, Claus ate some of the
sweet roots he well knew how to find, drank deeply from the laughing
brook, and lay down to sleep on the grass, first seeking a spot where
no flowers grew, lest the weight of his body should crush them.

And while he slumbered and breathed in the perfume of the
wondrous Valley the Spirit of Happiness crept into his heart and
drove out all terror and care and misgivings. Never more would the
face of Claus be clouded with anxieties; never more would the trials
of life weigh him down as with a burden. The Laughing Valley had
claimed him for its own.

Would that we all might live in that delightful place!--but
then, maybe, it would become overcrowded. For ages it had awaited a
tenant. Was it chance that led young Claus to make his home in this
happy vale? Or may we guess that his thoughtful friends, the
immortals, had directed his steps when he wandered away from Burzee
to seek a home in the great world?

Certain it is that while the moon peered over the hilltop and
flooded with its soft beams the body of the sleeping stranger, the
Laughing Valley was filled with the queer, crooked shapes of the
friendly Knooks. These people spoke no words, but worked with skill
and swiftness. The logs Claus had trimmed with his bright ax were
carried to a spot beside the brook and fitted one upon another, and
during the night a strong and roomy dwelling was built.

The birds came sweeping into the Valley at daybreak, and their
songs, so seldom heard in the deep wood, aroused the stranger. He
rubbed the web of sleep from his eyelids and looked around. The
house met his gaze.

"I must thank the Knooks for this," said he, gratefully. Then
he walked to his dwelling and entered at the doorway. A large room
faced him, having a fireplace at the end and a table and bench in the
middle. Beside the fireplace was a cupboard. Another doorway was
beyond. Claus entered here, also, and saw a smaller room with a bed
against the wall and a stool set near a small stand. On the bed were
many layers of dried moss brought from the Forest.

"Indeed, it is a palace!" exclaimed the smiling Claus. "I must
thank the good Knooks again, for their knowledge of man's needs as
well as for their labors in my behalf."

He left his new home with a glad feeling that he was not quite
alone in the world, although he had chosen to abandon his Forest
life. Friendships are not easily broken, and the immortals are
everywhere.

Upon reaching the brook he drank of the pure water, and then sat
down on the bank to laugh at the mischievous gambols of the ripples
as they pushed one another against rocks or crowded desperately to
see which should first reach the turn beyond. And as they raced away
he listened to the song they sang:

  "Rushing, pushing, on we go!
     
  Not a wave may gently flow--
       
    All are too excited.
       
    Ev'ry drop, delighted,
      Turns
to spray in merry play
      As we tumble on our
way!"

Next Claus searched for roots to eat, while the daffodils turned
their little eyes up to him laughingly and lisped their dainty
song:

"Blooming fairly, growing rarely,
      Never
flowerets were so gay!
  Perfume breathing, joy
bequeathing,
      As our colors we display."

It made Claus laugh to hear the little things voice their
happiness as they nodded gracefully on their stems. But another
strain caught his ear as the sunbeams fell gently across his face and
whispered:

"Here is gladness, that our rays
      Warm
the valley through the days;
  Here is happiness, to
give
      Comfort unto all who live!"

"Yes!" cried Claus in answer, "there is happiness and joy in all
things here. The Laughing Valley is a valley of peace and
good-will."

He passed the day talking with the ants and beetles and
exchanging jokes with the light-hearted butterflies. And at night he
lay on his bed of soft moss and slept soundly.

Then came the Fairies, merry but noiseless, bringing skillets
and pots and dishes and pans and all the tools necessary to prepare
food and to comfort a mortal. With these they filled cupboard and
fireplace, finally placing a stout suit of wool clothing on the stool
by the bedside.

When Claus awoke he rubbed his eyes again, and laughed, and
spoke aloud his thanks to the Fairies and the Master Woodsman who had
sent them. With eager joy he examined all his new possessions,
wondering what some might be used for. But, in the days when he had
clung to the girdle of the great Ak and visited the cities of men,
his eyes had been quick to note all the manners and customs of the
race to which he belonged; so he guessed from the gifts brought by
the Fairies that the Master expected him hereafter to live in the
fashion of his fellow-creatures.

"Which means that I must plow the earth and plant corn," he
reflected; "so that when winter comes I shall have garnered food in
plenty."

But, as he stood in the grassy Valley, he saw that to turn up
the earth in furrows would be to destroy hundreds of pretty, helpless
flowers, as well as thousands of the tender blades of grass. And
this he could not bear to do.

Therefore he stretched out his arms and uttered a peculiar
whistle he had learned in the Forest, afterward crying:

"Ryls of the Field Flowers--come to me!"

Instantly a dozen of the queer little Ryls were squatting upon
the ground before him, and they nodded to him in cheerful
greeting.

Claus gazed upon them earnestly.

"Your brothers of the Forest," he said, "I have known and loved
many years. I shall love you, also, when we have become friends. To
me the laws of the Ryls, whether those of the Forest or of the field,
are sacred. I have never wilfully destroyed one of the flowers you
tend so carefully; but I must plant grain to use for food during the
cold winter, and how am I to do this without killing the little
creatures that sing to me so prettily of their fragrant blossoms?"

The Yellow Ryl, he who tends the buttercups, made answer:

"Fret not, friend Claus. The great Ak has spoken to us of you.
There is better work for you in life than to labor for food, and
though, not being of the Forest, Ak has no command over us,
nevertheless are we glad to favor one he loves. Live, therefore, to
do the good work you are resolved to undertake. We, the Field Ryls,
will attend to your food supplies."

After this speech the Ryls were no longer to be seen, and Claus
drove from his mind the thought of tilling the earth.

When next he wandered back to his dwelling a bowl of fresh milk
stood upon the table; bread was in the cupboard and sweet honey
filled a dish beside it. A pretty basket of rosy apples and
new-plucked grapes was also awaiting him. He called out "Thanks, my
friends!" to the invisible Ryls, and straightway began to eat of the
food.

Thereafter, when hungry, he had but to look into the cupboard to
find goodly supplies brought by the kindly Ryls. And the Knooks cut
and stacked much wood for his fireplace. And the Fairies brought him
warm blankets and clothing.

So began his life in the Laughing Valley, with the favor and
friendship of the immortals to minister to his every want.