THE LILAC FAIRY BOOK

Contents

The Shifty Lad
The False Prince and the True
The Jogi's Punishment
The Heart of a Monkey
The Fairy Nurse
A Lost Paradise
How Brave Walter Hunted Wolves
The Ring of the Waterfalls
A French Puck
The Three Crowns
The Story of a Very Bad Boy
The Brown Bear of Norway
Little Lasse
'Moti'
The Enchanted Deer
A Fish Story
The Wonderful Tune
The Rich Brother and the Poor Brother
The One-Handed Girl
The Bones of Djulung
The Sea Ring's Gift
The Raspberry Worm
The Stones of Plouhinec
The Castle of Kerglas
The Battle of the Birds
The Lady of the Fountain
The Four Gifts
The Groac'h of the Isle of Lok
The Escape of the Mouse
The Believing. Husbands
The Hoodie-Crow
The Brownie of the Lake
The Winning of Olwen

The Shifty Lad

In the land of Erin there dwelt long ago a widow who had an only son.
He was a clever boy, so she saved up enough money to send him to school,
and, as soon as he was old enough, to apprentice him to any trade that
he would choose. But when the time came, he said he would not be bound
to any trade, and that he meant to be a thief.

Now his mother was very sorrowful when she heard of this, but she knew
quite well that if she tried to stop his having his own way he would
only grow more determined to get it. So all the answer she made was that
the end of thieves was hanging at the bridge of Dublin, and then she
left him alone, hoping that when he was older he might become more
sensible.

One day she was going to church to hear a sermon from a great preacher,
and she begged the Shifty Lad, as the neighbours called him from the
tricks he played, to come with her. But he only laughed and declared
that he did not like sermons, adding:

'However, I will promise you this, that the first trade you hear named
after you come out from church shall be my trade for the rest of my
life.'

These words gave a little comfort to the poor woman, and her heart was
lighter than before as she bade him farewell.

THE LILAC FAIRY BOOK