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There was once a
good little boy, who liked to see everybody happy. He had large blue
eyes, fair, rosy skin, and such beautiful golden hair that he was
known throughout the whole country by the name of little Goldenlocks.
He often worried because he was too small and too weak to be of any
use in the world, and he felt in haste to be a man, if it was only
that he, might have the power of doing good. There are not many
little children of this sort, it is true. Goldenlocks is a proof,
however, that there are such.
At that time there lived a great magician, an intimate friend of the
good fairies, who corresponded with him from the four corners of the
globe; this correspondence was very easy. Each one had an enchanted
box, with a little hole in the top. They wrote what they had to say
on a bit of paper, when, lo! the paper went straight to its address
without any further trouble. You can understand how convenient this
was, and how easy it was for the magician to know all that was going
on in the world. In this way he found out what was troubling
Goldenlocks, and he was so deeply affected by it, that he felt
himself instantly growing better; that is to say, more powerful; for
you must know he belonged to a class of magicians whose power were
in exact proportion to their goodness. "Oh!" cried he, "this child
thinks himself too small and too weak, and yet he has made me
stronger than I was before. I must give him some aid." And putting
his spectacles on, with which he would see a thousand miles, he
looked towards the house where the little boy lived. It was quite a
nice house, lost among the multitude of houses in a long street. The
street itself was confounded in the magnitude of a large city,
which, however, was not the most important one in the country. And
the country, in its turn, though of considerable size, was only a
speck on the globe. I leave you to imagine what a small place the
little boy held in it. Goldenlocks, at that moment, was seated in
the nursery with a book in his hand that did not seem to amuse him
much, watching his sister who were busy picking strawberries in the
garden for their mamma. It was the day for making sweetmeats, and
the whole house was in commotion about such an important event. It
must be confessed that Goldenlocks was a little indolent, as the
magician saw at a glance from the way he held his book, which was
oftenest bottom upward. He was thinking less about his lesson than
the sweetmeats. The little boy could not keep his feet still a
single minute, and had been delighted to hear somebody say one day
in his presence that birds and little children should be allowed to
skip and hop about as much as they pleased, for God made them for
it. He had no scruples, therefore, in leaving his tiresome book
every few minutes to play with two beautiful canary birds (his
rivals in skipping about), whose cage, suspended from the wall, was
one of the chief ornaments of the room; or else to pay a visit to
his garden, a great pot of earth, in which he and his sister had
planted some orange seeds the winter before, and which now held
oranges trees, three inches high, a thousand times more tenderly
cared for that those in the orangeries. This did not seem calculated
to make much effect upon the world. "I will make this dear little
fellow the most important personage on the face of the earth," said
the great magician; "every time that he wins a victory over himself,
all mankind shall do the same." Then turning his telescope in a
different direction, he went to see what was discussing what color
the queen's dress should be on the coronation day. Goldenlocks held
in his little hands, therefore, without knowing it, the destinies of
the whole human race. He learned his lesson no better on that
account. Seeing that his orange tree was a little dry, he had just
finished sprinkling a glass of water over it, when a darling little
fairy, who had undertaken to make a man of him, came in without
knocking.
"Well," said she, very much vexed, "is this the way you learn your
lesson?"
"Oh, I could not leave our trees in this condition; they were dying
of thirst, and, besides, I have been studying my lesson a long
time," replied Goldenlocks.
"Well, recite it, then," He did not know a word of it. "My little
Goldenlocks, you make me very sad," said the fairy, as she quitted
the room, wiping away a tear.
Then the child began to reflect and to be ashamed of his conduct. He
sat down to his book and studied it courageously, without paying the
least attention to anything else. His feet were still a little
while, in spite of the example set by the animals, who were not made
to study. Poor little creature! In a quarter of an hour the lesson
was well he learned, and Goldenlocks, much contented with himself,
ran in search of the good fairy to recite it to her. Meanwhile a
great change had taken place on the globe. All the little truants
who were wandering on the streets left all their marbles and mud
pies and ran to school as fast as their legs would carry them. The
ignorant became ashamed to their lack of knowledge, and the
booksellers, suddenly besieged by the impatient crowd that filled
their shops, knew not where to find books enough to satisfy so many
demands at once. Those who knew nothing were seized with an impulse
to learn something; those who knew something felt the use of
learning more; there was a general revolution in minds—the happiest
that had been since the beginning of the century; and Goldenlocks
had done all this because he learned his lesson well. He was
rewarded personally by a warm kiss on each cheek; and the time for
luncheon having come, he was invited to take part in a splendid
feast, composed of a beautiful pyramid of slices of bread, spread
with strawberries that had escaped the preserving kettle. A lady,
who took great interest in the children of the family, had sent them
a pot full of cream, and there was a universal cry of admiration
when the group found themselves in the presence of so many good
things. Nothing gives one such an appetite as hard work.
Goldenlocks, who was no glutton, nevertheless stretched his hand
toward a fine slice of bread from the part of the loaf he liked
best. Happy and proud of having learned his lesson well, he chatted
as he ate, and carefully laid aside the finest strawberries to eat
last with his cream. His little brother, whose appetite knew no
bounds, had devoured the whole of his before Goldenlocks was half
through his luncheon. The little fellow looked with a wistful eye at
his brother's bread and strawberries, and large saucer of cream, and
determined to have them. As he was as wilful as he could be, a scene
of cries and tears would have followed had not Goldenlocks divided
with the poor, hungry child, though he gladly would have eaten the
whole. His mamma, who had arrived on the spot meanwhile, was greatly
delighted, and gave goldenlocks a smile that amply repaid him for
his sacrifice. But he had a far greater reward. For, Lo! at the same
instant all over the globe men suddenly began to reflect how many of
their fellow-creatures might be famishing with want, and each one
set out with provisions in search of the hungry. Nothing was seen in
the streets but baskets filled with bread, great platters of meat,
sacks of potatoes and baskets of fruit, on the way to the houses of
the poor. Every one who was fortunate enough to find a family in
want, loaded it with plenty, and his neighbors envied him his
happiness. The suffering poor could not believe their eyes. Children
who had never seen cake in their lives, now made the acquaintance of
that remarkable production of human industry, and a thing that had
never before been seen. No one went supperless to bed that night.
What a triumph for Goldenlocks! But he knew nothing of it. For a
full quarter of an hour he was absorbed in a great question. The
little fellow was very pretty—at least he had often been told so by
his nurse, who worshiped him, and had no greater pleasure than that
of dressing him in his fine clothes after lunch, and walking in the
large garden, where all the rich children were in the habit of
visiting. Now goldenlocks had a black velvet coat in which he
thought himself dazzling. His nurse was of the same opinion, and
although the coat had been made for holidays, she never lost an
opportunity to take it from its drawer. His mamma scolded, but the
mischief was done, and the child then strutted about like a peacock.
This time again the nurse brought out the velvet coat, which was
joyfully received. He already had one arm in the sleeve, when his
elder sister entered.
"Oh, Goldenlocks, you must not wear that coat; your cloth jacket is
good enough to play in the dirt with!" she exclaimed.
"My cloth jacket has holes in the sleeves; I look like a beggar in
it."
"Come, be good; you know mamma will be displeased."
The dear little boy said no more; the idea of displeasing his mother
made him forget all his vanity. He took off his coat, and quietly
put on his jacket, in which he amused himself like a king in his
garden. He had scarcely obeyed his sister, when Pride took a flight
from the globe. Great ladies in Denmark began to return the salutes
of the humblest citizen. The noblemen of the court found themselves
saying "good morning" to the peasants whom they met returning from
market. Men tried to understand the reasons which they had had for
despising each other, but were unable to find them. You can form no
idea of the universal relief. Even the little boys that had stood
first at school were rid of the foolish pride which had rendered
them so ridiculous. What was Goldenlocks doing all this time? On his
return from his walk, a great dispute had arisen between him and one
of his sisters only a year older than himself, whom, nevertheless,
he loved with all his heart. Alice, for that was her name, had a
fault common to all little girls—she was something of a tease. Her
brother having said before her several times that he meant to be a
physician, she called him nothing but "doctor," and during the whole
walk she had tormented him with this hateful name.
"I am tired of being a doctor," said poor Goldenlocks, at last. "I
mean to be a Bishop." This was much worse, and the name of "My Lord
the Bishop" began to be showered upon him.
"When are we to ask 'My Lord the Bishop' for his blessing?" said she
at last, bowing before him with mock humility.
"You shall have it directly," cried Goldenlocks, furious. Taking a
ruler, he began to make the most threatening gestures towards his
provoking sister. Alice, whose hands were as nimble as her
brother's, quickly found another ruler, and the two champions began
skirmishing with each other, taking care, however, to strike, not
each other, but the piece of wood in their adversary's hand; an
unlucky blow, however, having fallen on alice's fingers, she uttered
a cry of pain, which made Goldenlocks forget his anger. He dropped
the ruler and threw his arms around his sister's neck.
"Forgive me! I will never do it again, and you may call me 'Bishop'
as much as you please."
Their papa, who was the best papa in the world, had hastened toward
them at the noise of the quarrel, and was already preparing to
scold, when what was his joy to see the brother and sister tenderly
embracing each other! He clasped them to his breast, and thought
himself happy in having such good children. Great wars were raging
at the moment on the earth, and men were striving who should invent
the most frightful machine of destruction. The child had no sooner
laid down his arms, that all this war-like ardour ceased, as if by
enchantment. Men instantly perceived that it was very foolish to
kill each other to know which was right. It was agreed to refer the
dispute to the looker-on; then there was a universal embracing all
along the lines from the generals to the children of the common
soldiers who had been in the habit of fighting whenever they were on
their way from school. Good little Goldenlocks went to bed that
night content with his day, after receiving a thousand caresses from
his family, and fell asleep, asking when he would be as large and
strong as a man. At the same moment, the earth, delivered by him
from ignorance, want and war, abandoned itself to universal joy;
from Norway to Patagonia great bonfires were kindled on the
mountains, which played so brightly that they could have been seen
from the moon.
The magician is no longer at hand, my dear children, to give such
importance to the victories which you win over yourselves; something
remains of it, however, even to-day; believe me—children are
stronger than men in doing good. While your parents are sometimes
obliged to make the greatest sacrifice to prevent you from being
unhappy, you, on your side, can render them happy by the smallest
sacrifice. If the world is not changed in a single moment thereby,
as in the time of goldenlocks, be sure that these petty sacrifices
are never lost in it. Every drop of water that falls finds its way
to the sea.
Goldenlocks
A Fictional Short Story by
Agnes Taylor Ketchum & Ida M. Jorgensen
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