THE
LEPREHAUN
The
Leprehauns are merry, industrious, tricksy little
sprites, who do all the shoemaker's work and the
tailor's and the cobbler's for the fairy gentry,
and are often seen at sunset under the hedge
singing and stitching. They know all the secrets
of hidden treasure, and if they take a fancy to a
person will guide him him to the spot in the
fairy rath where the pot of gold lies buried. It
is believed that a family now living near
Castlerea came by their riches in a strange way,
all though the good offices of a friendly
Leprehaun. And the legend has been handed down
through many generations as an established fact.
There
was a poor boy once, one of their forefathers,
who used to drive his cart of turf daily back and
forward, and make what money he could by the
sale; but he was a strange boy, very silent and
moody, and the people said he was a fairy
changeling, for he joined in no sports and
scarcely ever spoke to any one, but spent the
nights reading all the old bits of books he
picked up in his rambles. The one thing he longed
for above all others was to get rich, and to be
able to give up the old weary turf cart, and live
in peace and quietness all alone, with nothing
but books round him, in a beautiful house and
garden all by himself.
Now
he had read in the old books how the Leprehauns
knew all the secret places where gold lay hid,
and day by day he watched for a sight of the
little cobbler, and listened for the click, click
of his hammer, as he sat under the hedge mending
the shoes.
At
last, one evening just as the sun set, he saw a
little fellow under a dock leaf, working away,
dressed all in green, with a cocked hat on his
head. So the boy jumped down from the cart and
seized him by the neck.
"Now,
you don't stir from this," he cried,
"till you tell me where to find the hidden
gold."
"Easy
now," said the Leprehaun, "don't hurt
me, and I will tell you all about it. But mind
you, I could hurt you if I chose, for I have the
power; but I won't do it, for we are cousins once
removed. So as we are near relations I'll just be
good, and show you the place of the secret gold
that none can have or keep except those of fairy
blood and race. Come along with me, then, to the
old fort of Lipenshaw, for there it lies. But
make haste, for when the last red glow of the sun
vanishes the gold will disappear also, and you
will never find it again."
"Come
off, then," said the boy, and he carried the
Leprehaun into the turf cart, and drove off. In a
second they were at the old fort, and went in
through a door made in the stone wall.
"Now,
look round," said the Leprehaun; and the boy
saw the whole ground covered with gold pieces,
and there were vessels of silver lying about in
such plenty that all the riches of all the world
seemed gathered there.
"Now
take what you want," said the Leprehaun,
"but hasten, for if that door shuts you will
never leave this place as long as you live."
So
the boy gathered up his arms full of gold and
silver, and flung them into the cart, and was on
his way back for more when the door shut with a
clap like thunder, and all the place became dark
as night. And he saw no more of the Leprehaun,
and had not time even to thank him.
So
he thought it best to drive home at once with his
treasure, and when he arrived and was all alone
by himself he counted his riches, and all the
bright yellow gold pieces, enough for a king's
ransom.
And
he was very wise and told no one; but went off
next day to Dublin and put all his treasures into
the bank, and found that he was now indeed as
rich as a lord.
So
he ordered a fine house to be build with spacious
gardens, and he had servants and carriages and
books to his heart's content. And he gathered all
the wise men round him to give him the learning
of a gentleman; and he became a great and
powerful man in the country, where his memory is
still held in high honour, and his descendants
are living to this day rich and prosperous; for
their wealth has never decreased though they have
ever given largely to the poor, and are noted
above all things for the friendly heart and the
liberal hand.
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