Knjigice
Fairy tale · Classic fairy tales
Five Children and the Sand-Fairy
The story of five children and a grumpy fairy who grants wishes
Also in: Pet otrok in peščeni škrat (Slovenian) · Päť detí a pieskový škriatok (Slovak)
One summer, five children — Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and little Lamb — came from town to a white house in the country. Behind it lay a great gravel pit, dug out long ago. "This will be the finest summer in the world!" cheered Robert. And he was right — though he could never have guessed how strangely fine it would be.
1
On the first morning they decided to dig a hole all the way to Australia. They dug and dug until the sand flew. Suddenly Jane shrieked: "There's something furry down here!" Out of the sand peeped two long eyes on stalks, then ears like a bat's, and last of all a round furry tummy. "Who is waking me?" the creature grumbled. "I have slept a thousand years!"
2
"I am the Psammead, the sand-fairy," said the creature, puffing itself up importantly. "I am thousands of years old. Once children came to me every day and wished for pterodactyl for dinner!" The children stared open-mouthed. "I grant you one wish a day," it grumbled. "But remember: at sunset it all vanishes. Now do wish, and let me have some peace!"
3
"I wish we were as beautiful as the day!" burst out of Anthea. The sand-fairy swelled up like a balloon — pop! The children looked at one another and lost their voices: four wonderfully beautiful strangers stood there, with golden curls and eyes like stars. "And who might you be?" Cyril asked his own sister. Only the Lamb was just as before — round and himself.
4
But when they came home for dinner, Martha did not know them. "What do these strange children want here?" she said, and took the Lamb out of their arms. "Martha, it's us!" they begged, but the door shut. All day they sat hungry on the step. Only at sunset were they themselves again — and never had supper tasted so good.
5
"Today let us wish for something sensible," said Cyril. "We wish to be rich beyond measure!" In a blink the pit was brimful of gold coins: old, heavy, shining like the sun. The children stuffed their pockets till they could hardly walk, and marched off to town to buy a horse, a carriage, a hundred oranges and all the cakes in the world.
6
But in town a disappointment waited. The baker turned a coin over and muttered: "I've never seen money like this. No, I'll not take it." Nor would the fruit-seller, nor the gingerbread man. Home they trudged on aching feet, pockets full and hands quite empty. At sunset the gold vanished — and left behind only fine, ordinary sand.
7
"Wings!" they wished the third time, on a day the Lamb stayed home with Martha. And truly: soft golden wings grew from their shoulders. They flew over fields and forests, raced the swallows and waved down at the cows in the meadow. The wind combed their hair and their laughter flew with them. It was the loveliest day they could remember.
8
Towards evening they landed on top of a high church tower to eat their supper. And just then the sun went down. The wings — pop! — were gone. Four children were stuck high above the village, hungry and very small. Luckily the sexton heard them and led them down the long, long stairs. They came home late, quiet and very sorry.
9
The next time came the funniest mishap of all. "If only the Lamb were grown up already!" sighed Robert — and in the pram sat a tall young man with a little moustache, talking importantly about the weather. All afternoon they minded their grown-up baby brother. And at sunset their round, warm Lamb crawled back into their arms.
10
"Perhaps it is best if we wish for nothing more," the children said. "Well — almost nothing." One last time they went to the pit. "Sand-fairy, we wish only this: that we never forget this summer — and you, sleep in peace as long as you like." The sand-fairy blinked its snail eyes, and for the first time it seemed to smile. "Perhaps we shall meet again — in a thousand years or so."
11
Then they laid it gently in a warm little hollow in the sand. The sand-fairy curled into a furry ball, yawned and shut its eyes on their stalks. The children covered it slowly with soft warm sand, right to the top. "Good night," Jane whispered. And if you ever dig in a sandpit and something furry stirs under your fingers — dig on. Or perhaps don't.
12The End
