Celts -- Folklore; Fairy tales; Fairy tales -- Great Britain; Folklore -- Great Britain; Tales -- Great Britain
The child was growing till he was a year old. He was beginning to
walk, and no one cared for him more than I did. He was growing
till he was three, and he was running out every minute; so the
king ordered a silver chain to be put between me and the child,
that he might not go away from me. I was out with him in the
garden every day, and the king was as proud as the world of the
child. He would be watching him everywhere we went, till the child
grew so wise that he would loose the chain and get off. But one
day that he loosed it I failed to find him; and I ran into the
house and searched the house, but there was no getting him for me.
The king cried to go out and find the child, that had got loose
from the dog. They went searching for him, but could not find him.
When they failed altogether to find him, there remained no more
favour with the king towards me, and every one disliked me, and I
grew weak, for I did not get a morsel to eat half the time. When
summer came, I said I would try and go home to my own country. I
went away one fine morning, and I went swimming, and God helped me
till I came home. I went into the garden, for I knew there was a
place in the garden where I could hide myself, for fear my wife
should see me. In the morning I saw her out walking, and the child
with her, held by the hand. I pushed out to see the child, and as
he was looking about him everywhere, he saw me and called out, "I
see my shaggy papa. Oh!" said he; "oh, my heart's love, my shaggy
papa, come here till I see you!"
[Illustration]
I was afraid the woman would see me, as she was asking the child
where he saw me, and he said I was up in a tree; and the more the
child called me, the more I hid myself. The woman took the child
home with her, but I knew he would be up early in the morning.
I went to the parlour-window, and the child was within, and he
playing. When he saw me he cried out, "Oh! my heart's love, come
here till I see you, shaggy papa." I broke the window and went in,
and he began to kiss me. I saw the rod in front of the chimney,
and I jumped up at the rod and knocked it down. "Oh! my heart's
love, no one would give me the pretty rod," said he. I hoped he
would strike me with the rod, but he did not. When I saw the time
was short I raised my paw, and I gave him a scratch below the
knee. "Oh! you naughty, dirty, shaggy papa, you have hurt me so
much, I'll give you a blow of the rod." He struck me a light blow,
and so I came back to my own shape again. When he saw a man
standing before him he gave a cry, and I took him up in my arms.
The servants heard the child. A maid came in to see what was the
matter with him. When she saw me she gave a cry out of her, and
she said, "Oh, if the master isn't come to life again!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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