Sunday, September 3, 2023

The Lessons of Giants

Once upon a time, a woodcutter lived in a kingdom that declared all the remaining forest a royal preserve. Deprived of his livelihood, he sold his ax, his house, and after that he had nothing left to sell. He wandered then and knew not whither he went. One day, while the growling of his stomach distracted him, he stumbled upon something. He looked down and marveled, and looked up and marveled even more, for he had, without meaning to, found the end of a glittering rainbow.
Then steps he heard, steps that shook the world, and a giant appeared. The giant greeted him in this way. "Hallo there, sir. What luck this is, finding a rainbow here. I was needing something to tire around a present for my honey. Now just you watch this." So saying, the giant grabbed the rainbow and tied it around a package, which explained why it was called a rainbow in the first place. He tipped his hat to the woodcutter and walked away, whistling.
The woodcutter admired the giant's technique so much that he practiced it with grass and vines until he had it about right. Then he went to the nearest town and became famous for his present-wrapping. Even the king came to have his gifts prepared in the most charming fashion. The woodcutter became a wealthy man, because of the pot of gold of course, and he had a hobby too, which made him almost as happy.
Finis

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