bing AI
Lanty
M'Clusky had married a wife, and, of course, it was necessary to have a house
in which to keep her. Now, Lanty had taken a bit of a farm, about six acres;
but as there was no house on it, he resolved to build one; and that it might be
as comfortable as possible, he selected for the site of it one of those
beautiful green circles that are supposed to be the play-ground of the fairies.
Lanty was warned against this; but as
he was a headstrong man, and not much given to fear, he said he would not change
such a pleasant situation for his house to oblige all the fairies in Europe. He
accordingly proceeded with the building, which he finished off very neatly;
and, as it is usual on these occasions to give one's neighbours and friends a
house-warming, so, in compliance with this good and pleasant old custom, Lanty
having brought home the wife in the course of the day, got a fiddler and a lot
of whisky, and gave those who had come to see him a dance in the evening. This
was all very well, and the fun and hilarity were proceeding briskly, when a
noise was heard after night had set in, like a crushing and straining of ribs
and rafters on the top of the house. The folks assembled all listened, and,
without doubt, there was nothing heard but crushing, and heaving, and pushing,
and groaning, and panting, as if a thousand little men
were engaged in pulling down the roof.
'Come,' said a voice which
spoke in a tone of command, 'work hard: you know we must have Lanty's house
down before midnight.'
This was an unwelcome piece of
intelligence to Lanty, who, finding that his enemies were such as he could not
cope with, walked out, and addressed them as follows:
'Gintlemen, I humbly ax yer
pardon for buildin' on any place belongin' to you; but if you'll have the
civilitude to let me alone this night, I'll begin to pull down and remove the
house to-morrow morning.'
This was followed by a noise
like the clapping of a thousand tiny little hands, and a shout of 'Bravo,
Lanty! build half-way between the two White-thorns above the boreen'; and after
another hearty little shout of exultation, there was a brisk rushing noise, and
they were heard no more.
The story, however, does not
end here; for Lanty, when digging the foundation of his new house, found the
full of a kam of
gold: so that in leaving to the fairies their play-ground, he became a richer
man than ever he otherwise would have been, had he never come in contact with
them at all.
by William Carleton
Irish Fairy Tales, 1892
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