"From the beginning I have approved the work you are doing among the children of men, and it annoys me that your good deeds should be thwarted4 by the Awgwas. We immortals5 have no connection whatever with the evil creatures who have attacked you. Always have we avoided them, and they, in turn, have hitherto taken care not to cross our pathway. But in this matter I find they have interfered8 with one of our friends, and I will ask them to abandon their persecutions, as you are under our protection."
Claus thanked the Master Woodsman most gratefully and returned to his Valley, while Ak, who never delayed carrying out his promises, at once traveled to the mountains of the Awgwas.
Instantly the place was filled with throngs11 of the scowling12 Awgwas, and their King, perching himself on a point of rock, demanded fiercely:
"Who dares call on us?"
"It is I, the Master Woodsman of the World," responded Ak.
"Here are no forests for you to claim," cried the King, angrily. "We owe no allegiance to you, nor to any immortal6!"
"That is true," replied Ak, calmly. "Yet you have ventured to interfere7 with the actions of Claus, who dwells in the Laughing Valley, and is under our protection."
Many of the Awgwas began muttering at this speech, and their King turned threateningly on the Master Woodsman.
"You are set to rule the forests, but the plains and the valleys are ours!" he shouted. "Keep to your own dark woods! We will do as we please with Claus."
"You shall not harm our friend in any way!" replied Ak.
"Shall we not?" asked the King, impudently13. "You will see! Our powers are vastly superior to those of mortals, and fully9 as great as those of immortals."
"It is your conceit14 that misleads you!" said Ak, sternly. "You are a transient race, passing from life into nothingness. We, who live forever, pity but despise you. On earth you are scorned by all, and in Heaven you have no place! Even the mortals, after their earth life, enter another existence for all time, and so are your superiors. How then dare you, who are neither mortal nor immortal, refuse to obey my wish?"
The Awgwas sprang to their feet with menacing gestures, but their King motioned them back.
"Never before," he cried to Ak, while his voice trembled with rage, "has an immortal declared himself the master of the Awgwas! Never shall an immortal venture to interfere with our actions again! For we will avenge15 your scornful words by killing16 your friend Claus within three days. Nor you, nor all the immortals can save him from our wrath17. We defy your powers! Begone, Master Woodsman of the World! In the country of the Awgwas you have no place."
"It is war!" declared Ak, with flashing eyes.
The Master turned away and came to his Forest of Burzee, where he called a meeting of the immortals and told them of the defiance20 of the Awgwas and their purpose to kill Claus within three days.
The little folk listened to him quietly.
"What shall we do?" asked Ak.
"These creatures are of no benefit to the world," said the Prince of the Knooks; "we must destroy them."
"Their lives are devoted21 only to evil deeds," said the Prince of the Ryls. "We must destroy them."
"They have no conscience, and endeavor to make all mortals as bad as themselves," said the Queen of the Fairies. "We must destroy them."
"They have defied the great Ak, and threaten the life of our adopted son," said beautiful Queen Zurline. "We must destroy them."
The Master Woodsman smiled.
"You speak well," said he. "These Awgwas we know to be a powerful race, and they will fight desperately22; yet the outcome is certain. For we who live can never die, even though conquered by our enemies, while every Awgwa who is struck down is one foe23 the less to oppose us. Prepare, then, for battle, and let us resolve to show no mercy to the wicked!"
Thus arose that terrible war between the immortals and the spirits of evil which is sung of in Fairyland to this very day.
The King Awgwa and his band determined24 to carry out the threat to destroy Claus. They now hated him for two reasons: he made children happy and was a friend of the Master Woodsman. But since Ak's visit they had reason to fear the opposition25 of the immortals, and they dreaded26 defeat. So the King sent swift messengers to all parts of the world to summon every evil creature to his aid.
And on the third day after the declaration of war a mighty27 army was at the command of the King Awgwa. There were three hundred Asiatic Dragons, breathing fire that consumed everything it touched. These hated mankind and all good spirits. And there were the three-eyed Giants of Tatary, a host in themselves, who liked nothing better than to fight. And next came the Black Demons28 from Patalonia, with great spreading wings like those of a bat, which swept terror and misery29 through the world as they beat upon the air. And joined to these were the Goozzle-Goblins, with long talons30 as sharp as swords, with which they clawed the flesh from their foes31. Finally, every mountain Awgwa in the world had come to participate in the great battle with the immortals.
The King Awgwa looked around upon this vast army and his heart beat high with wicked pride, for he believed he would surely triumph over his gentle enemies, who had never before been known to fight. But the Master Woodsman had not been idle. None of his people was used to warfare32, yet now that they were called upon to face the hosts of evil they willingly prepared for the fray33.
Ak had commanded them to assemble in the Laughing Valley, where Claus, ignorant of the terrible battle that was to be waged on his account, was quietly making his toys.
Soon the entire Valley, from hill to hill, was filled with the little immortals. The Master Woodsman stood first, bearing a gleaming ax that shone like burnished34 silver. Next came the Ryls, armed with sharp thorns from bramblebushes. Then the Knooks, bearing the spears they used when they were forced to prod35 their savage18 beasts into submission36. The Fairies, dressed in white gauze with rainbow-hued wings, bore golden wands, and the Wood-nymphs, in their uniforms of oak-leaf green, carried switches from ash trees as weapons.
Loud laughed the Awgwa King when he beheld37 the size and the arms of his foes. To be sure the mighty ax of the Woodsman was to be dreaded, but the sweet-faced Nymphs and pretty Fairies, the gentle Ryls and crooked38 Knooks were such harmless folk that he almost felt shame at having called such a terrible host to oppose them.
"Since these fools dare fight," he said to the leader of the Tatary Giants, "I will overwhelm them with our evil powers!"
To begin the battle he poised39 a great stone in his left hand and cast it full against the sturdy form of the Master Woodsman, who turned it aside with his ax. Then rushed the three-eyed Giants of Tatary upon the Knooks, and the Goozzle-Goblins upon the Ryls, and the firebreathing Dragons upon the sweet Fairies. Because the Nymphs were Ak's own people the band of Awgwas sought them out, thinking to overcome them with ease.
But it is the Law that while Evil, unopposed, may accomplish terrible deeds, the powers of Good can never be overthrown40 when opposed to Evil. Well had it been for the King Awgwa had he known the Law!
His ignorance cost him his existence, for one flash of the ax borne by the Master Woodsman of the World cleft41 the wicked King in twain and rid the earth of the vilest42 creature it contained.
Greatly marveled the Tatary Giants when the spears of the little Knooks pierced their thick walls of flesh and sent them reeling to the ground with howls of agony.
Woe43 came upon the sharp-taloned Goblins when the thorns of the Ryls reached their savage hearts and let their life-blood sprinkle all the plain. And afterward44 from every drop a thistle grew.
The Dragons paused astonished before the Fairy wands, from whence rushed a power that caused their fiery45 breaths to flow back on themselves so that they shriveled away and died.
As for the Awgwas, they had scant46 time to realize how they were destroyed, for the ash switches of the Nymphs bore a charm unknown to any Awgwa, and turned their foes into clods of earth at the slightest touch!
When Ak leaned upon his gleaming ax and turned to look over the field of battle he saw the few Giants who were able to run disappearing over the distant hills on their return to Tatary. The Goblins had perished every one, as had the terrible Dragons, while all that remained of the wicked Awgwas was a great number of earthen hillocks dotting the plain.
And now the immortals melted from the Valley like dew at sunrise, to resume their duties in the Forest, while Ak walked slowly and thoughtfully to the house of Claus and entered.
"You have many toys ready for the children," said the Woodsman, "and now you may carry them across the plain to the dwellings47 and the villages without fear."
"Will not the Awgwas harm me?" asked Claus, eagerly.
"The Awgwas," said Ak, "have perished!"
Now I will gladly have done with wicked spirits and with fighting and bloodshed. It was not from choice that I told of the Awgwas and their allies, and of their great battle with the immortals. They were part of this history, and could not be avoided.
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1
recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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betokened
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
thwarted
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| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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5
immortals
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| 不朽的人物( immortal的名词复数 )； 永生不朽者 | |
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immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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7
interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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9
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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10
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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11
throngs
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| n.人群( throng的名词复数 )v.成群，挤满( throng的第三人称单数 ) | |
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12
scowling
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| 怒视，生气地皱眉( scowl的现在分词 ) | |
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13
impudently
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conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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15
avenge
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| v.为...复仇，为...报仇 | |
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16
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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17
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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18
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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26
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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28
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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29
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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30
talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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31
foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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32
warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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fray
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| v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗 | |
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34
burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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35
prod
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| vt.戳，刺；刺激，激励 | |
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36
submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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37
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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38
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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39
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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40
overthrown
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| adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
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41
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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42
vilest
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| adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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43
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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44
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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45
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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46
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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47
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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