Gregory and the Rainbow's End

Haloo, my little good friends! It is great to see you once again here to hear another story. I have been very busy myself so it is going to be a great time to sit down and relax with you chisslers!

In the magical realm there are many beings that are not necessarily seen by those that are not looking for them. When you cross the veil from the physical world, the world most of you see in, to the magical world it’s much like walking under a waterfall. You still see the world the same way, but it is just a different perspective. Anywho, many magical beings live in the magical realm. Some are nice, and some are not. Some you have to watch yourself close, or you could end up in dire straits. One of the more duplicitous creatures in the magical realm? Leprechauns. So let’s see…

Gregory and the Rainbow’s End

Gregory was a plump little boy. He enjoyed his food much like he enjoyed breathing...greatly. His round belly was framed by form-fitting clothes that made him seem more like a nesting doll than a human. On this particular day he was eating a bowl of porridge by the window.

His tall, thin-framed mother patted him on the head while he carefully raised each spoonful to his mouth. Not one drop would escape him. His mother wiped her hands on her apron as she smiled at her prim ball of joy.

“I need to go into town. I want you to make sure your school work is all done.” She knew she didn’t have to ask and he was probably three weeks ahead of the other students, but she enjoyed giving him a hard time.

“Yes, Mother, it is. I think I’m going to read the Odyssey, though. I need to start my summer reading.”

His mother gave him a loving chuck under the chin as she whipped her apron off. “There you go, Gregory. One day you will know more than I do.”

Gregory grinned from ear to ear, “One day?”

“Okay, scamp!” His mother faked indignity and they both laughed merrily. She sighed looking at the position of the sun outside. “I have to get going. Stay out of trouble.”

“Yes, Mother!” She gave him a loving peck on the check and rushed out.

Gregory hummed merrily to himself. He finished his porridge, got up, and put the bowl in the washing bin. He stopped dead still. A rainbow was in the window, and the end of the rainbow was out in the glen, behind some trees a few yards from the house. The bowl dropped out of his hand. He twisted his neck and called after his mother, but she was already out the door and on her way.

Rainbows End in the Glen

Courtesy of Wikimedia

Gregory’s curiosity is slight, but seeing the end of a rainbow is not an everyday occurrence. Gregory rushed out the back down and down the rough path to the trees. He plowed into the grove on the outside of the glen but stopped short swiftly.

There in the glen was the end of the rainbow, and a little man wearing a strange hat and green clothes. There was a haggard man standing with him, tall with hair like a lion's mane and clothes that looked as if they had seen much better days.

Leprechaun and his Pot of Gold

Courtesy of Wikimedia

“Grant me a wish, leprechaun,” said the man with a smirk on his face, “and I will give you back the gold piece.”

“Fine. Name your wish, mortal,” spewed the leprechaun caustically.

“I have struggled every day of my life and have not gained an inch. I want to be rich beyond my wildest dreams.”

The leprechaun tapped a pot that was filled with golden coins. The man looked at it and dropped the coin in it. The small man opened his mouth. A roaring gutteral laugh echoed in the glen. A golden green glow came from his pot as he struck it with his cane.

Suddenly the man had ten children crowding around him giving him hugs and calling him daddy. “What is this?” cried the befuddled man. “Who are these children?”

The leprechaun laughed heartily, “Why they are yours. Don’t you know the richest person is the one who finds a wealth of love?”

“How am I going to feed them? I haven’t a penny to my name.”

The leprechaun tutted shamefully. “You shouldn’t have had so many children then. Now…be gone!” The leprechaun's voice became the roar of the wind with the utterance. The man and the children disappeared from sight.

Gregory gasped a sharp intake of air. His teeth chattered. The leprechaun looked his way. An ugly smile crossed his face. “What do we have here? A snooper?”

Gregory rose up slowly, “I just wanted to see the rainbow's end.”

“Of course you did, boy.” The leprechaun regarded him carefully. “Well you’ve seen it. Now off with you.”

“Mister, sir?” Gregory hesitated. “What happened to the man?”

“I sent him home with his new riches.”

Gregory nodded. He saw that the leprechaun was being honest.

Just then a great buck with huge antlers burst into the glen. The leprechaun jumped back out of the buck's way as it crashed through the hollow. The leprechaun’s gold flew everywhere. As the buck passed it winked its wide eye at Gregory.

The Buck Charging Through

Courtesy of Flickr

“Bodisat! Watch where you run!” cried the small man angrily. He was shaking his cane at the buck as it disappeared. The leprechaun began to pick out the gold pieces that had flown here and there. Gregory, being the nice person he is, walked over and started to help.

“What are you doing!” yelled the leprechaun angrily.

“I'm just trying to help.” Gregory had several gold pieces in his hand.

“Give me those!”

Gregory shrugged and handed the gold to the leprechaun. The leprechaun looked at him confused. “And you want nothing for these?”

“No.”

“Child, you are one in a million!” The leprechaun reached over and wrapped his small hands around the boy in a bold hug. He thrust his cane down onto the ground and a surge zipped through the air. “Now go home. Your mother awaits.”

“My mother?”

“Go!”

Gregory rushed back home as fast as he could. His adventures in the glen danced in his mind, but nothing compared to what he learned when he got to the house. His mother had inherited a fortune from a long lost relative and it was written into the will that they would have to sail the Mediterranean to receive it. Gregory didn’t have to read the Odyssey that summer. He lived it!

The Iliad

Courtesy of Wikimedia

And so we see, my gassons, that giving freely will net you more reward than when you demand payment. It is Karma. I especially like this story because your own Buddha shows up in this story as the buck. If I remember correctly this happened soon after he had offered his life for the other deer in his charge! The story is recounted in The Banyan Deer.

The story itself mirrors another tale from Aesop’s fables. The story of The Lion, The Ass and the Fox tells of these three animals dividing up the spoils of a hunt. The lion does not like that the ass divides the kill equally and kills him. The fox then divides the spoils leaving only a meager portion for himself to save his own neck. The leprechaun in this story is much like the lion who wants to keep it all, and the ass is much like the haggard man looking to get something for nothing. Our Gregory is similar to the Fox in that he asks for less.

So my little ones, I do hope that you enjoyed this little story. I also hope to see you on the reading carpet again soon, hopefully with your own copy of Na Paisti Na Cumhachta in hand!

Aesop. The Lion, The Ass And The Fox. The Aesop for Children. 2006

Shedlock, Marie L.. The Banyan Deer. Eastern Stories and Legends. 1920