Doubting Fairies.
Rumours are going all around Fairyland. Most of the rumours turn out to be wrong. The Fairies are now beginning to doubt all that they hear. A small deputation of Fairies came to me and asked me what would be the best thing to do. I asked what were the rumours. The first and most improbable was that a new Fairy Queen was to become Queen of all the Fairies not an English Fairy but a foreign Fairy was to have this most important position. I told the Fairies that as Her Majesty was in good health and carried out all of her queenly duties there would be no need for a new queen. I then told them to ask Her Majesty if this rumour was true or not. None of the Fairies wanted to directly approach Her Majesty and asked me to see if the rumour was just a rumour or if Her Majesty was going to retire.
I did not like the idea of asking Her Majesty but I went to her lovely cottage with its most beautiful flowers and its thatched roof. Her Majesty was sitting in the garden and I made my bow. We exchanged greetings and Her Majesty told me that she was fit and healthy she had full use of her mental powers and her magic was still the best in all of Fairyland. She had no intention to retire. That being settled we talked about the rumours and who it could be that continually spread such fragments of fibs in Fairyland. Her Majesty took from her sleeve the famous magic mirror. Speaking a few words in the old fairy language she concentrated on looking at the pictures flashing past on the surface of the mirror.
Her Majesty gave me the mirror and I saw for myself that the Trolls were deliberately telling the Pixies; no not telling but speaking so that the Pixies could hear it was the Pixies that were passing on the rumours to the Fairies. Her Majesty asked me what I would do to stop the Trolls from spreading rumours all over Fairyland. I smiled and said, “That is easy Your Majesty from this moment on all Trolls here in Fairyland would only be able to speak in their Mother Tongue. As most of them came from Scandinavia they would either speak Swedish or Danish or even the language used in Iceland.” “An excellent piece of advice Mr. Shaw from this moment on all Trolls will only be able to converse in their own language. That will stop them from speaking to the Pixies, as the Pixies will not be able to understand what the Trolls are saying. They cannot pass it on to the Fairies and peace will be in Fairyland for a while.” Thanking Her Majesty I went back to the clearing by the old oak and told the waiting Fairies that Her Majesty will remain in charge of Fairyland. From this moment on the flood of rumours stopped and all were able to go about their business without having to listen to the Trolls rumours. Bern