Stephen And The Star-Stealer
By well-wisher
- 536 reads
A wizard once put the moon and stars into a magic sack but then, because he'd made the night so dark, he couldn't see.
"Let us out", the moon and stars all tinkled like bells, "And we'll light your way".
But the wizard wouldn't listen.
"No. If I do then you'll only fly back up into the sky", he said
But then, because the wizard couldn't see, he fell into a hole and couldn't get out again.
"Let us out", said the moon and stars, "As we fly back up into the sky, we'll lift you out of the hole".
"No", said the wizard, "You're mine and I'm not letting you go".
And, instead, the wizard said he would just wait till morning when the sun had come up and ask someone for help.
And, sure enough, the next day, after the sun had risen, a young boy, named Stephen, came walking past the hole and he heard the wizard calling for help.
"Are you alright?", asked the boy, looking down into the hole.
"Alright?", said the wizard, "Ofcourse I'm not alright. I'm at the bottom of a hole. Fetch some rope so I can climb out again".
And so the boy ran back home and fetched some rope that belonged to his father and then, tying one end of the rope round a tree he dangled the other end down the hole for the wizard to grab hold of.
But then, when the wizard was half way up the rope, the moon and stars cried out from inside the sack to Stephen,
"Oh help! Help! We are the moon and stars and this man has put us in his sack".
"Is that true?", asked Stephen, "Do you have the moon and stars in your sack?".
"Don't listen to them", said the wizard, "They're lying".
But Stephen wasn't convinced and he took out his pen knife and held it to the rope.
"You have someone in that sack", said the boy, "So throw the sack up to me or I will cut this rope".
Sighing, the wizard threw the sack up to Stephen and Stephen caught it.
And when he did he peered inside the sack and, to his amazement, he saw the glow of the moon and all the stars inside.
"Its true", he exclaimed.
But then the wizard, reaching the top of the rope climbed out of the hole and, reaching into his pocket, pulled out a magic wand.
"Hand over that bag", he said to Stephen, "Or I will turn you into a tadpole".
And Stephen was afraid because he didn't much like the idea of being a tadpole but then, from within the sack, the moon and stars said, "Let us go. We will protect you".
And so Stephen opened up the sack and from within it, the moon and all the stars came rushing out and, as they did, they grabbed hold of the wizard with their glowing hands and carried him far up into the sky.
Now that wizard lives upon the moon where he can't do anyone any harm.
And Stephen?
Well when he looked inside the bag again he saw that one of the stars hadn't left but had turned into a diamond and, taking it home to his mother and father, they sold the diamond and became rich living happily ever after.
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