A Legend of the North Wind

This story is called A Legend of the North Wind by Mary Catherine Judd. This is a LibraryCall adaptation and recording. One day, the mischievous North Wind saw a boy eating his lunch under a tree. Just as the boy was about to bite into his sandwich, the North Wind blew it out of his hand and swept away everything else he had packed for his lunch. The North Wind laughed. "You vile North Wind!" cried the boy. "Give me back my sandwich! I’d only taken two bites and I’m hungry!" Now the North Wind was rascally, but he was also honorable, so he tried to make up for the mischief he had done. "Here, take this tablecloth," said the North Wind, "Spread it over a table tonight, then wish for what you’d like to eat. You shall have everything you desire." "Thank you!" said the boy, and he took the tablecloth and ran as fast as he could to the nearby inn where he was staying for the night. "Please bring me a table," he said to the innkeeper, as he headed towards his room. "A table?" laughed the innkeeper. "Don’t you mean, ‘Bring me dinner?’" "No, I don't. I want only a table. And quickly, please. I'm hungry." The innkeeper brought the table. But he was curious, so after the boy’s door was shut, the innkeeper watched through the keyhole to see what would happen. "Beans, bread, and bacon!" ordered the boy, as he spread out the tablecloth. And immediately, beans, bread and bacon appeared through the open window, whirled in by the North Wind. And amazingly, they were all smoking hot. When he finished eating, the boy fell fast asleep. The North Wind let the boy sleep as the innkeeper crept into the room, took the table and the tablecloth, and carried them downstairs. The next morning, the boy was hungry again. But the tablecloth was gone, so he had no breakfast. "You are a cheat, North Wind. Why have you taken back your tablecloth?" “That is not the sort of thing I do,” said the North Wind. But the boy did not get his tablecloth back. "This time I will give you a sheep. Each time you rub his wool, one piece of gold will drop from the sheep’s mouth. Be sure to take good care of him." The boy took the sheep by a strap around its neck and led it slowly up the stairs of the inn and into his room. The boy was hungry for his breakfast, so he did what the North Wind said and patted the sheep on its back. A piece of gold fell out of the sheep’s mouth and onto the floor. "Thank you, North Wind!" And the boy used the gold piece to pay for breakfast and another two nights of lodging at the inn. He slept soundly that night, using his sheep for a pillow. But the third morning, when the boy woke up, there was no soft fleece under his head. His sheep was gone! Perhaps the boy hadn’t been careful enough about hiding the source of his gold from the innkeeper and the other guests at the inn. The boy blamed the North Wind again. "Why have you taken back your sheep, North Wind? I don’t like being teased like this!" But the North Wind said nothing. He simply put a strange grey stick into a bag and gave it to the boy. "Guard this bag as carefully as if there were a jewel in it," said the North Wind. That night, the boy was startled awake by loud banging noises. He rubbed his eyes and saw that the noises were coming from his very own room! The innkeeper was running away from the strange grey stick, which was pounding him on the head, feet, back, and anything else it could reach. "Help!" the innkeeper cried. "Give me back my sheep," said the boy. "Fine! It’s hidden in the barn," said the innkeeper. The boy found his sheep in the barn as promised, and he led it away from the inn as fast as he could manage. But the boy forgot about the poor innkeeper getting walloped back in his room. It’s possible that the stick is still pounding away to this day. This story was A Legend of the North Wind by Mary Catherine Judd. This has been a LibraryCall adaptation and recording.