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Updated: June 3, 2025


These words caused Claus to marvel, for until now he had thought himself the only one of his kind upon the earth; yet in silence he grasped firmly the girdle of the great Ak, his astonishment forbidding speech. Then the vast forest of Burzee seemed to fall away from their feet, and the youth found himself passing swiftly through the air at a great height.

The Master turned away and came to his Forest of Burzee, where he called a meeting of the immortals and told them of the defiance 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."

For hundreds of years it has flourished in all its magnificence, the silence of its inclosure unbroken save by the chirp of busy chipmunks, the growl of wild beasts and the songs of birds. Yet Burzee has its inhabitants for all this. Nature peopled it in the beginning with Fairies, Knooks, Ryls and Nymphs.

A dozen crooked Knooks followed from the great Forest of Burzee. They had long whiskers and pointed caps and curling toes, yet were no taller than Button-Bright's shoulder.

And when they were gone he turned to the anxious Necile and comforted her, saying: "Be of good heart, my child; our friend still lives. And now run to your Queen and tell her that I have summoned a council of all the immortals of the world to meet with me here in Burzee this night. If they obey, and harken unto my words, Claus will drive his reindeer for countless ages yet to come."

To release your grasp will be to separate yourself forever from me and your home in Burzee." One of the first laws of the Forest is obedience, and Claus had no thought of disobeying the Master's wish. He clung fast to the girdle and remained invisible. Thereafter with each moment passed in the city the youth's wonder grew.

One day the Master Woodsman came back to the forest of Burzee. He had visited, in turn, all his forests throughout the world, and they were many and broad. Not until he entered the glade where the Queen and her nymphs were assembled to greet him did Ak remember the child he had permitted Necile to adopt.

Burzee Have you heard of the great Forest of Burzee? Nurse used to sing of it when I was a child.

"For the first time within my knowledge," said he, gently, "a nymph has defied me and my laws; yet in my heart can I find no word of chiding. What is your desire, Necile?" "Let me keep the child!" she answered, beginning to tremble and falling on her knees in supplication. "Here, in the Forest of Burzee, where the human race has never yet penetrated?" questioned Ak.

"Enough!" cried the Gnome King, abruptly. "We will vote on the matter, yes or no. For my part, I say yes!" "And I!" said the Fairy Queen, promptly, and Ak rewarded her with a smile. "My people in Burzee tell me they have learned to love him; therefore I vote to give Claus the Mantle," said the King of the Ryls. "He is already a comrade of the Knooks," announced the ancient King of that band.

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