One of the elves said, "Ah, well, this town is very poor, you see. They
have no money for presents and little time to enjoy a holiday. Life is
hard for them and they barely manage to survive day to day, as it is."
"All the more reason for them to celebrate the Winter Solstice," Chricrin
said, firmly. "Perhaps there is something we can do to make their hard
lives a bit more bearable," he said, more quietly. On the way back to
the cottage he thought about what he might be able to do for these good
townspeople.
By the time they arrived at their home, he had an idea and shared it with
his elfin friends. "Why do we not make presents for everyone in the
village and prepare a special feast, as well. Then on the night of the
Solstice, we can deliver everything to them--it would be quite a
surprise!" he said.
The elves all nodded agreement, but somewhat sadly. One
of them spoke up. "Aye, we ourselves had wanted to do something of that
nature for some time, but there were always two problems that kept us
from accomplishing that plan. Perhaps you might be able to solve those
problems for us, Chricrin."
"Well, I'll do me best to help," the wizard said. "What are your
problems?"
The elf looked around at his companions and they all nodded
encouragement, so he said, "We don't think it would be fair to just
single out one town to deliver presents to, when there are several poor
townships here in the northlands. But, we would never be able to get
presents to everyone in but one night."
"Aye," another elf chimed in. "Everyone deserves something nice and we
can not think how just the few of us could possibly make enough presents
for the people of the north, let alone get them all delivered in time for
the festival."
There was a chorus of agreement from the elves. Chricrin thought about
these problems for a moment, but then put a finger alongside his nose and
said with a smile, "I believe I have a solution."
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