My Own Fairy Tales

The Magic Chalk

Many years ago there was a landlord who had two sons. The landlord favoured his older son because the older son was selfish and mean just like his father. The younger son on the other hand was kind, honest and helpful and his father didn't like him for that. Because of his dislike the landlord made his younger son a servant of the house. The older son was no better because he liked to bully his younger brother. The other servants in the house felt sorry for the younger son because they liked him and did whatever they could to help him.

One cold morning the younger son was gathering some firewood from the forest. He shivered whilst he worked because he didn't have a warm coat, hat and scarf to wear. Because he was made a servant of the house his father made him wear old raggedy clothing like a pauper. Just then a little strange looking man came up to the boy.

"Pardon me young man," said the little man "but do you have any spare food to share with me? I haven't had a bite to eat since yesterday morning".

"Of course sir, I have plenty of food on me to share with you" said the younger son.

The younger son had pieces of bread, pieces of cheese and pieces of meat with him and shared it with the little man. The little man was grateful and gave the younger son a stone of white chalk.

"This chalk is magic;" said the little man "anything you draw will become real. But if you draw out of greed the drawings will turn into something bad". Then the little man left. The younger son was puzzled by what he said, but he kept the stone of chalk anyway out of gratitude.

That night the younger son went up to his room, which was a cold attic. He lit a fire with some measly pieces of firewood he had in the fire place to try and keep warm. Apart from feeling cold the boy was also hungry; when it came to meal times his father would give him small portions of food like a pauper, while he and the older son had big portions of food. It was then the younger son decided to try out the magic chalk the little man gave him. On the wall he drew a plate of cooked chicken with potatoes and vegetables, and a pot of tea with a cup. A second later the drawing became real. The younger son couldn't believe his eyes. He tried a piece of chicken to check if it was real and it was. The little man had told him the truth about the chalk being magic after all. The younger son was delighted with this magic and ate his meal and drank the tea at once.

"I want to draw some more things" he said. He drew some more wood for the fireplace in his room, a warmer blanket and a softer pillow for his bed and some new warmer clothes to wear which all became real at once. Thanks to the magic chalk the younger son was happier than he had ever been in his life.

With the magic chalk the younger son would get whatever he needed, making sure not to draw with greed, and he even used it to help the people in the village; he drew some extra animals like cows or donkeys for the farmers, drew medicine for those who were sick and couldn't afford a doctor, drew materials for women to make clothes for their families and drew new tools for carpenters and woodcutters. The villagers were grateful to the younger son and thanked him with all their hearts.

Over the days the landlord became very suspicious of his younger son. Seeing his son looking well fed and with better clothing made him wonder if he had been secretly taking food and clothing from somewhere. He even heard about his son helping the villagers and wanted to know how his younger son got the money for all the things he gave them. The landlord told his older son to keep an eye on his little brother and the older son did as he was told; he watched his little brother all day while he worked and did errands. When night time the older son spied on his little brother by peeking through the key hole. The younger son drew a meal for himself with the magic chalk, and the son saw what had happened. He quickly went to his father and told him what he saw. The landlord couldn't believe it at first, but he became very interested of the magic chalk and decided to have it for himself.

Later that night when the younger son was asleep, his father crept into his room and snatched the stone of chalk. Then the landlord ran out into the garden where his older son was waiting.

"I have the magic chalk," said the landlord "and I shall use it to get whatever I want". He drew a big pile of gold with the magic chalk. His older son quickly took the magic chalk and drew a magnificent horse for himself. But then the big pile of gold turned into a big snake and the horse turned into a big wolf. Because the landlord and his older son had drawn with greed using the magic chalk, their drawings had turned into something bad. The landlord and his son screamed when they saw the snake and wolf.

The next day the landlord and his older son were found dead in the garden; they were killed by the snake and wolf. The wolf and snake had evaporated into chalk dust after killing them. As the stone of chalk was seen beside the chalk dust the younger son understood what had happened to his father and brother.

As the younger son was the last living son to the landlord, he became the new landlord. He ruled the village with kindness, honesty and wisdom and continued to use his magic chalk to help the villagers.