Eight hundred years ago on the banks of the river Neath in South Wales there lived a boy named Elidyr. He was twelve years old, and when he grew up his mother hoped that he would become a priest. So she sent him to a very hard master to study his lessons. If he did not do his work well this master beat him until his body was covered with red and blue marks.
One day when Elidyr had failed to prepare his Latin lesson he was so afraid of his master that he ran away up the river and hid himself in a cave, in its banks. He stayed in this cave for two days. On the first day he said: ‘I would rather be hungry than beaten,’ and on the second day he said: ‘I think I would rather be hungry than beaten.’ On the third day, just as he was about to say: ‘I would rather be beaten than hungry’ two little men walked into the cave. They were carrying baskets of wild fruit and little pots of milk, and they gave these to Elidyr, saying: ‘We think it better to be neither hungry nor beaten.’
‘Oh yes, it’s much better! Thank you very much.’ cried Elidyr, and he took a large mouthful of the fruit. It was sweeter than any fruit he had ever tasted.
‘Our hearts grow warm towards you,’ they told him when he had finished, ‘and if you will come with us, we will lead you to a country where everyone is always happy.’
To Elidyr this seemed much better than returning to his teacher, and he followed the little men without fear. They led him along a path which went further and further into the cave, until at last it came out into a most beautiful country, where rivers flowed through rich green fields and all the trees were covered with flowers.
The little men brought Elidyr before their king, who was taller than his people but still much smaller than Elidyr himself. He asked Elidyr a lot of questions about his life in the world. He was especially interested to hear about his lessons and the master who beat him.
‘In our country,’ he said, ‘children are never beaten. Stay with us, Elidyr, and you shall be treated like my own son. But though you are free to play, you will do well to study your lessons with my son. If learning is good for a prince, it is good for a priest too.’
This sounded sensible to Elidyr, and he eagerly promised to learn.
For a whole year Elidyr lived in the Otherworld with the Little People, learning his lessons and playing at ball with the King’s only son. Though these men and women were small, they were more beautiful than any he had seen before. They had horses and cows too, and other animals such as we have on earth, all to fit their own size. They never ate meat or fish, but only vegetables and fruit and milk, which they cooked with sweet tasting grasses.
Above all they were gentle and loving to each other, and always completely honest. When he saw how happily the Little People lived together, Elidyr made up his mind to be as honest and faithful as they were.
During this year the boy returned a number of times to the human world. At first the two little men who had brought him fruit and milk went with him along the path that led to the cave in the river bank; later he was allowed to go quite alone.
When he first returned to his mother’s house the poor woman wept for joy, for she had believed him dead. She listened in wonder as he spoke of his new life in the Otherworld, and when she heard that he was studying with the King’s son, she did not try to stop him from returning there.
On later visits to his mother Elidyr told her everything he could about the Little People and the way they lived.
‘Even their cups and plates are of gold,’ he told her one day.
‘What! The cups and plates they use every day?’ she cried.
‘Yes, they have no others. And the ball which the Prince and I play with is gold the whole way through.’
‘A ball of gold!’ For a minute she was silent. ‘My son,’ she said then, ‘do you love your mother?’
‘Of course I do.’
‘Then will you do one thing for me?’
‘Of course I will. What do you ask, Mother?’
‘I ask you to bring me the golden ball.’
Elidyr was deeply unhappy. But he had promised to do what his mother asked, and there seemed to be plenty of gold in the other world. So the next day, when their lessons were finished, he said to the King’s son: ‘Shall we have a game of ball?’
‘Certainly, if you wish.’
As the golden ball flew backwards and forwards between them, Elidyr’s heart was heavy.
‘There! We have played long enough.’ The Prince turned away, and quickly Elidyr put the ball in his pocket and set out along the path to the cave.
Soon he heard a noise behind him like mice running. He began to walk faster, but the fairy footsteps behind him came nearer.
‘Give back the ball! Give back the golden ball!’
Looking quickly round, he saw that it was his two first friends who were chasing him. He began to run. Faster and faster he ran, but still the two little men came nearer, and by the time he reached the back of the cave they were close behind him.
He could see daylight now: the human world was very near. But just as he was reaching safety, his foot caught on a stone, and he fell flat on his face. The golden ball rolled from his pocket along the ground, and into the hands of the two little men.
Slowly Elidyr stood up. He could not look at the faces of friends.
‘Forgive me, please forgive me!’ he cried. ‘Take me back with you, and I will never try to deceive you again.’ They remained silent.
‘Please,’ he cried again, ‘I did wrong for my mother’s sake. That was only human.’
‘We think it better,’ they answered, ‘to be neither faithless nor human.’ They turned coldly away from him.
Tears filled his eyes, so that he could not see the little men as they set out along the path to the Otherworld, carrying the golden ball between them. The Otherworld with all its delights was lost to him for ever.
