It was a harvest holiday and Tom Fitzpatrick was out playing in the fields, when he heard a strange little sound of tapping from somewhere close by. He looked stealthily through the hedges and bushes. He saw a little old man with a beard, wearing a leather apron and a green cap, sitting on a tiny wooden stool repairing his shoes. Next to him was a large pitcher, into which he dipped a cup from time to time and drank. It was a leprechaun! Tom couldn’t believe his eyes, for leprechauns hid gold and were never seen. It was said that one must never take one’s eyes off a leprechaun one sees, or they would vanish! He went close and then greeted the leprechaun. “What’s there in the pitcher?” asked Tom. “It’s beer that I made out of heather!” said the leprechaun. “May I have some?” requested Tom, but the leprechaun asked him to go away.
The Leprechaun’s Trick
The leprechaun was reluctant to share his beer, and Tom, fearing the little fellow would vanish, grabbed him. In the scuffle, the pitcher toppled over and the beer spilled out! “Now you had better show me where you have hidden your gold,” said Tom, “Or I’ll not let you go!” “It’s under a boliaun tree in the field,” said the leprechaun, leading Tom to a field that was full of boliaun trees. The leprechaun stopped near one and said, “Dig under this and you’ll find a pot of gold!” Tom had to fetch a spade, so he tied a red scarf to the tree to recognise it on his return. “Promise not to untie that scarf,” he told the leprechaun, “Then I’ll set you free.” The leprechaun promised. Tom ran home and returned with a spade, but he could never find the tree. The leprechaun had tied red scarves on all the boliaun trees and vanished!
