Podcasts for children: The Troll and the Toymaker, Part 1

Once upon a time, there was a little village near the sea where the people lived very happily. In this village, there lived a very old woman who made toys of all kinds for boys and girls. The old woman's toys were always made of wood, or fabric or stone. There was no shape that was beyond her skills. All the people of the village sought her to make special toys for the children.

Outside of the town, down deep in the forest, there lived a Troll. The Troll was very large standing over nine feet tall and six feet between the shoulders, with long arms and short legs. It had green skin with very oily hair, and it's top and bottom clothes were made from the forest plants. The Troll's face was like a cross between a man's and frog's with a broad flat nose and big eyes. The Troll lived in a hut it had fashioned out of dead trees, rocks, and dirt. The hut was very finely assembled and the Troll was very handy with tools. He would often carve pictures into his table and chairs and they had become very ornate. The Troll was alone, always. He only ever saw the animals of the forest.

One day two children had been allowed to go into the forest to gather herbs for their grandmother's favorite soup recipe. It was a beautiful day and the children decided to make a picnic and bring along their favorite dolls. The children walked deep into the forest and after finding the herbs found a lovely spot with a ring of trees around them creating welcome shade from the noon day sun. They ate happily and then brought out their dolls. They played and laughed. They didn't know it, but they had decided to picnic just a stone's throw from the hut of the Troll. And the Troll did hear them laughing.

It was such a strange sound to the Troll, he thought it must be birds. However, these were not any birds he had ever heard. So the Troll walked to where he heard the sound. As large as the Troll was, he was as quiet as a fox, for he did not wish to scare the birds. As he peeked through the ring of trees, he saw the children. He watched them and admired their game of dolls. He watched them for a few minutes and then a moth flew by and alighted on his nose. As he brushed it away, one of the children then looked towards him and screamed. This, of course, led the other child to scream, as children will do, and they both jumped and ran as fast as they could go back to the village. The Troll was as surprised as the children were. He wondered if there was something frightening behind him. He quickly dropped to the ground and looked behind him all around. He couldn't see a thing and decided to pickup the things left behind and take them to the children. The Troll thought the children were similar to birds as they took to flight when frightened.

It wasn't long before the children had reached the village and word spread that there was a Troll in the woods. Most of the people in the village believed that Trolls were awful creatures capable of horrible things and that something must be done to protect the village. Some of the younger men of the village gathered in number with clubs and torches while the others stood by telling them to take care. The Troll was just coming up the hill carrying the things that the children had left behind when the villagers were coming out of the gates. When the villagers saw the Troll, there was a yell to attack and they began to rush at him. The Troll was frozen with fear and just stood trying to understand what was happening. He had only seen the first two people he had ever seen when he spied the children. Now, here was a huge mob coming at him screaming and with fire. Soon enough, he understood that they meant to hurt him. He dropped the bundle and turned to run. Clubs and fire began to rain down on him as he ran for his life. The angry villagers split into two with one mob blocking him from the forest and the other continuing to push him towards the sea. The poor Troll had no chance but jump into the sea. As the villagers drove him over the cliff, they shouted for joy as they believed him finished.

Now, when the Troll jumped into the sea, he was fortunate as he hit no rocks, and Trolls can breathe underwater. So, he stayed under the water and swam as far away from the village as he could but keeping close to the shore to make his way back into the forest later. The villagers were quite satisfied and went back to celebrate. All the other villagers came out to meet them. Between them, everyone then noticed the bundle on the ground where the Troll had dropped it. It was the old toymaker who remarked it strange that the Troll was bringing these items to the village. These were the things left behind by the fleeing children. Why would the Troll be bringing it back? While everyone agreed it was strange, it was dismissed that anything good could come from the Troll. Although, the old toymaker and a few others, began to wonder. The villagers then went into the village and prepared to celebrate the end of the Troll.

Meanwhile, the Troll had come out of the sea and had made his way back to his forest hut. He was confused, very confused. He wondered why they attacked him. He wondered what made them so angry towards him. He wondered what he had done that was wrong. Then, he realized the children must have screamed because they saw him! He wondered if he really was frightful and, if so, what was it exactly? He walked back to the clearing where he had spied the children and then he noticed something on the ground. Something that was forgotten by the children and something he had missed. It was a carved wooden horse. It had been carved beautifully. Every detail was expertly done. He had seen a real horse once or twice before and this carving was very good. He wondered who had made it. Of course, it was the old toymaker who had made it, but the Troll had no idea of this. While it was not right to keep the horse, he decided to keep it since the risk of going to the village was far to great. Again, he remembered that angry mob and how afraid he was. His fear was beginning to turn to anger. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

He went into his hut and sat down. He said to himself that these creatures were not good. He would make them feel worse than he felt. Deep in his heart, he knew this wasn't right, but he just kept getting angrier. A plan began to form in his mind, a plan he would start on right away. The Troll quickly set out in the forest to gather the materials he would need.

Part 2 coming soon...