The Leprechaun Fairy Tale

They say that in Ireland there live leprechauns, tiny shoemakers. Each one has a pot of gold buried somewhere. If you catch a leprechaun, he must tell you where his treasure is.

One day a young man named Tom was walking across a field when he saw a little man under a bush, tapping away with a hammer as he mended a shoe. He wore a green coat and a red cap. "A leprechaun!" thought Tom, and he grabbed him.

"Tell me where your gold is!" said Tom. Several times the leprechaun tried to trick him: "Look, enemies are coming! Your cow has run away!" But Tom never took his eyes off him.

At last the leprechaun led him into the field and pointed to a thistle. "The gold is under this one." Tom had to run home for a spade. So that he would not lose the spot, he tied his red garter around the thistle.

"You won't take off my garter while I'm gone?" asked Tom. "I won't, I promise," said the leprechaun. Tom let him go and ran home for a spade.

When he came back, the leprechaun had kept his promise, and the garter was still there. But on every one of the thousand thistles in the field hung exactly the same red garter! Tom laughed. There is no outwitting a leprechaun.