(by Norman Heldon)
A long, long time ago in a country far away a poor shepherd and his wife were lonely because they had no children. Then one day when the shepherd was searching for a lost lamb he saw a big brown eagle flying towards him. It came from the East and it held something in its claws. It flew down to the ground quite near him, gently laid its burden on the ground and flew away. The shepherd was astonished to find that it was a baby boy. He took it in his arms, hurried home and cried, "Look, my dear wife, we have lost a lamb, but God has given us a little baby boy to look after."
His wife said, "Why, he is as pretty as the basketful of wild flowers I picked this morning. And what a lovely coverlet he's wrapped in - it's pure silk with red roses embroidered on it."
He told her about the eagle that brought the baby, and then said "I'll leave him in your care now, while I go back to find the lamb."
They called the little boy Angelo, because they said, "He came from the sky and looks just like an angel."
So the little boy that seemed to come from somewhere up in the sky grew up as a shepherd. He loved the hard life, loved also the birds and animals and they loved him. As the years went by he became a very strong and handsome young man. He was brave too, and many times fought off wild animals that would have attacked his sheep.
But sometimes Angelo couldn't help thinking that he wasn't meant to be a shepherd all his life. He decided that soon he would go out into the wide world to seek his fortune. Then one day a a brown eagle came circling around. He got ready to defend his sheep, but the eagle did not attack;instead it flew away towards the East, came back, flew away again, and did that several more times. When Angelo went home he told the shepherd aboutit.
"It is a sign that you must follow the eagle," said the shepherd. But he said it sadly for he and his wife loved Angelo as if he were their own son.
Then they told him how the eagle had brought him when he was a baby. The shepherd's wife showed him the white silk coverlet with red roses embroidered on it.
"I will take it with me," said Angelo. "Thank you for looking after me and thank you for teaching me to love God and do what's right."
So he embraced them and left, walking towards the East. Soon the brown eagle came and flying in front of him, showed him the way he had to go. He travelled for forty days and forty nights, crossing seven high mountains and seven rivers. Angelo wasn't lonely, for besides the eagle there were many other wild creatures that he thought of as friends. Nor was he hungry because he knew which wild fruits to eat and there were springs of clear fresh water.
Angelo was beginning to wonder when he would see houses and people again.Then one day from the top of a hill he saw in the distance a large and beautiful city. White houses shone in the sun, and stretched right down to the seashore, where blue waters lapped the golden sand. With hope in his heart Angelo hurried towards the city.
When he entered the city, Angelo saw flags flying everywhere and the people were in a happy carnival mood. He asked the reason and they said it was because the Princess Gabrielle would be married soon.
"Who is Princess Gabrielle?" he asked.
"She is the loveliest girl in all the world," explained one, "and she is as kind and gentle as she is beautiful."
"The King and Queen adopted her when her parents died," said another, "soon after they lost their own baby."
"And who will the Princess marry?" asked Angelo.
"It is not known yet," was the reply. "Many Princes and knights and rich young men have come to try to win her."
"They can't all marry her," said Angelo, with a smile.
"No, the King has asked her to choose one who is proved to be strong and brave and wise, for he is growing old and wants someone to rule us when he dies."
"There will be contests," said another, "running, and throwing the spear,wrestling and horse races. It will be wonderful to watch."
Angelo made his way to the palace for he was quite anxious to have a look at the prettiest girl in the world. In the courtyard were the King and Queen and Gabrielle, and the Princes and knights and rich men. Angelo saw that Gabrielle was indeed beautiful. She had long golden hair that shone in the sunlight, her eyes were ocean blue, and her merry laugh was like the song of a bubbling stream. She wore a red robe with white roses embroidered on it. As he watched her walking around smiling and meeting people, Angelo fell in love with her straight away.
Boldly he addressed the King. "Your Majesty, if you will allow me I would like to enter the contests and perhaps win the Princess's love."
The King said scornfully. "What you, a mere country youth,would dare to compete with Princes and knights. You are impudent, go away, young man."
But Gabrielle, who had been listening and like the look of the handsome young man, as much if not more than all the richly dressed proud-looking Princes and knights, said she would like him to compete.
The Queen said so too and added, "You know, he is about the same age as our son would have been had he lived. In Prince's clothes he would look rather like you when you were married.
So the King, smiling said, "Young man, you may compete. What is you name?"
"My name is Angelo," he replied.
So the nest day the contests began. The other men at first made fun of "the country boy" as they called him but soon came to admire him for his speed, strength and courage. Only one could match Angelo and he was the mysterious Black Knight. The Black Knight had a cold, hard look and he was dressed all in black. They all thought this Black Knight used some kind of trickery, making their spears fall short and their horses stumble. But Angelo thought continually of Gabrielle, and his love for her grew and this seemed to give him greater strength. Her eyes gave him encouragement and that made him try even harder.
At the end of three days Angelo and the Black Knight had each won six contests, so the King called them to him.
"You two men are equal in these contests of strength and speed. Therefore I will now ask you one question and you answers will show which one is the wiser. You will give your answers at this time tomorrow - and the question is, "How many stars are there in the sky?"
So the two men went away to ponder the question. The Black Knight obtained charts of the night skies, the starry heavens, and went to his room. On a large board he began to write numbers. Also if anyone had listened at his door they would have heard him muttering strange things.
Angelo went to the seashore and stayed there, for the evening was warm.
As the stars came out he began to count but he soon gave up, for more and more and many more stars began to appear, and he knew that the task of counting them was beyond him. He was in despair, and the twinkling stars,which had always seemed so cheery and friendly when he was minding his sheep, now seemed to be laughing at him.
Angelo knelt down on the sand to pray. Then he fell asleep. And he dreamed that he was carried up into the sky on the wings of the brown eagle and they flew amongst the stars. It seemed to him that if they flew forever they would never come to the end of them. He played with them, picking up handfuls of them and they shone like jewels. He thought, "This must be God's treasure house."
When Angelo awoke on the beach in the morning he had grasped two handfuls of sand.
As the appointed time drew near a great crowd assembled. All had heard the King's question and wanted to hear the answers of Angelo and the Black Knight.
When the time came everyone fell silent. The King asked the Black Knight first.
"Have you found out how many stars there are in the sky?"
"Yes, You Majesty," replied the Black Knight confidently, "there are five hundred million two thousand and seventy three."
All the crowd shouted thinking how clever the Black Knight was.
"And you, Angelo," asked the King. "What do you say?"
In reply Angelo opened a bag that he was carrying. It was full of sand, and he threw all the sand on the ground in front of the King.
"No one can tell, you Majesty," he said, "how many stars there are. They are as many or more than the grains of sand on the seashore. Only God, who created them, knows their number."
The King clapped his hands."Your answer is the true one, Angelo. No man can tell the number of the stars, only God the Creator."
He drew his sword and handed it to Angelo, saying, "You are the winner, and I give you my sword as a prize."
As Angelo knelt to receive it the Black Knight, seeing that he was defeated, gave a loud cry of anger. Suddenly there was a great flash of flame around him, and then, instead of the Black Knight, there was a large dragon, breathing fire from its nostrils. As the crowd fell back in fear,the dragon made for the Princess and would have carried her off but Angelo,with the King's sword in his hand, sprang to defend her. A terrible fight began. Finally, though he was wounded, and scorched by the flames, Angelo with some mighty blows struck off the dragon's head, and it fell dead at his feet.
At that very moment, the brown eagle flew to the ground and as it landed it turned into a young girl.
"Now that the Black Knight, who was really a magician, is dead I am free.
Don't you recognise me?" she said to the King and Queen,"I am you little Prince's nurse who was caring for him when he disappeared. The magician turned me into an eagle and threw your baby into the sea. But he didn't drown; I snatched him and from the water and carried him high into the sky and far away, safe from the magician's power. And there,"she said,pointing to Angelo, "is you son. I have brought him back to you."
"It must be true," cried Angelo to the astonished King and Queen, "isn't this the coverlet I was wrapped in?"
The happy King and Queen embraced Angelo and there were tears of joy in their eyes.
"Angelo," murmured his mother, "we could not agree on a name for you, but Angelo seems just right."
"Angelo you remain," agreed the King.
Angelo and Gabrielle were betrothed that day. They sent for the kindly shepherd and his wife to come to the wedding and rewarded them and the nurse with rich gifts.
When they were married, Angelo wore on his Prince's robe a red rose, and Gabrielle wore a white one.
And they lived happily ever after.
The New Church Hurstville