The Angel of the Direst Necessity
A story by Beth Birkenhain
Translated from Swedish to English by Anna
This tale has old Lovisa told me, old Lovisa whom I will remember for
the rest of my days, as I saw her in my childhood, sitting in her chair
by the window in her little chamber under the roof. She had served both
my mother and grandmother before she grew old, and she was like a
little elf to all us children. The best I knew as a child was to go and
visit Lovisa. I admired everything in the little room! The wooden floor
with all the bright carpets, the colour prints on the walls that all of
the depicted scenes from the sea, and the treasures on her chest of
drawers: yellowing portraits among pieces of coral and shimmering
seashells. Lovisas family was seamen. Both her father and her brothers
as well as the young man she had loved as young and who had drowned a
winter night at Cape Horn had been sailors. But most of all I loved to
sit curled up on a stool at Lovisa's feet as she, with her frail, kind
voice, told me fairytales. "There was once a big forest", old Lovisa
told me, "an enormous, 10 league forest. In the deepest part of the
forest there lived the lady of the forest, and she ruled over the
entire forest and everything living there in. One morning it so
happened that she sent out her messengers, the shimmering dragonflies,
all around the forest with a message that the lady invited all her
subject to a feast the following day. But they all had to be there
before nightfall! Because the gates would close when the sun went down,
and woe to the poor soul that then still was outside!! The message
brought a lot of commotion to the forest and they, that had a long way
to go, set out immediately, because the lady of the wood was not to be
crossed. The birds spread their wings, the weasels ran swiftly through
the bracken, the bear lumbered away, the wolf sneaked pass him like a
shadow, the fox followed the wolf, and the hart pranced down the path
without any fear of the wild animals around him, because when the lady
calls no one has time to hurt another. And think of what happened lower
down! The ants came marching in their thousands, the frogs bravely
leaped forward, the snakes slithered and the worms crawled. Everybody
was in a hurry. At the edge of the forest there lived three brothers,
all wood cutters, in a cottage. They too received the lady's message,
and since they too were subjects to the lady of the wood, they put down
their axes and set forth. They had a long way to go and dared not stop
to rest. They walked all day and hardly rested that night. But the
following day, towards evening, and they were soon to reach the lady's
dwellings, they heard a whimpering sound from the side of the road:
-Help me, help! I will not make it on time! Please take me with you!
Please! Big brother, the oldest of the brothers, hurried on without
acknowledging the cry. Middle brother, the second of the three, threw a
glance in the direction of the cry, but did not slow down one pace.
Little brother, the youngest, alone ran to the edge of the road to see
who needed help. - Hurry on Little brother! his brothers called. Don't
stop, you can be to late! And without waiting for him they continued
their way. But at the edge of the road there lay a snail, and it was he
who had cried. -Take me with you! he gasped. I have crawled and crawled
as fast as I can, but the road is so long and I hardly move at all. So
Little brother lifted him up and put him in his pocket. And don't you
think that he minded handling that snail. Because in those days the
snail's skin was dry and warm. Little brother started to run and had
almost reached his brothers when he once more was stopped by a cry for
help from the edge of the road. - Come and help, it said, Come and
help! I'm stuck! Let me loose and take me with you, or I'm lost! This
time the cry came from a blackbird, that had been caught in a
thornbush, and before Little brother had helped the bird loose, the
brothers had already disappeared out of sight. The poor bird had torn
his wings so badly that he could not fly. Little brother put him in his
other pocket, and the bird sang out with his beautiful voice. Because
in those days the blackbird's song was just as beautiful as the song
thrush's. Now Little brother was in a real hurry and once again he
started to run, He was so tired, but the sun was starting to set and he
still had a long way to go. It was quiet and still around him in the
forest, as if all the living already had reached the feast. Little
brother ran and ran with pounding heart and gasping breath. Already the
highest tree tops covered the sun. When Little brother for the third
time heard a cry of help from the edge of the road. -Have mercy and
help me! it said. Carry me the little bit that is left or I will be
doomed! It was a hare that was lying, moaning in a bush. He had hurt a
paw and could not run any further. And Little brother just could not
harden his heart even though he was scared and feared to come too late
to the lady's feast. He lifted the hare on his shoulders and the hare
wagged his tail out of pure joy. Because in those days, you see, the
hare had a long and bushy tail. And so Little brother ran on as fast as
he possibly could. The sweat was running down his forehead, because the
hare was quite heavy to carry, and Little brother was the smallest and
weakest of the three brothers. But although he ran as fast as he could,
it still would not go fast enough. The sun sank further and further and
the shadows grew longer and longer. Finally the huge wall appeared, the
wall that surrounded the lady of the forest's garden. The gate was
still open and it was shining from all the beauty and wonders within.
Little brother gathered his last strength and stumbled forward. -
Hurry! The hare called from his shoulders. -Faster, faster the bird
chirped from his pocket. -Hurry, hurry! the snail groaned in the other.
But the legs hardly carried him anymore. And still he bravely struggled
forward.... Oh, now he was almost there..... The an ice cold breath
came through the forest. The sun was setting. And the gate in the wall
closed with a heavy thud. Little brother fell on his knees, filled with
fatigue and grief. The hare jumped down from his shoulders, the
blackbird flew out, and the snail crawled out, and all three cried in
chorus. Yes, their lamenting made Little brother totally forget his own
predicament for their sake. If I at least could help them, he thought.
He crawled on his knees all the way to the gate - he no longer had any
strength for walking. He tried to open it, but it was locked. Then he
saw the keyhole. It gaped big and empty. He lifted up the snail - and
behold, the snail could crawl through the key hole! At least he was
saved! The joy gave Little brother new strength. He took the blackbird
and threw him like a ball up in the air so that he fell down on the
other side of the wall. Now the bird too was saved! - I'll help you, if
you help me! the hare whined eagerly. And Little brother helped him. He
lifted him up in his hands and stretched up as far as he could. That
made the hare totally forget his hurting paw and he took a giant leap
over the wall and was saved he too. Little brother waited with pounding
heart. Would any one of his friends now open the gate for him! But
nothing was happening. So finally he gathered up his courage and
knocked on the gate. He knocked and he knocked. Finally he could hear a
key in the lock and the gate opened. The light from within dazzled him,
the sent of the flowers intoxicated him, and the jubilant voices
deafened him. But when he came to his senses again he saw that it was
the lady herself that stood in the gate, high and proud and so icingly
hard to look at, that he felt the tears burning in his throat. -Why are
you late to my feast? she asked. - I helped three of your other
subjects he timidly answered, three that had suffered accidents on the
road and would not have made it at all otherwise, lady mistress. I
managed to get them in through the gate but I remained outside. -Call
them, so they can come forth and testify, if you tell the truth! the
lady said. -Snail! Little brother called. But the snail didn't come. He
had crawled under a green leaf, and he lay there shivering of fright
that he would be discovered. If I crawl out, he thought, the lady will
surely throw me out again, since I did come through the key hole. So
great was his anxiety that he broke out on a cold sweat all over . And
so it has been ever since: the snail has been cold and clammy to touch
ever since he betrayed Little brother! - Testify for me, blackbird!
Little brother called as loud as he could. The blackbird sat on a
branch singing. He pretended to hear nothing and continued with his
song. He sang and sang, as if nothing else existed for him in the whole
wide world, he sang even though his heart was stuck in his throat for
fear of the lady throwing him out if she found out that he had been
thrown over the wall. He sang as much as he could, he sang even more,
he sang until he lost his voice. And so it has remained; the moment he
betrayed Little brother the blackbird lost his beautiful voice and ever
since he grows tired as soon as he tries to sing. - The blackbird
doesn't know you, the lady said with a menacing voice. Is there no one
who can testify in your behalf Little brother? - Hare, dear friend come
out! Little brother whispered forlornly. The hare had even more pain in
his paw after the jump and had not been able to seek cover like the
snail, nor could he offer his song like the blackbird. Oh dear, she's
going to flay me alive, he thought and was stiff of fright. If the lady
hear that I came in after the gate had been closed, she'll surely throw
me out again. He crept up to the lady with his tail between his legs
and he spoke with his softest voice. - Gracious mistress he said, I do
not know that boy. I just know that I passed him on the road. And I
called out to him to hurry up! But he was so scared, that coward, that
it would show how much he lied while he talked. And he crushed his tail
between his legs to keep from trembling, he crushed it so hard that it
broke. And so it has been ever since: the hare has had to go with a
bobbed tail from that moment when he betrayed Little brother. The lady
of the forest was terrible to behold in her anger. - Go away from here!
she said to Little brother. You can expect no mercy here! Then she
whistled on her shaggy wolfhounds - who's names were Cold and Darkness
and Storm and Snow - and let them loose through the gate and locked it
with double locks. In that same moment it was like all evil had been
let loose and filled the forest. It became pitch black night, the storm
howled, the snow where whirling, and the cold was biting. Little
brother screamed, cried, and prayed, but received no answer from
within. Then he understood that everybody had abandoned him and that he
was doomed to go under." I cried when Lovisa had reached this stage of
her story, I cried as if my heart would burst. - Don't say that, Lovisa
I implored. Please, tell me that the lady showed mercy and opened the
gate for him! Lovisa shaked her white head. - She did not open that
gate my child! But tell me at least that a prince or a knight came
riding through the forest and saved Little brother! Lovisa shaked her
head. - There were no other human being in the forest besides Little
brother, she said. - Is it really true, Lovisa, I cried. Lovisa put her
old wizened hand on my hair. - Don't cry so, my child, she said. Wait
so I can finish my tale. Finish? Then there was something behind the
cold and dark and storm and snow. - Oh please hurry and tell me the
end, Lovisa! I prayed. And Lovisa sat up in her chair and started to
tell. But she didn't continue with Little brother in the forest as I
had expected. She started to talk about Heaven instead. "High up above
the earth, in the bright halls of Heaven there Our Lord is sitting on
his throne of gold. And all around him his angels are standing. Michael
on his right side and Rafael on his left, Gabriel in front of the
throne and Uriel behind it. There stands the angel for all the little
children, and there stands the angel who strengthens the sick, and the
angel who comforts the lonely. Oh, there are more angels than you can
count and Our Lord has given each and every one of them a special task.
But at the feet of Our Lord there sits an angel who's name I don't
know. Oh, yes, Our Lord loves all his angels, but I believe that He
holds the one who sits at His feet most dear. And that is the angel of
the direst necessity. He comes to all the forgotten and betrayed and
who has sacrificed everything for others. Nothing on earth can be
hidden for his eyes. Nothing can be kept a secret for his ears. The
angel of the direst necessity forgets no one. The angel of the direst
necessity is also a master of time. Even if hundreds of his charges
were to perish at the same moment, he would still be there for each and
everyone. And now you must know my child, that it was that angel who
came to Little brother. His white wings shone bright and the night
turned light. He spread out his blue mantle and the whirling snow came
to rest. And Little brother rubbed his eyes as if he had awakened from
a dream and asked in awe: - Why was I so sad? And the angel carried him
into a garden, in whose comparison the lady of the forest's was like a
wilderness." - Lovisa, I said, can you really not remember the angels
name? I so wanted to know his name. - I don't know his name. And no one
else on earth knows it. Our Lord has given him a name that Can't be
pronounced by a human tongue. Because else, my child, would we not call
that angel every now and then, in our ignorance, and disturb him in his
vigilance, we poor sinners who believe that every distress that happens
to us is the direst necessity.