Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful valley with lots of charming and cozy houses, and it was filled with colorful and scented flowers.
In this very beautiful village, there was a mother who had to feed her seven children. She was living on her own with them. The crops were scarce, the wheat was scarce, the barley was scarce, and the potato crop was scarce. Winter had been harsh and she was left with no food.
She had no food, no bread, no vegetables, nothing to give them. She was desperate to find something to eat to give her children.
What did she tell her children?
“Children, dear children, we have to get something to eat.”
“Let’s go out and ask some neighbors to help us for a while.”
Knock… knock…knock… knock…knock…knock…
?Have you got something to give my children? They are starving and I have not got anything to feed them! Please, on bended knees, help!”
Knock knock… knock knock…
“Who’s there?”
‘I am Lady Lonely, my seven children are by my side and we haven’t got anything to eat… What should I do? Can you do me a favor, please, and give me a piece of bread or something to eat for me and my children? They haven’t had anything to eat for the past four days except some broth.”
“Sorry, Lady Lonely, I can’t help you. I wish I could but I can’t. My children are starving too!”
Knock knock …knock knock…
“I am Lady Lonely, can you help us and give us a piece of bread , even some crumbs will do, and some wood to get warm? We are exhausted. We’ve been walking in the woods to find some food but the weather’s been so bad we could not see what we were doing or where we were walking.
Can we come in and get warm?”
The door did not open but Lady Lonely could hear a somber voice saying in a very angry tone:
“Sorry! I can’t give you anything!”
Knock knock… knock knock…
“Come in!” answered someone in a cheerful tone.
Lady Lonely told her story to the only person left in the village, a man who was living by himself at the very top of the hill overlooking the valley. Gentleman Gentle was very happy to hear the cheerful cries of children and even more enthusiastic to prepare a soup with the vegetables he had been growing during the summer in his own garden. There were all sorts of them: onions, garlic and leeks, potatoes and carrots… and, last but not least, a huge pumpkin with parsley, rosemary and thyme.
Although he did not have much milk or cream, he shared the tiny amount he had with the children, including a fire burning warmly in his fireplace–thanks to the boys who had gone out and had collected some odd pieces of wood here and there.
He invited them to share his tiny house so that they did not feel the coldness of the night. The next morning, when they woke up, they realized that there was no valley nor village left but… a peaceful lake!
Indeed Gentleman Gentle was a hermit-cum-magician and had cast a spell on all the villagers who had not helped Lady Lonesome.
This is how LAKE SAINT POINT saw the light of day!