Village Shepherd

Praxis, the pixie who changed colour according to his feelings, was a bright and healthy pink. He looked so good and so happy with himself that everyone who saw him couldn't help smiling. The fact was, he'd been chosen for a very important job.

There was only one other pixie who changed colour, and he was very old and had grown very wise. The wise old pixie had been just like Praxis when he was small, but now he was old, all his colours combined to produce a radiant, brilliant white. The white was a sign that inside himself he was at peace, and as a result of that peace he had become very wise and very well loved.

The wise old pixie took a special interest in Praxis, and had often helped him in the past. After all, he knew what it was like when everybody could see exactly what you were feeling. It was all right when you were feeling happy, but not so good when you were feeling sad or angry or jealous. When you felt like that, everyone took one look and gave you a wide berth. And sometimes they laughed at you or sneered at you, because you were different.

Today, Praxis was the wise old pixie's doorkeeper. His job was to open the door of the toadstool whenever anybody knocked, and to bring them through to wait until the wise old pixie was ready to see them. Praxis felt very important, and it was such a lovely feeling that he was bright pink with happiness.

When other pixies knocked on the door, he would open it and usher them in, showing them to a seat and taking great care of them. Then, he'd tap quietly on the wise old pixie's door, disappear for a few moments into the inner sanctum (that felt especially good, since not many people enterd the inner sanctum) and emerge to tell the visitor it was time for them to see the wise old pixie.

It all worked very well until the goblin arrived. Praxis heard the knock and bounced to the door as usual. But when he opened it, he saw not a pixie but a goblin standing on the doorstep. Praxis frowned.

"You can't come in here," he said, tossing his head.

"Why not? "asked the goblin.

"Because you're not a pixie," Praxis insisted firmly and rather self-righteously. "The wise old pixie only sees pixies. You'll have to find a wise old goblin of your own. You can't come to our wise old pixie, he hasn't got time for the likes of you."

The goblin looked very sad and turned away. Praxis closed the door and went back inside, feeling rather pleased with his firmness. A moment or two later, the wise old pixie came out of his study. "Who was that, Praxis?" he asked.

"Oh," Praxis said proudly, turning faintly purple in his pride, "you needn't worry about him! It was just a goblin! I've sent him on his way, I don't think he'll be back in a hurry."

"You've what?" The wise old pixie said, in a deceptively quiet voice. But Praxis didn't notice. Neither did he notice that unusually, the wise old pixie had turned a faint shade of deep crimson.

"I've sent him on his way," Praxis replied, enjoying his moment of glory. But his moment of glory was short lived, for something that seemed like an explosion of fire burst from the wise old pixie.

"How dare you?" he thundered, turning more and more crimson by the moment. "You don't decide who comes in here and who doesn't. You have only one task, and that is to open the door and welcome people in. I decide who to see and who not to see. How dare you turn people away? You're a silly, ignorant pixie, and you don't deserve a job at all, let alone one that requires any modicum of responsibility. You're to go straight after that goblin, and fetch him back. And before you think up any excuses, you're to tell him that I have asked for him personally and that he is welcome in my establishment."

Praxis cringed. He turned scarlet with shame. And he felt so foolish that he turned a little green at the edges, mixed with quite a lot of blue because he felt so terribly, terribly hurt. He knew too, that as soon as he stepped outside the toadstool, the whole world would know exactly how he was feeling, and would know exactly how he had been scolded by the wise old pixie.

Praxis felt like running away and hiding, and never coming out again. Part of him hated the wise old pixie, because he had only tried to help and do what he thought was right, and the wise old pixie had really hurt his feelings. But even as he heard himself thinking resentfully, "Stupid old goat! I'll show him! I'll never work for him again!" he found himself running after the goblin just as he had been told.

To Praxis' surprise, the goblin didn't laugh at him or sneer at him or even remark upon his colours. The goblin just seemed very, very grateful to him for coming back, and returned with him to the toadstool. Praxis opened the door in fear and trepidation, rather expecting the wise old pixie to thunder at him again and throw him out. But he didn't. The wise old pixie had returned to his brilliant white colour and he courteously thanked Praxis for his efforts.

Praxis didn't lose his job, and the wise old pixie never referred to the episode again. He treated Praxis just as he had always done, and Praxis knew that he really was loved by the wise old pixie. But Praxis never turned anyone away again.