The Yule Cat ( a Pagan children's story)

The little Pagan child shivered as he stood in the cold wrapped in his rags. It was Solstice night and he hoped someone would give him some scraps to eat. Usually someone did, but, tonight everyone was busy with their Yule celebrations and they seemed to have forgotten the young orphan. He had known he shouldn't have come to the wealthy side of town to beg, people here had so much and therefore, so much to do. He'd always had better luck on the poor side of the village. The boy sighed, maybe tomorrow someone would remember him and take pity. For tonight he would just have to go hungry once again. He also wondered about the Yule Cat. Legend had it, the giant feral cat prowled the roads the night of Yule hunting for humans. Fierce and wild, The Yule cat ate any human who did not honor the Sun King by wearing new clothes on Winter Solstice. Stories of the ancient Yule Cat struck terror into the heart of the boy, he could not imagine a worse fate than being torn apart by the gigantic blood thirsty creature. He shivered violently at the thought and hoped it was just a legend. He had no hope of getting new clothes for Solstice, he was too poor. The most he could hope for was a piece of bread. It wasn't fair! Why should he be eaten by Yule Cat just because he couldn't buy new clothes? He sighed, well, it was probably just a story anyway. He hoped again that it was.
*
As the boy walked along the dirt road, he pulled his thin rags closer to his small body and looked at the windows of cottages. The fires inside were so hot that the shutters were thrown open. He saw a man inside one warm glowing cottage window, laughing and eating what looked like a feast! He knew that man. He was not a good man. He was a rich man, but, not a nice man. Once the man had slapped the boy for begging in the street and said "Get out of my way, you dirty thing!" The boy had been humiliated and scared and he had taken off running. He remembered that the man had been on his way to the bank, bragging about counting his money. The boy sighed as he watched the man through the window and his tummy growled. It started to snow and as cold and hungry as he was, the little boy looked up at the sky and he thought, "Hail to the Sun King, may his rebirth be joyous!" Because he really was a good Pagan boy, even if he was poor and an orphan. And through the big fluffy snowflakes the stars twinkled like jewels.
*
The boy turned to go back the way he had come and his heart nearly jumped out of his chest! He gave a small scream, for right there in front of him, blocking his path, stood the Yule Cat. Oh, Goddess, he was a sight to behold! Towering over the boy with muscular haunches and terrible fangs glinting in the moonlight, he seemed ready to pounce! So horrible was his face that smoke poured from his flaring feline nostrils in huffs and puffs. It was true! The legend was true! Yule Cat was real and the boy knew he was about to die. He gave a quick prayer to The Moon Goddess to take him into her cloak and closed his eyes, for it was clear..there was no escape from the monster.
*
Nothing happened. What was the cat waiting for? The boy cautiously opened his eyes and looked at the giant cat. The Yule Cat's yellow eyes had softened and he said "Child, do not fear me. I do not eat children." And though the boy was still terrified he quietly stammered "Wha, wha, what do you eat then, Your Majesty?" Because the boy figured the cat must be some kind of a King, he had to be! And the big cat sat back on his haunches with a plop and licked his thick paw with a haughty expression and said, "I eat mice, like every other cat in the world, dear silly boy. What is your name?" And the boy replied, "I am called Sigel, sir."
*
"Sigel?" said the cat said disdainfully, "A fine thing! A boy named after the rune of the mighty Sun King standing hungry and cold on the streets on Solstice! Oh, my child, things are about to change for you." And the mighty cat began to purr and his eyes turned to soft gold like the robes of the King of the Sun and he told the boy his real purpose. He told the boy how the Yule Cat strikes fear into the hearts of the greedy and heartless. Those who have no empathy for their fellow man are called trolls and the cat had been sent by the Sun King since the beginning of time to change the trolls into real people. To teach them about heart. About kindness and love.
*
And the Yule Cat said "Watch." And he pounced onto the rich mans window sill and he yowled a mighty yowel and the smoke billowed from his flared nostrils and his fangs grew long like blood dripping bone daggers. And the rich man screamed and said "Noooooo, Yule Cat, nooo, spare my life! I beg you, I'll do anything!" And then Sigel almost laughed it was so comical. The rich man was so afraid it looked like he might wet his skins. The Yule Cat told the rich man he was slothful and never did anything to help his village even though he had too much money. And he told him how The Sun King hates lazy greedy people and how he knows the man got rich by cheating peasants! "And he knows how mean you are to children and animals, and that is the worst sin of all." And the rich man cried and he promised to change. The Yule Cat demanded "Change now! Look about you! Change, or I will be back!" And he turned and gave Sigel a yellow wink and he vanished into the snowy Solstice night.
*
The rich man breathed heavily and looked about. He spotted Sigel, he seemed to see the boy for the very first time and he said, "Boy, come in, come into my home and be warm and I will share my feast with you." And Sigel came in. And they ate and ate and they rang Solstice bells and shared the songs of the night. And the rich man gave the child the most beautiful fur cloak for his very own so that he did have new clothes on Yule! He said that in the morn he would have the tailor fit it to size and he would have the baker make Sun cakes for the boys breakfast. And that's exactly what he did. And this time, he did not cheat them, he paid them triple for their work!
*
Sigel stayed with the rich man and, at first, Sigel could tell that the man didn't really want him, he was just afraid of the Yule Cat. Still, who wouldn't be happy to be warm, well dressed and well fed? The man was not unkind. But, as the days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months..something happened to the man. He began to understand that the boy really was good and sweet and the boy made him laugh. And the man changed. And he asked Sigel to call him "Father" and Sigel did. After that they lived happily together, the man and his son. And in the years that followed, the man made sure all poor children had a merry Yule and he found that he actually enjoyed giving. He never cheated anyone again. He became the best Pagan in the village and people loved him very much. He had more friends than he could count, blessings from Mother Moon and Father Sun and best of all, a son of his own. Sigel got a puppy on the next Yule and the puppy lived happily with Segil and his father. His father was not too fond of cats for some reason, but, he was never cruel to them. It made Sigel smile.
*
And deep in a dark alley on Winter Solstice night a giant cat licks his paws and in a very haughty manner hisses, "Humans. They need all the help they can get." And he laughed and his golden eyes sparkled.....just like the Sun. Happy Yule to all.
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Story by Pat Jones, based on a Scandinavian Pagan legend.