Ivan and The Magic Ring

By Danie De Villiers

Ivan, a little boy, living with his grandparents, have to leave the comfort of their house after he bought a dog and a cat with money he was supposed to buy food rations for the coming winter.
He set out on an adventurous journey with his two new friends, Growler and Kitty, and after saving a princess in distress, she rewarded him with a magic ring.
This magic ring allows him to undone his mistakes of the past, and put him in a position to reunite with his grandmother.
With the assistance of Grandmother, Growler and Kitty, and the magic ring, he marries the daughter of the King. This marriage takes him on another adventure, as his new wife was not very happy to marry the farmer’s boy.
At the end, the magic ring purifies the heart of his wife and they could live happily ever after!
This is a story for children of all ages; even for adults who still believe in the magic of being a child! It is all about a magic ring, but don’t we all, not only children, want to believe in magic once in our lives? Take this journey of discovery with Ivan and let us all see the beauty all around us! Maybe we will complete this journey as better and wiser people!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Danie De Villiers
• Release date: Aug 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476265049

Danie De Villiers

I matriculated in 1972 at the Ermelo High School. In 1975 I obtained a BA Degree from the University of Potchefstroom with Communication Science as one of my subjects. I joined the South African Prison Service in 1976 and I started my career in the Communication Directorate at their Head Office in Pretoria. I was responsible for compiling the annual report, press releases, and information brochures as well media liaison. In 1981 I was tasked to research the history of the South African Prison Service and in 1982 it was published as an in-house publication. In 1985 I was appointed as the editor of the Prison Service’s personnel magazine, Nexus; a post which I occupied until 1993. However, in 1989 I was also ad hoc tasked to implement a museum for the Prison Service and in 1991 I completed the Post Graduate Diploma in Museum Science at the University of Pretoria. The museum was commissioned in 1992. I also made turns at the Prison Service’s Offender Control and Human Resource Directorates respectively where I was responsible for policy development. In 2000 I was tasked to establish the Staff Function at the newly commissioned Pre-Release Center at Devon (Gauteng). In 2005 I started writing specialized articles for six blogs as well as for various specialized websites, inter alia http://hendrikdb.hubpages.com/ In 2006 I obtained a qualification in Practical Bookkeeping which was followed up with a qualification in Practical Auditing. In 2010 I opted for early retirement and since this date I am a freelance bookkeeper and writer.

Book preview

Ivan and the Magic Ring

Danie De Villiers

Copyright 2012 by Danie De Villiers

Smashwords Edition

Chapter 1: Ivan Goes to the Market

Ivan, a cute little boy, lived with his grandmother and grandfather in a small wooden house on the edge of a big forest in a far, far away land. In front of it, mile after mile stretched the broad lands.

It was a pleasant place in spring and summer, for flowers bloomed upon the forest edge and birds sang in the green shade, and the broad lands were a sea of waving corn, green at first and then yellow and then red-gold.

In winter, the forest was dark and the broad lands were white. Great winds swept across them and often heaped the snow so high that Ivan could not see out of the windows. Still the cottage was a pleasant place to be in, for Ivan’s grandmother kept it as bright and clean as a new pin.

The walls of the cottage were only made of logs, but they kept out the winds, and the stove kept the living room warm. It was a black stove with a top as large as a bed, and on cold nights all three of them slept upon it as it was much cosier than blankets and silken quilts could have made them. Ivan’s grandfather was not at all rich, but in summer, he earned enough to keep them in comfort and to lay by a store of food and wood for the winter. By the time of the first snow, the pantry was full and the wood stack was as big as the house itself. Most times the old man was able to put a little money into the jar on the dresser that was his savings bank.

Then there came a summer when he fell ill on the first day of harvest and could earn nothing. Ivan did his best, but when winter came and his beloved grandfather passed away, Ivan and his grandmother were in a poor way. The wood stack was small and the pantry was little more than a quarter full.

His grandmother made her food go as far as possible, but at last, when they were nearly at an end, she took down the jug and counted the money.

Ivan, she said, today there is a market in the town. Here is half our money. Take it and spend it as best you can.

How shall I bring home all I buy? he asked.

Go to our neighbour and ask if he will lend you his horse and sleigh.

Good! said Ivan, I shall enjoy that.

He put on his coat and fur gloves and long boots, and pulled his fur cap down over his ears, for, though the day was still, the air was nipping cold. As he trudged along there was not a sound between the white earth and the grey