The Clockmaker
Niels was a clockmaker. He was a very fine craftsman. There was no doubt that his work excelled that of all others in his trade. He made clocks that ran well. They could always be counted on to show the right time. He made his clocks beautiful. He could work with wood just as well as he could with gears and springs.
Niels lived alone in a house near his clock store on the main street. However, he was rarely ever alone when he was in his shop, which was most of the time. People always came in to talk with him as he worked. He was a very wise man, and he always seemed to have some good advice for any difficult situation. He was also a very good storyteller, and he would hold people of all ages captivated for hours as he told of his younger days traveling around the world and carved out a frame for a grandfather clock or carefully pieced together a pocket watch.
He did not mind that most of the visitors in his shop could not have afforded his clocks even if they wanted them. Most of his sales went to wealthy people in the country anyway, and he was never low on good business.
Of all the people in the town, the most regular visitor to Niels’s shop was his granddaughter, Liesa. Every day after kindergarten was out, she would run over to his shop to sit on a little stool he kept for her and watch him do his work. She had a wonderful aptitude for understanding how clocks work, and Niels always liked to comment that he would one day have to leave the shop to her.
Some days, Liesa would bring her friends to the shop, and she would demonstrate how all of the different tools worked and tell them all about her grandfather’s work.
One dreary Monday afternoon, however, Liesa did not come to the shop. Niels worried that something might have happened to her.
“She probably is at a birthday party or something fun,” he said to himself. “One can’t expect a five-year-old to just sit an old clock store every day, after all.”
But that evening, his daughter knocked on his door with the news. Liesa had fallen ill and hadn’t felt well enough to go to school that day.
Niels nodded and thanked his daughter for letting him know. “I’m sure she will get better soon,” he said.
But Liesa did not get well. In fact, she got worse and worse. The news from the doctor was always grim.
Niels’s shop really wasn’t the same without her there. Even the other regular visitors seemed to notice. Every day, they would tell Niels that they hoped his granddaughter would get well soon.
Finally, one day, the doctor told Liesa’s parents that he believed she was going to die.
The family all mourned this terribly sad news, and someone went to tell Niels. He closed up his shop early that afternoon to come and see them. When he arrived, they brought him into Liesa’s room to say goodbye.
“Ah, Liesa, it’s good to see you,” he said.
“Yes, grandfather,” she sighed. Then she looked up at him with concern. “Grandfather, has the clock store been all right without me to help? I hope you’ve been able to keep up!”
“Yes, Liesa, it’s been all right. Thankfully, I haven’t had too much work to do.”
She nodded, apparently satisfied with this answer.
“Grandfather, when I get better, I have a lovely idea for a clock you can make,” she said. “I think you should make one of those clocks that has a bird in the top that comes out every hour and calls the time! I saw a picture of one at school.”
Niels looked over at her parents. Had they not told her?
“Yes,” he replied.
“We’d best let her rest,” said her mother, and they went out of the room.
When he left that night, the last thing Niels wanted was to go back to his own home. Instead, he slowly walked back to the clock shop. He was very sad.
He unlocked his store, lit a candle, and sat down at his workbench. Then he had an idea. He would build a cuckoo clock for Liesa! Perhaps if he worked quickly, he could finish it in time for her to see. Immediately, he began to build a new clock.
For hours, he worked and worked. The clock was beginning to take shape under his tools, but it would still be a long time before it would be finished.
Eventually, long after midnight, he was too tired to get much more done. As Niels laid his head on the bench to rest for a bit, he prayed, “God, please bring her back to health.”
When Niels awoke, the sun was already shining into his shop. He reached out to pick up one of his tools. If he wanted to complete this clock in time, he would need to get an early start.
To his surprise, there on the desk in front of him was a completely finished cuckoo clock—even wound and set to the right time! He picked it up and took a closer look at it. This was certainly the same clock he had started the night before, but it had been finished by someone else who was far more skilled than even himself.
“Why, this is remarkable!” he exclaimed. “This is the most perfect clock I have ever seen. Even the colors of the paint—I have never seen anything so bright!”
He opened the back and looked at the gears of the clock, happily ticking away. Niels nodded his approval. “This was done very well.”
As soon as he knew his daughter’s family would be up, he walked over to their house to bring this gift to Liesa.
When he brought it into her room, she exclaimed, “Why, grandfather, it’s beautiful! Who are you going to sell it to?”
“I’m going to give it to you, Liesa,” he said with a beaming smile, as he hung it on her wall.
The doctor didn’t really know why, but Liesa’s health began to improve that very day, and a few weeks later, she was well enough to return to school. Niels always smiled when he remembered the miracle of the cuckoo clock.
