oy of the Seashell Statue

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

There was a small park next to Castle Lake where the young children of Lilliland liked to pay on the merry-go-round, swings, sand box, seesaws and other apparatus. Parents liked to play with the children for hours in this popular park. In the park was a statue of a young boy sitting on a large seashell holding two small fish and from the fish came the fountain sprays that re-circulated the water around the fountain. Everyone thought that the boy on the shell was a gift from the Baron.

When the Baron was asked about the statue he said he had no recollection of it being a gift from his family to the children of Lilliland. In fact, the Baron asked his chief advisor Professor Hamblin to see if he could find out how the statue came to be in the first place.

Professor Hamblin noticed some faded inscriptions in the base of the statue. The name of a famous Italian sculptor and the date 1897 could be identified.

Lady Angela of Alpine Castle recognized the name of the sculptor from Rome and that she had some of his sculptures in her castle. From the record books of Alpine Castle, it was learned that the artist stayed in Lilliland in the summer 1890 and stayed at Alpine Castle while he finished some of his smaller sculptures.

Professor Hamblin also noted that the busts of some of the family members also had the name of the artist on them. It seemed that the sculptor expressed great joy in the country and especially the children of Lilliland. He noticed the children spent happy hours in the park near Castle Lake and decided to give a gift to Lilliland in memory of the wonderful times he had while visiting Lilliland.

Professor Hamblin also found in the castle library a letter and a copy of the design of the boy on the seashell statue dated 1897. The letter mentioned a secret box in the base of the statue that contained a message from the sculptor revealing his thoughts on how to live a good life. The secret box was quickly located and the message was read aloud for everyone to hear. The secret of a good life for the children of Lilliland was to learn to be caring and optimistic while curious about all of life’s events. The Professor felt that the sculptor was telling them to follow the Golden Rule.