Learning About the Leprechaun

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The leprechaun comes from a mixture of "luchorpan" (small person) and a word that means "one-shoemaker." As a symbol of St. Patrick's Day, the leprechaun is a smiling and happy elf. But, legend has it that the leprechaun is grumpy and untrustworthy. Ancient myth says that he guards a pot of gold from humans. One story tells that an Irishman caught a leprechaun and got him to reveal which tree had a pot of gold buried underneath it. The man tied a handkerchief around the tree's trunk and left to get a shovel. But when he returned, handkerchiefs were on every tree -- the workings of the leprechaun.