The Little Folks' Presents

by The Brothers Grimm

　　A tailor and a goldsmith were travelling together, and one evening whenthe sun had sunk behind the mountains, they heard the sound of distantmusic, which became more and more distinct. It sounded strange, butso pleasant that they forgot all their weariness and stepped quicklyonwards. The moon had already arisen when they reached a hill on whichthey saw a crowd of little men and women, who had taken each other'shands, and were whirling round in the dance with the greatest pleasureand delight.

　　They sang to it most charmingly, and that was the music which thetravellers had heard. In the midst of them sat an old man who was rathertaller than the rest. He wore a parti-coloured coat, and his iron-greybeard hung down over his breast. The two remained standing full ofastonishment, and watched the dance. The old man made a sign that theyshould enter, and the little folks willingly opened their circle. Thegoldsmith, who had a hump, and like all hunchbacks was brave enough,stepped in; the tailor felt a little afraid at first, and held back,but when he saw how merrily all was going, he plucked up his courage,and followed. The circle closed again directly, and the little folks wenton singing and dancing with the wildest leaps. The old man, however,took a large knife which hung to his girdle, whetted it, and when itwas sufficiently sharpened, he looked round at the strangers. They wereterrified, but they had not much time for reflection, for the old manseized the goldsmith and with the greatest speed, shaved the hair ofhis head clean off, and then the same thing happened to the tailor. Buttheir fear left them when, after he had finished his work, the old manclapped them both on the shoulder in a friendly manner, as much as tosay, they had behaved well to let all that be done to them willingly,and without any struggle. He pointed with his finger to a heap of coalswhich lay at one side, and signified to the travellers by his gesturesthat they were to fill their pockets with them. Both of them obeyed,although they did not know of what use the coals would be to them, andthen they went on their way to seek a shelter for the night. When theyhad got into the valley, the clock of the neighbouring monastery strucktwelve, and the song ceased. In a moment all had vanished, and the hilllay in solitude in the moonlight.

　　The two travellers found an inn, and covered themselves up on theirstraw-beds with their coats, but in their weariness forgot to take thecoals out of them before doing so. A heavy weight on their limbs awakenedthem earlier than usual. They felt in the pockets, and could not believetheir eyes when they saw that they were not filled with coals, but withpure gold; happily, too, the hair of their heads and beards was thereagain as thick as ever.

　　They had now become rich folks, but the goldsmith, who, in accordancewith his greedy disposition, had filled his pockets better, was as richagain as the tailor. A greedy man, even if he has much, still wishes tohave more, so the goldsmith proposed to the tailor that they should waitanother day, and go out again in the evening in order to bring back stillgreater treasures from the old man on the hill. The tailor refused,and said, "I have enough and am content; now I shall be a master,and marry my dear object (for so he called his sweetheart), and I ama happy man." But he stayed another day to please him. In the eveningthe goldsmith hung a couple of bags over his shoulders that he might beable to stow away a great deal, and took the road to the hill. He found,as on the night before, the little folks at their singing and dancing,and the old man again shaved him clean, and signed to him to takesome coal away with him. He was not slow about sticking as much intohis bags as would go, went back quite delighted, and covered himselfover with his coat. "Even if the gold does weigh heavily," said he,"I will gladly bear that," and at last he fell asleep with the sweetanticipation of waking in the morning an enormously rich man.

　　When he opened his eyes, he got up in haste to examine his pockets, buthow amazed he was when he drew nothing out of them but black coals, andthat howsoever often he put his hands in them. "The gold I got the nightbefore is still there for me," thought he, and went and brought it out,but how shocked he was when he saw that it likewise had again turnedinto coal. He smote his forehead with his dusty black hand, and thenhe felt that his whole head was bald and smooth, as was also the placewhere his beard should have been. But his misfortunes were not yet over;he now remarked for the first time that in addition to the hump on hisback, a second, just as large, had grown in front on his breast. Then herecognized the punishment of his greediness, and began to weep aloud. Thegood tailor, who was wakened by this, comforted the unhappy fellow aswell as he could, and said, "Thou hast been my comrade in my travellingtime; thou shalt stay with me and share in my wealth." He kept his word,but the poor goldsmith was obliged to carry the two humps as long as helived, and to cover his bald head with a cap.