Old Gwilym Evans started off one fine morning to walk across the Eagle
Hills to a distant town, bent upon buying some cheese. On his way, in a
lonely part of the hills, he found a golden guinea, which he quickly put
into his pocket.
When he got to the town, instead of buying his provisions, he went
into an alehouse, and sat drinking and singing with some sweet-voiced
quarrymen until dark, when he thought it was time to go home. Whilst he
was drinking, an old woman with a basket came in, and sat beside him,
but she left before him. After the parting glass he got up and reeled
through the town, quite forgetting to buy his cheese; and as he got
amongst the hills they seemed to dance up and down before him, and he
seemed to be walking on air. When he got near the lonely spot where he
had found the money he heard some sweet music, and a number of fairies
crossed his path and began dancing all round him, and then as he looked
up he saw some brightly-lighted houses before him on the hill; and
he scratched his head, for he never remembered having seen houses
thereabouts before. And as he was thinking, and watching the fairies,
one came and begged him to come into the house and sit down.
So he followed her in, and found the house was all gold inside it, and
brightly lighted, and the fairies were dancing and singing, and they
brought him anything he wanted for supper, and then they put him to bed.
Gwilym slept heavily, and when he awoke turned round, for he felt very
cold, and his body seemed covered with prickles; so he sat up and rubbed
his eyes, and found that he was quite naked and lying in a bunch of
gorse.
When he found himself in this plight he hurried home, and told his wife,
and she was very angry with him for spending all the money and bringing
no cheese home, and then he told her his adventures.
“Oh, you bad man!” she said, “the fairies gave you money and you spent
it wrongly, so they were sure to take their revenge.”