This story goes back to the "good old times" of which we modern people
always speak with a sigh of regret.
It was then when good-natured goblins appeared to mortal eyes, and
tried to render the life of the troubled human race a little more
cheerful. In groves and dens they had magnificent dwellings and
watched there over the enormous mineral treasures of the earth.
Often these beneficent elves were busy miners or sometimes clever
artisans. We all know that they manufactured the precious trinkets and
arms of the Nibelungen treasure.
Deep in the interior of the earth they lived happily together, ruled
over by a king. They could be called the harmless friends of darkness,
because they were not allowed to come into broad daylight. If they did
so, they were transformed into stones.
The goblins did not always remain underground. On the contrary they
often came to the earth's surface through certain holes, called
goblin-holes, but they always avoided meeting man.
Alas! the advance of civilisation has driven these friendly spirits
gradually from the places where they used to do so much good. None of
us, I am sure has ever had the good luck of meeting one of them.
The goblins were of different sizes. Sometimes they were as small as
one's thumb, sometimes as large as the hand of a child of four years
old. The most remarkable feature of these tiny figures was the
enormous head and the pointed hump that so often adorned their backs.
Their look was on the whole more comical than ugly. German people used
to call them "Heinzchen" or "Heinzelmännchen."
A long time ago the good town of Cologne was inhabited by a host of
dwarfs, and the honest population knew a great many stories about
them. The workmen and artisans especially had, through the assistance
of the little wights, far more holidays than are marked in the
calendar.
When the carpenters, for instance, were lying on their benches in
sweet repose, those little men came swiftly and stealthily along, they
took up the tools and chiselled and sawed and hammered with a will,
and thus, records the poetical chronicles which I am quoting, before
the carpenters woke up, the house stood there finished.
In the same way things went on with the baker. While his lads were
snoring, the little goblins came to help. They groaned under the load
of heavy corn-sacks, they kneaded and weighed the flour, lifted and
pushed the bread into the oven, and before the lazy bakers opened
their eyes, the morning bread, brown and crisp, was lying in rows on
the table.
The butchers too could speak of similar agreeable experiences. The
good little men chopped, mixed and stirred with all their might, and
when the drowsy butcher opened his eyes at last, he found the fresh,
steaming sausages adorning the walls of his shop.
The cooper enjoyed also the help of the busy dwarfs, and even the
tailor could not complain of the goblins having neglected him.
Once Mr. Cotton, a clever tailor, had the honour of making a Sunday
coat for the mayor of the town. He worked diligently at it, but you
can easily imagine that in the heat of the summer afternoon, the
needle soon dropped from his hand, and he fell fast asleep.
Hush!--look there. One little goblin after the other crept cautiously
from his hiding place.
They climbed on the table and began the tailor's work, and stitched
and sewed and fitted and pressed, as if they had been masters of the
needle all their lives.
When Master Cotton awoke, he found to his great joy the mayor's Sunday
coat ready made, and so neatly and well done that he could present the
magnificent garment with pride to the head of the town.
The pretty wife of Mr. Cotton looked at this masterpiece of her
husband's art with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
In the night when her husband had fallen asleep, she rose from her bed
without making the slightest noise, and scattered pease all over the
floor of the workshop; she then put a half-finished suit on the table.
She kept a small lantern hidden under her apron, and waited behind
the door listening. Soon after the room was full of little men all
tumbling, falling, and slipping over the pease. Yells and screams rose
at the same time. The poor little men were indeed much bruised and
hurt. Without stopping they ran downstairs and disappeared.
The tailor's wife heard the noise, and thought it good sport. When the
yells were loudest, she suddenly opened the door to see her visitors,
but she came too late. Not a single goblin was left behind.
Since that time the friendly dwarfs have never more been seen in
Cologne, and in other places also they have entirely disappeared.