Translated from the German of Hans Andersen.
There was once a hard-working student who lived in an attic, and he had
nothing in the world of his own. There was also a hard-working grocer
who lived on the first floor, and he had the whole house for his own.
The Goblin belonged to him, for every Christmas Eve there was waiting
for him at the grocer’s a dish of jam with a large lump of butter in the
middle.
The grocer could afford this, so the Goblin stayed in the grocer’s shop;
and this teaches us a good deal. One evening the student came in by the
back door to buy a candle and some cheese; he had no one to send, so he
came himself.
He got what he wanted, paid for it, and nodded a good evening to the
grocer and his wife (she was a woman who could do more than nod; she
could talk).
When the student had said good night he suddenly stood still, reading
the sheet of paper in which the cheese had been wrapped.