comrade thought this very good pay for such a job; so he went away
and soon came back bringing the blue light and the gold. Then the
prisoner soon lit his pipe. Up rose the smoke, and with it came his old
friend, the little dwarf. "Do not fear, master," said he: "keep up your
heart at your trial and leave everything to take its course;--only mind
to take the blue light with you."

The trial soon came on; the matter was sifted to the bottom; the
prisoner found guilty, and his doom passed:--he was ordered to be hanged
forthwith on the gallows-tree.

But as he was led out, he said he had one favor to beg of the king.
"What is it?" said his majesty.

"That you will deign to let me smoke one pipe on the road."

"Two, if you like," said the king.

Then he lit his pipe at the blue light, and the black dwarf was before
him in a moment. "Be so good as to kill, slay, or put to flight all
these people," said the soldier: "and as for the king, you may cut him
into three pieces."

Then the dwarf began to lay about him, and soon got rid of the crowd
around: but the king begged hard for mercy; and, to save his life,
agreed to let the soldier have the princess for his wife and to leave
the kingdom to him when he died.

175

The following tale is from Taylor's translation
of Grimm. The cheerful industry and the kindly
gratitude of the shoemaker and his wife,
together with the gayety of the little elves,
make the story altogether charming. No doubt
its popularity was helped by Cruikshank's
famous accompanying etching, showing the scene
at the close, in which the two elves "are drawn
with a point at once so precise and vivacious,
so full of keen fun and inimitably happy
invention, that I have not found their equal in
comic etching anywhere. . . . The picturesque
details of the room are etched with the same
felicitous intelligence; but the marvel of the
work is in the expression of the strange little
faces, and the energy of the comical wee
limbs." (Hamerton, _Etching and Etchers_.)

THE ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKER

There was once a shoemaker who worked very hard and was very honest; but
still he could not earn enough to live upon, and at last all he had in
the world was gone, except just leather enough to make one pair of
shoes. Then he cut them all ready to make up the next day, meanin