"
I stretched myself comfortably on the edge of the shawl at Mabel's
feet, and began to tell her the story about the German peasant who
caught the gnome that had robbed his wheat-field.
"The gnomes wear tiny red caps," I went on, "which make them
invisible. They are called tarn-caps, or caps of darkness. The peasant
that I am telling about had a suspicion that it was the gnomes who had
been stealing his wheat. One evening, he went out after sunset (for
the gnomes never venture out from their holes until the sun is down)
and began to fight in the air with his cane about the borders of the
field. Then suddenly he saw a very tiny man with knee-breeches and
large frightened eyes, turning a somersault in the grass right at his
feet. He had struck off his cap, and then, of course, the gnome was no
longer invisible. The peasant immediately seized the cap and put it
into his pocket; the gnome begged and implored to get it back, but
instead of that, the peasant caught him up in his arms and carried him
to his house, where he kept him as a captive until the other gnomes
sent a herald to him and offered him a large ransom. Then the gnome
was again set free and the peasant made his fortune by the
transaction.
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