BRON AND KRUGE.

KING RHINE.

Old King Rhine sat upon his rocky throne among the reeds. He had given his kingly word that for three months his river, the Rhine, should not overflow its banks, and that there should be no manner of tempest upon its waters. The old gentleman was sad and gloomy. A month had passed since he gave this promise, and all that time he had had nothing to do. This was hard upon him, for he had led a very busy life. Many an army had he helped across his river, and many a one had he broken to pieces with floods, and tempests. Christians and savages, knights and nobles, and men of low degree had fought upon his banks. Men had built castles, and he had swept them away, or crumbled them into ruins. And, sometimes, he had helped beautify them, and spread grass and flowers all around them. And he had occupied himself in many other ways.

And now there was nothing for him to do. He looked up and down the length of the stream. The waters were still and blue, and vessels glided over them, and the little boats rocked gaily on the swelling waves. At the wharves of the cities men were busy loading and unloading the ships, and all rejoiced in the pleasant and prosperous season. On the hill-sides the vineyards were as full of grapes as ever they could be, and the vines found their way up the very walls of the ruined castles, and hung their purple clusters on the loosened stones.

It was very pretty, and the old king took pleasure in it, but he always liked to have something going on that was not quite in the ordinary way.

Suddenly he remembered that there were other creatures under his care besides men. There were Nixies, and Fairies, and Gnomes, and Dwarfs, and Undines, and Elves, and Sylphs, and Peris, and Nymphs, and Dryads, and Giants.

A RHINE VINEYARD.

Giants! Here was something for him to attend to! There were not a great many giants left on the banks of the Rhine, but the few that were there were capable of doing a great deal of mischief; and king Rhine had been hearing bad reports of them for a long time. But he had been so busy with men and their affairs that he had neglectedlooking after anything else. It was high time that these giants were taught better manners.

But who was to teach them? Who should he employ to subdue these giants, who were as tall as oak trees? Men could do nothing against them. Since the death of Jack the Giant-Killer no man had ever been known to conquer a giant.

In his perplexity he summoned a wise woman, who lived on the highest peak of the highest mountain on the river, and who always gave wise counsel; but would never leave her rocky home except when some one was in great need of good advice. She came to the king at his bidding and this is what she said:

“Good dwarfs can conquer bad giants.”

Not another word would she utter. She made this same answer to every question the king put to her, until, finally, he flew into a rage, and shook his reedy sceptre at her. Whereupon this wise woman disappeared.

The king spent several days thinking about this matter. He could not fight the giants himself, for that would be beneath the dignity of a king. As for what the wise woman had said about the dwarfs, that was ridiculous. A little creature, scarcely a foot high, to conquer a mighty giant! But, after considering the matter a good while, it did not seem quite so absurd. He recalled to mind something the gnomes had done some years before.

Now a gnome is as small a being as a dwarf, and his home is under the ground, so that he seldom sees the light of day. Consequently he is not as bright and quick-witted as a dwarf. And yet a few of these creatures had first astonished all the civilized nations on the globe, and then set them all to quarreling. In order to make you understand how this was I must go back for a minute to the world before the Flood.

THE GNOMES AT WORK.

A long time before the Flood, before man was created, the worldwas inhabited by beasts, fishes, and reptiles of enormous size; very much larger than any at present upon the earth. We know this because parts of the skeletons of these animals have been found in various places; and the learned men of different countries have written a great deal about them.

Now it happened that some years before this trouble had arisen between King Rhine and the giants, and before his talk with the wise woman, some gnomes while digging in a cave for gold, found buried in the earth the skeleton of an immense head. Astonished at this sight they determined to let gold hunting alone for a while, and to see if they could not find the rest of the animal to which the head belonged. They worked carefully and industriously for many months with their little picks and spades, and, finally they laid bare the whole skeleton of a monstrous creature of the very queerest shape the gnomes had ever seen. I say the whole of it, but there were a few bones wanting here and there, for which the gnomes searched in vain in the earth around the spot where the creature lay.

This animal measured thirty-three feet in length. It was shaped somewhat like a great lizard, but it had the back-bone of a fish, and the fins of a dolphin, with the head and teeth of a crocodile. But what eyes it must have had while living! The gnomes amused themselves by crawling in and out of the sockets! The ball of the eye must have been as large as a man’s head!

When the gnomes had finished this great piece of work they did not know what to do with the huge creature they had found. It was of no use to them, and, after they had taken a few of the smallest bones for drum-sticks, they would have nothing more to do with it. After a time, the sight of this terrible, fleshless monster was hateful to them, and they could not move it away.

In this dilemma they went to King Rhine to know what it was best to do with this fruit of their long labors. He told them they had beenvery foolish gnomes to spend so much time on a thing that was of no use to anybody, and that ought to be covered up from the sight of men. He advised them to put all the earth and stones back again, and bury the horrid creature.

The gnomes could not make up their minds to do this, and they moved out of the cave into another part of the same mountain, and left the lizard in possession of their old home.

Soon after a wood-cutter, being caught in a storm, took refuge in this cave; and the sight of this gigantic skeleton frightened him more than the storm. He ran to his village with the wonderful news. A very learned man who lived there, hearing the story, went to look at the skeleton, and was filled with astonishment, for he had never even imagined such an animal.

He immediately wrote a book about it.

And then old Rhine found that, in this case, the gnomes were wiser than their king. For, so far from this creature they had dug out of the ground being of no account, it caused a greater stir than anything that had happened in his kingdom since the last army had been driven across the river a good many years ago. People flocked from all quarters to the cave, and business was lively the whole length of the river.

Learned men came from every country in the civilized world. And each one wrote a book about the lizard-fish. But the worst of it was that no two of them agreed as to what it was. They disputed so long, and so earnestly over this skeleton that, at last, the unlearned took up the quarrel, each country feeling bound to support its own learned men. And in this way the governments were drawn into the dispute, and there had liked to have been a war over the old bones. Letters of instruction to Consuls were flying about, and there was a great examination into treaties; when, all at once, it became known that the learned men all agreed that the animal was theIchthyosaurus, andthat the last one had died thousands of years ago. So the war was happily averted.

Then the dispute was as to who had first found out this fact, but this was amicably settled by the discovery that all the learned men had found it out at precisely the same time.

During all this the gnomes had worked away in their new home at their own affairs, and knew nothing of the great commotion they had caused. But king Rhine nodded his old head, and said to himself; “The gnomes are a very little people, but they have managed to set the whole world by the ears.”

He recalled all this now, and thought perhaps the wise woman meant what she said about the dwarfs and giants.

He despatched a trusty messenger to a colony of dwarfs who lived in a large ruined castle. These dwarfs, or Kobolds, as they are called in that part of the country, sleep all day, and do their work at night. Therefore the king chose an owl, venerable with age and wisdom, for his messenger. He was to travel in the night-time, and rest in the day.

On the second night, quite early, the owl arrived at the castle. He flew quietly into the ruin, so as not to frighten the dwarfs, but he found they had already gone. He was afraid he was too late; and that they had all dispersed to perform their several duties; but, hearing a great noise outside, on the opposite wall from that he had entered, he flew up into a narrow window where there was no glass, and looked solemnly down, with his great staring eyes, upon a very merry scene.

THE KOBOLDS.

The little kobolds were having a frolic before they separated for the night’s adventures. They were chiefly employed in running up and down the wall, chasing lizards, though some were dancing on the grass at the foot of the castle, and others were swinging on the vines, and gathering grapes. They were making such a hubbub that theowl thought he had better wait for them to get quiet before attempting to make himself heard.

He soon noticed that there were three dwarfs who took no part in the fun, and these sat upon the root of a tree near the castle talking very earnestly together. The owl knew something of the habits of the kobolds, and he supposed this trio to be the Council, chosen yearly by the colony. It was the business of the Council to assign to each dwarf his nightly task, and the affairs of the colony were mainly placed in its hands.

While the three are holding counsel together, and the owl is waiting, I will tell you something about these dwarfs.

They were generally larger than Fairies, although some of them were very small indeed.

There were three or four kinds of these little people, all called dwarfs, although there was a great difference in their characters, and labors. Some were wicked, and thought only of doing spiteful tricks; some were lazy drones, some mingled publicly with men, and became kings’ fools; some would never show themselves to human beings; and some were gnomes and worked underground.

The kobolds were the brightest, and most industrious of all the dwarfs, and were famed for being good-tempered and obliging. Every night these little creatures were busy in the fields, and the stables, and the kitchens of the neighborhood. They never quarrelled among themselves, and they gave nobody any trouble. Hence they were spoken of as thePeaceful People.

Sometimes field laborers, on going out in the morning to weed, or to reap, would find the work already done. A poor farmer’s wife coming into her kitchen in the morning to make the fire would find the wood all cut, and laid in order, and a pail of water brought from the spring. Sometimes the little people would go into the dining room, and wash the glasses, and clean the silver. Occasionally theywould go to work, and drive all the mice and spiders out of a house. They washed dishes, and cleaned vegetables, and made themselves useful about the house in every possible way. All they required in return was a little food. A bowl of milk, or some nice fresh bread, was set upon the kitchen table, and that was supper enough for a kobold.

TAKING A REST.

Some of them preferred to work in stables. They would curry the horses; comb out their manes; shake down straw for the litters, and clean the stables. But this is hard work, and the little things would get very tired. So the coachmen, and the farmers used to tie knots in the manes of the horses to afford resting places for the kobolds. They would sit in these to rest their weary limbs and often take a little nap there to refresh themselves.

They visited the sheep in the fold, or on the hill-sides, and kept the fleeces white and clean.

There were many other things the kobolds did, but I have told enough to give you an idea of the busy, and helpful life they led; and will now return to the colony that lived in the old castle.

The owl looked down and watched the frolic of the dwarfs for nearly an hour. Then one of the three dwarfs, who formed the Council, blew a shrill blast upon a whistle. At this signal the whole colony gathered into a group in front of the Council. Now all were quiet, and the owl knew this was his time to speak, for the tasks of the night were to be given out, and as each one received his commission, he would go away.

The owl flapped his wings, and they all looked up. Some of them had seen him before, and knew him to be one of the king’s messengers.So they invited him to a seat on a rock near them, and listened with respectful attention while he told them of the bad behavior of the giants, and of the advice of the wise woman. He took good care not to tell them that the king at first thought this advice ridiculous, but made it appear that his majesty relied upon the good dwarfs to conquer the giants, and to make them behave peaceably. The method of accomplishing this he left entirely to their wisdom.

It was a very flattering speech, and the owl looked so grave while delivering his message that the dwarfs believed every word of it. Never in all the history of kobolds had anything like this happened. The giants were the beings that the dwarfs feared more than any other creatures, and they took very good care always to keep out of their way. And now their king thought them capable of vanquishing these gigantic enemies! The whole colony became at once puffed up with pride and vanity, and clamored to the Council to lead them forth immediately to fight the giants.

Two of the members of the Council had their wits completely carried away by the enthusiasm of the colony, and waved their hats, and shouted, “On to the giants!” But the third member sat quiet until all the company had shouted themselves hoarse, and were still once more. Then he said:

“My friends, we can never conquer the giants in an open fight. One of these huge creatures could crush a dozen of us at a time with one foot, and a giant’s club would knock our whole colony higher than a kite. Moreover we know nothing about fighting. The kobolds have been peaceable people from the beginning of time, and all warfare is distasteful to us. The giants are big and strong, but everybody knows they have not much wit, while our small heads are full of brains. The giants do nothing but mischief, and any fool can do that. But we spend our time in work that requires intelligence and skill. The king has honored us by selecting us to punish the giants for theirbad behavior, and I feel sure we can conquer them; but we must do it by using our brains, and not with weapons of war.”

The name of the dwarf who thus spoke, was Bron, and he was looked upon by the whole colony as the brightest wit among them. So they listened attentively to all he had to say. But they were not in the humor for following this good advice. The king evidently expected them to fight the giants, and fight them they would.

They sent a message back to the king that they were going forth to battle, and, in three days, would bring to him, as a trophy, the head of Kruge, the chief giant.

The dwarfs now consulted as to a plan of action. It was agreed that they should, in a body, march upon the stronghold of Kruge, surprise him while asleep, and tie him down, fast and firm, with a great number of small cords. Then they would cut off his head.

If Kruge was killed, or submitted to them, the remaining giants were as good as conquered, for they all depended upon Kruge.

The kobolds sharpened their little swords that had only been used for cutting twigs, and strings. They made bows and arrows, and gathered sharp sticks, and armed themselves with brooms, and hoes, and spades, and reaping-hooks. They organized companies, and drilled, and marched, and counter-marched all night long; and enjoyed it immensely. They slept soundly the next day; and by night, they were ready for action.

They marched gaily forth in four bands of a hundred each. The first band was assigned to Bron. He did not approve of the expedition any more than at first, and his heart was sad, for he thought his tribe was marching to certain death. But, as they were determined to fight, he resolved to go with them, and do his best. It was better to die with them than to live alone.

Kruge lived a long distance from the castle, and, as the dwarfs had to rest most of the day, it was late in the second night when they drewnear the great cave where the giant dwelt. Fortune favored them, for Kruge lay outside of the cave stretched upon the ground fast asleep. He did not hear the delicate footfalls of the tiny creatures who had come to him with such evil intent, and they could easily tie him down without awaking him. But the dwarfs saw that their small cords would avail nothing when the giant did awake. He would snap them in a minute. And the probability was that as soon as they commenced sawing at his throat to cut his head off he would wake up. What would become of them then? He could crush half a dozen of them with one hand. His size too, was appalling! They had forgotten he was soverybig when they sent the king word they would cut off his head.

While they whispered these things to each other, and became more frightened every moment, Bron tried to rally them into some sort of order, and some show of courage.

Suddenly the giant drew in his breath, and sent it out again in a most tremendous snore. The sound was as loud and terrible to the kobolds as the roarings of a lion is to men. Those standing in front of the giant’s mouth were blown by his breath to the distance of a hundred yards, and fell, badly bruised. And then commenced a mad stampede. The dwarfs fairly tumbled over each other in their haste to get away, and they did not stop to take breath until they reached the friendly shelter of a field of mushrooms, fully a mile from the giant’s cave. Some of the very little ones finding their legs failing them, sprang upon the backs of butterflies, and bees, and made the rest of the journey in that fashion.

The dwarfs were obliged to acknowledge that their expedition had failed; and they were so heartily ashamed of this attempt at warfare that they told Bron he might arrange the affair with the giants according to his best wisdom, and they would faithfully do as he bade them.

Bron pondered over the matter for several days. He thought of agreat many stratagems for conquering the giants, but dismissed them from his mind one after another. A giant was a very unwieldy object to manage. At last he made up his mind he would consult a very cunning fox, who lived near.

THE FLIGHT OF THE KOBOLDS.

The fox said to him; “You know that turkeys roost on trees?”

“Yes,” said Bron, wondering what that had to do with the matter.

“And you know that foxes can’t climb trees?”

“Yes.”

“Did you never observe that I can get a turkey whenever I want one?”

“Yes.”

“Now, how do you suppose I get that turkey when it is high up on the tree, and I can’t climb to it?”

“I never thought anything about it,” said Bron, “but itiscurious, now I do think of it.”

“This is the way I do it. I walk round and round that tree. The silly turkey turns its head round and round to look after me. Pretty soon it gets dizzy, and falls off.”

“I see,” said Bron. “Thank you.”

He went at once to the dwarfs, and told them he had resolved to conquer the giant himself, in single combat.

They tried to dissuade him, and told him he would never come out from that fight alive, and that the colony could not get along without him. It would be better to send word to king Rhine that the task he had assigned the dwarfs was too hard, and that they could not do it.

But Bron said the honor of the kobolds was at stake, and he was resolved to fight Kruge.

The king laughed when Bron made his proposition. He challenged the giant Kruge to single combat. If he succeeded in cutting off the forelock of the giant’s head; Kruge, and all the giants, were to be servants to the kobolds. If he failed to do this, the kobolds were to be servants to the giants.

The giants laughed when they accepted the challenge. And all the Dryads, and Nixies, and Elves, and Sylphs, and Fairies laughed when they heard the news.

In a few days a great concourse of these creatures assembled to witness the sport. The combat took place in a grassy field on the bank of the river. All the giants were there. But the kobolds thought it best not to attend. The gnomes however, crept out of their dark homes, anxious for the fate of their cousins, the kobolds.

Bron and Kruge entered the open field, and, for a moment, stood,and looked steadfastly at each other. The dwarf had to strain his eyes a little to look up so far as the giant’s head. Bron was pale, but he had a resolute air. As for Kruge, he burst into a loud laugh at the ridiculous figure cut by his small antagonist. He laughed so that he had to bend over, and hold his sides. Everybody laughed except the gnomes. The king, himself, could not restrain a smile.

THE COMBAT.

Bron now slowly walked around the giant, as if examining him. The giant looked after him. Presently Bron began to walk more swiftly, and the giant turned round and round to see what the little fellow was going to do. Soon Bron was running, and the giant, much amused at this mode of warfare, turned and turned until he got tired of the sport. “I will catch the pigmy up and hold him tightly in my fist,” he thought; and he made a step forward for this purpose. He was so dizzy, by this time, that he fell headlong upon the ground. As quick as thought, Bron cut off the forelock from the giant’s head, and held it up with a shout of triumph.

All but the giants clapped their hands, and shouted. The crowd surrounded the plucky little fellow, and bore him to the king, who immediately conferred upon him a vast estate, consisting of several acres of marsh grass.

Kruge now offered to Bron the services of himself and of the other giants, according to the terms of agreement. But Bron modestly said that he was only an individual member of a community, and that the dwarfs in a body must decide upon the duties of the giants. He therefore requested Kruge to carry him on his hand to the home ofthe kobolds, where they would settle this affair. The giant was very angry, but he was forced to comply. Bron stood up on the palm of the giant’s hand, and Kruge reached the old castle in a few strides. Bron desired to be put down in front of the cellar door, and he then marched high up in the ruined tower to a great hall, where the kobolds held their solemn meetings. As for the giant his head just reached the hall when he stood upon the ground.

PRONOUNCING THE SENTENCE.

Bron found the whole tribe of kobolds there assembled, talking over the wonderful event. They were very much startled, and not a little frightened at this sudden appearance of Kruge in their midst, especiallyas he did not look at them very pleasantly. But Bron with a very grand air, presented the giant to them as his captive, and lawful prize, won in single combat.

It was then decided by the dwarfs that the giants should lay aside their swords, clubs, and spears, and should become peaceable citizens. That they should thenceforth work for what they ate, and wore, and not seize it by plunder. That they should learn the useful arts of farming, housework, and stable-cleaning. In short that they should become like the kobolds themselves.

THE DESPAIR OF KRUGE.

The giants served the dwarfs in these ways for a long time, but it was very distasteful work. They felt so ashamed and so degraded at serving these tiny creatures that they shunned all living beings as much as possible, and hid in the depths of the forest. They knew they were a laughing-stock to all men, and fairies, and water-spirits, and wood-nymphs. Kruge fared worst of all. All these people when they saw him would point at him, and say: “There goes the giantwhose head was turned by a pigmy!” He would sit for hours, when he was not at work, holding his head, tearing his hair, and grinding his teeth with rage. It would have been a grievous thing to him to have been conquered by another giant, but to have been vanquished by a pigmy was too humiliating!

He finally proposed to the giants that they should all quit that country. This they did. Thus the king was happily rid of these wicked and troublesome subjects; and not a giant has been seen on the banks of the Rhine from that time to the present.

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