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In those days, instead of seeking for the trouble inside, or asking whether there was any connection between nightmares and too hearty eating of cheese, the Dutch fathers laid it all on the goblins. The goblins, or sooty elves, that used to live in Holland, were ugly, short fellows, very smart, quick in action and able to travel far in a second. They were first cousins to the kabouters.
Then they built great roaring fires, to smelt the ore into ingots. They would show the teachers that the Dutch kabouters could make bells, as well as the men in the lands of the South. These dwarfish people are jealous of men and very proud of what they can do.
Styf also summoned to his aid the kabouters, and, from these ugly little fellows, got some useful hints; for they, dwelling in the dark caverns, know many secrets which men used to name alchemy, and which they now call chemistry. Then Styf fenced himself off from all intruders, on the top of a bright, sunny hilltop, with his thinking cap on and made experiments for seven days.
Some bargained with the kabouters, or fairies of the mines, to bring them shining ore or precious gems which they offered to Snow White. Others, again, went afar to get strange wonders, amber and ambergris, from the seashores of the far north to please her.
The elves are the little white creatures that live between heaven and earth. They are not in the clouds, nor down in the caves and mines, like the kabouters. They are bright and fair, dwelling in the air, and in the world of light. The direct heat of the sun is usually too much for them, so they are not often seen during the day, except towards sunset. They love the silvery moonlight.
At the low notes the babies called out "cow, cow;" but at the high notes, "bird, bird." So it happened that, on the very day that the bishop had his great church built, with a splendid bulb spire on the top, and all nicely furnished within, but without one bell to ring in it, that the kabouters planned a great surprise. It was night.
His wife was saved the expenses of a funeral, for his carcass was never found, and the covetous undertaker lost a job." "What of the third one?" they asked. "Oh, Mynheer Eerlyk, you mean? No harm can come to him. Everybody loves him and he cares for the orphans. There will be no mouldy penny in his house." Then the meeting broke up. The good kabouters were happy.
"A jolly story," cried the kabouters in chorus. "Served him right. Now tell us about Vrek the miser. Go on." "Well, the saying 'Much coin, much care, is hardly true of him, for I and my trusty helpers ran away with all he had. With his first silver penny he began to hoard his money. He has been hunting for years for that penny, but has not found it.
Now when the chief gnomes and kabouters heard of the newcomers in the land, they held a meeting and said one to the other: "We shall help all the teachers that are good and kind, but we shall plague and punish the rough fellows among them." So word was sent to all little people in the mines and hills, instructing them how they were to act and what they were to do.
Hoping to catch these lights and use them for candles, the mean fellow would find himself in a swamp, full of water and chilled to the marrow. Then the kabouters would laugh loudly. Old Styf had the most fun with another stingy fellow, who always scolded children when he found them spending a penny.
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