A tailor and a goldsmith went on a journey together. One night, they heard sweet music and, following the sound, they reached a hill.
There, in the moonlight, were many tiny men and women singing and dancing in a circle. In the centre of the circle sat a tiny old man. He saw the tailor and the goldsmith and, to their amazement, he invited them to join the dance.
The tailor and the goldsmith spent the night dancing with the little folks. Suddenly, the old man took out a knife and shaved off the hair on the men’s head. They stood there, bald and shocked! The old man pointed to a heap of coal and told them to fill their pockets with it.
The frightened fellows obeyed him and went off on their journey, completely puzzled. Reaching an inn, the two men just fell asleep as they were tired.
In the morning, they found their hair had grown back, thick and shiny! They felt in their pockets. They were filled with gold instead of coal!
But the goldsmith was greedy. That evening, without telling the tailor, he went back to the hill. Once again, he danced with the little folks and the tiny old man shaved his hair off. Then he filled his pockets and two bags he had brought with a lot of coal.
Returning happily to the inn, he slept. In the morning, he found that there was only coal in his pockets and his bags. He ran to a mirror and found that he was still bald and had a big hump too on his back!
The little folks had punished him for being greedy! The kind tailor shared his gold with the goldsmith, but the goldsmith always remained bald and always had his hump! They always reminded him of the mistake he had made, being greedy.
