Presently he met a Jew on the road,
and as he thought he would have a great deal of money about him, the
tailor thrust God out of his heart, fell on the Jew, and said, “Give me
thy money, or I will strike thee dead.” Then said the Jew, “Grant me my
life, I have no money but eight farthings.” But the tailor said, “Money
thou hast; and it shall be produced,” and used violence and beat him
until he was near death. And when the Jew was dying, the last words he
said were, “The bright sun will bring it to light,” and thereupon he
died. The tailor’s apprentice felt in his pockets and sought for money,
but he found nothing but eight farthings, as the Jew had said. Then he
took him up and carried him behind a clump of trees, and went onwards
to seek work. After he had traveled about a long while, he got work in
a town with a master who had a pretty daughter, with whom he fell in
love, and he married her, and lived in good and happy wedlock. After a long time when he and his wife had two children, the wife’s
father and mother died, and the young people kept house alone. One
morning, when the husband was sitting on the table before the window,
his wife brought him his coffee, and when he had poured it out into the
saucer, and was just going to drink, the sun shone on it and the
reflection gleamed hither and thither on the wall above, and made
circles on it. Then the tailor looked up and said, “Yes, it would like
very much to bring it to light, and cannot!” The woman said, “Oh, dear
husband, and what is that, then?” “What dost thou mean by that?” He
answered, “I must not tell thee.” But she said, “If thou lovest me,
thou must tell me,” and used her most affectionate words, and said that
no one should ever know it, and left him no rest. Then he told her how
years ago, when he was travelling about seeking work and quite worn out
and penniless, he had killed a Jew, and that in the last agonies of
death, the Jew had spoken the words, “The bright sun will bring it to
light.” And now, the sun had just wanted to bring it to light, and had
gleamed and made circles on the wall, but had not been able to do it. After this, he again charged her particularly never to tell this, or he
would lose his life, and she did promise. When however, he had sat down
to work again, she went to her great friend and confided the story to
her, but she was never to repeat it to any human being, but before two
days were over, the whole town knew it, and the tailor was brought to
trial, and condemned. And thus, after all, the bright sun did bring it
to light. 116 The Blue Light

There was once on a time a soldier who for many years had served the
King faithfully, but when the war came to an end could serve no longer
because of the many wounds which he had received. The King said to him,
“Thou mayst return to thy home, I need thee no longer, and thou wilt
not receive any more money, for he only receives wages who renders me
service for them.” Then the soldier did not know how to earn a living,
went away greatly troubled, and walked the whole day, until in the
evening he entered a forest. When darkness came on, he saw a light,
which he went up to, and came to a house wherein lived a witch. “Do
give me one night’s lodging, and a little to eat and drink,” said he to
her, “or I shall starve.” “Oho!” she answered, “who gives anything to a
run-away soldier? Yet will I be compassionate, and take you in, if you
will do what I wish.” “What do you wish?” said the soldier. “That you
should dig all round my garden for me, tomorrow.” The soldier
consented, and next day labored with all his strength, but could not
finish it by the evening. “I see well enough,” said the witch, “that
you can do no more to-day, but I will keep you yet another night, in
payment for which you must to-morrow chop me a load of wood, and make
it small.” The soldier spent the whole day in doing it, and in the
evening the witch proposed that he should stay one night more. “To-morrow, you shall only do me a very trifling piece of work. Behind
my house, there is an old dry well, into which my light has fallen, it
burns blue, and never goes out, and you shall bring it up again for
me.” Next day the old woman took him to the well, and let him down in a
basket. He found the blue light, and made her a signal to draw him up
again. She did draw him up, but when he came near the edge, she
stretched down her hand and wanted to take the blue light away from
him. “No,” said he, perceiving her evil intention, “I will not give
thee the light until I am standing with both feet upon the ground.” The
witch fell into a passion, let him down again into the well, and went
away. The poor soldier fell without injury on the moist ground, and the blue
light went on burning, but of what use was that to him? He saw very
well that he could not escape death. He sat for a while very
sorrowfully, then suddenly he felt in his pocket and found his tobacco
pipe, which was still half full. “This shall be my last pleasure,”
thought he, pulled it out, lit it at the blue light and began to smoke. When the smoke had circled about the cavern, suddenly a little black
dwarf stood before him, and said, “Lord, what are thy commands?” “What
commands have I to give thee?” replied the soldier, quite astonished. “I must do everything thou biddest me,” said the little man. “Good,”
said the soldier; “then in the first place help me out of this well.”
The little man took him by the hand, and led him through an underground
passage, but he did not forget to take the blue light with him. On the
way the dwarf showed him the treasures which the witch had collected
and hidden there, and the soldier took as much gold as he could carry. When he was above, he said to the little man, “Now go and bind the old
witch, and carry her before the judge.” In a short time she, with
frightful cries, came riding by, as swift as the wind on a wild
tom-cat, nor was it long after that before the little man re-appeared. “It is all done,” said he, “and the witch is already hanging on the
gallows. What further commands has my lord?” inquired the dwarf. “At
this moment, none,” answered the soldier; “Thou canst return home, only
be at hand immediately, if I summon thee.” “Nothing more is needed than
that thou shouldst light thy pipe at the blue light, and I will appear
before thee at once.” Thereupon he vanished from his sight. The soldier returned to the town from which he had come. He went to the
best inn, ordered himself handsome clothes, and then bade the landlord
furnish him a room as handsomely as possible. When it was ready and the
soldier had taken possession of it, he summoned the little black
mannikin and said, “I have served the King faithfully, but he has
dismissed me, and left me to hunger, and now I want to take my
revenge.” “What am I to do?” asked the little man.