a dwarf caught in a pit which had been dug
to trap wild animals.

After the hunter had rescued the dwarf from his prison, the little man
said to him: "Go ten leagues to the north till you arrive at a gigantic
pine; then turn to the east, and go ten leagues more till you come to a
black castle. Enter the castle without fear, and you will discover a
round room in which stands a round ebony table laden with gold and
jewels. Help yourself to the treasure, and return home at once. And do
not--now mark me well--go up into the turret of the castle; for if you
do, evil will come of it."

So the hunter thanked the dwarf, and after making sure that he had
plenty of bread and cheese in his knapsack, hurried northwards as fast
as his legs could carry him. Through bramble and brier, through valley
and wooded dale went he, and at dusk he came to a gigantic pine standing
solitary in a rocky field. Wearied with his long journey, the hunter lay
down beneath the pine and slept.

When it was dawn he woke refreshed, and turning his eyes toward the
level rays of the rising sun, began his journey to the east. Presently
he reached a height in the forest, and from this height, he saw, not
very far away, a black turret rising over the ocean of bright leaves. At
high noon he arrived at the castle. It was ruinous and quite deserted;
grass grew in the courtyard and between the bricks of the terrace, and
the oaken door was as soft and rotten as a log that has long been buried
in mire.

Entering the castle, the hunter soon discovered the round room. A table
laden with wonderful treasures stood in the centre of the chamber,
directly under a shower of sunlight pouring through a half-ruined window
in the mildewed wall. How the diamonds and precious stones sparkled and
gleamed!

Now, while the hunter was filling his pockets, the flash of a jewel
lying on the floor happened to catch his eye, and looking down, he saw
that a kind of trail of jewels lay along the floor leading out of the
room. Following the scattered gems,--which had the appearance of having
been spilled from some treasure-casket heaped too high,--the hunter came
to a low door, and opening this door, he discovered a flight of stone
steps leading to the turret. The steps were strewn carelessly with the
finest emeralds, topazes, beryls, moonstones, rubies, and crystal
diamonds.

Remembering the counsel of his friend the dwarf, however, the hunter did
not go up the stairs, but hurried