the dwarf who stole the gold and made the ring from it. I see him too,
and he is scolding and beating another dwarf, who is his brother. It is
all about a piece of fine metal work that he has set his brother to do,
and now the brother wants to keep what he has made. But he drops it on
the ground and the dwarf king, for a king he really is now, picks it up
and claps it on his head. It is a helmet, made of delicate rings of
steel linked together. It is a magic helmet, and anybody who wears it
can disappear from sight whenever he likes, or can take any shape he
chooses. In a minute the dwarf is no more to be seen, and in his place
there is only a cloud of smoke. But he can still beat his brother, and
presently he leaves him whining and crying on the ground, and the cloud
floats away.

"You are not to suppose because this dwarf is treated in this cruel way
that he is any better than his brother who beats him. One of them is
just as wicked as the other, and he deserves all he gets. So here,
lying upon the ground and groaning, the two gods find him, as they come
down into the cave. 'What is the matter?' they ask, and he tells them
about the magic helmet. Then back comes the other dwarf, who wears the
helmet and the ring, driving before him a crowd of his fellows, all
laden down with gold and gems, and they throw them in a pile. They are
so rich and dazzling, and there is such a quantity of them that the
fire actually burns brighter there in the corner where they have heaped
them up. The dwarf drives all his workmen away, and then sulkily asks
the gods what they want here, for with his ring and his helmet he
thinks that he is just as good as any of the gods.

"The Fire God tells him that they have heard so much about his great
wealth that they have come to see it, and now they find his treasure
greater and finer than anything they ever saw before. At that the dwarf