is flattered and begins to boast. 'This that you see is nothing,' he
says; 'I shall soon have much more, and by the magic of my ring I mean
to rule the whole world and you gods too.'

"'But suppose,' says the Fire God, 'that some one should steal the ring
from you while you were asleep?'

"'That shows how little you know about it,' the dwarf answers. 'Why, do
you see this magic helmet of mine? With this I can make myself
invisible, or I can take any form I like, and so nobody can find me
while I am asleep to steal the ring.'

"'Oh, now you are telling us too big a story,' says the Fire God; 'it
is nonsense to say you can take any form you like, helmet or no helmet;
you can't expect us to believe that.'

"At this the dwarf begins to get a little angry; 'I tell you I can,' he
cries; 'I will prove it to you; I can change myself into anything; what
shall it be?'

"'Oh, whatever you like,' says the Fire God, 'only let it be something
big and horrible to show just how much you can do.'

"So, to show what he can do, in a second the dwarf changes himself into
a horrible dragon, with slimy scales and a writhing tail, and eyes and
jaws that look as wicked as the dwarf himself, and twice as savage. The
Fire God pretends to be dreadfully frightened, and when the dwarf comes
back to his own shape again he says: 'That was very good, but that does
not seem so hard, after all. Now, the way for you to hide, it seems to
me, would be to make yourself very small, so that you could slip into a