An old duke of Bavaria had at his court a dwarf, called Ephesim, and a giant, called Grommelund. The latter laughed at the dwarf, and Ephesim threatened to box his ears. Grommelund laughed only the more heartily and challenged Ephesim to carry out his threat. The dwarf accepted the challenge, and the duke, having been a witness of the whole scene, ordered at once that a field for single combat should be prepared. Everybody expected to do as the giant did and laugh at the pigmy; as the poor little fellow was hardly two feet high and would have had to climb a long way before reaching the giant’s ears. But it turned out very differently. The dwarf began by walking all around the giant as if to take his measure. The good-natured giant, {339}standing up immovable, looks down upon him and laughs till his sides shake; but while he is holding his hands to his sides, the dwarf unties his shoestrings and then worries him by kicking and pinching his calves. [Illustration: 359] Grommelund laughs more loudly than ever, thanks to the tickling, takes a few strides, steps on his loose shoestrings, nearly stumbles, and at last, with a thoughtful presence of mind, characteristic of his race, he stoops down to tie the strings. Ephesim has foreseen this, he avails himself of the opportunity, and slaps the giant’s cheek with his little hand, so heartily that the sound reaches the ears of the duke and the lords of his court, who applaud Ephesim’s skill enthusiastically. The poor giant, humiliated and overcome, left the town, it is said, and sought refuge in the mountains, where he died of shame. The people were thus beginning to have a very humble opinion of giants, when a rumor was spread that they had entered the service of the dwarfs; {340}not of court dwarfs, but of little dwarfs, who are so small that, by their size, the others appear as giants. [Illustration: 360] These little dwarfs appear in the popular tales of Germany, under different names, as _Wichtelman-ner, Metallarii, or Homunculi_, and evidently, at one time, were found in great numbers throughout all the mountainous parts of the North. In Bretagne they were also known as _Couribes, Parulpiquets or Cornicouets_, but as they are ugly and evil disposed, I presume they are not of the same race with our good little dwarfs. These latter appear in the evening at the foot of large oak trees, or in old ruins, where they come by the {341}thousand out of every crack and crevice and gambol and frolic, but vanish at the smallest noise. [Illustration: 361] {343}As to their origin there are different opinions entertained. One theory alone is worthy of belief, because it is mentioned already in the Edda.