'They will forgive you,' said the Little Glass Man, 'because you feel true repentance, and all shall be forgotten. Go home now, to your father's hut, and be a charcoal-burner as before; if you are active and honest, you will do credit to your trade, and your neighbours will love and esteem you more than if you possessed ten tons of gold.' Thus saying, the Little Glass Man left them. The three praised and blessed him, and went home. The splendid house of wealthy Peter stood no longer; it was struck by lightning, and burnt to the ground, with all its treasures. But they were not far from his father's hut, and thither they went, without caring much for their great loss. But what was their surprise when they reached the hut; it was changed into a handsome farmhouse, and all in it was simple, but good and cleanly. 'This is the Little Glass Man's doing,' cried Peter. 'How beautiful!' said Frau Elizabeth; 'and here I feel more at home than in the larger house, with many servants.' Henceforth Peter Munk became an industrious and honest man. He was content with what he had, carried on his trade cheerfully, and thus it was that he became wealthy by his own energy, and respected and beloved in the whole forest. He no longer quarrelled with his wife, he honoured his mother, and relieved the poor who came to his door. When, after twelve months, Frau Elizabeth presented him with a beautiful little boy, Peter went to the Tannenbühl, and repeated the verse as before. But the Little Glass Man did not show himself. 'Mr. Schatzhauser,' he cried loudly, 'only listen to me. I wish nothing but to ask you to stand godfather to my little son.' But he received no answer, and only a short gust of wind rushed through the pines, and cast a few cones on the grass. 'Then I will take these as a remembrance, as you will not show yourself,' cried Peter, and he put them in his pocket, and returned home. But when he took off his jacket, and his mother turned out the pockets before putting it away, four large rolls of money fell out; and when they opened them, they found them all good and new Baden dollars, and not one counterfeit, and these were the intended godfather's gift for little Peter, from the little man in the Tannenbühl. Thus they lived on, quietly and cheerfully; and many a time Peter Munk, when gray-headed, would say, 'It is indeed better to be content with little, than to have wealth and a cold heart.' C. A. F. [Illustration] THE STORY OF THE CALIPH STORK This story is from the collection called _The Caravan_, and is told by the traveller Selim.