“Hinzelmann,” said the Kobold solemnly, “was a Spirit who haunted the castle of Hudemühlen, though it was not until late in the sixteenth century that those who lived there were aware of his presence. He seemed of so friendly a disposition that the servants became quite used to him. They never saw him, but he would often talk with them while they worked, telling them of what went on in the Underworld, and of the mighty Giants of bye-gone days who had been created in order to protect the Dwarfs from savage beasts, but had become themselves so savage in the course of the ages that they had to be done away with. In time the lord of the castle heard of his strange visitor, and sent him a message saying he desired his presence at a certain hour.
‘No need to wait until then, good Sir!’ laughed Hinzelmann over his shoulder. ‘I assist each morning at your lordship’s toilet, though you do not perceive me, and I blunt your razors when you are out of temper.’
This displeased the lord of the castle, for he thought it unseemly to be on terms of such familiar intimacy with a bodiless House-Spirit. When he rebuked him for his presumption, Hinzelmann laughed more loudly still. ‘Better men than you have to put up with my company, if I will!’ he cried, ‘and, believe me, I do not intend to leave you!’
The nobleman grew more and more uneasy, for it disturbed him to feel that he was never alone. Hinzelmann whistled and sang through the State rooms, and when his lordship expressed irritation this was the House-Spirit’s favourite song:
‘If thou here wilt let me stay,
Good luck shalt thou have alway.
But if hence thou dost me chase,
Luck will ne’er come near the place.’[1]
He hummed this morning, noon, and night, until the lord of the castle was sick of it. ‘Since I cannot drive this fellow away,’ he said at last, ‘I must e’en go myself;’ and telling no one of his intentions, he summoned his coach and set out for Hanover. On the way he noticed that no matter how fast his horses went, a little white feather danced above their heads. Although he wondered at this, he did not connect it with the House-Spirit, and when he arrived at his chosen Inn, sought his couch with a mind at ease.
‘Thank heaven,’ he muttered, as he turned him over and went to sleep, ‘I am free at last of this troublesome Hinzelmann. By the time I see fit to return home, he may have gone elsewhere.’
