Gnome

“ Even on a fairy isle there could not possibly be a gnome.
"I feel dreadfully queer to be looking at him when I know he isn't there," and something inside of Doby began to turn round and round.
The gnome, all of a faded bark color like the earth he grubbed in, sat with his feet crossed, [19] his thin arms akimbo, his beard hanging in a point down his breast, and his hair tied in a wad on his head so that it had a shape something of a peaked-cap style.
He was motionless. He was not a crooked stump. He was not a gnarled branch. He was alive! ”

“ Thereupon Harold began to read in his best manner the gentle tale of The Hermit Gnome.
XII: THE HERMIT GNOME
Long, long ago, in the farthest corner of the Kingdom, was a mountain covered with a pathless forest. Human folk never came this way. The shadows of the forest were gloomy, and the sounds of the forest were strange, and the name of the forest was full of dread. Men called it the Great Fear. For it was here that the Gnomes lived and did their wicked dealings. ”

“ A slight stirring was heard in the hall, the doors opened, and in walked the big fairy godmother and her white gnome.
She was a tall, much bent old woman, in a ruffled cap, a peaked hat, and a long red cloak. He, the gnome, wore red trousers and red sleeves. The rest of his body was dressed in a white pillow-case with arm-holes cut in it. It was gathered at his belt; gathered also by a red ribbon tied around the throat; the corners of the pillow-case tied with narrow ribbon formed his ears, and there was a white bandage over his eyes, and a round opening for his mouth. ”

“ I want every available gnome, dwarf, fairy, leprechaun, brownie—in short, everyone here as quickly as they can make it. As for you," he added, whirling on Kevan, "you get over in the corner and stay out of the way until I'm ready for you." ”

“ How could the creator of all be ignorant of the existence of his creatures? How could he who rests on his own self-consciousness, and is affected by nothing, suffer from fear?”
I did not know what to say; but while trying to think of an answer to subdue the rising storm, for I saw that the gnomes were getting angry, the attention of the crowd was attracted towards the further end of the hall, where a large globe of yellow light appeared, which in coming nearer became condensed into a human form, appearing as a gnome of venerable aspect, with a jewel looking like a fiery topaz upon his head. ”

“ Now all good gnomes have this about them: they love whatever is beautiful, and hate to see harm happen to it. A gnome who lived far away underground below where stood the rat-catcher’s house, said to his fellows: “Up yonder is a man who has a daughter; so greedy is he, he would sell her to the first comer who gave him gold enough! I am going up to look after her.”
So one night, when the rat-catcher set a trap, the gnome went and got himself caught in it. There in the morning, when the rat-catcher came, he found a funny little fellow, all bright and golden, wriggling and beating to be free. ”

“ THE OCTOPUS AND WHALE.
Then the gnome was in despair,
And he tore his purple hair,
And he sat him down in sorrow on a stone, stone, stone.
"I, too," he said, "will cry,
Till I tumble down and die,
For I've had enough of laughing all alone, 'lone, 'lone."
THE BAGGLE, THE WOGG, and THE CHINGO CHEE.
His tears they flowed away,
Like a rivulet at play,
With a bubble, gubble, rubble, o'er the ground, ground, ground.
But when this his wifey saw,
She loudly cried "Haw, haw!
Here at last is something funny you have found, found, found."
She laughed, "Ho, ho! he, he!" ”

“ An hour later the two little gnomes lay upon their backs upon the sand and yawned contentedly, their little round stomachs almost bursting their belts. Near them was the upturned kettle, and scattered all about them on the sand were lovely pieces of scarlet lobster and crab shells.
"It's funny," one little gnome said drowsily, "how one sometimes will become dissatisfied with the way he was made by Mother Nature and try to improve upon her work! It usually leads to misfortune." ”

“ A good gnome always assumes the same beautiful shape which he had in his previous embodiment, and whenever a wicked gnome dissolved and again took form, he acquired again the same distorted shape, the same features and clothing as before. ”

“ Their dwellings, carved of rock, towered out of the river to a giddy height, and some were broken in half, as if they had been rent asunder by gnome cannon, in gnome battles. There were gnome villages, too, which looked exactly like human habitations, with clustering roofs plastered against the mountain-side. But the hand of man had not placed one of these stones upon another.
There were gigantic rock statues, and watch-towers for gnomes to warn old-time gnome populations, perhaps, when their enemies, the cave-dwellers, were coming that way from a mammoth-hunt ”

“ I could not quite understand why they should be so much surprised at seeing a man, and expressed my surprise about it, saying that in the world where I lived men were as plentiful as bugs on a tree, while gnomes were exceedingly scarce, so that hardly anybody seriously believed in their existence, and that nobody would dare to say openly that he ever saw a gnome, for fear that somebody might laugh in his face. ”

“ But the little gnome leans unmoved and silent against his pillar; he feels no astonishment, no horror--he knows that there are many different growths in the Lord's garden; deadly poisonous plants by the side of wholesome and nutritious ones, and that each has its use and purpose. This brother Eusebius knows right well, for the hidden properties and relations of things are clear to his penetrating eye. He is the herbalist, the astronomer and the physician of the convent. ”

“ From all this it will appear that it is as difficult for a gnome to penetrate into our world as it is for us to penetrate into theirs, and even, as it often may happen, a gnome, while in his incorporeal form, visits mankind, he will not remember anything about it when he returns, or it will appear to him like a dream, and this may be the reason that our world has gained the reputation among the gnomes as being a dreamland, and nothing more. It may be a dreamland to them as theirs is to us. But they appeared to me to live and exist in their own sphere as much as we in ours. ”

“ By the light of Kuma’s lantern, they could now see some cottages ahead and the dim outline of a castle.
“Rocks and Rookies!” exulted the Gnome King, waving the cloak over his head. “It won’t be long now before I’m ruler of the realm, boy!”
“I thought you just wanted your magic belt,” puffed Peter, running anxiously after Ruggedo.
“Oh, grow up!” called the gnome scornfully over his shoulder. “Grow up and don’t be so soft. ”

“ The gnome who now seats himself on the sparry throne is a sombre-looking little imp, with something so repulsive, and at the same time something so ludicrous, in his whole appearance, that we are undecided whether we ought to run away or burst out laughing. ”

“ M. No! that is too equivocal a position, whether in modern mythology, or Hoffman's tales. I should choose to be a gnome.
J. That choice savors of the pride that apes humility.
M. By no means; the gnomes are the most important of all the elemental tribes. Is it not they who make the money?
J. And are accordingly a dark, mean, scoffing,—
M. You talk as if you had always lived in that wild unprofitable element you are so fond of, where all things glitter, and nothing is gold; all show and no substance. My people work in the secret, and their works praise them in the open light ”

“ Then the gnome-family declared, that, if she once went away, they would never allow her to return; for they highly disapproved of running backward and forward between the two worlds, gossiping.
"Have you no love of country," cried they, "that you would willingly cast your lot among silly creatures who look down upon your race?" ”

“ The gnome Tsilmenech was of the highest caste of all, that, namely, to which the care of the diamonds is committed. Next comes the caste which has care of the metals in the realms of the metal-king, and then follow the flower-gnomes, who are lower in position, as depending on the sylphs. But the lowest and most ignoble are the vegetable gnomes, and not only is this deceiver Cordovanspitz a gnome of this caste, but he is actual king of it, and his name is Daucus Carota. ”

“ I—I was thinking; what was the question?”
“I was asking you if you would be awful frightened s’posing we did find a pixie—or a gnome, in the shadows; an’ would you be so very awfully frightened if a gnome—a great, big one, you know,—came jumping out an’—ran off with you,—should you?”
“No!” said Anthea, with another shiver, “No, dear,—I think I should be—rather glad of it!” ”

“ Yet the most dangerous, those who with sweet words win their way into the hearts of maidens and dazzle them with magnificent promises, are the gnomes. The gnomes live in the inner recesses of the mountains; they know their subterranean roads and, eternal guardians of the treasures hidden in the heart of the hills, they keep watch day and night over the veins of metal and the precious stones. ”

“ The gnomes looked at each other in amazement, and Cravatu said—
“He is a wizard who appears to everyone in another light.”
But the princess continued—
“Although he does not shine, he has a much greater light than we all, for it shines upon everything. He calls it a sun, and he has promised to fetch it to me.” ”

“ If the Salamander kings are only irascible, the sylph kings proud and haughty, the Undine queens affectionate and jealous, the gnome kings are fierce, cruel, and deceitful. Merely to revenge themselves on the children of earth, who deprive them of their vassals, they are constantly trying their utmost to lure one of them away, who then wholly lays aside her human nature, and, becoming as shapeless as the gnomes themselves, has to go down into the earth, and is never more seen. ”

“ If it isn't, then you may have to appeal to the Council of Gnomes, or even to the four kings. I'll be giving you this—" Brian Shanachie came around the desk and fixed what seemed to be a small metal flower in the lapel of Kevan's coat—"by which you can discuss any settlement with me. All you have to do is shout my name and the contact will be made. ”

“ The whole photograph is much too carefully arranged to be [34] the snapshot it is represented as being. The black legs of the gnome are contrasted against the white dress of the girl; the lighter body, face and wings are outlined against the shadows under the trees; the dark cap is brought with one edge against a wing, the better to show it up, while the other edge catches the light. ”

“ The ground-gnome was a comfortable fatherly body, and he agreed to accommodate the maker of ghosts and the maker of shadows for a moderate quantity of common-sense. Both he and the spook showed quite an interest in the strangers, and made free—in a kindly way—to ask them their object in coming to Puzzledom. ”

“ In the days when people had enough sense to believe in the Little People, diplomatic relations were handled on an individual basis. The individual who aroused the anger of a gnome would himself put out an offering of milk, with perhaps a wee drop of brandy in it, or offer him a new cloak and hood. But with the coming of such fine education that the Little People were forgotten there was a problem. ”

“ Fairies photo: July 1917. Day brilliantly hot and sunny. About 3 p. m. Distance: 4 feet. Time: 1-50th second.
Gnome photo: September 1917. Day bright, but not as above. About 4 o'clock. Distance: 8 feet. Time: 1-50th second.
I. was sixteen years old; her cousin A. was ten years. Other photographs were attempted but proved partial failures, and plates were not kept.
Colouring: The palest of green, pink, mauve. Much more in the wings than in the bodies, which are very pale to white. The gnome is described as seeming to be in black tights, reddish-brown jersey, and red pointed cap. ”

“ So the old gnome, who was not much higher than a two-year old child, though he had quite a venerable head and face, was very much encouraged by the way the people treated him, and when a person happened to be very kind and appreciative, and gave a good deal of attention to one of his conundrums, that person would be pretty sure, before long, to feel glad that he had met Old Riddler. ”

“ The love for production exists in all departments of nature, and also among the gnomes. A gnome having no knowledge of his own, is always happy to stuff his head with theories belonging to others, and loves them as [167] if they were his own children. The same is the case with the so-called “wild women” of the Untersberg. Their love for offspring sometimes causes them to come out of the Untersberg and appropriate to themselves children of men, such as they find lost or astray within their realm. ”

“ Why, the Gnomes are the elves who work in the mines far down in the earth, way down below where we are. They are bad fellows, those Gnomes, black and ugly, and awfully old. They dig gold and silver and iron, and have big forges where they make lots of things. It’s very hot down there, and they have to stay there all the time. One of the worst punishments that can befall a Pin Elf is to be sent to work with the Gnomes. ”

“ From this it may be inferred that the princess was in possession of a mind capable of cognizing things by means of her bodily senses, and the facts which I witnessed every day went to corroborate the correctness [171] of this theory. Moreover, there were indications that her mind was capable of cognizing the actuality of spiritual truths or principles; but being only a gnome, she was not capable of intricate reasoning and complicated argumentation. ”