“There was once a poor woodcutter who went into the forest to find food for his family. He looked for many hours, but it was winter and the forest was bare. He was about to turn back when he noticed an entrance to a small cave.

‘Perhaps I will find something of value inside,’ he said. He went in, but the passages twisted and turned, and soon he was lost in darkness.

After wandering a long time, he came to a small chamber lit by a mysterious glow. A little man sat on a stone, pouring water from one silver cup to another, over and over, and weeping as he worked.

‘Why are you doing that?’ asked the woodcutter.

‘Because it is Friday,’ said the little man.

‘Why are you weeping?”

“Because I have no name,’ said the little man, and wept harder.

‘I am lost,’ said the woodcutter. ‘Could you tell me the way out of these caves?’

‘I could show you the way out,’ said the little man, “but I am unable to leave this chamber, because I have no name.’

“If that is all, it is no matter,’ said the woodcutter. ‘I could give you a name, and then you could show me how to get home.’

‘Oh yes!’ cried the little man. ‘Only, you must not say the name aloud. You must whisper it in my ear.’

The man thought for a while, then leaned close and whispered a name.

The little man leaped up with such glee that he seemed to crack like an egg, and where he had been stood a small lantern, burning steadily. It spoke: ‘Ask me to light your way.’

The man did, and the lantern led him out of the cave. ‘But I still have no food for my family,’ said the man.

‘Ask me where to find it,’ said the lantern.

It led him to a place in the forest and told him to dig. He dug a deep hole and discovered the grave of an old robber, and on the corpse was a leather bag of gold.

The man took the gold and bought food. The lantern stayed with him, and with it he grew prosperous. His family wanted for nothing, even when times turned hard in the rest of the land.

The man lived well all his days, but when people asked him about his good fortune, he would look away, and say nothing. And the lantern burned in his house, steady and bright, and never went out.”