Once a man who was going through a forest chanced upon a small clearing where three dwarfs were engaged in a bitter quarrel. They hit and bit one another, trampled on each other and pulled one another by the hair so it made an awful sight to anyone's eye.

The man stepped nearer and asked for the reason of the strife.

"It is very good that you happened to pass by," the dwarfs yelled.

"Now you can administer justice and put an end to our quarrel."

The man said, "First tell me the cause of your quarrel or else I cannot judge you. But do not shout all at once, talk in turns and sensibly so that I could understand you."

"Well, I shall explain to you how the quarrel started," one of the dwarfs replied. "Our father died yesterday and we, three brothers, set about dividing his legacy among us; hence the quarrel."

"What did your father leave you?" the man inquired.

"Here is all that he left behind," the dwarf replied and showed the man an old high-topped hat, a pair of moccasins and a strong cudgel.

"You fools," the man cried, "as if these trifles are worth quarrelling about. A cleverer man would throw all of them on a heap; however, if you don't have the heart to do that, you could divide them among you. There are the three of you and your father left behind three things—let one have the hat, the second the moccasins and the third the cudgel; thus everything should be all right."

"No, that won't do," the dwarfs shouted. "The things must not be separated or else their secret power will be lost. No, the things must stay undivided."

The man was curious to know why the things were not to be separated and one of the dwarfs gave him the following explanation,

"The old unsightly hat you see here is worth a fortune to its wearer. When he puts the hat on he can see everything that happens in the world, be it far or near, visible or invisible; the owner of the hat will even know people's thoughts. If he puts on the moccasins and says: I want to go to Courland or Poland, he only needs to raise his foot and he will be there in an instant. And when the wearer of the hat and the moccasins takes the cudgel in his hand and smites into the air everything and everybody in front of him will turn into water, be it friend or foe. Yes, firm rocks, mountains and even evil spirits will be powerless in front of it. This cudgel here is more powerful than a thunderbolt. Now you see for yourself that these three things must never be separated from one another but we must use them by turns: one today, the second tomorrow and the third the day after tomorrow."

"Your story certainly seems funny," the man said. A clever idea had entered his head while he was listening to the dwarfs. "If I am to settle your quarrel for you, I shall first have to see if everything you have told me is true."

"You may do that," the dwarfs cried with one voice, "but do make haste! A splendid wedding feast is being held today in Courland; our friends and relatives have all gathered there and we, too, would like to go."

The man replied, "It will be easy for you if the things really possess the secret power you claim them to have." He first picked up the old hat and saw that it was not made of felt but of people's nails. Having put it on, he could see the splendid wedding in Courland and other things happening in the world. He commanded the dwarfs, "Put the moccasins on my feet and give me the cudgel. Then line up with your backs toward me and do not look over your shoulder before I have given you my decision on how you must divide your father's legacy according to his will."

The shallow-witted dwarfs did as they were told without demur; they turned their eyes towards the east and their backs towards their arbiter. As soon as the man had the hat on his head and the moccasins on his feet, he whirled the stick round in the air and then brought it hurtfully down on the backs of the dwarfs. In an instant they vanished out of sight, leaving behind but three drops of water on the leaves they had been standing on.

The first test was so successful that the man now decided to go to the wedding in Courland. Raising his foot he called out, "To the wedding in Courland!" and in the same moment he found himself there. Many people, high and low, had gathered to the feast because the host was a well-known rich farmer. The owner of the wondrous hat who could see what remained hidden to the common eye happened to raise his eyes towards the ceiling of the room and spotted numerous little strangers on the beams and crossbars. Their number seemed to be many times as big as that of the invited guests in the hall. However, nobody but he could see their swarm.

The little ones spoke among themselves: "Just look, old uncle, too, has come to the wedding!"

"That is not true," others contradicted, "this strange man wears the uncle's hat, moccasins and cudgel indeed but our uncle himself is not here."

Meanwhile dishes were brought in, all covered with lids. Again the man who could see everything noticed what nobody else saw: with singular swiftness good food disappeared from the dishes and was replaced with not so tasty food; the same happened with the tankards of beer and mead.

The man inquired after the host, stepped up to him, greeted him politely and apologized, "I hope you do not mind my coming to your feast uninvited."

"You are welcome," the host replied. "There is enough food and drink so that one or two uninvited guests won't be a burden."

The man said, "I believe that a few uninvited guests make no difference here but where the number of intruders is bigger than that of invited ones, even the richest host may have trouble."

"I do not understand you," the host exclaimed.

The stranger gave him his hat, saying, "Put my hat on and raise your eyes towards the ceiling."

The host put on the hat and looked up; seeing the pranks the little intruders were playing at the table, he turned pale as death and said in a frightened voice: "Oh brother! Of these guests I knew nothing and when I take off your hat they will disappear again. How could I get rid of them?"

The owner of the hat replied, "I am willing to free you quickly of these intruders if you ask your guests to leave the hall for a short while, carefully close all doors and windows and take care that not a single knot-hole or crack in the walls remains open."

Although the host had little faith in such a method, he still complied with the stranger's request and asked him to chase the little ragamuffins out of the room.

In a little while all guests had left the room. The doors, windows and other ways of escape had been carefully closed and only the man who could see everything remained in the room, together with the little intruders. Now the man began to swirl his cudgel beneath the ceiling and in the corners of the room until the whole swarm had been destroyed and there were so many drops of water on the floor as if it had been raining heavily. The man had overlooked a small knot-hole in the wall and one of the little intruders escaped through it, though he, too, felt the cudgel on his way out. He groaned a long time out in the courtyard, "Ouch! how it hurts! I have felt the thunderbolts of old Father Thunder before but they were nothing as compared to this."

The host invited his guests back into the room when, with the help of the wonderful hat, he had seen that the room was empty of the little intruders. The man who could see everything read the wedding-guests' secret thoughts at the table and learned quite a few things nobody else knew. The bridegroom craved more for the wealth of his father-in-law than for the bride; the bride who as a girl had had an affair with a young nobleman from the manor, hoped to be sheltered from shame by her husband.

It is a pity that such a hat is to be found nowhere nowadays.

Jason Ladock

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