The earth-men of the Oisterwijk fens

The earth-men were small, no bigger than a child, and they lived hidden in holes under the mounds and among the roots of the wood. In secret they did the people many a service: they helped by night with threshing or spinning, and whoever needed something could knock at their door to borrow dishes or tools, provided he brought them back neatly. So village and earth-men lived for years in quiet understanding, and the farmers prospered.

But such an understanding rests on respect, and that was broken. Someone, the tales say, laughed at the earth-men, or gave back borrowed goods dirty and broken, or spied on them to learn their secret. That the earth-men would not bear: hurt and offended, they left their holes, and no one has ever seen them again. With them vanished their help too, and the people learned the lesson that sounds in so many of these tales: that whoever mocks the small, hidden goodness of the world loses it forever.