Once there was a soldier who had served his King for many years. When the war ended, the soldier had many wounds and could not fight anymore. The King said, "You can go home. I don’t need you, and I won’t pay you. I only pay people who can work."
The soldier was very worried about how to live. He walked all day until he entered a dark forest. He saw a light and found a house where an old witch lived. "Please give me a place to stay and some food," he said.
"I will help you," the witch said, "but only if you work for me tomorrow. You must dig my garden."
The soldier worked hard all day, but he could not finish. The witch said, "Stay another night. Tomorrow, you must chop my wood." The next day, the soldier chopped the wood. In the evening, the witch asked for one last thing. "Behind my house, there is an old dry well. My light fell into it. It is a blue light that never goes out. You must go down and get it for me."
The next day, she lowered the soldier into the well in a basket. He found the blue light and signaled for her to pull him up. But as he reached the top, the witch tried to grab the light from his hand.
"No," said the soldier. "I won’t give it to you until I am standing on the ground."
The witch became very angry. She let go of the rope, and the soldier fell back into the well. Then she walked away. The soldier was not hurt, but he was trapped. "I am going to die here," he thought. He found his pipe in his pocket, lit it with the blue light, and started to smoke.
Suddenly, a little black dwarf appeared. "Master, what are your commands?"
The soldier was surprised. "Help me out of this well!" he said. The dwarf led him through a secret tunnel. On the way, the soldier took some of the witch's gold. Once they were outside, the soldier said, "Now, catch the witch and take her to a judge." Soon, the witch was gone forever.
The soldier went to the city and stayed at the best hotel. He wanted revenge on the King who had treated him so badly. He lit his pipe, and the dwarf appeared. "Bring the King’s daughter here tonight while she is sleeping," the soldier ordered. "She must work for me like a servant."
At midnight, the dwarf brought the princess. "Clean my room and brush my boots!" the soldier commanded. The princess worked silently with her eyes half-closed. Before morning, the dwarf took her back to the palace.
The next day, the princess told her father about her "strange dream." The King was suspicious. He told her to fill her pocket with peas and make a small hole in it. He thought the peas would leave a trail on the street. But the dwarf heard the plan and scattered peas in every street in the city. The King’s plan failed.
Then the King said, "Keep your shoes on tonight. Hide one shoe in the house where you are taken." The soldier heard about this, but he didn't care. That night, the princess hid her shoe under the soldier's bed.
The next morning, the King’s men found the shoe in the soldier's room. The soldier was thrown into prison and sentenced to death. At the gallows, he asked for one last wish: "Let me smoke my pipe one more time."
The King agreed. The soldier lit his pipe at the blue light, and the dwarf appeared with a large stick. The dwarf beat the judge and the soldiers. The King was terrified. To save his life, he gave the soldier his kingdom and his daughter to be his wife.