The following story has been told for 600
years: the mining climber Eurasmus made
an inspection of the Sunnpau mine before
the start of his shift. He tapped on the
tunnels with a hammer to knock down
loose rock so that the miners could do
their work safely.
As he passed the shaft with the windlass,
he heard a voice. “Help, who will help me?
Please pull me up, I’ve been lying in the
shaft for three days and three nights.” He
shone his oil lamp downwards. Then he
saw a little black man with a long beard
whose whole body was trembling from the
cold.
He yelled down, “I’ll get you up. I’ll lower
the bucket for you, sit down in it.” So he
cranked up the bucket with the little man
in it.
When the man got up out of the bucket,
he saw it was a dwarf. “You saved my life.
Now you have one wish. Do you want gold
for a year, silver for two years, or 100 years
of healing water? If someone drinks from
your mine well, his pain will be gone.”
Eurasmus chose the water. From then on,
people living in the vicinity of the mine
lived in good health for 100 years.