Hearth & Horn

"As the winter wears on and the nights lengthen, loneliness overcomes the girls and they think of their husbands far away. Snow falls softly against the window and they move closer to the fire for warmth, but the longer they stay there, the more dangerous it becomes, for in the fireplace lives a tiny Folletto [Kindly One] with burning eyes who slowly hypnotizes the girls. They sit before the fire and think of the city many miles away. Are their husbands with other women? The Folletto seduces them with his eyes and fills them with melancholy and despair. If at this point the old women don't distract the young brides and if the hold of the Folletto is not broken, the girls will shortly die, lonely and broken-hearted."
-- A Field Guide to the Little People, by Nancy Arrowsmith and illustrated by George Moorse, 1977