In a fertile valley among the mountains of Stiria live three brothers: Hans and Schwartz, cruel and grasping, and young Gluck, who does all the work. One stormy night they turn away a strange old gentleman, and soon the valley is ruined; then a tiny king who emerges from Gluck’s melting golden mug tells him how the river may be turned to gold.
Ruskin wrote it for the young Effie Gray, and it remains a fine moral fable with real Alpine grandeur. Download the free EPUB.