Legends From River and Mountain by Carmen Sylva

Among those mountains of Saxony known as the Obererzgebirge, once famous for their silver-mines, there lived, nearly three hundred years ago, a man named Ran, who was overseer of the mines of Schneeberg. Now many among his workmen tried to win the favour of overseer Ran, not only because he was master of the works, but because of his only child, his beautiful daughter Gretchen. Her loveliness and her sweetness were the talk of the country, and every young man in Schneeberg fancied himself ready to jump down the shaft of the mine for her sake, if it were required of him. This, however, was not what Master Ran needed. He was a grasping man, and the constant handling of precious metal seemed to have increased his thirst for riches. So he was determined that lovely Gretchen should be a mine of wealth to him, all the more, perhaps, that the other mine with which he had to do was no longer as prosperous as it had been. There were general complaints over the quantity of "blind ore," as the people called it, that had lately been found -- worthless stuff, that did not repay smelting. This misfortune was said to be due to the "silver-thief," or "Kobold," a wicked little dwarf that was supposed to haunt the mountain, and draw the silver down out of the quartz as the workmen approached. At any rate, the failure of the mine, whoever was to blame for it, was like to bring poverty among the folk of Schneeberg, and Ran was all the more anxious to secure riches for himself and his child against that evil day. So he let it be known that the man who could produce the largest bag of gold in all the district, should have the beautiful Gretchen to wife.

"Let those who would get her seek," said he, "for it is well known there is plenty of gold in these mountains for any who have wit to find it, and courage to risk something in the winning of it."