“Very well,” I said to my friend. “I suppose I owe you that much, but…” I looked furtively around at the shadowed glade. “I want to bring you,” I continued in a whisper, “if only for your sympathy.”
“Sympathy?” belched the dwarf.
“You’ve shown me the greatness of your people, of your mountain,” I said, “but I can only show you the ruins of my world.”
He glared at me from under his hairy brows.
“Sleep,” I said, laying myself out upon the cold floor of the grotto. “I will let you dream of my world.”
We lay back to back, and I waited for the deep snoring of my friend to assure me he was well and truly asleep.
Tale Told 