When I was younger, I had a children’s encyclopedia. One of the books had different short stories from countries around the world. My favorite was the one who represented Sweden. Unfortunately, now that I want to find that short story, I don’t have the encyclopedia.
Brief things: The short story was from Sweden. The title of the short story in Spanish was “Neils, el enanito”.
Bad synopsis: While his parents are out working, a kid is mourning in his home the death of his little sister. He is soon surprised by the appearance near a mouse hole of Neils, an elf kid(or something like that). They talk, and Neils invite the kid to his apartment down the mouse hole. For the kid to become tiny, he must say the word “killevipen” while touching a nail next to the mouse hole. So he does, and finds out Neils live in a freezing room with no furniture and without fuel for the chimney. Little by little, they both become best friends, and the kid gives Neils food, furniture, and fuel for the chimney. The furniture is taken from his late sister’s dollhouse. One day, the kid and Neils decide to take a bath in a cup down in Neil’s home. After the bath, the kid decides to take Neils up with him that night and puts Neils in his shirt pocket. Later, when the parents come home, they notice that their son has the hair wet, and when inquired, he responds that he took a bath in one of their cups. The parents think its a joke and are glad to see the kid happy. The story ends more or less here.
Some other questions: Is this short story part of a series? What the @!#%^* does “killevipen” means?
Thanks for the help you can give.
PD. I posted this here because I think this is not such a serious question to be taken to GQ