"The Goblin and the Grocer" (Danish: Nissen hos Spekhøkeren) is a fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a goblin who must choose between poetry or a Christmas treat from a grocer. The tale was first published November 30, 1852, and republished several times during the author's lifetime. Andrew Lang included it in The Pink Fairy Book. The title is sometimes mistakenly translated into English as "The Goblin and the Huckster".
Once, a student lived in an attic while a grocer lived on the first floor. Because the grocer gave him a lump of jam and butter at Christmas, the goblin belonged to the grocer. One day, the student came to buy cheese and candles; then he realized that his cheese was wrapped in a page from a poetry book, so he bought the book instead of the cheese, and spoke rudely of the grocer's ability to understand poetry. The goblin, offended, used magic to make everything in the room speak and they all agreed that poetry was useless. The goblin went to tell the student, but he saw a light and a marvelous tree in the room. He kept going back, but could not give up the jam. One day there was a fire. The goblin ran to save the poetry book and realized that he thought the book the greatest treasure in the house. Still, it decided to divide its time between the grocer and the student, because of the jam.
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