He saw them walk up the aisle in procession and he tried to calm his nerves by laughing but he soon stopped. They came nearer and nearer. It was obvious that this was no optical illusion. They were dressed in clothes from biblical times and none of them was taller than a decimetre. He tried his best to find out what they were singing but all he could hear was: "Duda duda, duda duda" over and over again.

The procession appeared to be endless and Lennart began to dislike their monotonous song intensely. It had a frightful ritual tone, a mysterious reminder that all was not well in the church. The peace of God seemed to have been removed by force and the devils in the murals had been given shining blood-red eyes.

Lennart felt awful. He wondered whether the small people really sang: "Duda duda". He wasn't certain any more. For a moment he almost froze with horror. Perhaps the words were: Deada deada, deada deada"! He pinched himself. But, this was not a nightmare it was reality.

It took a long time for the procession to reach the altar, but when the last of them had passed the row where he sat their song changed into sneering laughter.

"What on earth are you all laughing about?" he shouted.

After this they came in enormous numbers like raindrops from the vault of the roof and like ants through the chinks in the old wooden floor.