The Monaciello
The Monaciello
The Monaciello, or "Little Monk," was a spirit who seems to have lived exclusively in and around Naples in southern Italy. Although the precise place is not known, it is supposed to have been in the remains of abbeys and monasteries. When the Monaciello appeared to mortals, it was always at the dead of night, and then only to the most desperate—those who had done all that mortals could do to prevent or alleviate their distress, and after all human aid had failed. At such times the Monk occasionally appeared, mutely beckoned them to follow, and led them to a secret treasure. He stipulated no conditions for its expenditure, demanded no promise of repayment, and exacted no duty or service in return. It is not clear whether it was actual treasure that he gave, or whether it merely appeared so to the external senses, to be changed into leaves or stones when the day and the occasion of its requirement had passed.
In Germany, the wood-spirit "Rubezahl" performed similar acts of kindness to poor and deserving persons; it is said that the money he gave always passed for the current coin of the realm.
In Ireland, the O'Donoghue, who lived beneath the waters of an inland lake and rode over its surface on a steed white as the foam of its waves, was said to distribute treasures that proved genuine to the good but were spurious to the undeserving.