Rainbow Repair

When the news came to Evwig Quarterhand in his hall that the rainbow had again come to such a state that those above must send out for the stone to repair it, he smiled at it and laughed. He was a giant, and more than that a miser who never gave as much as he could but only a fourth of it, and had his name for that. Many times an emissary of those above had gotten more from him than he meant to lose, and so he thought this way. "Nebal Trackless must come to me, and he will pay the penalty after I trap him. As for red stone and yellow stone, there is much, but nowhere but in my hall is there orange stone left from when the world was different."
He waited then, but Nebal Trackless came not, nor any other emissary. Besides being a giant and a miser, he was impatient too, and so he went out to see the state of things. He traveled but a short way before he saw what he could not believe, which was orange stone being hauled through the valley towards the rainbow under the eye of Nebal Trackless.
"How can this be? There is no orange stone but mine." So he said, angered.
"You sound angry, Evwig Quarterhand, but why? The first thought I had when I found this stone was how glad you would be not to be pestered for yours."
The giant touched the stone with iron and silver, but it remained orange stone. "It is unlike mine, I am sure. It is not true orange stone."
Nabel Trackless laughed with great mirth. "It is the same! Or could you tell the difference between them if you brought yours out?"
"I could." And so it was done that Evwig hauled out all the orange stone that he had, for he was strong even among giants, and placed it next to Nabel's. He then closed his eyes and felt the stone as it was brought to him, and licked it, and said whether it was his or otherwise. And each block was marked accordingly.
"Open your eyes so we may learn what is true," Nabel Trackless said, and in Evwig Quarterhand's view he poured water over the stones. And behold, every block that Evwig said was not true orange stone turned green under the water. Nabel laughed again. "Yes, you were right. This is green stone that I painted as a joke. Now I will take it away."
Evwig watched him do it, suspicious he meant some thievery still. But Nabel did as he said, so that Evwig Quarterhand grunted and wondered what the meaning of it was, and only then did he recall that Nabel had poured water only over the blocks marked as false. He poured it over his own stone, and felt it, and tasted it, and learned that it was cheese.
Sogki Twobones happened by then and clapped Evwig Quarterhand on the shoulder. "I heard it from Nabel Trackless but never believed it, that you became a trader of skill! But I see you have all this cheese in fee for your orange stone, worthless as it is except to those above, and I know he was right in what he said. He grumbled at the price, I tell you." And from that day all knew that Evwig was called Quarterhand because he made fourfold profits, but he scowled when he heard that said of him.
Finis