Albert Hutter's tailory and small garments shop was not, as the sign outside rather desperately professed, The Finest in All of Switzerland. Albert did not travel very much, but in his darker moments he would readily admit that the odds were against it being The Finest in All the Canton. He would, however, valiantly defend its position as Finest in All the Village, because the only competition was his mother darning her neighbors socks and he would be damned if he would give that old biddy another inch.

It was cold and beginning to snow, and the sun had set a few hours ago, but he had refrained from putting up the "closed" sign in the window because he was doing some last-minute inventory and hey, somebody always needed a new tie. He sat comfortably behind the counter, doing up a few last sums and whistling quietly.

The bell on the door tinkled. Albert looked up to see who the late-night customer was and his whistling abruptly stopped as his brain paused to regroup.

An enormous man, almost twice Albert's height, had walked through the door, his neck bent and his legs stooped to keep his head from scraping the ceiling, and was now casually strolling along the aisles examining the suits he had on display. This was odd, but Albert could have dealt with it under most circumstances. But at the moment every thought process was occupied trying to explain what his eyes patiently confirmed, which was that the man was naked except for a loin cloth and head scarf.

Logically, Albert could not think of any specific reason why it was impossible for an enormous naked man to walk into his store and start examining his wares. He kept telling himself that, and somehow that didn't help his understanding. And so, Albert gawped.

The enormous man put down a pair of pants he had been examining with an odd smirk, and turned his attention to the display stand at the center of the store. Nothing on it was actually for sale because none of it was practical clothing; it was just a humorously oversized suit-and-raincoat he had made to showcase his skills to prospective customers. He had even included a hat with an outrageously oversized brim. He had never expected anybody large enough to wear it to come in, but then again a lot of this situation was failing his expectations.

Some old memories of church sermons on hubris started filing into the queue in his mind.

The enormous man calmly walked up the the suit and removed it from the display rack. With astonishing speed and grace, he dressed himself in the suit, buttoned up the raincoat, and put on the hat. Only then did he seem to notice Albert, silently staring at him from the cash register.

A contemptuous smile flitted across his face. He walked up to the counter. "Here," he said, lowering his hand to the counter. "A fair exchange." He withdrew his hand, leaving behind a small pile of gemstones that a jeweler would later identify as large but slightly flawed rubies.

The man gave another smirk of contempt, as if he had just paid with a pile of rocks. And with another tinkle of the bell the man walked out the door into the snowy night, leaving only darkness and the empty display rack.

"Hi. Can I help you?" Albert said finally.

Nobody ever believed him.