Anonymous

“ We will be pope next."
"O wife, wife!" said he. "How can you be pope? There is but one pope at a time in Christendom."
"Husband," said she, "I will be pope this very day."
"But," replied the husband, "the fish cannot make you pope."
"What nonsense!" said she. "If he can make an emperor, he can make a pope; go and try him."
So the fisherman went; but when he came to the shore the wind was raging, the sea was tossed up and down like boiling water, and the ships were in the greatest distress and danced upon the waves most fearfully. ”

“ A lamb, you know, has not got a heart."
"What?" said the saint; "that's news, indeed. Why, every beast has a heart, and why should not the lamb have one as well as the rest of them?"
"No, certainly, comrade, a lamb has no heart. Only reflect, and it will occur to you that it really has not."
"Well," replied his companion, "it is quite sufficient. There is no heart there, so I need none of the lamb. You may eat it all."
"Well, what I cannot eat I'll put in my knapsack," said Brother Merry. ”

“ When he had looked at her for a long time, he said—
"Ah! wife, what a fine thing it is to be king! now we shall never have anything more to wish for."
"I don't know how that may be," said she. "Never is a long time. I am king, 'tis true; but I begin to be tired of it, and I think I should like to be emperor."
[Pg 58] "Alas! wife, why should you wish to be emperor?" said the fisherman. ”

“ Eat, if you can, and be merry."
They ate in silence, neither speaking during the meal.
"Surely," said the pilgrim, when it was over,—"surely it may not be that the extensive cellars of this great castle contain not a single cup of wine for the weary wayfarer."
The Count was at once struck by the idea. It seemed to him as if he had never thought of it before, though in reality he had ransacked every corner of the cellars more than once.
"Come, let us go together and try," continued the pilgrim; "it will go hard with us if we find nought to wash down our homely fare." ”

“ We are come to take our departure from you."
"Wherefore will you leave my castle?" inquired Hermann. "Have I offended you?"
"No, thou hast not; but we must go, for she whom you saw as a bride on your wedding-night lost, last evening, her life in giving birth to an heir, who likewise perished. As a proof that we are thankful for the kindness you have always shown us, take a trifling proof of our power." ”

“ It is a well-known tradition near Magdeburg, that when a man who is a thief by inheritance,—that is to say, whose father and grandfather and great-grandfather before him, three generations of his family, have been thieves; or whose mother has committed a theft, or been possessed with an intense longing to steal something at the time immediately preceding his birth; it is the tradition that if such a man should be hanged, at the foot of the gallows whereon his last breath was exhaled will spring up a plant of hideous form known as the Alraun or Gallows Mannikin. ”

“ Luckily a butcher came by driving a pig in a wheelbarrow.
"What is the matter with you?" said the butcher, as he helped him up.
Hans told him what had happened, and the butcher gave him a flask, saying—
"There, drink and refresh yourself. Your cow will give you no milk; she is an old beast, good for nothing but the slaughter-house."
"Alas, alas!" said Hans, "who would have thought it? If I kill her, what will she be good for? I hate cow-beef; it is not tender enough for me. If it were a pig, now, one could do something with it; it would at any rate make some sausages." ”

“ The Wild Huntsman, Hackelnberg, traverses the Hartz mountains and the Thuringian forest, but he seems mostly to prefer the Hakel, from which place he derives his name, and especially the neighbourhood of Dummburg. Ofttimes is he heard at night, in rain and storm, when the moonlight is breaking by fits and starts through the troubled sky, following with his hounds the shadows of the wild beasts he slew in days of yore. ”

“ He would not listen to the voice of friendship, and he sorrowed in silence over the dead body of his once beautiful bride. Even when decay had commenced, when the remains, late so lovely, were now loathsome to look on, he could not be induced to leave the corpse for a moment, or to quit the chamber of death in which it lay. ”

“ On the demise of the owner only a youngest son can inherit the Alraun. To inherit it effectually he must place a loaf of white bread and a piece of money in the coffin of his father, to be buried along with his corpse. If he fail to do so, then is the possession, like many others of great name in the world, of no value to him. Should, however, the youngest son fail before the father, then the Alraun rightfully belongs to the eldest, but he must also place bread and money in the coffin of his brother, as well as in that of his father, to inherit it to any purpose. ”

“ It was thus with Fastrada, for no sooner did she place the ring on her finger than the attachment of Charlemagne, great before, no longer knew any bounds. In fact his love was more like madness than any sane passion. But though this talisman had full power over love, it had no power over death; and the mighty monarch was soon to experience that nothing may avert the fiat of destiny.
Charlemagne and his beloved bride returned to Germany, and, at Ingelheim palace, Fastrada died. The Kaiser was inconsolable. ”

“ Nine devils against one soldier were, however, too much, and while he laid about lustily on those before him, those behind pulled his hair and pinched him miserably.
"Ay, ay, you pack of devils, now you are too hard for me," said he; "but wait a bit. I wish all the nine devils were in my knapsack," cried he, and it was no sooner said than done. ”

“ Hackelnberg, the Wild Huntsman, is not far off."
"Let us fly," exclaimed the second, "before the spirits overtake us."
"We cannot fly," said the third; "but you have nothing to fear if you do not irritate him. Lay yourselves down upon your faces when he passes over us. But, remember, you must not think of addressing Hackelnberg, lest he treat you as he treated the shepherd."
The wanderers laid themselves under the bushes. ”

“ As he went he was met by the king and the conjurer, who inquired the occasion of his piteous lamentation.
"My oxen! my poor oxen!" cried the boor, and then he related all that had happened to him, entreating them to go with him to the place. The conjurer said—
"Why don't you see if you cannot pull the oxen out again by the horns or by the tail?"
With this the rustic, running back, seized one of the tails, and, pulling with all his might, it gave way and he fell backward.
"Thou hast pulled thy beast's tail off," said the conjurer. "Try if thou canst succeed better with his horns. ”

“ But the saint went still slower, though his companion kept pushing and driving him, till at last they heard that the princess was dead.
"This comes of your creeping so," said the soldier.
"Now be still," said the saint, "for I can do more than make the sick whole; I can bring the dead to life again."
"If that's true," said Brother Merry, "you must at least earn half the kingdom for us."
At length they arrived at the king's palace, where everybody was in great trouble, but the saint told the king he would restore his daughter to him. ”

“ Hell is broke loose, you know, for its annual orgies on that mountain. When the castle clock tolls twelve go you into the chapel, and proceed to the graves of your grandfather, your great-grandfather, and your great-great-grandfather; take from their coffins the bones of their skeletons—take them all, mind ye. One by one you must then remove them into the moonlight, outside the walls of the building, and there lay them softly on the bit of green sward which faces to the south. This done, you must next place them in the order in which they lay in their last resting-place. ”

“ Gaily garbed maidens of the village and stalwart rustics filled the courtyard [Pg 67] of the convent. A blind fiddler, who had fiddled three generations off the stage, sat in front of a group of elders of either sex, who, though too old and too stiff to partake in the active and exciting amusement, were still young enough to enjoy looking on. A few shaven crowns peered from the latticed casements which looked out on to the merry scene. The music struck up, the dance began. Who approaches? Why are so many anxious glances cast in yonder direction? It is the Abbot. ”

“ Then the king made him tell what had happened, and Conrad said—
"When we go in the morning through the dark gate with our flock of geese, she cries and talks with the head of a horse that hangs upon the wall, and the head answers her." ”

“ Meanwhile, as Brother Merry journeyed on, he came to a place where there was a noble castle, and not far from it a little public-house. Into this he went, and asked for a night's lodging, but the landlord said that his house was full of guests, and he could not accommodate him.
"I wonder," said Brother Merry, "that the people should all come to you, instead of going to that castle."
"They have good reason for what they do," said the landlord, "for whoever has attempted to spend the night at the castle has never come back to show how he was entertained." ”

“ When she grew up, she was betrothed to a prince who lived a great way off; and as the time drew near for her to be married, she got ready to set off on her journey to his country. The queen, her mother, packed up a great many costly things—jewels, gold and silver trinkets, fine dresses, and, in short, everything that became a royal bride. She gave her a waiting-maid to ride with her and give her into the bridegroom's hands, and each had a horse for the journey. The princess' horse was called Falada, and could speak. ”

“ The countryman rejoiced at his luck, and said—
"I like many things better than money. First, I will have a bow that will bring me down everything I shoot at; secondly, a fiddle that will set every one dancing that hears me play upon it; and, thirdly, I should like to be able to make every one grant me whatever I ask."
The dwarf said he should have his three wishes, gave him the bow and the fiddle, and went his way.
Our honest friend journeyed on his way too, and if he was merry before, he was now ten times more so. He had not gone far before he met an old Jew. ”

“ It was in the time when the celebrated Convent of St. Thomas over Andernach existed in its pristine magnificence, that late on an autumnal night the ferryman from that city to the Devil's House on the other side of the river, who lived on the edge of the bank below the ruins of the ancient palace of the kings of Austrasia, was accosted by a stranger, who desired to be put across just as the man was about to haul up his boat for the day. The stranger seemed to be a monk, for he was closely cowled, and gowned from head to foot in the long, dark, flowing garb of some ascetic order. ”

“ It would seem, however, as if fortune were inclined to smile on the sisterhood once more. The nets had not been more than half drawn in when the fishermen began to perceive that they contained something heavier than usual. The lady abbess and the nuns were made acquainted with the circumstance, and they watched, in eager expectancy, the landing of the fish. The nets were at length with much trouble hauled on shore.
"Hilloa!" said the principal fisherman, an aged man, to the purveyor of the convent, "hast thou ever seen such monsters before? My soul! ”

“ At first the collection of national stories was undertaken merely for the purpose of affording amusement. Folk-tales were diverting, so they found their way into print, and were issued as curious literary matter fitted to supply diversion for a vacant hour. Many of the tales are very beautiful, and their mere literary merit sufficed to make them sought for. But legendary lore was soon observed to possess much more value than could attach to its merely amusing features. It was obvious that in these legends were preserved the fragments of the beliefs of the ancient folk. ”

“ Scarcely had he repeated these words ere the saint came in at the window, in the likeness of an old soldier, just as before, and said—
"You impious fellow! How can the dead stand up when you have thrown the bones thus one upon another?"
[Pg 92] "Ah! Brother Heart," answered Merry, "I have done it as well as I can."
"I will help you out of your trouble this time," said the saint; "but I tell you this, if you ever again undertake a job of this kind, you will repent it, and for this you shall neither ask for nor take the least thing from the king." ”

“ Then the saint took the gold and divided it into three portions.
[Pg 90] "Well," thought Brother Merry, "what whim has he got in his head now, making three parcels, and only two of us?"
"Now," said the saint, "I have divided it fairly, one for me, and one for you, and one for him who ate the heart."
"Oh, I ate that," said the soldier, quickly taking up the gold. "I did, I assure you."
"How can that be true?" replied the saint. "A lamb has no heart."
"Ay! what, brother? What are you thinking of? A lamb has no heart? Very good! When every beast has why should that one be without?" ”