repeatedly rejected. Her delight was in
manly sports; she was perpetually thundering
through the forest on a great black
Barbary courser, spear in hand, in search of
game. Nevertheless she was very beautiful;
and her many suitors, driven to distraction,
at last met together, and agreed to summon
her to yield herself to one of them, or else
submit to be besieged by them all; for they
would combine and march against her castle.
She sent back their messenger with scornful
words, and went to bed.

In the night a little ball of light came up
out of her bedroom floor, and jumped about
with a slight crackling noise that awakened
her and worried her. "Be quiet!" she
cried out at it. "What fool's trick is
this? I want to go to sleep." The little ball
instantly vanished; but directly afterwards,
the boards of the floor were broken through,
and a table rose into the room covered with
wine and dainty food. Then Swanhilda felt
alarmed. But the fear gave way to curiosity
when she saw sitting round the table the
figures of all her suitors, eating and drinking
merrily. One lady was sitting with them who
had nothing to eat, and that was the image
of herself. Little servants took to each of
the young knights as many plates of food as
he had received rejections at her hands; and,
whenever a knight was served in this way,
there was laid down before the image of
herself an empty sack, so that as many sacks
(the Oberlansitzers say baskets), as she had
given she received back for her supper. I
believe that an old custom of asking a lady's
hand by making her a present in a bag (sack)
or basket, and taking it as an acceptance of
the implied offer if she kept whatever
contained the present, and a rejection if she sent
the sack or basket back, gave rise to our
vulgar English expression, give the sack,
and to the corresponding German expression,
give the basket. Swanhilda saw her
image gradually buried behind piles of her
own baskets, while the knights ate or drank,
and the good wine and rich viands came
up through the floor at an amazing pace,
disappearing again from the table in a way
that was quite supernatural. Swanhilda, being
very angry, was about to scold, when she
found to her dismay that her voice was gone.

There was a whispering and giggling at the
bedside. To see what that meant, Swanhilda
moved aside the silken curtains and peeped
over on two little creatures in blue and green
clothing, with yellow hats, who talked and
laughed together. She could just hear what
they said. She picked up from their
discourse that she was being punished by the
fairies generally for having turned her girlhood
into manhood; but particularly for one
act that had brought her roystering ways
painfully under the notice of the fairy queen.
On a certain festival occasion, a grand fairy
assembly had been held, a monster orchestra
was established in the wood, the queen with
her whole court was present, and the entire
fairy world was there collected, crowding
every flower with so much eagerness that the
more adventurous had even climbed to the
top of the highest foxgloves to look down on
the imposing spectacle. In the midst of the
music the ground shook, and there was heard
a distant thunder; directly afterwards the
Amazon on her great Barbary horse dashed
through the bushes. One hoof came down,
into the middle of the orchestra, the other
three came down among the people, killing,
crushing, overthrowing, breaking heads and
arms, and legs, so that the festival ground
looked afterwards as ghastly as a field of
battle. The queen vowed that she would tame
Swanhilda. Already the fairies were at work,
eating her out of house and home. Swanhilda,
hearing all this, turned round in the bed with
a great thump. "Did you feel that?" said
one of the little creatures. " Was not that
an earthquake." The other was the cellarer
who went occasionally to and fro to fetch up
wine. " No," he said, " that beast of a girl
must be awake and kicking about in her bed
with anger." " But then," said the other one,
"I think she would get up and scold at ua
roundly." " No," said the cellarer, "our queen
has taken thought of that. If she awoke she
was to be tongue-tied, and to lie awake till
cockcrow looking at us." "Fine amusement
that would be," Swanhilda grumbled to
herself. "I was right," said the cellarer, laughing
tremendously, "the beast is awake." "Pretty
manners," thought Swanhilda. " I am a beast,
am I! Oh I wish I could speak."

"Ah, my young lady," said the cellarer,
answering her thoughts, "it is well for our
ears that you cannot. You see," he added to
his friend, " the immense destruction of
property she has occasioned is not to be made
good to us, the queen says, until this creature
has married one of her rejected suitors, and
made handsome presents to all the others.
Before she can do that she must catch fish
for her living."

A little before cockcrow the feasting ended,
and the tables being broken up the fairies
disappeared. At cockcrow Swanhilda fell
asleep, and slept till noon. Then she got up
and went to her washing-stand. There was
no water in the basin; and, falling at once into
a great rage, she called her maid. "How is
this?" she said to her. "No water!" The
maid was sure that she had put water, but
she went for more. Presently she returned,
looking much frightened. "There is no
water, she said, "in the tub, none in the
pump, none in the cistern." Swanhilda
thought directly of the fairies, and said,
"Never mind. Get me my breakfast. I
will take a sausage and two breasts of
Pomeranian goose." "Oh miss," the servant
answered, " there's no sausage, and no goose,
and no food of any kind, and every cask in
the cellar is empty, and the casks are rotten,
and the furniture's gone out of the house,