" alas ! alas ! " he exclaimed , with a look of sorrow on his wrinkled face , " hast thou come , as thy companion came , to pay thy toll of years to the elfin king ? oh ! if thou hast wife or child behind thee , i beseech thee , by all that thou holdest sacred , to turn back ere it be too late . " " who art thou , and from whence hast thou come ? " asked the earl , looking kindly down at the little creature in front of him . " i came from the country that thou hast come from , " wailed the goblin . " for i was once a mortal man , even as thou . but i set out over the enchanted moor , and the elfin king appeared in the guise of a beauteous knight , and he looked so brave , and noble , and generous that i followed him hither , and drank of his heather ale , and now i am doomed to bide here till seven long years be spent . " as for thy friend , sir earl , he , too , hath drunk of the accursed draught , and he now lieth as dead at our lawful monarch 's feet . he will wake up , it is true , but it will be in such a guise as i wear , and to the bondage with which i am bound . "
followed the elfin knight here , and drank his heather ale .
why was the grizzled goblin doomed to bide there for seven long years ?
why was the grizzled goblin doomed to bide there for seven long years ?