The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1855-02-07
a WILD LEGEND.

1 OUbIliuSitG 10 Etlt Hafffe D1 n small
tain district bordering on Bohemia; and to
the rough part Of it, situated round about the
town of Qittau, the widest legends belong.
| The original inha habitants are an old race of
Czechs, and form the native population of
the highlands; but it is a Servian race that
occupies the plains below. The Oberlanst-
ger is lnnpish fellow, phlegmatic and taci-
turn d; who, when he does open his mouth
heaps together vowcls, SO as to form the
very cearsest of the German dialects-worse
even than the Silesian. He would call what,
wa0out When excited in the beerhouse or
| ON any holiday occasion be breaks out ipto
exceeding wildness; and, in that condition, he
IsIuick at wrath; but, slow at forgiveness,
Eao treasures up ideas of vengeance. OF
strangers he is very distrustful unwilling to
/ guide them over his native ground, he hides
arom them what he knows, tells them none of
ms thoughts, and recounts to them none of
| ms Legends. Even at home, when he begins
\ one of the stories in which he delights he
! biurts 1t out piecemeal from the corner kyxhe
oven, stops to smoke, or breaks off sitogether
If offended by any distasteful kind e4 inter
| ruption. Thus it happens that the legends
| current IN the Oberlansitz have escaped the
notice of collectors
Some years ago, an educated Oberlansitz.
er, Herr Willkomm, published small collec-
ton OF the legends of his countrymen, I
propose to relate two ow three of t6em-not
enough to show that what is their nature.
and suggest, perhaps too, profitable thought
or tWo TO those who, IN reading them, renese.
Der what the nature is of those poor high
ladders by whom they Were invented
| Once upon time there was q maiden
| n AIMED Swanhiida, who was the only child of
a proud father, and he was dead. Her moth
| er had died at her birth, and she lived, there
| fore, alone in her castle. TIE this lady many
| suitors came, all of whom she scornfully and
| repeatedly rejected. Her delight vas in man
ly sports; she was perpetually laundering
through the forest on q great black Barbary
| c0urser, spear IN hand, in search OF game
Nevertheless she was very beautiful, and her
| many suitors, driven to distraction, at last met
| together, and agneed to summon her to yield
| herself to one of them, or else submit TO be
besieged by them all for they would COM
bine and march against her castle. She sent
| back their messenger with scornful words, and
! went to bed
| In the night little ball of light came up
out of her bedroom floor, and jumped about
| with slight cracking noise that awakened
her and worried her. abe quiet" she cried
| out atit- What FOOLS trick is this. | want
TO &C 30 sleep The little ball instantly van
| ished1 but directly afterwards the boards of
| the moor were broken through, and table
reae into the ROOM covered with wine and
dainty food. Then Swanhilda felt alarmed
| Bun the fear gave way to curiosity, when she
asrH sitting around the table the figures of all
'inr suitors, eating and drinking merrily -
| J One lady was sitting with them who had no.
| thing to eat, and that was the image of her
| self. Little servants took to each ofthe young
knights as many plates of food as he had re-
| sGeived reflections at her hands and, whene-
| yer a knight was served in this way, there
was laid down before the image of herself an
empty sack, so that as many sacks tthe Ober
| lansitzers say baskets,) as she had given she
hoe fo ha~S I balfa Shnt
an old custom of asking a lady's hand by ma
king her present in bag sack or baske
/ and taking 1t as an acceptance of the implied
offer if she kept whatever contained the pre-
/ sent, and rejection if she sent the sack or
| baske back, gave rise to Our vulgar En- glish
/ expression, give the sack and to the CORES
l. ponding German expression, give the bask ct
| -SWanhllda 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 way that was quite supernatural
! -Swanhilda, being very angry, was about to
! scold, when she found TO her dismay that her
| voice was gone.
l. There was whispering and giggling at the
| bedside. To see what that meant, Swanbilda
moved aside the silken curtains and peeped
| over on two little creatures in blue and green
| clothing, with yellow hats, wi o 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 Tor having turned her girlhood into
manhood but particularly for one act that
| had brought her registering ways painfully
| under the notice of the fairy queen On a
/ certain festival occasion, grand fairy assem-
| bly, had been held monster orchestra was
established in the wood, the queen with her
I 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 fox gloves to look down on the
| imposing spectacle. In the midst of the mu-
/ sic the ground shook, and there was heard
| distant thunder; directly afterwards, the Anna
zon, on her great Barbary horse dashed
I through the bushes. One ho0f 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 field of bat.
l. tie. The queen vowed that she would tame
| Swanhiida. Already the fairies were at work,
| eating us out of house and home. Swanhil
/ .da hearing all this, turned round in bed with
"a thump. "Did you feel that % said one of
| the little creatures. WAS not that an earth
+ quake" 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
l. awake and kicking about in her bed with
| HnPoT. but lneH, SalQ the Otner 0ne - i
think she would get up and scold at us round
ly." 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 cock
crow looking at u.s. "Fine amusement that
would be- Swanhilda grumbled to her
self IL was right" said the cellarer, laugh
ing tremendously, "the beast is awake
Pretty manners thought Swanhilda. II
am a beast am Oh wishl could speak,
"Ah, my young lady, said the cearer, answer
ing her Thoughts, lit ts well for that y~u
cannot You see, he added TO his friend "the i'm
mcnse destruction of property she hes occasioned,
is not to be made good 10 us, the queen says until
this cresture has married OF her rt ected snors
and made handsome presents to all the others
Rttore she can do that she must catch f.h for her
living"
A little before cockcrow the feasting ended, and
the tables being broken up the iairies disappeared
| At cockcrow Svanhilda fel asleep, and slep. till
| noon. Then she got up and went 10 her washing
stand There was no water fn the basin; and, ial-
| ling at once into Crest rnre che called her maid