Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1884-12-25

protrac.ed enthusiasm The attendants On
these fairy-gathsrinss are gener.lly bsauti.
ful Swedish girls, who have unWnrily par.
taken Of the contents Of tho golden gohlsez
offered to them by the fairies, and thus In
SANITY fallen into their power Accord
ing to the legendary lore found n
! most para Of Germany, the magic effect
Of these fairy potions i three-fcld: AT ths
first draugnt from that horn be Who drinks
forgsts Heaven; at tho second he forxets
earth; at the third be forrsts his betrothed
| brida."
| Hence. on Christmas Eve parsons are -rsc-
commended to stay 1t hons, because the
fairies on this night delight to waylay the
lonely traveller, compelling him to take .
draught OF Christmas cheer from their en-
cbanted goblet
Among the large c.aa Of fo:k-taIes con-
nected with this superstition, may b quoted
one which tells how, when . Christmas
feast was Icing given In . German village,
one Of the guests, attracted by the sound of
music from without, was induced to lave
| the festive seems indoors, and 10 wander to-
ward the spot where the music seemed to
come. he had. however, not cope many
steps when be was met by two beautiful
girls, who asked him to join their Christmas
gambols in q nsighboring field, which, after a
little persuasion, be consented to do On
arriving ut the fairies gathering. for such it
was, he was surrounded by numberless little
beings all anxious to welcome him; one Of
whom handed him cup Of wine, after drink
Ing which he forgot his former state, and
thought OF nothing except the feasting and
dancing Of the fairies When he bad been
enjoying himself in this manner for some
time the fairies reminded him Of his own
home; hut what was his establishment when,
on passing through the village to find every
thing in decay, and all his relations and
friends dead, for the spell Of the fairies cup
on him had lasted 100 years.
One German version Of the weil-known
legend OF the man in the moon connects this
wretched individuals solitary Imprisonment
in that isolated region with his having stolen
cabbages from his neighbor's garden on
Christmas Eve. When just in the act Of
escaping with his load he was perceived
by some passers-by, who. there ana then,
conjured him up into the moon There
he stands, in the full light Of the moon, to be
seen by everybody. having his stolen load Of
cabbagas on his back for all eternity. He
only hiss a minutes change one day in the
year, when he is said to turn round once on
Christmas Eve.
Again, the Wild Huntsman Is said in Ger.
many to make nightly excursions through
the air fer tho twelve nights Of Christmas,
alarming all who hear him by his furious
progress He generally rides upon q large
wn,te horse, no less than four and twenty
fierce dogs following him. According to
tale quoted by Mr.. Thorpe, in his Northern
Mythology" in every place through which
Iz.v h. III 81
road opening Of its own accord before him.
He rides with such speed that his dogs often
fail to keep apace with him, and frequently
may be hearl painting and bowling. Oc-
casionally one Is left behind, as hap
pened enc year at Wulfsdorf, where
it remained painting, bowling without inter-
mission until the following Christmas Eve,
when the Wild Huntsrnan again took it with
him. Hence various precautions were for.
merly taken to prevent the Wild Hmtsman
approaching any particular street.
1t is also considered dangerous 60 spin at
Christmas time. or tho Wild Huntsnian will
gallop through. On one occasion a woman
refused TO take the usual warning, and had
no sooner sat down to spin on Christmas Eve
than she fell into deep sleep, and was only
awakened by the entrance of stranger,
who. without any apology for intruding,
asked for her spinning wheel and commenced
spinning. Before long he used up all the fax
she had, and On his asking for more. she was
obliged TO give him her supply OF wool Still,
however, he kept ON calling for more, and
his angry demands 50 frightened and terri
fed the poor woman that. although
II WIS but ( in the morning she
reused up her neisbbor-a cunning old crone
and acquainted her with the strangers |
mysterious conquest Happily she quickly |
perceived the nature Of the visitor and hence |
was not long in driving him away by magi- |
cal charms: for had she not done so his |
presence might have cost the woman her |
life
Tradition also says that at this season Of |
the year all kinds of hidden treasures are |
specially revealed to mankind, in connection |
with which belief the following tale |
is quoted: Between Christmas Day and |
the festival OF the Epiphany, the |
newborn Divinity comes down from !
from Heaven in order to wander about the 1
earth; on which account labor of any kind Is /
accounted wrong. At mi.night, also, on |
each Of these festivals, -the heavenly doors
are thrown open; the radiant realms Of Par
adise in which the sun dwclls disciose their
treasures; the waters Of springs and rivers
become animated, turn into wine and receive
a healing efficacy; the trees put forth bios
SONS and golden fruits ripen upon their
boughs."
Memphis is the largest i-.land cottos
.uSrket in the world