had reported that they had caught a glimpse of a ruined house in
a grove of thick trees, and round about it were a crowd of beings
resembling men, swarming over the grass like bees. The men were
as dirty and ragged as gipsies, and there were besides a quantity
of old women and half-naked children.

One night a peasant who was returning home from a feast wandered
a little farther into the Tontlawald, and came back with the same
story. A countless number of women and children were gathered
round a huge fire, and some were seated on the ground, while
others danced strange dances on the smooth grass. One old crone
had a broad iron ladle in her hand, with which every now and then
she stirred the fire, but the moment she touched the glowing
ashes the children rushed away, shrieking like night owls, and it
was a long while before they ventured to steal back. And besides
all this there had once or twice been seen a little old man with
a long beard creeping out of the forest, carrying a sack bigger
than himself. The women and children ran by his side, weeping
and trying to drag the sack from off his back, but he shook them
off, and went on his way. There was also a tale of a magnificent
black cat as large as a foal, but men could not believe all the
wonders told by the peasant, and it was difficult to make out
what was true and what was false in his story. However, the fact
remained that strange things did happen there, and the King of
Sweden, to whom this part of the country belonged, more than once
gave orders to cut down the haunted wood, but there was no one
with courage enough to obey his commands. At length one man,
bolder than the rest, struck his axe into a tree, but his blow
was followed by a stream of blood and shrieks as of a human
creature in pain. The terrified woodcutter fled as fast as his