Northern mythology

NETHERLANDISH TRADITIONS. 231
now the dancing began riglit merrily.
To rouse tlie player,
every time that his fiddlestick flagged, the dancers dropt a
piece of gold into his instrument, which the old man saw
with devouring eyes. His glass also was filled the moment
it was empty. But the two operations were so often repeated,
that both the fiddle and the eyes of the player became
all the duller, and the latter at length closed through
drunkenness ; so that Kartof fell asleep and the dancing
ceased.
The sun had risen
high when Kartof woke, who just
raised his heavy head to see where he had been so long
sleeping, and gradually to
collect his thoughts a little together.
He lay in the middle of the wood by a heap of
ashes, among w^hich some charcoal was still glimmering.
He then stood up and felt for his fiddle ; for drunk as he
had been, he had not forgotten the events of the night.
He turned his instrument about, for the purpose of shaking
out the gold pieces that had appeared so attractive to
him, but, horrible deception ! they proved to be only
beech leaves that fell on the ground. On further consideration
he w^as convinced that the trick had been played
him by phantoms ; for in the w^hole neighbourhood he
had never seen any palace, save that which the sprites had
that night caused to appear and vanish.
THE FIDDLER IN THE GALLOWS-FIELD AT ANTWERP.
Near Antwerp there is a large field where formerly the
gallows stood, whence its name of the Gallows-field. Beyond
this field there dwelt many years ago a fiddler, a
pleasant, jovial man, who was a sort of necessary appendage
at every wedding and christening in the city ; for
he was everywhere a welcome guest.
Beturning late one night from the city, where he had
been engaged at a wedding party, he took his way across