Northern mythology

;
240 NETHERLANDISH TRADITIONS.
twelve. Then said the man "
: Good woman, we are now
going to dine, and you are probabl}^ going to do the same
it is therefore time for you to go home.''^ The w^oman answered
"
: Yes, you are right/^ and would rise from her
seat, but could not, for the chair clung to her. On seeing
this, the man full of rage exclaimed "
: Stand up and pack
yourself ofF.^^ The woman was terrified, and said trembling
"
: I will readily do so, but you must first take away
the thing that you have hung to the chair ; for it holds
me fast.^' The man then removed the box, struck the
woman, and thrust her out of doors.
THE TORMENTED WITCH.
The children of two pious persons in Amsterdam being
bewitched, a neighbour advised them to boil oak chips in
water which had been drawn from below a cross-bridge
then would the deviFs journeywoman make her appearance,
and the children be well again. At first the parents
gave no heed to this advice, but afterwards, from compassion
to the children, adopted it, though with closed doors,
and without the knowledge of any one. At the first
boiling of the water, a female neighbour came in running
and crying out " "
Ye devil-casters : ! ye devil-casters !
and continued thus crying and running about the house
as long as the pot was on the fire ; whence it evidently
appeared whom the poor infants had to thank for their
sufi'erings.
THE ACE OF HEARTS PIERCED.
An officer in Antwerp had seduced a maiden and deserted
her. In her resentment she consulted a sorceress,
who gave her an ace of hearts with the following directions
: The next night, when the clock struck twelve, to
take a full glass of white wine, lay the card upon it, and
pierce the heart exactly through the middle with a needle.