Northern mythology

NETHERLANDISH TRADITIONS. 243
through the field, finding hnnself unable to proceed further,
laid himself down and fell asleep. On the stroke of
twelve the ghost appeared wdth the landmark, and cried
as usual "
: Where shall I set it ? Where shall I leave
it ? ^^ The drunkard w^aked by the cry, raised his head,
Thou ragamuffin, set
and looking on the ghost, said :
"
''
it again where thou stolest it from, thou blockhead !
" ''
The Lord be thanked ! Now I am released ! cried the
ghost joyfully, and went and set the stake again in its old
place ; and from that time never returned.
A precisely similar story is told of a spectre near Toiidern, in Sleswig.
See MUllenhoff, p. 189. The superstition is one of the most wide-spread.
THE BOLD SOLDIER OF ANTWERP \
There w^as in former days a house in the Little Market
at xintwerp that had four stories, and was as beautiful as
a royal palace ; but no one would live in it because it was
haunted. At the stroke of twelve there came a spectre,
that ran up and down the stairs ; and when it struck one,
it would place itself behind the street-door, and begin to
howl so horribly that every one felt pity for it. But no
one had courage enough to enter the house, which thus
continued empty, although the ghost every night cried :
''
" Release my soul ! Release my soul !
This had continued a long while, when an old
soldier
from the wars came to the city, who, on hearing people
speak of the house, said he would sleep a night in it, if a
hundred guilders were given him beforehand. The landlord
wondered at this, but the soldier said he feared neither
devil nor goblin ; for what God protects is well protected.
The landlord then said :
''
Give me thy hand as
a pledge, and tell me with what I must provide thee.^'
" Give me," said the soldier, " a good supply of wood cut
1
See Grimm, K. and H. M. No. 4.
M 2