Northern mythology

:
56 NORTH GERMAN TRADITIONS.
from both houses came the last, carrying the brooms on
their shoulders. They met together, when Ann inquired
of Susan where they were going ? But before she could
answer, many little voices cried from one of the brooms
" We are removing '' The girls at first were frightened,
!
but soon recovered their presence of mind. There was a
pond close at hand ; into this both plunged their brooms,
and left them in the water. They then betook themselves
to their new habitations, and were no more annoyed by
these noxious beings. But it was soon remarked that all
the fish in the pond grew sick, and by degrees died ; and
women, who late in the evening fetched water from the
pond, declared by all that was holy that they had repeatedly
heard small voices in the water crying out :
'^
have removed ! We have gone away !
''
We
In Neumiinster a man had offended a Niss, because he
had put no butter in his porridge.
In revenge the Niss
played such pranks and caused so much annoyance that
the people were obhged to remove. When the last person
with the broom was crossing the threshold, the Niss, who
was sitting in the broom, called out :
" I too am here/^
and removed with them.
At a place also in Angeln, some people left their house,
on account of a Niss. When the last cartload was just
ready to go, he was sitting behind, and laughing said :
''We move to-day."
The reader will have already seen in the Danish Popnlar Traditions
stories nearly identical with the three foregoing, which are here selected
from many others as striking examples of the close resemblance existing
between the superstitions of North Germany and those of Scandinavia.
THE SNAKE-KING.
A girl working in the field once found a bunch of four-