“Here is what they call may-balm,” replied the woman. “I have not tried
it myself. But I have not yet told you the ‘more important’ thing you were
to hear. THE WILL-O’-THE-WISP’S IN THE TOWN! That’s of much
more consequence than poetry and stories. I ought, indeed, to hold my
tongue; but there must be a necessity-a fate-a something that sticks in my
throat, and that wants to come out. Take care, you mortals!”
“I don’t understand a word of all this!” cried the man.
“Be kind enough to seat yourself on that cupboard,” she retorted, “but
take care you don’t fall through and break the bottles-you know what’s
inside of them. I must tell of the great event. It occurred no longer ago than
the day before yesterday. It did not happen earlier. It has now three hundred
and sixty-three days to run about. I suppose you know how many days there
are in a year?”
And this is what the Moor-woman told:
“There was a great commotion yesterday out here in the marsh! There
was a christening feast! A little Will-o’-the-Wisp was born here-in fact,
twelve of them were born all together; and they have permission, if they
choose to use it, to go abroad among men, and to move about and command
among them, just as if they were born mortals. That was a great event in the
marsh, and accordingly all the Will-o’-the-Wisps, male and female, went
dancing like little lights across the moor. There are some of them of the dog
species, but those are not worth mentioning. I sat there on the cupboard, and
had all the twelve little new-born Will-o’-the-Wisps upon my lap. They
shone like glow-worms; they already began to hop, and increased in size
every moment, so that before a quarter of an hour had elapsed, each of them
looked just as large as his father or his uncle. Now, it’s an old-established
regulation and favor, that when the moon stands just as it did yesterday, and
the wind blows just as it blew then, it is allowed and accorded to all Will-
o’-the-Wisps-that is, to all those who are born at that minute of time-to
become mortals, and individually to exert their power for the space of one
year.
