“The Will-o’-the-Wisp may run about in the country and through the
world, if it is not afraid of falling into the sea, or of being blown out by a
heavy storm. It can enter into a person and speak for him, and make all the
movements it pleases. The Will-o’-the-Wisp may take whatever form he
likes, of man or woman, and can act in their spirit and in their disguise in
such a way that he can effect whatever he wishes to do. But he must
manage, in the course of the year, to lead three hundred and sixty-five
people into a bad way, and in a grand style, too. To lead them away from the
right and the truth; and then he reaches the highest point. Such a Will-o’-
the-Wisp can attain to the honor of being a runner before the devil’s state
coach; and then he’ll wear clothes of fiery yellow, and breathe forth flames
out of his throat. That’s enough to make a simple Will-o’-the-Wisp smack
his lips. But there’s some danger in this, and a great deal of work for a Will-
o’-the-Wisp who aspires to play so distinguished a part. If the eyes of the
man are opened to what he is, and if the man can then blow him away, it’s
all over with him, and he must come back into the marsh; or if, before the
year is up, the Will-o’-the-Wisp is seized with a longing to see his family,
and so returns to it and gives the matter up, it is over with him likewise, and
he can no longer burn clear, and soon becomes extinguished, and cannot be
lit up again; and when the year has elapsed, and he has not led three
hundred and sixty-five people away from the truth and from all that is grand
and noble, he is condemned to be imprisoned in decayed wood, and to lie
glimmering there, without being able to move; and that’s the most terrible
punishment that can be inflicted on a lively Will-o’-the-Wisp.
“Now, all this I know, and all this I told to the twelve little Will-o’-the-
Wisps whom I had on my lap, and who seemed quite crazy with joy.
“I told them that the safest and most convenient course was to give up the
honor, and do nothing at all; but the little flames would not agree to this,
and already fancied themselves clad in fiery yellow clothes, breathing
flames from their throats.
“‘Stay with us,’ said some of the older ones.
“‘Carry on your sport with mortals,’ said the others.
