“‘The mortals are drying up our meadows; they’ve taken to draining.
What will our successors do?’
“‘We want to flame; we will flame-flame!’ cried the new-born Will-
o’the-Wisps.
“And thus the affair was settled.
“And now a ball was given, a minute long; it could not well be shorter.
The little elf-maidens whirled round three times with the rest, that they
might not appear proud, but they preferred dancing with one another.
“And now the sponsors’ gifts were presented, and presents were thrown
them. These presents flew like pebbles across the sea-water. Each of the elf-
maidens gave a little piece of her veil.
“‘Take that,’ they said, ‘and then you’ll know the higher dance, the most
difficult turns and twists-that is to say, if you should find them necessary.
You’ll know the proper deportment, and then you can show yourself in the
very pick of society.’
“The night raven taught each of the young Will-o’-the-Wisps to say,
‘Goo-goo-good,’ and to say it in the right place; and that’s a great gift
which brings its own reward.
“The owl and the stork-but they said it was not worth mentioning, and so
we won’t mention it.
“King Waldemar’s wild chase was just then rushing over the moor, and
when the great lords heard of the festivities that were going on, they sent a
couple of handsome dogs, which hunt on the spoor of the wind, as a
present; and these might carry two or three of the Will-o’-the-Wisps. A
couple of old Alpas, spirits who occupy themselves with Alp-pressing, were
also at the feast; and from these the young Will-o’-the-Wisps learned the art
of slipping through every key-hole, as if the door stood open before them.
These Alpas offered to carry the youngsters to the town, with which they
were well acquainted. They usually rode through the atmosphere on their
own back hair, which is fastened into a knot, for they love a hard seat; but
