rdingly concealed himself one evening; and when the harmless
spectres came out he seized one of their balls, and scampered away with
it, followed by the angry owners. A stream crossed his path, and,
missing the plank bridge which spanned it, he sprang into the water.
This saved him, for the spirits had no power there; and a merry wedding
was the speedy sequel of his adventure. In like manner a fairy, who, in
a Breton saga, was incautious enough to winnow gold in broad daylight in
a field where a man was pruning beeches, excited the latter's attention
by this singular proceeding; and the man possessed himself of the
treasure by simply flinging into it a hallowed rosary. In Germany the
water-nix has the reputation of being a good shoemaker. It is related
that a man, who once saw a nix on the shore of the March busy at his
work, threw a rosary upon it. The nix disappeared, leaving the shoe; and
a variant states that the shoe was so well made that the owner wore out
successively twelve other shoes which he had caused to be made to match
it, without its being any the worse.[106]

We have already seen in the last chapter that the performance of
Christian rites and the exhibition of Christian symbols and sacred books
have a powerful effect against fairies. But further, the invocation, or
indeed the simple utterance, of a sacred name has always been held to
counteract enchantments and the wiles of all supernatural beings who are
not themselves part and parcel of what I may, without offence and for
want of a better term, call the Christian mythology, and who may
therefore at times, if not constantly, be supposed to be hostile to the
Christian powers and to persons under their protection. These beliefs
are, of course, in one form or another part of the machinery of every
religion. The tales just quoted are examples of the potency of a symbol.
A North German story is equally emphatic as to the value of a holy name.
We are told that late one evening a boy saw a great number of hares
dancing and leaping. Now hares are specially witch-possessed animals. As
he stood and watched them one of them sprang towards him and tried to
bite his leg. But he said: "Go away! thou art not of God, but of the
devil." Instantly the whole company vanished; but he heard a doleful
voice exclaiming: "My silver beaker, my silver beaker!" On reaching home
he told his adventure; and his father at once started back with him to
the place, where they found a sil