the Bird
Simer. His daughter has been ensnared by a giant when she and three
other birds were out flying; but she is at length rescued by two heroes,
one of whom she weds. When she becomes homesick she puts on her
feather-dress and flies away.[189]

A Pomeranian saga forms an interesting link between the Swan-maiden
group and the legends of Enchanted Princesses discussed in the last
chapter. A huntsman, going his rounds in the forest, drew near a pool
which lies at the foot of the Huehnerberg. There he saw a girl bathing;
and thinking that she was from the neighbouring village, he picked up
her clothes, with the intention of playing her a trick. When she saw
what he had done, she left the water and hastened after him, begging him
to give back her clothes--or at any rate her shift. He, however, was not
to be moved; and she then told him she was an enchanted princess, and
without her shift she could not return. _Now_ he was fully determined
not to give up the precious article of apparel. She was, therefore,
compelled to follow him to his hut, where his mother kept house for him.
The huntsman there put the shift into a chest, of which he took the key,
so that the maiden could not escape; and after some time she accepted
the position, and agreed to become his wife. Years passed by, and
several children had been born, when one day he went out, leaving the
key of the chest behind. When the heroine saw this she begged her
mother-in-law to open the chest and show her the shift; for, we are
told, the enchanted princess could not herself open the trunk. She
begged so hard that her mother-in-law at last complied; and no sooner
had she got the shift into her hands than she vanished out of sight.
When the husband returned and heard what had happened, he made up his
mind to seek her. So he climbed the Huehnerberg and let himself down the
opening he found there. He soon arrived at the underground castle.
Before its closed gate lay a great black dog, around whose neck a paper
hung which conveniently contained directions how to penetrate into the
castle. Following these, he presently found himself in the presence of
the princess, his wife, who was right glad to see him, and gave him a
glass of wine to strengthen him for the task before him; for at midnight
the Evil One would come to drive him out of the castle and prevent the
lady's deliverance. At this point, unfortunately, the reciter's memory
failed: hence we do not know the details