d one of the favourites with the peasants is that about
Ilse, the lovely daughter of the giant of the Ilsenstein. She was so
charming that far and wide she was known as the Beautiful Princess
Ilse, and was wooed by many knights, of whom she preferred the Lord of
Westerburg. But her father did not at all approve of her consorting
with a mere mortal, and forbade her to see her lover. Princess Ilse
was wilful, however, and in spite of her sire's prohibition she
daily visited her lover. The giant, exasperated by her persistency
and disobedience, finally stretched out his huge hands and, seizing
the rocks, tore a great gap between the height where he dwelt and the
castle of Westerburg. Upon this, Princess Ilse, going to the cleft
which parted her from her lover, recklessly flung herself over the
precipice into the raging flood beneath, and was there changed into
a bewitching undine. She dwelt in the limpid waters for many a year,
appearing from time to time to exercise her fascinations upon mortals,
and even, it is said, captivating the affections of the Emperor
Henry, who paid frequent visits to her cascade. Her last appearance,
according to popular belief, was at Pentecost, a hundred years ago;
and the natives have not yet ceased to look for the beautiful princess,
who is said still to haunt the stream and to wave her white arms to
entice travellers into the cool spray of the waterfall.

"I am the Princess Ilse,
And I dwell at the Ilsenstein;
Come with me to my castle,
And bliss shall be mine and thine.

"With the cool of my glass-clear waters
Thy brow and thy locks I'll lave;
And thou'lt think of thy sorrows no longer,
For all that thou look'st so grave.

"With my white arms twined around thee,
And lapped on my breast so white,
Thou shalt lie, and dream of elf-land--
Its loves and wild delight."

Heine (Martin's tr.).

The Giantess's Plaything

The giants inhabited all the earth before it was given to mankind, and
it was only with reluctance that they made way for the human race, and
retreated into the waste and barren parts of the country, where they
brought up their families in strict seclusion. Such was the ignorance
of their offspring, that a young giantess, straying from home, once
came to an inhabited valley, where for the first time in her life she
saw a farmer ploughing on the hillside. Deeming him a pretty plaything,
she caug