A fisherman was sleeping on the sand, by the Baltic, when a stranger
roused him, telling him that the sea was full of fish. They fished
together all day, when the boat was filled, and the stranger sent the
fisherman to sell the fish, insisting that he should bring him half the
profits, and give the other half to his own wife. Next day they would go
fishing again. This went on day after day, and the stranger regularly
received half the proceeds of the work, giving back a trifle to the
fisherman in return for the use of the boat and tackle. When everything
was arranged, he used to disappear behind a large stone.

Thus the fisherman became rich. He built himself a cottage, and bought a
new boat, and sometimes he indulged in a glass to quench his thirst.

One day it occurred to him to give his partner less than his due; but
next day the results of their fishing were much smaller, and the
stranger looked at him sorrowfully. In the evening the fisherman went to
sell the fish, but gave his partner still less than the day before. Next
day, when they cast the nets, they did not take a single fish, and the
stranger said, "You have cheated me two days running, and now you must
die." He then threw the fisherman overboard, and two days afterwards his
body was found on the beach and buried. As his wife stood weeping by his
grave, a tall, strong man approached, who told her to dry her tears; for
if he had not drowned her husband, he would have died on the gallows.
He then gave her a bag of money, telling her that her husband had gained
it honestly, and that he was the water-sprite. Then he disappeared,
leaving the money, and the widow went home and lived happily with her
children.

* * * * *

Another curious story relative to water-sprites is that of the mermaid
and the lord of Pahlen (Kreutzwald). The latter found the maiden sitting
on a stone by the sea-shore, and lamenting because her father, the king
of the sea, compelled her to raise storms, in which many people
perished, in order to please the Mother of the Winds. The nobleman freed
her from her trouble by breaking the ring with which she raised the
storms with his teeth, and she rewarded him with two large barrels of
gold.

* * * * *

The following short stories relate to different classes of spirits of
the air.

THE SPIRITS OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS.

(JANNSEN.)[43]

A certain nobleman was in the ha