ormer human shapes. "Now you have fallen into
my hands, you rascal," cried the Hell-Maiden. "I accepted you as my
lover, and you practised deceit and theft against me: is that my reward?
You robbed me of my most precious jewel by fraud, and you hoped to pass
a happy life as the king's son-in-law; but now we have turned over a
new leaf. You are in my power, and you shall atone to me for all your
villainy." "Forgive me, forgive me," said the king's son-in-law. "I know
well that I have treated you very badly, but I heartily repent of my
fault." But the maiden answered, "Your pleadings and your repentance
come too late, and nothing can help you more. I dare not overlook your
offence, for that would bring me disgrace, and make me a byword among
the people. Twice have you sinned against me: for, firstly, you have
despised my love; and, secondly, you have stolen my ring; and now you
must suffer your punishment." As she spoke, she placed the ring on the
thumb of her left hand, took the man on her arm like a doll, and carried
him away. This time she did not take him to a magnificent palace, but to
a cavern in the rocks where chains were hanging on the walls. The maiden
grasped the ends of the chains and fettered the man hand and foot, so
that it was impossible for him to escape, and she said in anger, "Here
shall you remain a prisoner till your end. I will send you so much food
every day, that you shall not die of hunger, but you need never expect
to escape." Then she left him.

The king and his daughter endured a time of terrible anxiety as weeks
and weeks passed by, and the traveller neither returned nor sent any
tidings. The king's daughter often dreamed that her consort was in great
distress, and therefore she begged her father to assemble the sorcerers
from all parts, in hopes that they might perhaps be able to give some
information respecting what had happened to him, and how he could be
rescued. All the sorcerers could say was that he was still alive, but in
great distress, and they could neither discover where he was, nor how he
could be found. At length a famous sorcerer from Finland was brought to
the king, who was able to inform him that his son-in-law was kept in
captivity in the East, not by a human being, but by a more powerful
creature. Then the king sent messengers to the East to seek for his lost
son-in-law. Fortunately they met with the old sorcerer who had read the
inscriptions on Solomon's Seal, and had thus l