e. At first he thought it was a fire lit by
the laborers, but on approaching he beheld two huge flames as high as
towers, which illuminated the whole mountain with a red and yellow
glow, and higher up on the lofty Nistler he beheld a similar yellow
light. Around the fire he saw men and women dancing whose black
figures, whenever they approached the red fire, stood plainly out so
that their shadows reached right up to the crouching man. A curious
sound of bells, which tingled to a great distance, whistles and viols
sounded horribly exciting in the still night air. He had to restrain
his legs forcibly, so that they should not dance likewise, said the
man. Through the bushes he perceived masses of people crawling about in
the dark. Suddenly the bush before which he stood was brilliantly
illumined and he perceived a devil carrying a child's arm as torch,
whose fat fed the flame. Behind this monster, who luckily for him had
his back turned, came masked and veiled persons. He recognized no one.
He felt so frightened that he threw himself full length on the ground
and crawled slowly back to the wood. For the remainder of his life,
added the young man, who has not been pampered by the Landsknechte and
poachers, he will never forget the fright which he felt when creeping
back. The moon shone pale, as if horrified at the atrocities which it
saw. On the beech near a crossing, which had stood empty as he came,
now sat a devil beating a drum with a fox's tail, so that it sounded
afar off: tup, tup, tup. Behind him in the branches sat the fiddler,
and played a dance as if to allure the crowd to this place. As the boy
crawled past muttering a prayer, without suffering himself to be
enticed, a devilish peal of laughter burst behind him and re-echoed
through the entire valley. On the Holtermann were likewise four young
witches, riding on brooms, and having lights stuck in their backs as
signals for the others. He also heard the row of whistles, drums,
galloping riders, and ungreased axles. On stoves, pitch-forks, brooms
and sticks, in carts drawn by cats, or riding on hares, an army of
witches swept close past him. Yelping dogs ran between his feet, and
the wings of owls touched his cheeks, so that he lay there as dead
through fright. On creeping further he saw in a ditch a well dressed
company of ladies and gentlemen sitting round a table, on which smoked
a splendid roast joint and game. The Devil himself sat at the head of
the table an