The Princess ascended a narrow, winding staircase and reached a little door. A rusty key was sticking in the lock, and when she turned it the door flew open. In a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, spinning her flax busily.
One night John Roy was going over the mountains, when he fell in with a company of Elves, whose mode of travelling clearly indicated that they were carrying a person off with them.
They are doomed to wander amid mountains and lakes till the day of judgment, in ignorance of their sentence whether they shall be pardoned or condemned, but they fear the worst.
Joy and mirth reign in such assemblies of the fairies; for they are particularly fond of dancing, and it is one of their chief occupations.
Whoever finds an elf bolt should preserve it with much care, as the possessor of it is always secured against death from such a weapon.
The farmer was agreeably surprised to find that the sack out of which he had already sown a large field did not diminish, and was still the same in weight and size as when he met the fairy.
The wife of a farmer in Lothian had fallen into the hands of the fairies, and, during the probationary year, sometimes appeared on a Sunday, among her children, combing their hair.
His guide produced an enormous knife, and he already thought that his end was come; when the latter quieted his fears, and asked him if he had never before seen the knife?
A thick fog concealed the road, and confused his senses. Every stone was, in the farmer's eyes, as large as a mountain; every little brook seemed to flow in an opposite direction.
So cheap and useful a servant is naturally very valuable, but cannot be obtained with money. He continues in a family so long as a member of it survives.
The elf bull is small in comparison with the real one; of a mouse colour, has upright ears, short horns and legs; his hair is short, smooth, and shining like an otter.
Every fairy unites in his own person the most various trades: he is his own weaver, tailor, and shoemaker.
‘Child,’ says the mother, ‘do you know you are as pretty as a princess?’ ‘Am I that?’ says the maid, and goes on with her crying.
The Hind instantly fled, but as she was crossing a path, Prince Guerrier lodged an arrow in her leg, when her strength failed her, and she fell.
When Robin was grown to six years of age, he was so knavish that all the neighbours did complain of him; for no sooner was his mother’s back turned, but he was in one knavish action or another.
The little fellow with the lantern turned round and uttered with all his might a loud and most malicious laugh; upon which he blew out his candle.
And a rumor went abroad in all that country of the beautiful sleeping Rosamond, for so was the Princess called; and from time to time many Kings' sons came and tried to force their way through the hedge.
The Princess had no sooner taken the spindle than it ran into her hand, and she fell down in a swoon.
Search was made; but no little Gitto was heard of: two years elapsed, and the still desponding mother received no other intelligence. One morning, as the mother opened the door, what should she see but little Gitto sitting on the threshold?