Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 27, 1916.djvu/365

Rh 3. The child forgotten in the hill and the White Lady. The child is left in the hill at one of the seasons (Good Friday, Passiontide) when it is open, and there are treasures there. The child's mother is a poor widow. After a year the mother finds the child, who has been guarded by the White Lady, according to some of the stories. A few variants exist.

4. The enchanted White Lady. The appearance of the vision prompted the question, Why? The answer was that she was under enchantment, either without offence or for some wrong-doing, and awaits release. This gave full rein to popular imagination, and there are the most varied reasons given to account for her position. One of the most interesting is that of the White Lady at the White Mountain castle. This has several variants, and occurs in different places. It is probably of German origin.

5. The enchanted White Lady and the finding of the treasure. The White Lady demands release and offers great treasures for it, which the bold deliverer may win.

The central motive of these tales is, as in the preceding section, a test which the deliverer must undergo. However, the would-be deliverer usually fails to fulfil the conditions, or has not enough courage to attempt the rescue.

According to the story in Krolmus's Collection, ii. 565 n., a white lady appeared to a ploughman at Waldeck, and asked him to free her. She often talked to him, and hid money in a well for him. Then she asked him to come at midnight to the well Lida that she might give him abundant treasures, but he refused. On this the White Lady said she must remain enchanted and lost until a priest from the cloister of St. Dobrotiva releases her, and he will be redheaded. Silesian and also German variants follow.

The "contamination" of the motives of enchantment and of a treasure is evident in a tale in the collection ''Slavie, poh. a pov. naš. lidu'', 1882, p. 107. An old boatman saw on the day of the Passion a marshlight (wiil-of-the-wisp) below Točník. He did not allow himself to be misled by the mockery, but began to dig there. He dug down to some stairs leading to the depths. At the twentieth step a white lady appeared to him, and asked him what he was doing, then told him that she had but a year to watch a treasure and await release, that he is to come at the same time a