Page:Gesta Romanorum - Swan - Wright - 2.djvu/334

322 doleful complaints. He stopped to enquire the occasion; and was told, that for the space of seven years last passed, he had been committed to the custody of the demons upon that mountain, who daily made use of him as of a chariot in consequence of an unwary exclamation to that effect. The traveller startled at an assertion so extraordinary, and a little incredulous, was informed that his neighbour had suffered in a similar degree; for that having hastily committed his daughter to their power, they had instantly borne her off. He added, that the demons, weary of instructing the girl, would willingly restore her, provided the father presented himself on the mountain and there received her.

The auditor thunderstruck at this communication, doubted whether he should conceal things so incredible, or relate them as he had heard. He determined, at last, to declare the girl's situation to her father; and hastening, accordingly, found him still bewailing the lengthened absence of his daughter. Ascertaining the cause, he went on to state what he had heard from the man whom the devils