Page:Libussa, Duchess of Bohemia; also, The Man Without a Name.djvu/97

Rh country occupied, and having been told by the Moravians that beyond the neighbouring mountains there was a country pleasant and fertile, and lately abandoned by its inhabitants (the Marcomanes), they crossed the mountains, and took possession of it. Thus Czech became the prince of a new country, in which but few of the old inhabitants had remained, but where there was a great abundance of cattle, horses, and game. The brother Lech, not willing to be a subject, took his followers to look for another country, where he also might settle as an independent prince. He crossed the northern mountains, and entered Poland, which country he found very thinly populated, and where he had no difficulty in establishing himself as the reigning prince. Thus the two brothers became founders of two new empires, which for a considerable time played a conspicuous rôle in history. Till now, in the Sclavonian languages, the Bohemians are called Czechs, and the Poles, Lechs, or Lachi.

The Erl-King.] One of the chiefs of the German forest ghosts, said to be very inimical to children. Every one knows the splendid ballad of Goëthe, entitled “The Erl-King.King.” [sic]

Krokus was the second duke of Bohemia, when inhabited by the Sclavonians. He was chosen duke some time after the death of Czech. He reigned with great wisdom over Bohemia; and before ascending the Bohe-