344 STUDIES OF NATURE. 



One day, as I was endeavouring to diffipate my 

 melancholy, by looking at the young girls dancing 

 on the frefh grafs, one of them quitted the dan- 

 cers, and came and wept over me : then, on a 

 fudden, fhe again joined her companions, and con- 

 tinued to dance, friiking about, and amufing her- 

 felf with them. I took the fudden tranfition from 

 joy to grief, and from grief to joy, in this young 

 girl, to be the efFeâ; of the natural levity of the 

 people, and 1 did not give myfelf much trouble 

 about it ; when I faw an old man iffue from the 

 foreft, with a red beard, clothed in a robe made 

 of the ikins of weafels. He bore a branch of mif- 

 tletoe in his hand, and at his girdle hung a knife 

 of flint. He was followed by a company of young 

 perfons, in the flower of their age, who had girdles 

 of the fame fort of fkins, and holding in their 

 hands empty gourds, pipes of iron, bullocks' 

 horns, and other inftruments of their barbarous 

 mulic. 



As foon as this old man appeared, the dancing 

 ceafed, every countenance became fad, and the 

 whole company removed to a diftance from me. 

 Even my mafter and his family retired to their 

 cottage. The wicked old man tlien approached 

 me, and faftened a leathern cord round my neckj 

 then^ his fatellites, forcing me to follow him, drag- 



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