EARRINGTONl 



CHILDREN'S STORIES 311 



As he went along, he came to where Fish Maiden was basking beside 

 the river. "Good morning, Fish Maiden," he said. "Come over this 

 way," said the Fish Maiden to him. The Elf went over and they both 

 sat down to talk. As the Fish Maiden was getting dry, her mouth 

 began to open. "I must be going back into the water where I 

 belong." The Elf said: "Could you not stand it a little while 

 longer?" The Fish Maiden said: "1 do not stay outside of the water 

 so very long. That is the reason that 1 am already about to go back 

 in." Because the Fish Maiden did not want to stay outside the 

 water, the Elf went away angry. 



As he went he came to a tall spruce tree and there he picked five 

 spruce cones, and went over to where Magpietail Boy was. As he 

 came to the place, he said to Magpietail Boy: "1 now perhaps might 

 help you to get out of there, if you can catch one of the five spruce 

 cones. So I am going to drop them to you, one at a time. If you 

 miss all of them, you will not get out of there." "Very well, indeed, 

 I wUl tiy my best to catch them." And so the Elf dropped one of 

 the spruce cones, but he did not catch it. He dropped hun another, 

 but he did not catch this one either. He dropped him the thu-d one, 

 but he did not catch it either. Now the Elf began to scare him by 

 saying: "You must do your best, for this one is the last." "Yes, 1 

 will," said Magpietail Boy. He then dropped him the fourth one. 

 He did not catch it. "Then you can stay there; that is all 1 had," 

 the Elf said to him. Magpietad Boy said nothing, but looked very 

 frightened as he was lying there. The Elf then took out another 

 spruce cone. "Now, this tune 1 am not telling you a lie. That is 

 the last. If you do not catch this one, 1 can not get you out of there." 

 As the Elf said thus, he dropped the last one that he had. But 

 Magpietail Boy caught this one somehow. "All right," said the Elf. 

 "You must drop this right straight dowm from where you are lying." 

 Then he dropped it, as he was told, and shortly there came up a 

 spruce tree loaded with branches, right beside him, until it reached 

 up to the bench. "Now," said the Elf, "you must climb this spruce 

 tree and get out." Then Magpietail Boy came out. "Thank you 

 for helping me," he said to the Elf. He then told the Elf just what 

 had happened to him that night and how he had gotten in there. 

 "Very well," said the Elf. Then they went over to where there 

 was a fallen tree. The Elf found a woodworm and gave it to Magpie- 

 tail Boy, telling him: "You must put this wonn by your wife's bed 

 to-night. This will fix her. So you must go home, but you must 

 not tell your wife. You must not try to quarrel with her. This 

 worm will do enough to her." As the Elf told bun that, he went to 

 his home. 



