The Park in Muskau 133 



But, joking apart, there is no lack of real tra- 

 dition among the people to give fiction an his- 

 torical basis. Besides the incidents I have related, 

 the old chronicle of the town records the follow- 

 ing, which I translate into modern German with 

 only a few remarks of my own : — 



Muskau or Mosca, otherwise called Muzakow, that 

 is " Town of men," was in the time of the Sorbs a re- 

 nowned holy place, where four of their temples stood 

 in oak groves. Here the holy image of old times, the 

 god of gods Swantewit, " the holy spirit, the holy fire," 

 was worshiped. The oracles of the horse dedicated to 

 him were promulgated by the priests, and the places 

 of sacrifice — one quite close to the baths — are easily 

 distinguishable. A large cemetery on the other side of 

 the town, full of urns which are still sometimes ex- 

 humed, indicates a place either largely populated, or at 

 least inhabited from time immemorial. At the conver- 

 sion of the Sorbs by Louis the Pious and to the time 

 of Hildewardt III, Bishop of Meissen, in 1060, the 

 worshipers of the old gods took refuge in these formerly 

 almost impenetrable forests, and their religious rites 

 were conducted for several centuries there with stealth 

 and seclusion. The statue of the god Zeutiber was said 

 to be still preserved here even at a much later date, 

 although in a damaged condition.' 



The first " Graf" at Muskau was Theorious, whose 

 daughter Juliane was given as wife to Wittekind's son 

 of the same name. The Graf was said to be in great 

 demand, and the renown of his name has descended to 

 our times. 



' Compare the funeral monuments in the Troad and on the Euro- 

 pean peninsula of the whole Hellespont as far as Ganochoro and Hera- 

 clea, where the last examples are to be found. So in the Neisse Valley 

 here, and especially near Buchwalde and Werdeck, there are high green 

 hills covered with primeval oaks, called "Kraalsroo," or Kings' Graves, 

 by the Sorbs and Wends to this day. 



