Castle Niedeck
The
Toy of the young Giantess
In olden times a race of giants is said to have
lived
in Alsace. Castle Niedeck in the valley of the Breusch was their
residence,
but even the ruins of this fortress have long since disappeared. The
legend
however remains to tell us that they were a peaceable people,
well-disposed
to mankind.
The daughter of the master of the castle was one
day
leisurely walking through the adjoining wood. On approaching the fields
and
meadows of the valley, she perceived a peasant ploughing. The young
giantess
looked in great astonishment at the tiny man who seemed to be so busily
engaged
trudging along after his little team, and turning up the ground with
his
small iron instrument. She had never before seen anything so wonderful,
and
was very much amused at the sight.
It seemed to her a nice little toy, and she
clapped her
hands in childish glee, so that the echo sounded among the mountains;
then
picking up man, horse, and plough, she placed them in her apron and
hurried
back gaily to the castle. There she showed her father the nice little
toy,
greatly pleased at what she had found.
The giant however shook his enormous head gravely,
and
said in a displeased tone, "Don't you know, child, who this trembling
little
creature with his struggling tiny animal is, that you have taken for a
plaything?
Of all the dwarfs down in the valley below, he is the most useful; he
works
hard and indefatigably in scorching heat as well as in windy cold
weather,
so that the fields may produce fruit for us. He who scoffs at or
maltreats
him will be punished by Heaven. Take the little labourer therefore back
to
the place he came from."
The young giantess, greatly ashamed and deeply
blushing
with embarrassment, put the amusing little toy back into her apron, and
carried
it obediently down to the valley.
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