"The popular tradition of the Wild Huntsman, current in many places,
prevails also still at the present day in my village of Zilmsdorf. From
my earliest years I had been acquainted with it, but only from hearsay;
and as soon as I had come into possession of my paternal inheritance, I
gave the most stringent orders, especially to the nightwatch, to inform
me immediately, at any hour of the night, should this event come to
pass.
"About thirty years ago, towards eleven o'clock on a clear night in the
month of May, I heard a knocking at my window:--
"'Gracious Baron!' cried my nightwatch, 'The Wild Huntsman! In the upper
wood of Teuplitz!'
"I directly gave orders to arouse St‰glich, my gamekeeper, who at that
time--I being then a bachelor--was groom, gamekeeper, house-steward, in
short all in all to me, and was moreover just of my own age, and
certainly an excellent forester.
"'Go, fetch the horses! Make haste! Don't stop to saddle--only the
horse-cloth; the Wild Huntsman is in the forest; we will welcome him!'
"This was the very thing for St‰glich. In less than ten minutes we were
mounted, well-armed, and were flying over meadows and ploughed fields
towards the sounds of hunting-horns and the crying of hounds. Scarcely
had we reached the heath when the noise ceased. We remained quiet. On a
sudden we heard close by us a yelping much like that of a badger-dog
when it has recovered the lost scent. Rapidly the yelping of dogs, large
and small, with the sounds of horns, increased; and now commenced a
truly furious chase, which moved towards the middle of the forest, where
other hunting-horns besides were winding awfully. We spurred our horses
and rushed forwards, but an impenetrable thicket compelled us to change
our course, and to turn into a part of the forest where there was but
little underwood, but where, notwithstanding the beautiful starlight
night, it was so pitch dark that we really could not see the wood for
the trees, as the saying is. The horses--which, as is well-known, are at
night more nervous than men--shied several times.
"On a sudden the Wild Hunt appeared to come directly towards us, with a
clamour so terrible that, as soon as we reached the summit of the hill
where the highest forest trees stand, we called out to each other: 'Now
at them!'
"Like a whirlwind it rushed past us, with awful music of voices and
instruments, at a distance of scarcely forty paces. The horses snorted
and shied, and that of my gamekeeper reared and fell backwards.
"'Heaven be merciful to us, and protect us!' we both cried. I hastened
to his assistance, but he was already rising. Soon he was again at my
side. Our horses nervously pressed close to each other. The Wild Hunt
appeared to be over, when, after a little while, we heard it commencing
anew a great distance off, in the open fields. Without waste of time we
hastened in that direction, and soon reached the fields.
"The stars shone brightly and cheerfully. Now the Wild Hunt passed
before us; but as we approached, it gradually went off in a curved line,
with sounding of horns, crying of hounds, and clattering of horses. Soon
it was far away on the distant heath.
"We rode home, where the nightwatch anxiously awaited us. He had already
begun to doubt whether we should ever come back. It was past one
o'clock."[18]