The following strange event happened in the parish of Boerne, two miles
south of Ripen, in Denmark, and is still known to the people in all its
details.
One Sunday evening, a company of young men and girls of the village had
assembled in a farm-house, and were indulging in all kinds of frolic and
flirting. After they had enjoyed their nonsense for some time they
thought they should like to have a little dancing. In the midst of much
noisy and useless debating how to procure a musician to play to them,
one of the youths--the wildest of the party--cut the matter short by
saying boastingly: "Now, my lads, leave that to me! I will bring you a
musician, even if it should be the devil himself!" With these words the
wicked youth placed his cap knowingly on one side of his head, and
marched out of the room.
He had not advanced many steps along the road when he met with an old
beggarly-looking man, who carried a fiddle under his arm. The lad lost
no time in striking a bargain with the man, and triumphantly introduced
him into the house. In a few minutes all the young folks were wildly
dancing up and down the room to the old crowder's fascinating music; and
soon the perspiration actually streamed down their faces. They now
desired to stop for a moment to rest themselves a little. But this they
found impossible so long as the old crowder continued playing; and they
could not induce him to leave off, however earnestly they implored him.
It was really an awful affair!
Soon they would have been all dead from sheer exhaustion, had it not so
happened, fortunately for them, that there resided in the lower part of
the house an old deaf woman, the housekeeper of the farmer, who
accidentally becoming aware of the desperate condition of the dancers,
ran as fast as she could to fetch the parish priest. The holy man was
already in bed, and it took some time to arouse him; and then he had to
dress himself. But at last he was quite prepared; and when he arrived at
the farm-house and saw the fearful scene, he at once took out of his
pocket a little book, from which he read something in Latin or Hebrew.
Scarcely had he read a verse, when the indefatigable fiddler let his arm
sink, and drawing himself gradually up until he stood merely on the tips
of his toes, he suddenly vanished through the ceiling, leaving no traces
behind. Some people say, however, that there was a sulphurous odour
about the house shortly after this miraculous event.