It is proposed that this shall be the first of a series of little
volumes in which shall be presented in a handy form selections from
the Folk-lore and legends of various countries. It has been well said
that "the legendary history of a nation is the recital of the elements
that formed the character of that nation; it contains the first rude
attempts to explain natural phenomena, the traditions of its early
history, and the moral principles popularly adopted as the rules for
reward and punishment; and generally the legends of a people may be
regarded as embodying the popular habits of thought and popular
motives of action." The following legends of Germany cannot, we think,
fail to interest those who read them. Some of the stories are invested
with a charming simplicity of thought which cannot but excite
admiration. Others are of a weird, fantastic character fitted to a
land of romantic natural features, of broad river, mountain, and deep
forest. The humorous, the pathetic, the terrible, all find place in
the German folk-tales, and it would be difficult to rise from their
perusal without having received both amusement and instruction. The
general lesson they convey is the sure punishment of vice and the
reward of virtue; some way or another the villain always meets with
his desert. In future volumes we shall deal with the legends of other
countries, hoping that the public will bear us company in our
excursions.