He hastened home. Before the door he met his betrothed. At the sight of her long lost lover, over whose fate she had often wept, the astonished girl cried out with surprise. The peasant pushed her gently aside, and went into the house. There he saw the farmer who employed him, and said to him, with tears in his eyes,—
"I cannot serve you any longer, nor can I marry your daughter. I love her as dearly as my sight, but she can never be mine."
The countryman looked at him in wonder, and seeing how sorrowful was his thin, pale face, formerly so fat and rosy, he asked the reason why he refused to marry his daughter.
The peasant told him all: his journey in the air, and the promise he had made the magician. The farmer, having heard him out, bade the poor fellow be of good cheer. He then took a purse full of money, and went to a witch for advice. When he returned in the evening, he was smiling and happy, and said to the peasant,—
"Go to-morrow, before daylight, to the witch, and all will be right."
The peasant, weary as he was, went to bed, and soon fell fast asleep. He got up, however, before daylight, and went to the witch. He found her crouching before a fire burning herbs. The witch told him to stand quietly by. The morning was calm and beautiful, but
