THE DEMON OF THE RING.
A young prince, Udo by name, swayed the island of Rugen, on the Pomeranian shore, (long before the northern deluge had overwhelmed and buried the greater part of it in the depths of the sea, and at the time when the powerful race of the Obotrites inhabited its plains,[1]) and resided in the town of Arcon the capital of his hereditary possessions, whose ruins now lie entombed since many centuries in the all engulphing ocean. He was married to Edda, the daughter of one of his vassals, and his petty principality was to him a terrestrial paradise. Here he lived as best he liked, loving his subjects and beloved by them, doing nothing but what he believed just, and caring but little for the department of “Foreign Affairs;” in short, being free from the cares of an entangled government, his life resembled more that of a happy country gentleman than of a prince governing a country—combining the privileges of power with the enjoyment of a tranquil and social life, without
B2
