with his numerous and ghastly suite through the gate of the church-yard to the town, and led his nightly parade through all the streets, till the clock struck twelve, when all returned again to their dark abodes.
The inhabitants of Neisse now began to fear, lest the awful night-wanderers might shortly enter their own houses. Some of the chief Magistrates earnestly entreated the Mayor to lay the charm, by making good his word to the bag-piper. But the Mayor would not listen to it; he even pretended that Wido shared in the infernal arts of the old rat-catcher, and added, “The dauber deserves rather the funeral-pile than the bridal-bed.” But in the following night the dancing spectres came again into the town, and although no music was heard, yet it was easily seen by their motions, that the dancers went through the figure of the Grandfather’s Dance. This night they behaved much worse than before. For they stopped at the house wherein a betrothed damsel lived, and here they turned in a wild whirling dance round a shadow, which resembled perfectly the spinster, in whose honour they moved the nightly bridal-dance. Next day the whole town was filled with mourning; for all the damsels whose shadows were seen dancing with the spectres, had died suddenly. The same thing happened again the following night. The dancing skeletons turned before the houses, and wherever they had been, there was, next morning, a dead bride lying on the bier.
The citizens were determined no longer to expose their daughters and mistresses to such an imminent danger. They threatened the Mayor to carry Emma away by force and to lead her to Wido, unless the Mayor would permit their union to be celebrated before the beginning of the night. The choice was a difficult one, for the Mayor disliked the one just as much as the other; but as he found himself in the uncommon situation, where a man may choose with perfect freedom, he, as a free being, declared freely his Emma to be Wido’s bride.
Long before the spectre-hour the guests sat at the wedding-table. The first stroke of the bell sounded, and immediately the favourite tune of the well-known bridal dance was heard. The guests, frightened to death, and fearing the spell might still continue to work, hastened to the windows, and beheld the bag-piper, followed by a long row of figures in white shrouds, moving to the wedding-house. He remained at the door and played; but the procession went on slowly, and proceeded even to the festive hall. Here the strange pale guests rubbed their eyes, and looked about them full of astonishment, like sleep-walkers just awakened. The wedding-guests fled behind the chairs and tables; but soon the cheeks of the phantoms began to colour, their white lips became blooming like young rose-buds; they gazed at each other full of wonder and joy, and well known voices called friendly names. They were soon known as revived corpses, now blooming in all the brightness of youth and health: and who should they be, but the brides, whose sudden death had filled the whole town with mourning, and who, now recovered from their enchanted slumber, had been led by Master Wilibald with his magic pipe, out of their graves to the merry wedding-feast. The wonderful old man blew a last and cheerful farewell tune, and disappeared. He was never seen again.
