"As soon as he could speak, he tried to express his gratitude. 'Dear maiden,' he said, 'had it not been for you I should never again have seen the light of day, and even as it is, I fear I shall never walk again. For it was no ordinary mortal by whom I was wounded, but a demon of some kind who threatened that even should I survive, all power to move my legs will have left me. Of what good will life then be to me? Trouble yourself no longer, sweet maiden, to cure me. Rather let my wounds bleed anew.'
"But the beautiful girl shook her head. 'Why should we believe all that ill?' she said. 'I am skilled in herb lore and shall cure you.'
"For more than a week the man lay in bed while the girl tended him. And she grew to love him, he was so patient, so grateful for all she did. Then, one morning, he looked brightly at her: 'Lo, I am cured.' And he sat up in bed. But when he tried to get down he could not.
"And the next day it was the same and the next. But the man did not speak of any disappointment. Instead, he told his nurse strange stories of the life he had seen, and one day something that she found hard to bear. It was of the beautiful woman whom he loved and would have wed.
"The maiden, though now sad, still tended him faithfully, but to no avail. At last, in her distress, she sought out a witch who was famed for her wisdom over the whole mountain side.
"'The man is under enchantment,' said the old woman. 'He knows his cure, but will not tell it to thee.'
"'Tell me what it is!' exclaimed the maiden. 'I will pay any price for the cure!'
"'Are you sure?' asked the witch with a disagreeable laugh.
"'I am sure,' answered the maiden.
"'Know then,' said the witch, 'that only a virgin life like yours can save him. Will you give your life?'