“Has my lady lost her ring?” asked the maid.
The lady ceased to talk, and cast a glance at the priest, who sat quietly at the window looking out toward the lake.
“Here it is, any way,” said the maid, and laid the ring upon the table.
The lady grew pale, but the priest looked more serious than ever.
How it went with her and her riches thereafter, the story does not relate, but the lake is called Goldring to this day. [[187]]
[1] The legend of the ring, originally an Oriental tale [See Herodotus on King Polycrates in Samos], has become a part of the folk-lore of several localities in Scandinavia, as in Närike, The Rich Lady; in Norway, The Insolent Priest’s Daughter; in Denmark, Free Birthe, etc. [↑]
