'You spread your cloak down on the earth,
And on it to two little twins gave birth.
'You laid us under a turf so green,
Nor suffered for us a sorrow unseen.
'You laid us under so broad a stone,
Suffered sorrow nor harm for what you had done.'
'Nay my dear bairns, but stay with me;
And four barrels of gold shall be your fee.'
'You may give us four, or five, if you choose,
But not for all that, heaven will we lose.
'You may give us eight, you may give us nine,
But not for all these, heaven will we tine.
'Our seat is made ready in heavenly light,
But for you a seat in hell is dight.'
A ballad is spread all over Germany which is probably a variation of 'The Cruel Mother,' though the resemblance is rather in the general character than in the details. A, 'Höllisches Recht,' Wunderhorn, II, 202, ed. of 1808, II, 205, ed. 1857. Mittler, No 489, p. 383, seems to be this regulated and filled out. B, Erlach, 'Die Rabenmutter,' IV, 148; repeated, with the addition of one stanza, by Zuccalmaglio, p. 203, No 97. C, 'Die Kindsmörderinn,' Meinert, p. 164, from the Kuhländchen; turned into current German, Erk's Liederhort, p. 144, No 41c. D, Simrock, p. 87, No 37a, from the Aargau. E, 'Das falsche Mutterherz,' Erk u. Irmer, Heft 5, No 7, and 'Die Kindesmörderin,' Erk's Liederhort, p. 140, No 41, Brandenburg. F, Liederhort, p. 142, No 41a, Silesia. G, Liederhort, p. 143, 41b, from the Rhein, very near to B. H, Hoffmann u. Richter, No 31, p. 54, and I, No 32, p. 57, Silesia. J, Ditfurth, Fränkische V. 1., II, 12, No 13. K, 'Die Rabenmutter,' Peter, Volksthümliches aus Österreichisch-Schlesien, I, 210, No 21. L, 'Der Teufel u. die Müllerstochter,' Pröhle, Weltliche u. geistliche V. 1., p. 15, No 9, Hanoverian Harz. Repetitions and compounded copies are not noticed.
The story is nearly this in all. A herdsman, passing through a wood, hears the cry of a child, but cannot make out whence the sound comes. The child announces that it is hidden in a hollow tree, and asks to be taken to the house where its mother is to be married that day. There arrived, the child proclaims before all the company that the bride is its mother. The bride, or some one of the party, calls attention to the fact that she is still wearing her maiden-wreath. Nevertheless, says the child, she has had three children: one she drowned, one she buried in a dung-heap [the sand], and one she hid in a hollow tree. The bride wishes that the devil may come for her if this is true, and, upon the word, Satan appears and takes her off; in B, G, J, with words like these:
'Komm her, komm her, meine schönste Braut,
Dein Sessel ist dir in der Hölle gebaut.' J 9.