THE GOLDEN SNAKES. (JANNSEN.)

THE GOLDEN SNAKES.
(JANNSEN.)

TWO woodcutters found a number of snakes in the wood, and one of the men killed some, and he and his comrade followed them up till they came to a vast mass of snakes, among which was one with a golden crown. They fled, but were pursued by the snake-king, when one of them turned round and hit him on the head with an axe, when he changed into a heap of gold. They then returned to the cluster of snakes, but they had all disappeared, and they found only another heap of gold. They divided the money, and with half of it they built a church.

The previous story is Lithuanian rather than Esthonian in character. The next has a more diabolical character than any of the preceding.