at him. They might have heard the name of Dutch
Michel mentioned before, but now they begged their grandfather that he
would tell them all about him. And Peter Munk, who had heard Dutch
Michel spoken of on the other side of the forest only in a vague way,
joined in the children's request, and asked the old man who Dutch
Michel was and where he was to be seen. "He is the master of this
forest; and, judging from such an inquiry from a man of your age, you
must live on the other side of the Tannenbuehl, or even farther away,
not to have heard of him. I will tell you what I know about Dutch
Michel, and the stories that are circulated regarding him:

"About a hundred years ago--at least so my ancestors said--there was
not a more honorable race of people on the face of the earth than the
inhabitants of the Black Forest. But now, since so much money has come
into the country, the people are dishonest and wicked; the young
fellows dance and sing on Sunday, and swear most terribly. But at the
time of which I speak there was a very different state of things; and
even though Dutch Michel is looking in at the window now, I say, just
as I have often said before, that he is to blame for all this woful
change. There lived a hundred years or more ago, a rich timber
merchant, who employed a large number of men. He traded far down the
Rhine, and his business prospered, as he was a God-fearing man. One
evening a man came to his door, the like of whom he had never seen
before. His clothing did not differ from that of the Black Forest
workingmen, but he was a good head taller than any of them, and it had
not been believed that such a giant existed any where. He asked for
work, and the timber merchant, seeing that he was strong and so well
adapted to carrying heavy loads, made a bargain with him. Michel was a
workman such as this man had never had before. As a wood-chopper he was
the equal of any other three men; and he would carry one end of a tree
which required six men to carry the other end.

"But after cutting trees for six months, he went to his employer and
said: 'I have cut wood here long enough now, and should like to see
where my tree-trunks go to; so how would it do if you were to let me go
down on the rafts?' The timber merchant replied: 'I will not stand in
the way of your seeing a little of the world, Michel. To be sure, I
need strong men to fell the trees, while on the raft more cleverness is
required; but it shall be as you