Betty and the Wood-Lady - Part Two

When they circled, Betty heard music around her. 

Different birds like nightingales, larks, linnets, goldfinches, greenfinches, thrushes, blackbirds and mocking birds all appeared on the trees around them and together the birds created the most beautiful music ever.

As the maiden and Betty danced around the forest, Betty was thrilled and she could think of nothing else. 

She forgot her tasks and her goats. All Betty could think about was her charming partner who danced beautifully well. Though the two of them danced from afternoon till the evening, Betty was neither tired nor did she feel any pain.

All of a sudden, in the evening, the maiden disappeared. The music stopped too.

Then Betty realized that she had spent the entire time dancing and had not done any work and had not spun any of the flax either.

Betty was sad and she realized that she had been duped by the maiden whoever she was. Betty told herself to ignore the maiden if she came again.

Betty walked the she-goats back to her cottage, but this time she was cheerless and the goats themselves seemed puzzled wondering whether this was indeed the shepherdess who usually took care of them.

In the cottage, Betty’s mother immediately realized that something was wrong, because Betty did not sing like she usually did.

“No mother, I am not ill. But my throat is dry today, so I cannot sing.”

Her mother usually did not reel in the yarn that Betty had woven immediately so Betty was not worried. She just promised herself that she would work harder the next day and make up for the work that remained undone today. Betty was sure that if she did that, her mother would never know what had happened today.

Adapted from Slavonic Folktales