of their goodwill. It was he who first revealed the secret of gold-washing from the sands of the river Elbe, and received tithe from every gold-fisher. In this way his property and possessions accumulated. He built fortified castles and palaces; had large herds of cattle, fruitful tracts of land, fields, and meadows; and found himself insensibly in the possession of that wealth which the liberal Elf had promised him with the second hull.
One beautiful summer evening, when Krokus was returning, with several of his horsemen, from an excursion into the plain, where he had, upon the demand of the litigating parties, amicably settled a boundary quarrel between two communities, he perceived his spouse on the banks of the fish-pond, in the same place where she had first appeared to him. She made him a sign with her hand; he therefore dismissed his servants, and hastened to embrace her. She received him, as usual, most affectionately; but her heart was sad and oppressed, and from her eyes dropped ethereal tears, so transparent and volatile, that in falling they were absorbed by the air without ever reaching the ground. Krokus was greatly alarmed at the sight, for he had never before seen the eyes of his spouse otherwise than radiant with youthful mirth.
