The Witch's Dance

Grimm’s Sage No. 252: The Witch’s Dance

There lived a woman in Hembach whose son of barely sixteen years was named Johannes. She took this son to the Witch’s gathering. Because he knew how to whistle, she demanded that he whistle while they danced.  And so that he could be heard by the dancers, he was told to climb the highest tree. The young lad followed these instructions, and climbed the tree. He sat and whistled down upon the group that danced with such verve and because everything seemed so wonderfully odd he called out foolishly: “May dear God protect you, from whence comes such dotty and absurd riff raff?
 He had hardly spoken these words when he fell from the tree, sprained his shoulder and cried out that the assembled should come to his aid. But there was no one there, only him alone.