OBERWESEL.

THE SEVEN MAIDENS.

PON an eminence near Oberwesel are the remains of the Castle of Schönberg which has been for ages in ruins, and which was once the residence of a family of the same name. Here lived in ancient times a knight and his seven daughters. He had no son, and therefore foresaw that his race would be extinct, at which he grieved so sorely, that he had a dangerous illness, which soon made his children fatherless. Unfortunately, the education of his daughters had been very much neglected, for he had been long a widower, and had troubled himself very little about them, and a distant relation, who ought to have acted the part of a mother, had nourished in them more vanity and coquetry than home virtues. On the death of this relation, the knight's daughters, who were all grown up, were left to themselves,

and as they were all in the bloom of beauty and youth, and in addition to their extensive castle had other large possessions, they had no lack of suitors.

But it appears as if these orphans were incapable of any tender feelings. Though every guest met with a friendly reception, and was suitably entertained as long as he liked to remain at the castle, if he ventured to urge his suit, he received instead of words of consent only scorn and disdain. In consequence many of the suitors left the castle, justly indignant with its inhabitants. Still the beauty and possessions of these maidens continued to attract fresh competitors, which led to great gaiety and feasting.

Though the ladies of the castle had for some years practised this dangerous and degrading amusement, yet many love-stricken knights from far and near still tarried with the attractive syrens, flattering themselves with hope, and trying to gain precedence over their rivals.

At one of these great feasts a quarrel arose between two warlike knights, on account of the lady of their choice, as both considered they

had received equal encouragement, and which threatened to end in a sanguinary duel. This event attracted general attention, and a desire that the difference should be settled. The opinion was loudly expressed that the ladies of the castle must be forced to a final decision, that the discord should proceed no farther, and that all might at length know how each stood. This proposition was more agreeable, because every one believed himself to be the favoured one of the lady whose love he had tried to gain. Thereupon the seven ladies of the castle were pressed to explain, make a final choice, and

marry.

There was no evading these demands, and each of the damsels saw herself compelled to point out on the following day the one who was destined to be her spouse.

The next day the knights appeared in the reception room, as had been appointed, and every eye was fixed full of expectation on the door through which the arbiters of their destiny were to enter. A servant appeared, who announced to the expectant knights that the ladies were waiting for them in an arbour in the garden, on the banks of the Rhine. The noble

candidates made the greatest haste there, but what was their astonishment to see their ladyloves in a skiff which was already at some distance from the banks, and at the stern stood the eldest of these disdainful ladies. From thence, she made this speech to her wondering and indignant auditors :

"It has never come into the mind of any one of us to love any of you, or to have you for a husband. We only love our freedom, and too much so to sacrifice it to any man, and to make ourselves slaves. At the same time with this confession, which is the utmost you will receive, we give you notice that we are now going to leave our castle for some time, to pay a visit to an aunt in the Netherlands, and wherever we are, we intend carrying on the same game with the knights there that we have had with you. So good bye, dear sirs, fare you well, and do not let your grief spoil your appetites."

This speech was accompanied by an echoing laugh from the ladies, and the skiff proceeded on her way. But what happened? Whilst the confounded and deceived knights were still looking after the jeering ladies, a storm suddenly arose, the little vessel tossed more and

more, struck with great violence on a hidden rock, was dashed in pieces, and the cruel maidens were swallowed up in the deep

waters.

On the spot where this happened there soon afterwards rose out of the water seven rocks, known to this day as the Seven Maidens, and there they remain, a warning to the disdainful and a terror to the skipper.

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