 whit less wonderful, are found in the folk-lore of many modern
countries, and are no doubt recited and received in good faith. There is
a modern Greek legend, for instance, of a childless wife, to whom
Heaven, in answer to her prayer for children, sent a golden laurel
berry. Despising the gift she threw it away. From it there grew a
laurel-tree with golden sprays. A prince, following the chase, was so
struck by its beauty that he ordered his dinner to be prepared beneath
it. In the absence of the cook the tree opened and a fair maiden stepped
forth, and after strewing a handful of salt over his food, withdrew to
the tree, which immediately reinclosed her. The following day the prince
again found his dinner spoilt, and on the third day he determined to
keep watch. The maid came forth and was captured by the prince before
she could regain her tree. After a time she escaped, and coming back to
the tree called upon it to open and receive her. But it remained closed,
and she was obliged to return to her prince, with whom, after various
mischances, she lived happily for ever after.[131]

The Czekhs have a similar story of a nymph who roamed the forest by day,
but at night invariably returned to her willow. She married a mortal and
bore him a child. One day the willow was cut down and the nymph died. A
cradle fashioned out of its wood had the power of lulling her child to
sleep, and when he grew up he was able to hold converse with his mother
by means of a pipe formed from the twigs which grew about the
stump.[132]

That the soul of the nymph was thought actually to inhabit the tree is
further proved by the belief current both in ancient and modern myth,
that blood would flow when the tree was injured. It was firmly held in
primitive times that the blood was the very life, the soul of an animal,
and hence in primitive ritual it was the blood of the sacrifice that was
offered to the god. It is interesting to note that in some cases
wine--"the blood of the grape"--and the juices of fruits and vegetables,
_i.e._ the vehic