The Sunken Bell (Masterplots, Revised Second Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Gerhart Hauptmann
- First Published: 1896
- Type of Work: Drama
- Type of Plot: Fantasy
- Time of Work: Indeterminate
- Setting: A mountain, a valley, and the paths between
- Principal Characters: Heinrich, Magda, Their Children, Rautendelein, Old Wittikin, The Nickelmann, The Vicar, The Schoolmaster, The Barber
- Genres: Drama, Folklore, Fantasy
- Subjects: Folkloric or magical people, Love or romance, Supernatural, Barbershops or barbers, Legends, Witches or witchcraft, Tragedy, Elves, Bells
The Story:
In a mountain forest glade Rautendelein, a beautiful elf-child, sat singing and combing her long, golden hair while calling to a water spirit, the Nickelmann. She made fun of the croaking froglike monster who came out of a nearby well. Into that setting skipped a faun who seemed enamored of the lovely sprite and who invited her to be his love. She refused, as if this were not her destiny. When she left, the wood and water sprites discussed the intrusion of man in their hallowed realms, the sprites having that day forced off the road and into a valley lake a bell...
[The entire page is 2479 words long]
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