Die Nymphe des Brunnens

The tale contrasts a brutal robber knight who terrorizes the countryside with his gentle, pious wife, who secretly deplores his deeds. Seeking solace at a secluded spring said to be inhabited by a nymph, she encounters the water-spirit, who reassures her of the husband's return and warns that the couple's future daughter will endure precarious fortune and a lack of maternal protection. The nymph offers to serve as the child's godmother and guardian on the condition that a token be cast into the well at the appointed time. The narrative traces the consequences of that pact and the tension between domestic virtue, violence, and supernatural intervention.