Rubezahl

Rubezahl

in Silesian legend, was a good natured spirit of the Riesengebirge who assisted the good, the needy, and the wandering traveler, but who also teased and punished the wicked. He was able to assume any form whatever, and appeared sometimes as a rabbit running between the feet of pedestrians, sometimes as a turtle, sometimes in the form of a hawk, snatching the hat from a sleeper's head, and sometimes so confused the senses that the tiles on a roof seemed to be of gold, or that a person seemed to see his own double, etc. He never carried his sport so far, however, as to work real injury to his victim. The name Rubezahl was a nickname, and greatly irritated him; but he loved to be called "The Lord of the Mountains."