The Robber Bridegroom

A wealthy merchant's daughter becomes engaged to a charming man of seemingly good fortune. On the wedding day, a mysterious woman invites her to her house to prepare. The bride accepts, and along the way encounters a woodcutter's wife who urges her to flee—the man is a murderer, his house filled with the bodies of his victims. Inside the robber's house, the bride witnesses in horror as the man and his gang capture a young maiden, drug her, and butcher her for her jewels. She hides, remaining utterly still and silent—an act of supreme continence, restraining even her natural impulse to cry out or run. A single finger falls near her, and she retrieves it, understanding it as evidence. When the robber returns and urges her to bed, she resists with calm determination, feigning sleep. At dawn, she flees and hides, returning home unseen. At the wedding feast, when the robber boasts of his feats, the bride produces the severed finger and accuses him before all witnesses. The robber and his band are captured and executed. The bride's continence—her restraint of terror, her refusal to panic even when her life hung by a thread—saves not only herself but reveals the villain and brings justice for his many victims. She later marries a honest man and lives in peace.