Once upon a time, there was a wealthy merchant who had two children, a son and a daughter. His son, William, was a very sensitive child, who loved music and books, and loved to go for long walks in the gardens on his father's manor. His daughter, Lucinda, was very intelligent and skillful with numbers, and loved nothing more than to solve long, difficult mathematical puzzles in her head. As William grew up, his father entrusted him with more and more responsibilities in the family business, and sent him on long business trips throughout all of the surrounding realms. As Lucinda grew up, he began looking for a suitable husband for her.

Though William found the family business tedious and eventually grew to despise it, he had a tremendous sense of duty. He truly loved his father and wanted only to please him. So he went on interminable business trip after business trip, expanding the family empire and making piles of money.

While he was traveling, William would become terribly depressed. When he arrived at a new city, he would spend his nights at the local saloon drinking lots of liquor. When he was in between cities, he would go for long walks in the hills or mountains or forests, where he found some consolation in the natural beauty of the countryside.

One day, as William was traveling through a particularly remote region, walking through a particularly exotic forest, he saw a small hut. Outside of the hut was a man chopping wood. The man was very handsome, and he had removed his shirt as his exertions chopping wood were causing him to sweat profusely. William was intrigued and immediately stopped to watch. William watched for quite a few minutes, until the man finally noticed him. Upon sighting William, the man stopped chopping and, leaning on the handle of his axe with one hand, smiled and waved at William with the other hand.

"Hello stranger," he shouted.

"H...hello!" stammered William in reply.

"You must have been traveling for a long time, to find yourself in a forest as remote as this," replied the man. "Why don't you come and rest a bit, and have something to eat and drink with me?"

"Why, I don't mind if I do!" answered William.

William and the strange man got on just capitally. They ate together, talked for hours on end, and went for a long walk through the forest. William was so enchanted by his host, he completely forgot himself, forgot his business trip, forgot his father, forgot the family business. Before long, the sun was setting. The man started a fire in the fireplace in his cabin, and said to William, "It's too late for you to travel any further today. Why don't you spend the night here with me? There's not much room for you to sleep on the floor, but you are welcome to share my bed." William accepted in a trice.

William lived with the man for weeks. Together they tended the man's garden, gathered forest mushrooms and berries and roots, chopped wood, bathed in a nearby river, went for long walks in the woods, sat next to the fire at night, gazed at the stars, and slept blissfully in each others arms. And they never seemed to run out of wonderful things to talk about.

Word eventually got back to William's father that William had missed some very important business meetings with some very important clients, and he was furious. William's fiancé Mary and his sister Lucinda became very worried. Being too busy with affairs at home to go in search of William, his father decided to send Lucinda to look for him instead. And Mary, who was in anguish and who would not be put off, begged Lucinda to take her along. So the two women sailed off on the trail of their brother and fiancé.

Lucinda, being exceedingly bright and loving nothing so much as a good puzzle to solve, went to the task of finding her brother with verve. Armed with a copy of his itinerary and a list of his business contacts, she interrogated merchant after merchant and tavern owner after tavern owner, until she tracked William to the very forest trail where he had met the intriguing woodsman. Lucinda and Mary followed the trail right to the door of the woodsman's hut, and intrepid Lucinda sharply rapped on the door: three loud, distinct knocks.

When there was no answer, dauntless Lucinda lifted the latch and pushed the door in, only to find her brother William sleeping contentedly in a narrow cot with a strange man, the two of them as naked as nature had made them. As soon as her eyes adjusted to the dark light of the cottage and she could see exactly what there was to see, William's fiancé Mary let out a scream and hastily retreated from the threshold. Lucinda just narrowed her eyes to two angry slits and spoke in a controlled, imperative voice, "William. William, wake up and put your clothes on!"

It took a good minute for William to wake up, and realize that none other than his sister was standing in the doorway of the cottage demanding that he get up and get dressed. Once he grasped what was happening, he became filled with panic and a most dreadful sinking feeling. He leaped out of bed, snatched his pants from the nearby chair, and was soon fully dressed outside of the cottage trying to calm Mary who was crying inconsolably, while he fended off Lucinda's strident scolding. Meanwhile, the woodsman (who had pulled some trousers on but remained shirtless) dolefully watched the whole proceeding.

Before long, William's bags were packed, and William, Mary, and Lucinda were wordlessly moving back down the forest trail in the direction they had come from. William managed to steal a few glances back at the woodsman, who could only watch the mournful company silently from the shade of the threshold of his little hut. William saw him still standing and watching them as they finally rounded a curve that cut them off from his view.

Of course when the party finally reached home, William had to relive the wrath of his sister ten-fold from his father. But none of the rebukes of his father or sister were harsher than those that William had already been castigating himself with all along the long roads, narrow mountain passes, and across the wide seas they had traveled on the way home. William became determined to prove to everyone just how responsible and dependable he was, just how capable he was of taking over the family business and becoming a respected merchant just like his father. William threw himself back into the work of the family business with renewed intensity, and as best he could put all memory of his weeks in the forest with the mysterious woodsman behind him. Eventually, William's father began to trust him again with more and more responsibility, and began to allow him to go on short business errands to nearby towns and cities, at first under the chaperonage of his sister Lucinda, and finally on his own. A date was set for William's marriage to Mary, the bans were published, and William's father began to hope that William would after all turn out just the way he was supposed to, and become even more wealthy and powerful than he himself had become through his own exertions to establish his own mercantile dynasty.

Unfortunately, even as William became more and more successful in the family business and succeeded in putting to rest all the worst fears of his father, Lucinda, and Mary, he plunged into a dark and terrifying depression. He no longer went for long walks in his father's manorial garden or out in nearby forests, and spent more and more time at the tavern guzzling alcoholic concoctions. He barely slept at night any more, and when he did he was tormented by horrific nightmares of demons. He kept a sharp blade by his bed, and at night he would point the blade toward his heart and would debate with himself about whether or not to plunge it in, until he either fell asleep or the sun rose.

One day, William's father came to William and said, "I've learned of a fabulous business opportunity, that could double our fortunes and make all of us as rich as kings. Unfortunately, it requires a very long journey, and I am simply too busy tying up some important affairs here to go myself. Besides, as you know, I am making final preparations for your wedding next month. I'd like to know if you think you are up to it."

"I won't disappoint you, sir," said William. His father nodded sternly, and William felt that he had finally restored his father's trust and his own good name. It was a momentous day.

It just so happened that the shortest path to William's new business destination led right through the mystical forest where William had encountered the strange woodsman what now seemed like another life-time ago (though it was only one year ago to the day). William departed amidst much general festivity, though his fiancé Mary was tearful and desperate. Each day of his journey, William himself felt heavier and more wretched. He was haunted by images of the woodsman, who, he gradually became convinced, could be nothing less than a blood-sucking demon with designs to destroy him and his whole family and all his future happiness. At last, William arrived at a village on the very edge of the dreadful forest, and as he established lodgings at the local inn the sky filled with ominous storm clouds. William drank himself into a complete stupor filled with dreams of suicide.

William awoke to a bright light glaring in his face. He struggled to open his eyes, thinking that the tavern keeper must have dragged him to his room the night before, forgetting to close the shades and allowing the sunrise to catch him full in the face (as had happened to him many times before). But he heard a voice coming to him out of the light, a gentle, quiet, insistent voice. William, get up. William, it's time to get up and go. The hour of your final temptation is at hand. If you can prove yourself now, you will win eternal fortune and blessing. This has always been a test, William. A test for you to prove yourself. William's stinging, watering eyes could not open more than a crack, and what he did see once he opened them sent him leaping out of bed, his heart racing. He saw radiant wings and an upraised hand that seemed to be made of pure light. He fell to the floor, covering his face, and almost as suddenly the room was pitch dark and William was all alone. William crawled back into bed, shaking, though he did not sleep for the rest of the night.

The next morning, William continued his journey somewhat heartened. This was a test, and he would pass it. No matter what he encountered, no matter what form the demon of the forest took, he would face it and defeat it, and he would complete his mission and bring wealth to his family and glory to himself, and he would return to wed Mary and live happily ever after.

As William marched along the path, however, he grew increasingly daunted and agitated. The sky was still filled with clouds, and the forest was as dark as night. He heard footsteps seeming to echo from behind, but no matter how quickly he swung around to look back, he never saw a soul. Was he being tracked by some supernatural imp, or perhaps the demon himself? Would it spring on him when he least expected? At last he arrived at that bend in the path that he would never forget, the bend where he had last set eyes on the man. Ahead, he could see the cottage, the small vegetable garden, the woodpile. It was as if nothing had changed. But there was no sign of its inhabitant.

Should he hurry past? William considered it, but then the words of the angel came back to him. This was the hour of his final temptation. He must face the fiend now, and be over with it, or he could never prove himself. Picking up his pace, he strode directly to the door, and put his hand on the latch with one hand, even as he clutched his dagger in the other. Suddenly he froze, as a thunderous stomping noise arose from behind him. He spun to see his sister Lucinda grimly bolting toward him from up the path. Just as she came within arm's reach of him, the door swung open, and there stood the man of the forest, his face lighting up at the sight of William.

"Father knew you couldn't be trusted!" Lucinda roared.

"You... you don't understand," William stammered. "I've merely come here to put this behind me once and for all."

"You have something to tell me?" the man asked calmly, seeming not to notice livid Lucinda.

William stood transfixed between Lucinda and the man, and time seemed to grind to a halt. William thought he saw a beam of light shooting down from above the trees out a crack in the impenetrable clouds, and a voice. This has always been a test, William. If you can prove yourself now, you will win eternal fortune and blessing.

William searched for the right words about duty and family, but his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and he simply stood stammering. He pulled his dagger out of its sheath, and began to wave it dangerously about. If you can prove yourself now... William froze. Now there was a battle raging in his brain, thirteen voices all at once, and William shouted, "Prove myself!... to whom?"

He dropped his dagger, and abruptly turned toward Lucinda. "My dear sister," he said, unslinging his traveling bag from his shoulder and handing it to her, "here is everything you will need to successfully complete my business trip. You've a much better head for this kind of stuff than I ever have, and you really deserve all the rewards of it much more than I do anyway. Go make the family richer, and then tell Dad his son has found a different kind of fortune."

No sooner had the words fallen from his lips than the forest was bursting with celestial radiance. The cottage and the garden and the woodpile all vanished, and hovering above the ground just where the woodsman had been standing was a winged being made up of blinding, humming light. William, sang the light, you've proved yourself . . . to yourself. Eternal fortune and blessing are yours.

"Who on earth are you?" howled William disconsolately.

I am the spirit of the forest, it murmured, and I've loved you from the moment I first set eyes on you.

"Why," cried William, "if you loved me, did you appear to me as a man? Why not as a woman?"

I wanted you to choose me against all convention. I wanted you to know that to choose me was to reject everything the world has taught you is wise. I wanted you to know that in choosing me you must become a fool and lose everything, and thereby become wise and gain everything. I wanted you to love me for who I am, and not for what skin I wore.

The melodious voice of the spirit soothed Lucinda, and her expression of rage wore into laughter. "So now what?" Lucinda demanded.

Your brother William must choose. William, you have one wish that I will grant you. No matter how extravagant or impossible it may seem, I have the power to grant it to you. But be careful what you wish for because you have only one.

William did not hesitate for a moment. "I want you and me to be exactly the way we were, and I want us to live here together in the forest for the rest of our lives until we both die happily together of old age. Because I truly loved you too, from the moment I laid eyes on you, not in spite of what you were but because of everything you were and are."

The spirit granted William's wish and became a mortal man, and the two men lived together in the woods happily ever after. Lucinda went home, and successfully took over the family business. She comforted poor Mary, who took up residence with her in the family home, where they lived together for the rest of their natural lives. William and Lucinda's poor father died quite young at the age of forty-seven of a heart attack induced by overwork and unhealthy eating habits. After he died Lucinda and Mary founded a hospital and a school for the poor, and eventually convinced the king to abolish slavery, serfdom, and private property, and they, and the entire kingdom, really did live happily ever after.