In the parts of Austria that had once belonged to Poland and were now under Habsburg rule, a folktale was told.
There was a young girl about to marry her fiancé, but because of the war, he had to leave for a time.
Reluctantly, she saw him off, thinking she would first make the formal clothes they would wear at their wedding. By the time she finished, he would probably be back. So, while imagining him wearing the clothes she had made and marrying her, while imagining the wonderful life to come, she made one groom's outfit after another and waited for her beloved to return and marry her.
But a long time passed without any word from him. It was not until the other young men who had gone to war with her fiancé returned that the girl truly began to feel anxious and tormented.
One night, longing tortured her awake. She knelt on the floor and prayed, begging whatever god might hear her to bring her beloved back to her side. She was even willing to give her life for it.
Then an unusual sound came from outside her window. She looked over and saw a pale figure knocking on the glass. It was her fiancé.
Overjoyed, the girl opened the window and embraced him. The man told her that from now on, she need never feel sad again. Then he took her hand and led her toward their new home.
Still immersed in her joy, the girl thought she was going home with her beloved to be married.
"Darling, are you afraid?" her fiancé asked when they reached a stretch of wilderness.
"With you by my side, what could I possibly fear?" the girl said happily.
"Then why are you carrying this?" Her fiancé pointed to her