DER BAUER ALS MILLIONÄR

   ODER DAS MÄDCHEN AUS DER FEENWELT

(The peasant as millionaire, or The girl from the Fairy World) by Ferdinand Raimund

   Premiered 1826. In this comedy of the Zauberstück variety by Raimund, a girl from the fairy world (she is actually only part fairy, since she lives with her father; her mother, however, was a complete fairy) has fallen in love with a fisherman. Her father, thanks to certain fairies of his acquaintance, has found a fortune in gold and is reluctant to allow his daughter to marry the fisherman. Fairies come to the girl's aid and make the father's castle and all his gold disappear. Evil spirits then tempt the father with additional gold, urging him to send the girl away from her boyfriend. The father sees the error of his ways and opts for the happiness of his daughter, whom he gladly gives in marriage to her fisherman.