Page:Fairy tales and stories (Andersen, Tegner).djvu/300

268 she turned over the leaf, they ran back to their places, so that the pictures should not be disarranged.

When she awoke the sun was already high in the heavens; she could not exactly see it, as the lofty trees spread their branches closely and firmly above her, but its beams were playing through them like a fluttering veil of gold. There came a fragrance from the verdure around her, and the birds almost perched on her shoulder. She heard the splashing of the water from the many springs, which all fell into a lake that had the most beautiful sandy bottom. There were thick bushes growing all round the lake, but in one place the stags had dug out a large opening, and here Elisa got to the water, which was so clear that had not the wind put the branches and bushes into motion, she must have believed that they had been painted on the bottom of the lake, so plainly were all the leaves reflected, both those through which the sun shone and those which were quite in the shade.

As soon as she saw her own face she became quite frightened, so brown and ugly was it; but on wetting her little hand and rubbing her eyes and forehead, the white skin soon shone through. She then took off all her clothes and went into the fresh water, and a lovelier royal child than she could not be found in this world.

When she was dressed again and had plaited her long hair, she went to the sparkling spring, drank out of the hollow of her hand, and wandered farther into the forest, without knowing whither she went. She thought of her brothers and of the kind God, who surely would not desert her. He let the wild forest apples grow, so that the hungry might be satisfied; he showed her such a tree, the branches of which were bent beneath the weight of the fruit, and there she made her midday meal. After having propped up the branches of the tree she walked off into the darkest parts of the forest. It was so quiet that she heard her own footsteps, heard every little dry leaf being crushed under her foot; not a bird was to be seen, nor could any sunbeam penetrate through the great close branches of the trees. The lofty trunks stood so close to one another that when she looked straight before her it appeared as if one barrier of logs close upon another encircled her. Oh, such a solitude she had never known before!

The night was very dark, and not one single little glow-worm glittered in the moss. Quite distressed, she lay down to sleep. She then thought she saw the branches part above her and our Lord looking down upon her with eyes full of tenderness, while little angels peeped out above his head and from under his arms.

When she woke in the morning she did not know whether she had been dreaming, or whether it had all really happened. She had not gone many steps when she met an old woman with a basket of berries, of which the woman gave her some. Elisa asked her if she had not seen eleven princes riding through the forest.