Page:Fairy tales and stories (Andersen, Tegner).djvu/302

270 beautiful. They laughed and they cried, and they soon came to understand how cruel their stepmother had been to them all.

"We brothers," said the eldest, "must fly about as wild swans as long as the sun is in the heavens; when it has gone down we resume our human shape; at sunset we must therefore always take care to be near a resting-place, for if at that time we were to fly toward the clouds, we should, as human beings, be plunged into the depths of the sea. We do not live here; yonder, across the sea, lies a country just as beautiful as this, but the way thither is long; we have to cross the wide sea, and there is no island on the way, on which we could rest for the night; only a lonely little rock which rears its head in the midst of the ocean out there, but it is only just large enough for us all to rest upon it when we sit side by side. If the sea goes high, the water splashes high over us; still we are thankful to the Lord for it. There we pass the night in our human form; without it we should never be able to visit our beloved country, for it takes two of the longest days in the year to accomplish the journey. Only once a year are we allowed to visit our paternal home, and then we can remain here for only eleven days, when we fly over this big forest, from which we can see the palace where we were born and where our father lives, and the lofty tower of the church where our mother lies buried. Here we feel as if we were related to every tree and bush, here the wild horses are running across the plains, just as we saw them in our childhood; here the charcoal-burners are singing the old songs to which we danced as children; here is our native country, to which we are drawn; and here we have found you, our dear little sister. Only two more days can we remain here, and then we must cross the sea to a beautiful country, but it is not our own country. How shall we take you with us? We have neither ship nor boat."

"How shall I be able to save you?" asked the sister.

And so they went on talking together nearly the whole night, and only for a few hours did they get any sleep.

Elisa awoke at the sound of the rustling of the wings as the swans were soaring above her. Her brothers had again been turned into swans and were flying in large circles above her head, till at last they flew far away and out of sight. But one of them, the youngest, remained behind; he laid his head on her lap, while she stroked his white wings, and thus they remained together the whole day. Toward evening the others came back, and when the sun had disappeared they assumed their natural shape. "To-morrow we must fly away from here, and we dare not return for a whole year; but we cannot leave you thus. Have you the courage to accompany us? My arm is strong enough to carry you through the forest. Should not, then, all our wings be strong enough to fly with you across the sea?"

"Yes, take me with you," said Elisa.