Page:Fairy tales and stories (Andersen, Tegner).djvu/303

Rh "They spent the whole night in making a big, strong net of the pliant willow hark and the tough sedges; on this Elisa lay down, and when the sun rose and her brothers had been changed into wild swans, they seized the net with their beaks and Hew high up toward the clouds with their dear sister, who was still asleep. The sunbeams fell right on her face, and one of the swans therefore flew over her head, so that his broad wings could afford her shade.

They were far away from land when Elisa awoke; she thought she was still dreaming, so strange did it seem to her to be carried high up in the air across the sea. By her side lay a branch with delicious ripe berries

and a bunch of savory roots, which her youngest brother had gathered and placed at her side. She smiled gratefully to him, for she knew it was he who flew right over her head and shaded her with his wings.

They were so high up that the first ship they saw below them looked like a white sea-gull lying upon the water. A great cloud stood behind them, just like a big mountain, and across it Elisa saw the shadow of herself and the eleven swans, quite gigantic in size, as they sailed through the air. It was quite a picture, prettier than any she had ever seen; but as the sun rose higher, and the cloud was left further and further behind, the floating shadow-picture gradually vanished.

Like a whizzing arrow they shot through the air the whole day,