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And the brother calls thee Doorstep,

And the sister, Nasty Creature.

“Now the best that could await thee,

Best the fate that could await thee,

If as fog thou wert dispersing,

From the house like smoke departing,

Blown like leaf away that flutters,

As a spark away is drifted.

“But a bird that flies thou art not,

Nor a leaf away that flutters,

Nor a spark in drafts that’s drifting,

Nor the smoke from house ascending.

“Lack-a-day, O maid, my sister!

Changed hast thou, and what art changing!

Thou hast changed thy much-loved father

For a father-in-law, a bad one;

Thou hast changed thy tender mother

For a mother-in-law most stringent;

Thou hast changed thy noble brother

For a brother-in-law so crook-necked,

And exchanged thy gentle sister

For a sister-in-law all cross-eyed;

And hast changed thy couch of linen

For a sooty hearth to rest on;

And exchanged the clearest water

For the muddy margin-water,

And the sandy shore hast bartered

For the black mud at the bottom:

And thy pleasant meadow bartered

For a dreary waste of heathland;

And thy hills of berries bartered

For the hard stumps of a clearing.

“Didst thou think, O youthful maiden,

Think, O dove, full-fledged at present,

Care would end and toil be lessened,

With the party of this evening,

When to rest thou shalt betake thee,

And to sleep thou art conducted?

“But to rest they will not lead thee,

Nor to sleep will they conduct thee;