Page:The Children Who Followed the Piper.djvu/81

 Canens. But I would not forget my bride, and I threw down the cup that Circe wanted me to drink from.

"I turned away from her, but she followed me in a rage. I went through the thicket and I came to where my steed stayed. I was about to mount and ride away when Circe touched me with her wand. Then, instead of being on my horse, I found myself on the branch of a tree. My horse raced off, and when I tried to catch it, I found myself going more swiftly than I was used to go. I was flying from tree to tree. I cried out, but my voice was a bird's voice. I saw I had wings; I saw that my scarlet cloak had changed to scarlet feathers, and that my golden brooch had changed to a golden band. I was a bird now, and in my rage I went pecking with my hard beak at the branches and the trunks of trees. From that time I was a woodpecker.

"My beautiful and sweet-voiced Canens waited at home for me. Evening came, and I did