he sky, but directly it sinks down we receive our human form
again. Therefore we must always take care that we have a resting-place
for our feet when the sun sets; for if at that moment we were flying up
toward the clouds, we should sink down into the deep as men. We do not
dwell here: there lies a land just as fair as this beyond the sea. But
the way thither is long; we must cross the great sea, and on our path
there is no island where we could pass the night, only a little rock
stands forth in the midst of the waves; it is just large enough that we
can rest upon it close to each other. If the sea is rough, the foam
spurts far over us, but we thank God for the rock. There we pass the
night in our human form: but for this rock we could never visit our
beloved native land, for we require two of the longest days in the year
for our journey.

"Only once in each year is it granted to us to visit our home. For
eleven days we may stay here and fly over the great wood, from whence we
can see the palace in which we were born and in which our father lives,
and the high church tower, beneath whose shade our mother lies buried.
Here it seems to us as though the bushes and trees were our relatives;
here the wild horses career across the steppe, as we have seen them do
in our childhood; here the charcoal-burner sings the old songs to which
we danced as children; here is our fatherland; hither we feel ourselves
drawn, and here we have found you, our dear little sister. Two days more
we may stay here; then we must away across the sea to a glorious land,
but which is not our native land. How can we bear you away? for we have
neither ship nor boat."

"In what way can I release you?" asked the sister; and they conversed
nearly the whole night, slumbering only for a few hours.

She was awakened by the rustling of the swans' wings above her head. Her
brothers were again enchanted, and they flew in wide circles and at last
far away; but one of them, the youngest, remained behind, and the swan
laid his head in her lap, and she stroked his wings; and the whole day
they remained together. Toward evening the others came back, and when
the sun had gone down they stood there in their own shapes, and one of
them said:

"To-morrow we fly far away from here, and cannot come back until a whole
year has gone by. But we cannot leave you thus! Have you courage to come
with us? My arm is strong enough to carry you in the wood; and should
not all our