d wings should shade her.

They were far from land when Elise woke; she thought she must still be
dreaming, it seemed so strange to be carried through the air so high
up above the sea. By her side lay a branch of beautiful ripe berries
and a bundle of savory roots which her youngest brother had collected
for her, and for which she gave him a grateful smile. She knew it was
he who flew above her head shading her from the sun. They were so high
up that the first ship they saw looked like a gull floating on the
water. A great cloud came up behind them like a mountain, and Elise
saw the shadow of herself on it, and those of the eleven swans
looking like giants. It was a more beautiful picture than any she had
ever seen before, but as the sun rose higher, the cloud fell behind,
and the shadow picture disappeared.

They flew on and on all day like an arrow whizzing through the air,
but they went slower than usual, for now they had their sister to
carry. A storm came up, and night was drawing on; Elise saw the sun
sinking with terror in her heart, for the solitary rock was nowhere to
be seen. The swans seemed to be taking stronger strokes than ever;
alas! she was the cause of their not being able to get on faster; as
soon as the sun went down they would become men, and they would all be
hurled into the sea and drowned. She prayed to God from the bottom of
her heart, but still no rock was to be seen! Black clouds gathered,
and strong gusts of wind announced a storm; the clouds looked like a
great threatening leaden wave, and the flashes of lightning followed
each other rapidly.

The sun was now at the edge of the sea. Elise's heart quaked, when
suddenly the swans shot downward so suddenly that she thought they
were falling then they hovered again. Half of the sun was below the
horizon, and there for the first time she saw the little rock below,
which did not look bigger than the head of a seal above the water. The
sun sank very quickly, it was no bigger than a star, but her foot
touched solid earth. The sun went out like the last sparks of a bit of
burning paper; she saw her brothers stand arm in arm around her, but
there was only just room enough for them. The waves beat upon the rock
and washed over them like drenching rain. The heavens shone with
continuous fire, and the thunder rolled, peal upon peal. But the
sister and brothers held one another's hands and sang a psalm which
gave them comfort and courage.

The air was