wood blazed up, blazed highest. He was chosen the leader of
the rustic game, became 'the wild boar,' and had the first choice
among the girls for his 'pet lamb.' There were more happiness and
merriment amongst them than up at the grand house at Borreby.

"And then from the great house at Borreby came, driving in a gilded
coach with six horses, the noble lady and her three daughters, so
fine, so young--three lovely blossoms--rose, lily, and the pale
hyacinth. The mother herself was like a flaunting tulip; she did not
deign to notice one of the crowd of villagers, though they stopped
their game, and courtesied and bowed with profound respect.

"Rose, lily, and the pale hyacinth--yes, I saw them all three. Whose
'pet lambs' should they one day become? I thought. The 'wild boar' for
each of them would assuredly be a proud knight--perhaps a prince.
Wheugh--wheugh!

"Well, their equipage drove on with them, and the young peasants went
on with their dancing. And the summer advanced in the village near
Borreby, in Tjaereby, and all the surrounding towns.

"But one night when I arose," continued the wind, "the great lady was
lying ill, never to move again. That something had come over her which
comes over all mankind sooner or later: it is nothing new. Waldemar
Daae stood in deep and melancholy thought for a short time. 'The
proudest tree may bend, but not break,' said he to himself. The
daughters wept; but at last they all dried their eyes at the great
house, and the noble lady was carried away; and I also went away,"
said the wind.

* * * * *

"I returned--I returned soon, over Funen and the Belt, and set myself
down by Borreby beach, near the large oak wood. There water-wagtails,
wood-pigeons, blue ravens, and even black storks built their nests. It
was late in the year: some had eggs, and some had young birds. How
they were flying about, and how they were shrieking! The strokes of
the axe were heard--stroke after stroke. The trees were to be felled.
Waldemar Daae was going to build a costly ship, a man-of-war with
three decks, which the king would be glad to purchase: and therefore
the wood--the seamen's landmark, the birds' home--was to be
sacrificed. The great red-backed shrike flew in alarm--his nest was
destroyed; the ravens and all the other birds had lost their homes,
and flew wildly about with cries of distress and anger. I understood
them well. The crows and the jackdaws screame