d high in derision, 'From
the nest--from the nest! Away--away!'

"And in the midst of the wood, looking on at the crowd of labourers,
stood Waldemar Daae and his three daughters, and they all laughed
together at the wild cries of the birds; but his youngest daughter,
Anna Dorthea, was sorry for them in her heart; and when the men were
about to cut down a partially decayed tree, amidst whose naked
branches the black storks had built their nests, and from which the
tiny little ones peeped out their heads, she begged it might be
spared. She begged--begged with tears in her eyes; and the tree was
permitted to remain with the nest of black storks. It was not a great
boon after all.

"The fine trees were cut down, the wood was sawn, and a large ship
with three decks was built. The master shipbuilder himself was of low
birth, but of noble appearance. His eyes and his forehead evinced how
clever he was, and Waldemar Daae liked to listen to his conversation;
so also did little Ide, his eldest daughter, who was fifteen years of
age. And while he was building the ship for the father, he was also
building castles in the air for himself, wherein he and Ide sat as man
and wife; and that might have happened had the castles been of stone
walls, with ramparts and moats, woods and gardens. But, with all his
talents, the master shipbuilder was but a humble bird. What should a
sparrow do in an eagle's nest?

"Wheugh--wheugh! I flew away, and he flew away, for he dared not
remain longer; and little Ide got over his departure, for she was
obliged to get over it.

"Splendid dark chargers neighed in the stables, worth being looked at;
and they were looked at and admired. An admiral was sent by the king
himself to examine the new man-of-war, and to make arrangements for
its purchase. He praised the spirited horses loudly. I heard him
myself," said the wind. "I followed the gentlemen through the open
door, and strewed straw before their feet. Waldemar Daae wanted gold,
the admiral wanted the horses--he admired them so much; but the
bargain was not concluded, nor was the ship bought--the ship that was
lying near the strand, with its white planks--a Noah's ark that was
never to be launched upon the deep.

"Wheugh! It was a sad pity.

"In the winter time, when the fields were covered with snow, drift-ice
filled the Belt, and I screwed it up to the shore," said the wind.
"Then came ravens and crows, all as black as they could be, in large
f