aze--sometimes thinking he was an elf, sometimes a human being. When
he saw a stone hedge alongside the road, he was afraid to go farther
until he had made sure that no wild animal or vulture lurked behind it.
Very soon he laughed to himself and rejoiced because he was big and
strong and did not have to be afraid of anything.

When he reached the coast he stationed himself, big as he was, at the
very edge of the strand, so that the wild geese could see him.

It was a busy day for the birds of passage. Bird calls sounded on the
air continuously. The boy smiled as he thought that no one but himself
understood what the birds were saying to one another. Presently wild
geese came flying; one big flock following another.

"Just so it's not my geese that are going away without bidding me
farewell," he thought. He wanted so much to tell them how everything had
turned out, and to show them that he was no longer an elf but a human
being.

There came a flock that flew faster and cackled louder than the others,
and something told him that this must be _the_ flock, but now he was not
quite so sure about it as he would have been the day before.

The flock slackened its flight and circled up and down along the coast.

The boy knew it was the right one, but he could not understand why the
geese did not come straight down to him. They could not avoid seeing him
where he stood. He tried to give a call that would bring them down to
him, but only think! his tongue would not obey him. He could not make
the right sound! He heard Akka's calls, but did not understand what she
said.

"What can this mean? Have the wild geese changed their language?" he
wondered.

He waved his cap to them and ran along the shore calling.

"Here am I, where are you?"

But this seemed only to frighten the geese. They rose and flew farther
out to sea. At last he understood. They did not know that he was human,
had not recognized him. He could not call them to him because human
beings can not speak the language of birds. He could not speak their
language, nor could he understand it.

Although the boy was very glad to be released from the enchantment,
still he thought it hard that because of this he should be parted from
his old comrades.

He sat down on the sands and buried his face in his hands. What was the
use of his gazing after them any more?

Presently he heard the rustle of wings. Old mother Akka had found it
hard to fly away from Thumbietot, a