d the green wooded coasts,
across the island of Funen and over the Great Belt puffing and blowing.
I settled down to rest on the coast of Zealand close to Borreby Hall,
where the splendid forest of oaks still stood. The young bachelors of
the neighbourhood came out and collected faggots and branches, the
longest and driest they could find. These they took to the town, piled
them up in a heap, and set fire to them; then the men and maidens danced
and sang round the bonfire. I lay still,' said the wind, 'but I softly
moved a branch, the one laid by the handsomest young man, and his billet
blazed up highest of all. He was the chosen one, he had the name of
honour, he became 'Buck of the Street!' and he chose from among the
girls his little May-lamb. All was life and merriment, greater far than
within rich Borreby Hall.

'The great lady came driving towards the Hall, in her gilded chariot
drawn by six horses. She had her three dainty daughters with her; they
were indeed three lovely flowers. A rose, a lily and a pale hyacinth.
The mother herself was a gorgeous tulip; she took no notice whatever of
the crowd, who all stopped in their game to drop their curtsies and make
their bows; one might have thought that, like a tulip, she was rather
frail in the stalk and feared to bend her back. The rose, the lily, and
the pale hyacinth--yes, I saw them all three. Whose May-lambs were they
one day to become, thought I; their mates would be proud
knights--perhaps even princes!

'Whew!--whew!--fare away! Yes, the chariot bore them away, and the
peasants whirled on in their dance. They played at "Riding the Summer
into the village," to Borreby village, Tareby village, and many others.

'But that night when I rose,' said the wind, 'the noble lady laid
herself down to rise no more; that came to her which comes to every
one--there was nothing new about it. Waldemar Daa stood grave and silent
for a time; "The proudest tree may bend, but it does not break," said
something within him. The daughters wept, and every one else at the
Castle was wiping their eyes; but Madam Daa had fared away, and I fared
away too! Whew!--whew!' said the wind.

[Illustration: _She played upon the ringing lute, and sang to its
tones._]

'I came back again; I often came back across the island of Funen and
the waters of the Belt, and took up my place on Borreby shore close to
the great forest of oaks. The ospreys and the wood pigeons used to build
in it, the blu