When Martin first came to the hills it was at the end of the long,
hot, dry summer of that distant land: it was autumn now, and the
autumn was like a second summer, only not so hot and dry as the first.
But sometimes at this season a wet mist came up from the sea by
night and spread over all the country, covering it like a cloud; to
a soaring bird looking down from the sky it must have appeared like
another sea of a pale or pearly grey colour, with the hills rising
like islands from it. When the sun rose in the morning, if the sky
was clear so that it could shine, then the sea-fog would drift and
break up and melt away or float up in the form of thin white clouds.
Now, whenever this sea-mist was out over the world the Lady of the
Hills, without coming out of her chamber, knew of it, and she would
prevent Martin from leaving the bed and going out. He loved to be
out on the hill-side, to watch the sun come up, and she would say to
him, "You cannot see the sun because of the mist; and it is cold and
wet on the hill; wait until the mist has gone and then you shall go
out."

But now a new idea came into her mind. She had succeeded in making
him happy during the last few days; but she wished to do more--she
wished to make him fear and hate the sea so that he would never grow
discontented with his life on the hills nor wish to leave her. So now,
one morning, when the mist was out over the land, she said to Martin
when he woke, "Get up and go out on to the hill and see the mist;
and when you feel its coldness and taste its salt on your lips, and
see how it dims and saddens the earth, you will know better than to
wish for that great water it comes from."

So Martin got up and went out on the hill, and it was as she had said:
there was no blue sky above, no wide green earth before him: the
mist had blotted all out; he could hardly see the rocks and bushes a
dozen yards from him; the leaves and flowers were heavy laden with
the grey wet; and it felt clammy and cold on his face, and he tasted
its salt on his lips. It seemed thickest and darkest when he looked
down and lightest when he looked up, and the lightness led him to
climb up among the dripping, slippery rocks; and slipping and
stumbling he went on and on, the light increasing as he went, until
at last to his delight he got above the mist. There was an immense
crag there which stood boldly up on the hillside, and on to this he
managed to climb, and standing on it he lo