nts carried a whole coach-load of
gold and silver, pearls, and jewellery into her house. And behold, the
bridegroom and his presents pleased Lindu so much that she accepted him
at once, saying, "You don't always travel the same path, like the
others. You set out when you will, and rest when it pleases you. Each
time you appear in new splendour and magnificence, and each time you don
a new robe, and each time you ride in a new coach with new horses. You
are the fitting bridegroom, whom one can receive with joy."
Now they celebrated their betrothal with great splendour. But the Sun,
Moon, and Pole Star looked on sadly, and envied the happiness of the
Northern Light.
The Northern Light could not tarry long in the bride's house, for he was
obliged to journey back towards midnight. But before his departure he
promised soon to return for the wedding, and to carry the maiden to his
home in the North. In the meantime she was to prepare her trousseau and
get everything ready for the wedding.
Lindu now waited and made everything ready. One day followed another,
but the bridegroom came not to hold a joyous wedding with his bride. The
winter passed away, and the warm spring adorned the earth with new
beauty, then came the summer; but Lindu waited in vain for her
bridegroom; nothing was seen of him.
Then she began to lament bitterly, and sorrowed day and night. She sat
in the meadow by the river in her bridal robes and white veil and the
wreath on her head, and from her thousand tears sprang the little brooks
in the valley. She did not heed the little birds who flew about her head
and shoulders, and sought to soothe her with their soft blandishments,
nor did she remember to direct their migrations to foreign parts, and to
care for their nurture and food. So they wandered about and flew from
place to place, not knowing what to do or where to remain.
At length the news of the maiden's distress and the needs of the birds
came to the ears of Uko. Then he resolved in his heart to help them
all, and ordered the winds to carry his daughter to him, away from the
misery of the world. While Lindu was sitting on the ground weeping and
lamenting, the winds sank down before her, and lifted her so gently that
she herself perceived it not, and bore her away to heaven, where they
set her down on the blue firmament.
There dwells Lindu still in a heavenly pavilion. Her white bridal veil
spreads from one end of the heavens to the other, an
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