did not fly farther than
he could see, and perched on the summit of a tree. The young man ran
after them till he was all in a sweat and quite out of breath. After
resting three times, the birds reached a small open glade, and perched
on a high tree at its edge. When the young man arrived, he perceived a
spring in the midst of the opening, and sat down under the tree on which
the birds were perched. Then he pricked up his ears, and listened to the
talk of the feathered creatures.

"The sun has not set," said one bird, "and we must wait till the moon
rises and the maiden comes to the well. We will see whether she notices
the young man under the tree." The other bird replied, "Nothing escapes
her eyes which concerns a young man. Will this one be clever enough to
escape falling into her net?" "We will see what passes between them,"
returned the first bird.

Evening came, and the full moon had already risen high above the wood,
when the young man heard a slight rustling, and in a few moments a
maiden emerged from the trees, and sped across the grass to the spring
so lightly that her feet hardly seemed to touch the ground. The young
man perceived in an instant that she was the most beautiful woman he had
ever seen in his life, and he could not take his eyes from her.

She went straight to the well, without taking any heed of him, raised
her eyes to the moon, and then fell on her knees and washed her face
nine times in the spring. Every time she looked up at the moon, and
cried out, "Fair and round-cheeked, as now thou art, may my beauty
likewise endure imperishably." Then she walked nine times round the
spring, and each time she sang--

"Let the maiden's face not wrinkle,
Nor her red cheeks lose their beauty;
Though the moon should wane and dwindle,
May my beauty grow for ever,
And my joy bloom on for ever!"

Then she dried her face with her long hair, and was about to depart,
when her eyes suddenly fell upon the young man who was sitting under the
tree, and she turned towards him immediately. The young man rose up to
await her approach. The fair maiden drew nearer, and said to him, "You
have exposed yourself to severe punishment for spying on the private
affairs of a maiden in the moonlight, but as you are a stranger, and
came here by accident, I will forgive you. But you must inform me truly
who you are, and how you came here, where no mortal has ever before set
foot."

The youth answered with m