TRUYỆN CỔ ANDERSEN - Trang 1082

land, one behind the other, like a long white ribbon. Then Eliza went down
the slope from the shore, and hid herself behind the bushes. The swans
alighted quite close to her and flapped their great white wings. As soon as
the sun had disappeared under the water, the feathers of the swans fell off,
and eleven beautiful princes, Eliza’s brothers, stood near her. She uttered a
loud cry, for, although they were very much changed, she knew them
immediately. She sprang into their arms, and called them each by name.
Then, how happy the princes were at meeting their little sister again, for
they recognized her, although she had grown so tall and beautiful. They
laughed, and they wept, and very soon understood how wickedly their
mother had acted to them all. “We brothers,” said the eldest, “fly about as
wild swans, so long as the sun is in the sky; but as soon as it sinks behind
the hills, we recover our human shape. Therefore must we always be near a
resting place for our feet before sunset; for if we should be flying towards
the clouds at the time we recovered our natural shape as men, we should
sink deep into the sea. We do not dwell here, but in a land just as fair, that
lies beyond the ocean, which we have to cross for a long distance; there is
no island in our passage upon which we could pass, the night; nothing but a
little rock rising out of the sea, upon which we can scarcely stand with
safety, even closely crowded together. If the sea is rough, the foam dashes
over us, yet we thank God even for this rock; we have passed whole nights
upon it, or we should never have reached our beloved fatherland, for our
flight across the sea occupies two of the longest days in the year. We have
permission to visit out home once in every year, and to remain eleven days,
during which we fly across the forest to look once more at the palace where
our father dwells, and where we were born, and at the church, where our
mother lies buried. Here it seems as if the very trees and bushes were
related to us. The wild horses leap over the plains as we have seen them in
our childhood. The charcoal burners sing the old songs, to which we have
danced as children. This is our fatherland, to which we are drawn by loving
ties; and here we have found you, our dear little sister., Two days longer we
can remain here, and then must we fly away to a beautiful land which is not