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So they began to converse of the blue of the skies, of the murmur

of waves and of fragrant breezes, and of the summits of crags,

mingling here and there, after the fashion of travellers,

laughter and mockery at the land of their fathers. And yet around

them stretched the forests of Lithuania, so majestic and so full

of beauty! The black currant, intertwined with a wreath of wild

hop; the service tree, with the fresh blush of a shepherdess; the

hazel, like a maenad, with green thyrsuses, decked with the

pearls of its nuts as with clusters of grapes; and beneath them

the children of the forest, the hawthorn in the embrace of the

elder, the blackberry pressing its black lips upon the raspberry.

The trees and bushes joined hands with their leaves, like young

men and maidens standing ready for a dance around a married pair.