Pagina 389 de 626

'Ah!' said the wife, 'and I am so full of distress and uneasiness

that my teeth chatter, and I feel as if there were a fire in my

veins,' and she tore open her dress; and all the while little

Marleen sat in the corner and wept, and the plate on her knees

was wet with her tears.

The bird now flew to the juniper-tree and began singing:

'My mother killed her little son;

the mother shut her eyes and her ears, that she might see and

hear nothing, but there was a roaring sound in her ears like that

of a violent storm, and in her eyes a burning and flashing like

lightning:

My father grieved when I was gone;

'Look, mother,' said the man, 'at the beautiful bird that is

singing so magnificently; and how warm and bright the sun is, and

what a delicious scent of spice in the air!'

My sister loved me best of all;

then little Marleen laid her head down on her knees and sobbed.

'I must go outside and see the bird nearer,' said the man.