THE LOST SYLPHID.
75
"But, my lord, those exquisite beings in gossamer robes! surely you see them!"
"I see the play of the moonbeams, my love, and nothing more."
But the wife stood transfixed. One beautiful fairy, taller and fairer than her companions, had wings, and floated through the dance, scarcely touching the earth.
"Was ever such a vision of lovliness?" cried the enraptured lady: "she must be my own little daughter,—eat of my bread, and sleep upon my bosom."
Then, kneeling, she sang,—
"Fair little nixies, that dwell near the water,
Give me the winged one to be my own daughter."
The dance ceased. The nixies, bewildered, looked north and south, and knew not which way to flee; but the winged fairy, attracted by the human love in the lady's
