tree and flower. The storks and the pelicans flew in long rows like fluttering streamers as they accompanied him to the boundary of the garden.
“Now we begin our dances!” said the Fairy. “At the conclusion, when I have danced with you, you will see how, as the sinking sun departs, I shall beckon to you. You will hear me call, ‘Come, oh come with me!’ but do not follow me. That is your temptation—that is sin to you. For a hundred years must I repeat the call to you every evening. With each evening that you resist the temptation will your moral strength increase, till at last you will not give it a thought. This evening will be the first trial—remember I have given you warning!”
And the Fairy led him to a large hall of white transparent lilies; and the yellow stamina of the lilies were little golden harps, which gave forth a music as of stringed instruments and flutes.
Lovely maidens, light and slender, danced gracefully around him, and sang of life and
