Page:Popular Tales of the Germans (Volume 1).djvu/221

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OF THE VEIL.
203

difficulty in diſtinguiſhing the magic from common ſwans, by a crown of feathers on the top of the head. If you ſtand on the watch in the early hour of the morning, before the rays of the riſing ſun ſtrike the ſurface of the water, or in the evening, when in deſcending to reſt, its retiring light reddens the weſtern ſky, obſerve carefully whether any ſwans arrive. If you ſee them alight on the water or among the reeds, you will immediately perceive nymphs bathing inſtead of ſwans, and your eye will at once diſcover whether your miſtreſs be there, or whether ſhe has not this time joined the company of her couſins. Should fortune bring her to you, do not delay a moment to take poſſeſſion of her veil and crown, which you will find on the ſhore: you will then have her quite in your power, for ſhe will not be able to fly away without this aerial garment. How you are then to proceed, love, I ſuppoſe, will inſtruct you.

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