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THE KOBZAR OF THE UKRAINE
The Water Fairy
ME my mother bore
'Mid lofty palace walls,
Me at midnight hour
In Dnieper's flood she bathed;
And bathing, she murmured
Over little me:
"Swim, swim, little maid,
Adown the Dnieper water,
You'll swim out a fairy
Next midnight, my daughter.
I go to dance with him,
My faithless lover;
You'll come and lure him
Into the river.
No more shall he laugh at me,
At my tears out-flowing,
But o'er him the Dnieper
It's blue water is rolling.
Swim out, my only one,
He will come to dance with thee.
Waves, waves, little waves,
Greet ye the water fairy."
Sadly she cried and ran away,
As I floated down the stream.
