breezes of darkening night," cried the first, "how ye cool and revive my
cheeks! How sweetly ye play amid my fluttering locks! I stand on the
cloudy peak of the mountain; far below me lie the sleeping cities of
men, and blue waters gleam. List! far below in the valley rustle the
fir-trees! Far above yonder hills sweep in misty forms the spirits of
our fathers. Oh, that I could hunt with ye on your cloud-steeds through
the stormy night, over the rolling sea, upwards to the stars! Alas! I am
laden with grief, and my soul is sad!" Meanwhile, the other had also
stretched out _his_ arms toward the wardrobe, while tears fell from his
eyes as he cried to a pair of yellow leather pantaloons which he mistook
for the moon, "Fair art thou, daughter of heaven! Lovely and blessed is
the calm of thy countenance. Thou walkest in loveliness! The stars
follow thy blue path in the east! At thy glance the clouds rejoice, and
their dark forms gleam with light. Who is like unto thee in heaven, thou
the night-born? The stars are ashamed before thee, and turn away their
sparkling eyes. Whither, ah, whither, when morning pales thy face, dost
thou flee from thy path? Hast thou, like me, thy Halle? Dwellest thou
amid shadows of sorrow? Have thy sisters fallen from heaven? Are they
who joyfully rolled with thee through the night now no more? Yea, they
have fallen down, oh! lovely light, and thou hidest thyself often to
bewail them! Yet the night must come at last when thou too will have
passed away, and left thy blue path above in heaven. Then the stars,
that were once ashamed in thy presence, will raise their green heads and
rejoice. But now art clothed in thy beaming splendor and gazest down
from the gate of heaven. Tear aside the clouds, oh! ye winds, that the
night-born may shine forth and the bushy hills gleam, and that the
foaming waves of the sea may roll in light!"

* * * * *