s
divided the nests, built close together on venerable pillars and in
fallen temple arches of forgotten cities. The date-palm lifted up its
screen as if it would be a sunshade; the greyish-white pyramids stood
like masses of shadow in the clear air of the far desert, where the
ostrich ran his swift career, and the lion gazed with his great grave
eyes at the marble sphinx which lay half buried in the sand. The
waters of the Nile had fallen, and the whole river bed was crowded
with frogs, and this spectacle was just according to the taste of the
stork family. The young storks thought it was optical illusion, they
found everything so glorious.

"Yes, it's delightful here; and it's always like this in our warm
country," said the stork-mamma; and the young ones felt quite frisky
on the strength of it.

"Is there anything more to be seen?" they asked. "Are we to go much
farther into the country?"

"There's nothing further to be seen," answered stork-mamma. "Behind
this delightful region there are luxuriant forests, whose branches are
interlaced with one another, while prickly climbing plants close up
the paths--only the elephant can force a way for himself with his
great feet; and the snakes are too big, and the lizards too quick for
us. If you go into the desert, you'll get your eyes full of sand when
there's a light breeze, but when it blows great guns you may get into
the middle of a pillar of sand. It is best to stay here, where there
are frogs and locusts. I shall stay here, and you shall stay too."

And there they remained. The parents sat in the nest on the slender
minaret, and rested, and yet were busily employed smoothing and
cleaning their feathers, and whetting their beaks against their red
stockings. Now and then they stretched out their necks, and bowed
gravely, and lifted their heads, with their high foreheads and fine
smooth feathers, and looked very clever with their brown eyes. The
female young ones strutted about in the juicy reeds, looked slyly at
the other young storks, made acquaintances, and swallowed a frog at
every third step, or rolled a little snake to and fro in their bills,
which they thought became them well, and, moreover, tasted nice. The
male young ones began a quarrel, beat each other with their wings,
struck with their beaks, and even pricked each other till the blood
came. And in this way sometimes one couple was betrothed, and
sometimes another, of the young ladies and gentlemen, and t