The Project Gutenberg EBook of Undine, by Friedrich de la Motte Fouquee

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Title: Undine

Author: Friedrich de la Motte Fouquee

Editor: Mary Macgregor

Illustrator: Katharine Cameron

Release Date: July 4, 2006 [EBook #18752]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDINE ***

Produced by Jason Isbell, Sankar Viswanathan, and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

TOLD TO THE CHILDREN SERIES

EDITED BY LOUEY CHISHOLM

[Illustration: On the threshold stood a little maiden.]

Friedrich de la Motte Fouquee

UNDINE

TOLD TO THE CHILDREN BY

MARY MACGREGOR

WITH PICTURES BY

KATHARINE CAMERON

LONDON: T. C. & E. C. JACK

NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.

* * * * *

TO MARGARET

* * * * *

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Undine is the name of the water maiden whose story you will read as
you turn the leaves of this little book.

Undine is beautiful as the dawn stealing across the waters, beautiful
as the spray of the crystal waves.

Yet when she comes to earth she comes to seek for that without which
her beauty will be for ever cold, cold and chill as the surge of the
salt, salt sea.

Look deep into her blue eyes and you will see why her beauty is so
cold, so chill.

In the eyes of every mortal you may see a soul. In the gay blue eyes
of Undine, look you long and never so deep, no soul will look forth to
meet your gaze.

Love, joy, sorrow, these are the pearls that shine in the eyes of
every mortal. But in the eyes of the water maiden there is no gleam
of love, no sparkle of joy, no tear of sorrow.

Undine has come to earth to seek for a soul. Without one she may never
know the golden gifts God has given to each mortal, gifts these of
love, joy, sorrow.

You will read in this little book how Undine, the water maiden, wo