fresh--but, where was it coming from?... I listened;
it was a harmonious melody--now long-drawnout and plaintive, now swift
and lively. I looked around me--there was nobody to be seen. I listened
again--the sounds seemed to be falling from the sky. I raised my eyes.
On the roof of my cabin was standing a young girl in a striped dress
and with her hair hanging loose--a regular water-nymph. Shading her eyes
from the sun's rays with the palm of her hand, she was gazing intently
into the distance. At one time, she would laugh and talk to herself, at
another, she would strike up her song anew.

I have retained that song in my memory, word for word:

At their own free will

They seem to wander

O'er the green sea yonder,

Those ships, as still

They are onward going,

With white sails flowing.

And among those ships

My eye can mark

My own dear barque:

By two oars guided

(All unprovided

With sails) it slips.

The storm-wind raves:

And the old ships--see!

With wings spread free,

Over the waves

They scatter and flee!

The sea I will hail

With obeisance deep:

"Thou base one, hark!

Thou must not fail

My little barque

From harm to keep!"

For lo! 'tis bearing

Most precious gear,

And brave and daring

The arms that steer

Within the dark

My little barque.

Involuntarily the thought occurred to me that I had heard the same voice
the night before. I reflected for a moment, and when I looked up at the
roof again there was no girl to be seen. Suddenly she darted past me,
with another song on her lips, and, snapping her fingers, she ran up
to the old woman. Thereupon a quarrel arose between them. The old
woman grew angry, and the girl laughed loudly. And then I saw my Undine
running and gambolling again. She came up to where I was, stopped, and
gazed fixedly into my face as if surprised at my presence. Then she
turned carelessly away and went quietly towards the harbour. But this
was not all. The whole day she kept hovering around my lodging, singing
and gambolling without a moment's interruption. Strange creature! There
was not the slightest sign of insanity in her face; on the contrary, her
eyes, which were continually resting upon me, were bright and piercing.
Moreover, they seemed to be endowed with a certain magneti