Then the old stork winked with his eyes.
"That is a very old story; I have heard it from my great, great-grandmother's time. Yes, truly there was once in Egypt a princess from the Danish land; but she disappeared on the evening of her wedding, many hundred years ago, and was never seen again. Thou canst read that thyself upon the monument in the garden, upon which are sculptured both swans and storks, and above it stands one like thyself in the white marble."
And so it was. Helga saw, comprehended it all, and sank on her knees.
The sun burst forth in all its morning splendour, and as, in former days, with its first rays fell the frog disguise, and the lovely form became visible; so now, in the baptism of light, arose a form of celestial beauty, purer than the air, as if in a veil of radiance to the Father above. The body sank into dust, and where she had stood lay a faded lotus flower!
"Well, this is a new finale to the story," said the stork-father, "which I by no means expected; but I am quite satisfied with it."
"I wonder what the young ones will say to it?" replied the stork-mother.
"Ah! that, indeed, is of the most consequence," said the stork-father.
