"I am willing to go," said Hulda, "for the fairy's sake."
So they put her on a pillion, and took her slowly on to the south by short distances, as she could bear it. And as she left the old castle, the wind tossed some yellow leaves against her, and then whirled them away across the heath to the forest. Hulda said:
"Yellow leaves, yellow leaves,
Whither away?
Through the long wood paths
How fast do ye stray!"
The yellow leaves answered:
"We go to lie down
Where the spring snowdrops grow,
Their young roots to cherish
Through frost and through snow."
Then Hulda said again to the leaves:
"Yellow leaves, yellow leaves,
Faded and few,
What will the spring flowers
Matter to you?"
And the leaves said:
"We shall not see them,
When gaily they bloom,
But sure they will love us
For guarding their tomb."
Then Hulda said: