They had loved so well and so splendidly, in old age as well as in youth, that their souls were allowed to come back again and wander round the pine tree that had listened to their love for so many years.
When the moon is full they whisper and laugh and sing and draw the pine needles together, while the sea sings softly upon the shore:
“The dawn is near
And the hoar-frost falls
On the fir tree twigs;
But its leaves dark green
Suffer no change.
Morning and evening
Beneath its shade
The leaves are swept away,
Yet they never fail.
True it is
That these fir trees
Shed not all their leaves;
Their verdure remains fresh
For ages long,
As the Masaka’s trailing vine;
Even amongst evergreen trees—
The emblem of unchangeableness—
Exalted is their fame
As a symbol to the end of time.
The fame of the fir trees that
Have grown old together.”
THE PINE TREE MAIDEN
(Indian Legend)
In an Indian village which stood near the Big Sea Water lived a beautiful little girl whose name was Leelinau. Her chief delight was to wander among the pine trees of a sacred grove which bordered the great waters. Here she passed many hours watching the sunlight dance on the stems of the tall trees and listening to the soft music of the wind as it came up from the sea and played in the forest.
The child’s desire to spend so much of her time alone in the grove made her little companions regard her with awe, and they sometimes whispered together about the meaning of her strange journeys to the deep woods.
“Leelinau goes to the forest to play with the Puckwudjinies. She dances with the fairy folk and talks to them in their own language,” said the Indian children when they saw the little girl’s figure hurrying toward the grove of pine trees.