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868 ■ WILL-O'-THE-WISPS ARE IN THE TOWN'
man ; ' that will not disturb a single person ; for they will all think I'm only telling them a story when I say with the greatest seriousness, " The Will-o'-the-Wisps are in the town, says the Moor-woman. Take care of yourselves 1 " ' |
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THE WINDMILL
A Windmill stood upon the hill, proud to look at, and it was proud too.
11 am not proud at all,' it said, ' but I am very much enlightened without and within. I have sun and moon for my outward use, and for inward use too ; and into the bargain I have stearine candles, train oil lamps, and tallow candles ; I may well say that I'm enlightened. I am a thinking being, and so well constructed that it's quite delightful. I have a good set of millstones in my chest, and I have four wings that are placed outside my head, just beneath my hat; the birds have only two wings, and are obliged to carry them on their backs. I am a Dutchman by birth, that may be seen by my figure—a flying Dutchman. They are considered supernatural beings, I know, and yet I am quit3 natural. I have a gallery round my chest, and house-room beneath it; that's where my thoughts dwell. My strongest thought, who rules and reigns, is called by the others "the man in the mill". He knows what he wants, and is lord over the meal and the bran ; but he has his companion too, and she is called " Mother ". She is the very heart of me. She does not run about stupidly and awkwardly, for she knows what she wants, she knows what she can do, she 's as soft as a zephyr and as strong as a storm ; she knows how to begin a thing carefully, and to have her own way. She is my soft temper, and the father is my hard one : they are two, and yet one ; they each call the other " My half ". These two have some little boys, young thoughts, that can grow. The little ones keep everything stirring. When, lately, in my wisdom, I let the father and the boys examine the millstones and the wheels in my chest, to see what was going on there—for something in me was out of order, and it's well to examine |
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