So they floated on and on, and the chest danced up and down upon
the billows, and the baby slept upon its mother's breast: but the
poor mother could not sleep, but watched and wept, and she sang to
her baby as they floated; and the song which she sang you shall
learn yourselves some day.
And now they are past the last blue headland, and in the open sea;
and there is nothing round them but the waves, and the sky, and the
wind. But the waves are gentle, and the sky is clear, and the
breeze is tender and low; for these are the days when Halcyone and
Ceyx build their nests, and no storms ever ruffle the pleasant
summer sea.
And who were Halcyone and Ceyx? You shall hear while the chest
floats on. Halcyone was a fairy maiden, the daughter of the beach
and of the wind. And she loved a sailor-boy, and married him; and
none on earth were so happy as they. But at last Ceyx was wrecked;
and before he could swim to the shore the billows swallowed him up.
And Halcyone saw him drowning, and leapt into the sea to him; but
in vain. Then the Immortals took pity on them both, and changed
them into two fair sea-birds; and now they build a floating nest
every year, and sail up and down happily for ever upon the pleasant
seas of Greece.
So a night passed, and a day, and a long day it was for Danae; and
another night and day beside, till Danae was faint with hunger and
weeping, and yet no land appeared.
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