Four days they wended the wood, and nought befell
to tell of. The witch-wife (for even such was
she) fed the stolen child well and duly, and whiles
caressed her and spake sweetly unto her; whiles also
she would take her out of the pannier, and set her
on the ass’s back and hold her thereon heedfully;
or, otherwhiles, when they came upon grassy and flowery
places, she would set her down on the ground and let
her roam about, and pluck the flowers and the strawberries.
And whoso might be sorry, the child was glad, so
many things new and fair as she came upon.
At last, when the fifth day was waning, and they had
been a long while wending a wood set thick with trees,
it began to grow grey betwixt the distant boles, and
then from grey to white, and it was as if a new world
of light lay before them. Thitherward went they,
and in a little, and before the sun was set, came
they to the shore of a great water, and thence was
no more land to be seen before them than if it had
been the main sea itself, though this was a sweet water.
Albeit, less than a half mile from the shore lay two
eyots, as it might have been on the salt sea; but
one of these sat low down on the water, and was green
and well bushed, but the other, which lay east of
it, and was nigher to the shore, was high, rocky, and
barren.
Now the ending of the wood left a fair green plain
betwixt it and the water, whiles more than a furlong
across, whiles much less; and whiles the trees came
down close to the water-side. But the place
whereas they came from out the wood was of the widest,
and there it was a broad bight of greensward of the
fashion of the moon seven nights old, and a close
hedge of thicket there was at the back of it; and
the lake lay south, and the wood north. Some
deal of this greensward was broken by closes of acre-land,
and the tall green wheat stood blossoming therein;
but the most was sweet meadow, and there as now was
a gallant flock of goats feeding down it; five kine
withal, and a tethered bull. Through the widest
of this meadow ran a clear stream winding down to
the lake, and on a little knoll beside a lap of the
said stream, two bow-shots from the water, was a knoll,
whereon stood, amidst of a potherb garden, a little
house strongly framed of timber. Before it the
steep bank of the lake broke down into a slowly-shelving
beach, whose honey-coloured sand thrust up a tongue
in amongst the grass of the mead.
Went the witch-wife straight to the door of the said
house as if she were at home, as was sooth indeed.
She threw the door open, and unladed the ass of all
his wares, and first of the youngling, whom she shook
awake, and bore into the house, and laid safely on
the floor of the chamber; nor did she wait on her
wailing, but set about what was to be done to kindle
fire, and milk a she-goat, and get meat upon the board.
That did she, and fed both herself and the child
plenteously: neither did she stint her of meat
ever, from that time forward, however else she dealt
with her.
