THE WATER SPRITES

Mummel, the great angry water god, has many beautiful daughters. These he guards jealously, and will allow no one to see them in their maiden¹ forms except by the dim moonlight.

These beautiful water nymphs are not at all like their stern father. They are pure, and gentle and graceful² and kind. They never do harm to anyone, and are not displeased³ if people come to visit the lake. Indeed they like to have people come to see them dance upon the water at night.

These lovely creatures would gladly help people if their father did not guard them so jealously; for they are kind-hearted and generous.

As it is, all they can do for mortals is to entertain them with their fairy dances[107] on the silvery waters of Mummelsee. On every moonlight night they can be seen flitting about on the surface of that.

Their fairy forms are so charming that people who see them cannot help forgetting their daily cares. People come to the lake tired and careworn⁴ in the evening, and go away happy and cheerful.

All night long, till the first streaks⁵ of dawn, the fairy nymphs can be seen, flitting charmingly from wave to wave. Their gowns are light and flowing like gossamers. Their beautiful golden hair, too, floats lightly on the gentle breeze.

Once or twice, it is said, daring youths have been drawn⁶ by their beauty, and have ventured into the lake to meet them. Every attempt, however, has been disastrous⁷. Mummel has caught the intruder and taken him down to his abode⁸ below the lake. There the unhappy youth has had to act as a servant.

Whenever anyone attempts to come too close to his daughters, too, Mummel takes[108] away their human shapes at once. He transforms them into water lilies, and makes them stand with bowed heads along the farther shore of the lake.

Every morning, too, as soon as the first light of day begins to appear, the beautiful figures leave their fairy dance upon the lake. Mummel transforms them into their lily forms and makes them stand in the water along the shore.

So the beautiful water lilies which are to be seen in Mummelsee are the lovely water sprites, daughters of Mummel. No one is allowed to pick one even to this day.

1 maiden   

n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的

参考例句：

• The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女。
• The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.这架飞机明天首航。

2 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

3 displeased   

a.不快的

参考例句：

• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。
• He was displeased about the whole affair. 他对整个事情感到很不高兴。

4 careworn   

adj.疲倦的，饱经忧患的

参考例句：

• It's sad to see the careworn face of the mother of a large poor family.看到那贫穷的一大家子的母亲忧劳憔悴的脸庞心里真是难受。
• The old woman had a careworn look on her face.老妇脸上露出忧心忡忡的神色。

5 streaks   

n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
• Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

8 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！