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Chap. LUI.
THE BIRDS AT THE CROSS.
355
swamp its eggs are stolen. Then came the stork, and
the stork cried in its sorrow and its grief for the ill
deed done, ‘ Styrk ham! styrk ham!—Give him
strength ! give him strength ! ’ Therefore is the stork
blessed, and wherever it comes it is welcome, and the
people love to see it build upon their houses; it is a
sacred bird, and for ever unharmed. Lastly came the
swallow, and when it saw what was done it cried, ‘ Sval
ham! sval ham!—refresh him! cool him! ’ So the
swallow is the most beloved of the three; he dwells
and builds his nests under the very roofs of men’s
houses, he looks into their very windows and watches
their doings, and no man disturbs him either on the
palaces or the houses of the poorest peasants. For
this reason, as you travel in Denmark, you will observe
the swallows’ nests remain undisturbed; no one would
dream for a moment of scratching them down or
destroying them as we do in England.” To this
tradition the Swedes add a fourth bird, the turtle-dove, who,
perching on the cross in its anguish, cried, “Kurrie!
kurrie! kurrie ! ” (kyrie—Lord 1) Since that day the
dove has never been glad, but flies through the forest
still repeating its sad notes.
On our way home we visited the celebrated
rokke-steen, or shaking stone, the largest in the North of
Europe. It lies in the forest, almost surrounded
with earth, unlike those of the Breton heath, which
stand erect and lifted up on high.
Christiansminde, the lion of the island, is a square
lofty tower of Bornholm stone, erected to commemorate
the visit of the present king and the Countess Danner.
The king is here popular; Bornholm is loyal and
marble is cheap, and this edifice is an improvement
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