"Mother," she began, when the old lady came to the door, "don't _you_
know your daughter?"
"I have no daughter; my daughter died and was buried a long, long time
ago."
"Only look in my face, and surely you'll know me."
The old lady shook her head.
"You have all forgotten me; but look at this mole on my neck. Surely,
mother, you know me now?"
"Yes, yes," said the mother, "my Gracie had a mole on her neck like
that; but then I saw her in her coffin, and saw the lid shut down upon
her."
It became Jamie's turn to speak, and he gave the history of the fairy
journey, of the theft of the young lady, of the figure he had seen
laid in its place, of her life with his mother in Fannet, of last
Halloween, and of the three drops that had released her from her
enchantment.
She took up the story when he paused, and told how kind the mother and
son had been to her.
The parents could not make enough of Jamie. They treated him with
every distinction, and when he expressed his wish to return to Fannet,
said they did not know what to do to show their gratitude.
But an awkward complication arose. The daughter would not let him go
without her. "If Jamie goes, I'll go too," she said. "He saved me from
the fairies, and has worked for me ever since. If it had not been for
him, dear father and mother, you would never have seen me again. If
he goes, I'll go too."
This being her resolution, the old gentleman said that Jamie should
become his son-in-law. The mother was brought from Fannet in a coach
and four, and there was a splendid wedding.
They all lived together in the grand Dublin house, and Jamie was heir
to untold wealth at his father-in-law's death.
THE STOLEN CHILD.
W. B. YEATS.
Where dips the rocky highland
Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,
There lies a leafy island
Where flapping herons wake
The drowsy water-rats.
There we've hid our fairy vats
Full of berries,
And of reddest stolen cherries.
Come away, O, human child!
To the woods and waters wild,
With a fairy hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim grey sands with light,
Far off by furthest Rosses
We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances,
Mingling hands, and mingling glances,
Till the moon has taken flight;
To and fro we leap,
And chase the frothy bubbles,
While the world is full of troubles.
And is anxious in its sleep.
Come away! O, human child!
To the woods and waters wild.
With a fairy hand in hand,
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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