That evening, when the Æsir were all feasting and telling stories to each other in the great hall of Valhalla, Loki stole out from Gladsheim, and went alone to visit Iduna in her grove. It was a still, bright evening. The leaves of the trees moved softly up and down, whispering sweet words to each other; the flowers, with half-shut eyes, nodded sleepily to their own reflections in the water, and Iduna sat by the fountain, with her head resting in one hand, thinking of pleasant things. “It is all very well,” thought Loki; “but I am not the happier because people can here live such pleasant lives. It does not do me any good, or cure the pain I have had so long in my heart.” Loki’s long shadow—for the sun was setting—fell on the water as he approached, and made Iduna start. She remembered the sight that had disturbed her so much in the morning; but when she saw only Loki, she looked up and smiled kindly; for he had often accompanied the other Æsir in their visits to her grove. “I am wearied with a long journey,” said Loki abruptly, “and I would eat one of your apples to refresh me after my fatigue.” The casket stood by Iduna’s side, and she immediately put in her hand and gave Loki an apple. To her surprise, instead of thanking her warmly, or beginning to eat it, he turned it round and round in his hand with a contemptuous air. “It is true then,” he said, after looking intently at the apple for some time, “your apples are but small and withered in comparison. I was unwilling to believe it at first, but now I can doubt no longer.” “Small and withered!” said Iduna, rising hastily. “Nay, Asa Odin himself, who has traversed the whole world, assures me that he has never seen any to be compared to them.” “That will never be said again,” returned Loki, “for this very afternoon I have discovered a tree, in a grove not far from Asgard, on which grow apples so beautiful that no one who has seen them will ever care again for yours.” “I do not wish to see or hear of them,” said Iduna, trying to turn away with an indifferent air; but Loki followed her, and continued to speak more and more strongly of the beauty of this new fruit, hinting that Iduna would be sorry that she had refused to listen when she found all her guests deserting her for the new grove, and when even Bragi began to think lightly of her and of her gifts. At this Iduna sighed, and Loki came up close to her, and whispered in her ear: “It is but a short way from Asgard, and the sun has not yet set. Come out with me, and, before any one else has seen the apples, you shall gather them, and put them in your casket, and no woman shall ever have it in her power to boast that she can feast the Æsir more sumptuously than Iduna.”