Page 61 - The Green Beaubird

horses, they rode for several days, until at last
they came into a flowery green meadow, in the
midst of which stood a lofty tree surrounded
with marble statues which mocked life by
their marvellous workmanship. Through the
meadow there ran a little stream, and up in
the tall tree lived the Green Beaubird, which
hopped about from bough to bough in lively

fashion, uttering the while words which
seemed rather divine than human. The young
men dismounted from their palfreys, which
they left to graze at will, and went close to the
marble statues to examine them; but, as soon
as they touched these, they themselves were
turned into marble as they stood.

Now Serena, when for several months she had
anxiously looked for the return of her dear
brothers Acquirino and Fluvio, began to
despair and to fear she would never see them
more, and, over come with grief at their
unhappy fate, she resolved to try her own
fortune. So she mounted a mettlesome horse,
and rode on and on till she came to the fair

meadow where the Green Beaubird was
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