Waltey

Waltey

173 Siren of the French Broad

Lights and Shadows of the South

Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. Skinner
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O besedilu

173 Siren of the French Broad

Vir
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
Avtor
Charles M. Skinner
Jezik branja
English
Čas branja
2 min branja
Obseg
1 stran

O izvirniku

Myths and Legends of Our Own Land

Obsežna zgodovinska zbirka ameriških legend, ki jih je Skinner zbral in avtorsko rekonstruiral. Besedilo prihaja iz vira Myths and Legends of Our Own Land v jeziku English.

Besedilo

173 Siren of the French Broad

Among the rocks east of Asheville, North Carolina, lives the Lorelei of the French Broad River. This stream--the Tselica of the Indians--contains in its upper reaches many pools where the rapid water whirls and deepens, and where the traveller likes to pause in the heats of afternoon and drink and bathe. Here, from the time when the Cherokees occupied the country, has lived the siren, and if one who is weary and downcast sits beside the stream or utters a wish to rest in it, he becomes conscious of a soft and exquisite music blending with the plash of the wave.

Looking down in surprise he sees--at first faintly, then with distinctness--the form of a beautiful woman, with hair streaming like moss and dark eyes looking into his, luring him with a power he cannot resist. His breath grows short, his gaze is fixed, mechanically he rises, steps to the brink, and lurches forward into the river. The arms that catch him are slimy and cold as serpents; the face that stares into his is a grinning skull. A loud, chattering laugh rings through the wilderness, and all is still again.