faithful attendant to obſerve whether any ſwans appeared on the pool, to watch their flight, and count their number. He ſeemed always to liſten with great attention to his report. The viſit of the ſwans made him chearful; but when none appeared, the old man ſhook his head and grew melancholy and peeviſh for ſeveral days. The honeſt unſuſpecting Swab gave himſelf no further concern about this anxiety and ſingular kind of curioſity; or he thought, perhaps, that the arrival or failure of the ſwans afforded a preſage of the fruitfulneſs or unfruitfulneſs of the year.
One day as Friedbert was keeping watch, he ſaw a number of ſwans ſkim along the pool and reported it as uſual to father Benno, who teſtified great joy upon the occaſion, and ordered him to prepare a dainty ſupper, with plenty of wine. The glaſs ſoon exerted its inſpiring powers on both the partners of the feaſt: the old man laid aſide his reſerve, be-came
