The Wild Swans

“We brothers,” said the eldest, “fly about as wild swans, so long as the sun is in the sky; but as soon as it sinks behind the hills, we recover our human shape. Therefore we must always be near a resting place for our feet before sunset; for if we should be flying towards the clouds at the time we turned into men, we should sink deep into the sea. We do not dwell here, but in a land just as fair, that lies beyond the ocean, which we have to cross for a long distance... We have permission to visit our home once in every year ... This is our fatherland, to which we are drawn by loving ties; and here we have found you, our dear little sister... Two days longer we can remain here, and then we must fly away to a beautiful land which is not our home; and how can we take you with us? We have neither a ship nor a boat.”

"The Wild Swans" by Hans Christian Andersen, 1838.