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wept , quile astonished to feel in her a some- 

 thing which seemed like the sadness of solitude. 

 She dared not own to herself that her parents 

 no more sufficed her. But above ail a prophétie 

 faculty, which began to dawn obscurely in her, 

 troubled the enchantments of her youth , the most 

 smiling feasts of her young imagination : then the 

 sorrowful forewarnings of a mission hard to ac- 

 complish , profoundly agilated her. 



« One day Talaon and Eurydice wandered as 

 chance led them not far from their dwelling. They 

 had stopped on the point of a rock beaten by threat- 

 ening waves. The sky became suddenly overclouded. 

 An untimely night spread ilself over the waters ; 

 and from the bosom of this night , flashed terrible 

 lightnings ; by the ominous glimmering of thèse 

 frightful meteors , they saw a frail skiff tossed on 

 the bellowing deep. Immortal Gods ! Will y ou 

 save the dauntless mortal , who struggles alone 

 against the storm , in the bark so miserably lost 

 amidst the angry billows ? Talaon with a loud 

 voice called his servants and ordered them to 

 bring torches of resinous fir. He immediately set 

 lire to a tufted oak which commanded the shore , 

 an antique tree , the wonted retreat of myriads 

 of birds , a sacred tree , fatidical like those of Do- 

 dona , and which the Titan loved above ail 

 others. Thus the old man , unwittingly , yielded 

 to a sudden inspiration : the tree condemned by 

 destiny will no more déclare the oracles of the 

 ancient world ; the new man will escape ship- 



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