And she, too, would fain have died.
But that same night did a dream come to the swan-maiden, and, when she
awoke, she cried to her brothers to take heart. 'Believe, dear brothers,
in the great God who hath created the earth with its fruits and the sea
with its terrible wonders. Trust in Him, and He will yet save you.' And
her brothers answered, 'We will trust.'
And Finola also put her trust in God, and they all fell into a deep
slumber.
When the children of Lir awoke, behold! the sun shone, and thereafter,
until the three hundred years on the Western Sea were ended, neither wind
nor wave nor rain nor frost did hurt to the four swans.
On a grassy isle they lived and sang their wondrous songs by day, and by
night they nestled together on their soft couch, and awoke in the morning
to sunshine and to peace. And there on the grassy island was their home,
until the three hundred years were at an end. Then Finola called to her
brothers, and tremblingly she told, and tremblingly they heard, that they
might now fly eastward to seek their own old home.
Lightly did they rise on outstretched wings, and swiftly did they fly
until they reached land. There they alighted and gazed each at the other,
but too great for speech was their joy. Then again did they spread their
wings and fly above the green grass on and on, until they reached the
hills and trees that surrounded their old home.
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