of the sufferings of those who share that gift.

"Now the race to which I belong have no other means of obtaining a
soul than by forming with an individual of your own the most intimate
union of love. I am now possessed of a soul, and my soul thanks you,
my best beloved, and never shall cease to thank you, if you do not
render my whole future life miserable. For what will become of me,
if you avoid and reject me? Still, I would not keep you as my own by
artifice. And should you decide to cast me off, then do it now, and
return alone to the shore. I will plunge into this brook, where my
uncle will receive me; my uncle, who here in the forest, far removed
from his other friends, passes his strange and solitary existence.
But he is powerful, as well as revered and beloved by many great
rivers; and as he brought me hither to the fisherman a light-hearted
and laughing child, he will take me home to my parents a woman,
gifted with a soul, with power to love and to suffer."

She was about to add something more, when Huldbrand, with the most
heartfelt tenderness and love, clasped her in his arms, and again
bore her back to the shore. There, amid tears and kisses, he first
swore never to forsake his affectionate wife, and esteemed himself
even more happy than Pygmalion, for whom Venus gave life to his
beautiful statue, and thus changed it into a beloved wife. Supported
by his arm, and in the confidence of affection, Undine returned to
the cottage; and now she first realized with her whole heart how
little cause she had for regretting what she had left--the crystal
palace of her mysterious father.