The Vision of the Fountain (From "Twice Told Tales")

When a young stranger settles in a remote village, he wanders into an oak‑filled wood and discovers a crystal spring illuminated by a single sunbeam. The water shimmers over moss‑covered stones, and in its mirror the narrator catches the fleeting image of a girl formed of light, hair like golden threads, and a smile that seems to belong to the fountain itself. The vision feels both a dream and a promise, leaving him breathless with wonder.

He returns many times, hoping the apparition will appear again, yet each visit brings only the ordinary—rustling leaves, the splash of a frog, and the quiet rhythm of the countryside. The encounter forces him to question whether the nymph is a product of his imagination, a hidden spirit of the water, or something else entirely. Listeners are drawn into his meditations on nature, memory, and the fragile line between perception and reality.