Paradise Reclaimed by Halldor Laxness

The pristine spring which has its source right here By Kirsten Piil was first created clear; And later, for the benefit of all, This poem has been incised for many generations on a stone slab beside the Kirsten Piil Spring in Denmark, where the good water wells up. If there has been any other spot, since Moses struck the rock with his staff, where such an excellent mineral spring is to be found, it is not recorded in any books I know. This water has a gentle refreshing quality that spreads from the tongue to every part of the body. World-famous poets who have written about it call it not only the healthiest water there is but also the noblest drink to be found in Denmark. Whosoever sips this water and looks sunwards at the same time is granted at that moment a glimpse of celestial life, more particularly a blissful foretaste of the nirvana which is described in the books of the East. It is beyond the scope of earthly science to analyse the elements of this water or to define whence its healing properties arise; one can only praise Nature and bless her creator for the taste of the refreshing drink that gushes from the rock. Have I mentioned that the sick and the sore gain marvellous relief from this water? Even the prisoner in his dungeon finds release in it, for this pure drink gives a man strength, greater than any medicine can provide, to bear his fate; and for that reason a cupful of this water that wells up gently from its rock is offered at night to the person who is to be executed at dawn. Whoever drinks of it dies happy and at peace in Denmark. This water costs two aurar a cup.

Now we return to Steinar of Hlíðar at the point where he had taken leave of the king after visiting his pony, which had achieved greater worldly success than any other animal born of a mare in Iceland. He had made the greatest emperors and kings on earth bow down over a little casket, and all their power and wisdom put together had not sufficed to open it; there was no help to be gained from God's grace, which all such folk include in their titles; and besides, they had lost the poem.