The Rain Maiden by Mary de Morgan — Read

Once upon a time there lived a shepherd and his wife, who lived in a very lonely little cottage far from town or village, near some mountains. It was a wild neighbourhood, and the wind blew across the mountains fiercely, and the rain often fell so heavily that it seemed as if the cottage would be washed away. One evening when the shepherd was out, there came on a great storm of rain which beat against the doors and the windows violently. As the shepherd's wife sat listening to it by the fire, it seemed to her as if it sounded louder than she had ever heard it before, and the raindrops sounded like the knock of a hand that was knocking to gain admittance. It went on for a little time, till the shepherd's wife could bear to listen to it no longer, and she rose and went to the door to open it, though she knew that she would let the wind and rain into the room. As she opened the door a gust of rain was blown in her face, and then she saw that in the doorway stood a woman who had been knocking. She was a tall woman wrapped in a grey cloak with long hair falling down her back. "Thank you," she said. And though her voice was very low, the shepherd's wife could hear it plainly through all the storm. "Thank you for opening the door to me. Many would have let me stand outside. Now may I come into your cottage and rest?"

"How wet you must be! " cried the shepherd's wife; "come in and rest, and let me give you food. Have you come from far?"