Project Gutenberg 2005-11-01 Public domain in the USA. 171 Hawthorne, Nathaniel 1804 1864 The Vision of the Fountain (From "Twice Told Tales") Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twice-Told_Tales Produced by David Widger "The Vision of the Fountain" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a short story included in his collection "Twice Told Tales," written during the early to mid-19th century (Romantic period). The narrative revolves around themes of youthful longing, idealized beauty, and the ephemeral nature of dreams and visions. Through the eyes of a young narrator, the story explores the intersection between reality and imagination in a rustic setting. The tale begins with the narrator's arrival in a secluded village, where he discovers a crystal spring that evokes a vivid, enchanting vision of a beautiful girl—perhaps a water-nymph—reflected in the water. Entranced, he is unable to find her again despite repeated visits to the spring, leading him to dwell in a realm of romantic thoughts and fantasies. As time passes and the seasons change, he prepares to leave the village, only to encounter his ethereal vision once more in a moment of unexpected clarity. This revelation reveals her true identity as Rachel, the village squire's daughter, who had been away at school during his stay. The story ultimately reflects on the nature of idealized love and the tendency to transform the beloved into something angelic, illustrating a common experience in the throes of youthful infatuation. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 74.5 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Short stories New England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction Historical fiction, American PS Text Children's Literature Browsing: Children & Young Adult Reading Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: History - American Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction 38016 2025-06-04T08:56:03.740105 text/html 33112 2021-01-02T00:10:18 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 12868 2021-01-02T00:10:18 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 102702 2025-06-04T08:56:09.786079 application/epub+zip 101435 2025-06-04T08:56:07.448109 application/epub+zip 72781 2025-06-04T08:56:06.101081 application/epub+zip 283562 2025-06-04T08:56:11.421063 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 277372 2025-06-04T08:56:08.937124 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 231557 2022-09-05T03:31:01.621768 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 30813 2025-06-04T08:56:03.486169 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 30782 2021-01-02T00:10:18 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 12014 2021-01-02T00:10:18 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 19999 2025-06-04T08:56:11.561053 application/rdf+xml 21826 2025-06-04T08:56:06.674070 image/jpeg 4853 2025-06-04T08:56:06.386066 image/jpeg 103189 2025-06-04T08:56:03.745113 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia