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

"The Vision of the Fountain" by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story that looks at the difference between what we imagine and what is real, all through the eyes of a young person. When the main character comes to a quiet village, he finds a spring that shows him an amazing picture of a beautiful girl. He thinks she might be a magical spirit of the water. He keeps going back, hoping to see her again, but she's never there. Living in his dreams, he's about to head back home when he finally sees her, but this time he learns that she is just a regular girl from the village who was away at school – the daughter of the local squire. The story really makes you think about how young people often put the people they like on a sort of pedestal, turning them into something perfect and angelic, when love is first starting out.