# II: Now Shall Be Told of the House by the Waterside explained — The Water of the Wondrous Isles > Chapter companion for The Water of the Wondrous Isles by William Morris. ## What happens The witch-wife travels through the wood for four days with the stolen child, treating her with occasional kindness. On the fifth day, they emerge from the forest to a great lake with two eyots. The witch-wife leads them to a small house on a knoll by the water, where she unloads the ass, brings the child inside, and prepares food, establishing this as her home. ## Themes in this chapter ### Nature and the Wild The journey through the wood and the arrival at the lake with its eyots, greensward, and meadow highlight the natural setting. ### Class and Servitude The witch-wife's control over the stolen child, treating her as a possession to be fed and handled at will, reflects a power imbalance. ## Character check-ins ### Birdalone The stolen child, carried in a pannier and occasionally allowed to roam; she is glad despite the circumstances. ### The Witch Wife The witch-wife who stole Birdalone; she feeds and sometimes caresses the child, and leads them to her house by the lakeside. ## Key lines > Four days they wended the wood, and nought befell to tell of. They traveled through the forest for four uneventful days. _Describes the initial journey after the abduction._ > The witch-wife (for even such was she) fed the stolen child well and duly, and whiles caressed her and spake sweetly unto her; The witch-wife, as she truly was, fed the stolen child properly and sometimes showed her affection and spoke kindly. _Reveals the witch-wife's identity and her mixed treatment of Birdalone._ > At last, when the fifth day was waning, and they had been a long while wending a wood set thick with trees, it began to grow grey betwixt the distant boles, and then from grey to white, and it was as if a new world of light lay before them. On the fifth day, as they traveled through a dense forest, the space between the trees turned from grey to white, revealing a bright new world ahead. _Describes the transition from forest to lakeside._ > Went the witch-wife straight to the door of the said house as if she were at home, as was sooth indeed. The witch-wife went directly to the house door as if she belonged there, which she truly did. _Confirms the house belongs to the witch-wife._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_water_of_the_wondrous_isles_se/chapters/ii-now-shall-be-told-of-the-house-by-the-waterside - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_water_of_the_wondrous_isles_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_water_of_the_wondrous_isles_se/chapters