Then, when the autumn came they all flew away

Extrait du Prince heureux d'Oscar Wilde
One night there flew over the city a little Swallow*.  His friends had gone away to Egypt six weeks before, but he had stayed behind*, for he was in love with the most beautiful Reed.  He had met her early in the spring as he was flying down the river after a big yellow moth, and had been so attracted by her slender waist that he had stopped to talk to her.

"Shall I love you?" said the Swallow, who liked to come to the point at once, and the Reed made him a low bow.  So he flew round and round her, touching the water with his wings, and making silver ripples.  This was his courtship, and it lasted all through the summer.

"It is a ridiculous attachment," twittered* the other Swallows; "she has no money, and far too many relations"; and indeed the river was quite full of Reeds.  Then, when the autumn came they all flew away.

After they had gone he felt lonely, and began to tire of his lady-love.  "She has no conversation," he said, "and I am afraid that she is a coquette, for she is always flirting with the wind."  And certainly, whenever the wind blew, the Reed made the most graceful curtseys.  "I admit that she is domestic," he continued, "but I love travelling, and my wife, consequently, should love travelling also."

"Will you come away with me?" he said finally to her; but the Reed shook her head, she was so attached to her home. "You have been trifling with me," he cried.  "I am off to the Pyramids.  Good-bye!" and he flew away. All day long he flew, and at night-time he arrived at the city. "Where shall I put up?" he said; "I hope the town has made preparations."

*Swallow : Hirondelle
 Stayed behind : nom d'une opération secrète de l'Otan durant la guerre froide qui visait à maintenir des troupes paramilitaires "dormantes" en Europe. En cas d'invasion soviétique, leur rôle aurait été d'organiser la résistance armée.
 Twitter : Jacasseur

Then, when the autumn came they all flew away : cette phrase terrible que ma nurse anglaise me récitait sans cesse alors que j'étais dans mon berceau pour calmer mes angoisses. Mais, au lieu de cela, c'est l'effet inverse qui se produisait. Et, depuis, j'ai toujours peur de rater le départ, le moment où il faut partir pour échapper à l'hiver.