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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/34102-8.txt b/34102-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd415d7 --- /dev/null +++ b/34102-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4874 @@ +Project Gutenberg's A Divided Heart and Other Stories, by Paul Heyse + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Divided Heart and Other Stories + +Author: Paul Heyse + +Translator: Constance Stewart Copeland + +Release Date: October 19, 2010 [EBook #34102] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DIVIDED HEART AND OTHER STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: +1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/dividedheartothe00heysiala +2. Includes 1. A Divided Heart; 2. Minka; and 3. Rothenburg on the + Tauber. + + + + + + A DIVIDED HEART + + + + + +[Illustration: Paul Heyse] + + + + + + + A DIVIDED HEART + + AND + + OTHER STORIES + + + + + FROM + PAUL HEYSE + + + + + _TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH_ + With an Introduction + BY + CONSTANCE STEWART COPELAND + + + + + New York: + BRENTANO'S + CHICAGO PARIS WASHINGTON + + + + + + + Copyright. 1894, + BY + BRENTANO'S. + + + + + + * * * + BURR PRINTING HOUSE, + NEW YORK. + + + + + + + To + My Mother + + C. S. C. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + Introduction--Paul Heyse + + A Divided Heart + + Minka + + Rothenburg on the Tauber + + + + + INTRODUCTION--PAUL HEYSE + + + + + PAUL HEYSE. + + + + INTRODUCTION. + + +It occasionally happens that a reader expecting to find the customary +account of an author's early struggles for bread and knowledge, his +bitter disappointments, his late and almost joyless success, is +surprised by the record of a singularly fortunate life; of a life which +advances easily and naturally from a peaceful and promising childhood +to an equally peaceful, famous old age. Goethe's was such a life; and +reading it, one feels that sharp encounter with the hardest facts of +existence would have lessened his greatness, would have disturbed that +perfect serenity of soul which made him philosopher as well as poet, +and fostered his fidelity to high ideals of life and art. + +A countryman of Goethe's, Paul Heyse, born in Berlin in 1830, two years +before the great poet's death, was no less fortunate in the lot to +which fate assigned him. Heyse's power was unlike Goethe's in kind and +degree, but the opportunities for its development were equally +favorable. His father was a philologist and lexicographer, whose home +was comfortable and refined, and whose friends were cultured and +literary. He took charge of his son's early education, and naturally +laid great stress on language, inculcating the love for purity and +exactness in its use, which is one of Heyse's best qualities. +Stimulated by the atmosphere of his home, and by these studies in +literary _technique_, Heyse began to try his skill in original work at +a very early age, and was only seventeen years old when his first book, +"Jungbrunnen: New Tales by a Travelling Scholar," appeared. Although +this production encouraged his friends in the belief that a great +future lay before him, it made no impression whatever on the world at +large, and the young author pursued his studies at the Berlin +University without astounding anyone by phenomenal brilliancy or +success. + +Finishing at Berlin, he betook himself to Bonn, and spent a year +studying Romance and philology with the famous Diez. So great was the +interest in mediaeval languages which Diez succeeded in awakening in +the young man, that in 1850 Heyse travelled to Italy and employed a +year in examining the precious manuscripts of the old Italian +libraries. The results of these researches were afterwards published +under the title "Romanische Jnedita auf italienischen Bibliotheken +gesammelt;" and a book of Italian songs was also presented to the +world. + +Upon his return to Germany, Heyse at once began serious literary work, +and put the first rung in the traditional ladder to fame. Although his +present place in literature is due to his work as a novelist, his first +creations were dramas in verse. He aspired to become a poet; not a +singer of songs and lyrics, but a great dramatic poet, whose lines +should chant, and whose thoughts should create a new era. To this end +he experimented with the various styles of dramatic composition and +tried the Shakespearian, the Greek, and the late French, in rapid +succession. His work was so beautiful in form and so faultless in +finish that it attracted immediate attention. A master's hand was +evident in every line, and albeit there was a subtle something lacking +of the true poetic fire, a certain circle of fastidious and critical +_literati_ found the dramas highly satisfactory and hailed Heyse as a +rising poet. In 1854, King Maximilian II. of Bavaria, whose court was a +veritable literary academy, called him to Munich and assured to him an +audience and an income. After a time the income was discontinued, but +Heyse's works were then amply remunerative, and he has lived in Munich +to this day. No environment could be imagined more congenial to a man +of Heyse's tastes than that of the court at Munich; and once settled +there, he began to fulfil the hopeful prophecies of his friends. In +1857, his drama, "The Sabine Women," took the prize offered by the +king, and was produced on the royal stage. Notwithstanding that it +satisfied the literary sense of the court, it failed to please the +people. There was too much finish, too much studied elegance, and too +little warmth of feeling, to appeal to their sympathies. Not until +"Colberg," "Elizabeth Charlotte," and "Hans Lange" had appeared, would +the general public acknowledge Heyse as a great dramatist. Even then +they found a flaw; for, although the characters were strong and +interesting, and some of the situations were intensely dramatic, +Heyse's dramas, as a whole, were lacking in one essential quality, +action. They were more suitable for the study than the stage; more +interesting to one appreciative reader who could enjoy the beauty of +the workmanship and feel the strength of the conception, than to an +indifferent audience expecting to be amused or excited by actual +happenings. + +In fact, they were dramatized novels, instead of true dramas, or +dramatic poems. "Not deep the poet sees, but wide," and Heyse's view +was not wide. He lacked a poet's objectivity, the power to create the +type from the individual, the power to discern the universal and +essential beyond the particular and accidental. He studied life +attentively and described it vividly and truthfully, but he saw no new +message, created no new thought. + +Evidently, Heyse was neither a great dramatist nor a great poet; and +although he was a man of unquestionable power, he reached forty years +of age without having made any permanent impression on his time. But +the good fortune which had attended his youth did not desert him in +middle age. He lived amid congenial surroundings; wrote constantly and +with increasing power; and gradually attained a self-knowledge which +enabled him to recognize the true field for his exertions. + +He began writing novels in verse, then short stories in prose, and at +length, in 1873, he wrote his great novel, "Children of the World." In +this he expressed his philosophy of life. The man Heyse, with his +intense admiration of physical beauty, his love of nature, his utter +disregard of conventionality, his keen insight into the uttermost +corners of human hearts, looks out of every page. The reader, whoever +he may be, and however strongly he may disagree with much that he +reads, is spellbound from first to last. The scenes between Edwin and +Toinette in the first part of the book are as idyllic and unworldly as +those between Marius and Cosette in "Les Miserables." Toinette herself, +so exquisitely beautiful, so courageously true to her conception of her +own nature, and so pitifully mistaken in that conception, fascinates us +as she does Edwin, and excites our deepest compassion. Edwin, too, +grave, and thoughtful, and warm-hearted as he is, seems no mere +"character," but a living man. They are all children of the world, +living entirely in the present without hope or desire for a future +life. The existing world supplies them with all they ask. As Edwin +says: "O beloved, a world in which we may attain such triumph over +fate, over our own and that of those we love; in which the tragical is +glorified by a gleam of the beautiful; in which intense joy of life +sweeps through us, bringing softening tears, even as we shudder in the +presence of death--such a world is not desolate." It is Heyse's own +creed, this of the all-sufficiency of the present life. In one of his +lyrics he has expressed it more explicitly--"Kein Ernst und Drüben, nur +ein Jetzt und Hier!", and later on in the same poem he says: + + "Das eine wissen wir: + Auch wir vergehen, und das ist Trotz genug." + +Since this was written at the time of his son's death, his disbelief in +immortality must be at least sincere. + +Having now abandoned his aspirations towards poetic and dramatic fame, +Heyse worked as his own nature dictated, and soon made for himself a +distinctive place in German literature. In 1876, his other long novel, +"In Paradise," a story of artist life in Munich, appeared. Unlike +"Children of the World," "In Paradise" is full of humor and has little +philosophy. + +But the short story is Heyse's favorite form of expression, and it is +in the short story that his power is best revealed. With the exception +of a few essays, dramas, and one-act pieces, he has written nothing but +short stories for the last fifteen years, and in that time he has +produced so many that they would fill several shelves in a large +library. + +Since Heyse believes that every story should embody some specific +thought, something to distinguish it absolutely from every other, it is +easily comprehensible that many of his tales are morbid and unreal. But +the best of them are veritable bits of life; life viewed not only from +the outside as any keen observer may see it, but life as the +philosopher knows it, the inner life which gives value and purpose to +this "fleeting show." He spares no detail of common experience, which +may give strength and vividness to his stories, but he chooses the +themes themselves from the world of ideas. His stories are not +primarily character studies, though the men and women produce the +impression of actual life; nor are they stories with plots and +thrilling events. They are histories of crises in human lives, of +strange problems and situations, of subtle influences working +unexpected issues. The majority are stories of love, psychological, +like most modern love tales, but picturesque and human as well. +Although the hero and heroine are separated, if separation must be, by +some obstacle in their own natures rather than by any untoward +circumstance of life, they are not dissected and analyzed till they +lose all human semblance. They are as unconsciously true to themselves +as living beings, and are not less difficult to comprehend. Heyse has +searched human hearts to the depths; he has read the motive behind the +act; he has seen the thousand thoughts and feelings which make that +motive complex; but he has not made his great knowledge an excuse for +writing semi-scientific treatises in the guise of fiction. His +characters never lose personality; they give fascinating glimpses of +their deeper selves, but they make no full confessions; they are +elusive and surprising, and therefore indescribably charming and real. +All classes of German society have contributed to enlarge Heyse's world +of fiction, but it is of the educated middle class that he most often +writes. While a certain sameness in type is noticeable in his +characters, there is no marked sameness in the individuals. The men are +usually cultured, thoughtful, and passionate; the women are beautiful, +noble-minded and vivacious; but each man and each woman has traits +which make his or her personality distinct from all others. The women +are strangely captivating. Toinette, in "Children of the World," Lucile +and L.'s wife in "A Divided Heart," Christel and the Governor's lady in +"Rothenburg on the Tauber,"--they all claim our interest and sympathy +as they do that of the people about them. In fact, Heyse always forces +us to feel what he wishes to tell us. He is never guilty of writing +about a character; the men and women are before us and we are left to +draw our own conclusions. Yet we inevitably sympathize with him, and +blame or praise as he would have us do. + +Heyse uses nature merely as a background for human beings. He never +indulges in long rhapsodies over sunsets and beautiful views, or in +lengthy descriptions of any scenes whatever; but he has Thomas Hardy's +power of making places absolutely real in a few vivid words. Nature +must be very dear to him, and he must understand her very thoroughly, +or he could never reproduce her charm so truly. "Rothenburg on the +Tauber" is a story of the spring-time; and reading it, we breathe the +cool air of spring, see her pale tints, live through her sunny days and +misty, moonlit nights. In "Minka," the gloom of a sombre autumn day +depresses us as it does Eugene, and lends some of its own unearthly +sadness to the strange story. + +All of Heyse's writings have atmosphere, that indefinable quality which +no amount of mere description of places and people can give, but which +comes of itself from the heart of the sympathetic writer. And Heyse is +evidently deeply in sympathy with every subject which he treats. +Feeling intensely himself, he wishes his readers to share his feeling, +and he is so consummate a master of his art that he is sure of this +effect. From the first word it is plain that he has something important +to say, and the reader has no choice but to read on to the end. Nor is +it possible by reading ten of Heyse's stories to divine what the +eleventh may be. He is true to his principle of making each one utterly +unlike all the others. This, perhaps, is one of Heyse's greatest +charms. Prolific as he is, he never wearies one with sameness; his +twentieth volume is as interesting and surprising as his first. + +Whether or no Heyse's works will live is a problem which must be left +to its own solution. They are purely modern products, tales of +nineteenth-century people, actuated by nineteenth-century thoughts and +feelings; and though many of them are artistically perfect, they are +saturated with the author's own personality, and have not that +universal truth of application which usually characterizes the world's +classics. "L'Arabbiata," "On the Banks of the Tiber," "The Maiden of +Treppi," "The Mother's Picture," "A Divided Heart," and "Rothenburg on +the Tauber," are among the best of the short stories. His "Tales of the +Troubadours" are very beautiful, but are somewhat marred by a freedom +of speech which approaches actual vulgarity. It is this unfortunate and +unnecessary frankness which has brought against Heyse the accusation of +immorality, although all his stories have an "upward tendency," and are +time to the highest ideals. No one reading "A Divided Heart," or +"Rothenburg on the Tauber," could doubt the rectitude of the writer's +moral sense, or his love for the best in human nature. + +Since Heyse is still living, the thousand and one interesting facts and +anecdotes which come to the world's knowledge only after a great man's +death are not yet told of him. His life has been even and uneventful; +poor in those startling changes of fortune which make the usual +attractive biography, but rich in inner experience, in the vivid +impressions, intense feelings, and great thoughts, which make actual +life full of interest and meaning. + +A number of Heyse's works have been translated into English, but many +more deserve wider popularity than their own language can give them. +Their great writer, realistic as Balzac, analytic as Tolstoi, +picturesque as his own countryman, Ebers, should become as famous here +as he is in Germany, and add one more to the increasing list of great +men whose writings are precious, not alone to their own countries, but +to the world. C. S. C. + + + + + + A DIVIDED HEART + + + + + A DIVIDED HEART. + + +It was still early when I left, although the company was one of those +which do not become lively until after midnight. But a gloomy +uneasiness which I had brought with me, would not yield to the good +wine and tolerable humor which seasoned the bacchanal; so I seized a +favorable moment and took French leave. As I came out of the house and +inhaled the first breaths of the pure, night air, I heard some one +following me and calling my name. + +It was L., the eldest and gravest of our circle. I had heard his voice +scarcely twice the whole evening among the noisy chatter of the others. +I esteemed him very highly, and was usually delighted to meet him. But +just then I desired no man's company. + +"It has driven you out also," he said, as he caught up to me, and, +stopping for breath, glanced at the starlit spring heavens. "We were +neither of us at home among those hardened bachelors. When I saw you +slipping out, a melancholy envy, which you must pardon, came over me. +Now, thought I, he is going home to his dear wife. She has been +sleeping for some time; he steps on tip-toe to her bedside; she at once +awakens from her dream, and asks--'Is it you already? Did you enjoy +yourself? You must tell me about it to-morrow.' Or, she has been +interesting herself in a book, and opens the door herself when she +hears your footstep. To be so received means to be at home somewhere in +this world. In my lonesome cell there is no one waiting for me. But I +enjoyed that good fortune for twelve whole years, and am far better for +it than our young friends yonder, who have no perception of the best +things life can offer, and who speak of women as the blind do of +colors. Are you not of my opinion, that one only half knows them when +one speaks merely from hearsay, and says, with the usual irony, a +'better half'?" + +He put his arm in mine, and we walked slowly along the deserted +streets. + +"You know, my dear friend," said I, "that I am a marriage fanatic, with +good reason. If I neglected to preach its gospel to the heathen this +evening, it was only from a general disinclination to speak where I am +not altogether at ease. I feared, too, that my usual eloquence on the +subject might leave me in the lurch. But, truly, it would not be the +first time that I have argued alone against a whole gang of obstinate +bachelors." + +"I admire your courage," he replied. "For my part, I am always hindered +from contradicting the scoffers by an absurd heart-beating; it seems to +me a desecration to gossip of the school in which one learns to fathom +the deepest and most beautiful secrets of human life." + +"You are quite right," said I, "and I have often reproached myself for +being beguiled into discussing in prose, after the manner of a +scientific problem, what one may properly confess only in verse. And +yet certain silly speeches always excite me to protest again. When I +hear it said that marriage is the death of love; that the obligation to +fidelity quenches passion; and that, since no man can master his heart, +even the best should hesitate before forming a life-tie, my vexation at +the foolish babble runs away with my reason, and I begin to speak of +things which one regards as mere exaggeration unless he has himself +experienced them." + +To this he did not reply, and we walked silently side by side. I +observed that he was lost in recollections which I did not wish to +disturb. I knew nothing of his marriage, except that he had lost his +wife many years before, and mourned her as if it were but yesterday. An +old lady who had known her told me that she was an irresistible person, +with eyes which no one who had once looked into them could ever forget. +Her daughter, lately married, I had met once at a social affair; she +impressed me as an amiable, but very quiet, young woman. + +L. had been a military man in his younger days; but being severely +wounded in the Schleswig-Holstein war, he had withdrawn to a country +estate and passed his best years there with his wife and child. After +he became a widower, a spirit of unrest seemed to drive him over the +earth, and it was only from time to time that he made a brief +appearance among his old friends. He was a stately, handsome man even +yet. His hair, although streaked with gray, stood thick and curly above +his high, bronzed forehead, and in his eyes there gleamed a quiet fire +which told of imperishable youth. + +At the next crossing he stopped. + +"My way properly leads down there," said he, "but, if you do not +object, I will accompany you for a distance. My sleep has not been +worth much for some time, and 'In that sleep what dreams may come' +seldom amount to anything. Besides, I am going away in a few days. Who +knows when we can chat with each other again." + +We set forth on our, or rather on my way, but for a long while the talk +would not take the right channel. + +The warm, night wind was as soothing as the murmur of a cradle-song; +the stars blinked like eyes which can scarcely keep themselves open. A +fine mist moved slowly across the heavens, weaving a veil over the +shining firmament. + +"Bear in mind," said I, "we shall be wakened from our first sleep by a +spring thunder-storm." + +He neither answered nor glanced at the heavens, but continued to look +fixedly at the ground. Suddenly he began, "Do you know what I have +always lamented? That Spinoza was never married. How that would have +improved his ethics! He had no conception of certain problems; and I +have always wondered how he would have regarded them if they had come +under his observation." + +"Which do you mean?" I asked. + +"You know he was the first to deny the power of reason over our +passions, and to advance the profound thesis that a passion can be +displaced only by one stronger. But what happens if two equally strong +passions together rule the same soul?" + +"Are there then two precisely similar passions?" I asked; "I myself +have never experienced anything of the kind, and am inclined to be +sceptical until I see it proved in another man." + +"There are certainly no test-scales for feeling," he replied, "but +whoever has had such an unfortunate experience will have no doubt of +its reality. But one can scarcely make it comprehensible to a third +person, because the psychological constellation under which alone this +situation arises seldom comes into position, and can almost never be +observed as quietly as other phenomena. Even you as a novelist would +hardly be able to make use of such an occurrence. You must have heard +often enough that you novelists search for psychological problems and +dispense with probability. Wonderful people! They wish to learn +something, and yet, if one tells them of what is not to be found on +every highway, they refuse to believe it. If a botanist discovers and +describes a new plant accidentally bearing blossoms on the root instead +of the stalk, no one doubts his veracity. But a new growth of human +flora, heretofore unnoticed by the thoughtless observer, is immediately +designated as a daring invention." + +"You forget," I broke in, "that people wish to enjoy fiction with the +heart alone, not with the intellect, and that the heart refuses +everything which is not closely akin to it. Therefore I feel very +lenient toward the average reader. In real life he is interested only +in certain things which he understands, prizes, and considers +desirable; such as money and land, social reputation, family happiness, +and more of the same sort. Consequently, he likes in books only such +stories as deal with rich and poor, rogues and honest men, and, for a +sort of relish, with a little of the so-called love necessary to +complete a happy marriage. Whatsoever there is beyond that, is evil. +Yet in every human breast there lives a still presentiment that there +is something glorious about the unusual, about a feeling, for instance, +that fills the heart to overflowing, even to the breaking of all +conventional bonds. But my poor wise Leopardi was right; the world +laughs at things which it otherwise must admire, and, like the fox in +the fable, blames what it really envies. A great love, for example, +with its passionate joys and sorrows, is universally envied, and +therefore unsparingly condemned. They consider it dangerous, and I have +found this view sanctioned everywhere in men's judgments of life and +fiction. 'Do not destroy my home!' cries the peaceful citizen to the +passion which is breaking into his house like an armed man. And if he +feels himself adequately protected by his armor of conventionality, +more invulnerable than iron or steel, he fears for children and +parents, and the tender heart of his wife. Although the danger may not +have been great after all. Only what we recognize as true has power +over our souls; and surely you yourself have seldom encountered in this +cold world of ours any strong passion or heart-instinct out of the +catechism, and yet truly felt." + +"That is true," he said, "and therefore I have never yet discovered, +either in psychology or romance, a trace of that peculiar situation +which I mentioned. Once I imagined that, in the writings of one whom I +consider a true artist, I had found something similar when, in looking +over Alfred Musset's short stories, I came across the title '_Les Deux +Maîtresses_.' But no, the hero loved one and flirted with the other. +That happens thousands of times. But what I mean--" + +He broke off, seeming to regret that he had gone so far. I allowed only +a slight word to betray my intense interest. I did not wish to elicit +any confidence which he would not freely give me. I knew also that +there is a midnight hour for long-buried histories, when they burst the +bars of the closed breast and rise up to walk about once more in the +pale light of a starry heaven. One must then guard his tongue well, for +a careless word may frighten the timid ghosts back to their graves. + +So I remained silent and waited. We were approaching a little +enclosure, a grove of ash-trees, and on the seats under the wind-tossed +branches several homeless men lay sleeping peacefully. In the darkest +corner of the shaded place stood an empty bench. + +"If it suits you," said L., "let us sit here a moment. I would like +best of all to imitate yonder vagabonds and spend the night here _sub +divo_. The south wind possesses me." + +Then, after we had been sitting dumbly side by side for some time, "Of +what were we speaking?" he began; "was it not of people's inability to +imagine situations which they themselves have never been through? How +can one expect it of them, since even the individual himself cannot +always comprehend what he has too undeniably felt? + +"And when I now look back on that time and observe everything calmly +from a distance, does not my own heart oftentimes seem to me a riddle? +To you, indeed, that which is unintelligible to most people will seem +natural enough; namely, that the love I bore my wife was strengthened +instead of weakened by the years of unclouded happiness. One might say +that every deep and earnest affection is artistic. As the artist and +the poet bear and cherish the burning thought within them, ever +striving to approximate it to their highest ideal, so love, if not +mistaken in its object, is a ceaseless advance. But I see this +comparison halts a little. Let it be. Only you must know that I was one +of those fortunate beings who consider the possession of a beloved wife +as a daily gift from the gracious gods; and that I was still feeling a +sort of lover's devotion when the young likeness of the dear woman had +already outgrown childhood. + +"I do not know that you would have understood this better, if you had +known the woman. Many passed her by without suspecting what a rare +spirit looked out upon the world from those quiet, all-understanding +eyes. I myself, in our first hour of meeting, felt indissolubly bound +to her. But I shall not attempt to describe her. At this moment, as is +always the case with those whom I hold dearest, I see her picture only +in uncertain outlines, although I could draw any indifferent face even +to the wrinkles. It was so even when she was living; I carried with me +the feeling of her personality as a whole, and when she appeared it was +like a new revelation. + +"Many did not consider her a beauty, and she had not the slightest +desire to please in that way. But to others she seemed supremely +charming, and far beyond comparison with any merely pretty woman. I +often pondered over this mysterious charm of hers. I came to the +conclusion that, while the good qualities of the average lovable person +affect us at different times, with her the whole character revealed +itself every moment. Goodness, cleverness, earnestness and +cheerfulness, grace and firm strength,--her entire treasure was always +at hand. But I see I am still praising and describing. I will only say +that the first meeting decided my fate. + +"I immediately realized that it was not one of those sudden, +short-lived passions which I had often experienced during my frivolous +officer-life. Until now I had never, even in the warmest love-affair, +been able to think of a union for life without feeling a quiet aversion +to the loss of my freedom. In the first hour I knew that this love +concerned my soul's welfare; that I could never again be my own master, +even though I should be obliged to remain away from her forever. I +could not long endure the uncertainty as to her feeling for me. I was +somewhat spoiled by previous successes. Yet it scarcely distressed or +surprised me, when, though she acknowledged that my presence was +pleasant to her and that she would be glad to see me often, she said +she did not return my passionate feeling, and thought too highly of a +union for life and death to enter into it half-heartedly, as into +something of little moment. + +"She became still dearer to me through this refusal, although from any +one else such treatment would have sorely wounded my vanity. Before her +all mean and petty feelings disappeared, and a man's best nature was +aroused, as alone worthy of her. + +"It never occurred to me to withdraw myself, grumbling and pining, in +order to make myself missed. After the first pain was over, I seemed to +myself rashly presumptuous in having proposed at all. I believed that I +could not better atone for this ridiculous hastiness than by remaining +unassumingly near her. Her parents kept open house; and, being always +welcome, I exerted myself to be cheerful, and to suppress every feeling +of jealousy toward my companions in misery. But my nights were +wretched, and I often brooded over the darkest resolves. + +"Now imagine my feeling when one morning I received a note from her; I +might call upon her during the day. She had something important to say +to me. + +"I found her alone. She met me in the greatest agitation, stretched +both hands to me, and cried, 'You live! God be thanked!' Then she told +me that toward morning she had had a frightful dream, in which she had +seen me lying dead before her with a deep wound in my forehead. An +unspeakable grief had suddenly seized her, almost as though a hot, +buried spring had burst forth from her inmost soul and gushed from her +eyes in an inexhaustible stream of tears. In that instant she knew that +she loved me, and must die if I did not revive. When she awoke from the +dream and reflected upon it, her happiness at finding it untrue was +nearly fatal to her; her heart beat as violently as if it would leap +from her, and she was scarcely able to write the note to me. + +"From that morning until her death, that warm spring of love was never +exhausted. Whenever I remember--no, I dare not. I would seem to you a +strange visionary, or, at best, weary you with confessions that could +give you nothing new. I am no poet; and even Dante, with all his +display of color and sound, could not save Paradise from monotony. + +"Every day we experienced some new happiness, especially after our +child was born. She was a lovable child; and yet it was a long time +before I could learn to love her for her own sake. During the first +years, I loved her because of her mother, and she pleased me only so +far as she resembled her. It was, so to speak, only an additional charm +of this dear woman's that she had given life to such a child. I tell +this to you, that you may know what a boundless love filled me, and how +it never grew cool or more rational with years. + +"Indeed, she even succeeded in displacing another passion, to which I +had formerly given all my spare time, but which now scarcely ever +manifested itself. Even in the cadet school, I had been an enthusiastic +violinist, and believed that I could not live without music. And when I +realized that my wife was a stranger to the true nature of music, it +pained me for a moment. But I would have renounced as unnecessary or +troublesome, anything in which she had no part. Indeed, I easily +convinced myself that this lack was but one perfection the more. Her +true, simple nature, always at one with itself, shrank from the +mysterious depths, the spiritual twilight, into which music lures us. +It troubled her that she could not find the key to this fascinating +riddle; but she seemed to fear that she might be drawn into a moral +perplexity which would admit of no redemption. It was not indifference +toward the musical world, but rather a lack of sensitiveness, which +barred her way to the heart of it. She thoroughly enjoyed a folk-song +or dance melody. A Beethoven symphony pained her--indeed, could drive +her to despair. + +"All her artistic sense was in her eyes. She enjoyed every visible +thing with the most exquisite feeling, and would study the lines of a +face, a landscape, or a building, for hours together. Her hand was +well-trained, but she placed little value on her sketches and +aquarelles. Her technical skill did not equal her power of artistic +perception. Besides, within the limits of our country estate, amid +entirely commonplace surroundings and unattractive people, she had +little opportunity to perfect herself. + +"Thus, for different reasons, both our talents remained dormant. But, +occasionally, the desire to take my violin from its case and play +through my old favorites once again, would seize me like a physical +necessity. This I would do in perfect secrecy in some distant part of +the woods. When the longing was satisfied, and I returned to the house +like some penitent sinner, we would both laugh if she chanced to meet +me with the violin under my arm. She often implored me to ignore her +weakness; perhaps I might cure her of it. But her untroubled +cheerfulness was more to me than all the sonatas in the world. + +"For nearly eight years we lived thus, entirely for ourselves, and +reminded only by little excursions and visits to the city, that any +world existed beyond our pine woods. Then our child sickened with the +measles, and retained from them a bad throat-trouble, which our +physician advised us to check at once by a sojourn in milder air. +Although it was harvest-time, we soon decided to leave home and take +our child to Lake Geneva, for which place my wife had always preserved +a tender feeling since her school-days at a French _pension_ there. + +"In Vernex, where, as yet, the hotels had not rendered the beautiful +shore unsafe, we found an excellent house, entirely after our own +hearts. It was arranged for only a dozen guests, and was situated in +the midst of a beautifully green garden, with a most glorious view of +the lake and the mountains on the south shore. We settled ourselves in +two spacious rooms on the second floor. My wife and child slept in the +small room; the large one adjoining it served as the sitting-room, and +at night my bed was made on the divan. The corresponding rooms on the +ground floor beneath us were occupied during the first day by an +English couple, who disturbed us by continual playing on the piano; but +when they departed on the following day, they left such stillness +behind them that we might have considered ourselves the only persons in +the paradise, had not the usual meals, in an elegant dining-room, +reminded us that we still had half-gods near us. + +"On the first evening I was surprised by a tender stratagem of my +wife's. As I unpacked the great trunk belonging to her and the child, +which she herself had filled at home, I struck something hard, which +proved to be my violin-case. + +"I embraced her heartily as I saw her smile with pleasure because she +had accomplished this so cleverly and secretly. + +"'As I brought my color-box,' she said, 'there was no need for your +instrument to remain at home. I know a hundred places by the lake and +on the road to Montreux, where I can carry on my daubing by the hour, +while you are conjuring your uncanny spirits up here.' + +"Yet it happened otherwise than I had first thought in my excitement +over her loving forethought. The case remained unopened, and for a full +week not one musical thought occurred to me. I would sit by the hour on +the balcony with an unopened book in my hand, wholly absorbed in the +nobly beautiful picture before me. Or I would accompany my wife and +child on their walks; and when my wife had settled down to sketch the +magnificent chestnut-trees, or the white houses surrounded with +fig-trees and vineyards, glimmering on the slopes in the ravines +between Montreux and Veytaux, I would stretch myself in the shade near +by; chat with the child, who was visibly improving; and feel so +completely satisfied with God and man, that that sultan who vainly +searched the world for the happiest man would finally have found him in +me. + +"One morning I allowed them to go out alone, for I had several +necessary letters to write. It was a quiet, beautiful day; not a breath +of air ruffled the mirror-like lake; I had moved my table before the +open balcony door, and was congratulating myself on the deep stillness +of the house, when, in the room beneath me, I suddenly heard that +fateful piano, which I had so often cursed, sound again, and so loudly +that I knew the lower balcony door must also be open. In my vexation I +at first closed mine; but after listening a moment or two, I reopened +the door and stepped outside, in order not to lose the slightest tone. +The ten fingers playing Bach's Prelude on the little piano below me +belonged to no Englishwoman. Late last evening new guests had moved +in--so the chambermaid had announced--a French man and woman, brother +and sister. Which of the two was then playing I naturally did not know. +But from the touch, although it was firm and strong when necessary, I +decided upon the sister. I have seldom heard such beautiful, distinct, +and, as it were, mature playing; yet it had no trace of so-called +classic objectivity, but rather a very personal charm, as if the +player's deepest nature were speaking to me. I would have wagered my +head that the musician was a brunette, with those gray eyes which +Spaniards call 'green.' I know it is folly; but it is not the only one +of which you will find me guilty, and it had not less power over me +because a sound human intelligence might resist it. + +"You know that Gounod composed a violin accompaniment for this Prelude. +The purists and Bach-pedants reject it. But it has such an irresistible +melody that every violinist learns it by heart. It was not long before +I had taken my instrument from its case, tuned it sufficiently, and +placed the bow in position. And then began a most wonderful duet on two +floors, played with as much calmness and precision as if it had been +well practised. There was not the slightest hesitation; my violin was +never in better condition, and the little piano rang as full and soft +as if it had been changed over night into a powerful concert grand. + +"After we finished there came a pause, and I wondered with some +trepidation if another approach than that of sounds would be proper. I +stepped out on the balcony, hoping that the player would appear on the +terrace. But a new piece which she began drew me forthwith back into +the room. This time it was a Chopin Impromptu which I knew perfectly. +Since I had been unable to play much, I had read an unlimited quantity +of music, and my memory was very well trained. + +"Again seizing my bow, I attempted a modest accompaniment to the +somewhat quaint, but passionately musical, confession. Then came +something from Schumann, and so on _ad infinitum_. I believe we played +three full hours at one stretch. When my wife finally returned--it was +the second breakfast--hour she found me much overheated, and bathed in +perspiration. + +"She even listened to the last bars of a Beethoven sonata, to which I +was playing the treble. 'What duet have you arranged for yourself?' she +asked, smiling, and when I told her that I knew the pianist as little +as she did, she laughed outright. 'I did not bring the violin in vain, +after all, and if I sketch chestnut-trees by the hour, I shall know +that you are busy and happy.' + +"I attempted to reply somewhat jokingly, but made a miserable failure. +The music had moved me exceedingly; and, although I never believed in +presentiments, I was unable to shake off a premonition of something +unusual and uncanny. I longed to remain away from dinner, but felt +ashamed of such a boyish feeling. But my shyness about making the +player's acquaintance was unnecessary. She did not appear at table; so +we met only her brother, a slender, serious young Frenchman, whose hair +and complexion at once proclaimed his southern origin. In fact, we +learned later that his home was at Arles. His father had been an +Alsacian from an old German family, a merchant, who, conducting a +branch business in that city of beautiful women, had finally lost his +heart to the most charming one. He had afterward settled there and +founded a great banking-house, that the son, who was inclined toward a +diplomatic career, might find the way easily open to him. Both parents +had died recently, and the son was still in mourning for them; but he +seemed either very reserved for his age, or oppressed by some secret +trouble, so that, beyond a few courteous words of greeting, we heard +little from him. His sister, after whom my wife immediately inquired, +was still tired from the journey, and also from the music, he added, +with a side glance at me. Her physician had forbidden her to play, but +she could not refrain from it. In the register, which was brought to +him after dinner, he wrote a simple, commonplace name, but beneath it +that of his sister--Countess So-and-so. + +"So she was married, and perhaps we should meet her husband also. I do +not know why this thought affected me unpleasantly, since I had never +yet seen the lady herself. I awaited the evening in strange suspense. +On entering the dining-room we saw the brother and sister seated +directly opposite us. I was not in the least surprised. The young woman +appeared precisely as I had imagined; beautiful dark hair, slightly +curly, and bound in a simple knot at the back of her head; a face far +from regular, but charming for its pale ivory-color and beautiful +teeth; and, truly, gray eyes, the iris inclosed with a dark ring and +shot through with golden lights, exactly as I had fancied from her +playing. + +"She talked little, addressing herself only to my wife when she did +speak. It was nothing new to me to see that the latter could at once +attract even this shy and reserved heart. + +"After dinner, when we went out into the garden, over which the stars +were twinkling, it was not long before I observed the two sitting +together absorbed in earnest conversation. One could hardly have +imagined anything lovelier than this pair, so unlike, yet so truly +equal in charm and nobility of appearance and manner. They were nearly +the same size, although my wife was stately and well-developed, while +the stranger was girlishly slight; but her arms and neck, which I saw +later in lighter clothing, were perfectly rounded, and resembled +those of some Arabian women whose pictures I had seen in a friend's +sketch-book. The brother had withdrawn; I walked to and fro on the +lower part of the terrace, smoking my cigar, gazing absent-mindedly +over the shimmering lake, and now and then hearing a detached word from +the conversation of the women. The child was sleeping quietly upstairs, +for she was put to bed every evening before we went to dinner. + +"'She is extremely charming,' my wife afterwards said to me, 'but even +more unhappy than she is beautiful and lovable. She has been separated +for two years from her husband, who is a _mauvais sujet_, a gambler and +spendthrift, who has already wasted her whole dowry. When she realized +that she had married a worthless man, she insisted upon returning to +her parents. So you may imagine that when her mother and father both +died, it was much harder for her to bear than for many other loving +daughters, who find comfort in their husbands. She is now living with +her brother, but, although he adores her, she cannot have him with her +forever. Sometime she will be entirely alone and dependent on herself, +and, since she is a Catholic and cannot release herself from her +hateful tie, she looks forward to a hopeless future. When I showed +active sympathy because of her mourning, she told me all this without +the least sentimentality, and with the calmness of a strong soul. But +when she mentioned that the Count occasionally came to see her to +extort money, although he no longer has the slightest claim on her +property, her voice trembled, the mere thought of the villain is so +repulsive to her. Her health has suffered under all these emotions. I +promised to care for and pet her like a loving sister, and you should +have heard how prettily she laughed. The poor young woman! I am much +pleased that your violin travelled with us. She said your playing +seemed so sympathetic.' + +"She never wearied of talking about her new friend. I teased her +because, contrary to her usual habit, she had allowed herself to be so +quickly conquered. + +"'Only beware of yourself!' she replied, laughing. 'I certainly do not +understand the language of tones, but I know that with them one can +confess far deeper secrets than we revealed to-day with words.' + +"'As long as there is a solid floor between us, there is no danger,' I +interrupted, jokingly. But I knew very well the first evening that it +would not be safe to jest with those dangerous gray eyes. + +"For a long while I could not sleep. The theme from the Prelude sounded +constantly in my ears. At midnight I arose, and, going softly into the +neighboring room, gazed at the beloved faces of my wife and child by +the light of the little night-lamp. The charm worked, and I passed a +perfectly quiet, dreamless night. But my first waking thought was +again--danger! + +"You will understand why the matter seemed so serious to me, when I +tell you, that I am one of those with whom all spiritual crises +complete themselves on the instant, without delay or hesitation, with +the calm fatality of a natural law. Although it is often well to +understand one's self at once without being obliged to question mind or +heart--like the commander of some fortress, who, recognizing the +superiority of the besieger, needs no council of war--yet, in either +case, if time can be won, everything may be saved, and the relief may +come which would have been too late, if there had been a premature +surrender. + +"Thus, perhaps, it might have been better for me, and I might have +acted more wisely that morning, if I had not regarded the matter as an +unavoidable decree of fate. The symptoms were indeed precisely the same +as when I fell so suddenly and violently in love with my wife. But +the situation was different. With a wife and child, and eight added +years--acknowledge that you find it inexcusable to yield thus passively +to a passion, instead of opposing it with all my strength, and calling +the good spirits of house and home to my aid. + +"Strange to say, notwithstanding this new affection, I was not for a +moment untrue to what I had previously loved; neither did I think +coldly of my wife, nor wish her absent that I might have only that +other face before my eyes. It was as if one of my heart's chambers had +been empty and was now occupied; but between it and the next the door +was standing open, and the two occupants were on the best of terms, +even crossing the threshold now and then to visit each other. + +"That may seem to you merely an idle fancy. It is only a miserable +attempt to explain the remarkable condition in which I found myself--a +condition not quite so clear then as to-day, since at first it seemed +treason towards my dear wife, and I bitterly reproached myself for it. +Soon, however, I reassured myself that I took nothing from her by this +division of my heart; that, on the contrary, my strong, pure love for +her received new nourishment through this quickening of my inner life. + +"All this I tell to you alone. Thousands would consider it +self-deception or morbid extravagance. Knowledge of the human heart is +still in its swaddling-clothes, notwithstanding the age of the world, +and most people never go beyond the A B C, even though they consider +themselves experienced. + +"As I said, the situation was new to me, and I needed time to +understand and pardon myself. I remained at home again that morning, +for, on the day before, I had not written a single letter. + +"'I shall not disturb the duet,' said my wife, smiling, as she went out +with the child. But I did not touch the violin, although the little +piano beneath seemed to demand it. The pen remained unmoistened. I lay +motionless in my hammock, listening. It sounded even more magical than +before. Now I had the player's face definitely before me: the +beautiful, unvarying pallor of the cheeks; the sensitive mouth, with +its full, red lips, always slightly apart; the small, white hands. +Often it seemed to me as if my wife, stepping behind the player, looked +at the music over her shoulder. Then, calmly comparing them, I could +not decide which was the more charming; they agreed as well in life as +in my heart. + +"When my wife returned--she brought an extremely clever study, and the +child had her hands full of harvest flowers--she was much surprised to +hear that I had not touched the violin. She urged me to arrange a +regular practice hour with the Countess; I objected that the little +piano stood in the room where she lived and slept, and that I would not +accompany her if she played on the miserable instrument in the _salon_. +At table there was some talk about it, but since she herself failed to +encourage it, and especially since the brother, who believed music +injurious to her health, showed no interest, the matter was not +mentioned again. Altogether, it seemed as if the beautiful 'danger' and +I were never to become better acquainted. If I began any conversation +whatsoever with her, it soon came to a pause; and she on her part never +addressed me without some obvious reason. On our walks she took my +wife's arm, and went ahead; I followed with her brother; the child, +running from one couple to the other, soon attached herself trustfully +to the quiet, strange lady who was so friendly to her. Often we all +chatted together, and on these occasions my wife was always conspicuous +for her charming gayety. She persuaded the Countess to try the broken +German which she had learned from an old Alsacian nurse. This gave +occasion for much lively joking and teasing, and even enlivened the +serious brother. He was working hard at a statistical paper, through +which he hoped to obtain a place in the ministry. For the rest, he was +a most pleasant companion, paid court to my wife in all honor, gave +fruits and sweetmeats to the child, and, in a weak, but pleasing voice, +sang Provençal folk-songs, the only music for which he had taste or +talent. + +"Thus we were very sorry to hear one day that his chief had +unexpectedly recalled him. He was obliged to depart at once, but would +not allow his sister to accompany him. He begged us to persuade her to +remain a few weeks longer in the glorious air and scenery of the lake, +for she had visibly improved during the past eight days, and had slept +better and suffered less from headache than usual. + +"My wife embraced her warmly, and declared she would not allow her to +leave her care as yet. She had wagered with her that it would not be +impossible to entice a little color into her velvety cheeks, and, for +at least four weeks longer, she would use all her arts to win the bet. +The little one, clinging about her neck, insisted that she would forget +all her beautiful French if 'Aunt Lucile' went away. But when I heard a +brief '_Eh bien! Je reste_,' from her, it was as if a hand which had +been clutching my throat suddenly freed me again. I promised her +brother to supply his place conscientiously, and, although I was fond +of him, saw him depart with a certain sense of relief, as if he had +stood between his sister and me, and had now left the field clear. + +"Yet his departure changed nothing whatever. To be sure, his room being +empty, she had her bed taken in there, and arranged the other, where +the instrument stood, as a sitting-room. We visited her there now and +then, and she often came up to our room; but duets were not mentioned. + +"Indeed, she herself seemed to have lost all desire for music. +Occasionally I heard her open the piano and begin this or that +well-known piece. In the midst of it she would break off, often with a +bad discord, as if in some unusual, ill-tempered mood. It seemed as +though she began only to demand my violin as accompaniment, and proving +unsuccessful in this, found the music suddenly distasteful. Once or +twice I yielded to the temptation. But the playing excited me to such a +feverish pitch that I, too, broke off in the midst of a passage, +excusing myself afterward with an awkward pretence of an interruption, +which she did not seem to believe. + +"In truth, it was just as my wife had said, I knew how much could be +confessed in music, and shuddered before the sin of betraying to this +stranger that I had lost half of my heart to her. + +"I was better able to guard my words and looks. We were scarcely ever +alone together longer than a few seconds. She stayed in her room or on +the terrace outside most of the time, and in our walks in the cool of +the evening, she never left my wife's side; so that I, leading my child +by the hand, often remained a long distance behind the two women, and +pondered my strange fate without addressing a single word to her during +the entire walk. + +"The evenings grew longer. The general sitting-room was not pleasant to +us; so, after dinner, we assembled alternately in her room and our own; +she and my wife with their handiwork, chatting or reading, while I +either smoked my cigar on the balcony, or read aloud from some book. +She liked to hear me read German poetry. + +"My wife sketched her in many different positions. A profile sketch, +with the head sorrowfully drooping, was especially good, and I could +never look at it enough. I still remember when, at one of these +sittings, I for the first time touched her hair; until then I had not +once felt so much as the tips of her fingers in my hands. It went +through my nerves like an electric shock. There was a peculiar +fragrance about her from some costly French perfume that she used. I +knew even long afterwards if she had lingered in a place, either been +sitting in my hammock, or standing by the bookcase in the _salon_. + +"One evening, as we were preparing to visit her for a little chat +before bedtime, our door suddenly opened; she rushed in, the very +picture of terror, bolted the door after her, and sinking on the +nearest chair, broke into such a storm of tears that she could not +speak. We were extremely anxious about her, but my wife at length +succeeded in calming her so far that she could tell what had occurred, +with tolerable composure. + +"Somebody had come into her room without knocking; and, as she had +looked around, she had seen her husband standing in the middle of the +chamber. He had greeted her politely, asked after her health, and, when +she made no reply, seated himself on the divan, as if perfectly at +home. In spite of his subdued voice and quiet manner, she had noticed +an air of suppressed excitement about him; but, owing to her own +agitation, could not determine whether wine or some other cause +rendered his look unsteady and his voice grating and harsh. Then he had +commenced in a listless way; he would tell her the motive of his visit; +he had been robbed in a gambling house in Geneva, and was _sans le +sou_. A good friend had paid his steamer fare here. He now wished +nothing more than the means of escaping from his _guignon_, and +hospitality for that night. He would be satisfied with the sofa. + +"She had given him whatever she could spare at the moment, a not +inconsiderable sum, and commanded him to leave on the instant.--Did she +expect any one? He would remember her situation, and not embarrass her. +With this he had tried to take her hand, and had looked at her with a +smile which almost congealed her blood. And as he appeared firmly +determined not to yield, she had gone out under pretence of making +arrangements for the night. She implored us to assist her, and protect +her from the rascal. + +"I exchanged a glance with my wife, who had taken the weeping woman in +her arms like some sick child; and leaving them thus, I hurried +downstairs. + +"I found the Count indulging in a quiet doze on the soft couch. Since +he did not hear me enter, I had sufficient leisure to observe him. His +face showed that irresistible drowsiness so apt to seize gamblers after +long excitement; the lips were pale; eyelids and nostrils, reddened. +Beyond this the perfect type of a _bel homme_, faultlessly attired and +thoroughly dissipated. + +"Finally comprehending where he was, and that a stranger was facing +him, he arose composedly, and asked what I wished. I had to impart to +him only his wife's desire, that he should leave her room and the house +without delay or further sensation. + +"And if he would not? + +"Then the Countess would use her house-right. He regarded me with a +certain cold-blooded insolence, which, even in that painful moment, +struck me as amusing. + +"He asked if I were the hotel porter; meanwhile adjusting his eye-glass +to his right eye. + +"I replied that the Countess's reason for asking this service of me was +not his concern--I lived in number so-and-so, and would be at his +service next day for any satisfaction he required. For the present, I +would simply execute my commission, and hoped, for his own sake, that +he would avoid any unnecessary disturbance. + +"He reflected for a while; now looking at me doubtfully with a cold, +impudent smile, now appearing resolved to remain. At length he took his +hat, murmured several unintelligible words, brought out a cigar and +lighted it from the candle on the table, bowed very civilly, and with a +'To-morrow, then,' left the room. + +"I immediately closed the balcony door, and carefully fastened the +shutters. After which I returned upstairs and announced the quick +result of my mission, of course without mentioning the parting words. +The two women were sitting together on the sofa, and the Countess was +motionless and silent. She was trembling nervously from the effect of +her fright; but this ceased when my wife, who dabbled in homeopathy, +forced her to take a few of her 'wonder-drops.' Taking up a book which +we had been reading the day before, I attempted to go on with it. Not +one of us understood a word that I read. + +"At ten o'clock the Countess bade my wife good-night, and allowed me to +escort her downstairs. She was tormented by the fear that he might yet +find some way of slipping in. + +"'You see, the field is clear,' I said, with a smile, after I had +inspected both rooms. 'You can rest in peace!' + +"'In peace!' she said, shuddering throughout her slender body--'in +peace! And at what price!' And then, coming closer to me, 'You ordered +him out. Oh, I am sure of it, otherwise he would not have gone so +quickly! And now for my miserable sake'-- + +"I sought to comfort her as well as I could, promising to do nothing +without her knowledge; but her distress only increased. 'Think of your +wife, of your daughter! O God! if I should be the cause--' + +"I seized her hand; she sank on my breast in uncontrollable emotion; +and as if in a dream, I held her thus embraced, and felt her slender +figure trembling in my arms, yet did not even touch her hair with my +lips; in that moment all passionate impulses yielded to the deep pity +which I felt for her. + +"And so, drawing myself away, I bade her a cheerful 'Good-night!' and +went to my room. + +"I was obliged to quiet my wife also, for she feared that the affair +would have consequences. I myself did not believe it. I knew that in +professional gamblers all feelings, even those of honor, become +completely deadened. And I judged correctly. + +"I remained at home all the following day. He neither appeared himself, +nor sent a messenger. The Countess took refuge with us, for she was in +constant fear of a surprise. The two women sat together on the balcony +with their embroidery, apparently engaged in careless conversation, but +in reality watching me. Not a word was said of that which occupied our +thoughts. When the day had passed without bloodshed, my wife +accompanied her friend to her room, and remained with her that night. +On the next day, we heard that the Count was again in Geneva, whence he +soon afterward disappeared to some other German gambling house. + +"You will comprehend that this _intermezzo_ bound us still more closely +to each other. We were together nearly all day long, and I occasionally +wondered that my wife, who had formerly known all my thoughts even +before they were clear to myself, allowed, indeed, unmistakably +favored, this harmful playing with fire. She did not hesitate to leave +us _tête-à-tête_, although, as a fact, there was no enjoyment in such a +talk. I usually took refuge at such times in a stubborn silence, which, +to any third person, would have seemed veritable rudeness. I often +denied myself the pleasure of seeing her by pretending indolence, +absence of mind, or pressing business; all of which excuses were +accepted without comment. At first mild-tempered and somewhat +melancholy, she gradually became irritable and capricious. My wife, +noticing this, often reproved her gently, and, with sisterly patience +and kindliness, tried to calm her wild moods of rebellion against fate. + +"My wife and I no longer spoke of her. Yet often, when I looked up from +my reading unexpectedly, I encountered a strange, questioning look in +my wife's eyes; a look such as a physician casts upon a mortally sick +man by whose bedside he watches. + +"I was certainly ill, yet not so desperately but that I still sought +for a cure, though with ever-lessening hope of finding one. Music, to +which I resorted in the hope of relief, poured oil upon the flames. +After I had played an hour or two alone, the piano below would begin +its reply, so it was not a conversation or duet, but a discourse in +long monologues. Surrendering to this dangerous comfort on two +mornings, I ended in a species of intoxication. I then tried the effect +of separation, and arranged a climbing party which kept me away over +night. Then I felt the truth of what I told you at first; the new +passion was equal to the old, but not stronger. I missed them both with +the same longing--indeed, could no longer separate them in my thoughts. +When I saw them again, I felt the same heart-throbs twice. I was not +then so philosophical that I could accept this as something rational +and ordinary; it was strange and unprecedented, yet I felt that it was +not immoral. It harmed no one, and far from estranging me from myself, +rather enriched my inner life. No, it was not immoral, though I +realized, at the time, that it was a great misfortune, and would become +a sin if it undermined my dear wife's peace and happiness. I tried to +find some way of escape, though I knew it would be at the price of +killing or forever stifling half of my heart. + +"We lived thus for about fourteen days after her brother's departure, +each day bringing something new, either a trip on the boat or a walk to +a neighboring place, when, one afternoon, we arranged to meet at the +landing-place below the garden, and make a boat-trip to Chillon. I was +first. I had hired a boat in Vernex from a boatman who allowed me to +take his son, a powerful fellow, fourteen years of age, as rower. The +Countess came soon after, dressed in a black barége-cloth garment +through whose fine meshes her beautiful arms and shoulders were plainly +visible; she wore a flower in her hair, and carried her straw hat on +her arm. I had never seen her so beautiful, or so pale. + +"'You are ill,' I said; 'you are suffering from the sultriness.' + +"'What does it matter?' she replied; 'I am suffering from something +worse--from living. Where is your wife?' + +"My wife came as I was helping her friend into the boat, but came +without the child. She was not well, my wife said. She complained of +headache, and wished her mother to remain at home with her; then, too, +the weather was uncertain. We immediately arose, preparing to get out +of the boat. But this my wife would not allow. There was not a shadow +of danger or cause for worry; I knew how our darling was troubled; she +would sit with her and read something aloud; and she wished us a +pleasant day. After giving the skiff a little push with her foot, she +went back to the house; and although neither of us, as we glided out +over the waves, felt pleased or at ease in this forced _tête-à-tête_, +neither one had the ready courage to confess it at once and return to +land. + +"I took the second pair of oars and pulled as vigorously as if for a +wager, though in reality it was in order to be excused from +conversation. She was sitting nearly opposite me, but I could see only +her little feet and the edge of her dress, for I kept my eyes +obstinately cast down. Suddenly she began to speak of my wife, making a +long, passionate declaration of love for her. She spoke at first of her +goodness and warm-heartedness, of her fine mind, her strong and ready +will; every word was true, a perfect portrait of her deepest nature. +Then she described her appearance, feature by feature, with the +idealizing penetration of a lover, and after I had listened for a long +while, she asked me how I had learned to know her. I then told her of +our first meeting; and as I recalled everything, I felt deep gratitude +and happiness that nothing had changed; that my good star had given me +even more than it had then promised; that even the woman opposite me +could alter nothing. We were speaking French, and the words almost +escaped me, '_Rien n'est changé; il n'y a qu'un amour de plus._' + +"I restrained myself, however, and, instead, rose from my seat, +extended my hand to her, and said, 'I thank you for having learned to +know and love her so.' + +"Her hand lay in mine like that of a corpse. We did not venture far out +into the lake, for it was already beginning to roughen. You know how +quickly it breaks from the deepest calm to the wildest uproar; and a +dark cloud, toward which our boatman from time to time cast a watchful +glance, was even then appearing above the Savoyard mountains. +Therefore, as we stepped out upon the rocks near the Castle of Chillon, +and saw the first breakers with their narrow silvery crests surging +against the shore, I proposed to return on foot. She regarded me with a +look which strangely transformed her face, but which had still greater +power over me than her usual gentle and kindly expression. + +"'Do you fear the storm?' + +"'Not for myself,' I said, 'I can swim like a fish. But it is my duty +to bring you home in safety.' + +"'I release you from that obligation. Whoever is to suffer, does not +die. Come! Turn, the boat around.' + +"'Very well,' said I, '_vogue la galère_!' + +"And then we pushed out through the angry, swelling waves, while the +air about us grew ever darker, and the houses at Montreux gleamed above +us in dazzling sunshine. Muffled thunder came from the peaks beyond, +but as yet no drops fell. As we were then rowing, we would reach home +in half an hour. No one spoke a word. She had drawn her veil half over +her face. I could see only her pale mouth. Her lips were slightly +parted, and I saw them quiver now and then, more from scorn than pain. +Suddenly she arose and hurried over the seats to the stern, where the +boatman sat at the rudder. + +"'What are you going to do?' I cried. + +"'Nothing wrong. I merely wish to relieve the boatman for a while. I +understand how, perfectly well.' + +"Before I could interfere, she had taken the rudder from the boy's hand +and seated herself in his place. I was somewhat disturbed at this, as +her voice sounded unnatural. But, in order to lose no time, I let her +remain there, and redoubled my own exertions. In a short time, I saw +that she had given the boat a direction which drove it into the very +midst of the raging lake. Yet her delicate arms had so much strength +that, in spite of my efforts, I could not turn the boat back again. +Suddenly I realized that she was doing this with a clear purpose. + +"'You are steering falsely,' I cried to her. 'I beg you, for God's +sake, give up the rudder. We are in the very centre of the storm.' + +"'Do you mean it?' she answered softly. 'I thought you had no fear. +Only look at the beautiful waves. They do nothing unkind; they receive +one in their arms more gently than mankind. Look, look! Could anything +be merrier!' + +"A large wave broke over us; we were instantly wet to the skin. +The first sharp flash of lightning darted down from the black +mountain-wall. + +"I could not leave the oars; I bade the boy take the rudder again; he +shrugged his shoulders, and pointed to the Countess. Undisturbed by +everything about her, she was staring wildly into the distance. We were +already so far from shore that the houses were scarcely distinguishable +through the gray storm-twilight. Some action was imperative. Standing +up, I motioned the boatman to take my oars, and strode, wavering and +staggering, to the other end of the skiff. Her eyes met mine through +the veil with a stubborn, threatening look. + +"'Be reasonable!' I said in German; 'I shall not suffer this any +longer. Give me the rudder, will you? Well then--' Seizing her hands +with a quick movement, I pressed them so hard that she released the +rudder. I held her thus for a moment, although I must have hurt her. +She gave no sign of pain, but gazed steadily into my eyes with a look +of hate or the deepest rage. Then her face changed; her month trembled; +her eyes closed with an expression of unutterable misery and despair; +as I freed her hands, she threw herself at my feet, and I heard a +stifled sob and the words, '_Pardonnez-moi! Je suis une folle!_' + +"I seized the rudder, and, in my distress and bewilderment, could only +whisper to her that she must control herself and rise again. In a few +moments she was once more seated on the bench, but this time with +averted face and bowed head. I did not speak to her again, for I was +obliged to exert all my strength to bring the boat back into the right +course, and to steer for the land. But the brief scene affected me so +powerfully, that one thought was continually uppermost in my mind--what +rapture it would have been, amid this wild upheaval of the elements, to +clasp her close, and with her go to the bottom! + +"The storm helped us, and we landed much sooner than I had expected. +Springing out first, I offered to assist her, but she refused my aid +and jumped out on the beach without help. She was trembling through and +through in her wet clothes. I asked if she were ill, but she shook her +head. Yet she took my arm as I accompanied her back to the house. + +"My wife was standing on the balcony, and welcomed us cheerily. She had +been greatly worried about us. She would come down and help her friend +undress. + +"'Oh, no, no!' cried the Countess, withdrawing her arm from mine, 'I +need nothing, thank you--good-night!' + +"Thereupon she hurried away from me, without so much as a backward +glance or a wave of the hand. I followed slowly; I felt very much +exhausted, and went upstairs still staggering from the motion of the +boat. The storm was entirely over; a crimson sunset glow filled our +room. My wife had already laid out dry clothing for me; she received me +in her usual quietly affectionate manner and then left me alone, for I +had to dress myself from head to feet. It did not occur to me that she +said very little, and asked for no detailed account of our adventure in +the boat. My own feelings were absorbed by my recent experience, and I +changed my clothes mechanically, as if in a dream. + +"Then I remembered the child. As I entered the other room, I saw the +little one sleeping in an arm-chair near the open window. My wife +whispered to me that she had given her some medicine, which had caused +her to fall asleep during the reading. I might go to dinner alone; she +herself had no appetite, and would content herself with a cup of tea. + +"So I went down, although I also would have preferred to remain away +from the table. I had no wish to sit alone opposite Lucile. But this +ordeal was spared me. She too remained in her chamber. I did not speak +a word during the lengthy dinner. I usually smoked my after-dinner +cigar in the garden. By doing so I did not separate myself from the +women, but could chat back and forth with them; for though of late both +had been together, the Countess usually sat at her window or on the +terrace, and my wife on the balcony above. Tonight, balcony and terrace +were empty, and I soon withdrew to the most remote part of the garden. + +"I would lie if I should say that I had seriously considered my +condition. I endured it that was all. I had a definite feeling that +things could not remain so; that something must happen, be decided, or +expressed, if I were not to be stifled by the suppression. But what the +something would be I could not imagine. My cigar had long gone out; yet +I remained on the parapet of the little pavilion and gazed out over the +dusky surface of the lake, which appeared like some vast, metallic +mirror framed in black mountains. Not till the first stars began to +glimmer forth could I decide to return to the house. For the first +time, the thought of meeting my wife was painful to me. Therefore it +was an actual relief when, knocking gently at her door, I heard instead +of 'Come in!' the whispered request not to enter then; she had just put +the little one to bed and did not wish to disturb her. She bade me +good-night. So for the present I was alone with my troubled soul. + +"I lighted the lamp and attempted to read. The letters danced before my +eyes. I took up my wife's portfolio and looked at her drawings leaf by +leaf; but when I came to the portrait sketch I closed the folio +hastily, as if I had caught myself entering upon forbidden paths. Then, +for a long while, I sat perfectly passive before my writing-table with +my head resting on my hand, and sank ever deeper into an abyss of +hopeless wishes, sorrows, and self-reproaches. + +"By and by the door was opened softly, and my wife entered. She had on +her night-cap, but was otherwise completely dressed. Evidently in the +act of going to bed she had suddenly resolved on something else. + +"Her face was unusually pale; her beautiful eyes glistened strangely as +if a slight shower of tears had passed over them. A certain air of +timidity made her seem ten years younger, indeed, almost girlish. I had +never felt so clearly what a treasure she was to me. + +"'I shall not trouble you long,' she said, 'but I must talk with you. +Perhaps we shall both sleep better.' + +"She seated herself with her back toward the open balcony-door. + +"'Shall I close the window?' I asked. + +"'Why? It is nothing secret. I could say it as well before a third +person. It has been clear and comprehensible to you yourself for a long +time.' + +"'What?' I asked, looking past her out into the night. + +"'That you love her. One can see it easily enough. And she too is no +longer an inexperienced child. I would only like to know if you have +told her, and how she received it.' + +"I sat before her as if in a spiritual swoon, or as when one dreams of +being almost naked in a gorgeous company, and would perish for shame. + +"'How can you imagine----' I stammered. + +"'It has not been easy for me,' she continued with a sad smile; 'but it +will not be otherwise, because I wish it so. I saw it coming, and had +time enough to become used to it, if it is ever possible to accustom +one's self to certain experiences. It is always best not to close the +eyes and seal the lips when people love each other. And you love me +yet, I know, in spite of everything.' + +"'Thank you for those words!' I exclaimed, and rushed to take her in my +arms. But she repelled me with gentle firmness. + +"'No, stay there,' she said; 'we will talk it over calmly. I am no +heroine, and this discussion is very hard for me. But tell me.' + +"I assured her, on my honor, that no word had passed my lips which +could have betrayed the state of my feelings. Then I told her, even to +the smallest detail, all that had happened on the lake that day, and +also everything which I had felt. + +"'I suspected something of the sort,' she replied quietly. 'She avoided +my eye, and you--you had no thought for our child. It is a passion; +that we cannot hide from ourselves. You will not think me so childish +as to surrender to a miserable jealousy, overwhelm you with reproaches, +or make any scene which might show our friend how much harm she has +done me. Can I blame you for loving her? She is so lovable, that I +myself, even yet, love her as an only sister. It does not surprise me. +I knew it at the first sight of her charming face. If, in spite of +that, I did nothing to keep her away from us, indeed, rather brought +her into closer intimacy, it was because I have always considered that +old proverb--'Out of sight, out of mind--' perfectly false. No, the +absent are preferred to all present people; our hearts idealize them; +love and longing grow with separation. I hoped that the first witchery +would be paled and effaced by frequent meeting. It has certainly +happened otherwise, and the future is very dark to me.' + +"'Let us go away!' I said. 'We could pack this evening and go to +Lausanne tomorrow at dawn. I promise you, this sickness will leave my +blood with change of air.' + +"She shook her head gently. + +"'Out of sight, _in_ mind,' she said. 'Yes, even if it were only a +whim; you a light-minded, fickle-hearted man, and she a pretty theatre +princess. But consider how everything about her touches you--her +unhappiness, her loneliness, the nobility of her whole character, and +her music. At the first sound of a violin you would live it all over +again. No, my dear friend, we dare not flee, and I dare not appear +cowardly in your eyes. I am not so. I know that we are too firmly +united to be parted by any power whatever. But I am not so high-minded +that I can share you with another. I would rather die!' + +"We sat facing each other in sorrowful silence. I felt that any word, +any assurance of my good faith, would be trivial, a desecration of the +situation which she regarded so purely and nobly. At length she arose. + +"'I feel much better now,' she said, smiling with an indescribably +brave and beautiful expression. 'Do not think any more about it. Good +counsel comes in the night. But promise that you will keep your +confidence in me, and that you will never hide anything for fear of +hurting me. The concealment itself would pain me. Are we not human, and +therefore poor creatures unable to master our own hearts? No one is +responsible for his inclinations, but only for his deeds. And you, I +know, will never do anything which could really divide us. Good-night!' + +"She gave me her hand. I wanted to take the noble woman in my arms; +but, retreating, she bade me farewell with her eyes, and disappeared +into her room. + +"You can imagine that I fell asleep late. But this time it was not +because of the fever of an unreasoning, godless passion, like that +which had kept me dreamily half-awake for so many nights. The clear, +quiet words which I had just heard dropped upon my burning wound like a +powerful balsam. I felt myself already in a sort of convalescence, +because of whose great charm I could not sleep. I could scarcely +conceive how any other woman than my own wife could ever have gained +power over me. More than once I longed to steal into her chamber, kneel +by her bedside, and, if she awoke, declare my love to her. But I was +forced to remember that she had pushed me away, and that my warmest +protestations might perhaps find no belief. Thinking thus, I finally +fell asleep. + +"I awoke before sunrise. You know that, on that shore, it is day some +time before the sun appears above the Dent-du-Midi. Downstairs, all was +already awake and astir. In the neighboring room nothing was moving. +She, too, did not close her eyes till late, and needs the morning +sleep, thought I. + +"But I myself felt impelled to go out. I dressed noiselessly and +stepped softly down stairs. I longed for a bath in the lake; the blood +was burning in my veins. As I came down and approached her door, I saw +that it stood ajar; and within, seated upon a chair in the middle of +the room, and surrounded by locked trunks, I saw Lucile herself, her +bill and its amount in gold lying on the table before her. + +"Involuntarily I stood still. At the same instant she glanced up and +recognized me. I crossed the threshold in intense excitement. + +"'You intend to go away, Countess?' I exclaimed; 'why this sudden +decision?' + +"'My brother telegraphed for me last evening,' she said hurriedly, +without looking at me. 'He is worried about the affair with the Count, +which I did not conceal from him. He wishes me to come at once to +Paris--he is perfectly right--it is best in every respect--' + +"She stopped and bent over a small satchel in her lap. I went to the +piano and lingered some music lying on it, merely to make a noise. If +it remained so still, I feared that she would hear my heart beat. I +could not speak a word. + +"'Remember me to your wife,' I heard her say. 'It is so early--she must +be asleep--I will not disturb her to say good-by. I shall write to her +from Paris--meanwhile, tell her--' + +"She faltered again. Her voice sounded so timid and humble, she was so +perfect a picture of contrition and helplessness as she sat there, +afraid to look up, that I could not bear to let her suffer alone. + +"I turned quickly toward her. + +"'Shall we seek to deceive each other at this hour?' I said. 'It is +generous of you, but it shames me too much. I know why you wish to +leave us so suddenly; your brother has nothing to do with it; no, there +shall be no falsehood between us. I alone drive you away. You know that +I love you passionately. Listen to me patiently; I shall say nothing +unworthy of either of us. We three know it, therefore we can no longer +remain together. No one has been to blame. You esteem my wife too +highly, and me also--I know that you are my friend--to wish to bring +any trouble into our lives. Nothing is changed between my wife and me, +we live for each other as always before; but you are right, one should +not presume on such good fortune, and in time, even with the purest +intentions--' + +"I do not know what more I said. I was looking down at her, and I can +see her head before me even yet, the narrow white part in the curly, +blue-black hair, and at the neck, the simple, heavy knot with a silver +pin. I saw that her bosom heaved painfully, and that the small hands on +the satchel trembled slightly. But I could not see her face. + +"Suddenly she looked up, and her eyes as they met mine were full of +gratitude, but streaming with tears. + +"'Lucile!' I cried, and falling on my knees before her, I drew her head +down with my hands. 'Farewell!' I stammered. She did not speak. I +pressed my lips to both her eyes, then tore myself away and fled from +the room. I hastened out of the house, down the nearest street, and up +the steep road toward Montreux. About half way there was a bench +standing against a vineyard wall. Halting there, I remained seated for +awhile with my eyes closed, in that stupefied state between pain and +pleasure, which usually comes to one who has done his duty at the cost +of a deep heart's need, or has renounced forbidden fruit. + +"The morning remained sunless; a strong south wind wrapped the Savoyard +mountains in mist, and at length a slight rain began to fall. Looking +around, I saw the steamer which had landed at Vernex already well on +its way toward Vevey. I vainly strained my eyes to discover, among the +figures wrapped in rain-cloaks on the forward deck, her who was leaving +me forever. Then I slowly retraced my steps to the house, intending to +tell my wife of what had happened. But, first, I could not resist +entering the small salon below, for the door was still open. + +"The traces of a hasty departure were still visible--torn bills, +flowers withered and scattered, and on the piano-stool a single sheet +of music torn through the centre. I picked it up. It was the first +music I had heard from the little piano, that prelude through which we +had learned to know each other--_Galeotto fu il libro_! It was a +sorrowful hour indeed when she vented her defiance and misery on the +innocent music. I carefully pocketed it. + +"Then I went upstairs. Still no sound from my wife's sleeping-room. +Finally I knocked softly at the door, and when no one answered, entered +the room. Neither mother nor child were to be seen; the windows were +open; hats and wraps had disappeared. + +"I do not know why this seemed so strange to me. Nothing was more +natural than that they should start on their morning walk when they +failed to find me. I called the chambermaid; she had seen my wife and +child going in the direction of Chillon; she had received no message +for me. As it had begun to rain, I imagined they would soon return, and +decided to wait for them. But I could not endure this half an hour. + +"I strode down the street which, following the shore, between houses +and vineyards, leads to Chillon. At every bend in the road I expected +to see them. Each time I was disappointed. Finally reaching the isle of +Chillon, I asked the guard on the bridge if a lady and child had gone +into the castle. Excepting a few Englishmen, there had been no visitors +during the whole morning. I shall not attempt to describe my feelings +at this information. Immediately turning about, I returned in half the +usual time. Drenched, exhausted, and feverishly excited, I once more +reached the house. + +"Dinner-time was past, and they had not arrived. + +"For the time being I was incapable of going out and renewing my search +for the fugitives. I searched her chamber and my own, her desk, each of +her trunks and boxes, in the hope--or rather in the fear--of finding a +note which might give some clue to this mysterious disappearance. I +found nothing. That completely disheartened me. I stretched myself on a +sofa, and for a full hour was tormented by the most incredibly horrible +fancies, and suffered the bitterest distress in my poor soul, a +purgatory wherein I richly expiated my sins. + +"At length I arose. + +"It was about two o'clock, and the rain was lighter. Although I felt +lame and exhausted, I nevertheless resolved to go out again and search +in the direction of Montreux, where she had often sketched. Perhaps the +rain had surprised her there, and for the child's sake she had taken +shelter under some hospitable roof until the rain should cease. + +"Just as I was ready to go, the door opened, and a man in a coachman's +blouse entered. He asked my name, and gave me a note. She wrote from +Vevey, whence the man had just come in his wagon. She had suddenly +decided that morning to carry out her plan, and visit the principal of +the _pension_ where she had lived as a girl. She begged me to excuse +her for not informing me before. She would tell me about it when she +saw me. She meant to remain there for the night; the room which she had +formerly occupied was empty, and she wished to sleep once more in the +bed where she had dreamed her girlish dreams, and to show the child all +the places which were dear to her in her youth. She would return next +day. + +"While I was reading, the messenger related in his _patois_ a rambling +story about a Fräulein from the _pension_ whom he was obliged to take +to Vevey, and about the strange lady who had given him the note just as +he was harnessing; and now he must go. I listened with little +attention, gave the man his fee, and was once more alone. + +"I could not believe it had happened so accidentally. I recognized a +little stratagem of my wife's, a ruse to make me feel what it meant +when she failed me. 'Out of sight, in mind' was indeed her maxim. She +proved it only too cruelly. + +"I did not wish to prolong my penance unnecessarily. It was two hours +before another steamer left. The railroad was then only a subject for +conversation. Little time would be gained by taking a carriage, and I +knew that the slow movement would madden me. + +"To be brief, I arrived in Vevey about seven o'clock, and was at once +driven to the _pension_. They sent me into the garden. It had become a +perfectly clear and beautiful evening, and although the sun had +long since set, the light was still so strong that one could read +out-of-doors. I saw the fugitives in the distance. My dear child ran to +meet me with a cry of joy, and threw herself as impetuously about my +neck as if she suspected what suffering the separation had caused me. +My wife approached more slowly, for she was walking with the old +directress; but her face wore a most loving expression, and she blushed +slightly, as if ashamed of being caught in a trick. She presented me to +her old friend, an excellent little spinster with snow-white hair, +merry black eyes, and an obstinately black and visible mustache. I went +the rounds of the house and garden, saw all the historical places, and, +finally, my wife's narrow, neat little room, where a bed for the child +had just been made on the sofa. It was then vacation, and most of the +scholars were visiting their parents. I was invited to dine; but +although we remained by ourselves and chatted about many things, what +had taken place in the morning was not once mentioned. When I departed +at nine o'clock, intending to spend the night in a hotel, my wife +pressed my hand warmly, yet, at the same time, with a look which +forbade any further tenderness--I remained in uncertainty whether out +of respect for the half-cloister-like house-customs or from another +reason. + +"I brooded over it for a time. But I was so extremely tired by my hard +day, that I fell asleep almost instantly in my cheerless hotel room, +and was awakened by the morning sun. + +"We took a carriage to return to Vernex. Since our little daughter sat +opposite us, any expression of deep feeling was of course impossible. +On arriving at the house, the child at once ran out into the garden +with a playfellow. We two ascended the stairs, passing our friend's +empty apartment. + +"'I have regards for you,' I said; 'she went away early yesterday +morning. She will write to you from Paris.' + +"My wife looked at me with a charming smile, half shy and half roguish. + +"'I too have a greeting for you,' she said; 'at any rate, the last +hand-clasp, after we had embraced three times, was certainly intended +for you. But the letter from Paris will be omitted. We made no +arrangements for a correspondence. Yes,' she continued, as I looked +wonderingly at her, 'I do not have fine ears in vain. I heard very +plainly how my lord and master paid his morning call below, and knew +from the unusual stir and movement that her departure was decided upon. +I wished to accompany her a little distance. Why should we part so +silently and secretly? Did we think unkindly of each other? I, at +least, was not vexed because she found you lovable; she shared that +weakness with me. And how could she help it that I had met you first? +For a moment I even thought of begging her to remain. But that would +have been a foolish challenge to fate. But I sat by her side as far as +Vevey, and we explained ourselves as well as we could without calling +things by name. Are you satisfied with me?' + +"She held out her hand. I took it somewhat hesitatingly. 'If you were +only satisfied with me!' I exclaimed. 'I found her miserably unhappy, +as if she had done something for which she could never forgive herself. +It seemed unknightly to let her believe that I was cold to her feeling. +So I expressed myself, and truly, called things by their right names. +Indeed, at the last, I kissed her on both eyes, and she suffered it. +This is all I have on my conscience.' + +"'It is little--and yet, quite enough,' she replied softly; 'let us +speak of it no more.' + +"And so it was. Indeed, I not only ceased to speak of her, but in an +unexpectedly short time forgot to think of her. Many things aided me in +this. I was hastily called home by a letter from my inspector, for my +presence on the estate had become imperative. Then came an early winter +which brought me many cares, since I was occupied with the purchase of +a small neighboring estate. In these cares of house and field, my wife, +with her prudent forethought and encouraging cheerfulness, was of the +greatest assistance, and no one, seeing us together, would have +suspected any change in our admirably sympathetic life. And yet there +was a change. + +"A sword lay between us, invisible, but not unfelt. + +"At first I bore it calmly, when she quietly but firmly resisted any +show of tenderness on my part. In other ways she was not cold or +distant towards me; in fact, her loving care increased, and she +constantly endeavored to fulfill even my unexpressed wishes. But a +certain shy reserve never left her. When I finally asked if my presence +was distasteful to her, or if she wished to punish me by denying these +innocent caresses, she shook her head earnestly and blushed like a +girl. + +"'I am not sure that you will understand me,' she said. 'But it seems +to me as if we were never alone, as if some one else were looking in on +our privacy, and even you--it seems as if you saw me and another at the +same time. Let us wait awhile. We shall somehow succeed in being alone +again.' + +"The winter and part of the summer passed by. The letter from Paris did +not come. Politics were added to my usual occupations, and my head was +full of symbols and party programmes. When, now and then, I had time to +observe my inner self, I found only one of the two heart-chambers +occupied, and that one filled with the most ardent love. The other was +as empty and musty as a room which has not been aired or opened to the +sun for a long time. On the wall hung a picture whose frame was dusty +and whose colors were faded. + +"I was scarcely surprised that this had happened so quickly. In the +strange second courtship in which I was living with my wife, my +passionate nature was completely engrossed by distress at our +estrangement. But I knew that she was not to be won 'with prayers, and +with whinings, and with self-exalting pains.' Perhaps another dream +will come to your aid, thought I. The transformation occurred in the +daytime, however. + +"One morning we were sitting at breakfast alone, for the child had a +study hour with the pastor. Among the papers which we were looking over +was a French one, which a neighbor received and shared with us. I was +glancing mechanically down the columns, when my eyes suddenly fastened +on a name. + +"'Look!' said I; 'at length we have the explanation of the missing +Parisian letter. Have you read it?' + +"She looked at me searchingly, but did not reply. + +"'In court circles they are talking of the betrothal of the Duke of C. +to the beautiful Countess Lucile of ----, who, as is well known, enjoys +the intimacy of the imperial court, and whose husband met such a sad +end three months ago after a great loss in play at Monaco. They say the +empress has given the bride a magnificent ornament, and so on. I own,' +I added, 'that no news has given me greater pleasure for a long time. +Poor Lucile! She certainly deserved imperial reparation for her +sorrowful youth.' + +"My wife still remained silent. Then, rising, she came and threw her +arms around me, and kissed me on both cheeks. 'I have known it since +yesterday,' she said. 'Will you believe that I was weak enough to fear +how you might receive it?' + +"'Oh, child,' I said, 'you have always seen ghosts. Will you now +believe that we are alone?' + +"From that day there was never a shadow between us. Our happiness, like +every other real happiness, was never exhausted. Our motto might have +been those beautiful words: + + "'The more I give to thee, + The more I have, for both are infinite.' + + +"And when the end came--after three short years--the effect was +immeasurable, as in all true endings. But of that I cannot speak." + + +He stood up. Just then the clock struck one. + +"I have detained you a long time," he said; "Now I shall take you home +by the shortest way. You will be wet through." + +In fact, a light, warm rain was beginning to fall. + +"And do you know nothing more about the Countess?" I asked. "I confess, +her hasty marriage touches me strangely. Perhaps she wished to end all +hopeless longings." + +"You wrong her," he said; "there is something more to be told. I myself +thought that, but must humbly apologize for it. You know that when I +became a widower I could find no rest anywhere. I leased my estates, +and took my daughter to that excellent dame at Vevey, who had been such +a true friend to her mother. People often congratulated me upon +possessing in the child a perfect likeness of the mother. But this +resemblance affected me peculiarly. I was pained that she should +resemble her mother physically, without showing a trace of spiritual +likeness. She was much like me, and had my love of music. But this did +not make me happy; indeed, rather sharpened my pain; and it is only +recently that I have been able to recognize and enjoy the many good and +lovable traits which she possesses. + +"Only by continual movement, by ceaseless journeying from place to +place, could I conquer my uneasiness. I had been a homeless and joyless +man for nearly two years, and had advanced to the limits of the +thirties. I had tried occasionally, from a sense of duty, to interest +myself in business. I scarcely need to say that I had replied with a +mere shrug of the shoulders whenever solicitous friends, especially +women, urged me to a second marriage. + +"It happened one autumn day that, much against my will, I was obliged +to stop in Switzerland and look after one of my estates which was to +have a new tenant. After staying for several weeks in Engelberg, I came +down the road to Stansstad on a most beautiful, sunshiny day, to cross +the lake to Luzerne. + +"About half way down there is a pleasant spot under magnificent +walnut-trees, where the wagons coming up from the valley usually stop +for a quarter of an hour to breathe their horses. As I reached the +first houses I saw a carriage stop in front of the inn, and two ladies +presently alight from it. One of them, dressed entirely in black, +attracted my attention by her graceful bearing. She had already +vanished into the house, when I suddenly remembered who it was that had +carried herself so. A slight depression fell upon me. But I at once +determined to pass on without attempting to confirm my suspicions. + +"As my light open wagon was rolling by the inn, a face only too well +known to me looked from an upper window. She recognized me at once; I +saw it by the startled way in which she drew back, as if a phantom from +some long-buried past had suddenly risen before her. In the next +instant she controlled herself sufficiently to bow to me. There was +nothing else to do. I stopped and hastened to her. + +"She met me perfectly unchanged; her beauty was only heightened by an +additional fulness; her cheeks, with their ivory color, were slightly +flushed from the excitement of this meeting. + +"She took my hand in both of hers and pressed it warmly, as if I were +an old friend. + +"'I know everything about you,' she said; 'I sorrowed with you, and how +deeply! Although you did not know. I tried several times to write--but +the words always failed me.' + +"At first I could say nothing in reply. I felt with too much +consternation that her power over me was as strong as in those first +days. The tones of her voice; her dark, often passionately burning +eyes; the beautiful lips that seemed to have forgotten to smile; the +whole witchery of long ago was again active. We walked up and down the +empty room; her companion did not appear. I could hardly preserve a +tolerable composure. + +"Instead of personal things, I spoke about her journey, and learned +that she was to remain a week or two in Engelberg. Her nerves were +unstrung; she suffered from insomnia. Then her brother was to come for +her, as she had decided to accompany him to his embassy at Madrid. + +"'And your husband?' I asked carelessly. She looked at me distantly, +almost reproachfully. 'He has not been among the living for some +years,' she said in a monotone; 'I thought you knew it. Were not the +sad circumstances of his suicide at Monaco in all the papers?' + +"'Certainly,' I replied; 'but I read of a new marriage--' + +"'It was a foolish rumor,' she said, staring gloomily at the ground; 'I +would never have left my brother to play a _rôle_ in the farce of the +Second Empire. Could you really believe that of me?' + +"I was unable to answer. A storm was raging in me which swept away all +power of thought. She was free, and I? Was I still bound? How was it +that her power over me died in the very moment when I might have +yielded without hesitation? I saw the beautiful, once-loved woman near +me; it seemed as if I had but to hold out my arms and take her, and--my +arms hung heavily at my sides. Did a sword lie between us then, as +before between my beloved wife and me? While we were standing silently +side by side near the window, gazing down into the glorious valley, my +mind became calm and clear. I realized distinctly and sadly that if I +now offered her half of my heart I should act immorally. Strangely +enough, these words sounded always in my ears, 'She sleeps, that we may +be happy;' and even while I felt all the magic of her warm, breathing +life, a cold shudder ran through me, as if a corpse were standing near, +a past far mightier than the most warm-blooded present. + +"Out of sight is indeed _in_ mind. + +"She must have perceived my feeling. She too was silent, and I saw her +bosom heaving painfully. She asked about my daughter, but evidently did +not hear my answer. An intense pity seized me as I looked at her--the +beautiful, noble, unhappy woman, with so long a life before her still +and so little hope of happiness. Was it a foolish, unreal fear that +prevented me from taking her in my arms? Do you believe that I could +possibly have been happy with her? Who can know how the years will +change one! But at that time it would have been a lie and a crime. + +"The companion came with a glass of milk. Lucile drank a little and +returned the glass with a gesture of aversion. 'I am no longer +thirsty,' she said; 'is the carriage ready?' + +"I offered my arm to escort her down. On the stairs she stopped an +instant. + +"'Do you play much now?' she asked. + +"'I have not touched the violin since I became a widower,' I replied. +'Music is a pleasure only when one is cheerful and sociable. In +solitude it revives all buried sorrows.' + +"'Yes,' she said, 'it does, and one is grateful for it. There are +people so poor that their only possessions consist of old griefs, +without which they could not live. They remind one that there was once +a time when the heart was living, for only a living heart can feel +misery. You have the advantage of me in not feeling this truth.' + +"I felt her hand trembling on my arm. 'Lucile!' I cried, pressing her +arm to me. Who knows what might have happened then if, her pride being +suddenly roused, she had not drawn away from me and hastened down the +remaining steps alone. Before I could reach her she was seated in the +carriage. + +"'Farewell! Remember me to your daughter. And--no! I was about to say +_Au revoir!_ But we shall probably never meet again.' + +"She extended her hand to me from the carriage with a look that hurt +me, for it seemed to ask whether I had either hope or desire to see her +again. I bent over the small, white hand, and kissed it. Then the +horses started, and I stood alone in the sunny street, until her veil, +fluttering in the fresh mountain breeze, vanished from my sight." + + + + + + MINKA + + + + + MINKA. + + +It was a few years after the French war. The fall review had +incidentally brought together again a number of young officers who had +earned their iron crosses in the array of the Loire, and they had +invited good comrades from other regiments to join them and celebrate +the reunion from an inexhaustible bowl. Midnight was past. The talk, +which for some time had concerned personal recollections and +experiences, had taken a thoughtful turn and was becoming profound. It +was impossible to realize how many were absent without touching on the +everlasting riddle of human life. Besides, the horrible death of a +popular young hero, who had fallen into the hands of the Franc-tireurs, +and been killed in the most revolting manner, and the consequent +destruction of a treasure of brilliant gifts and talents, hopes and +promises--had brought again to the front the old problem, whether +universal destiny and the fate of the individual will be according to +our idea of justice; or whether the individual's weal or woe will be +quietly subordinated to the vast, mysterious design of the universe. +All the well-known reasons for and against a providence ruling morally +and judging righteously, as human beings conceive it, were discussed +again and again; and at length the oldest and most distinguished +of the young soldiers formulated, from the animated argument, this +result:--that even the most enthusiastic optimist, in face of the +crying horrors to which poor humanity is exposed, cannot prove the +existence of a compensating justice on earth; indeed, can only save his +belief in a righteous God by hoping for a world to come. + +"But will donkeys go to heaven, too?" suddenly asked a calm, rich voice +from a quiet corner. + +For a moment all were silent. Then followed an outburst of gay +laughter, agreeably enlivening to the majority, who were tired of the +philosophical talk. + +"Hear! hear!" cried some. + +"One will not be able to understand his own speech at doomsday if all +the resurrected donkeys bray to one another," said a lively young +captain. "Although, Eugene, if the sainted Antonius's pig is in +heaven--" + +"And so many pious sheep!" another broke in. + +"You forget that the question is long since decided," said a third; +"one has only to read Voltaire's 'Pucelle' in so many cantos!" + +"Were you merely joking, Eugene?" then asked the senior president, who +had not joined in the laugh, "or was the question seriously meant, +because it is certainly not yet decided whether or no an immortal soul +lives in animals also?" + +The person thus addressed was a young man about thirty years of age, +the only one at the banquet who wore civilian's dress. A severe wound +had forced him to give up a military career. Since then he had lived on +his small estate, more occupied with the study of military science than +with the tilling of his fields. He had come to the city on the occasion +of the review in order to see his old friends. + +"The question," he now said very earnestly, "is really not my own, but +is a quotation, whose brusque simplicity embarrassed me myself not long +ago. A strange little story, certainly not a cheerful one, depends on +it. But since we have again soared into speculations which are beyond +jesting, it may perhaps be fitting if I tell where the quotation +originated. I can hardly maintain that the story is calculated to throw +any light on the dark problem." + +"Only tell it," cried one after another. + +"Who knows whether the donkey that you will ride before us may not +finally open his mouth, like Balaam's prophetic ass, and teach us the +system of the world." + +Eugene shook his head with a peculiar smile, and began. "You know that +I suffered from my wound during the entire winter of '71 and '72, and +could only limp around with a cane. When spring came, I surrendered +myself to the care of my married sister. My brother-in-law's manor is +surrounded by endless pine forests, in which I was to take air baths. +Whatever I gained in physical strength, as I wandered about each day in +those lonely thickets, or lay lazily buried in cushions of deep, +luxuriant moss, I lost again in my moral condition. Even in the +hospital I had not seemed to myself such a miserable cripple as here. +Everything about me was overflowing with life and strength; every old +knot bore countless bright-green shoots; even a rotten stump made +itself useful as barracks for a swarming army of ants--and I, condemned +to detestable idleness at twenty-four--enough! I moped about half the +time, and was on very bad terms with God and the world. + +"About this time, too, I lived through a sickness which might have +ended my brooding. The neighborhood is thinly populated; the people are +very poor; the women frightfully ugly,--Bohemian types degenerated by +crossing with the Saxons, pinched and rendered half savage through +privation and suffering. But I was perfectly contented that nothing +charming crossed my path. It would have made the consciousness of my +invalidism still more painful. You know, indeed, how long it takes for +the last trace of the typhoid poison, so paralyzing to all energy, to +disappear from one's system. The North Sea was to do me this service. + +"Well, for several weeks, like mad Roland, though somewhat more +mildly, I roamed through pine and fir-covered ravines without making a +shot, although a hunting-piece was slung at my back. It was truly, in +spite of all world-griefs, a heavenly time; never have I had such +intimate acquaintance with nature, never felt so vividly what is meant +by 'our mother earth' and 'our father air.' But that does not belong +here. I will come to the point. + +"One afternoon I allowed myself to be lured farther than usual from the +house by a most beautiful path winding among young woods, whose slender +trees, scarcely taller than I, allowed the May sunlight to stream +through unchecked. When I found myself entirely astray, I decided to +strike through to the edge of the forest, in order to regain an open +view. A gentle slope, sparsely covered with birches and berry-bushes, +led upwards. Beyond, through the tall firs which enclosed the clearing +like a fence, I could see blue mountain-tops shimmering in the +distance, and knew that I might thence easily find my way. But as I +came out of the forest, I realized for the first time how far I had +wandered. From the forest edge the land sank by a tolerably steep slope +to a plain; and far below lay a small town, well known to me on the +map, but so distant from our estate, that in all my reconnoitring I had +never seen it till now. I was startled when I realized where I was, +for, with my lame leg, I could not possibly undertake to return on +foot. But I thought I might obtain a team in the village. + +"I seated myself on a newly-fallen trunk to rest a little before +descending to the town. The land beneath me lay in the deep calm of +afternoon; thin clouds of smoke drifting up from the chimneys of the +old houses announced that the good housewives were making their coffee. +The broad, level plain, gayly checkered with fields of promising, green +crops, stretched beyond; while almost exactly half way between the +forest-edge and the first houses, and bordered by a few bushes and +elders, lay a great fish-pond, peculiarly dark in color, although the +purest spring-heaven was mirrored therein. The ground about it was +marshy, and it seemed as though all the water of the neighborhood +flowed into the depression as into some monstrous cistern. I do not +know why the black basin appeared so uncanny to me, for the birds +nesting in the shrubbery on its banks flew over it continually with +cheerful twitterings. But my gloomy humor drew nourishment just then +from the most innocent sources. + +"When I finally raised my eyes to look about for some smooth, +gradually-descending path, I noticed at the right, scarcely a stone's +throw from my seat, a forlorn, mean little house standing in shadow +close by the roots of the foremost trees. The old, tumbled-down fence +surrounding a bit of ground; the dove-cot, in which no living thing was +stirring; the tiled roof, whose damages had been poorly repaired with +shingles and stones from the fields--all looked desolate and +dilapidated, but since a path must surely lead thence to the town, I +arose and dragged myself slowly towards the hut. + +"As soon as I perceived the extreme desolation of the old barracks, I +gave up my conjecture that a lumberman dwelt there. All the mortar had +fallen away from the wall on the weather side, and the rain must have +had free entrance through the holes in the deeply sunken roof. The +piece of land behind the crumbling fence, which in times past might +have supported a little garden or a few vegetable beds, had become a +waste rubbish heap, upon which a single black hen tripped about, +excitedly scratching between the weeds and nettles for something +eatable. The north side, turned towards the slope, had two small +windows with broken panes; and in the middle, a door standing wide +open. I glanced into the unattractive entrance. No human being was to +be seen or heard. I was about to go back and follow a little foot-path +which seemed to wind down into the valley, when I was startled, indeed, +truly frightened, by a donkey's bray; for never in my life have I heard +that odd cry given so passionately, and with such peculiarly mournful +modulation, as at that moment. + +"The cry of pain came from the other side of the house. As I turned the +corner, I saw in the meadow, close to the wall, an idyllic group +crouched in the young grass: an old woman, clothed in a torn jacket of +flowered calico and a coarse woollen petticoat, and wearing wound about +her head a gray handkerchief, from beneath which her black hair, +thickly sprinkled with gray, hung down in disorder; and near her, +stretched upon the ground, a young donkey with noticeably slender +limbs, dark-edged ears, and a coat of silver-gray, adorned on the back +with a black stripe extending to the head. It was a fine animal, an +honor to its race, and it would certainly have taken a prize at any +show. But I immediately perceived why the poor creature relieved its +oppressed heart in so particularly doleful a manner. A hand's-breadth +on its left shoulder-blade was disfigured by a foul wound; this the old +woman was attempting to cover with wet bandages, although the wounded +brute restively tried to prevent her merciful ministrations with kicks +and stampings of its forelegs. A shallow bowl by the woman's side held +some dark liquid, with which she saturated the rag in order to cool the +wound. She quietly continued this operation as I approached her. + +"'Good-morning, dame!' said I. She merely nodded her head wearily. +Beginning to speak of the wound, I asked how it had been received, and +what remedy she was using. No answer. It occurred to me that she did +not understand German. But as I turned away, exclaiming half to myself, +'What a pity! Such a beautiful brute!' her gray eyes suddenly flashed +so powerfully upon me from under her bushy, black brows, that the whole +withered, leather-colored face seemed ten years younger. + +"'Yes indeed, sir!' she said in notably pure German, with but a slight +Bohemian accent. 'It is truly a pity, and Minka is certainly beautiful. +If only you had seen her before she was hurt! She could jump about +almost like a young horse, and her coat was like silk and velvet. Now, +for seven months she has lain thus miserably on her belly, and if she +gets up on her legs, how her knees bend, poor creature! Besides, what +use is she? "Betty Lamitz," said the forest warder only yesterday, as +he passed and saw the trouble I had with the brute--for now one must +bring even its bit of fodder close to its muzzle--"you should have her +killed," said he; "the skinner will give you a thaler for the hide." +But no! said I; it's only a beast, but it shall have care like any +other Christian being, or like an honest servant fallen sick in +service! Yes, so I said. Whoa, whoa, Minka! don't roll about so! Look, +sir, she lies on her back and rubs her wound all the time, so no +plaster holds, and it spreads farther and farther. Whoa! Be still!' + +"Then, fairly embracing the beast, she tried to quiet it, and keep it +in its bed. Suddenly she released it, ran to a wooden well standing in +shadow back of the house, and having filled a low pail from the old +stone trough into which the water was trickling down, she thrust it +under her charge's pink muzzle. Minka drank in long draughts, and her +feverish excitement visibly abated. The old woman sat near her, looking +on with great contentment, and seeming once more entirely oblivious to +my presence. + +"At length I repeated my inquiry as to the origin of the bad wound +between the shoulder-blades. But the old woman again remained silent; +she merely sighed, and scratched her lean arms with her withered +lingers till white streaks stood up on the brown skin. + +"'Yes, yes!' she said absently, after a long while--'such a poor +female! What matters beauty against bad luck? And how she has worked, +always cheerfully and willingly! I could load her as much as I wished, +she never once kicked, or even shook her ears at me. To be sure, I have +brought her up from her tenth day. She was a twin. The forester at +Freithof had a she-ass that presented him one morning with Minka and +her sister. "Would you like to have a handsome nursling, Mother +Lamitz?" said he, just for a joke. Well, I held him to his word. He +owed me a little gold for a piece of linen that I had woven for him. A +couple of florins were still lacking, and for them I took the young +ass. I had trouble enough, first in getting it home, and then in +raising it, for milk was scarce with us. But we have never rued it. A +hard worker, sir, this Minka! We have had to drag many things from the +woods, berries and mushrooms down to market in summer, then our winter +wood, and whatsoever else was needful. I--good heavens! I can trace all +my bones, although I am barely fifty, and Hannah--well, she was still +too weak. And look you, such a faithful beast, a god-send, our only +help--to be so hurt and disgraced in its young years--oh!' + +"'Dame,' said I, 'look at me! I too am still young, yet I limp through +the world, and my food must be brought to me because I can no longer +gain it by my own strength; and whoever gives a thaler for _my_ hide is +a fool and a spendthrift. Yet who knows, but that sometime we shall +both prance gayly about once more.' + +"I chatted in this strain for some time to cheer her, but, without +heeding me, she stared fixedly at the wound. She had meanwhile covered +it with a firm plaster, since the brute would no longer suffer the +bathing. + +"'Tell me once for all,' she suddenly commenced, and by the gleam +of her eyes I saw that when young she must have been far from +homely--'tell me once for all, sir, do you believe that donkeys go to +heaven?' + +"I laughed. + +"Why do you ask that, mother? + +"'I once asked our parson about it. He said it was a foolish question; +that only Christian people go to heaven; and that animals have no +immortal souls. "But, parson," said I, "if the great God is just and +merciful, why doesn't He pity the beasts too, as human beings do if +they are not scoundrels? For instance, why does Minka's sister live +like a princess, have nothing to do but draw a little play-wagon in +which the young masters take an occasional pleasure drive, always +receive kind words and the best fodder, and even have a love-affair +with the valley-miller's donkey? And our Minka, who has just as good a +character, who wears herself out with work, and is often on her legs +with a load for ten hours together, now has all four struck from under +her, and if she should die to-morrow, what pleasure in life has she +had? Is that just, parson? And if it is not sometime paid back to her +there above--" But then he forbade me to speak, and said such blasphemy +led straight to hell. You tell me, sir, do you know anything about it?' + +"You can imagine that I did not have the most spirited expression, when +the pistol was thus placed against my breast, and the explanation of +the world-secret demanded of me. Fortunately, however, just at that +moment a woman's clear voice began to sing within the house, and with +it one heard a child's feeble crying, which the song was evidently +intended to still. + +"'Who is singing there, Mother Lamitz?' I asked. + +"'Who should it be but Hannah?' she grumbled. + +"'Your daughter? May I venture to look in at her?' + +"The old woman did not reply; muttering to herself, she took the pail +and carried it back to the well; then she rolled forward a wheelbarrow +piled high with grass and weeds, and busied herself in giving handfuls +to the sick beast, almost shoving the food into its mouth. I did not +wait long for an expressed permission, but approached the house, and, +after knocking, entered by the door at the left. + +"A suffocating steam greeted me, mixed with the smell of some drying +clothes, which hung across the room on a tightly stretched rope. I saw +immediately that there were only a few miserable swaddling-clothes and +baby-frocks, coarse and much patched. + +"In one corner stood a great loom, thickly covered with dust; in the +other, upon a heap of straw, distinguishable from the bed of an animal +only by a woollen covering, sat a fair-haired young woman, holding a +half naked babe at her breast. She herself had nothing on her body but +a shirt, which had fallen far down on her shoulders, and a red woollen +petticoat, which left her white feet visible to the ankles. + +"As I entered, she gazed at me searchingly, and for an instant ceased +her singing. She seemed to have expected someone else; but, seeing that +I was an entire stranger, she at once recommenced her cradle-song, +though somewhat more softly, apparently not at all disturbed because I +had surprised her in the performance of a mother's most sacred duty, +and in such incomplete attire. + +"As she sang she occasionally smiled at me, showing the pretty teeth in +her large mouth; and I noticed that she clasped the child closer to her +bared breast, and tried to draw the shirt up over her shoulders. +Therewith a slight redness tinged her round, white face, and her blue +eyes assumed a half imploring, half simple and dreamily vacant, +expression. + +"I excused myself for intruding; her mother had allowed me to come in; +I would immediately go out again if she wished. She hummed her song +without appearing to notice me; but from time to time she would +suddenly lift her eyes, as if to see whether I were still there; then +bite her full, red under-lip; rock the child back and forth; and, with +her bare feet in the straw, beat time to her song. + +"The child, which was but a few months old, had drunk and cried itself +to sleep. The cradle-song grew ever softer; at length the young mother, +kneeling down, wrapped the little one, which lay before her like some +rosy, waxen doll, in a great woollen shawl. In the corner near the +pillow I observed a little couch made of old rags and tatters. On this +the baby was gently and carefully laid, and, in spite of the heat, +covered yet again. + +"Then the mother, always as if entirely alone in the room, began to let +down and rebraid her tangled, yellow hair. The rest of her toilet +seemed to be perfectly satisfactory. + +"Indeed, no elegant costume could have displayed the poor young woman's +charming figure to more advantage. The face was too like the old +woman's to be considered pretty. Yet in the coloring and youthful +contour of that round little head lay a charm, which was not lessened +even by an evident trace of absent-mindedness, or downright imbecility. +I felt intense sympathy for the poor, half-foolish creature, singing +her lullaby so contentedly in such pitiable deprivation of all usual +nursery comforts. + +"She did not answer any of my questions even by a gesture. Since they +had plenty of wood and did not grudge it, the oven was heated almost to +bursting; although the air without was mild enough, even here on the +windy height. So I did not wait until she finished arranging her heavy +braids, but laid a shining thaler on the edge of the loom, nodded +kindly to the harmless creature, and left the room. + +"I found the old woman no longer by her sick darling, but at the well, +where she was cleaning a handful of turnips and cutting them into a +pot. + +"'Mother Lamitz,' said I, 'you have a very pretty daughter. But she +would not speak a word to me. Is she always so silent with strangers?' + +"The old woman contracted her brows and stared gloomily at the pot +which she held between her knees. In this attitude she might have +served an artist as model for a witch preparing some noxious potion. + +"'Silent?' she asked after a pause. 'No, sir; it is not her tongue that +is lacking. When she will, she can chatter like a starling. The lack is +above. She was so even as a child. Well, it was not such a great shame. +If she had had the best sense, would that have helped a poor, +fatherless thing like her? Did it matter to me that I had all my five +senses right? I was cheated in spite of them, and therefore I care not +a whit whether the brat to which she has given life takes after her, as +people say, or after me. Either way, the little Mary will sometime +become a mother on the sly, as it came into the world on the sly. It is +in the family, sir, it is in the family.' + +"And then, after a pause, for I knew not what to say to this frank +worldly wisdom--'Besides, the child will hardly grow old. Hannah treats +it too foolishly. Indeed, reason has nothing to do with her actions. +And when the winter comes, and we all must hunger--it is said, though, +that God lets no sparrow fall from a roof without His will--I am +curious to see whether He will trouble Himself about us four poor +females up here.' + +"Therewith she gazed pityingly at the donkey, which was now crouching +quietly in its bedding. I could have laughed to see her so +unconcernedly consider gray, long-eared Minka as the fourth in the +family; but the horrible cold-bloodedness with which she spoke of her +child and grandchild was not humorous. + +"'You seem to care much more tenderly for the donkey than for your +poor, little grandchild,' I said severely. + +"She nodded her head calmly. + +"'So it is,' she said; 'Minka needs me more. If I die to-day, she must +come to a miserable end. Do you think Hannah would throw her even an +armful of grass, although the poor beast can no longer seek it herself? +No; she has no thought except for her baby, and beyond that, for the +rascal who is its father. She waits for him every evening at sunset, +although it is already a half year since he last crossed our threshold. +And withal she is as happy as any one can wish to be, considers the +dear God a good man, and lets her old mother do all the housework +without any help. Why should I pity her or her brat? Both are already +as if in heaven, and if it goes hard with them, and they must hunger +and freeze, can they not make that good hereafter in Paradise? But +Minka, look you, sir, has had no lover, and brought no young one into +the world, and when she dies she will be thrown in the flaying-place, +and on doomsday, when we other poor sinners gather our bones together, +of her nothing at all will be left, and it will never be credited to +her that she had a harder life than her twin sister. Look you, some +other poor Christian mortal must pity the beasts if our Lord Jesus +Himself cannot bring Himself to do it.' + +"This logic allowed no reply. But I confess that the future of the +little human being was more momentous to me, in spite of its immortal +soul, than the question whether Minka would lose or not in the final +distribution of justice. If to-morrow the only person among these 'four +females' who had sound human sense should be struck by lightning, what +would then become of the poor fool and her baby? + +"'Does the father do nothing at all for the little one?' I asked at +last. 'The child is as beautiful as if carved out of ivory, and it is +by no means certain that it will become like the mother. Has he never +shown himself again?' + +"'He!' exclaimed the old woman, thrusting the knife with which she had +been cleaning the turnips deep into the wooden well-spout. 'If I should +drag him to justice, he would swear himself free, that he would, +although he is the town-judge's own son. Do you think I did not see it +in him, even the first time when he came into our little house to +kindle his pipe at the hearth--so he said, the villain! He is +unfortunately as pretty to look at as he is bad within, and the stupid +thing, Hannah she was still innocent, and I could let her wander all +day long in the woods alone with Minka, filling the two panniers with +berries and mushrooms--she thought of no man then, and I--God knows how +it came about! Just because she is so foolish and weak in her head, I +imagined that no one would trouble about her. But she pleased the +judge's son, and was herself instantly carried away with him. After +that I had trouble enough with her. She had worked bravely till then in +the house and garden, and no work was too hard for her. Now, of a +sudden, half the day her hands in her lap, and if I began to scold she +would smile at me like a child waking from a lovely dream. If I sent +her to the woods, she would bring the baskets back to the house +scarcely a quarter full. It was Minka's misfortune too. You cannot +believe, sir, how the beast clung to Hannah; it had human sense, anyway +more than Hannah, and realized that the smart fellow with the black +mustache had nothing good in mind. It always ran after the stupid girl, +and gave a loud bray to warn her. I saw everything well enough, but +what could I do? Scoldings and warnings were useless; she did not +understand. And one cannot shut up a grown woman, who will use force to +get out. She would have climbed from the window or even the chimney to +rush into the very arms of ruin. Well, and so it happened. But the +worst of it was that Minka suffered for it too. One evening she +followed the girl into the woods, and soon afterward came limping home +alone, with the wound in her neck, groaning and crying like a human +being. Hannah came back an hour later. I questioned her closely as to +how the brute had received the wound. "Ha!" said she, laughing +insolently, "she screamed all the time and crowded between us, although +Frank tried to drive her back with blows; so he suddenly became angry, +drew his knife, and gave her a thrust." I struck the shameless thing +for laughing about it, and put salve on the wound. But Minka rolled on +her back as if crazy, and would bear no bandage, and so it has grown +worse with her every day, and with Hannah too. Well, at least she has +had her way, and nothing much better could have happened to her. Who +would take one like her for his honest wife? And if sometime she +realizes that it is useless to wait for her lover, and becomes crazy +with grief at his wickedness, then she has little wit to lose. Whereas +Minka, sir, who is cleverer than many people, believe me, she lies for +days pondering why good and bad are so unequally divided on the earth; +why she has nothing but a ruined life, while her sister trots about +elegant and happy; and why our good Lord did not arrange it so that +donkeys might go to heaven, and obtain their reward for all the flaying +and toiling, beating and kniving, they have to bear.' + +"She uttered these last words with such violence that she was obliged +to stop for breath. Then, brushing back the loose hairs at her neck, +she tied her head-cloth more firmly, and took the pot of turnips on her +arm. + +"'I must go in, sir,' she said hoarsely, 'or I shall go to bed hungry. +Do you know the town-judge and his fine son? It does not matter. He +will not have to pay for what he did to my girl and to Minka until he +stands before God's throne. And for the rest, why should his conscience +prick him? She wished nothing better; indeed, we all wish nothing +better; if we were not silly, you men could not be bad. So it will be +as long as the world lasts. At doomsday I shall not complain of that, +but I shall ask our Lord whether donkeys go to heaven too, of that you +may be sure--of that you may certainly be sure!' + +"She nodded her head vigorously, passed by without another look at me, +and disappeared in the house. + +"You can imagine that, as I descended the slope, passing the black +water, and finally reaching the village, all that I had seen and heard +continually pursued me. Even when I had secured a carriage at the inn, +and was rolling along the highway towards my brother-in-law's house, +the figure of the old woman, and especially that of her blonde daughter +with the naked babe clasped to her breast, seemed actually before my +eyes. It chanced that my driver was an elderly man, who could give +trustworthy answers to my questions about the inmates of the little +house on the hill. He remembered Betty Lamitz's sudden appearance there +twenty years ago very well. Her own home was in a neighboring place, +where, her mother having died without leaving any property, the parish +refused to receive her. She was a servant in an aristocratic house in +Prague, and behaved properly enough until one of the sons of the house, +an officer home on a furlough, noticed her. She had been a fine-looking +person even at thirty, in spite of her flat nose and broad cheeks, a +maid with unusual eyes, and when she laughed--which to be sure she +seldom did--she could cut out many younger women even then. But things +simply went the usual way, in spite of her cleverness, and although she +had always said she would never do as her own mother had done. Of +course her master did not keep her in the house. He gave her a suitable +sum of money, with which she bought the forsaken hill-house and the bit +of garden plot, and since then, as she would not go into service again, +perhaps could not, she had lived there and brought Hannah up, in +perfect retirement. For the first few years the young count remembered +her, and sent her something. After awhile he failed to do this, and she +was obliged to struggle along by herself. She had done so; and +certainly no one could accuse her of grief at her child's lack of +reason. + +"Then my driver spoke of the sad affair with the judge's son, against +whom he expressed himself in very strong terms. Every one knew about +it. But he was the only son of a most respectable family, and no one +could expect him to make amends for the foolish mis-step by an honest +marriage. A wild, insane thing! Why didn't the old woman watch her +better? If he did a little something for the child, no one would blame +him much for this youthful sin. + +"I listened without entering into any discussion of the moral aspect of +the case. In my heart--I know not why--I felt such intense sympathy for +the poor creature, that if her betrayer had come in my way, I would +have thrashed him with much pleasure. + +"My first action, when I saw my people again, was to tell them of my +experience, and induce my good sister to take some interest in the +neglected young woman. She was true to her sympathetic nature. The next +day she sent her 'Mamselle,' an experienced, elderly person, in a +carriage to Mother Lamitz's hut, with a basket containing all sorts of +good things--provisions for several weeks, baby-clothes, and several +uncut dress pieces to provide for the winter. To this I added a trifle +in cash, fully intending to go in person very soon, and see if this +feeble attempt to make up the deficiencies of the world-system had been +at all effectual. + +"But I did not go. Our physician ordered me to take sea-baths earlier +than I expected. I merely heard that our gifts were received by the old +woman with but moderate thanks, and by the young mother with child-like +exultation. Then I departed, remaining away the entire summer, and the +inmates of that forest hut soon became of as little moment to me as any +beggar into whose hat one tosses a groschen. + +"Even when, after having washed away in the sea my invalidism and its +accompanying world-sickness, I returned to the estate in the autumn for +hunting, it did not occur to me for several weeks to inquire about the +'four females.' My sister and her husband had themselves been away, and +been occupied with entirely different things. On a lonely tramp which I +undertook one cold, cloudy, disagreeable day in the middle of October, +I suddenly recollected that I had wandered over the same forest-path +five months before, and that it had finally led me to the donkey with +the 'immortal soul.' What might have happened to Minka in the meantime? + +"I stepped along more briskly, for evening was already coming on. It +was dark and comfortless in the forest; the moisture dripped heavily +from the pines; the little clearings, with their bushes and birches, +were not so cheerful, in spite of the red berries hanging plentifully +on their faded branches, as on that day in May, when I alone wore a +troubled face. When I finally emerged from the pines at the edge of the +height, the land below me and the purplish peaks on the horizon looked +as strange as if a terrible storm were impending. The air was perfectly +still; one heard each drop falling on the dry leaves, and, from time to +time, the crows, very numerous in that locality, cawing in the +treetops. The noise was so hateful to me that, in a sort of sudden +fury, I snatched my gun from my shoulder, and fired into the +unsuspecting flock. A single bird fell fluttering and quivering at my +feet. I felt ashamed of this childish outburst and hurried towards the +hut, which, standing in its old place, and in the same condition, +looked extremely desolate in the murky evening mist. + +"The enclosed space had beautified itself with half a dozen tall +sunflowers and with several rows of pumpkin-vines growing over the +rubbish-heap; but the black hen had evidently failed to outlive the +summer. On the side of the house where the brook flowed, and where +Minka had lain, there was no longer any trace of her. Possibly it was +now too cold on this damp couch for the poor, wounded beast. But where +had she gone? I laughed to myself as I realized that the fate of the +brute creature was more interesting to me than that of the hut's human +inmates. Of them nothing was to be seen or heard. + +"In the room where the loom stood, excepting that the straw-bed was +empty, everything appeared as at my first visit. But the oven was cold +and all the windows were open. I pressed the door-latch of the single, +mean chamber on the right of the narrow hall. Here I was amazed to find +one at least of the 'four females,' the good Minka herself. She lay on +a litter of yellow leaves, moss, and pine-needles, close to a low +hearth, whereon coals were still glowing; and as she saw me enter, she +lifted her head wearily. + +"The old woman must have housed here, since, besides cooking utensils, +all sorts of woman's trumpery was lying about, while on the other side +of the hearth stood an ancient, grandfather's chair, with torn +cushions, plainly Mother Lamitz's bedstead. She had evidently brought +her sick darling into her immediate vicinity. + +"I approached the poor creature and stroked her coat, for which +attention her ears wagged a doleful gratitude. The wound had grown +worse; indeed, her whole condition was serious, and for the first time +I saw on an animal something like the hippocratic face. Seeing that I +was friendly, she made a painful effort to unburden her distressed +heart; but no longer able to express herself satisfactorily, she soon +became silent again, and with an indescribably piteous look let her +tongue loll from her mouth, thus taking away her last trace of beauty +in my eyes. As I could not help her, I went out in a few moments, +leaving the door open; for the close air, which I could scarcely +breathe, must have been equally unbearable for a sick donkey. + +"Outside I looked about in all directions. Of grandmother, mother, or +child--not a trace. In the forest--but what could they be seeking there +so late, and in such horrible weather? They have gone down to the town, +thought I, to make some purchases. But nobody knows when they will +return. + +"To await them in the damp hut was out of the question. I thought that +perhaps I might meet them on the way down, as I intended to descend and +return by the highroad, instead of the dark, slippery forest path. So +once again I took the little path between the meadows, and heard then, +for the first time, a muffled sound of musical instruments, principally +clarionets and contrabasses, evidently coming from the inn in the town +below. Although dance music, it was far from merry; indeed, it seemed +but a proper accompaniment to the melancholy song heaven and earth were +singing together; as if cloud spirits were playing a waltz to which +they might whirl madly over the cold mountain-tops. + +"The neighborhood is not musical. Only occasionally, when a band of +wandering Bohemians strays into this corner of the hills, does one hear +merry tunes in lively time; but even a Bohemian band can seldom set in +motion the clumsy feet of the men and maids. + +"However, that scarcely belongs to my subject. I will be brief. I had +not taken twenty steps when I saw, down by the fishpond, sitting on a +mossy stone, a woman's motionless figure, with the back turned toward +me. She seemed to be staring into the black water. I could scarcely see +the outline, yet I recognized her at once. + +"'Mother Lamitz!' I cried, 'Mother Lamitz!' + +"At the third call, and when I was very close to her, she slowly turned +her head, but I could not see her eyes. + +"'Why do you sit here on a wet stone, Mother Lamitz?' I asked. 'Have +you thrown a net and do you wish to haul your catch? Or for whom are +you waiting in this unhealthy fog?' + +"She looked straight into my face, evidently trying to remember the +person to whom these features and this voice belonged. But it dawned on +her very slowly. + +"I helped somewhat by recalling to her mind my spring visit, and +telling her that since then I had often considered whether or no +donkeys would go to heaven, and had never arrived at any conclusion. +She listened silently, but I was not certain that she rightly +understood my meaning, for she nodded continually, even when I asked a +question demanding a negative answer. + +"But when I mentioned her daughter's name, she became suddenly alert, +looking suspiciously at me from under her thick brows. + +"'What do you want with Hannah?' she said. 'She is not at home. But she +is very well, she and her brat. Did I tell you she was a trifle weak in +the head? In that I lied. She had more sense than most of the foolish +geese. Oh, I wish that I might have gone away so, but there are +different gifts, and how does the Testament say? Those who are poor in +spirit--yes, yes. O thou merciful One!' + +"Stopping suddenly, she spread her hands on her knees and let her head +fall upon her breast. + +"She seemed more and more uncanny to me. It was ghastly there by the +bank; the bats were beginning to flit among the low bushes, and the +rising wind brought a musty swamp odor. From below came the unceasing +music of the clarionets and basses. + +"Merely to break the silence, I said, 'There seems to be high festival +in the inn down yonder. Is it a feast?' + +"She sprang to her feet, again looking distrustfully at me. 'Have you +only just heard it? They have piped and fiddled so since noonday, and +will go on till midnight. I have stopped my ears, but it is useless. +Weddings are not funerals--one knows that very well--but if they knew, +if they knew! To be sure they would not have one waltz the less. O thou +merciful One!' + +"'Whose wedding is it?' + +"Spitting violently, she cast a furious look across the pond towards +the house from which the sounds arose. + +"'Go down there and look at the pair for yourself,' she snarled; 'they +suit each other well. He is bad and handsome, and she is stupid and +rich. A brewer's daughter, she measures her money by the bushel. But +she has reason enough to answer a question correctly, and she did not +say no when the parson asked her if she wished the judge's son for a +husband.' + +"'The judge's son! He?' Now, indeed, I knew the cause of the old +woman's fury. + +"'Poor Hannah! And does she know what is going on down there?' + +"'How could she help knowing, sir? Do you think there are not +sympathetic souls enough to carry such news wherever they are likely to +earn God's blessing for it? She sat just before the door with her baby +on her lap; she was decked out in her best clothes, that blue dress, +you know, which the lady baroness sent her; and her baby was dancing to +the music. Then the druggist's maid came down, pretending that she +passed by accident, but it was the wickedest curiosity, dear sir, to +see how the poor fool would act when she heard that her lover was +holding his wedding feast down there. She did not tell it to Hannah. +"Mother Betsey!" she screamed in to me, "the judge's son! What do you +say to that?" and then she abused the badness of the world. I merely +blinked at her, for I thought I should sink into the earth. I never +believed he would marry Hannah, but she waited for him every evening, +and was so happy doing so, that she might have expected him for all +eternity, and sung her cradle-songs contentedly. And now the whole +baseness of it, and the news of the marriage with the brewer's +daughter, to come on her so suddenly--as if a trusted friend had thrust +a knife in her breast. The words stuck in the spiteful tell-tale's +throat as she saw what she had done. She said she must hurry; her +mistress expected her, and she ran off. I went out and saw the poor +thing sitting on the bank, with her head leaning back on the wall as if +too heavy for her, and her eyes and mouth wide open. + +"'"Hannah!" I coaxed, "do not believe it--she lied," and as much more +as I could bear to say. She did not speak, but all at once laughed +aloud, and stood up, holding her child fast in her arms. + +"'"Where are you going?" I said. "Come into the house. I will brew you +some elder tea." But it was as if she did not hear me. She went slowly +away from the house, down the path. I followed, trying to hold her back +by her clothing, but there was something superhuman in her; her face +was rigid and deathly pale. "Hannah," said I, "you are not going to +him? Think what they would say if you went to the wedding. They would +say you were out of your wits, and by and by the law would come and +take away the child, because they dare not leave it with an idiot." + +"'That brought her to her senses for a moment. She stood still, +clasping the child silently, and sighing as if her soul would leave her +body. I thought I had won, and that she would turn back with me and +gradually give in. If she could have cried it would have been her +salvation, but her eyes were perfectly dry, and I saw her stare +continually at the house down there, as if she would pierce the walls +and destroy that bad man and his bridge with the wreath and veil. I +begged her to come into the house. I realized then that I had nothing +in the world but her, and I told her so, asking her to forgive me for +all my roughness and unkindness to her. Dear God, when one is so +miserable, and another hungry mouth comes into the house! But she heard +nothing. The music seemed to bewitch her; she began to rock the child +back and forth; then of a sudden she gave a loud cry, as if her heart +had broken, and before I knew what she meant to do, she was rushing +down to the pond. Her loose hair streamed after her, the blue clothes +fluttered, she ran so fast, and--O thou merciful One!--with my own eyes +I saw it--child and grandchild! I tried to scream, I was choking; I ran +like a madman; as I came down, I saw only the black water, bubbling +like a kettle at the place where--' + +"She sprang up, and stood half bowed among the damp marsh grasses like +a picture of despair, both arms outstretched toward the now motionless +water. + +"I could not speak a word. Every instant I thought she would throw +herself in after them. The spot where we were standing seemed +peculiarly suitable for a suicide. The bank shelved perpendicularly +into the depths; no rushes grew out of the water; the alder bushes, +retreating, left a gap several feet in width; and even close to shore +the water was as dark as if the depths were bottomless. + +"But the old woman seemed to intend nothing violent. Her body relaxed +again and her arms fell loosely on her hips. + +"'Do you see anything there?' she asked suddenly, in an undertone. + +"'Where?' + +"'Down there by the willow? No; it is nothing. I thought her hair came +to the surface. But she is lying at the bottom. At first something +yellow floated out on the water--I would swear it was her hair--and the +long rake there, left since haying-time--if I had taken it, and fished +for the hair with it, and twisted it fast around the prongs, I believe +I could have pulled her to land even then. But say for yourself, sir, +what would it have mattered? She would have jumped in again. And +wouldn't it have been wicked to rob her of the rest she has found down +there? Who knows that I should have drawn out the poor brat with her! +And without her only plaything, what could she do in the world?' + +"She stopped again, rubbing her lean shoulders with her crossed arms as +if she felt a fever-chill. The music paused in the inn below; I heard +the old woman's quick, gasping breaths, and now and then a disconnected +word as if of prayer. This sad stillness was suddenly interrupted by a +hoarse bray from the woods above. We both looked around. + +"Lame Minka stood before the hut's door, giving her most doleful signal +of distress. Against the dark background the outline of the beast's +gray form was plainly visible; we could even see her shake her drooping +ears. She must have noticed us, for though we did not call her, she +started down the rough and tiresome road to her old nurse. + +"'Are you coming, too?' said the old woman. 'Are you thirsty, because I +forgot to fill your pail? Do you see, sir, that I am right? Minka has +human reason. She too would make an end of her trouble and misery. And +it is better so; it will take her at once from her suffering, and I--do +you know, that I believe even yet that donkeys go to heaven? If not, +why have they human reason? Who knows, when he fears to die, that it is +really the end? And now look at Minka, how steadily she trots toward +the black water. Come, Minka, come, poor fool! We will help you down.' + +"The brute came to the stone where the old woman was crouching. It +thrust its large head in her lap, and fell on its knees. The old woman +helped it up again. + +"'Come, Minka,' she repeated, 'it will do no harm, and perhaps may help +you to eternal happiness. Hannah has gone before, with little Mary. +Mother Betsey will soon follow.' + +"She drew the reluctant animal to the edge of the pond and tried to +force it in. But entreaties and caresses were as vain as the pushes and +blows to which she finally resorted. The poor victim, its whole body +trembling, braced all four feet against the bank and gave a piteous +cry. The old woman cast an imploring glance at me. + +"'You have a gun at your back, sir. Will you not do my Minka this last +kindness, and help her to her salvation? The Lord God will repay you +the little powder and lead which you spend on a tortured creature; and +if there is justice, and we meet again up yonder, Minka, too, will not +be wanting, and then you shall see that, after the ass that bore our +Lord into Jerusalem, there will be none more beautiful than Minka in +all Paradise.' + +"How could I withstand such a touching request? I cocked my gun, came +close to the good creature, and shot a bullet through its head. It fell +headlong into the water; the gray head appeared for an instant, then +sank and left no trace. + +"The old woman fell upon her knees; I saw her fold her withered hands +and move her lips silently. Undoubtedly, she breathed a prayer for +Minka's departed soul. + +"Then she arose wearily. 'I thank you, sir,' she said. 'You have just +done me a greater kindness than when you sent me the money. When you go +home give my respects to the lady baroness. Tell her I need nothing +more. Three are already at rest, and the fourth will not delay long. +And so may God preserve you. I am freezing. I shall go back to the +house and warm myself a little. The night will be cold and the house is +empty. May God reward you a thousandfold, sir! No; you shall not go +with me! I have no one, and the cursed music will let me sleep very +well if I stop my ears tightly enough. Good-night, sir! Rest well. And +the Lord God above will understand and deal kindly with us. Amen!' + +"She crossed herself and bowed quietly. Then she climbed the slope +across the meadow, and I watched her until she reached her hut above +and closed the door behind her. + +"I myself returned to the path in a state of mind that baffles +description. The universal misery of mankind was about the drift of it. +But other elements mingling with it gave the peculiar experience +something at once grotesque and awful. A professional psychologist +would have had difficulty in understanding it. + +"Fortunately the weather took care that I did not lose myself in this +bottomless pit of fruitless speculation. Just as I reached the first +houses, the rain began to fall in such torrents that I was obliged to +seek shelter and wait until the storm should abate before attempting to +return to the estate. Naturally, I hastened to the inn. I had a certain +curiosity to see the famous judge's son on this day, when his old +sweetheart had quietly taken herself out of the world to make room for +his new one. + +"It was a middle-class wedding of the usual sort. I looked through +the open door into the hall, where the table had been removed to +make room for the dancers. The wedding pair immediately struck my eyes, +not unfavorably either; he was precisely such a man as I imagined, +curly-headed, therefore popular among women, and with a frivolous, +insolent face; on the whole, a good-looking rascal of the most common +type. The young wife in her myrtle wreath, a provincial beauty, +appeared much in love with her husband, but, from continual dancing +with him, was too red and overheated to be lovely. Since she was rich, +the husband had in fact obtained a better lot than his villainous deed +warranted, and it was hardly to be expected that compensating justice +would make him do penance for his sins through this marriage. He did +not seem to be a man who would endure such penance calmly, much less +pass even one sleepless night in useless thoughts upon the moral system +of the world. + +"The wretch disgusted me. Joining the peasants in the bar-room below, I +drank my glass of beer in a very bitter mood, while the floor above +creaked and trembled under the stamping and springing of the dancers, +and the rain beat against the windows. This continued for more than an +hour; then the rain ceased, the clouds moved towards the mountains, and +the moon appeared. I decided to look about for a team, since the roads +were now unfit for walking, and the wedding uproar made the prospect of +a night here intolerable. + +"Fortunately, just as I was going out to inquire for a teamster, +I found my brother-in-law's coachman before the door with the +hunting-wagon, my sister having sent him to bring me home. Both he and +his horses needed a rest and a thorough drying. The homeward journey +was so slow that I found everyone at the house asleep, and could not +tell my horrible experience of the previous day till the following +morning as we three sat at breakfast. + +"We were still under the influence of the strange tragedy--my sister, +who had visited the 'four females' once during the summer, being +affected even to tears--when the door opened, and my brother-in-law's +steward entered. 'I merely wish to announce, Herr Baron,' he said, +'that there has been a fire during the night. God be thanked, it has +not spread, and was not on our estate. But Mother Betsey's house is +burned.' + +"We looked at one another confounded. + +"'How did the fire start, and was any one injured?' asked my +brother-in-law. + +"The man shook his head. + +"'They know nothing positively, Herr Baron,' he said. 'At midnight, as +the last dance was being played down in the inn--the judge's son was +holding his wedding feast--they suddenly heard the fire-bells ring from +the towers, and, rushing out, they saw Mother Lamitz's old hut up on +the forest edge in bright flames. The fire streamed as quietly into the +sky as if from a wood-pile, and although half the village was on foot, +and the fire engine was dragged up the mountain, they could do nothing +whatever, the flames having already devoured the last corner of the old +rookery. It was only when there was nothing left to save that they +mastered the fire; the ground walls, about a man's height, alone remain +standing, if they too have not fallen by this time. At first there +seemed to be nothing left of the women and the child. At length some +one discovered in the corner where the loom had stood a ghastly heap of +ashes and blackened bones, undoubtedly the remains of old Betsey, who, +as old women can never be warm enough, probably heated the oven so hot +that the rotten thing burst and the flames reached the rafters of the +loom. She must have been quickly suffocated by the smoke and have died +without further pain. But what became of her daughter and the little +one nobody knows, and as for the donkey, which she esteemed so highly, +not the smallest piece of its hide or bones can be discovered!'" + + + + + + ROTHENBURG ON THE TAUBER + + + + + ROTHENBURG ON THE TAUBER. + + +It was Easter Tuesday. The people who had celebrated this feast of +resurrection by an open-air excursion in the gayly blossoming +springtime were thronging back to their houses and the work-day +troubles of the morrow. All the highroads swarmed with carriages and +pedestrians, and the railroads were overcrowded in spite of the extra +trains; for it was many years since there had been such continuously +lovely Easter weather. + +The evening express, standing in the Ansbach station ready to depart in +the direction of Würzburg, was twice as long as usual. Nevertheless, +every seat appeared to be occupied, when a straggler of the second +class, trying to enter at the last moment, knocked in vain at every +door, and peered into each _coupé_, meeting everywhere a more or less +ungracious or mischievous shrug of the shoulders. Finally, the guard at +his side made a sudden decision, opened a _coupé_ of the first class, +shoved the late-comer into the dim interior, and slammed the door just +as the train began to move. + +A woman who, curled up like a black lizard, had been slumbering in the +opposite corner suddenly started up and cast an angry look at the +unwelcome disturber of her solitude. + +However, the blonde young man in plain Sunday clothing, with a +portfolio under his arm and a worn-out travelling satchel with +old-fashioned embroidery in his hand, seemed to strike her as nothing +remarkable. She replied to his courteous greeting and awkward excuse +with a haughty, scarcely perceptible inclination of her head; drew her +wrap's black silk hood once more over her forehead, and prepared to +continue her interrupted slumber as unconcernedly as if, instead of a +new fellow-traveller, merely one more piece of luggage had been put in +the compartment. + +The young man, feeling that he was regarded as an intruder, took good +care not to remind her of his presence by any unnecessary noise; +indeed, for the first five minutes, although he had been running +violently, he held his breath as long as he could, and remained +steadily in the uncomfortable position which he had at first assumed. +He merely took off his hat, and wiped the perspiration from his brow +with a handkerchief, looking discreetly out of the window the while, as +if he could only atone for his appearance in a higher sphere by the +most modest behavior. But since the sleeper did not stir, and the +passing landscape outside had no charm for him, he finally ventured to +turn his eyes toward the interior of the _coupé_; and, after having +sufficiently admired the broad, red plush cushions and the mirror on +the wall, he even dared to look more closely at the stranger, slowly +and cautiously surveying her from the tip of the tiny shoe peeping from +beneath her gown, to her shoulders, and at length to the fine lines of +the face turned towards him. + +Undoubtedly a very high-born dame--that was instantly clear to +him--and, furthermore, a Russian, Pole, or Spaniard. Everything she had +on and about her bore the stamp of an aristocratic origin;--her gown; +the fine red travelling satchel against which she placed her tiny feet +so regardlessly; the elegant tan gloves whereon she was resting her +cheek. Moreover, a peculiar fragrance, not of any aromatic essence, but +of Russia leather and cigarettes, surrounded her, and on the carpet of +the _coupé_ there actually lay several white half-smoked stumps, +scattered about with their ashes and some Russian tobacco. A book had +also fallen on the floor. Unable to content himself with letting it lie +there, he picked it up carefully and saw that it was a French novel. +All this filled him with that secretly pleasing horror apt to seize +young men who have been brought up in provincial circles, when they are +unexpectedly brought into contact with a woman of the fashionable +world. To the natural power of woman over man is then added the +romantic charm which the unknown and independent customs, the imagined +passionate joys and sorrows of the upper classes, exercise over a +fledgeling of the lower. The gulf yawning between the two classes +merely increases this attraction; for, the opportunity sometime +offering, the man probably feels a visionary, foolhardly desire to show +his strength and cross the seemingly impassable abyss. + +To be sure, the young traveller did not contemplate any such +adventurous boldness. But when he was sufficiently convinced that the +sleep of his strange neighbor was unfeigned, he quietly drew from his +vest pocket a small book bound in gray linen, and furtively began to +sketch the sleeper's fine and pale, though somewhat haughty, profile. + +It was no light undertaking, although the rapid motion of the express +helped him over several difficulties. He was obliged to keep himself +half-poised on the seat and make each stroke with unerring certainty. +But the head was well worth the trouble; and as, peering through the +dim light, he studied the quiet face lightly framed by the folds of the +hood, he said to himself that he had never seen such classic features +on any living being. She seemed somewhat past her first youth, and the +mouth with its delicate lips occasionally assumed, even in sleep, a +peculiar expression of bitterness or disgust; but the brow, the shape +of the eyes, and the rich masses of soft, wavy hair were still +remarkably beautiful. + +He had drawn zealously for about ten minutes and had almost finished +the sketch, when the sleeper roused herself calmly, and demanded in the +best of German: + +"Do you know, sir, that it is not allowable to rob travellers in their +sleep?" + +The poor offender, greatly confused, let the book sink upon his knee, +and said, blushing furiously: "Pardon me, my lady, I did not think--I +believed--it is merely a very hasty sketch--merely for remembrance." + +"Who gave you the right to remember me, and to assist your memory so +obviously?" replied the woman, measuring him somewhat coldly and +scornfully with her keen blue eyes. + +She gradually raised herself to an upright position; and as the hood +fell upon her shoulders, he saw the fine contour of her head, and in +spite of his embarrassment, continued to study her with an artist's +eye. + +"In truth, I must confess that I have behaved like a veritable +highwayman," he replied, trying to turn the matter into a jest; "but +perhaps you will allow mercy to precede justice, when I return my +booty, not with intent to propitiate justice, but to show you how +little it is that I have appropriated." + +He offered her the open sketch-book. She cast a hasty glance at her +picture; then nodded kindly, though with a quick gesture of rejection. + +"It is like," she said, "but idealized. You are a portrait painter, +sir?" + +"No, my lady; in that case I could have made the sketch really +characteristic. I paint architectural pictures mainly. But just because +my eyes are sharpened for beautiful proportions and graceful lines, and +as they are not found in a human face every day--" + +At a loss for a conclusion, he stared at the tip of his boot, attempted +to smile, and blushed again. + +Without noticing this, the stranger said, "Doubtless you have some of +your sketches and paintings in that portfolio there. May I see them?" + +"Certainly." He handed her the portfolio, and spread the contents sheet +by sheet before her. They were mere aquarelles, representing in a +versatile manner and with thoroughly artistic conception old buildings, +Gothic turrets, and streets of gabled houses. The stranger allowed one +after the other to pass, without addressing any questions to the +artist. But she studied many pages for a long time, and returned them +with a certain hesitation. + +"The things are not perfectly finished yet," said he, excusing this and +that hasty study, "but they all belong to the same cycle. I availed +myself of Easter day to talk them over with an art-dealer in Nuremberg. +I wish to publish all these sketches in chromo-lithographic work. To be +sure, I have many predecessors, but Rothenburg is not even yet as well +known as it deserves to be." + +"Rothenburg?" + +"Certainly. These are all views from Rothenburg. I thought you knew it, +my lady, as you did not ask." + +"Rothenburg? Where is it?" + +"Oh, on the Tauber, not many hours' journey from here. But really, do +you not know it? Have you never even heard the name?" + +"You must pardon my ignorance," she replied, with a slight smile, "as I +am not a German. But I have been with Germans very often, and confess +to you, I never heard the name of Rothenburg on the--how was it?--on +the Tauber?--until now." + +He laughed, losing his timidity at once as he realized his advantage +over this elegant woman on such an important point. + +"Pardon me," he said, "for having behaved to you as all Rothenburgers +do to strangers, even though my cradle did not stand on the banks of +the Tauber. We are all so infatuated with our city, that we can +scarcely imagine how our feeling appears to people who know nothing of +Rothenburg. When I went there for the first time nine years ago, I +myself knew little more of the old 'imperial' town than that it stood, +like Jerusalem, upon a high plateau rising from the river valley; was +even yet fortified with walls and towers as for the last half-thousand +years; and had the honor, once upon a time, to count the founder of my +race among its citizens. Permit me to introduce myself to you: my name +is Hans Doppler." + +He bowed smilingly, looking at her as if he expected that this name +would arouse in her a joyful excitement, somewhat as if he had confided +that his name was Hans Columbus or Gutenberg. But her expression did +not change in the least. + +"Doppler," he continued, somewhat hesitatingly, "is merely the new +version of the name Toppler, and was introduced during the last century +in the collateral line to which I belong. Yet it is authentically +certain that the founder of our family was no less a person than the +great burgomaster of Rothenburg, Heinrich Toppler, of whom you have +undoubtedly heard." + +She shook her head, evidently amused by his naïve confidence. + +"I regret that my historical knowledge is just as defective as my +geographical. But what did your ancestor do, that it is a disgrace not +to know of him?" + +"Do not fear, my lady," said he, now laughing at his own pretensions, +"that from mere family pride I would bore you with a piece of +Rothenburg history. That pride has good reason to be humbled; for I +myself, as you see me, have nothing at all to govern in my ancestral +home; but, for that very reason, I need not expect to be imprisoned and +delivered up to death from hunger or poison by my fellow-citizens, as +my ancestor was, after he had increased the good old town's military +renown. A horrible end, was it not, my lady? A fine return for so many +brave deeds! And all because of a mere slander. He was said to have +lost the town to a certain prince in a game of dice; but not a word of +it was true. In the ancient language, Doppler, to be sure, meant dice, +and in our family arms--" + +He stopped suddenly, for it seemed to him that the lady's delicate +nostrils were trembling in the effort to conceal a yawn. Somewhat +mortified, he turned his attention to his aquarelles, and arranged them +in the portfolio which he was still holding in his hand. + +"And how did it happen," she then asked, "that you inherited this +unjustly murdered man's estate? Did they wish to repay to you the wrong +they did your ancestor?" + +"You err, my lady," he said, "if you believe that Rothenburg would feel +any honor about having a Doppler once more among them, or would allow +this honor to cost them anything. When I, as I told you, merely curious +to see the old fortress, strolled through the ancient gateway nine +years ago, not a person there knew me, and even when I mentioned my +name, they made little fuss about it. Indeed, as I was born in +Nuremberg, and no longer have the T in my name, they greatly doubted +that I really belonged to them. But, as the poet says, the history of +the world is the final judgment; and what the magistrate of Rothenburg +neglected to do--that is, to meet me ceremoniously, surrender to me for +my sole possession the houses which the great burgomaster had owned, +and support me for my lifetime as a living part of the city--fate, or +providence, whichever you wish, did in another way. + +"I came to Rothenburg merely to make a few studies and to take a look +at the old-fashioned nest, and I found there my life's happiness and a +warm, new nest of my own, to which I am now returning." + +"May I know how it happened?" + +"Why not, if it interests you at all. My parents sent me to the academy +at Munich. They were not rich, but yet their means were sufficient to +educate me suitably and to allow me to go through all the classes. I +wished to become a landscape painter, and, after finishing school, to +travel in Italy for several years. When I became twenty-one years of +age I felt impelled, before undertaking the great art-journey, to visit +my good mother at Nuremberg--father had been dead for some time. +'Hans,' said she, 'before you make your pilgrimage to Rome, you ought +to take a trip to the place where the roots of our family tree stood +before they were torn up and transplanted here from eastern Franconia.' +She was a worthy old patrician, my good mother, and laid great stress +on grand genealogical expressions. Well, there was nothing to hinder; I +took my pilgrim's staff in hand and set out slowly toward the west, +sketching industriously on the way; for this German landscape of ours +was already far dearer to me than the unknown scenes of the south. Now, +since you have looked through the portfolio, you may perhaps comprehend +that the German Jerusalem impressed me strongly, and that I did not +have hands and eyes enough to note all the remarkable things. But there +was something in Rothenburg which won my approval even more than its +dear antiquity; namely--I shall not treat you to any detailed love +story--at one of the weekly balls given by the so-called 'Harmonic +Society,' I became acquainted with the young daughter of a fine old +citizen who had formerly been an alderman. She was full three years +younger than I, and--I may surely say so--the prettiest child in the +whole town. After the second waltz I knew my own mind well enough, but, +unfortunately, neither hers nor her father's. And so it might have been +a very sorrowful story, and the descendant of the great Toppler might, +like him, have pined away in chains in this old 'imperial' town, if the +before-mentioned fate had not interfered, and allowed me to cast a +lucky throw with my family dice. In three days I was satisfied that the +maiden liked me; and in three weeks, that the father would overlook my +extreme youth and former misdoings, for he too--God knows why--had +taken a foolish liking to me. It was especially pleasing to his +Rothenburg heart that my name was Doppler, and that I knew how to paint +the beautiful ruined walls, the wonderful turrets and strange +fountains, of the old fortress. So, after a short year of probation, he +gave me the hand of his only child, under the condition, to be sure, +that I should leave her in her old home during his lifetime, and should +devote my art principally to the glorification of his beloved town. You +comprehend, my lady, that I did not struggle much against this. My +father-in-law was not only a reputable man, who owned house and +gardens, vineyards and farm lands, but the best soul in the world as +well, and never failed to see a joke except when some one praised other +ancient towns unduly, or placed Nuremberg or Augsburg above the 'Pearl +of the Valley.' He lived with us for four years; and whenever I sold +any picture of Rothenburg at a foreign exhibition, he always brought a +flask of Tauber wine from the cellar and drank my health. When he +finally died, I myself was altogether too much at home in the +primitive, angular old house to think of moving. Then, too, there was +no lack of commissions and work just commenced. But if the old man had +lived to see my colored prints published, I believe he would have lost +his reason for joy." + +Becoming silent after this long narrative of his short life, he looked +out of the window into the ever-deepening darkness, and lost himself in +quiet revery. It finally occurred to him that the stranger had not said +one syllable in reply; and at the same time he felt her eyes steadily +regarding him from her dusky corner. "I am afraid," he said, "that +after all, I have wearied you with these petty stories. But you +yourself drew them from me, and if you knew--" + +"You are greatly in error," she interrupted. "If I remain silent, it is +merely because I am pondering a riddle." + +"A riddle? That I have given you?" + +"Yes, you, Herr Hans Doppler. I am asking myself, how I can reconcile +the artist whom I recognize from this portfolio, with the staid, +home-loving man--you have children too?" + +"Four, my lady--two boys and two little girls." + +"Well then--with the young husband and father who has settled down in +his monotonous, commonplace happiness as in a snail-shell, and at most +takes an occasional journey to Nuremberg--your drawings show unusual +talent, for that you can take my word. I have seen the work of +Hilderbrandt and Werner, and the whole Roman aquarelle club, and assure +you yours would make a sensation among them. So much freedom and +spirited ease, with such grace in the landscapes and _staffage_! And +then to think that this unusual talent is doomed for the next thirty or +forty years to no other expression than an endless variation of the +towers, balconies, vaulted doors, and gabled roofs of a medieval nest +which appears in our world like an excavated German Pompeii--But pardon +me this criticism of your plan of life. I am not fitted to criticise +it. However, as you wish to know the subject of my meditation, it was +this problem: can a noble, liberal, artistic soul be so completely +filled by commonplace family happiness? It must certainly be possible. +Only to me, as I am accustomed to absolute freedom of existence, to +boundless liberty, it is incomprehensible that you, scarcely thirty +years old--" + +"You are right," he interrupted, his frank, youthful face suddenly +clouding. "You have expressed something which I often said to myself at +first, but always thrust back again into a secret corner of my heart. +Do you really find that my drawings show power for something greater +and better? At the best I would fall far short of a great artist! +Meanwhile, you know Schiller's poem, 'Pegasus in Harness.' A horse that +suffers itself to be harnessed to the plough, even though it may be of +good blood, proves that it has no wings. But perhaps it might have +served for something better than ploughing. And yet, if you knew--if +only you knew my Christel and the children!" + +"I do not for an instant doubt that you have a charming wife and lovely +children, Herr Hans Doppler; and nothing is farther from my thoughts +than to render you suspicious of your domestic happiness. But that you, +being so young, can regard it as final, as something never to be +interrupted, never to be laid aside even temporarily for the sake of a +higher aim--and you were even on the way to the beloved land of art, +and had certainly heard and seen enough of it at the academy to have +some presentiment of the joys awaiting you there--and nevertheless--" + +"Oh, my lady!" he cried, suddenly starting up as if the narrow _coupé_ +had become too close and prison-like for him, "you are repeating my own +thoughts! How often in the night, especially in clear spring nights, +when I have awakened and heard my dear wife's quiet breathing near me; +while the children were lying asleep in the neighboring room, and the +moonlight was moving so weirdly and quietly over the low walls; and the +ancient clock, which the old man wound so regularly, and which dates +from the Thirty Years' War, was ticking drowsily to and fro--how often +I have been forced to spring out of bed and look down into the valley +through the little window with the round pane! And when I have seen the +Tauber flowing along in its narrow bed as hastily as if it could not +escape too soon from its restraining banks and throw itself into the +Main, and with it into the Rhine, and thence into the ocean--how much I +have suffered, as I ground my teeth together and slunk back to bed +tired and saddened, I have never told a human soul. It seemed the +blackest ingratitude against the kind fate which had dealt with me so +gently. But the day after I could never touch a brush; and if I saw in +a paper the word Rome or Naples, the blood rushed to my head as though +I were some deserter caught on the road, and dragged handcuffed back to +his barracks." + +He thrust his hand through his curly hair, and fell back in his seat. +She had regarded him during his excited speech with a keen, fixed look, +and, for the first time, his face interested her. The innocent, +youthful expression had disappeared; his clear, beautifully formed eyes +blazed; and his slender figure, in spite of the common black coat, +gained something animated, almost heroic, as well beseemed the +descendant of the "great burgomaster." + +"I understand your mood," said the stranger, composedly taking a +cigarette from a small silver box and lighting it with a waxen taper, +"but just so much the less do I comprehend your action. To be sure, I +myself have always been accustomed to do only what satisfies my +nature's deepest needs. I acknowledge no chains. Either they are too +weak, and I break them; or they are too strong, and strangle me. To +remain in them alive is for me an impossibility. Do you smoke? Do not +be embarrassed. You see, I set the example." + +He shook his head, thanked her, and became all attention. + +"As I said," continued the lady, blowing the smoke slowly before her +with her beautiful, expressive lips, "I have no right to criticise your +plan of life. But you must allow me to wonder how a man can complain of +a difficulty rather than help himself out of it, especially where it +would be so easy. Do you fear that your wife would be untrue to you if +you should take an art journey?" + +"Christel? Untrue to me?" In spite of his gloominess he laughed aloud. + +"Pardon!" she said calmly; "I forgot that she is a German, and, +moreover, a Rothenburg woman. But just so much less do I comprehend why +you condemn yourself to a lifetime of such work; representing only the +church and _klimperthor_, or, as it is called--" + +"_Klingerthor_, my lady." + +"Well, then, all this trashy masonry and commonplace Gothic rubbish, as +if there were no Colosseum, no baths of Caracalla, no theatre at +Taormina! And what vegetation, what luxuriant growths there are among +the ruins of those old temples; what pines and cypresses, what distant +glimpses of ocean and mountains! Believe me, I myself, although I am +not yet an old woman, would have been dead and buried long ago if I had +not escaped from narrow, maddeningly lifeless surroundings, and found +salvation in that land of beauty and freedom." + +"Madame is not married?" + +She threw the glowing cigarette stump out of the window, pressed her +regular, little white teeth together an instant, and then said, in an +indescribably indifferent voice-- + +"My husband, the General, was governor of a moderately large fortress +in the interior of Russia, and naturally could not accompany me. Then, +too, at his age, it would have been hard for him to forego his home +comforts. So we decided to arrange a rendezvous somewhere on the +frontier for every two years, and since then each has lived much more +contentedly. + +"I well know," she continued, as he looked at her with some +disapproval, "that this conception of married happiness is revolting to +sentimental German prejudices. But, believe me, in many respects, we +barbarians are in advance of your highly refined civilization; and we +make up for our lack of political liberty by our greater social +freedom. If you were a Russian, you would have emancipated yourself +long ago, and followed the lead of your Tauber, though in the opposite +direction. And what would you have lost by it? When you returned in a +year or two as a well-developed artist, would you not find your house +on the same spot, your wife as domestic and youthful as ever, your +children, perhaps half a head taller, but as clean and pretty as you +left them?" + +"You are right! It is only too true," he stammered, pushing his hands +nervously through his hair. "Oh, if I had but seen it so clearly +before!" + +"Before? A young man like you, not yet beyond thirty! But I see it now; +you are too fond of the flesh-pots of Rothenburg. You are right; remain +at home and earn an honest living. The proposition which I was just +about to make would appear to you less rational than if I commanded you +to travel in a desert and hunt tigers and crocodiles, instead of +landscape motives." + +She flung the sharp-pointed dart at him with so much quiet grace that +he felt at once charmed and wounded. + +"No, my lady," he cried, "you must tell me the proposition you had in +mind. Although it is only a short time since I had the good fortune to +make your acquaintance, I can nevertheless assure you that your +appearance, each of your words, has made a deep and lasting impression +on me. It is, to be plain, as if a complete change were going on in me, +and these hours with you--" + +He reddened and became silent. She noticed it, and came to his aid, +although she was apparently looking beyond him. + +"My proposition," she said, "will not by any means suffice to make an +entirely different man of you, but only to release the true one from +his narrow shell. I am now going to Würzburg to visit a sick friend. +After staying with her for two days, I shall return on this same road, +making no halt before Genoa, where I shall take passage on a steamer +bound for Palermo; for as yet I have not seen Sicily. + +"Now, what Goethe has written in his 'Italian Journey' about his +companion, the artist Kniep, whom he engaged to sketch any wayside +scene which pleased his fancy, has always filled me with envy. I am no +great poet, and no rich princess. Yet I am not so poor but that I too +may grant myself such a travelling companion. Of course we now have +photography. But to you at least I need not explain how much better it +is to have an artistic hand at disposal than any photographic apparatus +whatever. I also thought it would be well for you to be introduced into +this paradise by some one who understands the language perfectly and is +no novice in the art of travelling. You would be entirely free to +remain with me as long or short a time as you pleased. The first +sentence of our compact should read: Freedom even to inconsiderateness. +And if, on the return, you should wish to linger at Rome or Florence, +the means for doing so--" + +"Oh, my lady," he broke in, excitedly, "I would not think of +trespassing on your kindness and generosity under any condition. I can +well afford to spend a year in the south, and if I perceive in your +proposal a sign from heaven, it is only because your suggestion, the +prospect of seeing all these world wonders in your company, makes the +determination so much easier. For that I shall be unceasingly grateful +to you. It is indeed just as you say; my wife, my dear children--in +fact, I shall offend them less than I now imagine. Christel is so +intelligent, so self-reliant, she herself, when I explain it to +her--or better, if you could say it to her as you have to me--truly, +after Würzburg you must--I cannot expect you to take a trip to +Rothenburg--whoever has seen the Colosseum and the baths of Caracalla +must regard our modest, commonplace, medieval--" + +The whistle of the locomotive interrupted him. The train was moving +more slowly, and lights were beginning to glimmer by the roadside. + +"Steinach!" said the artist, rising and picking up his satchel and +portfolio; "our ways part here. You go farther north; I shall take the +little local train, and be home in half an hour. Oh, my lady, if you +would set a day and hour, when you are on your return--" + +"Do you know," she said suddenly, looking at her watch, "I have +reflected that it would be more sensible for me to spend this night in +Rothenburg, and continue my journey to-morrow morning. I would arrive +in Würzburg too late to see my friend. Instead, since I am for once so +near, I will make up the deficiencies of my historical and geographical +education, and take a look at your Jerusalem on the Tauber. You will be +so good, if your wife does not object, as to be my guide to-morrow for +a while--" + +"Oh, my lady," he cried in joyful excitement, "I would never have dared +to ask so much! How happy you make me, and how shall I ever--" + +The train stopped and the door of the _coupé_ was opened. Having +reverentially assisted his newly won patroness to alight, Hans Doppler +accompanied her to a carriage of the second class. There she spoke +several Russian words to a small, odd-looking person in a plumed hat, +who, laden as she was with numerous boxes, satchels, and baskets, +worked her way out of the overcrowded interior into the open air, +and regarded her mistress's blonde companion with a not altogether +friendly glance of her small, Tartar eyes. The lady appeared to +explain the altered condition of things to her maid, although that +overburdened creature did not answer a word. Then, taking her young +fellow-traveller's arm, she strolled with him up and down the dark +platform in lively conversation; talking of Italy, of Russia, of the +German cities which she knew, so easily and cleverly, and with such an +agreeable spice of wickedness, that her companion felt he had never +before been so well entertained, and could never weary of listening to +this irresistible Scheherezade. + +In truth, was it not like a fairy tale, that he should be walking +beside this beautiful woman, whom he had seen for the first time an +hour before; that she should have decided to follow him to his little +nest, far out of the usual route; and that such a fascinating future +should be in store for him? + +They knew him very well at the little station, but when they saw him +appear in such elegant company, they doffed their hats more +respectfully than ever before. + +In the light of the swinging lanterns, her pale face seemed even more +unreal and princess-like. She wore a peculiarly shaped cap of black +velvet bordered with reddish fur, and a short hooded wrap with the same +trimming. She had drawn off her gloves; and her young escort glanced +down furtively from time to time upon the large sapphire gleaming on +her little finger. He had scarcely ever seen such a slender, lily-white +hand, every part of which seemed so expressive and elegant. + +But when they boarded the little local train, which had only two small, +second-class compartments besides the two-and-a-half horse-power +engine, he became somewhat uncomfortable. All three seated themselves +in one second-class carriage, since there was none of the first; and +the train began to move slowly on through the softly enveloping +moonlight. The maid betook herself to the darkest corner, and crouched +there beneath her mountain of bundles. The full light from the lamp on +the ceiling fell upon her mistress's face, and the young artist +opposite became more and more devoutly absorbed in contemplating the +nobly formed features, which corresponded so perfectly to the ideal of +beauty that he had vaguely conceived in the model classes at the +academy. But as the train approached the journey's end, he became +disheartened and depressed by the thought that the rustic nooks of his +old Rothenburg would appear very uninteresting to these wonderful eyes +which had seen half the world. + +Everything that he had known and admired for so long seemed suddenly +mean and despicable; and he thought with dismay how disdainful her +delicate face would look on the morrow, when she saw all that famous +magnificence on which he had laid so much stress. His overawed fancy +flew even into his own home, and, unfortunately, things did not seem +much better there. How would his little unsophisticated wife compare +with this world traveller; and his boys, usually running about with +dishevelled heads; and his baby girls, as yet with so little knowledge +of behavior? + +He regretted intensely having meddled with this pleasant adventure, and +the storylike atmosphere suddenly vanished. + +Fortunately, he did not need to act just then. The stranger's eyes were +closed, and she seemed to sleep in good earnest. The narrow-eyed +Tartar, to be sure, was watching him steadily from her ambush, but she +did not speak. + +At last the train stopped; the sleeper awoke, seemed to find trouble in +determining where she was, and then asked if there were any endurable +hotels in Rothenburg. Her companion, whose patriotic pride was aroused +by her contemptuous tone, recommended, with admirable reserve, the +"Golden Stag," whose omnibus was waiting at the station. Was not his +wife there to receive him? He had forbidden it, as the hour was so +late--ten o'clock--and she did not like to leave the children alone +with the maid. The next day he hoped to have the pleasure of presenting +his family to her. + +To this the Russian--no longer in her former friendly mood, and +seeming, like him, secretly to regret her over-hasty decision--made no +reply. + +All three, without exchanging another word, climbed into the close +hotel omnibus; and, driving through the sombre gateway, jolted over the +uneven pavement into the sleeping city. + +They reached the market-place just as the moon was emerging from a mist +of clouds, and the stranger, looking out of the carriage window, +expressed herself as well pleased with the majestic town-hall, now +showing to the best advantage in the silvery moonlight. This revived +her companion's sinking spirits, and he began to speak of the building, +Rothenburg's especial pride, and its foundation after a great fire. It +was an edifice of the best Renaissance style, and in summer-time, when +the extensive space along the front was decorated with flowers, one +could hardly imagine anything more majestic and delightful. + +He was still talking when they stopped before the open door of the +"Golden Stag." Hans Doppler sprang out first; then after having +assisted the stranger to alight, he bade the host good-evening, and +whispered to him to prepare his best chamber. + +"Numbers 15 and 16 are empty," replied the host, bowing with great +politeness. + +"You will have a beautiful outlook into the Tauber valley, my lady," +said the artist. "When the moon is higher, you will be delighted with +the double bridge below and the little Gothic church. Early tomorrow +morning I shall presume to inquire how you have slept, and when you +wish to make your trip through the town." + +She noticed that he was a trifle cool and ill-humored. Immediately she +gave him her hand, pressed his as he respectfully kissed her slender +fingers, and said: "Until to-morrow, dear friend! Do not come too +early. I am a night-bird, and your Rothenburg moonlight in addition to +the Tauber-nixy will not allow me to rest just yet, I am sure." + +With this she followed the landlord into the house; and the maid, +relieved of some of her burdens by a servant, hurried after her. + + +Hans Doppler set out on his way home with much less eagerness than was +usual with him when returning from some short trip; indeed, he was like +an extremely tired, thoughtful man who is uncertain of the welcome he +may receive. His house, built close to the town-wall near the Burgthor, +faced the northwest; while the windows of the inn which he was leaving +looked towards the southwest. He racked his brains on the way in the +effort to decide which would be better: to make a full confession that +evening, or postpone it till the morrow. As soon as he had escaped from +the dangerous stranger's influence, the whole matter seemed to him +extremely unpleasant, if not fairly dishonest and wrong. Yet he had +already gone too far to extricate himself without dishonor. The next +day must be lived through; after that he would feign some pressing +obligation, which, by forcing him to remain at home, would prevent him +from accompanying her just then. + +Having thus satisfied his conscience with regard to his unsuspecting +young wife, he became more at ease. Yet it was with ever-decreasing +haste that he ascended the steep street above the market-place, till he +reached the tower of the Burgthor. As he turned into the narrow alley +leading to his house, he saw in the distance a dark figure standing +beneath the round arch of the garden wall; and he scarcely had time to +recognize his little wife before a pair of soft firm arms were thrown +around his neck and a warm mouth sought his in the darkness. + +As he was carrying a satchel and portfolio, he could neither return the +embrace nor prevent it, as he was inclined to do; for he noticed that +some of the neighboring windows were open, and feared that the tender +welcome might be observed. + +She saw his embarrassment, however, and calmed him by saying that they +were only some old people, who knew long ago that she was still +sentimental after seven years of marriage. Then, chatting softly and +pleasantly of many small occurrences, she led him into the house, where +every one was already asleep. It was an ancient ark, whose walls had +outlasted many severe storms and severer wars. Its age was even more +evident within, where all the woodwork was black and cracked, the +stairs were steep and crooked, and the walls were parted at the seams, +in spite of numerous props. But in order to remedy all these evils, it +would have been necessary to demolish the old structure and build it +afresh, and this the former owner could as little persuade himself to +do as his daughter and her young husband, in whose veins the blood of +the "great burgomaster" still flowed. + +As Hans Doppler ascended the narrow, crooked stairs of this historic +house, he for the first time found fault with it, although he was +discreetly silent. As he entered the sitting-room, the low, raftered +ceiling, the extremely old-fashioned furniture, and the family +portraits on the walls struck him as shabby and ordinary; though the +little brass lamp with its green ornaments looked very cheerful on the +covered table, and lighted up the bright plates and dishes set out for +his modest evening meal. At such home-comings he was usually bubbling +over with merry speeches; tonight he was perfectly quiet, and, to +conceal it, forced a continual smile, and stroked his pretty wife's +cheeks in a fatherly manner which caused her much secret wonder. + +But in the chamber where the children were sleeping the seal seemed to +break from his heart and lips; especially when the younger boy, the +favorite because of his close resemblance to his mother, awoke and +threw his arms about his father's neck with a cry of joy. + +Hans immediately gave him a toy which he had bought in Nuremberg and a +large piece of gingerbread, both merely for a hasty look, as the lamp +was soon removed again. Then, sitting on the old sofa, whose hair-cloth +covering had never before seemed so cold and hard to him, he ate his +supper, drank some of the red Tauber wine from his own vineyard, and +told the fortunate result of his business trip to his young wife. +Christel sat opposite, eating nothing, but resting her elbows on the +table. And then he had chanced to journey from Ansbach with a Russian +lady, the wife of an old general, and she had wished to see Rothenburg, +and was stopping at the "Stag." Unfortunately, he could not avoid +escorting her around somewhat the next day; indeed, he was considering +if it would not be necessary to invite her to dinner. + +"You know, Hans," said the young wife, "that our Mary understands very +little about cooking; and I myself, unless I know beforehand, cannot do +things by magic. But why do you wish to invite this utterly strange old +lady ceremoniously to our house so soon? She has not called upon us as +yet. Is it in some way important for you to entertain her especially? +Is she an old acquaintance of your Munich days? Then, indeed, I must do +my best." + +"No," he said, bending his head rather low over his plate; "she is +neither a former acquaintance, nor is she particularly old. And you are +right, child; we must let her come to us. She will certainly come, for +I have told her so much about you and the children. You will see--an +interesting woman--very artistic. Her goodwill may be very useful to me +some time, for she knows half the world." + +"Well, I am eager to see her," replied the young wife. "For the rest, +that even Russians should become interested in Rothenburg--" + +He reddened, knowing best what had caused the suddenly awakened +interest in Rothenburg. "Child," he said, "go to bed now. Your bedtime +hour struck long ago. I am still somewhat excited by my journey, but I +shall soon follow you." + +"You are right," she said, yawning heartily, thereby showing her large, +but pretty, red mouth, with its shining teeth; "I noticed at once that +you were not feeling like yourself; your eyes wander restlessly. Open +the window and sit awhile in the cool air. Good-night." + +She kissed him hastily and went into the neighboring bedroom, leaving +the door open. Then he arose, pushed back the shutters, and opened the +window with the small round pane. The night wind had scattered the +mists from the moon; the winding valley, with its blossoming trees and +freshly ploughed fields, lay beneath him in silvery dimness; and in the +deep hush he could hear the whispering of the Tauber's waves as they +rushed past the little, white water-tower which his forefather had +built. He became very contented and peaceful; this time his thoughts +did not follow the course of the little stream to the limitless ocean, +although the conditions were as often before; he could hear at his +right the quiet breathing of his children, on his left the gentle tread +of his little wife, who before retiring had still this and that task to +do. He felt as if he had merely dreamed the Russian fairy tale; at +least, it would not disturb his sleep that night. + + +When Hans Doppler awoke in the early morning and found that his little +wife, who had been busy in the children's room for some time, was no +longer near him, his first thought was of all that lay in store for him +with his elegant patroness. In sober morning light, his dwelling, his +historical furniture, his dear wife and rosy-cheeked children seemed +even less charming than on the previous evening. He found Christel's +neat house-dress much too provincial in cut, and noticed for the +first time that Heinz's trousers were patched with a piece of cloth +unlike the rest of the stuff in color and pattern. His own attire of +yesterday displeased him exceedingly. It was as respectably black as an +office-seeker's; for it had seemed suitable to the young artist to +conduct his business with the Nuremberg gentlemen in clothing which +should sufficiently prove his business solidity. Moreover, he always +dressed like every one else in the town, since, being the only one of +his class, he would have been conspicuous everywhere if arrayed as an +artist. But he had no wish to reappear before that cosmopolitan woman +in the garb of a young Philistine; so from the deepest recesses of his +clothes-chest he drew forth a velvet jacket, the same in which he had +first come to Rothenburg, a broad-brimmed, black felt hat, and a pair +of light trousers. Christel opened her eyes when he appeared thus +attired. It was a shame for the good coat to hang in the closet for the +moths, he declared. Moreover, now, when his fellow-citizens would soon +learn that they were destined to become famous far and wide through +him, he was no longer going to appear ashamed of his art. + +To this the discreet little wife made no rejoinder, but regarded him +with quietly critical eyes. She herself might well do a little extra +to-day, he called back as he went out. It was uncertain when the +general's wife would call. She would be welcome at any time, replied +Christel. Moreover, she was always in a condition to be seen, and +the children too. Those who did not find them pretty enough in their +every-day clothes had bad taste. In Russia, as she had read, they ran +about perfectly ragged, and unwashed besides, like very beasts. + +With this she lifted little Lulu on her arm, stroked back her curly, +blonde hair, and kissed her with quiet pride on the bright blue eyes +which she inherited from her father. Christel's eyes were brown. + +Hans Doppler, suppressing a slight sigh, exerted himself to smile back +at his little family; then hurried on his way to the "Golden Stag." + +He knew it was still too early to call there, but he could not endure +the narrow house and his secretly wicked thoughts. He had intended to +stroll about a little before visiting the stranger, but as he came to +the market-place and looked down the street towards the inn, he saw the +lady standing in the centre of the street below, opposite the little +Church of St. John, attentively studying through her lorgnette its +Gothic windows and ancient carvings, among which a black +_Christophorus_ was especially prominent. + +He was dismayed at his tardiness. But as she saw him hastening towards +her, she greeted him from the distance with a cheerful nod, and called: + +"You see, dear friend, the spirit of Rothenburg possesses me already. I +am even now deep in admiration of the good old times. From mere +impatience I could not sleep longer than seven o'clock, to Sascha's +horror, for she is a marmot. I sprang out of bed in my bare feet in +order to admire by morning light the Cadolzeller, no _Codolzeller_ +church, and the double bridge down in the valley; for they had already +enchanted me by moonlight. Your Tauber-nixy is a maiden of very good +taste. I have also learned some Rothenburg stories and sayings. When I +praised the baking at breakfast, the head-waiter quoted to me the old +proverb: + + 'In Rothenburg on the Tauber, + Both milling and baking are clean;' + +and as I came out of the house to reconnoitre a little by myself, the +landlord immediately remarked to me that this was the famous +_Schmiedegasse_, where, during the peasant revolt, blood had flowed +like a brook when sixty rebellious leaders were executed on the place +before the market by some Margrave. If I remain here three days I shall +become a perfect Rothenburger. For truly, everything that I see pleases +me. You too please me better than yesterday. Do you know that your +artist costume is very becoming? But come, we must not linger so long +in one spot. Do not take pains to show me the so-called remarkable +sights, but rather the nooks that no Baedecker has noticed and marked. +And as I am a commandant's wife, I will look first of all at the towers +and walls, so that if Russia sometime lays siege to Rothenburg, I may +revenge myself for its present conquest of me." + +He gazed at her steadily, as she chattered on with easy volubility. She +wore the travelling gown of yesterday, but with a more coquettish air, +and the fur cap rested provokingly over one ear. Then he offered her +his arm, and leading her through little side streets to the still +well-preserved wall which enclosed the entire town, he told her that +the town formerly had as many towers as there are weeks in the year; +that most of them were still standing; and that in war-time, during +many hundred years, both friends and foes had rushed to these towers +either to seek refuge there with goods and families, or to seize them +as points of vantage. She listened to his statements in decorous +silence, glancing to and fro with her sharp eyes and occasionally +interrupting him by an exclamation of pleasure, whenever they came to +any unusual masonry, any artistic hovel hidden away among the +buttresses, or the end of some street through which they could look +back into the crooked old town. Then, climbing up some ancient steps +leading to the top of the town-wall, they continued their way beneath +the low, sheltering roof under which the worthy burghers had so often +stood and returned the enemy's fire. Now and then stopping at a +loophole, she would look out and ask him to tell her the names of the +surrounding country places, and of the roads that led through them. +Thus they went from the dark tower on through the "Röderthor" to the +white tower, where she finally declared that she had satisfied her +curiosity about the fortifications and wished to return to the town. +But an image of the holy Wolfgang claimed her attention for a while +longer. He stands in a niche near his little church, one hand resting +on a model of the church, the other meekly and sorrowfully uplifting +his broken crosier. + +"If I should remain in Rothenburg," she said, "this holy man would +become dangerous to me. See what a lovely, innocent, and yet wise face +he has! I have always wished to meet a living saint and play the +temptress for a while. Do you believe that this one could have +withstood me if I had disregarded his soul?" + +He awkwardly stammered some jesting reply. In reality it seemed to him +that neither worldlings nor saints could escape this fascinating woman, +if she wished to cast her nets about them. As he beheld her slender +figure gliding through the shadowy passages, her face now and then +lighted by a gleam of sunshine, his heart throbbed with a strange +excitement, which he attributed to artistic feeling. But it estranged +and mortified him that she did not once refer to yesterday's plan of +the Sicilian trip. And notwithstanding all yesterday's resolutions, in +spirit he already saw himself climbing the steps of the ampitheatre at +Taormina by her side, and heard her express her delight in terms very +different from those of to-day over an old watchtower or postern-gate. + +Once more she leaned upon his arm, and they returned to the town. Then +he led her directly to the old Church of St. James, the town's only +cathedral. However, she regarded the beautiful Gothic structure with +much less interest than he had expected, and was coldly indifferent to +the three famous altars with their admirable carving. + +But she looked long at the glass case wherein the holy blood is kept, +and crossed herself. He thought to impress her by telling her that +Heinrich Toppler set up the high altar and collected the pictures by +Michael Wohlgemuth, and by showing her the great burgomaster's arms +with the two dice; but, stifling a little yawn, she requested to go +into the streets again. There her interest was reawakened by the black +stain on the arch of the gateway, beneath which a street passes through +the church. A peasant, he told her, having cursed as he was driving his +team through the place, was seized by the devil and flung high against +the arch; the body fell down, but the poor soul stuck fast. + +At this she laughed heartily. + +"You are foolish antiquaries, you gentlemen of Rothenburg!" she cried, +"and now let me see your town-hall, and then enough for to-day." + + +"Do you know," she said, as they were retracing the short way to the +market-place, "that it really seems to me as if this German Pompeii +were inhabited by nothing but good people, whose truth and honesty, +having been covered up like the old stones for several hundred years, +has now come to light again? As yet I have not seen one evil face. They +all greet each other; it is like a large, well-bred family, wherein +each one behaves politely because he is observed by all the others. +You, too, once out in the world would seem more merry and enterprising. +Now you have the same pious look. You must not take offence if I am +often a trifle critical." + +He eagerly assured her that, quite the contrary, her frank, witty +comments on everything interested him very much. Soon afterwards in the +court-room of the town-hall he was subjected to a severe test. While +the castellan was relating the story of the great draught, that +celebrated saving deed of the old burgomaster, Nusch, who redeemed the +forfeited lives of the whole council, and obtained mercy for the +townsfolk from wicked Tilly, their harsh conqueror, by performing the +almost impossible feat of emptying a flagon of thirty Bavarian quarts +at one draught--the haughty lady broke into merry laughter. The pretty +story itself, she afterwards explained, did not seem so absurd to her +as the solemn and affected manner of its narration, which inflated this +mere feat of strength to a deed of the most noble heroism; and it had +also occurred to her that this legend somewhat resembled the story of +the Roman knight Curtius, except that he had jumped _into_ an abyss for +his country's sake, whereas the Rothenburg Curtius had the abyss in +himself--and several other irreverent jests. + +He sadly acknowledged to himself that this woman, whom he considered a +creature of unusual perfection in other respects, was completely +lacking in the historical spirit. + +"Do you wish to ascend the tower?" he asked. "It is a trifle appalling, +but perfectly safe. The walls, from the ground to the highest point, +are all fastened with iron braces, so that the hollow four-cornered +pillars hold fast together; but often in a storm the tall, slender +tower sways to and fro like a shaken tree." + +"I am sorry the air is so quiet to-day," she replied; "of course we +must go up." + +He preceded her up the steep wooden steps until they reached the +topmost part, where, after they had knocked, a trap-door was opened, +and a little gray-headed man, the tower-keeper, greeted them kindly. + +She looked observantly about the airy room, through whose four small +windows the bright noonday sun was streaming, seated herself on the +footstool from which the lonely, little tower-keeper had arisen, and +commenced a lively conversation with him. On the table lay several +sewing implements and a half-finished waistcoat; for the watchman was +evidently a tailor, and adorned not only an official position, but his +fellow-citizens as well. Putting on the steel thimble, in which her +delicate finger tip was fairly lost, she took a few stitches, and asked +whether he would not surrender his office and his work to her. He was +the only man in the world whom she envied; since, in spite of his high +position, he was not annoyed with visits; and if he happened to be +struck by lightning in some thunder-storm, he would not be far from +heaven. To this the little man replied that he had a wife and children, +with a daily salary of only sixty pennies, so his life was not +care-free after all. Then he showed her the signal apparatus for fires, +and complained of the distress he often suffered when the tower swayed +so that the water spilled over the edge of his keys. Then she inquired +if they could go out upon the gallery surrounding the top of the tower. +The watchman at once lowered a little ladder from the ceiling, climbed +it, and opened a metal trap which covered a small triangular opening. +Would the gracious lady risk crawling through there? Certainly she +would; she was slim enough even yet; but the gentlemen should go first. + +Hans Doppler, who had never been able to persuade his little wife to +force herself through the narrow hole, gave expression to his +admiration of her spirit by an ardent look, and promptly clambered out +after the watchman. The next instant he saw the beautiful woman +appearing from the opening, and offered his hand to assist her. Then, +separated from the dizzy depths below merely by a slender railing, they +stood shoulder to shoulder in the narrow passage near the belfry, +drawing deep breaths of the glorious air. The city lay at their feet as +neatly spread out as a Nuremberg box of toys; the towers of the Church +of St. James, with the swallows circling about them, were far below; +they saw the silvery Tauber winding through the country, and the smoke +from a hundred chimneys eddying upwards in thin spirals. It was midday, +and the streets were almost deserted. + +Suddenly she turned towards her companion. "If two people should kiss +each other up here, could any one below see it?" she asked. + +His face became darkly red. + +"It would depend on whether they had good eyes or not," he said; "but +as far as I know, no one has ever observed anything of the sort." + +"Truly not?" she said, with a little laugh. "Do lovers never come up +here on the tower, or even people who are tempted by the lofty point of +view into some trifling madness? Only imagine how it would scandalize +the good simpletons down there if, half squinting in the afternoon +light, they should look up here and suddenly see such merry misconduct. +Then perhaps the magistrate would cause a bill to be posted: 'Kissing +is officially forbidden under a penalty of three marks.'" + +He laughed in great embarrassment. + +"I once ascended the dome of St. Peter's," she continued, "with a young +Frenchman, who, as we were sitting in the great copper sphere, insisted +that he positively must embrace me--that it was a venerable old custom. +But I forbade it, just because up there one is perfectly safe from +prying eyes. The danger of being seen might have attracted me. One must +have spirit in foolish pranks, else they are nothing more than foolish. +Do you not think so?" + +He nodded violently. He was becoming more and more embarrassed and +uncomfortable. Yet at the same time he realized this woman's great +power over him. + +"You are born for the high places of life," he stammered; "in your +presence I feel so free and light that if I remained near you long I am +sure I should have wings to carry me far beyond the conventionalities +of life." + +She glanced sidewise at him with a keen, penetrating look." "Well, +then, why will you not let yourself be carried?" + +He gazed perplexedly down into the depths below them. At this instant +the clock at the Church of St. James struck twelve, and immediately the +little watchman gave twelve strokes to the great, dark bell behind +them. + +The woman shrugged her shoulders and turned away. "Come," she said +coldly; "it is late, and your wife will keep the soup waiting for you." + +Then drawing her gown smoothly about her hips till it clung tight to +her knees and ankles, she once more disappeared in the narrow opening, +seeking the ladder rounds cautiously with her little feet. He came to +her aid too late. When he arrived in the tower-room below she was +already standing before the tailor's little mirror arranging her hair. + +She seemed to have lost some of her friendliness, and he privately +acknowledged that it was his fault. He reproached himself severely for +having behaved like a blockhead, in neglecting to seize his good +fortune by the forelock. Not that he intended any harm, any +faithlessness whatever to his good wife! It was only meant for a merry +pastime, like ransoming forfeits, and he had spoiled the game. What +must she think of his Rothenburg stiffness! And would she trouble +herself further about such a clumsy boor? + +She bade a brief good-by to the tower watchman, and almost petrified +him by pressing a thaler into his hand. On the way down neither spoke a +word. And even in the broad, quiet _Herrengasse_ he walked dumbly +beside her; although a while before he would certainly have explained +to her that the tablets which she saw on some of the houses announced +where and how long this and that great monarch had lodged during the +old-time imperial feasts. She divined that regret and vexation sealed +his lips, and as his penitence pleased her very well, she began to chat +in her old familiar way again. + +As they came through the _Burgthor_, out upon the narrow ledge covered +with trees and flowers, which hundreds of years before had supported +the real Rothenburg, she expressed a vivid pleasure in the old trees, +with their still blossomless branches, and in the view at the right and +left. Then he too became more cheerful, and pointed out to her the +little water-tower down in the valley, which Heinrich Toppler had +built, and in whose modest interior he had entertained King Wenzel. +"And up there," he said, "where you see four small windows--the house +wall forms a part of the town wall--there I live, and if you will do me +the honor--" + +"Not now," she said hastily; "I have dragged you around too long +already. I shall go back to the inn alone, for I could now find my way +through the town in clouds and darkness; and if I should lose my way, +so much the better. _La recherche de l'inconnu_--that has always been +my life purpose. You too go home now; I invite myself to your house +this afternoon for a cup of coffee. But, understand, you are not to +call for me. Adieu!" + +She gave him her hand, but after having scorned her lips, he could not +persuade himself to kiss a mere glove. So, strangely agitated, he left +her. + + +When Hans Doppler arrived at his house, he found that, instead of +delaying dinner, Christel had saved his portion for him. She thought he +would dine at the hotel with his ancient friend, and the children were +hungry. She brought out the simple fare, now so distasteful to him, and +then, seating herself opposite, prattled on in her calmly cheerful way; +talking of many things which seemed thoroughly insipid and worthless to +him to-day, after his glimpse of the "high places of life." All the +children, except the oldest, who was now attending school, were playing +in the garden, and were not in their best clothes. + +"Listen, child," he said. "You might as well put another bow in your +hair, and dress Lulu in her blue frock. The general's wife is coming to +take coffee with us." + +"Is this bow no longer good enough?" she replied, regarding herself in +the mirror. "I made it only eight days ago. Why should we put on so +much ceremony because an old Russian wishes to know us?" + +"Hm!" said he. "I have already told you she is far from old--between +thirty and forty--and very elegant, and since we have the things, why +should we appear poorer than necessary? To be sure, we cannot change +the old furniture, but you might at least put away those thin, brittle +spoons, and have the new ones instead; and if you will not dress in +state--" + +He faltered, although she had not interrupted him by a word. But her +look, seeking to read the depths of his heart, troubled him. + +"Listen, Hans!" she said. "You amaze me. Hasn't everything seemed +pretty and suitable to you until now? And didn't you yourself say that +this old sofa, where we sat when our betrothal was celebrated, should +never leave the house? And wasn't the little coffee-spoon good enough +for you, when I put my first preserved cherries into your mouth with +it? The new ones, you know very well, belong to Heinz, whose god-mother +is to send him one each year until the dozen is complete. Ought I to +borrow anything from our boy in order to make a display before a +strange lady? My coffee is famous throughout the town. Mary shall run +to the baker's for some fresh pastry; then, if we do not please your +Russian, I am very sorry. For the rest, you appear to have studied her +baptismal record more closely to-day. All the better, that she is no +old woman. Tell me, has she children?" + +"I believe not. She has not spoken of them." + +"No matter. Her silver spoons may be more beautiful than mine. As for +our children, they, I think, could compare with any general's children. +I shall merely wash their hands a little, as they dig in their garden. +But earth is not dirt." + +Then she went out into the garden, while he, glad to be alone, +pried about the room, rearranging and disposing things after his own +mind in a more artistic fashion. Bringing a few aquarelles from the +garret--which he had converted into an _atelier_ by means of a +half-covered north window--he hung them on the wall in place of the +crayon portrait of some forgotten great-aunt. He put an easel in the +corner near the little window, and placed a study in oils upon it. He +heartily desired to remove a certain shelf loaded with glasses, cups, +artificial flowers, and alabaster figures, and he would have had no +objection to throwing it out of the window upon the wall; but he knew +that this treasure house of tasteless keepsakes was too dear to his +wife for her ever to forgive such an act of violence. At length he +regarded his work with a sigh; the room did not look very much changed; +he acknowledged that the stamp of provincial simplicity was too deeply +impressed on his life to be erased by a mere wave of the hand. + +But in truth this cage was too narrow for an aspiring artist. He must +leave it at once, or the veil which had until now hidden all this +pettiness from his eyes would soon envelop him completely. + +Just then Christel returned; and, casting a wondering glance at the +easel and the new pictures, she smiled slightly, but said not a word. +After spreading a pretty coffee-cloth on the table, she took from the +shelf several cups--her best, though long out of fashion both in shape +and decoration; then, between the two plates which the maid had +filled with cakes, she placed her principal piece of silver, a small +sugar-bowl bearing on its lid a swan with outspread wings. Hans, +meanwhile, sat at the window, apparently absorbed in a book. The little +woman evinced no surprise at his seeming lack of interest in the +preparations, though she laughed softly to herself now and then. Her +pretty mouth looked very bewitching when she smiled, but Hans had no +eyes to see this, and she soon left him alone again. + +Thus a short hour glided by, and as he heard her working outside in the +kitchen and talking with the servant, her calm, soft voice, formerly so +pleasing to him, pained him; he himself did not know why. Suddenly he +heard the door-bell ring, and, starting up, he rushed out into the +hall. There he encountered Christel. + +"Must you actually receive her on the threshold like a princess?" she +asked calmly. "We are not such extremely humble people." + +"You are right," he said, somewhat confused. "I only wished to see if +you were there." + +She preceded him into the room. Immediately afterward the stranger +entered. Christel met her with graceful cordiality; the young artist +merely bowed in silence. The lady almost ignored him, and devoted +herself exclusively to the young wife. Christel invited her to sit +beside her on the stiff little sofa, and thanked her for having found +time during her short stay to visit them. + +"Our little old house is not one of the noteworthy sights of +Rothenburg," she said. "We have no such beautiful wainscoting as in the +hall of the Weissbacher house; and, although everything is old, it is +not therefore beautiful. To be sure, it pleases me, because I have +known it from childhood, and have seen people whom I loved sitting on +all those ugly chairs. But my husband," and she glanced roguishly at +him, "would look on without a pang, if all our furniture went to the +second-hand dealer, or was thrust into the stove. The best that we have +is free to all, and is there outside of the window. You must see our +view, my lady. Then you will find it comprehensible, that even an +artist can be contented with this old nest--but who knows for how +long!" + +Once more she glanced mischievously at Hans, who was pushing back the +table in order to show the view to their guest. But the lady remained +seated, saying that she had studied the Tauber valley thoroughly from +the castle, and was now here solely on Christel's account. She had +evidently intended to be very gracious and affable, and to encourage +the shy young wife in every way; but when she realized that there was +no need of this, her own manner became somewhat constrained. She was +unusually quiet, and listened in silence to Christel's ingenuous +prattle and the husband's occasional comments. The maid brought the +coffee, and Christel served her guest without any ado. Meanwhile, she +observed, the stranger's face closely, and seemed to become more and +more confident and cheerful in consequence. Then she inquired about the +lady's journey, about her husband; and asked if she had any children. +As the stranger hastily answered this in the negative, the subject was +dropped. Soon afterwards Christel's three oldest children rushed +upstairs into the room; the larger boy held his younger sister, just +two years old, in his arms; all four looked pretty and rosy, and were +only a trifle abashed when their mother bade them shake hands with the +stranger. The latter regarded them through her lorgnette with apparent +good-will, but evidently did not know what to say to them. So, with a +glance at the shabby little piano standing against the wall, she at +once asked if Christel played. + +She had played as a girl. Now she had too many household duties, and +opened the old instrument only occasionally to accompany her children +in a song. + +Of course the guest desired to hear one of these family concerts, and, +although the father remarked that it would be a very moderate pleasure, +the young wife was soon persuaded. Gently lifting the youngest child +from her lap, she placed it in the sofa corner. Then, seating herself +at the piano, she struck several chords with an unpractised but musical +hand, and played the melody of the song "_In einem kühlen Grunde_." The +two boys and little Lulu came softly behind her, and began to sing +somewhat shyly. But by the second stanza the young voices sounded fresh +and courageous; and the mother sang with them, in a voice whose +charming quaintness lent peculiar strength and meaning to the tender +love-song. + +Hans, sitting by the window, cast furtive glances at the stranger, +whose face assumed a more and more bitter and unhappy expression, the +longer she listened. When the song was finished, she did not speak. +Christel arose and whispered something to the children, whereupon, +after a courteous bow, they left the room. Then she took the youngest, +which had fallen asleep, and carried it out to the maid. When she +reentered, the two were still sitting in silent absorption. + +"Will you not show your friend the _atelier_?" she asked brightly. +"There is more to be seen there than down here." + +He at once stood up, and the stranger also arose. "You do not know how +well you sing!" she said, offering her hand to Christel. "Music always +makes me sad; not the great roaring operas and concerts, but a pure, +sympathetic human voice. And now let us go to this work-room of art." + +He conducted her up a small, dark staircase, and opened the door of the +so-called _atelier_. The whitewashed walls of the spacious garret were +covered with sketches and studies from his academic years; close to the +window stood the table where he painted his water-colors, and on a +couple of easels were two oil paintings, one completed and one but just +commenced, naturally views of Rothenburg. But she appeared to take +little interest in these works to-day; for she spoke only occasionally +of some study, and soon turned to the window, whence one could look far +beyond the soft, green slopes, down the Tauber, where, in the slightly +misty spring air, a little town lifted its ancient tower among the +tall, blossomless trees. + +"There is nothing remarkable about those colors and outlines," he said, +"but as a frame for the whole picture they are not bad. How different +it must be to stand on the Capitol and see the beautiful, classic lines +of the Alban mountain beyond the Forum and the imperial palaces! To be +sure, I know it only from pictures!" he concluded with a sigh. + +"You will certainly see the reality sometime; that and still more +beautiful things. Meanwhile, this too is not to be despised, each in +its place." + +Then she spoke of other things. But he was contented because she had +thus referred to his southern trip, for the first time during the whole +day. He was reflecting how to continue this theme which she had +started, when she turned from the window and asked him to take her +downstairs again. Before departing, she had a few letters to write, +since she would find more time for them here than in Würzburg. When did +the evening train leave? + +"At eight o'clock," he replied. + +"Good. We shall see each other once more at the station? Now I must go +home." + +When they came down into the house, Christel was no longer there; the +mistress was in the garden, said the maid, turning red and refusing +what the stranger tried to force into her hand. Christel met them in +the garden, her hands full of hyacinths and spring flowers, which she +had just cut and made into a simple nosegay. + +"You must be contented with these," she said, "for as yet I cannot +offer you any of my roses, of which I am very proud. But I myself have +raised these yellow hyacinths with the greenish calyxes, and more +beautiful ones are not easily found. I have a skilful hand with +children and flowers--that is my only talent." + +The stranger accepted the nosegay and embraced the giver, kissing her +cheek. She then walked about the garden, which was surrounded with high +walls, and, at this time of the year, had but little sunlight. A thick +ivy covered the black walls, clothing them with a dusky green tapestry, +against which the young shoots of the fruit-trees, and the beds of +primroses, crocuses, and hyacinths stood out in pleasing contrast. The +children were playing in one corner, and labored on in their own +irregular little garden without noticing the visitor. + +"I must now say farewell," said the stranger. "Unfortunately, I cannot +invite you to return my visit in my so-called home. In our castle it is +not so green and cheerful as here; and I have never found out whether I +have a skilful hand with children and flowers. But I thank you for +these beautiful hours. I shall never forget them; they have both +pleased and pained me as nothing has done for a long tune. Adieu!" + +She embraced Christel again, and this time kissed her mouth. Then, +nodding to the young husband with a scarcely audible "We meet again!" +she quickly left the garden through the old arched gateway. + + +It was only half-past seven, and the sun had scarcely set, when the +omnibus of the "Golden Stag" rolled through the eastern town-gate, and +soon afterward halted at the little station. But before the porter +could open the carriage-door, a young man who wore a black artist's +cap, and who had been waiting there for some time, sprang forward and +assisted the lady out first, then the Tartar maid, laden with the usual +boxes and bundles. + +He himself carried a large sketch-book under his arm, and over his +shoulder a light overcoat from whose pocket a thick packet protruded. +His face was somewhat flushed; his eyes were restless and excited. He +inquired if the tickets had been purchased; then hastened to the +office. Returning quickly, he gave two tickets to his patroness; a +third he placed in his own pocket. + +"You travel with us?" asked the stranger, suddenly standing still, +while Sascha carried her baggage to the waiting-room. + +He merely nodded, looking at her with astonishment and some agitation. + +"Where are you going? You returned only yesterday." + +"Where? I hope to learn that from you, my lady." + +She regarded him for a moment as if he were a madman. + +"Did you not urge it upon me," he commenced with a beating heart, "that +I owed it to myself to see a little of the world before settling down +forever in this narrow place? And were you not kind enough to desire me +as your travelling companion, that I might sketch scenes that +especially pleased you? I have given it mature consideration, and find +that you are right; that I have no time to lose if I wish to take up my +neglected life-plan once more; and so I am here at your service." + +She still remained silent, but looked away from him into the darkening +sky, where Venus, softly splendid, was just rising. + +"Does your wife know of this decision, and does she agree to it?" + +"My wife?--I merely told her I wished to bid you good-by at the +station. I mean to telegraph her from Steinach that she need not expect +me immediately, that I am going on a little sketching-trip. I shall +write more to her from Würzburg, and explain my reasons for stealing +away from her thus. A formal parting would have pained us both +unnecessarily; and, God willing, we shall see each other again in a +year or so. She is a very intelligent woman, much quicker and surer +than I in all determinations, and she loves me too well not to wish for +my good. I have considered all this during the past twenty-four hours. +Have you changed your mind in the mean time? I have brought only the +most necessary things with me," he continued hesitatingly--"I did not +wish to cause any delay. I am sufficiently provided with money; I shall +buy a trunk on the road--but why do you look at me so strangely, my +lady?" + +"Dear friend," she said gently, "do you know that if I were not wiser +than you, you would now commit an act of actual madness, in fact, a +crime against yourself and your life's happiness?" + +"For heaven's sake, my lady--" + +"Be still! Do not speak a word, but listen to me. Only first answer me +a little question honestly and frankly; is it not true that you are a +little in love with me?" + +"My lady!" he stammered, in extreme embarrassment. He let his +sketch-book fall, stooped for it, and occupied a long time in picking +it up and dusting it. + +"You are right," she said, without smiling; "it was an artful question, +and you need not answer it, for I know the truth already. Of course I +am not angry with you for it, and you are not the first. It has come to +me often enough when I have had less reason to be vain of it. But what +have you imagined as the result?" + +He was silent. She, glancing sidewise at him, amused herself a little +with the spectacle of his helpless confusion. + +"I will tell you," she continued; "it seems to you very romantic to +allow yourself to be somewhat carried away, and to perform a little +travel-romance in easy chapters, with pretty Italian landscapes for +illustrations. To me also--I confess it--you are pleasing enough for me +to find your company really desirable, as I am a lonely, discontented, +and still unresigned woman. Indeed, that you may know it--for I shall +claim no virtue which I do not possess--I have given myself some +trouble--very little was needed--to turn your head. In fact, you seemed +to me too good for a petty, provincial life in dressing-gown and +slippers by the side of a worthy little goose such as I imagined your +wife to be. I even represented to myself that I had a sort of mission +to fulfil in saving an artistic soul from the curse of narrowness, or +however you wish to express it. But I have become terribly ashamed." + +"My wife--" he said. + +"Do not speak of her!" she exclaimed passionately. "Do you know that +you are unworthy of her? that, from the way in which you spoke of her, +I expected to see a good, respectable, uninteresting creature? and +instead all your famous Rothenburg has nothing to show more charming +than this little woman! And you would forsake her to run after an utter +stranger? Do not take it unkindly of me; you have been on the point of +becoming a perfect fool, and I am not vain enough to find any +particular excuse for mildness in the fact that you are infatuated with +me." + +Her voice sounded hard and shrill, and he perceived that she was +speaking with painful effort. Then he strove to collect himself; +seizing her hand, and pressing it slightly in his own, he said: + +"I thank you, my lady, for all the kind and unkind words you have just +said to me. I will not be less frank than you; yes, you have turned my +head, truly not in the ordinary way, but because you gave me a glimpse +of the ideals of life and art which I renounced so early to seek +happiness in a modest, middle station. I have indeed found it, and am +really not so blind and ungrateful as to think it worthless. But ought +not a man to strive for the highest things? Ought he to be contented +with a Rothenburg happiness--you yourself called it so--and especially +if he devotes himself to art, should he not seek the unknown--" + +"To strive for the highest," she interrupted him--"the unknown? Praise +your fate that it has never made those beautiful words real to you. +They are will-o'-the-wisps which lead one astray into pits and swamps. +Shall I tell you a story? There was once a beautiful young girl, the +daughter of a humble serf; and a young man, the tutor at the great +house, was in love with her; he resembled you a little, only his hair +and beard were less artistic. He wished to marry the girl, and as he +had a little property, it would have been a very good match. But the +proud thing aspired to the 'highest,' and although as yet she knew no +French, she had even then an inclination towards the _recherche de +l'inconnu_. Then a general came to the estate, and he too found the +girl strikingly pretty, paid court to her, and finally asked her to +marry him. Well, there was the 'highest' of which she had dreamt, and +the 'unknown' also, as the great world of St. Petersburg would be open +to her. And so she forsook her humble suitor and became a general's +wife; and when she saw the 'highest' by daylight it was mean and low; +and when she learned to know the 'unknown' it was but insipid +commonplaceness. Probably her heart would not have been filled with +happiness beside a simple _magister_; but yet she would not have been +quite so miserable nor made others so unhappy. Of course there were +many who wished to help her atone for her error, and one of them might +have succeeded. It was a pity that the general was such a sure hand +with a pistol, and was not too proud to give a personal lesson to one +of his young officers, thus striking the poor fellow out of the ranks +of the living. But the woman, the fool--since then she has become +restless, and seeks the 'unknown' throughout the world, or--if she +feels herself in the mood for self-deception--the ideal. Do you know +that, so far, she has found nothing more ideal than the quiet, wise, +warm glance of your little wife, the peace of your old-fashioned home, +and that skilful hand with children and flowers, which charms both into +such fresh colors? + +"So! Now I have nothing more to say to you. If you still believe that +you cannot be happy without copying the old stones of the castle of St. +Angelo instead of the old stones of the white tower, and without +venturing upon grand and lofty themes, although you have scarcely the +stuff for a Raphael, then come with me. The way is free, and perhaps +long enough for my extremely unselfish mood to pass away once more. But +if you are wise, you will postpone your art journey until the children +are old enough to be left in another's charge for a few months. Then +take Christel on your arm, and cross the Alps with her; and, I +promise you, even if she is only a Rothenburg child, you could +present her at Monte Pincio without being ashamed of her. Only beware +that you yourself do not undervalue her. Always let her share your +life and ambitions; for we are what you make of us, if we are good; +otherwise--we are certainly what we make of ourselves, but neither good +nor happy. Enough of this! Adieu, and remember me to Christel. And when +your work on Rothenburg is published, send it to me at Rome, under the +address of the Russian embassy. I subscribe for three copies. I will +spread the fame of the German Pompeii." + +She gave him her hand, which he pressed to his lips with intense +feeling. Then, drawing her veil over her face, she hurried to the +train, which was standing ready for departure. When she was seated in +the _coupé_ she nodded to him once more. The little engine whistled, +and the black serpent glided out on the bare rails. But the stranger +drew back into her dark corner, and for a long time stared before her +like a statue. Suddenly opening one of her Russian leather satchels, +she rummaged around in it, and finally drew out a case. "There, take +it," she said in Russian to her maid. "You have always admired this +bracelet so much, Sascha, I will give it to you. I am moved to +generosity. I wish it never cost me more than such a shining toy." + +Sascha fell on her knees before her, and kissed her hand. Then, playing +with the gift, she withdrew to her corner. She believed she heard her +mistress crying softly under her veil, but did not dare ask why. + + + * * * + + +About this time Hans Doppler returned to his little wife. The children +were already asleep. He was strangely softened and moved to tenderness. +Again and again he stroked her wavy, brown hair, which she arranged so +prettily over her ears. He gave her the stranger's last greeting +without telling her anything more about the parting. Yet several times, +as they were sitting together at their evening meal, he attempted to +begin a full confession. At length he said: + +"Do you know, my darling, that the general's wife actually planned to +take me with her on an art journey through Sicily and Italy? What would +you have said to that?" + +"Well, Hans," she replied, "I would not have restrained you, if it had +really been your wish. It is true, I do not know how I could have stood +it. I can no longer imagine my life without you. But if your happiness +had depended on it--" + +"My happiness? That depends only on you!" protested the crafty fellow, +endeavoring to conceal a blush. "You should have heard the general's +wife comparing my unworthiness and your superiority. But you did you +not become a little jealous?" + +"Of whom? Of the old Russian?" + +"Old? With that hair and complexion!" + +"Oh, you blind Hans!" she cried, laughing, as she pulled his hair; +"then you did not see that this dangerous Muscovite was powdered over +and over, and had a thick false braid? But even if everything were all +right about her, do you believe I would not trust myself to hold my own +with her? And then the Tiber may be a perfectly beautiful river but it +is certainly not to be compared with the Tauber!" + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Divided Heart and Other Stories, by Paul Heyse + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DIVIDED HEART AND OTHER STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 34102-8.txt or 34102-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/1/0/34102/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Divided Heart and Other Stories + +Author: Paul Heyse + +Translator: Constance Stewart Copeland + +Release Date: October 19, 2010 [EBook #34102] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DIVIDED HEART AND OTHER STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Notes:<br> +1. Page scan source: http://www.archive.org/details/dividedheartothe00heysiala<br> +2. Includes 1. A Divided Heart; 2. Minka; and 3. Rothenburg on the Tauber.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>A DIVIDED HEART</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<p class="center"><img border="0" src="images/heyse.png" alt="Paul Heyse"><br> +<span class="sc">Paul Heyse</span></p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="line-height:200%"> +<h1>A DIVIDED HEART</h1> + +<h4>AND</h4> + +<h2>OTHER STORIES</h2> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h4>FROM</h4> +<h2>PAUL HEYSE</h2> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3><i>TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH</i><br> +With an Introduction</h3> +<h4>BY</h4> +<h3>CONSTANCE STEWART COPELAND</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>New York:</h3> +<h2>BRENTANO'S</h2> +<h3>CHICAGO<span style="letter-spacing:5px"> </span> PARIS<span style="letter-spacing:5px"> </span> WASHINGTON</h3> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h4>Copyright. 1894,<br> +BY<br> +BRENTANO'S.</h4> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<div style="margin-right:75%;"> +<hr class="W10"> +<h4 style="margin-top:0px">BURR PRINTING HOUSE,<br> +NEW YORK.</h4> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h3>To</h3> +<h2>My Mother</h2> + +<p class="right">C. S. C.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<br> +<div style="margin-left:20%"> +<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_intro" href="#div1_intro"> +Introduction--Paul Heyse</a></p> + +<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_divided" href="#div1_divided">A Divided Heart</a></p> + +<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_minka" href="#div1_minka">Minka</a></p> + +<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_rothenburg" href="#div1_rothenburg"> +Rothenburg on the Tauber</a></p> +</div> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>INTRODUCTION--PAUL HEYSE</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_intro" href="#div1Ref_intro">PAUL HEYSE.</a></h2> +<hr class="W10"> + + +<h3>INTRODUCTION.</h3> +<br> + +<p class="normal">It occasionally happens that a reader expecting to find the customary +account of an author's early struggles for bread and knowledge, his +bitter disappointments, his late and almost joyless success, is +surprised by the record of a singularly fortunate life; of a life which +advances easily and naturally from a peaceful and promising childhood +to an equally peaceful, famous old age. Goethe's was such a life; and +reading it, one feels that sharp encounter with the hardest facts of +existence would have lessened his greatness, would have disturbed that +perfect serenity of soul which made him philosopher as well as poet, +and fostered his fidelity to high ideals of life and art.</p> + +<p class="normal">A countryman of Goethe's, Paul Heyse, born in Berlin in 1830, two years +before the great poet's death, was no less fortunate in the lot to +which fate assigned him. Heyse's power was unlike Goethe's in kind and +degree, but the opportunities for its development were equally +favorable. His father was a philologist and lexicographer, whose home +was comfortable and refined, and whose friends were cultured and +literary. He took charge of his son's early education, and naturally +laid great stress on language, inculcating the love for purity and +exactness in its use, which is one of Heyse's best qualities. +Stimulated by the atmosphere of his home, and by these studies in +literary <i>technique</i>, Heyse began to try his skill in original work at +a very early age, and was only seventeen years old when his first book, +"Jungbrunnen: New Tales by a Travelling Scholar," appeared. Although +this production encouraged his friends in the belief that a great +future lay before him, it made no impression whatever on the world at +large, and the young author pursued his studies at the Berlin +University without astounding anyone by phenomenal brilliancy or +success.</p> + +<p class="normal">Finishing at Berlin, he betook himself to Bonn, and spent a year +studying Romance and philology with the famous Diez. So great was the +interest in mediaeval languages which Diez succeeded in awakening in +the young man, that in 1850 Heyse travelled to Italy and employed a +year in examining the precious manuscripts of the old Italian +libraries. The results of these researches were afterwards published +under the title "Romanische Jnedita auf italienischen Bibliotheken +gesammelt;" and a book of Italian songs was also presented to the +world.</p> + +<p class="normal">Upon his return to Germany, Heyse at once began serious literary work, +and put the first rung in the traditional ladder to fame. Although his +present place in literature is due to his work as a novelist, his first +creations were dramas in verse. He aspired to become a poet; not a +singer of songs and lyrics, but a great dramatic poet, whose lines +should chant, and whose thoughts should create a new era. To this end +he experimented with the various styles of dramatic composition and +tried the Shakespearian, the Greek, and the late French, in rapid +succession. His work was so beautiful in form and so faultless in +finish that it attracted immediate attention. A master's hand was +evident in every line, and albeit there was a subtle something lacking +of the true poetic fire, a certain circle of fastidious and critical +<i>literati</i> found the dramas highly satisfactory and hailed Heyse as a +rising poet. In 1854, King Maximilian II. of Bavaria, whose court was a +veritable literary academy, called him to Munich and assured to him an +audience and an income. After a time the income was discontinued, but +Heyse's works were then amply remunerative, and he has lived in Munich +to this day. No environment could be imagined more congenial to a man +of Heyse's tastes than that of the court at Munich; and once settled +there, he began to fulfil the hopeful prophecies of his friends. In +1857, his drama, "The Sabine Women," took the prize offered by the +king, and was produced on the royal stage. Notwithstanding that it +satisfied the literary sense of the court, it failed to please the +people. There was too much finish, too much studied elegance, and too +little warmth of feeling, to appeal to their sympathies. Not until +"Colberg," "Elizabeth Charlotte," and "Hans Lange" had appeared, would +the general public acknowledge Heyse as a great dramatist. Even then +they found a flaw; for, although the characters were strong and +interesting, and some of the situations were intensely dramatic, +Heyse's dramas, as a whole, were lacking in one essential quality, +action. They were more suitable for the study than the stage; more +interesting to one appreciative reader who could enjoy the beauty of +the workmanship and feel the strength of the conception, than to an +indifferent audience expecting to be amused or excited by actual +happenings.</p> + +<p class="normal">In fact, they were dramatized novels, instead of true dramas, or +dramatic poems. "Not deep the poet sees, but wide," and Heyse's view +was not wide. He lacked a poet's objectivity, the power to create the +type from the individual, the power to discern the universal and +essential beyond the particular and accidental. He studied life +attentively and described it vividly and truthfully, but he saw no new +message, created no new thought.</p> + +<p class="normal">Evidently, Heyse was neither a great dramatist nor a great poet; and +although he was a man of unquestionable power, he reached forty years +of age without having made any permanent impression on his time. But +the good fortune which had attended his youth did not desert him in +middle age. He lived amid congenial surroundings; wrote constantly and +with increasing power; and gradually attained a self-knowledge which +enabled him to recognize the true field for his exertions.</p> + +<p class="normal">He began writing novels in verse, then short stories in prose, and at +length, in 1873, he wrote his great novel, "Children of the World." In +this he expressed his philosophy of life. The man Heyse, with his +intense admiration of physical beauty, his love of nature, his utter +disregard of conventionality, his keen insight into the uttermost +corners of human hearts, looks out of every page. The reader, whoever +he may be, and however strongly he may disagree with much that he +reads, is spellbound from first to last. The scenes between Edwin and +Toinette in the first part of the book are as idyllic and unworldly as +those between Marius and Cosette in "Les Miserables." Toinette herself, +so exquisitely beautiful, so courageously true to her conception of her +own nature, and so pitifully mistaken in that conception, fascinates us +as she does Edwin, and excites our deepest compassion. Edwin, too, +grave, and thoughtful, and warm-hearted as he is, seems no mere +"character," but a living man. They are all children of the world, +living entirely in the present without hope or desire for a future +life. The existing world supplies them with all they ask. As Edwin +says: "O beloved, a world in which we may attain such triumph over +fate, over our own and that of those we love; in which the tragical is +glorified by a gleam of the beautiful; in which intense joy of life +sweeps through us, bringing softening tears, even as we shudder in the +presence of death--such a world is not desolate." It is Heyse's own +creed, this of the all-sufficiency of the present life. In one of his +lyrics he has expressed it more explicitly--"Kein Ernst und Drüben, nur +ein Jetzt und Hier!", and later on in the same poem he says:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="t8">"Das eine wissen wir:</p> +<p class="t2">Auch wir vergehen, und das ist Trotz genug."</p> + +</div> +<p class="continue">Since this was written at the time of his son's death, his disbelief in +immortality must be at least sincere.</p> + +<p class="normal">Having now abandoned his aspirations towards poetic and dramatic fame, +Heyse worked as his own nature dictated, and soon made for himself a +distinctive place in German literature. In 1876, his other long novel, +"In Paradise," a story of artist life in Munich, appeared. Unlike +"Children of the World," "In Paradise" is full of humor and has little +philosophy.</p> + +<p class="normal">But the short story is Heyse's favorite form of expression, and it is +in the short story that his power is best revealed. With the exception +of a few essays, dramas, and one-act pieces, he has written nothing but +short stories for the last fifteen years, and in that time he has +produced so many that they would fill several shelves in a large +library.</p> + +<p class="normal">Since Heyse believes that every story should embody some specific +thought, something to distinguish it absolutely from every other, it is +easily comprehensible that many of his tales are morbid and unreal. But +the best of them are veritable bits of life; life viewed not only from +the outside as any keen observer may see it, but life as the +philosopher knows it, the inner life which gives value and purpose to +this "fleeting show." He spares no detail of common experience, which +may give strength and vividness to his stories, but he chooses the +themes themselves from the world of ideas. His stories are not +primarily character studies, though the men and women produce the +impression of actual life; nor are they stories with plots and +thrilling events. They are histories of crises in human lives, of +strange problems and situations, of subtle influences working +unexpected issues. The majority are stories of love, psychological, +like most modern love tales, but picturesque and human as well. +Although the hero and heroine are separated, if separation must be, by +some obstacle in their own natures rather than by any untoward +circumstance of life, they are not dissected and analyzed till they +lose all human semblance. They are as unconsciously true to themselves +as living beings, and are not less difficult to comprehend. Heyse has +searched human hearts to the depths; he has read the motive behind the +act; he has seen the thousand thoughts and feelings which make that +motive complex; but he has not made his great knowledge an excuse for +writing semi-scientific treatises in the guise of fiction. His +characters never lose personality; they give fascinating glimpses of +their deeper selves, but they make no full confessions; they are +elusive and surprising, and therefore indescribably charming and real. +All classes of German society have contributed to enlarge Heyse's world +of fiction, but it is of the educated middle class that he most often +writes. While a certain sameness in type is noticeable in his +characters, there is no marked sameness in the individuals. The men are +usually cultured, thoughtful, and passionate; the women are beautiful, +noble-minded and vivacious; but each man and each woman has traits +which make his or her personality distinct from all others. The women +are strangely captivating. Toinette, in "Children of the World," Lucile +and L.'s wife in "A Divided Heart," Christel and the Governor's lady in +"Rothenburg on the Tauber,"--they all claim our interest and sympathy +as they do that of the people about them. In fact, Heyse always forces +us to feel what he wishes to tell us. He is never guilty of writing +about a character; the men and women are before us and we are left to +draw our own conclusions. Yet we inevitably sympathize with him, and +blame or praise as he would have us do.</p> + +<p class="normal">Heyse uses nature merely as a background for human beings. He never +indulges in long rhapsodies over sunsets and beautiful views, or in +lengthy descriptions of any scenes whatever; but he has Thomas Hardy's +power of making places absolutely real in a few vivid words. Nature +must be very dear to him, and he must understand her very thoroughly, +or he could never reproduce her charm so truly. "Rothenburg on the +Tauber" is a story of the spring-time; and reading it, we breathe the +cool air of spring, see her pale tints, live through her sunny days and +misty, moonlit nights. In "Minka," the gloom of a sombre autumn day +depresses us as it does Eugene, and lends some of its own unearthly +sadness to the strange story.</p> + +<p class="normal">All of Heyse's writings have atmosphere, that indefinable quality which +no amount of mere description of places and people can give, but which +comes of itself from the heart of the sympathetic writer. And Heyse is +evidently deeply in sympathy with every subject which he treats. +Feeling intensely himself, he wishes his readers to share his feeling, +and he is so consummate a master of his art that he is sure of this +effect. From the first word it is plain that he has something important +to say, and the reader has no choice but to read on to the end. Nor is +it possible by reading ten of Heyse's stories to divine what the +eleventh may be. He is true to his principle of making each one utterly +unlike all the others. This, perhaps, is one of Heyse's greatest +charms. Prolific as he is, he never wearies one with sameness; his +twentieth volume is as interesting and surprising as his first.</p> + +<p class="normal">Whether or no Heyse's works will live is a problem which must be left +to its own solution. They are purely modern products, tales of +nineteenth-century people, actuated by nineteenth-century thoughts and +feelings; and though many of them are artistically perfect, they are +saturated with the author's own personality, and have not that +universal truth of application which usually characterizes the world's +classics. "L'Arabbiata," "On the Banks of the Tiber," "The Maiden of +Treppi," "The Mother's Picture," "A Divided Heart," and "Rothenburg on +the Tauber," are among the best of the short stories. His "Tales of the +Troubadours" are very beautiful, but are somewhat marred by a freedom +of speech which approaches actual vulgarity. It is this unfortunate and +unnecessary frankness which has brought against Heyse the accusation of +immorality, although all his stories have an "upward tendency," and are +time to the highest ideals. No one reading "A Divided Heart," or +"Rothenburg on the Tauber," could doubt the rectitude of the writer's +moral sense, or his love for the best in human nature.</p> + +<p class="normal">Since Heyse is still living, the thousand and one interesting facts and +anecdotes which come to the world's knowledge only after a great man's +death are not yet told of him. His life has been even and uneventful; +poor in those startling changes of fortune which make the usual +attractive biography, but rich in inner experience, in the vivid +impressions, intense feelings, and great thoughts, which make actual +life full of interest and meaning.</p> + +<p class="normal">A number of Heyse's works have been translated into English, but many +more deserve wider popularity than their own language can give them. +Their great writer, realistic as Balzac, analytic as Tolstoi, +picturesque as his own countryman, Ebers, should become as famous here +as he is in Germany, and add one more to the increasing list of great +men whose writings are precious, not alone to their own countries, but +to the world. C. S. C.</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>A DIVIDED HEART</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_divided" href="#div1Ref_divided">A DIVIDED HEART.</a></h2> +<hr class="W10"> + + +<p class="normal">It was still early when I left, although the company was one of those +which do not become lively until after midnight. But a gloomy +uneasiness which I had brought with me, would not yield to the good +wine and tolerable humor which seasoned the bacchanal; so I seized a +favorable moment and took French leave. As I came out of the house and +inhaled the first breaths of the pure, night air, I heard some one +following me and calling my name.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was L., the eldest and gravest of our circle. I had heard his voice +scarcely twice the whole evening among the noisy chatter of the others. +I esteemed him very highly, and was usually delighted to meet him. But +just then I desired no man's company.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It has driven you out also," he said, as he caught up to me, and, +stopping for breath, glanced at the starlit spring heavens. "We were +neither of us at home among those hardened bachelors. When I saw you +slipping out, a melancholy envy, which you must pardon, came over me. +Now, thought I, he is going home to his dear wife. She has been +sleeping for some time; he steps on tip-toe to her bedside; she at once +awakens from her dream, and asks--'Is it you already? Did you enjoy +yourself? You must tell me about it to-morrow.' Or, she has been +interesting herself in a book, and opens the door herself when she +hears your footstep. To be so received means to be at home somewhere in +this world. In my lonesome cell there is no one waiting for me. But I +enjoyed that good fortune for twelve whole years, and am far better for +it than our young friends yonder, who have no perception of the best +things life can offer, and who speak of women as the blind do of +colors. Are you not of my opinion, that one only half knows them when +one speaks merely from hearsay, and says, with the usual irony, a +'better half'?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He put his arm in mine, and we walked slowly along the deserted +streets.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know, my dear friend," said I, "that I am a marriage fanatic, with +good reason. If I neglected to preach its gospel to the heathen this +evening, it was only from a general disinclination to speak where I am +not altogether at ease. I feared, too, that my usual eloquence on the +subject might leave me in the lurch. But, truly, it would not be the +first time that I have argued alone against a whole gang of obstinate +bachelors."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I admire your courage," he replied. "For my part, I am always hindered +from contradicting the scoffers by an absurd heart-beating; it seems to +me a desecration to gossip of the school in which one learns to fathom +the deepest and most beautiful secrets of human life."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are quite right," said I, "and I have often reproached myself for +being beguiled into discussing in prose, after the manner of a +scientific problem, what one may properly confess only in verse. And +yet certain silly speeches always excite me to protest again. When I +hear it said that marriage is the death of love; that the obligation to +fidelity quenches passion; and that, since no man can master his heart, +even the best should hesitate before forming a life-tie, my vexation at +the foolish babble runs away with my reason, and I begin to speak of +things which one regards as mere exaggeration unless he has himself +experienced them."</p> + +<p class="normal">To this he did not reply, and we walked silently side by side. I +observed that he was lost in recollections which I did not wish to +disturb. I knew nothing of his marriage, except that he had lost his +wife many years before, and mourned her as if it were but yesterday. An +old lady who had known her told me that she was an irresistible person, +with eyes which no one who had once looked into them could ever forget. +Her daughter, lately married, I had met once at a social affair; she +impressed me as an amiable, but very quiet, young woman.</p> + +<p class="normal">L. had been a military man in his younger days; but being severely +wounded in the Schleswig-Holstein war, he had withdrawn to a country +estate and passed his best years there with his wife and child. After +he became a widower, a spirit of unrest seemed to drive him over the +earth, and it was only from time to time that he made a brief +appearance among his old friends. He was a stately, handsome man even +yet. His hair, although streaked with gray, stood thick and curly above +his high, bronzed forehead, and in his eyes there gleamed a quiet fire +which told of imperishable youth.</p> + +<p class="normal">At the next crossing he stopped.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My way properly leads down there," said he, "but, if you do not +object, I will accompany you for a distance. My sleep has not been +worth much for some time, and 'In that sleep what dreams may come' +seldom amount to anything. Besides, I am going away in a few days. Who +knows when we can chat with each other again."</p> + +<p class="normal">We set forth on our, or rather on my way, but for a long while the talk +would not take the right channel.</p> + +<p class="normal">The warm, night wind was as soothing as the murmur of a cradle-song; +the stars blinked like eyes which can scarcely keep themselves open. A +fine mist moved slowly across the heavens, weaving a veil over the +shining firmament.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Bear in mind," said I, "we shall be wakened from our first sleep by a +spring thunder-storm."</p> + +<p class="normal">He neither answered nor glanced at the heavens, but continued to look +fixedly at the ground. Suddenly he began, "Do you know what I have +always lamented? That Spinoza was never married. How that would have +improved his ethics! He had no conception of certain problems; and I +have always wondered how he would have regarded them if they had come +under his observation."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Which do you mean?" I asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know he was the first to deny the power of reason over our +passions, and to advance the profound thesis that a passion can be +displaced only by one stronger. But what happens if two equally strong +passions together rule the same soul?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Are there then two precisely similar passions?" I asked; "I myself +have never experienced anything of the kind, and am inclined to be +sceptical until I see it proved in another man."</p> + +<p class="normal">"There are certainly no test-scales for feeling," he replied, "but +whoever has had such an unfortunate experience will have no doubt of +its reality. But one can scarcely make it comprehensible to a third +person, because the psychological constellation under which alone this +situation arises seldom comes into position, and can almost never be +observed as quietly as other phenomena. Even you as a novelist would +hardly be able to make use of such an occurrence. You must have heard +often enough that you novelists search for psychological problems and +dispense with probability. Wonderful people! They wish to learn +something, and yet, if one tells them of what is not to be found on +every highway, they refuse to believe it. If a botanist discovers and +describes a new plant accidentally bearing blossoms on the root instead +of the stalk, no one doubts his veracity. But a new growth of human +flora, heretofore unnoticed by the thoughtless observer, is immediately +designated as a daring invention."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You forget," I broke in, "that people wish to enjoy fiction with the +heart alone, not with the intellect, and that the heart refuses +everything which is not closely akin to it. Therefore I feel very +lenient toward the average reader. In real life he is interested only +in certain things which he understands, prizes, and considers +desirable; such as money and land, social reputation, family happiness, +and more of the same sort. Consequently, he likes in books only such +stories as deal with rich and poor, rogues and honest men, and, for a +sort of relish, with a little of the so-called love necessary to +complete a happy marriage. Whatsoever there is beyond that, is evil. +Yet in every human breast there lives a still presentiment that there +is something glorious about the unusual, about a feeling, for instance, +that fills the heart to overflowing, even to the breaking of all +conventional bonds. But my poor wise Leopardi was right; the world +laughs at things which it otherwise must admire, and, like the fox in +the fable, blames what it really envies. A great love, for example, +with its passionate joys and sorrows, is universally envied, and +therefore unsparingly condemned. They consider it dangerous, and I have +found this view sanctioned everywhere in men's judgments of life and +fiction. 'Do not destroy my home!' cries the peaceful citizen to the +passion which is breaking into his house like an armed man. And if he +feels himself adequately protected by his armor of conventionality, +more invulnerable than iron or steel, he fears for children and +parents, and the tender heart of his wife. Although the danger may not +have been great after all. Only what we recognize as true has power +over our souls; and surely you yourself have seldom encountered in this +cold world of ours any strong passion or heart-instinct out of the +catechism, and yet truly felt."</p> + +<p class="normal">"That is true," he said, "and therefore I have never yet discovered, +either in psychology or romance, a trace of that peculiar situation +which I mentioned. Once I imagined that, in the writings of one whom I +consider a true artist, I had found something similar when, in looking +over Alfred Musset's short stories, I came across the title '<i>Les Deux +Maîtresses</i>.' But no, the hero loved one and flirted with the other. +That happens thousands of times. But what I mean--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He broke off, seeming to regret that he had gone so far. I allowed only +a slight word to betray my intense interest. I did not wish to elicit +any confidence which he would not freely give me. I knew also that +there is a midnight hour for long-buried histories, when they burst the +bars of the closed breast and rise up to walk about once more in the +pale light of a starry heaven. One must then guard his tongue well, for +a careless word may frighten the timid ghosts back to their graves.</p> + +<p class="normal">So I remained silent and waited. We were approaching a little +enclosure, a grove of ash-trees, and on the seats under the wind-tossed +branches several homeless men lay sleeping peacefully. In the darkest +corner of the shaded place stood an empty bench.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If it suits you," said L., "let us sit here a moment. I would like +best of all to imitate yonder vagabonds and spend the night here <i>sub +divo</i>. The south wind possesses me."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then, after we had been sitting dumbly side by side for some time, "Of +what were we speaking?" he began; "was it not of people's inability to +imagine situations which they themselves have never been through? How +can one expect it of them, since even the individual himself cannot +always comprehend what he has too undeniably felt?</p> + +<p class="normal">"And when I now look back on that time and observe everything calmly +from a distance, does not my own heart oftentimes seem to me a riddle? +To you, indeed, that which is unintelligible to most people will seem +natural enough; namely, that the love I bore my wife was strengthened +instead of weakened by the years of unclouded happiness. One might say +that every deep and earnest affection is artistic. As the artist and +the poet bear and cherish the burning thought within them, ever +striving to approximate it to their highest ideal, so love, if not +mistaken in its object, is a ceaseless advance. But I see this +comparison halts a little. Let it be. Only you must know that I was one +of those fortunate beings who consider the possession of a beloved wife +as a daily gift from the gracious gods; and that I was still feeling a +sort of lover's devotion when the young likeness of the dear woman had +already outgrown childhood.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do not know that you would have understood this better, if you had +known the woman. Many passed her by without suspecting what a rare +spirit looked out upon the world from those quiet, all-understanding +eyes. I myself, in our first hour of meeting, felt indissolubly bound +to her. But I shall not attempt to describe her. At this moment, as is +always the case with those whom I hold dearest, I see her picture only +in uncertain outlines, although I could draw any indifferent face even +to the wrinkles. It was so even when she was living; I carried with me +the feeling of her personality as a whole, and when she appeared it was +like a new revelation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Many did not consider her a beauty, and she had not the slightest +desire to please in that way. But to others she seemed supremely +charming, and far beyond comparison with any merely pretty woman. I +often pondered over this mysterious charm of hers. I came to the +conclusion that, while the good qualities of the average lovable person +affect us at different times, with her the whole character revealed +itself every moment. Goodness, cleverness, earnestness and +cheerfulness, grace and firm strength,--her entire treasure was always +at hand. But I see I am still praising and describing. I will only say +that the first meeting decided my fate.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I immediately realized that it was not one of those sudden, +short-lived passions which I had often experienced during my frivolous +officer-life. Until now I had never, even in the warmest love-affair, +been able to think of a union for life without feeling a quiet aversion +to the loss of my freedom. In the first hour I knew that this love +concerned my soul's welfare; that I could never again be my own master, +even though I should be obliged to remain away from her forever. I +could not long endure the uncertainty as to her feeling for me. I was +somewhat spoiled by previous successes. Yet it scarcely distressed or +surprised me, when, though she acknowledged that my presence was +pleasant to her and that she would be glad to see me often, she said +she did not return my passionate feeling, and thought too highly of a +union for life and death to enter into it half-heartedly, as into +something of little moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She became still dearer to me through this refusal, although from any +one else such treatment would have sorely wounded my vanity. Before her +all mean and petty feelings disappeared, and a man's best nature was +aroused, as alone worthy of her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It never occurred to me to withdraw myself, grumbling and pining, in +order to make myself missed. After the first pain was over, I seemed to +myself rashly presumptuous in having proposed at all. I believed that I +could not better atone for this ridiculous hastiness than by remaining +unassumingly near her. Her parents kept open house; and, being always +welcome, I exerted myself to be cheerful, and to suppress every feeling +of jealousy toward my companions in misery. But my nights were +wretched, and I often brooded over the darkest resolves.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now imagine my feeling when one morning I received a note from her; I +might call upon her during the day. She had something important to say +to me.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I found her alone. She met me in the greatest agitation, stretched +both hands to me, and cried, 'You live! God be thanked!' Then she told +me that toward morning she had had a frightful dream, in which she had +seen me lying dead before her with a deep wound in my forehead. An +unspeakable grief had suddenly seized her, almost as though a hot, +buried spring had burst forth from her inmost soul and gushed from her +eyes in an inexhaustible stream of tears. In that instant she knew that +she loved me, and must die if I did not revive. When she awoke from the +dream and reflected upon it, her happiness at finding it untrue was +nearly fatal to her; her heart beat as violently as if it would leap +from her, and she was scarcely able to write the note to me.</p> + +<p class="normal">"From that morning until her death, that warm spring of love was never +exhausted. Whenever I remember--no, I dare not. I would seem to you a +strange visionary, or, at best, weary you with confessions that could +give you nothing new. I am no poet; and even Dante, with all his +display of color and sound, could not save Paradise from monotony.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Every day we experienced some new happiness, especially after our +child was born. She was a lovable child; and yet it was a long time +before I could learn to love her for her own sake. During the first +years, I loved her because of her mother, and she pleased me only so +far as she resembled her. It was, so to speak, only an additional charm +of this dear woman's that she had given life to such a child. I tell +this to you, that you may know what a boundless love filled me, and how +it never grew cool or more rational with years.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed, she even succeeded in displacing another passion, to which I +had formerly given all my spare time, but which now scarcely ever +manifested itself. Even in the cadet school, I had been an enthusiastic +violinist, and believed that I could not live without music. And when I +realized that my wife was a stranger to the true nature of music, it +pained me for a moment. But I would have renounced as unnecessary or +troublesome, anything in which she had no part. Indeed, I easily +convinced myself that this lack was but one perfection the more. Her +true, simple nature, always at one with itself, shrank from the +mysterious depths, the spiritual twilight, into which music lures us. +It troubled her that she could not find the key to this fascinating +riddle; but she seemed to fear that she might be drawn into a moral +perplexity which would admit of no redemption. It was not indifference +toward the musical world, but rather a lack of sensitiveness, which +barred her way to the heart of it. She thoroughly enjoyed a folk-song +or dance melody. A Beethoven symphony pained her--indeed, could drive +her to despair.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All her artistic sense was in her eyes. She enjoyed every visible +thing with the most exquisite feeling, and would study the lines of a +face, a landscape, or a building, for hours together. Her hand was +well-trained, but she placed little value on her sketches and +aquarelles. Her technical skill did not equal her power of artistic +perception. Besides, within the limits of our country estate, amid +entirely commonplace surroundings and unattractive people, she had +little opportunity to perfect herself.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thus, for different reasons, both our talents remained dormant. But, +occasionally, the desire to take my violin from its case and play +through my old favorites once again, would seize me like a physical +necessity. This I would do in perfect secrecy in some distant part of +the woods. When the longing was satisfied, and I returned to the house +like some penitent sinner, we would both laugh if she chanced to meet +me with the violin under my arm. She often implored me to ignore her +weakness; perhaps I might cure her of it. But her untroubled +cheerfulness was more to me than all the sonatas in the world.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For nearly eight years we lived thus, entirely for ourselves, and +reminded only by little excursions and visits to the city, that any +world existed beyond our pine woods. Then our child sickened with the +measles, and retained from them a bad throat-trouble, which our +physician advised us to check at once by a sojourn in milder air. +Although it was harvest-time, we soon decided to leave home and take +our child to Lake Geneva, for which place my wife had always preserved +a tender feeling since her school-days at a French <i>pension</i> there.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In Vernex, where, as yet, the hotels had not rendered the beautiful +shore unsafe, we found an excellent house, entirely after our own +hearts. It was arranged for only a dozen guests, and was situated in +the midst of a beautifully green garden, with a most glorious view of +the lake and the mountains on the south shore. We settled ourselves in +two spacious rooms on the second floor. My wife and child slept in the +small room; the large one adjoining it served as the sitting-room, and +at night my bed was made on the divan. The corresponding rooms on the +ground floor beneath us were occupied during the first day by an +English couple, who disturbed us by continual playing on the piano; but +when they departed on the following day, they left such stillness +behind them that we might have considered ourselves the only persons in +the paradise, had not the usual meals, in an elegant dining-room, +reminded us that we still had half-gods near us.</p> + +<p class="normal">"On the first evening I was surprised by a tender stratagem of my +wife's. As I unpacked the great trunk belonging to her and the child, +which she herself had filled at home, I struck something hard, which +proved to be my violin-case.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I embraced her heartily as I saw her smile with pleasure because she +had accomplished this so cleverly and secretly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'As I brought my color-box,' she said, 'there was no need for your +instrument to remain at home. I know a hundred places by the lake and +on the road to Montreux, where I can carry on my daubing by the hour, +while you are conjuring your uncanny spirits up here.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yet it happened otherwise than I had first thought in my excitement +over her loving forethought. The case remained unopened, and for a full +week not one musical thought occurred to me. I would sit by the hour on +the balcony with an unopened book in my hand, wholly absorbed in the +nobly beautiful picture before me. Or I would accompany my wife and +child on their walks; and when my wife had settled down to sketch the +magnificent chestnut-trees, or the white houses surrounded with +fig-trees and vineyards, glimmering on the slopes in the ravines +between Montreux and Veytaux, I would stretch myself in the shade near +by; chat with the child, who was visibly improving; and feel so +completely satisfied with God and man, that that sultan who vainly +searched the world for the happiest man would finally have found him in +me.</p> + +<p class="normal">"One morning I allowed them to go out alone, for I had several +necessary letters to write. It was a quiet, beautiful day; not a breath +of air ruffled the mirror-like lake; I had moved my table before the +open balcony door, and was congratulating myself on the deep stillness +of the house, when, in the room beneath me, I suddenly heard that +fateful piano, which I had so often cursed, sound again, and so loudly +that I knew the lower balcony door must also be open. In my vexation I +at first closed mine; but after listening a moment or two, I reopened +the door and stepped outside, in order not to lose the slightest tone. +The ten fingers playing Bach's Prelude on the little piano below me +belonged to no Englishwoman. Late last evening new guests had moved +in--so the chambermaid had announced--a French man and woman, brother +and sister. Which of the two was then playing I naturally did not know. +But from the touch, although it was firm and strong when necessary, I +decided upon the sister. I have seldom heard such beautiful, distinct, +and, as it were, mature playing; yet it had no trace of so-called +classic objectivity, but rather a very personal charm, as if the +player's deepest nature were speaking to me. I would have wagered my +head that the musician was a brunette, with those gray eyes which +Spaniards call 'green.' I know it is folly; but it is not the only one +of which you will find me guilty, and it had not less power over me +because a sound human intelligence might resist it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know that Gounod composed a violin accompaniment for this Prelude. +The purists and Bach-pedants reject it. But it has such an irresistible +melody that every violinist learns it by heart. It was not long before +I had taken my instrument from its case, tuned it sufficiently, and +placed the bow in position. And then began a most wonderful duet on two +floors, played with as much calmness and precision as if it had been +well practised. There was not the slightest hesitation; my violin was +never in better condition, and the little piano rang as full and soft +as if it had been changed over night into a powerful concert grand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"After we finished there came a pause, and I wondered with some +trepidation if another approach than that of sounds would be proper. I +stepped out on the balcony, hoping that the player would appear on the +terrace. But a new piece which she began drew me forthwith back into +the room. This time it was a Chopin Impromptu which I knew perfectly. +Since I had been unable to play much, I had read an unlimited quantity +of music, and my memory was very well trained.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Again seizing my bow, I attempted a modest accompaniment to the +somewhat quaint, but passionately musical, confession. Then came +something from Schumann, and so on <i>ad infinitum</i>. I believe we played +three full hours at one stretch. When my wife finally returned--it was +the second breakfast--hour she found me much overheated, and bathed in +perspiration.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She even listened to the last bars of a Beethoven sonata, to which I +was playing the treble. 'What duet have you arranged for yourself?' she +asked, smiling, and when I told her that I knew the pianist as little +as she did, she laughed outright. 'I did not bring the violin in vain, +after all, and if I sketch chestnut-trees by the hour, I shall know +that you are busy and happy.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I attempted to reply somewhat jokingly, but made a miserable failure. +The music had moved me exceedingly; and, although I never believed in +presentiments, I was unable to shake off a premonition of something +unusual and uncanny. I longed to remain away from dinner, but felt +ashamed of such a boyish feeling. But my shyness about making the +player's acquaintance was unnecessary. She did not appear at table; so +we met only her brother, a slender, serious young Frenchman, whose hair +and complexion at once proclaimed his southern origin. In fact, we +learned later that his home was at Arles. His father had been an +Alsacian from an old German family, a merchant, who, conducting a +branch business in that city of beautiful women, had finally lost his +heart to the most charming one. He had afterward settled there and +founded a great banking-house, that the son, who was inclined toward a +diplomatic career, might find the way easily open to him. Both parents +had died recently, and the son was still in mourning for them; but he +seemed either very reserved for his age, or oppressed by some secret +trouble, so that, beyond a few courteous words of greeting, we heard +little from him. His sister, after whom my wife immediately inquired, +was still tired from the journey, and also from the music, he added, +with a side glance at me. Her physician had forbidden her to play, but +she could not refrain from it. In the register, which was brought to +him after dinner, he wrote a simple, commonplace name, but beneath it +that of his sister--Countess So-and-so.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So she was married, and perhaps we should meet her husband also. I do +not know why this thought affected me unpleasantly, since I had never +yet seen the lady herself. I awaited the evening in strange suspense. +On entering the dining-room we saw the brother and sister seated +directly opposite us. I was not in the least surprised. The young woman +appeared precisely as I had imagined; beautiful dark hair, slightly +curly, and bound in a simple knot at the back of her head; a face far +from regular, but charming for its pale ivory-color and beautiful +teeth; and, truly, gray eyes, the iris inclosed with a dark ring and +shot through with golden lights, exactly as I had fancied from her +playing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She talked little, addressing herself only to my wife when she did +speak. It was nothing new to me to see that the latter could at once +attract even this shy and reserved heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"After dinner, when we went out into the garden, over which the stars +were twinkling, it was not long before I observed the two sitting +together absorbed in earnest conversation. One could hardly have +imagined anything lovelier than this pair, so unlike, yet so truly +equal in charm and nobility of appearance and manner. They were nearly +the same size, although my wife was stately and well-developed, while +the stranger was girlishly slight; but her arms and neck, which I saw +later in lighter clothing, were perfectly rounded, and resembled +those of some Arabian women whose pictures I had seen in a friend's +sketch-book. The brother had withdrawn; I walked to and fro on the +lower part of the terrace, smoking my cigar, gazing absent-mindedly +over the shimmering lake, and now and then hearing a detached word from +the conversation of the women. The child was sleeping quietly upstairs, +for she was put to bed every evening before we went to dinner.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'She is extremely charming,' my wife afterwards said to me, 'but even +more unhappy than she is beautiful and lovable. She has been separated +for two years from her husband, who is a <i>mauvais sujet</i>, a gambler and +spendthrift, who has already wasted her whole dowry. When she realized +that she had married a worthless man, she insisted upon returning to +her parents. So you may imagine that when her mother and father both +died, it was much harder for her to bear than for many other loving +daughters, who find comfort in their husbands. She is now living with +her brother, but, although he adores her, she cannot have him with her +forever. Sometime she will be entirely alone and dependent on herself, +and, since she is a Catholic and cannot release herself from her +hateful tie, she looks forward to a hopeless future. When I showed +active sympathy because of her mourning, she told me all this without +the least sentimentality, and with the calmness of a strong soul. But +when she mentioned that the Count occasionally came to see her to +extort money, although he no longer has the slightest claim on her +property, her voice trembled, the mere thought of the villain is so +repulsive to her. Her health has suffered under all these emotions. I +promised to care for and pet her like a loving sister, and you should +have heard how prettily she laughed. The poor young woman! I am much +pleased that your violin travelled with us. She said your playing +seemed so sympathetic.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She never wearied of talking about her new friend. I teased her +because, contrary to her usual habit, she had allowed herself to be so +quickly conquered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Only beware of yourself!' she replied, laughing. 'I certainly do not +understand the language of tones, but I know that with them one can +confess far deeper secrets than we revealed to-day with words.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'As long as there is a solid floor between us, there is no danger,' I +interrupted, jokingly. But I knew very well the first evening that it +would not be safe to jest with those dangerous gray eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For a long while I could not sleep. The theme from the Prelude sounded +constantly in my ears. At midnight I arose, and, going softly into the +neighboring room, gazed at the beloved faces of my wife and child by +the light of the little night-lamp. The charm worked, and I passed a +perfectly quiet, dreamless night. But my first waking thought was +again--danger!</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will understand why the matter seemed so serious to me, when I +tell you, that I am one of those with whom all spiritual crises +complete themselves on the instant, without delay or hesitation, with +the calm fatality of a natural law. Although it is often well to +understand one's self at once without being obliged to question mind or +heart--like the commander of some fortress, who, recognizing the +superiority of the besieger, needs no council of war--yet, in either +case, if time can be won, everything may be saved, and the relief may +come which would have been too late, if there had been a premature +surrender.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thus, perhaps, it might have been better for me, and I might have +acted more wisely that morning, if I had not regarded the matter as an +unavoidable decree of fate. The symptoms were indeed precisely the same +as when I fell so suddenly and violently in love with my wife. But +the situation was different. With a wife and child, and eight added +years--acknowledge that you find it inexcusable to yield thus passively +to a passion, instead of opposing it with all my strength, and calling +the good spirits of house and home to my aid.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Strange to say, notwithstanding this new affection, I was not for a +moment untrue to what I had previously loved; neither did I think +coldly of my wife, nor wish her absent that I might have only that +other face before my eyes. It was as if one of my heart's chambers had +been empty and was now occupied; but between it and the next the door +was standing open, and the two occupants were on the best of terms, +even crossing the threshold now and then to visit each other.</p> + +<p class="normal">"That may seem to you merely an idle fancy. It is only a miserable +attempt to explain the remarkable condition in which I found myself--a +condition not quite so clear then as to-day, since at first it seemed +treason towards my dear wife, and I bitterly reproached myself for it. +Soon, however, I reassured myself that I took nothing from her by this +division of my heart; that, on the contrary, my strong, pure love for +her received new nourishment through this quickening of my inner life.</p> + +<p class="normal">"All this I tell to you alone. Thousands would consider it +self-deception or morbid extravagance. Knowledge of the human heart is +still in its swaddling-clothes, notwithstanding the age of the world, +and most people never go beyond the A B C, even though they consider +themselves experienced.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I said, the situation was new to me, and I needed time to +understand and pardon myself. I remained at home again that morning, +for, on the day before, I had not written a single letter.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I shall not disturb the duet,' said my wife, smiling, as she went out +with the child. But I did not touch the violin, although the little +piano beneath seemed to demand it. The pen remained unmoistened. I lay +motionless in my hammock, listening. It sounded even more magical than +before. Now I had the player's face definitely before me: the +beautiful, unvarying pallor of the cheeks; the sensitive mouth, with +its full, red lips, always slightly apart; the small, white hands. +Often it seemed to me as if my wife, stepping behind the player, looked +at the music over her shoulder. Then, calmly comparing them, I could +not decide which was the more charming; they agreed as well in life as +in my heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When my wife returned--she brought an extremely clever study, and the +child had her hands full of harvest flowers--she was much surprised to +hear that I had not touched the violin. She urged me to arrange a +regular practice hour with the Countess; I objected that the little +piano stood in the room where she lived and slept, and that I would not +accompany her if she played on the miserable instrument in the <i>salon</i>. +At table there was some talk about it, but since she herself failed to +encourage it, and especially since the brother, who believed music +injurious to her health, showed no interest, the matter was not +mentioned again. Altogether, it seemed as if the beautiful 'danger' and +I were never to become better acquainted. If I began any conversation +whatsoever with her, it soon came to a pause; and she on her part never +addressed me without some obvious reason. On our walks she took my +wife's arm, and went ahead; I followed with her brother; the child, +running from one couple to the other, soon attached herself trustfully +to the quiet, strange lady who was so friendly to her. Often we all +chatted together, and on these occasions my wife was always conspicuous +for her charming gayety. She persuaded the Countess to try the broken +German which she had learned from an old Alsacian nurse. This gave +occasion for much lively joking and teasing, and even enlivened the +serious brother. He was working hard at a statistical paper, through +which he hoped to obtain a place in the ministry. For the rest, he was +a most pleasant companion, paid court to my wife in all honor, gave +fruits and sweetmeats to the child, and, in a weak, but pleasing voice, +sang Provençal folk-songs, the only music for which he had taste or +talent.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thus we were very sorry to hear one day that his chief had +unexpectedly recalled him. He was obliged to depart at once, but would +not allow his sister to accompany him. He begged us to persuade her to +remain a few weeks longer in the glorious air and scenery of the lake, +for she had visibly improved during the past eight days, and had slept +better and suffered less from headache than usual.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My wife embraced her warmly, and declared she would not allow her to +leave her care as yet. She had wagered with her that it would not be +impossible to entice a little color into her velvety cheeks, and, for +at least four weeks longer, she would use all her arts to win the bet. +The little one, clinging about her neck, insisted that she would forget +all her beautiful French if 'Aunt Lucile' went away. But when I heard a +brief '<i>Eh bien! Je reste</i>,' from her, it was as if a hand which had +been clutching my throat suddenly freed me again. I promised her +brother to supply his place conscientiously, and, although I was fond +of him, saw him depart with a certain sense of relief, as if he had +stood between his sister and me, and had now left the field clear.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yet his departure changed nothing whatever. To be sure, his room being +empty, she had her bed taken in there, and arranged the other, where +the instrument stood, as a sitting-room. We visited her there now and +then, and she often came up to our room; but duets were not mentioned.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed, she herself seemed to have lost all desire for music. +Occasionally I heard her open the piano and begin this or that +well-known piece. In the midst of it she would break off, often with a +bad discord, as if in some unusual, ill-tempered mood. It seemed as +though she began only to demand my violin as accompaniment, and proving +unsuccessful in this, found the music suddenly distasteful. Once or +twice I yielded to the temptation. But the playing excited me to such a +feverish pitch that I, too, broke off in the midst of a passage, +excusing myself afterward with an awkward pretence of an interruption, +which she did not seem to believe.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In truth, it was just as my wife had said, I knew how much could be +confessed in music, and shuddered before the sin of betraying to this +stranger that I had lost half of my heart to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was better able to guard my words and looks. We were scarcely ever +alone together longer than a few seconds. She stayed in her room or on +the terrace outside most of the time, and in our walks in the cool of +the evening, she never left my wife's side; so that I, leading my child +by the hand, often remained a long distance behind the two women, and +pondered my strange fate without addressing a single word to her during +the entire walk.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The evenings grew longer. The general sitting-room was not pleasant to +us; so, after dinner, we assembled alternately in her room and our own; +she and my wife with their handiwork, chatting or reading, while I +either smoked my cigar on the balcony, or read aloud from some book. +She liked to hear me read German poetry.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My wife sketched her in many different positions. A profile sketch, +with the head sorrowfully drooping, was especially good, and I could +never look at it enough. I still remember when, at one of these +sittings, I for the first time touched her hair; until then I had not +once felt so much as the tips of her fingers in my hands. It went +through my nerves like an electric shock. There was a peculiar +fragrance about her from some costly French perfume that she used. I +knew even long afterwards if she had lingered in a place, either been +sitting in my hammock, or standing by the bookcase in the <i>salon</i>.</p> + +<p class="normal">"One evening, as we were preparing to visit her for a little chat +before bedtime, our door suddenly opened; she rushed in, the very +picture of terror, bolted the door after her, and sinking on the +nearest chair, broke into such a storm of tears that she could not +speak. We were extremely anxious about her, but my wife at length +succeeded in calming her so far that she could tell what had occurred, +with tolerable composure.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Somebody had come into her room without knocking; and, as she had +looked around, she had seen her husband standing in the middle of the +chamber. He had greeted her politely, asked after her health, and, when +she made no reply, seated himself on the divan, as if perfectly at +home. In spite of his subdued voice and quiet manner, she had noticed +an air of suppressed excitement about him; but, owing to her own +agitation, could not determine whether wine or some other cause +rendered his look unsteady and his voice grating and harsh. Then he had +commenced in a listless way; he would tell her the motive of his visit; +he had been robbed in a gambling house in Geneva, and was <i>sans le +sou</i>. A good friend had paid his steamer fare here. He now wished +nothing more than the means of escaping from his <i>guignon</i>, and +hospitality for that night. He would be satisfied with the sofa.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She had given him whatever she could spare at the moment, a not +inconsiderable sum, and commanded him to leave on the instant.--Did she +expect any one? He would remember her situation, and not embarrass her. +With this he had tried to take her hand, and had looked at her with a +smile which almost congealed her blood. And as he appeared firmly +determined not to yield, she had gone out under pretence of making +arrangements for the night. She implored us to assist her, and protect +her from the rascal.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I exchanged a glance with my wife, who had taken the weeping woman in +her arms like some sick child; and leaving them thus, I hurried +downstairs.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I found the Count indulging in a quiet doze on the soft couch. Since +he did not hear me enter, I had sufficient leisure to observe him. His +face showed that irresistible drowsiness so apt to seize gamblers after +long excitement; the lips were pale; eyelids and nostrils, reddened. +Beyond this the perfect type of a <i>bel homme</i>, faultlessly attired and +thoroughly dissipated.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Finally comprehending where he was, and that a stranger was facing +him, he arose composedly, and asked what I wished. I had to impart to +him only his wife's desire, that he should leave her room and the house +without delay or further sensation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And if he would not?</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then the Countess would use her house-right. He regarded me with a +certain cold-blooded insolence, which, even in that painful moment, +struck me as amusing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He asked if I were the hotel porter; meanwhile adjusting his eye-glass +to his right eye.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I replied that the Countess's reason for asking this service of me was +not his concern--I lived in number so-and-so, and would be at his +service next day for any satisfaction he required. For the present, I +would simply execute my commission, and hoped, for his own sake, that +he would avoid any unnecessary disturbance.</p> + +<p class="normal">"He reflected for a while; now looking at me doubtfully with a cold, +impudent smile, now appearing resolved to remain. At length he took his +hat, murmured several unintelligible words, brought out a cigar and +lighted it from the candle on the table, bowed very civilly, and with a +'To-morrow, then,' left the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I immediately closed the balcony door, and carefully fastened the +shutters. After which I returned upstairs and announced the quick +result of my mission, of course without mentioning the parting words. +The two women were sitting together on the sofa, and the Countess was +motionless and silent. She was trembling nervously from the effect of +her fright; but this ceased when my wife, who dabbled in homeopathy, +forced her to take a few of her 'wonder-drops.' Taking up a book which +we had been reading the day before, I attempted to go on with it. Not +one of us understood a word that I read.</p> + +<p class="normal">"At ten o'clock the Countess bade my wife good-night, and allowed me to +escort her downstairs. She was tormented by the fear that he might yet +find some way of slipping in.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'You see, the field is clear,' I said, with a smile, after I had +inspected both rooms. 'You can rest in peace!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'In peace!' she said, shuddering throughout her slender body--'in +peace! And at what price!' And then, coming closer to me, 'You ordered +him out. Oh, I am sure of it, otherwise he would not have gone so +quickly! And now for my miserable sake'--</p> + +<p class="normal">"I sought to comfort her as well as I could, promising to do nothing +without her knowledge; but her distress only increased. 'Think of your +wife, of your daughter! O God! if I should be the cause--'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I seized her hand; she sank on my breast in uncontrollable emotion; +and as if in a dream, I held her thus embraced, and felt her slender +figure trembling in my arms, yet did not even touch her hair with my +lips; in that moment all passionate impulses yielded to the deep pity +which I felt for her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And so, drawing myself away, I bade her a cheerful 'Good-night!' and +went to my room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was obliged to quiet my wife also, for she feared that the affair +would have consequences. I myself did not believe it. I knew that in +professional gamblers all feelings, even those of honor, become +completely deadened. And I judged correctly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I remained at home all the following day. He neither appeared himself, +nor sent a messenger. The Countess took refuge with us, for she was in +constant fear of a surprise. The two women sat together on the balcony +with their embroidery, apparently engaged in careless conversation, but +in reality watching me. Not a word was said of that which occupied our +thoughts. When the day had passed without bloodshed, my wife +accompanied her friend to her room, and remained with her that night. +On the next day, we heard that the Count was again in Geneva, whence he +soon afterward disappeared to some other German gambling house.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will comprehend that this <i>intermezzo</i> bound us still more closely +to each other. We were together nearly all day long, and I occasionally +wondered that my wife, who had formerly known all my thoughts even +before they were clear to myself, allowed, indeed, unmistakably +favored, this harmful playing with fire. She did not hesitate to leave +us <i>tête-à-tête</i>, although, as a fact, there was no enjoyment in such a +talk. I usually took refuge at such times in a stubborn silence, which, +to any third person, would have seemed veritable rudeness. I often +denied myself the pleasure of seeing her by pretending indolence, +absence of mind, or pressing business; all of which excuses were +accepted without comment. At first mild-tempered and somewhat +melancholy, she gradually became irritable and capricious. My wife, +noticing this, often reproved her gently, and, with sisterly patience +and kindliness, tried to calm her wild moods of rebellion against fate.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My wife and I no longer spoke of her. Yet often, when I looked up from +my reading unexpectedly, I encountered a strange, questioning look in +my wife's eyes; a look such as a physician casts upon a mortally sick +man by whose bedside he watches.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was certainly ill, yet not so desperately but that I still sought +for a cure, though with ever-lessening hope of finding one. Music, to +which I resorted in the hope of relief, poured oil upon the flames. +After I had played an hour or two alone, the piano below would begin +its reply, so it was not a conversation or duet, but a discourse in +long monologues. Surrendering to this dangerous comfort on two +mornings, I ended in a species of intoxication. I then tried the effect +of separation, and arranged a climbing party which kept me away over +night. Then I felt the truth of what I told you at first; the new +passion was equal to the old, but not stronger. I missed them both with +the same longing--indeed, could no longer separate them in my thoughts. +When I saw them again, I felt the same heart-throbs twice. I was not +then so philosophical that I could accept this as something rational +and ordinary; it was strange and unprecedented, yet I felt that it was +not immoral. It harmed no one, and far from estranging me from myself, +rather enriched my inner life. No, it was not immoral, though I +realized, at the time, that it was a great misfortune, and would become +a sin if it undermined my dear wife's peace and happiness. I tried to +find some way of escape, though I knew it would be at the price of +killing or forever stifling half of my heart.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We lived thus for about fourteen days after her brother's departure, +each day bringing something new, either a trip on the boat or a walk to +a neighboring place, when, one afternoon, we arranged to meet at the +landing-place below the garden, and make a boat-trip to Chillon. I was +first. I had hired a boat in Vernex from a boatman who allowed me to +take his son, a powerful fellow, fourteen years of age, as rower. The +Countess came soon after, dressed in a black barége-cloth garment +through whose fine meshes her beautiful arms and shoulders were plainly +visible; she wore a flower in her hair, and carried her straw hat on +her arm. I had never seen her so beautiful, or so pale.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'You are ill,' I said; 'you are suffering from the sultriness.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'What does it matter?' she replied; 'I am suffering from something +worse--from living. Where is your wife?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"My wife came as I was helping her friend into the boat, but came +without the child. She was not well, my wife said. She complained of +headache, and wished her mother to remain at home with her; then, too, +the weather was uncertain. We immediately arose, preparing to get out +of the boat. But this my wife would not allow. There was not a shadow +of danger or cause for worry; I knew how our darling was troubled; she +would sit with her and read something aloud; and she wished us a +pleasant day. After giving the skiff a little push with her foot, she +went back to the house; and although neither of us, as we glided out +over the waves, felt pleased or at ease in this forced <i>tête-à-tête</i>, +neither one had the ready courage to confess it at once and return to +land.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I took the second pair of oars and pulled as vigorously as if for a +wager, though in reality it was in order to be excused from +conversation. She was sitting nearly opposite me, but I could see only +her little feet and the edge of her dress, for I kept my eyes +obstinately cast down. Suddenly she began to speak of my wife, making a +long, passionate declaration of love for her. She spoke at first of her +goodness and warm-heartedness, of her fine mind, her strong and ready +will; every word was true, a perfect portrait of her deepest nature. +Then she described her appearance, feature by feature, with the +idealizing penetration of a lover, and after I had listened for a long +while, she asked me how I had learned to know her. I then told her of +our first meeting; and as I recalled everything, I felt deep gratitude +and happiness that nothing had changed; that my good star had given me +even more than it had then promised; that even the woman opposite me +could alter nothing. We were speaking French, and the words almost +escaped me, '<i>Rien n'est changé; il n'y a qu'un amour de plus.</i>'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I restrained myself, however, and, instead, rose from my seat, +extended my hand to her, and said, 'I thank you for having learned to +know and love her so.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"Her hand lay in mine like that of a corpse. We did not venture far out +into the lake, for it was already beginning to roughen. You know how +quickly it breaks from the deepest calm to the wildest uproar; and a +dark cloud, toward which our boatman from time to time cast a watchful +glance, was even then appearing above the Savoyard mountains. +Therefore, as we stepped out upon the rocks near the Castle of Chillon, +and saw the first breakers with their narrow silvery crests surging +against the shore, I proposed to return on foot. She regarded me with a +look which strangely transformed her face, but which had still greater +power over me than her usual gentle and kindly expression.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Do you fear the storm?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Not for myself,' I said, 'I can swim like a fish. But it is my duty +to bring you home in safety.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I release you from that obligation. Whoever is to suffer, does not +die. Come! Turn, the boat around.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Very well,' said I, '<i>vogue la galère</i>!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"And then we pushed out through the angry, swelling waves, while the +air about us grew ever darker, and the houses at Montreux gleamed above +us in dazzling sunshine. Muffled thunder came from the peaks beyond, +but as yet no drops fell. As we were then rowing, we would reach home +in half an hour. No one spoke a word. She had drawn her veil half over +her face. I could see only her pale mouth. Her lips were slightly +parted, and I saw them quiver now and then, more from scorn than pain. +Suddenly she arose and hurried over the seats to the stern, where the +boatman sat at the rudder.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'What are you going to do?' I cried.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Nothing wrong. I merely wish to relieve the boatman for a while. I +understand how, perfectly well.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"Before I could interfere, she had taken the rudder from the boy's hand +and seated herself in his place. I was somewhat disturbed at this, as +her voice sounded unnatural. But, in order to lose no time, I let her +remain there, and redoubled my own exertions. In a short time, I saw +that she had given the boat a direction which drove it into the very +midst of the raging lake. Yet her delicate arms had so much strength +that, in spite of my efforts, I could not turn the boat back again. +Suddenly I realized that she was doing this with a clear purpose.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'You are steering falsely,' I cried to her. 'I beg you, for God's +sake, give up the rudder. We are in the very centre of the storm.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Do you mean it?' she answered softly. 'I thought you had no fear. +Only look at the beautiful waves. They do nothing unkind; they receive +one in their arms more gently than mankind. Look, look! Could anything +be merrier!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"A large wave broke over us; we were instantly wet to the skin. +The first sharp flash of lightning darted down from the black +mountain-wall.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I could not leave the oars; I bade the boy take the rudder again; he +shrugged his shoulders, and pointed to the Countess. Undisturbed by +everything about her, she was staring wildly into the distance. We were +already so far from shore that the houses were scarcely distinguishable +through the gray storm-twilight. Some action was imperative. Standing +up, I motioned the boatman to take my oars, and strode, wavering and +staggering, to the other end of the skiff. Her eyes met mine through +the veil with a stubborn, threatening look.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Be reasonable!' I said in German; 'I shall not suffer this any +longer. Give me the rudder, will you? Well then--' Seizing her hands +with a quick movement, I pressed them so hard that she released the +rudder. I held her thus for a moment, although I must have hurt her. +She gave no sign of pain, but gazed steadily into my eyes with a look +of hate or the deepest rage. Then her face changed; her month trembled; +her eyes closed with an expression of unutterable misery and despair; +as I freed her hands, she threw herself at my feet, and I heard a +stifled sob and the words, '<i>Pardonnez-moi! Je suis une folle!</i>'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I seized the rudder, and, in my distress and bewilderment, could only +whisper to her that she must control herself and rise again. In a few +moments she was once more seated on the bench, but this time with +averted face and bowed head. I did not speak to her again, for I was +obliged to exert all my strength to bring the boat back into the right +course, and to steer for the land. But the brief scene affected me so +powerfully, that one thought was continually uppermost in my mind--what +rapture it would have been, amid this wild upheaval of the elements, to +clasp her close, and with her go to the bottom!</p> + +<p class="normal">"The storm helped us, and we landed much sooner than I had expected. +Springing out first, I offered to assist her, but she refused my aid +and jumped out on the beach without help. She was trembling through and +through in her wet clothes. I asked if she were ill, but she shook her +head. Yet she took my arm as I accompanied her back to the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My wife was standing on the balcony, and welcomed us cheerily. She had +been greatly worried about us. She would come down and help her friend +undress.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Oh, no, no!' cried the Countess, withdrawing her arm from mine, 'I +need nothing, thank you--good-night!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"Thereupon she hurried away from me, without so much as a backward +glance or a wave of the hand. I followed slowly; I felt very much +exhausted, and went upstairs still staggering from the motion of the +boat. The storm was entirely over; a crimson sunset glow filled our +room. My wife had already laid out dry clothing for me; she received me +in her usual quietly affectionate manner and then left me alone, for I +had to dress myself from head to feet. It did not occur to me that she +said very little, and asked for no detailed account of our adventure in +the boat. My own feelings were absorbed by my recent experience, and I +changed my clothes mechanically, as if in a dream.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I remembered the child. As I entered the other room, I saw the +little one sleeping in an arm-chair near the open window. My wife +whispered to me that she had given her some medicine, which had caused +her to fall asleep during the reading. I might go to dinner alone; she +herself had no appetite, and would content herself with a cup of tea.</p> + +<p class="normal">"So I went down, although I also would have preferred to remain away +from the table. I had no wish to sit alone opposite Lucile. But this +ordeal was spared me. She too remained in her chamber. I did not speak +a word during the lengthy dinner. I usually smoked my after-dinner +cigar in the garden. By doing so I did not separate myself from the +women, but could chat back and forth with them; for though of late both +had been together, the Countess usually sat at her window or on the +terrace, and my wife on the balcony above. Tonight, balcony and terrace +were empty, and I soon withdrew to the most remote part of the garden.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I would lie if I should say that I had seriously considered my +condition. I endured it that was all. I had a definite feeling that +things could not remain so; that something must happen, be decided, or +expressed, if I were not to be stifled by the suppression. But what the +something would be I could not imagine. My cigar had long gone out; yet +I remained on the parapet of the little pavilion and gazed out over the +dusky surface of the lake, which appeared like some vast, metallic +mirror framed in black mountains. Not till the first stars began to +glimmer forth could I decide to return to the house. For the first +time, the thought of meeting my wife was painful to me. Therefore it +was an actual relief when, knocking gently at her door, I heard instead +of 'Come in!' the whispered request not to enter then; she had just put +the little one to bed and did not wish to disturb her. She bade me +good-night. So for the present I was alone with my troubled soul.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I lighted the lamp and attempted to read. The letters danced before my +eyes. I took up my wife's portfolio and looked at her drawings leaf by +leaf; but when I came to the portrait sketch I closed the folio +hastily, as if I had caught myself entering upon forbidden paths. Then, +for a long while, I sat perfectly passive before my writing-table with +my head resting on my hand, and sank ever deeper into an abyss of +hopeless wishes, sorrows, and self-reproaches.</p> + +<p class="normal">"By and by the door was opened softly, and my wife entered. She had on +her night-cap, but was otherwise completely dressed. Evidently in the +act of going to bed she had suddenly resolved on something else.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Her face was unusually pale; her beautiful eyes glistened strangely as +if a slight shower of tears had passed over them. A certain air of +timidity made her seem ten years younger, indeed, almost girlish. I had +never felt so clearly what a treasure she was to me.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I shall not trouble you long,' she said, 'but I must talk with you. +Perhaps we shall both sleep better.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She seated herself with her back toward the open balcony-door.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Shall I close the window?' I asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Why? It is nothing secret. I could say it as well before a third +person. It has been clear and comprehensible to you yourself for a long +time.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'What?' I asked, looking past her out into the night.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'That you love her. One can see it easily enough. And she too is no +longer an inexperienced child. I would only like to know if you have +told her, and how she received it.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I sat before her as if in a spiritual swoon, or as when one dreams of +being almost naked in a gorgeous company, and would perish for shame.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'How can you imagine----' I stammered.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'It has not been easy for me,' she continued with a sad smile; 'but it +will not be otherwise, because I wish it so. I saw it coming, and had +time enough to become used to it, if it is ever possible to accustom +one's self to certain experiences. It is always best not to close the +eyes and seal the lips when people love each other. And you love me +yet, I know, in spite of everything.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Thank you for those words!' I exclaimed, and rushed to take her in my +arms. But she repelled me with gentle firmness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'No, stay there,' she said; 'we will talk it over calmly. I am no +heroine, and this discussion is very hard for me. But tell me.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I assured her, on my honor, that no word had passed my lips which +could have betrayed the state of my feelings. Then I told her, even to +the smallest detail, all that had happened on the lake that day, and +also everything which I had felt.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I suspected something of the sort,' she replied quietly. 'She avoided +my eye, and you--you had no thought for our child. It is a passion; +that we cannot hide from ourselves. You will not think me so childish +as to surrender to a miserable jealousy, overwhelm you with reproaches, +or make any scene which might show our friend how much harm she has +done me. Can I blame you for loving her? She is so lovable, that I +myself, even yet, love her as an only sister. It does not surprise me. +I knew it at the first sight of her charming face. If, in spite of +that, I did nothing to keep her away from us, indeed, rather brought +her into closer intimacy, it was because I have always considered that +old proverb--'Out of sight, out of mind--' perfectly false. No, the +absent are preferred to all present people; our hearts idealize them; +love and longing grow with separation. I hoped that the first witchery +would be paled and effaced by frequent meeting. It has certainly +happened otherwise, and the future is very dark to me.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Let us go away!' I said. 'We could pack this evening and go to +Lausanne tomorrow at dawn. I promise you, this sickness will leave my +blood with change of air.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She shook her head gently.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Out of sight, <i>in</i> mind,' she said. 'Yes, even if it were only a +whim; you a light-minded, fickle-hearted man, and she a pretty theatre +princess. But consider how everything about her touches you--her +unhappiness, her loneliness, the nobility of her whole character, and +her music. At the first sound of a violin you would live it all over +again. No, my dear friend, we dare not flee, and I dare not appear +cowardly in your eyes. I am not so. I know that we are too firmly +united to be parted by any power whatever. But I am not so high-minded +that I can share you with another. I would rather die!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"We sat facing each other in sorrowful silence. I felt that any word, +any assurance of my good faith, would be trivial, a desecration of the +situation which she regarded so purely and nobly. At length she arose.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I feel much better now,' she said, smiling with an indescribably +brave and beautiful expression. 'Do not think any more about it. Good +counsel comes in the night. But promise that you will keep your +confidence in me, and that you will never hide anything for fear of +hurting me. The concealment itself would pain me. Are we not human, and +therefore poor creatures unable to master our own hearts? No one is +responsible for his inclinations, but only for his deeds. And you, I +know, will never do anything which could really divide us. Good-night!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She gave me her hand. I wanted to take the noble woman in my arms; +but, retreating, she bade me farewell with her eyes, and disappeared +into her room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can imagine that I fell asleep late. But this time it was not +because of the fever of an unreasoning, godless passion, like that +which had kept me dreamily half-awake for so many nights. The clear, +quiet words which I had just heard dropped upon my burning wound like a +powerful balsam. I felt myself already in a sort of convalescence, +because of whose great charm I could not sleep. I could scarcely +conceive how any other woman than my own wife could ever have gained +power over me. More than once I longed to steal into her chamber, kneel +by her bedside, and, if she awoke, declare my love to her. But I was +forced to remember that she had pushed me away, and that my warmest +protestations might perhaps find no belief. Thinking thus, I finally +fell asleep.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I awoke before sunrise. You know that, on that shore, it is day some +time before the sun appears above the Dent-du-Midi. Downstairs, all was +already awake and astir. In the neighboring room nothing was moving. +She, too, did not close her eyes till late, and needs the morning +sleep, thought I.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I myself felt impelled to go out. I dressed noiselessly and +stepped softly down stairs. I longed for a bath in the lake; the blood +was burning in my veins. As I came down and approached her door, I saw +that it stood ajar; and within, seated upon a chair in the middle of +the room, and surrounded by locked trunks, I saw Lucile herself, her +bill and its amount in gold lying on the table before her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Involuntarily I stood still. At the same instant she glanced up and +recognized me. I crossed the threshold in intense excitement.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'You intend to go away, Countess?' I exclaimed; 'why this sudden +decision?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'My brother telegraphed for me last evening,' she said hurriedly, +without looking at me. 'He is worried about the affair with the Count, +which I did not conceal from him. He wishes me to come at once to +Paris--he is perfectly right--it is best in every respect--'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She stopped and bent over a small satchel in her lap. I went to the +piano and lingered some music lying on it, merely to make a noise. If +it remained so still, I feared that she would hear my heart beat. I +could not speak a word.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Remember me to your wife,' I heard her say. 'It is so early--she must +be asleep--I will not disturb her to say good-by. I shall write to her +from Paris--meanwhile, tell her--'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She faltered again. Her voice sounded so timid and humble, she was so +perfect a picture of contrition and helplessness as she sat there, +afraid to look up, that I could not bear to let her suffer alone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I turned quickly toward her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Shall we seek to deceive each other at this hour?' I said. 'It is +generous of you, but it shames me too much. I know why you wish to +leave us so suddenly; your brother has nothing to do with it; no, there +shall be no falsehood between us. I alone drive you away. You know that +I love you passionately. Listen to me patiently; I shall say nothing +unworthy of either of us. We three know it, therefore we can no longer +remain together. No one has been to blame. You esteem my wife too +highly, and me also--I know that you are my friend--to wish to bring +any trouble into our lives. Nothing is changed between my wife and me, +we live for each other as always before; but you are right, one should +not presume on such good fortune, and in time, even with the purest +intentions--'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do not know what more I said. I was looking down at her, and I can +see her head before me even yet, the narrow white part in the curly, +blue-black hair, and at the neck, the simple, heavy knot with a silver +pin. I saw that her bosom heaved painfully, and that the small hands on +the satchel trembled slightly. But I could not see her face.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Suddenly she looked up, and her eyes as they met mine were full of +gratitude, but streaming with tears.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Lucile!' I cried, and falling on my knees before her, I drew her head +down with my hands. 'Farewell!' I stammered. She did not speak. I +pressed my lips to both her eyes, then tore myself away and fled from +the room. I hastened out of the house, down the nearest street, and up +the steep road toward Montreux. About half way there was a bench +standing against a vineyard wall. Halting there, I remained seated for +awhile with my eyes closed, in that stupefied state between pain and +pleasure, which usually comes to one who has done his duty at the cost +of a deep heart's need, or has renounced forbidden fruit.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The morning remained sunless; a strong south wind wrapped the Savoyard +mountains in mist, and at length a slight rain began to fall. Looking +around, I saw the steamer which had landed at Vernex already well on +its way toward Vevey. I vainly strained my eyes to discover, among the +figures wrapped in rain-cloaks on the forward deck, her who was leaving +me forever. Then I slowly retraced my steps to the house, intending to +tell my wife of what had happened. But, first, I could not resist +entering the small salon below, for the door was still open.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The traces of a hasty departure were still visible--torn bills, +flowers withered and scattered, and on the piano-stool a single sheet +of music torn through the centre. I picked it up. It was the first +music I had heard from the little piano, that prelude through which we +had learned to know each other--<i>Galeotto fu il libro</i>! It was a +sorrowful hour indeed when she vented her defiance and misery on the +innocent music. I carefully pocketed it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then I went upstairs. Still no sound from my wife's sleeping-room. +Finally I knocked softly at the door, and when no one answered, entered +the room. Neither mother nor child were to be seen; the windows were +open; hats and wraps had disappeared.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do not know why this seemed so strange to me. Nothing was more +natural than that they should start on their morning walk when they +failed to find me. I called the chambermaid; she had seen my wife and +child going in the direction of Chillon; she had received no message +for me. As it had begun to rain, I imagined they would soon return, and +decided to wait for them. But I could not endure this half an hour.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I strode down the street which, following the shore, between houses +and vineyards, leads to Chillon. At every bend in the road I expected +to see them. Each time I was disappointed. Finally reaching the isle of +Chillon, I asked the guard on the bridge if a lady and child had gone +into the castle. Excepting a few Englishmen, there had been no visitors +during the whole morning. I shall not attempt to describe my feelings +at this information. Immediately turning about, I returned in half the +usual time. Drenched, exhausted, and feverishly excited, I once more +reached the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dinner-time was past, and they had not arrived.</p> + +<p class="normal">"For the time being I was incapable of going out and renewing my search +for the fugitives. I searched her chamber and my own, her desk, each of +her trunks and boxes, in the hope--or rather in the fear--of finding a +note which might give some clue to this mysterious disappearance. I +found nothing. That completely disheartened me. I stretched myself on a +sofa, and for a full hour was tormented by the most incredibly horrible +fancies, and suffered the bitterest distress in my poor soul, a +purgatory wherein I richly expiated my sins.</p> + +<p class="normal">"At length I arose.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was about two o'clock, and the rain was lighter. Although I felt +lame and exhausted, I nevertheless resolved to go out again and search +in the direction of Montreux, where she had often sketched. Perhaps the +rain had surprised her there, and for the child's sake she had taken +shelter under some hospitable roof until the rain should cease.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Just as I was ready to go, the door opened, and a man in a coachman's +blouse entered. He asked my name, and gave me a note. She wrote from +Vevey, whence the man had just come in his wagon. She had suddenly +decided that morning to carry out her plan, and visit the principal of +the <i>pension</i> where she had lived as a girl. She begged me to excuse +her for not informing me before. She would tell me about it when she +saw me. She meant to remain there for the night; the room which she had +formerly occupied was empty, and she wished to sleep once more in the +bed where she had dreamed her girlish dreams, and to show the child all +the places which were dear to her in her youth. She would return next +day.</p> + +<p class="normal">"While I was reading, the messenger related in his <i>patois</i> a rambling +story about a Fräulein from the <i>pension</i> whom he was obliged to take +to Vevey, and about the strange lady who had given him the note just as +he was harnessing; and now he must go. I listened with little +attention, gave the man his fee, and was once more alone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I could not believe it had happened so accidentally. I recognized a +little stratagem of my wife's, a ruse to make me feel what it meant +when she failed me. 'Out of sight, in mind' was indeed her maxim. She +proved it only too cruelly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I did not wish to prolong my penance unnecessarily. It was two hours +before another steamer left. The railroad was then only a subject for +conversation. Little time would be gained by taking a carriage, and I +knew that the slow movement would madden me.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To be brief, I arrived in Vevey about seven o'clock, and was at once +driven to the <i>pension</i>. They sent me into the garden. It had become a +perfectly clear and beautiful evening, and although the sun had +long since set, the light was still so strong that one could read +out-of-doors. I saw the fugitives in the distance. My dear child ran to +meet me with a cry of joy, and threw herself as impetuously about my +neck as if she suspected what suffering the separation had caused me. +My wife approached more slowly, for she was walking with the old +directress; but her face wore a most loving expression, and she blushed +slightly, as if ashamed of being caught in a trick. She presented me to +her old friend, an excellent little spinster with snow-white hair, +merry black eyes, and an obstinately black and visible mustache. I went +the rounds of the house and garden, saw all the historical places, and, +finally, my wife's narrow, neat little room, where a bed for the child +had just been made on the sofa. It was then vacation, and most of the +scholars were visiting their parents. I was invited to dine; but +although we remained by ourselves and chatted about many things, what +had taken place in the morning was not once mentioned. When I departed +at nine o'clock, intending to spend the night in a hotel, my wife +pressed my hand warmly, yet, at the same time, with a look which +forbade any further tenderness--I remained in uncertainty whether out +of respect for the half-cloister-like house-customs or from another +reason.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I brooded over it for a time. But I was so extremely tired by my hard +day, that I fell asleep almost instantly in my cheerless hotel room, +and was awakened by the morning sun.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We took a carriage to return to Vernex. Since our little daughter sat +opposite us, any expression of deep feeling was of course impossible. +On arriving at the house, the child at once ran out into the garden +with a playfellow. We two ascended the stairs, passing our friend's +empty apartment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I have regards for you,' I said; 'she went away early yesterday +morning. She will write to you from Paris.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"My wife looked at me with a charming smile, half shy and half roguish.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I too have a greeting for you,' she said; 'at any rate, the last +hand-clasp, after we had embraced three times, was certainly intended +for you. But the letter from Paris will be omitted. We made no +arrangements for a correspondence. Yes,' she continued, as I looked +wonderingly at her, 'I do not have fine ears in vain. I heard very +plainly how my lord and master paid his morning call below, and knew +from the unusual stir and movement that her departure was decided upon. +I wished to accompany her a little distance. Why should we part so +silently and secretly? Did we think unkindly of each other? I, at +least, was not vexed because she found you lovable; she shared that +weakness with me. And how could she help it that I had met you first? +For a moment I even thought of begging her to remain. But that would +have been a foolish challenge to fate. But I sat by her side as far as +Vevey, and we explained ourselves as well as we could without calling +things by name. Are you satisfied with me?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She held out her hand. I took it somewhat hesitatingly. 'If you were +only satisfied with me!' I exclaimed. 'I found her miserably unhappy, +as if she had done something for which she could never forgive herself. +It seemed unknightly to let her believe that I was cold to her feeling. +So I expressed myself, and truly, called things by their right names. +Indeed, at the last, I kissed her on both eyes, and she suffered it. +This is all I have on my conscience.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'It is little--and yet, quite enough,' she replied softly; 'let us +speak of it no more.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"And so it was. Indeed, I not only ceased to speak of her, but in an +unexpectedly short time forgot to think of her. Many things aided me in +this. I was hastily called home by a letter from my inspector, for my +presence on the estate had become imperative. Then came an early winter +which brought me many cares, since I was occupied with the purchase of +a small neighboring estate. In these cares of house and field, my wife, +with her prudent forethought and encouraging cheerfulness, was of the +greatest assistance, and no one, seeing us together, would have +suspected any change in our admirably sympathetic life. And yet there +was a change.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A sword lay between us, invisible, but not unfelt.</p> + +<p class="normal">"At first I bore it calmly, when she quietly but firmly resisted any +show of tenderness on my part. In other ways she was not cold or +distant towards me; in fact, her loving care increased, and she +constantly endeavored to fulfill even my unexpressed wishes. But a +certain shy reserve never left her. When I finally asked if my presence +was distasteful to her, or if she wished to punish me by denying these +innocent caresses, she shook her head earnestly and blushed like a +girl.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I am not sure that you will understand me,' she said. 'But it seems +to me as if we were never alone, as if some one else were looking in on +our privacy, and even you--it seems as if you saw me and another at the +same time. Let us wait awhile. We shall somehow succeed in being alone +again.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"The winter and part of the summer passed by. The letter from Paris did +not come. Politics were added to my usual occupations, and my head was +full of symbols and party programmes. When, now and then, I had time to +observe my inner self, I found only one of the two heart-chambers +occupied, and that one filled with the most ardent love. The other was +as empty and musty as a room which has not been aired or opened to the +sun for a long time. On the wall hung a picture whose frame was dusty +and whose colors were faded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was scarcely surprised that this had happened so quickly. In the +strange second courtship in which I was living with my wife, my +passionate nature was completely engrossed by distress at our +estrangement. But I knew that she was not to be won 'with prayers, and +with whinings, and with self-exalting pains.' Perhaps another dream +will come to your aid, thought I. The transformation occurred in the +daytime, however.</p> + +<p class="normal">"One morning we were sitting at breakfast alone, for the child had a +study hour with the pastor. Among the papers which we were looking over +was a French one, which a neighbor received and shared with us. I was +glancing mechanically down the columns, when my eyes suddenly fastened +on a name.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Look!' said I; 'at length we have the explanation of the missing +Parisian letter. Have you read it?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She looked at me searchingly, but did not reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'In court circles they are talking of the betrothal of the Duke of C. +to the beautiful Countess Lucile of ----, who, as is well known, enjoys +the intimacy of the imperial court, and whose husband met such a sad +end three months ago after a great loss in play at Monaco. They say the +empress has given the bride a magnificent ornament, and so on. I own,' +I added, 'that no news has given me greater pleasure for a long time. +Poor Lucile! She certainly deserved imperial reparation for her +sorrowful youth.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"My wife still remained silent. Then, rising, she came and threw her +arms around me, and kissed me on both cheeks. 'I have known it since +yesterday,' she said. 'Will you believe that I was weak enough to fear +how you might receive it?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Oh, child,' I said, 'you have always seen ghosts. Will you now +believe that we are alone?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"From that day there was never a shadow between us. Our happiness, like +every other real happiness, was never exhausted. Our motto might have +been those beautiful words:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="t8">"'The more I give to thee,</p> +<p class="t2">The more I have, for both are infinite.'</p> +</div> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"And when the end came--after three short years--the effect was +immeasurable, as in all true endings. But of that I cannot speak."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">He stood up. Just then the clock struck one.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I have detained you a long time," he said; "Now I shall take you home +by the shortest way. You will be wet through."</p> + +<p class="normal">In fact, a light, warm rain was beginning to fall.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And do you know nothing more about the Countess?" I asked. "I confess, +her hasty marriage touches me strangely. Perhaps she wished to end all +hopeless longings."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You wrong her," he said; "there is something more to be told. I myself +thought that, but must humbly apologize for it. You know that when I +became a widower I could find no rest anywhere. I leased my estates, +and took my daughter to that excellent dame at Vevey, who had been such +a true friend to her mother. People often congratulated me upon +possessing in the child a perfect likeness of the mother. But this +resemblance affected me peculiarly. I was pained that she should +resemble her mother physically, without showing a trace of spiritual +likeness. She was much like me, and had my love of music. But this did +not make me happy; indeed, rather sharpened my pain; and it is only +recently that I have been able to recognize and enjoy the many good and +lovable traits which she possesses.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Only by continual movement, by ceaseless journeying from place to +place, could I conquer my uneasiness. I had been a homeless and joyless +man for nearly two years, and had advanced to the limits of the +thirties. I had tried occasionally, from a sense of duty, to interest +myself in business. I scarcely need to say that I had replied with a +mere shrug of the shoulders whenever solicitous friends, especially +women, urged me to a second marriage.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It happened one autumn day that, much against my will, I was obliged +to stop in Switzerland and look after one of my estates which was to +have a new tenant. After staying for several weeks in Engelberg, I came +down the road to Stansstad on a most beautiful, sunshiny day, to cross +the lake to Luzerne.</p> + +<p class="normal">"About half way down there is a pleasant spot under magnificent +walnut-trees, where the wagons coming up from the valley usually stop +for a quarter of an hour to breathe their horses. As I reached the +first houses I saw a carriage stop in front of the inn, and two ladies +presently alight from it. One of them, dressed entirely in black, +attracted my attention by her graceful bearing. She had already +vanished into the house, when I suddenly remembered who it was that had +carried herself so. A slight depression fell upon me. But I at once +determined to pass on without attempting to confirm my suspicions.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As my light open wagon was rolling by the inn, a face only too well +known to me looked from an upper window. She recognized me at once; I +saw it by the startled way in which she drew back, as if a phantom from +some long-buried past had suddenly risen before her. In the next +instant she controlled herself sufficiently to bow to me. There was +nothing else to do. I stopped and hastened to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She met me perfectly unchanged; her beauty was only heightened by an +additional fulness; her cheeks, with their ivory color, were slightly +flushed from the excitement of this meeting.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She took my hand in both of hers and pressed it warmly, as if I were +an old friend.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I know everything about you,' she said; 'I sorrowed with you, and how +deeply! Although you did not know. I tried several times to write--but +the words always failed me.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"At first I could say nothing in reply. I felt with too much +consternation that her power over me was as strong as in those first +days. The tones of her voice; her dark, often passionately burning +eyes; the beautiful lips that seemed to have forgotten to smile; the +whole witchery of long ago was again active. We walked up and down the +empty room; her companion did not appear. I could hardly preserve a +tolerable composure.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Instead of personal things, I spoke about her journey, and learned +that she was to remain a week or two in Engelberg. Her nerves were +unstrung; she suffered from insomnia. Then her brother was to come for +her, as she had decided to accompany him to his embassy at Madrid.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'And your husband?' I asked carelessly. She looked at me distantly, +almost reproachfully. 'He has not been among the living for some +years,' she said in a monotone; 'I thought you knew it. Were not the +sad circumstances of his suicide at Monaco in all the papers?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Certainly,' I replied; 'but I read of a new marriage--'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'It was a foolish rumor,' she said, staring gloomily at the ground; 'I +would never have left my brother to play a <i>rôle</i> in the farce of the +Second Empire. Could you really believe that of me?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I was unable to answer. A storm was raging in me which swept away all +power of thought. She was free, and I? Was I still bound? How was it +that her power over me died in the very moment when I might have +yielded without hesitation? I saw the beautiful, once-loved woman near +me; it seemed as if I had but to hold out my arms and take her, and--my +arms hung heavily at my sides. Did a sword lie between us then, as +before between my beloved wife and me? While we were standing silently +side by side near the window, gazing down into the glorious valley, my +mind became calm and clear. I realized distinctly and sadly that if I +now offered her half of my heart I should act immorally. Strangely +enough, these words sounded always in my ears, 'She sleeps, that we may +be happy;' and even while I felt all the magic of her warm, breathing +life, a cold shudder ran through me, as if a corpse were standing near, +a past far mightier than the most warm-blooded present.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Out of sight is indeed <i>in</i> mind.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She must have perceived my feeling. She too was silent, and I saw her +bosom heaving painfully. She asked about my daughter, but evidently did +not hear my answer. An intense pity seized me as I looked at her--the +beautiful, noble, unhappy woman, with so long a life before her still +and so little hope of happiness. Was it a foolish, unreal fear that +prevented me from taking her in my arms? Do you believe that I could +possibly have been happy with her? Who can know how the years will +change one! But at that time it would have been a lie and a crime.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The companion came with a glass of milk. Lucile drank a little and +returned the glass with a gesture of aversion. 'I am no longer +thirsty,' she said; 'is the carriage ready?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I offered my arm to escort her down. On the stairs she stopped an +instant.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Do you play much now?' she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I have not touched the violin since I became a widower,' I replied. +'Music is a pleasure only when one is cheerful and sociable. In +solitude it revives all buried sorrows.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Yes,' she said, 'it does, and one is grateful for it. There are +people so poor that their only possessions consist of old griefs, +without which they could not live. They remind one that there was once +a time when the heart was living, for only a living heart can feel +misery. You have the advantage of me in not feeling this truth.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I felt her hand trembling on my arm. 'Lucile!' I cried, pressing her +arm to me. Who knows what might have happened then if, her pride being +suddenly roused, she had not drawn away from me and hastened down the +remaining steps alone. Before I could reach her she was seated in the +carriage.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Farewell! Remember me to your daughter. And--no! I was about to say +<i>Au revoir!</i> But we shall probably never meet again.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She extended her hand to me from the carriage with a look that hurt +me, for it seemed to ask whether I had either hope or desire to see her +again. I bent over the small, white hand, and kissed it. Then the +horses started, and I stood alone in the sunny street, until her veil, +fluttering in the fresh mountain breeze, vanished from my sight."</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>MINKA</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_minka" href="#div1Ref_minka">MINKA.</a></h2> +<hr class="W10"> + +<p class="normal">It was a few years after the French war. The fall review had +incidentally brought together again a number of young officers who had +earned their iron crosses in the array of the Loire, and they had +invited good comrades from other regiments to join them and celebrate +the reunion from an inexhaustible bowl. Midnight was past. The talk, +which for some time had concerned personal recollections and +experiences, had taken a thoughtful turn and was becoming profound. It +was impossible to realize how many were absent without touching on the +everlasting riddle of human life. Besides, the horrible death of a +popular young hero, who had fallen into the hands of the Franc-tireurs, +and been killed in the most revolting manner, and the consequent +destruction of a treasure of brilliant gifts and talents, hopes and +promises--had brought again to the front the old problem, whether +universal destiny and the fate of the individual will be according to +our idea of justice; or whether the individual's weal or woe will be +quietly subordinated to the vast, mysterious design of the universe. +All the well-known reasons for and against a providence ruling morally +and judging righteously, as human beings conceive it, were discussed +again and again; and at length the oldest and most distinguished +of the young soldiers formulated, from the animated argument, this +result:--that even the most enthusiastic optimist, in face of the +crying horrors to which poor humanity is exposed, cannot prove the +existence of a compensating justice on earth; indeed, can only save his +belief in a righteous God by hoping for a world to come.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But will donkeys go to heaven, too?" suddenly asked a calm, rich voice +from a quiet corner.</p> + +<p class="normal">For a moment all were silent. Then followed an outburst of gay +laughter, agreeably enlivening to the majority, who were tired of the +philosophical talk.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hear! hear!" cried some.</p> + +<p class="normal">"One will not be able to understand his own speech at doomsday if all +the resurrected donkeys bray to one another," said a lively young +captain. "Although, Eugene, if the sainted Antonius's pig is in +heaven--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"And so many pious sheep!" another broke in.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You forget that the question is long since decided," said a third; +"one has only to read Voltaire's 'Pucelle' in so many cantos!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Were you merely joking, Eugene?" then asked the senior president, who +had not joined in the laugh, "or was the question seriously meant, +because it is certainly not yet decided whether or no an immortal soul +lives in animals also?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The person thus addressed was a young man about thirty years of age, +the only one at the banquet who wore civilian's dress. A severe wound +had forced him to give up a military career. Since then he had lived on +his small estate, more occupied with the study of military science than +with the tilling of his fields. He had come to the city on the occasion +of the review in order to see his old friends.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The question," he now said very earnestly, "is really not my own, but +is a quotation, whose brusque simplicity embarrassed me myself not long +ago. A strange little story, certainly not a cheerful one, depends on +it. But since we have again soared into speculations which are beyond +jesting, it may perhaps be fitting if I tell where the quotation +originated. I can hardly maintain that the story is calculated to throw +any light on the dark problem."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Only tell it," cried one after another.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who knows whether the donkey that you will ride before us may not +finally open his mouth, like Balaam's prophetic ass, and teach us the +system of the world."</p> + +<p class="normal">Eugene shook his head with a peculiar smile, and began. "You know that +I suffered from my wound during the entire winter of '71 and '72, and +could only limp around with a cane. When spring came, I surrendered +myself to the care of my married sister. My brother-in-law's manor is +surrounded by endless pine forests, in which I was to take air baths. +Whatever I gained in physical strength, as I wandered about each day in +those lonely thickets, or lay lazily buried in cushions of deep, +luxuriant moss, I lost again in my moral condition. Even in the +hospital I had not seemed to myself such a miserable cripple as here. +Everything about me was overflowing with life and strength; every old +knot bore countless bright-green shoots; even a rotten stump made +itself useful as barracks for a swarming army of ants--and I, condemned +to detestable idleness at twenty-four--enough! I moped about half the +time, and was on very bad terms with God and the world.</p> + +<p class="normal">"About this time, too, I lived through a sickness which might have +ended my brooding. The neighborhood is thinly populated; the people are +very poor; the women frightfully ugly,--Bohemian types degenerated by +crossing with the Saxons, pinched and rendered half savage through +privation and suffering. But I was perfectly contented that nothing +charming crossed my path. It would have made the consciousness of my +invalidism still more painful. You know, indeed, how long it takes for +the last trace of the typhoid poison, so paralyzing to all energy, to +disappear from one's system. The North Sea was to do me this service.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, for several weeks, like mad Roland, though somewhat more +mildly, I roamed through pine and fir-covered ravines without making a +shot, although a hunting-piece was slung at my back. It was truly, in +spite of all world-griefs, a heavenly time; never have I had such +intimate acquaintance with nature, never felt so vividly what is meant +by 'our mother earth' and 'our father air.' But that does not belong +here. I will come to the point.</p> + +<p class="normal">"One afternoon I allowed myself to be lured farther than usual from the +house by a most beautiful path winding among young woods, whose slender +trees, scarcely taller than I, allowed the May sunlight to stream +through unchecked. When I found myself entirely astray, I decided to +strike through to the edge of the forest, in order to regain an open +view. A gentle slope, sparsely covered with birches and berry-bushes, +led upwards. Beyond, through the tall firs which enclosed the clearing +like a fence, I could see blue mountain-tops shimmering in the +distance, and knew that I might thence easily find my way. But as I +came out of the forest, I realized for the first time how far I had +wandered. From the forest edge the land sank by a tolerably steep slope +to a plain; and far below lay a small town, well known to me on the +map, but so distant from our estate, that in all my reconnoitring I had +never seen it till now. I was startled when I realized where I was, +for, with my lame leg, I could not possibly undertake to return on +foot. But I thought I might obtain a team in the village.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I seated myself on a newly-fallen trunk to rest a little before +descending to the town. The land beneath me lay in the deep calm of +afternoon; thin clouds of smoke drifting up from the chimneys of the +old houses announced that the good housewives were making their coffee. +The broad, level plain, gayly checkered with fields of promising, green +crops, stretched beyond; while almost exactly half way between the +forest-edge and the first houses, and bordered by a few bushes and +elders, lay a great fish-pond, peculiarly dark in color, although the +purest spring-heaven was mirrored therein. The ground about it was +marshy, and it seemed as though all the water of the neighborhood +flowed into the depression as into some monstrous cistern. I do not +know why the black basin appeared so uncanny to me, for the birds +nesting in the shrubbery on its banks flew over it continually with +cheerful twitterings. But my gloomy humor drew nourishment just then +from the most innocent sources.</p> + +<p class="normal">"When I finally raised my eyes to look about for some smooth, +gradually-descending path, I noticed at the right, scarcely a stone's +throw from my seat, a forlorn, mean little house standing in shadow +close by the roots of the foremost trees. The old, tumbled-down fence +surrounding a bit of ground; the dove-cot, in which no living thing was +stirring; the tiled roof, whose damages had been poorly repaired with +shingles and stones from the fields--all looked desolate and +dilapidated, but since a path must surely lead thence to the town, I +arose and dragged myself slowly towards the hut.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As soon as I perceived the extreme desolation of the old barracks, I +gave up my conjecture that a lumberman dwelt there. All the mortar had +fallen away from the wall on the weather side, and the rain must have +had free entrance through the holes in the deeply sunken roof. The +piece of land behind the crumbling fence, which in times past might +have supported a little garden or a few vegetable beds, had become a +waste rubbish heap, upon which a single black hen tripped about, +excitedly scratching between the weeds and nettles for something +eatable. The north side, turned towards the slope, had two small +windows with broken panes; and in the middle, a door standing wide +open. I glanced into the unattractive entrance. No human being was to +be seen or heard. I was about to go back and follow a little foot-path +which seemed to wind down into the valley, when I was startled, indeed, +truly frightened, by a donkey's bray; for never in my life have I heard +that odd cry given so passionately, and with such peculiarly mournful +modulation, as at that moment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The cry of pain came from the other side of the house. As I turned the +corner, I saw in the meadow, close to the wall, an idyllic group +crouched in the young grass: an old woman, clothed in a torn jacket of +flowered calico and a coarse woollen petticoat, and wearing wound about +her head a gray handkerchief, from beneath which her black hair, +thickly sprinkled with gray, hung down in disorder; and near her, +stretched upon the ground, a young donkey with noticeably slender +limbs, dark-edged ears, and a coat of silver-gray, adorned on the back +with a black stripe extending to the head. It was a fine animal, an +honor to its race, and it would certainly have taken a prize at any +show. But I immediately perceived why the poor creature relieved its +oppressed heart in so particularly doleful a manner. A hand's-breadth +on its left shoulder-blade was disfigured by a foul wound; this the old +woman was attempting to cover with wet bandages, although the wounded +brute restively tried to prevent her merciful ministrations with kicks +and stampings of its forelegs. A shallow bowl by the woman's side held +some dark liquid, with which she saturated the rag in order to cool the +wound. She quietly continued this operation as I approached her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Good-morning, dame!' said I. She merely nodded her head wearily. +Beginning to speak of the wound, I asked how it had been received, and +what remedy she was using. No answer. It occurred to me that she did +not understand German. But as I turned away, exclaiming half to myself, +'What a pity! Such a beautiful brute!' her gray eyes suddenly flashed +so powerfully upon me from under her bushy, black brows, that the whole +withered, leather-colored face seemed ten years younger.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Yes indeed, sir!' she said in notably pure German, with but a slight +Bohemian accent. 'It is truly a pity, and Minka is certainly beautiful. +If only you had seen her before she was hurt! She could jump about +almost like a young horse, and her coat was like silk and velvet. Now, +for seven months she has lain thus miserably on her belly, and if she +gets up on her legs, how her knees bend, poor creature! Besides, what +use is she? "Betty Lamitz," said the forest warder only yesterday, as +he passed and saw the trouble I had with the brute--for now one must +bring even its bit of fodder close to its muzzle--"you should have her +killed," said he; "the skinner will give you a thaler for the hide." +But no! said I; it's only a beast, but it shall have care like any +other Christian being, or like an honest servant fallen sick in +service! Yes, so I said. Whoa, whoa, Minka! don't roll about so! Look, +sir, she lies on her back and rubs her wound all the time, so no +plaster holds, and it spreads farther and farther. Whoa! Be still!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then, fairly embracing the beast, she tried to quiet it, and keep it +in its bed. Suddenly she released it, ran to a wooden well standing in +shadow back of the house, and having filled a low pail from the old +stone trough into which the water was trickling down, she thrust it +under her charge's pink muzzle. Minka drank in long draughts, and her +feverish excitement visibly abated. The old woman sat near her, looking +on with great contentment, and seeming once more entirely oblivious to +my presence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"At length I repeated my inquiry as to the origin of the bad wound +between the shoulder-blades. But the old woman again remained silent; +she merely sighed, and scratched her lean arms with her withered +lingers till white streaks stood up on the brown skin.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Yes, yes!' she said absently, after a long while--'such a poor +female! What matters beauty against bad luck? And how she has worked, +always cheerfully and willingly! I could load her as much as I wished, +she never once kicked, or even shook her ears at me. To be sure, I have +brought her up from her tenth day. She was a twin. The forester at +Freithof had a she-ass that presented him one morning with Minka and +her sister. "Would you like to have a handsome nursling, Mother +Lamitz?" said he, just for a joke. Well, I held him to his word. He +owed me a little gold for a piece of linen that I had woven for him. A +couple of florins were still lacking, and for them I took the young +ass. I had trouble enough, first in getting it home, and then in +raising it, for milk was scarce with us. But we have never rued it. A +hard worker, sir, this Minka! We have had to drag many things from the +woods, berries and mushrooms down to market in summer, then our winter +wood, and whatsoever else was needful. I--good heavens! I can trace all +my bones, although I am barely fifty, and Hannah--well, she was still +too weak. And look you, such a faithful beast, a god-send, our only +help--to be so hurt and disgraced in its young years--oh!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Dame,' said I, 'look at me! I too am still young, yet I limp through +the world, and my food must be brought to me because I can no longer +gain it by my own strength; and whoever gives a thaler for <i>my</i> hide is +a fool and a spendthrift. Yet who knows, but that sometime we shall +both prance gayly about once more.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I chatted in this strain for some time to cheer her, but, without +heeding me, she stared fixedly at the wound. She had meanwhile covered +it with a firm plaster, since the brute would no longer suffer the +bathing.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Tell me once for all,' she suddenly commenced, and by the gleam +of her eyes I saw that when young she must have been far from +homely--'tell me once for all, sir, do you believe that donkeys go to +heaven?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"I laughed.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why do you ask that, mother?</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I once asked our parson about it. He said it was a foolish question; +that only Christian people go to heaven; and that animals have no +immortal souls. "But, parson," said I, "if the great God is just and +merciful, why doesn't He pity the beasts too, as human beings do if +they are not scoundrels? For instance, why does Minka's sister live +like a princess, have nothing to do but draw a little play-wagon in +which the young masters take an occasional pleasure drive, always +receive kind words and the best fodder, and even have a love-affair +with the valley-miller's donkey? And our Minka, who has just as good a +character, who wears herself out with work, and is often on her legs +with a load for ten hours together, now has all four struck from under +her, and if she should die to-morrow, what pleasure in life has she +had? Is that just, parson? And if it is not sometime paid back to her +there above--" But then he forbade me to speak, and said such blasphemy +led straight to hell. You tell me, sir, do you know anything about it?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can imagine that I did not have the most spirited expression, when +the pistol was thus placed against my breast, and the explanation of +the world-secret demanded of me. Fortunately, however, just at that +moment a woman's clear voice began to sing within the house, and with +it one heard a child's feeble crying, which the song was evidently +intended to still.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Who is singing there, Mother Lamitz?' I asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Who should it be but Hannah?' she grumbled.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Your daughter? May I venture to look in at her?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"The old woman did not reply; muttering to herself, she took the pail +and carried it back to the well; then she rolled forward a wheelbarrow +piled high with grass and weeds, and busied herself in giving handfuls +to the sick beast, almost shoving the food into its mouth. I did not +wait long for an expressed permission, but approached the house, and, +after knocking, entered by the door at the left.</p> + +<p class="normal">"A suffocating steam greeted me, mixed with the smell of some drying +clothes, which hung across the room on a tightly stretched rope. I saw +immediately that there were only a few miserable swaddling-clothes and +baby-frocks, coarse and much patched.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In one corner stood a great loom, thickly covered with dust; in the +other, upon a heap of straw, distinguishable from the bed of an animal +only by a woollen covering, sat a fair-haired young woman, holding a +half naked babe at her breast. She herself had nothing on her body but +a shirt, which had fallen far down on her shoulders, and a red woollen +petticoat, which left her white feet visible to the ankles.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I entered, she gazed at me searchingly, and for an instant ceased +her singing. She seemed to have expected someone else; but, seeing that +I was an entire stranger, she at once recommenced her cradle-song, +though somewhat more softly, apparently not at all disturbed because I +had surprised her in the performance of a mother's most sacred duty, +and in such incomplete attire.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As she sang she occasionally smiled at me, showing the pretty teeth in +her large mouth; and I noticed that she clasped the child closer to her +bared breast, and tried to draw the shirt up over her shoulders. +Therewith a slight redness tinged her round, white face, and her blue +eyes assumed a half imploring, half simple and dreamily vacant, +expression.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I excused myself for intruding; her mother had allowed me to come in; +I would immediately go out again if she wished. She hummed her song +without appearing to notice me; but from time to time she would +suddenly lift her eyes, as if to see whether I were still there; then +bite her full, red under-lip; rock the child back and forth; and, with +her bare feet in the straw, beat time to her song.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The child, which was but a few months old, had drunk and cried itself +to sleep. The cradle-song grew ever softer; at length the young mother, +kneeling down, wrapped the little one, which lay before her like some +rosy, waxen doll, in a great woollen shawl. In the corner near the +pillow I observed a little couch made of old rags and tatters. On this +the baby was gently and carefully laid, and, in spite of the heat, +covered yet again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then the mother, always as if entirely alone in the room, began to let +down and rebraid her tangled, yellow hair. The rest of her toilet +seemed to be perfectly satisfactory.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Indeed, no elegant costume could have displayed the poor young woman's +charming figure to more advantage. The face was too like the old +woman's to be considered pretty. Yet in the coloring and youthful +contour of that round little head lay a charm, which was not lessened +even by an evident trace of absent-mindedness, or downright imbecility. +I felt intense sympathy for the poor, half-foolish creature, singing +her lullaby so contentedly in such pitiable deprivation of all usual +nursery comforts.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She did not answer any of my questions even by a gesture. Since they +had plenty of wood and did not grudge it, the oven was heated almost to +bursting; although the air without was mild enough, even here on the +windy height. So I did not wait until she finished arranging her heavy +braids, but laid a shining thaler on the edge of the loom, nodded +kindly to the harmless creature, and left the room.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I found the old woman no longer by her sick darling, but at the well, +where she was cleaning a handful of turnips and cutting them into a +pot.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Mother Lamitz,' said I, 'you have a very pretty daughter. But she +would not speak a word to me. Is she always so silent with strangers?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"The old woman contracted her brows and stared gloomily at the pot +which she held between her knees. In this attitude she might have +served an artist as model for a witch preparing some noxious potion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Silent?' she asked after a pause. 'No, sir; it is not her tongue that +is lacking. When she will, she can chatter like a starling. The lack is +above. She was so even as a child. Well, it was not such a great shame. +If she had had the best sense, would that have helped a poor, +fatherless thing like her? Did it matter to me that I had all my five +senses right? I was cheated in spite of them, and therefore I care not +a whit whether the brat to which she has given life takes after her, as +people say, or after me. Either way, the little Mary will sometime +become a mother on the sly, as it came into the world on the sly. It is +in the family, sir, it is in the family.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"And then, after a pause, for I knew not what to say to this frank +worldly wisdom--'Besides, the child will hardly grow old. Hannah treats +it too foolishly. Indeed, reason has nothing to do with her actions. +And when the winter comes, and we all must hunger--it is said, though, +that God lets no sparrow fall from a roof without His will--I am +curious to see whether He will trouble Himself about us four poor +females up here.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"Therewith she gazed pityingly at the donkey, which was now crouching +quietly in its bedding. I could have laughed to see her so +unconcernedly consider gray, long-eared Minka as the fourth in the +family; but the horrible cold-bloodedness with which she spoke of her +child and grandchild was not humorous.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'You seem to care much more tenderly for the donkey than for your +poor, little grandchild,' I said severely.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She nodded her head calmly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'So it is,' she said; 'Minka needs me more. If I die to-day, she must +come to a miserable end. Do you think Hannah would throw her even an +armful of grass, although the poor beast can no longer seek it herself? +No; she has no thought except for her baby, and beyond that, for the +rascal who is its father. She waits for him every evening at sunset, +although it is already a half year since he last crossed our threshold. +And withal she is as happy as any one can wish to be, considers the +dear God a good man, and lets her old mother do all the housework +without any help. Why should I pity her or her brat? Both are already +as if in heaven, and if it goes hard with them, and they must hunger +and freeze, can they not make that good hereafter in Paradise? But +Minka, look you, sir, has had no lover, and brought no young one into +the world, and when she dies she will be thrown in the flaying-place, +and on doomsday, when we other poor sinners gather our bones together, +of her nothing at all will be left, and it will never be credited to +her that she had a harder life than her twin sister. Look you, some +other poor Christian mortal must pity the beasts if our Lord Jesus +Himself cannot bring Himself to do it.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"This logic allowed no reply. But I confess that the future of the +little human being was more momentous to me, in spite of its immortal +soul, than the question whether Minka would lose or not in the final +distribution of justice. If to-morrow the only person among these 'four +females' who had sound human sense should be struck by lightning, what +would then become of the poor fool and her baby?</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Does the father do nothing at all for the little one?' I asked at +last. 'The child is as beautiful as if carved out of ivory, and it is +by no means certain that it will become like the mother. Has he never +shown himself again?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'He!' exclaimed the old woman, thrusting the knife with which she had +been cleaning the turnips deep into the wooden well-spout. 'If I should +drag him to justice, he would swear himself free, that he would, +although he is the town-judge's own son. Do you think I did not see it +in him, even the first time when he came into our little house to +kindle his pipe at the hearth--so he said, the villain! He is +unfortunately as pretty to look at as he is bad within, and the stupid +thing, Hannah she was still innocent, and I could let her wander all +day long in the woods alone with Minka, filling the two panniers with +berries and mushrooms--she thought of no man then, and I--God knows how +it came about! Just because she is so foolish and weak in her head, I +imagined that no one would trouble about her. But she pleased the +judge's son, and was herself instantly carried away with him. After +that I had trouble enough with her. She had worked bravely till then in +the house and garden, and no work was too hard for her. Now, of a +sudden, half the day her hands in her lap, and if I began to scold she +would smile at me like a child waking from a lovely dream. If I sent +her to the woods, she would bring the baskets back to the house +scarcely a quarter full. It was Minka's misfortune too. You cannot +believe, sir, how the beast clung to Hannah; it had human sense, anyway +more than Hannah, and realized that the smart fellow with the black +mustache had nothing good in mind. It always ran after the stupid girl, +and gave a loud bray to warn her. I saw everything well enough, but +what could I do? Scoldings and warnings were useless; she did not +understand. And one cannot shut up a grown woman, who will use force to +get out. She would have climbed from the window or even the chimney to +rush into the very arms of ruin. Well, and so it happened. But the +worst of it was that Minka suffered for it too. One evening she +followed the girl into the woods, and soon afterward came limping home +alone, with the wound in her neck, groaning and crying like a human +being. Hannah came back an hour later. I questioned her closely as to +how the brute had received the wound. "Ha!" said she, laughing +insolently, "she screamed all the time and crowded between us, although +Frank tried to drive her back with blows; so he suddenly became angry, +drew his knife, and gave her a thrust." I struck the shameless thing +for laughing about it, and put salve on the wound. But Minka rolled on +her back as if crazy, and would bear no bandage, and so it has grown +worse with her every day, and with Hannah too. Well, at least she has +had her way, and nothing much better could have happened to her. Who +would take one like her for his honest wife? And if sometime she +realizes that it is useless to wait for her lover, and becomes crazy +with grief at his wickedness, then she has little wit to lose. Whereas +Minka, sir, who is cleverer than many people, believe me, she lies for +days pondering why good and bad are so unequally divided on the earth; +why she has nothing but a ruined life, while her sister trots about +elegant and happy; and why our good Lord did not arrange it so that +donkeys might go to heaven, and obtain their reward for all the flaying +and toiling, beating and kniving, they have to bear.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She uttered these last words with such violence that she was obliged +to stop for breath. Then, brushing back the loose hairs at her neck, +she tied her head-cloth more firmly, and took the pot of turnips on her +arm.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'I must go in, sir,' she said hoarsely, 'or I shall go to bed hungry. +Do you know the town-judge and his fine son? It does not matter. He +will not have to pay for what he did to my girl and to Minka until he +stands before God's throne. And for the rest, why should his conscience +prick him? She wished nothing better; indeed, we all wish nothing +better; if we were not silly, you men could not be bad. So it will be +as long as the world lasts. At doomsday I shall not complain of that, +but I shall ask our Lord whether donkeys go to heaven too, of that you +may be sure--of that you may certainly be sure!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She nodded her head vigorously, passed by without another look at me, +and disappeared in the house.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You can imagine that, as I descended the slope, passing the black +water, and finally reaching the village, all that I had seen and heard +continually pursued me. Even when I had secured a carriage at the inn, +and was rolling along the highway towards my brother-in-law's house, +the figure of the old woman, and especially that of her blonde daughter +with the naked babe clasped to her breast, seemed actually before my +eyes. It chanced that my driver was an elderly man, who could give +trustworthy answers to my questions about the inmates of the little +house on the hill. He remembered Betty Lamitz's sudden appearance there +twenty years ago very well. Her own home was in a neighboring place, +where, her mother having died without leaving any property, the parish +refused to receive her. She was a servant in an aristocratic house in +Prague, and behaved properly enough until one of the sons of the house, +an officer home on a furlough, noticed her. She had been a fine-looking +person even at thirty, in spite of her flat nose and broad cheeks, a +maid with unusual eyes, and when she laughed--which to be sure she +seldom did--she could cut out many younger women even then. But things +simply went the usual way, in spite of her cleverness, and although she +had always said she would never do as her own mother had done. Of +course her master did not keep her in the house. He gave her a suitable +sum of money, with which she bought the forsaken hill-house and the bit +of garden plot, and since then, as she would not go into service again, +perhaps could not, she had lived there and brought Hannah up, in +perfect retirement. For the first few years the young count remembered +her, and sent her something. After awhile he failed to do this, and she +was obliged to struggle along by herself. She had done so; and +certainly no one could accuse her of grief at her child's lack of +reason.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then my driver spoke of the sad affair with the judge's son, against +whom he expressed himself in very strong terms. Every one knew about +it. But he was the only son of a most respectable family, and no one +could expect him to make amends for the foolish mis-step by an honest +marriage. A wild, insane thing! Why didn't the old woman watch her +better? If he did a little something for the child, no one would blame +him much for this youthful sin.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I listened without entering into any discussion of the moral aspect of +the case. In my heart--I know not why--I felt such intense sympathy for +the poor creature, that if her betrayer had come in my way, I would +have thrashed him with much pleasure.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My first action, when I saw my people again, was to tell them of my +experience, and induce my good sister to take some interest in the +neglected young woman. She was true to her sympathetic nature. The next +day she sent her 'Mamselle,' an experienced, elderly person, in a +carriage to Mother Lamitz's hut, with a basket containing all sorts of +good things--provisions for several weeks, baby-clothes, and several +uncut dress pieces to provide for the winter. To this I added a trifle +in cash, fully intending to go in person very soon, and see if this +feeble attempt to make up the deficiencies of the world-system had been +at all effectual.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But I did not go. Our physician ordered me to take sea-baths earlier +than I expected. I merely heard that our gifts were received by the old +woman with but moderate thanks, and by the young mother with child-like +exultation. Then I departed, remaining away the entire summer, and the +inmates of that forest hut soon became of as little moment to me as any +beggar into whose hat one tosses a groschen.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Even when, after having washed away in the sea my invalidism and its +accompanying world-sickness, I returned to the estate in the autumn for +hunting, it did not occur to me for several weeks to inquire about the +'four females.' My sister and her husband had themselves been away, and +been occupied with entirely different things. On a lonely tramp which I +undertook one cold, cloudy, disagreeable day in the middle of October, +I suddenly recollected that I had wandered over the same forest-path +five months before, and that it had finally led me to the donkey with +the 'immortal soul.' What might have happened to Minka in the meantime?</p> + +<p class="normal">"I stepped along more briskly, for evening was already coming on. It +was dark and comfortless in the forest; the moisture dripped heavily +from the pines; the little clearings, with their bushes and birches, +were not so cheerful, in spite of the red berries hanging plentifully +on their faded branches, as on that day in May, when I alone wore a +troubled face. When I finally emerged from the pines at the edge of the +height, the land below me and the purplish peaks on the horizon looked +as strange as if a terrible storm were impending. The air was perfectly +still; one heard each drop falling on the dry leaves, and, from time to +time, the crows, very numerous in that locality, cawing in the +treetops. The noise was so hateful to me that, in a sort of sudden +fury, I snatched my gun from my shoulder, and fired into the +unsuspecting flock. A single bird fell fluttering and quivering at my +feet. I felt ashamed of this childish outburst and hurried towards the +hut, which, standing in its old place, and in the same condition, +looked extremely desolate in the murky evening mist.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The enclosed space had beautified itself with half a dozen tall +sunflowers and with several rows of pumpkin-vines growing over the +rubbish-heap; but the black hen had evidently failed to outlive the +summer. On the side of the house where the brook flowed, and where +Minka had lain, there was no longer any trace of her. Possibly it was +now too cold on this damp couch for the poor, wounded beast. But where +had she gone? I laughed to myself as I realized that the fate of the +brute creature was more interesting to me than that of the hut's human +inmates. Of them nothing was to be seen or heard.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In the room where the loom stood, excepting that the straw-bed was +empty, everything appeared as at my first visit. But the oven was cold +and all the windows were open. I pressed the door-latch of the single, +mean chamber on the right of the narrow hall. Here I was amazed to find +one at least of the 'four females,' the good Minka herself. She lay on +a litter of yellow leaves, moss, and pine-needles, close to a low +hearth, whereon coals were still glowing; and as she saw me enter, she +lifted her head wearily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The old woman must have housed here, since, besides cooking utensils, +all sorts of woman's trumpery was lying about, while on the other side +of the hearth stood an ancient, grandfather's chair, with torn +cushions, plainly Mother Lamitz's bedstead. She had evidently brought +her sick darling into her immediate vicinity.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I approached the poor creature and stroked her coat, for which +attention her ears wagged a doleful gratitude. The wound had grown +worse; indeed, her whole condition was serious, and for the first time +I saw on an animal something like the hippocratic face. Seeing that I +was friendly, she made a painful effort to unburden her distressed +heart; but no longer able to express herself satisfactorily, she soon +became silent again, and with an indescribably piteous look let her +tongue loll from her mouth, thus taking away her last trace of beauty +in my eyes. As I could not help her, I went out in a few moments, +leaving the door open; for the close air, which I could scarcely +breathe, must have been equally unbearable for a sick donkey.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Outside I looked about in all directions. Of grandmother, mother, or +child--not a trace. In the forest--but what could they be seeking there +so late, and in such horrible weather? They have gone down to the town, +thought I, to make some purchases. But nobody knows when they will +return.</p> + +<p class="normal">"To await them in the damp hut was out of the question. I thought that +perhaps I might meet them on the way down, as I intended to descend and +return by the highroad, instead of the dark, slippery forest path. So +once again I took the little path between the meadows, and heard then, +for the first time, a muffled sound of musical instruments, principally +clarionets and contrabasses, evidently coming from the inn in the town +below. Although dance music, it was far from merry; indeed, it seemed +but a proper accompaniment to the melancholy song heaven and earth were +singing together; as if cloud spirits were playing a waltz to which +they might whirl madly over the cold mountain-tops.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The neighborhood is not musical. Only occasionally, when a band of +wandering Bohemians strays into this corner of the hills, does one hear +merry tunes in lively time; but even a Bohemian band can seldom set in +motion the clumsy feet of the men and maids.</p> + +<p class="normal">"However, that scarcely belongs to my subject. I will be brief. I had +not taken twenty steps when I saw, down by the fishpond, sitting on a +mossy stone, a woman's motionless figure, with the back turned toward +me. She seemed to be staring into the black water. I could scarcely see +the outline, yet I recognized her at once.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Mother Lamitz!' I cried, 'Mother Lamitz!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"At the third call, and when I was very close to her, she slowly turned +her head, but I could not see her eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Why do you sit here on a wet stone, Mother Lamitz?' I asked. 'Have +you thrown a net and do you wish to haul your catch? Or for whom are +you waiting in this unhealthy fog?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She looked straight into my face, evidently trying to remember the +person to whom these features and this voice belonged. But it dawned on +her very slowly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I helped somewhat by recalling to her mind my spring visit, and +telling her that since then I had often considered whether or no +donkeys would go to heaven, and had never arrived at any conclusion. +She listened silently, but I was not certain that she rightly +understood my meaning, for she nodded continually, even when I asked a +question demanding a negative answer.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But when I mentioned her daughter's name, she became suddenly alert, +looking suspiciously at me from under her thick brows.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'What do you want with Hannah?' she said. 'She is not at home. But she +is very well, she and her brat. Did I tell you she was a trifle weak in +the head? In that I lied. She had more sense than most of the foolish +geese. Oh, I wish that I might have gone away so, but there are +different gifts, and how does the Testament say? Those who are poor in +spirit--yes, yes. O thou merciful One!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"Stopping suddenly, she spread her hands on her knees and let her head +fall upon her breast.</p> + +<p class="normal">"She seemed more and more uncanny to me. It was ghastly there by the +bank; the bats were beginning to flit among the low bushes, and the +rising wind brought a musty swamp odor. From below came the unceasing +music of the clarionets and basses.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Merely to break the silence, I said, 'There seems to be high festival +in the inn down yonder. Is it a feast?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She sprang to her feet, again looking distrustfully at me. 'Have you +only just heard it? They have piped and fiddled so since noonday, and +will go on till midnight. I have stopped my ears, but it is useless. +Weddings are not funerals--one knows that very well--but if they knew, +if they knew! To be sure they would not have one waltz the less. O thou +merciful One!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Whose wedding is it?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"Spitting violently, she cast a furious look across the pond towards +the house from which the sounds arose.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Go down there and look at the pair for yourself,' she snarled; 'they +suit each other well. He is bad and handsome, and she is stupid and +rich. A brewer's daughter, she measures her money by the bushel. But +she has reason enough to answer a question correctly, and she did not +say no when the parson asked her if she wished the judge's son for a +husband.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'The judge's son! He?' Now, indeed, I knew the cause of the old +woman's fury.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Poor Hannah! And does she know what is going on down there?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'How could she help knowing, sir? Do you think there are not +sympathetic souls enough to carry such news wherever they are likely to +earn God's blessing for it? She sat just before the door with her baby +on her lap; she was decked out in her best clothes, that blue dress, +you know, which the lady baroness sent her; and her baby was dancing to +the music. Then the druggist's maid came down, pretending that she +passed by accident, but it was the wickedest curiosity, dear sir, to +see how the poor fool would act when she heard that her lover was +holding his wedding feast down there. She did not tell it to Hannah. +"Mother Betsey!" she screamed in to me, "the judge's son! What do you +say to that?" and then she abused the badness of the world. I merely +blinked at her, for I thought I should sink into the earth. I never +believed he would marry Hannah, but she waited for him every evening, +and was so happy doing so, that she might have expected him for all +eternity, and sung her cradle-songs contentedly. And now the whole +baseness of it, and the news of the marriage with the brewer's +daughter, to come on her so suddenly--as if a trusted friend had thrust +a knife in her breast. The words stuck in the spiteful tell-tale's +throat as she saw what she had done. She said she must hurry; her +mistress expected her, and she ran off. I went out and saw the poor +thing sitting on the bank, with her head leaning back on the wall as if +too heavy for her, and her eyes and mouth wide open.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'"Hannah!" I coaxed, "do not believe it--she lied," and as much more +as I could bear to say. She did not speak, but all at once laughed +aloud, and stood up, holding her child fast in her arms.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'"Where are you going?" I said. "Come into the house. I will brew you +some elder tea." But it was as if she did not hear me. She went slowly +away from the house, down the path. I followed, trying to hold her back +by her clothing, but there was something superhuman in her; her face +was rigid and deathly pale. "Hannah," said I, "you are not going to +him? Think what they would say if you went to the wedding. They would +say you were out of your wits, and by and by the law would come and +take away the child, because they dare not leave it with an idiot."</p> + +<p class="normal">"'That brought her to her senses for a moment. She stood still, +clasping the child silently, and sighing as if her soul would leave her +body. I thought I had won, and that she would turn back with me and +gradually give in. If she could have cried it would have been her +salvation, but her eyes were perfectly dry, and I saw her stare +continually at the house down there, as if she would pierce the walls +and destroy that bad man and his bridge with the wreath and veil. I +begged her to come into the house. I realized then that I had nothing +in the world but her, and I told her so, asking her to forgive me for +all my roughness and unkindness to her. Dear God, when one is so +miserable, and another hungry mouth comes into the house! But she heard +nothing. The music seemed to bewitch her; she began to rock the child +back and forth; then of a sudden she gave a loud cry, as if her heart +had broken, and before I knew what she meant to do, she was rushing +down to the pond. Her loose hair streamed after her, the blue clothes +fluttered, she ran so fast, and--O thou merciful One!--with my own eyes +I saw it--child and grandchild! I tried to scream, I was choking; I ran +like a madman; as I came down, I saw only the black water, bubbling +like a kettle at the place where--'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She sprang up, and stood half bowed among the damp marsh grasses like +a picture of despair, both arms outstretched toward the now motionless +water.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I could not speak a word. Every instant I thought she would throw +herself in after them. The spot where we were standing seemed +peculiarly suitable for a suicide. The bank shelved perpendicularly +into the depths; no rushes grew out of the water; the alder bushes, +retreating, left a gap several feet in width; and even close to shore +the water was as dark as if the depths were bottomless.</p> + +<p class="normal">"But the old woman seemed to intend nothing violent. Her body relaxed +again and her arms fell loosely on her hips.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Do you see anything there?' she asked suddenly, in an undertone.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Where?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Down there by the willow? No; it is nothing. I thought her hair came +to the surface. But she is lying at the bottom. At first something +yellow floated out on the water--I would swear it was her hair--and the +long rake there, left since haying-time--if I had taken it, and fished +for the hair with it, and twisted it fast around the prongs, I believe +I could have pulled her to land even then. But say for yourself, sir, +what would it have mattered? She would have jumped in again. And +wouldn't it have been wicked to rob her of the rest she has found down +there? Who knows that I should have drawn out the poor brat with her! +And without her only plaything, what could she do in the world?'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She stopped again, rubbing her lean shoulders with her crossed arms as +if she felt a fever-chill. The music paused in the inn below; I heard +the old woman's quick, gasping breaths, and now and then a disconnected +word as if of prayer. This sad stillness was suddenly interrupted by a +hoarse bray from the woods above. We both looked around.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Lame Minka stood before the hut's door, giving her most doleful signal +of distress. Against the dark background the outline of the beast's +gray form was plainly visible; we could even see her shake her drooping +ears. She must have noticed us, for though we did not call her, she +started down the rough and tiresome road to her old nurse.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Are you coming, too?' said the old woman. 'Are you thirsty, because I +forgot to fill your pail? Do you see, sir, that I am right? Minka has +human reason. She too would make an end of her trouble and misery. And +it is better so; it will take her at once from her suffering, and I--do +you know, that I believe even yet that donkeys go to heaven? If not, +why have they human reason? Who knows, when he fears to die, that it is +really the end? And now look at Minka, how steadily she trots toward +the black water. Come, Minka, come, poor fool! We will help you down.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"The brute came to the stone where the old woman was crouching. It +thrust its large head in her lap, and fell on its knees. The old woman +helped it up again.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'Come, Minka,' she repeated, 'it will do no harm, and perhaps may help +you to eternal happiness. Hannah has gone before, with little Mary. +Mother Betsey will soon follow.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She drew the reluctant animal to the edge of the pond and tried to +force it in. But entreaties and caresses were as vain as the pushes and +blows to which she finally resorted. The poor victim, its whole body +trembling, braced all four feet against the bank and gave a piteous +cry. The old woman cast an imploring glance at me.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'You have a gun at your back, sir. Will you not do my Minka this last +kindness, and help her to her salvation? The Lord God will repay you +the little powder and lead which you spend on a tortured creature; and +if there is justice, and we meet again up yonder, Minka, too, will not +be wanting, and then you shall see that, after the ass that bore our +Lord into Jerusalem, there will be none more beautiful than Minka in +all Paradise.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"How could I withstand such a touching request? I cocked my gun, came +close to the good creature, and shot a bullet through its head. It fell +headlong into the water; the gray head appeared for an instant, then +sank and left no trace.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The old woman fell upon her knees; I saw her fold her withered hands +and move her lips silently. Undoubtedly, she breathed a prayer for +Minka's departed soul.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Then she arose wearily. 'I thank you, sir,' she said. 'You have just +done me a greater kindness than when you sent me the money. When you go +home give my respects to the lady baroness. Tell her I need nothing +more. Three are already at rest, and the fourth will not delay long. +And so may God preserve you. I am freezing. I shall go back to the +house and warm myself a little. The night will be cold and the house is +empty. May God reward you a thousandfold, sir! No; you shall not go +with me! I have no one, and the cursed music will let me sleep very +well if I stop my ears tightly enough. Good-night, sir! Rest well. And +the Lord God above will understand and deal kindly with us. Amen!'</p> + +<p class="normal">"She crossed herself and bowed quietly. Then she climbed the slope +across the meadow, and I watched her until she reached her hut above +and closed the door behind her.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I myself returned to the path in a state of mind that baffles +description. The universal misery of mankind was about the drift of it. +But other elements mingling with it gave the peculiar experience +something at once grotesque and awful. A professional psychologist +would have had difficulty in understanding it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fortunately the weather took care that I did not lose myself in this +bottomless pit of fruitless speculation. Just as I reached the first +houses, the rain began to fall in such torrents that I was obliged to +seek shelter and wait until the storm should abate before attempting to +return to the estate. Naturally, I hastened to the inn. I had a certain +curiosity to see the famous judge's son on this day, when his old +sweetheart had quietly taken herself out of the world to make room for +his new one.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It was a middle-class wedding of the usual sort. I looked through +the open door into the hall, where the table had been removed to +make room for the dancers. The wedding pair immediately struck my eyes, +not unfavorably either; he was precisely such a man as I imagined, +curly-headed, therefore popular among women, and with a frivolous, +insolent face; on the whole, a good-looking rascal of the most common +type. The young wife in her myrtle wreath, a provincial beauty, +appeared much in love with her husband, but, from continual dancing +with him, was too red and overheated to be lovely. Since she was rich, +the husband had in fact obtained a better lot than his villainous deed +warranted, and it was hardly to be expected that compensating justice +would make him do penance for his sins through this marriage. He did +not seem to be a man who would endure such penance calmly, much less +pass even one sleepless night in useless thoughts upon the moral system +of the world.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The wretch disgusted me. Joining the peasants in the bar-room below, I +drank my glass of beer in a very bitter mood, while the floor above +creaked and trembled under the stamping and springing of the dancers, +and the rain beat against the windows. This continued for more than an +hour; then the rain ceased, the clouds moved towards the mountains, and +the moon appeared. I decided to look about for a team, since the roads +were now unfit for walking, and the wedding uproar made the prospect of +a night here intolerable.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Fortunately, just as I was going out to inquire for a teamster, +I found my brother-in-law's coachman before the door with the +hunting-wagon, my sister having sent him to bring me home. Both he and +his horses needed a rest and a thorough drying. The homeward journey +was so slow that I found everyone at the house asleep, and could not +tell my horrible experience of the previous day till the following +morning as we three sat at breakfast.</p> + +<p class="normal">"We were still under the influence of the strange tragedy--my sister, +who had visited the 'four females' once during the summer, being +affected even to tears--when the door opened, and my brother-in-law's +steward entered. 'I merely wish to announce, Herr Baron,' he said, +'that there has been a fire during the night. God be thanked, it has +not spread, and was not on our estate. But Mother Betsey's house is +burned.'</p> + +<p class="normal">"We looked at one another confounded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'How did the fire start, and was any one injured?' asked my +brother-in-law.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The man shook his head.</p> + +<p class="normal">"'They know nothing positively, Herr Baron,' he said. 'At midnight, as +the last dance was being played down in the inn--the judge's son was +holding his wedding feast--they suddenly heard the fire-bells ring from +the towers, and, rushing out, they saw Mother Lamitz's old hut up on +the forest edge in bright flames. The fire streamed as quietly into the +sky as if from a wood-pile, and although half the village was on foot, +and the fire engine was dragged up the mountain, they could do nothing +whatever, the flames having already devoured the last corner of the old +rookery. It was only when there was nothing left to save that they +mastered the fire; the ground walls, about a man's height, alone remain +standing, if they too have not fallen by this time. At first there +seemed to be nothing left of the women and the child. At length some +one discovered in the corner where the loom had stood a ghastly heap of +ashes and blackened bones, undoubtedly the remains of old Betsey, who, +as old women can never be warm enough, probably heated the oven so hot +that the rotten thing burst and the flames reached the rafters of the +loom. She must have been quickly suffocated by the smoke and have died +without further pain. But what became of her daughter and the little +one nobody knows, and as for the donkey, which she esteemed so highly, +not the smallest piece of its hide or bones can be discovered!'"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h1>ROTHENBURG ON THE TAUBER</h1> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="div1_rothenburg" href="#div1Ref_rothenburg">ROTHENBURG ON THE TAUBER.</a></h2> +<hr class="W10"> + +<p class="normal">It was Easter Tuesday. The people who had celebrated this feast of +resurrection by an open-air excursion in the gayly blossoming +springtime were thronging back to their houses and the work-day +troubles of the morrow. All the highroads swarmed with carriages and +pedestrians, and the railroads were overcrowded in spite of the extra +trains; for it was many years since there had been such continuously +lovely Easter weather.</p> + +<p class="normal">The evening express, standing in the Ansbach station ready to depart in +the direction of Würzburg, was twice as long as usual. Nevertheless, +every seat appeared to be occupied, when a straggler of the second +class, trying to enter at the last moment, knocked in vain at every +door, and peered into each <i>coupé</i>, meeting everywhere a more or less +ungracious or mischievous shrug of the shoulders. Finally, the guard at +his side made a sudden decision, opened a <i>coupé</i> of the first class, +shoved the late-comer into the dim interior, and slammed the door just +as the train began to move.</p> + +<p class="normal">A woman who, curled up like a black lizard, had been slumbering in the +opposite corner suddenly started up and cast an angry look at the +unwelcome disturber of her solitude.</p> + +<p class="normal">However, the blonde young man in plain Sunday clothing, with a +portfolio under his arm and a worn-out travelling satchel with +old-fashioned embroidery in his hand, seemed to strike her as nothing +remarkable. She replied to his courteous greeting and awkward excuse +with a haughty, scarcely perceptible inclination of her head; drew her +wrap's black silk hood once more over her forehead, and prepared to +continue her interrupted slumber as unconcernedly as if, instead of a +new fellow-traveller, merely one more piece of luggage had been put in +the compartment.</p> + +<p class="normal">The young man, feeling that he was regarded as an intruder, took good +care not to remind her of his presence by any unnecessary noise; +indeed, for the first five minutes, although he had been running +violently, he held his breath as long as he could, and remained +steadily in the uncomfortable position which he had at first assumed. +He merely took off his hat, and wiped the perspiration from his brow +with a handkerchief, looking discreetly out of the window the while, as +if he could only atone for his appearance in a higher sphere by the +most modest behavior. But since the sleeper did not stir, and the +passing landscape outside had no charm for him, he finally ventured to +turn his eyes toward the interior of the <i>coupé</i>; and, after having +sufficiently admired the broad, red plush cushions and the mirror on +the wall, he even dared to look more closely at the stranger, slowly +and cautiously surveying her from the tip of the tiny shoe peeping from +beneath her gown, to her shoulders, and at length to the fine lines of +the face turned towards him.</p> + +<p class="normal">Undoubtedly a very high-born dame--that was instantly clear to +him--and, furthermore, a Russian, Pole, or Spaniard. Everything she had +on and about her bore the stamp of an aristocratic origin;--her gown; +the fine red travelling satchel against which she placed her tiny feet +so regardlessly; the elegant tan gloves whereon she was resting her +cheek. Moreover, a peculiar fragrance, not of any aromatic essence, but +of Russia leather and cigarettes, surrounded her, and on the carpet of +the <i>coupé</i> there actually lay several white half-smoked stumps, +scattered about with their ashes and some Russian tobacco. A book had +also fallen on the floor. Unable to content himself with letting it lie +there, he picked it up carefully and saw that it was a French novel. +All this filled him with that secretly pleasing horror apt to seize +young men who have been brought up in provincial circles, when they are +unexpectedly brought into contact with a woman of the fashionable +world. To the natural power of woman over man is then added the +romantic charm which the unknown and independent customs, the imagined +passionate joys and sorrows of the upper classes, exercise over a +fledgeling of the lower. The gulf yawning between the two classes +merely increases this attraction; for, the opportunity sometime +offering, the man probably feels a visionary, foolhardly desire to show +his strength and cross the seemingly impassable abyss.</p> + +<p class="normal">To be sure, the young traveller did not contemplate any such +adventurous boldness. But when he was sufficiently convinced that the +sleep of his strange neighbor was unfeigned, he quietly drew from his +vest pocket a small book bound in gray linen, and furtively began to +sketch the sleeper's fine and pale, though somewhat haughty, profile.</p> + +<p class="normal">It was no light undertaking, although the rapid motion of the express +helped him over several difficulties. He was obliged to keep himself +half-poised on the seat and make each stroke with unerring certainty. +But the head was well worth the trouble; and as, peering through the +dim light, he studied the quiet face lightly framed by the folds of the +hood, he said to himself that he had never seen such classic features +on any living being. She seemed somewhat past her first youth, and the +mouth with its delicate lips occasionally assumed, even in sleep, a +peculiar expression of bitterness or disgust; but the brow, the shape +of the eyes, and the rich masses of soft, wavy hair were still +remarkably beautiful.</p> + +<p class="normal">He had drawn zealously for about ten minutes and had almost finished +the sketch, when the sleeper roused herself calmly, and demanded in the +best of German:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know, sir, that it is not allowable to rob travellers in their +sleep?"</p> + +<p class="normal">The poor offender, greatly confused, let the book sink upon his knee, +and said, blushing furiously: "Pardon me, my lady, I did not think--I +believed--it is merely a very hasty sketch--merely for remembrance."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Who gave you the right to remember me, and to assist your memory so +obviously?" replied the woman, measuring him somewhat coldly and +scornfully with her keen blue eyes.</p> + +<p class="normal">She gradually raised herself to an upright position; and as the hood +fell upon her shoulders, he saw the fine contour of her head, and in +spite of his embarrassment, continued to study her with an artist's +eye.</p> + +<p class="normal">"In truth, I must confess that I have behaved like a veritable +highwayman," he replied, trying to turn the matter into a jest; "but +perhaps you will allow mercy to precede justice, when I return my +booty, not with intent to propitiate justice, but to show you how +little it is that I have appropriated."</p> + +<p class="normal">He offered her the open sketch-book. She cast a hasty glance at her +picture; then nodded kindly, though with a quick gesture of rejection.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It is like," she said, "but idealized. You are a portrait painter, +sir?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, my lady; in that case I could have made the sketch really +characteristic. I paint architectural pictures mainly. But just because +my eyes are sharpened for beautiful proportions and graceful lines, and +as they are not found in a human face every day--"</p> + +<p class="normal">At a loss for a conclusion, he stared at the tip of his boot, attempted +to smile, and blushed again.</p> + +<p class="normal">Without noticing this, the stranger said, "Doubtless you have some of +your sketches and paintings in that portfolio there. May I see them?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly." He handed her the portfolio, and spread the contents sheet +by sheet before her. They were mere aquarelles, representing in a +versatile manner and with thoroughly artistic conception old buildings, +Gothic turrets, and streets of gabled houses. The stranger allowed one +after the other to pass, without addressing any questions to the +artist. But she studied many pages for a long time, and returned them +with a certain hesitation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"The things are not perfectly finished yet," said he, excusing this and +that hasty study, "but they all belong to the same cycle. I availed +myself of Easter day to talk them over with an art-dealer in Nuremberg. +I wish to publish all these sketches in chromo-lithographic work. To be +sure, I have many predecessors, but Rothenburg is not even yet as well +known as it deserves to be."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rothenburg?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Certainly. These are all views from Rothenburg. I thought you knew it, +my lady, as you did not ask."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Rothenburg? Where is it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, on the Tauber, not many hours' journey from here. But really, do +you not know it? Have you never even heard the name?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must pardon my ignorance," she replied, with a slight smile, "as I +am not a German. But I have been with Germans very often, and confess +to you, I never heard the name of Rothenburg on the--how was it?--on +the Tauber?--until now."</p> + +<p class="normal">He laughed, losing his timidity at once as he realized his advantage +over this elegant woman on such an important point.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pardon me," he said, "for having behaved to you as all Rothenburgers +do to strangers, even though my cradle did not stand on the banks of +the Tauber. We are all so infatuated with our city, that we can +scarcely imagine how our feeling appears to people who know nothing of +Rothenburg. When I went there for the first time nine years ago, I +myself knew little more of the old 'imperial' town than that it stood, +like Jerusalem, upon a high plateau rising from the river valley; was +even yet fortified with walls and towers as for the last half-thousand +years; and had the honor, once upon a time, to count the founder of my +race among its citizens. Permit me to introduce myself to you: my name +is Hans Doppler."</p> + +<p class="normal">He bowed smilingly, looking at her as if he expected that this name +would arouse in her a joyful excitement, somewhat as if he had confided +that his name was Hans Columbus or Gutenberg. But her expression did +not change in the least.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Doppler," he continued, somewhat hesitatingly, "is merely the new +version of the name Toppler, and was introduced during the last century +in the collateral line to which I belong. Yet it is authentically +certain that the founder of our family was no less a person than the +great burgomaster of Rothenburg, Heinrich Toppler, of whom you have +undoubtedly heard."</p> + +<p class="normal">She shook her head, evidently amused by his naïve confidence.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I regret that my historical knowledge is just as defective as my +geographical. But what did your ancestor do, that it is a disgrace not +to know of him?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do not fear, my lady," said he, now laughing at his own pretensions, +"that from mere family pride I would bore you with a piece of +Rothenburg history. That pride has good reason to be humbled; for I +myself, as you see me, have nothing at all to govern in my ancestral +home; but, for that very reason, I need not expect to be imprisoned and +delivered up to death from hunger or poison by my fellow-citizens, as +my ancestor was, after he had increased the good old town's military +renown. A horrible end, was it not, my lady? A fine return for so many +brave deeds! And all because of a mere slander. He was said to have +lost the town to a certain prince in a game of dice; but not a word of +it was true. In the ancient language, Doppler, to be sure, meant dice, +and in our family arms--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He stopped suddenly, for it seemed to him that the lady's delicate +nostrils were trembling in the effort to conceal a yawn. Somewhat +mortified, he turned his attention to his aquarelles, and arranged them +in the portfolio which he was still holding in his hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">"And how did it happen," she then asked, "that you inherited this +unjustly murdered man's estate? Did they wish to repay to you the wrong +they did your ancestor?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You err, my lady," he said, "if you believe that Rothenburg would feel +any honor about having a Doppler once more among them, or would allow +this honor to cost them anything. When I, as I told you, merely curious +to see the old fortress, strolled through the ancient gateway nine +years ago, not a person there knew me, and even when I mentioned my +name, they made little fuss about it. Indeed, as I was born in +Nuremberg, and no longer have the T in my name, they greatly doubted +that I really belonged to them. But, as the poet says, the history of +the world is the final judgment; and what the magistrate of Rothenburg +neglected to do--that is, to meet me ceremoniously, surrender to me for +my sole possession the houses which the great burgomaster had owned, +and support me for my lifetime as a living part of the city--fate, or +providence, whichever you wish, did in another way.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I came to Rothenburg merely to make a few studies and to take a look +at the old-fashioned nest, and I found there my life's happiness and a +warm, new nest of my own, to which I am now returning."</p> + +<p class="normal">"May I know how it happened?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Why not, if it interests you at all. My parents sent me to the academy +at Munich. They were not rich, but yet their means were sufficient to +educate me suitably and to allow me to go through all the classes. I +wished to become a landscape painter, and, after finishing school, to +travel in Italy for several years. When I became twenty-one years of +age I felt impelled, before undertaking the great art-journey, to visit +my good mother at Nuremberg--father had been dead for some time. +'Hans,' said she, 'before you make your pilgrimage to Rome, you ought +to take a trip to the place where the roots of our family tree stood +before they were torn up and transplanted here from eastern Franconia.' +She was a worthy old patrician, my good mother, and laid great stress +on grand genealogical expressions. Well, there was nothing to hinder; I +took my pilgrim's staff in hand and set out slowly toward the west, +sketching industriously on the way; for this German landscape of ours +was already far dearer to me than the unknown scenes of the south. Now, +since you have looked through the portfolio, you may perhaps comprehend +that the German Jerusalem impressed me strongly, and that I did not +have hands and eyes enough to note all the remarkable things. But there +was something in Rothenburg which won my approval even more than its +dear antiquity; namely--I shall not treat you to any detailed love +story--at one of the weekly balls given by the so-called 'Harmonic +Society,' I became acquainted with the young daughter of a fine old +citizen who had formerly been an alderman. She was full three years +younger than I, and--I may surely say so--the prettiest child in the +whole town. After the second waltz I knew my own mind well enough, but, +unfortunately, neither hers nor her father's. And so it might have been +a very sorrowful story, and the descendant of the great Toppler might, +like him, have pined away in chains in this old 'imperial' town, if the +before-mentioned fate had not interfered, and allowed me to cast a +lucky throw with my family dice. In three days I was satisfied that the +maiden liked me; and in three weeks, that the father would overlook my +extreme youth and former misdoings, for he too--God knows why--had +taken a foolish liking to me. It was especially pleasing to his +Rothenburg heart that my name was Doppler, and that I knew how to paint +the beautiful ruined walls, the wonderful turrets and strange +fountains, of the old fortress. So, after a short year of probation, he +gave me the hand of his only child, under the condition, to be sure, +that I should leave her in her old home during his lifetime, and should +devote my art principally to the glorification of his beloved town. You +comprehend, my lady, that I did not struggle much against this. My +father-in-law was not only a reputable man, who owned house and +gardens, vineyards and farm lands, but the best soul in the world as +well, and never failed to see a joke except when some one praised other +ancient towns unduly, or placed Nuremberg or Augsburg above the 'Pearl +of the Valley.' He lived with us for four years; and whenever I sold +any picture of Rothenburg at a foreign exhibition, he always brought a +flask of Tauber wine from the cellar and drank my health. When he +finally died, I myself was altogether too much at home in the +primitive, angular old house to think of moving. Then, too, there was +no lack of commissions and work just commenced. But if the old man had +lived to see my colored prints published, I believe he would have lost +his reason for joy."</p> + +<p class="normal">Becoming silent after this long narrative of his short life, he looked +out of the window into the ever-deepening darkness, and lost himself in +quiet revery. It finally occurred to him that the stranger had not said +one syllable in reply; and at the same time he felt her eyes steadily +regarding him from her dusky corner. "I am afraid," he said, "that +after all, I have wearied you with these petty stories. But you +yourself drew them from me, and if you knew--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are greatly in error," she interrupted. "If I remain silent, it is +merely because I am pondering a riddle."</p> + +<p class="normal">"A riddle? That I have given you?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Yes, you, Herr Hans Doppler. I am asking myself, how I can reconcile +the artist whom I recognize from this portfolio, with the staid, +home-loving man--you have children too?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Four, my lady--two boys and two little girls."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well then--with the young husband and father who has settled down in +his monotonous, commonplace happiness as in a snail-shell, and at most +takes an occasional journey to Nuremberg--your drawings show unusual +talent, for that you can take my word. I have seen the work of +Hilderbrandt and Werner, and the whole Roman aquarelle club, and assure +you yours would make a sensation among them. So much freedom and +spirited ease, with such grace in the landscapes and <i>staffage</i>! And +then to think that this unusual talent is doomed for the next thirty or +forty years to no other expression than an endless variation of the +towers, balconies, vaulted doors, and gabled roofs of a medieval nest +which appears in our world like an excavated German Pompeii--But pardon +me this criticism of your plan of life. I am not fitted to criticise +it. However, as you wish to know the subject of my meditation, it was +this problem: can a noble, liberal, artistic soul be so completely +filled by commonplace family happiness? It must certainly be possible. +Only to me, as I am accustomed to absolute freedom of existence, to +boundless liberty, it is incomprehensible that you, scarcely thirty +years old--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right," he interrupted, his frank, youthful face suddenly +clouding. "You have expressed something which I often said to myself at +first, but always thrust back again into a secret corner of my heart. +Do you really find that my drawings show power for something greater +and better? At the best I would fall far short of a great artist! +Meanwhile, you know Schiller's poem, 'Pegasus in Harness.' A horse that +suffers itself to be harnessed to the plough, even though it may be of +good blood, proves that it has no wings. But perhaps it might have +served for something better than ploughing. And yet, if you knew--if +only you knew my Christel and the children!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I do not for an instant doubt that you have a charming wife and lovely +children, Herr Hans Doppler; and nothing is farther from my thoughts +than to render you suspicious of your domestic happiness. But that you, +being so young, can regard it as final, as something never to be +interrupted, never to be laid aside even temporarily for the sake of a +higher aim--and you were even on the way to the beloved land of art, +and had certainly heard and seen enough of it at the academy to have +some presentiment of the joys awaiting you there--and nevertheless--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, my lady!" he cried, suddenly starting up as if the narrow <i>coupé</i> +had become too close and prison-like for him, "you are repeating my own +thoughts! How often in the night, especially in clear spring nights, +when I have awakened and heard my dear wife's quiet breathing near me; +while the children were lying asleep in the neighboring room, and the +moonlight was moving so weirdly and quietly over the low walls; and the +ancient clock, which the old man wound so regularly, and which dates +from the Thirty Years' War, was ticking drowsily to and fro--how often +I have been forced to spring out of bed and look down into the valley +through the little window with the round pane! And when I have seen the +Tauber flowing along in its narrow bed as hastily as if it could not +escape too soon from its restraining banks and throw itself into the +Main, and with it into the Rhine, and thence into the ocean--how much I +have suffered, as I ground my teeth together and slunk back to bed +tired and saddened, I have never told a human soul. It seemed the +blackest ingratitude against the kind fate which had dealt with me so +gently. But the day after I could never touch a brush; and if I saw in +a paper the word Rome or Naples, the blood rushed to my head as though +I were some deserter caught on the road, and dragged handcuffed back to +his barracks."</p> + +<p class="normal">He thrust his hand through his curly hair, and fell back in his seat. +She had regarded him during his excited speech with a keen, fixed look, +and, for the first time, his face interested her. The innocent, +youthful expression had disappeared; his clear, beautifully formed eyes +blazed; and his slender figure, in spite of the common black coat, +gained something animated, almost heroic, as well beseemed the +descendant of the "great burgomaster."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I understand your mood," said the stranger, composedly taking a +cigarette from a small silver box and lighting it with a waxen taper, +"but just so much the less do I comprehend your action. To be sure, I +myself have always been accustomed to do only what satisfies my +nature's deepest needs. I acknowledge no chains. Either they are too +weak, and I break them; or they are too strong, and strangle me. To +remain in them alive is for me an impossibility. Do you smoke? Do not +be embarrassed. You see, I set the example."</p> + +<p class="normal">He shook his head, thanked her, and became all attention.</p> + +<p class="normal">"As I said," continued the lady, blowing the smoke slowly before her +with her beautiful, expressive lips, "I have no right to criticise your +plan of life. But you must allow me to wonder how a man can complain of +a difficulty rather than help himself out of it, especially where it +would be so easy. Do you fear that your wife would be untrue to you if +you should take an art journey?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Christel? Untrue to me?" In spite of his gloominess he laughed aloud.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Pardon!" she said calmly; "I forgot that she is a German, and, +moreover, a Rothenburg woman. But just so much less do I comprehend why +you condemn yourself to a lifetime of such work; representing only the +church and <i>klimperthor</i>, or, as it is called--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"<i>Klingerthor</i>, my lady."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, then, all this trashy masonry and commonplace Gothic rubbish, as +if there were no Colosseum, no baths of Caracalla, no theatre at +Taormina! And what vegetation, what luxuriant growths there are among +the ruins of those old temples; what pines and cypresses, what distant +glimpses of ocean and mountains! Believe me, I myself, although I am +not yet an old woman, would have been dead and buried long ago if I had +not escaped from narrow, maddeningly lifeless surroundings, and found +salvation in that land of beauty and freedom."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Madame is not married?"</p> + +<p class="normal">She threw the glowing cigarette stump out of the window, pressed her +regular, little white teeth together an instant, and then said, in an +indescribably indifferent voice--</p> + +<p class="normal">"My husband, the General, was governor of a moderately large fortress +in the interior of Russia, and naturally could not accompany me. Then, +too, at his age, it would have been hard for him to forego his home +comforts. So we decided to arrange a rendezvous somewhere on the +frontier for every two years, and since then each has lived much more +contentedly.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I well know," she continued, as he looked at her with some +disapproval, "that this conception of married happiness is revolting to +sentimental German prejudices. But, believe me, in many respects, we +barbarians are in advance of your highly refined civilization; and we +make up for our lack of political liberty by our greater social +freedom. If you were a Russian, you would have emancipated yourself +long ago, and followed the lead of your Tauber, though in the opposite +direction. And what would you have lost by it? When you returned in a +year or two as a well-developed artist, would you not find your house +on the same spot, your wife as domestic and youthful as ever, your +children, perhaps half a head taller, but as clean and pretty as you +left them?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right! It is only too true," he stammered, pushing his hands +nervously through his hair. "Oh, if I had but seen it so clearly +before!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Before? A young man like you, not yet beyond thirty! But I see it now; +you are too fond of the flesh-pots of Rothenburg. You are right; remain +at home and earn an honest living. The proposition which I was just +about to make would appear to you less rational than if I commanded you +to travel in a desert and hunt tigers and crocodiles, instead of +landscape motives."</p> + +<p class="normal">She flung the sharp-pointed dart at him with so much quiet grace that +he felt at once charmed and wounded.</p> + +<p class="normal">"No, my lady," he cried, "you must tell me the proposition you had in +mind. Although it is only a short time since I had the good fortune to +make your acquaintance, I can nevertheless assure you that your +appearance, each of your words, has made a deep and lasting impression +on me. It is, to be plain, as if a complete change were going on in me, +and these hours with you--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He reddened and became silent. She noticed it, and came to his aid, +although she was apparently looking beyond him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"My proposition," she said, "will not by any means suffice to make an +entirely different man of you, but only to release the true one from +his narrow shell. I am now going to Würzburg to visit a sick friend. +After staying with her for two days, I shall return on this same road, +making no halt before Genoa, where I shall take passage on a steamer +bound for Palermo; for as yet I have not seen Sicily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Now, what Goethe has written in his 'Italian Journey' about his +companion, the artist Kniep, whom he engaged to sketch any wayside +scene which pleased his fancy, has always filled me with envy. I am no +great poet, and no rich princess. Yet I am not so poor but that I too +may grant myself such a travelling companion. Of course we now have +photography. But to you at least I need not explain how much better it +is to have an artistic hand at disposal than any photographic apparatus +whatever. I also thought it would be well for you to be introduced into +this paradise by some one who understands the language perfectly and is +no novice in the art of travelling. You would be entirely free to +remain with me as long or short a time as you pleased. The first +sentence of our compact should read: Freedom even to inconsiderateness. +And if, on the return, you should wish to linger at Rome or Florence, +the means for doing so--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, my lady," he broke in, excitedly, "I would not think of +trespassing on your kindness and generosity under any condition. I can +well afford to spend a year in the south, and if I perceive in your +proposal a sign from heaven, it is only because your suggestion, the +prospect of seeing all these world wonders in your company, makes the +determination so much easier. For that I shall be unceasingly grateful +to you. It is indeed just as you say; my wife, my dear children--in +fact, I shall offend them less than I now imagine. Christel is so +intelligent, so self-reliant, she herself, when I explain it to +her--or better, if you could say it to her as you have to me--truly, +after Würzburg you must--I cannot expect you to take a trip to +Rothenburg--whoever has seen the Colosseum and the baths of Caracalla +must regard our modest, commonplace, medieval--"</p> + +<p class="normal">The whistle of the locomotive interrupted him. The train was moving +more slowly, and lights were beginning to glimmer by the roadside.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Steinach!" said the artist, rising and picking up his satchel and +portfolio; "our ways part here. You go farther north; I shall take the +little local train, and be home in half an hour. Oh, my lady, if you +would set a day and hour, when you are on your return--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know," she said suddenly, looking at her watch, "I have +reflected that it would be more sensible for me to spend this night in +Rothenburg, and continue my journey to-morrow morning. I would arrive +in Würzburg too late to see my friend. Instead, since I am for once so +near, I will make up the deficiencies of my historical and geographical +education, and take a look at your Jerusalem on the Tauber. You will be +so good, if your wife does not object, as to be my guide to-morrow for +a while--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, my lady," he cried in joyful excitement, "I would never have dared +to ask so much! How happy you make me, and how shall I ever--"</p> + +<p class="normal">The train stopped and the door of the <i>coupé</i> was opened. Having +reverentially assisted his newly won patroness to alight, Hans Doppler +accompanied her to a carriage of the second class. There she spoke +several Russian words to a small, odd-looking person in a plumed hat, +who, laden as she was with numerous boxes, satchels, and baskets, +worked her way out of the overcrowded interior into the open air, +and regarded her mistress's blonde companion with a not altogether +friendly glance of her small, Tartar eyes. The lady appeared to +explain the altered condition of things to her maid, although that +overburdened creature did not answer a word. Then, taking her young +fellow-traveller's arm, she strolled with him up and down the dark +platform in lively conversation; talking of Italy, of Russia, of the +German cities which she knew, so easily and cleverly, and with such an +agreeable spice of wickedness, that her companion felt he had never +before been so well entertained, and could never weary of listening to +this irresistible Scheherezade.</p> + +<p class="normal">In truth, was it not like a fairy tale, that he should be walking +beside this beautiful woman, whom he had seen for the first time an +hour before; that she should have decided to follow him to his little +nest, far out of the usual route; and that such a fascinating future +should be in store for him?</p> + +<p class="normal">They knew him very well at the little station, but when they saw him +appear in such elegant company, they doffed their hats more +respectfully than ever before.</p> + +<p class="normal">In the light of the swinging lanterns, her pale face seemed even more +unreal and princess-like. She wore a peculiarly shaped cap of black +velvet bordered with reddish fur, and a short hooded wrap with the same +trimming. She had drawn off her gloves; and her young escort glanced +down furtively from time to time upon the large sapphire gleaming on +her little finger. He had scarcely ever seen such a slender, lily-white +hand, every part of which seemed so expressive and elegant.</p> + +<p class="normal">But when they boarded the little local train, which had only two small, +second-class compartments besides the two-and-a-half horse-power +engine, he became somewhat uncomfortable. All three seated themselves +in one second-class carriage, since there was none of the first; and +the train began to move slowly on through the softly enveloping +moonlight. The maid betook herself to the darkest corner, and crouched +there beneath her mountain of bundles. The full light from the lamp on +the ceiling fell upon her mistress's face, and the young artist +opposite became more and more devoutly absorbed in contemplating the +nobly formed features, which corresponded so perfectly to the ideal of +beauty that he had vaguely conceived in the model classes at the +academy. But as the train approached the journey's end, he became +disheartened and depressed by the thought that the rustic nooks of his +old Rothenburg would appear very uninteresting to these wonderful eyes +which had seen half the world.</p> + +<p class="normal">Everything that he had known and admired for so long seemed suddenly +mean and despicable; and he thought with dismay how disdainful her +delicate face would look on the morrow, when she saw all that famous +magnificence on which he had laid so much stress. His overawed fancy +flew even into his own home, and, unfortunately, things did not seem +much better there. How would his little unsophisticated wife compare +with this world traveller; and his boys, usually running about with +dishevelled heads; and his baby girls, as yet with so little knowledge +of behavior?</p> + +<p class="normal">He regretted intensely having meddled with this pleasant adventure, and +the storylike atmosphere suddenly vanished.</p> + +<p class="normal">Fortunately, he did not need to act just then. The stranger's eyes were +closed, and she seemed to sleep in good earnest. The narrow-eyed +Tartar, to be sure, was watching him steadily from her ambush, but she +did not speak.</p> + +<p class="normal">At last the train stopped; the sleeper awoke, seemed to find trouble in +determining where she was, and then asked if there were any endurable +hotels in Rothenburg. Her companion, whose patriotic pride was aroused +by her contemptuous tone, recommended, with admirable reserve, the +"Golden Stag," whose omnibus was waiting at the station. Was not his +wife there to receive him? He had forbidden it, as the hour was so +late--ten o'clock--and she did not like to leave the children alone +with the maid. The next day he hoped to have the pleasure of presenting +his family to her.</p> + +<p class="normal">To this the Russian--no longer in her former friendly mood, and +seeming, like him, secretly to regret her over-hasty decision--made no +reply.</p> + +<p class="normal">All three, without exchanging another word, climbed into the close +hotel omnibus; and, driving through the sombre gateway, jolted over the +uneven pavement into the sleeping city.</p> + +<p class="normal">They reached the market-place just as the moon was emerging from a mist +of clouds, and the stranger, looking out of the carriage window, +expressed herself as well pleased with the majestic town-hall, now +showing to the best advantage in the silvery moonlight. This revived +her companion's sinking spirits, and he began to speak of the building, +Rothenburg's especial pride, and its foundation after a great fire. It +was an edifice of the best Renaissance style, and in summer-time, when +the extensive space along the front was decorated with flowers, one +could hardly imagine anything more majestic and delightful.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was still talking when they stopped before the open door of the +"Golden Stag." Hans Doppler sprang out first; then after having +assisted the stranger to alight, he bade the host good-evening, and +whispered to him to prepare his best chamber.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Numbers 15 and 16 are empty," replied the host, bowing with great +politeness.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will have a beautiful outlook into the Tauber valley, my lady," +said the artist. "When the moon is higher, you will be delighted with +the double bridge below and the little Gothic church. Early tomorrow +morning I shall presume to inquire how you have slept, and when you +wish to make your trip through the town."</p> + +<p class="normal">She noticed that he was a trifle cool and ill-humored. Immediately she +gave him her hand, pressed his as he respectfully kissed her slender +fingers, and said: "Until to-morrow, dear friend! Do not come too +early. I am a night-bird, and your Rothenburg moonlight in addition to +the Tauber-nixy will not allow me to rest just yet, I am sure."</p> + +<p class="normal">With this she followed the landlord into the house; and the maid, +relieved of some of her burdens by a servant, hurried after her.</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">Hans Doppler set out on his way home with much less eagerness than was +usual with him when returning from some short trip; indeed, he was like +an extremely tired, thoughtful man who is uncertain of the welcome he +may receive. His house, built close to the town-wall near the Burgthor, +faced the northwest; while the windows of the inn which he was leaving +looked towards the southwest. He racked his brains on the way in the +effort to decide which would be better: to make a full confession that +evening, or postpone it till the morrow. As soon as he had escaped from +the dangerous stranger's influence, the whole matter seemed to him +extremely unpleasant, if not fairly dishonest and wrong. Yet he had +already gone too far to extricate himself without dishonor. The next +day must be lived through; after that he would feign some pressing +obligation, which, by forcing him to remain at home, would prevent him +from accompanying her just then.</p> + +<p class="normal">Having thus satisfied his conscience with regard to his unsuspecting +young wife, he became more at ease. Yet it was with ever-decreasing +haste that he ascended the steep street above the market-place, till he +reached the tower of the Burgthor. As he turned into the narrow alley +leading to his house, he saw in the distance a dark figure standing +beneath the round arch of the garden wall; and he scarcely had time to +recognize his little wife before a pair of soft firm arms were thrown +around his neck and a warm mouth sought his in the darkness.</p> + +<p class="normal">As he was carrying a satchel and portfolio, he could neither return the +embrace nor prevent it, as he was inclined to do; for he noticed that +some of the neighboring windows were open, and feared that the tender +welcome might be observed.</p> + +<p class="normal">She saw his embarrassment, however, and calmed him by saying that they +were only some old people, who knew long ago that she was still +sentimental after seven years of marriage. Then, chatting softly and +pleasantly of many small occurrences, she led him into the house, where +every one was already asleep. It was an ancient ark, whose walls had +outlasted many severe storms and severer wars. Its age was even more +evident within, where all the woodwork was black and cracked, the +stairs were steep and crooked, and the walls were parted at the seams, +in spite of numerous props. But in order to remedy all these evils, it +would have been necessary to demolish the old structure and build it +afresh, and this the former owner could as little persuade himself to +do as his daughter and her young husband, in whose veins the blood of +the "great burgomaster" still flowed.</p> + +<p class="normal">As Hans Doppler ascended the narrow, crooked stairs of this historic +house, he for the first time found fault with it, although he was +discreetly silent. As he entered the sitting-room, the low, raftered +ceiling, the extremely old-fashioned furniture, and the family +portraits on the walls struck him as shabby and ordinary; though the +little brass lamp with its green ornaments looked very cheerful on the +covered table, and lighted up the bright plates and dishes set out for +his modest evening meal. At such home-comings he was usually bubbling +over with merry speeches; tonight he was perfectly quiet, and, to +conceal it, forced a continual smile, and stroked his pretty wife's +cheeks in a fatherly manner which caused her much secret wonder.</p> + +<p class="normal">But in the chamber where the children were sleeping the seal seemed to +break from his heart and lips; especially when the younger boy, the +favorite because of his close resemblance to his mother, awoke and +threw his arms about his father's neck with a cry of joy.</p> + +<p class="normal">Hans immediately gave him a toy which he had bought in Nuremberg and a +large piece of gingerbread, both merely for a hasty look, as the lamp +was soon removed again. Then, sitting on the old sofa, whose hair-cloth +covering had never before seemed so cold and hard to him, he ate his +supper, drank some of the red Tauber wine from his own vineyard, and +told the fortunate result of his business trip to his young wife. +Christel sat opposite, eating nothing, but resting her elbows on the +table. And then he had chanced to journey from Ansbach with a Russian +lady, the wife of an old general, and she had wished to see Rothenburg, +and was stopping at the "Stag." Unfortunately, he could not avoid +escorting her around somewhat the next day; indeed, he was considering +if it would not be necessary to invite her to dinner.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You know, Hans," said the young wife, "that our Mary understands very +little about cooking; and I myself, unless I know beforehand, cannot do +things by magic. But why do you wish to invite this utterly strange old +lady ceremoniously to our house so soon? She has not called upon us as +yet. Is it in some way important for you to entertain her especially? +Is she an old acquaintance of your Munich days? Then, indeed, I must do +my best."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No," he said, bending his head rather low over his plate; "she is +neither a former acquaintance, nor is she particularly old. And you are +right, child; we must let her come to us. She will certainly come, for +I have told her so much about you and the children. You will see--an +interesting woman--very artistic. Her goodwill may be very useful to me +some time, for she knows half the world."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, I am eager to see her," replied the young wife. "For the rest, +that even Russians should become interested in Rothenburg--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He reddened, knowing best what had caused the suddenly awakened +interest in Rothenburg. "Child," he said, "go to bed now. Your bedtime +hour struck long ago. I am still somewhat excited by my journey, but I +shall soon follow you."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right," she said, yawning heartily, thereby showing her large, +but pretty, red mouth, with its shining teeth; "I noticed at once that +you were not feeling like yourself; your eyes wander restlessly. Open +the window and sit awhile in the cool air. Good-night."</p> + +<p class="normal">She kissed him hastily and went into the neighboring bedroom, leaving +the door open. Then he arose, pushed back the shutters, and opened the +window with the small round pane. The night wind had scattered the +mists from the moon; the winding valley, with its blossoming trees and +freshly ploughed fields, lay beneath him in silvery dimness; and in the +deep hush he could hear the whispering of the Tauber's waves as they +rushed past the little, white water-tower which his forefather had +built. He became very contented and peaceful; this time his thoughts +did not follow the course of the little stream to the limitless ocean, +although the conditions were as often before; he could hear at his +right the quiet breathing of his children, on his left the gentle tread +of his little wife, who before retiring had still this and that task to +do. He felt as if he had merely dreamed the Russian fairy tale; at +least, it would not disturb his sleep that night.</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">When Hans Doppler awoke in the early morning and found that his little +wife, who had been busy in the children's room for some time, was no +longer near him, his first thought was of all that lay in store for him +with his elegant patroness. In sober morning light, his dwelling, his +historical furniture, his dear wife and rosy-cheeked children seemed +even less charming than on the previous evening. He found Christel's +neat house-dress much too provincial in cut, and noticed for the +first time that Heinz's trousers were patched with a piece of cloth +unlike the rest of the stuff in color and pattern. His own attire of +yesterday displeased him exceedingly. It was as respectably black as an +office-seeker's; for it had seemed suitable to the young artist to +conduct his business with the Nuremberg gentlemen in clothing which +should sufficiently prove his business solidity. Moreover, he always +dressed like every one else in the town, since, being the only one of +his class, he would have been conspicuous everywhere if arrayed as an +artist. But he had no wish to reappear before that cosmopolitan woman +in the garb of a young Philistine; so from the deepest recesses of his +clothes-chest he drew forth a velvet jacket, the same in which he had +first come to Rothenburg, a broad-brimmed, black felt hat, and a pair +of light trousers. Christel opened her eyes when he appeared thus +attired. It was a shame for the good coat to hang in the closet for the +moths, he declared. Moreover, now, when his fellow-citizens would soon +learn that they were destined to become famous far and wide through +him, he was no longer going to appear ashamed of his art.</p> + +<p class="normal">To this the discreet little wife made no rejoinder, but regarded him +with quietly critical eyes. She herself might well do a little extra +to-day, he called back as he went out. It was uncertain when the +general's wife would call. She would be welcome at any time, replied +Christel. Moreover, she was always in a condition to be seen, and +the children too. Those who did not find them pretty enough in their +every-day clothes had bad taste. In Russia, as she had read, they ran +about perfectly ragged, and unwashed besides, like very beasts.</p> + +<p class="normal">With this she lifted little Lulu on her arm, stroked back her curly, +blonde hair, and kissed her with quiet pride on the bright blue eyes +which she inherited from her father. Christel's eyes were brown.</p> + +<p class="normal">Hans Doppler, suppressing a slight sigh, exerted himself to smile back +at his little family; then hurried on his way to the "Golden Stag."</p> + +<p class="normal">He knew it was still too early to call there, but he could not endure +the narrow house and his secretly wicked thoughts. He had intended to +stroll about a little before visiting the stranger, but as he came to +the market-place and looked down the street towards the inn, he saw the +lady standing in the centre of the street below, opposite the little +Church of St. John, attentively studying through her lorgnette its +Gothic windows and ancient carvings, among which a black +<i>Christophorus</i> was especially prominent.</p> + +<p class="normal">He was dismayed at his tardiness. But as she saw him hastening towards +her, she greeted him from the distance with a cheerful nod, and called:</p> + +<p class="normal">"You see, dear friend, the spirit of Rothenburg possesses me already. I +am even now deep in admiration of the good old times. From mere +impatience I could not sleep longer than seven o'clock, to Sascha's +horror, for she is a marmot. I sprang out of bed in my bare feet in +order to admire by morning light the Cadolzeller, no <i>Codolzeller</i> +church, and the double bridge down in the valley; for they had already +enchanted me by moonlight. Your Tauber-nixy is a maiden of very good +taste. I have also learned some Rothenburg stories and sayings. When I +praised the baking at breakfast, the head-waiter quoted to me the old +proverb:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<p class="t4">'In Rothenburg on the Tauber,<br> +Both milling and baking are clean;'</p> +</div> +<p class="continue">and as I came out of the house to reconnoitre a little by myself, the +landlord immediately remarked to me that this was the famous +<i>Schmiedegasse</i>, where, during the peasant revolt, blood had flowed +like a brook when sixty rebellious leaders were executed on the place +before the market by some Margrave. If I remain here three days I shall +become a perfect Rothenburger. For truly, everything that I see pleases +me. You too please me better than yesterday. Do you know that your +artist costume is very becoming? But come, we must not linger so long +in one spot. Do not take pains to show me the so-called remarkable +sights, but rather the nooks that no Baedecker has noticed and marked. +And as I am a commandant's wife, I will look first of all at the towers +and walls, so that if Russia sometime lays siege to Rothenburg, I may +revenge myself for its present conquest of me."</p> + +<p class="normal">He gazed at her steadily, as she chattered on with easy volubility. She +wore the travelling gown of yesterday, but with a more coquettish air, +and the fur cap rested provokingly over one ear. Then he offered her +his arm, and leading her through little side streets to the still +well-preserved wall which enclosed the entire town, he told her that +the town formerly had as many towers as there are weeks in the year; +that most of them were still standing; and that in war-time, during +many hundred years, both friends and foes had rushed to these towers +either to seek refuge there with goods and families, or to seize them +as points of vantage. She listened to his statements in decorous +silence, glancing to and fro with her sharp eyes and occasionally +interrupting him by an exclamation of pleasure, whenever they came to +any unusual masonry, any artistic hovel hidden away among the +buttresses, or the end of some street through which they could look +back into the crooked old town. Then, climbing up some ancient steps +leading to the top of the town-wall, they continued their way beneath +the low, sheltering roof under which the worthy burghers had so often +stood and returned the enemy's fire. Now and then stopping at a +loophole, she would look out and ask him to tell her the names of the +surrounding country places, and of the roads that led through them. +Thus they went from the dark tower on through the "Röderthor" to the +white tower, where she finally declared that she had satisfied her +curiosity about the fortifications and wished to return to the town. +But an image of the holy Wolfgang claimed her attention for a while +longer. He stands in a niche near his little church, one hand resting +on a model of the church, the other meekly and sorrowfully uplifting +his broken crosier.</p> + +<p class="normal">"If I should remain in Rothenburg," she said, "this holy man would +become dangerous to me. See what a lovely, innocent, and yet wise face +he has! I have always wished to meet a living saint and play the +temptress for a while. Do you believe that this one could have +withstood me if I had disregarded his soul?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He awkwardly stammered some jesting reply. In reality it seemed to him +that neither worldlings nor saints could escape this fascinating woman, +if she wished to cast her nets about them. As he beheld her slender +figure gliding through the shadowy passages, her face now and then +lighted by a gleam of sunshine, his heart throbbed with a strange +excitement, which he attributed to artistic feeling. But it estranged +and mortified him that she did not once refer to yesterday's plan of +the Sicilian trip. And notwithstanding all yesterday's resolutions, in +spirit he already saw himself climbing the steps of the ampitheatre at +Taormina by her side, and heard her express her delight in terms very +different from those of to-day over an old watchtower or postern-gate.</p> + +<p class="normal">Once more she leaned upon his arm, and they returned to the town. Then +he led her directly to the old Church of St. James, the town's only +cathedral. However, she regarded the beautiful Gothic structure with +much less interest than he had expected, and was coldly indifferent to +the three famous altars with their admirable carving.</p> + +<p class="normal">But she looked long at the glass case wherein the holy blood is kept, +and crossed herself. He thought to impress her by telling her that +Heinrich Toppler set up the high altar and collected the pictures by +Michael Wohlgemuth, and by showing her the great burgomaster's arms +with the two dice; but, stifling a little yawn, she requested to go +into the streets again. There her interest was reawakened by the black +stain on the arch of the gateway, beneath which a street passes through +the church. A peasant, he told her, having cursed as he was driving his +team through the place, was seized by the devil and flung high against +the arch; the body fell down, but the poor soul stuck fast.</p> + +<p class="normal">At this she laughed heartily.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are foolish antiquaries, you gentlemen of Rothenburg!" she cried, +"and now let me see your town-hall, and then enough for to-day."</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know," she said, as they were retracing the short way to the +market-place, "that it really seems to me as if this German Pompeii +were inhabited by nothing but good people, whose truth and honesty, +having been covered up like the old stones for several hundred years, +has now come to light again? As yet I have not seen one evil face. They +all greet each other; it is like a large, well-bred family, wherein +each one behaves politely because he is observed by all the others. +You, too, once out in the world would seem more merry and enterprising. +Now you have the same pious look. You must not take offence if I am +often a trifle critical."</p> + +<p class="normal">He eagerly assured her that, quite the contrary, her frank, witty +comments on everything interested him very much. Soon afterwards in the +court-room of the town-hall he was subjected to a severe test. While +the castellan was relating the story of the great draught, that +celebrated saving deed of the old burgomaster, Nusch, who redeemed the +forfeited lives of the whole council, and obtained mercy for the +townsfolk from wicked Tilly, their harsh conqueror, by performing the +almost impossible feat of emptying a flagon of thirty Bavarian quarts +at one draught--the haughty lady broke into merry laughter. The pretty +story itself, she afterwards explained, did not seem so absurd to her +as the solemn and affected manner of its narration, which inflated this +mere feat of strength to a deed of the most noble heroism; and it had +also occurred to her that this legend somewhat resembled the story of +the Roman knight Curtius, except that he had jumped <i>into</i> an abyss for +his country's sake, whereas the Rothenburg Curtius had the abyss in +himself--and several other irreverent jests.</p> + +<p class="normal">He sadly acknowledged to himself that this woman, whom he considered a +creature of unusual perfection in other respects, was completely +lacking in the historical spirit.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you wish to ascend the tower?" he asked. "It is a trifle appalling, +but perfectly safe. The walls, from the ground to the highest point, +are all fastened with iron braces, so that the hollow four-cornered +pillars hold fast together; but often in a storm the tall, slender +tower sways to and fro like a shaken tree."</p> + +<p class="normal">"I am sorry the air is so quiet to-day," she replied; "of course we +must go up."</p> + +<p class="normal">He preceded her up the steep wooden steps until they reached the +topmost part, where, after they had knocked, a trap-door was opened, +and a little gray-headed man, the tower-keeper, greeted them kindly.</p> + +<p class="normal">She looked observantly about the airy room, through whose four small +windows the bright noonday sun was streaming, seated herself on the +footstool from which the lonely, little tower-keeper had arisen, and +commenced a lively conversation with him. On the table lay several +sewing implements and a half-finished waistcoat; for the watchman was +evidently a tailor, and adorned not only an official position, but his +fellow-citizens as well. Putting on the steel thimble, in which her +delicate finger tip was fairly lost, she took a few stitches, and asked +whether he would not surrender his office and his work to her. He was +the only man in the world whom she envied; since, in spite of his high +position, he was not annoyed with visits; and if he happened to be +struck by lightning in some thunder-storm, he would not be far from +heaven. To this the little man replied that he had a wife and children, +with a daily salary of only sixty pennies, so his life was not +care-free after all. Then he showed her the signal apparatus for fires, +and complained of the distress he often suffered when the tower swayed +so that the water spilled over the edge of his keys. Then she inquired +if they could go out upon the gallery surrounding the top of the tower. +The watchman at once lowered a little ladder from the ceiling, climbed +it, and opened a metal trap which covered a small triangular opening. +Would the gracious lady risk crawling through there? Certainly she +would; she was slim enough even yet; but the gentlemen should go first.</p> + +<p class="normal">Hans Doppler, who had never been able to persuade his little wife to +force herself through the narrow hole, gave expression to his +admiration of her spirit by an ardent look, and promptly clambered out +after the watchman. The next instant he saw the beautiful woman +appearing from the opening, and offered his hand to assist her. Then, +separated from the dizzy depths below merely by a slender railing, they +stood shoulder to shoulder in the narrow passage near the belfry, +drawing deep breaths of the glorious air. The city lay at their feet as +neatly spread out as a Nuremberg box of toys; the towers of the Church +of St. James, with the swallows circling about them, were far below; +they saw the silvery Tauber winding through the country, and the smoke +from a hundred chimneys eddying upwards in thin spirals. It was midday, +and the streets were almost deserted.</p> + +<p class="normal">Suddenly she turned towards her companion. "If two people should kiss +each other up here, could any one below see it?" she asked.</p> + +<p class="normal">His face became darkly red.</p> + +<p class="normal">"It would depend on whether they had good eyes or not," he said; "but +as far as I know, no one has ever observed anything of the sort."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Truly not?" she said, with a little laugh. "Do lovers never come up +here on the tower, or even people who are tempted by the lofty point of +view into some trifling madness? Only imagine how it would scandalize +the good simpletons down there if, half squinting in the afternoon +light, they should look up here and suddenly see such merry misconduct. +Then perhaps the magistrate would cause a bill to be posted: 'Kissing +is officially forbidden under a penalty of three marks.'"</p> + +<p class="normal">He laughed in great embarrassment.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I once ascended the dome of St. Peter's," she continued, "with a young +Frenchman, who, as we were sitting in the great copper sphere, insisted +that he positively must embrace me--that it was a venerable old custom. +But I forbade it, just because up there one is perfectly safe from +prying eyes. The danger of being seen might have attracted me. One must +have spirit in foolish pranks, else they are nothing more than foolish. +Do you not think so?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He nodded violently. He was becoming more and more embarrassed and +uncomfortable. Yet at the same time he realized this woman's great +power over him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are born for the high places of life," he stammered; "in your +presence I feel so free and light that if I remained near you long I am +sure I should have wings to carry me far beyond the conventionalities +of life."</p> + +<p class="normal">She glanced sidewise at him with a keen, penetrating look." "Well, +then, why will you not let yourself be carried?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He gazed perplexedly down into the depths below them. At this instant +the clock at the Church of St. James struck twelve, and immediately the +little watchman gave twelve strokes to the great, dark bell behind +them.</p> + +<p class="normal">The woman shrugged her shoulders and turned away. "Come," she said +coldly; "it is late, and your wife will keep the soup waiting for you."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then drawing her gown smoothly about her hips till it clung tight to +her knees and ankles, she once more disappeared in the narrow opening, +seeking the ladder rounds cautiously with her little feet. He came to +her aid too late. When he arrived in the tower-room below she was +already standing before the tailor's little mirror arranging her hair.</p> + +<p class="normal">She seemed to have lost some of her friendliness, and he privately +acknowledged that it was his fault. He reproached himself severely for +having behaved like a blockhead, in neglecting to seize his good +fortune by the forelock. Not that he intended any harm, any +faithlessness whatever to his good wife! It was only meant for a merry +pastime, like ransoming forfeits, and he had spoiled the game. What +must she think of his Rothenburg stiffness! And would she trouble +herself further about such a clumsy boor?</p> + +<p class="normal">She bade a brief good-by to the tower watchman, and almost petrified +him by pressing a thaler into his hand. On the way down neither spoke a +word. And even in the broad, quiet <i>Herrengasse</i> he walked dumbly +beside her; although a while before he would certainly have explained +to her that the tablets which she saw on some of the houses announced +where and how long this and that great monarch had lodged during the +old-time imperial feasts. She divined that regret and vexation sealed +his lips, and as his penitence pleased her very well, she began to chat +in her old familiar way again.</p> + +<p class="normal">As they came through the <i>Burgthor</i>, out upon the narrow ledge covered +with trees and flowers, which hundreds of years before had supported +the real Rothenburg, she expressed a vivid pleasure in the old trees, +with their still blossomless branches, and in the view at the right and +left. Then he too became more cheerful, and pointed out to her the +little water-tower down in the valley, which Heinrich Toppler had +built, and in whose modest interior he had entertained King Wenzel. +"And up there," he said, "where you see four small windows--the house +wall forms a part of the town wall--there I live, and if you will do me +the honor--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Not now," she said hastily; "I have dragged you around too long +already. I shall go back to the inn alone, for I could now find my way +through the town in clouds and darkness; and if I should lose my way, +so much the better. <i>La recherche de l'inconnu</i>--that has always been +my life purpose. You too go home now; I invite myself to your house +this afternoon for a cup of coffee. But, understand, you are not to +call for me. Adieu!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave him her hand, but after having scorned her lips, he could not +persuade himself to kiss a mere glove. So, strangely agitated, he left +her.</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">When Hans Doppler arrived at his house, he found that, instead of +delaying dinner, Christel had saved his portion for him. She thought he +would dine at the hotel with his ancient friend, and the children were +hungry. She brought out the simple fare, now so distasteful to him, and +then, seating herself opposite, prattled on in her calmly cheerful way; +talking of many things which seemed thoroughly insipid and worthless to +him to-day, after his glimpse of the "high places of life." All the +children, except the oldest, who was now attending school, were playing +in the garden, and were not in their best clothes.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Listen, child," he said. "You might as well put another bow in your +hair, and dress Lulu in her blue frock. The general's wife is coming to +take coffee with us."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Is this bow no longer good enough?" she replied, regarding herself in +the mirror. "I made it only eight days ago. Why should we put on so +much ceremony because an old Russian wishes to know us?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Hm!" said he. "I have already told you she is far from old--between +thirty and forty--and very elegant, and since we have the things, why +should we appear poorer than necessary? To be sure, we cannot change +the old furniture, but you might at least put away those thin, brittle +spoons, and have the new ones instead; and if you will not dress in +state--"</p> + +<p class="normal">He faltered, although she had not interrupted him by a word. But her +look, seeking to read the depths of his heart, troubled him.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Listen, Hans!" she said. "You amaze me. Hasn't everything seemed +pretty and suitable to you until now? And didn't you yourself say that +this old sofa, where we sat when our betrothal was celebrated, should +never leave the house? And wasn't the little coffee-spoon good enough +for you, when I put my first preserved cherries into your mouth with +it? The new ones, you know very well, belong to Heinz, whose god-mother +is to send him one each year until the dozen is complete. Ought I to +borrow anything from our boy in order to make a display before a +strange lady? My coffee is famous throughout the town. Mary shall run +to the baker's for some fresh pastry; then, if we do not please your +Russian, I am very sorry. For the rest, you appear to have studied her +baptismal record more closely to-day. All the better, that she is no +old woman. Tell me, has she children?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"I believe not. She has not spoken of them."</p> + +<p class="normal">"No matter. Her silver spoons may be more beautiful than mine. As for +our children, they, I think, could compare with any general's children. +I shall merely wash their hands a little, as they dig in their garden. +But earth is not dirt."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she went out into the garden, while he, glad to be alone, +pried about the room, rearranging and disposing things after his own +mind in a more artistic fashion. Bringing a few aquarelles from the +garret--which he had converted into an <i>atelier</i> by means of a +half-covered north window--he hung them on the wall in place of the +crayon portrait of some forgotten great-aunt. He put an easel in the +corner near the little window, and placed a study in oils upon it. He +heartily desired to remove a certain shelf loaded with glasses, cups, +artificial flowers, and alabaster figures, and he would have had no +objection to throwing it out of the window upon the wall; but he knew +that this treasure house of tasteless keepsakes was too dear to his +wife for her ever to forgive such an act of violence. At length he +regarded his work with a sigh; the room did not look very much changed; +he acknowledged that the stamp of provincial simplicity was too deeply +impressed on his life to be erased by a mere wave of the hand.</p> + +<p class="normal">But in truth this cage was too narrow for an aspiring artist. He must +leave it at once, or the veil which had until now hidden all this +pettiness from his eyes would soon envelop him completely.</p> + +<p class="normal">Just then Christel returned; and, casting a wondering glance at the +easel and the new pictures, she smiled slightly, but said not a word. +After spreading a pretty coffee-cloth on the table, she took from the +shelf several cups--her best, though long out of fashion both in shape +and decoration; then, between the two plates which the maid had +filled with cakes, she placed her principal piece of silver, a small +sugar-bowl bearing on its lid a swan with outspread wings. Hans, +meanwhile, sat at the window, apparently absorbed in a book. The little +woman evinced no surprise at his seeming lack of interest in the +preparations, though she laughed softly to herself now and then. Her +pretty mouth looked very bewitching when she smiled, but Hans had no +eyes to see this, and she soon left him alone again.</p> + +<p class="normal">Thus a short hour glided by, and as he heard her working outside in the +kitchen and talking with the servant, her calm, soft voice, formerly so +pleasing to him, pained him; he himself did not know why. Suddenly he +heard the door-bell ring, and, starting up, he rushed out into the +hall. There he encountered Christel.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Must you actually receive her on the threshold like a princess?" she +asked calmly. "We are not such extremely humble people."</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right," he said, somewhat confused. "I only wished to see if +you were there."</p> + +<p class="normal">She preceded him into the room. Immediately afterward the stranger +entered. Christel met her with graceful cordiality; the young artist +merely bowed in silence. The lady almost ignored him, and devoted +herself exclusively to the young wife. Christel invited her to sit +beside her on the stiff little sofa, and thanked her for having found +time during her short stay to visit them.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Our little old house is not one of the noteworthy sights of +Rothenburg," she said. "We have no such beautiful wainscoting as in the +hall of the Weissbacher house; and, although everything is old, it is +not therefore beautiful. To be sure, it pleases me, because I have +known it from childhood, and have seen people whom I loved sitting on +all those ugly chairs. But my husband," and she glanced roguishly at +him, "would look on without a pang, if all our furniture went to the +second-hand dealer, or was thrust into the stove. The best that we have +is free to all, and is there outside of the window. You must see our +view, my lady. Then you will find it comprehensible, that even an +artist can be contented with this old nest--but who knows for how +long!"</p> + +<p class="normal">Once more she glanced mischievously at Hans, who was pushing back the +table in order to show the view to their guest. But the lady remained +seated, saying that she had studied the Tauber valley thoroughly from +the castle, and was now here solely on Christel's account. She had +evidently intended to be very gracious and affable, and to encourage +the shy young wife in every way; but when she realized that there was +no need of this, her own manner became somewhat constrained. She was +unusually quiet, and listened in silence to Christel's ingenuous +prattle and the husband's occasional comments. The maid brought the +coffee, and Christel served her guest without any ado. Meanwhile, she +observed, the stranger's face closely, and seemed to become more and +more confident and cheerful in consequence. Then she inquired about the +lady's journey, about her husband; and asked if she had any children. +As the stranger hastily answered this in the negative, the subject was +dropped. Soon afterwards Christel's three oldest children rushed +upstairs into the room; the larger boy held his younger sister, just +two years old, in his arms; all four looked pretty and rosy, and were +only a trifle abashed when their mother bade them shake hands with the +stranger. The latter regarded them through her lorgnette with apparent +good-will, but evidently did not know what to say to them. So, with a +glance at the shabby little piano standing against the wall, she at +once asked if Christel played.</p> + +<p class="normal">She had played as a girl. Now she had too many household duties, and +opened the old instrument only occasionally to accompany her children +in a song.</p> + +<p class="normal">Of course the guest desired to hear one of these family concerts, and, +although the father remarked that it would be a very moderate pleasure, +the young wife was soon persuaded. Gently lifting the youngest child +from her lap, she placed it in the sofa corner. Then, seating herself +at the piano, she struck several chords with an unpractised but musical +hand, and played the melody of the song "<i>In einem kühlen Grunde</i>." The +two boys and little Lulu came softly behind her, and began to sing +somewhat shyly. But by the second stanza the young voices sounded fresh +and courageous; and the mother sang with them, in a voice whose +charming quaintness lent peculiar strength and meaning to the tender +love-song.</p> + +<p class="normal">Hans, sitting by the window, cast furtive glances at the stranger, +whose face assumed a more and more bitter and unhappy expression, the +longer she listened. When the song was finished, she did not speak. +Christel arose and whispered something to the children, whereupon, +after a courteous bow, they left the room. Then she took the youngest, +which had fallen asleep, and carried it out to the maid. When she +reentered, the two were still sitting in silent absorption.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Will you not show your friend the <i>atelier</i>?" she asked brightly. +"There is more to be seen there than down here."</p> + +<p class="normal">He at once stood up, and the stranger also arose. "You do not know how +well you sing!" she said, offering her hand to Christel. "Music always +makes me sad; not the great roaring operas and concerts, but a pure, +sympathetic human voice. And now let us go to this work-room of art."</p> + +<p class="normal">He conducted her up a small, dark staircase, and opened the door of the +so-called <i>atelier</i>. The whitewashed walls of the spacious garret were +covered with sketches and studies from his academic years; close to the +window stood the table where he painted his water-colors, and on a +couple of easels were two oil paintings, one completed and one but just +commenced, naturally views of Rothenburg. But she appeared to take +little interest in these works to-day; for she spoke only occasionally +of some study, and soon turned to the window, whence one could look far +beyond the soft, green slopes, down the Tauber, where, in the slightly +misty spring air, a little town lifted its ancient tower among the +tall, blossomless trees.</p> + +<p class="normal">"There is nothing remarkable about those colors and outlines," he said, +"but as a frame for the whole picture they are not bad. How different +it must be to stand on the Capitol and see the beautiful, classic lines +of the Alban mountain beyond the Forum and the imperial palaces! To be +sure, I know it only from pictures!" he concluded with a sigh.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You will certainly see the reality sometime; that and still more +beautiful things. Meanwhile, this too is not to be despised, each in +its place."</p> + +<p class="normal">Then she spoke of other things. But he was contented because she had +thus referred to his southern trip, for the first time during the whole +day. He was reflecting how to continue this theme which she had +started, when she turned from the window and asked him to take her +downstairs again. Before departing, she had a few letters to write, +since she would find more time for them here than in Würzburg. When did +the evening train leave?</p> + +<p class="normal">"At eight o'clock," he replied.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Good. We shall see each other once more at the station? Now I must go +home."</p> + +<p class="normal">When they came down into the house, Christel was no longer there; the +mistress was in the garden, said the maid, turning red and refusing +what the stranger tried to force into her hand. Christel met them in +the garden, her hands full of hyacinths and spring flowers, which she +had just cut and made into a simple nosegay.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You must be contented with these," she said, "for as yet I cannot +offer you any of my roses, of which I am very proud. But I myself have +raised these yellow hyacinths with the greenish calyxes, and more +beautiful ones are not easily found. I have a skilful hand with +children and flowers--that is my only talent."</p> + +<p class="normal">The stranger accepted the nosegay and embraced the giver, kissing her +cheek. She then walked about the garden, which was surrounded with high +walls, and, at this time of the year, had but little sunlight. A thick +ivy covered the black walls, clothing them with a dusky green tapestry, +against which the young shoots of the fruit-trees, and the beds of +primroses, crocuses, and hyacinths stood out in pleasing contrast. The +children were playing in one corner, and labored on in their own +irregular little garden without noticing the visitor.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I must now say farewell," said the stranger. "Unfortunately, I cannot +invite you to return my visit in my so-called home. In our castle it is +not so green and cheerful as here; and I have never found out whether I +have a skilful hand with children and flowers. But I thank you for +these beautiful hours. I shall never forget them; they have both +pleased and pained me as nothing has done for a long tune. Adieu!"</p> + +<p class="normal">She embraced Christel again, and this time kissed her mouth. Then, +nodding to the young husband with a scarcely audible "We meet again!" +she quickly left the garden through the old arched gateway.</p> +<br> + +<p class="normal">It was only half-past seven, and the sun had scarcely set, when the +omnibus of the "Golden Stag" rolled through the eastern town-gate, and +soon afterward halted at the little station. But before the porter +could open the carriage-door, a young man who wore a black artist's +cap, and who had been waiting there for some time, sprang forward and +assisted the lady out first, then the Tartar maid, laden with the usual +boxes and bundles.</p> + +<p class="normal">He himself carried a large sketch-book under his arm, and over his +shoulder a light overcoat from whose pocket a thick packet protruded. +His face was somewhat flushed; his eyes were restless and excited. He +inquired if the tickets had been purchased; then hastened to the +office. Returning quickly, he gave two tickets to his patroness; a +third he placed in his own pocket.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You travel with us?" asked the stranger, suddenly standing still, +while Sascha carried her baggage to the waiting-room.</p> + +<p class="normal">He merely nodded, looking at her with astonishment and some agitation.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where are you going? You returned only yesterday."</p> + +<p class="normal">"Where? I hope to learn that from you, my lady."</p> + +<p class="normal">She regarded him for a moment as if he were a madman.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Did you not urge it upon me," he commenced with a beating heart, "that +I owed it to myself to see a little of the world before settling down +forever in this narrow place? And were you not kind enough to desire me +as your travelling companion, that I might sketch scenes that +especially pleased you? I have given it mature consideration, and find +that you are right; that I have no time to lose if I wish to take up my +neglected life-plan once more; and so I am here at your service."</p> + +<p class="normal">She still remained silent, but looked away from him into the darkening +sky, where Venus, softly splendid, was just rising.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Does your wife know of this decision, and does she agree to it?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My wife?--I merely told her I wished to bid you good-by at the +station. I mean to telegraph her from Steinach that she need not expect +me immediately, that I am going on a little sketching-trip. I shall +write more to her from Würzburg, and explain my reasons for stealing +away from her thus. A formal parting would have pained us both +unnecessarily; and, God willing, we shall see each other again in a +year or so. She is a very intelligent woman, much quicker and surer +than I in all determinations, and she loves me too well not to wish for +my good. I have considered all this during the past twenty-four hours. +Have you changed your mind in the mean time? I have brought only the +most necessary things with me," he continued hesitatingly--"I did not +wish to cause any delay. I am sufficiently provided with money; I shall +buy a trunk on the road--but why do you look at me so strangely, my +lady?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Dear friend," she said gently, "do you know that if I were not wiser +than you, you would now commit an act of actual madness, in fact, a +crime against yourself and your life's happiness?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"For heaven's sake, my lady--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Be still! Do not speak a word, but listen to me. Only first answer me +a little question honestly and frankly; is it not true that you are a +little in love with me?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My lady!" he stammered, in extreme embarrassment. He let his +sketch-book fall, stooped for it, and occupied a long time in picking +it up and dusting it.</p> + +<p class="normal">"You are right," she said, without smiling; "it was an artful question, +and you need not answer it, for I know the truth already. Of course I +am not angry with you for it, and you are not the first. It has come to +me often enough when I have had less reason to be vain of it. But what +have you imagined as the result?"</p> + +<p class="normal">He was silent. She, glancing sidewise at him, amused herself a little +with the spectacle of his helpless confusion.</p> + +<p class="normal">"I will tell you," she continued; "it seems to you very romantic to +allow yourself to be somewhat carried away, and to perform a little +travel-romance in easy chapters, with pretty Italian landscapes for +illustrations. To me also--I confess it--you are pleasing enough for me +to find your company really desirable, as I am a lonely, discontented, +and still unresigned woman. Indeed, that you may know it--for I shall +claim no virtue which I do not possess--I have given myself some +trouble--very little was needed--to turn your head. In fact, you seemed +to me too good for a petty, provincial life in dressing-gown and +slippers by the side of a worthy little goose such as I imagined your +wife to be. I even represented to myself that I had a sort of mission +to fulfil in saving an artistic soul from the curse of narrowness, or +however you wish to express it. But I have become terribly ashamed."</p> + +<p class="normal">"My wife--" he said.</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do not speak of her!" she exclaimed passionately. "Do you know that +you are unworthy of her? that, from the way in which you spoke of her, +I expected to see a good, respectable, uninteresting creature? and +instead all your famous Rothenburg has nothing to show more charming +than this little woman! And you would forsake her to run after an utter +stranger? Do not take it unkindly of me; you have been on the point of +becoming a perfect fool, and I am not vain enough to find any +particular excuse for mildness in the fact that you are infatuated with +me."</p> + +<p class="normal">Her voice sounded hard and shrill, and he perceived that she was +speaking with painful effort. Then he strove to collect himself; +seizing her hand, and pressing it slightly in his own, he said:</p> + +<p class="normal">"I thank you, my lady, for all the kind and unkind words you have just +said to me. I will not be less frank than you; yes, you have turned my +head, truly not in the ordinary way, but because you gave me a glimpse +of the ideals of life and art which I renounced so early to seek +happiness in a modest, middle station. I have indeed found it, and am +really not so blind and ungrateful as to think it worthless. But ought +not a man to strive for the highest things? Ought he to be contented +with a Rothenburg happiness--you yourself called it so--and especially +if he devotes himself to art, should he not seek the unknown--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"To strive for the highest," she interrupted him--"the unknown? Praise +your fate that it has never made those beautiful words real to you. +They are will-o'-the-wisps which lead one astray into pits and swamps. +Shall I tell you a story? There was once a beautiful young girl, the +daughter of a humble serf; and a young man, the tutor at the great +house, was in love with her; he resembled you a little, only his hair +and beard were less artistic. He wished to marry the girl, and as he +had a little property, it would have been a very good match. But the +proud thing aspired to the 'highest,' and although as yet she knew no +French, she had even then an inclination towards the <i>recherche de +l'inconnu</i>. Then a general came to the estate, and he too found the +girl strikingly pretty, paid court to her, and finally asked her to +marry him. Well, there was the 'highest' of which she had dreamt, and +the 'unknown' also, as the great world of St. Petersburg would be open +to her. And so she forsook her humble suitor and became a general's +wife; and when she saw the 'highest' by daylight it was mean and low; +and when she learned to know the 'unknown' it was but insipid +commonplaceness. Probably her heart would not have been filled with +happiness beside a simple <i>magister</i>; but yet she would not have been +quite so miserable nor made others so unhappy. Of course there were +many who wished to help her atone for her error, and one of them might +have succeeded. It was a pity that the general was such a sure hand +with a pistol, and was not too proud to give a personal lesson to one +of his young officers, thus striking the poor fellow out of the ranks +of the living. But the woman, the fool--since then she has become +restless, and seeks the 'unknown' throughout the world, or--if she +feels herself in the mood for self-deception--the ideal. Do you know +that, so far, she has found nothing more ideal than the quiet, wise, +warm glance of your little wife, the peace of your old-fashioned home, +and that skilful hand with children and flowers, which charms both into +such fresh colors?</p> + +<p class="normal">"So! Now I have nothing more to say to you. If you still believe that +you cannot be happy without copying the old stones of the castle of St. +Angelo instead of the old stones of the white tower, and without +venturing upon grand and lofty themes, although you have scarcely the +stuff for a Raphael, then come with me. The way is free, and perhaps +long enough for my extremely unselfish mood to pass away once more. But +if you are wise, you will postpone your art journey until the children +are old enough to be left in another's charge for a few months. Then +take Christel on your arm, and cross the Alps with her; and, I +promise you, even if she is only a Rothenburg child, you could +present her at Monte Pincio without being ashamed of her. Only beware +that you yourself do not undervalue her. Always let her share your +life and ambitions; for we are what you make of us, if we are good; +otherwise--we are certainly what we make of ourselves, but neither good +nor happy. Enough of this! Adieu, and remember me to Christel. And when +your work on Rothenburg is published, send it to me at Rome, under the +address of the Russian embassy. I subscribe for three copies. I will +spread the fame of the German Pompeii."</p> + +<p class="normal">She gave him her hand, which he pressed to his lips with intense +feeling. Then, drawing her veil over her face, she hurried to the +train, which was standing ready for departure. When she was seated in +the <i>coupé</i> she nodded to him once more. The little engine whistled, +and the black serpent glided out on the bare rails. But the stranger +drew back into her dark corner, and for a long time stared before her +like a statue. Suddenly opening one of her Russian leather satchels, +she rummaged around in it, and finally drew out a case. "There, take +it," she said in Russian to her maid. "You have always admired this +bracelet so much, Sascha, I will give it to you. I am moved to +generosity. I wish it never cost me more than such a shining toy."</p> + +<p class="normal">Sascha fell on her knees before her, and kissed her hand. Then, playing +with the gift, she withdrew to her corner. She believed she heard her +mistress crying softly under her veil, but did not dare ask why.</p> + + +<hr class="W10"> + + +<p class="normal">About this time Hans Doppler returned to his little wife. The children +were already asleep. He was strangely softened and moved to tenderness. +Again and again he stroked her wavy, brown hair, which she arranged so +prettily over her ears. He gave her the stranger's last greeting +without telling her anything more about the parting. Yet several times, +as they were sitting together at their evening meal, he attempted to +begin a full confession. At length he said:</p> + +<p class="normal">"Do you know, my darling, that the general's wife actually planned to +take me with her on an art journey through Sicily and Italy? What would +you have said to that?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Well, Hans," she replied, "I would not have restrained you, if it had +really been your wish. It is true, I do not know how I could have stood +it. I can no longer imagine my life without you. But if your happiness +had depended on it--"</p> + +<p class="normal">"My happiness? That depends only on you!" protested the crafty fellow, +endeavoring to conceal a blush. "You should have heard the general's +wife comparing my unworthiness and your superiority. But you did you +not become a little jealous?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Of whom? Of the old Russian?"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Old? With that hair and complexion!"</p> + +<p class="normal">"Oh, you blind Hans!" she cried, laughing, as she pulled his hair; +"then you did not see that this dangerous Muscovite was powdered over +and over, and had a thick false braid? But even if everything were all +right about her, do you believe I would not trust myself to hold my own +with her? And then the Tiber may be a perfectly beautiful river but it +is certainly not to be compared with the Tauber!"</p> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<br> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Divided Heart and Other Stories, by Paul Heyse + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DIVIDED HEART AND OTHER STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 34102-h.htm or 34102-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/1/0/34102/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Divided Heart and Other Stories + +Author: Paul Heyse + +Translator: Constance Stewart Copeland + +Release Date: October 19, 2010 [EBook #34102] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DIVIDED HEART AND OTHER STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, page scans provided by the Web Archive + + + + + +Transcriber's Note: +1. Page scan source: + http://www.archive.org/details/dividedheartothe00heysiala +2. Includes 1. A Divided Heart; 2. Minka; and 3. Rothenburg on the + Tauber. + + + + + + A DIVIDED HEART + + + + + +[Illustration: Paul Heyse] + + + + + + + A DIVIDED HEART + + AND + + OTHER STORIES + + + + + FROM + PAUL HEYSE + + + + + _TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH_ + With an Introduction + BY + CONSTANCE STEWART COPELAND + + + + + New York: + BRENTANO'S + CHICAGO PARIS WASHINGTON + + + + + + + Copyright. 1894, + BY + BRENTANO'S. + + + + + + * * * + BURR PRINTING HOUSE, + NEW YORK. + + + + + + + To + My Mother + + C. S. C. + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + Introduction--Paul Heyse + + A Divided Heart + + Minka + + Rothenburg on the Tauber + + + + + INTRODUCTION--PAUL HEYSE + + + + + PAUL HEYSE. + + + + INTRODUCTION. + + +It occasionally happens that a reader expecting to find the customary +account of an author's early struggles for bread and knowledge, his +bitter disappointments, his late and almost joyless success, is +surprised by the record of a singularly fortunate life; of a life which +advances easily and naturally from a peaceful and promising childhood +to an equally peaceful, famous old age. Goethe's was such a life; and +reading it, one feels that sharp encounter with the hardest facts of +existence would have lessened his greatness, would have disturbed that +perfect serenity of soul which made him philosopher as well as poet, +and fostered his fidelity to high ideals of life and art. + +A countryman of Goethe's, Paul Heyse, born in Berlin in 1830, two years +before the great poet's death, was no less fortunate in the lot to +which fate assigned him. Heyse's power was unlike Goethe's in kind and +degree, but the opportunities for its development were equally +favorable. His father was a philologist and lexicographer, whose home +was comfortable and refined, and whose friends were cultured and +literary. He took charge of his son's early education, and naturally +laid great stress on language, inculcating the love for purity and +exactness in its use, which is one of Heyse's best qualities. +Stimulated by the atmosphere of his home, and by these studies in +literary _technique_, Heyse began to try his skill in original work at +a very early age, and was only seventeen years old when his first book, +"Jungbrunnen: New Tales by a Travelling Scholar," appeared. Although +this production encouraged his friends in the belief that a great +future lay before him, it made no impression whatever on the world at +large, and the young author pursued his studies at the Berlin +University without astounding anyone by phenomenal brilliancy or +success. + +Finishing at Berlin, he betook himself to Bonn, and spent a year +studying Romance and philology with the famous Diez. So great was the +interest in mediaeval languages which Diez succeeded in awakening in +the young man, that in 1850 Heyse travelled to Italy and employed a +year in examining the precious manuscripts of the old Italian +libraries. The results of these researches were afterwards published +under the title "Romanische Jnedita auf italienischen Bibliotheken +gesammelt;" and a book of Italian songs was also presented to the +world. + +Upon his return to Germany, Heyse at once began serious literary work, +and put the first rung in the traditional ladder to fame. Although his +present place in literature is due to his work as a novelist, his first +creations were dramas in verse. He aspired to become a poet; not a +singer of songs and lyrics, but a great dramatic poet, whose lines +should chant, and whose thoughts should create a new era. To this end +he experimented with the various styles of dramatic composition and +tried the Shakespearian, the Greek, and the late French, in rapid +succession. His work was so beautiful in form and so faultless in +finish that it attracted immediate attention. A master's hand was +evident in every line, and albeit there was a subtle something lacking +of the true poetic fire, a certain circle of fastidious and critical +_literati_ found the dramas highly satisfactory and hailed Heyse as a +rising poet. In 1854, King Maximilian II. of Bavaria, whose court was a +veritable literary academy, called him to Munich and assured to him an +audience and an income. After a time the income was discontinued, but +Heyse's works were then amply remunerative, and he has lived in Munich +to this day. No environment could be imagined more congenial to a man +of Heyse's tastes than that of the court at Munich; and once settled +there, he began to fulfil the hopeful prophecies of his friends. In +1857, his drama, "The Sabine Women," took the prize offered by the +king, and was produced on the royal stage. Notwithstanding that it +satisfied the literary sense of the court, it failed to please the +people. There was too much finish, too much studied elegance, and too +little warmth of feeling, to appeal to their sympathies. Not until +"Colberg," "Elizabeth Charlotte," and "Hans Lange" had appeared, would +the general public acknowledge Heyse as a great dramatist. Even then +they found a flaw; for, although the characters were strong and +interesting, and some of the situations were intensely dramatic, +Heyse's dramas, as a whole, were lacking in one essential quality, +action. They were more suitable for the study than the stage; more +interesting to one appreciative reader who could enjoy the beauty of +the workmanship and feel the strength of the conception, than to an +indifferent audience expecting to be amused or excited by actual +happenings. + +In fact, they were dramatized novels, instead of true dramas, or +dramatic poems. "Not deep the poet sees, but wide," and Heyse's view +was not wide. He lacked a poet's objectivity, the power to create the +type from the individual, the power to discern the universal and +essential beyond the particular and accidental. He studied life +attentively and described it vividly and truthfully, but he saw no new +message, created no new thought. + +Evidently, Heyse was neither a great dramatist nor a great poet; and +although he was a man of unquestionable power, he reached forty years +of age without having made any permanent impression on his time. But +the good fortune which had attended his youth did not desert him in +middle age. He lived amid congenial surroundings; wrote constantly and +with increasing power; and gradually attained a self-knowledge which +enabled him to recognize the true field for his exertions. + +He began writing novels in verse, then short stories in prose, and at +length, in 1873, he wrote his great novel, "Children of the World." In +this he expressed his philosophy of life. The man Heyse, with his +intense admiration of physical beauty, his love of nature, his utter +disregard of conventionality, his keen insight into the uttermost +corners of human hearts, looks out of every page. The reader, whoever +he may be, and however strongly he may disagree with much that he +reads, is spellbound from first to last. The scenes between Edwin and +Toinette in the first part of the book are as idyllic and unworldly as +those between Marius and Cosette in "Les Miserables." Toinette herself, +so exquisitely beautiful, so courageously true to her conception of her +own nature, and so pitifully mistaken in that conception, fascinates us +as she does Edwin, and excites our deepest compassion. Edwin, too, +grave, and thoughtful, and warm-hearted as he is, seems no mere +"character," but a living man. They are all children of the world, +living entirely in the present without hope or desire for a future +life. The existing world supplies them with all they ask. As Edwin +says: "O beloved, a world in which we may attain such triumph over +fate, over our own and that of those we love; in which the tragical is +glorified by a gleam of the beautiful; in which intense joy of life +sweeps through us, bringing softening tears, even as we shudder in the +presence of death--such a world is not desolate." It is Heyse's own +creed, this of the all-sufficiency of the present life. In one of his +lyrics he has expressed it more explicitly--"Kein Ernst und Drueben, nur +ein Jetzt und Hier!", and later on in the same poem he says: + + "Das eine wissen wir: + Auch wir vergehen, und das ist Trotz genug." + +Since this was written at the time of his son's death, his disbelief in +immortality must be at least sincere. + +Having now abandoned his aspirations towards poetic and dramatic fame, +Heyse worked as his own nature dictated, and soon made for himself a +distinctive place in German literature. In 1876, his other long novel, +"In Paradise," a story of artist life in Munich, appeared. Unlike +"Children of the World," "In Paradise" is full of humor and has little +philosophy. + +But the short story is Heyse's favorite form of expression, and it is +in the short story that his power is best revealed. With the exception +of a few essays, dramas, and one-act pieces, he has written nothing but +short stories for the last fifteen years, and in that time he has +produced so many that they would fill several shelves in a large +library. + +Since Heyse believes that every story should embody some specific +thought, something to distinguish it absolutely from every other, it is +easily comprehensible that many of his tales are morbid and unreal. But +the best of them are veritable bits of life; life viewed not only from +the outside as any keen observer may see it, but life as the +philosopher knows it, the inner life which gives value and purpose to +this "fleeting show." He spares no detail of common experience, which +may give strength and vividness to his stories, but he chooses the +themes themselves from the world of ideas. His stories are not +primarily character studies, though the men and women produce the +impression of actual life; nor are they stories with plots and +thrilling events. They are histories of crises in human lives, of +strange problems and situations, of subtle influences working +unexpected issues. The majority are stories of love, psychological, +like most modern love tales, but picturesque and human as well. +Although the hero and heroine are separated, if separation must be, by +some obstacle in their own natures rather than by any untoward +circumstance of life, they are not dissected and analyzed till they +lose all human semblance. They are as unconsciously true to themselves +as living beings, and are not less difficult to comprehend. Heyse has +searched human hearts to the depths; he has read the motive behind the +act; he has seen the thousand thoughts and feelings which make that +motive complex; but he has not made his great knowledge an excuse for +writing semi-scientific treatises in the guise of fiction. His +characters never lose personality; they give fascinating glimpses of +their deeper selves, but they make no full confessions; they are +elusive and surprising, and therefore indescribably charming and real. +All classes of German society have contributed to enlarge Heyse's world +of fiction, but it is of the educated middle class that he most often +writes. While a certain sameness in type is noticeable in his +characters, there is no marked sameness in the individuals. The men are +usually cultured, thoughtful, and passionate; the women are beautiful, +noble-minded and vivacious; but each man and each woman has traits +which make his or her personality distinct from all others. The women +are strangely captivating. Toinette, in "Children of the World," Lucile +and L.'s wife in "A Divided Heart," Christel and the Governor's lady in +"Rothenburg on the Tauber,"--they all claim our interest and sympathy +as they do that of the people about them. In fact, Heyse always forces +us to feel what he wishes to tell us. He is never guilty of writing +about a character; the men and women are before us and we are left to +draw our own conclusions. Yet we inevitably sympathize with him, and +blame or praise as he would have us do. + +Heyse uses nature merely as a background for human beings. He never +indulges in long rhapsodies over sunsets and beautiful views, or in +lengthy descriptions of any scenes whatever; but he has Thomas Hardy's +power of making places absolutely real in a few vivid words. Nature +must be very dear to him, and he must understand her very thoroughly, +or he could never reproduce her charm so truly. "Rothenburg on the +Tauber" is a story of the spring-time; and reading it, we breathe the +cool air of spring, see her pale tints, live through her sunny days and +misty, moonlit nights. In "Minka," the gloom of a sombre autumn day +depresses us as it does Eugene, and lends some of its own unearthly +sadness to the strange story. + +All of Heyse's writings have atmosphere, that indefinable quality which +no amount of mere description of places and people can give, but which +comes of itself from the heart of the sympathetic writer. And Heyse is +evidently deeply in sympathy with every subject which he treats. +Feeling intensely himself, he wishes his readers to share his feeling, +and he is so consummate a master of his art that he is sure of this +effect. From the first word it is plain that he has something important +to say, and the reader has no choice but to read on to the end. Nor is +it possible by reading ten of Heyse's stories to divine what the +eleventh may be. He is true to his principle of making each one utterly +unlike all the others. This, perhaps, is one of Heyse's greatest +charms. Prolific as he is, he never wearies one with sameness; his +twentieth volume is as interesting and surprising as his first. + +Whether or no Heyse's works will live is a problem which must be left +to its own solution. They are purely modern products, tales of +nineteenth-century people, actuated by nineteenth-century thoughts and +feelings; and though many of them are artistically perfect, they are +saturated with the author's own personality, and have not that +universal truth of application which usually characterizes the world's +classics. "L'Arabbiata," "On the Banks of the Tiber," "The Maiden of +Treppi," "The Mother's Picture," "A Divided Heart," and "Rothenburg on +the Tauber," are among the best of the short stories. His "Tales of the +Troubadours" are very beautiful, but are somewhat marred by a freedom +of speech which approaches actual vulgarity. It is this unfortunate and +unnecessary frankness which has brought against Heyse the accusation of +immorality, although all his stories have an "upward tendency," and are +time to the highest ideals. No one reading "A Divided Heart," or +"Rothenburg on the Tauber," could doubt the rectitude of the writer's +moral sense, or his love for the best in human nature. + +Since Heyse is still living, the thousand and one interesting facts and +anecdotes which come to the world's knowledge only after a great man's +death are not yet told of him. His life has been even and uneventful; +poor in those startling changes of fortune which make the usual +attractive biography, but rich in inner experience, in the vivid +impressions, intense feelings, and great thoughts, which make actual +life full of interest and meaning. + +A number of Heyse's works have been translated into English, but many +more deserve wider popularity than their own language can give them. +Their great writer, realistic as Balzac, analytic as Tolstoi, +picturesque as his own countryman, Ebers, should become as famous here +as he is in Germany, and add one more to the increasing list of great +men whose writings are precious, not alone to their own countries, but +to the world. C. S. C. + + + + + + A DIVIDED HEART + + + + + A DIVIDED HEART. + + +It was still early when I left, although the company was one of those +which do not become lively until after midnight. But a gloomy +uneasiness which I had brought with me, would not yield to the good +wine and tolerable humor which seasoned the bacchanal; so I seized a +favorable moment and took French leave. As I came out of the house and +inhaled the first breaths of the pure, night air, I heard some one +following me and calling my name. + +It was L., the eldest and gravest of our circle. I had heard his voice +scarcely twice the whole evening among the noisy chatter of the others. +I esteemed him very highly, and was usually delighted to meet him. But +just then I desired no man's company. + +"It has driven you out also," he said, as he caught up to me, and, +stopping for breath, glanced at the starlit spring heavens. "We were +neither of us at home among those hardened bachelors. When I saw you +slipping out, a melancholy envy, which you must pardon, came over me. +Now, thought I, he is going home to his dear wife. She has been +sleeping for some time; he steps on tip-toe to her bedside; she at once +awakens from her dream, and asks--'Is it you already? Did you enjoy +yourself? You must tell me about it to-morrow.' Or, she has been +interesting herself in a book, and opens the door herself when she +hears your footstep. To be so received means to be at home somewhere in +this world. In my lonesome cell there is no one waiting for me. But I +enjoyed that good fortune for twelve whole years, and am far better for +it than our young friends yonder, who have no perception of the best +things life can offer, and who speak of women as the blind do of +colors. Are you not of my opinion, that one only half knows them when +one speaks merely from hearsay, and says, with the usual irony, a +'better half'?" + +He put his arm in mine, and we walked slowly along the deserted +streets. + +"You know, my dear friend," said I, "that I am a marriage fanatic, with +good reason. If I neglected to preach its gospel to the heathen this +evening, it was only from a general disinclination to speak where I am +not altogether at ease. I feared, too, that my usual eloquence on the +subject might leave me in the lurch. But, truly, it would not be the +first time that I have argued alone against a whole gang of obstinate +bachelors." + +"I admire your courage," he replied. "For my part, I am always hindered +from contradicting the scoffers by an absurd heart-beating; it seems to +me a desecration to gossip of the school in which one learns to fathom +the deepest and most beautiful secrets of human life." + +"You are quite right," said I, "and I have often reproached myself for +being beguiled into discussing in prose, after the manner of a +scientific problem, what one may properly confess only in verse. And +yet certain silly speeches always excite me to protest again. When I +hear it said that marriage is the death of love; that the obligation to +fidelity quenches passion; and that, since no man can master his heart, +even the best should hesitate before forming a life-tie, my vexation at +the foolish babble runs away with my reason, and I begin to speak of +things which one regards as mere exaggeration unless he has himself +experienced them." + +To this he did not reply, and we walked silently side by side. I +observed that he was lost in recollections which I did not wish to +disturb. I knew nothing of his marriage, except that he had lost his +wife many years before, and mourned her as if it were but yesterday. An +old lady who had known her told me that she was an irresistible person, +with eyes which no one who had once looked into them could ever forget. +Her daughter, lately married, I had met once at a social affair; she +impressed me as an amiable, but very quiet, young woman. + +L. had been a military man in his younger days; but being severely +wounded in the Schleswig-Holstein war, he had withdrawn to a country +estate and passed his best years there with his wife and child. After +he became a widower, a spirit of unrest seemed to drive him over the +earth, and it was only from time to time that he made a brief +appearance among his old friends. He was a stately, handsome man even +yet. His hair, although streaked with gray, stood thick and curly above +his high, bronzed forehead, and in his eyes there gleamed a quiet fire +which told of imperishable youth. + +At the next crossing he stopped. + +"My way properly leads down there," said he, "but, if you do not +object, I will accompany you for a distance. My sleep has not been +worth much for some time, and 'In that sleep what dreams may come' +seldom amount to anything. Besides, I am going away in a few days. Who +knows when we can chat with each other again." + +We set forth on our, or rather on my way, but for a long while the talk +would not take the right channel. + +The warm, night wind was as soothing as the murmur of a cradle-song; +the stars blinked like eyes which can scarcely keep themselves open. A +fine mist moved slowly across the heavens, weaving a veil over the +shining firmament. + +"Bear in mind," said I, "we shall be wakened from our first sleep by a +spring thunder-storm." + +He neither answered nor glanced at the heavens, but continued to look +fixedly at the ground. Suddenly he began, "Do you know what I have +always lamented? That Spinoza was never married. How that would have +improved his ethics! He had no conception of certain problems; and I +have always wondered how he would have regarded them if they had come +under his observation." + +"Which do you mean?" I asked. + +"You know he was the first to deny the power of reason over our +passions, and to advance the profound thesis that a passion can be +displaced only by one stronger. But what happens if two equally strong +passions together rule the same soul?" + +"Are there then two precisely similar passions?" I asked; "I myself +have never experienced anything of the kind, and am inclined to be +sceptical until I see it proved in another man." + +"There are certainly no test-scales for feeling," he replied, "but +whoever has had such an unfortunate experience will have no doubt of +its reality. But one can scarcely make it comprehensible to a third +person, because the psychological constellation under which alone this +situation arises seldom comes into position, and can almost never be +observed as quietly as other phenomena. Even you as a novelist would +hardly be able to make use of such an occurrence. You must have heard +often enough that you novelists search for psychological problems and +dispense with probability. Wonderful people! They wish to learn +something, and yet, if one tells them of what is not to be found on +every highway, they refuse to believe it. If a botanist discovers and +describes a new plant accidentally bearing blossoms on the root instead +of the stalk, no one doubts his veracity. But a new growth of human +flora, heretofore unnoticed by the thoughtless observer, is immediately +designated as a daring invention." + +"You forget," I broke in, "that people wish to enjoy fiction with the +heart alone, not with the intellect, and that the heart refuses +everything which is not closely akin to it. Therefore I feel very +lenient toward the average reader. In real life he is interested only +in certain things which he understands, prizes, and considers +desirable; such as money and land, social reputation, family happiness, +and more of the same sort. Consequently, he likes in books only such +stories as deal with rich and poor, rogues and honest men, and, for a +sort of relish, with a little of the so-called love necessary to +complete a happy marriage. Whatsoever there is beyond that, is evil. +Yet in every human breast there lives a still presentiment that there +is something glorious about the unusual, about a feeling, for instance, +that fills the heart to overflowing, even to the breaking of all +conventional bonds. But my poor wise Leopardi was right; the world +laughs at things which it otherwise must admire, and, like the fox in +the fable, blames what it really envies. A great love, for example, +with its passionate joys and sorrows, is universally envied, and +therefore unsparingly condemned. They consider it dangerous, and I have +found this view sanctioned everywhere in men's judgments of life and +fiction. 'Do not destroy my home!' cries the peaceful citizen to the +passion which is breaking into his house like an armed man. And if he +feels himself adequately protected by his armor of conventionality, +more invulnerable than iron or steel, he fears for children and +parents, and the tender heart of his wife. Although the danger may not +have been great after all. Only what we recognize as true has power +over our souls; and surely you yourself have seldom encountered in this +cold world of ours any strong passion or heart-instinct out of the +catechism, and yet truly felt." + +"That is true," he said, "and therefore I have never yet discovered, +either in psychology or romance, a trace of that peculiar situation +which I mentioned. Once I imagined that, in the writings of one whom I +consider a true artist, I had found something similar when, in looking +over Alfred Musset's short stories, I came across the title '_Les Deux +Maitresses_.' But no, the hero loved one and flirted with the other. +That happens thousands of times. But what I mean--" + +He broke off, seeming to regret that he had gone so far. I allowed only +a slight word to betray my intense interest. I did not wish to elicit +any confidence which he would not freely give me. I knew also that +there is a midnight hour for long-buried histories, when they burst the +bars of the closed breast and rise up to walk about once more in the +pale light of a starry heaven. One must then guard his tongue well, for +a careless word may frighten the timid ghosts back to their graves. + +So I remained silent and waited. We were approaching a little +enclosure, a grove of ash-trees, and on the seats under the wind-tossed +branches several homeless men lay sleeping peacefully. In the darkest +corner of the shaded place stood an empty bench. + +"If it suits you," said L., "let us sit here a moment. I would like +best of all to imitate yonder vagabonds and spend the night here _sub +divo_. The south wind possesses me." + +Then, after we had been sitting dumbly side by side for some time, "Of +what were we speaking?" he began; "was it not of people's inability to +imagine situations which they themselves have never been through? How +can one expect it of them, since even the individual himself cannot +always comprehend what he has too undeniably felt? + +"And when I now look back on that time and observe everything calmly +from a distance, does not my own heart oftentimes seem to me a riddle? +To you, indeed, that which is unintelligible to most people will seem +natural enough; namely, that the love I bore my wife was strengthened +instead of weakened by the years of unclouded happiness. One might say +that every deep and earnest affection is artistic. As the artist and +the poet bear and cherish the burning thought within them, ever +striving to approximate it to their highest ideal, so love, if not +mistaken in its object, is a ceaseless advance. But I see this +comparison halts a little. Let it be. Only you must know that I was one +of those fortunate beings who consider the possession of a beloved wife +as a daily gift from the gracious gods; and that I was still feeling a +sort of lover's devotion when the young likeness of the dear woman had +already outgrown childhood. + +"I do not know that you would have understood this better, if you had +known the woman. Many passed her by without suspecting what a rare +spirit looked out upon the world from those quiet, all-understanding +eyes. I myself, in our first hour of meeting, felt indissolubly bound +to her. But I shall not attempt to describe her. At this moment, as is +always the case with those whom I hold dearest, I see her picture only +in uncertain outlines, although I could draw any indifferent face even +to the wrinkles. It was so even when she was living; I carried with me +the feeling of her personality as a whole, and when she appeared it was +like a new revelation. + +"Many did not consider her a beauty, and she had not the slightest +desire to please in that way. But to others she seemed supremely +charming, and far beyond comparison with any merely pretty woman. I +often pondered over this mysterious charm of hers. I came to the +conclusion that, while the good qualities of the average lovable person +affect us at different times, with her the whole character revealed +itself every moment. Goodness, cleverness, earnestness and +cheerfulness, grace and firm strength,--her entire treasure was always +at hand. But I see I am still praising and describing. I will only say +that the first meeting decided my fate. + +"I immediately realized that it was not one of those sudden, +short-lived passions which I had often experienced during my frivolous +officer-life. Until now I had never, even in the warmest love-affair, +been able to think of a union for life without feeling a quiet aversion +to the loss of my freedom. In the first hour I knew that this love +concerned my soul's welfare; that I could never again be my own master, +even though I should be obliged to remain away from her forever. I +could not long endure the uncertainty as to her feeling for me. I was +somewhat spoiled by previous successes. Yet it scarcely distressed or +surprised me, when, though she acknowledged that my presence was +pleasant to her and that she would be glad to see me often, she said +she did not return my passionate feeling, and thought too highly of a +union for life and death to enter into it half-heartedly, as into +something of little moment. + +"She became still dearer to me through this refusal, although from any +one else such treatment would have sorely wounded my vanity. Before her +all mean and petty feelings disappeared, and a man's best nature was +aroused, as alone worthy of her. + +"It never occurred to me to withdraw myself, grumbling and pining, in +order to make myself missed. After the first pain was over, I seemed to +myself rashly presumptuous in having proposed at all. I believed that I +could not better atone for this ridiculous hastiness than by remaining +unassumingly near her. Her parents kept open house; and, being always +welcome, I exerted myself to be cheerful, and to suppress every feeling +of jealousy toward my companions in misery. But my nights were +wretched, and I often brooded over the darkest resolves. + +"Now imagine my feeling when one morning I received a note from her; I +might call upon her during the day. She had something important to say +to me. + +"I found her alone. She met me in the greatest agitation, stretched +both hands to me, and cried, 'You live! God be thanked!' Then she told +me that toward morning she had had a frightful dream, in which she had +seen me lying dead before her with a deep wound in my forehead. An +unspeakable grief had suddenly seized her, almost as though a hot, +buried spring had burst forth from her inmost soul and gushed from her +eyes in an inexhaustible stream of tears. In that instant she knew that +she loved me, and must die if I did not revive. When she awoke from the +dream and reflected upon it, her happiness at finding it untrue was +nearly fatal to her; her heart beat as violently as if it would leap +from her, and she was scarcely able to write the note to me. + +"From that morning until her death, that warm spring of love was never +exhausted. Whenever I remember--no, I dare not. I would seem to you a +strange visionary, or, at best, weary you with confessions that could +give you nothing new. I am no poet; and even Dante, with all his +display of color and sound, could not save Paradise from monotony. + +"Every day we experienced some new happiness, especially after our +child was born. She was a lovable child; and yet it was a long time +before I could learn to love her for her own sake. During the first +years, I loved her because of her mother, and she pleased me only so +far as she resembled her. It was, so to speak, only an additional charm +of this dear woman's that she had given life to such a child. I tell +this to you, that you may know what a boundless love filled me, and how +it never grew cool or more rational with years. + +"Indeed, she even succeeded in displacing another passion, to which I +had formerly given all my spare time, but which now scarcely ever +manifested itself. Even in the cadet school, I had been an enthusiastic +violinist, and believed that I could not live without music. And when I +realized that my wife was a stranger to the true nature of music, it +pained me for a moment. But I would have renounced as unnecessary or +troublesome, anything in which she had no part. Indeed, I easily +convinced myself that this lack was but one perfection the more. Her +true, simple nature, always at one with itself, shrank from the +mysterious depths, the spiritual twilight, into which music lures us. +It troubled her that she could not find the key to this fascinating +riddle; but she seemed to fear that she might be drawn into a moral +perplexity which would admit of no redemption. It was not indifference +toward the musical world, but rather a lack of sensitiveness, which +barred her way to the heart of it. She thoroughly enjoyed a folk-song +or dance melody. A Beethoven symphony pained her--indeed, could drive +her to despair. + +"All her artistic sense was in her eyes. She enjoyed every visible +thing with the most exquisite feeling, and would study the lines of a +face, a landscape, or a building, for hours together. Her hand was +well-trained, but she placed little value on her sketches and +aquarelles. Her technical skill did not equal her power of artistic +perception. Besides, within the limits of our country estate, amid +entirely commonplace surroundings and unattractive people, she had +little opportunity to perfect herself. + +"Thus, for different reasons, both our talents remained dormant. But, +occasionally, the desire to take my violin from its case and play +through my old favorites once again, would seize me like a physical +necessity. This I would do in perfect secrecy in some distant part of +the woods. When the longing was satisfied, and I returned to the house +like some penitent sinner, we would both laugh if she chanced to meet +me with the violin under my arm. She often implored me to ignore her +weakness; perhaps I might cure her of it. But her untroubled +cheerfulness was more to me than all the sonatas in the world. + +"For nearly eight years we lived thus, entirely for ourselves, and +reminded only by little excursions and visits to the city, that any +world existed beyond our pine woods. Then our child sickened with the +measles, and retained from them a bad throat-trouble, which our +physician advised us to check at once by a sojourn in milder air. +Although it was harvest-time, we soon decided to leave home and take +our child to Lake Geneva, for which place my wife had always preserved +a tender feeling since her school-days at a French _pension_ there. + +"In Vernex, where, as yet, the hotels had not rendered the beautiful +shore unsafe, we found an excellent house, entirely after our own +hearts. It was arranged for only a dozen guests, and was situated in +the midst of a beautifully green garden, with a most glorious view of +the lake and the mountains on the south shore. We settled ourselves in +two spacious rooms on the second floor. My wife and child slept in the +small room; the large one adjoining it served as the sitting-room, and +at night my bed was made on the divan. The corresponding rooms on the +ground floor beneath us were occupied during the first day by an +English couple, who disturbed us by continual playing on the piano; but +when they departed on the following day, they left such stillness +behind them that we might have considered ourselves the only persons in +the paradise, had not the usual meals, in an elegant dining-room, +reminded us that we still had half-gods near us. + +"On the first evening I was surprised by a tender stratagem of my +wife's. As I unpacked the great trunk belonging to her and the child, +which she herself had filled at home, I struck something hard, which +proved to be my violin-case. + +"I embraced her heartily as I saw her smile with pleasure because she +had accomplished this so cleverly and secretly. + +"'As I brought my color-box,' she said, 'there was no need for your +instrument to remain at home. I know a hundred places by the lake and +on the road to Montreux, where I can carry on my daubing by the hour, +while you are conjuring your uncanny spirits up here.' + +"Yet it happened otherwise than I had first thought in my excitement +over her loving forethought. The case remained unopened, and for a full +week not one musical thought occurred to me. I would sit by the hour on +the balcony with an unopened book in my hand, wholly absorbed in the +nobly beautiful picture before me. Or I would accompany my wife and +child on their walks; and when my wife had settled down to sketch the +magnificent chestnut-trees, or the white houses surrounded with +fig-trees and vineyards, glimmering on the slopes in the ravines +between Montreux and Veytaux, I would stretch myself in the shade near +by; chat with the child, who was visibly improving; and feel so +completely satisfied with God and man, that that sultan who vainly +searched the world for the happiest man would finally have found him in +me. + +"One morning I allowed them to go out alone, for I had several +necessary letters to write. It was a quiet, beautiful day; not a breath +of air ruffled the mirror-like lake; I had moved my table before the +open balcony door, and was congratulating myself on the deep stillness +of the house, when, in the room beneath me, I suddenly heard that +fateful piano, which I had so often cursed, sound again, and so loudly +that I knew the lower balcony door must also be open. In my vexation I +at first closed mine; but after listening a moment or two, I reopened +the door and stepped outside, in order not to lose the slightest tone. +The ten fingers playing Bach's Prelude on the little piano below me +belonged to no Englishwoman. Late last evening new guests had moved +in--so the chambermaid had announced--a French man and woman, brother +and sister. Which of the two was then playing I naturally did not know. +But from the touch, although it was firm and strong when necessary, I +decided upon the sister. I have seldom heard such beautiful, distinct, +and, as it were, mature playing; yet it had no trace of so-called +classic objectivity, but rather a very personal charm, as if the +player's deepest nature were speaking to me. I would have wagered my +head that the musician was a brunette, with those gray eyes which +Spaniards call 'green.' I know it is folly; but it is not the only one +of which you will find me guilty, and it had not less power over me +because a sound human intelligence might resist it. + +"You know that Gounod composed a violin accompaniment for this Prelude. +The purists and Bach-pedants reject it. But it has such an irresistible +melody that every violinist learns it by heart. It was not long before +I had taken my instrument from its case, tuned it sufficiently, and +placed the bow in position. And then began a most wonderful duet on two +floors, played with as much calmness and precision as if it had been +well practised. There was not the slightest hesitation; my violin was +never in better condition, and the little piano rang as full and soft +as if it had been changed over night into a powerful concert grand. + +"After we finished there came a pause, and I wondered with some +trepidation if another approach than that of sounds would be proper. I +stepped out on the balcony, hoping that the player would appear on the +terrace. But a new piece which she began drew me forthwith back into +the room. This time it was a Chopin Impromptu which I knew perfectly. +Since I had been unable to play much, I had read an unlimited quantity +of music, and my memory was very well trained. + +"Again seizing my bow, I attempted a modest accompaniment to the +somewhat quaint, but passionately musical, confession. Then came +something from Schumann, and so on _ad infinitum_. I believe we played +three full hours at one stretch. When my wife finally returned--it was +the second breakfast--hour she found me much overheated, and bathed in +perspiration. + +"She even listened to the last bars of a Beethoven sonata, to which I +was playing the treble. 'What duet have you arranged for yourself?' she +asked, smiling, and when I told her that I knew the pianist as little +as she did, she laughed outright. 'I did not bring the violin in vain, +after all, and if I sketch chestnut-trees by the hour, I shall know +that you are busy and happy.' + +"I attempted to reply somewhat jokingly, but made a miserable failure. +The music had moved me exceedingly; and, although I never believed in +presentiments, I was unable to shake off a premonition of something +unusual and uncanny. I longed to remain away from dinner, but felt +ashamed of such a boyish feeling. But my shyness about making the +player's acquaintance was unnecessary. She did not appear at table; so +we met only her brother, a slender, serious young Frenchman, whose hair +and complexion at once proclaimed his southern origin. In fact, we +learned later that his home was at Arles. His father had been an +Alsacian from an old German family, a merchant, who, conducting a +branch business in that city of beautiful women, had finally lost his +heart to the most charming one. He had afterward settled there and +founded a great banking-house, that the son, who was inclined toward a +diplomatic career, might find the way easily open to him. Both parents +had died recently, and the son was still in mourning for them; but he +seemed either very reserved for his age, or oppressed by some secret +trouble, so that, beyond a few courteous words of greeting, we heard +little from him. His sister, after whom my wife immediately inquired, +was still tired from the journey, and also from the music, he added, +with a side glance at me. Her physician had forbidden her to play, but +she could not refrain from it. In the register, which was brought to +him after dinner, he wrote a simple, commonplace name, but beneath it +that of his sister--Countess So-and-so. + +"So she was married, and perhaps we should meet her husband also. I do +not know why this thought affected me unpleasantly, since I had never +yet seen the lady herself. I awaited the evening in strange suspense. +On entering the dining-room we saw the brother and sister seated +directly opposite us. I was not in the least surprised. The young woman +appeared precisely as I had imagined; beautiful dark hair, slightly +curly, and bound in a simple knot at the back of her head; a face far +from regular, but charming for its pale ivory-color and beautiful +teeth; and, truly, gray eyes, the iris inclosed with a dark ring and +shot through with golden lights, exactly as I had fancied from her +playing. + +"She talked little, addressing herself only to my wife when she did +speak. It was nothing new to me to see that the latter could at once +attract even this shy and reserved heart. + +"After dinner, when we went out into the garden, over which the stars +were twinkling, it was not long before I observed the two sitting +together absorbed in earnest conversation. One could hardly have +imagined anything lovelier than this pair, so unlike, yet so truly +equal in charm and nobility of appearance and manner. They were nearly +the same size, although my wife was stately and well-developed, while +the stranger was girlishly slight; but her arms and neck, which I saw +later in lighter clothing, were perfectly rounded, and resembled +those of some Arabian women whose pictures I had seen in a friend's +sketch-book. The brother had withdrawn; I walked to and fro on the +lower part of the terrace, smoking my cigar, gazing absent-mindedly +over the shimmering lake, and now and then hearing a detached word from +the conversation of the women. The child was sleeping quietly upstairs, +for she was put to bed every evening before we went to dinner. + +"'She is extremely charming,' my wife afterwards said to me, 'but even +more unhappy than she is beautiful and lovable. She has been separated +for two years from her husband, who is a _mauvais sujet_, a gambler and +spendthrift, who has already wasted her whole dowry. When she realized +that she had married a worthless man, she insisted upon returning to +her parents. So you may imagine that when her mother and father both +died, it was much harder for her to bear than for many other loving +daughters, who find comfort in their husbands. She is now living with +her brother, but, although he adores her, she cannot have him with her +forever. Sometime she will be entirely alone and dependent on herself, +and, since she is a Catholic and cannot release herself from her +hateful tie, she looks forward to a hopeless future. When I showed +active sympathy because of her mourning, she told me all this without +the least sentimentality, and with the calmness of a strong soul. But +when she mentioned that the Count occasionally came to see her to +extort money, although he no longer has the slightest claim on her +property, her voice trembled, the mere thought of the villain is so +repulsive to her. Her health has suffered under all these emotions. I +promised to care for and pet her like a loving sister, and you should +have heard how prettily she laughed. The poor young woman! I am much +pleased that your violin travelled with us. She said your playing +seemed so sympathetic.' + +"She never wearied of talking about her new friend. I teased her +because, contrary to her usual habit, she had allowed herself to be so +quickly conquered. + +"'Only beware of yourself!' she replied, laughing. 'I certainly do not +understand the language of tones, but I know that with them one can +confess far deeper secrets than we revealed to-day with words.' + +"'As long as there is a solid floor between us, there is no danger,' I +interrupted, jokingly. But I knew very well the first evening that it +would not be safe to jest with those dangerous gray eyes. + +"For a long while I could not sleep. The theme from the Prelude sounded +constantly in my ears. At midnight I arose, and, going softly into the +neighboring room, gazed at the beloved faces of my wife and child by +the light of the little night-lamp. The charm worked, and I passed a +perfectly quiet, dreamless night. But my first waking thought was +again--danger! + +"You will understand why the matter seemed so serious to me, when I +tell you, that I am one of those with whom all spiritual crises +complete themselves on the instant, without delay or hesitation, with +the calm fatality of a natural law. Although it is often well to +understand one's self at once without being obliged to question mind or +heart--like the commander of some fortress, who, recognizing the +superiority of the besieger, needs no council of war--yet, in either +case, if time can be won, everything may be saved, and the relief may +come which would have been too late, if there had been a premature +surrender. + +"Thus, perhaps, it might have been better for me, and I might have +acted more wisely that morning, if I had not regarded the matter as an +unavoidable decree of fate. The symptoms were indeed precisely the same +as when I fell so suddenly and violently in love with my wife. But +the situation was different. With a wife and child, and eight added +years--acknowledge that you find it inexcusable to yield thus passively +to a passion, instead of opposing it with all my strength, and calling +the good spirits of house and home to my aid. + +"Strange to say, notwithstanding this new affection, I was not for a +moment untrue to what I had previously loved; neither did I think +coldly of my wife, nor wish her absent that I might have only that +other face before my eyes. It was as if one of my heart's chambers had +been empty and was now occupied; but between it and the next the door +was standing open, and the two occupants were on the best of terms, +even crossing the threshold now and then to visit each other. + +"That may seem to you merely an idle fancy. It is only a miserable +attempt to explain the remarkable condition in which I found myself--a +condition not quite so clear then as to-day, since at first it seemed +treason towards my dear wife, and I bitterly reproached myself for it. +Soon, however, I reassured myself that I took nothing from her by this +division of my heart; that, on the contrary, my strong, pure love for +her received new nourishment through this quickening of my inner life. + +"All this I tell to you alone. Thousands would consider it +self-deception or morbid extravagance. Knowledge of the human heart is +still in its swaddling-clothes, notwithstanding the age of the world, +and most people never go beyond the A B C, even though they consider +themselves experienced. + +"As I said, the situation was new to me, and I needed time to +understand and pardon myself. I remained at home again that morning, +for, on the day before, I had not written a single letter. + +"'I shall not disturb the duet,' said my wife, smiling, as she went out +with the child. But I did not touch the violin, although the little +piano beneath seemed to demand it. The pen remained unmoistened. I lay +motionless in my hammock, listening. It sounded even more magical than +before. Now I had the player's face definitely before me: the +beautiful, unvarying pallor of the cheeks; the sensitive mouth, with +its full, red lips, always slightly apart; the small, white hands. +Often it seemed to me as if my wife, stepping behind the player, looked +at the music over her shoulder. Then, calmly comparing them, I could +not decide which was the more charming; they agreed as well in life as +in my heart. + +"When my wife returned--she brought an extremely clever study, and the +child had her hands full of harvest flowers--she was much surprised to +hear that I had not touched the violin. She urged me to arrange a +regular practice hour with the Countess; I objected that the little +piano stood in the room where she lived and slept, and that I would not +accompany her if she played on the miserable instrument in the _salon_. +At table there was some talk about it, but since she herself failed to +encourage it, and especially since the brother, who believed music +injurious to her health, showed no interest, the matter was not +mentioned again. Altogether, it seemed as if the beautiful 'danger' and +I were never to become better acquainted. If I began any conversation +whatsoever with her, it soon came to a pause; and she on her part never +addressed me without some obvious reason. On our walks she took my +wife's arm, and went ahead; I followed with her brother; the child, +running from one couple to the other, soon attached herself trustfully +to the quiet, strange lady who was so friendly to her. Often we all +chatted together, and on these occasions my wife was always conspicuous +for her charming gayety. She persuaded the Countess to try the broken +German which she had learned from an old Alsacian nurse. This gave +occasion for much lively joking and teasing, and even enlivened the +serious brother. He was working hard at a statistical paper, through +which he hoped to obtain a place in the ministry. For the rest, he was +a most pleasant companion, paid court to my wife in all honor, gave +fruits and sweetmeats to the child, and, in a weak, but pleasing voice, +sang Provencal folk-songs, the only music for which he had taste or +talent. + +"Thus we were very sorry to hear one day that his chief had +unexpectedly recalled him. He was obliged to depart at once, but would +not allow his sister to accompany him. He begged us to persuade her to +remain a few weeks longer in the glorious air and scenery of the lake, +for she had visibly improved during the past eight days, and had slept +better and suffered less from headache than usual. + +"My wife embraced her warmly, and declared she would not allow her to +leave her care as yet. She had wagered with her that it would not be +impossible to entice a little color into her velvety cheeks, and, for +at least four weeks longer, she would use all her arts to win the bet. +The little one, clinging about her neck, insisted that she would forget +all her beautiful French if 'Aunt Lucile' went away. But when I heard a +brief '_Eh bien! Je reste_,' from her, it was as if a hand which had +been clutching my throat suddenly freed me again. I promised her +brother to supply his place conscientiously, and, although I was fond +of him, saw him depart with a certain sense of relief, as if he had +stood between his sister and me, and had now left the field clear. + +"Yet his departure changed nothing whatever. To be sure, his room being +empty, she had her bed taken in there, and arranged the other, where +the instrument stood, as a sitting-room. We visited her there now and +then, and she often came up to our room; but duets were not mentioned. + +"Indeed, she herself seemed to have lost all desire for music. +Occasionally I heard her open the piano and begin this or that +well-known piece. In the midst of it she would break off, often with a +bad discord, as if in some unusual, ill-tempered mood. It seemed as +though she began only to demand my violin as accompaniment, and proving +unsuccessful in this, found the music suddenly distasteful. Once or +twice I yielded to the temptation. But the playing excited me to such a +feverish pitch that I, too, broke off in the midst of a passage, +excusing myself afterward with an awkward pretence of an interruption, +which she did not seem to believe. + +"In truth, it was just as my wife had said, I knew how much could be +confessed in music, and shuddered before the sin of betraying to this +stranger that I had lost half of my heart to her. + +"I was better able to guard my words and looks. We were scarcely ever +alone together longer than a few seconds. She stayed in her room or on +the terrace outside most of the time, and in our walks in the cool of +the evening, she never left my wife's side; so that I, leading my child +by the hand, often remained a long distance behind the two women, and +pondered my strange fate without addressing a single word to her during +the entire walk. + +"The evenings grew longer. The general sitting-room was not pleasant to +us; so, after dinner, we assembled alternately in her room and our own; +she and my wife with their handiwork, chatting or reading, while I +either smoked my cigar on the balcony, or read aloud from some book. +She liked to hear me read German poetry. + +"My wife sketched her in many different positions. A profile sketch, +with the head sorrowfully drooping, was especially good, and I could +never look at it enough. I still remember when, at one of these +sittings, I for the first time touched her hair; until then I had not +once felt so much as the tips of her fingers in my hands. It went +through my nerves like an electric shock. There was a peculiar +fragrance about her from some costly French perfume that she used. I +knew even long afterwards if she had lingered in a place, either been +sitting in my hammock, or standing by the bookcase in the _salon_. + +"One evening, as we were preparing to visit her for a little chat +before bedtime, our door suddenly opened; she rushed in, the very +picture of terror, bolted the door after her, and sinking on the +nearest chair, broke into such a storm of tears that she could not +speak. We were extremely anxious about her, but my wife at length +succeeded in calming her so far that she could tell what had occurred, +with tolerable composure. + +"Somebody had come into her room without knocking; and, as she had +looked around, she had seen her husband standing in the middle of the +chamber. He had greeted her politely, asked after her health, and, when +she made no reply, seated himself on the divan, as if perfectly at +home. In spite of his subdued voice and quiet manner, she had noticed +an air of suppressed excitement about him; but, owing to her own +agitation, could not determine whether wine or some other cause +rendered his look unsteady and his voice grating and harsh. Then he had +commenced in a listless way; he would tell her the motive of his visit; +he had been robbed in a gambling house in Geneva, and was _sans le +sou_. A good friend had paid his steamer fare here. He now wished +nothing more than the means of escaping from his _guignon_, and +hospitality for that night. He would be satisfied with the sofa. + +"She had given him whatever she could spare at the moment, a not +inconsiderable sum, and commanded him to leave on the instant.--Did she +expect any one? He would remember her situation, and not embarrass her. +With this he had tried to take her hand, and had looked at her with a +smile which almost congealed her blood. And as he appeared firmly +determined not to yield, she had gone out under pretence of making +arrangements for the night. She implored us to assist her, and protect +her from the rascal. + +"I exchanged a glance with my wife, who had taken the weeping woman in +her arms like some sick child; and leaving them thus, I hurried +downstairs. + +"I found the Count indulging in a quiet doze on the soft couch. Since +he did not hear me enter, I had sufficient leisure to observe him. His +face showed that irresistible drowsiness so apt to seize gamblers after +long excitement; the lips were pale; eyelids and nostrils, reddened. +Beyond this the perfect type of a _bel homme_, faultlessly attired and +thoroughly dissipated. + +"Finally comprehending where he was, and that a stranger was facing +him, he arose composedly, and asked what I wished. I had to impart to +him only his wife's desire, that he should leave her room and the house +without delay or further sensation. + +"And if he would not? + +"Then the Countess would use her house-right. He regarded me with a +certain cold-blooded insolence, which, even in that painful moment, +struck me as amusing. + +"He asked if I were the hotel porter; meanwhile adjusting his eye-glass +to his right eye. + +"I replied that the Countess's reason for asking this service of me was +not his concern--I lived in number so-and-so, and would be at his +service next day for any satisfaction he required. For the present, I +would simply execute my commission, and hoped, for his own sake, that +he would avoid any unnecessary disturbance. + +"He reflected for a while; now looking at me doubtfully with a cold, +impudent smile, now appearing resolved to remain. At length he took his +hat, murmured several unintelligible words, brought out a cigar and +lighted it from the candle on the table, bowed very civilly, and with a +'To-morrow, then,' left the room. + +"I immediately closed the balcony door, and carefully fastened the +shutters. After which I returned upstairs and announced the quick +result of my mission, of course without mentioning the parting words. +The two women were sitting together on the sofa, and the Countess was +motionless and silent. She was trembling nervously from the effect of +her fright; but this ceased when my wife, who dabbled in homeopathy, +forced her to take a few of her 'wonder-drops.' Taking up a book which +we had been reading the day before, I attempted to go on with it. Not +one of us understood a word that I read. + +"At ten o'clock the Countess bade my wife good-night, and allowed me to +escort her downstairs. She was tormented by the fear that he might yet +find some way of slipping in. + +"'You see, the field is clear,' I said, with a smile, after I had +inspected both rooms. 'You can rest in peace!' + +"'In peace!' she said, shuddering throughout her slender body--'in +peace! And at what price!' And then, coming closer to me, 'You ordered +him out. Oh, I am sure of it, otherwise he would not have gone so +quickly! And now for my miserable sake'-- + +"I sought to comfort her as well as I could, promising to do nothing +without her knowledge; but her distress only increased. 'Think of your +wife, of your daughter! O God! if I should be the cause--' + +"I seized her hand; she sank on my breast in uncontrollable emotion; +and as if in a dream, I held her thus embraced, and felt her slender +figure trembling in my arms, yet did not even touch her hair with my +lips; in that moment all passionate impulses yielded to the deep pity +which I felt for her. + +"And so, drawing myself away, I bade her a cheerful 'Good-night!' and +went to my room. + +"I was obliged to quiet my wife also, for she feared that the affair +would have consequences. I myself did not believe it. I knew that in +professional gamblers all feelings, even those of honor, become +completely deadened. And I judged correctly. + +"I remained at home all the following day. He neither appeared himself, +nor sent a messenger. The Countess took refuge with us, for she was in +constant fear of a surprise. The two women sat together on the balcony +with their embroidery, apparently engaged in careless conversation, but +in reality watching me. Not a word was said of that which occupied our +thoughts. When the day had passed without bloodshed, my wife +accompanied her friend to her room, and remained with her that night. +On the next day, we heard that the Count was again in Geneva, whence he +soon afterward disappeared to some other German gambling house. + +"You will comprehend that this _intermezzo_ bound us still more closely +to each other. We were together nearly all day long, and I occasionally +wondered that my wife, who had formerly known all my thoughts even +before they were clear to myself, allowed, indeed, unmistakably +favored, this harmful playing with fire. She did not hesitate to leave +us _tete-a-tete_, although, as a fact, there was no enjoyment in such a +talk. I usually took refuge at such times in a stubborn silence, which, +to any third person, would have seemed veritable rudeness. I often +denied myself the pleasure of seeing her by pretending indolence, +absence of mind, or pressing business; all of which excuses were +accepted without comment. At first mild-tempered and somewhat +melancholy, she gradually became irritable and capricious. My wife, +noticing this, often reproved her gently, and, with sisterly patience +and kindliness, tried to calm her wild moods of rebellion against fate. + +"My wife and I no longer spoke of her. Yet often, when I looked up from +my reading unexpectedly, I encountered a strange, questioning look in +my wife's eyes; a look such as a physician casts upon a mortally sick +man by whose bedside he watches. + +"I was certainly ill, yet not so desperately but that I still sought +for a cure, though with ever-lessening hope of finding one. Music, to +which I resorted in the hope of relief, poured oil upon the flames. +After I had played an hour or two alone, the piano below would begin +its reply, so it was not a conversation or duet, but a discourse in +long monologues. Surrendering to this dangerous comfort on two +mornings, I ended in a species of intoxication. I then tried the effect +of separation, and arranged a climbing party which kept me away over +night. Then I felt the truth of what I told you at first; the new +passion was equal to the old, but not stronger. I missed them both with +the same longing--indeed, could no longer separate them in my thoughts. +When I saw them again, I felt the same heart-throbs twice. I was not +then so philosophical that I could accept this as something rational +and ordinary; it was strange and unprecedented, yet I felt that it was +not immoral. It harmed no one, and far from estranging me from myself, +rather enriched my inner life. No, it was not immoral, though I +realized, at the time, that it was a great misfortune, and would become +a sin if it undermined my dear wife's peace and happiness. I tried to +find some way of escape, though I knew it would be at the price of +killing or forever stifling half of my heart. + +"We lived thus for about fourteen days after her brother's departure, +each day bringing something new, either a trip on the boat or a walk to +a neighboring place, when, one afternoon, we arranged to meet at the +landing-place below the garden, and make a boat-trip to Chillon. I was +first. I had hired a boat in Vernex from a boatman who allowed me to +take his son, a powerful fellow, fourteen years of age, as rower. The +Countess came soon after, dressed in a black barege-cloth garment +through whose fine meshes her beautiful arms and shoulders were plainly +visible; she wore a flower in her hair, and carried her straw hat on +her arm. I had never seen her so beautiful, or so pale. + +"'You are ill,' I said; 'you are suffering from the sultriness.' + +"'What does it matter?' she replied; 'I am suffering from something +worse--from living. Where is your wife?' + +"My wife came as I was helping her friend into the boat, but came +without the child. She was not well, my wife said. She complained of +headache, and wished her mother to remain at home with her; then, too, +the weather was uncertain. We immediately arose, preparing to get out +of the boat. But this my wife would not allow. There was not a shadow +of danger or cause for worry; I knew how our darling was troubled; she +would sit with her and read something aloud; and she wished us a +pleasant day. After giving the skiff a little push with her foot, she +went back to the house; and although neither of us, as we glided out +over the waves, felt pleased or at ease in this forced _tete-a-tete_, +neither one had the ready courage to confess it at once and return to +land. + +"I took the second pair of oars and pulled as vigorously as if for a +wager, though in reality it was in order to be excused from +conversation. She was sitting nearly opposite me, but I could see only +her little feet and the edge of her dress, for I kept my eyes +obstinately cast down. Suddenly she began to speak of my wife, making a +long, passionate declaration of love for her. She spoke at first of her +goodness and warm-heartedness, of her fine mind, her strong and ready +will; every word was true, a perfect portrait of her deepest nature. +Then she described her appearance, feature by feature, with the +idealizing penetration of a lover, and after I had listened for a long +while, she asked me how I had learned to know her. I then told her of +our first meeting; and as I recalled everything, I felt deep gratitude +and happiness that nothing had changed; that my good star had given me +even more than it had then promised; that even the woman opposite me +could alter nothing. We were speaking French, and the words almost +escaped me, '_Rien n'est change; il n'y a qu'un amour de plus._' + +"I restrained myself, however, and, instead, rose from my seat, +extended my hand to her, and said, 'I thank you for having learned to +know and love her so.' + +"Her hand lay in mine like that of a corpse. We did not venture far out +into the lake, for it was already beginning to roughen. You know how +quickly it breaks from the deepest calm to the wildest uproar; and a +dark cloud, toward which our boatman from time to time cast a watchful +glance, was even then appearing above the Savoyard mountains. +Therefore, as we stepped out upon the rocks near the Castle of Chillon, +and saw the first breakers with their narrow silvery crests surging +against the shore, I proposed to return on foot. She regarded me with a +look which strangely transformed her face, but which had still greater +power over me than her usual gentle and kindly expression. + +"'Do you fear the storm?' + +"'Not for myself,' I said, 'I can swim like a fish. But it is my duty +to bring you home in safety.' + +"'I release you from that obligation. Whoever is to suffer, does not +die. Come! Turn, the boat around.' + +"'Very well,' said I, '_vogue la galere_!' + +"And then we pushed out through the angry, swelling waves, while the +air about us grew ever darker, and the houses at Montreux gleamed above +us in dazzling sunshine. Muffled thunder came from the peaks beyond, +but as yet no drops fell. As we were then rowing, we would reach home +in half an hour. No one spoke a word. She had drawn her veil half over +her face. I could see only her pale mouth. Her lips were slightly +parted, and I saw them quiver now and then, more from scorn than pain. +Suddenly she arose and hurried over the seats to the stern, where the +boatman sat at the rudder. + +"'What are you going to do?' I cried. + +"'Nothing wrong. I merely wish to relieve the boatman for a while. I +understand how, perfectly well.' + +"Before I could interfere, she had taken the rudder from the boy's hand +and seated herself in his place. I was somewhat disturbed at this, as +her voice sounded unnatural. But, in order to lose no time, I let her +remain there, and redoubled my own exertions. In a short time, I saw +that she had given the boat a direction which drove it into the very +midst of the raging lake. Yet her delicate arms had so much strength +that, in spite of my efforts, I could not turn the boat back again. +Suddenly I realized that she was doing this with a clear purpose. + +"'You are steering falsely,' I cried to her. 'I beg you, for God's +sake, give up the rudder. We are in the very centre of the storm.' + +"'Do you mean it?' she answered softly. 'I thought you had no fear. +Only look at the beautiful waves. They do nothing unkind; they receive +one in their arms more gently than mankind. Look, look! Could anything +be merrier!' + +"A large wave broke over us; we were instantly wet to the skin. +The first sharp flash of lightning darted down from the black +mountain-wall. + +"I could not leave the oars; I bade the boy take the rudder again; he +shrugged his shoulders, and pointed to the Countess. Undisturbed by +everything about her, she was staring wildly into the distance. We were +already so far from shore that the houses were scarcely distinguishable +through the gray storm-twilight. Some action was imperative. Standing +up, I motioned the boatman to take my oars, and strode, wavering and +staggering, to the other end of the skiff. Her eyes met mine through +the veil with a stubborn, threatening look. + +"'Be reasonable!' I said in German; 'I shall not suffer this any +longer. Give me the rudder, will you? Well then--' Seizing her hands +with a quick movement, I pressed them so hard that she released the +rudder. I held her thus for a moment, although I must have hurt her. +She gave no sign of pain, but gazed steadily into my eyes with a look +of hate or the deepest rage. Then her face changed; her month trembled; +her eyes closed with an expression of unutterable misery and despair; +as I freed her hands, she threw herself at my feet, and I heard a +stifled sob and the words, '_Pardonnez-moi! Je suis une folle!_' + +"I seized the rudder, and, in my distress and bewilderment, could only +whisper to her that she must control herself and rise again. In a few +moments she was once more seated on the bench, but this time with +averted face and bowed head. I did not speak to her again, for I was +obliged to exert all my strength to bring the boat back into the right +course, and to steer for the land. But the brief scene affected me so +powerfully, that one thought was continually uppermost in my mind--what +rapture it would have been, amid this wild upheaval of the elements, to +clasp her close, and with her go to the bottom! + +"The storm helped us, and we landed much sooner than I had expected. +Springing out first, I offered to assist her, but she refused my aid +and jumped out on the beach without help. She was trembling through and +through in her wet clothes. I asked if she were ill, but she shook her +head. Yet she took my arm as I accompanied her back to the house. + +"My wife was standing on the balcony, and welcomed us cheerily. She had +been greatly worried about us. She would come down and help her friend +undress. + +"'Oh, no, no!' cried the Countess, withdrawing her arm from mine, 'I +need nothing, thank you--good-night!' + +"Thereupon she hurried away from me, without so much as a backward +glance or a wave of the hand. I followed slowly; I felt very much +exhausted, and went upstairs still staggering from the motion of the +boat. The storm was entirely over; a crimson sunset glow filled our +room. My wife had already laid out dry clothing for me; she received me +in her usual quietly affectionate manner and then left me alone, for I +had to dress myself from head to feet. It did not occur to me that she +said very little, and asked for no detailed account of our adventure in +the boat. My own feelings were absorbed by my recent experience, and I +changed my clothes mechanically, as if in a dream. + +"Then I remembered the child. As I entered the other room, I saw the +little one sleeping in an arm-chair near the open window. My wife +whispered to me that she had given her some medicine, which had caused +her to fall asleep during the reading. I might go to dinner alone; she +herself had no appetite, and would content herself with a cup of tea. + +"So I went down, although I also would have preferred to remain away +from the table. I had no wish to sit alone opposite Lucile. But this +ordeal was spared me. She too remained in her chamber. I did not speak +a word during the lengthy dinner. I usually smoked my after-dinner +cigar in the garden. By doing so I did not separate myself from the +women, but could chat back and forth with them; for though of late both +had been together, the Countess usually sat at her window or on the +terrace, and my wife on the balcony above. Tonight, balcony and terrace +were empty, and I soon withdrew to the most remote part of the garden. + +"I would lie if I should say that I had seriously considered my +condition. I endured it that was all. I had a definite feeling that +things could not remain so; that something must happen, be decided, or +expressed, if I were not to be stifled by the suppression. But what the +something would be I could not imagine. My cigar had long gone out; yet +I remained on the parapet of the little pavilion and gazed out over the +dusky surface of the lake, which appeared like some vast, metallic +mirror framed in black mountains. Not till the first stars began to +glimmer forth could I decide to return to the house. For the first +time, the thought of meeting my wife was painful to me. Therefore it +was an actual relief when, knocking gently at her door, I heard instead +of 'Come in!' the whispered request not to enter then; she had just put +the little one to bed and did not wish to disturb her. She bade me +good-night. So for the present I was alone with my troubled soul. + +"I lighted the lamp and attempted to read. The letters danced before my +eyes. I took up my wife's portfolio and looked at her drawings leaf by +leaf; but when I came to the portrait sketch I closed the folio +hastily, as if I had caught myself entering upon forbidden paths. Then, +for a long while, I sat perfectly passive before my writing-table with +my head resting on my hand, and sank ever deeper into an abyss of +hopeless wishes, sorrows, and self-reproaches. + +"By and by the door was opened softly, and my wife entered. She had on +her night-cap, but was otherwise completely dressed. Evidently in the +act of going to bed she had suddenly resolved on something else. + +"Her face was unusually pale; her beautiful eyes glistened strangely as +if a slight shower of tears had passed over them. A certain air of +timidity made her seem ten years younger, indeed, almost girlish. I had +never felt so clearly what a treasure she was to me. + +"'I shall not trouble you long,' she said, 'but I must talk with you. +Perhaps we shall both sleep better.' + +"She seated herself with her back toward the open balcony-door. + +"'Shall I close the window?' I asked. + +"'Why? It is nothing secret. I could say it as well before a third +person. It has been clear and comprehensible to you yourself for a long +time.' + +"'What?' I asked, looking past her out into the night. + +"'That you love her. One can see it easily enough. And she too is no +longer an inexperienced child. I would only like to know if you have +told her, and how she received it.' + +"I sat before her as if in a spiritual swoon, or as when one dreams of +being almost naked in a gorgeous company, and would perish for shame. + +"'How can you imagine----' I stammered. + +"'It has not been easy for me,' she continued with a sad smile; 'but it +will not be otherwise, because I wish it so. I saw it coming, and had +time enough to become used to it, if it is ever possible to accustom +one's self to certain experiences. It is always best not to close the +eyes and seal the lips when people love each other. And you love me +yet, I know, in spite of everything.' + +"'Thank you for those words!' I exclaimed, and rushed to take her in my +arms. But she repelled me with gentle firmness. + +"'No, stay there,' she said; 'we will talk it over calmly. I am no +heroine, and this discussion is very hard for me. But tell me.' + +"I assured her, on my honor, that no word had passed my lips which +could have betrayed the state of my feelings. Then I told her, even to +the smallest detail, all that had happened on the lake that day, and +also everything which I had felt. + +"'I suspected something of the sort,' she replied quietly. 'She avoided +my eye, and you--you had no thought for our child. It is a passion; +that we cannot hide from ourselves. You will not think me so childish +as to surrender to a miserable jealousy, overwhelm you with reproaches, +or make any scene which might show our friend how much harm she has +done me. Can I blame you for loving her? She is so lovable, that I +myself, even yet, love her as an only sister. It does not surprise me. +I knew it at the first sight of her charming face. If, in spite of +that, I did nothing to keep her away from us, indeed, rather brought +her into closer intimacy, it was because I have always considered that +old proverb--'Out of sight, out of mind--' perfectly false. No, the +absent are preferred to all present people; our hearts idealize them; +love and longing grow with separation. I hoped that the first witchery +would be paled and effaced by frequent meeting. It has certainly +happened otherwise, and the future is very dark to me.' + +"'Let us go away!' I said. 'We could pack this evening and go to +Lausanne tomorrow at dawn. I promise you, this sickness will leave my +blood with change of air.' + +"She shook her head gently. + +"'Out of sight, _in_ mind,' she said. 'Yes, even if it were only a +whim; you a light-minded, fickle-hearted man, and she a pretty theatre +princess. But consider how everything about her touches you--her +unhappiness, her loneliness, the nobility of her whole character, and +her music. At the first sound of a violin you would live it all over +again. No, my dear friend, we dare not flee, and I dare not appear +cowardly in your eyes. I am not so. I know that we are too firmly +united to be parted by any power whatever. But I am not so high-minded +that I can share you with another. I would rather die!' + +"We sat facing each other in sorrowful silence. I felt that any word, +any assurance of my good faith, would be trivial, a desecration of the +situation which she regarded so purely and nobly. At length she arose. + +"'I feel much better now,' she said, smiling with an indescribably +brave and beautiful expression. 'Do not think any more about it. Good +counsel comes in the night. But promise that you will keep your +confidence in me, and that you will never hide anything for fear of +hurting me. The concealment itself would pain me. Are we not human, and +therefore poor creatures unable to master our own hearts? No one is +responsible for his inclinations, but only for his deeds. And you, I +know, will never do anything which could really divide us. Good-night!' + +"She gave me her hand. I wanted to take the noble woman in my arms; +but, retreating, she bade me farewell with her eyes, and disappeared +into her room. + +"You can imagine that I fell asleep late. But this time it was not +because of the fever of an unreasoning, godless passion, like that +which had kept me dreamily half-awake for so many nights. The clear, +quiet words which I had just heard dropped upon my burning wound like a +powerful balsam. I felt myself already in a sort of convalescence, +because of whose great charm I could not sleep. I could scarcely +conceive how any other woman than my own wife could ever have gained +power over me. More than once I longed to steal into her chamber, kneel +by her bedside, and, if she awoke, declare my love to her. But I was +forced to remember that she had pushed me away, and that my warmest +protestations might perhaps find no belief. Thinking thus, I finally +fell asleep. + +"I awoke before sunrise. You know that, on that shore, it is day some +time before the sun appears above the Dent-du-Midi. Downstairs, all was +already awake and astir. In the neighboring room nothing was moving. +She, too, did not close her eyes till late, and needs the morning +sleep, thought I. + +"But I myself felt impelled to go out. I dressed noiselessly and +stepped softly down stairs. I longed for a bath in the lake; the blood +was burning in my veins. As I came down and approached her door, I saw +that it stood ajar; and within, seated upon a chair in the middle of +the room, and surrounded by locked trunks, I saw Lucile herself, her +bill and its amount in gold lying on the table before her. + +"Involuntarily I stood still. At the same instant she glanced up and +recognized me. I crossed the threshold in intense excitement. + +"'You intend to go away, Countess?' I exclaimed; 'why this sudden +decision?' + +"'My brother telegraphed for me last evening,' she said hurriedly, +without looking at me. 'He is worried about the affair with the Count, +which I did not conceal from him. He wishes me to come at once to +Paris--he is perfectly right--it is best in every respect--' + +"She stopped and bent over a small satchel in her lap. I went to the +piano and lingered some music lying on it, merely to make a noise. If +it remained so still, I feared that she would hear my heart beat. I +could not speak a word. + +"'Remember me to your wife,' I heard her say. 'It is so early--she must +be asleep--I will not disturb her to say good-by. I shall write to her +from Paris--meanwhile, tell her--' + +"She faltered again. Her voice sounded so timid and humble, she was so +perfect a picture of contrition and helplessness as she sat there, +afraid to look up, that I could not bear to let her suffer alone. + +"I turned quickly toward her. + +"'Shall we seek to deceive each other at this hour?' I said. 'It is +generous of you, but it shames me too much. I know why you wish to +leave us so suddenly; your brother has nothing to do with it; no, there +shall be no falsehood between us. I alone drive you away. You know that +I love you passionately. Listen to me patiently; I shall say nothing +unworthy of either of us. We three know it, therefore we can no longer +remain together. No one has been to blame. You esteem my wife too +highly, and me also--I know that you are my friend--to wish to bring +any trouble into our lives. Nothing is changed between my wife and me, +we live for each other as always before; but you are right, one should +not presume on such good fortune, and in time, even with the purest +intentions--' + +"I do not know what more I said. I was looking down at her, and I can +see her head before me even yet, the narrow white part in the curly, +blue-black hair, and at the neck, the simple, heavy knot with a silver +pin. I saw that her bosom heaved painfully, and that the small hands on +the satchel trembled slightly. But I could not see her face. + +"Suddenly she looked up, and her eyes as they met mine were full of +gratitude, but streaming with tears. + +"'Lucile!' I cried, and falling on my knees before her, I drew her head +down with my hands. 'Farewell!' I stammered. She did not speak. I +pressed my lips to both her eyes, then tore myself away and fled from +the room. I hastened out of the house, down the nearest street, and up +the steep road toward Montreux. About half way there was a bench +standing against a vineyard wall. Halting there, I remained seated for +awhile with my eyes closed, in that stupefied state between pain and +pleasure, which usually comes to one who has done his duty at the cost +of a deep heart's need, or has renounced forbidden fruit. + +"The morning remained sunless; a strong south wind wrapped the Savoyard +mountains in mist, and at length a slight rain began to fall. Looking +around, I saw the steamer which had landed at Vernex already well on +its way toward Vevey. I vainly strained my eyes to discover, among the +figures wrapped in rain-cloaks on the forward deck, her who was leaving +me forever. Then I slowly retraced my steps to the house, intending to +tell my wife of what had happened. But, first, I could not resist +entering the small salon below, for the door was still open. + +"The traces of a hasty departure were still visible--torn bills, +flowers withered and scattered, and on the piano-stool a single sheet +of music torn through the centre. I picked it up. It was the first +music I had heard from the little piano, that prelude through which we +had learned to know each other--_Galeotto fu il libro_! It was a +sorrowful hour indeed when she vented her defiance and misery on the +innocent music. I carefully pocketed it. + +"Then I went upstairs. Still no sound from my wife's sleeping-room. +Finally I knocked softly at the door, and when no one answered, entered +the room. Neither mother nor child were to be seen; the windows were +open; hats and wraps had disappeared. + +"I do not know why this seemed so strange to me. Nothing was more +natural than that they should start on their morning walk when they +failed to find me. I called the chambermaid; she had seen my wife and +child going in the direction of Chillon; she had received no message +for me. As it had begun to rain, I imagined they would soon return, and +decided to wait for them. But I could not endure this half an hour. + +"I strode down the street which, following the shore, between houses +and vineyards, leads to Chillon. At every bend in the road I expected +to see them. Each time I was disappointed. Finally reaching the isle of +Chillon, I asked the guard on the bridge if a lady and child had gone +into the castle. Excepting a few Englishmen, there had been no visitors +during the whole morning. I shall not attempt to describe my feelings +at this information. Immediately turning about, I returned in half the +usual time. Drenched, exhausted, and feverishly excited, I once more +reached the house. + +"Dinner-time was past, and they had not arrived. + +"For the time being I was incapable of going out and renewing my search +for the fugitives. I searched her chamber and my own, her desk, each of +her trunks and boxes, in the hope--or rather in the fear--of finding a +note which might give some clue to this mysterious disappearance. I +found nothing. That completely disheartened me. I stretched myself on a +sofa, and for a full hour was tormented by the most incredibly horrible +fancies, and suffered the bitterest distress in my poor soul, a +purgatory wherein I richly expiated my sins. + +"At length I arose. + +"It was about two o'clock, and the rain was lighter. Although I felt +lame and exhausted, I nevertheless resolved to go out again and search +in the direction of Montreux, where she had often sketched. Perhaps the +rain had surprised her there, and for the child's sake she had taken +shelter under some hospitable roof until the rain should cease. + +"Just as I was ready to go, the door opened, and a man in a coachman's +blouse entered. He asked my name, and gave me a note. She wrote from +Vevey, whence the man had just come in his wagon. She had suddenly +decided that morning to carry out her plan, and visit the principal of +the _pension_ where she had lived as a girl. She begged me to excuse +her for not informing me before. She would tell me about it when she +saw me. She meant to remain there for the night; the room which she had +formerly occupied was empty, and she wished to sleep once more in the +bed where she had dreamed her girlish dreams, and to show the child all +the places which were dear to her in her youth. She would return next +day. + +"While I was reading, the messenger related in his _patois_ a rambling +story about a Fraeulein from the _pension_ whom he was obliged to take +to Vevey, and about the strange lady who had given him the note just as +he was harnessing; and now he must go. I listened with little +attention, gave the man his fee, and was once more alone. + +"I could not believe it had happened so accidentally. I recognized a +little stratagem of my wife's, a ruse to make me feel what it meant +when she failed me. 'Out of sight, in mind' was indeed her maxim. She +proved it only too cruelly. + +"I did not wish to prolong my penance unnecessarily. It was two hours +before another steamer left. The railroad was then only a subject for +conversation. Little time would be gained by taking a carriage, and I +knew that the slow movement would madden me. + +"To be brief, I arrived in Vevey about seven o'clock, and was at once +driven to the _pension_. They sent me into the garden. It had become a +perfectly clear and beautiful evening, and although the sun had +long since set, the light was still so strong that one could read +out-of-doors. I saw the fugitives in the distance. My dear child ran to +meet me with a cry of joy, and threw herself as impetuously about my +neck as if she suspected what suffering the separation had caused me. +My wife approached more slowly, for she was walking with the old +directress; but her face wore a most loving expression, and she blushed +slightly, as if ashamed of being caught in a trick. She presented me to +her old friend, an excellent little spinster with snow-white hair, +merry black eyes, and an obstinately black and visible mustache. I went +the rounds of the house and garden, saw all the historical places, and, +finally, my wife's narrow, neat little room, where a bed for the child +had just been made on the sofa. It was then vacation, and most of the +scholars were visiting their parents. I was invited to dine; but +although we remained by ourselves and chatted about many things, what +had taken place in the morning was not once mentioned. When I departed +at nine o'clock, intending to spend the night in a hotel, my wife +pressed my hand warmly, yet, at the same time, with a look which +forbade any further tenderness--I remained in uncertainty whether out +of respect for the half-cloister-like house-customs or from another +reason. + +"I brooded over it for a time. But I was so extremely tired by my hard +day, that I fell asleep almost instantly in my cheerless hotel room, +and was awakened by the morning sun. + +"We took a carriage to return to Vernex. Since our little daughter sat +opposite us, any expression of deep feeling was of course impossible. +On arriving at the house, the child at once ran out into the garden +with a playfellow. We two ascended the stairs, passing our friend's +empty apartment. + +"'I have regards for you,' I said; 'she went away early yesterday +morning. She will write to you from Paris.' + +"My wife looked at me with a charming smile, half shy and half roguish. + +"'I too have a greeting for you,' she said; 'at any rate, the last +hand-clasp, after we had embraced three times, was certainly intended +for you. But the letter from Paris will be omitted. We made no +arrangements for a correspondence. Yes,' she continued, as I looked +wonderingly at her, 'I do not have fine ears in vain. I heard very +plainly how my lord and master paid his morning call below, and knew +from the unusual stir and movement that her departure was decided upon. +I wished to accompany her a little distance. Why should we part so +silently and secretly? Did we think unkindly of each other? I, at +least, was not vexed because she found you lovable; she shared that +weakness with me. And how could she help it that I had met you first? +For a moment I even thought of begging her to remain. But that would +have been a foolish challenge to fate. But I sat by her side as far as +Vevey, and we explained ourselves as well as we could without calling +things by name. Are you satisfied with me?' + +"She held out her hand. I took it somewhat hesitatingly. 'If you were +only satisfied with me!' I exclaimed. 'I found her miserably unhappy, +as if she had done something for which she could never forgive herself. +It seemed unknightly to let her believe that I was cold to her feeling. +So I expressed myself, and truly, called things by their right names. +Indeed, at the last, I kissed her on both eyes, and she suffered it. +This is all I have on my conscience.' + +"'It is little--and yet, quite enough,' she replied softly; 'let us +speak of it no more.' + +"And so it was. Indeed, I not only ceased to speak of her, but in an +unexpectedly short time forgot to think of her. Many things aided me in +this. I was hastily called home by a letter from my inspector, for my +presence on the estate had become imperative. Then came an early winter +which brought me many cares, since I was occupied with the purchase of +a small neighboring estate. In these cares of house and field, my wife, +with her prudent forethought and encouraging cheerfulness, was of the +greatest assistance, and no one, seeing us together, would have +suspected any change in our admirably sympathetic life. And yet there +was a change. + +"A sword lay between us, invisible, but not unfelt. + +"At first I bore it calmly, when she quietly but firmly resisted any +show of tenderness on my part. In other ways she was not cold or +distant towards me; in fact, her loving care increased, and she +constantly endeavored to fulfill even my unexpressed wishes. But a +certain shy reserve never left her. When I finally asked if my presence +was distasteful to her, or if she wished to punish me by denying these +innocent caresses, she shook her head earnestly and blushed like a +girl. + +"'I am not sure that you will understand me,' she said. 'But it seems +to me as if we were never alone, as if some one else were looking in on +our privacy, and even you--it seems as if you saw me and another at the +same time. Let us wait awhile. We shall somehow succeed in being alone +again.' + +"The winter and part of the summer passed by. The letter from Paris did +not come. Politics were added to my usual occupations, and my head was +full of symbols and party programmes. When, now and then, I had time to +observe my inner self, I found only one of the two heart-chambers +occupied, and that one filled with the most ardent love. The other was +as empty and musty as a room which has not been aired or opened to the +sun for a long time. On the wall hung a picture whose frame was dusty +and whose colors were faded. + +"I was scarcely surprised that this had happened so quickly. In the +strange second courtship in which I was living with my wife, my +passionate nature was completely engrossed by distress at our +estrangement. But I knew that she was not to be won 'with prayers, and +with whinings, and with self-exalting pains.' Perhaps another dream +will come to your aid, thought I. The transformation occurred in the +daytime, however. + +"One morning we were sitting at breakfast alone, for the child had a +study hour with the pastor. Among the papers which we were looking over +was a French one, which a neighbor received and shared with us. I was +glancing mechanically down the columns, when my eyes suddenly fastened +on a name. + +"'Look!' said I; 'at length we have the explanation of the missing +Parisian letter. Have you read it?' + +"She looked at me searchingly, but did not reply. + +"'In court circles they are talking of the betrothal of the Duke of C. +to the beautiful Countess Lucile of ----, who, as is well known, enjoys +the intimacy of the imperial court, and whose husband met such a sad +end three months ago after a great loss in play at Monaco. They say the +empress has given the bride a magnificent ornament, and so on. I own,' +I added, 'that no news has given me greater pleasure for a long time. +Poor Lucile! She certainly deserved imperial reparation for her +sorrowful youth.' + +"My wife still remained silent. Then, rising, she came and threw her +arms around me, and kissed me on both cheeks. 'I have known it since +yesterday,' she said. 'Will you believe that I was weak enough to fear +how you might receive it?' + +"'Oh, child,' I said, 'you have always seen ghosts. Will you now +believe that we are alone?' + +"From that day there was never a shadow between us. Our happiness, like +every other real happiness, was never exhausted. Our motto might have +been those beautiful words: + + "'The more I give to thee, + The more I have, for both are infinite.' + + +"And when the end came--after three short years--the effect was +immeasurable, as in all true endings. But of that I cannot speak." + + +He stood up. Just then the clock struck one. + +"I have detained you a long time," he said; "Now I shall take you home +by the shortest way. You will be wet through." + +In fact, a light, warm rain was beginning to fall. + +"And do you know nothing more about the Countess?" I asked. "I confess, +her hasty marriage touches me strangely. Perhaps she wished to end all +hopeless longings." + +"You wrong her," he said; "there is something more to be told. I myself +thought that, but must humbly apologize for it. You know that when I +became a widower I could find no rest anywhere. I leased my estates, +and took my daughter to that excellent dame at Vevey, who had been such +a true friend to her mother. People often congratulated me upon +possessing in the child a perfect likeness of the mother. But this +resemblance affected me peculiarly. I was pained that she should +resemble her mother physically, without showing a trace of spiritual +likeness. She was much like me, and had my love of music. But this did +not make me happy; indeed, rather sharpened my pain; and it is only +recently that I have been able to recognize and enjoy the many good and +lovable traits which she possesses. + +"Only by continual movement, by ceaseless journeying from place to +place, could I conquer my uneasiness. I had been a homeless and joyless +man for nearly two years, and had advanced to the limits of the +thirties. I had tried occasionally, from a sense of duty, to interest +myself in business. I scarcely need to say that I had replied with a +mere shrug of the shoulders whenever solicitous friends, especially +women, urged me to a second marriage. + +"It happened one autumn day that, much against my will, I was obliged +to stop in Switzerland and look after one of my estates which was to +have a new tenant. After staying for several weeks in Engelberg, I came +down the road to Stansstad on a most beautiful, sunshiny day, to cross +the lake to Luzerne. + +"About half way down there is a pleasant spot under magnificent +walnut-trees, where the wagons coming up from the valley usually stop +for a quarter of an hour to breathe their horses. As I reached the +first houses I saw a carriage stop in front of the inn, and two ladies +presently alight from it. One of them, dressed entirely in black, +attracted my attention by her graceful bearing. She had already +vanished into the house, when I suddenly remembered who it was that had +carried herself so. A slight depression fell upon me. But I at once +determined to pass on without attempting to confirm my suspicions. + +"As my light open wagon was rolling by the inn, a face only too well +known to me looked from an upper window. She recognized me at once; I +saw it by the startled way in which she drew back, as if a phantom from +some long-buried past had suddenly risen before her. In the next +instant she controlled herself sufficiently to bow to me. There was +nothing else to do. I stopped and hastened to her. + +"She met me perfectly unchanged; her beauty was only heightened by an +additional fulness; her cheeks, with their ivory color, were slightly +flushed from the excitement of this meeting. + +"She took my hand in both of hers and pressed it warmly, as if I were +an old friend. + +"'I know everything about you,' she said; 'I sorrowed with you, and how +deeply! Although you did not know. I tried several times to write--but +the words always failed me.' + +"At first I could say nothing in reply. I felt with too much +consternation that her power over me was as strong as in those first +days. The tones of her voice; her dark, often passionately burning +eyes; the beautiful lips that seemed to have forgotten to smile; the +whole witchery of long ago was again active. We walked up and down the +empty room; her companion did not appear. I could hardly preserve a +tolerable composure. + +"Instead of personal things, I spoke about her journey, and learned +that she was to remain a week or two in Engelberg. Her nerves were +unstrung; she suffered from insomnia. Then her brother was to come for +her, as she had decided to accompany him to his embassy at Madrid. + +"'And your husband?' I asked carelessly. She looked at me distantly, +almost reproachfully. 'He has not been among the living for some +years,' she said in a monotone; 'I thought you knew it. Were not the +sad circumstances of his suicide at Monaco in all the papers?' + +"'Certainly,' I replied; 'but I read of a new marriage--' + +"'It was a foolish rumor,' she said, staring gloomily at the ground; 'I +would never have left my brother to play a _role_ in the farce of the +Second Empire. Could you really believe that of me?' + +"I was unable to answer. A storm was raging in me which swept away all +power of thought. She was free, and I? Was I still bound? How was it +that her power over me died in the very moment when I might have +yielded without hesitation? I saw the beautiful, once-loved woman near +me; it seemed as if I had but to hold out my arms and take her, and--my +arms hung heavily at my sides. Did a sword lie between us then, as +before between my beloved wife and me? While we were standing silently +side by side near the window, gazing down into the glorious valley, my +mind became calm and clear. I realized distinctly and sadly that if I +now offered her half of my heart I should act immorally. Strangely +enough, these words sounded always in my ears, 'She sleeps, that we may +be happy;' and even while I felt all the magic of her warm, breathing +life, a cold shudder ran through me, as if a corpse were standing near, +a past far mightier than the most warm-blooded present. + +"Out of sight is indeed _in_ mind. + +"She must have perceived my feeling. She too was silent, and I saw her +bosom heaving painfully. She asked about my daughter, but evidently did +not hear my answer. An intense pity seized me as I looked at her--the +beautiful, noble, unhappy woman, with so long a life before her still +and so little hope of happiness. Was it a foolish, unreal fear that +prevented me from taking her in my arms? Do you believe that I could +possibly have been happy with her? Who can know how the years will +change one! But at that time it would have been a lie and a crime. + +"The companion came with a glass of milk. Lucile drank a little and +returned the glass with a gesture of aversion. 'I am no longer +thirsty,' she said; 'is the carriage ready?' + +"I offered my arm to escort her down. On the stairs she stopped an +instant. + +"'Do you play much now?' she asked. + +"'I have not touched the violin since I became a widower,' I replied. +'Music is a pleasure only when one is cheerful and sociable. In +solitude it revives all buried sorrows.' + +"'Yes,' she said, 'it does, and one is grateful for it. There are +people so poor that their only possessions consist of old griefs, +without which they could not live. They remind one that there was once +a time when the heart was living, for only a living heart can feel +misery. You have the advantage of me in not feeling this truth.' + +"I felt her hand trembling on my arm. 'Lucile!' I cried, pressing her +arm to me. Who knows what might have happened then if, her pride being +suddenly roused, she had not drawn away from me and hastened down the +remaining steps alone. Before I could reach her she was seated in the +carriage. + +"'Farewell! Remember me to your daughter. And--no! I was about to say +_Au revoir!_ But we shall probably never meet again.' + +"She extended her hand to me from the carriage with a look that hurt +me, for it seemed to ask whether I had either hope or desire to see her +again. I bent over the small, white hand, and kissed it. Then the +horses started, and I stood alone in the sunny street, until her veil, +fluttering in the fresh mountain breeze, vanished from my sight." + + + + + + MINKA + + + + + MINKA. + + +It was a few years after the French war. The fall review had +incidentally brought together again a number of young officers who had +earned their iron crosses in the array of the Loire, and they had +invited good comrades from other regiments to join them and celebrate +the reunion from an inexhaustible bowl. Midnight was past. The talk, +which for some time had concerned personal recollections and +experiences, had taken a thoughtful turn and was becoming profound. It +was impossible to realize how many were absent without touching on the +everlasting riddle of human life. Besides, the horrible death of a +popular young hero, who had fallen into the hands of the Franc-tireurs, +and been killed in the most revolting manner, and the consequent +destruction of a treasure of brilliant gifts and talents, hopes and +promises--had brought again to the front the old problem, whether +universal destiny and the fate of the individual will be according to +our idea of justice; or whether the individual's weal or woe will be +quietly subordinated to the vast, mysterious design of the universe. +All the well-known reasons for and against a providence ruling morally +and judging righteously, as human beings conceive it, were discussed +again and again; and at length the oldest and most distinguished +of the young soldiers formulated, from the animated argument, this +result:--that even the most enthusiastic optimist, in face of the +crying horrors to which poor humanity is exposed, cannot prove the +existence of a compensating justice on earth; indeed, can only save his +belief in a righteous God by hoping for a world to come. + +"But will donkeys go to heaven, too?" suddenly asked a calm, rich voice +from a quiet corner. + +For a moment all were silent. Then followed an outburst of gay +laughter, agreeably enlivening to the majority, who were tired of the +philosophical talk. + +"Hear! hear!" cried some. + +"One will not be able to understand his own speech at doomsday if all +the resurrected donkeys bray to one another," said a lively young +captain. "Although, Eugene, if the sainted Antonius's pig is in +heaven--" + +"And so many pious sheep!" another broke in. + +"You forget that the question is long since decided," said a third; +"one has only to read Voltaire's 'Pucelle' in so many cantos!" + +"Were you merely joking, Eugene?" then asked the senior president, who +had not joined in the laugh, "or was the question seriously meant, +because it is certainly not yet decided whether or no an immortal soul +lives in animals also?" + +The person thus addressed was a young man about thirty years of age, +the only one at the banquet who wore civilian's dress. A severe wound +had forced him to give up a military career. Since then he had lived on +his small estate, more occupied with the study of military science than +with the tilling of his fields. He had come to the city on the occasion +of the review in order to see his old friends. + +"The question," he now said very earnestly, "is really not my own, but +is a quotation, whose brusque simplicity embarrassed me myself not long +ago. A strange little story, certainly not a cheerful one, depends on +it. But since we have again soared into speculations which are beyond +jesting, it may perhaps be fitting if I tell where the quotation +originated. I can hardly maintain that the story is calculated to throw +any light on the dark problem." + +"Only tell it," cried one after another. + +"Who knows whether the donkey that you will ride before us may not +finally open his mouth, like Balaam's prophetic ass, and teach us the +system of the world." + +Eugene shook his head with a peculiar smile, and began. "You know that +I suffered from my wound during the entire winter of '71 and '72, and +could only limp around with a cane. When spring came, I surrendered +myself to the care of my married sister. My brother-in-law's manor is +surrounded by endless pine forests, in which I was to take air baths. +Whatever I gained in physical strength, as I wandered about each day in +those lonely thickets, or lay lazily buried in cushions of deep, +luxuriant moss, I lost again in my moral condition. Even in the +hospital I had not seemed to myself such a miserable cripple as here. +Everything about me was overflowing with life and strength; every old +knot bore countless bright-green shoots; even a rotten stump made +itself useful as barracks for a swarming army of ants--and I, condemned +to detestable idleness at twenty-four--enough! I moped about half the +time, and was on very bad terms with God and the world. + +"About this time, too, I lived through a sickness which might have +ended my brooding. The neighborhood is thinly populated; the people are +very poor; the women frightfully ugly,--Bohemian types degenerated by +crossing with the Saxons, pinched and rendered half savage through +privation and suffering. But I was perfectly contented that nothing +charming crossed my path. It would have made the consciousness of my +invalidism still more painful. You know, indeed, how long it takes for +the last trace of the typhoid poison, so paralyzing to all energy, to +disappear from one's system. The North Sea was to do me this service. + +"Well, for several weeks, like mad Roland, though somewhat more +mildly, I roamed through pine and fir-covered ravines without making a +shot, although a hunting-piece was slung at my back. It was truly, in +spite of all world-griefs, a heavenly time; never have I had such +intimate acquaintance with nature, never felt so vividly what is meant +by 'our mother earth' and 'our father air.' But that does not belong +here. I will come to the point. + +"One afternoon I allowed myself to be lured farther than usual from the +house by a most beautiful path winding among young woods, whose slender +trees, scarcely taller than I, allowed the May sunlight to stream +through unchecked. When I found myself entirely astray, I decided to +strike through to the edge of the forest, in order to regain an open +view. A gentle slope, sparsely covered with birches and berry-bushes, +led upwards. Beyond, through the tall firs which enclosed the clearing +like a fence, I could see blue mountain-tops shimmering in the +distance, and knew that I might thence easily find my way. But as I +came out of the forest, I realized for the first time how far I had +wandered. From the forest edge the land sank by a tolerably steep slope +to a plain; and far below lay a small town, well known to me on the +map, but so distant from our estate, that in all my reconnoitring I had +never seen it till now. I was startled when I realized where I was, +for, with my lame leg, I could not possibly undertake to return on +foot. But I thought I might obtain a team in the village. + +"I seated myself on a newly-fallen trunk to rest a little before +descending to the town. The land beneath me lay in the deep calm of +afternoon; thin clouds of smoke drifting up from the chimneys of the +old houses announced that the good housewives were making their coffee. +The broad, level plain, gayly checkered with fields of promising, green +crops, stretched beyond; while almost exactly half way between the +forest-edge and the first houses, and bordered by a few bushes and +elders, lay a great fish-pond, peculiarly dark in color, although the +purest spring-heaven was mirrored therein. The ground about it was +marshy, and it seemed as though all the water of the neighborhood +flowed into the depression as into some monstrous cistern. I do not +know why the black basin appeared so uncanny to me, for the birds +nesting in the shrubbery on its banks flew over it continually with +cheerful twitterings. But my gloomy humor drew nourishment just then +from the most innocent sources. + +"When I finally raised my eyes to look about for some smooth, +gradually-descending path, I noticed at the right, scarcely a stone's +throw from my seat, a forlorn, mean little house standing in shadow +close by the roots of the foremost trees. The old, tumbled-down fence +surrounding a bit of ground; the dove-cot, in which no living thing was +stirring; the tiled roof, whose damages had been poorly repaired with +shingles and stones from the fields--all looked desolate and +dilapidated, but since a path must surely lead thence to the town, I +arose and dragged myself slowly towards the hut. + +"As soon as I perceived the extreme desolation of the old barracks, I +gave up my conjecture that a lumberman dwelt there. All the mortar had +fallen away from the wall on the weather side, and the rain must have +had free entrance through the holes in the deeply sunken roof. The +piece of land behind the crumbling fence, which in times past might +have supported a little garden or a few vegetable beds, had become a +waste rubbish heap, upon which a single black hen tripped about, +excitedly scratching between the weeds and nettles for something +eatable. The north side, turned towards the slope, had two small +windows with broken panes; and in the middle, a door standing wide +open. I glanced into the unattractive entrance. No human being was to +be seen or heard. I was about to go back and follow a little foot-path +which seemed to wind down into the valley, when I was startled, indeed, +truly frightened, by a donkey's bray; for never in my life have I heard +that odd cry given so passionately, and with such peculiarly mournful +modulation, as at that moment. + +"The cry of pain came from the other side of the house. As I turned the +corner, I saw in the meadow, close to the wall, an idyllic group +crouched in the young grass: an old woman, clothed in a torn jacket of +flowered calico and a coarse woollen petticoat, and wearing wound about +her head a gray handkerchief, from beneath which her black hair, +thickly sprinkled with gray, hung down in disorder; and near her, +stretched upon the ground, a young donkey with noticeably slender +limbs, dark-edged ears, and a coat of silver-gray, adorned on the back +with a black stripe extending to the head. It was a fine animal, an +honor to its race, and it would certainly have taken a prize at any +show. But I immediately perceived why the poor creature relieved its +oppressed heart in so particularly doleful a manner. A hand's-breadth +on its left shoulder-blade was disfigured by a foul wound; this the old +woman was attempting to cover with wet bandages, although the wounded +brute restively tried to prevent her merciful ministrations with kicks +and stampings of its forelegs. A shallow bowl by the woman's side held +some dark liquid, with which she saturated the rag in order to cool the +wound. She quietly continued this operation as I approached her. + +"'Good-morning, dame!' said I. She merely nodded her head wearily. +Beginning to speak of the wound, I asked how it had been received, and +what remedy she was using. No answer. It occurred to me that she did +not understand German. But as I turned away, exclaiming half to myself, +'What a pity! Such a beautiful brute!' her gray eyes suddenly flashed +so powerfully upon me from under her bushy, black brows, that the whole +withered, leather-colored face seemed ten years younger. + +"'Yes indeed, sir!' she said in notably pure German, with but a slight +Bohemian accent. 'It is truly a pity, and Minka is certainly beautiful. +If only you had seen her before she was hurt! She could jump about +almost like a young horse, and her coat was like silk and velvet. Now, +for seven months she has lain thus miserably on her belly, and if she +gets up on her legs, how her knees bend, poor creature! Besides, what +use is she? "Betty Lamitz," said the forest warder only yesterday, as +he passed and saw the trouble I had with the brute--for now one must +bring even its bit of fodder close to its muzzle--"you should have her +killed," said he; "the skinner will give you a thaler for the hide." +But no! said I; it's only a beast, but it shall have care like any +other Christian being, or like an honest servant fallen sick in +service! Yes, so I said. Whoa, whoa, Minka! don't roll about so! Look, +sir, she lies on her back and rubs her wound all the time, so no +plaster holds, and it spreads farther and farther. Whoa! Be still!' + +"Then, fairly embracing the beast, she tried to quiet it, and keep it +in its bed. Suddenly she released it, ran to a wooden well standing in +shadow back of the house, and having filled a low pail from the old +stone trough into which the water was trickling down, she thrust it +under her charge's pink muzzle. Minka drank in long draughts, and her +feverish excitement visibly abated. The old woman sat near her, looking +on with great contentment, and seeming once more entirely oblivious to +my presence. + +"At length I repeated my inquiry as to the origin of the bad wound +between the shoulder-blades. But the old woman again remained silent; +she merely sighed, and scratched her lean arms with her withered +lingers till white streaks stood up on the brown skin. + +"'Yes, yes!' she said absently, after a long while--'such a poor +female! What matters beauty against bad luck? And how she has worked, +always cheerfully and willingly! I could load her as much as I wished, +she never once kicked, or even shook her ears at me. To be sure, I have +brought her up from her tenth day. She was a twin. The forester at +Freithof had a she-ass that presented him one morning with Minka and +her sister. "Would you like to have a handsome nursling, Mother +Lamitz?" said he, just for a joke. Well, I held him to his word. He +owed me a little gold for a piece of linen that I had woven for him. A +couple of florins were still lacking, and for them I took the young +ass. I had trouble enough, first in getting it home, and then in +raising it, for milk was scarce with us. But we have never rued it. A +hard worker, sir, this Minka! We have had to drag many things from the +woods, berries and mushrooms down to market in summer, then our winter +wood, and whatsoever else was needful. I--good heavens! I can trace all +my bones, although I am barely fifty, and Hannah--well, she was still +too weak. And look you, such a faithful beast, a god-send, our only +help--to be so hurt and disgraced in its young years--oh!' + +"'Dame,' said I, 'look at me! I too am still young, yet I limp through +the world, and my food must be brought to me because I can no longer +gain it by my own strength; and whoever gives a thaler for _my_ hide is +a fool and a spendthrift. Yet who knows, but that sometime we shall +both prance gayly about once more.' + +"I chatted in this strain for some time to cheer her, but, without +heeding me, she stared fixedly at the wound. She had meanwhile covered +it with a firm plaster, since the brute would no longer suffer the +bathing. + +"'Tell me once for all,' she suddenly commenced, and by the gleam +of her eyes I saw that when young she must have been far from +homely--'tell me once for all, sir, do you believe that donkeys go to +heaven?' + +"I laughed. + +"Why do you ask that, mother? + +"'I once asked our parson about it. He said it was a foolish question; +that only Christian people go to heaven; and that animals have no +immortal souls. "But, parson," said I, "if the great God is just and +merciful, why doesn't He pity the beasts too, as human beings do if +they are not scoundrels? For instance, why does Minka's sister live +like a princess, have nothing to do but draw a little play-wagon in +which the young masters take an occasional pleasure drive, always +receive kind words and the best fodder, and even have a love-affair +with the valley-miller's donkey? And our Minka, who has just as good a +character, who wears herself out with work, and is often on her legs +with a load for ten hours together, now has all four struck from under +her, and if she should die to-morrow, what pleasure in life has she +had? Is that just, parson? And if it is not sometime paid back to her +there above--" But then he forbade me to speak, and said such blasphemy +led straight to hell. You tell me, sir, do you know anything about it?' + +"You can imagine that I did not have the most spirited expression, when +the pistol was thus placed against my breast, and the explanation of +the world-secret demanded of me. Fortunately, however, just at that +moment a woman's clear voice began to sing within the house, and with +it one heard a child's feeble crying, which the song was evidently +intended to still. + +"'Who is singing there, Mother Lamitz?' I asked. + +"'Who should it be but Hannah?' she grumbled. + +"'Your daughter? May I venture to look in at her?' + +"The old woman did not reply; muttering to herself, she took the pail +and carried it back to the well; then she rolled forward a wheelbarrow +piled high with grass and weeds, and busied herself in giving handfuls +to the sick beast, almost shoving the food into its mouth. I did not +wait long for an expressed permission, but approached the house, and, +after knocking, entered by the door at the left. + +"A suffocating steam greeted me, mixed with the smell of some drying +clothes, which hung across the room on a tightly stretched rope. I saw +immediately that there were only a few miserable swaddling-clothes and +baby-frocks, coarse and much patched. + +"In one corner stood a great loom, thickly covered with dust; in the +other, upon a heap of straw, distinguishable from the bed of an animal +only by a woollen covering, sat a fair-haired young woman, holding a +half naked babe at her breast. She herself had nothing on her body but +a shirt, which had fallen far down on her shoulders, and a red woollen +petticoat, which left her white feet visible to the ankles. + +"As I entered, she gazed at me searchingly, and for an instant ceased +her singing. She seemed to have expected someone else; but, seeing that +I was an entire stranger, she at once recommenced her cradle-song, +though somewhat more softly, apparently not at all disturbed because I +had surprised her in the performance of a mother's most sacred duty, +and in such incomplete attire. + +"As she sang she occasionally smiled at me, showing the pretty teeth in +her large mouth; and I noticed that she clasped the child closer to her +bared breast, and tried to draw the shirt up over her shoulders. +Therewith a slight redness tinged her round, white face, and her blue +eyes assumed a half imploring, half simple and dreamily vacant, +expression. + +"I excused myself for intruding; her mother had allowed me to come in; +I would immediately go out again if she wished. She hummed her song +without appearing to notice me; but from time to time she would +suddenly lift her eyes, as if to see whether I were still there; then +bite her full, red under-lip; rock the child back and forth; and, with +her bare feet in the straw, beat time to her song. + +"The child, which was but a few months old, had drunk and cried itself +to sleep. The cradle-song grew ever softer; at length the young mother, +kneeling down, wrapped the little one, which lay before her like some +rosy, waxen doll, in a great woollen shawl. In the corner near the +pillow I observed a little couch made of old rags and tatters. On this +the baby was gently and carefully laid, and, in spite of the heat, +covered yet again. + +"Then the mother, always as if entirely alone in the room, began to let +down and rebraid her tangled, yellow hair. The rest of her toilet +seemed to be perfectly satisfactory. + +"Indeed, no elegant costume could have displayed the poor young woman's +charming figure to more advantage. The face was too like the old +woman's to be considered pretty. Yet in the coloring and youthful +contour of that round little head lay a charm, which was not lessened +even by an evident trace of absent-mindedness, or downright imbecility. +I felt intense sympathy for the poor, half-foolish creature, singing +her lullaby so contentedly in such pitiable deprivation of all usual +nursery comforts. + +"She did not answer any of my questions even by a gesture. Since they +had plenty of wood and did not grudge it, the oven was heated almost to +bursting; although the air without was mild enough, even here on the +windy height. So I did not wait until she finished arranging her heavy +braids, but laid a shining thaler on the edge of the loom, nodded +kindly to the harmless creature, and left the room. + +"I found the old woman no longer by her sick darling, but at the well, +where she was cleaning a handful of turnips and cutting them into a +pot. + +"'Mother Lamitz,' said I, 'you have a very pretty daughter. But she +would not speak a word to me. Is she always so silent with strangers?' + +"The old woman contracted her brows and stared gloomily at the pot +which she held between her knees. In this attitude she might have +served an artist as model for a witch preparing some noxious potion. + +"'Silent?' she asked after a pause. 'No, sir; it is not her tongue that +is lacking. When she will, she can chatter like a starling. The lack is +above. She was so even as a child. Well, it was not such a great shame. +If she had had the best sense, would that have helped a poor, +fatherless thing like her? Did it matter to me that I had all my five +senses right? I was cheated in spite of them, and therefore I care not +a whit whether the brat to which she has given life takes after her, as +people say, or after me. Either way, the little Mary will sometime +become a mother on the sly, as it came into the world on the sly. It is +in the family, sir, it is in the family.' + +"And then, after a pause, for I knew not what to say to this frank +worldly wisdom--'Besides, the child will hardly grow old. Hannah treats +it too foolishly. Indeed, reason has nothing to do with her actions. +And when the winter comes, and we all must hunger--it is said, though, +that God lets no sparrow fall from a roof without His will--I am +curious to see whether He will trouble Himself about us four poor +females up here.' + +"Therewith she gazed pityingly at the donkey, which was now crouching +quietly in its bedding. I could have laughed to see her so +unconcernedly consider gray, long-eared Minka as the fourth in the +family; but the horrible cold-bloodedness with which she spoke of her +child and grandchild was not humorous. + +"'You seem to care much more tenderly for the donkey than for your +poor, little grandchild,' I said severely. + +"She nodded her head calmly. + +"'So it is,' she said; 'Minka needs me more. If I die to-day, she must +come to a miserable end. Do you think Hannah would throw her even an +armful of grass, although the poor beast can no longer seek it herself? +No; she has no thought except for her baby, and beyond that, for the +rascal who is its father. She waits for him every evening at sunset, +although it is already a half year since he last crossed our threshold. +And withal she is as happy as any one can wish to be, considers the +dear God a good man, and lets her old mother do all the housework +without any help. Why should I pity her or her brat? Both are already +as if in heaven, and if it goes hard with them, and they must hunger +and freeze, can they not make that good hereafter in Paradise? But +Minka, look you, sir, has had no lover, and brought no young one into +the world, and when she dies she will be thrown in the flaying-place, +and on doomsday, when we other poor sinners gather our bones together, +of her nothing at all will be left, and it will never be credited to +her that she had a harder life than her twin sister. Look you, some +other poor Christian mortal must pity the beasts if our Lord Jesus +Himself cannot bring Himself to do it.' + +"This logic allowed no reply. But I confess that the future of the +little human being was more momentous to me, in spite of its immortal +soul, than the question whether Minka would lose or not in the final +distribution of justice. If to-morrow the only person among these 'four +females' who had sound human sense should be struck by lightning, what +would then become of the poor fool and her baby? + +"'Does the father do nothing at all for the little one?' I asked at +last. 'The child is as beautiful as if carved out of ivory, and it is +by no means certain that it will become like the mother. Has he never +shown himself again?' + +"'He!' exclaimed the old woman, thrusting the knife with which she had +been cleaning the turnips deep into the wooden well-spout. 'If I should +drag him to justice, he would swear himself free, that he would, +although he is the town-judge's own son. Do you think I did not see it +in him, even the first time when he came into our little house to +kindle his pipe at the hearth--so he said, the villain! He is +unfortunately as pretty to look at as he is bad within, and the stupid +thing, Hannah she was still innocent, and I could let her wander all +day long in the woods alone with Minka, filling the two panniers with +berries and mushrooms--she thought of no man then, and I--God knows how +it came about! Just because she is so foolish and weak in her head, I +imagined that no one would trouble about her. But she pleased the +judge's son, and was herself instantly carried away with him. After +that I had trouble enough with her. She had worked bravely till then in +the house and garden, and no work was too hard for her. Now, of a +sudden, half the day her hands in her lap, and if I began to scold she +would smile at me like a child waking from a lovely dream. If I sent +her to the woods, she would bring the baskets back to the house +scarcely a quarter full. It was Minka's misfortune too. You cannot +believe, sir, how the beast clung to Hannah; it had human sense, anyway +more than Hannah, and realized that the smart fellow with the black +mustache had nothing good in mind. It always ran after the stupid girl, +and gave a loud bray to warn her. I saw everything well enough, but +what could I do? Scoldings and warnings were useless; she did not +understand. And one cannot shut up a grown woman, who will use force to +get out. She would have climbed from the window or even the chimney to +rush into the very arms of ruin. Well, and so it happened. But the +worst of it was that Minka suffered for it too. One evening she +followed the girl into the woods, and soon afterward came limping home +alone, with the wound in her neck, groaning and crying like a human +being. Hannah came back an hour later. I questioned her closely as to +how the brute had received the wound. "Ha!" said she, laughing +insolently, "she screamed all the time and crowded between us, although +Frank tried to drive her back with blows; so he suddenly became angry, +drew his knife, and gave her a thrust." I struck the shameless thing +for laughing about it, and put salve on the wound. But Minka rolled on +her back as if crazy, and would bear no bandage, and so it has grown +worse with her every day, and with Hannah too. Well, at least she has +had her way, and nothing much better could have happened to her. Who +would take one like her for his honest wife? And if sometime she +realizes that it is useless to wait for her lover, and becomes crazy +with grief at his wickedness, then she has little wit to lose. Whereas +Minka, sir, who is cleverer than many people, believe me, she lies for +days pondering why good and bad are so unequally divided on the earth; +why she has nothing but a ruined life, while her sister trots about +elegant and happy; and why our good Lord did not arrange it so that +donkeys might go to heaven, and obtain their reward for all the flaying +and toiling, beating and kniving, they have to bear.' + +"She uttered these last words with such violence that she was obliged +to stop for breath. Then, brushing back the loose hairs at her neck, +she tied her head-cloth more firmly, and took the pot of turnips on her +arm. + +"'I must go in, sir,' she said hoarsely, 'or I shall go to bed hungry. +Do you know the town-judge and his fine son? It does not matter. He +will not have to pay for what he did to my girl and to Minka until he +stands before God's throne. And for the rest, why should his conscience +prick him? She wished nothing better; indeed, we all wish nothing +better; if we were not silly, you men could not be bad. So it will be +as long as the world lasts. At doomsday I shall not complain of that, +but I shall ask our Lord whether donkeys go to heaven too, of that you +may be sure--of that you may certainly be sure!' + +"She nodded her head vigorously, passed by without another look at me, +and disappeared in the house. + +"You can imagine that, as I descended the slope, passing the black +water, and finally reaching the village, all that I had seen and heard +continually pursued me. Even when I had secured a carriage at the inn, +and was rolling along the highway towards my brother-in-law's house, +the figure of the old woman, and especially that of her blonde daughter +with the naked babe clasped to her breast, seemed actually before my +eyes. It chanced that my driver was an elderly man, who could give +trustworthy answers to my questions about the inmates of the little +house on the hill. He remembered Betty Lamitz's sudden appearance there +twenty years ago very well. Her own home was in a neighboring place, +where, her mother having died without leaving any property, the parish +refused to receive her. She was a servant in an aristocratic house in +Prague, and behaved properly enough until one of the sons of the house, +an officer home on a furlough, noticed her. She had been a fine-looking +person even at thirty, in spite of her flat nose and broad cheeks, a +maid with unusual eyes, and when she laughed--which to be sure she +seldom did--she could cut out many younger women even then. But things +simply went the usual way, in spite of her cleverness, and although she +had always said she would never do as her own mother had done. Of +course her master did not keep her in the house. He gave her a suitable +sum of money, with which she bought the forsaken hill-house and the bit +of garden plot, and since then, as she would not go into service again, +perhaps could not, she had lived there and brought Hannah up, in +perfect retirement. For the first few years the young count remembered +her, and sent her something. After awhile he failed to do this, and she +was obliged to struggle along by herself. She had done so; and +certainly no one could accuse her of grief at her child's lack of +reason. + +"Then my driver spoke of the sad affair with the judge's son, against +whom he expressed himself in very strong terms. Every one knew about +it. But he was the only son of a most respectable family, and no one +could expect him to make amends for the foolish mis-step by an honest +marriage. A wild, insane thing! Why didn't the old woman watch her +better? If he did a little something for the child, no one would blame +him much for this youthful sin. + +"I listened without entering into any discussion of the moral aspect of +the case. In my heart--I know not why--I felt such intense sympathy for +the poor creature, that if her betrayer had come in my way, I would +have thrashed him with much pleasure. + +"My first action, when I saw my people again, was to tell them of my +experience, and induce my good sister to take some interest in the +neglected young woman. She was true to her sympathetic nature. The next +day she sent her 'Mamselle,' an experienced, elderly person, in a +carriage to Mother Lamitz's hut, with a basket containing all sorts of +good things--provisions for several weeks, baby-clothes, and several +uncut dress pieces to provide for the winter. To this I added a trifle +in cash, fully intending to go in person very soon, and see if this +feeble attempt to make up the deficiencies of the world-system had been +at all effectual. + +"But I did not go. Our physician ordered me to take sea-baths earlier +than I expected. I merely heard that our gifts were received by the old +woman with but moderate thanks, and by the young mother with child-like +exultation. Then I departed, remaining away the entire summer, and the +inmates of that forest hut soon became of as little moment to me as any +beggar into whose hat one tosses a groschen. + +"Even when, after having washed away in the sea my invalidism and its +accompanying world-sickness, I returned to the estate in the autumn for +hunting, it did not occur to me for several weeks to inquire about the +'four females.' My sister and her husband had themselves been away, and +been occupied with entirely different things. On a lonely tramp which I +undertook one cold, cloudy, disagreeable day in the middle of October, +I suddenly recollected that I had wandered over the same forest-path +five months before, and that it had finally led me to the donkey with +the 'immortal soul.' What might have happened to Minka in the meantime? + +"I stepped along more briskly, for evening was already coming on. It +was dark and comfortless in the forest; the moisture dripped heavily +from the pines; the little clearings, with their bushes and birches, +were not so cheerful, in spite of the red berries hanging plentifully +on their faded branches, as on that day in May, when I alone wore a +troubled face. When I finally emerged from the pines at the edge of the +height, the land below me and the purplish peaks on the horizon looked +as strange as if a terrible storm were impending. The air was perfectly +still; one heard each drop falling on the dry leaves, and, from time to +time, the crows, very numerous in that locality, cawing in the +treetops. The noise was so hateful to me that, in a sort of sudden +fury, I snatched my gun from my shoulder, and fired into the +unsuspecting flock. A single bird fell fluttering and quivering at my +feet. I felt ashamed of this childish outburst and hurried towards the +hut, which, standing in its old place, and in the same condition, +looked extremely desolate in the murky evening mist. + +"The enclosed space had beautified itself with half a dozen tall +sunflowers and with several rows of pumpkin-vines growing over the +rubbish-heap; but the black hen had evidently failed to outlive the +summer. On the side of the house where the brook flowed, and where +Minka had lain, there was no longer any trace of her. Possibly it was +now too cold on this damp couch for the poor, wounded beast. But where +had she gone? I laughed to myself as I realized that the fate of the +brute creature was more interesting to me than that of the hut's human +inmates. Of them nothing was to be seen or heard. + +"In the room where the loom stood, excepting that the straw-bed was +empty, everything appeared as at my first visit. But the oven was cold +and all the windows were open. I pressed the door-latch of the single, +mean chamber on the right of the narrow hall. Here I was amazed to find +one at least of the 'four females,' the good Minka herself. She lay on +a litter of yellow leaves, moss, and pine-needles, close to a low +hearth, whereon coals were still glowing; and as she saw me enter, she +lifted her head wearily. + +"The old woman must have housed here, since, besides cooking utensils, +all sorts of woman's trumpery was lying about, while on the other side +of the hearth stood an ancient, grandfather's chair, with torn +cushions, plainly Mother Lamitz's bedstead. She had evidently brought +her sick darling into her immediate vicinity. + +"I approached the poor creature and stroked her coat, for which +attention her ears wagged a doleful gratitude. The wound had grown +worse; indeed, her whole condition was serious, and for the first time +I saw on an animal something like the hippocratic face. Seeing that I +was friendly, she made a painful effort to unburden her distressed +heart; but no longer able to express herself satisfactorily, she soon +became silent again, and with an indescribably piteous look let her +tongue loll from her mouth, thus taking away her last trace of beauty +in my eyes. As I could not help her, I went out in a few moments, +leaving the door open; for the close air, which I could scarcely +breathe, must have been equally unbearable for a sick donkey. + +"Outside I looked about in all directions. Of grandmother, mother, or +child--not a trace. In the forest--but what could they be seeking there +so late, and in such horrible weather? They have gone down to the town, +thought I, to make some purchases. But nobody knows when they will +return. + +"To await them in the damp hut was out of the question. I thought that +perhaps I might meet them on the way down, as I intended to descend and +return by the highroad, instead of the dark, slippery forest path. So +once again I took the little path between the meadows, and heard then, +for the first time, a muffled sound of musical instruments, principally +clarionets and contrabasses, evidently coming from the inn in the town +below. Although dance music, it was far from merry; indeed, it seemed +but a proper accompaniment to the melancholy song heaven and earth were +singing together; as if cloud spirits were playing a waltz to which +they might whirl madly over the cold mountain-tops. + +"The neighborhood is not musical. Only occasionally, when a band of +wandering Bohemians strays into this corner of the hills, does one hear +merry tunes in lively time; but even a Bohemian band can seldom set in +motion the clumsy feet of the men and maids. + +"However, that scarcely belongs to my subject. I will be brief. I had +not taken twenty steps when I saw, down by the fishpond, sitting on a +mossy stone, a woman's motionless figure, with the back turned toward +me. She seemed to be staring into the black water. I could scarcely see +the outline, yet I recognized her at once. + +"'Mother Lamitz!' I cried, 'Mother Lamitz!' + +"At the third call, and when I was very close to her, she slowly turned +her head, but I could not see her eyes. + +"'Why do you sit here on a wet stone, Mother Lamitz?' I asked. 'Have +you thrown a net and do you wish to haul your catch? Or for whom are +you waiting in this unhealthy fog?' + +"She looked straight into my face, evidently trying to remember the +person to whom these features and this voice belonged. But it dawned on +her very slowly. + +"I helped somewhat by recalling to her mind my spring visit, and +telling her that since then I had often considered whether or no +donkeys would go to heaven, and had never arrived at any conclusion. +She listened silently, but I was not certain that she rightly +understood my meaning, for she nodded continually, even when I asked a +question demanding a negative answer. + +"But when I mentioned her daughter's name, she became suddenly alert, +looking suspiciously at me from under her thick brows. + +"'What do you want with Hannah?' she said. 'She is not at home. But she +is very well, she and her brat. Did I tell you she was a trifle weak in +the head? In that I lied. She had more sense than most of the foolish +geese. Oh, I wish that I might have gone away so, but there are +different gifts, and how does the Testament say? Those who are poor in +spirit--yes, yes. O thou merciful One!' + +"Stopping suddenly, she spread her hands on her knees and let her head +fall upon her breast. + +"She seemed more and more uncanny to me. It was ghastly there by the +bank; the bats were beginning to flit among the low bushes, and the +rising wind brought a musty swamp odor. From below came the unceasing +music of the clarionets and basses. + +"Merely to break the silence, I said, 'There seems to be high festival +in the inn down yonder. Is it a feast?' + +"She sprang to her feet, again looking distrustfully at me. 'Have you +only just heard it? They have piped and fiddled so since noonday, and +will go on till midnight. I have stopped my ears, but it is useless. +Weddings are not funerals--one knows that very well--but if they knew, +if they knew! To be sure they would not have one waltz the less. O thou +merciful One!' + +"'Whose wedding is it?' + +"Spitting violently, she cast a furious look across the pond towards +the house from which the sounds arose. + +"'Go down there and look at the pair for yourself,' she snarled; 'they +suit each other well. He is bad and handsome, and she is stupid and +rich. A brewer's daughter, she measures her money by the bushel. But +she has reason enough to answer a question correctly, and she did not +say no when the parson asked her if she wished the judge's son for a +husband.' + +"'The judge's son! He?' Now, indeed, I knew the cause of the old +woman's fury. + +"'Poor Hannah! And does she know what is going on down there?' + +"'How could she help knowing, sir? Do you think there are not +sympathetic souls enough to carry such news wherever they are likely to +earn God's blessing for it? She sat just before the door with her baby +on her lap; she was decked out in her best clothes, that blue dress, +you know, which the lady baroness sent her; and her baby was dancing to +the music. Then the druggist's maid came down, pretending that she +passed by accident, but it was the wickedest curiosity, dear sir, to +see how the poor fool would act when she heard that her lover was +holding his wedding feast down there. She did not tell it to Hannah. +"Mother Betsey!" she screamed in to me, "the judge's son! What do you +say to that?" and then she abused the badness of the world. I merely +blinked at her, for I thought I should sink into the earth. I never +believed he would marry Hannah, but she waited for him every evening, +and was so happy doing so, that she might have expected him for all +eternity, and sung her cradle-songs contentedly. And now the whole +baseness of it, and the news of the marriage with the brewer's +daughter, to come on her so suddenly--as if a trusted friend had thrust +a knife in her breast. The words stuck in the spiteful tell-tale's +throat as she saw what she had done. She said she must hurry; her +mistress expected her, and she ran off. I went out and saw the poor +thing sitting on the bank, with her head leaning back on the wall as if +too heavy for her, and her eyes and mouth wide open. + +"'"Hannah!" I coaxed, "do not believe it--she lied," and as much more +as I could bear to say. She did not speak, but all at once laughed +aloud, and stood up, holding her child fast in her arms. + +"'"Where are you going?" I said. "Come into the house. I will brew you +some elder tea." But it was as if she did not hear me. She went slowly +away from the house, down the path. I followed, trying to hold her back +by her clothing, but there was something superhuman in her; her face +was rigid and deathly pale. "Hannah," said I, "you are not going to +him? Think what they would say if you went to the wedding. They would +say you were out of your wits, and by and by the law would come and +take away the child, because they dare not leave it with an idiot." + +"'That brought her to her senses for a moment. She stood still, +clasping the child silently, and sighing as if her soul would leave her +body. I thought I had won, and that she would turn back with me and +gradually give in. If she could have cried it would have been her +salvation, but her eyes were perfectly dry, and I saw her stare +continually at the house down there, as if she would pierce the walls +and destroy that bad man and his bridge with the wreath and veil. I +begged her to come into the house. I realized then that I had nothing +in the world but her, and I told her so, asking her to forgive me for +all my roughness and unkindness to her. Dear God, when one is so +miserable, and another hungry mouth comes into the house! But she heard +nothing. The music seemed to bewitch her; she began to rock the child +back and forth; then of a sudden she gave a loud cry, as if her heart +had broken, and before I knew what she meant to do, she was rushing +down to the pond. Her loose hair streamed after her, the blue clothes +fluttered, she ran so fast, and--O thou merciful One!--with my own eyes +I saw it--child and grandchild! I tried to scream, I was choking; I ran +like a madman; as I came down, I saw only the black water, bubbling +like a kettle at the place where--' + +"She sprang up, and stood half bowed among the damp marsh grasses like +a picture of despair, both arms outstretched toward the now motionless +water. + +"I could not speak a word. Every instant I thought she would throw +herself in after them. The spot where we were standing seemed +peculiarly suitable for a suicide. The bank shelved perpendicularly +into the depths; no rushes grew out of the water; the alder bushes, +retreating, left a gap several feet in width; and even close to shore +the water was as dark as if the depths were bottomless. + +"But the old woman seemed to intend nothing violent. Her body relaxed +again and her arms fell loosely on her hips. + +"'Do you see anything there?' she asked suddenly, in an undertone. + +"'Where?' + +"'Down there by the willow? No; it is nothing. I thought her hair came +to the surface. But she is lying at the bottom. At first something +yellow floated out on the water--I would swear it was her hair--and the +long rake there, left since haying-time--if I had taken it, and fished +for the hair with it, and twisted it fast around the prongs, I believe +I could have pulled her to land even then. But say for yourself, sir, +what would it have mattered? She would have jumped in again. And +wouldn't it have been wicked to rob her of the rest she has found down +there? Who knows that I should have drawn out the poor brat with her! +And without her only plaything, what could she do in the world?' + +"She stopped again, rubbing her lean shoulders with her crossed arms as +if she felt a fever-chill. The music paused in the inn below; I heard +the old woman's quick, gasping breaths, and now and then a disconnected +word as if of prayer. This sad stillness was suddenly interrupted by a +hoarse bray from the woods above. We both looked around. + +"Lame Minka stood before the hut's door, giving her most doleful signal +of distress. Against the dark background the outline of the beast's +gray form was plainly visible; we could even see her shake her drooping +ears. She must have noticed us, for though we did not call her, she +started down the rough and tiresome road to her old nurse. + +"'Are you coming, too?' said the old woman. 'Are you thirsty, because I +forgot to fill your pail? Do you see, sir, that I am right? Minka has +human reason. She too would make an end of her trouble and misery. And +it is better so; it will take her at once from her suffering, and I--do +you know, that I believe even yet that donkeys go to heaven? If not, +why have they human reason? Who knows, when he fears to die, that it is +really the end? And now look at Minka, how steadily she trots toward +the black water. Come, Minka, come, poor fool! We will help you down.' + +"The brute came to the stone where the old woman was crouching. It +thrust its large head in her lap, and fell on its knees. The old woman +helped it up again. + +"'Come, Minka,' she repeated, 'it will do no harm, and perhaps may help +you to eternal happiness. Hannah has gone before, with little Mary. +Mother Betsey will soon follow.' + +"She drew the reluctant animal to the edge of the pond and tried to +force it in. But entreaties and caresses were as vain as the pushes and +blows to which she finally resorted. The poor victim, its whole body +trembling, braced all four feet against the bank and gave a piteous +cry. The old woman cast an imploring glance at me. + +"'You have a gun at your back, sir. Will you not do my Minka this last +kindness, and help her to her salvation? The Lord God will repay you +the little powder and lead which you spend on a tortured creature; and +if there is justice, and we meet again up yonder, Minka, too, will not +be wanting, and then you shall see that, after the ass that bore our +Lord into Jerusalem, there will be none more beautiful than Minka in +all Paradise.' + +"How could I withstand such a touching request? I cocked my gun, came +close to the good creature, and shot a bullet through its head. It fell +headlong into the water; the gray head appeared for an instant, then +sank and left no trace. + +"The old woman fell upon her knees; I saw her fold her withered hands +and move her lips silently. Undoubtedly, she breathed a prayer for +Minka's departed soul. + +"Then she arose wearily. 'I thank you, sir,' she said. 'You have just +done me a greater kindness than when you sent me the money. When you go +home give my respects to the lady baroness. Tell her I need nothing +more. Three are already at rest, and the fourth will not delay long. +And so may God preserve you. I am freezing. I shall go back to the +house and warm myself a little. The night will be cold and the house is +empty. May God reward you a thousandfold, sir! No; you shall not go +with me! I have no one, and the cursed music will let me sleep very +well if I stop my ears tightly enough. Good-night, sir! Rest well. And +the Lord God above will understand and deal kindly with us. Amen!' + +"She crossed herself and bowed quietly. Then she climbed the slope +across the meadow, and I watched her until she reached her hut above +and closed the door behind her. + +"I myself returned to the path in a state of mind that baffles +description. The universal misery of mankind was about the drift of it. +But other elements mingling with it gave the peculiar experience +something at once grotesque and awful. A professional psychologist +would have had difficulty in understanding it. + +"Fortunately the weather took care that I did not lose myself in this +bottomless pit of fruitless speculation. Just as I reached the first +houses, the rain began to fall in such torrents that I was obliged to +seek shelter and wait until the storm should abate before attempting to +return to the estate. Naturally, I hastened to the inn. I had a certain +curiosity to see the famous judge's son on this day, when his old +sweetheart had quietly taken herself out of the world to make room for +his new one. + +"It was a middle-class wedding of the usual sort. I looked through +the open door into the hall, where the table had been removed to +make room for the dancers. The wedding pair immediately struck my eyes, +not unfavorably either; he was precisely such a man as I imagined, +curly-headed, therefore popular among women, and with a frivolous, +insolent face; on the whole, a good-looking rascal of the most common +type. The young wife in her myrtle wreath, a provincial beauty, +appeared much in love with her husband, but, from continual dancing +with him, was too red and overheated to be lovely. Since she was rich, +the husband had in fact obtained a better lot than his villainous deed +warranted, and it was hardly to be expected that compensating justice +would make him do penance for his sins through this marriage. He did +not seem to be a man who would endure such penance calmly, much less +pass even one sleepless night in useless thoughts upon the moral system +of the world. + +"The wretch disgusted me. Joining the peasants in the bar-room below, I +drank my glass of beer in a very bitter mood, while the floor above +creaked and trembled under the stamping and springing of the dancers, +and the rain beat against the windows. This continued for more than an +hour; then the rain ceased, the clouds moved towards the mountains, and +the moon appeared. I decided to look about for a team, since the roads +were now unfit for walking, and the wedding uproar made the prospect of +a night here intolerable. + +"Fortunately, just as I was going out to inquire for a teamster, +I found my brother-in-law's coachman before the door with the +hunting-wagon, my sister having sent him to bring me home. Both he and +his horses needed a rest and a thorough drying. The homeward journey +was so slow that I found everyone at the house asleep, and could not +tell my horrible experience of the previous day till the following +morning as we three sat at breakfast. + +"We were still under the influence of the strange tragedy--my sister, +who had visited the 'four females' once during the summer, being +affected even to tears--when the door opened, and my brother-in-law's +steward entered. 'I merely wish to announce, Herr Baron,' he said, +'that there has been a fire during the night. God be thanked, it has +not spread, and was not on our estate. But Mother Betsey's house is +burned.' + +"We looked at one another confounded. + +"'How did the fire start, and was any one injured?' asked my +brother-in-law. + +"The man shook his head. + +"'They know nothing positively, Herr Baron,' he said. 'At midnight, as +the last dance was being played down in the inn--the judge's son was +holding his wedding feast--they suddenly heard the fire-bells ring from +the towers, and, rushing out, they saw Mother Lamitz's old hut up on +the forest edge in bright flames. The fire streamed as quietly into the +sky as if from a wood-pile, and although half the village was on foot, +and the fire engine was dragged up the mountain, they could do nothing +whatever, the flames having already devoured the last corner of the old +rookery. It was only when there was nothing left to save that they +mastered the fire; the ground walls, about a man's height, alone remain +standing, if they too have not fallen by this time. At first there +seemed to be nothing left of the women and the child. At length some +one discovered in the corner where the loom had stood a ghastly heap of +ashes and blackened bones, undoubtedly the remains of old Betsey, who, +as old women can never be warm enough, probably heated the oven so hot +that the rotten thing burst and the flames reached the rafters of the +loom. She must have been quickly suffocated by the smoke and have died +without further pain. But what became of her daughter and the little +one nobody knows, and as for the donkey, which she esteemed so highly, +not the smallest piece of its hide or bones can be discovered!'" + + + + + + ROTHENBURG ON THE TAUBER + + + + + ROTHENBURG ON THE TAUBER. + + +It was Easter Tuesday. The people who had celebrated this feast of +resurrection by an open-air excursion in the gayly blossoming +springtime were thronging back to their houses and the work-day +troubles of the morrow. All the highroads swarmed with carriages and +pedestrians, and the railroads were overcrowded in spite of the extra +trains; for it was many years since there had been such continuously +lovely Easter weather. + +The evening express, standing in the Ansbach station ready to depart in +the direction of Wuerzburg, was twice as long as usual. Nevertheless, +every seat appeared to be occupied, when a straggler of the second +class, trying to enter at the last moment, knocked in vain at every +door, and peered into each _coupe_, meeting everywhere a more or less +ungracious or mischievous shrug of the shoulders. Finally, the guard at +his side made a sudden decision, opened a _coupe_ of the first class, +shoved the late-comer into the dim interior, and slammed the door just +as the train began to move. + +A woman who, curled up like a black lizard, had been slumbering in the +opposite corner suddenly started up and cast an angry look at the +unwelcome disturber of her solitude. + +However, the blonde young man in plain Sunday clothing, with a +portfolio under his arm and a worn-out travelling satchel with +old-fashioned embroidery in his hand, seemed to strike her as nothing +remarkable. She replied to his courteous greeting and awkward excuse +with a haughty, scarcely perceptible inclination of her head; drew her +wrap's black silk hood once more over her forehead, and prepared to +continue her interrupted slumber as unconcernedly as if, instead of a +new fellow-traveller, merely one more piece of luggage had been put in +the compartment. + +The young man, feeling that he was regarded as an intruder, took good +care not to remind her of his presence by any unnecessary noise; +indeed, for the first five minutes, although he had been running +violently, he held his breath as long as he could, and remained +steadily in the uncomfortable position which he had at first assumed. +He merely took off his hat, and wiped the perspiration from his brow +with a handkerchief, looking discreetly out of the window the while, as +if he could only atone for his appearance in a higher sphere by the +most modest behavior. But since the sleeper did not stir, and the +passing landscape outside had no charm for him, he finally ventured to +turn his eyes toward the interior of the _coupe_; and, after having +sufficiently admired the broad, red plush cushions and the mirror on +the wall, he even dared to look more closely at the stranger, slowly +and cautiously surveying her from the tip of the tiny shoe peeping from +beneath her gown, to her shoulders, and at length to the fine lines of +the face turned towards him. + +Undoubtedly a very high-born dame--that was instantly clear to +him--and, furthermore, a Russian, Pole, or Spaniard. Everything she had +on and about her bore the stamp of an aristocratic origin;--her gown; +the fine red travelling satchel against which she placed her tiny feet +so regardlessly; the elegant tan gloves whereon she was resting her +cheek. Moreover, a peculiar fragrance, not of any aromatic essence, but +of Russia leather and cigarettes, surrounded her, and on the carpet of +the _coupe_ there actually lay several white half-smoked stumps, +scattered about with their ashes and some Russian tobacco. A book had +also fallen on the floor. Unable to content himself with letting it lie +there, he picked it up carefully and saw that it was a French novel. +All this filled him with that secretly pleasing horror apt to seize +young men who have been brought up in provincial circles, when they are +unexpectedly brought into contact with a woman of the fashionable +world. To the natural power of woman over man is then added the +romantic charm which the unknown and independent customs, the imagined +passionate joys and sorrows of the upper classes, exercise over a +fledgeling of the lower. The gulf yawning between the two classes +merely increases this attraction; for, the opportunity sometime +offering, the man probably feels a visionary, foolhardly desire to show +his strength and cross the seemingly impassable abyss. + +To be sure, the young traveller did not contemplate any such +adventurous boldness. But when he was sufficiently convinced that the +sleep of his strange neighbor was unfeigned, he quietly drew from his +vest pocket a small book bound in gray linen, and furtively began to +sketch the sleeper's fine and pale, though somewhat haughty, profile. + +It was no light undertaking, although the rapid motion of the express +helped him over several difficulties. He was obliged to keep himself +half-poised on the seat and make each stroke with unerring certainty. +But the head was well worth the trouble; and as, peering through the +dim light, he studied the quiet face lightly framed by the folds of the +hood, he said to himself that he had never seen such classic features +on any living being. She seemed somewhat past her first youth, and the +mouth with its delicate lips occasionally assumed, even in sleep, a +peculiar expression of bitterness or disgust; but the brow, the shape +of the eyes, and the rich masses of soft, wavy hair were still +remarkably beautiful. + +He had drawn zealously for about ten minutes and had almost finished +the sketch, when the sleeper roused herself calmly, and demanded in the +best of German: + +"Do you know, sir, that it is not allowable to rob travellers in their +sleep?" + +The poor offender, greatly confused, let the book sink upon his knee, +and said, blushing furiously: "Pardon me, my lady, I did not think--I +believed--it is merely a very hasty sketch--merely for remembrance." + +"Who gave you the right to remember me, and to assist your memory so +obviously?" replied the woman, measuring him somewhat coldly and +scornfully with her keen blue eyes. + +She gradually raised herself to an upright position; and as the hood +fell upon her shoulders, he saw the fine contour of her head, and in +spite of his embarrassment, continued to study her with an artist's +eye. + +"In truth, I must confess that I have behaved like a veritable +highwayman," he replied, trying to turn the matter into a jest; "but +perhaps you will allow mercy to precede justice, when I return my +booty, not with intent to propitiate justice, but to show you how +little it is that I have appropriated." + +He offered her the open sketch-book. She cast a hasty glance at her +picture; then nodded kindly, though with a quick gesture of rejection. + +"It is like," she said, "but idealized. You are a portrait painter, +sir?" + +"No, my lady; in that case I could have made the sketch really +characteristic. I paint architectural pictures mainly. But just because +my eyes are sharpened for beautiful proportions and graceful lines, and +as they are not found in a human face every day--" + +At a loss for a conclusion, he stared at the tip of his boot, attempted +to smile, and blushed again. + +Without noticing this, the stranger said, "Doubtless you have some of +your sketches and paintings in that portfolio there. May I see them?" + +"Certainly." He handed her the portfolio, and spread the contents sheet +by sheet before her. They were mere aquarelles, representing in a +versatile manner and with thoroughly artistic conception old buildings, +Gothic turrets, and streets of gabled houses. The stranger allowed one +after the other to pass, without addressing any questions to the +artist. But she studied many pages for a long time, and returned them +with a certain hesitation. + +"The things are not perfectly finished yet," said he, excusing this and +that hasty study, "but they all belong to the same cycle. I availed +myself of Easter day to talk them over with an art-dealer in Nuremberg. +I wish to publish all these sketches in chromo-lithographic work. To be +sure, I have many predecessors, but Rothenburg is not even yet as well +known as it deserves to be." + +"Rothenburg?" + +"Certainly. These are all views from Rothenburg. I thought you knew it, +my lady, as you did not ask." + +"Rothenburg? Where is it?" + +"Oh, on the Tauber, not many hours' journey from here. But really, do +you not know it? Have you never even heard the name?" + +"You must pardon my ignorance," she replied, with a slight smile, "as I +am not a German. But I have been with Germans very often, and confess +to you, I never heard the name of Rothenburg on the--how was it?--on +the Tauber?--until now." + +He laughed, losing his timidity at once as he realized his advantage +over this elegant woman on such an important point. + +"Pardon me," he said, "for having behaved to you as all Rothenburgers +do to strangers, even though my cradle did not stand on the banks of +the Tauber. We are all so infatuated with our city, that we can +scarcely imagine how our feeling appears to people who know nothing of +Rothenburg. When I went there for the first time nine years ago, I +myself knew little more of the old 'imperial' town than that it stood, +like Jerusalem, upon a high plateau rising from the river valley; was +even yet fortified with walls and towers as for the last half-thousand +years; and had the honor, once upon a time, to count the founder of my +race among its citizens. Permit me to introduce myself to you: my name +is Hans Doppler." + +He bowed smilingly, looking at her as if he expected that this name +would arouse in her a joyful excitement, somewhat as if he had confided +that his name was Hans Columbus or Gutenberg. But her expression did +not change in the least. + +"Doppler," he continued, somewhat hesitatingly, "is merely the new +version of the name Toppler, and was introduced during the last century +in the collateral line to which I belong. Yet it is authentically +certain that the founder of our family was no less a person than the +great burgomaster of Rothenburg, Heinrich Toppler, of whom you have +undoubtedly heard." + +She shook her head, evidently amused by his naive confidence. + +"I regret that my historical knowledge is just as defective as my +geographical. But what did your ancestor do, that it is a disgrace not +to know of him?" + +"Do not fear, my lady," said he, now laughing at his own pretensions, +"that from mere family pride I would bore you with a piece of +Rothenburg history. That pride has good reason to be humbled; for I +myself, as you see me, have nothing at all to govern in my ancestral +home; but, for that very reason, I need not expect to be imprisoned and +delivered up to death from hunger or poison by my fellow-citizens, as +my ancestor was, after he had increased the good old town's military +renown. A horrible end, was it not, my lady? A fine return for so many +brave deeds! And all because of a mere slander. He was said to have +lost the town to a certain prince in a game of dice; but not a word of +it was true. In the ancient language, Doppler, to be sure, meant dice, +and in our family arms--" + +He stopped suddenly, for it seemed to him that the lady's delicate +nostrils were trembling in the effort to conceal a yawn. Somewhat +mortified, he turned his attention to his aquarelles, and arranged them +in the portfolio which he was still holding in his hand. + +"And how did it happen," she then asked, "that you inherited this +unjustly murdered man's estate? Did they wish to repay to you the wrong +they did your ancestor?" + +"You err, my lady," he said, "if you believe that Rothenburg would feel +any honor about having a Doppler once more among them, or would allow +this honor to cost them anything. When I, as I told you, merely curious +to see the old fortress, strolled through the ancient gateway nine +years ago, not a person there knew me, and even when I mentioned my +name, they made little fuss about it. Indeed, as I was born in +Nuremberg, and no longer have the T in my name, they greatly doubted +that I really belonged to them. But, as the poet says, the history of +the world is the final judgment; and what the magistrate of Rothenburg +neglected to do--that is, to meet me ceremoniously, surrender to me for +my sole possession the houses which the great burgomaster had owned, +and support me for my lifetime as a living part of the city--fate, or +providence, whichever you wish, did in another way. + +"I came to Rothenburg merely to make a few studies and to take a look +at the old-fashioned nest, and I found there my life's happiness and a +warm, new nest of my own, to which I am now returning." + +"May I know how it happened?" + +"Why not, if it interests you at all. My parents sent me to the academy +at Munich. They were not rich, but yet their means were sufficient to +educate me suitably and to allow me to go through all the classes. I +wished to become a landscape painter, and, after finishing school, to +travel in Italy for several years. When I became twenty-one years of +age I felt impelled, before undertaking the great art-journey, to visit +my good mother at Nuremberg--father had been dead for some time. +'Hans,' said she, 'before you make your pilgrimage to Rome, you ought +to take a trip to the place where the roots of our family tree stood +before they were torn up and transplanted here from eastern Franconia.' +She was a worthy old patrician, my good mother, and laid great stress +on grand genealogical expressions. Well, there was nothing to hinder; I +took my pilgrim's staff in hand and set out slowly toward the west, +sketching industriously on the way; for this German landscape of ours +was already far dearer to me than the unknown scenes of the south. Now, +since you have looked through the portfolio, you may perhaps comprehend +that the German Jerusalem impressed me strongly, and that I did not +have hands and eyes enough to note all the remarkable things. But there +was something in Rothenburg which won my approval even more than its +dear antiquity; namely--I shall not treat you to any detailed love +story--at one of the weekly balls given by the so-called 'Harmonic +Society,' I became acquainted with the young daughter of a fine old +citizen who had formerly been an alderman. She was full three years +younger than I, and--I may surely say so--the prettiest child in the +whole town. After the second waltz I knew my own mind well enough, but, +unfortunately, neither hers nor her father's. And so it might have been +a very sorrowful story, and the descendant of the great Toppler might, +like him, have pined away in chains in this old 'imperial' town, if the +before-mentioned fate had not interfered, and allowed me to cast a +lucky throw with my family dice. In three days I was satisfied that the +maiden liked me; and in three weeks, that the father would overlook my +extreme youth and former misdoings, for he too--God knows why--had +taken a foolish liking to me. It was especially pleasing to his +Rothenburg heart that my name was Doppler, and that I knew how to paint +the beautiful ruined walls, the wonderful turrets and strange +fountains, of the old fortress. So, after a short year of probation, he +gave me the hand of his only child, under the condition, to be sure, +that I should leave her in her old home during his lifetime, and should +devote my art principally to the glorification of his beloved town. You +comprehend, my lady, that I did not struggle much against this. My +father-in-law was not only a reputable man, who owned house and +gardens, vineyards and farm lands, but the best soul in the world as +well, and never failed to see a joke except when some one praised other +ancient towns unduly, or placed Nuremberg or Augsburg above the 'Pearl +of the Valley.' He lived with us for four years; and whenever I sold +any picture of Rothenburg at a foreign exhibition, he always brought a +flask of Tauber wine from the cellar and drank my health. When he +finally died, I myself was altogether too much at home in the +primitive, angular old house to think of moving. Then, too, there was +no lack of commissions and work just commenced. But if the old man had +lived to see my colored prints published, I believe he would have lost +his reason for joy." + +Becoming silent after this long narrative of his short life, he looked +out of the window into the ever-deepening darkness, and lost himself in +quiet revery. It finally occurred to him that the stranger had not said +one syllable in reply; and at the same time he felt her eyes steadily +regarding him from her dusky corner. "I am afraid," he said, "that +after all, I have wearied you with these petty stories. But you +yourself drew them from me, and if you knew--" + +"You are greatly in error," she interrupted. "If I remain silent, it is +merely because I am pondering a riddle." + +"A riddle? That I have given you?" + +"Yes, you, Herr Hans Doppler. I am asking myself, how I can reconcile +the artist whom I recognize from this portfolio, with the staid, +home-loving man--you have children too?" + +"Four, my lady--two boys and two little girls." + +"Well then--with the young husband and father who has settled down in +his monotonous, commonplace happiness as in a snail-shell, and at most +takes an occasional journey to Nuremberg--your drawings show unusual +talent, for that you can take my word. I have seen the work of +Hilderbrandt and Werner, and the whole Roman aquarelle club, and assure +you yours would make a sensation among them. So much freedom and +spirited ease, with such grace in the landscapes and _staffage_! And +then to think that this unusual talent is doomed for the next thirty or +forty years to no other expression than an endless variation of the +towers, balconies, vaulted doors, and gabled roofs of a medieval nest +which appears in our world like an excavated German Pompeii--But pardon +me this criticism of your plan of life. I am not fitted to criticise +it. However, as you wish to know the subject of my meditation, it was +this problem: can a noble, liberal, artistic soul be so completely +filled by commonplace family happiness? It must certainly be possible. +Only to me, as I am accustomed to absolute freedom of existence, to +boundless liberty, it is incomprehensible that you, scarcely thirty +years old--" + +"You are right," he interrupted, his frank, youthful face suddenly +clouding. "You have expressed something which I often said to myself at +first, but always thrust back again into a secret corner of my heart. +Do you really find that my drawings show power for something greater +and better? At the best I would fall far short of a great artist! +Meanwhile, you know Schiller's poem, 'Pegasus in Harness.' A horse that +suffers itself to be harnessed to the plough, even though it may be of +good blood, proves that it has no wings. But perhaps it might have +served for something better than ploughing. And yet, if you knew--if +only you knew my Christel and the children!" + +"I do not for an instant doubt that you have a charming wife and lovely +children, Herr Hans Doppler; and nothing is farther from my thoughts +than to render you suspicious of your domestic happiness. But that you, +being so young, can regard it as final, as something never to be +interrupted, never to be laid aside even temporarily for the sake of a +higher aim--and you were even on the way to the beloved land of art, +and had certainly heard and seen enough of it at the academy to have +some presentiment of the joys awaiting you there--and nevertheless--" + +"Oh, my lady!" he cried, suddenly starting up as if the narrow _coupe_ +had become too close and prison-like for him, "you are repeating my own +thoughts! How often in the night, especially in clear spring nights, +when I have awakened and heard my dear wife's quiet breathing near me; +while the children were lying asleep in the neighboring room, and the +moonlight was moving so weirdly and quietly over the low walls; and the +ancient clock, which the old man wound so regularly, and which dates +from the Thirty Years' War, was ticking drowsily to and fro--how often +I have been forced to spring out of bed and look down into the valley +through the little window with the round pane! And when I have seen the +Tauber flowing along in its narrow bed as hastily as if it could not +escape too soon from its restraining banks and throw itself into the +Main, and with it into the Rhine, and thence into the ocean--how much I +have suffered, as I ground my teeth together and slunk back to bed +tired and saddened, I have never told a human soul. It seemed the +blackest ingratitude against the kind fate which had dealt with me so +gently. But the day after I could never touch a brush; and if I saw in +a paper the word Rome or Naples, the blood rushed to my head as though +I were some deserter caught on the road, and dragged handcuffed back to +his barracks." + +He thrust his hand through his curly hair, and fell back in his seat. +She had regarded him during his excited speech with a keen, fixed look, +and, for the first time, his face interested her. The innocent, +youthful expression had disappeared; his clear, beautifully formed eyes +blazed; and his slender figure, in spite of the common black coat, +gained something animated, almost heroic, as well beseemed the +descendant of the "great burgomaster." + +"I understand your mood," said the stranger, composedly taking a +cigarette from a small silver box and lighting it with a waxen taper, +"but just so much the less do I comprehend your action. To be sure, I +myself have always been accustomed to do only what satisfies my +nature's deepest needs. I acknowledge no chains. Either they are too +weak, and I break them; or they are too strong, and strangle me. To +remain in them alive is for me an impossibility. Do you smoke? Do not +be embarrassed. You see, I set the example." + +He shook his head, thanked her, and became all attention. + +"As I said," continued the lady, blowing the smoke slowly before her +with her beautiful, expressive lips, "I have no right to criticise your +plan of life. But you must allow me to wonder how a man can complain of +a difficulty rather than help himself out of it, especially where it +would be so easy. Do you fear that your wife would be untrue to you if +you should take an art journey?" + +"Christel? Untrue to me?" In spite of his gloominess he laughed aloud. + +"Pardon!" she said calmly; "I forgot that she is a German, and, +moreover, a Rothenburg woman. But just so much less do I comprehend why +you condemn yourself to a lifetime of such work; representing only the +church and _klimperthor_, or, as it is called--" + +"_Klingerthor_, my lady." + +"Well, then, all this trashy masonry and commonplace Gothic rubbish, as +if there were no Colosseum, no baths of Caracalla, no theatre at +Taormina! And what vegetation, what luxuriant growths there are among +the ruins of those old temples; what pines and cypresses, what distant +glimpses of ocean and mountains! Believe me, I myself, although I am +not yet an old woman, would have been dead and buried long ago if I had +not escaped from narrow, maddeningly lifeless surroundings, and found +salvation in that land of beauty and freedom." + +"Madame is not married?" + +She threw the glowing cigarette stump out of the window, pressed her +regular, little white teeth together an instant, and then said, in an +indescribably indifferent voice-- + +"My husband, the General, was governor of a moderately large fortress +in the interior of Russia, and naturally could not accompany me. Then, +too, at his age, it would have been hard for him to forego his home +comforts. So we decided to arrange a rendezvous somewhere on the +frontier for every two years, and since then each has lived much more +contentedly. + +"I well know," she continued, as he looked at her with some +disapproval, "that this conception of married happiness is revolting to +sentimental German prejudices. But, believe me, in many respects, we +barbarians are in advance of your highly refined civilization; and we +make up for our lack of political liberty by our greater social +freedom. If you were a Russian, you would have emancipated yourself +long ago, and followed the lead of your Tauber, though in the opposite +direction. And what would you have lost by it? When you returned in a +year or two as a well-developed artist, would you not find your house +on the same spot, your wife as domestic and youthful as ever, your +children, perhaps half a head taller, but as clean and pretty as you +left them?" + +"You are right! It is only too true," he stammered, pushing his hands +nervously through his hair. "Oh, if I had but seen it so clearly +before!" + +"Before? A young man like you, not yet beyond thirty! But I see it now; +you are too fond of the flesh-pots of Rothenburg. You are right; remain +at home and earn an honest living. The proposition which I was just +about to make would appear to you less rational than if I commanded you +to travel in a desert and hunt tigers and crocodiles, instead of +landscape motives." + +She flung the sharp-pointed dart at him with so much quiet grace that +he felt at once charmed and wounded. + +"No, my lady," he cried, "you must tell me the proposition you had in +mind. Although it is only a short time since I had the good fortune to +make your acquaintance, I can nevertheless assure you that your +appearance, each of your words, has made a deep and lasting impression +on me. It is, to be plain, as if a complete change were going on in me, +and these hours with you--" + +He reddened and became silent. She noticed it, and came to his aid, +although she was apparently looking beyond him. + +"My proposition," she said, "will not by any means suffice to make an +entirely different man of you, but only to release the true one from +his narrow shell. I am now going to Wuerzburg to visit a sick friend. +After staying with her for two days, I shall return on this same road, +making no halt before Genoa, where I shall take passage on a steamer +bound for Palermo; for as yet I have not seen Sicily. + +"Now, what Goethe has written in his 'Italian Journey' about his +companion, the artist Kniep, whom he engaged to sketch any wayside +scene which pleased his fancy, has always filled me with envy. I am no +great poet, and no rich princess. Yet I am not so poor but that I too +may grant myself such a travelling companion. Of course we now have +photography. But to you at least I need not explain how much better it +is to have an artistic hand at disposal than any photographic apparatus +whatever. I also thought it would be well for you to be introduced into +this paradise by some one who understands the language perfectly and is +no novice in the art of travelling. You would be entirely free to +remain with me as long or short a time as you pleased. The first +sentence of our compact should read: Freedom even to inconsiderateness. +And if, on the return, you should wish to linger at Rome or Florence, +the means for doing so--" + +"Oh, my lady," he broke in, excitedly, "I would not think of +trespassing on your kindness and generosity under any condition. I can +well afford to spend a year in the south, and if I perceive in your +proposal a sign from heaven, it is only because your suggestion, the +prospect of seeing all these world wonders in your company, makes the +determination so much easier. For that I shall be unceasingly grateful +to you. It is indeed just as you say; my wife, my dear children--in +fact, I shall offend them less than I now imagine. Christel is so +intelligent, so self-reliant, she herself, when I explain it to +her--or better, if you could say it to her as you have to me--truly, +after Wuerzburg you must--I cannot expect you to take a trip to +Rothenburg--whoever has seen the Colosseum and the baths of Caracalla +must regard our modest, commonplace, medieval--" + +The whistle of the locomotive interrupted him. The train was moving +more slowly, and lights were beginning to glimmer by the roadside. + +"Steinach!" said the artist, rising and picking up his satchel and +portfolio; "our ways part here. You go farther north; I shall take the +little local train, and be home in half an hour. Oh, my lady, if you +would set a day and hour, when you are on your return--" + +"Do you know," she said suddenly, looking at her watch, "I have +reflected that it would be more sensible for me to spend this night in +Rothenburg, and continue my journey to-morrow morning. I would arrive +in Wuerzburg too late to see my friend. Instead, since I am for once so +near, I will make up the deficiencies of my historical and geographical +education, and take a look at your Jerusalem on the Tauber. You will be +so good, if your wife does not object, as to be my guide to-morrow for +a while--" + +"Oh, my lady," he cried in joyful excitement, "I would never have dared +to ask so much! How happy you make me, and how shall I ever--" + +The train stopped and the door of the _coupe_ was opened. Having +reverentially assisted his newly won patroness to alight, Hans Doppler +accompanied her to a carriage of the second class. There she spoke +several Russian words to a small, odd-looking person in a plumed hat, +who, laden as she was with numerous boxes, satchels, and baskets, +worked her way out of the overcrowded interior into the open air, +and regarded her mistress's blonde companion with a not altogether +friendly glance of her small, Tartar eyes. The lady appeared to +explain the altered condition of things to her maid, although that +overburdened creature did not answer a word. Then, taking her young +fellow-traveller's arm, she strolled with him up and down the dark +platform in lively conversation; talking of Italy, of Russia, of the +German cities which she knew, so easily and cleverly, and with such an +agreeable spice of wickedness, that her companion felt he had never +before been so well entertained, and could never weary of listening to +this irresistible Scheherezade. + +In truth, was it not like a fairy tale, that he should be walking +beside this beautiful woman, whom he had seen for the first time an +hour before; that she should have decided to follow him to his little +nest, far out of the usual route; and that such a fascinating future +should be in store for him? + +They knew him very well at the little station, but when they saw him +appear in such elegant company, they doffed their hats more +respectfully than ever before. + +In the light of the swinging lanterns, her pale face seemed even more +unreal and princess-like. She wore a peculiarly shaped cap of black +velvet bordered with reddish fur, and a short hooded wrap with the same +trimming. She had drawn off her gloves; and her young escort glanced +down furtively from time to time upon the large sapphire gleaming on +her little finger. He had scarcely ever seen such a slender, lily-white +hand, every part of which seemed so expressive and elegant. + +But when they boarded the little local train, which had only two small, +second-class compartments besides the two-and-a-half horse-power +engine, he became somewhat uncomfortable. All three seated themselves +in one second-class carriage, since there was none of the first; and +the train began to move slowly on through the softly enveloping +moonlight. The maid betook herself to the darkest corner, and crouched +there beneath her mountain of bundles. The full light from the lamp on +the ceiling fell upon her mistress's face, and the young artist +opposite became more and more devoutly absorbed in contemplating the +nobly formed features, which corresponded so perfectly to the ideal of +beauty that he had vaguely conceived in the model classes at the +academy. But as the train approached the journey's end, he became +disheartened and depressed by the thought that the rustic nooks of his +old Rothenburg would appear very uninteresting to these wonderful eyes +which had seen half the world. + +Everything that he had known and admired for so long seemed suddenly +mean and despicable; and he thought with dismay how disdainful her +delicate face would look on the morrow, when she saw all that famous +magnificence on which he had laid so much stress. His overawed fancy +flew even into his own home, and, unfortunately, things did not seem +much better there. How would his little unsophisticated wife compare +with this world traveller; and his boys, usually running about with +dishevelled heads; and his baby girls, as yet with so little knowledge +of behavior? + +He regretted intensely having meddled with this pleasant adventure, and +the storylike atmosphere suddenly vanished. + +Fortunately, he did not need to act just then. The stranger's eyes were +closed, and she seemed to sleep in good earnest. The narrow-eyed +Tartar, to be sure, was watching him steadily from her ambush, but she +did not speak. + +At last the train stopped; the sleeper awoke, seemed to find trouble in +determining where she was, and then asked if there were any endurable +hotels in Rothenburg. Her companion, whose patriotic pride was aroused +by her contemptuous tone, recommended, with admirable reserve, the +"Golden Stag," whose omnibus was waiting at the station. Was not his +wife there to receive him? He had forbidden it, as the hour was so +late--ten o'clock--and she did not like to leave the children alone +with the maid. The next day he hoped to have the pleasure of presenting +his family to her. + +To this the Russian--no longer in her former friendly mood, and +seeming, like him, secretly to regret her over-hasty decision--made no +reply. + +All three, without exchanging another word, climbed into the close +hotel omnibus; and, driving through the sombre gateway, jolted over the +uneven pavement into the sleeping city. + +They reached the market-place just as the moon was emerging from a mist +of clouds, and the stranger, looking out of the carriage window, +expressed herself as well pleased with the majestic town-hall, now +showing to the best advantage in the silvery moonlight. This revived +her companion's sinking spirits, and he began to speak of the building, +Rothenburg's especial pride, and its foundation after a great fire. It +was an edifice of the best Renaissance style, and in summer-time, when +the extensive space along the front was decorated with flowers, one +could hardly imagine anything more majestic and delightful. + +He was still talking when they stopped before the open door of the +"Golden Stag." Hans Doppler sprang out first; then after having +assisted the stranger to alight, he bade the host good-evening, and +whispered to him to prepare his best chamber. + +"Numbers 15 and 16 are empty," replied the host, bowing with great +politeness. + +"You will have a beautiful outlook into the Tauber valley, my lady," +said the artist. "When the moon is higher, you will be delighted with +the double bridge below and the little Gothic church. Early tomorrow +morning I shall presume to inquire how you have slept, and when you +wish to make your trip through the town." + +She noticed that he was a trifle cool and ill-humored. Immediately she +gave him her hand, pressed his as he respectfully kissed her slender +fingers, and said: "Until to-morrow, dear friend! Do not come too +early. I am a night-bird, and your Rothenburg moonlight in addition to +the Tauber-nixy will not allow me to rest just yet, I am sure." + +With this she followed the landlord into the house; and the maid, +relieved of some of her burdens by a servant, hurried after her. + + +Hans Doppler set out on his way home with much less eagerness than was +usual with him when returning from some short trip; indeed, he was like +an extremely tired, thoughtful man who is uncertain of the welcome he +may receive. His house, built close to the town-wall near the Burgthor, +faced the northwest; while the windows of the inn which he was leaving +looked towards the southwest. He racked his brains on the way in the +effort to decide which would be better: to make a full confession that +evening, or postpone it till the morrow. As soon as he had escaped from +the dangerous stranger's influence, the whole matter seemed to him +extremely unpleasant, if not fairly dishonest and wrong. Yet he had +already gone too far to extricate himself without dishonor. The next +day must be lived through; after that he would feign some pressing +obligation, which, by forcing him to remain at home, would prevent him +from accompanying her just then. + +Having thus satisfied his conscience with regard to his unsuspecting +young wife, he became more at ease. Yet it was with ever-decreasing +haste that he ascended the steep street above the market-place, till he +reached the tower of the Burgthor. As he turned into the narrow alley +leading to his house, he saw in the distance a dark figure standing +beneath the round arch of the garden wall; and he scarcely had time to +recognize his little wife before a pair of soft firm arms were thrown +around his neck and a warm mouth sought his in the darkness. + +As he was carrying a satchel and portfolio, he could neither return the +embrace nor prevent it, as he was inclined to do; for he noticed that +some of the neighboring windows were open, and feared that the tender +welcome might be observed. + +She saw his embarrassment, however, and calmed him by saying that they +were only some old people, who knew long ago that she was still +sentimental after seven years of marriage. Then, chatting softly and +pleasantly of many small occurrences, she led him into the house, where +every one was already asleep. It was an ancient ark, whose walls had +outlasted many severe storms and severer wars. Its age was even more +evident within, where all the woodwork was black and cracked, the +stairs were steep and crooked, and the walls were parted at the seams, +in spite of numerous props. But in order to remedy all these evils, it +would have been necessary to demolish the old structure and build it +afresh, and this the former owner could as little persuade himself to +do as his daughter and her young husband, in whose veins the blood of +the "great burgomaster" still flowed. + +As Hans Doppler ascended the narrow, crooked stairs of this historic +house, he for the first time found fault with it, although he was +discreetly silent. As he entered the sitting-room, the low, raftered +ceiling, the extremely old-fashioned furniture, and the family +portraits on the walls struck him as shabby and ordinary; though the +little brass lamp with its green ornaments looked very cheerful on the +covered table, and lighted up the bright plates and dishes set out for +his modest evening meal. At such home-comings he was usually bubbling +over with merry speeches; tonight he was perfectly quiet, and, to +conceal it, forced a continual smile, and stroked his pretty wife's +cheeks in a fatherly manner which caused her much secret wonder. + +But in the chamber where the children were sleeping the seal seemed to +break from his heart and lips; especially when the younger boy, the +favorite because of his close resemblance to his mother, awoke and +threw his arms about his father's neck with a cry of joy. + +Hans immediately gave him a toy which he had bought in Nuremberg and a +large piece of gingerbread, both merely for a hasty look, as the lamp +was soon removed again. Then, sitting on the old sofa, whose hair-cloth +covering had never before seemed so cold and hard to him, he ate his +supper, drank some of the red Tauber wine from his own vineyard, and +told the fortunate result of his business trip to his young wife. +Christel sat opposite, eating nothing, but resting her elbows on the +table. And then he had chanced to journey from Ansbach with a Russian +lady, the wife of an old general, and she had wished to see Rothenburg, +and was stopping at the "Stag." Unfortunately, he could not avoid +escorting her around somewhat the next day; indeed, he was considering +if it would not be necessary to invite her to dinner. + +"You know, Hans," said the young wife, "that our Mary understands very +little about cooking; and I myself, unless I know beforehand, cannot do +things by magic. But why do you wish to invite this utterly strange old +lady ceremoniously to our house so soon? She has not called upon us as +yet. Is it in some way important for you to entertain her especially? +Is she an old acquaintance of your Munich days? Then, indeed, I must do +my best." + +"No," he said, bending his head rather low over his plate; "she is +neither a former acquaintance, nor is she particularly old. And you are +right, child; we must let her come to us. She will certainly come, for +I have told her so much about you and the children. You will see--an +interesting woman--very artistic. Her goodwill may be very useful to me +some time, for she knows half the world." + +"Well, I am eager to see her," replied the young wife. "For the rest, +that even Russians should become interested in Rothenburg--" + +He reddened, knowing best what had caused the suddenly awakened +interest in Rothenburg. "Child," he said, "go to bed now. Your bedtime +hour struck long ago. I am still somewhat excited by my journey, but I +shall soon follow you." + +"You are right," she said, yawning heartily, thereby showing her large, +but pretty, red mouth, with its shining teeth; "I noticed at once that +you were not feeling like yourself; your eyes wander restlessly. Open +the window and sit awhile in the cool air. Good-night." + +She kissed him hastily and went into the neighboring bedroom, leaving +the door open. Then he arose, pushed back the shutters, and opened the +window with the small round pane. The night wind had scattered the +mists from the moon; the winding valley, with its blossoming trees and +freshly ploughed fields, lay beneath him in silvery dimness; and in the +deep hush he could hear the whispering of the Tauber's waves as they +rushed past the little, white water-tower which his forefather had +built. He became very contented and peaceful; this time his thoughts +did not follow the course of the little stream to the limitless ocean, +although the conditions were as often before; he could hear at his +right the quiet breathing of his children, on his left the gentle tread +of his little wife, who before retiring had still this and that task to +do. He felt as if he had merely dreamed the Russian fairy tale; at +least, it would not disturb his sleep that night. + + +When Hans Doppler awoke in the early morning and found that his little +wife, who had been busy in the children's room for some time, was no +longer near him, his first thought was of all that lay in store for him +with his elegant patroness. In sober morning light, his dwelling, his +historical furniture, his dear wife and rosy-cheeked children seemed +even less charming than on the previous evening. He found Christel's +neat house-dress much too provincial in cut, and noticed for the +first time that Heinz's trousers were patched with a piece of cloth +unlike the rest of the stuff in color and pattern. His own attire of +yesterday displeased him exceedingly. It was as respectably black as an +office-seeker's; for it had seemed suitable to the young artist to +conduct his business with the Nuremberg gentlemen in clothing which +should sufficiently prove his business solidity. Moreover, he always +dressed like every one else in the town, since, being the only one of +his class, he would have been conspicuous everywhere if arrayed as an +artist. But he had no wish to reappear before that cosmopolitan woman +in the garb of a young Philistine; so from the deepest recesses of his +clothes-chest he drew forth a velvet jacket, the same in which he had +first come to Rothenburg, a broad-brimmed, black felt hat, and a pair +of light trousers. Christel opened her eyes when he appeared thus +attired. It was a shame for the good coat to hang in the closet for the +moths, he declared. Moreover, now, when his fellow-citizens would soon +learn that they were destined to become famous far and wide through +him, he was no longer going to appear ashamed of his art. + +To this the discreet little wife made no rejoinder, but regarded him +with quietly critical eyes. She herself might well do a little extra +to-day, he called back as he went out. It was uncertain when the +general's wife would call. She would be welcome at any time, replied +Christel. Moreover, she was always in a condition to be seen, and +the children too. Those who did not find them pretty enough in their +every-day clothes had bad taste. In Russia, as she had read, they ran +about perfectly ragged, and unwashed besides, like very beasts. + +With this she lifted little Lulu on her arm, stroked back her curly, +blonde hair, and kissed her with quiet pride on the bright blue eyes +which she inherited from her father. Christel's eyes were brown. + +Hans Doppler, suppressing a slight sigh, exerted himself to smile back +at his little family; then hurried on his way to the "Golden Stag." + +He knew it was still too early to call there, but he could not endure +the narrow house and his secretly wicked thoughts. He had intended to +stroll about a little before visiting the stranger, but as he came to +the market-place and looked down the street towards the inn, he saw the +lady standing in the centre of the street below, opposite the little +Church of St. John, attentively studying through her lorgnette its +Gothic windows and ancient carvings, among which a black +_Christophorus_ was especially prominent. + +He was dismayed at his tardiness. But as she saw him hastening towards +her, she greeted him from the distance with a cheerful nod, and called: + +"You see, dear friend, the spirit of Rothenburg possesses me already. I +am even now deep in admiration of the good old times. From mere +impatience I could not sleep longer than seven o'clock, to Sascha's +horror, for she is a marmot. I sprang out of bed in my bare feet in +order to admire by morning light the Cadolzeller, no _Codolzeller_ +church, and the double bridge down in the valley; for they had already +enchanted me by moonlight. Your Tauber-nixy is a maiden of very good +taste. I have also learned some Rothenburg stories and sayings. When I +praised the baking at breakfast, the head-waiter quoted to me the old +proverb: + + 'In Rothenburg on the Tauber, + Both milling and baking are clean;' + +and as I came out of the house to reconnoitre a little by myself, the +landlord immediately remarked to me that this was the famous +_Schmiedegasse_, where, during the peasant revolt, blood had flowed +like a brook when sixty rebellious leaders were executed on the place +before the market by some Margrave. If I remain here three days I shall +become a perfect Rothenburger. For truly, everything that I see pleases +me. You too please me better than yesterday. Do you know that your +artist costume is very becoming? But come, we must not linger so long +in one spot. Do not take pains to show me the so-called remarkable +sights, but rather the nooks that no Baedecker has noticed and marked. +And as I am a commandant's wife, I will look first of all at the towers +and walls, so that if Russia sometime lays siege to Rothenburg, I may +revenge myself for its present conquest of me." + +He gazed at her steadily, as she chattered on with easy volubility. She +wore the travelling gown of yesterday, but with a more coquettish air, +and the fur cap rested provokingly over one ear. Then he offered her +his arm, and leading her through little side streets to the still +well-preserved wall which enclosed the entire town, he told her that +the town formerly had as many towers as there are weeks in the year; +that most of them were still standing; and that in war-time, during +many hundred years, both friends and foes had rushed to these towers +either to seek refuge there with goods and families, or to seize them +as points of vantage. She listened to his statements in decorous +silence, glancing to and fro with her sharp eyes and occasionally +interrupting him by an exclamation of pleasure, whenever they came to +any unusual masonry, any artistic hovel hidden away among the +buttresses, or the end of some street through which they could look +back into the crooked old town. Then, climbing up some ancient steps +leading to the top of the town-wall, they continued their way beneath +the low, sheltering roof under which the worthy burghers had so often +stood and returned the enemy's fire. Now and then stopping at a +loophole, she would look out and ask him to tell her the names of the +surrounding country places, and of the roads that led through them. +Thus they went from the dark tower on through the "Roederthor" to the +white tower, where she finally declared that she had satisfied her +curiosity about the fortifications and wished to return to the town. +But an image of the holy Wolfgang claimed her attention for a while +longer. He stands in a niche near his little church, one hand resting +on a model of the church, the other meekly and sorrowfully uplifting +his broken crosier. + +"If I should remain in Rothenburg," she said, "this holy man would +become dangerous to me. See what a lovely, innocent, and yet wise face +he has! I have always wished to meet a living saint and play the +temptress for a while. Do you believe that this one could have +withstood me if I had disregarded his soul?" + +He awkwardly stammered some jesting reply. In reality it seemed to him +that neither worldlings nor saints could escape this fascinating woman, +if she wished to cast her nets about them. As he beheld her slender +figure gliding through the shadowy passages, her face now and then +lighted by a gleam of sunshine, his heart throbbed with a strange +excitement, which he attributed to artistic feeling. But it estranged +and mortified him that she did not once refer to yesterday's plan of +the Sicilian trip. And notwithstanding all yesterday's resolutions, in +spirit he already saw himself climbing the steps of the ampitheatre at +Taormina by her side, and heard her express her delight in terms very +different from those of to-day over an old watchtower or postern-gate. + +Once more she leaned upon his arm, and they returned to the town. Then +he led her directly to the old Church of St. James, the town's only +cathedral. However, she regarded the beautiful Gothic structure with +much less interest than he had expected, and was coldly indifferent to +the three famous altars with their admirable carving. + +But she looked long at the glass case wherein the holy blood is kept, +and crossed herself. He thought to impress her by telling her that +Heinrich Toppler set up the high altar and collected the pictures by +Michael Wohlgemuth, and by showing her the great burgomaster's arms +with the two dice; but, stifling a little yawn, she requested to go +into the streets again. There her interest was reawakened by the black +stain on the arch of the gateway, beneath which a street passes through +the church. A peasant, he told her, having cursed as he was driving his +team through the place, was seized by the devil and flung high against +the arch; the body fell down, but the poor soul stuck fast. + +At this she laughed heartily. + +"You are foolish antiquaries, you gentlemen of Rothenburg!" she cried, +"and now let me see your town-hall, and then enough for to-day." + + +"Do you know," she said, as they were retracing the short way to the +market-place, "that it really seems to me as if this German Pompeii +were inhabited by nothing but good people, whose truth and honesty, +having been covered up like the old stones for several hundred years, +has now come to light again? As yet I have not seen one evil face. They +all greet each other; it is like a large, well-bred family, wherein +each one behaves politely because he is observed by all the others. +You, too, once out in the world would seem more merry and enterprising. +Now you have the same pious look. You must not take offence if I am +often a trifle critical." + +He eagerly assured her that, quite the contrary, her frank, witty +comments on everything interested him very much. Soon afterwards in the +court-room of the town-hall he was subjected to a severe test. While +the castellan was relating the story of the great draught, that +celebrated saving deed of the old burgomaster, Nusch, who redeemed the +forfeited lives of the whole council, and obtained mercy for the +townsfolk from wicked Tilly, their harsh conqueror, by performing the +almost impossible feat of emptying a flagon of thirty Bavarian quarts +at one draught--the haughty lady broke into merry laughter. The pretty +story itself, she afterwards explained, did not seem so absurd to her +as the solemn and affected manner of its narration, which inflated this +mere feat of strength to a deed of the most noble heroism; and it had +also occurred to her that this legend somewhat resembled the story of +the Roman knight Curtius, except that he had jumped _into_ an abyss for +his country's sake, whereas the Rothenburg Curtius had the abyss in +himself--and several other irreverent jests. + +He sadly acknowledged to himself that this woman, whom he considered a +creature of unusual perfection in other respects, was completely +lacking in the historical spirit. + +"Do you wish to ascend the tower?" he asked. "It is a trifle appalling, +but perfectly safe. The walls, from the ground to the highest point, +are all fastened with iron braces, so that the hollow four-cornered +pillars hold fast together; but often in a storm the tall, slender +tower sways to and fro like a shaken tree." + +"I am sorry the air is so quiet to-day," she replied; "of course we +must go up." + +He preceded her up the steep wooden steps until they reached the +topmost part, where, after they had knocked, a trap-door was opened, +and a little gray-headed man, the tower-keeper, greeted them kindly. + +She looked observantly about the airy room, through whose four small +windows the bright noonday sun was streaming, seated herself on the +footstool from which the lonely, little tower-keeper had arisen, and +commenced a lively conversation with him. On the table lay several +sewing implements and a half-finished waistcoat; for the watchman was +evidently a tailor, and adorned not only an official position, but his +fellow-citizens as well. Putting on the steel thimble, in which her +delicate finger tip was fairly lost, she took a few stitches, and asked +whether he would not surrender his office and his work to her. He was +the only man in the world whom she envied; since, in spite of his high +position, he was not annoyed with visits; and if he happened to be +struck by lightning in some thunder-storm, he would not be far from +heaven. To this the little man replied that he had a wife and children, +with a daily salary of only sixty pennies, so his life was not +care-free after all. Then he showed her the signal apparatus for fires, +and complained of the distress he often suffered when the tower swayed +so that the water spilled over the edge of his keys. Then she inquired +if they could go out upon the gallery surrounding the top of the tower. +The watchman at once lowered a little ladder from the ceiling, climbed +it, and opened a metal trap which covered a small triangular opening. +Would the gracious lady risk crawling through there? Certainly she +would; she was slim enough even yet; but the gentlemen should go first. + +Hans Doppler, who had never been able to persuade his little wife to +force herself through the narrow hole, gave expression to his +admiration of her spirit by an ardent look, and promptly clambered out +after the watchman. The next instant he saw the beautiful woman +appearing from the opening, and offered his hand to assist her. Then, +separated from the dizzy depths below merely by a slender railing, they +stood shoulder to shoulder in the narrow passage near the belfry, +drawing deep breaths of the glorious air. The city lay at their feet as +neatly spread out as a Nuremberg box of toys; the towers of the Church +of St. James, with the swallows circling about them, were far below; +they saw the silvery Tauber winding through the country, and the smoke +from a hundred chimneys eddying upwards in thin spirals. It was midday, +and the streets were almost deserted. + +Suddenly she turned towards her companion. "If two people should kiss +each other up here, could any one below see it?" she asked. + +His face became darkly red. + +"It would depend on whether they had good eyes or not," he said; "but +as far as I know, no one has ever observed anything of the sort." + +"Truly not?" she said, with a little laugh. "Do lovers never come up +here on the tower, or even people who are tempted by the lofty point of +view into some trifling madness? Only imagine how it would scandalize +the good simpletons down there if, half squinting in the afternoon +light, they should look up here and suddenly see such merry misconduct. +Then perhaps the magistrate would cause a bill to be posted: 'Kissing +is officially forbidden under a penalty of three marks.'" + +He laughed in great embarrassment. + +"I once ascended the dome of St. Peter's," she continued, "with a young +Frenchman, who, as we were sitting in the great copper sphere, insisted +that he positively must embrace me--that it was a venerable old custom. +But I forbade it, just because up there one is perfectly safe from +prying eyes. The danger of being seen might have attracted me. One must +have spirit in foolish pranks, else they are nothing more than foolish. +Do you not think so?" + +He nodded violently. He was becoming more and more embarrassed and +uncomfortable. Yet at the same time he realized this woman's great +power over him. + +"You are born for the high places of life," he stammered; "in your +presence I feel so free and light that if I remained near you long I am +sure I should have wings to carry me far beyond the conventionalities +of life." + +She glanced sidewise at him with a keen, penetrating look." "Well, +then, why will you not let yourself be carried?" + +He gazed perplexedly down into the depths below them. At this instant +the clock at the Church of St. James struck twelve, and immediately the +little watchman gave twelve strokes to the great, dark bell behind +them. + +The woman shrugged her shoulders and turned away. "Come," she said +coldly; "it is late, and your wife will keep the soup waiting for you." + +Then drawing her gown smoothly about her hips till it clung tight to +her knees and ankles, she once more disappeared in the narrow opening, +seeking the ladder rounds cautiously with her little feet. He came to +her aid too late. When he arrived in the tower-room below she was +already standing before the tailor's little mirror arranging her hair. + +She seemed to have lost some of her friendliness, and he privately +acknowledged that it was his fault. He reproached himself severely for +having behaved like a blockhead, in neglecting to seize his good +fortune by the forelock. Not that he intended any harm, any +faithlessness whatever to his good wife! It was only meant for a merry +pastime, like ransoming forfeits, and he had spoiled the game. What +must she think of his Rothenburg stiffness! And would she trouble +herself further about such a clumsy boor? + +She bade a brief good-by to the tower watchman, and almost petrified +him by pressing a thaler into his hand. On the way down neither spoke a +word. And even in the broad, quiet _Herrengasse_ he walked dumbly +beside her; although a while before he would certainly have explained +to her that the tablets which she saw on some of the houses announced +where and how long this and that great monarch had lodged during the +old-time imperial feasts. She divined that regret and vexation sealed +his lips, and as his penitence pleased her very well, she began to chat +in her old familiar way again. + +As they came through the _Burgthor_, out upon the narrow ledge covered +with trees and flowers, which hundreds of years before had supported +the real Rothenburg, she expressed a vivid pleasure in the old trees, +with their still blossomless branches, and in the view at the right and +left. Then he too became more cheerful, and pointed out to her the +little water-tower down in the valley, which Heinrich Toppler had +built, and in whose modest interior he had entertained King Wenzel. +"And up there," he said, "where you see four small windows--the house +wall forms a part of the town wall--there I live, and if you will do me +the honor--" + +"Not now," she said hastily; "I have dragged you around too long +already. I shall go back to the inn alone, for I could now find my way +through the town in clouds and darkness; and if I should lose my way, +so much the better. _La recherche de l'inconnu_--that has always been +my life purpose. You too go home now; I invite myself to your house +this afternoon for a cup of coffee. But, understand, you are not to +call for me. Adieu!" + +She gave him her hand, but after having scorned her lips, he could not +persuade himself to kiss a mere glove. So, strangely agitated, he left +her. + + +When Hans Doppler arrived at his house, he found that, instead of +delaying dinner, Christel had saved his portion for him. She thought he +would dine at the hotel with his ancient friend, and the children were +hungry. She brought out the simple fare, now so distasteful to him, and +then, seating herself opposite, prattled on in her calmly cheerful way; +talking of many things which seemed thoroughly insipid and worthless to +him to-day, after his glimpse of the "high places of life." All the +children, except the oldest, who was now attending school, were playing +in the garden, and were not in their best clothes. + +"Listen, child," he said. "You might as well put another bow in your +hair, and dress Lulu in her blue frock. The general's wife is coming to +take coffee with us." + +"Is this bow no longer good enough?" she replied, regarding herself in +the mirror. "I made it only eight days ago. Why should we put on so +much ceremony because an old Russian wishes to know us?" + +"Hm!" said he. "I have already told you she is far from old--between +thirty and forty--and very elegant, and since we have the things, why +should we appear poorer than necessary? To be sure, we cannot change +the old furniture, but you might at least put away those thin, brittle +spoons, and have the new ones instead; and if you will not dress in +state--" + +He faltered, although she had not interrupted him by a word. But her +look, seeking to read the depths of his heart, troubled him. + +"Listen, Hans!" she said. "You amaze me. Hasn't everything seemed +pretty and suitable to you until now? And didn't you yourself say that +this old sofa, where we sat when our betrothal was celebrated, should +never leave the house? And wasn't the little coffee-spoon good enough +for you, when I put my first preserved cherries into your mouth with +it? The new ones, you know very well, belong to Heinz, whose god-mother +is to send him one each year until the dozen is complete. Ought I to +borrow anything from our boy in order to make a display before a +strange lady? My coffee is famous throughout the town. Mary shall run +to the baker's for some fresh pastry; then, if we do not please your +Russian, I am very sorry. For the rest, you appear to have studied her +baptismal record more closely to-day. All the better, that she is no +old woman. Tell me, has she children?" + +"I believe not. She has not spoken of them." + +"No matter. Her silver spoons may be more beautiful than mine. As for +our children, they, I think, could compare with any general's children. +I shall merely wash their hands a little, as they dig in their garden. +But earth is not dirt." + +Then she went out into the garden, while he, glad to be alone, +pried about the room, rearranging and disposing things after his own +mind in a more artistic fashion. Bringing a few aquarelles from the +garret--which he had converted into an _atelier_ by means of a +half-covered north window--he hung them on the wall in place of the +crayon portrait of some forgotten great-aunt. He put an easel in the +corner near the little window, and placed a study in oils upon it. He +heartily desired to remove a certain shelf loaded with glasses, cups, +artificial flowers, and alabaster figures, and he would have had no +objection to throwing it out of the window upon the wall; but he knew +that this treasure house of tasteless keepsakes was too dear to his +wife for her ever to forgive such an act of violence. At length he +regarded his work with a sigh; the room did not look very much changed; +he acknowledged that the stamp of provincial simplicity was too deeply +impressed on his life to be erased by a mere wave of the hand. + +But in truth this cage was too narrow for an aspiring artist. He must +leave it at once, or the veil which had until now hidden all this +pettiness from his eyes would soon envelop him completely. + +Just then Christel returned; and, casting a wondering glance at the +easel and the new pictures, she smiled slightly, but said not a word. +After spreading a pretty coffee-cloth on the table, she took from the +shelf several cups--her best, though long out of fashion both in shape +and decoration; then, between the two plates which the maid had +filled with cakes, she placed her principal piece of silver, a small +sugar-bowl bearing on its lid a swan with outspread wings. Hans, +meanwhile, sat at the window, apparently absorbed in a book. The little +woman evinced no surprise at his seeming lack of interest in the +preparations, though she laughed softly to herself now and then. Her +pretty mouth looked very bewitching when she smiled, but Hans had no +eyes to see this, and she soon left him alone again. + +Thus a short hour glided by, and as he heard her working outside in the +kitchen and talking with the servant, her calm, soft voice, formerly so +pleasing to him, pained him; he himself did not know why. Suddenly he +heard the door-bell ring, and, starting up, he rushed out into the +hall. There he encountered Christel. + +"Must you actually receive her on the threshold like a princess?" she +asked calmly. "We are not such extremely humble people." + +"You are right," he said, somewhat confused. "I only wished to see if +you were there." + +She preceded him into the room. Immediately afterward the stranger +entered. Christel met her with graceful cordiality; the young artist +merely bowed in silence. The lady almost ignored him, and devoted +herself exclusively to the young wife. Christel invited her to sit +beside her on the stiff little sofa, and thanked her for having found +time during her short stay to visit them. + +"Our little old house is not one of the noteworthy sights of +Rothenburg," she said. "We have no such beautiful wainscoting as in the +hall of the Weissbacher house; and, although everything is old, it is +not therefore beautiful. To be sure, it pleases me, because I have +known it from childhood, and have seen people whom I loved sitting on +all those ugly chairs. But my husband," and she glanced roguishly at +him, "would look on without a pang, if all our furniture went to the +second-hand dealer, or was thrust into the stove. The best that we have +is free to all, and is there outside of the window. You must see our +view, my lady. Then you will find it comprehensible, that even an +artist can be contented with this old nest--but who knows for how +long!" + +Once more she glanced mischievously at Hans, who was pushing back the +table in order to show the view to their guest. But the lady remained +seated, saying that she had studied the Tauber valley thoroughly from +the castle, and was now here solely on Christel's account. She had +evidently intended to be very gracious and affable, and to encourage +the shy young wife in every way; but when she realized that there was +no need of this, her own manner became somewhat constrained. She was +unusually quiet, and listened in silence to Christel's ingenuous +prattle and the husband's occasional comments. The maid brought the +coffee, and Christel served her guest without any ado. Meanwhile, she +observed, the stranger's face closely, and seemed to become more and +more confident and cheerful in consequence. Then she inquired about the +lady's journey, about her husband; and asked if she had any children. +As the stranger hastily answered this in the negative, the subject was +dropped. Soon afterwards Christel's three oldest children rushed +upstairs into the room; the larger boy held his younger sister, just +two years old, in his arms; all four looked pretty and rosy, and were +only a trifle abashed when their mother bade them shake hands with the +stranger. The latter regarded them through her lorgnette with apparent +good-will, but evidently did not know what to say to them. So, with a +glance at the shabby little piano standing against the wall, she at +once asked if Christel played. + +She had played as a girl. Now she had too many household duties, and +opened the old instrument only occasionally to accompany her children +in a song. + +Of course the guest desired to hear one of these family concerts, and, +although the father remarked that it would be a very moderate pleasure, +the young wife was soon persuaded. Gently lifting the youngest child +from her lap, she placed it in the sofa corner. Then, seating herself +at the piano, she struck several chords with an unpractised but musical +hand, and played the melody of the song "_In einem kuehlen Grunde_." The +two boys and little Lulu came softly behind her, and began to sing +somewhat shyly. But by the second stanza the young voices sounded fresh +and courageous; and the mother sang with them, in a voice whose +charming quaintness lent peculiar strength and meaning to the tender +love-song. + +Hans, sitting by the window, cast furtive glances at the stranger, +whose face assumed a more and more bitter and unhappy expression, the +longer she listened. When the song was finished, she did not speak. +Christel arose and whispered something to the children, whereupon, +after a courteous bow, they left the room. Then she took the youngest, +which had fallen asleep, and carried it out to the maid. When she +reentered, the two were still sitting in silent absorption. + +"Will you not show your friend the _atelier_?" she asked brightly. +"There is more to be seen there than down here." + +He at once stood up, and the stranger also arose. "You do not know how +well you sing!" she said, offering her hand to Christel. "Music always +makes me sad; not the great roaring operas and concerts, but a pure, +sympathetic human voice. And now let us go to this work-room of art." + +He conducted her up a small, dark staircase, and opened the door of the +so-called _atelier_. The whitewashed walls of the spacious garret were +covered with sketches and studies from his academic years; close to the +window stood the table where he painted his water-colors, and on a +couple of easels were two oil paintings, one completed and one but just +commenced, naturally views of Rothenburg. But she appeared to take +little interest in these works to-day; for she spoke only occasionally +of some study, and soon turned to the window, whence one could look far +beyond the soft, green slopes, down the Tauber, where, in the slightly +misty spring air, a little town lifted its ancient tower among the +tall, blossomless trees. + +"There is nothing remarkable about those colors and outlines," he said, +"but as a frame for the whole picture they are not bad. How different +it must be to stand on the Capitol and see the beautiful, classic lines +of the Alban mountain beyond the Forum and the imperial palaces! To be +sure, I know it only from pictures!" he concluded with a sigh. + +"You will certainly see the reality sometime; that and still more +beautiful things. Meanwhile, this too is not to be despised, each in +its place." + +Then she spoke of other things. But he was contented because she had +thus referred to his southern trip, for the first time during the whole +day. He was reflecting how to continue this theme which she had +started, when she turned from the window and asked him to take her +downstairs again. Before departing, she had a few letters to write, +since she would find more time for them here than in Wuerzburg. When did +the evening train leave? + +"At eight o'clock," he replied. + +"Good. We shall see each other once more at the station? Now I must go +home." + +When they came down into the house, Christel was no longer there; the +mistress was in the garden, said the maid, turning red and refusing +what the stranger tried to force into her hand. Christel met them in +the garden, her hands full of hyacinths and spring flowers, which she +had just cut and made into a simple nosegay. + +"You must be contented with these," she said, "for as yet I cannot +offer you any of my roses, of which I am very proud. But I myself have +raised these yellow hyacinths with the greenish calyxes, and more +beautiful ones are not easily found. I have a skilful hand with +children and flowers--that is my only talent." + +The stranger accepted the nosegay and embraced the giver, kissing her +cheek. She then walked about the garden, which was surrounded with high +walls, and, at this time of the year, had but little sunlight. A thick +ivy covered the black walls, clothing them with a dusky green tapestry, +against which the young shoots of the fruit-trees, and the beds of +primroses, crocuses, and hyacinths stood out in pleasing contrast. The +children were playing in one corner, and labored on in their own +irregular little garden without noticing the visitor. + +"I must now say farewell," said the stranger. "Unfortunately, I cannot +invite you to return my visit in my so-called home. In our castle it is +not so green and cheerful as here; and I have never found out whether I +have a skilful hand with children and flowers. But I thank you for +these beautiful hours. I shall never forget them; they have both +pleased and pained me as nothing has done for a long tune. Adieu!" + +She embraced Christel again, and this time kissed her mouth. Then, +nodding to the young husband with a scarcely audible "We meet again!" +she quickly left the garden through the old arched gateway. + + +It was only half-past seven, and the sun had scarcely set, when the +omnibus of the "Golden Stag" rolled through the eastern town-gate, and +soon afterward halted at the little station. But before the porter +could open the carriage-door, a young man who wore a black artist's +cap, and who had been waiting there for some time, sprang forward and +assisted the lady out first, then the Tartar maid, laden with the usual +boxes and bundles. + +He himself carried a large sketch-book under his arm, and over his +shoulder a light overcoat from whose pocket a thick packet protruded. +His face was somewhat flushed; his eyes were restless and excited. He +inquired if the tickets had been purchased; then hastened to the +office. Returning quickly, he gave two tickets to his patroness; a +third he placed in his own pocket. + +"You travel with us?" asked the stranger, suddenly standing still, +while Sascha carried her baggage to the waiting-room. + +He merely nodded, looking at her with astonishment and some agitation. + +"Where are you going? You returned only yesterday." + +"Where? I hope to learn that from you, my lady." + +She regarded him for a moment as if he were a madman. + +"Did you not urge it upon me," he commenced with a beating heart, "that +I owed it to myself to see a little of the world before settling down +forever in this narrow place? And were you not kind enough to desire me +as your travelling companion, that I might sketch scenes that +especially pleased you? I have given it mature consideration, and find +that you are right; that I have no time to lose if I wish to take up my +neglected life-plan once more; and so I am here at your service." + +She still remained silent, but looked away from him into the darkening +sky, where Venus, softly splendid, was just rising. + +"Does your wife know of this decision, and does she agree to it?" + +"My wife?--I merely told her I wished to bid you good-by at the +station. I mean to telegraph her from Steinach that she need not expect +me immediately, that I am going on a little sketching-trip. I shall +write more to her from Wuerzburg, and explain my reasons for stealing +away from her thus. A formal parting would have pained us both +unnecessarily; and, God willing, we shall see each other again in a +year or so. She is a very intelligent woman, much quicker and surer +than I in all determinations, and she loves me too well not to wish for +my good. I have considered all this during the past twenty-four hours. +Have you changed your mind in the mean time? I have brought only the +most necessary things with me," he continued hesitatingly--"I did not +wish to cause any delay. I am sufficiently provided with money; I shall +buy a trunk on the road--but why do you look at me so strangely, my +lady?" + +"Dear friend," she said gently, "do you know that if I were not wiser +than you, you would now commit an act of actual madness, in fact, a +crime against yourself and your life's happiness?" + +"For heaven's sake, my lady--" + +"Be still! Do not speak a word, but listen to me. Only first answer me +a little question honestly and frankly; is it not true that you are a +little in love with me?" + +"My lady!" he stammered, in extreme embarrassment. He let his +sketch-book fall, stooped for it, and occupied a long time in picking +it up and dusting it. + +"You are right," she said, without smiling; "it was an artful question, +and you need not answer it, for I know the truth already. Of course I +am not angry with you for it, and you are not the first. It has come to +me often enough when I have had less reason to be vain of it. But what +have you imagined as the result?" + +He was silent. She, glancing sidewise at him, amused herself a little +with the spectacle of his helpless confusion. + +"I will tell you," she continued; "it seems to you very romantic to +allow yourself to be somewhat carried away, and to perform a little +travel-romance in easy chapters, with pretty Italian landscapes for +illustrations. To me also--I confess it--you are pleasing enough for me +to find your company really desirable, as I am a lonely, discontented, +and still unresigned woman. Indeed, that you may know it--for I shall +claim no virtue which I do not possess--I have given myself some +trouble--very little was needed--to turn your head. In fact, you seemed +to me too good for a petty, provincial life in dressing-gown and +slippers by the side of a worthy little goose such as I imagined your +wife to be. I even represented to myself that I had a sort of mission +to fulfil in saving an artistic soul from the curse of narrowness, or +however you wish to express it. But I have become terribly ashamed." + +"My wife--" he said. + +"Do not speak of her!" she exclaimed passionately. "Do you know that +you are unworthy of her? that, from the way in which you spoke of her, +I expected to see a good, respectable, uninteresting creature? and +instead all your famous Rothenburg has nothing to show more charming +than this little woman! And you would forsake her to run after an utter +stranger? Do not take it unkindly of me; you have been on the point of +becoming a perfect fool, and I am not vain enough to find any +particular excuse for mildness in the fact that you are infatuated with +me." + +Her voice sounded hard and shrill, and he perceived that she was +speaking with painful effort. Then he strove to collect himself; +seizing her hand, and pressing it slightly in his own, he said: + +"I thank you, my lady, for all the kind and unkind words you have just +said to me. I will not be less frank than you; yes, you have turned my +head, truly not in the ordinary way, but because you gave me a glimpse +of the ideals of life and art which I renounced so early to seek +happiness in a modest, middle station. I have indeed found it, and am +really not so blind and ungrateful as to think it worthless. But ought +not a man to strive for the highest things? Ought he to be contented +with a Rothenburg happiness--you yourself called it so--and especially +if he devotes himself to art, should he not seek the unknown--" + +"To strive for the highest," she interrupted him--"the unknown? Praise +your fate that it has never made those beautiful words real to you. +They are will-o'-the-wisps which lead one astray into pits and swamps. +Shall I tell you a story? There was once a beautiful young girl, the +daughter of a humble serf; and a young man, the tutor at the great +house, was in love with her; he resembled you a little, only his hair +and beard were less artistic. He wished to marry the girl, and as he +had a little property, it would have been a very good match. But the +proud thing aspired to the 'highest,' and although as yet she knew no +French, she had even then an inclination towards the _recherche de +l'inconnu_. Then a general came to the estate, and he too found the +girl strikingly pretty, paid court to her, and finally asked her to +marry him. Well, there was the 'highest' of which she had dreamt, and +the 'unknown' also, as the great world of St. Petersburg would be open +to her. And so she forsook her humble suitor and became a general's +wife; and when she saw the 'highest' by daylight it was mean and low; +and when she learned to know the 'unknown' it was but insipid +commonplaceness. Probably her heart would not have been filled with +happiness beside a simple _magister_; but yet she would not have been +quite so miserable nor made others so unhappy. Of course there were +many who wished to help her atone for her error, and one of them might +have succeeded. It was a pity that the general was such a sure hand +with a pistol, and was not too proud to give a personal lesson to one +of his young officers, thus striking the poor fellow out of the ranks +of the living. But the woman, the fool--since then she has become +restless, and seeks the 'unknown' throughout the world, or--if she +feels herself in the mood for self-deception--the ideal. Do you know +that, so far, she has found nothing more ideal than the quiet, wise, +warm glance of your little wife, the peace of your old-fashioned home, +and that skilful hand with children and flowers, which charms both into +such fresh colors? + +"So! Now I have nothing more to say to you. If you still believe that +you cannot be happy without copying the old stones of the castle of St. +Angelo instead of the old stones of the white tower, and without +venturing upon grand and lofty themes, although you have scarcely the +stuff for a Raphael, then come with me. The way is free, and perhaps +long enough for my extremely unselfish mood to pass away once more. But +if you are wise, you will postpone your art journey until the children +are old enough to be left in another's charge for a few months. Then +take Christel on your arm, and cross the Alps with her; and, I +promise you, even if she is only a Rothenburg child, you could +present her at Monte Pincio without being ashamed of her. Only beware +that you yourself do not undervalue her. Always let her share your +life and ambitions; for we are what you make of us, if we are good; +otherwise--we are certainly what we make of ourselves, but neither good +nor happy. Enough of this! Adieu, and remember me to Christel. And when +your work on Rothenburg is published, send it to me at Rome, under the +address of the Russian embassy. I subscribe for three copies. I will +spread the fame of the German Pompeii." + +She gave him her hand, which he pressed to his lips with intense +feeling. Then, drawing her veil over her face, she hurried to the +train, which was standing ready for departure. When she was seated in +the _coupe_ she nodded to him once more. The little engine whistled, +and the black serpent glided out on the bare rails. But the stranger +drew back into her dark corner, and for a long time stared before her +like a statue. Suddenly opening one of her Russian leather satchels, +she rummaged around in it, and finally drew out a case. "There, take +it," she said in Russian to her maid. "You have always admired this +bracelet so much, Sascha, I will give it to you. I am moved to +generosity. I wish it never cost me more than such a shining toy." + +Sascha fell on her knees before her, and kissed her hand. Then, playing +with the gift, she withdrew to her corner. She believed she heard her +mistress crying softly under her veil, but did not dare ask why. + + + * * * + + +About this time Hans Doppler returned to his little wife. The children +were already asleep. He was strangely softened and moved to tenderness. +Again and again he stroked her wavy, brown hair, which she arranged so +prettily over her ears. He gave her the stranger's last greeting +without telling her anything more about the parting. Yet several times, +as they were sitting together at their evening meal, he attempted to +begin a full confession. At length he said: + +"Do you know, my darling, that the general's wife actually planned to +take me with her on an art journey through Sicily and Italy? What would +you have said to that?" + +"Well, Hans," she replied, "I would not have restrained you, if it had +really been your wish. It is true, I do not know how I could have stood +it. I can no longer imagine my life without you. But if your happiness +had depended on it--" + +"My happiness? That depends only on you!" protested the crafty fellow, +endeavoring to conceal a blush. "You should have heard the general's +wife comparing my unworthiness and your superiority. But you did you +not become a little jealous?" + +"Of whom? Of the old Russian?" + +"Old? With that hair and complexion!" + +"Oh, you blind Hans!" she cried, laughing, as she pulled his hair; +"then you did not see that this dangerous Muscovite was powdered over +and over, and had a thick false braid? But even if everything were all +right about her, do you believe I would not trust myself to hold my own +with her? And then the Tiber may be a perfectly beautiful river but it +is certainly not to be compared with the Tauber!" + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Divided Heart and Other Stories, by Paul Heyse + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DIVIDED HEART AND OTHER STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 34102.txt or 34102.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/1/0/34102/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, page scans provided by the Web Archive + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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