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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: Fairy Circles + Tales and Legends of Giants, Dwarfs, Fairies, Water-Sprites + and Hobgoblins + +Author: Unknown + +Editor: Villamaria + +Release Date: April 28, 2012 [EBook #39560] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIRY CIRCLES *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_cover.jpg" width="400" height="574" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">Fairy Circlies<br /> +Tales and Legends</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class="figcenter" id="frontispiece"> +<img src="images/i_002.jpg" width="400" height="610" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">HELGA IN THE FAIRY KING'S PARADISE.<br /> +p. 154.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_003.jpg" width="400" height="642" alt="" /> +</div> + +<h1 class="booktitle">Fairy Circles</h1> + +<p class="h2 smcap">Tales and Legends</p> + +<p class="h4">OF</p> + +<p class="h3">Giants, Dwarfs, Fairies, Water-Sprites, +and Hobgoblins<br /> +<br /> +FROM THE GERMAN OF VILLAMARIA<br /> +<br /> +WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS</p> + +<p class="h4">London:<br /> +MARCUS WARD & CO., 67 & 68, CHANDOS STREET<br /> +<span class="smcap">And ROYAL ULSTER WORKS, BELFAST</span><br /> +1877</p> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_005a.jpg" width="300" height="72" alt="" /> +</div> + +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdrfirst">PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Barbarossa's Youthful Dream.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Barbarossas_Youthful_Dream">7</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">King Laurin.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#KING_LAURIN">32</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Dwarf of Venice.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#The_Dwarf_of_Venice">54</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Rhine Gold:</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#RHINE_GOLD">100</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Friendship of the Dwarfs.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><span class="in2">PART I. The Dying Dwarf-Queen</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#PART_I">115</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc"><span class="in2">PART II. The Friends of the Rock</span></td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#PART_II">124</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Flower of Iceland.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#The_Flower_of_Iceland">142</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Sea-fairy.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_SEA-FAIRY">172</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Faithful Goblin.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#The_Faithful_Goblin">201</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Fallen Bell.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#THE_FALLEN_BELL">223</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Last Home of the Giants.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#The_Last_Home_of_the_Giants">249</a></td> +</tr> +</table></div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_005b.jpg" width="200" height="49" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="spacer"> </p> + +<h2>Illustrations.</h2> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="List of Illustrations"> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc"> </td> + <td class="tdrfirst">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Helga in the Fairy King's Paradise (p. 155)</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#frontispiece"><i>Frontispiece.</i></a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Frederick takes leave of Gela</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Barbarossa in the Holy Land</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Barbarossa and Gela in the Kyffhäuser</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Vreneli in King Laurin's Rose-Garden</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">King Laurin in Vreneli's Cottage</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Dwarf of Venice takes his Departure for his Native Land</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_54">54</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Hans sees King Laurin's Kingdom in the Magic Mirror</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Hans receives a hearty Welcome from an Old Friend</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Haco throws the Treasure of the Nibelungen into the Rhine</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Charlemagne meets with Kriemhild</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Countess Matilda restores the Dwarf-Queen to Health</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Eckbert's Wild Ride on Kuno's Horse</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Kuno listens to the Wise Man's Talk</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Helga at her Mother's Feet</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">"In Helga's Heart Memory ceased to thrill"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Old Man beside the Corpse of Antonio</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_172">172</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Antonio in the Crystal Castle</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Antonio lays the dead Maiden in her last Resting-place</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_189">189</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">First Acquaintance with Puck</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">"Gero caught Puck suddenly and set him before him on his Saddle"</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_212">212</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Storm hurls the Bell into the Stream</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_223">223</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">The Water-elf and the little Soul on the Raft of Water-lilies</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_238">238</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Aslog returns to her Father</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_249">249</a></td></tr> +<tr> + <td class="tdlsc">Guru awakes the Rock to Life</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_269">269</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<div id="main"> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7">7</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="Barbarossas_Youthful_Dream">Barbarossa's Youthful Dream.</a></h2> + +<div class="i007"> +<div id="i007a"></div> +<div id="i007b"></div> +<div id="i007c"></div> +<div id="i007d"></div> + +<p><b><span class="hide">M</span>ORE</b> than a thousand years have rolled away since a castle looked down +cheerfully from a height amid the Franconian plains into the +well-watered Kinzig Valley, with its pleasant villages and towns.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8">8</a></span></p> + +<p>It belonged to the powerful Swabian duke Frederick of Hohenstaufen, +whose young and valiant son loved this the best of all his father's +proud castles, and often left his uncle's splendid palace to hunt in +its forests, or to look down from its lofty oriel window on the +blooming plain below.</p> + +<p>His father and uncle indeed missed him sadly. His clear blue eye, and +the cheerful expression of his noble countenance, seemed to the two +grave and war-weary men so gladdening to look upon, that they were +always unwilling to let him leave them.</p> + +</div><!--i007--> + +<p>But the young Frederick used to beg them so earnestly to grant him the +freedom of the forest for just this once, that father and uncle +smilingly granted him permission, though "this once" was often +repeated.</p> + +<p>So it happened the autumn of that year when Bernard of Clairvaux +passed through Germany, calling prince and people in words of burning +eloquence to aid in the deliverance of the Holy Sepulchre.</p> + +<p>"Just this once!" said young Frederick again; and King Conrad and Duke +Frederick granted him permission.</p> + +<p>As he bent in courteous farewell to take his uncle's hand, the king +whispered, "Be ready, my Frederick, to return as soon as my messenger +calls thee. Great things are before us, and I can ill spare thy strong +right arm!" And young Frederick smiled his own cheery smile, and +answered, "I come when my king and lord calls!"</p> + +<p>Then he galloped away as if he were bound that day to ride round the +world. His Barbary steed bore him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9">9</a></span> as on wings through the dark +forests of the Spessart, and as the latest sunbeams sank in the waters +of the Kinzig, he mounted the steep path towards the castle, and rode +over the lowered drawbridge into the court.</p> + +<p>Was it really the stags and boars in the vast forests, or the treasure +of rare old manuscripts of the castle archives, which drew the young +prince again and again to the small and lonely fortress?</p> + +<p>So his father and uncle thought, but they knew not of his deep +unconquerable love for the beautiful Gela, the daughter of a humble +retainer. He had seen her while resting from the chase in the forest +of the Kinzig Valley, and so great had his love for her become that he +was willing to renounce all dreams of future power and greatness to +live in blissful retirement with the beloved one whom he could not +raise to his own rank.</p> + +<p>But the lovers had to guard their secret carefully; they dared trust +no confidant, lest their paradise should be laid waste before its +gates had been fully opened to admit them. So they breathed their love +to none but each other.</p> + +<p>The prince passed Gela with cold indifference if he met her in the +castle court or at her work about the house, and Gela made lowly +reverence, as if she were the meanest of his maids, to him who counted +it his greatest honour to do her service.</p> + +<p>But at evening, when Frederick had roamed the forest since early +morning, his bow on his shoulder and his faithful hounds by his side, +the fair Gela might be seen walking along the high-road with a basket +on her arm,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10">10</a></span> or with a stock of newly-spun yarn, as if she were going +to seek purchasers in the nearest town. But in the forest she would +leave the broad path, and make her way through briars and underwood to +a height on which her young prince awaited her beneath the shelter of +a giant oak.</p> + +<p>There they would talk happily and innocently till the last sunbeam was +quenched in the Kinzig stream, and the convent bell resounded through +the arches of the forest; then they would fold their hands in prayer +before saying farewell, in hope of a meeting on the morrow.</p> + +<p>So had it been for many a year. Their love remained unbetrayed, their +hope unquenched, their faith unshaken. In the splendid halls of the +palace, amid the proud and lovely ladies who surrounded the young +prince with flattering marks of favour, the longing after the lonely +forest in the Kinzig Valley and the fair and gentle loved one never +died from his heart.</p> + +<p>They had met thus one evening with the old, yet ever new tenderness. +Frederick drew Gela's fair head to his breast, and spoke to her of the +near and blissful future, which would be theirs in a few weeks, when +he would be of age, and would be able to lead her openly as his wife +to his castle in the fair land of Bavaria, to the inheritance of his +dead mother. And the oak tree overhead rustled gently, scattering +golden leaves on Gela's beautiful hair, for it was far on in autumn.</p> + +<p>When the vesper bell of the forest cloister began to sound, it was +already dark; the moonlight gleamed on the path, and Gela walked with +her lover as far as the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11">11</a></span> high-road, supported by his arm. But there +the moon shone so brightly that they had to part, lest some prying eye +should see them. "Meet me to-morrow, dearest!" said the young prince, +once more kissing her blooming cheek; then Gela tripped lightly down +the high-road towards the valley, while Frederick gazed after her till +she vanished from his sight, when he called his dogs, and turned +towards the castle.</p> + +<p>But there the usual stillness and loneliness had given place to bustle +and confusion. The young prince's aged tutor, who was the +father-confessor and confidential friend alike of his father and of +his uncle, had arrived a few hours before, accompanied by a troop of +horsemen. Inquiries after the young prince passed impatiently from +mouth to mouth, for the message was one which called for haste. At +last he came riding over the drawbridge, his handsome face glowing as +in a transformation, for his vision of the forest still hovered before +his mind.</p> + +<p>The old chaplain of the brothers of Hohenstaufen had been long and +anxiously awaiting his pupil; now he hastened to meet him as quickly +as his infirmities permitted, and greeted his dear one, who had left +him but a few days before, as if he had not seen him for years.</p> + +<p>Then they went together to the room with the oriel window, for there +the young prince liked best to sit, as it afforded a view of Gela's +lattice. They sat long in confidential conversation, and the light +that fell on the pavement for hours after all others in the castle +were asleep told Gela, who stood at the window opposite, that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12">12</a></span> +important and serious matters were being discussed by her dear one and +his aged tutor.</p> + +<p>Next morning the people flocked out of the castle chapel, where the +old priest who had arrived the evening before had spoken to them in +eloquent words, and claimed the arm and heart of young and old for the +approaching crusade to the Holy Land. And not in vain. Men and youths +were ready to venture wealth and life, and the aged were with +difficulty persuaded to remain at home to till the ground and protect +the women and the little ones.</p> + +<p>All returned home to arrange their business hastily, and make needful +preparations. One alone remained in the sacred place. It was Gela, +who, when all had left the chapel, rose from her seat and threw +herself prostrate before the altar, there to pour forth all the +anguish of broken hopes, of parting, and of lonely sorrow that +oppressed her heart.</p> + +<p>She lay thus, her hands clasped, and her face uplifted in an agony of +grief. There were light footsteps behind her, but Gela, lost in sorrow +and prayer, heeded them not. A hand was laid on her shoulder; she +looked up and saw the face of him on whose account she suffered.</p> + +<p>"Gela," said the young prince tenderly and low, as if in reverence to +the holy place—"Gela, we must part! We must wait a while for the +fulfilment of yesterday's beautiful dream! I can scarcely bear it, and +yet I cannot refuse, either as prince and knight, or as son and +subject."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13">13</a></span></p> + +<p>"No," said Gela calmly; "thou must obey, my Frederick, even though our +hearts will bleed."</p> + +<p>"And thou wilt be true to me, Gela, and wait patiently till I come +back, and not give thy heart to another?" asked the prince, and his +voice was full of pain.</p> + +<p>"Frederick," said Gela, laying her hand on his shoulder, "bid me give +my life; if it were necessary to thy happiness, I would give it +gladly. Thine will I be through all the sorrow of separation; and if I +die, my soul will leave heaven at thy call."</p> + +<p>Frederick drew her to his heart. "I go content, my Gela; danger and +death cannot harm me, for I am sheltered by thy love! Farewell till we +meet again in joy!"</p> + +<p>He hastened away to hide the tears that started to his eyes, and Gela +sank again on the altar steps and bent her head in silent prayer.</p> + +<p>She did not perceive the footsteps that once more broke the stillness +of the place, and she only looked up when a second time a hand was +laid on her shoulder. It was not into Frederick's youthful face that +she looked this time, but into the grave countenance of the aged +priest who had come to call her darling and the people of the +surrounding country to the Holy War.</p> + +<p>She shuddered as she thought that he had perhaps been a listener to +their conversation, and had thus discovered the carefully guarded +secret.</p> + +<p>"Be not afraid, my daughter," said the old man gently; "I have been an +unwilling witness of your meeting, but your words have fallen into the +ear and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14">14</a></span> heart of a man whose calling makes him the guardian of many a +secret."</p> + +<p>Gela breathed more freely.</p> + +<p>"Thou art of pure heart, my daughter," continued the old man mildly; +"who could chide thee for giving thy love to a youth to whom God has +given a power to charm that wins the affection of almost every heart? +But, my daughter, if thou love him thou must renounce him."</p> + +<p>Gela looked up in terror at the priest.</p> + +<p>"Yes, renounce him!" he repeated gravely, nodding his white head as he +spoke.</p> + +<p>"I cannot, reverend father!" faltered the maiden with trembling lips.</p> + +<p>"Canst thou not?" asked the old man still more earnestly; "canst thou +not give up thine own happiness for his sake, and yet thou art ready +to give thy life if his happiness should demand it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, reverend father," Gela faltered, raising her hands to him +entreatingly, "look not so stern! You know not what it is to renounce +him, and with him all that I call happiness. But if his welfare +demands it, my heart shall break without a murmur."</p> + +<p>A gentle radiance beamed from the old priest's eyes.</p> + +<p>"Thou hast well spoken, my daughter," he said gently. "Frederick loves +thee now with the force of his unestranged affection, and is ready to +sacrifice rank and worldly prospects for thy sake; but he is a man and +a prince, and, above all, of the house of Hohenstaufen, in whose soul +lies a longing after great and praiseworthy deeds, though these +aspirations are lulled to slumber by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15">15</a></span> his love for thee. But when he +comes to years of manhood, he will be unhappy that thou hast kept him +from the tasks incumbent on one of his noble race. And then, my +daughter, not he alone, but all Germany will blame thee, for every +far-seeing eye recognises already in this heroic youth the future +leader who is destined to bring this divided realm to unity and +greatness. Canst thou think of the future of thy lover, and of us all, +and yet act but for thine own happiness?"</p> + +<p>Gela raised herself as out of a dream.</p> + +<p>"No, my father," she said in a firm voice, though the light of her +eyes seemed quenched as she gazed at the priest; "no, I renounce him. +But if he should ever think with bitterness of Gela, I ask of you that +you will tell him of this hour, and why I have renounced him; because +I loved his happiness more than myself. May this sacrifice not be in +vain!"</p> + +<p>The priest laid his hand, trembling with emotion, on her beautiful +head. "Peace be with thee, my daughter!"</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>On a dewy May morning, two years after that farewell scene in the +castle chapel, young Frederick rode over the drawbridge of the +fortress on the height beside the Kinzig Valley.</p> + +<p>The sun of Syria had dyed his white skin with a deeper hue, the toils +of war and grief at dispelled illusions had drawn a slight furrow in +the smooth brow, but on his flowing beard and hair lay the same golden +splendour, and his blue eyes beamed brightly as of yore.</p> + +<p>The castle servants flocked to greet their beloved<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16">16</a></span> young master, who +had meantime, through his father's death, become Duke of Swabia and +their feudal lord. His princely mouth spoke many a gracious word, and +his winning smile hovered among them like a sunbeam. His eye passed +quickly from line to line, till it rested inquiringly on the features +of an old bent man. It was Gela's father. Then he sprang from his +horse, and ascended the stair to his favourite room.</p> + +<p>The butler placed a goblet of the richest wine on the table, a drink +of honour which he kept carefully in the driest corner of the cellar +for the greatest occasions; and Dame Barbara, the housekeeper, brought +in proudly the delicious pastry which she had prepared for this +festive day; but the young duke gave no heed to these attentions. He +stood in the oriel window, and looked down at a little lattice in the +buildings that surrounded the castle court. There, in a green +window-box, gillyflower and rosemary used to bloom, and behind them he +often had watched a face bent over the spinning-wheel—a face that he +had not found surpassed by any even among the Flowers of the East.</p> + +<p>But now all was changed. No blossom sent forth fragrance; the green +box hung empty and half-broken; the clear lattice panes were blinded, +and no dear face looked through to him in love.</p> + +<p>A pang of dread presentiment pierced his heart.</p> + +<p>"Who dwells in that room with the blinded window?" he asked as calmly +as he could of Dame Barbara, who was rattling her keys to call her +young lord's attention to herself and her masterpiece of culinary +skill.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17">17</a></span></p> + +<p>The old woman drew near, and looked at the desolate window to which +the duke's finger pointed.</p> + +<p>"Alas! my lord duke," said the loquacious old woman, "Gela used to +live there, the good child; but she became a nun two years ago last +autumn, and entered the convent of St. Clarissa, in the heart of the +forest."</p> + +<p>Frederick stood for a moment motionless, then he beckoned silently to +the door, for his first sound must have been a cry of pain.</p> + +<p>Barbara went, but her master sank into the window-seat, his gaze fixed +on the deserted lattice.</p> + +<p>There was a gentle knocking at the door, but the duke heard it not for +the painful beating of his heart. Then the door opened, and on the +threshold stood the old man on whom the prince's inquiring glance had +rested on his arrival. He approached the window with a low reverence, +and waited patiently till his young master raised his head. When at +last he looked up, the old man started to see the beloved face that +used to beam like the sunlight now covered as with the shadow of +death.</p> + +<p>"My lord duke," said the old man, when Frederick signed to him to +speak, "I had an only child. I know not if your grace has ever noticed +her. When the men went from the country round to the Holy War, she +entered the forest cloister, because she thought she could there pray +undisturbed for the safety and victory of our soldiers. Before she +went she made me promise to give this letter into your hands as soon +as you returned."</p> + +<p>Then he drew from his doublet a strip of parchment carefully sewed in +purple silk, and handed it to the duke.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18">18</a></span></p> + +<p>And again Frederick spoke not, but silently took the missive, for his +heart was full to overflowing.</p> + +<p>The old man withdrew in silence. When Frederick found himself alone, +he cut the silken covering with his hunting-knife, and drew out a +piece of parchment; and when it was unfolded, he saw the childish +handwriting which he himself had taught Gela in their happy hours in +the forest, and with which she now bade him the last farewell, for she +could not break her promise to the aged monk.</p> + +<p>While Frederick, two years before, hastened to his uncle's palace, the +holy man had gone on to other parts of the country to call on the +people to join the Holy War, and from this errand death had called +him.</p> + +<p>The sun was already far past the meridian, but yet no sound had broken +the stillness of the room where Frederick sat. The butler's drink of +honour was untasted; Dame Barbara's masterpiece remained untouched.</p> + +<p>At last the young duke rose, left the room, and descended the winding +stair into the court; but when his steed was brought, the attendant +esquire thought that this could scarcely be the same young and joyous +prince who, a few hours before, had ridden across the bridge. He +sprang into the saddle, cast a last glance on the desolate window, and +then turned without a word of farewell to take the road which, but a +short time before, he had galloped over with hopeful heart. It was the +same road which Gela had so often followed with him to the little hill +in the forest, and when he came to the narrow path, he led his +obedient horse to one<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19">19</a></span> side, fastened the bridle round the trunk of a +tree, and then walked slowly along the mossy path.</p> + +<p>Now he stood beneath the oak. Its leafy roof and the moss at its foot +were green and fresh as ever. Once he was like it in his love and +hope, but all was changed! He sat down at the foot of the tree, and +its rustling brought back to his soul the dream of his now vanished +youth.</p> + +<p>Suddenly bells sounded from the forest depths. But he could not, as in +days gone by, fold his hands in pious awe, and pour forth every grief +in a believing prayer. No; at the sound of these bells which now +called Gela, his Gela, to devotion, it seemed to him as if he must +rush to the cloister gate, knock with his sword hilt, and cry, "Come +back, Gela, come back; for thy sacrifice will be in vain!"</p> + +<p>He hastened down the hill to his horse, and sprang into the saddle.</p> + +<p>"Away, my faithful steed!" he cried aloud. "Show me the way, for love +and grief have bewildered my clear brain. Bear me where knightly duty +and princely honour claim my presence—for I know not where."</p> + +<p>And the good beast, as if it understood his master's words, rushed +with him away farther and still farther south through the dim +twilight, and beneath the bright beams of the full moon. Without +weariness, though without rest, it bore him on, and when the morrow's +sun stood in noonday splendour they had reached the goal, and the +young duke stood before the gate of his own Staufenburg.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20">20</a></span></p> + +<p>Gela's sacrifice was not offered in vain. The words the old monk +uttered that morning in the castle chapel were fulfilled. After his +uncle's death, young Frederick of Swabia was raised to the throne of +Germany, and all that the realm and people of Germany had hoped from +him was more than fulfilled.</p> + +<p>His strong hand gave unity, strength, and majesty to the divided land, +such as no ruler after him was ever able to bestow; and when the +imperial crown of Rome was also placed upon his head, the proud people +of Italy bowed before Frederick Barbarossa, did him homage, and +acknowledged his power.</p> + +<p>The laurels of many a victory rested on the Emperor's brow; his house +was happy, his race flourished, his name lay like a word of blessing +on every lip; and when Gela, still in the bloom of youth, closed her +eyes in death, she knew that she had not in vain renounced Frederick +and happiness.</p> + +<p>Beneath the shelter of his favourite castle the Emperor founded a +town, and named it after the unforgotten loved one of his youth, +"Gelashausen;" and when on his travels he came to the forest of the +Kinzig Valley, he led his horse silently aside, fastened the bridle to +a tree stem, and ascended the hill to the majestic oak. There leaning +his head, amid whose gold full many a thread of silver gleamed, +against the trunk, he closed his eyes, and dreamed once more the old +delightful dream.</p> + +<p>And the people called that tree ever after "the Emperor's oak."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21">21</a></span></p> + +<p>The sun of Asia Minor once more sent its glowing rays on the head of +the heroic Emperor, though they gleamed back now with a silvery +radiance.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_021.jpg" width="400" height="425" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">BARBAROSSA IN THE HOLY LAND.</p> + +<p>The cry of distress had risen once again from the Land of Promise, and +drawn the aged monarch from his German home; he placed himself at the +head of his army, and led it with prudence, courage, and military +skill safely through the heat of the Eastern sun, in spite<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22">22</a></span> of the +treachery and malice of the foe, in spite of the pangs of hunger and +consuming thirst.</p> + +<p>On a warm summer evening the army reached the steep bank of a foaming +mountain torrent. There on the farthest side lay the road that they +must take.</p> + +<p>Barbarossa's son Frederick, that "Flower of Chivalry," sprang with a +chosen band from the high rocky bank into the stream and reached the +other side in safety.</p> + +<p>The Emperor now prepared to follow. Without heeding the advice of his +attendants, the aged hero, who had never known what fear meant, put +spurs to his steed and plunged with him into the waters of the Seleph. +For a few seconds the golden armour gleamed amid the waves, once or +twice the reverend, hoary head rose above the stream, then the deadly +waters carried horse and rider into their raging depths, and the +beloved hero vanished from the eyes of his sorrowing army. His most +valiant knights indeed and chosen friends plunged after him into the +flood to save their honoured prince or die with him, but the wild +mountain torrent bore them all to death. With bitter lamentations the +army wandered up and down the stream, if perchance they might at least +win the precious corpse from the waters. But night came and threw its +dark veil over the sorrow and mourning of the day.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>All around were wrapped in slumber, even deeper than was their wont. +The moon stood high in heaven, and beneath its beams the waters of the +Seleph flowed more gently like molten silver. Once more they roused +their<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23">23</a></span> angry strength, and from their midst a white head rose, golden +armour gleamed above the waves, and Barbarossa and his faithful steed +slowly emerged from the waters. With noiseless hoof they wandered up +and down the stream, and out from the depths mounted the troops of +faithful ones who had followed their Emperor to danger and death. The +drops gleamed like diamonds as they fell from head and armour with a +gentle splash into the shining stream.</p> + +<p>Silently the band of warriors rode along the waves; not a sound, not a +footstep broke the stillness; thus they turned to the shore, and the +horses clambered up the rocky bank.</p> + +<p>There Barbarossa and his silent warriors halted on the height. For a +moment the Emperor's glance rested on the slumbering army, he held out +his hand as if blessing them in a last farewell, then he shook the +reins, and horse and rider, freed from the laws of earthly gravity, +swept onwards to the beloved Fatherland.</p> + +<p>They passed over the Bosphorus. Far below them gleamed the towers of +Constantinople with the golden cross on their summits, but Barbarossa +heeded them not. His head was bent forward, so that his white locks +fluttered in the night wind, and his eyes were directed solely to the +land towards which the horses moved with the swiftness of the +storm-wind on their cloudy path.</p> + +<p>Soon German forests rustled beneath them, and round the Emperor's lips +played something like the reflection of the old sunny smile.</p> + +<p>To the south lay the Italian plains which had claimed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24">24</a></span> the best years +of his life and his youthful energy, but the Emperor turned his head +from these. Perhaps he saw already the destiny of his proud race, +which must some day be fulfilled in those fragrant fields.</p> + +<p>Now their native air surrounds them. The fir trees of the Black Forest +scent the air, the waves of the Neckar gleam below them, and, bathed +in the full moon's silvery splendour, there lies at their feet the +Staufenburg, the cradle of the lofty imperial race.</p> + +<p>Barbarossa raised his hand to bless its battlements and pinnacles, but +still he held on his way northwards.</p> + +<p>The Spessart forests rustled beneath him in the darkness of the night, +not a moonbeam pierced their thickly-leaved summits. But there gleamed +the waters of the Kinzig, the walls of Gelashausen in its gently +flowing stream, and over on the mountain's brow shone the aged +Emperor's favourite castle, with the high oriel window, and Gela's +deserted lattice.</p> + +<p>Barbarossa bent over his horse's neck, and cast a look of recognition +on the scene of his early happiness.</p> + +<p>Soon they hovered above the high-road, and then over the familiar +forest with its spreading "Emperor's oak." The old man's head was +still bent forward, as if his eye would pierce the whispering +tree-tops. A sound of clear bells greeted his ear. Below in the +convent they called to midnight prayer, and these tones, which had +once well-nigh broken his heart, acted now as a spell to bring back +the old loved images. His breast heaved as of yore in mingled joy and +grief, and "Gela, my Gela!" was the cry that started from his lips +and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25">25</a></span> reached the convent in whose vaults the loved one slumbered.</p> + +<p>But still the steeds held on their unhalting course over Thuringia's +golden plain to the Kyffhäuser Mountain, within which Frederick +Barbarossa must hold council to-night with his faithful ones about the +people of Germany and their future.</p> + +<p>The castle, which in bygone days had so often opened its hospitable +gates to him and his court, within whose halls many a gladsome feast +had been held, of whose magnificence and splendour old chronicles tell +us—this castle still kept watch over the land with unbroken +pinnacles, but Barbarossa knocked not at its gate.</p> + +<p>Gently the horses sank to the earth, and halted at a hidden door in +the mountain side.</p> + +<p>The Emperor struck the stone with his sword, so that a loud echo +answered from the hollow interior. Then the rocky door opened, and +Barbarossa and his faithful warriors entered the spacious hall of the +Kyffhäuser Mountain. The rock had not long closed behind them when a +gentle tapping was heard, the magic gate swung open, and the lovely +Gela entered, arrayed in bridal attire as she had been laid in the +tomb.</p> + +<p>The hand of death had touched her heart, but had not quenched her +love. When Frederick's cry reached her ear, she had opened her eyes as +out of a deep sleep, and had left the vault to seek her beloved with +the swiftness of a spirit's tread. Now she stands before him in +unchanged grace and beauty.</p> + +<p>Barbarossa's youthful dream was fulfilled. Gela, his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26">26</a></span> first love, was +now at his side to tend him and bless him for ever as she could never +have done on earth. It was she, the faithful one, who ruled henceforth +in the magic kingdom of the Kyffhäuser, and cared for the beloved hero +and his trusty band. It was she who knew when Barbarossa's heart +yearned over the memories of his glorious past. Then she would lead +the knights—his faithful comrades in the Holy War—into his room. +They would range themselves round the marble table at which Barbarossa +sat, with his long white beard flowing round him like imperial ermine, +and over the golden goblets, filled from the exhaustless stores of the +mountain cellars, they talked with the hero about the glorious days +that they had spent together, about "the golden age" of the Holy +German Empire. And the minstrels, who had been wont to go with him to +the Holy Land, and had entered with him the enchanted mountain of the +"Golden Meadow," would strike their harps, and the song of the future, +which still slumbered in their souls, rose to their lips and echoed +loudly through the enchanted arches of the Kyffhäuser Mountain.</p> + +<p>When Barbarossa's heart longed for news of the fatherland, Gela would +pass at midnight out through the door in the rock, down through the +"Golden Meadow," and listen at many a door, and look through many a +window. Then all that she heard there of sad lamentation or joyous +hope she would faithfully pour into the Emperor's ear on her return. +And what Gela failed to find out was seen by other eyes and heard by +other ears. Just as once Odin's ravens flew down from the dwelling<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27">27</a></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28">28</a></span>of the gods to the home of men to tell the heavenly Ruler of all +that happened on the earth, so did the ravens that built their nests +in the clefts of Kyffhäuser hover through the plains to hear of joy +and sorrow, and bear the tidings back in silence to their rocky home.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_027.jpg" width="400" height="591" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">BARBAROSSA AND GELA IN THE KYFFHÄUSER.<br /> +F. C., p. 26.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29">29</a></span></p> + +<p>But at the still hour of midnight, when the mountain opened, and the +little dwarfs who dwelt secretly among Barbarossa's vaulted halls +slipped out into the moonlight, then the wise birds opened their +mouths, and the little friends—like Solomon, learned in the languages +of birds—heard all that the ravens told. The dwarfs in their turn +brought the news to the old Emperor, before whom they appeared from +time to time to fill his treasury with newly-coined gold.</p> + +<p>With liberal hand Barbarossa gave of these hoards to pious and honest +mortals, whom Gela led into the magic kingdom of the Kyffhäuser, that +the beloved prince might be gladdened by the sight of the new +generation, which, different though it was from that of his day, still +held in loving remembrance the noble Barbarossa, and cherished a firm +hope of his return to earth.</p> + +<p>The fortress on the mountain mouldered to decay. Herds grazed where +once the tread of armed men was heard, but once every century the +walls stood at midnight in their ancient splendour; the drawbridge +rattled, the watchman's horn sounded shrill and clear, and over the +castle court, through the gates with their carved coat of arms, on to +the brightly illumined halls of revelry, passed a brilliant +procession. It was Barbarossa leading by the hand the lovely Gela, and +followed by his knights<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30">30</a></span> and vassals, all eager to breathe the air of +the upper world.</p> + +<p>But while the knights were spending the few short hours with music and +feasting amid the pleasures of the past, the Emperor and Gela mounted +to the highest battlement of the castle, and looked down longingly on +the plains of their beloved Germany.</p> + +<p>All around lay wrapped in slumber. Night and peace had conquered all +the cares that gnaw in daylight at the heart of man, but they had also +stilled its hopes.</p> + +<p>"They are all asleep and dreaming," said the old Emperor, "but the +morrow will come, and my people will awake and find the strife that +now divides their hearts laid at rest for ever. Brave men will draw +the sword and wield it victoriously. Then the minstrels will seize +their harps, and the fame of our great and united Germany shall sound +from the North Sea to the fair gardens of Italy. Then will our watch +be over, and we shall go to our eternal rest."</p> + +<p>So spake the aged monarch, as he leant across the battlement to +stretch his hands in blessing over his former kingdom. But when the +first streak of dawn showed faintly in the east, Barbarossa and his +Gela descended, the revelry ceased, the knights grasped their swords, +and the glittering throng passed over court and bridge back to the +heart of the mountain, while behind them the magic castle melted into +mist.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The great morning has dawned; the nation has awaked; their strife is +stilled. The imperial jewels, "Unity and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31">31</a></span> Strength," lie no longer +buried in the waves of the Seleph, the German people henceforth have +them in their midst.</p> + +<p>Barbarossa may now cease his watch and enter on his rest, for from the +North Sea to the plains of Italy is sounded the fame of the great +united Fatherland.</p> + +<p>Thus has the aged Emperor's prophecy been fulfilled, though it was but +the nation's youthful dream.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_031.jpg" width="250" height="348" alt="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32">32</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="KING_LAURIN">KING LAURIN.</a></h2> + +<div class="i032"> +<div id="i032a"></div> +<div id="i032b"></div> + +<p><b><span class="hide">I</span><span class="out"> N </span></b>the Tyrol, that true home of the good little dwarf-folk, is a +lovely valley where in olden days a substantial farm-house stood, +whose owner had come from the other side of the mountain enticed by +the beauty and fertility of this favoured spot.</p> + +<p>In those days it was still possible to find good servants capable of +forming a faithful attachment to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33">33</a></span> their master and his household. But +the farmer thought they were still better in his old home, and for +this reason he generally brought his servants from the other side of +the high mountain ridge.</p> + +<p>Spring had returned; the mountain pastures were green once more, and +it was time for the herds to leave the valley; but the old herdswoman +who for years had had the charge of the mountain farm, and in whose +capability and conscientiousness the farmer had the fullest +confidence, now took ill and died.</p> + +</div><!--i032--> + +<p>This was a matter of some anxiety to the farmer and his household, for +everything was ready for the removal of the cattle.</p> + +<p>"Go over, Tony, to our native valley," said the old farmer to his only +son and heir. "An aged cousin of mine lives there; they say her +daughter is a fine girl; it might be a good thing if you could +persuade her to come to us as herdswoman."</p> + +<p>Early next morning the young man set out on his errand.</p> + +<p>The shades of night still lurked among the rocks like giants in +disguise, but the peaks of the glacier were already aglow with the +light of morning. The youth, accustomed to the beauties of his native +mountains, gave scarcely a glance to the splendour of the Alps, but +hastened onwards with head and heart full of anxiety about his cattle. +Soon he reached the narrow mountain ridge between the two lofty +glaciers, from which the way led downwards to his native valley.</p> + +<p>At this spot stood a tall cross, with dark arms outstretched over both +the glaciers, as if it would tell of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34">34</a></span> dangers which had threatened +the traveller who, out of gratitude for his deliverance, had caused a +cross to be erected on this lonely height.</p> + +<p>Tony knelt to pray, as was the custom in those times and in that +country. His head was bent low, so that he did not see the grave face +which looked down on him from one of the glaciers.</p> + +<p>Surely it must have been carried thither on eagles' wings, for there, +to that glassy height which seemed almost nearer the sky than the +earth, no human foot could ever climb. Yet that figure stood there +calm, strong, and erect. Long silvery hair flowed over the shoulders; +round the head flashed something like sunbeams, or like a mysterious +diadem of carbuncles; and the dark eyes pierced the distance, and +rested on the kneeling one with an earnestness that went deep down +into his heart.</p> + +<p>The young man rose and descended the winding path to the valley. The +apparition on the lofty glacier stood long looking after his receding +figure, and then, with the sunbeams playing among his silvery locks, +walked with sure footsteps that never slipped down over the gleaming +field of ice.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Late in the afternoon Tony sat once more at the foot of the cross, +with a lovely maiden by his side. She had placed her little bundle on +the ground at her feet, her hands lay folded on her lap, and with an +expression of mingled grief and newly-awakened hope she looked into +the face of her companion.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35">35</a></span></p> + +<p>Her mother had died a few days before, and poverty was even in those +good old days a bitter thing, as the poor orphan learned to her cost. +For the warden of the village told her bluntly that the cottage in +which she had lived with her mother, being public property, was +claimed now by another widow, and that Vreneli must make her own way +in the world.</p> + +<p>Many a farmer's wife would have been glad to hire the good Vreneli as +servant, but the rough words of the warden had so frightened her that +she determined not to stay in this inhospitable valley; and just as +she had tied up her little bundle, Tony came to offer her a home in +his rich father's house.</p> + +<p>Joyfully she agreed, for the farmer was a relation, though a distant +one, and she had a dread of going among strangers. So Tony and she set +out together on the mountain path, and now they were resting under the +old cross and chatting pleasantly.</p> + +<p>Vreneli's beauty and innocence had taken Tony's heart by storm, and +now he told her that he loved her, and that she, none but she, should +be his wife. Vreneli clasped her hands and listened with her whole +soul to these words so new to her. Ah! how sweet they sounded after +the harsh tones that had made her so unhappy a few hours ago! Her +heart went out in gratitude and love to the manly youth who had so +generously offered his heart and his home to the poor desolate orphan.</p> + +<p>"But I am poor, Tony, and I have learned to-day how evil a thing +poverty is," said she at last.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36">36</a></span></p> + +<p>"What does that matter, Vreneli?" answered Tony, cheerfully; "I have +enough for both. And I do not like the rich bride that my father has +chosen for me, she is ugly and empty-headed. When they see you at +home, Vreneli, they must love you, you are so good and beautiful! And +when you have tended the herds on the mountain with faithful diligence +for the summer months, and when you bring back the well cared-for +cattle at the end of the season, you shall be my wife—I will soon +bring my parents round to my mind."</p> + +<p>"Ah, how delightful that will be!" said Vreneli, smiling. "How I will +love you, and what good care I will take of your old parents! Are you +sure you are not making fun of me, Tony?"</p> + +<p>The young man put his arm around her graceful form. "How can you talk +so, Vreneli? Do I not love you better than any one in the whole world? +and if it makes your mind easier, I will swear love and faithfulness +to you under this cross—I will swear that none but you shall be my +wife."</p> + +<p>He put his right hand in hers and took the oath. Perfect stillness +reigned around them; the spirits of the mountain listened in silence; +noiselessly the beams of the evening sun hovered above the cross, and +then sank, as if in blessing, on Vreneli's braided hair; while far +overhead at the summit of the glacier stood the dark figure that had +watched Tony on his journey that morning. The poor orphan and her +lover did not see the grave countenance that looked down on them from +the lofty peak, but Tony's words of solemn promise floated upwards<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37">37</a></span> on +the evening breeze to the lonely old man's ear.</p> + +<p>Again he cast a searching glance on the kneeling youth, but when his +eyes rested on the sweet maiden that listened to those earnest words, +the stern expression of his countenance melted, and the wrinkled +features bore traces of some sad memories that seemed to be awakened +by the sight of her beauty and grace. He leant gently forward, so that +his shining locks flowed down like a silver stream, and his eyes +followed the two young people with an expression almost of longing, as +they walked cheerfully on. But soon the twilight laid its dim veil +over hill and valley, and the receding figures faded altogether from +his view.</p> + +<p>The rich farmer owned the pasture of a whole mountain, and Vreneli was +to have the sole charge of the herds that grazed on it, while on +another mountain the herds of the other villagers wandered, watched +over by several herdsmen.</p> + +<p>"Now, Vreneli," said the old farmer next morning, when the cows had +been let out of the stalls, and were already climbing the well-known +mountain path to the music of their jingling bells—"now, Vreneli, do +your duty faithfully, and take good care of my herds, and if the +produce of the mountain farm be richer than that yielded in the days +of my former herdswomen, I will not be stingy about a reward."</p> + +<p>Vreneli blushed, and cast a stolen glance at Tony, who stood behind +his father; she could not but think of the reward which he had +promised her. She assured<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38">38</a></span> the farmer that she would do her duty, +shook hands with the whole household, and then turned to follow the +herds.</p> + +<p>Tony went with her; he wanted to show her everything in the senner's +cottage, and to point out the richest pastures on which the herds were +to graze, taking a different place each day, till at last they +returned to the first, which by that time would be covered with a +fresh growth of grass.</p> + +<p>It was a lovely spring morning. The distant glacier was radiant with +sunlight, the bells tinkled softly on the necks of the cattle, and +wild flowers bloomed at the edge of the torrent which rushed foaming +over the moss-grown rocks. But what was all this external beauty in +comparison with the blooming world in their own hearts?</p> + +<p>They exchanged looks, and words, and happy smiles. Not till the herds +had been milked and led to rest on the night pasture did Tony say +good-bye. Vreneli stood at the door of the cottage, her hands clasped, +and her eyes brimming with happy tears, and watched him till a turn of +the road hid him from her view.</p> + +<p>Inside, in the cosy cottage, it seemed to her, all the time that she +was filling the milk vessels and putting everything in order, as if +she still heard his caressing words, and as if his brown eyes looked +out on her from every corner. Love and hope quickened her hands, so +that her work seemed mere child's play. Then when everything was done, +and the fire had died out on the hearth, she stepped out again to the +door.</p> + +<p>Like a faithful senner she looked first at the night<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39">39</a></span> pasture where +the herds were resting peacefully. Now and then one of the beautiful +animals would lift its head, and the bell at its throat would tinkle +softly; the night-wind moved gently among the lofty trees, making the +long moss of their stems wave to and fro like dark soft veils. Then +Vreneli's eyes sought the valley, and to the moonbeams which hastened, +in their glittering robes, down the rocky path to the village she +entrusted tender messages of love. And when she turned back into the +cottage she knelt at her mossy couch beside the hearth, and mingled +with her evening prayer words of joyful thanksgiving. Her last thought +before she fell asleep was this, that she was the happiest herdswoman +and her Tony the handsomest and truest fellow in the whole land of the +Tyrol.</p> + +<p>Sunny days succeeded to nights filled with golden dreams. When the +first sunbeams flashed from the summit of the glacier, the goat-bells +sounded below in the valley, and the goat-herd led his flock to seek +the juicy plants that grew on heights inaccessible to less sure-footed +herds.</p> + +<p>Then Vreneli ran joyfully to meet him, for he always brought some +message from Tony, or some other token of his love. With joy-quickened +energy she went then about her daily toil. The cows left their nightly +resting-place, and came to Vreneli to be milked, and then she led them +to some new pasture.</p> + +<p>And while the cattle grazed there, she leant against a rock and +carefully watched each step of the animals entrusted to her care, lest +any one of them should go too<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40">40</a></span> near a precipice, or, enticed by the +plants that grew most richly beside the torrent, be hurried away in +its mad whirl. And when evening sank on the mountain, and clothed the +ice-columns in a splendour of red and purple, the goat-herd led his +flock back to the valley, and received every evening from Vreneli's +hand a bunch of mountain violets for her beloved Tony.</p> + +<p>Then she drove the cows again to the milking-place, and repeated the +task of the morning. But this did not end her day's work. She was busy +for hours in the cottage, and moon and stars had long looked down on +the slumbering mountain before Vreneli had finished arranging her milk +vessels in the dairy, or placed the newly-made cheese to dry, or +rolled out her golden butter-pats.</p> + +<p>Then after a simple prayer she lay down on her lowly couch, and when +the distant thunder of avalanches broke the silence of the night, and +the mountain torrent roared close behind her tiny cottage, Vreneli +slept as sweetly as a child, and round her head dreams of love and +home hovered on golden wing.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>So the weeks flew by, and the day arrived when the butter and cheese +which the mountain farm had hitherto produced was to be taken home to +the farm-house. The farmer and Tony were to come to bring it, as the +goat-herd had told Vreneli yesterday, and her usually dexterous +fingers trembled with glad excitement just when it was most needful to +show the farmer that he had entrusted his property to capable hands.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41">41</a></span></p> + +<p>At last—how often she had looked impatiently along the path—at last +the old farmer came toiling up, and behind him, not Tony, as she +expected, but two servants with tall baskets on their backs.</p> + +<p>Vreneli was bitterly disappointed, but she controlled herself and +walked out calmly to meet her master. In spite of the sunny morning +dark clouds lay upon his brow, and it did not clear even when Vreneli +took him into the faultless dairy and showed him the rows of large +rich cheese and the golden butter. Silently they were laid in the +basket, and the servants returned homewards with heavy burdens.</p> + +<p>Then Vreneli led the farmer to the meadow where the herds were +grazing, and his keen eye told him that the beasts were well fed and +cared for. It was a faithful hand to which he had entrusted his +property—<i>that</i> he must acknowledge, however unwillingly. "You have +done well, Vreneli; see that you go on as you have begun!" he said +bluntly. How harsh the words sounded compared with those with which he +had sent her to the mountain! Then when he turned to go home, and she +politely begged him to taste the fritter that she had prepared for him +according to the custom of the country, he refused it, looking all the +time so gloomy that Vreneli did not dare to ask for Tony, though her +heart throbbed in anxiety and longing. So he left her, and Vreneli +stood watching him with a heart full of sadness and disappointment.</p> + +<p>It was evening, and the firelight fell as brightly as ever on +Vreneli's lovely face, but it did not show the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42">42</a></span> joyous expression of +other evenings. Her movements were languid, and now and then a tear +stole down her cheek.</p> + +<p>Why did not Tony come, as he had said he would? Why was the old farmer +so gloomy? Why did the goat-herd refuse to take the daily bunch of +violets, in return for which she might have hoped for some message +from Tony? These were questions on which her life's happiness +depended, and yet there was no one there to answer them.</p> + +<p>She sighed deeply. There had been a gentle knocking at the door, which +Vreneli, lost in her sad thoughts, had not noticed; but at her loud +sigh the door opened, and a figure of mysterious aspect stood on the +threshold. Long silvery hair flowed down over the shoulders, and from +the serious yet kindly eyes spoke a majesty which diadem and purple +robes would not have been enough to give. Vreneli let fall the milk +bowl in her astonishment, and she bowed low as to a mighty prince; +then she wiped the low bench before the fire, the only seat which the +simple cottage offered, and asked her strange guest to be seated.</p> + +<p>The old man nodded pleasantly, and sat down at the fire, leant his +head on both hands, so that his silvery locks flowed almost to the +ground, and directed his earnest gaze so searchingly on Vreneli that +it seemed to her as if he could see into her very soul.</p> + +<p>"Why art thou so sad to-day, Vreneli?" he said at last very gently.</p> + +<p>Vreneli started. How did this stranger, who seemed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43">43</a></span> to come from some +distant land—how could he know her name? She looked at him, half in +reverence and half in fear. "Come, Vreneli, wilt thou not tell me?" +said the old man, and his eye rested almost with love upon her face.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_043.jpg" width="400" height="417" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">KING LAURIN IN VRENELI'S COTTAGE.</p> + +<p>"I am an orphan," she faltered out at last, "and sometimes a painful +feeling of loneliness comes over me."</p> + +<p>"And is that all, Vreneli?" asked the old man;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44">44</a></span> "canst thou not +confide in one who means well towards thee, and who has both the power +and the desire to help thee? Dost thou think thyself unknown to me? +Did I not see thee on the mountain side beneath the cross? Did I not +hear the young man's oath, and see how love and hope had driven sorrow +from thy heart? From that hour I have been thy friend. Dost thou think +that thy care and watchfulness could have kept the dangers of the +mountains far from thy roof and from thy herds? When thou wast asleep +on thy couch of moss, and fair dreams led thy soul to golden meadows, +I kept watch up there upon the rock, and warned the elements to leave +thee and thy charge unhurt; I directed the course of the avalanches, +and the flight of the snow-storm, so that they turned aside, and only +softest breezes and the gentle starlight ever touched thy brow. Dost +thou still mistrust me, Vreneli?"</p> + +<p>Vreneli had clasped her hands and drawn nearer to her venerable +friend.</p> + +<p>"I thank you for your protection," said she, bowing once more in lowly +reverence; "whoever you may be, to me you have been a benefactor, and +such a one has a right to my confidence. But tell me how you read my +heart and learned my love for Tony? For you know already what its +burden is. I am troubled about what has happened to-day; I cannot +understand it. Above all, I am disappointed at not having seen Tony, +after I had looked forward so joyfully to meeting him."</p> + +<p>The old man cast a searching glance on her lovely face, as she stood +there with the firelight falling brightly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45">45</a></span> on her, and her blue eyes +turned towards him in sorrow and touching confidence.</p> + +<p>"And wouldst thou like to see him now?" he asked gravely.</p> + +<p>Vreneli's eyes shone with delight.</p> + +<p>"But, Vreneli, the fulfilment of our wishes often brings something +quite different from our hopes; we go to seek faithfulness, and we +find treachery."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said she, with the smile of unshaken trust, "that will not be +the case with me. Tony is good and truer than gold, and did he not +swear to me beneath the cross?"</p> + +<p>"Thou dear child!" answered the old man, while painful memories +troubled his grave features; "if every broken oath could make a step, +we would soon be able to reach the moon."</p> + +<p>"Stranger," said Vreneli, confidently, "you may have met with +faithlessness enough in your long life to make you lose your +confidence in human nature, but you do not know my Tony!"</p> + +<p>"Come then, Vreneli, since thou wishest it," said the old man, rising, +"though I would fain have spared thee this pain." And they stepped out +together into the night.</p> + +<p>Led by the old man's hand, Vreneli climbed up to the point of rock +from which he had kept nightly watch over her and her herds. They went +forward to the edge of the precipice. Far below, veiled by the +darkness, lay Tony's home. High walls of rock and wide pasture-lands +separated them from the farm-house, so that no human eye could pierce +the distance.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46">46</a></span></p> + +<p>But the old man pulled down a branch of the lofty pine above them, and +told Vreneli to look through a tiny knot-hole. She did so; the laws of +space yielded, and her anxious glance flew to the distant farm-house. +She looked through the lighted windows into the well-furnished rooms. +All the costly vessels and ornaments, which were usually carefully +laid past in chests and cupboards, were to-day displayed on the +festive board, round which the most distinguished residents of the +village were chatting and laughing merrily. Next his parents sat Tony, +and at his side a richly dressed maiden. His eyes shone, and his mouth +smiled and whispered, just as on that evening when he had sworn love +and faithfulness to Vreneli beneath the cross on the mountain. His +father's threatening words and the wealth of the bride so long chosen +for him had quickly shaken Tony's purpose, and while the gentle +Vreneli was thinking anxiously about his non-appearance, the fickle +youth broke his solemn oath, and betrothed himself to the unloved but +wealthy bride.</p> + +<p>Vreneli looked at the scene in tearless silence, then, when she could +no longer doubt her lover's faithlessness, she let go the branch and +turned her eyes away, so that once more night and distance covered the +scene that had ruined her hopes. Vreneli silently descended the rock, +but she did not seek the shelter of her cottage. She hurried past it, +and wandered on aimlessly over the wilds of the mountain. It seemed +almost as if she wished to reach the icy glacier heights.</p> + +<p>"Vreneli," said the voice at her side; "Vreneli,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47">47</a></span> whither wilt thou +go?" She turned her head as in a dream. Stony sorrow had fallen on her +gentle features, and her once bright eyes were cold and fixed. +"Whither?" she said quietly, "whither? I would like to go to the +grave, but, since that may not be, I will go at least away, away as +far as my feet will bear me."</p> + +<p>"Wilt thou come with me, Vreneli?" said the old man. "My home shall be +thine, and the love and faithfulness which thou hast lost here thou +shalt find there a thousand-fold."</p> + +<p>Vreneli looked into his mild eyes.</p> + +<p>"And who art thou, kind old man?" she asked with faltering voice.</p> + +<p>"I am King Laurin, the ruler of the powerful nation of the dwarfs, who +for centuries were bound to men in faithful love. The impress of +divinity which we spirits recognised in you, and before which we +humbly bow, attracted us to your race. But in every generation we +traced it less easily, and at last, despised and deceived in return +for our kindness and help, we retired to the recesses of our +mountains. There in the heart of the rock whose brow is crowned by the +shining glacier, there stands my palace, adorned by my people with all +the splendour of the precious stones which, hidden to mortal eyes, +shine deep down in the heart of the earth.</p> + +<p>"There I live, but I have led for centuries a lonely life, for my only +daughter, the last flower of a blooming garland, died long, long ago. +Her rose-garden, to tend which was her greatest delight, still blooms +in unfading<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48">48</a></span> beauty, but as often as my eyes fall on its wondrous +flowers, I think with grief of my long-lost child. Thou, Vreneli, art +a pure-hearted maiden like her, and since I first saw thee and looked +into thine eyes, it has seemed to me as if I had found my child. I +have watched over thee with a father's care, and I am ready now to +love thee as my daughter."</p> + +<p>"Poor lonely king!" said Vreneli, in a tone of gentle pity, while the +tears ran down her cheeks, "I will go with you to your mountain +palace; I will love and honour you as your child once did, and I will +tend the rose-garden that she loved; for I have no home and no heart +to love me. But grant me one thing before I leave the sunlight."</p> + +<p>"Thou hast but to ask and it is granted!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, King Laurin!" said Vreneli, and her tears flowed faster, "I am +still young, and this is the first disappointment that my heart has +felt, and though it is almost broken, yet I have still a faint hope +left. I cannot quite let go my faith in Tony."</p> + +<p>King Laurin looked even more gravely than before on the weeping +maiden.</p> + +<p>"No, do not be angry!" she begged, raising her hands entreatingly to +him; "call it not foolish weakness; remember that it needed hundreds +of years before your noble heart would close against our deceitful +race. I know that Tony has been persuaded by his friends to take this +step; but he still loves me, and it would grieve him if I were to go +without farewell. When he brings his bride up the mountain to-morrow, +on their way to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49">49</a></span> the wedding in the next valley, let me go out to meet +him as he is passing my cottage—let me say farewell and part from him +in peace."</p> + +<p>"Do as thou wilt, my child," answered King Laurin with gentle sadness, +"though thou wilt find but a new sorrow. And now, Vreneli, it is late. +Go to thy cottage, and lie down on thy couch, there to forget thy +griefs for a few short hours at least."</p> + +<p>"Ah no!" said Vreneli, entreatingly; "let me stay here with you +beneath the stars, for I dread the loneliness of the cottage. Wherever +I may be I cannot sleep, and the shadows of past happiness would there +trouble my soul. No; let me stay here and share your watch."</p> + +<p>They climbed the rock, and sat down side by side beneath the lofty +pines. Vreneli folded her hands and looked up to the stars, while her +prayer for peace and comfort arose to Him who sits enthroned above the +sky.</p> + +<p>Not a word was spoken. King Laurin gazed in silence on the moonlit +glacier, while his mind wandered back to the memories of a thousand +years, and on Vreneli's brow lay the deep shadow of her young grief.</p> + +<p>Gradually her eyelids closed, and her head sank gently to the old +king's shoulder. He placed his arm tenderly round the slumbering girl, +and stretched out his right hand towards the lofty glacier.</p> + +<p>Then the storm-song in its icy clefts grew suddenly still, but the +moonbeams still played around its jagged peaks; like glistening +serpents they moved across the glassy sea, and then flowed slowly in a +broad shining stream down on the crystal road. The mountain torrent<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50">50</a></span> +meanwhile checked its thunder, and moved more gently on its rocky way.</p> + +<p>The night that hung above the mountain seemed but a pleasant twilight, +and through the mild, soft air a bell tinkled gently now and then from +the night pasture where the cattle lay at rest. All was peace. Nothing +stirred save the summer breeze and the golden starlight, which +ventured near to kiss the tear-stained cheek of the maiden who lay in +sweet forgetfulness of sorrow on the old king's arm.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>And now it was once more morning, and Vreneli's cheek grew pale as she +thought of the sorrowful parting with him whom she had once called her +Tony. But she was determined to do her duty to the very last, so she +led her herds to the pasture, by the side of which the road ran, that +she might be at hand to tend them while waiting by the wayside for +Tony and his bride.</p> + +<p>The sun rose higher and higher, and the minutes of painful waiting +seemed hours to the poor girl. Suddenly voices and loud laughter +sounded in her ear, and soon two figures appeared from round the rock. +For the first time since the morning when she brought the herds up the +mountain Tony stood face to face with the poor orphan whose life's +happiness he had ruined, and he started as he looked into the face so +beautiful, but deadly pale. For one moment he remembered his oath. +Then the rich bride at his side cried mockingly—"I suppose this is +the servant girl of whom your father spoke, who had the presumption to +dream of becoming<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51">51</a></span> a rich farmer's wife? Fancy the little beggar +entertaining such an idea!"</p> + +<p>The scornful words cut deep into Vreneli's crushed heart.</p> + +<p>"I should never have thought of it myself," she said, sadly; "it was +Tony who wished it, because he loved me so that my poverty seemed no +obstacle."</p> + +<p>"Oh! indeed, Tony," said the bride, haughtily, "that is rather +different from what you told me yesterday evening. Did you not tell me +that you had never troubled your head about her, and that you had +always wished to marry me? Tell this girl that she lies, or if you +cannot do that, then you are free to choose this beggar still. I have +plenty of suitors left!"</p> + +<p>Tony grew red with shame and vexation, but he did not vent his anger +on the haughty bride, but on poor innocent Vreneli. "You lie, girl," +he cried; "I never made you any promise; I never loved you!"</p> + +<p>"Tony," answered Vreneli gently, "do not bring needless guilt on your +head. Have you forgotten your oath beneath the lonely cross on the +mountain? But I am not angry with you for forsaking me. Perhaps your +parents persuaded you to do it; but I could not refrain from coming to +say farewell, and to wish you happiness and prosperity."</p> + +<p>"Keep your farewell and your wishes to yourself!" cried Tony, white +with anger and shame; "you were a fool, if you took my words in +earnest. I and a beggar like you!"</p> + +<p>With a loud mocking laugh he turned away, gave<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52">52</a></span> his arm to his bride, +and passed on without a word of farewell.</p> + +<p>Vreneli looked after him in speechless amazement. The wise king was +right, then; she had met but a new blow, and this one more crushing +than the first. She turned, and saw behind her King Laurin, who had +been an unseen witness of Tony's shameful treachery. His eyes glowed, +but he uttered not a word. Vreneli stooped again to raise his hands to +her trembling lips. "I am ready to follow you!" she said in a low +voice.</p> + +<p>Then the rock opened before them; Vreneli gave a farewell look at the +midday sun, then, led by King Laurin's hand, she entered the magic +kingdom of the dwarfs.</p> + +<p>That very moment an avalanche was set free from the snow-clad slopes +of the glacier, rolled down with angry thunder, and at the cross where +once Tony had sworn faithful love to Vreneli it overtook him and his +heartless bride, and buried them so deep that their bodies were never +found. Thus King Laurin avenged his adopted daughter.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Vreneli had found a home, and, instead of the one worthless heart that +she had lost, a thousand hearts beat true to her in unchanging love.</p> + +<p>King Laurin loved her as he had once loved his own lost child, and she +returned his affection with all the warmth of her young heart, while +the little dwarfs obeyed her every wish with that cheerful eagerness +with which they had once served their lost princess.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53">53</a></span></p> + +<p>She tended the rose-garden beside the king's crystal palace with such +loving care that it bloomed once more as in the days in which the +magic-mighty hand of the princess had moved among its fairy blossoms, +and the sweet fragrance that the roses breathed into her very soul +healed every wound of disappointed love.</p> + +<p>She did not miss the sunlight in this fairy kingdom, for the mild +radiance of unseen stars lit it day and night; she never longed for +earth, for here was unchanging spring; warm breezes kissed her brow, +and the wild chamois, shy dwellers of the mountain solitudes, came up +in friendly confidence, and let her stroke them with her snow-white +hand.</p> + +<p>Many a time on starry nights she went by King Laurin's side out to the +glacier peaks, to look around upon the slumbering land. Her eye, made +keen by the light of the fairy world, pierced the distance and the +darkness of night, and she gazed, even unaided by any "magic ring," +far beyond the boundaries which limit human vision. And what had once +driven her from the region of sunlight she saw always and +everywhere—sorrow, injustice, and untruth.</p> + +<p>And when she looked into many a joyless cottage and many a sorrowful +heart, she would turn to the old king by her side, kiss his hand with +loving reverence, and say, smiling—"Come, King Laurin, let us go back +to our home, to our peaceful kingdom, where tears and guilt and +fickleness are all unknown."</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54">54</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="The_Dwarf_of_Venice">The Dwarf of Venice.</a></h2> + +<div class="i054"> +<div id="i054a"></div> +<div id="i054b"></div> + +<p><b><span class="hide">E</span></b><span class="out"><b>VENING</b></span> was falling with the mild beauty of spring on the mountains +and pasture-lands of the Tyrol. The latest sunbeams which streamed +down from the lofty glacier bore the tones of the vesper bell through +the quiet village street, and floated over the brook and in at the +open windows of a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55">55</a></span> substantial farm-house which stood at the end of +the little valley. A neatly carved balcony surrounded the house, the +window-panes gleamed like mirrors, and the orderly arrangements of the +farm-yard showed the owner to be a man of some wealth.</p> + +<p>At the table in the oak-panelled sitting-room sat the rich farmer +himself, but in spite of his possessions he seemed discontented and +unhappy, for between his brows was a deep frown, and his eyes were +dark and lowering. Opposite him sat his beautiful young wife, whose +soft eyes looked anxiously into her husband's face. On her lap she +held her only child, a lovely little girl, with eyes as blue as the +flax blossom, and hair that shone like gold: she folded her little +hands, as her mother did, as long as the vesper bell continued to call +to prayer; but her eyes looked longingly, now on the pancakes that lay +piled on the bright pewter plate, now casting a friendly glance on the +boy that sat at the furthest end of the table, with his hands folded +in devout reverence.</p> + +</div><!--i054--> + +<p>It was Hans, the son of a poor relation, to whom the rich farmer, with +unwonted generosity, had granted a place in his house and at his +table, and who in return had to drive the goats every day up to the +highest pastures on the mountain, to places inaccessible to other +herds. He had just returned with his nimble charge, and had brought to +little Anneli on her mother's knee a bunch of alproses, for he dearly +loved the child.</p> + +<p>The bell had ceased ringing, the hands were unclasped, and the mother +began to help the delicate pancakes. There was a gentle knocking at +the door, and in walked<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56">56</a></span> a little man in a sombre and threadbare +garment. His back was bent, either with the weight of years or by the +wallet which hung from his shoulder; his hair was silver grey; but the +dark shining eyes told that in this decrepit body lived a strong +unconquered spirit.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, sir," said the little man humbly; "might I beg you for +a bit of supper, for I am starving, and for a night's rest on your +haystack, for I am tired to death."</p> + +<p>"Indeed," said the farmer angrily; "do you take my house for a +beggar's tavern? if so, I am sorry your sight is so bad. You may seek +elsewhere, for you will not find what you want here!"</p> + +<p>The dwarf looked in astonishment on the master of the house, who, +regardless of the hospitable customs of the country, could thus turn a +poor man away from his door; but the farmer took no notice of his +surprise, nor of his wife's looks of entreaty.</p> + +<p>"No, wife," he said harshly, "this time you shall not have your own +way. I will not keep open house for all the beggars in the land. Did I +not give in to you about that boy over there? You might be content +with that."</p> + +<p>Poor Hans blushed crimson at this allusion to his poverty, but when +the little man turned away with a sigh and left the inhospitable +threshold, sympathy with the poor old man overcame his fear of his +employer; he seized the plate with the pancakes, and the great piece +of bread which the farmer's wife had just given him, and ran out of +the room.</p> + +<p>"What's the boy after?" asked the farmer angrily.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57">57</a></span></p> + +<p>"He is just doing what we ought to have done," answered the wife, with +gentle reproach in her fair face; "he is sharing his meal with the +poor man."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," growled the man, "birds of a feather flock together."</p> + +<p>Meantime the old man was creeping with weary steps across the yard, +and had just reached the gate when Hans seized him by the arm.</p> + +<p>"Here, good little man," said he in mingled pity and fear—"here is my +supper; come, sit down there on the well and eat."</p> + +<p>The old man's dark eyes rested with a pleased look on the boy. "And +what hast thou for thyself, child, if thou givest away thine own +share?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! that does not matter," said Hans unconcernedly, while he led the +dwarf to the stone wall which surrounded the well. "I am not very +hungry, and the farmer's good wife would give me more if I asked her."</p> + +<p>The old man sat down and began to eat, while Hans watched with delight +how his aged friend enjoyed it. Soon the plate was empty, and the +little man rose with thanks to set out on further wanderings, and to +seek a night's shelter under a more hospitable roof.</p> + +<p>Hans went with him to the gate, and whispered hastily, "Do not think +ill of the farmer for having refused you; he is not always so +churlish, but to-day something has occurred to vex him—he was not +re-elected as burgomaster of the village, but his bitterest foe was +successful; that has soured him, and so every one who comes in his way +must suffer for it. But listen, little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58">58</a></span> man; to the right there, on +the rock over which the path leads to the mountain, stands the +hay-loft with its roof touching the stone. That's where I sleep, and +if you climb a little way up the rock, and wait there till I go to +bed, I will open the trap-door, and you can creep in to me among the +hay."</p> + +<p>"Thou art a good boy," said the old man; "I will do as thou sayest, +and wait for thee there upon the rock."</p> + +<p>It was night when Hans was at last allowed to seek his couch. More +nimbly than usual he sprang up the slender ladder to the hay-loft, and +then he quickly unfastened the trap-door which opened on the roof.</p> + +<p>The full moon stood large and bright above the mountain, and its pale +beams played round the jagged brow of the glacier, and wove a veil of +silver round the beech woods that adorned the mountain landscape.</p> + +<p>The old man was sitting silently on a ledge of rock; his hands lay +folded on his lap, his head was bare, and the night wind moved lightly +through his grey tresses. But the old man heeded it not. His eyes +gazed fixedly on the night sky, as if they could, like the seers of +olden time, decipher the records of the stars, and his features were +ennobled by such a look of majesty that the boy gazed at him in +astonishment, not daring to disturb him. At last he said softly, "Do +not be angry, sir, at my troubling you, but the night is growing cold, +and the dew is beginning to fall. Would you not be better in a warm +bed?"</p> + +<p>The old man sighed, as if his thoughts returned unwillingly from their +flight. Then he nodded pleasantly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59">59</a></span> to the boy, went up to the +trap-door, and let himself down upon the floor of the loft. He lay +down silently on the fragrant hay, and was just about to close his +weary eyes when he felt the boy's warm hand passing over him.</p> + +<p>The little fellow had taken off his jacket, and was now carefully +spreading it over the old man that the night wind might not hurt him. +With a silent smile the dwarf accepted the service of love, and soon +their deep breathing told that slumber had fallen on the eyes of both. +Several hours had passed by, when something like a flash of lightning +woke the boy. He rose quickly; the trap-door was open, and the old man +was rummaging busily in his wallet; he had just taken out of it a very +bright hand-mirror, and the light of the moon, reflected with a flash +from the crystal, had awakened the boy.</p> + +<p>The dwarf now threw his sack over his shoulder, took the mirror in his +hand, and began to go through the trap-door to the rock.</p> + +<p>Hans could bear it no longer. "Oh, sir," he begged, "take me with you +into the mountains, for that you are bound thither the mirror in your +hand tells me. My dear mother has often told me about the mountain +mirror, by means of which one can see into the depths of the earth, +and watch the metal gleaming and glittering in its veins. And although +you have not said so, yet I know that you are one of the mysterious +strangers who come from far-off lands to seek the gold of our +mountains, which is hidden from our dim eyes. Oh, take me with you!"</p> + +<p>The old man turned his face to the boy. "That is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60">60</a></span> idle curiosity, my +son," he said gravely, and his eyes shone almost as brightly as the +mirror had a few minutes before; "stay at home and tend thy herds, as +a good boy should."</p> + +<p>"Oh no, sir," begged Hans earnestly; "I have always longed to see the +wonders of the mountains, and I will be quiet and silent as is +befitting in presence of such marvels, and I will help you and serve +you to the best of my power. Take me with you!"</p> + +<p>The old man thought a minute, glanced searchingly into the boy's eyes, +who had come nearer to him in his earnestness, and then he +said—"Come, then, and remember thy promise."</p> + +<p>They stepped out together, shut the trap-door behind them, and +clambered up to the top of the rock, from which the broad footpath led +up to the heights and abysses of the mountain. The moon poured its +mystic radiance down from the deep blue sky of night, and the young +foliage of the beech wood gleamed like silver as it fluttered in the +breeze. Not a footstep was heard on the mossy ground, only their +shadows glided in company with the lonely wanderers, who in silent +haste pressed on deeper into the recesses of the mountains. The wood +lay behind them, and the path led to a ravine, at the bottom of which +a raging torrent rushed; they stood now at its edge.</p> + +<p>None save Tyrol's boldest mountain climbers know this path, and even +they, though provided with ice-shoes and alpenstocks, tread its steep +ascent with trembling hearts. But the little man seemed to heed no +danger;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61">61</a></span> fearlessly he set his foot upon the highest point, and +securely, as if on level ground, he went down the side of the +precipice, where one false step would have been certain death. The boy +followed him with beating heart. The moonlight broke through the +overhanging bushes and the lofty rocks overhead, and made its way down +into the ravine.</p> + +<p>The wanderers stood now at the edge of the raging torrent, and walked +along it to the high rock over which the glacier stream fell into its +rocky bed, and which seemed to them, as it stood veiled in night, like +one of the giants of old who, the old legends tell us, were turned to +stone. Even in the distance they had seen the moving cloud of vapour +above its head, which hovered in the light of the full moon, like a +giant eagle, above the rushing waters. The milk-white billows of the +torrent that rushed down from this height rolled in the moonlight like +silvery tresses down from the rock's giant head. The old man walked +quietly through the noise and foam round the foot of the rock and into +a narrow cleft, which was the opening into the heart of the mountain; +here he laid down his wallet.</p> + +<p>Now, now the boy's heart beat even more loudly than it had done amid +the dangers of the abyss, when the old man silently beckoned to him. +He held the mountain mirror in his hand: Hans stepped timidly to his +side, and looked into the magic glass. Mists impenetrable as the +curtain which parts the present from the future rolled over its +crystal surface, but they became lighter and lighter, and soon the +interior of the mountain lay open<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62">62</a></span> before the eyes of the delighted +child. Through the wide rocky gates his eye pierced into a land of +wonders such as are never seen on earth. Through the blue air rose the +pinnacles of a crystal palace; the golden roof and the windows of +precious stone shone in the splendour of another sun; and in the lofty +star-spangled hall sat King Laurin, the hoary king of the dwarfs, on +his emerald throne. Round him stood his subjects, the wise and aged +dwarfs, who had long since forsaken the wicked world to lead an active +but peaceful life here in their magic kingdom, where the malice and +inquisitiveness of mortals could not come to disturb them. They +listened with heads bent in reverent attention to the words of their +king, and then went in different directions to obey his commands; but +Laurin descended from his throne, laid aside crown and sceptre, and +went down the golden steps to the rose-garden, which his beloved +daughter, the only one left to him of all his circle of blooming +children, tended with skilful hand. The lovely maiden was walking +among the garden paths, tying up the young roses and moistening their +roots with water from the golden vessel in her hand, when she saw her +royal father coming. She hastened to meet him, took his strong hand +with respectful tenderness, and led him joyfully through the blooming +beds. Meantime, the little dwarfs had set busily to work: some were +leading their herds of chamois through a secret gate out to the +mountains of the upper world, that they might there enjoy earthly air +and light; others hastened to the clear silvery springs which watered +this realm, to guide their waters of blessing up to the meadows<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63">63</a></span> +and woods of the children of men, that they might yield a more +abundant increase; others, again, took pickaxes, mallets, and dark +lanterns, all made of precious metal, and went into the heart of the +surrounding mountains to bring their hidden wealth to light, and to +increase still more the royal treasure, countless though their king's +hoards already were.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_063.jpg" width="400" height="610" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">HANS SEES KING LAURIN'S KINGDOM IN THE MAGIC MIRROR.<br /> +F. C., p. 62.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65">65</a></span></p> + +<p>Glittering veins of gold streaked the stone, and out of the dark rock +bubbled springs, whose clear waters flashed and sparkled, as if they +bore onward with them grains of the precious and much longed-for +metal. In a dark grotto lay something white and motionless like a +slumbering eagle; but at the flash of the lanterns it roused itself, +and the white serpent queen lifted her gem-crowned head. The drops +that trickled down the walls of the grotto gleamed like jewels in the +light of her diadem; but the serpent bent her head again, and coiled +herself up for further sleep, for she knew well that the little +dwarfs, unlike the robber sons of men, would never stretch forth their +hands to seize the jewel on her brow. And there, at yonder spring, +knelt a dark form busily engaged in gathering the gold sand from the +bottom of the water, and putting it into the wallet beside him; but +the figure could not be recognised in the shadow which lay deep at +that spot. But when some of the industrious little men drew near with +their flickering lanterns, the man at the spring turned his head and +nodded to them a friendly greeting, which they returned as if he was +an old and dear acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Then the boy recognised by his grey locks and his dark<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66">66</a></span> eyes full of +gravity and wisdom the old man who had been showing him the mountain +mirror. He raised his eyes in astonishment from the magic glass, and +now for the first time he perceived that he held the mirror in his own +hand, and that the old man was no longer by his side.</p> + +<p>"Ah! how thoughtless I am; I promised to help him, and now the kind +old man is tiring himself, unaided, with his heavy work," said Hans in +self-reproach. Then he hid the magic mirror in his bosom and turned +towards the hole which formed the entrance to the treasures of the +mountains. But just as he was stooping to creep in, the old man +himself came out, bearing on his shoulder the shabby wallet with its +priceless contents. "Forgive me, sir," begged Hans in a tone of true +sorrow, "for having kept my promise so ill, but my mind was +spell-bound by the wonders I beheld."</p> + +<p>"It matters not, my son," replied the old man mildly; "I have always +had to work alone and without help, and I will continue to do so. All +I ask of thee is a night's rest on the hay and a bite of bread when +thou canst spare it. But come now! Seest thou how the cloud above the +waterfall is gleaming rosy red? It is the reflection of the dawn. I +would not that thy herds should wait for thee, and thy harsh master +find thee behindhand with thy work. So let us hasten!"</p> + +<p>And back they hurried on the dangerous path by which they had come; +the beech leaves gleamed in the first light of the new day as they +passed through the wood, and the thrushes were just beginning their +morning song.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67">67</a></span></p> + +<p>Soon they stood on the ledge of rock, and a few minutes brought them +to the trap-door. The old man slipped in to snatch a little slumber +before he began another day's wanderings, but the boy could not think +of lying in his dark loft after all the splendour he had left behind, +so he went to let out his goats and take them to the mountain. But +to-day he could not bear to stay as usual in the tiny cottage where he +performed the light duties of the mountain herdsman, while the goats +clambered alone up the steep walls of rock in search of juicy plants, +and came back uncalled at the sound of the evening bell. To-day he +climbed with them up to the highest peaks, for he hoped to find some +opening through which he might see into the magic kingdom which the +mountain mirror had held before his view.</p> + +<p>It was, indeed, a wondrous land which stretched far and wide before +him in fresh and fragrant beauty. It was his native land shining in +unimagined splendour. Crystal lakes gleamed in the distance, and the +snow-crowned mountain peaks glowed in the morning sunlight like the +roses in King Laurin's magic garden. But there was no palace here, no +lovely maiden among her flowers, and no old and yet nimble dwarfs. But +there, far away, scarcely visible even to the sharpest eye, a little +black dot moved along the winding mountain path, and the flashes which +now and then darted from it over to the rock where Hans was standing +amid his goats told him that it was the old man with the magic mirror.</p> + +<p>"Oh! how I wish it was evening," sighed the boy, looking longingly at +the sun, which had scarcely run a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68">68</a></span> quarter of its appointed course. At +last it was evening, and herd-boy and herds hastened homewards. The +boy did not stay long in the house. With a great piece of bread and +meat in his hand he climbed the steep ladder to the hay-loft, and +found to his joy the old man there already, waiting to receive the +food with humble thanks. Hans lost no time in going to sleep, that the +longed-for hour of the night journey might come the more quickly; and +when again a sudden light flashed across his eyes, he opened them in +delight and rose. But it was not the brilliance of the magic mirror +that had awakened him, but the beam of the morning sun. He looked +round in astonishment; he had slept so soundly that he had lost his +expected journey. It was now clear daylight, and the goats were loudly +calling their young master to his duty. He gave a hasty glance at his +companion, who still lay in deep slumber. Whether he had slept thus +since yesterday evening, or whether he was resting after his nightly +labours, Hans had no time to ask. Quickly he ran down the ladder into +the farm-yard, where all was life; then he took his shepherd's bag, +which hung behind the door, already filled with the daily portion of +food, and hurried with his impatient flock up towards the mountain.</p> + +<p>Again he looked wistfully from his high rocky seat down on the +blooming meadows, and recognised the little man with the magic mirror +in the remote distance, and determined to keep his eyes open the whole +night. But when evening came, and he sought his couch, scarcely had he +lain down by the side of his aged friend,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69">69</a></span> when deep sleep fell on his +eyelids, and left them only at the glance of the morning sun. Haste +and timidity always prevented him from disturbing the old man in his +sleep, and telling him once more the fervent wishes of his heart; and +so every morning he bore his unfulfilled desires up with him to the +mountain. Thus summer passed, and when one morning the first rough +breath of autumn chilled the boy's brow, there was a rustling behind +the rock on which he sat, and the old man, who had been his companion +for so many months, stood before him. The wallet on his shoulder was +full, and in his hand he held a staff as if he was ready to return to +his distant home, for so indeed he was.</p> + +<p>"I come, my son," said the little man with his old grave kindliness, +"to thank thee for shelter and food, and to ask thee if thou hast any +wish which I can gratify."</p> + +<p>Hans shouted with joy; but the old man raised his finger gravely—he +seemed to read into the boy's very soul.</p> + +<p>"Neglect not sacred duties for the sake of idle curiosity," said he in +a tone of warning, and the boy blushed and was silent. Then Hans +thought of his good mother down in the valley, whose cottage he passed +every morning and evening, and found the poor woman always at the +window waiting to whisper a loving word, a motherly blessing to her +only child. But this morning her eyes had been dim with trouble, and +when he asked what was wrong she had answered with a sigh—</p> + +<p>"Nothing, my good child, that thou canst alter; I am only thinking of +the approach of winter, and how the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70">70</a></span> cold wind will whistle through my +battered cottage, and how I have no warm clothing to protect me from +the cold."</p> + +<p>All this flashed like lightning through the boy's mind; tremblingly he +clasped his hands, and a prayer for help fell from his lips.</p> + +<p>"That is right, my son," said the old man kindly, handing the boy a +little coin. "Despise this not for its mean appearance, and never use +it foolishly; and when I return next year, let me find thy hand as +open and thy heart as pure as I have found them now. Farewell."</p> + +<p>He nodded kindly to the boy, took the cloak from his shoulder, spread +it on the rock, and placed himself on it, staff in hand, and with the +burden on his shoulders. Immediately the mantle rose, and hovered +before the boy's astonished eyes, bearing the little man up into the +air. The old man waved farewell from his airy height; then he pointed +southwards with his staff, and swift as an arrow flew the magic mantle +towards his far-off home. The boy watched the wonderful journey with +devoutly folded hands. Like the beat of eagle's wings was the motion +of the dark garment through the white clouds, and the little man kept +his balance perfectly, he guiding his flight with the staff in his +left hand, while the magic mirror in his right gleamed in the beams of +the morning sun like the diadem of carbuncles on the head of the +serpent queen. The last flash died away at last, and the boy sat once +more alone on his rocky seat, dreamily gazing on the gold coin in his +hand. It had evidently passed through many a hand before, for it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71">71</a></span> +needed a sharp eye to trace the impression on its surface; on one side +the lion of San Marco stretched his royal limbs, and with raised head +kept guard over Venice, the Queen of the Sea, whose foot the Adriatic +kisses with its caressing waves, wedded to her anew each year by the +Doge's ring. The other side bore the name of one of the rulers of that +proud Republic. It was scarcely legible, and it had been long eclipsed +by a younger glory.</p> + +<p>The boy, indeed, had no key to the understanding of the image and +inscription, but he felt confident the gift out of such a hand must +bring blessing in spite of its mean appearance, and so he kept the +coin carefully in his pocket. To-day he started joyfully at the tone +of the evening bell, said his prayer with more than usual fervour, and +hastened with winged feet after his thriving flock.</p> + +<p>"Just look, dear mother, what I have brought you," he cried joyfully +through the window of the cottage, showing the old man's gift. "Do not +despise it," he begged earnestly, as he saw his mother's doubting +smile; "he told me not to despise it, the kind, powerful man who gave +it to me. Put it with your savings, and let us see what will happen." +As he spoke, his eyes shone so brightly with joy and confidence that +his good mother could not bear to vex him by her doubts; she promised +to lay the gold piece in the drawer, and bade her boy good night with +a loving smile.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Ten springs had passed over Tyrol's mountains and valleys, and there +had been many changes in the time.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72">72</a></span> The young trees had grown tall and +leafy; the children had become men and women. Hans was no longer a +goat-herd, but a clever senner, as they call the mountain shepherds in +the Tyrol, and now the farmer's herds had been entrusted to his sole +care during the rest of their stay on the higher pastures, to which he +had led them early in spring. The setting sun glowed on the lofty +glacier before him, and its reflection flowed down to the night +pasture, and hung like a golden veil over the pine trees, beneath +whose wide branches the herds had lain down for their nightly rest. +But Hans stood before his cottage, which he had entered to-day for the +first time as senner, and gazed joyfully on his new charge.</p> + +<p>The valleys were already slumbering in the evening shadows, but the +peaks of the glacier were aglow with purple, and reminded the young +man of an image that he had long borne in his soul with secret +longing; he thought now, as he had not done for months, of the +rose-garden before the crystal palace, and of the little man who had +been his yearly companion in the farmer's hay-loft, and who, every +autumn, had climbed the mountain side to say farewell to him, and then +with his wallet full of gold had returned on his magic mantle to his +distant home. He had never asked the old man for a glance into the +mountain mirror since he had received that grave warning about idle +curiosity, and these memories of King Laurin's realm had gradually +faded. But his reverence for the strange old man had remained +unchanged, and every day he had shared his supper with him out of +gratitude for the parting gift which Hans had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73">73</a></span> long ago taken home to +his mother. He had not hoped or promised too much. With the little +man's dim old coin blessing had come into the hut of poverty, and the +money in the drawer had never grown less. There was always some left, +even when they erected on the site of the tumble-down cottage a firmly +built and comfortable house, and though after that they bought many a +much needed piece of furniture and warm clothing for the winter. There +was no need now to creep in secretly at even to receive the gifts of +the kind-hearted farmer's wife without her miserly husband's +knowledge. They were able first to keep one cow, and then two, and +then—Hans looked joyfully round on the slumbering herds—four fine +cows now rested there, his mother's property, which he had been +allowed to lead up to the mountain pastures to graze with his master's +cattle. The churlish farmer, indeed, had never granted him this +favour, but his unkindly eyes had closed for the last sleep the autumn +before, and the eyes which now shone in the farm-house were so mild +and lovely that it was a pleasure to obey their glance. What were +these eyes like? Hans tried to remember as he gazed at the glacier, +whose purple had changed to a pale rosy hue. Yes, yes, now he knows. +The eyes of Anneli, whom he had loved from childhood as his own dear +little sister, were just like the eyes of that fair maiden who used to +walk in the rose-garden by the dwarf king's side, and this brought him +back to the beginning of his reverie.</p> + +<p>And now he began to wonder if the little man, if he returned, would +rest at night in the farmer's hay-loft, or,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74">74</a></span> according to his old +custom, climb up the mountain to seek him here. Then he heard, not far +off, something like the sigh of a weary wanderer. The youth's sharp +ear was directed attentively towards the path which led from the +village to the senner's cottage, and which was now veiled in the +double shadow of the trees and of the falling night. Yes, it was +coming from that direction, and immediately Hans was ready to offer +help. He took his lantern in his hand, seized his alpenstock, and ran +down the path between the rocks and the dew-covered bushes. He had not +far to seek, for there, on a stone by the wayside, sat a dwarf in a +dark and shabby garment, and a well-remembered wallet hung from his +bent shoulders. The young man cast a hasty glance at the figure, and +then shouted aloud with delight. It was the old man of whom he had +just been thinking, and it was with grateful emotion that he found +that his old friend had not forgotten him, but that, in spite of the +darkness and his increasing infirmities, he had toiled up the path to +the mountains.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, sir," said he joyfully, bending as reverently to kiss +the dwarf's withered hand as if he had been a lord of the land. "You +must be tired; take my arm, and let me carry your sack; that's the +way. And now, courage for a hundred steps or so, and we are at the end +of our journey." And with such care and reverence as are shown rather +to great princes than to such a poor little dwarf, Hans led the old +man over the last difficulties of the mountain path, and over the +threshold of his hut. Then he hastened to take the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75">75</a></span> covering off his +couch of moss and spread it over the wooden bench before the hearth, +that the old man might rest his tired limbs on a softer seat. Next he +kindled a fire, and made a fritter which the senner who had preceded +him had taught him how to make. He had no drink to offer but good, +sweet, new milk; but Anneli's hand had provided richly for the wants +of the new senner, and the little wooden cupboard in the corner was +stocked with good things from the farm-house. The young man searched +in it joyfully for something dainty for his guest, and felt proud and +happy in his unwonted work. A white cloth was spread over the coarse +oaken table, and on it was placed the delicate fritter, with a plate +of eggs and bacon sending forth fragrance by its side. Proudly the +young man brought his guest to the well-set table, and both enjoyed +its good things in silent comfort. Then Hans led the old man, tenderly +as a child his beloved father, to his own couch of moss, and when the +little dwarf sank on it with a look of love and gratitude, the young +man spread the covering over him as he used to spread his jacket years +ago in the hay-loft. Then he sat down before the fire that the +flickering flame might not disturb the old man, and when at last his +deep breathing told that he was asleep, the youth rose and went out +into the open air. The moss-couch in the senner's cottage was not +broad, and Hans must not spoil the old man's comfort, so he went to +the night pasture, where the herds lay sleeping, and sank to rest in +the soft moss beneath the aged pines. They let their evergreen +branches fall over him protectingly, and the long moss<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76">76</a></span> that hung from +them served as covering to the youthful sleeper, while the glacier +torrents in the distant ravines sang his lullaby.</p> + +<p>The days passed by in keener enjoyment than even his boyish dreams had +pictured. The hours were bright with happy sunshine, in spite of the +double burden of work which he, contrary to the custom of his +predecessors, had undertaken in the consciousness of his own powers +and fidelity. And when the day had flown by with its quick succession +of pleasure and toil, the evening hour would come when the beloved +guest sat at the fire and at the oaken table, and sometimes the +hitherto so silent lips would let fall words of grave wisdom.</p> + +<p>Then came the hour of rest, calling the old man to the moss-bed under +the senner's roof; but Hans slipped out when the fire was dead to the +shelter of the old pine trees, and slept in their protection, lulled +to slumber by the song of the glacier stream.</p> + +<p>One warm spring evening, when the jagged ice-crown of the glacier +gleamed with a bluish light beneath the full moon's beams, he did not +turn towards his soft couch beneath the trees, but hastened to the +grove of pines which rose above him on a steep wall of rock. With a +sharp axe on his shoulder, gleaming brightly in the moonlight, he +stepped along the well-known path across the green meadows to the dark +ravine which separated him from the wood on the rocky height. Was the +dream of his childhood now really fulfilled—was he going to look +through the magic mirror into the heart of the mountains? Oh no. The +spirit world had lost its power over his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77">77</a></span> soul. His thoughts and +desires belonged now more than ever to real life.</p> + +<p>A few days ago Anneli had come up with her mother to the senner's +cottage to see about the produce of the mountain farm, as the farmers +are in the habit of doing when the herds have been some time on the +high pastures; and while the mother inspected the dairy, tried the +cheese, and tasted the balls of butter, Anneli stood outside with Hans +and the grazing herds, and chatted with him pleasantly as in days gone +by.</p> + +<p>"And do you remember, good Hans, what day to-morrow is?" she asked +with an arch look in her eyes, when Hans, after thinking in vain, +shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Do you not know?" she said, laughing. "Why, Hans, to-morrow is the +first of May, and I am curious to know if I shall have a May-pole +raised for me."</p> + +<p>"You, Anneli!" cried Hans, looking in astonishment on her beautiful +face—"you will have many a tree; they call you already 'the pearl of +the valley,' and the rich farmers' sons will fight for the honour," he +added in a low sorrowful tone.</p> + +<p>This tone thrilled Anneli's heart; she leant towards him with innocent +confidence, and said with emotion—"Let them, Hans; but you know that +I shall take pleasure in no May-pole but <i>one</i>."</p> + +<p>It was these words which were driving Hans now in the silence of night +through the dangerous ravine and the foaming torrent, and up the steep +precipice to the pine wood. Here he felled the chosen tree skilfully, +tore the bark from the smooth stem, and bore the trunk<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78">78</a></span> carefully on +his shoulder through shrubs and narrow mountain ways down into the +valley. His path was dark and difficult, and jutting rocks often +hemmed his footsteps; but his love for Anneli kept him from feeling +weary, and the thought of her joy always gave him new strength. Thus, +after hours of toil, he arrived at last in the village, and stood +before Anneli's door. Then he took a packet carefully out of his +shepherd's bag, and with the prettiest ribbons which his mother had +been able to find in the nearest town he adorned the tree; and that +Anneli's heart might make no mistake, he tied at the top a bunch of +alproses, such as he used to bring every evening when he was the +goat-herd and she a lovely little child. Then he planted the pole +firmly in the ground right before Anneli's window, and with a glance +at the bright ribbons fluttering gaily in the wind like the streamers +from a ship, he turned joyfully towards the mountain and his +slumbering herds.</p> + +<p>It was evening, and the farewell sunbeams shed their gold on the +mountain meadows and the senner's dark flowing hair, as he went with +pail and stool to milk the herds just returning from the pasture. Well +he loved the mountain, the herds, and the evenings full of sunset +splendour and of peace. But to-day he had no eye for the glory around +him; he thought of the valley and of Anneli, who was to join to-day +for the first time in the village dance, and who would be led by some +richer hand. Hitherto, he had thought himself passing rich; to-day, +for the first time, he sighed over his poverty. He sat down beside his +favourite, Brownie, and began to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79">79</a></span> milk; but in the middle of his work +his hands dropped on his lap, and he began to wonder who besides +himself had set up trees for Anneli, and whether she had known his +among them all. Surely she must have. The bunch of alproses at the top +would tell her, and he smiled to himself, and began again to milk.</p> + +<p>Then a well-known voice called to him from the cottage, "Hallo, Hans! +where are you hiding? I have been searching the whole place for you."</p> + +<p>Hans shouted back an answer, and there appeared above the hedge the +face of Seppi, the only one of the farm-servants who did not grudge +Hans his place in Anneli's favour, and who had always remained his +firm and faithful friend.</p> + +<p>"Well, Seppi, what good news do you bring?" asked Hans, with a feeling +of presentiment. "What brings you so late to the mountain?"</p> + +<p>"It is Anneli, self-willed girl," answered Seppi, laughing. "She will +not go to the dance without you. Quick, quick, put on your best +clothes. The fiddlers are ready, and the maidens waiting to be +fetched. I will stay here in your place to-night." Hans darted up like +an arrow and flew into the cottage, while Seppi took his seat beside +the cows, and went on with the unfinished work.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes Hans appeared in holiday clothes, and in his hat a +garland and a ribbon like those on Anneli's May-pole. "Now, Seppi, +take good care of the cattle," said he, coming back to the hedge. "You +have known the beasts for years—ever since you were here for a while +as under-senner. Good-bye." And he hurried off.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80">80</a></span></p> + +<p>But suddenly he remembered the little man, and that he had not told +Seppi about the expected guest. Notwithstanding his eagerness about +Anneli and the evening's merry-making, he ran back and commended the +dwarf to the care of his astonished friend. But now nothing kept him +back. Swift as the chamois before the hunter he flew down the steep +path, and reached the gate of the farm just as the festal procession +was moving along the village street to escort the "pearl of the +valley" to the dance.</p> + +<p>She was waiting for him at the gate, and watching impatiently for his +coming. "I am so glad you are here at last," she said, stretching out +both her hands towards him. "You shall be my partner; I have chosen +you out of all the lads who have set up May-poles for me. Just look +how yours looks down on the other contemptible little things. Seppi, +the good fellow, went up to bring me the bunch of alproses and the +ribbon, that I might wear them for your sake."</p> + +<p>She pointed smilingly to her fair head, which was gay with a sky-blue +ribbon, and to the bouquet at her breast. Hans looked at her in a +rapture of delight, and grasped her dear hand more firmly, for the +procession had now reached the farm-house, and the youths who had set +up May-poles in Anneli's honour came out from the rest and stood +before her, that she might choose one as her partner in the dance. But +great were the astonishment and envy of them all when they saw that +the former goat-herd had been preferred to them, and although they had +to consent to this arrangement, yet poor Hans owned<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81">81</a></span> from this moment +a number more of bitter foes. But he neither thought of this nor +feared it; he led the "pearl" which had fallen to his lot out through +the gate, and his face shone with happy excitement as he joined the +procession, and led his fair partner to the linden-trees where the +dance was to be.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_081.jpg" width="400" height="415" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">ANNELI SEES THE MAY-POLE ERECTED BY HANS.</p> + +<p>Hans had always counted himself a happy fellow, but as he now led the +lovely Anneli in the merry dance beneath the green linden-trees, it +seemed as if he had never known<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82">82</a></span> before what happiness meant, and his +whole past life he counted now as nothing. But this life offers no +lasting happiness, and the purer it is the shorter is its reign. +Anneli looked up at him with unconscious tenderness, and whispered +that she would not dance that night with any one but him. The maiden's +softly spoken words reached the ear of Nazerl, the son of a rich +neighbour; and anger and envy blazed forth in his soul.</p> + +<p>"Anneli, you must dance once with me," he said, stepping up to her; +but his petition sounded more like an imperious command.</p> + +<p>"You know, Nazerl," answered the girl, "that Hans is my partner; you +must ask his consent." Now Hans was just bringing a glass to offer +Anneli some refreshment.</p> + +<p>"Listen, goat-boy," said the rich farmer's son haughtily to the poor +senner, "I will let you know that I mean to dance now with Anneli." +And he seized her hand.</p> + +<p>Hans was of a peaceable disposition, and his new happiness had not +made him proud, but this taunt was too much for him.</p> + +<p>"Let go her hand, Nazerl," he said quietly, though his voice trembled. +"She may not dance with you."</p> + +<p>"May she not, indeed, you beggar?" cried Nazerl; "then take this," and +he struck Hans in the face with clenched fist.</p> + +<p>Anneli screamed, and poor Hans lost all control over himself; without +thinking, he hurled the glass in his tormentor's face, and with a loud +groan Nazerl fell pale and bloody to the ground. Again a cry of terror +escaped<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83">83</a></span> Anneli's lips, but it was not for the sake of the fallen +Nazerl, but for Hans, whose thoughtless deed must bring him into +trouble.</p> + +<p>The music ceased, and all hastened to the motionless form that lay +stretched on the grass to offer help, while Hans stood by in +speechless astonishment at his own mad act.</p> + +<p>Then he felt his hand seized, and Anneli's gentle voice whispered in +his ear, "Flee, oh flee, dear Hans, at once, for a minute's delay may +make flight hopeless."</p> + +<p>But when Hans still hesitated, she caught his arm and, unnoticed by +the others, drew him away till they stood at some distance from the +lindens, and were hidden from their companions by the trees. Hans +still looked stunned and paralysed.</p> + +<p>"Hans," she said more earnestly than before, laying her little hand +upon his arm—"Hans, listen to me and follow me. Flee as quickly as +you can, for all, all are against you, because I chose you in +preference to them. Flee, and hide yourself somewhere till the noise +of this is over and Nazerl is recovered."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Anneli," answered Hans shuddering, "he is dead! Did you not see +how pale and motionless he lay?"</p> + +<p>"Then there is all the more need for you to flee," said the maiden +decidedly; "listen, they are coming; go, go," she urged anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Farewell, Anneli. Do not be angry with me, and never forget poor +Hans," and he looked down at her with sorrowful eyes.</p> + +<p>"Never, never, Hans," she said in a firm voice, for the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84">84</a></span> experience of +the last few minutes had ripened her self-knowledge and her will. "But +you will come back some day, guiltless and happy; I know you will. But +now go. They are coming to look for you."</p> + +<p>He stooped, and, overcome with the sorrow of the moment, pressed a +kiss on her sweet lips.</p> + +<p>"Farewell, farewell, my Anneli," he whispered once more, and then he +turned and fled like a hunted chamois. It was dark on the path along +which he hastened, but darker in his soul. The short-lived happiness +to which he had so joyfully opened his heart was gone, perhaps never +to return; even the thought of Anneli's love, which she had so frankly +revealed to him, could not scatter the dark shadows.</p> + +<p>If Nazerl was dead, then he was a murderer, and must remain so all his +life, no matter what might be his punishment and his repentance. He +shuddered, and hastened trembling up the very path which his joyful +footsteps had pressed a few hours before, when his heart was full of +vague but sweetest hopes.</p> + +<p>How all, all had changed in so short a time!</p> + +<p>The moon, which before had beamed almost with the golden light of day, +seemed now as pale as Nazerl's face; the night wind moaned through the +trees like the sighs of a dying man, and the harp-like music of the +glacier stream sounded like avenging thunder. Hans flew onwards, +despair in his heart, great drops of anguish on the brow so lately +crowned with calm content. There lay the night pasture. The moonbeams +fell across it, and showed him the slumbering animals. He pressed his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85">85</a></span> +lips closer at the thought that he must say farewell to the herd that +had grown so dear to him.</p> + +<p>Soon he stood at the senner's cottage. He looked through the window. +All was peaceful as usual. The bed was still unoccupied, and the old +man was not at the table; but Seppi was merrily turning the fritters +and whistling a cheerful tune.</p> + +<p>"Seppi, Seppi!" cried poor Hans outside, as he knocked with trembling +finger against the panes.</p> + +<p>Seppi turned his head in surprise, and when he saw Hans standing out +in the moonlight, he came to the window and drew back the bolt.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, Hans? Is anything wrong?" he said hastily.</p> + +<p>"Alas! yes," sighed Hans, and he told his friend in hurried words the +misfortune that had befallen him.</p> + +<p>"The impudent fellow," cried Seppi angrily. "You may be sure your +reminder will not do him any harm; and as for his being dead, you +know, Hans, 'weeds wont die.' So don't be vexing yourself beyond +measure. And are you going away? Where will you go?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know, Seppi," answered Hans sadly—"as far as my feet will +carry me; away from my beloved country, perhaps for ever;" and he +wiped a tear from his cheek. "But you must do me one kindness, that I +may go content. As soon as you can get down to the valley, go to my +good old mother, and tell her not to grieve too much. Tell her that I +will try to do right, though I must leave the mountains of the Tyrol; +and beg Anneli never, never to forget me. And one thing more, Seppi.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86">86</a></span> +Take good care of the little man, and let him want for nothing. +Promise me this."</p> + +<p>Seppi nodded, and his good, honest face had a cheery smile on it as he +gave his hand to his friend, who hurried away on his restless +wandering. He gave a hasty glance at the night pastures, which he now +reached; the long mossy veil of the old pine-trees, beneath which he +had so often slept, fluttered in the wind like mourning banners. His +favourite brown cow raised her head slowly, and the bell round her +neck sounded like a sad farewell. Hot tears flowed from his eyes, but +he had no time for long leave-taking, he must hurry on. Yonder rose +the rugged brow of the glacier, with its furrows lighted by the weird +moonbeams. He passed it by winding paths through the gloom of the +fir-trees, now climbing steep ascents, now descending into a ravine +with its foaming torrent—paths known to no eye and foot save those of +the boldest mountaineer.</p> + +<p>At last he stood on the lofty ridge from which the road led downwards +into an unknown valley and unfamiliar fields. He threw a last glance +back towards his own loved mountain, then he hastened without further +delay on his sorrowful journey.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The golden sunlight of evening lay once more on mountain and valley, +and floated on the waves of the lovely river Inn, which flowed as +peacefully as if it had never tried to foam and rage like its brothers +in the mountains. A youth was descending the mountain with tottering +footsteps. It was the last of the hills that had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87">87</a></span> lain between him and +the great and populous town that stood in the valley below. His blue +eyes looked dim and sunken, his long hair hung tangled round his head, +and his once respectable clothing bore traces of hasty and toilsome +journeying.</p> + +<p>The son of the quiet mountains looked down in amazement at the bustle +in the town below, and a deep sigh escaped his lips. But he collected +himself, and descended the last declivity to the bank of the stream, +across which a bridge led to the town. At one end of this bridge stood +a watch-house, for it was a needful thing in those unsettled times to +keep a sharp look-out on friend and foe. Two soldiers sat at the oaken +table before the door. The young man went up to the building, and +stood timidly a few steps from the men. At last the elder of the two +raised his head.</p> + +<p>"Look, Franzerl," said he, after a hasty glance at the young wanderer; +"there comes a lad from your mountains, but he does not look so +cheerful as you did when you came."</p> + +<p>Franzerl looked up, but scarcely had he met the wanderer's eye than he +sprang up and with a cry of joy caught his arm.</p> + +<p>"Hans, dear Hans, where have you come from?" he cried. "Do not you +remember me? Do you not know Franzerl, with whom you and Anneli used +so often to play, and with whom you so often shared your bread and +cheese, when my poor mother had nothing to give to her hungry little +Franzerl?"</p> + +<p>Hans—for it was he—looked with joyful surprise at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88">88</a></span> the cheerful +young face, and recognised at once his old playfellow, who years ago +had left his native valley to push his fortune in the great world, and +whose friends had long believed him to be dead. He had become a +soldier; but in spite of his stern employment his heart had remained +as warm and true as ever. He drew his old friend to the table where +the other man sat, and offered him some of the fiery drink in the +glass before him.</p> + +<p>"Drink, my good fellow," he said pressingly, "drink—you seem to be in +need of refreshment—and then tell me what brings you hither."</p> + +<p>The rough kindness touched the poor wanderer's heart, and acted like +magic on his weary spirit. It was the first familiar face that he had +seen for many days—the first pleasant reminder of days gone by, and +he found it sweet to open his heart to this friend of his childhood, +and tell him of the folly that had driven him from home, and how he +had wandered since from mountain to mountain begging a bite of bread +and a drink of milk from kind-hearted herdsmen; for he had not +ventured to go down to the villages, where the news of what had +happened might have arrived before him. "And now," he said, "I am +going away—away to some far-off country, where they know nothing of +Nazerl or of Hans, or even of the beautiful land of the Tyrol."</p> + +<p>"You are very foolish," laughed Franzerl. "Are you quite sure that +Nazerl is dead? He had always a thick skull, as I know full well. +Don't be a fool, but stay here and become a brave soldier like us. +Believe me, it is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89">89</a></span> a merry life, and it is possible to be a good man +even under this coat."</p> + +<p>Hans hesitated a moment; he had never thought of this, but Franzerl +overwhelmed him with persuasive eloquence.</p> + +<p>"Look here, Hans; to-morrow or next day we are going to Italy, a +country that, they say, is even more lovely than our own. Ours is a +cheerful life, and when you come back in two or three years grass will +have grown over the whole affair, and they will not dare to say a word +to you after you have worn the Emperor's uniform."</p> + +<p>"But Anneli?" sighed Hans.</p> + +<p>"You cannot see Anneli for a time at any rate, and if she is really +worthy of you, she will be true to you."</p> + +<p>Yes, Franzerl was right, Hans saw that; so he agreed to his proposal, +and went with his friend to the recruiting sergeant, who was glad to +receive the fine fellow into his ranks.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>It was autumn. The morning wind swept over the Adriatic, rippling its +deep blue waves, and played with the dark hair of a youth who leant in +deep reverie against the archway of the Piazza di San Marco, gazing +dreamily at the flow of the Grand Canal, which, after cutting Venice +with its great curve, mingles its waters with the waves of the +Adriatic.</p> + +<p>It was Hans. The mountains and valleys of his native land lay far +away. It was long since he had left the last mountain-pass of the +Tyrol far behind, but he could not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90">90</a></span> leave his love for home there at +the boundary—it filled him with secret longings in this beautiful, +but foreign land. What good did all the splendour of this strange +country do him—all the lofty palaces and art-trophies of the queenly +city—all the sweet melody of this unknown tongue? Could one of those +musical sounds be compared with Anneli's voice when she said, "I am so +glad you have come, dear Hans"? Could one of these marble towers +attempt to rival the jagged glacier peaks when they shone with the +purple of the evening sky? And when the horn sounded at sunset through +the mountains, echoed a hundred-fold from clefts and deep ravines, and +dying softly amid the shades of the valley, who would compare with +that the tones of the music which day and night hovered on the waters +through the streets of Venice?</p> + +<p>Hans raised his tearful eyes: the sky, at least, must be the same +which spans the valleys of the Tyrol. Then he noticed a figure on a +slender pillar—a figure which he must have seen long years before. A +brazen lion with a proudly flowing mane raised its kingly head, as if +keeping watch over the city below, and over the sea that kissed its +feet. The young man dashed the rising tear from his eye, and looked +thoughtfully up at the kingly beast. Yes, indeed, that was the same +lion which was marked on the coin that the little man gave him long +ago, and which in the secret drawer had kept watch and guard over his +mother's treasure. A smile passed like a sunbeam over his troubled +face as he thought of that sunny autumn morning when the old man said<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91">91</a></span> +good-bye to him, and when he watched him from the rock as he sailed +through the air on his magic mantle.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I wish I had such a ship," he said with a sigh. Then, in the +familiar accents of his native tongue, the words sounded in his ear, +"Good morning, Hans."</p> + +<p>Hans started—there was no one near. Had a dream mocked him? But no, +there it was again—"Look up, Hans, up here." And Hans looked up.</p> + +<p>Above him, out of the high bow-window of one of those proud palaces, +leant a familiar head with snowy locks and dark earnest eyes that +smiled kindly down on poor Hans.</p> + +<p>He uttered a cry of joy, his first since he came to this foreign land, +and quick as an arrow he darted into the archway, and entered the +portal of the palace. His foot flew over marble steps and velvet +carpets; but he had no eye for that. On he went, up to where, leaning +over the golden banister of the landing-place, a noble and +well-remembered face awaited him. Full of emotion, he stood before the +old man, who gave him his hand in loving greeting. No longer a shabby +coat, but a garment of black velvet covered his form, and his withered +but wonder-working hand gleamed with costly diamonds. But the youth's +affection broke the barriers of this marvellous change, and tenderly, +as on that spring evening on the mountain when he had brought the old +man into his cottage, he pressed his lips against the kind hand, and +said from the fulness of his heart, "God bless you, sir. I bless Him +for letting me find you here in this foreign land."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92">92</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_092.jpg" width="400" height="414" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">HANS RECEIVES A HEARTY WELCOME FROM AN OLD FRIEND.</p> + +<p>"Not a foreign land, Hans; I am in my own country," answered the noble +Venetian, as he led the young man through the splendid halls, whose +stately walls were adorned with the masterpieces of those immortal +artists who called Italy their home. Then they sat down together in +the wide bow-window, and Hans looked joyfully into the old man's +venerable countenance.</p> + +<p>"So you did not forget the poor herdsman in your splendid home?" said +he.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93">93</a></span></p> + +<p>"Forget thee, Hans!" replied the noble Venetian—"forget thee, who +didst think of me in the midst of love and pleasure, and even in thy +flight, when thy heart was filled with deadly anguish! No, indeed. I +long to reward those years of faithful love, and perhaps the +opportunity has come at last."</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir," cried Hans with shining eyes, "will you tell me how things +go at home, where you have been more lately than I? Tell me if Nazerl +recovered, if my mother has ceased to grieve about me, and if Anneli +still remembers me."</p> + +<p>"Nazerl is dead—but through no fault of thine," said the old man +soothingly, for Hans had looked terror-stricken at his opening words. +"He soon recovered from the trifling wound caused by thy hand; but his +own foolhardiness drove him up to the highest points of rock after a +chamois, and a rash step hurled him into the ravine. It was not till +long afterwards that they found his mangled corpse. As for thy mother +and Anneli, thou mayest see for thyself."</p> + +<p>So saying he rose, stepped up to a richly carved cabinet, and took +from a secret compartment a flashing jewel. The young man recognised +it well; it was the wondrous mountain mirror; and now he held it once +more in his hand, and looked searchingly on its shining surface. Light +mists rolled over it; they grew gradually thinner and thinner, till at +last there lay before him in the splendour of the morning sunlight his +own beloved valley, and the substantial farm-house, Anneli's home. He +gave no heed to the cheerful stir in barn and stable,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94">94</a></span> nor to the busy +preparation for the returning herds. No, his eye pressed through the +clear window-panes to a well-remembered room. It was quiet and cosy, +as in days gone by. At the window sat Anneli, fair and lovable as +ever, but her countenance bore traces of gentle melancholy. The +snow-white thread rested in her hands, and her lips moved in earnest +talk with the two women at the other window—the farmer's widow and +the old mother that Hans was longing to comfort. It seemed to Hans +that the conversation concerned him, and as if now and then his name +fell from Anneli's rosy lips. And every time she raised her eyes +towards the opposite wall, Hans followed the direction of her gaze, +and saw, carefully preserved by glass and frame, a well-remembered +blue ribbon and bunch of withered mountain flowers. At this sign of +faithful memory tears started to the young man's eyes, and when he had +dried them, and looked again on the magic mirror, the dear vision had +vanished, and the glass flashed once more in the light of the Italian +sun.</p> + +<p>"Listen, my son; I will tell thee the wish that my heart cherishes for +thee," said the old man, as he laid the magic mirror carefully back in +the cabinet. "I am alone and lonely, the last representative of a name +of ancient renown. When I was young and strong, I was filled with a +desire after secret knowledge. I sought the gold of the mountains far +and near—thou knowest this well—heaping treasures on treasures, and +all the while I never noticed that I was growing old, and was still +alone in life. Stay now with me. I will enrich<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95">95</a></span> thy mind with the +treasures of my knowledge, and thy heart shall remain pure. Thou shalt +be my son, the heir of my wealth; and thy name shall be inscribed +among the noblest names in the golden book of Venice."</p> + +<p>The young man clasped his hands, and leant towards his aged friend. +"Forgive me, noble sir," he begged humbly, "if I cannot gratify your +wishes; but what can riches and honour do for a heart that is pining +with longings after home? The scene which I have just witnessed—the +vision of Anneli and my home—has shown me where alone my happiness +must be sought. But if you wish to grant me a favour, then loose the +fetters that bind me here, and let me go as quickly as possible back +to my loved mountains."</p> + +<p>The old man sat a moment in silent thought. "I would fain have kept +thee with me," he said at last, "for thy heart is true and pure; but +my wishes must yield to thy happiness."</p> + +<p>So saying, he rose and once more opened the cupboard which hid his +magic hoards. From its most secret recess he brought a dark object, +and when he unrolled it, it proved to be the magic mantle, the +air-ship of which Hans had thought so longingly a short time before. +The old man spread it on the balcony, embraced the astonished youth +with the tenderness of a father, and led him towards the mantle.</p> + +<p>"Now stand on it," he said; "take this staff to guide thy flight; and +think of me with love."</p> + +<p>Hans obeyed as in a dream. The old Venetian waved<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96">96</a></span> his hand, and the +mantle rose and bore the young man up into the air.</p> + +<p>Not till his eyes met the full light of the open air, and the fresh +wind played with the folds of the mantle, did Hans awake to the +reality of his situation. He looked sorrowfully back at his noble +friend, who still stood in the bow-window looking after him, with a +smile on his aged features, and waving a farewell with his withered +hand. Hans stretched out his arms towards him, and cried in a voice of +deep emotion, "Farewell, farewell, noble sir," and the mantle bore him +onwards with the swiftness of the storm-wind.</p> + +<p>For a moment the Queen of the Sea gleamed far below, in the splendour +of her towers and palaces; the sunlight flashed from the high windows +of her churches, and the black gondolas glided noiselessly over the +winding canals. But soon this scene grew faint in the distance, and +nothing was left of it all but the sea stretching in a blue line along +the horizon. Hans turned his face homewards, and directed his course +towards the north. Swift as an arrow he flew onwards; the air rustled +around him like the sound of eagles' wings; in the dim distance lay +the mountain peaks of his native land, but they began to shine out +more and more clearly from the blue mists. Soon he was floating above +that rocky pass which long months before he had trodden with deadly +sorrow in his heart; and now he breathes the air of his native land.</p> + +<p>With beaming eyes he looked down over the side of the magic eagle +whose dark pinions were bearing him<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97">97</a></span> onwards to his home. Far below +him lay the mountains with the grazing herds; from his cloudy height +they seemed no larger than the lady-birds with which he used to play +when a boy, and the senners' cottages like the round pebbles in the +village brook. He almost felt as if he could touch the glacier peaks +with his hand, so near did they seem in the splendour of the midday +sun. He looked down into their icy clefts, and saw the glacier torrent +rolling far below in milk-white waves; but the magic boat sped further +and further, still bearing Hans swiftly onwards to his home.</p> + +<p>The young man now began to view the country more carefully, and soon +he directed his course westwards. Then he uttered a cry of joy, for +they were sailing towards a well-known mountain, and the mantle, as if +it knew exactly its appointed task, sank gently downwards, till Hans +found himself on a projecting rock. It was the same spot from which he +had often, when a goat-herd, looked down longingly on the smiling +meadows, searching for the entrance to the dwarf king's magic +realm—the same spot where the old man bade him farewell that autumn +morning long ago, before taking his airy journey to his distant home. +Hans sprang joyously from his magic boat, laid the staff on it with +whispered words of thanks, and immediately the mantle rose, and flew +swift as an arrow up into the clouds. Hans stood watching it for a few +moments, then he hurried down the old familiar path. A little below +herds were grazing—his herds—and Seppi was leaning against a rock +watching them, and singing the while in his own cheery way. Hans<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98">98</a></span> +glanced joyfully at the distant scene, and hurried on. There was the +night pasture, and now he arrived at the senner's cottage; he did not +wait, however, even to peep in at the window, so eager was he to reach +the village. With flying footsteps he hurried down the rocky path +which he had climbed a few months before with deadly anguish in his +heart.</p> + +<p>But to-day—to-day all was changed. With joy throbbing in every +pulse-beat Hans felt the stony path softer than the grass of the +pasture-lands, and the sound of the stream seemed sweeter than the +melody of harps. At last he reached the valley, and just as he entered +it the evening bell began to ring. At the sound he stopped, bared his +head, and knelt by the wayside; but when the last tone died away he +rose and hastened up the village street, then with a bound he crossed +the brook and reached the farm-yard gate. There was no one to be seen, +for the servants were at supper in the house. Quickly, but +noiselessly, Hans slipped through the yard, and stood with beating +heart at the door of the sitting-room. There was no sound of life +within. Hans put his ear to the key-hole and listened. Then he heard +Anneli's sweet voice saying, "Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and +bless Thy gifts. Amen." And when the Amen was said, Hans opened the +door and stepped over the threshold.</p> + +<p>"Have you any of God's gifts to spare for a poor wanderer?" he said +softly.</p> + +<p>"Hans, dear Hans!" was Anneli's glad cry, for in spite of the twilight +and his unfamiliar dress she recognised<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99">99</a></span> him at a glance, and soon she +lay weeping with joy in the tall soldier's arms.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Next May-day a stately May-pole stood, as before, at Anneli's window, +richly adorned with fluttering blue ribbons and with the bunch of +alproses at the top, and Anneli once more walked on the arm of her +Hans to the dance beneath the lindens. But this time the rich farmers' +sons could not say a word of protest, for Anneli was now a fair and +happy bride.</p> + +<p>Meantime, the brave Franzerl had tired of the merry soldier's life, +for it had grown dull to him since the return home of his dear friend +Hans. So he had laid aside the Emperor's uniform, and come back to his +native valley.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_099.jpg" width="200" height="216" alt="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100">100</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="RHINE_GOLD">RHINE GOLD:</a></h2> + +<div class="i100"> +<div id="i100a"></div> +<div id="i100b"></div> + +<p><b><span class="hide">E</span><span class="out">VENING'S</span></b> dim shadows had ceased to hover in vague mystery around the +walls of Worms. They had, hours before, gathered in dark masses in +every nook of the royal city, hiding like traitors from the light of +the clear full moon that flooded with silvery splendour the Rhine +river and the Wonnegau on its banks, where, transformed by the soft +touch of the moonbeams, stood the proud seat of Burgundy's mighty +kings.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101">101</a></span></p> + +<p>Slumber and silence reigned in the palace which, but the morning +before, had resounded with the clash of weapons and a cheerful +bustling life; for King Gunther, accompanied by his brothers and his +bravest men-at-arms, had that day set out on a warlike expedition, +leaving the town and the castle and his fair queen Brunhild to the +care of the truest of the true, bold Haco, in whose courage and wisdom +he placed the fullest confidence.</p> + +</div><!--i100--> + +<p>With a loose velvet mantle half hiding his gold-gleaming armour, Haco +paced the streets of the lonely city, and listened attentively for +some sound to break the stillness of the night. A distant noise like +the rumbling of many wheels reached his ear, and an eager look came +into his eyes. He glanced over at the palace, in the safest room of +which lay Brunhild, his honoured queen. Out of love to her he had +murderously slain the noble Siegfried, the immortal hero of the +Nibelungen; and the shame of the deed will last to the remotest ages, +dimming with rust the splendid escutcheon of his fame.</p> + +<p>When he had convinced himself of the undisturbed repose of the royal +household, he turned and walked towards the minster, in whose shadow +lay another palace. There dwelt the beautiful Kriemhild, King +Gunther's sister, and widow of the noble Siegfried, whose death she +mourned with inconsolable grief. The stillness of repose hovered also +round these walls. The windows were dark, the doors barred, and amidst +her maids lay the royal widow in her first deep sleep.</p> + +<p>The moonbeams glided over the roof of the palace,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102">102</a></span> and glanced +suspiciously at the dark figure of the man who stood gazing anxiously +up at the windows. When he saw that there was no movement, he went +towards the tower built of huge blocks which guarded the entrance to +the castle, took a bunch of rusty keys from under his mantle, and +opened the locks and bolts of the ironbound door which led into the +vaults. The last bolt was loosed, the heavy gate opened, and the +moonlight streamed in freely over the treasures which were here +displayed in splendid piles. Crowns of gold richly adorned with +diamonds, bracelets and chains gleaming with jewels, lay there in rich +profusion. Wrought by the skilful hands of the dwarfs, they had been +kept hid by the little folk in secret mountain recesses until +Siegfried came, and Alberich, the dwarf-king, had been obliged, +notwithstanding his magic power and cunning, to yield to the might of +the hero's arm, and give him the precious hoards of jewels. And beside +these, heaped up to the very roof, were bars upon bars of uncoined +gold, only waiting the impress of the mint to change them into an +exhaustless hoard. This was the treasure of the Nibelungen, the widow +Kriemhild's rightful possession, which the heroes had brought her a +few weeks before from the land of the Nibelungen. With full hands she +had scattered gold among these heroes, and had also given rich gifts +to the vassals of her brother, the king of Burgundy, for she had now +come to live in his land that she might be near the corpse of her +beloved husband. And what Kriemhild's beauty and misfortune had failed +to do, her bounteous gifts accomplished. The hearts of the Burgundians +were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103">103</a></span> turned towards her, so that Haco, the watchful hero, began to be +anxious about his own influence and her probable revenge. So he +determined to rob her of the Nibelungen treasure, that she might be +deprived of the means of working his ruin.</p> + +<p>At a place not far from the royal city, where the Rhine flows in a +still deeper channel, stood Haco a few hours later in a boat on the +river, and watched the high-piled waggons, the first of which now +passed over the shaking bridge, rolled on with threatening rumble, and +stopped close to the low parapet. Haco stretched forth his stalwart +arm and removed the back of the waggon, so that its precious burden +slid into the depths below.</p> + +<p>The stream gleamed brightly in the radiance of gold and precious +stones, the jewels whirled round and round in the rapid waters, then +sank down flashing from wave to wave, till they had reached the still, +deep bed of the river. Waggon after waggon was silently emptied by +Haco's powerful hand, and each time the costly load made the Rhine +river flash with borrowed splendour. So hour after hour went by in +silent and restless haste. When the last gold bar had disappeared +beneath the water, the drivers swore an oath of eternal secrecy, +received rich rewards of gold, and led their waggons away in endless +line. Haco stood alone in the boat, and watched them till the last man +had vanished in the shades of night; then he stooped to gaze down into +the stream.</p> + +<p>There far down lay the treasure of the Nibelungen, and the Rhine +flowed on in silence over the golden secret<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104">104</a></span> that it hid. No tongue +would ever tell the tale, no arm would ever reach the hoards. Why, +then, did Haco still stand lost in thought?—why did he gaze down +gloomily into the river depths? Was it that the shadows of the past, +or visions of a bloody future, rose from the gleaming waves? Was he +thinking of Kriemhild's beauty and the passionate love which his now +hard heart had once felt for the beautiful princess, and which, when +rejected, changed into anger and hatred that moved his arm to the +murder of Siegfried and the robbery of the Nibelungen treasure? Or did +he see with prophetic eye that time in which the now helpless one +should take revenge on all who had injured her—a revenge which should +exterminate the heroes of Burgundy to the last man.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Many hundred years had passed over the world since that night robbery; +blood and tears had been shed, dried, and forgotten; new nations had +arisen and the old ones fallen, so that there was scarcely a page of +the world's chronicle to tell of their struggles, hopes, and tears. +All things had changed. The new had taken the place of the old, only +to yield in its turn to a newer order still. Nothing was the same but +ever young, ever beautiful, ever innocent nature, and the human heart +with its love and hate. The Rhine still flowed and the Wonnegau on its +banks still bloomed as of old, but its name was changed; the Cathedral +of Worms still pointed to the sky, but it was not the same building in +the shadow of which Kriemhild's palace used to stand. The generation +that now trod the same soil knew nothing of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105">105</a></span> the Nibelungen—the +tradition of those heroes lived only in some half-forgotten songs. The +sunken treasure had long since been thought a myth, and with an +incredulous smile the wise men of those days pointed to the stream +which was said to hide such a "golden secret."</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, it was no myth; the treasure still lay beneath the +waters. Not a crown, not a bracelet was lost; not a diamond had fallen +from the brilliant setting; for, as if held together by magic hand, +the jewels had remained firmly united; but wave after wave had rolled +on unceasingly, day and night, from year's end to year's end, and +softly and gradually the treasure had been pressed on further into the +bed of the river. The Wonnegau lay behind it; there the waves foamed, +whirling over the hidden reefs beneath, and further on towards the sea +they roared loudly against the walls of the Pfalzburg, then flowed +caressingly past the blooming vines which wound their clustered +garlands round the white cottages of the vine-dressers.</p> + +<p>The treasure of the Nibelungen had been carried in safety, though +without any guiding hand, past all these different scenes, and the +waves had borne it further and further into the shadow of the bank, +bit by bit, until, after many years, it lay at the foot of a rock that +rose high and bold above the waves. The moonbeams wove a silver +garland round its granite brow, and for centuries tradition echoed +round its jagged peak; but a row of crags surrounded the foot of the +rock, and the foaming rage of the waves kept away even the boldest. +There into that deep rocky bed the waves bore the treasure,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106">106</a></span> and now +it rested safely hidden at the foot of the Loreley rock.</p> + +<p>But treasures which have once gleamed in the sunlight, and been +grasped by human hands, can never rest in darkness; they strive to +reach again the light of day and the warm living hand of man. Slowly +they rise from year to year, till at last they glow in the light of +the sun, and await a pure hand to set them free, to do good with their +riches, and so to expiate the guilt which was attached to them. It was +thus that the treasure of the Nibelungen pressed upwards. It rose +slowly, slowly, for sighs and blood and tears hung more heavily on it +than on other sunken hoards. But at last, about a thousand years after +that night when Haco threw the treasure into the stream, it had made +its way up through the water.</p> + +<p>It was just such a delightful spring night as that memorable one long +ago; work had long since ended in the blooming vineyards, rest and +peace lay all around. The night-wind came softly from the mountains +and bore the fragrance of the vines across the Rhine; the moon stood +high in heaven, its light glided trembling down on the ledges of the +Loreley and kissed the feet of the rock, which until now had lain in +deep shadow. There in magic radiance floated the jewels of the +Nibelungen treasure, so that the Rhine shone brightly as its waves +played round the golden hoard. The night-wind blew more strongly, +bearing on its wings something like a spirit, which sank in a veil of +mist round the point of the rock, and then stood in that majestic +beauty which had in days long past touched Haco's proud heart and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107">107</a></span> won +the love of the hero Siegfried. It was Kriemhild, once Siegfried's +sorrowing widow, and afterwards King Etzel's queen in the distant land +of the Huns. As Queen of Hungary, she invited the Burgundian heroes to +her kingdom, that she might demand the stolen treasure from Haco, or +take revenge on him for Siegfried's murder and the robbery of her +gold. But the vengeance which should only have overtaken one fell upon +all, even on her own little son. Kriemhild's proud heart was softened +by the blow, and with a pang of keen repentance she thought of those +other mothers whom her mad revenge had rendered childless. One way +only was left her of giving happiness instead of sorrow. With a desire +that rose to heaven like a prayer, she thought of her lost treasure. +If she could but get it now, what troubled hearts would be soothed by +her who had heretofore brought misery to happy ones! But the swift +sword sent her to the grave with her longings unsatisfied. The same +slaughter that had freed her from her enemies had robbed her of her +child and of her life.</p> + +<p>Her spirit hovered often round the scenes of her youthful happiness, +seeking the hidden treasure in the river-bed. That night, when it rose +to the surface, and its golden radiance was seen bright and clear, +Kriemhild came, thinking to set it free. Her eyes gazed longingly on +the floating gold, and her arms, light and transparent as the +moonbeams, were outstretched over the rock as if she would fain grasp +the moving treasure. Then she glided with spirit tread down over the +jagged moonlit rock by paths which no human foot could follow, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108">108</a></span> +soon she stood on the narrow ledge over which the Rhine river flowed +in gleaming ripples. Her white foot was covered by the water, but she +heeded it not; her eye gazed fixedly on the treasure for which she had +longed unceasingly in life, and which now hovered close to her feet in +the dancing waves. Her lips moved softly, her hands were clasped as if +in earnest desire, and she stooped to reach the golden crown which now +knocked with a metallic sound against the rock and almost touched her +foot; but when she stretched out her transparent hand, and thought she +had touched the point of the diamond cross, the crown shrank from her +fingers, sank into the stream, and was borne away out of her reach by +the mighty waters. Kriemhild sank on her knees; the waves wet her long +flowing locks, and the hem of her purple robe—but she felt them not. +Only one thought, one feeling, lived in her heart—the longing to +recover the treasure. She bent forward once more; her white hands +clutched again and again at the jewels which shone around her in +tempting nearness, and yet always shrank from her touch. Other +treasures floated towards her, the bars of gold came close to her +feet, then started back when the white hands grasped at them, and +gradually all disappeared in the middle of the stream.</p> + +<p>Kriemhild's cold lips trembled, her transparent hands ceased their +useless toil, and were clasped again in prayer. Then there was a +louder rushing in the river, and a majestic shadow floated down the +stream. Kriemhild's eye watched its onward movement; nearer and nearer +it came, till it passed through the foaming gold stream, +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109">109</a></span> +and approached the rock where the Queen now stood erect and majestic.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_109.jpg" width="400" height="597" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">CHARLEMAGNE MEETS WITH KRIEMHILD.<br /> +F. C., p. 108.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111">111</a></span></p> + +<p>It was Charlemagne, once Germany's beloved and mighty ruler, who every +year leaves his tomb at Aachen, glides along the Rhine to bless the +vineyards on its banks, and then lies down again in the golden coffin +until the fragrance of a new spring awakes him to another beneficent +progress. Now he stood before her on the river, clad in his purple +mantle and his golden crown, with the sword which formerly decided the +fate of nations in his cold right hand. His foot rested on the shield +of Roland, his beloved nephew, which they had laid beside him in the +tomb, and which now bore him like a trusty boat. The water rippled +over the golden edge, and washed the grave-dust from the flashing +emerald which the hero of Ronceval once won from the giant and +fastened as an ornament on his shield.</p> + +<p>"Who art thou?" asked the dead Emperor, when his gaze had rested long +on Kriemhild's face. "Thou art no mortal woman; I know that by the +glance of thine eye, which speaks to me of bygone ages. It was thus +that Fastrada's eyes shone; her golden hair was soft and silken as +thine. I have not forgotten it, though I have slept for more than +half-a-thousand years in the dark vault—yet thou art not Fastrada, +the Emperor's beloved wife."</p> + +<p>"No, great Emperor," said the Queen; "I was once Kriemhild, the wife +of Siegfried, the hero of the Nibelungen, who ruled over the land +which was also subject to thy sway. The present generation know almost +nothing of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112">112</a></span> his glory, but in thy times, O Emperor, his renown was +still bright."</p> + +<p>"I know him well, that model of all knightly virtues," said the +Emperor thoughtfully, "and his fate and thine are familiar to me. It +was but the old and yet ever new song that sounds through all +time—the song of the victory of evil over good—which made my life +also one of pain and trouble. But what brings thee hither, O Queen?"</p> + +<p>"If thou knowest my fate, noble Emperor," answered Kriemhild, "thou +knowest also what I seek for here. Thou knowest the misery I caused in +life. When repentance came it was at the last moment, and my time was +gone for earthly works of love. But now, perhaps, my spirit may be +permitted to grasp this treasure, cause of so much sin, and use it +well and wisely, till as many tears are dried as have been shed, and +as much sorrow healed as was once caused by me.</p> + +<p>"See yonder, noble Emperor! there gleams the Nibelungen hoard, the +bequest left me by my husband, but of which Haco robbed me. It has +risen, and awaits only the delivering hand; but no one comes. So I +would fain grasp the treasures and seize the moving bars of gold. Then +in the stillness of the night I would take them into the abodes of +poverty and misfortune, so that when the inmates awake Kriemhild's +treasure might dry the tears of need and despair. But it is not +permitted me."</p> + +<p>The Emperor turned his face and gazed searchingly down at the jewels, +which floated in bright clear radiance on the waters of the Rhine.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113">113</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thou askest a thing impossible, O Queen," he said at length; "knowest +thou not the limits which debar spirits from the deeds of mortals? It +is only a guiltless, living, human hand which may change the sentence +that hangs over them. But the Nibelungen treasure has long since been +forgotten. Yet look! Thou no longer seest the jewels in the full size +of olden days. Wave after wave has gnawed at them; the waters have +worked unceasingly through long centuries at this tedious task. See +how the ornaments on the bracelets and crowns have shrunk, and how +slender the links of the chains have become. The Rhine has taken the +gold of thy treasure, and with it fertilised the blooming meadows on +its banks. Nightly the gold set free rises in light mists above the +stream and sinks in blessing on mountain and valley, and when autumn +comes thy gold gleams in every cluster, ripens in every ear of corn. +Freer, stronger, more joyous are the people of these meadows—and that +is the blessing of the Nibelungen treasure, which rests unseen in +earth and air and water—thus will the guilt and tears be done away +with which once lay heavy on this hoard. Then have patience, O Queen, +for a few short years—then thou wilt search in vain for thy treasure. +Meantime other ministries are thine."</p> + +<p>The Emperor bowed his head in courteous farewell, and sailed on his +magic boat up the moonlit stream.</p> + +<p>Kriemhild gazed after him. The emerald in the point of the shield +flashed brightly in the moonlight, and the wide purple mantle +fluttered above the gleaming waves. The Emperor blessed the vineyards +as he passed; and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114">114</a></span> when the last glimmer of his crown grew pale and +the veil of night concealed him, the Queen once more looked at the +gold hoard at her feet. The dead Emperor had spoken truly; her eyes +now perceived it too; so she could wait in patience till the last +crown, the last gold bar, had melted in the sparkling river.</p> + +<p>The treasure's time of freedom was passed; no delivering hand had +come. The jewels slowly shrank together round the foot of the Loreley +and fell into their watery bed. Their splendour was extinguished; +still and dark the river flowed. Then Kriemhild turned and ascended +the rock. She gave one long farewell look at the meadows of her former +home, and then vanished like a mist in the distance.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Again centuries have passed. Kriemhild no longer hovers round the +Loreley, for the Nibelungen treasure has melted in the waves; only its +diamonds rest uninjured in the river bed, and any one gazing into its +depths on starry nights may see them flash and sparkle far below. But +the gold runs freely through the Rhine, so that its waters flow in +bright, clear waves; and on summer nights the precious substance rises +to the clouds, and then falls in fertilising dew on the meadows and +vineyards all around. Gold shines in the ripening berries and gleams +in the waving corn; with the clear ring of gold sound the songs of the +Rhenish people; pure as gold is their honesty—that surest safeguard +against every foe.</p> + +<p>That is the German Nibelungenhort—that is the Rhine gold.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115">115</a></span></p> + +<h2>The Friendship of the Dwarfs.</h2> + +<h2><a id="PART_I">PART I.</a></h2> + +<div class="i115"> +<div id="i115a"></div> +<div id="i115b"></div> + +<p class="h4 smcap">The Dying Dwarf Queen</p> + +<p><b> + <span class="hide">A</span> + <span class="out"> STATELY</span></b> +and strongly-built fortress stood many hundred years ago on +a high rock of the Thuringian Mountains. The lord of this castle was +descended from one of the noblest families in the land, and had chosen +this place from all his numerous estates as a home for himself, his +wife, and his little son, + <span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116">116</a></span> +because its cheerful situation and mild +climate were best suited to the Countess Matilda's delicate health.</p> + +<p>They had come home to it, after a long journey, on the evening which +preceded the night on which my story begins, and the Countess, wearied +with all the ceremonies of the reception, had just fallen into a +gentle and refreshing sleep. Crimson curtains hung in heavy silken +folds round the lady's couch; through them the lamps shed a softened +light on the sleeper, lending to her cheeks a rosy glow which was, +alas! but seldom seen there.</p> +<p>It was midnight. Every one in the castle was asleep, resting from the +exertions of the past day, when the lofty door was noiselessly opened, +and a little tiny man with a long grey beard approached the couch of +the slumbering Countess, and let the light of a lantern fall on her +delicate features. He was scarcely three feet high, and his figure was +of ungraceful build. But in the rather large head gleamed a pair of +bright and intelligent eyes, and in the aged features shone an +expression of benevolence and truth. The little man's clothes were of +a plain dark colour; his little smock-frock was bound by a girdle with +a silver buckle; under his arm he carried an invisible cap, a little +black head-dress with a long point, and ornamented with silver bells. +Very gently he drew near the couch, raised his lantern, and softly +touched the arm of the Countess, which was carelessly thrown over the +silken coverlet. The Countess awoke, looked in amazement on the queer +little figure, and asked at length, "Who are you, little man?"</p> + +</div><!--i115--> + +<p>The dwarf bowed low and answered politely, "I am<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117">117</a></span> one of the race of +dwarfs, gracious lady, who live in great numbers in the rock below +your castle. Our Queen lies at the point of death; her only hope of +recovery is in the touch of a human hand. The King, therefore, sent +me, when he heard of your arrival, to beg you to show this kindness to +our beloved Queen."</p> + +<p>"Alas!" answered the Countess sadly, "I am so ill myself, can I be of +any use to another?"</p> + +<p>"It will be all right, gracious lady, and will cost you no fatigue," +answered the little man, "if you will only trust yourself to my care."</p> + +<p>The Countess turned to waken her husband, and to ask his advice, but +the dwarf begged earnestly, "Let him sleep, noble Countess. Long +before he wakes you will be back again. No evil will befall you. We +have always honoured your race—have lived in peace and friendship +with them through long centuries, and have secretly done them many a +good turn."</p> + +<p>The Countess was of a kind and obliging disposition; so, +notwithstanding her delicate health and present weariness, she agreed +to follow the dwarf. She was also afraid of making the powerful little +people angry by a refusal, and thus bringing evil on her family. She +threw her cloak quickly about her, and prepared to go with the dwarf. +With noiseless tread he led her through hall after hall, room after +room, till they came to a little round bow-windowed chamber in the +tower on the western side of the castle, whence they descended by a +narrow winding stair into the castle garden.</p> + +<p>It was a lovely summer night. The little guide<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118">118</a></span> darkened his lantern, +for moon and stars threw a clear light on their path, and thus they +went on in silence along the foot of the castle rock, beneath +overhanging trees, which showered down their fragrant blossoms on the +lady's dark hair. At last they came to a rock which projected somewhat +into the road, and the foot of which was thickly covered with ferns. +The dwarf parted them asunder, and the Countess saw a narrow passage +which led away into the heart of the mountain. They entered. The dwarf +opened his lantern again, and its light showed the walls of a vaulted +cave, which, at first low and narrow, became wider and higher as they +went on, till at last they walked through a beautifully arched +corridor. Soon they arrived at a door, and when it opened they entered +a room with crystal walls, which shone as with the radiance of a +thousand lights. Among the points of the crystal darted countless +little lizards, whose bodies seemed made of transparent emerald; on +their heads were little golden crowns set with rubies; and when the +pretty little creatures with their shining diadems slipped so nimbly +and lightly through the crystal points, the walls gleamed and flashed +so strangely that the Countess was filled with astonishment. But the +roof of this room seemed an ever-changing picture of living wonders. +Great white and blue snakes with diamond eyes, and slender bodies +transparent as the air of heaven, wound in endless circles the one +through the other; and as they moved in gleaming coils, sweet music +and refreshing fragrance filled the crystal hall. Here in this +subterranean kingdom sin and enmity seemed unknown. Creatures which on +earth<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119">119</a></span> fight and oppress one another lived here in friendly intimacy. +So fair and lovable seemed these little animals to the Countess, and +they looked down on her with such soft intelligent eyes, that she +wished one of them would come near enough for her to stroke and caress +it. Absorbed by these wonders, she had not noticed that her little +guide was already at the further end of the room, and was holding the +second door open and beckoning to her to enter. At last she saw him +and followed.</p> + +<p>The walls of the second hall gleamed with brightly polished silver +ore, out of which bloomed flowers of such beauty as are never found in +earthly gardens. They were carved out of precious stones so skilfully +as to deceive the eye and to tempt one to bend over their cups to +breathe their fragrance. Bright silver ore formed the pavement, and +the light that streamed from a huge diamond in the centre of the +ceiling trembled in thousand-fold reflection on the silver walls and +the jewel-flowers.</p> + +<p>In this hall were many of the dwarfs assembled. All were simply clad, +like the dwarf that had acted as guide to the Countess; all had grave, +wise countenances and beaming eyes, dimmed now with anxiety and grief. +As the Countess entered they bowed low, holding in their hands the +little caps with the silver bells, which, by making them invisible, +enable them to play many tricks on the human race. Now they arrived at +the third room, which was the Queen's bed-chamber. At the ceiling of +this room hovered a golden eagle with its wings outspread,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120">120</a></span> and +holding in its beak four diamond chains, on which the Queen's bed +swung gently to and fro. The bed was a single gigantic ruby, skilfully +cut, and on it rested on pillows of white satin the dying Queen of +this enchanted realm.</p> + +<p>The stillness of death reigned in the place. Goldemar, the mighty +dwarf-king, stood by the ruby couch, sunk in silent grief. His hair +and beard, gleaming like silver, flowed down over his mantle of royal +purple; he had taken the shining crown from his head and laid it at +the feet of the dying Queen. His nobles stood in a wide circle round +the King, and seemed to share his grief.</p> + +<p>The Countess went up to the couch. There, on pillows of white satin, +rested the loveliest being that her eyes had ever beheld; she was +smaller than her subjects, while her husband, on the contrary, +exceeded them in stature; but her form was exquisitely symmetrical, +and her tender limbs seemed formed of wax. Round her closed eyes and +blanched lips the smile of youthfulness and kindliness still hovered, +while her wondrous hair flowed round her whole form like liquid gold. +The Countess bent silently over the dying Queen, listening for a +breath, but in vain. Not a sound disturbed the solemn stillness. Only +the golden eagle flapped his mighty wings, making a current of cool +air through the lofty apartment, so that the rosy flames flickered in +the crystal vessels, and threw a quivering reflection on the gilding +of the walls and on the diamond crown at the dying Queen's feet.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121">121</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is too late!" thought the Countess; but she did as her little +guide directed, laying one hand on the brow, the other on the breast +of the dying Queen, and then awaited the result in anxious silence.</p> + +<p>Slowly and sorrowfully the moments passed by. The Countess was about +to remove her hands, when she saw Goldemar's eye fixed on her in +earnest entreaty, and she had not the courage to rob the sorrowing +King of his last hope; so she let her warm hand remain a little longer +on the rigid form. Suddenly, whether it was a reality or only her own +fancy, a slight tremor seemed to move the delicate frame, then a +second and a third time, and gently, very gently, the heart began to +throb once more.</p> + +<p>The Countess bent again over the Queen, and listened to her breathing. +Gentle and sweet like the fragrance of flowers the breath passed in +and out over the beautiful, half-parted lips, and life once more +tinged the sweet face with a faint bloom. It was not the gleam of the +candles or the ruby lights that caused the rosy hue that now +overspread her face; it was life, true life. At last she opened her +eyes, raised herself, and looked round in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Am I still with thee?" she said to her husband, whose glance rested +on her in delight, as she held out her soft white hand. "How did it +happen? Tell me."</p> + +<p>Goldemar pointed to the Countess.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my deliverer!" she exclaimed, turning in surprise to the noble +lady; "how shall I thank you?"</p> + +<p>The news of their beloved Queen's recovery soon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122">122</a></span> spread to the rest of +the dwarfs, and they came flocking in, their grave faces lit with a +serene content. They crowded round the royal pair with affectionate +congratulations, and poured forth their thanks to the Countess. Then a +band of servants drew near, carrying vessels of precious metal, +wherein lay fruits and flowers carved in precious stones of +incalculable value, and so cunningly and wonderfully wrought that the +treasuries of earthly princes have not their like to show.</p> + +<p>"Pray, accept these," begged the King, on whose brow the crown once +more shone.</p> + +<p>"Pray, accept them," said the Queen, her beautiful eyes fixed in +entreaty on the face of the Countess.</p> + +<p>The Countess shook her head gently. "Let me have the pleasure of +having served you without reward," said she. "I have wealth enough; +and now take me home again."</p> + +<p>"Thou despisest our gifts," said the beautiful Queen in a tone of +disappointment, "and our laws do not permit us to leave any benefit +unreturned. Thou hast surely some wish; name it, then, that we may +fulfil it."</p> + +<p>The Countess shook her head, then all at once she thought of her +child. The celebrated physician, to consult whom she had undertaken +the long journey from which she had returned the evening before, had +not concealed the truth. The span of life that remained to her was +very short, and soon her beloved child Kuno would be left motherless. +Perhaps he might some day need the help of the friendly dwarfs.</p> + +<p>"One petition, indeed, I have," she said with a faltering<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123">123</a></span> voice. "My +child will soon perhaps be motherless, and if he should ever need +protection, will you befriend him?"</p> + +<p>"From this moment," replied King Goldemar, "he is under our care, and +we will hasten to his assistance as soon as he needs it."</p> + +<p>Then the dwarf who had acted as guide to the Countess before conducted +her back through the castle garden; and soon she rested, tired, but +with a peaceful and happy heart, once more on her couch.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_123.jpg" width="300" height="133" alt="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124">124</a></span></p> + +<h2 id="PART_II">PART II.</h2> + +<div class="i124"> +<div id="i124a"></div> +<div id="i124b"></div> + +<p class="h3 smcap">The Friends in the Rock</p> + +<p><b><span class="hide">A</span><span class="out"> SUNNY</span></b> terrace of the castle hill became the last resting-place of +the Countess Matilda. It had been her favourite spot both in her days +of health and of sickness. Here she had spent part of every day with +her Kuno, and with him looked down<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125">125</a></span> on the fruitful plains of +Thuringia; and here she had taken a sad farewell of the blooming life +around. She did not wish to rest in the dark and gloomy vault, but +here on the lonely height, with flowers around her and sunshine above +her head.</p> + +<p>It was an autumn afternoon. There were no longer any flowers in field +or garden, but around the grave of the Countess was a freshness and +fragrance as of spring, and the sun in which she had so delighted let +no day pass without looking kindly down on the lonely grave, if only +for a few minutes.</p> + +</div><!--i124--> + +<p>The wind was shaking the lofty trees of the castle garden, and +playfully driving the yellow leaves along the paths, when a little +figure with a pale sad face came up the broad gravel walk, climbed the +rock, and threw himself on the grave. It was Kuno, Countess Matilda's +only child.</p> + +<p>How one year had changed everything!—his dear mother dead, his father +gone to distant scenes of war along with many noble knights, and he +left alone with heartless and ill-natured strangers! A distant +relation, the Lady Von Allenstein, had been asked by the Earl to +preside over his household, and to act the part of a mother to the +little Kuno. She was a woman as heartless as she was clever, and so +successfully did she ingratiate herself into the favour of the +unsuspicious Earl, that before he left he gave her full control over +his vassals and his estate. Her son Eckbert, a lad of about fifteen +years of age, had the reputation of being well brought up, because in +the presence of strangers he could assume fine<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126">126</a></span> courtly manners; but +he had a mischievous and malicious disposition, and was both feared +and hated by the castle servants.</p> + +<p>That Kuno, this child, this dreamer, who in Eckbert's opinion +possessed no knightly qualities whatsoever, should be some day lord +and possessor of so many noble castles and estates with their numerous +dependants, while to his lot had fallen nothing but one small and +half-ruined castle, to which not even a single village was +attached—this vexed him, and in his heart burned envious hatred +towards the orphan child. Hitherto Kuno had borne all Eckbert's malice +with the gentleness which he had inherited from his mother; but when +the news came that the Earl had been dangerously wounded, and when the +messenger spoke of his master's death as probable, Eckbert counted +himself freed from restraint, and tormented the little Earl with +greater spitefulness than ever.</p> + +<p>To-day he had cut him to the heart. Kuno's little horse, which had +borne him when he was scarcely more than a baby, and which had never +felt either whip or spur, had been mounted to-day by the cruel +Eckbert. For the first time Kuno ventured a decided protest, and +Eckbert, seeing by this unusual courage how dear the animal was to its +young master, struck the spurs with all his might into the horse's +sides, so that it reared suddenly and then dashed with bleeding flanks +out by the castle gate. When Kuno, after Eckbert's return, ran to the +stable to see how his favourite had borne the dreadful ride, the horse +did not turn his head as usual to greet him with a joyous neigh; he +lay panting on the straw, covered<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127">127</a></span> with foam and blood, his feet +stretched out, his head drooping, and his breast heaving with a loud +rattling sound. Kuno threw himself down beside him, put his arms round +his neck, and called him by the tenderest names. Then the creature +opened his eyes, fixed his last look on his young master, and with a +feeble attempt at a neigh, that sounded like a death-sigh, he died.</p> + +<p>Kuno's tears were dried; he remained speechless before his dead +favourite, and gazed with tearless eyes upon the body. Thus Margaret, +the castellan's wife, Kuno's old nurse, found him. She had seen +Eckbert mount the horse, and heard Kuno's words. When she saw the dead +animal and the child's grief, her anger at Eckbert's malice knew no +bounds. She went at once to Lady Von Allenstein, and said what she +thought of Eckbert's shameful deed with vehemence such as the proud +lady had never before witnessed in an inferior.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said the lady, with flashing eyes, "what you +deserve?—a place in the dungeon among frogs and toads. But I will be +merciful. In one hour you and your family leave this castle; that will +serve as a warning to your fellow-servants, and will make Master Kuno +more submissive to me and my son, as he will no longer have you to +encourage him in his obstinacy."</p> + +<p>So they left. In one short hour the last true friends of the poor +orphan left the castle, although he clung to Margaret and besought her +with passionate weeping not to leave him quite alone. He watched them +as long as he could, and then crept back through the garden to his +mother's grave.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128">128</a></span></p> + +<p>Here dreams of bygone days passed before his mind. He thought of the +happy hours which he had spent here on the solitary height with his +beloved mother; when he had looked down with her over the blooming +country, and listened to her tales of the wonders of foreign lands, of +our lost Paradise, and of the heavenly home which she soon hoped to +reach. Then when, at the thought of the coming parting, his little +heart shrank, his mother would take him in her arms and try to comfort +him by telling him about the friendly feelings that the good dwarfs +cherish towards poor defenceless children, and about the splendour and +beauty of the enchanted realm below the ground.</p> + +<p>And now? He knelt down beside the grave, laid his head on the grass, +and sobbed, till at last, tired out with grief and weeping, he fell +asleep. The sun set, but he did not know it; the stars rose, and the +child slept on, with his head pillowed on his mother's grave. A gentle +touch on his shoulder woke him. He started up in surprise. Before him +stood a tiny little man of insignificant appearance, and with a +lantern in his hand. It was the same dwarf that had once led the boy's +mother to King Goldemar's dying Queen.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" asked the child in astonishment, as he rubbed his +sleepy eyes.</p> + +<p>"One of your mother's friends," answered the little man kindly; "dost +thou not remember what she told thee about us? Wilt thou come with +me?"</p> + +<p>Kuno rose at once, took the dwarf's hand, and walked away by his side. +They soon reached the clump of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129">129</a></span> ferns that covered the secret +entrance, and stepped into the vaulted corridor. The first door +opened, and the child found himself suddenly in the enchanted realm of +his mother's stories. Yes, this was the crystal hall with the emerald +lizards and the sky-blue snakes. The place still glimmered and shone +as when the Countess trod its floor; the snakes looked down kindly on +the boy with their diamond eyes, and the transparent lizards bowed +their crowned heads in friendly greeting.</p> + +<p>"I know what the other hall is like," said Kuno in delight to his +little guide. "Do not flowers made of precious stones gleam along the +silver walls; and in the third hall is there not the Queen's ruby bed +swinging from the golden ceiling, and the eagle flapping his golden +wings?"</p> + +<p>The dwarf smiled. "See for yourself," he said. Then he led him through +the halls. Yes, it was all as Kuno's mother had described it; +everything was wonderful, and yet he knew it all so well. Last of all, +he was led into the throne-room.</p> + +<p>The walls and ceiling were of blue crystal, so that it looked like the +vault of heaven, and in the high dome shone stars cut out of rubies. +There were no lamps in the hall, but from without a hidden artificial +light streamed through the crimson stars, and filled the whole room +with rosy radiance. At the far end of the room stood a throne made of +large and costly pearls, which glowed in the light like rosebuds, and +on it sat in her brilliant beauty the Queen of this enchanted palace, +with her golden hair flowing to the pearl-built steps of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130">130</a></span> throne. +Beside her sat King Goldemar in a purple mantle, his noble brow +adorned once more with the diamond crown.</p> + +<p>With a low obeisance the dwarf introduced the boy to the royal pair.</p> + +<p>The lovely Queen was much smaller than Kuno, and yet she looked so +dignified that the child knelt and reverently kissed the little hand +which she graciously extended to him.</p> + +<p>"Thy noble mother was my friend," she said with a gentle voice, "and +thou art dear to us as one of our own. Every night, if thou wilt, thou +mayest come to us to forget thy little troubles in our hall. Look thou +around; all are ready to love thee and give thee pleasure."</p> + +<p>As she spoke she raised her white hand and pointed to the lovely +children at the foot of the throne, and to the troops of little dwarfs +that were assembled in the hall. Then the royal children came up to +greet him, and after them the little dwarfs with their grave wise +countenances; they gave him their hands, and met his wondering gaze +with friendly looks. And the poor friendless boy, who hitherto had +felt himself alone and forsaken, felt happy, now that he found such +unexpected kindness and love such as he had never felt since his +mother's death. All his troubles vanished from his memory in this +enchanted kingdom. Hour after hour flew by, and to the child they +seemed but minutes. Then the dwarf who had brought him took his hand +and drew him away. Kuno was sorry to go, but he followed his little +guide.</p> + +<p>"Do not weep," said the latter kindly. "Thou mayest<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131">131</a></span> come back every +night; but take care that thou tell no one of thy visits, or some +great calamity may be the consequence."</p> + +<p>When they reached the garden the stars had already grown pale, and the +first streaks of dawn were showing in the east.</p> + +<p>"Let us make haste," said the dwarf anxiously, "for we dwellers below +ground can only live under the light of the stars—the sun's rays kill +us."</p> + +<p>Soon they arrived at the winding staircase at the foot of the tower. +The gate was locked, but the dwarf brought out a strangely-formed key, +put it into the lock, and immediately the heavy iron-barred door +turned noiselessly on its hinges. It was the same with all the other +doors as soon as the wonderful key touched them, and softly the +wanderers slipped through the rooms and passed the sleeping servants. +Kuno reached unseen the room that he shared with Eckbert, and then the +dwarf hastened home.</p> + +<p>Eckbert had tried to keep awake to receive Kuno with scolding and +reproaches, for the child had been missed at supper and sought for, of +course in vain. But he had fallen asleep over his generous plan.</p> + +<p>Kuno was still slumbering sweetly when Eckbert woke, sprang out of +bed, and shook the boy roughly.</p> + +<p>"Where were you yesterday? Speak!" he shouted; but Kuno, mindful of +the dwarf's warning, kept silence. But when Eckbert raised his arm to +strike the child, an invisible hand gave him such a powerful blow on +the ear that he staggered half unconscious against the wall. He<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132">132</a></span> felt +uncomfortable at the thought of the unseen avenger, and he left Kuno +in peace, but told the whole story to his mother, wickedly distorting +it as he went on. At breakfast she ordered the boy to tell where he +had been; but though his heart beat fast with terror, he closed his +lips tightly and remained silent.</p> + +<p>"I will conquer your obstinacy," said the lady angrily; "you shall +sleep in the room in the tower, and go earlier to bed."</p> + +<p>In the evening she took him herself to the lonely chamber, from which +the winding stair led to the garden; for she thought that fear of the +uninhabited and lonely room would force the boy to tell his secret. +But when he went without a word, and lay down uncomplainingly on his +bed, anger rose high in the proud lady's heart. "Eckbert is right," +she thought; "his obstinacy must be conquered."</p> + +<p>With a prayer to God, and a fervent wish that his little friends would +not forget him, Kuno fell asleep. And they did not forget him. About +midnight the little dwarf stood once more at his side, wakened him, +and led him into the enchanted palace.</p> + +<p>The little folk greeted him joyfully, the royal pair reached him their +hands, and amid splendour and pleasure the hours flew by. His friends +showed him the rooms that he had not seen the day before—the crystal +chambers full of golden ornaments, which every family possessed, and +which far outshone the most splendid palaces of earthly kings. They +showed him wonderful things which they knew how to make—birds made of +precious<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133">133</a></span> stones, from whose transparent throats sweet songs poured +forth; fruits and flowers, shaped out of jewels, whose beauty and +fragrance was like that of the flowers of Eden. Kuno's astonishment +and delight knew no bounds; the hours went by too quickly, and when +the stars began to pale the dwarf led him back to his room in the +tower. And every night at midnight the same dwarf brought him back to +the enchanted kingdom. There he forgot all the trials of the day—all +Eckbert's spiteful tricks, and Lady Von Allenstein's injustice. But it +was not alone to please and amuse him that the little people brought +the boy to visit them—they cared also for his mind and heart.</p> + +<p>In this magic kingdom lived an aged dwarf with long snow-white hair +and beard; a supernatural light shone in his eyes. All the dwarfs, +even the King and Queen, treated him with the greatest reverence, for +he was the oldest man of their nation, and also the wisest. He could +look back through thousands of years; he knew everything in the whole +earth—all plants and stones; he knew about their origin, and had +watched their growth. Often, when the King and Queen were sitting on +the throne, the wise man would come into the hall and seat himself on +the pearl steps; then the lovely royal children, Kuno in their midst, +would gather round and listen as he told with beaming eyes about the +wonders of creation, and the mysterious forces of nature. Words of +kindness and wisdom flowed from his lips, and it seemed to the boy as +if he were sitting in church or at the feet of his dead mother.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134">134</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_134.jpg" width="400" height="420" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">KUNO LISTENS TO THE WISE MAN'S TALK.</p> + +<p>But even happier hours than these he spent playing with the children +in the crystal hall, letting the beautiful lizards dart down on his +outstretched hand, or the sky-blue snakes glide down and wind +playfully round his feet. Once, when he was preparing to go home after +one of his visits, King Goldemar held the hand that he had extended in +farewell, and spoke to him in a low and confidential tone. Kuno nodded +with a happy smile.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135">135</a></span> Next morning joy shone from his soft eyes and +betrayed itself in his cheerful mood, which made so strange a contrast +to the silent gravity of his usual demeanour. The change did not +escape the quick eye of the Countess; but she took care not to ask the +reason, for she thought she could guess it already.</p> + +<p>Earlier than usual Kuno said "Good night," and went to his room, but +not to bed. He worked about, fastening wax candles, which he had got +beforehand from the steward, on the walls, and trying to give the room +a festive appearance; then he put on his best clothes, sat down on his +bed, and waited.</p> + +<p>At last the castle clock struck twelve, and immediately soft music +sounded in the distance; it came nearer and nearer, and soon floated +up the winding stair. In a few moments the door opened of itself, and +in came Kuno's dwarf friends, marching two and two, and all arrayed in +festive garments. They held their invisible caps in their hands, +swinging them in measured time, so that the silver bells that +ornamented them rang in magic melody. Then followed, escorted by +Goldemar and the Queen, a bridal pair, whose wedding feast was to be +held in a human dwelling for the blessing and well-being of its +occupant. Kuno advanced to meet his guests, and greeted them joyfully; +then to the sound of wondrous music the dance began. This was led by +the King and his lovely consort, their crowns flashing lightning at +every quick graceful movement; then followed the bridal pair in +garments gleaming with gold. Kuno had taken the hand of a pretty +dwarf-maiden, and now mingled<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136">136</a></span> merrily in the splendid throng. All was +mirth and gaiety.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the music stopped, the dancers stood still, and all eyes +turned in indignation towards an opening in the ceiling where the face +of Lady Von Allenstein was visible.</p> + +<p>Goldemar's eyes flashed angrily.</p> + +<p>"Blow out the lights!" he cried to one of his train; and in a +twinkling the little fellow had climbed up the wall, and before the +lady had time to suspect that this command had anything to do with +her, the dwarf reached the opening, and blew into her face.</p> + +<p>A fearful scream followed; then the King turned to Kuno and said—</p> + +<p>"Accept our thanks, my dear child, for thy hospitality; it is not thy +fault that we cannot stay longer. Farewell!"</p> + +<p>Then the little people turned quickly towards the door, and soon the +boy was alone.</p> + +<p>Faint moans were now heard from above, and a sound as of suppressed +weeping.</p> + +<p>Kuno also had seen the face of the lady, and knew that these doleful +sounds were uttered by her. Deep compassion filled his heart; he +forgot all the unhappiness that this woman had caused him, and, filled +only with the thought of helping her, he took a candle in his hand and +hastened to clamber up to her.</p> + +<p>He found her crouching on the ground, her hands pressed before her +eyes.</p> + +<p>"What is wrong, gracious lady?" asked Kuno timidly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am blind! I am blind!" she groaned piteously. "The dwarf blew +into my eyes, and my sight left me."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137">137</a></span></p> + +<p>Kuno, full of pity, seized her hand and led her tenderly step by step +down the winding stair, and on to her own apartment.</p> + +<p>After calling a maid to her assistance, he returned to say good-night +to the poor lady. What he had never done in her days of health he did +now—he drew her hand to his lips and kissed it fervently. The lady +felt a hot tear drop on her hand; silently, but with scarce-concealed +emotion, she drew it away. This tear burned like unquenchable fire, +not only on her hand, but on her soul.</p> + +<p>She spent a long and sleepless night; this unexpected calamity had +crushed her hard heart. But though the light was taken from her eyes, +a new day dawned within her. Her dislike of Kuno, her hardness and +injustice towards the orphan child, all passed through her mind in +fiery procession; and when she thought of Kuno's noble conduct, a +flood of penitent tears streamed from her sightless eyes.</p> + +<p>Eckbert, on hearing of his mother's misfortune, showed himself as +heartless as ever. He railed at the dwarf and at Kuno as the real +cause of it. But he had not any idea of sitting through the long +tedious hours with his poor blind mother—that was Kuno's business, he +thought, for he had been the cause of it all. On the contrary, freed +from all restraint, Eckbert amused himself more than ever with the +chase and with drinking bouts, and tyrannised worse than before over +all around him.</p> + +<p>Kuno behaved towards the unhappy lady like a loving son. He sat with +her and cared for her wants as if she had been his own beloved mother. +When the summer<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138">138</a></span> came he led her out every day into the garden or to +the rock where his mother lay, and tried to amuse her with his +childish talk.</p> + +<p>Lady Von Allenstein was often deeply moved when she felt Kuno's +tenderness and thought of her own heartlessness. Once her emotion +overcame her, and she drew Kuno to her side, and said with tears—"You +are so good to me, who was so unkind to you; can you forgive me for +all the wrong I have done you? Oh! if I could only get back my sight, +I would take every opportunity of making up to you for my injustice."</p> + +<p>Kuno was still on the most friendly terms with the dwarf nation, and +regarded the enchanted palace as his second home.</p> + +<p>Exactly a year had passed since that wedding in the tower-chamber, +when King Goldemar again expressed a wish to hold a similar feast in +the same room.</p> + +<p>Kuno's heart beat high with joy at these words; perhaps—but he would +cherish no presumptuous hopes.</p> + +<p>Again the room was festively decorated; but no one in the castle got +the least hint of what was to take place in the isolated room. The +little guests appeared, and this time the merriment went on +undisturbed.</p> + +<p>But dawn, the time of separation, was drawing near, and Goldemar held +out his hand to his protégé to say good-bye. Then Kuno held it fast, +and looked entreatingly into the good King's face.</p> + +<p>"What dost thou want, Kuno?" asked Goldemar.</p> + +<p>"I have one petition, the fulfilment of which will make me happy," +answered the boy.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139">139</a></span></p> + +<p>"Name it," said the King graciously; "it is granted."</p> + +<p>Then Kuno led the King to the bed and drew back the curtains. There +sat a pale lady in deep mourning, her dark sightless eyes fixed +vacantly before her.</p> + +<p>"Give her back her sight," begged Kuno, pointing to Lady Von +Allenstein.</p> + +<p>Goldemar's eyes shone as he looked approvingly on the boy; then he +bent towards the lady and said, "I light the lamps again!" at the same +time breathing into her eyes, so that the sight came back immediately.</p> + +<p>The newly-opened eyes shone with joy and gratitude, and in a burst of +weeping she sank into Kuno's arms, while the royal pair and their +train looked on in deep emotion.</p> + +<p>"Farewell then, Kuno," said King Goldemar. "Thou hast found what was +needed to make thee happy—a mother's heart. We have kept our word. +Shouldst thou ever in thy life again need our help, thou wilt find us +ready."</p> + +<p>With a loving look the King held out his hand, and the Queen and the +other dwarfs likewise took an affectionate leave of the boy before +returning to their kingdom under ground. Just as they were going +through the castle garden towards the entrance in the side of the +rock, Eckbert returned from a drinking bout.</p> + +<p>"I have come upon these dull fellows unexpectedly," he said, grinding +his teeth, when he noticed the procession of dwarfs. "Now they shall +suffer for that box on the ear, and for my mother's blindness. I will +cut off the last clown's head and throw it in at that stupid Kuno's +window."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140">140</a></span></p> + +<p>He slipped softly behind the procession. When they reached the door in +the rock, Eckbert waited till the last had put his foot on the +threshold, then he sprang forward and raised his sword. The same +instant the heavy rock door, which so artfully closed the opening, +shut to and crushed Eckbert's head to atoms. Without uttering a sound +he fell back, and his blood stained the snow.</p> + +<p>The next morning offered a sad spectacle to Lady Von Allenstein's +newly-restored sight. It is true, Eckbert had been an undutiful son, +but still it was her child, her own flesh and blood, that now lay +before her a mangled corpse. The place where he had been found with +his sword unsheathed made Kuno suspect whose hand had caused his +death; but he was silent on this as on all that concerned his dwarf +friends.</p> + +<p>Eckbert was buried with great pomp, but no eyes shed tears at the +ceremony save those of his mother and of the good forgiving Kuno. From +this time Lady Von Allenstein turned the whole affection of her +ennobled heart towards Kuno, who repaid her love with the most +heartfelt gratitude; and no one who did not know their relationship +would have thought, to see them together, that they were anything but +mother and son.</p> + +<p>Winter and spring were past, and the warm summer weather had come.</p> + +<p>On a bright summer evening the horn of the watchman on the tower +announced a troop of horsemen, and as they drew near with the sound of +trumpets Kuno's sharp eye recognised in their floating banner his +father's colours.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141">141</a></span></p> + +<p>He had long since recovered, but instead of returning to his castle he +had once more offered his strong arm and brave heart in service to his +imperial lord. The war was now ended, and the Earl, whom they had long +counted dead, had returned, covered with scars and with honours, to +clasp his beloved son in his arms.</p> + +<p>Lady Von Allenstein still lived in the castle, and presided over it as +before, but she was served now from love and not from fear. When she +died in a good old age, Kuno knelt at her side; her cold hand rested +on his head, and her dying lips spoke words of love and blessing over +her adopted son.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_141.jpg" width="300" height="382" alt="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142">142</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="The_Flower_of_Iceland">The Flower of Iceland.</a></h2> + +<div class="i142"> +<div id="i142a"></div> +<div id="i142b"></div> + +<p><b><span class="hide">A</span><span class="out"> SUBSTANTIAL</span></b> farm-house stood many, many years ago on the slope of a +hill in bleak and frozen Iceland. The owner, who had spent his youth +as a sailor in distant climes, had at last obeyed his dying father's +summons, and exchanged the palms and orange groves of southern lands +for the feeble sunlight and cold lava-fields of his native island. But +as a living souvenir of those happy regions he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143">143</a></span> brought home a young +and beautiful wife, whose dark and eloquent eyes still shone in the +memory of all who had beheld them, long after they had been closed in +the last sleep.</p> + +<p>"Marietta," her husband had said before the priest had joined their +hands in marriage, "have you considered well what you are renouncing +when you promise to follow me as my wife? Here in your country an +eternal spring reigns, sweet with the fragrance of flowers and musical +with the warbling of birds, while the Italian sky shines in +never-fading blue. On my island you will find none of these things. A +pale sun, a grey sky overhead, and all around barren heaths and +ice—ice and snow wherever you look; none but the Icelander can think +this island beautiful."</p> + +</div><!--i142--> + +<p>"But you will be there," answered Marietta; "and could I wish for any +home but yours?"</p> + +<p>So she had gone with him to the far north.</p> + +<p>They had one child, a lovely little girl, who bore the name of Helga; +she must be a true daughter of Iceland, and to this even her name must +witness. But her foreign descent was not to be hid; true, she had the +fair skin and beautiful flaxen hair of a northern girl, but her eyes +were as dark and mysterious as her mother's.</p> + +<p>The Icelanders have no flowers; they know of their beauty only by the +tales of their countrymen who have seen them on their travels; but +every one who looked into little Helga's beautiful face thought that +flowers must look like that, and thus she was called "the Flower of +Iceland."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144">144</a></span></p> + +<p>Fair Helga loved her grave father, but she loved still more her +beautiful and gentle mother, by whose side she spent most of her time.</p> + +<p>Every spring the father set out for the coast with a few servants to +get fish for the year's household provisions; for though he dearly +loved Marietta and his home, the sea still exercised the old spell on +his heart. In summer and autumn he was accustomed to go to the distant +trading places along the coast, there to exchange the wool of his +large and well-conditioned flocks for the valuable products of foreign +lands, with which he loved to please and adorn his dear ones.</p> + +<p>At such times Helga would sit at her mother's feet, listening as she +told in the soft, sweet sounds of her native tongue about the blue sky +and the warm golden sunlight of Italy, of the beautiful flowers and +evergreen woods, and of the fine mild nights when the young girls +would dance in the moonlight to the sound of the mandoline, and +pleasure and melody reigned over land and sea.</p> + +<p>Ah! how beautiful that country must be; and here everything was so +different. No dance, no song, either from human lips or from the +throat of a bird. Helga had never even heard the sheep give a cheerful +bleat; everything was stupid and grave; the silence of death was +Nature's language here.</p> + +<p>Then Helga's dark eye would wander away over Iceland's wide and desert +heaths, over the lava-fields that stretched for miles, and which had +buried the freshness of nature under their stiff mantle of mourning. +She gazed on those giant ice-mountains, untrod by human<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145">145</a></span> foot, which +rise like monuments of death, with thick mist-veils about their brow. +Even when a sunbeam happens to pierce the cloudy covering, the +colossal piles of ice shine in the pale light like sarcophagi in a +vault. Then Helga would shudder and think with ardent longing on her +dear mother's native land.</p> + +<p>And she? Ah, her husband had been right. In spite of her love for him, +she pined for the sunny valleys of her childhood, all the more as she +never told her husband of the grief that gnawed at her heart, for he +placed his Iceland before all the paradises of the world. Ten years +had scarcely gone by till Marietta's warm heart lay still beneath the +sod.</p> + +<p>Helga thought her heart would break when they carried her loved mother +out towards the hill, whence she had so often looked longingly out +over the sea, watching the blue waves as they hastened towards the +beautiful but distant south.</p> + +<p>"When you bury me," said the dying woman to her husband, "lay me so +that my face may look towards Italy." And they did as she wished.</p> + +<p>Helga often sat now on the grave, herself the only flower that +brightened it; and along with her dear mother's image those distant +countries came vividly before her mind, as she had heard them +described as long as she could remember.</p> + +<p>A distant relation now came to take charge of the housekeeping. She +had willingly left her home, bringing with her her only son, in +compliance with her rich cousin's request. The stern old woman had no +sympathy<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146">146</a></span> with Helga's longings, and counted her descriptions of +distant lands as fairy tales; nothing, she thought, could be more +beautiful than Iceland. But Olaffson, her boy, who was only a few +years older than the little orphan, became Helga's eager listener. +With equal delight he looked on her beautiful face and listened to her +stories; the grave blue eyes, which were usually as cold as the +glaciers of his native island, would kindle as she went on, and when +Helga stopped he would say, "I will be a sailor, and travel to those +countries to see if they are really so beautiful!"</p> + +<p>"But you will take me with you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, of course."</p> + +<p>Thus the years went by, and the time drew quickly on when the tree, +the seed of which had been sown by Helga's hand, bore fruit. Olaffson +was no longer a boy, and he decided on going to sea. The head of the +house willingly gave his consent, and the time of parting came.</p> + +<p>Fair Helga's cheek was pale. Olaffson fancied that it was the +separation that troubled her so deeply, and that thought sweetened the +bitter hour to him. But ah! it was only her grief at having to stay at +home on the cold and barren island, and at not being allowed to see +the countries to which, as she thought, she had a much better right +than Olaffson.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Another year had gone. Olaffson had come home and given an account of +all that he had seen. The hour of parting again drew near. Early next +morning he was to set out on a second and longer journey, and in +spite<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147">147</a></span> of Helga's tears and entreaties to be allowed to go, her father +and Olaffson had only shaken their heads and laughed at her +childishness.</p> + +<p>It was evening. She went with Olaffson to the grave on the hill, there +to hear once more about the wonders of foreign lands. Hour after hour +flew by; she could not tire of the delightful theme.</p> + +<p>"Well, Helga," Olaffson at last concluded, "it is indeed as beautiful +in those countries as your mother used to tell you; almost more +beautiful—yes, much more beautiful; still, it is not Iceland. There +is no place so beautiful as our native land—no place."</p> + +<p>Helga looked at him incredulously.</p> + +<p>"You may believe me, Helga," he said. "Look; it is now midnight. In +those countries there has been night, deep night for hours; the sun +has long ago forsaken them, but it loves our island better, for it +lingers longer with us. Just look over yonder. It has just sunk into +the sea, and on the rosy western sky it paints in silvery outline the +beautiful leafy forests which are denied to our soil. Only look how +they nod their gleaming heads; does it not seem as if you could hear a +mysterious rustling among their branches? And are not the white clouds +above like eagles circling over their summits? And now look at the +clear light around you! The nights there are as dark as the +consciences of criminals; our nights are like the heart of a pious +child—light, clear, and still."</p> + +<p>"But it is so cold here—so cold that my very heart freezes within +me," said Helga complainingly.</p> + +<p>"But the cold is bracing," said Olaffson. "There, I<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148">148</a></span> found men weak, +cowardly, and effeminate. I could tell you many a sad story to show +this. Now look at your own land, Flower of Iceland, for you belong to +us; we are honest, brave, and strong as our fathers were, and our sons +will be after us, and that we owe to Iceland and its glaciers, its +cold but strengthening climate. I tell you, fair Helga, there is but +one Iceland, as there is but one flower in it."</p> + +<p>Early next morning Olaffson was to set out. Helga's father said he +would go down to the coast also with his servants, for it was the time +of the yearly fishing, so that they might as well travel together so +far.</p> + +<p>The farewell was short and silent. Helga struggled to keep back her +tears when she saw how merrily they all sprang into the saddle, and +when she thought of Olaffson's words about Iceland's brave people; for +she must show herself worthy of her race. But her dark eyes rested so +longingly on her father's face that he knew what was passing in her +heart.</p> + +<p>"Come, Helga," said he, stooping down from his horse, "you may go with +us as far as the hill where the lava-fields begin." Then he took her +up before him on the saddle, and soon the horses were off at a canter. +Soon they reached the hill at the foot of which the lava-fields began, +whose dark lines stretched for miles along the horizon.</p> + +<p>Helga could no longer restrain her tears. She threw her arms sobbing +round her father's neck and said, "Don't stay long away, dear father; +it is so dreary at home when you are both away."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149">149</a></span></p> + +<p>"I will come back in a few weeks, my Helga," said her father, +soothingly; "meantime be a good girl, and help your cousin with the +housekeeping."</p> + +<p>He kissed her snow-white brow silently, but tenderly, lifted her down +from the horse, and after one more pressure of the hand the little +band set out again.</p> + +<p>Helga watched them till a sinking of the road hid them from view; then +she went back towards the hill, leant against the side of a rock, and +looked into the distance, shading her eyes with her hand. Then they +came into sight again, but so far away that Helga's farewell could not +reach their ear. A fleeting sunbeam rested on them a moment, making +horses and riders shine out clearly from the desert plain over which +they were moving. Then a mist, such as only Iceland's mountains could +send forth, fell around them, and Helga saw them no more.</p> + +<p>She leaned her head sobbing against the rock, closed her eyes, and +wept hot tears of grief and loneliness. Then a voice of wondrous +sweetness sounded suddenly in her ear, "Why does fair Helga weep?"</p> + +<p>Helga opened her eyes in astonishment. No one was there; she could see +nothing but the mist in the distance and the bare lava-fields at her +feet. She closed her eyes again.</p> + +<p>"Helga, fair Helga, why are you so sad?" said the voice again; it +seemed as if it came from the sky.</p> + +<p>A slight shudder passed through Helga's frame; she did not venture to +stir, but she timidly opened her eyes and looked up. But what did she +see? Was the azure<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150">150</a></span> Italian sky, of which she had so often dreamt, +coming here to meet her? Right before her, on the summit of the hill, +stood a form of majestic beauty, which must surely belong to some +happier clime. Eyes of deep and mysterious blue shone down on Helga +from the kingly countenance, and hair lovelier than her own, golden as +the stars of the summer night, flowed down over the robe of purple +velvet in which the stranger was clad.</p> + +<p>"Why does fair Helga weep?" he asked tenderly.</p> + +<p>Helga tried to regain her composure. "How do you know me, O stranger?" +she asked shyly.</p> + +<p>"Who does not know the Flower of Iceland?" answered he with a smile. +"Shall I tell you some things about yourself that will prove to you +how long I have known you, and how well I am acquainted with your +history? Shall I tell you how often I have seen you sitting on your +mother's grave, and what images there passed before your mind? Shall I +say what longing a moment ago stirred your soul—how you wished to be +permitted to travel with Olaffson, that you might see those rich and +wondrously beautiful lands? But no such journey is necessary to the +fulfilment of your wish. Your mother's paradise is here—here close +beside you."</p> + +<p>Helga's eyes shone, half in doubt, half in delight.</p> + +<p>"Here, here?" she asked, incredulously. "How can that be?"</p> + +<p>"Just come a few steps with me to the other side of the hill, and then +you will see that I speak the truth."</p> + +<p>Helga took his proffered hand. The stranger who had known her so long +and so well was no longer a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151">151</a></span> stranger to her, and he could not be an +enemy who was about to fulfil her heart's dearest wish. So she went +fearlessly with him to the other side of the hill.</p> + +<p>The stranger placed his hand against the rock, which immediately +opened, and allowed Helga and her guide to enter. She stood +spell-bound with astonishment. Then she passed her hand over her brow, +and tried to think if this could be a dream. But no, it was reality. +There lay before her a wondrous region, more beautiful than her +mother's native land or than all her childish dreams.</p> + +<p>Through the crystal dome that stretched above this paradise the sun +sent beams bright and warm such as the children of Iceland never see +or feel. Their golden light trembled among the green foliage of the +majestic trees, played with the flashing fountain jet, and flamed in +the cups of the transparent flowers.</p> + +<p>In the distance the ocean rolled its deep blue waves round wooded +islands, and amid the fragrance of the flowers and the brilliant +colours of the lovely scene hovered sweet and magic music, which +floated to the shore of the sea, whose waves bore it in soft echo to +the happy isles.</p> + +<p>Helga looked round with delight such as she had never felt before. Had +earth really such beauties, and was she permitted to gaze on them?</p> + +<p>She stooped to examine the wonderful flowers, gently stroked the +velvet of their leaves with her white hand, and pressed her lips into +their fragrant cups. Then her delighted eye watched the fountain, as +its waters rose in a line of light almost to the crystal dome, then +fell in a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152">152</a></span> graceful curve far beyond its basin, so that the shrubs and +flowers bent beneath its shining dew.</p> + +<p>Then she turned towards the lofty trees, pressed her face gently +against their smooth stems, and looked up at their shining foliage, +which rustled softly in the breeze. Snow-white birds hopped from +branch to branch, and threw friendly glances at Helga as at an old +acquaintance. Was it these feathered songsters that made the sweet +music which floated with the sunbeams and the soft spring air all +through this lovely place? Or did the tall trees or the distant sea +give forth the sweet sounds that soothed with soft caress Helga's +heart and mind, bearing away on their melodious waves the past and its +memories?</p> + +<p>Hours had flown by in this fairy kingdom, and to Helga they seemed but +as one moment. At last she turned to the stranger, who had followed +her every movement with loving eyes, and had noticed her delight.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how shall I thank you," she said, grasping his hand, "for +bringing me here and satisfying the longing of years? But tell me +where I am; for Iceland's cold hills hide no such paradise."</p> + +<p>"You are in my kingdom, fair Helga," answered the stranger in a gentle +voice; "and I am the fairy king of Iceland."</p> + +<p>Helga looked at him in astonishment. No lips save her mother's had +ever told her of such things, and <i>she</i> knew nothing of Iceland's +spirit kingdom. Therefore Helga felt neither terror nor anxiety.</p> + +<p>"Ah! if I could only stay here always," she cried earnestly.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153">153</a></span></p> + +<p>"I wish for nothing better," said the king; "and why should you not?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! my dear, good father—he has no one but me," said Helga, thinking +for a moment of her home.</p> + +<p>"But he is now far away," said the fairy king persuasively; "and you +can stay at least till he comes back."</p> + +<p>"So I can," cried Helga in delight. So she stayed with the fairy king.</p> + +<p>One day in this paradise was just like the next, as it will perhaps be +in heaven, where there is nothing to remind the blessed of the flight +of time, where it is all one gloriously happy present, because they +have no past to look back on with sad memory, and the future has +nothing more beautiful to excite their longings.</p> + +<p>Helga moved with happy heart by the side of the fairy king through +this paradise. The white birds flitted around her, now and then +settling on her hand or shoulder. The sea with the blue waves gave a +sound of pleasant greeting when Helga and the fairy king drew near its +shores. Then when he seized her hand and they stepped together on one +of the little waves, this fairy boat carried them gently and swiftly +over to the happy islands.</p> + +<p>At midnight, when Iceland's sun spread its crimson mantle along the +horizon, its reflection streamed through the crystal dome, glowed like +roses in the fountain and on the birds' white feathers, while the sea +rolled to the shore in violet waves.</p> + +<p>Then Helga knew that she must close her eyes, in order to strengthen +herself for a new day of happiness.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154">154</a></span> She lay down on the soft moss, +while the fairy king sat near her and took his harp. From its strings +streamed forth magic music which banished memory from Helga's soul. +The sweet sounds lulled her to sleep, and carefully guarded the gates +of her heart, permitting no dream to knock there which could remind +her of the past and its claims. But, once, the chord which nature has +placed between the hearts of parent and child, and which never breaks +even though seas lie between, sounded with a startling thrill.</p> + +<p>Helga's father had come home, and his grief and lamentation at the +loss of his beloved child were so violent that Helga's slumbering +heart awoke.</p> + +<p>"My father!" she said suddenly one day as she stood beside the sea, +and drew back the foot which she was just on the point of placing on +the wave that stood bowing its blue head before her. "My father! I +think I hear you lamenting my loss. Is it not my duty to leave all +these beautiful things here and return to him?"</p> + +<p>A shadow fell on the fairy king's face. He silently seized his harp +and drew from it strains more beautiful, more heart-enthralling than +Helga had ever heard before. They floated away over the sea till the +waves sank into silence, unwilling to disturb the sweet melodies. And +in Helga's heart memory ceased to thrill, and the visions of the past +faded from her mind.</p> + +<p>Then the fairy king told her how he had chosen her years ago as the +queen of this kingdom, and had watched over her since her childhood; +that he had prepared all these beautiful things only for her, with the +hope that she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155">155</a></span> +would some day be his wife, and thus gain for him +that for which his soul had yearned during long centuries—an immortal +soul, a boon which is denied to the poor fairies in every land.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_155.jpg" width="400" height="613" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">HELGA IN THE FAIRY KING'S PALACE.<br /> +F. C., p. 154.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157">157</a></span></p> + +<p>"Will you be my wife now, fair Helga?" he asked in conclusion. "I will +love you with a faithful love such as you would seek in vain among +your degenerate race. You shall never regret having given to the poor +fairy king the desire of his heart."</p> + +<p>"I will, I will!" said she, seizing his hands with childish frankness. +"I will always stay with you."</p> + +<p>The king's eyes shone with joy.</p> + +<p>"But, fair Helga, the laws of our kingdom are strict; we hold the vows +of faithfulness more sacred than you do, although we look for no +eternal reward. If you become my wife, and by uniting your soul to +mine impart to me your immortality, then you belong henceforth to me, +and to me alone. Your father and your home have no longer any claim on +you, and if you ever return to them, then I must hold you guilty of +robbing me of my soul, and our kingdom will demand your life as the +penalty. Canst thou keep such faith as this with me, O Flower of +Iceland?"</p> + +<p>Fair Helga leaned forward. "Look into my eyes," she said; "do you +think me so ungrateful? I will be your wife, and you shall gain +through me a never-dying soul. Do you think I could disappoint your +hopes of immortality?"</p> + +<p>So fair Helga, the Flower of Iceland, was married to the fairy king.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158">158</a></span></p> + +<p>A year had gone by. The sun shone once more through the crystal dome, +and fair Helga's fairy kingdom still bloomed in unfaded beauty; but +the Flower of Iceland was pale and sorrowful, and a tear trembled on +her lowered eyelashes.</p> + +<p>Was the fairy king's wife not happy? Oh yes, she was happy, almost too +happy. Beauty and love surrounded her on every side; but undisturbed +blessedness never lasts long on earth.</p> + +<p>Her husband was far away. The laws of the fairy kingdom compelled him +to go every year across the sea to give account of his government to +the supreme lord of the fairy race, whose throne stood in the rocky +mountains of Norway. He had promised to return in a week, and now +three weeks had gone by, and he had not come home. This thought gnawed +at fair Helga's heart, and made her blind to all the beauty around +her. In vain did the white birds flit around her head, stroking her +cheeks with their soft wings. Helga's soul was sunk in sorrow, and the +magic music with its soothing power lay asleep in the harp. At last +she rose.</p> + +<p>"Ah! I must be disobedient, my husband; forgive me, forgive me! But +anxiety will kill me, if I do not go out to look if I can see you in +the distance."</p> + +<p>She sprang up and went to the door in the rock. The birds fluttered +anxiously around her, but she frightened them away with her hand, and +touched the wall through which she had entered a year ago. The rock, +not daring to refuse obedience to its mistress, opened, and fair Helga +stepped out on the barren soil of Iceland. But after<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159">159</a></span> being so long +accustomed to the warm summer air, she shuddered as she felt the icy +breath of her old home, and with hurried steps she went to the point +of the rock. Here she stopped, turned her beautiful face, and looked +over her left shoulder towards the south-east.</p> + +<p>Before the power of this magic glance the veil of the distance +vanished. Her look pierced through Iceland's fogs, flew over the +eastern mountains, and swam on the Atlantic waves to the steep +rock-bound coast of Norway. She saw the mysterious inhabitants of the +mountains, and the mighty fairy king seated on his diamond throne, +over which thousands of years had passed, leaving it still unshaken. +Around him stood his people in their unfading youth and beauty, bowing +in lowly reverence. But her husband's noble form was not among them; +she could not meet the glance of his deep blue eye, though she +anxiously examined every countenance. At last she looked sadly away, +and turned to go back to her lonely kingdom.</p> + +<p>But when she went round the corner of the rock she saw a tall, manly +form standing in the very place whence she had once watched her father +and Olaffson as they rode away over the lava-fields. With a cry of joy +she ran to the spot. Could it be that her husband had been so near, +while she believed him far away? But the man, hearing her light +footstep, turned his head, and she looked not on her husband's +youthful beauty, but on the careworn face of her long-forgotten +father.</p> + +<p>"Helga, Helga!" The words fell on her ear with a strange thrill. "My +child, you are still alive, you are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160">160</a></span> still on earth?" and he stretched +out his arms towards her, and pressed her to his breast, while the hot +tears fell on her brow.</p> + +<p>The long-silenced chords now sounded loudly in Helga's heart, memory +awoke, and the fairy king's harp was not near to lull it to sleep +again.</p> + +<p>"My dear, good father," she said, thinking now of none but him, "weep +not. Your Helga lives and is happy; but how old you have grown, and +how white your hair is!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Helga, I had lost you, my only child; but now that I have found +you my youthful vigour will return. Come home quickly, my daughter. +How glad Olaffson will be."</p> + +<p>At these words Helga's heart trembled. "My dear, dear father," she +said, gently stroking the furrowed cheeks, "I cannot go with you; I +belong now to another world." Then she told her astonished father all +that had happened to her since the hour when she said good-bye to him +at the edge of the lava-field.</p> + +<p>"I have given my word," she concluded, "and, hard as it seems not to +go with you, I dare not, I dare not."</p> + +<p>"Alas, my child, my poor unhappy child!" said the father sorrowfully; +"into what hands have you fallen?"</p> + +<p>"Into the best and tenderest, my father," said Helga, soothingly. +"Would that my husband were at home, that you might see him; but I +will show you my kingdom, that your mind may be set at rest."</p> + +<p>She took her father's hand and led him towards the side of the rock +which concealed the entrance into the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161">161</a></span> fairy land. She touched it, but +the door remained closed; again and again she passed her hand over the +hard stone, but there was no movement.</p> + +<p>Helga's heart throbbed as though it would break, and she sank down on +the hard ground, begging with bitter tears for admission to her +kingdom; but all was still, dead, and motionless.</p> + +<p>Poor Helga! Without knowing it, she had transgressed the laws of the +fairies by speaking to a mortal of the mysteries of the spirit-world, +and now its gates were barred against her. With bitter regret she now +remembered her husband's parting command—not to return to the outer +world, to which she had no longer any right. Soon, she thought, will +the other awful threat be fulfilled, and she sank unconscious into her +father's arms.</p> + +<p>He was rejoiced to see the fairy kingdom closed against his daughter, +and with a lightened heart he bore the precious burden back to her +childhood's home.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>After long hours and days of darkness, Helga's youthful strength +triumphed, and she opened her eyes in full consciousness. Her first +glance fell on her father, who sat at her bedside.</p> + +<p>"You here, my dear father? Then my meeting with you was not a dream? +But now let me get up and go to my husband; he must have come home +long before this, and he will believe me when I tell him that I did +not intend to leave him."</p> + +<p>"My child, look round you," said the father, soothingly. "Let those +feverish fancies die. See, you are where you<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162">162</a></span> have always been, at +home with your old father. All through your long illness you have +raved about a fairy king and his paradise, of your marriage and your +promises. But these were only fancies, my Helga, such as fever often +causes."</p> + +<p>Helga looked at him in trembling astonishment.</p> + +<p>"That is impossible," she said at last in a faltering voice. "Bring +out my clothes, and see whether Iceland has such splendid garments as +those."</p> + +<p>"Splendid garments?" repeated her father as if in surprise. Then he +rose and brought Helga's dress, a garment such as she had always been +accustomed to wear.</p> + +<p>Helga examined it doubtfully, then she passed her hand over her brow, +looked up at her father, and said in a low voice, "I cannot understand +it. Can one then dream such things as those?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, my child; it is always so in fever. When I went to the +coast a few weeks ago, taking you with me as far as the lava-field, +you must have climbed the rock to watch us and fallen asleep there. +Then the cold mountain mist crept round you, and almost prevented you +from ever awaking. When your cousin thought you were staying too long, +she set out with the servants to look for you; there they found you +lying on the rock in a state of unconsciousness, and brought you home. +A messenger was sent after us, and we returned as quickly as possible. +I left my fishing, and Olaffson gave up thoughts of his voyage, that +we might be near at hand to watch and care for you."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163">163</a></span></p> + +<p>Helga sighed. Her father had never told her an untruth, so she felt +compelled to believe him, though her heart rebelled against his words +with bitter grief.</p> + +<p>Ah! she little suspected that her father, in the hope of keeping his +dear child beside him and hindering her return to fairyland, had +invented this story, and carefully taught it to every one about the +house.</p> + +<p>Helga's bodily strength increased day by day, but over her spirit +rested a cloud of melancholy, and she pined in secret for the paradise +of her "feverish dreams."</p> + +<p>She was at last almost convinced that such they had indeed been, for +when she spoke to any of the servants about her lost fairy kingdom, +they always smiled and said, "Those were mere fancies; we were about +you all the time and heard you rave about them."</p> + +<p>As for the voyage round the world which Olaffson had completed since +she went away, of that she heard nothing, nor was she aware that the +world's history had advanced a year while she tarried in fairyland. +The farm-houses in Iceland are separated from each other by long +distances, so that it was but seldom that Helga came in contact with +any of the neighbours; and if a chance stranger came to claim the +rights of hospitality, the father or Olaffson took care to warn him +beforehand not to disturb Helga's delusion.</p> + +<p>But the precaution was almost unnecessary; for the Flower of Iceland, +once so cheerful and talkative, who used to greet the arrival of a +stranger as a joyous event, and was never tired of asking questions +about the wonders of foreign lands, the same Helga sat silent and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164">164</a></span> +listless, and left the room as soon as the conversation turned on +beautiful scenery. For the visions of her lost paradise came back to +her mind, and it needed a conflict of hours to still her restless +heart. "Ah! it was only a dream."</p> + +<p>Olaffson had given up his seafaring life, and now busied himself about +the farm. Helga's father loved him as a son, and intended making him +the heir of his valuable property. But he had hopes of giving him +something better still. He was only waiting till Helga should be once +more the joyous Helga, till the Flower of Iceland should raise its +drooping head. But this time seemed far distant.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she will be better when she is married," said the father to +himself, as he looked anxiously at Helga. She was leaning against the +grassy ditch that enclosed the farm, and gazing into the glow of the +evening sky. He stepped softly up to her.</p> + +<p>"What is my Helga thinking of?" he asked tenderly.</p> + +<p>"Of the evening rays that are now falling through the crystal dome, of +the little waves crowned with the roses of the sunset sky, and of the +sweet music of the harp," she answered dreamily.</p> + +<p>"Helga," said the old man reproachfully, "will you never shake off +these delusions. You have heard from every tongue that they were fever +fancies; but you want to vex my heart."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, no, dear father. Do not think so ill of your Helga," she said +quickly, as she turned and stroked his cheeks caressingly. "I know +very well that they were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165">165</a></span> only dreams, but you cannot believe how +deeply they are burnt into my heart. It seems like faithlessness to +tear them away."</p> + +<p>"That is a remnant of the fever," said the old man. "Ah, Helga, how +happy should I be if you were yourself again!"</p> + +<p>"And I too, dear father," said Helga, with a gentle sigh.</p> + +<p>"I know one way of curing you, and if you love me you will try it."</p> + +<p>"That I will, father."</p> + +<p>"Do you promise it, my Helga?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear father," she answered unhesitatingly.</p> + +<p>"Then listen: Olaffson is good and brave, is he not?" Helga nodded. +"He loves you dearly, and my most cherished wish is that you should +become his wife, and that you should live under my roof, brightening +my old age with the sight of your happiness."</p> + +<p>Helga grew deadly pale.</p> + +<p>"Ah, father, dear father, I cannot."</p> + +<p>"Why not, Helga? Have you anything against him? Is he not young, +handsome, and strong? Is he not brave and good? Could you find me a +better son, or yourself a more loving husband? Tell me, are you +influenced in this matter by those foolish dreams, the wild images of +your brain? Tell the truth, Helga."</p> + +<p>She looked at him in trembling entreaty.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my father, forgive me."</p> + +<p>"If you want to make your old father happy, say Yes, and become +Olaffson's wife; if you wish to poison my last days with sorrow, then +leave my wish unfulfilled."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166">166</a></span></p> + +<p>With these words the old man turned away in anxious grief, and moved +towards the house.</p> + +<p>Helga hastened after him.</p> + +<p>"Do not be angry, my father," she begged; "I will fulfil your wish, +come what will."</p> + +<p>"I thank you, my good child; but what do you fear? What could come of +it but a father's blessing, with its fruits of happiness and peace?"</p> + +<p>So Helga became Olaffson's wife.</p> + +<p>Did the Flower of Iceland now regain its freshness and bloom? Alas! +no. In spite of her father's tenderness and her husband's love, she +still remained sorrowful and pale; deeper, if anything, was the shadow +that oppressed her soul. To longing was now added remorse, the +bitterest feeling that can disturb a human heart, for it is the only +one for which time has no balm.</p> + +<p>"How could I ever rob you of your claim to immortality?" she had once +said to the poor fairy king; and even though the words had been only +spoken in a dream, yet they burned into her soul, and when she +consented to be Olaffson's wife, it seemed to her as if she had really +shut out that poor spirit from the heavenly paradise.</p> + +<p>The short summer passed, and Helga shuddered more than ever under the +icy breath of the northern winter; but it too went by, and spring came +at last across the ocean to Iceland's snowy plains. The roads were +once more passable, and the first sacrament of the year was to be +solemnised in the church of the parish to which the farm held by +Helga's father belonged. Olaffson asked his wife to partake with him +of the sacred symbols, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167">167</a></span> she gladly consented. Perhaps she thought +this feast of reconciliation might bring back her long-lost peace.</p> + +<p>She went about her work with more energy than she had shown for many +months, so anxious was she to have everything in readiness for the +morrow, for they would have to set out early in order to reach the +distant church in time for the service. She was just laying the table +for supper when she saw her husband passing the window, and by his +side a stranger of tall and manly form.</p> + +<p>"See, Helga," said Olaffson as they entered, "I bring an honoured +guest; set out your best provisions, for he has travelled far, and is +in need of refreshment."</p> + +<p>Helga looked at the stranger. His face was handsome, but over his +youthful features sorrow had passed with heavy hand. But when he +raised his deep blue eyes to Helga, and asked in soft and melodious +tones—"Will the Flower of Iceland permit a stranger to rest beneath +her roof?" a shudder passed through her frame, and the old conflict +began in her soul more wildly and perplexingly than ever.</p> + +<p>These eyes, this voice, could they have spoken to her only in a +feverish dream? And if she had been deceived—what then? The thought +threatened to rob her of reason; but Olaffson stepped up to her and +said—</p> + +<p>"Our guest must be tired and hungry, my Helga; will you not grant him +the welcome which the stranger has always met beneath this roof?"</p> + +<p>Helga recovered herself by a great effort, and went out to prepare a +room for the mysterious guest, while the latter sat down at table with +the others. Then she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168">168</a></span> slipped softly back, took a seat in a dark +corner, and gazed with mingled anxiety and longing on the stranger's +face.</p> + +<p>"Look here, sir," said Helga's father, pointing to the sky, "do you +ever see anything like that in your native land? Do you not +acknowledge Iceland to be the most beautiful country in the world?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the stranger, "your land is indeed beautiful; but your +home and mine are not so very far distant from one another."</p> + +<p>He glanced at Helga—of whose presence the others were not aware—then +he described the land in which he lived, the same land that Helga was +said to have seen only in the delirium of fever.</p> + +<p>She listened with breathless attention. It seemed to her as if the +splendour of fairyland once more surrounded her. She saw the blue +waves rolling at her feet, and felt herself, as in days gone by, +rocking on their gleaming crests. She ran merrily to the side of the +fountain and caught at the water, that she might sprinkle it in sport +on the birds; and she saw the transparent flowers bending their +fragrant cups in friendly greeting. Every moment she expected to see +the stranger throw aside his disguise, and, standing before her in +royal purple, touch the long-disused strings of his golden harp.</p> + +<p>Alas! her father had then deceived her that he might keep her at home; +her heart had told her the truth, and she, instead of listening to its +entreaties, had weakly yielded to persuasion, and broken her sacred +promise. And now? Too late, too late—all was over. Full of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169">169</a></span> grief and +despair, she hastened out of the house to pour out her heart in bitter +weeping amid the stillness of the night.</p> + +<p>Next morning, when all was ready for the journey, when the horses were +stamping impatiently before the door, the family all assembled to +conform to an old Icelandic custom. In that island, before any family +partake of the sacrament, each member asks forgiveness of all the rest +for wrongs consciously or unconsciously committed. Helga took her +father's hand and her husband's. "Forgive me for all the anxiety I +have caused you," she begged in a low voice; then she added the +mysterious words, "and also for the sorrow that I am about to bring +upon you."</p> + +<p>"You must also ask forgiveness of our guest, Helga, in case you have +offended him," said Olaffson. "You were not to be found yesterday when +he wanted to bid you good-night."</p> + +<p>She shuddered, cast a farewell glance on her father's face, and moved +towards the stranger's room.</p> + +<p>Yes, it was as she felt and knew. The dark garment of yesterday had +disappeared; before her stood the fairy king in radiant beauty, with +his golden hair flowing down over his purple robe.</p> + +<p>She clasped her hands in silent entreaty, and her beautiful eyes +looked up with love and humility to the face of her beloved but +deeply-wronged husband.</p> + +<p>"Helga, Helga," said he gravely, "is this how you have been faithful +to your love and your promise?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, do not be angry with me," begged Helga; "to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170">170</a></span> your spirit-eye +nothing has been hidden; you know how it all came about—how my +anxiety for you drove me to seek you—how my father found me, and how +I was going to show him our kingdom in order to set his mind at rest. +You know that the gates were closed against me, and that I was borne +back unconscious to my old home—that they kept me there by +cleverly-invented stories, and that at last my father's entreaties +forced me to the last and hardest step. But you know also that I have +loved only you, that my heart is yours alone."</p> + +<p>"Be judged by thine own words, O Flower of Iceland!" replied the fairy +king quietly. "Why didst thou not listen to the voice of thy heart? We +fairies know nothing of human weakness, therefore we cannot forgive +it. Dost thou know the fate that now awaits thee, Helga?"</p> + +<p>"I know it well," answered Helga firmly, "and if my mouth has been +unfaithful, my heart has been true. I welcome death, for it will +reunite me to you!"</p> + +<p>Then a happy smile passed over the fairy king's noble countenance; he +stretched out his arms, and pressed Helga dying to his heart.</p> + +<p>Finding that his wife did not come back, Olaffson hastened with his +father-in-law to the stranger's room. They found fair Helga in the +fairy king's arms. Both were cold and dead; in the same moment both +hearts had broken. Olaffson tried to take Helga away from the +stranger's arms, but in vain. What life had robbed him of, he held in +death with a grasp that could not be loosed.</p> + +<p>"Leave them, my son," said the old grief-stricken father; "she is his +by right. What has all our prudence<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171">171</a></span> done for us? Worse than nothing! +The fairy king has reclaimed his own in spite of us."</p> + +<p>They laid them in the same coffin, and next morning the soil of +Iceland was to receive them into its cold lap. But in the night that +followed this eventful day, sleep fell more heavily than usual on the +eyes of the mourners. They did not hear the whispering of gentle +voices or the hasty tread of many feet. They did not see the multitude +of fairies who had assembled from all parts of the island to show the +last honour to their beloved king. Noiselessly the spirits lifted the +coffin, carried it out of the house, and away to the rock where fair +Helga had begged in vain for admission.</p> + +<p>To-day it was not denied her. The magic gates sprang open as the +coffin approached. With drooping wings the white birds hovered round, +and mourned the royal pair in notes of soft lamentation.</p> + +<p>At the shore of the beautiful blue sea the faithful spirits lowered +their burden. There Helga and her fairy husband rest beneath the +flowers of this paradise, and beside the gentle murmur of the waves. +On the branches of the cypress that grows on their grave hangs the +fairy king's harp. The hand is cold that once touched its chords; but +when the morning breeze sweeps through them, they sound as of old in +magic melody. The sweet notes float on the sunbeams through the +evergreen paradise, pierce the hard rock, and hover as beautiful and +undying legends over Iceland's heaths and snow-clad hills.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172">172</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="THE_SEA-FAIRY">THE SEA-FAIRY.</a></h2> + +<div class="i172"> +<div id="i172a"></div> +<div id="i172b"></div> + +<p><b><span class="hide">T</span>HE</b> evening sun was sinking in a glow of colour on the waters of the +North Atlantic and on the rocky coast of Norway as a youth wandered +alone by the edge of one of its numerous fiords.</p> + +<p>He was alone in the world; father and mother, brothers and sisters, +were all dead, and he strove to still the longings of his heart by the +wonders of foreign lands.</p> + +<p>He had seen the midnight sun from the cliffs of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173">173</a></span> North Cape, and +his eye now rested in astonished admiration on the firmament and the +ocean, which shone in a splendour unknown to other zones. He stepped +close up to the edge of the sea, and looked down at the waves, which +here broke in gold-sparkling foam. But from yon rock but a few yards +distant he would be better able to enjoy the ever-changing play of the +waves; so he went up to it, and laid his hand on one of its jagged +projections to aid him in climbing. Then he saw something white and +golden gleaming at his feet, and when he leant forward to observe it +more closely he saw that it was the form of a young woman who was +sitting in solitude on this uninhabited strand. Over her garment, +white as spring blossoms, down to the purple hem, fell hair golden as +the waves at her feet, and her tender hands lay clasped upon her knee, +while she, dreamy and motionless, looked out upon the sea.</p> + +</div><!--i172--> + +<p>The young man scarcely ventured to breathe lest he should frighten +her; but a stone loosened beneath his hand and rolled rattling to the +ground. She looked up and turned her head, and now his glance met a +face of unimagined beauty.</p> + +<p>"Who art thou?" she asked, in gentle astonishment; "and what seekest +thou here on this world-forsaken shore?"</p> + +<p>"I wished to see the beauties of Norway," he gathered courage to +answer, "and I found them greater than I expected. But who art thou, +wondrous being, who venturest to stay alone in this solitude, with +none save the ocean and yon stern rocks to bear thee company?"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174">174</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am the sea-fairy," she answered gravely. "The golden evening +sunshine, which streamed down into my castle, enticed me to the +strand, as it has done many a time before. But thou art the first +mortal that I have seen here for thousands of years."</p> + +<p>He did not answer, but gazed dreamily on her lovely form. In his soul +the fairy tales of childhood shone dimly forth—tales of the crystal +castle under the sea, and of the fascinating beauty of the sea-fairy; +and now, could these have been no fables, but reality—sweet tangible +reality?</p> + +<p>For a moment he covered his eyes with his hand, and looked again. No, +she had not vanished. The rosy light of the evening sun lay now on her +white garment, and her beautiful form seemed still more lovely in this +radiance. She rose slowly, and apparently with the intention of going +away to the waves, when such burning pain came in the young man's soul +that he took his hand from the point of the rock and stepped +respectfully, but with firm tread, up to the beautiful lady.</p> + +<p>"No, do not go," he begged, raising his hand in earnest entreaty; "do +not go, thou vision of my childhood. But if thou canst not tarry +longer here, then take me down into thy ocean kingdom. There is no one +on earth to miss me; and now that I know that thou really dwellest +beneath these waves, I shall feel an unappeasable longing after thee, +as in the days of my childhood, when I lay for hours on the shore of +my native land hoping to catch a glimpse of the pinnacles of thy +castle."</p> + +<p>The fairy stood still, and her eye, blue and fathomless<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175">175</a></span> as the ocean +at the horizon, looked in the young man's face as if to read his soul.</p> + +<p>"Knowest thou what thou askest?" she said earnestly. "If I grant thy +petition and take thee with me, it is for no short amusement, which +thou canst leave when tired, and wander further at thy will. No; if +thou go with me it is to stay in my kingdom, and only with thy life +wilt thou be permitted to release thyself from thy vow. Consider it +well. In thy veins flows the blood of a faithless race; but we are of +a different nature. Ingratitude and faithlessness we punish severely, +and our heart knows no weak pity for those who incur our wrath."</p> + +<p>"Try me, lady," said the youth, with firm determination. "Take me with +thee, and let me serve thee and surround thee with love and obedience; +and if thou find me faithless, spare not thine anger."</p> + +<p>"Come then," said the sea-fairy, "and forget not that it is thine own +choice." And Antonio, for that was the young man's name, walked +joyfully beside the wondrous woman towards the waves. She loosed the +star-set girdle from her dress, and gave it to the youth. "Put it on," +she said, "that those beneath the waves may recognise thee as one of +mine;" and he did as she bade him. Then she gave him her hand, and +stepped out upon the sea, which grew smooth beneath her foot as a path +of crystal. Antonio followed joyfully; the magic girdle prevented him +from sinking, and when the shore lay a few steps behind them, the +glittering plain opened and disclosed a glassy stair that led down +into the depths of the ocean kingdom. Did he step down on them, or +did<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176">176</a></span> they, rising upwards, offer themselves to his foot? He could not +make out how it was, for, now that he was led by the fairy's hand and +girt with her girdle, earthly laws had no longer power over him. He +only knew that they were descending into the water with marvellous +swiftness, and that the waves of the Gulf Stream, which flows with the +warmth of spring around these coasts, played softly round his head and +shoulders, while he breathed among them as freely as on the air above. +And when he looked upwards he saw the crystal steps break and form +again into waves as soon as the foot left them, and above his head the +sea heaved as was its wont, the great waves following one after the +other with a glorious play of ever-changing colours.</p> + +<p>Soon he stood at the bottom of the sea; and here there was nothing +dark or gloomy, as we are apt to think, but all around the reflection +of the evening sky lit the clear depths with golden light.</p> + +<p>"Now thou art in my kingdom," said the sea-fairy; "forget not that it +is the home of thine own choice."</p> + +<p>His eyes shone as he gave a joyful assent. "His home!" And he would +never long for another; of that he was quite sure.</p> + +<p>They walked together over the soft, shining, golden sand. Not far off +purple trees rose on their slender stems, and sent their wide branches +out on every side.</p> + +<p>"That is my coral park," said the sea-fairy; "it stands in wide +circles round the ocean castle, and keeps the wild waves far from this +retreat."</p> + +<p>Soon they stood at the gate of the magic hedge, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177">177</a></span> the fairy laid +her hand upon the rock. Suddenly an electric current seemed to stir +the whole line of trees. Thousands of little slumbering creatures +awoke, and stretched their tiny heads out of the openings between the +branches to greet their lady. She, meantime, walked with Antonio +through the intricate paths of the coral grove, till they reached the +shining plain where the castle of the sea-fairy stood. Its lofty walls +were crowned by a glittering roof, over which the waves glided to and +fro with softest music.</p> + +<p>Antonio gazed in happy astonishment on the radiant edifice, which +excelled in beauty all the childish dreams of which it reminded him.</p> + +<p>"And may I stay here? and shall I never be obliged to leave this +splendour?" he asked in a gentle whisper; but before the fairy could +answer there was a trembling in the waves around. Over the transparent +roof, and out of the shadows of the coral grove, came myriads of +little star-fishes of violet and rosy hues, and played round the head +of Antonio and among the sea-fairy's locks like butterflies on a +summer day. Then they fluttered away again, and lost themselves in the +trembling dance of the waves.</p> + +<p>The beautiful lady, still carefully keeping hold of Antonio's hand, +walked now over the watery meadow which surrounded the castle with its +gentle waves; and when she reached the high-arched portal the +transparent gates opened of themselves, and the empress of the ocean +entered her enchanted palace.</p> + +<p>Antonio's eye was dazzled by the splendour all around.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178">178</a></span> Hall after +hall followed in brilliant succession, and over all stretched the high +arches of the crystal roof, through which the evening sky shed its +undiminished splendour. Warm and soft as the breath of spring, the +little waves glided through these enchanted rooms and fell back with +gentle splashing from the crystal walls—now shining like a flood of +crimson, now azure blue, and now like liquid amber; thus they mirrored +the changing play of colours in the fleeting clouds overhead.</p> + +<p>The sea-fairy looked into Antonio's joyous face. "Thinkest thou that +thou canst forget thine earthly home here in my kingdom?" she asked +graciously.</p> + +<p>"Forget it?" he replied. "If home is the fairest spot on earth, then I +have only found mine now. Henceforth all other places lie eternally +forgotten. But what is that yonder?" he asked, pointing to tall green +pillars whose tops reached nearly to the crystal roof.</p> + +<p>"See for thyself," said the sea-fairy, and he moved by her side +towards the last hall in which the graceful columns stood. And now he +glides between their slender shafts, and utters a joyous cry as he +looks up at the transparent dome, beneath which leafy tree-crowns +waved, while little star-fishes gleamed brightly as they glided among +the leaves.</p> + +<p>"Palm trees!" cried Antonio, breathless with astonishment—"palm +trees, such as I have heard rustling by the banks of the Ganges! This +must be some delusion, some golden dream, out of which I must sooner +or later wake. No, no, there are the tender lianas winding round the +kingly stems, and there in the shadow lurks my lotos flower, the +most beautiful of all the gorgeous blossoms of India!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_179.jpg" width="400" height="607" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">ANTONIO IN THE CRYSTAL CASTLE.<br /> +F. C., p. 178.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179">179</a></span>He dropped the fairy's hand, hastened forward, and looked into the +shining cup, whose purple streamers trembled in the waves.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed, it is the lotos, gleaming in snowy purity like its +sisters in the holy stream, in whose cup the goddess slumbers. But oh! +how camest thou hither, beloved flower? But what do I ask? The holy +river of thy favoured home has caught thy falling seed and borne it +onwards to the sea, and there on its protecting wave thou hast been +rolled on and on, further and further, towards the south-west, till +the warm Gulf Stream received thee. Carried northwards by this current +of blessing which careful Nature sends to these icy realms, thou +camest with broken palm branches and liana sprays into this northern +fairyland, where the hand of the beauteous sea-fairy gave thee a +second home—one beautiful enough to make thee forget even the sunny +plains of India."</p> + +<p>Did the lotos flower think so? Its trembling cup gave no reply, but +Antonio thought it did. Henceforth the kingdom of the sea-fairy should +be his home, and she herself be dear to him as his father and mother +used to be in the old half-forgotten days. His happiness seemed full +as he moved by her side through the wide watery realm from one wonder +to another, while her grave but beautiful mouth explained to him with +easy eloquence the mysteries of the deep, problems in the solution of +which curious men spend their lives in vain. +<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180">180</a></span> Round them played the +gay star-fishes; beside them, on the gleaming sand, thorny ray-fishes +rolled like silver balls; behind them followed, in many-coloured +throng, the fishes large and small, their fins and scales sparkling in +the sunlight like silver and precious stones. They glided fearlessly +around Antonio, let him catch and stroke them, and looked up at him +with intelligent eyes when he spoke to them in human words. They did +not indeed comprehend what he said, but they all understood the star +pattern on the girdle, which still surrounded his waist with its +radiant circle, and made him known as the friend of their beloved +mistress.</p> + +<p>Yes, it was pleasant to glide through the waves, with beauty, peace, +and harmony all around; but Antonio thought it more delightful still +to wander with the majestic fairy through the halls of the crystal +castle, to be lifted by gentle waves up to the lofty dome, and to look +up through its clear vault to the bright sky far overhead.</p> + +<p>But Antonio's happiest moments were spent in the hall of palms, as he +rested in the shady corner where the lotos bloomed. The flower would +bend its white cup over his dreamy eyes, and the waves moved the +purple stamens over his brow as gently as his mother's hand. The water +flowed about him soft and warm, high overhead the palm trees waved +their leafy tufts, and the sea-fairy glided through the brilliant +halls, singing to her golden harp songs sweeter and more enthralling +than anything Antonio had ever heard on earth. Is it any wonder then +that he forgot his bleak, unmusical home—that he never gave it one +longing thought?</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181">181</a></span></p> + +<p>The summer sun had often sent its golden light, unbroken by night's +darkness, into the sea-fairy's kingdom; the stars of the winter sky +had often twinkled through the crystal roof of the ocean palace; but +Antonio had taken no heed to the flight of time. The years passed over +him in pleasant but monotonous repose; the little waves rippled and +sang with unchanging cheerfulness; and Antonio hastened from pleasure +to pleasure, without remembrance, without longing, feeling only the +present delight.</p> + +<p>The sunlight of a new summer was making its way into the ocean realm +when Antonio came out of the palace and walked through the gleaming +water-meadows. The fairy had been called to a distance by some +business in a remote part of her extensive kingdom, and Antonio had +thus been left alone in the castle. But the splendid halls seemed to +him only half as beautiful without their lovely queen, and he +determined to seek the society of the merry fishes without. They came +swimming to meet him, slipped through his fingers, splashed the water +merrily with their fins and tails, and formed themselves into a wide +and brilliant procession behind him as he walked.</p> + +<p>Soon the oddly-jagged branches of the coral grove arched above his +head. He intended to-day to explore every corner of this lovely park, +of which he had hitherto seen but one spot. He went further and +further into the maze of trees, and the fishes followed him at every +step and glided like silver stars through the deep red branches.</p> + +<p>Antonio looked back; the bright sunny plain and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182">182</a></span> gleaming palace +had disappeared, hidden by the dense grove of coral; but to the side +at the outer edge of the forest he heard a sullen, ceaseless roaring, +for the ocean billows rolled high and dark beyond the magic circle.</p> + +<p>He went further; everything became strange and awful. There was not a +glimpse of the bright familiar regions he knew so well. Purple +twilight lay around him, and to the side the darkly rolling ocean; but +there before him was a faint glimmering of light which became +gradually brighter. Could it be the crystal castle which he thought he +had left far behind?</p> + +<p>At last he reached the light, and looked down on the scene at his +feet. Before him lay an open space, over which the sunlight streamed, +unhindered, in golden radiance, and under this flood of sunshine +rested rows of pale, silent sleepers, heart to heart and arm in arm, +as the rage of the ocean or the anger of the sea-fairy had torn them +away from their full, warm, joyous life. They had sailed fearlessly in +their trusty ships over the sea, perhaps even rejoicing in their +nearness to the haven, and in the prospect of happy meetings, when +they were suddenly shattered by a hidden reef, or dragged downward by +the treacherous whirlpool.</p> + +<p>Antonio walked with loudly-beating heart among the sleepers. Here lay +an old man with long and silvery hair, and his withered hand rested +tenderly on the head of a beautiful boy; beside him lay a man, whose +youthful wife, even in the death-struggle, had not loosed her hold on +her tender infant; there slept two stalwart youths, their hands +clasped as in strong affection—they were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183">183</a></span> brothers, as the likeness +of the features showed. And there—and there—and there, wherever +Antonio's glance fell, lay forms once beautiful in their youthful +strength, now cold and stiff in death. And yet they only seemed to be +asleep, for, however long they might have rested there, time had made +no ravages among them. Their features were unchanged, save for a +deeper peace; and when the coral branches overhead rocked in the +waves, sending their purple shadows over the lonely ocean graveyard, +there fell on the faces of the dead something like the reflection of +their former life.</p> + +<p>Antonio bent over them, as if to read the last sad thought of the pale +lips—to learn the last unspoken wish, that he might take it with him +as a solemn vow, and fulfil it as soon as he could reach the upper +world. For the spell of the ocean kingdom was broken at the sight of +these white faces, and he longed now for his home, bleak and unmusical +though it was. With a deep sigh he took his eyes from this sad scene, +and advanced to the outer edge of the coral grove, where the lofty +branches bent and formed a low network, which divided the +resting-place of the dead from the raging ocean. He leant with folded +arms against the fence, and looked out on the billowy sea. The huge +waves rose black as thunder-clouds, hurled their white froth toward +heaven, and sank with sullen roar back into the deep. It was a scene +of fascinating horror, and Antonio could not tear his eyes away.</p> + +<p>Then suddenly northwards through the surging waves came something +strange, dreadful, horrible. Its long<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184">184</a></span> outstretched serpent neck was +of changing green, and its wide gaping throat was full of sharp +destructive teeth; its gigantic body wound dark through the flood—now +drawn together, now stretched out in its immeasurable length, so that +even the lifeless waves shrank back, and Antonio's heart almost ceased +to beat with dread amazement. Thus the monster of the deep rose in +slow but ceaseless movements, and its threatening head was raised +above the foaming heaps of water beside the coral fence just as +Antonio caught the first glimpse of its poisonous tail.</p> + +<p>"It is the sea serpent," he faltered at last, as soon as he recovered +his power of speech—"the monster of which the fairy told me that +death and destruction follow in its wake. The poor sailors up above on +the surface of the water, who have perhaps laughed and mocked at it as +an exploded fable, will now see and feel it in the last terror of the +death-struggle." And he clasped his hands tightly as he gazed upwards +in an agony of fear.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a wide shadow darkened the waters, covering with its gloomy +wing the purple fence and the golden waves that flowed above the dead. +Antonio sought for the cause of this phenomenon, and saw far above in +the surging sea a low rock which he had not noticed before. Whether +the wild waves had torn it from the coast and driven it hither, or +whether the storm had forced it up from the bed of the ocean, he knew +not; but there it stood, dark and immovable, with the waves dashing +over it, and the sea serpent gliding round it in foaming coils.</p> + +<p>Now he knew for what end the ocean was preparing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185">185</a></span> all its horrors. +There, from the south, came a ship with well-filled sails, of firm, +substantial build, and guided by a skilful hand; it seemed to mock at +the terrors of the deep, for the deadly rock and the lurking serpent +were hidden beneath the water; the huge waves surged above both, and +covered them with their foam.</p> + +<p>The captain of the stately vessel saw the heaving waves, but he knew +the powers of his noble ship. With flashing eye he stood on the deck, +calming the passengers with cheerful words, and shouting his orders to +the nimble sailors. He steered his ship confidently right over the +familiar track, in the midst of which the treacherous rock lay waiting +his approach.</p> + +<p>Antonio watched the ship's advance. His terror-sharpened eye +distinguished every mast, every plank. It seemed to him as if he saw +smiling, happy, unsuspecting faces bending over the side and nodding +friendly greetings to him in his calm, safe depths below. He wrung his +hands in despair, and cried in his loudest voice, "Steer to the left; +oh! steer to the left, for to the right lurks double death." But the +next wave drowned the cry, and granted him not even the faintest echo.</p> + +<p>Now, now must the end come—unavoidable and dread. Antonio covered his +eyes in trembling anguish. A sudden crash, one single piercing scream, +which with awful clearness rose above the roar of the ocean and the +hissing of the serpent, trembled through the waves, and thrilled +through Antonio's loudly-beating heart. His hands fell from his +blanched face, and he looked up through the sea.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186">186</a></span></p> + +<p>The waves still rolled, the rock still stood in dreadful gloom, the +serpent still wound its frightful coils, but the scattered planks of +the broken vessel were driven round and round by the mad whirlpool, +and those who a moment before had smiled in the fulness of life and +happiness now wrestled with the waves. Strong men among them, who +would not part from life without a struggle, grasped after floating +planks, raised themselves above the waves, and looked round for their +dear ones. But the sea serpent came darting over the white-crested +billows, struck with its tail the floating timbers, and sent their +trembling burden down to the hungry depths.</p> + +<p>Happy were those who, already choked by the water, had sunk down +unconscious to the bed of the ocean, there to slumber undisturbed. The +survivors were the prey of the monster. With its tail curled in horrid +rage, its green eyes flashing, and its vast jaws gaping wide, it +darted on every man whose powerful arm and stout heart would not give +up the struggle with the waves, and in a moment his death-cry was lost +in the sea serpent's horrid throat. With insatiable rage it glided +from one to another till all had perished, and not one was left to +carry home the dreadful tale. None would ever know the fate of the +goodly vessel and its precious freight.</p> + +<p>Antonio had sunk on his knees, and his eyes had followed every motion +of the sea serpent till the dreadful work was done.</p> + +<p>When all was over, the sea serpent rocked itself in horrid +satisfaction on the waves, and let them drive it at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187">187</a></span> their will. But +the dark rock retained the power of motion, and sank slowly down into +the deep, making the waves foam and toss as they parted right and left +to let it pass. Then Antonio perceived that what at a distance he had +taken for a rock was a gigantic kraken, one of those sea monsters +which often lie quietly for years at the bottom of the ocean, then +rise to the surface and lurk with deadly purpose in the path of +unsuspecting men. He saw the supple, far-reaching polypus-arms, which, +grasping at the masts, had cracked them like reeds, and torn the +planks asunder with swifter and more complete destruction than the +mere force of the waves could have accomplished. The snaky limbs were +feeling aimlessly about the flood, groping down towards the soft +sea-bed where the monster would now fasten itself for a long period of +repose.</p> + +<p>Antonio involuntarily shrank back, although the ocean, with its +billows and its still more dreadful monsters, could not break through +the coral fence or disturb the sparkling waters of the Gulf Stream. He +watched the kraken reach the bottom, settle down in its soft bed, and +draw in its long arms as for sleep. Then all became peaceful as +before.</p> + +<p>The wild waves sank to rest, and the ocean flowed still and clear; a +deep blue sky arched overhead, the sun shot golden glances through the +billows, piercing to the lowest depths, and dyeing with amber light +the waves that flowed above the kraken, which lay like a long dark +hill not far from the coral fence, and parted from it by a narrow +current.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188">188</a></span></p> + +<p>Antonio stepped back hesitatingly to the fence, and looked through. On +the sea-monster's back waved a forest of tall grass wrack, which had +taken root there during its long years of inaction. Through the waving +blades little fishes and sea-urchins glided fearlessly, and lazy +turtles crept along in the shade. But in the midst, as in a nest of +brown moss, lay something like a swan of dazzling whiteness, with +lifeless outstretched wings. Antonio was gazing fixedly on this +object, when a gleaming wave swept through the grass wrack, and raised +the dead swan's limbs. The next loosed it from its dreadful +resting-place, and bore it into the current which flowed towards the +place of the dead.</p> + +<p>Nearer and nearer floated the bird, till it struck against the coral +network, and Antonio stretched out his arms to grasp it. Then he saw +that it was no swan, but a lovely maiden in a wide flowing garment, +whom the waves had hurled down from the ship to the sea monster's +back, and who had thus been borne to her grave. With a sorrowful heart +he caught her in his arms, lifted her through the coral fence, and +carried her to where the dead lay in their peaceful resting-place. +There he laid her by the old man's side, knelt beside the dead maiden, +and arranged the long fair hair, tossed by the waves, around the pale +but lovely face, and folded her marble hands as if in prayer.</p> + +<p>The last duty was fulfilled, and he would now have been free to return +to the crystal castle, there to revel in new joy and splendour, but he +still knelt beside the maiden's corpse, looking dreamily into the +still, white face<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189">189</a></span> as one looks into a dim, far distance. He knew that +from her sleep there was no awaking; for in these deep waters no +living thing could breathe save one that wore, like him, the +sea-fairy's girdle; she was dead, and must slumber on till the +resurrection morn. The eyes remained closed, and the mouth could never +smile again, yet Antonio gazed at it as if it were about to tell him +some dear familiar tale—perhaps the story of his own life. Antonio +knew the sweet, innocent, tender face, but<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190">190</a></span> the flood of fear and +horror which had raged for hours in his soul had confused his +memories, and he only felt that the eyes and mouth now so firmly +closed in death had once smiled at him in love and friendship.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_191.jpg" width="400" height="412" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">ANTONIO LAYS THE DEAD MAIDEN IN HER LAST RESTING-PLACE.</p> + +<p>At last he rose, cast a last look on the lines of sleepers, stepped +back into the coral grove, and made his way through the shadowy paths +back to the sea-fairy's castle.</p> + +<p>His ocean vision had lost its charm, the paradise of his childish +dreams was laid in ruins; the sunny waves, which so short a time +before had played around him with the soft warmth of summer breezes, +felt now so cold that he shuddered, and his breathing became laboured +and painful.</p> + +<p>Again he rested in the hall of palms, and the stamens of the +lotos-blossom floated caressingly over his temples, in which the blood +now flowed more quickly, for the death-cry of the sinking crew still +rang in his ears, and before his eyes hovered the pale, beautiful +image of the dead maiden.</p> + +<p>Where, ah! where had he seen those features? He looked up into the +waving summits of the palms. Could it have been on the banks of the +Ganges that such a mouth had smiled at him, from the band of Hindu +girls who passed him every evening with pitchers on their heads on +their way to fetch water from the sacred stream? No, no, it was not +there, nor in any of the favoured countries of the new world, that he +had seen that face, for there the maidens' hair was of a darker hue. +No; no foreign land had ever shown him those sweet features, and his +thoughts turned to his old, half-forgotten home.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191">191</a></span></p> + +<p>The palm-trees beneath the crystal dome changed as he gazed into the +old wide-spreading lime-tree in his father's garden, and the song of +the waves in the fairy halls sounded in his ear like the tones of the +little organ which his father played at evening when the day's work +was done.</p> + +<p>Antonio closed his eyes. Was it to call up more easily the old +long-forgotten scenes, or to hide the hot tears which started to his +eyes? It seemed to him as if he lay once more on the round bench below +the lime-tree, with his head on his tender mother's lap, and her soft +hand upon his brow; above him rustled the lime leaves, and through the +open windows floated the soft notes of his father's evening song. +Antonio lay there listening in silence. His mother sat with a happy +smile on her loved face, and by her side Antonio's old teacher, on +whose lips he and his wild companions hung in rapt attention, as he +told them of the strange lands which he had visited in his youth.</p> + +<p>Oh, what a flood of memories rushed over Antonio's heart!—music and +fragrance, his mother's gentle hand, and the old man's wonderful +descriptions; and in the midst of all a tender, fairy-like child, in a +soft white dress and golden hair, who flitted like a sunbeam through +the garden paths! When she had gathered enough flowers, she came +softly up, sat down at her father's feet, and wove a garland; Antonio +kept his eyes closed, not to sleep, but to listen undisturbed. The +little one, thinking him asleep, rose softly and placed the garland on +his brow. Then he caught her hands, and playfully held<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192">192</a></span> her fast; but +she bent over him till her fair locks touched his cheeks and +whispered, "Be quiet, Tony; thy father is telling a story, and does +not like to be interrupted;" and she looked down at him and smiled.</p> + +<p>The riddle was solved at last. It was she. It was the sweet child to +whom his wild boyish heart had gone out in tender love, and whose +image had gone with him into distant lands till it faded before the +brilliant, ever-changing scenes through which he passed. But now it +stood before him in its old beauty, and he loved her as though they +had parted yesterday—now, when she lay cold and stiff among the dead.</p> + +<p>He rose, clasped his hands in anguish, and looked up at the crystal +roof, through which the evening sky sent all the bright hues of a +northern sunset. But all that he had loved to look on here had no +beauty for him now. Within was melody and song and unearthly +splendour; without, death, horror, and unutterable grief. He sprang +up, ran as if hunted through the glittering halls, and out to the +plain before the castle; but the floods which were wont to send +fragrance and song and radiance to hail his coming seemed to him now +filled with deadly darkness, and the sound of their waves was like +suppressed sobbing.</p> + +<p>He turned away shuddering, and, for the first time since he came to +the fairy's kingdom, he directed his steps to the coral gate which +parted the Gulf Stream from the darker billows of the ocean. He passed +out, and walked in gloomy silence over the sand, which to-day seemed +to have lost its golden glitter. Soon he stood at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193">193</a></span> the spot where the +crystal steps ended, and he looked up longingly through the heaving +flood.</p> + +<p>"Oh that I could return just once to the free fresh air," he +sighed—"to my old forsaken home!" And his wish was fulfilled, for he +still wore the starry girdle which made the elements obedient to his +will. The waves parted like the petals of a lily, and formed +themselves into glassy steps. With a shout of joy Antonio placed his +foot on the lowest one, and he scarcely knew whether he moved himself +or whether the water lifted him from step to step. He saw the blue +waters become clearer and clearer, until he stood on the last step, +his head rose above the waves, and he drew deep breaths of his native +air.</p> + +<p>With flashing eye and heaving breast Antonio looked westwards, where +the sun's radiant ball rested on a bed of purple clouds, while the +reflection fell in roseate and amber shadows over the whole heaven, +and the distant billows flowed like a mantle of royal purple.</p> + +<p>But the waves which bore Antonio to the strand dashed up golden spray +just as on that summer evening when he descended to the fairy-land +below the sea. There lay also the red rock at which he had first seen +the fairy, and with a sigh he bent his steps in that direction. Was +there not some one sitting there now? Antonio shaded his eyes with his +hand, for he was still dazzled by the unaccustomed light. It was no +illusion. There, where the fairy once sat, was to-day a bent and aged +figure, and instead of the golden locks flowed silvery hair about the +temples.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194">194</a></span></p> + +<p>"A human being!" was Antonio's first ecstatic thought as he ran across +the strand.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, sir," he cried joyfully.</p> + +<p>The old man raised his weary head, and his sad eyes rested with +indifference upon the youth. But the last few hours had changed +Antonio. The veil had fallen from his eyes and heart, and he saw now +with the keen true eye of childhood. The hair on the old man's head +had indeed grown whiter since he saw it last, and sorrow had graven +its deep lines on the high forehead; but it was the same clear-cut +mouth to whose words Antonio had once listened with burning eagerness, +and in the dark eyes still flashed something of the old fire. It was +his aged teacher, the father of the pale, beautiful maiden among the +dead in the ocean depths.</p> + +<p>"Do you not know me, revered sir?" asked Antonio, with faltering +voice, as he bowed in courteous greeting.</p> + +<p>The old man looked at him again.</p> + +<p>"No," he said slowly, "I did not notice you among the crew; but though +you are a stranger, I am glad that you are saved. I thought I was the +only survivor from the shipwreck."</p> + +<p>"Look at me once more, sir," said Antonio, trying to steady his +faltering voice, "and turn back a few pages in your life's history. +Think of a little garden, and of an old lime-tree beneath whose leafy +roof you often sat, while the sweet tones of an organ thrilled through +the summer air."</p> + +<p>The old man's eyes shone more brightly, and his lips trembled.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195">195</a></span></p> + +<p>"Antonio!" he stammered out, "Antonio!" and his white head sank on the +shoulder of his favourite pupil, who knelt before him with his arm +wound in filial tenderness round the childless man.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Antonio! I have lost my child to-day, only to-day. She would not +let me go alone to the distant north, to which some luckless impulse +drove me in my old age, and so she came with me on my toilsome +journey. Today we struck on a hidden reef, and the same wave which +dashed her against the dark rock drove me, despite my struggling, on +this barren strand, though I would fain lie with my darling child +below the waves."</p> + +<p>The old man covered his face with his hands, and Antonio did not +venture on any words of consolation.</p> + +<p>"If I could even find her corpse," said the poor old man at last, "I +could bury her at home; but even the sad consolation of visiting her +grave is denied me."</p> + +<p>"She has found a better resting-place than you could give her," said +Antonio—"she sleeps on a golden bed; a coral grove surrounds the +spot; corruption has no power over her fair features, and no worm can +touch her. Amid noble companions she slumbers, while the sunbeams kiss +her snowy eyelids, and the warm waters of the Gulf Stream flow gently +over her."</p> + +<p>"How do you know all this, Antonio?" asked the old man in +astonishment.</p> + +<p>And Antonio told him about that evening when he met the beautiful +sea-fairy at this very rock, and descended with her into her ocean +kingdom, there to live in forgetfulness of home and friends, until, +awakened by<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196">196</a></span> what he had seen and felt to-day, the old memories +acquired new power over him, and throbbed more strongly than ever in +his soul.</p> + +<p>"What will you do now, my son?" asked the old man.</p> + +<p>"I will go home with you," Antonio answered promptly. "I will be to +you a devoted and obedient son, if you will but let me."</p> + +<p>The old man gazed at him with beaming eyes.</p> + +<p>"Then let us go," he said, rising, "for I long to leave this place of +horror. In a few hours we shall reach the little harbour in which we +cast anchor yesterday evening, and there we can embark in a +homeward-bound ship."</p> + +<p>"Let it be as you will, my father," replied Antonio. "But one duty +remains yet unfulfilled. If the sea-fairy had led me by deceit or +violence into her kingdom, flight would be but right; but I went of my +own free will, bound myself to obedience and unchanging fidelity, and +enjoyed her kindness and hospitality. It seems to me cowardly and +ungrateful to go away secretly, without a word of thanks or of +farewell, and the thought of this would destroy my happiness at home. +To-day she is to return. I will go to meet her, tell her what broke +the spell of her kingdom, and beg her to let me go in peace, and with +her blessing. Wait for me here. The air of this zone is soft, and its +night skies clear. Before the bright night changes to the brighter +day, I will come back to leave you no more."</p> + +<p>He kissed the old man's hand, and went towards the sea. Meantime the +fairy had returned. The open coral gate and the empty halls of her +palace told her that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197">197</a></span> Antonio was gone. Her soul was filled with grief +and rage. He was one, indeed, of that faithless race whom she already +knew and hated; but his eye and heart had still that divine image +which she sought in vain among the cold, dumb creatures of the ocean, +and in comparison with which the beauty and harmony of her fairy realm +seemed poor and unsatisfying. He had become very dear to her. She had +begun to believe in his fidelity only to find herself once more +deceived. But, as she had told him, the weak pity of mortals found no +room in her heart. She did not complain, and no word of anger escaped +her firm-set lips. She would go up to punish the faithless one, if he +was still within her reach, according to her former threatenings.</p> + +<p>She passed through the coral gate to the place where the heaving steps +led to the world above. She beckoned, and the rocking staircase grew +firm beneath her tread. Just as she set her foot on the first step, +Antonio began to descend. They met half-way in the midst of the sea. +Antonio trembled, as she stood before him in the full splendour of her +magic beauty and her overwhelming majesty and might, and his soul +shrank from her, and turned with ardent longing to his own loved home.</p> + +<p>"Whence comest thou?" she asked sternly, although her keen ear heard +the story of the last few hours in the louder beating of his heart. +"Whence comest thou?" Then he gathered courage to tell her all, and +begged her to let him go in peace.</p> + +<p>"Rememberest thou not that summer evening when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198">198</a></span> thou insistedst on +coming with me, notwithstanding my warning?" she asked in the same +severe tone.</p> + +<p>"Yes," Antonio faltered.</p> + +<p>"And dost thou not remember my threat, and thy demand that I should +punish thee if thou shouldst break thy faith?"</p> + +<p>"I remember it all," Antonio said, with trembling lips.</p> + +<p>"And in the face of all this dread and certain future dost thou still +dream of leaving me?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot do otherwise," he cried passionately; "the ocean kingdom has +lost its charm since I have seen the gulf of irreconcilable enmity +which divides it from my race—since it has robbed me of what was once +my heart's dearest treasure. No, proud lady, let me go; I should be +henceforth but a dismal guest."</p> + +<p>Her eyes grew dark and fathomless as the deep sea beneath them.</p> + +<p>"Go," she said slowly, "but first loose thy girdle."</p> + +<p>He drew a deep breath of hope and delight, took the starry girdle from +his waist, and gave it to the fairy. She took it, looked once more +into his face, and glided down over the breaking steps.</p> + +<p>Antonio turned to seek the upper world, but the stair above him had +vanished, the step on which his foot rested melted from beneath him, +and he found himself floating through the dark, deep waters. But the +waves flowed no longer soft and free as spring breezes over his head +and breast. With his girdle he had given up his power over them, and +now he was but a weak mortal struggling with the raging elements. The +waves roared round him, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199">199</a></span> tossed him hither and thither like a +ball, while he strove in vain to breathe. He looked up to measure the +distance, then he struggled with all the strength of despair against +the waves. His young strong arm bore him upwards; once more he raised +his head above the flood and breathed the air of heaven. His eye +sought the red rock on which his old teacher sat, with his arms +stretched out helplessly towards his adopted son, whose desperate +struggles he had no power to help.</p> + +<p>"I am coming, I am coming, my father," he cried confidently, but a +giant billow swept over the youth and hurled him down into the boiling +deep.</p> + +<p>The evening hues were fading from the ocean, and the old man still +stood beside the rock, his hands clasped, and his eyes gazing fixedly +on the now tranquil deep. A dark object came floating from the west, +and the waves left it on the beach almost at the old man's feet. He +raised his dark eyes and looked at the motionless form, then he rose +and walked with tottering footsteps to the spot. There lay Antonio, +pale, cold, and dead. He had kept his word; before the bright night +had passed into the brighter morning he had come back, but not as he +had dreamed and hoped. The old man's trembling hands dug his grave at +the foot of the red rock where Antonio had first seen the fairy. Then +he turned his footsteps towards his distant, lonely home.</p> + +<p>As soon as evening came again to visit earth and ocean, the sea-fairy +rose through the waves, went up to the rock, and sat down beside the +rock beneath which Antonio lay. There she sat, silent and motionless, +her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200">200</a></span> white hands lying idly in her lap, and her dreamy eyes looking +out on the heaving billows; but down her beautiful face ran great +tears, that shone in the light of the setting sun, and told the pain +that throbbed in her proud and lonely heart.</p> + +<p>Not till the hues of evening gave place to the rosy tints of dawn did +the sea-fairy go back to her ocean kingdom, never to return to earth.</p> + +<p>No mortal eye has since beheld her, and the old saga of the sea-fairy +is no longer heard along the coast of Norway.</p> + +<p>Antonio's resting-place is desolate, as of old. It is known only to +the Norwegian sky, which looks down brightily and sunnily upon it, and +the little waves sometimes dash over it, sparkling like the +sea-fairy's tears.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_202.jpg" width="200" height="159" alt="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201">201</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="The_Faithful_Goblin">The Faithful Goblin.</a></h2> + +<div class="i203"> +<div id="i203a"></div> +<div id="i203b"></div> + +<p><b><span class="hide">A</span><span class="out"> CASTLE</span></b> stood long years ago on a lofty hill in the old land of +Hesse. Not a stone of its proud walls is now standing, and even its +site is well-nigh forgotten by tradition; but in those days its high +pinnacles were seen for miles over the country, and a haughty and +noble race ruled in its halls.</p> + +<p>The beams of the setting sun were falling through the little +lead-framed window-panes into a round turret chamber, and rested on +the fair hair of a lovely little girl. She was kneeling on an +arm-chair beside the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202">202</a></span> window, leaning her head on her little rounded +arms, and weeping silent but bitter tears.</p> + +</div><!--i203--> + +<p>"Oh, Margaret, Margaret, why are you so long?" she cried at length, +sobbing aloud, as she slipped down from her seat and ran to the door; +but the massive door of the castle chamber was too high for the little +hand to reach to open it, and the thick oaken panels kept any sound of +her crying from reaching friendly ears.</p> + +<p>Everybody was far away—everybody, even Margaret her nurse, who, +forgetful of her duty, had left the child alone while she was watching +what was going on at the splendid banquet which was being given to +celebrate the betrothal of the eldest daughter of the noble house.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Margaret, dear Margaret, come to your little Maude!" cried the +child again, as she rose on tiptoe and tried to open the lofty door. +But her efforts were in vain, her entreaties all unheard; and at last +she went back to the window, for it was beginning to grow gradually +dusk in the high-ceiled turret chamber. She climbed up again to the +arm-chair, leaned her arm against the window-sill, and looked with +silent weeping into the glowing red of the evening sky, where little +white clouds were swimming like swans in a sea of crimson.</p> + +<p>"Maude, Maude!" said a clear voice suddenly at the other side of the +room.</p> + +<p>The child turned her head in astonishment; at the fireplace there +stood a little boy, not any bigger than herself, and with just the +same lovely golden hair and rosy face. His coat was of red velvet, and +his feet were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203">203</a></span> encased in little buckskin boots, richly embroidered +with costly pearls.</p> + +<p>Maude's tears forgot to flow. Half terrified, half delighted, she kept +her eyes fixed on the form of the beautiful little stranger, and at +last she asked shyly, "Who are you, little boy, and how did you get +in? The door is still shut!"</p> + +<p>The little fellow laughed merrily, and came towards Maude's chair.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Maude! you have known me this long time. Just think now; doesn't +Margaret always threaten to call me when you won't go to sleep at once +at night?"</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to say you are Puck, our castle goblin, who has played +so many tricks on people that everybody is afraid of him?" asked the +little girl quite fearlessly; "but they always speak of him as old and +wrinkled."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am he," nodded the little boy; "but I only tease wicked people +who tease me, and I am old and ugly only in their eyes. But I will not +tease you, but serve you whenever I can, and play with you when +Margaret leaves you alone, so that you need not be afraid of me. Would +you like that, Maude?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I should," said the child, with beaming eyes, "I am so often +alone, now that dear mother is dead. Father is always out hunting. I +am too little for my sisters, and Margaret so often goes to gossip +with the other servants, and shuts me up here. She has been so long +away now that I am hungry, and it is getting dark, and she is not +coming with candles and supper."</p> + +<p>"You shall have both immediately, Maude; just wait<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204">204</a></span> a minute!" cried +the little boy eagerly, as he hastened back to the fire, swung himself +up by the iron bars, and climbed nimbly and easily up the chimney.</p> + +<p>Maude had got down from her chair, and was standing in astonishment +looking up after him.</p> + +<p>"Oh! you will spoil your lovely coat, dear Puck!" she cried anxiously; +but the only answer was a merry laugh from the goblin. Then all was +still, and the little fellow had vanished.</p> + +<p>She stood with clasped hands, looking expectantly up the dark, strange +road which little Puck had chosen. She felt that it was all so +mysterious, and yet so delightful; it was just like waiting on +Christmas Eve for the presents. Then there was a rustling and +clattering away high up, and quick as a squirrel the little fellow +clambered down the sooty wall, and in a twinkling he laid his burden +down before the astonished child.</p> + +<p>"Just wait a minute," he cried merrily, "and you will see how light it +will be!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke he climbed up the wall, and in a moment the silver sconces +were radiant with lighted wax candles.</p> + +<p>The little girl clapped her hands in delight.</p> + +<p>"That is not all," said the goblin with an air of importance; "just +look here."</p> + +<p>He opened the basket which he had brought with him. With magic +quickness, the table was covered and set with the daintiest dishes.</p> + +<p>Maude needed no pressing to taste them.</p> + +<p>"Oh you good Puck," she said gratefully, "how kind you are to me! Did +Margaret give you all that?"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205">205</a></span></p> + +<p>"Margaret, indeed!" answered the goblin, growling; "she has no time to +think of you. She is too busy staring at what's going on, and tasting +stolen bits."</p> + +<p>"But who gave you all this—this delicious cake and this splendid pie? +This must surely be the dish that Margaret says cook is so proud of!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, that it is!" said the little fellow, nodding; "and the guests +made such faces when it suddenly vanished from before their eyes that +I nearly died with laughing at them—ha, ha, ha!"</p> + +<p>"Vanished?" asked the child in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Yes, vanished!" laughed Puck; "do you think they would have given it +of their own accord; I put on my cap, so that they did not see me, and +then I packed up everything that I thought you would like."</p> + +<p>Maude dropped the bit that she was just putting to her mouth, and +gazed incredulously at her little friend.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" she asked anxiously.</p> + +<p>The little fellow laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>"Look," said he, as soon as he was able to control himself; "do you +see this little red cap? I have had it under my arm all the time I +have been talking to you; now I am going to put it on!"</p> + +<p>In a moment he had vanished from the child's sight—though she peered +anxiously about the room, she could see nothing. Not a gleam of his +red coat nor of his golden hair was to be seen at all, yet his clear +laugh close beside her told her that he was there and as near as ever.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Puck, dear Puck, don't play such tricks, please," she begged; "I +am afraid when you do that."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206">206</a></span></p> + +<p>That instant he stood again before her, handsome and merry, shaking +his golden locks and smiling.</p> + +<p>"You must not be frightened," he said soothingly; "I will always be +visible for you, and my cap will only be used in your service. Now +give me something to eat. No, not that cake! Break me some white bread +into this dish, and pour some nice white milk over it; that's what I +have been accustomed to for generations. In your great-grandfather's +time the good maid used to leave me some every evening, and in return +I used to help with all sorts of work about the house. Now, men are +not so good-natured, and won't give me my dues, and so I don't care to +be friendly with them."</p> + +<p>"My good Puck," said the little girl, handing him his bowl, "you shall +want for nothing now! I get white bread and milk every evening for +supper, and I will always go shares with you."</p> + +<p>Then the friends ate their supper with keen appetites, chatting all +the while like old acquaintances. At last sleep overcame the tired +child. Then Puck sat at the foot of her couch, and sang a strange, +soft, sweet lullaby. As soon as Maude was asleep, the goblin busied +himself in removing all the traces of their feast; and when Margaret +returned late at night, with many misgivings about her neglected duty, +she found the child in a quiet sleep, instead of being, as she feared, +ready to receive her with bitter reproaches.</p> + +<p>Margaret breathed more freely, and resolved to be more mindful of her +charge in future. For a few days she kept her resolution faithfully, +but she soon began to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207">207</a></span> slip out in the twilight to chat with a friend, +only for a few minutes, as she assured Maude. It was not long till the +minutes became a half-hour, and in a week or two she had forgotten all +her repentance and good resolutions, and poor little Maude would have +had cause again for bitter tears if it had not been for her little +friend.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had the door closed after Margaret, when the goblin popped +his fair head out of the chimney, and sprang into the room with a +merry greeting. Then Maude would clap her hands with delight, for now +began the pleasantest hour of the day. There was no end to the stories +that Puck could tell for her entertainment. For hours together, while +her nurse was away, the child sat motionless, with clasped hands, +listening with bated breath to tales about days long gone by. For +hundreds of years the little goblin had lived in the castle as an +honoured member of the household, and his memory preserved more +faithfully than the family chronicle the history of every individual +of the long ancestral line. And before the astonished child the grave +seemed opened, and the forefathers who had long since mingled with the +dust all passed in the bloom of youth before her eyes. Then she would +go to the ancestral hall, and standing before the pictures gaze at +them, now in love, now in horror, for she knew the story connected +with each one of the old portraits.</p> + +<p>No one in the whole castle knew of the child's friendship with Puck. +She was afraid that the servants might tease him if they knew of his +presence, or perhaps drive him away, so she kept her secret +carefully.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208">208</a></span></p> + +<p>It was winter. The snow lay deep, the storm howled at night and +whistled in the wide chimney, and the windows were covered with thick +frost.</p> + +<p>"Poor Puck," said Maude one evening, as the goblin came down the +chimney, his teeth chattering with cold, "I cannot allow you to stay +any longer up there. See, your hair is white with frost and snow, and +you are trembling all over."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," said the little fellow; "it is very cold."</p> + +<p>"Look here, then," said the child, going to her dolls' corner, and +drawing aside the curtain; "I have turned out the dollies. You shall +have the big four-post bed, and in the day-time you can stay here too. +I have set a little table and chair for you, so that you may have +something like a little room till the summer comes."</p> + +<p>So all winter long Puck crept at night into the warm, soft little bed, +instead of springing back at Margaret's return up the cold dark +chimney.</p> + +<p>Spring came with its primroses and fleecy clouds, and then followed +summer with its splendour of flowers in field and grove.</p> + +<p>And now Maude and her nurse used to go out into the woods, to the +child's intense delight. But one day Margaret found the sun too warm +and the way too long for her lazy mood, and was easily persuaded to +sit down and rest while Maude ran to gather wild strawberries.</p> + +<p>Scarcely was she out of sight of her nurse when Puck, who had +invisibly accompanied her, took off his cap, threw it into the air +with a shout, and stood before his little friend laughing his own +merry laugh. What<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209">209</a></span> delightful hours those were! What rich beds of +strawberries Puck knew—what choice flowers he could find! Then, when +the child was tired, she threw herself down on the moss, with Puck at +her side, and they both gazed up into the green tree-tops.</p> + +<p>The goblin understood the language of Nature. He heard what the trees +whispered to each other about the trees of Paradise, with the golden +stems and the flowers of precious stones; he understood the song of +the nightingale as he sang to his mate about the beauty of the bird +Phœnix and its undying youth; he saw the beetles gleaming in the +grass, and heard even their soft sounds as they talked about their +brothers in the distant Indies, whose wings gleam so like emeralds +that the dark-eyed Hindoo women use them to deck their raven hair; and +even the silent, lifeless stone had an intelligible language for +Puck—it told him of the diamonds far away beyond the seas, which the +poor slave seeks with eager eyes, trying to find one large enough to +purchase his freedom. All this he understood, and told the child about +it as she listened in silent rapture, and gazed up into the whispering +trees.</p> + +<p>Thus, in pleasant alternation, the seasons rolled by, and Maude +blossomed into maidenly grace and loveliness. She had become her +father's darling. Many an hour that he had formerly spent at the chase +or at the wine-cup he now passed with his daughter, amused with her +astonishing tales out of the family history. But she never would tell +him how she got all her knowledge, for she shrank from bringing +trouble on the faithful goblin,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210">210</a></span> who still continued to be her friend, +and the companion of her hours of solitude.</p> + +<p>Maude's only unmarried sister, Gertrude, was about to be united to a +brave young knight, whom she had chosen in preference to a powerful +but universally dreaded Earl, whose castle stood at no great distance.</p> + +<p>At the marriage, Maude appeared for the first time among the grown-up +people, and, as befitted the occasion, she received as attendant page +the son of a neighbouring nobleman, who, being an old friend of her +father's, had allowed his son to come and learn knightly service in +the household of Maude's father, preparatory to his filling an office +in the Imperial Court. He was a handsome youth, a little older than +his young mistress, with brown hair and dark, dreamy eyes, and Maude +took an innocent pleasure in the beauty of her future attendant; but +Puck looked not well pleased when she told him about her new page.</p> + +<p>"I will send him away if I don't like him," said he angrily.</p> + +<p>"Oh no, dear, dear Puck, you must not do that!" said Maude coaxingly. +"If you love me, be kind to him; he is motherless, as I am."</p> + +<p>But the little goblin was offended for the first time since the +beginning of their friendship, and when Maude went to rest he refused +the soft little doll's bed that had grown so dear to him, and sprang +instead up the chimney to the top of the tower. There he sat looking +gloomily up at the stars, and many were the sad thoughts that chased +each other through his ancient breast.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211">211</a></span></p> + +<p>Next morning, when Gero came to the turret chamber with a bouquet of +flowers for his young mistress, he found Puck seated beside her in the +window-sill watching her at her spinning. The goblin had put on his +invisible cap at Gero's entrance, but it was of no avail, for the page +had been born during the ember weeks, and could see the little fellow +in spite of the charm.</p> + +<p>"Why, Lady Maude," he cried in angry astonishment, "who is this that +you have in your company? It cannot surely be one of the goblins who +do so much mischief."</p> + +<p>"Puck has been my friend and companion from my childhood up," said +Maude, a little hotly; "and I have to thank him for many a pleasant +hour."</p> + +<p>"That may be," answered Gero, "but he must not take my place with my +mistress. And now your palfrey is ready, and I will escort you on your +ride."</p> + +<p>Then the goblin's wrath broke loose. He called Gero a proud fool, and +said he would not let him interfere with him. Then he followed Maude, +who descended the winding turret stair, her mind full of distress at +the discord between her companions. When she sprang to her saddle at +the castle gate, Puck jumped up behind her, as was his wont, and went +trotting merrily off with her down the mountain. But his pleasure was +not to last long, for scarcely had they reached the broad, even road, +when Gero rode up to the side of his lady's horse, caught little Puck +suddenly, and set him before himself on his saddle.</p> + +<p>The goblin would have been able easily to free himself<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212">212</a></span> from the hand +of the youth, if it had not been that Gero had wisely taken possession +of the invisible cap, and all the little fellow's efforts to release +himself only increased his tormentor's mockery. At last, when Gero set +him down again at the castle gate, Puck clenched his little fist, and +growled, "I will pay you back for this."</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_214.jpg" width="400" height="291" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">"GERO CAUGHT PUCK SUDDENLY AND SET HIM BEFORE HIM ON HIS SADDLE."</p> + +<p>From this time on the page had little peace. At night Puck would slip +into his room, and disturb his sleep with all sorts of malicious +tricks; and once he even lifted Gero from his bed, and laid him down +close to the edge of the great well, hoping that, waking with a start, +he might fall into the cold, deep water. Gero escaped the danger, but +the adventure taught him to keep on terms of at least outward peace +with his little foe.</p> + +<p>Maude did her part towards preserving this show of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213">213</a></span> harmony by +allowing Gero alone to accompany her when she went to walk or ride, +and by granting the little goblin the old cosy morning and twilight +hours.</p> + +<p>Puck accepted this arrangement with some grumbling. When the hour came +for the ride, he would mount to the top of the tower, and look after +the riders, as they trotted along so cheerfully, with a sad look in +his eyes.</p> + +<p>"But he can't tell her stories like mine," he said exultingly; "no, he +can't take my place there."</p> + +<p>No indeed; the young page had never listened to the language of +Nature, but he had delightful things to tell about tournaments and +noble deeds, and the soft voice of the forest trees began to die +gradually from the girl's soul, overpowered by the noise and bustle of +life.</p> + +<p>Very pleasantly the maiden's days went by. The morning hours in the +turret chamber grew more and more dear to her; the rides in the green +wood and the tales of the unknown world had every day new charms; and +in the warm evenings her wise goblin friend used to tell her wonderful +things about the stars, as the two stood on the top of the old tower +watching the far-off lights peep out one by one.</p> + +<p>One night, as she lay dreaming sweet dreams, woven out of memories of +the day's delights, she was awakened by Puck's sudden call.</p> + +<p>"Quick, quick! do you not hear anything?" cried the little fellow +anxiously; "rise and flee for your freedom and your life."</p> + +<p>Maude started up in terror.</p> + +<p>"What is wrong?" she cried.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214">214</a></span></p> + +<p>"The powerful Earl, whom your sister refused, has heard that your +father is absent, and has come to take a mean revenge by robbing your +father of his wealth and of his child."</p> + +<p>"What am I to do, good Puck?" cried Maude in bitter anguish, clasping +her trembling hands.</p> + +<p>"Dress quickly, and let us go."</p> + +<p>"Through the midst of the enemy?" asked the maiden, trembling, for she +heard the oaken stairs creaking with the tramp of many feet.</p> + +<p>"Yes, right through the midst of the enemy," said Puck, "but not +without my cap. Cover me with your cloak, and put this on your head. +Now, no one can see us."</p> + +<p>So they passed unseen through the midst of the rough soldiers. Once +Maude nearly betrayed herself when she saw Gero fighting single-handed +against a multitude of foes. The winding stair that led to his lady's +turret chamber was narrow enough to be defended by one, and with the +courage of a lion he guarded the way to the place where he believed +his precious charge to be.</p> + +<p>How hard it was for Maude to keep from telling him that his efforts +were needless! But Puck laid his little hand against her lips, and +forced her to silence.</p> + +<p>"Puck, dear Puck, can you not save him?" cried the maiden, in +distress, when they were once outside the castle walls.</p> + +<p>"Not till your safety is beyond a doubt," said the little goblin +resolutely; "not till you are away in the depth of the forest, where +they will never be able to find you."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215">215</a></span></p> + +<p>With trembling haste Maude ran towards the wood, but the way was long, +and her eager feet tottered under her. Turning to look towards the +castle, she saw flames bursting from door and window. Still more +anxiously she pressed on till the tall forest trees hid the castle +from her sight. Even then Puck refused to leave her.</p> + +<p>"Would Gero, who has, I confess, done his duty by you—would he, since +he seems to love you, wish me to go back to save him a little trouble, +and leave you unsheltered?"</p> + +<p>Further and further they went through the very scenes where Puck had +spent so many pleasant hours with his child-friend. But now, the trees +that used to whisper so softly looked down like grim giants, and the +night-wind in the branches howled "Flee!"</p> + +<p>Suddenly a gleam of light broke on their path with a mild silvery +radiance. A gentle murmur of water fell on the wanderer's ear, and in +a few minutes they stood by the side of a valley, which here, +forgotten by the world, lay like a home of peace in the heart of the +forest.</p> + +<p>There, in the shelter of a mossy rock, stood the cosy cottage of the +old forest-warden. The moonbeams flashed back from the single window, +and trembled on the stone bench before the door. The cottage was +uninhabited, for the good old man whose home it had once been had +years since passed away, and his office had never been filled. Yet +nothing bore traces of decay. There was even a bright fire on the +hearth, and a boiling kettle hung upon the hook above it. For the old +forest-warden<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216">216</a></span> had been a good friend to Puck, and the little fellow +loved to keep the little cottage as neat and homelike as it used to +be.</p> + +<p>Maude smiled gratefully as she looked around. "Thanks, dear Puck," she +said; "now hasten back to Gero. I will lie down on this nice bed of +fragrant moss, and I will not be afraid, I promise you."</p> + +<p>When Puck returned, he found that the maiden's weariness had overcome +her anxiety, but he knew by the tears that trembled on her eyelashes +that she was thinking, even in dreams, of her brave page, and he +dreaded to tell her when she awoke that he had not been able to find +any trace of the faithful Gero. A great portion of the turret stair +had fallen in, and among the bodies that lay piled beneath its ruins +it was impossible to distinguish any one.</p> + +<p>When the maiden woke, she almost for a moment fancied herself in her +own turret chamber, for there, at the open window, stood the +richly-carved arm-chair, the one carefully-preserved souvenir of her +sainted mother, where Maude had so often sat and chatted with her +little friend, and there in the corner stood her harp and the silver +spindle, with its snowy thread.</p> + +<p>But alas! she soon remembered the terrors of the night, and when, in +answer to her questioning look, Puck told her, with faltering voice, +his fears for Gero, the maiden's grief found vent in bitter weeping.</p> + +<p>But Puck would not allow her to dwell on these sad thoughts. Drawing +aside a curtain that hung against the wall, he disclosed to her +astonished eyes the portraits<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217">217</a></span> of her dear parents, which had hung +just so in her own room at home. And while she stood gazing on the +beloved faces, her hands clasped in silent emotion, the flame was +crackling on the hearth beneath the bubbling kettle, and Puck was +rummaging in cupboards and chests, rattling with plates and cups, and +preparing a meal for himself and his dear charge.</p> + +<p>Maude, with the happy buoyancy of youth, half forgot her trouble of +the night, while her colour came back with the needed food, and her +heart was cheered by Puck's pleasant chatter, so willing was she to +believe his prophecies of better days.</p> + +<p>"You must stay here, Maude," he said, "until your father returns, and +till he has punished the wicked Earl for his malice. For you would not +be as safe, even in your father's protection, as here in this forest +retreat. So be patient, and I will give you back in time to your +friends, even to Gero, if he still lives, though that will be the +hardest thing of all. But I know now that he was worthy of you, or he +could not have fought as he did last night. It was nobly done!"</p> + +<p>And the little fellow rubbed his hands with delight, which he felt, in +spite of himself, in thinking of that valiant defence.</p> + +<p>"You would have been friends yet if he had lived," said Maude +tearfully. "Two such dear, good people could not have been enemies all +their lives."</p> + +<p>Days and weeks passed by, and still Maude was kept in her place of +concealment. From time to time Puck went out to see what was going on +between the hostile<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218">218</a></span> noblemen. The report brought back was always the +same—"The Earl is sending out spies—I see them lurking in all +directions—to find out your retreat, for they seem to know that you +escaped the fire, or to suspect it from not finding your body among +the dead. He wants to take you now as a hostage against your father's +vengeance." Then, when Maude's cheek would pale at the words, he would +add, "But they cannot find you in the midst of this thicket."</p> + +<p>So the maiden still stayed in the forest cottage, and if her grief +about Gero and her longing for her beloved father had not gnawed at +her heart, she could have been nearly as happy in the lovely valley as +she was once in her old home.</p> + +<p>Puck was at work every morning by break of day, as if he wanted to +make up for a century of idleness, nor would he ever allow Maude to +share his household toil. But she sat spinning on the stone bench at +the door, while he bustled cheerily about the little cottage. Then, +when all the work was done, they would go into the wood, and it seemed +as if the old days had come back again. For they still lay on the soft +moss gazing into the shady trees while Puck told his marvellous +stories.</p> + +<p>Autumn and winter came, and the leisure hours were spent now by the +cheery fire that burned on the clean-swept hearth. Never was there +such a servant or such a merry companion as the little faithful +goblin.</p> + +<p>At last spring came. And now Puck went away every day to see what was +going on at the wicked Earl's castle, for Maude's father had laid +siege to his enemy's stronghold,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219">219</a></span> hoping to force him to give up the +dear one whom he believed to be imprisoned within those walls. Puck +never let the sorrowing father know of his child's safety, for he did +not wish her to be removed from his protection till her powerful enemy +had been reduced by war, or even slain.</p> + +<p>As the wood grew greener, the hopes of the besiegers waxed daily +brighter. The fall of the castle was sure, and its defence could last +but a few days longer.</p> + +<p>This was the news which Puck brought home one day as he came to the +noonday meal, and when he again went out to get further information, +or, if possible, lend, unseen, a helping hand to the besiegers, Maude +sat on the stone bench before the cottage, and tried to busy her +trembling fingers with her spinning. But Puck was longer absent than +usual, and she asked herself anxiously should she regard it as a good +sign or the contrary.</p> + +<p>At last she could stand it no longer. She rose and went along the +narrow path by which she had come to her place of refuge. She had +never before ventured alone through those forest shades; but the birds +sang sweetly as she passed along, and she thought their cheerful +voices bid her hope.</p> + +<p>Soon she came to the scenes familiar to her from her childhood. Here +was the place where Margaret used to sit and rest, and there—what +memories filled her soul with sad emotion!—there was the old +oak-stump on which she had sat by Gero's side, as he told her of the +great world of which she knew so little. And now the eloquent mouth +was silent, and her faithful page had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220">220</a></span> fallen in her defence, for +Puck, in all his journeys to the castle, had never seen Gero among the +besiegers.</p> + +<p>She leant her head against a tree-stem, and wept long and bitterly. +Then she raised her head to take one more look at the sacred spot. But +were her tear-filled eyes deceiving her? There sat, as if lost in +painful memories, a tall, manly form in gleaming armour, with a +well-remembered sash of silver and blue across his breast.</p> + +<p>Maude uttered a cry. The knight raised his head, and she looked into a +familiar, but now pale and grief-marked face.</p> + +<p>"Gero, Gero!" she cried, forgetting every other feeling in her wild +delight, and rushing with outstretched arms to where he stood.</p> + +<p>The young knight's brain swam. At first he thought the sweet +apparition must be his dear one's spirit; but no, he clasped in his +arms the trembling form of the lost maiden.</p> + +<p>For one moment she lay sobbing on his breast; then, recollecting +herself, she tore herself blushing from his arms.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, Gero, my surprise overcame me. So you are alive, and I +had mourned for you as dead."</p> + +<p>"Did you mourn for me, lady?" asked the young knight. "Thanks for the +sweet assurance. I too sorrowed—oh! how deeply—for your loss; and +to-day I rose from what I thought would be my death-bed, and came to +visit the spot where we had spent so many happy hours together, here +to indulge my grief undisturbed. The wicked Earl who caused our +trouble fell<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221">221</a></span> to-day in the storming of his own castle, but great was +our disappointment not to find you anywhere within its walls. And now +you are here, and I am not deceived by a blessed dream!"</p> + +<p>"No, it is no dream," said Maude joyfully; "but now let us hasten to +relieve my father's grief."</p> + +<p>As they went together through the wood, Maude told the knight how Puck +had saved her, and how he had cared for her in the lonely valley.</p> + +<p>"The brave little goblin!" cried Gero, as she finished. "Let bygones +be bygones; we will be friends henceforth."</p> + +<p>They had now reached the blackened ruins of Maude's former home, but, +in the joy of dispelling the grief from the dear face of her father, +who stood gazing, in deep sadness, on the scene of desolation, the +maiden forgot to mourn at the wreck before her.</p> + +<p>Ere the sun set, Gero and Maude were formally betrothed, and the work +was at once begun of repairing the ruined castle. Meantime, Maude +found a home with her future father-in-law, who was delighted to +welcome as a daughter the child of his trusted friend; and Puck found +no lack of employment among the busy builders, who wondered sometimes +what made the work progress so quickly.</p> + +<p>Before another spring the castle stood in more than its old strength +and greatness, and no part had received such careful attention as the +turret where Puck had made the lonely child his friend.</p> + +<p>No guest at Gero's wedding received such marked deference and +attention from the bridegroom as his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222">222</a></span> former enemy, and the servants +of the new household, catching their tone from their master, treated +little Puck with kindness such as he had experienced at the hands of +former generations.</p> + +<p>The turret chamber was his home henceforth, and all through the long +winter Maude's children loved to gather there at twilight, and coax +the merry goblin to join them in their games, or tell them tales of +the old days of the castle. But perhaps their mother's story was the +one that they loved best—the story about the old enmity that changed +to such firm friendship between the Lady Maude's page and her faithful +goblin.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_224.jpg" width="300" height="228" alt="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223">223</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="THE_FALLEN_BELL">THE FALLEN BELL.</a></h2> + +<div class="i225"> +<div id="i225a"></div> +<div id="i225b"></div> + +<p><b><span class="hide">E</span><span class="out"> RE</span></b> the light of the Gospel had shone on the benighted land of Saxony, +there stood on the green banks of the Saale a stately temple, within +whose walls a throng of ignorant worshippers presented the offering of +praise and of sacrifice to the gods who had been honoured, as they +believed, by their remotest ancestors. Then came Charlemagne, who cast +out the heathen gods of Saxony,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224">224</a></span> threw down their altars, and +introduced Christianity. Among the rest fell the temple on the banks +of the Saale. The Christian priest with pious zeal seized the idol +which had there been worshipped, and hurled it into the river. From +that time on, the rejected god lived as a water-sprite down in the +waters of the Saale, cherishing a deadly hatred against the new +religion, which had robbed him of his old-established rights. On the +site of his former shrine rose now a cloister, and the bell, whose +deep rich voice reached even the dwelling of the water-elf, stirring +up afresh his bitter wrath and jealousy, called the inhabitants of the +surrounding district to the new God and His sanctuary.</p> + +</div><!--i225--> + +<p>But the old honoured faith did not so easily die out from the hearts +of the Saxons, and though they were obliged to join in the +newly-enforced worship, they clung long to their ancient divinities, +and secretly brought them the usual sacrifices.</p> + +<p>At last the power of the Gospel triumphed, and the innocent child who +had yearly been offered to the water-spirit on St. John's day was now +withheld.</p> + +<p>Wild was the rage of the mortified elf. All day long he watched among +the willows on the bank, whence he could look unseen far over the +fields, to see if they had really forgotten him. No sacrifice was +brought. He felt that the last vestige of his power was gone. In +gloomy anger against the thankless race, he resolved to take by force +the victim of which he had been cheated.</p> + +<p>A lovely child approached the bank, heedless of danger, holding in its +tiny hand a bunch of forget-me-nots.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225">225</a></span> Close by the water's edge were +more of the blue flowers, and he ran forward to pluck the tempting +blossoms. Then the waters of the Saale suddenly rose, swept over the +place where the child was standing, and carried him down in their cold +embrace. From that time people were careful to avoid the river on St. +John's day, fearing a similar fate.</p> + +<p>As Christianity became more powerful, the cloister, formerly a centre +of holy influence, became the seat of arrogance and idle luxury, and +the water-elf, who knew that the God whom he hated was a righteous +judge, who would punish evil, often sat on moonlight nights among the +willows gazing at the cloister, from whose lighted windows came the +noise of clinking glasses and wild revelry. Then he murmured between +his teeth—</p> + +<p>"I shall live to see you brought to shame! Your God cannot suffer such +doings, and I shall have my revenge."</p> + +<p>And he did live to see it.</p> + +<p>One night, when, instead of pious hymns, drinking-songs were ascending +from the cloister cells, a dark storm-cloud spread across the sky. +Thunder growled and lightning flashed, making all nature tremble. Men +fell on their knees; the monks alone heeded not the voice of the +Almighty. At every peal of thunder they raised their voices in the +vain attempt to drown with their wild chorus the tumult without.</p> + +<p>Then came an awful flash, which gleamed like a coronet of fire on the +summit of the tower, and darted through the roof to the refectory, +where in one moment its deadly shaft sent all the profane and godless +scoffers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226">226</a></span> before the throne of the eternal. The flame next seized the +furniture of the hall, and it was not long till the fire burst from +the shattered windows, for every hand was still that might have been +raised to check its progress.</p> + +<p>The water-sprite sat on a stone at the river's edge, contentedly +watching the awful spectacle.</p> + +<p>Every moment the flames gained greater force. Their fiery tooth gnawed +beam and pillar till they burst asunder with a crash, and at last the +devouring element rose from the ruined pile below to the belfry tower. +Then the bell, swayed by the heat, began to stir. Faster and faster +came the strokes, like a cry of anguish or a mournful knell sounding +in wild and awful tones through the uproar of the storm. The beams +from which it hung gave way, and with a great swing it fell into the +Saale, making the water foam and hiss as it felt the glowing metal. +The tower fell in, and the stately building was changed into a mass of +smoking ruins.</p> + +<p>Gradually the rage of the elements was stilled, and nature sank again +to peaceful repose. The clouds were parted, and from the once more +azure sky the moon looked down on the heaps of rubbish with the same +mild and gentle glance as it used formerly to cast on the proud +cloister.</p> + +<p>And what of the water-fairy. The downfall of his foes almost +reconciled him with his lot. The hated chimes no longer reached his +ear, reminding him of what he so wished to forget, his lost dominion. +The bell had found a resting-place on a beautiful green meadow which +lay at the bottom of the Saale. The sprite planted water-lilies<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227">227</a></span> all +round it, just as human beings adorn graves with the fairest of +flowers. Then he built a crystal castle right in front of it, and +brought home as his bride a beautiful water-fairy from the +neighbouring river, Elbe.</p> + +<p>After a time children played in the shell-adorned halls of the crystal +castle, two beautiful boys with bright eyes and little red caps, and +their sister, a gentle little water-elf, as sweet and beautiful as her +relations of the land, the fairies of mountains and trees.</p> + +<p>The sons were like their father; they hated the human race, of whom +the old fairy had told them nothing but evil, and they helped him +every St. John's day to entice some heedless mortal down into the +stream.</p> + +<p>Their lovely little sister was of a very different stamp. A secret +longing drew her heart towards the land and its inhabitants, and it +was only by the sternest prohibition that her father could induce her +to remain at home. But at night, when sleep reigned in the crystal +castle, she would rise to the surface of the water, take her stand on +the great white water-lilies, which willingly joined to do her +service, and thus on this slender raft she would float up and down the +stream. Her long fair hair flowed down till it touched the water; in +her white arms she held a golden harp; and when she touched the +strings and sang her sweet songs that told of her longing after the +beautiful sunlight, after the blue sky and the unknown human race, the +trees bowed their tall heads to the water's edge, the birds hushed +their song, and even the night-wind held his breath while he listened +to the music of the little water-sprite.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228">228</a></span></p> + +<p>It was once more St. John's day, and the old water-elf was in one of +his tempers.</p> + +<p>The sun was shining on the river, and its rays flashed back in rainbow +hues from the crystal pillars of the water-castle. The meadows in the +cool bed of the Saale showed their freshest green, and the long grass +waved to and fro among the water, while fishes and water-beetles +darted between its stalks like golden stars.</p> + +<p>The two boys sharpened their scythes and began to mow the grass, for +it was haymaking time. Their sister stood among the lilies beside the +great bell, holding one of the white flowers in her hand, and striking +the metal with its slender stem, so that it answered her in strange +and mellow tones. But she did it softly, very softly, for she knew how +hateful the sound of the old bell was to her father, especially on +this day. The sound was deep and musical, reminding the little fairy +of the chimes which she sometimes heard on quiet nights, as she +floated up and down the river on her raft of water-lilies.</p> + +<p>Pleased with the dear, familiar tones, she forgot that her father was +near, and she struck the bell so loudly that the sound, borne on the +waves, thrilled through the castle, where the old fairy was leaning, +lost in thought, against a pillar, passing his fingers through his +grey-green beard, and dreamily watching his sons at their work.</p> + +<p>When the hated sound struck on his ear, he started up with a cry of +anger, and looked fiercely at his trembling daughter. But before he +had time to give vent to his wrath a shadow fell over the palace and +meadow, followed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229">229</a></span> by a crash, as if something had been broken in the +castle.</p> + +<p>And such was indeed the case.</p> + +<p>A boat was passing slowly through the waves above; the steersman had +happened to let the rudder fall, and its iron point struck with such +force against one of the crystal panes of the water-sprite's palace +that it fell, shattered into a thousand pieces.</p> + +<p>This was too much for the enraged fairy. He rose foaming through the +water, and stood with flaming eyes before the boatman. "Insolent man," +he growled, "what hast thou done? Repair the injury at once. If the +pane is not replaced within half-an-hour, thou shalt pay for it with +thy life."</p> + +<p>The boatman laughed. "I don't understand glazier's work," said he, +"and I shall hardly be able to find any one who could work down there +in the water; so I cannot satisfy your demand. But as for your +threats, my good fellow, the time of your authority is long gone by. +There is not even a child now who fears you; and, besides, I have a +cargo of steel bars, and you know, my dear waterman, that they would +prevent you from coming into my boat to do me any harm."</p> + +<p>At the mention of steel, a metal very hurtful to water-elves, the +fairy unwillingly retired. He cast one more look of anger on the bold +boatman, and on the little girl, who, on seeing the wrathful +apparition, had clung terrified to her father's arm; then he slowly +sank into the water. He sat down in his crystal hall, leaned his head +on his hand, and tried to devise some plan by which he could<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230">230</a></span> entice +the little girl from the boat into his kingdom, and, by choosing her +as the victim of the day, avenge himself on the boatman.</p> + +<p>"I have it!" he cried at length; "the trick with the green ribbon that +I learned the other day from my cousin the water-prince in Bohemia +will be of use to me now. To-day there is some great ceremony in the +next village, and I am sure the father will send his child there to +have her out of my way, and then I may find an opportunity of trying +my skill."</p> + +<p>So saying, he put on his hat of plaited rushes, drew on his green +coat, and rose to the surface to place himself not far from the boat +among the willows by the river's brink.</p> + +<p>He had guessed rightly. Though the boatman had seemed courageous when +speaking to the water-sprite, a secret uneasiness rankled in his +heart. It was not for himself he feared, but for his only child; for +he had seen the wicked glance that the waterman had cast on the girl +as he disappeared beneath the stream. He consulted his wife about what +they ought to do for their child's safety; for they knew well the +dangers of St. John's day, which the mischance with the rudder had +unhappily doubled.</p> + +<p>In the next village lived a distant relation, and the fair gave an +excellent excuse for paying her a visit. The little girl dressed +herself in her best, said good-bye to her parents, and received +injunctions to stay all night with her friends, and not return to the +boat before morning. Joyfully she hastened along the high-road, which +lay for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231">231</a></span> some distance by the river-side, till she came to the place +where the water-sprite sat so quietly in his summer clothes, that no +one would have recognised in him the angry and revengeful spirit of +the morning.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going so briskly, fair maiden?" he asked pleasantly.</p> + +<p>"To the village, to the dance!" answered the little one merrily; +"don't you hear the music?"</p> + +<p>"My dear child," said the water-sprite artfully, "the girls there are +all so finely dressed that you in your plain clothes will look very +shabby among them, and perhaps you will not even be able to get a +partner. But look at this lovely ribbon, of which I have such a +quantity. If you had that twined in among your golden hair, or wound +as a sash round your slender waist, you would outshine all the girls +at the fair."</p> + +<p>The little one, who had thought until the old man spoke to her that +she would never get soon enough to the dance, now stopped, and looked +with a critical eye, first on herself, and then on the bright green +ribbon, which the water-sprite was pulling in endless lengths from the +river which flowed on the other side of the willows.</p> + +<p>"Look how pretty it is!" said he, and she let him wind it, as if to +try the effect, around her slender form.</p> + +<p>But immediately she was in the old fairy's power. With a mocking +laugh, he said—</p> + +<p>"Now, my little one, thou art mine! We shall see whether thy father +will say to-morrow that my authority is overthrown, and that I have no +longer power to frighten a child. Come!"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232">232</a></span></p> + +<p>As he spoke he seized the ribbon, and walked towards the river.</p> + +<p>The terrified child began to scream, but father and mother were far +away. She tried to escape, but the ribbon forced her to follow the +water-sprite. Her feet would bear her in no other direction, no matter +how she tried. Nearer and nearer to the rushing stream was she drawn +by the dreadful ribbon. Soon the water touched her feet.</p> + +<p>"Father, mother, farewell!" she cried in a voice of anguish. Then the +old water-elf caught her in his arms, and, with a horrid laugh, +plunged with her into the stream. The waters did their deadly work on +the poor child's body, but the water-sprite kept the soul of the +drowned girl prisoner at the bottom of the Saale. She could not mount +to heaven; she could not even rejoice in the sunlight which pressed in +softened radiance through the water to the meadow on the river's bed, +nor might she play like the little water-elf with the silvery fishes. +Heedless of her entreaties, the water-man put her under the heavy bell +among the lilies, and said, as he went back to his castle, "Here thou +shalt stay in punishment for thy father's insolence; and my watchful +eye and the weight of the bell will prevent any one from setting thee +free."</p> + +<p>He went away, and left the soul of the poor little girl alone in her +prison. Her sighs and lamentations could not pierce through the thick +metal walls, but they were only sent back to her in dismal echo.</p> + +<p>Meantime the little water-elf stood outside the bell in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233">233</a></span> sympathetic +grief. She wound a garland of the fairest lilies round the little +girl's corpse, carried it gently up through the water, and left it +near the boat. The parents would never again see their dear child +alive, but she had laid the little body in a soft bed of flowers, to +make the sad sight less startling to their loving hearts.</p> + +<p>Next morning, when the sun began to gild the waters of the Saale, the +boatman left his cabin to make preparations for departure, while the +mother, shading her eyes with her hand, stood looking along the +high-road, where she expected every moment to see the child appear.</p> + +<p>"Look there, wife!" said the boatman, pointing to an object in the +water, which slowly approached the boat. "Look there! What is that?"</p> + +<p>The woman turned to see. The waters of the Saale were gently bringing +a great garland of blooming lilies, and in their midst lay, with +closed eyes and folded hands, their loved and only child.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The little girl's soul sat beneath the bell. She could not leave her +prison. Not a chink was visible, and the heavy bell would not move one +hairsbreadth, notwithstanding all her efforts.</p> + +<p>"What will my father and mother say if I do not come home?" sighed the +child's soul. "Oh, my poor dear parents! Never to see the pleasant +sunlight or the blue sky! To stay down here for ever in this narrow, +dark coffin—oh, how dreadful!" And if a soul could have died with +terror, grief, and longing, that would certainly have been the fate of +the little girl's spirit<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234">234</a></span> The hours passed silently over her and her +prison. The hours became days. How many had gone by? The little soul +did not know. At last she sank into a kind of stupor, and almost +ceased to feel.</p> + +<p>But one day something approached her prison, the edge of the bell was +raised, and the water-sprite's rough voice said, "Come out."</p> + +<p>The opening through which the light was peeping was small, but souls, +with their light transparent forms, do not need much space, and in a +moment the little spirit slipped out, and now stood trembling before +the wicked water-man.</p> + +<p>"Thou mayest play here for a little," he said; "but in an hour thou +must return to the bell."</p> + +<p>The soul looked up. She had been so long in that dismal tomb, and now +she found herself all at once in God's gloriously beautiful creation, +though only for a short time, and as a prisoner! She forgot her past +sorrow, and thought not of the future; she rejoiced in the delightful +present, and looked up at the sun, which in noontide splendour stood +in the blue canopy of heaven, sending its rays down on the green +meadow, their brilliance softened by the crystal flood.</p> + +<p>Then she looked around. Before her stood the splendid palace, with its +glittering walls and transparent pillars, and round her swam the +prettiest little fishes as fearlessly as if the little soul had been +an acquaintance for years.</p> + +<p>A lovely young girl came out of the shining building, and asked her to +play with her.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235">235</a></span></p> + +<p>The old water-sprite frowned in displeasure at his daughter's +friendliness, but the little elf did not look at him, and the child's +soul thought, "I must go back to prison at any rate, and he cannot do +anything worse to me!" So she took the friendly fairy's hand, and rose +with her through the silvery flood, chasing the fishes and trying to +grasp the sunbeams with her little transparent hand. Then she wound +garlands of reeds, and let them rise to the top of the water, after +she had pressed sweet kisses on them, and laden them with loving +messages for her dear ones up above.</p> + +<p>As she stood watching them with tearful longing as they rose nearer +and nearer to her home, she heard herself called once more. The +water-sprite stood behind her, seized her hand, and led her back to +the bell. She turned for a last look at the clear blue sky; the next +moment she was back in her dark and narrow prison.</p> + +<p>Hours and days passed slowly by. The time seemed endless to the poor +little soul. Her only amusement and her only pleasure was to go over +again and again that one hour of freedom and happiness.</p> + +<p>One day, just as she was doing this, there was a noise outside the +bell; the ray of light pierced her prison again, and before the old +water-sprite had time to give her permission the little prisoner +slipped through, spread out her delicate transparent arms towards the +light of heaven, and with a cry of joy greeted the fair, free world. +Her playfellow was standing waiting for her, and together they left +the bell with joyous haste, slipped<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236">236</a></span> through the waving grass, and +danced on the sunbeams with the dragon-flies and fishes.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said the little soul sadly, "why does this delightful hour come +so seldom. Why may I not get out every day?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know," answered the water-fairy; "but it is only on +Saturday, between twelve and one o'clock, that the spirits are allowed +to leave their prison down here and play in the sunlight."</p> + +<p>"But it is so lonely and dark in the bell," said the child's soul +dolefully.</p> + +<p>The little nymph looked at her compassionately. Both had lost all +pleasure in their joyous play, and arm-in-arm they looked up through +the water at the clouds which were slowly sailing past.</p> + +<p>"There comes your father to fetch me," said the little girl's soul, +shuddering. "Oh! do come once, just once, every day to my prison; +knock against the bell, and when the sound pierces through my metal +walls I shall know that I am not quite alone in the world. Will you?"</p> + +<p>A thought struck the young water-sprite; she opened her mouth to tell +it to her playmate, but just then her father came up, and she had to +be silent. She could only nod kindly at the poor little prisoner, whom +the old water-sprite led roughly away to the dismal prison, whose +narrow walls soon shut her out from the cheerful daylight.</p> + +<p>It was night. Souls cannot sleep, but they may have waking dreams.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237">237</a></span></p> + +<p>Thus the child's spirit was led back in imagination to her home. She +saw herself once more in the ship on which she had been born, and +fancied herself sitting beside her mother, listening to pleasant +stories told by the dear gentle voice, and as she dreamed she forgot +the impassable gulf which separated her from the living ones above the +stream.</p> + +<p>Then the sound of a bell fell gently on her ear. She had been so +absorbed in her dreams that she started in alarm at the unexpected +sound, and it was a moment or two before she could collect her +thoughts to think. Then she remembered her request, of which this was +evidently the fulfilment, so she struck softly against the inside of +the bell as a sign that she had heard her friend's greeting.</p> + +<p>Then the edge of her prison was gently lifted, and with a cry of joy +she slipped out into the water. There stood the little water-sprite.</p> + +<p>"Will you go up with me to the surface of the stream?" asked she. +"Would you like to float up and down on my lily-raft?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I should," answered the little soul. "What do I want but +freedom, air, and light? Oh yes, take me with you!"</p> + +<p>The lovely nymph took the child's hand, and a little shining wave bore +them upwards as on the wings of a swan.</p> + +<p>Now they are standing on the surface of the water. The little +water-sprite beckoned, and from far and near swam the water-lilies and +anemones to make a boat of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238">238</a></span> flowers for their young mistress and her +dear little pale companion.</p> + +<p>They glided down the stream. Oh, how beautiful it was!</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_240.jpg" width="400" height="413" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">THE WATER-ELF AND THE LITTLE SOUL ON THE RAFT OF WATER-LILIES.</p> + +<p>On they moved past lofty mountains crowned by stately castles—past +villages lying in peaceful slumber, whose churches mirrored their +graceful spires in the clear flood below—past the willows on the +banks, that nodded their drowsy heads as the night-wind played +through<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239">239</a></span> their branches. And over all these lovely scenes the moon +shed her magic light, and the waves sang softly their everlasting +song.</p> + +<p>Then the little water-elf took her golden harp, and sent her clear +voice floating through the stillness of the night. She sang of what +was stirring her own heart and filling the child's soul with +sorrow—of their longing for happiness on earth or in heaven, which +was so far, so far from them both. The sweet sounds floated through +the silent night, till the waves checked their song, and the +slumbering trees awoke to listen to the enthralling strains.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said the child's soul at length, "why cannot I rise into the +kingdom of light? why must I linger far away from my heavenly home, +and pine down below in that dark dungeon?"</p> + +<p>"Because," answered the lovely water-elf kindly, "my father has +sentenced you to the bell, and this spell holds you bound, and always +forces you to return to darkness and captivity."</p> + +<p>"Can this sentence, this spell never be broken?" asked the little +soul.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if a human being descends and overthrows the bell the charm will +be broken, and you may rise to heaven."</p> + +<p>"Ah! would that that time would come!" said the little one +sorrowfully. "The only ones whose love would be strong enough to make +them take the risk are far away." And she looked sadly into the +distance.</p> + +<p>When the moonlight began to pale, and the stars were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240">240</a></span> dying out one by +one, the friends left their lily-raft, plunged into the flood, and the +little soul went back reluctantly to her dark prison.</p> + +<p>So the days went by. Alone, alone in the dark bell, and once a-week +one short hour of freedom and sunlight—that was the lot of the little +soul, with now and then a sail on the lily-raft by the side of the +water-elf. Unspeakably delightful were these hours, but the longing +for their return made the dark days seem all the longer to the poor +little prisoner.</p> + +<p>And this pleasure was but rare. The little water-sprite had to be very +prudent, for her cruel father might have made her pay for her nightly +journeys with her life, so displeasing to him was her hankering after +the human world, and her mild and friendly disposition.</p> + +<p>Many a night the old water-fairy rose himself to the surface, many a +time did his sons sit among the willows; and often the water-man could +not sleep, and went restlessly through the rooms of his palace to see +that everything was right.</p> + +<p>It was only on nights when all in the crystal castle were fast asleep, +and no discovery was to be feared, that the young nymph hastened to +the little soul, opened her prison, by raising the edge of the bell, +and rose with her for a sail in the lily-boat.</p> + +<p>Years passed by, and with them hope died out from the little girl's +soul; nothing remained to her but memory and longing. In the world +above the water, what she had last seen young and fresh had grown +gradually old. The playmates of her childhood had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241">241</a></span> been married long +ago, and some of them had entered on their eternal rest. Her father +had never recovered the shock of that unhappy day, and the secret +thought that he had excited the water-fairy's wrath by his defiant +words, and had thus caused his dear child's death, gnawed at his life, +and brought him to an untimely grave. Her mother alone was left. Her +hair had grown white, not so much through age as through sorrow. Once, +when in her solitude a deep longing seized her to see once more the +place where her child had died, she entrusted the guidance of the boat +to her brother's son, who was one day to fall heir to all her little +possessions, and told him to take her to her darling's grave.</p> + +<p>The boat reached its destination the night before Easter. Here, +opposite the clump of willows, which had grown even denser than when +she saw them last, and above which the spire of the village church +raised its graceful form, the boat had stopped on that unhappy day so +many years ago. Here, therefore, was the anchor lowered, and the +boatman went to rest. But the mother, when she found herself so near +the fatal spot, could not sleep. The most dreadful hour of her life, +when she stood watching for the coming of her merry child, and saw +instead but her pale, cold corpse, came again before her soul, and she +passed the night in bitter weeping.</p> + +<p>When the first gleam of daylight played on the stream, she rose and +went on deck. All the stars had gone to rest except the morning star, +and even its radiance grew gradually fainter; for the young day began +to don his golden festive robe. The poor mother leaned over the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242">242</a></span> edge +of the boat, and looked down into the water. The sky was one glow of +purple, and on the stream lay the roses of the dawn. The Easter sun +rose slowly above the horizon, and as its first beam struck the river +a sound of solemn melancholy came upwards from its depths.</p> + +<p>"What was that?" said the woman, leaning forward to listen.</p> + +<p>A second chime broke the stillness of the morning, and soon the bell +began to ring in tones of wondrous richness from the bed of the river. +With the chimes, and borne on the sunbeams, which cheerfully plunged +into the stream, and rose again radiant from the crystal flood, came a +sweet, familiar voice to thrill the heart of the listening mother.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Jesus lives, and I in Him:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where is thy victory, O grave?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jesus lives to set me free,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My captive soul His love will save;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jesus will lead me to the light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">This the sure hope that cheers my night."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>So sang her child's clear voice in the words of the hymn which she +herself had once taught her, and which the little one used to sing on +Easter morning. The child's soul was still imprisoned, but now, on the +day of Christ's resurrection, when the bell began to ring as the first +sunbeam touched it, she felt a strange, sweet joy, that made her feel +inclined to join her voice with its mellow chimes.</p> + +<p>On the great Christian festivals all bells that have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243">243</a></span> sunk in rivers +or lakes awake to join in the hymn of all creation, and when, among +the rest, the little girl's bell began to sound, her grief and longing +generally awoke afresh. But to-day with the first note her sadness +suddenly vanished, and a strange joy sprang up in her heart. She +folded her delicate hands, and sang the verse of her childhood. But +the metal did not send the sound back to her as on other days; it +pierced through the walls, and floated through the waves up to the ear +and heart of her sorrowing mother.</p> + +<p>Yes, it was her child's voice; every drop of blood, every pulse-beat +of her trembling body told her that. She had indeed found her little +daughter's corpse; but her soul must have remained in the power of the +cruel water-sprite, and had been pining all these years down in the +stream, shut out from light and liberty and love. All the stories that +she had heard of the imprisonment of souls, and which she had always +laughed at as childish tales, came into her mind, and filled her with +unspeakable anguish. Her captivity must be somehow connected with the +bells, or else the chimes would not have mingled as they did with the +hymn. She leaned over the edge of the boat, and looked down into the +water.</p> + +<p>There was a sudden splashing and foaming in the river, and the old +water-sprite slowly rose, parted the waves, and stood before the +terrified woman. It was the same powerful form, the erect carriage, +the long grey-green beard, for the hand of time passes more gently +over spirits than over men. The woman recognised him at the first +glance, for she had seen him from her cabin<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244">244</a></span> window as he vented his +wrath on her husband, though she herself was out of sight. She knew +that the murderer of her child stood before her, but the water-sprite +did not suspect that this was the mother of his little prisoner.</p> + +<p>"My wife is ill," he said gloomily. "The chimes in the water always +make her ill, but there must have been some special power in them +to-day, for she is writhing in agony, and she begged me to bring her a +woman of the human race, to lay her warm hand on her aching head, and +restore her to health. Come with me," he concluded sullenly; "it is +not for nothing that I ask this."</p> + +<p>The woman could have shouted with joy. Her enemy himself was about to +lead her to the place where all her affections were centered; it +seemed to her a sign from heaven, and she went fearlessly to the edge +of the boat, and prepared to plunge into the stream.</p> + +<p>"Not so," growled the water-sprite: "thou couldst not reach the bottom +alive—a thing which would have pleased me well enough at any other +time, but to-day it would not suit my purpose. Take this ring!"</p> + +<p>She placed the glittering circle on her finger, and followed the +water-elf into the river. Thus protected, she could walk through the +water as on dry land, and breathe in the river as freely as in the +air.</p> + +<p>They came to the beautiful green meadow, passed the clump of +water-lilies, in the midst of which the woman's quick eye had already +noted the bell, and entered the crystal castle. There, in a spacious +and glittering hall, lay, on a glass bed with shining pillows of +fish-scales, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245">245</a></span> wife of the water-elf. She was tossing in restless +pain, and as the woman entered she stretched out her hands +entreatingly. The little nymph knelt sobbing by her sick mother's +side, and even the rough sons looked on with grave faces.</p> + +<p>The boatman's widow went up to the bed, and laid her warm hand on the +sick fairy's cold, white forehead. Almost instantaneously the pain +vanished, and she fell into a gentle sleep.</p> + +<p>The little nymph grasped the woman's hand, and said, while her eyes +shone with grateful tears, "Come, I will get you some of our beautiful +lilies."</p> + +<p>The old water-sprite, in his anxiety about his wife, had quite +forgotten the little prisoner below the bell, and, besides, he had no +reason to suspect that this strange woman knew anything about the +little soul. So, though he did not like to see his daughter so +friendly with the human race, he did not try to hinder her from +getting the flowers, but sat down quietly to watch his sick wife's +slumber.</p> + +<p>How the mother's heart beat as she arrived at the lilies, pressed +through their intertwining stems, and stood at last close to the bell. +With trembling hand she knocked, and the sound thrilled through the +child's spirit.</p> + +<p>The little water-elf stood in amazement as she watched her visitor +making her way so eagerly among the lilies, and great was her alarm +when she heard the bell sound, for she thought of her sick mother and +her father's wrath. But before she had time to remonstrate, the +little<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246">246</a></span> soul said, "Who knocks?" She knew it could not be her friend +the young nymph, for she came only at night, and this was early in the +morning. "Who knocks?" she asked again with trembling voice.</p> + +<p>The mother thought her heart would break with joy; her breath left +her, and she could not answer just at once; yet the greatest haste was +needful, for the old water-sprite might be beside her every moment.</p> + +<p>"It is your mother, my dear child," she said at last with trembling +lips; "tell me, oh! tell me quickly how I can set you free."</p> + +<p>"Mother, mother!" cried the little prisoner; "mother, is it you?"</p> + +<p>"It is indeed, my darling," said the mother anxiously; "but we must +not lose any time, for the water-sprite may come any moment, and then +I shall not be able to help you."</p> + +<p>The words brought the little soul back to reality.</p> + +<p>"Mother, dear mother, throw the bell down, and your child's soul will +thank you for ever in the heavenly world," begged the girlish voice.</p> + +<p>The mother put forth all her strength, but the bell, which the spirits +moved so easily, would not yield an inch before the woman's efforts.</p> + +<p>When the old water-sprite heard it sound, he went to one of the +high-arched windows, and saw the widow struggling to overturn her poor +child's prison. He beckoned to his sons, and quickly but noiselessly +the three left the palace. Once outside, they screamed with furious +rage.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247">247</a></span></p> + +<p>The little captive heard the wild cry, and trembled. The mother heard +it, and the thought that on one moment hung her own life and her dear +child's future happiness gave her gigantic strength; one desperate +effort, and the heavy bell gave way, and lay on its side.</p> + +<p>It was almost too late; for the angry water-sprites had reached the +spot, and stretched out their hands to seize the woman.</p> + +<p>But the little soul had left her prison, snatched up her mother in her +arms, and darted quick as lightning up through the waves. When they +reached the land the mother felt her child's arms taken from around +her, while a light, cold kiss was pressed upon her cheek. Then the +slight, transparent form of her loved one soared like a cloud towards +heaven, till it was lost to her sight. With mingled joy and grief she +watched the vanishing soul.</p> + +<p>"Oh! leave me not behind, my child; take me also up to heaven!" she +cried, amid streaming tears.</p> + +<p>Night came once more, and with his starry mantle covered joy and +sorrow, life and death. The poor mother lay on a narrow couch in the +cabin of her boat. She was wearied out with the day's lamentations, +and a gentle sleep had kindly blotted from her mind her bitter sorrow. +It seemed to the sleeping one as if heavenly radiance filled the +little room, and an angel with shining wings approached her bed. But +when she looked on the face it was that of her dear child, whom she +had yesterday freed from the power of the water-sprite.</p> + +<p>"Mother, dear mother, come!" said the loved voice;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248">248</a></span> "I am sent to +fetch thee, that thou mayest keep the Easter feast in heaven with +father and me."</p> + +<p>And she took her mother in her arms, soared out into the night, high +above land and sea, higher and higher, past the glittering stars, till +they arrived at last in the glorious heavenly temple, and met the +loved father and the beautiful angels.</p> + +<p>Next morning, when the nephew found the woman was not rising, he went +into the cabin and stepped up to the bed. There she lay, cold and +dead, but her hands were folded in prayer, and round her mouth and her +closed eyes was a smile of peace and happiness.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_250.jpg" width="250" height="310" alt="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249">249</a></span></p> + +<h2><a id="The_Last_Home_of_the_Giants">The Last Home of the Giants.</a></h2> + +<div class="i251"> +<div id="i251a"></div> +<div id="i251b"></div> + +<p><b><span class="hide">V</span></b><span class="out"><b> ALE</b></span> and mountain alternated in beautiful succession beneath the blue +sky of Norway thousands of years ago just as they do to-day, and the +Gulf Stream flowed then as now past its rugged coasts; yet it was a +far different land. In the thick forests no axe had yet been heard +felling the strong timbers that the Norwegian rivers would bear down +to the sea, to float hereafter as noble ships upon the breast of the +ocean; in the sheltered<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250">250</a></span> bays no cosy houses nestled with their +neatly-kept surroundings of garden and field; no boat yet flew over +the sea with nets and fishing tackle. Man had not yet sought out as a +home this beautiful northern land.</p> + +<p>A race of giants, of tall and powerful build, dwelt there. Their +lifetime was measured by centuries as ours by years. They tore rocks +asunder with their hands, and left the great streams a free channel. +They bore huge blocks on their shoulders to the shore, and built them +into castles whose turrets towered into the clouds. Their voice +drowned the roar of the ocean, and scared the eagle from its nest. But +this powerful race, beneath whose tread the ground trembled, were of +peaceful, harmless disposition. No quarrel divided, nor envy +embittered, their hearts. They lived together like the children of one +great family.</p> + +</div><!--i251--> + +<p>Their chief was Hrungnir. His companions voluntarily submitted to his +control; for he excelled them all in years, wisdom, and strength, as a +father his children.</p> + +<p>Hrungnir lived in a splendid castle by the sea. The mountains of +Norway had had to yield their most precious metals to adorn the walls +of his giant dwelling within and without. The chief's numerous flocks +and herds roamed over miles of land, the bears of the thick forests +were slain in hundreds by his hands that their skins might cover +pillows for his guests, and the tables and drinking-horns gleamed with +precious stones. But Hrungnir's most cherished possession was Guru, +his only daughter. Her hair shone golden as the stars of the northern<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251">251</a></span> +night, her eyes were blue as the sky of her native land, and her skin +was of dazzling whiteness.</p> + +<p>The most powerful giants of the whole country were suitors for Guru's +hand, and Hrungnir promised his daughter to him who should excel in +swiftness in the race, or whose arm should be strongest to hurl huge +boulders. Then the mighty men came down from their castles in the +mountains, where the snowstorm sweeps round the hoary peaks, and from +sea-side fortresses, till Hrungnir's roof could scarcely give shelter +to the host of powerful suitors. The tables smoked with countless +dishes, the horns of mead were filled and filled again, and from the +windows the songs of the giants sounded forth so loudly that the waves +fled back in terror towards the sea.</p> + +<p>After the feast, the giants went out to the strand, broke huge masses +from the rocks, and hurled them out in the sea as children would throw +pebbles. Far out into the ocean flew the masses of stones, but none so +far as those thrown by the hand of Andfind, the valiant youth whose +castle stood amid the rocks of the storm-swept Doverfjeld, whose +wealth almost equalled Hrungnir's, whose beauty bore comparison with +that of Guru herself. Then when the suitors arranged themselves on the +strand for the race, and the shingle resounded with their golden +sandals, Andfind left all his rivals far behind, and his long fair +locks floated like golden pennons on the rock that was the goal of the +race, while his fellow-suitors were still toiling along the course.</p> + +<p>Andfind was victor, and Guru's heart sang for joy, for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252">252</a></span> she had long +loved him in secret, though she was prepared to submit to her father's +wish, even if he had chosen some other for his son-in-law.</p> + +<p>Far from grudging envy, the giants loudly applauded the conqueror, +bore him on their shoulders to Hrungnir's castle, where the chief bade +him welcome, and called his daughter to meet her chosen bridegroom.</p> + +<p>The lovely Guru came dressed in a sky-blue robe with a +silver-embroidered hem, which she and her maids had woven and wrought +in the retirement of the women's room. Round her white neck and +rounded arms lay gleaming jewels, and her locks were bound with a +golden fillet. Thus she came to meet the guests. Hrungnir took his +daughter's hand, laid it in Andfind's right, and then, as priest of +the household, the chief united them in the indissoluble ties of +marriage.</p> + +<p>Night fell round the Castle of Hrungnir. The chief and his guests lay +wrapped in deep slumbers, preparing for the enjoyment of a new day. +But destruction approached them, as they slept, with stealthy steps; +for Odin, that crafty king, of whose origin no man could tell, came +with his trusty warriors down from the mountains. They had heard of +the beauty of Norway, and wished to win it for their home. They had +heard that the bravest in the land were feasting in Hrungnir's castle, +and they had waited till the hours of slumber that they might strike +unawares the foes with whom they could not have dared to cope on equal +terms.</p> + +<p>The moonlight glided through the open windows and fell on the forms of +the defenceless sleepers: the deep<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253">253</a></span> breathing of the warriors and the +murmur of the waves were the only sounds that the ear could +distinguish. But dark shadows fell in the moonlit hall, tall forms +climbed in at the windows, and noiselessly, holding their weapons +carefully to prevent them from clashing, they stole into the rooms. +With sure aim they bathed their swords in the heart's blood of the +sleepers, so that, with one last groan, each warrior yielded up his +brave spirit. The pavement swam in blood, but Odin's band passed from +hall to hall and never slipped on their gory path.</p> + +<p>The death-groan, though short, reached Guru's ear. She rose and +listened. No, it was no dream; there came that sound again with +dreadful distinctness. She threw on her garments and sprang to the +window, and when she drew aside the curtain she saw strange forms in +the courtyard, bearing with difficulty a heavy burden. She looked more +closely, and recognised in the clear moonlight the bloody corpse of +her noble father. She stole up to Andfind's couch, and whispered, +"Awake, awake, my husband, and let us fly, for treachery and death +have entered our house!"</p> + +<p>The bloody work seemed finished in the other rooms, and now the +dreaded footsteps were drawing near.</p> + +<p>Guru raised a stone from the pavement and disclosed a secret stair. +She bade Andfind descend, and then quickly following him, she +carefully closed the opening behind her.</p> + +<p>By a narrow passage which led beneath the castle and the rocks to the +strand they reached the sea unseen. There a boat lay rocking, which +Guru and her maids had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254">254</a></span> often used for pleasant sails. They stepped +in. Andfind spread the sail and seized the helm, and the boat flew out +into the open sea.</p> + +<p>Odin had conquered. The noblest of the land were killed in the +inglorious victory of that night, and the weak remnant of the giant +race were obliged to leave their old home and seek a refuge in unknown +lands. Notwithstanding this ignoble beginning, Odin's reign was one of +wisdom, power, and beneficence.</p> + +<p>Of Guru and her husband nothing more was ever heard. Whether the sea +had swallowed the boat in its hungry depths, or whether the waves had +borne them to happier coasts, none had ever brought back the tidings +to their old home. But in the winter evenings, when the maidens sat +around the blazing pine-log, and talked at their spinning about the +days of the Norwegian giants, some aged dame would tell her shuddering +listeners of that night of death, and of the mysterious fate of Guru +and her noble bridegroom.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Odin's reign was long since ended. His wisdom and his crimes were both +alike well-nigh forgotten. Olaf had many years ago brought in the +knowledge of the Christian religion, and reared churches on the sites +of the old altars; and to the ancient honesty and strength of the +nation was added the mild spirit of the religion of the cross.</p> + +<p>On the spot where Hrungnir's castle once stood rose now a fortress as +proud, and well-nigh as strong, as that of the giant chief; the flocks +that grazed around<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255">255</a></span> it were as great as his; and the present +possessor, Sämund, like him, counted as his dearest treasure an only +daughter.</p> + +<p>It seemed almost as if the days of Guru were come back again, for +Aslog's golden hair and snowy skin, Aslog's blue eyes and graceful +form, attracted the wealthiest and most powerful nobles of the land to +woo her.</p> + +<p>As each noble suitor was rejected, the father's heart swelled high +with pride and hope. "She will only take the best and greatest," he +thought. But when the most powerful prince in the land came, and the +fair one's lips said "No" to him also, Sämund no longer praised his +daughter's prudence. With bitter words he reproached her for her +folly, and commanded her to choose before Christmas Eve some one on +whom he might bestow her hand.</p> + +<p>Days came and went, and Aslog's cheek grew paler and her father's eye +more gloomy, for her heart was given to Orm, the poor but beautiful +youth whom her father had given her as page. Orm's strong arm had on +lovely summer evenings rowed the boat out into the gold-flooded sea; +Orm's hand had guided her over the vast snow-fields, as in snow-shoes, +with points thin and supple as a beech-leaf, they glided swiftly +through the bracing air; and in long winter evenings, while the guests +were drinking and singing in her father's halls, Orm used to sit and +tell her beautiful stories as she sat by the cheerful fire.</p> + +<p>Sämund loved the brave youth, but had any one<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256">256</a></span> spoken of him as his +daughter's choice he would have challenged the informant to single +combat.</p> + +<p>The lovers knew this, and it was with trembling that they awaited the +decisive day.</p> + +<p>"If she has not chosen before the time I have named," said Sämund to +Orm, "I will choose her a bridegroom myself, and you shall have the +honour of bearing her bridal train."</p> + +<p>Orm gave no answer, but with trembling hand he arranged the table for +the guests, and pressed his lips close together to restrain the eager +words that his love prompted.</p> + +<p>It was the night before Christmas Eve—starry and cold. A secret door +opened in the side of the mountain, and two muffled figures slipped +out. They were Orm and Aslog. They had brought nothing with them but a +little bundle of necessary clothing, a warm skin rug, and a bow and +arrows which Orm had slung across his shoulder.</p> + +<p>On they hurried over the icy plain, swiftly and terror-stricken, like +a pair of hunted doves. They reached the edge of the wide plain. Their +snow-shoes were no longer of use, for their road led now towards the +defiles and rocky heights of the highlands. It was bitterly cold, the +wind whistled through the clefts of the mountain, and its icy breath +made Aslog's frail form tremble. Long their path wound among the +snow-clad mountains; then they reached a thick fir wood, in the midst +of which stood a little hermit's cottage.</p> + +<p>"It is I, Father Jerome," said Orm to the old man who came to greet +them at the door.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257">257</a></span></p> + +<p>"Welcome, my son!" said the old man, as the youth stooped to press a +reverent kiss on his withered hand; "and the maiden at thy side is +welcome too to the poor hospitality of the hermit's cell."</p> + +<p>The offered rest and refreshment were eagerly accepted by the weary +maiden. With pitying eyes the hermit gazed on her grief-marked +features, and when Orm begged him to unite them in marriage, the old +man, after short consideration, granted their request.</p> + +<p>How different was this hour from Aslog's dreams! Not that she gave +many thoughts to the splendour and festivity that should have done +honour to her bridal, but she felt bitterly the want of her father's +blessing.</p> + +<p>The ceremony over, there could be no further delay. On the wanderers +pressed on their weary way, till Aslog would have sunk exhausted but +for Orm's supporting arm. Through the thick fir woods, over rough +mountain paths, they hastened on till the first streak of dawn gleamed +in the eastern sky. Then Orm pointed to a cluster of dark rocks that +lay before them.</p> + +<p>"There," said he cheerfully—"there, my Aslog, is rest and safety."</p> + +<p>Aslog's courage rose; with renewed energy she pressed over the +intervening ground, till they reached a tall jagged rock and entered a +cleft in its side. They now found themselves in a cave, which, though +narrow at the entrance, became higher and wider as they went on, till +it formed a spacious chamber. Out of this gloomy abode Orm's care and +thoughtfulness made a home for his loved<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258">258</a></span> one that was not wholly +lacking in comfort or happiness, and here they lived in secure +retirement as long as the winter blocked the mountain roads. But when +spring came, and the ways became accessible, Sämund's spies were able +to explore more thoroughly, and Orm could no longer go out and in +freely among the mountains. But when provisions ran short, he was +obliged to tear himself from Aslog's weeping embrace, and sally forth +with his bow and arrows. At last, when, after weeks of mild weather, +no living soul had been seen near their retreat, their fears subsided, +and Orm began to lay aside caution and to venture further from the +cave. Perhaps Aslog's father had grown tired of the fruitless search, +or perhaps he was even cherishing thoughts of forgiveness. Aslog's +heart was quick to believe what she so ardently wished, and Orm began +to believe it too. One night, while his wife was sleeping, he took the +path towards the valley where the hermit's cell nestled amid the +woods. His breast beat high with hope that the old man might be able +to give him some good tidings to take back to his loved Aslog, who, +although she bore her privations even cheerfully, was yet paler and +feebler every day. He drew near a jutting rock, behind which lay the +path to the hermit's cottage. In his glad excitement he had forgotten +all fear. His bow hung with loose string behind him, and his hand +grasped his staff but carelessly. Suddenly he heard a rustling in the +thick bushes beside him, and two heavy hands were laid on his +shoulder. With a strong effort he shook himself free, stepped back a +few paces, and swung his stick menacingly.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259">259</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is he whom we seek," cried his assailants; "remember the reward."</p> + +<p>Then it seemed to Orm as if all the bushes and even the brown rock +behind him became alive, so great a rustling was heard on every side. +Quick as thought he brought his stick down on the heads of the two who +had first attacked him, and before the others could leave their +hiding-places he had turned and fled.</p> + +<p>At first there was wild shouting and a sound of eager feet behind, but +he never stopped to look back, and he soon passed out of sight of his +pursuers. The way was long and rough, but Orm was strong and fleet of +foot, and before him lay his home and Aslog. At last he was at the +cave.</p> + +<p>How different was this home-coming from his former hopes! Aslog lay in +sweet sleep, with a happy smile on her lips, as if she dreamt of love +and forgiveness; and Orm must soon waken her, and tell her that she +must go forth once more a homeless wanderer.</p> + +<p>"Awake, awake, beloved one," he whispered, seizing her hand, "and let +us flee, for your father's men are on our track, and we must be far +from this before to-morrow dawns."</p> + +<p>Aslog opened her eyes, and gazed in speechless astonishment at her +husband's lips, but when she could no longer doubt, she sprang quickly +up and arranged her clothing and the soft skins which had formed her +covering in a neat bundle. Without delay they crept out of the cave by +its narrow entrance, and went forth, not, as they had hoped, to +Sämund's castle, but to a dark and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260">260</a></span> unknown future. Westward, where +Aslog's home lay, danger and treachery threatened them, so they turned +their steps northwards, on untried mountain paths. The air was mild, +the moon shone brightly on their way, and the soft moss kept no trace +of their footsteps that might betray them to their watchful enemies. +Thus they wandered northwards for hours. The cave in the rock lay +miles behind them, and they were far from the place where Orm had been +seen by his father-in-law's men. Then at last he ventured to turn +westwards, towards the sea. Their way led down towards the lowlands. +The wintry mists were still hanging over the plain. Orm's keen eye +could scarcely pierce their grey veil, and Aslog shuddered as she felt +their cold embrace. They could no longer tell in what direction they +were going, but they went on and on, hoping to come ere long to the +friendly ocean. At last Aslog's pale face caught a flush of joy as she +heard its distant murmur. Nearer and nearer sounded the familiar +music, and soon the wanderers came to a narrow valley, at the further +edge of which rose a cluster of dark rocks.</p> + +<p>"It is the coast!" said Aslog joyously, as she almost flew along the +ground.</p> + +<p>In a little bay at the foot of the rocks lay a fishing-boat. Orm bore +his wife in his arms along the sand, for on this open strand the +greatest haste was necessary, lest some hostile eye might see them. He +placed Aslog gently in the boat, sprang in after her, and with +trembling hands spread the sail.</p> + +<p>The wind seemed to wish the fugitives well. It swept<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261">261</a></span> down from the +mountains and filled the white sail, so that the little boat shot out +into the sea like a swan with spreading wings. The sun rose higher and +higher, the cliffs of their native coast seemed now but a line of low +hills; proud ships glided not far from them, and on the farthest +horizon appeared a group of islands gleaming in the golden mist. As +the sun sank slowly to the horizon, the great ships passed by without +noticing the wanderers, and the little islands were still in the far +distance. Aslog's face, that had before glowed with hope, grew pale +and wan.</p> + +<p>"What is wrong, my darling?" asked Orm anxiously.</p> + +<p>"I am hungry," answered Aslog faintly.</p> + +<p>Orm sighed deeply. They had had to flee without waiting to get +provisions, and now they had been twenty-four hours without food, and +the islands lay far, far away. The sun sank into the sea.</p> + +<p>"Sleep, my Aslog, sleep!" begged Orm at length; "you will not feel +your hunger while you are asleep, and by the time you awake, perhaps +we shall have reached one of the little islands before us."</p> + +<p>And Aslog smiled submissively, and loosing the skins from the bundle, +lay down beneath their protecting warmth at the bottom of the boat. +The waves rocked the little vessel gently, the oar splashed in +measured monotony, and at last Aslog's eyes closed, and she fell +asleep.</p> + +<p>Orm now kept watch alone on the wide ocean. Night had come, but a warm +breath of spring was still hovering over the sea. The moon rose slowly +above the distant<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262">262</a></span> mountains of Norway, and flooded the ocean with its +silvery light. The waves danced sparkling round the boat, sails and +masts shone brightly, and the hair of the slumbering fair one gleamed +like waves of gold.</p> + +<p>Full of love and grief, Orm's eyes rested on Aslog's pale face. +Allowing himself but short rest, and that at long intervals, he rowed +on all night, and when morning dawned, a large island with blossoming +trees lay before his eyes bathed in the purple light. His cry of joy +woke Aslog, who rose and looked at this lovely haven of refuge, which +seemed offered to the homeless wanderers. Like a guardian of their +future safety a tall grey rock stood upon the shore, in form not +unlike a gigantic human figure.</p> + +<p>Orm tried to steer between the small islands that lay round this +tempting spot; but the waves, which had heretofore played so gently +round the shores, now foamed and roared about the boat, and drove it +back into the open sea. Nevertheless Orm undauntedly plied helm and +oar, only to be driven back irresistibly again and again.</p> + +<p>Noon came, and the fruitless struggle still continued; and now the sun +was inclining towards the west. Orm's strength and heroic perseverance +began at length to fail. His hands bled, his arms trembled, hunger and +exhaustion almost overpowered him; while Aslog, who had sunk from a +state of the most eager hope into the deepest despondency, clung, +well-nigh unconscious, to the mast. Orm thought her dying. Then +despair gave him fresh strength. "Almighty God, pity us!" he cried +aloud<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263">263</a></span> to heaven. Immediately the waves submitted to the holy name; +the foaming billows glided gently beneath the boat; the vessel shot +like an arrow through the midst of the islands, and drew near the +haven where the giant rock with its dark countenance looked down on +the little boat that glided past it to the smooth strand. Orm sprang +out, took the exhausted Aslog in his arms, and carried her across to +the dry, soft sand. He looked round for something to eat. Fruit-trees +waved their blossoming crowns at no great distance, but the time for +fruit was not come. Orm looked still more anxiously about the beach. +Then he saw a mussel right at his feet, then another and another. He +lifted them, and offered them to his half-fainting wife; and so much +refreshed did she feel by the slight nourishment, that she was able to +walk towards the centre of the island, supported by Orm's arm, in +search of some place of shelter.</p> + +<p>The blossoming fruit-trees bore evidence of some careful hand, but no +path, no footprint told of the cheering nearness of human beings. They +went on further through the green island, over which the sun was +shedding its last golden beams. There before them they saw a clear +space amid the foliage, and with hearts beating with hope and fear +they approached it. Soon they stood before a house of very ancient +architecture. Its walls sank deep into the earth, and towered so high +into the air that the firs could scarcely stretch their dark branches +over the hide-covered roof. The windows were small, and their panes +made of fishes' skins. The door<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264">264</a></span> was made of strong planks, and firmly +bound with iron. The whole house looked as if it bade defiance to the +storms, and had done so for centuries.</p> + +<p>But where were now its builders? Did they lie sleeping in the depths +of the ocean? Did the tall grass of the little islands wave above +their last resting-place, or did they still sit, spell-bound, behind +the iron-bound door and the grey walls of the dreary dwelling? +Checking the slight shudder that shook his frame at these thoughts, +Orm knocked at the door of the mysterious house. No sound, no footstep +told him that he had been heard within. He knocked again, then a third +time, but there was still no movement. Then he laid his hand on the +heavy latch; the door opened, and they entered a stone-paved hall. +There was no one to bid them welcome or refuse them entrance. At one +side of this hall was another door. Orm knocked, and when again there +was no answer he opened it, and stepped with Aslog by his side into a +large and lofty apartment. There was no one to be seen, yet everything +bore traces of an orderly hand. A bright fire burned on the hearth, +and above it hung a cauldron with fish, the smell of which greeted the +hungry fugitives with pleasant invitation.</p> + +<p>"Forgive us, noble master of this house!" said Orm in a loud voice, +yet in a respectful tone; "it is necessity, not forwardness, which +makes us intruders."</p> + +<p>They both listened breathlessly; but there was still no answer. Then +Orm poured some of the contents of the cauldron into two plates, and +placed them on the table. With trembling at first, but afterwards with +growing<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265">265</a></span> comfort and courage, the wanderers enjoyed the much-needed +food.</p> + +<p>When their hunger was satisfied, and their spirits revived, they +looked around them. At the farther side of the room stood two beds of +gigantic size, and of an ancient, long-forgotten form. The fire below +the cauldron was getting low, the evening light had ceased to fall +through the windows, and the darkness was only broken by the faint +glimmer of the dying embers.</p> + +<p>Nature at last claimed her rights. The wanderers' eyes were almost +closing, and, laying aside all fear, they took possession of the +couches where surely giant forms had once reposed.</p> + +<p>When they awoke the sun was shining brightly outside, but its beams +could fall but dimly through the rude window-panes. The doors were +firmly fastened, and there was no trace of human footsteps, yet the +fire burned once more on the hearth, from the bubbling cauldron rose a +tempting fragrance, and the table was laid as for a meal.</p> + +<p>"See, dear Orm," cried Aslog joyfully, pointing to the fire and the +table, "this language is easy to understand, though it be a silent +one. The unseen owners of this dwelling know our need, and bid us +welcome to their hospitable roof."</p> + +<p>When they had again partaken of the contents of the boiling cauldron, +Orm and Aslog went into the hall, and found there a stair which led up +to a room just below the hide-covered roof. This and the room in which +they had passed the night were the only apartments of the house,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266">266</a></span> but +they contained all that was necessary for a life of retirement. There +was no sign of any inhabitant, yet it seemed as if some one had lately +been there, whose hand had lovingly arranged everything for the poor +homeless ones. They understood the silent language, and they remained +henceforth contentedly in the house, enjoying the sweet feeling that +they had at last a home.</p> + +<p>Orm never cast his net into the sea without drawing out a rich supply +of delicious fish; the snares he set in the morning for the birds were +never empty at evening. The fruit-trees bore abundantly, and Aslog +found plenty of employment in gathering and storing the rich harvest.</p> + +<p>Summer passed away, and the short autumn was drawing towards its +close, when a lovely baby boy came to cheer the hearts of Orm and +Aslog through the dreary winter. The child was called Sämund, and +seemed to his parents a pledge of future reconciliation.</p> + +<p>One day Orm was holding his little son in his arms, and watching with +delight his baby smiles, and Aslog stood at the fire preparing the +midday meal, when a tall shadow passed the window, the heavy house +door swung open, and a loud knocking was heard at the door of the +room. Aslog let the spoon fall in terror, and even brave Orm pressed +his boy closer to his heart as the visitor entered.</p> + +<p>A gigantic woman stepped into the room. Her stature was greater than +Orm and Aslog had ever seen among their own powerful nation. She wore +a sky-blue robe with a silver-embroidered hem; a golden fillet<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267">267</a></span> bound +her long snow-white hair, and on her once beautiful features centuries +of joy and grief seemed to have left their traces.</p> + +<p>"Do not be afraid," said the majestic visitor, with gentle gravity; +"this is my island and my house, but I gladly gave them up to you when +I knew of your distress. Only one thing I ask of you. Christmas Eve is +drawing near. For that one night let me have the room for a few hours, +while we hold our yearly festivity. But you must promise me two +things—not to speak a word while our feast lasts, and not to make any +attempt to see what is going on in the room below. If you grant this +request you may live here undisturbed, and enjoy my protection until +you wish to leave the island."</p> + +<p>With lightened hearts Orm and Aslog gave the promise, then the +majestic lady bowed her silvery head in gracious farewell, and passed +out through the door.</p> + +<p>It was Christmas Eve; Aslog had cleaned and tidied the room with even +more than her ordinary care. The boards were snow-white, and Orm +strewed them with finely-cloven fir-twigs. The fire burned brightly on +the neatly-swept hearth, and above it hung the shining cauldron. Aslog +rolled her baby in the softest of the skins that served to cover her +bed, and went with Orm to the upper room, where they sat down beside +the warm chimney of the apartment below, which passed of necessity +through this second storey.</p> + +<p>For a long time all was silent. Suddenly a sweet, soft sound was +heard; others followed, and soon the music swelled in waves of melody +through the night air.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268">268</a></span> Aslog listened entranced, while Orm went to +the gable end of the roof, and, since this was not forbidden, opened +the shutter which in the daytime served to let in air and light.</p> + +<p>There was motion over the whole island. Little shrivelled forms, with +grave and aged faces, were bustling about with blazing torches in +their hands. They ran dry-shod over the waves, and made their way to +the rock that guarded the entrance to the bay. When they reached it +they placed themselves in a circle round it, and sat down on the +ground in respectful humility. Then a tall form approached from the +centre of the island. The dwarfs opened their circle to admit her, and +Orm recognised by the flickering light the noble lady who had a few +days before paid them so unlooked-for a visit. Her sky-blue robe and +the gold in her hair gleamed with even more than their former +brilliance. She stepped up to the rock, threw her arms round the cold +stone, and remained so for a moment in a silent embrace. Suddenly the +stone acquired life and motion. The gigantic limbs were freed from +their petrifaction, the hair rolled down over the shoulders, the eyes +began to glow once more with life. As if awaking from the sleep of +death, the giant rose, seized the hand of the stately lady whose +loving embrace had called him back to life, and they both turned +towards the house, whither the dwarfs accompanied them with flaming +torches and heart-enthralling melody. The ground seemed to tremble +beneath the tread of the giants. Soon they reached the house-door. +Then Orm shut the shutter,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269">269</a></span> and groped his way back to where his wife +sat beside the chimney.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_271.jpg" width="400" height="426" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="caption">GURU AWAKES THE ROCK TO LIFE.</p> + +<p>Below there was rattling of dishes and the patter of many feet; the +young couple heard every sound through the wide chimney. The strong +voice of the rock giant sounded like thunder to human ears, and the +voice of the lady, which Orm and Aslog had heard once before, was like +the powerful notes of some musical instrument.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270">270</a></span> Tables and chairs were +moved, drinking-horns were knocked together; the feast was beginning, +and now was heard once more that music which had before so overwhelmed +Aslog with delight. Then an irresistible longing seized her to see the +wondrous company which Orm had described to her. She rose and groped +for a crack in the floor through which it was possible to see into the +room below. Orm in silence held out his hand to check her fatal +rashness, but the movement woke the sleeping babe, who, terrified by +the unwonted sounds below, raised a cry that went to the mother's +heart. Forgetting everything now but her child's distress, she began, +as was her wont, to soothe him with caressing words. Then suddenly an +awful cry and a wild tumult arose below, the music ceased, and through +the door rushed the dwarfs in wild commotion. Their torches went out, +the noise of their flight sounded but a few moments, then night and +silence reigned over the place which a minute before had resounded +with festive merriment.</p> + +<p>In deadly terror Aslog had sunk back on her seat, tremblingly awaiting +the fate that her rashness had called down on her dear ones. They were +anxious hours that they spent now in the dark upper room, almost more +anxious than those of their flight and of that hard struggle with the +waves. At last the morning dawned. A clear sunbeam shot through a hole +in the shutter and awoke the boy, who began to cry with cold and +hunger. Then her love for her child overcame her fear, and Aslog +persuaded her husband to go down with her and learn<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271">271</a></span> their fate. They +descended the stairs, trembling at every step. Now they stood at the +door of the room and listened. There was no sound—all was still as +death. At last they lifted the latch; Aslog pressed her child to her +heart and entered the room. A loud cry escaped her lips. At the far +end of the room, at the seat of honour at the table, sat the mighty +giant whose awakening Orm had witnessed; but life had again left his +veins, and he sat there a cold, grey mass of rock. It seemed to Aslog +that the stony hand which still grasped the drinking-horn might yet be +raised to hurl destruction at her and her dear ones. She gazed in +speechless terror at the rock-giant, her eyes passing slowly from the +motionless head to the massive folds of the stone garment. Then she +perceived another form, sunk motionless, as in deepest anguish, on the +floor. The face was pressed against the cold stone, but the blue robe +with the silver-embroidered hem and the flowing white hair told the +terrified Aslog who it was.</p> + +<p>"Andfind, my Andfind!" moaned the giant lady, raising her face at +last, "thou wilt never again smile on thy faithful Guru, and rejoice +with her at thy short space of life and freedom."</p> + +<p>Aslog uttered a cry, but not, as before, of terror for her own fate, +but of anguish and remorse. Her bitter sobbing caused even the +grief-stricken giantess to raise her head.</p> + +<p>"Do not weep so," she said gently, "and do not be afraid; I could +indeed easily kill you, and break this house, which I gave you as your +home, like a child's toy.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272">272</a></span> It is true that your forgetfulness has +caused untold anguish to me, but the revenge of the powerful must +be—forgiveness! Then do not weep, for there is nothing to fear."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is not all!" sobbed Aslog. "The names which you named, noble +lady, cut me to the heart. They remind me of a legend which I often +heard when a child about Guru, the beautiful giant-maiden, who was +obliged to flee from cruel Odin with her beloved Andfind. The story of +their fate always touched me deeply, and I thought when I heard these +names that you might perhaps be that Guru, and this thought added +fresh bitterness to my remorse."</p> + +<p>The giantess appeared sunk in dreamy meditation.</p> + +<p>"And do they remember us still in the old Fatherland?" she said at +length; "and are there yet any halls remaining of Hrungnir's castle?"</p> + +<p>"No, noble lady," answered Aslog, "they have all long since crumbled +to dust, for many centuries have passed over Norway since those days. +It is true a proud castle still looks down on the foaming waves, but +it is owned by Sämund, whose only child I am."</p> + +<p>"Our fate, O daughter of my former home, is wondrously alike," said +Guru; "but your life will end more joyfully than mine. We lived here +in undisturbed happiness for many centuries, for it was to this island +that our trusty bark bore us after that night of death. This house, +which my husband's strong arm built for our home, is small and poor +compared with my father's halls, but we did not miss the lost +splendour. The days went<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273">273</a></span> by in quiet happiness, and we felt no +longings after the land which drove out us and our friends. The dwarfs +also, who like us had turned their backs on an inhospitable country, +settled round about on the little islands, and lived there in the +heart of the earth in peace and contentment. Every Christmas Eve we +met in this room, and held festival as our forefathers did even before +your religion had spread to these northern lands. Centuries passed +away, and one evening I was standing with Andfind at the shore of our +island looking out over the sea. On the northern horizon appeared a +stately ship, and Andfind, whose eye was sharper than the eagle's, and +had power to see into the future, recognised in the man at the prow a +powerful foe of the freedom of Norway and of our authority. It was +Olaf, whom you call a saint, who, not long afterwards, overcame the +princes of Norway in one night, and destroyed the last vestiges of the +old customs. All this my husband's prudent foresight saw, and with a +mighty effort he blew the waves to fury with his breath, so that they +threatened to break Olaf's proud ship to pieces. But the invader spoke +some prayer such as you uttered when you approached our shores, and +the raging sea grew calm. Then Andfind put forth his hand to push back +the vessel as it drew near the shore, but Olaf, raising his hands +towards heaven, said, in a tone of stern reproof—'Stand thou there a +stone henceforth!' Immediately the eyes in which I had been wont to +read my husband's every wish were closed, the hand that had grasped +mine lovingly grew cold and hard, the form so full of life and beauty<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274">274</a></span> +turned to unfeeling stone, and my beloved Andfind stood a grey, +lifeless rock upon the shore. The invaders sailed on towards the coast +of Norway, and I remained in dreary desolation on the now lonely +island. Only once a year, on Christmas Eve, petrified giants are +allowed a few hours of life if one of their own race embraces them, +and thus sacrifices centuries of his own lifetime. I loved my husband +too dearly not to offer this sacrifice willingly, that he and I might +enjoy yearly a few hours of intercourse. I never counted how many +times he woke to life at my embrace, how many centuries of my life I +yielded for his sake; I did not wish to know the day when I, as I +embraced him, should likewise turn to stone, and stand henceforth on +the shore one for ever with my Andfind. Now all is over," Guru +concluded; "I may never more awake my beloved one, for a human eye, a +human voice has disturbed the sacred festival of our spirit-race. +Stone must my Andfind remain till that day when all the rocks and +mountains of old Norway will perish in the ruin of the world."</p> + +<p>She threw her arms once more round the cold stone, lifted her golden +harp from the floor, and then turned to Orm and Aslog, who had +listened in silent grief.</p> + +<p>"Farewell!" she said; "I leave you my protection and my blessing. +Yours are henceforth the costly vessels that adorned our festive +board; I need them no more. Live still in peace and happiness in this +house until you return to receive Sämund's forgiveness, and live a +life of gladness on the site of my old home."</p> + +<p>She passed out, and her sorrowing guests followed her<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275">275</a></span> to the door. +Without once looking back, she glided away through the leafless trees; +her blue robe gleamed far away over the snow-covered plain. Orm and +Aslog watched her crossing the waves to the little islands; then they +saw her no more.</p> + +<p>Had she descended to the music of her golden harp into the cold +billows? or did she go to rule as queen in the kingdom of dwarfs? Orm +and Aslog never knew her fate, but her prophecies of good were richly +fulfilled.</p> + +<p>Sickness and misfortune kept far aloof from their island home. They +were happy in their mutual love, strong in body, cheerful in spirit, +contented even in their isolation. Their boy grew daily in beauty, +strength, and obedience; the trees bore double fruit, the sea yielded +its tribute more freely than ever, and the bird-snares were never +empty. Sunshine and the fragrance of flowers filled the air, and they +drank in life and happiness at every breath. And when winter came, the +storm raged round the house, and the thick snowflakes whirled through +the cracking fir branches against the window, then the little family +sat cosily in their sheltered home; the dry wood blazed brightly on +the hearth, and at the cheerful fireside sat Aslog making nets, while +Orm carved away at a new oar, and the child listened eagerly to the +tales of Old Norway.</p> + +<p>Year after year rolled away, and left no traces of care on the faces +of the lonely exiles, save that when Aslog thought of her father a +shadow crossed her white brow, and the old longing awoke for his love +and forgiveness.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276">276</a></span></p> + +<p>It was the beginning of spring. The fruit-trees wore their wreaths of +blossoms, and the sunbeams played through the dark fir branches on the +roof of the lonely house. The door opened, and Orm, accompanied by +Aslog and the boy, stepped out, bearing one of the precious vessels +which Guru had left as a parting gift to her guests. The utensils +which her motherly hand had provided had become worn out in the course +of years, and Orm was going to the coast of Norway to sell the golden +goblet, and buy the needed utensils with its price. He had long +postponed this step, for he still feared the sharp eye of treachery +and revenge; but their need was pressing, and there could be no longer +delay.</p> + +<p>The parting was a bitter one. Aslog embraced him again and again, and +even Guru's prophetic words had lost their power to comfort. But Orm, +although his heart was far from light, soothed her with a promise of a +quick return; then he tore himself away, sprang into a boat, and +pushed from the shore.</p> + +<p>The boat flew like a sea-mew over the waves, through the circle of +little islands, and out into the open sea. A wind as fresh as that +which had favoured their flight came now from the north to swell the +white sail. Orm drew in the oars and watched how his boat darted over +the gleaming waves. He directed his course towards the south-east. As +it was drawing towards noon the coasts of his native land appeared +above the horizon; and long before the set of sun the boat sailed up +the narrow waters of the Trondheim Fiord, and landed at the quay of +the old royal city. Orm passed the streets with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277">277</a></span> hurried steps, and +with the precious vessel under his arm he entered the shop of a +goldsmith.</p> + +<p>The man seemed amazed at the rich metal and the rare and elaborate +workmanship, paid without demur the price asked, and Orm hastened +gladly to another building to choose his purchases. There was a great +crowd of buyers, and fearing lest some old acquaintance should be +among them, he turned aside, and examined the wares in silence.</p> + +<p>"Welcome, friend! What's the news in your mountains?" said the +merchant to a countryman who had just entered.</p> + +<p>"Thanks, sir, not much good," replied the newcomer.</p> + +<p>"What is wrong?" asked the merchant. "Is your master, rich Sämund, not +well? Has he not yet submitted to his fate?"</p> + +<p>Orm listened eagerly.</p> + +<p>"It will soon be all over with him," replied the countryman; "his +grief about his daughter is breaking his heart. He is ill, lonely, and +sad. He has had it proclaimed through the whole land that he will +forgive the fugitives everything if they will only return; and he has +promised a great reward to any one who will bring him the smallest +tidings of them. But they seem to have vanished from the earth, and it +is most likely the old man will die without one of his kin to close +his eyes in the last sleep."</p> + +<p>Orm thought no more about his purchases; he thought only of Aslog and +her dying father. Without being noticed in the crowd he left the shop. +Scarcely had he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278">278</a></span> turned the first corner when he ran at full speed to +the quay, sprang down the steps, loosed his boat, and by the last rays +of the setting sun he steered skilfully along the narrow fiord among +all the larger vessels, and rowed towards the ocean. His heart beat +with eager longing and delight. Had not a reconciliation with the +father of his loved Aslog long been the most cherished wish of his +heart as well as of hers, though he had been silent on the subject for +Aslog's sake?</p> + +<p>It was night when his boat glided out of the fiord and sailed out to +sea. The wind, which had blown towards land all day, had turned, and, +sweeping now from the Norwegian mountains, drove Orm's boat with the +swiftness of an arrow over the waters. The moon rose clear and full +above his native land, and the waves dashed their silver spray against +the keel. Orm could not but think of that night when Aslog lay hungry +and exhausted at his feet—behind him terror and treachery—before, an +unknown future. The moon's clear radiance and the sparkling waves were +the same then as now, but in all else how blessed was the change!</p> + +<p>Thus the night passed, and when the east began to glow with red his +boat glided between the little islands, and when the first full beam +fell on the fir-tree tops he landed on the shore of his island home.</p> + +<p>He scarcely took time to fasten the boat. Then he hastened under the +blossoming fruit-trees—with empty hand, indeed, yet with a richer +gift than Aslog would have dared to hope for.</p> + +<p>And now he stood beside her couch. "Awake, awake,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279">279</a></span> beloved one!" he +whispered as he bent over her; "I bring news of your father, the best +news that your heart could wish for—love and forgiveness!"</p> + +<p>Then Aslog awoke, and her beaming eyes, the silent tears that fell +over her clasped hands, told of even deeper joy than Orm had pictured +to himself as he hastened home.</p> + +<p>Soon all was bustle in the quiet room. Once more Aslog lit the fire, +once more the breakfast bubbled in the cauldron, while she adorned +herself and her boy in festive garments, and Orm carried Guru's gifts +of gold and precious stones down to the boat. Once more they sat +together at the table enjoying the provisions of Guru's hospitable +home. They gazed at the lofty walls which had afforded them shelter, +and sadly looked on the stony form of Andfind, who had for years been +a silent member of the little household. Then Orm seized his wife's +hand; and they left the house, carefully closing the door behind them, +and followed the boy, who had run on before in his eagerness, towards +the strand.</p> + +<p>"Farewell, thou lovely island!" cried Orm, as he loosed the rope; "and +if ever again hunted fugitives land on thy shore, be to them as sweet +a home as thou hast been to us."</p> + +<p>The child was already seated in the boat, playing with the beautiful +vessels of gold and precious stones, and Aslog sat down beside him to +tell him about his new home and his dear grandfather, while Orm dipped +the oars, and the boat left the strand of the "Last Home of the +Giants."</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280">280</a></span></p> + +<p>The sun was just about to sink into the sea; its rays cast a parting +glance on the windows of the lonely castle, on the rock which had once +resounded with mirth and revelry. And now the splendid halls were +desolate. The servants, serving not out of love but out of fear, +obeyed in sullen silence the commands of their gloomy master. The +daughter, the only one whom his cold heart had ever loved, was lost to +him. His old age was lonely and desolate. Then his pride yielded. +"What if she has disgraced my house by choosing the servant instead of +the prince?—still she is my child, my only one, and dear and loving +she has always been to me! Oh, bring back my daughter, my Aslog, that +I may look upon her face before I die!"</p> + +<p>Rich were the rewards offered by the sorrowing father for the least +tidings of his child, but he waited days and weeks in vain. She seemed +lost to him for ever.</p> + +<p>"Take me out, that I may see the sun as long as I have sight!" said he +to his servants as the evening sun looked in at the castle windows.</p> + +<p>The servants supported his tottering steps to the edge of the rock. +Then he beckoned to them to go, and leave him with his sorrow.</p> + +<p>The sun sank like a ball of fire into the ocean, and the sea rolled in +purple waves from the farthest horizon, and broke them into golden +spray at the foot of the castle rock.</p> + +<p>"Would that my old age could be calm and clear, like this sweet +evening, and would that my life might sink in brightness as the sun +into the sea!"</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281">281</a></span></p> + +<p>Then he heard in the distance the splashing of oars, and his eye, keen +as of old, looked eagerly towards the horizon. A boat, gently urged on +by the wind, was sailing from the north-west. Nearer and nearer it +came, and seemed to be directing its course to the rock where the old +man sat. At the helm sat a manly form, and at the prow stood a +graceful woman with a boy pressed closely to her side. Her hair +gleamed golden, as his daughter's used to do; and now she raised her +hand, and fluttered a white kerchief as in eager greeting. Sämund's +heart beat with glad presentiment, he felt his weakness no longer, but +raised himself, unaided, from the stone breastwork, and fixed his gaze +on the approaching boat. Now the little vessel came up to the very +foot of the rock, he heard the chain rattling round the post, and the +sound of familiar voices was borne up to him on the evening air. It +was no dream. There were light footsteps beside him, and when he +turned to look, Aslog, his lost Aslog, knelt before him, her eyes full +of humble penitence, and by her side knelt a fair-haired boy, who +stretched out his hands to the old man, and echoed his mother's words +in childish accents—"Oh, grandfather, forgive and love us!"</p> + +<p>The old man opened his arms, and pressed the welcome suppliants to his +heart, and as he kissed his lovely grandson, he said in a voice more +mild and soft than was his wont—"Thank God, I shall not die in my +loneliness after all!"</p> + +<p>And he did not die. From day to day he felt more and more of his old +vigour, and when he saw how<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282">282</a></span> tenderly Aslog loved her husband, what a +faithful husband and father Orm was, and what a dutiful son to +himself, he forgot all his disappointed hopes—even the royal diadem +that Aslog had rejected. The love of his children and grandchildren +made his last days his brightest, and thus the wish of that spring +evening was fulfilled, his old age was calm and clear, and his life +sank in brightness as the sun into the sea.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_284.jpg" width="250" height="373" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="h3">Marcus Ward & Co., Royal Ulster Works, Belfast.</p> + +</div><!--main--> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_285.jpg" width="400" height="604" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_286.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_287.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_288.jpg" width="400" height="648" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_289.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_290.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_291.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_292.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_293.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_294.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_295.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_296.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_297.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_298.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_299.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_300.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_301.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_302.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_303.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_304.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_305.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_306.jpg" width="400" height="648" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_307.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img class="border2" src="images/i_308.jpg" width="400" height="650" alt="" /> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div class="trnote"> +<p class="h4">Transcriber's Note:</p> +<p>Inconsistent and archaic spelling, punctuation, and syntax retained.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Fairy Circles, by Unknown + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAIRY CIRCLES *** + +***** This file should be named 39560-h.htm or 39560-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/5/6/39560/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Matthew Wheaton and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet 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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