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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Legends That Every Child Should Know
+by Hamilton Wright Mabie
+#3 in our series by Hamilton Wright Mabie
+
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+Title: Legends That Every Child Should Know
+
+Author: Hamilton Wright Mabie
+
+Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6622]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on January 5, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEGENDS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Garcia, Charles Franks
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: GUY EARL OF WARWICK]
+
+LEGENDS THAT EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW
+
+A SELECTION OF THE GREAT LEGENDS OF ALL TIMES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
+
+EDITED BY HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
+
+ILLUSTRATED AND DECORATED BY BLANCHE OSTERTAG
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+If we knew how the words in our language were made and what they have
+meant to successive generations of the men and women who have used them,
+we should have a new and very interesting kind of history to read. For
+words, like all other creations of man, were not deliberately
+manufactured to meet a need, as are the various parts of a bicycle or of
+an automobile; but grew gradually and slowly out of experiences which
+compelled their production. For it is one of the evidences of the
+brotherhood of men that, either by the pressure of necessity or of the
+instinct to describe to others what has happened to ourself and so make
+common property of personal experience, no interesting or influential or
+significant thing can befall a man that is not accompanied by a desire
+to communicate it to others.
+
+The word legend has a very interesting history, which sheds light not
+only on its origin but on early habits of thought and customs. It is
+derived from the Latin verb _legere_, which means "to read." As
+legends are often passed down by word of mouth and are not reduced to
+writing until they have been known for centuries by great numbers of
+people, it seems difficult at first glance to see any connection between
+the Latin word and its English descendant. In Russia and other
+countries, where large populations live remote from cities and are
+practically without books and newspapers, countless stories are told by
+peasant mothers to their children, by reciters or semi-professional
+story-tellers, which have since been put into print. For a good many
+hundred years, probably, the vast majority of legends were not read;
+they were heard.
+
+When we understand, however, what the habits of people were in the early
+Christian centuries and what the early legends were about, the original
+meaning of the word is not only clear but throws light on the history of
+this fascinating form of literature. The early legends, as a rule, had
+to do with religious people or with places which had religious
+associations; they were largely concerned with the saints and were
+freely used in churches for the instruction of the people. In all
+churches selections from some book or books are used as part of the
+service; readings from the Old and New Testament are included in the
+worship of all churches in Christendom. In the earliest times not only
+were Lessons from the Old Testament and the Gospels and Epistles of the
+New Testament read, but letters of bishops and selections from other
+writings which were regarded as profitable for religious instruction.
+Later stories of the saints and passages from the numerous lives which
+appeared were read at different services and contributed greatly to
+their interest. The first legends in Christian countries were incidents
+from the lives of the saints and were included in the selections made
+from various writings for public worship; these selections were called
+_legends_. The history of the word makes clear, therefore, the
+origin and early history of the class of stories which we call legends.
+
+The use of the stories at church services led to the collection, orderly
+arrangement and reshaping of a great mass of material which grew rapidly
+because so many people were interested in these semi-religious tales. In
+the beginning the stories had, as a rule, some basis in fact, though it
+was often very slight. As time went on the element of fact grew smaller
+and the element of fiction larger; stories which were originally very
+short were expanded into long tales and became highly imaginative. In
+the Thirteenth Century the _Legenda Aurea_, or Golden Legend, which
+became one of the most popular books of the Middle Ages, appeared. In
+time, as the taste for this kind of writing grew, the word legend came
+to include any story which, under a historical form, gave an account of
+an historical or imaginary person.
+
+During the Middle Ages verse-making was very popular and very widely
+practised; for versification is very easy when people are in the habit
+of using it freely, and a verse is much more easily remembered than a
+line of prose. For many generations legends were versified. It must be
+remembered that verse and poetry are often very far apart; and poetry is
+as difficult to compose as verse is easy. The versified legends were
+very rarely poetic; they were simply narratives in verse. Occasionally
+men of poetic genius took hold of these old stories and gave them
+beautiful forms as did the German poet Hartmann von Aue in "Der Arme
+Heinrich." With the tremendous agitation which found expression in the
+Reformation, interest in legends died out, and was not renewed until the
+Eighteenth Century, when men and women, grown weary of artificial and
+mechanical forms of literature, turned again to the old stories and
+songs which were the creation of less self-conscious ages. With the
+revival of interest in ballads, folk-stories, fairy stories and myths
+came a revival of interest in legends.
+
+The myths were highly imaginative and poetic explanations of the world
+and of the life of man in it at a time when scientific knowledge and
+habits of thought had not come into existence. The fairy story was "a
+free poetic dealing with realities in accordance with the law of mental
+growth, ... a poetic wording of the facts of life, ... an endeavour to
+shape the facts of the world to meet the needs of the imagination, the
+cravings of the heart." The legend, dealing originally with incidents in
+the lives of the saints and with places made sacred by association with
+holy men, has, as a rule, some slight historical basis; is cast in
+narrative form and told as a record of fact; and, in cases where it is
+entirely imaginative, deals with some popular type of character like
+Robin Hood or Rip Van Winkle; or with some mysterious or tragic event,
+as Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" are poetic renderings of part of a
+great mass of legends which grew up about a little group of imaginary or
+semi-historical characters; Longfellow's "Golden Legend" is a modern
+rendering of a very old mediaeval tale; Irving's "Legend of Sleepy
+Hollow" is an example of purely imaginative prose, and Heine's "Lorelei"
+of a purely imaginative poetic legend.
+
+The legend is not so sharply defined as the myth and the fairy story,
+and it is not always possible to separate it from these old forms of
+stories; but it always concerns itself with one or more characters; it
+assumes to be historical; it is almost always old and haunts some
+locality like a ghost; and it has a large admixture of fiction, even
+where it is not wholly fictitious. Like the myth and fairy story it
+throws light on the mind and character of the age that produced it; it
+is part of the history of the unfolding of the human mind in the world;
+and, above all, it is interesting.
+
+
+HAMILTON W. MABIE.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER PAGE
+
+
+I. HIAWATHA
+  From "Indian Myths." By Ellen Emerson.
+
+II. BEOWULF
+  From "A Book of Famous Myths and Legends."
+
+III. CHILDE HORN
+  From "A Book of Famous Myths and Legends."
+
+IV. SIR GALAHAD
+  Alfred Tennyson.
+
+V. RUSTEM AND SOHRAB
+  From "The Epic of Kings. Stories Retold from Firdusi." By Helen Zimmern.
+
+VI. THE SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS
+  From "Curious Myths of the Middle Ages." By Sabine Baring-Gould.
+
+
+VII. GUY OF WARWICK
+  From "Popular Romances of the Middle Ages." By George W. Cox,
+  M. A. and Eustace Hinten Jones.
+
+
+VIII. CHEVY CHASE
+  From "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads." Edited by Francis
+  James Child.
+
+
+IX. THE FATE OF THE CHILDREN OF LIR
+  From "Gods and Fighting Men: The Story of the Tuatha de Danaan
+  and of the Fianna of Ireland." Arranged and put into English by Lady
+  Gregory.
+
+X. THE BELEAGUERED CITY
+  From "Voices of the Night." By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
+
+XI. PRESTER JOHN
+  From "Curious Myths of the Middle Ages." By Sabine Baring-Gould.
+
+XII. THE WANDERING JEW
+  From "Curious Myths of the Middle Ages." By Sabine Baring-Gould.
+
+XIII. KING ROBERT OF SICILY
+  From "The Wayside Inn." By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
+
+XIV. THE LIFE OF THE BEATO TORELLO DA POPPI
+  From "Il Libro d'Oro of Those Whose Names are Written in the
+  Lamb's Book of Life." Translated from the Italian by Mrs. Francis
+  Alexander. Originally written in Latin by Messer Torrelo of
+  Casentino, Canonico of Fiesole, and put into Italian by Don Silvano.
+
+XV. THE LORELEI
+  From the German of Heinrich Heine.
+
+XVI. THE PASSING OF ARTHUR
+  From "Idylls of the King." By Alfred Tennyson.
+
+XVII. RIP VAN WINKLE
+  Washington Irving.
+
+XVIII. THE GRAY CHAMPION
+  From "Twice Told Tales." By Nathaniel Hawthorne.
+
+XIX. THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
+  Washington Irving.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WIGWAM LEGEND OF HIAWATHA [Footnote: This story is ascribed to Abraham
+le Fort, an Onondaga chief, a graduate of Geneva College. The poem of
+Longfellow has given it general interest. Hiawatha is an example of the
+intellectual capacity of one of that race of whom it has been said "Take
+these Indians in their owne trimme and naturall disposition, and they
+bee reported to bee wise, lofty spirited, constant in friendship to one
+another: true in their promise, and more industrious than many
+others."--Wood's, "New England's Prospect," London, 1634.]
+
+
+On the banks of Tioto, or Cross Lake, resided an eminent man who bore
+the name of Hiawatha, or the Wise Man.
+
+This name was given him, as its meaning indicates, on account of his
+great wisdom in council and power in war. Hiawatha was of high and
+mysterious origin. He had a canoe which would move without paddles,
+obedient to his will, and which he kept with great care and never used
+except when he attended the general council of the tribes. It was from
+Hiawatha the people learned to raise corn and beans; through his
+instructions they were enabled to remove obstructions from the water
+courses and clear their fishing grounds; and by him they were helped to
+get the mastery over the great monsters which overran the country. The
+people listened to him with ever increasing delight; and he gave them
+wise laws and maxims from the Great Spirit, for he had been second to
+him only in power previous to his taking up his dwelling with mankind.
+
+Having selected the Onondagas for his tribe, years passed away in
+prosperity; the Onondagas assumed an elevated rank for their wisdom and
+learning, among the other tribes, and there was not one of these which
+did not yield its assent to their superior privilege of lighting the
+council-fire.
+
+But in the midst of the high tide of their prosperity, suddenly there
+arose a great alarm at the invasion of a ferocious band of warriors from
+the North of the Great Lakes; and as these bands advanced, an
+indiscriminate slaughter was made of men, women, and children.
+Destruction fell upon all alike.
+
+The public alarm was great; and Hiawatha advised them not to waste their
+efforts in a desultory manner, but to call a council of all the tribes
+that could be gathered together, from the East to the West; and, at the
+same time, he appointed a meeting to take place on an eminence on the
+banks of the Onondaga Lake. There, accordingly, the chief men assembled,
+while the occasion brought together a vast multitude of men, women, and
+children, who were in expectation of some marvellous deliverance.
+
+Three days elapsed, and Hiawatha did not appear. The multitude began to
+fear that he was not coming, and messengers were despatched for him to
+Tioto, who found him depressed with a presentiment that evil would
+follow his attendance. These fears were overruled by the eager
+persuasions of the messengers; and Hiawatha, taking his daughter with
+him, put his wonderful canoe in its element and set out for the council.
+The grand assemblage that was to avert the threatened danger appeared
+quickly in sight, as he moved rapidly along in his magic canoe; and when
+the people saw him, they sent up loud shouts of welcome until the
+venerated man landed. A steep ascent led up the banks of the lake to the
+place occupied by the council; and, as he walked up, a loud whirring
+sound was heard above, as if caused by some rushing current of air.
+Instantly, the eyes of all were directed upward to the sky, where was
+seen a dark spot, something like a small cloud, descending rapidly, and
+as it approached, enlarging in its size and increasing in velocity.
+Terror and alarm filled the minds of the multitude and they scattered in
+confusion. But as soon as he had gained the eminence, Hiawatha stood
+still, causing his daughter to do the same--deeming it cowardly to fly,
+and impossible, if it was attempted, to divert the designs of the Great
+Spirit. The descending object now assumed a more definite aspect; and,
+as it came nearer, revealed the shape of a gigantic white bird, with
+wide-extended and pointed wings. This bird came down with ever
+increasing velocity, until, with a mighty swoop, it dropped upon the
+girl, crushing her at once to the earth.
+
+The fixed face of Hiawatha alone indicated his consciousness of his
+daughter's death; while in silence he signalled to the warriors, who had
+stood watching the event in speechless consternation. One after the
+other stepped up to the prostrate bird, which was killed by its violent
+fall, and selecting a feather from its snow-white plumage, decorated
+himself therewith. [Footnote: Since this event, say the Indians of this
+tribe, the plumage of the white heron has been used for their
+decorations on the war-path.]
+
+But now a new affliction fell upon Hiawatha; for, on removing the
+carcass of the bird, not a trace could be discovered of his daughter.
+Her body had vanished from the earth. Shades of anguish contracted the
+dark face of Hiawatha. He stood apart in voiceless grief. No word was
+spoken. His people waited in silence, until at length arousing himself,
+he turned to them and walked in calm dignity to the head of the council.
+
+The first day he listened with attentive gravity to the plans of the
+different speakers; on the next day he arose and said: "My friends and
+brothers; you are members of many tribes, and have come from a great
+distance. We have come to promote the common interest, and our mutual
+safety. How shall it be accomplished? To oppose these Northern hordes in
+tribes singly, while we are at variance often with each other, is
+impossible. By uniting in a common band of brotherhood we may hope to
+succeed. Let this be done, and we shall drive the enemy from our land.
+Listen to me by tribes. You, the Mohawks, who are sitting under the
+shadow of the great tree, whose branches spread wide around, and whose
+roots sink deep into the earth, shall be the first nation, because you
+are warlike and mighty. You, the Oneidas, who recline your bodies
+against the everlasting stone that cannot be moved, shall be the second
+nation, because you always give wise counsel. You, the Onondagas, who
+have your habitation at the foot of the great hills, and are
+overshadowed by their crags, shall be the third nation, because you are
+greatly gifted in speech. You, the Senecas, whose dwelling is in the
+dark forest, and whose home is all over the land, shall be the fourth
+nation, because of your superior cunning in hunting. And you, the
+Cayugas, the people who live in the open country and possess much
+wisdom, shall be the fifth nation, because you understand better the art
+of raising corn and beans, and making lodges. Unite, ye five nations,
+and have one common interest, and no foe shall disturb and subdue you.
+You, the people who are the feeble bushes, and you who are a fishing
+people, may place yourselves under our protection, and we will defend
+you. And you of the South and West may do the same, and we will protect
+you. We earnestly desire the alliance and friendship of you all.
+Brothers, if we unite in this great bond, the Great Spirit will smile
+upon us, and we shall be free, prosperous, and happy; but if we remain
+as we are, we shall be subject to his frown. We shall be enslaved,
+ruined, perhaps annihilated. We may perish under the war-storm, and our
+names be no longer remembered by good men, nor be repeated in the dance
+and song. Brothers, those are the words of Hiawatha. I have spoken. I am
+done." [Footnote: Canassatego, a renowned chief of the Confederacy, in
+his remarkable piece of advice to the Colonial Commissioners of
+Lancaster in July, 1744, seems to imply that there was an error in this
+plan of Hiawatha, as it did not admit all nations into their Confederacy
+with equal rights.]
+
+The next day his plan of union was considered and adopted by the
+council, after which Hiawatha again addressed the people with wise words
+of counsel, and at the close of this speech bade them farewell; for he
+conceived that his mission to the Iroquois was accomplished, and he
+might announce his withdrawal to the skies. He then went down to the
+shore, and assumed his seat in his mystical canoe. Sweet music was heard
+in the air as he seated himself; and while the wondering multitude stood
+gazing at their beloved chief, he was silently wafted from sight, and
+they saw him no more. He passed to the Isle of the Blessed, inhabited by
+Owayneo [Footnote: A name for their Great Spirit in the dialect of the
+Iroquois.] and his manitos.
+
+  And they said, "Farewell forever!"
+  Said, "Farewell, O Hiawatha!"
+  And the forests, dark and lonely,
+  Moved through all their depths of darkness^
+  Sighed, "Farewell, O Hiawatha!"
+  And the waves upon the margin,
+  Rising, rippling on the pebbles,
+  Sobbed, "Farewell, O Hiawatha!"
+  And the heron, the shuh-shu-gah,
+  From her haunts among the fen-lands,
+  Screamed, "Farewell, O Hiawatha!"
+    Thus departed Hiawatha,
+  Hiawatha the Beloved,
+  In the glory of the sunset,
+  In the purple mists of evening,
+  To the regions of the home-wind,
+  Of the northwest wind, Keewaydin,
+  To the Islands of the Blessed,
+  To the kingdom of Ponemah,
+  To the land of the Hereafter.
+
+[Footnote: "The Song of Hiawatha," by H. W. Longfellow.]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+BEOWULF
+
+
+Old King Hrothgar built for himself a great palace, covered with gold,
+with benches all round outside, and a terrace leading up to it. It was
+bigger than any hall men had ever heard of, and there Hrothgar sat on
+his throne to share with men the good things God had given him. A band
+of brave knights gathered round him, all living together in peace and
+joy.
+
+But there came a wicked monster, Grendel, out of the moors. He stole
+across the fens in the thick darkness, and touched the great iron bars
+of the door of the hall, which immediately sprang open. Then, with his
+eyes shooting out flame, he spied the knights sleeping after battle.
+With his steel finger nails the hideous fiend seized thirty of them in
+their sleep. He gave yells of joy, and sped as quick as lightning across
+the moors, to reach his home with his prey.
+
+When the knights awoke, they raised a great cry of sorrow, whilst the
+aged King himself sat speechless with grief. None could do battle with
+the monster, he was too strong, too horrible for any one to conquer. For
+twelve long years Grendel warred against Hrothgar; like a dark shadow of
+death he prowled round about the hall, and lay in wait for his men on
+the misty moors. One thing he could not touch, and that was the King's
+sacred throne.
+
+Now there lived in a far-off land a youngster called Beowulf, who had
+the strength of thirty men. He heard of the wicked deeds of Grendel, and
+the sorrow of the good King Hrothgar. So he had made ready a strong
+ship, and with fourteen friends set sail to visit Hrothgar, as he was in
+need of help. The good ship flew over the swelling ocean like a bird,
+till in due time the voyagers saw shining white cliffs before them. Then
+they knew their journey was at an end; they made fast their ship,
+grasped their weapons, and thanked God that they had had an easy voyage.
+
+Now the coastguard spied them from a tower. He set off to the shore,
+riding on horseback, and brandishing a huge lance.
+
+"Who are you," he cried, "bearing arms and openly landing here? I am
+bound to know from whence you come before you make a step forward.
+Listen to my plain words, and hasten to answer me." Beowulf made answer
+that they came as friends, to rid Hrothgar of his wicked enemy Grendel,
+and at that the coastguard led them on to guide them to the King's
+palace. Downhill they ran together, with a rushing sound of voices and
+armed tread, until they saw the hall shining like gold against the sky.
+The guard bade them go straight to it, then, wheeling round on his
+horse, he said, "It is time for me to go. May the Father of All keep you
+in safety. For myself, I must guard the coast."
+
+The street was paved with stone, and Beowulf's men marched along,
+following it to the hall, their armour shining in the sun and clanging
+as they went. They reached the terrace, where they set down their broad
+shields. Then they seated themselves on the bench, while they stacked
+their spears together and made themselves known to the herald. Hrothgar
+speedily bade them welcome. They entered the great hall with measured
+tread, Beowulf leading the way. His armour shone like a golden net-work,
+and his look was high and noble, as he said, "Hail, O King! To fight
+against Grendel single-handed have I come. Grant me this, that I may
+have this task alone, I and my little band of men. I know that the
+terrible monster despises weapons, and therefore I shall bear neither
+sword, nor shield, nor buckler. Hand to hand I will fight the foe, and
+death shall come to whomsoever God wills. If death overtakes me, then
+will the monster carry away my body to the swamps, so care not for my
+body, but send my armour to my King. My fate is in God's hands."
+
+Hrothgar loved the youth for his noble words, and bade him and his men
+sit down to the table and merrily share the feast, if they had a mind to
+do so. As they feasted, a minstrel sang with a clear voice. The Queen,
+in cloth of gold, moved down the hall and handed the jewelled cup of
+mead to the King and all the warriors, old and young. At the right
+moment, with gracious words, she brought it to Beowulf. Full of pride
+and high purpose, the youth drank from the splendid cup, and vowed that
+he would conquer the enemy or die.
+
+When the sun sank in the west, all the guests arose. The King bade
+Beowulf guard the house, and watch for the foe. "Have courage," he said,
+"be watchful, resolve on success. Not a wish of yours shall be left
+unfulfilled, if you perform this mighty deed."
+
+Then Beowulf lay down to rest in the hall, putting off from him his coat
+of mail, helmet, and sword.
+
+Through the dim night Grendel came stealing. All slept in the darkness,
+all but one! The door sprang open at the first touch that the monster
+gave it. He trod quickly over the paved floor of the hall; his eyes
+gleamed as he saw a troop of kinsmen lying together asleep. He laughed
+as he reckoned on sucking the life of each one before day broke. He
+seized a sleeping warrior, and in a trice had crunched his bones. Then
+he stretched out his hand to seize Beowulf on his bed. Quickly did
+Beowulf grip his arm; he stood up full length and grappled with him with
+all his might, till his fingers cracked as though they would burst.
+Never had Grendel felt such a grip; he had a mind to go, but could not.
+He roared, and the hall resounded with his yells, as up and down he
+raged, with Beowulf holding him in a fast embrace. The benches were
+overturned, the timbers of the hall cracked, the beautiful hall was all
+but wrecked. Beowulf's men had seized their weapons and thought to hack
+Grendel on every side, but no blade could touch him. Still Beowulf held
+him by the arm; his shoulder cracked, and he fled, wounded to death,
+leaving hand, arm, and shoulder in Beowulf's grasp. Over the moors, into
+the darkness, he sped as best he might, and to Beowulf was the victory.
+
+Then, in the morning, many a warrior came from far and near. Riding in
+troops, they tracked the monster's path, where he had fled stricken to
+death. In a dismal pool he had yielded up his life.
+
+Racing their horses over the green turf, they reached again the paved
+street. The golden roof of the palace glittered in the sunlight. The
+King stood on the terrace and gave thanks to God. "I have had much woe,"
+he said, "but this lad, through God's might, has done the deed that we,
+with all our wisdom, could not do. Now I will heartily love you,
+Beowulf, as if you were my son. You shall want for nothing in this
+world, and your fame shall live forever."
+
+The palace was cleansed, the walls hung anew with cloth of gold, the
+whole place was made fair and straight, for only the roof had been left
+altogether unhurt after the fight.
+
+A merry feast was held. The King brought forth out of his treasures a
+banner, helmet, and mail coat. These he gave to Beowolf; but more
+wonderful than all was a famous sword handed down to him through the
+ages. Then eight horses with golden cheekplates were brought within the
+court; one of them was saddled with King Hrothgar's own saddle,
+decorated with silver. Hrothgar gave all to Beowulf, bidding him enjoy
+them well. To each of Beowulf's men he gave rich gifts. The minstrels
+sang; the Queen, beautiful and gracious, bore the cup to the King and
+Beowulf. To Beowulf she, too, gave gifts: mantle and bracelets and
+collar of gold. "Use these gifts," she said, "and prosper well! As far
+as the sea rolls your name shall be known."
+
+Great was the joy of all till evening came. Then the hall was cleared of
+benches and strewn with beds. Beowulf, like the King, had his own bower
+this night to sleep in. The nobles lay down in the hall, at their heads
+they set their shields and placed ready their helmets and their mail
+coats. Each slept, ready in an instant to do battle for his lord.
+
+So they sank to rest, little dreaming what deep sorrow was to fall on
+them.
+
+Hrothgar's men sank to rest, but death was to be the portion of one.
+Grendel the monster was dead, but Grendel's mother still lived. Furious
+at the death of her son, she crept to the great hall, and made her way
+in, clutched an earl, the King's dearest friend, and crushed him in his
+sleep. Great was the uproar, though the terror was less than when
+Grendel came. The knights leapt up, sword in hand; the witch hurried to
+escape, she wanted to get out with her life.
+
+The aged King felt bitter grief when he heard that his dearest friend
+was slain. He sent for Beowulf, who, like the King, had had his own
+sleeping bower that night. The youth stood before Hrothgar and hoped
+that all was well.
+
+"Do not ask if things go well," said the sorrowing King, "we have fresh
+grief this morning. My dearest friend and noblest knight is slain.
+Grendel you yourself destroyed through the strength given you by God,
+but another monster has come to avenge his death. I have heard the
+country folk say that there were two huge fiends to be seen stalking
+over the moors, one like a woman, as near as they could make out, the
+other had the form of a man, but was huger far. It was he they called
+Grendel. These two haunt a fearful spot, a land of untrodden bogs and
+windy cliffs. A waterfall plunges into the blackness below, and twisted
+trees with gnarled roots overhang it. An unearthly fire is seen gleaming
+there night after night. None can tell the depth of the stream. Even a
+stag, hunted to death, will face his foes on the bank rather than plunge
+into those waters. It is a fearful spot. You are our only help, dare you
+enter this horrible haunt?"
+
+Quick was Beowulf's answer: "Sorrow not, O King! Rouse yourself quickly,
+and let us track the monster. Each of us must look for death, and he who
+has the chance should do mighty deeds before it comes. I promise you
+Grendel's kin shall not escape me, if she hide in the depths of the
+earth or of the ocean."
+
+The King sprang up gladly, and Beowulf and his friends set out. They
+passed stony banks and narrow gullies, the haunts of goblins.
+
+Suddenly they saw a clump of gloomy trees, overhanging a dreary pool. A
+shudder ran through them, for the pool was blood-red.
+
+All sat down by the edge of the pool, while the horn sounded a cheerful
+blast. In the water were monstrous sea-snakes, and on jutting points of
+land were dragons and strange beasts: they tumbled away, full of rage,
+at the sound of the horn.
+
+One of Beowulf's men took aim at a monster with his arrow, and pierced
+him through, so that he swam no more.
+
+Beowulf was making ready for the fight. He covered his body with armour
+lest the fiend should clutch him. On his head was a white helmet,
+decorated with figures of boars worked in silver. No weapon could hurt
+it. His sword was a wonderful treasure, with an edge of iron; it had
+never failed any one who had needed it in battle.
+
+"Be like a father to my men, if I perish," said Beowulf to Hrothgar,
+"and send the rich gifts you have given me to my King. He will see that
+I had good fortune while life lasted. Either I will win fame, or death
+shall take me."
+
+He dashed away, plunging headlong into the pool. It took nearly the
+whole day before he reached the bottom, and while he was still on his
+way the water-witch met him. For a hundred years she had lived in those
+depths. She made a grab at him, and caught him in her talons, but his
+coat of mail saved him from her loathsome fingers. Still she clutched
+him tight, and bore him in her arms to the bottom of the lake; he had no
+power to use his weapons, though he had courage enough. Water-beasts
+swam after him and battered him with their tusks.
+
+Then he saw that he was in a vast hall, where there was no water, but a
+strange, unearthly glow of firelight. At once the fight began, but the
+sword would not bite--it failed its master in his need; for the first
+time its fame broke down. Away Beowulf threw it in anger, trusting to
+the strength of his hands. He cared nothing for his own life, for he
+thought but of honour.
+
+He seized the witch by the shoulder and swayed her so that she sank on
+the pavement. Quickly she recovered, and closed in on him; he staggered
+and fell, worn out. She sat on him, and drew her knife to take his life,
+but his good mail coat turned the point. He stood up again, and then
+truly God helped him, for he saw among the armour on the wall an old
+sword of huge size, the handiwork of giants. He seized it, and smote
+with all his might, so that the witch gave up her life.
+
+His heart was full of gladness, and light, calm and beautiful as that of
+the sun, filled the hall. He scanned the vast chamber, and saw Grendel
+lying there dead. He cut off his head as a trophy for King Hrothgar,
+whose men the fiend had killed and devoured.
+
+Now those men who were seated on the banks of the pool watching with
+Hrothgar saw that the water was tinged with blood. Then the old men
+spoke together of the brave Beowulf, saying they feared they would never
+see him again. The day was waning fast, so they and the King went
+homeward. Beowulf's men stayed on, sick at heart, gazing at the pool.
+They longed, but did not expect, to see their lord and master.
+
+Under the depths, Beowulf was making his way to them. The magic sword
+melted in his hand, like snow in sunshine; only the hilt remained, so
+venomous was the fiend that had been slain therewith. He brought nothing
+more with him than the hilt and Grendel's head. Up he rose through the
+waters where the furious sea-beasts before had chased him. Now not one
+was to be seen; the depths were purified when the witch lost her life.
+So he came to land, bravely swimming, bearing his spoils. His men saw
+him, they thanked God, and ran to free him of his armour. They rejoiced
+to get sight of him, sound and whole.
+
+Now they marched gladly through the highways to the town. It took four
+of them to carry Grendel's head. On they went, all fourteen, their
+captain glorious in their midst. They entered the great hall, startling
+the King and Queen, as they sat at meat, with the fearful sight of
+Grendel's head.
+
+Beowulf handed the magic hilt to Hrothgar, who saw that it was the work
+of giants of old. He spake to Beowulf, while all held their peace,
+praised him for his courage, said that he would love him as his son,
+and bade him be a help to mankind, remembering not to glory in his own
+strength, for he held it from God, and death without more ado might
+subdue it altogether. "Many, many treasures," he said, "must pass from
+me to you to-morrow, but now rest and feast."
+
+Gladly Beowulf sat down to the banquet, and well he liked the thought of
+the rest.
+
+When day dawned, he bade the King farewell with noble words, promising
+to help him in time of need. Hrothgar with tears and embraces let him
+go, giving him fresh gifts of hoarded jewels. He wept, for he loved
+Beowulf well, and knew he would never see him any more.
+
+The coastguard saw the gallant warriors coming, bade them welcome, and
+led them to their ship. The wind whistled in the sails, and a pleasant
+humming sound was heard as the good ship sped on her way. So Beowulf
+returned home, having done mighty deeds and gained great honour.
+
+In due time Beowulf himself became King, and well he governed the land
+for fifty years. Then trouble came.
+
+A slave, fleeing from his master, stumbled by an evil chance into the
+den of a dragon. There he saw a dazzling hoard of gold, guarded by the
+dragon for three hundred winters. The treasure tempted him, and he
+carried off a tankard of gold to give to his master, to make peace with
+him.
+
+The dragon had been sleeping, now he awoke, and sniffed the scent of an
+enemy along the rock. He hunted diligently over the ground; he wanted to
+find the man who had done the mischief in his sleep. In his rage he
+swung around the treasure mound, dashing into it now and again to seek
+the jewelled tankard. He found it hard to wait until evening came, when
+he meant to avenge with fire the loss of his treasure.
+
+Presently the sun sank, and the dragon had his will. He set forth,
+burning all the cheerful homes of men: his rage was felt far and wide.
+Before dawn he shot back again to his dark home, trusting in his mound
+and in his craft to defend himself.
+
+Now Beowulf heard that his own home had been burnt to the ground. It was
+a great grief to him, almost making him break out in a rage against
+Providence. His breast heaved with anger.
+
+He meant to rid his country of the plague, and to fight the dragon
+single handed. He would have thought it shame to seek him with a large
+band, he who, as a lad, had killed Grendel and his kin. As he armed for
+the fray, many thoughts filled his mind; he remembered the days of his
+youth and manhood. "I fought many wars in my youth," he said, "and now
+that I am aged, and the keeper of my people, I will yet again seek the
+enemy and do famously."
+
+He bade his men await him on the mountain-side. They were to see which
+of the two would come alive out of the tussle.
+
+There the aged King beheld where a rocky archway stood, with a stream of
+fire gushing from it; no one could stand there and not be scorched. He
+gave a great shout, and the dragon answered with a hot breath of flame.
+Beowulf, with drawn sword, stood well up to his shield, when the burning
+dragon, curved like an arch, came headlong upon him. The shield saved
+him but little; he swung up the sword to smite the horrible monster, but
+its edge did not bite. Sparks flew around him on every side; he saw that
+the end of his days had come.
+
+His men crept away to the woods to save their lives. One, and one only,
+Wiglaf by name, sped through the smoke and flame to help his lord.
+
+"My Lord Beowulf!" he cried, "with all your might defend life, I will
+support you to the utmost."
+
+The dragon came on in fury; in a trice the flames consumed Wiglaf's
+shield, but, nothing daunted, he stepped under the shelter of Beowulf's,
+as his own fell in ashes about him. The King remembered his strength of
+old, and he smote with his sword with such force that it stuck in the
+monster's head, while splinters flew all around. His hand was so strong
+that, as men used to say, he broke any sword in using it, and was none
+the worse for it.
+
+Now, for the third time, the dragon rushed upon him, and seized him by
+the neck with his poisonous fangs. Wiglaf, with no thought for himself,
+rushed forward, though he was scorched with the flames, and smote the
+dragon lower down than Beowulf had done. With such effect the sword
+entered the dragon's body that from that moment the fire began to cease.
+
+The King, recovering his senses, drew his knife and ended the monster's
+life. So these two together destroyed the enemy of the people. To
+Beowulf that was the greatest moment of his life, when he saw his work
+completed.
+
+The wound that the dragon had given him began to burn and swell, for the
+poison had entered it. He knew that the tale of his days was told. As he
+rested on a stone by the mound, he pondered thoughtfully, looking on the
+cunning work of the dwarfs of old, the stone arches on their rocky
+pillars. Wiglaf, with tender care, unloosed his helmet and brought him
+water, Beowulf discoursing the while: "Now I would gladly have given my
+armour to my son, had God granted me one. I have ruled this people fifty
+years, and no King has dared attack them. I have held my own with
+justice, and no friend has lost his life through me. Though I am sick
+with deadly wounds, I have comfort in this. Now go quickly, beloved
+Wiglaf, show me the ancient wealth that I have won for my people, the
+gold and brilliant gems, that I may then contentedly give up my life."
+
+Quickly did Wiglaf enter the mound at the bidding of his master. On
+every side he saw gold and jewels and choice vases, helmets and
+bracelets, and over head, a marvellous banner, all golden, gleaming with
+light, so that he could scan the surface of the floor and see the
+curious treasured hoards. He filled his lap full of golden cups and
+platters, and also took the brilliant banner.
+
+He hastened to return with his spoils, wondering, with pain, if he
+should find his King still alive. He bore his treasures to him, laid
+them on the ground, and again sprinkled him with water. "I thank God,"
+said the dying King, "that I have been permitted to win this treasure
+for my people; now they will have all that they need. But I cannot be
+any longer here. Bid my men make a lofty mound on the headland
+overlooking the sea, and there place my ashes. In time to come men shall
+call it Beowulf's Barrow, it shall tower aloft to guide sailors over the
+stormy seas."
+
+The brave King took from his neck his golden collar, took his helmet and
+his coronet, and gave them to his true knight, Wiglaf. "Fate has swept
+all my kinsmen away," said he, "and now I must follow them."
+
+That was his last word, as his soul departed from his bosom, to join the
+company of the just.
+
+Of all Kings in the world, he was, said his men, the gentlest to his
+knights and the most desirous of honour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+CHILDE HORN
+
+
+There dwelt once in Southland a King named Altof, who was rich,
+powerful, and gentle. His Queen was named Gotthild, and they had a young
+son called Horn. The rain never rained, the sun never shone upon a
+fairer boy; his skin was like roses and lilies, and as clear as glass;
+and he was as brave as he was handsome. At fifteen years old his like
+was not to be seen in all the kingdoms around. He had a band of
+play-fellows, twelve boys of noble birth, but not one of them could
+throw the ball so high as Horn. Out of the twelve, two were his special
+companions, and one of them, Athulf, was the best of the company, while
+the other, Figold, was altogether the worst.
+
+It came to pass one summer morning that good King Altof was riding on
+the sea-shore with only two attendants, and he looked out to sea and saw
+fifteen ships lying in the offing. It was the heathen Vikings who had
+come from Northland, bent on plundering Christian lands. When these saw
+the three Norsemen, they swarmed on to shore like a pack of wolves, all
+armed and full of battle fury. They slew the King and his knights, and
+made themselves masters of the whole land.
+
+Queen Gotthild wept much for her lord, and more for her son, Childe
+Horn, who could not now ascend his father's throne. She clad herself in
+mourning garments, the meanest she could find, and went to dwell in a
+cave, where she prayed night and day for her son, that he might be
+preserved from the malice of his enemies, at whose mercy he and his
+comrades lay. At first they thought to have slain him, but one of their
+leaders was touched by his glorious beauty, and so he said to the boy,
+"Horn, you are a fair stripling and a bold, and when you come to years,
+you and your band here, you are like to prove too many for us, so I am
+going to put you all in a boat and let it drift out to sea--where may
+the gods preserve you, or else send you to the bottom; but, for all our
+sakes, you cannot remain here."
+
+Then they led the boys down to the shore, placed them in a little skiff,
+and pushed it off from the land. All but Horn wrung their hands in fear.
+The waves rose high, and, as the boat was tossed up and down, the lads
+gave themselves up for lost, not knowing whither they were driven; but
+when the morning of the second day broke, Horn sprang up from where he
+sat in the forepart of the skiff, crying, "I hear the birds sing, and I
+see the grass growing green--we are at the land!" Then they sprang right
+gladly on shore, and Horn called after the boat as it floated away, "A
+good voyage to thee, little boat! May wind and wave speed thee back to
+Southland. Greet all who knew me, and chiefly the good Queen Gotthild,
+my mother. And tell the heathen King that some day he shall meet his
+death at my hand."
+
+Then the boys went on till they came to a city, where reigned King
+Aylmer of Westland--whom God reward for his kindness to them. He asked
+them in mild words whence they came, "for in good sooth," said he,
+"never have I seen so well-favoured a company"; and Horn answered
+proudly, "We are of good Christian blood, and we come from Southland,
+which has just been raided by pagans, who slew many of our people, and
+sent us adrift in a boat, to be the sport of the winds and waves. For a
+day and a night we have been at sea without a rudder; and now we have
+been cast upon your coast, you may enslave or slay us, if but, it please
+thee, show us mercy."
+
+Then the good King asked, "What is your name, my child?" and the boy
+answered. "Horn, at your pleasure, my Lord King; and if you need a
+servant, I will serve you well and truly."
+
+"Childe Horn," said the King, "you bear a mighty name for one so young
+and tender.
+
+  "Over hills and valleys oft the horn has rung,
+  In the royal palace long the horn has hung.
+  So shall thy name, O Hornchild, through every land resound,
+  And the fame of thy wondrous beauty in all the West be found."
+
+So Horn found great favour with the King, and he put him in charge of
+Athelbrus, the house-steward, that he might teach him all knightly
+duties, and he spared no pains with him, nor yet with his companions;
+but well trained as they all were, Horn was far ahead of them both in
+stature and noble bearing. Even a stranger looking at him could guess
+his lofty birth, and the splendour of his marvellous beauty lit up all
+the palace; while he won all hearts, from the meanest grooms to the
+greatest of the court ladies.
+
+Now the fairest thing in that lordly court was the King's only daughter,
+Riminild. Her mother was dead, and she was well-beloved of her father,
+as only children are. Not a word had she ever ventured to speak to Horn
+when she saw him among the other knights at the great feasts, but day
+and night she bore his image in her heart. One night she dreamed that he
+entered her apartments (and she wondered much at his boldness), and in
+the morning she sent for Athelbrus, the house-steward, and bade him
+conduct Horn into her presence. But he went to Athulf, who was the pure
+minded and true one of Horn's two chosen companions, while Figold, the
+other, was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and said to him, "You shall go
+with me in Horn's stead to the Princess."
+
+So he went, and she, not recognising him in the ill-lighted room,
+stretched out her hand to him, crying, "Oh, Horn, I have loved you long.
+Now plight me your troth."
+
+But Athulf whispered to her, "Hold! I am not Horn. I am but his friend,
+Athulf, as unlike him as may well be. Horn's little finger is fairer
+than my whole body; and were he dead, or a thousand miles off, I would
+not play him false."
+
+Then Riminild rose up in anger and glared upon the old steward, crying,
+"Athelbrus, you wicked man, out of my sight, or I shall hate you for
+evermore! All shame and ill befall you if you bring me not Childe Horn
+himself!"
+
+"Lady and Princess," answered Athelbrus warily, "listen, and I will tell
+you why I brought Athulf. The King entrusted Horn to my care, and I
+dread his anger. Now be not angry with me, and I will fetch him
+forthwith."
+
+Then he went away, but, instead of Horn, this time he called Figold, the
+deceiver, and said to him, "Come with me, instead of Horn, to the royal
+Princess. Do not betray yourself, lest we both suffer for it."
+
+Willingly went the faithless one with him, but to Figold the maid held
+not out her hand--well she knew that he was false, and she drove him
+from her presence in rage and fury. Athelbrus feared her anger, and said
+to himself, "To make my peace with her I must now send her the true
+Horn." He found him in the hall presenting the wine cup to the King, and
+whispered to him, "Horn, you are wanted in the Princess's apartments";
+and when Horn heard this his hand holding the full goblet so trembled
+that the wine ran over the edge. He went straight into the presence of
+the royal maiden, and as he knelt before her his beauty seemed to light
+up the room.
+
+"Fair befall thee and thy maidens, O Lady!" said he. "The house-steward
+has sent me hither to ask thy will."
+
+Then Riminild stood up, her cheeks red as the dawn, and told him of her
+love; and Horn took counsel with himself how he should answer her.
+
+"May God in heaven bless him whom thou weddest, whoever he may be," he
+said. "I am but a foundling, and the King's servant to boot--it would be
+against all rule and custom were he to wed me with thee."
+
+When Riminild heard this her heart died within her, and she fell
+fainting on the floor; but Horn lifted her up, and advised her to
+request her father that he might now receive knighthood. "An then," said
+he, "I will win you by my brave deeds."
+
+When she heard that, she recovered herself and said, "Take my ring here
+to Master Athelbrus, and bid him from me ask the King to make you a
+knight."
+
+So Horn went and told all to Athelbrus, who sought the King forthwith,
+and said, "To-morrow is a festival; I counsel thee to admit Horn to
+knighthood." And the King was pleased, and said, "Good! Horn is well
+worthy of it. I will create him a knight to-morrow, and he himself shall
+confer it on his twelve companions."
+
+The next day the newly knighted one went to Riminild's bower, and told
+her that now he was her own true knight, and must go forth to do brave
+deeds in her name, and she said she would trust him evermore, and she
+gave him a gold ring with her name graven on it, which would preserve
+him from all evil. "Let this remind thee of me early and late," she
+said, "and thou canst never fall by treachery." And then they kissed
+each other, and she closed the door behind him, with tears.
+
+The other knights were feasting and shouting in the King's hall, but
+Horn went to the stable, armed from head to foot. He stroked his
+coal-black steed, then sprang upon his back and rode off, his armour
+ringing as he went. Down to the seashore he galloped, singing joyously
+and praying God soon to send him the chance to do some deed of knightly
+daring, and there he met a band of pagen marauders, who had just landed
+from their pirate-ship. Horn asked them civilly what they wanted there,
+and one of the pagans answered insolently, "To conquer the land and slay
+all that dwell in it, as we did to King Altof, whose son now serves a
+foreign lord."
+
+Horn, on hearing this, drew his sword and struck off the fellow's head;
+then he thought of his dead father and of his mother in her lonely cave;
+he looked on his ring and thought of Riminild, and dashed among the
+pirates, laying about him right and left, till, I warrant you, there
+were few of them left to tell the tale. "This," he cried, "is but the
+foretaste of what will be when I return to my own land and avenge my
+father's death!"
+
+Then he rode back to the palace and told the King how he had slain the
+invaders, and "Here," he said, "is the head of the leader, to requite
+thee, O King, for granting me knighthood."
+
+The next day the King went a-hunting in the forest, and the false Figold
+rode at his side, but Horn stayed at home. And Figold spoke to the King
+out of his wicked heart and said, "I warn thee, King Aylmer, Horn is
+plotting to dishonour thee--to rob thee of thy daughter and of thy
+kingdom to boot. He is even now plotting with her in her bower."
+
+Then the King galloped home in a rage, and burst into Riminild's bower,
+and there, sure enough, he found Horn, as Figold had said. "Out of my
+land, base foundling!" he cried. "What have you to do with the young
+Queen here?"
+
+And Horn departed without a word. He went to the stable, saddled his
+horse, then he girded on his sword and returned to the palace; he
+crossed the hall and entered Riminild's apartments for the last time.
+"Lady," he said, "I must go forth to strange lands for seven years; at
+the end of that time I will either return or send a messenger; but if I
+do neither, you may give yourself to another, nor wait longer for me.
+Now kiss me a long farewell."
+
+Riminild promised to be true to him, and she took a gold ring from her
+finger, saying, "Wear this above the other which I gave you, or if you
+grow weary of them, fling them both away, and watch to see if its two
+stones change colour; for if I die, the one will turn pale, and if I am
+false, the other will turn red."
+
+"Riminild," said Childe Horn, "I am yours for evermore! There is a pool
+of clear water under a tree in the garden--go there daily and look for
+my shadow in the water. If you see it not, know that I am unaltered; and
+if you see it, know that I no longer love thee."
+
+Then they embraced and kissed each other, and Horn parted from her, and
+rode down to the coast, and took passage on a ship bound for Ireland.
+When he landed there, two of its King's sons met him, and took him to
+their father, good King Thurstan, before whom Horn bowed low, and the
+King bade him welcome, and praised his beauty, and asked his name.
+
+"My name is Good Courage," said Horn boldly, and the King was well
+pleased.
+
+Now, at Christmas, King Thurstan made a great feast, and in the midst of
+it one rushed in crying, "Guests, O King! We are besieged by five
+heathen chiefs, and one of them proclaims himself ready to fight any
+three of our knights single handed to-morrow at sunrise."
+
+"That would be but a sorry Christmas service," said King Thurstan; "who
+can advise me how best to answer them?" Then Horn spoke up from his seat
+at the table, "If these pagans are ready to fight, one against three,
+what may not a Christian dare? I will adventure myself against them all,
+and one after another they shall go down before my good sword."
+
+Heavy of heart was King Thurstan that night, and little did he sleep.
+But "Sir Good Courage" rose early and buckled on his armour. Then he
+went to the King and said, "Now, Sir King, come with me to the field,
+and I will show you in what coin to pay the demands of these heathen."
+So they rode on together in the twilight, till they came to the green
+meadow, where a giant was waiting for them. Horn greeted him with a blow
+that brought him to the ground at once, and ran another giant through
+the heart with his sword; and when their followers saw that their
+leaders were slain, they turned and fled back to the shore, but Horn
+tried to cut them off from their ships, and in the scrimmage the King's
+two sons fell. At this Horn was sore grieved, and he fell upon the
+pagans in fury, and slew them right and left, to avenge the King and
+himself.
+
+Bitterly wept King Thurstan when his sons were brought home to him on
+their biers; there was great mourning for the young princes, who were
+buried with high honours in the vault under the church. Afterwards the
+King called his knights together and said to Horn, "Good Courage, but
+for you we were all dead men. I will make you my heir; you shall wed my
+daughter Swanhild, who is bright and beautiful as the sunshine, and
+shall reign here after me."
+
+So Horn lived there for six years, always under the name of Good
+Courage, but he sent no messenger to Riminild, not wishing any man to
+know his secret, and consequently Riminild was in great sorrow on his
+account, not knowing whether he was true to her or not. Moreover, the
+King of a neighbouring country sought her hand in marriage, and her
+father now fixed a day for the wedding.
+
+One morning, as Horn was riding to the forest, he saw a stranger
+standing in the wayside, who, on being questioned said, "I come from
+Westland, and I seek the Knight Sir Horn. Riminild the maiden is in sore
+heaviness of spirit, bewailing herself day and night, for on Sunday next
+she is to be married to a King."
+
+Then was Horn's grief as great as that of Riminild. His eyes overflowed
+with tears. He looked at his ring with its colored stones; the one had
+not turned red, but it seemed to him that the other was turning pale.
+"Well knew my heart that you would keep your troth with me, Riminild,"
+said he to himself, "and that never would that stone grow red; but this
+paling one bodes ill. And you doubtless have often looked in the garden
+pool for my shadow, and have seen naught there but your own lovely
+image. _That_ shadow shall never come, O sweet love, Riminild, to
+prove to you that your love is false, but he himself shall come and
+drive all shadows away.
+
+"And you, my trusty messenger," he said aloud, "go back to maid Riminild
+and tell her that she shall indeed wed a King next Sunday, for before
+the church bells ring for service I will be with her."
+
+The Princess Riminild stood on the beach and looked out to sea, hoping
+to see Horn coming in his helmet and shield to deliver her; but none
+came, save her own messenger, who was washed up on the shore--drowned!
+And she wrung her hands in her anguish.
+
+Horn had gone immediately to King Thurstan, and, after saluting him,
+told him his real name and his present trouble. "And now, O King," said
+he, "I pray you to reward me for all my services by helping me to get
+possession of Riminild. Your daughter, Swanhild, will I give to a man
+the best and faithfullest ever called to the ranks of knighthood."
+
+Then said the King, "Horn, follow your own counsel"; then he sent for
+his knights, and many of them followed Horn, so that he had a thousand
+or more at his command. The wind favoured their course, and in a few
+hours the ships cast anchor on the shore of Westland. Horn left his
+forces in a wood while he went on to learn what was doing. Well did he
+know the way, and lightly did he leap over the stones. As he went he met
+a pilgrim, and asked him the latest news, who answered, "I come from a
+wedding feast--but the bride's true love is far away, and she only
+weeps. I could not stay to see her grief."
+
+"May God help me!" said Horn: "but this is sorrowful news. Let us change
+garments, good pilgrim. I must go to the feast, and once there I vow. I
+will give them something by which to remember Horn!" He blackened his
+eyebrows, and took the pilgrim's hat and staff, and when he reached the
+gate of the palace, the porter was for turning him back, but Horn took
+him up and flung him over the bridge, and then went on to the hall where
+the feast was being held. He sat down among the lowest, on the beggar's
+bench, and glowered round from under his blackened eyebrows. At a
+distance he saw Riminild sitting like one in a dream; then she rose to
+pour out mead and wine for the knights and squires, and Horn cried out,
+"Fair Queen, if ye would have God's blessing, let the beggar's turn come
+next."
+
+She set down the flagon of wine, and poured him out brown beer in a jug,
+saying: "There, drink that off at a draught, thou boldest of beggar
+men!" But he gave it to the beggars, his companions, saying "I am not
+come to drink jugs of beer, but goblets of wine. Fair Queen," he cried,
+"thou deemest me a beggar, but I am rather a fisherman, come to haul in
+my net, which I left seven years ago hanging from a fair hand here in
+Westland." Then was Riminild much troubled within herself, and she
+looked hard at Horn. She reached him the goblet and said, "Drink wine
+then, fisherman, and tell me who thou art."
+
+He drank from the goblet, and then dropped into it the gold ring, and
+said, "Look, O Queen, at what thou findest in the goblet, and ask no
+more who I am." The Queen withdrew into her bower with her four maidens,
+and when she saw the gold ring that she had given to Horn, she was sore
+distressed, and cried out, "Childe Horn must be dead, for this is his
+ring."
+
+She then sent one of her waiting-maids to command the stranger to her
+presence, and Horn, all unrecognised, appeared before her. "Tell me,
+honest pilgrim, where thou gottest this ring?" she asked him.
+
+"I took it," said he, "from the finger of a man whom I found lying sick
+unto death in a wood. Loudly he was bewailing himself and the lady of
+his heart, one Riminild, who should at this time have wedded him." As he
+spoke he drew his cap down over his eyes, which were full of tears.
+
+Then Riminild cried, "Break, heart, in my bosom! Horn is no more--he who
+hath already caused thee so many tender pangs." She threw herself on her
+couch and called for a knife, to kill the bridegroom and herself.
+
+Her maidens shrieked with fear, but Horn flung his arms around her and
+pressed her to his heart. Then he cast away hat and staff, and wiped the
+brown stain from his face, and stood up before his love in his own fair
+countenance, asking, "Dear love, Riminild, know thou me not now? Away
+with your grief and kiss me--I am Horn!--Horn, your true lover and born
+slave."
+
+She gazed into his eyes. At first she could not believe that it was he,
+but at last she could doubt no longer; she fell upon his neck, and in
+the sweet greetings that followed were two sick hearts made whole.
+
+"Horn, you miscreant! how could you play me such a trick?"
+
+"Have patience, sweet love, maid Riminild, and I will tell you all. Now
+let me go and finish my work, and when it is done I will come and rest
+at your side."
+
+So he left her, and went back to the forest, and Riminild sent for
+Athulf, who met her with a doleful countenance. "Athulf!" she cried,
+"rejoice with me! Horn has come--I tell you Horn is here!"
+
+"Alas!" said Athulf, "that cannot be. Who hath brought thee such an idle
+tale? Day and night have I stood here watching for him, but he came not,
+and much I fear me the noble Horn is dead."
+
+"I tell you he is living," she said--"aye, and more alive than ever. Go
+to the forest and find him--he is there with all his faithful
+followers."
+
+Athulf made haste to the forest, still unbelieving, but soon his heart
+bounded for joy, for there rode Horn in his shining armour at the head
+of his troops. Athulf rode to his side, and they returned together to
+the city, where Riminild was watching them from her turret. And Horn
+pointed to her and cried to his company, "Knights, yonder is my
+bride--help me to win her!"
+
+Then was there a fierce storming of the gate--the shock of it shook
+Riminild's tower--and Horn and his heroes burst, all unheralded, into
+the King's hall. Fierce and furious was the bridal dance that followed;
+the tumult of it rose up to Riminild, and she prayed, "God preserve my
+lover in this wild confusion!"
+
+Right merrily danced her dancer, and all unscathed he flashed through
+the hall, thanks to his true love and God's care. King Aylmer and the
+bridegroom confronted him and the younger, the bridegroom King, asked
+him what he sought there. "I seek my bride," said he, "and if you do not
+give her up to me I will have your life."
+
+"Better thou should have the bride than that," said the other; "though I
+would sooner be torn in pieces than give thee either." And he defended
+himself bravely, but it availed him naught. Horn struck off his head
+from his shoulders, so that it bounded across the hall. Then cried Horn
+to the other guests, "The dance is over!" after which he proclaimed a
+truce, and, throwing himself down on a couch, spake thus to King Aylmer:
+"I was born in Southland, of a royal race. The pagan Vikings slew King
+Altof, my father, and put me out to sea with my twelve companions. You
+did train me for the order of knighthood, and I have dishonoured it by
+no unworthy deeds, though you did drive me from your kingdom, thinking I
+meant to disgrace you through your daughter. But that which you credited
+me with I never contemplated. Accept me then, O King, for your
+son-in-law. Yet will I not claim my bride till I have won back my
+kingdom of Southland. That will I accomplish quickly, with the help of
+my brave knights and such others as I pray you to lend me, leaving in
+pledge therefor the fairest jewel in my crown, until King Horn shall be
+able to place Queen Riminild beside him on his father's throne."
+
+As he spoke Riminild entered, and Horn took her hand and led her to her
+father, and the young couple stood before the old King--a right royal
+pair. Then King Aylmer spoke jestingly, "Truly I once did chide a young
+knight in my wrath, but never King Horn, whom I now behold for the first
+time. Never would I have spoken roughly to King Horn, much less
+forbidden him to woo a Princess."
+
+Then all the knights and lords came offering their good wishes to the
+happy pair; and the old house-steward, Athelbrus, would have bent the
+knee to his former pupil, but Horn took the old man in his arms and
+embraced him, thanking him for all the pains he had taken with his
+breeding.
+
+Horn's twelve companions came also, and did him homage as their
+sovereign, and he rejoiced to see them all, but especially Athulf the
+brave and true. "Athulf," he told him, "thou hast helped me to win my
+bride here, now come with me to Southland and help me to make a home for
+her. And you, too, shall win a lady--I have already chosen her; her name
+is Swanhild, and she will look fair even beside Riminild." Then did
+Athulf rejoice, but Figold, the traitor, was ready to sink into the
+ground with shame and envy.
+
+Then Horn returned to his ship, taking Athulf with him, but Figold he
+left behind. Truly it is ill knowing what to do with a traitor, whether
+you take him to the field or leave him at home.
+
+On went the ship before a favouring wind; the voyage lasted but four
+days. Horn landed at midnight, and he and Athulf went inland together.
+On the way they came upon a noble looking knight asleep under his
+shield, upon which a cross was painted, and Horn cried to him, "Awake,
+and tell us what they are doing here. Thou seemest to be a Christian, I
+trow, else would I have hewn thee in pieces with my sword!"
+
+The good knight sprang up aghast, and said, "Against my will I am
+serving the heathen who rule here. I am keeping a place ready for Horn,
+the best loved of all heroes. Long I have wondered why he does not
+bestir himself to return and fight for his own. God give him power so to
+do till he slay every one of these miscreants. They put him out to sea,
+a tender boy, with his twelve playmates, one of whom was my only son,
+Athulf. Dearly he loved Horn, and was beloved by him. Could I but see
+them both once more, I should feel that I could die in peace."
+
+"Then rejoice," they told him, "for Horn and Athulf are here!"
+
+Joyfully did the old man greet the youths; he embraced his son and bent
+the knee to Horn, and all three rejoiced together.
+
+"Where is your company?" asked the old knight. "I suppose you two have
+come to explore the land. Well, your mother still lives, and if she knew
+you to be living would be beside herself with joy."
+
+"Blessed be the day that I and my men landed here," said Horn. "We will
+catch these heathen dogs, or else tame them. We will speak to them in
+our own language."
+
+Then Horn blew his horn, so that all on board the ship heard it and came
+on shore. As the young birds long for the dawn, so Horn longed for the
+fight that should free his country from her enemies. From morning to
+night the battle raged, till all the heathen, young and old, were slain,
+and young King Horn himself slew the pirate King. Then he went to
+church, with all his people, and an anthem was sung to the glory of God,
+and Horn gave thanks aloud for the restoration of his kingdom, after
+which he sought the place where his mother dwelt. How his heart wept for
+joy when he saw her! He placed a crown on her head, and arrayed her in
+rich robes, and brought her up to the palace. "Thou art glad to have thy
+child again," he said to her in the joy of his heart, "but I will make
+thee gladder still by bringing thee home a daughter, one who will please
+thee well." And he thought of his love, Riminild, with whom, however,
+things were just then going very much amiss.
+
+For as son as Horn had departed, the treacherous Figold had collected a
+great army of workmen and made them build him a tower in the sea, which
+could only be reached when the tide was out. Now about this time Horn
+had a dream, in which he saw Riminild on board a ship at sea, which
+presently went to pieces, and she tried to swim ashore, steering with
+her lily-white hand, while Figold, the traitor, sought to stop her with
+the point of his sword. Then he awoke and cried, "Athulf, true friend,
+we must away across the sea. Unless we make all speed some evil will
+befall us." And in the midst of a storm they set sail.
+
+In the meantime Figold had left his tower and appeared in the presence
+of King Aylmer. Cunningly, out of his false heart spoke the traitor,
+"King Aylmer, Horn has sent me word that he would have his bride handed
+over to my care. He has regained his crown and realm and would fain have
+her there to be his Queen."
+
+"Very well," said the King, "let her go with thee."
+
+But Riminild was much displeased at the thought of being put into the
+hands of Figold, whom in her soul she would not trust.
+
+"Why comes not Horn for me himself?" she asked. "I know not the way to
+his kingdom either by land or by sea."
+
+"But I know it," said Figold, "and I will soon bring thee thither, most
+beauteous queen." But his wicked smile made her uneasy at heart.
+
+"If Horn could not come himself," she said, "why did he not send Athulf,
+his faithful friend?" But this question pleased the traitor so little
+that he gave her no answer.
+
+Her father blessed her, and she set forth, wringing her white hands.
+
+Meanwhile, Horn, sailing from the south, was driven in shore by a storm,
+and he beheld Figold's high tower, and asked who had built such an ugly
+thing. He thought he heard a low murmuring as his ship flew past it
+before the wind, but knew not what it might be. Soon he saw the
+battlements of King Aylmer's palace rising in the distance; there
+Riminild should be, looking out for him, but all was bare and empty. It
+seemed to him as though a star were missing from heaven; and as he
+crossed the threshold the ill news was told him how Figold had carried
+off Riminild. Horn had no mind to linger with the King. "Come, Athulf,
+true friend," said he, "and help me to search for her." So they searched
+far and near, in vain, till at last Horn remembered that strange tower
+in the sea, and set sail for the lonely fortress where Figold had the
+fair princess in his evil keeping. "Now, my eleven companions, and you,
+too, Athulf," said he, "abide here while I go up alone with my horn. God
+hath shown me how to order this attempt."
+
+He left his sword on the ship, and took only a fishing line with a long
+hook. Then round and round the tower he walked, and he blew a loud blast
+out into the raging storm, until a head appeared out of a hole in the
+wall of the tower--it was that wicked knave Figold's; and Horn cast his
+line, and hauled the writhing traitor clean out of the tower. He whirled
+round the sea wolf at the end of the line, and swung him over the water
+by the sheer force of his arm, so that he was cast over to Athulf in the
+ship; and sore afraid was the traitor when the true men on board seized
+him.
+
+Then Horn took up his bugle once more and sounded it so loudly that at
+the first blast the door was uncovered; at the second he could enter the
+tower; the third was heard as he led Riminild forth. Lightly did he
+clasp her round the waist and swing her into his boat, and then pulled
+for the ship.
+
+He brought Riminild on board his ship, and called to his band, "Ho
+there, my trusty eleven! Our voyage is ended, and we will now go merrily
+home. And you, Athulf, my chosen and tried friend, shall now have your
+guerdon; I will bring you to your bride Swanhild, and Riminild and I
+will be wedded at the same time--the same wedding feast shall serve us
+both.
+
+"And Riminild, my sweet pearl, whom I have rescued from the deep, not
+all that I have suffered on your account grieves me like the perfidy
+this false one wrought on you, my loving heart. Through him the goodly
+tale of my twelve followers is broken; now when they gather round the
+table, one seat will ever be empty. Must it ever be that no dozen of men
+can be got together but one will prove a traitor?"
+
+Then he bade them "Set the traitor in the boat and let it drift out to
+sea, as we poor children were made to do aforetime. Let the waves bear
+away treachery as once they bore innocence--our ship will make better
+speed; and as for him, let him drift till he find a land where no
+traitors are."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+SIR GALAHAD
+
+
+  My good blade carves the casques of men,
+    My tough lance thrusteth sure,
+  My strength is as the strength of ten,
+    Because my heart is pure.
+  The shattering trumpet shrilleth high,
+    The hard brands shiver on the steel,
+  The splinter'd spear-shafts crack and fly,
+    The horse and rider reel:
+  They reel, they roll in changing lists,
+    And when the tide of combat stands,
+  Perfume and flowers fall in showers,
+    That lightly rain from ladies' hands.
+
+  How sweet are looks that ladies bend
+    On whom their favours fall!
+  For them I battle till the end,
+    To save from shame and thrall:
+  But all my heart is drawn above,
+    My knees are bow'd in crypt and shrine:
+  I never felt the kiss of love,
+    Nor maiden's hand in mine.
+  More bounteous aspects on me beam,
+    Me mightier transports move and thrill;
+  So keep I fair thro' faith and prayer
+    A virgin heart in work and will.
+
+  When down the stormy crescent goes,
+    A light before me swims,
+  Between dark stems the forest glows,
+    I hear a noise of hymns:
+  Then by some secret shrine I ride;
+    I hear a voice but none are there;
+  The stalls are void, the doors are wide,
+    The tapers burning fair.
+  Fair gleams the snowy altar-cloth,
+    The silver vessels sparkle clean,
+  The shrill bell rings, the censer swings,
+    And solemn chaunts resound between.
+
+  Sometimes on lonely mountain-meres
+    I find a magic bark;
+  I leap on board: no helmsman steers:
+    I float till all is dark.
+  A gentle sound, an awful light!
+    Three angels bear the Holy Grail:
+  With folded feet, in stoles of white,
+    On sleeping wings they sail.
+  Ah, blessed vision! blood of God!
+    My spirit beats her mortal bars,
+  As down dark tides the glory slides,
+    And star-like mingles with the stars.
+
+  When on my goodly charger borne
+    Thro' dreaming towns I go,
+  The cock crows ere the Christmas morn,
+    The streets are dumb with snow.
+  The tempest crackles on the leads,
+    And, ringing, spins from brand and mail;
+  But o'er the dark a glory spreads,
+    And gilds the driving hail.
+
+  I leave the plain, I climb the height;
+    No branchy thicket shelter yields;
+  But blessed forms in whistling storms
+    Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields.
+
+  A maiden knight--to me is given
+    Such hope, I know not fear;
+  I yearn to breathe the airs of heaven
+    That often meet me here.
+  I muse on joy that will not cease,
+    Pure spaces clothed in living beams,
+  Pure lilies of eternal peace,
+    Whose odors haunt my dreams;
+  And, stricken by an angel's hand,
+    This mortal armour that I wear,
+  This weight and size, this heart and eyes,
+    Are touch'd, are turn'd to finest air.
+
+  The clouds are broken in the sky,
+    And thro' the mountain-walls
+  A rolling organ-harmony
+    Swells up, and shakes and falls.
+  Then move the trees, the copses nod,
+    Wings flutter, voices hover clear:
+  "O just and faithful knight of God!
+    Ride on! the prize is near."
+  So pass I hostel, hall, and grange;
+    By bridge and ford, by park and pale,
+  All-arm'd I ride, whate'er betide,
+    Until I find the Holy Grail.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+RUSTEM AND SOHRAB
+
+
+Give ear unto the combat of Sohrab against Rustem, though it be a tale
+replete with tears.
+
+It came about that on a certain day Rustem arose from his couch, and his
+mind was filled with forebodings. He bethought him therefore to go out
+to the chase. So he saddled Rakush and made ready his quiver with
+arrows. Then he turned him unto the wilds that lie near Turan, even in
+the direction of the city of Samengan. And when he was come nigh unto
+it, he started a herd of asses and made sport among them till that he
+was weary of the hunt. Then he caught one and slew it and roasted it for
+his meal, and when he had eaten it and broken the bones for the marrow,
+he laid himself down to slumber, and Rakush cropped the pasture beside
+him.
+
+Now while the hero was sleeping there passed by seven knights of Turan,
+and they beheld Rakush and coveted him. So they threw their cords at him
+to ensnare him. But Rakush, when he beheld their design, pawed the
+ground in anger, and fell upon them as he had fallen upon the lion. And
+of one man he bit off the head, and another he struck down under his
+hoofs, and he would have overcome them all, but they were too many. So
+they ensnared him and led him into the city, thinking in their hearts,
+"Verily a goodly capture have we made." But Rustem when he awoke from
+his slumbers was downcast and sore grieved when he saw not his steed,
+and he said unto himself:
+
+"How can I stand against the Turks, and how can I traverse the desert
+alone?"
+
+And his heart was full of trouble. Then he sought for the traces of the
+horse's hoofs, and followed them, and they led him even unto the gates
+of the city. Now when those within beheld Rustem, and that he came
+before them on foot, the King and the nobles came forth to greet him,
+and inquired of him how this was come about. Then Rustem told them how
+Rakush was vanished while he slumbered, and how he had followed his
+track even unto these gates. And he sware a great oath, and vowed that
+if his courser were not restored unto him many heads should quit their
+trunks. Then the King of Samengan, when he saw that Rustem was beside
+himself with anger, spoke words of soothing, and said that none of his
+people should do wrong unto the hero; and he begged him that he would
+enter into his house and abide with him until that search had been made,
+saying:
+
+"Surely Rakush cannot be hid."
+
+And Rustem was satisfied at these words, and cast suspicion from his
+spirit, and entered the house of the King, and feasted with him, and
+beguiled the hours with wine. And the King rejoiced in his guest, and
+encompassed him with sweet singers and all honour. And when the night
+was fallen the King himself led Rustem unto a couch perfumed with musk
+and roses, and he bade him slumber sweetly until the morning. And he
+declared to him yet again that all was well for him and for his steed.
+
+Now when a portion of the night was spent, and the star of morning stood
+high in the arch of heaven, the door of Rustem's chamber was opened, and
+a murmur of soft voices came in from the threshold. And there stepped
+within a slave bearing a lamp perfumed with amber, and a woman whose
+beauty was veiled came after her. And as she moved musk was scattered
+from her robes. And the women came nigh unto the bed of the hero heavy
+with wine and slumber. And he was amazed when he saw them. And when he
+had roused him somewhat he spake and said:
+
+"Who are thou, and what is thy name and thy desire, and what seekest
+thou from me in the dark night?"
+
+Then the Peri-faced answered him, saying, "I am Tahmineh, the daughter
+of the King of Samengan, the race of the leopard and the lion, and none
+of the princes of this earth are worthy of my hand, neither hath any man
+seen me unveiled. But my heart is torn with anguish, and my spirit is
+tossed with desire, for I have heard of thy deeds of prowess, and how
+thou fearest neither Deev nor lion, neither leopard nor crocodile, and
+how thy hand is swift to strike, and how thou didst venture alone into
+Mazinderan, and how wild asses are devoured of thee, and how the earth
+groaneth under the tread of thy feet, and how men perish at thy blows,
+and how even the eagle dareth not swoop down upon her prey when she
+beholdeth thy sword. These things and more have they told unto me, and
+mine eyes have yearned to look upon thy face. And now hath God brought
+thee within the gates of my father, and I am come to say unto thee that
+I am thine if thou wilt hear me, and if thou wilt not, none other will I
+espouse. And consider, O Pehliva, how that love has obscured mine
+understanding and withdrawn me from the bosom of discretion, yet
+peradventure God will grant unto me a son like to thee for strength and
+valour, to whom shall be given the empire of the world. And if thou wilt
+listen unto me, I will lead forth before thee Rakush thy steed, and I
+will place under thy feet the land of Samengan."
+
+Now while this moon of beauty was yet speaking, Rustem regarded her. And
+he saw that she was fair, and that wisdom abode in her mind; and when he
+heard of Rakush, his spirit was decided within him, and he held that
+this adventure could not end save gloriously. So he sent a Mubid unto
+the King and demanded the hand of Tahmineh from her father. And the
+King, when he heard the news, was rejoiced, and gave his daughter unto
+the Pehliva, and they concluded an alliance according to custom and the
+rites. And all men, young and old, within the house and city of the King
+were glad at this alliance, and called down blessings upon Rustem.
+
+Now Rustem, when he was alone with the Peri-faced, took from his arm an
+onyx that was known unto all the world. And he gave it to her, and said:
+
+"Cherish this jewel, and if Heaven cause thee to give birth unto a
+daughter, fasten it within her locks, and it will shield her from evil;
+but if it be granted unto thee to bring forth a son, fasten it upon his
+arm, that he may wear it like his father. And he shall be strong as
+Keriman, of stature like unto Saum the son of Neriman, and of grace of
+speech like unto Zal, my father."
+
+The Peri-faced, when she had heard these words, was glad in his
+presence. But when the day was passed there came in unto them the King
+her father, and he told Rustem how that tidings of Rakush were come unto
+his ears, and how that the courser would shortly be within the gates.
+And Rustem, when he heard it, was filled with longing after his steed,
+and when he knew that he was come he hastened forth to caress him. And
+with his own hands he fastened the saddle, and gave thanks unto Ormuzd,
+who had restored his joy between his hands. Then he knew that the time
+to depart was come. And he opened his arms and took unto his heart
+Tahmineh the fair of face, and he bathed her cheek with his tears and
+covered her hair with kisses. Then he flung him upon Rakush, and the
+swift-footed bare him quickly from out of her sight. And Tahmineh was
+sorrowful exceedingly, and Rustem too was filled with thoughts as he
+turned him back unto Zaboulistan. And he pondered this adventure in his
+heart, but to no man did he speak of what he had seen or done.
+
+Now when nine moons had run their course there was born unto Tahmineh a
+son in the likeness of his father, a babe whose mouth was filled with
+smiles, wherefore men called him Sohrab. And when he numbered but one
+month he was like unto a child of twelve, and when he numbered five
+years he was skilled in arms and all the arts of war, and when ten years
+were rolled above his head there was none in the land that could resist
+him in the games of strength. Then he came before his mother and spake
+words of daring. And he said:
+
+"Since I am taller and stouter than my peers, teach unto me my race and
+lineage, and what I shall say when men ask me the name of my sire. But
+if thou refuse an answer unto my demands, I will strike thee out from
+the rolls of the living."
+
+When Tahmineh beheld the ardour of her son, she smiled in her spirit
+because that his fire was like to that of his father. And she opened her
+mouth and said:
+
+"Hear my words, O my son, and be glad in thine heart, neither give way
+in thy spirit to anger. For thou art the offspring of Rustem, thou art
+descended from the seed of Saum and Zal, and Neriman was thy forefather.
+And since God made the world it hath held none like unto Rustem, thy
+sire."
+
+Then she showed to him a letter written by the Pehliva, and gave to him
+the gold and jewels Rustem had sent at his birth. And she spake and
+said:
+
+"Cherish these gifts with gratitude, for it is thy father who hath sent
+them. Yet remember, O my son, that thou close thy lips concerning these
+things; for Turan groaneth under the hand of Afrasiyab, and he is foe
+unto Rustem the glorious. If, therefore, he should learn of thee, he
+would seek to destroy the son for hatred of the sire. Moreover, O my
+boy, if Rustem learned that thou wert become a mountain of valour,
+perchance he would demand thee at my hands, and the sorrow of thy loss
+would crush the heart of thy mother."
+
+But Sohrab replied, "Nought can be hidden upon earth for aye. To all men
+are known the deeds of Rustem, and since my birth be thus noble,
+wherefore hast thou kept it dark from me so long? I will go forth with
+an army of brave Turks and lead them unto Iran, I will cast Kai Kaous
+from off his throne, I will give to Rustem the crown of the Kaianides,
+and together we will subdue the land of Turan, and Afrasiyab shall be
+slain by my hands. Then will I mount the throne in his stead. But thou
+shalt be called Queen of Iran, for since Rustem is my father and I am
+his son no other kings shall rule in this world, for to us alone
+behoveth it to wear the crowns of might. And I pant in longing after the
+battlefield, and I desire that the world should behold my prowess. But a
+horse is needful unto me, a steed tall and strong of power to bear me,
+for it beseemeth me not to go on foot before mine enemies."
+
+Now Tahmineh, when she had heard the words of this boy, rejoiced in her
+soul at his courage. So she bade the guardians of the flocks lead out
+the horses before Sohrab her son. And they did as she had bidden, and
+Sohrab surveyed the steeds, and tested their strength like as his father
+had done before him of old, and he bowed them under his hand, and he
+could not be satisfied. And thus for many days did he seek a worthy
+steed. Then one came before him and told of a foal sprung from Rakush,
+the swift of foot. When Sohrab heard the tidings he smiled, and bade
+that the foal be led before him. And he tested it and found it to be
+strong. So he saddled it and sprang upon its back, and cried, saying:
+
+"Now that I own a horse like thee, the world shall be made dark to
+many."
+
+Then he made ready for war against Iran, and the nobles and warriors
+flocked around him. And when all was in order Sohrab came before his
+grandsire and craved his counsel and his aid to go forth into the land
+of Iran and seek out his father. And the King of Samengan, when he heard
+these wishes, deemed them to be just, and he opened the doors of his
+treasures without stint and gave unto Sohrab of his wealth, for he was
+filled with pleasure at this boy. And he invested Sohrab with all the
+honours of a King, and he bestowed on him all the marks of his good
+pleasure.
+
+Meantime a certain man brought news unto Afrasiyab that Sohrab was
+making ready an army to fall upon Iran, and to cast Kai Kaous from off
+his throne. And he told Afrasiyab how the courage and valour of Sohrab
+exceeded words. And Afrasiyab, when he heard this, hid not his
+contentment, and he called before him Human and Barman, the doughty.
+Then he bade them gather together an army and join the ranks of Sohrab,
+and he confided to them his secret purpose, but he enjoined them tell no
+man thereof. For he said:
+
+"Into our hands hath it been given to settle the course of the world.
+For it is known unto me that Sohrab is sprung from Rustem the Pehliva,
+but from Rustem must it be hidden who it is that goeth out against him,
+then peradventure he will perish by the hands of this young lion, and
+Iran, devoid of Rustem, will fall a prey into my hands. Then we will
+subdue Sohrab also, and all the world will be ours. But if it be written
+that Sohrab fall under the hand of Tehemten, then the grief he shall
+endure when he shall learn that he hath slain his son will bring him to
+the grave for sorrow."
+
+So spake Afrasiyab in his guile, and when he had done unveiling his
+black heart he bade the warriors depart unto Samengan. And they bare
+with them gifts of great price to pour before the face of Sohrab. And
+they bare also a letter filled with soft words. And in the letter
+Afrasiyab lauded Sohrab for his resolve, and told him how that if Iran
+be subdued the world would henceforth know peace, for upon his own head
+should he place the crown of the Kaianides; and Turan, Iran, and
+Samengan should be as one land.
+
+When Sohrab had read this letter, and saw the gifts and the aid sent out
+to him, he rejoiced aloud, for he deemed that now none could withstand
+his might. So he caused the cymbals of departure to be clashed, and the
+army made them ready to go forth. Then Sohrab led them into the land of
+Iran. And their track was marked by desolation and destruction, for they
+spared nothing that they passed. And they spread fire and dismay abroad,
+and they marched on unstayed until they came unto the White Castle, the
+fortress wherein Iran put its trust.
+
+Now the guardian of the castle was named Hujir, and there lived with him
+Gustahem the grave, but he was grown old, and could aid no longer save
+with his counsels. And there abode also his daughter Gurdafrid, a
+warlike maid, firm in the saddle, and practised in the fight. Now when
+Hujir beheld from afar a dusky cloud of armed men he came forth to meet
+them. And Sohrab, when he saw him, drew his sword, and demanded his
+name, and bade him prepare to meet his end. And he taunted him with
+rashness that he was come forth thus unaided to stand against a lion.
+But Hujir answered Sohrab with taunts again, and vowed that he would
+sever his head from his trunk and send it for a trophy unto the Shah.
+Yet Sohrab only smiled when he heard these words, and he challenged
+Hujir to come near. And they met in combat, and wrestled sore one with
+another, and stalwart were their strokes and strong; but Sohrab overcame
+Hujir as though he were an infant, and he bound him and sent him captive
+unto Human.
+
+But when those within the castle learned that their chief was bound they
+raised great lamentation, and their fears were sore. And Gurdafrid, too,
+when she learned it, was grieved, but she was ashamed also for the fate
+of Hujir. So she took forth burnished mail and clad herself therein, and
+she hid her tresses under a helmet of Roum, and she mounted a steed of
+battle and came forth before the walls like to a warrior. And she
+uttered a cry of thunder, and flung it amid the ranks of Turan, and she
+defied the champions to come forth to single combat. And none came, for
+they beheld her how she was strong, and they knew not that it was a
+woman, and they were afraid. But Sohrab, when he saw it, stepped forth
+and said:
+
+"I will accept thy challenge, and a second prize will fall into my
+hands."
+
+Then he girded himself and made ready for the fight. And the maid, when
+she saw he was ready, rained arrows upon him with art, and they fell
+quick like hail, and whizzed about his head; and Sohrab, when he saw it,
+could not defend himself, and was angry and ashamed. Then he covered his
+head with his shield and ran at the maid. But she, when she saw him
+approach, dropped her bow and couched a lance, and thrust at Sohrab with
+vigour, and shook him mightily, and it wanted little and she would have
+thrown him from his seat. And Sohrab was amazed, and his wrath knew no
+bounds. Then he ran at Gurdafrid with fury, and seized the reins of her
+steed, and caught her by the waist, and tore her armour, and threw her
+upon the ground. Yet ere he could raise his hand to strike her, she drew
+her sword and shivered his lance in twain, and leaped again upon her
+steed. And when she saw that the day was hers, she was weary of further
+combat, and she sped back unto the fortress. But Sohrab gave rein unto
+his horse, and followed after her in his great anger. And he caught her,
+and seized her, and tore the helmet off her head, for he desired to look
+upon the face of the man who could withstand the son of Rustem. And lo!
+when he had done so, there rolled forth from the helmet coils of dusky
+hue, and Sohrab beheld it was a woman that had overcome him in the
+fight. And he was confounded. But when he had found speech he said:
+
+"If the daughters of Iran are like to thee, and go forth unto battle,
+none can stand against this land."
+
+Then he took his cord and threw it about her, and bound her in its
+snare, saying:
+
+"Seek not to escape me, O moon of beauty, for never hath prey like unto
+thee fallen between my hands."
+
+Then Gurdafrid, full of wile, turned unto him her face that was
+unveiled, for she beheld no other means of safety, and she said unto
+him:
+
+"O hero without flaw, is it well that thou shouldest seek to make me
+captive, and show me unto the army? For they have beheld our combat, and
+that I overcame thee, and surely now they will gibe when they learn that
+thy strength was withstood by a woman. Better would it beseem thee to
+hide this adventure, lest thy cheeks have cause to blush because of me.
+Therefore let us conclude a peace together. The castle shall be thine,
+and all it holds; follow after me then, and take possession of thine
+own."
+
+Now Sohrab, when he had listened, was beguiled by her words and her
+beauty, and he said:
+
+"Thou dost wisely to make peace with me, for verily these walls could
+not resist my might."
+
+And he followed after her unto the heights of the castle, and he stood
+with her before its gates. And Gustahem, when he saw them, opened the
+portal, and Gurdafrid stepped within the threshold, but when Sohrab
+would have followed after her she shut the door upon him. Then Sohrab
+saw that she had befooled him, and his fury knew no bounds. But ere he
+was recovered from his surprise she came out upon the battlements and
+scoffed at him, and counselled him to go back whence he was come; for
+surely, since he could not stand against a woman, he would fall an easy
+prey before Rustem, when the Pehliva should have learned that robbers
+from Turan were broken into the land. And Sohrab was made yet madder for
+her words, and he departed from the walls in his wrath, and rode far in
+his anger, and spread terror in his path. And he vowed that he would yet
+bring the maid into subjection.
+
+In the meantime Gustahem the aged called before him a scribe, and bade
+him write unto Kai Kaous all that was come about, and how an army was
+come forth from Turan, at whose head rode a chief that was a child in
+years, a lion in strength and stature. And he told how Hujir had been
+bound, and how the fortress was like to fall into the hands of the
+enemy; for there were none to defend it save only his daughter and
+himself and he craved the Shah to come to their aid.
+
+Albeit when the day had followed yet again upon the night, Sohrab made
+ready his host to fall upon the castle. But when he came near thereto he
+found it was empty, and the doors thereof stood open, and no warriors
+appeared upon its walls. And he was surprised, for he knew not that in
+the darkness the inmates were fled by a passage that was hidden under
+the earth. And he searched the building for Gurdafrid, for his heart
+yearned after her in love and he cried aloud:
+
+"Woe, woe is me that this moon is vanished behind the clouds!"
+
+Now when Kai Kaous had gotten the writing of Gustahem, he was sore
+afflicted and much afraid, and he called about him his nobles and asked
+their counsels. And he said:
+
+"Who shall stand against this Turk? For Gustahem doth liken him in power
+unto Rustem, and saith he resembleth the seed of Neriman."
+
+Then the warriors cried with one accord, "Unto Rustem alone can we look
+in this danger!"
+
+And Kai Kaous hearkened to their voice, and he called for a scribe and
+dictated unto him a letter. And he wrote unto his Pehliva, and invoked
+the blessings of Heaven upon his head, and he told him all that was come
+to pass, and how new dangers threatened Iran, and how to Rustem alone
+could he look for help in his trouble. And he recalled unto Tehemten all
+that he had done for him in the days that were gone by, and he entreated
+him once again to be his refuge. And he said:
+
+"When thou shalt receive this letter, stay not to speak the word that
+hangeth upon thy lips; and if thou bearest roses in thy hands, stop not
+to smell them, but haste thee to help us in our need."
+
+Then Kai Kaous sent forth Gew with this writing unto Zaboulistan, and
+bade him neither rest nor tarry until he should stand before the face of
+Rustem. And he said--
+
+"When thou hast done my behest, turn thee again unto me; neither abide
+within the courts of the Pehliva, nor linger by the roadside."
+
+And Gew did as the Shah commanded, and took neither food nor rest till
+he set foot within the gates of Rustem. And Rustem greeted him kindly,
+and asked him of his mission; and when he had read the writing of the
+Shah, he questioned Gew concerning Sohrab. For he said:
+
+"I should not marvel if such an hero arose in Iran, but that a warrior
+of renown should come forth from amid the Turks, I cannot believe it.
+But thou sayest none knoweth whence cometh this knight. I have myself a
+son in Samengan, but he is yet an infant, and his mother writeth to me
+that he rejoiceth in the sports of his age, and though he be like to
+become a hero among men, his time is not yet come to lead forth an army.
+And that which thou sayest hath been done; surely it is not the work of
+a babe. But enter, I pray thee, into my house, and we will confer
+together concerning this adventure."
+
+Then Rustem bade his cooks make ready a banquet, and he feasted Gew, and
+troubled his head with wine, and caused him to forget cares and time.
+But when morn was come Gew remembered the commands of the Shah that he
+tarry not, but return with all speed, and he spake thereof to Rustem,
+and prayed him to make known his resolve. But Rustem spake, saying:
+
+"Disquiet not thyself, for death will surely fall upon these men of
+Turan. Stay with me yet another day and rest, and water thy lips that
+are parched. For though this Sohrab be a hero like to Saum and Zal and
+Neriman, verily he shall fall by my hands."
+
+And he made ready yet another banquet, and three days they caroused
+without ceasing. But on the fourth Gew uprose with resolve, and came
+before Rustem girt for departure. And he said:
+
+"It behoveth me to return, O Pehliva, for I bethink me how Kai Kaous is
+a man hard and choleric, and the fear of Sohrab weigheth upon his heart,
+and his soul burneth with impatience, and he hath lost sleep, and hath
+hunger and thirst on this account. And he will be wroth against us if we
+delay yet longer to do his behest."
+
+Then Rustem said, "Fear not, for none on earth dare be angered with me."
+
+But he did as Gew desired, and made ready his army, and saddled Rakush,
+and set forth from Zaboulistan, and a great train followed after him.
+
+Now when they came nigh unto the courts of the Shah, the nobles came
+forth to meet them, and do homage before Rustem. And when they were come
+in, Rustem gat him from Rakush and hastened into the presence of his
+lord. But Kai Kaous, when he beheld him, was angry, and spake not, and
+his brows were knit with fury; and when Rustem had done obeisance before
+him, he unlocked the doors of his mouth, and words of folly escaped his
+lips. And he said:
+
+"Who is Rustem, that he defieth my power and disregardeth my commands?
+If I had a sword within my grasp I would spilt his head like to an
+orange. Seize him, I command, and hang him upon the nearest gallows, and
+let his name be never spoken in my presence."
+
+When he heard these words Gew trembled in his heart, but he said, "Dost
+thou set forth thy hand against Rustem?"
+
+And the Shah when he heard it was beside himself, and he cried with a
+loud voice that Gew be hanged together with the other; and he bade Tus
+lead them forth. And Tus would have led them out, for he hoped the anger
+of the Shah would be appeased; but Rustem broke from his grasp and stood
+before Kai Kaous, and all the nobles were filled with fear when they saw
+his anger. And he flung reproaches at Kai Kaous, and he recalled to him
+his follies, and the march into Mazinderan and Hamaveran, and his flight
+into Heaven; and he reminded him how that but for Rustem he would not
+now be seated upon the throne of light. And he bade him threaten Sohrab
+the Turk with his gallows, and he said:
+
+"I am a free man and no slave, and am servant alone unto God; and
+without Rustem Kai Kaous is as nothing, And the world is subject unto
+me, and Rakush is my throne, and my sword is my seal, and my helmet my
+crown. And but for me, who called forth Kai Kobad, thine eyes had never
+looked upon this throne. And had I desired it I could have sat upon its
+seat. But now am I weary of thy follies, and I will turn me away from
+Iran, and when this Turk shall have put you under his yoke I shall not
+learn thereof."
+
+Then he turned him and strode from out the presence-chamber. And he
+sprang upon Rakush, who waited without, and he was vanished from before
+their eyes ere yet the nobles had rallied from their astonishment. And
+they were downcast and oppressed with boding cares, and they held
+counsel among themselves what to do; for Rustem was their mainstay, and
+they knew that, bereft of his arm and counsel, they could not stand
+against this Turk. And they blamed Kai Kaous, and counted over the good
+deeds that Rustem had done for him, and they pondered and spake long.
+And in the end they resolved to send a messenger unto Kai Kaous, and
+they chose from their midst Gudarz the aged, and bade him stand before
+the Shah. And Gudarz did as they desired, and he spake long and without
+fear, and he counted over each deed that had been done by Rustem; and he
+reproached the Shah with his ingratitude, and he said how Rustem was the
+shepherd, and how the flock could not be led without its leader. And Kai
+Kaous heard him unto the end, and he knew that his words were the words
+of reason and truth, and he was ashamed of that which he had done, and
+confounded when he beheld his acts thus naked before him. And he humbled
+himself before Gudarz, and said:
+
+"That which thou sayest, surely it is right."
+
+And he entreated Gudarz to go forth and seek Rustem, and bid him forget
+the evil words of his Shah, and bring him back to the succor of Iran.
+And Gudarz hastened forth to do as Kai Kaous desired, and he told the
+nobles of his mission, and they joined themselves unto him, and all the
+chiefs of Iran went forth in quest of Rustem. And when they had found
+him, they prostrated themselves into the dust before him, and Gudarz
+told him of his mission, and he prayed him to remember that Kai Kaous
+was a man devoid of understanding, whose thoughts flowed over like to
+new wine that fermenteth. And he said:
+
+"Though Rustem be angered against the King, yet hath the land of Iran
+done no wrong that it should perish at his hands. Yet, if Rustem save it
+not, surely it will fall under this Turk."
+
+But Rustem said, "My patience hath an end, and I fear none but God. What
+is this Kai Kaous that he should anger me? and what am I that I have
+need of him? I have not deserved the evil words that he spake unto me,
+but now will I think of them no longer, but cast aside all thoughts of
+Iran."
+
+When the nobles heard these words they grew pale, and fear took hold on
+their hearts. But Gudarz, full of wisdom, opened his mouth, and said:
+
+"O Pehliva! the land, when it shall learn of this, will deem that Rustem
+is fled before the face of this Turk; and when men shall believe that
+Tehemten is afraid, they will cease to combat, and Iran will be
+downtrodden at his hands. Turn thee not, therefore, at this hour from
+thy allegiance to the Shah, and tarnish not thy glory by this retreat,
+neither suffer that the downfall of Iran rest upon thy head. Put from
+thee, therefore, the words that Kai Kaous spake in his empty anger, and
+lead us forth to battle against this Turk. For it must not be spoken
+that Rustem feared to fight a beardless boy."
+
+And Rustem listened, and pondered these words in his heart, and knew
+that they were good. But he said:
+
+"Fear hath never been known of me, neither hath Rustem shunned the din
+of arms, and I depart not because of Sohrab, but because that scorn and
+insult have been my recompense."
+
+Yet when he had pondered a while longer, he saw that he must return unto
+the Shah. So he did that which he knew to be right, and he rode till he
+came unto the gates of Kai Kaous, and he strode with a proud step into
+his presence.
+
+Now when the Shah beheld Rustem from afar, he stepped down from off his
+throne and came before Pehliva, and craved his pardon for that which was
+come about. And he said how he had been angered because Rustem had
+tarried in his coming, and how haste was his birthright, and how he had
+forgotten himself in his vexation. But now was his mouth filled with the
+dust of repentance. And Rustem said:
+
+"The world is the Shah's, and it behoveth thee to do as beseemeth thee
+best with thy servants. And until old age shall my loins be girt in
+fealty unto thee. And may power and majesty be thine for ever!"
+
+And Kai Kaous answered and said, "O my Pehliva, may thy days be blessed
+unto the end!"
+
+Then he invited him to feast with him, and they drank wine till far into
+the night, and held counsel together how they should act; and slaves
+poured rich gifts before Rustem, and the nobles rejoiced, and all was
+well again within the gates of the King.
+
+Then when the sun had risen and clothed the world with love, the
+clarions of war were sounded throughout the city, and men made them
+ready to go forth in enmity before the Turks. And the legions of Persia
+came forth at the behest of their Shah, and their countless thousands
+hid the earth under their feet, and the air was darkened by their
+spears. And when they were come unto the plains where stood the fortress
+of Hujir, they set up their tents as was their manner. So the watchman
+saw them from the battlements, and he set up a great cry. And Sohrab
+heard the cry, and questioned the man wherefore he shouted; and when he
+learned that the enemy were come, he rejoiced, and demanded a cup of
+wine, and drank to their destruction. Then he called forth Human and
+showed him the army, and bade him be of good cheer, for he said that he
+saw within its ranks no hero of mighty mace who could stand against
+himself. So he bade his warriors to a banquet of wine, and he said that
+they would feast until the time was come to meet their foes in battle.
+And they did as Sohrab said.
+
+Now when night had thrown her mantle over the earth, Rustem came before
+the Shah and craved that he would suffer him to go forth beyond the camp
+that he might see what manner of man was this stripling. And Kai Kaous
+granted his request, and said that it was worthy a Pehliva of renown.
+Then Rustem went forth disguised in the garb of a Turk, and he entered
+the castle in secret, and he came within the chamber where Sohrab held
+his feast. Now when he had looked upon the boy he saw that he was like
+to a tall cypress of good sap, and that his arms were sinewy and strong
+like to the flanks of a camel, and that his stature was that of a hero.
+And he saw that round about him stood brave warriors. And slaves with
+golden bugles poured wine before them, and they were all glad, neither
+did they dream of sorrow. Then it came about that while Rustem regarded
+them, Zindeh changed his seat and came nigh unto the spot where Rustem
+was watching. Now Zindeh was brother unto Tahmineh, and she had sent him
+forth with her son that he might point out to him his father, whom he
+alone knew of all the army, and she did it that harm might not befall if
+the heroes should meet in battle. Now Zindeh, when he had changed his
+seat, thought that he espied a watcher, and he strode toward the place
+where Rustem was hid, and he came before him and said--
+
+"Who art thou? Come forth into the light that I may behold thy face."
+
+But ere he could speak further, Rustem had lifted up his hand and struck
+him, and laid him dead upon the ground.
+
+Now Sohrab, when he saw that Zindeh was gone out, was disquieted, and he
+asked of his slaves wherefore the hero returned not unto the banquet. So
+they went forth to seek him, and when they had found him in his blood,
+they came and told Sohrab what they had seen. But Sohrab would not
+believe it; so he ran to the spot and bade them bring torches, and all
+the warriors and singing girls followed after him. Then when Sohrab saw
+that it was true he was sore grieved; but he suffered not that the
+banquet be ended, for he would not that the spirits of his men be damped
+with pity. So they went back yet again to the feast.
+
+Meanwhile Rustem returned him to the camp, and as he would have entered
+the lines he encountered Gew, who went around to see that all was safe.
+And Gew, when he saw a tall man clad In the garb of a Turk, drew his
+sword and held himself ready for combat. But Rustem smiled and opened
+his mouth, and Gew knew his voice, and came to him and questioned him
+what he did without in the darkness. And Rustem told him. Then he went
+before Kai Kaous also and related what he had seen, and how no man like
+unto Sohrab was yet come forth from amid the Turks. And he likened him
+unto Saum, the son of Neriman.
+
+Now when the morning was come, Sohrab put on his armour. Then he went
+unto a height whence he could look down over the camp of the Iranians.
+And he took with him Hujir, and spake to him, saying:
+
+"Seek not to deceive me, nor swerve from the paths of truth. For if thou
+reply unto my questions with sincerity, I will loosen thy bonds and give
+thee treasures; but if thou deceive me, thou shalt languish till death
+in thy chains."
+
+And Hujir said, "I will give answer unto thee according to my
+knowledge."
+
+Then Sohrab said, "I am about to question thee concerning the nobles
+whose camps are spread beneath our feet, and thou shalt name unto me
+those whom I point out. Behold yon tent of gold brocade, adorned with
+skins of leopard, before whose doors stand an hundred elephants of war.
+Within its gates is a throne of turquoise, and over it floateth a
+standard of violet with a moon and sun worked in its centre. Tell unto
+me now whose is this pavilion that standeth thus in the midst of the
+whole camp?"
+
+And Hujir replied, "It pertaineth unto the Shah of Iran."
+
+Then Sohrab said, "I behold on its right hand yet another tent draped in
+the colours of mourning, and above it floateth a standard whereon is
+worked an elephant."
+
+And Hujir said, "It is the tent of Tus, the son of Nuder, for he beareth
+an elephant as his ensign."
+
+Then Sohrab said, "Whose is the camp in which stand many warriors clad
+in rich armour? A flag of gold with a lion worked upon it waveth along
+its field."
+
+And Hujir said, "It belongeth unto Gudarz the brave. And those who stand
+about it are his sons, for eighty men of might are sprung from his
+loins."
+
+Then Sohrab said, "To whom belongeth the tent draped with green tissues?
+Before its doors is planted the flag of Kawah. I see upon its throne a
+Pehliva, nobler of mien than all his fellows, whose head striketh the
+stars. And beside him standeth a steed tall as he, and his standard
+showeth a lion and a writhing dragon."
+
+When Hujir heard this question he thought within himself, "If I tell
+unto this lion the signs whereby he may know Rustem the Pehliva, surely
+he will fall upon him and seek to destroy him. It will beseem me better,
+therefore, to keep silent, and to omit his name from the list of the
+heroes." So he said unto Sohrab:
+
+"This is some ally who is come unto Kai Kaous from far Cathay, and his
+name is not known unto me."
+
+And Sohrab when he heard it was downcast, and his heart was sad that he
+could nowhere discover Rustem; and though it seemed unto him that he
+beheld the marks whereby his mother said that he would know him, he
+could not credit the words of his eyes against the words of Hujir. Still
+he asked yet again the name of the warrior, and yet again Hujir denied
+it unto him, for it was written that that should come to pass which had
+been decreed. But Sohrab ceased not from his questionings. And he asked:
+
+"Who dwelleth beneath the standard with the head of a wolf?"
+
+And Hujir said, "It is Gew, the son of Gudarz, who dwelleth within that
+tent, and men call him Gew the valiant."
+
+Then Sohrab said, "Whose is the seat over which are raised awnings and
+brocades of Roum, that glisten with gold in the sunlight?"
+
+And Hujir said, "It is the throne of Fraburz, the son of the Shah."
+
+Then Sohrab said, "It beseemeth the son of a Shah to surround himself
+with such splendour."
+
+And he pointed unto a tent with trappings of yellow that was encircled
+by flags of many colours. And he questioned of its owner.
+
+And Hujir said, "Guraz the lion-hearted is master therein."
+
+Then Sohrab, when he could not learn the tent of his father, questioned
+Hujir concerning Rustem, and he asked yet a third time of the green
+tent. Yet Hujir ever replied that he knew not the name of its master.
+And when Sohrab pressed him concerning Rustem, he said that Rustem
+lingered in Zaboulistan, for it was the feast of roses. But Sohrab
+refused to give ear unto the thought that Kai Kaous should go forth to
+battle without the aid of Rustem, whose might none could match. So he
+said unto Hujir:
+
+"And thou show not unto me the tents of Rustem, I will strike thy head
+from off thy shoulders, and the world shall fade before thine eyes.
+Choose, therefore, the truth or thy life."
+
+And Hujir thought within himself, "Though five score men cannot
+withstand Rustem when he be roused to battle-fury, my mind misgiveth me
+that he may have found his equal in this boy. And, for that the
+stripling is younger, it might come about that he subdue the Pehliva.
+What recketh my life against the weal of Iran? I will therefore abandon
+me into his hands rather than show unto him the marks of Rustem the
+Pehliva. So he said:
+
+"Why seekest thou to know Rustem the Pehliva? Surely thou wilt know him
+in battle, and he shall strike thee dumb, and quell thy pride of youth.
+Yet I will not show him unto thee."
+
+When Sohrab heard these words he raised his sword and smote Hujir, and
+made an end of him with a great blow. Then he made himself ready for
+fight, and leaped upon his steed of battle, and he rode till he came
+unto the camp of the Iranians, and he broke down the barriers with his
+spear, and fear seized upon all men when they beheld his stalwart form
+and majesty of mien and action. Then Sohrab opened his mouth, and his
+voice of thunder was heard even unto the far ends of the camp. And he
+spake words of pride, and called forth the Shah to do battle with him,
+and he sware with a loud voice that the blood of Zindeh should be
+avenged. Now when Sohrab's voice had run throughout the camp, confusion
+spread within its borders, and none of those who stood about the throne
+would accept his challenge for the Shah. And with one accord they said
+that Rustem was their sole support, and that his sword alone could cause
+the sun to weep. And Tus sped him within the courts of Rustem. And
+Rustem said:
+
+"The hardest tasks doth Kai Kaous ever lay upon me."
+
+But the nobles would not suffer him to linger, neither to waste time in
+words, and they buckled upon him his armour, and they threw his
+leopard-skin about him, and they saddled Rakush, and made ready the hero
+for the strife. And they pushed him forth, and called after him:
+
+"Haste, haste, for no common combat awaiteth thee, for verily Ahriman
+standeth before us."
+
+Now when Rustem was come before Sohrab, and beheld the youth, brave and
+strong, with a breast like unto Saum, he said to him:
+
+"Let us go apart from hence, and step forth from out the lines of the
+armies."
+
+For there was a zone between the camps that none might pass. And Sohrab
+assented to the demand of Rustem, and they stepped out into it, and made
+them ready for single combat. But when Sohrab would have fallen upon
+him, the soul of Rustem melted with compassion, and he desired to save a
+boy thus fair and valiant. So he said unto him:
+
+"O young man, the air is warm and soft, but the earth is cold. I have
+pity upon thee, and would not take from thee the boon of life. Yet if we
+combat together, surely thou wilt fall by my hands, for none have
+withstood my power, neither men nor Deevs nor dragons. Desist,
+therefore, from this enterprise, and quit the ranks of Turan, for Iran
+hath need of heroes like unto thee."
+
+Now while Rustem spake thus, the heart of Sohrab went out to him. And he
+looked at him wistfully, and said:
+
+"O hero, I am about to put unto thee a question, and I entreat of thee
+that thou reply to me according to the truth. Tell unto me thy name,
+that my heart may rejoice in thy words, for it seemeth unto me that thou
+art none other than Rustem, the son of Zal, the son of Saum, the son of
+Neriman,"
+
+But Rustem replied, "Thou errest, I am not Rustem, neither am I sprung
+from the race of Neriman. Rustem is a Pehliva, but I, I am a slave, and
+own neither a crown nor a throne,"
+
+These words spake Rustem that Sohrab might be afraid when he beheld his
+prowess, and deem that yet greater might was hidden in the camp of his
+enemy. But Sohrab when he heard these words was sad, and his hopes that
+were risen so high were shattered, and the day that had looked so bright
+was made dark unto his eyes. Then he made him ready for the combat, and
+they fought, until their spears were shivered and their swords hacked
+like unto saws. And when all their weapons were bent, they betook them
+into clubs, and they waged war with these until they were broken. Then
+they strove until their mail was torn and their horses spent with
+exhaustion, and even then they could not desist, but wrestled with one
+another with their hands till that the sweat and blood ran down from
+their bodies. And they contended until their throats were parched and
+their bodies weary, and to neither was given the victory. They stayed
+them a while to rest, and Rustem thought within his mind how all his
+days he had not coped with such a hero. And it seemed to him that his
+contest with the White Deev had been as nought to this.
+
+Now when they had rested a while they fell to again, and they fought
+with arrows, but still none could surpass the other. Then Rustem strove
+to hurl Sohrab from his steed, but it availed him naught, and he could
+shake him no more than the mountain can be moved from its seat. So they
+betook themselves again unto clubs, and Sohrab aimed at Rustem with
+might and smote him, and Rustem reeled beneath the stroke, and bit his
+lips in agony. Then Sohrab vaunted his advantage, and bade Rustem go and
+measure him with his equals; for though his strength be great, he could
+not stand against a youth. So they went their ways, and Rustem fell upon
+the men of Turan, and spread confusion far and wide among their ranks;
+and Sohrab raged along the lines of Iran, and men and horses fell under
+his hands. And Rustem was sad in his soul, and he turned with sorrow
+into his camp. But when he saw the destruction Sohrab had wrought his
+anger was kindled, and he reproached the youth, and challenged him to
+come forth yet again to single combat. But because that the day was far
+spent they resolved to rest until the morrow.
+
+Then Rustem went before Kai Kaous and told him of this boy of valour,
+and he prayed unto Ormuzd that He would give him strength to vanquish
+his foe. Yet he made ready also his house lest he should fall in the
+fight, and he commanded that a tender message be borne unto Rudabeh, and
+he sent words of comfort unto Zal, his father. And Sohrab, too, in his
+camp lauded the might of Rustem, and he said how the battle had been
+sore, and how his mind had misgiven him of the issue. And he spake unto
+Human, saying:
+
+"My mind is filled with thoughts of this aged man, mine adversary, for
+it would seem unto me that his stature is like unto mine, and that I
+behold about him the tokens that my mother recounted unto me. And my
+heart goeth out toward him, and I muse if it be Rustem, my father. For
+it behoveth me not to combat him. Wherefore, I beseech thee, tell unto
+me how this may be."
+
+But Human answered and said, "Oft have I looked upon the face of Rustem
+in battle, and mine eyes have beheld his deeds of valour; but this man
+in no wise resembleth him, nor is his manner of wielding his club the
+same."
+
+These things spake Human in his vileness, because that Afrasiyab had
+enjoined him to lead Sohrab into destruction. And Sohrab held his peace,
+but he was not wholly satisfied.
+
+Now when the day had begun to lighten the sky and clear away the
+shadows, Rustem and Sohrab strode forth unto the midway spot that
+stretched between the armies. And Sohrab bare in his hands a mighty
+club, and the garb of battle was upon him; but his mouth was full of
+smiles, and he asked of Rustem how he had rested, and he said:
+
+"Wherefore hast thou prepared thy heart for battle? Cast from thee, I
+beg, this mace and sword of vengeance, and let us doff our armour, and
+seat ourselves together in amity, and let wine soften our angry deeds.
+For it seemeth unto me that this conflict is impure. And if thou wilt
+listen to my desires, my heart shall speak to thee of love, and I will
+make the tears of shame spring up into thine eyes. And for this cause I
+ask thee yet again, tell me thy name, neither hide it any longer, for I
+behold that thou art of noble race. And it would seem unto me that thou
+art Rustem, the chosen one, the Lord of Zaboulistan, the son of Zal, the
+son of Saum the hero."
+
+But Rustem answered, "O hero of tender age, we are not come forth to
+parley but to combat, and mine ears are sealed against thy words of
+lure. I am an old man, and thou art young, but we are girded for battle,
+and the Master of the world shall decide between us."
+
+Then Sohrab said, "O man of many years, wherefore wilt thou not listen
+to the counsel of a stripling? I desired that thy soul should leave thee
+upon thy bed, but thou hast elected to perish in the combat. That which
+is ordained must be done, therefore let us make ready for the conflict."
+
+So they made them ready, and when they had bound their steeds they fell
+upon each other, and the crash of their encounter was heard like thunder
+throughout the camps. And they measured their strength from the morning
+until the setting of the sun. And when the day was about to vanish,
+Sohrab seized upon Rustem by the girdle and threw him upon the ground,
+and kneeled upon him, and drew forth his sword from the scabbard, and
+would have severed his head from his trunk. Then Rustem knew that only
+wile could save him. So he opened his mouth and said:
+
+"O young man, thou knowest not the customs of the combat. It is written
+in the laws of honour that he who overthroweth a brave man for the first
+time should not destroy him, but preserve him for fight a second time,
+then only is it given unto him to kill his adversary."
+
+And Sohrab listened to Rustem's words of craft and stayed his hand, and
+he let the warrior go, and because that the day was ended he sought to
+fight no more, but turned him aside and chased the deer until the night
+was spent. Then came to him Human, and asked of the adventures of the
+day. And Sohrab told him how he had vanquished the tall man, and how he
+had granted him freedom. And Human reproached him with his folly, and
+said:
+
+"Alas! young man, thou didst fall into a snare, for this is not the
+custom among the brave. And now perchance thou wilt yet fall under the
+hands of this warrior."
+
+Sohrab was abashed when he heard the words of Human, but he said:
+
+"Be not grieved, for in an hour we meet again in battle, and verily he
+will not stand a third time against my youthful strength."
+
+Now while Sohrab was thus doing, Rustem was gone beside a running brook,
+and laved his limbs, and prayed to God in his distress. And he entreated
+of Ormuzd that He would grant him such strength that the victory must be
+his. And Ormuzd heard him, and gave to him such strength that the rock
+whereon Rustem stood gave way under his feet, because it had not power
+to bear him. Then Rustem saw it was too much, and he prayed yet again
+that part thereof be taken from him. And once more Ormuzd listened to
+his voice. Then when the time for combat was come, Rustem turned him to
+the meeting-place, and his heart was full of cares and his face of
+fears. But Sohrab came forth like a giant refreshed, and he ran at
+Rustem like to a mad elephant, and he cried with a voice of thunder:
+
+"O thou who didst flee from battle, wherefore art thou come out once
+more against me? But I say unto thee, this time shall thy words of guile
+avail thee naught."
+
+And Rustem, when he heard him, and looked upon him, was seized with
+misgiving, and he learned to know fear. So he prayed to Ormuzd that He
+would restore to him the power He had taken back. But he suffered not
+Sohrab to behold his fears, and they made them ready for the fight. And
+he closed upon Sohrab with all his new-found might, and shook him
+terribly, and though Sohrab returned his attacks with vigour, the hour
+of his overthrow was come. For Rustem took him by the girdle and hurled
+him unto the earth, and he broke his back like to a reed, and he drew
+forth his sword to sever his body. Then Sohrab knew it was the end, and
+he gave a great sigh, and writhed in his agony, and he said:
+
+"That which is come about, it is my fault, and henceforward will my
+youth be a theme of derision among the people. But I sped not forth for
+empty glory, but I went out to seek my father; for my mother had told me
+by what tokens I should know him, and I perish for longing after him.
+And now have my pains been fruitless, for it hath not been given unto me
+to look upon his face. Yet I say unto thee, if thou shouldest become a
+fish that swimmeth in the depths of the ocean, if thou shouldest change
+into a star that is concealed in the farthest heaven, my father would
+draw thee forth from thy hiding-place, and avenge my death upon thee
+when he shall learn that the earth is become my bed. For my father is
+Rustem the Pehliva, and it shall be told unto him how that Sohrab his
+son perished in the quest after his face."
+
+When Rustem heard these words his sword fell from out of his grasp, and
+he was shaken with dismay. And there broke from his heart a groan as of
+one whose heart was racked with anguish. And the earth became dark
+before his eyes, and he sank down lifeless beside his son. But when he
+had opened his eyes once more, he cried unto Sohrab in the agony of his
+spirit. And he said:
+
+"Bearest thou about thee a token of Rustem, that I may know that the
+words which thou speakest are true? For I am Rustem the unhappy, and may
+my name be struck from the lists of men!"
+
+When Sohrab heard these words his misery was boundless, and he cried:
+
+"If thou art indeed my father, then hast thou stained thy sword in the
+life-blood of thy son. And thou didst it of thine obstinacy. For I
+sought to turn thee unto love, and I implored of thee thy name, for I
+thought to behold in thee the tokens recounted of my mother. But I
+appealed unto thy heart in vain, and now is the time gone by for
+meeting. Yet open, I beseech thee, mine armour and regard the jewel upon
+mine arm. For it is an onyx given unto me by my father, as a token
+whereby he should know me."
+
+Then Rustem did as Sohrab bade him, and he opened his mail and saw the
+onyx; and when he had seen it he tore his clothes in his distress, and
+he covered his head with ashes. And the tears of penitence ran from his
+eyes, and he roared aloud in his sorrow. But Sohrab said:
+
+"It is in vain, there is no remedy. Weep not, therefore, for doubtless
+it was written that this should be."
+
+Now when the sun was set, and Rustem returned not to the camp, the
+nobles of Iran were afraid, and they went forth to seek him. And when
+they were gone but a little way they came upon Rakush, and when they saw
+that he was alone they raised a wailing, for they deemed that of a
+surety Rustem was perished. And they went and told Kai Kaous thereof,
+and he said:
+
+"Let Tus go forth and see if this indeed be so, and if Rustem be truly
+fallen, let the drums call men unto battle that we may avenge him upon
+this Turk."
+
+Now Sohrab, when he beheld afar off the men that were come out to seek
+Rustem, turned to his father and said:
+
+"I entreat of thee that thou do unto me an act of love. Let not the Shah
+fall upon the men of Turan, for they came not forth in enmity to him but
+to do my desire, and on my head alone resteth this expedition. Wherefore
+I desire not that they should perish when I can defend them no longer.
+As for me, I came like the thunder and I vanish like the wind, but
+perchance it is given unto us to meet again above."
+
+Then Rustem promised to do the desires of Sohrab. And he went before the
+men of Iran, and when they beheld him yet alive they set up a great
+shout, but when they saw that his clothes were torn, and that he bare
+about him the marks of sorrow, they asked of him what was come to pass.
+Then he told them how he had caused a noble son to perish. And they were
+grieved for him, and joined in his wailing. Then he bade one among them
+to go forth into the camp of Turan, and deliver this message unto Human.
+And he sent word unto him, saying:
+
+"The sword of vengeance must slumber in the scabbard. Thou art now
+leader of the host; return, therefore, whence thou camest, and depart
+across the river ere many days be fallen. As for me, I will fight no
+more, yet neither will I speak unto thee again, for thou didst hide from
+my son the tokens of his father, of thine iniquity thou didst lead him
+into this pit."
+
+Then when he had thus spoken, Rustem turned him yet again to his son.
+And the nobles went with him, and they beheld Sohrab, and heard his
+groans of pain. And Rustem, when he saw the agony of the boy, was beside
+himself, and would have made an end of his own life, but the nobles
+suffered it not, and stayed his hand. Then Rustem remembered him that
+Kai Kaous had a balm mighty to heal. And he prayed Gudarz go before the
+Shah, and bear unto him a message of entreaty from Rustem his servant.
+And he said:
+
+"O Shah, if ever I have done that which was good in thy sight, if ever
+my hand have been of avail unto thee, recall now my benefits in the hour
+of my need, and have pity upon my dire distress. Send unto me, I pray
+thee, of the balm that is among thy treasures, that my son may be healed
+by thy grace."
+
+And Gudarz outstripped the whirlwind in his speed to bear unto the Shah
+this message. But the heart of Kai Kaous was hardened, and he remembered
+not the benefits he had received from Rustem, and he recalled only the
+proud words that he had spoken before him. And he was afraid lest the
+might of Sohrab be joined to that of his father, and that together they
+prove mightier than he, and turn upon him. So he shut his ear unto the
+cry of his Pehliva. And Gudarz bore back the answer of the Shah, and he
+said:
+
+"The heart of Kai Kaous is flinty, and his evil nature is like to a
+bitter gourd that ceaseth never to bear fruit. Yet I counsel thee, go
+before him thyself, and see if peradventure thou soften this rock."
+
+And Rustem in his grief did as Gudarz counselled, and turned to go
+before the Shah, but he was not come before him ere a messenger overtook
+him, and told unto him that Sohrab was departed from the world. Then
+Rustem set up a wailing such as the earth hath not heard the like of,
+and he heaped reproaches upon himself, and he could not cease from
+plaining the son that was fallen by his hands. And he cried continually:
+
+"I that am old have killed my son. I that am strong have uprooted this
+mighty boy. I have torn the heart of my child, I have laid low the head
+of a Pehliva."
+
+Then he made a great fire, and flung into it his tent of many colours,
+and his trappings of Roum, his saddle, and his leopard-skin, his armour
+well tried in battle, and all the appurtenances of his throne. And he
+stood by and looked on to see his pride laid in the dust. And he tore
+his flesh, and cried aloud:
+
+"My heart is sick unto death."
+
+Then he commanded that Sohrab be swathed in rich brocades of gold worthy
+his body. And when they had enfolded him, and Rustem learned that the
+Turanians had quitted the borders, he made ready his army to return unto
+Zaboulistan. And the nobles marched before the bier, and their heads
+were covered with ashes, and their garments were torn. And the drums of
+the war-elephants were shattered, and the cymbals broken, and the tails
+of the horses were shorn to the root, and all the signs of mourning were
+abroad.
+
+Now Zal, when he saw the host returning thus in sorrow, marvelled what
+was come about; for he beheld Rustem at their head, wherefore he knew
+that the wailing was not for his son. And he came before Rustem and
+questioned him. And Rustem led him unto the bier and showed unto him the
+youth that was like in feature and in might unto Saum the son of
+Neriman, and he told him all that was come to pass, and how this was his
+son, who in years was but an infant, but a hero in battle. And Rudabeh
+too came out to behold the child, and she joined her lamentations unto
+theirs. Then they built for Sohrab a tomb like to a horse's hoof, and
+Rustem laid him therein in a chamber of gold perfumed with ambergris.
+And he covered him with brocades of gold. And when it was done, the
+house of Rustem grew like to a grave, and its courts were filled with
+the voice of sorrow. And no joy would enter into the heart of Rustem,
+and it was long before he held high his head.
+
+Meantime the news spread even unto Turan, and there too did all men
+grieve and weep for the child of prowess that was fallen in his bloom.
+And the King of Samengan tore his vestments, but when his daughter
+learned it she was beside herself with affliction. And Tahmineh cried
+after her son, and bewailed the evil fate that had befallen him, and she
+heaped black earth upon her head, and tore her hair, and wrung her
+hands, and rolled on the ground in her agony. And her mouth was never
+weary of plaining. Then she caused the garments of Sohrab to be brought
+unto her, and his throne and his steed. And she regarded them, and
+stroked the courser and poured tears upon his hoofs, and she cherished
+the robes as though they yet contained her boy, and she pressed the head
+of the palfrey unto her breast, and she kissed the helmet that Sohrab
+had worn. Then with his sword she cut off the tail of his steed and set
+fire unto the house of Sohrab, and she gave his gold and jewels unto the
+poor. And when a year had thus rolled over her bitterness, the breath
+departed from out her body, and her spirit went forth after Sohrab her
+son.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE SEVEN SLEEPERS OF EPHESUS
+
+
+One of the most picturesque myths of ancient days is that told by
+Jacques de Voragine, in his "Legenda Aurea":
+
+"The seven sleepers were natives of Ephesus. The Emperor Decius, who
+persecuted the Christians, having come to Ephesus, ordered the erection
+of temples in the city, that all might come and sacrifice before him;
+and he commanded that the Christians should be sought out and given
+their choice, either to worship the idols, or to die. So great was the
+consternation in the city, that the friend denounced his friend, the
+father his son, and the son his father.
+
+"Now there were in Ephesus seven Christians, Maximian, Malchus, Marcian,
+Dionysius, John, Serapion, and Constantine by name. These refused to
+sacrifice to the idols, and remained in their houses praying and
+fasting. They were accused before Decius, and they confessed themselves
+to be Christians. However, the Emperor gave them a little time to
+consider what line they would adopt. They took advantage of this
+reprieve to dispense their goods among the poor, and they retired, all
+seven, to Mount Celion, where they determined to conceal themselves.
+
+"One of their number, Malchus, in the disguise of a physician, went to
+the town to obtain victuals. Decius, who had been absent from Ephesus
+for a little while, returned, and gave orders for the seven to be
+sought. Malchus, having escaped from the town, fled, full of fear, to
+his comrades, and told them of the Emperor's fury. They were much
+alarmed; and Malchus handed them the loaves he had bought, bidding them
+eat, that, fortified by the food, they might have courage in the time of
+trial. They ate, and then, as they sat weeping and speaking to one
+another, by the will of God they fell asleep.
+
+"The pagans sought everywhere, but could not find them, and Decius was
+greatly irritated at their escape. He had their parents brought before
+him, and threatened them with death if they did not reveal the place of
+concealment; but they could only answer that the seven young men had
+distributed their goods to the poor, and that they were quite ignorant
+as to their whereabouts.
+
+"Decius, thinking it possible that they might be hiding in a cavern,
+blocked up the mouth with stones, that they might perish of hunger."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Three hundred and sixty years passed, and in the thirtieth year of the
+reign of Theodosius, there broke forth a heresy denying the resurrection
+of the dead.
+
+"Now, it happened that an Ephesian was building a stable on the side of
+Mount Celion, and finding a pile of stones handy, he took them for his
+edifice, and thus opened the mouth of the cave. Then the seven sleepers
+awoke, and it was to them as if they had slept but a single night. They
+began to ask Malchus what decision Decius had given concerning them.
+
+"'He is going to hunt us down, so as to force us to sacrifice to the
+idols,' was his reply. 'God knows,' replied Maximian, 'we shall never do
+that.' Then exhorting his companions, he urged Malchus to go back to the
+town to buy some more bread, and at the same time to obtain fresh
+information. Malchus took five coins and left the cavern. On seeing the
+stones he was filled with astonishment; however, he went on toward the
+city; but what was his bewilderment, on approaching the gate, to see
+over it a cross! He went to another gate, and there he beheld the same
+sacred sign; and so he observed it over each gate of the city. He
+believed that he was suffering from the effects of a dream. Then he
+entered Ephesus, rubbing his eyes, and he walked to a baker's shop. He
+heard people using our Lord's name, and he was the more perplexed.
+'Yesterday, no one dared pronounce the name of Jesus, and now it is on
+every one's lips. Wonderful! I can hardly believe myself to be in
+Ephesus.' He asked a passer-by the name of the city, and on being told
+that it was Ephesus, he was thunderstruck. Now he entered a baker's
+shop, and laid down his money. The baker, examining the coin, inquired
+whether he had found a treasure, and began to whisper to some others in
+the shop. The youth, thinking that he was discovered, and that they were
+about to conduct him to the emperor, implored them to let him alone,
+offering to leave loaves and money if he might only be suffered to
+escape. But the shop-men seizing him, said, 'Whoever you are, you have
+found a treasure; show us where it is, that we may share it with you,
+and then we will hide you.' Malchus was too frightened to answer. So
+they put a rope round his neck, and drew him through the streets into
+the marketplace. The news soon spread that the young man had discovered
+a great treasure, and there was presently a vast crowd about him. He
+stoutly protested his innocence. No one recognised him, and his eyes,
+ranging over the faces which surrounded him, could not see one which he
+had known, or which was in the slightest degree familiar to him.
+
+"St. Martin, the bishop, and Antipater, the governor, having heard of
+the excitement, ordered the young man to be brought before them, along
+with the bakers.
+
+"The bishop and the governor asked him where he had found the treasure,
+and he replied that he had found none, but that the few coins were from
+his own purse. He was next asked whence he came. He replied that he was
+a native of Ephesus, 'if this be Ephesus.'
+
+"'Send for your relations--your parents, if they live here,' ordered the
+governor.
+
+"'They live here certainly,' replied the youth; and he mentioned their
+names. No such names were known in the town. Then the governor
+exclaimed, 'How dare you say that this money belonged to your parents
+when it dates back three hundred and seventy-seven years, and is as old
+as the beginning of the reign of Decius, and it is utterly unlike our
+modern coinage? Do you think to impose on the old men and sages of
+Ephesus? Believe me, I shall make you suffer the severities of the law
+till you show where you made the discovery.'
+
+"'I implore you,' cried Malchus, 'in the name of God, answer me a few
+questions, and then I will answer yours. Where is the Emperor Decius
+gone to?'
+
+"The bishop answered,'My son, there is no emperor of that name; he who
+was thus called died long ago.'
+
+"Malchus replied, 'All I hear perplexes me more and more. Follow me, and
+I will show you my comrades, fled with me into a cave of Mount Celion,
+only yesterday, to escape the cruelty of Decius. I will lead you to
+them.'
+
+"The bishop turned to the governor. 'The hand of God is here,' he said.
+Then they followed, and a great crowd after them. And Malchus entered
+first into the cavern to his companions, and the bishop after him. And
+there they saw the martyrs seated in the cave, with their faces fresh
+and blooming as roses; so all fell down and glorified God. The bishop
+and the governor sent notice to Theodosius, and he hurried to Ephesus.
+All the inhabitants met him and conducted him to the cavern. As soon as
+the saints beheld the Emperor, their faces shone like the sun, and the
+Emperor gave thanks unto God, and embraced them, and said, 'I see you,
+as though I saw the Saviour restoring Lazarus.' Maximian replied,
+'Believe us! for the faith's sake, God has resuscitated us before the
+great resurrection day, in order that you may believe firmly in the
+resurrection of the dead. For as the child is in its mother's womb
+living and not suffering, so have we lived without suffering, fast
+asleep.' And having thus spoken, they bowed their heads, and their souls
+returned to their Maker. The Emperor, rising, bent over them and
+embraced them weeping. He gave them orders for golden reliquaries to be
+made, but that night they appeared to him in a dream, and said that
+hitherto they had slept in the earth, and that in the earth they desired
+to sleep on till God should raise them again."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+GUY OF WARWICK
+
+
+Of all the nobles of Britain none was so strong as Rohand, Earl of
+Warwick, Rockingham, and Oxford. He made just laws, and made them to be
+obeyed; nor king nor baron in the land could buy his favour with fine
+words or gold, or shield the wrong-doer from his punishment. Passing
+fair was Felice, his daughter, like some stately marble shaft of perfect
+mould; haughty was she as the great gerfalcon which spurns the earth and
+towers up into the noon to look the burning sun in the face. Wise
+masters, hoar with learning, came out from Toulouse to teach her the
+seven arts and sciences, until there was not her like for wisdom
+anywhere.
+
+Earl Rohand had a favourite page, named Guy, son of his just and upright
+steward, Segard of Wallingford; a brave and fearless youth, of strong
+and well-knit frame, whom Heraud of Ardenne, his tutor, taught betimes
+to just with lance and sword, and how to hunt with hawk and hound by
+wood and river side.
+
+It was the feast of Pentecost, when by old custom every maiden chose her
+love and every knight his leman. Guy, clad in a new silken dress, being
+made cup-bearer at the banquet table, saw for the first time the
+beautiful Felice, as, kneeling, he offered the golden ewer and basin and
+demask napkin to wash her finger-tips before the banquet. Thenceforward
+he became so love-stricken with her beauty that he heard not the music
+of the glee-men, saw neither games nor tourneys, but dured in a dream,
+like one crazed, all through the fourteen days festival. Knights and
+fair dames praised his handsome figure and well grown sinewy limbs; he
+heeded not--but once Felice gave him a courteous word as he offered her
+the wine-cup; he blushed and stammered and spilled the wine, and was
+rebuked for awkwardness.
+
+The feast being over, Guy went away to his chamber, and there fell into
+a great love-sickness. Hopeless it seemed for a vassal to love one so
+far above him as his sovereign's daughter; so he gave himself up to
+despair, and his disease grew so sore that the most skilful leeches of
+Earl Rohand's court were unable to cure his complaint. In vain they let
+him of blood or gave him salve or potion. "There is no medicine of any
+avail," the leeches said. Guy murmured, "Felice: if one might find and
+bring Felice to me, I yet might live." "Felice?" the leeches said among
+themselves, and shook their heads, "It is not in the herbal. Felice?
+Felix? No, there is no plant of that name."
+
+"No herb is Felice," sighing answered Guy, "but a flower--the fairest
+flower that grows."
+
+"He is light-headed," they said. "The flower Felice? He seeks perchance
+the flower of happiness, growing in the garden of the blessed, away in
+Paradise. He is surely near his end."
+
+"It is truly Paradise where Felice is," Guy answered,
+
+"You hear? You see," the leeches whispered one to another. "Come, let us
+go; for we can be of no more good."
+
+Night came, and being left alone Guy thought to rise up from his bed and
+drag himself into the presence of his mistress, there to die at her
+feet. So weak was he become, he scarce could stand, but fainted many
+times upon the way.
+
+Now Felice had heard many whisperings how Guy was dying for love of her,
+since her handmaidens had compassion on the youth, and sought to turn
+her heart toward him; but Felice was in no mind to have a page for a
+lover. Howbeit on this very night she had a dream, wherein being
+straitly enjoined to entreat the youth with kindness as the only way to
+save a life which would hereafter be of great service to the world, she
+arose and came to a bower in the garden where Guy lay swooning on the
+floor. Felice would not stoop to help him, but her maids having restored
+him to his senses, Guy fell at her feet and poured out all his love
+before her. Never a word answered Felice, but stood calmly regarding him
+with haughty coldness. Then said one of her maids, "O lady! were I the
+richest king's daughter in the land, I could not turn away from love so
+strong and true." Felice rebuked her, saying, "Could not? Silly child,
+see that your soft heart do not prove your shame." So with a tingling
+cheek the maid withdrew abashed. Then said Felice to Guy, "Why kneel
+there weeping like a girl? Get up, and show if there is the making of a
+man in you. Hear what I have to say. The swan mates not with the
+swallow, and I will never wed beneath me. Prove that your love is not
+presumption. Show yourself my peer. For I could love a brave and valiant
+knight before whose spear men bowed as to a king, nor would I ask his
+parentage, prouder far to know that my children took their nobleness
+from a self-made nobleman. But a weeping, love-sick page! No! Go, fight
+and battle--show me something that you do that I can love. Meantime I
+look for such a lover, and I care not if his name be Guy the page."
+
+Then Guy took heart and said, "Lady, I ask no better boon than to have
+you for witness of what love for you can do."
+
+Felice answered, "Deeds, not words. Be strong and valiant. I will watch
+and I will wait."
+
+Then Guy took leave of his mistress and in the course of a few days
+regained his health, to the surprise of all the court, but more
+especially of the leeches who had given him over for dead, and coming to
+Earl Rohand, entreated him to make him a knight. To this Earl Rohand
+having agreed, Guy was knighted at the next feast of Holy Trinity with a
+dubbing worthy a king's son; and they brought him rich armour, and a
+good sword and spear and shield, and a noble steed with costly
+trappings, together with rich silken cloaks and mantles fur-trimmed, and
+of great price. Then bidding farewell to Segard his father, Sir Guy left
+Warwick with Heraud his tutor, and Sir Thorold and Sir Urry for company,
+and having reached the nearest seaport, set sail for Normandy in search
+of adventures wherein to prove his valour.
+
+They came to Rouen, and whilst they tarried at an inn a tournament was
+proclaimed in honour of the fair Blancheflor, daughter to Regnier,
+Emperor of Germany, and the prize was the hand of the Princess, a white
+horse, two white hounds, and a white falcon. So Sir Guy and his
+companions rode into the lists, where was a great company of proven
+knights and champions. Three days they tourneyed, but none could
+withstand Sir Guy's strong arm. He overthrew Otho Duke of Pavia, Sir
+Garie the Emperor's son, Regnier Duke of Sessoyne, the Duke of Lowayne,
+and many more, till not a man was left who dared encounter him; and
+being master of the field, he was adjudged the prize. The horse and
+hounds and falcon he sent by two messengers to Felice in England as
+trophies of his valour. Then he knelt before the beautiful Princess
+Blancheflor and said, "Lady, I battle in honour of my mistress, the
+peerless Felice, and am her servant," whereat the Emperor and his
+daughter, admiring his constancy, loaded him with rich presents and
+allowed him to depart.
+
+Sir Guy then travelled through Spain, Lombardy, and Almayne, into far
+lands; and wheresoever a tournament was held, there he went and justed,
+coming out victor from them all; till the fame of his exploits spread
+over Christendom. So a year passed, and he returned to England
+unconquered, and renowned as the most valiant knight of his time. A
+while he sojourned in London with King Athelstan, who rejoiced to do him
+honour; then he came to Warwick, where he received from Earl Rohand a
+princely welcome. Then Sir Guy hastened to Felice.
+
+"Fair mistress," said he, "have I now won your love? You have heard my
+deeds, how I have travelled all through Christendom, and have yet found
+no man stand against my spear. I have been faithful in my love, Felice,
+as well as strong in fight. I might have wedded with the best. King's
+daughters and princesses were prizes in the tournaments; but I had no
+mind for any prize but thee. Say, is it mine, sweet mistress?"
+
+Then Felice kissed her knight and answered, "Right nobly have you won my
+love and worship, brave Sir Guy. You are more than my peer; you are
+become my sovereign; and my love pays willing homage to its lord. But
+for this same cause I will not wed you yet. I will not have men point at
+me and say, 'There is a woman who for selfish love's sake, wedded the
+knight of most renown in Christendom ere yet he did his bravest
+deeds-drew him from his level to her own-made him lay by his sword and
+spear for the slothful pleasures of a wedded life, and dwarfed a brave
+man down to a soft gentleman.' Nay, dear one, I can wait, and very
+proudly, knowing myself your chiefest prize. But seek not to possess the
+prize too soon, lest your strivings for renown, being aimless, should
+wax feeble. It is because I love you that I hold your fame far dearer
+than my love. Go rather forth again, travel through heathen lands,
+defend the weak against the strong; go, battle for the right, show
+yourself the matchless knight you are; and God and my love go with
+thee."
+
+Then Sir Guy got him ready for his new quest. Earl Rohand tried to
+persuade him to remain at home, as likewise did his father Segard; and
+his mother, weeping, prayed him stay. She said, "Another year it may not
+fare so well with thee, my son. Leave well alone. Felice is cold and
+proud and cares not for thee, else she would not risk thy life again.
+What is it to her? If thou wert slain she would get another lover; we
+have no more sons."
+
+Yet would not Sir Guy be turned from his purpose, but embarked with his
+companions, Sir Heraud, Sir Thorold, and Sir Urry, for Flanders. Thence
+he rode through Spain, Germany, and Lombardy, and bore away the prize at
+every tournament. But coming into Italy, he got a bad wound jousting at
+Beneventum, which greatly weakened him.
+
+Duke Otho of Pavia, whom Sir Guy overthrew in his first tournament at
+Rouen, thought now to be avenged on him. So he set a chosen knight, Earl
+Lombard, with fifteen other knights to lie in ambush in a wood and slay
+Sir Guy; and as Sir Guy, with his three companions, came ambling slowly
+through the wood, he smarting and well-nigh faint with his wound, the
+men in ambush broke out from their concealment and called on him to
+yield. The danger made him forget his pain, and straightway he dressed
+his shield and spurred among them.
+
+Sir Heraud, Sir Thorold, and Sir Urry killed the three first knights
+they rode against. Then Earl Lombard slew Sir Urry; and at the same time
+Hugo, nephew to Duke Otho, laid Sir Thorold dead at his horse's feet.
+Then only Sir Guy and Sir Heraud being left to fight, Sir Guy attacked
+Earl Lombard and smote him to the heart, whilst Sir Heraud chased Hugo,
+fleeing like a hound, and drove his spear throughout his body. Thus were
+Sir Urry and Sir Thorold avenged. But one of the felon knights, called
+Sir Gunter, smote Sir Heraud a mighty stroke when he was off his guard,
+and hewed his shield and coat of mail in pieces, and Sir Heraud fell to
+the earth covered with blood and lay as dead.
+
+Thereupon Sir Guy's anger waxed furious at his master's death; and he
+spurred his horse so that fire rose from under its feet, and with one
+blow of his sword cleft Sir Gunter from his helmet to the pummel of his
+saddle. As for the other knights he slew them all except Sir Guichard,
+who fled on his swift steed to Pavia, and got back to Duke Otho.
+
+Heavily Sir Guy grieved for the loss of his three friends, but most of
+all for his dear master Sir Heraud. He sought about the wood until he
+found a hermit. To him he gave a good steed, charging him to bury the
+bodies of Sir Urry and Sir Thorold. From Sir Heraud's body he would not
+part. Lifting the old knight to his arms, he laid him across his horse,
+and led the steed by the bridle-rein till they came to an abbey, where
+he left the body with the abbot, promising rich presents in return for
+giving it sumptuous burial with masses and chants. But Sir Guy departed
+and hid himself in a hermit's cave away from the malice of Duke Otho,
+until his wound should be healed.
+
+Now there was in the abbey whither Heraud's body was taken, a monk well
+skilled in leech-craft, who knew the virtues of all manner of grasses
+and herbs. And this monk, finding by his craft that life still flickered
+in the body, nursed and tended it; and after a long while Sir Heraud was
+well enough to travel. Disguised as a palmer he came into Burgundy, and
+there, to his great joy, found Sir Guy, who had come thither meaning to
+take his way back to England. But they lingered still, till Heraud
+should grow stronger, and so it fell out that they came to St. Omers.
+There they heard how the Emperor Regnier had come up against Segwin,
+Duke of Lavayne, laid waste his land, and besieged him in his strong
+city Seysone, because he had slain Sadoc, the Emperor's cousin, in a
+tournament. But when Sir Guy learned that Sadoc had first provoked Duke
+Segwin, and brought his death upon himself, he determined to help Segwin
+against his sovereign the Emperor Regnier. He therefore gathered fifty
+knights together with Heraud, and coming secretly at night to the city
+of Seysone, was let in at a postern gate without the enemy being aware.
+In the morning after mass they made a sally against their foes, which
+numbered thirty thousand strong, and routed them, taking many noble
+prisoners. Three times the Emperor came against the Greeks, each time
+with a new army larger than before. Twice did Sir Guy vanquish the host,
+and drive them from the walls. The third time he took Sir Gaire, the
+Emperor's son, prisoner, and carried him into the city. Then the Emperor
+Regnier determined, since he could not take the place by assault, to
+beleaguer it, and starve the town into surrender. And it was so that,
+while his army was set down before the walls, the Emperor hunted alone
+in a wood hard by, and Sir Guy, meeting him there, gathered a branch of
+olive tree, and came bending to the Emperor, saying, "God save you,
+gentle sire. Duke Segwin sendeth me to make his peace with you. He will
+yield you all his lands and castles in burg and city, and hold them of
+you henceforth in vassalage, but he now would have your presence in the
+city to a feast." So the Emperor was forced to go with him into the city
+as a prisoner, albeit he was served with the humility due to a sovereign
+both by Sir Guy and Duke Segwin's knights. Sir Gaire and the other
+captive nobles came also and prayed for peace with Duke Segwin, for they
+had been so well treated that they felt nothing but the truest
+friendship for their captor. So it befell when the Emperor found himself
+feasting in the enemy's castle, surrounded by the flower of his own
+knights and nobles, and Duke Segwin and his band serving them humbly at
+table as though they had been servants in place of masters, he was
+touched by their generosity, and willingly agreed to a free and friendly
+peace. And this was celebrated by the Emperor giving Duke Segwin his
+niece to wife, whilst the Duke of Saxony wedded Duke Segwin's sister
+amid great rejoicings.
+
+Now after this, learning that Ernis, Emperor of Greece, was besieged in
+Constantinople his capital by the Saracens, Sir Guy levied an army of a
+thousand knights and went to his assistance. Well pleased was Ernis at
+so timely a succor, and he promised to reward Sir Guy by making him heir
+to the throne and giving him the hand of his only daughter the beautiful
+Loret. Then Sir Guy led the army forth from the city against the Soudan
+and his host, and defeated them so badly that for some days they were
+unable to rally their men for another encounter.
+
+In the meantime, one of Sir Guy's knights named Sir Morgadour fell in
+love with the Princess Loret, and being envious of Sir Guy's
+achievements as well as jealous of such a rival, he sought how to
+embroil him with the Emperor and compass his disgrace. Wherefore one day
+when the Emperor Ernis was gone a-rivering with his hawks, Sir Morgadour
+challenged Sir Guy to play a game of chess in the Princess Loret's
+chamber. They played there, Sir Guy not thinking of treachery. But
+by-and-by the Princess entered, and Sir Morgadour after greeting her
+took his leave quickly and came to the Emperor Ernis, telling him how
+Sir Guy was alone in the chamber with his daughter. Ernis, however, paid
+little heed to the tale, for he said: "Well, and what of it? Loret is
+his promised bride, and Sir Guy is a good true knight. Away with your
+tales!" But Sir Morgadour was not to be baffled, so he went to Sir Guy
+and said: "Behold how little trust is to be placed in a king! Here is
+the Emperor Ernis mad wroth to hear you were alone with the Princess
+Loret, and swears he will have your life." Then Sir Guy in great anger
+summoned his knights, and was going over to the Saracens, when, on his
+way, he met the Emperor, who told him of the malice of Sir Morgadour and
+all was made plain.
+
+But now the Saracens coming anew against the city, Sir Guy went forth to
+meet them with many engines upon wheels which threw great stones
+quarried from a hill. Sir Guy and his army again defeated the Saracens,
+insomuch that a space of fifteen acres was covered so thick with dead
+that a man might not walk between, whilst the pile of slain around Sir
+Guy reached breast high. So the Soudan and his host withdrew to their
+camps.
+
+Then Sir Morgadour bethought him of another wile. The Soudan had sworn
+to kill every Christian found in his camp, without regard to flag of
+truce or ambassage. So Sir Morgadour persuaded Ernis to send Sir Guy to
+the Soudan saying, that, since the war seemed likely to come to no
+speedy issue, it should be settled by single combat between two
+champions chosen from the Christian and the Saracen hosts. The counsel
+seemed good to Ernis, but yet he liked not to risk his son-in-law's
+life; wherefore he called his Parliament together and asked for some
+bold knight to go and bear this message. When all the others held their
+peace, Sir Guy demanded to be sent upon the business, neither could the
+prayers and entreaties of Ernis cause him to forego the enterprise. He
+clad himself in iron hose and a trusty hauberk, set a helm of steel,
+gold-circled, on his head, and having girt his sword about him, leapt on
+his steed without so much as touching stirrup, and rode up to the
+Soudan's pavilion. He well knew it from the rest, since on the top
+thereof flashed a great carbuncle stone.
+
+There were feasting the Soudan, ten kings, and many barons, when Sir Guy
+walked into the pavilion and delivered his message with great roughness
+of speech. "Seize him and slay him!" cried the Soudan. But Sir Guy cut
+his way through his assailants and rushing on the Soudan cut off his
+head; and while he stooped to pick up the trophy with his left hand,
+with his right he slew six Saracens, then fought his passage past them
+all to the tent door, and leapt upon his horse. But the whole Saracen
+host being roused he never would have got back for all his bravery, but
+that Heraud within the city saw in a dream the danger he was in, and
+assembling the Greek army and Sir Guy's knights, came to his rescue and
+put the Saracens to flight. Then after the battle, Sir Guy came in
+triumph to Constantinople and laid the Soudan's head at the feet of the
+Emperor Ernis.
+
+Ernis now, being at peace from his enemies, would take Sir Guy through
+his realms. On their way they saw a dragon fighting a lion, and the lion
+having much the worst of the combat, Sir Guy must needs go and fight the
+dragon. After a hard battle he laid the monster dead at his feet, and
+the lion came and licked the hands of his deliverer, and would in no
+wise depart from his side.
+
+Soon afterward the Emperor Ernis gathered a great company of princes,
+dukes, earls, barons, bishops, abbots, and priors to the wedding feast,
+and in presence of them all he gave Sir Guy to be ruler over half the
+kingdom, and led forth the Princess Loret to be his bride.
+
+But when Sir Guy saw the wedding-ring, his old love came to his mind,
+and he bethought him of Felice. "Alas!" he cried, "Felice the bright and
+beautiful, my heart misgives me of forgetting thee. None other maid
+shall ever have my love." Then he fell into a swoon and when he came to
+himself he pleaded sudden sickness. So the marriage was put off, to the
+great distress of Ernis and his daughter Loret, and Sir Guy gat him to
+an Inn. Heraud tended him there, and learned how it was for the sake of
+Felice that Guy renounced so fair a bride, dowered with so rich a
+kingdom. But after a fortnight, when he could no longer feign illness
+because of the watchfullness of the Emperor and the Princess after his
+health, he was forced to return to court, and delay his marriage from
+day to day by one excuse and another, until at length fortune delivered
+him from the strait. The lion which Sir Guy had tamed was used to roam
+about the palace, and grew so gentle that none feared him and none
+sought him harm. But Sir Morgadour, being sore vexed to think that all
+his plans against Sir Guy had failed, determined to wreak his spite upon
+the lion. He therefore watched until he found the lion asleep within an
+arbour, and then wounded him to death with his sword. The faithful beast
+dragged himself so far as Sir Guy's chamber, licked his master's hands,
+and fell dead at his feet. But a little maid which had espied Sir
+Morgadour told Sir Guy who had slain his lion. Then Sir Guy went forth
+in quest of Sir Morgadour, and fought with him and slew him. He had
+forgiven the wrongs against himself, since he outwitted them; but he was
+fain to avenge his faithful favourite. Now Sir Morgadour was steward to
+the German Emperor Regnier. So Sir Guy showed Ernis that if he remained
+longer at his court, Regnier would surely make war on Greece to avenge
+his steward's death. Wherefore with this excuse he took his departure
+and set sail with Heraud in the first ship he could find. They landed in
+Germany, and visited the Emperor Regnier without telling anything about
+his steward's death. Then they came to Lorraine.
+
+As Sir Guy took his way alone through a forest, having sent his servants
+on to prepare a place for him at an inn, he heard the groaning of a man
+in pain, and turning his horse that way, found a knight sore wounded,
+and like to die. This knight was named Sir Thierry, and served the Duke
+of Lorraine. He told how he was riding through the wood with his lady,
+Osile, when fifteen armed men beset him, and forcibly carried off the
+lady to take her to Duke Otho of Pavia, his rival Then said Sir Guy, "I
+also have a score to settle with Otho, the felon duke." Then he took Sir
+Thierry's arms and armour, and went in pursuit of the ravishers whom he
+soon overtook, and having slain every one, he set the lady on his steed
+and returned to the place where he had left the wounded knight. But now
+Sir Thierry was gone; for four knights of Duke Otho's band had come and
+carried him off. So Sir Guy set down the lady, and started to find the
+four knights. Having fought and vanquished them, he set Sir Thierry on
+his horse and returned. But now Osile was gone. He searched for many
+hours to find her, but in vain. So as nightfall drew on he took Sir
+Thierry to the inn. There by good fortune they found the lady, Sir Guy's
+servants having met her in the wood and brought her with them to await
+his coming. A leech soon came and dressed Sir Thierry's wounds, and by
+the careful tending of Osile and Sir Guy, he got well Then Sir Guy and
+Sir Thierry swore brotherhood in arms.
+
+Soon there came a messenger, saying that Duke Otho, hotly wroth at
+losing the fair Osile, had gone to lay waste the lands of Aubry, Sir
+Thierry's father; the Duke of Lorraine was likewise helping him.
+Thereupon Sir Guy equipped five hundred knights and came with Sir
+Thierry to the city of Gurmoise where Aubry dwelt. It was a well
+ramparted city, and after being beaten in two battles with Sir Guy, Duke
+Otho found, despite the larger numbers of his host, that he could not
+stand against the courage of the little army and the valour of its
+leader. Thinking therefore to gain Osile by treachery, he sent an
+archbishop to Aubry, offering peace and pledging himself to confirm the
+marriage of Sir Thierry and Osile, provided only that the lovers would
+go and kneel in homage to their sovereign Duke of Lorraine. Thereon Sir
+Thierry and his bride, together with Sir Guy and Sir Heraud, set out
+unarmed, and after wending a day's journey out of Gurmoise, they met the
+Duke of Lorraine, who embraced and kissed them in token of peace. But
+Otho coming forward as if to do the like, made a sign to a band of men
+whom he had in waiting to seize them. These quickly surrounded Sir
+Heraud and Sir Thierry and carried them off; but Sir Guy with only his
+fists slew many of his assailants, and broke away to where a countryman
+stood with a staff in his hand. Snatching this for a weapon, Sir Guy
+beat down the quickest of his pursuers, and made his escape. Duke Otho
+cast Sir Thierry into a deep dungeon in Pavia, and meanwhile gave Osile
+a respite of forty days wherein to consent to be his bride. But the Duke
+of Lorraine carried off Sir Heraud.
+
+Weary and hungered, and vexed at the loss of his friends, Sir Guy came
+to a castle where he sought harbour for the night. Sir Amys of the
+Mountain, who dwelt there, welcomed him with a good will, and hearing
+his adventures, offered to raise an army of fifteen hundred men to help
+him against Duke Otho. But to this Sir Guy said nay, because it would
+take too long. So, after a day or two, having hit upon a plan, he
+disguised, himself by staining his face and darkening his hair and beard
+and eyebrows; and setting out alone, came to Duke Otho with a present of
+a war-horse of great price, and said, "You have in your keeping a
+dastard knight by name Sir Thierry, who has done me much despite, and I
+would fain be avenged upon him." Then Duke Otho, falling into the trap,
+appointed him jailor of Sir Thierry.
+
+The dungeon wherein Sir Thierry was prisoned was a pit of forty fathoms
+deep, and very soon Sir Guy spake from the pit's mouth bidding him be of
+good cheer, for he would certainly deliver him. But a false Lombard
+overheard these words, and thereby knowing that it was Sir Guy, ran off
+straightway to tell Duke Otho. Sir Guy followed quickly and sought to
+bribe the man with money to hold his peace, but without avail, for he
+would go into the palace where the Duke was, and opened his mouth to
+tell the tale. Then with one blow Sir Guy slew him at Duke Otho's feet.
+But Otho, very wroth, would have killed Sir Guy then and there, only
+that he averred that this was a certain traitor whom he found carrying
+food to the prisoner. Thus having appeased the Duke's anger, he gat away
+secretly to Osile, and bade her change her manner to Duke Otho, and make
+as though she was willing to have his love. The night before the day
+fixed for the wedding, Sir Guy let down a rope to Thierry in his pit,
+and having drawn him up, the two made all speed to the castle of Sir
+Amys. There, getting equipped with arms and armour, they leaped to horse
+on the morrow, and riding back to Pavia, met the wedding procession.
+Rushing into the midst Sir Guy slew Otho and Sir Thierry carried off
+Osile, whereupon they returned to Sir Amys with light hearts. And when
+the Duke of Lorraine had tidings of what had befallen Otho he had great
+fear of Sir Guy, and sent Sir Heraud back with costly gifts to make his
+peace. So Sir Thierry and Osile were wed, and a sumptuous banquet was
+held in their honour, with game, and hunting, and hawking, and justing,
+and singing of glee-men, more than can be told.
+
+Now as Sir Guy went a-hunting one day, he rode away from his party to
+pursue a boar of great size. And this boar, being very nimble and fleet
+of foot, led him a long chase till he came into Flanders. And when he
+killed the boar he blew upon his horn the prize. Florentine, King of
+Flanders, hearing it in his palace, said, "Who is this that slays the
+tall game on my lands?" And he bade his son go forth and bring him in.
+The young prince coming with a haughty message to Sir Guy, the knight
+struck him with his hunting-horn, meaning no more than chastisement for
+his discourtesy. But by misadventure the prince fell dead at his feet.
+Thinking no more of the mishap, and knowing not who it was whom he had
+slain, Sir Guy rode on to the palace, and was received with good cheer
+at the King's table. But presently the prince's body being brought in,
+and Guy owning that he had done this deed, King Florentine took up an
+axe, and aimed a mighty blow at the slayer of his son. This Sir Guy
+quickly avoided, and when all arose to seize him, he smote them down on
+either hand, and fought his way through the hall till he reached his
+steed, whereon lightly leaping he hasted back to Sir Thierry.
+
+Then after a short while he took leave of Sir Thierry, and came with Sir
+Heraud to England, to the court of King Athelstan at York. Scarce had he
+arrived there when tidings came that a great black and winged dragon was
+ravaging Northumberland, and had destroyed whole troops of men which
+went against him. Sir Guy at once armed himself in his best proven
+armour, and rode off in quest of the monster. He battled with the dragon
+from prime till undern, and on from undern until evensong, but for all
+the dragon was so strong and his hide so flinty Sir Guy overcame him,
+and thrust his sword down the dragon's throat, and having cut off his
+head brought it to King Athelstan. Then while all England rang with this
+great exploit, he took his journey to Wallingford to see his parents.
+But they were dead; so after grieving many days for them he gave his
+inheritance to Sir Heraud, and hasted to Felice at Warwick.
+
+Proudly she welcomed her true knight, and listened to the story of his
+deeds. Then laughingly Sir Guy asked, should he go another quest before
+they two were wed?
+
+"Nay, dear one," said Felice, "my heart misgives me I was wrong to peril
+your life so long for fame's sake and my pride in you. A great
+love-longing I have borne to have you home beside me. But now you shall
+go no more forth. My pride it was that made me wish you great and
+famous, and for that I bade you go; but now, beside your greatness and
+your fame, I am become so little and so unworthy that I grow jealous
+lest you seek a worthier mate. We will not part again, dear lord Sir
+Guy." Then he kissed her tenderly and said, "Felice, whatever of fame
+and renown I may have gained, I owe it all to you. It was won for you,
+and but for you it had not been--and so I lay it at your feet in loving
+homage, owning that I hold it all of you."
+
+So they were wed amid the joy of all the town of Warwick; for the
+spousings were of right royal sort, and Earl Rohand held a great
+tournament, and kept open court to all Warwick, Rockingham, and Oxford
+for fourteen days.
+
+Forty days they had been wed, when it happened that as Sir Guy lay by a
+window of his tower, looking out upon the landscape, he fell to musing
+on his life. He thought, "How many men I have slain, how many battles I
+have fought, how many lands I have taken and destroyed! All for a
+woman's love; and not one single deed done for my God!" Then he thought,
+"I will go a pilgrimage for the sake of the Holy Cross." And when Felice
+knew what he meditated she wept, and with many bitter tears besought him
+not to leave her. But he sighed and said, "Not yet one single deed for
+God above!" and held fast to his intent. So he clad himself in palmer's
+dress, and having taken a gold ring from his wife's hand and placed upon
+his own, he set out without any companion for the Holy Land.
+
+But Felice fell into a great wan-hope at his departure, and grieved
+continually, neither would be comforted; for she said, "I have brought
+this on myself by sending him such perilous journeys heretofore, and now
+I cannot bear to part from him." But that she bore his child she would
+have taken her own life for very trouble of heart; only for that child's
+sake she was fain to live and mature it when it should be born.
+
+Now after Sir Guy had made his toilsome pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and
+shrived him of his life, and done his prayers and penances about the
+holy places, he took his way to Antioch.
+
+Beside a well he met a certain Earl Jonas, whose fifteen sons were held
+in prison till he should find a champion to deliver the Saracen Sir
+Triamour from the hands of a fierce and terrible Ethiopian giant named
+Amiraunt. So Sir Guy took arms again, and rode into the lists, and
+fought with Amiraunt and slew him; thus both Sir Triamour was delivered
+from his enemy, and the sons of Earl Jonas were restored to him. After
+this, Sir Guy travelled many years as a pilgrim of the Cross, till in
+his wanderings, chancing to come into Almayne, he there fell in with Sir
+Thierry, who, dressed in palmer's weeds, made sorry complaint. Sir
+Thierry told how a knight named Barnard inherited Pavia in the room of
+his cousin Duke Otho; and how Barnard, being at enmity with him because
+of the slaying of Duke Otho, had never rested from doing him mischief
+with his sovereign, until the Duke of Lorraine dispossessed him from his
+lands and brought him into poverty. Howbeit Sir Guy would not reveal
+himself, and Sir Thierry being faint and weary, laid his head upon Sir
+Guy's knees, and so great a heaviness came over him that he fell asleep.
+As he slept, Sir Guy, watching him, saw a small white weasel creep out
+from the mouth of the sleeping man, and run to a little rivulet that was
+hard by, going to and fro beside the bank, not seeming wistful how to
+get across. Then Sir Guy rose gently and laid his sword athwart the
+stream from bank to bank; so the weasel passed over the sword, as it had
+been a bridge, and having made his way to a hole at the foot of the hill
+on the other side, went in thereat. But presently the weasel came out,
+and crossing the stream in the same manner as before jumped into the
+sleeper's mouth again. Then Sir Thierry woke and told his dream. "I
+dreamed," said he, "that I came beside a mighty torrent which I knew not
+how to pass, until I found a bridge of shining steel, over which I went,
+and came into a cavern underground, and therein I found a palace full of
+gold and jewels. I pray thee, brother palmer, read to me this dream."
+
+Then Sir Guy said that without doubt it betokened a fair treasure hid by
+a waterside, and with that showed him the hole under the hill whereat he
+had seen the weasel go in. There they digged and found the treasure,
+which was very great; yet Sir Guy would have no share therein, but took
+leave of Sir Thierry without ever making himself known, and came to
+Lorraine the duke that was Sir Thierry's sovereign.
+
+Seeing a palmer the Duke of Lorraine asked tidings of his travels.
+"Sir," said the palmer, "men in all lands speak of Sir Thierry, and much
+do blame you for taking away his heritage at the bidding of so false a
+knight as Sir Barnard. And palmer though I be, I yet will prove Sir
+Barnard recreant and traitor upon his body, and thereto I cast down my
+glove." Then Sir Barnard took up the glove, and Sir Guy being furnished
+with armour and a sword and shield and spear, they did battle together.
+And in the end Sir Guy overcame and slew Sir Barnard, and demanded of
+the duke to restore Sir Thierry to his possessions, which being granted,
+he went in search of the banished man, and having found him in a church
+making his prayer, brought him straightway to the duke, and thus they
+were made friends. And when Sir Thierry found who his deliverer was he
+was exceeding glad and would willingly have divided all his inheritance
+with him. But Sir Guy would receive neither fee nor reward, and after he
+had abode some time with him at the court, he took his way to England.
+
+Now Athelstan was besieged in Winchester by Anlaf King of Denmark, and
+could not come out of the city for the great host that was arrayed
+against him, whilst all the folk within the city walls were famishing
+for want of food and thought of nothing but surrender. Moreover King
+Anlaf had proclaimed a challenge, giving them seven days' grace wherein
+either to deliver up the city keys, or to find a champion who should
+fight against the great and terrible Danish giant Colbrand; and every
+day for seven days' the giant came before the walls and cried for a man
+to fight with him. But there was found no man so hardy to do battle with
+Colbrand. Then King Athelstan, as he walked to and fro in his city and
+saw the distress of his people, was suddenly aware of a light that shone
+about him very brightly, and he heard a voice which charged him to
+intrust his cause to the first poor palmer he should meet. Soon after he
+met a palmer in the city, and weening not that it was Sir Guy, kneeled
+humbly to him, in sure faith in the heavenly voice, and asked his help.
+"I am an old man," said the palmer, "with little strength except what
+Heaven might give me for a people's need beset by enemies. But yet for
+England's sake and with Heaven's help I will undertake this battle."
+
+They then clothed him in the richest armour that the city could furnish,
+with a good hauberk of steel, and a helmet whose gold circle sparkled
+with precious stones, and on the top whereof stood a flower wrought of
+divers colours in rare gems. Gloves of mail he wore, and greaves upon
+his legs, and a shirt of ring-mail upon his body, with a quilted
+gambeson beneath: sharp was the sword, and richly carved the heavy spear
+he bare; his threefold shield was overlaid with gold. They led forth to
+him a swift steed; but before he mounted he went down upon his knees and
+meekly told his beads, praying God to succor him that day. And the two
+kings held a parley for an hour, Anlaf promising on his part that if his
+champion fell he would go back with all his host to Denmark and never
+more make war on Britain, whilst Athelstan agreed, if his knight were
+vanquished, to make Anlaf King of England, and henceforth to be his
+vassal and pay tribute both of gold and silver money.
+
+Then Colbrand stode forth to the battle. So great was he of stature that
+no horse could bear him, nor indeed could any man make a cart wherein to
+carry him. He was armed with black armour of so great weight that a
+score of men could scarce bear up his hauberk only, and it took three to
+carry his helmet. He bare a great dart within his hand, and slung around
+his body were swords and battle-axes more than two hundred in number.
+
+Sir Guy rode boldly at him, but his spear shivered into pieces against
+the giant's armour. Then Colbrand threw three darts. The first two
+passed wide, but the third crashed through Sir Guy's shield, and glided
+betwixt his arm and side, nor fell to ground till it had sped over a
+good acre of the field. Then a blow from the giant's sword just missed
+the knight, but lighting on his saddle at the back of him hewed horse
+and saddle clean in two; so Sir Guy was brought to ground. Yet lightly
+sprang he to his feet, and though seemingly but a child beside the
+monster man, he laid on hotly with his sword upon the giant's armour,
+until the sword brake in his hands. Then Colbrand called on him to
+yield, since he had no longer a weapon wherewith to fight. "Nay,"
+answered Sir Guy, "but I will have one are of thine," and with that ran
+deftly to the giant's side and wrenched away a battle-axe wherewith he
+maintained the combat. Right well Sir Guy endured while Colbrand's
+mighty strokes shattered his armour all about him, until his shield
+being broke in pieces it seemed he could no longer make defence, and the
+Danes raised a great shout at their champion's triumph. Then Colbrand
+aimed a last stroke at the knight to lay him low, but Sir Guy lightly
+avoiding it, the giant's sword smote into the earth a foot or more, and
+before he could withdraw it or free his hand, Sir Guy hewed off the arm
+with his battle-axe; and since Colbrand's weight leaned on that arm, he
+fell to the ground. So Sir Guy cut off his head, and triumphed over the
+giant Colbrand, and the Danes withdrew to their own country.
+
+Then without so much as telling who he was, Sir Guy doffed his armour
+and put on his palmer's weeds again, and secretly withdrawing himself
+from all the feasts and games they held in honour of him in the city of
+Winchester, passed out alone and took his journey toward Warwick on
+foot.
+
+Many a year had gone since he had left his wife and home. The boy whom
+Felice had borne him, named Raynburn, he had never seen; nor, as it
+befell, did he ever see his son. For Raynburn in his childhood had been
+stolen away by Saracens and carried to a far heathen country, where King
+Aragus brought him up and made him first his page, then chamberlain, and
+as he grew to manhood, knighted him. And now he fought the battles of
+King Aragus with a strong arm like his father Guy's, neither could any
+endure against his spear. But all these years Felice had passed in
+prayer and charity, entertaining pilgrims and tired wayfarers, and
+comforting the sick and the distressed. And it was so that Sir Guy, all
+travel-worn and with his pilgrim's staff in hand, came to her house and
+craved an alms. She took him in and washed his feet and ministered to
+him, asking oftentimes if in his travels he had seen her lord Sir Guy.
+But when he watched her gentleness to the poor and to the children at
+her gate, he feared to break in upon her holy life, and so refrained
+himself before her and would not reveal himself, but with a heavy heart
+came out from the lady's door and gat him to a hermit's cell. There he
+abode in fasting and in penitence many weeks, till feeling his end draw
+near, he took the ring from his finger and sent it by a herdsman to
+Felice. "Where got you this token?" cried Felice, all trembling with her
+wonderment and fear. "From a poor beggar-man that lives in yonder cell,"
+the herdsman answered. "From a beggar? Nay, but from a kingly man," said
+Felice, "for he is my husband, Guy of Warwick!" and gave the herdsman a
+hundred marks. Then she hasted and came to Sir Guy in his hermit's cell,
+and for a long space they wept in each other's arms and neither spake a
+word.
+
+Weaker and fainter waxed Sir Guy. In a little while he died, and Felice
+closed his tired eyes. Fifteen weary days she lingered sore in grief,
+and then God's angel came and closed her own.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+CHEVY CHASE
+
+
+  God prosper long our noble king,
+    Our lives and safeties all;
+  A woeful hunting once there did
+    In Chevy Chase befall.
+
+  To drive the deer with hound and horn
+    Earl Percy took the way;
+  The child may rue that is unborn
+    The hunting of that day.
+
+  The stout earl of Northumberland
+    A vow to God did make,
+  His pleasure in the Scottish woods
+    Three summer days to take--
+
+  The chiefest harts in Chevy Chase
+    To kill and bear away.
+  These tidings to Earl Douglas came
+    In Scotland where he lay;
+
+  Who sent Earl Percy present word
+    He would prevent his sport.
+  The English earl not fearing that,
+    Did to the woods resort.
+  With fifteen hundred bowmen bold,
+    All chosen men of might,
+  Who knew full well in time of need
+    To aim their shafts aright.
+
+  The gallant greyhound swiftly ran
+    To chase the fallow deer;
+  On Monday they began to hunt
+    Ere daylight did appear;
+
+  And long before high noon they had
+    A hundred fat bucks slain;
+  Then having dined, the drovers went
+    To rouse the deer again.
+
+  The bowmen mustered on the hills,
+    Well able to endure;
+  Their backsides all with special care
+    That day were guarded sure.
+
+  The hounds ran swiftly through the woods,
+    The nimble deer to take,
+  That with their cries the hills and dales
+    An echo shrill did make.
+
+  Lord Percy to the quarry went
+    To view the tender deer;
+  Quoth he, "Earl Douglas promised once
+    This day to meet me here."
+
+  "But if I thought he would not come,
+    No longer would I stay";
+  With that a brave young gentleman
+    Thus to the earl did say:
+
+  "Lo, yonder doth Earl Douglas come,
+    His men in armour bright;
+  Full twenty hundred Scottish spears
+    All marching in our sight;
+
+  "All men of pleasant Teviotdale,
+    Fast by the River Tweed."
+  "O cease your sports," Earl Percy said,
+    "And take your bows with speed;
+
+  "And now with me, my countrymen,
+    Your courage forth advance,
+  For there was never champion yet,
+    In Scotland or in France,
+
+  "That ever did on horseback come,
+    And if my hap it were,
+  I durst encounter man for man
+    With him to break a spear."
+
+  Earl Douglas on his milk white steed,
+    Most like a baron bold,
+  Rode foremost of his company,
+    Whose armour shone like gold.
+
+  "Show me," said he, "whose men you be,
+    That hunt so boldly here,
+  That, without my consent, do chase
+    And kill my fallow deer."
+
+  The first man that did answer make,
+    Was noble Percy he,
+  Who said, "We list not to declare
+    Nor show whose men we be:
+
+  "Yet will we spend our dearest blood
+    Thy chiefest harts to slay."
+  Then Douglas swore a solemn oath,
+    And thus in rage did say:
+
+  "Ere thus I will out-braved be,
+    One of us two shall die;
+  I know thee well, an earl thou art--
+    Lord Percy, so am I.
+
+  "But trust me, Percy, pity it were,
+    And great offence, to kill
+  Any of these our guiltless men,
+    For they have done none ill.
+
+  "Let thou and I the battle try,
+    And set our men aside."
+  "Accurst be he," Earl Percy said,
+    "By whom it is denied."
+
+  Then stept a gallant squire forth--
+    Witherington was his name--
+  Who said, "I would not have it told
+    To Henry, our king, for shame,
+
+  "That e'er my captain fought on foot,
+    And I stood looking on.
+  You be two earls," quoth Witherington,
+    "And I a squire alone;
+
+  "I'll do the best that do I may,
+    While I have power to stand;
+  While I have power to wield my sword,
+    I'll fight with heart and hand."
+
+  Our English archers bent their bows--
+    Their hearts were good and true;
+  At the first flight of arrows sent,
+    Full four score Scots they slew.
+
+  To drive the deer with hound and horn,
+    Douglas bade on the bent,
+  Two captains moved with mickle might,
+    Their spears to shivers went.
+
+  They closed full fast on every side,
+    No slackness there was found,
+  But many a gallant gentleman
+    Lay gasping on the ground.
+
+  O Christ! it was great grief to see
+    How each man chose his spear,
+  And how the blood out of their breasts
+    Did gush like water clear.
+
+  At last these two stout earls did meet
+    Like captains of great might;
+  Like lions wode, they laid on lode;
+    They made a cruel fight.
+
+  They fought until they both did sweat,
+    With swords of tempered steel,
+  Till blood down their cheeks like rain
+    They trickling down did feel.
+
+  "O yield thee, Percy!" Douglas said,
+    "And in faith I will thee bring
+  Where thou shalt high advanced be
+    By James, our Scottish king.
+
+  "Thy ransom I will freely give,
+    And this report of thee,
+  Thou art the most courageous knight
+    That ever I did see."
+
+  "No, Douglas," quoth Earl Percy then,
+     "Thy proffer I do scorn;
+  I will not yield to any Scot
+    That ever yet was born."
+
+  With that there came an arrow keen,
+    Out of an English bow,
+  Which struck Earl Douglas on the breast
+    A deep and deadly blow.
+
+  Who never said more words than these:
+    "Fight on, my merry men all!
+  For why, my life is at an end,
+    Lord Percy sees my fall."
+
+  Then leaving life, Earl Percy took
+    The dead man by the hand;
+  Who said, "Earl Douglas, for thy life
+   Would I had lost my land!
+
+  "O Christ! my very heart doth bleed
+    For sorrow for thy sake,
+  For sure a more redoubted knight
+    Mischance could never take."
+
+  A knight amongst the Scots there was
+    Which saw Earl Douglas die,
+  Who straight in heart did vow revenge
+    Upon the Lord Percy.
+
+  Sir Hugh Montgomery was he called,
+    Who, with a spear full bright,
+  Well mounted on a gallant steed,
+    Ran fiercely through the fight,
+
+  And past the English archers all,
+    Without all dread or fear,
+  And through Earl Percy's body then
+    He thrust his hateful spear.
+
+  With such a vehement force and might
+    His body he did gore,
+  The staff ran through the other side
+    A large cloth-yard, and more.
+
+  Thus did both those nobles die,
+    Whose courage none could stain;
+  An English archer then perceived
+    The noble earl was slain.
+
+  He had a good bow in his hand
+    Made of a trusty tree;
+  An arrow of a cloth-yard long
+    To the hard head haled he.
+
+  Against Sir Hugh Montgomery
+    His shaft full right he set;
+  The gray-goose-wing that was thereon
+    In his heart's blood was wet.
+
+  This fight from break of day did last
+    Till setting of the sun,
+  For when they rang the evening-bell
+    The battle scarce was done.
+
+  With stout Earl Percy there was slain
+    Sir John of Egerton,
+  Sir Robert Harcliff and Sir William,
+    Sir James, that bold baron.
+
+  And with Sir George and Sir James,
+    Both knights of good account,
+  Good Sir Ralph Raby there was slain,
+    Whose prowess did surmount.
+
+  For Witherington needs must I wail
+    As one in doleful dumps.
+  For when his legs were smitten off,
+    He fought upon his stumps.
+
+  And with Earl Douglas there was slain
+    Sir Hugh Montgomery,
+  And Sir Charles Morrell, that from field
+    One foot would never flee;
+
+  Sir Roger Heuer of Harcliff, too,
+    His sister's son was he;
+  Sir David Lambwell, well esteemed,
+    But saved he could not be.
+
+  And the Lord Maxwell, in like case,
+    With Douglas he did die;
+  Of twenty hundred Scottish spears,
+    Scarce fifty-five did fly.
+
+  Of fifteen hundred Englishmen
+    Went home but fifty-three;
+  The rest in Chevy Chase were slain,
+    Under the greenwood tree.
+
+  Next day did many widows come
+    Their husbands to bewail;
+  They washed their wounds in brinish sears.
+    But all would not prevail.
+
+  Their bodies, bathed in purple blood,
+    They bore with them away;
+  They kissed them dead a thousand times
+    Ere they were clad in clay.
+
+  The news was brought to Edinburgh,
+    Where Scotland's king did reign,
+  That brave Earl Douglas suddenly
+    Was with an arrow slain.
+
+  "O heavy news!" King James can say,
+    "Scotland may witness be
+  I have not any captain more
+    Of such account as he."
+
+  Like tidings to King Henry came
+    Within as short a space,
+  That Percy of Northumberland
+    Was slain at Chevy Chase.
+
+  "Now God be with him!" said our king,
+    "Since it will no better be;
+  I trust I have within my realm
+    Five hundred as good as he."
+
+  "Yet shall not Scots nor Scotland say
+    But I will vengeance take,
+  And be revenged on them all
+    For brave Earl Percy's sake."
+
+  This vow the king did well perform
+    After on Humble-down;
+  In one day fifty knights were slain
+    With lords of great renown.
+
+  And of the rest, of small account,
+    Did many hundreds die:
+  Thus endeth the hunting in Chevy Chase
+    Made by the Earl Percy.
+
+  God save our king, and bless this land
+    With plenty, joy, and peace,
+  And grant henceforth that foul debate
+    Twixt noble men may cease!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE FATE OF THE CHILDREN OF LIR
+
+
+Now at the time when the Tuatha de Danaan chose a king for themselves
+after the battle of Tailltin, and Lir heard the kingship was given to
+Bodb Dearg, it did not please him, and he left the gathering without
+leave and with no word to any one; for he thought it was he himself had
+a right to be made king. But if he went away himself, Bodb was given the
+kingship none the less, for not one of the five begrudged it to him but
+only Lir. And it is what they determined, to follow after Lir, and to
+burn down his house, and to attack himself with spear and sword, on
+account of his not giving obedience to the king they had chosen. "We
+will not do that," said Bodb Dearg, "for that man would defend any place
+he is in; and besides that," he said, "I am none the less king over the
+Tuatha de Danaan, although he does not submit to me."
+
+All went on like that for a good while, but at last a great misfortune
+came on Lir, for his wife died from him after a sickness of three
+nights. And that came very hard on Lir, and there was heaviness on his
+mind after her. And there was great talk of the death of that woman in
+her own time.
+
+And the news of it was told all through Ireland, and it came to the
+house of Bodb, and the best of the Men of Dea were with him at that
+time. And Bodb said: "If Lir had a mind for it," he said, "my help and
+my friendship would be good for him now, since his wife is not living to
+him. For I have here with me the three young girls of the best shape,
+and the best appearance, and the best name in all Ireland, Aobh, Aoife,
+and Aihbhe, the three daughters of Oilell of Aran, my own three
+nurselings." The Men of Dea said then it was a good thought he had, and
+that what he said was true.
+
+Messages and messengers were sent then from Bodb Dearg to the place Lir
+was, to say that if he had a mind to join with the Son of the Dagda and
+to acknowledge his lordship, he would give him a foster-child of his
+foster-children. And Lir thought well of the offer, and he set out on
+the morrow with fifty chariots from Sidhe Fionna-chaidh; and he went by
+every short way till he came to Bodb's dwelling-place at Loch Dearg, and
+there was a welcome before him there, and all the people were merry and
+pleasant before him, and he and his people got good attendance that
+night.
+
+And the three daughters of Oilell of Aran were sitting on the one seat
+with Bodb Dearg's wife, the queen of the Tuatha de Danaan, that was
+their foster-mother. And Bodb said: "You may have your choice of the
+three young girls, Lir." "I cannot say," said Lir, "which one of them is
+my choice, but whichever of them is the eldest, she is the noblest, and
+it is better for me to take her." "If that is so," said Bodb, "it is
+Aobh is the eldest, and she will be given to you, if it is your wish."
+"It is my wish," he said. And he took Aobh for his wife that night, and
+he stopped there for a fortnight, and then he brought her away to his
+own house, till he would make a great wedding-feast.
+
+And in the course of time Aobh brought forth two children, a daughter
+and a son, Fionnuala and Aodh their names were. And after a while she
+was brought to bed again, and this time she gave birth to two sons, and
+they called them Fiachra and Conn. And she herself died at their birth.
+And that weighed very heavy on Lir, and only for the way his mind was
+set on his four children he would have gone near to die of grief.
+
+The news came to Bodb Dearg's place, and all the people gave out three
+loud, high cries, keening their nursling. And after they had keened her
+it is what Bodb Dearg said: "It is a fret to us our daughter to have
+died, for her own sake and for the sake of the good man we gave her to,
+for we are thankful for his friendship and his faithfulness. However,"
+he said, "our friendship with one another will not be broken, for I will
+give him for a wife her sister Aoife."
+
+When Lir heard that he came for the girl and married her, and brought
+her home to his house. And there was honour and affection with Aoife for
+her sister's children; and indeed no person at all could see those four
+children without giving them the heart's love.
+
+And Bodb Dearg used often to be going to Lir's house for the sake of
+those children; and he used to bring them to his own place for a good
+length of time, and then he would let them go back to their own place
+again. And the Men of Dea were at that time using the Feast of Age in
+every hill of the Sidhe in turn; and when they came to Lir's hill those
+four children were their joy and delight for the beauty of their
+appearance; and it is where they used to sleep, in beds in sight of
+their father Lir. And he used to rise up at the break of every morning,
+and to lie down among his children.
+
+But it is what came of all this, that a fire of jealousy was kindled in
+Aoife, and she got to have a dislike and a hatred of her sister's
+children.
+
+Then she let on to have a sickness, that lasted through nearly the
+length of a year. And the end of that time she did a deed of jealousy
+and cruel treachery against the children of Lir.
+
+And one day she got her chariot yoked, and she took the four children in
+it, and they went forward toward the house of Bodb Dearg; but Fionnuala
+had no mind to go with her, for she knew by her she had some plan for
+their death or their destruction, and she had seen in a dream that there
+was treachery against them in Aoife's mind. But all the same she was not
+able to escape from what was before her.
+
+And when they were on their way Aoife said to her people: "Let you kill
+now," she said, "the four children of Lir, for whose sake their father
+has given up my love, and I will give you your own choice of a reward
+out of all the good things of the world." "We will not do that indeed,"
+said they; "and it is a bad deed you have thought of, and harm will come
+to you out of it."
+
+And when they would not do as she bade them, she took out a sword
+herself to put an end to the children with; but she being a woman and
+with no good courage, and with no great strength in her mind, she was
+not able to do it.
+
+They went on then west to Loch Dairbhreach, the Lake of the Oaks, and
+the horses were stopped there. And Aoife bade the children of Lir to go
+out and bathe in the lake, and they did as she bade them. And as soon as
+Aoife saw them out in the lake she struck them with a Druid rod, and put
+on them the shape of four swans, white and beautiful. And it is what she
+said: "Out with you, children of the king, your luck is taken away from
+you forever; it is sorrowful the story will be to your friends it is
+with flocks of birds your cries will be heard for ever."
+
+And Fionnuala said: "Witch, we know now what your name is, you have
+struck us down with no hope of relief; but although you put us from wave
+to wave, there are times when we will touch the land. We shall get help
+when we are seen; help, and all that is best for us; even though we have
+to sleep upon the lake, it is our minds will be going abroad early."
+
+And then the four children of Lir turned toward Aoife, and this is what
+Fionnuala said: "It is a bad deed you have done, Aoife, and it is a bad
+fulfilling of friendship, you to destroy us without cause; and vengeance
+for it will come upon you, and you will fall in satisfaction for it, for
+your power for our destruction is not greater than the power of our
+friends to avenge it on you; and put some bounds now," she said, "to the
+time this enchantment is to stop on us." "I will do that," said Aoife,
+"and it is worse for you, you to have asked it of me. And the bounds I I
+set to your time are this, till the Woman from the South and the Man
+from the North will come together. And since you ask to hear it of me,"
+she said, "no friends and no power that you have will be able to bring
+you out of these shapes you are in through the length of your lives,
+until you have been three hundred years on Loch Dairbhreach, and three
+hundred years on Sruth na Maoile between Ireland and Alban, and three
+hundred years at Irrus Domnann and Inis Gluaire; and these are to be
+your journeys from this out," she said.
+
+But then repentance came on Aoife, and she said: "Since there is no
+other help for me to give you now, you may keep your own speech; and you
+will be singing sweet music in the Sidhe, that would put the men of the
+earth to sleep, and there will be no music in the world equal to it; and
+your own sense and your own nobility will stay with you, the way it will
+not weigh so heavy on you to be in the shape of birds. And go away out
+of my sight now, children of Lir," she said, "with your white faces,
+with your stammering Irish. It is a great curse on tender lads, they to
+be driven out on the rough wind. Nine hundred years to be on the water,
+it is a long time for any one to be in pain; it is I put this on you
+through treachery, it is best for you to do as I tell you now.
+
+"Lir, that got victory with so many a good cast, his heart is a kernel
+of death in him now; the groaning of the great hero is a sickness to me,
+though it is I that have well earned his anger."
+
+And then the horses were caught for Aoife, and the chariot yoked for
+her, and she went on to the palace of Bodb Dearg, and there was a
+welcome before her from the chief people of the place. And the son of
+the Dagda asked her why she did not bring the children of Lir with her.
+"I will tell you that," she said. "It is because Lir has no liking for
+you, and he will not trust you with his children, from fear you might
+keep them from him altogether."
+
+"I wonder at that," said Bodb Dearg, "for those children are dearer to
+me than my own children." And he thought in his own mind it was deceit
+the woman was doing on him, and it is what he did, he sent messengers to
+the North to Sidhe Fionnachaidh. And Lir asked them what did they come
+for. "On the head of your children," said they. "Are they not gone to
+you along with Aoife?" he said. "They are not," said they; "and Aoife
+said it was yourself would not let them come."
+
+It is downhearted and sorrowful Lir was at that news, for he understood
+well it was Aoife had destroyed or made an end of his children. And
+early in the morning of the morrow his horses were caught, and he set
+out on the road to the Southwest. And when he was as far as the shore of
+Loch Dairbhreach, the four children saw the horses coming toward them,
+and it is what Fionnuala said: "A welcome to the troop of horses I see
+coming near to the lake; the people they are bringing are strong, there
+is sadness on them; it is us they are following, it is for us they are
+looking; let us move over to the shore, Aodh, Fiachra, and comely Conn.
+Those that are coming can be no others in the world but only Lir and his
+household."
+
+Then Lir came to the edge of the lake, and he took notice of the swans
+having the voice of living people, and he asked them why was it they had
+that voice.
+
+"I will tell you that, Lir," said Fionnuala. "We are your own four
+children, that are after being destroyed by your wife, and by the sister
+of our own mother, through the dint of her jealousy." "Is there any way
+to put you into your own shapes again?" said Lir. "There is no way,"
+said Fionnuala, "for all the men of the world could not help us till we
+have gone through our time, and that will not be," she said, "till the
+end of nine hundred years."
+
+When Lir and his people heard that, they gave out three great heavy
+shouts of grief and sorrow and crying.
+
+"Is there a mind with you," said Lir, "to come to us on the land, since
+you have not your own sense and your memory yet?" "We have not the
+power," said Fionnuala, "to live with any person at all from this time;
+but we have our own language, the Irish, and we have the power to sing
+sweet music, and it is enough to satisfy the whole race of men to be
+listening to that music. And let you stop here to-night," she said, "and
+we will be making music for you."
+
+So Lir and his people stopped there listening to the music of the swans,
+and they slept there quietly that night. And Lir rose up early on the
+morning of the morrow and he made this complaint:
+
+"It is time to go out from this place. I do not sleep though I am in my
+lying down. To be parted from my dear children, it is that is tormenting
+my heart.
+
+"It is a bad net I put over you, bringing Aoife, daughter of Oilell of
+Aran, to the house. I would never have followed that advice if I had
+known what it would bring upon me.
+
+"O Fionnuala, and comely Conn, O Aodh, O Fiachra of the beautiful arms;
+it is not ready I am to go away from you, from the border of the harbour
+where you are."
+
+Then Lir went on to the palace of Bodb Dearg, and there was a welcome
+before him there; and he got a reproach from Bodb Dearg for not bringing
+his children along with him. "My grief!" said Lir. "It is not I that
+would not bring my children along with me; it was Aoife there beyond,
+your own foster-child and the sister of their mother, that put them in
+the shape of four white swans on Loch Dairbhreach, in the sight of the
+whole of the men of Ireland; but they have their sense with them yet,
+and their reason, and their voice, and their Irish."
+
+Bodb Dearg gave a great start when he heard that, and he knew what Lir
+said was true, and he gave a very sharp reproach to Aoife, and he said:
+"This treachery will be worse for yourself in the end, Aoife, than to
+the children of Lir. And what shape would you yourself think worst of
+being in?" he said.
+
+"I would think worst of being a witch of the air," she said. "It is into
+that shape I will put you now." said Bodb. And with that he struck her
+with a Druid wand, and she was turned into a witch of the air there and
+then, and she went away on the wind in that shape, and she is in it yet,
+and will be in it to the end of life and time.
+
+As to Bodb Dearg and the Tuatha de Danaan they came to the shore of Loch
+Dairbhreach, and they made their camp there to be listening to the music
+of the swans.
+
+And the Sons of the Gael used to be coming no less than the Men of Dea
+to hear them from every part of Ireland, for there never was any music
+or any delight, heard in Ireland to compare with that music of the
+swans. And they used to be telling stories, and to be talking with the
+men of Ireland every day, and with their teachers and their
+fellow-pupils and their friends. And every night they used to sing very
+sweet music of the Sidhe; and every one that heard that music would
+sleep sound and quiet whatever trouble or long sickness might be on him;
+for every one that heard the music of the birds, it is happy and
+contented he would be after it.
+
+These two gatherings now of the Tuatha de Danaan and of the Sons of the
+Gael stopped there around Loch Dairbhreach through the length of three
+hundred years. And it is then Fionnuala said to her brothers: "Do you
+know," she said, "we have spent all we have to spend of our time here,
+but this one night only."
+
+And there was great sorrow on the sons of Lir when they heard that, for
+they thought it the same as to be living people again, to be talking
+with their friends and their companions on Loch Dairbhreach, in
+comparison with going on the cold, fretful sea of the Maoil in the
+North.
+
+And they came early on the morrow to speak with their father and with
+their foster-father, and they bade them farewell, and Fionnuala made
+this complaint:
+
+"Farewell to you, Bodb Dearg, the man with whom all knowledge is in
+pledge. And farewell to our father along with you, Lir of the Hill of
+the White Field.
+
+"The time is come, as I think, for us to part from you, O pleasant
+company; my grief it is not on a visit we are going to you.
+
+"From this day out, O friends of our heart, our comrades, it is on the
+tormented course of the Maoil we will be, without the voice of any
+person near us.
+
+"There hundred years there, and three hundred years in the bay of the
+men of Domnann, it is a pity for the four comely children of Lir, the
+salt waves of the sea to be their covering by night.
+
+"O three brothers, with the ruddy faces gone from you, let them all
+leave the lake now, the great troop that loved us, it is sorrowful our
+parting is."
+
+After that complaint they took to flight, lightly, airily, till they
+came to Sruth na Maoile between Ireland and Alban. And that was a grief
+to the men of Ireland, and they gave out an order no swan was to be
+killed from that out, whatever chance there might be of killing one, all
+through Ireland.
+
+It was a bad dwelling-place for the children of Lir they to be on Sruth
+na Maoile. When they saw the wide coast about them, they were filled
+with cold and with sorrow, and they thought nothing of all they had gone
+through before, in comparison to what they were going through on that
+sea.
+
+Now one night while they were there a great storm came on them, and it
+is what Fionnuala said: "My dear brothers," she said, "it is a pity for
+us not to be making ready for this night, for it is certain the storm
+will separate us from one another. And let us," she said, "settle on
+some place where we can meet afterward, if we are driven from one
+another in the night."
+
+"Let us settle," said the others, "to meet one another at Carraig na
+Ron, the Rock of the Seals, for we all have knowledge of it."
+
+And when midnight came, the wind came on them with it, and the noise of
+the waves increased, and the lightning was flashing, and a rough storm
+came sweeping down; the way the children of Lir were scattered over the
+great sea, and the wideness of it set them astray, so that no one of
+them could know what way the others went. But after that storm a great
+quiet came on the sea, and Fionnuala was alone on Sruth na Maoile; and
+when she took notice that her brothers were wanting she was lamenting
+after them greatly, and she made this complaint:
+
+"It is a pity for me to be alive in the state I am; it is frozen to my
+sides my wings are; it is little that the wind has not broken my heart
+in my body, with the loss of Aodh.
+
+"To be three hundred years on Loch Dairbhreach without going into my own
+shape, it is worse to me the time I am on Sruth na Maoile.
+
+"The three I loved, Och! the three I loved, that slept under the shelter
+of my feathers; till the dead come back to the living I will see them no
+more for ever.
+
+"It is a pity I to stay after Fiachra, and after Aodh, and after comely
+Conn, and with no account of them; my grief I to be here to face every
+hardship this night."
+
+She stopped all night there upon the Rock of the Seals until the rising
+of the sun, looking out over the sea on every side till at last she saw
+Conn coming to her, his feathers wet through and his head hanging, and
+her heart gave him a great welcome; and then Fiachra came wet and
+perished and worn out, and he could not say a word they could understand
+with the dint of the cold and the hardship he had gone through. And
+Fionnuala put him under her wings, and she said: "We would be well off
+now if Aodh would but come to us."
+
+It was not long after that, they saw Aodh coming, his head dry and his
+feathers beautiful, and Fionnuala gave him a great welcome, and she put
+him in under the feathers of her breast, and Fiachra under her right
+wing and Conn under her left wing, the way she could put her feathers
+over them all. "And Och! my brothers," she said, "this was a bad night
+to us, and it is many of its like are before us from this out."
+
+They stayed there a long time after that, suffering cold and misery on
+the Maoil, till at last a night came on them they had never known the
+like of before, for frost and snow and wind and cold. And they were
+crying and lamenting the hardship of their life, and the cold of the
+night and the greatness of the snow and the hardness of the wind. And
+after they had suffered cold to the end of a year, a worse night again
+came on them, in the middle of winter. And they were on Carraig na Ron,
+and the water froze about them, and as they rested on the rock, their
+feet and their wings and their feathers froze to the rock, the way they
+were not able to move from it. And they made such a hard struggle to get
+away, that they left the skin of their feet and their feathers and the
+tops of their wings on the rock after them.
+
+"My grief, children of Lir," said Fionnuala, "it is bad our state is
+now, for we cannot bear the salt water to touch us, and there are bonds
+on us not to leave it; and if the salt water goes into our sores," she
+said, "we will get our death." And she made this complaint:
+
+"It is keening we are to-night; without feathers to cover our bodies; it
+is cold the rough, uneven rocks are under our bare feet.
+
+"It is bad our stepmother was to us the time she played enchantments on
+us, sending us out like swans upon the sea.
+
+"Our washing place is on the ridge of the bay, in the foam of flying
+manes of the sea; our share of the ale feast is the salt water of the
+blue tide.
+
+"One daughter and three sons; it is in the clefts of the rocks we are;
+it is on the hard rocks we are, it is a pity the way we are."
+
+However, they came on to the course of the Maoil again, and the salt
+water was sharp and rough and bitter to them, but if it was itself, they
+were not able to avoid it or to get shelter from it. And they were there
+by the shore under that hardship till such time as their feathers grew
+again, and their wings, and till their sores were entirely healed. And
+then they used to go every day to the shore of Ireland or of Alhan, but
+they had to come back to Sruth na Maoile every night.
+
+Now they came one day to the mouth of the Banna, to the north of
+Ireland, and they saw a troop of riders, beautiful, of the one colour,
+with well-trained pure white horses under them, and they travelling the
+road straight from the Southwest.
+
+"Do you know who those riders are, sons of Lir?" said Fionnuala.
+
+"We do not," they said; "but it is likely they might be some troop of
+the Sons of the Gael, or of the Tuatha de Danaan."
+
+They moved over closer to the shore then, that they might know who they
+were, and when the riders saw them they came to meet them until they
+were able to hold talk together.
+
+And the chief men among them were two sons of Bodb Dearg, Aodh
+Aithfhiosach, of the quick wits, and Fergus Fithchiollach, of the chess,
+and a third part of the Riders of the Sidhe along with them, and it was
+for the swans they had been looking for a long while before that, and
+when they came together they wished one another a kind and loving
+welcome.
+
+And the children of Lir asked for news of all the men of Dea, and above
+all of Lir, and Bodb Dearg and their people.
+
+"They are well, and they are in the one place together," said they, "in
+your father's house at Sidhe Fionnachaidh, using the Feast of Age
+pleasantly and happily, and with no uneasiness on them, only for being
+without yourselves, and without knowledge of what happened you from the
+day you left Loch Dairbhreach."
+
+"That has not been the way with us," said Fionnuala, "for we have gone
+through great hardship and uneasiness and misery on the tides of the sea
+until this day."
+
+And she made this complaint:
+
+"There is delight to-night with the household of Lir! Plenty of ale with
+them and of wine, although it is in a cold dwelling-place this night are
+the four children of the King.
+
+"It is without a spot our bedclothes are, our bodies covered over with
+curved feathers; but it is often we were dressed in purple, and we
+drinking pleasant mead.
+
+"It is what our food is and our drink, the white sand and the bitter
+water of the sea; it is often we drank mead of hazel nuts from round
+four-lipped drinking cups.
+
+"It is what our beds are, bare rocks out of the power of the waves; it
+is often there used to be spread out for us beds of the breast feathers
+of birds.
+
+"Though it is our work now to be swimming through the frost and through
+the noise of the waves, it is often a company of the sons of kings were
+riding after us to the Hill of Bodb.
+
+"It is what wasted my strength, to be going and coming over the current
+of the Maoil the way I never was used to, and never to be in the
+sunshine on the soft grass.
+
+"Fiachra's bed and Conn's bed is to come under the cover of my wings on
+the sea. Aodh has his place under the feathers of my breast, the four of
+us side by side.
+
+"The teaching of Manannan without deceit, the talk of Bodb Dearg on the
+pleasant ridge; the voice of Angus, his sweet kisses; it is by their
+side I used to be without grief."
+
+After that the riders went on to Lir's house, and they told the chief
+men of the Tuatha de Danaan all the birds had gone through, and the
+state they were in. "We have no power over them," the chief men said,
+"but we are glad they are living yet, for they will get help in the end
+of time."
+
+As to the children of Lir, they went back toward their old place in the
+Maoil, and they stopped there till the time they had to spend in it, was
+spent. And then Fionnuala said: "The time is come for us to leave this
+place. And it is to Irrus Domnann we must go now," she said, "after our
+three hundred years here. And indeed there will be no rest for us there,
+or any standing ground, or any shelter from the storms. But since it is
+time for us to go, let us set out on the cold wind, the way we will not
+go astray."
+
+So they set out in that way, and left Sruth na Maoile behind them, and
+went to the point of Irrus Domnann, and there they stopped, and it is a
+life of misery and a cold life they led there. And one time the sea
+froze about them that they could not move at all, and the brothers were
+lamenting, and Fionnuala was comforting them, for she knew there would
+help come to them in the end.
+
+And they stayed at Irrus Domnann till the time they had to spend there
+was spent. And then Fionnuala said: "The time is come for us to go back
+to Sidhe Fionnachaidh, where our father is with his household and with
+all our own people."
+
+"It pleases us well to hear that," they said.
+
+So they set out flying through the air lightly till they came to Sidhe
+Fionnachaidh; and it is how they found the place, empty before them, and
+nothing in it but green hillocks and thickets of nettles, without a
+house, without a fire, without a hearthstone. And the four pressed close
+to one another then, and they gave out three sorrowful cries, and
+Fionnuala made this complaint:
+
+"It is a wonder to me this place is, and it without a house, without a
+dwelling-place. To see it the way it is now, Ochonel it is bitterness to
+my heart.
+
+"Without dogs, without hounds for hunting, without women, without great
+kings; we never knew it to be like this when our father was in it,
+
+"Without horns, without cups, without drinking in the lighted house;
+without young men, without riders; the way it is to-night is a
+foretelling of sorrow.
+
+"The people of the place to be as they are now, Ochone! it is grief to
+my heart! It is plain to my mind to-night the lord of the house is not
+living.
+
+"Och, house where we used to see music and playing and the gathering of
+people! I think it is a great change to see it lonely the way it is
+to-night.
+
+"The greatness of the hardships we have gone through going from one wave
+to another of the sea, we never heard of the like of them coming on any
+other person.
+
+"It is seldom this place had its part with grass and bushes; the man is
+not living that would know us, it would be a wonder to him to see us
+here."
+
+However, the children of Lir stopped that night in their father's place
+and their grandfather's, where they had been reared, and they were
+singing very sweet music of the Sidhe. And they rose up early on the
+morning of the morrow and went to Inis Gluarie, and all the birds of the
+country gathered near them on Loch na-n Ean, the Lake of the Birds. And
+they used to go out to feed every day to the far parts of the country,
+to Inis Geadh and to Accuill, the place Donn, son of Miled, and his
+people that were drowned were buried, and to all the western islands of
+Connacht, and they used to go back to Inis Gluaire every night.
+
+It was about that time it happened them to meet with a young man of good
+race, and his name was Aibric; and he often took notice of the birds,
+and their singing was sweet to him and he loved them greatly, and they
+loved him. And it is this young man that told the whole story of all
+that had happened them, and put it in order.
+
+And the story he told of what happened them in the end is this.
+
+It was after the faith of Christ and blessed Patrick came into Ireland,
+that Saint Mochaomhog came to Inis Gluaire. And the first night he came
+to the island, the children of Lir heard the voice of his bell, ringing
+near them. And the brothers started up with fright when they heard it.
+"We do not know," they said, "what is that weak, unpleasing voice we
+hear."
+
+"That is the voice of the bell of Mochaomhog," said Fionnuala; "and it
+is through that bell," she said, "you will be set free from pain and
+from misery."
+
+They listened to that music of the bell till the matins were done, and
+then they began to sing the low, sweet music of the Sidhe.
+
+And Mochaomhog was listening to them, and he prayed to God to show him
+who was singing that music, and it was showed to him that the children
+of Lir were singing it. And on the morning of the morrow he went forward
+to the Lake of the Birds, and he saw the swans before him on the lake,
+and he went down to them at the brink of the shore. "Are you the
+children of Lir?" he said.
+
+"We are indeed," said they.
+
+"I give thanks to God for that," said he, "for it is for your sakes I am
+come to this island beyond any other island, and let you come to land
+now," he said, "and give your trust to me, that you may do good deeds
+and part from your sins."
+
+They came to the land after that, and they put trust in Mochaomhog, and
+he brought them to his own dwelling-place, and they used to be hearing
+Mass with him. And he got a good smith and bade him make chains of
+bright silver for them, and he put a chain between Aodh and Fionnuala,
+and a chain between Conn and Fachra, And the four of them were raising
+his heart and gladdening his mind, and no danger and no distress that
+was on the swans before put any trouble on them now.
+
+Now the king of Connacht at that time was Lairgnen, son of Colman, son
+of Colman, son of Cobthach, and Deoch, daughter of Finghin, was his
+wife. And that was the coming together of the Man from the North and the
+Woman from the South, that Aoife had spoken of.
+
+And the woman heard talk of the birds, and a great desire came on her to
+get them, and she bade Lairgnen to bring them to her, and he said he
+would ask them of Mochaomhog.
+
+And she gave her word she would not stop another night with him unless
+he would bring them to her. And she set out from the house there and
+then. And Lairgnen sent messengers after her to bring her back, and they
+did not overtake her till she was at Cill Dun. She went back home with
+them then, and Lairgnen sent messengers to ask the birds of Mochaomhog,
+and he did not get them.
+
+There was great anger on Lairgnen then, and he went himself to the place
+Mochaomhog was, and he asked was it true he had refused him the birds.
+"It is true indeed," said he. At that Lairgnen rose up, and he took hold
+of the swans, and pulled them off the altar, two birds in each hand, to
+bring them away to Deoch. But no sooner had he laid his hand on them
+than their bird skins fell off, and what was in their place was three
+lean, withered old men and a thin withered old woman, without blood or
+flesh.
+
+And Lairgnen gave a great start at that, and he went out from the place.
+It is then Fionnuala said to Mochaomhog: "Come and baptise us now, for
+it is short till our death comes; and it is certain you do not think
+worse of parting with us than we do of parting with you. And make our
+grave afterward," she said, "and lay Conn on my right side and Fiachra
+on my left side, and Aodh before my face, between my two arms. And pray
+to the God of Heaven," she said, "that you may he able to baptise us."
+
+The children of Lir were baptised then, and they died and were buried as
+Fionnuala had desired; Fiachra and Conn one at each side of her, and
+Aohd before her face. And a stone was put over them, and their names
+were written in Ogham, and they were keened there, and heaven was gained
+for their souls.
+
+And that is the fate of the children of Lir.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE BELEAGUERED CITY
+
+
+  I have read, in some old marvellous tale
+    Some legend strange and vague,
+  That a midnight host of spectres pale
+    Beleaguered the walls of Prague.
+
+  Beside the Moldau's rushing stream.
+    With the wan moon overhead,
+  There stood, as in an awful dream,
+    The army of the dead.
+
+  White as a sea-fog, landward bound,
+    The spectral camp was seen,
+  And, with a sorrowful, deep sound,
+   The river flowed between.
+
+  No other voice nor sound was there,
+    No drum, nor sentry's pace;
+  The mist-like banners clasped the air,
+    As clouds with clouds embrace.
+
+  But, when the old cathedral bell
+    Proclaimed the morning prayer,
+  The white pavilions rose and fell
+    On the alarmed air.
+
+  Down the broad valley fast and far
+    The troubled army fled;
+  Up rose the glorious morning star,
+    The ghastly host was dead.
+
+  I have read, in the marvellous heart of man,
+    That strange and mystic scroll,
+  That an army of phantoms vast and wan
+    Beleaguer the human soul.
+
+  Encamped beside Life's rushing stream,
+    In Fancy's misty light,
+  Gigantic shapes and shadows gleam
+    Portentous through the night.
+
+  Upon its midnight battle-ground
+    The spectral camp is seen,
+  And, with a sorrowful, deep sound,
+    Flows the River of Life between.
+
+  No other voice, nor sound is there,
+    In the army of the grave;
+  No other challenge breaks the air,
+    But the rushing of Life's wave.
+
+  And, when the solemn and deep church-bell
+    Entreats the soul to pray,
+  The midnight phantoms feel the spell
+    The shadows sweep away.
+
+  Down the broad Vale of Tears afar
+    The spectral camp is fled;
+  Faith shineth as a morning star,
+    Our ghastly fears are dead.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+PRESTER JOHN
+
+
+About the middle of the twelfth century, a rumour circulated through
+Europe that there reigned in Asia a powerful Christian Emperor,
+Presbyter Johannes. In a bloody fight he had broken the power of the
+Mussulmans, and was ready to come to the assistance of the Crusaders.
+Great was the exultation in Europe, for of late the news from the East
+had been gloomy and depressing, the power of the infidel had increased,
+overwhelming masses of men had been brought into the field against the
+chivalry of Christendom, and it was felt that the cross must yield
+before the odious crescent.
+
+The news of the success of the Priest-King opened a door of hope to the
+desponding Christian world. Pope Alexander III. determined at once to
+effect a union with this mysterious personage, and on the 27th of
+September, 1177, wrote him a letter, which he intrusted to his
+physician, Philip, to deliver in person.
+
+Philip started on his embassy, but never returned. The conquests of
+Tschengis-Khan again attracted the eyes of Christian Europe to the East.
+The Mongol hordes were rushing in upon the West with devastating
+ferocity; Russia, Poland, Hungary, and the Eastern provinces of Germany
+had succumbed, or suffered grievously; and the fears of other nations
+were roused lest they too should taste the misery of a Mongolian
+invasion. It was Gog and Magog come to slaughter, and the times of
+Antichrist were dawning. But the battle of Liegnitz stayed them in their
+onward career, and Europe was saved.
+
+Pope Innocent IV. determined to convert these wild hordes of barbarians,
+and subject them to the cross of Christ; he therefore sent among them a
+number of Dominican and Franciscan missioners, and embassies of peace
+passed between the Pope, the King of France, and the Mogul Khan,
+
+The result of these communications with the East was, that the
+travellers learned how false were the prevalent notions of a mighty
+Christian empire existing in Central Asia. Vulgar superstition or
+conviction is not, however, to be upset by evidence, and the locality of
+the monarchy was merely transferred by the people to Africa, and they
+fixed upon Abyssinia, with a show of truth, as the seat of the famous
+Priest-King. However, still some doubted. John de Piano Carpini and
+Marco Polo, though they acknowledged the existence of a Christian
+monarch in Abyssinia, yet stoutly maintained as well that Prester John
+of popular belief reigned in splendour somewhere in the dim Orient.
+
+But before proceeding with the history of this strange fable, it will be
+well to extract the different accounts given of the Priest-King and his
+realm by early writers; and we shall then be better able to judge of the
+influence the myth obtained in Europe.
+
+Otto of Freisingen is the first author to mention the monarchy of
+Prester John, with whom we are acquainted. Otto wrote a chronicle up to
+the date 1156, and he relates that in 1145 the Catholic Bishop of Cabala
+visited Europe to lay certain complaints before the Pope. He mentioned
+the fall of Edessa, and also "he stated that a few years ago a certain
+King and Priest called John, who lives on the farther side of Persia and
+Armenia, in the remote East, and who, with all his people, were
+Christians, though belonging to the Nestorian Church, had overcome the
+royal brothers Samiardi, kings of the Medes and Persians, and had
+captured Ecbatana, their capital and residence. The said kings had met
+with their Persian, Median, and Assyrian troops, and had fought for
+three consecutive days, each side having determined to die rather than
+take to flight. Prester John, for so they are wont to call him, at
+length routed the Persians, and after a bloody battle, remained
+victorious. After which victory the said John was hastening to the
+assistance of the Church at Jerusalem, but his host, on reaching the
+Tigris, was hindered from passing, through a deficiency in boats, and he
+directed his march North, since he had heard that the river was there
+covered with ice. In that place he had waited many years, expecting
+severe cold; but the winters having proved unpropitious, and the
+severity of the climate having carried off many soldiers, he had been
+forced to retreat to his own land. This king belongs to the family of
+the Magi, mentioned in the Gospel, and he rules over the very people
+formerly governed by the Magi; moreover, his fame and his wealth are so
+great, that he uses an emerald sceptre only.
+
+"Excited by the example of his ancestors, who came to worship Christ in
+his cradle, he had proposed to go to Jerusalem, but had been impeded by
+the above-mentioned causes."
+
+At the same time the story crops up in other quarters; so that we cannot
+look upon Otto as the inventor of the myth. The celebrated Maimonides
+alludes to it in a passage quoted by Joshua Lorki, a Jewish physician to
+Benedict XIII. Maimonides lived from 1135 to 1204. The passage is as
+follows: "It is evident both from the letters of Rambam (Maimonides),
+whose memory be blessed, and from the narration of merchants who have
+visited the ends of the earth, that at this time the root of our faith
+is to be found in the lands of Babel and Teman, where long ago Jerusalem
+was an exile; not reckoning those who live in the land of Paras and
+Madai, of the exiles of Schomrom, the number of which people is as the
+sand: of these some are still under the yoke of Paras, who is called the
+Great-Chief Sultan by the Arabs; others live in a place under the yoke
+of a strange people ... governed by a Christian chief, Preste-Cuan by
+name. With him they have made a compact, and he with them; and this is a
+matter concerning which there can be no manner of doubt."
+
+Benjamin of Tudela, another Jew, travelled in the East between the years
+1159 and 1173, the last being the date of his death. He wrote an account
+of his travels, and gives in it some information with regard to a
+mythical Jew king, who reigned in the utmost splendour over a realm
+inhabited by Jews alone, situate somewhere in the midst of a desert of
+vast extent. About this period there appeared a document which produced
+intense excitement throughout Europe--a letter, yes! a letter from the
+mysterious personage himself to Manuel Comnenus, Errmeror of
+Constantinople (1143-1180). The exact date of this extraordinary epistle
+cannot be fixed with any certainty, but it certainly appeared before
+1241, the date of the conclusion of the chronicle of Albericus Trium
+Fontium. This Albericus relates that in the year 1165 "Presbyter
+Johannes, the Indian king, sent his wonderful letter to various
+Christian princes, and especially to Manuel of Constantinople, and
+Frederic the Roman Emperor." Similar letters were sent to Alexander
+III, to Louis VII of France, and to the King of Portugal, which are
+alluded to in chronicles and romances, and which were indeed turned into
+rhyme, and sung all over Europe by minstrels and trouveres. The letter
+is as follows:
+
+"John, Priest by the Almighty power of God and the Might of our Lord
+Jesus Christ, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, to his friend Emanuel,
+Prince of Constantinople, greeting, wishing him health, prosperity, and
+the continuance of Divine favour.
+
+"Our Majesty has been informed that you hold our Excellency in love, and
+that the report of our greatness has reached you. Moreover, we have
+heard through our treasurer that you have been pleased to send to us
+some objects of art and interest, that our Exaltedness might be
+gratified thereby.
+
+"Being human, I receive it in good part, and we have ordered our
+treasurer to send you some of our articles in return.
+
+"Now we desire to be made certain that you hold the right faith, and in
+all things cleave to Jesus Christ, our Lord, for we have heard that your
+court regard you as a god, though we know that you are mortal, and
+subject to human infirmities....Should you desire to learn the greatness
+and excellency of our Exaltedness and of the land subject to our
+sceptre, then hear and believe: I, Presbyter Johannes, the Lord of
+Lords, surpass all under heaven in virtue, in riches, and in power;
+seventy-two kings pay us tribute....In the three Indies our Magnificence
+rules, and our land extends beyond India, where rests the body of the
+holy Apostle Thomas; it reaches toward the sunrise over the wastes, and
+it trends toward deserted Babylon near the tower of Babel. Seventy-two
+provinces, of which only a few are Christian, serve us. Each has its own
+king, but all are tributary to us.
+
+"Our land is the home of elephants, dromedaries, camels, crocodiles,
+meta-collinarum, cametennus, ten-sevetes, wild asses, white and red
+lions, white bears, white merules, crickets, griffins, tigers, lamias,
+hyenas, wild horses, wild oxen and wild men, men with horns, one-eyed,
+men with eyes before and behind, centaurs, fauns, satyrs, pygmies,
+forty-ell-high giants, Cyclopses, and similar women; it is the home,
+too, of the phoenix, and of nearly all living animals. We have some
+people subject to us who feed on the flesh of men and of prematurely
+born animals, and who never fear death. When any of these people die,
+their friends and relations eat them ravenously, for they regard it as a
+main duty to munch human flesh. Their names are Gog and Magog, Anie,
+Agit, Azenach, Fommeperi, Befari, Conei-Samante, Agrimandri, Vintefolei,
+Casbei, Alanei. These and similar nations were shut in behind lofty
+mountains by Alexander the Great, toward the North. We lead them at our
+pleasure against our foes, and neither man nor beast is left undevoured,
+if our Majesty gives the requisite permission. And when all our foes are
+eaten, then we return with our hosts home again. These accursed fifteen
+nations will burst forth from the four quarters of the earth at the end
+of the world, in the times of Antichrist, and overrun all the abodes of
+the Saints as well as the great city Rome, which, by the way, we are
+prepared to give to our son who will be born, along with all Italy,
+Germany, the two Gauls, Britain and Scotland. We shall also give him
+Spain and all the land as far as the icy sea. The nations to which I
+have alluded, according to the words of the prophet, shall not stand in
+the judgment, on account of their offensive practices, but will be
+consumed to ashes by a fire which will fall on them from heaven.
+
+"Our land streams with honey, and is overflowing with milk. In one
+region grows no poisonous herb, nor does a querulous frog ever quack in
+it; no scorpion exists, nor does the serpent glide amongst the grass,
+nor can any poisonous animals exist in it, or injure any one.
+
+"Among the heathen, flows through a certain province the River Indus;
+encircling Paradise, it spreads its arms in manifold windings through
+the entire province. Here are found the emeralds, sapphires, carbuncles,
+topazes, chrysolites, onyxes, beryls, sardius, and other costly stones.
+Here grows the plant Assidos, which, when worn by any one, protects him
+from the evil spirit, forcing it to state its business and name;
+consequently the foul spirits keep out of the way there. In a certain
+land subject to us, all kinds of pepper is gathered, and is exchanged
+for corn and bread, leather and cloth....At the foot of Mount Olympus
+bubbles up a spring which changes its flavour hour by hour, night and
+day, and the spring is scarcely three days' journey from Paradise, out
+of which Adam was driven. If any one has tasted thrice of the fountain,
+from that day he will feel no fatigue, but will, as long as he lives, be
+as a man of thirty years. Here are found the small stones called
+Nudiosi, which, if borne about the body, prevent the sight from waxing
+feeble, and restore it where it is lost. The more the stone is looked
+at, the keener becomes the sight. In our territory is a certain
+waterless sea, consisting of tumbling billows of sand never at rest.
+None have crossed this sea; it lacks water altogether, yet fish are cast
+up upon the beach of various kinds, very tasty, and the like are nowhere
+else to be seen. Three days' journey from this sea are mountains from
+which rolls down a stony, waterless river, which opens into the sandy
+sea. As soon as the stream reaches the sea, its stones vanish in it, and
+are never seen again. As long as the river is in motion, it cannot be
+crossed; only four days a week is it possible to traverse it. Between
+the sandy sea and the said mountains, in a certain plain is a fountain
+of singular virtue, which purges Christians and would-be Christians from
+all transgressions. The water stands four inches high in a hollow stone
+shaped like a musselsheil. Two saintly old men watch by it, and ask the
+comers whether they are Christians, or are about to become Christians,
+then whether they desire healing with all their hearts. If they have
+answered well, they are bidden to lay aside their clothes, and to step
+into the mussel. If what they said be true, then the water begins to
+rise and gush over their heads; thrice does the water thus lift itself,
+and every one who has entered the mussel leaves it cured of every
+complaint.
+
+"Near the wilderness trickles between barren mountains a subterranean
+rill, which can only by chance be reached, for only occasionally the
+earth gapes, and he who would descend must do it with precipitation, ere
+the earth closes again. All that is gathered under the ground there is
+gem and precious stone. The brook pours into another river, and the
+inhabitants of the neighbourhood obtain thence abundance of precious
+stones. Yet they never venture to sell them without having first offered
+them to us for our private use: should we decline them, they are at
+liberty to dispose of them to strangers. Boys there are trained to
+remain three or four days under water, diving after the stones.
+
+"Beyond the stone river are the ten tribes of the Jews, which, though
+subject to their own kings, are, for all that, our slaves and tributary
+to our Majesty. In one of our lands, hight Zone, are worms called in our
+tongue Salamanders. These worms can only live in fire, and they build
+cocoons like silk-worms, which are unwound by the ladies of our palace,
+and spun into cloth and dresses, which are worn by our Exaltedness.
+These dresses, in order to be cleaned and washed, are cast into
+flames.... When we go to war, we have fourteen golden and bejewelled
+crosses borne before us instead of banners; each of these crosses is
+followed by 10,000 horsemen, and 100,000 foot soldiers fully armed,
+without reckoning those in charge of the luggage and provision.
+
+"When we ride abroad plainly, we have a wooden, unadorned cross, without
+gold or gem about it, borne before us, in order that we may meditate on
+the sufferings of Our Lord Jesus Christ; also a golden bowl filled with
+earth, to remind us of that whence we sprung, and that to which we must
+return; but besides these there is borne a silver bowl full of gold, as
+a token to all that we are the Lord of Lords.
+
+"All riches, such as are upon the world, our Magnificence possesses in
+superabundance. With us no one lies, for he who speaks a lie is
+thenceforth regarded as dead; he is no more thought of, or honoured by
+us. No vice is tolerated by us. Every year we undertake a pilgrimage,
+with retinue of war, to the body of the holy prophet Daniel, which is
+near the desolated site of Babylon. In our realm fishes are caught, the
+blood of which dyes purple. The Amazons and the Brahmins are subject to
+us. The palace in which our Super-eminency resides, is built after the
+pattern of the castle built by the Apostle Thomas for the Indian king
+Gundoforus. Ceilings, joists, and architrave are of Sethym wood, the
+roof of ebony, which can never catch fire. Over the gable of the palace
+are, at the extremities, two golden apples, in each of which are two
+carbuncles, so that the gold may shine by day, and the carbuncles by
+night. The greater gates of the palace are of sardius, with the horn of
+the horned snake inwrought, so that no one can bring poison within.
+
+"The other portals are of ebony. The windows are of crystal; the tables
+are partly of gold, partly of amethyst, and the columns supporting the
+tables are partly of ivory, partly of amethyst. The court in which we
+watch the jousting is floored with onyx in order to increase the courage
+of the combatants. In the palace, at night, nothing is burned for light
+but wicks supplied with balsam....Before our palace stands a mirror, the
+ascent to which consists of five and twenty steps of porphyry and
+serpentine." After a description of the gems adorning this mirror, which
+is guarded night and day by three thousand armed men, he explains its
+use: "We look therein and behold all that is taking place in every
+province and region subject to our sceptre.
+
+"Seven kings wait upon us monthly, in turn, with sixty-two dukes, two
+hundred and fifty-six counts and marquises: and twelve archbishops sit
+at table with us on our right, and twenty bishops on the left, besides
+the patriarch of St. Thomas, the Sarmatian Protopope, and the Archpope
+of Susa....Our lord high steward is a primate and king, our cup-bearer
+is an archbishop and king, our chamberlain a bishop and king, our
+marshal king and abbot."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE WANDERING JEW
+
+
+The year 1228, "a certain Archbishop of Armenia the Greater came on a
+pilgrimage to England to see the relics of the saints, and visit the
+sacred places in the kingdom, as he had done in others; he also produced
+letters of recommendation from his Holiness the Pope, to the religious
+and the prelates of the churches, in which they were enjoined to receive
+and entertain him with due reverence and honour. On his arrival, he came
+to St. Albans, where he was received with all respect by the abbot and
+the monks; and at this place, being fatigued with his journey, he
+remained some days to rest himself and his followers, and a conversation
+took place between him and the inhabitants of the convent, by means of
+their interpreters, during which he made many inquiries relating to the
+religion and religious observances of this country, and told many
+strange things concerning the countries of the East. In the course of
+conversation he was asked whether he had ever seen or heard any thing of
+Joseph, a man of whom there was much talk in the world, who, when our
+Lord suffered, was present and spoke to Him, and who is still alive, in
+evidence of the Christian faith; in reply to which, a knight in his
+retinue, who was his interpreter, replied, speaking in French, 'My lord
+well knows that man, and a little before he took his way to the western
+countries, the said Joseph ate at the table of my lord the Archbishop of
+Armenia, and he has often seen and conversed with him.'
+
+"He was then asked about what had passed between Christ and the said
+Joseph; to which he replied, 'At the time of the passion of Jesus
+Christ, He was seized by the Jews, and led into the hall of judgment
+before Pilate, the governor, that He might be judged by him on the
+accusation of the Jews; and Pilate, finding no fault for which he might
+sentence Him to death, said unto them, "Take Him and judge Him according
+to your law"; the shouts of the Jews, however, increasing, he, at their
+request, released unto them Barabbas, and delivered Jesus to them to be
+crucified. When, therefore, the Jews were dragging Jesus forth, and had
+reached the door, Cartaphilus, a porter of the hall in Pilate's service,
+as Jesus was going out of the door, impiously struck Him on the back
+with his hand, and said in mockery, "Go quicker, Jesus, go quicker; why
+do you loiter?" and Jesus, looking back on him with a severe
+countenance, said to him, "I am going, and you shall wait till I
+return." And according as our Lord said, this Cartaphilus is still
+awaiting His return. At the time of our Lord's suffering he was thirty
+years old, and when he attains the age of a hundred years, he always
+returns to the same age as he was when our Lord suffered. After Christ's
+death, when the Catholic faith gained ground, this Cartaphilus was
+baptised by Ananias (who also baptised the Apostle Paul), and was called
+Joseph. He dwells in one or other divisions of Armenia, and in divers
+Eastern countries, passing his time amongst the bishops and other
+prelates of the Church; he is a man of holy conversation, and religious;
+a man of few words, and very circumspect in his behaviour; for he does
+not speak at all unless when questioned by the bishops and religious;
+and then he relates the events of olden times, and speaks of things
+which occurred at the suffering and resurrection of our Lord, and of the
+witnesses of the resurrection, namely, of those who rose with Christ,
+and went into the holy city, and appeared unto men. He also tells of the
+creed of the Apostles, and of their separation and preaching. And all
+this he relates without smiling, or levity of conversation, as one who
+is well practised in sorrow and the fear of God, always looking forward
+with dread to the coming of Jesus Christ, lest at the Last Judgment he
+should find Him in anger whom, when on His way to death, he had provoked
+to just vengeance. Numbers came to him from different parts of the
+world, enjoying his society and conversation; and to them, if they are
+men of authority, he explains all doubts on the matters on which he is
+questioned. He refuses all gifts that are offered him, being content
+with slight food and clothing.'"
+
+Much about the same date, Philip Mouskes, afterward Bishop of Tournay,
+wrote his rhymed chronicle (1242), which contains a similar account of
+the Jew, derived from the same Armenian prelate:
+
+  "Adonques vint un arceveskes
+  De ca mer, plains de bonnes teques
+  Par samblant, et fut d'Armenie,"
+
+and this man, having visited the shrine of "St. Tumas de Kantobire," and
+then having paid his devotions at "Monsigour St. Jake," he went on to
+Cologne to see the heads of the three kings. The version told in the
+Netherlands much resembled that related at St. Albans, only that the
+Jew, seeing the people dragging Christ to his death, exclaims:
+
+  "Atendes moi! g'i vois,
+  S'iert mis le faus profete en crois."
+
+Then
+
+  "Le vrais Dieux se regarda,
+  Et li a dit qu'e n'i tarda,
+  Icist ne t'atenderont pas,
+  Mais saces, tu m'atenderas."
+
+We hear no more of the wandering Jew till the sixteenth century, when we
+hear first of him in a casual manner, as assisting a weaver, Kokot, at
+the royal palace in Bohemia (1505), to find a treasure which had been
+secreted by the great-grandfather of Kokot, sixty years before, at which
+time the Jew was present. He then had the appearance of being a man of
+seventy years.
+
+Curiously enough, we next hear of him in the East, where he is
+confounded with the prophet Elijah. Early in the century he appeared to
+Fadhilah, under peculiar circumstances.
+
+After the Arabs had captured the city of Elvan, Fadhilah, at the head of
+three hundred horsemen, pitched his tents, late in the evening, between
+two mountains. Fadhilah, having begun his evening prayer with a loud
+voice, heard the words "Allah akbar" (God is great) repeated distinctly,
+and each word of his prayer was followed in a similar manner. Fadhilah,
+not believing this to be the result of an echo, was much astonished, and
+cried out, "O thou! whether thou art of the angel ranks, or whether thou
+art of some other order of spirits, it is well; the power of God be with
+thee; but if thou art a man, then let mine eyes light upon thee, that I
+may rejoice in thy presence and society." Scarcely had he spoken these
+words, before an aged man, with bald head, stood before him, holding a
+staff In his hand, and much resembling a dervish in appearance. After
+having courteously saluted him, Fadhilah asked the old man who he was.
+Thereupon the stranger answered, "Bassi Hadhret Issa, I am here by
+command of the Lord Jesus, who has left me in this world, that I may
+live therein until he come a second time to earth. I wait for this Lord,
+who is the Fountain of Happiness, and in obedience to his command I
+dwell behind yon mountain." When Fadhilah heard these words, he asked
+when the Lord Jesus would appear; and the old man replied that his
+appearing would be at the end of the world, at the Last Judgment. But
+this only increased Fadhilah's curiosity, so that he inquired the signs
+of the approach of the end of all things, whereupon Zerib Bar Elia gave
+him an account of general, social, and moral dissolution, which would be
+the climax of this world's history.
+
+In 1547 he was seen in Europe, if we are to believe the following
+narration:
+
+"Paul von Eitzen, Doctor of the Holy Scriptures, and Bishop of
+Schleswig, [Footnote: Paul v. Eitzen was born January 25, 1522, at
+Hamburg; in 1562 he was appointed chief preacher for Schleswig, and died
+February 25, 1598.] related as true for some years past, that when he
+was young, having studied at Wittemberg, he returned home to his parents
+in Hamburg in the winter of the year 1547, and that on the following
+Sunday, in church, he observed a tall man, with his hair hanging over
+his shoulders, standing barefoot, during the sermon, over against the
+pulpit, listening with deepest attention to the discourse, and, whenever
+the name of Jesus was mentioned, bowing himself profoundly and humbly,
+with sighs and beating of the breast. He had no other clothing, in the
+bitter cold of the winter, except a pair of hose which were in tatters
+about his feet, and a coat with a girdle which reached to his feet; and
+his general appearance was that of a man of fifty years. And many
+people, some of high degree and title, have seen this same man in
+England, France, Italy, Hungary, Persia, Spain, Poland, Moscow, Lapland,
+Sweden, Denmark, Scotland, and other places.
+
+"Every one wondered over the man. Now, after the sermon, the said Doctor
+inquired diligently where the stranger was to be found; and when he had
+sought him out, he inquired of him privately whence he came, and how
+long that winter he had been in the place. Thereupon he replied,
+modestly, that he was a Jew by birth, a native of Jerusalem, by name
+Aliasverus, by trade a shoemaker; he had been present at the crucifixion
+of Christ, and had lived ever since, travelling through various lands
+and cities, the which he substantiated by accounts he gave; he related
+also the circumstances of Christ's transference from Pilate to Herod,
+and the final crucifixion, together with other details not recorded in
+the Evangelists and historians; he gave accounts of the changes of
+government in many countries, especially of the East, through several
+centuries; and moreover he detailed the labours and deaths of the holy
+Apostles of Christ most circumstantially.
+
+"Now when Doctor Paul v. Eitzen heard this with profound astonishment,
+on account of its incredible novelty, he inquired further, in order that
+he might obtain more accurate information. Then the man answered, that
+he had lived in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion of Christ, whom
+he had regarded as a deceiver of the people, and a heretic; he had seen
+Him with his own eyes, and had done his best, along with others, to
+bring this deceiver, as he regarded Him, to justice, and to have Him put
+out of the way. When the sentence had been pronounced by Pilate, Christ
+was about to be dragged past his house; then he ran home, and called
+together his household to have a look at Christ, and see what sort of a
+person He was.
+
+"This having been done, he had his little child on his arm, and was
+standing in his doorway, to have a sight of the Lord Jesus Christ.
+
+"As, then, Christ was led by, bowed under the weight of the heavy cross,
+He tried to rest a little, and stood still a moment; but the shoemaker,
+in zeal and rage, and for the sake of obtaining credit among the other
+Jews, drove the Lord Christ forward, and told Him to hasten on His way.
+Jesus, obeying, looked at him, and said, 'I shall stand and rest, but
+thou shalt go till the last day.' At these words the man set down the
+child; and, unable to remain where he was, he followed Christ, and saw
+how cruelly He was crucified, how He suffered, how He died. As soon as
+this had taken place, it came upon him suddenly that he could no more
+return to Jerusalem, nor see again his wife and child, but must go forth
+into foreign lands, one after another, like a mournful pilgrim. Now,
+when, years after, he returned to Jerusalem, he found it ruined and
+utterly razed, so that not one stone was left standing on another; and
+he could not recognise former localities.
+
+"He believes that it is God's purpose, in thus driving him about in
+miserable life, and preserving him undying, to present him before the
+Jews at the end, as a living token, so that the godless and unbelieving
+may remember the death of Christ, and be turned to repentance. For his
+part he would well rejoice were God in heaven to release him from this
+vale of tears. After this conversation, Doctor Paul v. Eitzen, along
+with the rector of the school of Hamburg, who was well read in history,
+and a traveller, questioned him about events which had taken place in
+the East since the death of Christ, and he was able to give them much
+information on many ancient matters; so that it was impossible not to be
+convinced of the truth of his story, and to see that what seems
+impossible with men is, after all, possible with God.
+
+"Since the Jew has had his life extended, he has become silent and
+reserved, and only answers direct questions. When invited to become any
+one's guest, he eats little, and drinks in great moderation; then
+hurries on, never remaining long in one place. When at Hamburg, Dantzig,
+and elsewhere, money has been offered him, he never took more than two
+shillings (fourpence, one farthing), and at once distributed it to the
+poor, as token that he needed no money, for God would provide for him,
+as he rued the sins he had committed in ignorance.
+
+"During the period of his stay in Hamburg and Dantzig he was never seen
+to laugh. In whatever land he travelled he spoke its language, and when
+he spoke Saxon, it was like a native Saxon. Many people came from
+different places to Hamburg and Dantzig in order to see and hear this
+man, and were convinced that the providence of God was exercised in this
+individual in a very remarkable manner. He gladly listened to God's
+word, or heard it spoken of always with great gravity and compunction,
+and he ever reverenced with sighs the pronunciation of the name of God,
+or of Jesus Christ, and could not endure to hear curses; but whenever he
+heard any one swear by God's death or pains, he waxed indignant, and
+exclaimed, with vehemence and with sighs, 'Wretched man and miserable
+creature, thus to misuse the name of thy Lord and God, and His bitter
+sufferings and passion. Hadst thou seen, as I have, how heavy and bitter
+were the pangs and wounds of thy Lord, endured for thee and for me, thou
+wouldst rather undergo great pain thyself than thus take His sacred name
+in vain!'
+
+"Such is the account given to me by Doctor Paul von Eitzen, with many
+circumstantial proofs, and corroborated by certain of my own old
+acquaintances who saw this same individual with their own eyes in
+Hamburg.
+
+"In the year 1575 the Secretary Christopher Krause, and Master Jacob von
+Holstein, legates to the Court of Spain, and afterward sent into the
+Netherlands to pay the soldiers serving his Majesty in that country,
+related on their return home to Schleswig, and confirmed with solemn
+oaths, that they had come across the same mysterious individual at
+Madrid in Spain, in appearance, manner of life, habits, clothing, just
+the same as he had appeared in Hamburg. They said that they had spoken
+with him, and that many people of all classes had conversed with him,
+and found him to speak good Spanish. In the year 1599, in December, a
+reliable person wrote from Brunswick to Strasburg that the same
+mentioned strange person had been seen alive at Vienna in Austria, and
+that he had started for Poland and Dantzig; and that he purposed going
+on to Moscow. This Ahasverus was at Lubeck in 1601, also about the same
+date in Revel in Livonia, and in Cracow in Poland. In Moscow he was seen
+of many and spoken to by many.
+
+"What thoughtful, God-fearing persons are to think of the said person,
+is at their option. God's works are wondrous and past finding out, and
+are manifested day by day, only to be revealed in full at the last great
+day of account.
+
+  "Dated, Revel, August 1st, 1613.
+  "D. W.
+  "D.
+  "Chrysostomus Duduloeus,
+                     "Westphalus."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In 1604 he seems to have appeared in Paris. Rudolph Botoreus says, under
+this date, "I fear lest I be accused of giving ear to old wives' fables,
+if I insert in these pages what is reported all over Europe of the Jew,
+coeval with the Saviour Christ; however, nothing is more common, and our
+popular histories have not scrupled to assert it. Following the lead of
+those who wrote our annals, I may say that he who appeared not in one
+century only, in Spain, Italy, and Germany, was also in this year seen
+and recognised as the same individual who had appeared in Hamburg, anno
+MDLXVI. The common people, bold in spreading reports, relate many things
+of him; and this I allude to, lest anything should be left unsaid."
+
+J. C. Bulenger puts the date of the Hamburg visit earlier. "It was
+reported at this time that a Jew of the time of Christ was wandering
+without food and drink, having for a thousand and odd years been a
+vagabond and outcast, condemned by God to rove, because he, of that
+generation of vipers, was the first to cry out for the crucifixion of
+Christ and the release of Barabbas; and also because soon after, when
+Christ, panting under the burden of the rood, sought to rest before his
+workshop (he was a cobbler), the fellow ordered Him off with acerbity.
+Thereupon Christ replied, 'Because thou grudgest Me such a moment of
+rest, I shall enter into My rest, but thou shalt wander restless.' At
+once, frantic and agitated, he fled through the whole earth, and on the
+same account to this day he journeys through the world. It was this
+person who was seen in Hamburg in MDLXIV. Credat Judaeus Apella! I did
+not see him, or hear anything authentic concerning him, at that time
+when I was in Paris."
+
+A curious little book, written against the quackery of Paracelsus, by
+Leonard Doldius, a Nurnberg physician, and translated into Latin and
+augmented, by Andreas Libavius, doctor and physician of Rotenburg,
+alludes to the same story, and gives the Jew a new name nowhere else met
+with. After having referred to a report that Paracelsus was not dead,
+but was seated alive, asleep or napping, in his sepulchre at Strasburg,
+preserved from death by some of his specifics, Labavius declares that he
+would sooner believe in the old man, the Jew, Ahasverus, wandering over
+the world, called by some Buttadaeus, and otherwise, again, by others.
+
+He is said to have appeared in Naumburg, but the date is not given; he
+was noticed in church, listening to the sermon. After the service he was
+questioned, and he related his story. On this occasion he received
+presents from the burgers. In 1633 he was again in Hamburg. In the year
+1640, two citizens, living in the Gerberstrasse, in Brussels, were
+walking in the Sonian wood, when they encountered an aged man, whose
+clothes were in tatters and of an antiquated appearance. They invited
+him to go with them to a house of refreshment, and he went with them,
+but would not seat himself, remaining on foot to drink. When he came
+before the doors with the two burgers, he told them a great deal; but
+they were mostly stories of events which had happened many hundred years
+before. Hence the burgers gathered that their companion was Isaac
+Laquedem, the Jew who had refused to permit our Blessed Lord to rest for
+a moment at his door-step, and they left him full of terror. In 1642 he
+is reported to have visited Leipzig. On the 22d July, 1721, he appeared
+at the gates of the city of Munich. About the end of the seventeenth
+century or the beginning of the eighteenth, an impostor, calling himself
+the Wandering Jew, attracted attention in England, and was listened to
+by the ignorant, and despised by the educated. He, however, managed to
+thrust himself into the notice of the nobility, who, half in jest, half
+in curiosity, questioned him, and paid him as they might a juggler. He
+declared that he had been an officer of the Sanhedrim, and that he had
+struck Christ as he left the judgment hall of Pilate. He remembered all
+the Apostles, and described their personal appearance, their clothes,
+and their peculiarities. He spoke many languages, claimed the power of
+healing the sick and asserted that he had travelled nearly all over the
+world. Those who heard him were perplexed by his familiarity with
+foreign tongues and places. Oxford and Cambridge sent professors to
+question him, and to discover the imposition, if any. An English
+nobleman conversed with him in Arabic. The mysterious stranger told his
+questioner in that language that historical works were not to be relied
+upon. And on being asked his opinion of Mahomet, he replied that he had
+been acquainted with the father of the prophet, and that he dwelt at
+Ormuz. As for Mahomet, he believed him to have been a man of
+intelligence; once when he heard the prophet deny that Christ was
+crucified, he answered abruptly by telling him he was a witness to the
+truth of that event. He related also that he was in Rome when Nero set
+it on fire; he had known Saladin, Tamerlane, Bajazeth, Eterlane, and
+could give minute details of the history of the Crusades.
+
+Whether this wandering Jew was found out in London or not, we cannot
+tell, but he shortly after appeared in Denmark, thence travelled into
+Sweden, and vanished.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+KING ROBERT OF SICILY
+
+
+  Robert of Sicily, brother of Pope Urbane
+  And Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine,
+  Apparelled in magnificent attire,
+  With retinue of many a knight and squire,
+  On St. John's eve, at vespers, proudly sat
+  And heard the priests chant the Magnificat.
+  And as he listened, o'er and o'er again
+  Repeated, like a burden or refrain,
+  He caught the words, "_Deposuit potentes
+  De sede, et exaltavit humiles_";
+  And slowly lifting up his kingly head
+  He to a learned clerk beside him said,
+  "What mean these words?" The clerk made answer meet,
+  "He has put down the mighty from their seat,
+  And has exalted them of low degree."
+  Thereat King Robert muttered scornfully,
+  "'T is well that such seditious words are sung
+  Only by priests and in the Latin tongue;
+  For unto priests and people be it known,
+  There is no power can push me from my throne!"
+  And leaning back, he yawned and fell asleep,
+  Lulled by the chant monotonous and deep.
+  When he awoke, it was already night;
+  The church was empty, and there was no light,
+
+  Save where the lamps, that glimmered few and faint,
+  Lighted a little space before some saint.
+  He started from his seat and gazed around,
+  But saw no living thing and heard no sound.
+  He groped toward the door, but it was locked;
+  He cried aloud, and listened, and knocked,
+  And uttered awful threatenings and complaints,
+  And imprecations upon men and saints.
+  The sounds reechoed from the roof and walls
+  As if dead priests were laughing in their stalls.
+
+  At length the sexton, hearing from without
+  The tumult of the knocking and the shout,
+  And thinking thieves were in the house or prayer,
+  Came with his lantern, asking, "Who is there?"
+  Half choked with rage, King Robert fiercely said,
+  "Open:'tis I, the King! Art thou afraid?"
+  The frightened sexton, muttering, with a curse,
+  "This is some drunken vagabond, or worse!"
+  Turned the great key and flung the portal wide;
+  A man rushed by him at a single stride,
+  Haggard, half naked, without hat or cloak,
+  Who neither turned, nor looked at him, nor spoke,
+  But leaped into the blackness of the night,
+  And vanished like a spectre from his sight.
+
+  Robert of Sicily, brother of Pope Urbane
+  And Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine,
+  Despoiled of his magnificent attire,
+  Bareheaded, breathless, and besprent with mire,
+  With sense of wrong and outrage desperate,
+  Strode on and thundered at the palace gate;
+
+  Rushed through the courtyard, thrusting in his rage
+  To right and left each seneschal and page,
+  And hurried up the broad and sounding stair,
+  His white face ghastly in the torches' glare.
+  From hall to hall he passed with breathless speed;
+  Voices and cries he heard, but did not heed,
+  Until at last he reached the banquet-room,
+  Blazing with light, and breathing with perfume.
+
+  There on the dais sat another king,
+  Wearing his robes, his crown, his signet-ring,
+  King Robert's self in features, form, and height,
+  But all transfigured with angelic light!
+  It was an Angel; and his presence there
+  With a divine effulgence rilled the air,
+  An exaltation, piercing the disguise,
+  Though none the hidden Angel recognised.
+
+  A moment speechless, motionless, amazed,
+  The throneless monarch on the Angel gazed,
+  Who met his look of anger and surprise
+  With the divine compassion of his eyes;
+  Then said, "Who art thou? and why com'st thou here?"
+  To which King Robert answered with a sneer,
+  "I am the King, and come to claim my own
+  From an impostor, who usurps my throne!"
+  And suddenly, at these audacious words,
+  Up sprang the angry guests, and drew their swords;
+  The Angel answered, with unruffled brow,
+  "Nay, not the King, but the King's Jester, thou
+
+  Henceforth shalt wear the bells and scalloped cape,
+  And for thy counsellor shalt lead an ape;
+  Thou shalt obey my servants when they call,
+  And wait upon my henchmen in the hall!"
+
+  Deaf to King Robert's threats and cries and prayers,
+  They thrust him from the hall and down the stairs;
+  A group of tittering pages ran before,
+  And as they opened wide the folding-door,
+  His heart failed, for he heard, with strange alarms,
+  The boisterous laughter of the men-at-arms,
+  And all the vaulted chamber roar and ring
+  With the mock plaudits of "Long live the King!"
+
+  Next morning, waking with the day's first beam,
+  He said within himself, "It was a dream!"
+  But the straw rustled as he turned his head,
+  There were the cap and bells beside his bed,
+  Around him rose the bare, discolored walls,
+  Close by, the steeds were champing in their stalls,
+  And in the corner, a revolting shape,
+  Shivering and chattering sat the wretched ape.
+  It was no dream; the world he loved so much
+  Had turned to dust and ashes at his touch!
+
+  Days came and went; and now returned again
+  To Sicily the old Saturnian reign;
+  Under the Angel's governance benign
+  The happy island danced with corn and wine,
+  And deep within the mountain's burning breast
+  Enceladus, the giant, was at rest.
+
+  Meanwhile King Robert yielded to his fate,
+  Sullen and silent and disconsolate.
+  Dressed in the motley garb that Jesters wear,
+  With look bewildered and a vacant stare,
+
+  Close shaven above the ears, as monks are shorn,
+  By courtiers mocked, by pages laughed to scorn,
+  His only friend the ape, his only food
+  What others left--he still was unsubdued.
+  And when the Angel met him on his way,
+  And half in earnest, half in jest, would say,
+  Sternly, though tenderly, that he might feel
+  The velvet scabbard held a sword of steel,
+  "Art thou the King?" the passion of his woe
+  Burst from him in resistless overflow
+  And, lifting high his forehead he, would fling
+  The haughty answer back, "I am, I am the King!"
+
+  Almost three years were ended; when there came
+  Ambassadors of great repute and name
+  From Valmond, Emperor of Allemaine,
+  Unto King Robert, saying that Pope Urbane
+  By letter summoned them forthwith to come
+  On Holy Thursday to his city of Rome.
+  The Angel with great joy received his guests,
+  And gave them presents of embroidered vests,
+  And velvet mantles with rich ermine lined,
+  And rings and jewels of the rarest kind.
+  Then he departed with them o'er the sea
+  Into the lovely land of Italy,
+  Whose loveliness was more resplendent made
+  By the mere passing of that cavalcade,
+
+  With plumes, and cloaks, and housings, and the stir
+  Of jewelled bridle and of golden spur.
+  And lo! among the menials, in mock state,
+  Upon a piebald steed, with shambling gait,
+  His cloak of fox-tails flapping in the wind,
+  The solemn ape demurely perched behind,
+  King Robert rode, making huge merriment
+  In all the country towns through which they went.
+
+  The Pope received them with great pomp and blare
+  Of bannered trumpets, on Saint Peter's square,
+  Giving his benediction and embrace,
+  Fervent, and full of apostolic grace.
+  While with congratulations and with prayers
+  He entertained the Angel unawares,
+  Robert, the Jester, bursting through the crowd,
+  Into their presence rushed, and cried aloud,
+  "I am the King! Look, and behold in me
+  Robert, your brother, King of Sicily!
+  This man, who wears my semblance to your eyes,
+  Is an impostor in a king's disguise.
+  Do you not know me? does no voice within
+  Answer my cry, and say we are akin?"
+  The Pope in silence, but with troubled mien,
+  Gazed at the Angel's countenance serene;
+  The Emperor, laughing, said, "It is strange sport
+  To keep a madman for thy Fool at court!"
+  And the poor, baffled Jester in disgrace
+  Was hustled back among the populace.
+  In solemn state the Holy Week went by,
+  And Easter Sunday gleamed upon the sky;
+  The presence of the Angel, with its light,
+  Before the sun rose, made the city bright,
+
+  And with new fervour filled the hearts of men,
+  Who felt that Christ indeed had risen again.
+  Even the Jester, on his bed of straw,
+  With haggard eyes the unwonted splendour saw,
+  He felt within a power unfelt before,
+  And, kneeling humbly on his chamber-floor,
+  He heard the rushing garments of the Lord
+  Sweep through the silent air, ascending heavenward.
+
+  And now the visit ending, and once more
+  Valmond returning to the Danube's shore,
+  Homeward the Angel journeyed, and again
+  The land was made resplendent with his train,
+  Flashing along the towns of Italy
+  Unto Salerno, and from thence by sea.
+  And when once more within Palermo's wall,
+  And, seated on the throne in his great hall,
+  He heard the Angelus from convent towers,
+  As if the better world conversed with ours,
+  He beckoned to King Robert to draw nigher,
+  And with a gesture bade the rest retire;
+  And when they were alone, the Angel said,
+  "Art thou the King?" Then, bowing down his head,
+  King Robert crossed both hands upon his breast,
+  And meekly answered him: "Thou knowest best!
+  My sins as scarlet are; let me go hence,
+  And in some cloister's school of penitence,
+  Across those stones, that pave the way to heaven,
+  Walk barefoot, till my guilty soul be shriven!"
+
+  The Angel smiled, and from his radiant face
+  A holy light illumined all the place,
+  And through the open window, loud and clear,
+  They heard the monks chant in the chapel near,
+  Above the stir and tumult of the street:
+  "He has put down the mighty from their seat,
+  And has exalted them of low degree!"
+  And through the chant a second melody
+  Rose like the throbbing of a single string:
+  "I am an Angel, and thou art the King!"
+
+  King Robert, who was standing near the throne,
+  Lifted his eyes, and lo! he was alone!
+  But all apparelled as in days of old,
+  With ermined mantle and with cloth of gold;
+  And when his courtiers came, they found him there
+  Kneeling upon the floor, absorbed in silent prayer.
+
+
+INTERLUDE
+
+  And then the blue-eyed Norseman told
+  A Saga of the days of old.
+  "There is," said he, "a wondrous book
+  Of Legends in the old Norse tongue,
+  Of the dead kings of Norroway--
+  Legends that once were told or sung
+  In many a smoky fireside nook
+  Of Iceland, in the ancient day,
+  By wandering Saga-man or Scald;
+  'Heimskringla' is the volume called;
+  And he who looks may find therein
+  The story that I now begin."
+
+  And in each pause the story made
+  Upon his violin he played,
+  As an appropriate interlude,
+  Fragments of old Norwegian tunes
+  That bound in one the separate runes,
+  And held the mind in perfect mood,
+  Entwining and encircling all
+  The strange and antiquated rhymes
+  With melodies of olden times;
+  As over some half-ruined wall,
+  Disjointed and about to fall,
+  Fresh woodbines climb and interlace,
+  And keep the loosened stones in place.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE BEATO TORELLO DA POPPI
+
+
+In that time in which the portion of Tuscany called Casentino was not
+yet subject to the Florentines, but was ruled by its own counts, in the
+lands of Poppi, an important place in that valley through which runs the
+river Arno, and not far from its source, a son was born to a certain
+good man named Paolo, to whom he gave the name of Torello, and whom,
+when a suitable age, he not only taught to fear God, and to lead a
+Christian life, but sent to school, that he might learn the first
+principles of letters--which he soon did--and to avoid evil companions
+and imitate the good. The young Torello, being accustomed to this life,
+and his father dying, for some time proceeded from good to better.
+
+But that not pleasing our common enemy, who always goes about seeking
+whom he may devour, he so tempted Torello--God permitting it, for future
+and greater good--that he abandoned a virtuous life, and gave himself to
+the pursuit of the pleasures of the world; so that instead of being
+praised for his blameless and religious life, he was censured by all,
+and had become the very opposite of what he had at first been.
+
+But the blessed Lord--who had never abandoned him, though He had left
+him to wander, in order to permit him to become a true mirror of
+penitence--called him to himself in this manner; as he was one day
+wandering and seeking amusement with his idle companions, a cock that
+was on a perch outside a window suddenly fell, and alighted on his
+shoulder, and crowed three times, and then flew back to the perch.
+Torello, calling to mind how the Apostle Peter had in a similar manner
+been made to gee his guilt, awaked from his sleep of vice and sin in a
+state of wonder and fear; and thinking that this could have happened
+only by divine Providence, and to show him that he was in the power of
+the devil, left his companions instantly, and in penitence and tears
+sought the Abbot of Poppi, of the order of Vallombrosa; and commending
+himself to his prayers, threw himself at his feet, humbly begging for
+the robe of a mendicant friar, since he desired to serve God in the
+humblest manner. The abbot wondered much, knowing by common report
+Torello to be a youth of most incorrect life, to see him thus kneeling
+in contrition before him, and endeavoured, together with the monks, to
+persuade him to take their habit of St. John Gualberto. But at last,
+seeing he had no heart for it, and remained constant to his first
+request, he at last granted it; and he became a poor brother, and almost
+a desert hermit, for having received the benediction of the abbot,
+without communicating with either his family or friends, he left that
+country and took his way toward the most desert and savage places of the
+mountains, wandering among them for eight days, and passing the night
+wherever it chanced to overtake him. But having at last come to a great
+rock, near a place called Avellanato, he remained there, adopting it for
+a cell eight days more, weeping for his sins, praying, and imploring God
+to pardon him; living all this time on three small loaves, which he had
+brought with him, and on wild herbs like the animals; and being much
+pleased with the place, he determined to make a cell under that great
+rock, and there spend all the days of this life, serving God with fasts,
+vigils, discipline, and prayers, and bitterly lamenting his past sins
+and evil life.
+
+Having taken this resolution, he went to his own country to put his
+affairs in order; and all his relatives and friends came about him,
+praying him with much earnestness, if he sought to serve God, to leave
+this life of a wild beast and join some order, living like other monks.
+But all was of no avail; and selling all his goods, he gave the price to
+the poor, reserving to himself only a small sum of money to build a
+cell. And he returned to his solitude with a mason, who made for him a
+miserable cell under that same rock; and he bought near it enough land
+for a small garden, and there established himself, practising the most
+severe austerities.
+
+Having now spoken of the penitence and life of the Beato Torello, we
+must make mention of the great gifts and grace which he received from
+God during his life, and which were often granted to him in behalf of
+those who commended themselves to him in faith and devotion.
+
+A poor woman of Poppi, who had only one son, three years old, going to
+the spring to wash her clothes, took him with her; and he having strayed
+from her a little way while she was washing, a savage wolf seized him
+and carried him away, and the poor woman's shrieks could be heard almost
+at Poppi, while she could do nothing but commend the child to God. While
+the wolf was escaping with his prey between his teeth, he came, as it
+pleased God--who thus began to make known the reward of his service--to
+the cell of the Beato Torello; who, when he saw this, instantly ordered
+the wolf, in God's name, to lay the child on the ground, safe and sound;
+which command the wolf no sooner heard than he came to him immediately,
+and laid the child at his feet. And after he had, with evident humility,
+received the directions of the holy father, that neither he, nor any of
+the wolves his companions, should do any harm to any person of that
+country, he departed, and returned to the forest; and the servant of God
+took the half-dead child into his cell, where he made a prayer to the
+Lord, and he was immediately healed of the wounds the wolf's teeth had
+made in his throat. And when his mother came seeking him with great
+lamentation and sorrow, he graciously restored him to her alive and
+well, but with the command that while he lived she should never reveal
+this miracle.
+
+Carlo, Count of Poppi, being very fond of the Beato Torello, sent him by
+his steward, one evening in Carnival, a basket full of provisions,
+praying the good father to accept it for love of him. The steward also
+carried him many other gifts, which some good ladies, knowing where he
+was going, took the opportunity to send by his hand.
+
+Having arrived at the cell, he presented them all to the padre, who
+thanked him much, and returned him the empty baskets; when he took
+occasion to enquire, how he, being alone, could possibly eat so much in
+one evening. And Torello, seeing that the steward thought him a great
+eater, answered: "I am not alone, as you suppose; my companion will come
+from the woods before long, who has a great appetite, and he will help
+me." And the steward, hearing this, hid himself in the wood not far from
+the hermitage, to see who this could be who the padre said had such a
+fine appetite. He had not waited long when he saw a great wolf go
+straight to the door of the saint's cell, who opened it for him, and fed
+him until he had devoured everything that the steward had brought; and
+he then began to caress the saint, as a faithful and affectionate dog
+would his master; and this he continued to do until Torello gave him
+permission to go, and reminded him that neither he, nor any of his
+companions, should do any harm to the people of that place until they
+were at such a distance as to be out of hearing of the bell of the
+monastery, which the wolf promised to do and obey, by bowing his head.
+The servant, having seen and heard this, returned home, and related it
+to the count and the others, to their great amazement.
+
+There was a lady of Bologna, named Vittoriana, who made a pilgrimage to
+the holy place in Vernia, where the glorious St. Francis received the
+stigmata; and there her two children fell ill with a violent and
+dangerous fever; and being, in consequence, much distressed and
+afflicted, she consulted with some ladies from Poppi, whose devotion had
+also brought them to the same place, who advised her to take her
+children, as soon as possible, to the blessed Torello, and commend them
+to him, that by means of his prayers God would restore their health. And
+going to him, she commended them to him with faith and tears and hope
+beyond the power of words to describe. And truly it was not in vain; for
+the holy man, who was most pitiful, kneeled down and prayed to the Lord
+for her and her children as only the true servants of God pray; and
+having so done, he took some water from the spring of which he usually
+drank and gave it to the children, and they were entirely cured and
+delivered from that fever. And what is more, the water of that fountain
+is to this day called the fountain of St. Torello, and is a sovereign
+remedy against every kind of fever to those who drink of it, as
+experience has testified and still testifies.
+
+But at last, in the year of our salvation twelve hundred and eighty-two,
+the saint having reached the eightieth year of his life, and spent them
+all in the service of God--many of his good works being unknown--an
+angel brought him this message: "Rejoice, Torello, for the time is come
+when thou shalt receive the crown of glory thou hast so long desired,
+and the reward in paradise of ail thy labour in the service of God; for
+thirty days from this time, on the sixteenth of March, thou shalt be
+delivered from the prison of this world."
+
+The blessed Torello, having heard this, continued all his devout
+exercises until the end, which approaching, he went to the abbot and
+confessed his sins for the last time, and received the holy communion
+from his hands; and they embraced each other, and he returned to his
+hermitage. And he took leave of one of his disciples, named Pietro, and
+exhorted him to persevere in God's service; and having with many
+affectionate prayers recommended his country and the people of it to the
+blessing of God, praying especially that it should not be ravaged by
+wolves, he departed in peace.
+
+And all the people of the parishes around, hearing of his death,
+hastened to the hermitage; and all desiring that his holy body should
+repose in their church, a great controversy arose, and much scandal
+would have ensued, had not the Abbot of Poppi passed into the midst of
+them and convinced them it was the will of God it should be laid in his
+monastery; to which they all finally agreed. And a wonderful and
+miraculous event occurred; for while they were all standing around the
+holy body, a wolf came in with a little pig in his mouth, and passing
+through them without fear, placed it at the foot of the bier, and went
+away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE LORELEI
+
+
+  I know not whence it rises,
+    This thought so full of woe:
+  But a tale of the times departed
+    Haunts me--and will not go.
+
+  The air is cool, and it darkens,
+    And calmly flows the Rhine;
+  The mountain peaks are sparkling
+    In the sunny evening-shine.
+
+  And yonder sits a maiden,
+    The fairest of the fair;
+  With gold is her garment glittering,
+    And she combs her golden hair.
+
+  With a golden comb she combs it,
+    And a wild song singeth she,
+  That melts the heart with a wondrous
+    And powerful melody.
+
+  The boatman feels his bosom
+    With a nameless longing move;
+  He sees not the gulfs before him,
+    His gaze is fixed above.
+
+  Till over boat and boatman
+    The Rhine's deep waters run;
+  And this with her magic singing
+    The Lorelei hath done!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE PASSING OF ARTHUR
+
+
+  So all day long the noise of battle roll'd
+  Among the mountains by the winter sea.
+  Until King Arthur's Table, man by man,
+  Had fall'n in Lyonnesse about their Lord,
+  King Arthur. Then, because his wound was deep,
+  The bold Sir Bedivere uplifted him,
+  And bore him to a chapel nigh the field,
+  A broken chancel with a broken cross.
+  That stood on a dark strait of barren land:
+  On one side lay the Ocean, and on one
+  Lay a great water, and the moon was full.
+
+  Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
+  "The sequel of to-day unsolders all
+  The goodliest fellowship of famous knights
+  Whereof this world holds record. Such a sleep
+  They sleep--the men I loved. I think that we
+  Shall never more, at any future time,
+  Delight our souls with talk of knightly deeds,
+  Walking about the gardens and the halls
+  Of Camelot, as in the days that were.
+  I perish by this people which I made--
+  Tho' Merlin sware that I should come again
+  To rule once more; but, let what will be, be,
+  I am so deeply smitten thro' the helm
+  That without help I cannot last till morn.
+
+  Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur,
+  Which was my pride: for thou rememberest how
+  In those old days, one summer noon, an arm
+  Rose up from out the bosom of the lake,
+  Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+  Holding the sword--and how I row'd across
+  And took it, and have worn it, like a king;
+  And, wheresoever I am sung or told
+  In aftertime, this also shall be known:
+  But now delay not: take Excalibur,
+  And fling him far into the middle mere:
+  Watch what thou seest and lightly bring me word."
+  To him replied the bold Sir Bedivere:
+  "It is not meet, Sir King, to leave thee thus,
+  Aidless, alone, and smitten thro' the helm--
+  A little thing may harm a wounded man;
+  Yet I thy hest will all perform at full,
+  Watch what I see, and lightly bring thee word."
+  So saying, from the ruin'd shrine he stept,
+  And in the moon athwart the place of tombs,
+  Where lay the mighty bones of ancient men,
+  Old knights, and over them the sea-wind sang
+  Shrill, chill, with flakes of foam. He, stepping down
+  By zigzag paths, and juts of pointed rock,
+  Came on the shining levels of the lake.
+  There drew he forth the brand Excalibur,
+  And o'er him, drawing it, the winter moon,
+  Brightening the skirts of a long cloud, ran forth
+  And sparkled keen with frost against the hilt:
+  For all the haft twinkled with diamond sparks,
+  Myriads of topaz-lights, and jacinth-work
+  Of subtlest jewellery. He gazed so long
+  That both his eyes were dazzled, as he stood,
+
+  This way and that dividing the swift mind,
+  In act to throw: but at the last it seem'd
+  Better to leave Excalibur conceal'd
+  There in the many-knotted water flags,
+  That whistled stiff and dry about the marge.
+  So strode he back slow to the wounded King.
+  Then spake King Arthur to Sir Bedivere:
+  "Hast thou perform'd my mission which I gave?
+  What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?"
+  And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+  "I heard the ripple washing in the reeds,
+  And the wild water lapping on the crag."
+  To whom replied King Arthur, faint and pale:
+  "Thou hast betray'd thy nature and thy name,
+  Not rendering true answer, as beseem'd
+  Thy fealty, nor like a noble knight:
+  For surer sign had followed either hand,
+  Or voice, or else a motion of the mere.
+  This is a shameful thing for men to lie.
+  Yet now, I charge thee, quickly go again,
+  As thou art lief and dear, and do the thing
+  I bade thee, watch, and lightly bring me word."
+  Then went Sir Bedivere the second time
+  Across the ridge, and paced beside the mere,
+  Counting the dewy pebbles, fix'd in thought;
+  But when he saw the wonder of the hilt,
+  How curiously and strangely chased, he smote
+  His palms together, and he cried aloud:
+  "And if indeed I cast the brand away,
+  Surely a precious thing, one worthy note,
+  Should thus be lost forever from the earth,
+  Which might have pleased the eyes of many men.
+  What good should follow this, if this were done?
+
+  What harm, undone? Deep harm to disobey,
+  Seeing obedience is the bond of rule.
+  Were it well to obey then, if a king demand
+  An act unprofitable, against himself?
+  The King is sick, and knows not what he does.
+  What record, or what relic of my lord
+  Should be to aftertime, but empty breath
+  And rumours of a doubt? but were this kept,
+  Stored in some treasure-house of mighty kings,
+  Some one might show it at a joust of arms,
+  Saying, 'King Arthur's sword, Excalibur,
+  Wrought by the lonely maiden of the Lake.
+  Nine years she wrought it, sitting in the deeps
+  Upon the hidden bases of the hills.'
+  So might some old man speak in the aftertime
+  To all the people, winning reverence.
+  But now much honour and much fame were lost."
+  So spake he, clouded with his own conceit,
+  And hid Excalibur the second time,
+  And so strode back slow to the wounded King.
+  Then spoke King Arthur, breathing heavily:
+  "What is it thou hast seen? or what hast heard?"
+  And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+  "I heard the water lapping on the crag,
+  And the long ripple washing in the reeds."
+  To whom replied King Arthur, much in wrath:
+  "Ah, miserable and unkind, untrue,
+  Unknightly, traitor-hearted! Woe is me!
+  Authority forgets a dying king,
+  Laid widow'd of the power in his eye
+  That bow'd the will. I see thee what thou art,
+  For thou, the latest-left of all my knights,
+  In whom should meet the offices of all,
+
+  Thou wouldst betray me for the precious hilt;
+  Either from lust of gold, or like a girl
+  Valuing the giddy pleasure of the eyes.
+  Yet, for a man may fail in duty twice,
+  And the third time may prosper, get thee hence:
+  But, if thou spare to fling Excalibur,
+  I will arise and slay thee with my hands."
+  Then quickly rose Sir Bedivere, and ran,
+  And, leaping down the ridges lightly, plunged
+  Among the bulrush beds, and clutch'd the sword,
+  And strongly wheel'd and threw it. The great brand
+  Made lightings in the splendour of the moon,
+  And flashing round and round, and whirl'd in an arch,
+  Shot like a streamer of the northern morn,
+  Seen where the moving isles of winter shock
+  By night with noises of the Northern Sea.
+  So flashed and fell the brand Excalibur:
+  But ere he dipt the surface, rose an arm
+  Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful,
+  And caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him
+  Three times, and drew him under in the mere.
+  And lightly went the other to the King.
+  Then spoke King Arthur, drawing thicker breath:
+  "Now see I by thine eyes that this is done.
+  Speak out: what is it thou hast heard, or seen?"
+  And answer made the bold Sir Bedivere:
+  "Sir King, I closed mine eyelids, lest the gems
+  Should blind my purpose, for I never saw,
+  Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die,
+  Not tho' I live three lives of mortal men,
+  So great a miracle as yonder hilt.
+  Then with both hands I flung him, wheeling him;
+  But when I look'd again, beheld an arm,
+
+  Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful.
+  That caught him by the hilt, and brandished him
+  Three times, and drew him under In the mere."
+  And answer made King Arthur, breathing hard:
+  "My end draws nigh;'tis time that I were gone.
+  Make broad thy shoulders to receive my weight,
+  And bear me to the margin; yet I fear
+  My wound hath taken cold, and I shall die."
+  So saying, from the pavement he half rose,
+  Slowly, with pain, reclining on his arm,
+  And looking wistfully with wide blue eyes
+  As in a picture. Him Sir Bedivere
+  Remorsefully regarded thro' his tears,
+  And would have spoken, but he found not word;
+  Then took with care, and kneeling on one knee,
+  O'er both his shoulders drew the languid hands,
+  And rising bore him thro' the place of tombs.
+  But, as he walk'd, King Arthur panted hard,
+  Like one that feels a nightmare on his bed
+  When all the house is mute. So sigh'd the King,
+  Muttering and murmuring at his ear, "Quick, quick!
+  I fear it is too late, and I shall die."
+  But the other swiftly strode from ridge to ridge,
+  Clothed with his breath, and looking, as he walk'd,
+  Larger than human on the frozen hills.
+  He heard the deep behind him, and a cry
+  Before. His own thought drove him like a goad.
+  Dry clashed his harness in the icy caves
+  And barren chasms, and all to left and right
+  The bare black cliff clang'd round him, as he based
+  His feet on juts of slippery crag that rang
+  Sharp-smitten with the dint of armed heels--
+  And on a sudden, lo! the level lake,
+
+  And the long glories of the winter moon.
+  Then saw they how there hove a dusky barge,
+  Dark as a funeral scarf from stern to stern,
+  Beneath them; and descending they were ware
+  That all the decks were dense with stately forms,
+  Black-stoled, black-hooded, like a dream--by these
+  Three Queens with crowns of gold: and from them rose
+  A cry that shiver'd to the tingling stars,
+  And, as it were one voice, an agony
+  Of lamentation, like a wind that shrills
+  All night in a waste land, where no one comes
+  Or hath come, since the making of the world.
+  Then murmur'd Arthur, "Place me in the barge."
+  So to the barge they came. There those three Queens
+  Put forth their hands, and took the King, and wept.
+  But she, that rose the tallest of them all
+  And fairest, laid his head upon her lap,
+  And loosed the shatter'd casque, and chafed his hands,
+  And call'd him by his name, complaining loud,
+  And dropping bitter tears against a brow
+  Striped with dark blood: for all his face was white
+  And colourless, and like the withered moon
+  Smote by the fresh beam of the springing east;
+  And all his greaves and cuisses dash'd with drops
+  Of onset; and the light and lustrous curls--
+  That made his forehead like a rising sun
+  High from the dias-throne--were parch'd with dust;
+  Or, clotted into points and hanging loose,
+  Mix'd with the knightly growth that fringed his lips.
+  So like a shatter'd column lay the King;
+  Not like that Arthur who, with lance in rest,
+  From spur to plume a star of tournament,
+  Shot thro' the lists of Camelot, and charged
+
+  Before the eyes of ladles and of kings,
+  Then loudly cried the bold Sir Bedivere:
+  "Ah! my Lord Arthur, whither shall I go?
+  Where shall I hide my forehead and my eyes?
+  For now I see the true old times are dead,
+  When every morning brought a noble chance,
+  And every chance brought out a noble knight.
+  Such times have been not since the light that led
+  The holy Elders with the gift of myrrh.
+  But now the whole Round Table is dissolved
+  Which was an image of the mighty world,
+  And, I the last, go forth companionless,
+  And the days darken round me, and the years,
+  Among new men, strange faces, other minds."
+  And slowly answered Arthur from the barge:
+  "The old order changeth, yielding place to new,
+  And God fulfils himself in many ways,
+  Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.
+  Comfort thyself: what comfort is in me?
+  I have lived my life, and that which I have done
+  May He within himself make pure! but thou,
+  If thou shouldst never see my face again,
+  Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer
+  Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice
+  Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
+  For what are men better than sheep or goats
+  That nourish a blind life within the brain,
+  If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
+  Both for themselves and those who call them friend?
+  For so the whole round earth is every way
+  Bound by gold chains about the feet of God.
+  But now farewell. I am going a long way
+  With these thou seest-if indeed I go
+
+  (For all my mind is clouded with a doubt)
+  To the island-valley of Avilion;
+  Where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow,
+  Nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies
+  Deep-meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns
+  And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea.
+  Where I will heal me of my grievous wound."
+  So said he, and the barge with oar and sail
+  Moved from the brink, like some full-breasted swan
+  That, fluting a wild carol ere her death,
+  Ruffles her pure cold plume, and takes the flood
+  With swarthy webs. Long stood Sir Bedivere
+  Revolving many memories, till the hull
+  Look'd one black dot against the verge of dawn,
+  And on the mere the wailing died away.
+  But when that moan had past for evermore,
+  The stillness of the dead world's winter dawn
+  Amazed him, and he groan'd, "The King is gone."
+  And therewithal came on him the weird rhyme,
+  "From the great deep to the great deep he goes"
+
+  Whereat he slowly turn'd and slowly clomb
+  The last hard footstep of that iron crag;
+  Thence mark'd the black hull moving yet, and cried,
+  "He passes to be King among the dead,
+  And after healing of his grievous wound
+  He comes again; but--if he come no more--
+  O me, be yon dark Queens in yon black boat,
+  Who shriek'd and wail'd, the three whereat we gazed
+  On that high day, when, clothed with living light,
+  They stood before his throne in silence, friends
+  Of Arthur, who should help him at his need?"
+
+  Then from the dawn it seem'd there came, but faint
+  As from beyond the limit of the world,
+  Like the last echo born of a great cry,
+  Sounds, as if some fair city were one voice
+  Around a king returning from his wars.
+
+  Thereat once more he moved about, and clomb
+  Ev'n to the highest he could climb, and saw,
+  Straining his eyes beneath an arch of hand,
+  Or thought he saw, the speck that bare the King,
+  Down that long water opening on the deep
+  Somewhere far off, pass on and on, and go
+  From less to less and vanish into light.
+  And the new sun rose bringing the new year.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+RIP VAN WINKLE
+
+
+The following tale was found among the papers of the late Diedrich
+Knickerbocker, an old gentleman of New York, who was very curious in the
+Dutch history of the province, and the manners of the descendants from
+its primitive settlers. His historical researches, however, did not lie
+so much among books as among men; for the former are lamentably scanty
+on his favourite topics; whereas he found the old burghers, and still
+more their wives, rich in that legendary lore so invaluable to true
+history. Whenever, therefore, he happened upon a genuine Dutch family,
+snugly shut up in its low-roofed farmhouse under a spreading sycamore,
+he looked upon it as a little clasped volume of black-letter, and
+studied it with the zeal of a book worm.
+
+The result of all these researches was a history of the province during
+the reign of the Dutch governors, which he published some years since.
+There have been various opinions as to the literary character of his
+work, and, to tell the truth, it is not a whit better than it should be.
+Its chief merit is its scrupulous accuracy, which indeed was a little
+questioned on its first appearance, but has since been completely
+established; and it is now admitted into all historical collections, as
+a book of unquestionable authority.
+
+The old gentleman died shortly after the publication of his work, and
+now that he is dead and gone, it cannot do much harm to his memory to
+say that his time might have been much better employed in weightier
+labours. He, however, was apt to ride his hobby his own way; and though
+it did now and then kick up the dust a little in the eyes of his
+neighbours, and grieve the spirit of some friends, for whom he felt the
+truest deference and affection; yet his errors and follies are
+remembered "more in sorrow than in anger," and it begins to be suspected
+that he never intended to injure or offend. But however his memory may
+be appreciated by critics, it is still held dear by many folk, whose
+good opinion is worth having; particularly by certain biscuit-bakers,
+who have gone so far as to imprint his likeness on their new-year cakes;
+and have thus given him a chance for immortality, almost equal to the
+being stamped on a Waterloo Medal, or a Queen Anne's farthing.
+
+Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Kaatskill
+Mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian
+family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a
+noble height, and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change
+of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day,
+produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains,
+and they are regarded by all the good wives, far and near, as perfect
+barometers. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in
+blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky;
+but sometimes when the rest of the landscape is cloudless they will
+gather a hood of gray vapours about their summits, which, in the last
+rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory.
+
+At the foot of these fairy mountains, the voyager may have descried the
+light smoke curling up from a village, whose shingle-roofs gleam among
+the trees, just where the blue tints of the upland melt away into the
+fresh green of the nearer landscape. It is a little village of great
+antiquity, having been founded by some of the Dutch colonists in the
+early time of the province, just about the beginning of the government
+of the good Peter Stuyvesant (may he rest in peace!) and there were some
+of the houses of the original settlers standing within a few years,
+built of small yellow bricks brought from Holland, having latticed
+windows and gable fronts, surmounted with weathercocks.
+
+In that same village, and in one of these very houses (which, to tell
+the precise truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived
+many years since, while the country was yet a province of Great Britain,
+a simple, good-natured fellow, of the name of Rip Van Winkle. He was a
+descendant of the Van Winkles who figured so gallantly in the chivalrous
+days of Peter Stuyvesant, and accompanied him to the siege of Fort
+Christina. He inherited, however, but little of the martial character of
+his ancestors. I have observed that he was a simple, good-natured man;
+he was, moreover, a kind neighbour, and an obedient hen-pecked husband.
+Indeed, to the latter circumstance might be owing that meekness of
+spirit which gained him such universal popularity; for those men are
+most apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad, who are under the
+discipline of shrews at home. Their tempers, doubtless, are rendered
+pliant and malleable in the fiery furnace of domestic tribulation; and a
+curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the
+virtues of patience and long-suffering. A termagant wife may, therefore,
+in some respects be considered a tolerable blessing, and if so, Rip Van
+Winkle was thrice blessed.
+
+Certain it is, that he was a great favourite among all the good wives of
+the village, who, as usual with the amiable sex, took his part in all
+family squabbles; and never failed, whenever they talked those matters
+over in their evening gossipings, to lay all the blame on Dame Van
+Winkle. The children of the village, too, would shout with joy whenever
+he approached. He assisted at their sports, made their playthings,
+taught them to fly kites and shoot marbles, and told them long stories
+of ghosts, witches, and Indians. Whenever he went dodging about the
+village, he was surrounded by a troop of them, hanging on his skirts,
+clambering on his back, and playing a thousand tricks on him, with
+impunity; and not a dog would bark at him throughout the neighbourhood.
+
+The great error in Rip's composition was an insuperable aversion to all
+kinds of profitable labour. It could not be from the want of assiduity
+or perseverance; for he would sit on a wet rock, with a rod as long and
+heavy as a Tartar's lance, and fish all day without a murmur, even
+though he should not be encouraged by a single nibble. He would carry a
+fowling-piece on his shoulder for hours together, trudging through woods
+and swamps, and up hill and down dale, to shoot a few squirrels or wild
+pigeons. He would never refuse to assist a neighbour, even in the
+roughest toil, and was a foremost man at all country frolics for husking
+Indian corn, or building stone-fences; the women of the village, too,
+used to employ him to run their errands, and to do such little odd jobs
+as their less obliging husband^ would not do for them. In a word, Rip
+was ready to attend to anybody's business but his own; but as to doing
+family duty, and keeping his farm in order, he found it impossible.
+
+In fact, he declared it was of no use to work on his farm; it was the
+most pestilent little piece of ground in the whole country; everything
+about it went wrong, and would go wrong, in spite of him. His fences
+were continually falling to pieces; his cow would either go astray or
+get among the cabbages; weeds were sure to grow quicker in his fields
+than any where else; the rain always made a point of setting in just as
+he had some out-door work to do; so that though his patrimonial estate
+had dwindled away under his management, acre by acre, until there was
+little more left than a mere patch of Indian corn and potatoes, yet it
+was the worst-conditioned farm in the neighbourhood.
+
+His children, too, were as ragged and wild as if they belonged to
+nobody. His son Rip, an urchin begotten in his own likeness, promised to
+inherit the habits, with the old clothes of his father. He was generally
+seen trooping like a colt at his mother's heels, equipped in a pair of
+his father's cast-off galligaskins, which he had much ado to hold up
+with one hand, as a fine lady does her train in bad weather.
+
+Rip Van Winkle, however, was one of those happy mortals, of foolish,
+well-oiled dispositions, who take the world easy, eat white bread or
+brown, whichever can be got with least thought or trouble, and would
+rather starve on a penny than work for a pound. If left to himself; he
+would have whistled life away in perfect contentment; but his wife kept
+continually dinning in his ears about his idleness, his carelessness,
+and the ruin he was bringing on his family. Morning, noon, and night her
+tongue was incessantly going, and everything he said or did was sure to
+produce a torrent of household eloquence. Rip had but one way of
+replying to all lectures of the kind, and that, by frequent use, had
+grown into a habit. He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up
+his eyes, but said nothing. This, however, always provoked a fresh
+volley from his wife; so that he was fain to draw off his forces, and
+take to the outside of the house--the only side which, in truth,
+belongs to a henpecked husband.
+
+Rip's sole domestic adherent was his dog Wolf, who was as much henpecked
+as his master; for Dame Van Winkle regarded them as companions in
+idleness, and even looked upon Wolf with an evil eye, as the cause of
+his master's going so often astray. True it is, in all points of spirit
+befitting an honourable dog, he was as courageous an animal as ever
+scoured the woods--but what courage can withstand the ever-during and
+all-besetting terrors of a woman's tongue? The moment Wolf entered the
+house his crest fell, his tail drooped to the ground, or curled between
+his legs, he sneaked about with a gallows air, casting many a sidelong
+glance at Dame Van Winkle, and at the least flourish of a broomstick or
+ladle he would fly to the door with yelping precipitation.
+
+Times grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony
+rolled on; a tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is
+the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use. For a long
+while he used to console himself, when driven from home, by frequenting
+a kind of perpetual club of the sages, philosophers, and other idle
+personages of the village; which held its sessions on a bench before a
+small inn, designated by a rubicund portrait of His Majesty George the
+Third. Here they used to sit in the shade through a long lazy summer's
+day, talking listlessly over village gossip, or telling endless, sleepy
+stories about nothing. But it would have been worth any statesman's
+money to have heard the profound discussions that sometimes took place,
+when by chance an old newspaper fell into their hands from some passing
+traveller. How solemnly they would listen to the contents, as drawled
+out by Derrick Van Bummel, the school-master, a dapper learned little
+man, who was not to be daunted by the most gigantic word in the
+dictionary; and how sagely they would deliberate upon public events some
+months after they had taken place.
+
+The opinions of this junto were completely controlled by Nicholas
+Vedder, a patriarch of the village, and landlord of the inn, at the door
+of which he took his seat from morning till night, just moving
+sufficiently to avoid the sun and keep in the shade of a large tree; so
+that the neighbours could tell the hour by his movements as accurately
+as by a sun-dial. It is true he was rarely heard to speak, but smoked
+his pipe incessantly. His adherents however (for every great man has his
+adherents), perfectly understood him, and knew how to gather his
+opinions. When anything that was read or related displeased him, he was
+observed to smoke his pipe vehemently, and to send forth short, frequent
+and angry puffs; but when pleased, he would inhale the smoke slowly and
+tranquilly, and emit it in light and placid clouds; and sometimes,
+taking the pipe from his mouth, and letting the fragrant vapour curl
+about his nose, would gravely nod his head in token of perfect
+approbation.
+
+From even this stronghold the unlucky Rip was at length routed by his
+termagant wife, who would suddenly break in upon the tranquillity of the
+assemblage and call the members all to naught; nor was that august
+personage, Nicholas Vedder himself, sacred from the daring tongue of
+this terrible virago, who charged him outright with encouraging her
+husband in habits of idleness.
+
+Poor Rip was at last reduced almost to despair; and his only
+alternative, to escape from the labour of the farm and clamour of his
+wife, was to take gun in hand and stroll away into the woods. Here he
+would sometimes seat himself at the foot of a tree, and share the
+contents of his wallet with Wolf, with whom he sympathised as a
+fellow-sufferer in persecution. "Poor Wolf," he would say, "thy mistress
+leads thee a dog's life of it; but never mind, my lad, whilst I live
+thou shalt never want a friend to stand by thee!" Wolf would wag his
+tail, look wistfully in his master's face, and if dogs can feel pity I
+verily believe he reciprocated the sentiment with all his heart.
+
+In a long ramble of the kind on a fine autumnal day, Rip had
+unconsciously scrambled to one of the highest parts of the Kaatskill
+Mountains. He was after his favourite sport squirrel shooting, and the
+still solitudes had echoed and reechoed with the reports of his gun.
+Panting and fatigued, he threw himself, late in the afternoon, on a
+green knoll, covered with mountain herbage, that crowned the brow of a
+precipice. From an opening between the trees he could overlook all the
+lower country for many a mile of rich woodland. He saw at a distance the
+lordly Hudson, far, far below him, moving on its silent but majestic
+course, with the reflection of a purple cloud, or the sail of a lagging
+bark, here and there sleeping on its glassy bosom, and at last losing
+itself in the blue highlands.
+
+On the other side he looked down into a deep mountain glen, wild,
+lonely, and shagged, the bottom filled with fragments from the impending
+cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the reflected rays of the setting sun.
+For some time Rip lay musing on this scene; evening was gradually
+advancing; the mountains began to throw their long blue shadows over the
+valleys; he saw that it would be dark long before he could reach the
+village, and he heaved a heavy sigh when he thought of encountering the
+terrors of Dame Van Winkle.
+
+As he was about to descend, he heard a voice from a distance, hallooing,
+"Rip Van Winkle! Rip Van Winkle!" He looked round, but could see nothing
+but a crow winging its solitary flight across the mountain. He thought
+his fancy must have deceived him, and turned again to descend, when he
+heard the same cry ring through the still evening air: "Rip Van Winkle!
+Rip Van Winkle!"--at the same time Wolf bristled up his back, and giving
+a low growl, skulked to his master's side, looking fearfully down into
+the glen. Rip now felt a vague apprehension stealing over him; he looked
+anxiously in the same direction, and perceived a strange figure slowly
+toiling up the rocks, and bending under the weight of something he
+carried on his back. He was surprised to see any human being in this
+lonely and unfrequented place; but supposing it to be some one of the
+neighbourhood in need of his assistance, he hastened down to yield it.
+
+On nearer approach he was still more surprised at the singularity of the
+stranger's appearance. He was a short, square-built old fellow, with
+thick bushy hair, and a grizzled beard. His dress was of the antique
+Dutch fashion: a cloth jerkin strapped round the waist, several pair of
+breeches, the outer one of ample volume, decorated with rows of buttons
+down the sides, and bunches at the knees. He bore on his shoulder a
+stout keg, that seemed full of liquor, and made signs for Rip to
+approach and assist him with the load. Though rather shy and distrustful
+of this new acquaintance, Rip complied with his usual alacrity; and
+mutually relieving one another, they clambered up a narrow gully,
+apparently the dry bed of a mountain torrent. As they ascended, Rip
+every now and then heard long rolling peals like distant thunder, that
+seemed to issue out of a deep ravine, or rather cleft, between lofty
+rocks, toward which their rugged path conducted. He paused for a moment,
+but supposing it to be the muttering of one of those transient
+thunder-showers which often take place in mountain heights, he
+proceeded. Passing through the ravine, they came to a hollow, like a
+small amphitheatre, surrounded by perpendicular precipices, over the
+brinks of which impending trees shot their branches, so that you only
+caught glimpses of the azure sky and the bright evening cloud. During
+the whole time Rip and his companion had laboured on in silence; for
+though the former marvelled greatly what could be the object of carrying
+a keg of liquor up this wild mountain, yet there was something strange
+and incomprehensible about the unknown, that inspired awe and checked
+familiarity.
+
+On entering the amphitheatre, new objects of wonder presented
+themselves. On a level spot in the centre was a company of odd-looking
+personages playing at nine-pins. They were dressed in a quaint
+outlandish fashion; some wore short doublets, others jerkins, with long
+knives in their belts, and most of them had enormous breeches of similar
+style with that of the guide's. Their visages, too, were peculiar; one
+had a large beard, broad face, and small piggish eyes; the face of
+another seemed to consist entirely of nose, and was surmounted by a
+white sugar-loaf hat, set off with a little red cock's tail. They all
+had beards, of various shapes and colours. There was one who seemed to
+be the commander. He was a stout old gentleman, with a weather-beaten
+countenance; he wore a laced doublet, broad belt and hanger,
+high-crowned hat and feather, red stockings, and high-heeled shoes, with
+roses in them. The whole group reminded Rip of the figures in an old
+Flemish painting in the parlour of Dominie Van Shaick, the village
+parson, which had been brought over from Holland at the time of the
+settlement.
+
+What seemed particularly odd to Rip was, that though these folks were
+evidently amusing themselves, yet they maintained the gravest faces, the
+most mysterious silence, and were, withal, the most melancholy party of
+pleasure he had ever witnessed. Nothing interrupted the stillness of the
+scene but the noise of the balls, which, whenever they were rolled,
+echoed along the mountains like rumbling peals of thunder.
+
+As Rip and his companion approached them, they suddenly desisted from
+their play, and stared at him with such fixed, statue-like gaze, and
+such strange, uncouth, lack-lustre countenances that his heart turned
+within him, and his knees smote together. His companion now emptied the
+contents of the keg into large flagons, and made signs to him to wait
+upon the company. He obeyed with fear and trembling; they quaffed the
+liquor in profound silence, and then returned to their game.
+
+By degrees Rip's awe and apprehension subsided. He even ventured, when
+no eye was fixed upon him, to taste the beverage, which he found had
+much of the flavour of excellent Hollands. He was naturally a thirsty
+soul, and was soon tempted to repeat the draught. One taste provoked
+another; and he reiterated his visits to the flagon so often that at
+length his senses were overpowered, his eyes swam in his head, his head
+gradually declined, and he fell into a deep sleep.
+
+On waking, he found himself on the green knoll whence he had first seen
+the old man of the glen. He rubbed his eyes--it was a bright, sunny
+morning. The birds were hopping and twittering among the bushes, and the
+eagle was wheeling aloft, and breasting the pure mountain breeze.
+"Surely," thought Rip, "I have not slept here all night." He recalled
+the occurrences before he fell asleep. The strange man with a keg of
+liquor--the mountain ravine--the wild retreat among the rocks--the
+woe-begone party at nine-pins--the flagon--"Oh! that flagon! that
+wicked flagon!" thought Rip--"what excuse shall I make to Dame Van
+Winkle?"
+
+He looked round for his gun, but in place of the clean, well-oiled
+fowling-piece, he found an old firelock lying by him, the barrel
+incrusted with rust, the lock falling off, and the stock worm-eaten. He
+now suspected that the grave roisters of the mountain had put a trick
+upon him, and, having dosed him with liquor, had robbed him of his gun.
+Wolf, too, had disappeared, but he might have strayed away after a
+squirrel or partridge. He whistled after him, and shouted his name, but
+all in vain; the echoes repeated his whistle and shout, but no dog was
+to be seen.
+
+He determined to revisit the scene of the last evening's gambol, and if
+he met with any of the party, to demand his dog and gun. As he rose to
+walk, he found himself stiff in the joints, and wanting in his usual
+activity. "These mountain beds do not agree with me," thought Rip, "and
+if this frolic should lay me up with a fit of the rheumatism, I shall
+have a blessed time with Dame Van Winkle." With some difficulty he got
+down into the glen; he found the gully up which he and his companion had
+ascended the preceding evening; but to his astonishment a mountain
+stream was now foaming down it, leaping from rock to rock and filling
+the glen with babbling murmurs. He, however, made shift to scramble up
+its sides, working his toilsome way through thickets of birch,
+sassafras, and witch-hazel, and sometimes tripped up or entangled by the
+wild grapevines that twisted their coils or tendrils from tree to tree,
+and spread a kind of network in his path.
+
+At length he reached to where the ravine had opened through the cliffs
+to the amphitheatre; but no traces of such opening remained. The rocks
+presented a high, impenetrable wall, over which the torrent come
+tumbling in a sheet of feathery foam, and fell into a broad, deep basin,
+black from the shadows of the surrounding forest. Here, then, poor Rip
+was brought to a stand. He again called and whistled after his dog; he
+was only answered by the cawing of a flock of idle crows, sporting high
+in air about a dry tree that overhung a sunny precipice; and who, secure
+in their elevation, seemed to look down and scoff at the poor man's
+perplexities. What was to be done? the morning was passing away, and Rip
+felt famished for want of his breakfast. He grieved to give up his dog
+and gun; he dreaded to meet his wife; but it would not do to starve
+among the mountains. He shook his head, shouldered the rusty firelock,
+and, with a heart full of trouble and anxiety, turned his steps
+homeward.
+
+As he approached the village he met a number of people, but none whom he
+knew, which somewhat surprised him, for he had thought himself
+acquainted with every one in the country round. Their dress, too, was of
+a different fashion from that to which he was accustomed. They all
+stared at him with equal marks of surprise, and whenever they cast their
+eyes upon him, invariably stroked their chins. The constant recurrence
+of this gesture induced Rip, involuntarily, to do the same, when, to his
+astonishment, he found his beard had grown a foot long!
+
+He had now entered the skirts of the village. A troop of strange
+children ran at his heels, hooting after him, and pointing at his gray
+beard. The dogs, too, not one of which he recognised for an old
+acquaintance, barked at him as he passed. The very village was altered;
+it was larger and more populous. There were rows of houses which he had
+never seen before, and those which had been his familiar haunts had
+disappeared. Strange names were over the doors--strange faces at the
+windows--everything was strange. His mind now misgave him; he began to
+doubt whether both he and the world around him were not bewitched.
+Surely this was his native village, which he had left but the day
+before. There stood the Kaatskill Mountains--there ran the silver Hudson
+at a distance--there was every hill and dale precisely as it had always
+been--Rip was sorely perplexed--"That flagon last night," thought he,
+"has addled my poor head sadly!"
+
+It was with some difficulty that he found the way to his own house,
+which he approached with silent awe, expecting every moment to hear the
+shrill voice of Dame Van Winkle. He found the house gone to decay--the
+roof fallen in, the windows shattered, and the doors off the hinges. A
+half-starved dog that looked like Wolf was skulking about it. Rip called
+him by name, but the cur snarled, showed his teeth, and passed on. This
+was an unkind cut indeed--"My very dog," sighed poor Rip, "has forgotten
+me!"
+
+He entered the house, which, to tell the truth, Dame Van Winkle had
+always kept in neat order. It was empty, forlorn, and apparently
+abandoned. This desolateness overcame all his connubial fears--he called
+loudly for his wife and children--the lonely chambers rang for a moment
+with his voice, and then again all was silence.
+
+He now hurried forth, and hastened to his old resort, the village
+inn--but it, too, was gone. A large, rickety wooden building stood in
+its place, with great gaping windows, some of them broken and mended
+with old hats and petticoats, and over the door was painted, "The Union
+Hotel, by Jonathan Doolittle." Instead of the great tree that used to
+shelter the quiet little Dutch inn of yore, there now was reared a tall
+naked pole, with something on the top that looked like a red night-cap,
+and from it was fluttering a flag, on which was a singular assemblage of
+stars and stripes--all this was strange and incomprehensible. He
+recognised on the sign, however, the ruby face of King George, under
+which he had smoked so many a peaceful pipe; but even this was
+singularly metamorphosed. The red coat was changed for one of blue and
+buff, a sword was held in the hand instead of a sceptre, the head was
+decorated with a cocked hat, and underneath was painted in large
+characters, GENERAL WASHINGTON.
+
+There was, as usual, a crowd of folk about the door, but none that Rip
+recollected. The very character of the people seemed changed. There was
+a busy, bustling, disputatious tone about it, instead of the accustomed
+phlegm and drowsy tranquillity. He looked in vain for the sage Nicholas
+Vedder, with his broad face, double chin, and fair long pipe, uttering
+clouds of tobacco-smoke instead of idle speeches; or Van Bummel, the
+school-master, doling forth the contents of an ancient newspaper. In
+place of these, a lean, bilious-looking fellow, with his pockets full
+of handbills, was haranguing vehemently about rights of
+citizens--elections--members of Congress--liberty--Bunker's Hill--heroes
+of seventy-six--and other words, which were a perfect Babylonish jargon
+to the bewildered Van Winkle.
+
+The appearance of Rip, with his long grizzled beard, his rusty
+fowling-piece, his uncouth dress, and an army of women and children at
+his heels, soon attracted the attention of the tavern-politicians. They
+crowded round him, eying him from head to foot with great curiosity. The
+orator bustled up to him, and, drawing him partly aside, inquired "on
+which side he voted?" Rip started in vacant stupidity. Another short but
+busy little fellow pulled him by the arm, and, rising on tiptoe,
+inquired in his ear, "Whether he was Federal or Democrat?" Rip was
+equally at a loss to comprehend the question; when a knowing,
+self-important old gentleman, in a sharp cocked hat, made his way
+through the crowd, putting them to the right and left with his elbows as
+he passed, and planting himself before Van Winkle, with one arm akimbo,
+the other resting on his cane, his keen eyes and sharp hat penetrating,
+as it were, into his very soul, demanded in an austere tone, "what
+brought him to the election with a gun on his shoulder, and a mob at his
+heels, and whether he meant to breed a riot in the village?"--"Alas!
+gentlemen," cried Rip, somewhat dismayed, "I am a poor quiet man, a
+native of the place, and a loyal subject of the king, God bless him!"
+
+Here a general shout burst from the bystanders--"A tory! a tory! a spy!
+a refugee! hustle him! away with him!" It was with great difficulty that
+the self-important man in the cocked hat restored order; and having
+assumed a tenfold austerity of brow, demanded again of the unknown
+culprit what he came there for, and whom he was seeking? The poor man
+humbly assured him that he meant no harm, but merely came there in
+search of some of his neighbours, who used to keep about the tavern.
+
+"Well--who are they?--name them."
+
+Rip bethought himself a moment, and inquired, "Where's Nicholas Vedder?"
+
+There was a silence for a little while, when an old man replied, in a
+thin, piping voice: "Nicholas Vedder! why, he is dead and gone these
+eighteen years! There was a wooden tombstone in the church yard that
+used to tell all about him, but that's rotten and gone too."
+
+"Where's Brom Butcher?"
+
+"Oh, he went off to the army in the beginning of the war; some say he
+was killed at the storming of Stony Point--others say he was drowned in
+a squall at the foot of Antony's Nose. I don't know--he never came back
+again."
+
+"Where's Van Bummel, the school-master?"
+
+"He went off to the wars too, was a great militia general, and is now in
+Congress."
+
+Rip's heart died away at hearing of these sad changes in his home and
+friends, and finding himself thus alone in the world. Every answer
+puzzled him too, by treating of such enormous lapses of time, and of
+matters which he could not understand: war--Congress--Stony Point; he
+had no courage to ask after any more friends, but cried out in dispair,
+"Does nobody here know Rip Van Winkle?"
+
+"Oh, Rip Van Winkle!" exclaimed two or three, "Oh, to be sure! that's
+Rip Van Winkle yonder, leaning against the tree."
+
+Rip looked, and beheld a precise counterpart of himself, as he went up
+the mountain: apparently as lazy, and certainly as ragged. The poor
+fellow was now completely confounded. He doubted his own identity, and
+whether he was himself or another man. In the midst of his bewilderment,
+the man in the cocked hat demanded who he was, and what was his name?
+
+"God knows," exclaimed he, at his wit's end; "I'm not myself--I'm
+somebody else--that's me yonder--no--that's somebody else got into my
+shoes--I was myself last night, but fell asleep on the mountain, and
+they've changed my gun, and everything's changed, and I'm changed, and I
+can't tell what's my name, or who I am!"
+
+The bystanders began now to look at each other, nod, wink significantly,
+and tap their fingers against their foreheads. There was a whisper,
+also, about securing the gun, and keeping the old fellow from doing
+mischief, at the very suggestion of which the self-important man in the
+cocked hat retired with some precipitation. At this critical moment a
+fresh, comely women pressed through the throng to get a peep at the
+gray-bearded man. She had a chubby child in her arms, which, frightened
+at his looks, began to cry. "Hush, Rip," cried she, "hush, you little
+fool; the old man won't hurt you." The name of the child, the air of the
+mother, the tone of her voice, all awakened a train of recollections in
+his mind. "What is your name, my good woman?" asked he.
+
+"Judith Gardenier."
+
+"And your father's name?"
+
+"Ah, poor man, Rip Van Winkle was his name, but it's twenty years since
+he went away from home with his gun, and never has been heard of
+since,--his dog came home without him; but whether he shot himself, or
+was carried away by the Indians, nobody can tell. I was then but a
+little girl."
+
+Rip had but one question more to ask; and he put it with a faltering
+voice:
+
+"Where's your mother?"
+
+"Oh, she too had died but a short time since; she broke a blood-vessel
+in a fit of passion at a New England peddler."
+
+There was a drop of comfort at least, in this intelligence. The honest
+man could contain himself no longer. He caught his daughter and her
+child in his arms. "I am your father!" cried he--"Young Rip Van Winkle
+once--old Rip Van Winkle now! Does nobody know poor Rip Van Winkle?"
+
+All stood amazed, until an old woman, tottering out from among the
+crowd, put her hand to her brow, and peering under it in his face for a
+moment, exclaimed, "Sure enough it is Rip Van Winkle--it is himself!
+Welcome home again, old neighbour--Why, where have you been these twenty
+long years?"
+
+Rip's story was soon told, for the whole twenty years had been to him
+but as one night. The neighbours stared when they heard it; some were
+seen to wink at each other, and put their tongues in their cheeks; and
+the self-important man in the cocked hat, who, when the alarm was over,
+had returned to the field, screwed down the corners of his mouth, and
+shook his head--upon which there was a general shaking of the head
+throughout the assemblage.
+
+It was determined, however, to take the opinion of old Peter Vanderdonk,
+who was seen slowly advancing up the road. He was a descendant of the
+historian of the that name, who wrote one of the earliest accounts of
+the province. Peter was the most ancient inhabitant of the village, and
+well versed in all the wonderful events and traditions of the
+neighbourhood. He recollected Rip at once, and corroborated his story in
+the most satisfactory manner. He assured the company that it was a fact,
+handed down from his ancestor the historian, that the Kaatskill
+Mountains had always been haunted by strange beings. That it was
+affirmed that the great Hendrick Hudson, the first discoverer of the
+river and country, kept a kind of vigil there every twenty years, with
+his crew of the Half-moon; being permitted in this way to revisit the
+scenes of his enterprise, and keep a guardian eye upon the river and the
+great city called by his name. That his father had once seen them in
+their old Dutch dresses playing at nine-pins in a hollow of the
+mountain; and that he himself had heard, one summer afternoon, the sound
+of their balls like distant peals of thunder.
+
+To make a long story short, the company broke up, and returned to the
+more important concerns of the election. Rip's daughter took him home to
+live with her; she had a snug well-furnished house, and a stout cheery
+farmer for a husband, whom Rip recollected for one of the urchins that
+used to climb upon his back. As to Rip's son and heir, who was the ditto
+of himself, seen leaning against the tree, he was employed to work on
+the farm; but evinced an hereditary disposition to attend to anything
+else but his business.
+
+Rip now resumed his old walks and habits; he soon found many of his
+former cronies, though all rather the worse for the wear and tear of
+time; and preferred making friends among the rising generation, with
+whom he soon grew into great favour.
+
+Having nothing to do at home, and being arrived at that happy age when a
+man can be idle with impunity, he took his place once more on the bench
+at the inn door, and was reverenced as one of the patriarchs of the
+village, and a chronicle of the old times "before the war." It was some
+time before he could get into the regular track of gossip, or could be
+made to comprehend the strange events that had taken place during his
+torpor. How that there had been a revolutionary war--that the country
+had thrown off the yoke of old England--and that, instead of being a
+subject of his Majesty George the Third, he was now a free citizen of
+the United States. Rip, in fact, was no politician; the changes of states
+and empires made but little impression on him; but there was one species
+of despotism under which he had long groaned, and that was--petticoat
+government. Happily that was at an end; he had got his neck out of the
+yoke of matrimony, and could go in and out whenever he pleased, without
+dreading the tyranny of Dame Van Winkle. Whenever her name was
+mentioned, however, he shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and cast
+up his eyes, which might pass either for an expression of resignation to
+his fate, or joy at his deliverance.
+
+He used to tell his story to every stranger that arrived at Mr.
+Doolittle's hotel. He was observed, at first, to vary on some points
+every time he told it, which was, doubtless, owing to his having so
+recently awaked. It at last settled down precisely to the tale I have
+related, and not a man, woman, or child in the neighbourhood but knew it
+by heart. Some always pretended to doubt the reality of it, and insisted
+that Rip had been out of his head, and that this was one point on which
+he always remained flighty. The old Dutch inhabitants, however, almost
+universally gave it full credit. Even to this day they never hear a
+thunder-storm of a summer afternoon about the Kaatskill, but they say
+Hendrick Hudson and his crew are at their game of nine-pins; and it is a
+common wish of all henpecked husbands in the neighbourhood, when life
+hangs heavy on their hands, that they might have a quieting draught out
+of Rip Van Wrinkle's flagon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+THE GRAY CHAMPION
+
+
+There was once a time when New England groaned under the actual pressure
+of heavier wrongs than those threatened ones which brought on the
+Revolution. James II, the bigoted successor of Charles the Voluptuous,
+had annulled the charters of all the colonies, and sent a harsh and
+unprincipled soldier to take away our liberites and endanger our
+religion. The administration of Sir Edmund Andros lacked scarcely a
+single characteristic of tyranny: a Governor and Council, holding office
+from the King, and wholly independent of the country; laws made and
+taxes levied without concurrence of the people immediate or by their
+representatives; the rights of private citizens violated, and the titles
+of all landed property declared void; the voice of complaint stifled by
+restrictions on the press; and, finally, disaffection overawed by the
+first band of mercenary troops that ever marched on our free soil. For
+two years our ancestors were kept in sullen submission by that filial
+love which had invariably secured their allegiance to the mother
+country, whether its head chanced to be a Parliament, Protector, or
+Popish Monarch. Till these evil times, however, such allegiance had been
+merely nominal, and the colonists had ruled themselves, enjoying far
+more freedom than is even yet the privilege of the native subjects of
+Great Britain.
+
+At length a rumour reached our shores that the Prince of Orange had
+ventured on an enterprise, the success of which would be the triumph of
+civil and religious rights and the salvation of New England. It was but
+a doubtful whisper; it might be false, or the attempt might fail; and,
+in either case, the man that stirred against King Tames would lose his
+head. Still the intelligence produced a marked effect. The people smiled
+mysteriously in the streets, and threw bold glances at their oppressors;
+while far and wide there was a subdued and silent agitation, as if the
+slightest signal would rouse the whole land from its sluggish
+despondency. Aware of their danger, the rulers resolved to avert it by
+an imposing display of strength, and perhaps to confirm their despotism
+by yet harsher measures. One afternoon in April, 1689, Sir Edmund Andros
+and his favourite councillors, being warm with wine, assembled the
+red-coats of the Governor's Guard, and made their appearance in the
+streets of Boston. The sun was near setting when the march commenced.
+
+The roll of the drum at that unquiet crisis seemed to go through the
+streets, less as the martial music of the soldiers, than as a
+muster-call to the inhabitants themselves. A multitude, by various
+avenues, assembled in King Street, which was destined to be the scene,
+nearly a century afterward, of another encounter between the troops of
+Britain, and a people struggling against her tyranny. Though more than
+sixty years had elapsed since the pilgrims came, this crowd of their
+descendants still showed the strong and sombre features of their
+character perhaps more strikingly in such a stern emergency than on
+happier occasions. There were the sober garb, the general severity of
+mien, the gloomy but undismayed expression, the scriptural forms of
+speech, and the confidence in Heaven's blessing on a righteous cause,
+which would have marked a band of the original Puritans, when threatened
+by some peril of the wilderness. Indeed, it was not yet time for the old
+spirit to be extinct; since there were men in the street that day who
+had worshipped there beneath the trees, before a house was reared to the
+God for whom they had become exiles. Old soldiers of the Parliament were
+here, too, smiling grimly at the thought that their aged arms might
+strike another blow against the house of Stuart. Here, also, were the
+veterans of King Philip's war, who had burned villages and slaughtered
+young and old, with pious fierceness, while the godly souls throughout
+the land were helping them with prayer. Several ministers were scattered
+among the crowd, which, unlike all other mobs, regarded them with such
+reverence, as if there were sanctity in their very garments. These holy
+men exerted their influence to quiet the people, but not to disperse
+them. Meantime, the purpose of the Governor, in disturbing the peace of
+the town at a period when the slightest commotion might throw the
+country into a ferment, was almost the universal subject of inquiry, and
+variously explained.
+
+"Satan will strike his master-stroke presently," cried some, "because he
+knoweth that his time is short. All our godly pastors are to be dragged
+to prison! We shall see them at a Smithfield fire in King Street!"
+
+Hereupon the people of each parish gathered closer round their minister,
+who looked calmly upward and assumed a more apostolic dignity, as well
+befitted a candidate for the highest honour of his profession, the crown
+of martyrdom. It was actually fancied, at that period, that New England
+might have a John Rogers of her own to take the place of that worthy in
+the Primer.
+
+"The Pope of Rome has given orders for a new St. Bartholomew!" cried
+others. "We are to be massacred, man and male child!"
+
+Neither was this rumour wholly discredited, although the wiser class
+believed the Governor's object somewhat less atrocious. His predecessor
+under the old charter, Bradstreet, a venerable companion of the first
+settlers, was known to be in town. There were grounds for conjecturing,
+that Sir Edmund Andros intended at once to strike terror by a parade of
+military force, and to confound the opposite faction by possessing
+himself of their chief.
+
+"Stand firm for the old charter Governor!" shouted the crowd, seizing
+upon the idea. "The good old Governor Bradstreet!"
+
+While this cry was at the loudest, the people were surprised by the
+well-known figure of Governor Bradstreet himself, a patriarch of nearly
+ninety, who appeared on the elevated steps of a door, and, with
+characteristic mildness, besought them to submit to the constituted
+authorities.
+
+"My children," concluded this venerable person, "do nothing rashly. Cry
+not aloud, but pray for the welfare of New England, and expect patiently
+what the Lord will do in this matter!"
+
+The event was soon to be decided. All this time, the roll of the drum
+had been approaching through Cornhill, louder and deeper, till with
+reverberations from house to house, and the regular tramp of martial
+footsteps, it burst into the street. A double rank of soldiers made
+their appearance, occupying the whole breadth of the passage, with
+shouldered matchlocks, and matches burning, so as to present a row of
+fires in the dusk. Their steady march was like the progress of a
+machine, that would roll irresistibly over everything in its way. Next,
+moving slowly, with a confused clatter of hoofs on the pavement, rode a
+party of mounted gentlemen, the central figure being Sir Edmund Andros,
+elderly, but erect and soldier-like. Those around him were his favourite
+councillors, and the bitterest foes of New England. At his right hand
+rode Edward Randolph, our arch-enemy, that "blasted wretch," as Cotton
+Mather calls him, who achieved the downfall of our ancient government,
+and was followed with a sensible curse through life and to his grave. On
+the other side was Bullivant, scattering jests and mockery as he rode
+along. Dudley came behind, with a downcast look, dreading, as well he
+might, to meet the indignant gaze of the people, who beheld him, their
+only countryman by birth, among the oppressors of his native land. The
+captain of a frigate in the harbour, and two or three civil officers
+under the Crown, were also there. But the figure which most attracted
+the public eye, and stirred up the deepest feeling, was the Episcopal
+clergyman of King's Chapel, riding haughtily among the magistrates in
+his priestly vestments, the fitting representative of prelacy and
+persecution, the union of church and state, and all those abominations
+which had driven the Puritans to the wilderness. Another guard of
+soldiers, in double rank, brought up the rear.
+
+The whole scene was a picture of the condition of New England, and its
+moral, the deformity of any government that does not grow out of the
+nature of things and the character of the people. On one side the
+religious multitude, with their sad visages and dark attire, and on the
+other, the group of despotic rulers, with the high churchman in the
+midst, and here and there a crucifix at their bosoms, all magnificently
+clad, flushed with wine, proud of unjust authority, and scoffing at the
+universal groan. And the mercenary soldiers, waiting but the word to
+deluge the street with blood, showed the only means by which obedience
+could be secured.
+
+"O Lord of Hosts," cried a voice among the crowd, "provide a Champion
+for thy people!"
+
+This ejaculation was loudly uttered, and served as a herald's cry, to
+introduce a remarkable personage. The crowd had rolled back, and were
+now huddled together nearly at the extremity of the street, while the
+soldiers had advanced no more than a third of its length. The
+intervening space was empty--a paved solitude, between lofty edifices,
+which threw almost a twilight shadow over it. Suddenly, there was seen
+the figure of an ancient man, who seemed to have emerged from among the
+people, and was walking by himself along the centre of the street, to
+confront the armed band. He wore the old Puritan dress, a dark cloak and
+a steeple-crowned hat, in the fashion of at least fifty years before,
+with a heavy sword upon his thigh, but a staff in his hand to assist the
+tremulous gait of age.
+
+When at some distance from the multitude, the old man turned slowly
+round, displaying a face of antique majesty, rendered doubly venerable
+by the hoary beard that descended on his breast. He made a gesture at
+once of encouragement and warning, then turned again, and resumed his
+way.
+
+"Who is this gray patriarch?" asked the young men of their sires.
+
+"Who is this venerable brother?" asked the old men among themselves.
+
+But none could make reply. The fathers of the people, those of
+four-score years and upwards, were disturbed, deeming it strange that
+they should forget one of such evident authority, whom they must have
+known in their early days, the associate of Winthrop, and all the old
+councillors, giving laws, and making prayers, and leading them against
+the savage. The elderly men ought to have remembered him, too, with
+locks as gray in their youth, as their own were now. And the young! How
+could he have passed so utterly from their memories--that hoary sire,
+the relic of long-departed times, whose awful benediction had surely
+been bestowed on their uncovered heads, in childhood?
+
+"Whence did he come? What is his purpose? Who can this old man be?"
+whispered the wondering crowd.
+
+Meanwhile, the venerable stranger, staff in hand, was pursuing his
+solitary walk along the centre of the street. As he drew near the
+advancing soldiers, and as the roll of their drum came full upon his
+ear, the old man raised himself to a loftier mien, while the decrepitude
+of age seemed to fall from his shoulders, leaving him in gray but
+unbroken dignity. Now, he marched onward with a warrior's step, keeping
+time to the military music. Thus the aged form advanced on one side, and
+the whole parade of soldiers and magistrates on the other, till, when
+scarcely twenty yards remained between, the old man grasped his staff by
+the middle, and held it before him like a leader's truncheon.
+
+"Stand!" cried he.
+
+The eye, the face, and attitude of command; the solemn, yet warlike peal
+of that voice, fit either to rule a host in the battle-field or be
+raised to God in prayer, were irresistible. At the old man's word and
+outstretched arm, the roll of the drum was hushed at once, and the
+advancing line stood still. A tremulous enthusiasm seized upon the
+multitude. That stately form, combining the leader and the saint, so
+gray, so dimly seen, in such an ancient garb, could only belong to some
+old champion of the righteous cause, whom the oppressor's drum had
+summoned from his grave. They raised a shout of awe and exultation, and
+looked for the deliverance of New England.
+
+The Governor, and the gentlemen of his party, perceiving themselves
+brought to an unexpected stand, rode hastily forward, as if they would
+have pressed their snorting and affrighted horses right against the
+hoary apparition. He, however, blenched not a step, but glancing his
+severe eye round the group, which half encompassed him, at last bent it
+sternly on Sir Edmund Andros. One would have thought that the dark old
+man was chief ruler there, and that the Governor and Council, with
+soldiers at their back, representing the whole power and authority of
+the Crown, had no alternative but obedience.
+
+"What does this old fellow here?" cried Edward Randolph, fiercely. "On,
+Sir Edmund! Bid the soldiers forward, and give the dotard the same
+choice that you give all his countrymen--to stand aside or be trampled
+on!"
+
+"Nay, nay, let us show respect to the good grandsire," said Bullivant,
+laughing. "See you not, he is some old round-headed dignitary, who hath
+lain asleep these thirty years, and knows nothing of the change of
+times? Doubtless, he thinks to put us down with a proclamation in Old
+Noll's name!"
+
+"Are you mad, old man?" demanded Sir Edmund Andros, in loud and harsh
+tones. "How dare you stay the march of King James's Governor?"
+
+"I have stayed the march of a King himself, ere now," replied the gray
+figure, with stern composure, "I am here, Sir Governor, because the cry
+of an oppressed people hath disturbed me in my secret place; and
+beseeching this favour earnestly of the Lord, it was vouchsafed me to
+appear once again on earth, in the good old cause of his saints. And
+what speak ye of James? There is no longer a Popish tyrant on the throne
+of England, and by to-morrow noon, his name shall be a byword in this
+very street, where ye would make it a word of terror. Back, thou that
+wast a Governor, back! With this night thy power is ended--to-morrow,
+the prison!--back, lest I foretell the scaffold!"
+
+The people had been drawing nearer and nearer, and drinking in the words
+of their champion, who spoke in accents long disused, like one
+unaccustomed to converse, except with the dead of many years ago. But
+his voice stirred their souls. They confronted the soldiers, not wholly
+without arms, and ready to convert the very stones of the street into
+deadly weapons. Sir Edmund Andros looked at the old man; then he cast
+his hard and cruel eye over the multitude, and beheld them burning with
+that lurid wrath, so difficult to kindle or to quench; and again he
+fixed his gaze on the aged form, which stood obscurely in an open space,
+where neither friend nor foe had thrust himself. What were his thoughts,
+he uttered no word which might discover. But whether the oppressor were
+averawed by the Gray Champion's look, or perceived his peril in the
+threatening attitude of the people, it is certain that he gave back, and
+ordered his soldiers to commence a slow and guarded retreat. Before
+another sunset, the Governor, and all that rode so proudly with him,
+were prisoners, and long ere it was known that James had abdicated, King
+William was proclaimed throughout New England.
+
+But where was the Gray Champion? Some reported that, when the troops had
+gone from King Street, and the people were thronging tumultuously in
+their rear, Bradstreet, the aged Governor, was seen to embrace a form
+more aged than his own. Others soberly affirmed, that while they
+marvelled at the venerable grandeur of his aspect, the old man had faded
+from their eyes, melting slowly into the hues of twilight, till, where
+he stood, there was an empty space. But all agreed that the hoary shape
+was gone. The men of that generation watched for his reappearance, in
+sunshine and in twilight, but never saw him more, nor knew when his
+funeral passed, nor where his gravestone was.
+
+And who was the Gray Champion? Perhaps his name might be found in the
+records of that stern Court of Justice, which passed a sentence, too
+mighty for the age, but glorious in all after-times, for its humbling
+lesson to the monarch and its high example to the subject. I have heard,
+that whenever the descendants of the Puritans are to show the spirit of
+their sires, the old man appears again. When eighty years had passed, he
+walked once more in King Street. Five years later, in the twilight of an
+April morning, he stood on the green, beside the meeting-house, at
+Lexington, where now the obelisk of granite, with a slab of slate
+inlaid, commemorates the first fallen of the Revolution. And when our
+fathers were toiling at the breastwork on Bunker's Hill, all through
+that night the old warrior walked his rounds. Long, long may it be, ere
+he comes again! His hour is one of darkness, and adversity, and peril.
+But should domestic tyranny oppress us, or the invader's step pollute
+our soil, still may the Gray Champion come, for he is the type of New
+England's hereditary spirit; and his shadowy march, on the eve of
+danger, must ever be the pledge, that New England's sons will vindicate
+their ancestry.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW
+FOUND AMONG THE PAPERS OF THE LATE DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER
+
+
+IN THE bosom of one of those spacious coves which indent the eastern
+shore of the Hudson, at that broad expansion of the river denominated by
+the ancient Dutch navigators the Tappan Zee, and where they always
+prudently shortened sail and implored the protection of St. Nicholas
+when they crossed, there lies a small market town or rural port, which
+by some is called Greensburgh, but which is more generally and properly
+known by the name of Tarry Town. This name was given, we are told, in
+former days, by the good housewives of the adjacent country, from the
+inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village
+tavern on market days. Be that as it may, I do not vouch for the fact,
+but merely advert to it, for the sake of being precise and authentic.
+Not far from this village, perhaps about two miles, there is a little
+valley or rather lap of land among high hills, which is one of the
+quietest places in the whole world. A small brook glides through it,
+with just murmur enough to lull one to repose; and the occasional
+whistle of a quail or tapping of a woodpecker is almost the only sound
+that ever breaks in upon the uniform tranquillity.
+
+I recollect that, when a stripling, my first exploit in
+squirrel-shooting was in a grove of tall walnut trees that shades one
+side of the valley. I had wandered into it at noontime, when all nature
+is peculiarly quiet, and was startled by the roar of my own gun, as it
+broke the Sabbath stillness around and was prolonged and reverberated by
+the angry echoes. If ever I should wish for a retreat whither I might
+steal from the world and its distractions, and dream quietly away the
+remnant of a troubled life, I know of none more promising than this
+little valley.
+
+From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its
+inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this
+sequestered glen has long been known by the name of Sleepy Hollow, and
+its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the
+neighbouring country. A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the
+land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place was
+bewitched by a High German doctor, during the early days of the
+settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of
+his tribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by
+Master Hendrick Hudson. Certain it is, the place still continues under
+the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of
+the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie. They are
+given to all kinds of marvellous beliefs; are subject to trances and
+visions, and frequently see strange sights, and hear music and voices in
+the air. The whole neighbourhood abounds with local tales, haunted
+spots, and twilight superstitions; stars shoot and meteors glare oftener
+across the valley than in any other part of the country, and the
+nightmare, with her whole ninefold, seems to make it the favourite scene
+of her gambols.
+
+The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and
+seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the
+apparition of a figure on horseback, without a head. It is said by some
+to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away
+by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War,
+and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk hurrying along in the
+gloom of night, as if on the wings of the wind. His haunts are not
+confined to the valley, but extend at times to the adjacent roads, and
+especially to the vicinity of a church at no great distance. Indeed,
+certain of the most authentic historians of those parts, who have been
+careful in collecting and collating the floating facts concerning this
+spectre, allege that the body of the trooper having been buried in the
+churchyard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly
+quest of his head, and that the rushing speed with which he sometimes
+passes along the Hollow, like a midnight blast, is owing to his being
+belated, and in a hurry to get back to the churchyard before daybreak.
+
+Such is the general purport of this legendary superstition, which has
+furnished materials for many a wild story in that region of shadows; and
+the spectre is known at all the country firesides, by the name of the
+Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
+
+It is remarkable that the visionary propensity I have mentioned is not
+confined to the native inhabitants of the valley, but is unconsciously
+imbibed by every one who resides there for a time. However wide awake
+they may have been before they entered that sleepy region, they are
+sure, in a little time, to inhale the witching influence of the air, and
+begin to grow imaginative, to dream dreams, and see apparitions.
+
+I mention this peaceful spot with all possible laud; for it is in such
+little retired Dutch valleys, found here and there embosomed in the
+great state of New York, that population, manners, and customs remain
+fixed, while the great torrent of migration and improvement, which is
+making such incessant changes in other parts of this restless country,
+sweeps by them unobserved. They are like those little nooks of still
+water, which border a rapid stream, where we may see the straw and
+bubble riding quietly at anchor, or slowly revolving in their mimic
+harbour, undisturbed by the brush of the passing current. Though many
+years have elapsed since I trod the drowsy shades of Sleepy Hollow, yet
+I question whether I should not still find the same trees and the same
+families vegetating in its sheltered bosom.
+
+In this by-place of nature there abode, in a remote period of American
+history, that is to say, some thirty years since, a worthy wight of the
+name of Ichabod Crane, who sojourned, or, as he expressed it, "tarried,"
+in Sleepy Hollow, for the purpose of instructing the children of the
+vicinity. He was a native of Connecticut, a state which supplies the
+Union with pioneers for the mind as well as for the forest, and sends
+forth yearly its legions of frontier woodmen and country schoolmasters.
+The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his person. He was tall,
+but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and legs, hands
+that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for
+shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was
+small, and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a
+long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weathercock perched upon his
+spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew. To see him striding along
+the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes bagging and
+fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of
+famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a
+cornfield.
+
+His schoolhouse was a low building of one large room, rudely constructed
+of logs; the windows partly glazed, and partly patched with leaves of
+old copybooks. It was most ingeniously secured at vacant hours, by a
+withe twisted in the handle of the door, and stakes set against the
+window shutters; so that though a thief might get in with perfect ease,
+he would find some embarrassment in getting out--an idea most probably
+borrowed by the architect, Yost Van Houten, from the mystery of an
+eelpot. The schoolhouse stood in a rather lonely but pleasant situation,
+just at the foot of a woody hill, with a brook running close by, and a
+formidable birch tree growing at one end of it. From hence the low
+murmur of his pupils' voices, conning over their lessons, might be heard
+in a drowsy summer's day, like the hum of a beehive; interrupted now and
+then by the authoritative voice of the master, in the tone of menace or
+command; or, peradventure, by the appalling sound of the birch, as he
+urged some tardy loiterer along the flowery path of knowledge. Truth to
+say, he was a conscientious man, and ever bore in mind the golden maxim,
+"Spare the rod and spoil the child." Ichabod Crane's scholars certainly
+were not spoiled.
+
+I would not have it imagined, however, that he was one of those cruel
+potentates of the school who joy in the smart of their subjects; on the
+contrary, he administered justice with discrimination rather than
+severity; taking the burden off the backs of the weak, and laying it on
+those of the strong. Your mere puny stripling, that winced at the least
+flourish of the rod, was passed by with indulgence; but the claims of
+justice were satisfied by inflicting a double portion on some little
+tough, wrong-headed, broad-skirted Dutch urchin, who sulked and swelled
+and grew dogged and sullen beneath the birch. All this he called "doing
+his duty by their parents"; and he never inflicted a chastisement
+without following it by the assurance, so consolatory to the smarting
+urchin, that "he would remember it and thank him for it the longest day
+he had to live."
+
+When school hours were over, he was even the companion and playmate of
+the larger boys; and on holiday afternoons would convoy some of the
+smaller ones home, who happened to have pretty sisters, or good
+housewives for mothers, noted for the comforts of the cupboard. Indeed,
+it behooved him to keep on good terms with his pupils. The revenue
+arising from his school was small, and would have been scarcely
+sufficient to furnish him with daily bread, for he was a huge feeder,
+and, though lank, had the dilating powers of an anaconda; but to help
+out his maintenance, he was, according to country custom in those parts,
+boarded and lodged at the houses of the farmers whose children he
+instructed. With these he lived successively a week at a time, thus
+going the rounds of the neighbourhood, with all his worldly effects tied
+up in a cotton handkerchief.
+
+That all this might not be too onerous on the purses of his rustic
+patrons, who are apt to consider the costs of schooling a grievous
+burden, and schoolmasters as mere drones, he had various ways of
+rendering himself both useful and agreeable. He assisted the farmers
+occasionally in the lighter labours of their farms, helped to make hay,
+mended the fences, took the horses to water, drove the cows from
+pasture, and cut wood for the winter fire. He laid aside, too, all the
+dominant dignity and absolute sway with which he lorded it in his little
+empire, the school, and became wonderfully gentle and ingratiating. He
+found favour in the eyes of the mothers by petting the children,
+particularly the youngest; and like the lion bold, which whilom so
+magnanimously the lamb did hold, he would sit with a child on one knee,
+and rock a cradle with his foot for whole hours together.
+
+In addition to his other vocations, he was the singing-master of the
+neighbourhood, and picked up many bright shillings by instructing the
+young folks in psalmody. It was a matter of no little vanity to him on
+Sundays, to take his station in front of the church gallery, with a band
+of chosen singers; where, in his own mind, he completely carried away
+the palm from the parson. Certain it is, his voice resounded far above
+all the rest of the congregation; and there are peculiar quavers still
+to be heard in that church, and which may even be heard half a mile off,
+quite to the opposite side of the mill-pond, on a still Sunday morning,
+which are said to be legitimately descended from the nose of Ichabod
+Crane. Thus, by divers little makeshifts, in that ingenious way which is
+commonly denominated "by hook and by crook," the worthy pedagogue got on
+tolerably enough, and was thought, by all who understood nothing of the
+labour of headwork, to have a wonderfully easy life of it.
+
+The schoolmaster is generally a man of some importance in the female
+circle of a rural neighbourhood; being considered a kind of idle,
+gentlemanlike personage, of vastly superior taste and accomplishments to
+the rough country swains, and, indeed, inferior in learning only to the
+parson. His appearance, therefore, is apt to occasion some little stir
+at the tea-table of a farmhouse, and the addition of a supernumerary
+dish of cakes or sweetmeats, or, peradventure, the parade of a silver
+teapot. Our man of letters, therefore, was peculiarly happy in the
+smiles of all the country damsels. How he would figure among them in the
+churchyard, between services on Sundays! gathering grapes for them from
+the wild vines that overran the surrounding trees; reciting for their
+amusement all the epitaphs on the tombstones; or sauntering, with a
+whole bevy of them, along the banks of the adjacent mill-pond; while the
+more bashful country bumpkins hung sheepishly back, envying his superior
+elegance and address.
+
+From his half itinerant life, also, he was a kind of travelling gazette,
+carrying the whole budget of local gossip from house to house, so that
+his appearance was always greeted with satisfaction. He was, moreover,
+esteemed by the women as a man of great erudition, for he had read
+several books quite through, and was a perfect master of Cotton Mather's
+"History of New England Witchcraft," in which, by the way, he most
+firmly and potently believed.
+
+He was, in fact, an odd mixture of small shrewdness and simple
+credulity. His appetite for the marvellous, and his powers of digesting
+it, were equally extraordinary; and both had been increased by his
+residence in this spellbound region. No tale was too gross or monstrous
+for his capacious swallow. It was often his delight, after his school
+was dismissed in the afternoon, to stretch himself on the rich bed of
+clover bordering the little brook that whimpered by his schoolhouse, and
+there con over old Mather's direful tales, until the gathering dusk of
+evening made the printed page a mere mist before his eyes. Then, as he
+wended his way by swamp and stream and awful woodland, to the farmhouse
+where he happened to be quartered, every sound of nature, at that
+witching hour, fluttered his excited imagination--the moan of the
+whip-poor-will from the hillside, the boding cry of the tree toad, that
+harbinger of storm, the dreary hooting of the screech owl, to the sudden
+rustling in the thicket of birds frightened from their roost. The
+fireflies, too, which sparkled most vividly in the darkest places, now
+and then startled him, as one of uncommon brightness would stream across
+his path; and if, by chance, a huge blockhead of a beetle came winging
+his blundering flight against him, the poor varlet was ready to give up
+the ghost, with the idea that he was struck with a witch's token. His
+only resource on such occasions, either to drown thought or drive away
+evil spirits, was to sing psalm tunes; and the good people of Sleepy
+Hollow, as they sat by their doors of an evening, were often filled with
+awe at hearing his nasal melody, "in linked sweetness long drawn out,"
+floating from the distant hill, or along the dusky road.
+
+Another of his sources of fearful pleasure was to pass long winter
+evenings with the old Dutch wives, as they sat spinning by the fire,
+with a row of apples roasting and spluttering along the hearth, and
+listen to their marvellous tales of ghosts and goblins, and haunted
+fields, and haunted brooks, and haunted bridges, and haunted houses, and
+particularly of the headless horseman, or Galloping Hessian of the
+Hollow, as they sometimes called him. He would delight them equally by
+his anecdotes of witchcraft, and of the direful omens and portentous
+sights and sounds in the air, which prevailed in the earlier times of
+Connecticut; and would frighten them woefully with speculations upon
+comets and shooting stars; and with the alarming fact that the world did
+absolutely turn round, and that they were half the time topsy-turvy!
+
+But if there was a pleasure in all this, while snugly cuddling in the
+chimney corner of a chamber that was all of a ruddy glow from the
+crackling wood fire, and where, of course, no spectre dared to show its
+face, it was dearly purchased by the terrors of his subsequent walk
+homewards. What fearful shapes and shadows beset his path, amidst the
+dim and ghastly glare of a snowy night! With what wistful look did he
+eye every trembling ray of light streaming across the waste fields from
+some distant window! How often was he appalled by some shrub covered
+with snow, which, like a sheeted spectre, beset his very path! How often
+did he shrink with curdling awe at the sound of his own steps on the
+frosty crust beneath his feet; and dread to look over his shoulder, lest
+he should behold some uncouth being tramping close behind him! and how
+often was he thrown into complete dismay by some rushing blast, howling
+among the trees, in the idea that it was the Galloping Hessian on one of
+his nightly scourings!
+
+All these, however, were mere terrors of the night, phantoms of the mind
+that walk in darkness; and though he had seen many spectres in his time,
+and been more than once beset by Satan in divers shapes, in his lonely
+perambulations, yet daylight put an end to all these evils; and he would
+have passed a pleasant life of it, in despite of the Devil and all his
+works, if his path had not been crossed by a being that causes more
+perplexity to mortal man than ghosts, goblins, and the whole race of
+witches put together, and that was--a woman.
+
+Among the musical disciples who assembled, one evening in each week, to
+receive his instructions in psalmody, was Katrina Van Tassel, the
+daughter and only child of a substantial Dutch farmer. She was a
+blooming lass of fresh eighteen; plump as a partridge; ripe and melting
+and rosy-cheeked as one of her father's peaches, and universally famed,
+not merely for her beauty, but her vast expectations. She was withal a
+little or a coquette, as might be perceived even in her dress, which was
+a mixture of ancient and modern fashions, as most suited to set off her
+charms. She wore the ornaments of pure yellow gold, which her
+great-great-grandmother had brought over from Saardam; the tempting
+stomacher of the olden time, and withal a provokingly short petticoat,
+to display the prettiest foot and ankle in the country round.
+
+Ichabod Crane had a soft and foolish heart toward the sex; and it is not
+to be wondered at, that so tempting a morsel soon found favour in his
+eyes, more especially after he had visited her in her paternal mansion.
+Old Baltus Van Tassel was a perfect picture of a thriving, contented,
+liberal hearted farmer. He seldom, it is true, sent either his eyes or
+his thoughts beyond the boundaries of his own farm; but within those
+everything was snug, happy and well-conditioned. He was satisfied with
+his wealth, but not proud of it; and piqued himself upon the hearty
+abundance, rather than the style in which he lived. His stronghold was
+situated on the banks of the Hudson, in one of those green, sheltered,
+fertile nooks in which the Dutch farmers are so fond of nestling. A
+great elm tree spread its broad branches over it, at the foot of which
+bubbled up a spring of the softest and sweetest water, in a little well
+formed of a barrel; and then stole sparkling away through the grass, to
+a neighbouring brook, that babbled along among alders and dwarf willows.
+Hard by the farmhouse was a vast barn, that might have served for a
+church; every window and crevice of which seemed bursting forth with the
+treasures of the farm; the flail was busily resounding within it from
+morning to night; swallows and martins skimmed twittering about the
+eaves; and rows of pigeons, some with one eye turned up, as if watching
+the weather, some with their heads under their wings or buried in their
+bosoms, and others swelling, and cooing, and bowing about their dames,
+were enjoying the sunshine on the roof. Sleek unwieldy porkers were
+grunting in the repose and abundance of their pens, from whence sallied
+forth, now and then, troops of sucking pigs, as if to snuff the air. A
+stately squadron of snowy geese were riding in an adjoining pond,
+convoying whole fleets of ducks; regiments of turkeys were gobbling
+through the farmyard, and Guinea fowls fretting about it, like
+ill-tempered housewives, with their peevish, discontented cry. Before
+the barn door strutted the gallant cock, that pattern of a husband, a
+warrior and a fine gentleman, clapping his burnished wings and crowing
+in the pride and gladness of his heart--sometimes tearing up the earth
+with his feet, and then generously calling his ever-hungry family of
+wives and children to enjoy the rich morsel which he had discovered.
+
+The pedagogue's mouth watered as he looked upon this sumptuous promise
+of luxurious winter fare. In his devouring mind's eye, he pictured to
+himself every roasting-pig running about with a pudding in his belly,
+and an apple in his mouth; the pigeons were snugly put to bed in a
+comfortable pie, and tucked in with a coverlet of crust; the geese were
+swimming in their own gravy; and the ducks pairing cosily in dishes,
+like snug married couples, with a decent competency of onion sauce. In
+the porkers he saw carved out the future sleek side of bacon, and juicy
+relishing ham; not a turkey but he beheld daintily trussed up, with its
+gizzard under its wing, and, peradventure, a necklace of savoury
+sausages; and even bright chanticleer himself lay sprawling on his back,
+in a side dish, with uplifted claws, as if craving that quarter which
+his chivalrous spirit disdained to ask while living.
+
+As the enraptured Ichabod fancied all this, and as he rolled his great
+green eyes over the fat meadow lands, the rich fields of wheat, of rye,
+of buckwheat, and Indian corn, and the orchards burdened with ruddy
+fruit, which surrounded the warm tenement of Van Tassel, his heart
+yearned after the damsel who was to inherit these domains, and his
+imagination expanded with the idea, how they might be readily turned
+into cash, and the money invested in immense tracts of wild land, and
+shingle palaces in the wilderness. Nay, his busy fancy already realised
+his hopes, and presented to him the blooming Katrina, with a whole
+family of children, mounted on the top of a wagon loaded with household
+trumpery, with pots and kettles dangling beneath; and he beheld himself
+bestriding a pacing mare, with a colt at her heels, setting out for
+Kentucky, Tennessee--or the Lord knows where!
+
+When he entered the house, the conquest of his heart was complete. It
+was one, of those spacious farmhouses, with high ridged but lowly
+sloping roofs, built in the style handed down from the first Dutch
+settlers; the low projecting eaves forming a piazza along the front,
+capable of being closed up in bad weather. Under this were hung flails,
+harness, various utensils of husbandry, and nets for fishing in the
+neighbouring river. Benches were built along the sides for summer use;
+and a great spinning-wheel at one end, and a churn at the other, showed
+the various uses to which this important porch might be devoted. From
+this piazza the wondering Ichabod entered the hall, which formed the
+centre of the mansion, and the place of usual residence. Here rows of
+resplendent pewter, ranged on a long dresser, dazzled his eyes. In one
+corner stood a huge bag of wool, ready to be spun; in another, a
+quantity of linsey-woolsey just from the loom; ears of Indian corn, and
+strings of dried apples and peaches, hung in gay festoons along the
+walls, mingled with the gaud of red peppers; and a door left ajar gave
+him a peep into the best parlour, where the claw footed chairs and dark
+mahogany tables shone like mirrors; andirons, with their accompanying
+shovel and tongs, glistened from their covert of asparagus tops;
+mock-oranges and conch-shells decorated the mantle-piece; strings of
+various coloured birds' eggs were suspended above it; a great ostrich
+egg was hung from the centre of the room, and a corner cupboard,
+knowingly left open, displayed immense treasures of old silver and well
+mended china.
+
+From the moment Ichabod laid his eyes upon these regions of delight, the
+peace of his mind was at an end, and his only study was how to gain the
+affections of the peerless daughter of Van Tassel. In this enterprise,
+however, he had more real difficulties than generally fell to the lot of
+a knight-errant of yore, who seldom had anything but giants, enchanters,
+fiery dragons, and such like easily conquered adversaries, to contend
+with, and had to make his way merely through gates of iron and brass,
+and walls of adamant to the castle keep, where the lady of his heart was
+confined; all which he achieved as easily as a man would carve his way
+to the centre of a Christmas pie; and then the lady gave him her hand as
+a matter of course. Ichabod, on the contrary, had to win his way to the
+heart of a country coquette, beset with a labyrinth of whims and
+caprices, which were forever presenting new difficulties and
+impediments; and he had to encounter a host of fearful adversaries of
+real flesh and blood, the numerous rustic admirers, who beset every
+portal to her heart, keeping a watchful and angry eye upon each other,
+but ready to fly out in the common cause against any new competitor.
+
+Among these, the most formidable was a burly, roaring, roystering blade,
+of the name of Abraham, or, according to the Dutch abbreviation, Brom
+Van Brunt, the hero of the country round, which rang with his feats of
+strength and hardihood. He was broad-shouldered and double-jointed, with
+short curly black hair, and a bluff but not unpleasant countenance,
+having a mingled air of fun and arrogance. From his Herculean frame and
+great powers of limb, he had received the nickname of Brom Bones, by
+which he was universally known. He was famed for great knowledge and
+skill in horsemanship, being as dexterous on horseback as a Tartar. He
+was foremost at all races and cock-fights; and, with the ascendancy
+which bodily strength always acquires in rustic life, was the umpire in
+all disputes, setting his hat on one side, and giving his decisions with
+an air and tone that admitted of no gainsay or appeal. He was always
+ready for either a fight or a frolic; but had more mischief than
+ill-will in his composition; and with all his overbearing roughness,
+there was a strong clash of waggish good humour at bottom. He had three
+or four boon companions, who regarded him as their model, and at the
+head of whom he scoured the country, attending every scene of feud or
+merriment for miles round. In cold weather he was distinguished by a fur
+cap, surmounted with a flaunting fox's tail; and when the folks at a
+country gathering descried this well-known crest at a distance, whisking
+about among a squad of hard riders, they always stood by for a squall.
+Sometimes his crew would be heard dashing along past the farmhouses at
+midnight, with whoop and halloo, like a troop of Don Cossacks; and the
+old dames, startled out of their sleep, would listen for a moment till
+the hurry-scurry had clattered by, and then exclaim, "Ay, there goes
+Brom Bones and his gang!" The neighbours looked upon him with a mixture
+of awe, admiration, and good-will; and, when any madcap prank or rustic
+brawl occurred in the vicinity, always shook their heads, and warranted
+Brom Bones was at the bottom of it.
+
+This rantipole hero had for some time singled out the blooming Katrina
+for the object of his uncouth gallantries, and though his amorous
+toyings were something like the gentle caresses and endearments of a
+bear, yet it was whispered that she did not altogether discourage his
+hopes. Certain it is, his advances were signals for rival candidates to
+retire, who felt no inclination to cross a lion in his amours; insomuch,
+that when his horse was seen tied to Van Tassel's paling, on a Sunday
+night, a sure sign that his master was courting, or, as it is termed,
+"sparking," within, all other suitors passed by in despair, and carried
+the war into other quarters.
+
+Such was the formidable rival with whom Ichabod Crane had to contend,
+and, considering all things, a stouter man than he would have shrunk
+from the competition, and a wiser man would have despaired. He had,
+however, a happy mixture of pliability and perseverance in his nature;
+he was in form and spirit like a supple-jack--yielding, but tough;
+though he bent, he never broke; and though he bowed beneath the
+slightest pressure, yet, the moment it was away--jerk!--he was as erect,
+and carried his head as high as ever.
+
+To have taken the field openly against his rival would have been
+madness; for he was not a man to be thwarted in his amours, any more
+than that stormy lover, Achilles. Ichabod, therefore, made his advances
+in a quiet and gently insinuating manner. Under cover of his character
+of singing-master, he made frequent visits at the farmhouse; not that he
+had anything to apprehend from the meddlesome interference of parents,
+which is so often a stumbling block in the path of lovers. Balt Van
+Tassel was an easy, indulgent soul; he loved his daughter better even
+than his pipe, and, like a reasonable man and an excellent father, let
+her have her way in everything. His notable little wife, too, had enough
+to do to attend to her housekeeping and manage her poultry; for, as she
+sagely observed, ducks and geese are foolish things, and must be looked
+after, but girls can take care of themselves. Thus, while the busy dame
+bustled about the house, or plied her spinning-wheel at one end of the
+piazza, honest Balt would sit smoking his evening pipe at the other,
+watching the achievements of a little wooden warrior, who, armed with a
+sword in each hand, was most valiantly fighting the wind on the pinnacle
+of the barn. In the meantime, Ichabod would carry on his suit with the
+daughter by the side of the spring under the great elm, or sauntering
+along in the twilight, that hour so favourable to the lover's eloquence.
+
+I profess not to know how women's hearts are wooed and won. To me they
+have always been matters of riddle and admiration. Some seem to have but
+one vulnerable point, or door of access; while others have a thousand
+avenues, and may be captured in a thousand different ways. It is a great
+triumph of skill to gain the former, but a still greater proof of
+generalship to maintain possession of the latter, for a man must battle
+for his fortress at every door and window. He who wins a thousand common
+hearts is therefore entitled to some renown; but he who keeps undisputed
+sway over the heart of a coquette is indeed a hero. Certain it is, this
+was not the case with the redoubtable Brom Bones; and from the moment
+Ichabod Crane made his advances, the interests of the former evidently
+declined: his horse was no longer seen tied to the palings on Sunday
+nights, and a deadly feud gradually arose between him and the preceptor
+of Sleepy Hollow.
+
+Brom, who had a degree of rough chivalry in his nature, would fain have
+carried matters to open warfare and have settled their pretensions to
+the lady, according to the mode of those most concise and simple
+reasoners, the knights-errant of yore--by single combat; but Ichabod was
+too conscious of the superior might of his adversary to enter the lists
+against him; he had overheard a boast of Bones, that he would "double
+the schoolmaster up, and lay him on a shelf of his own schoolhouse"; and
+he was too wary to give him an opportunity. There was something
+extremely provoking in this obstinately pacific system; it left Brom no
+alternative but to draw upon the funds of rustic waggery in his
+disposition, and to play off boorish practical jokes upon his rival.
+Ichabod became the object of whimsical persecution to Bones and his gang
+of rough riders. They harried his hitherto peaceful domains, smoked out
+his singing-school by stopping up the chimney, broke into the
+schoolhouse at night, in spite of its formidable fastenings of withe and
+window stakes, and turned everything topsy-turvy, so that the poor
+schoolmaster began to think all the witches in the country held their
+meetings there. But what was still more annoying, Brom took all
+opportunities of turning him into ridicule in presence of his mistress,
+and had a scoundrel dog whom he taught to whine in the most ludicrous
+manner, and introduced as a rival of Ichabod's, to instruct her in
+psalmody.
+
+In this way matters went on for some time, without producing any
+material effect on the relative situations of the contending powers. On
+a fine autumnal afternoon, Ichabod, in pensive mood, sat enthroned on
+the lofty stool from whence he usually watched all the concerns of his
+little literary realm. In his hand he swayed a ferule, that sceptre of
+despotic power; the birch of justice reposed on three nails behind the
+throne, a constant terror to evil doers; while on the desk before him
+might be seen sundry contraband articles and prohibited weapons detected
+upon the persons of idle urchins, such as half-munched apples, popguns,
+whirligigs, fly-cages, and whole legions of rampant little paper
+game-cocks. Apparently there had been some appalling act of justice
+recently inflicted, for his scholars were all busily intent upon their
+books, or slyly whispering behind them with one eye kept upon the
+master; and a kind of buzzing stillness reigned throughout the
+schoolroom. It was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a negro in
+tow-cloth jacket and trousers, a round-crowned fragment of a hat, like
+the cap of Mercury, and mounted on the back of a ragged, wild,
+half-broken colt, which he managed with a rope by way of halter. He came
+clattering up to the school door with an invitation to Ichabod to attend
+a merry-making or "quilting-frolic," to be held that evening at Mynheer
+Van Tassel's; and having delivered his message with that air of
+importance and effort at fine language which a negro is apt to display
+on petty embassies of the kind, he dashed over the brook, and was seen
+scampering away up the Hollow, full of the importance and hurry of his
+mission.
+
+All was now bustle and hubbub in the late quiet schoolroom. The scholars
+were hurried through their lessons without stopping at trifles; those
+who were nimble skipped over half with impunity, and those who were
+tardy had a smart application now and then in the rear, to quicken their
+speed or help them over a tall word. Books were flung aside without
+being put away on the shelves, inkstands were overturned, benches thrown
+down, and the whole school was turned loose an hour before the usual
+time, bursting forth like a legion of young imps, yelping and racketing
+about the green in joy at their early emancipation.
+
+The gallant Ichabod now spent at least an extra half hour at his toilet,
+brushing and furbishing up his best, and indeed only suit of rusty
+black, and arranging his locks by a bit of broken looking-glass that
+hung up in the schoolhouse. That he might make his appearance before his
+mistress in the true style of a cavalier, he borrowed a horse from the
+farmer with whom he was domiciliated, a choleric old Dutchman of the
+name of Hans Van Ripper, and, thus gallantly mounted, issued forth like
+a knight-errant in quest of adventures. But it is meet I should, in the
+true spirit of romantic story, give some account of the looks and
+equipments of my hero and his steed. The animal he bestrode was a broken
+down plow-horse, that had outlived almost everything but its
+viciousness. He was gaunt and shagged, with a ewe neck, and a head like
+a hammer; his rusty mane and tail were tangled and knotted with burs;
+one eye had lost its pupil, and was glaring and spectral, but the other
+had the gleam of a genuine devil in it. Still he must have had fire and
+mettle in his day, if we may judge from the name he bore of Gunpowder.
+He had, in fact, been a favourite steed of his master's, the choleric
+Van Ripper, who was a furious rider, and had infused, very probably,
+some of his own spirit into the animal; for, old and broken down as he
+looked, there was more of the lurking devil in him than in any young
+filly in the country.
+
+Ichabod was a suitable figure for such a steed. He rode with short
+stirrups, which brought his knees nearly up to the pommel of the saddle;
+his sharp elbows stuck out like grasshoppers'; he carried his whip
+perpendicularly in his hand, like a sceptre, and as his horse jogged on,
+the motion of his arms was not unlike the flapping of a pair of wings. A
+small wool hat rested on the top of his nose, for so his scanty strip of
+forehead might be called, and the skirts of his black coat fluttered out
+almost to the horse's tail. Such was the appearance of Ichabod and his
+steed as they shambled out of the gate of Hans Van Ripper, and it was
+altogether such an apparition as is seldom to be met with in broad
+daylight.
+
+It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day; the sky was clear and
+serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always
+associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober
+brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped
+by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet.
+Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance high in the
+air; the bark of the squirrel might be heard from the groves of beech
+and hickory nuts, and the pensive whistle of the quail at intervals from
+the neighbouring stubble field.
+
+The small birds were taking their farewell banquets. In the fullness of
+their revelry, they fluttered, chirping and frolicking from bush to
+bush, and tree to tree, capricious from the very profusion and variety
+around them. There was the honest cockrobin, the favourite game of
+stripling sportsmen, with its loud querulous note; and the twittering
+blackbirds flying in sable clouds; and the golden-winged woodpecker,
+with his crimson crest, his broad black gorget, and splendid plumage;
+and the cedar-bird, with its red-tipt wings and yellow-tipt tail and its
+little monteiro cap of feathers; and the blue jay, that noisy coxcomb,
+in his gay light blue coat and white underclothes, screaming and
+chattering, nodding and bobbing and bowing, and pretending to be on good
+terms with every songster of the grove.
+
+As Ichabod jogged slowly on his way, his eye, ever open to every symptom
+of culinary abundance, ranged with delight over the treasures of jolly
+autumn. On all sides he beheld vast store of apples: some hanging in
+oppressive opulence on the trees; some gathered into baskets and barrels
+for the market; others heaped up in rich piles for the cider-press.
+Farther on he beheld great fields of Indian corn, with its golden ears
+peeping from their leafy coverts, and holding out the promise of cakes
+and hasty-pudding; and the yellow pumpkins lying beneath them, turning
+up their fair round bellies to the sun, and giving ample prospects of
+the most luxurious of pies; and anon he passed the fragrant buckwheat
+fields breathing the odour of the beehive, and as he beheld them, soft
+anticipations stole over his mind of dainty slap-jacks, well buttered,
+and garnished with honey or treacle, by the delicate little dimpled hand
+of Katrina Van Tassel.
+
+Thus feeding his mind with many sweet thoughts and "sugared
+suppositions," he journeyed along the sides of a range of hills which
+look out upon some of the goodliest scenes of the mighty Hudson. The sun
+gradually wheeled his broad disk down in the west. The wide bosom of the
+Tappen Zee lay motionless and glassy, excepting that here and there a
+gentle undulation waved and prolonged the blue shadow of the distant
+mountain. A few amber clouds floated in the sky, without a breath of air
+to move them. The horizon was of a fine golden tint, changing gradually
+into a pure apple green, and from that into the deep blue of the
+mid-heaven. A slanting ray lingered on the woody crests of the
+precipices that overhung some parts of the river, giving greater depth
+to the dark gray and purple of the rocky sides. A sloop was loitering in
+the distance, dropping slowly down with the tide, her sail hanging
+uselessly against the mast; and as the reflection of the sky gleamed
+along the still water, it seemed as if the vessel was suspended in the
+air.
+
+It was toward evening that Ichabod arrived at the castle of the Heer Van
+Tassel, which he found thronged with the pride and flower of the
+adjacent country. Old farmers, a spare leathern-faced race, in homespun
+coats and breeches, blue stockings, huge shoes, and magnificent pewter
+buckles. Their brisk, withered little dames, in close crimped caps, long
+waisted short-gowns, homespun petticoats, with scissors and pincushions,
+and gay calico pockets hanging on the outside. Buxom lasses, almost as
+antiquated as their mothers, excepting where a straw hat, a fine ribbon,
+or perhaps a white frock, gave symptoms of city innovation. The sons, in
+short square skirted coats, with rows of stupendous brass buttons, and
+their hair generally queued in the fashion of the times, especially if
+they could procure an eelskin for the purpose, it being esteemed
+throughout the country as a potent nourisher and strengthener of the
+hair.
+
+Brom Bones, however, was the hero of the scene, having come to the
+gathering on his favourite steed Daredevil, a creature, like himself,
+full of mettle and mischief, and which no one but himself could manage.
+He was, in fact, noted for preferring vicious animals, given to all
+kinds of tricks which kept the rider in constant risk of his neck, for
+he held a tractable, well broken horse as unworthy of a lad of spirit.
+
+Fain would I pause to dwell upon the world of charms that burst upon the
+enraptured gaze of my hero, as he entered the state parlour of Van
+Tassel's mansion. Not those of the bevy of buxom lasses, with their
+luxurious display of red and white; but the ample charms of a genuine
+Dutch country tea-table, in the sumptuous time of autumn. Such heaped-up
+platters of cakes of various and almost indescribable kinds, known only
+to experienced Dutch housewives! There was the doughty doughnut, the
+tender olykoek, and the crisp and crumbling cruller; sweet cakes and
+short cakes, ginger cakes and honey cakes, and the whole family of
+cakes. And then there were apple pies, and peach pies, and pumpkin pies;
+besides slices of ham and smoked beef: and moreover delectable dishes of
+preserved plums, and peaches, and pears, and quinces; not to mention
+broiled shad and roasted chickens; together with bowls of milk and
+cream, all mingled higgledy-piggledy, pretty much as I have enumerated
+them, with the motherly teapot sending up its clouds of vapour from the
+midst--Heaven bless the mark! I want breath and time to discuss this
+banquet as it deserves, and am too eager to get on with my story.
+Happily, Ichabod Crane was not in so great a hurry as his historian, but
+did ample justice to every dainty.
+
+He was a kind and thankful creature, whose heart dilated in proportion
+as his skin was filled with good cheer, and whose spirits rose with
+eating, as some men's do with drink. He could not help, too, rolling his
+large eyes round him as he ate, and chuckling with the possibility that
+he might one day be lord of all this scene of almost unimaginable luxury
+and splendour. Then he, thought, how soon he'd turn his back upon the
+old school-house; snap his fingers in the face of Hans Van Ripper, and
+every other niggardly patron, and kick any itinerant pedagogue out of
+doors that should dare to call him comrade!
+
+Old Baltus Van Tassel moved about among his guests with a face dilated
+with content and good humour, round and jolly as the harvest moon. His
+hospitable attentions were brief, but expressive, being confined to a
+shake of the hand, a slap on the shoulder, a loud laugh and a pressing
+invitation to "fall to, and help themselves."
+
+And now the sound of the music from the common room, or hall, summoned
+to the dance. The musician was an old gray-headed negro, who had been
+the itinerant orchestra of the neighbourhood for more than half a
+century. His instrument was as old and battered as himself. The greater
+part of the time he scraped on two or three strings, accompanying every
+movement of the bow with a motion of the head; bowing almost to the
+ground, and stamping with his foot whenever a fresh couple were to
+start.
+
+Ichabod prided himself upon his dancing as much as upon his vocal
+powers. Not a limb, not a fibre about him was idle; and to have seen his
+loosely hung frame in full motion, and clattering about the room, you
+would have thought St. Vitus himself, that blessed patron of the dance,
+was figuring before you in person. He was the admiration of all the
+negroes; who, having gathered, of all ages and sizes, from the farm and
+the neighbourhood, stood forming a pyramid of shining black faces at
+every door and window; gazing with delight at the scene; rolling their
+white eye-balls, and showing grinning rows of ivory from ear to ear. How
+could the flogger of urchins be otherwise than animated and joyous? the
+lady of his heart was his partner in the dance, and smiling graciously
+in reply to all his amorous oglings; while Brom Bones, sorely smitten
+with love and jealousy, sat brooding by himself in one corner.
+
+When the dance was at an end, Ichabod was attracted to a knot of the
+sager folks, who, with Old Van Tassel, sat smoking at one end of the
+piazza, gossiping over former times, and drawing out long stories about
+the war.
+
+This neighbourhood, at the time of which I am speaking, was one of those
+highly favoured places which abound with chronicle and great men. The
+British and American line had run near it during the war; it had,
+therefore, been the scene of marauding, and infested with refugees,
+cow-boys, and all kinds of border chivalry. Just sufficient time had
+elapsed to enable each story-teller to dress up his tale with a little
+becoming fiction, and, in the indistinctness of his recollection, to
+make himself the hero of every exploit.
+
+There was the story of Doffue Martling, a large blue-bearded Dutchman,
+who had nearly taken a British frigate with an old iron nine-pounder
+from a mud breast work, only that his gun burst at the sixth discharge.
+And there was an old gentleman who shall be nameless, being too rich a
+mynheer to be lightly mentioned, who, in the battle of White Plains,
+being an excellent master of defence, parried a musket-ball with a
+small-sword, insomuch that he absolutely felt it whiz round the blade,
+and glance off at the hilt; in proof of which he was ready at any time
+to show the sword, with the hilt a little bent. There were several more
+that had been equally great in the field, not one of whom but was
+persuaded that he had a considerable hand in bringing the war to a happy
+termination.
+
+But all these were nothing to the tales of ghosts and apparitions that
+succeeded. The neighbourhood is rich in legendary treasures of the kind.
+Local tales and superstitions thrive best in these sheltered,
+long-settled retreats; but are trampled under foot by the shifting
+throng that forms the population of most of our country places. Besides,
+there is no encouragement for ghosts in most of our villages, for they
+have scarcely had time to finish their first nap and turn themselves in
+their graves, before their surviving friends have travelled away from
+the neighbourhood; so that when they turn out at night to walk their
+rounds, they have no acquaintance left to call upon. This is perhaps the
+reason why we so seldom hear of ghosts except in our long established
+Dutch communities.
+
+The immediate cause, however, of the prevalence of supernatural stories
+in these parts, was doubtless owing to the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow.
+There was a contagion in the very air that blew from that haunted
+region; it breathed forth an atmosphere of dreams and fancies infecting
+all the land. Several of the Sleepy Hollow people were present at Van
+Tassel's, and, as usual, were doling out their wild and wonderful
+legends. Many dismal tales were told about funeral trains, and mourning
+cries and wailings heard and seen about the great tree where the
+unfortunate Major Andre was taken, and which stood in the neighbourhood.
+Some mention was made also of the woman in white, that haunted the dark
+glen at Raven Rock, and was often heard to shriek on winter nights
+before a storm, having perished there in the snow. The chief part of the
+stories, however, turned upon the favourite spectre of Sleepy Hollow,
+the Headless Horseman, who had been heard several times of late,
+patrolling the country; and, it was said, tethered his horse nightly
+among the graves in the churchyard.
+
+The sequestered situation of the church seems always to have made it a
+favourite haunt of troubled spirits. It stands on a knoll, surrounded by
+locust trees and lofty elms from among which its decent, whitewashed
+walls shine modestly forth, like Christian purity beaming through the
+shades of retirement. A gentle slope descends from it to a silver sheet
+of water, bordered by high trees, between which, peeps may be caught at
+the blue hills of the Hudson. To look upon its grass-grown yard, where
+the sunbeams seem to sleep so quietly, one would think that there at
+least the dead might rest in peace. On one side of the church extends a
+wide woody dell, along which raves a large brook among broken rocks and
+trunks of fallen trees. Over a deep black part of the stream, not far
+from the church, was formerly thrown a wooden bridge; the road that led
+to it, and the bridge itself, were thickly shaded by overhanging trees,
+which cast a gloom about it, even in the daytime; but occasioned a
+fearful darkness at night. Such was one of the favourite haunts of the
+Headless Horseman, and the place where he was most frequently
+encountered. The tale was told of old Brouwer, a most heretical
+disbeliever in ghosts, how he met the Horseman returning from his foray
+into Sleepy Hollow, and was obliged to get up behind him; how they
+galloped over bush and brake, over hill and swamp, until they reached
+the bridge; when the Horseman suddenly turned into a skeleton, threw old
+Brouwer into the brook, and sprang away over the tree-tops with a clap
+of thunder.
+
+This story was immediately matched by a thrice marvellous adventure of
+Brom Bones, who made light of the Galloping Hessian as an arrant jockey.
+He affirmed that on returning one night from the neighbouring village of
+Sing Sing, he had been overtaken by this midnight trooper; that the had
+offered to race with him for a bowl of punch, and should have won it
+too, for Daredevil beat the goblin horse all hollow, but just as they
+came to the church bridge, the Hessian bolted, and vanished in a flash
+of fire.
+
+All these tales, told in that drowsy undertone with which men talk in
+the dark, the countenances of the listeners only now and then receiving
+a casual gleam from the glare of a pipe, sank deep in the mind of
+Ichabod. He repaid them in kind with large extracts from his invaluable
+author, Cotton Mather, and added many marvellous events that had taken
+place in his native state of Connecticut, and fearful sights which he
+had seen in his nightly walks about Sleepy Hollow.
+
+The revel now gradually broke up. The old farmers gathered together
+their families in their wagons, and were heard for some time rattling
+along the hollow roads, and over the distant hills. Some of the damsels
+mounted on pillions behind their favourite swains, and their
+light-hearted laughter, mingling with the clatter of hoofs, echoed along
+the silent woodlands, sounding fainter and fainter, until they gradually
+died away--and the late scene of noise and frolic was all silent and
+deserted. Ichabod only lingered behind, according to the custom of
+country lovers, to have a tete-a-tete with the heiress; fully convinced
+that he was now on the high road to success. What passed at this
+interview I will not pretend to say, for in fact I do not know.
+Something, however, I fear me, must have gone wrong, for he certainly
+sallied forth, after no very great interval, with an air quite desolate
+and chapfallen. Oh, these women! these women! Could that girl have been
+playing off any of her coquettish tricks? Was her encouragement of the
+poor pedagogue all a mere sham to secure her conquest of his rival?
+Heaven only knows, not I! Let it suffice to say, Ichabod stole forth
+with the air of one who had been sacking a henroost, rather than a fair
+lady's heart. Without looking to the right or left to notice the scene
+of rural wealth, on which he had so often gloated, he went straight to
+the stable, and with several hearty cuffs and kicks roused his steed
+most uncourteously from the comfortable quarters in which he was soundly
+sleeping, dreaming of mountains of corn and oats, and whole valleys of
+timothy and clover.
+
+It was the very witching time of night that Ichabod, heavy-hearted and
+crest-fallen, pursued his travels homewards, along the sides of the
+lofty hills which rise above Tarry Town, and which he had traversed so
+cheerily in the afternoon. The hour was as dismal as himself. Far below
+him the Tappen Zee spread its dusky and indistinct waste of waters, with
+here and there the tall mast of a sloop, riding quietly at anchor under
+the land. In the dead hush of midnight, he could even hear the barking
+of the watchdog from the opposite shore of the Hudson; but it was so
+vague and faint as only to give an idea of his distance from this
+faithful companion of man. Now and then, too, the long-drawn crowing of
+a cock, accidentally awakened, would sound far, far off, from some
+farmhouse away among the hills--but it was like a dreaming sound in his
+ear. No signs of life occurred near him, but occasionally the melancholy
+chirp of a cricket, or perhaps the guttural twang of a bull-frog from a
+neighbouring marsh, as if sleeping uncomfortably and turning suddenly in
+his bed.
+
+All the stories of ghosts and goblins that he had heard in the afternoon
+now came crowding upon his recollection. The night grew darker and
+darker; the stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky, and driving clouds
+occasionally hid them from his sight. He had never felt so lonely and
+dismal. He was, moreover, approaching the very place where many of the
+scenes of the ghost stories had been laid. In the centre of the road
+stood an enormous tulip-tree, which towered like a giant above all the
+other trees of the neighbourhood, and formed a kind of landmark. Its
+limbs were gnarled and fantastic, large enough to form trunks for
+ordinary trees, twisting down almost to the earth, and rising again into
+the air. It was connected with the tragical story of the unfortunate
+Andre, who had been taken prisoner hard by, and was universally known by
+the name of Major Andre's tree. The common people regarded it with a
+mixture of respect and superstition, partly out of sympathy for the fate
+of its ill-starred namesake, and partly from the tales of strange
+sights, and doleful lamentations, told concerning it.
+
+As Ichabod approached this fearful tree, he began to whistle; he thought
+his whistle was answered; it was but a blast sweeping sharply through
+the dry branches. As he approached a little nearer, he thought he saw
+something white, hanging in the midst of the tree: he paused, and ceased
+whistling; but, on looking more narrowly, perceived that it was a place
+where the tree had been scathed by lightning, and the white wood laid
+bare. Suddenly he heard a groan--his teeth chattered, and his knees
+smote against the saddle: it was but the rubbing of one huge bough upon
+another, as they were swayed about by the breeze. He passed the tree in
+safety, but new perils lay before him.
+
+About two hundred yards from the tree, a small brook crossed the road,
+and ran into a marshy and thickly-wooded glen, known by the name of
+Wiley's Swamp. A few rough logs, laid side by side, served for a bridge
+over this stream. On that side of the road where the brook entered the
+wood, a group of oaks and chestnuts, matted thick with wild grape-vines,
+threw a cavernous gloom over it. To pass this bridge was the severest
+trial. It was at this identical spot that the unfortunate Andre was
+captured, and under the covert of those chestnuts and vines were the
+sturdy yeomen concealed who surprised him. This has ever since been
+considered a haunted stream, and fearful are the feelings of the
+schoolboy who has to pass it alone after dark.
+
+As he approached the stream, his heart began to thump; he summoned up,
+however, all his resolution, gave his horse half a score of kicks in the
+ribs, and attempted to dash briskly across the bridge; but instead of
+starting forward, the perverse old animal made a lateral movement, and
+ran broadside against the fence. Ichabod, whose fears increased with the
+delay, jerked the reins on the other side, and kicked lustily with the
+contrary foot: it was all in vain; his steed started, it is true, but it
+was only to plunge to the opposite side of the road into a thicket of
+brambles and alder-bushes. The schoolmaster now bestowed both whip and
+heel upon the starveling ribs of old Gunpowder, who dashed forward,
+snuffling and snorting, but came to a stand just by the bridge, with a
+suddenness that had nearly sent his rider sprawling over his head. Just
+at this moment a plashy tramp by the side of the bridge caught the
+sensitive ear of Ichabod. In the dark shadow of the grove, on the margin
+of the brook, he beheld something huge, misshapen, and towering. It
+stirred not, but seemed gathered up in the gloom, like some gigantic
+monster ready to spring upon the traveller.
+
+The hair of the affrighted pedagogue rose upon his head with terror.
+What was to be done? To turn and fly was now too late; and besides, what
+chance was there of escaping ghost or goblin, if such it was, which
+could ride upon the wings of the wind? Summoning up, therefore, a show
+of courage, he demanded in stammering accents, "Who are you?" He
+received no reply. He repeated his demand in a still more agitated
+voice. Still there was no answer. Once more he cudgelled the sides of
+the inflexible Gunpowder, and, shutting his eyes, broke forth with
+involuntary fervour into a psalm tune. Just then the shadowy object of
+alarm put itself in motion, and with a scramble and a bound stood at
+once in the middle of the road. Though the night was dark and dismal,
+yet the form of the unknown might now in some degree be ascertained. He
+appeared to be a horseman of large dimensions, and mounted on a black
+horse of powerful frame. He made no offer of molestation or sociability,
+but kept aloof on one side of the road, jogging along on the blind side
+of old Gunpowder, who had now got over his fright and waywardness.
+
+Ichabod, who had no relish for this strange midnight companion, and
+bethought himself of the adventure of Brom Bones with the Galloping
+Hessian, now quickened his steed in hopes of leaving him behind. The
+stranger, however, quickened his horse to an equal pace. Ichabod pulled
+up, and fell into a walk, thinking to lag behind--the other did the
+same. His heart began to sink within him; he endeavoured to resume his
+psalm tune, but his parched tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and
+he could not utter a stave. There was something in the moody and dogged
+silence of this pertinacious companion that was mysterious and
+appalling. It was soon fearfully accounted for. On mounting a rising
+ground, which brought the figure of his fellow-traveller in relief
+against the sky, gigantic in height, and muffled in a cloak, Ichabod was
+horror-struck on perceiving that he was headless! but his horror was
+still more increased on observing that the head, which should have
+rested on his shoulders, was carried before him on the pommel of his
+saddle! His terror rose to desperation; he rained a shower of kicks and
+blows upon Gunpowder, hoping by a sudden movement to give his companion
+the slip; but the spectre started full jump with him. Away, then, they
+dashed through thick and thin; stones flying and sparks flashing at
+every bound. Ichabod's flimsy garments fluttered in the air, as he
+stretched his long lank body away over his horse's head, in the
+eagerness of his flight.
+
+They had now reached the road which turns off to Sleepy Hollow; but
+Gunpowder, who seemed possessed with a demon, instead of keeping up it,
+made an opposite turn, and plunged headlong down hill to the left. This
+road leads through a sandy hollow, shaded by trees for about a quarter
+of a mile, where it crosses the bridge famous in goblin story; and just
+beyond swells the green knoll on which stands the whitewashed church.
+
+As yet the panic of the steed had given his unskilful rider an apparent
+advantage in the chase; but just as he had got half way through the
+hollow, the girths of the saddle gave way, and he felt it slipping from
+under him. He seized it by the pommel, and endeavoured to hold it firm,
+but in vain; and had just time to save himself by clasping old Gunpowder
+round the neck, when the saddle fell to the earth, and he heard it
+trampled under foot by his pursuer. For a moment the terror of Hans Van
+Ripper's wrath passed across his mind--for it was his Sunday saddle; but
+this was no time for petty fears; the goblin was hard on his haunches;
+and (unskilful rider that he was!) he had much ado to maintain his seat;
+sometimes slipping on one side, sometimes on another, and sometimes
+jolted on the high ridge of his horse's backbone, with a violence that
+he verily feared would cleave him asunder.
+
+An opening in the trees now cheered him with the hopes that the church
+bridge was at hand. The wavering reflection of a silver star in the
+bosom of the brook told him that he was not mistaken. He saw the walls
+of the church dimly glaring under the trees beyond. He recollected the
+place where Brom Bones's ghostly competitor had disappeared. "If I can
+but reach that bridge," thought Ichabod, "I am safe." Just then he heard
+the black steed panting and blowing close behind him; he even fancied
+that he felt his hot breath. Another convulsive kick in the ribs, and
+old Gunpowder sprang upon the bridge; he thundered over the resounding
+planks; he gained the opposite side; and now Ichabod cast a look behind
+to see if his pursuer should vanish, according to rule, in a flash of
+fire and brimstone. Just then he saw the goblin rising in his stirrups,
+and in the very act of hurling his head at him. Ichabod endeavoured to
+dodge the horrible missile, but too late. It encountered his cranium
+with a tremendous crash--he was tumbled headlong into the dust, and
+Gunpowder, the black steed, and the goblin rider, passed by like a
+whirlwind.
+
+The next morning the old horse was found without his saddle, and with
+the bridle under his feet, soberly cropping the grass at his master's
+gate. Ichabod did not make his appearance at breakfast; dinner-hour
+came, but no Ichabod. The boys assembled at the schoolhouse, and
+strolled idly about the banks of the brook; but no schoolmaster. Hans
+Van Ripper now began to feel some uneasiness about the fate of poor
+Ichabod, and his saddle. An inquiry was set on foot, and after diligent
+investigation they came upon his traces. In one part of the road leading
+to the church was found the saddle trampled in the dirt; the tracks of
+horses' hoofs deeply dented in the road, and evidently at furious speed,
+were traced to the bridge, beyond which, on the dank of a broad part of
+the brook, where the water ran deep and black, was found the hat of the
+unfortunate Ichabod, and close beside it a shattered pumpkin.
+
+The brook was searched, but the body of the schoolmaster was not to be
+discovered. Hans Van Ripper, as executor of his estate, examined the
+bundle which contained all his worldly effects. They consisted of two
+shirts and a half; two stocks for the neck; a pair or two of worsted
+stockings; an old pair of corduroy small-clothes; a rusty razor; a book
+of psalm tunes full of dog's-ears; and a broken pitch-pipe. As to the
+books and furniture of the schoolhouse, they belonged to the community,
+excepting Cotton Mather's History of Witchcraft, a New England Almanac,
+and a book of dreams and fortune-telling; in which last was a sheet of
+foolscap much scribbled and blotted in several fruitless attempts to
+make a copy of verses in honour of the heiress of Van Tassel. These
+magic books and the poetic scrawl were forthwith consigned to the flames
+by Hans Van Ripper; who, from that time forward, determined to send his
+children no more to school; observing that he never knew any good come
+of this same reading and writing. Whatever money the schoolmaster
+possessed, and he had received his quarter's pay but a day or two
+before, he must have had about his person at the time of his
+disappearance.
+
+The mysterious event caused much speculation at the church on the
+following Sunday. Knots of gazers and gossips were collected in the
+churchyard, at the bridge, and at the spot where the hat and pumpkin had
+been found. The stories of Brouwer, of Bones, and a whole budget of
+others were called to mind; and when they had diligently considered them
+all, and compared them with the symptoms of the present case, they shook
+their heads, and came to the conclusion that Ichabod had been carried
+off by the Galloping Hessian. As he was a bachelor, and in nobody's
+debt, nobody troubled his head any more about him; the school was
+removed to a different quarter of the Hollow, and another pedagogue
+reigned in his stead.
+
+It is true, an old farmer, who had been down to New York on a visit
+several years after, and from whom this account of the ghostly adventure
+was received, brought home the intelligence that Ichabod Crane was still
+alive; that he had left the neighbourhood partly through fear of the
+goblin and Hans Van Ripper, and partly in mortification at having been
+suddenly dismissed by the heiress; that he had changed his quarters to a
+distant part of the country; had kept school and studied law at the same
+time; had been admitted to the bar; turned politician; electioneered;
+written for the newspapers; and finally had been made a justice of the
+ten pound court. Brom Bones, too, who, shortly after his rival's
+disappearance conducted the blooming Katrina in triumph to the altar,
+was observed to look exceedingly knowing whenever the story of Ichabod
+was related, and always burst into a hearty laugh at the mention of the
+pumpkin; which led some to suspect that he knew more about the matter
+than he chose to tell.
+
+The old country wives, however, who are the best judges of these
+matters, maintain to this day that Ichabod was spirited away by
+supernatural means; and it is a favourite story often told about the
+neighbourhood round the winter evening fire. The bridge became more than
+ever an object of superstitious awe; and that may be the reason why the
+road has been altered of late years, so as to approach the church by the
+border of the mill-pond. The schoolhouse being deserted soon fell to
+decay, and was reported to be haunted by the ghost of the unfortunate
+pedagogue; and the plough-boy, loitering homeward of a still summer
+evening, has often fancied his voice at a distance, chanting a
+melancholy psalm tune among the tranquil solitudes of Sleepy Hollow.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Legends That Every Child Should Know
+by Hamilton Wright Mabie
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEGENDS EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW ***
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