|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 15
"After this contemptuous disregard of gold, he held up the piece I
had given him, showing it to his brother goblins below, and they
laughed immoderately at a coin so worthless, and hissed me. At last,
raising their fingers all smutched with ore, they pointed them at me
in scorn; and wilder and wilder, and thicker and thicker, and madder
and madder, the crowd were clambering up to where I sat gazing at
these wonders. Then terror seized me, as it had before seized my
horse. I drove my spurs into his sides, and how far he rushed with
me through the forest, during this second of my wild heats, it is
impossible to say.
"At last, when I had now come to a dead halt again, the cool of
evening was around me. I caught the gleam of a white footpath
through the branches of the trees; and presuming it would lead me out
of the forest toward the city, I was desirous of working my way into
it. But a face, perfectly white and indistinct, with features ever
changing, kept thrusting itself out and peering at me between the
leaves. I tried to avoid it, but wherever I went, there too appeared
the unearthly face. I was maddened with rage at this interruption,
and determined to drive my steed at the appearance full tilt, when
such a cloud of white foam came rushing upon me and my horse, that we
were almost blinded and glad to turn about and escape. Thus from
step to step it forced us on, and ever aside from the footpath,
leaving us for the most part only one direction open. When we
advanced in this, it kept following close behind us, yet did not
occasion the smallest harm or inconvenience.
"When at times I looked about me at the form, I perceived that the
white face, which had splashed upon us its shower of foam, was
resting on a body equally white, and of more than gigantic size.
Many a time, too, I received the impression that the whole appearance
was nothing more than a wandering stream or torrent; but respecting
this I could never attain to any certainty. We both of us, horse and
rider, became weary as we shaped our course according to the
movements of the white man, who continued nodding his head at us, as
if he would say, 'Quite right!' And thus, at length, we came out
here, at the edge of the wood, where I saw the fresh turf, the waters
of the lake, and your little cottage, and where the tall white man
disappeared."
"Well, Heaven be praised that he is gone!" cried the old fisherman;
and he now began to talk of how his guest could most conveniently
return to his friends in the city. Upon this, Undine began laughing
to herself, but so very low that the sound was hardly perceivable.
Huldbrand observing it, said, "I thought you were glad to see me
here; why, then, do you now appear so happy when our talk turns upon
my going away?"
"Because you cannot go away," answered Undine. "Pray make a single
attempt; try with a boat, with your horse, or alone, as you please,
to cross that forest stream which has burst its bounds; or rather,
make no trial at all, for you would be dashed to pieces by the stones
and trunks of trees which you see driven on with such violence. And
as to the lake, I know that well; even my father dares not venture
out with his boat far enough to help you."
Huldbrand rose, smiling, in order to look about and observe whether
the state of things were such as Undine had represented it to be.
The old man accompanied him, and the maiden went merrily dancing
beside them. They found all, in fact, just as Undine had said, and
that the knight, whether willing or not willing, must submit to
remaining on the island, so lately a peninsula, until the flood
should subside.
When the three were now returning to the cottage after their ramble,
the knight whispered in the ear of the little maiden, "Well, dear
Undine, are you angry at my remaining?"
"Ah," she pettishly replied, "do not speak to me! If I had not
bitten you, who knows what fine things you would have put into your
story about Bertalda?"
CHAPTER 3
It may have happened to thee, my dear reader, after being much driven
to and fro in the world, to reach at length a spot where all was well
with thee. The love of home and of its peaceful joys, innate to all,
again sprang up in thy heart; thou thoughtest that thy home was
decked with all the flowers of childhood, and of that purest, deepest
love which had grown upon the graves of thy beloved, and that here it
was good to live and to build houses. Even if thou didst err, and
hast had bitterly to mourn thy error, it is nothing to my purpose,
and thou thyself wilt not like to dwell on the sad recollection. But
recall those unspeakably sweet feelings, that angelic greeting of
peace, and thou wilt be able to understand what was the happiness of
the knight Huldbrand during his abode on that narrow slip of land.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|