|
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 9
Huldbrand and the fisherman sprang from their seats, and were rushing
to stop the angry girl; but before they could reach the cottage-door,
she had disappeared in the stormy darkness without, and no sound, not
so much even as that of her light footstep, betrayed the course she
had taken. Huldbrand threw a glance of inquiry towards his host; it
almost seemed to him as if the whole of the sweet apparition, which
had so suddenly plunged again amid the night, were no other than a
continuation of the wonderful forms that had just played their mad
pranks with him in the forest. But the old man muttered between his
teeth,
"This is not the first time she has treated us in this manner. Now
must our hearts be filled with anxiety, and our eyes find no sleep
for the whole night; for who can assure us, in spite of her past
escapes, that she will not some time or other come to harm, if she
thus continue out in the dark and alone until daylight?"
"Then pray, for God's sake, father, let us follow her," cried
Huldbrand anxiously.
"Wherefore should we?" replied the old man. "It would be a sin were
I to suffer you, all alone, to search after the foolish girl amid the
lonesomeness of night; and my old limbs would fail to carry me to
this wild rover, even if I knew to what place she has betaken
herself."
"Still we ought at least to call after her, and beg her to return,"
said Huldbrand; and he began to call in tones of earnest entreaty,
"Undine! Undine! come back, come back!"
The old man shook his head, and said, "All your shouting, however
loud and long, will be of no avail; you know not as yet, sir knight,
how self-willed the little thing is." But still, even hoping against
hope, he could not himself cease calling out every minute, amid the
gloom of night, "Undine! ah, dear Undine! I beseech you, pray come
back--only this once."
It turned out, however, exactly as the fisherman had said. No Undine
could they hear or see; and as the old man would on no account
consent that Huldbrand should go in quest of the fugitive, they were
both obliged at last to return into the cottage. There they found
the fire on the hearth almost gone out, and the mistress of the
house, who took Undine's flight and danger far less to heart than her
husband, had already gone to rest. The old man blew up the coals,
put on dry wood, and by the firelight hunted for a flask of wine,
which he brought and set between himself and his guest.
"You, sir knight, as well as I," said he, "are anxious on the silly
girl's account; and it would be better, I think, to spend part of the
night in chatting and drinking, than keep turning and turning on our
rush-mats, and trying in vain to sleep. What is your opinion?"
Huldbrand was well pleased with the plan; the fisherman pressed him
to take the empty seat of honour, its late occupant having now left
it for her couch; and they relished their beverage and enjoyed their
chat as two such good men and true ever ought to do. To be sure,
whenever the slightest thing moved before the windows, or at times
when even nothing was moving, one of them would look up and exclaim,
"Here she comes!" Then would they continue silent a few moments, and
afterward, when nothing appeared, would shake their heads, breathe
out a sigh, and go on with their talk.
But, as neither could think of anything but Undine, the best plan
they could devise was, that the old fisherman should relate, and the
knight should hear, in what manner Undine had come to the cottage.
So the fisherman began as follows:
"It is now about fifteen years since I one day crossed the wild
forest with fish for the city market. My wife had remained at home
as she was wont to do; and at this time for a reason of more than
common interest, for although we were beginning to feel the advances
of age, God had bestowed upon us an infant of wonderful beauty. It
was a little girl; and we already began to ask ourselves the
question, whether we ought not, for the advantage of the new-comer,
to quit our solitude, and, the better to bring up this precious gift
of Heaven, to remove to some more inhabited place. Poor people, to
be sure, cannot in these cases do all you may think they ought, sir
knight; but we must all do what we can.
"Well, I went on my way, and this affair would keep running in my
head. This slip of land was most dear to me, and I trembled when,
amidst the bustle and broils of the city, I thought to myself, 'In a
scene of tumult like this, or at least in one not much more quiet, I
must soon take up my abode.' But I did not for this murmur against
our good God; on the contrary, I praised Him in silence for the new-
born babe. I should also speak an untruth, were I to say that
anything befell me, either on my passage through the forest to the
city, or on my returning homeward, that gave me more alarm than
usual, as at that time I had never seen any appearance there which
could terrify or annoy me. The Lord was ever with me in those awful
shades."
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|