diff options
Diffstat (limited to '36483-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 36483-0.txt | 18817 |
1 files changed, 18817 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/36483-0.txt b/36483-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1db090b --- /dev/null +++ b/36483-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18817 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 36483 *** + + + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). + + Text enclosed by underscores is in italice (=italics=). + + + + + +WILHELM MEISTER'S APPRENTICESHIP AND TRAVELS. + +Translated from the German of GOETHE. + +by Thomas Carlyle. + +Complete in Two Volumes. + +VOLUME I. + + + + + + + +New York: +A. L. Burt, Publisher. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + PAGE + + BOOK I. 15 + + BOOK II. 74 + + BOOK III. 134 + + BOOK IV. 185 + + BOOK V. 254 + + BOOK VI. 320 + + BOOK VII. 372 + + + + +TO THE READER. + + +These two translations, "Meister's Apprenticeship" and "Meister's +Travels," have long been out of print, but never altogether out of +demand; nay, it would seem, the originally somewhat moderate demand has +gone on increasing, and continues to increase. They are, therefore, here +republished; and the one being in some sort a sequel to the other, +though in rather unexpected sort, they are now printed together. The +English version of "Meister's Travels" has been extracted, or +extricated, from a compilation of very various quality named "German +Romance," and placed by the side of the "Apprenticeship," its +forerunner, which, in the translated as in the original state, appeared +hitherto as a separate work. + +In the "Apprenticeship," the first of these translations, which was +executed some fifteen years ago, under questionable auspices, I have +made many little changes, but could not, unfortunately, change it into a +right translation; it hung, in many places, stiff and labored, too like +some unfortunate buckram cloak round the light, harmonious movement of +the original,--and, alas! still hangs so, here and there, and may now +hang. In the second translation, "Meister's Travels," two years later in +date, I have changed little or nothing. I might have added much; for the +original, since that time, was, as it were, taken to pieces by the +author himself in his last years, and constructed anew, and, in the +final edition of his works, appears with multifarious intercalations, +giving a great expansion, both of size and of scope. Not pedagogy only, +and husbandry and art and religion and human conduct in the nineteenth +century, but geology, astronomy, cotton-spinning, metallurgy, +anatomical lecturing, and much else, are typically shadowed forth in +this second form of the "Travels," which, however, continues a fragment +like the first, significantly pointing on all hands towards +infinitude,--not more complete than the first was, or indeed perhaps +less so. It will well reward the trustful student of Goethe to read this +new form of the "Travels," and see how in that great mind, beaming in +mildest mellow splendor, beaming if also trembling, like a great sun on +the verge of the horizon, near now to its long farewell, all these +things were illuminated and illustrated: but, for the mere English +reader, there are probably in our prior edition of the "Travels" already +novelties enough; for us, at all events, it seemed unadvisable to meddle +with it further at present. + +Goethe's position towards the English public is greatly altered since +these translations first made their appearance. Criticisms near the +mark, or farther from the mark, or even altogether far and away from any +mark,--of these there have been enough. These pass on their road: the +man and his works remain what they are and were,--more and more +recognizable for what they are. Few English readers can require now to +be apprised that these two books, named novels, come not under the +Minerva-Press category, nor the Ballantyne-Press category, nor any such +category; that the author is one whose secret, by no means worn upon his +sleeve, will never, by any ingenuity, be got at in that way. + +For a translator, in the present case, it is enough to reflect, that he +who imports into his own country any true delineation, a rationally +spoken word on any subject, has done well. Ours is a wide world, +peaceably admitting many different modes of speech. In our wide world, +there is but one altogether fatal personage,--the dunce,--he that speaks +_ir_rationally, that sees not, and yet thinks he sees. A genuine seer +and speaker, under what conditions soever, shall be welcome to us: has +he not _seen_ somewhat of great Nature our common mother's bringing +forth,--seen it, loved it, laid his heart open to it and to the mother +of it, so that he can now rationally speak it for us? He is our brother, +and a good, not a bad, man: his words are like gold, precious, +whether stamped in our mint, or in what mint soever stamped. + T. CARLYLE. + LONDON, November, 1839. + + + + +TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE + +TO THE + +FIRST EDITION OF MEISTER'S APPRENTICESHIP. + + +Whether it be that the quantity of genius among ourselves and the +French, and the number of works more lasting than brass produced by it, +have of late been so considerable as to make us independent of +additional supplies; or that, in our ancient aristocracy of intellect, +we disdain to be assisted by the Germans, whom, by a species of second +sight, we have discovered, before knowing any thing about them, to be a +tumid, dreaming, extravagant, insane race of mortals,--certain it is, +that hitherto our literary intercourse with that nation has been very +slight and precarious. After a brief period of not too judicious +cordiality, the acquaintance on our part was altogether dropped: nor, in +the few years since we partially resumed it, have our feelings of +affection or esteem been materially increased. Our translators are +unfortunate in their selection or execution, or the public is tasteless +and absurd in its demands; for, with scarcely more than one or two +exceptions, the best works of Germany have lain neglected, or worse than +neglected: and the Germans are yet utterly unknown to us. Kotzebue still +lives in our minds as the representative of a nation that despises him; +Schiller is chiefly known to us by the monstrous production of his +boyhood; and Klopstock by a hacked and mangled image of his "Messiah," +in which a beautiful poem is distorted into a theosophic rhapsody, and +the brother of Virgil and Racine ranks little higher than the author of +"Meditations among the Tombs." + +But of all these people there is none that has been more unjustly dealt +with than Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. For half a century the +admiration--we might almost say the idol--of his countrymen, to us he +is still a stranger. His name, long echoed and re-echoed through reviews +and magazines, has become familiar to our ears; but it is a sound and +nothing more: it excites no definite idea in almost any mind. To such as +know him by the faint and garbled version of his "Werther," Goethe +figures as a sort of poetic Heraclitus; some woe-begone hypochondriac, +whose eyes are overflowing with perpetual tears, whose long life has +been spent in melting into ecstasy at the sight of waterfalls and +clouds, and the moral sublime, or dissolving into hysterical wailings +over hapless love-stories, and the miseries of human life. They are not +aware that Goethe smiles at this performance of his youth, or that the +German Werther, with all his faults, is a very different person from his +English namesake; that his Sorrows are in the original recorded in a +tone of strength and sarcastic emphasis, of which the other offers no +vestige, and intermingled with touches of powerful thought, glimpses of +a philosophy deep as it is bitter, which our sagacious translator has +seen proper wholly to omit. Others, again, who have fallen in with +Retsch's "Outlines" and the extracts from "Faust," consider Goethe as a +wild mystic, a dealer in demonology and osteology, who draws attention +by the aid of skeletons and evil spirits, whose excellence it is to be +extravagant, whose chief aim it is to do what no one but himself has +tried. The tyro in German may tell us that the charm of "Faust" is +altogether unconnected with its preternatural import; that the work +delineates the fate of human enthusiasm struggling against doubts and +errors from within, against scepticism, contempt, and selfishness from +without; and that the witch-craft and magic, intended merely as a +shadowy frame for so complex and mysterious a picture of the moral world +and the human soul, are introduced for the purpose, not so much of being +trembled at as laughed at. The voice of the tyro is not listened to; our +indolence takes part with our ignorance; "Faust" continues to be called +a monster; and Goethe is regarded as a man of "some genius," which he +has perverted to produce all manner of misfashioned prodigies,--things +false, abortive, formless, Gorgons and hydras, and chimeras dire. + +Now, it must no doubt be granted, that, so long as our invaluable +constitution is preserved in its pristine purity, the British nation may +exist in a state of comparative prosperity with very inadequate ideas of +Goethe; but, at the same time, the present arrangement is an evil in +its kind,--slight, it is true, and easy to be borne, yet still more easy +to be remedied, and which, therefore, ought to have been remedied ere +now. Minds like Goethe's are the common property of all nations; and, +for many reasons, all should have correct impressions of them. + +It is partly with the view of doing something to supply this want, that +"Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre" is now presented to the English public. +Written in its author's forty-fifth year, embracing hints or +disquisitions on almost every leading point in life and literature, it +affords us a more distinct view of his matured genius, his manner of +thought, and favorite subjects, than any of his other works. Nor is it +Goethe alone whom it portrays: the prevailing taste of Germany is +likewise indicated by it. Since the year 1795, when it first appeared at +Berlin, numerous editions of "Meister" have been printed: critics of all +ranks, and some of them dissenting widely from its doctrines, have +loaded it with encomiums; its songs and poems are familiar to every +German ear; the people read it, and speak of it, with an admiration +approaching in many cases to enthusiasm. + +That it will be equally successful in England, I am far indeed from +anticipating. Apart from the above considerations,--from the curiosity, +intelligent or idle, which it may awaken,--the number of admiring, or +even approving, judges it will find can scarcely fail of being very +limited. To the great mass of readers, who read to drive away the tedium +of mental vacancy, employing the crude phantasmagoria of a modern novel, +as their grandfathers employed tobacco and diluted brandy, "Wilhelm +Meister" will appear beyond endurance weary, flat, stale, and +unprofitable. Those, in particular, who take delight in "King Cambyses' +vein," and open "Meister" with the thought of "Werther" in their minds, +will soon pause in utter dismay; and their paroxysm of dismay will pass +by degrees into unspeakable contempt. Of romance interest there is next +to none in "Meister;" the characters are samples to judge of, rather +than persons to love or hate; the incidents are contrived for other +objects than moving or affrighting us; the hero is a milksop, whom, with +all his gifts, it takes an effort to avoid despising. The author +himself, far from "doing it in a passion," wears a face of the most +still indifference throughout the whole affair; often it is even +wrinkled by a slight sardonic grin. For the friends of the sublime, +then,--for those who cannot do without heroical sentiments, and "moving +accidents by flood and field,"--there is nothing here that can be of any +service. + +Nor among readers of a far higher character, can it be expected that +many will take the praiseworthy pains of Germans, reverential of their +favorite author, and anxious to hunt out his most elusive charms. Few +among us will disturb themselves about the allegories and typical +allusions of the work; will stop to inquire whether it includes a remote +emblem of human culture, or includes no such matter; whether this is a +light, airy sketch of the development of man in all his endowments and +faculties, gradually proceeding from the first rude exhibitions of +puppets and mountebanks, through the perfection of poetic and dramatic +art, up to the unfolding of the principle of religion, and the greatest +of all arts,--the art of life,--or is nothing more than a bungled piece +of patchwork, presenting in the shape of a novel much that should have +been suppressed entirely, or at least given out by way of lecture. +Whether the characters do or do not represent distinct classes of men, +including various stages of human nature, from the gay, material +vivacity of Philina to the severe moral grandeur of the uncle and the +splendid accomplishment of Lothario, will to most of us be of small +importance; and the everlasting disquisitions about plays and players, +and politeness and activity, and art and nature, will weary many a mind +that knows not and heeds not whether they are true or false. Yet every +man's judgment is, in this free country, a lamp to himself: whoever is +displeased will censure; and many, it is to be feared, will insist on +judging "Meister" by the common rule, and, what is worse, condemning it, +let Schlegel bawl as loudly as he pleases. "To judge," says he, "of this +book,--new and peculiar as it is, and only to be understood and learned +from itself, by our common notion of the novel, a notion pieced together +and produced out of custom and belief, out of accidental and arbitrary +requisitions,--is as if a child should grasp at the moon and stars, and +insist on packing them into its toy-box."[1] Unhappily the most of us +have boxes, and some of them are very small. + +Yet, independently of these its more recondite and dubious qualities, +there are beauties in "Meister" which cannot but secure it some degree +of favor at the hands of many. The philosophical discussions it +contains; its keen glances into life and art; the minute and skilful +delineation of men; the lively, genuine exhibition of the scenes they +move in; the occasional touches of eloquence and tenderness, and even of +poetry, the very essence of poetry; the quantity of thought and +knowledge embodied in a style so rich in general felicities, of which, +at least, the new and sometimes exquisitely happy metaphors have been +preserved,--cannot wholly escape an observing reader, even on the most +cursory perusal. To those who have formed for themselves a picture of +the world, who have drawn out, from the thousand variable circumstances +of their being, a philosophy of life, it will be interesting and +instructive to see how man and his concerns are represented in the first +of European minds: to those who have penetrated to the limits of their +own conceptions, and wrestled with thoughts and feelings too high for +them, it will be pleasing and profitable to see the horizon of their +certainties widened, or at least separated with a firmer line from the +impalpable obscure which surrounds it on every side. Such persons I can +fearlessly invite to study "Meister." Across the disfigurement of a +translation, they will not fail to discern indubitable traces of the +greatest genius in our times. And the longer they study, they are likely +to discern them the more distinctly. New charms will successively arise +to view; and of the many apparent blemishes, while a few superficial +ones may be confirmed, the greater and more important part will vanish, +or even change from dark to bright. For, if I mistake not, it is with +"Meister" as with every work of real and abiding excellence,--the first +glance is the least favorable. A picture of Raphael, a Greek statue, a +play of Sophocles or Shakspeare, appears insignificant to the +unpractised eye; and not till after long and patient and intense +examination, do we begin to descry the earnest features of that beauty, +which has its foundation in the deepest nature of man, and will continue +to be pleasing through all ages. + +If this appear excessive praise, as applied in any sense to "Meister," +the curious sceptic is desired to read and weigh the whole performance, +with all its references, relations, purposes, and to pronounce his +verdict after he has clearly seized and appreciated them all. Or, if a +more faint conviction will suffice, let him turn to the picture of +Wilhelm's states of mind in the end of the first book, and the beginning +of the second; the eulogies of commerce and poesy, which follow; the +description of Hamlet; the character of histrionic life in Serlo and +Aurelia; that of sedate and lofty manhood in the uncle and Lothario. +But, above all, let him turn to the history of Mignon. This mysterious +child, at first neglected by the reader, gradually forced on his +attention, at length overpowers him with an emotion more deep and +thrilling than any poet since the days of Shakspeare has succeeded in +producing. The daughter of enthusiasm, rapture, passion, and despair, +she is of the earth, but not earthly. When she glides before us through +the light mazes of her fairy dance, or twangs her cithern to the notes +of her homesick verses, or whirls her tambourine and hurries round us +like an antique Mænad, we could almost fancy her a spirit; so pure is +she, so full of fervor, so disengaged from the clay of this world. And +when all the fearful particulars of her story are at length laid +together, and we behold in connected order the image of her hapless +existence, there is, in those dim recollections,--those feelings so +simple, so impassioned and unspeakable, consuming the closely shrouded, +woe-struck, yet ethereal spirit of the poor creature,--something which +searches into the inmost recesses of the soul. It is not tears which her +fate calls forth, but a feeling far too deep for tears. The very fire of +heaven seems miserably quenched among the obstructions of this earth. +Her little heart, so noble and so helpless, perishes before the smallest +of its many beauties is unfolded; and all its loves and thoughts and +longings do but add another pang to death, and sink to silence utter and +eternal. It is as if the gloomy porch of Dis, and his pale kingdoms, +were realized and set before us, and we heard the ineffectual wail of +infants reverberating from within their prison-walls forever. + + "Continuò auditæ voces, vagitus et ingens, + Infantumque animæ flentes in limine primo: + Quos dulcis vitæ exsortes, et ab ubere raptos, + Abstulit atra dies, et funere mersit acerbo." + +The history of Mignon runs like a thread of gold through the tissue of +the narrative, connecting with the heart much that were else addressed +only to the head. Philosophy and eloquence might have done the rest, but +this is poetry in the highest meaning of the word. It must be for the +power of producing such creations and emotions, that Goethe is by many +of his countrymen ranked at the side of Homer and Shakspeare, as one of +the only three men of genius, that have ever lived. + +But my business here is not to judge of "Meister" or its author, it is +only to prepare others for judging it; and for this purpose the most +that I had room to say is said. All I ask in the name of this +illustrious foreigner is, that the court which tries him be pure, and +the jury instructed in the cause; that the work be not condemned for +wanting what it was not meant to have, and by persons nowise called to +pass sentence on it. + +Respecting my own humble share in the adventure, it is scarcely +necessary to say any thing. Fidelity is all the merit I have aimed at: +to convey the author's sentiments, as he himself expressed them; to +follow the original, in all the variations of its style,--has been my +constant endeavor. In many points, both literary and moral, I could have +wished devoutly that he had not written as he has done; but to alter any +thing was not in my commission. The literary and moral persuasions of a +man like Goethe are objects of a rational curiosity, and the duty of a +translator is simple and distinct. Accordingly, except a few phrases and +sentences, not in all amounting to a page, which I have dropped as +evidently unfit for the English taste, I have studied to present the +work exactly as it stands in German. That my success has been +indifferent, I already know too well. In rendering the ideas of Goethe, +often so subtle, so capriciously expressive, the meaning was not always +easy to seize, or to convey with adequate effect. There were thin tints +of style, shades of ridicule or tenderness or solemnity, resting over +large spaces, and so slight as almost to be evanescent: some of these I +may have failed to see; to many of them I could do no justice. Nor, even +in plainer matters, can I pride myself in having always imitated his +colloquial familiarity without falling into sentences bald and rugged, +into idioms harsh or foreign; or in having copied the flowing oratory of +other passages, without at times exaggerating or defacing the swelling +cadences and phrases of my original. But what work, from the translating +of a German novel to the writing of an epic, was ever as the workman +wished and meant it? This version of "Meister," with whatever faults it +may have, I honestly present to my countrymen: if, while it makes any +portion of them more familiar with the richest, most gifted of living +minds, it increase their knowledge, or even afford them a transient +amusement, they will excuse its errors, and I shall be far more than +paid for all my labor. + +[Footnote 1: Charakteristik des Meister.] + + + + +MEISTER'S APPRENTICESHIP. + + + + +BOOK I. + +CHAPTER I. + + +The play was late in breaking up: old Barbara went more than once to the +window, and listened for the sound of carriages. She was waiting for +Mariana, her pretty mistress, who had that night, in the afterpiece, +been acting the part of a young officer, to the no small delight of the +public. Barbara's impatience was greater than it used to be, when she +had nothing but a frugal supper to present: on this occasion Mariana was +to be surprised with a packet, which Norberg, a young and wealthy +merchant, had sent by the post, to show that in absence he still thought +of his love. + +As an old servant, as confidant, counsellor, manager, and housekeeper, +Barbara assumed the privilege of opening seals; and this evening she had +the less been able to restrain her curiosity, as the favor of the +open-handed gallant was more a matter of anxiety with herself than with +her mistress. On breaking up the packet, she had found, with unfeigned +satisfaction, that it held a piece of fine muslin and some ribbons of +the newest fashion, for Mariana; with a quantity of calico, two or three +neckerchiefs, and a moderate _rouleau_ of money, for herself. Her esteem +for the absent Norberg was of course unbounded: she meditated only how +she might best present him to the mind of Mariana, best bring to her +recollection what she owed him, and what he had a right to expect from +her fidelity and thankfulness. + +The muslin, with the ribbons half unrolled, to set it off by their +colors, lay like a Christmas present on the small table; the position of +the lights increased the glitter of the gilt; all was in order, when the +old woman heard Mariana's step on the stairs, and hastened to meet her. +But what was her disappointment, when the little female officer, without +deigning to regard her caresses, rushed past her with unusual speed and +agitation, threw her hat and sword upon the table, and walked hastily up +and down, bestowing not a look on the lights, or any portion of the +apparatus. + +"What ails thee, my darling?" exclaimed the astonished Barbara. "For +Heaven's sake, what is the matter? Look here, my pretty child! See what +a present! And who could have sent it but thy kindest of friends? +Norberg has given thee the muslin to make a night-gown of; he will soon +be here himself; he seems to be fonder and more generous than ever." + +Barbara went to the table, that she might exhibit the memorials with +which Norberg had likewise honored _her_, when Mariana, turning away +from the presents, exclaimed with vehemence, "Off! off! Not a word of +all this to-night. I have yielded to thee; thou hast willed it; be it +so! When Norberg comes, I am his, am thine, am any one's; make of me +what thou pleasest; but till then I will be my own; and, if thou hadst a +thousand tongues, thou shouldst never talk me from my purpose. All, all +that _is_ my own will I give up to him who loves me, whom I love. No +sour faces! I will abandon myself to this affection, as if it were to +last forever." + +The old damsel had abundance of objections and serious considerations to +allege: in the progress of the dialogue, she was growing bitter and +keen, when Mariana sprang at her, and seized her by the breast. The old +damsel laughed aloud. "I must have a care," she cried, "that you don't +get into pantaloons again, if I mean to be sure of my life. Come, doff +you! The girl will beg my pardon for the foolish things the boy is doing +to me. Off with the frock. Off with them all. The dress beseems you not; +it is dangerous for you, I observe; the epaulets make you too bold." + +Thus speaking, she laid hands upon her mistress: Mariana pushed her off, +exclaiming, "Not so fast! I expect a visit to-night." + +"Visit!" rejoined Barbara: "you surely do not look for Meister, the +young, soft-hearted, callow merchant's son?" + +"Just for him," replied Mariana. + +"Generosity appears to be growing your ruling passion," said the old +woman with a grin: "you connect yourself with minors and moneyless +people, as if they were the chosen of the earth. Doubtless it is +charming to be worshipped as a benefactress." + +"Jeer as thou pleasest. I love him! I love him! With what rapture do I +now, for the first time, speak the word! _This_ is the passion I have +mimicked so often, when I knew not what it meant. Yes! I will throw +myself about his neck: I will clasp him as if I could hold him forever. +I will show him all my love, will enjoy all his in its whole extent." + +"Moderate yourself," said the old dame coolly, "moderate yourself. A +single word will interrupt your rapture: Norberg is coming! Coming in a +fortnight! Here is the letter that arrived with the packet." + +"And, though the morrow were to rob me of my friend, I would conceal it +from myself and him. A fortnight! An age! Within a fortnight, what may +not happen, what may not alter?" + +Here Wilhelm entered. We need not say how fast she flew to meet him, +with what rapture he clasped the red uniform, and pressed the beautiful +wearer of it to his bosom. It is not for us to describe the blessedness +of two lovers. Old Barbara went grumbling away: we shall retire with +her, and leave the happy two alone. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +When Wilhelm saluted his mother next morning, she informed him that his +father was very greatly discontented with him, and meant to forbid him +these daily visits to the playhouse. "Though I myself often go with +pleasure to the theatre," she continued, "I could almost detest it +entirely, when I think that our fireside-peace is broken by your +excessive passion for that amusement. Your father is ever repeating, +'What is the use of it? How can any one waste his time so?'" + +"He has told me this already," said Wilhelm, "and perhaps I answered him +too hastily; but, for Heaven's sake, mother, is nothing, then, of use +but what immediately puts money in our purse? but what procures us some +property that we can lay our hands on? Had we not, for instance, room +enough in the old house? and was it indispensable to build a new one? +Does not my father every year expend a large part of his profit in +ornamenting his chambers? Are these silk carpets, this English +furniture, likewise of no use? Might we not content ourselves with +worse? For my own part, I confess, these striped walls, these hundred +times repeated flowers and knots and baskets and figures, produce a +really disagreeable effect upon me. At best, they but remind me of the +front curtain of our theatre. But what a different thing it is to sit +and look at that! There, if you must wait for a while, you are always +sure that it will rise at last, and disclose to you a thousand curious +objects to entertain, to instruct, and to exalt you." + +"But you go to excess with it," said the mother. "Your father wishes to +be entertained in the evenings as well as you: besides, he thinks it +diverts your attention; and, when he grows ill-humored on the subject, +it is I that must bear the blame. How often have I been upbraided with +that miserable puppet-show, which I was unlucky enough to provide for +you at Christmas, twelve years ago! It was the first thing that put +these plays into your head." + +"Oh, do not blame the poor puppets! do not repent of your love and +motherly care! It was the only happy hour I had enjoyed in the new empty +house. I never can forget that hour; I see it still before me; I +recollect how surprised I was, when, after we had got our customary +presents, you made us seat ourselves before the door that leads to the +other room. The door opened, but not, as formerly, to let us pass and +repass: the entrance was occupied by an unexpected show. Within it rose +a porch, concealed by a mysterious curtain. All of us were standing at a +distance: our eagerness to see what glittering or jingling article lay +hid behind the half-transparent veil was mounting higher and higher, +when you bade us each sit down upon his stool, and wait with patience. + +"At length all of us were seated and silent: a whistle gave the signal; +the curtain rolled aloft, and showed us the interior of the temple, +painted in deep-red colors. The high-priest Samuel appeared with +Jonathan, and their strange alternating voices seemed to me the most +striking thing on earth. Shortly after entered Saul, overwhelmed with +confusion at the impertinence of that heavy-limbed warrior, who had +defied him and all his people. But how glad was I when the little dapper +son of Jesse, with his crook and shepherd's pouch and sling, came +hopping forth, and said, 'Dread king and sovereign lord, let no one's +heart sink down because of this: if your Majesty will grant me leave, I +will go out to battle with this blustering giant!' Here ended the first +act, leaving the spectators more curious than ever to see what further +would happen; each praying that the music might soon be done. At last +the curtain rose again. David devoted the flesh of the monster to the +fowls of the air and the beasts of the field: the Philistine scorned and +bullied him, stamped mightily with both his feet, and at length fell +like a mass of clay, affording a splendid termination to the piece. And +then the virgins sang, 'Saul hath slain his thousands, but David his ten +thousands!' The giant's head was borne before his little victor, who +received the king's beautiful daughter to wife. Yet withal, I remember, +I was vexed at the dwarfish stature of this lucky prince; for the great +Goliath and the small David had both been formed, according to the +common notion, with a due regard to their figures and proportions. I +pray you, mother, tell me what has now become of those puppets? I +promised to show them to a friend, whom I was lately entertaining with a +history of all this child's work." + +"I can easily conceive," said the mother, "how these things should stick +so firmly in your mind: I well remember what an interest you took in +them,--how you stole the little book from me, and learned the whole +piece by heart. I first noticed it one evening when you had made a +Goliath and a David of wax: you set them both to declaim against each +other, and at length gave a deadly stab to the giant, fixing his +shapeless head, stuck upon a large pin with a wax handle, in little +David's hand. I then felt such a motherly contentment at your fine +recitation and good memory, that I resolved to give you up the whole +wooden troop to your own disposal. I did not then foresee that it would +cause me so many heavy hours." + +"Do not repent of it," said Wilhelm: "this little sport has often made +us happy." So saying, he got the keys, made haste to find the puppets, +and, for a moment, was transported back into those times when they +almost seemed to him alive, when he felt as if he himself could give +them life by the cunning of his voice and the movements of his hands. +He took them to his room, and locked them up with care. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +If the first love is indeed, as I hear it everywhere maintained to be, +the most delicious feeling which the heart of man, before it or after, +can experience, then our hero must be reckoned doubly happy, as +permitted to enjoy the pleasure of this chosen period in all its +fulness. Few men are so peculiarly favored: by far the greater part are +led by the feelings of their youth into nothing but a school of +hardship, where, after a stinted and checkered season of enjoyment, they +are at length constrained to renounce their dearest wishes, and to learn +forever to dispense with what once hovered before them as the highest +happiness of existence. + +Wilhelm's passion for that charming girl now soared aloft on the wings +of imagination. After a short acquaintance, he had gained her +affections: he found himself in possession of a being, whom, with all +his heart, he not only loved, but honored; for she had first appeared +before him in the flattering light of theatric pomp, and his passion for +the stage combined itself with his earliest love for woman. His youth +allowed him to enjoy rich pleasures, which the activity of his fancy +exalted and maintained. The situation of his mistress, too, gave a turn +to her conduct which greatly enlivened his emotions. The fear lest her +lover might, before the time, detect the real state in which she stood, +diffused over all her conduct an interesting tinge of anxiety and +bashfulness; her attachment to the youth was deep; her very inquietude +appeared but to augment her tenderness; she was the loveliest of +creatures while beside him. + +When the first tumult of joy had passed, and our friend began to look +back upon his life and its concerns, every thing appeared new to him: +his duties seemed holier, his inclinations keener, his knowledge +clearer, his talents stronger, his purposes more decided. Accordingly, +he soon fell upon a plan to avoid the reproaches of his father, to still +the cares of his mother, and, at the same time, to enjoy Mariana's love +without disturbance. Through the day he punctually transacted his +business, commonly forbore attending the theatre, strove to be +entertaining at table in the evening; and, when all were asleep, he +glided softly out into the garden, and hastened, wrapped up in his +mantle, with all the feelings of Leander in his bosom, to meet his +mistress without delay. + +"What is this you bring?" inquired Mariana, as he entered one evening, +with a bundle, which Barbara, in hopes it might turn out to be some +valuable present, fixed her eyes upon with great attention. "You will +never guess," said Wilhelm. + +Great was the surprise of Mariana, great the scorn of Barbara, when the +napkin, being loosened, gave to view a perplexed multitude of span-long +puppets. Mariana laughed aloud, as Wilhelm set himself to disentangle +the confusion of the wires, and show her each figure by itself. Barbara +glided sulkily out of the room. + +A very little thing will entertain two lovers; and accordingly our +friends, this evening, were as happy as they wished to be. The little +troop was mustered: each figure was minutely examined, and laughed at, +in its turn. King Saul, with his golden crown and his black velvet robe, +Mariana did not like: he looked, she said, too stiff and pedantic. She +was far better pleased with Jonathan, his sleek chin, his turban, his +cloak of red and yellow. She soon got the art of turning him deftly on +his wire: she made him bow, and repeat declarations of love. On the +other hand, she refused to give the least attention to the prophet +Samuel; though Wilhelm commended the pontifical breastplate, and told +her that the taffeta of the cassock had been taken from a gown of his +own grandmother's. David she thought too small; Goliath was too big; she +held by Jonathan. She grew to manage him so featly, and at last to +extend her caresses from the puppet to its owner, that, on this +occasion, as on others, a silly sport became the introduction to happy +hours. + +Their soft, sweet dreams were broken in upon by a noise which arose on +the street. Mariana called for the old dame, who, as usual, was occupied +in furbishing the changeful materials of the playhouse wardrobe for the +service of the play next to be acted. Barbara said the disturbance arose +from a set of jolly companions, who were just then sallying out of the +Italian tavern hard by, where they had been busy discussing fresh +oysters, a cargo of which had just arrived, and by no means sparing +their champagne. + +"Pity," Mariana said, "that we did not think of it in time: we might +have had some entertainment to ourselves." + +"It is not yet too late," said Wilhelm, giving Barbara a _louis-d'or_: +"get us what we want, then come and take a share with us." + +The old dame made speedy work: erelong a trimly covered table, with a +neat collation, stood before the lovers. They made Barbara sit with +them: they ate and drank, and enjoyed themselves. + +On such occasions, there is never want of enough to say. Mariana soon +took up little Jonathan again, and the old dame turned the conversation +upon Wilhelm's favorite topic. "You were once telling us," she said, +"about the first exhibition of a puppet-show on Christmas Eve: I +remember you were interrupted just as the ballet was going to begin. We +have now the pleasure of a personal acquaintance with the honorable +company by whom those wonderful effects were brought about." + +"Oh, yes!" cried Mariana: "do tell us how it all went on, and how you +felt then." + +"It is a fine emotion, Mariana," said the youth, "when we bethink +ourselves of old times, and old, harmless errors, especially if this is +at a period when we have happily gained some elevation, from which we +can look around us, and survey the path we have left behind. It is so +pleasant to think, with composure and satisfaction, of many obstacles, +which often with painful feelings we may have regarded as +invincible,--pleasant to compare what we now are with what we then were +struggling to become. But I am happy above others in this matter, that I +speak to you about the past, at a moment when I can also look forth into +the blooming country, which we are yet to wander through together, hand +in hand." + +"But how was it with the ballet?" said Barbara. "I fear it did not quite +go off as it should have done." + +"I assure you," said Wilhelm, "it went off quite well. And certainly the +strange caperings of these Moors and Mooresses, these shepherds and +shepherdesses, these dwarfs and dwarfesses, will never altogether leave +my recollection while I live. When the curtain dropped, and the door +closed, our little party skipped away, frolicking as if they had been +tipsy, to their beds. For myself, however, I remember that I could not +go to sleep: still wanting to have something told me on the subject, I +continued putting questions to every one, and would hardly let the maid +away who had brought me up to bed. + +"Next morning, alas! the magic apparatus had altogether vanished; the +mysterious veil was carried off; the door permitted us again to go and +come through it without obstruction; the manifold adventures of the +evening had passed away, and left no trace behind. My brothers and +sisters were running up and down with their playthings; I alone kept +gliding to and fro: it seemed to me impossible that two bare door-posts +could be all that now remained, where the night before so much +enchantment had been displayed. Alas! the man that seeks a lost love can +hardly be unhappier than I then thought myself." + +A rapturous look, which he cast on Mariana, convinced her that he was +not afraid of such ever being his case. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"My sole wish now," continued Wilhelm, "was to witness a second +exhibition of the play. For this purpose I had recourse, by constant +entreaties, to my mother; and she attempted in a favorable hour to +persuade my father. Her labor, however, was in vain. My father's +principle was, that none but enjoyments of rare occurrence were +adequately prized; that neither young nor old could set a proper value +on pleasures which they tasted every day. + +"We might have waited long, perhaps till Christmas returned, had not the +contriver and secret director of the spectacle himself felt a pleasure +in repeating the display of it, partly incited, I suppose, by the wish +to produce a brand-new harlequin expressly prepared for the afterpiece. + +"A young officer of the artillery, a person of great gifts in all sorts +of mechanical contrivance, had served my father in many essential +particulars during the building of the house; for which, having been +handsomely rewarded, he felt desirous of expressing his thankfulness to +the family of his patron, and so made us young ones a present of this +complete theatre, which, in hours of leisure, he had already carved and +painted, and strung together. It was this young man, who, with the help +of a servant, had himself managed the puppets, disguising his voice to +pronounce their various speeches. He had no great difficulty in +persuading my father, who granted, out of complaisance to a friend, +what he had denied from conviction to his children. In short, our +theatre was again set up, some little ones of the neighborhood were +invited, and the play was again represented. + +"If I had formerly experienced the delights of surprise and +astonishment, I enjoyed on this second occasion the pleasure of +examining and scrutinizing. _How_ all this happened was my present +concern. That the puppets themselves did not speak, I had already +decided; that of themselves they did not move, I also conjectured; but, +then, how came it all to be so pretty, and to look just as if they both +spoke and moved of themselves? and where were the lights, and the people +that managed the deception? These enigmas perplexed me the more, as I +wished to be at the same time among the enchanters and the enchanted, at +the same time to have a secret hand in the play, and to enjoy, as a +looker-on, the pleasure of illusion. + +"The play being finished, preparations were making for the farce: the +spectators had risen, and were all busy talking together. I squeezed +myself closer to the door, and heard, by the rattling within, that the +people were packing up some articles. I lifted the lowest screen, and +poked in my head between the posts. As our mother noticed it, she drew +me back: but I had seen well enough that here friends and foes, Saul and +Goliath, and whatever else their names might be, were lying quietly down +together in a drawer; and thus my half-contented curiosity received a +fresh excitement. To my great surprise, moreover, I had noticed the +lieutenant very diligently occupied in the interior of the shrine. +Henceforth, Jack-pudding, however he might clatter with his heels, could +not any longer entertain me. I sank into deep meditation: my discovery +made me both more satisfied, and less so, than before. After a little, +it first struck me that I yet comprehended nothing: and here I was +right; for the connection of the parts with each other was entirely +unknown to me, and every thing depends on that." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +"In well adjusted and regulated houses," continued Wilhelm, "children +have a feeling not unlike what I conceive rats and mice to have: they +keep a sharp eye on all crevices and holes, where they may come at any +forbidden dainty; they enjoy it also with a fearful, stolen +satisfaction, which forms no small part of the happiness of childhood. + +"More than any other of the young ones, I was in the habit of looking +out attentively, to see if I could notice any cupboard left open, or key +standing in its lock. The more reverence I bore in my heart for those +closed doors, on the outside of which I had to pass by for weeks and +months, catching only a furtive glance when our mother now and then +opened the consecrated place to take something from it, the quicker was +I to make use of any opportunities which the forgetfulness of our +housekeepers at times afforded me. + +"Among all the doors, that of the storeroom was, of course, the one I +watched most narrowly. Few of the joyful anticipations in life can equal +the feeling which I used to have when my mother happened to call me, +that I might help her to carry out something, whereupon I might pick up +a few dried plums, either with her kind permission, or by help of my own +dexterity. The accumulated treasures of this chamber took hold of my +imagination by their magnitude: the very fragrance exhaled by so +multifarious a collection of sweet-smelling spices produced such a +craving effect on me, that I never failed, when passing near, to linger +for a little, and regale myself at least on the unbolted atmosphere. At +length, one Sunday morning, my mother, being hurried by the ringing of +the church-bells, forgot to take this precious key with her on shutting +the door, and went away, leaving all the house in a deep Sabbath +stillness. No sooner had I marked this oversight than, gliding softly +once or twice to and from the place, I at last approached very gingerly, +opened the door, and felt myself, after a single step, in immediate +contact with these manifold and long-wished-for means of happiness. I +glanced over glasses, chests, and bags, and drawers and boxes, with a +quick and doubtful eye, considering what I ought to choose and take; +turned finally to my dear withered plums, provided myself also with a +few dried apples, and completed the forage with an orange-chip. I was +quietly retreating with my plunder, when some little chests, lying +piled over one another, caught my attention,--the more so as I noticed a +wire, with hooks at the end of it, sticking through the joint of the lid +in one of them. Full of eager hopes, I opened this singular package; and +judge of my emotions, when I found my glad world of heroes all sleeping +safe within! I meant to pick out the topmost, and, having examined them, +to pull up those below; but in this attempt the wires got very soon +entangled: and I fell into a fright and flutter, more particularly as +the cook just then began making some stir in the kitchen, which was +close by; so that I had nothing for it but to squeeze the whole together +the best way I could, and to shut the chest, having stolen from it +nothing but a little written book, which happened to be lying above, and +contained the whole drama of Goliath and David. With this booty I made +good my retreat into the garret. + +"Henceforth all my stolen hours of solitude were devoted to perusing the +play, to learning it by heart, and picturing in thought how glorious it +would be, could I but get the figures, to make them move along with it. +In idea I myself became David and Goliath by turns. In every corner of +the court-yard, of the stables, of the garden, under all kinds of +circumstances, I labored to stamp the whole piece upon my mind; laid +hold of all the characters, and learned their speeches by heart, most +commonly, however, taking up the parts of the chief personages, and +allowing all the rest to move along with them, but as satellites, across +my memory. Thus day and night the heroic words of David, wherewith he +challenged the braggart giant, Goliath of Gath, kept their place in my +thoughts. I often muttered them to myself; while no one gave heed to me, +except my father, who, frequently observing some such detached +exclamation, would in secret praise the excellent memory of his boy, +that had retained so much from only two recitations. + +"By this means growing bolder and bolder, I one evening repeated almost +the entire piece before my mother, whilst I was busied in fashioning +some bits of wax into players. She observed it, questioned me hard; and +I confessed. + +"By good fortune, this detection happened at a time when the lieutenant +had himself been expressing a wish to initiate me in the mysteries of +the art. My mother forthwith gave him notice of these unexpected +talents; and he now contrived to make my parents offer him a couple of +chambers in the top story, which commonly stood empty, that he might +accommodate the spectators in the one, while the other held his actors, +the proscenium again filling up the opening of the door: my father had +allowed his friend to arrange all this; himself, in the mean time, +seeming only to look at the transaction, as it were, through his +fingers; for his maxim was, that children should not be allowed to see +the kindness which is felt towards them, lest their pretensions come to +extend too far. He was of opinion, that, in the enjoyments of the young, +one should assume a serious air; often interrupting the course of their +festivities, to prevent their satisfaction from degenerating into excess +and presumption." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +"The lieutenant now set up his theatre, and managed all the rest. During +the week I readily observed that he often came into the house at unusual +hours, and I soon guessed the cause. My eagerness increased immensely; +for I well understood, that, till Sunday evening, I could have no share +in what was going on. At last the wished-for day arrived. At five in the +evening my conductor came, and took me up with him. Quivering with joy, +I entered, and descried, on both sides of the framework, the puppets all +hanging in order as they were to advance to view. I considered them +narrowly, and mounted on the steps, which raised them above the scene, +and allowed me to hover aloft over all that little world. Not without +reverence did I look down between the pieces of board, and recollect +what a glorious effect the whole would produce, and feel into what +mighty secrets I was now admitted. We made a trial, which succeeded +well. + +"Next day a party of children were invited: we performed rarely; except +that once, in the fire of action, I let poor Jonathan fall, and was +obliged to reach down with my hand, and pick him up,--an accident which +sadly marred the illusion, produced a peal of laughter, and vexed me +unspeakably. My father, however, seemed to relish this misfortune not a +little. Prudently shrouding up the contentment he felt at the expertness +of his little boy, after the play was finished, he dwelt on the mistakes +we had committed, saying it would all have been very pretty had not +this or that gone wrong with us. + +"I was vexed to the heart at these things, and sad for all the evening. +By next morning, however, I had quite slept off my sorrow, and was +blessed in the persuasion, that, but for this one fault, I had acted +delightfully. The spectators also flattered me with their unanimous +approval: they all maintained, that though the lieutenant, in regard to +the coarse and the fine voices, had done great things, yet his +declamation was in general too stiff and affected; whereas the new +aspirant spoke his Jonathan and David with exquisite grace. My mother in +particular commended the gallant tone in which I had challenged Goliath, +and acted the modest victor before the king. + +"From this time, to my extreme delight, the theatre continued open; and +as the spring advanced, so that fires could be dispensed with, I passed +all my hours of recreation lying in the garret, and making the puppets +caper and play together. Often I invited up my comrades, or my brothers +and sisters; but, when they would not come, I staid by myself not the +less. My imagination brooded over that tiny world, which soon afterwards +acquired another form. + +"Scarcely had I once or twice exhibited the first play, for which my +scenery and actors had been formed and decorated, when it ceased to give +me any pleasure. On the other hand, among some of my grandfather's +books, I had happened to fall in with 'The German Theatre,' and a few +translations of Italian operas; in which works I soon got very deeply +immersed, on each occasion first reckoning up the characters, and then, +without further ceremony, proceeding to exhibit the play. King Saul, +with his black velvet cloak, was therefore now obliged to personate +Darius or Cato, or some other pagan hero; in which cases, it may be +observed, the plays were never wholly represented,--for most part, only +the fifth acts, where the cutting and stabbing lay. + +"It was natural that the operas, with their manifold adventures and +vicissitudes, should attract me more than any thing beside. In these +compositions I found stormy seas, gods descending in chariots of cloud, +and, what most of all delighted me, abundance of thunder and lightning. +I did my best with pasteboard, paint, and paper: I could make night very +prettily; my lightning was fearful to behold; only my thunder did not +always prosper, which, however, was of less importance. In operas, +moreover, I found frequent opportunities of introducing my David and +Goliath,--persons whom the regular drama would hardly admit. Daily I +felt more attachment for the hampered spot where I enjoyed so many +pleasures; and, I must confess, the fragrance which the puppets had +acquired from the storeroom added not a little to my satisfaction. + +"The decorations of my theatre were now in a tolerable state of +completeness. I had always had the knack of drawing with compasses, and +clipping pasteboard, and coloring figures; and here it served me in good +stead. But the more sorry was I, on the other hand, when, as frequently +happened, my stock of actors would not suffice for representing great +affairs. + +"My sisters, dressing and undressing their dolls, awoke in me the +project of furnishing my heroes by and by with garments which might also +be put off and on. Accordingly, I slit the scraps of cloth from off +their bodies, tacked the fragments together as well as possible, saved a +particle of money to buy new ribbons and lace, begged many a rag of +taffeta, and so formed, by degrees, a full theatrical wardrobe, in which +hoop-petticoats for the ladies were especially remembered. + +"My troop was now fairly provided with dresses for the most important +play, and you might have expected that henceforth one exhibition would +follow close upon the heels of another; but it happened with me, as it +often happens with children,--they embrace wide plans, make mighty +preparations, then a few trials, and the whole undertaking is abandoned. +I was guilty of this fault. My greatest pleasure lay in the inventive +part, and the employment of my fancy. This or that piece inspired me +with interest for a few scenes of it, and immediately I set about +providing new apparel suitable for the occasion. In such fluctuating +operations, many parts of the primary dresses of my heroes had fallen +into disorder, or totally gone out of sight; so that now the first great +play could no longer be exhibited. I surrendered myself to my +imagination; I rehearsed and prepared forever; built a thousand castles +in the air, and failed to see that I was at the same time undermining +the foundations of these little edifices." + + * * * * * + +During this recital, Mariana had called up and put in action all her +courtesy for Wilhelm, that she might conceal her sleepiness. Diverting +as the matter seemed on one side, it was too simple for her taste, and +her lover's view of it too serious. She softly pressed her foot on his, +however, and gave him all visible signs of attention and approval. She +drank out of his glass: Wilhelm was convinced that no word of his +history had fallen to the ground. After a short pause, he said, "It is +now your turn, Mariana, to tell me what were your first childish joys. +Till now we have always been too busy with the present to trouble +ourselves, on either side, about our previous way of life. Let me hear, +Mariana, under what circumstances you were reared: what are the first +lively impressions which you still remember?" + +These questions would have very much embarrassed Mariana, had not +Barbara made haste to help her. "Think you," said the cunning old woman, +"we have been so mindful of what happened to us long ago, that we have +merry things like these to talk about, and, though we had, that we could +give them such an air in talking of them?" + +"As if they needed it!" cried Wilhelm. "I love this soft, good, amiable +creature so much, that I regret every instant of my life which has not +been spent beside her. Allow me, at least in fancy, to have a share in +thy by-gone life; tell me every thing; I will tell every thing to thee! +If possible, we will deceive ourselves, and win back those days that +have been lost to love." + +"If you require it so eagerly," replied the old dame, "we can easily +content you. Only, in the first place, let us hear how your taste for +the theatre gradually reached a head; how you practised, how you +improved so happily, that now you can pass for a superior actor. No +doubt you must have met with droll adventures in your progress. It is +not worth while to go to bed now: I have still one flask in reserve; and +who knows whether we shall soon all sit together so quiet and cheery +again?" + +Mariana cast upon her a mournful look, not noticed by Wilhelm, who +proceeded with his narrative. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +"The recreations of youth, as my companions began to increase in number, +interfered with this solitary, still enjoyment. I was by turns a hunter, +a soldier, a knight, as our games required; and constantly I had this +small advantage above the rest, that I was qualified to furnish them +suitably with the necessary equipments. The swords, for example, were +generally of my manufacture; I gilded and decorated the scabbards; and a +secret instinct allowed me not to stop till our militia was accoutred +according to the antique model. Helmets, with plumes of paper, were got +ready; shields, even coats of mail, were provided; undertakings in which +such of the servants as had aught of the tailor in them, and the +seamstresses of the house, broke many a needle. + +"A part of my comrades I had now got well equipped; by degrees, the rest +were likewise furbished up, though on a thriftier plan; and so a very +seemly corps at length was mustered. We marched about the court-yards +and gardens, smote fearfully upon each other's shields and heads: many +flaws of discord rose among us, but none that lasted. + +"This diversion greatly entertained my fellows; but scarcely had it been +twice or thrice repeated, when it ceased to content me. The aspect of so +many harnessed figures naturally stimulated in my mind those ideas of +chivalry, which for some time, since I had commenced the reading of old +romances, were filling my imagination. + +"Koppen's translation of 'Jerusalem Delivered' at length fell into my +hands, and gave these wandering thoughts a settled direction. The whole +poem, it is true, I could not read; but there were passages which I +learned by heart, and the images expressed in these hovered round me. +Particularly was I captivated with Clorinda, and all her deeds and +bearing. The masculine womanhood, the peaceful completeness of her +being, had a greater influence upon my mind, just beginning to unfold +itself, than the factitious charms of Armida; though the garden of that +enchantress was by no means an object of my contempt. + +"But a hundred and a hundred times, while walking in the evenings on the +balcony which stretches along the front of the house, and looking over +the neighborhood, as the quivering splendor streamed up at the horizon +from the departed sun, and the stars came forth, and night pressed +forward from every cleft and hollow, and the small, shrill tone of the +cricket tinkled through the solemn stillness,--a hundred and a hundred +times have I repeated to myself the history of the mournful duel between +Tancred and Clorinda. + +"However strongly I inclined by nature to the party of the Christians, I +could not help declaring for the Paynim heroine with all my heart when +she engaged to set on fire the great tower of the besiegers. And when +Tancred in the darkness met the supposed knight, and the strife began +between them under that veil of gloom, and the two battled fiercely, I +could never pronounce the words,-- + + "'But now the sure and fated hour is nigh: + Clorinda's course is ended,--she must die;'-- + +without tears rushing into my eyes, which flowed plentifully when the +hapless lover, plunging his sword into her breast, opened the departing +warrior's helmet, recognized the lady of his heart, and, shuddering, +brought water to baptize her. + +"How my heart ran over when Tancred struck with his sword that tree in +the enchanted wood; when blood flowed from the gash, and a voice sounded +in his ears, that now again he was wounding Clorinda; that Destiny had +marked him out ever unwittingly to injure what he loved beyond all else. + +"The recital took such hold of my imagination, that what I had read of +the poem began dimly, in my mind, to conglomerate into a whole; +wherewith I was so taken that I could not but propose to have it some +way represented. I meant to have Tancred and Rinaldo acted; and, for +this purpose, two coats of mail, which I had before manufactured, seemed +expressly suitable. The one, formed of dark-gray paper with scales, was +to serve for the solemn Tancred; the other, of silver and gilt paper, +for the magnificent Rinaldo. In the vivacity of my anticipations, I told +the whole project to my comrades, who felt quite charmed with it, except +that they could not well comprehend how so glorious a thing could be +exhibited, and, above all, exhibited by them. + +"Such scruples I easily set aside. Without hesitation, I took upon me, +in idea, the management of two rooms in the house of a neighboring +playmate; not calculating that his venerable aunt would never give them +up, or considering how a theatre could be made of them, whereof I had +no settled notion, except that it was to be fixed on beams, to have +side-scenes made of parted folding-screens, and on the floor a large +piece of cloth. From what quarter these materials and furnishings were +to come, I had not determined. + +"So far as concerned the forest, we fell upon a good expedient. We +betook ourselves to an old servant of one of our families, who had now +become a woodman, with many entreaties that he would get us a few young +firs and birches; which actually arrived more speedily than we had +reason to expect. But, in the next place, great was our embarrassment as +to how the piece should be got up before the trees were withered. Now +was the time for prudent counsel. We had no house, no scenery, no +curtain: the folding-screens were all we had. + +"In this forlorn condition we again applied to the lieutenant, giving +him a copious description of all the glorious things we meant to do. +Little as he understood us, he was very helpful: he piled all the tables +he could get in the house or neighborhood, one above the other, in a +little room: to these he fixed our folding-screens, and made a back-view +with green curtains, sticking up our trees along with it. + +"At length the appointed evening came: the candles were lit, the maids +and children were sitting in their places, the piece was to go forward, +the whole corps of heroes was equipped and dressed,--when each for the +first time discovered that he knew not what he was to say. In the heat +of invention, being quite immersed in present difficulties, I had +forgotten the necessity of each understanding what and where he was to +speak; nor, in the midst of our bustling preparations, had it once +occurred to the rest; each believing he could easily enact a hero, +easily so speak and bear himself, as became the personage into whose +world I had transplanted him. They all stood wonder-struck, asking, What +was to come first? I alone, having previously got ready Tancred's part, +entered _solus_ on the scene, and began reciting some verses of the +epic. But as the passage soon changed into narrative, and I, while +speaking, was at once transformed into a third party, and the bold +Godfredo, when his turn came, would not venture forth, I was at last +obliged to take leave of my spectators under peals of laughter,--a +disaster which cut me to the heart. Thus had our undertaking proved +abortive; but the company still kept their places, still wishing to see +something. All of us were dressed: I screwed my courage up, and +determined, foul or fair, to give them David and Goliath. Some of my +companions had before this helped me to exhibit the puppet-play; all of +them had often seen it; we shared the characters among us; each promised +to do his best; and one small, grinning urchin painted a black beard +upon his chin, and undertook, if any _lacuna_ should occur, to fill it +with drollery as harlequin,--an arrangement to which, as contradicting +the solemnity of the piece, I did not consent without extreme +reluctance; and I vowed within myself, that, if once delivered out of +this perplexity, I would think long and well before risking the +exhibition of another play." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Mariana, overpowered with sleep, leaned upon her lover, who clasped her +close to him, and proceeded in his narrative; while the old damsel +prudently sipped up the remainder of the wine. + +"The embarrassment," he said, "into which, along with my companions, I +had fallen, by attempting to act a play that did not anywhere exist, was +soon forgotten. My passion for representing each romance I read, each +story that was told me, would not yield before the most unmanageable +materials. I felt convinced that whatever gave delight in narrative must +produce a far deeper impression when exhibited: I wanted to have every +thing before my eyes, every thing brought forth upon the stage. At +school, when the elements of general history were related to us, I +carefully marked the passages where any person had been slain or +poisoned in a singular way; and my imagination, glancing rapidly along +the exposition and intrigue, hastened to the interesting fifth act. +Indeed, I actually began to write some plays from the end backwards, +without, however, in any of them reaching the beginning. + +"At the same time, partly by inclination, partly by the counsel of my +good friends, who had caught the fancy of acting plays, I read a whole +wilderness of theatrical productions, as chance put them into my hands. +I was still in those happy years when all things please us, when number +and variety yield us abundant satisfaction. Unfortunately, too, my taste +was corrupted by another circumstance. Any piece delighted me +especially, in which I could hope to give delight; there were few which +I did not peruse in this agreeable delusion: and my lively conceptive +power enabling me to transfer myself into all the characters, seduced me +to believe that I might likewise represent them all. Hence, in the +distribution of the parts, I commonly selected such as did not fit me, +and always more than one part, if I could by any means accomplish more. + +"In their games, children can make all things out of any: a staff +becomes a musket, a splinter of wood a sword, any bunch of cloth a +puppet, any crevice a chamber. Upon this principle was our private +theatre got up. Totally unacquainted with the measure of our strength, +we undertook all: we stuck at no _quid pro quo_, and felt convinced that +every one would take us for what we gave ourselves out to be. Now, +however, our affairs went on so soberly and smoothly, that I have not +even a curious insipidity to tell you of. We first acted all the few +plays in which only males are requisite, next we travestied some of +ourselves, and at last took our sisters into the concern along with us. +In one or two houses, our amusement was looked upon as profitable; and +company was invited to see it. Nor did our lieutenant of artillery now +turn his back upon us. He showed us how we ought to make our exits and +our entrances; how we should declaim, and with what attitudes and +gestures. Yet generally he earned small thanks for his toil, we +conceiving ourselves to be much deeper in the secrets of theatrical art +than he himself was. + +"We very soon began to grow tired of tragedy; for all of us believed, as +we had often heard, that it was easier to write or represent a tragedy +than to attain proficiency in comedy. In our first attempts, +accordingly, we had felt as if exactly in our element: dignity of rank, +elevation of character, we studied to approach by stiffness and +affectation, and imagined that we succeeded rarely; but our happiness +was not complete, except we might rave outright, might stamp with our +feet, and, full of fury and despair, cast ourselves upon the ground. + +"Boys and girls had not long carried on these amusements in concert, +till Nature began to take her course; and our society branched itself +off into sundry little love-associations, as generally more than one +sort of comedy is acted in the playhouse. Behind the scenes, each happy +pair pressed hands in the most tender style; they floated in +blessedness, appearing to one another quite ideal persons, when so +transformed and decorated; whilst, on the other hand, unlucky rivals +consumed themselves with envy, and out of malice and spite worked every +species of mischief. + +"Our amusements, though undertaken without judgment, and carried on +without instruction, were not without their use to us. We trained our +memories and persons, and acquired more dexterity in speech and gesture +than is usually met with at so early an age. But, for me in particular, +this time was in truth an epoch: my mind turned all its faculties +exclusively to the theatre; and my highest happiness was in reading, in +writing, or in acting, plays. + +"Meanwhile the labors of my regular teachers continued: I had been set +apart for the mercantile life, and placed under the guidance of our +neighbor in the counting-house; yet my spirit at this very time recoiled +more forcibly than ever from all that was to bind me to a low +profession. It was to the stage that I aimed at consecrating all my +powers,--on the stage that I meant to seek all my happiness and +satisfaction. + +"I recollect a poem, which must be among my papers, where the Muse of +tragic art and another female form, by which I personified Commerce, +were made to strive very bravely for my most important self. The idea is +common, nor do I recollect that the verses were of any worth; but you +shall see it, for the sake of the fear, the abhorrence, the love and +passion, which are prominent in it. How repulsively did I paint the old +housewife, with the distaff in her girdle, the bunch of keys by her +side, the spectacles on her nose, ever toiling, ever restless, +quarrelsome, and penurious, pitiful and dissatisfied! How feelingly did +I describe the condition of that poor man who has to cringe beneath her +rod, and earn his slavish day's wages by the sweat of his brow! + +"And how differently advanced the other! What an apparition for the +overclouded mind! Formed as a queen, in her thoughts and looks she +announced herself the child of freedom. The feeling of her own worth +gave her dignity without pride: her apparel became her, it veiled her +form without constraining it; and the rich folds repeated, like a +thousand-voiced echo, the graceful movements of the goddess. What a +contrast! How easy for me to decide! Nor had I forgotten the more +peculiar characteristics of my Muse. Crowns and daggers, chains and +masks, as my predecessors had delivered them, were here produced once +more. The contention was keen: the speeches of both were palpably +enough contrasted, for at fourteen years of age one usually paints the +black lines and the white pretty near each other. The old lady spoke as +beseemed a person that would pick up a pin from her path; the other, +like one that could give away kingdoms. The warning threats of the +housewife were disregarded; I turned my back upon her promised riches: +disinherited and naked, I gave myself up to the Muse; she threw her +golden veil over me, and called me hers. + +"Could I have thought, my dearest," he exclaimed, pressing Mariana close +to him, "that another, a more lovely goddess would come to encourage me +in my purpose, to travel with me on my journey, the poem might have had +a finer turn, a far more interesting end. Yet it is no poetry, it is +truth and life that I feel in thy arms: let us prize the sweet +happiness, and consciously enjoy it." + +The pressure of his arms, the emotion of his elevated voice, awoke +Mariana, who hastened by caresses to conceal her embarrassment; for no +word of the last part of his story had reached her. It is to be wished, +that in future, our hero, when recounting his favorite histories, may +find more attentive hearers. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Thus Wilhelm passed his nights in the enjoyment of confiding love, his +days in the expectation of new happy hours. When desire and hope had +first attracted him to Mariana, he already felt as if inspired with new +life; felt as if he were beginning to be another man: he was now united +to her; the contentment of his wishes had become a delicious habitude. +His heart strove to ennoble the object of his passion; his spirit, to +exalt with it the young creature whom he loved. In the shortest absence, +thoughts of her arose within him. If she had once been necessary to him, +she was now grown indispensable, now that he was bound to her by all the +ties of nature. His pure soul felt that she was the half, more than the +half, of himself. He was grateful and devoted without limit. + +Mariana, too, succeeded in deceiving herself for a season: she shared +with him the feeling of his liveliest blessedness. Alas! if but the +cold hand of self-reproach had not often come across her heart! She was +not secure from it, even in Wilhelm's bosom, even under the wings of his +love. And when she was again left alone, again left to sink from the +clouds, to which passion had exalted her, into the consciousness of her +real condition, then she was indeed to be pitied. So long as she had +lived among degrading perplexities, disguising from herself her real +situation, or rather never thinking of it, frivolity had helped her +through; the incidents she was exposed to had come upon her each by +itself; satisfaction and vexation had cancelled one another; humiliation +had been compensated by vanity; want by frequent, though momentary, +superfluity; she could plead necessity and custom as a law or an excuse; +and hitherto all painful emotions from hour to hour, and from day to +day, had by these means been shaken off. But now, for some instants, the +poor girl had felt herself transported to a better world; aloft, as it +were, in the midst of light and joy, she had looked down upon the abject +desert of her life, had felt what a miserable creature is the woman, +who, inspiring desire, does not also inspire reverence and love: she +regretted and repented, but found herself outwardly or inwardly no +better for regret. She had nothing that she could accomplish or resolve +upon. When she looked into and searched herself, all was waste and void +within her soul: her heart had no place of strength or refuge. But the +more sorrowful her state was, the more vehemently did her feelings cling +to the man she loved: her passion for him even waxed stronger daily, as +the danger of losing him came daily nearer. + +Wilhelm, on the other hand, soared serenely happy in higher regions: to +him also a new world had been disclosed, but a world rich in the most +glorious prospects. Scarcely had the first excess of joy subsided, when +all that had long been gliding dimly through his soul stood up in bright +distinctness before it. She is mine! She has given herself up to me! +She, the loved, the wished for, the adored, has given herself up to me +in trust and faith: she shall not find me ungrateful for the gift. +Standing or walking, he talked to himself; his heart constantly +overflowed; with a copiousness of splendid words, he uttered to himself +the loftiest emotions. He imagined that he understood the visible +beckoning of Fate, reaching out its hand by Mariana to save him from the +stagnant, weary, drudging life, out of which he had so often wished for +deliverance. To leave his father's house and people, now appeared a +light matter. He was young, and had not tried the world: his eagerness +to range over its expanses, seeking fortune and contentment, was +stimulated by his love. His vocation for the theatre was now clear to +him: the high goal, which he saw raised before him, seemed nearer whilst +he was advancing to it with Mariana's hand in his; and, in his +comfortable prudence, he beheld in himself the embryo of a great +actor,--the future founder of that national theatre, for which he heard +so much and various sighing on every side. All that till now had +slumbered in the innermost corners of his soul, at length awoke. He +painted for himself a picture of his manifold ideas, in the colors of +love, upon a canvas of cloud: the figures of it, indeed, ran sadly into +one another; yet the whole had an air but the more brilliant on that +account. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +He was now in his chamber at home, ransacking his papers, making ready +for departure. Whatever savored of his previous employment he threw +aside, meaning at his entrance upon life to be free, even from +recollections that could pain him. Works of taste alone, poets and +critics, were, as acknowledged friends, placed among the chosen few. +Heretofore he had given little heed to the critical authors: his desire +for instruction now revived, when, again looking through his books, he +found the theoretical part of them lying generally still uncut. In the +full persuasion that such works were absolutely necessary, he had bought +a number of them; but, with the best disposition in the world, he had +not reached midway in any. + +The more steadfastly, on the other hand, he had dwelt upon examples, +and, in every kind that was known to him, had made attempts himself. + +Werner entered the room; and, seeing his friend busied with the +well-known sheets, he exclaimed, "Again among your papers? And without +intending, I dare swear, to finish any one of them! You look them +through and through once or twice, then throw them by, and begin +something new." + +"To finish is not the scholar's care: it is enough if he improves +himself by practice." + +"But also completes according to his best ability." + +"And still the question might be asked, 'Is there not good hope of a +youth, who, on commencing some unsuitable affair, soon discovers its +unsuitableness, and discontinues his exertions, not choosing to spend +toil and time on what never can be of any value?'" + +"I know well enough it was never your concern to bring aught to a +conclusion: you have always sickened on it before it came half way. When +you were the director of our puppet-show, for instance, how many times +were fresh clothes got ready for the dwarfish troop, fresh decorations +furbished up? Now this tragedy was to be acted, now that; and at the +very best you gave us some fifth act, where all was going topsy-turvy, +and people cutting one another's throats." + +"If you talk of those times, whose blame really was it that we ripped +off from our puppets the clothes that fitted them, and were fast +stitched to their bodies, and laid out money for a large and useless +wardrobe? Was it not yours, my good friend, who had always some fragment +of ribbon to traffic with; and skill, at the same time, to stimulate my +taste, and turn it to your profit?" + +Werner laughed, and continued, "I still recollect, with pleasure, how I +used to extract gain from your theatrical campaigns, as army contractors +do from war. When you mustered for the 'Deliverance of Jerusalem,' I, +for my part, made a pretty thing of profit, like the Venetians in the +corresponding case. I know of nothing in the world more rational than to +turn the folly of others to our own advantage." + +"Perhaps it were a nobler satisfaction to cure men of their follies." + +"From the little I know of men, this might seem a vain endeavor. But +something towards it is always done, when any individual man grows wise +and rich; and generally this happens at the cost of others." + +"Well, here is 'The Youth at the Parting of the Ways;' it has just come +into my hand," said Wilhelm, drawing out a bunch of papers from the +rest; "this at least is finished, whatever else it may be." + +"Away with it! to the fire with it!" cried Werner. "The invention does +not deserve the smallest praise: that affair has plagued me enough +already, and drawn upon yourself your father's wrath. The verses may +be altogether beautiful, but the meaning of them is fundamentally +false. I still recollect your Commerce personified: a shrivelled, +wretched-looking sibyl she was. I suppose you picked up the image of her +from some miserable huckster's shop. At that time you had no true idea +at all of trade; whilst I could not think of any man whose spirit was, +or needed to be, more enlarged than the spirit of a genuine merchant. +What a thing is it to see the order which prevails throughout his +business! By means of this he can at any time survey the general whole, +without needing to perplex himself in the details. What advantages does +he derive from the system of book-keeping by double entry! It is among +the finest inventions of the human mind: every prudent master of a house +should introduce it into his economy." + +"Pardon me," said Wilhelm, smiling; "you begin by the form, as if it +were the matter: you traders commonly, in your additions and balancings, +forget what is the proper net result of life." + +"My good friend, you do not see how form and matter are in this case +one, how neither can exist without the other. Order and arrangement +increase the desire to save and get. A man embarrassed in his +circumstances, and conducting them imprudently, likes best to continue +in the dark: he will not gladly reckon up the debtor entries he is +charged with. But, on the other hand, there is nothing to a prudent +manager more pleasant than daily to set before himself the sums of his +growing fortune. Even a mischance, if it surprise and vex, will not +affright, him; for he knows at once what gains he has acquired to cast +into the other scale. I am convinced, my friend, that, if you once had a +proper taste for our employments, you would grant that many faculties of +the mind are called into full and vigorous play by them." + +"Possibly this journey I am thinking of may bring me to other thoughts." + +"Oh, certainly! Believe me, you want but to look upon some great scene +of activity to make you ours forever; and, when you come back, you will +joyfully enroll yourself among that class of men whose art it is to draw +towards themselves a portion of the money, and materials of enjoyment, +which circulate in their appointed courses through the world. Cast a +look on the natural and artificial productions of all the regions of the +earth; consider how they have become, one here, another there, articles +of necessity for men. How pleasant and how intellectual a task is it to +calculate, at any moment, what is most required, and yet is wanting, or +hard to find; to procure for each easily and soon what he demands; to +lay in your stock prudently beforehand, and then to enjoy the profit of +every pulse in that mighty circulation. This, it appears to me, is what +no man that has a head can attend to without pleasure." + +Wilhelm seemed to acquiesce, and Werner continued. + +"Do but visit one or two great trading-towns, one or two seaports, and +see if you can withstand the impression. When you observe how many men +are busied, whence so many things have come, and whither they are going, +you will feel as if you, too, could gladly mingle in the business. You +will then see the smallest piece of ware in its connection with the +whole mercantile concern; and for that very reason you will reckon +nothing paltry, because every thing augments the circulation by which +you yourself are supported." + +Werner had formed his solid understanding in constant intercourse with +Wilhelm; he was thus accustomed to think also of _his_ profession, of +_his_ employments, with elevation of soul; and he firmly believed that +he did so with more justice than his otherwise more gifted and valued +friend, who, as it seemed to him, had placed his dearest hopes, and +directed all the force of his mind, upon the most imaginary objects in +the world. Many a time he thought his false enthusiasm would infallibly +be got the better of, and so excellent a soul be brought back to the +right path. So hoping in the present instance, he continued, "The great +ones of the world have taken this earth of ours to themselves; they live +in the midst of splendor and superfluity. The smallest nook of the land +is already a possession which none may touch or meddle with: offices and +civil callings bring in little profit. Where, then, will you find more +honest acquisitions, juster conquests, than those of trade? If the +princes of this world hold the rivers, the highways, the havens, in +their power, and take a heavy tribute from every thing that passes +through them, may not we embrace with joy the opportunity of levying tax +and toll, by _our_ activity, on those commodities which the real or +imaginary wants of men have rendered indispensable? I can promise you, +if you would rightly apply your poetic view, my goddess might be +represented as an invincible, victorious queen, and boldly opposed to +yours. It is true, she bears the olive rather than the sword: dagger or +chain she knows not. But she, too, gives crowns to her favorites; which, +without offence to yours be it said, are of true gold from the furnace +and the mine, and glance with genuine pearls, which she brings up from +the depths of the ocean by the hands of her unwearied servants." + +This sally somewhat nettled Wilhelm; but he concealed his sentiments, +remembering that Werner used to listen with composure to _his_ +apostrophes. Besides, he had fairness enough to be pleased at seeing +each man think the best of his own peculiar craft, provided only _his_, +of which he was so passionately fond, were likewise left in peace. + +"And for you," exclaimed Werner, "who take so warm an interest in human +concerns, what a sight will it be to behold the fortune, which +accompanies bold undertakings, distributed to men before your eyes! What +is more spirit-stirring than the aspect of a ship arriving from a lucky +voyage, or soon returning with a rich capture? Not only the relatives, +the acquaintances, and those that share with the adventurers, but every +unconcerned spectator also, is excited, when he sees the joy with which +the long-imprisoned shipman springs on land before his keel has wholly +reached it, feeling that he is free once more, and now can trust what he +has rescued from the false sea to the firm and faithful earth. It is +not, my friend, in figures of arithmetic alone that gain presents itself +before us. Fortune is the goddess of breathing men: to feel her favors +truly, we must live and be men who toil with their living minds and +bodies, and enjoy with them also." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +It is now time that we should know something more of Wilhelm's father +and of Werner's,--two men of very different modes of thinking, but whose +opinions so far coincided, that both regarded commerce as the noblest +calling; and both were peculiarly attentive to every advantage which any +kind of speculation might produce to them. Old Meister, when his father +died, had turned into money a valuable collection of pictures, drawings, +copper-plates, and antiquities: he had entirely rebuilt and furnished +his house in the newest style, and turned his other property to profit +in all possible ways. A considerable portion of it he had embarked in +trade, under the direction of the elder Werner,--a man noted as an +active merchant, whose speculations were commonly favored by fortune. +But nothing was so much desired by Meister as to confer upon his son +those qualities of which himself was destitute, and to leave his +children advantages which he reckoned it of the highest importance to +possess. Withal, he felt a peculiar inclination for magnificence,--for +whatever catches the eye, and possesses at the same time real worth and +durability. In his house he would have all things solid and massive; his +stores must be copious and rich, all his plate must be heavy, the +furniture of his table must be costly. On the other hand, his guests +were seldom invited; for every dinner was a festival, which, both for +its expense and for its inconvenience, could not often be repeated. The +economy of his house went on at a settled, uniform rate; and every thing +that moved or had place in it was just what yielded no one any real +enjoyment. + +The elder Werner, in his dark and hampered house, led quite another sort +of life. The business of the day, in his narrow counting-house, at his +ancient desk, once done, Werner liked to eat well, and, if possible, to +drink better. Nor could he fully enjoy good things in solitude; with his +family he must always see at table his friends, and any stranger that +had the slightest connection with his house. His chairs were of unknown +age and antic fashion, but he daily invited some to sit on them. The +dainty victuals arrested the attention of his guests, and none remarked +that they were served up in common ware. His cellar held no great stock +of wine, but the emptied niches were usually filled by more of a +superior sort. + +So lived these two fathers, often meeting to take counsel about their +common concerns. On the day we are speaking of, it had been determined +to send Wilhelm out from home, for the despatch of some commercial +affairs. + +"Let him look about him in the world," said old Meister, "and at the +same time carry on our business in distant parts. One cannot do a young +man any greater kindness than initiate him early in the future business +of his life. Your son returned so happily from his first expedition, and +transacted his affairs so cleverly, that I am very curious to see how +mine will do: _his_ experience, I fear, will cost him dearer." + +Old Meister had a high notion of his son's faculties and capabilities: +he said this in the hope that his friend would contradict him, and hold +up to view the admirable gifts of the youth. Here, however, he deceived +himself. Old Werner, who, in practical concerns, would trust no man but +such as he had proved, answered placidly, "One must try all things. We +can send him on the same journey: we shall give him a paper of +directions to conduct him. There are sundry debts to be gathered in, old +connections are to be renewed, new ones to be made. He may likewise help +the speculation I was lately talking of; for, without punctual +intelligence gathered on the spot, there is little to be done in it." + +"He must prepare," said Meister, "and set forth as soon as possible. +Where shall we get a horse for him to suit this business?" + +"We shall not seek far. The shopkeeper in H----, who owes us somewhat, +but is withal a good man, has offered me a horse instead of payment. My +son knows it, and tells me it is a serviceable beast." + +"He may fetch it himself. Let him go with the diligence; the day after +to-morrow he is back again betimes; we have his saddle-bags and letters +made ready in the mean time; he can set out on Monday morning." + +Wilhelm was sent for, and informed of their determination. Who so glad +as he, now seeing the means of executing his purpose put into his hands, +the opportunity made ready for him, without co-operation of his own! So +intense was his love, so full was his conviction of the perfect +rectitude of his intention to escape from the pressure of his actual +mode of life, and follow a new and nobler career, that his conscience +did not in the least rebel; no anxiety arose within him; he even +reckoned the deception he was meditating holy. He felt certain, that, in +the long-run, parents and relations would praise and bless him for this +resolution: he acknowledged in these concurring circumstances the signal +of a guiding fate. + +How slowly the time passed with him till night, till the hour when he +should again see his Mariana! He sat in his chamber, and revolved the +plan of his journey; as a conjurer, or a cunning thief in durance, often +draws out his feet from the fast-locked irons, to cherish in himself the +conviction that his deliverance is possible, nay, nearer than +short-sighted turnkeys believe. + +At last the appointed hour struck: he went out, shook off all anxiety, +and hastened through the silent streets. In the middle of the great +square he raised his hands to the sky, feeling as if all was behind him +and below him: he had freed himself from all. One moment he figured +himself as in the arms of his beloved, the next as glancing with her in +the splendors of the stage: he soared aloft in a world of hopes, only +now and then the call of some watchman brought to his recollection that +he was still wandering on the vulgar earth. + +Mariana came to the stairs to meet him,--and how beautiful, how lovely! +She received him in the new white _negligée_: he thought he had never +seen her so charming. Thus did she handsel the gift of her absent lover +in the arms of a present one; with true passion she lavished on her +darling the whole treasure of those caresses which nature suggested, or +art had taught: need we ask if he was happy, if he was blessed? + +He disclosed to her what had passed, and showed her, in general terms, +his plan and his wishes. He would try, he said, to find a residence, +then come back for her: he hoped she would not refuse him her hand. The +poor girl was silent: she concealed her tears, and pressed her friend +against her bosom. Wilhelm, though interpreting her silence in the most +favorable manner, could have wished for a distinct reply; and still +more, when at last he inquired of her in the tenderest and most delicate +terms, if he might not think himself a father. But to this she answered +only with a sigh, with a kiss. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Next morning Mariana awoke only to new despondency; she felt herself +very solitary; she wished not to see the light of day, but staid in bed, +and wept. Old Barbara sat down by her, and tried to persuade and console +her; but it was not in her power so soon to heal the wounded heart. The +moment was now at hand to which the poor girl had been looking forward +as to the last of her life. Who could be placed in a more painful +situation? The man she loved was departing; a disagreeable lover was +threatening to come; and the most fearful mischiefs were to be +anticipated, if the two, as might easily happen, should meet together. + +"Calm yourself, my dear," said the old woman: "do not spoil your pretty +eyes with crying. Is it, then, so terrible a thing to have two lovers? +And though you can bestow your love but on the one, yet be thankful to +the other, who, caring for you as he does, certainly deserves to be +named your friend." + +"My poor Wilhelm," said the other, all in tears, "had warning that a +separation was at hand. A dream discovered to him what we strove so much +to hide. He was sleeping calmly at my side; on a sudden I heard him +mutter some unintelligible sounds: I grew frightened, and awoke him. Ah! +with what love and tenderness and warmth did he clasp me! 'O Mariana!' +cried he, 'what a horrid fate have you freed me from! How shall I thank +you for deliverance from such torment? I dreamed that I was far from you +in an unknown country, but your figure hovered before me; I saw you on a +beautiful hill, the sunshine was glancing over it all; how charming you +looked! But it had not lasted long, before I observed your image sinking +down, sinking, sinking: I stretched out my arms towards you; they could +not reach you through the distance. Your image still kept gliding down: +it approached a great sea that lay far extended at the foot of the +hill,--a marsh rather than a sea. All at once a man gave you his hand, +and seemed meaning to conduct you upwards; but he led you sidewards, and +appeared to draw you after him. I cried out: as I could not reach you, I +hoped to warn you. If I tried to walk, the ground seemed to hold me +fast; if I could walk, the water hindered me; and even my cries were +smothered in my breast.' So said the poor youth, while recovering from +his terror, and reckoning himself happy to see a frightful dream thrust +aside by the most delicious reality." + +Barbara made every effort to reduce, by her prose, the poetry of her +friend to the domain of common life; employing, in the present case, the +ingenious craft which so often succeeds with bird-catchers, when they +imitate with a whistle the tones of those luckless creatures they soon +hope to see by dozens safely lodged in their nets. She praised Wilhelm: +she expatiated on his figure, his eyes, his love. The poor girl heard +her with a gratified heart, then arose, let herself be dressed, and +appeared calmer. "My child, my darling," continued the old woman, in a +cozening tone, "I will not trouble you or injure you: I cannot think of +tearing from you your dearest happiness. Could you mistake my +intention? Have you forgotten that on all occasions I have cared for +you more than for myself? Tell me only what you wish: we shall soon see +how it may be brought about." + +"What can I wish?" said Mariana; "I am miserable, miserable for life: I +love him, and he loves me; yet I see that I must part with him, and know +not how I shall survive it. Norberg is coming, to whom we owe our whole +subsistence, whom we cannot live without. Wilhelm is straitened in his +fortune: he can do nothing for me." + +"Yes, unfortunately, he is of those lovers who bring nothing but their +hearts; and these people, too, have the highest pretensions of any." + +"No jesting! The unhappy youth thinks of leaving his home, of going upon +the stage, of offering me his hand." + +"Of empty hands we have already four." + +"I have no choice," continued Mariana; "do you decide for me. Cast me +away to this side or to that: mark only one thing,--I think I carry in +my bosom a pledge that ought to unite me with him still more closely. +Consider and determine: whom shall I forsake? whom shall I follow?" + +After a short silence, Barbara exclaimed. "Strange, that youth should +always be for extremes! To my view, nothing would be easier than for us +to combine both the profit and the enjoyment. Do you love the one, let +the other pay for it: all we have to mind, is being sharp enough to keep +the two from meeting." + +"Do as you please: I can imagine nothing, but I will obey." + +"We have this advantage: we can humor the manager's caprice and pride +about the morals of his troop. Both lovers are accustomed already to go +secretly and cautiously to work. For hours and opportunity I will take +thought: only henceforth you must act the part that I prescribe to you. +Who knows what circumstances may arise to help us? If Norberg would +arrive even now, when Wilhelm is away! Who can hinder you from thinking +of the one in the arms of the other? I wish you a son, and good fortune +with him: he will have a rich father." + +These projects lightened Mariana's despondency only for a very short +time. She could not bring her situation into harmony with her feelings, +with her convictions: she would fain have forgotten the painful +relations in which she stood, and a thousand little circumstances forced +them back every moment to her recollection. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +In the mean time, Wilhelm had completed the short preliminary journey. +His merchant being from home, he delivered the letter of introduction to +the mistress of the house. But neither did this lady give him much +furtherance in his purposes: she was in a violent passion, and her whole +economy was in confusion. + +He had not waited long when she disclosed to him, what in truth could +not be kept a secret, that her step-daughter had run off with a +player,--a person who had parted lately from a small strolling company, +and had staid in the place, and commenced teaching French. The father, +distracted with grief and vexation, had run to the _Amt_ to have the +fugitives pursued. She blamed her daughter bitterly, and vilified the +lover, till she left no tolerable quality with either: she deplored at +great length the shame thus brought upon the family; embarrassing our +hero not a little, who here felt his own private scheme beforehand +judged and punished, in the spirit of prophecy as it were, by this +frenzied sibyl. Still stronger and deeper was the interest he took in +the sorrows of the father, who now returned from the _Amt_, and with +fixed sorrow, in broken sentences, gave his wife an account of the +errand, and strove to hide the embarrassment and distraction of his +mind; while, after looking at the letter, he directed that the horse it +spoke of should be given to Wilhelm. + +Our friend thought it best to mount his steed immediately, and quit a +house where, in its present state, he could not possibly be comfortable; +but the honest man would not allow the son of one to whom he had so many +obligations to depart without tasting of his hospitality, without +remaining at least a night beneath his roof. + +Wilhelm had partaken of a melancholy supper, worn out a restless night, +and hastened, early in the morning, to get rid of these people, who, +without knowing it, had, by their narratives and utterances, been +constantly wounding him to the quick. + +In a musing mood, he was riding slowly along, when all at once he +observed a number of armed men coming through the fields. By their long, +loose coats, with enormous cuffs; by their shapeless hats, clumsy +muskets; by their unpretending gait, and contented bearing of the +body,--he recognized in these people a detachment of provincial +militia. They halted beneath an old oak, set down their fire-arms, and +placed themselves at their ease upon the sward, to smoke a pipe of +tobacco. Wilhelm lingered near them, and entered into conversation with +a young man who came up on horseback. The history of the two runaways, +which he knew but too well, was again detailed to him, and that with +comments not particularly flattering, either to the young pair +themselves, or to the parents. He also learned that the military had +come hither to take into custody the loving couple, who had already been +seized and detained in a neighboring village. After some time, +accordingly, a cart was seen advancing to the place, encircled with a +city guard more ludicrous than appalling. An amorphous town-clerk rode +forth, and made his compliments to the _Actuarius_ (for such was the +young man Wilhelm had been speaking to), on the border of their several +districts, with great conscientiousness and queer grimaces; as perhaps +the ghost and the conjurer do, when they meet, the one within the circle +and the other out of it, in their dismal midnight operations. + +But the chief attention of the lookers-on was directed to the cart: they +could not behold, without compassion, the poor, misguided creatures, who +were sitting upon bundles of straw, looking tenderly at one another, and +scarcely seeming to observe the by-standers. Accident had forced their +conductors to bring them from the last village in that unseemly style; +the old chaise, which had previously transported the lady, having there +broken down. On that occurrence she had begged for permission to sit +beside her friend; whom, in the conviction that his crime was of a +capital sort, the rustic bailiffs had so far brought along in irons. +These irons certainly contributed to give the tender group a more +interesting appearance, particularly as the young man moved and bore +himself with great dignity, while he kissed more than once the hands of +his fair companion. + +"We are unfortunate," she cried to the by-standers, "but not so guilty +as we seem. It is thus that cruel men reward true love; and parents, who +entirely neglect the happiness of their children, tear them with fury +from the arms of joy, when it has found them after many weary days." + +The spectators were expressing their sympathy in various ways, when, the +officers of law having finished their ceremonial, the cart went on; and +Wilhelm, who took a deep interest in the fate of the lovers, hastened +forward by a foot path to get some acquaintance with the _Amtmann_ +before the procession should arrive. But scarcely had he reached the +_Amthaus_, where all was in motion, and ready to receive the fugitives, +when his new friend, the _Actuarius_, laid hold of him; and giving him a +circumstantial detail of the whole proceedings, and then launching out +into a comprehensive eulogy of his own horse, which he had got by barter +the night before, put a stop to every other sort of conversation. + +The luckless pair, in the mean time, had been set down behind, at the +garden, which communicated by a little door with the _Amthaus_, and thus +brought in unobserved. The _Actuarius_, for this mild and handsome +treatment, accepted of a just encomium from Wilhelm; though in truth his +sole object had been to mortify the crowd collected in front of the +_Amthaus_, by denying them the satisfaction of looking at a neighbor in +disgrace. + +The _Amtmann_, who had no particular taste for such extraordinary +occurrences, being wont on these occasions to commit frequent errors, +and, with the best intentions, to be often paid with sour admonitions +from the higher powers, went with heavy steps into his office-room; the +_Actuarius_ with Wilhelm and a few respectable citizens following him. + +The lady was first produced; she advanced without pertness, calm and +self-possessed. The manner of her dress, the way in which she bore +herself, showed that she was a person not without value in her own eyes. +She accordingly began, without any questions being put, to speak, not +unskilfully, about her situation. + +The _Actuarius_ bade her be silent, and held his pen over the folded +sheet. The _Amtmann_ gathered up his resolution, looked at his +assistant, cleared his throat by two or three hems, and asked the poor +girl what was her name, and how old she was. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," said she, "but it seems very strange to me +that you ask my name and age, seeing you know very well what my name is, +and that I am just of the age of your oldest son. What you do want to +know of me, and need to know, I will tell freely without circumlocution. + +"Since my father's second marriage, my situation in his house has not +been of the most enviable sort. Oftener than once I have had it in my +power to make a suitable marriage, had not my step-mother, dreading the +expense of my portion, taken care to thwart all such proposals. At +length I grew acquainted with the young Melina; I felt constrained to +love him; and, as we both foresaw the obstacles that stood in the way of +our regular union, we determined to go forth together, and seek in the +wide world the happiness denied us at home. I took nothing with me that +was not my own: we did not run away like thieves and robbers; and my +lover does not merit to be hauled about in this way, with chains and +handcuffs. The prince is just, and will not sanction such severity. If +we are liable to punishment, it is not punishment of this kind." + +The old _Amtmann_ hereupon fell into double and treble confusion. Sounds +of the most gracious eulogies were already humming through his brain, +and the girl's voluble speech had entirely confounded the plan of his +protocol. The mischief increased, when to repeated official questions +she refused giving any answer, but constantly referred to what she had +already said. + +"I am no criminal," she said. "They have brought me hither on bundles of +straw to put me to shame, but there is a higher court that will bring us +back to honor." + +The _Actuarius_, in the mean time, had kept writing down her words: he +whispered the _Amtmann_, "just to go on,--a formal protocol might be +made out by and by." + +The senior then again took heart, and began, with his heavy words, in +dry prescribed formulas, to seek information about the sweet secrets of +love. + +The red mounted into Wilhelm's cheeks, and those of the pretty criminal +likewise glowed with the charming tinge of modesty. She was silent, she +stammered, till at last her embarrassment itself seemed to exalt her +courage. + +"Be assured," she cried, "that I should have strength enough to confess +the truth, though it made against myself; and shall I now hesitate and +stammer, when it does me honor? Yes: from the moment when I first felt +certain of his love and faith, I looked upon him as my husband; I freely +gave him all that love requires,--that a heart once convinced cannot +long refuse. Now do with me what you please. If I hesitated for a moment +to confess, it was solely owing to fear lest the admission might prove +hurtful to my lover." + +On hearing this confession, Wilhelm formed a high opinion of the young +woman's feelings, while her judges marked her as an impudent strumpet; +and the townsfolk present thanked God that in their families no such +scandal had occurred, or at least been brought to light. + +Wilhelm transported his Mariana into this conjuncture, answering at the +bar: he put still finer words in her mouth, making her uprightness yet +more affecting, her confession still nobler. The most violent desire to +help the two lovers took possession of him. Nor did he conceal this +feeling, but signified in private to the wavering _Amtmann_, that it +were better to end the business; all being clear as possible, and +requiring no further investigation. + +This was so far of service that the young woman was allowed to retire; +though, in her stead, the lover was brought in, his fetters having +previously been taken off him at the door. This person seemed a little +more concerned about his fate. His answers were more careful; and, if he +showed less heroic generosity, he recommended himself by the precision +and distinctness of his expressions. + +When this audience also was finished, and found to agree in all points +with the former, except that, from regard for his mistress, Melina +stubbornly denied what had already been confessed by herself, the young +woman was again brought forward; and a scene took place between the two, +which made the heart of our friend entirely their own. + +What usually occurs nowhere but in romances and plays, he saw here in a +paltry court-room before his eyes,--the contest of reciprocal +magnanimity, the strength of love in misfortune. + +"Is it, then, true," said he internally, "that timorous affection, which +conceals itself from the eye of the sun and of men, not daring to taste +of enjoyment save in remote solitude and deep secrecy, yet, if torn +rudely by some cruel chance into light, will show itself more +courageous, strong, and resolute than any of our loud and ostentatious +passions?" + +To his comfort, the business now soon came to a conclusion. The lovers +were detained in tolerable quarters: had it been possible, he would that +very evening have brought back the young lady to her parents. For he +firmly determined to act as intercessor in this case, and to forward a +happy and lawful union between the lovers. + +He begged permission of the _Amtmann_ to speak in private with Melina, a +request which was granted without difficulty. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +The conversation of these new acquaintances very soon grew confidential +and lively. When Wilhelm told the downcast youth of his connection with +the lady's parents, and offered to mediate in the affair, showing at the +same time the strongest expectation of success, a light was shed across +the dreary and anxious mind of the prisoner: he felt himself already +free, already reconciled with the parents of his bride, and now began to +speak about his future occupation and support. + +"On this point," said our friend, "you cannot long be in difficulty; for +you seem to me directed, not more by your circumstances than by nature, +to make your fortune in the noble profession you have chosen. A pleasing +figure, a sonorous voice, a feeling heart! Could an actor be better +furnished? If I can serve you with a few introductions, it will give me +the greatest pleasure." + +"I thank you with all my heart," replied the other, "but I shall hardly +be able to make use of them; for it is my purpose, if possible, not to +return to the stage." + +"Here you are certainly to blame," said Wilhelm, after a pause, during +which he had partly recovered out of his astonishment; for it had never +once entered his head, but that the player, the moment his young wife +and he were out of durance, would repair to some theatre. It seemed to +him as natural and as necessary as for the frog to seek pools of water. +He had not doubted of it for a moment, and he now heard the contrary +with boundless surprise. + +"Yes," replied Melina, "I have it in view not to re-appear upon the +stage, but rather to take up some civil calling, be it what it will, so +that I can but obtain one." + +"This is a strange resolution, which I cannot give my approbation to. +Without especial reasons, it can never be advisable to change the mode +of life we have begun with; and, besides, I know of no condition that +presents so much allurement, so many charming prospects, as the +condition of an actor." + +"It is easy to see that you have never been one," said the other. + +"Alas, sir," answered Wilhelm, "how seldom is any man contented with the +station where he happens to be placed! He is ever coveting that of his +neighbor, from which the neighbor in his turn is longing to be free." + +"Yet still there is a difference," said Melina, "between bad and worse. +Experience, not impatience, makes me determine as you see. Is there in +the world any creature whose morsel of bread is attended with such +vexation, uncertainty, and toil? It were almost as good to take the +staff and wallet, and beg from door to door. What things to be endured +from the envy of rivals, from the partiality of managers, from the +ever-altering caprices of the public! In truth, one would need to have a +hide like a bear's, that is led about in a chain along with apes, and +dogs of knowledge, and cudgelled into dancing at the sound of a bagpipe +before the populace and children." + +Wilhelm thought a thousand things, which he would not vex the worthy man +by uttering. He merely, therefore, led the conversation round them at a +distance. His friend explained himself the more candidly and +circumstantially on that account. "Is not the manager obliged," said he, +"to fall down at the feet of every little _Stadtrath_, that he may get +permission, for a month between the fairs, to cause another _groschen_ +or two to circulate in the place? Ours, on the whole, a worthy man, I +have often pitied; though at other times he gave me cause enough for +discontentment. A good actor drains him by extortion; of the bad he +cannot rid himself; and, should he try to make his income at all equal +to his outlay, the public immediately takes umbrage, the house stands +empty; and, not to go to wreck entirely, he must continue acting in the +midst of sorrow and vexation. No, no, sir! Since you are so good as to +undertake to help me, have the kindness, I entreat you, to plead with +the parents of my bride: let them get me a little post of clerk or +collector, and I shall think myself well dealt with." + +After exchanging a few words more, Wilhelm went away with the promise to +visit the parents early in the morning, and see what could be done. +Scarcely was he by himself, when he gave utterance to his thoughts in +these exclamations: "Unhappy Melina! not in thy condition, but in +thyself, lies the mean impediment over which thou canst not gain the +mastery. What mortal in the world, if without inward calling he take up +a trade, an art, or any mode of life, will not feel his situation +miserable? But he who is born with capacities for any undertaking, finds +in executing this the fairest portion of his being. Nothing upon earth +without its difficulties! It is the secret impulse within, it is the +love and the delight we feel, that help us to conquer obstacles, to +clear out new paths, and to overleap the bounds of that narrow circle in +which others poorly toil. For _thee_ the stage is but a few boards: the +parts assigned thee are but what a task is to a school-boy. The +spectators thou regardest as on work-days they regard each other. For +thee, then, it may be well to wish thyself behind a desk, over ruled +ledgers, collecting tolls, and picking out reversions. Thou feelest not +the co-operating, co-inspiring whole, which the mind alone can invent, +comprehend, and complete: thou feelest not that in man there lives a +spark of purer fire, which, when it is not fed, when it is not fanned, +gets covered by the ashes of indifference and daily wants, yet not till +late, perhaps never, can be altogether quenched. Thou feelest in thy +soul no strength to fan this spark into a flame, no riches in thy heart +to feed it when aroused. Hunger drives thee on, inconveniences withstand +thee; and it is hidden from thee, that, in every human condition, foes +lie in wait for us, invincible except by cheerfulness and equanimity. +Thou dost well to wish thyself within the limits of a common station, +for what station that required soul and resolution couldst thou rightly +fill? Give a soldier, a statesman, a divine, thy sentiments, and as +justly will he fret himself about the miseries of _his_ condition. Nay, +have there not been men so totally forsaken by all feeling of existence, +that they have held the life and nature of mortals as a nothing, a +painful, short, and tarnished gleam of being? Did the forms of active +men rise up living in thy soul; were thy breast warmed by a sympathetic +fire; did the vocation which proceeds from within diffuse itself over +all thy frame; were the tones of thy voice, the words of thy mouth, +delightful to hear; didst thou feel thy own being sufficient for +thyself,--then wouldst thou doubtless seek place and opportunity +likewise to feel it in others." + +Amid such words and thoughts, our friend undressed himself, and went to +bed, with feelings of the deepest satisfaction. A whole romance of what +he now hoped to do, instead of the worthless occupations which should +have filled the approaching day, arose within his mind: pleasant +fantasies softly conducted him into the kingdom of sleep, and then gave +him up to their sisters, sweet dreams, who received him with open arms, +and encircled his reposing head with the images of heaven. + +Early in the morning he was awake again, and thinking of the business +that lay before him. He revisited the house of the forsaken family, +where his presence caused no small surprise. He introduced his proposal +in the most prudent manner, and soon found both more and fewer +difficulties than he had anticipated. For one thing, the evil was +already _done_: and though people of a singularly strict and harsh +temper are wont to set themselves forcibly against the past, and thus to +increase the evil that cannot now be remedied; yet, on the other hand, +what is actually done exerts an irresistible effect upon most minds: an +event which lately appeared impossible takes its place, so soon as it +has really occurred, with what occurs daily. It was accordingly soon +settled, that Herr Melina was to wed the daughter; who, however, in +return, because of her misconduct, was to take no marriage-portion with +her, and to promise that she would leave her aunt's legacy, for a few +years more, at an easy interest, in her father's hands. But the second +point, touching a civil provision for Melina, was attended with greater +difficulties. They liked not to have the luckless pair continually +living in their sight: they would not have a present object ever calling +to their minds the connection of a mean vagabond with so respectable a +family,--a family which could number even a superintendent among its +relatives; nay, it was not to be looked for, that the government would +trust him with a charge. Both parents were alike inflexible in this +matter; and Wilhelm, who pleaded very hard, unwilling that a man whom he +contemned should return to the stage, and convinced that he deserved not +such a happiness, could not, with all his rhetoric, produce the +slenderest impression. Had he known the secret springs of the business, +he would have spared himself the labor of attempting to persuade. The +father would gladly have kept his daughter near him; but he hated the +young man, because his wife herself had cast an eye upon him: while the +latter could not bear to have, in her step-daughter, a happy rival +constantly before her eyes. So Melina with his young wife, who already +manifested no dislike to go and see the world, and be seen of it, was +obliged, against his will, to set forth in a few days, and seek some +place in any acting company where he could find one. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Happy season of youth! Happy times of the first wish of love! A man is +then like a child that can for hours delight itself with an echo, can +support alone the charges of conversation, and be well contented with +its entertainment if the unseen interlocutor will but repeat the +concluding syllables of the words addressed to it. + +So was it with Wilhelm in the earlier and still more in the later period +of his passion for Mariana; he transferred the whole wealth of his own +emotions to her, and looked upon himself as a beggar that lived upon her +alms: and as a landscape is more delightful, nay, is delightful only, +when it is enlightened by the sun; so likewise in his eyes were all +things beautified and glorified which lay round her or related to her. + +Often would he stand in the theatre behind the scenes, to which he had +obtained the freedom of access from the manager. In such cases, it is +true, the perspective magic was away; but the far mightier sorcery of +love then first began to act. For hours he could stand by the sooty +light-frame, inhaling the vapor of tallow lamps, looking out at his +mistress; and when she returned, and cast a kindly glance upon him, he +could feel himself lost in ecstasy: and, though close upon laths and +bare spars, he seemed transported into paradise. The stuffed bunches of +wool denominated lambs, the waterfalls of tin, the paper roses, and the +one-sided huts of straw, awoke in him fair poetic visions of an old +pastoral world. Nay, the very dancing-girls, ugly as they were when seen +at hand, did not always inspire him with disgust: they trod the same +floor with Mariana. So true is it, that love, which alone can give their +full charm to rose-bowers, myrtle-groves, and moonshine, can also +communicate, even to shavings of wood, and paper-clippings, the aspect +of animated nature. It is so strong a spice, that tasteless or even +nauseous soups are by it rendered palatable. + +So potent a spice was certainly required to render tolerable, nay, at +last agreeable, the state in which he usually found her chamber, not to +say herself. + +Brought up in a substantial burgher's house, cleanliness and order were +the elements in which he breathed; and, inheriting as he did a portion +of his father's taste for finery, it had always been his care, in +boyhood, to furbish up his chamber, which he regarded as his little +kingdom, in the stateliest fashion. His bed-curtains were drawn together +in large, massy folds, and fastened with tassels, as they are usually +seen in thrones; he had got himself a carpet for the middle of his +chamber, and a finer one for his table; his books and apparatus he had, +almost instinctively, arranged in such a manner, that a Dutch painter +might have imitated them for groups in his still-life scenes. He had a +white cap, which he wore straight up like a turban; and the sleeves of +his night-gown he had caused to be cut short, in the mode of the +Orientals. By way of reason for this, he pretended that long, wide +sleeves encumbered him in writing. When, at night, the boy was quite +alone, and no longer dreaded any interruption, he usually wore a silk +sash tied round his body; and often, it is said, he would fix in his +girdle a sword, which he had appropriated from an old armory, and thus +repeat and declaim his tragic parts; nay, in the same trim he would +kneel down and say his evening prayer. + +In those times, how happy did he think the players, whom he saw +possessed of so many splendid garments, trappings, and arms; and in the +constant practice of a lofty demeanor, the spirit of which seemed to +hold up a mirror of whatever, in the opinions, relations, and passions +of men, was stateliest and most magnificent. Of a piece with this, +thought Wilhelm, is also the player's domestic life,--a series of +dignified transactions and employments, whereof their appearance on the +stage is but the outmost portion; like as a mass of silver, long +simmering about in the purifying furnace, at length gleams with a bright +and beautiful tinge in the eye of the refiner, and shows him, at the +same time, that the metal now is cleansed of all foreign mixture. + +Great, accordingly, was his surprise at first, when he found himself +beside his mistress, and looked down, through the cloud that environed +him, on tables, stools, and floor. The wrecks of a transient, light, +and false decoration lay, like the glittering coat of a skinned +fish, dispersed in wild disorder. The implements of personal +cleanliness,--combs, soap, towels,--with the traces of their use, were +not concealed. Music, portions of plays and pairs of shoes, washes and +Italian flowers, pin-cushions, hair-skewers, rouge-pots, and ribbons, +books and straw hats,--no article despised the neighborhood of another: +all were united by a common element,--powder and dust. Yet as Wilhelm +scarcely noticed in her presence aught except herself; nay, as all that +had belonged to her, that she had touched, was dear to him,--he came at +last to feel, in this chaotic housekeeping, a charm which the proud pomp +of his own habitation never had communicated. When, on this hand, he +lifted aside her bodice, to get at the harpsichord; on that, threw her +gown upon the bed, that he might find a seat; when she herself, with +careless freedom, did not seek to hide from him many a natural office, +which, out of respect for the presence of a second person, is usually +concealed,--he felt as if by all this he was coming nearer to her every +moment, as if the communion betwixt them was fastening by invisible +ties. + +It was not so easy to reconcile with his previous ideas the behavior of +the other players, whom, on his first visits, he often met with in her +house. Ever busied in being idle, they seemed to think least of all on +their employment and object: the poetic worth of a piece they were never +heard to speak of, or to judge of, right or wrong; their continual +question was simply, How much will it _bring_? Is it a stock-piece? How +long will it run? How often think you it may be played? and other +inquiries and observations of the same description. Then commonly they +broke out against the manager, that he was stinted with his salaries, +and especially unjust to this one or to that; then against the public, +how seldom it recompensed the right man with its approval, how the +German theatre was daily improving, how the player was ever growing more +honored, and never could be honored enough. Then they would descant +largely about wine-gardens and coffee-houses; how much debt one of their +comrades had contracted, and must suffer a deduction from his wages on +account of; about the disproportion of their weekly salaries; about the +cabals of some rival company: on which occasions, they would pass again +to the great and merited attention which the public now bestowed upon +them; not forgetting the importance of the theatre to the improvement of +the nation and the world. + +All this, which had already given Wilhelm many a restless hour, came +again into his memory, as he walked his horse slowly homewards, and +contemplated the various occurrences in which he had so lately been +engaged. The commotion produced by a girl's elopement, not only in a +decent family, but in a whole town, he had seen with his own eyes; the +scenes upon the highway and in the _Amthaus_, the views entertained by +Melina, and whatever else he had witnessed, again arose before him, and +brought his keen, forecasting mind into a sort of anxious disquietude; +which no longer to endure, he struck the spurs into his horse, and +hastened towards home. + +By this expedient, however, he but ran to meet new vexations. Werner, +his friend and future brother-in-law, was waiting for him, to begin a +serious, important, unexpected conversation. + +Werner was one of those tried, sedate persons, with fixed principles and +habits, whom we usually denominate cold characters, because on +emergencies they do not burst forth quickly or very visibly. +Accordingly, his intercourse with Wilhelm was a perpetual contest; +which, however, only served to knit their mutual affection the more +firmly; for, notwithstanding their very opposite modes of thinking, each +found his account in communicating with the other. Werner was very well +contented with himself, that he could now and then lay a bridle on the +exalted but commonly extravagant spirit of his friend; and Wilhelm often +felt a glorious triumph, when the staid and thinking Werner could be +hurried on with him in warm ebullience. Thus each exercised himself upon +the other; they had been accustomed to see each other daily; and you +would have said, their eagerness to meet and talk together had even been +augmented by the inability of each to understand the other. At bottom, +however, being both good-hearted men, they were both travelling together +towards one goal; and they could never understand how it was that +neither of the two could bring the other over to his own persuasion. + +For some time Werner had observed that Wilhelm's visits had been rarer; +that in his favorite discussions he was brief and absent-minded; that he +no longer abandoned himself to the vivid depicting of singular +conceptions,--tokens by which, in truth, a mind getting rest and +contentment in the presence of a friend is most clearly indicated. The +considerate and punctual Werner first sought for the root of the evil in +his own conduct; till some rumors of the neighborhood set him on the +proper trace, and some unguarded proceedings on the part of Wilhelm +brought him nearer to the certainty. He began his investigation, and +erelong discovered, that for some time Wilhelm had been openly visiting +an actress, had often spoken with her at the theatre, and accompanied +her home. On discovering the nightly visits of his friend, Werner's +anxiety increased to a painful extent: for he heard that Mariana was a +most seductive girl, who probably was draining the youth of his money; +while, at the same time, she herself was supported by another and a +very worthless lover. + +Having pushed his suspicions as near certainty as possible, he had +resolved to make a sharp attack on Wilhelm: he was now in full readiness +with all his preparations, when his friend returned, discontented and +unsettled, from his journey. + +That very evening Werner laid the whole of what he knew before him, +first calmly, then with the emphatic earnestness of a well-meaning +friendship. He left no point of the subject undiscussed, and made +Wilhelm taste abundance of those bitter things which men at ease are +accustomed, with virtuous spite, to dispense so liberally to men in +love. Yet, as might have been expected, he accomplished little. Wilhelm +answered with interior commotion, though with great confidence, "You +know not the girl! Appearances, perhaps, are not to her advantage; but I +am certain of her faithfulness and virtue, as of my love." + +Werner maintained his accusations, and offered to bring proofs and +witnesses. Wilhelm waived these offers, and parted with his friend out +of humor and unhinged, like a man in whose jaw some unskilful dentist +has been seizing a diseased, yet fast-rooted, tooth, and tugging at it +harshly to no purpose. + +It exceedingly dissatisfied Wilhelm to see the fair image of Mariana +overclouded and almost deformed in his soul, first by the capricious +fancies of his journey, and then by the unfriendliness of Werner. He +adopted the surest means of restoring it to complete brilliancy and +beauty, by setting out at night, and hastening to his wonted +destination. She received him with extreme joy: on entering the town, he +had ridden past her window; she had been expecting his company; and it +is easy to conceive that all scruples were soon driven from his heart. +Nay, her tenderness again opened up the whole stores of his confidence; +and he told her how deeply the public, how deeply his friend, had sinned +against her. + +Much lively talking led them at length to speak about the earliest +period of their acquaintance, the recollection of which forms always one +of the most delightful topics between two lovers. The first steps that +introduce us to the enchanted garden of love are so full of pleasure, +the first prospects so charming, that every one is willing to recall +them to his memory. Each party seeks a preference above the other; each +has loved sooner, more devotedly; and each, in this contest, would +rather be conquered than conquer. + +Wilhelm repeated to his mistress, what he had so often told her before, +how she soon abstracted his attention from the play, and fixed it on +herself; how her form, her acting, her voice, inspired him; how at last +he went only on the nights when _she_ was to appear; how, in fine, +having ventured behind the scenes, he had often stood by her unheeded; +and he spoke with rapture of the happy evening when he found an +opportunity to do her some civility, and lead her into conversation. + +Mariana, on the other hand, would not allow that she had failed so long +to notice him: she declared that she had seen him in the public walk, +and for proof she described the clothes which he wore on that occasion; +she affirmed that even then he pleased her before all others, and made +her long for his acquaintance. + +How gladly did Wilhelm credit all this! How gladly did he catch at the +persuasion, that, when he used to approach her, she had felt herself +drawn towards him by some resistless influence; that she had gone with +him between the side-scenes on purpose to see him more closely, and get +acquainted with him; and that, in fine, when his backwardness and +modesty were not to be conquered, she had herself afforded him an +opportunity, and, as it were, compelled him to hand her a glass of +lemonade. + +In this affectionate contest, which they pursued through all the little +circumstances of their brief romance, the hours passed rapidly away; and +Wilhelm left his mistress with his heart at peace, and firmly determined +on proceeding forthwith to the execution of his project. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +The necessary preparations for his journey his father and mother had +attended to: some little matters, that were yet wanting to his equipage, +delayed his departure for a few days. Wilhelm took advantage of this +opportunity to write to Mariana, meaning thus to bring to a decision the +proposal, about which she had hitherto avoided speaking with him. The +letter was as follows:-- + +"Under the kind veil of night, which has often over-shadowed us +together, I sit and think, and write to thee: all that I meditate and do +is solely on thy account. O Mariana! with me, the happiest of men, it is +as with a bridegroom who stands in the festive chamber, dreaming of the +new universe that is to be unfolded to him, and by means of him, and, +while the holy ceremonies are proceeding, transports himself in longing +thought before the mysterious curtains, from which the loveliness of +love whispers out to him. + +"I have constrained myself not to see thee for a few days: the sacrifice +was easy, when united with the hope of such a recompense, of being +always with thee, of remaining ever thine! Need I repeat what I desire? +I must! for it seems as if yet thou hadst never understood me. + +"How often, in the low tones of true love, which, though wishing to gain +all, dares speak but little, have I sought in thy heart for the desire +of a perpetual union. Thou hast understood me, doubtless; for in thy own +heart the same wish must have arisen: thou _didst_ comprehend me, in +that kiss, in the intoxicating peace of that happy evening. Thy silence +testified to me thy modest honor; and how did it increase my love! +Another woman would have had recourse to artifice, that she might ripen +by superfluous sunshine the purpose of her lover's heart, might elicit a +proposal, and secure a firm promise. Mariana, on the contrary, drew +back: she repelled the half-opened confidence of him she loved, and +sought to conceal her approving feelings by apparent indifference. But I +have understood thee! What a miserable creature must I be, if I did not +by these tokens recognize the pure and generous love that cares not for +itself, but for its object! Confide in me, and fear nothing. We belong +to one another; and neither of us leaves aught or forsakes aught, if we +live for one another. + +"Take it, then, this hand! Solemnly I offer this unnecessary pledge! All +the joys of love we have already felt, but there is a new blessedness in +the firm thought of duration. Ask not how,--care not. Fate takes care of +love, and the more certainly as love is easy to provide for. + +"My heart has long ago forsaken my paternal home: it is with thee, as my +spirit hovers on the stage. O my darling! to what other man has it been +given to unite all his wishes, as it is to me? No sleep falls upon my +eyes: like the redness of an everlasting dawn, thy love and thy +happiness still glow around me. + +"Scarcely can I hold myself from springing up, from rushing forth to +thee, and forcing thy consent, and, with the first light of to-morrow, +pressing forward into the world for the mark I aim at. But, no! I will +restrain myself; I will not act like a thoughtless fool, will do nothing +rashly: my plan is laid, and I will execute it calmly. + +"I am acquainted with the manager Serlo: my journey leads me directly to +the place where he is. For above a year he has frequently been wishing +that his people had a touch of my vivacity, and my delight in theatrical +affairs: I shall doubtless be very kindly received. Into your company I +cannot enter, for more than one reason. Serlo's theatre, moreover, is at +such a distance from this, that I may there begin my undertaking without +any apprehension of discovery. With him I shall thus at once find a +tolerable maintenance: I shall look about me in the public, get +acquainted with the company, and then come back for thee. + +"Mariana, thou seest what I can force myself to do, that I may certainly +obtain thee. For such a period not to see thee; for such a period to +know thee in the wide world! I dare not view it closely. But yet if I +recall to memory thy love, which assures me of all; if thou shalt not +disdain my prayer, and give me, ere we part, thy hand, before the +priest,--I may then depart in peace. It is but a form between us, yet a +form so touching,--the blessing of Heaven to the blessing of the earth. +Close by thy house, in the Ritterschaftliche Chapel, the ceremony will +be soon and secretly performed. + +"For the beginning I have gold enough; we will share it between us; it +will suffice for both; and, before that is finished, Heaven will send us +more. + +"No, my darling, I am not downcast about the issue. What is begun with +so much cheerfulness must reach a happy end. I have never doubted that a +man may force his way through the world, if he really is in earnest +about it; and I feel strength enough within me to provide a liberal +support for two, and many more. The world, we are often told, is +unthankful: I have never yet discovered that it was unthankful, if one +knew how, in the proper way, to do it service. My whole soul burns at +the idea, that _I_ shall at length step forth, and speak to the hearts +of men something they have long been yearning to hear. How many thousand +times has a feeling of disgust passed through me, alive as I am to the +nobleness of the stage, when I have seen the poorest creatures fancying +they could speak a word of power to the hearts of the people! The tone +of a man's voice singing treble sounds far pleasanter and purer to my +ear: it is incredible how these blockheads, in their coarse ineptitude, +deform things beautiful and venerable. + +"The theatre has often been at variance with the pulpit: they ought not, +I think, to quarrel. How much is it to be wished, that in both the +celebration of nature and of God were intrusted to none but men of noble +minds! These are no dreams, my darling! As I have felt in thy heart that +thou couldst love, I seize the dazzling thought, and say,--no, I will +not say, but I will hope and trust,--that we two shall yet appear to men +as a pair of chosen spirits, to unlock their hearts, to touch the +recesses of their nature, and prepare for them celestial joys, as surely +as the joys I have tasted with thee deserved to be named celestial, +since they drew us from ourselves, and exalted us above ourselves. + +"I cannot end. I have already said too much, and know not whether I have +yet said all, all that concerns _thy_ interests; for to express the +agitations of the vortex that whirls round within myself, is beyond the +power of words. + +"Yet take this sheet, my love! I have again read it over: I observe it +ought to have begun more cautiously; but it contains in it all that thou +hast need to know,--enough to prepare thee for the hour when I shall +return with the lightness of love to thy bosom. I seem to myself like a +prisoner that is secretly filing his irons asunder. I bid good-night to +my soundly sleeping parents. Farewell, my beloved, farewell! For this +time I conclude; my eyelids have more than once dropped together; it is +now deep in the night." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +It seemed as if the day would never end, while Wilhelm, with the letter +beautifully folded in his pocket, longed to meet with Mariana. The +darkness had scarcely come on, when, contrary to custom, he glided forth +to her house. His plan was, to announce himself for the night; then to +quit his mistress for a short time, leaving the letter with her ere he +went away; and, returning at a late hour, to obtain her reply, her +consent, or to force it from her by the power of his caresses. He flew +into her arms, and pressed her in rapture to his bosom. The vehemence of +his emotions prevented him at first from noticing, that, on this +occasion, she did not receive him with her wonted heartiness; yet she +could not long conceal her painful situation, but imputed it to slight +indisposition. She complained of a headache, and would not by any means +consent to his proposal of coming back that night. Suspecting nothing +wrong, he ceased to urge her, but felt that this was not the moment for +delivering his letter. He retained it, therefore; and, as several of her +movements and observations courteously compelled him to take his leave, +in the tumult of unsatiable love he snatched up one of her neckerchiefs, +squeezed it into his pocket, and forced himself away from her lips and +her door. He returned home, but could not rest there: he again dressed +himself, and went out into the open air. + +After walking up and down several streets, he was accosted by a stranger +inquiring for a certain inn. Wilhelm offered to conduct him to the +house. In the way, his new acquaintance asked about the names of the +streets, the owners of various extensive edifices, then about some +police regulations of the town; so that, by the time they reached the +door of the inn, they had fallen into quite an interesting conversation. +The stranger politely compelled his guide to enter, and drink a glass of +punch with him. Ere long he had told his name and place of abode, as +well as the business that had brought him hither; and he seemed to +expect a like confidence from Wilhelm. Our friend, without any +hesitation, mentioned his name, and the place where he lived. + +"Are you not a grandson of the old Meister, who possessed that beautiful +collection of pictures and statues?" inquired the stranger. + +"Yes, I am. I was ten years old when my grandfather died, and it grieved +me very much to see these fine things sold." + +"Your father got a fine sum of money for them." + +"You know of it, then?" + +"Yes, indeed: I saw that treasure ere it left your house. Your +grandfather was not merely a collector, he had a thorough knowledge of +art. In his younger happy years he had been in Italy, and had brought +back with him such treasures as could not now be got for any price. He +possessed some exquisite pictures by the best masters. When you looked +through his drawings, you would scarcely have believed your eyes. Among +his marbles were some invaluable fragments; his series of bronzes was +instructive and well chosen; he had also collected medals, in +considerable quantity, relating to history and art; his few gems +deserved the greatest praise. In addition to all which, the whole was +tastefully arranged; although the rooms and hall of the old house had +not been symmetrically built." + +"You may conceive," said Wilhelm, "what we young ones lost, when all +these articles were taken down and sent away. It was the first mournful +period of my life. I cannot tell you how empty the chambers looked when +we saw those objects vanish one by one, which had amused us from our +earliest years, and which we considered as unalterable as the house, or +the town itself." + +"If I mistake not, your father put the capital produced by the sale into +some neighbor's stock, with whom he commenced a sort of partnership in +trade." + +"Quite right; and their joint speculations have prospered in their +hands. Within the last twelve years, they have greatly increased their +fortunes, and are now the more vehemently bent on gaining. Old Werner +also has a son, who suits that sort of occupation much better than I." + +"I am sorry the place should have lost such an ornament as your +grandfather's cabinet was to it. I saw it but a short time prior to the +sale; and I may say, I was myself the cause of its being then disposed +of. A rich nobleman, a great amateur, but one who, in such important +transactions, does not trust to his own solitary judgment, had sent me +hither, and requested my advice. For six days I examined the collection: +on the seventh, I advised my friend to pay down the required sum without +delay. You were then a lively boy, often running about me: you explained +to me the subjects of the pictures, and in general, I recollect, could +give a very good account of the whole cabinet." + +"I remember such a person, but I should not have recognized him in you." + +"It is a good while ago, and we all change more or less. You had, if I +mistake not, a favorite piece among them, to which you were ever calling +my attention." + +"Oh, yes! it represented the history of that king's son dying of a +secret love for his father's bride." + +"It was not, certainly, the best picture,--badly grouped, of no +superiority in coloring, and executed altogether with great mannerism." + +"This I did not understand, and do not yet: it is the subject that +charms me in a picture, not the art." + +"Your grandfather seemed to have thought otherwise. The greater part of +his collection consisted of excellent pieces; in which, represent what +they might, one constantly admired the talent of the master. This +picture of yours had accordingly been hung in the outermost room,--a +proof that he valued it slightly." + +"It was in that room where we young ones used to play, and where the +piece you mention made on me a deep impression; which not even your +criticism, greatly as I honor it, could obliterate, if we stood before +the picture at this moment. What a melancholy object is a youth that +must shut up within himself the sweet impulse, the fairest inheritance +which nature has given us, and conceal in his own bosom the fire which +should warm and animate himself and others, so that his vitals are +wasted away by unutterable pains! I feel a pity for the ill-fated man +that would consecrate himself to another, when the heart of that other +has already found a worthy object of true and pure affection." + +"Such feelings are, however, very foreign to the principles by which a +lover of art examines the works of great painters; and most probably +you, too, had the cabinet continued in your family, would have by and by +acquired a relish for the works themselves, and have learned to see in +the performances of art something more than yourself and your individual +inclinations." + +"In truth, the sale of that cabinet grieved me very much at the time; +and often since I have thought of it with regret: but when I consider +that it was a necessary means of awakening a taste in me, of developing +a talent, which will operate far more powerfully on my history than ever +those lifeless pictures could have done, I easily content myself, and +honor destiny, which knows how to bring about what is best for me, and +what is best for every one." + +"It gives me pain to hear this word destiny in the mouth of a young +person, just at the age when men are commonly accustomed to ascribe +their own violent inclinations to the will of higher natures." + +"You, then, do not believe in destiny? No power that rules over us and +directs all for our ultimate advantage?" + +"The question is not now of my belief, nor is this the place to explain +how I may have attempted to form for myself some not impossible +conception of things which are incomprehensible to all of us: the +question here is, What mode of viewing them will profit us the most? The +fabric of our life is formed of necessity and chance: the reason of man +takes its station between them, and may rule them both; it treats the +necessary as the groundwork of its being; the accidental it can direct +and guide, and employ for its own purposes: and only while this +principle of reason stands firm and inexpugnable, does man deserve to be +named the god of this lower world. But woe to him who, from his youth, +has used himself to search in necessity for something of arbitrary will; +to ascribe to chance a sort of reason, which it is a matter of religion +to obey. Is conduct like this aught else than to renounce one's +understanding, and give unrestricted scope to one's inclinations? We +think it is a kind of piety to move along without consideration; to let +accidents that please us determine our conduct; and, finally, to bestow +on the result of such a vacillating life the name of providential +guidance." + +"Was it never your case that some little circumstance induced you to +strike into a certain path, where some accidental occurrence erelong met +you, and a series of unexpected incidents at length brought you to some +point which you yourself had scarcely once contemplated? Should not +lessons of this kind teach us obedience to destiny, confidence in some +such guide?" + +"With opinions like these, no woman could maintain her virtue, no man +keep the money in his purse; for occasions enough are occurring to get +rid of both. He alone is worthy of respect, who knows what is of use to +himself and others, and who labors to control his self-will. Each man +has his own fortune in his hands; as the artist has a piece of rude +matter, which he is to fashion to a certain shape. But the art of living +rightly is like all arts: the capacity alone is born with us; it must be +learned, and practised with incessant care." + +These discussions our two speculators carried on between them to +considerable length: at last they parted without seeming to have wrought +any special conviction in each other, but engaging to meet at an +appointed place next day. + +Wilhelm walked up and down the streets for a time: he heard a sound of +clarinets, hunting-horns, and bassoons; it swelled his bosom with +delightful feelings. It was some travelling showmen that produced this +pleasant music. He spoke with them: for a piece of coin they followed +him to Mariana's house. The space in front of the door was adorned with +lofty trees; under them he placed his artists; and, himself resting on a +bench at some distance, he surrendered his mind without restraint to the +hovering tones which floated round him in the cool mellow night. +Stretched out beneath the kind stars, he felt his existence like a +golden dream. "She, too, hears these flutes," said he within his heart: +"she feels whose remembrance, whose love of her, it is that makes the +night full of music. In distance, even, we are united by these melodies, +as in every separation, by the ethereal accordance of love. Ah! two +hearts that love each other are as two magnetic needles: whatever moves +the one must move the other with it; for it is one power that works in +both, one principle that pervades them. Can I in her arms conceive the +possibility of parting from her? And yet I am soon to be far from her, +to seek out a sanctuary for our love, and then to have her ever with me. + +"How often, when absent from her, and lost in thoughts about her, +happening to touch a book, a piece of dress or aught else, have I +thought I felt her hand, so entirely was I invested with her presence! +And to recollect those moments which shunned the light of day and the +eye of the cold spectator; which, to enjoy, the gods might determine to +forsake the painless condition of their pure blessedness! To recollect +them! As if by memory we could renew the tumultuous thrilling of that +cup of joy, which encircles our senses with celestial bonds, and lifts +them beyond all earthly hinderances. And her form"--He lost himself in +thoughts of her; his rest passed away into longing; he leaned against a +tree, and cooled his warm cheek on its bark; and the winds of the night +wafted speedily aside the breath, which proceeded in sighs from his pure +and impassioned bosom. He groped for the neckerchief he had taken from +her; but it was forgotten, it lay in his other clothes. His frame +quivered with emotion. + +The music ceased, and he felt as if fallen from the element in which his +thoughts had hitherto been soaring. His restlessness increased, as his +feelings were no longer nourished and assuaged by the melody. He sat +down upon her threshold, and felt more peace. He kissed the brass +knocker of her door: he kissed the threshold over which her feet went +out and in, and warmed it by the fire of his breast. He again sat still +for a moment, and figured her behind her curtains in the white +night-gown, with the red ribbon round her head, in sweet repose: he +almost fancied that he was himself so near her, she must needs be +dreaming of him. His thoughts were beautiful, like the spirits of the +twilight; rest and desire alternated within him; love ran with a +quivering hand, in a thousand moods, over all the chords of his soul; it +was as if the spheres stood mute above him, suspending their eternal +song to watch the low melodies of his heart. + +Had he then had about him the master-key with which he used to open +Mariana's door, he could not have restrained himself from penetrating +into the sanctuary of love. Yet he went away slowly; he slanted, +half-dreaming, in beneath the trees, set himself for home, and +constantly turned round again; at last, with an effort, he constrained +himself, and actually departed. At the corner of the street, looking +back yet once, he imagined that he saw Mariana's door open, and a dark +figure issue from it. He was too distant for seeing clearly; and, before +he could exert himself and look sharply, the appearance was already lost +in the night; yet afar off he thought he saw it again gliding past a +white house. He stood, and strained his eyes; but, ere he could arouse +himself and follow the phantom, it had vanished. Whither should he +pursue it? What street had the man taken, if it were a man? + +A nightly traveller, when at some turn of his path he has seen the +country for an instant illuminated by a flash of lightning, will, with +dazzled eyes, next moment, seek in vain for the preceding forms and the +connection of his road; so was it in the eyes and the heart of Wilhelm. +And as a spirit of midnight, which awakens unutterable terror, is, in +the succeeding moments of composure, regarded as a child of imagination, +and the fearful vision leaves doubts without end behind it in the soul; +so likewise was Wilhelm in extreme disquietude, as, leaning on the +corner-stone of the street, he heeded not the clear gray of the morning, +and the crowing of the cocks; till the early trades began to stir, and +drove him home. + +On his way, he had almost effaced the unexpected delusion from his mind +by the most sufficient reasons; yet the fine harmonious feelings of the +night, on which he now looked back as if they too had been a vision, +were also gone. To soothe his heart, and put the last seal on his +returning belief, he took the neckerchief from the pocket of the dress +he had been last wearing. The rustling of a letter which fell out of it +took the kerchief away from his lips: he lifted and read,-- + +"As I love thee, little fool, what ailed thee last night? This evening I +will come again. I can easily suppose that thou art sick of staying here +so long: but have patience; at the fair I will return for thee. And +observe, never more put me on that abominable black-green-brown jacket: +thou lookest in it like the witch of Endor. Did I not send the white +night-gown, that I might have a snowy little lambkin in my arms? Send +thy letters always by the ancient sibyl: the Devil himself has selected +her as Iris." + + + + +BOOK II. + +CHAPTER I. + + +Whoever strives in our sight with vehement force to reach an object, be +it one that we praise or that we blame, may count on exciting an +interest in our minds; but, when once the matter is decided, we turn our +eyes away from him: whatever once lies finished and done, can no longer +at all fix our attention, especially if we at first prophesied an evil +issue to the undertaking. + +Therefore we shall not try to entertain our readers with any +circumstantial account of the grief and desperation into which our +ill-fated friend was cast, when he saw his hopes so unexpectedly and +instantaneously ruined. On the contrary, we shall even pass over several +years, and again take up our friend, where we hope to find him in some +sort of activity and comfort. First, however, we must shortly set forth +a few matters necessary for maintaining the connection of our narrative. + +The pestilence, or a malignant fever, rages with more fierceness, and +speedier effect, if the frame which it attacks was before healthy and +full of vigor; and in like manner, when a luckless, unlooked-for fate +overtook the wretched Wilhelm, his whole being in a moment was laid +waste. As when by chance, in the preparation of some artificial +firework, any part of the composition kindles before its time; and the +skilfully bored and loaded barrels, which, arranged, and burning after a +settled plan, would have painted in the air a magnificently varying +series of flaming images, now hissing and roaring, promiscuously explode +with a confused and dangerous crash,--so, in our hero's case, did +happiness and hope, pleasure and joys, realities and dreams, clash +together with destructive tumult, all at once in his bosom. In such +desolate moments, the friend that has hastened to deliverance stands +fixed in astonishment; and for him who suffers, it is a benefit that +sense forsakes him. + +Days of pain, unmixed, ever-returning, and purposely renewed, succeeded +next: still, even these are to be regarded as a grace from nature. In +such hours Wilhelm had not yet quite lost his mistress: his pains were +indefatigable struggles, still to hold fast the happiness that was +gliding from his soul; again to luxuriate in thought on the possibility +of it; to procure a brief after-life for his joys that had departed +forever. Thus one may look upon a body as not utterly dead while the +putrefaction lasts; while the forces that in vain seek to work by their +old appointment, still labor in dissevering the particles of that frame +which they once animated; and not till all is disunited and inert, till +we see the whole mouldered down into indifferent dust,--not till then +does there rise in us the mournful, vacant sentiment of death,--death, +not to be recalled, save by the breath of Him that lives forever. + +In a temper so new, so entire, so full of love, there was much to tear +asunder, to desolate, to kill; and even the healing force of youth gave +nourishment and violence to the power of sorrow. The stroke had extended +to the roots of his whole existence. Werner, by necessity his confidant, +attacked the hated passion itself with fire and sword, resolutely +zealous to search into the monster's inmost life. The opportunity was +lucky, the evidence at hand, and many were the histories and narratives +with which he backed it out. With such unrelenting vehemence did he make +his advances, leaving his friend not even the respite of the smallest +momentary self-deception, but treading down every lurking-place in which +he might have saved himself from desperation, that Nature, not inclined +to let her darling perish utterly, visited him with sickness, to make an +outlet for him on the other side. + +A violent fever, with its train of consequences, medicines, +overstraining, and exhaustion, besides the unwearied attentions of his +family, the love of his brothers and sisters, which first becomes truly +sensible in times of distress and want, were so many fresh occupations +to his mind, and thus formed a kind of painful entertainment. It was not +till he grew better, in other words, till his strength was exhausted, +that Wilhelm first looked down with horror into the gloomy abyss of a +barren misery, as one looks down into the hollow crater of an +extinguished volcano. + +He now bitterly reproached himself, that, after so great a loss, he +could yet enjoy one painless, restful, indifferent moment. He despised +his own heart, and longed for the balm of tears and lamentation. + +To awaken these again within him, he would recall to memory the scenes +of his by-gone happiness. He would paint them to his fancy in the +liveliest colors, transport himself again into the days when they were +real; and when standing on the highest elevation he could reach, when +the sunshine of past times again seemed to animate his limbs and heave +his bosom, he would look back into the fearful chasm, would feast his +eye on its dismembering depth, then plunge down into its horrors, and +thus force from nature the bitterest pains. With such repeated cruelty +did he tear himself in pieces; for youth, which is so rich in +undeveloped force, knows not what it squanders when, to the anguish +which a loss occasions, it adds so many sorrows of its own production, +as if it meant then first to give the right value to what is gone +forever. He likewise felt so convinced that his present loss was the +sole, the first, the last, he ever could experience in life, that he +turned away from every consolation which aimed at showing that his +sorrows might be less than endless. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Accustomed in this way to torment himself, he now also attacked what +still remained to him; what next to love, and along with it, had given +him the highest joys and hopes,--his talent as a poet and actor, with +spiteful criticisms on every side. In his labors he could see nothing +but a shallow imitation of prescribed forms, without intrinsic worth: he +looked on them as stiff school-exercises, destitute of any spark of +nature, truth, or inspiration. His poems now appeared nothing more than +a monotonous arrangement of syllables, in which the most trite emotions +and thoughts were dragged along and kept together by a miserable rhyme. +And thus did he also deprive himself of every expectation, every +pleasure, which on this quarter at least might have aided the recovery +of his peace. + +With his theatric talent it fared no better. He blamed himself for not +having sooner detected the vanity on which alone this pretension had +been founded. His figure, his gait, his movements, his mode of +declamation, were severally taxed: he decisively renounced every species +of advantage or merit that might have raised him above the common run of +men, and so doing he increased his mute despair to the highest pitch. +For, if it is hard to give up a woman's love, no less painful is the +task to part from the fellowship of the Muses, to declare ourselves +forever undeserving to be of their community, and to forego the fairest +and most immediate kind of approbation, what is openly bestowed on our +person, our voice, and our demeanor. + +Thus, then, our friend had long ago entirely resigned himself, and set +about devoting his powers with the greatest zeal to the business of +trade. To the surprise of friends, and to the great contentment of his +father, no one was now more diligent than Wilhelm, on the exchange or in +the counting-house, in the sale-room or the warehouses: correspondence +and calculations, all that was intrusted to his charge, he attended to +and managed with the greatest diligence and zeal. Not, in truth, with +that warm diligence which to the busy man is its own reward, when he +follows with constancy and order the employment he was born for, but +with the silent diligence of duty, which has the best principle for its +foundation; which is nourished by conviction, and rewarded by +conscience; yet which oft, even when the clearest testimony of our minds +is crowning it with approbation, can scarcely repress a struggling sigh. + +In this manner he lived for a time, assiduously busied, and at last +persuaded that his former hard trial had been ordained by fate for the +best. He felt glad at having thus been timefully, though somewhat +harshly, warned about the proper path of life; while many are +constrained to expiate more heavily, and at a later age, the +misconceptions into which their youthful inexperience has betrayed them. +For each man commonly defends himself as long as possible from casting +out the idols which he worships in his soul, from acknowledging a master +error, and admitting any truth which brings him to despair. + +Determined as he was to abandon his dearest projects, some time was +still necessary to convince him fully of his misfortune. At last, +however, he had so completely succeeded, by irrefragable reasons, in +annihilating every hope of love, or poetical performance, or stage +representation, that he took courage to obliterate entirely all the +traces of his folly,--all that could in any way remind him of it. For +this purpose he had lit a fire in his chamber, one cool evening, and +brought out a little chest of relics, among which were multitudes of +small articles, that, in memorable moments, he had begged or stolen from +Mariana. Each withered flower brought to his mind the time when it +bloomed fresh among her hair; each little note the happy hour to which +it had invited him; each ribbon-knot the lovely resting-place of his +head,--her beautiful bosom. So occupied, was it not to be expected that +each emotion which he thought long since quite dead, should again begin +to move? Was it not to be expected that the passion over which, when +separated from his mistress, he had gained the victory, should, in the +presence of these memorials, again gather strength? We first observe how +dreary and disagreeable an overclouded day is when a single sunbeam +pierces through, and offers to us the exhilarating splendor of a serene +hour. + +Accordingly, it was not without disturbance that he saw these relics, +long preserved as sacred, fade away from before him in smoke and flame. +Sometimes he shuddered and hesitated in his task: he had still a pearl +necklace and a flowered neckerchief in his hands, when he resolved to +quicken the decaying fire with the poetical attempts of his youth. + +Till now he had carefully laid up whatever had proceeded from his pen, +since the earliest unfolding of his mind. His papers yet lay tied up in +a bundle at the bottom of the chest, where he had packed them; purposing +to take them with him in his elopement. How altogether different were +his feelings now in opening them, and his feelings then in tying them +together! + +If we happen, under certain circumstances, to have written and sealed +and despatched a letter to a friend, which, however, does not find him, +but is brought back to us, and we open it at the distance of some +considerable time, a singular emotion is produced in us, on breaking up +our own seal, and conversing with our altered self as with a third +person. A similar and deep feeling seized our friend, as he now opened +this packet, and threw the scattered leaves into the fire; which was +flaming fiercely with its offerings, when Werner entered, expressed his +wonder at the blaze, and asked what was the matter. + +"I am now giving proof," said Wilhelm, "that I am serious in abandoning +a trade for which I was not born." And, with these words, he cast the +second packet likewise into the fire. Werner made a motion to prevent +him, but the business was already done. + +"I cannot see how thou shouldst bring thyself to such extremities," said +Werner. "Why must these labors, because they are not excellent, be +annihilated?" + +"Because either a poem is excellent, or it should not be allowed to +exist. Because each man who has no gift for producing first-rate works, +should entirely abstain from the pursuit of art, and seriously guard +himself against every deception on that subject. For it must be owned, +that in all men there is a certain vague desire to imitate whatever is +presented to them; and such desires do not prove at all that we possess +within us the force necessary for succeeding in these enterprises. Look +at boys, how, whenever any rope-dancers have been visiting the town, +they go scrambling up and down, and balancing on all the planks and +beams within their reach, till some other charm calls them off to other +sports, for which perhaps they are as little suited. Hast thou never +marked it in the circle of our friends? No sooner does a _dilettante_ +introduce himself to notice, than numbers of them set themselves to +learn playing on his instrument. How many wander back and forward on +this bootless way! Happy they who soon detect the chasm that lies +between their wishes and their powers!" + +Werner contradicted this opinion: their discussion became lively, and +Wilhelm could not without emotion employ against his friend the +arguments with which he had already so frequently tormented himself. +Werner maintained that it was not reasonable wholly to relinquish a +pursuit for which a man had some propensity and talent, merely because +he never could succeed in it to full perfection. There were many vacant +hours, he said, which might be filled up by it; and then by and by some +result might be produced which would yield a certain satisfaction to +himself and others. + +Wilhelm, who in this matter was of quite a different opinion, here +interrupted him, and said with great vivacity,-- + +"How immensely, dear friend, do you err in believing that a work, the +first presentation of which is to fill the whole soul, can be produced +in broken hours scraped together from other extraneous employment. No: +the poet must live wholly for himself, wholly in the objects that +delight him. Heaven has furnished him internally with precious gifts; he +carries in his bosom a treasure that is ever of itself increasing; he +must also live with this treasure, undisturbed from without, in that +still blessedness which the rich seek in vain to purchase with their +accumulated stores. Look at men, how they struggle after happiness and +satisfaction! Their wishes, their toil, their gold, are ever hunting +restlessly,--and after what? After that which the poet has received from +nature,--the right enjoyment of the world, the feeling of himself in +others, the harmonious conjunction of many things that will seldom exist +together. + +"What is it that keeps men in continual discontent and agitation? It is, +that they cannot make realities correspond with their conceptions, that +enjoyment steals away from among their hands, that the wished-for comes +too late, and nothing reached and acquired produces on the heart the +effect which their longing for it at a distance led them to anticipate. +Now, fate has exalted the poet above all this, as if he were a god. He +views the conflicting tumult of the passions; sees families and kingdoms +raging in aimless commotion; sees those inexplicable enigmas of +misunderstanding, which frequently a single monosyllable would suffice +to explain, occasioning convulsions unutterably baleful. He has a +fellow-feeling of the mournful and the joyful in the fate of all human +beings. When the man of the world is devoting his days to wasting +melancholy, for some deep disappointment, or, in the ebullience of joy, +is going out to meet his happy destiny, the lightly moved and +all-conceiving spirit of the poet steps forth, like the sun from night +to day, and with soft transitions tunes his harp to joy or woe. From his +heart, its native soil, springs up the lovely flower of wisdom; and if +others, while waking, dream, and are pained with fantastic delusions +from their every sense, he passes the dream of life like one awake; and +the strangest of incidents is to him a part both of the past and of the +future. And thus the poet is at once a teacher, a prophet, a friend of +gods and men. What! thou wouldst have him descend from his height to +some paltry occupation! He who is fashioned like the bird to hover round +the world, to nestle on the lofty summits, to feed on buds and fruits, +exchanging gayly one bough for another, _he_ ought also to work at the +plough like an ox; like a dog to train himself to the harness and +draught; or perhaps, tied up in a chain, to guard a farmyard by his +barking!" + +Werner, it may well be supposed, had listened with the greatest +surprise. "All true," he rejoined, "if men were but made like birds, +and, though they neither spun nor weaved, could yet spend peaceful days +in perpetual enjoyment; if, at the approach of winter, they could as +easily betake themselves to distant regions, could retire before +scarcity, and fortify themselves against frost." + +"Poets have lived so," exclaimed Wilhelm, "in times when true nobleness +was better reverenced; and so should they ever live! Sufficiently, +provided for within, they had need of little from without: the gift of +communicating lofty emotions and glorious images to men, in melodies and +words that charmed the ear, and fixed themselves inseparably on whatever +objects they referred to, of old enraptured the world, and served the +gifted as a rich inheritance. At the courts of kings, at the tables of +the great, beneath the windows of the fair, the sound of them was heard; +while the ear and the soul were shut for all beside: and men felt as we +do when delight comes over us, and we stop with rapture if, among the +dingles we are crossing, the voice of the nightingale starts out +touching and strong. They found a home in every habitation of the world, +and the lowliness of their condition but exalted them the more. The hero +listened to their songs, and the conqueror of the earth did reverence to +a poet; for he felt, that, without poets, his own wild and vast +existence would pass away like a whirlwind, and be forgotten forever. +The lover wished that he could feel his longings and his joys so +variedly and so harmoniously as the poet's inspired lips had skill to +show them forth; and even the rich man could not of himself discern such +costliness in his idol grandeurs, as when they were presented to him +shining in the splendor of the poet's spirit, sensible to all worth, and +exalting all. Nay, if thou wilt have it, who but the poet was it that +first formed gods for us, that exalted us to them, and brought them down +to us?" + +"My friend," said Werner, after some reflection, "it has often grieved +me that thou shouldst strive by force to banish from thy soul what thou +feelest so vividly. I am greatly mistaken, if it were not better for +thee in some degree to yield to these propensities, than to waste +thyself by the contradictions of so hard a piece of self-denial, and +with the enjoyment of this one guiltless pleasure to renounce the +enjoyment of all others." + +"Shall I confess it," said the other, "and wilt not thou laugh at me if +I acknowledge, that these ideas pursue me constantly; that, let me flee +from them as I will, when I explore my heart, I find all my early wishes +yet rooted there, firmly,--nay, more firmly than ever? Yet what now +remains for me, wretched as I am? Ah! whoever should have told me that +the arms of my spirit, with which I was grasping at infinity, and hoping +with certainty to clasp something great and glorious, would so soon be +crushed and smote in pieces,--whoever should have told me this, would +have brought me to despair. And yet now, when judgment has been passed +against me; now, when _she_, that was to be as my divinity to guide me +to my wishes, is gone forever,--what remains but that I yield up my soul +to the bitterest woes? O my brother! I will not deceive you: in my +secret purposes, she was as the hook on which the ladder of my hopes was +fixed. See! With daring aim the mountain adventurer hovers in the air: +the iron breaks, and he lies broken and dismembered on the earth. No, +there is no hope, no comfort for me more! I will not," he cried out, +springing to his feet, "leave a single fragment of these wretched papers +from the flames." He then seized one or two packets of them, tore them +up, and threw them into the fire. Werner endeavored to restrain him, but +in vain. "Let me alone!" cried Wilhelm: "what should these miserable +leaves do here? To me they give neither pleasant recollections nor +pleasant hopes. Shall they remain behind to vex me to the end of my +life? Shall they perhaps one day serve the world for a jest, instead of +awakening sympathy and horror? Woe to me! my doom is woe! Now I +comprehend the wailings of the poets, of the wretched whom necessity has +rendered wise. How long did I look upon myself as invulnerable and +invincible; and, alas! I am now made to see that a deep and early sorrow +can never heal, can never pass away: I feel that I shall take it with me +to my grave. No! not a day of my life shall escape this anguish, which +at last must crush me down; and _her_ image too shall stay with me, +shall live and die with me, the image of the worthless,--O my friend! if +I must speak the feeling of my heart,--the perhaps not altogether +worthless! Her situation, the crookedness of her destiny, have a +thousand times excused her in my mind. I have been too cruel; you +steeled me in your own cold unrelenting harshness; you held my wavering +senses captive, and hindered me from doing for myself and her what I +owed to both. Who knows to what a state I may have brought her! my +conscience by degrees presents to me, in all its heaviness, in what +helplessness, in what despair, I may have left her. Was it not possible +that she might clear herself? Was it not possible? How many +misconceptions throw the world into perplexity! how many circumstances +may extort forgiveness for the greatest fault! Often do I figure her as +sitting by herself in silence, leaning on her elbows. 'This,' she says, +'is the faith, the love, he swore to me! With this hard stroke to end +the delicious life which made us one!'" He broke out into a stream of +tears; while he threw himself down with his face upon the table, and +wetted the remaining papers with his weeping. + +Werner stood beside him in the deepest perplexity. He had not +anticipated this fierce ebullition of feeling. More than once he had +tried to interrupt his friend, more than once to lead the conversation +elsewhere, but in vain: the current was too strong for him. It remained +that long-suffering friendship should again take up her office. Werner +allowed the first shock of sorrow to pass over, while by his silent +presence he testified a pure and honest sympathy. And thus they both +remained that evening,--Wilhelm sunk in the dull feeling of old sorrows; +and the other terrified at this new outbreaking of a passion which he +thought his prudent councils and keen persuasion had long since mastered +and destroyed. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +After such relapses, Wilhelm usually applied himself to business and +activity with augmented ardor; and he found it the best means to escape +the labyrinth into which he had again been tempted to enter. His +attractive way of treating strangers, the ease with which he carried on +a correspondence in any living language, more and more increased the +hopes of his father and his trading-friends, and comforted them in their +sorrow for his sickness,--the origin of which had not been known,--and +for the pause which had thus interrupted their plan. They determined a +second time on Wilhelm's setting out to travel; and we now find him on +horseback, with his saddle-bags behind him, exhilarated by the motion +and the free air, approaching the mountains, where he had some affairs +to settle. + +He winded slowly on his path, through dales and over hills, with a +feeling of the greatest satisfaction. Overhanging cliffs, roaring +brooks, moss-grown rocky walls, deep precipices, he here saw for the +first time; yet his earliest dreams of youth had wandered among such +regions. In these scenes he felt his age renewed; all the sorrows he had +undergone were obliterated from his soul; with unbroken cheerfulness he +repeated to himself passages of various poems, particularly of the +"Pastor Fido," which, in these solitary places, flocked in crowds into +his mind. He also recollected many pieces of his own songs, and recited +them with a peculiar contentment. He peopled the world which lay before +him with all the forms of the past, and each step into the future was to +him full of augury of important operations and remarkable events. + +Several men, who came behind him in succession, and saluted him as they +passed by to continue their hasty way into the mountains, by steep +footpaths, sometimes interrupted his thoughts without attracting his +attention to themselves. At last a communicative traveller joined him, +and explained the reason of this general pilgrimage. + +"At Hochdorf," he said, "there is a play to be acted to-night; and the +whole neighborhood is gathering to see it." + +"What!" cried Wilhelm. "In these solitary hills, among these +impenetrable forests, has theatric art sought out a place, and built +herself a temple? And I am journeying to her festivities!" + +"You will wonder more," said the other, "when you learn by whom the play +is to be acted. There is in the place a large manufactory, which employs +many people. The proprietor, who lives, so to speak, remote from all +human society, can find no better means of entertaining his workmen +during winter, than allowing them to act plays. He suffers no cards +among them, and wishes also to withdraw them from all coarse rustic +practices. Thus they pass the long evenings; and to-day, being the old +gentleman's birthday, they are giving a particular festival in honor of +him." + +Wilhelm came to Hochdorf, where he was to pass the night, and alighted +at the manufactory, the proprietor of which stood as a debtor in his +list. + +When he gave his name, the old man cried in a glad surprise, "Aye, sir, +are you the son of that worthy man to whom I owe so many thanks,--so +long have owed money? Your good father has had so much patience with me, +I should be a knave if I did not pay you speedily and cheerfully. You +come at the proper time to see that I am fully in earnest about it." + +He then called out his wife, who seemed no less delighted than himself +to see the youth: she declared that he was very like his father, and +lamented, that, having such a multitude of guests already in the house, +she could not lodge him for the night. + +The account was clear, and quickly settled: Wilhelm put the roll of gold +into his pocket, and wished that all his other business might go on so +smoothly. At last the play-hour came: they now waited nothing but the +coming of the head forester, who at length also arrived, entered with a +few hunters, and was received with the greatest reverence. + +The company was then led into the playhouse, formed out of a barn that +lay close upon the garden. Without any extraordinary taste, both seats +and stage were yet decked out in a cheerful and pretty way. One of the +painters employed in the manufactory had formerly worked as an +understrapper at the prince's theatre: he had now represented woods and +streets and chambers, somewhat rudely, it is true, yet so as to be +recognized for such. The play itself they had borrowed from a strolling +company, and shaped it aright, according to their own ideas. As it was, +it did not fail to yield some entertainment. The plot of two lovers +wishing to carry off a girl from her guardian, and mutually from one +another, produced a great variety of interesting situations. Being the +first play our friend had witnessed for so long a time, it suggested +several reflections to him. It was full of action, but without any true +delineation of character. It pleased and delighted. Such are always the +beginnings of the scenic art. The rude man is contented if he see but +something going on; the man of more refinement must be made to feel; the +man entirely refined, desires to reflect. + +The players he would willingly have helped here and there, for a very +little would have made them greatly better. + +His silent meditations were somewhat broken in upon by the +tobacco-smoke, which now began to rise in great and greater copiousness. +Soon after the commencement of the play, the head forester had lit his +pipe: by and by others took the same liberty. The large dogs, too, which +followed these gentlemen, introduced themselves in no pleasant style. At +first they had been bolted out; but, soon finding the back-door passage, +they entered on the stage, ran against the actors, and at last, jumping +over the orchestra, joined their masters, who had taken up the front +seats in the pit. + +For afterpiece an oblation was represented. A portrait of the old +gentleman in his bridegroom dress stood upon an altar, hung with +garlands. All the players paid their reverence to it in the most +submissive postures. The youngest child came forward dressed in white, +and made a speech in verse; by which the whole family, and even the head +forester himself, whom it brought in mind of his own children, were +melted into tears. Thus ended the play; and Wilhelm could not help +stepping on the stage, to have a closer view of the actresses, to praise +them for their good performance, and give them a little counsel for the +future. + +The remaining business, which our friend in the following days had to +transact in various quarters of the hill-country, was not all so +pleasant, or so easy to conclude with satisfaction. Many of his debtors +entreated for delay, many were uncourteous, many lied. In conformity +with his instructions, he had to sue some of them at law; he was thus +obliged to seek out advocates, and give instructions to them, to appear +before judges, and go through many other sorry duties of the same sort. + +His case was hardly bettered when people chanced to incline showing some +attention to him. He found very few that could any way instruct him, few +with whom he could hope to establish a useful commercial correspondence. +Unhappily, moreover, the weather now grew rainy; and travelling on +horseback in this district came to be attended with insufferable +difficulties. He therefore thanked his stars on again getting near the +level country; and at the foot of the mountains, looking out into a +fertile and beautiful plain, intersected by a smooth-flowing river, and +seeing a cheerful little town lying on its banks, all glittering in the +sunshine, he resolved, though without any special business in the place, +to pass a day or two there, that he might refresh both himself and his +horse, which the bad roads had considerably injured. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +On alighting at an inn, upon the market-place, he found matters going on +very joyously,--at least very stirringly. A large company of +rope-dancers, leapers, and jugglers, having a strong man along with +them, had just arrived with their wives and children, and, while +preparing for a grand exhibition, kept up a perpetual racket. They first +quarrelled with the landlord, then with one another; and, if their +contention was intolerable, the expressions of their satisfaction were +infinitely more so. Undetermined whether he should go or stay, he was +standing in the door looking at some workmen, who had just begun to +erect a stage in the middle of the square. + +A girl with roses and other flowers for sale, coming by, held out her +basket to him, and he purchased a beautiful nosegay; which, like one +that had a taste for these things, he tied up in a different fashion, +and was looking at it with a satisfied air, when the window of another +inn on the opposite side of the square flew open, and a handsome woman +looked out from it. Notwithstanding the distance, he observed that her +face was animated by a pleasant cheerfulness; her fair hair fell +carelessly streaming about her neck; she seemed to be looking at the +stranger. In a short time afterwards, a boy with a white jacket, and a +barber's apron on, came out from the door of her house towards Wilhelm, +saluted him, and said, "The lady at the window bids me ask if you will +not favor her with a share of your beautiful flowers."--"They are all at +her service," answered Wilhelm, giving the nosegay to this nimble +messenger, and making a bow to the fair one, who returned it with a +friendly courtesy, and then withdrew from the window. + +Amused with this small adventure, he was going up-stairs to his chamber, +when a young creature sprang against him, and attracted his attention. A +short silk waistcoat with slashed Spanish sleeves, tight trousers with +puffs, looked very pretty on the child. Its long black hair was curled, +and wound in locks and plaits about the head. He looked at the figure +with astonishment, and could not determine whether to take it for a boy +or a girl. However, he decided for the latter: and, as the child ran by, +he took her up in his arms, bade her good-day, and asked her to whom she +belonged; though he easily perceived that she must be a member of the +vaulting and dancing company lately arrived. She viewed him with a dark, +sharp side-look, as she pushed herself out of his arms, and ran into the +kitchen without making any answer. + +On coming up-stairs, he found in the large parlor two men practising the +small sword, or seeming rather to make trial which was the better +fencer. One of them plainly enough belonged to the vaulting company: the +other had a somewhat less savage aspect. Wilhelm looked at them, and had +reason to admire them both; and as the black-bearded, sturdy contender +soon afterwards forsook the place of action, the other with extreme +complaisance offered Wilhelm the rapier. + +"If you want to take a scholar under your inspection," said our friend, +"I am well content to risk a few passes with you." + +Accordingly they fought together; and, although the stranger greatly +overmatched his new competitor, he politely kept declaring that it all +depended upon practice; in fact, Wilhelm, inferior as he was, had made +it evident that he had got his first instructions from a good, solid, +thorough-paced German fencing-master. + +Their entertainment was disturbed by the uproar with which the +party-colored brotherhood issued from the inn, to make proclamation of +the show, and awaken a desire to see their art, throughout the town. +Preceded by a drum, the manager advanced on horseback: he was followed +by a female dancer mounted on a corresponding hack, and holding a child +before her, all bedizened with ribbons and spangles. Next came the +remainder of the troop on foot, some of them carrying children on their +shoulders in dangerous postures, yet smoothly and lightly: among these +the young, dark, black-haired figure again attracted Wilhelm's notice. + +Pickleherring ran gayly up and down the crowded multitude, distributing +his handbills with much practical fun,--here smacking the lips of a +girl, there breeching a boy, and awakening generally among the people an +invincible desire to know more of him. + +On the painted flags, the manifold science of the company was visibly +delineated, particularly of the Monsieur Narciss and the Demoiselle +Landrinette: both of whom, being main characters, had prudently kept +back from the procession, thereby to acquire a more dignified +consideration, and excite a greater curiosity. + +During the procession, Wilhelm's fair neighbor had again appeared at the +window; and he did not fail to inquire about her of his new companion. +This person, whom for the present we shall call Laertes, offered to take +Wilhelm over and introduce him. "I and the lady," said he laughing, "are +two fragments of an acting company that made shipwreck here a short +while ago. The pleasantness of the place has induced us to stay in it, +and consume our little stock of cash in peace; while one of our friends +is out seeking some situation for himself and us." + +Laertes immediately accompanied his new acquaintance to Philina's door; +where he left him for a moment, and ran to a shop hard by for a few +sweetmeats. "I am sure you will thank me," said he, on returning, "for +procuring you so pleasant an acquaintance." + +The lady came out from her room, in a pair of tight little slippers with +high heels, to give them welcome. She had thrown a black mantle over +her, above a white _negligée_, not indeed superstitiously clean; which, +however, for that very reason, gave her a more frank and domestic air. +Her short dress did not hide a pair of the prettiest feet and ankles in +the world. + +"You are welcome," she cried to Wilhelm, "and I thank you for your +charming flowers." She led him into her chamber with the one hand, +pressing the nosegay to her breast with the other. Being all seated, and +got into a pleasant train of general talk, to which she had the art of +giving a delightful turn, Laertes threw a handful of gingerbread-nuts +into her lap; and she immediately began to eat them. + +"Look what a child this young gallant is!" she said: "he wants to +persuade you that I am fond of such confectionery, and it is himself +that cannot live without licking his lips over something of the kind." + +"Let us confess," replied Laertes, "that in this point, as in others, +you and I go hand in hand. For example," he continued, "the weather is +delightful to-day: what if we should take a drive into the country, and +eat our dinner at the Mill?" + +"With all my heart," said Philina: "we must give our new acquaintance +some diversion." + +Laertes sprang out, for he never walked: and Wilhelm motioned to return +for a minute to his lodgings, to have his hair put in order; for at +present it was all dishevelled with riding. "You can do it here," she +said, then called her little servant, and constrained Wilhelm in the +politest manner to lay off his coat, to throw her powder-mantle over +him, and to have his head dressed in her presence. "We must lose no +time," said she: "who knows how short a while we may all be together?" + +The boy, out of sulkiness and ill nature more than want of skill, went +on but indifferently with his task: he pulled the hair with his +implements, and seemed as if he would not soon be done. Philina more +than once reproved him for his blunders, and at last sharply packed him +off, and chased him to the door. She then undertook the business +herself, and frizzled Wilhelm's locks with great dexterity and grace; +though she, too, appeared to be in no exceeding haste, but found always +this and that to improve and put to rights; while at the same time she +could not help touching his knees with hers, and holding her nosegay and +bosom so near his lips, that he was strongly tempted more than once to +imprint a kiss on it. + +When Wilhelm had cleaned his brow with a little powder-knife, she said +to him, "Put it in your pocket, and think of me when you see it." It was +a pretty knife: the haft, of inlaid steel, had these friendly words +wrought on it, "Think of me." Wilhelm put it up, and thanked her, +begging permission at the same time to make her a little present in +return. + +At last they were in readiness. Laertes had brought round the coach, and +they commenced a very gay excursion. To every beggar, Philina threw out +money from the window; giving along with it a merry and friendly word. + +Scarcely had they reached the Mill, and ordered dinner, when a strain of +music struck up before the house. It was some miners singing various +pretty songs, and accompanying their clear and shrill voices with a +cithern and triangle. In a short while the gathering crowd had formed a +ring about them, and our company nodded approbation to them from the +windows. Observing this attention, they expanded their circle, and +seemed making preparation for their grandest piece. After some pause, a +miner stepped forward with a mattock in his hand; and, while the others +played a serious tune, he set himself to represent the action of +digging. + +Ere long a peasant came from among the crowd, and, by pantomimic +threats, let the former know that he must cease and remove. Our company +were greatly surprised at this: they did not discover that the peasant +was a miner in disguise, till he opened his mouth, and, in a sort of +recitative, rebuked the other for daring to meddle with his field. The +latter did not lose his composure of mind, but began to inform the +husbandman about his right to break ground there; giving him withal some +primary conceptions of mineralogy. The peasant, not being master of his +foreign terminology, asked all manner of silly questions; whereat the +spectators, as themselves more knowing, set up many a hearty laugh. The +miner endeavored to instruct him, and showed him the advantage, which, +in the long-run, would reach even him, if the deep-lying treasures of +the land were dug out from their secret beds. The peasant, who at first +had threatened his instructor with blows, was gradually pacified; and +they parted good friends at last, though it was the miner chiefly that +got out of this contention with honor. + +"In this little dialogue," said Wilhelm, when seated at the table, "we +have a lively proof how useful the theatre might be to all ranks; what +advantage even the state might procure from it, if the occupations, +trades, and undertakings of men were brought upon the stage, and +presented on their praiseworthy side, in that point of view in which the +state itself should honor and protect them. As matters stand, we exhibit +only the ridiculous side of men: the comic poet is, as it were, but a +spiteful tax-gatherer, who keeps a watchful eye over the errors of his +fellow-subjects, and seems gratified when he can fix any charge upon +them. Might it not be a worthy and pleasing task for a statesman to +survey the natural and reciprocal influence of all classes on each +other, and to guide some poet, gifted with sufficient humor, in such +labors as these? In this way, I am persuaded, many very entertaining, +both agreeable and useful, pieces, might be executed." + +"So far," said Laertes, "as I, in wandering about the world, have been +able to observe, statesmen are accustomed merely to forbid, to hinder, +to refuse, but very rarely to invite, to further, to reward. They let +all things go along, till some mischief happens: then they get into a +rage, and lay about them." + +"A truce with state and statesmen!" said Philina: "I cannot form a +notion of statesmen except in periwigs; and a periwig, wear it who will, +always gives my fingers a spasmodic motion: I could like to pluck it off +the venerable gentleman, to skip up and down the room with it, and laugh +at the bald head." + +So, with a few lively songs, which she could sing very beautifully, +Philina cut short their conversation, and urged them to a quick return +homewards, that they might arrive in time for seeing the performance of +the rope-dancers in the evening. On the road back she continued her +lavish generosity, in a style of gayety reaching to extravagance; for at +last, every coin belonging to herself or her companions being spent, +she threw her straw hat from the window to a girl, and her neckerchief +to an old woman, who asked her for alms. + +Philina invited both of her attendants to her own apartments, because, +she said, the spectacle could be seen more conveniently from her windows +than from theirs. + +On arriving, they found the stage set up, and the background decked with +suspended carpets. The swing-boards were already fastened, the +slack-rope fixed to posts, the tight-rope bound over trestles. The +square was moderately filled with people, and the windows with +spectators of some quality. + +Pickleherring, with a few insipidities, at which the lookers-on are +generally kind enough to laugh, first prepared the meeting to attention +and good-humor. Some children, whose bodies were made to exhibit the +strangest contortions, awakened astonishment or horror; and Wilhelm +could not, without the deepest sympathy, see the child he had at the +first glance felt an interest in, go through her fantastic positions +with considerable difficulty. But the merry tumblers soon changed the +feeling into that of lively satisfaction, when they first singly, then +in rows, and at last all together, vaulted up into the air, making +somersets backwards and forwards. A loud clapping of hands and a strong +huzza echoed from the whole assembly. + +The general attention was next directed to quite a different object. The +children in succession had to mount the rope,--the learners first, that +by practising they might prolong the spectacle, and show the +difficulties of the art more clearly. Some men and full-grown women +likewise exhibited their skill to moderate advantage; but still there +was no Monsieur Narciss, no Demoiselle Landrinette. + +At last this worthy pair came forth: they issued from a kind of tent +with red spread curtains, and, by their agreeable forms and glittering +decorations, fulfilled the hitherto increasing hopes of the spectators. +He, a hearty knave, of middle stature, with black eyes and a strong head +of hair; she, formed with not inferior symmetry,--exhibited themselves +successively upon the rope, with delicate movements, leaping, and +singular postures. Her airy lightness, his audacity; the exactitude with +which they both performed their feats of art,--raised the universal +satisfaction higher at every step and spring. The stateliness with which +they bore themselves, the seeming attentions of the rest to them, gave +them the appearance of king and queen of the whole troop; and all held +them worthy of the rank. + +The animation of the people spread to the spectators at the windows: the +ladies looked incessantly at Narciss, the gentlemen at Landrinette. The +populace hurrahed, the more cultivated public could not keep from +clapping of the hands: Pickleherring now could scarcely raise a laugh. A +few, however, slunk away when some members of the troop began to press +through the crowd with their tin plates to collect money. + +"They have made their purpose good, I imagine," said Wilhelm to Philina, +who was leaning over the window beside him. "I admire the ingenuity with +which they have turned to advantage even the meanest parts of their +performance: out of the unskilfulness of their children, and +exquisiteness of their chief actors, they have made up a whole which at +first excited our attention, and then gave us very fine entertainment." + +The people by degrees dispersed; and the square was again become empty, +while Philina and Laertes were disputing about the forms and the skill +of Narciss and Landrinette, and rallying each other on the subject at +great length. Wilhelm noticed the wonderful child standing on the street +near some other children at play: he showed her to Philina, who, in her +lively way, immediately called and beckoned to the little one, and, this +not succeeding, tripped singing down stairs, and led her up by the hand. + +"Here is the enigma," said she, as she brought her to the door. The +child stood upon the threshold, as if she meant again to run off; laid +her right hand on her breast, the left on her brow, and bowed deeply. +"Fear nothing, my little dear," said Wilhelm, rising, and going towards +her. She viewed him with a doubting look, and came a few steps nearer. + +"What is thy name?" he asked. "They call me Mignon."--"How old art +thou?"--"No one has counted."--"Who was thy father?"--"The Great Devil +is dead." + +"Well! this is singular enough," said Philina. They asked her a few more +questions: she gave her answers in a kind of broken German, and with a +strangely solemn manner; every time laying her hands on her breast and +brow, and bowing deeply. + +Wilhelm could not satisfy himself with looking at her. His eyes and his +heart were irresistibly attracted by the mysterious condition of this +being. He reckoned her about twelve or thirteen years of age: her body +was well formed, only her limbs gave promise of a stronger growth, or +else announced a stunted one. Her countenance was not regular, but +striking; her brow full of mystery; her nose extremely beautiful; her +mouth, although it seemed too closely shut for one of her age, and +though she often threw it to a side, had yet an air of frankness, and +was very lovely. Her brownish complexion could scarcely be discerned +through the paint. This form stamped itself deeply in Wilhelm's soul: he +kept looking at her earnestly, and forgot the present scene in the +multitude of his reflections. Philina waked him from his half-dream, by +holding out the remainder of her sweetmeats to the child, and giving her +a sign to go away. She made her little bow as formerly, and darted like +lightning through the door. + +As the time drew on when our new friends had to part for the evening, +they planned a fresh excursion for the morrow. They purposed now to have +their dinner at a neighboring _Jägerhaus_. Before taking leave of +Laertes, Wilhelm said many things in Philina's praise, to which the +other made only brief and careless answers. + +Next morning, having once more exercised themselves in fencing for an +hour, they went over to Philina's lodging, towards which they had seen +their expected coach passing by. But how surprised was Wilhelm, when the +coach seemed altogether to have vanished; and how much more so, when +Philina was not to be found at home! She had placed herself in the +carriage, they were told, with a couple of strangers who had come that +morning, and was gone with them. Wilhelm had been promising himself some +pleasant entertainment from her company, and could not hide his +irritation. Laertes, on the other hand, but laughed at it, and cried, "I +love her for this: it looks so like herself! Let us, however, go +directly to the _Jägerhaus_: be Philina where she pleases, we will not +lose our promenade on her account." + +As Wilhelm, while they walked, continued censuring the inconsistency of +such conduct, Laertes said, "I cannot reckon it inconsistent so long as +one keeps faithful to his character. If this Philina plans you any +thing, or promises you any thing, she does it under the tacit condition +that it shall be quite convenient for her to fulfil her plan, to keep +her promise. She gives willingly, but you must ever hold yourself in +readiness to return her gifts." + +"That seems a singular character," said Wilhelm. + +"Any thing but singular: only she is not a hypocrite. I like her on that +account. Yes: I am her friend, because she represents the sex so truly, +which I have so much cause to hate. To me she is another genuine Eve, +the great mother of womankind: so are they all, only they will not all +confess it." + +With abundance of such talk, in which Laertes very vehemently exhibited +his spleen against the fair sex, without, however, giving any cause for +it, they arrived at the forest; into which Wilhelm entered in no joyful +mood, the speeches of Laertes having again revived in him the memory of +his relation to Mariana. Not far from a shady well, among some old and +noble trees, they found Philina sitting by herself at a stone table. +Seeing them, she struck up a merry song; and, when Laertes asked for her +companions, she cried out, "I have already cozened them: I have already +had my laugh at them, and sent them a-travelling, as they deserved. By +the way hither I had put to proof their liberality; and, finding that +they were a couple of your close-fisted gentry, I immediately determined +to have amends of them. On arriving at the inn, they asked the waiter +what was to be had. He, with his customary glibness of tongue, reckoned +over all that could be found in the house, and more than could be found. +I noticed their perplexity: they looked at one another, stammered, and +inquired about the cost. "What is the use of all this studying?" said I. +"The table is the lady's business: allow me to manage it." I immediately +began ordering a most unconscionable dinner, for which many necessary +articles would require to be sent for from the neighborhood. The waiter, +of whom, by a wry mouth or two, I had made a confidant, at last helped +me out; and so, by the image of a sumptuous feast, we tortured them to +such a degree that they fairly determined on having a walk in the +forest, from which I imagine we shall look with clear eyes if we see +them come again. I have laughed a quarter of an hour for my own behoof; +I shall laugh forever when I think of the looks they had." At table, +Laertes told of similar adventures: they got into the track of +recounting ludicrous stories, mistakes, and dexterous cheats. + +A young man of their acquaintance, from the town, came gliding through +the wood with a book in his hand: he sat down by them, and began +praising the beauty of the place. He directed their attention to the +murmuring of the brook, to the waving of the boughs, to the checkered +lights and shadows, and the music of the birds. Philina commenced a +little song of the cuckoo, which did not seem at all to exhilarate the +man of taste: he very soon made his compliments, and went on. + +"Oh that I might never hear more of nature, and scenes of nature!" cried +Philina, so soon as he was gone: "there is nothing in the world more +intolerable than to hear people reckon up the pleasures you enjoy. When +the day is bright you go to walk, as to dance when you hear a tune +played. But who would think a moment on the music or the weather? It is +the dancer that interests us, not the violin; and to look upon a pair of +bright black eyes is the life of a pair of blue ones. But what on earth +have we to do with wells and brooks, and old rotten lindens?" She was +sitting opposite to Wilhelm; and, while speaking so, she looked into his +eyes with a glance which he could not hinder from piercing at least to +the very door of his heart. + +"You are right," replied he, not without embarrassment: "man is ever the +most interesting object to man, and perhaps should be the only one that +interests. Whatever else surrounds us is but the element in which we +live, or else the instrument which we employ. The more we devote +ourselves to such things, the more we attend to and feel concern in +them, the weaker will our sense of our own dignity become, the weaker +our feelings for society. Men who put a great value on gardens, +buildings, clothes, ornaments, or any other sort of property, grow less +social and pleasant: they lose sight of their brethren, whom very few +can succeed in collecting about them and entertaining. Have you not +observed it on the stage? A good actor makes us very soon forget the +awkwardness and meanness of paltry decorations, but a splendid theatre +is the very thing which first makes us truly feel the want of proper +actors." + +After dinner Philina sat down among the long, overshaded grass, and +commanded both her friends to fetch her flowers in great quantities. She +wreathed a complete garland, and put it round her head: it made her look +extremely charming. The flowers were still sufficient for another: this, +too, she plaited, while both the young men sat beside her. When, at +last, amid infinite mirth and sportfulness, it was completed, she +pressed it on Wilhelm's head with the greatest dignity, and shifted the +posture of it more than once, till it seemed to her properly adjusted. +"And I, it appears, must go empty," said Laertes. + +"Not by any means: you shall not have reason to complain," replied +Philina, taking off the garland from her own head, and putting it on +his. + +"If we were rivals," said Laertes, "we might now dispute very warmly +which of us stood higher in thy favor." + +"And the more fools you," said she, while she bent herself towards him, +and offered him her lips to kiss; and then immediately turned round, +threw her arm about Wilhelm, and bestowed a kind salute on him also. +"Which of them tastes best?" said she archly. + +"Surprisingly!" exclaimed Laertes: "it seems as if nothing else had ever +such a tang of wormwood in it." + +"As little wormwood," she replied, "as any gift that a man may enjoy +without envy and without conceit. But now," cried she, "I should like to +have an hour's dancing; and after that we must look to our vaulters." + +Accordingly, they went into the house, and there found music in +readiness. Philina was a beautiful dancer: she animated both her +companions. Nor was Wilhelm without skill; but he wanted careful +practice, a defect which his two friends voluntarily took charge of +remedying. + +In these amusements the time passed on insensibly. It was already late +when they returned. The rope-dancers had commenced their operations. A +multitude of people had again assembled in the square; and our friends, +on alighting, were struck by the appearance of a tumult in the crowd, +occasioned by a throng of men rushing towards the door of the inn, which +Wilhelm had now turned his face to. He sprang forward to see what it +was; and, pressing through the people, he was struck with horror to +observe the master of the rope-dancing company dragging poor Mignon by +the hair out of the house, and unmercifully beating her little body with +the handle of a whip. + +Wilhelm darted on the man like lightning, and seized him by the collar. +"Quit the child!" he cried, in a furious tone, "or one of us shall never +leave this spot!" and, so speaking, he grasped the fellow by the throat +with a force which only rage could have lent him. The showman, on the +point of choking, let go the child, and endeavored to defend himself +against his new assailant. But some people, who had felt compassion for +Mignon, yet had not dared to begin a quarrel for her, now laid hold of +the rope-dancer, wrenched his whip away, and threatened him with great +fierceness and abuse. Being now reduced to the weapons of his mouth, he +began bullying, and cursing horribly. The lazy, worthless urchin, he +said, would not do her duty; refused to perform the egg-dance, which he +had promised to the public; he would beat her to death, and no one +should hinder him. He tried to get loose, and seek the child, who had +crept away among the crowd. Wilhelm held him back, and said sternly, +"You shall neither see nor touch her, till you have explained before a +magistrate where you stole her. I will pursue you to every extremity. +You shall not escape me." These words, which Wilhelm uttered in heat, +without thought or purpose, out of some vague feeling, or, if you will, +out of inspiration, soon brought the raging showman to composure. "What +have I to do with the useless brat?" cried he. "Pay me what her clothes +cost, and make of her what you please. We shall settle it to-night." +And, being liberated, he made haste to resume his interrupted +operations, and to calm the irritation of the public by some striking +displays of his craft. + +As soon as all was still again, Wilhelm commenced a search for Mignon, +whom, however, he could nowhere find. Some said they had seen her on the +street, others on the roofs of the adjoining houses; but, after seeking +unsuccessfully in all quarters, he was forced to content himself, and +wait to see if she would not again turn up of herself. + +In the mean time, Narciss had come into the house; and Wilhelm set to +question him about the birthplace and history of the child. Monsieur +Narciss knew nothing about these things, for he had not long been in the +company; but in return he recited, with much volubility and levity, +various particulars of his own fortune. Upon Wilhelm's wishing him joy +of the great approbation he had gained, Narciss expressed himself as if +exceedingly indifferent on that point. "People laugh at us," he said, +"and admire our feats of skill; but their admiration does nothing for +us. The master has to pay us, and may raise the funds where he pleases." +He then took his leave, and was setting off in great haste. + +At the question, whither he was bent so fast, the dog gave a smile, and +admitted that his figure and talents had acquired for him a more solid +species of favor than the huzzaing of the multitude. He had been invited +by some young ladies, who desired much to become acquainted with him; +and he was afraid it would be midnight before he could get all his +visits over. He proceeded with the greatest candor to detail his +adventures. He would have given the names of his patronesses, their +streets and houses, had not Wilhelm waived such indiscretion, and +politely dismissed him. + +Laertes had meanwhile been entertaining Landrinette: he declared that +she was fully worthy to be and to remain a woman. + +Our friend next proceeded to his bargain with the showman for Mignon. +Thirty crowns was the price set upon her; and for this sum the +black-bearded, hot Italian entirely surrendered all his claims: but of +her history or parentage he would discover nothing, only that she had +fallen into his hands at the death of his brother, who, by reason of his +admirable skill, had usually been named the "Great Devil." + +Next morning was chiefly spent in searching for the child. It was in +vain that they rummaged every hole and corner of the house and +neighborhood: the child had vanished; and Wilhelm was afraid she might +have leaped into some pool of water, or destroyed herself in some other +way. + +Philina's charms could not divert his inquietude. He passed a dreary, +thoughtful day. Nor at evening could the utmost efforts of the tumblers +and dancers, exerting all their powers to gratify the public, divert the +current of his thoughts, or clear away the clouds from his mind. + +By the concourse of people flocking from all places round, the numbers +had greatly increased on this occasion: the general approbation was like +a snowball rolling itself into a monstrous size. The feat of leaping +over swords, and through the cask with paper ends, made a great +sensation. + +The strong man, too, produced a universal feeling of mingled +astonishment and horror, when he laid his head and feet on a couple of +separate stools, and then allowed some sturdy smiths to place a stithy +on the unsupported part of his body, and hammer a horseshoe till it was +completely made by means of it. + +The Hercules' Strength, as they called it, was a no less wonderful +affair. A row of men stood up; then another row, upon their shoulders; +then women and young lads, supported in like manner on the second row; +so that finally a living pyramid was formed; the peak being ornamented +by a child, placed on its head, and dressed out in the shape of a ball +and weather-vane. Such a sight, never witnessed in those parts before, +gave a worthy termination to the whole performance. Narciss and +Landrinette were then borne in litters, on the shoulders of the rest, +along the chief streets of the town, amid the triumphant shouts of the +people. Ribbons, nosegays, silks, were thrown upon them: all pressed to +get a sight of them. Each thought himself happy if he could behold them, +and be honored with a look of theirs. + +"What actor, what author, nay, what man of any class, would not regard +himself as on the summit of his wishes, could he, by a noble saying or a +worthy action, produce so universal an impression? What a precious +emotion would it give, if one could disseminate generous, exalted, manly +feelings with electric force and speed, and rouse assembled thousands +into such rapture, as these people, by their bodily alertness, have +done! If one could communicate to thronging multitudes a fellow-feeling +in all that belongs to man, by the portraying of happiness and misery, +of wisdom and folly, nay, of absurdity and silliness; could kindle and +thrill their inmost souls, and set their stagnant nature into movement, +free, vehement, and pure!" So said our friend; and, as neither Laertes +nor Philina showed any disposition to take part in such a strain, he +entertained himself with these darling speculations, walking up and down +the streets till late at night, and again pursuing, with all the force +and vivacity of a liberated imagination, his old desire to have all that +was good and noble and great embodied and shown forth by the theatric +art. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Next morning, the rope-dancers, not without much parade and bustle, +having gone away, Mignon immediately appeared, and came into the parlor +as Wilhelm and Laertes were busy fencing. "Where hast thou been hid?" +said Wilhelm, in a friendly tone. "Thou hast given us a great deal of +anxiety." The child looked at him, and answered nothing. "Thou art ours +now," cried Laertes: "we have bought thee."--"For how much?" inquired +the child quite coolly. "For a hundred ducats," said the other: "pay +them again, and thou art free."--"Is that very much?" she asked. "Oh, +yes! thou must now be a good child."--"I will try," she said. + +From that moment she observed strictly what services the waiter had to +do for both her friends; and, after next day, she would not any more let +him enter the room. She persisted in doing every thing herself, and +accordingly went through her duties, slowly, indeed, and sometimes +awkwardly, yet completely, and with the greatest care. + +She was frequently observed going to a basin of water, and washing her +face with such diligence and violence, that she almost wore the skin +from her cheeks; till Laertes, by dint of questions and reproofs, +learned that she was striving by all means to get the paint from her +skin, and that, in her zealous endeavors towards this object, she had +mistaken the redness produced by rubbing for the most obdurate dye. They +set her right on this point, and she ceased her efforts; after which, +having come again to her natural state, she exhibited a fine brown +complexion, beautiful, though sparingly intermingled with red. + +The siren charms of Philina, the mysterious presence of the child, +produced more impression on our friend than he liked to confess: +he passed several days in that strange society, endeavoring to +elude self-reproaches by a diligent practice of fencing and +dancing,--accomplishments which he believed might not again be put +within his reach so conveniently. + +It was with great surprise, and not without a certain satisfaction, that +he one day observed Herr Melina and his wife alight at the inn. After +the first glad salutation, they inquired about "the lady-manager and the +other actors," and learned, with astonishment and terror, that the +lady-manager had long since gone away, and her actors, to a very few, +dispersed themselves about the country. + +This couple, subsequently to their marriage, in which, as we know, our +friend did his best to serve them, had been travelling about in various +quarters, seeking an engagement, without finding any, and had at last +been directed to this little town by some persons who met them on their +journey, and said there was a good theatre in the place. + +Melina by no means pleased the lively Laertes, when introduced to him, +any more than his wife did Philina. Both heartily wished to be rid of +these new-comers; and Wilhelm could inspire them with no favorable +feelings on the subject, though he more than once assured them that the +Melinas were very worthy people. + +Indeed, the previous merry life of our three adventurers was interfered +with by this extension of their society, in more ways than one. Melina +had taken up his quarters in the inn where Philina staid, and he very +soon began a system of cheapening and higgling. He would have better +lodging, more sumptuous diet, and readier attendance, for a smaller +charge. In a short while, the landlord and waiter showed very rueful +looks; for whereas the others, to get pleasantly along, had expressed no +discontent with any thing, and paid instantly, that they might avoid +thinking longer of payment, Melina now insisted on regulating every +meal, and investigating its contents beforehand,--a species of service +for which Philina named him, without scruple, a ruminating animal. + +Yet more did the merry girl hate Melina's wife. Frau Melina was a young +woman not without culture, but wofully defective in soul and spirit. She +could declaim not badly, and kept declaiming constantly; but it was easy +to observe that her performances were little more than recitations of +words. She labored a few detached passages, but never could express the +feeling of the whole. Withal, however, she was seldom disagreeable to +any one, especially to men. On the contrary, people who enjoyed her +acquaintance commonly ascribed to her a fine understanding; for she was +what might be called a kind of _spiritual chameleon_, or _taker-on_. Any +friend whose favor she had need of she could flatter with peculiar +adroitness, could give in to his ideas so long as she could understand +them, and, when they went beyond her own horizon, could hail with +ecstasy such new and brilliant visions. She understood well when to +speak and when to keep silence; and, though her disposition was not +spiteful, she could spy out with great expertness where another's weak +side lay. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Melina, in the mean time, had been making strict inquiry about the +wrecks of the late theatrical establishment. The wardrobe, as well as +decorations, had been pawned with some traders; and a notary had been +empowered, under certain conditions, to dispose of them by sale, should +purchasers occur. Melina wished to see this ware, and he took Wilhelm +with him. No sooner was the room opened, than our friend felt towards +its contents a kind of inclination, which he would not confess to +himself. Sad as was the state of the blotched and tarnished decorations; +little showy as the Turkish and pagan garments, the old farce-coats for +men and women, the cowls for enchanters, priests, and Jews, might +be,--he was not able to exclude the feeling, that the happiest moments +of his life had been spent in a similar magazine of frippery. Could +Melina have seen into his heart, he would have urged him more pressingly +to lay out a sum of money in liberating these scattered fragments, in +furbishing them up, and again combining them into a beautiful whole. +"What a happy man could I be," cried Melina, "had I but two hundred +crowns, to get into my hands, for a beginning, these fundamental +necessaries of a theatre! How soon should I get up a little playhouse, +that would draw contributions from the town and neighborhood, and +maintain us all!" Wilhelm was silent. They left these treasures of the +stage to be again locked up, and both went away in a reflective mood. + +Thenceforth Melina talked of nothing else but projects and plans for +setting up a theatre, and gaining profit by it. He tried to interest +Philina and Laertes in his schemes; and proposals were made to Wilhelm +about advancing money, and taking them as his security. On this +occasion, Wilhelm first clearly perceived that he was lingering too long +here: he excused himself, and set about making preparations for +departure. + +In the mean time, Mignon's form, and manner of existence, were growing +more attractive to him every day. In her whole system of proceedings +there was something very singular. She never walked up or down the +stairs, but jumped. She would spring along by the railing, and before +you were aware would be sitting quietly above upon the landing. Wilhelm +had observed, also, that she had a different sort of salutation for each +individual. For himself, it had of late been with her arms crossed upon +her breast. Often for the whole day she was mute. At times she answered +various questions more freely, yet always strangely: so that you could +not determine whether it was caused by shrewd sense, or ignorance of the +language; for she spoke in broken German interlaced with French and +Italian. In Wilhelm's service she was indefatigable, and up before the +sun. On the other hand, she vanished early in the evening, went to +sleep in a little room upon the bare floor, and could not by any means +be induced to take a bed or even a _paillasse_. He often found her +washing herself. Her clothes, too, were kept scrupulously clean; though +nearly all about her was quilted two or three plies thick. Wilhelm was +moreover told, that she went every morning early to hear mass. He +followed her on one occasion, and saw her kneeling down with a rosary in +a corner of the church, and praying devoutly. She did not observe him; +and he returned home, forming many a conjecture about this appearance, +yet unable to arrive at any probable conclusion. + +A new application from Melina for a sum of money to redeem the +often-mentioned stage apparatus caused Wilhelm to think more seriously +than ever about setting off. He proposed writing to his people, who for +a long time had heard no tidings of him, by the very earliest post. He +accordingly commenced a letter to Werner, and had advanced a +considerable way with the history of his adventures, in recounting which +he had more than once unintentionally swerved a little from the truth, +when, to his vexation and surprise, he observed, upon the back of his +sheet, some verses which he had been copying from his album for Madam +Melina. Out of humor at this mistake, he tore the paper in pieces, and +put off repeating his confession till the next post-day. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Our party was now again collected; and Philina, who always kept a sharp +lookout on every horse or carriage that passed by, exclaimed with great +eagerness, "Our Pedant! Here comes our dearest Pedant! Who the deuce is +it he has with him?" Speaking thus, she beckoned at the window; and the +vehicle drew up. + +A woful-looking genius, whom by his shabby coat of grayish brown, and +his ill-conditioned lower garments, you must have taken for some +unprosperous preceptor, of the sort that moulder in our universities, +now descended from the carriage, and, taking off his hat to salute +Philina, discovered an ill-powdered, but yet very stiff, periwig; while +Philina threw a hundred kisses of the hand towards him. + +As Philina's chief enjoyment lay in loving one class of men, and being +loved by them; so there was a second and hardly inferior satisfaction, +wherewith she entertained herself as frequently as possible; and this +consisted in hoodwinking and passing jokes upon the other class, whom at +such moments she happened not to love,--all which she could accomplish +in a very sprightly style. + +Amid the flourish which she made in receiving this old friend, no +attention was bestowed upon the rest who followed him. Yet among the +party were an oldish man and two young girls, whom Wilhelm thought he +knew. Accordingly it turned out, that he had often seen them all, some +years ago, in a company then playing in his native town. The daughters +had grown since that period: the old man was a little altered. He +commonly enacted those good-hearted, boisterous old gentlemen, whom the +German theatre is never without, and whom, in common life, one also +frequently enough falls in with. For as it is the character of our +countrymen to do good, and cause it, without pomp or circumstance; so +they seldom consider that there is likewise a mode of doing what is +right with grace and dignity: more frequently, indeed, they yield to the +spirit of contradiction, and fall into the error of deforming their +dearest virtue by a surly mode of putting it in practice. + +Such parts our actor could play very well; and he played them so often +and exclusively, that he had himself taken up the same turn of +proceeding in his ordinary life. + +On recognizing him, Wilhelm was seized with a strong commotion; for he +recollected how often he had seen this man on the stage with his beloved +Mariana: he still heard him scolding, still heard the small, soothing +voice, with which in many characters she had to meet his rugged temper. + +The first anxious question put to the strangers,--Whether they had heard +of any situation in their travels?--was answered, alas, with No! and, to +complete the information, it was further added, that all the companies +they had fallen in with were not only supplied with actors, but many of +them were afraid lest, on account of the approaching war, they should be +forced to separate. Old Boisterous, with his daughters, moved by spleen +and love of change, had given up an advantageous engagement: then, +meeting with the Pedant by the way, they had hired a carriage to come +hither; where, as they found, good counsel was still dear, needful to +have, and difficult to get. + +The time while the rest were talking very keenly of their circumstances, +Wilhelm spent in thought. He longed to speak in private with the old +man: he wished and feared to hear of Mariana, and felt the greatest +disquietude. + +The pretty looks of the stranger damsels could not call him from his +dream; but a war of words, which now arose, awakened his attention. It +was Friedrich, the fair-haired boy who used to attend Philina, +stubbornly refusing, on this occasion, to cover the table and bring up +dinner. "I engaged to serve you," he cried, "but not to wait on +everybody." They fell into a hot contest. Philina insisted that he +should do his duty; and, as he obstinately refused, she told him plainly +he might go about his business. + +"You think, perhaps, I cannot leave you!" cried he sturdily, then went +to pack up his bundle, and soon hastily quitted the house. + +"Go, Mignon," said Philina, "and get us what we want; tell the waiter, +and help him to attend us." + +Mignon came before Wilhelm, and asked in her laconic way, "Shall I? May +I?" To which Wilhelm answered, "Do all the lady bids thee, child." + +She accordingly took charge of every thing, and waited on the guests the +whole evening, with the utmost carefulness. After dinner, Wilhelm +proposed to have a walk with the old man alone. Succeeding in this, +after many questions about his late wanderings, the conversation turned +upon the former company; and Wilhelm hazarded a question touching +Mariana. + +"Do not speak to me of that despicable creature!" cried the old man: "I +have sworn to think of her no more." Terrified at this speech, Wilhelm +felt still more embarrassed, as the old man proceeded to vituperate her +fickleness and wantonness. Most gladly would our friend have broken off +the conversation, but now it was impossible: he was obliged to undergo +the whole tumultuous effusions of this strange old gentleman. + +"I am ashamed," continued he, "that I felt such a friendship for her. +Yet, had you known the girl better, you would excuse me. She was so +pretty, so natural and good, so pleasing, in every sense so tolerable, I +could never have supposed that ingratitude and impudence were to prove +the chief features of her character." + +Wilhelm had nerved himself to hear the worst of her; when all at once he +observed, with astonishment, that the old man's tones grew milder, his +voice faltered, and he took out his handkerchief to dry the tears, which +at last began to trickle down his cheeks. + +"What is the matter with you?" cried Wilhelm. "What is it that suddenly +so changes the current of your feelings? Conceal it not from me. I take +a deeper interest in the fate of this girl than you suppose. Only tell +me all." + +"I have not much to say," replied the old man, again taking up his +earnest, angry tone. "I have suffered more from her than I shall ever +forgive. She had always a kind of trust in me. I loved her as my own +daughter; indeed, while my wife lived, I had formed a resolution to take +the creature to my own house, and save her from the hands of that old +crone, from whose guidance I boded no good. But my wife died, and the +project went to nothing. + +"About the end of our stay in your native town,--it is not quite three +years ago,--I noticed a visible sadness about her. I questioned her, +but she evaded me. At last we set out on our journey. She travelled in +the same coach with me; and I soon observed, what she herself did not +long deny, that she was with child, and suffering the greatest terror +lest our manager might turn her off. In fact, in a short while he did +make the discovery; immediately threw up her contract, which at any rate +was only for six weeks; paid off her arrears; and, in spite of all +entreaties, left her behind, in the miserable inn of a little village. + +"Devil take all wanton jilts!" cried the old man, with a splenetic tone, +"and especially this one, that has spoiled me so many hours of my life! +Why should I keep talking how I myself took charge of her, what I did +for her, what I spent on her, how in absence I provided for her? I would +rather throw my purse into the ditch, and spend my time in nursing mangy +whelps, than ever more bestow the smallest care on such a thing. Pshaw! +At first I got letters of thanks, notice of places she was staying at; +and, finally, no word at all,--not even an acknowledgment for the money +I had sent to pay the expenses of her lying-in. Oh! the treachery and +the fickleness of women are rightly matched, to get a comfortable living +for themselves, and to give an honest fellow many heavy hours." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Wilhelm's feelings, on returning home after this conversation, may be +easily conceived. All his old wounds had been torn up afresh, and the +sentiment that Mariana was not wholly unworthy of his love had again +been brought to life. The interest the old man had shown about her fate, +the praises he gave her against his will, displayed her again in all her +attractiveness. Nay, even the bitter accusations brought against her +contained nothing that could lower her in Wilhelm's estimation; for he, +as well as she, was guilty in all her aberrations. Nor did even her +final silence seem greatly blamable: it rather inspired him with +mournful thoughts. He saw her as a frail, ill-succored mother, wandering +helplessly about the world,--wandering, perhaps, with his own child. +What he knew, and what he knew not, awoke in him the painfullest +emotions. + +Mignon had been waiting for him: she lighted him up stairs. On setting +down the light, she begged he would allow her, that evening, to +compliment him with a piece of her art. He would rather have declined +this, particularly as he knew not what it was; but he had not the heart +to refuse any thing this kind creature wished. After a little while she +again came in. She carried below her arm a little carpet, which she then +spread out upon the floor. Wilhelm said she might proceed. She thereupon +brought four candles, and placed one upon each corner of the carpet. A +little basket of eggs, which she next carried in, made her purpose +clearer. Carefully measuring her steps, she then walked to and fro on +the carpet, spreading out the eggs in certain figures and positions; +which done, she called in a man that was waiting in the house, and could +play on the violin. He retired with his instrument into a corner: she +tied a band about her eyes, gave a signal; and, like a piece of +wheel-work set a-going, she began moving the same instant as the music, +accompanying her beats and the notes of the tune with the strokes of a +pair of castanets. + +Lightly, nimbly, quickly, and with hair's-breadth accuracy, she carried +on the dance. She skipped so sharply and surely along between the eggs, +and trod so closely down beside them, that you would have thought every +instant she must trample one of them in pieces, or kick the rest away in +her rapid turns. By no means! She touched no one of them, though +winding herself through their mazes with all kinds of steps, wide and +narrow, nay, even with leaps, and at last half kneeling. + +Constant as the movement of a clock, she ran her course; and the strange +music, at each repetition of the tune, gave a new impulse to the dance, +recommencing and again rushing off as at first. Wilhelm was quite led +away by this singular spectacle; he forgot his cares; he followed every +movement of the dear little creature, and felt surprised to see how +finely her character unfolded itself as she proceeded in the dance. + +Rigid, sharp, cold, vehement, and in soft postures, stately rather than +attractive,--such was the light in which it showed her. At this moment +he experienced at once all the emotions he had ever felt for Mignon. He +longed to incorporate this forsaken being with his own heart, to take +her in his arms, and with a father's love to awaken in her the joy of +existence. + +The dance being ended, she rolled the eggs together softly with her foot +into a little heap, left none behind, harmed none; then placed herself +beside it, taking the bandage from her eyes, and concluding her +performance with a little bow. + +Wilhelm thanked her for having executed, so prettily and unexpectedly, a +dance he had long wished to see. He patted her; was sorry she had tired +herself so much. He promised her a new suit of clothes; to which she +vehemently replied, "Thy color!" This, too, he promised her, though not +well knowing what she meant by it. She then lifted up the eggs, took the +carpet under her arm, asked if he wanted any thing further, and skipped +out of the room. + +The musician, being questioned, said, that for some time she had taken +much trouble in often singing over the tune of this dance, the +well-known fandango, to him, and training him till he could play it +accurately. For his labor she had likewise offered him some money; +which, however, he would not accept. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +After a restless night, which our friend spent, sometimes waking, +sometimes oppressed with unpleasant dreams, seeing Mariana now in all +her beauty, now in woful case, at one time with a child on her arm, +then soon bereaved of it, the morning had scarcely dawned, when Mignon +entered with a tailor. She brought some gray cloth and blue taffeta; +signifying in her own way that she wished to have a new jacket and +sailor's trousers, such as she had seen the boys of the town wear, with +blue cuffs and tiers. + +Since the loss of Mariana, Wilhelm had laid aside all gay colors. He had +used himself to gray,--the garment of the shades; and only perhaps a +sky-blue lining, or little collar of that dye, in some degree enlivened +his sober garb. Mignon, eager to wear his colors, hurried on the tailor, +who engaged to have his work soon ready. + +The exercise in dancing and fencing, which our friend took this day with +Laertes, did not prosper in their hands. Indeed, it was soon interrupted +by Melina, who came to show them circumstantially how a little company +was now of itself collected, sufficient to exhibit plays in abundance. +He renewed the proposal that Wilhelm should advance a little money for +setting them in motion; which, however, Wilhelm still declined. + +Ere long Philina and the girls came in, racketing and laughing as usual. +They had now devised a fresh excursion, for change of place and objects +was a pleasure after which they always longed. To eat daily in a +different spot was their highest wish. On this occasion they proposed a +sail. + +The boat in which they were to fall down the pleasant windings of the +river had already been engaged by the Pedant. Philina urged them on: the +party did not linger, and were soon on board. + +"What shall we take to now?" said Philina, when all had placed +themselves upon the benches. + +"The readiest thing," replied Laertes, "were for us to extemporize a +play. Let each take a part that suits his character, and we shall see +how we get along." + +"Excellent!" said Wilhelm. "In a society where there is no +dissimulation, but where each without disguise pursues the bent of his +own humor, elegance and satisfaction cannot long continue; and, where +dissimulation always reigns, they do not enter at all. It will not be +amiss, then, that we take up dissimulation to begin with, and then, +behind our masks, be as candid as we please." + +"Yes," said Laertes: "it is on this account that one goes on so +pleasantly with women; they never show themselves in their natural +form." + +"That is to say," replied Madam Melina, "they are not so vain as men, +who conceive themselves to be always amiable enough, just as nature has +produced them." + +In the mean time the river led them between pleasant groves and hills, +between gardens and vineyards; and the young women, especially Madam +Melina, expressed their rapture at the landscape. The latter even began +to recite, in solemn style, a pretty poem of the descriptive sort, upon +a similar scene of nature; but Philina interrupted her with the proposal +of a law, that no one should presume to speak of any inanimate object. +On the other hand, she zealously urged on their project of an extempore +play. Old Boisterous was to be a half-pay officer; Laertes a +fencing-master, taking his vacation; the Pedant, a Jew; she herself +would act a Tyrolese; leaving to the rest to choose characters according +to their several pleasures. They would suppose themselves to be a party +of total strangers to each other, who had just met on board a +merchant-ship. + +She immediately began to play her part with the Jew, and a universal +cheerfulness diffused itself among them. + +They had not sailed far, when the skipper stopped in his course, asking +permission of the company to take in a person standing on the shore, who +had made a sign to him. + +"That is just what we needed," cried Philina: "a chance passenger was +wanting to complete the travelling-party." + +A handsome man came on board; whom, by his dress and his dignified mien, +you might have taken for a clergyman. He saluted the party, who thanked +him in their own way, and soon made known to him the nature of their +game. The stranger immediately engaged to act the part of a country +parson; which, in fact, he accomplished in the adroitest manner, to the +admiration of all,--now admonishing, now telling stories, showing some +weak points, yet never losing their respect. + +In the mean time, every one who had made a false step in his part, or +swerved from his character, had been obliged to forfeit a pledge: +Philina had gathered them with the greatest care, and especially +threatened the reverend gentleman with many kisses; though he himself +had never been at fault. Melina, on the other hand, was completely +fleeced: shirt-buttons, buckles, every movable about his person, was in +Philina's hands. He was trying to enact an English traveller, and could +not by any means get into the spirit of his part. + +Meanwhile the time had passed away very pleasantly. Each had strained +his fancy and his wit to the utmost, and each had garnished his part +with agreeable and entertaining jests. Thus comfortably occupied, they +reached the place where they meant to pass the day; and Wilhelm, going +out to walk with the clergyman, as both from his appearance and late +character he persisted in naming him, soon fell into an interesting +conversation. + +"I think this practice," said the stranger, "very useful among actors, +and even in the company of friends and acquaintances. It is the best +mode of drawing men out of themselves, and leading them, by a circuitous +path, back into themselves again. It should be a custom with every troop +of players to practice in this manner: and the public would assuredly be +no loser if every month an unwritten piece were brought forward; in +which, of course, the players had prepared themselves by several +rehearsals." + +"One should not, then," replied our friend, "consider an extempore piece +as, strictly speaking, composed on the spur of the moment, but as a +piece, of which the plan, action, and division of the scenes were given; +the filling up of all this being left to the player." + +"Quite right," said the stranger; "and, in regard to this very filling +up, such a piece, were the players once trained to these performances, +would profit greatly. Not in regard to the mere words, it is true; for, +by a careful selection of these, the studious writer may certainly adorn +his work; but in regard to the gestures, looks, exclamations, and every +thing of that nature; in short, to the mute and half-mute play of the +dialogue, which seems by degrees fading away among us altogether. There +are indeed some players in Germany whose bodies figure what they think +and feel; who by their silence, their delays, their looks, their slight, +graceful movements, can prepare the audience for a speech, and, by a +pleasant sort of pantomime, combine the pauses of the dialogue with the +general whole; but such a practice as this, co-operating with a happy +natural turn, and training it to compete with the author, is far from +being so habitual as, for the comfort of play-going people, were to be +desired." + +"But will not a happy natural turn," said Wilhelm, "as the first and +last requisite, of itself conduct the player, like every other +artist,--nay, perhaps every other man,--to the lofty mark he aims at?" + +"The first and the last, the beginning and the end, it may well be; but, +in the middle, many things will still be wanting to an artist, if +instruction, and early instruction too, have not previously made that of +him which he was meant to be: and perhaps for the man of genius it is +worse in this respect than for the man possessed of only common +capabilities; the one may much more easily be misinstructed, and be +driven far more violently into false courses, than the other." + +"But," said Wilhelm, "will not genius save itself, not heal the wounds +which itself has inflicted?" + +"Only to a very small extent, and with great difficulty," said the +other, "or perhaps not at all. Let no one think that he can conquer the +first impressions of his youth. If he has grown up in enviable freedom, +surrounded with beautiful and noble objects, in constant intercourse +with worthy men; if his masters have taught him what he needed first to +know, for comprehending more easily what followed; if he has never +learned any thing which he requires to unlearn; if his first operations +have been so guided, that, without altering any of his habits, he can +more easily produce what is excellent in future,--then such a one will +lead a purer, more perfect and happier, life, than another man who has +wasted the force of his youth in opposition and error. A great deal is +said and written about education; yet I meet with very few who can +comprehend, and transfer to practice, this simple yet vast idea, which +includes within itself all others connected with the subject." + +"That may well be true," said Wilhelm; "for the generality of men are +limited enough in their conceptions to suppose that every other should +be fashioned by education, according to the pattern of themselves. +Happy, then, are those whom Fate takes charge of, and educates according +to their several natures!" + +"Fate," said the other, smiling, "is an excellent but most expensive +schoolmaster. In all cases, I would rather trust to the reason of a +human tutor. Fate, for whose wisdom I entertain all imaginable +reverence, often finds in Chance, by which it works, an instrument not +over manageable. At least the latter very seldom seems to execute +precisely and accurately what the former had determined." + +"You seem to express a very singular opinion," said Wilhelm. + +"Not at all," replied the other. "Most of what happens in the world +confirms my opinion. Do not many incidents at their commencement show +some mighty purport, and generally terminate in something paltry?" + +"You mean to jest." + +"And as to what concerns the individual man," pursued the other, "is it +not so with this likewise? Suppose Fate had appointed one to be a good +player; and why should it not provide us with good players as well as +other good things? Chance would perhaps conduct the youth into some +puppet-show, where, at such an early age, he could not help taking +interest in what was tasteless and despicable, reckoning insipidities +endurable or even pleasing, and thus corrupting and misdirecting his +primary impressions,--impressions which can never be effaced, and whose +influence, in spite of all our efforts, cling to us in some degree to +the very last." + +"What makes you think of puppet-shows?" said Wilhelm, not without some +consternation. + +"It was an accidental instance: if it does not please you, we shall take +another. Suppose Fate had appointed any one to be a great painter, and +it pleased Chance that he should pass his youth in sooty huts, in barns +and stables: do you think that such a man would ever be enabled to exalt +himself to purity, to nobleness, to freedom of soul? The more keenly he +may in his youth have seized on the impure, and tried in his own manner +to ennoble it, the more powerfully in the remainder of his life will it +be revenged on him; because, while he was endeavoring to conquer it, his +whole being has become inseparably combined with it. Whoever spends his +early years in mean and pitiful society, though at an after period he +may have the choice of better, will yet constantly look back with +longing towards that which he enjoyed of old, and which has left its +impression blended with the memory of all his young and unreturning +pleasures." + +From conversation of this sort, it is easy to imagine, the rest of the +company had gradually withdrawn. Philina, in particular, had stepped +aside at the very outset. Wilhelm and his comrade now rejoined them by a +cross-path. Philina brought out her forfeits, and they had to be +redeemed in many different ways. During which business, the stranger, by +the most ingenious devices, and by his frank participation in their +sports, recommended himself much to all the party, and particularly to +the ladies; and thus, amid joking, singing, kissing, and railleries of +all sorts, the hours passed away in the most pleasant manner. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +When our friends began to think of going home, they looked about them +for their clergyman; but he had vanished, and was nowhere to be found. + +"It is not polite in the man, who otherwise displayed good breeding," +said Madam Melina, "to desert a company that welcomed him so kindly, +without taking leave." + +"I have all the time been thinking," said Laertes, "where I can have +seen this singular man before. I fully intended to ask him about it at +parting." + +"I, too, had the same feeling," said Wilhelm; "and certainly I should +not have let him go, till he had told us something more about his +circumstances. I am much mistaken if I have not ere now spoken with him +somewhere." + +"And you may in truth," said Philina, "be mistaken there. This person +seems to have the air of an acquaintance, because he looks like a _man_, +and not like Jack or Kit." + +"What is this?" said Laertes. "Do not we, too, look like men?" + +"I know what I am saying," cried Philina; "and, if you cannot understand +me, never mind. In the end my words will be found to require no +commentary." + +Two coaches now drove up. All praised the attention of Laertes, who had +ordered them. Philina, with Madam Melina, took her place opposite to +Wilhelm: the rest bestowed themselves as they best could. Laertes rode +back on Wilhelm's horse, which had likewise been brought out. + +Philina was scarcely seated in the coach, when she began to sing some +pretty songs, and gradually led the conversation to some stories, which +she said might be successfully treated in the form of dramas. By this +cunning turn, she very soon put her young friend into his finest humor: +from the wealth of his living imaginative store, he forthwith +constructed a complete play, with all its acts, scenes, characters, and +plots. It was thought proper to insert a few catches and songs; they +composed them; and Philina, who entered into every part of it, +immediately fitted them with well-known tunes, and sang them on the +spot. + +It was one of her beautiful, most beautiful, days: she had skill to +enliven our friend with all manner of diverting wiles; he felt in +spirits such as he had not for many a month enjoyed. + +Since that shocking discovery had torn him from the side of Mariana, he +had continued true to his vow to be on his guard against the encircling +arms of woman; to avoid the faithless sex; to lock up his inclinations, +his sweet wishes, in his own bosom. The conscientiousness with which he +had observed this vow gave his whole nature a secret nourishment; and, +as his heart could not remain without affection, some loving sympathy +had now become a want with him. He went along once more, as if environed +by the first cloudy glories of youth; his eye fixed joyfully on every +charming object, and never had his judgment of a lovely form been more +favorable. How dangerous, in such a situation, this wild girl must have +been to him, is but too easy to conceive. + +Arrived at home, they found Wilhelm's chamber all ready to receive them; +the chairs set right for a public reading; in midst of them the table, +on which the punch-bowl was in due time to take its place. + +The German chivalry-plays were new at this period, and had just excited +the attention and the inclination of the public. Old Boisterous had +brought one of this sort with him: the reading of it had already been +determined on. They all sat down; Wilhelm took possession of the +pamphlet, and began to read. + +The harnessed knights, the ancient keeps, the true-heartedness, honesty, +and downrightness, but especially the independence of the acting +characters, were received with the greatest approbation. The reader did +his utmost, and the audience gradually mounted into rapture. Between the +third and fourth acts, the punch arrived in an ample bowl; and, there +being much fighting and drinking in the piece itself, nothing was more +natural than that, on every such occurrence, the company should +transport themselves into the situation of the heroes, should flourish +and strike along with them, and drink long life to their favorites among +the _dramatis personæ_. + +Each individual of the party was inflamed with the noblest fire of +national spirit. How it gratified this German company to be poetically +entertained, according to their own character, on stuff of their own +manufacture! In particular, the vaults and caverns, the ruined castles, +the moss and hollow trees, but above all the nocturnal gypsy scenes, and +the Secret Tribunal, produced a quite incredible effect. Every actor now +figured to himself how, erelong, in helm and harness, he; every actress +how, with a monstrous spreading ruff, she,--would present their +Germanship before the public. Each would appropriate to himself without +delay some name taken from the piece or from German history; and Madam +Melina declared that the son or daughter she was then expecting should +not be christened otherwise than by the name of Adelbert or of Mathilde. + +Towards the fifth act, the approbation became more impetuous and louder; +and at last, when the hero actually trampled down his oppressor, and the +tyrant met his doom, the ecstasy increased to such a height, that all +averred they had never passed such happy moments. Melina, whom the +liquor had inspired, was the noisiest: and when the second bowl was +emptied, and midnight near, Laertes swore through thick and thin, that +no living mortal was worthy ever more to put these glasses to his lips; +and, so swearing, he pitched his own right over his head, through a +window-pane, out into the street. The rest followed his example; and +notwithstanding the protestations of the landlord, who came running in +at the noise, the punch-bowl itself, never after this festivity to be +polluted by unholy drink, was dashed into a thousand shreds. Philina, +whose exhilaration was the least noticed,--the other two girls by that +time having laid themselves upon the sofa in no very elegant +positions,--maliciously encouraged her companions in their tumult. Madam +Melina recited some spirit-stirring poems; and her husband, not too +amiable in the uproar, began to cavil at the insufficient preparation of +the punch, declaring that he could arrange an entertainment altogether +in a different style, and at last becoming sulkier and louder as Laertes +commanded silence, till the latter, without much consideration, threw +the fragments of the punch-bowl about his head, and thereby not a little +deepened the confusion. + +Meanwhile the town-guard had arrived, and were demanding admission to +the house. Wilhelm, much heated by his reading, though he had drunk but +little, had enough to do, with the landlord's help, to content these +people by money and good words, and afterwards to get the various +members of his party sent home in that unseemly case. On coming back, +overpowered with sleep and full of chagrin, he threw himself upon his +bed without undressing; and nothing could exceed his disgust, when, +opening his eyes next morning, he looked out with dull sight upon the +devastations of the by-gone day, and saw the uncleanness, and the many +bad effects, of which that ingenious, lively, and well-intentioned +poetical performance had been the cause. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +After a short consideration, he called the landlord, and bade him mark +to his account both the damage and the regular charge. At the same time +he learned, not without vexation, that his horse had been so hard ridden +by Laertes last night, that, in all probability, it was foundered, as +they term it; the farrier having little hope of its recovering. + +A salute from Philina, which she threw him from her window, restored him +in some degree to a more cheerful humor: he went forthwith into the +nearest shop to buy her a little present, which, in return for the +powder-knife, he still owed her; and it must be owned, that, in +selecting his gift, he did not keep himself within the limits of +proportional value. He not only purchased her a pair of earrings, but +added likewise a hat and neckerchief, and some other little articles, +which he had seen her lavishly throw from her on the first day of their +acquaintance. + +Madam Melina, happening to observe him as he was delivering his +presents, took an opportunity before breakfast to rate him very +earnestly about his inclination for this girl; at which he felt the more +astonished, the less he thought it merited. He swore solemnly, that he +had never once entertained the slightest notion of attaching himself to +such a person, whose whole manner of proceeding was well known to him. +He excused himself as well as possible for his friendly and polite +conduct towards her, yet did not by any means content Madam Melina, +whose spite grew ever more determined, as she could not but observe that +the flatteries, by which she had acquired for herself a sort of partial +regard from our friend, were not sufficient to defend this conquest from +the attacks of a livery, younger, and more gifted rival. + +As they sat down to table, her husband joined them, likewise in a very +fretful humor; which he was beginning to display on many little things, +when the landlord entered to announce a player on the harp. "You will +certainly," he said, "find pleasure in the music and the songs of this +man: no one who hears him can forbear to admire him, and bestow +something on him." + +"Let him go about his business," said Melina: "I am any thing but in a +trim for hearing fiddlers, and we have singers constantly among +ourselves disposed to gain a little by their talent." He accompanied +these words with a sarcastic side-look at Philina: she understood his +meaning, and immediately prepared to punish him, by taking up the cause +of the harper. Turning towards Wilhelm, "Shall we not hear the man?" +said she: "shall we do nothing to save ourselves from this miserable +_ennui_?" + +Melina was going to reply, and the strife would have grown keener, had +not the person it related to at that moment entered. Wilhelm saluted +him, and beckoned him to come near. + +The figure of this singular guest set the whole party in astonishment: +he had found a chair before any one took heart to ask him a question, or +make any observation. His bald crown was encircled by a few gray hairs, +and a pair of large blue eyes looked out softly from beneath his long +white eyebrows. To a nose of beautiful proportions was subjoined a +flowing, hoary beard, which did not hide the fine shape and position of +his lips; and a long dark-brown garment wrapped his thin body from the +neck to the feet. He began to prelude on the harp, which he had placed +before him. + +The sweet tones which he drew from his instrument very soon inspirited +the company. + +"You can sing, too, my good old man," said Philina. + +"Give us something that shall entertain the spirit and the heart as well +as the senses," said Wilhelm. "The instrument should but accompany the +voice; for tunes and melodies without words and meaning seem to me like +butterflies or finely variegated birds, which hover round us in the air, +which we could wish to catch and make our own: whereas song is like a +blessed genius that exalts us towards heaven, and allures the better +self in us to attend him." + +The old man looked at Wilhelm, then aloft, then gave some trills +upon his harp, and began his song. It contained a eulogy on +minstrelsy,--described the happiness of minstrels, and reminded men to +honor them. He produced his song with so much life and truth, that it +seemed as if he had composed it at the moment, for this special +occasion. Wilhelm could scarcely refrain from clasping him in his arms: +but the fear of awakening a peal of laughter detained him in his chair; +for the rest were already in half-whispers making sundry very shallow +observations, and debating if the harper was a Papist or a Jew. + +When asked about the author of the song, the man gave no distinct reply; +declaring only that he was rich in songs, and anxious that they should +please. Most of the party were now merry and joyful; even Melina was +grown frank in his way; and, whilst they talked and joked together, the +old man began to sing the praise of social life in the most sprightly +style. He described the loveliness of unity and courtesy, in soft, +soothing tones. Suddenly his music became cold, harsh, and jarring, as +he turned to deplore repulsive selfishness, short-sighted enmity, and +baleful division; and every heart willingly threw off those galling +fetters, while, borne on the wings of a piercing melody, he launched +forth in praise of peacemakers, and sang the happiness of souls, that, +having parted, meet again in love. + +Scarcely had he ended, when Wilhelm cried to him, "Whoever thou art, +that as a helping spirit comest to us with a voice which blesses and +revives, accept my reverence and my thanks! Feel that we all admire +thee, and confide in us if thou wantest any thing." + +The old man spoke not: he threw his fingers softly across the strings, +then struck more sharply, and sang,-- + + "'What notes are those without the wall, + Across the portal sounding? + Let's have the music in our hall, + Back from its roof rebounding.' + So spoke the king, the henchman flies: + His answer heard, the monarch cries, + 'Bring in that ancient minstrel.' + + 'Hail, gracious king! each noble knight, + Each lovely dame, I greet you! + What glittering stars salute my sight! + What heart unmoved may meet you! + Such lordly pomp is not for me, + Far other scenes my eyes must see: + Yet deign to list my harping.' + + The singer turns him to his art, + A thrilling strain he raises: + Each warrior hears with glowing heart, + And on his loved one gazes. + The king, who liked his playing well, + Commands, for such a kindly spell, + A golden chain be given him. + + 'The golden chain give not to me; + Thy boldest knight may wear it, + Who, 'cross the battle's purple sea, + On lion breast may bear it: + Or let it be thy chancellor's prize, + Amid his heaps to feast his eyes; + Its yellow glance will please him.' + + 'I sing but as the linnet sings, + That on the green bough dwelleth; + A rich reward his music brings, + As from his throat it swelleth: + Yet might I ask, I'd ask of thine + One sparkling draught of purest wine, + To drink it here before you.' + + He viewed the wine: he quaffed it up. + 'O draught of sweetest savor! + O happy house, where such a cup + Is thought a little favor! + If well you fare, remember me, + And thank kind Heaven, from envy free, + As now for this I thank you.'" + +When the harper, on finishing his song, took up a glass of wine that +stood poured out for him, and, turning with a friendly mien to his +entertainers, drank it off, a buzz of joyful approbation rose from all +the party. They clapped hands, and wished him health from that glass, +and strength to his aged limbs. He sang a few other ballads, exciting +more and more hilarity among the company. + +"Old man," said Philina, "dost thou know the tune, 'The shepherd decked +him for the dance'?"[2] + +"Oh, yes!" said he: "if you will sing the words, I shall not fail for my +part of it." + +Philina then stood up, and held herself in readiness. The old man +commenced the tune; and she sang a song, which we cannot impart to our +readers, lest they might think it insipid, or perhaps undignified. + +Meanwhile the company were growing merrier and merrier: they had already +emptied several flasks of wine, and were now beginning to get very loud. +But our friend, having fresh in his remembrance the bad consequences of +their late exhilaration, determined to break up the sitting; he slipped +into the old man's hand a liberal remuneration for his trouble, the rest +did something likewise; they gave him leave to go and take repose, +promising themselves another entertainment from his skill in the +evening. + +When he had retired, our friend said to Philina, "In this favorite song +of yours I certainly find no merit, either moral or poetical; yet if you +were to bring forward any proper composition on the stage, with the same +arch simplicity, the same propriety and gracefulness, I should engage +that strong and universal approbation would be the result." + +"Yes," said Philina: "it would be a charming thing indeed to warm one's +self at ice." + +"After all," said Wilhelm, "this old man might put many a player to the +blush. Did you notice how correctly the dramatic part of his ballads was +expressed? I maintain there was more living true representation in his +singing than in many of our starched characters upon the stage. You +would take the acting of many plays for a narrative, and you might +ascribe to these musical narratives a sensible presence." + +"You are hardly just," replied Laertes. "I pretend to no great skill, +either as a player or as a singer; yet I know well enough, that when +music guides the movements of the body, at once affording to them +animation and a scale to measure it; when declamation and expression are +furnished me by the composer,--I feel quite a different man from what I +do when, in prose dramas, I have all this to create for myself,--have +both gesture and declamation to invent, and am, perhaps, disturbed in +it, too, by the awkwardness of some partner in the dialogue." + +"Thus much I know," said Melina: "the man certainly puts us to the blush +in one point, and that a main point. The strength of his talent is shown +by the profit he derives from it. Even us, who perhaps erelong shall be +embarrassed where to get a meal, he persuades to share our pittance with +him. He has skill enough to wile the money from our pockets with an old +song,--the money that we should have used to find ourselves employment. +So pleasant an affair is it to squander the means which might procure +subsistence to one's self and others." + +This remark gave the conversation not the most delightful turn. Wilhelm, +for whom the reproach was peculiarly intended, replied with some heat; +and Melina, at no time over studious of delicacy and politeness, +explained his grievances at last in words more plain than courteous. "It +is now a fortnight," said he, "since we looked at the theatrical +machinery and wardrobe which is lying pawned here: the whole might be +redeemed for a very tolerable sum. You then gave me hopes that you would +lend me so much; and hitherto I do not see that you have thought more of +the matter, or come any nearer a determination. Had you then consented, +we should ere now have been under way. Nor has your intention to leave +the place been executed, nor has your money in the mean time been +spared: at least there are people who have always skill to create +opportunities for scattering it faster and faster away." + +Such upbraidings, not altogether undeserved, touched Wilhelm to the +quick. He replied with keenness, nay, with anger; and, as the company +rose to part, he took hold of the door, and gave them not obscurely to +understand that he would no longer continue with such unfriendly and +ungrateful people. He hastened down, in no kindly humor, and seated +himself upon the stone bench without the door of his inn; not observing, +that, first out of mirth, then out of spleen, he had drunk more wine +than usual. + +[Footnote 2: Der Schafer putzte sich zum Tanz,--a song of +Goethe's.--ED.] + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +After a short time, which he passed sitting looking out before him, +disquieted by many thoughts, Philina came singing and skipping along +through the front door. She sat down by him, nay, we might almost say, +on him, so close did she press herself towards him: she leaned upon his +shoulders, began playing with his hair, patted him, and gave him the +best words in the world. She begged of him to stay with them, and not +leave her alone in that company, or she must die of tedium: she could +not live any longer in the same house with Melina, and had come over to +lodge in the other inn for that reason. + +He tried in vain to satisfy her with denials,--to make her understand +that he neither could nor would remain any longer. She did not cease +with her entreaties; nay, suddenly she threw her arm round his neck, and +kissed him with the liveliest expression of fondness. + +"Are you mad, Philina?" cried Wilhelm, endeavoring to disengage himself; +"to make the open street the scene of such caresses, which I nowise +merit! Let me go! I can not and I will not stay." + +"And I will hold thee fast," said she, "and kiss thee here on the open +street, and kiss thee till thou promise what I want. I shall die of +laughing," she continued: "by this familiarity the good people here must +take me for thy wife of four weeks' standing; and husbands, who witness +this touching scene, will commend me to their wives as a pattern of +childlike, simple tenderness." + +Some persons were just then going by: she caressed him in the most +graceful way; and he, to avoid giving scandal, was constrained to play +the part of the patient husband. Then she made faces at the people, when +their backs were turned, and, in the wildest humor, continued to commit +all sorts of improprieties, till at last he was obliged to promise that +he would not go that day, or the morrow, or the next day. + +"You are a true clod!" said she, quitting him; "and I am but a fool to +spend so much kindness on you." She arose with some vexation, and walked +a few steps, then turned round laughing, and cried, "I believe it is +just that, after all, that makes me so crazy about thee. I will but go +and seek my knitting-needles and my stocking, that I may have something +to do. Stay there, and let me find the stone man still upon the stone +bench when I come back." + +She cast a sparkling glance on him, and went into the house. He had no +call to follow her; on the contrary, her conduct had excited fresh +aversion in him; yet he rose from the bench to go after her, not well +knowing why. + +He was just entering the door, when Melina passed by, and spoke to him +in a respectful tone, asking his pardon for the somewhat too harsh +expressions he had used in their late discussion. "You will not take it +ill of me," continued he, "if I appear perhaps too fretful in my present +circumstances. The charge of providing for a wife, perhaps soon for a +child, forbids me from day to day to live at peace, or spend my time as +you may do, in the enjoyment of pleasant feelings. Consider, I pray you, +and, if possible, do put me in possession of that stage machinery that +is lying here. I shall not be your debtor long, and I shall be obliged +to you while I live." + +Our friend, unwilling to be kept upon the threshold, over which an +irresistible impulse was drawing him at that moment to Philina, +answered, with an absent mind, eager to be gone, and surprised into a +transient feeling of good will, "If I can make you happy and contented +by doing this, I will hesitate no longer. Go you and put every thing to +rights. I shall be prepared this evening, or to-morrow morning, to pay +the money." He then gave his hand to Melina in confirmation of his +promise, and was very glad to see him hastily proceed along the street; +but, alas! his entrance, which he now thought sure, was a second time +prohibited, and more disagreeably than at first. + +A young man, with a bundle on his back, came walking fast along the +street, and advanced to Wilhelm, who at once recognized him for +Friedrich. + +"Here am I again!" cried he, looking with his large blue eyes joyfully +up and down, over all the windows of the house. "Where is Mamsell? Devil +take me, if I can stroll about the world any longer without seeing her!" + +The landlord, joining them at this instant, replied that she was above; +Friedrich, with a few bounds, was up stairs; and Wilhelm continued +standing, as if rooted to the threshold. At the first instant he was +tempted to pluck the younker back, and drag him down by the hair; then +all at once the spasm of a sharp jealousy stopped the current of his +spirits and ideas; and, as he gradually recovered from this +stupefaction, there came over him a splenetic fit of restlessness, a +general discomfort, such as he had never felt in his life before. + +He went up to his room, and found Mignon busy writing. For some time the +creature had been laboring with great diligence in writing every thing +she knew by heart, giving always to her master and friend the papers to +correct. She was indefatigable, and of good comprehension; but still, +her letters were irregular, and her lines crooked. Here, too, the body +seemed to contradict the mind. In his usual moods, Wilhelm took no small +pleasure in the child's attention; but, at the present moment, he +regarded little what she showed him,--a piece of neglect which she felt +the more acutely, as on this occasion she conceived her work had been +accomplished with peculiar success. + +Wilhelm's unrest drove him up and down the passages of the house, and +finally again to the street-door. A rider was just prancing towards +it,--a man of good appearance, of middle age, and a brisk, contented +look. The landlord ran to meet him, holding out his hand as to an old +acquaintance. "Ay, Herr Stallmeister," cried he, "have we the pleasure +to see you again?" + +"I am only just going to bait with you," replied the stranger, "and then +along to the estate, to get matters put in order as soon as possible. +The count is coming over to-morrow with his lady; they mean to stay a +while to entertain the Prince von----in their best style: he intends +to fix his headquarters in this neighborhood for some time." + +"It is pity," said the landlord, "that you cannot stop with us: we have +good company in the house." The hostler came running out, and took the +horse from the _Stallmeister_, who continued talking in the door with +the landlord, and now and then giving a look at Wilhelm. + +Our friend, observing that he formed the topic of their conversation, +went away, and walked up and down the streets. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +In the restless vexation of his present humor, it came into his head to +go and see the old harper; hoping by his music to scare away the evil +spirits that tormented him. On asking for the man, he was directed to a +mean public house, in a remote corner of the little town; and, having +mounted up-stairs there to the very garret, his ear caught the fine +twanging of the harp coming from a little room before him. They were +heart-moving, mournful tones, accompanied by a sad and dreary singing. +Wilhelm glided to the door: and as the good old man was performing a +sort of voluntary, the few stanzas of which, sometimes chanted, +sometimes in recitative, were repeated more than once, our friend +succeeded, after listening for a while, in gathering nearly this:-- + + "Who never ate his bread with tears, + Through nights of grief who, weeping, never + Sat on his bed, midst pangs and fears, + Can, heavenly powers, not know you ever. + + Ye lead us forth into this life, + Where comfort soon by guilt is banished, + Abandon us to tortures, strife; + For on this earth all guilt is punished." + --_Editor's Version._ + +The heart-sick, plaintive sound of this lament pierced deep into the +soul of the hearer. It seemed to him as if the old man were often +stopped from proceeding by his tears: his harp would alone be heard for +a time, till his voice again joined it in low, broken tones. Wilhelm +stood by the door; he was much moved; the mourning of this stranger had +again opened the avenues of his heart; he could not resist the claim of +sympathy, or restrain the tears which this woe-begone complaint at last +called forth. All the pains that pressed upon his soul seemed now at +once to loosen from their hold: he abandoned himself without reserve to +the feelings of the moment. Pushing up the door, he stood before the +harper. The old man was sitting on a mean bed, the only seat, or article +of furniture, which his miserable room afforded. + +"What feelings thou hast awakened in me, good old man!" exclaimed he. +"All that was lying frozen at my heart thou hast melted, and put in +motion. Let me not disturb thee, but continue, in solacing thy own +sorrows, to confer happiness upon a friend." The harper was about to +rise, and say something; but Wilhelm hindered him, for he had noticed in +the morning that the old man did not like to speak. He sat down by him +on the straw bed. + +The old man wiped his eyes, and asked, with a friendly smile, "How came +you hither? I meant to wait upon you in the evening again." + +"We are more quiet here," said Wilhelm. "Sing to me what thou pleasest, +what accords with thy own mood of mind, only proceed as if I were not +by. It seems to me, that to-day thou canst not fail to suit me. I think +thee very happy, that, in solitude, thou canst employ and entertain +thyself so pleasantly; that, being everywhere a stranger, thou findest +in thy own heart the most agreeable society." + +The old man looked upon his strings; and after touching them softly, by +way of prelude, he commenced and sang,-- + + "Who longs in solitude to live, + Ah! soon his wish will gain: + Men hope and love, men get and give, + And leave him to his pain. + Yes, leave me to my moan! + When from my bed + You all are fled, + I still am not alone. + + The lover glides with footstep light: + His love, is she not waiting there? + So glides to meet me, day and night, + In solitude my care, + In solitude my woe: + True solitude I then shall know + When lying in my grave, + When lying in my grave, + And grief has let me go." + +We might describe with great prolixity, and yet fail to express the +charms of, the singular conversation which Wilhelm carried on with this +wayfaring stranger. To every observation our friend addressed to him, +the old man, with the nicest accordance, answered in some melody, which +awakened all the cognate emotions, and opened a wide field to the +imagination. + +Whoever has happened to be present at a meeting of certain devout +people, who conceive, that, in a state of separation from the Church, +they can edify each other in a purer, more affecting, and more spiritual +manner, may form to himself some conception of the present scene. He +will recollect how the leader of the meeting would append to his words +some verse of a song, that raised the soul till, as he wished, she took +wing; how another of the flock would erelong subjoin, in a different +tune, some verse of a different song; and to this again a third would +link some verse of a third song,--by which means the kindred ideas of +the songs to which the verses belonged were indeed suggested, yet each +passage by its new combination became new and individualized, as if it +had been first composed that moment; and thus from a well-known circle +of ideas, from well-known songs and sayings, there was formed for that +particular society, in that particular time, an original whole, by means +of which their minds were animated, strengthened, and refreshed. So, +likewise, did the old man edify his guest: by known and unknown songs +and passages, he brought feelings near and distant, emotions sleeping +and awake, pleasant and painful, into a circulation, from which, in +Wilhelm's actual state, the best effects might be anticipated. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Accordingly, in walking back, he began to think with greater earnestness +than ever on his present situation: he had reached home with the firm +purpose of altering it, when the landlord disclosed to him, by way of +secret, that Mademoiselle Philina had made a conquest of the count's +_Stallmeister_, who, after executing his commission at his master's +estate, had returned in the greatest haste, and was even now partaking +of a good supper with her up in her chamber. + +At this very moment Melina came in with a notary: they went into +Wilhelm's chamber together, where the latter, though with some +hesitation, made his promise good; gave a draft of three hundred crowns +to Melina, who, handing it to the lawyer, received in return a note +acknowledging the sale of the whole theatrical apparatus, and engaging +to deliver it next morning. + +Scarcely had they parted, when Wilhelm heard a cry of horror rising from +some quarter of the house. He caught the sound of a young voice, +uttering menacing and furious tones, which were ever and anon choked by +immoderate weeping and howling. He observed this frantic noise move +hastily from above, go past his door, and down to the lower part of the +house. + +Curiosity enticing our friend to follow it, he found Friedrich in a +species of delirium. The boy was weeping, grinding his teeth, stamping +with his feet, threatening with clenched fists: he appeared beside +himself from fury and vexation. Mignon was standing opposite him, +looking on with astonishment. The landlord, in some degree, explained +this phenomenon. + +The boy, he said, being well received at his return by Philina, seemed +quite merry and contented: he had kept singing and jumping about, till +the time when Philina grew acquainted with the _Stallmeister_. Then, +however, this half-grown younker had begun to show his indignation, to +slam the doors, and run up and down in the highest dudgeon. Philina had +ordered him to wait at table that evening, upon which he had grown still +sulkier and more indignant; till at last, carrying up a plate with a +ragout, instead of setting it upon the table, he had thrown the whole +between Mademoiselle and her guest, who were sitting moderately close +together at the time: and the _Stallmeister_, after two or three hearty +cuffs, had then kicked him out of the room. He, the landlord, had +himself helped to clean both of them; and certainly their clothes had +suffered much. + +On hearing of the good effect of his revenge, the boy began to laugh +aloud, whilst the tears were still running down his cheeks. He heartily +rejoiced for a time, till the disgrace which he had suffered from the +stronger party once more came into his head, and he began afresh to howl +and threaten. + +Wilhelm stood meditating, and ashamed at this spectacle. It reflected +back to him his own feelings, in coarser and exaggerated features: he, +too, was inflamed with a fierce jealousy; and, had not decency +restrained him, he would willingly have satisfied his wild humor; with +malicious spleen would have abused the object of his passion, and +called out his rival; he could have crushed in pieces all the people +round him; they seemed as if standing there but to vex him. + +Laertes also had come in, and heard the story: he roguishly spurred on +the irritated boy, who was now asserting with oaths that he would make +the _Stallmeister_ give him satisfaction; that he had never yet let any +injury abide with him; that, should the man refuse, there were other +ways of taking vengeance. + +This was the very business for Laertes. He went up stairs, with a solemn +countenance, to call out the _Stallmeister_ in the boy's name. + +"This is a pleasant thing," said the _Stallmeister_: "such a joke as +this I had scarcely promised myself to-night." They went down, and +Philina followed them. "My son," said the _Stallmeister_ to Friedrich, +"thou art a brave lad, and I do not hesitate to fight thee. Only, as our +years and strength are unequal, and the attempt a little dangerous on +that account, I propose a pair of foils in preference to other weapons. +We can rub the buttons of them with a piece of chalk; and whoever marks +upon the other's coat the first or the most thrusts, shall be held the +victor, and be treated by the other with the best wine that can be had +in town." + +Laertes decided that the proposition might be listened to: Friedrich +obeyed him, as his tutor. The foils were produced: Philina took a seat, +went on with her knitting, and looked at the contending parties with the +greatest peace of mind. + +The _Stallmeister_, who could fence very prettily, was complaisant +enough to spare his adversary, and to let a few chalk scores be marked +upon his coat; after which the two embraced, and wine was ordered. The +_Stallmeister_ took the liberty of asking Friedrich's parentage and +history; and Friedrich told him a long story, which had often been +repeated already, and which, at some other opportunity, we purpose +communicating to our readers. + +To Wilhelm, in the mean time, this contest completed the representation +of his own state of mind. He could not but perceive that he would +willingly have taken up a foil against the _Stallmeister_,--a sword +still more willingly, though evidently much his inferior in the science +of defence. Yet he deigned not to cast one look on Philina; he was on +his guard against any word or movement that could possibly betray his +feelings: and, after having once or twice done justice to the health of +the duellists, he hastened to his own room, where a thousand painful +thoughts came pressing round him. + +He called to memory the time when his spirit, rich in hope, and full of +boundless aims, was raised aloft, and encircled with the liveliest +enjoyments of every kind as with its proper element. He now clearly saw, +that of late he had fallen into a broken, wandering path, where, if he +tasted, it was but in drops what he once quaffed in unrestricted +measure. But he could not clearly see what insatiable want it was that +nature had made the law of his being, and how this want had been only +set on edge, half satisfied, and misdirected by the circumstances of his +life. + +It will not surprise us, therefore, that, in considering his situation, +and laboring to extricate himself, he fell into the greatest perplexity. +It was not enough, that by his friendship for Laertes, his attachment to +Philina, his concern for Mignon, he had been detained longer than was +proper in a place and a society where he could cherish his darling +inclination, content his wishes as it were by stealth, and, without +proposing any object, again pursue his early dreams. These ties he +believed himself possessed of force enough to break asunder: had there +been nothing more to hold him, he could have gone at once. But, only a +few moments ago, he had entered into money transactions with Melina: he +had seen that mysterious old man, the enigma of whose history he longed +with unspeakable desire to clear. Yet of this too, after much balancing +of reasons, he at length determined, or thought he had determined, that +it should not keep him back. "I must go." He threw himself into a chair: +he felt greatly moved. Mignon came in, and asked whether she might help +to undress him. Her manner was still and shy: it had grieved her to the +quick to be so abruptly dismissed by him before. + +Nothing is more touching than the first disclosure of a love which has +been nursed in silence, of a faith grown strong in secret, and which at +last comes forth in the hour of need, and reveals itself to him who +formerly has reckoned it of small account. The bud, which had been +closed so long and firmly, was now ripe to burst its swathings; and +Wilhelm's heart could never have been readier to welcome the impressions +of affection. + +She stood before him, and noticed his disquietude. "Master!" she cried, +"if thou art unhappy, what will become of Mignon?"--"Dear little +creature," said he, taking her hands, "thou, too, art part of my +anxieties. I must go hence." She looked at his eyes, glistening with +restrained tears, and knelt down with vehemence before him. He kept her +hands: she laid her head upon his knees, and remained quite still. He +played with her hair, patted her, and spoke kindly to her. She continued +motionless for a considerable time. At last he felt a sort of +palpitating movement in her, which began very softly, and then by +degrees, with increasing violence, diffused itself over all her frame. +"What ails thee, Mignon?" cried he: "What ails thee?" She raised her +little head, looked at him, and all at once laid her hand upon her +heart, with the countenance of one repressing the utterance of pain. He +raised her up, and she fell upon his breast: he pressed her towards him, +and kissed her. She replied not by any pressure of the hand, by any +motion whatever. She held firmly against her heart, and all at once gave +a cry, which was accompanied by spasmodic movements of the body. She +started up, and immediately fell down before him, as if broken in every +joint. It was an excruciating moment. "My child!" cried he, raising her +up, and clasping her fast, "my child, what ails thee?" The palpitations +continued, spreading from the heart over all the lax and powerless +limbs: she was merely hanging in his arms. All at once she again became +quite stiff, like one enduring the sharpest corporeal agony; and soon +with a new vehemence all her frame once more became alive; and she threw +herself about his neck, like a bent spring that is closing; while in her +soul, as it were, a strong rent took place, and at the same moment a +stream of tears flowed from her shut eyes into his bosom. He held her +fast. She wept, and no tongue can express the force of these tears. Her +long hair had loosened, and was hanging down before her: it seemed as if +her whole being was melting incessantly into a brook of tears. Her rigid +limbs were again become relaxed; her inmost soul was pouring itself +forth; in the wild confusion of the moment Wilhelm was afraid she would +dissolve in his arms, and leave nothing there for him to grasp. He held +her faster and faster. "My child!" cried he, "my child! thou art indeed +mine, if that word can comfort thee. Thou art mine! I will keep thee, I +will never forsake thee!" Her tears continued flowing. At last she +raised herself: a faint gladness shone upon her face. "My father!" cried +she, "thou wilt not forsake me? Wilt be my father? I am thy child!" + +Softly, at this moment, the harp began to sound before the door: the old +man brought his most affecting songs as an evening offering to our +friend, who, holding his child ever faster in his arms, enjoyed the most +pure and undescribable felicity. + + + + +BOOK III. + +CHAPTER I. + + + "Dost know the land where citrons, lemons, grow, + Gold oranges 'neath dusky foliage glow, + From azure sky are blowing breezes soft, + The myrtles still, the laurel stands aloft? + 'Tis there! 'tis there! + I would with thee, O my beloved one, go! + + Dost know the house, its roofs do columns bear, + The hall with splendor bright, the chambers glare? + Therein stand marble forms, and look at me: + What is't, poor child, that they have done to thee? + Dost know that house? + 'Tis there! 'tis there! + I would with thee, O my protector, go! + + Dost know the mount, whose path with clouds is fraught, + Where by the mule through mist the way is sought, + Where dwell in caves the dragon's ancient brood, + Where falls the rock, and over it the flood,-- + Dost know that mount? + 'Tis there! 'tis there! + Does lead our road: O father, let us go!" + --_Editor's Version._ + +Next morning, on looking for Mignon about the house, Wilhelm did not +find her, but was informed that she had gone out early with Melina, who +had risen betimes to receive the wardrobe and other apparatus of his +theatre. + +After the space of some hours, Wilhelm heard the sound of music before +his door. At first he thought it was the harper come again to visit him; +but he soon distinguished the tones of a cithern, and the voice which +began to sing was Mignon's. Wilhelm opened the door: the child came in, +and sang him the song we have just given above. + +The music and general expression of it pleased our friend extremely, +though he could not understand all the words. He made her once more +repeat the stanzas, and explain them: he wrote them down, and translated +them into his native language. But the originality of its turns he +could imitate only from afar: its childlike innocence of expression +vanished from it in the process of reducing its broken phraseology to +uniformity, and combining its disjointed parts. The charm of the tune, +moreover, was entirely incomparable. + +She began every verse in a stately and solemn manner, as if she wished +to draw attention towards something wonderful, as if she had something +weighty to communicate. In the third line, her tones became deeper and +gloomier; the words, "_Dost know?_" were uttered with a show of mystery +and eager circumspectness; in "'_Tis there! 'tis there!_" lay an +irresistible longing; and her "_Let us go!_" she modified at each +repetition, so that now it appeared to entreat and implore, now to impel +and persuade. + +On finishing her song for the second time, she stood silent for a +moment, looked keenly at Wilhelm, and asked him, "_Know'st_ thou the +land?"--"It must mean Italy," said Wilhelm: "where didst thou get the +little song?"--"Italy!" said Mignon, with an earnest air. "If thou go to +Italy, take me along with thee; for I am too cold here."--"Hast thou +been there already, little dear?" said Wilhelm. But the child was +silent, and nothing more could be got out of her. + +Melina entered now: he looked at the cithern,--was glad that she had +rigged it up again so prettily. The instrument had been among Melina's +stage-gear: Mignon had begged it of him in the morning, and then gone to +the old harper. On this occasion she had shown a talent she was not +before suspected of possessing. + +Melina had already got possession of his wardrobe, with all that +pertained to it: some members of the town magistracy had promised him +permission to act, for a time, in the place. He was now returning with a +merry heart and a cheerful look. His nature seemed altogether changed: +he was soft, courteous to every one,--nay, fond of obliging, and almost +attractive. He was happy, he said, at now being able to afford +employment to his friends, who had hitherto lain idle and embarrassed; +sorry, however, that at first he could not have it in his power to +remunerate the excellent actors whom fortune had offered him, in a style +corresponding to their talents and capacities; being under the +necessity, before all other things, of discharging his debt to so +generous a friend as Wilhelm had proved himself to be. + +"I cannot describe," said he to Wilhelm, "the friendliness which you +have shown, in helping me forward to the management of a theatre. When I +found you here, I was in a very curious predicament. You recollect how +strongly I displayed to you, on our first acquaintance, my aversion to +the stage; and yet, on being married, I was forced to look about for a +place in some theatre, out of love to my wife, who promised to herself +much joy and great applause if so engaged. I could find none, at least +no constant one; but in return I luckily fell in with some commercial +men, who, in extraordinary cases, were enabled to employ a person that +could handle his pen, that understood French, and was not without a +little skill in ciphering. I managed pretty well in this way for a time; +I was tolerably paid; got about me many things which I had need of, and +did not feel ashamed of my work. But these commissions of my patrons +came to an end; they could afford me no permanent establishment: and, +ever since, my wife has continued urging me still more to go upon the +stage again; though, at present, alas! her own situation is none of the +favorablest for exhibiting herself with honor in the eyes of the public. +But now, I hope, the establishment which by your kind help I have the +means of setting up, will prove a good beginning for me and mine: you I +shall thank for all my future happiness, let matters turn out as they +will." + +Wilhelm listened to him with contentment: the whole fraternity of +players were likewise moderately satisfied with the declarations of the +new manager; they secretly rejoiced that an offer of employment had +occurred so soon, and were disposed to put up at first with a smaller +salary, the rather, that most of them regarded the present one, so +unexpectedly placed within their reach, as a kind of supplement, on +which a short while ago they could not count. Melina made haste to +profit by this favorable temper: he endeavored in a sly way to get a +little talk with each in private, and erelong had, by various methods, +so cockered them all, that they did not hesitate to strike a bargain +with him without loss of time; scarcely thinking of this new engagement, +or reckoning themselves secure at worst of getting free again after +six-weeks' warning. + +The terms were now to be reduced to proper form; and Melina was +considering with what pieces he would first entice the public, when a +courier riding up informed the _Stallmeister_ that his lord and lady +were at hand; on which the latter ordered out his horses. + +In a short time after this, the coach with its masses of luggage rolled +in; two servants sprang down from the coach-box before the inn; and +Philina, according to her custom, foremost in the way of novelties, +placed herself within the door. + +"Who are you?" said the countess, entering the house. + +"An actress, at your Excellency's service," was the answer; while the +cheat, with a most innocent air, and looks of great humility, +courtesied, and kissed the lady's gown. + +The count, on seeing some other persons standing round, who also +signified that they were players, inquired about the strength of their +company, their last place of residence, their manager. "Had they but +been Frenchmen," said he to his lady, "we might have treated the prince +with an unexpected enjoyment, and entertained him with his favorite +pastime at our house." + +"And could we not," said the countess, "get these people, though +unluckily they are but Germans, to exhibit with us at the castle while +the prince stays there? Without doubt they have some degree of skill. A +large party can never be so well amused with any thing as with a +theatre: besides, the baron would assist them." + +So speaking, they went up-stairs; and Melina presented himself above, as +manager. "Call your folk together," said the count, "and place them +before me, that I may see what is in them. I must also have the list of +pieces you profess to act." + +Melina, with a low bow, hastened from the room, and soon returned with +his actors. They advanced in promiscuous succession: some, out of too +great anxiety to please, introduced themselves in a rather sorry style; +the others, not much better, by assuming an air of unconcern. Philina +showed the deepest reverence to the countess, who behaved with extreme +graciousness and condescension: the count, in the mean time, was +mustering the rest. He questioned each about his special province of +acting, and signified to Melina that he must rigorously keep them to +their several provinces,--a precept which the manager received with the +greatest devotion. + +The count then stated to each in particular what he ought especially to +study, what about his figure or his postures ought to be amended; showed +them luminously in what points the Germans always fail; and displayed +such extraordinary knowledge, that all stood in the deepest humility, +scarcely daring to draw their breath before so enlightened a critic and +so right honorable a patron. + +"What fellow is that in the corner?" said the count, looking at a +subject who had not yet been presented to him, and who now +approached,--a lean, shambling figure, with a rusty coat, patched at the +elbows, and a woful periwig covering his submissive head. + +This person, whom, from the last Book, we know already as Philina's +darling, had been want to enact pedants, tutors, and poets,--generally +undertaking parts in which any cudgelling or ducking was to be endured. +He had trained himself to certain crouching, ludicrous, timid bows; and +his faltering, stammering speech befitted the characters he played, and +created laughter in the audience; so that he was always looked on as a +useful member of the company, being moreover very serviceable and +obliging. He approached the count in his own peculiar way, bent himself +before him, and answered every question with the grimaces and gestures +he was used to on the stage. The count looked at him for some time with +an air of attentive satisfaction and studious observation; then, turning +to the countess, "Child," said he, "consider this man well: I will +engage for it he is a great actor, or may become so." The creature here, +in the fulness of his heart, made an idiotic bow: the count burst into +laughing, and exclaimed, "He does it excellently well! I bet this fellow +can act any thing he likes: it is pity that he has not been already used +to something better." + +So singular a prepossession was extremely galling to the rest: Melina +alone felt no vexation, but completely coincided with the count, and +answered, with a prostrate look, "Alas! it is too true: both he and +others of us have long stood in need of such encouragement, and such a +judge, as we now find in your Excellency." + +"Is this the whole company?" inquired the count. + +"Some of them are absent," said the crafty Melina; "and at any rate, if +we should meet with support, we could soon collect abundant numbers from +the neighborhood." + +Philina in the mean while was saying to the countess, "There is a very +pretty young man above, who without doubt would shortly become a +first-rate amateur." + +"Why does he not appear?" said the countess. + +"I will bring him," cried Philina, hastening to the door. + +She found our friend still occupied with Mignon: she persuaded him to +come down. He followed her with some reluctance: yet curiosity impelled +him; for, hearing that the family were people of rank, he longed much to +know more of them. On entering the room, his eyes met those of the +countess, which were directed towards him. Philina led him to the lady, +while the count was busied with the rest. Wilhelm made his bow, and +replied to several questions from the fair dame, not without confusion +of mind. Her beauty and youth, her graceful dignity and refined manner, +made the most delightful impression on him; and the more so, as her +words and looks were accompanied with a certain bashfulness, one might +almost say embarrassment. He was likewise introduced to the count, who, +however, took no special notice of him, but went to the window with his +lady, and seemed to ask her about something. It was easy to observe that +her opinion accorded strongly with his own; that she even tried to +persuade him, and strengthen him in his intentions. + +In a short while he turned round to the company, and said, "I must not +stay at present, but I will send a friend to you; and if you make +reasonable proposals, and will take very great pains, I am not +disinclined to let you play at the castle." + +All testified their joy at this: Philina in particular kissed the hands +of the countess with the greatest vivacity. + +"Look you, little thing," said the lady, patting the cheeks of the +light-minded girl, "look you, child, you shall come to me again: I will +keep my promise; only you must dress better." Philina stated in excuse +that she had little to lay out upon her wardrobe; and the countess +immediately ordered her waiting-maids to bring from the carriage a silk +neckerchief and an English hat, the articles easiest to come at, and +give them to her new favorite. The countess herself then decked Philina, +who continued very neatly to support, by her looks and conduct, that +saintlike, guiltless character she had assumed at first. + +The count took his lady's hand, and led her down. She bowed to the whole +company with a friendly air, in passing by them: she turned round again +towards Wilhelm, and said to him, with the most gracious mien, "We shall +soon meet again." + +These happy prospects enlivened the whole party: every one of them gave +free course to his hopes, his wishes, his imaginations; spoke of the +parts he would play, and the applause he would acquire. Melina was +considering how he might still, by a few speedy exhibitions, gain a +little money from the people of the town before he left it; while others +went into the kitchen, to order a better dinner than of late they had +been used to. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +After a few days the baron came, and it was not without fear that Melina +received him. The count had spoken of him as a critic: and it might be +dreaded, he would speedily detect the weakness of the little party, and +see that it formed no efficient troop; there being scarcely a play which +they could act in a suitable manner. But the manager, as well as all the +members, were soon delivered from their cares, on finding that the baron +was a man who viewed the German stage with a most patriotic enthusiasm, +to whom every player, and every company of players, was welcome and +agreeable. He saluted them all with great solemnity; was happy to come +upon a German theatre so unexpectedly, to get connected with it, and to +introduce their native Muses to the mansion of his relative. He then +pulled out from his pocket a bundle of stitched papers, in which Melina +hoped to find the terms of their contract specified; but it proved +something very different. It was a drama, which the baron himself had +composed, and wished to have played by them: he requested their +attention while he read it. Willingly they formed a circle round him, +charmed at being able with so little trouble to secure the favor of a +man so important; though, judging by the thickness of the manuscript, it +was clear that a very long rehearsal might be dreaded. Their +apprehensions were not groundless: the piece was written in five acts, +and that sort of acts which never have an end. + +The hero was an excellent, virtuous, magnanimous, and at the same time +misunderstood and persecuted, man: this worthy person, after many +trials, gained the victory at last over all his enemies; on whom, in +consequence, the most rigorous poetic justice would have been exercised, +had he not pardoned them on the spot. + +While this piece was rehearsing, each of the auditors had leisure +enough to think of himself, and to mount up quite softly from the humble +prostration of mind, to which, a little while ago, he had felt disposed, +into a comfortable state of contentment with his own gifts and +advantages, and, from this elevation, to discover the most pleasing +prospects in the future. Such of them as found in the play no parts +adapted for their own acting, internally pronounced it bad, and viewed +the baron as a miserable author; while the others, every time they +noticed any passage which they hoped might procure them a little +clapping of the hands, exalted it with the greatest praise, to the +immeasurable satisfaction of the author. + +The commercial part of their affair was soon completed. Melina made an +advantageous bargain with the baron, and contrived to keep it secret +from the rest. + +Of our friend, Melina took occasion to declare in passing, that he +seemed to be successfully qualifying himself for becoming a dramatic +poet, and even to have some capacities for being an actor. The baron +introduced himself to Wilhelm as a colleague; and the latter by and by +produced some short pieces, which, with a few other relics, had escaped +by chance, on the day when he threw the greater part of his works into +the flames. The baron lauded both his pieces and delivery: he spoke of +it as a settled thing, that Wilhelm should come over to the castle with +the rest. For all, at his departure, he engaged to find the best +reception, comfortable quarters, a good table, applauses, and presents; +and Melina further gave the promise of a certain modicum of pocket-money +to each. + +It is easy to conceive how this visit raised the spirits of the party: +instead of a low and harassing situation, they now at once saw honors +and enjoyment before them. On the score of these great hopes they +already made merry, and each thought it needless and stingy to retain a +single _groschen_ of money in his purse. + +Meanwhile our friend was taking counsel with himself about accompanying +the troop to the castle; and he found it, in more than one sense, +advisable to do so. Melina was in hopes of paying off his debt, at least +in part, by this engagement; and Wilhelm, who had come from home to +study men, was unwilling to let slip this opportunity of examining the +great world, where he expected to obtain much insight into life, into +himself, and the dramatic art. With all this, he durst not confess how +greatly he wished again to be near the beautiful countess. He rather +sought to persuade himself in general of the mighty advantages which a +more intimate acquaintance with the world of rank and wealth would +procure for him. He pursued his reflections on the count, the countess, +the baron; on the security, the grace, and propriety of their demeanor: +he exclaimed with rapture when alone,-- + +"Thrice happy are they to be esteemed, whom their birth of itself exalts +above the lower stages of mankind; who do not need to traverse those +perplexities, not even to skirt them, in which many worthy men so +painfully consume the whole period of life. Far-extending and unerring +must their vision be, on that higher station; easy each step of their +progress in the world. From their very birth, they are placed, as it +were, in a ship, which, in this voyage we have all to make, enables them +to profit by the favorable winds, and to ride out the cross ones; while +others, bare of help, must wear their strength away in swimming, can +derive little profit from the favorable breeze, and in the storm must +soon become exhausted, and sink to the bottom. What convenience, what +ease of movement, does a fortune we are born to confer upon us! How +securely does a traffic flourish, which is founded on a solid capital, +where the failure of one or of many enterprises does not of necessity +reduce us to inaction! Who can better know the worth and worthlessness +of earthly things, than he that has had within his choice the enjoyment +of them from youth upwards? and who can earlier guide his mind to the +useful, the necessary, the true, than he that may convince himself of so +many errors in an age when his strength is yet fresh to begin a new +career?" + +Thus did our friend cry joy to all inhabitants of the upper regions, +and, not to them only, but to all that were permitted to approach their +circle, and draw water from their wells. So he thanked his own happy +stars, that seemed preparing to grant this mighty blessing to himself. + +Melina, in the mean time, was torturing his brains to get the company +arranged according to their several provinces, and each of them +appointed to produce his own peculiar effect. In compliance with the +count's injunctions and his own persuasions, he made many efforts; but +at last, when it came to the point of execution, he was forced to be +content, if, in so small a troop, he found his people willing to adjust +themselves to this or that part as they best were able. When matters +would admit of it, Laertes played the lover; Philina the lady's maid; +the two young girls took up between them the characters of the artless +and tender loved ones; the boisterous old gentleman of the piece was +sure to be the best acted. Melina himself thought he might come forth as +chevalier; Madam Melina, to her no small sorrow, was obliged to satisfy +herself with personating young wives, or even affectionate mothers; and +as in the newer plays, a poet or pedant is rarely introduced, and still +more rarely for the purpose of being laughed at, the well-known favorite +of the count was now usually transformed into president or +minister,--these being commonly set forth as knaves, and severely +handled in the fifth act. Melina, too, in the part of chamberlain or the +like, introduced, with great satisfaction, the ineptitudes put into his +hands by various honest Germans, according to use and wont, in many +well-accepted plays: he delighted in these characters, because he had an +opportunity of decking himself out in a fashionable style, and was +called upon to assume the airs of a courtier, which he conceived himself +to possess in great perfection. + +It was not long till they were joined by several actors from different +quarters; who, being received without very strict examination, were also +retained without very burdensome conditions. + +Wilhelm had been more than once assailed with persuasions from Melina to +undertake an amateur part. This he declined; yet he interested and +occupied himself about the general cause with great alacrity, without +our new manager's acknowledging his labors in the smallest. On the +contrary, it seemed to be Melina's opinion, that with his office he had +at the same time picked up all the necessary skill for carrying it on. +In particular, the task of curtailment formed one of his most pleasing +occupations: he would succeed in reducing any given piece down to the +regular measure of time, without the slightest respect to proprieties or +proportions, or any thing whatever, but his watch. He met with great +encouragement; the public was very much delighted; the most knowing +inhabitants of the burgh maintained, that the prince's theatre itself +was not so well conducted as theirs. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +At last the time arrived when the company had to prepare for travelling, +and to expect the coaches and other vehicles that were to carry them to +the count's mansion. Much altercation now took place about the mode of +travelling, and who should sit with whom. The ordering and distribution +of the whole was at length settled and concluded, with great labor, and, +alas! without effect. At the appointed hour, fewer coaches came than +were expected: they had to accommodate themselves as the case would +admit. The baron, who followed shortly afterwards on horseback, +assigned, as the reason, that all was in motion at the castle, not only +because the prince was to arrive a few days earlier than had been looked +for, but also because an unexpected party of visitors were already come: +the place, he said, was in great confusion; on this account perhaps they +would not lodge so comfortably as had been intended,--a change which +grieved him very much. + +Our travellers packed themselves into the carriages the best way they +could; and the weather being tolerable, and the castle but a few leagues +distant, the heartiest of the troop preferred setting out on foot to +waiting the return of the coaches. The caravan got under way with great +jubilee, for the first time without caring how the landlord's bill was +to be paid. The count's mansion rose on their souls like a palace of the +fairies: they were the happiest and merriest mortals in the world. Each +throughout the journey, in his own peculiar mode, kept fastening a +continued chain of fortune, honor, and prosperity to that auspicious +day. + +A heavy rain, which fell unexpectedly, did not banish these delightful +contemplations; though, as it incessantly continued with more and more +violence, many of the party began to show traces of uneasiness. The +night came on; and no sight could be more welcome than the palace of the +count, which shone upon them from a hill at some distance, glancing with +light in all its stories, so that they could reckon every window. + +On approaching nearer, they found all the windows in the wings +illuminated also. Each of the party thought within himself what chamber +would be his; and most of them prudently determined to be satisfied with +a room in the attic, or some of the side buildings. + +They were now proceeding through the village, past the inn. Wilhelm +stopped the coach, in the mind to alight there; but the landlord +protested that it was not in his power to afford the least +accommodation: his lordship the count, he said, being visited by some +unexpected guests, had immediately engaged the whole inn; every chamber +in the house had been marked with chalk last night, specifying who was +to lodge there. Our friend was accordingly obliged, against his will, to +travel forward to the castle with the rest of the company. + +In one of the side buildings, round the kitchen fire, they noticed +several cooks running busily about,--a sight which refreshed them not a +little. Servants came jumping hastily with lights to the staircase of +the main door, and the hearts of the worthy pilgrims overflowed at the +aspect of such honors. But how great was their surprise, when this +cordial reception changed into a storm of curses. The servants scouted +the coachman for driving in hither; they must wheel out again, it was +bawled, and take their loading round to the old castle; there was no +room here for such guests! To this unfriendly and unexpected dismissal, +they joined all manner of jeering, and laughed aloud at each other for +leaping out in the rain on so false an errand. It was still pouring; no +star was visible in the sky; while our company were dragged along a +rough, jolting road, between two walls, into the old mansion, which +stood behind, inhabited by none since the present count's father had +built the new residence in front of it. The carriages drew up, partly in +the court-yard, partly in a long, arched gateway; and the postilions, +people hired from the village, unyoked their horses, and rode off. + +As nobody came forward to receive the travellers, they alighted from +their places, they shouted, and searched. In vain! All continued dark +and still. The wind swept through the lofty gate: the court and the old +towers were lying gray and dreary, and so dim that their forms could +scarcely be distinguished in the gloom. The people were all shuddering +and freezing; the women were becoming frightened; the children began to +cry; the general impatience was increasing every minute; so quick a +revolution of fortune, for which no one of them had been at all +prepared, entirely destroyed their equanimity. + +Expecting every minute that some person would appear and unbolt the +doors, mistaking at one time the pattering of rain, at another the +rocking of the wind, for the much-desired footstep of the castle +bailiff, they continued downcast and inactive: it occurred to none of +them to go into the new mansion, and there solicit help from charitable +souls. They could not understand where their friend the baron was +lingering: they were in the most disconsolate condition. + +At last some people actually arrived: by their voices, they were +recognized as the pedestrians who had fallen behind the others on the +journey. They intimated that the baron had tumbled with his horse, and +hurt his leg severely: and that, on calling at the castle, they, too, +had been roughly directed hither. + +The whole company were in extreme perplexity: they guessed and +speculated as to what should now be done, but they could fix on nothing. +At length they noticed from afar a lantern advancing, and took fresh +breath at sight of it; but their hopes of quick deliverance again +evaporated, when the object approached, and came to be distinctly seen. +A groom was lighting the well-known _Stallmeister_ of the castle towards +them: this gentleman, on coming nearer, very anxiously inquired for +Mademoiselle Philina. No sooner had she stepped forth from the crowd, +than he very pressingly offered to conduct her to the new mansion, where +a little place had been provided for her with the countess's maids. She +did not hesitate long about accepting his proposal; she caught his arm, +and, recommending her trunk to the care of the rest, was going to hasten +off with him directly: but the others intercepted them, asking, +entreating, conjuring the _Stallmeister_; till at last, to get away with +his fair one, he promised every thing, assuring them, that, in a little +while, the castle should be opened, and they lodged in the most +comfortable manner. In a few moments they saw the glimmer of his lantern +vanish: they long looked in vain for another gleam of light. At last, +after much watching, scolding, and reviling, it actually appeared, and +revived them with a touch of hope and consolation. + +An ancient footman opened the door of the old edifice, into which they +rushed with violence. Each of them now strove to have his trunk +unfastened, and brought in beside him. Most of this luggage, like the +persons of its owners, was thoroughly wetted. Having but a single light, +the process of unpacking went on very slowly. In the dark passages they +pushed against each other, they stumbled, they fell. They begged to have +more lights, they begged to have some fuel. The monosyllabic footman, +with much ado, consented to put down his own lantern; then went his +way, and came not again. + +They now began to investigate the edifice. The doors of all the rooms +were open: large stoves, tapestry hangings, inlaid floors, yet bore +witness to its former pomp; but of other house-gear there was none to be +seen,--no table, chair, or mirror, nothing but a few monstrous, empty +bedsteads, stripped of every ornament and every necessary. The wet +trunks and knapsacks were adopted as seats: a part of the tired +wanderers placed themselves upon the floor. Wilhelm had sat down upon +some steps: Mignon lay upon his knees. The child was restless; and, when +he asked what ailed her, she answered, "I am hungry." He himself had +nothing that could still the craving of the child: the rest of the party +had consumed their whole provision, so he was obliged to leave the +little traveller without refreshment. Through the whole adventure he had +been inactive, silently immersed in thought. He was very sullen, and +full of indignant regret that he had not kept by his first +determination, and remained at the inn, though he should have slept in +the garret. + +The rest demeaned themselves in various ways. Some of them had got a +heap of old wood collected within a vast, gaping chimney in the hall: +they set fire to the pile with great huzzaing. Unhappily, however, their +hopes of warming and drying themselves by means of it were mocked in the +most frightful manner. The chimney, it appeared, was there for ornament +alone, and was walled up above; so the smoke rushed quickly back, and at +once filled the whole chamber. The dry wood rose crackling into flames; +the flame was also driven back; the draught sweeping through the broken +windows gave it a wavering direction. Terrified lest the castle should +catch fire, the unhappy guests had to tear the burning sticks asunder, +to smother and trample them under their feet; the smoke increased; their +case was rendered more intolerable than before; they were driven to the +brink of desperation. + +Wilhelm had retreated from the smoke into a distant chamber, to which +Mignon soon followed him, leading in a well-dressed servant, with a +high, clear, double-lighted lantern in his hand. He turned to Wilhelm, +and, holding out to him some fruits and confectionery on a beautiful +porcelain plate, "The young lady up-stairs," said he, "sends you this, +with the request that you would join her party: she bids me tell you," +added the lackey, with a sort of grin, "that she is very well off +yonder, and wishes to divide her enjoyments with her friends." + +Wilhelm had not at all expected such a message; for, ever since the +adventure on the stone bench, he had treated Philina with the most +decided contempt. He was still so resolute to have no more concern with +her that he thought of sending back her dainty gifts untasted, when a +supplicating look of Mignon's induced him to accept them. He returned +his thanks in the name of the child. The invitation he entirely +rejected. He desired the servant to exert himself a little for the +stranger company, and made inquiry for the baron. The latter, he was +told, had gone to bed, but had already, as the lackey understood, given +orders to some other person to take charge of these unfortunate and +ill-lodged gentlemen. + +The servant went away, leaving one of his lights, which Wilhelm, in the +absence of a candlestick, contrived to fix upon the window-casement; and +now, at least in his meditations, he could see the four walls of his +chamber. Nor was it long till preparations were commenced for conducting +our travellers to rest. Candles arrived by degrees, though without +snuffers; then a few chairs; an hour afterwards came bed-clothes; then +pillows, all well steeped in rain. It was far past midnight when straw +beds and mattresses were produced, which, if sent at first, would have +been extremely welcome. + +In the interim, also, somewhat to eat and drink had been brought in: it +was enjoyed without much criticism; though it looked like a most +disorderly collection of remains, and offered no very singular proof of +the esteem in which our guests were held. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The disorders and mischievous tricks of some frolicsome companions still +further augmented the disquietudes and distresses of the night: these +gay people woke each other; each played a thousand giddy pranks to +plague his fellow. The next morning dawned amid loud complaints against +their friend the baron, for having so deceived them, for having given so +very false a notion of the order and comfort that awaited their +arrival. However, to their great surprise and consolation, at an early +hour the count himself, attended by a few servants, made his entrance, +and inquired about their circumstances. He appeared much vexed on +discovering how badly they had fared; and the baron, who came limping +along, supported on the arm of a servant, bitterly accused the steward +for neglecting his commands on this occasion,--showing great anxiety to +have that person punished for his disobedience. + +The count gave immediate orders that every thing should be arranged, in +his presence, to the utmost possible convenience of the guests. While +this was going on, some officers arrived, who forthwith scraped +acquaintance with the actresses. The count assembled all the company +before him, spoke to each by name, introduced a few jokes among his +observations; so that every one was charmed at the gracious +condescension of his lordship. At last it came to Wilhelm's turn. He +appeared with Mignon holding by his hand. Our friend excused himself, in +the best terms he could, for the freedom he had taken. The count, on the +other hand, spoke as if the visit had been looked for. + +A gentleman, who stood beside the count, and who, although he wore no +uniform, appeared to be an officer, conversed with Wilhelm: he was +evidently not a common man. His large, keen blue eyes, looking out from +beneath a high brow; his light-colored hair, thrown carelessly back; his +middle stature; every thing about him,--showed an active, firm, and +decisive mode of being. His questions were lively. He seemed to be at +home in all that he inquired about. + +Wilhelm asked the baron what this person was, but found that he had +little good to say of him. "He held the rank of major, was the special +favorite of the prince; managed his most secret affairs; was, in short, +regarded as his right arm,--nay, there was reason to believe him the +prince's natural son. He had been on embassies in France, England, +Italy. In all those places he had greatly distinguished himself, by +which means he was grown conceited; imagining, among other pretensions, +that he thoroughly understood the literature of Germany, and allowing +himself to vent all kinds of sorry jests upon it. He, the baron, was in +the habit of avoiding all intercourse with him; and Wilhelm would do +well to imitate that conduct, for it somehow happened that no one could +be near him without being punished for it. He was called Jarno, though +nobody knew rightly what to make of such a name." + +Wilhelm had nothing to urge against all this: he had felt a sort of +inclination for the stranger, though he noticed in him something cold +and repulsive. + +The company being arranged and distributed throughout the castle, Melina +issued the strictest orders that they should behave themselves with +decency, the women live in a separate quarter, and each direct his whole +attention to the study of dramatic art, and of the characters he had to +play. He posted up written ordinances, consisting of many articles, upon +all the doors. He settled the amount of fine which should be levied upon +each transgressor, and put into a common box. + +This edict was but little heeded. Young officers went out and in; they +jested, not in the most modest fashion, with the actresses; made game of +the actors, and annihilated the whole system of police before it had the +smallest time to take root in the community. The people ran chasing one +another through the rooms; they changed clothes; they disguised +themselves. Melina, attempting to be rigorous with a few at first, was +exasperated by every sort of insolence; and, when the count soon after +sent for him to come and view the place where his theatre was to be +erected, matters grew worse and worse. The young gentry devised a +thousand broad jokes: by the help of some actors, they became yet +coarser. It seemed as if the old castle had been altogether given up to +an infuriate host, and the racket did not end till dinner. + +Meanwhile, the count had led Melina over to a large hall, which, though +belonging to the old castle, communicated by a gallery with the new one: +it seemed very well adapted for being changed into a little theatre. +Here the sagacious lord of the mansion pointed out in person how he +wanted every thing to be. + +The labor now commenced in the greatest haste; the stage apparatus was +erected and furbished up; what decorations they had brought along with +them and could employ were set in order, and what was wanting was +prepared by some skilful workmen of the count's. Wilhelm likewise put +his hand to the business; he assisted in settling the perspective, in +laying off the outlines of the scenery: he was very anxious that nothing +should be executed clumsily. The count, who frequently came in to +inspect their progress, was highly satisfied: he showed particularly how +they should proceed in every case, displaying an uncommon knowledge of +all the arts they were concerned with. + +Next began the business of rehearsing, in good earnest; and there would +have been enough of space and leisure for this undertaking, had the +actors not continually been interrupted by the presence of visitors. +Some new guests were daily arriving, and each insisted on viewing the +operations of the company. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The baron had, for several days, been cheering Wilhelm with the hope of +being formally presented to the countess. "I have told this excellent +lady," said he, "so much about the talent and fine sentiment displayed +in your compositions, that she feels quite impatient to see you, and +hear one or two of them read. Be prepared, therefore, to come over at a +moment's notice; for, the first morning she is at leisure, you will +certainly be called on." He then pointed out to him the afterpiece it +would be proper to produce on that occasion; adding, that doubtless it +would recommend him to no usual degree of favor. The lady, he declared, +was extremely sorry that a guest like him had happened to arrive at a +time of such confusion, when they could not entertain him in a style +more suitable to his merits and their own wishes. + +In consequence of this information, Wilhelm, with the most sedulous +attention, set about preparing the piece, which was to usher him into +the great world. "Hitherto," said he, "thou hast labored in silence for +thyself, applauded only by a small circle of friends. Thou hast for a +time despaired of thy abilities, and are yet full of anxious doubts +whether even thy present path is the right one, and whether thy talent +for the stage at all corresponds with thy inclination for it. In the +hearing of such practised judges, in the closet where no illusion can +take place, the attempt is far more hazardous than elsewhere; and yet I +would not willingly recoil from the experiment: I could wish to add this +pleasure to my former enjoyments, and, if it might be, to give extension +and stability to my hopes from the future." + +He accordingly went through some pieces; read them with the keenest +critical eye; made corrections here and there; recited them aloud, that +he might be perfect in his tones and expression: and finally selected +the work which he was best acquainted with, and hoped to gain most honor +by. He put it in his pocket, one morning, on being summoned to attend +the countess. + +The baron had assured him that there would be no one present but the +lady herself and a worthy female friend of hers. On entering the +chamber, the Baroness von C---- advanced with great friendliness to meet +him, expressed her happiness at gaining his acquaintance, and introduced +him to the countess, who was then under the hands of her hair-dresser. +The countess received him with kind words and looks. But it vexed him to +see Philina kneeling at her chair, and playing a thousand fooleries. +"The poor child," said the baroness, "has just been singing to us. +Finish the song you were in the midst of: we should not like to lose +it." + +Wilhelm listened to her quavering with great patience, being anxious for +the _friseur's_ departure before he should begin to read. They offered +him a cup of chocolate, the baroness herself handing him the biscuit. +Yet, in spite of these civilities, he relished not his breakfast: he was +longing too eagerly to lay before the lovely countess some performance +that might interest and gratify her. Philina, too, stood somewhat in his +way: on former occasions, while listening to him, she had more than once +been troublesome. He looked at the _friseur_ with a painful feeling, +hoping every moment that the tower of curls would be complete. + +Meanwhile the count came in, and began to talk of the fresh visitors he +was expecting, of the day's occupations or amusements, and of various +domestic matters that were started. On his retiring, some officers sent +to ask permission of the countess to pay their respects to her, as they +had to leave the castle before dinner. The footman having come to his +post at the door, she permitted him to usher in the gentlemen. + +The baroness, amid these interruptions, took pains to entertain our +friend, and showed him much consideration; all which he accepted with +becoming reverence, though not without a little absence of mind. He +often felt for the manuscript in his pocket, and hoped for his +deliverance every instant. He was almost losing patience, when a +man-milliner was introduced, and immediately began without mercy to open +his papers, bags, and bandboxes; pressing all his various wares upon +the ladies, with an importunity peculiar to that species of creature. + +The company increased. The baroness cast a look at Wilhelm, and then +whispered with the countess: he noticed this, but did not understand the +purpose of it. The whole, however, became clear enough, when, after an +hour of painful and fruitless endurance, he went away. He then found a +beautiful pocket-book, of English manufacture, in his pocket. The +baroness had dexterously put it there without his notice; and soon +afterwards the countess's little black came out, and handed him an +elegantly flowered waistcoat, without very clearly saying whence it +came. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +This mingled feeling of vexation and gratitude spoiled the remainder of +his day; till, towards evening, he once more found employment. Melina +informed him that the count had been speaking of a little prelude, which +he wished to have produced in honor of the prince, on the day of his +Highness's arrival. He meant to have the great qualities of this noble +hero and philanthropist personified in the piece. These Virtues were to +advance together, to recite his praises, and finally to encircle his +bust with garlands of flowers and laurels; behind which a transparency +might be inserted, representing the princely Hat, and his name +illuminated on it. The count, Melina said, had ordered him to take +charge of getting ready the verses and other arrangements; and Wilhelm, +he hoped, to whom it must be an easy matter, would stand by him on this +occasion. + +"What!" exclaimed our friend, in a splenetic tone, "have we nothing but +portraits, illuminated names, and allegorical figures, to show in honor +of a prince, who, in my opinion, merits quite a different eulogy? How +can it flatter any reasonable man to see himself set up in effigy, and +his name glimmering on oiled paper? I am very much afraid that your +allegories, particularly in the present state of the wardrobe, will +furnish occasion for many ambiguities and jestings. If you mean, +however, to compose the play, or have it composed, I can have nothing to +object; only I desire to have no part or lot in the matter." + +Melina excused himself; alleging this to be only a casual hint of his +lordship the count, who for the rest had left the arrangement of the +piece entirely in their own hands. "With all my heart," replied our +friend, "will I contribute something to the pleasure of this noble +family: my Muse has never had so pleasant an employment as to sing, +though in broken numbers, the praises of a prince who merits so much +veneration. I will think of the matter: perhaps I may be able to +contrive some way of bringing out our little troop, so as at least to +produce some effect." + +From this moment Wilhelm eagerly reflected on his undertaking. Before +going to sleep he had got it all reduced to some degree of order; early +next morning his plan was ready, the scenes laid out; a few of the most +striking passages and songs were even versified and written down. + +As soon as he was dressed, our friend made haste to wait upon the baron, +to submit the plan to his inspection, and take his advice upon certain +points connected with it. The baron testified his approbation of it, but +not without considerable surprise. For, on the previous evening, he had +heard his lordship talk of having ordered some quite different piece to +be prepared and versified. + +"To me it seems improbable," replied our friend, "that it could be his +lordship's wish to have the piece got ready, exactly as he gave it to +Melina. If I am not mistaken, he intended merely to point out to us from +a distance the path we were to follow. The amateur and critic shows the +artist what is wanted, and then leaves to him the care of producing it +by his own means." + +"Not at all," replied the baron: "his lordship understands that the +piece shall be composed according to that and no other plan which he has +himself prescribed. Yours has, indeed, a remote similarity with his +idea; but if we mean to accomplish our purpose, and get the count +diverted from his first thought, we shall need to employ the ladies in +the matter. The baroness especially contrives to execute such operations +in the most masterly manner: the question is now, whether your plan +shall so please her, that she will undertake the business; in that case +it will certainly succeed." + +"We need the assistance of the ladies," said our friend, "at any rate; +for neither our company nor our wardrobe would suffice without them. I +have counted on some pretty children, that are running up and down the +house, and belong to certain of the servants." + +He then desired the baron to communicate his plan to the ladies. The +baron soon returned with intelligence that they wished to speak with +Wilhelm personally. That same evening, when the gentlemen sat down to +play, which, owing to the arrival of a certain general, was expected to +be deeper and keener than usual, the countess and her friend, under +pretext of some indisposition, would retire to their chamber, where +Wilhelm, being introduced by a secret staircase, might submit his +project without interruption. This sort of mystery, the baron said, +would give the adventure a peculiar charm; in particular the baroness +was rejoicing like a child in the prospect of their rendezvous, and the +more so, because it was to be accomplished secretly, and against the +inclination of the count. + +Towards evening, at the appointed time, Wilhelm was sent for, and led in +with caution. As the baroness advanced to meet him in a small cabinet, +the manner of their interview brought former happy scenes for a moment +to his mind. She conducted him along to the countess's chamber, and they +now proceeded earnestly to question and investigate. He exhibited his +plan with the utmost warmth and vivacity, so that his fair audience were +quite decided in its favor. Our readers also will permit us to present a +brief sketch of it here. + +The play was to open with a dance of children in some rural +scene,--their dance representing that particular game wherein each has +to wheel round, and gain the other's place. This was to be followed by +several variations of their play; till at last, in performing a dance of +the repeating kind, they were all to sing a merry song. + +Here the old harper with Mignon was to enter, and, by the curiosity +which they excited, gather several country-people round them; the harper +would sing various songs in praise of peace, repose, and joy; and Mignon +would then dance the egg-dance. + +In these innocent delights, they are disturbed by the sound of martial +music; and the party are surprised by a troop of soldiers. The men stand +on the defensive, and are overcome: the girls flee, and are overtaken. +In the tumult all seems going to destruction, when a person (about whose +form and qualities the poet was not yet determined) enters, and, by +signifying that the general is near, restores composure. Whereupon the +hero's character is painted in the finest colors; security is promised +in the midst of arms; violence and lawless disorder are now to be +restrained. A universal festival is held in honor of the noble-minded +captain. + +The countess and her friend expressed great satisfaction with the plan; +only they maintained that there must of necessity be something of +allegory introduced, to make it palatable to his lordship. The baron +proposed that the leader of the soldiers should be represented as the +Genius of Dissension and Violence; that Minerva should then advance to +bind fetters on him, to give notice of the hero's approach, and +celebrate his praise. The baroness undertook the task of persuading the +count that this plan was the one proposed by himself, with a few +alterations; at the same time expressly stipulating, that without fail, +at the conclusion of the piece, the bust, the illuminated name, and the +princely Hat should be exhibited in due order; since otherwise, her +attempt was vain. + +Wilhelm had already figured in his mind how delicately and how nobly he +would have the praises of his hero celebrated in the mouth of Minerva, +and it was not without a long struggle that he yielded in this point. +Yet he felt himself delightfully constrained to yield. The beautiful +eyes of the countess, and her lovely demeanor, would easily have moved +him to sin against his conscience as a poet; to abandon the finest and +most interesting invention, the keenly wished-for unity of his +composition, and all its most suitable details. His conscience as a +burgher had a trial no less hard to undergo, when the ladies, in +distributing the characters, pointedly insisted that he must undertake +one himself. + +Laertes had received for his allotment the part of that violent war-god; +Wilhelm was to represent the leader of the peasants, who had some very +pretty and tender verses to recite. After long resistance he was forced +to comply: he could find no excuse, when the baroness protested that +their stage was in all respects to be regarded as a private one, and +that she herself would very gladly play on it, if they could find her a +fit occasion. On receiving his consent, they parted with our friend on +the kindest terms. The baroness assured him that he was an incomparable +man: she accompanied him to the little stairs, and wished him good-night +with a squeeze of the hand. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +The interest in his undertakings, which the countess and her friend +expressed and felt so warmly, quickened Wilhelm's faculties and zeal: +the plan of his piece, which the process of describing it had rendered +more distinct, was now present in the most brilliant vividness before +his mind. He spent the greater part of that night, and the whole of next +morning, in the sedulous versification of the dialogue and songs. + +He had proceeded a considerable way, when a message came, requiring his +attendance in the castle: the noble company, who were then at breakfast, +wished to speak with him. As he entered the parlor, the baroness +advanced to meet him, and, under pretext of wishing him good-morning, +whispered cunningly, "Say nothing of your piece but what you shall be +asked." + +"I hear," cried the count to him, "that you are very busy working at my +prelude, which I mean to present in honor of the prince. I consent that +you introduce a Minerva into it; and we are just thinking beforehand how +the goddess shall be dressed, that we may not blunder in costume. For +this purpose I am causing them to fetch from the library all the books +that contain any figures of her." + +At the same instant, one or two servants entered the parlor, with a huge +basket full of books of every shape and appearance. + +Montfaucon, the collections of antique statues, gems, and coins, all +sorts of mythological writings, were turned up, and their plates +compared. But this was not enough. The count's faithful memory recalled +to him all the Minervas to be found in frontispieces, vignettes, or +anywhere else; and book after book was, in consequence, carried from the +library, till finally the count was sitting in a chaos of volumes. +Unable at last to recollect any other figure of Minerva, he observed +with a smile, "I durst bet, that now there is not a single Minerva in +all the library; and perhaps it is the first time that a collection of +books has been so totally deprived of the presence of its patron +goddess." + +The whole company were merry at this thought: Jarno particularly, who +had all along been spurring on the count to call for more and more +books, laughed quite immoderately. + +"Now," said the count, turning to Wilhelm, "one chief point is,--which +goddess do you mean? Minerva, or Pallas? The goddess of war, or of the +arts?" + +"Would it not be best, your Excellency," said Wilhelm, "if we were not +clearly to express ourselves on this head; if, since the goddess plays a +double part in the ancient mythology, we also exhibited her here in a +double quality? She announces a warrior, but only to calm the tumults of +the people; she celebrates a hero by exalting his humanity; she conquers +violence, and restores peace and security." + +The baroness, afraid lest Wilhelm might betray himself, hastily pushed +forward the countess's tailor, to give his opinion how such an antique +robe could best be got ready. This man, being frequently employed in +making masquerade dresses, very easily contrived the business: and as +Madam Melina, notwithstanding her advanced state of pregnancy, had +undertaken to enact the celestial virgin, the tailor was directed to +take her measure; and the countess, though with some reluctance, +selected from the wardrobe the clothes he was to cut up for that +purpose. + +The baroness, in her dexterous way, again contrived to lead Wilhelm +aside, and let him know that she had been providing all the other +necessaries. Shortly afterwards she sent him the musician, who had +charge of the count's private band; and this professor set about +composing what airs were wanted, or choosing from his actual stock such +tunes as appeared suitable. From this time all went on according to the +wishes of our friend: the count made no more inquiries about the piece; +being altogether occupied with the transparent decoration, destined to +surprise the spectators at the conclusion of the play. His inventive +genius, aided by the skill of his confectioner, produced, in fact, a +very pretty article. In the course of his travels, the count had +witnessed the most splendid exhibitions of this sort: he had also +brought home with him a number of copper-plates and drawings, and could +sketch such things with considerable taste. + +Meanwhile Wilhelm finished the play, gave every one his part, and began +the study of his own. The musician also, having great skill in dancing, +prepared the ballet; so that every thing proceeded as it ought. + +Yet one unexpected obstacle occurred, which threatened to occasion an +unpleasant gap in the performance. He had promised to himself a striking +effect from Mignon's egg-dance, and was much surprised when the child, +with her customary dryness of manner, refused to dance; saying she was +now his, and would no more go upon the stage. He sought to move her by +every sort of persuasion, and did not discontinue his attempt till she +began weeping bitterly, fell at his feet, and cried out, "Dearest +father! stay thou from the boards thyself!" Little heeding this caution, +he studied how to give the scene some other turn that might be equally +interesting. + +Philina, whose appointment was to act one of the peasant girls, and in +the concluding dance to give the single-voice part of the song, and lead +the chorus, felt exceedingly delighted that it had been so ordered. In +other respects, too, her present life was altogether to her mind: she +had her separate chamber; was constantly beside the countess, +entertaining her with fooleries, and daily received some present for her +pains. Among other things, a dress had been expressly made for her +wearing in this prelude. And being of a light, imitative nature, she +quickly marked in the procedure of the ladies whatever would befit +herself: she had of late grown all politeness and decorum. The +attentions of the _Stallmeister_ augmented rather than diminished; and +as the officers also paid zealous court to her, living in so genial an +element, it came into her head for once in her life to play the prude, +and, in a quiet, gradual way, to take upon herself a certain dignity of +manner to which she had not before aspired. Cool and sharp-sighted as +she was, eight days had not elapsed till she knew the weak side of every +person in the house; so that, had she possessed the power of acting from +any constant motive, she might very easily have made her fortune. But on +this occasion, as on all others, she employed her advantages merely to +divert herself,--to procure a bright to-day, and be impertinent, +wherever she observed that impertinence was not attended with danger. + +The parts were now committed to memory: a rehearsal of the piece was +ordered; the count purposed to be present at it, and his lady began to +feel anxious how he might receive it. The baroness called Wilhelm to her +privately. The nearer the hour approached, they all displayed the more +perplexity; for the truth was, that, of the count's original idea, +nothing whatever had been introduced. Jarno, who joined them while +consulting together, was admitted to the secret. He felt amused at the +contrivance, and was heartily disposed to offer the ladies his good +services in carrying it through. "It will go hard," said he, "if you +cannot extricate yourselves without help from this affair; but, at all +events, I will wait, as a body of reserve." The baroness then told them +how she had on various occasions recited the whole piece to the count, +but only in fragments and without order; that consequently he was +prepared for each individual passage, yet certainly possessed with the +idea that the whole would coincide with his original conception. "I will +sit by him," said she, "to-night at the rehearsal, and study to divert +his attention. The confectioner I have engaged already to make the +decoration as beautiful as possible, but as yet he has not quite +completed it." + +"I know of a court," said Jarno, "where I wish we had a few such active +and prudent friends as you. If your skill to-night will not suffice, +give me a signal: I will take out the count, and not let him in again +till Minerva enter; and you have speedy aid to expect from the +illumination. For a day or two I have had something to report to him +about his cousin, which for various reasons I have hitherto postponed. +It will give his thoughts another turn, and that none of the +pleasantest." + +Business hindered the count from being present when the play began; the +baroness amused him after his arrival: Jarno's help was not required. +For as the count had abundance of employment in pointing out +improvements, rectifying and arranging the detached parts, he entirely +forgot the purport of the whole; and, as at last Madam Melina advanced, +and spoke according to his heart, and the transparency did well, he +seemed completely satisfied. It was not till the whole was finished, and +his guests were sitting down to cards, that the difference appeared to +strike him; and he began to think whether after all this piece was +actually of his invention. At a signal from the baroness, Jarno then +came forward into action; the evening passed away; the intelligence of +the prince's approach was confirmed; the people rode out more than once +to see his vanguard encamping in the neighborhood; the house was full of +noise and tumult; and our actors, not always served in the handsomest +manner by unwilling servants, had to pass their time in practisings and +expectations at their quarters in the old mansion, without any one +particularly taking thought about them. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +At length the prince arrived, with all his generals, staff-officers, and +suite accompanying him. These, and the multitude of people coming to +visit or do business with him, made the castle like a beehive on the +point of swarming. All pressed forward to behold a man no less +distinguished by his rank than by his great qualities, and all admired +his urbanity and condescension: all were astonished at finding the hero +and the leader of armies also the most accomplished and attractive +courtier. + +By the count's orders, the inmates of the castle were required to be all +at their posts when the prince arrived: not a player was allowed to show +himself, that his Highness might have no anticipation of the spectacle +prepared to welcome him. Accordingly, when at evening he was led into +the lofty hall, glowing with light, and adorned with tapestries of the +previous century, he seemed not at all prepared to expect a play, and +still less a prelude in honor of himself. Every thing went off as it +should have done: at the conclusion of the show, the whole troop were +called and presented individually to the prince, who contrived, with the +most pleasing and friendly air, to put some question, or make some +remark, to every one of them. Wilhelm, as author of the piece, was +particularly noticed, and had his tribute of applause liberally paid +him. + +The prelude being fairly over, no one asked another word about it: in a +few days, it was as if it never had existed; except that occasionally +Jarno spoke of it to Wilhelm, judiciously praised it, adding, however, +"It is pity you should play with hollow nuts, for a stake of hollow +nuts." This expression stuck in Wilhelm's mind for several days: he knew +not how to explain it, or what to infer from it. + +Meanwhile the company kept acting every night, as well as their +capacities permitted; each doing his utmost to attract the attention of +spectators. Undeserved applauses cheered them on: in their old castle +they fully believed, that the great assemblage was crowding thither +solely on their account; that the multitude of strangers was allured by +their exhibitions; that _they_ were the centre round which, and by means +of which, the whole was moving and revolving. + +Wilhelm alone discovered, to his sorrow, that directly the reverse was +true. For although the prince had waited out the first exhibitions, +sitting on his chair, with the greatest conscientiousness, yet by +degrees he grew remiss in his attendance, and seized every plausible +occasion of withdrawing. And those very people whom Wilhelm, in +conversation, had found to be the best informed and most sensible, with +Jarno at their head, were wont to spend but a few transitory moments in +the hall of the theatre; sitting for the rest of their time in the +ante-chamber, gaming, or seeming to employ themselves in business. + +Amid all his persevering efforts, to want the wished and hoped for +approbation grieved Wilhelm very deeply. In the choice of plays, in +transcribing the parts, in numerous rehearsals, and whatever further +could be done, he zealously co-operated with Melina, who, being in +secret conscious of his own insufficiency, at length acknowledged and +pursued these counsels. His own parts, Wilhelm diligently studied, and +executed with vivacity and feeling, and with all the propriety the +little training he had yet received would allow. + +At the same time, the unwearied interest the baron took in their +performances obliterated every doubt from the minds of the rest of the +company: he assured them that their exhibitions were producing the +deepest effect, especially while one of his own pieces had been +representing; only he was grieved to say, the prince showed an exclusive +inclination for the French theatre; while a part of his people, among +whom Jarno was especially distinguished, gave a passionate preference to +the monstrous productions of the English stage. + +If in this way the art of our players was not adequately noticed and +admired, their persons on the other hand grew not entirely indifferent +to all the gentlemen and all the ladies of the audience. We observed +above, that, from the very first, our actresses had drawn upon them the +attention of the young officers: in the sequel they were luckier, and +made more important conquests. But, omitting these, we shall merely +observe, that Wilhelm every day appeared more interesting to the +countess; while in him, too, a silent inclination towards her was +beginning to take root. Whenever he was on the stage, she could not turn +her eyes from him; and, erelong, he seemed to play and to recite with +his face towards her alone. To look upon each other, was to them the +sweetest satisfaction; to which their harmless souls yielded without +reserve, without cherishing a bolder wish, or thinking about any +consequence. + +As two hostile outposts will sometimes peacefully and pleasantly +converse together across the river which divides them, not thinking of +the war in which both their countries are engaged: so did the countess +exchange looks full of meaning with our friend, across the vast chasm of +birth and rank; both believing for themselves that they might safely +cherish their several emotions. + +The baroness, in the mean time, had selected Laertes, who, being a +spirited and lively young man, pleased her very much; and who, +woman-hater as he was, felt unwilling to refuse a passing adventure. He +would actually on this occasion have been fettered, against his will, by +the courteous and attractive nature of the baroness, had not the baron +done him accidentally a piece of good, or, if you will, of bad, service, +by instructing him a little in the habits and temper of this lady. + +Laertes, happening once to celebrate her praises, and give her the +preference to every other of her sex, the baron, with a grin, replied, +"I see how matters stand: our fair friend has got a fresh inmate for her +stalls." This luckless comparison, which pointed too clearly to the +dangerous caresses of the Circe, grieved poor Laertes to the heart: he +could not listen to the baron without spite and anger, as the latter +continued without mercy,-- + +"Every stranger thinks he is the first whom this delightful manner of +proceeding has concerned, but he is grievously mistaken; for we have +all, at one time or another, been trotted round this course. Man, youth, +or boy, be who he like, each must devote himself to her service for a +season, must hang about her, and toil and long to gain her favor." + +To the happy man just entering the garden of an enchantress, and +welcomed by all the pleasures of an artificial spring, nothing can form +a more unpleasant surprise, than if, while his ear is watching and +drinking in the music of the nightingales, some transformed predecessor +on a sudden grunts at his feet. + +After this discovery, Laertes felt heartily ashamed that vanity should +have again misled him to think well, even in the smallest degree, of any +woman whatsoever. He now entirely forsook the baroness; kept by the +_Stallmeister_, with whom he diligently fenced and hunted; conducting +himself at rehearsals and representations as if these were but secondary +matters. + +The count and his lady would often in the mornings send for some of the +company to attend them, and all had continual cause to envy the +undeserved good fortune of Philina. The count kept his favorite, the +Pedant, frequently for hours together, at his toilet. This genius had +been dressed out by degrees: he was now equipped and furnished, even to +watch and snuff-box. + +Many times, too, particularly after dinner, the whole company were +called out before the noble guests,--an honor which the artists regarded +as the most flattering in the world; not observing, that on these very +occasions the servants and huntsmen were ordered to bring in a multitude +of hounds, and to lead strings of horses about the court of the castle. + +Wilhelm had been counselled to praise Racine, the prince's favorite, and +thereby to attract some portion of his Highness's favor to himself. On +one of these afternoons, being summoned with the rest, he found an +opportunity to introduce this topic. The prince asked him if he +diligently read the great French dramatic writers, to which Wilhelm +answered with a very eager "Yes." He did not observe that his Highness, +without waiting for the answer, was already on the point of turning +round to some one else: he fixed upon him, on the contrary, almost +stepping in his way, and proceeded to declare that he valued the French +theatre very highly, and read the works of their great masters with +delight; particularly he had learned with true joy that his Highness did +complete justice to the great talents of Racine. "I can easily +conceive," continued he, "how people of high breeding and exalted rank +must value a poet who has painted so excellently and so truly the +circumstances of their lofty station. Corneille, if I may say so, has +delineated great men; Racine, men of eminent rank. In reading his plays, +I can always figure to myself the poet as living at a splendid court, +with a great king before his eyes, in constant intercourse with the most +distinguished persons, and penetrating into the secrets of human nature, +as it works concealed behind the gorgeous tapestry of palaces. When I +study his "Britannicus," his "Bérénice," it seems as if I were +transported in person to the court, were initiated into the great and +the little, in the habitations of these earthly gods: through the fine +and delicate organs of my author, I see kings whom a nation adores, +courtiers whom thousands envy, in their natural forms, with their +failings and their pains. The anecdote of Racine's dying of a broken +heart, because Louis Fourteenth would no longer attend to him, and had +shown him his dissatisfaction, is to me the key to all his works. It was +impossible that a poet of his talents, whose life and death depended on +the looks of a king, should not write such works as a king and a prince +might applaud." + +Jarno had stepped near, and was listening with astonishment. The prince, +who had made no answer, and had only shown his approbation by an +assenting look, now turned aside; though Wilhelm, who did not know that +it was contrary to etiquette to continue a discussion under such +circumstances, and exhaust a subject, would gladly have spoken more, and +convinced the prince that he had not read his favorite poet without +sensibility and profit. + +"Have you never," said Jarno, taking him aside, "read one of +Shakspeare's plays?" + +"No," replied Wilhelm: "since the time when they became more known in +Germany, I have myself grown unacquainted with the theatre; and I know +not whether I should now rejoice that an old taste, and occupation of my +youth, has been by chance renewed. In the mean time, all I have heard of +these plays has excited no wish to become acquainted with such +extraordinary monsters, which appear to set probability and dignity +alike at defiance." + +"I would advise you," said the other, "to make a trial, notwithstanding: +it can do one no harm to look at what is extraordinary with one's own +eyes. I will lend you a volume or two; and you cannot better spend your +time, than by casting every thing aside, and retiring to the solitude of +your old habitation, to look into the magic-lantern of that unknown +world. It is sinful of you to waste your hours in dressing out these +apes to look more human, and teaching dogs to dance. One thing only I +require,--you must not cavil at the form: the rest I can leave to your +own good sense and feeling." + +The horses were standing at the door; and Jarno mounted with some other +cavaliers, to go and hunt. Wilhelm looked after him with sadness. He +would fain have spoken much with this man, who, though in a harsh, +unfriendly way, gave him new ideas,--ideas he had need of. + +Oftentimes a man, when approaching some development of his powers, +capacities, and conceptions, gets into a perplexity, from which a +prudent friend might easily deliver him. He resembles a traveller who, +at but a short distance from the inn he is to rest at, falls into the +water: were any one to catch him then, and pull him to the bank, with +one good wetting it were over; whereas, though he struggles out himself, +it is often at the side where he tumbled in; and he has to make a wide +and dreary circuit before reaching his appointed object. + +Wilhelm now began to have an inkling that things went forward in the +world differently from what he had supposed. He now viewed close at hand +the solemn and imposing life of the great and distinguished, and +wondered at the easy dignity which they contrived to give it. An army on +its march, a princely hero at the head of it, such a multitude of +co-operating warriors, such a multitude of crowding worshippers, exalted +his imagination. In this mood he received the promised books; and +erelong, as may be easily supposed, the stream of that mighty genius +laid hold of him, and led him down to a shoreless ocean, where he soon +completely forgot and lost himself. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The connection between the baron and the actors had suffered various +changes since the arrival of the latter. At the commencement it had been +productive of great satisfaction to both parties. As the baron for the +first time in his life now saw one of those plays, with which he had +already graced a private theatre, put into the hands of real actors, and +in the fair way for a decent exhibition, he showed the benignest humor +in the world. He was liberal in gifts: he bought little presents for the +actresses from every millinery hawker, and contrived to send over many +an odd bottle of champagne to the actors. In return for all this, our +company took every sort of trouble with his play; and Wilhelm spared no +diligence in learning, with extreme correctness, the sublime speeches of +that very eminent hero, whose part had fallen to his share. + +But, in spite of all these kind reciprocities, some clouds by degrees +arose between the players and their patron. The baron's preference for +certain actors became daily more observable: this of necessity chagrined +the rest. He exalted his favorites quite exclusively, and thus, of +course, introduced disunion and jealousy among the company. Melina, +without skill to help himself in dubious junctures, felt his situation +very vexing. The persons eulogized accepted of their praise, without +being singularly thankful for it; while the neglected gentlemen showed +traces of their spleen by a thousand methods, and constantly found means +to make it very disagreeable for their once much-honored patron to +appear among them. Their spite received no little nourishment from a +certain poem, by an unknown author, which made a great sensation in the +castle. Previously to this the baron's intercourse with the company had +given rise to many little strokes of merriment; several stories had been +raised about him; certain little incidents, adorned with suitable +additions, and presented in the proper light, had been talked of, and +made the subject of much bantering and laughter. At last it began to be +said that a certain rivalry of trade was arising between him and some of +the actors, who also looked upon themselves as writers. The poem we +spoke of was founded upon this report: it ran as follows:-- + + "Lord Baron, I, poor devil, own + With envy, you your rank and state; + Your station, too, so near the throne; + Of heirs your possessions great; + Your father's seat, with walls and mounds, + His game-preserves, and hunting-grounds. + + While me, poor devil, it appears, + Lord Baron, you with envy view, + Since Nature, from my early years, + Has held me like a mother true, + With heart and head both light, I poor, + But no poor wight _grew_, to be sure. + + My dear Lord Baron, now to me + It seems, we well alone should let, + That you your father's son still be, + And I remain my mother's pet: + Let's free from envy live, and hate; + Nor let's desire each other's title: + No place you on Parnassus great, + No noble rank I in requital." + --_Editor's Version._ + +Upon this poem, which various persons were possessed of, in copies +scarcely legible, opinions were exceedingly divided. But who the author +was, no one could guess; and, as some began to draw a spiteful mirth +from it, our friend expressed himself against it very keenly. + +"We Germans," he exclaimed, "deserve to have our Muses still continue in +the low contempt wherein they have languished so long; since we cannot +value men of rank who take a share in our literature, no matter how! +Birth, rank, and fortune are no wise incompatible with genius and taste; +as foreign nations, reckoning among their best minds a great number of +noblemen, can fully testify. Hitherto, indeed, it has been rare in +Germany for men of high station to devote themselves to science; +hitherto few famous names have become more famous by their love of art +and learning; while many, on the other hand, have mounted out of +darkness to distinction, and risen like unknown stars on the horizon. +Yet such will not always be the case; and I greatly err, if the first +classes of the nation are not even now in the way of also employing +their advantages to earn the fairest laurels of the Muses, at no distant +date. Nothing, therefore, grieves me more than to see the burgher +jeering at the noble who can value literature; nay, even men of rank +themselves, with inconsiderate caprice, maliciously scaring off their +equal from a path where honor and contentment wait on all." + +Apparently this latter observation pointed at the count, of whom Wilhelm +had heard that he liked the poem very much. In truth, this nobleman, +accustomed to rally the baron in his own peculiar way, was extremely +glad of such an opportunity to plague his kinsman more effectually. As +to who the writer of the squib might be, each formed his own hypothesis; +and the count, never willing that another should surpass him in +acuteness, fell upon a thought, which, in a short time, he would have +sworn to the truth of. The verses could be written, he believed, by no +one but his Pedant, who was a very shrewd knave, and in whom, for a long +while, he had noticed some touches of poetic genius. By way of proper +treat, he therefore caused the Pedant one morning to be sent for, and +made him read the poem, in his own manner, in presence of the countess, +the baroness, and Jarno,--a service he was paid for by applauses, +praises, and a present; and, on the count's inquiring if he had not +still some other poems of an earlier time, he cunningly contrived to +evade the question. Thus did the Pedant get invested with the reputation +of a poet and a wit, and, in the eyes of the baron's friends, of a +pasquinader and a bad-hearted man. From that period, play as he might, +the count applauded him with greater zeal than ever; so that the poor +wight grew at last inflated till he nearly lost his senses, and began to +meditate having a chamber in the castle, like Philina. + +Had this project been fulfilled at once, a great mishap might have been +spared him. As he was returning late one evening from the castle, +groping about in the dark, narrow way, he was suddenly laid hold of, and +kept on the spot by some persons, while some others rained a shower of +blows upon him, and battered him so stoutly, that in a few seconds he +was lying almost dead upon the place, and could not without difficulty +crawl in to his companions. These, indignant as they seemed to be at +such an outrage, felt their secret joy in the adventure: they could +hardly keep from laughing, at seeing him so thoroughly curried, and his +new brown coat bedusted through and through, and bedaubed with white, as +if he had had to do with millers. + +The count, who soon got notice of the business, broke into a boundless +rage. He treated this act as the most heinous crime, called it an +infringement of the _Burgfried_, or peace of the castle, and caused his +judge to make the strictest inquisition touching it. The whited coat, it +was imagined, would afford a leading proof. Every creature that possibly +could have the smallest trade with flour or powder in the castle was +submitted to investigation, but in vain. + +The baron solemnly protested on his honor, that although this sort of +jesting had considerably displeased him, and the conduct of his lordship +the count had not been the friendliest, yet he had got over the affair; +and with respect to the misfortune which had come upon the poet, or +pasquinader, or whatsoever his title might be, he knew absolutely +nothing, and had not the most remote concern in it. + +The operations of the strangers, and the general commotion of the house, +soon effaced all recollection of the matter; and so, without redress, +the unlucky favorite had to pay dear for the satisfaction of pluming +himself, a short while, in feathers not his own. + +Our troop, regularly acting every night, and on the whole very decently +treated, now began to make more clamorous demands, the better they were +dealt with. Erelong their victuals, drink, attendance, lodging, grew +inadequate; and they called upon the baron, their protector, to provide +more liberally for them, and at last make good those promises of +comfortable entertainment, which he had been giving them so long. Their +complaints grew louder, and the efforts of our friend to still them more +and more abortive. + +Meanwhile, excepting in rehearsals and hours of acting, Wilhelm scarcely +ever came abroad. Shut up in one of the remotest chambers, to which +Mignon and the harper alone had free access, he lived and moved in the +Shakspearian world, feeling or knowing nothing but the movements of his +own mind. + +We have heard of some enchanter summoning, by magic formulas, a vast +multitude of spiritual shapes into his cell. The conjurations are so +powerful that the whole space of the apartment is quickly full; and the +spirits, crowding on to the verge of the little circle which they must +not pass, around this, and above the master's head, keep increasing in +number, and ever whirling in perpetual transformation. Every corner is +crammed, every crevice is possessed. Embryos expand themselves, and +giant-forms contract into the size of nuts. Unhappily the black-artist +has forgot the counterword, with which he might command this flood of +sprites again to ebb. + +So sat Wilhelm in his privacy: with unknown movements, a thousand +feelings and capacities awoke in him, of which he formerly had neither +notion nor anticipation. Nothing could allure him from this state: he +was vexed and restless if any one presumed to come to him, and talk of +news or what was passing in the world. + +Accordingly, he scarce took notice of the circumstance, when told that a +judicial sentence was about being executed in the castle-yard,--the +flogging of a boy, who had incurred suspicions of nocturnal +housebreaking, and who, as he wore a peruke-maker's coat, had most +probably been one of the assaulters of the Pedant. The boy indeed, it +seemed, denied most obstinately; so that they could not inflict a formal +punishment, but meant to give him a slight memorial as a vagabond, and +send him about his business; he having prowled about the neighborhood +for several days, lain at night in the mills, and at last clapped a +ladder to the garden-wall, and mounted over by it. + +Our friend saw nothing very strange in the transaction, and was +dismissing it altogether, when Mignon came running in, and assured him +that the criminal was Friedrich, who, since the rencounter with the +_Stallmeister_, had vanished from the company, and not again been heard +of. + +Feeling an interest in the boy, Wilhelm hastily arose: he found, in the +court-yard of the castle, the preparations almost finished. The count +loved solemnity on these occasions. The boy being now led out, our +friend stepped forward, and entreated for delay, as he knew the boy, and +had various things to say which might, perhaps, throw light on the +affair. He had difficulty in succeeding, notwithstanding all his +statements: at length, however, he did get permission to speak with the +culprit in private. Friedrich averred, that, concerning the assault in +which the Pedant had been used so harshly, he knew nothing whatever. He +had merely been lurking about, and had come in at night to see Philina, +whose room he had discovered, and would certainly have reached, had he +not been taken by the way. + +For the credit of the company, Wilhelm felt desirous not to have the +truth of his adventure published. He hastened to the _Stallmeister_: he +begged him to show favor, and, with his intimate knowledge of men and +things about the castle, to find some means of quashing the affair, and +dismissing the boy. + +This whimsical gentleman, by Wilhelm's help, invented a little +story,--how the boy had belonged to the troop, had run away from it, but +soon wished to get back, and be received again into his place; how he +had accordingly been trying in the night to come at certain of his +well-wishers, and solicit their assistance. It was testified by others +that his former behavior had been good: the ladies put their hands to +the work, and Friedrich was let go. + +Wilhelm took him in,--a third person in that strange family, which for +some time he had looked on as his own. The old man and little Mignon +received the returning wanderer kindly; and all the three combined to +serve their friend and guardian with attention, and procure him all the +pleasure in their power. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +Philina now succeeded in insinuating farther every day into the favor of +the ladies. Whenever they were by themselves, she was wont to lead the +conversation on the men whom they saw about the castle; and our friend +was not the last or least important that engaged them. The cunning girl +was well aware that he had made a deep impression on the countess: she +therefore talked about him often, telling much that she knew or did not +know, only taking care to speak of nothing that might be interpreted +against him; eulogizing, on the contrary, his nobleness of mind, his +generosity, and, more than all, his modest and respectful conduct to +the fair sex. To all inquiries made about him she replied with equal +prudence; and the baroness, when she observed the growing inclination of +her amiable friend, was likewise very glad at the discovery. Her own +intrigues with several men, especially of late with Jarno, had not +remained hidden from the countess, whose pure soul could not look upon +such levities without disapprobation, and meek, though earnest, +censures. + +In this way both Philina and the baroness were personally interested in +establishing a closer intercourse between the countess and our friend. +Philina hoped, moreover, that there would occur some opportunity when +she might once more labor for herself, and, if possible, get back the +favor of the young man she had lost. + +One day his lordship, with his guests, had ridden out to hunt; and their +return was not expected till the morrow. On this the baroness devised a +frolic, which was altogether in her way, for she loved disguises, and, +in order to surprise her friends, would suddenly appear among them as a +peasant-girl at one time, at another as a page, at another as a hunter's +boy. By which means she almost gave herself the air of a little fairy, +that is present everywhere, and exactly in the place where it is least +expected. Nothing could exceed this lady's joy, if, without being +recognized, she could contrive to wait upon the company for some time as +a servant, or mix among them anyhow, and then at last in some sportful +way disclose herself. + +Towards night she sent for Wilhelm to her chamber, and, happening to +have something else to do just then, left Philina to receive and prepare +him. + +He arrived, and found to his surprise, not the honorable lady, but the +giddy girl, in the room. She received him with a certain dignified +openness of manner, which she had of late been practising, and so +constrained him likewise to be courteous. + +At first she rallied him in general on the good fortune which pursued +him everywhere, and which, as she could not but see, had led him hither +in the present case. Then she delicately set before him the treatment +with which of late he had afflicted her; she blamed and upbraided +herself; confessed that she had but too well deserved such punishment; +described with the greatest candor what she called her _former_ +situation; adding, that she would despise herself, if she were not +capable of altering, and making herself worthy of his friendship. + +Wilhelm was struck with this oration. He had too little knowledge of the +world to understand that persons quite unstable, and incapable of all +improvement, frequently accuse themselves in the bitterest manner, +confessing and deploring their faults with extreme ingenuousness, though +they possess not the smallest power within them to retire from that +course, along which the irresistible tendency of their nature is +dragging them forward. Accordingly, he could not find in his heart to +behave inexorably to the graceful sinner: he entered into conversation, +and learned from her the project of a singular disguisement, wherewith +it was intended to surprise the countess. + +He found some room for hesitation here, nor did he hide his scruples +from Philina: but the baroness, entering at this moment, left him not an +instant for reflection; she hurried him away with her, declaring it was +just the proper hour. + +It was now grown dark. She took him to the count's wardrobe, made him +change his own coat with his lordship's silk night-gown, and put the cap +with red trimmings on his head. She then led him forward to the cabinet; +and bidding him sit down upon the large chair, and take a book, she lit +the Argand lamp which stood before him, and showed him what he was to +do, and what kind of part he had to play. + +They would inform the countess, she said, of her husband's unexpected +arrival, and that he was in very bad humor. The countess would come in, +walk up and down the room once or twice, then place herself beside the +back of his chair, lay her arm upon his shoulder, and speak a few words. +He was to play the cross husband as long and as well as possible; and, +when obliged to disclose himself, he must behave politely, handsomely, +and gallantly. + +Wilhelm was left sitting, restlessly enough, in this singular mask. The +proposal had come upon him by surprise: the execution of it got the +start of the deliberation. The baroness had vanished from the room, +before he saw how dangerous the post was which he had engaged to fill. +He could not deny that the beauty, the youth, the gracefulness, of the +countess had made some impression on him: but his nature was entirely +averse to all empty gallantry, and his principles forbade any thought of +more serious enterprises; so that his perplexity at this moment was in +truth extreme. The fear of displeasing the countess, and that of +pleasing her too well, were equally busy in his mind. + +Every female charm that had ever acted on him, now showed itself again +to his imagination. Mariana rose before him in her white morning-gown, +and entreated his remembrance. Philina's loveliness, her beautiful hair, +her insinuating blandishments, had again become attractive by her late +presence. Yet all this retired as if behind the veil of distance, when +he figured to himself the noble, blooming countess, whose arm in a few +minutes he would feel upon his neck, whose innocent caresses he was +there to answer. + +The strange mode in which he was to be delivered out of this perplexity +he certainly did not anticipate. We may judge of his astonishment, nay, +his terror, when the door opened behind him; and, at the first stolen +look in the mirror, he quite clearly discerned the count coming in with +a light in his hand. His doubt what he should do, whether he should sit +still or rise, should flee, confess, deny, or beg forgiveness, lasted +but a few instants. The count, who had remained motionless standing in +the door, retired, and shut it softly. At the same moment, the baroness +sprang forward by the side-door, extinguished the lamp, tore Wilhelm +from his chair, and hurried him with her into the closet. Instantly he +threw off the night-gown, and put it in its former place. The baroness +took his coat under her arm, and hastened with him through several +rooms, passages, and partitions into her chamber, where Wilhelm, so soon +as she recovered breath, was informed, that on her going to the +countess, and delivering the fictitious intelligence about her husband's +arrival, the countess had answered, "I know it already: what can have +happened? I saw him riding in, at the postern, even now." On which the +baroness, in an excessive panic, had run to the count's chamber to give +warning. + +"Unhappily you came too late!" said Wilhelm. "The count was in the room +before you, and saw me sitting." + +"And recognized you?" + +"That I know not. He was looking at me in the glass, as I at him; and, +before I could well determine whether it was he or a spirit, he drew +back, and closed the door behind him." + +The anxiety of the baroness increased, when a servant came to call her, +signifying that the count was with his lady. She went with no light +heart, and found the count silent and thoughtful, indeed, but milder and +kinder in his words than usual. She knew not what to think of it. They +spoke about the incidents of the chase, and the causes of his quick +return. The conversation soon ran out. The count became taciturn; and it +struck the baroness particularly, when he asked for Wilhelm, and +expressed a wish that he were sent for, to come and read something. + +Wilhelm, who had now dressed himself in the baroness's chamber, and in +some degree recovered his composure, obeyed the order, not without +anxiety. The count gave him a book, out of which he read an adventurous +tale, very little at his ease. His voice had a certain inconstancy and +quivering in it, which fortunately corresponded with the import of the +story. The count more than once gave kindly tokens of approval, and at +last dismissed our friend, with praises of his exquisite manner of +reading. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Wilhelm had scarcely read one or two of Shakspeare's plays, till their +effect on him became so strong that he could go no farther. His whole +soul was in commotion. He sought an opportunity to speak with Jarno; to +whom, on meeting with him, he expressed his boundless gratitude for such +delicious entertainment. + +"I clearly enough foresaw," said Jarno, "that you would not remain +insensible to the charms of the most extraordinary and most admirable of +all writers." + +"Yes!" exclaimed our friend: "I cannot recollect that any book, any man, +any incident of my life, has produced such important effects on me, as +the precious works to which by your kindness I have been directed. They +seem as if they were performances of some celestial genius, descending +among men, to make them, by the mildest instructions, acquainted with +themselves. They are no fictions! You would think, while reading them, +you stood before the unclosed awful Books of Fate, while the whirlwind +of most impassioned life was howling through the leaves, and tossing +them fiercely to and fro. The strength and tenderness, the power and +peacefulness, of this man, have so astonished and transported me, that I +long vehemently for the time when I shall have it in my power to read +farther." + +"Bravo!" said Jarno, holding out his hand, and squeezing our friend's. +"This is as it should be! And the consequences, which I hope for, will +likewise surely follow." + +"I wish," said Wilhelm, "I could but disclose to you all that is going +on within me even now. All the anticipations I have ever had regarding +man and his destiny, which have accompanied me from youth upwards, often +unobserved by myself, I find developed and fulfilled in Shakspeare's +writings. It seems as if he cleared up every one of our enigmas to us, +though we cannot say, here or there is the word of solution. His men +appear like natural men, and yet they are not. These, the most +mysterious and complex productions of creation, here act before us as if +they were watches, whose dial-plates and cases were of crystal, which +pointed out, according to their use, the course of the hours and +minutes; while, at the same time, you could discern the combination of +wheels and springs that turned them. The few glances I have cast over +Shakspeare's world incite me, more than any thing beside, to quicken my +footsteps forward into the actual world, to mingle in the flood of +destinies that is suspended over it, and at length, if I shall prosper, +to draw a few cups from the great ocean of true nature, and to +distribute them from off the stage among the thirsting people of my +native land." + +"I feel delighted with the temper of mind in which I now behold you," +answered Jarno, laying his hand upon the shoulder of the excited youth: +"renounce not the purpose of embarking in active life. Make haste to +employ with alacrity the years that are granted you. If I can serve you, +I will with all my heart. As yet I have not asked you how you came into +this troop, for which you certainly were neither born nor bred. So much +I hope and see,--you long to be out of it. I know nothing of your +parentage, of your domestic circumstances: consider what you shall +confide to me. Thus much only I can say: the times of war we live in may +produce quick turns of fortune; did you incline devoting your strength +and talents to our service, not fearing labor, and, if need were, +danger, I might even now have an opportunity to put you in a situation, +which you would not afterwards be sorry to have filled for a time." +Wilhelm could not sufficiently express his gratitude: he was ready to +impart to his friend and patron the whole history of his life. + +In the course of this conversation, they had wandered far into the +park, and at last came upon the highway that crossed it. Jarno stood +silent for a moment, and then said, "Deliberate on my proposal, +determine, give me your answer in a few days, and then let me have the +narrative you mean to trust me with. I assure you, it has all along to +me seemed quite incomprehensible how you ever could have any thing to do +with such a class of people. I have often thought with spleen and +disgust, how, in order to gain a paltry living, you must fix your heart +on a wandering ballad-monger, and a silly mongrel, neither male nor +female." + +He had not yet concluded, when an officer on horseback came hastily +along; a groom following him with a led horse. Jarno shouted a warm +salutation to him. The officer sprang from his horse; Jarno and he +embraced and talked together; while Wilhelm, confounded at the last +expressions of his warlike friend, stood thoughtfully at a side. Jarno +turned over some papers which the stranger had delivered to him; while +the latter came to Wilhelm, held out his hand, and said with emphasis, +"I find you in worthy company: follow the counsel of your friend, and, +by doing so, accomplish likewise the desire of an unknown man, who takes +a genuine interest in you." So saying, he embraced Wilhelm, and pressed +him cordially to his breast. At the same instant Jarno advanced, and +said to the stranger, "It is best that I ride on with you: by this means +you may get the necessary orders, and set out again before night." Both +then leaped into their saddles, and left our astonished friend to his +own reflections. + +Jarno's last words were still ringing in his ears. It galled him to see +the two human beings that had most innocently won his affections so +grievously disparaged by a man whom he honored so much. The strange +embracing of the officer, whom he knew not, made but a slight impression +on him; it occupied his curiosity and his imagination for a moment: but +Jarno's speech had cut him to the heart; he was deeply hurt by it: and +now, in his way homewards, he broke out into reproaches against himself, +that he should for a single instant have mistaken or forgotten the +unfeeling coldness of Jarno, which looked out from his very eyes, and +spoke in all his gestures. "No!" exclaimed he, "thou conceivest, +dead-hearted worldling, that thou canst be a friend! All that thou hast +power to offer me is not worth the sentiment which binds me to these +forlorn beings. How fortunate that I have discovered in time what I had +to expect from thee!" + +Mignon came to meet him as he entered: he clasped her in his arms, +exclaiming, "Nothing, nothing, shall part us, thou good little creature! +The seeming prudence of the world shall never cause me to forsake thee, +or forget what I owe thee!" + +The child, whose warm caresses he had been accustomed to avoid, rejoiced +with all her heart at this unlooked-for show of tenderness, and clung so +fast to him that he had some difficulty to get loose from her. + +From this period he kept a stricter eye on Jarno's conduct: many parts +of it he did not think quite praiseworthy; nay, several things came out +which totally displeased him. He had strong suspicions, for example, +that the verses on the baron, which the poor Pedant had so dearly paid +for, were composed by Jarno. And as the latter, in Wilhelm's presence, +had made sport of the adventure, our friend thought here was certainly a +symptom of a most corrupted heart; for what could be more depraved than +to treat a guiltless person, whose griefs one's self had occasioned, +with jeering and mockery, instead of trying to satisfy or to indemnify +him? In this matter Wilhelm would himself willingly have brought about +reparation; and erelong a very curious accident led him to obtain some +traces of the persons concerned in that nocturnal outrage. + +Hitherto his friends had contrived to keep him unacquainted with the +fact, that some of the young officers were in the habit of passing whole +nights in merriment and jollity, with certain actors and actresses, in +the lower hall of the old castle. One morning, having risen early, +according to his custom, he happened to visit this chamber, and found +the gallant gentlemen just in the act of performing rather a singular +operation. They had mixed a bowl of water with a quantity of chalk, and +were plastering this gruel with a brush upon their waistcoats and +pantaloons, without stripping; thus very expeditiously restoring the +spotlessness of their apparel. On witnessing this piece of ingenuity, +our friend was at once struck with the recollection of the poor Pedant's +whited and bedusted coat: his suspicions gathered strength when he +learned that some relations of the baron were among the party. + +To throw some light on his doubts, he engaged the youths to breakfast +with him. They were very lively, and told a multitude of pleasant +stories. One of them especially, who for a time had been on the +recruiting-service, was loud in praising the craft and activity of his +captain; who, it appeared, understood the art of alluring men of all +kinds towards him, and overreaching every one by the deception proper +for him. He circumstantially described how several young people of good +families and careful education had been cozened, by playing off to them +a thousand promises of honor and preferment; and he heartily laughed at +the simpletons, who felt so gratified, when first enlisted, at the +thought of being esteemed and introduced to notice by so reputable, +prudent, bold, and munificent an officer. + +Wilhelm blessed his better genius for having drawn him back in time from +the abyss to whose brink he had approached so near. Jarno he now looked +upon as nothing better than a crimp: the embrace of the stranger officer +was easily explained. He viewed the feelings and opinions of these men +with contempt and disgust; from that moment he carefully avoided coming +into contact with any one that wore a uniform; and, when he heard that +the army was about to move its quarters, the news would have been +extremely welcome to him, if he had not feared, that, immediately on its +departure, he himself must be banished from the neighborhood of his +lovely friend, perhaps forever. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Meanwhile the baroness had spent several days disquieted by anxious +fears and unsatisfied curiosity. Since the late adventure, the count's +demeanor had been altogether an enigma to her. His manner was changed: +none of his customary jokes were to be heard. His demands on the company +and the servants had very much abated. Little pedantry or imperiousness +was now to be discerned in him; he was silent and thoughtful, yet withal +he seemed composed and placid; in short, he was quite another man. In +choosing the books, which now and then he caused to be read to him, +those of a serious, often a religious, cast, were pitched upon; and the +baroness lived in perpetual fright lest, beneath this apparent serenity, +a secret rancor might be lurking,--a silent purpose to revenge the +offence he had so accidentally discovered. She determined, therefore, to +make Jarno her confidant; and this the more freely, as that gentleman +and she already stood in a relation to each other where it is not usual +to be very cautious in keeping secrets. For some time Jarno had been her +dearest friend, yet they had been dexterous enough to conceal their +attachment and joys from the noisy world in which they moved. To the +countess alone this new romance had not remained unknown; and very +possibly the baroness might wish to get her fair friend occupied with +some similar engagement, and thus to escape the silent reproaches she +had often to endure from that noble-minded woman. + +Scarcely had the baroness related the occurrence to her lover, when he +cried out laughing, "To a certainty the old fool believes that he has +seen his ghost! He dreads that the vision may betoken some misfortune, +perhaps death, to him; and so he is become quite tame, as all half-men +do, in thinking of that consummation which no one has escaped or will +escape. Softly a little! As I hope he will live long enough, we may now +train him at least, so that he shall not again give disturbance to his +wife and household." + +They accordingly, as soon as any opportunity occurred, began talking, in +the presence of the count, about warnings, visions, apparitions, and the +like. Jarno played the sceptic, the baroness likewise; and they carried +it so far, that his lordship at last took Jarno aside, reproved him for +his free-thinking, and produced his own experience to prove the +possibility, nay, actual occurrence, of such preternatural events. Jarno +affected to be struck, to be in doubt, and finally to be convinced; but, +in private with his friend, he made himself so much the merrier at the +credulous weakling, who had thus been cured of his evil habits by a +bugbear, but who, they admitted, still deserved some praise for +expecting dire calamity, or death itself, with such composure. + +"The natural result which the present apparition might have had, would +possibly have ruffled him!" exclaimed the baroness, with her wonted +vivacity; to which, when anxiety was taken from her heart, she had +instantly returned. Jarno was richly rewarded; and the two contrived +fresh projects for frightening the count still further, and still +further exciting and confirming the affection of the countess for +Wilhelm. + +With this intention, the whole story was related to the countess. She, +indeed, expressed her displeasure at such conduct; but from that time +she became more thoughtful, and in peaceful moments seemed to be +considering, pursuing, and painting out that scene which had been +prepared for her. + +The preparations now going forward on every side left no room for doubt +that the armies were soon to move in advance, and the prince at the same +time to change his headquarters. It was even said that the count +intended leaving his castle, and returning to the city. Our players +could therefore, without difficulty, calculate the aspect of their +stars; yet none of them, except Melina, took any measures in +consequence: the rest strove only to catch as much enjoyment as they +could from the moment that was passing over them. + +Wilhelm, in the mean time, was engaged with a peculiar task. The +countess had required from him a copy of his writings, and he looked on +this request as the noblest recompense for his labors. + +A young author, who has not yet seen himself in print, will, in such a +case, apply no ordinary care to provide a clear and beautiful transcript +of his works. It is like the golden age of authorship: he feels +transported into those centuries when the press had not inundated the +world with so many useless writings, when none but excellent +performances were copied, and kept by the noblest men; and he easily +admits the illusion, that his own accurately ruled and measured +manuscript may itself prove an excellent performance, worthy to be kept +and valued by some future critic. + +The prince being shortly to depart, a great entertainment had been +appointed in honor of him. Many ladies of the neighborhood were invited, +and the countess had dressed betimes. On this occasion she had taken a +costlier suit than usual. Her head-dress, and the decorations of her +hair, were more exquisite and studied: she wore all her jewels. The +baroness, too, had done her utmost to appear with becoming taste and +splendor. + +Philina, observing that both ladies, in expectation of their guests, +felt the time rather tedious, proposed to send for Wilhelm, who was +wishing to present his manuscript, now completed, and to read them some +other little pieces. He came, and on his entrance was astonished at the +form and the graces of the countess, which her decorations had but made +more visible and striking. Being ordered by the ladies, he began to +read; but with so much absence of mind, and so badly, that, had not his +audience been excessively indulgent, they would very soon have dismissed +him. + +Every time he looked at the countess, it seemed to him as if a spark of +electric fire were glancing before his eyes. In the end he knew not +where to find the breath he wanted for his reading. The countess had +always pleased him, but now it appeared as if he never had beheld a +being so perfect and so lovely. A thousand thoughts flitted up and down +his soul: what follows might be nearly their substance. + +"How foolish is it in so many poets, and men of sentiment as they are +called, to make war on pomp and decoration; requiring that women of all +ranks should wear no dress but what is simple, and conformable to +nature! They rail at decoration, without once considering, that, when we +see a plain or positively ugly person clothed in a costly and gorgeous +fashion, it is not the poor decoration that displeases us. I would +assemble all the judges in the world, and ask them here if they wished +to see one of these folds, of these ribbons and laces, these braids, +ringlets, and glancing stones, removed? Would they not dread disturbing +the delightful impression that so naturally and spontaneously meets us +here? Yes, naturally I will say! As Minerva sprang in complete armor +from the head of Jove; so does this goddess seem to have stepped forth +with a light foot, in all her ornaments, from the bosom of some flower." + +While reading, he turned his eyes upon her frequently, as if he wished +to stamp this image on his soul forever: he more than once read wrong, +yet without falling into confusion of mind; though, at other times, he +used to feel the mistaking of a word or a letter as a painful deformity, +which spoiled a whole recitation. + +A false alarm of the arrival of the guests put an end to the reading; +the baroness went out; and the countess, while about to shut her +writing-desk, which was standing open, took up her casket, and put some +other rings upon her finger. "We are soon to part," said she, keeping +her eyes upon the casket: "accept a memorial of a true friend, who +wishes nothing more earnestly than that you may always prosper." She +then took out a ring, which, underneath a crystal, bore a little plait +of woven hair beautifully set with diamonds. She held it out to Wilhelm, +who, on taking it, knew neither what to say nor do, but stood as if +rooted to the ground. The countess shut her desk, and sat down upon the +sofa. + +"And I must go empty?" said Philina, kneeling down at the countess's +right hand. "Do but look at the man: he carries such a store of words in +his mouth, when no one wants to hear them; and now he cannot stammer +out the poorest syllable of thanks. Quick, sir! Express your services by +way of pantomime at least; and if to-day you can invent nothing, then, +for Heaven's sake, be my imitator." + +Philina seized the right hand of the countess, and kissed it warmly. +Wilhelm sank upon his knee, laid hold of the left, and pressed it to his +lips. The countess seemed embarrassed, yet without displeasure. + +"Ah!" cried Philina, "so much splendor of attire, I may have seen +before, but never one so fit to wear it. What bracelets, but also what a +hand! What a neckdress, but also what a bosom." + +"Peace, little cozener!" said the countess. + +"Is this his lordship, then?" said Philina, pointing to a rich +medallion, which the countess wore on her left side, by a particular +chain. + +"He is painted in his bridegroom-dress," replied the countess. + +"Was he, then, so young?" inquired Philina: "I know it is but a year or +two since you were married." + +"His youth must be placed to the artist's account," replied the lady. + +"He is a handsome man," observed Philina. "But was there never," she +continued, placing her hand on the countess's heart, "never any other +image that found its way in secret hither?" + +"Thou art very bold, Philina," cried she: "I have spoiled thee. Let me +never hear the like again." + +"If you are angry, then am I unhappy," said Philina, springing up, and +hastening from the room. + +Wilhelm still held that lovely hand in both of his. His eyes were fixed +on the bracelet-clasp: he noticed, with extreme surprise, that his +initials were traced on it, in lines of brilliants. + +"Have I, then," he modestly inquired, "your own hair in this precious +ring?" + +"Yes," replied she in a faint voice; then, suddenly collecting herself, +she said, and pressed his hand, "Arise, and fare you well!" + +"Here is my name," cried he, "by the most curious chance!" He pointed to +the bracelet-clasp. + +"How?" cried the countess: "it is the cipher of a female friend!" + +"They are the initials of my name. Forget me not. Your image is +engraven on my heart, and will never be effaced. Farewell! I must be +gone." + +He kissed her hand, and meant to rise; but, as in dreams, some strange +thing fades and changes into something stranger, and the succeeding +wonder takes us by surprise; so, without knowing how it happened, he +found the countess in his arms: her lips were resting upon his, and +their warm mutual kisses were yielding them that blessedness which +mortals sip from the topmost sparkling foam on the freshly poured cup of +love. + +Her head lay on his shoulder: the disordered ringlets and ruffles were +forgotten. She had thrown her arm round him: he clasped her with +vivacity, and pressed her again and again to his breast. Oh that such a +moment could but last forever! And woe to envious Fate that shortened +even this brief moment to our friends! + +How terrified was Wilhelm, how astounded did he start from his happy +dream, when the countess, with a shriek, on a sudden tore herself away, +and hastily pressed her hand against her heart. + +He stood confounded before her: she held the other hand upon her eyes, +and, after a moment's pause, exclaimed, "Away! leave me! delay not!" + +He continued standing. + +"Leave me!" she cried; and, taking off her hand from her eyes, she +looked at him with an indescribable expression of countenance, and +added, in the most tender and affecting voice, "Flee, if you love me." + +Wilhelm was out of the chamber, and again in his room, before he knew +what he was doing. + +Unhappy creatures! What singular warning of chance or of destiny tore +them asunder? + + + + +BOOK IV. + +CHAPTER I. + + +Laertes was standing at the window in a thoughtful mood, resting on his +arm, and looking out into the fields. Philina came gliding towards him, +across the large hall: she leaned upon him, and began to mock him for +his serious looks. + +"Do not laugh," replied he: "it is frightful to think how time goes on, +how all things change and have an end. See here! A little while ago +there was a stately camp: how pleasantly the tents looked! what restless +life and motion was within them! how carefully they watched the whole +enclosure! And, behold, it is all vanished in a day! For a short while, +that trampled straw, those holes which the cooks have dug, will show a +trace of what was here; and soon the whole will be ploughed and reaped +as formerly, and the presence of so many thousand gallant fellows in +this quarter will but glimmer in the memories of one or two old men." + +Philina began to sing, and dragged forth her friend to dance with her in +the hall. "Since Time is not a person we can overtake when he is past," +cried she, "let us honor him with mirth and cheerfulness of heart while +he is passing." + +They had scarcely made a step or two, when Frau Melina came walking +through the hall. Philina was wicked enough to invite her to join them +in the dance, and thus to bring her in mind of the shape to which her +pregnancy had reduced her. + +"That I might never more see a woman _in an interesting situation_!" +said Philina, when her back was turned. + +"Yet she feels an _interest_ in it," said Laertes. + +"But she manages so shockingly. Didst thou notice that wabbling fold of +her shortened petticoat, which always travels out before her when she +moves? She has not the smallest knack or skill to trim herself a little, +and conceal her state." + +"Let her be," said Laertes. "Time will soon come to her aid." + +"It were prettier, however," cried Philina, "if we could shake children +from the trees." + +The baron entered, and spoke some kind words to them, adding a few +presents, in the name of the count and the countess, who had left the +place very early in the morning. He then went to Wilhelm, who was busy +in the side-chamber with Mignon. She had been extremely affectionate and +taking; had asked minutely about Wilhelm's parents, brothers, sisters, +and relations; and so brought to his mind the duty he owed his people, +to send them some tidings of himself. + +With the farewell compliments of the family, the baron delivered him an +assurance from the count, that his lordship had been exceedingly obliged +by his acting, his poetical labors, and theatrical exertions. For proof +of this statement, the baron then drew forth a purse, through whose +beautiful texture the bright glance of new gold coin was sparkling out. +Wilhelm drew back, refusing to accept of it. + +"Look upon this gift," said the baron, "as a compensation for your time, +as an acknowledgment of your trouble, not as the reward of your talents. +If genius procures us a good name and good will from men, it is fair +likewise, that, by our diligence and efforts, we should earn the means +to satisfy our wants; since, after all, we are not wholly spirit. Had we +been in town, where every thing is to be got, we should have changed +this little sum into a watch, a ring, or something of that sort; but, as +it is, I must place the magic rod in your own hands; procure a trinket +with it, such as may please you best and be of greatest use, and keep it +for our sakes. At the same time, you must not forget to hold the purse +in honor. It was knit by the fingers of our ladies: they meant that the +cover should give to its contents the most pleasing form." + +"Forgive my embarrassment," said Wilhelm, "and my doubts about accepting +this present. It, as it were, annihilates the little I have done, and +hinders the free play of happy recollection. Money is a fine thing, when +any matter is to be completely settled and abolished: I feel unwilling +to be so entirely abolished from the recollection of your house." + +"That is not the case," replied the baron; "but, feeling so tenderly +yourself, you could not wish that the count should be obliged to +consider himself wholly your debtor, especially when I assure you that +his lordship's highest ambition has always consisted in being punctual +and just. He is not uninformed of the labor you have undergone, or of +the zeal with which you have devoted all your time to execute his views; +nay, he is aware, that, to quicken certain operations, you have even +expended money of your own. With what face shall I appear before him, +then, if I cannot say that his acknowledgment has given you +satisfaction?" + +"If I thought only of myself," said Wilhelm, "if I might follow merely +the dictates of my own feelings, I should certainly, in spite of all +these reasons, steadfastly refuse this gift, generous and honorable as +it is; but I will not deny, that, at the very moment when it brings me +into one perplexity, it frees me from another, into which I have lately +fallen with regard to my relations, and which has in secret caused me +much uneasiness. My management, not only of the time, but also of the +money, for which I have to give account, has not been the best; and now, +by the kindness of his lordship, I shall be enabled, with confidence, to +give my people news of the good fortune to which this curious by-path +has led me. I therefore sacrifice those feelings of delicacy, which, +like a tender conscience, admonish us on such occasions, to a higher +duty; and, that I may appear courageously before my father, I must +consent to stand ashamed before you." + +"It is singular," replied the baron, "to see what a world of hesitation +people feel about accepting money from their friends and patrons, though +ready to receive any other gift with joy and thankfulness. Human nature +manifests some other such peculiarities, by which many scruples of a +similar kind are produced and carefully cherished." + +"Is it not the same with all points of honor?" said our friend. + +"It is so," replied the baron, "and with several other prejudices. We +must not root them out, lest in doing so we tear up noble plants along +with them. Yet I am always glad when I meet with men that feel superior +to such objections, when the case requires it; and I recall with +pleasure the story of that ingenious poet who had written several plays +for the court-theatre, which met with the monarch's warmest approbation. +'I must give him a distinguished recompense,' said the generous prince: +'ask him whether he would choose to have some jewel given him, or if he +would disdain to accept a sum of money.' In his humorous way, the poet +answered the inquiring courtier, 'I am thankful, with all my heart, for +these gracious purposes; and, as the emperor is daily taking money from +us, I see not wherefore I should feel ashamed of taking some from him.'" + +Scarcely had the baron left the room, when Wilhelm eagerly began to +count the cash, which had come to him so unexpectedly, and, as he +thought, so undeservedly. It seemed as if the worth and dignity of gold, +not usually felt till later years, had now, by anticipation, twinkled in +his eyes for the first time, as the fine, glancing coins rolled out from +the beautiful purse. He reckoned up, and found, that, particularly as +Melina had engaged immediately to pay the loan, he had now as much or +more on the right side of his account as on that day when Philina first +asked him for the nosegay. With a little secret satisfaction, he looked +upon his talents; with a little pride, upon the fortune which had led +and attended him. He now seized the pen, with an assured mind, to write +a letter which might free his family from their anxieties, and set his +late proceedings in the most favorable light. He abstained from any +special narrative, and only by significant and mysterious hints left +them room for guessing at what had befallen him. The good condition of +his cash-book, the advantage he had earned by his talents, the favor of +the great and of the fair, acquaintance with a wider circle, the +improvement of his bodily and mental gifts, his hopes from the future, +altogether formed such a fair cloud-picture, that Fata Morgana itself +could scarcely have thrown together a stranger or a better. + +In this happy exaltation, the letter being folded up, he went on to +maintain a conversation with himself, recapitulating what he had been +writing, and pointing out for himself an active and glorious future. The +example of so many gallant warriors had fired him; the poetry of +Shakspeare had opened a new world to him; from the lips of the beautiful +countess he had inhaled an inexpressible inspiration. All this could not +and would not be without effect. + +The _Stallmeister_ came to inquire whether they were ready with their +packing. Alas! with the single exception of Melina, no one of them had +thought of it. Now, however, they were speedily to be in motion. The +count had engaged to have the whole party conveyed forward a few days' +journey on their way: the horses were now in readiness, and could not +long be wanted. Wilhelm asked for his trunk: Frau Melina had taken it to +put her own things in. He asked for money: Herr Melina had stowed it +all far down at the bottom of his box. Philina said she had still some +room in hers: she took Wilhelm's clothes, and bade Mignon bring the +rest. Wilhelm, not without reluctance, was obliged to let it be so. + +While they were loading, and getting all things ready, Melina said, "I +am sorry we should travel like mountebanks and rope-dancers. I could +wish that Mignon would put on girl's clothes, and that the harper would +let his beard be shorn." Mignon clung firmly to Wilhelm, and cried, with +great vivacity, "I am a boy--I will be no girl!" The old man held his +peace; and Philina, on this suggestion, made some merry observations on +the singularity of their protector, the count. "If the harper should cut +off his beard," said she, "let him sew it carefully upon a ribbon, and +keep it by him, that he may put it on again whenever his lordship the +count falls in with him in any quarter of the world. It was this beard +alone that procured him the favor of his lordship." + +On being pressed to give an explanation of this singular speech, Philina +said to them, "The count thinks it contributes very much to the +completeness of theatrical illusion if the actor continues to play his +part, and to sustain his character, even in common life. It was for this +reason that he showed such favor to the Pedant: and he judged it, in +like manner, very fitting that the harper not only wore his false beard +at nights on the stage, but also constantly by day; and he used to be +delighted at the natural appearance of the mask." + +While the rest were laughing at this error, and the other strange +opinions of the count, the harper led our friend aside, took leave of +him, and begged, with tears, that he would even now let him go. Wilhelm +spoke to him, declaring that he would protect him against all the world; +that no one should touch a hair of his head, much less send him off +against his will. + +The old man seemed affected deeply: an unwonted fire was glowing in his +eyes. "It is not that," cried he, "which drives me away. I have long +been reproaching myself in secret for staying with you. I ought to +linger nowhere; for misfortune flies to overtake me, and injures all +that are connected with me. Dread every thing, unless you dismiss me; +but ask me no questions. I belong not to myself. I cannot stay." + +"To whom dost thou belong? Who can exert such a power on thee?" + +"Leave me my horrid secret, and let me go! The vengeance which pursues +me is not of the earthly judge. I belong to an inexorable destiny. I +cannot stay, and I dare not." + +"In the situation I see thee in, I shall certainly not let thee go." + +"It were high treason against you, my benefactor, if I should delay. I +am secure while with you, but you are in peril. You know not whom you +keep beside you. I am guilty, but more wretched than guilty. My presence +scares happiness away, and good deeds grow powerless when I become +concerned in them. Fugitive, unresting I should be, that my evil genius +might not seize me, which pursues but at a distance, and only appears +when I have found a place, and am laying down my head to seek repose. +More grateful I cannot show myself than by forsaking you." + +"Strange man! Thou canst neither take away the confidence I place in +thee, nor the hope I feel to see thee happy. I wish not to penetrate the +secrets of thy superstition; but if thou livest in belief of wonderful +forebodings, and entanglements of fate, then, to cheer and hearten thee, +I say, unite thyself to my good fortune, and let us see which genius is +the stronger, thy dark or my bright one." + +Wilhelm seized this opportunity of suggesting to him many other +comfortable things; for of late our friend had begun to imagine that +this singular attendant of his must be a man, who, by chance or destiny, +had been led into some weighty crime, the remembrance of which he was +ever bearing on his conscience. + +A few days ago Wilhelm, listening to his singing, had observed +attentively the following lines:-- + + "For him the light of ruddy morn + But paints the horizon red with flame; + And voices, from the depths of nature borne, + Woe! woe! upon his guilty head proclaim." + +But, let the old man urge what arguments he pleased, our friend had +constantly a stronger argument at hand. He turned every thing on its +fairest side; spoke so bravely, heartily, and cheerily, that even the +old man seemed again to gather spirits, and to throw aside his whims. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Melina was in hopes to get established, with his company, in a small but +thriving town at some distance. They had already reached the place where +the count's horses were to turn, and now they looked about for other +carriages and cattle to transport them onward. Melina had engaged to +provide them a conveyance: he showed himself but niggardly, according to +his custom. Wilhelm, on the contrary, had the shining ducats of the +countess in his pocket, and thought he had the fullest right to spend +them merrily; forgetting very soon how ostentatiously he had produced +them in the stately balance transmitted to his father. + +His friend Shakspeare, whom with the greatest joy he acknowledged as his +godfather, and rejoiced the more that his name was Wilhelm, had +introduced him to a prince, who frolicked for a time among mean, nay, +vicious companions, and who, notwithstanding his nobleness of nature, +found pleasure in the rudeness, indecency, and coarse intemperance of +these altogether sensual knaves. This ideal likeness, which he figured +as the type and the excuse of his own actual condition, was most welcome +to our friend; and the process of self-deception, to which already he +displayed an almost invincible tendency, was thereby very much +facilitated. + +He now began to think about his dress. It struck him that a waistcoat, +over which, in case of need, one could throw a little short mantle, was +a very fit thing for a traveller. Long knit pantaloons, and a pair of +lacing-boots, seemed the true garb of a pedestrian. He next procured a +fine silk sash, which he tied about him, under the pretence at first of +securing warmth for his person. On the other hand, he freed his neck +from the tyranny of stocks, and got a few stripes of muslin sewed upon +his shirt; making the pieces of considerable breadth, so that they +presented the complete appearance of an ancient ruff. The beautiful silk +neckerchief, the memorial of Mariana, which had once been saved from +burning, now lay slackly tied beneath this muslin collar. A round hat, +with a party-colored band, and a large feather, perfected the mask. + +The women all asserted that this garb became him very well. Philina in +particular appeared enchanted with it. She solicited his hair for +herself,--beautiful locks, which, the closer to approach the natural +ideal, he had unmercifully clipped. By so doing she recommended herself +not amiss to his favor; and our friend, who by his open-handedness had +acquired the right of treating his companions somewhat in Prince Harry's +manner, erelong fell into the humor of himself contriving a few wild +tricks, and presiding in the execution of them. The people fenced, they +danced, they devised all kinds of sports, and, in their gayety of heart, +partook of what tolerable wine they could fall in with in copious +proportions; while, amid the disorder of this tumultuous life, Philina +lay in wait for the coy hero,--over whom let his better genius keep +watch! + +One chief diversion, which yielded the company a frequent and very +pleasing entertainment, consisted in producing an extempore play, in +which their late benefactors and patrons were mimicked, and turned into +ridicule. Some of our actors had seized very neatly whatever was +peculiar in the outward manner of several distinguished people in the +count's establishment; their imitation of these was received by the rest +of the party with the greatest approbation: and when Philina produced, +from the secret archives of her experience, certain peculiar +declarations of love that had been made to her, the audience were like +to die with laughing and malicious joy. + +Wilhelm censured their ingratitude; but they told him in reply that +these gentry well deserved what they were getting, their general conduct +toward such deserving people, as our friends believed themselves, not +having been by any means the best imaginable. The little consideration, +the neglect they had experienced, were now described with many +aggravations. The jesting, bantering, and mimicry proceeded as before: +our party were growing bitterer and more unjust every minute. + +"I wish," observed Wilhelm, "there were no envy or selfishness lurking +under what you say, but that you would regard those persons and their +station in the proper point of view. It is a peculiar thing to be +placed, by one's very birth, in an elevated situation in society. The +man for whom inherited wealth has secured a perfect freedom of +existence; who finds himself from his youth upwards abundantly +encompassed with all the secondary essentials, so to speak, of human +life,--will generally become accustomed to consider these qualifications +as the first and greatest of all; while the worth of that mode of human +life, which nature from her own stores equips and furnishes, will strike +him much more faintly. The behavior of noblemen to their inferiors, and +likewise to each other, is regulated by external preferences. They give +each credit for his title, his rank, his clothes, and equipage; but his +individual merits come not into play." + +This speech was honored with the company's unbounded applause. They +declared it to be shameful, that men of merit should constantly be +pushed into the background; and that, in the great world, there should +not be a trace of natural and hearty intercourse. On this latter point +particularly they overshot all bounds. + +"Blame them not for it," said Wilhelm, "rather pity them! They have +seldom an exalted feeling of that happiness which we admit to be the +highest that can flow from the inward abundance of nature. Only to us +poor creatures is it granted to enjoy the happiness of friendship in its +richest fulness. Those dear to us we cannot elevate by our countenance, +or advance by our favor, or make happy by our presents. We have nothing +but ourselves. This whole self we must give away; and, if it is to be of +any value, we must make our friend secure of it forever. What an +enjoyment, what a happiness, for giver and receiver! With what +blessedness does truth of affection invest our situation! It gives to +the transitory life of man a heavenly certainty: it forms the crown and +capital of all that we possess." + +While he spoke thus, Mignon had come near him: she threw her little arms +round him, and stood with her cheek resting on his breast. He laid his +hand on the child's head, and proceeded, "It is easy for a great man to +win our minds to him, easy to make our hearts his own. A mild and +pleasant manner, a manner only not inhuman, will of itself do +wonders,--and how many means does he possess of holding fast the +affections he has once conquered? To us, all this occurs less +frequently; to us it is all more difficult; and we naturally, therefore, +put a greater value on whatever, in the way of mutual kindness, we +acquire and accomplish. What touching examples of faithful servants +giving themselves up to danger and death for their masters? How finely +has Shakspeare painted out such things to us! Fidelity, in this case, is +the effort of a noble soul, struggling to become equal with one exalted +above it. By steadfast attachment and love, the servant is made equal to +his lord, who, but for this, is justified in looking on him as a hired +slave. Yes, these virtues belong to the lower class of men alone: that +class cannot do without them, and with them it has a beauty of its own. +Whoever is enabled to requite all favors easily will likewise easily be +tempted to raise himself above the habit of acknowledgment. Nay, in this +sense, I am of opinion it might almost be maintained, that a great man +may possess friends, but cannot be one." + +Mignon clung more and more closely to him. + +"It may be so," replied one of the party: "we do not need their +friendship, and do not ask it. But it were well if they understood a +little more about the arts, which they affect to patronize. When we +played in the best style, there was none to mind us: it was all sheer +partiality. Any one they chose to favor, pleased; and they did not +choose to favor those that merited to please. It was intolerable to +observe how often silliness and mere stupidity attracted notice and +applause." + +"When I abate from this," said Wilhelm, "what seemed to spring from +irony and malice, I think we may nearly say, that one fares in art as he +does in love. And, after all, how shall a fashionable man of the world, +with his dissipated habits, attain that intimate presence with a special +object, which an artist must long continue in, if he would produce any +thing approaching to perfection,--a state of feeling without which it is +impossible for any one to take such an interest, as the artist hopes and +wishes, in his work? + +"Believe me, my friends, it is with talents as with virtue; one must +love them for their own sake, or entirely renounce them. And neither of +them is acknowledged and rewarded, except when their possessor can +practise them unseen, like a dangerous secret." + +"Meanwhile, until some proper judge discovers us, we may all die of +hunger," cried a fellow in the corner. + +"Not quite inevitably," answered Wilhelm. "I have observed, that, so +long as one stirs and lives, one always finds food and raiment, though +they be not of the richest sort. And why should we repine? Were we not, +altogether unexpectedly, and when our prospects were the very worst, +taken kindly by the hand, and substantially entertained? And now, when +we are in want of nothing, does it once occur to us to attempt any thing +for our improvement, or to strive, though never so faintly, towards +advancement in our art? We are busied about indifferent matters; and, +like school-boys, we are casting all aside that might bring our lesson +to our thoughts." + +"In sad truth," said Philina, "it is even so! Let us choose a play: we +will go through it on the spot. Each of us must do his best, as if he +stood before the largest audience." + +They did not long deliberate: a play was fixed on. It was one of those +which at that time were meeting great applause in Germany, and have now +passed away. Some of the party whistled a symphony; each speedily +bethought him of his part; they commenced, and acted the entire play +with the greatest attention, and really well beyond expectation. Mutual +applauses circulated: our friends had seldom been so pleasantly +diverted. + +On finishing, they all felt exceedingly contented, partly on account of +their time being spent so well, partly because each of them experienced +some degree of satisfaction with his own performance. Wilhelm expressed +himself copiously in their praise: the conversation grew cheerful and +merry. + +"You would see," cried our friend, "what advances we should make, if we +continued this sort of training, and ceased to confine our attention to +mere learning by heart, rehearsing and playing mechanically, as if it +were a barren duty, or some handicraft employment. How different a +character do our musical professors merit! What interest they take in +their art! how correct are they in the practisings they undertake in +common! What pains they are at in tuning their instruments; how exactly +they observe time; how delicately they express the strength and the +weakness of their tones! No one there thinks of gaining credit to +himself by a loud accompaniment of the solo of another. Each tries to +play in the spirit of the composer, each to express well whatever is +committed to him, be it much or little. + +"Should not we, too, go as strictly and as ingeniously to work, seeing +we practise an art far more delicate than that of music,--seeing we are +called on to express the commonest and the strangest emotions of human +nature, with elegance, and so as to delight? Can any thing be more +shocking than to slur over our rehearsal, and in our acting to depend on +good luck, or the capricious choice of the moment? We ought to place our +highest happiness and satisfaction in mutually desiring to gain each +other's approbation: we should even value the applauses of the public +only in so far as we have previously sanctioned them among ourselves. +Why is the master of the band more secure about his music than the +manager about his play? Because, in the orchestra, each individual would +feel ashamed of his mistakes, which offend the outward ear; but how +seldom have I found an actor disposed to acknowledge or feel ashamed of +mistakes, pardonable or the contrary, by which the inward ear is so +outrageously offended! I could wish, for my part, that our theatre were +as narrow as the wire of a rope-dancer, that so no inept fellow might +dare to venture on it, instead of being, as it is, a place where every +one discovers in himself capacity enough to flourish and parade." + +The company gave this apostrophe a kind reception; each being convinced +that the censure conveyed in it could not apply to him, after acting a +little while ago so excellently with the rest. On the other hand, it was +agreed, that during this journey, and for the future if they remained +together, they would regularly proceed with their training in the manner +just adopted. Only it was thought, that, as this was a thing of good +humor and free will, no formal manager must be allowed to have a hand in +it. Taking it for an established fact, that, among good men, the +republican form of government is the best, they declared that the post +of manager should go round among them: he must be chosen by universal +suffrage, and every time have a sort of little senate joined in +authority along with him. So delighted did they feel with this idea, +that they longed to put it instantly in practice. + +"I have no objection," said Melina, "if you incline making such an +experiment while we are travelling: I shall willingly suspend my own +directorship until we reach some settled place." He was in hopes of +saving cash by this arrangement, and of casting many small expenses on +the shoulders of the little senate or of the interim manager. This +fixed, they went very earnestly to counsel how the form of the new +commonwealth might best be adjusted. + +"'Tis an itinerating kingdom," said Laertes: "we shall at least have no +quarrels about frontiers." + +They directly proceeded to the business, and elected Wilhelm as their +first manager. The senate also was appointed, the women having seat and +vote in it: laws were propounded, were rejected, were agreed to. In such +playing, the time passed on unnoticed; and, as our friends had spent it +pleasantly, they also conceived that they had really been effecting +something useful, and, by their new constitution, had been opening a new +prospect for the stage of their native country. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Seeing the company so favorably disposed, Wilhelm now hoped he might +further have it in his power to converse with them on the poetic merit +of the plays which might come before them. "It is not enough," said he +next day, when they were all again assembled, "for the actor merely to +glance over a dramatic work, to judge of it by his first impression, and +thus, without investigation, to declare his satisfaction or +dissatisfaction with it. Such things may be allowed in a spectator, +whose purpose it is rather to be entertained and moved than formally to +criticise. But the actor, on the other hand, should be prepared to give +a reason for his praise or censure; and how shall he do this, if he have +not taught himself to penetrate the sense, the views, and feelings of +his author? A common error is, to form a judgment of a drama from a +single part in it, and to look upon this part itself in an isolated +point of view, not in its connection with the whole. I have noticed this +within a few days, so clearly in my own conduct, that I will give you +the account as an example, if you please to hear me patiently. + +"You all know Shakspeare's incomparable 'Hamlet:' our public reading of +it at the castle yielded every one of us the greatest satisfaction. On +that occasion we proposed to act the play; and I, not knowing what I +undertook, engaged to play the prince's part. This I conceived that I +was studying, while I began to get by heart the strongest passages, the +soliloquies, and those scenes in which force of soul, vehemence and +elevation of feeling, have the freest scope; where the agitated heart is +allowed to display itself with touching expressiveness. + +"I further conceived that I was penetrating quite into the spirit of the +character, while I endeavored, as it were, to take upon myself the load +of deep melancholy under which my prototype was laboring, and in this +humor to pursue him through the strange labyrinths of his caprices and +his singularities. Thus learning, thus practising, I doubted not but I +should by and by become one person with my hero. + +"But, the farther I advanced, the more difficult did it become for me to +form any image of the whole, in its general bearings; till at last it +seemed as if impossible. I next went through the entire piece, without +interruption; but here, too, I found much that I could not away with. At +one time the characters, at another time the manner of displaying them, +seemed inconsistent; and I almost despaired of finding any general tint, +in which I might present my whole part with all its shadings and +variations. In such devious paths I toiled, and wandered long in vain; +till at length a hope arose that I might reach my aim in quite a new +way. + +"I set about investigating every trace of Hamlet's character, as it had +shown itself before his father's death: I endeavored to distinguish what +in it was independent of this mournful event, independent of the +terrible events that followed; and what most probably the young man +would have been, had no such thing occurred. + +"Soft, and from a noble stem, this royal flower had sprung up under the +immediate influences of majesty: the idea of moral rectitude with that +of princely elevation, the feeling of the good and dignified with the +consciousness of high birth, had in him been unfolded simultaneously. He +was a prince, by birth a prince; and he wished to reign, only that good +men might be good without obstruction. Pleasing in form, polished by +nature, courteous from the heart, he was meant to be the pattern of +youth and the joy of the world. + +"Without any prominent passion, his love for Ophelia was a still +presentiment of sweet wants. His zeal in knightly accomplishments was +not entirely his own: it needed to be quickened and inflamed by praise +bestowed on others for excelling in them. Pure in sentiment, he knew the +honorable-minded, and could prize the rest which an upright spirit +tastes on the bosom of a friend. To a certain degree, he had learned to +discern and value the good and the beautiful in arts and sciences; the +mean, the vulgar, was offensive to him; and, if hatred could take root +in his tender soul, it was only so far as to make him properly despise +the false and changeful insects of a court, and play with them in easy +scorn. He was calm in his temper, artless in his conduct, neither +pleased with idleness, nor too violently eager for employment. The +routine of a university he seemed to continue when at court. He +possessed more mirth of humor than of heart: he was a good companion, +pliant, courteous, discreet, and able to forget and forgive an injury, +yet never able to unite himself with those who overstepped the limits of +the right, the good, and the becoming. + +"When we read the piece again, you shall judge whether I am yet on the +proper track. I hope at least to bring forward passages that shall +support my opinion in its main points." + +This delineation was received with warm approval; the company imagined +they foresaw that Hamlet's manner of proceeding might now be very +satisfactorily explained; they applauded this method of penetrating into +the spirit of a writer. Each of them proposed to himself to take up some +piece, and study it on these principles, and so unfold the author's +meaning. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Our friends had to continue in the place for a day or two, and it was +not long ere sundry of them got engaged in adventures of a rather +pleasant kind. Laertes in particular was challenged by a lady of the +neighborhood, a person of some property; but he received her +blandishments with extreme, nay, unhandsome, coldness, and had in +consequence to undergo a multitude of jibes from Philina. She took this +opportunity of detailing to our friend the hapless love-story which had +made the youth so bitter a foe to womankind. "Who can take it ill of +him," she cried, "that he hates a sex which has played him so foul, and +given him to swallow, in one stoutly concentrated potion, all the +miseries that man can fear from woman? Do but conceive it: within four +and twenty hours, he was lover, bridegroom, husband, cuckold, patient, +and widower! I wot not how you could use a man worse." + +Laertes hastened from the room half vexed, half laughing; and Philina in +her sprightliest style began to relate the story: how Laertes, a young +man of eighteen, on joining a company of actors, found in it a girl of +fourteen on the point of departing with her father, who had quarrelled +with the manager. How, on the instant, he had fallen mortally in love; +had conjured the father by all possible considerations to remain, +promising at length to marry the young woman. How, after a few pleasing +hours of groomship, he had accordingly been wedded, and been happy as he +ought; whereupon, next day, while he was occupied at the rehearsal, his +wife, according to professional rule, had honored him with a pair of +horns; and how as he, out of excessive tenderness, hastening home far +too soon, had, alas! found a former lover in his place, he had struck +into the affair with thoughtless indignation, had called out both father +and lover, and sustained a grievous wound in the duel. How father and +daughter had thereupon set off by night, leaving him behind to labor +with a double hurt. How the leech he applied to was unhappily the worst +in nature, and the poor fellow had got out of the adventure with +blackened teeth and watering eyes. That he was greatly to be pitied, +being otherwise the bravest young man on the surface of the earth. +"Especially," said she, "it grieves me that the poor soul now hates +women; for, hating women, how can one keep living?" + +Melina interrupted them with news, that, all things being now ready for +the journey, they would set out to-morrow morning. He handed them a +plan, arranging how they were to travel. + +"If any good friend take me on his lap," said Philina, "I shall be +content, though we sit crammed together never so close and sorrily: 'tis +all one to me." + +"It does not signify," observed Laertes, who now entered. + +"It is pitiful," said Wilhelm, hastening away. By the aid of money, he +secured another very comfortable coach; though Melina had pretended that +there were no more. A new distribution then took place; and our friends +were rejoicing in the thought that they should now travel pleasantly, +when intelligence arrived that a party of military volunteers had been +seen upon the road, from whom little good could be expected. + +In the town these tidings were received with great attention, though +they were but variable and ambiguous. As the contending armies were at +that time placed, it seemed impossible that any hostile corps could have +advanced, or any friendly one hung a-rear, so far. Yet every man was +eager to exhibit to our travellers the danger that awaited them as truly +dangerous: every man was eager to suggest that some other route might be +adopted. + +By these means, most of our friends had been seized with anxiety and +fear; and when, according to the new republican constitution, the whole +members of the state had been called together to take counsel on this +extraordinary case, they were almost unanimously of opinion that it +would be proper either to keep back the mischief by abiding where they +were, or to evade it by choosing another road. + +Wilhelm alone, not participating in the panic, regarded it as mean to +abandon, for the sake of mere rumors, a plan they had not entered on +without much thought. He endeavored to put heart into them: his reasons +were manly and convincing. + +"It is but a rumor," he observed; "and how many such arise in time of +war! Well-informed people say that the occurrence is exceedingly +improbable, nay, almost impossible. Shall we, in so important a matter, +allow a vague report to determine our proceedings? The route pointed out +to us by the count, and to which our passport was adapted, is the +shortest and in the best condition. It leads us to the town, where you +see acquaintances, friends, before you, and may hope for a good +reception. The other way will also bring us thither; but by what a +circuit, and along what miserable roads! Have we any right to hope, +that, in this late season of the year, we shall get on at all? and what +time and money shall we squander in the mean while!" He added many more +considerations, presenting the matter on so many advantageous sides, +that their fear began to dissipate, and their courage to increase. He +talked to them so much about the discipline of regular troops, he +painted the marauders and wandering rabble so contemptuously, and +represented the danger itself as so pleasant and inspiring, that the +spirits of the party were altogether cheered. + +Laertes from the first had been of his opinion: he now declared that he +would not flinch or fail. Old Boisterous found a consenting phrase or +two to utter, in his own vein; Philina laughed at them all; and Madam +Melina, who, notwithstanding her advanced state of pregnancy, had lost +nothing of her natural stout-heartedness, regarded the proposal as +heroic. Herr Melina, moved by this harmonious feeling, hoping also to +save somewhat by travelling the short road which had been first +contemplated, did not withstand the general consent; and the project was +agreed to with universal alacrity. + +They next began to make some preparations for defence at all hazards. +They bought large hangers, and slung them in well-quilted straps over +their shoulders. Wilhelm further stuck a pair of pistols in his girdle. +Laertes, independently of this occurrence, had a good gun. They all took +the road in the highest glee. + +On the second day of their journey, the drivers, who knew the country +well, proposed to take their noon's rest in a certain woody spot of the +hills; since the town was far off, and in good weather the hill-road was +generally preferred. + +The day being beautiful, all easily agreed to the proposal. Wilhelm, on +foot, went on before them through the hills; making every one that met +him stare with astonishment at his singular figure. He hastened with +quick and contented steps across the forest; Laertes walked whistling +after him; none but the women continued to be dragged along in the +carriages. Mignon, too, ran forward by his side, proud of the hanger, +which, when the party were all arming, she would not go without. Around +her hat she had bound the pearl necklace, one of Mariana's relics, which +Wilhelm still possessed. Friedrich, the fair-haired boy, carried +Laertes's gun. The harper had the most pacific look; his long cloak was +tucked up within his girdle, to let him walk more freely; he leaned upon +a knotty staff; his harp had been left behind him in the carriage. + +Immediately on reaching the summit of the height, a task not without its +difficulties, our party recognized the appointed spot, by the fine +beech-trees which encircled and screened it. A spacious green, sloping +softly in the middle of the forest, invited one to tarry; a trimly +bordered well offered the most grateful refreshment; and on the farther +side, through chasms in the mountains, and over the tops of the woods, +appeared a landscape distant, lovely, full of hope. Hamlets and mills +were lying in the bottoms, villages upon the plain: and a new chain of +mountains, visible in the distance, made the prospect still more +significant of hope; for they entered only like a soft limitation. + +The first comers took possession of the place, rested a while in the +shade, lighted a fire, and so awaited, singing as they worked, the +remainder of the party, who by degrees arrived, and with one accord +saluted the place, the lovely weather, and still lovelier scene. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +If our friends had frequently enjoyed a good and merry hour together +while within four walls, they were naturally much gayer here, where the +freedom of the sky and the beauty of the place seemed, as it were, to +purify the feelings of every one. All felt nearer to each other: all +wished that they might pass their whole lives in so pleasant an abode. +They envied hunters, charcoal-men, and wood-cutters,--people whom their +calling constantly retains in such happy places,--but prized, above all, +the delicious economy of a band of gypsies. They envied these wonderful +companions, entitled to enjoy in blissful idleness all the adventurous +charms of nature: they rejoiced at being in some degree like them. + +Meanwhile the women had begun to boil potatoes, and to unwrap and get +ready the victuals brought along with them. Some pots were standing by +the fire. The party had placed themselves in groups, under the trees and +bushes. Their singular apparel, their various weapons, gave them a +foreign aspect. The horses were eating their provender at a side. Could +one have concealed the coaches, the look of this little horde would have +been romantic, even to complete illusion. + +Wilhelm enjoyed a pleasure he had never felt before. He could now +imagine his present company to be a wandering colony, and himself the +leader of it. In this character he talked with those around him, and +figured out the fantasy of the moment as poetically as he could. The +feelings of the party rose in cheerfulness: they ate and drank and made +merry, and repeatedly declared that they had never passed more pleasant +moments. + +Their contentment had not long gone on increasing, till activity awoke +among the younger part of them. Wilhelm and Laertes seized their +rapiers, and began to practise on this occasion with theatrical +intentions. They undertook to represent the duel in which Hamlet and his +adversary find so tragical an end. Both were persuaded, that, in this +powerful scene, it was not enough merely to keep pushing awkwardly +hither and thither, as it is generally exhibited in theatres: they were +in hopes to show by example how, in presenting it, a worthy spectacle +might also be afforded to the critic in the art of fencing. The rest +made a circle round them. Both fought with skill and ardor. The interest +of the spectators rose higher every pass. + +But all at once, in the nearest bush, a shot went off, and immediately +another; and the party flew asunder in terror. Next moment armed men +were to be seen pressing forward to the spot where the horses were +eating their fodder, not far from the coaches that were packed with +luggage. + +A universal scream proceeded from the women: our heroes threw away their +rapiers, seized their pistols, and ran towards the robbers; demanding, +with violent threats, the meaning of such conduct. + +This question being answered laconically, with a couple of musket-shots, +Wilhelm fired his pistol at a crisp-headed knave, who had got upon the +top of the coach, and was cutting the cords of the package. Rightly hit, +this artist instantly came tumbling down; nor had Laertes missed. Both, +encouraged by success, drew their side-arms; when a number of the +plundering party rushed out upon them, with curses and loud bellowing, +fired a few shots at them, and fronted their impetuosity with glittering +sabres. Our young heroes made a bold resistance. They called upon their +other comrades, and endeavored to excite them to a general resistance. +But, erelong, Wilhelm lost the sight of day, and the consciousness of +what was passing. Stupefied by a shot that wounded him between the +breast and the left arm, by a stroke that split his hat in two, and +almost penetrated to his brain, he sank down, and only by the narratives +of others came afterwards to understand the luckless end of this +adventure. + +On again opening his eyes, he found himself in the strangest posture. +The first thing that pierced the dimness, which yet swam before his +vision, was Philina's face bent down over his. He felt weak, and, making +a movement to rise, discovered that he was in Philina's lap; into which, +indeed, he again sank down. She was sitting on the sward. She had softly +pressed towards her the head of the fallen young man, and made for him +an easy couch, as far as in her power. Mignon was kneeling with +dishevelled and bloody hair at his feet, which she embraced with many +tears. + +On noticing his bloody clothes, Wilhelm asked, in a broken voice, where +he was, and what had happened to him and the rest. Philina begged him to +be quiet: the others, she said, were all in safety, and none but he and +Laertes wounded. Further she would tell him nothing, but earnestly +entreated him to keep still, as his wounds had been but slightly and +hastily bound. He stretched out his hand to Mignon, and inquired about +the bloody locks of the child, who he supposed was also wounded. + +For the sake of quietness, Philina let him know that this true-hearted +creature, seeing her friend wounded, and in the hurry of the instant +being able to think of nothing which would stanch the blood, had taken +her own hair, that was flowing round her head, and tried to stop the +wounds with it, but had soon been obliged to give up the vain attempt; +that afterwards they had bound him with moss and dry mushrooms, Philina +giving up her neckerchief for that purpose. + +Wilhelm noticed that Philina was sitting with her back against her own +trunk, which still looked firmly locked and quite uninjured. He inquired +if the rest also had been so lucky as to save their goods. She answered +with a shrug of the shoulders, and a look over the green, where broken +chests, and coffers beaten into fragments, and knapsacks ripped up, and +a multitude of little wares, lay scattered all round. No person was to +be seen in the place, this strange group thus being alone in the +solitude. + +Inquiring further, our friend learned more and more particulars. The +rest of the men, it appeared, who, at all events, might still have made +resistance, were struck with terror, and soon overpowered. Some fled, +some looked with horror at the accident. The drivers, for the sake of +their cattle, had held out more obstinately; but they, too, were at last +thrown down and tied; after which, in a few minutes, every thing was +thoroughly ransacked, and the booty carried off. The hapless travellers, +their fear of death being over, had begun to mourn their loss; had +hastened with the greatest speed to the neighboring village, taking with +them Laertes, whose wounds were slight, and carrying off but a very few +fragments of their property. The harper, having placed his damaged +instrument against a tree, had proceeded in their company to the place, +to seek a surgeon, and return with his utmost rapidity to help his +benefactor, whom he had left apparently upon the brink of death. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Meanwhile our three adventurers continued yet a space in their strange +position, no one returning to their aid. Evening was advancing: the +darkness threatened to come on. Philina's indifference was changing to +anxiety; Mignon ran to and fro, her impatience increasing every moment; +and at last, when their prayer was granted, and human creatures did +approach, a new alarm fell upon them. They distinctly heard a troop of +horses coming up the road they had lately travelled: they dreaded lest a +second time some company of unbidden guests might be purposing to visit +this scene of battle, and gather up the gleanings. + +The more agreeable was their surprise, when, after a few moments, a lady +issued from the thickets, riding on a gray courser, and accompanied by +an elderly gentleman and some cavaliers, followed by grooms, servants, +and a troop of hussars. + +Philina started at this phenomenon, and was about to call, and entreat +the fair Amazon for help, when the latter turned her astonished eyes on +the group, instantly checked her horse, rode up to them, and halted. She +inquired eagerly about the wounded man, whose posture in the lap of this +light-minded Samaritan seemed to strike her as peculiarly strange. + +"Is he your husband?" she inquired of Philina. "Only a friend," replied +the other, with a tone Wilhelm liked not at all. He had fixed his eyes +upon the soft, elevated, calm, sympathizing features of the stranger: he +thought he had never seen aught nobler or more lovely. Her shape he +could not see: it was hid by a man's white great-coat, which she seemed +to have borrowed from some of her attendants, to screen her from the +chill evening air. + +By this the horsemen also had come near. Some of them dismounted: the +lady did so likewise. She asked, with humane sympathy, concerning every +circumstance of the mishap which had befallen the travellers, but +especially concerning the wounds of the poor youth who lay before her. +Thereupon she turned quickly round, and went aside with the old +gentleman to some carriages, which were slowly coming up the hill, and +which at length stopped upon the scene of action. + +The young lady having stood with her conductor a short time at the door +of one of the coaches, and talked with the people in it, a man of a +squat figure stepped out, and came along with them to our wounded hero. +By the little box which he held in his hand, and the leathern pouch with +instruments in it, you soon recognized him for a surgeon. His manners +were rude rather than attractive; but his hand was light, and his help +welcome. + +Having examined strictly, he declared that none of the wounds were +dangerous. He would dress them, he said, on the spot; after which the +patient might be carried to the nearest village. + +The young lady's anxiety seemed to augment. "Do but look," she said, +after going to and fro once or twice, and again bringing the old +gentleman to the place: "look how they have treated him! And is it not +on our account that he is suffering?" Wilhelm heard these words, but did +not understand them. She went restlessly up and down: it seemed as if +she could not tear herself away from the presence of the wounded man; +while at the same time she feared to violate decorum by remaining, when +they had begun, though not without difficulty, to remove some part of +his apparel. The surgeon was just cutting off the left sleeve of his +patient's coat, when the old gentleman came near, and represented to the +lady, in a serious tone, the necessity of proceeding on their journey. +Wilhelm kept his eyes bent on her, and was so enchanted with her looks, +that he scarcely felt what he was suffering or doing. + +Philina, in the mean time, had risen to kiss the lady's hand. While they +stood beside each other, Wilhelm thought he had never seen such a +contrast. Philina had never till now appeared in so unfavorable a light. +She had no right, as it seemed to him, to come near that noble creature, +still less to touch her. + +The lady asked Philina various things, but in an under-tone. At length +she turned to the old gentleman, and said, "Dear uncle, may I be +generous at your expense?" She took off the great-coat, with the visible +intention to give it to the stripped and wounded youth. + +Wilhelm, whom the healing look of her eyes had hitherto held fixed, was +now, as the surtout fell away, astonished at her lovely figure. She came +near, and softly laid the coat above him. At this moment, as he tried to +open his mouth and stammer out some words of gratitude, the lively +impression of her presence worked so strongly on his senses, already +caught and bewildered, that all at once it appeared to him as if her +head were encircled with rays; and a glancing light seemed by degrees to +spread itself over all her form. At this moment the surgeon, making +preparations to extract the ball from his wound, gave him a sharper +twinge; the angel faded away from the eyes of the fainting patient; he +lost all consciousness; and, on returning to himself, the horsemen and +coaches, the fair one with her attendants, had vanished like a dream. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Wilhelm's wounds once dressed, and his clothes put on, the surgeon +hastened off, just as the harper with a number of peasants arrived. Out +of some cut boughs, which they speedily wattled with twigs, a kind of +litter was constructed, upon which they placed the wounded youth, and +under the conduct of a mounted huntsman, whom the noble company had left +behind them, carried him softly down the mountain. The harper, silent, +and shrouded in his own thoughts, bore with him his broken instrument. +Some men brought on Philina's box, herself following with a bundle. +Mignon skipped along through copse and thicket, now before the party, +now beside them, and looked up with longing eyes at her hurt protector. + +He, meanwhile, wrapped in his warm surtout, was lying peacefully upon +the litter. An electric warmth seemed to flow from the fine wool into +his body: in short, he felt in the most delightful frame of mind. The +lovely being, whom this garment lately covered, had affected him to the +very heart. He still saw the coat falling down from her shoulders; saw +that noble form, begirt with radiance, stand beside him; and his soul +hied over rocks and forests on the footsteps of his vanished +benefactress. + +It was nightfall when the party reached the village, and halted at the +door of the inn where the rest of the company, in the gloom of +despondency, were bewailing their irreparable loss. The one little +chamber of the house was crammed with people. Some of them were lying +upon straw, some were occupying benches, some had squeezed themselves +behind the stove. Frau Melina, in a neighboring room, was painfully +expecting her delivery. Fright had accelerated this event. With the sole +assistance of the landlady, a young, inexperienced woman, nothing good +could be expected. + +As the party just arrived required admission, there arose a universal +murmur. All now maintained, that by Wilhelm's advice alone, and under +his especial guidance, they had entered on this dangerous road, and +exposed themselves to such misfortunes. They threw the blame of the +disaster wholly on him: they stuck themselves in the door, to oppose his +entrance; declaring that he must go elsewhere and seek quarters. Philina +they received with still greater indignation, nor did Mignon and the +harper escape their share. + +The huntsman, to whom the care of the forsaken party had been earnestly +and strictly recommended by his beautiful mistress, soon grew tired of +this discussion: he rushed upon the company with oaths and menaces; +commanding them to fall to the right and left, and make way for this new +arrival. They now began to pacify themselves. He made a place for +Wilhelm on a table, which he shoved into a corner: Philina had her box +put there, and then sat down upon it. All packed themselves as they best +could, and the huntsman went away to see if he could not find for "the +young couple" a more convenient lodging. + +Scarcely was he gone, when spite again grew noisy, and one reproach +began to follow close upon another. Each described and magnified his +loss, censuring the foolhardiness they had so keenly smarted for. They +did not even hide the malicious satisfaction they felt at Wilhelm's +wounds: they jeered Philina, and imputed to her as a crime the means by +which she had saved her trunk. From a multitude of jibes and bitter +innuendoes, you were required to conclude, that, during the plundering +and discomfiture, she had endeavored to work herself into favor with the +captain of the band, and had persuaded him, Heaven knew by what arts and +complaisance, to give her back the chest unhurt. To all this she +answered nothing, only clanked with the large padlocks of her box, to +impress her censurers completely with its presence, and by her own good +fortune to augment their desperation. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Though our friend was weak from loss of blood, and though, ever since +the appearance of that helpful angel, his feelings had been soft and +mild, yet at last he could not help getting vexed at the harsh and +unjust speeches which, as he continued silent, the discontented company +went on uttering against him. Feeling himself strong enough to sit up, +and expostulate on the annoyance they were causing to their friend and +leader, he raised his bandaged head, and propping himself with some +difficulty, and leaning against the wall, he began to speak as +follows:-- + +"Considering the pain your losses occasion, I forgive you for assailing +me with injuries at a moment when you should condole with me; for +opposing and casting me from you the first time I have needed to look to +you for help. The services I did you, the complaisance I showed you, I +regarded as sufficiently repaid by your thanks, by your friendly +conduct: do not warp my thoughts, do not force my heart to go back and +calculate what I have done for you; the calculation would be painful to +me. Chance brought me near you, circumstances and a secret inclination +kept me with you. I participated in your labors and your pleasures: my +slender abilities were ever at your service. If you now blame me with +bitterness for the mishap that has befallen us, you do not recollect +that the first project of taking this road came to us from stranger +people, was weighed by all of you, and sanctioned by every one as well +as by me. + +"Had our journey ended happily, each would have taken credit to himself +for the happy thought of suggesting this plan, and preferring it to +others; each would joyfully have put us in mind of our deliberations, +and of the vote he gave: but now you make me alone responsible; you +force a piece of blame upon me, which I would willingly submit to, if my +conscience, with a clear voice, did not pronounce me innocent, nay, if I +might not appeal with safety even to yourselves. If you have aught to +say against me, bring it forward in order, and I shall defend myself; if +you have nothing reasonable to allege, then be silent, and do not +torment me now, when I have such pressing need of rest." + +By way of answer, the girls once more began whimpering and whining, and +describing their losses circumstantially. Melina was quite beside +himself; for he had suffered more in purse than any of them,--more, +indeed, than we can rightly estimate. He stamped like a madman up and +down the little room, he knocked his head against the wall, he swore and +scolded in the most unseemly manner; and the landlady entering at this +very time with news that his wife had been delivered of a dead child, he +yielded to the most furious ebullitions; while, in accordance with him, +all howled and shrieked, and bellowed and uproared, with double vigor. + +Wilhelm, touched to the heart at the same time with sympathy for their +sorrows and with vexation at their mean way of thinking, felt all the +vigor of his soul awakened, notwithstanding the weakness of his body. +"Deplorable as your case may be," exclaimed he, "I shall almost be +compelled to despise you! No misfortune gives us right to load an +innocent man with reproaches. If I had share in this false step, am not +I suffering my share? I lie wounded here; and, if the company has come +to loss, I myself have come to most. The wardrobe of which we have been +robbed, the decorations that are gone, were mine; for you, Herr Melina, +have not yet paid me; and I here fully acquit you of all obligation in +that matter." + +"It is well to give what none of us will ever see again," replied +Melina. "Your money was lying in my wife's coffer, and it is your own +blame that you have lost it. But, ah! if that were all!" And thereupon +he began anew to stamp and scold and squeal. Every one recalled to +memory the superb clothes from the count's wardrobe; the buckles, +watches, snuff-boxes, hats, for which Melina had so happily transacted +with the head valet. Each, then, thought also of his own, though far +inferior, treasures. They looked with spleen at Philina's box, and gave +Wilhelm to understand that he had indeed done wisely to connect himself +with that fair personage, and to save his own goods also, under the +shadow of her fortune. + +"Do you think," he exclaimed at last, "that I shall keep any thing apart +while you are starving? And is this the first time I have honestly +shared with you in a season of need? Open the trunk: all that is mine +shall go to supply the common wants." + +"It is _my_ trunk," observed Philina, "and I will not open it till I +please. Your rag or two of clothes, which I have saved for you, could +amount to little, though they were sold to the most conscientious of +Jews. Think of yourself,--what your cure will cost, what may befall you +in a strange country." + +"You, Philina," answered Wilhelm, "will keep back from me nothing that +is mine; and that little will help us out of the first perplexity. But a +man possesses many things besides coined money to assist his friends +with. All that is in me shall be devoted to these hapless persons, who, +doubtless, on returning to their senses, will repent their present +conduct. Yes," continued he, "I feel that you have need of help; and, +what is mine to do, I will perform. Give me your confidence again; +compose yourselves for a moment, and accept of what I promise. Who will +receive the engagement of me in the name of all?" + +Here he stretched out his hand, and cried, "I promise not to flinch from +you, never to forsake you till each shall see his losses doubly and +trebly repaired; till the situation you are fallen into, by whose blame +soever, shall be totally forgotten by all of you, and changed with a +better." + +He kept his hand still stretched out, but no one would take hold of it. +"I promise it again," cried he, sinking back upon his pillow. All +continued silent: they felt ashamed, but nothing comforted: and Philina, +sitting on her chest, kept cracking nuts, a stock of which she had +discovered in her pocket. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The huntsman now came back with several people, and made preparations +for carrying away the wounded youth. He had persuaded the parson of the +place to receive the "young couple" into his house; Philina's trunk was +taken out; she followed with a natural air of dignity. Mignon ran +before; and, when the patient reached the parsonage, a wide couch, which +had long been standing ready as guest's bed and bed of honor, was +assigned him. Here it was first discovered that his wound had opened, +and bled profusely. A new bandage was required for it. He fell into a +feverish state: Philina waited on him faithfully; and, when fatigue +overpowered her, she was relieved by the harper. Mignon, with the +firmest purpose to watch, had fallen asleep in a corner. + +Next morning Wilhelm, who felt himself in some degree refreshed, +learned, by inquiring of the huntsman, that the honorable persons who +last night assisted him so nobly, had shortly before left their estates, +in order to avoid the movements of the contending armies, and remain, +till the time of peace, in some more quiet district. He named the +elderly nobleman, as well as his niece, mentioned the place they were +first going to, and told how the young lady had charged him to take care +of Wilhelm. + +The entrance of the surgeon interrupted the warm expressions of +gratitude our friend was giving vent to. He made a circumstantial +description of the wounds, and certified that they would soon heal, if +the patient took care of them, and kept himself at peace. + +When the huntsman was gone, Philina signified that he had left with her +a purse of twenty _louis-d'or_; that he had given the parson a +remuneration for their lodging, and left with him money to defray the +surgeon's bill when the cure should be completed. She added, that she +herself passed everywhere for Wilhelm's wife; that she now begged leave +to introduce herself once for all to him in this capacity, and would not +allow him to look out for any other sick-nurse. + +"Philina," said Wilhelm, "in this disaster that has overtaken us, I am +already deeply in your debt, for kindness shown me; and I should not +wish to see my obligations increased. I am uneasy so long as you are +about me, for I know of nothing by which I can repay your labor. Give me +what things of mine you have saved in your trunk; join the rest of the +company; seek another lodging; take my thanks, and the gold watch as a +small acknowledgment: only leave me; your presence disturbs me more than +you can fancy." + +She laughed in his face when he had ended. "Thou art a fool," she said: +"thou wilt not gather wisdom. I know better what is good for thee: I +will stay, I will not budge from the spot. I have never counted on the +gratitude of men, and therefore not on thine; and, if I have a touch of +kindness for thee, what hast thou to do with it?" + +She staid accordingly, and soon wormed herself into favor with the +parson and his household; being always cheerful, having the knack of +giving little presents, and of talking to each in his own vein; at the +same time always contriving to do exactly what she pleased. Wilhelm's +state was not uncomfortable: the surgeon, an ignorant but not unskilful +man, let nature have sway; and the patient was soon on the road to +recovery. For such a consummation he vehemently longed, being eager to +pursue his plans and wishes. + +Incessantly he kept recalling that event, which had made an ineffaceable +impression on his heart. He saw the beautiful Amazon again come riding +out of the thickets: she approached him, dismounted, went to and fro, +and strove to serve him. He saw the garment she was wrapped in fall +down from her shoulders: he saw her countenance, her figure, vanish in +their radiance. All the dreams of his youth now fastened on this image. +Here he conceived he had at length beheld the noble, the heroic, +Clorinda with his own eyes; and again he bethought him of that royal +youth, to whose sick-bed the lovely, sympathizing princess came in her +modest meekness. + +"May it not be," said he often to himself in secret, "that, in youth as +in sleep, the images of coming things hover round us, and mysteriously +become visible to our unobstructed eyes? May not the seeds of what is to +betide us be already scattered by the hand of Fate? may not a foretaste +of the fruits we yet hope to gather possibly be given us?" + +His sick-bed gave him leisure to repeat those scenes in every mood. A +thousand times he called back the tone of that sweet voice: a thousand +times he envied Philina, who had kissed that helpful hand. Often the +whole incident appeared before him as a dream; and he would have +reckoned it a fiction, if the white surtout had not been left behind to +convince him that the vision had a real existence. + +With the greatest care for this piece of apparel, he combined the most +ardent wish to wear it. The first time he arose, he put it on, and was +kept in fear all day lest it might be hurt by some stain or other +injury. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +Laertes visited his friend. He had not been present during that lively +scene at the inn, being then confined to bed in an upper chamber. For +his loss he was already in a great degree consoled: he helped himself +with his customary, "What does it signify?" He detailed various +laughable particulars about the company; particularly charging Frau +Melina with lamenting the loss of her stillborn daughter, solely because +she herself could not on that account enjoy the Old-German satisfaction +of having a Mechthilde christened. As for her husband, it now appeared +that he had been possessed of abundant cash, and even at first had by no +means needed the advances which he had cajoled from Wilhelm. Melina's +present plan was, to set off by the next post-wagon, and he meant to +require of Wilhelm an introductory letter to his friend, Manager Serlo, +in whose company, the present undertaking having gone to wreck, he now +wished to establish himself. + +For some days Mignon had been singularly quiet: when pressed with +questions, she at length admitted that her right arm was out of joint. +"Thou hast thy own folly to thank for that," observed Philina, and then +told how the child had drawn her sword in the battle, and, seeing her +friend in peril, had struck fiercely at the freebooters, one of whom had +at length seized her by the arm, and pitched her to a side. They chid +her for not sooner speaking of her ailment; but they easily saw that she +was apprehensive of the surgeon, who had hitherto looked on her as a +boy. With a view to remove the mischief, she was made to keep her arm in +a sling, which arrangement, too, displeased her; for now she was obliged +to surrender most part of her share in the management and nursing of our +friend to Philina. That pleasing sinner but showed herself the more +active and attentive on this account. + +One morning, on awakening, Wilhelm found himself strangely near to her. +In the movements of sleep, he had hitched himself quite to the back of +the spacious bed. Philina was lying across from the front part of it: +she seemed to have fallen asleep on the bed while sitting there and +reading. A book had dropped from her hand: she had sunk back; and her +head was lying near his breast, over which her fair and now loosened +hair was spread in streams. The disorder of sleep enlivened her charms +more than art or purpose could have done: a childlike smiling rest +hovered on her countenance. He looked at her for a time, and seemed to +blame himself for the pleasure this gave him. He had viewed her +attentively for some moments, when she began to awake. He softly closed +his eyes, but could not help glimmering at her through his eyelashes, as +she trimmed herself again, and went away to see about breakfast. + +All the actors had at length successively announced themselves to +Wilhelm; asking introductory letters, requiring money for their journey +with more or less impatience and ill-breeding, and constantly receiving +it, against Philina's will. It was in vain for her to tell our friend +that the huntsman had already left a handsome sum with these people, and +that accordingly they did but cozen him. To these remonstrances he gave +no heed: on the contrary, the two had a sharp quarrel about it; which +ended by Wilhelm signifying, once for all, that Philina must now join +the rest of the company, and seek her fortune with Serlo. + +For an instant or two she lost temper; but, speedily recovering her +composure, she cried, "If I had but my fair-haired boy again, I should +not care a fig for any of you." She meant Friedrich, who had vanished +from the scene of battle, and never since appeared. + +Next morning Mignon brought news to the bedside, that Philina had gone +off by night; leaving all that belonged to Wilhelm very neatly laid out +in the next room. He felt her absence; he had lost in her a faithful +nurse, a cheerful companion; he was no longer used to be alone. But +Mignon soon filled up the blank. + +Ever since that light-minded beauty had been near the patient with her +friendly cares, the little creature had by degrees drawn back, and +remained silent and secluded in herself; but, the field being clear once +more, she again came forth with her attentions and her love, again was +eager in serving, and lively in entertaining, him. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +Wilhelm was rapidly approaching complete recovery: he now hoped to be +upon his journey in a few days. He proposed no more to lead an aimless +routine of existence: the steps of his career were henceforth to be +calculated for an end. In the first place, he purposed to seek out that +beneficent lady, and express the gratitude he felt to her; then to +proceed without delay to his friend the manager, that he might do his +utmost to assist the luckless company; intending, at the same time, to +visit the commercial friends whom he had letters for, and to transact +the business which had been intrusted to him. He was not without hope +that fortune, as formerly, would favor him, and give him opportunity, by +some lucky speculation, to repair his losses, and fill up the vacuity of +his coffer. + +The desire of again beholding his beautiful deliverer augmented every +day. To settle his route, he took counsel with the clergyman,--a person +well skilled in statistics and geography, and possessing a fine +collection of charts and books. They two searched for the place which +this noble family had chosen as their residence while the war continued: +they searched for information respecting the family itself. But their +place was to be found in no geography or map, and the heraldic manuals +made no mention of their name. + +Wilhelm grew uneasy; and, having mentioned the cause of his anxiety, the +harper told him he had reason to believe that the huntsman, from +whatever motive, had concealed the real designations. + +Conceiving himself now to be in the immediate neighborhood of his lovely +benefactress, Wilhelm hoped he might obtain some tidings of her if he +sent out the harper; but in this, too, he was deceived. Diligently as +the old man kept inquiring, he could find no trace of her. Of late days +a number of quick movements and unforeseen marches had taken place in +that quarter; no one had particularly noticed the travelling party; and +the ancient messenger, to avoid being taken for a Jewish spy, was +obliged to return, and appear without any olive-leaf before his master +and friend. He gave a strict account of his conduct in this commission, +striving to keep far from him all suspicions of remissness. He +endeavored by every means to mitigate the trouble of our friend; +bethought him of every thing that he had learned from the huntsman, and +advanced a number of conjectures; out of all which, one circumstance at +length came to light, whereby Wilhelm could explain some enigmatic words +of his vanished benefactress. + +The freebooters, it appeared, had lain in wait, not for the wandering +troop, but for that noble company, whom they rightly guessed to be +provided with store of gold and valuables, and of whose movements they +must have had precise intelligence. Whether the attack should be imputed +to some free corps, to marauders, or to robbers, was uncertain. It was +clear, however, that, by good fortune for the high and rich company, the +poor and low had first arrived upon the place, and undergone the fate +which was provided for the others. It was to this that the lady's words +referred, which Wilhelm yet well recollected. If he might now be happy +and contented, that a prescient Genius had selected him for the +sacrifice, which saved a perfect mortal, he was, on the other hand, nigh +desperate, when he thought that all hope of finding her and seeing her +again was, at least for the present, completely gone. + +What increased this singular emotion still further, was the likeness +which he thought he had observed between the countess and the beautiful +unknown. They resembled one another as two sisters may, of whom neither +can be called the younger or the elder, for they seem to be twins. + +The recollection of the amiable countess was to Wilhelm infinitely +sweet. He recalled her image but too willingly into his memory. But anon +the figure of the noble Amazon would step between: one vision melted and +changed into the other, and the form of neither would abide with him. + +A new resemblance--the similarity of their handwritings--naturally +struck him with still greater wonder. He had a charming song in the +countess's hand laid up in his portfolio; and in the surtout he had +found a little note, inquiring with much tender care about the health of +an uncle. + +Wilhelm was convinced that his benefactress must have penned this +billet; that it must have been sent from one chamber to another, at some +inn during their journey, and put into the coat-pocket by the uncle. He +held both papers together; and, if the regular and graceful letters of +the countess had already pleased him much, he found in the similar but +freer lines of the stranger a flowing harmony which could not be +described. The note contained nothing; yet the strokes of it seemed to +affect him, as the presence of their fancied writer once had done. + +He fell into a dreamy longing; and well accordant with his feelings was +the song which at that instant Mignon and the harper began to sing, with +a touching expression, in the form of an irregular duet. + + "'Tis but who longing knows, + My grief can measure. + Alone, reft of repose, + All joy, all pleasure, + I thither look to those + Soft lines of azure. + Ah! far is he who knows + Me, and doth treasure. + I faint, my bosom glows + 'Neath pain's sore pressure. + 'Tis but who longing knows, + My grief can measure." + --_Editor's Version._ + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +The soft allurements of his dear presiding angel, far from leading our +friend to any one determined path, did but nourish and increase the +unrest he had previously experienced. A secret fire was gliding through +his veins: objects distinct and indistinct alternated within his soul, +and awoke unspeakable desire. At one time he wished for a horse, at +another for wings; and not till it seemed impossible that he could stay, +did he look round him to discover whither he was wanting to go. + +The threads of his destiny had become so strangely entangled, he wished +to see its curious knots unravelled, or cut in two. Often when he heard +the tramp of a horse, or the rolling of a carriage, he would run to the +window, and look out, in hopes it might be some one seeking him,--some +one, even though it were by chance, bringing him intelligence and +certainty and joy. He told stories to himself, how his friend Werner +might visit these parts, and come upon him; how, perhaps, Mariana might +appear. The sound of every post's horn threw him into agitation. It +would be Melina sending news to him of his adventures: above all, it +would be the huntsman coming back to carry him to the beauty he +worshipped. + +Of all these possibilities, unhappily no one occurred: he was forced at +last to return to the company of himself; and, in again looking through +the past, there was one circumstance which, the more he viewed and +weighed it, grew the more offensive and intolerable to him. It was his +unprosperous generalship, of which he never thought without vexation. +For although, on the evening of that luckless day, he had produced a +pretty fair defence of his conduct when accused by the company, yet he +could not hide from himself that he was guilty. On the contrary, in +hypochondriac moments, he took the blame of the whole misfortune. + +Self-love exaggerates our faults as well as our virtues. Wilhelm thought +he had awakened confidence in himself, had guided the will of the rest; +that, led by inexperience and rashness, they had ventured on, till a +danger seized them, for which they were no match. Loud as well as silent +reproaches had then assailed him; and if, in their sorrowful condition, +he had promised the company, misguided by him, never to forsake them +till their loss had been repaid with usury, this was but another folly +for which he had to blame himself,--the folly of presuming to take upon +his single shoulders a misfortune that was spread over many. One instant +he accused himself of uttering this promise, under the excitement and +the pressure of the moment; the next, he again felt that this generous +presentation of his hand, which no one deigned to accept, was but a +light formality compared with the vow his heart had taken. He meditated +means of being kind and useful to them: he found every cause conspire to +quicken his visit to Serlo. Accordingly he packed his things together; +and without waiting his complete recovery, without listening to the +counsel of the parson or of the surgeon, he hastened, in the strange +society of Mignon and the harper, to escape the inactivity in which his +fate had once more too long detained him. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +Serlo received him with open arms, crying as he met him, "Is it you? Do +I see you again? You have scarcely changed at all. Is your love for that +noblest of arts still as lively and strong? So glad am I at your +arrival, that I even feel no longer the mistrust your last letters had +excited in me." + +Wilhelm asked with surprise for a clearer explanation. + +"You have treated me," said Serlo, "not like an old friend, but as if I +were a great lord, to whom with a safe conscience you might recommend +useless people. Our destiny depends on the opinion of the public; and I +fear Herr Melina and his suite can hardly be received among us." + +Wilhelm tried to say something in their favor; but Serlo began to draw +so merciless a picture of them, that our friend was happy when a lady +came into the room, and put a stop to the discussion. She was introduced +to him as Aurelia, the sister of his friend; she received him with +extreme kindness; and her conversation was so pleasing, that he did not +even remark a shade of sorrow visible on her expressive countenance, to +which it lent peculiar interest. + +For the first time during many months, Wilhelm felt once more in his +proper element. Of late in talking, he had merely found submissive +listeners, and even these not always; but now he had the happiness to +speak with critics and artists, who not only fully understood him, but +repaid his observations by others equally instructive. With wonderful +vivacity they travelled through the latest plays, with wonderful +correctness judged them. The decisions of the public they could try and +estimate: they speedily threw light on each other's thoughts. + +Loving Shakspeare as our friend did, he failed not to lead round the +conversation to the merits of that dramatist. Expressing, as he +entertained, the liveliest hopes of the new epoch which these exquisite +productions must form in Germany, he erelong introduced his "Hamlet," +which play had busied him so much of late. + +Serlo declared that he would long ago have represented the play, had it +at all been possible, and that he himself would willingly engage to act +Polonius. He added, with a smile, "An Ophelia, too, will certainly turn +up, if we had but a Prince." + +Wilhelm did not notice that Aurelia seemed a little hurt at her +brother's sarcasm. Our friend was in his proper vein, becoming copious +and didactic, expounding how he would have "Hamlet" played. He +circumstantially delivered to his hearers the opinions we before saw him +busied with; taking all the trouble possible to make his notion of the +matter acceptable, sceptical as Serlo showed himself regarding it. +"Well, then," said the latter finally, "suppose we grant you all this, +what will you explain by it?" + +"Much, every thing," said Wilhelm. "Conceive a prince such as I have +painted him, and that his father suddenly dies. Ambition and the love of +rule are not the passions that inspire him. As a king's son, he would +have been contented; but now he is first constrained to consider the +difference which separates a sovereign from a subject. The crown was not +hereditary; yet his father's longer possession of it would have +strengthened the pretensions of an only son, and secured his hopes of +succession. In place of this, he now beholds himself excluded by his +uncle, in spite of specious promises, most probably forever. He is now +poor in goods and favor, and a stranger in the scene which from youth he +had looked upon as his inheritance. His temper here assumes its first +mournful tinge. He feels that now he is not more, that he is less, than +a private nobleman; he offers himself as the servant of every one; he is +not courteous and condescending, he is needy and degraded. + +"His past condition he remembers as a vanished dream. It is in vain that +his uncle strives to cheer him, to present his situation in another +point of view. The feeling of his nothingness will not leave him. + +"The second stroke that came upon him wounded deeper, bowed still more. +It was the marriage of his mother. The faithful, tender son had yet a +mother, when his father passed away. He hoped, in the company of his +surviving noble-minded parent, to reverence the heroic form of the +departed: but his mother, too, he loses; and it is something worse than +death that robs him of her. The trustful image, which a good child loves +to form of its parents, is gone. With the dead there is no help, on the +living no hold. Moreover, she is a woman; and her name is Frailty, like +that of all her sex. + +"Now only does he feel completely bowed down, now only orphaned; and no +happiness of life can repay what he has lost. Not reflective or +sorrowful by nature, reflection and sorrow have become for him a heavy +obligation. It is thus that we see him first enter on the scene. I do +not think that I have mixed aught foreign with the play, or overcharged +a single feature of it." + +Serlo looked at his sister, and said, "Did I give thee a false picture +of our friend? He begins well: he has still many things to tell us, many +to persuade us of." Wilhelm asseverated loudly, that he meant not to +persuade, but to convince: he begged for another moment's patience. + +"Figure to yourselves this youth," cried he, "this son of princes; +conceive him vividly, bring his state before your eyes, and then observe +him when he learns that his father's spirit walks; stand by him in the +terrors of the night, when even the venerable ghost appears before him. +He is seized with boundless horror; he speaks to the mysterious form; he +sees it beckon him; he follows and hears. The fearful accusation of his +uncle rings in his ears, the summons to revenge, and the piercing, +oft-repeated prayer, Remember me! + +"And, when the ghost has vanished, who is it that stands before us? A +young hero panting for vengeance? A prince by birth, rejoicing to be +called to punish the usurper of his crown? No! trouble and astonishment +take hold of the solitary young man: he grows bitter against smiling +villains, swears that he will not forget the spirit, and concludes with +the significant ejaculation,-- + + "'The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, + That ever I was born to set it right!' + +"In these words, I imagine, will be found the key to Hamlet's whole +procedure. To me it is clear that Shakspeare meant, in the present case, +to represent the effects of a great action laid upon a soul unfit for +the performance of it. In this view the whole play seems to me to be +composed. There is an oak-tree planted in a costly jar, which should +have borne only pleasant flowers in its bosom: the roots expand, the jar +is shivered. + +"A lovely, pure, noble, and most moral nature, without the strength of +nerve which forms a hero, sinks beneath a burden it cannot bear and must +not cast away. All duties are holy for him: the present is too hard. +Impossibilities have been required of him,--not in themselves +impossibilities, but such for him. He winds and turns, and torments +himself; he advances and recoils; is ever put in mind, ever puts himself +in mind; at last does all but lose his purpose from his thoughts, yet +still without recovering his peace of mind." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Several people entering interrupted the discussion. They were musical +_dilettanti_, who commonly assembled at Serlo's once a week, and formed +a little concert. Serlo himself loved music much: he used to maintain, +that a player without taste for it never could attain a distinct +conception and feeling of the scenic art. "As a man performs," he would +observe, "with far more ease and dignity when his gestures are +accompanied and guided by a tune; so the player ought, in idea as it +were, to set to music even his prose parts, that he may not monotonously +slight them over in his individual style, but treat them in suitable +alternation by time and measure." + +Aurelia seemed to give but little heed to what was passing: at last she +conducted Wilhelm to another room; and going to the window, and looking +out at the starry sky, she said to him, "You have more to tell us about +Hamlet: I will not hurry you,--my brother must hear it as well as I; but +let me beg to know your thoughts about Ophelia." + +"Of her there cannot much be said," he answered; "for a few +master-strokes complete her character. The whole being of Ophelia floats +in sweet and ripe sensation. Kindness for the prince, to whose hand she +may aspire, flows so spontaneously, her tender heart obeys its impulses +so unresistingly, that both father and brother are afraid: both give her +warning harshly and directly. Decorum, like the thin lawn upon her +bosom, cannot hide the soft, still movements of her heart: it, on the +contrary, betrays them. Her fancy is smit; her silent modesty breathes +amiable desire; and, if the friendly goddess Opportunity should shake +the tree, its fruit would fall." + +"And then," said Aurelia, "when she beholds herself forsaken, cast away, +despised; when all is inverted in the soul of her crazed lover, and the +highest changes to the lowest, and, instead of the sweet cup of love, he +offers her the bitter cup of woe"-- + +"Her heart breaks," cried Wilhelm; "the whole structure of her being is +loosened from its joinings; her father's death strikes fiercely against +it, and the fair edifice altogether crumbles into fragments." + +Our friend had not observed with what expressiveness Aurelia pronounced +those words. Looking only at this work of art, at its connection and +completeness, he dreamed not that his auditress was feeling quite a +different influence; that a deep sorrow of her own was vividly awakened +in her breast by these dramatic shadows. + +Aurelia's head was still resting on her arms; and her eyes, now full of +tears, were turned to the sky. At last, no longer able to conceal her +secret grief, she seized both hands of her friend, and exclaimed, while +he stood surprised before her, "Forgive, forgive a heavy heart! I am +girt and pressed together by these people; from my hard-hearted brother +I must seek to hide myself; your presence has untied these bonds. My +friend!" continued she, "it is but a few minutes since we saw each other +first, and already you are going to become my confidant." She could +scarcely end the words, and sank upon his shoulder. "Think not worse of +me," she said, with sobs, "that I disclose myself to you so hastily, +that I am so weak before you. Be my friend, remain my friend: I shall +deserve it." He spoke to her in his kindest manner, but in vain: her +tears still flowed, and choked her words. + +At this moment Serlo entered, most unwelcomely, and, most unexpectedly, +Philina, with her hand in his. "Here is your friend," said he to her: +"he will be glad to welcome you." + +"What!" cried Wilhelm in astonishment: "are you here?" With a modest, +settled mien, she went up to him; bade him welcome; praised Serlo's +goodness, who, she said, without merit on her part, but purely in the +hope of her improvement, had agreed to admit her into his accomplished +troop. She behaved, all the while, in a friendly manner towards Wilhelm, +yet with a dignified distance. + +But this dissimulation lasted only till the other two were gone. Aurelia +having left them, that she might conceal her trouble, and Serlo being +called away, Philina first looked very sharply at the doors, to see that +both were really out; then began skipping to and fro about the room, as +if she had been mad; at last dropped down upon the floor, like to die of +giggling and laughing. She then sprang up, patted and flattered our +friend; rejoicing above measure that she had been clever enough to go +before, and spy the land, and get herself nestled in. + +"Pretty things are going on here," she said; "just of the sort I like. +Aurelia has had a hapless love-affair with some nobleman, who seems to +be a very stately person, one whom I myself could like to see some day. +He has left her a memorial, or I much mistake. There is a boy running +about the house, of three years old or so: the papa must be a very +pretty fellow. Commonly I cannot suffer children, but this brat quite +delights me. I have calculated Aurelia's business. The death of her +husband, the new acquaintance, the child's age,--all things agree. + +"But now her spark has gone his ways: for a year she has not seen a +glimpse of him. She is beside herself and inconsolable on this account. +The more fool she! Her brother has a dancing-girl in his troop, with +whom he stands on pretty terms; an actress with whom he is intimate; in +the town, some other women whom he courts; I, too, am on his list. The +more fool he! Of the rest thou shalt hear to-morrow. And now one word +about Philina, whom thou knowest: the arch-fool is fallen in love with +thee." She swore it was true and prime sport. She earnestly requested +Wilhelm to fall in love with Aurelia, for then the chase would be worth +beholding. "She pursues her faithless swain, thou her, I thee, her +brother me. If that will not divert us for a quarter of a year, I engage +to die at the first episode which occurs in this four times complicated +tale." She begged of him not to spoil her trade, and to show her such +respect as her external conduct should deserve. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Next morning Wilhelm went to visit Frau Melina, but found her not at +home. On inquiring here for the other members of the wandering +community, he learned that Philina had invited them to breakfast. Out of +curiosity, he hastened thither, and found them all in very good spirits +and of good comfort. The cunning creature had collected them, was +treating them with chocolate, and giving them to understand that some +prospects still remained for them; that, by her influence, she hoped to +convince the manager how advantageous it would be for him to introduce +so many clever hands among his company. They listened to her with +attention; swallowed cup after cup of her chocolate; thought the girl +was not so bad, after all, and went away proposing to themselves to +speak whatever good of her they could. + +"Do you think, then," said our friend, who staid behind, "that Serlo +will determine to retain our comrades?"--"Not at all," replied Philina; +"nor do I care a fig for it. The sooner they are gone, the better! +Laertes alone I could wish to keep: the rest we shall by and by pack +off." + +Next she signified to Wilhelm her firm persuasion that he should no +longer hide his talent, but, under the direction of a Serlo, go upon the +boards. She was lavish in her praises of the order, the taste, the +spirit, which prevailed in this establishment: she spoke so flatteringly +to Wilhelm, with such admiration of his gifts, that his heart and his +imagination were advancing towards this proposal as fast as his +understanding and his reason were retreating from it. He concealed his +inclination from himself and from Philina, and passed a restless day, +unable to resolve on visiting his trading correspondents, to receive the +letters which might there be lying for him. The anxieties of his people +during all this time he easily conceived; yet he shrank from the precise +account of them, particularly at the present time, as he promised to +himself a great and pure enjoyment from the exhibition of a new play +that evening. + +Serlo had refused to let him witness the rehearsal. "You must see us on +the best side," he observed, "before we can allow you to look into our +cards." + +The performance, however, where our friend did not fail to be present, +yielded him a high satisfaction. It was the first time he had ever seen +a theatre in such perfection. The actors were evidently all possessed of +excellent gifts, superior capacities, and a high, clear notion of their +art; they were not equal, but they mutually restrained and supported one +another; each breathed ardor into those around him; throughout all their +acting, they showed themselves decided and correct. You soon felt that +Serlo was the soul of the whole: as an individual, he appeared to much +advantage. A merry humor, a measured vivacity, a settled feeling of +propriety, combined with a great gift of imitation, were to be observed +in him the moment he appeared upon the stage. The inward contentment of +his being seemed to spread itself over all that looked on him; and the +intellectual style in which he could so easily and gracefully express +the finest shadings of his part, excited more delight, as he could +conceal the art which, by long-continued practice, he had made his own. + +Aurelia, his sister, was not inferior: she obtained still greater +approbation; for she touched the souls of the audience, which he had it +in his power to exhilarate and amuse. + +After a few days had passed pleasantly enough, Aurelia sent to inquire +for our friend. He hastened to her: she was lying on a sofa; she seemed +to be suffering from headache; her whole frame had visibly a feverish +movement. Her eye lighted up as she noticed Wilhelm. "Pardon me!" she +cried, as he entered: "the trust you have inspired me with has made me +weak. Till now I have contrived to bear up against my woes in secret; +nay, they gave me strength and consolation: but now, I know not how it +is, you have loosened the bands of silence. You will now, even against +your will, take part in the battle I am fighting with myself!" + +Wilhelm answered her in kind and obliging terms. He declared that her +image and her sorrows had not ceased to hover in his thoughts; that he +longed for her confidence, and devoted himself to be her friend. + +While he spoke, his eyes were attracted to the boy, who sat before her +on the floor, and was busy rattling a multitude of playthings. This +child, as Philina had observed, might be about three years of age; and +Wilhelm now conceived how that giddy creature, seldom elevated in her +phraseology, had likened it to the sun. For its cheerful eyes and full +countenance were shaded by the finest golden locks, which flowed round +in copious curls; dark, slender, softly bending eyebrows showed +themselves upon a brow of dazzling whiteness; and the living tinge of +health was glancing on its cheeks. "Sit by me," said Aurelia: "you are +looking at the happy child with admiration; in truth, I took it into my +arms with joy; I keep it carefully; yet, by it, too, I can measure the +extent of my sufferings; for they seldom let me feel the worth of such a +gift. + +"Allow me," she continued, "to speak to you about myself and my destiny; +for I have it much at heart that you should not misunderstand me. I +thought I should have a few calm instants; and, accordingly, I sent for +you. You are now here, and the thread of my narrative is lost. + +"'One more forsaken woman in the world!' you will say. You are a man. +You are thinking, 'What a noise she makes, the fool, about a necessary +evil; which, certainly as death, awaits a woman, when such is the +fidelity of men!' O my friend! if my fate were common, I would gladly +undergo a common evil; but it is so singular! why cannot I present it to +you in a mirror,--why not command some one to tell it you? Oh! had I, +had I been seduced, surprised, and afterwards forsaken, there would then +still be comfort in despair; but I am far more miserable. I have been my +own deceiver; I have wittingly betrayed myself; and this, this, is what +shall never be forgiven me." + +"With noble feelings, such as yours," said Wilhelm, "you cannot be +entirely unhappy." + +"And do you know to what I am indebted for my feelings?" asked Aurelia. +"To the worst education that ever threatened to contaminate a girl; to +the vilest examples for misleading the senses and inclinations. + +"My mother dying early, the fairest years of my youth were spent with an +aunt, whose principle it was to despise the laws of decency. She +resigned herself headlong to every impulse, careless whether the object +of it proved her tyrant or her slave, so she might forget herself in +wild enjoyment. + +"By children, with the pure, clear vision of innocence, what ideas of +men were necessarily formed in such a scene! How stolid, brutally bold, +importunate, unmannerly, was every one she allured! How sated, empty, +insolent, and insipid, as soon as he had had his wishes gratified! I +have seen this woman live, for years, humbled under the control of the +meanest creatures. What incidents she had to undergo! With what a front +she contrived to accommodate herself to her destiny; nay, with how much +skill, to wear these shameful fetters! + +"It was thus, my friend, that I became acquainted with your sex; and +deeply did I hate it, when, as I imagined, I observed that even +tolerable men, in their conduct to ours, appeared to renounce every +honest feeling, of which nature might otherwise have made them capable. + +"Unhappily, moreover, on such occasions, a multitude of painful +discoveries about my own sex were forced upon me; and, in truth, I was +then wiser, as a girl of sixteen, than I now am, now that I scarcely +understand myself. Why are we so wise when young,--so wise, and ever +growing less so?" + +The boy began to make a noise: Aurelia became impatient, and rang. An +old woman came to take him out. "Hast thou toothache still?" said +Aurelia to the crone, whose face was wrapped in cloth. "Unsufferable," +said the other, with a muffled voice, then lifted the boy, who seemed to +like going with her, and carried him away. + +Scarcely was he gone, when Aurelia began bitterly to weep. "I am good +for nothing," cried she, "but lamenting and complaining; and I feel +ashamed to lie before you like a miserable worm. My recollection is +already fled: I can relate no more." She faltered, and was silent. Her +friend, unwilling to reply with a commonplace, and unable to reply with +any thing particularly applicable, pressed her hand, and looked at her +for some time without speaking. Thus embarrassed, he at length took up a +book, which he noticed lying on the table before him: it was +Shakspeare's works, and open at "Hamlet." + +Serlo, at this moment entering, inquired about his sister, and, looking +in the book which our friend had hold of, cried, "So you are again at +'Hamlet'? Very good! Many doubts have arisen in me, which seem not a +little to impair the canonical aspect of the play as you would have it +viewed. The English themselves have admitted that its chief interest +concludes with the third act; the last two lagging sorrily on, and +scarcely uniting with the rest: and certainly about the end it seems to +stand stock-still." + +"It is very possible," said Wilhelm, "that some individuals of a +nation, which has so many masterpieces to feel proud of, may be led by +prejudice and narrowness of mind to form false judgments; but this +cannot hinder us from looking with our own eyes, and doing justice where +we see it due. I am very far from censuring the plan of 'Hamlet': on the +other hand, I believe there never was a grander one invented; nay, it is +not invented, it is real." + +"How do you demonstrate that?" inquired Serlo. + +"I will not demonstrate any thing," said Wilhelm: "I will merely show +you what my own conceptions of it are." + +Aurelia raised herself from her cushion, leaned upon her hand, and +looked at Wilhelm, who, with the firmest assurance that he was in the +right, went on as follows: "It pleases us, it flatters us, to see a hero +acting on his own strength, loving and hating at the bidding of his +heart, undertaking and completing, casting every obstacle aside, and +attaining some great end. Poets and historians would willingly persuade +us that so proud a lot may fall to man. In 'Hamlet' we are taught +another lesson: the hero is without a plan, but the play is full of +plan. Here we have no villain punished on some self-conceived and +rigidly accomplished scheme of vengeance: a horrid deed is done; it +rolls along with all its consequences, dragging with it even the +guiltless: the guilty perpetrator would, as it seems, evade the abyss +made ready for him; yet he plunges in, at the very point by which he +thinks he shall escape, and happily complete his course. + +"For it is the property of crime to extend its mischief over innocence, +as it is of virtue to extend its blessings over many that deserve them +not; while frequently the author of the one or of the other is not +punished or rewarded at all. Here in this play of ours, how strange! The +Pit of darkness sends its spirit and demands revenge: in vain! All +circumstances tend one way, and hurry to revenge: in vain! Neither +earthly nor infernal thing may bring about what is reserved for Fate +alone. The hour of judgment comes; the wicked falls with the good; one +race is mowed away, that another may spring up." + +After a pause, in which they looked at one another, Serlo said, "You pay +no great compliment to Providence, in thus exalting Shakspeare; and +besides, it appears to me, that for the honor of your poet, as others +for the honor of Providence, you ascribe to him an object and a plan +such as he himself had never thought of." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +"Let me also put a question," said Aurelia. "I have looked at Ophelia's +part again: I am contented with it, and confident, that, under certain +circumstances, I could play it. But tell me, should not the poet have +furnished the insane maiden with another sort of songs? Could not some +fragments out of melancholy ballads be selected for this purpose? Why +put double meanings and lascivious insipidities in the mouth of this +noble-minded girl?" + +"Dear friend," said Wilhelm, "even here I cannot yield you one iota. In +these singularities, in this apparent impropriety, a deep sense is hid. +Do we not understand from the very first what the mind of the good, +soft-hearted girl was busied with? Silently she lived within herself, +yet she scarce concealed her wishes, her longing: the tones of desire +were in secret ringing through her soul; and how often may she have +attempted, like an unskilful nurse, to lull her senses to repose with +songs which only kept them more awake? But at last, when her +self-command is altogether gone, when the secrets of her heart are +hovering on her tongue, that tongue betrays her; and in the innocence of +insanity she solaces herself, unmindful of king or queen, with the echo +of her loose and well-beloved songs,--'To-morrow is Saint Valentine's +Day,' and 'By Gis and by Saint Charity.'" + +He had not finished speaking, when all at once an extraordinary scene +took place before him, which he could not in any way explain. + +Serlo had walked once or twice up and down the room, without evincing +any special object. On a sudden, he stepped forward to Aurelia's +dressing-table, caught hastily at something that was lying there, and +hastened to the door with his booty. No sooner did Aurelia notice this, +than, springing up, she threw herself in his way, laid hold of him with +boundless vehemence, and had dexterity enough to clutch an end of the +article he was carrying off. They struggled and wrestled with great +obstinacy, twisted and threw each other sharply round; he laughed; she +exerted all her strength; and as Wilhelm hastened towards them, to +separate and soothe them, Aurelia sprang aside with a naked dagger in +her hand; while Serlo cast the scabbard, which had staid with him, +angrily upon the floor. Wilhelm started back astonished; and his dumb +wonder seemed to ask the cause why so violent a strife, about so +strange an implement, had taken place between them. + +"You shall judge betwixt us," said the brother. "What business she with +sharp steel? Do but look at it. That dagger is unfit for any +actress,--point like a needle's, edge like a razor's! What good's the +farce? Passionate as she is, she will one day chance to do herself a +mischief. I have a heart's hatred at such singularities: a serious +thought of that sort is insane, and so dangerous a plaything is not in +taste." + +"I have it back!" exclaimed Aurelia, and held the polished blade aloft: +"I will now keep my faithful friend more carefully. Pardon me," she +cried, and kissed the steel, "that I have so neglected thee." + +Serlo was like to grow seriously angry. "Take it as thou wilt, brother," +she continued: "how knowest thou but, under this form, a precious +talisman may have been given me, so that, in extreme need, I may find +help and counsel in it? Must all be hurtful that looks dangerous?" + +"Such talk without a meaning might drive one mad," said Serlo, and left +the room with suppressed indignation. Aurelia put the dagger carefully +into its sheath, and placed it in her bosom. "Let us now resume the +conversation which our foolish brother has disturbed," said she, as +Wilhelm was beginning to put questions on the subject of this quarrel. + +"I must admit your picture of Ophelia to be just," continued she; "I +cannot now misunderstand the object of the poet: I must pity; though, as +you paint her, I shall rather pity her than sympathize with her. But +allow me here to offer a remark, which in these few days you have +frequently suggested to me. I observe with admiration the correct, keen, +penetrating glance with which you judge of poetry, especially dramatic +poetry: the deepest abysses of invention are not hidden from you, the +finest touches of representation cannot escape you. Without ever having +viewed the objects in nature, you recognize the truth of their images: +there seems, as it were, a presentiment of all the universe to lie in +you, which by the harmonious touch of poetry is awakened and unfolded. +For in truth," continued she, "from without, you receive not much: I +have scarcely seen a person that so little knew, so totally misknew, the +people he lived with, as you do. Allow me to say it: in hearing you +expound the mysteries of Shakspeare, one would think you had just +descended from a synod of the gods, and had listened there while they +were taking counsel how to form men; in seeing you transact with your +fellows, I could imagine you to be the first large-born child of the +Creation, standing agape, and gazing with strange wonderment and +edifying good nature at lions and apes and sheep and elephants, and +true-heartedly addressing them as your equals, simply because they were +there, and in motion like yourself." + +"The feeling of my ignorance in this respect," said Wilhelm, "often +gives me pain; and I should thank you, worthy friend, if you would help +me to get a little better insight into life. From youth, I have been +accustomed to direct the eyes of my spirit inwards rather than outwards; +and hence it is very natural, that, to a certain extent, I should be +acquainted with man, while of men I have not the smallest knowledge." + +"In truth," said Aurelia, "I at first suspected, that, in giving such +accounts of the people whom you sent to my brother, you meant to make +sport of us: when I compared your letters with the merits of these +persons, it seemed very strange." + +Aurelia's remarks, well founded as they might be, and willing as our +friend was to confess himself deficient in this matter, carried with +them something painful, nay, offensive, to him; so that he grew silent, +and retired within himself, partly to avoid showing any irritated +feeling, partly to search his mind for the truth or error of the charge. + +"Let not this alarm you," said Aurelia: "the light of the understanding +it is always in our power to reach, but this fulness of the heart no one +can give us. If you are destined for an artist, you cannot long enough +retain the dim-sightedness and innocence of which I speak; it is the +beautiful hull upon the young bud; woe to us if we are forced too soon +to burst it! Surely it were well, if we never knew what the people are +for whom we work and study. + +"Oh! I, too, was in that happy case, when I first betrod the stage, with +the loftiest opinion of myself and of my nation. What a people, in my +fancy, were the Germans! what a people might they yet become! I +addressed this people, raised above them by a little joinery, separated +from them by a row of lamps, whose glancing and vapor threw an +indistinctness over every thing before me. How welcome was the tumult of +applause which sounded to me from the crowd! how gratefully did I accept +the present offered me unanimously by so many hands! For a time I rocked +myself in these ideas: I affected the multitude, and was again affected +by them. With my public I was on the fairest footing: I imagined that I +felt a perfect harmony betwixt us, and that on each occasion I beheld +before me the best and noblest of the land. + +"Unhappily it was not the actress alone that inspired these friends of +the stage with interest: they likewise made pretensions to the young and +lively girl. They gave me to understand, in terms distinct enough, that +my duty was, not only to excite emotion in them, but to share it with +them personally. This, unluckily, was not my business: I wished to +elevate their minds; but, to what they called their hearts, I had not +the slightest claim. Yet now men of all ranks, ages, and characters, by +turns afflicted me with their addresses; and it did seem hard that I +could not, like an honest young woman, shut my door, and spare myself +such a quantity of labor. + +"The men appeared, for most part, much the same as I had been accustomed +to about my aunt; and here again I should have felt disgusted with them, +had not their peculiarities and insipidities amused me. As I was +compelled to see them, in the theatre, in open places, in my house, I +formed the project of spying out their follies; and my brother helped me +with alacrity to execute it. And if you reflect, that up from the +whisking shopman and the conceited merchant's son, to the polished, +calculating man of the world, the bold soldier, and the impetuous +prince, all in succession passed in review before me, each in his way +endeavoring to found his small romance, you will pardon me if I +conceived that I had gained some acquaintance with my nation. + +"The fantastically dizened student; the awkward, humbly proud man of +letters; the sleek-fed, gouty canon; the solemn, heedful man of office; +the heavy country-baron; the smirking, vapid courtier; the young, erring +parson; the cool as well as the quick and sharply speculating +merchant,--all these I have seen in motion; and I swear to you, that +there were few among them fitted to inspire me even with a sentiment of +toleration: on the contrary, I felt it altogether irksome to collect, +with tedium and annoyance, the suffrages of fools; to pocket those +applauses in detail, which in their accumulated state had so delighted +me, which in the gross I had appropriated with such pleasure. + +"If I expected a rational compliment upon my acting, if I hoped that +they would praise an author whom I valued, they were sure to make one +empty observation on the back of another, and to name some vapid play in +which they wished to see me act. If I listened in their company, to hear +if some noble, brilliant, witty thought had met with a response among +them, and would re-appear from some of them in proper season, it was +rare that I could catch an echo of it. An error that had happened, a +mispronunciation, a provincialism of some actor, such were the weighty +points by which they held fast, beyond which they could not pass. I knew +not, in the end, to what hand I should turn: themselves they thought too +clever to be entertained; and me they imagined they were well +entertaining, if they romped and made noise enough about me. I began +very cordially to despise them all: I felt as if the whole nation had, +on purpose, deputed these people to debase it in my eyes. They appeared +to me so clownish, so ill-bred, so wretchedly instructed, so void of +pleasing qualities, so tasteless, I frequently exclaimed, "No German can +buckle his shoes, till he has learned to do it of some foreign nation!" + +"You perceive how blind, how unjust and splenetic, I was; and, the +longer it lasted, my spleen increased. I might have killed myself with +these things, but I fell into the contrary extreme: I married, or, +rather, let myself be married. My brother, who had undertaken to conduct +the theatre, wished much to have a helper. His choice lighted on a young +man, who was not offensive to me, who wanted all that my brother +had,--genius, vivacity, spirit, and impetuosity of mind; but who also in +return had all that my brother wanted,--love of order, diligence, and +precious gifts in housekeeping, and the management of money. + +"He became my husband, I know not how: we lived together, I do not well +know why. Suffice it to say, our affairs went prosperously forward. We +drew a large income: of this my brother's activity was the cause. We +lived with a moderate expenditure, and that was the merit of my husband. +I thought no more about world or nation. With the world I had nothing to +participate: my idea of the nation had faded away. When I entered on the +scene, I did so that I might subsist: I opened my lips because I durst +not continue silent, because I had come out to speak. + +"Yet let me do the matter justice. I had altogether given myself up to +the disposal of my brother. His objects were, applause and money; for, +between ourselves, he has no dislike to hear his own praises; and his +outlay is always great. I no longer played according to my own feeling, +to my own conviction, but as he directed me; and, if I did it to his +satisfaction, I was content. He steered entirely by the caprices of the +public. Money flowed upon us: he could live according to his humor, and +so we had good times with him. + +"Thus had I fallen into a dull, handicraft routine. I spun out my days +without joy or sympathy. My marriage was childless, and not of long +continuance. My husband grew sick; his strength was visibly decaying; +anxiety for him interrupted my general indifference. It was at this time +that I formed an acquaintance which opened a new life for me,--a new and +quicker one, for it will soon be done." + +She kept silence for a time, and then continued, "All at once my +prattling humor falters: I have not the courage to go on. Let me rest a +little. You shall not go, till you have learned the whole extent of my +misfortune. Meanwhile, call in Mignon, and ask her what she wants." + +The child had more than once been in the room, while Aurelia and our +friend were talking. As they spoke lower on her entrance, she had glided +out again, and was now sitting quietly in the hall, and waiting. Being +bid return, she brought a book with her, which its form and binding +showed to be a small geographical atlas. She had seen some maps, for the +first time, at the parson's house, with great astonishment; had asked +him many questions, and informed herself so far as possible about them. +Her desire to learn seemed much excited by this new branch of knowledge. +She now earnestly requested Wilhelm to purchase her the book; saying she +had pawned her large silver buckle with the print-seller for it, and +wished to have back the pledge to-morrow morning, as this evening it was +late. Her request was granted; and she then began repeating several +things she had already learned; at the same time, in her own way, making +many very strange inquiries. Here again one might observe, that, with a +mighty effort, she could comprehend but little and laboriously. So +likewise was it with her writing, at which she still kept busied. She +yet spoke very broken German: it was only when she opened her mouth to +sing, when she touched her cithern, that she seemed to be employing an +organ by which, in some degree, the workings of her mind could be +disclosed and communicated. + +Since we are at present on the subject, we may also mention the +perplexity which Wilhelm had of late experienced from certain parts of +her procedure, When she came or went, wished him good-morning or +good-night, she clasped him so firmly in her arms, and kissed him with +such ardor, that often the violence of this expanding nature gave him +serious fears. The spasmodic vivacity of her demeanor seemed daily to +increase: her whole being moved in a restless stillness. She would never +be without some piece of packthread to twist in her hands, some napkin +to tie in knots, some paper or wood to chew. All her sports seemed but +the channels which drained off some inward violent commotion. The only +thing that seemed to cause her any cheerfulness was being near the boy +Felix, with whom she could go on in a very dainty manner. + +Aurelia, after a little rest, being now ready to explain to her friend a +matter which lay very near her heart, grew impatient at the little +girl's delay, and signified that she must go,--a hint, however, which +the latter did not take; and at last, when nothing else would do, they +sent her off expressly and against her will. + +"Now or never," said Aurelia, "must I tell you the remainder of my +story. Were my tenderly beloved and unjust friend but a few miles +distant, I would say to you, 'Mount on horseback, seek by some means to +get acquainted with him: on returning, you will certainly forgive me, +and pity me with all your heart.' As it is, I can only tell you with +words how amiable he was, and how much I loved him. + +"It was at the critical season, when care for the illness of my husband +had depressed my spirits, that I first became acquainted with this +stranger. He had just returned from America, where, in company with some +Frenchmen, he had served with much distinction under the colors of the +United States. + +"He addressed me with an easy dignity, a frank kindliness: he spoke +about myself, my state, my acting, like an old acquaintance, so +affectionately and distinctly, that now for the first time I enjoyed the +pleasure of perceiving my existence reflected in the being of another. +His judgments were just, though not severe; penetrating, yet not void of +love. He showed no harshness: his pleasantry was courteous, with all his +humor. He seemed accustomed to success with women; this excited my +attention: he was never in the least importunate or flattering; this put +me off my guard. + +"In the town, he had intercourse with few: he was often on horseback, +visiting his many friends in the neighborhood, and managing the business +of his house. On returning, he would frequently alight at my +apartments; he treated my ever-ailing husband with warm attention; he +procured him mitigation of his sickness by a good physician. And, taking +part in all that interested me, he allowed me to take part in all that +interested him. He told me the history of his campaigns: he spoke of his +invincible attachment to military life, of his family relations, of his +present business. He kept no secret from me; he displayed to me his +inmost thoughts, allowed me to behold the most secret corners of his +soul: I became acquainted with his passions and his capabilities. It was +the first time in my life that I enjoyed a cordial, intellectual +intercourse with any living creature. I was attracted by him, borne +along by him, before I thought about inquiring how it stood with me. + +"Meanwhile I lost my husband, nearly just as I had taken him. The burden +of theatrical affairs now fell entirely on me. My brother, not to be +surpassed upon the stage, was never good for any thing in economical +concerns: I took the charge of all, at the same time studying my parts +with greater diligence than ever. I again played as of old,--nay, with +new life, with quite another force. It was by reason of my friend, it +was on his account, that I did so; yet my success was not always best +when I knew him to be present. Once or twice he listened to me +unobserved, and how pleasantly his unexpected applauses surprised me you +may conceive. + +"Certainly I am a strange creature. In every part I played, it seemed as +if I had been speaking it in praise of him; for that was the temper of +my heart, the words might be any thing they pleased. Did I understand +him to be present in the audience, I durst not venture to speak out with +all my force; just as I would not press my love or praise on him to his +face: was he absent, I had then free scope; I did my best, with a +certain peacefulness, with a contentment not to be described. Applause +once more delighted me; and, when I charmed the people, I longed to call +down among them, 'This you owe to him!' + +"Yes: my relation to the public, to the nation, had been altered by a +wonder. On a sudden they again appeared to me in the most favorable +light: I felt astonished at my former blindness. + +"'How foolish,' said I often to myself, 'was it to revile a +nation,--foolish, simply because it was a nation. Is it necessary, is it +possible, that individual men should generally interest us much? Not at +all! The only question is, whether in the great mass there exists a +sufficient quantity of talent, force, and capability, which lucky +circumstances may develop, which men of lofty minds may direct upon a +common object.' I now rejoiced in discovering so little prominent +originality among my countrymen; I rejoiced that they disdained not to +accept of guidance from without; I rejoiced that they had found a +leader. + +"Lothario,--allow me to designate my friend by this, his first name, +which I loved,--Lothario had always presented the Germans to my mind on +the side of valor, and shown me, that, when well commanded, there was no +braver nation on the face of the earth; and I felt ashamed that I had +never thought of this, the first quality of a people. History was known +to him: he was in connection and correspondence with the most +distinguished persons of the age. Young as he was, his eye was open to +the budding youthhood of his native country, to the silent labors of +active and busy men in so many provinces of art. He afforded me a +glimpse of Germany,--what it was and what it might be; and I blushed at +having formed my judgment of a nation from the motley crowd that squeeze +into the wardrobe of a theatre. He made me look upon it as a duty that I +too, in my own department, should be true, spirited, enlivening. I now +felt as if inspired every time I stepped upon the boards. Mediocre +passages grew golden in my mouth: had any poet been at hand to support +me adequately, I might have produced the most astonishing effects. + +"So lived the young widow for a series of months. He could not do +without me, and I felt exceedingly unhappy when he staid away. He showed +me the letters he received from his relations, from his amiable sister. +He took an interest in the smallest circumstance that concerned me: more +complete, more intimate, no union ever was than ours. The name of love +was not mentioned. He went and came, came and went. And now, my friend, +it is high time that you, too, should go." + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +Wilhelm could put off no longer the visiting of his commercial friends. +He proceeded to their place with some anxiety, knowing he should there +find letters from his people. He dreaded the reproofs which these would +of course contain: it seemed likely also that notice had been given to +his trading correspondents, concerning the perplexities and fears which +his late silence had occasioned. After such a series of knightly +adventures, he recoiled from the school-boy aspect in which he must +appear: he proposed within his mind to act with an air of sternness and +defiance, and thus hide his embarrassment. + +To his great wonder and contentment, however, all went off very easily +and well. In the vast, stirring, busy counting-room, the men had +scarcely time to seek him out his packet: his delay was but alluded to +in passing. And on opening the letters of his father, and his friend +Werner, he found them all of very innocent contents. His father, in +hopes of an extensive journal, the keeping of which he had strongly +recommended to his son at parting, giving him also a tabulary scheme for +that purpose, seemed pretty well pacified about the silence of the first +period; complaining only of a certain enigmatical obscurity in the last +and only letter despatched, as we have seen, from the castle of the +count. Werner joked in his way; told merry anecdotes, facetious +burgh-news; and requested intelligence of friends and acquaintances, +whom Wilhelm, in the large trading-city, would now meet with in great +numbers. Our friend, extremely pleased at getting off so well, answered +without loss of a moment, in some very cheerful letters; promising his +father a copious journal of his travels, with all the required +geographical, statistical, and mercantile remarks. He had seen much on +his journey, he said, and hoped to make a tolerably large manuscript out +of these materials. He did not observe that he was almost in the same +case as he had once experienced before, when he assembled an audience +and lit his lamps to represent a play which was not written, still less +got by heart. Accordingly, so soon as he commenced the actual work of +composition, he became aware that he had much to say about emotions and +thoughts, and many experiences of the heart and spirit, but not a word +concerning outward objects, on which, as he now discovered, he had not +bestowed the least attention. + +In this embarrassment, the acquisitions of his friend Laertes came very +seasonably to his aid. Custom had united these young people, unlike one +another as they were; and Laertes, with all his failings and +singularities, was actually an interesting man. Endowed with warm and +pleasurable senses, he might have reached old age without reflecting for +a moment on his situation. But his ill-fortune and his sickness had +robbed him of the pure feelings of youth, and opened for him instead of +it a view into the transitoriness, the discontinuity, of man's +existence. Hence had arisen a humorous, flighty, rhapsodical way of +thinking about all things, or, rather, of uttering the immediate +impressions they produced on him. He did not like to be alone; he +strolled about all the coffee-houses and _tables-d'hôte_; and, when he +did stay at home, books of travels were his favorite, nay, his only, +kind of reading. Having lately found a large circulating library, he had +been enabled to content his taste in this respect to the full; and +erelong half the world was figuring in his faithful memory. + +It was easy for him, therefore, to speak comfort to his friend, when the +latter had disclosed his utter lack of matter for the narrative so +solemnly promised by him. "Now is the time for a stroke of art," said +Laertes, "that shall have no fellow! + +"Has not Germany been travelled over, cruised over, walked, crept, and +flown over, repeatedly from end to end? And has not every German +traveller the royal privilege of drawing from the public a repayment of +the great or small expenses he may have incurred while travelling? Give +me your route previous to our meeting: the rest I know already. I will +find you helps and sources of information: of miles that were never +measured, populations that were never counted, we shall give them +plenty. The revenues of provinces we will take from almanacs and tables, +which, as all men know, are the most authentic documents. On these we +will ground our political discussions: we shall not fail in side-glances +at the ruling powers. One or two princes we will paint as true fathers +of their country, that we may gain more ready credence in our +allegations against others. If we do not travel through the residence of +any noted man, we shall take care to meet such persons at the inn, and +make them utter the most foolish stuff to us. Particularly, let us not +forget to insert, with all its graces and sentiments, some love-story +with a pastoral bar-maid. I tell you, it shall be a composition which +will not only fill father and mother with delight, but which booksellers +themselves shall gladly pay you current money for." + +They went accordingly to work, and both of them found pleasure in their +labor. Wilhelm, in the mean time, frequenting the play at night, and +conversing with Serlo and Aurelia by day, experienced the greatest +satisfaction, and was daily more and more expanding his ideas, which had +been too long revolving in the same narrow circle. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +It was not without deep interest that he became acquainted with the +history of Serlo's career. Piecemeal he learned it; for it was not the +fashion of that extraordinary man to be confidential, or to speak of any +thing connectively. He had been, one may say, born and suckled in the +theatre. While yet literally an infant, he had been produced upon the +stage to move spectators, merely by his presence; for authors even then +were acquainted with this natural and very guiltless mode of doing so. +Thus his first "Father!" or "Mother!" in favorite pieces, procured him +approbation, before he understood what was meant by that clapping of the +hands. In the character of Cupid, he more than once descended, with +terror, in his flying-gear; as harlequin, he used to issue from the egg; +and, as a little chimney-sweep, to play the sharpest tricks. + +Unhappily, the plaudits of these glancing nights were too bitterly +repaid by sufferings in the intervening seasons. His father was +persuaded that the minds of children could be kept awake and steadfast +by no other means than blows: hence, in the studying of any part, he +used to thrash him at stated periods, not because the boy was awkward, +but that he might become more certainly and constantly expert. It was +thus that in former times, while putting down a landmark, people were +accustomed to bestow a hearty drubbing on the children who had followed +them: and these, it was supposed, would recollect the place exactly to +the latest day of their lives. Serlo waxed in stature, and showed the +finest capabilities of spirit and of body,--in particular, an admirable +pliancy at once in his thoughts, looks, movements, and gestures. His +gift of imitation was beyond belief. When still a boy, he could mimic +persons, so that you would think you saw them; though in form, age, and +disposition, they might be entirely unlike him, and unlike each other. +Nor with all this, did he want the knack of suiting himself to his +circumstances, and picking out his way in life. Accordingly, so soon as +he had grown in some degree acquainted with his strength, he very +naturally eloped from his father, who, as the boy's understanding and +dexterity increased, still thought it needful to forward their +perfection by the harshest treatment. + +Happy was the wild boy, now roaming free about the world, where his +feats of waggery never failed to secure him a good reception. His lucky +star first led him in the Christmas season to a cloister, where the +friar, whose business it had been to arrange processions, and to +entertain the Christian community by spiritual masquerades, having just +died, Serlo was welcomed as a helping angel. On the instant he took up +the part of Gabriel in the Annunciation, and did not by any means +displease the pretty girl, who, acting the Virgin, very gracefully +received his most obliging kiss, with external humility and inward +pride. In their Mysteries, he continued to perform the most important +parts, and thought himself no slender personage, when at last, in the +character of Martyr, he was mocked of the world, and beaten, and fixed +upon the cross. + +Some pagan soldiers had, on this occasion, played their parts a little +_too_ naturally. To be avenged on these heathen in the proper style, he +took care at the Day of Judgment to have them decked out in gaudy +clothes as emperors and kings; and at that moment when they, exceedingly +contented with their situation, were about to take precedence of the +rest in heaven, as they had done on earth, he, on a sudden, rushed upon +them in the shape of the Devil; and to the cordial edification of all +the beggars and spectators, having thoroughly curried them with his +oven-fork, he pushed them without mercy back into the chasm, where, in +the midst of waving flame, they met with the sorriest welcome. + +He was acute enough, however, to perceive that these crowned heads might +feel offended at such bold procedure, and perhaps forget the reverence +due to his privileged office of Accuser and Turnkey. So in all silence, +before the Millennium commenced, he withdrew, and betook him to a +neighboring town. Here a society of persons, denominated Children of +Joy, received him with open arms. They were a set of clever, +strong-headed, lively geniuses, who saw well enough that the sum of our +existence, divided by reason, never gives an integer number, but that a +surprising fraction is always left behind. At stated times, to get rid +of this fraction, which impedes, and, if it is diffused over all the +mass of our conduct, endangers us, was the object of the Children of +Joy. For one day a week each of them in succession was a fool on +purpose; and, during this, he in his turn exhibited to ridicule, in +allegorical representations, whatever folly he had noticed in himself, +or the rest, throughout the other six. This practice might be somewhat +ruder than that constant training, in the course of which a man of +ordinary morals is accustomed to observe, to warn, to punish, himself +daily; but it was also merrier and surer. For as no Child of Joy +concealed his bosom-folly, so he and those about him held it for simply +what it was; whereas, on the other plan, by the help of self-deception, +this same bosom-folly often gains the head authority within, and binds +down reason to a secret servitude, at the very time when reason fondly +hopes that she has long since chased it out of doors. The mask of folly +circulated round in this society; and each member was allowed, in his +particular day, to decorate and characterize it with his own attributes +or those of others. At the time of Carnival, they assumed the greatest +freedom, vying with the clergy in attempts to instruct and entertain the +multitude. Their solemn figurative processions of Virtues and Vices, +Arts and Sciences, Quarters of the World, and Seasons of the Year, +bodied forth a number of conceptions, and gave images of many distant +objects to the people, and hence were not without their use; while, on +the other hand, the mummeries of the priesthood tended but to strengthen +a tasteless superstition, already strong enough. + +Here again young Serlo was altogether in his element. Invention in its +strictest sense, it is true, he had not; but, on the other hand, he had +the most consummate skill in employing what he found before him, in +ordering it, and shadowing it forth. His roguish turns, his gift of +mimicry; his biting wit, which at least one day weekly he might use with +entire freedom, even against his benefactors,--made him precious, or +rather indispensable, to the whole society. + +Yet his restless mind soon drove him from this favorable scene to other +quarters of his country, where other means of instruction awaited him. +He came into the polished, but also barren, part of Germany, where, in +worshipping the good and the beautiful, there is indeed no want of +truth, but frequently a grievous want of spirit. His masks would here do +nothing for him: he had now to aim at working on the heart and mind. For +short periods, he attached himself to small or to extensive companies of +actors, and marked, on these occasions, what were the distinctive +properties, both of the pieces and the players. The monotony which then +reigned on the German theatre, the mawkish sound and cadence of their +Alexandrines, the flat and yet distorted dialogue, the shallowness and +commonness of these undisguised preachers of morality, he was not long +in comprehending, or in seizing, at the same time, what little there was +that moved and pleased. + +Not only single parts in the current pieces, but the pieces themselves, +remained easily and wholly in his memory, and, along with them, the +special tone of any player who had represented them with approbation. At +length, in the course of his rambles, his money being altogether done, +the project struck him of acting entire pieces by himself, especially in +villages and noblemen's houses, and thus in all places making sure at +least of entertainment and lodging. In any tavern, any room, or any +garden, he would accordingly at once set up his theatre: with a roguish +seriousness and a show of enthusiasm, he would contrive to gain the +imaginations of his audience, to deceive their senses, and before their +eyes to make an old press into a tower, or a fan into a dagger. His +youthful warmth supplied the place of deep feeling: his vehemence seemed +strength, and his flattery tenderness. Such of the spectators as already +knew a theatre, he put in mind of all that they had seen and heard: in +the rest he awakened a presentiment of something wonderful, and a wish +to be more acquainted with it. What produced an effect in one place he +did not fail to repeat in others; and his mind overflowed with a wicked +pleasure when, by the same means, on the spur of the moment, he could +make gulls of all the world. + +His spirit was lively, brisk, and unimpeded: by frequently repeating +parts and pieces, he improved very fast. Erelong he could recite and +play with more conformity to the sense than the models whom he had at +first imitated. Proceeding thus, he arrived by degrees at playing +naturally; though he did not cease to feign. He seemed transported, yet +he lay in wait for the effect; and his greatest pride was in moving, by +successive touches, the passions of men. The mad trade he drove did +itself soon force him to proceed with a certain moderation; and thus, +partly by constraint, partly by instinct, he learned the art of which so +few players seemed to have a notion,--the art of being frugal in the use +of voice and gestures. + +Thus did he contrive to tame, and to inspire with interest for him, even +rude and unfriendly men. Being always contented with food and shelter; +thankfully accepting presents of any kind as readily as money, which +latter, when he reckoned that he had enough of it, he frequently +declined,--he became a general favorite, was sent about from one to +another with recommendatory letters; and thus he wandered many a day +from castle to castle, exciting much festivity, enjoying much, and +meeting in his travels with the most agreeable and curious adventures. + +With such inward coldness of temper, he could not properly be said to +love any one; with such clearness of vision, he could respect no one; in +fact, he never looked beyond the external peculiarities of men; and he +merely carried their characters in his mimical collection. Yet withal, +his selfishness was keenly wounded if he did not please every one and +call forth universal applause. How this might be attained, he had +studied in the course of time so accurately, and so sharpened his sense +of the matter, that not only on the stage, but also in common life, he +no longer could do otherwise than flatter and deceive. And thus did his +disposition, his talent, and his way of life, work reciprocally on each +other, till by this means he had imperceptibly been formed into a +perfect actor. Nay, by a mode of action and re-action, which is quite +natural, though it seems paradoxical, his recitation, declamation, and +gesture improved, by critical discernment and practice, to a high degree +of truth, ease, and frankness; while, in his life and intercourse with +men, he seemed to grow continually more secret, artful, or even +hypocritical and constrained. + +Of his fortunes and adventures we perhaps shall speak in another place: +it is enough to remark at present, that in later times, when he had +become a man of circumstance, in possession of a distinct reputation, +and of a very good, though not entirely secure, employment and rank, he +was wont, in conversation, partly in the way of irony, partly of +mockery, in a delicate style, to act the sophist, and thus to destroy +almost all serious discussion. This kind of speech he seemed peculiarly +fond of using towards Wilhelm, particularly when the latter took a +fancy, as often happened, for introducing any of his general and +theoretical disquisitions. Yet still they liked well to be together: +with such different modes of thinking, the conversation could not fail +to be lively. Wilhelm always wished to deduce every thing from abstract +ideas which he had arrived at: he wanted to have art viewed in all its +connections as a whole. He wanted to promulgate and fix down universal +laws; to settle what was right, beautiful, and good: in short, he +treated all things in a serious manner. Serlo, on the other hand, took +up the matter very lightly: never answering directly to any question, he +would contrive, by some anecdote or laughable turn, to give the finest +and most satisfactory illustrations, and thus to instruct his audience +while he made them merry. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +While our friend was in this way living very happily, Melina and the +rest were in quite a different case. Wilhelm they haunted like evil +spirits; and not only by their presence, but frequently by rueful faces +and bitter words, they caused him many a sorry moment. Serlo had not +admitted them to the most trifling part, far less held out to them any +hope of a permanent engagement; and yet he had contrived, by degrees, to +get acquainted with the capabilities of every one of them. Whenever any +actors were assembled in leisure hours about him, he was wont to make +them read, and frequently to read along with them. On such occasions he +took plays which were by and by to be acted, which for a long time had +remained unacted; and generally by portions. In like manner, after any +first representation, he caused such passages to be repeated as he had +any thing to say upon: by which means he sharpened the discernment of +his actors, and strengthened their certainty of hitting the proper +point. And as a person of slender but correct understanding may produce +more agreeable effect on others than a perplexed and unpurified genius, +he would frequently exalt men of mediocre talents, by the clear views +which he imperceptibly afforded them, to a wonderful extent of power. +Nor was it an unimportant item in his scheme, that he likewise had poems +read before him in their meetings; for by these he nourished in his +people the feeling of that charm which a well-pronounced rhythm is +calculated to awaken in the soul: whereas, in other companies, those +prose compositions were already getting introduced for which any tyro +was adequate. + +On occasions such as these, he had contrived to make himself acquainted +with the new-come players: he had decided what they were, and what they +might be, and silently made up his mind to take advantage of their +talents, in a revolution which was now threatening his own company. For +a while he let the matter rest; declined every one of Wilhelm's +intercessions for his comrades, with a shrug of the shoulders; till at +last he saw his time, and altogether unexpectedly made the proposal to +our friend, "that he himself should come upon the stage; that, on this +condition, the others, too, might be admitted." + +"These people must not be so useless as you formerly described them," +answered Wilhelm, "if they can now be all received at once; and I +suppose their talents would remain the same without me as with me." + +Under seal of secrecy, Serlo hereupon explained his situation,--how his +first actor was giving hints about a rise of salary at the renewal of +their contract; how he himself did not incline conceding this, the +rather as the individual in question was no longer in such favor with +the public; how, if he dismissed him, a whole train would follow; +whereby, it was true, his company would lose some good, but likewise +some indifferent, actors. He then showed Wilhelm what he hoped to gain +in him, in Laertes, Old Boisterous, and even Frau Melina. Nay, he +promised to procure for the silly Pedant himself, in the character of +Jew, minister, but chiefly of villain, a decided approbation. + +Wilhelm faltered; the proposal fluttered him; he knew not what to say. +That he might say something, he rejoined, with a deep-drawn breath, "You +speak very graciously about the good you find and hope to find in us; +but how is it with our weak points, which certainly have not escaped +your penetration?" + +"These," said Serlo, "by diligence, practice, and reflection, we shall +soon make strong points. Though you are yet but freshmen and bunglers, +there is not one among you that does not warrant expectation more or +less: for, so far as I can judge, no stick, properly so called, is to +be met with in the company; and your stick is the only person that can +never be improved, never bent or guided, whether it be self-conceit, +stupidity, or hypochondria, that renders him unpliant." + +The manager next stated, in a few words, the terms he meant to offer; +requested Wilhelm to determine soon, and left him in no small +perplexity. + +In the marvellous composition of those travels, which he had at first +engaged with, as it were, in jest, and was now carrying on in +conjunction with Laertes, his mind had by degrees grown more attentive +to the circumstances and the every-day life of the actual world than it +was wont. He now first understood the object of his father in so +earnestly recommending him to keep a journal. He now, for the first +time, felt how pleasant and how useful it might be to become +participator in so many trades and requisitions, and to take a hand in +diffusing activity and life into the deepest nooks of the mountains and +forests of Europe. The busy trading-town in which he was; the unrest of +Laertes, who dragged him about to examine every thing,--afforded him the +most impressive image of a mighty centre, from which every thing was +flowing out, to which every thing was coming back; and it was the first +time that his spirit, in contemplating this species of activity, had +really felt delight. At such a juncture Serlo's offer had been made him; +had again awakened his desires, his tendencies, his faith in a natural +talent, and again brought into mind his solemn obligation to his +helpless comrades. + +"Here standest thou once more," said he within himself, "at the Parting +of the Ways, between the two women who appeared before thee in thy +youth. The one no longer looks so pitiful as then, nor does the other +look so glorious. To obey the one, or to obey the other, thou art not +without a kind of inward calling: outward reasons are on both sides +strong enough, and to decide appears to thee impossible. Thou wishest +some preponderancy from without would fix thy choice; and yet, if thou +consider well, it is external circumstances only that inspire thee with +a wish to trade, to gather, to possess; whilst it is thy inmost want +that has created, that has nourished, the desire still further to unfold +and perfect what endowments soever for the beautiful and good, be they +mental or bodily, may lie within thee. And ought I not to honor Fate, +which, without furtherance of mine, has led me hither to the goal of +all my wishes? Has not all that I, in old times, meditated and forecast, +now happened accidentally, and without my co-operation? Singular enough! +We seem to be so intimate with nothing as we are with our own wishes and +hopes, which have long been kept and cherished in our hearts; yet when +they meet us, when they, as it were, press forward to us, then we know +them not, then we recoil from them. All that, since the hapless night +which severed me from Mariana, I have but allowed myself to dream, now +stands before me, entreating my acceptance. Hither I intended to escape +by flight; hither I am softly guided: with Serlo I meant to seek a +place; he now seeks me, and offers me conditions, which, as a beginner, +I could not have looked for. Was it, then, mere love to Mariana that +bound me to the stage? Or love to art that bound me to her? Was that +prospect, that outlet, which the theatre presented me, nothing but the +project of a restless, disorderly, and disobedient boy, wishing to lead +a life which the customs of the civic world would not admit of? Or was +all this different, worthier, purer? If so, what moved thee to alter the +persuasions of that period? Hast thou not hitherto, even without knowing +it, pursued thy plan? Is not the concluding step still further to be +justified, now that no side-purposes combine with it; now that in making +it thou mayest fulfil a solemn promise, and nobly free thyself from a +heavy debt?" + +All that could affect his heart and his imagination was now moving, and +conflicting in the liveliest strife within him. The thought that he +might retain Mignon, that he should not need to put away the harper, was +not an inconsiderable item in the balance, which, however, had not +ceased to waver to the one and to the other side, when he went, as he +was wont, to see his friend Aurelia. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +She was lying on the sofa: she seemed quiet. "Do you think you will be +fit to act to-morrow?" he inquired. "Oh, yes!" cried she with vivacity: +"you know there is nothing to prevent me. If I but knew a way," +continued she, "to rid myself of those applauses! The people mean it +well, but they will kill me. Last night I thought my very heart would +break! Once, when I used to please myself, I could endure this gladly: +when I had studied long, and well prepared myself, it gave me joy to +hear the sound, 'It has succeeded!' pealing back to me from every +corner. But now I speak not what I like, nor as I like; I am swept +along, I get confused, I scarce know what I do; and the impression I +make is far deeper. The applause grows louder; and I think, Did you but +know what charms you! These dark, vague, vehement tones of passion move +you, force you to admire; and you feel not that they are the cries of +agony, wrung from the miserable being whom you praise. + +"I learned my part this morning: just now I have been repeating it and +trying it. I am tired, broken down; and to-morrow I must do the same. +To-morrow evening is the play. Thus do I drag myself to and fro: it is +wearisome to rise, it is wearisome to go to bed. All moves within me in +an everlasting circle. Then come their dreary consolations, and present +themselves before me; and I cast them out, and execrate them. I will not +surrender, not surrender to necessity: why should that be necessary +which crushes me to the dust? Might it not be otherwise? I am paying the +penalty of being born a German: it is the nature of the Germans, that +they bear heavily on every thing, that every thing bears heavily on +them." + +"O my friend!" cried Wilhelm, "could you cease to whet the dagger +wherewith you are ever wounding me! Does nothing, then, remain for you? +Are your youth, your form, your health, your talents, nothing? Having +lost one blessing, without blame of yours, must you throw all the others +after it? Is that also necessary?" + +She was silent for a few moments, and then burst forth, "I know well, it +is a waste of time, nothing but a waste of time, this love! What might +not, should not, I have done! And now it is all vanished into air. I am +a poor, wretched, lovelorn creature,--lovelorn, that is all! Oh, have +compassion on me! God knows I am poor and wretched!" + +She sank in thought: then, after a brief pause, she exclaimed with +violence, "You are accustomed to have all things fly into your arms. No: +you cannot feel, no man is qualified to feel, the worth of a woman that +can reverence herself. By all the holy angels, by all the images of +blessedness, which a pure and kindly heart creates, there is not any +thing more heavenly than the soul of a woman giving herself to the man +she loves! + +"We are cold, proud, high, clear-sighted, wise, while we deserve the +name of women; and all these qualities we lay down at your feet, the +instant that we love, that we hope to excite a return of love. Oh, how +have I cast away my whole existence wittingly and willingly! But now +will I despair, purposely despair. There is no drop of blood within me +but shall suffer, no fibre that I will not punish. Smile, I pray you; +laugh at this theatrical display of passion." + +Wilhelm was far enough from any tendency to laugh. This horrible, +half-natural, half-factitious condition of his friend afflicted him but +too deeply. He sympathized in the tortures of that racking misery: his +thoughts were wandering in painful perplexities, his blood was in a +feverish tumult. + +She had risen, and was walking up and down the room. "I see before me," +she exclaimed, "all manner of reasons why I should not love him. I know +he is not worthy of it; I turn my mind aside, this way and that; I seize +upon whatever business I can find. At one time I take up a part, though +I have not to play it; at another, I begin to practise old ones, though +I know them through and through; I practise them more diligently, more +minutely,--I toil and toil at them. My friend, my confidant, what a +horrid task is it to tear away one's thoughts from one's self! My reason +suffers, my brain is racked and strained: to save myself from madness, I +again admit the feeling that I love him. Yes, I love him, I love him!" +cried she, with a shower of tears: "I love him, I shall die loving him!" + +He took her by the hand, and entreated her in the most earnest manner +not to waste herself in such self-torments. "Oh! it seems hard," said +he, "that not only so much that is impossible should be denied us, but +so much also that is possible! It was not your lot to meet with a +faithful heart that would have formed your perfect happiness. It was +mine to fix the welfare of my life upon a hapless creature, whom, by the +weight of my fidelity, I drew to the bottom like a reed, perhaps even +broke in pieces!" + +He had told Aurelia of his intercourse with Mariana, and could therefore +now refer to it. She looked him intently in the face, and asked, "Can +you say that you never yet betrayed a woman, that you never tried with +thoughtless gallantry, with false asseverations, with cajoling oaths, to +wheedle favor from her?" + +"I can," said Wilhelm, "and indeed without much vanity: my life has +been so simple and sequestered, I have had but few enticements to +attempt such things. And what a warning, my beautiful, my noble, friend, +is this melancholy state in which I see you! Accept of me a vow, which +is suited to my heart; which, under the emotion you have caused me, has +settled into words and shape, and will be hallowed by the hour in which +I utter it. Each transitory inclination I will study to withstand, and +even the most earnest I will keep within my bosom: no woman shall +receive an acknowledgment of love from my lips to whom I cannot +consecrate my life!" + +She looked at him with a wild indifference, and drew back some steps as +he offered her his hand. "'Tis of no moment!" cried she: "so many +women's tears, more or fewer; the ocean will not swell by reason of +them. And yet," continued she, "among thousands, one woman saved; that +still is something: among thousands, one honest man discovered; this is +not to be refused. Do you know, then, what you promise?" + +"I know it," answered Wilhelm, with a smile, and holding out his hand. + +"I accept it, then," said she, and made a movement with her right hand, +as if meaning to take hold of his; but instantly she darted it into her +pocket, pulled out her dagger quick as lightning, and scored with the +edge and point of it across his hand. He hastily drew it back, but the +blood was already running down. + +"One must mark you men rather sharply, if one would have you take heed," +cried she, with a wild mirth, which soon passed into a quick assiduity. +She took her handkerchief, and bound his hand with it to stanch the +fast-flowing blood. "Forgive a half-crazed being," cried she, "and +regret not these few drops of blood. I am appeased. I am again myself. +On my knees will I crave your pardon: leave me the comfort of healing +you." + +She ran to her drawer, brought lint, with other apparatus, stanched the +blood, and viewed the wound attentively. It went across the palm, close +under the thumb, dividing the life-line, and running towards the little +finger. She bound it up in silence, with a significant, reflective look. +He asked, once or twice, "Aurelia, how could you hurt your friend?" + +"Hush!" replied she, laying her finger on her mouth: "Hush!" + + + + +BOOK V. + +CHAPTER I. + + +Thus Wilhelm, to his pair of former wounds, which were yet scarcely +healed, had now got the accession of a third, which was fresh and not a +little disagreeable. Aurelia would not suffer him to call a surgeon: she +dressed the hand with all manner of strange speeches, saws, and +ceremonies, and so placed him in a very painful situation. Yet not he +alone, but all persons who came near her, suffered by her restlessness +and singularity, and no one more than little Felix. This stirring child +was exceedingly impatient under such oppression, and showed himself +still naughtier the more she censured and instructed him. + +He delighted in some practices which commonly are thought bad habits, +and in which she would not by any means indulge him. He would drink, for +example, rather from the bottle than the glass; and his food seemed +visibly to have a better relish when eaten from the bowl than from the +plate. Such ill-breeding was not overlooked: if he left the door +standing open, or slammed it to; if, when bid do any thing, he stood +stock-still, or ran off violently,--he was sure to have a long lecture +inflicted on him for the fault. Yet he showed no symptoms of improvement +from this training: on the other hand, his affection for Aurelia seemed +daily to diminish; there was nothing tender in his tone when he called +her mother; whereas he passionately clung to the old nurse, who let him +have his will in every thing. + +But she likewise had of late become so sick, that they had at last been +obliged to take her from the house into a quiet lodging; and Felix would +have been entirely alone if Mignon had not, like a kindly guardian +spirit, come to help him. The two children talked together, and amused +each other in the prettiest style. She taught him little songs; and he, +having an excellent memory, frequently recited them, to the surprise of +those about him. She attempted also to explain her maps to him. With +these she was still very busy, though she did not seem to take the +fittest method. For, in studying countries, she appeared to care little +about any other point than whether they were cold or warm. Of the north +and south poles, of the horrid ice which reigns there, and of the +increasing heat the farther one retires from them, she could give a very +clear account. When any one was travelling, she merely asked whether he +was going northward or southward, and strove to find his route in her +little charts. Especially when Wilhelm spoke of travelling, she was all +attention, and seemed vexed when any thing occurred to change the +subject. Though she could not be prevailed upon to undertake a part, or +even to enter the theatre when any play was acting, yet she willingly +and zealously committed many odes and songs to memory; and by +unexpectedly, and, as it were, on the spur of the moment, reciting some +such poem, generally of the earnest and solemn kind, she would often +cause astonishment in every one. + +Serlo, accustomed to regard with favor every trace of opening talent, +encouraged her in such performances; but what pleased him most in Mignon +was her sprightly, various, and often even mirthful, singing. By means +of a similar gift, the harper likewise had acquired his favor. + +Without himself possessing genius for music, or playing on any +instrument, Serlo could rightly prize the value of the art: he failed +not, as often as he could, to enjoy this pleasure, which cannot be +compared with any other. He held a concert once a week; and now, with +Mignon, the harper, and Laertes, who was not unskilful on the violin, he +had formed a very curious domestic band. + +He was wont to say, "Men are so inclined to content themselves with what +is commonest; the spirit and the senses so easily grow dead to the +impressions of the beautiful and perfect,--that every one should study, +by all methods, to nourish in his mind the faculty of feeling these +things. For no man can bear to be entirely deprived of such enjoyments: +it is only because they are not used to taste of what is excellent that +the generality of people take delight in silly and insipid things, +provided they be new. For this reason," he would add, "one ought, every +day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine +picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." +With such a turn of thought in Serlo, which in some degree was natural +to him, the persons who frequented his society could scarcely be in +want of pleasant conversation. + +It was in the midst of these instructive entertainments, that Wilhelm +one day received a letter sealed in black. Werner's hand betokened +mournful news; and our friend was not a little shocked when, opening the +sheet, he found it to contain the tidings of his father's death, +conveyed in a very few words. After a short and sudden illness, he had +parted from the world, leaving his domestic affairs in the best possible +order. + +This unlooked-for intelligence struck Wilhelm to the heart. He deeply +felt how careless and negligent we often are of friends and relations +while they inhabit with us this terrestrial sojourn; and how we first +repent of our insensibility when the fair union, at least for this side +of time, is finally cut asunder. His grief for the early death of this +honest parent was mitigated only by the feeling that he had loved but +little in the world, and the conviction that he had enjoyed but little. + +Wilhelm's thoughts soon turned to his own predicament, and he felt +himself extremely discomposed. A person can scarcely be put into a more +dangerous position, than when external circumstances have produced some +striking change in his condition, without his manner of feeling and of +thinking having undergone any preparation for it. There is, then, an +epoch without epoch; and the contradiction which arises is the greater +the less the person feels that he is not trained for this new manner of +existence. + +Wilhelm saw himself in freedom, at a moment when he could not yet be at +one with himself. His thoughts were noble, his motives pure, his +purposes were not to be despised. All this he could, with some degree of +confidence, acknowledge to himself: but he had of late been frequently +enough compelled to notice, that experience was sadly wanting to him; +and hence, on the experience of others, and on the results which they +deduced from it, he put a value far beyond its real one, and thus led +himself still deeper into error. What he wanted, he conceived he might +most readily acquire if he undertook to collect and retain whatever +memorable thought he should meet with in reading or in conversation. He +accordingly recorded his own or other men's opinions, nay, wrote whole +dialogues, when they chanced to interest him. But unhappily by this +means he held fast the false no less firmly than the true; he dwelt far +too long on one idea, particularly when it was of an aphoristic shape; +and thus he left his natural mode of thought and action, and frequently +took foreign lights for his loadstars. Aurelia's bitterness, and +Laertes's cold contempt for men, warped his judgment oftener than they +should have done: but no one, in his present case, would have been so +dangerous as Jarno, a man whose clear intellect could form a just and +rigorous decision about present things, but who erred, withal, in +enunciating these particular decisions with a kind of universal +application; whereas, in truth, the judgments of the understanding are +properly of force but once, and that in the strictest cases, and become +inaccurate in some degree when applied to any other. + +Thus Wilhelm, striving to become consistent with himself, was deviating +farther and farther from wholesome consistency; and this confusion made +it easier for his passions to employ their whole artillery against him, +and thus still farther to perplex his views of duty. + +Serlo did not fail to take advantage of the late tidings; and in truth +he daily had more reason to be anxious about some fresh arrangement of +his people. Either he must soon renew his old contracts,--a measure he +was not specially fond of; for several of his actors, who reckoned +themselves indispensable, were growing more and more arrogant,--or else +he must entirely new-model and re-form his company; which plan he looked +upon as preferable. + +Though he did not personally importune our friend, he set Aurelia and +Philina on him; and the other wanderers, longing for some kind of +settlement, on their side, gave Wilhelm not a moment's rest; so that he +stood hesitating in his choice, in no slight embarrassment till he +should decide. Who would have thought that a letter of Werner's, written +with quite different views, should have forced him on resolving? We +shall omit the introduction, and give the rest of it with little +alteration. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +"It was, therefore, and it always must be, right for every one, on any +opportunity, to follow his vocation and exhibit his activity. Scarcely +had the good old man been gone a quarter of an hour, when every thing in +the house began moving by a different plan than his. Friends, +acquaintances, relations, crowded forward, especially all sorts of +people who on such occasions use to gain any thing. They fetched and +carried, they counted, wrote, and reckoned; some brought wine and meat, +others ate and drank; and none seemed busier than the women getting out +the mournings. + +"Such being the case, thou wilt not blame me, that, in this emergency, I +likewise thought of _my_ advantage. I made myself as active, and as +helpful to thy sister, as I could, and, so soon as it was any way +decorous, signified to her that it had now become our business to +accelerate a union which our parents, in their too great circumspection, +had hitherto postponed. + +"Do not suppose, however, that it came into our heads to take possession +of that monstrous empty house. We are more modest and more rational. +Thou shalt hear our plan: thy sister, so soon as we are married, comes +to our house; and thy mother comes along with her. 'How can that be?' +thou wilt say: 'you have scarcely room for yourselves in that hampered +nest.' There lies the art of it, my friend. Good packing renders all +things possible: thou wouldst not believe what space one finds when one +desires to occupy but little. The large house we shall sell,--an +opportunity occurs for this; and the money we shall draw for it will +produce a hundred-fold. + +"I hope this meets thy views: I hope also thou hast not inherited the +smallest particle of those unprofitable tastes for which thy father and +thy grandfather were noted. The latter placed his greatest happiness in +having about him a multitude of dull-looking works of art, which no one, +I may well say no one, could enjoy with him: the former lived in a +stately pomp, which he suffered no one to enjoy with him. We mean to +manage otherwise, and we expect thy approbation. + +"It is true, I myself in all the house have no place whatever but the +stool before my writing-desk; and I see not clearly where they will be +able to put a cradle down: but, in return, the room we shall have out of +doors will be the more abundant. Coffee-houses and clubs for the +husband, walks and drives for the wife, and pleasant country jaunts for +both. But the chief advantage in our plan is, that, the round table +being now completely filled, our father cannot ask his friends to +dinner, who, the more he strove to entertain them, used to laugh at him +the more. + +"Now no superfluity for us! Not too much furniture and apparatus; no +coach, no horses! Nothing but money, and the liberty, day after day, to +do what you like in reason. No wardrobe; still the best and newest on +your back: the man may wear his coat till it is done; the wife may truck +her gown, the moment it is going out of fashion. There is nothing so +unsufferable to me as an old huckster's shop of property. If you would +offer me a jewel, on condition of my wearing it daily on my finger, I +would not accept it; for how can one conceive any pleasure in a dead +capital? This, then, is my confession of faith: To transact your +business, to make money, to be merry with your household; and about the +rest of the earth to trouble yourself no farther than where you can be +of service to it. + +"But ere now thou art saying, 'And, pray, what is to be done with me in +this sage plan of yours? Where shall I find shelter when you have sold +my own house, and not the smallest room remains in yours?' + +"This is, in truth, the main point, brother; and in this, too, I shall +have it in my power to serve thee. But first I must present the just +tribute of my praise for time so spent as thine has been. + +"Tell me, how hast thou within a few weeks become so skilled in every +useful, interesting object? Highly as I thought of thy powers, I did not +reckon such attention and such diligence among the number. Thy journal +shows us with what profit thou art travelling. The description of the +iron and the copper forges is exquisite: it evinces a complete knowledge +of the subject. I myself was once there; but my relation, compared with +this, has but a very bungled look. The whole letter on the linen-trade +is full of information: the remarks on commercial competition are at +once just and striking. In one or two places, there are errors in +addition, which indeed are very pardonable. + +"But what most delights my father and myself, is thy thorough knowledge +of husbandry, and the improvement of landed property. We have thoughts +of purchasing a large estate, at present under sequestration, in a very +fruitful district. For paying it, we mean to use the money realized by +the sale of the house; another portion we shall borrow; a portion may +remain unpaid. And we count on thee for going thither, and +superintending the improvement of it; by which means, before many years +are passed, the land, to speak in moderation, will have risen above a +third in value. We shall then bring it to the market again, seek out a +larger piece, improve and trade as formerly. For all this thou art the +man. Our pens, meanwhile, will not lie idle here; and so by and by we +shall rise to be enviable people. + +"For the present, fare thee well! Enjoy life on thy journey, and turn +thy face wherever thou canst find contentment and advantage. For the +next half-year we shall not need thee; thou canst look about thee in the +world as thou pleasest: a judicious person finds his best instruction in +his travels. Farewell! I rejoice at being connected with thee so closely +by relation, and now united with thee in the spirit of activity." + + * * * * * + +Well as this letter might be penned, and full of economical truths as it +was, Wilhelm felt displeased with it for more than one reason. The +praise bestowed on him for his pretended statistical, technological, and +rural knowledge was a silent reprimand. The ideal of the happiness of +civic life, which his worthy brother sketched, by no means charmed him: +on the contrary, a secret spirit of contradiction dragged him forcibly +the other way. He convinced himself, that, except on the stage, he could +nowhere find that mental culture which he longed to give himself: he +seemed to grow the more decided in his resolution, the more strongly +Werner, without knowing it, opposed him. Thus assailed, he collected all +his arguments together, and buttressed his opinions in his mind the more +carefully, the more desirable he reckoned it to show them in a favorable +light to Werner; and in this manner he produced an answer, which also we +insert. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +"Thy letter is so well written, and so prudently and wisely conceived, +that no objection can be made to it. Only thou must pardon me, when I +declare that one may think, maintain, and do directly the reverse, and +yet be in the right as well as thou. Thy mode of being and imagining +appears to turn on boundless acquisition, and a light, mirthful manner +of enjoyment: I need scarcely tell thee, that in all this I find little +that can charm me. + +"First, however, I am sorry to admit, that my journal is none of mine. +Under the pressure of necessity, and to satisfy my father, it was +patched together by a friend's help, out of many books: and though in +words I know the objects it relates to, and more of the like sort, I by +no means understand them, or can occupy myself about them. What good +were it for me to manufacture perfect iron while my own breast is full +of dross? What would it stead me to put properties of land in order, +while I am at variance with myself? + +"To speak it in a word, the cultivation of my individual self, here as I +am, has from my youth upwards been constantly though dimly my wish and +my purpose. The same intention I still cherish, but the means of +realizing it are now grown somewhat clearer. I have seen more of life +than thou believest, and profited more by it also. Give some attention, +then, to what I say, though it should not altogether tally with thy own +opinions. + +"Had I been a nobleman, our dispute would soon have been decided; but, +being a simple burgher, I must take a path of my own: and I fear it may +be difficult to make thee understand me. I know not how it is in foreign +countries, but in Germany, a universal, and, if I may say so, personal, +cultivation is beyond the reach of any one except a nobleman. A burgher +may acquire merit; by excessive efforts he may even educate his mind; +but his personal qualities are lost, or worse than lost, let him +struggle as he will. Since the nobleman, frequenting the society of the +most polished, is compelled to give himself a polished manner; since +this manner, neither door nor gate being shut against him, grows at last +an unconstrained one; since, in court or camp, his figure, his person, +are a part of his possessions, and, it may be, the most necessary +part,--he has reason enough to put some value on them, and to show that +he puts some. A certain stately grace in common things, a sort of gay +elegance in earnest and important ones, becomes him well; for it shows +him to be everywhere in equilibrium. He is a public person; and the more +cultivated his movements, the more sonorous his voice, the more staid +and measured his whole being is, the more perfect is he. If to high and +low, to friends and relations, he continues still the same, then nothing +can be said against him, none may wish him otherwise. His coldness must +be reckoned clearness of head, his dissimulation prudence. If he can +rule himself externally at every moment of his life, no man has aught +more to demand of him; and, whatever else there may be in him or about +him, capacities, talents, wealth, all seem gifts of supererogation. + +"Now, imagine any burgher offering ever to pretend to these advantages, +he will utterly fail, and the more completely, the greater inclination +and the more endowments nature may have given him for that mode of +being. + +"Since, in common life, the nobleman is hampered by no limits; since +kings, or kinglike figures, do not differ from him,--he can everywhere +advance with a silent consciousness, as if before his equals: everywhere +he is entitled to press forward, whereas nothing more beseems the +burgher than the quiet feeling of the limits that are drawn round him. +The burgher may not ask himself, 'What art thou?' He can only ask, 'What +hast thou? What discernment, knowledge, talent, wealth?' If the +nobleman, merely by his personal carriage, offers all that can be asked +of him, the burgher by his personal carriage offers nothing, and can +offer nothing. The former has a right to _seem_: the latter is compelled +to _be_, and what he aims at seeming becomes ludicrous and tasteless. +The former does and makes, the latter but effects and procures; he must +cultivate some single gifts in order to be useful; and it is beforehand +settled, that, in his manner of existence, there is no harmony, and can +be none, since he is bound to make himself of use in one department, and +so has to relinquish all the others. + +"Perhaps the reason of this difference is not the usurpation of the +nobles, and the submission of the burghers, but the constitution of +society itself. Whether it will ever alter, and how, is to me of small +importance: my present business is to meet my own case, as matters +actually stand; to consider by what means I may save myself, and reach +the object which I cannot live in peace without. + +"Now, this harmonious cultivation of my nature, which has been denied me +by birth, is exactly what I most long for. Since leaving thee, I have +gained much by voluntary practice: I have laid aside much of my wonted +embarrassment, and can bear myself in very tolerable style. My speech +and voice I have likewise been attending to; and I may say, without much +vanity, that in society I do not cause displeasure. But I will not +conceal from thee, that my inclination to become a public person, and to +please and influence in a larger circle, is daily growing more +insuperable. With this, there is combined my love for poetry and all +that is related to it; and the necessity I feel to cultivate my mental +faculties and tastes, that so, in this enjoyment henceforth +indispensable, I may esteem as good the good alone, as beautiful the +beautiful alone. Thou seest well, that for me all this is nowhere to be +met with except upon the stage; that in this element alone can I effect +and cultivate myself according to my wishes. On the boards a polished +man appears in his splendor with personal accomplishments, just as he +does so in the upper classes of society; body and spirit must advance +with equal steps in all his studies; and there I shall have it in my +power at once to be and seem as well as anywhere. If I further long for +solid occupations, we have there mechanical vexations in abundance: I +may give my patience daily exercise. + +"Dispute not with me on this subject; for, ere thou writest, the step is +taken. In compliance with the ruling prejudices, I will change my name; +as, indeed, that of Meister, or Master, does not suit me. Farewell! Our +fortune is in good hands: on that subject I shall not disturb myself. +What I need I will, as occasion calls, require from thee: it will not be +much, for I hope my art will be sufficient to maintain me." + + * * * * * + +Scarcely was the letter sent away, when our friend made good his words. +To the great surprise of Serlo and the rest, he at once declared that he +was ready to become an actor, and bind himself by a contract on +reasonable terms. With regard to these they were soon agreed; for Serlo +had before made offers, with which Wilhelm and his comrades had good +reason to be satisfied. The whole of that unlucky company, wherewith we +have had so long to occupy ourselves, was now at once received; and, +except perhaps Laertes, not a member of it showed the smallest +thankfulness to Wilhelm. As they had entreated without confidence, so +they accepted without gratitude. Most of them preferred ascribing their +appointment to the influence of Philina, and directed their thanks to +her. Meanwhile the contracts had been written out, and were now +a-signing. At the moment when our friend was subscribing his assumed +designation, by some inexplicable concatenation of ideas, there arose +before his mind's eye the image of that green in the forest where he lay +wounded in Philina's lap. The lovely Amazon came riding on her gray +palfrey from the bushes of the wood: she approached him and dismounted. +Her humane anxiety made her come and go: at length she stood before him. +The white surtout fell down from her shoulders: her countenance, her +form, began to glance in radiance: and she vanished from his sight. He +wrote his name mechanically only, not knowing what he did, and felt not, +till after he had signed, that Mignon was standing at his side, was +holding by his arm, and had softly tried to stop him, and pull back his +hand. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +One of the conditions under which our friend had gone upon the stage was +not acceded to by Serlo without some limitations. Wilhelm had required +that "Hamlet" should be played entire and unmutilated: the other had +agreed to this strange stipulation, in so far as it was _possible_. On +this point they had many a contest; for as to what was possible or not +possible, and what parts of the piece could be omitted without +mutilating it, the two were of very different opinions. + +Wilhelm was still in that happy season when one cannot understand how, +in the woman one loves, in the writer one honors, there should be any +thing defective. The feeling they excite in us is so entire, so +accordant with itself, that we cannot help attributing the same perfect +harmony to the objects themselves. Serlo again was willing to +discriminate, perhaps too willing: his acute understanding could usually +discern in any work of art nothing but a more or less imperfect whole. +He thought, that as pieces usually stood, there was little reason to be +chary about meddling with them; that of course Shakspeare, and +particularly "Hamlet," would need to suffer much curtailment. + +But, when Serlo talked of separating the wheat from the chaff, Wilhelm +would not hear of it. "It is not chaff and wheat together," said he: "it +is a trunk with boughs, twigs, leaves, buds, blossoms, and fruit. Is not +the one there with the others, and by means of them?" To which Serlo +would reply, that people did not bring a whole tree upon the table; that +the artist was required to present his guests with silver apples in +platters of silver. They exhausted their invention in similitudes, and +their opinions seemed still farther to diverge. + +Our friend was on the borders of despair, when on one occasion, after +much debating, Serlo counselled him to take the simple plan,--to make a +brief resolution, to grasp his pen, to peruse the tragedy; dashing out +whatever would not answer, compressing several personages into one: and +if he was not skilled in such proceedings, or had not heart enough for +going through with them, he might leave the task to him, the manager, +who would engage to make short work with it. + +"That is not our bargain," answered Wilhelm. "How can you, with all your +taste, show so much levity?" + +"My friend," cried Serlo, "you yourself will erelong feel it and show +it. I know too well how shocking such a mode of treating works is: +perhaps it never was allowed on any theatre till now. But where, indeed, +was ever one so slighted as ours? Authors force us on this wretched +clipping system, and the public tolerates it. How many pieces have we, +pray, which do not overstep the measure of our numbers, of our +decorations and theatrical machinery, of the proper time, of the fit +alternation of dialogue, and the physical strength of the actor? And yet +we are to play, and play, and constantly give novelties. Ought we not to +profit by our privilege, then, since we accomplish just as much by +mutilated works as by entire ones? It is the public itself that grants +the privilege. Few Germans, perhaps few men of any modern nation, have a +proper sense of an æsthetic whole:--they praise and blame by passages; +they are charmed by passages; and who has greater reason to rejoice at +this than actors, since the stage is ever but a patched and piece-work +matter?" + +"Is!" cried Wilhelm; "but _must_ it ever be so? Must every thing that is +continue? Convince me not that you are right, for no power on earth +should force me to abide by any contract which I had concluded with the +grossest misconceptions." + +Serlo gave a merry turn to the business, and persuaded Wilhelm to review +once more the many conversations they had had together about "Hamlet," +and himself to invent some means of properly re-forming the piece. + +After a few days, which he had spent alone, our friend returned with a +cheerful look. "I am much mistaken," cried he, "if I have not now +discovered how the whole is to be managed: nay, I am convinced that +Shakspeare himself would have arranged it so, had not his mind been too +exclusively directed to the ruling interest, and perhaps misled by the +novels which furnished him with his materials." + +"Let us hear," said Serlo, placing himself with an air of solemnity upon +the sofa: "I will listen calmly, but judge with rigor." + +"I am not afraid of you," said Wilhelm: "only hear me. In the +composition of this play, after the most accurate investigation and the +most mature reflection, I distinguish two classes of objects. The first +are the grand internal relations of the persons and events, the powerful +effects which arise from the characters and proceedings of the main +figures: these, I hold, are individually excellent; and the order in +which they are presented cannot be improved. No kind of interference +must be suffered to destroy them, or even essentially to change their +form. These are the things which stamp themselves deep into the soul, +which all men long to see, which no one dares to meddle with. +Accordingly, I understand, they have almost wholly been retained in all +our German theatres. But our countrymen have erred, in my opinion, with +regard to the second class of objects, which may be observed in this +tragedy: I allude to the external relations of the persons, whereby they +are brought from place to place, or combined in various ways, by certain +accidental incidents. These they have looked upon as very unimportant; +have spoken of them only in passing, or left them out altogether. Now, +indeed, it must be owned, these threads are slack and slender; yet they +run through the entire piece, and bind together much that would +otherwise fall asunder, and does actually fall asunder, when you cut +them off, and imagine you have done enough and more, if you have left +the ends hanging. + +"Among these external relations I include the disturbances in Norway, +the war with young Fortinbras, the embassy to his uncle, the settling of +that feud, the march of young Fortinbras to Poland, and his coming back +at the end; of the same sort are Horatio's return from Wittenberg, +Hamlet's wish to go thither, the journey of Laertes to France, his +return, the despatch of Hamlet into England, his capture by pirates, the +death of the two courtiers by the letter which they carried. All these +circumstances and events would be very fit for expanding and lengthening +a novel; but here they injure exceedingly the unity of the piece, +particularly as the hero has no plan, and are, in consequence, entirely +out of place." + +"For once in the right!" cried Serlo. + +"Do not interrupt me," answered Wilhelm: "perhaps you will not always +think me right. These errors are like temporary props of an edifice: +they must not be removed till we have built a firm wall in their stead. +My project, therefore, is, not at all to change those first-mentioned +grand situations, or at least as much as possible to spare them, both +collectively and individually; but with respect to these external, +single, dissipated, and dissipating motives, to cast them all at once +away, and substitute a solitary one instead of them." + +"And this?" inquired Serlo, springing up from his recumbent posture. + +"It lies in the piece itself," answered Wilhelm, "only I employ it +rightly. There are disturbances in Norway. You shall hear my plan, and +try it." + +"After the death of Hamlet the father, the Norwegians, lately conquered, +grow unruly. The viceroy of that country sends his son, Horatio, an old +school-friend of Hamlet's, and distinguished above every other for his +bravery and prudence, to Denmark, to press forward the equipment of the +fleet, which, under the new luxurious king, proceeds but slowly. Horatio +has known the former king, having fought in his battles, having even +stood in favor with him,--a circumstance by which the first ghost-scene +will be nothing injured. The new sovereign gives Horatio audience, and +sends Laertes into Norway with intelligence that the fleet will soon +arrive; whilst Horatio is commissioned to accelerate the preparation of +it: and the Queen, on the other hand, will not consent that Hamlet, as +he wishes, should go to sea along with him." + +"Heaven be praised!" cried Serlo: "we shall now get rid of Wittenberg +and the university, which was always a sorry piece of business. I think +your idea extremely good; for, except these two distant objects, Norway +and the fleet, the spectator will not be required to _fancy_ any thing: +the rest he will _see_; the rest takes place before him; whereas, his +imagination, on the other plan, was hunted over all the world." + +"You easily perceive," said Wilhelm, "how I shall contrive to keep the +other parts together. When Hamlet tells Horatio of his uncle's crime, +Horatio counsels him to go to Norway in his company, to secure the +affections of the army, and return in warlike force. Hamlet also is +becoming dangerous to the King and Queen; they find no readier method of +deliverance, than to send him in the fleet, with Rosencrantz and +Guildenstern to be spies upon him; and, as Laertes in the mean time +comes from France, they determine that this youth, exasperated even to +murder, shall go after him. Unfavorable winds detain the fleet: Hamlet +returns; for his wandering through the churchyard, perhaps some lucky +motive may be thought of; his meeting with Laertes in Ophelia's grave is +a grand moment, which we must not part with. After this, the King +resolves that it is better to get quit of Hamlet on the spot: the +festival of his departure, the pretended reconcilement with Laertes, are +now solemnized; on which occasion knightly sports are held, and Laertes +fights with Hamlet. Without the four corpses, I cannot end the play: no +one must survive. The right of popular election now again comes in +force; and Hamlet, while dying, gives his vote to Horatio." + +"Quick! quick!" said Serlo, "sit down and work the play: your plan has +my entire approbation; only let not your zeal evaporate." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Wilhelm had already been for some time busied with translating "Hamlet;" +making use, as he labored, of Wieland's spirited performance, through +which he had first become acquainted with Shakspeare. What had been +omitted in Wieland's work he replaced, and had secured a complete +version, at the very time when Serlo and he were pretty well agreed +about the way of treating it. He now began, according to his plan, to +cut out and insert, to separate and unite, to alter, and often to +restore; for, satisfied as he was with his own conception, it still +appeared to him as if, in executing it, he were but spoiling the +original. + +When all was finished, he read his work to Serlo and the rest. They +declared themselves exceedingly contented with it: Serlo, in particular, +made many flattering observations. + +"You have felt very justly," said he, among other things, "that some +external circumstances must accompany this play, but that they must be +simpler than those which the great poet has employed. What takes place +without the theatre, what the spectator does not see, but must imagine, +is like a background, in front of which the acting figures move. Your +large and simple prospect of the fleet and Norway will do much to +improve the play; if this were altogether taken from it, we should have +but a family scene remaining; and the great idea, that here a kingly +house, by internal crimes and incongruities, goes down to ruin, would +not be presented with its proper dignity. But if the former background +were left standing, so manifold, so fluctuating and confused, it would +hurt the impression of the figures." + +Wilhelm again took Shakspeare's part; alleging that he wrote for +islanders, for Englishmen, who generally, in the distance, were +accustomed to see little else than ships and voyages, the coast of +France and privateers; and thus what perplexed and distracted others was +to them quite natural. + +Serlo assented; and both were of opinion, that, as the play was now to +be produced upon the German stage, this more serious and simple +background was the best adapted for the German mind. + +The parts had been distributed before: Serlo undertook Polonius; +Aurelia, Ophelia; Laertes was already designated by his name; a young, +thick-set, jolly new-comer was to be Horatio; the King and Ghost alone +occasioned some perplexity, for both of these no one but Old Boisterous +remaining. Serlo proposed to make the Pedant, King; but against this our +friend protested in the strongest terms. They could resolve on nothing. + +Wilhelm had also allowed both Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to continue +in his play. "Why not compress them into one?" said Serlo. "This +abbreviation will not cost you much." + +"Heaven keep me from all such curtailments!" answered Wilhelm: "they +destroy at once the sense and the effect. What these two persons are and +do it is impossible to represent by one. In such small matters we +discover Shakspeare's greatness. These soft approaches, this smirking +and bowing, this assenting, wheedling, flattering, this whisking +agility, this wagging of the tail, this allness and emptiness, this +legal knavery, this ineptitude and insipidity,--how can they be +expressed by a single man? There ought to be at least a dozen of these +people, if they could be had; for it is only in society that they are +any thing; they are society itself; and Shakspeare showed no little +wisdom and discernment in bringing in a pair of them. Besides, I need +them as a couple that may be contrasted with the single, noble, +excellent Horatio." + +"I understand you," answered Serlo, "and we can arrange it. One of them +we shall hand over to Elmira, Old Boisterous's eldest daughter: it will +all be right, if they look well enough; and I will deck and trim the +puppets so that it shall be first-rate fun to behold them." + +Philina was rejoicing not a little, that she had to act the Duchess in +the small subordinate play. "I will show it so natural," cried she, "how +you wed a second husband, without loss of time, when you have loved the +first immensely. I mean to win the loudest plaudits, and every man shall +wish to be the third." + +Aurelia gave a frown: her spleen against Philina was increasing every +day. + +"'Tis a pity, I declare," said Serlo, "that we have no ballet; else you +should dance me a _pas de deux_ with your first, and then another with +your second husband,--and the first might dance himself to sleep by the +measure; and your bits of feet and ankles would look so pretty, tripping +to and fro upon the side stage." + +"Of my ankles you do not know much," replied she pertly; "and as to my +bits of feet," cried she, hastily reaching below the table, pulling off +her slippers, and holding them together out to Serlo, "here are the +cases of them; and I challenge you to find me more dainty ones." + +"I was in earnest," said he, looking at the elegant half-shoes. "In +truth, one does not often meet with any thing so dainty." + +They were of Parisian workmanship: Philina had received them as a +present from the countess, a lady whose foot was celebrated for its +beauty. + +"A charming thing!" cried Serlo: "my heart leaps at the sight of them." + +"What gallant throbs!" replied Philina. + +"There is nothing in the world beyond a pair of slippers," said he, "of +such pretty manufacture, in their proper time and place, when"-- + +Philina took her slippers from his hands, crying, "You have squeezed +them all! They are far too wide for me!" She played with them, and +rubbed the soles of them together. "How hot it is!" cried she, clapping +the sole upon her cheek, then again rubbing, and holding it to Serlo. He +was innocent enough to stretch out his hand to feel the warmth. "Clip! +clap!" cried she, giving him a smart rap over the knuckles with the +heel; so that he screamed, and drew back his hand. "That's for indulging +in thoughts of your own at the sight of my slippers." + +"And that's for using old folk like children," cried the other; then +sprang up, seized her, and plundered many a kiss, every one of which she +artfully contested with a show of serious reluctance. In this romping, +her long hair got loose, and floated round the group; the chair overset; +and Aurelia, inwardly indignant at such rioting, arose in great +vexation. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Though in this remoulding of "Hamlet" many characters had been cut off, +a sufficient number of them still remained,--a number which the company +was scarcely adequate to meet. + +"If this is the way of it," said Serlo, "our prompter himself must issue +from his den, and mount the stage, and become a personage like one of +us." + +"In his own station," answered Wilhelm, "I have frequently admired him." + +"I do not think," said Serlo, "that there is in the world a more perfect +artist of his kind. No spectator ever hears him: we upon the stage catch +every syllable. He has formed in himself, as it were, a peculiar set of +vocal organs for this purpose: he is like a Genius that whispers +intelligibly to us in the hour of need. He feels, as if by instinct, +what portion of his task an actor is completely master of, and +anticipates from afar where his memory will fail him. I have known cases +in which I myself had scarcely read my part: he said it over to me word +for word, and I played happily. Yet he has some peculiarities which +would make another in his place quite useless. For example, he takes +such an interest in the plays, that, in giving any moving passage, he +does not indeed declaim it, but he reads it with all pomp and pathos. +By this ill habit he has nonplussed me on more than one occasion." + +"As with another of his singularities," observed Aurelia, "he once left +me sticking fast in a very dangerous passage." + +"How could this happen, with the man's attentiveness?" said Wilhelm. + +"He is so affected," said Aurelia, "by certain passages, that he weeps +warm tears, and for a few moments loses all reflection; and it is not +properly passages such as we should call affecting that produce this +impression on him; but, if I express myself clearly, the _beautiful_ +passages, those out of which the pure spirit of the poet looks forth, as +it were, through open, sparkling eyes,--passages which others at most +rejoice over, and which many thousands altogether overlook." + +"And with a soul so tender, why does he never venture on the stage?" + +"A hoarse voice," said Serlo, "and a stiff carriage, exclude him from +it; as his melancholic temper excludes him from society. What trouble +have I taken, and in vain, to make him take to me! But he is a charming +reader; such another I have never heard; no one can observe like him the +narrow limit between declamation and graceful recital." + +"The very man!" exclaimed our friend, "the very man! What a fortunate +discovery! We have now the proper hand for delivering the passage of +'The rugged Pyrrhus.'" + +"One requires your eagerness," said Serlo, "before he can employ every +object in the use it was meant for." + +"In truth," said Wilhelm, "I was very much afraid we should be obliged +to leave this passage out: the omission would have lamed the whole +play." + +"Well! That is what I cannot understand," observed Aurelia. + +"I hope you will erelong be of my opinion," answered Wilhelm. +"Shakspeare has introduced these travelling players with a double +purpose. The person who recites the death of Priam with such feeling, in +the _first_ place, makes a deep impression on the prince himself; he +sharpens the conscience of the wavering youth: and, accordingly, this +scene becomes a prelude to that other, where, in the _second_ place, the +little play produces such effect upon the King. Hamlet sees himself +reproved and put to shame by the player, who feels so deep a sympathy in +foreign and fictitious woes; and the thought of making an experiment +upon the conscience of his stepfather is in consequence suggested to +him. What a royal monologue is that, which ends the second act! How +charming it will be to speak it! + + "'Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! + Is it not monstrous that this player here, + But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, + Could force his soul so to his own conceit, + That, from her working, all his visage wann'd; + Tears in his eyes, distraction in's aspect, + A broken voice, and his whole function suiting + With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing! + For Hecuba! + What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, + That he should weep for her?'" + +"If we can but persuade our man to come upon the stage," observed +Aurelia. + +"We must lead him to it by degrees," said Serlo. "At the rehearsal he +may read the passage: we shall tell him that an actor whom we are +expecting is to play it; and so, by and by, we shall lead him nearer to +the point." + +Having agreed on this affair, the conversation next turned upon the +Ghost. Wilhelm could not bring himself to give the part of the living +King to the Pedant, that so Old Boisterous might play the Ghost: he was +of opinion that they ought to wait a while; because some other actors +had announced themselves, and among these it was probable they would +find a fitter man. + +We can easily conceive, then, how astonished Wilhelm must have been +when, returning home that evening, he found a billet lying on his table, +sealed with singular figures, and containing what follows:-- + +"Strange youth! we know thou art in great perplexity. For thy Hamlet +thou canst hardly find men enough, not to speak of ghosts. Thy zeal +deserves a miracle: miracles we cannot work, but somewhat marvellous +shall happen. If thou have faith, the Ghost shall arise at the proper +hour! Be of courage and keep firm! This needs no answer: thy +determination will be known to us." + +With this curious sheet he hastened back to Serlo, who read and re-read +it, and at last declared, with a thoughtful look, that it seemed a +matter of some moment; that they must consider well and seriously +whether they could risk it. They talked the subject over at some length; +Aurelia was silent, only smiling now and then; and a few days after, +when speaking of the incident again, she gave our friend, not obscurely, +to understand that she held it all a joke of Serlo's. She desired him to +cast away anxiety, and to expect the Ghost with patience. + +Serlo, for most part, was in excellent humor: the actors that were going +to leave him took all possible pains to play well, that their absence +might be much regretted; and this, combined with the new-fangled zeal of +the others, gave promise of the best results. + +His intercourse with Wilhelm had not failed to exert some influence on +him. He began to speak more about art: for, after all, he was a German; +and Germans like to give themselves account of what they do. Wilhelm +wrote down many of their conversations; which, as our narrative must not +be so often interrupted here, we shall communicate to such of our +readers as feel an interest in dramaturgic matters, by some other +opportunity. + +In particular, one evening, the manager was very merry in speaking of +the part of Polonius, and how he meant to take it up. "I engage," said +he, "on this occasion, to present a very meritorious person in his best +aspect. The repose and security of this old gentleman, his emptiness and +his significance, his exterior gracefulness and interior meanness, his +frankness and sycophancy, his sincere roguery and deceitful truth, I +will introduce with all due elegance in their fit proportions. This +respectable, gray-haired, enduring, time-serving half-knave, I will +represent in the most courtly style: the occasional roughness and +coarseness of our author's strokes will further me here. I will speak +like a book when I am prepared beforehand, and like an ass when I utter +the overflowings of my heart. I will be insipid and absurd enough to +chime in with every one, and acute enough never to observe when people +make a mock of me. I have seldom taken up a part with so much zeal and +roguishness." + +"Could I but hope as much from mine!" exclaimed Aurelia. "I have neither +youth nor softness enough to be at home in this character. One thing +alone I am too sure of,--the feeling that turns Ophelia's brain, I shall +not want." + +"We must not take the matter up so strictly," said our friend. "For my +share, I am certain, that the wish to act the character of Hamlet has +led me exceedingly astray, throughout my study of the play. And now, the +more I look into the part, the more clearly do I see, that, in my whole +form and physiognomy, there is not one feature such as Shakspeare meant +for Hamlet. When I consider with what nicety the various circumstances +are adapted to each other, I can scarcely hope to produce even a +tolerable effect." + +"You are entering on your new career with becoming conscientiousness," +said Serlo. "The actor fits himself to his part as he can, and the part +to him as it must. But how has Shakspeare drawn his Hamlet? Is he so +utterly unlike you?" + +"In the first place," answered Wilhelm, "he is fair-haired." + +"That I call far-fetched," observed Aurelia. "How do you infer that?" + +"As a Dane, as a Northman, he is fair-haired and blue-eyed by descent." + +"And you think Shakspeare had this in view?" + +"I do not find it specially expressed; but, by comparison of passages, I +think it incontestable. The fencing tires him; the sweat is running from +his brow; and the Queen remarks, '_He's fat, and scant of breath._' Can +you conceive him to be otherwise than plump and fair-haired? +Brown-complexioned people, in their youth, are seldom plump. And does +not his wavering melancholy, his soft lamenting, his irresolute +activity, accord with such a figure? From a dark-haired young man, you +would look for more decision and impetuosity." + +"You are spoiling my imagination," cried Aurelia: "away with your fat +Hamlets! Do not set your well-fed prince before us! Give us rather any +_succedaneum_ that will move us, will delight us. The intention of the +author is of less importance to us than our own enjoyment, and we need a +charm that is adapted for us." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +One evening a dispute arose among our friends about the novel and the +drama, and which of them deserved the preference. Serlo said it was a +fruitless and misunderstood debate: both might be superior in their +kinds, only each must keep within the limits proper to it. + +"About their limits and their kinds," said Wilhelm, "I confess myself +not altogether clear." + +"Who _is_ so?" said the other; "and yet perhaps it were worth while to +come a little closer to the business." + +They conversed together long upon the matter; and, in fine, the +following was nearly the result of their discussion:-- + +"In the novel as well as in the drama, it is human nature and human +action that we see. The difference between these sorts of fiction lies +not merely in their outward form,--not merely in the circumstance that +the personages of the one are made to speak, while those of the other +have commonly their history narrated. Unfortunately many dramas are but +novels, which proceed by dialogue; and it would not be impossible to +write a drama in the shape of letters. + +"But, in the novel, it is chiefly _sentiments_ and _events_ that are +exhibited; in the drama, it is _characters_ and _deeds_. The novel must go +slowly forward; and the sentiments of the hero, by some means or +another, must restrain the tendency of the whole to unfold itself and to +conclude. The drama, on the other hand, must hasten: and the character +of the hero must press forward to the end: it does not restrain, but is +restrained. The novel-hero must be suffering,--at least he must not in a +high degree be active: in the dramatic one, we look for activity and +deeds. Grandison, Clarissa, Pamela, the Vicar of Wakefield, Tom Jones +himself, are, if not suffering, at least retarding, personages; and the +incidents are all in some sort modelled by their sentiments. In the +drama the hero models nothing by himself; all things withstand him; and +he clears and casts away the hinderances from off his path, or else +sinks under them." + +Our friends were also of opinion, that, in the novel, some degree of +scope may be allowed to Chance, but that it must always be led and +guided by the sentiments of the personages: on the other hand, that +Fate, which, by means of outward, unconnected circumstances, carries +forward men, without their own concurrence, to an unforeseen +catastrophe, can have place only in the drama; that Chance may produce +pathetic situations, but never tragic ones; Fate, on the other hand, +ought always to be terrible,--and is, in the highest sense, tragic, when +it brings into a ruinous concatenation the guilty man, and the guiltless +that was unconcerned with him. + +These considerations led them back to the play of "Hamlet," and the +peculiarities of its composition. The hero in this case, it was +observed, is endowed more properly with sentiments than with a +character: it is events alone that push him on, and accordingly the play +has in some measure the expansion of a novel. But as it is Fate that +draws the plan, as the story issues from a deed of terror, and the hero +is continually driven forward to a deed of terror, the work is tragic in +the highest sense, and admits of no other than a tragic end. + +The book-rehearsal was now to take place, to which Wilhelm had looked +forward as to a festival. Having previously collated all the parts, no +obstacle on this side could oppose him. The whole of the actors were +acquainted with the piece: he endeavored to impress their minds with the +importance of these book-rehearsals. "As you require," said he, "of +every musical performer, that he shall, in some degree, be able to play +from the book: so every actor, every educated man, should train himself +to recite from the book, to catch immediately the character of any +drama, any poem, any tale he may be reading, and exhibit it with grace +and readiness. No committing to memory will be of service, if the actor +have not, in the first place, penetrated into the sense and spirit of +his author: the mere letter will avail him nothing." + +Serlo declared that he would overlook all subsequent rehearsals,--the +last rehearsal itself,--if justice were but done to these rehearsals +from the book. "For, commonly," said he, "there is nothing more amusing +than to hear an actor speak of study: it is as if freemasons were to +talk of building." + +The rehearsal passed according to their wishes; and we may assert, that +the fame and favor which our company acquired afterwards had their +foundation in these few but well-spent hours. + +"You did right, my friend," said Serlo, when they were alone, "in +speaking to our fellow-laborers so earnestly; and yet I am afraid they +will scarcely fulfil your wishes." + +"How so?" asked Wilhelm. + +"I have noticed," answered Serlo, "that, as easily as you may set in +motion the imaginations of men, gladly as they listen to your tales and +fictions, it is yet very seldom that you find among them any touch of an +imagination you can call productive. In actors this remark is strikingly +exemplified. Any one of them is well content to undertake a beautiful, +praiseworthy, brilliant part; and seldom will any one of them do more +than self-complacently transport himself into his hero's place, without +in the smallest troubling his head whether other people view him so or +not. But to seize with vivacity what the author's feeling was in +writing; what portion of your individual qualities you must cast off, in +order to do justice to a part; how, by your own conviction that you are +become another man, you may carry with you the convictions of the +audience; how, by the inward truth of your conceptive power, you can +change these boards into a temple, this pasteboard into woods,--to seize +and execute all this, is given to very few. That internal strength of +soul, by which alone deception can be brought about; that lying truth, +without which nothing will affect us rightly,--have, by most men, never +even been imagined. + +"Let us not, then, press too hard for spirit and feeling in our friends. +The surest way is first coolly to instruct them in the sense and letter +of the play,--if possible, to open their understandings. Whoever has the +talent will then, of his own accord, eagerly adopt the spirited feeling +and manner of expression; and those who have it not will at least be +prevented from acting or reciting altogether falsely. And among actors, +as indeed in all cases, there is no worse arrangement than for any one +to make pretensions to the spirit of a thing, while the sense and letter +of it are not ready and clear to him." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Coming to the first stage-rehearsal very early, Wilhelm found himself +alone upon the boards. The appearance of the place surprised him, and +awoke the strangest recollections. A forest and village scene stood +exactly represented as he once had seen it in the theatre of his native +town. On that occasion also, a rehearsal was proceeding; and it was the +morning when Mariana first confessed her love to him, and promised him a +happy interview. The peasants' cottages resembled one another on the two +stages, as they did in nature: the true morning sun, beaming through a +half-closed window-shutter, fell upon a part of a bench ill joined to a +cottage door; but unhappily it did not now enlighten Mariana's waist and +bosom. He sat down, reflecting on this strange coincidence: he almost +thought that perhaps on this very spot he would soon see her again. And, +alas! the truth was nothing more, than that an afterpiece, to which this +scene belonged, was at that time very often played upon the German +stage. + +Out of these meditations he was roused by the other actors, along with +whom two amateurs, frequenters of the wardrobe and the stage, came in, +and saluted Wilhelm with a show of great enthusiasm. One of these was in +some degree attached to Frau Melina, but the other was entirely a lover +of the art, and both were of the kind which a good company should always +wish to have about it. It was difficult to say whether their love for +the stage, or their knowledge of it, was the greater. They loved it too +much to know it perfectly: they knew it well enough to prize the good +and to discard the bad. But, their inclination being so powerful, they +could tolerate the mediocre; and the glorious joy which they experienced +from the foretaste and the aftertaste of excellence surpassed +expression. The mechanical department gave them pleasure, the +intellectual charmed them; and so strong was their susceptibility, that +even a discontinuous rehearsal afforded them a species of illusion. +Deficiencies appeared in their eyes to fade away in distance: the +successful touched them like an object near at hand. In a word, they +were judges such as every artist wishes in his own department. Their +favorite movement was from the side-scenes to the pit, and from the pit +to the side-scenes; their happiest place was in the wardrobe; their +busiest employment was in trying to improve the dress, position, +recitation, gesture, of the actor; their liveliest conversation was on +the effect produced by him; their most constant effort was to keep him +accurate, active, and attentive, to do him service or kindness, and, +without squandering, to procure for the company a series of enjoyments. +The two had obtained the exclusive privilege of being present on the +stage at rehearsals as well as exhibitions. In regard to "Hamlet," they +had not in all points agreed with Wilhelm: here and there he had +yielded; but, for most part, he had stood by his opinion: and, upon the +whole, these discussions had been very useful in the forming of his +taste. He showed both gentlemen how much he valued them; and they again +predicted nothing less, from these combined endeavors, than a new epoch +for the German theatre. + +The presence of these persons was of great service during the +rehearsals. In particular they labored to convince our players, that, +throughout the whole of their preparations, the posture and action, as +they were intended ultimately to appear, should always be combined with +the words, and thus the whole be mechanically united by habit. In +rehearsing a tragedy especially, they said, no common movement with the +hands should be allowed: a tragic actor that took snuff in the rehearsal +always frightened them; for, in all probability, on coming to the same +passage in the exhibition, he would miss his pinch. Nay, on the same +principles, they maintained that no one should rehearse in boots, if his +part were to be played in shoes. But nothing, they declared, afflicted +them so much as when the women, in rehearsing, stuck their hands into +the folds of their gowns. + +By the persuasion of our friends, another very good effect was brought +about: the actors all began to learn the use of arms. Since military +parts occur so frequently, said they, can any thing look more absurd +than men, without the smallest particle of discipline, trolling about +the stage in captains' and majors' uniforms? + +Wilhelm and Laertes were the first that took lessons of a subaltern: +they continued their practising of fence with the greatest zeal. + +Such pains did these two men take for perfecting a company which had so +fortunately come together. They were thus providing for the future +satisfaction of the public, while the public was usually laughing at +their taste. People did not know what gratitude they owed our friends, +particularly for performing one service,--the service of frequently +impressing on the actor the fundamental point, that it was his duty to +speak so loud as to be heard. In this simple matter, they experienced +more opposition and repugnance than could have been expected. Most part +maintained that they were heard well enough already; some laid the blame +upon the building; others said, one could not yell and bellow, when one +had to speak naturally, secretly, or tenderly. + +Our two friends, having an immeasurable stock of patience, tried every +means of undoing this delusion, of getting round this obstinate +self-will. They spared neither arguments nor flatteries; and at last +they reached their object, being aided not a little by the good example +of Wilhelm. By him they were requested to sit down in the remotest +corners of the house, and, every time they did not hear him perfectly, +to rap on the bench with a key. He articulated well, spoke out in a +measured manner, raised his tones gradually, and did not overcry +himself in the most vehement passages. The rapping of the key was heard +less and less every new rehearsal: by and by the rest submitted to the +same operation, and at last it seemed rational to hope that the piece +would be heard by every one in all the nooks of the house. + +From this example we may see how desirous people are to reach their +object in their own way; what need there often is of enforcing on them +truths which are self-evident; and how difficult it may be to reduce the +man who aims at effecting something to admit the primary conditions +under which alone his enterprise is possible. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The necessary preparations for scenery and dresses, and whatever else +was requisite, were now proceeding. In regard to certain scenes and +passages, our friend had whims of his own, which Serlo humored, partly +in consideration of their bargain, partly from conviction, and because +he hoped by these civilities to gain Wilhelm, and to lead him according +to his own purposes the more implicitly in time to come. + +Thus, for example, the King and Queen were, at the first audience, to +appear sitting on the throne, with the courtiers at the sides, and +Hamlet standing undistinguished in the crowd. "Hamlet," said he, "must +keep himself quiet: his sable dress will sufficiently point him out. He +should rather shun remark than seek it. Not till the audience is ended, +and the King speaks with him as with a son, should he advance, and allow +the scene to take its course." + +A formidable obstacle still remained, in regard to the two pictures +which Hamlet so passionately refers to in the scene with his mother. "We +ought," said Wilhelm, "to have both of them visible, at full length, in +the bottom of the chamber, near the main door; and the former king must +be clad in armor, like the Ghost, and hang at the side where it enters. +I could wish that the figure held its right hand in a commanding +attitude, were somewhat turned away, and, as it were, looked over its +shoulder, that so it might perfectly resemble the Ghost at the moment +when he issues from the door. It will produce a great effect, when at +this instant Hamlet looks upon the Ghost, and the Queen upon the +picture. The stepfather may be painted in royal ornaments, but not so +striking." + +There were several other points of this sort, about which we shall, +perhaps, elsewhere have opportunity to speak. + +"Are you, then, inexorably bent on Hamlet's dying at the end?" inquired +Serlo. + +"How can I keep him alive," said Wilhelm, "when the whole play is +pressing him to death? We have already talked at large on that matter." + +"But the public wishes him to live." + +"I will show the public any other complaisance; but, as to this, I +cannot. We often wish that some gallant, useful man, who is dying of a +chronical disease, might yet live longer. The family weep, and conjure +the physician; but he cannot stay him: and no more than this physician +can withstand the necessity of nature, can we give law to an +acknowledged necessity of art. It is a false compliance with the +multitude, to raise in them emotions which they _wish_, when these are +not emotions which they _ought_, to feel." + +"Whoever pays the cash," said Serlo, "may require the ware according to +his liking." + +"Doubtless, in some degree," replied our friend; "but a great public +should be reverenced, not used as children are, when pedlers wish to +hook the money from them. By presenting excellence to the people, you +should gradually excite in them a taste and feeling for the excellent; +and they will pay their money with double satisfaction when reason +itself has nothing to object against this outlay. The public you may +flatter, as you do a well-beloved child, to better, to enlighten, it; +not as you do a pampered child of quality, to perpetuate the error you +profit from." + +In this manner various other topics were discussed relating to the +question, What might still be changed in the play, and what must of +necessity remain untouched? We shall not enter farther on those points +at present; but, perhaps, at some future time we may submit this altered +"Hamlet" itself to such of our readers as feel any interest in the +subject. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +The main rehearsal was at length concluded: it had lasted very long. +Serlo and Wilhelm still found much to care for: notwithstanding all the +time which had already been consumed in preparation, some highly +necessary matters had been left to the very last moment. + +Thus, the pictures of the kings, for instance, were not ready: and the +scene between Hamlet and his mother, from which so powerful an effect +was looked for, had a very helpless aspect, as the business stood; for +neither Ghost nor painted image of him was at present forthcoming. Serlo +made a jest of this perplexity: "We should be in a pretty scrape," said +he, "if the Ghost were to decline appearing, and the guard had nothing +to fight with but the air, and our prompter were obliged to speak the +spirit's part from the side-scenes." + +"We will not scare away our strange friend by unbelief," said Wilhelm: +"doubtless at the proper season he will come, and astonish us as much as +the spectators." + +"Well, certainly," said Serlo, "I shall be a happy man to-morrow night, +when once the play will have been acted. It costs us more arrangement +than I dreamed of." + +"But none of you," exclaimed Philina, "will be happier than I, little as +my part disturbs me. Really, to hear a single subject talked of forever +and forever, when, after all, there is nothing to come of it beyond an +exhibition, which will be forgotten like so many hundred others, this is +what I have not patience for. In Heaven's name, not so many _pros_ and +_cons_! The guests you entertain have always something to object against +the dinner; nay, if you could hear them talk of it at home, they cannot +understand how it was possible to undergo so sad a business." + +"Let me turn your illustration, pretty one, to my own advantage," +answered Wilhelm. "Consider how much must be done by art and nature, by +traffickers and tradesmen, before an entertainment can be given. How +many years the stag must wander in the forest, the fish in the river or +the sea, before they can deserve to grace our table! And what cares and +consultations with her cooks and servants has the lady of the house +submitted to! Observe with what indifference the people swallow the +production of the distant vintager, the seaman, and the vintner, as if +it were a thing of course. And ought these men to cease from laboring, +providing, and preparing; ought the master of the house to cease from +purchasing and laying up the fruit of their exertions,--because at last +the enjoyment it affords is transitory? But no enjoyment can be +transitory; the impression which it leaves is permanent: and what is +done with diligence and effort communicates to the spectator a hidden +force, of which we cannot say how far its influence may reach." + +"'Tis all one to me," replied Philina: "only here again I must observe, +that you men are constantly at variance with yourselves. With all this +conscientious horror at curtailing Shakspeare, you have missed the +finest thought there was in 'Hamlet'!" + +"The finest?" cried our friend. + +"Certainly the finest," said Philina: "the prince himself takes pleasure +in it." + +"And it is?" inquired Serlo. + +"If you wore a wig," replied Philina, "I would pluck it very coolly off +you; for I think you need to have your understanding opened." + +The rest began to think what she could mean: the conversation paused. +The party arose; it was now grown late; they seemed about to separate. +While they were standing in this undetermined mood, Philina all at once +struck up a song, with a very graceful, pleasing tune:-- + + "Sing me not with such emotion, + How the night so lonesome is: + Pretty maids, I've got a notion + It is the reverse of this. + + For as wife and man are plighted, + And the better half the wife; + So is night to day united: + Night's the better half of life. + + Can you joy in bustling daytime, + Day when none can get his will? + It is good for work, for haytime; + For much other it is ill. + + But when, in the nightly glooming, + Social lamp on table glows, + Face for faces dear illuming, + And such jest and joyance goes; + + When the fiery, pert young fellow, + Wont by day to run or ride, + Whispering now some tale would tell O, + All so gentle by your side; + + When the nightingale to lovers + Lovingly her songlet sings, + Which for exiles and sad rovers + Like mere woe and wailing rings,-- + + With a heart how lightsome feeling, + Do ye count the kindly clock, + Which twelve times deliberate pealing, + Tells you none to-night shall knock! + + Therefore, on all fit occasions, + Mark it, maidens, what I sing: + Every day its own vexations, + And the night its joys, will bring." + +She made a slight courtesy on concluding, and Serlo gave a loud "Bravo!" +She scuttled off, and left the room with a teehee of laughter. They +heard her singing and skipping as she went down-stairs. + +Serlo passed into another room: Wilhelm bade Aurelia good-night; but she +continued looking at him for a few moments, and said,-- + +"How I dislike that woman! Dislike her from my heart, and to her very +slightest qualities! Those brown eyelashes, with her fair hair, which +our brother thinks so charming, I cannot bear to look at; and that scar +upon her brow has something in it so repulsive, so low and base, that I +could recoil ten paces every time I meet her. She was lately telling as +a joke, that her father, when she was a child, threw a plate at her +head, of which this is the mark. It is well that she is marked in the +eyes and brow, that those about her may be on their guard." + +Wilhelm made no answer; and Aurelia went on, apparently with greater +spleen,-- + +"It is next to impossible for me to speak a kind, civil word to her, so +deeply do I hate her, with all her wheedling. Would that we were rid of +her! And you, too, my friend, have a certain complaisance for the +creature, a way of acting towards her, that grieves me to the soul,--an +attention which borders on respect; which, by Heaven! she does not +merit." + +"Whatever she may be," replied our friend, "I owe her thanks. Her +upbringing is to blame: to her natural character I would do justice." + +"Character!" exclaimed Aurelia; "and do you think such a creature has a +character? O you men! It is so like you! These are the women you +deserve!" + +"My friend, can you suspect me?" answered Wilhelm. "I will give account +of every minute I have spent beside her." + +"Come, come," replied Aurelia: "it is late, we will not quarrel. All +like each, and each like all! Good-night, my friend! Good-night, my +sparkling bird-of-paradise!" + +Wilhelm asked how he had earned this title. + +"Another time," cried she; "another time. They say it has no feet, but +hovers in the air, and lives on ether. That, however, is a story, a +poetic fiction. Good-night! Dream sweetly, if you are in luck!" + +She proceeded to her room; and he, being left alone, made haste to his. + +Half angrily he walked along his chamber to and fro. The jesting but +decided tone of Aurelia had hurt him: he felt deeply how unjust she was. +Could he treat Philina with unkindness or ill-nature? She had done no +evil to him; but, for any love to her, he could proudly and confidently +take his conscience to witness that it was not so. + +On the point of beginning to undress, he was going forward to his bed to +draw aside the curtains, when, not without extreme astonishment, he saw +a pair of women's slippers lying on the floor before it. One of them was +resting on its sole, the other on its edge. They were Philina's +slippers: he recognized them but too well. He thought he noticed some +disorder in the curtains; nay, it seemed as if they moved. He stood, and +looked with unaverted eyes. + +A new impulse, which he took for anger, cut his breath: after a short +pause, he recovered, and cried in a firm tone,-- + +"Come out, Philina! What do you mean by this? Where is your sense, your +modesty? Are we to be the speech of the house to-morrow?" + +Nothing stirred. + +"I do not jest," continued he: "these pranks are little to my taste." + +No sound! No motion! + +Irritated and determined, he at last went forward to the bed, and tore +the curtains asunder. "Arise," said he, "if I am not to give you up my +room to-night." + +With great surprise, he found his bed unoccupied; the sheets and pillows +in the sleekest rest. He looked around: he searched and searched, but +found no traces of the rogue. Behind the bed, the stove, the drawers, +there was nothing to be seen: he sought with great and greater +diligence; a spiteful looker-on might have believed that he was seeking +in the hope of finding. + +All thought of sleep was gone. He put the slippers on his table; went +past it, up and down; often paused before it; and a wicked sprite that +watched him has asserted that our friend employed himself for several +hours about these dainty little shoes; that he viewed them with a +certain interest; that he handled them and played with them; and it was +not till towards morning that he threw himself on the bed, without +undressing, where he fell asleep amidst a world of curious fantasies. + +He was still slumbering, when Serlo entered hastily. "Where are you?" +cried he: "still in bed? Impossible! I want you in the theatre: we have +a thousand things to do." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +The forenoon and the afternoon fled rapidly away. The playhouse was +already full: our friend hastened to dress. It was not with the joy +which it had given him when he first essayed it, that he now put on the +garb of Hamlet: he only dressed that he might be in readiness. On his +joining the women in the stage-room, they unanimously cried that nothing +sat upon him right; the fine feather stood awry; the buckle of his belt +did not fit: they began to slit, to sew, and piece together. The music +started: Philina still objected somewhat to his ruff; Aurelia had much +to say against his mantle. "Leave me alone, good people," cried he: +"this negligence will make me liker Hamlet." The women would not let him +go, but continued trimming him. The music ceased: the acting was begun. +He looked at himself in the glass, pressed his hat closer down upon his +face, and retouched the painting of his cheeks. + +At this instant somebody came rushing in, and cried, "The Ghost! the +Ghost!" + +Wilhelm had not once had time all day to think of the Ghost, and whether +it would come or not. His anxiety on that head was at length removed, +and now some strange assistant was to be expected. The stage-manager +came in, inquiring after various matters: Wilhelm had not time to ask +about the Ghost; he hastened to present himself before the throne, where +King and Queen, surrounded with their court, were already glancing in +all the splendors of royalty, and waiting till the scene in front of +them should be concluded. He caught the last words of Horatio, who was +speaking of the Ghost, in extreme confusion, and seemed to have almost +forgotten his part. + +The intermediate curtain went aloft, and Hamlet saw the crowded house +before him. Horatio, having spoken his address, and been dismissed by +the King, pressed through to Hamlet; and, as if presenting himself to +the Prince, he said, "The Devil is in harness: he has put us all in +fright." + +In the mean while, two men of large stature, in white cloaks and +capouches, were observed standing in the side-scenes. Our friend, in the +distraction, embarrassment, and hurry of the moment, had failed in the +first soliloquy; at least, such was his own opinion, though loud +plaudits had attended his exit. Accordingly, he made his next entrance +in no pleasant mood, with the dreary wintry feeling of dramatic +condemnation. Yet he girded up his mind, and spoke that appropriate +passage on the "rouse and wassail," the "heavy-headed revel" of the +Danes, with suitable indifference; he had, like the audience, in +thinking of it, quite forgotten the Ghost; and he started, in real +terror, when Horatio cried out, "Look, my lord! it comes!" He whirled +violently round; and the tall, noble figure, the low, inaudible tread, +the light movement in the heavy-looking armor, made such an impression +on him, that he stood as if transformed to stone, and could utter only +in a half-voice his "Angels and ministers of grace defend us!" He glared +at the form, drew a deep breathing once or twice, and pronounced his +address to the Ghost in a manner so confused, so broken, so constrained, +that the highest art could not have hit the mark so well. + +His translation of this passage now stood him in good stead. He had kept +very close to the original, in which the arrangement of the words +appeared to him expressive of a mind confounded, terrified, and seized +with horror:-- + + "'Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn'd, + Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell, + Be thy intents wicked, or charitable, + Thou com'st in such a questionable shape, + That I will speak to thee: I'll call thee Hamlet, + King, father, royal Dane: oh, answer me!'" + +A deep effect was visible in the audience. The Ghost beckoned, the +Prince followed him amid the loudest plaudits. + +The scene changed: and, when the two had re-appeared, the Ghost, on a +sudden, stopped, and turned round; by which means Hamlet came to be a +little too close upon it. With a longing curiosity, he looked in at the +lowered visor; but except two deep-lying eyes, and a well-formed nose, +he could discern nothing. Gazing timidly, he stood before the Ghost; but +when the first tones issued from the helmet, and a somewhat hoarse, yet +deep and penetrating, voice, pronounced the words, "I am thy father's +spirit," Wilhelm, shuddering, started back some paces; and the audience +shuddered with him. Each imagined that he knew the voice: Wilhelm +thought he noticed in it some resemblance to his father's. These strange +emotions and remembrances, the curiosity he felt about discovering his +secret friend, the anxiety about offending him, even the theatric +impropriety of coming too near him in the present situation, all this +affected Wilhelm with powerful and conflicting impulses. During the long +speech of the Ghost, he changed his place so frequently, he seemed so +unsettled and perplexed, so attentive and so absent-minded, that his +acting caused a universal admiration, as the Spirit caused a universal +horror. The latter spoke with a feeling of melancholy anger, rather than +of sorrow; but of an anger spiritual, slow, and inexhaustible. It was +the mistemper of a noble soul, that is severed from all earthly things, +and yet devoted to unbounded woe. At last he vanished, but in a curious +manner; for a thin, gray, transparent gauze arose from the place of +descent, like a vapor, spread itself over him, and sank along with him. + +Hamlet's friends now entered, and swore upon the sword. Old Truepenny, +in the mean time, was so busy under ground, that, wherever they might +take their station, he was sure to call out right beneath them, "Swear!" +and they started, as if the soil had taken fire below them, and hastened +to another spot. On each of these occasions, too, a little flame pierced +through at the place where they were standing. The whole produced on the +spectators a profound impression. + +After this, the play proceeded calmly on its course: nothing failed; all +prospered; the audience manifested their contentment, and the actors +seemed to rise in heart and spirits every scene. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +The curtain fell, and rapturous applauses sounded out of every corner of +the house. The four princely corpses sprang aloft, and embraced each +other. Polonius and Ophelia likewise issued from their graves, and +listened with extreme satisfaction, as Horatio, who had stepped before +the curtain to announce the following play, was welcomed with the most +thundering plaudits. The people would not hear of any other play, but +violently required the repetition of the present. + +"We have won," cried Serlo, "and so not another reasonable word this +night! Every thing depends on the first impression: we should never take +it ill of any actor, that, on occasion of his first appearance, he is +provident, and even self-willed." + +The box-keeper came, and delivered him a heavy sum. "We have made a good +beginning," cried the manager, "and prejudice itself will now be on our +side. But where is the supper you promised us? To-night we may be +allowed to relish it a little." + +It had been agreed that all the party were to stay together in their +stage-dresses, and enjoy a little feast among themselves. Wilhelm had +engaged to have the place in readiness, and Frau Melina to provide the +victuals. + +A room, which commonly was occupied by scene-painters, had accordingly +been polished up as well as possible: our friends had hung it round with +little decorations, and so decked and trimmed it, that it looked half +like a garden, half like a colonnade. On entering it, the company were +dazzled with the glitter of a multitude of lights, which, across the +vapors of the sweetest and most copious perfumes, spread a stately +splendor over a well-decorated and well-furnished table. These +preparations were hailed with joyful interjections by the party; all +took their places with a certain genuine dignity; it seemed as if some +royal family had met together in the Kingdom of the Shades. Wilhelm sat +between Aurelia and the Frau Melina; Serlo between Philina and Elmira; +nobody was discontented with himself or with his place. + +Our two theatric amateurs, who had from the first been present, now +increased the pleasure of the meeting. While the exhibition was +proceeding, they had several times stepped round, and come upon the +stage, expressing, in the warmest terms, the delight which they and the +audience felt. They now descended to particulars, and each was richly +rewarded for his efforts. + +With boundless animation, the company extolled man after man, and +passage after passage. To the prompter, who had modestly sat down at the +bottom of the table, they gave a liberal commendation for his "rugged +Pyrrhus;" the fencing of Hamlet and Laertes was beyond all praise; +Ophelia's mourning had been inexpressibly exalted and affecting; of +Polonius they would not trust themselves to speak. + +Every individual present heard himself commended through the rest and by +them, nor was the absent Ghost defrauded of his share of praise and +admiration. He had played the part, it was asserted, with a very happy +voice, and in a lofty style; but what surprised them most, was the +information which he seemed to have about their own affairs. He entirely +resembled the painted figure, as if he had sat to the painter of it; and +the two amateurs described, in glowing language, how awful it had looked +when the spirit entered near the picture, and stepped across before his +own image. Truth and error, they declared, had been commingled in the +strangest manner: they had felt as if the Queen really did not see the +Ghost. And Frau Melina was especially commended, because on this +occasion she had gazed upwards at the picture, while Hamlet was pointing +downwards at the Spectre. + +Inquiry was now made how the apparition could have entered. The +stage-manager reported that a back-door, usually blocked up by +decorations, had that evening, as the Gothic hall was occupied, been +opened; that two large figures in white cloaks and hoods, one of whom +was not to be distinguished from the other, had entered by this passage; +and by the same, it was likely, they had issued when the third act was +over. + +Serlo praised the Ghost for one merit,--that he had not whined and +lamented like a tailor; nay, to animate his son, had even introduced a +passage at the end, which more beseemed such a hero. Wilhelm had kept it +in memory: he promised to insert it in his manuscript. + +Amid the pleasures of the entertainment, it had not been noticed that +the children and the harper were absent. Erelong they made their +entrance, and were blithely welcomed by the company. They came in +together, very strangely decked: Felix was beating a triangle, Mignon a +tambourine; the old man had his large harp hung round his neck, and was +playing on it whilst he carried it before him. They marched round and +round the table, and sang a multitude of songs. Eatables were handed +them; and the guests seemed to think they could not do a greater +kindness to the children, than by giving them as much sweet wine as they +chose to have. For the company themselves had not by any means neglected +a stock of savory flasks, presented by the two amateurs, which had +arrived that evening in baskets. The children tripped about, and sang: +Mignon, in particular, was frolicsome beyond all wont. She beat the +tambourine with the greatest liveliness and grace: now, with her finger +pressed against the parchment, she hummed across it swiftly to and fro; +now rattled on it with her knuckles, now with the back of her hand; nay, +sometimes, with alternating rhythm, she struck it first against her knee +and then against her head; and anon twirling it in her hand, she made +the shells jingle by themselves; and thus, from the simplest instrument, +elicited a great variety of tones. After she and Felix had long rioted +about, they sat down upon an elbow-chair which was standing empty at the +table, exactly opposite to Wilhelm. + +"Keep out of the chair!" cried Serlo: "it is waiting for the Ghost, I +think; and, when he comes, it will be worse for you." + +"I do not fear him," answered Mignon: "if he come, we can rise. He is my +uncle, and will not harm me." To those who did not know that her reputed +father had been named the Great Devil, this speech was unintelligible. + +The party looked at one another: they were more and more confirmed in +their suspicion that the manager was in the secret of the Ghost. They +talked and tippled, and the girls from time to time cast timid glances +towards the door. + +The children, who, sitting in the big chair, looked from over the table +but like puppets in their box, did actually at length start a little +drama in the style of Punch. The screeching tone of these people Mignon +imitated very well; and Felix and she began to knock their heads +together, and against the edges of the table, in such a way as only +wooden puppets could endure. Mignon, in particular, grew frantic with +gayety: the company, much as they had laughed at her at first, were in +fine obliged to curb her. But persuasion was of small avail; for she now +sprang up, and raved, and shook her tambourine, and capered round the +table. With her hair flying out behind her, with her head thrown back, +and her limbs, as it were, cast into the air, she seemed like one of +those antique Mænads, whose wild and all but impossible positions still, +on classic monuments, often strike us with amazement. + +Incited by the talents and the uproar of the children, each endeavored +to contribute something to the entertainment of the night. The girls +sung several canons; Laertes whistled in the manner of a nightingale; +and the Pedant gave a symphony _pianissimo_ upon the Jew's-harp. +Meanwhile the youths and damsels, who sat near each other, had begun a +great variety of games; in which, as the hands often crossed and met, +some pairs were favored with a transient squeeze, the emblem of a +hopeful kindness. Madam Melina in particular seemed scarcely to conceal +a decided tenderness for Wilhelm. It was late; and Aurelia, perhaps the +only one retaining self-possession in the party, now stood up, and +signified that it was time to go. + +By way of termination, Serlo gave a firework, or what resembled one; for +he could imitate the sound of crackers, rockets, and fire wheels, with +his mouth, in a style of nearly inconceivable correctness. You had only +to shut your eyes, and the deception was complete. In the mean time, +they had all risen: the men gave their arms to the women to escort them +home. Wilhelm was walking last with Aurelia. The stage-manager met him +on the stairs, and said to him, "Here is the veil our Ghost vanished in; +it was hanging fixed to the place where he sank; we found it this +moment."--"A curious relic!" said our friend, and took it with him. + +At this instant his left arm was laid hold of, and he felt a smart +twinge of pain in it. Mignon had hid herself in the place: she had +seized him, and bit his arm. She rushed past him, down stairs, and +disappeared. + +On reaching the open air, almost all of them discovered that they had +drunk too liberally. They glided asunder without taking leave. + +The instant Wilhelm gained his room, he stripped, and, extinguishing his +candle, hastened into bed. Sleep was overpowering him without delay, +when a noise, that seemed to issue from behind the stove, aroused him. +In the eye of his heated fancy, the image of the harnessed King was +hovering there: he sat up that he might address the Spectre; but he felt +himself encircled with soft arms, and his mouth was shut with kisses, +which he had not force to push away. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +Next morning Wilhelm started up with an unpleasant feeling, and found +himself alone. His head was still dim with the tumult, which he had not +yet entirely slept off; and the recollection of his nightly visitant +disquieted his mind. His first suspicion lighted on Philina; but, on +second thoughts, he conceived that it could not have been she. He sprang +out of bed: and, while putting on his clothes, he noticed that the door, +which commonly he used to bolt, was now ajar; though whether he had shut +it on the previous night, or not, he could not recollect. + +But what surprised him most was the Spirit's veil, which he found lying +on his bed. Having brought it up with him, he had most probably thrown +it there himself. It was a gray gauze: on the hem of it he noticed an +inscription broidered in dark letters. He unfolded it, and read the +words, "FOR THE FIRST AND THE LAST TIME! FLEE, YOUTH! FLEE!" He was +struck with it, and knew not what to think or say. + +At this moment Mignon entered with his breakfast. The aspect of the +child astonished Wilhelm, we may almost say frightened him. She appeared +to have grown taller over night: she entered with a stately, noble air, +and looked him in the face so earnestly, that he could not endure her +glances. She did not touch him, as at other times, when, for morning +salutation, she would press his hand, or kiss his cheek, his lips, his +arm, or shoulder; but, having put his things in order, she retired in +silence. + +The appointed time of a first rehearsal now arrived: our friends +assembled, all of them entirely out of tune from yesternight's debauch. +Wilhelm roused himself as much as possible, that he might not at the +very outset violate the principles he had preached so lately with such +emphasis. His practice in the matter helped him through; for practice +and habit must, in every art, fill up the voids which genius and temper +in their fluctuations will so often leave. + +But, in the present case, our friends had especial reason to admit the +truth of the remark, that no one should begin with a festivity any +situation that is meant to last, particularly that is meant to be a +trade, a mode of living. Festivities are fit for what is happily +concluded: at the commencement, they but waste the force and zeal which +should inspire us in the struggle, and support us through a +long-continued labor. Of all festivities, the marriage festival appears +the most unsuitable: calmness, humility, and silent hope befit no +ceremony more than this. + +So passed the day, which to Wilhelm seemed the most insipid he had ever +spent. Instead of their accustomed conversation in the evening, the +company began to yawn: the interest of Hamlet was exhausted; they rather +felt it disagreeable than otherwise that the play was to be repeated +next night. Wilhelm showed the veil which the royal Dane had left: it +was to be inferred from this, that he would not come again. Serlo was of +that opinion; he appeared to be deep in the secrets of the Ghost: but, +on the other hand, the inscription, "Flee, youth! Flee!" seemed +inconsistent with the rest. How could Serlo be in league with any one +whose aim it was to take away the finest actor of his troop? + +It had now become a matter of necessity to confer on Boisterous the +Ghost's part, and on the Pedant that of the King. Both declared that +they had studied these sufficiently: nor was it wonderful; for in such a +number of rehearsals, and so copious a treatment of the subject, all of +them had grown familiar with it: each could have exchanged his part with +any other. Yet they rehearsed a little here and there, and prepared the +new adventurers, as fully as the hurry would admit. When the company was +breaking up at a pretty late hour, Philina softly whispered Wilhelm as +she passed, "I must have my slippers back: thou wilt not bolt the door?" +These words excited some perplexity in Wilhelm, when he reached his +chamber; they strengthened the suspicion that Philina was the secret +visitant: and we ourselves are forced to coincide with this idea; +particularly as the causes, which awakened in our friend another and a +stranger supposition, cannot be disclosed. He kept walking up and down +his chamber in no quiet frame: his door was actually not yet bolted. + +On a sudden Mignon rushed into the room, laid hold of him, and cried, +"Master! save the house! It is on fire!" Wilhelm sprang through the +door, and a strong smoke came rushing down upon him from the upper +story. On the street he heard the cry of fire; and the harper, with his +instrument in his hand, came down-stairs breathless through the smoke. +Aurelia hurried out of her chamber, and threw little Felix into +Wilhelm's arms. + +"Save the child!" cried she, "and we will mind the rest." + +Wilhelm did not look upon the danger as so great: his first thought was, +to penetrate to the source of the fire, and try to stifle it before it +reached a head. He gave Felix to the harper; commanding him to hasten +down the stone stairs, which led across a little garden-vault out into +the garden, and to wait with the children in the open air. Mignon took a +light to show the way. He begged Aurelia to secure her things there +also. He himself pierced upwards through the smoke, but it was in vain +that he exposed himself to such danger. The flame appeared to issue from +a neighboring house; it had already caught the wooden floor and +staircase: some others, who had hastened to his help, were suffering +like himself from fire and vapor. Yet he kept inciting them; he called +for water; he conjured them to dispute every inch with the flame, and +promised to abide by them to the last. At this instant, Mignon came +springing up, and cried. "Master! save thy Felix! The old man is mad! He +is killing him." Scarcely knowing what he did, Wilhelm darted down +stairs; and Mignon followed close behind him. + +On the last steps, which led into the garden-vault, he paused with +horror. Some heaps of fire-wood branches, and large masses of straw, +which had been stowed in the place, were burning with a clear flame; +Felix was lying on the ground, and screaming; the harper stood aside, +holding down his head, and leaned against the wall. "Unhappy creature! +what is this?" said Wilhelm. The old man spoke not; Mignon lifted Felix, +and carried him with difficulty to the garden; while Wilhelm strove to +pull the fire asunder and extinguish it, but only by his efforts made +the flame more violent. At last he, too, was forced to flee into the +garden, with his hair and his eyelashes burned; tearing the harper with +him through the conflagration, who, with singed beard, unwillingly +accompanied him. + +Wilhelm hastened instantly to seek the children. He found them on the +threshold of a summer-house at some distance: Mignon was trying every +effort to pacify her comrade. Wilhelm took him on his knee: he +questioned him, felt him, but could obtain no satisfactory account from +either him or Mignon. + +Meanwhile, the fire had fiercely seized on several houses: it was now +enlightening all the neighborhood. Wilhelm looked at the child in the +red glare of the flames: he could find no wound, no blood, no hurt of +any kind. He groped over all the little creature's body, but the boy +gave no sign of pain: on the contrary, he by degrees grew calm, and +began to wonder at the blazing houses, and express his pleasure at the +spectacle of beams and rafters burning all in order, like a grand +illumination, so beautifully there. + +Wilhelm thought not of the clothes or goods he might have lost: he felt +deeply how inestimable to him was this pair of human beings, who had +just escaped so great a danger. He pressed little Felix to his heart +with a new emotion: Mignon, too, he was about to clasp with joyful +tenderness; but she softly avoided this: she took him by the hand, and +held it fast. + +"Master," said she (till the present evening she had hardly ever named +him master; at first she used to name him sir, and afterwards to call +him father),--"Master! we have escaped an awful danger: thy Felix was on +the point of death." + +By many inquiries, Wilhelm learned from her at last, that, when they +came into the vault, the harper tore the light from her hand, and set on +fire the straw. That he then put Felix down, laid his hands with strange +gestures on the head of the child, and drew a knife as if he meant to +sacrifice him. That she sprang forward, and snatched it from him; that +she screamed; and some one from the house, who was carrying something +down into the garden, came to her help, but must have gone away again in +the confusion, and left the old man and the child alone. + +Two or even three houses were now flaming in a general blaze. Owing to +the conflagration in the vault, no person had been able to take shelter +in the garden. Wilhelm was distressed about his friends, and in a less +degree about his property. Not venturing to quit the children, he was +forced to sit, and see the mischief spreading more and more. + +In this anxious state he passed some hours. Felix had fallen asleep on +his bosom: Mignon was lying at his side, and holding fast his hand. The +efforts of the people finally subdued the fire. The burned houses sank, +with successive crashes, into heaps; the morning was advancing; the +children awoke, and complained of bitter cold; even Wilhelm, in his +light dress, could scarcely brook the chillness of the falling dew. He +took the young ones to the rubbish of the prostrate building, where, +among the ashes and the embers, they found a very grateful warmth. + +The opening day collected, by degrees, the various individuals of the +party. All of them had got away unhurt: no one had lost much. Wilhelm's +trunk was saved among the rest. + +Towards ten o'clock Serlo called them to rehearse their "Hamlet," at +least some scenes, in which fresh players were to act. He had some +debates to manage, on this point, with the municipal authorities. The +clergy required, that, after such a visitation of Providence, the +playhouse should be shut for some time; and Serlo, on the other hand, +maintained, that both for the purpose of repairing the damage he had +suffered, and of exhilarating the depressed and terrified spirits of the +people, nothing could be more in place than the exhibition of some +interesting play. His opinion in the end prevailed, and the house was +full. The actors played with singular fire, with more of a passionate +freedom than at first. The feelings of the audience had been heightened +by the horrors of the previous night, and their appetite for +entertainment had been sharpened by the tedium of a wasted and +dissipated day: every one had more than usual susceptibility for what +was strange and moving. Most of them were new spectators, invited by the +fame of the play: they could not compare the present with the preceding +evening. Boisterous played altogether in the style of the unknown Ghost: +the Pedant, too, had accurately seized the manner of his predecessor; +nor was his own woful aspect without its use to him; for it seemed as +if, in spite of his purple cloak and his ermine collar, Hamlet were +fully justified in calling him a "king of shreds and patches." + +Few have ever reached the throne by a path more singular than his had +been. But although the rest, and especially Philina, made sport of his +preferment, he himself signified that the count, a consummate judge, had +at the first glance predicted this and much more of him. Philina, on the +other hand, recommended lowliness of mind to him; saying, she would now +and then powder the sleeves of his coat, that he might remember that +unhappy night in the castle, and wear his crown with meekness. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Our friends had sought out other lodgings, on the spur of the moment, +and were by this means much dispersed. Wilhelm had conceived a liking +for the garden-house, where he had spent the night of the conflagration: +he easily obtained the key, and settled himself there. But Aurelia being +greatly hampered in her new abode, he was obliged to retain little Felix +with him. Mignon, indeed, would not part with the boy. + +He had placed the children in a neat chamber on the upper floor: he +himself was in the lower parlor. The young ones were asleep at this +time: Wilhelm could not sleep. + +Adjoining the lovely garden, which the full moon had just risen to +illuminate, the black ruins of the fire were visible; and here and there +a streak of vapor was still mounting from them. The air was soft, the +night extremely beautiful. Philina, in issuing from the theatre, had +jogged him with her elbow, and whispered something to him, which he did +not understand. He felt perplexed and out of humor: he knew not what he +should expect or do. For a day or two Philina had avoided him: it was +not till to-night that she had given him any second signal. Unhappily +the doors, that he was not to bolt, were now consumed: the slippers had +evaporated into smoke. How the girl would gain admission to the garden, +if her aim was such, he knew not. He wished she might not come, and yet +he longed to have some explanation with her. + +But what lay heavier at his heart than this, was the fate of the harper, +whom, since the fire, no one had seen. Wilhelm was afraid, that, in +clearing off the rubbish, they would find him buried under it. Our +friend had carefully concealed the suspicion which he entertained, that +it was the harper who had fired the house. The old man had been first +seen, as he rushed from the burning and smoking floor, and his +desperation in the vault appeared a natural consequence of such a deed. +Yet, from the inquiry which the magistrates had instituted touching the +affair, it seemed likely that the fire had not originated in the house +where Wilhelm lived, but had accidentally been kindled in the third from +that, and had crept along beneath the roofs before it burst into +activity. + +Seated in a grove, our friend was meditating all these things, when he +heard a low footfall in a neighboring walk. By the melancholy song +which arose along with it, he recognized the harper. He caught the words +of the song without difficulty: it turned on the consolations of a +miserable man, conscious of being on the borders of insanity. Unhappily +our friend forgot the whole of it except the last verse:-- + + "Wheresoe'er my steps may lead me, + Meekly at the door I'll stay: + Pious hands will come to feed me, + And I'll wander on my way. + Each will feel a touch of gladness + When my aged form appears: + Each will shed a tear of sadness, + Though I reck not of his tears." + +So singing, he had reached the garden-door, which led into an +unfrequented street. Finding it bolted, he was making an attempt to +climb the railing, when Wilhelm held him back, and addressed some kindly +words to him. The old man begged to have the door unlocked, declaring +that he would and must escape. Wilhelm represented to him that he might +indeed escape from the garden, but could not from the town; showing, at +the same time, what suspicions he must needs incur by such a step. But +it was in vain: the old man held by his opinion. Our friend, however, +would not yield; and at last he brought him, half by force, into the +garden-house, in which he locked himself along with him. The two carried +on a strange conversation; which, however, not to afflict our readers +with repeating unconnected thoughts and dolorous emotions, we had rather +pass in silence than detail at large. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Undetermined what to do with this unhappy man, who displayed such +indubitable symptoms of madness, Wilhelm would have been in great +perplexity, had not Laertes come that very morning, and delivered him +from his uncertainty. Laertes, as usual, rambling everywhere about the +town, had happened, in some coffee-house, to meet with a man, who, a +short time ago, had suffered under violent attacks of melancholy. This +person, it appeared, had been intrusted to the care of some country +clergyman, who made it his peculiar business to attend to people in +such situations. In the present instance, as in many others, his +treatment had succeeded: he was still in town, and the friends of the +patient were showing him the greatest honor. + +Wilhelm hastened to find out this person: he disclosed the case to him, +and agreed with him about the terms. The harper was to be brought over +to him, under certain pretexts. The separation deeply pained our friend; +so used was he to see the man beside him, and to hear his spirited and +touching strains. The hope of soon beholding him recovered, served, in +some degree, to moderate this feeling. The old man's harp had been +destroyed in the burning of the house: they purchased him another, and +gave it him when he departed. + +Mignon's little wardrobe had in like manner been consumed. As Wilhelm +was about providing her with new apparel, Aurelia proposed that now at +last they should dress her as a girl. + +"No! no! not at all!" cried Mignon, and insisted on it with such +earnestness, that they let her have her way. + +The company had not much leisure for reflection: the exhibitions +followed close on one another. + +Wilhelm often mingled with the audience, to ascertain their feelings; +but he seldom heard a criticism of the kind he wished: more frequently +the observations he listened to distressed or angered him. Thus, for +instance, shortly after "Hamlet" had been acted for the first time, a +youth was telling, with considerable animation, how happy he had been +that evening in the playhouse. Wilhelm hearkened, and was scandalized to +learn that his neighbor had, on that occasion, in contempt of those +behind him, kept his hat on, stubbornly refusing to remove it till the +play was done; to which heroical transaction he still looked back with +great contentment. + +Another gentleman declared that Wilhelm played Laertes very well, but +that the actor who had undertaken Hamlet did not seem too happy in _his_ +part. This permutation was not quite unnatural; for Wilhelm and Laertes +did resemble one another, though in a very distant manner. + +A third critic warmly praised his acting, particularly in the scene with +his mother; only he regretted much, that, in this fiery moment, a white +strap had peered out from below the Prince's waistcoat, whereby the +illusion had been greatly marred. + +Meanwhile, in the interior of the company, a multitude of alterations +were occurring. Philina, since the evening subsequent to that of the +fire, had never given our friend the smallest sign of closer intimacy. +She had, as it seemed on purpose, hired a remote lodging: she associated +with Elmira, and came seldomer to Serlo,--an arrangement very gratifying +to Aurelia. Serlo continued still to like her, and often visited her +quarters, particularly when he hoped to find Elmira there. One evening +he took Wilhelm with him. At their entrance, both of them were much +surprised to see Philina, in the inner room, sitting in close contact +with a young officer. He wore a red uniform with white pantaloons; but, +his face being turned away, they could not see it. Philina came into the +outer room to meet her visitors, and shut the door behind her. "You +surprise me in the middle of a very strange adventure," cried she. + +"It does not appear so strange," said Serlo; "but let us see this +handsome, young, enviable gallant. You have us in such training, that we +dare not show any jealousy, however it may be." + +"I must leave you to suspicion for a time," replied Philina in a jesting +tone; "yet I can assure you, the gallant is a lady of my friends, who +wishes to remain a few days undiscovered. You shall know her history in +due season; nay, perhaps you shall even behold the beautiful spinster in +person; and then most probably I shall have need of all my prudence and +discretion, for it seems too likely that your new acquaintance will +drive your old friend out of favor." + +Wilhelm stood as if transformed to stone. At the first glance, the red +uniform had reminded him of Mariana: the figure, too, was hers; the fair +hair was hers; only the present individual seemed to be a little taller. + +"For Heaven's sake," cried he, "let us know something more about your +friend! let us see this lady in disguise! We are now partakers of your +secret: we will promise, we will swear; only let us see the lady!" + +"What a fire he is in!" cried Philina: "but be cool, be calm; for to-day +there will nothing come of it." + +"Let us only know her name!" cried Wilhelm. + +"It were a fine secret, then," replied Philina. + +"At least her first name!" + +"If you can guess it, be it so. Three guesses I will give you,--not a +fourth. You might lead me through the whole calendar." + +"Well!" said Wilhelm: "Cecilia, then?" + +"None of your Cecilias!" + +"Henrietta?" + +"Not at all! Have a care, I pray you: guess better, or your curiosity +will have to sleep unsatisfied." + +Wilhelm paused and shivered: he tried to speak, but the sound died away +within him. "Mariana?" stammered he at last, "Mariana?" + +"Bravo!" cried Philina. "Hit to a hair's-breadth!" said she, whirling +round upon her heel, as she was wont on such occasions. + +Wilhelm could not utter a word; and Serlo, not observing his emotion, +urged Philina more and more to let them in. + +Conceive the astonishment of both, when Wilhelm, suddenly and vehemently +interrupting their raillery, threw himself at Philina's feet, and, with +an air and tone of the deepest passion, begged and conjured her, "Let me +see the stranger," cried he: "she is mine; she is my Mariana! She for +whom I have longed all the days of my life, she who is still more to me +than all the women in this world! Go in to her at least, and tell her +that I am here,--that the man is here who linked to her his earliest +love, and all the happiness of his youth. Say that he will justify +himself, though he left her so unkindly; he will pray for pardon of her; +and will grant her pardon, whatsoever she may have done to him; he will +even make no pretensions further, if he may but see her, if he may but +see that she is living and in happiness." + +Philina shook her head, and said, "Speak low! Do not betray us! If the +lady is indeed your friend, her feelings must be spared; for she does +not in the least suspect that you are here. Quite a different sort of +business brings her hither; and you know well enough, one had rather see +a spectre than a former lover at an inconvenient time. I will ask her, +and prepare her: we will then consider what is further to be done. +To-morrow I shall write you a note, saying when you are to come, or +whether you may come at all. Obey me punctually; for I protest, that, +without her own and my consent, no eye shall see this lovely creature. I +shall keep my doors better bolted; and, with axe and crow, you surely +will not visit me." + +Our friend conjured her, Serlo begged of her; but all in vain: they were +obliged to yield, and leave the chamber and the house. + +With what feelings Wilhelm passed the night is easy to conceive. How +slowly the hours of the day flowed on, while he sat expecting a message +from Philina, may also be imagined. Unhappily he had to play that +evening: such mental pain he had never endured. The moment his part was +done, he hastened to Philina's house, without inquiring whether he had +got her leave or not. He found her doors bolted: and the people of the +house informed him that mademoiselle had set out early in the morning, +in company with a young officer; that she had talked about returning +shortly; but they had not believed her, she having paid her debts, and +taken every thing along with her. + +This intelligence drove Wilhelm almost frantic. He hastened to Laertes, +that he might take measures for pursuing her, and, cost what it would, +for attaining certainty regarding her attendant. Laertes, however, +represented to him the imprudence of such passion and credulity. "I dare +wager, after all," said he, "that it is no one else but Friedrich. The +boy is of a high family, I know; he is madly in love with Philina; it is +likely he has cozened from his friends a fresh supply of money, so that +he can once more live with her in peace for a while." + +These considerations, though they did not quite convince our friend, +sufficed to make him waver. Laertes showed him how improbable the story +was with which Philina had amused them; reminded him how well the +stranger's hair and figure answered Friedrich; that with the start of +him by twelve hours, they could not easily be overtaken; and, what was +more than all, that Serlo could not do without him at the theatre. + +By so many reasons, Wilhelm was at last persuaded to postpone the +execution of his project. That night Laertes got an active man, to whom +they gave the charge of following the runaways. It was a steady person, +who had often officiated as courier and guide to travelling-parties, and +was at present without employment. They gave him money, they informed +him of the whole affair; instructing him to seek and overtake the +fugitives, to keep them in his eye, and instantly to send intelligence +to Wilhelm where and how he found them. That very hour he mounted horse, +pursuing this ambiguous pair; by which exertions, Wilhelm was in some +degree at least, composed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +The departure of Philina did not make a deep sensation, either in the +theatre or in the public. She never was in earnest with any thing: the +women universally detested her; the men rather wished to see her +selves-two than on the boards. Thus her fine, and, for the stage, even +happy, talents were of no avail to her. The other members of the company +took greater labor on them to supply her place: the Frau Melina, in +particular, was much distinguished by her diligence and zeal. She noted +down, as formerly, the principles of Wilhelm; she guided herself +according to his theory and his example; there was of late a something +in her nature that rendered her more interesting. She soon acquired an +accurate mode of acting: she attained the natural tone of conversation +altogether, that of keen emotion she attained in some degree. She +contrived, moreover, to adapt herself to Serlo's humors: she took pains +in singing for his pleasure, and succeeded in that matter moderately +well. + +By the accession of some other players, the company was rendered more +complete: and while Wilhelm and Serlo were busied each in his degree, +the former insisting on the general tone and spirit of the whole, the +latter faithfully elaborating the separate passages, a laudable ardor +likewise inspired the actors; and the public took a lively interest in +their concerns. + +"We are on the right path," said Serlo once: "if we can continue thus, +the public, too, will soon be on it. Men are easily astonished and +misled by wild and barbarous exhibitions; yet lay before them any thing +rational and polished, in an interesting manner, and doubt not they will +catch at it." + +"What forms the chief defect of our German theatre, what prevents both +actor and spectator from obtaining proper views, is the vague and +variegated nature of the objects it contains. You nowhere find a barrier +on which to prop your judgment. In my opinion, it is far from an +advantage to us that we have expanded our stage into, as it were, a +boundless arena for the whole of nature; yet neither manager nor actor +need attempt contracting it, until the taste of the nation shall itself +mark out the proper circle. Every good society submits to certain +conditions and restrictions; so also must every good theatre. Certain +manners, certain modes of speech, certain objects, and fashions of +proceeding, must altogether be excluded. You do not grow poorer by +limiting your household expenditure." + +On these points our friends were more or less accordant or at variance. +The majority, with Wilhelm at their head, were for the English theatre; +Serlo and a few others for the French. + +It was also settled, that in vacant hours, of which unhappily an actor +has too many, they should in company peruse the finest plays in both +these languages; examining what parts of them seemed best and worthiest +of imitation. They accordingly commenced with some French pieces. On +these occasions, it was soon observed, Aurelia went away whenever they +began to read. At first they supposed she had been sick: Wilhelm once +questioned her about it. + +"I would not assist at such a reading," said she, "for how could I hear +and judge, when my heart was torn in pieces? I hate the French language +from the bottom of my soul." + +"How can you be hostile to a language," cried our friend, "to which we +Germans are indebted for the greater part of our accomplishments; to +which we must become indebted still more, if our natural qualities are +ever to assume their proper form?" + +"It is no prejudice!" replied Aurelia, "a painful impression, a hated +recollection of my faithless friend, has robbed me of all enjoyment in +that beautiful and cultivated tongue. How I hate it now with my whole +strength and heart! During the period of our kindliest connection, he +wrote in German; and what genuine, powerful, cordial German! It was not +till he wanted to get quit of me that he began seriously to write in +French. I marked, I felt, what he meant. What he would have blushed to +utter in his mother tongue, he could by this means write with a quiet +conscience. It is the language of reservations, equivocations, and lies: +it is a _perfidious_ language. Heaven be praised! I cannot find another +word to express this _perfide_ of theirs in all its compass. Our poor +_treulos_, the _faithless_ of the English, are innocent as babes beside +it. _Perfide_ means faithless with pleasure, with insolence and malice. +How enviable is the culture of a nation that can figure out so many +shades of meaning by a single word! French is exactly the language of +the world,--worthy to become the universal language, that all may have +it in their power to cheat and cozen and betray each other! His French +letters were always smooth and pleasant, while you read them. If you +chose to believe it, they sounded warmly, even passionately; but, if you +examined narrowly, they were but phrases,--accursed phrases! He has +spoiled my feeling to the whole language, to French literature, even to +the beautiful, delicious expressions of noble souls which may be found +in it. I shudder when a French word is spoken in my hearing." + +In such terms she could for hours continue to give utterance to her +chagrin, interrupting or disturbing every other kind of conversation. +Sooner or later, Serlo used to put an end to such peevish lamentations +by some bitter sally; but by this means, commonly, the talk for the +evening was destroyed. + +In all provinces of life, it is unhappily the case, that whatever is to +be accomplished by a number of co-operating men and circumstances cannot +long continue perfect. Of an acting company as well as of a kingdom, of +a circle of friends as well as of an army, you may commonly select the +moment when it may be said that all was standing on the highest pinnacle +of harmony, perfection, contentment, and activity. But alterations will +ere long occur; the individuals that compose the body often change; new +members are added; the persons are no longer suited to the +circumstances, or the circumstances to the persons; what was formerly +united quickly falls asunder. Thus it was with Serlo's company. For a +time you might have called it as complete as any German company could +ever boast of being. Most of the actors were occupying their proper +places: all had enough to do, and all did it willingly. Their private +personal condition was not bad; and each appeared to promise great +things in his art, for each commenced with animation and alacrity. But +it soon became apparent that a part of them were mere automatons, who +could not reach beyond what was attainable without the aid of feeling. +Nor was it long till grudgings and envyings arose among them, such as +commonly obstruct every good arrangement, and easily distort and tear in +pieces every thing that reasonable and thinking men would wish to keep +united. + +The departure of Philina was not quite so insignificant as it had at +first appeared. She had always skilfully contrived to entertain the +manager, and keep the others in good humor. She had endured Aurelia's +violence with amazing patience, and her dearest task had been to flatter +Wilhelm. Thus she was, in some respects, a bond of union for the whole: +the loss of her was quickly felt. + +Serlo could not live without some little passion of the love sort. +Elmira was of late grown up, we might almost say grown beautiful; for +some time she had been attracting his attention: and Philina, with her +usual dexterity, had favored this attachment so soon as she observed it. +"We should train ourselves in time," she would say, "to the business of +procuress: nothing else remains for us when we are old." Serlo and +Elmira had by this means so approximated to each other, that, shortly +after the departure of Philina, both were of a mind: and their small +romance was rendered doubly interesting, as they had to hide it +sedulously from the father; Old Boisterous not understanding jokes of +that description. Elmira's sister had been admitted to the secret; and +Serlo was, in consequence, obliged to overlook a multitude of things in +both of them. One of their worst habits was an excessive love of +junketing,--nay, if you will, an intolerable gluttony. In this respect +they altogether differed from Philina, to whom it gave a new tint of +loveliness, that she seemed, as it were, to live on air, eating very +little; and, for drink, merely skimming off, with all imaginable grace, +the foam from a glass of champagne. + +Now, however, Serlo, if he meant to please his doxies, was obliged to +join breakfast with dinner; and with this, by a substantial bever, to +connect the supper. But, amid gormandizing, Serlo entertained another +plan, which he longed to have fulfilled. He imagined that he saw a kind +of attachment between Wilhelm and Aurelia, and he anxiously wished that +it might assume a serious shape. He hoped to cast the whole mechanical +department of his theatrical economy on Wilhelm's shoulders; to find in +him, as in the former brother, a faithful and industrious tool. Already +he had, by degrees, shifted over to him most of the cares of management; +Aurelia kept the strong-box; and Serlo once more lived as he had done of +old, entirely according to his humor. Yet there was a circumstance which +vexed him in secret, as it did his sister likewise. + +The world has a particular way of acting towards public persons of +acknowledged merit: it gradually begins to be indifferent to them, and +to favor talents which are new, though far inferior; it makes excessive +requisitions of the former, and accepts of any thing with approbation +from the latter. + +Serlo and Aurelia had opportunity enough to meditate on this +peculiarity. The strangers, especially the young and handsome ones, had +drawn the whole attention and applause upon themselves; and Serlo and +his sister, in spite of the most zealous efforts, had in general to make +their exits without the welcome sound of clapping hands. It is true, +some special causes were at work on this occasion. Aurelia's pride was +palpable, and her contempt for the public was known to many. Serlo, +indeed, flattered every individual; but his cutting jibes against the +whole were often circulated and repeated. The new members, again, were +not only strangers, unknown, and wanting help, but some of them were +likewise young and amiable: thus all of them found patrons. + +Erelong, too, there arose internal discontents, and many bickerings, +among the actors. Scarcely had they noticed that our friend was acting +as director, when most of them began to grow the more remiss, the more +he strove to introduce a better order, greater accuracy, and chiefly to +insist that every thing mechanical should be performed in the most +strict and regular manner. + +Thus, by and by, the whole concern, which actually for a time had nearly +looked ideal, grew as vulgar in its attributes as any mere itinerating +theatre. And, unhappily, just as Wilhelm, by his labor, diligence, and +vigorous efforts, had made himself acquainted with the requisitions of +the art, and trained completely both his person and his habits to comply +with them, he began to feel, in melancholy hours, that this craft +deserved the necessary outlay of time and talents less than any other. +The task was burdensome, the recompense was small. He would rather have +engaged with any occupation in which, when the period of exertion is +passed, one can enjoy repose of mind, than with this, wherein, after +undergoing much mechanical drudgery, the aim of one's activity cannot +still be attained but by the strongest effort of thought and emotion. +Besides, he had to listen to Aurelia's complaints about her brother's +wastefulness: he had to misconceive the winks and nods of Serlo, trying +from afar to lead him to a marriage with Aurelia. He had, withal, to +hide his own secret sorrow, which pressed heavy on his heart, because of +that ambiguous officer whom he had sent in quest of. The messenger +returned not, sent no tidings; and Wilhelm feared that his Mariana was +lost to him a second time. + +About this period, there occurred a public mourning, which obliged our +friends to shut their theatre for several weeks. Wilhelm seized this +opportunity to pay a visit to the clergyman with whom the harper had +been placed to board. He found him in a pleasant district; and the first +thing that he noticed in the parsonage was the old man teaching a boy to +play upon his instrument. The harper showed great joy at sight of +Wilhelm: he rose, held out his hand, and said, "You see, I am still good +for something in the world; permit me to continue; for my hours are all +distributed, and full of business." + +The clergyman saluted Wilhelm very kindly, and told him that the harper +promised well, already giving hopes of a complete recovery. + +Their conversation naturally turned upon the various modes of treating +the insane. + +"Except physical derangements," observed the clergyman, "which often +place insuperable difficulties in the way, and in regard to which I +follow the prescriptions of a wise physician, the means of curing +madness seem to me extremely simple. They are the very means by which +you hinder sane persons from becoming mad. Awaken their activity; +accustom them to order; bring them to perceive that they hold their +being and their fate in common with many millions; that extraordinary +talents, the highest happiness, the deepest misery, are but slight +variations from the general lot: in this way, no insanity will enter, +or, if it has entered, will gradually disappear. I have portioned out +the old man's hours: he gives lessons to some children on the harp; he +works in the garden; he is already much more cheerful. He wishes to +enjoy the cabbages he plants: my son, to whom in case of death he has +bequeathed his harp, he is ardent to instruct, that the boy may be able +to make use of his inheritance. I have said but little to him, as a +clergyman, about his wild, mysterious scruples; but a busy life brings +on so many incidents, that erelong he must feel how true it is, that +doubt of any kind can be removed by nothing but activity. I go softly to +work: yet, if I could get his beard and hood removed, I should reckon it +a weighty point; for nothing more exposes us to madness than +distinguishing ourselves from others, and nothing more contributes to +maintain our common sense than living in the universal way with +multitudes of men. Alas! how much there is in education, in our social +institutions, to prepare us and our children for insanity!" + +Wilhelm staid some days with this intelligent divine; heard from him +many curious narratives, not of the insane alone, but of persons such as +commonly are reckoned wise and rational, though they may have +peculiarities which border on insanity. + +The conversation became doubly animated, on the entrance of the doctor, +with whom it was a custom to pay frequent visits to his friend the +clergyman, and to assist him in his labors of humanity. The physician +was an oldish man, who, though in weak health, had spent many years in +the practice of the noblest virtues. He was a strong advocate for +country life, being himself scarcely able to exist except in the open +air. Withal, he was extremely active and companionable. For several +years he had shown a special inclination to make friends with all the +country clergymen within his reach. Such of these as were employed in +any useful occupation he strove by every means to help; into others, who +were still unsettled in their aims, he endeavored to infuse a taste for +some profitable species of exertion. Being at the same time in +connection with a multitude of noblemen, magistrates, judges, he had in +the space of twenty years, in secret, accomplished much towards the +advancement of many branches of husbandry: he had done his best to put +in motion every project that seemed capable of benefiting agriculture, +animals, or men, and had thus forwarded improvement in its truest sense. +"For man," he used to say, "there is but one misfortune,--when some idea +lays hold of him, which exerts no influence upon active life, or, still +more, which withdraws him from it. At the present time," continued he, +on this occasion, "I have such a case before me: it concerns a rich and +noble couple, and hitherto has baffled all my skill. The affair belongs +in part to your department, worthy pastor; and your friend here will +forbear to mention it again. + +"In the absence of a certain nobleman, some persons of the house, in a +frolic not entirely commendable, disguised a young man in the master's +clothes. The lady was to be imposed upon by this deception; and, +although it was described to me as nothing but a joke, I am much afraid +the purpose of it was to lead this noble and most amiable lady from the +path of honor. Her husband, however, unexpectedly returns; enters his +chamber; thinks he sees his spirit; and from that time falls into a +melancholy temper, firmly believing that his death is near. + +"He has now abandoned himself to men who pamper him with religious +ideas; and I see not how he is to be prevented from going among the +Hernhuters with his lady, and, as he has no children, from depriving his +relations of the chief part of his fortune." + +"With his lady?" cried our friend in great agitation; for this story had +frightened him extremely. + +"And, alas!" replied the doctor, who regarded Wilhelm's exclamation only +as the voice of common sympathy, "this lady is herself possessed with a +deeper sorrow, which renders a removal from the world desirable to her +also. The same young man was taking leave of her: she was not +circumspect enough to hide a nascent inclination towards him: the youth +grew bolder, clasped her in his arms, and pressed a large portrait of +her husband, which was set with diamonds, forcibly against her breast. +She felt a sharp pain, which gradually went off, leaving first a little +redness, then no trace at all. As a man, I am convinced that she has +nothing further to reproach herself with, in this affair; as a +physician, I am certain that this pressure could not have the smallest +ill effect. Yet she will not be persuaded that an induration is not +taking place in the part; and, if you try to overcome her notion by the +evidence of feeling, she maintains, that, though the evil is away this +moment, it will return the next. She conceives that the disease will end +in cancer, and thus her youth and loveliness be altogether lost to +others and herself." + +"Wretch that I am!" cried Wilhelm, striking his brow, and rushing from +the company into the fields. He had never felt himself in such a +miserable case. + +The clergyman and the physician were of course exceedingly astonished at +this singular discovery. In the evening all their skill was called for, +when our friend returned, and, with a circumstantial disclosure of the +whole occurrence, uttered the most violent accusations of himself. Both +took interest in him: both felt a real concern about his general +condition, particularly as he painted it in the gloomy colors which +arose from the humor of the moment. + +Next day the physician, without much entreaty, was prevailed upon to +accompany him in his return; both that he might bear him company, and +that he might, if possible, do something for Aurelia, whom our friend +had left in rather dangerous circumstances. + +In fact, they found her worse than they expected. She was afflicted with +a sort of intermittent fever, which could the less be mastered, as she +purposely maintained and aggravated the attacks of it. The stranger was +not introduced as a physician: he behaved with great courteousness and +prudence. They conversed about her situation, bodily and mental: her new +friend related many anecdotes of persons who, in spite of lingering +disorders, had attained a good old age; adding, that, in such cases, +nothing could be more injurious than the intentional recalling of +passionate and disagreeable emotions. In particular he stated, that, for +persons laboring under chronical and partly incurable distempers, he had +always found it a very happy circumstance when they chanced to +entertain, and cherish in their minds, true feelings of religion. This +he signified in the most unobtrusive manner, as it were historically; +promising Aurelia at the same time the reading of a very interesting +manuscript, which he said he had received from the hands of an excellent +lady of his friends, who was now deceased. "To me," he said, "it is of +uncommon value; and I shall trust you even with the original. Nothing +but the title is in my hand-writing: I have called it, 'Confessions of a +Fair Saint.'" + +Touching the medical and dietetic treatment of the racked and hapless +patient, he also left his best advice with Wilhelm. He then departed; +promising to write, and, if possible, to come again in person. + +Meanwhile, in Wilhelm's absence, there had changes been preparing such +as he was not aware of. During his directorship, our friend had managed +all things with a certain liberality and freedom; looking chiefly at the +main result. Whatever was required for dresses, decorations, and the +like, he had usually provided in a plentiful and handsome style; and, +for securing the co-operation of his people, he had flattered their +self-interest, since he could not reach them by nobler motives. In this +he felt his conduct justified the more; as Serlo for his own part never +aimed at being a strict economist, but liked to hear the beauty of his +theatre commended, and was contented if Aurelia, who conducted the +domestic matters, on defraying all expenses, signified that she was free +from debt, and could besides afford the necessary sums for clearing off +such scores as Serlo in the interim, by lavish kindness to his +mistresses or otherwise, might have incurred. + +Melina, who was charged with managing the wardrobe, had all the while +been silently considering these things, with the cold, spiteful temper +peculiar to him. On occasion of our friend's departure, and Aurelia's +increasing sickness, he contrived to signify to Serlo, that more money +might be raised and less expended, and, consequently, something be laid +up, or at least a merrier life be led. Serlo hearkened gladly to such +allegations, and Melina risked the exhibition of his plan. + +"I will not say," continued he, "that any of your actors has at present +too much salary: they are meritorious people, they would find a welcome +anywhere; but, for the income which they bring us in, they have too +much. My project would be, to set up an opera; and, as to what concerns +the playhouse, I may be allowed to say it, you are the person for +maintaining that establishment upon your single strength. Observe how at +present your merits are neglected; and justice is refused you, not +because your fellow-actors are excellent, but merely good. + +"Come out alone, as used to be the case; endeavor to attract around you +middling, I will even say inferior people, for a slender salary; regale +the public with mechanical displays, as you can so cleverly do; apply +your remaining means to the opera, which I am talking of; and you will +quickly see, that, with the same labor and expense, you will give +greater satisfaction, while you draw incomparably more money than at +present." + +These observations were so flattering to Serlo, that they could not fail +of making some impression on him. He readily admitted, that, loving +music as he did, he had long wished for some arrangement such as this; +though he could not but perceive that the public taste would thus be +still more widely led astray, and that with such a mongrel theatre, not +properly an opera, not properly a playhouse, any residue of true feeling +for regular and perfect works of art must shortly disappear. + +Melina ridiculed, in terms more plain than delicate, our friend's +pedantic notions in this matter, and his vain attempts to form the +public mind, instead of being formed by it: Serlo and he at last agreed, +with full conviction, that the sole concern was, how to gather money, +and grow rich, or live a joyous life; and they scarcely concealed their +wish to be delivered from those persons who at present hindered them. +Melina took occasion to lament Aurelia's weak health, and the speedy end +which it threatened; thinking all the while directly the reverse. Serlo +affected to regret that Wilhelm could not sing, thus signifying that his +presence was by no means indispensable. Melina then came forward with a +whole catalogue of savings, which, he said, might be effected; and Serlo +saw in him his brother-in-law replaced threefold. They both felt that +secrecy was necessary in the matter, but this mutual obligation only +joined them closer in their interests. They failed not to converse +together privately on every thing that happened; to blame whatever +Wilhelm or Aurelia undertook; and to elaborate their own project, and +prepare it more and more for execution. + +Silent as they both might be about their plan, little as their words +betrayed them, in their conduct they were not so politic as constantly +to hide their purposes. Melina now opposed our friend in many points +that lay within the province of the latter; and Serlo, who had never +acted smoothly to his sister, seemed to grow more bitter the more her +sickness deepened, the more her passionate and variable humors would +have needed toleration. + +About this period they took up the "Emilie Galotti" of Lessing. The +parts were very happily distributed and filled: within the narrow circle +of this tragedy, the company found room for showing all the complex +riches of their acting. Serlo, in the character of Marinelli, was +altogether in his place; Odoardo was very well exhibited; Madam Melina +played the Mother with considerable skill; Elmira gained distinction as +Emilie; Laertes made a stately Appiani; and Wilhelm had bestowed the +study of some months upon the Prince's part. On this occasion, both +internally and with Aurelia and Serlo, he had often come upon this +question: What is the distinction between a noble and a well-bred +manner? and how far must the former be included in the latter, though +the latter is not in the former? + +Serlo, who himself in Marinelli had to act the courtier accurately, +without caricature, afforded him some valuable thoughts on this. "A +well-bred carriage," he would say, is difficult to imitate; for in +strictness it is negative, and it implies a long-continued previous +training. You are not required to exhibit in your manner any thing that +specially betokens dignity; for, by this means, you are like to run into +formality and haughtiness: you are rather to avoid whatever is +undignified and vulgar. You are never to forget yourself; are to keep a +constant watch upon yourself and others; to forgive nothing that is +faulty in your own conduct, in that of others neither to forgive too +little nor too much. Nothing must appear to touch you, nothing to +agitate: you must never overhaste yourself, must ever keep yourself +composed, retaining still an outward calmness, whatever storms may rage +within. The noble character at certain moments may resign himself to his +emotions; the well-bred never. The latter is like a man dressed out in +fair and spotless clothes: he will not lean on any thing; every person +will beware of rubbing on him. He distinguishes himself from others, yet +he may not stand apart; for as in all arts, so in this, the hardest must +at length be done with ease: the well-bred man of rank, in spite of +every separation, always seems united with the people round him; he is +never to be stiff or uncomplying; he is always to appear the first, and +never to insist on so appearing. + +"It is clear, then, that, to seem well-bred, a man must actually be so. +It is also clear why women generally are more expert at taking up the +air of breeding than the other sex; why courtiers and soldiers catch it +more easily than other men." + +Wilhelm now despaired of doing justice to his part; but Serlo aided and +encouraged him, communicated the acutest observations on detached +points, and furnished him so well, that, on the exhibition of the piece, +the public reckoned him a very proper Prince. + +Serlo had engaged to give him, when the play was over, such remarks as +might occur upon his acting: a disagreeable contention with Aurelia +prevented any conversation of that kind. Aurelia had acted the character +of Orsina, in such a style as few have ever done. She was well +acquainted with the part, and during the rehearsals she had treated it +indifferently: but, in the exhibition of the piece, she had opened, as +it were, all the sluices of her personal sorrow; and the character was +represented so as never poet in the first glow of invention could have +figured it. A boundless applause rewarded her painful efforts; but her +friends, on visiting her when the play was finished, found her half +fainting in her chair. + +Serlo had already signified his anger at her overcharged acting, as he +called it; at this disclosure of her inmost heart before the public, to +many individuals of which the history of her fatal passion was more or +less completely known. He had spoken bitterly and fiercely; grinding +with his teeth and stamping with his feet, as was his custom when +enraged. "Never mind her," cried he, when he saw her in the chair, +surrounded by the rest: "she will go upon the stage stark-naked one of +these days, and then the approbation will be perfect." + +"Ungrateful, inhuman man!" exclaimed she: "soon shall I be carried naked +to the place where approbation or disapprobation can no longer reach our +ears!" With these words she started up, and hastened to the door. The +maid had not yet brought her mantle; the sedan was not in waiting; it +had been raining lately; a cold, raw wind was blowing through the +streets. They endeavored to persuade her to remain, for she was very +warm. But in vain: she purposely walked slow; she praised the coolness, +seemed to inhale it with peculiar eagerness. No sooner was she home, +than she became so hoarse that she could hardly speak a word: she did +not mention that there was a total stiffness in her neck and along her +back. Shortly afterwards a sort of palsy in the tongue came on, so that +she pronounced one word instead of another. They put her to bed: by +numerous and copious remedies, the evil changed its form, but was not +mastered. The fever gathered strength: her case was dangerous. + +Next morning she enjoyed a quiet hour. She sent for Wilhelm, and +delivered him a letter. "This sheet," said she, "has long been waiting +for the present moment. I feel that my end is drawing nigh: promise me +that you yourself will take this paper; that, by a word or two, you will +avenge my sorrows on the faithless man. He is not void of feeling: my +death will pain him for a moment." + +Wilhelm took the letter; still endeavoring to console her, and to drive +away the thought of death. + +"No," said she: "do not deprive me of my nearest hope. I have waited for +him long: I will joyfully clasp him when he comes." + +Shortly after this the manuscript arrived which the physician had +engaged to send her. She called for Wilhelm,--made him read it to her. +The effect which it produced upon her, the reader will be better able to +appreciate after looking at the following Book. The violent and stubborn +temper of our poor Aurelia was mollified by hearing it. She took back +the letter, and wrote another, as it seemed, in a meeker tone; charging +Wilhelm at the same time to console her friend, if he should be +distressed about her death; to assure him that she had forgiven him, and +wished him every kind of happiness. + +From this time she was very quiet, and appeared to occupy herself with +but a few ideas, which she endeavored to extract and appropriate from +the manuscript, out of which she frequently made Wilhelm read to her. +The decay of her strength was not perceptible: nor had Wilhelm been +anticipating the event, when one morning, as he went to visit her, he +found that she was dead. + +Entertaining such respect for her as he had done, and accustomed as he +was to live in her society, the loss of her affected him with no common +sorrow. She was the only person that had truly wished him well: the +coldness of Serlo he had felt of late but too keenly. He hastened, +therefore, to perform the service she had intrusted to him: he wished to +be absent for a time. + +On the other hand, this journey was exceedingly convenient for Melina: +in the course of his extensive correspondence, he had lately entered +upon terms with a male and a female singer, who, it was intended, +should, by their performances in interludes, prepare the public for his +future opera. The loss of Aurelia, and Wilhelm's absence, were to be +supplied in this manner; and our friend was satisfied with any thing +that could facilitate his setting out. + +He had formed, within himself, a singular idea of the importance of his +errand. The death of his unhappy friend had moved him deeply; and, +having seen her pass so early from the scene, he could not but be +hostilely inclined against the man who had abridged her life, and made +that shortened term so full of woe. + +Notwithstanding the last mild words of the dying woman, he resolved, +that, on delivering his letter, he would pass a strict sentence on her +faithless friend; and, not wishing to depend upon the temper of the +moment, he studied an address, which, in the course of preparation, +became more pathetic than just. Having fully convinced himself of the +good composition of his essay, he began committing it to memory, and at +the same time making ready for departure. Mignon was present as he +packed his articles: she asked him whether he intended travelling south +or north; and, learning that it was the latter, she replied, "Then, I +will wait here for thee." She begged of him the pearl necklace which had +once been Mariana's. He could not refuse to gratify the dear little +creature, and he gave it her: the neckerchief she had already. On the +other hand, she put the veil of Hamlet's Ghost into his travelling-bag; +though he told her it could not be of any service to him. + +Melina took upon him the directorship: his wife engaged to keep a +mother's eye upon the children, whom Wilhelm parted with unwillingly. +Felix was very merry at the setting out; and, when asked what pretty +thing he wished to have brought back for him, he said, "Hark you! bring +me a papa!" Mignon seized the traveller's hand; then, standing on her +tiptoes, she pressed a warm and cordial, though not a tender, kiss, upon +his lips, and cried, "Master! forget us not, and come soon back." + +And so we leave our friend, entering on his journey, amid a thousand +different thoughts and feelings; and here subjoin, by way of close, a +little poem, which Mignon had recited once or twice with great +expressiveness, and which the hurry of so many singular occurrences +prevented us from inserting sooner:-- + + "Not speech, bid silence, I implore thee; + For secrecy's my duty still: + My heart entire I'd fain lay bare before thee, + But such is not of fate the will. + + In season due the sun's course backward throws + Dark night; ensue must light; the mountain's + Hard rock, at length, its bosom doth unclose, + Now grudging earth no more the hidden fountains. + + Each seeks repose upon a friend's true breast, + Where by laments he frees his bosom lonely; + Whereas an oath my lips hold closely pressed, + The which to speech a God can open only." + --_Editor's Version._ + + + + +BOOK VI. + + + + +CONFESSIONS OF A FAIR SAINT. + + +Till my eighth year I was always a healthy child, but of that period I +can recollect no more than of the day when I was born. About the +beginning of my eighth year, I was seized with a hemorrhage; and from +that moment my soul became all feeling, all memory. The smallest +circumstances of that accident are yet before my eyes as if they had +occurred but yesterday. + +During the nine months which I then spent patiently upon a sick-bed, it +appears to me the groundwork of my whole turn of thought was laid; as +the first means were then afforded my mind of developing itself in its +own manner. + +I suffered and I loved: this was the peculiar form of my heart. In the +most violent fits of coughing, in the depressing pains of fever, I lay +quiet, like a snail drawn back within its house: the moment I obtained a +respite, I wanted to enjoy something pleasant; and, as every other +pleasure was denied me, I endeavored to amuse myself with the innocent +delights of eye and ear. The people brought me dolls and picture-books, +and whoever would sit by my bed was obliged to tell me something. + +From my mother I rejoiced to hear the Bible histories, and my father +entertained me with natural curiosities. He had a very pretty cabinet, +from which he brought me first one drawer and then another, as occasion +served; showing me the articles, and pointing out their properties. +Dried plants and insects, with many kinds of anatomical preparations, +such as human skin, bones, mummies, and the like, were in succession +laid upon the sick-bed of the little one; the birds and animals he +killed in hunting were shown to me, before they passed into the kitchen; +and, that the Prince of the World might also have a voice in this +assembly, my aunt related to me love-adventures out of fairy-tales. All +was accepted, all took root. There were hours in which I vividly +conversed with the Invisible Power. I can still repeat some verses which +I then dictated, and my mother wrote down. + +Often I would tell my father back again what I had learned from him. +Rarely did I take any physic without asking where the simples it was +made of grew, what look they had, what names they bore. Nor had the +stories of my aunt lighted on stony ground. I figured myself out in +pretty clothes, and met the most delightful princes, who could find no +peace or rest till they discovered who the unknown beauty was. One +adventure of this kind, with a charming little angel dressed in white, +with golden wings, who warmly courted me, I dwelt upon so long, that my +imagination painted out his form almost to visibility. + +After a year I was pretty well restored to health, but nothing of the +giddiness of childhood remained with me. I could not play with dolls: I +longed for beings able to return my love. Dogs, cats, and birds, of +which my father kept a great variety, afforded me delight; but what +would I have given for such a creature as my aunt once told me of! It +was a lamb which a peasant-girl took up and nourished in a wood; but, in +the guise of this pretty beast, an enchanted prince was hid, who at +length appeared in his native shape, a lovely youth, and rewarded his +benefactress by his hand. Such a lamb I would have given the world for. + +But there was none to be had; and, as every thing about me went on in +such a quite natural manner, I by degrees all but abandoned nearly all +hopes of such a treasure. Meanwhile I comforted myself by reading books +in which the strangest incidents were set forth. Among them all, my +favorite was the "Christian German Hercules:" that devout love-history +was altogether in my way. Whenever any thing befell his dear Valiska, +and cruel things befell her, he always prayed before hastening to her +aid; and the prayers stood there _verbatim_. My longing after the +Invisible, which I had always dimly felt, was strengthened by such +means; for, in short, it was ordained that God should also be my +confidant. + +As I grew older I continued reading, Heaven knows what, in chaotic +order. The "Roman Octavia" was the book I liked beyond all others. The +persecutions of the first Christians, decorated with the charms of a +romance, awoke the deepest interest in me. + +But my mother now began to murmur at my constant reading; and, to humor +her, my father took away my books to-day, but gave them back to-morrow. +She was wise enough to see that nothing could be done in this way: she +next insisted merely that my Bible should be read with equal diligence. +To this I was not disinclined, and I accordingly perused the sacred +volume with a lively interest. Withal my mother was extremely careful +that no books of a corruptive tendency should come into my hands: +immodest writings I would, of my own accord, have cast away; for my +princes and my princesses were all extremely virtuous. + +To my mother, and my zeal for knowledge, it was owing, that, with all my +love of books, I also learned to cook; for much was to be seen in +cookery. To cut up a hen, a pig, was quite a feast for me. I used to +bring the entrails to my father, and he talked with me about them as if +I had been a student of anatomy. With suppressed joy he would often call +me his misfashioned son. + +I had passed my twelfth year. I learned French, dancing, and drawing: I +received the usual instructions in religion. In the latter, many +thoughts and feelings were awakened, but nothing properly relating to my +own condition. I liked to hear the people speak of God: I was proud that +I could speak on these points better than my equals. I zealously read +many books which put me in a condition to talk about religion; but it +never once struck me to think how matters stood with _me_, whether _my_ +soul was formed according to these holy precepts, whether it was like a +glass from which the everlasting sun could be reflected in its glancing. +From the first I had presupposed all this. + +My French I learned with eagerness. My teacher was a clever man. He was +not a vain empiric, not a dry grammarian: he had learning, he had seen +the world. Instructing me in language, he satisfied my zeal for +knowledge in a thousand ways. I loved him so much, that I used to wait +his coming with a palpitating heart. Drawing was not hard for me: I +should have made greater progress had my teacher possessed head and +science; he had only hands and practice. + +Dancing was at first one of my smallest amusements; my body was too +sensitive for it; I learned it only in the company of my sisters. But +our dancing-master took a thought of gathering all his scholars, male +and female, and giving them a ball. This event gave dancing quite +another charm for me. + +Amid a throng of boys and girls, the most remarkable were two sons of +the marshal of the court. The youngest was of my age; the other, two +years older: they were children of such beauty, that, according to the +universal voice, no one had seen their like. For my part, scarcely had I +noticed them when I lost sight of all the other crowd. From that moment +I began to dance with care, and to wish that I could dance with grace. +How came it, on the other hand, that these two boys distinguished me +from all the rest? No matter: before an hour had passed we had become +the warmest friends, and our little entertainment did not end till we +had fixed upon the time and place where we were next to meet. What a joy +for me! And how charmed was I next morning when both of them inquired +for my health, each in a gallant note, accompanied with a nosegay! I +have never since felt as I then did. Compliment was met by compliment: +letter answered letter. The church and the public-walks were grown a +rendezvous; our young acquaintances, in all their little parties, now +invited us together; while, at the same time, we were sly enough to veil +the business from our parents, so that they saw no more of it than we +thought good. + +Thus had I at once got a pair of lovers. I had yet decided upon neither: +they both pleased me, and we did extremely well together. All at once +the eldest of the two fell very sick. I myself had often been sick; and +thus I was enabled, by rendering him many little dainties and delicacies +suited for a sick person, to afford some solace to the sufferer. His +parents thankfully acknowledged my attention: in compliance with the +prayer of their beloved son, they invited me, with all my sisters, to +their house so soon as he had arisen from his sick-bed. The tenderness +which he displayed on meeting me was not the feeling of a child: from +that day I gave the preference to him. He warned me to keep our secret +from his brother; but the flame could no longer be concealed, and the +jealousy of the younger completed our romance. He played us a thousand +tricks: eager to annihilate our joys, he but increased the passion he +was seeking to destroy. + +At last I had actually found the wished-for lamb, and this attachment +acted on me like my sickness: it made me calm, and drew me back from +noisy pleasures. I was solitary, I was moved; and thoughts of God again +occurred to me. He was again my confidant; and I well remember with what +tears I often prayed for this poor boy, who still continued sickly. + +The more childishness there was in this adventure, the more did it +contribute to the forming of my heart. Our French teacher had now turned +us from translating into daily writing him some letter of our own +invention. I brought my little history to market, shrouded in the names +of Phyllis and Damon. The old man soon saw through it, and, to render me +communicative, praised my labor very much. I still waxed bolder; came +openly out with the affair, adhering, even in the minute details, to +truth. I do not now remember what the passage was at which he took +occasion to remark, "How pretty, how natural, it is! But the good +Phyllis had better have a care: the thing may soon grow serious." + +I felt vexed that he did not look upon the matter as already serious; +and I asked him, with an air of pique, what he meant by serious. I had +not to repeat the question: he explained himself so clearly, that I +could scarcely hide my terror. Yet as anger came along with it, as I +took it ill that he should entertain such thoughts, I kept myself +composed: I tried to justify my nymph, and said, with glowing cheeks, +"But, sir, Phyllis is an honorable girl." + +He was rogue enough to banter me about my honorable heroine. While we +were speaking French, he played upon the word _honnête_, and hunted the +honorableness of Phyllis over all its meanings. I felt the ridicule of +this, and extremely puzzled. He, not to frighten me, broke off, but +afterwards often led the conversation to such topics. Plays, and little +histories, such as I was reading and translating with him, gave him +frequent opportunity to show how feeble a security against the calls of +inclination our boasted virtue was. I no longer contradicted him, but I +was in secret scandalized; and his remarks became a burden to me. + +With my worthy Damon, too, I by degrees fell out of all connection. The +chicanery of the younger boy destroyed our intercourse. Soon after, both +these blooming creatures died. I lamented sore: however, in a short +time, I forgot. + +But Phyllis rapidly increased in stature, was altogether healthy, and +began to see the world. The hereditary prince now married, and a short +time after, on his father's death, began his rule. Court and town were +in the liveliest motion: my curiosity had copious nourishment. There +were plays and balls, with all their usual accompaniments; and, though +my parents kept retired as much as possible, they were obliged to show +themselves at court, where I was of course introduced. Strangers were +pouring in from every side; high company was in every house; even to us +some cavaliers were recommended, others introduced; and, at my uncle's, +men of every nation might be met with. + +My honest mentor still continued, in a modest and yet striking way, to +warn me, and I in secret to take it ill of him. With regard to his +assertion, that women under every circumstance were weak, I did not feel +at all convinced; and here, perhaps, I was in the right, and my mentor +in the wrong: but he spoke so earnestly that once I grew afraid he might +be right, and said to him, with much vivacity, "Since the danger is so +great, and the human heart so weak, I will pray to God that he may keep +me." + +This simple answer seemed to please him, for he praised my purpose; but, +on my side, it was any thing but seriously meant. It was, in truth, but +an empty word; for my feelings towards the Invisible were almost totally +extinguished. The hurry and the crowd I lived in dissipated my +attention, and carried me along as in a rapid stream. These were the +emptiest years of my life. All day long to speak of nothing, to have no +solid thought, never to do any thing but revel,--such was my employment. +On my beloved books I never once bestowed a thought. The people I lived +among had not the slightest tinge of literature or science: they were +German courtiers, a class of men at that time altogether destitute of +culture. + +Such society, it may be thought, must naturally have led me to the brink +of ruin. I lived away in mere corporeal cheerfulness: I never took +myself to task, I never prayed, I never thought about myself or God. Yet +I look upon it as a providential guidance, that none of these many +handsome, rich, and well-dressed men could take my fancy. They were +rakes, and did not conceal it; this scared me back: they adorned their +speech with double meanings; this offended me, made me act with coldness +towards them. Many times their improprieties exceeded belief, and I did +not restrain myself from being rude. + +Besides, my ancient counsellor had once in confidence contrived to tell +me, that, with the greater part of these lewd fellows, health, as well +as virtue, was in danger. I now shuddered at the sight of them: I was +afraid if one of them in any way approached too near me. I would not +touch their cups or glasses,--even the chairs they had been sitting on. +Thus, morally and physically, I remained apart from them: all the +compliments they paid me I haughtily accepted, as incense that was due. + +Among the strangers then resident among us was one young man peculiarly +distinguished, whom we used in sport to call Narciss. He had gained a +reputation in the diplomatic line; and, among the various changes now +occurring at court, he was in hopes of meeting with some advantageous +place. He soon became acquainted with my father: his acquirements and +manners opened for him the way to a select society of most accomplished +men. My father often spoke in praise of him: his figure, which was very +handsome, would have made a still better impression, had it not been for +something of self-complacency which breathed from the whole carriage of +the man. I had seen him. I thought well of him; but we had never spoken. + +At a great ball, where we chanced to be in company, I danced a minuet +with him; but this, too, passed without results. The more violent +dances, in compliance with my father, who felt anxious about my health, +I was accustomed to avoid: in the present case, when these came on, I +retired to an adjoining room, and began to talk with certain of my +friends, elderly ladies, who had set themselves to cards. + +Narciss, who had jigged it for a while, at last came into the room where +I was; and having got the better of a bleeding at the nose, which had +overtaken him in dancing, he began speaking with me about a multitude of +things. In half an hour the talk had grown so interesting, that neither +of us could think of dancing any more. We were rallied by our friends, +but we did not let their bantering disturb us. Next evening we +recommenced our conversation, and were very careful not to hurt our +health. + +The acquaintance then was made. Narciss was often with my sisters and +myself; and I now once more began to reckon over and consider what I +knew, what I thought of, what I had felt, and what I could express +myself about in conversation. My new friend had mingled in the best +society; besides the department of history and politics, with every part +of which he was familiar, he had gained extensive literary knowledge; +there was nothing new that issued from the press, especially in France, +that he was unacquainted with. He brought or sent me many a pleasant +book, but this we had to keep as secret as forbidden love. Learned +women had been made ridiculous, nor were well-informed women +tolerated,--apparently because it would have been uncivil to put so many +ill-informed men to shame. Even my father, much as he delighted in this +new opportunity of cultivating my mind, expressly stipulated that our +literary commerce should remain secret. + +Thus our intercourse continued for almost year and day; and still I +could not say, that, in any wise, Narciss had ever shown me aught of +love or tenderness. He was always complaisant and kind, but manifested +nothing like attachment: on the contrary, he even seemed to be in some +degree affected by the charms of my youngest sister, who was then +extremely beautiful. In sport, he gave her many little friendly names +out of foreign tongues; for he could speak two or three of these +extremely well, and loved to mix their idiomatic phrases with his +German. Such compliments she did not answer very liberally; she was +entangled in a different noose: and being very sharp, while he was very +sensitive, the two were often quarrelling about trifles. With my mother +and my aunt he kept on very pleasant terms; and thus, by gradual +advances, he was grown to be a member of the family. + +Who knows how long we might have lived in this way, had not a curious +accident altered our relations all at once? My sisters and I were +invited to a certain house, to which we did not like to go. The company +was too mixed; and persons of the stupidest, if not the rudest, stamp +were often to be met there. Narciss, on this occasion, was invited also; +and on his account I felt inclined to go, for I was sure of finding one, +at least, whom I could converse with as I desired. Even at table we had +many things to suffer, for several of the gentlemen had drunk too much: +then, in the drawing-room, they insisted on a game at forfeits. It went +on with great vivacity and tumult. Narciss had lost a forfeit: they +ordered him, by way of penalty, to whisper something pleasant in the ear +of every member of the company. It seems he staid too long beside my +next neighbor, the lady of a captain. The latter on a sudden struck him +such a box with his fist, that the powder flew about me, into my eyes. +When I had got my eyes cleared, and in some degree recovered from my +terror, I saw that both gentlemen had drawn their swords. Narciss was +bleeding; and the other, mad with wine and rage and jealousy, could +scarcely be held back by all the company. I seized Narciss, led him by +the arm up-stairs; and, as I did not think my friend safe even here from +his frantic enemy, I shut the door and bolted it. + +Neither of us considered the wound serious, for a slight cut across the +hand was all we saw. Soon, however, I discovered that there was a stream +of blood running down his back, that there was a deep wound on the +head. I now began to be afraid. I hastened to the lobby, to get help: +but I could see no person; every one had staid below to calm the raving +captain. At last a daughter of the family came skipping up: her mirth +annoyed me; she was like to die with laughing at the bedlam spectacle. I +conjured her, for the sake of Heaven, to get a surgeon; and she, in her +wild way, sprang down-stairs to fetch me one herself. + +Returning to my wounded friend, I bound my handkerchief about his hand, +and a neckerchief, that was hanging on the door, about his head. He was +still bleeding copiously: he now grew pale, and seemed as if he were +about to faint. There was none at hand to aid me: I very freely put my +arm round him, patted his cheek, and tried to cheer him by little +flatteries. It seemed to act on him like a spiritual remedy: he kept his +senses, but sat as pale as death. + +At last the active housewife arrived: it is easy to conceive her terror +when she saw my friend in this predicament, lying in my arms, and both +of us bestreamed with blood. No one had supposed he was wounded: all +imagined I had carried him away in safety. + +Now smelling-bottles, wine, and every thing that could support and +stimulate, were copiously produced. The surgeon also came, and I might +easily have been dispensed with. Narciss, however, held me firmly by the +hand: I would have staid without holding. During the dressing of his +wounds, I continued wetting his lips with wine: I minded not, though all +the company were now about us. The surgeon having finished, his patient +took a mute but tender leave of me, and was conducted home. + +The mistress of the house now led me to her bedroom: she had to strip me +altogether; and I must confess, while they washed the blood from me, I +saw with pleasure, for the first time, in a mirror, that I might be +reckoned beautiful without help of dress. No portion of my clothes could +be put on again; and, as the people of the house were all either less or +larger than myself, I was taken home in a strange disguise. My parents +were, of course, astonished. They felt exceedingly indignant at my +fright, at the wounds of their friend, at the captain's madness, at the +whole occurrence. A very little would have made my father send the +captain a challenge, that he might avenge his friend without delay. He +blamed the gentlemen that had been there, because they had not punished +on the spot such a murderous attempt; for it was but too clear, that +the captain, instantly on striking, had drawn his sword, and wounded the +other from behind. The cut across the hand had been given just when +Narciss himself was grasping at his sword. I felt unspeakably affected, +altered; or how shall I express it? The passion which was sleeping at +the deepest bottom of my heart had at once broken loose, like a flame +getting air. And if joy and pleasure are well suited for the first +producing and the silent nourishing of love, yet this passion, bold by +nature, is most easily impelled by terror to decide and to declare +itself. My mother gave her little flurried daughter some medicine, and +made her go to bed. With the earliest morrow my father hastened to +Narciss, whom he found lying very sick of a wound-fever. + +He told me little of what passed between them, but tried to quiet me +about the probable results of this event. They were now considering +whether an apology should be accepted, whether the affair should go +before a court of justice, and many other points of that description. I +knew my father too well to doubt that he would be averse to see the +matter end without a duel: but I held my peace; for I had learned from +him before, that women should not meddle in such things. For the rest, +it did not strike me as if any thing had passed between the friends, in +which my interests were specially concerned; but my father soon +communicated to my mother the purport of their further conversation. +Narciss, he said, appeared to be exceedingly affected at the help +afforded by me; had embraced him, declared himself my debtor forever, +signified that he desired no happiness except what he could share with +me, and concluded by entreating that he might presume to ask my hand. +All this mamma repeated to me, but subjoined the safe reflection, that, +"as for what was said in the first agitation of mind in such a case, +there was little trust to be placed in it."--"Of course, none," I +answered with affected coldness; though all the while I was feeling, +Heaven knows what. + +Narciss continued sick for two months; owing to the wound in his right +hand, he could not even write. Yet, in the mean time, he showed me his +regard by the most obliging courtesies. All these unusual attentions I +combined with what my mother had disclosed to me, and constantly my head +was full of fancies. The whole city talked of the occurrence. With me +they spoke of it in a peculiar tone: they drew inferences, which, +greatly as I struggled to avoid them, touched me very close. What had +formerly been habitude and trifling, was now grown seriousness and +inclination. The anxiety in which I lived was the more violent, the more +carefully I studied to conceal it from every one. The idea of losing him +frightened me: the possibility of any closer union made me tremble. For +a half-prudent girl, there is really something awful in the thought of +marriage. + +By such incessant agitations I was once more led to recollect myself. +The gaudy imagery of a thoughtless life, which used to hover day and +night before my eyes, was at once blown away. My soul again began to +awaken, but the greatly interrupted intimacy with my invisible friend +was not so easy to renew. We still continued at a frigid distance: it +was again something, but little to the times of old. + +A duel had been fought, and the captain severely wounded, before I ever +heard of it. The public feeling was, in all senses, strong on the side +of my lover, who at length again appeared upon the scene. But, first of +all, he came, with his head tied up and his arm in a sling, to visit us. +How my heart beat while he was there! The whole family was present: +general thanks and compliments were all that passed on either side. +Narciss, however, found an opportunity to show some secret tokens of his +love to me; by which means my inquietude was but increased. After his +recovery he visited us throughout the winter on the former footing; and +in spite of all the soft, private marks of tenderness which he contrived +to give me, the whole affair remained unsettled, undiscussed. + +In this manner was I kept in constant practice. I could trust my +thoughts to no mortal, and from God I was too far removed. Him I had +quite forgotten those four wild years: I now again began to think of him +occasionally, but our acquaintance had grown cool; they were visits of +mere ceremony these; and as, moreover, in waiting on him, I used to +dress in fine apparel, to set before him self-complacently my virtue, +honor, and superiorities to others, he did not seem to notice me, or +know me in that finery. + +A courtier would have been exceedingly distressed, if the prince who +held his fortune in his hands had treated him in this way; but, for me, +I did not sorrow at it. I had what I required,--health and conveniences: +if God should please to think of me, well; if not, I reckoned I had done +my duty. + +This, in truth, I did not think at that period; yet it was the true +figure of my soul. But, to change and purify my feelings, preparations +were already made. + +The spring came on: Narciss once visited me unannounced, and at a time +when I happened to be quite alone. He now appeared in the character of +lover, and asked me if I could bestow on him my heart, and, so soon as +he should obtain some lucrative and honorable place, my hand along with +it. + +He had been received into our service; but at first they kept him back, +and would not rapidly promote him, because they dreaded his ambition. +Having some little fortune of his own, he was left with a slender +salary. + +Notwithstanding my regard for him, I knew that he was not a man to treat +with altogether frankly. I drew up, therefore, and referred him to my +father. About my father he did not seem to doubt, but wished first to be +at one with me, now and here. I at last said, Yes; but stipulated, as an +indispensable condition, that my parents should concur. He then spoke +formally with both of them; they signified their satisfaction: mutual +promises were given, on the faith of his advancement, which it was +expected would be speedy. Sisters and aunts were informed of this +arrangement, and the strictest secrecy enjoined on them. + +Thus had my lover become my bridegroom, and great was the difference +between the two. If one could change the lovers of all honorable maidens +into bridegrooms, it would be a kindness to our sex, even though +marriage should not follow the connection. The love between two persons +does not lessen by the change, but it becomes more reasonable. +Innumerable little follies, all coquetries and caprices, disappear. If +the bridegroom tells us that we please him better in a morning-cap than +in the finest head-dress, no discreet young woman will disturb herself +about her hair-dressing; and nothing is more natural than that he, too, +should think solidly, and rather wish to form a housewife for himself +than a gaudy doll for others. And thus it is in every province of the +business. + +Should a young woman of this kind be fortunate enough to have a +bridegroom who possesses understanding and acquirements, she learns from +him more than universities and foreign lands can teach. She not only +willingly receives instruction when he offers it, but she endeavors to +elicit more and more from him. Love makes much that was impossible +possible. By degrees, too, that subjection, so necessary and so graceful +for the female sex, begins: the bridegroom does not govern like the +husband; he only asks: but his mistress seeks to discover what he +wants, and to offer it before he asks it. + +So did experience teach me what I would not for much have missed. I was +happy, truly happy as woman could be in the world,--that is to say, for +a while. + +Amid these quiet joys, a summer passed away. Narciss gave not the +slightest reason to complain of him: he daily became more dear to me; my +whole soul was his. This he well knew, and knew also how to prize it. +Meanwhile, from seeming trifles, something rose, which by and by grew +hurtful to our union. + +Narciss behaved to me as to a bride, and never dared to ask of me such +favors as were yet forbidden us. But, about the boundaries of virtue and +decorum, we were of very different opinions. I meant to walk securely, +and so never granted him the smallest freedom which the whole world +might not have witnessed. He, used to dainties, thought this diet very +strict. On this point there was continual variance: he praised my +modesty, and sought to undermine my resolution. + +The _serious_ of my old French teacher now occurred to me, as well as +the defence which I had once suggested in regard to it. + +With God I had again become a little more acquainted. He had given me a +bridegroom whom I loved, and for this I felt some thankfulness. Earthly +love itself concentrated my soul, and put its powers in motion: nor did +it contradict my intercourse with God. I naturally complained to him of +what alarmed me, but I did not perceive that I myself was wishing and +desiring it. In my own eyes I was strong: I did not pray, "Lead us not +into temptation!" My thoughts were far beyond temptation. In this flimsy +tinsel-work of virtue I came to God. He did not drive me back. On the +smallest movement towards him, he left a soft impression in my soul; and +this impression caused me always to return. + +Except Narciss, the world was altogether dead to me: excepting him, +there was nothing in it that had any charm. Even my love for dress was +but the wish to please him: if I knew that he was not to see me, I could +spend no care upon it. I liked to dance; but, if he was not beside me, +it seemed as if I could not bear the motion. At a brilliant festival, if +he was not invited, I could neither take the trouble of providing new +things, nor of putting on the old according to the mode. To me they +were alike agreeable, or rather, I might say, alike burdensome. I used +to reckon such an evening very fairly spent when I could join myself to +any ancient card-party, though formerly I had not the smallest taste for +such things; and, if some old acquaintance came and rallied me about it, +I would smile, perhaps for the first time all that night. So, likewise, +it was with promenades, and every social entertainment that can be +imagined:-- + + "Him had I chosen from all others; + His would I be, and not another's: + To me his love was all in all." + +Thus was I often solitary in the midst of company, and real solitude was +generally acceptable to me. But my busy soul could neither sleep nor +dream: I felt and thought, and acquired by degrees some faculty to speak +about my feelings and my thoughts with God. Then were feelings of +another sort unfolded, but these did not contradict the former feelings: +my affection to Narciss accorded with the universal scheme of nature; it +nowhere hindered the performance of a duty. They did not contradict each +other, yet they were immensely different. Narciss was the only living +form which hovered in my mind, and to which my love was all directed; +but the other feeling was not directed towards any form, and yet it was +unspeakably agreeable. I no longer have it: I no longer can impart it. + +My lover, whom I used to trust with all my secrets, did not know of +this. I soon discovered that he thought far otherwise: he often gave me +writings which opposed, with light and heavy weapons, all that can be +called connection with the Invisible. I used to read the books because +they came from him; but, at the end, I knew no word of all that had been +argued in them. + +Nor, in regard to sciences and knowledge, was there want of +contradiction in our conduct. He did as all men do,--he mocked at +learned women; and yet he kept continually instructing me. He used to +speak with me on all subjects, law excepted; and, while constantly +procuring books of every kind for me, he frequently repeated the +uncertain precept, "That a lady ought to keep the knowledge she might +have more secret than the Calvinist his creed in Catholic countries." +And while I, by natural consequence, endeavored not to show myself more +wise or learned than formerly before the world, Narciss himself was +commonly the first who yielded to the vanity of speaking about me and +my superiorities. + +A nobleman of high repute, and at that time valued for his influence, +his talents, and accomplishments, was living at our court with great +applause. He bestowed especial notice on Narciss, whom he kept +continually about him. They once had an argument about the virtue of +women. Narciss repeated to me what had passed between them: I was not +wanting with my observations, and my friend required of me a written +essay on the subject. I could write French fluently enough: I had laid a +good foundation with my teacher. My correspondence with Narciss was +likewise carried on in French: except in French books, there was then no +elegant instruction to be had. My essay pleased the count: I was obliged +to let him have some little songs, which I had lately been composing. In +short, Narciss appeared to revel without stint in the renown of his +beloved: and the story, to his great contentment, ended with a French +epistle in heroic verse, which the count transmitted to him on +departing; in which their argument was mentioned, and my friend reminded +of his happiness in being destined, after all his doubts and errors, to +learn most certainly what virtue was, in the arms of a virtuous and +charming wife. + +He showed this poem first of all to me, and then to almost every one; +each thinking of the matter what he pleased. Thus did he act in several +cases: every stranger, whom he valued, must be made acquainted in our +house. + +A noble family was staying for a season in the place, to profit by the +skill of our physician. In this house, too, Narciss was looked on as a +son; he introduced me there; we found among these worthy persons the +most pleasant entertainment for mind and heart. Even the common pastimes +of society appeared less empty here than elsewhere. All knew how matters +stood with us: they treated us as circumstances would allow, and left +the main relation unalluded to. I mention this one family; because, in +the after-period of my life, it had a powerful influence upon me. + +Almost a year of our connection had elapsed; and, along with it, our +spring was over. The summer came, and all grew drier and more earnest. + +By several unexpected deaths, some offices fell vacant, which Narciss +might make pretensions to. The instant was at hand when my whole destiny +must be decided; and while Narciss, and all our friends, were making +every effort to efface some impressions which obstructed him at court, +and to obtain for him the wished-for situation, I turned with my request +to my Invisible Friend. I was received so kindly, that I gladly came +again. I confessed, without disguise, my wish that Narciss might obtain +the place; but my prayer was not importunate, and I did not require that +it should happen for the sake of my petition. + +The place was obtained by a far inferior competitor. I was dreadfully +troubled at this news: I hastened to my room, the door of which I locked +behind me. The first fit of grief went off in a shower of tears: the +next thought was, "Yet it was not by chance that it happened;" and +instantly I formed the resolution to be well content with it, seeing +even this apparent evil would be for my true advantage. The softest +emotions then pressed in upon me, and divided all the clouds of sorrow. +I felt, that, with help like this, there was nothing one might not +endure. At dinner I appeared quite cheerful, to the great astonishment +of all the house. + +Narciss had less internal force than I, and I was called upon to comfort +him. In his family, too, he had many crosses to encounter, some of which +afflicted him considerably; and, such true confidence subsisting between +us, he intrusted me with all. His negotiations for entering on foreign +service were not more fortunate; all this I felt deeply on his account +and mine; all this, too, I ultimately carried to the place where my +petitions had already been so well received. + +The softer these experiences were, the oftener did I endeavor to renew +them: I hoped continually to meet with comfort where I had so often met +with it. Yet I did not always meet with it: I was as one that goes to +warm him in the sunshine, while there is something standing in the way +that makes a shadow. "What is this?" I asked myself. I traced the matter +zealously, and soon perceived that it all depended on the situation of +my soul: if this was not turned in the straightest direction towards +God, I still continued cold; I did not feel his counter-influence; I +could obtain no answer. The second question was, "What hinders this +direction?" Here I was in a wide field: I perplexed myself in an inquiry +which lasted nearly all the second year of my attachment to Narciss. I +might have ended the investigation sooner, for it was not long till I +had got upon the proper trace; but I would not confess it, and I sought +a thousand outlets. + +I very soon discovered that the straight direction of my soul was marred +by foolish dissipations, and employment with unworthy things. The how +and the where were clear enough to me. Yet by what means could I help +myself, or extricate my mind from the calls of a world where every thing +was either cold indifference or hot insanity? Gladly would I have left +things standing as they were, and lived from day to day, floating down +with the stream, like other people whom I saw quite happy: but I durst +not: my inmost feelings contradicted me too often. Yet if I determined +to renounce society, and alter my relations to others, it was not in my +power. I was hemmed in as by a ring drawn round me; certain connections +I could not dissolve; and, in the matter which lay nearest to my heart, +fatalities accumulated and oppressed me more and more. I often went to +bed with tears, and, after a sleepless night, arose again with tears: I +required some strong support: and God would not vouchsafe it me while I +was running with the cap and bells. + +I proceeded now to estimate my doings, all and each: dancing and play +were first put upon their trial. Never was there any thing spoken, +thought, or written, for or against these practices, which I did not +examine, talk of, read, weigh, reject, aggravate, and plague myself +about. If I gave up these habits, I was certain that Narciss would be +offended; for he dreaded exceedingly the ridicule which any look of +straitlaced conscientiousness gives one in the eyes of the world. And +doing what I now looked upon as folly, noxious folly, out of no taste of +my own, but merely to gratify him, it all grew wofully irksome to me. + +Without disagreeable prolixities and repetitions, it is not in my power +to represent what pains I took, in trying so to counteract those +occupations which distracted my attention and disturbed my peace of +mind, that my heart, in spite of them, might still be open to the +influences of the Invisible Being. But at last, with pain, I was +compelled to admit, that in this way the quarrel could not be composed. +For no sooner had I clothed myself in the garment of folly, than it came +to be something more than a mask, than the foolishness pierced and +penetrated me through and through. + +May I here overstep the province of a mere historical detail, and offer +one or two remarks on what was then taking place within me? What could +it be which so changed my tastes and feelings, that, in my twenty-second +year, nay, earlier, I lost all relish for the recreations with which +people of that age are harmlessly delighted? Why were they not harmless +for me? I may answer, "Just because they were not harmless; because I +was not, like others of my years, unacquainted with my soul." No! I knew, +from experiences which had reached me unsought, that there are loftier +emotions, which afford us a contentment such as it is vain to seek in +the amusements of the world; and that, in these higher joys, there is +also kept a secret treasure for strengthening the spirit in misfortune. + +But the pleasures of society, the dissipations of youth, must needs have +had a powerful charm for me; since it was not in my power to engage in +them without participation, to act among them as if they were not there. +How many things could I now do, if I liked, with entire coldness, which +then dazzled and confounded me, nay, threatened to obtain the mastery +over me! Here there could no medium be observed: either those delicious +amusements, or my nourishing and quickening internal emotions, must be +given up. + +But, in my soul, the strife had, without my own consciousness, already +been decided. Even if there still was any thing within me that longed +for earthly pleasures, I had now become unfitted for enjoying them. Much +as a man might hanker after wine, all desire of drinking would forsake +him, if he should be placed among full barrels in a cellar, where the +foul air was like to suffocate him. Free air is more than wine; this I +felt but too keenly: and, from the first, it would have cost me little +studying to prefer the good to the delightful, if the fear of losing the +affection of Narciss had not restrained me. But at last, when after many +thousand struggles, and thoughts continually renewed, I began to cast a +steady eye upon the bond which held me to him, I discovered that it was +but weak, that it might be torn asunder. I at once perceived it to be +only as a glass bell, which shut me up in the exhausted, airless space: +one bold stroke to break the bell in pieces, and thou art delivered! + +No sooner thought than tried. I drew off the mask, and on all occasions +acted as my heart directed. Narciss I still cordially loved: but the +thermometer, which formerly had stood in hot water, was now hanging in +the natural air; it could rise no higher than the warmth of the +atmosphere directed. + +Unhappily it cooled very much. Narciss drew back, and began to assume a +distant air: this was at his option, but my thermometer descended as he +drew back. Our family observed this, questioned me, and seemed to be +surprised. I explained to them, with stout defiance, that heretofore I +had made abundant sacrifices; that I was ready, still farther and to the +end of my life, to share all crosses that befell him; but that I +required full freedom in my conduct, that my doings and avoidings must +depend upon my own conviction; that, indeed, I would never bigotedly +cleave to my own opinion, but, on the other hand, would willingly be +reasoned with; yet, as it concerned my own happiness, the decision must +proceed from myself, and be liable to no manner of constraint. The +greatest physician could not move me, by his reasonings, to take an +article of food, which perhaps was altogether wholesome and agreeable to +many, so soon as my experience had shown, that on all occasions it was +noxious to me; as I might produce coffee for an instance: and just as +little, nay, still less, would I have any sort of conduct which misled +me, preached up and demonstrated upon me as morally profitable. + +Having so long prepared myself in silence, these debates were rather +pleasant than vexatious to me. I gave vent to my soul: I felt the whole +worth of my determination. I yielded not a hair's-breadth, and those to +whom I owed no filial respect were sharply handled and despatched. In +the family I soon prevailed. My mother from her youth had entertained +these sentiments, though in her they had never reached maturity; for no +necessity had pressed upon her, and exalted her courage to achieve her +purpose. She rejoiced in beholding her silent wishes fulfilled through +me. My younger sisters seemed to join themselves with me: the second was +attentive and quiet. Our aunt had the most to object. The arguments +which she employed appeared to her irrefragable; and they were +irrefragable, being altogether commonplace. At last I was obliged to +show her, that she had no voice in the affair in any sense; and, after +this, she seldom signified that she persisted in her views. She was, +indeed, the only person that observed this transaction close at hand, +without in some degree experiencing its influence. I do not calumniate +her, when I say that she had no character, and the most limited ideas. + +My father had acted altogether in his own way. He spoke not much, but +often, with me on the matter: his arguments were rational; and, being +_his_ arguments, they could not be impugned. It was only the deep +feeling of my right that gave me strength to dispute against him. But +the scenes soon changed: I was forced to make appeal to his heart. +Straitened by his understanding, I came out with the most pathetic +pleadings. I gave free course to my tongue and to my tears. I showed him +how much I loved Narciss; how much constraint I had for two years been +enduring; how certain I was of being in the right; that I was ready to +testify that certainty, by the loss of my beloved bridegroom and +prospective happiness,--nay, if it were necessary, by the loss of all +that I possessed on earth; that I would rather leave my native country, +my parents, and my friends, and beg my bread in foreign lands, than act +against these dictates of my conscience. He concealed his emotion: he +said nothing on the subject for a while, and at last he openly declared +in my favor. + +During all this time Narciss forbore to visit us; and my father now gave +up the weekly club, where he was used to meet him. The business made a +noise at court, and in the town. People talked about it, as is common in +such cases, which the public takes a vehement interest in, because its +sentence has usurped an influence on the resolutions of weak minds. I +knew enough about the world to understand that one's conduct is often +censured by the very persons who would have advised it, had one +consulted them; and independently of this, with my internal composure, I +should have looked on all such transitory speculations just as if they +had not been. + +On the other hand, I hindered not myself from yielding to my inclination +for Narciss. To me he had become invisible, and to him my feelings had +not altered. I loved him tenderly; as it were anew, and much more +steadfastly than before. If he chose to leave my conscience undisturbed, +then I was his: wanting this condition, I would have refused a kingdom +with him. For several months I bore these feelings and these thoughts +about with me; and, finding at last that I was calm and strong enough to +go peacefully and firmly to work, I wrote him a polite but not a tender +note, inquiring why he never came to see me. + +As I knew his manner of avoiding to explain himself in little matters, +but of silently doing what seemed good to him, I purposely urged him in +the present instance. I got a long, and, as it seemed to me, pitiful, +reply, in vague style and unmeaning phrases, stating, that, without a +better place, he could not fix himself, and offer me his hand; that I +best knew how hard it had fared with him hitherto; that as he was +afraid lest a fruitless intercourse, so long continued, might prove +hurtful to my reputation, I would give him leave to continue at his +present distance; so soon as it was in his power to make me happy, he +would look upon the word which he had given me as sacred. + +I answered him on the spot, that, as our intercourse was known to all +the world, it might, perhaps, be rather late to spare my reputation: for +which, at any rate, my conscience and my innocence were the surest +pledges; however, that I hereby freely gave him back his word, and hoped +the change would prove a happy one for him. The same hour I received a +short reply, which was, in all essential particulars, entirely +synonymous with the first. He adhered to his former statement, that, so +soon as he obtained a situation, he would ask me, if I pleased, to share +his fortune with him. + +This I interpreted as meaning simply nothing. I signified to my +relations and acquaintances, that the affair was altogether settled; and +it was so in fact. Having, nine months afterwards, obtained the +much-desired preferment, he offered me his hand, but under the +condition, that, as the wife of a man who must keep house like other +people, I should alter my opinions. I returned him many thanks, and +hastened with my heart and mind away from this transaction, as one +hastens from the playhouse when the curtain falls. And as he, a short +time afterwards, had found a rich and advantageous match, a thing now +easy for him; and as I now knew him to be happy in the way he liked,--my +own tranquillity was quite complete. + +I must not pass in silence the fact, that several times before he got a +place, and after it, there were respectable proposals made to me; which, +however, I declined without the smallest hesitation, much as my father +and my mother could have wished for more compliance on my part. + +At length, after a stormy March and April, the loveliest May weather +seemed to be allotted me. With good health, I enjoyed an indescribable +composure of mind: look around me as I pleased, my loss appeared a gain +to me. Young and full of sensibility, I thought the universe a thousand +times more beautiful than formerly, when I required to have society and +play, that in the fair garden tedium might not overtake me. And now, as +I did not conceal my piety, I likewise took heart to own my love for the +sciences and arts. I drew, painted, read, and found enough of people to +support me: instead of the great world, which I had left, or, rather, +which had left me, a smaller one formed itself about me, which was +infinitely richer and more entertaining. I had a turn for social life; +and I do not deny, that, on giving up my old acquaintances, I trembled +at the thought of solitude. I now found myself abundantly, perhaps +excessively, indemnified. My acquaintances erelong were very numerous, +not at home only, but likewise among people at a distance. My story had +been noised abroad, and many persons felt a curiosity to see the woman +who had valued God above her bridegroom. There was a certain pious tone +to be observed, at that time, generally over Germany. In the families of +several counts and princes, a care for the welfare of the soul had been +awakened. Nor were there wanting noblemen who showed a like attention; +while, in the inferior classes, sentiments of this kind were diffused on +every side. + +The noble family, whom I mentioned above, now drew me nearer to them. +They had, in the mean while, gathered strength; several of their +relations having settled in the town. These estimable persons courted my +familiarity, as I did theirs. They had high connections: I became +acquainted, in their house, with a great part of the princes, counts, +and lords of the empire. My sentiments were not concealed from any one: +they might be honored or be tolerated; I obtained my object,--none +attacked me. + +There was yet another way by which I was again led back into the world. +About this period a step-brother of my father, who till now had never +visited the house except in passing, staid with us for a considerable +time. He had left the service of his court, where he enjoyed great +influence and honor, simply because all matters were not managed quite +according to his mind. His intellect was just, his character was rigid. +In these points he was very like my father: only the latter had withal a +certain touch of softness, which enabled him with greater ease to yield +a little in affairs, and though not to do, yet to permit, some things +against his own conviction; and then to evaporate his anger at them, +either in silence by himself, or in confidence amid his family. My uncle +was a great deal younger, and his independence of spirit had been +favored by his outward circumstances. His mother had been very rich, and +he still had large possessions to expect from her near and distant +relatives; so he needed no foreign increase: whereas my father, with his +moderate fortune, was bound to his place by the consideration of his +salary. + +My uncle had become still more unbending from domestic sufferings. He +had early lost an amiable wife and a hopeful son; and, from that time, +he appeared to wish to push away from him every thing that did not hang +upon his individual will. + +In our family it was whispered now and then with some complacency, that +probably he would not wed again, and so we children might anticipate +inheriting his fortune. I paid small regard to this, but the demeanor of +the rest was not a little modified by their hopes. In his own +imperturbable firmness of character, my uncle had grown into the habit +of never contradicting any one in conversation. On the other hand, he +listened with a friendly air to every one's opinion, and would himself +elucidate and strengthen it by instances and reasons of his own. All who +did not know him fancied that he thought as they did: for he was +possessed of a preponderating intellect, and could transport himself +into the mental state of any man, and imitate his manner of conceiving. +With me he did not prosper quite so well; for here the question was +about emotions, of which he had not any glimpse: and, with whatever +tolerance and sympathy and rationality he spoke about my sentiments, it +was palpable to me, that he had not the slightest notion of what formed +the ground of all my conduct. + +With all his secrecy, we by and by found out the aim of his unusual stay +with us. He had, as we at length discovered, cast his eyes upon our +youngest sister, with the view of giving her in marriage, and rendering +her happy as he pleased; and certainly, considering her personal and +mental attractions, particularly when a handsome fortune was laid into +the scale along with them, she might pretend to the first matches. His +feelings towards me he likewise showed us pantomimically, by procuring +me a post of canoness, the income of which I very soon began to draw. + +My sister was not so contented with his care as I. She now disclosed to +me a tender secret, which hitherto she had very wisely kept back; +fearing, as in truth it happened, that I would by all means counsel her +against connection with a man who was not suited to her. I did my +utmost, and succeeded. The purpose of my uncle was too serious and too +distinct: the prospect for my sister, with her worldly views, was too +delightful to be thwarted by a passion which her own understanding +disapproved; she mustered force to give it up. + +On her ceasing to resist the gentle guidance of my uncle, the foundation +of his plan was quickly laid. She was appointed maid of honor at a +neighboring court, where he could commit her to the oversight and the +instructions of a lady, his friend, who presided there as governess with +great applause. I accompanied her to the place of her new abode. Both of +us had reason to be satisfied with the reception we met with; and +frequently I could not help, in secret, smiling at the character, which +now as canoness, as young and pious canoness, I was enacting in the +world. + +In earlier times a situation such as this would have confused me +dreadfully, perhaps have turned my head; but now, in the midst of all +the splendors that surrounded me, I felt extremely cool. With great +quietness I let them frizzle me, and deck me out for hours, and thought +no more of it than that my place required me to wear that gala livery. +In the thronged saloons I spoke with all and each, though no shape or +character among them made any impression on me. On returning to my +house, nearly all the feeling I brought back with me was that of tired +limbs. Yet my understanding drew advantage from the multitude of persons +whom I saw: and I became acquainted with some ladies, patterns of every +virtue, of a noble and good demeanor; particularly with the governess, +under whom my sister was to have the happiness of being formed. + +At my return, however, the consequences of this journey, in regard to +health, were found to be less favorable. With the greatest temperance, +the strictest diet, I had not been, as I used to be, completely mistress +of my time and strength. Food, motion, rising, and going to sleep, +dressing and visiting, had not depended, as at home, on my own +conveniency and will. In the circle of social life you cannot stop +without a breach of courtesy: all that was needful I had willingly +performed; because I looked upon it as my duty, because I knew that it +would soon be over, and because I felt myself completely healthy. Yet +this unusual, restless life must have had more effect upon me than I was +aware of. Scarcely had I reached home, and cheered my parents with a +comfortable narrative, when I was attacked by a hemorrhage, which, +although it did not prove dangerous or lasting, yet left a weakness +after it, perceptible for many a day. + +Here, then, I had another lesson to repeat. I did it joyfully. Nothing +bound me to the world, and I was convinced that here the true good was +never to be found; so I waited in the cheerfullest and meekest state: +and, after having abdicated life, I was retained in it. + +A new trial was awaiting me: my mother took a painful and oppressive +ailment, which she had to bear five years, before she paid the debt of +nature. All this time we were sharply proved. Often, when her terror +grew too strong, she would have us all summoned, in the night, to her +bed, that so at least she might be busied, if not bettered, by our +presence. The load grew heavier, nay, scarcely to be borne, when my +father, too, became unwell. From his youth he had frequently had violent +headaches, which, however, at longest never used to last beyond six and +thirty hours. But now they were continual; and, when they mounted to a +high degree of pain, his moanings tore my very heart. It was in these +tempestuous seasons that I chiefly felt my bodily weakness; because it +kept me from my holiest and dearest duties, or rendered the performance +of them hard to an extreme degree. + +It was now that I could try whether the path which I had chosen was the +path of fantasy or truth; whether I had merely thought as others showed +me, or the object of my trust had a reality. To my unspeakable support, +I always found the latter. The straight direction of my heart to God, +the fellowship of the "Beloved Ones."[3] I had sought and found; and +this was what made all things light to me. As a traveller in the dark, +my soul, when all was pressing on me from without, hastened to the place +of refuge; and never did it return empty. + +In later times some champions of religion, who seem to be animated more +by zeal than feeling for it, have required of their brethren to produce +examples of prayers actually heard; apparently as wishing to have seal +and signature, that so they might proceed juridically in the matter. How +unknown must the true feeling be to these persons! how few real +experiences can they themselves have made! + +I can say that I never returned empty, when in straits and oppression I +called on God. This is saying infinitely much: more I must not and can +not say. Important as each experience was at the critical moment for +myself, the recital of them would be flat, improbable, and +insignificant, were I to specify the separate cases. Happy was I, that a +thousand little incidents in combination proved, as clearly as the +drawing of my breath proved me to be living, that I was not without God +in the world. He was near to me: I was before him. This is what, with a +diligent avoidance of all theological systematic terms, I can with the +greatest truth declare. + +Much do I wish, that, in those times too, I had been entirely without +system. But which of us arrives early at the happiness of being +conscious of his individual self, in its own pure combination, without +extraneous forms? I was in earnest with religion. I timidly trusted in +the judgments of others: I entirely gave in to the Hallean system of +conversion, but my nature would by no means tally with it. + +According to this scheme of doctrine, the alteration of the heart must +begin with a deep terror on account of sin: the heart in this agony must +recognize, in a less or greater degree, the punishment which it has +merited, must get a foretaste of hell, and so embitter the delight of +sin. At last it feels a very palpable assurance of grace; which, +however, in its progress often fades away, and must again be sought with +earnest prayer. + +Of all this no jot or tittle happened with me. When I sought God +sincerely, he let himself be found of me, and did not reproach me about +by-gone things. On looking back, I saw well enough where I had been +unworthy, where I still was so; but the confession of my faults was +altogether without terror. Not for a moment did the fear of hell occur +to me; nay, the very notion of a wicked spirit, and a place of +punishment and torment after death, could nowise gain admission into the +circle of my thoughts. I considered the men who lived without God, whose +hearts were shut against the trust in and the love of the Invisible, as +already so unhappy, that a hell and external pains appeared to promise +rather an alleviation than an increase of their misery. I had but to +look upon the persons, in this world, who in their breasts gave scope to +hateful feelings; who hardened their hearts against the good of whatever +kind, and strove to force the evil on themselves and others; who shut +their eyes by day, that so they might deny the shining of the sun. How +unutterably wretched did these persons seem to me! Who could have formed +a hell to make their situation worse? + +This mood of mind continued in me, without change, for half a score of +years. It maintained itself through many trials, even at the moving +death-bed of my beloved mother. I was frank enough, on this occasion, +not to hide my comfortable frame of mind from certain pious but +rigorously orthodox people; and I had to suffer many a friendly +admonition on that score. They reckoned they were just in season, for +explaining with what earnestness one should be diligent to lay a right +foundation in the days of health and youth. + +In earnestness I, too, determined not to fail. For the moment I allowed +myself to be convinced; and fain would I have grown, for life, +distressed and full of fears. But what was my surprise on finding that I +absolutely could not. When I thought of God, I was cheerful and +contented: even at the painful end of my dear mother, I did not shudder +at the thought of death. Yet I learned many and far other things than my +uncalled teachers thought of, in these solemn hours. + +By degrees I grew to doubt the dictates of so many famous people, and +retained my own sentiments in silence. A certain lady of my friends, to +whom I had at first disclosed too much, insisted always on interfering +with my business. Of her, too, I was obliged to rid myself: I at last +firmly told her, that she might spare herself this labor, as I did not +need her counsel; that I knew my God, and would have no guide but him. +She was greatly offended: I believe she never quite forgave me. + +Such determination to withdraw from the advices and the influence of my +friends, in spiritual matters, produced the consequence, that also in my +temporal affairs I gained sufficient courage to obey my own persuasions. +But for the assistance of my faithful, invisible Leader, I could not +have prospered here. I am still gratefully astonished at his wise and +happy guidance. No one knew how matters stood with me: even I myself did +not know. + +The thing, the wicked and inexplicable thing, which separates us from +the Being to whom we owe our life, and in whom all that deserves the +name of life must find its nourishment,--the thing which we call sin I +yet knew nothing of. + +In my intercourse with my invisible Friend, I felt the sweetest +enjoyment of all my powers. My desire of constantly enjoying this +felicity was so predominant, that I abandoned without hesitation +whatever marred our intercourse; and here experience was my best +teacher. But it was with me as with sick persons who have no medicine, +and try to help themselves by diet: something is accomplished, but far +from enough. + +I could not always live in solitude, though in it I found the best +preservative against the dissipation of my thoughts. On returning to the +tumult, the impression it produced upon me was the deeper for my +previous loneliness. My most peculiar advantage lay in this, that love +for quiet was my ruling passion, and that in the end I still drew back +to it. I perceived, as in a kind of twilight, my weakness and my misery, +and tried to save myself by avoiding danger and exposure. + +For seven years I had used my dietetic scheme. I held myself not wicked, +and I thought my state desirable. But for some peculiar circumstances +and occurrences I had remained in this position: it was by a curious +path that I got farther. Contrary to the advice of all my friends, I +entered on a new connection. Their objections, at first, made me pause. +I turned to my invisible Leader; and, as he permitted me, I went forward +without fear. + +A man of spirit, heart, and talents had bought a property beside us. +Among the strangers whom I grew acquainted with, were this person and +his family. In our manners, domestic economy, and habits we accorded +well; and thus we soon approximated to each other. + +Philo, as I propose to call him, was already middle-aged: in certain +matters he was highly serviceable to my father, whose strength was now +decaying. He soon became the friend of the family: and finding in me, as +he was pleased to say, a person free alike from the extravagance and +emptiness of the great world, and from the narrowness and aridness of +the still world in the country, he courted intimacy with me; and erelong +we were in one another's confidence. To me he was very pleasing and +useful. + +Though I did not feel the smallest inclination or capacity for mingling +in public business, or seeking any influence on it, yet I liked to hear +about such matters,--liked to know whatever happened far and near. Of +worldly things, I loved to get a clear though unconcerned perception: +feeling, sympathy, affection, I reserved for God, for my people, and my +friends. + +The latter were, if I may say so, jealous of Philo, in my new connection +with him. In more than one sense, they were right in warning me about +it. I suffered much in secret, for even I could not consider their +remonstrances as altogether empty or selfish. I had been accustomed, +from of old, to give a reason for my views and conduct; but in this case +my conviction would not follow. I prayed to God, that here, as +elsewhere, he would warn, restrain, and guide me; and, as my heart on +this did not dissuade me, I went forward on my way with comfort. + +Philo, on the whole, had a remote resemblance to Narciss: only a pious +education had more enlivened and concentrated his feelings. He had less +vanity, more character; and in business, if Narciss was delicate, exact, +persevering, indefatigable, the other was clear, sharp, quick, and +capable of working with incredible ease. By means of him I learned the +secret history of almost every noble personage with whose exterior I had +got acquainted in society. It was pleasant for me to behold the tumult, +off my watch-tower from afar. Philo could now hide nothing from me: he +confided to me, by degrees, his own concerns, both inward and outward. I +was in fear because of him, for I foresaw certain circumstances and +entanglements; and the mischief came more speedily than I had looked +for. There were some confessions he had still kept back, and even at +last he told me only what enabled me to guess the worst. + +What an effect had this upon my heart! I attained experiences which to +me were altogether new. With infinite sorrow I beheld an Agathon, who, +educated in the groves of Delphi, still owed his school-fees, which he +was now obliged to pay with their accumulated interest; and this Agathon +was my especial friend. My sympathy was lively and complete; I suffered +with him; both of us were in the strangest state. + +After having long occupied myself with the temper of his mind, I at last +turned round to contemplate my own. The thought, "Thou art no better +than he," rose like a little cloud before me, and gradually expanded +till it darkened all my soul. + +I now not only thought myself no better than he: I felt this, and felt +it as I should not wish to do again. Nor was it any transitory mood. For +more than a year, I was compelled to feel, that, had not an unseen hand +restrained me, I might have become a Girard, a Cartouche, a Damiens, or +any wretch you can imagine. The tendencies to this I traced too clearly +in my heart. Heavens, what a discovery! + +If hitherto I had never been able, in the faintest degree, to recognize +in myself the reality of sin by experience, its possibility was now +become apparent to me by anticipation, in the frightfullest manner. And +yet I knew not evil; I but feared it: I felt that I might be guilty, and +could not accuse myself of being so. + +Deeply as I was convinced that such a temperament of soul, as I now saw +mine to be, could never be adapted for that union with the invisible +Being which I hoped for after death, I did not, in the smallest, fear +that I should finally be separated from him. With all the wickedness +which I discovered in my heart, I still loved _Him_: I hated what I +felt, nay, wished to hate it still more earnestly; my whole desire was, +to be delivered from this sickness, and this tendency to sickness; and I +was persuaded that the great Physician would at length vouchsafe his +help. + +The sole question was, What medicine will cure this malady? The practice +of virtue? This I could not for a moment think. For ten years I had +already practised more than mere virtue; and the horrors now first +discovered had, all the while, lain hidden at the bottom of my soul. +Might they not have broken out with me, as they did with David when he +looked on Bathsheba? Yet was not he a friend of God! and was not I +assured, in my inmost heart, that God was my friend? + +Was it, then, an unavoidable infirmity of human nature? Must we just +content ourselves in feeling and acknowledging the sovereignty of +inclination? And, with the best will, is there nothing left for us but +to abhor the fault we have committed, and on the like occasion to commit +it again? + +From systems of morality I could obtain no comfort. Neither their +severity, by which they try to bend our inclinations, nor their +attractiveness, by which they try to place our inclinations on the side +of virtue, gave me any satisfaction. The fundamental notions, which I +had imbibed from intercourse with my invisible Friend, were of far +higher value to me. + +Once, while I was studying the songs composed by David after that +tremendous fall, it struck me very much that he traced his indwelling +corruption even in the substance out of which he had been shaped; yet +that he wished to be freed from sin, and that he earnestly entreated for +a pure heart. + +But how was this to be attained? The answer from Scripture I was well +aware of: "that the blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all sin," was a +Bible truth which I had long known. But now, for the first time, I +observed that as yet I had never understood this oft-repeated saying. +The questions, What does it mean? How is it to be? were day and night +working out their answers in me. At last I thought I saw, as by a gleam +of light, that what I sought was to be found in the incarnation of the +everlasting Word, by whom all things, even we ourselves, were made. That +the Eternal descended as an inhabitant to the depths in which we dwell, +which he surveys and comprehends; that he passed through our lot from +stage to stage, from conception and birth to the grave; that by this +marvellous circuit he again mounted to those shining heights, whither we +too must rise in order to be happy: all this was revealed to me, as in a +dawning remoteness. + +Oh! why must we, in speaking of such things, make use of figures which +can only indicate external situations? Where is there in his eyes aught +high or deep, aught dark or clear? It is we only that have an Under and +Upper, a night and day. And even for this did he become like us, since +otherwise we could have had no part in him. + +But how shall we obtain a share in this priceless benefit? "By faith," +the Scripture says. And what is faith? To consider the account of an +event as true, what help can this afford me? I must be enabled to +appropriate its effects, its consequences. This appropriating faith must +be a state of mind peculiar, and, to the natural man, unknown. + +"Now, gracious Father, grant me faith!" so prayed I once, in the deepest +heaviness of heart. I was leaning on a little table, where I sat: my +tear-stained countenance was hidden in my hands. I was now in the +condition in which we seldom are, but in which we are required to be, if +God is to regard our prayers. + +Oh, that I could but paint what I felt then! A sudden force drew my soul +to the cross where Jesus once expired: it was a sudden force, a pull, I +cannot name it otherwise, such as leads our soul to an absent loved one; +an approximation, which, perhaps, is far more real and true than we +imagine. So did my soul approach the Son of man, who died upon the +cross; and that instant did I know what faith was. + +"This is faith!" said I, and started up as if half frightened. I now +endeavored to get certain of my feeling, of my view; and shortly I +became convinced that my soul had acquired a power of soaring upwards +which was altogether new to it. + +Words fail us in describing such emotions. I could most distinctly +separate them from all fantasy: they were entirely without fantasy, +without image; yet they gave us just such certainty of their referring +to some object as our imagination gives us when it paints the features +of an absent lover. + +When the first rapture was over, I observed that my present condition +of mind had formerly been known to me; only I had never felt it in such +strength; I had never held it fast, never made it mine. I believe, +indeed, every human soul at intervals feels something of it. Doubtless +it is this which teaches every mortal that there is a God. + +With such faculty, wont from of old to visit me now and then, I had +hitherto been well content: and had not, by a singular arrangement of +events, that unexpected sorrow weighed upon me for a twelvemonth; had +not my own ability and strength, on that occasion, altogether lost +credit with me,--I perhaps might have remained content with such a state +of matters all my days. + +But now, since that great moment, I had, as it were, got wings. I could +mount aloft above what used to threaten me; as the bird can fly singing +and with ease across the fiercest stream, while the little dog stands +anxiously baying on the bank. + +My joy was indescribable; and, though I did not mention it to any one, +my people soon observed an unaccustomed cheerfulness in me, and could +not understand the reason of my joy. Had I but forever held my peace, +and tried to nourish this serene temper in my soul; had I not allowed +myself to be misled by circumstances, so as to reveal my secret,--I +might then have been saved once more a long and tedious circuit. + +As in the previous ten years of my Christian course, this necessary +force had not existed in my soul, I had just been in the case of other +worthy people,--had helped myself by keeping my fancy always full of +images, which had some reference to God,--a practice so far truly +useful; for noxious images and their baneful consequences are by that +means kept away. Often, too, our spirit seizes one or other of these +spiritual images, and mounts with it a little way upwards, like a young +bird fluttering from twig to twig. + +Images and impressions pointing towards God are presented to us by the +institutions of the Church, by organs, bells, singing, and particularly +by the preaching of our pastors. Of these I used to be unspeakably +desirous; no weather, no bodily weakness, could keep me from church; the +sound of the Sunday bells was the only thing that rendered me impatient +on a sick-bed. Our head court-chaplain, a gifted man, I heard with great +pleasure; his colleagues, too, I liked: and I could pick the golden +apple of the Word from the common fruit, with which on earthen platters +it was mingled. With public ordinances, all sorts of private exercises +were combined; and these, too, only nourished fancy and a finer kind of +sense. I was so accustomed to this track, I reverenced it so much, that +even now no higher one occurred to me. For my soul has only feelers, and +not eyes: it gropes, but does not see. Ah! that it could get eyes, and +look! + +Now again, therefore, I went with a longing mind to sermon; but, alas! +what happened? I no longer found what I was wont to find. These +preachers were blunting their teeth on the shell, while I enjoyed the +kernel. I soon grew weary of them; and I had already been so spoiled, +that I could not be content with the little they afforded me. I required +images, I wanted impressions from without, and reckoned it a pure +spiritual desire that I felt. + +Philo's parents had been in connection with the Herrnhuter Community: in +his library were many writings of Count Zinzendorf's. He had spoken with +me, more than once, very candidly and clearly on the subject; inviting +me to turn over one or two of these treatises, if it were but for the +sake of studying a psychological phenomenon. I looked upon the count, +and those that followed him, as very heterodox; and so the Ebersdorf +Hymn-book, which my friend had pressed upon me, lay unread. + +However, in this total destitution of external excitements for my soul, +I opened the hymn-book, as it were, by chance, and found in it, to my +astonishment, some songs which actually, though under a fantastic form, +appeared to shadow what I felt. The originality and simplicity of their +expression drew me on. It seemed to be peculiar emotions expressed in a +peculiar way: no school technology suggested any notion of formality or +commonplace. I was persuaded that these people felt as I did: I was very +happy to lay hold of here and there a stanza in their songs, to fix it +in my memory, and carry it about with me for days. + +Since the moment when the truth had been revealed to me, some three +months had in this way passed on. At last I came to the resolution of +disclosing every thing to Philo, and asking him to let me have those +writings, about which I had now become immoderately curious. Accordingly +I did so, notwithstanding there was something in my heart which +earnestly dissuaded me. + +I circumstantially related to him all the story; and as he was himself a +leading person in it, and my narrative conveyed the sharpest reprimand +on him, he felt surprised and moved to an extreme degree. He melted into +tears. I rejoiced; believing that, in his mind also, a full and +fundamental change had taken place. + +He provided me with all the writings I could require, and now I had +excess of nourishment for my imagination. I made rapid progress in the +Zinzendorfic mode of thought and speech. And be it not supposed that I +am yet incapable of prizing the peculiar turn and manner of the count. I +willingly do him justice: he is no empty fantast; he speaks of mighty +truths, and mostly in a bold, figurative style; the people who despise +him know not either how to value or discriminate his qualities. + +At that time I became exceedingly attached to him. Had I been mistress +of myself, I would certainly have left my friends and country, and gone +to join him. We should infallibly have understood each other, and should +hardly have agreed together long. + +Thanks to my better genius, that now kept me so confined by my domestic +duties! I reckoned it a distant journey if I visited the garden. The +charge of my aged, weakly father afforded me employment enough; and in +hours of recreation, I had Fancy to procure me pastime. The only mortal +whom I saw was Philo; he was highly valued by my father; but, with me, +his intimacy had been cooled a little by the late explanation. Its +influence on him had not penetrated deep: and, as some attempts to talk +in my dialect had not succeeded with him, he avoided touching on this +subject; and the rather, as his extensive knowledge put it always in his +power to introduce new topics in his conversation. + +I was thus a Herrnhut sister on my own footing. I had especially to hide +this new turn of my temper and my inclinations from the head +court-chaplain, whom, as my father confessor, I had much cause to honor, +and whose high merits his extreme aversion to the Herrnhut Community did +not diminish, in my eyes, even then. Unhappily this worthy person had to +suffer many troubles on account of me and others. + +Several years ago he had become acquainted with an upright, pious +gentleman, residing in a distant quarter, and had long continued in +unbroken correspondence with him, as with one who truly sought God. How +painful was it to the spiritual leader, when this gentleman subsequently +joined himself to the Community of Herrnhut, where he lived for a long +while! How delightful, on the other hand, when at length he quarrelled +with the brethren, determined to settle in our neighborhood, and seemed +once more to yield himself completely to the guidance of his ancient +friend! + +The stranger was presented, as in triumph, by the upper pastor, to all +the chosen lambs of his fold. To our house alone he was not introduced, +because my father did not now see company. The gentleman obtained no +little approbation: he combined the polish of the court with the winning +manner of the brethren; and, having also many fine qualities by nature, +he soon became the favorite saint with all who knew him,--a result at +which the chaplain was exceedingly contented. But, alas! it was merely +in externals that the gentleman had split with the Community: in his +heart he was yet entirely a Herrnhuter. He was, in truth, concerned for +the reality of the matter; but yet the gimcracks, which the count had +stuck round it, were, at the same time, quite adapted to his taste. +Besides, he had now become accustomed to this mode of speaking and +conceiving: and, if he had to hide it carefully from his old friend, the +gladder was he, in any knot of trusty persons, to come forth with his +couplets, litanies, and little figures; in which, as might have been +supposed, he met with great applause. + +I knew nothing of the whole affair, and wandered quietly along in my +separate path. For a good while we continued mutually unknown. + +Once, in a leisure hour, I happened to visit a lady who was sick. I +found several acquaintances with her, and soon perceived that my +appearance had cut short their conversation. I affected not to notice +any thing, but saw erelong, with great surprise, some Herrnhut figures +stuck upon the wall in elegant frames. Quickly comprehending what had +passed before my entrance, I expressed my pleasure at the sight, in a +few suitable verses. + +Conceive the wonder of my friends! We explained ourselves: instantly we +were agreed, and in each other's confidence. + +I often henceforth sought opportunities of going out. Unhappily I found +such only once in the three or four weeks; yet I grew acquainted with +our gentleman apostle, and by degrees with all the body. I visited their +meetings when I could: with my social disposition, it was quite +delightful for me to communicate to others, and to hear from them, the +feelings which, till now, I had conceived and harbored by myself. + +But I was not so completely taken with my friends, as not to see that +few of them could really feel the sense of those affecting words and +emblems; and that from these they drew as little benefit as formerly +they did from the symbolic language of the Church. Yet, notwithstanding, +I went on with them, not letting this disturb me. I thought I was not +called to search and try the hearts of others. Had not I, too, by +long-continued innocent exercisings of that sort, been prepared for +something better? I had my share of profit from our meetings: in +speaking, I insisted on attending to the sense and spirit, which, in +things so delicate, is rather apt to be disguised by words than +indicated by them; and for the rest, I left, with silent tolerance, each +to act according to his own conviction. + +These quiet times of secret social joy were shortly followed by storms +of open bickering and contradiction,--contentions which excited great +commotion, I might almost say occasioned not a little scandal, in court +and town. The period was now arrived when our chaplain, that stout +gain-sayer of the Herrnhut Brethren, must discover to his deep, but, I +trust, sanctified humiliation, that his best and once most zealous +hearers were now all leaning to the side of that community. He was +excessively provoked: in the first moments he forgot all moderation, and +could not, even if he had inclined it, retract afterwards. Violent +debates took place, in which happily I was not mentioned, both as being +an accidental member of those hated meetings, and then because, in +respect of certain civic matters, our zealous preacher could not safely +disoblige either my father or my friend. With silent satisfaction I +continued neutral. It was irksome to me to converse about such feelings +and objects, even with well-affected people, when they could not +penetrate the deepest sense, and lingered merely on the surface. But to +strive with adversaries, about things on which even friends could +scarcely understand each other, seemed to me unprofitable, nay, +pernicious. For I soon perceived, that many amiable noblemen, who on +this occurrence could not shut their hearts to enmity and hatred, had +rapidly passed over to injustice, and, in order to defend an outward +form, had almost sacrificed their most substantial duties. + +Far as the worthy clergyman might, in the present case, be wrong; much +as others tried to irritate me at him,--I could never hesitate to give +him my sincere respect. I knew him well: I could candidly transport +myself into his way of looking at these matters. I have never seen a +man without his weaknesses: only in distinguished men they strike us +more. We wish, and will at all rates have it, that persons privileged as +they are should at the same time pay no tribute, no tax whatever. I +honored him as a superior man, and hoped to use the influence of my calm +neutrality to bring about, if not a peace, at least a truce. I know not +what my efforts might have done; but God concluded the affair more +briefly, and took the chaplain to himself. On his coffin all wept, who +had lately been striving with him about words. His uprightness, his fear +of God, no one had ever doubted. + +I, too, was erelong forced to lay aside this Herrnhut doll-work, which, +by means of these contentions, now appeared before me in a rather +different light. Our uncle had, in silence, executed his intentions with +my sister. He offered her a young man of rank and fortune as a +bridegroom, and showed, by a rich dowry, what might be expected of +himself. My father joyfully consented: my sister was free and +forewarned; she did not hesitate to change her state. The bridal was +appointed at my uncle's castle: family and friends were all invited, and +we came together in the cheerfullest mood. + +For the first time in my life, the aspect of a house excited admiration +in me. I had often heard of my uncle's taste, of his Italian architect, +of his collections and his library; but, comparing this with what I had +already seen, I had formed a very vague and fluctuating picture of it in +my thoughts. Great, accordingly, was my surprise at the earnest and +harmonious impression which I felt on entering the house, and which +every hall and chamber deepened. If elsewhere pomp and decoration had +but dissipated my attention, I felt here concentrated and drawn back +upon myself. In like manner the preparatives for these solemnities and +festivals produced a silent pleasure, by their air of dignity and +splendor; and to me it seemed as inconceivable that one man could have +invented and arranged all this, as that more than one could have worked +together in so high a spirit. Yet, withal, the landlord and his people +were entirely natural: not a trace of stiffness or of empty form was to +be seen. + +The wedding itself was managed in a striking way: an exquisite strain of +vocal music came upon us by surprise, and the clergyman went through the +ceremony with a singular solemnity. I was standing by Philo at the time; +and, instead of a congratulation, he whispered in my ear, "When I saw +your sister give away her hand, I felt as if a stream of boiling water +had been poured over me."--"Why so?" I inquired. "It is always the way +with me," said he, "when I see two people joined." I laughed at him, but +I have often since had cause to recollect his words. + +The revel of the party, among whom were many young people, looked +particularly glittering and airy; as every thing around us was dignified +and serious. The furniture, plate, table-ware, and table-ornaments +accorded with the general whole; and if in other houses you would say +the architect was of the school of the confectioner, it here appeared as +if even our confectioner and butler had taken lessons from the +architect. + +We staid together several days, and our intelligent and gifted landlord +had variedly provided for the entertainment of his guests. I did not in +the present case repeat the melancholy proof, which has so often in my +life been forced upon me, how unhappily a large mixed company are +situated, when, altogether left to themselves, they have to select the +most general and vapid pastimes, that the fools of the party may not +want amusement, however it may fare with those that are not such. + +My uncle had arranged it altogether differently. Two or three marshals, +if I may call them so, had been appointed by him: one of them had charge +of providing entertainment for the young. Dances, excursions, little +games, were of his invention and under his direction: and as young +people take delight in being out-of-doors, and do not fear the +influences of the air, the garden and garden-hall had been assigned to +them; while some additional pavilions and galleries had been erected and +appended to the latter, formed of boards and canvas merely, but in such +proportions, so elegant and noble, they reminded one of nothing but +stone and marble. + +How rare is a festivity in which the person who invites the guests feels +also that it is his duty to provide for their conveniences and wants of +every kind! + +Hunting and card parties, short promenades, opportunities for trustful +private conversations, were afforded the elder persons; and whoever +wished to go earliest to bed was sure to be lodged the farthest from +noise. + +By this happy order, the space we lived in appeared to be a little +world: and yet, considered narrowly, the castle was not large; without +an accurate knowledge of it, and without the spirit of its owner, it +would have been impossible to entertain so many people here, and quarter +each according to his humor. + +As the aspect of a well-formed person pleases us, so also does a fair +establishment, by means of which the presence of a rational, intelligent +mind is manifested. We feel a joy in entering even a cleanly house, +though it may be tasteless in its structure and its decorations, because +it shows us the presence of a person cultivated in at least one sense. +Doubly pleasing is it, therefore, when, from a human dwelling, the +spirit of a higher though merely sensual culture speaks to us. + +All this was vividly impressed on my observation at my uncle's castle. I +had heard and read much of art; Philo, too, was a lover of pictures, and +had a fine collection: I myself had often practised drawing; but I had +been too deeply occupied with my emotions, striving exclusively after +the one thing needful, which alone I was bent on carrying to perfection; +and then, such objects of art as I had hitherto seen, appeared, like all +other worldly objects, to distract my thoughts. But now, for the first +time, outward things had led me back upon myself: I now first perceived +the difference between the natural charm of the nightingale's song, and +that of a four-voiced anthem pealed from the expressive organs of men. + +My joy over this discovery I did not hide from my uncle, who, when all +the rest were settled at their posts, was wont to come and talk with me +in private. He spoke with great modesty of what he possessed and had +produced here, with great decision of the views in which it had been +gathered and arranged: and I could easily observe that he spoke with a +forbearance towards me; seeming, in his usual way, to rate the +excellence, which he himself possessed below that other excellence, +which, in my way of thinking, was the best and properest. + +"If we can conceive it possible," he once observed, "that the Creator of +the world himself assumed the form of his creature, and lived in that +manner for a time upon earth, this creature must appear to us of +infinite perfection, because susceptible of such a combination with its +Maker. Hence, in our idea of man, there can be no inconsistency with our +idea of God; and if we often feel a certain disagreement with him and +remoteness from him, it is but the more on that account our duty, not +like advocates of the wicked Spirit, to keep our eyes continually upon +the nakedness and weakness of our nature, but rather to seek out every +property and beauty by which our pretension to a similarity with the +Divinity may be made good." + +I smiled, and answered, "Do not make me blush, dear uncle, by your +complaisance in talking in my language! What you have to say is of such +importance to me, that I wish to hear it in your own most peculiar +style; and then what parts of it I cannot quite appropriate I will +endeavor to translate." + +"I may continue," he replied, "in my own most peculiar way, without any +alteration of my tone. Man's highest merit always is, as much as +possible to rule external circumstances, and as little as possible to +let himself be ruled by them. Life lies before us, as a huge quarry lies +before the architect: he deserves not the name of architect, except +when, out of this fortuitous mass, he can combine, with the greatest +economy and fitness and durability, some form, the pattern of which +originated in his spirit. All things without us, nay, I may add, all +things on us, are mere elements; but deep within us lies the creative +force, which out of these can produce what they were meant to be, and +which leaves us neither sleep nor rest, till, in one way or another, +without us or on us, that same have been produced. You, my dear niece, +have, it may be, chosen the better part; you have striven to bring your +moral being, your earnest, lovely nature, into accordance with itself +and with the Highest: but neither ought we to be blamed, when we strive +to get acquainted with the sentient man in all his comprehensiveness, +and to bring about an active harmony among his powers." + +By such discoursing, we in time grew more familiar; and I begged of him +to speak with me as with himself, omitting every sort of condescension. +"Do not think," replied my uncle, "that I flatter you when I commend +your mode of thinking and acting. I reverence the individual who +understands distinctly what it is he wishes; who unweariedly advances, +who knows the means conducive to his object, and can seize and use them. +How far his object may be great or little, may merit praise or censure, +is the next consideration with me. Believe me, love, most part of all +the misery and mischief, of all that is denominated evil in the world, +arises from the fact, that men are too remiss to get a proper knowledge +of their aims, and, when they do know them, to work intensely in +attaining them. They seem to me like people who have taken up a notion +that they must and will erect a tower, and who yet expend on the +foundation not more stones and labor than would be sufficient for a hut. +If you, my friend, whose highest want it was to perfect and unfold your +moral nature, had, instead of those bold and noble sacrifices, merely +trimmed between your duties to yourself and to your family, your +bridegroom, or perhaps your husband, you must have lived in constant +contradiction with your feelings, and never could have had a peaceful +moment." + +"You employ the word sacrifice," I answered here: "and I have often +thought, that to a higher purpose, as to a divinity, we offer up by way +of sacrifice a thing of smaller value; feeling like persons who should +willingly and gladly bring a favorite lamb to the altar for the health +of a beloved father." + +"Whatever it may be," said he, "reason or feeling, that commands us to +give up the one thing for the other, to choose the one before the other, +decision and perseverance are, in my opinion, the noblest qualities of +man. You cannot have the ware and the money both at the same time; and +he who always hankers for the ware without having heart to give the +money for it, is no better off than he who repents him of the purchase +when the ware is in his hands. But I am far from blaming men on this +account: it is not they that are to blame; it is the difficult, +entangled situation they are in: they know not how to guide themselves +in its perplexities. Thus, for instance, you will on the average find +fewer bad economists in the country than in towns, and fewer again in +small towns than in great; and why? Man is intended for a limited +condition; objects that are simple, near, determinate, he comprehends, +and he becomes accustomed to employ such means as are at hand; but, on +entering a wider field, he now knows neither what he would nor what he +should; and it amounts to quite the same, whether his attention is +distracted by the multitude of objects, or is overpowered by their +magnitude and dignity. It is always a misfortune for him when he is +induced to struggle after any thing with which he cannot connect himself +by some regular exertion of his powers. + +"Certainly," pursued he, "without earnestness there is nothing to be +done in life; yet, among the people whom we name cultivated men, little +earnestness is to be found: in labors and employments, in arts, nay, +even in recreations, they proceed, if I may say so, with a sort of +self-defence; they live, as they read a heap of newspapers, only to have +done with it; they remind one of that young Englishman at Rome, who +said, with a contented air one evening in some company, that to-day he +had despatched six churches and two galleries. They wish to know and +learn a multitude of things, and precisely those they have the least +concern with; and they never see that hunger is not stilled by snapping +at the air. When I become acquainted with a man, my first inquiry is, +With what does he employ himself, and how, and with what degree of +perseverance? The answer regulates the interest I shall take in him for +life." + +"My dear uncle," I replied, "you are, perhaps, too rigorous: you perhaps +withdraw your helping hand from here and there a worthy man to whom you +might be useful." + +"Can it be imputed as a fault," said he, "to one who has so long and +vainly labored on them and about them? How much we have to suffer in our +youth from men who think they are inviting us to a delightful +pleasure-party, when they undertake to introduce us to the Danaides or +Sisyphus! Heaven be praised! I have rid myself of these people: if one +of them unfortunately comes within my sphere, I forthwith, in the +politest manner, compliment him out again. It is from such persons that +you hear the bitterest complaints about the miserable course of things, +the aridity of science, the levity of artists, the emptiness of poets, +and much more of that sort. They do not recollect that they, and the +many like them, are the very persons who would never read a book which +had been written just as they require it; that true poetry is alien to +them; that even an excellent work of art can never gain their +approbation except by means of prejudice. But let us now break off, for +this is not the time to rail or to complain." + +He directed my attention to the different pictures hanging on the wall: +my eye dwelt on those whose look was beautiful or subject striking. This +he permitted for a while: at last he said, "Bestow a little notice on +the spirit manifested in these other works. Good minds delight to trace +the finger of the Deity in nature: why not likewise pay some small +regard to the hand of his imitator?" He then led my observation to some +unobtrusive figures; endeavoring to make me understand that it was the +history of art alone which could give us an idea of the worth and +dignity of any work of art; that we should know the weary steps of mere +handicraft and mechanism, over which the man of talents has struggled in +the course of centuries, before we can conceive how it is possible for +the man of genius to move with airy freedom on the pinnacle whose very +aspect makes us giddy. + +With this view he had formed a beautiful series of works; and, whilst he +explained it, I could not help conceiving that I saw before me a +similitude of moral culture. When I expressed my thought to him, he +answered, "You are altogether right; and we see from this, that those do +not act well, who, in a solitary, exclusive manner, follow moral +cultivation by itself. On the contrary, it will be found, that he whose +spirit strives for a development of that kind, has likewise every +reason, at the same time, to improve his finer sentient powers; that so +he may not run the risk of sinking from his moral height by giving way +to the enticements of a lawless fancy, and degrading his moral nature by +allowing it to take delight in tasteless baubles, if not in something +worse." + +I did not suspect him of levelling at me; but I felt myself struck, when +I reflected how many insipidities there might be in the songs that used +to edify me, and how little favor the figures which had joined +themselves to my religious ideas would have found in the eyes of my +uncle. + +Philo, in the mean time, had frequently been busied in the library: he +now took me along with him. We admired the selection, as well as the +multitude, of books. They had been collected on my uncle's general +principle: there were none to be found among them but such as either +lead to correct knowledge, or teach right arrangement; such as either +give us fit materials, or further the concordance of our spirit. + +In the course of my life I had read very largely; in certain branches, +there was almost no work unknown to me: the more pleasant was it here to +speak about the general survey of the whole; to mark deficiencies, and +not, as elsewhere, see nothing but a hampered confusion or a boundless +expansion. + +Here, too, we became acquainted with a very interesting, quiet man. He +was a physician and a naturalist: he seemed rather one of the _Penates_ +than of the inmates. He showed us the museum, which, like the library, +was fixed in glass cases to the walls of the chambers, adorning and +ennobling the space, which it did not crowd. On this occasion I recalled +with joy the days of my youth, and showed my father many of the things +he had been wont to lay upon the sick-bed of his little child, just +opening its little eyes to look into the world then. At the same time +the physician, in our present and following conversations, did not +scruple to avow how near he approximated to me in respect of my +religious sentiments: he warmly praised my uncle for his tolerance, and +his esteem of all that testified or forwarded the worth and unity of +human nature; admitting, also, that he called for a similar return from +others, and would shun and condemn nothing else so heartily as +individual pretension and narrow exclusiveness. + +Since the nuptials of my sister, joy had sparkled in the eyes of our +uncle: he often spoke with me of what he meant to do for her and for her +children. He had several fine estates: he managed them himself, and +hoped to leave them in the best condition to his nephews. Regarding the +small estate where we at present were, he appeared to entertain peculiar +thoughts. "I will leave it to none," said he, "but to a person who can +understand and value and enjoy what it contains, and who feels how +loudly every man of wealth and rank, especially in Germany, is called on +to exhibit something like a model to others." + +Most of his guests were now gone: we, too, were making ready for +departure, thinking we had seen the final scene of this solemnity, when +his attention in affording us some dignified enjoyment produced a new +surprise. We had mentioned to him the delight which the chorus of +voices, suddenly commencing without accompaniment of any instrument, had +given us, at my sister's marriage. We hinted, at the same time, how +pleasant it would be were such a thing repeated; but he seemed to pay no +heed to us. The livelier was our surprise, when he said, one evening, +"The music of the dance has died away; our transitory, youthful friends +have left us; the happy pair themselves have a more serious look than +they had some days ago. To part at such a time, when, perhaps, we shall +never meet again, certainly never without changes, exalts us to a solemn +mood, which I know not how to entertain more nobly than by the music you +were lately signifying a desire to have repeated." + +The chorus, which had in the mean while gathered strength, and by secret +practice more expertness, was accordingly made to sing to us a series of +four and of eight voiced melodies, which, if I may say so, gave a real +foretaste of bliss. Till then I had only known the pious mode of +singing, as good souls practise it, frequently with hoarse pipes, +imagining, like wild birds, that they are praising God, while they +procure a pleasant feeling to themselves. Or, perhaps, I had listened to +the vain music of concerts, in which you are at best invited to admire +the talent of the singer, and very seldom have even a transient +enjoyment. Now, however, I was listening to music, which, as it +originated in the deepest feeling of the most accomplished human beings, +was, by suitable and practised organs in harmonious unity, made again to +address the deepest and best feelings of man, and to impress him at that +moment with a lively sense of his likeness to the Deity. They were all +devotional songs, in the Latin language: they sat like jewels in the +golden ring of a polished intellectual conversation; and, without +pretending to edify, they elevated me and made me happy in the most +spiritual manner. + +At our departure he presented all of us with handsome gifts. To me he +gave the cross of my order, more beautifully and artfully worked and +enamelled than I had ever seen it before. It was hung upon a large +brilliant, by which also it was fastened to the chain: this he gave me, +he said, "as the noblest stone in the cabinet of a collector." + +My sister, with her husband, went to their estates, the rest of us to +our abodes; appearing to ourselves, so far as outward circumstances were +concerned, to have returned to quite an every-day existence. We had +been, as it were, dropped from a palace of the fairies down upon the +common earth, and were again obliged to help ourselves as we best could. + +The singular experiences which this new circle had afforded left a fine +impression on my mind. This, however, did not long continue in its first +vivacity: though my uncle tried to nourish and renew it by sending me +certain of his best and most pleasing works of art; changing them, from +time to time, with others which I had not seen. + +I had been so much accustomed to be busied with myself, in regulating +the concerns of my heart and temper, and conversing on these matters +with persons of a like mind, that I could not long study any work of art +attentively without being turned by it back upon myself. I was used to +look at a picture or copper-plate merely as at the letters of a book. +Fine printing pleases well, but who would read a book for the beauty of +the printing? In like manner I required of each pictorial form that it +should tell me something, should instruct, affect, improve me; and, +after all my uncle's letters to expound his works of art, say what he +would, I continued in my former humor. + +Yet not only my peculiar disposition, but external incidents and changes +in our family, still farther drew me back from contemplations of that +nature; nay, for some time even from myself. I had to suffer and to do +more than my slender strength seemed fit for. + +My maiden sister had, till now, been as a right arm to me. Healthy, +strong, unspeakably good-natured, she had managed all the housekeeping; +I myself being busied with the personal nursing of our aged father. She +was seized with a catarrh, which changed to a disorder of the lungs: in +three weeks she was lying in her coffin. Her death inflicted wounds on +me, the scars of which I am not yet willing to examine. + +I was lying sick before they buried her: the old ailment in my breast +appeared to be awakening; I coughed with violence, and was so hoarse I +could not speak beyond a whisper. + +My married sister, out of fright and grief, was brought to bed before +her time. Our old father thought he was about to lose at once his +children and the hope of their posterity; his natural tears increased my +sorrow: I prayed to God that he would give me back a sufferable state of +health. I asked him but to spare my life till my father should die. I +recovered: I was what I reckoned well, being able to discharge my +duties, though with pain. + +My sister was again with child. Many cares, which in such cases are +committed to the mother, in the present instance fell to me. She was not +altogether happy with her husband; this was to be hidden from our +father: I was often made judge of their disputes, in which I could +decide with the greater safety, as my brother trusted in me; and the two +were really worthy persons, only each of them, instead of humoring, +endeavored to convince, the other, and, out of eagerness to live in +constant harmony, never could agree. I now learned to mingle seriously +in worldly matters, and to practise what of old I had but sung. + +My sister bore a son: the frailty of my father did not hinder him from +travelling to her. The sight of the child exceedingly enlivened and +cheered him: at the christening, contrary to his custom, he seemed as if +inspired; nay, I might say like a Genius with two faces. With the one, +he looked joyfully forward to those regions which he soon hoped to +enter; with the other, to the new, hopeful, earthly life which had +arisen in the boy descended from him. On our journey home he never +wearied talking to me of the child, its form, its health, and his wish +that the gifts of this new denizen of earth might be rightly cultivated. +His reflections on the subject lasted when we had arrived at home: it +was not till some days afterwards that I observed a kind of fever in +him, which displayed itself, without shivering, in a sort of languid +heat commencing after dinner. He did not yield, however: he went out as +usual in the mornings, faithfully attending to the duties of his office, +till at last continuous serious symptoms kept him within doors. + +I never shall forget with what distinctness, clearness, and repose of +mind he settled in the greatest order the concerns of his house, nay, +the arrangements of his funeral, as he would have done a business of +some other person. + +With a cheerfulness which he never used to show, and which now mounted +to a lively joy, he said to me, "Where is the fear of death which I once +felt? Shall I shrink at departing? I have a gracious God; the grave +awakens no terror in me; I have an eternal life." + +To recall the circumstances of his death, which shortly followed, forms +one of the most pleasing entertainments of my solitude: the visible +workings of a higher Power in that solemn time, no one shall ever argue +from me. + +The death of my beloved father altogether changed my mode of life. From +the strictest obedience, the narrowest confinement, I passed at once +into the greatest freedom: I enjoyed it like a sort of food from which +one has long abstained. Formerly I very seldom spent two hours from +home: now I very seldom lived a day there. My friends, whom I had been +allowed to visit only by hurried snatches, wished now to have my company +without interruption, as I did to have theirs. I was often asked to +dinner: at walks and pleasure-jaunts I never failed. But, when once the +circle had been fairly run, I saw that the invaluable happiness of +liberty consisted, not in doing what one pleases and what circumstances +may invite to, but in being able, without hinderance or restraint, to do +in the direct way what one regards as right and proper; and, in this +instance, I was old enough to reach a valuable truth, without smarting +for my ignorance. + +One pleasure I could not deny myself: it was, as soon as might be, to +renew and strengthen my connection with the Herrnhut Brethren. I +hastened, accordingly, to visit one of their establishments at no great +distance; but here I by no means found what I had been anticipating. I +was frank enough to signify my disappointment, which they tried to +soften by alleging that the present settlement was nothing to a full and +fitly organized community. This I did not take upon me to deny; yet, in +my thought, the genuine spirit of the matter might have displayed itself +in a small body as well as in a great one. + +One of their bishops, who was present, a personal disciple of the count, +took considerable pains with me. He spoke English perfectly; and as I, +too, understood a little of it, he reckoned this a token that we both +belonged to one class. I, however, reckoned nothing of the kind: his +conversation did not in the least satisfy me. He had been a cutler; was +a native of Moravia; his mode of thought still savored of the artisan. +With Herr Von L----, who had been a major in the French service, I got +upon a better footing: yet I could never bring myself to the +submissiveness he showed to his superiors; nay, I felt as if you had +given me a box on the ear, when I saw the major's wife, and other women +more or less like ladies, take the bishop's hand and kiss it. Meanwhile +a journey into Holland was proposed; which, however, doubtless for my +good, did not take place. + +My sister had been delivered of a daughter; and now it was the turn of +us women to exult, and consider how the little creature should be bred +like one of us. The husband, on the other hand, was not so satisfied, +when in the following year another daughter saw the light: with his +large estates, he wanted to have boys about him, who in future might +assist him in his management. + +My health was feeble: I kept myself in peace, and, by a quiet mode of +life, in tolerable equilibrium. I was not afraid of death; nay, I wished +to die: yet I secretly perceived that God was granting time for me to +prove my soul, and to advance still nearer to himself. In my many +sleepless nights, especially, I have at times felt something which I +cannot undertake to describe. + +It was as if my soul were thinking separately from the body: she looked +upon the body as a foreign substance, as we look upon a garment. She +pictured with extreme vivacity events and times long past, and felt, by +means of this, events that were to follow. Those times are all gone by; +what follows likewise will go by; the body, too, will fall to pieces +like a vesture; but I, the well-known I, I am. + +The thought is great, exalted, and consoling; yet an excellent friend, +with whom I every day became more intimate, instructed me to dwell on it +as little as I could. This was the physician whom I met in my uncle's +house, and who had since accurately informed himself about the temper of +my body and my spirit. He showed me how much these feelings, when we +cherish them within us independently of outward objects, tend, as it +were, to excavate us, and to undermine the whole foundation of our +being. "To be active," he would say, "is the primary vocation of man: +all the intervals in which he is obliged to rest, he should employ in +gaining clearer knowledge of external things; for this will in its turn +facilitate activity." + +This friend was acquainted with my custom of looking on my body as an +outward object: he knew also that I pretty well understood my +constitution, my disorder, and the medicines of use for it; nay, that, +by continual sufferings of my own or other people's, I had really grown +a kind of half-doctor: he now carried forward my attention from the +human body, and the drugs which act upon it, to the kindred objects of +creation; he led me up and down as in the paradise of the first man; +only, if I may continue my comparison, allowing me to trace, in dim +remoteness, the Creator walking in the garden in the cool of the +evening. + +How gladly did I now see God in nature, when I bore him with such +certainty within my heart! How interesting to me was his handiwork! how +thankful did I feel that he had pleased to quicken me with the breath of +his mouth! + +We again had hopes that my sister would present us with a boy: her +husband waited anxiously for that event, but did not live to see it. He +died in consequence of an unlucky fall from horseback; and my sister +followed him, soon after she had brought into the world a lovely boy. +The four orphans they had left I could not look at but with sadness. So +many healthy people had been called away before poor, sickly me; might I +not also have blights to witness among these fair and hopeful blossoms? +I knew the world sufficiently to understand what dangers threaten the +precarious breeding of a child, especially a child of quality; and it +seemed as if, since the period of my youth, these dangers had increased. +I felt that, weakly as I was, I could not be of much, perhaps of any, +service to the little ones; and I rejoiced the more on finding that my +uncle, as indeed might have been looked for, had determined to devote +his whole attention to the education of these amiable creatures. And +this they doubtless merited in every sense: they were handsome; and, +with great diversities, all promised to be well-conditioned, reasonable +persons. + +Since my worthy doctor had suggested it, I loved to trace out family +likenesses among our relatives and children. My father had carefully +preserved the portraits of his ancestors, and got his own and those of +his descendants drawn by tolerable masters; nor had my mother and her +people been forgotten. We accurately knew the characters of all the +family; and, as we had frequently compared them with each other, we now +endeavored to discover in the children the same peculiarities outward or +inward. My sister's eldest son, we thought, resembled his paternal +grandfather, of whom there was a fine youthful picture in my uncle's +collection: he had been a brave soldier; and in this point, too, the boy +took after him, liking arms above all things, and busying himself with +them whenever he paid me a visit. For my father had left a very pretty +armory; and the boy got no rest till I had given him a pair of pistols +and a fowling-piece, and he had learned the proper way of using them. At +the same time, in his conduct or bearing, there was nothing like +rudeness: far from that, he was always meek and sensible. + +The eldest daughter had attracted my especial love; of which, perhaps, +the reason was, that she resembled me, and of all the four seemed to +like me best. But I may well admit, that, the more closely I observed +her as she grew, the more she shamed me: I could not look on her without +a sentiment of admiration, nay, I may almost say, of reverence. You +would scarcely have seen a nobler form, a more peaceful spirit, an +activity so equable and universal. No moment of her life was she +unoccupied, and every occupation in her hands became dignified. All +seemed indifferent to her, so that she could but accomplish what was +proper in the place and time; and, in the same manner, she could +patiently continue unemployed, when there was nothing to be done. This +activity without need of occupation I have never elsewhere met with. In +particular, her conduct to the suffering and destitute was, from her +earliest youth, inimitable. For my part, I freely confess I never had +the gift to make a business of beneficence: I was not niggardly to the +poor; nay, I often gave too largely for my means; yet this was little +more than buying myself off: and a person needed to be made for me, if I +was to bestow attention on him. Directly the reverse was the conduct of +my niece. I never saw her give a poor man money: whatever she obtained +from me for this purpose, she failed not in the first place to change +for some necessary article. Never did she seem more lovely in my eyes, +than when rummaging my clothes-presses: she was always sure to light on +something which I did not wear and did not need; to sew these old +cast-off articles together, and put them on some ragged child, she +thought her highest happiness. + +Her sister's turn of mind appeared already different: she had much of +her mother; she promised to become very elegant and beautiful, and she +now bids fair to keep her promise. She is greatly taken up with her +exterior: from her earliest years she could decorate and carry herself +in a way that struck you. I still remember with what ecstasy, when quite +a little creature, she saw herself in a mirror, decked in certain +precious pearls, once my mother's, which she had by chance discovered, +and made me try upon her. + +Reflecting on these diverse inclinations, it was pleasant for me to +consider how my property would, after my decease, be shared among them, +and again called into use. I saw the fowling-pieces of my father once +more travelling round the fields on my nephew's shoulder, and birds once +more falling from his hunting-pouch: I saw my whole wardrobe issuing +from the church, at Easter Confirmation, on the persons of tidy little +girls; while the best pieces of it were employed to decorate some +virtuous burgher maiden on her marriage-day. In furnishing such children +and poor little girls, Natalia had a singular delight; though, as I must +here remark, she showed not the smallest love, or, if I may say it, +smallest need, of a dependence upon any visible or invisible Being, such +as I had in my youth so strongly manifested. + +When I also thought that the younger sister, on that same day, would +wear my jewels and pearls at court, I could see with peace my +possessions, like my body, given back to the elements. + +The children waxed apace: to my comfort, they are healthy, handsome, +clever creatures. That my uncle keeps them from me, I endure without +repining: when staying in the neighborhood, or even in town, they seldom +see me. + +A singular personage, regarded as a French clergyman, though no one +rightly knows his history, has been intrusted with the oversight of all +these children. He has them taught in various places: they are put to +board now here, now there. + +At first I could perceive no plan whatever in this mode of education; +till at last our doctor told me the abbé had convinced my uncle, that, +in order to accomplish any thing by education, we must first become +acquainted with the pupil's tendencies and wishes; that, these once +ascertained, he ought to be transported to a situation where he may, as +speedily as possible, content the former and attain the latter, and so, +if he have been mistaken, may still in time perceive his error, and at +last, having found what suits him, may hold the faster by it, may the +more diligently fashion himself according to it. I wish this strange +experiment may prosper: with such excellent natures it is, perhaps, +possible. + +But there is one peculiarity in these instructors, which I never shall +approve of: they study to seclude the children from whatever might +awaken them to an acquaintance with themselves and with the invisible, +sole, faithful Friend. I often take it ill of my uncle, that, on this +account, he considers me dangerous for the little ones. Thus in practice +there is no man tolerant! Many assure us that they willingly leave each +to take his own way, yet all endeavor to exclude from action every one +that does not think as they do. + +This removal of the children troubles me the more, the more I am +convinced of the reality of my belief. How can it fail to have a +heavenly origin, an actual object, when in practice it is so effectual? +Is it not by practice alone that we prove our own existence? Why, then, +may we not, by a like mode, prove to ourselves the influence of that +Power who gives us all good things? + +That I am still advancing, never retrograding; that my conduct is +approximating more and more to the image I have formed of perfection; +that I every day feel more facility in doing what I reckon proper, even +while the weakness of my body so obstructs me,--can all this be +accounted for upon the principles of human nature, whose corruption I +have so clearly seen into? For me, at least, it cannot. + +I scarcely remember a commandment: to me there is nothing that assumes +the aspect of law; it is an impulse that leads me, and guides me always +aright. I freely follow my emotions, and know as little of constraint as +of repentance. God be praised that I know to whom I am indebted for such +happiness, and that I cannot think of it without humility! There is no +danger I should ever become proud of what I myself can do or can forbear +to do: I have seen too well what a monster might be formed and nursed in +every human bosom, did not higher Influence restrain us. + +[Footnote 3: So in the original.--ED.] + + + + +BOOK VII. + +CHAPTER I. + + +Spring had come in all its brilliancy; a storm that had been lowering +all day went fiercely down upon the hills; the rain drew back into the +country; the sun came forth in all its splendor, and upon the dark vapor +rose the lordly rainbow. Wilhelm was riding towards it: the sight made +him sad. "Ah!" said he within himself, "must it be that the fairest hues +of life appear to us only on a ground of black? And must drops fall, if +we are to be enraptured? A bright day is like a dull day, if we look at +it unmoved; and what can move us but some silent hope that the inborn +inclination of our soul shall not always be without an object? The +recital of a noble action moves us; the sight of every thing harmonious +moves us: we feel then as if we were not altogether in a foreign land; +we fancy we are nearer the home towards which our best and inmost wishes +impatiently strive." + +Meanwhile a pedestrian overtook him, and, walking with a stout step by +the side of the horse, began to keep him company. After a few common +words, he looked at the rider, and said, "If I am not mistaken, I must +have already seen you somewhere." + +"I, too, remember you," said Wilhelm: "had we not some time ago a +pleasant sail together?"--"Right!" replied the other. + +Wilhelm looked at him more narrowly, then, after a pause, observed, "I +do not know what alteration has occurred in you. Last time we met, I +took you for a Lutheran country clergyman: you now seem to me more like +a Catholic priest." + +"To-day, at least, you are not wrong," replied the other, taking off his +hat, and showing him the tonsure. "Where is your company gone? Did you +stay long with them?" + +"Longer than was good: on looking back upon the period which I passed +in their society, it seems as if I looked into an endless void; nothing +of it has remained with me." + +"Here you are mistaken," said the stranger: "every thing that happens to +us leaves some trace behind it; every thing contributes imperceptibly to +form us. Yet often it is dangerous to take a strict account of that. For +either we grow proud and negligent, or downcast and dispirited; and both +are equally injurious in their consequences. The safe plan is, always +simply to do the task that lies nearest us; and this in the present +case," added he, with a smile, "is to hasten to our quarters." + +Wilhelm asked how far Lothario's house was distant: the stranger +answered that it lay behind the hill. "Perhaps I shall meet you there," +continued he: "I have merely a small affair to manage in the +neighborhood. Farewell till then!" And, with this, he struck into a +steep path that seemed to lead more speedily across the hill. + +"Yes, the man is right!" said Wilhelm to himself, as he proceeded: "we +should think of what is nearest; and for me, at present, there is +nothing nearer than the mournful errand I have come to do. Let me see +whether I can still repeat the speech, which is to put that cruel man to +shame." + +He then began reciting to himself this piece of oratory: not a syllable +was wanting; and the more his recollection served him, the higher grew +his passion and his courage. Aurelia's sorrows and her death were +vividly present to his soul. + +"Spirit of my friend!" exclaimed he, "hover round me, and, if thou +canst, give some sign to me that thou art softened, art appeased!" + +Amid such words and meditations, he had reached the summit of the hill; +and, near the foot of its declivity, he now beheld a curious building, +which he at once took to be Lothario's dwelling. An old, irregular +castle, with several turrets and peaked roofs, appeared to have been the +primitive erection; but the new additions to it, placed near the main +structure, looked still more irregular. A part of them stood close upon +the main edifice: others, at some distance, were combined with it by +galleries and covered passages. All external symmetry, every shade of +architectural beauty, appeared to have been sacrificed to the +convenience of the interior. No trace of wall or trench was to be seen; +none of avenues or artificial gardens. A fruit and pot-herb garden +reached to the very buildings, and little patches of a like sort showed +themselves even in the intermediate spaces. A cheerful village lay at no +great distance: the fields and gardens everywhere appeared in the +highest state of cultivation. + +Sunk in his own impassioned feelings, Wilhelm rode along, not thinking +much of what he saw: he put up his horse at an inn, and, not without +emotion, hastened to the castle. + +An old serving-man received him at the door, and signified, with much +good-nature, that to-day it would be difficult to get admission to his +lordship, who was occupied in writing letters, and had already refused +some people that had business with him. Our friend became more +importunate: the old man was at last obliged to yield, and announce him. +He returned, and conducted Wilhelm to a spacious, ancient hall; desiring +him to be so good as wait, since perhaps it might be some time before +his lordship could appear. Our friend walked up and down unrestfully, +casting now and then a look at the knights and dames whose ancient +figures hung round him on the walls. He repeated the beginning of his +speech: it seemed, in presence of these ruffs and coats of mail, to +answer even better. Every time there rose any stir, he put himself in +posture to receive his man with dignity; meaning first to hand him the +letter, then assail him with the weapons of reproach. + +More than once mistaken, he was now beginning to be really vexed and out +of tune, when at last a handsome man, in boots and light surtout, +stepped in from a side-door. "What good news have you for me?" said he +to Wilhelm, with a friendly voice: "pardon me, that I have made you +wait." + +So speaking, he kept folding a letter which he held in his hand. +Wilhelm, not without embarrassment, delivered him Aurelia's paper, and +replied, "I bring you the last words of a friend, which you will not +read without emotion." + +Lothario took it, and returned to his chamber with it; where, as Wilhelm +through the open door could very easily observe, he addressed and sealed +some letters before opening Aurelia's. He appeared to have perused it +once or twice; and Wilhelm, though his feelings signified that the +pathetic speech would sort but ill with such a cool reception, girded up +his mind, went forward to the threshold, and was just about beginning +his address, when a tapestry-door of the cabinet opened, and the +clergyman came in. + +"I have got the strangest message you can think of," cried Lothario to +him. "Pardon me," continued he, addressing Wilhelm, "if I am not in a +mood for speaking further with you at this moment. You remain with us +to-night: you, abbé, see the stranger properly attended to." + +With these words, he made his guest a bow: the clergyman took Wilhelm by +the hand, who followed, not without reluctance. + +They walked along some curious passages in silence, and at last reached +a very pretty chamber. The abbé led him in, then left him, making no +excuses. Erelong an active boy appeared: he introduced himself as +Wilhelm's valet, and brought up his supper. In waiting, he had much to +say about the order of the house, about their breakfasting and dining, +labors and amusements; interspersing many things in commendation of +Lothario. + +Pleasant as the boy was, Wilhelm endeavored to get rid of him as soon as +possible. He wished to be alone, for he felt exceedingly oppressed and +straitened in his new position. He reproached himself with having +executed his intention so ill, with having done his errand only half. +One moment, he proposed to undertake next morning what he had neglected +to-night; the next, he saw, that, by Lothario's presence, he would be +attuned to quite a different set of feelings. The house, too, where he +was, seemed very strange to him: he could not be at home in his +position. Intending to undress, he opened his travelling-bag: with his +night-clothes, he took out the Spirit's veil, which Mignon had packed in +along with them. The sight of it increased the sadness of his humor. +"Flee, youth! flee!" cried he. "What means this mystic word? What am I +to flee, or whither? It were better had the Spirit called to me, Return +to thyself!" He cast his eyes on some English copper-plates hung round +the room in frames; most of them he looked at with indifference: at last +he met with one, in which a ship was represented sinking in a tempest; a +father, with his lovely daughters, was awaiting death from the intrusive +billows. One of the maidens had a kind of likeness to the Amazon: an +indescribable compassion seized our friend; he felt an irresistible +necessity to vent his feelings; tears filled his eyes, he wept, and did +not recover his composure till slumber overpowered him. + +Strange dreams arose upon him towards morning. He was in a garden, which +in boyhood he had often visited: he looked with pleasure at the +well-known alleys, hedges, flower-beds. Mariana met him: he spoke to +her with love and tenderness, recollecting nothing of any by-gone +grievance. Erelong his father joined them, in his week-day dress; with a +look of frankness that was rare in him, he bade his son fetch two seats +from the garden-house; then took Mariana by the hand, and led her into a +grove. + +Wilhelm hastened to the garden-house, but found it altogether empty: +only at a window in the farther side he saw Aurelia standing. He went +forward, and addressed her, but she turned not round; and, though he +placed himself beside her, he could never see her face. He looked out +from the window: in an unknown garden, there were several people, some +of whom he recognized. Frau Melina, seated under a tree, was playing +with a rose which she had in her hand: Laertes stood beside her, +counting money from the one hand to the other. Mignon and Felix were +lying on the grass, the former on her back, the latter on his face. +Philina came, and clapped her hands above the children: Mignon lay +unmoved; Felix started up and fled. At first he laughed while running, +as Philina followed; but he screamed in terror when he saw the harper +coming after him with large, slow steps. Felix ran directly to a pond. +Wilhelm hastened after him: too late; the child was lying in the water! +Wilhelm stood as if rooted to the spot. The fair Amazon appeared on the +other side of the pond: she stretched her right hand towards the child, +and walked along the shore. The child came through the water, by the +course her finger pointed to; he followed her as she went round; at last +she reached her hand to him, and pulled him out. Wilhelm had come +nearer: the child was all in flames; fiery drops were falling from his +body. Wilhelm's agony was greater than ever; but instantly the Amazon +took a white veil from her head, and covered up the child with it. The +fire was at once quenched. But, when she lifted up the veil, two boys +sprang out from under it, and frolicsomely sported to and fro; while +Wilhelm and the Amazon proceeded hand in hand across the garden, and +noticed in the distance Mariana and his father walking in an alley, +which was formed of lofty trees, and seemed to go quite round the +garden. He turned his steps to them, and, with his beautiful attendant, +was moving through the garden, when suddenly the fair-haired Friedrich +came across their path, and kept them back with loud laughter and a +thousand tricks. Still, however, they insisted on proceeding; and +Friedrich hastened off, running towards Mariana and the father. These +seemed to flee before him; he pursued the faster, till Wilhelm saw them +hovering down the alley almost as on wings. Nature and inclination +called on him to go and help them, but the hand of the Amazon detained +him. How gladly did he let himself be held! With this mingled feeling he +awoke, and found his chamber shining with the morning beams. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Our friend was called to breakfast by the boy: he found the abbé waiting +in the hall; Lothario, it appeared, had ridden out. The abbé was not +very talkative, but rather wore a thoughtful look: he inquired about +Aurelia's death, and listened to our friend's recital of it with +apparent sympathy. "Ah!" cried he, "the man that discerns, with lively +clearness, what infinite operations art and nature must have joined in +before a cultivated human being can be formed; the man that himself as +much as possible takes interest in the culture of his fellow-men,--is +ready to despair when he sees how lightly mortals will destroy +themselves, will blamelessly or blamably expose themselves to be +destroyed. When I think of these things, life itself appears to me so +uncertain a gift, that I could praise the man who does not value it +beyond its worth." + +Scarcely had he spoken, when the door flew violently up: a young lady +came rushing in; she pushed away the old servant, who attempted to +restrain her. She made right to the abbé, and seized him by the arm: her +tears and sobs would hardly let her speak these words: "Where is he? +Where have you put him? 'Tis a frightful treachery! Confess it now! I +know what you are doing: I will after him,--will know where you have +sent him!" + +"Be calm, my child," replied the abbé, with assumed composure; "come +with me to your room: you shall know it all; only you must have the +strength to listen, if you ask me to relate." He offered her his hand, +as if he meant to lead her out. "I will not return to my room," cried +she: "I hate the walls where you have kept me prisoner so long. I know +it already: the colonel has challenged him; he is gone to meet his +enemy: perhaps this very moment he--once or twice I thought I heard the +sound of shots! I tell you, order out a coach, and come along with me, +or I will fill the house and all the village with my screaming." + +Weeping bitterly, she hastened to the window: the abbé held her back, +and sought in vain to soothe her. + +They heard a sound of wheels: she threw up the window, exclaiming, "He +is dead! They are bringing home his body."--"He is coming out," replied +the abbé: "you perceive he lives."--"He is wounded," said she wildly, +"else he would have come on horseback. They are holding him! The wound +is dangerous!" She ran to the door, and down the stairs: the abbé +hastened after her; and Wilhelm, following, observed the fair one meet +her lover, who had now dismounted. + +Lothario leaned on his attendant, whom Wilhelm at once knew as his +ancient patron, Jarno. The wounded man spoke very tenderly and kindly to +the tearful damsel: he rested on her shoulder, and came slowly up the +steps, saluted Wilhelm as he passed, and was conducted to his cabinet. + +Jarno soon returned, and, going up to Wilhelm, "It appears," said he, +"you are predestined everywhere to find a theatre and actors. We have +here commenced a play which is not altogether pleasant." + +"I rejoice to find you," answered Wilhelm, "in so strange an hour: I am +astonished, frightened; and your presence already quiets my mind. Tell +me, is there danger? Is the baron badly wounded?" + +"I imagine not," said Jarno. + +It was not long till the young surgeon entered from the cabinet. "Now, +what say you?" cried Jarno to him. "That it is a dangerous piece of +work," replied the other, putting several instruments into his leathern +pouch. Wilhelm looked at the band, which was hanging from the pouch: he +fancied he knew it. Bright, contrary colors, a curious pattern, gold and +silver wrought in singular figures, marked this band from all the bands +in the world. Wilhelm was convinced he beheld the very pouch of the +ancient surgeon who had dressed his wounds in the green of the forest; +and the hope, so long deferred, of again finding traces of the lovely +Amazon, struck like a flame through all his soul. + +"Where did you get that pouch?" cried he. "To whom did it belong before +you? I beg of you, tell me."--"I bought it at an auction," said the +other: "what is it to me whom it belonged to?" So speaking, he went out; +and Jarno said, "If there would come but one word of truth from our +young doctor's mouth!"--"Then, he did not buy the pouch?" said Wilhelm. +"Just as little as Lothario is in danger," said the other. + +Wilhelm stood, immersed in many reflections: Jarno asked how he had +fared of late. Wilhelm sketched an outline of his history; and when he +at last came to speak of Aurelia's death, and his message to the place, +his auditor exclaimed, "Well! it is strange! most strange!" + +The abbé entered from Lothario's chamber, beckoned Jarno to go in +instead of him, and said to Wilhelm, "The baron bids me ask you to +remain with us a day or two, to share his hospitality, and, in the +present circumstances, contribute to his solacement. If you need to give +any notice to your people, your letter shall be instantly despatched. +Meanwhile, to make you understand this curious incident, of which you +have been witness, I must tell you something, which, indeed, is no +secret. The baron had a small adventure with a lady, which excited more +than usual attention; the lady having taken him from a rival, and +wishing to enjoy her victory too ostentatiously. After a time he no +longer found the same delight in her society; which he, of course, +forsook: but, being of a violent temper, she could not bear her fate +with patience. Meeting at a ball, they had an open quarrel: she thought +herself irreparably injured, and would be revenged. No knight stepped +forth to do battle for her; till her husband, whom for years she had not +lived with, heard of the affair and took it up. He challenged the baron, +and to-day he has wounded him; yet, as I hear, the gallant colonel has +himself come still worse off." + +From this hour our friend was treated in the house as if he had belonged +to it. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +At times they had read a little to the patient: Wilhelm joyfully +performed this service. Lydia stirred not from Lothario's bed: her care +for him absorbed her whole attention. But to-day the patient himself +seemed occupied with thought: he bade them lay aside their book. +"To-day," said he, "I feel through my whole heart how foolishly we let +our time pass on. How many things have I proposed to do, how many have I +planned; yet how we loiter in our noblest purposes! I have just read +over the scheme of the changes which I mean to make in my estates; and +it is chiefly, I may say, on their account that I rejoice at the +bullet's not having gone a deadlier road." + +Lydia looked at him with tenderness, with tears in her eyes; as if to +ask if _she_, if his friends, could not pretend to any interest in his +wish to live. Jarno answered, "Changes such as you project require to be +considered well on every side before they are resolved on." + +"Long considerations," said Lothario, "are commonly a proof that we have +not the point to be determined clearly in our eye; precipitate +proceedings, that we do not know it. I see distinctly, that, in managing +my property, there are several particulars in which the services of my +dependants cannot be remitted; certain rights which I must rigidly +insist on: but I also see that there are other articles, advantageous to +me, but by no means indispensable, which might admit of relaxation. Do I +not profit by my lands far better than my father did? Is not my income +still increasing? And shall I alone enjoy this growing benefit? Shall +not those who labor with and for me partake, in their degree, of the +advantages which expanding knowledge, which a period of improvement, are +procuring for us?" + +"'Tis human nature!" cried Jarno: "I do not blame myself when I detect +this selfish quality among the rest. Every man desires to gather all +things round him, to shape and manage them according to his own +pleasure: the money which he himself does not expend, he seldom reckons +well expended." + +"Certainly," observed Lothario, "much of the capital might be abated if +we consumed the interest less capriciously." + +"The only thing I shall mention," said the other, "the only reason I can +urge against your now proceeding with those alterations, which, for a +time at least, must cause you loss, is, that you yourself are still in +debt, and that the payment presses hard on you. My advice is, therefore, +to postpone your plan till you are altogether free." + +"And in the mean while leave it at the mercy of a bullet, or the fall +of a tile, to annihilate the whole result of my existence and activity! +O my friend! it is ever thus: it is ever the besetting fault of +cultivated men, that they wish to spend their whole resources on some +idea, scarcely any part of them on tangible, existing objects. Why was +it that I contracted debts, that I quarrelled with my uncle, that I left +my sisters to themselves so long? Purely for the sake of an idea. In +America I fancied I might accomplish something; over seas, I hoped to +become useful and essential: if any task was not begirt with a thousand +dangers, I considered it trivial, unworthy of me. How differently do +matters now appear! How precious, how important, seems the duty which is +nearest me, whatever it may be!" + +"I recollect the letter which you sent me from the Western world," said +Jarno: "it contains the words, 'I will return; and in my house, amid my +fields, among my people, I will say, _Here or nowhere is America!_'" + +"Yes, my friend; and I am still repeating it, and still repining at +myself that I am not so busy here as I was there. For certain equable, +continuous modes of life, there is nothing more than judgment necessary, +and we study to attain nothing more: so that we become unable to discern +what extraordinary services each vulgar day requires of us; or, if we do +discern them, we find abundance of excuses for not doing them. A +judicious man is valuable to himself, but of little value for the +general whole." + +"We will not," said Jarno, "bear too hard upon judgment: let us grant, +that, whenever extraordinary things are done, they are generally +foolish." + +"Yes! and just because they are not done according to the proper plan. +My brother-in-law, you see, is giving up his fortune, so far as in his +power, to the Community of Herrnhut: he reckons, that, by doing so, he +is advancing the salvation of his soul. Had he sacrificed a small +portion of his revenue, he might have rendered many people happy, might +have made for them and for himself a heaven upon earth. Our sacrifices +are rarely of an active kind: we, as it were, abandon what we give away. +It is not from resolution, but despair, that we renounce our property. +In these days, I confess it, the image of the count is hovering +constantly before me: I have firmly resolved on doing from conviction +what a crazy fear is forcing upon him. I will not wait for being cured. +Here are the papers: they require only to be properly drawn out. Take +the lawyer with you; our guest will help: what I want, you know as well +as I; recovering or dying. I will stand by it, and say, _Here or nowhere +is Herrnhut!_" + +When he mentioned dying, Lydia sank before his bed: she hung upon his +arm, and wept bitterly. The surgeon entered: Jarno gave our friend the +papers, and made Lydia leave the room. + +"For Heaven's sake! what is this about the count?" cried Wilhelm, when +they reached the hall and were alone. "What count is it that means to +join the Herrnhuters?" + +"One whom you know very well," said Jarno. "You yourself are the ghost +who have frightened the unhappy wiseacre into piety: you are the villain +who have brought his pretty wife to such a state that she inclines +accompanying him." + +"And she is Lothario's sister?" cried our friend. + +"No other!"--"And Lothario knows"-- + +"The whole!" + +"Oh, let me fly!" cried Wilhelm. "How shall I appear before him? What +can he say to me?" + +"That no man should cast a stone at his brother; that when one composes +long speeches, with a view to shame his neighbors, he should speak them +to a looking-glass." + +"Do you know that too?" + +"And many things beside," said Jarno, with a smile. "But in the present +case," continued he, "you shall not get away from me so easily as you +did last time. You need not now be apprehensive of my bounty-money: I +have ceased to be a soldier; when I was one, you might have thought more +charitably of me. Since you saw me, many things have altered. My prince, +my only friend and benefactor, being dead, I have now withdrawn from +busy life and its concerns. I used to have a pleasure in advancing what +was reasonable; when I met with any despicable thing, I hesitated not to +call it so; and men had never done with talking of my restless head and +wicked tongue. The herd of people dread sound understanding more than +any thing: they ought to dread stupidity, if they had any notion what +was really dreadful. Understanding is unpleasant, they must have it +pushed aside; stupidity is but pernicious, they can let it stay. Well, +be it so! I need to live: I will by and by communicate my plans to you; +if you incline, you shall partake in them. But tell me first how things +have gone with you. I see, I feel, that you are changed. How is it with +your ancient maggot of producing something beautiful and good in the +society of gypsies?" + +"Do not speak of it!" cried Wilhelm: "I have been already punished for +it. People talk about the stage, but none that has not been upon it can +form the smallest notion of it. How utterly these men are unacquainted +with themselves, how thoughtlessly they carry on their trade, how +boundless their pretensions are, no mortal can conceive. Each would be +not only first, but sole; each wishes to exclude the rest, and does not +see that even with them he can scarcely accomplish any thing. Each +thinks himself a man of marvellous originality; yet, with a ravening +appetite for novelty, he cannot walk a footstep from the beaten track. +How vehemently they counterwork each other! It is only the pitifullest +self-love, the narrowest views of interest, that unite them. Of +reciprocal accommodation they have no idea: backbiting and hidden +spitefulness maintain a constant jealousy among them. In their lives +they are either rakes or simpletons. Each claims the loftiest respect, +each writhes under the slightest blame. 'All this he knew already,' he +will tell you! Why, then, did he not do it? Ever needy, ever +unconfiding, they seem as if their greatest fear were reason and good +taste; their highest care, to secure the majesty of their self-will." + +Wilhelm drew breath, intending to proceed with his eulogium, when an +immoderate laugh from Jarno interrupted him. "Poor actors!" cried he; +threw himself into a chair, and laughed away. "Poor, dear actors! Do you +know, my friend," continued he, recovering from his fit, "that you have +been describing, not the playhouse, but the world; that, out of all +ranks, I could find you characters and doings in abundance to suit your +cruel pencil? Pardon me: it makes me laugh again, that you should think +these amiable qualities existed on the boards alone." + +Wilhelm checked his feelings. Jarno's extravagant, untimely laughter had +in truth offended him. "It is scarcely hiding your misanthropy," said +he, "when you maintain that faults like these are universal." + +"And it shows your unacquaintance with the world, when you impute them +to the theatre in such a heinous light. I pardon, in the player, every +fault that springs from self-deception and the desire to please. If he +seem not something to himself and others, he is nothing. To seem is his +vocation; he must prize his moment of applause, for he gets no other +recompense; he must try to glitter,--he is there to do so." + +"You will give me leave at least to smile, in my turn," answered +Wilhelm. "I should never have believed that you could be so merciful, so +tolerant." + +"I swear to you I am serious, fully and deliberately serious. All faults +of the man I can pardon in the player: no fault of the player can I +pardon in the man. Do not set me upon chanting my lament about the +latter: it might have a sharper sound than yours." + +The surgeon entered from the cabinet; and, to the question how his +patient was, he answered, with a lively air of complaisance, "Extremely +well, indeed: I hope soon to see him quite recovered." He hastened +through the hall, not waiting Wilhelm's speech, who was preparing to +inquire again with greater importunity about the leathern case. His +anxiety to gain some tidings of his Amazon inspired him with confidence +in Jarno: he disclosed his case to him, and begged his help. "You that +know so many things," said he, "can you not discover this?" + +Jarno reflected for a moment; then, turning to his friend, "Be calm," +said he, "give no one any hint of it: we shall come upon the fair one's +footsteps, never fear. At present I am anxious only for Lothario: the +case is dangerous; the kindliness and comfortable talking of the doctor +tells me so. We should be quit of Lydia, for here she does no good; but +how to set about the task I know not. To-night I am looking for our old +physician: we shall then take further counsel." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The physician came: it was the good, old, little doctor whom we know +already, and to whom we were obliged for the communication of the pious +manuscript. First of all, he visited the wounded man, with whose +condition he appeared to be by no means satisfied. He had next a long +interview with Jarno, but they made no allusion to the subject of it +when they came to supper. + +Wilhelm saluted him in the kindest manner, and inquired about the +harper. "We have still hopes of bringing round the hapless creature," +answered the physician. "He formed a dreary item in your limited and +singular way of life," said Jarno. "How has it fared with him? Tell me." + +Having satisfied Jarno's curiosity, the physician thus proceeded: "I +have never seen another man so strangely circumstanced. For many years +he has not felt the smallest interest in any thing without him, scarcely +paid the smallest notice to it: wrapped up in himself, he has looked at +nothing but his own hollow, empty Me, which seemed to him like an +immeasurable abyss. It was really touching when he spoke to us of this +mournful state. 'Before me,' cried he, 'I see nothing; behind me nothing +but an endless night, in which I live in the most horrid solitude. There +is no feeling in me but the feeling of my guilt; and this appears but +like a dim, formless spirit, far before me. Yet here there is no height, +no depth, no forwards, no backwards: no words can express this +never-changing state. Often in the agony of this sameness I exclaim with +violence, Forever! Forever! and this dark, incomprehensible word is +clear and plain to the gloom of my condition. No ray of Divinity +illuminates this night: I shed all my tears by myself and for myself. +Nothing is more horrible to me than friendship and love, for they alone +excite in me the wish that the apparitions which surround me might be +real. But these two spectres also have arisen from the abyss to plague +me, and at length to tear from me the precious consciousness of my +existence, unearthly though it be.' + +"You should hear him speak," continued the physician, "when in hours of +confidence he thus alleviates his heart. I have listened to him often +with the deepest feelings. When pressed by any thing, and, as it were, +compelled for an instant to confess that a space of time has passed, he +looks astounded, then again refers the alteration to the things about +him, considering it as an appearance of appearances, and so rejecting +the idea of progress in duration. One night he sung a song about his +gray hairs: we all sat round him weeping." + +"Oh, get it for me!" cried Wilhelm. + +"But have you not discovered any trace of what he calls his crime?" +inquired Jarno: "nor found out the reason of his wearing such a singular +garb; of his conduct at the burning of the house; of his rage against +the child?" + +"It is only by conjectures that we can approximate to any knowledge of +his fate: to question him directly contradicts our principle. Observing +easily that he was of the Catholic religion, we thought perhaps +confession might afford him some assuagement; but he shrinks away with +the strangest gestures every time we try to introduce the priest to him. +However, not to leave your curiosity respecting him entirely +unsatisfied, I may communicate our suppositions on the subject. In his +youth, we think, he must have been a clergyman: hence probably his wish +to keep his beard and long cloak. The joys of love appear to have +remained for many years unknown to him. Late in life, as we conceive, +some aberration with a lady very nearly related to him; then her death, +the consequence of an unlucky creature's birth,--have altogether crazed +his brain. + +"His chief delusion is a fancy that he brings misfortune everywhere +along with him; and that death, to be unwittingly occasioned by a boy, +is constantly impending over him. At first he was afraid of Mignon, not +knowing that she was a girl; then Felix frightened him; and as, with all +his misery, he has a boundless love of life, this may, perhaps, have +been the origin of his aversion to the child." + +"What hopes have you of his recovery?" inquired our friend. + +"It advances slowly," answered the physician, "yet it does advance. He +continues his appointed occupations: we have now accustomed him to read +the newspapers; he always looks for them with eagerness." + +"I am curious about his songs," said Jarno. + +"Of these I can engage to get you several," replied the doctor. "Our +parson's eldest son, who frequently writes down his father's sermons, +has, unnoticed by the harper, marked on paper many stanzas of his +singing; out of which some songs have gradually been pieced together." + +Next morning Jarno met our friend, and said to him, "We have to ask a +kindness of you. Lydia must, for some time, be removed: her violent, +unreasonable love and passionateness hinder the baron's recovery. His +wound requires rest and calmness, though with his healthy temperament it +is not dangerous. You see how Lydia tortures him with her tempestuous +anxieties, her ungovernable terrors, her never-drying tears; +and--Enough!" he added with a smile, after pausing for a moment, "our +doctor expressly requires that she must quit us for a while. We have got +her to believe that a lady, one of her most intimate friends, is at +present in the neighborhood, wishing and expecting instantly to see her. +She has been prevailed upon to undertake a journey to our lawyer's, +which is but two leagues off. This man is in the secret: he will wofully +lament that Fräulein Theresa should just have left him again; he will +seem to think she may still be overtaken. Lydia will hasten after her, +and, if you prosper, will be led from place to place. At last, if she +insist on turning back, you must not contradict her; but the night will +help you: the coachman is a cunning knave, and we shall speak with him +before he goes. You are to travel with her in the coach, to talk to her, +and manage the adventure." + +"It is a strange and dubious commission that you give me," answered +Wilhelm. "How painful is the sight of true love injured! And am I to be +the instrument of injuring it? I have never cheated any person so; for +it has always seemed to me, that if we once begin deceiving, with a view +to good and useful purposes, we run the risk of carrying it to excess." + +"Yet you cannot manage children otherwise," said Jarno. + +"With children it may do," said Wilhelm; "for we love them tenderly, and +take an open charge of them. But with our equals, in behalf of whom our +heart is not so sure to call upon us for forbearance, it might +frequently be dangerous. Yet do not think," he added, after pausing for +a moment, "that I purpose to decline the task on this account. Honoring +your judgment as I do, feeling such attachment to your noble friend, +such eagerness to forward his recovery by whatever means, I willingly +forget myself and my opinions. It is not enough that we can risk our +life to serve a friend: in the hour of need, we should also yield him +our convictions. Our dearest passions, our best wishes, we are bound to +sacrifice in helping him. I undertake the charge; though it is easy to +foresee the pain I shall have to suffer, from the tears, from the +despair, of Lydia." + +"And, for this, no small reward awaits you," answered Jarno: "Fräulein +Theresa, whom you get acquainted with, is a lady such as you will rarely +see. She puts many a man to shame; I may say, she is a genuine Amazon: +while others are but pretty counterfeits, that wander up and down the +world in that ambiguous dress." + +Wilhelm was struck: he almost fancied that in Theresa he would find his +Amazon again; especially as Jarno, whom he importuned to tell him more, +broke off abruptly, and went away. + +The new, near hope of once more seeing that beloved and honored being +awoke a thousand feelings in his heart. He now looked upon the task +which had been given him as the intervention of a special Providence: +the thought that he was minded treacherously to carry off a helpless +girl from the object of her sincerest, warmest love dwelt but a moment +in his mind, as the shadow of a bird flits over the sunshiny earth. + +The coach was at the door: Lydia lingered for a moment, as she was about +to mount. "Salute your lord again for me," said she to the old servant: +"tell him that I shall be home before night." Tears were standing in her +eyes as she again looked back when the carriage started. She then turned +round to Wilhelm, made an effort to compose herself, and said, "In +Fräulein Theresa you will find a very interesting person. I wonder what +it is that brings her hither; for, you must know, Lothario and she once +passionately loved each other. In spite of the distance, he often used +to visit her: I was staying with her then; I thought they would have +lived and died for one another. But all at once it went to wreck, no +creature could discover why. He had seen me, and I must confess that I +was envious of Theresa's fortune; that I scarcely hid my love from him; +that, when he suddenly appeared to choose me in her stead, I could not +but accept of him. She behaved to me beyond my wishes, though it almost +seemed as if I had robbed her of this precious lover. But, ah! how many +thousand tears and pains that love of his has cost me! At first we met +only now and then, and by stealth, at some appointed place: but I could +not long endure that kind of life; in his presence only was I happy, +wholly happy! Far from him, my eyes were never dry, my pulse was never +calm. Once he staid away for several days: I was altogether in despair; +I ordered out my carriage, and surprised him here. He received me +tenderly; and, had not this unlucky quarrel happened, I should have led +a heavenly life with him. But, since the time he began to be in danger +and in pain, I shall not say what I have suffered: at this moment I am +bitterly reproaching myself that I could leave him for a single day." + +Wilhelm was proceeding to inquire about Theresa, when they reached the +lawyer's house. This gentleman came forward to the coach, lamenting +wofully that Fräulein Theresa was already gone. He invited them to +breakfast; signifying, however, that the lady might be overtaken in the +nearest village. They determined upon following her: the coachman did +not loiter; they had soon passed several villages, and yet come up with +nobody. Lydia now gave orders for returning: the coachman drove along, +as if he did not understand her. As she insisted with redoubled +vehemence, Wilhelm called to him, and gave the promised token. The +coachman answered that it was not necessary to go back by the same road: +he knew a shorter, and, at the same time, greatly easier one. He turned +aside across a wood, and over large commons. At last, no object they +could recognize appearing, he confessed that unfortunately he had lost +his way; declaring, at the same time, that he would soon get right +again, as he saw a little town before him. Night came on: the coachman +managed so discreetly, that he asked everywhere, and nowhere waited for +an answer. He drove along all night: Lydia never closed an eye; in the +moonshine she was constantly detecting similarities, which as constantly +turned out to be dissimilar. In the morning things around seemed known +to her, and but more strange on that account. The coach drew up before a +neat little country-house: a young lady stepped out, and opened the +carriage-door. Lydia looked at her with a stare of wonder, looked round, +looked at her again, and fainted in the arms of Wilhelm. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Wilhelm was conducted to a little upper room: the house was new, as +small nearly as it could be, and extremely orderly and clean. In +Theresa, who had welcomed him and Lydia at the coach, he had not found +his Amazon: she was another and an altogether different woman. Handsome, +and but of middle stature, she moved about with great alertness; and it +seemed as if her clear, blue, open eyes let nothing that occurred escape +them. + +She entered Wilhelm's room, inquiring if he wanted any thing. "Pardon +me," said she, "for having lodged you in a chamber which the smell of +paint still renders disagreeable: my little dwelling is but just made +ready; you are handselling this room, which is appointed for my guests. +Would that you had come on some more pleasant errand! Poor Lydia is like +to be a dull companion: in other points, also, you will have much to +pardon. My cook has run away from me, at this unseasonable time; and a +serving-man has bruised his hand. The case might happen I had to manage +every thing myself; and if it were so, why, then we should just put up +with it. One is plagued so with nobody as with one's servants: none of +them will serve you, scarcely even serve himself." + +She said a good deal more on different matters: in general she seemed to +like speaking. Wilhelm inquired for Lydia,--if he might not see her, and +endeavor to excuse himself. + +"It will have no effect at present," said Theresa: "time excuses, as it +comforts. Words, in both cases, are of little effect. Lydia will not see +you. 'Keep him from my sight,' she cried, when I was leaving her: 'I +could almost despair of human nature. Such an honorable countenance, so +frank a manner, and this secret guile!' Lothario she has quite forgiven: +in a letter to the poor girl, he declares, 'My friends persuaded me, my +friends compelled me!' Among these she reckons you, and she condemns you +with the rest." + +"She does me too much honor in so blaming me," said Wilhelm: "I have no +pretension to the friendship of that noble gentleman; on this occasion, +I am but a guiltless instrument. I will not praise what I have done: it +is enough that I could do it. It concerned the health, it concerned the +life, of a man whom I value more than any one I ever knew before. Oh, +what a man is he, Fräulein! and what men are they that live about him! +In their society, I for the first time, I may well say, carried on a +conversation; for the first time, was the inmost sense of my words +returned to me, more rich, more full, more comprehensive, from another's +mouth; what I had been groping for was rendered clear to me; what I had +been thinking I was taught to see. Unfortunately this enjoyment was +disturbed, at first by numerous anxieties and whims, and then by this +unpleasant task. I undertook it with submission; for I reckoned it my +duty, even though I sacrificed my feelings, to comply with the request +of this gifted company of men." + +While he spoke, Theresa had been looking at him with a very friendly +air. "Oh, how sweet is it to hear one's own opinion uttered by a +stranger tongue! We are never properly ourselves until another thinks +entirely as we do. My own opinion of Lothario is perfectly the same as +yours: it is not every one that does him justice, and therefore all that +know him better are enthusiastic in esteem of him. The painful sentiment +that mingles with the memory of him in my heart cannot hinder me from +thinking of him daily." A sigh heaved her bosom as she spoke thus, and a +lovely tear glittered in her right eye. "Think not," continued she, +"that I am so weak, so easy to be moved. It is but the eye that weeps. +There was a little wart upon the under eyelid; they have happily removed +it, but the eye has been weak ever since; the smallest cause brings a +tear into it. Here sat the little wart: you cannot see a vestige of it +now." + +He saw no vestige, but he saw into her eye; it was clear as crystal: he +almost imagined he could see to the very bottom of her soul. + +"We have now," said she, "pronounced the watchword of our friendship: +let us get entirely acquainted as fast as possible. The history of every +person paints his character. I will tell you what my life has been: do +you, too, place a little trust in me, and let us be united even when +distance parts us. The world is so waste and empty, when we figure only +towns and hills and rivers in it; but to know of some one here and there +whom we accord with, who is living on with us, even in silence,--this +makes our earthly ball a peopled garden." + +She hastened off, engaging soon to take him out to walk. Her presence +had affected him agreeably: he wished to be informed of her relation to +Lothario. He was called: she came to meet him from her room. While they +descended, necessarily one by one, the straight and even steepish +stairs, she said, "All this might have been larger and grander, had I +chosen to accept the offers of your generous friend; but, to continue +worthy of him, I must study to retain the qualities which gave me merit +in his eyes. Where is the steward?" asked she, stepping from the bottom +of the stairs. "You must not think," continued she, "that I am rich +enough to need a steward: the few acres of my own little property I +myself can manage well enough. The steward is my new neighbor's, who has +bought a fine estate beside us, every point of which I am acquainted +with. The good old gentleman is lying ill of gout: his men are strangers +here; I willingly assist in settling them." + +They took a walk through fields, meadows, and some orchards. Everywhere +Theresa kept instructing the steward; nothing so minute but she could +give account of it: and Wilhelm had reason to wonder at her knowledge, +her precision, the prompt dexterity with which she suggested means for +ends. She loitered nowhere, always hastened to the leading-points; and +thus her task was quickly over. "Salute your master," said she, as she +sent away the man: "I mean to visit him as soon as possible, and wish +him a complete recovery. There, now," she added with a smile, as soon as +he was gone, "I might soon be rich: my good neighbor, I believe, would +not be disinclined to offer me his hand." + +"The old man with the gout?" cried Wilhelm: "I know not how, +at your years, you could bring yourself to make so desperate a +determination."--"Nor am I tempted to it!" said Theresa. "Whoever can +administer what he possesses has enough; and to be wealthy is a +burdensome affair, unless you understand it." + +Wilhelm testified his admiration at her skill in husbandry concerns. +"Decided inclination, early opportunity, external impulse, and continued +occupation in a useful business," said she, "make many things, which +were at first far harder, possible in life. When you have learned what +causes stimulated me in this pursuit, you will cease to wonder at the +talent you now think strange." + +On returning home, she sent him to her little garden. Here he could +scarcely turn himself, so narrow were the walks, so thickly was it sown +and planted. On looking over to the court, he could not help smiling: +the fire-wood was lying there, as accurately sawed, split, and piled, as +if it had been part of the building, and had been intended to continue +permanently there. The tubs and implements, all clean, were standing in +their places: the house was painted white and red; it was really +pleasant to behold. Whatever can be done by handicraft, which knows not +beautiful proportions, but labors for convenience, cheerfulness, and +durability, appeared united in this spot. They served him up dinner in +his own room: he had time enough for meditating. Especially it struck +him, that he should have got acquainted with another person of so +interesting a character, who had been so closely related to Lothario. +"It is just," said he to himself, "that a man so gifted should attract +round him gifted women. How far the influence of manliness and dignity +extends! Would that others did not come so wofully short, compared with +him! Yes, confess thy fear. When thou meetest with thy Amazon, this +woman of women, in spite of all thy hopes and dreaming, thou wilt find +her, in the end, to thy humiliation and thy shame,--his bride." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Wilhelm had passed a restless afternoon, not altogether without tedium, +when towards evening his door opened, and a handsome hunter-boy stepped +forward with a bow. "Shall we have a walk?" said the youth; and in the +instant Wilhelm recognized Theresa by her lovely eyes. + +"Pardon me this masquerade," said she; "for now, alas! it is nothing +more. But, as I am going to tell you of the time when I so enjoyed the +world, I will recall those days by every method to my fancy. Come along! +Even the place where we have rested so often from our hunts and +promenades shall help me." + +They went accordingly. On their way Theresa said to her attendant, "It +is not fair that I alone should speak: you already know enough of me, I +nothing about you. Tell me, in the mean while, something of yourself, +that I may gather courage to submit to you my history and +situation."--"Alas!" said Wilhelm, "I have nothing to relate but error +on the back of error, deviation following deviation; and I know none +from whom I would more gladly hide my present and my past embarrassments +than from yourself. Your look, the scene you move in, your whole +temperament and manner, prove to me that you have reason to rejoice in +your by-gone life; that you have travelled by a fair, clear path in +constant progress; that you have lost no time; that you have nothing to +reproach yourself withal." + +Theresa answered with a smile, "Let us see if you will think so after +you have heard my history." They walked along: among some general +remarks, Theresa asked him, "Are you free?"--"I think I am," said he, +"and yet I do not wish it."--"Good!" said she: "that indicates a +complicated story: you also will have something to relate." + +Conversing thus, they ascended the hill, and placed themselves beside a +lofty oak, which spread its shade far out on every side. "Here," said +she, "beneath this German tree, will I disclose to you the history of a +German maiden: listen to me patiently. + +"My father was a wealthy nobleman of this province,--a cheerful, +clear-sighted, active, able man; a tender father, an upright friend, an +excellent economist. I knew but one fault in him: he was too compliant +to a wife who did not know his worth. Alas that I should have to say so +of my mother! Her nature was the opposite of his. She was quick and +changeful; without affection either for her home or for me, her only +child; extravagant, but beautiful, sprightly, full of talent, the +delight of a circle she had gathered round her. Her society, in truth, +was never large; nor did it long continue the same. It consisted +principally of men, for no woman could like to be near her; still less +could _she_ endure the merit or the praise of any woman. I resembled my +father, both in form and disposition. As the duckling, with its first +footsteps, seeks the water; so, from my earliest youth, the kitchen, the +storeroom, the granaries, the fields, were my selected element. +Cleanliness and order in the house seemed, even while I was playing in +it, to be my peculiar instinct, my peculiar object. This tendency gave +my father pleasure; and he directed, step by step, my childish endeavor +into the suitablest employments. On the contrary, my mother did not like +me; and she never for a moment hid it. + +"I waxed in stature: with my years increased my turn for occupation, and +my father's love to me. When we were by ourselves, when walking through +the fields, when I was helping to examine his accounts, it was then I +could see how glad he was. While gazing on his eyes, I felt as if I had +been looking in upon myself; for it was in the eyes that I completely +resembled him. But, in the presence of my mother, he lost this energy, +this aspect: he excused me mildly when she blamed me unjustly and +violently; he took my part, not as if he would protect me, but as if he +would extenuate the demerit of my good qualities. To none of her +caprices did he set himself in opposition. She began to be immensely +taken with a passion for the stage: a theatre was soon got up; of men of +all shapes and ages, crowding to display themselves along with her upon +her boards, she had abundance; of women, on the other hand, there was +often a scarcity. Lydia, a pretty girl who had been brought up with me, +and who promised from the first to be extremely beautiful, had to +undertake the secondary parts; the mothers and the aunts were +represented by an ancient chamber-maid; while the leading heroines, +lovers, and shepherdesses of every kind were seized on by my mother. I +cannot tell you how ridiculous it seemed to me to see the people, every +one of whom I knew full well, standing on their scaffold, and +pretending, after they had dressed themselves in other clothes, to pass +for something else than what they were. In my eyes they were never any +thing but Lydia and my mother, this baron and that secretary, whether +they appeared as counts and princes, or as peasants; and I could not +understand how they meant to make me think that they were sad or happy, +that they were indifferent or in love, liberal or avaricious, when I +well knew the contrary to be the case. Accordingly I very seldom staid +among the audience: I always snuffed their candles, that I might not be +entirely without employment; I prepared the supper; and next morning, +before they rose, I used to have their wardrobe all sorted, which +commonly, the night before, they had left in a chaotic state. + +"To my mother this activity appeared quite proper, but her love I could +not gain. She despised me; and I know for certain that she more than +once exclaimed with bitterness, 'If the mother could be as uncertain as +the father, you would scarcely take this housemaid for my daughter!' +Such treatment, I confess, at length entirely estranged me from her: I +viewed her conduct as the conduct of a person unconnected with me; and, +being used to watch our servants like a falcon (for this, be it said in +passing, is the ground of all true housekeeping), the proceedings of my +mother and her friends at the same time naturally forced themselves upon +my observation. It was easy to perceive that she did not look on all men +alike: I gave sharper heed, and soon found out that Lydia was her +confidant, and had herself, by this opportunity, become acquainted with +a passion, which, from her earliest youth, she had so often represented. +I was aware of all their meetings; but I held my tongue, hinting nothing +to my father, whom I was afraid of troubling. At last, however, I was +obliged to speak. Many of their enterprises could not be accomplished +without corrupting the servants. These now began to grow refractory: +they despised my father's regulations, disregarded my commands. The +disorders which arose from this I could not tolerate: I discovered all, +complained of all to my father. + +"He listened to me calmly. 'Good girl!' replied he with a smile; 'I know +it all: be quiet, bear it patiently; for it is on thy account alone that +I endure it.' + +"I was not quiet: I had not patience. I in secret blamed my father, for +I did not think that any reason should induce him to endure such things. +I called for regularity from all the servants: I was bent on driving +matters to extremity. + +"My mother had been rich before her marriage, yet she squandered more +than she had a right to; and this, as I observed, occasioned many +conferences between my parents. For a long time the evil was not helped, +till at last the passions of my mother brought it to a head. + +"Her first gallant became unfaithful in a glaring manner: the house, the +neighborhood, her whole condition, grew offensive to her. She insisted +on removing to a different estate; there she was too solitary: she +insisted on removing to the town; there she felt herself eclipsed among +the crowd. Of much that passed between my father and her I know nothing: +however, he at last determined, under stipulations which I did not +learn, to consent that she should take a journey, which she had been +meditating, to the south of France. + +"We were now free; we lived as if in heaven: I do believe my father +could not be a loser, had he purchased her absence by a considerable +sum. All our useless domestics were dismissed, and fortune seemed to +smile on our undertakings: we had some extremely prosperous years; all +things succeeded to our wish. But, alas! this pleasing state was not of +long continuance: altogether unexpectedly my father had a shock of +palsy; it lamed his right side, and deprived him of the proper use of +speech. We had to guess at every thing that he required, for he never +could pronounce the word that he intended. There were times when this +was dreadfully afflicting to us: he would require expressly to be left +alone with me; with earnest gestures, he would signify that every one +should go away; and, when we saw ourselves alone, he could not speak the +word he meant. His impatience mounted to the highest pitch: his +situation touched me to the inmost heart. Thus much seemed certain: he +had something which he wished to tell me, which especially concerned my +interest. What longing did I feel to know it! At other times I could +discover all things in his eyes, but now it was in vain. Even his eyes +no longer spoke. Only this was clear: he wanted nothing, he desired +nothing; he was striving to discover something to me, which unhappily I +did not learn. His malady revisited him: he grew entirely inactive, +incapable of motion; and a short time afterwards he died. + +"I know not how it had got rooted in my thoughts, that somewhere he had +hid a treasure which he wished at death to leave me rather than my +mother; I searched about for traces of it while he lived, but I could +meet with none: at his death a seal was put on every thing. I wrote to +my mother, offering to continue in the house, and manage for her: she +refused, and I was obliged to leave the place. A mutual testament was +now produced: it gave my mother the possession and the use of all; and I +was left, at least throughout her life, dependent on her. It was now +that I conceived I rightly understood my father's beckonings: I pitied +him for having been so weak; he had let himself be forced to do unjustly +to me even after he was dead. Certain of my friends maintained that it +was little better than if he had disinherited me: they called upon me to +attack the will by law, but this I never could resolve on doing. I +reverenced my father's memory too much: I trusted in destiny; I trusted +in myself. + +"There was a lady in the neighborhood possessed of large property, with +whom I had always been on good terms: she gladly received me; I engaged +to superintend her household, and erelong the task grew very easy to me. +She lived regularly, she loved order in every thing; and I faithfully +assisted her in struggling with her steward and domestics. I am neither +of a niggardly nor grudging temper; but we women are disposed to insist, +more earnestly than men, that nothing shall be wasted. Embezzlement of +all sorts is intolerable to us: we require that each enjoy exactly in so +far as right entitles him. + +"Here I was in my element once more: I mourned my father's death in +silence. My protectress was content with me: one small circumstance +alone disturbed my peace. Lydia returned: my mother had been harsh +enough to cast the poor girl off, after having altogether spoiled her. +Lydia had learned with her mistress to consider passions as her +occupation: she was wont to curb herself in nothing. On her unexpected +re-appearance, the lady whom I lived with took her in: she wished to +help me, but could train herself to nothing. + +"About this time the relatives and future heirs of my protectress often +visited the house, to recreate themselves with hunting. Lothario was +frequently among them: it was not long till I had noticed, though +without the smallest reference to myself, how far he was superior to the +rest. He was courteous towards all, and Lydia seemed erelong to have +attracted his attention to her. Constantly engaged in something, I was +seldom with the company: while he was there I did not talk so much as +usual; for, I will confess it, lively conversation, from of old, had +been to me the finest seasoning of existence. With my father I was wont +to talk of every thing that happened. What you do not speak of, you +will seldom accurately think of. No man had I ever heard with greater +pleasure than I did Lothario, when he told us of his travels and +campaigns. The world appeared to lie before him clear and open, as to me +the district was in which I lived and managed. We were not entertained +with marvellous personal adventures, the extravagant half-truths of a +shallow traveller, who is always painting out himself, and not the +country he has undertaken to describe. Lothario did not tell us his +adventures: he led us to the place itself. I have seldom felt so pure a +satisfaction. + +"But still higher was my pleasure when I heard him talk, one evening, +about women. The subject happened to be introduced: some ladies of the +neighborhood had come to see us, and were speaking, in the common style, +about the cultivation of the female mind. Our sex, they said, was +treated unjustly: every sort of higher education men insisted on +retaining for themselves; they admitted us to no science, they required +us either to be dolls or family drudges. To all this Lothario said not +much; but, when the party was a little thinned, he gave us his opinion +more explicitly. 'It is very strange,' cried he, 'that men are blamed +for their proceeding here: they have placed woman on the highest station +she is capable of occupying. And where is there any station higher than +the ordering of the house? While the husband has to vex himself with +outward matters, while he has wealth to gather and secure, while perhaps +he takes part in the administration of the state, and everywhere depends +on circumstances; ruling nothing, I may say, while he conceives that he +is ruling much; compelled to be but politic where he would willingly be +reasonable, to dissemble where he would be open, to be false where he +would be upright; while thus, for the sake of an object which he never +reaches, he must every moment sacrifice the first of objects, harmony +with himself,--a reasonable housewife is actually governing in the +interior of her family; has the comfort and activity of every person in +it to provide for, and make possible. What is the highest happiness of +mortals, if not to execute what we consider right and good,--to be +really masters of the means conducive to our aims? And where should or +can our nearest aims be, but in the interior of our home? All those +indispensable and still to be renewed supplies, where do we expect, do +we require, to find them, if not in the place where we rise and where we +go to sleep, where kitchen and cellar, and every species of +accommodation for ourselves and ours, is to be always ready? What +unvarying activity is needed to conduct this constantly recurring series +in unbroken living order! How few are the men to whom it is given to +return regularly like a star, to command their day as they command their +night; to form for themselves their household instruments, to sow and to +reap, to gain and to expand, and to travel round their circle with +perpetual success and peace and love! It is when a woman has attained +this inward mastery, that she truly makes the husband whom she loves, a +master: her attention will acquire all sorts of knowledge; her activity +will turn them all to profit. Thus is she dependent upon no one; and she +procures her husband genuine independence, that which is interior and +domestic: whatever he possesses, he beholds secured; what he earns, well +employed: and thus he can direct his mind to lofty objects; and, if +fortune favors, he may act in the state the same character which so well +becomes his wife at home.' + +"He then described to us the kind of wife he wished. I reddened; for he +was describing me, as I looked and lived. I silently enjoyed my triumph; +and the more, as I perceived, from all the circumstances, that he had +not meant me individually, that, indeed, he did not know me. I cannot +recollect a more delightful feeling in my life than this, when a man +whom I so highly valued gave the preference, not to my person, but to my +inmost nature. What a recompense did I consider it! What encouragement +did it afford me! + +"So soon as they were gone, my worthy benefactress with a smile observed +to me, 'Pity that men often think and speak of what they will never +execute, else here were a special match, the exact thing for my dear +Theresa!' I made sport of her remark, and added, that indeed men's +understanding gave its vote for household wives, but that their heart +and imagination longed for other qualities; and that we household people +could not stand a rivalry with beautiful and lovely women. This was +spoken for the ear of Lydia; she did not hide from us that Lothario had +made a deep impression on her heart: and, in reality, he seemed at each +new visit to grow more and more attentive to her. She was poor, and not +of rank; she could not think of marriage; but she was unable to resist +the dear delight of charming and of being charmed. I had never loved, +nor did I love at present; but though it was unspeakably agreeable to +see in what light my turn of mind was viewed, how high it was ranked by +such a man, I will confess I still was not altogether satisfied. I now +wished that he should be acquainted with me, and should take a personal +interest in me. This wish arose, without the smallest settled thought of +any thing that could result from it. + +"The greatest service I did my benefactress was in bringing into order +the extensive forests which belonged to her. In this precious property, +whose value time and circumstances were continually increasing, matters +still went on according to the old routine,--without regularity, without +plan, no end to theft and fraud. Many hills were standing bare: an equal +growth was nowhere to be found but in the oldest cuttings. I personally +visited the whole of them, with an experienced forester. I got the woods +correctly measured: I set men to hew, to sow, to plant; in a short time, +all things were in progress. That I might mount more readily on +horseback, and also walk on foot with less obstruction, I had a suit of +men's clothes made for me: I was present in many places, I was feared in +all. + +"Hearing that our young friends, with Lothario, were purposing to have +another hunt, it came into my head, for the first time in my life, to +make a figure, or, that I may not do myself injustice, to pass in the +eyes of this noble gentleman for what I was. I put on my men's clothes, +took my gun upon my shoulder, and went forward with our hunters, to +await the party on our marches. They came: Lothario did not know me; a +nephew of the lady introduced me to him as a clever forester, joked +about my youth, and carried on his jesting in my praise, till at last +Lothario recognized me. The nephew seconded my project, as if we had +concocted it together. He circumstantially and gratefully described what +I had done for the estates of his aunt, and consequently for himself. + +"Lothario listened with attention: he talked with me, inquired +concerning all particulars of the estates and district. I, of course, +was glad to have such an opportunity of showing him my knowledge: I +stood my ordeal very well; I submitted certain projects of improvement +to him, which he sanctioned, telling me of similar examples, and +strengthening my arguments by the connection which he gave them. My +satisfaction grew more perfect every moment. Happily, however, I merely +wished that he should be acquainted with me, not that he should love me. +We came home; and I observed, more clearly than before, that the +attention he showed Lydia seemed expressive of a secret attachment. I +had reached my object, yet I was not at rest: from that day he showed a +true respect for me, a fine trust in me; in company he usually spoke to +me, asked my opinion, and appeared to be persuaded, that, in household +matters, nothing was unknown to me. His sympathy excited me extremely: +even when the conversation was of general finance and political economy, +he used to lead me to take part in it; and, in his absence, I endeavored +to acquire more knowledge of our province, nay, of all the empire. The +task was easy for me: it was but repeating on the great scale what I +knew so accurately on the small. + +"From this period he visited our house oftener. We talked, I may say, of +every thing; yet in some degree our conversation always in the end grew +economical, if even but in a secondary sense. What immense effects a +man, by the continuous application of his powers, his time, his money, +even by means which seem but small, may bring about, was frequently and +largely spoken of. + +"I did not withstand the tendency which drew me towards him; and, alas! +I felt too soon how deep, how cordial, how pure and genuine, was my +love, as I believed it more and more apparent that Lydia, and not +myself, was the occasion of these visits. She, at least, was most +vividly persuaded so: she made me her confidant; and this, again, in +some degree, consoled me. For, in truth, what she explained so much to +her advantage, I reckoned nowise of importance: there was not a trace of +any serious lasting union being meditated, but the more distinctly did I +see the wish of the impassioned girl to be his at any price. + +"Thus did matters stand, when the lady of the house surprised me with an +unexpected message. 'Lothario,' said she, 'offers you his hand, and +desires through life to have you ever at his side.' She enlarged upon my +qualities, and told me, what I liked sufficiently to hear, that in me +Lothario was persuaded he had found the person whom he had so long been +seeking for. + +"The height of happiness was now attained for me: my hand was asked by a +man for whom I had the greatest value, beside whom, and along with whom, +I might expect a full, expanded, free, and profitable employment of my +inborn tendency, of my talent perfected by practice. The sum of my +existence seemed to have enlarged itself into infinitude. I gave my +consent: he himself came, and spoke with me in private; he held out his +hand to me; he looked into my eyes, he clasped me in his arms, and +pressed a kiss upon my lips. It was the first and the last. He confided +to me all his circumstances; told me how much his American campaign had +cost him, what debts he had accumulated on his property: that, on this +score, he had in some measure quarrelled with his grand-uncle; that the +worthy gentleman intended to relieve him, though truly in his own +peculiar way, being minded to provide him with a rich wife, whereas, a +man of sense would choose a household wife, at all events; that, +however, by his sister's influence, he hoped his noble relative would be +persuaded. He set before me the condition of his fortune, his plans, his +prospects, and requested my co-operation. Till his uncle should consent, +our promise was to be a secret. + +"Scarcely was he gone when Lydia asked me whether he had spoken of her. +I answered no, and tired her with a long detail of economical affairs. +She was restless, out of humor; and his conduct, when he came again, did +not improve her situation. + +"But the sun, I see, is bending to the place of rest. Well for you, my +friend! You would otherwise have had to hear this story, which I often +enough go over by myself, in all its most minute particulars. Let me +hasten: we are coming to an epoch on which it is not good to linger. + +"By Lothario I was made acquainted with his noble sister; and she, at a +convenient time, contrived to introduce me to the uncle. I gained the +old man: he consented to our wishes, and I returned with happy tidings +to my benefactress. The affair was now no secret in the house: Lydia +heard of it; she thought the thing impossible. When she could no longer +doubt of it, she vanished all at once: we knew not whither she had gone. + +"Our marriage-day was coming near: I had often asked him for his +portrait; just as he was going off, I reminded him that he had promised +it. He said, 'You have never given me the case you want to have it +fitted into.' This was true: I had got a present from a female friend, +on which I set no ordinary value. Her name, worked from her own hair, +was fastened on the outer glass: within, there was a vacant piece of +ivory, on which her portrait was to have been painted, when a sudden +death snatched her from me. Lothario's love had cheered me at the time +her death lay heavy on my spirits, and I wished to have the void which +she had left me in her present filled by the picture of my friend. + +"I ran to my chamber, fetched my jewel-box, and opened it in his +presence. Scarcely had he looked into it, when he noticed a medallion +with the portrait of a lady. He took it in his hand, considered it +attentively, and asked me hastily whose face it was. 'My mother's,' +answered I. 'I could have sworn,' said he, 'that it was the portrait of +a Madame Saint Alban, whom I met some years ago in Switzerland.'--'It is +the same,' replied I, smiling, 'and so you have unwittingly become +acquainted with your step-mother. Saint Alban is the name my mother has +assumed for travelling with: she passes under it in France at present.' + +"'I am the miserablest man alive!' exclaimed he, as he threw the +portrait back into the box, covered his eyes with his hand, and hurried +from the room. He sprang on horseback: I ran to the balcony, and called +out after him; he turned, waved his hand to me, went speedily away,--and +I have never seen him more." + +The sun went down: Theresa gazed with unaverted looks upon the splendor, +and both her fine eyes filled with tears. + +Theresa spoke not: she laid her hand upon her new friend's hands; he +kissed it with emotion: she dried her tears, and rose. "Let us return, +and see that all is right," said she. + +The conversation was not lively by the way. They entered the +garden-door, and noticed Lydia sitting on a bench: she rose, withdrew +before them, and walked in. She had a paper in her hand: two little +girls were by her. "I see," observed Theresa, "she is still carrying her +only comfort, Lothario's letter, with her. He promises that she shall +live with him again so soon as he is well: he begs of her till then to +stay in peace with me. On these words she hangs, with these lines she +solaces herself; but with his friends she is extremely angry." + +Meanwhile the two children had approached. They courtesied to Theresa, +and gave her an account of all that had occurred while she was absent. +"You see here another part of my employment," said Theresa. "Lothario's +sister and I have made a league: we educate some little ones in common; +such as promise to be lively, serviceable housewives I take charge of, +she of such as show a finer and more quiet talent: it is right to +provide for the happiness of future husbands, both in household and in +intellectual matters. When you become acquainted with my noble friend, a +new era in your life will open. Her beauty, her goodness, make her +worthy of the reverence of the world." Wilhelm did not venture to +confess, that unhappily the lovely countess was already known to him; +that his transient connection with her would occasion him perpetual +sorrow. He was well pleased that Theresa let the conversation drop, that +some business called for her within. He was now alone: the intelligence +which he had just received of the young and lovely countess being driven +to replace, by deeds of benevolence, her own lost comfort, made him very +sad; he felt, that, with her, it was but a need of self-oblivion, an +attempt to supply, by the hopes of happiness to others, the want of a +cheerful enjoyment of existence in herself. He thought Theresa happy, +since, even in that unexpected melancholy alteration which had taken +place in her prospects, there was no alteration needed in herself. "How +fortunate beyond all others," cried he, "is the man, who, in order to +adjust himself to fate, is not required to cast away his whole preceding +life!" + +Theresa came into his room, and begged pardon for disturbing him. "My +whole library," said she, "is in the wall-press here: they are rather +books which I do not throw aside, than which I have taken up. Lydia +wants a pious book: there are one or two of that sort among them. +Persons who throughout the whole twelve months are worldly, think it +necessary to be godly at a time of straits: all moral and religious +matters they regard as physic, which is to be taken with aversion when +they are unwell; in a clergyman, a moralist, they see nothing but a +doctor, whom they cannot soon enough get rid of. Now, I confess, I look +upon religion as a kind of diet, which can only be so when I make a +constant practice of it, when throughout the whole twelve months I never +lose it out of sight." + +She searched among the books: she found some edifying works, as they are +called. "It was of my mother," said Theresa, "that poor Lydia learned to +have recourse to books like these. While her gallant continued faithful, +plays and novels were her life: his departure brought religious writings +once more into credit. I, for my share, cannot understand," continued +she, "how men have made themselves believe that God speaks to us through +books and histories. The man to whom the universe does not reveal +directly what relation it has to him, whose heart does not tell him what +he owes to himself and others, that man will scarcely learn it out of +books, which generally do little more than give our errors names." + +She left our friend alone: he passed his evening in examining the little +library; it had, in truth, been gathered quite at random. + +Theresa, for the few days Wilhelm spent with her, continued still the +same: she related to him at different times the consequences of that +singular incident with great minuteness. Day and hour, place and name, +were present to her memory: we shall here compress into a word or two so +much of it as will be necessary for the information of our readers. + +The reason of Lothario's quick departure was, unhappily, too easy to +explain. He had met Theresa's mother on her journey: her charms +attracted him; she was no niggard of them; and this luckless transitory +aberration came at length to shut him out from being united to a lady +whom nature seemed to have expressly made for him. As for Theresa, she +continued in the pure circle of her duties. They learned that Lydia had +been living in the neighborhood in secret. She was happy that the +marriage, though for unknown causes, had not been completed. She +endeavored to renew her intimacy with Lothario; and more, as it seemed, +out of desperation than affection, by surprise than with consideration, +from tedium than of purpose, he had met her wishes. + +Theresa was not uneasy on this account; she waived all further claims; +and, if he had even been her husband, she would probably have had +sufficient spirit to endure a matter of this kind, if it had not +troubled her domestic order: at least, she often used to say, that a +wife who properly conducted her economy should take no umbrage at such +little fancies of her husband, but be always certain that he would +return. + +Erelong Theresa's mother had deranged her fortune: the losses fell upon +the daughter, whose share of the effects, in consequence, was small. The +old lady, who had been Theresa's benefactress, died, leaving her a +little property in land, and a handsome sum by way of legacy. Theresa +soon contrived to make herself at home in this new, narrow circle. +Lothario offered her a better property, Jarno endeavoring to negotiate +the business; but she refused it. "I will show," said she, "in this +little, that I deserved to share the great with him; but I keep this +before me, that, should accident embarrass me, on my own account or that +of others, I will betake myself without the smallest hesitation to my +generous friend." + +There is nothing less liable to be concealed and unemployed than +well-directed practical activity. Scarcely had she settled in her little +property, when her acquaintance and advice began to be desired by many +of her neighbors; and the proprietor of the adjacent lands gave her +plainly enough to understand that it depended on herself alone whether +she would take his hand, and be heiress of the greater part of his +estates. She had already mentioned the matter to our friend: she often +jested with him about marriages, suitable and unsuitable. + +"Nothing," said she once, "gives a greater loose to people's tongues +than when a marriage happens which they can denominate unsuitable: and +yet the unsuitable are far more common than the suitable; for, alas! +with most marriages, it is not long till things assume a very piteous +look. The confusion of ranks by marriage can be called unsuitable only +when the one party is unable to participate in the manner of existence +which is native, habitual, and which at length grows absolutely +necessary, to the other. The different classes have different ways of +living, which they cannot change or communicate to one another; and this +is the reason why connections such as these, in general, were better not +be formed. Yet exceptions, and exceptions of the happiest kind, are +possible. Thus, too, the marriage of a young woman with a man advanced +in life is generally unsuitable; yet I have seen some such turn out +extremely well. For me, I know but of one kind of marriage that would be +entirely unsuitable,--that in which I should be called upon to make a +show, and manage ceremonies: I would rather give my hand to the son of +any honest farmer in the neighborhood." + +Wilhelm at length made ready for returning. He requested of Theresa to +obtain for him a parting word with Lydia. The impassioned girl at last +consented: he said some kindly things to her, to which she answered, +"The first burst of anguish I have conquered. Lothario will be ever dear +to me: but for those friends of his, I know them; and it grieves me that +they are about him. The abbé, for a whim's sake, could leave a person in +extreme need, or even plunge one into it; the doctor would have all +things go on like clock-work; Jarno has no heart; and you--at least no +force of character! Just go on: let these three people use you as their +tool; they will have many an execution to commit to you. For a long +time, as I know well, my presence has been hateful to them. I had not +found out their secret, but I had observed that they had one. Why these +bolted rooms, these strange passages? Why can no one ever reach the +central tower? Why did they banish me, whenever they could, to my own +chamber? I will confess, jealousy at first incited me to these +discoveries: I feared some lucky rival might be hid there. I have now +laid aside that suspicion: I am well convinced that Lothario loves me, +that he means honorably by me; but I am quite as well convinced that his +false and artful friends betray him. If you would really do him service, +if you would ever be forgiven for the injury which I have suffered from +you, free him from the hands of these men. But what am I expecting! Give +this letter to him; repeat what it contains,--that I will love him +forever, that I depend upon his word. Ah!" cried she, rising, and +throwing herself with tears upon Theresa's neck: "he is surrounded by my +foes; they will endeavor to persuade him that I have sacrificed nothing +for his sake. Oh! Lothario may well believe that he is worthy of any +sacrifice, without needing to be grateful for it." + +Wilhelm's parting with Theresa was more cheerful: she wished they might +soon meet again. "Me you wholly know," said she: "I alone have talked +while we have been together. It will be your duty, next time, to repay +my candor." + +During his return he kept contemplating this new and bright phenomenon +with the liveliest recollection. What confidence had she inspired him +with. He thought of Mignon and Felix, and how happy they might be if +under her direction; then he thought of himself, and felt what pleasure +it would be to live beside a being so entirely serene and clear. As he +approached Lothario's castle, he observed, with more than usual +interest, the central tower and the many passages and side-buildings: he +resolved to question Jarno or the abbé on the subject, by the earliest +opportunity. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +On arriving at the castle, Wilhelm found its noble owner in the way of +full recovery: the doctor and the abbé had gone off; Jarno alone was +there. It was not long till the patient now and then could ride, +sometimes by himself, sometimes with his friends. His conversation was +at once courteous and earnest, instructive and enlivening: you could +often notice in it traces of a tender sensibility; although he strove to +hide it, and almost seemed to blame it, when, in spite of him, it came +to view. + +One evening while at table he was silent, though his look was very +cheerful. + +"To-day," said Jarno, "you have met with an adventure; and, no doubt, +you relished it." + +"I give you credit for your penetration," said Lothario. "Yes, I have +met with a very pleasing adventure. At another time, perhaps, I should +not have considered it so charming as to-day, when it came upon me so +attractively. Towards night I rode out beyond the river, through the +hamlets, by a path which I had often visited in former years. My bodily +ailings must have reduced me more than I supposed: I felt weak; but, as +my strength was re-awakening, I was, as it were, new-born. All objects +seemed to wear the hues they had in earlier times: all looked graceful, +lovely, charming, as they have not looked to me for many years. I easily +observed that it was mere debility, yet I continued to enjoy it: I rode +softly onwards, and could now conceive how men may grow to like diseases +which attune us to those sweet emotions. You know, perhaps, what used of +old so frequently to lead me that way?" + +"If I mistake not," answered Jarno, "it was a little love-concern you +were engaged in with a farmer's daughter." + +"It might be called a great one," said Lothario; "for we loved each +other deeply, seriously, and for a long time. To-day, it happened, every +thing combined to represent before me in its liveliest color the +earliest season of our love. The boys were again shaking may-bugs from +the trees: the ashen grove had not grown larger since the day I saw her +first. It was now long since I had met with Margaret. She is married at +a distance; and I had heard by chance that she was come with her +children, some weeks ago, to pay a visit to her father." + +"This ride, then, was not altogether accidental?" + +"I will not deny," replied Lothario, "that I wished to meet her. On +coming near the house, I saw her father sitting at the door: a child of +probably a year old was standing by him. As I approached, a female gave +a hasty look from an upper window; and a minute afterwards I heard some +person tripping down-stairs. I thought surely it was she; and, I will +confess, I was flattering myself that she had recognized me, and was +hastening to meet me. But what was my surprise and disappointment, when +she bounded from the door, seized the child, to whom the horses had come +pretty close, and took it in! It gave me a painful twinge: my vanity, +however, was a little solaced when I thought I saw a tint of redness on +her neck and on the ear, which were uncovered. + +"I drew up, and, while speaking with the father, glanced sideways over +all the windows, to observe if she would not appear at some of them; but +no trace of her was visible. Ask I would not, so I rode away. My +displeasure was a little mollified by wonder; though I had not seen the +face, it appeared to me that she was scarcely changed; and ten years are +a pretty space! Nay, she looked even younger, quite as slim, as light of +foot; her neck, if possible, was lovelier than before; her cheeks as +quick at blushing; yet she was the mother of six children, perhaps of +more. This apparition suited the enchantment which surrounded me so +well, that I rode along with feelings grown still younger; and I did not +turn till I was at the forest, when the sun was going down. Strongly as +the falling dew and the prescription of our doctor called upon me to +proceed direct homewards, I could not help again going round by the +farmhouse. I observed a woman walking up and down the garden, which is +fenced by a light hedge. I rode along the footpath to it, and found +myself at no great distance from the person whom I wanted. + +"Though the evening sun was glancing in my eyes, I saw that she was busy +with the hedge, which only slightly covered her. I thought I recognized +my mistress. On coming up, I halted, not without a palpitation at the +heart. Some high twigs of wild roses, which a soft air was blowing to +and fro, made her figure indistinct to me. I spoke to her, asked her how +she was. She answered, in an under-tone, 'Quite well.' In the mean time +I perceived a child behind the hedge, engaged in plucking roses; and I +took the opportunity of asking where her other children were. 'It is not +my child,' said she: 'that were rather early!' And at this moment it +happened that the twigs were blown aside, and her face could be +distinctly seen. I knew not what to make of the affair. It was my +mistress, and it was not. Almost younger, almost lovelier, than she +used to be ten years before. 'Are not you the farmer's daughter?' +inquired I, half confused. 'No,' said she: 'I am her cousin.' + +"'You resemble one another wonderfully,' added I. + +"'Yes, so says every one that knew her half a score of years ago.' + +"I continued putting various questions to her: my mistake was pleasant +to me, even after I had found it out. I could not leave this living +image of by-gone blessedness that stood before me. The child, meanwhile, +had gone away: it had wandered to the pond in search of flowers. She +took her leave, and hastened after it. + +"I had now, however, learned that my former love was really in her +father's house. While riding forward, I employed myself in guessing +whether it had been her cousin or she that had secured the child from +harm. I more than once, in thought, repeated all the circumstances of +the incident: I can remember few things that have affected me more +gratefully. But I feel that I am still unwell: we must ask the doctor to +deliver us from the remains of this pathetic humor." + +With confidential narratives of pretty love adventures, it often happens +as with ghost stories: when the first is told, the others follow of +themselves. + +Our little party, in recalling other times, found numerous passages of +this description. Lothario had the most to tell. Jarno's histories were +all of one peculiar character: what Wilhelm could disclose we already +know. He was apprehensive they might mention his adventure with the +countess; but it was not hinted at, not even in the remotest manner. + +"It is true," observed Lothario, "there can scarcely any feeling in the +world be more agreeable than when the heart, after a pause of +indifference, again opens to love for some new object; yet I would +forever have renounced that happiness, had fate been pleased to unite me +with Theresa. We are not always youths: we ought not always to be +children. To the man who knows the world, who understands what he should +do in it, what he should hope from it, nothing can be more desirable +than meeting with a wife who will everywhere co-operate with him, who +will everywhere prepare his way for him; whose diligence takes up what +his must leave; whose occupation spreads itself on every side, while his +must travel forward on its single path. What a heaven had I figured for +myself beside Theresa! Not the heaven of an enthusiastic bliss, but of a +sure life on earth; order in prosperity, courage in adversity, care for +the smallest, and a spirit capable of comprehending and managing the +greatest. Oh! I saw in her the qualities which, when developed, make +such women as we find in history, whose excellence appears to us far +preferable to that of men,--this clearness of view, this expertness in +all emergencies, this sureness in details, which brings the whole so +accurately out, although they never seem to think of it. You may well +forgive me," added he, and turning to Wilhelm, with a smile, "that I +forsook Aurelia for Theresa: with the one I could expect a calm and +cheerful life, with the other not a happy hour." + +"I will confess," said Wilhelm, "that, in coming hither, I had no small +anger in my heart against you; that I proposed to censure with severity +your conduct to Aurelia." + +"It was really censurable," said Lothario: "I should not have exchanged +my friendship for her with the sentiment of love; I should not, in place +of the respect which she deserved, have intruded an attachment she was +neither calculated to excite nor to maintain. Alas! she was not lovely +when she loved,--the greatest misery that can befall a woman." + +"Well, it is past!" said Wilhelm. "We cannot always shun the things we +blame; in spite of us, our feelings and our actions sometimes strangely +swerve from their natural and right direction; yet there are certain +duties which we never should lose sight of. Peace be to the ashes of our +friend! Without censuring ourselves or her, let us with sympathizing +hearts strew flowers upon her grave. But, at the grave in which the +hapless mother sleeps, let me ask why you acknowledge not the child,--a +son whom any father might rejoice in, and whom you appear entirely to +overlook? With your pure and tender nature, how can you altogether cast +away the instinct of a parent? All this while you have not spent one +syllable upon that precious creature, of whose attractions I could say +so much." + +"Whom do you speak of?" asked Lothario: "I do not understand you." + +"Of whom but of your son, Aurelia's son, the lovely child, to whose good +fortune there is nothing wanting, but that a tender father should +acknowledge and receive him." + +"You mistake, my friend!" exclaimed Lothario; "Aurelia never had a son, +at least by me: I know of no child, or I would with joy acknowledge it; +and, even in the present case, I will gladly look upon the little +creature as a relic of her, and take charge of educating it. But did +she ever give you to believe that the boy was hers, was mine?" + +"I cannot recollect that I ever heard a word from her expressly on the +subject; but we took it up so, and I never for a moment doubted it." + +"I can give you something like a clew to this perplexity," said Jarno. +"An old woman, whom you must have noticed often, gave Aurelia the child: +she accepted it with passion, hoping to alleviate her sorrows by its +presence; and, in truth, it gave her many a comfortable hour." + +This discovery awoke anxieties in Wilhelm: he thought of his dear Mignon +and his beautiful Felix with the liveliest distinctness. He expressed +his wish to remove them both from the state in which they were. + +"We shall soon arrange it," said Lothario. "The little girl may be +committed to Theresa: she cannot be in better hands. As for the boy, I +think you should yourself take charge of him: what in us the women leave +uncultivated, children cultivate when we retain them near us." + +"But first, I think," said Jarno, "you will once for all renounce the +stage, as you have no talent for it." + +Our friend was struck: he had to curb himself, for Jarno's harsh +sentence had not a little wounded his self-love. "If you convince me of +that," replied he, forcing a smile, "you will do me a service, though it +is but a mournful service to rouse one from a pleasing dream." + +"Without enlarging on the subject," answered Jarno, "I could merely wish +you would go and fetch the children. The rest will come in course." + +"I am ready," answered Wilhelm: "I am restless, and curious to see if I +can get no further knowledge of the boy: I long to see the little girl +who has attached herself so strangely to me." + +It was agreed that he should lose no time in setting out. Next day he +had prepared himself: his horse was saddled; he only waited for Lothario +to take leave of him. At the dinner-hour they went as usual to table, +not waiting for the master of the house. He did not come till late, and +then sat down by them. + +"I could bet," said Jarno, "that to-day you have again been making trial +of your tenderness of heart: you have not been able to withstand the +curiosity to see your quondam love." + +"Guessed!" replied Lothario. + +"Let us hear," said Jarno, "how it went: I long to know." + +"I confess," replied Lothario, "the affair lay nearer my heart than it +reasonably ought: so I formed the resolution of again riding out, and +actually seeing the person whose renewed young image had affected me +with such a pleasing illusion. I alighted at some distance from the +house, and sent the horses to a side, that the children, who were +playing at the door, might not be disturbed. I entered the house: by +chance she met me just within the threshold; it was herself; and I +recognized her, notwithstanding the striking change. She had grown +stouter, and seemed to be larger; her gracefulness was shaded by a look +of staidness; her vivacity had passed into a calm reflectiveness. Her +head, which she once bore so airily and freely, drooped a little: slight +furrows had been traced upon her brow. + +"She cast down her eyes on seeing me, but no blush announced any inward +movement of the heart. I held out my hand to her, she gave me hers; I +inquired about her husband, he was absent; about her children, she +stepped out and called them; all came in and gathered round her. Nothing +is more charming than to see a mother with a child upon her arm; nothing +is more reverend than a mother among many children. That I might say +something, I asked the name of the youngest. She desired me to walk in +and see her father; I agreed; she introduced me to the room, where every +thing was standing almost just as I had left it; and, what seemed +stranger still, the fair cousin, her living image, was sitting on the +very seat behind the spinning-wheel, where I had found my love so often +in the self-same form. A little girl, the very figure of her mother, had +come after us; and thus I stood in the most curious scene, between the +future and the past, as in a grove of oranges, where within a little +circle flowers and fruits are living, in successive stages of their +growth, beside each other. The cousin went away to fetch us some +refreshment: I gave the woman I had loved so much my hand, and said to +her, 'I feel a true joy in seeing you again.'--'You are very good to say +so,' answered she; 'but I also can assure you I feel the highest joy. +How often have I wished to see you once more in my life! I have wished +it in moments which I regarded as my last.' She said this with a settled +voice, without appearance of emotion, with that natural air which of old +delighted me so much. The cousin returned, the father with her; and I +leave you to conceive with what feelings I remained, and with what I +came away." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +In his journey to the town, our friend was thinking of the lovely women +whom he knew or had heard of: their curious fortunes, which contained so +little happiness, were present to him with a sad distinctness. "Ah!" +cried he, "poor Mariana! What shall I yet learn of thee? And thou, noble +Amazon, glorious, protecting spirit, to whom I owe so much, whom I +everywhere expect to meet, and nowhere see, in what mournful +circumstances may I find thee, shouldst thou again appear before me!" + +On his arrival in the town, there was not one of his acquaintances at +home: he hastened to the theatre; he supposed they would be rehearsing. +Here, however, all was still; the house seemed empty: one little door +alone was open. Passing through it to the stage, he found Aurelia's +ancient serving-maid, employed in sewing linen for a new decoration: +there was barely light enough to let her work. Felix and Mignon were +sitting by her on the floor: they had a book between them; and, while +Mignon read aloud, Felix was repeating all the words, as if he, too, +knew his letters,--as if he, too, could read. + +The children started up, and ran to him: he embraced them with the +tenderest feelings, and brought them closer to the woman. "Art thou the +person," said he to her with an earnest voice, "from whom Aurelia +received this child?" She looked up from her work, and turned her face +to him: he saw her in full light; he started back in terror,--it was old +Barbara. + +"Where is Mariana?" cried he. "Far from here," replied the crone. + +"And Felix"-- + +"Is the son of that unhappy and too true and tender-hearted girl. May +you never feel what you have made us suffer! May the treasure which I +now deliver you make you as happy as he made us wretched!" + +She arose to go away: Wilhelm held her fast. "I mean not to escape +you," said she: "let me fetch a paper that will make you glad and +sorrowful." + +She retired, and Wilhelm gazed upon the child with a painful joy: he +durst not reckon him his own. "He is thine!" cried Mignon, "he is +thine!" and passed the child to Wilhelm's knee. + +Barbara came back, and handed him a letter. "Here are Mariana's last +words," said she. + +"She is dead!" cried he. + +"Dead," said the old woman. "I wish to spare you all reproaches." + +Astonished and confounded, Wilhelm broke up the letter; but scarcely had +he read the first words of it when a bitter grief took hold of him: he +let the letter fall, and sank upon a seat. Mignon hurried to him, trying +to console him. In the mean time Felix had picked up the letter: he +teased his playmate till she yielded, till she knelt beside him and read +it over. Felix repeated the words, and Wilhelm was compelled to hear +them twice. "If this sheet should ever reach thee, then lament thy +ill-starred friend. Thy love has caused her death. The boy, whose birth +I survive but a few days, is thine: I die faithful to thee, much as +appearances may be against me; with thee I lost every thing that bound +me to life. I die content, for they have assured me that the child is +healthy and will live. Listen to old Barbara; forgive her: farewell, and +forget me not." + +What a painful, and yet, to his comfort, half enigmatic letter! Its +contents pierced through his heart, as the children, stuttering and +stammering, pronounced and repeated them. + +"That's what has come of it!" said the crone, not waiting till he had +recovered. "Thank Heaven, that, having lost so true a love, you have +still left you so fine a child. Your grief will be unequalled when you +learn how the poor, good girl stood faithful to you to the end, how +miserable she became, and what she sacrificed for your sake." + +"Let me drain the cup of sorrow and of joy at once!" cried Wilhelm. +"Convince me, even persuade me, that she was a good girl, that she +deserved respect as well as love: then leave me to my grief for her +irreparable loss." + +"It is not yet time," said Barbara: "I have work to do, and I would not +we were seen together. Let it be a secret that Felix is your son: I +should have too much abuse to suffer from the company, for having +formerly deceived them. Mignon will not betray us: she is good and +close." + +"I have known it long, and I said nothing," answered Mignon. "How is it +possible?" cried Barbara. "Whence?" cried Wilhelm. + +"The spirit told it me." + +"Where? Where?" + +"In the vault, when the old man drew his knife, it called to me, 'Bring +his father;' and I thought it must be thou." + +"_Who_ called to thee?" + +"I know not: in my heart, in my head, I was terrified; I trembled, I +prayed; then it called, and I understood it." + +Wilhelm pressed her to his heart, recommended Felix to her, and retired. +He had not observed till then that she was grown much paler and thinner +than when he left her. Madam Melina was the first acquaintance he met: +she received him in the friendliest manner. "Oh that you might find +every thing among us as you wished!" exclaimed she. + +"I doubt it," answered Wilhelm: "I do not expect it. Confess that they +have taken all their measures to dispense with me." + +"Why would you go away?" replied his friend. + +"We cannot soon enough convince ourselves," said he, "how very simply we +may be dispensed with in the world. What important personages we +conceive ourselves to be! We think that it is we alone who animate the +circle we move in; that, in our absence, life, nourishment, and breath +will make a general pause: and, alas! the void which occurs is scarcely +remarked, so soon is it filled up again; nay, it is often but the place, +if not for something better, at least for something more agreeable." + +"And the sorrows of our friends we are not to take into account?" + +"For our friends, too, it is well, when they soon recover their +composure, when they say each to himself, there where thou art, there +where thou remainest, accomplish what thou canst; be busy, be courteous, +and let the present scene delight thee." + +On a narrower inquiry, he found what he had looked for: the opera had +been set up, and was exclusively attracting the attention of the public. +His parts had in the mean while been distributed between Horatio and +Laertes, and both of them were in the habit of eliciting from the +spectators far more liberal applause than he had ever been enabled to +obtain. + +Laertes entered: and Madam Melina cried, "Look you here at this lucky +fellow; he is soon to be a capitalist, or Heaven knows what!" Wilhelm, +in embracing him, discovered that his coat was superfine: the rest of +his apparel was simple, but of the very best materials. + +"Solve me the riddle!" cried our friend. + +"You are still in time to learn," replied Laertes, "that my running to +and fro is now about to be repaid; that a partner in a large commercial +house is turning to advantage my acquirements from books or observation, +and allowing me a share with him. I would give something, could I +purchase back my confidence in women: there is a pretty niece in the +house; and I see well enough, that, if I pleased, I might soon be a made +man." + +"You have not heard," said Frau Melina, "that a marriage has already +taken place among ourselves? Serlo is actually wedded to the fair +Elmira: her father would not tolerate their secret correspondence." + +They talked in this manner about many things that had occurred while he +was absent: nor was it difficult for him to observe, that, according to +the present temper and constitution of the company, his dismissal had +already taken place. + +He impatiently expected Barbara, who had appointed him to wait for her +far in the night. She was to come when all were sleeping: she required +as many preparations as if she had been the youngest maiden gliding in +to her beloved. Meanwhile he read a hundred times the letter she had +given him,--read with unspeakable delight the word _faithful_ in the +hand of his darling, with horror the announcement of her death, whose +approaches she appeared to view unmoved. + +Midnight was past, when something rustled at the half-open door, and +Barbara came in with a little basket. "I am to tell you the story of our +woes," said she: "and I must believe that you will sit unmoved at the +recital; that you are waiting for me but to satisfy your curiosity; that +you will now, as you did formerly, retire within your cold selfishness, +while our hearts are breaking. But look you here! Thus, on that happy +evening, did I bring you the bottle of champagne; thus did I place the +three glasses on the table: and as you then began, with soft nursery +tales, to cozen us and lull us asleep; so will I now with stern truths +instruct you and keep you waking." + +Wilhelm knew not what to say, when the old woman, in fact, let go the +cork, and filled the three glasses to the brim. + +"Drink!" cried she, having emptied at a draught her foaming glass. +"Drink, ere the spirit of it pass! This third glass shall froth away +untasted to the memory of my unhappy Mariana. How red were her lips when +she then drank your health! Ah, and now forever pale and cold!" + +"Sibyl! Fury!" cried Wilhelm, springing up, and striking the table with +his fist, "what evil spirit possesses thee and drives thee? For what +dost thou take me, that thou thinkest the simplest narrative of +Mariana's death and sorrows will not harrow me enough, but usest these +hellish arts to sharpen my torment? If thy insatiable greediness is +such, that thou must revel at the funeral-table, drink and speak! I have +loathed thee from of old; and I cannot reckon Mariana guiltless while I +even look upon thee, her companion." + +"Softly, mein Herr!" replied the crone: "you shall not ruffle me. Your +debts to us are deep and dark: the railing of a debtor does not anger +one. But you are right: the simplest narrative will punish you +sufficiently. Hear, then, the struggle and the victory of Mariana +striving to continue yours." + +"Continue mine?" cried Wilhelm: "what fable dost thou mean to tell me?" + +"Interrupt me not," said she; "hear me, and then give what belief you +list: to me it is all one. Did you not, the last night you were with us, +find a letter in the room, and take it with you?" + +"I found the letter _after_ I had taken it with me: it was lying in the +neckerchief, which, in the warmth of my love, I had seized and carried +off." + +"What did the sheet contain?" + +"The expectation of an angry lover to be better treated on the next than +he had been on the preceding evening. And that you kept your word to +him, I need not be told; for I saw him with my own eyes gliding from +your house before daybreak." + +"You may have seen him; but what occurred within, how sadly Mariana +passed that night, how fretfully I passed it, you are yet to learn. I +will be altogether candid: I will neither hide nor palliate the fact, +that I persuaded Mariana to yield to the solicitations of a certain +Norberg; it was with repugnance that she followed my advice, nay, that +she even heard it. He was rich; he seemed attached: I hoped he would be +constant. Soon after, he was forced to go upon his journey; and Mariana +became acquainted with you. What had I then to abide! What to hinder, +what to undergo! 'Oh!' cried she often, 'hadst thou spared my youth, my +innocence, but four short weeks, I might have found a worthy object of +my love; I had then been worthy of him; and love might have given, with +a quiet conscience, what now I have sold against my will.' She entirely +abandoned herself to her affection for you: I need not ask if you were +happy. Over her understanding I had an unbounded power, for I knew the +means of satisfying all her little inclinations: but over her heart I +had no control; for she never sanctioned what I did for her, what I +counselled her to do, when her heart said nay. It was only to +irresistible necessity that she would yield, but erelong the necessity +appeared to her extremely pressing. In the first period of her youth, +she had never known want; by a complication of misfortunes, her people +lost their fortune; the poor girl had been used to have a number of +conveniences; and upon her young spirit certain principles of honor had +been stamped, which made her restless, without much helping her. She had +not the smallest skill in worldly matters: she was innocent in the +strictest meaning of the word. She had no idea that one could buy +without paying; nothing frightened her more than being in debt: she +always rather liked to give than take. This, and this alone, was what +made it possible that she could be constrained to give herself away, in +order to get rid of various little debts which weighed upon her." + +"And couldst not thou," cried Wilhelm, in an angry tone, "have saved +her?" + +"Oh, yes!" replied the beldame, "with hunger and need, with sorrow and +privation; but for this I was not disposed." + +"Abominable, base procuress! So thou hast sacrificed the hapless +creature! Offered her up to thy throat, to thy insatiable maw!" + +"It were better to compose yourself, and cease your reviling," said the +dame. "If you will revile, go to your high, noble houses: there you will +meet with many a mother, full of anxious cares to find out for some +lovely, heavenly maiden the most odious of men, provided he be the +richest. See the poor creature shivering and faltering before her fate, +and nowhere finding consolation, till some more experienced female lets +her understand, that, by marriage, she acquires the right, in future, to +dispose of her heart and person as she pleases." + +"Peace!" cried Wilhelm. "Dost thou think that one crime can be the +excuse of another? To thy story, without further observations!" + +"Do you listen, then, without blaming! Mariana became yours against my +will. In this adventure, at least, I have nothing to reproach myself +with. Norberg returned; he made haste to visit Mariana: she received him +coldly and angrily,--would not even admit him to a kiss. I employed all +my art in apologizing for her conduct,--gave him to understand that her +confessor had awakened her conscience: that, so long as conscientious +scruples lasted, one was bound to respect them. I at last so far +succeeded that he went away, I promising to do my utmost for him. He was +rich and rude; but there was a touch of goodness in him, and he loved +Mariana without limit. He promised to be patient, and I labored with the +greatest ardor not to try him too far. With Mariana I had a stubborn +contest: I persuaded her, nay, I may call it forced her, by the threat +of leaving her, to write to Norberg, and invite him for the night. You +came, and by chance picked up his answer in the neckerchief. Your +presence broke my game. For scarcely were you gone, when she anew began +her lamentation: she swore she would not be unfaithful to you; she was +so passionate, so frantic, that I could not help sincerely pitying her. +In the end, I promised, that for this night also I would pacify her +lover, and send him off, under some pretence or other. I entreated her +to go to bed, but she did not seem to trust me: she kept on her clothes, +and at last fell asleep, without undressing, agitated and exhausted with +weeping as she was. + +"Norberg came; representing in the blackest hues her conscientious +agonies and her repentance, I endeavored to retain him: he wished to see +her, and I went into the room to prepare her; he followed me, and both +of us at once came forward to her bed. She awoke, sprang wildly up, and +tore herself from our arms: she conjured and begged, she entreated, +threatened, and declared she would not yield. She was improvident enough +to let fall some words about the true state of her affections, which +poor Norberg had to understand in a spiritual sense. At length he left +her, and she locked her door. I kept him long with me, and talked with +him about her situation. I told him that she was with child; that, poor +girl, she should be humored. He was so delighted with his fatherhood, +with his prospect of a boy, that he granted every thing she wished: he +promised rather to set out and travel for a time, than vex his dear, +and injure her by these internal troubles. With such intentions, at an +early hour he glided out; and if you, mein Herr, stood sentry by our +house, there was nothing wanting to your happiness, but to have looked +into the bosom of your rival, whom you thought so favored and so +fortunate, and whose appearance drove you to despair." + +"Art thou speaking truth?" said Wilhelm. + +"True," said the crone, "as I still hope to drive you to despair." + +"Yes: certainly you would despair, if I could rightly paint to you the +following morning. How cheerfully did she awake! how kindly did she call +me in, how warmly thank me, how cordially press me to her bosom! 'Now,' +said she, stepping up to her mirror with a smile, 'can I again take +pleasure in myself, and in my looks, since once more I am my own, am +his, my one beloved friend's. How sweet is it to conquer! How I thank +thee for taking charge of me; for having turned thy prudence and thy +understanding, once, at least, to my advantage! Stand by me, and devise +the means of making me entirely happy!' + +"I assented, would not irritate her: I flattered her hopes, and she +caressed me tenderly. If she retired but a moment from the window, I was +made to stand and watch: for you, of course, would pass; for she at +least would see you. Thus did we spend the restless day. At night, at +the accustomed hour, we looked for you with certainty. I was already out +waiting at the staircase: I grew weary, and came in to her again. With +surprise I found her in her military dress: she looked cheerful and +charming beyond what I had ever seen her. 'Do I not deserve,' said she, +'to appear to-night in man's apparel? Have I not struggled bravely? My +dearest shall see me as he saw me for the first time: I will press him +as tenderly and with greater freedom to my heart than then; for am I not +his much more than I was then, when a noble resolution had not freed me? +But,' added she, after pausing for a little, 'I have not yet entirely +won him; I must still risk the uttermost, in order to be worthy, to be +certain of possessing him; I must disclose the whole to him, discover to +him all my state, then leave it to himself to keep or to reject me. This +scene I am preparing for my friend, preparing for myself; and, were his +feelings capable of casting me away, I should then belong again entirely +to myself; my punishment would bring me consolation, I would suffer all +that fate could lay upon me.' + +"With such purposes and hopes, mein Herr, this lovely girl expected you: +you came not. Oh! how shall I describe the state of watching and of +hope? I see thee still before me,--with what love, what heartfelt love, +thou spokest of the man whose cruelty thou hadst not yet experienced." + +"Good, dear Barbara!" cried Wilhelm, springing up, and seizing the old +woman by the hand, "we have had enough of mummery and preparation! Thy +indifferent, thy calm, contented tone betrays thee. Give me back my +Mariana! She is living, she is near at hand. Not in vain didst thou +choose this late, lonely hour to visit me; not in vain hast thou +prepared me by thy most delicious narrative. Where is she? Where hast +thou hidden her? I believe all, I will promise to believe all, so thou +but show her to me, so thou give her to my arms. The shadow of her I +have seen already: let me clasp her once more to my bosom. I will kneel +before her, I will entreat forgiveness; I will congratulate her upon her +victory over herself and thee; I will bring my Felix to her. Come! Where +hast thou concealed her? Leave _her_, leave me no longer in uncertainty! +Thy object is attained. Where hast thou hidden her? Let me light thee +with this candle, let me once more see her fair and kindly face!" + +He had pulled old Barbara from her chair: she stared at him; tears +started into her eyes, wild pangs of grief took hold of her. "What +luckless error," cried she, "leaves you still a moment's hope? Yes, I +have hidden her, but beneath the ground: neither the light of the sun +nor any social taper shall again illuminate her kindly face. Take the +boy Felix to her grave, and say to him, 'There lies thy mother, whom thy +father doomed unheard.' The heart of Mariana beats no longer with +impatience to behold you: not in a neighboring chamber is she waiting +the conclusion of my narrative or fable; the dark chamber has received +her, to which no bridegroom follows, from which none comes to meet a +lover." + +She cast herself upon the floor beside a chair, and wept bitterly. +Wilhelm now, for the first time, felt entirely convinced that Mariana +was no more: his emotions it is easy to conceive. The old woman rose: "I +have nothing more to tell you," cried she, and threw a packet on the +table. "Here are some writings that will put your cruelty to shame: +peruse these sheets with unwet eyes, if you can." She glided softly out. +Our friend had not the heart to open the pocket-book that night: he had +himself presented it to Mariana; he knew that she had carefully +preserved in it every letter he had sent her. Next morning he prevailed +upon himself: he untied the ribbon; little notes came forward written +with pencil in his own hand, and recalled to him every situation, from +the first day of their graceful acquaintance to the last of their stern +separation. In particular, it was not without acute anguish that he read +a small series of billets which had been addressed to himself, and to +which, as he saw from their tenor, Werner had refused admittance. + +"No one of my letters has yet penetrated to thee; my entreaties, my +prayers, have not reached thee; was it thyself that gave these cruel +orders? Shall I never see thee more? Yet again I attempt it: I entreat +thee, come, oh come! I ask not to retain thee, if I might but once more +press thee to my heart." + +"When I used to sit beside thee, holding thy hands, looking in thy eyes, +and with the full heart of love and trust to call thee 'Dear, dear good +Wilhelm!' it would please thee so, that I had to repeat it over and +over. I repeat it once again: 'Dear, dear good Wilhelm! Be good as thou +wert: come, and leave me not to perish in my wretchedness.'" + +"Thou regardest me as guilty: I am so, but not as thou thinkest. Come, +let me have this single comfort, to be altogether known to thee, let +what will befall me afterwards." + +"Not for my sake alone, for thy own too, I beg of thee to come. I feel +the intolerable pains thou art suffering, whilst thou fleest from me. +Come, that our separation may be less cruel! Perhaps I was never worthy +of thee till this moment, when thou art repelling me to boundless woe." + +"By all that is holy, by all that can touch a human heart, I call upon +thee! It involves the safety of a soul, it involves a life, two lives, +one of which must ever be dear to thee. This, too, thy suspicion will +discredit: yet I will speak it in the hour of death; the child which I +carry under my heart is thine. Since I began to love thee, no other man +has even pressed my hand. Oh that thy love, that thy uprightness, had +been the companions of my youth!" + +"Thou wilt not hear me? I must even be silent. But these letters will +not die: perhaps they will speak to thee, when the shroud is covering my +lips, and the voice of thy repentance cannot reach my ear. Through my +weary life, to the last moment, this will be my only comfort, that, +though I cannot call myself blameless, towards thee I am free from +blame." + + * * * * * + +Wilhelm could proceed no farther: he resigned himself entirely to his +sorrow, which became still more afflicting; when, Laertes entering, he +was obliged to hide his feelings. Laertes showed a purse of ducats, and +began to count and reckon them, assuring Wilhelm that there could be +nothing finer in the world than for a man to feel himself on the way to +wealth; that nothing then could trouble or detain him. Wilhelm bethought +him of his dream, and smiled; but at the same time, he remembered with a +shudder, that in his vision Mariana had forsaken him, to follow his +departed father, and that both of them at last had moved about the +garden, hovering in the air like spirits. + +Laertes forced him from his meditations: he brought him to a +coffee-house, where, immediately on Wilhelm's entrance, several persons +gathered round him. They were men who had applauded his performance on +the stage: they expressed their joy at meeting him; lamenting that, as +they had heard, he meant to leave the theatre. They spoke so reasonably +and kindly of himself and his acting, of his talent, and their hopes +from it, that Wilhelm, not without emotion, cried at last, "Oh, how +infinitely precious would such sympathy have been to me some months ago! +How instructive, how encouraging! Never had I turned my mind so totally +from the concerns of the stage, never had I gone so far as to despair of +the public." + +"So far as this," said an elderly man who now stepped forward, "we +should never go. The public is large: true judgment, true feeling, are +not quite so rare as one believes; only the artist ought not to demand +an unconditional approval of his work. Unconditional approval is always +the least valuable: conditional you gentlemen are not content with. In +life, as in art, I know well, a person must take counsel with himself +when he purposes to do or to produce any thing: but, when it is produced +or done, he must listen with attention to the voices of a number; and, +with a little practice, out of these many votes he will be able to +collect a perfect judgment. The few who could well have saved us this +trouble for the most part hold their peace." + +"This they should not do," said Wilhelm. "I have often heard people, who +themselves kept silence in regard to works of merit, complain and lament +that silence was kept." + +"To-day, then, we will speak aloud," cried a young man. "You must dine +with us; and we will try to pay off a little of the debt which we have +owed to you, and sometimes also to our good Aurelia." + +This invitation Wilhelm courteously declined: he went to Frau Melina, +whom he wished to speak with on the subject of the children, as he meant +to take them from her. + +Old Barbara's secret was not too religiously observed by him. He +betrayed himself so soon as he again beheld the lovely Felix. "Oh my +child!" cried he: "my dear child!" He lifted him, and pressed him to his +heart. + +"Father! what hast thou brought for me?" cried the child. Mignon looked +at both, as if she meant to warn them not to blab. + +"What new phenomenon is this?" said Frau Melina. They got the children +sent away; and Wilhelm, thinking that he did not owe old Barbara the +strictest secrecy, disclosed the whole affair to Frau Melina. She viewed +him with a smile. "Oh, these credulous men!" exclaimed she. "If any +thing is lying in their path, it is so easy to impose it on them; while +in other cases they will neither look to the right nor left, and can +value nothing which they have not previously impressed with the stamp of +an arbitrary passion!" She sighed, against her will: if our friend had +not been altogether blind, he must have noticed in her conduct an +affection for him which had never been entirely subdued. + +He now spoke with her about the children,--how he purposed to keep Felix +with him, and to place Mignon in the country. Madam Melina, though sorry +at the thought of parting with them, said the plan was good, nay, +absolutely necessary. Felix was becoming wild with her, and Mignon +seemed to need fresh air and other occupation: she was sickly, and was +not yet recovering. + +"Let it not mislead you," added Frau Melina, "that I have lightly hinted +doubts about the boy's being really yours. The old woman, it is true, +deserves but little confidence; yet a person who invents untruths for +her advantage, may likewise speak the truth when truths are profitable +to her. Aurelia she had hoodwinked to believe that Felix was Lothario's +son; and it is a property of us women, that we cordially like the +children of our lovers, though we do not know the mothers, or even hate +them from the heart." Felix came jumping in: she pressed him to her with +a tenderness which was not usual to her. + +Wilhelm hastened home, and sent for Barbara, who, however, would not +undertake to meet him till the twilight. He received her angrily. "There +is nothing in the world more shameful," said he, "than establishing +one's self on lies and fables. Already thou hast done much mischief with +them; and now, when thy word could decide the fortune of my life, now +must I stand dubious, not venturing to call the child my own, though to +possess him without scruple would form my highest happiness. I cannot +look upon thee, scandalous creature, without hatred and contempt." + +"Your conduct, if I speak with candor," said the old woman, "appears to +me intolerable. Even if Felix were not yours, he is the fairest and the +loveliest child in nature: one might purchase him at any price, to have +him always near one. Is he not worthy your acceptance? Do not I deserve +for my care, for the labor I have had with him, a little pension for the +small remainder of my life? Oh, you gentlemen who know no want! It is +well for you to talk of truth and honor; but how the miserable being +whose smallest necessity is unprovided for, who sees in her perplexities +no friend, no help, no counsel, how she is to press through the crowd of +selfish men, and to starve in silence, you are seldom at the trouble to +consider. Did you read Mariana's letters? They are the letters she wrote +to you at that unhappy season. It was in vain that I attempted to +approach you to deliver you these sheets: your savage brother-in-law had +so begirt you, that craft and cunning were of no avail; and at last, +when he began to threaten me and Mariana with imprisonment, I had then +to cease my efforts and renounce all hope. Does not every thing agree +with what I told you? And does not Norberg's letter put the story +altogether out of doubt?" + +"What letter?" asked he. + +"Did you not find it in the pocket-book?" said Barbara. + +"I have not yet read all of them." + +"Give me the pocket-book: on that paper every thing depends. Norberg's +luckless billet caused this sorrowful perplexity: another from his hand +may loose the knots, so far as aught may still depend upon unravelling +them." She took a letter from the book: Wilhelm recognized that odious +writing; he constrained himself, and read,-- + +"Tell me, girl, how hast thou got such power over me? I would not have +believed that a goddess herself could make a sighing lover of me. +Instead of hastening towards me with open arms, thou shrankest back from +me: one might have taken it for aversion. Is it fair that I should spend +the night with old Barbara, sitting on a trunk, and but two doors +between me and my pretty Mariana? It is too bad, I tell thee! I have +promised to allow thee time to think, not to press thee unrelentingly: I +could run mad at every wasted quarter of an hour. Have not I given thee +gifts according to my power? Dost thou still doubt of my love? What wilt +thou have? Do but tell me: thou shalt want for nothing. Would the Devil +had the priest that put such stuff into thy head! Why didst thou go to +such a churl? There are plenty of them that allow young people somewhat. +In short, I tell thee, things must alter: in two days I must have an +answer, for I am to leave the town; and, if thou become not kind and +friendly to me, thou shalt never see me more."... + +In this style the letter spun itself to great length; turning, to +Wilhelm's painful satisfaction, still about the same point, and +testifying for the truth of the account which he had got from Barbara. A +second letter clearly proved that Mariana, in the sequel, also had +maintained her purpose; and it was not without heartfelt grief, that, +out of these and other papers, Wilhelm learned the history of the +unlucky girl to the very hour of her death. + +Barbara had gradually tamed rude, regardless Norberg, by announcing to +him Mariana's death, and leaving him in the belief that Felix was his +son. Once or twice he had sent her money, which, however, she retained +for herself; having talked Aurelia into taking charge of the child. But, +unhappily, this secret source of riches did not long endure. Norberg, by +a life of riot, had impaired his fortune; and, by repeated love-affairs, +his heart was rendered callous to his supposed first-born. + +Probable as all this seemed, beautifully as it all agreed, Wilhelm did +not venture to give way to joy. He still appeared to dread a present +coming from his evil Genius. + +"Your jealous fears," said Barbara, who guessed his mood of mind, "time +alone can cure. Look upon the child as a stranger one; take stricter +heed of him on that account; observe his gifts, his temper, his +capacities; and if you do not, by and by, discover in him the exact +resemblance of yourself, your eyes must certainly be bad. Of this I can +assure you,--were I a man, no one should foist a child on me; but it is +a happiness for women, that, in these cases, men are not so quick of +sight." + +These things over, Wilhelm and Barbara parted: he was to take Felix with +him; she, to carry Mignon to Theresa, and afterwards to live in any +place she pleased, upon a small annuity which he engaged to settle on +her. + +He sent for Mignon, to prepare her for the new arrangement. "Master," +said she, "keep me with thee: it will do me good, and do me ill." + +He told her, that, as she was now grown up, there should be something +further done for her instruction. "I am sufficiently instructed," +answered she, "to love and grieve." + +He directed her attention to her health, and showed that she required +continuous care, and the direction of a good physician. "Why care for +me," said she, "when there are so many things to care for?" + +After he had labored greatly to persuade her that he could not take her +with him, that he would conduct her to a place where he might often see +her, she appeared as if she had not heard a word of it. "Thou wishest +not to have me with thee," said she. "Perhaps it is better: send me to +the old harper; the poor man is lonely where he is." + +Wilhelm tried to show her that the old man was in comfortable +circumstances. "Every hour I long for him," replied the child. + +"I did not see," said Wilhelm, "that thou wert so fond of him when he +was living with us." + +"I was frightened for him when he was awake; I could not bear his eyes: +but, when he was asleep, I liked so well to sit by him! I used to chase +the flies from him: I could not look at him enough. Oh! he has stood by +me in fearful moments: none knows how much I owe him. Had I known the +road, I should have run away to him already." + +Wilhelm set the circumstances in detail before her: he said that she had +always been a reasonable child, and that, on this occasion also, she +might do as she desired. "Reason is cruel," said she; "the heart is +better: I will go as thou requirest, only leave me Felix." + +After much discussion her opinion was not altered; and Wilhelm at last +resolved on giving Barbara both the children, and sending them together +to Theresa. This was the easier for him, as he still feared to look +upon the lovely Felix as his son. He would take him on his arm, and +carry him about: the child delighted to be held before the glass; +Wilhelm also liked, though unavowedly, to hold him there, and seek +resemblances between their faces. If for a moment any striking +similarity appeared between them, he would press the boy in his arms; +and then, at once affrighted by the thought that he might be mistaken, +he would set him down, and let him run away. "Oh," cried he, "if I were +to appropriate this priceless treasure, and it were then to be snatched +from me, I should be the most unhappy man on earth!" + +The children had been sent away; and Wilhelm was about to take a formal +leave of the theatre, when he felt that in reality he had already taken +leave, and needed but to go. Mariana was no more: his two guardian +spirits had departed, and his thoughts hied after them. The fair boy +hovered like a beautiful uncertain vision in the eyes of his +imagination: he saw him, at Theresa's hand, running through the fields +and woods, forming his mind and person in the free air, beside a free +and cheerful foster-mother. Theresa had become far dearer to him since +he figured her in company with Felix. Even while sitting in the theatre, +he thought of her with smiles; he was almost in her own case: the stage +could now produce no more illusion in him. + +Serlo and Melina were excessively polite to him, when they observed that +he was making no pretensions to his former place. A portion of the +public wished to see him act again: this he could not accede to; nor in +the company did any one desire it, saving Frau Melina. + +Of this friend he now took leave; he was moved at parting with her: he +exclaimed, "Why do we presume to promise any thing depending on an +unknown future? The most slight engagement we have not power to keep, +far less a purpose of importance. I feel ashamed in recollecting what I +promised to you all, in that unhappy night, when we were lying +plundered, sick, and wounded, crammed into a miserable tavern. How did +misfortune elevate my courage! what a treasure did I think I had found +in my good wishes! And of all this not a jot has taken effect! I leave +you as your debtor; and my comfort is, that our people prized my promise +at its actual worth, and never more took notice of it." + +"Be not unjust to yourself," said Frau Melina: "if no one acknowledges +what you have done for us, I at least will not forget it. Our whole +condition had been different, if you had not been with us. But it is +with our purposes as with our wishes. They seem no longer what they +were, when they have been accomplished, been fulfilled; and we think we +have done, have wished for, nothing." + +"You shall not, by your friendly statement," answered Wilhelm, "put my +conscience to peace. I shall always look upon myself as in your debt." + +"Nay, perhaps you are so," said Madam Melina, "but not in the manner you +suppose. We reckon it a shame to fail in the fulfilment of a promise we +have uttered with the voice. O my friend! a worthy person by his very +presence promises us much. The confidence he elicits, the inclination he +inspires, the hopes he awakens, are unbounded: he is and continues in +our debt, although he does not know it. Fare you well! If our external +circumstances have been happily repaired by your direction, in my mind +there is, by your departure, produced a void which will not be filled up +again so easily." + +Before leaving the city, Wilhelm wrote a copious sheet to Werner. He had +before exchanged some letters; but, not being able to agree, they had at +length ceased to write. Now, however, Wilhelm had again approximated to +his brother: he was just about to do what Werner had so earnestly +desired. He could say, "I am abandoning the stage: I mean to join myself +with men whose intercourse, in every sense, must lead me to a sure and +suitable activity." He inquired about his property; and it now seemed +strange to him, that he had never, for so long a time, disturbed himself +about it. He knew not that it is the manner of all persons who attach +importance to their inward cultivation altogether to neglect their +outward circumstances. This had been Wilhelm's case: he now for the +first time seemed to notice, that, to work effectively, he stood in need +of outward means. He entered on his journey, this time, in a temper +altogether different from that of last; the prospects he had in view +were charming; he hoped to meet with something cheerful by the way. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +On returning to Lothario's castle, Wilhelm found that changes had +occurred. Jarno met him with the tidings, that, Lothario's uncle being +dead, the baron had himself set out to take possession of the heritage. +"You come in time," said he, "to help the abbé and me. Lothario has +commissioned us to purchase some extensive properties of land in this +quarter: he has long contemplated the bargain, and we have now got cash +and credit just in season. The only point which made us hesitate was, +that a distant trading-house had also views upon the same estates: at +length we have determined to make common cause with it, as otherwise we +might outbid each other without need or reason. The trader seems to be a +prudent man. At present we are making estimates and calculations: we +must also settle economically how the lands are to be shared, so that +each of us may have a fine estate." The papers were submitted to our +friend: the fields, meadows, houses, were inspected; and, though Jarno +and the abbé seemed to understand the matter fully, Wilhelm could not +help desiring that Theresa had been with them. + +In these labors several days were spent, and Wilhelm had scarcely time +to tell his friends of his adventures and his dubious fatherhood. This +incident, to him so interesting, they treated with indifference and +levity. + +He had noticed, that they frequently in confidential conversation, while +at table or in walks, would suddenly stop short, and give their words +another application; thereby showing, at least, that they had on the +anvil many things which were concealed from him. He bethought him of +what Lydia had said; and he put the greater faith in it, as one entire +division of the castle had always been inaccessible to him. The way to +certain galleries, particularly to the ancient tower, with which +externally he was so well acquainted, he had often sought, and hitherto +in vain. + +One evening Jarno said to him, "We can now consider you as ours, with +such security, that it were unjust if we did not introduce you deeper +into our mysteries. It is right that a man, when he first enters upon +life, should think highly of himself, should determine to attain many +eminent distinctions, should endeavor to make all things possible; but, +when his education has proceeded to a certain pitch, it is advantageous +for him, that he learn to lose himself among a mass of men, that he +learn to live for the sake of others, and to forget himself in an +activity prescribed by duty. It is then that he first becomes acquainted +with himself, for it is conduct alone that compares us with others. You +shall soon see what a curious little world is at your very hand, and how +well you are known in it. To-morrow morning before sunrise be dressed +and ready." + +Jarno came at the appointed hour: he led our friend through certain +known and unknown chambers of the castle, then through several +galleries; till at last they reached a large old door, strongly framed +with iron. Jarno knocked: the door went up a little, so as to admit one +person. Jarno shoved in our friend, but did not follow him. Wilhelm +found himself in an obscure and narrow stand: all was dark around him; +and, when he tried to go a step forward, he found himself hemmed in. A +voice not altogether strange to him cried, "Enter!" and he now +discovered that the sides of the place where he was were merely hung +with tapestry, through which a feeble light glimmered in to him. +"Enter!" cried the voice again: he raised the tapestry, and entered. + +The hall in which he now stood appeared to have at one time been a +chapel: instead of the altar, he observed a large table raised some +steps above the floor, and covered with a green cloth hanging over it. +On the top of this, a drawn curtain seemed as if it hid a picture; on +the sides were spaces beautifully worked, and covered in with fine +wire-netting, like the shelves of a library; only here, instead of +books, a multitude of rolls had been inserted. Nobody was in the hall: +the rising sun shone through the window, right on Wilhelm, and kindly +saluted him as he came in. + +"Be seated!" cried a voice, which seemed to issue from the altar. +Wilhelm placed himself in a small arm-chair, which stood against the +tapestry where he had entered. There was no seat but this in the room: +Wilhelm had to be content with it, though the morning radiance dazzled +him; the chair stood fast, he could only keep his hand before his eyes. + +But now the curtain, which hung down above the altar, went asunder with +a gentle rustling, and showed, within a picture-frame, a dark, empty +aperture. A man stepped forward at it, in a common dress, saluted the +astonished looker-on, and said to him, "Do you not recognize me? Among +the many things which you would like to know, do you feel no curiosity +to learn where your grandfather's collection of pictures and statues +are at present? Have you forgot the painting which you once so much +delighted in? Where, think you, is the sick king's son now languishing?" +Wilhelm, without difficulty, recognized the stranger, whom, in that +important night, he had conversed with at the inn. "Perhaps," continued +his interrogator, "we should now be less at variance in regard to +destiny and character." + +Wilhelm was about to answer, when the curtain quickly flew together. +"Strange!" said Wilhelm to himself: "can chance occurrences have a +connection? Is what we call Destiny but Chance? Where _is_ my +grandfather's collection? and why am I reminded of it in these solemn +moments?" + +He had not leisure to pursue his thoughts: the curtain once more parted; +and a person stood before him, whom he instantly perceived to be the +country clergyman that had attended him and his companions on that +pleasure-sail of theirs. He had a resemblance to the abbé, though he +seemed to be a different person. With a cheerful countenance, in a tone +of dignity, he said, "To guard from error is not the instructor's duty, +but to lead the erring pupil; nay, to let him quaff his error in deep, +satiating draughts, this is the instructor's wisdom. He who only tastes +his error, will long dwell with it, will take delight in it as in a +singular felicity; while he who drains it to the dregs will, if he be +not crazy, find it out." The curtain closed again, and Wilhelm had a +little time to think. "What error can he mean," said he within himself, +"but the error which has clung to me through my whole life,--that I +sought for cultivation where it was not to be found; that I fancied I +could form a talent in me, while without the smallest gift for it?" + +The curtain dashed asunder faster than before: an officer advanced, and +said in passing, "Learn to know the men who may be trusted!" The curtain +closed; and Wilhelm did not long consider, till he found this officer to +be the one who had embraced him in the count's park, and had caused his +taking Jarno for a crimp. How that stranger had come hither, who he was, +were riddles to our friend. "If so many men," cried he, "took interest +in thee, know thy way of life, and how it should be carried on, why did +they not conduct thee with greater strictness, with greater seriousness? +Why did they favor thy silly sports, instead of drawing thee away from +them?" + +"Dispute not with us!" cried a voice. "Thou art saved, thou art on the +way to the goal. None of thy follies wilt thou repent; none wilt thou +wish to repeat; no luckier destiny can be allotted to a man." The +curtain went asunder, and in full armor stood the old king of Denmark in +the space. "I am thy father's spirit," said the figure; "and I depart in +comfort since my wishes for thee are accomplished, in a higher sense +than I myself contemplated. Steep regions cannot be surmounted save by +winding paths: on the plain, straight roads conduct from place to place. +Farewell, and think of me when thou enjoyest what I have provided for +thee." + +Wilhelm was exceedingly amazed and struck: he thought it was his +father's voice; and yet in truth it was not: the present and the past +alike confounded and perplexed him. + +He had not meditated long when the abbé came to view, and placed himself +behind the green table. "Come hither!" cried he to his marvelling +friend. He went, and mounted up the steps. On the green cloth lay a +little roll. "Here is your indenture," said the abbé: "take it to heart; +it is of weighty import." Wilhelm lifted, opened it, and read:-- + +INDENTURE. + +Art is long, life short, judgment difficult, opportunity transient. To +act is easy, to think is hard; to act according to our thought is +troublesome. Every beginning is cheerful: the threshold is the place of +expectation. The boy stands astonished, his impressions guide him: he +learns sportfully, seriousness comes on him by surprise. Imitation is +born with us: what should be imitated is not easy to discover. The +excellent is rarely found, more rarely valued. The height charms us, the +steps to it do not: with the summit in our eye, we love to walk along +the plain. It is but a part of art that can be taught: the artist needs +it all. Who knows it half, speaks much, and is always wrong: who knows +it wholly, inclines to act, and speaks seldom or late. The former have +no secrets and no force: the instruction they can give is like baked +bread, savory and satisfying for a single day; but flour cannot be sown, +and seed-corn ought not to be ground. Words are good, but they are not +the best. The best is not to be explained by words. The spirit in which +we act is the highest matter. Action can be understood and again +represented by the spirit alone. No one knows what he is doing while he +acts aright, but of what is wrong we are always conscious. Whoever +works with symbols only is a pedant, a hypocrite, or a bungler. There +are many such, and they like to be together. Their babbling detains the +scholar: their obstinate mediocrity vexes even the best. The instruction +which the true artist gives us opens the mind; for, where words fail +him, deeds speak. The true scholar learns from the known to unfold the +unknown, and approaches more and more to being a master. + +"Enough!" cried the abbé: "the rest in due time. Now look round you +among these cases." + +Wilhelm went, and read the titles of the rolls. With astonishment he +found, "Lothario's Apprenticeship," "Jarno's Apprenticeship," and his +own Apprenticeship placed there, with many others whose names he did not +know. + +"May I hope to cast a look into these rolls?" + +"In this chamber there is now nothing hid from you." + +"May I put a question?" + +"Without scruple; and you may expect a positive reply, if it concerns a +matter which is nearest your heart, and ought to be so." + +"Good, then! Ye marvellous sages, whose sight has pierced so many +secrets, can you tell me whether Felix is in truth my son?" + +"Hail to you for this question!" cried the abbé, clapping hands for joy. +"Felix is your son! By the holiest that lies hid among us, I swear to +you Felix is your son; nor, in our opinion, was the mother that is gone +unworthy of you. Receive the lovely child from our hands: turn round, +and venture to be happy." + +Wilhelm heard a noise behind him: he turned round, and saw a child's +face peeping archly through the tapestry at the end of the room; it was +Felix. The boy playfully hid himself so soon as he was noticed. "Come +forward!" cried the abbé: he came running; his father rushed towards +him, took him in his arms, and pressed him to his heart. "Yes! I feel +it," cried he, "thou art mine! What a gift of Heaven have I to thank my +friends for! Whence or how comest thou, my child, at this important +moment?" + +"Ask not," said the abbé. "Hail to thee, young man! Thy Apprenticeship +is done: Nature has pronounced thee free." + + + + +BURT'S HOME LIBRARY. + + +Comprising two hundred and fifty titles of standard works, embracing +fiction, essays, poetry, history, travel, etc., selected from the +world's best literature, written by authors of world-wide reputation. +Printed from large type, on good paper, and bound in handsome cloth +binding, uniform with this volume, Price, 75 cents per copy. + +[Illustration] + + +=Adam Bede.= By George Eliot. + +=Æsop's Fables.= + +=Alhambra, The.= By Washington Irving. + +=Alice Lorraine.= By R. D. Blackmore. + +=All Sorts and Conditions of Men.= By Besant and Rice. + +=Andersen's Fairy Tales.= + +=Arabian Nights Entertainments.= + +=Armadale.= By Wilkie Collins. + +=Armorel of Lyonesse.= By Walter Besant. + +=Auld Licht Idylls.= By James M. Barrie. + +=Aunt Diana.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.= + +=Averil.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Bacon's Essays.= By Francis Bacon. + +=Barbara Heathcote's Trial.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Barnaby Rudge.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Berber, The.= By W. S. Mayo. + +=Betrothed, The.= By Allessandro Manzoni. + +=Bleak House.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Bondman, The.= By Hall Caine. + +=Bride of the Nile, The.= By George Ebers. + +=Burgomaster's Wife, The.= By George Ebers. + +=Cast up by the Sea.= By Sir Samuel Baker. + +=Caxtons, The.= By Bulwer-Lytton. + +=Charles Auchester.= By E. Berger. + +=Charles O'Malley.= By Charles Lever. + +=Children of the Abbey.= By Regina Maria Roche. + +=Children of Gibeon.= By Walter Besant. + +=Child's History of England.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Christmas Stories.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Cloister and the Hearth.= By Charles Reade. + +=Confessions of an Opium-Eater.= By Thomas De Quincey. + +=Consuelo.= By George Sand. + +=Corinne.= By Madame De Stael. + +=Countess of Rudolstadt.= By George Sand. + +=Cousin Pons.= By Honore de Balzac. + +=Cranford.= By Mrs. Gaskell. + +=Crown of Wild Olive, The.= By John Ruskin. + +=Daniel Deronda.= By George Eliot. + +=Daughter of an Empress, The.= By Louisa Muhlbach. + +=Daughter of Heth, A.= By Wm. Black. + +=David Copperfield.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Deemster, The.= By Hall Caine. + +=Deerslayer, The.= By James Fenimore Cooper. + +=Dombey & Son.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Donal Grant.= By George Macdonald. + +=Donald Ross of Heimra.= By William Black. + +=Donovan.= By Edna Lyall. + +=Dream Life.= By Ik. Marvel. + +=East Lynne.= By Mrs. Henry Wood. + +=Egoist, The.= By George Meredith. + +=Egyptian Princess, An.= By George Ebers. + +=Eight Years Wandering in Ceylon.= By Sir Samuel Baker. + +=Emerson's Essays.= By Ralph Waldo Emerson. + +=Emperor, The.= By George Ebers. + +=Essays of Elia.= By Charles Lamb. + +=Esther.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Far from the Madding Crowd.= By Thos. Hardy. + +=Felix Holt.= By George Eliot. + +=Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World.= By E. S. Creasy. + +=File No. 113.= By Emile Gaboriau. + +=First Violin.= By Jessie Fothergill. + +=For Faith and Freedom.= By Walter Besant. + +=Frederick the Great, and His Court.= By Louisa Muhlbach. + +=French Revolution.= By Thomas Carlyle. + +=From the Earth to the Moon.= By Jules Verne. + +=Goethe and Schiller.= By Louisa Muhlbach. + +=Gold Bug, The, and Other Tales.= By Edgar A. Poe. + +=Gold Elsie.= By E. Marlitt. + +=Great Expectations.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Great Taboo, The.= By Grant Allen. + +=Great Treason, A.= By Mary Hoppus. + +=Green Mountain Boys, The.= By D. P. Thompson. + +=Grimm's Household Tales.= By the Brothers Grimm. + +=Grimm's Popular Tales.= By the Brothers Grimm. + +=Gulliver's Travels.= By Dean Swift. + +=Handy Andy.= By Samuel Lover. + +=Hardy Norseman, A.= By Edna Lyall. + +=Harold.= By Bulwer-Lytton. + +=Harry Lorrequer.= By Charles Lever. + +=Heir of Redclyffe.= By Charlotte M. Yonge. + +=Henry Esmond.= By William M. Thackeray. + +=Her Dearest Foe.= By Mrs. Alexander. + +=Heriot's Choice.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Heroes and Hero Worship.= By Thomas Carlyle. + +=History of Pendennis.= By William M. Thackeray. + +=House of the Seven Gables.= By Nathaniel Hawthorne. + +=How to be Happy Though Married.= + +=Hunchback of Notre Dame.= By Victor Hugo. + +=Hypatia.= By Charles Kingsley. + +=Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow.= By Jerome K. Jerome. + +=In Far Lochaber.= By William Black. + +=In the Golden Days.= By Edna Lyall. + +=In the Heart of the Storm.= By Maxwell Grey. + +=It is Never Too Late to Mend.= By Charles Reade. + +=Ivanhoe.= By Sir Walter Scott. + +=Jack's Courtship.= By W. Clark Russell. + +=Jane Eyre.= By Charlotte Bronte. + +=John Halifax, Gentleman.= By Miss Muloch. + +=Kenilworth.= By Sir Walter Scott. + +=Kit and Kitty.= By R. D. Blackmore. + +=Kith and Kin.= By Jessie Fothergill. + +=Knickerbocker's History of New York.= By Washington Irving. + +=Knight Errant.= By Edna Lyall. + +=L'Abbe Constantin.= By Ludovic-Halevy. + +=Lamplighter, The.= By Maria S. Cummins. + +=Last Days of Pompeii.= By Bulwer-Lytton. + +=Last of the Barons.= By Bulwer-Lytton. + +=Last of the Mohicans.= By James Fenimore Cooper. + +=Light of Asia, The.= By Sir Edwin Arnold. + +=Little Dorrit.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Lorna Doone.= By R. D. Blackmore. + +=Louise de la Valliere.= By Alexandre Dumas. + +=Lover or Friend?= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Lucile.= By Owen Meredith. + +=Maid of Sker.= By R. D. Blackmore. + +=Man and Wife.= By Wilkie Collins. + +=Man in the Iron Mask.= By Alexandre Dumas. + +=Martin Chuzzlewit.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Mary St. John.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Master of Ballantrae, The.= By R. L. Stevenson. + +=Master of the Ceremonies, The.= By G. M. Fenn. + +=Masterman Ready.= By Captain Marryat. + +=Merle's Crusade.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Micah Clarke.= By A. Conan Doyle. + +=Michael Strogoff.= By Jules Verne. + +=Middlemarch.= By George Eliot. + +=Midshipman Easy.= By Captain Marryat. + +=Mill on the Floss.= By George Eliot. + +=Molly Bawn.= By The Duchess. + +=Moonstone, The.= By Wilkie Collins. + +=Mosses from an Old Manse.= By Nathaniel Hawthorne. + +=Mysterious Island, The.= By Jules Verne. + +=Natural Law in the Spiritual World.= By Henry Drummond. + +=Nellie's Memories.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Newcomes, The.= By William M. Thackeray. + +=Nicholas Nickleby.= By Charles Dickens. + +=No Name.= By Wilkie Collins. + +=Not Like Other Girls.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Old Curiosity Shop.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Old Ma'm'selle's Secret.= By E. Marlitt. + +=Old Myddelton's Money.= By Mary Cecil Hay. + +=Oliver Twist.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Only the Governess.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=On the Heights.= By Berthold Auerbach. + +=Our Bessie.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Our Mutual Friend.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Pair of Blue Eyes, A.= By Thomas Hardy. + +=Past and Present.= By Thomas Carlyle. + +=Pathfinder, The.= By James Fenimore Cooper. + +=Pere Goriot.= By Honore de Balzac. + +=Phantom Rickshaw, The.= By Rudyard Kipling. + +=Phra, the Phoenician.= By Edwin L. Arnold. + +=Picciola.= By X. B. Saintine. + +=Pickwick Papers.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Pilgrim's Progress.= By John Bunyan. + +=Pilot, The.= By James Fenimore Cooper. + +=Pioneers, The.= By James Fenimore Cooper. + +=Prairie, The.= By James Fenimore Cooper. + +=Pride and Prejudice.= By Jane Austen. + +=Prime Minister, The.= By Anthony Trollope. + +=Princess of Thule, A.= By Wm. Black. + +=Professor, The.= By Charlotte Bronte. + +=Put Yourself in His Place.= By Charles Reade. + +=Queen Hortense.= By Louisa Muhlbach. + +=Queenie's Whim.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Ralph the Heir.= By Anthony Trollope. + +=Red Rover.= By James Fenimore Cooper. + +=Reproach of Annesley.= By Maxwell Grey. + +=Reveries of a Bachelor.= By Ik. Marvel. + +=Rhoda Fleming.= By George Meredith. + +=Ride to Khiva, A.= By Captain Fred Burnaby. + +=Rienzi.= By Bulwer-Lytton. + +=Robinson Crusoe.= By Daniel Defoe. + +=Rob Roy.= By Sir Walter Scott. + +=Romance of a Poor Young Man.= By Octave Feuillet. + +=Romance of Two Worlds.= By Marie Corelli. + +=Romola.= By George Eliot. + +=Rory O'More.= By Samuel Lover. + +=Sartor Resartus.= By Thomas Carlyle. + +=Scarlet Letter, The.= By Nathaniel Hawthorne. + +=Scottish Chiefs.= By Jane Porter. + +=Search for Basil Lyndhurst.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Second Wife, The.= By E. Marlitt. + +=Self-Help.= By Samuel Smiles. + +=Sense and Sensibility.= By Jane Austen. + +=Sesame and Lilies.= By John Ruskin. + +=Shadow of the Sword.= By Robert Buchanan. + +=Shirley.= By Charlotte Bronte. + +=Silas Marner.= By George Eliot. + +=Silence of Dean Maitland.= By Maxwell Grey. + +=Sketch-Book, The.= By Washington Irving. + +=Social Departure, A.= By Sara Jeannette Duncan. + +=Soldiers Three, etc.= By Rudyard Kipling. + +=Springhaven.= By R. D. Blackmore. + +=Spy, The.= By James Fenimore Cooper. + +=St. Katharine's by the Tower.= By Walter Besant. + +=Story of an African Farm.= By Olive Schreiner. + +=Swiss Family Robinson.= By Jean Rudolph Wyss. + +=Tale of Two Cities.= By Charles Dickens. + +=Talisman, The.= By Sir Walter Scott. + +=Tartarin of Tarascon.= By Alphonse Daudet. + +=Tempest Tossed.= By Theodore Tilton. + +=Ten Years Later.= By Alexandre Dumas. + +=Terrible Temptation, A.= By Charles Reade. + +=Thaddeus of Warsaw.= By Jane Porter. + +=Thelma.= By Marie Corelli. + +=Three Guardsmen.= By Alexandre Dumas. + +=Three Men in a Boat.= By Jerome K. Jerome. + +=Tom Brown at Oxford.= By Thomas Hughes. + +=Tom Brown's School Days.= By Thomas Hughes. + +=Tom Burke of "Ours."= By Charles Lever. + +=Tour of the World in Eighty Days, A.= By Jules Verne. + +=Treasure Island.= By Robert Louis Stevenson. + +=Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.= By Jules Verne. + +=Twenty Years After.= By Alexandre Dumas. + +=Twice Told Tales.= By Nathaniel Hawthorne. + +=Two Admirals.= By James Fenimore Cooper. + +=Two Chiefs of Dunboy.= By James A. Froude. + +=Two on a Tower.= By Thomas Hardy. + +=Two Years Before the Mast. By R. H. Dana, Jr. + +=Uarda.= By George Ebers. + +=Uncle Max.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Uncle Tom's Cabin.= By Harriet Beecher Stowe. + +=Undine and Other Tales.= By De la Motte Fouque. + +=Vanity Fair.= By William M. Thackeray. + +=Vicar of Wakefield.= By Oliver Goldsmith. + +=Villette.= By Charlotte Bronte. + +=Virginians, The.= By William M. Thackeray. + +=Vicomte de Bragelonne.= By Alexandre Dumas. + +=Vivian Grey.= By Benjamin Disraeli. + +=Water Witch, The.= By James Fenimore Cooper. + +=Waverly.= By Sir Walter Scott. + +=Wee Wifie.= By Rosa N. Carey. + +=Westward Ho!= By Charles Kingsley. + +=We Two.= By Edna Lyall. + +=What's Mine's Mine.= By George Macdonald. + +=When a Man's Single.= By J. M. Barrie. + +=White Company, The.= By A. Conan Doyle. + +=Wide, Wide World.= By Susan Warner. + +=Widow Lerouge, The.= By Emile Gaborlau. + +=Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship.= By Goethe (Carlyle). + +=Wing-and-Wing.= By James Fenimore Cooper. + +=Woman in White, The.= By Wilkie Collins. + +=Won by Waiting.= By Edna Lyall. + +=Wooing O't.= By Mrs. Alexander. + +=World Went Very Well Then, The.= By Walter Besant. + +=Wormwood.= By Marie Corelli. + +=Wreck of the Grosvenor, The.= By W. Clark Russell. + +=Zenobia.= By William Ware. + +_For sale by all Booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of +price bythe publisher, =A. L. BURT, New York.=_ + + + + +THE ALGER SERIES for BOYS + +Uniform with This Volume. + + +This series affords wholesome reading for boys and girls, and all the +volumes are extremely interesting.--_Cincinnati Commercial-Gazette._ + +=JOE'S LUCK; or, A Brave Boy's Adventures in California.= By HORATIO +ALGER, JR. + +=JULIAN MORTIMER; or, A Brave Boy's Struggles for Home and Fortune.= By +HARRY CASTLEMON. + +=ADRIFT IN THE WILDS; or, The Adventures of Two Shiwrecked Boys.= By +EDWARD S. ELLIS. + +=FRANK FOWLER, THE CASH BOY.= By HORATIO ALGER, JR. + +=GUY HARRIS, THE RUNAWAY.= By HARRY CASTLEMON. + +=THE SLATE-PICKER; A Story of a Boy's Life in the Coal Mines.= By HARRY +PRENTICE. + +=TOM TEMPLE'S CAREER.= By HORATIO ALGER, JR. + +=TOM, THE READY; or, Up from the Lowest.= By RANDOLPH HILL. + +=THE CASTAWAYS; or, On the Florida Reefs.= By JAMES OTIS. + +=CAPTAIN KIDD'S GOLD. The True Story of an Adventurous Sailor Boy.= By +JAMES FRANKLIN FITTS. + +=TOM THATCHER'S FORTUNE.= By HORATIO ALGER, JR. + +=LOST IN THE CANON. The Story of Sam Willett's Adventures on the Great +Colorado of the West.= By ALFRED R. CALHOUN. + +=A YOUNG HERO; or, Fighting to Win.= By EDWARD S. ELLIS. + +=THE ERRAND BOY; or, How Phil Brent Won Success.= By HORATIO ALGER, JR. + +THE ISLAND TREASURE; OR, HARRY DARREL'S FORTUNE. By =Frank H. Converse=. + +=A RUNAWAY BRIG; or, An Accidental Cruise.= By JAMES OTIS. + +=A JAUNT THROUGH JAVA. The Story of a Journey to the Sacred Mountain by +Two American Boys.= By E. S. ELLIS. + +=CAPTURED BY APES; or, How Philip Garland Became King of Apeland.= By +HARRY PRENTICE. + +=TOM THE BOOT-BLACK; or, The Road to Success.= By HORATIO ALGER, JR. + +=ROY GILBERT'S SEARCH. A Tale of the Great Lakes.= By WILLIAM P. +CHIPMAN. + +=THE TREASURE-FINDERS. A Boy's Adventures in Nicarauga.= By JAMES OTIS. + +=BUDD BOYD'S TRIUMPH; or, The Boy Firm of Fox Island.= By WILLIAM P. +CHIPMAN. + +=TONY, THE HERO; or, A Brave Boy's Adventures with a Tramp.= By HORATIO +ALGER, JR. + +=CAPTURED BY ZULUS. A Story of Trapping in Africa.= By HARRY PRENTICE. + +=THE TRAIN BOY.= By HORATIO ALGER, JR. + +=DAN THE NEWSBOY.= By HORATIO ALGER, JR. + +=SEARCH FOR THE SILVER CITY. A Story of Adventure in Yucatan.= By JAMES +OTIS. + +=THE BOY CRUISERS; or, Paddling in Florida.= By ST. GEORGE RATHBORNE. + + +=_The above stories are printed on extra paper, and bound in Handsome +Cloth Binding, in all respects uniform with this volume, at $1.00 per +copy._= + + +_For sale by all Booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of +price, by the publisher, =A. L. BURT, 66 Reade St., New York.=_ + + + + +THE FIRESIDE SERIES FOR GIRLS. + +=Uniform Cloth Binding.= + + +[Illustration] + +A carefully selected series of books for girls written by authors of +acknowledged reputation. The stories are deeply interesting in +themselves, and have a moral charm that emanates from the principal +characters; they teach without preaching, are of lively interest +throughout, and will win the hearts of all girl readers. + + +=Esther.= By ROSA NOUCHETTE CAREY. Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=A World of Girls: The Story of a School.= By L. T. MEADE. Illustrated. +Price, $1.00. + +=The Heir of Redclyffe.= By CHARLOTTE M. YONGE. Illustrated. Price, +$1.00. + +=The Story of a Short Life.= By JULIANA HORATIO EWING. Illustrated. +Price, $1.00. + +=A Sweet Girl Graduate.= By L. T. MEADE. Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=Our Bessie.= By ROSA NOUCHETTE CAREY. Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=Six to Sixteen: A Story for Girls.= By JULIANA HORATIO EWING. +Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=The Dove in the Eagle's Nest.= By CHARLOTTE M. YONGE. Illustrated. +Price, $1.00. + +=Giannetta: A Girl's Story of Herself.= By ROSA MULHOLLAND. Illustrated. +Price, $1.00. + +=Jan of the Windmill: A Story of the Plains.= By JULIANA HORATIO EWING. +Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=Averil.= By ROSA NOUCHETTE CAREY. Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through a Looking Glass.= Two volumes in +one. By LEWIS CARROLL. Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=Merle's Crusade.= By ROSA NOUCHETTE CAREY. Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=Girl Neighbors; or, The Old Fashion and the New.= By SARAH TYTLER. +Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=Polly: A New Fashioned Girl.= By L. T. MEADE. Illustrated. Price, +$1.00. + +=Aunt Diana.= By ROSA N. CAREY. Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=The Water Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby.= By CHARLES KINGSLEY. +Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=At the Back of the North Wind.= By GEORGE MACDONALD. Illustrated. +Price, $1.00. + +=The Chaplet of Pearls; or, The White and Black Ribaumont.= By CHARLOTTE +M. YONGE. Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + +=The Days of Bruce: A Story of Scottish History.= By GRACE AGUILAR. +Illustrated. Price, $1.00. + + +_For sale by all Booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of +price by the publisher, =A. L. BURT, New York.=_ + + + + +=Useful and Practical Books= + + +=Why, When and Where.= A dictionary of rare and curious information. A +treasury of facts, legends, sayings and their explanation, gathered from +a multitude of sources, presenting in a convenient form a mass of +valuable knowledge on topics of frequent inquiry and general interest +that has been hitherto inaccessible. Carefully compared with the highest +authorities. Edited by ROBERT THORNE, M.A. 500 pages. Cloth, 12mo, price +$1.00. + + "In this book the casual reader will be rejoiced to meet many a + subject he has searched the encyclopedia for in vain. The + information is clearly, fully and yet concisely + given."--_Springfield Republican._ + + +=A Cyclopedia of Natural History.= Comprising descriptions of Animal +Life: Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, Batrachians and Fishes. Their Structure, +Habits and Distribution. For popular use. By CHARLES C. ABBOTT, M. D. +620 pages. 500 illustrations. Cloth, 12mo, price $1.00. + + "The author has shown great skill in condensing his abundant + material, while the illustrations are useful in illustrating + the information furnished in the text."--_Times, Troy._ + + +=The National Standard Encyclopedia.= A Dictionary of Literature, the +Arts and the Sciences, for popular use; containing over 20,000 articles +pertaining to questions of Agriculture, Anatomy, Architecture, +Biography, Botany, Chemistry, Engineering, Geography, Geology, History, +Horticulture, Literature, Mechanics, Medicine, Physiology, Natural +History, Mythology and the various Arts and Sciences. Prepared under the +supervision of a number of Editors, and verified by comparison with the +best Authorities. Complete in one volume of 700 pages, with over 1,000 +illustrations. Cloth, 12mo, price $1.00. + + +=Law Without Lawyers.= A compendium of Business and Domestic Law, for +popular use. By HENRY B. COREY, LL.B., member of New York Bar. Cloth, +12mo, price $1.00. + + "The volume before us is a very convenient manual for every-day + use, containing a general summary of the law as applied to + ordinary business transactions, social and domestic relations, + with forms for all manner of legal documents."--_Troy Times._ + + +=Dr. Danelson's Counselor, with Recipes.= A trusty guide for the family. +An illustrated book of 720 pages, treating Physiology, Hygiene, +Marriage, Medical Practice, etc. By J. E. DANELSON, M. D. Illustrated. +Cloth, 12mo, price $1.00. + + "The Counselor is pure and elevating in its morals, and wise + and practical in the application of its counsels. It can but be + a helper in homes following its directions."--_Rev. J. V. + Ferguson, Pastor M. E. Church, Mohawk, N. Y._ + + +=The National Standard History of the United States.= A complete and +concise account of the growth and development of the Nation, from its +discovery to the present time. By EVERIT BROWN. 600 pages. Illustrated. +Cloth, 12mo, price $1.00. + + In this most interesting book our country's history is told + from the discovery of America down to the election of Benjamin + Harrison as President of the United States. + + +_For sale by all Booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of +price, by the publisher, =A. L. BURT, 66 Reade Street, New York.=_ + + +=A Dictionary of American Politics.= Comprising accounts of Political +Parties, Measures and Men; Explanations of the Constitution; Divisions +and Practical Workings of the Government, together with Political +Phrases, Familiar Names of Persons and Places, Note-worthy Sayings, +etc., etc. By EVERIT BROWN and ALBERT STRAUSS. 565 pages. Cloth, 12mo, +price $1.00. Paper, 50 cents. + + SENATOR JOHN SHERMAN says: "I have to acknowledge the receipt + of a copy of your 'Dictionary of American Politics.' I have + looked over it, and find it a very excellent book of reference, + which every American family ought to have." + + +BOYS' USEFUL PASTIMES. Pleasant and profitable amusement for spare hours +in the use of tools. By PROF. ROBERT GRIFFITH, A. M. 300 illustrations. +Cloth, 12mo, price $1.00. + + "The author has devised a happy plan for diverting the surplus + energy of the boy from frivolous or mischievous channels into + activities that interest him, while at the same time they train + him to mechanical and artistic skill and better adapt him for + success in life."--_Boston Journal._ + + +=What Every One Should Know.= A cyclopedia of Practical Information, +containing complete directions for making and doing over 5,000 things +necessary in business, the trades, the shop, the home, the farm, and the +kitchen, giving in plain language recipes, prescriptions, medicines, +manufacturing processes, trade secrets, chemical preparations, +mechanical appliances, aid to injured, business information, law, home +decorations, art work, fancy work, agriculture, fruit culture, +stock-raising, and hundreds of other useful hints and helps needed in +our daily wants. By S. H. BURT. 516 pages. Cloth, 12mo, price $1.00. + + "A mass of information in a handy form, easy of access whenever + occasion demands."--_Inter-Ocean, Chicago._ + + +=Readers' Reference Hand-Book.= Comprising "A HANDY CLASSICAL AND +MYTHOLOGICAL DICTIONARY" of brief and concise explanations of ancient +mythological, historical and geographical allusions commonly met with in +literature and art, also "FAMOUS PEOPLE OF ALL AGES," a manual of +condensed biographies of the most notable men and women who ever lived. +By H. C. FAULKNER and W. H. VAN ORDEN. Cloth, 12mo, price $1.00. + + "This book will serve a useful purpose to many readers, and + will save time lost in consulting dictionaries of larger + scope."--_The Churchman._ + + +=Writers' Reference Hand-Book.= Comprising a manual of the "ART OF +CORRESPONDENCE," with correct forms for letters of a commercial, social +and ceremonial nature, and with copious explanatory matter. Also "A +HANDY DICTIONARY OF SYNONYMS," with which are combined the words +opposite in meaning. Prepared to facilitate fluency and exactness in +writing. By JENNIE TAYLOR WANDLE and H. C. FAULKNER. Cloth, 12mo, price +$1.00. + + "Crowded full and even running over with proper and effective + words must be the writer who will not occasionally find this + work of great convenience and assistance to him."--_The + Delineator._ + + +_For sale by all Booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of +price, by the publisher, =A. L. BURT, 66 Reade Street, New York.=_ + + +=Etiquette, Health and Beauty.= Comprising "THE USAGES OF THE BEST +SOCIETY," a manual of social etiquette, and "TALKS WITH HOMELY GIRLS ON +HEALTH AND BEAUTY," containing chapters upon the general care of the +health, and the preservation and cultivation of beauty in the +complexion, hands, etc. By FRANCES STEVENS and FRANCES M. SMITH. Cloth, +12mo, price $1.00. + + "It is a handy volume to be lying on the table for + reference."--_Zion's Herald, Boston._ + + +=The National Standard Dictionary.= A pronouncing lexicon of the English +Language, containing 40,000 words, and illustrated with 700 wood-cuts, +to which is added an appendix of useful and valuable information. 600 +pages. Cloth, 12mo, price $1.00. + + "A convenient and useful book. Clear in typography, convenient + in size. It contains copious definitions, syllabic divisions, + the accentuation and pronunciation of each word, and an + appendix of reference matter of nearly 100 pages is added, + making it the best cheap dictionary we have ever + seen."--_Courier-Journal, Louisville._ + + +=The Usages of the Best Society.= A manual of social etiquette. By +FRANCES STEVENS. Cloth, 16mo, price 50 cents. + + "Will be found useful by all who wish to obtain instruction on + matters relating to social usage and society."--_Demorest's + Magazine._ + + +=A Handy Dictionary of Synonyms=, with which are combined the words +opposite in meaning. For the use of those who would speak or write the +English language fluently and correctly. By H. C. FAULKNER. Cloth, 16mo, +price 50 cents. + + "Will be found of great value to those who are not experienced + in speech or with pen."--_Brooklyn Eagle._ + + +=Talks With Homely Girls on Health and Beauty.= Their Preservation and +Cultivation. By FRANCES M. SMITH. Cloth, 16mo, price 50 cents. + + "She recommends no practices which are not in accord with + hygienic laws, so that her book is really a valuable little + guide."--_Peterson's Magazine._ + + +=A Handy Classical and Mythological Dictionary.= For popular use, with +70 illustrations. By H. C. FAULKNER. Cloth, 16mo, price 50 cents. + + "It is often convenient to have a small book at hand in order + to find out the meaning of the classical allusions of the day, + when it is troublesome and cumbersome to consult a larger work. + This tasteful volume fills the desired purpose. It explains the + allusions, pronounces the hard names, and pictures many of the + mythological heroes."--_Providence Journal._ + + +=Famous People of All Ages.= Who they were, when they lived, and why +they are famous. By W. H. VAN ORDEN. Cloth, 16mo, price 50 cents. + + "An excellent hand-book, giving in a compact form biographies + of the persons in whom the student and writer would naturally + take most interest."--_New York Tribune._ + + +_For sale by all Booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of +price, by the publisher, =A. L. BURT, 66 Reade Street, New York.=_ + + +=Friendly Chats With Girls.= A series of talks on manners, duty, +behavior and social customs. Containing sensible advice and counsel on a +great variety of important matters which girls should know. By MRS. M. +A. KIDDER. Illustrated. Cloth, 16mo, price 50 cents. + + "Every girl that reads and understands this little book will be + all the wiser and prettier for it, and she will learn that + excellent secret that true beauty comes from within, and is not + for sale at the dressmaker's or the apothecary's."--_Boston + Beacon._ + + +=The Art of Letter Writing.= A manual of polite correspondence, +containing the correct forms for all letters of a commercial, social, or +ceremonial nature, with copious explanatory chapters on arrangement, +grammatical forms, punctuation, etc., etc. By JENNIE TAYLOR WANDLE. +Cloth, 16mo, price 50 cents. + + "These little works on letter-writing are not to be despised. + They often stimulate ambition, and it is a much better sign for + a person who has had few school advantages to be seen + consulting an authoritative volume of this kind, than to see + him plunging heedlessly into letter-writing with all his + ignorance clinging around him."--_N. Y. Telegram._ + + +=Ladies' Fancy Work.= New Revised Edition, giving designs and plain +directions for all kinds of Fancy Needle-Work. Edited by JENNY JUNE. 700 +illustrations. Paper cover, price 50 cents. + + "I have examined carefully the beautifully printed manuals + edited by Mrs. Croly [Jenny June], whose work here, as + elsewhere, is as careful and thorough as she has taught us to + expect. They will be invaluable to all needle-workers, and + deserve the success they will most undoubtedly obtain."--_Mrs. + Helen Campbell._ + + +=Knitting and Crochet.= A guide to the use of the Needle and the Hook. +Edited by JENNY JUNE. 200 illustrations. Paper cover, price 50 cents. + + "... I cannot think of a more useful present for young + housekeepers and mothers, who can gain much important + information from these books to aid in decorating their homes + and to trim their clothing tastefully."--_Mrs. Henry Ward + Beecher._ + + +=Needle-Work.= A manual of stitches and studies in embroidery and drawn +work. Edited by JENNY JUNE. 200 illustrations. Paper cover, price 50 +cents. + + "I do not hesitate to pronounce Mrs. Croly's works on + Needle-Work and Knitting and Crochet the best manuals on those + subjects that I have ever seen. They are charming reading, as + well as useful guides to housewife and needle-woman."--_Marion + Harland._ + + +=Letters and Monograms.= For marking on Silk, Linen and other fabrics, +for individuals and household use. Edited by JENNY JUNE. 1,000 +illustrations. Paper cover, price 50 cents. + + "I am greatly pleased with the Manuals of Art Needle-Work so + charmingly edited by Mrs. Croly [Jenny June]. Mrs. Croly's + manuals will reveal treasures to many a woman who distrusts + herself, but soon the worker will take courage as her + perceptions are cultivated, and with patience and holding fast + to the truths in nature, 'patterns' will come of themselves to + fit the uses intended. Embroidery, however, is a real enjoyment + to me, and I am glad to aid all efforts to popularize such + work."--_Mrs. Gen. Fremont._ + + +_For sale by all Booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of +price, by the publisher, =A. L. BURT, 66 Reade Street, New York.=_ + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +P. 243. The 4th paragraph of Book IV, Chapter XVIII. Changed +'Annunication' to 'Annunciation' as found in the bible reference. + +P. 406. Added missing closing quotation mark. + +P.413. The last paragraph of Book VII, Chapter VII. Transposed semicolon +to from 'answered; she' to 'answered she,'. + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 36483 *** |